Sexual Orientation As Politics Is Disgustingly Over The Top

So basketball player Jason Collins is gay. Do I care?  Not at all.  Does the fact he has admitted to it really warrant a phone call from the President commending him for his courage?  I hardly think so.  Especially if he doesn't want his homosexual orientation to be a very public part of his persona. Well, it is now.

Frankly, if it were me I'd resent it.  I'd resent the idea that someone, especially the President, would try to make political hay out of who I am. I am either gay or I'm not.  I can't do anything about it one way or the other.  Admitting it would be more cathartic than anything else - like anything I might keep hidden about myself that bothers me. We all harbor such things. To me that doesn't equate with courage.

Maybe we're putting the cart before the horse with all this gay marriage business. If people aren't comfortable with themselves in the first place so that it has to become a political issue, maybe that should be the first thing we work on.  All sides.  Not just those who are gay but those of us who aren't who are unaccepting of it - usually due to religious beliefs.  Or just that it's not the norm in our current society.

Besides, he's not the first openly gay athlete. Tennis great Billy Jean King was the first I was aware of.  Then Martina Navratilova.  Female athletes pioneered the way.  Then there is Greg Louganis, the diver.  Does anyone remember the worry when he cracked his head on the diving board?  Oh, probably not.  That was awhile ago. There have been many in a variety of professional sports.

There has been talk for some time now about some NFL players debating whether or not to come out.  What's the problem?  Are you ashamed of who you are?  For those macho types who don't want them in the locker room guess what.  They're already there.  Just like Collins.  Has anything happened?   No.

Frankly, I'm getting tired of the whole issue.  Whatever two consenting adults choose to do in private should remain just that.  Private.  When society can get a grip and go along with that maybe the idea of those two same consenting adults can go ahead and get married won't be so jarring.

As for courage.  Get real.  Leave that accolade for our military who have been left in the Godforsaken outback of places like Afghanistan, going on patrol day in and day out never knowing if they'll be blown to bits before the day is over.  That, my friends, is courage.  While we're properly placing words, let's look at hero too.  Basketball players are not heroes; they're skilled, highly paid athletes.

Those soldiers?  They're the heroes without the pay.  The CIA has directed billions to Karzai while the real heroes return home to no job and food stamps.  Don't talk to me about courage Mr. President.

How Politicians Muck Things Up

It's an age old story.  The Army says it doesn't want a piece of equipment but Congress foists it upon them anyway.  Business as usual.  It irks me though since we can't keep our fleet in the Mediterranean where it is sorely needed but we can make the Army buy tanks it doesn't want.

We're talking about an expenditure of $436 million. It's for the Abrams tank of which we already have 2,400.  That's a lot of tanks for a country that shies away from war.  Do we really need to stockpile tanks?  Especially sine the ones we have are less than three years old?

Even more interesting is that there is but one factory for these tanks.  In Ohio.  A Republican state.  So much for minding taxpayer dollars when the pork is in your district or state.  Well, as I said, business as usual.  The Republicans have such a habit of making themselves look ridiculously hypocritical.

Of course the rational is to save jobs even though a new 2017 version, that we do need, will be ready for production.  So the Army is expected to buy the production between now and 2017 to add to an inventory of 2,400 none of which we need or want then continue buying the new ones.  Think of what those dollars could do?

Of course the sequester is being blamed but this has been in the pipeline long before the sequester went into effect.  And it would cause the unnecessary loss of jobs.  But would it? You see we aren't the only ones who use that tank.  We sell them to foreign governments. The Army gets about four tanks a month.  Guess who else does.  Egypt!  And Saudi Arabia gets five!  Nothing like arming the enemy.

Okay, they tell us if we lose this uniquely qualified group of workers it will be more difficult to ramp up in 2017 with the new model.  Are they just going to switch over without re-tooling? No downtime at all or is it paid time off in that circumstance?  Wow.  I may be wrong here, but it seems to me by some managerial innovation, most could keep employed making the tanks for our foreign customers. After all, they buy the bulk of the production.  Maybe Syria would like to sign on.  They've lost a bunch of them in their civil war.  North Korea is a prospect but they're probably getting theirs from China.

Sarcasm aside, how many jobs have been lost when Solyndra went under and Fisker Karma, the electric car company that's on the verge?  No one wants to see anyone lose their job but it happens.  Those of us not working for government contractors are told to retrain.  Too many end up flipping burgers.  That is a dilemma to be sure, but in reality mightn't those tank jobs be tanked at some point anyway with the belt tightening of the military?

Adding the redundancy of building tanks not wanted nor needed seems to be adding expense, not reducing it. Then what are we going to do with all the extras? The ones that will be obsolete?  Have a yard sale? If that's to be the case if I were Saudi or Egypt I'd make do with my current inventory for  five years then resupply on the cheap.

Of course to be able to do that they'd have to cut back on the activities for which they need tanks in the first place.  That wouldn't be all bad.

Seriously, though, if the politicians would let the military pick and choose what it needs the budget would be in much better shape and most of those highly skilled workers would have marketable skills.

As long as they're highly skilled in ways different than our highly skilled TSA workers!

He Who Hesitates Is Lost - Are We?

There is a book on the market titled The Dispensable Nation. The author is Vali Nasar, the Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

The title caught my eye and disturbs me, but it is becoming the truth.  We are becoming perilously close to being irrelevant due to our lack of a cohesive foreign policy.

I do not know why this President is so afraid of getting involved in world politics considering we're supposed to be the leaders of the free world.  The country that stands as the example of what is good and successful, yet time after time we refuse to involve ourselves where it is important to do so.  The worry is that we will suffer more than the loss of our status if this continues.

I can't help but wonder if the Boston Marathon bombing might be the tip of the iceberg as our enemies come to realize there will be no consequence for unacceptable behavior.  The latest example is Syria and their use of chemical weapons against their own people. The President keeps changing the parameters of what action on their part will bring about one from us.  They are well aware of this and therefore expect none.  It will be left to the rest of an unwilling world because no one will take the moral high road and condemn their actions.

The problem is we didn't have to be in this position.  Had we been less timid when the Syrian uprising began the entire region might well be in a better place than it is now.  Our excuse is we had no idea who the rebels were and what type of government might evolve should they win. It would be the one that wasn't slaughtering thousands upon thousands of civilians.  Of that we can be sure.

But we didn't and they turned elsewhere.  The radical element filled the gap we would not so now we really don't know what a new government would look like. Had we lent aid before we'd have some say in what that new government would be.  Now we can only wait and watch.

Israel no longer fully trusts us nor does Jordan.  They are the last two pro American countries in the region. So here we are.  Basically dispensable.  If they must they will do what they have to without us. We remain unwilling to involve ourselves on any level other than empty rhetoric.

Will we pay a price?  Possible a big one.  Our national interests in the region are not being attended to and won't be until we engage ourselves.  One could wish they will leave us alone because we don't, but Boston has shown us we are still considered infidels and in their way of thinking need to be destroyed.

I wonder if after we are tempting fate.  Will they become more and more bold?  Will we suffer more and more incidents on American soil?  Will shakey allies come to our aid if needed?  Would they even be able to?

I expect we're on the verge of finding out if the adage 'what goes around comes around' is true.  After all we've treated others as if they're dispensable.  They may just decide to return the favor. After all, what's in it for them?

A Citizen In Search Of Her Nation

Spring has sprung and I've been busy this past week working in the yard.  I thought the warm breeze and sunshine would boost my spirits, but alas, I'd come in at days end and turn on the news.  So much for my mood.

I listened to the interviews with George W. Bush with interest.  I was rather taken with his view on the Presidency.  That his goal was to keep the nation safe, promote freedom around the world and make the best judgements he could for the country given the information he had at any particular time. To move forward as best he could the things that mattered knowing the job would be left to those following.  Not change the nation to his own image of what it should be.  Regardless of party and the way of doing things, that's what President's used to do  - up until now.

I know what's happened so I'm not going to harp on it.  I know it's going to be a long slog back if ever. I know that no amount of sunshine will take away the sadness that at times overwhelms me.

Here's what I think. When the department of Homeland Security has more ammunition than the army, there is something wrong.  When the Administration lies about the circumstances leading to the death of four Americans in the service of their country there is something wrong.  When the Secretary of State lies about signing a denial for extra security which might have saved those particular four there is something wrong.

When our agencies got it so wrong on the people involved in the Boston Marathon bombing there is something wrong.

When the Attorney General says a path to citizenship for people in this country illegally there is a civil right something wrong.

When Congress is scrambling to opt out of Obamacare for themselves and their staff yet the rest of us will have to live with it there is something wrong.

Maybe the worst is when the President continually draws lines in the sand for unacceptable behavior yet allows those who challenge it get away with it time after time there is something wrong.

When the press is more interested in seeing who can bring the most outrageous guests to the Correspondents dinner rather than report the news there is something wrong.

No wonder people want their guns.

You see, this isn't the nation I grew up in and never expected to grow old in. Elections have become popularity contests, the candidates less and less experienced or qualified.  I daresay so are the voters.

As one gets older there are many things you miss about your youth. With me it's the nation that had been mine.

Confusion Reigns

As a country we are certainly in a quandry.  We find ourselves in mess after mess all because those who govern, of both parties, try to be too cute by half.  What follows is confusion.

Take the bills Congress is passing.  Thousands of pages with regulations to follow.  So quick with those regulations without the resources to enforce them nor the insight as to what the unintended consequences may be.  Have you ever heard of an unintended consequence for the good?

We had it with health care.  We're facing it with immigration reform. How do you reconcile a path to citizenship for people who have entered the country illegally or over stayed their legal permission therefore becoming criminal?  Where is the line between right and wrong?  How convoluted will this become?  Will it be enforceable at all?

Take the recently failed gun legislation.  They couldn't pass enhanced background checks. Of all of it that should have been the most elementary.  Yet there is reason for legitimate debate on the type of weapons allowed and their capacities.  What's so wrong with recognizing the founding fathers never dreamed some of these weapons would even be developed what's more in so many hands? Did they intend citizen militia members should be allowed any weapon carte blanche? I'd like a drone and a flame thrower.

Both last night and today I've heard pundits suggest we should deny all Muslim students from entering the country. I suppose Congress has the power to do so but what about those already here?  Are we going to deport them because they're Muslim?  And what about those who are citizens?  I don't think we could or should.  It's a quandry, though.  That "M" word.

To escape the 'whys' of situations that are either embarrassing or difficult to sort out seems to be leaning toward, "What difference does it make?"  Hillary started it during the Benghazi hearings.  It worked up to now.  What difference does it make?  We'd like to know who was responsible for murdering four Americans and bring them to justice, that's what.

Sandy Hook?  The killer was disturbed so let's restrict guns.  He's dead so it's now moot, but if he and his mother were both what we'd consider abnormal, why did so few people know?  Have we taken privacy too far?  Isn't a lot of the information available on Facebook contradictory to HIPPA?

Boston.  With all the evidence at hand Chris Matthews wonders if it's really important to know why they did it?  If this is what passes for reasoned thought these days, no wonder everyone is so confused.

Mike Bloomberg, who I disagree with on a lot, is right when he says the country has changed and it's not going to go back to the good old days.  Nor is the world. But let's focus on the country.

Of all the western nations that are hated by extremists, the U.S. is the most pervasive.  Think about it.  Movies.  Where in the world can you not find a McDonalds?  Our music.  Our dress. Our personalities and the public, often tawdry, display of their private lives.  It's an assualt on the sensibilities of those who find such in your face exposure beyond acceptability.  Our intrusion into places we're not wanted.

They react by challenging our standards.  When they find there are no consequences, not even a slap on the wrist, they become more and more bold.  Then we get a Boston and are all aghast.

None of that is confusing.  What is confusing is that by looking in a mirror we see victims looking back at us. Clueless as to what's brought it all about. Does it make a difference?  You bet it does.