Risk Management

The air waves were full of praise yesterday for the men who attempted, for a second time, to rescue an American hostage.  This time in Yemen.  And well they should be praised.  It's risky work to say the least and success depends on training, intelligence and expedience.  The expedience is what was missing.

If you remember the first attempt failed because by the time the rescuers got there the hostage had been moved. Would that have happened if the rescue plan hadn't had to go through a bureaucracy of high placed White House officials who have no business being in charge of the areas in which they are in charge? Especially the President who insists he must sign off on everything no matter how much time is wasted.

This is another example of why micro-management doesn't work.  And what happens when a President has contempt for his military advisers.

He made flowery speeches that the second attempt, which was given away by a barking dog and wary hostage holders I might add, is an example of the lengths to which we'll go to rescue a fellow American.  The trouble is the length was too long.

In trying to look at the bright side, it was said at least the enemy knows we'll come after our people and theirs are likely to die.  What wasn't factored in to that cheery news is that they don't care.  Their cause and their religious zeal outweighs any desire they may have to live. We don't understand that.

Until we do, or if we can't understand then accept, that fact they will continue to kidnap Americans and kill them.  Period.

If there is an up side to this debacle it's that the hostages weren't beheaded.  Not that being shot is preferable but I think it may be.

Our special forces will continue to do the right thing.  It's what they do.  Too bad their commander-in-chief has such a hard time coming to the same conclusion.

No one with the disdain for the military shown by this President should ever be the commander-in-chief. Remember that in 2016.

Cops And Robbers

There are two sides to every story and it seems in the case of the current protests neither side has it exactly right. Forget that 90% of the protesters who are there are there to protest no matter what.  For many of them it's a way of life and I always wonder who foots the bill for their travel, their bail and the fancy signs they carry.  But this isn't about the protesters.

It's about the cops, for one. They aren't totally innocent in all of this.  They tend to be by nature aggressive.  Of course they have to be.  Meek and mild doesn't get the job done.  But too often they come across as over armed bullies and behave in the same manner.  In defense of that behavior, when the majority of the people you deal with are criminals of one sort or another your defenses and defensiveness are always up. People not used to functioning in that environment get their own defenses up and unintended conflicts occur. What I'm suggesting here is the police need to know when to mind their manners and better sense who they're dealing with.

Now for the blacks who refuse to do more than cry victim.  I've addressed it before and won't go into another lengthy diatribe but attitude and behavior do a lot to put police on edge.  Plus the numbers who are disproportionately involved in arrestable crime.  When there are so many who have raised themselves above ghetto mentality and have become fantastic role models for any race, you know it can be done.

I'm tired of the blacks versus police argument.  The police have a job to do.  If the blacks are the ones most often on the receiving end of the baton ask why.  It's not because of their race.  It's because of their behavior.

Until we all behave by the same code we will continue to be misunderstood by one another. The black population reminds me of other social misunderstandings we harbour.  Take gays who flaunt their lifestyle, are in your face with it knowing full well their behavior is offensive to many. Or other foreign groups who refuse to learn English.  All are minorities of their particular segment of their populations yet they garner the headlines making it difficult for those who would and have risen above it and have become one with the country as Americans.

Perhaps the media, too, needs some retraining.  They need to return to objective reporting.  Truth should trump ratings.  Why doesn't it?

With Friends Like Us...

Some times the news is so incredible I have to pause to make sure I'm not reading some fictional thriller.  Such was my reaction when I read that the Obama administration has had meetings to consider sanctions against Israel.  Israel!  The only friend we have in the Middle East which doesn't have Muslim underpinnings.

They've been as staunch an ally to us as we've been to them before this administration. What could they have done to make us think sanctions could be justified?

Bombing innocents in Gaza?  No. Building houses in East Jerusalem.  It was captured in the seven year war.  However, it has been designated to be the capital of Palenstine when and if it becomes a state. Some would say by having declared themselves one is enough.  But the Israelis continue to build, not helping the situation at all but then since the Hamas driven Palestinians are determined to drive Israel into the sea I can understand why they continue to poke them. Halting the building would give them the high ground.

Why don't they take it?  I don't know. And that's the point. It would help if it were explained.   I do know, however, how we would react if our former allies would move to place sanctions on the United States for our handling of racial discord.  We'd scream and shout it's none of their business.  Butt out!

I don't understand middle eastern mind sets.  There is so much hatred and violence it seems to me to be hell on earth.  But isn't it an issue to be settled and perhaps even negotiated among themselves without U.S. threats if they don't do things our way?

It's cockeyed to be looking at sanctions against Israel for building settlements while looking to lessen or even eliminate them against Iran who is building toward a nuclear bomb!

They say we have no foreign policy, whoever "they" are.  In some ways they are wrong.  We do.  It's to micromanage everything according to the will of Obama regardless if it makes sense or not.  We promise military aid and send meals ready to eat.  We draw red lines and kick sand over them.  We negotiate with an enemy regime while they build their bomb. We take 4 days to mount a rescue attempt by which time the captive has been moved.

And we wonder why we have no credibility among our enemies nor our one time friends in the world. We have a bunch of rank amateurs running the show and bolstering one another while the professionals stew, quit or are fired should they dare speak out.

Is there anything worse than having no friends?  I think so.  I think it's having no convictions.

Turning A Blind Eye

We all do it for various reasons.  Let's take my husband for instance.  He had turned a blind eye to his health for as long as I've known him.  Did he think he was invincible?  I have no idea because he'd never discuss it, but he came within hours of dying just a couple of weeks ago. Knowing his mind set I can't guarantee that I won't have to go through that particular hell again.

In a sense that is what has happened to this country.  We've all turned a blind eye to our social ills. Invincibility has nothing to do with this however.  It has to do with it being the easier out.  Until it explodes and the resulting shrapnel cannot be pieced back together again.

What we're lacking in this country are the basics.  Different communities have different areas in which they are weakest but all have them and it's due to a lack of the right kind of leadership. Start with Native Americans.  Centuries ago we began changing them into a welfare state and so they remain.  If it weren't for their enterprising casinos it would be worst but if that enterprising spirit had been channelled toward education and mainstreaming into American society things would be a lot better for them.

Then there are the blacks.  If government didn't reward them for bad behavior perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.  Instead of Obama phones, and food stamps and welfare mothers if leaders had sat them down and told them they have to be responsible for their own fate perhaps they would put some effort to rising out of their despondency and bettering themselves sans handouts.

But leaders haven't done that. We've allowed them to nurture a victim mentality rather than showing them that is no excuse.  You break the law you go to jail.  You father a child you support it. You get an education without being passed through.  You compete and when you don't win you work to better yourself rather than cry victim.

None of this is rocket science.  But it does take conscious recognition by all of us and a cohesive effort to make the changes necessary.  Forget political correctness.  It's a relatively new concept and people who were never offended before are suddenly - victims.  Don't tell me it harms their self esteem.  First you have to have some.

The basics.  Meet a guy or gal.  Romance them.  Get married. Then have children.  Stay in the relationship.  Nurture the kids.  Be a part of their lives.  Educate them.  Stand by them.  And always be there for them with patience, understanding and love.  When they stray don't tolerate it.  Stealing is wrong.  Bullying is wrong. Challenging authority is wrong. We have it for a reason.  It's all basic and it all starts at home.

Oh, what nice words and thoughts but how do you accomplish all this when the country has gone so far astray?  Back to leadership. Don't tolerate those who disrupt for their own agendas.  Teach the kids to know the difference.  And from the top down be ethnically, sexuality and religiously blind when applying justice.  No one should be immune from punishment for bad behavior nor raised up as heroes when in truth they are thugs.

If this is going to end we have to get smart about how it's handled and political correctness isn't smart.  Looking in the mirror with honesty is.  It's a place to start. Do we have the guts to do it?

Good Cops, Bad Cops And Grand Juries

How could a New York grand jury have gotten it so wrong considering the turmoil  following the one in Ferguson getting it right?

In watching the Ferguson mess I felt, from information available on TV news and the papers, that the grand jury made the right decision knowing there would be outrage fomented by racist agendas. I felt the officer got a raw deal and no where nearly enough support from his peers., the public and the media.

Along with that I've heard the pundits who are also lawyers praising grand juries as a vital piece of our justice system and that evidence counts. So what do I think now?  While I agree with the decision in Ferguson it has become clear that the justice system has become politicized with media compliance.  We pretty much know how things played out.  Little was made of Michael Brown's true character nor of Darren Wilson's. Did justice prevail?  Certainly not from the officer's point of view where he has lost his career for having done his job as he had been trained to do.

Fast forward to New York where another grand jury has decided not to indict officer Daniel Pantaleo for the choke hold that lead to the death of Eric Garner who's crime was peddling untaxed cigarettes on the street and arguing with police when he was confronted. Okay.  Using choke holds in New York is illegal.  Period.  The video shows that Pantaleo used one to subdue the giant of a man. He died.  As in Ferguson the cop, along with those who helped him, were white, the perpetrator black. That's where the similarity ends.

That's according to video.  What we don't know is what this grand jury heard as evidence.  I'd like it to be made public just as was Ferguson's.  Why was the decision the same when evidence of both incidents as reported by the news is so vastly different?

It's no wonder people are outraged. The President and his surrogates should stay out of it because at this point nothing more can be seen than their color and perceived bias. White cops are now targets for every hot head on the streets looking to settle a score.  Blacks who will revert to violence will only harm their cause to an even greater degree and the rest of us are pretty much on our own!

There are cool heads on both sides but both seem to be having trouble making themselves heard. Until the decision of this grand jury is fully explained the outrage will continue.  Perhaps even after since it follows so closely on the heels of Ferguson.  My guess is that it has set race relations back decades because of misguided actions of the Farrakhans and Sharptons, football players and even members of Congress.  Misguided in some cases.  No more than ill will in others. There is no trust on either side.  It won't be easy to re-establish.

It's Christmas season.  Peace and good will toward men. If you think it was lost to the frenzy of commercialism, it's even more lost to the frenzy of self interests and lack of leadership on both sides.  The networks need to reign in the race baiters, black and white, and for once dig into a story and tell the truth of it.  Is that even possible any more?