The Young Turks Vs. The Old Turkeys

Can you Republicans name these men?  They are your leadership in the Senate.  When was the last time you saw any of them making the rounds of the talk shows? Can you even name them?

I'll bet you can identify Rand Paul and Ted Cruz without any problem.  Every once in awhile when I stop ranting long enough to think things through, I realize that the future of the Republican Party is with men like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. I sometimes don't agree with them on their policy ideas nor their approach but at least they are out there forging the way. Often, too, we see them tweaking their thinking as they learn. That's a good thing.  Seeing a better way is positive.

When was the last time you saw the leadership out there forging anything?  Okay, McConnell has a challenge for his seat coming up.  I hope he shows more enthusiasm to his constituents than he does to his TV audiences.  And John Thune, in the upper left corner, is he asleep while the minority leader speaks or is he merely resting his eyes? At one time I thought he might be Presidential material but who is he?

Could any of them filibuster like Rand Paul did?  Do any of them have the passion? I'm not seeing it.

There was a time that the Presidential nominee, win or lose, was considered the head of the party at least for a time.  Mitt Romney has been missing in action almost since the day after the polls closed.

While the House Republicans are divided at least their fighting for what they believe.  You hear them.  You see them.  Jason Chaffetz, Darrell Issa, Trey Gowdy, Kevin McCarthy to name a few.  They have the easier job of it because they hold the majority. The Pauls, Cruz, Mike Lees and Marco Rubios have it tougher fighting the entrenched Democrats.

They're going to make errors in judgement.  Over play their hands.  In the Senate who do they have to guide them?  McCain and Graham, two old war horses who are pretty good at over playing their own hands and they should know better.  The leadership is no where to be seen.

The difference may well be generational, time served or a combination of the two.  I see McCain and Graham as trying desperately to remain relevant.  I see the others with a passion for what they believe their constituents are telling them and a passion to do right for them.

I'm pretty sure I can say the future is in the hands of the young turks.  As for the old turkeys - well  maybe  by Thanksgiving 2014 a lot of those tough old birds will have gobbled their last in elected office.

Ted Cruz, You're Bleeding The Republicans Dry!

Scratch the surface and all politicians are the same.  Take Ted Cruz for example.  He's just like Obama in many ways.  It's his way or the highway and no one will suffer more than the American people and his party.  For what?  His opinion. His opinion that is so superior to all others.

Defund Obamacare or shut down the government.  You know, that's not a fair trade.  Just like so many of Obama's dictates.  But lets look at it.  In truth, not as many are against Obamacare as a whole as Cruz and his ilk would have us believe.  What most object too is that it's being shoved down their throats even though there is much that needs to be reconfigured and the blatant miscalculations that were represented as truths.

Politicians seem predisposed to making a big splash to fix what's wrong rather than taking baby steps.  It is the law of the land.  And yes, Obama has tweaked it under dubious legality.  But why not amend it.  Amend it so there are no carve outs for anyone.  Not the unions, not the largest of corporations and especially not the Congress and their staffs.

Why not amend it so the work week goes back to being 40 hours instead of 30 which is putting so many into financial straits.  Why not amend it to delay the individual mandates along with the corporate ones that Obama has already delayed. You get the idea.

This would make the Republicans look like the paragon of reason, a willingness to compromise and heroes to those who will be most affected.

Why must these politicians tilt at windmills?  Ego.  Ambition.  Both, when misguided lead to oblivion.  Mr. Cruz fancies himself President one day.  He's a rock star in Iowa at the moment.  How many of those Iowa rock stars went on to become President?  Palin?  Bachmann?  Santorum? Caine? Perry? Who?

If he had a Republican Senate behind him and the numbers to over ride a veto I could understand his fervor, but he doesn't.  The Senate will take out the defunding and send the bill back to the House.  Will they put it back in and return it to the Senate in another game of chicken?  Time will tell, but I wish Speaker Boehner would get tough with the Tea Party types who are holding the Republicans, the House and the Country hostage. Deprive them of committee chiarmanships or whatever House discipline measures are available.  Party politics is a team sport and the quarterback calls the plays.  That would be Boehner.  Your not a team player then the prize passes don't come your way.

We all know that if the roles were reversed the Republicans would be screaming bloody murder. This isn't the way government is supposed to work.  In fact it doesn't work this way.

Shutting down the government is Republican suicide.  Those who can't understand this should not be re-elected.  We complain about other countries who have petty dictators as heads of state.  We're not so very different except we have a lot of them.  Each and every member of the governing bodies who refuses to listen and negotiate is just that.  A petty dictator.  That includes the President.

No wonder the rest of the world finds us laughable. We don't even know how to make it work!

When Foreign Policy Is Foreign To The Policy Makers

It seems to me we still have no foreign policy.  While the Syrians have handed over their list of chemical weapons sites I can't help but wonder what's next.  Why is Iran all of a sudden getting so chummy by hinting they might talk and offering to moderate a peace process in Syria.  Russia seems to be coordinating all this nicey, nicey stuff and I don't trust it one bit.  I hope our government doesn't either.

This is so unlike our adversaries I wonder if they've come up with some new type of weapon or strategy of which we have no idea.  Therefore making nice about the current situation will have no lasting consequence. If we have a foreign policy we'd have a contingency.  Just in case. Do we?  I doubt it.

If indeed we don't it may be better for those who are warring. We've done Afghanistan no favors by decimating their country, losing the battle with the Taliban and pulling out before business is finished.

I've taken outgoing President Karzi to task multiple times for his corruption and complaints about the truths of war - that innocents get killed.  On the other hand, his frustration is understandable because in many ways we're leaving his country more vulnerable than it was before we went looking for bin Laden and ended up trying to appease the Taliban and the war lords.

They, the Taliban, have become far more aggressive as we've begun pulling our troops.  Though coalition forces are still suffering casualties, the percentage is far lesser than those being suffered by the still under trained Afghan army and police forces. Those casualties are three times higher than they were in 2010 and 2011.

Karzai reads those casualty reports but does not release them for concerns about morale. He mourns the fact they are all Afghans and he sees it getting worse, not better.

You see, as we leave we are also pulling our assets.  No more state of the art field hospitals.   No more med evac choppers.  Yet the enemy hasn't any fewer roadside bombs or ied's with which to attack.  And attack they do, under trained soldiers who are now deserting rather than facing what to them seems certain death.

Unintended consequences?  Not really.  Just a lack of sound policy and no forethought nor will to remedy it.

The lesson learned for this country, and I thing we've learned it even if the government hasn't.  Don't get into a war unless and until you know what you're doing and why. We're not the only ones who are hurt by cavalier decisions.

In An Aaron Alexis What Exactly Are We Looking For?

James, Holmes, Adam Lanza, Jared Loughner, Nidal Hasan and now Aaron Alexis.

What do these men have in common? They all had behavioral problems and patterns that warranted scrutiny.  They all snapped and killed massive numbers of unsuspecting victims.

It's ironic to me that we've been having a huge debate on privacy and governmental over reach yet not one of these people were "pinged" for untoward behavior. I suppose it's because nothing on their computers, cell phones or twitter accounts had the buzz words that would have indicated they were terrorists. Yet they are as surely as a radical Muslim.

The gun control advocates have their band wagon back and are already playing their tune but I don't think it will go any further than it has before.  Not even the most benign measures.  Americans are just not into it.

I think the debate needs to go back to privacy issues.  How many of us have met people who seem just a little off to us.  Maybe something we can't quite put our finger on but off putting never-the-less.  Should we pay a little more attention?  Or shy away which is the more natural instinct?

Every man on that list had red flags flapping in the faces of their acquaintances, bosses, friends and many times even family.  Yet nothing was done to forewarn authorities or their work places.  They just slipped through the cracks pretty much unnoticed until they struck.  Each and every one could have been stopped before it got to that point but weren't.

Political correctness?  Or discomfort with the situation? Sometimes I wonder if people like this are crying for help with their oddities just as a potential suicide victim does when he threatens to kill himself.  I don't know.

I do know that when those in the military are forgiven their misadventures or have a blind eye turned toward them we have a problem.  Where else in our society is there a structure that allows for scrutiny more then the military?

It's harder for families.  Even if you have a suspicion you don't want to admit to it. In school?  Don't the instructors and counselors have an obligation to their students, their communities and for that matter themselves to go to the proper authorities if someone is troublingly suspect?  But how do you know when that is?  It's a tough call.  But it's all an integral part of the problem that seems to be increasing in magnitude.

Guns are a means to an end.  I don't doubt for a minute pressure cooker bombs or the like would be used in lieu of them if guns were less available.

As our nation grows in numbers more and more unbalanced will be roaming our streets. How to curb their threat has no easy answer.  It would help, though, if we could understand why what would seem a minor grievance to most of us moves them to kill.  Kill. Therein lies the basis of the problem.  To date there is no cure.  Not even more gun laws.

Mr. President, Stop Beating The Drums Of War

I cannot believe that the President is already taking credit for something he had nothing to do with other than to not forbid John Kerry to talk with Russia.  That the threat of force has brought about this impasse with Syria.

Come on. He was no where near getting Congressional approval for credible force nor was the force he proposed exactly credible. A pinprick?  Unbelievably small?

That Putin grabbed onto a flip statement by Kerry and parlayed it into a framework for action is all we've gotten and all we're likely to get. Advantage Putin.  Advantage Syria.

We have no idea what  discussions Putin has had with Syria nor what they agreed to.  We do know Syria's civil war continues as well as the game of hide and seek with chemical weapons.

We know military action will be off the table in any U.N. Resolution as well as our arming of the rebels.  Putin will see to that.  So what is it we really have?  A frame work.  For what?

So why, oh why, are you trying to convince Iran that diplomacy paired with the threat of force will make them give up their nuclear program.  Especially since Putin is already in arms talk with them.

You undercut your own Secretary of State with your dithering.  You have completely demoralized the Free Syrian Army who desperately need weapons and our own military is exhausted with trying to keep up with your will we or won't we.  Congress is skeptical at best and the American people have probably tuned you out.

It is unbelievably unbecoming for you to be taking credit for what little has been accomplished.  If indeed anything has.  I'd think you'd have the good graces to keep your mouth shut or if you have to talk, give Kerry an "A" for effort! To you I give an "F" for false  and probably foolish bravado.

Not long ago when asked if you could change your approval rating with a speech you said you were good, but not that good.  Then you added you were still, pretty good.

No sir.  Sorry. You are not.