Assad, The Benevolent Devil

A short while ago I came across an AP report that stated France has confirmed that sarin nerve gas was used at least once by Syrian regime.  Britain has also said samples from Syria that they tested were also positive for sarin.

How they got their samples is unclear, but for the sake of argument lets assume it's true.  If so the al Assad regime violated Obama's red line.  We also know that no actions will be taken.  I've come to accept that as long as this administration holds office there will be no punitive action taken against any country no matter how egregious their actions.

The other shoe will fall when it will. No amount of ranting on my part is going to change what is. The madness in Syria has gone beyond the pale.  It's sad though.  There was a time, when the uprising first began, that we could have given aid to the rebels in some form without actually putting troops on the ground.  The conflict could well be over and we could have had a say as to who would be the new leadership in return for the aid.

The opportunity is long gone.  We've watched an emboldened Iran, Russia and Hezbollah come to the aid of  al Assad and in so doing prolong the bloody conflict while giving Islamic radicals the opportunity to infiltrate and take over the ranks of the rebels.  Why not?  You take help from where ever it comes.

Now the region and the world is facing an end much like Egypt when we threw the imperfect Mubarak under the bus and ended up with the Muslim brotherhood. That's their problem, they'll have to sort it out.

We've come full circle it seems. Remember when then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed to Bob Schieffer that Assad could be a reformer?  The term 'reformer' might not be the best choice but sentiment is now in his corner.  Before the unrest he protected Christians, their churches and the Syrian Jewish community such as it was. The country was secular. He, along with his supporters, are vehemently opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood. Membership in Syria would have gotten you executed.

If the outcome goes against al Assad we know what's coming.  Israel will be annihilated, Jordon  as we know it too.  Then what?  An even stronger foothold from which Islamic radicals will be able to expand their territory.

It does not bode well for the region nor the rest of the world as that radicalism creeps across Africa and further into Europe than it already is.

Will we support al Assad? No. That's a given.  Can Iran and Russia save him? Perhaps - that has yet to play out.  Will we support the rebels? No.  We have a habit of picking the wrong sides anyway.

The really disappointing part to me is that we might have been able to help prevent the escalation of the war at it's outset yet we chose to do nothing.  We chose to not even try.  We have abdicated our place in the world.  I hope we can live with the decision.

What The Politicians Would Have Done

When I first saw the story about this little tea pot I thought poor J.C. Penney, they can't get a break.

First they fire their CEO because of dwindling sales and stagnant merchandise.  They hire a new man who brings out one of the most outstanding sales flyers I've ever seen only to find their customer base is as stagnant as their merchandise and had no taste for one set of prices and a bit of flair.

So they bring back the former CEO, the old advertising, the old sales and maybe the old merchandise.  This tea pot with it's sleek lines and ergonomic handle may be the exception.  At least until it was placed in a bill board ad and people driving by saw everything but a tea pot.  They saw Hitler!  The bill board has been taken down.  Pity.  I think it's a neat pot.  If I can find one I just may have to buy it to set next to my copy of Little Black Sambo.

Then I got to thinking how timely it would have been a couple of years ago when the tea party was first getting it's footing and all those against their desire for fiscal responsibility and small government were trying to demonize them any way they could! What more could they want than a tea pot that looks like Hitler!

The IRS wouldn't have had to go after conservative organizations with tea party or patriot  in their names, they'd just have had to look at the pot as proof that all things related to tea represented evil.

What else can we read into it.  The bell - the tea partiers are a bunch of ding dongs?  The body of the pot looks a bit like a helmet which could represent war - the war they were waging on said big government and fiscal irresponsibility.  And the black stripe in the center - it's really a highlight I believe but for the sake of speculation let's say it's an "I" representing the individuals that banded together to make the tea party a force with which to be reckoned, at least for a while. Man, it's an ad man's dream!

After I wrap this up I think I'll go into the kitchen and start looking at all my appliances and utensils to see how much of the political spectrum I can find.

To Michael Graves Design, I think it's great.  To those of you who saw evil and complained enough to have the ad removed, get a life.  To J.C. Penney, put the ad back and replace the words 'bells' and 'whistles' with 'catcalls' and 'hisses'.

The Way It Ought To Be

You know, I think we need more politicians like Chris Christie.  He has made yet another appearance with the President and has received yet another onslaught of criticism from Republicans.

 My advice to them is get over it. Actually these two men who are so very different from one another may actually like each other.  Gasp!  I think, if true, it's great and good for the country.

It shows that two politicians from opposite ends of the spectrum can get along.  And get things done.  Maybe not as fast as we'd like, but get them done never-the-less.  Nothing ever gets done in a timely manner if Washington is involved.  Don't blame the President.  Blame Congress and the civil servants who work with them - or in many cases against them.

Christie must be used to criticism by now.  He's made some tough decisions from a Republican stand point but good ones for his state.  That, after all, is what it's all about.  What's good for his state.

Congress should take note. The Republicans cannot blame the Democrats for everything if they aren't also willing to compromise.  Neither party has a monopoly on what is the best policy or the best way it should work.  I'm not even sure if as individuals they are as partisan as they appear but rather are succumbing to leadership pressure  from those who seem to have their own agendas.

Strange. Career government workers and appointees under cabinet level are having a fine time running amok.  That's because too many cabinet level officials lack the skills necessary to lead, they achieve their positions as political payback.  The most egregious of reasons. The result is ugly.

On the other hand you have a governor who is willing to look at all sides and make both popular and unpopular decisions based on the needs of his state. Will it hurt his chances for a presidential run in 2016?  If it does, we're nuts.  He personifies the politician who is willing to look beyond partisan politics to get things done.  It has worked.  And he's big enough to thank the man who made a lot of it possible.

Stay on the diet Mr. Christie.  I'd like to see you run.  You're what we need.  A leader who not only can lead, but isn't afraid to do so.

The War Is Over, The President Says So

Oh how I wish it were true.  Redefining the premise, however, doesn't make it go away.

The President has been trying to convince us the war on terror is over since the demise of bin Laden.  Then came Benghazi.  Along with a myriad of different terminology to define the same thing - the fight against radical Islamists who are out to destroy us.

If it were only as easy as he makes it seem.  I can't argue that the death of bin Laden weakened al Qaeda as a large, well structured organization.  What it didn't do is take out all the 'wanna bes' and affiliate groups that are still out there.

If he truly believes his own rhetoric I expect first and foremost to see the TSA totally and completely disbanded. There is no more intrusive reminder of the war on terror than the TSA searches at airports. I would expect to see no one left behind in Afghanistan.  Let them fend for themselves.  There will be no U.S. intervention in Syria of any degree.  Iran will be free to pursue whatever it is it's pursuing in the way of nuclear power.  Israel can stand alone. North Korea can test it's warheads to it's hearts content.   There will be no U.S. intervention.

Should someone get to close to home we'll just flick them off like an irritating insect and get on with other things  Like quelling the disquiet of a dysfunctional government. The prisoners at Gitmo will return to their home countries and reup.

The intent is what we all hope for, but merely saying so doesn't make it true.  The disenfranchised ones and twos can kill just as effectively as an organized band.  Just look at Boston and now London.  An aside about London for gun control advocates. Had Britain's gun laws been more like ours there's a good chance one of the bystanders would have been armed and could have prevented the slaughter.  As is, they could do more than watch without putting themselves at risk.  Just saying...

What remains now that the war is over is a region of the world slowly but surely being subjugated to radical Islamic rule.  Without checks it will spread deeper into the West.  We've signaled the go ahead for whatever they have in mind, we're through with it.  We no longer acknowledge the culture of war or terrorism.

We'll continue to cut our troops, our armaments and our security. Do answers on Benghazi no longer matter because there is no more war as the President defines it?  Does it matter we're still bringing home dead from Afghanistan?  Does it matter that the circle surrounding the Boston Marathon bombers continues to get larger?  Perhaps not.  To me however, the only thing that's changing are the tactics.  Call it what you will, when enemies are determined to kill us, no matter why, uniformed or not, it's still war.  It does matter and it's not over.

Hiding Behind The Flag

Who ever thought an enemy could hide behind the American flag.  We all should know the story of the Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, the army psychiatrist who while wearing Muslim garb killed thirteen and injured another 32 in a shooting spree on base.

This is one more government scandal that continues unresolved.  The shootings took place in November of 2009. Hasan has yet to come to trial.

We already know those injured have been refused purple hearts.  It's important to remember why.  Because they weren't injured in combat.  It seems the wrong words are always having their definition changed. As one of the wounded said it sure felt like combat.

It's hard to understand why this rampage hasn't been determined to be terrorism when an incident like the Boston Marathon bombing is.  This one is being considered "work place violence" which puts the entire process in a different light.

I'm not going to go into all the details about military versus civilian law but let it suffice to say it has had a tremendously deleterious impact on the wounded. You see, in some one's infinite wisdom the classification of work place violence doesn't only affect the awarding of medals, but also the pay and benefits of those wounded.

Had it been declared terrorism they would have been afforded the same pay and benefits as those wounded in combat but as is they receive no combat medical benefits, no purple heart retirement payments nor combat related pay.  Meanwhile they struggle to put groceries on their tables and gas in their cars. Remember these are active duty military serving their country. Okay, the devil is in the details, but it seems to be all the benefit is going to the shooter.

What makes it worse is that the good Major retains his rank and his pay having banked some $278,000 since his rampage.

None of it makes any sense and it is an outrage.  I wonder how recruiting efforts are going these days.  Oh, yes, I guess they're holding because young men and women can't get jobs any where else!

While we're sorting out who hung the men in Benghazi out to dry and why the perpetrators of that attack are being pursued as civilians in Libya rather than terrorists, and the IRS over reach and the Justice Department over reach with the AP, let's add this to the list.

Nothing is as it should be any more.  We know the news is slanted no matter which outlets we favor.  To accept that the President gets his information from the same sources is frightening.  One thing we can be sure, it's not FOX.  That's probably more comforting to many of you than it is to me.

No wonder his people don't know or can't remember anything.  No story comes out the same two days in a row.

Being the pessimist I've become, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I don't think it has.  I believe there is more to come including what our adversaries might choose to do while we struggle with chaos.

I wish we'd handle our governmental  disasters the same way we handle natural disasters where we come together as one and fight our way back. For that we don't need leaders, just each other. It's time to broaden our scope.