Posse Incitatus

Remembrance and Gratitutde

Many serious problems face our nation on this Memorial Day 2011; not just economic woes like high unemployment, stagnation and perilous fiscal waters, but also relentless tornadoes, rains, winds and floods.  The damage these cruelties of nature have done to homes, businesses and farmland is heartbreaking and sobering.

But in the midst of all of our difficulties, let us never forget our tremendous resilience as a people; our strength, boundless opportunities, and vast potential.  Most importantly, let us remember that one vital component makes it all possible: our freedom. Freedom to be entrepreneurial, to learn, invent, build, worship, express ourselves, collaborate and be productive -- in short, to live up to our God-given potential.  Contingent upon recognizing freedom's crucial role is appreciating the high price paid for that freedom since our nation was founded 235 years ago.  Also, to realize that our freedom is, in the history of the world, something of a rare entity.  Totalitariansim, oppression and aristocracies have been far  more commonplace through the ages.

Hundreds of thousands of brave men and women in our armed forces have made the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I could remain free.  As I type and as you read, others are on duty now in godforsaken outposts of Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea and elsewhere. 

As my esteemed co-blogger stated the other day, the World War II generation is fast dying out, and it is essential that we never forget their tremendous constributions to making the world a better place.  I am pleased to report that when K.N. and I worked for the Michigan House of Representatives, our office organized a ceremony honoring World War II veterans at the Capitol Building, on June 6, 2004, the 60th anniversary of D-Day.  The attendance was excellent, and the vets really appreciated it.

Aside from veterans who've laid down their lives, there are many thousands of vets whose lives have been shattered by debilitating injuries and/or psychological trauma.  If you're a believer, keep them in your prayers.

On this Memorial Day, let us at least take a few moments to contemplate the suffering and sacrifice so many have endured for our freedom, and resolve not to squander our hard-won liberty and opportunity.

 

Memorial Day 2011 - Remembering Sean Grimes

This blog started in March of 2004.  A year later, as Iraq continuted to dominate the headlines, we learned that an old friend was killed in Iraq - Capt. Sean Grimes.

Here is what we wrote at the time:

The terrorists are losing, yet they kill all the same.  They kill because it is all they have left, all they can do.  They do it in a petty, pointless way, seeking to ease the emptiness and hatred in their hearts by spewing grief and despair.

Would the darkness in their souls manifest, it could almost blot out the sun, smothering the world in a new age of brutality and death.

People like [a long-departed troll] have chosen to stand on the sidelines, clapping and cheering the onrushing tide of evil.

Fools that they are, they dream of riding out the storm, that somehow the cloud of darkness will bypass them when it reaches up to the heavens.

This will not happen because of the bravery and sacrifice of people like Captain Grimes.

They are the ones holding the torches of hope and liberty bright, keeping the hateful darkness at bay.  So long as we remember and honor them, those flames will never go out.

That was seven years ago, and the light burns still.

Iraq has vanished from the headlines, but we cannot forgot those who gave so much - not just the fallen, but their families and loved ones.

Today, this site honors and remembers a healer who died for his country.

Rest in Peace.

 

 

The Candidate Turnstyle

Trump's out, or perhaps never was a candidate in the first place.  Haley Barbour, Mike Huckabee and Mitch Daniels definitely are out. 

Palin's keepin' 'em guessing. 

Newt might get the boot, RomneyCare has MItt in a snit, and Bachmann ain't hit overdrive.

The list goes on.  Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is testing the waters, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is giving it serious thought.  Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Ron Paul...

One thing I'd love to see, but which I know is probably impossible:  That Americans would elect someone who is, although charismatically and photogenically challenged, an excellent administrator, legislatively experienced, respectful of limited government and constitutional restraints, a quick study, versatile, and blessed with common sense and good instincts.  All of the important things.

Would that the candidate be blessed with those invaluable attributes, and if he or she had zero charisma, plain or even homely looks, and perhaps a dry or bland personality, SO BE IT!

What I'm getting at is this:  Communication experts tell us repeatedy that nonverbal communication such as body language, facial expression, and appearance counts FAR more than what words a speaker uses.  Heck, even the vocal variety and inflections, coupled with facial expression, trump content and substance most of the time.

I believe that this is one fact of life that has prevented us from getting the most qualified, competent people to lead our nation.  But the other huge factor is the 24/7 media spotlight for any serious presidential candidate.  The opposition researchers, dirt diggers, smearing campaigns, and general nastiness, that make most sane people say, "Thanks, but no thanks."

Indeed, there's probably a fair number of eminently qualified and experienced candidates who have passed up the opportunity to run for president because they didn't want their families to be dragged through the mud.

Getting back to photogenic qualities, it's long been said that if TV were around in Abe Lincoln's Day, Honest Abe NEVER would have been elected president.  And he's generally regarded as one of our best presidents.

So, regretably, in this era of 24/7 multi-media saturation, we definitely won't be electing anyone who, to use an old radio industry joke, may be humorous, intelligent, engaging and hard working, but "has a face made for radio."

 

Many candidates

Apocalypse then - and maybe again

Almost a month ago I noted that Obama's foreign policy was hopelessly muddled and that despite his ostensible objections to "wars of choice," his diplomacy made wars more likely, not less.

This is because our intentions are no longer known, and our objectives are no longer clear.  The past week has only sharpened this criticism.  Are we on Israel's side or not?  Would we support immediate recognition of a Palestinian state?

Wars, particularly in the modern age, often result from miscalculation on the part of one or more of the players.  Each side thinks the other is bluffing and thus they up the ante.  Just off the cuff, one can cite both world wars, Korea and Kuwait in 1990 as wars that were caused chiefly by botched diplomacy.

It is clear that our Libya policy is a mess.  What bothers me about it - other than the waste and pointless destruction - is that it is indicative of a fundamental lack of seriousness about war in general on the part of this administration.

The Belmont Club had a post this week that featured film from the Air Force's 1958 simulation of nuclear war.

The war plan of Strategic Air Command was simple:  bomb the Soviets until they either surrender or we run out of nuclear weapons to drop on them.  There is in fact a scene where this very problem is discussed - "How long until we run out of nukes to throw at them?"

It is easy to look at this through the prism of Strangelovian cynicism, but in fact the military leaders of 1958 were in deadly earnest.  These were men who had served as operational commanders during World War II - generals who led divisions, corps, and even number air forces into the maelstrom of unlimited conflict.  The ones calling the shots in 1958 were the ones who had been subordinates - and therefore planners or executive officers - in 1945.  War was not a gentle, controlled thing.  They figured that the next war would be just like the last one - fought to the finish.

This awareness of war has been lost.  The World War II generation is all but gone - the survivors are fading fast and long vanished from positions of power and leadership.  They are as removed from the levers of power as the Great War generation was in 1980.

The result is that we have a class of political elites who have no experience of total war and who do not understand it.  They speak of "time-limited, kinetic military action" to dampen the electoral fallout of killing and side-step legislative obstacles like the War Powers Act.  For them, dropping bombs on a foreign country is primarily a domestic political event, something to boost the polls and prove the president's "gutsy" decision-making.  "Hah, can't call him a peacenik, look at all the places he's bombed!"  This is their implicit argument.

But at its core, it betrays a far more dangerous attitude to war, for it treats it as a minor event, really nothing more than a campaign advertisement with extra-realistic special effects.

It does not occur to them that things could escalate and spin out of control faster than any of them realize.

The war planer of 1958 understood this.  They had lived it.  They were grimly resolved to finish whatever came their way with the maximum force at their disposal.  The current leadership are their children - but they have yet to grow up.

Pet Peeves

- People who yack on the cell phone while paying a cashier, or when surrounded by a captive audience in an elevator or on a bus or train;

- Daydreaming drivers who are fiddling around with a phone, Blackberry or other electronic device when the light turns green, and just keep sitting there holding up traffic;

- Cell phone addicts who drive wildly and put others in danger because they care more about pissing around with their phone (dialing, texting, checking messages, or just getting so wrapped up in conversation they don't pay attention to their surroundings);

- Drivers who poke along, then when I try to pass them, speed up.  Conversely, there are those who pass me, then proceed to slow down in front of me;

- People who deliberately take up two parking spaces so their precious vehicle won't get dinged. The epitome of selfish, arrogant and obnoxious behavior.  One time I made it a point to park a couple inches from the driver's door of a car hogging two spaces in a supermarket parking lot, then left for a long time. When I came back, the other car was gone.  I think I got my point across.

- Shoppers who pay for their groceries with paper checks, especially when they wait until the cashier announces the total, THEN start fishing for their checkbook and writing all the stuff that could have been done in advance (signature, date, name of grocery store, etc.).

- When newspaper crime reporters report the maximum sentence for someone arraigned or indicted on a  charge... "So-and-so could get up to 25 years in prison..." when actually it will probably be six months, a year probation, and community service plus a fine.  In the vast majority of cases, especially first offenses, the judge won't throw the book at the defendant.  Chances are, a deal has been cut.  To me, giving the possible maximum sentence is nothing more than alarmism and sensationalism, if not grossly inaccurate.

- People who monopolize the bottle & can return machines at the store for 20 minutes, bringing with them a shopping cart heaped four feet high with garbage bags full of containers. (I believe Michigan is one of only eight states with a mandatory deposit law on containers for carbonated beverages and beer.)  The law has done wonders to cut down on pollution and broken glass, and definitely saved a lot of natural resources and reduced landfill usage.  But it does get annoying sometimes trying to return bottles and cans on weeikends.

- Drivers who crank out their music so loud, you can feel it as much as hear it.

- Elevator music derived from good rock songs.

Wishful Pipe Dreams

The shills of the mainstream media are falling all over themselves predicting the downfall of the GOP based on the results of Tuesday's special election in New York State's 26th congressional district.

The Democrat candidate, Kathy Hochul, defeated Republican Jane Corwin.  This means Congressman Paul Ryan went way too far with his proposed reform of Medicare and Medicaid, the American people overwhelmingly oppose this supposed overreach, and the Democrats suddenly are going to win back the House in 2012.

Those are not MY thoughts, but the typical  knee-jerk  conclusions of the mainstream media, Politico.com and other observers who are predicting doomsday for Republicans and entitlement reform just because of this one election.  This E.J. Dionne column is beyond the pale -- typical leftist hyperbole and emotion from an excitable hack.  I wonder if he got a thrill up his leg?

Oh, and did I mention Sen. Harry Reid actually held a press conference to pontificate about the demise of the Republicans and the evilness of Ryan's reform plan?  Harry, YOU ARE A TOOL!

You have to scroll quite a ways down in the New York Times story to find this understatement:

Of course, there are limits to how much broader meaning can be extrapolated from a special election, which can be shaped by local dynamics and personalities.

No. You DON'T SAY! 

It's worth noting that President Obama's "Organizing for America" election team helped Hochul, and the Democrats put a bogus "Tea Party" candidate, Jack Davis, on the ballot to siphon votes away from Corwin.  This is just a taste of the crap to come in 2012 from the Demagogues.

But could it be that GOP voters in the longtime Republican district just were not very enthusiastic about supporting a RINO candidate?  What is it the GOP doesn't understand about the folly of trying to play the role of "Democrat Lite"?  It's almost always a losing formula.

The special election was held to replace GOP Rep. Chris Lee, who resigned after it was revealed he sent a shirtless photo of himself to a woman with whom he came in contact on CraigsList.  Not very swift for a married public official to do, eh?

Let that be a lesson to GOP politicians:  We need all the firepower we can get to stop the runaway Obama socialism train.  Don't go doing idiotic things and getting exposed!

The Antithesis of a Nerd

Being a nerd has its advantages -- like not having to ask someone how to perform certain functions on the computer.

As a longtime Macintosh aficionado (been using Macs for 21 years, to be exact), I have grown pretty familiar with this brand of computer.  I believe Macs are more stable and intuitive than most PCs; they are less susceptible to being infected with viruses and malware; and they definitely run circles around PCs when it comes to graphics, page layout and photographic functions.

In recent years, it has become super easy to convert back and forth between Microsoft Windows' Office Suite (Word, Excel and Powerpoint) and the Mac counterparts (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote).  I must give props to Microsoft, because this software, which holds the lion's share of the market, has become much more user friendly than it was just 5 or 6 years ago.

However, I still use the McDonald's analogy with Microsoft: Just because it's the biggest, doesn't mean it's the best.

Anyway, I've gotten pretty good at moving back and forth between my work PC and my personal Macintosh, but tonight I'm struggling with one of those "problem areas."  I still have a LOT to learn about things like social media, web design, video packaging, which formats work where, etc.

This evening, I am spinning my wheels in a  coffee shop, and just about ready to drive out to a mall to talk to someone in an Apple Store for advice.  You see, I need to convert a Quicktime (Macintosh) video of myself giving a speech (something I did for work-related training) to a Windows Media File that can be viewed on the Windows Media Player.

When I saw two other people using Mac laptops, I went over and asked if either of them knew how to do it, but neither one did.  One said it's "tricky" and might require a video expert. "Great," I thought. 

Technology sure is incredible, and it's helped with productivity on the job, given us greater convenience (email, eBay, Google, Mapquest, online phone books, coupons, weather forecasts, stocks & scores... you name it), and opened up a world of entertainment options during our free time.  But it also can be pretty darned frustrating. 

Moore's Law roughly describes a doubling of computer capacity every two years in things like processing speed and memory capacity.  It seems like Moore's Law is in effect across the board, as technology marches forward far faster than we older folk can keep up.

I'll figure this thing out sooner or later.  Either that, or the last resort: Post the video on YouTube and send in the link!

 

 

Liberty, Fraternity, Hypocrisy

The case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, who is charged with the sexual assault of a hotel housekeeper in Manhattan, is particularly revolting and galling.

First, my sympathy and prayers to the poor 32-year-old woman who had to undergo this horrendous ordeal.  From reports I have heard about Mr. Strauss-Kahn, she apparently is not the first woman with whom he's been, shall we say, "aggressive."

Everybody knows French people generally are considered more liberal than Americans, and more likely to live a libertine lifestyle.  If Mr. Strauss-Kahn's wife wants to defend him and stand by him, which it appears she's doing, that's her prerogative.  But I thought a part of being a liberal (or "progressive") as they like to call themselves, was fighting for the dignity of women and against harassment by men.  This includes chastising men who treat women like a slab of meat, seeking first and foremost their own gratification, as Strauss-Kahn seems to have done over the years.

Why do the French people, women included, seem so blithe about this whole ugly incident?  Either that, or many of them believe it was a set-up, part of some evil conspiracy.  Some Europeans are coming down hard on the American justice system, upset with TV coverage of Strauss-Kahn doing the "perp walk" in handcuffs.  America-bashing is back in fashion.

Beyond this sordid incident and what it says about French society and culture, Strauss-Kahn has exhibited an arrogant, impudent sense of entitlement.  He looks like just another elitist snob who thinks the rules don't apply to him.

Here is an avowed socialist and head of the IMF, an organization established to reduce grinding poverty and its many related maladies, and he's staying in a $3,000-per-night suite and flying first class. 

You've heard of limousine liberals? This guy is a champagne socialist.  Or as the French themselves normally refer to these hypocrites, Gauche caviar.  I wonder how many French people actually feel disgust for and anger toward Strauss-Kahn?  Sadly, I think it's probably not many.

C'est la vie.

 

War Powers Act RIP

One of the more fascinating aspects of the modern Democrat party is the way in which it is willing to compromise all of its principles in the pursuit of power.

I first noticed this when Bill Clinton got away with serial sexual harassment and feminists lined up to defend him - despite private misgivings.  Winning was more important.

The War Powers Act has always been somewhat controversial, and I suppose it was inevitable that a reckoning would take place, but who would have thought that it would be destroyed by Barack Obama?  Of course, he couldn't do it alone - he needs the Senate Democrats to go along, which they will.

I know the anti-war left will stay loyal to the Democrats because - like all leftists - they are more concerned with power than principles.  Still, it is amusing watching them sell out all they hold dear.

There is of course on issue on which the Democrats still hold firm: Abortion.  This is the sacrament of the Democrats, their holiest of holies.  Yet the country is becoming more pro-life each year.  There will come a time, perhaps sooner rather than later, when this too will go over the side.  I just hope enough of the 1960s feminists are still alive to witness this final betrayal.

How the Mighty Have Fallen

The excrement has really hit the oscillator for the Terminator. 

And guess who couldn't keep her pie-hole shut, just having to Tweet her scolding words about Arnold Schwarzenegger over his admission that he fathered a child out of wedlock with a married housekeeper back in the late 1990s:  Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.  Her spouse, former First Gentleman Daniel Mulhern, also had to put in his two cents' (140 characters) worth.

Back in the heady days of 2003-2004, when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jennifer Granholm were newly minted governors in California, and Michigan, respectively, the press was going ga ga about these two attractive, charismatic young people.  (Relatively young, compared to the typical, graying 60-something politicians that are a dime a dozen.)

Their looks, charisma, and seemingly unlimited potential (at least in the minds of their groupies and media admirers), caused Arnie and Jen-Jen to quickly be moved up into the running as future presidential candidates.

There was only one problem: Neither was born in the United States, as the Constitution requires for our presidents.  Arnie was born in Austria; Granholm in Canada.  So there was excited talk about passing a constitutional amendment to allow for foreign-born presidents.

Fast forward a few years.  Granholm proved to be perhaps the worst governor in Michigan history, and repeatedly made cowardly decisions to delay Michigan's inevitable reckoning with its messed up tax code and structural budget deficit.  As a union toady and suckup to the insatiable education lobby, it was a sure bet her policies would fail, and fail they did. 

Although not all of Michigan's brutal job losses in the past decade (an estimated 1 million jobs) are Granholm's fault, she was feckless about responding appropriately and properly to stanch the hemorrhaging.  Her temporary fixes and patches did nothing but kick the can down the road.  Current Gov. Rick Snyder and the Republican Legislature are now taking steps that should have been tackled 5 or 6 years ago, including eliminating the despised Michigan Business Tax and trying to pass legislation asking state employees to pay for 20 percent of their health care expenses.

But I digress.  Let's talk about Arnie.

It is apparent that many high profile politicians have such massive egos, delusions of grandeur, and expectations of entitlement, that they can't keep their pants zipped up.  Arnold Schwarzenegger is just one in a long line of philanderers -- Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, John Ensign, Newt Gingrich, John Edwards...

It is a shame for his wife, Maria Shriver, and their children.  And it's surprising that the Democrat opposition research folks didn't pick up on this when Schwarzenegger ran for governor in 2003 following the recall of Gray Davis.  From reports coming out in recent days, the Terminator had quite a reputation for being a ladies man while married to Shriver. 

Shwarzenegger also was a poor governor, as California's deficit has exploded under his watch.  Granted, he has a left-leaning Legislature to deal with, but he certainly could have done better.

So Schwarzy is a disgraced philandering ex-governor, and Jen-Jen and her husband are Left Coast professors at the People's Republic of Berkeley.  Considering the abysmal state of higher education these days, don't be surprised if Arnie gets an ivory tower gig.