What I Want For Christmas

Caroline Kennedy submitted her Christmas letter to Santa this week. Oops, it didn't go to Santa, it went to visually disadvantaged Governor David Patterson of New York. Last week he was blind, but that was before Saturday Night Live pointed it out so vividly that even he could notice. One wonders whether Ms Kennedy offered her resume in a braille version so the Governor could quickly scan the essential qualifications to become one of the 100 most powerful people in America.

My first thought was, does she even live in New York? I quickly dismissed that as being a foolish query. It made no difference with Hillary Clinton, and it shouldn't apply now. After all, Caroline IS a Kennedy. She's niece to Uncle Ted, the patron saint of submerged automobiles. Her other uncle, Bobbie was senator from NY and her father was a president, renowned for giving us the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis and his most long lasting legacy, the Vietnam War. If relationships mean anything, she must be qualified.

Stylishly Slim Resumes Now Demanded

Why, take a look. She's had a job where she worked three days a week! And, she held it for 22 consecutive months! That's more work experience than President-Elect Obama.

Is it just me, or is the governance of this country looking more and more like aristocracy and less and less like the voice of the people? Or is it simply that the people have gotten so celebrity-indoctrinated that they demand to be ruled by such an aristocracy?

Screw the cake, I want to be governed by Marie Antoinette.

An Opportunity I'll Pass On

We've got to take our joy where we find it these days, and I found mine today in this email to "all faculty" at the quaint small town community college where I tilt against the windmill of small minds several days a week:

• Each summer the National Endowment for the Humanities supports study opportunities in the humanities for faculty who teach American undergraduates.
  
  Landmarks of American History and Culture workshops are rigorous national, residential workshops for community college faculty. The Landmarks workshops are 1-week projects that take place at sites of historical or cultural significance across the nation and provide educators with the opportunity to engage in intensive study and discussion of important topics in American history and culture. Participants receive stipends to help defray travel and living expenses. This program is open to full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty at community colleges.
  
  The list of Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for Community College Faculty, along with eligibility requirements and contact information for the directors, is available on the NEH website at: www.neh.gov/projectslandmarks-college.html
  
  The six workshops for 2009 are
  
• Concord, Massachusetts: A Center of Transcendentalism and Social Action in the 19th Century
• Encountering John Adams: Boston and Braintree
• The American Lyceum and Public Culture: The Rhetoric of Idealism, Abolition, and Opportunity
• Landmarks of American Democracy: From Freedom Summer to the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike
• Progress and Poverty: The Gilded Age in American Politics and Literature, 1877-1901
• Passages to Cleveland: Community Memory and the Landmarks of Migration.
  
  

I'm sorry, but I'm too superficial to consider Concord a "Center of Transcendentalism"--I thought it was liberty and freedom that were of concern. I confess that the "Rhetoric of Idealism" was something that only surfaced in my mind during the Obama campaign. I wonder if the Landmarks of democracy aren't a bit more fundamental than "Freedom Summer" (which sounds a lot like the burning cities of 1968) or the garbage men of Memphis. Honestly, I've got my doubts if 1877-1901 was a particularly gilded age for either politics (do Chester Arthur, Rutherford Hayes or Benjamin Harrison come to mind?) or literature (although Mark Twain, Henry James and Walt Whitman do merit a nod.) As for Cleveland and its position as a landmark of migration only leads me to ask, "Is the Cuyahoga burning?"

Wonder why education is so screwed up in America? Maybe the National Endowment for the Humanities has a hand in it.

A Chicago Story

Of all of the summaries and impressions we’ve gotten in the last ten days about tarnished Illinois governor Blago, this one may be the most detailed and insightful:

All About the Benjamins--and the Hairbrush

Several things have been jumping out at me as this evolves. One of the most remarkable, and largely uncommented upon, has been the fact that this governor of a major state eschews the state capitol and the governor’s mansion. He set himself up in an office across the street from Chicago’s City Hall and Cook County Building on Daley Square. And, he doesn’t apparently show up there very often! He apparently feels no need to be in regular contact with the legislature, or even to be available to major departments of the state executive branch. It is apparently more important to him to be close to the power levers which are the Daley machine and all of that is in Chicago, not Springfield.

Then there was the language, of both the Guv and his wife. Now, I’m not isolated from the patois of the streets. I’ll venture that the language in a typical tactical fighter squadron is as gritty, although slightly more articulate and varied, as that which you’ll hear on the edges of Cabrini Green. Yet, there is a time and a place for everything and when one is the governor then it is a time to communicate in a slightly more formal language. You can still be aggressive and even insulting, but you need to detach from the crude and seek the more sophisticated forms of expression. Maybe the Guv should spend some time reading the quotes of Winston Churchill to get some hints on the richness of the English language.

Consider from that link above the focus on $$$. A poor staffer comes back and says there is serious illness and loss in his immediate family. Sympathetic Blago says, “oh, too bad. Get me a big campaign contribution…and I’ll send a get-well card.”

You know what’s next, I’m sure. This is when the governor holds the tearful press conference with loyal frau standing beside him and announces that he’s had a problem with drugs, alcohol, lusting for nubile women or teen-aged boys, gambling, or all-night sessions with his PlayStation. He’ll beg our forgiveness, denounce his evil behavior and go into “rehab”, preferably at a Caribbean resort for six weeks, after which all will be back to normal. Then he’ll appoint Bernadette Dohrn to the vacant Senate seat.

Paranoid?

Am I paranoid, or are they really out to get me? Maybe I’ve been a Pollyanna for too long. I’ve long taught in my government classes that our elected officials occasionally are corrupt, venal, stupid and petty. But the huge majority of those who seek elected office at all levels in this grand experiment in democracy are honest people trying to give something back to their communities and maybe to build a better life for their posterity. The good ones don’t get the headlines.

Now, we’ve got Blago and Duke and Foley and Craig, not to mention the vacant suit who seeks welfare housing in Washington DC to tide him over until his government sponsored digs become available. Already Booked And, don’t get me started on Barney Frank, Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, and Nancy Pelosi. Maybe I’ve been too optimistic about democracy.

Similarly, I’ve often disagreed with the folks who characterize Microsoft as an evil empire sucking the life out of computing and commandeering the hard work of entrepreneurial programmers who otherwise would succeed. I’ve touted the fact that their OS prevailed, even when giant IBM was in the game. They ruled over Mac to the point that Apple only succeeded when they went into the cellphone and music player business. They entered the word processing market as an underdog and simply offered a better product that made Word Perfect a distant memory. Ditto for Lotus 1-2-3 in spreadsheets and Netscape in browsers. They competed, I said, and prevailed in the marketplace.

But, that was then. Now I’m getting paranoid. And, it may be because there is skullduggery afoot. I’m talking the fascinating behavior before my eyes of Firefox. Yep, the wunderkind of browsers that is more than eroding Internet Explorer’s hold on that niche is apparently being targeted by the Redmond behemoth.

I tried Firefox about six months ago when version 3.0 came out and noted in these pages that they finally got it right for me. I liked it and over a period of about ten days found myself launching it more often than IE. Eventually I saw a heavy layer of dust on the IE icon in the task bar. It had been at least six weeks since I’d clicked on it. I made Firefox my default browser and simply loved it. I almost forget usernames and passwords after I became dependent on Sxipper’s add-on which autofilled them for me. I got research dependent upon the in-depth results of searches augmented by Surf Canyon. I loved my FF.

Of course, it is the nature of Vista that it continually morphs. The hard drive spins incessantly at random times when no demands are being made on the system as the lords of Microsoft keep trying to get it right in the background. Once a week a popup tells me that “critical” updates are ready to install. I gave up looking at the explanations. They seldom tell me much beyond the fact that they are “plugging a security leak” or correcting some obscure function with a cryptic name that leaves me clueless. I accept the recommendation like a docile sheep and click “Install.”

Which, of course, fuels my paranoia when Firefox now simply won’t load my default homepage tabs. I’ve only got five, but the major ones like Fox News and Drudge simply spin the busy icon for a minute and then the browser quits. Restarts don’t help, virus scans don’t help, remove/reinstall doesn’t help, adware removal doesn’t help. The clear conclusion is that there seems to this paranoia that the last fifteen or so critical updates from MS have included a poison pill for the competitor. Firing up Internet Explorer gives me a browser that doesn’t crash.

Am I neurotic in this belief?

Print It Faster

Once upon a time in a fairytale land that no longer exists there was a term applied politically that meant something. It was “Lame Duck.” What it referred to was an injured fowl which didn’t have the capability to function. What it was applied to was an elected official or a legislative body during that period of limbo from an election day until the first day of their term. The outgoing group was deemed unable to act. As Mark Twain or Will Rogers might have described it, they couldn’t do any more damage for at least a while. Your money and your property might be safe for the moment. In fact, it has become the practice that our typically do-nothing Congress simply takes the period off every four years and goes home to trim the Christmas tree, drink eggnog and moonshine, and pick up thick envelopes from favor-seeking constituents.

Now, we’ve got a not-so-lame duck flapping incessantly in Washington. They are on a mindless, pandering roll. Ducky-Lucky has listened to Chicken Little and Turkey-Lurkey and now is dealing with the falling sky by building huge columns of worthless currency to prop it up. These are the guys who were in maximum honking mode about a billion or two a month for a war against terror in the Middle East. Now, they’ve taken a $700 billion TARP (which really went out the showroom door at $850 B) and started discussing another $500 billion “stimulus” package, AKA welfare handout. They’ve had a couple of hundred billion for AIG, cherry-picked CitiBank, stiffed Fanny and Freddie, dissected Wachovia, decided to pick up a couple hundred thousand bad mortgages and now they are going to design some cars for us.

For a clear and concise discussion of where the US automakers problem came from, read this piece:

Why Yes, We're In the Union's Pocket

Did you get that? Given a free choice, Americans want SUVs, pickup trucks and large comfortable sedans. We’ve had the luxury of low cost fuel and we’ve got a nation with large distances and wide-open roads that work well for those vehicles. Sell what the public wants and make profits. At a buck and a half a gallon for gas, I think the market could surge!

But Congress, knowing better and being beholden to enviro-whackos and unions, says we must build vehicles with high gas mileage to balance these cars Americans want. Auto-makers, you must meet a corporate average fuel economy (CAFÉ) which is unrealistic across all the vehicles which you build. So, build econo-boxes which don’t sell in large numbers because we want to go green. And, don’t build them where the people will buy them like Europe or Asia. Build them in the US where union workers will have jobs. Can that sort of policy bring anything but business failure? Have you ever seen one of those SMART cars on a US highway? Would you send your teenager to high school in one? Would they go?

Well, there are two sides to every story, so here’s a “Community Opinion” writer from the Dallas Morning Worker, writing about the poor US union worker and those nasty little imports that aren’t really imported, but are built right here in the US of A:

It's the Fault o' Them Imports

Remember as you read his whining, that when he says “American automaker” he means the Detroit Big Three bankruptcy cartel. And when he says imports, he means successful global companies building cars in America.

I’m getting that 1984 feeling again.

Learn to March

Well, we've been discussing the new administration, the military in the future and throwing in a bit of rock-n-roll guitar, so it seems only fitting that we learn how to march.

I have got it on good authority that the standard 120 beats per minute marching cadence and the John Philip Sousa melodies of "Washington Post", "Stars and Stripes Forever" and others will be displaced in favor of this more upbeat, "Army of One" technique.

Learn how to march here:

Hometown Boy Makes Bad

As a Chicago born and bred product, it pains me to watch the Cubs implode each year. I long for the Bears to return to the glory of ’85. I recall the Tribune as a conservative bastion under the leadership of the McCormick family and I remember when Dick Daley was the mayor…What? He still is? Never mind!

Now, the Tribune corporation, like most of the mainstream print media is both in the tank for liberals and in bankruptcy for finances. Yet, they gasp occasionally with some dramatic and necessary investigative reporting. I guess when you are deeply immersed in the cesspool which is Chicago politics, it becomes the low-hanging fruit which simply can’t be ignored. What amazes is the lack of outrage or reaction from the proletariat at the abject corruption of the entire state. My God, we’ve sent Barak Obama to the White House!

Check this story out for part of the whirlwind being reaped:

Chicago Politics and the US Senate

I hope you’ve got the time to explore the story with other sources. One which I quickly found was this:

This Seat For Sale

This raises hubris to a new level. The guv’s under federal investigation for corruption and he gets nailed by a taping discussing first how to reap profit from award of the Senate seat to a sycophant, then how to strong-arm the President-Elect for his own benefit, and even how to prep his own run for President in 2016. I guess he figures he will have been released on parole by that time to mount a campaign.

In the comments at Hot Air, there’s a familiar refrain from the Watergate days, “What did Obama know, and when did he know it.” It really becomes irrelevant. The essential here is that the corruption is wholesale throughout the entire Chicago and state political scene. The issue is the product of that system, not what was known when.

I keep getting these parallels between America and Rome after Marcus Aurelius. Caligula and Nero cannot be far behind, nor can barbarians be long in arriving at our gates.

A Is A

The issue went to the Supreme Court, and they apparently will be found wanting.

Here's a detailed discussion of what we've got, what we need, and what the outcomes could be:

Simple Cure


Now, let us stipulate something very basic here. The US Constitution is the supreme law of this land. It says things in language which is sometimes clear and sometimes obtuse. When the language is clear, the discussion ends easily. When it is obtuse, the Supreme Court is obligated to interpret.

For pundits and pontificators to simply declare that "it makes no difference" is not a solution that can stand.

The Emerging Cabinet

Something not to be forgotten in observing the unfolding political circus is that the truth is seldom what we find in the “common knowledge” which we acquire from the well crafted spin-meisters of the nearly bankrupt mainstream media. Take for example the oft-repeated classic that Army general, chief-of-staff, Eric Shinseki was cashiered for challenging SecDef Rumsfeld and obstructing President Bush’s headlong rush into an ill-founded war in Iraq. Remember the assertions? Shinseki was fired because he had the temerity to offer his professional estimation that we’d need several hundred thousand more troops to conclude hostilities in Iraq after overthrow of the Sadaam regime.

This week the Man Who Would be King from the “Office of the President-Elect” (which is located wherever there is a podium with a picture hook on the front), announced that former General Shinseki was to be the Director of the Veteran’s Administration. As a military retiree, I’m a veteran, so I’ve got an interest. Here’s this from the National Review:

Compliant Generalship or Political Expedience

That’s a new perspective, isn’t it? It certainly revises the question of summary dismissal and puts it to bed with facts. It also overturns the common assertion that Shinseki said something in conflict with Bush/Rumsfeld as the cause of the non-firing. “Right but for the wrong reasons” is an entirely different story. And, the quite true conclusion that Shinseki was allowed to leave at the completion of his term is coupled with the acknowledgment that he was one (of many) in the Pentagon who failed to understand or reorganize the military to the growing emphasis on special operations and true counter-insurgency warfare. Many of us who were shaped by the Cold War for thirty years or more suffered from the same malady.

It should be further noted that some of the most vocal former flag officers who kowtowed to the Messiah along the campaign trail (and wound up under the bus at appropriate moments along the way) such as Wes Clark and Tony McPeake are totally missing from the coterie as it emerges. The lesson to be learned is that a uniform is a nice adjunct, but a total suck-up might not be successful, even in this administration.

Will Shinseki be good for the VA? Well, let’s first note that the VA deals with vets and not with military retirees. It does some great medical and rehab work for guys wounded in action and going through therapy to return to civilian life. It doesn’t do that much for the veteran-at-large unless that veteran is “welfare-grade.” The disability claims process is bureaucratic and arbitrary. The medical facilities are means-tested for eligibility and require full disclosure of all of your financial information before access. I won’t go that far. The hospitals and clinics range from the exceptional to the abominable. And the history of justifying their existence through fostering of questionable claims against the government such as PTSD, Agent Orange and Gulf War Syndrome is a dark chapter which doesn’t make for easy reading.

The question to be answered is will the new administration be aimed at improving resources for all veterans or will it be focused on welfare distribution to that segment of the vet population which would never have made it in civilian society but which now credits their drug addiction, alcoholism and welfare dependence to their military experience.

Will you need a beard, dirty pants, and a patch festooned field jacket to get benefits?

River Rat Thunderbird

Over the years we've had a lot of River Rats fly with the Thunderbirds, the USAF demonstration team. For a decade after the great unpleasantness of Southeast Asia it was more common than not to have one or more Rats on the team. For those unaware, the River Rats, or more formally the Red River Valley Fighter Pilot's Association, is a group of military aviators formed initially from those who had flown combat in the Red River Valley of North Vietnam--the heavily defended area around Hanoi.

The group was formed in 1967 by Robin Olds, Scrappy Johnson, and Larry Pickett--Robin from the Wolfpack Phantoms; Scrappy and Pick from the two F-105 wings. "Practice" reunions were held annually until the war ended and the POWs were returned, then in 1973 the first "Real" reunion was held. We meet every year and though we get old, the stories get better with the retelling. We've set up a scholarship program for family of MIA/POWs and a foundation to aid military families with severe medical problems. We've contributed a couple of million bucks in the process.

Rather than become a tontine, where the last man alive drinks the brandy, we opened membership to US military combat aviators and now have a lot of active duty folks in the group. That's why it is such great news to see this piece regarding one of our guys making the T'Birds for 2009. Richard "Face" Goodman, currently an F-15E Strike Eagle Pilot at Nellis AFB, will be flying the opposing solo position for the next two years:

River Rat Now a Thunderbird

In case you haven't seen them lately:

Remember Woodstock?

Watching this makes my foot tap and my fingers cramp:




But not all guitar playing is the same, even at Woodstock:



Of course you could also play a somewhat spastic air guitar:

The Cutting Room Floor

The completed manuscript for the compiled memoir of Robin Old's remarkable life went to the publisher this week. Depending upon priorities at St. Martin's Press, the book should be in stores by the end of next summer.

Here's a piece that was considered but didn't make it to the final manuscript:

Epilog:

The drive up Rabbit Ears always seemed to make him feel younger. As the road wound upward out of the Yampa River basin he seemed to shed years, aches and worries. The sky seemed bluer and the air fresher as the black Mustang turned the last left hander just after the summit and he anticipated the peaceful run through the wooded park ahead. He had thought his dad would show up this time, but he hadn’t made it for some reason. Then things began to look a bit unusual. The expected right hand bend wasn’t where he thought it should have been. The road eased slightly right and then back to the left entering a stand of lodgepole pines. Maybe he had forgotten this section. Highway 40 continued a gradual climb as he dropped the transmission down into third gear. Something was different.

Slowly, almost without a perceptible change in the pavement, the road seemed to become much smoother. The trees gave off the most beautiful scent and he could hear the birds singing with the top down. The sunshine seemed incredibly intense and he was feeling better than he had in an incredibly long time. He didn’t mind the strangeness of the road; it seemed as though all was as it should be. He looked over the gleaming polished hood and ahead there seemed to be a bit of mountain fog drifting over the road. He slowed a bit and moved on.

It seemed that the foggy patch didn’t last long at all, then he was in a grassy meadow and ahead the road took a hard right hand turn at what appeared to be a huge golden entryway. Two men were standing at the gate. They were of indeterminate age, but clearly strong and fit. Each slightly over six foot and Robin thought momentarily that they reminded him of his own prime. They waved and summoned him to stop. As he pulled the car to the shoulder and started to get out he realized that he was wearing a clean, freshly starched, Nomex flying suit. Somehow it didn’t seem strange in the least.

The two men at the gate were unusually dressed, but their garb did nothing to detract from their demeanor. They seemed to exude power, grace and confidence. However they were costumed they were clearly men of stature to be respected. The one nearest the gate entrance was apparently wearing a jerkin of chain mail and a doublet of white with a large red cross. He resembled nothing so much as a knight of medieval times. The other had long flowing black hair and was clothed in a gown of shimmering gold cloth, but the scabbard holding the jewel-hilted broadsword at his left hip allowed no questions of his masculinity. Maybe there was some sort of costume party going on?

Robin approached, wondering what this place was and how he had found it and why he was in a flying suit. He began to get an inkling of what was going on, but wasn’t yet quite sure. He approached the gowned figure and extended his hand in greeting, “Good afternoon, I appear to be lost a bit. The name is Olds. Where am I?”

The mailed knight grinned and the gowned man smiled as he shook Robin’s hand. “Don’t you have any idea where you are? Remember how you got here?”

“I came up Rabbit Ears on US 40, but must have made a wrong turn.”

“No, you made the proper turns, but it took you a lot longer to get here than simply coming up the highway. Some say it takes an incredibly long time to get here. Others do it fairly quickly. It depends upon where you start.”

Robin began to ponder what he saw and how he felt. He looked at the golden entrance and then at the two men. Could this be what it seemed? “Would you be Peter?” seemed like a logical question considering.

“No, Robin, I’m not St. Peter. He’s down the road a bit further at the main entrance. I’m Michael, and this is George. We’re here at the annex to welcome you.”

“Really? George of dragon-slaying fame? And, you’re the Michael that cast out ol’ whatzisname? What is this place?”

“This place has many names, some call it Valhalla but I’ve got to confess that we’re woefully short of Valkyries to lead you in. You’ve pretty much got to find your own way around here. As for who we are, that dragon business is pretty much a metaphor for bad things and my friend George tends to exaggerate it a bit when he tells the story. As for me, let’s simply say that the casting out activity I was involved in took a lot of help from my friends. When the boss said you were coming, we thought it better that some warriors be here to welcome you rather than having you face Pete. He can sometimes seem a little bit stodgy to new-comers.”

“So, this is what I think it is? I made it?”

“Yes, you made it. I think you’ll like it here. There are a lot of folks have been dying to meet you…oops, excuse the pun. I didn’t mean it but as an archangel, I occasionally slip up on how sensitive man is to the issue of his mortality.”

“I could hardly take offense to anything you say, sir. I’m honored, and I’ll confess that I’m very surprised to get here. Who’s here?”

“Lots of folks you know and even more that you know of. We’ve got Luke and Immelman and the Baron here. There’s Galland and Bader and Gabreski as well as Bong and McConnell and I can’t even begin to list who all else. It would take too long, and we’ve got eternity! Why don’t you come on in and meet the group. It’s right through that gate, and the stag bar is always open. The boss just got us a great single-malt that’s quite literally heaven in a glass. Just don’t start any MiG-sweeps on your first night in the place, OK.”

“I guess I can live with that…oh, I see what you mean about terms up here. I’ll try to be on my best behavior, but as you probably know I occasionally get carried away. Will the car be OK on the shoulder there?”

“We’ll take care of it, Robin. We also do valet parking.”

He passed through the gates and began to understand Magee’s vision of “footless halls of space.” It seemed to stretch endlessly before him, yet his passage was smooth and swift. He saw a broad doorway ahead and from within the sound of voices came. It was a familiar song. They had just reached the crescendo when he entered the vast room. “The women all muster to view that great cluster…” Heads turned to see who had arrived, but not a beat of the song was missed as the voices soared.

“And they stand and they stare at the bloody great pair…”

When it ended, one of the men turned and raised a glass his way. “Let’s say hello to the new guy!” he led, “Heellllooooo, Asshole!”

Another voice and another glass raised, “Let’s say hello to the asshole! Heellloooo, Robin!” It seemed that all of the customs he was familiar with were still in play. He was home at last.

And so the pantheon of warriors gained yet another. The stories were told, the whisky was drunk and the songs were sung. It was a pretty good duty station. They even got to fly.

I’m a Believer

I didn’t believe for the last two years. He stood before us nightly and explained in broad, nebulous terminology that he was “the agent of Change.” He was not in the mold of venal Washington insiders. He was bipartisan, despite no evidence at all of ever having been involved in a bipartisan initiative of any sort. He was audaciously hopeful, clear-eyed and brilliant. He was “change we can believe in.” And, I didn’t believe.

He told us that John McCain was “Bush III.” That was not Change! That was not different. He told us that Hillary Clinton was wrong in her view of Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terror. That was not Change. He told us that the Bush administration Defense Department was incompetent and inefficient. That he, despite absolutely zero military experience or familiarity was going to Change the DOD. He told us that Bill Richardson was wrong on trade policy and NAFTA and immigration and commerce. That wouldn’t be real Change. He told us that Bill Clinton wasn’t a populist, President of the people and his legacy Justice Department was as badly flawed as George Bush’. He told us he would bring change. But, I didn’t believe.

Now he is in elected office. I know he’s in elected office, because the sign he stands behind each day says so. It says it’s an “office” and it belongs to the President-elect. So he’s in an elected office. QED.

He announces his cabinet choices each day. And, I can see the Change taking place. He has changed virtually everything he said during his campaign. He promised he would bring Change and he delivers daily. We see a Clinton cabinet re-forming before our eyes. There’s Hillary; the flawed diplomat who made so many mistakes in his view with her foreign policy positions on the campaign trail. She’s in charge of his foreign policy.

He promised a new approach to defense. He delivered there, by Changing from his dissatisfaction with the administration to retention of the SecDef. It’s the first time that has ever been done in history! That’s Change!

He returns the ol’ “pardon-meister” to Justice, and free-trader Richardson to Commerce. That’s sure a Change from his policy proposals on the campaign stump.

Yep. I doubted he would bring Change, but I was wrong. He Changes everyday from what he promised to what is expedient for the moment. And he continues to prove he is clueless with regard to assuming any sort of responsible leadership position. He’s a drowning man grasping at hands which he thinks are reaching to help him. They might be intending to push him under.

But, now I’m a believer!

Style Over Substance

Last week, the CEO's of the Big Three auto manufacturers went to Washington to plead for a government subsidy of their collapsing welfare distribution agencies. That's what the union mandated fiscal outrages are, welfare for undereducated and unproductive workers making less than attractive products which can't compete in a free market.

Their faux pas was that they traveled to the Senate hearings in their corporate jets. The showboating Senators fixated on that tidbit and the slavering media highlighted the irony of pleading bankruptcy while enjoying corporate perks. But take a minute to exercise some common sense here.

We're talking about $25 BILLION in corporate bridge loans and subsidies, not a three million dollar Gulfstream. We're talking about folks at the highest rung of the corporate ladder whose time is precious and who are expected to conserve that time and apply it to the benefit of the company. We're talking about corporate jets which are already owned and were purchased for exactly the purpose that they were used for. In other words, the companies did what most major companies do. They provided modern tools for their management leaders to do the most productive work. The cost of the flights was minuscule in the big picture here compared to the waste of booking on a scheduled airline with all of the hassle which that entails these days.

But, they learned. This week we have this:

Not As Good as Camry or Altima

Yep. The three high-rollers return to the Washington carnival, but this time driving! And, they are driving suitably "green" vehicles. They are putting along in their finest mid-size sedan hybrids. Getting 34 miles to the gallon, feeling the cuddle of the cloth seats (leather not available with hybrid engine), rubbing their uncalloused hands along the luxuriant plastic dashboard and interior facing, and hopefully listening to liberal talk radio shows as they languish in traffic jams and bounce along deteriorating Interstates.

Is this meaningful? Is it practical? Is it economical? Is it justifiable? Is it monumentally stupid?

Bus Man's Holiday

Here's Formula 1 driver, Ricardo Patrese taking his wife out for a quick lap around the track in a nice new Honda. He's simply doing what he does, and he does it better than one in a billion human beings on the planet. She's simply doing what Italian wives do when they think their demise is imminent.

Divorce Imminent

Wonder if he'll get lucky tonight?

Notice Anything?

The attack on Mumbai is providing a lot of lessons for a lot of folks. We can only hope that some of them may be learned rather than ignored.

For instance, right at the onset we got reports that the targets were American and British passport holders; tourists and business people visiting the thriving metropolitan economic and cultural center of India. We’re spring-loaded by our own media to believe that everyone in the world hates us. (…because of the failed Bush policies, of course.) Then the bodies started showing up and they weren’t Caucasian. Lesson: terrorists are equal opportunity destroyers. No one is immune.

Then, we have been propagandized to believe that Islam is a peaceful religion and simply because we see a few hundred random examples of horrific terrorist attacks we shouldn’t automatically create a linkage. Oops, these guys are Muslims again! Page through the morning paper and check out what other areas are on fire today. Nigeria? Check. Muslims? Check. How about those pesky pirates? You know those modern day Jack Sparrows in djellabahs and Kalashnikovs. Somali? Check. Muslims? You bet! Anywhere you find, if you read the whole story you will encounter the “peaceful” adherents of the teaching of the Prophet aggressively seeking to apply the latest fatwa to the Infidels. Learn the lesson.

How about this one:

The Fallacy of Expecting Police Action

How many shootings/hostage-takings have we seen the SWAT team arrive in their snazzy black outfits, their cool black boots, their chic knit balaclavas, their fully tricked-out AR-15s, their belts festooned with gadgetry and gimmicks galore, only to cluster behind their vehicles drinking Starbuck’s and making cell phone calls to negotiate. No storming of doors, no room-to-room invasions, no dramatic swoop downs and rescues, nope. What we get is caution and waiting for the shooting to stop from inside the buildings. That, of course, can only mean that the terrorists are either finished with their work, or out of ammunition. But it insures that more people will die.

Lesson: there is only one immediate defense when the defecation hits the oscillating air circulating device in your vicinity. It is what you’ve brought with you and your own willingness to fight for your survival. Hiding, cowering, whimpering and waiting for the arrival of the cavalry is futile.

“Let’s Roll!”

Bargains Galore

I wouldn't leave the house on Black Friday for anything. It's a day to relax and sort of snooze, then sneak into the kitchen for a left-over turkey sandwich with mayo and cranberry sauce on whole wheat. Pair it with a Sam Adams and a good football game for life at its finest.

Yet, a lot of people do. For some reason they are compelled to join the lemmings on a march to the mall. I guess they are the same folks who gather in Times Square on New Year's Eve to be herded, abused, jostled and inconvenienced simply to act like a fool at midnight when a flashing ball of crystal and lights descends a pole. Stupid.

That's why I was dismayed on Friday at mid-day when I saw the emerging reports of death in a crush of shoppers storming a Wal-Mart in New York City, that bastion of culture, refinement and conspicuous boorish behavior. I seriously thought it had to be a hoax and would be retracted by the evening news. It wasn't.

Now the police seek surveillance video:

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

The question is, what will they charge these fools with? It can't be murder. Those who may have pushed the victim were long gone by the time anybody got stepped on. Those who stepped on him were propelled by those behind who couldn't know what was happening in front. Those who propelled were apparently caught up in the frenzy which had festered since they set their alarm clocks to get out of bed in the pre-dawn darkness to go on this quest for bargains.

Maybe the charges should be levied at the public at large for fostering this sort of media event. Could someone explain to me what possible product at a Wal-Mart, at any price, could be worth that effort? Chinese-made crap at inflated prices, discounted to still provide a profit and which will ravel, collapse or malfunction within six weeks of Christmas?

And, what ever happened to the very basic concept of Christmas and the holiday spirit?

Can someone tell me?

First Christmas Card Received

Christmas wishes arrived in my inbox already:

The Cache

Hardly a day goes by now when we don’t see headlines about another huge chunk of money coming out of Washington to stabilize a bank, shore up credit, rescue somebody’s bad mortgage investments, save some neer-do-well’s house, or bailout an industry. Each time the number sounds vaguely familiar. Does $700 billion have a constant ring to it? Is it from that singular pot of federal money or is it another huge chunk being added to an exponentially increasing total? Is this $300 billion the same as that $300 billion? Are we dispensing the first, second or third trillion this week?

Has anybody asked where this money comes from? Do the booboisie think that there is some magic room in the basement of the Capitol building that is filled with stacks of million dollar bills? Don’t they realize that the magnitude of these amounts is such that even if there were such a thing as a million dollar bill, there wouldn’t be enough room to fit it in? Do they ever teach kids these days about the hyper-inflation of Weimar Germany with the photo of the little old lady pushing a wheelbarrow full of Reichsmarks down the strasse to the bakerei to buy her family brotchen?

Krauthammer points out the truth of the new economic realities here:

Results of Free Money

It’s scary, but it is totally on target. We have effectively abandoned the whole market relationship of supply and demand, risk and reward. The “invisible hand” that more effectively controls the economic scene has been totally removed from the picture to be replaced by the expedience of social engineering and political favoritism.

When you read Krauthammer’s piece pay attention to his example of Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and the auto industry. The powerful senior senator from New York doesn’t care what the market wants in an automobile. He doesn’t consider what the people can pay for their transportation. He doesn’t apparently recognize that in the heartland there are a lot of folks who couldn’t complete their daily commute before their government mandated Volt expends its total charge. The plan he demands for a Detroit auto maker’s bailout totally ignores the market and imposes unrealistic desires in some sort of enviro-whacko’s wet dream.

The simplest and most effective solution to the current economic crisis is not more government regulation. It is laissez faire. It is a return to the belief that the free market works. Let companies choose what products they will build. Let them do their own market research and see if they can offer what the public will buy. Let them negotiate with workers to offer a wage that the workers will deem acceptable and which allows the company to make a profit. Let innovation, risk and creativity be rewarded, not by government handouts, but by market success. Let failures be punished by failure, not rescued by political intervention. If no one needs a buggy whip, let the company go out of business or redirect their efforts.

Passed Unnoticed

Without fanfare, she came and apparently will recede back into well deserved oblivion.

Could this be the signal of a return to a higher standard of entertainment and cultural discourse? One can only hope:

You Probably Missed It

Why should the response surprise anyone?

Glider Pilot Victory!

As I put the final touches on the Robin Olds book, "The Name is Olds" I shake my head in wonderment at the incredible scope of his life. Many get one or two achievements in their life that are noteworthy. Robin is one of those individuals who has simply linked exceptional accomplishments continually for fifty years.

Take a look:

Obama Makes Critical Appointment

We've all been wondering with bated breath (something fishy about that!) what Barak Obama has in line for former President and now co-Secretary of State, Bill Clinton. Apparently in an informal press conference Mr. Obama leaked his intentions. The conversation was apparently quite candid with Mr. Obama acknowledging some things we've all felt.

Clinton Appointment Announced

Yep, you heard it hear first!

The Name Is Olds

I've reached the final two weeks in the preparation of Robin Olds' memoir. His daughter Christina has done a remarkable job of sorting, organizing, editing and getting the writings of his life into a coherent readable package. We'll get it to St. Martin's Press, the publisher by the end of the month. It will offer readers an insight into a truly remarkable man's life.

Today, I'm working through a chapter on his F-4 experiences at Ubon during Rolling Thunder. He offers comments on what makes a fighter pilot different and in the process offers a quote from John Gillespie Magee that never seems to grow old.

It triggered memories of my childhood when I'd make a special effort to stay up late enough to watch the TV stations sign off. Some would do it with the national anthem, some with America the Beautiful, and some with a reading of the poem coupled with this video of a beautiful airplane in action:

Break The Windows

Possibly the best song he ever recorded:



If you want the best version he's ever done, find his 2007 release, "At the Movies" with some really great live cuts of his hits.

And here's a little more to feed the hunger:

How Far We've Come

It was the summer of 1968 and the country was on fire, literally. We were having race riots, anti-war riots, draft riots, ban-the-bomb riots and massive unrest for any reason that pops up on a given morning.

One reaction to the race riots was the development of an entire industry within the military called "Race Relations". Every installation got a race relations office and a small staff of suitably disgruntled minority NCO's to conduct a "program." I might have been one of the first to notice that while discrimination based on ethnicity was prohibited both by civil law and military regulations, I never encountered a single caucasian military member staffing any of the offices.

They did two things. They solicited complaints of discrimination. The verb here is important. They didn't accept or record or simply file gripes. They went searching for them. And, they taught mandatory classes on race relations. Everybody had to receive a training course.

We learned that you can't correct a military subordinate for not being clean-shaven if they get a doctor to certify they have pseudofoliculitis; a racially based skin rash caused by the act of shaving. You also can't mention that their hair cut is out of limits, if it is an ethnic style. You can't expect them to stop doing a fifty-five step "dap" greeting of their peers to render a salute. And, we learned a whole lexicon of new words that could be used to offend someone racially.

If you were prejudiced to begin with, it gave you new ammunition for being offensive. If you weren't it made you think that maybe you should be.

Take a look at this corporate experience forty years later and see how far we've come:

Training Day

Probably the most revealing phrase in that well written piece is:

It is not the intent of the alleged harasser, but the impact on the recipient.

You don't have to be prejudiced or mean or insulting or harassing or intimidating to be guilty. It is what the recipient thinks you said even if you didn't say it!

Doesn't that smack of "1984"?

Future Attorney General

It looks like the new administration might very well have Eric Holder running the Justice Department. The fear for many of us regarding an Obama administration has been a reversion to oppressive gun control policies. The position of Attorney General is pivotal in that regard.

That's why this item is so disturbing:

Another Verse Just Like the Other Verse

Mr. Holder's positions have apparently remained consistent over time. One can only hope that the linkages are clearly apparent to the confirmation process and that the loyal opposition is vocal in pointing them out.

Inelastic Markets

My good friend, Billy Beck over at Two-Four pointed to this:



Did you get that pivotal phrase? Did you hear the Congress-critter clearly state that "It's not your money!" when talking about funds that he and his cohorts are dishing out? Where does he get it if not from us?

The bailout of the "U.S. Auto Industry" is most assuredly the most disingenuous misnomer ever applied to a proposal by our government. Stop thinking of it as the US Auto Industry. It isn't! It is about the mismanaged Big Three and the United Auto Workers. The US industry covers a lot more manufacturers who aren't standing in line outside their corporate jets asking for a rescue package that would merely be a holding action against disaster. There are a lot of factories, design shops, suppliers and dealers that aren't part of the Big Three.

Let's start with some basics. People need cars. They will for the foreseeable future. Cars are a consumable commodity. They age and wear out. They must be replaced. Collapse of the Big Three wouldn't change that. People would still require cars and other companies with better designs, better management and better cost controls would supply them.

I worked for a short period in the aerospace defense industry. It is an example of another inelastic market. The military needs equipment and will buy it inevitably. Workers in the defense industry are always just one contract decision away from being out of a job. Lose the competitive bidding process and your company won't be ramping up for full-scale production. Does that create huge economic turmoil? Not at all.

Have a conversation with some folks on the production line, in the design shop, upstairs in the marketing department, or in the top management offices. You quickly find that they've moved back and forth between major manufacturers following the contracts. Ditto for their suppliers.

That is exactly what would happen in the auto industry. Are you experienced in automobile design, production, sales, repair, parts supply? Then you'll have a job with another company doing the same thing but maybe at a different site.

People will continue to need cars even if GM, Ford and Chrysler are simply fading lights in industrial history.

Memories of World Travels

When you spend nine or ten years of your young adult life in various questionable places around the world, you develop the ability to identify with this song:

Credit Where It's Due

From a letter to the editor in the Dallas Morning News today:

Recently, I filled my tank at $1.91 a gallon.
It's interesting that prices have plummeted just when the pro-oil George W. Bush-Dick Cheney administration is exiting, car sales are in the dump, the government is reassessing the automotive industry and a new Democratic administration has promised a renewed effort to develop alternative fuels. Quite a coincidence, don't you think?

Got that? In June the price of gas in our area was $4.20/gallon. Now it's about $1.95. It's been falling for six months in concert with the price of crude oil which has dropped from $147/bbl to about $55.

Is that because of supply and demand? You know, that ol' Adam Smith thing where people use less and supply is too high so the prices respond.

No, according to that twit it is the mere anticipation that the Messiah will do something. When the prices started downward, there was no economic crisis and Obama had just barely gained his party nomination. The probability of his election was a coin toss. Now, just two weeks after election and a full two months before he is able to make one presidential decision he gets full credit.

I despair for the future of the republic. With this level of ignorance it can't be long before the barbarians storm the deteriorating gates.

Important Assets

The trivia rather than the issues drove the last couple of years of 24/7 campaigning. We didn't get policy alternatives we got questions of how many houses you own, what your wardrobe cost, who your nanny was, where you were during the cultural revolution and whether or not Joe the Plumber is licensed to practice.

Now, that bastion of liberal e-journalism offers this penetrating piece:

Setting a Journalistic Low

The puns that can be generated from that simply overwhelm me. I apologize for the pun pair before the link. But, can you read through the piece (sorry again) and get to the last paragraph when the writer says, "the jig is up" without reflexively thinking that is a racist comment?

Really, how low can we go here?

Flim-Flam Man

We said repeatedly during the campaign that Barak Obama was an empty suit. He had a sparse resume, questionable associations and couldn’t speak without a teleprompter. He was well packaged, well managed and willing to promise the great unwashed an unending bacchanal of bread and circuses. There was little questioning of exactly how that could be accomplished within any reasonable fiscal constraint. The voters simply wanted “change.”

Along the way the candidate very successfully painted John McCain as “Bush III,” a continuation of the “failed Bush policies” of the last eight years. Anyone who has watched John McCain over his many years in Washington and particularly during the eight years of the Bush administration would know that was a ludicrous connection. Sen. McCain had bucked Bush on tax cuts without matching spending reductions. He had argued extensively and correctly for a revised Iraq policy. He had virtually leaped across party lines for a comprehensive immigration reform policy that was arguably a “bridge too far.” He had even offended his own party hard core with his quixotic quest for campaign finance reform. John McCain was many things, but he certainly wasn’t a clone of George W. Bush. Regardless, the Morlocks of the electorate sucked up the pabulum and accepted the unfounded assertion.

Now, he awaits coronation. He builds an administration. He names people for responsible positions in the Obamanation. He undeniably has neither the experience nor the connections among respected statesmen to choose from his own cadre. He simply hasn’t been there long enough. So, we’ve got Rahm Emmanuel and John Podesta as the first names released. Now we’re hearing strong rumors of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. The fact that we are getting Clinton III and this isn’t change from the old, business-as-usual Washington in-crowd seems to be escaping the media and the masses. Bill must be laughing himself silly in the Playboy Mansion Long Island branch.

If Obama lacked qualification to be president, then how does Sen. Clinton have any credentials to be SecState? Does she have diplomatic experience? Has she studied international relations and foreign policy? Has she been in the United Nations delegation? An ambassador? She is a civil law attorney with a background of questionable dealings. She is a former first lady who has hosted a lot of White House social activities. She is a one-term senator. She is arguably famous now, but she isn’t qualified by any objective measurement.

It was clear when she “graciously” withdrew after recognizing that victory was impossible and her debts were becoming insurmountable that there had been a meeting and an agreement. The godfather had made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. I honestly thought it was a Supreme Court seat, but in retrospect recognize that she and Bill aren’t into delayed gratification. There’s no telling how long it would take the Clintonistas to engineer a death on the court. So, SecState is about as good as it gets, especially for someone who “abhors the military.”

Which brings up SecDef. The buzz is that the Messiah will be asking Bob Gates to stay on at Defense. You know the old dictum about not changing horses in mid-stream. We do have some wars on and consistency is good, at least until the dismantling can begin. But how long will it take for the public to notice that what is being delivered is “continuation of the failed Bush policies” on Iraq?

We are seeing the practice of telling the voters whatever it takes to get elected and then governing without reference to the promises made taken to a new level. This will set campaigns for the future a low-level target that it may be impossible to undercut.

Death of the Free Market

I start with a disclaimer. I've disliked American cars since the mid-70s. That's when they gave me a speedometer that only went to 85 even though the car would go much faster than that on the autobahns of Germany. I never knew how fast I was going. Any my catalytic converter was unsuitable for leaded gas in Europe, and I had to have the constrictor removed from the fuel filler so I could put the pump nozzle into the tank. The real issue was the lack of quality and dependability. They simply sucked.

I gave them one more chance in 1983 with an S-10 Blazer. It sucked as well. So, I bought cars from non-Big-Three automakers. They ran well, performed incredibly, never left me stranded and I loved them. Now those companies prevail in the market and most of them are (drum roll please!) MADE IN THE USA.

That's why I've got no sympathy for Detroit. They knelt in obeisance to the unions and paid outrageous wages to unskilled workers. The product reflects the lack of commitment of the protected union member and the bloated edifice of the corporate headquarters of the Big Three demonstrates the lack of concern for any sort of economies on behalf of management. The choice of consumers in the marketplace speaks for itself.

Read what Krauthammer says about the proposed bailout:

Unintended or Intended Consequences

The New Speak of American Politics keeps referring to it as a "bailout of the US auto industry" but that isn't it at all. The US auto industry is a lot more than the Big Three. Many other marques have factories, buy commodities and employ hundreds of thousands of US workers. It is a bailout of the supporters of the left. It is a bailout of unions and their heavy-handed coercive labor policies. It is a reward for the corrupt state and local politics of states in drastic decline of socialist governments like Michigan. And, it is an unconstitutional interference in the free market competition of auto makers.

It should not happen.

Hum Along If You Wish

Probably not as memorable as a lot of hip-hop:



George and Ringo got sucked into backing up a Stones hit.

Loaves and Fishes

Remember the bible story about the loaves and fishes? Jesus preached all day and the folks got hungry. Sort of reminds me of a Lyle Lovett song.

Church

Essentially the story boils down to a miracle involving a couple of fishes and some bread feeding a throng without any shortage. Until now we thought it was miraculous. Now, we’ve got it actually occurring before our very eyes. I speak of the magic of the federal mortgage bailout. This time around, we’ve got a lot bigger crowd. Jesus never gathered 300 million seeking a freebie. It takes the US government to do that.

Remember last month? Immediate action was required. Congress moved quickly with a $700 billion bailout for the sub-prime mortgage shysters. It was really $850B before it got out of the butcher shop, but that’s chump change when it comes to miracles. The miracle seemed to be that the knuckle draggers of Capitol Hill could act within less than six months. Hardly! The miracle has taken a bit longer to unfold but the scope is much broader.

What are we getting for that pie? Well, here’s how it’s evolving:

Go Back to Bed, We're with AIG

Our Unions Are Hungry for Lousy Cars

We're Number Two

Don't Leave Home Without Some

Collie Fornia Too

See how that works? You create a large pool of magic money. No one associates it with taxpayers or real people working. It simply is a miracle. It is so huge that average people can’t even begin to comprehend its magnitude. Then you start doling it out. The line to get some grows. Everyone is justified because that’s “fair,” isn’t it? If you save one company why can’t you save my pet interest? We want to live in a risk free society with reward only and no penalties for failure. That’s justice, isn’t it? Somewhere along the way there are going to be a lot of individuals whose mortgages get bought up and their debts forgiven. Gotta love it!

Now we’ve got Treasury Secretary Paulson with a checkbook and really very little regulatory oversight. He begins distributing loaves and fishes. You can rest assured that everyone will get fed and the pie will always have another slice for the next hungry mouth. Paulson’s no piker. This ain’t light lunch. This is a full blown banquet.

Remember Everett Dirksen? Maybe you’ve got to be really old like me and possibly you’ve got to come from Illinois. He’s US Senator who had the great deep voice so suited to brilliant oratory and whose most memorable pronouncement seems to have been, “A billion here, a billion there…pretty soon you’re talking about real money.”

And you thought God was the only one who could work miracles!

Collapse of the MSM

Yesterday over at Two-Four, Billy Beck had an item about the impending financial collapse of the New York Times. Remember them? They used to be the unquestioned first source for news in America. They were the "Gray Lady" who set the standard of objective reporting. Then they succumbed to the dark side. The result?

Out of Cash

Apparently there are only so many times that you can fabricate the news to fit your agenda before even the American public will stop believing you. For younger readers, the old story of the boy who cried wolf might be applicable. For older ones, the military adage about one "aw shit" erasing a thousand "attaboys" is relevant. The NYT is several thousand attaboys in arrears.

Today we've got this item about the naivete of major news outlet MSNBC:

Why They Are Failing

Is it even for a second credible to believe that someone who could rise to be governor of a large, developing state might be so ignorant in the first place? Maybe from the rarified superiority of New York City that might be the view of the rest of use rubes, but it simply ain't likely. That's why it is so pathetic that they would rush the item to air without question.

The real question is why can't the MSM get over Sarah Palin? Why must they continue to chip with whatever dull tool they can find? Might it be that she is someone with so much potential for revitalizing the nearly defunct Republican Party that she simply scares the hell out of them?

The Day

A few years ago I asked a class on this date what day it was. The answers astonished. Some said it was Tuesday. Some said it was November 11th. None knew that it was Veteran's Day.



I asked if the had ever heard of Armistice Day. None had. I asked if they knew of the end of the "War to End All Wars." None had. I asked if they knew what war that might have been. One volunteered "Vietnam." Another thought maybe Korea. I explained the significance.

Remember:

Belated Happy Birthday Wishes

Yesterday was the birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Established November 10, 1776 in Tun Tavern. Still looking pretty good:



Hand Salute! Semper Fi!

What "What the Captain Means" Means

For those who weren't in the business and might wonder what the title of a couple of pieces might signify:

What the Captain Means

Remember the rhetoric? He was from outside the Beltway, although quite deeply inside the Chicago Machine. He was a breath of fresh air; a change from politics as usual; the new visions of folks not deeply enmeshed in the nasty side of Washington.

That's why it was so strange and surprisingly unremarked upon, when the Messiah chose Joe Biden as his running mate. Not much change with a guy who snagged a carpet-bagger seat in the Senate 32 years ago and has been there ever since. No, but maybe that was an aberration. Change we could believe in was coming.

So, for Chief of Staff we've got Rahm Emmanuel. Remember him? A close Clinton confidant whose reward for loyal service as black bag hit-man was a safe seat in Congress. OK, maybe just a fluke. Change is really what it's about.

Oops, John Podesta on the White House staff? Remember him from the Clinton years? How about the others in the show-and-tell lineup at the "press conference" the other day? Paul Volker? Not a new face. Robert Reich? Still not a change. And, how about the potential of John Kerry at State?

Now there's this breaking news for Attorney General:

Winds of Change

Remember her from Clinton? I feel more secure already.

Saw the Fork, Took It, Got Lost

Viewers of recent history wouldn’t have trouble acknowledging that Ronald Reagan forged a grand coalition of conservatism which capture the pride of the American people and swept the Republican Party into power. On the crest of the wave of free-market economic proponents, patriotic defense advocates, and ethical American families, he took the presidency and recaptured the Congress with what looked like a fundamental shift in the political landscape.

The belief that successful business of all sizes, big and small, creates wealth, jobs, stability, growth and quality of life benefiting everyone wasn’t a tough sell. The concept of America as a golden city on a hill which was worth defending didn’t take much effort either. It wasn’t colonial expansion but rather a role-model and inspiration for the rest of the world. The renewal of a moral society which could be proud of raising children, going to church, and comfortable with what is right rather than that which is crude and base empowered a previously silent majority. Who could argue against any of it?

What then happened? Where did they go wrong? Why does it appear that conservatives have lost their way?

They simply went to Washington and forgot who they were. Maybe they weren’t who they said they were in the first place. Maybe they simply told us they were different from the politicians we had been watching before but they really weren’t. What do they need to do to regain credibility with the electorate? Or, is it too late?

Walk the walk: When you run as a moral and ethical individual standing for what is good in America you actually have to live your life in accordance with those principles. You can’t send raunchy emails to Congressional pages, solicit sex in airport bathrooms or cavort with a series of long-legged, beautiful secretaries and lobbyists while the loyal wife stays home in the district taking care of the kids. Keep your libido in check for the duration.

Live within OUR means: Embrace the principles of fiscal conservatism. Learn exactly how the Laffer curve works and then apply that knowledge to your legislative behavior. You know that the people demand that government give them everything, but your ideology says that they don’t NEED everything. Set priorities and defend them. Don’t cave in to the tendency to buy your way into re-election. You will succeed without disbursing favors if you keep taxes low and the economy strong.

Live within YOUR means: You know what a Congressman makes. It is public knowledge. You get a budget to staff your office and you get a lot of perks for your position. You don’t need to let power go to your head and start riding the kickback gravy train. Randy Cunningham knew better, but he began to think he could get away with it. He’s now in federal prison. Ted Stevens knew better, but he became too arrogant to remember his duty and now he’s a convicted felon facing the same federal room and board as Duke. The public will reward your honesty with tenure. When you leave office your future financial well-being will be assured and you will look in the mirror and know you kept the public trust.

Get a backbone: Stand up for what is right. Learn what is important and what is fluff. Resist the pork barrel and wean yourself off of earmarks. Take a look at Rep. Jeb Hensarling or Mike Pence. They are among the few and their seats seems pretty secure these days despite not gorging at the trough. The people appreciate that and the position is defensible.

Stay out of the gutter: Everyone claims they campaign on the issues, but the reality is that everyone gets into the pig fight. The fighter pilot rule is to never wrestle with a pig. You can’t win, you both get muddy and the pig loves it. Give the opposition no dirt (see “walk the walk” above), and they won’t have any mud to throw. What they make up will be obviously false. Establish positions consistent with your conservative principles and present them when you defend your votes. Act as though you are making the decisions to govern a great nation rather than enrich your district and yourself. It’s not that tough and the voters will be refreshed by your behavior.

Raise the lowest, don’t lower the highest: We know the opposition runs on class warfare. They embrace the politics of envy. The rich must be brought down so that the poor can benefit. Conservatism finds nothing wrong with success and should be devoted to making success achievable for those with less. Help the working class aspire to wealth and create the stable, sustainable economic environment that makes that possible. It’s the better way.

Maybe America has deteriorated too far for this to work. I don’t think so. I still believe in the middle class; those people who prepare themselves, who work hard, who raise families and strive for success. They don’t want a handout, they just want the opportunity to be better. They want government to create the situation in which they can do that. Defend the nation, enable business, preserve our infrastructure, and then get out of the way and let the free market show us success.

I'm Driven

Breaking news just in:


Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Al Swearengen on Elections

This comes to me through New Paltz Journal which links to Jonah Goldberg at National Review Online.



I can only hope that the National Republican Committee is watching; that Sarah Palin is watching; that Rudy Guiliani is watching; that Newt Gingrich is watching; that John Boehner is watching; that Mitch McConnell is watching; that even Colin Powell is watching. This should be mandatory viewing for every Republican gathering for the next four years.

I'm Always Ahead

I Told You This Months Ago

I've had mine for several months now and absolutely love it. Wireless, convenient, quick, and despite the initial investment it really is a money saver because the books you get cost a fraction of the hard or soft cover versions.

If you're curious, there's a link on the right side to let you explore what the Kindle does.

Take Inventory

We often assume that the outcome of an election won’t really matter in our daily lives. We have enjoyed the luxury of choosing a pretty face in the horse race and blithely voting for whomever. Deep in our hearts we think that we could stay home or vote our emotions without much concern over whether or not our society would collapse around us. That gradually has changed.

You might offer the historical argument that it changed on August 6th 1945 with a nuclear weapon over Hiroshima. Or, you could say the change took place a few years later when the Soviet Union became a nuclear power and we began to watch the Doomsday Clock. Maybe it was the political turmoil of 1968 erupting in our streets and universities. But, then things quieted and we continued on our slide into antipathy and government by emotion. The video of the World Trade Center collapsing one September morning changed that forever. Now we know that it does make a difference whom we elect. Our future security depends upon it.

Despite that, we have failed to seriously take an inventory of what qualification the winner has for the office. We seem oblivious to what he really plans to do when given the reins of power. We’ve grasped the sound-bites and taken them into our lexicon without applying any analysis or reason. Joseph Goebbels rules. Simply say something, even if it is totally counter to observation, and if you do that often enough, it becomes reality. “New-Speak” of Big Brother’s 1984 is prevalent. Black is white, peace is war, and we believe it unquestioningly.

What is going to happen with regard to taxes under an Obama administration? It is absurd to believe that 95% of the people are going to get a tax cut. It defies simple math to think that government spending can increase by several trillions and it only needs 5% of the people to fund it. What will he REALLY do, now that he’s in office with an obviously leftist Congressional leadership?

What is going to happen in the global war on terror? Sen. Obama has repeatedly denied the efficacy of the surge in Iraq, touting as his greatest achievement his opposition from the start. Regardless of that, his stated policy will be to increase troops in Afghanistan—a surge—to deal with the situation there. How can that work? What happens in Iraq? Can we get someone with maturity in charge who can read the history of the Russian experience in Afghanistan? Can we get someone with a broad world view who relates Middle East stability to a counter-balance for Iran and security for global energy sources? Did I really read in the morning paper that the SecState choice seems to be between John Kerry and Dick Lugar? Ain’t no way even as moderate a Republican as Lugar is going to get that plum seat in the Cabinet.

Does he have a plan for Iran’s threat? How will he do the only thing he suggests, meet with Ahmadinejad, if the president of Iran doesn’t want to meet with him? Will a President Obama defend Israel? Will he do it in the event of an Iranian attack? Why did Jewish voters trust him? How will he strike terrorists in Pakistan, a sovereign nation, when they deny us access? And, what of Venezuela, Argentina and Bolivia? Africa anyone? Hugo Chavez doesn’t have our best interests at heart.

How do you reduce our dependency on foreign oil while simultaneously refusing to exploit America’s domestic resources? How do you supply our growing electrical power needs with wind and solar, but not using nuclear energy? No drilling, bankrupting builders of coal-fired generating plants, no nuclear and some sort of diversion of money into an alchemy project to create “new alternative energy sources,” whatever that means.

What are his plans with regard to the environment? I don’t mean feel-good discipline in the US. I mean the overwhelming impact of the two big kids on the global block, India and China. Our contribution is a drop in the polluted bucket compared to those behemoths. Will he notice the broad range of defeat across the country in this election of enviro-whacko proposals? Or, will he continue to cater to the Gore crowd and implement policies that funnel our energy dollars down a non-productive rat-hole?

What sort of an administration can we expect with regard to First Amendment protections when we see the strong arm tactics his campaign employs against those in the media who might actually challenge some of the mindless assertions of his campaign? Are you folks in Orlando comfortable after the Biden/West interview? Is there anything “fair” about the “Fairness Doctrine” which muzzles one side and force-feeds the nation alternative views?

What really is the function of this domestic police/youth/service corps which he intends to create? What is going to happen to a military under an Obama administration which anticipates a 25% manpower cut and denial of new weapons acquisitions? Who defends? Who supplies? Where do the former defense contract employees work? Am I simply too history minded to liken this “domestic security force” which is equally funded, manned and armed with our military to the parallel organizations of Hitler’s brown-shirted SA and black-shirted SS? That’s not an isolated incidence. Consider Spain’s Guardia Civil and military; or Italy’s Carabinieri and military; or even Stalin’s political commissars within the military backed by the NKVD.

What has Sen. Obama ever managed, directed, operated or administered? How many people has he supervised? What size payroll did he budget for? How much profit or loss did his effort generate? What problems did he encounter? How was his leadership instrumental in facilitating “change”? What executive experience does he bring to the office?

Where are his writings? How do you edit the Harvard Law Review without leaving a legacy of work? How do you become a Constitutional Law professor at a major university without a curriculum vitae that includes extensive writings and records of professional presentations? Where are his undergraduate and graduate grades?

Where are his moderate, non-controversial, friends and mentors? We’ve heard about Ayers, Dohrn, Wright, Pfleger and Alinsky. Now I want to find some reasonable people. So far Rahm Emmanuel as Chief of Staff doesn’t reassure me on moderation.

We’re going to learn a lot in the coming months. We’ll see what the cabinet looks like. We’ll hear soaring rhetoric in another Leni Riefenstahl “Evening in Nuremburg” event at the inauguration. The real indicators will surface in February when we see what’s on the agenda. What is really going to happen in the first 100 days? Tax cuts? Another “bread & circuses” stimulus disbursement? A socialized medicine healthcare proposal? A summary redeployment from Iraq to Afghanistan? A nationalization of banks and key industries? Defense department budget cuts? A terrorist attack? Gun control legislation? Wage and price controls? An immediate enlargement of the Supreme Court to eliminate the waiting for resignations or deaths before making appointments?

The Chinese Curse is still operative. We live in “interesting times.”

Comes the Spring

So, shoot me. I'm in a rut!

A Song For the Moment

Does history repeat itself?

Watch this and judge for yourself. There are remarkable similarities in style, surroundings, policy proposals, staffing and even staging:

Talking the Talk, Never Walking At All

On election day the reports pour in on major news web sites of election fraud accusations across the country. This is yet one more indication that the great experiment in an American republic is crumbling around us. One of the most noteworthy achievements of our founders and an accomplishment which has always separated us from the Third World and nominal democracies elsewhere has been a system of honest, visible elections which were uniformly trusted by the people followed by orderly transition of power.

Certainly there were 19th century examples of local elections that were corrupted and even violent, but the presidential race has seemed above such things. That's a rose-colored glasses view of history I know. The actuality was not quite so pristine.

Yet, today we see the accusations being cast almost as rapidly as the ballots. Its a bad sign.

Part of the cause might be attributed to the Gore/Bush fiasco in 2000 in which the Democrats simply decided to ignore the very clear procedures of the Constitution regarding an Electoral College as governing in favor of their own interpretation that somehow the popular vote made any difference. If you don't like the outcome change the rules, demand a recount, demand a re-vote, re-examine and grade the votes you've got.

The precedent carried forth into this past primary season where we learned watching those same Democrats that if you whine loud enough the rules can be rewritten after the game to change an outcome. Witness the banishment and reinstatement of delegates from Michigan and Florida to the Democratic National Convention. The rules simply are flexible guidelines. Change as needed to fit the most pressing desires.

Now, enliven your election day depression with this summary of what we appear poised to face:

David Limbaugh Observes the Prospect

I've got to go out to the store and buy some whisky and some ammo. Maybe I'll pick up a new gun too...

And Now For Something Completely Different

This recent video shows typical efforts by ACORN and the Obama campaign to round up last minute voters. The footage was captured in Chicago where Obama supporter, Mayor Richard M. Daley continues to use the same time honored practices his father pioneered in the days of John F. Kennedy. Mayor Daley acknowledged that the techniques have been refined over the years, but the method always brings results.



Similar voter roundups are going on in swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The effort will continue right up until polls close. Remember, the next round up isn't until Thursday and that will be too late.

What the Captain Means

Dismantling the message with some pesky facts:

Kool-Aid Party Planned in Grant Park

In a world in which the medium becomes the message and language gets convoluted into meaningless babble which deeply stirs our emotion, we get a critical analysis like this upon occasion:

Thomas Sowell Comments

Just one of many frightening things in our future:



Isn't that special? Free enterprise can do what is needed to meet the market demand, but the Messiah's government will bankrupt them in return. But, we'll get energy independence by doing this sort of thing. Got that? No oil, no coal, no nukes. How in God's name will I be able to heat the cave next winter?

Jeffersonian Wisdom

Where's Thomas Jefferson now that we need his sage counsel?

Here's some of it:

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

Sort of puts it in perspective. Or, maybe this:

"If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."

And to remember for the future, maybe a year or two down stream when the "Civilian Security Force" is breaking storefront windows on the main street in town then going house to house to confiscate your guns:

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

We would be wise to spend more time in our educational system reading some of the legacy of the Founders. We might be better able to make our voting decisions and less liable to be sucked in by a demagogue.

Reflections

Consider:

Thought For the Day

I'm thinking we'll be hearing this a lot in our immediate future.

Brigid Threatens to Publish

Don't look for this on the newstand near you, but if I did see it I'd buy it.



Gotta love a woman who loves guns, shooting, flying, cooking and has a literary and artistic talent on top it all. "Home on the Range" is her blog and it's linked on the right here.

Wingmen

Wingmen build a very special relationship. You endure combat together and you are responsible to each other. You pledge to keep the other guy alive with your support, your skills, your courage, your eyes, your weapons and your dependability. It's a team bonding and the prize is life itself.

Wingmen go to war together, go to the bar together and hopefully go home together when it is over. Here's a web site that brings together a group of wingmen who fought a very difficult battle and returned with honor at the end.

Read what they've got to say:

Wingmen For McCain

I'm honored to know several of the guys who contributed to that page. I trust them and respect them. I hope a majority of Americans do as well this coming week.