To Go Or Not To Go ~ That Is The Question

Nero fiddled while Rome burned.  Obama plays golf while the mid-east erupts.  I hope he got a lot of thinking done on the links this past week end.

However, if he's really considering sending in special forces to help with the Iraqi situation I'd advise him to think again.

Not one American life should be put at risk for al-Malaki and the thugs in his government. He had his chance and blew it before the last American was even off Iraqi soil. Now he wants our help to ward off ISIS, an even worse bunch of thugs.

Any other administration might be able to come together with Iran to help the Shiite cause without paying a price to the Iranians but I don't trust this government to do so.  Heck, we can't even spring a Marine wrongly jailed in neighboring Mexico or keep the Central American countries from flooding our borders with their kids.

Do you really think we can quell the violence in Iraq?  Everything we had going for us during the Iraqi war is long gone.  We no longer have intelligence capabilities, personnel or equipment.  The last thing we should do is re-enter the conflict. Especially since the President follows no counsel except his own.

Al-Malaki sold out to the Iranians a long time ago.  That was how he was able to maintain power.  They can bail him out if it is to be.  Never-the-less, Iraq will never be the same.  Shiia and Sunni will forever be struggling for what's left of what's already gone.  ISIS will continue to regroup and gain strength.  If they do cede any hard won territory it will be a bloody battle of which we'd best not be a part.
 
Let the current participants fight to the death. Last terrorist standing wins. Until that fight is over we're relatively safe.  Everyone is fighting for dominance at the moment.

That gives us time to actually come up with a strategy with which to move forward.  Hopefully we'll have a new president in time.  One who understands the office of President is not a personal paradise in which to indulge in whimsical activity while leaving the rest of the world to wonder at what is now considered, by this President and administration, par. 

Sacrifice Wasted

Along with a path of destruction are the beheaded bodies of civilians and soldiers of what was once Iraq.  Within a week I'll wager it will either belong to Iran if they get there in time, or ISIS, the Islamic extremists in pursuit of their Caliphate.

Our President has said he has asked his national security team for options to help what's left of the floundering government.  After options are determined he will decide which to follow.  There is no one in the world that believes he will take any action before it's too late.  It's already too late.  Iraq, as we've long known it, is gone.  Just as is Ukraine.

I am both angry and sad.  Sad for the civilian populations of both countries.  Angry at our government for having abdicated it's position of leadership and even more angry for the ultimate slap in the face the situation in Iraq is to the men and women of our military who sacrificed so much.

Every time I watch a plea for support for the Wounded Warriors organization I marvel at the strength and courage of not only the warriors but of their families, both left with a life forever changed.

The conflict was begun for all the wrong reasons and ended for the wrong reasons.  It was begun in a mass of bad intelligence and confusion over weapons of mass destruction muddled with regime change and revenge. There was nothing noble about any of it.

It was ended by cutting and running rather than exerting the necessary effort to win.  There is nothing noble about that either.  Neither are the American way - or what used to be the American way.

Then there are those warriors.  How many dead?  How many wounded beyond repair both physically and mentally?  Multiplied by the irreparable harm done to the families.

For what?  Politics, misplaced ideology and under informed egos.  Yet go they did because they were honor bound to do so.  They fought even when they knew the best advice wasn't being heeded.  They fought and continue to do so in yet another country while a deserter's family is feted by the commander in chief. What reason is there in any of this?

What reason to sacrifice one more of our soldiers for the beheading, child kidnapping happy extremists?  The time to protect our interests in that region of the world has long passed. There aren't even any pieces left to pick up.

It's a call to future administrations to choose the most knowledgeable people possible for high level responsibility rather than political and personal cronies.  It's a call for our people to do the same in elections.  No more "cool".  No more giant personalities skating through life with a vacant sign where their brain should be.

We have two more years of this administration to endure.  It's bad enough our warriors have to watch their sacrifices nullified.  It's even worse they come home to find the America they chose to defend is also being nullified.

Kids Should Not Be Used As Political Pawns

It has long been rumored that the lax border security is being perpetuated so as many potential Democratic voters as possible get into the country.  The theory being that once the President gives them amnesty they will be so grateful they will of course vote Democratic.

This begs a question.  Just being here "legally" does not give one the right to vote or is automatic citizenship to be part of the deal?

That brings me to the current influx of children, being brought across the border illegally, that have so overwhelmed facilities in Texas they're being shipped to Arizona and onto other states.  I understand they are mostly South American and that their parents have allowed this to get them out of harms way.  I cannot comprehend conditions being such that I would turn my children over to strangers and ship them to a foreign land in hope they'll be cared for.  This is absolutely beyond my comprehension.

So what happens now?  They cannot be held in detention facilities forever or is allowing their parents to follow next on the agenda?  As soon as amnesty is guaranteed no doubt. Do they have their coyotes lined up?  In the meantime who is going to care for them, feed and clothe the kids?  The U.S. tax payer of course.

More importantly who is going to nurture them and teach them?  They've already started their young lives by being forced to break laws.  Maybe they don't comprehend that just yet.  What happens though when those kids want their Mom or Dad?  How do you explain it to them?

This can't possibly be a way of garnering votes for the future can it? If so it's insane.  Instead of lolling around his wife's estate in France perhaps Secretary of State Kerry should be in South America addressing this problem.

Somehow it sticks in my craw that we can trade 5 known terrorist leaders away yet allow these abandoned children into our country to basically fend for themselves.  Watch for the formation of gangs where they'll band together for one another with a common language and need.  Watch out for increased crime as they become adults and cannot find work other than menial labor - if that.

The land of opportunity?  The administration has a skewed vision of it if they even believe it.  It is questionable.  My vision of it? It disappeared when this administration was returned to office for a second term. 

Hannity's Histrionics

Why is it so many talking heads have guests that are far superior to them in intellect?  You can always tell when they have one on. The conversation rapidly deteriorates into either a monologue by the host disallowing the guest to get a word in edgewise.  The shouting matches where noting of value is said by either party usually has as a guest someone of the same mentality but a different viewpoint.

What really irks me is when a host tries to put words in the guests mouth to make it appear he or she is in agreement. FOX's Hannity is one of the most egregious. I don't watch him often because of his intellectual shortcomings but last night  for some reason I did.  It just reconfirmed I am correct.

Of course the subject was Bowe Bergdahl.  I don't know what the end story will be of this misadventure but he may well wish he was back in Afghanistan.  There are so many stories swirling around I don't think anyone is yet able to sort out which are true and which are not.  Hannity, however,  has tried him,  found him guilty of everything from deserting to collaborating with the enemy, and is ready to hang him.

James Rosen has been doing some excellent reporting, as he does, on what isn't known and the implications of just that.  When one is in captivity, being held by those you were sent to fight, could you become disillusioned with them just as you had your own country and the reasons you were sent to fight?  I would guess so.

Would you do everything in your power to stay alive, even claiming to join forces with them?  I would suggest you might.  The psychological nuances of a person in such circumstances are vast and at this point we haven't enough information to make a judgement. Hannity tried mightily to reshape Rosen's report and failed miserably.  Yet he continued the same mantra over and over ad nauseam.

Perhaps Bergdahl did walk away from his post leaving behind his weapon, body armor and a damning letter. What happened next?  That's where we are at a standstill. We don't know.  The only one who does, for sure, is Bergdahl and those he was with.  They won't tell us anything.  We don't know how truthful Bergdahl will be in his debriefing but I trust we have skilled people handling it and will be able to sort the wheat from the chaff.

I won't even get into the behavior of his father other than to say I have no idea what ends I might go to if he were my son.

Could Bergdahl have been compromised?  Could he be a one man cell?  Possibly.  But for Sean Hannity to make that judgement and try to convince all those to whom he speaks that his words, and his alone, are the truth and should be considered such is disgusting and unworthy of any on air broadcast, even FOX.

He may be a talking head but it's a damn empty one.

All It Takes Is Money

 Money, money, money.  Money makes the world go round. I wish it wasn't so but could it, in some cases,  be justified?

Last night on Lou Dobbs, Catherine Engelbrecth, the President of True the Vote was addressing, once again, the IRS fiasco.  Frustrated with the inability to extract information from all the parties involved, the organization has taken a rather unusual step.  They've offered $1 million for information that will bring those involved to justice.  A bounty if you will.

Wow.  It sounds like this organization means business.  If what Ms. Englebrecht says is true, people have been coming out of the wood work with information.  I hope this is so for a number of reasons, however the least of which is the idea that one has to be paid to come forward. What, does the IRS have a code of silence like the gangs in Chicago?  Probably.

On the other hand, if this is what it takes I will give it a qualified approval.  The information gleaned must be thoroughly vetted.

What I see as the most positive is this organization, which claims to be non-partisan, is taking the early steps of taking our country back.  For this I applaud them. Even if those with information feel the need to be paid for it, it's a start.  And too, if the numbers coming forward are as numerous as she claims,  a high percentage of them know they will receive no payment.  Maybe clearing their conscience for withholding information  is payment enough.

Too bad all those who have been attacked by government entities (the IRS, the EPA, etc.) don't have the funds to pay out.  Most can't even pay lawyers to take up their cause. Maybe this is the beginning of a crack in the dam. With time and pressure it will grow and ultimately break.

Along the same line of thought, let's hope the resignation today of Eric Shinseki does not end the probe into practices at the VA.  He may have been part of the problem but it started and mostly remains way below his level.

When the adage that secretaries run corporations and Sargents run the army, be sure low and mid level union protected bureaucrats run the government.

May the independent, non-affiliated watch dog groups continue their good work. They've certainly got lots of bones to pick!