Curiosity is Not Alone in Killing the Cat

A curiosity moment led me to wonder, “Just what are the most probable causes of the Apocalypse and if any, the percentages of certainty?” I found many articles and many opinions on the subject and very little speculation or mathematics on how to rate each catastrophe with a percentage of ‘Most Likely’ to happen. What […]

Surrender – Man’s Eternal Conflict

Surrender is personal.  Every day we are faced with decisions that concern surrender.  We surrender to traffic laws, to office protocols, to the School Evening Program of our children, to the irritable clerk at the grocery store, to unwritten codes of conduct spelled out by our particular culture.  Sometimes we surrender to our base instincts […]

Of Wars and Politics – Patraeus and Obama

War is a mystic business.   Mystic because there seems some supernatural quality required for agreement on strategy.  September 11, 2001, defined a moment – a moment of political cohesion.  Pearl Harbor served that role in WWII.  The Lusitania was the protagonist in WWI.  The battleship Maine served the focal point of the Spanish American War […]

Children of War – The 20th Century Bleeds into the 21st.

The sins punished for generations are War, Poverty, Hunger, Ignorance, Physical Illness, and a general disregard of others by society. These sins compound daily – the accruing interest to be paid by succeeding generations.

Marketing War to Children

At a Fourth of July carnival last weekend, I was pushing our double stroller and sweating to the tinny sound of bad music while my children begged their grandparents for tickets to ride the Ferris Wheel. I was looking around and considering the impact that these events have on my children, since I remember being naively fond of them when I was young. It was almost as though things came into focus all of a sudden when I realized that about half of the games and vendors and rides had guns.

The NRA Supports Mexican Drug Cartels

It is the law of unintended consequences at its most maddening extreme.  In their asinine attempt to keep all forms of arms available, with the least regulation or restriction, the Nation Rifle Association has made heavy weapons available to the Mexican Drug Cartels. We don’t have enough James Bonds around to control the bad guys. […]

Obama’s War – Afghanistan

At what point does President Obama assume responsibility for a war?  Is accepting responsibility for the war the same thing as owning the war?  When does any President ‘own’ a war?  This is a curious talking point for the 24/7 news media.  Historically, we generally do not tag our Presidents as owners of wars that […]

Risk Adverse Politicians

The art of politics is often seen as the art of compromise, the art of the deal.  Politicians ask themselves, “How might I explain decisions made, and please 51% of the people?”  The job of the politician is viewed through two lenses – what is best for the country, and what is best for the […]

Bush and Cheney are WMD’s

George W. Bush, mixed with equal amounts of Dick Cheney, produces Weapons of Mass Destruction. These two men, more than Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden, have themselves destroyed mass numbers of humans. And about 5,000 of the dead are American service men. We can not even begin to count the number of innocent Iraqi’s killed in a war of vengeance.

The lethal combination of Bush and Cheney needed only a spark of inflamation. The entire Republican Party has bought into this mixture of vengeance and lusts after another opportunity to mix their potions of destruction.

Palin – Everything That Is Wrong With America

Sarah Palin is on the airways.  Most notably defending herself against accusations of incompetence by ‘anonymous’ members of the John McCain Campaign staff.  With tags like diva and whack job, Palin took some personal hits.  If Palin is the future of the Republican Party – then the future of the Republican Party is in deep […]

Tell Me I Am Not Conservative

Yikes – someone called me a conservative, how disgusting.  I said something about living within our means and the guy in the checkout line at Wal Mart called me a conservative – as if there was something wrong with me.  He was buying some tabloid magazines – I don’t know if that means he is […]

Can McCain Win The Debate?

McCain can win this debate – but he will have to hire Bill Clinton as a stand-in to do so.  We are seeing very clearly that words do matter – and Bill Clinton is the modern master of words.  McCain is a seasoned politician, able to deflect criticisms, able to spin content; but this debate […]

The Marines in Iraq

What is it about Marines that make them so special?  When called upon to serve they do not ask why – they merely pack their bags and go.  They do what is asked of them.  They believe in their hearts that their missions are honorable – that they are in the service of America. How […]

When We Oppose An American War

What happens when we the people do not agree with a war our government has engaged? We have seen this before, we are seeing it happen now – and we will probably see it again in the future. Are there boundaries of protest? Are there definitions of war that all of us can agree on?

This writer has been as perplexed as anyone on the issue of Iraq. We Americans were united in our determination to punish the people who attacked our country on September 11, 2001. In less than two months Afghanistan was on fire, the Taliban scurrying for cover, and Al Quaeda running for the hills of Tora Bora. All of us cheered the success of our military.

This writer is a child of the 1960’s, we turned 18 during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. America was losing 300 soldiers each week in this restricted police action. There was no end in sight and the country united against the war.

Stubborn McCain Champions War

John McCain owns the Republican Party – at least for the next two months.  He owns the Republican National Convention.  He owns the message being presented by every speaker and every video.  The stubbornness of John McCain is evident in the message presented.  McCain’s life bookends are all about War.  His adult life is framed […]

Redneck War Debate

We called the television station down the road in St. Joe to ask about the debate.  We wanted to know what they was gonna ask those fellas, McCain and Obama.  They tode us that they is not asking any questions.  Someone in one of the big cities gets to ask the questions.  Well, we had […]

Preconditions for War

War is serious business.  We in America should probably know that by now, and most of us do.  The decision to go to war should not be taken lightly, and should not be taken without some base understanding.  Some base understanding of what it is we are getting in to, and why and how would […]

Will Rogers on War

`I don’t care how little your country is, you got a right to run it like you want to. When the big nations quit meddling then the world will have peace.’ `People talk peace. But men give their life’s work to war. It won’t stop ’til there is as much brains and scientific study put […]

John Cusack – Serendipity of War

Well now, John Cusack is up in arms. Cusack is that actor who used to make the chic flicks that even the men enjoyed watching. My favorite is ‘Serendipity.” But I like his latest work also. Check this out: [wp_youtube]NQgJl9d5KCQ[/wp_youtube] My first take was wondering what had gotten into John Cusack. I had never seen […]

Jon Stewart at Oscars, on McCain

Son, Jon Stewart makes perfectly good sense to me. There are times when we need humor to best articulate the feelings and mood behind our thoughts. As Stewart mocks the Iraq War and John McCain’s positions on the war there is some resonance with truth. It is this ability to connect at the gut level […]

John McCain waffles on issues

Son, Over time every politician has to address his past record.  Sometimes they become ‘enlightened’ along the way and change positions.  This is not a problem.  As issues become more clear – as we sift through the nuances of complex ideologies – sometime we realize that we need to shift our position.  Unfortunately, some shift […]

Ronald Reagan and Ron Paul

Son, In 1976 Ronald Reagan made a serious run at the Republican nomination for President.  Our country was just emerging from Vietnam, Watergate, and a disgraced presidency.  There are correlations to today. We are embroiled in an unpopular war, White House lackeys are being pardoned for crimes committed on behalf of the administration, and we […]