To Fathers Everywhere

In honor of Father's Day, I'm going to give the President a break. Fathering seems to be a skill he does well and I'm sure his girls have a special day planned for him.

Fathers. It's one staple in life the whole world shares. No matter your race, nationality nor religion, there are Fathers. They are the lesser heralded of the parenting duo. Most likely because, at least when I grew up, they were around far less than Mom. Today that may not be as true with the numbers of duel income families.

We should be thankful we live in culture where parenting is celebrated. Where family is still important and we strive mightily to keep the unit a strong one.

Think of what it must have been like back during the days of Hitler Youth when children were dressed up in uniforms like the tin soldiers they were to emulate and encouraged to "snitch" on their parents. Most often their fathers.

In some ways things have not changed. Somewhere in the world the family unit is always breaking down over ideology. In Iraq this past week in Iraq a son shot his father to death because he refused to quit his job as a translator for the U.S. This was no mere child. He was a 30 year old man along with his 24 year old brother and a cousin, 19.

History repeats itself. Causes, no matter how ignoble, will always be sold to the vulnerable. I hope fathers who don't live within those cultures realize how fortunate they are and are the better for it. It is tragic when son turns against father for somewhere along the way the family unit has broken down.

I loved my father and though gone these many, many years, I still miss him. His patience, generosity and strength of character. His arms around me when I was sad or scared or sick or just for the heck of it. I was so lucky to have had him. He deserved every ounce of love that came his way.

The World Against The Government!

To listen to President Obama tell it everyone from BP to the auto industry, Wall Street and the health insurance companies are all against him, him being the government. As Daniel Henninger spells it out in this morning's Wall Street Journal he's making it personal. It's a glimpse into the mind of a man who seems increasingly angry. In the President of the United States, I'm finding it uncomfortable, to say the least.

Laws seem to be of little interest to him when he decides to take action. There is no law supporting his demand of British Petroleum and when the White House was asked, the questioners were told no law was necessary. There was no law to support his firing the President of GM.

We're going in the wrong direction here. It's not just the administration, nor just this one, but this one is the one in power. Include Congress. Of what possible value is today's grilling of Tony Hayward other than to allow the panel to posture and humiliate Mr. Hayward. Well, one thing it did do was, as usual, showcase the lack of knowledge Congressmen have about the issues at hand.

Yet they must be seen to be doing something. This is where we have a graphic example of just why the President's quest for bigger government is a flawed idea! The Coast Guard, Corp of Engineers, Salazar and Napolitano have done little but stumble all over one another. The end result is chaos.

At the head of the table sits the President. "Put a six month moratorium on all deep water drilling! BP can't pay their dividends! I'm tough. I'm in charge."

Whoa Nelly! Was any thought given to the consequences? Dividends are not like executive bonuses, for crying out loud. They go to investors, many of which are pension funds. Even rich ones like Obama's unions could be hurt.

As for the moratorium on drilling, an lot of jobs for those suffering Gulf states go away. It isn't the tourism business or fishing that generates the big bucks. It's oil . It isn't call it black gold for nothing. There is one other kicker. Other oil companies aren't going to let those rigs sit idle for six months. They'll be moved and just try getting them back. In truth I don't think Obama cares. I don't think he wants them.

The other kicker is how the world views all of this. We had dinner with friends from England last week and they had no kind words to say about our President and his ways. Companies considering U.S. operations may think twice. They see how he's treated the auto industry, banks and Wall Street. How health care was ramrodded through. They see how he's treated Toyota yet what have you heard about the recent recalls at GM? Is Obama Motors exempt from the press? They're looking at this BP business and thinking maybe not.

The President made a point of apologizing for all sins American from years past on a world wide tour. Who's going to apologize for what he and his Congress are doing to us?

Some Men Lead, Then There Are Others...

I remember when I was doing publicity for a charity many years ago. The president of the organization intrigued me. The position was held by a lady, very attractive and very distant. Unlike what you would expect a leader to be. No rah, rah cheering on the army of volunteers, but rather a distant, cool persona. After a while I realized why. She hadn't a clue as to how to do her job.

That's how I'm seeing Obama these days. He seems to be two dimensional. He is either apologizing to our friends and enemies alike for sins past, or bullying them. There is no touch. No finesse. Nothing that a true leader usually displays. As I've observed before, he seems to have a penchant for playing catch up while trying to disguise it with bravado.

He's getting what he wants - more and more government intervention. If anyone is more clueless than Obama it's government and it's layer upon layer of bureaucracy. I honestly felt the politicizing of his speech to the nation last night was disgraceful and an insult to all the people, be they small entrepreneurs or large corporate enterprises who stepped forward at the onset offering help.

Where was the apology for not having the government's emergency plan staffed, equipped and ready to respond? Don't blame Bush. Flowery speeches and the consumption of snow cones does not a leader make. Yeah, he seems a nice enough guy but he's Peter principled out. He wanted the job, he got it, but it seems more than he can handle. I don't recall at the moment who said he seems paralyzed when it comes to decision making, but he does, so commissions are formed and another czar appointed.

In some ways I'm glad he's the way he is. The dreamer. Enough damage has already been done to our country by those who know how to control him. Were he more effective matters could be even worse.

The one man who has stood out as far as having passion is Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. He is engaged, he is angry. He has been acting like a leader. He has not been afraid of taking on the government's response. Or lack thereof.

Ahem, Republicans. You're looking for a face to put on that figure of leadership you so desperately need. You might give him a more serious look. One bad speech shouldn't end one's career. Don't get hung up on how far to the right he is or isn't but observe what the man does in the face of crisis. Stepping in to salvage what should have been the government's responsibility has him looking worthy of consideration to me.

Can This War Be Won?

Does anyone remember exactly what the war in Afghanistan is all about? Is it to keep the Taliban from regaining it's leadership? Is it to dismantle al Qaeda? Is it to find the ever elusive Bin Laden?

I do know we've spent a lot of time pacifying Karzai. We've made it a fight by permission to appease his complaints about civilian deaths. We've kept his corrupt government in place and are allowing them to negotiate with the Taliban. Excuse me. Negotiate just what? I've never quite been able to figure that out.

Now I learn in this morning's paper that he's okayed a major security crackdown in Khandahar, birthplace of the Taliban! The half million people living in the region are scared it will bring more bloodshed. Bet on it. Yet he makes a public relations tour trying to get them to put aside their fears. Right.

What isn't clear to me is just who the crackdown is aimed. Insurgents. Would that be al Qaeda or Taliban? Criminals. Does that include Karzai's thugs? Wealthy power brokers. They could be just about anyone. What a impressive task they've set for themselves. I hope no civilians are harmed. I'm not sure criminals and power brokers are not civilians!

On the other side of the coin a report says Pakistan is arming and training the Taliban. Strange bedfellows for a U.S. ally. They of course deny it. Never the less, it is known that Pakistan intelligence agencies have kept contact with the Taliban just as their government supposedly denounces them. Talk about forked tongue!

Meanwhile our troops continue to be killed. Today is flag day. Ours is flying. My hope it is one day it will fly to honor those who served, past tense, rather than those who continue to serve and die. For what?

How

I've come to the conclusion that we're missing a point in this season of primaries. That would be the "how". And not the cliched Indian greeting!

Dissatisfaction with and disappointment in the Obama administration and Congress in general has the lynch mobs calling to throw all the bums out, no matter which party. There are legislators who are pretty thorough in their decision making process and actually have the people in mind before themselves. Their problem is they can't seem to band together in numbers enough to overcome partisanship.

Now people are being unseated merely because they are incumbents. Not wise. Having been bouncing around this part of the country of late I've had the chance to browse some newspapers I usually don't see. It seems all the same. So and so's a bum, elect me. I'm against this, this and this. I'm for not much of anything.

But if they are for something, no one is saying how they would expect to achieve their goals. Never mind that the lofty idea of one politician hasn't a chance to even get a hearing, especially if said politician is a newbie. But other than that, how often have you ever heard the "how"?

We had better start pinning them down. I don't see a lot of substance in many of the Tea Party favorites that are winning primaries. Take the race in Nevada for instance. Harry Reid had everything but his rump out the door but the Republicans elected the weakest of the candidates vying for the nomination to run against him. She is a Tea Party favorite. In all that I've read, I don't see what she actually brings to the table. It would be nice to unseat Reid but I don't see it happening now.

If we really want to put the skids on this run-a-way administration we had better get off our "any body but" mode and start looking for candidates who actually have some ideas as to how to make things work rather than listening to no more than the same tired slogans.

There certainly must be some truly able out there. Aren't there?