Power ~ The Universal Curse

Why is it once one gains power it is so corrupting.  Perhaps it's because it takes corruption to maintain it and without it one becomes just another one of many.

We see it in our own government. Elections are no longer to elect people to do the people's bidding, it's to gain and retain power.  Given that we are far more likely to turn into an Iraq than an Iraq into us.

Consider what we are.  A group of autonomous states joined under a central government with the purpose of solidifying the nation as a unit, maintaining across border infrastructure and protecting the whole against potential outside aggression.

Okay, this is simplistic, but I'm thinking countries like Iraq could benefit from studying such a structure.  If not us, then the European Union.  Yes, we both have our member issues but on the whole it has been a system advantageous to each of the parts.

Consider all the ethnic minorities in Iraq that would like their own piece of the pie.  The Kurds have been the most successful at carving theirs out but there are many others including the Christians. Why not let them carve out their piece of Iraq, set up their states and send representatives to the central government in Baghdad?

Because the power brokers in Baghdad would lose some of their grip. In a skewed point of view, even the graft and corruption would be evened out. That aside, maybe they could all live under one flag more peacefully if each group could have that piece of the pie.  It could be put to practice in Afghanistan too.  Maybe even in Ukraine.

We're fortunate that here we can move from state to state without animosity but you have to admit each had it's own characteristics which are held dear by those who call it home.  So far we haven't gone to war with each other though there certainly are rumblings by some about seceding from the mother union.

Just a thought.  After all, it's really what the IS wants.  It's own Caliphate. The hatred on both sides stems from resentment of and revenge on those who refuse them for the radicals and rupugnance and fear of their tactics on the side of those who oppose them.

It is impossible at this point to contemplate allowing them their Caliphate. Their extremism has gone beyond redemption.  But maybe it's not too late for other countries to re-examine their centralized power bases and consider some restructuring.

Dream on, Dogwalk, dream on.

I'd Like To See Ben Carson Run

I've been following Ben Carson for some time now.  I have a great deal of respect for him.  I would like him to get in the race for President..

Actually the Republicans could use a whole slate of Ben Carsons.  Why?  Because when he talks he actually says something, means what he says and knows what he's talking about.

What I really like about him is he's the least political, in manner, of any of the Presidential wannabes. While not the most dynamic of speakers, he begs you to listen by what he has to say. He's not afraid to address issues.  He's not afraid to criticize when criticism is due. He speaks common sense.  He readily admits he's not all knowing but seems willing to listen to a broad base of ideas, not just a close inner circle. He has ideas on how to get things done. And he loves our country, he doesn't disdain it.

Do I think he can win?  I don't.  Still, we really need him to prod those more likely to win to quit spinning and in lieu of that make them defend their stand or lack thereof.

I feel bad that I don't think he can win.  Hopefully my mind will be changed after the mid-terms are over and 2016 comes more into focus. Should he be able to win, however, he'll still find before him a mighty challenge.  A Congress so inured with their own way of doing things they'll be hard pressed to know how to follow a real leader.

That's where we come in.  Maybe there's not much hope for elections this year. The incumbents and unfortunately their challengers have yet to hear us. Perhaps we're not speaking clearly enough or they figure polls are meant to be manipulated.  However, if we nominate a strong candidate for President, a man like Carson, who is much more than a personality, perhaps better people will run for office knowing they'd have a leader of ability and integrity to follow.

That's where we come in, yes.  To find those people and encourage them to run.  For us.  For the country.  It's time.

Busy Skies Over Iraq

Not to take away anything positive that's being done in the fight against IS, I must say the grand coalition has it's weaknesses.  While growing in numbers daily, they all seem to be doing the same thing.  Bombing in Iraq.  Not Syria.

There are of course reasons for this.  Syria hasn't asked for help.  Iraq has. Even though the news reports tell us the border between Iraq and Syria has been obliterated by the IS, for all practical purposes it does still exist and Syria is a sovereign nation.  To bomb in Syria requires a UN mandate which will not be forthcoming because you can be sure Russia will veto any such effort.

Why are we there?  Because of the alleged imminent plot by the Khorasan to sneak non metallic bombs on airplanes.  It's a stretch but it will do.  Of course they threatened France in the same way yet they aren't using it as an excuse to go into Syria.

That leaves us with crowded skies over Iraq, only ourselves over Syria where the IS headquarters are located, and still no boots on the ground.

To say the least, this is another ill thought out exercise which is likely to end in futility.  No one wants to send in boots if we're not willing to do so or won't admit that we actually have.  So here's another war being run, if you can call it that, by vauge goals, obfuscation and no certainty of how to get out of it when things go awry.

The salute isn't the only thing this President gets wrong.

Terror In Middle America

OMG!  I came to my office to write about our pending leniency with Iran when I saw the headline that a woman has been beheaded in Oklahoma! I'm horrified.  My brother lives in Oklahoma!

I wish I could say I'm surprised but in a very twisted way I'm not.  And the irony, remember the Oklahoma City bombing which took the lives of so many and was perpetrated by a former GI?  If terror is beyond our grasp, we had better get a grip!

It doesn't even have to be a Muslim terrorist.  Just some deranged individual who has seen the reaction of the others who have been beheaded and sees an opportunity for attention.

Now is a good time to address the Iran situation because it surely ties together.  Iran has been a large part of our woes in Iraq.  They fund terrorist organizations, we know that.  They hate Israel.  We know that.  Sanctions had slowed their pace so what are we thinking when we consider allowing them to keep half their already enriched uranium?

Hello Washington.  The rest of the world does not need them in the fight against IS or it's counterparts.  At least if the war is conducted as the generals would have it.  But no.  Our Secretary of State is desparate for a victory no matter what it entails.  Literally arming a known enemy isn't much of a victory in my book, but then who am I?

It puzzles me why the rest of the world doesn't share the urgency for action.  Is it because it has yet to hit their country?  They haven't had to comfort grief stricken parents and family?  They haven't had to see it on You Tube?  England has.  France has.  Where are they?

The horror in Oklahoma exemplifies, to me, what we're likely to see more of as long as beheading is the rage among the misfits. Perhaps it will become more of the proper type of rage now that it has happened here.  I don't care what his motives were or that perhaps he hadn't intended it to go quite that far.  But it did.  He was bent on harm. Period.

Please, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Obama.  Don't ease up on the Iranians.  World, where are you?  Stop them if it becomes likely. Life is difficult enough as is without aiding and abeiting the enemy.  We know who they are.  It doesn't matter what they choose to call themselves or what we choose to call them. Just stop them.

Why Time Is Of The Essence

Yes.  There has been another beheading.  This time a French citizen by an al Qaeda splinter group in Algeria.  Why?  Because of France's part in the fight against IS.

These horrors are going to continue for several reasons I think.  One, no matter how many or who, they shock.  Which of course is the purpose. Two, the splinter groups want in on the glory of the actions so they'll play copy cat.

I cannot wonder how long it will be until some crack pot in this country gets the idea and decides to try it. Something like the way the recently well publicized Knockout Game is played. The Knockout Game, to refresh your memory is when a person attempts to knock out a random victim with one punch.  It doesn't matter if the victim is young or old, male or female, etc.  Just handy. The results have often been life threatening or worse for the victim and the perpetrator more often than not gets away. I fear someone or some group trying to make their mark might try the Beheading Game.

All that being gruesomely hashed out, let me move on.  Now that the President has progressed from pacifism to war, is there really still need to not have boots on the ground?  We already do anyway, no matter how it's couched.

I'm thinking the training of the rag tag Free Syrian Army and the inadequately armed Kurdish Pershmega troops would both be better served, along with the cause, by having our military presence in the neighborhood rather than shipping them off to another country.  We are the ones with the know how.  We should be sharing it; not denying it for an ill advised promise that has now been broken.  I won't argue semantics.  We are at war.  We do have boots on the ground. That being the case, they are in harms way.  There is no way they can be both present and beyond harm.

I do believe time is of the essence.  I understand the need for a strategy though I've yet to see one come into focus.  Too much is being held back. I realize that to eliminate the threat is not something that can be accomplished quickly but the IS forces and their friends must be made to understand that with every beheading or crucifixion or whatever other barbaric means they might employ, we will not be deterred.

The more quickly they understand this the better.  It won't happen by micromanaging and cherry picking.

One thing I do hope for the future is that we've learned it can be disastrous to ignore the reality of what's going on in the world.  Especially if the purpose is strictly political. There is no ideology be it personal or of a group that can trump truth.  Nor should it.