Day: March 15, 2017

Closing Thought–15Mar17

I Like Ike!

Probably if the GOP had a candidate of the caliber of Dwight D. Eisenhower they could never be beat.  War hero and statesman an icon of the Cold War.  Plus they cannot even come together to honor the man for his service to the country.  But like the plight of most veterans…NO one cares.

In 1999 the permission for a memorial to Eisenhower was approved and so far it has been nothing but a waste of time……

Few seem to really like it, but for now it seems to be limping along to somewhere. That sentiment describes the latest chapter in the saga of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. It was commissioned by Congress in 1999, and eventually given a site on a public square in Washington a few blocks from the Capitol. But almost two decades later, the project has yet to even break ground—or even finalize a design.

In February, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) allowed three proposed changes to the Eisenhower Memorial design, giving the oft-stalled project permission to proceed a step toward an uncertain future. The 16-year-old memorial project is carried forward not so much by momentum as it is by resignation.

Source: Will Eisenhower Ever Have a Fitting Memorial? | The American Conservative

This is not surprising for the Repubs try to forget Ike instead they want to fixate on Reagan…..which I think is a mistake…..more progress was happening under Ike than any time during the rule of Ronnie.

Draw the bath water…my day is done….see everyone tomorrow….be well, be safe….chuq

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Is State Department Being Phased Out?

No that is not a trick question.

Yes I am a foreign policy wonk and an antiwar activist…..there is nothing more important than what the US does on the international stage……and our state department is the diplomatic arm of our government…..and it has been inflicted with a cancerous tumor.

We live in a multi-polar world and diplomacy should be the cornerstone of our activities…..

Source: The Importance of Diplomacy – In Saner Thought

Since this country lost its collective mind and elected Trump it appears that his plan is to do just as the title suggests…..I first wrote about this in a recent post……..

Source: The Day Diplomacy Died – In Saner Thought

But the moves around our State Department has even some military people worried……

America’s generals are talking turkey. But we’re not talking about the well-known idiom for “speaking frankly” about a subject … although over 120 retired generals did just send a frank letter in response to a new State Department-slashing budget proposal by President Trump.

In that unusual military missive, a group of “former three- and four-star generals” led by “Retired Gen. David Petraeus, a former CIA director, and retired Adm. James Stavridis, the former NATO supreme allied commander,” pleaded with lawmakers and yet another general, new National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, to preserve State Department funding.

Source: 120 U.S. Generals and Admirals Just Sent Trump a Dire Warning About Diplomacy | Alternet

Is this what a government geared to war looks like?

Our SecState is a no show at many diplomatic functions….plus there has been very little as far as briefings go….Tillerson’s silence speaks volumes for the plan of the Trump lackeys in the White House.

In the coming days and weeks I will be looking at the US responses around the world to armed conflict…..Syria is about to become an extension of our program of continuous war….more nation building….a concept that has NOT worked out well for the US and yet we still think we can do it.

The coming years will be hard on the nation and its soldiers…..diplomacy may the only thing that can save this country from more terrible plans of conquest…I mean you cannot sling a cat in the White House without hitting a general in the ass……..and Trump is doing all he can to kill that much needed diplomacy…..I weep if he is successful.

Tulsi Gabbard Finds An Ally

I have been a fan of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard since she came out in support of Bernie during the primary season last.  Then I was behind her trip to Syria.  I am in full support of her antiwar legislation and I am pleased to find that she has an ally in the Senate…

This week, U.S. Senator Rand Paul introduced the Stop Arming Terrorists Act (S. 532) to prevent American taxpayers’ money from being used to directly or indirectly support armed militants who are allied with or often working under the command of al-Qaeda, ISIS, or other terrorist groups. The legislation serves as a companion bill to H.R. 608, which Representative Tulsi Gabbard (HI-2) reintroduced in January.

“One of the unintended consequences of nation-building and open-ended intervention is American funds and weapons benefiting those who hate us,” said Dr. Paul. “This legislation will strengthen our foreign policy, enhance our national security, and safeguard our resources.”

Source: Dr. Rand Paul Introduces Tulsi Gabbard’s “Stop Arming Terrorists Act” In Senate – Ron Paul Liberty Report

Although I am not a strong supporter of Paul I will admit that some of his Libertarian views about war and nation building are along those of my feelings….I am pleased to see that Ms Gabbard has a Senatorial ally….we normal Americans need to give her and her bill all the support we can muster.

She is showing a spine something too many Dems and most Repubs to seem to have lost somewhere along the donor line.

She has my support and she deserves yours.

What Price The Wall?

WE all have heard the grand scheme to protect the homeland from the invasion of the “benefits” snatchers….that scheme would be that all impressive WALL.

The big question is where will we cough up the cash to pay for this monstrosity without raising taxes?  Or just how will this effect the security of the homeland?

According to the “fat man in the bathtub” this, the Wall, will go a long way to protecting the nation from the influx of those rabid bad guys waiting at the border to come flooding in to cause chaos and mayhem….

First, you mental midgets that think this is a good idea do realize that this country has water on 3 sides, right?

Personally, I think that the Wall is a dumb idea from the inception….great slogan but has little practical application.

Then I saw a report on one way being considered to help pay for this abortion….

The Trump administration, searching for money to build the president’s planned multibillion-dollar border wall and crack down on illegal immigration, is weighing significant cuts to the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and other agencies focused on national security threats, according to a draft plan.

The proposal, drawn up by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), also would slash the budget of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides disaster relief after hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters. The Coast Guard’s $9.1 billion budget in 2017 would be cut 14 percent to about $7.8 billion, while the TSA and FEMA budgets would be reduced about 11 percent each to $4.5 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively.

(WaPo)

Think about that for a minute you mindless dolts.

Budget cuts for Coast Guard and TSA….entry points far greater than that damn land bridge that you are so concerned about.

There is already a push back against this sort of “solution”…..

House Republicans and the nation’s largest association of retired military officers have called on the Trump administration to scrap a reported plan for a major cut in the Coast Guard budget, in part to pay for the proposed wall on the Mexican border.

“We cannot defend our homeland and continue critical security missions without the U.S. Coast Guard. It is as simple as that,” Rep. Frank LoBiondo, a New Jersey Republican and member of the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, said in a statement.

“Whomever is advising President Trump that the service could do more with even less is detached from the facts and reality on the ground,” he said.

I realize that it is early in the process but to consider this line of thought is truly moronic….but what can we expect from a group that has NO idea what they are doing?

Guess that check from Mexico bounced, eh?

The Color Purple

The voter not the movie

For past few elections we have had all the analyses on the voter…..we have red and blue voters and then we have, according to the pundits, purple voters….meaning that they could go either way in their voting habits….I guess we could call them the independents.

For the last couple of general elections this has been a point that the MSM likes to drive the conversation……and in most cases they have been wrong on so many levels.

This last election with the election of Trump may be crapping all over this “trend” that the media likes to drive…..

President Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton was among the narrowest in history, and the country is deeply split on his job performance so far. But if you feel like you hardly know anyone who disagrees with you about Trump, you’re not alone: Chances are the election was a landslide in your backyard.

More than 61 percent of voters cast ballots in counties that gave either Clinton or Trump at least 60 percent of the major-party vote last November. That’s up from 50 percent of voters who lived in such counties in 2012 and 39 percent in 1992 — an accelerating trend that confirms that America’s political fabric, geographically, is tearing apart.

Source: Purple America Has All But Disappeared | FiveThirtyEight

To me, these voters are not independent for they hug the two party system…never a thought for alternatives…..to me they are centrists….period.

Do tell….is this a new “trend” starting or is it a temporary thing that could right itself with the next election?

Eroding America’s Moral Authority

I saw the headline of this piece and I thought it was a piece of satire.  Why?  I do not think the US has had a moral authority in decades.  But as I read the article I found it was not written in humor but a serious break in attitudes around the world.  It was not the “Ignorati” attempting humor.

I do try not to be one those micro-cephalic that are a one dimensional thinker, a one trick pony if you will….so when I was presented with this bit of philosophical fodder I felt I must expand….

SO…..Moral Authority?  WTF?

  1. moral authority(Noun)

    The quality or characteristic of being respected for having good character or knowledge, especially as a source of guidance or an exemplar of proper conduct.

Moral authority means the underpinning philosophy that creates or interprets laws, or it can have other definitions. Many individuals, especially elected officials, are deemed to have the greatest authority. Alternately, the law itself may be viewed as having authority to create morals, and respected as the source upon which people base their behavior. The matter gets much more complex, especially in societies where individuals have diverse views on what constitutes morality.

Okay the refresher course is ended…..now to the article that brought me to think in philosophical terms…..