As The Year Wanes

In the on going holiday bustle I haven't had much time for posting. It isn't that I haven't had lots to say, but since I'm usually more negative than positive, I thought I'd give it a rest.

I've been thinking about poor old father time. It's no wonder he appears not only old, but also totally whacked out. He is the metaphor for the year soon to be past!

 I think the baby New Year will be a baby for about one day. Things are that bad. The weather around the world. The wars. The economy. The politics. There would seem to be nothing to rally around or cheer!

So it's a good time to narrow the focus, even if just for a while. Most of us have our homes, our families and our friends. Our pets and their unequivocal love. Food on our tables. Peace in the evening after a busy day gone by. A warm bed in which to sleep and a warm house in which to wake. All in all, not so bad.

Even if budgets are tighter than we'd like and politics less than encouraging, we are still so fortunate to live in this country.   Even with all it's warts.

It's so much better than the cancers with which so many others must contend.

Well, Christmas dinner is mine this year; Hub had Thanksgiving and it was superb. I look at our menu. It will be a good meal. Prepared and shared with love. Ahh, the anticipation.

How wonderful we can still celebrate, really celebrate, the holiday, each in our own way, without fear. America. Though it may be a bit tarnished, it's still easy to find parts that shine. And shine they do.

All Things Come To Those Who Wait ~ And Remember

Hub tells me I have a great mind for trivia. In some cases it can prove valuable. Like clearing up a puzzle that has bothered me for months.

Some time ago our State Department involved itself in the dispute over a perfectly legal election that took place in Honduras. The President wanted to change the constitution so he, like his mentor Chavez in Venezuela, could remain in power for life even though he had been soundly defeated. Said President was a scoundrel. Why the State Department chose to back him against the newly elected President and the totally legal actions of their courts and military in escorting him out of the country was beyond my comprehension.

The story dragged on for awhile. Zayala found refuge in Brazil and sat straddling the border for some time in an effort to gain his way back. He failed.

Buy why? Well, thanks to a couple of Wikileaked cables, the saga is at least partially cleared up. It is disgusting.

According to Mary Anastasia O'Grady, in this morning's Wall Street Journal,  it was done to appease Chavez who is the power in the region. He has more allies in Latin America than we do, so...

We wanted Zayala portrayed as he himself wanted - a benevolent leader put upon by the powerful. What twisted logic! Our people on the ground even told State that allegations against him were well founded yet the State Department refused to release the credible analysis.

Here is a case where the little guy won. Honduras, it's people and it's government. Here is a case where the United States looks totally inept in trying to pacify a dictator who hates everything about us. It didn't work. We should be ashamed of ourselves. We aren't. I'm sure they figure most of us have forgotten about it.

Well, I haven't. If this is our foreign policy; where we put expedience toward a petty dictator before our own values, it's no wonder respect for the United States is dwindling.

Does Afghanistan ring a bell? Expedience toward a petty dictator - wanna be? If there is a God on our side, may He guide us! With actions such as these, we surely need it.

Whistle While You Work

I sit pondering the wisdom of the passage of the ban on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". Not because I disagree. I just don't think implementation has been thought through yet. Then there is the pork laden Omnibus Bill that is the Democrats' Christmas gift to us. I've never received a slap in the face from a contemptuous body of people before. And you wonder why our cards say "Baah Humbug"!

So I turn to a lighter note. Well, sort of. It is, on occasion nice to hear about a person so happy he breaks out in song. There is a Salvation Army bell ringer at Fred Meyer's who sings carols. He is a joy to behold. I hope he never tries to yodel.

What has that to do with anything? It seems a man in Austria did just that as he was mowing his lawn. By his own admission it was because he was in a great mood. It seems his next door neighbors are Muslim and were in the middle of prayers when he began. Being rash, they immediately thought he was mocking them by imitating the call to prayer!

I've heard yodeling and I've heard the call to prayer. I detect not even a hint of similarity. Maybe I have a tin ear.

All good sense completely disappeared when a judge fined him 800 Euros because he could have been mocking them. Could is the key here!

I'm sorry. This isn't really a fluff piece. It shows just how paranoid the world is becoming. The Muslims automatically thinking they're being mocked. And a judge fining the not so happy yodeler for something he could have intended. It's insanity!

On second thought, I'd like to hear the bell ringer yodel a carol. It would be a hoot. But it wouldn't sound like one.  Even if it did, would an Owl sue?

Another Casualty Of War

He was hailed as "the best and the brightest", Richard Holbrooke. He wanted to be Secretary of State. If indeed he was the best and the brightest perhaps the post should have been his. It was his calling.

He served this country in the area of foreign policy whenever a Democrat held the Presidency. He did it with toughness and determination. What more could we ask of a public servant? He was a warrior.

He was also a casualty of war. The current war. Though not by an IED or rifle fire, he was killed, never-the-less, by the war. Wars. All of them since Vietnam accumulating in his system until, at 69, his constitution could no longer handle the stress. Frustration, fatigue.

He was the strength in what appears to be shaky foreign policy.  Where the President may appear weak to our adversaries, they know they had to face Holbrooke across the table. He was not warm and fuzzy.  No push over there.

His death leaves a huge hole in our negotiating abilities.  Who will take his place?  Who has the stature and, more importantly, the ability and skill to fill his shoes?  Should we prepare for the Taliban and al Qaeda to test our mettle?  I'd not be surprised.

Whether or not he had a premonition that he might not survive his surgery, I do not know.  But when he told his Pakistani surgeon, before he was sedated, that the war must end, it could not have been more clear how he felt.

It's bad enough we're wasting a generation of young soldiers in a battle with no end.  If it's now to the point of taking the same toll on those on the diplomatic side, perhaps it's time to listen.