John Warner, former Navy secretary and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, John McCain, former Navy pilot and POW, Lindsey Graham, former Air Force Reserve Judge, Colin Powell, retired General and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and George W. Bush, former AWOL Reservist made interesting news this week.  The four Republican leaders who have served our country proudly in the military were at odds with President Bush, about the tactics he proposed to deal with the war on terror.  When 150 million Americans and the Conservative military men that serve on the Armed Services Committee all believe that the President is acting the fool you would expect that the President should abandon his failed tactics and take steps to offer the American people effective and comprehensive security that he took an oath to provide.  I guess the presidential oath doesn’t mean very much to a man of Dubya’s integrity.

          President Bush had proposed the withholding of evidence from a defendant to protect classified information in military tribunals.  In effect he was hoping to wave a sealed manila envelope in the air and condemn suspected criminals on his word.  I would accept such judgment from St. Peter but I think we can all agree Boy George is no St. Peter.  The leaders of the Armed Services Committee took a line more in tune with American tradition and would like to guarantee specific legal rights to defendants, including access to all evidence used against them.  Senator McCain said, "I think it's important that we stand by 200 years of legal precedents concerning classified information because the defendant should have a right to know what evidence is being used,"

          The President also proposed that coerced testimony should be admissible against defendants.  Color me skeptical but I don’t know many people who won’t confess to almost any crime if you beat them long enough.  Colin Powell said Bush’s plans to redefine the Geneva Conventions would cause the world “to doubt the moral basis” of the fight against terror and “put our own troops at risk.”  We can’t expect Bush or Cheney to understand that concept because they have always been successful in side stepping any situation that would have had them in jeopardy as a member of the United States military. 

What did the “would-be soldier”, our president, have to say about Powell’s comments?  "If there's any comparison between the compassion and decency of the American people and the terrorist tactics of extremists, it's flawed logic," Bush said. "It's just — I simply can't accept that." and "It's unacceptable to think that there's any kind of comparison between the behavior of the United States of America and the action of Islamic extremists who kill innocent women and children to achieve an objective."  What else would you have expected this president to say?  He has made a career of clouding issues and distracting attention from his failures by cloaking himself in faux patriotism and shielding himself by generating fear across the land.

Colin Powell was making no comparisons!  Colin Powell was talking about the integrity of the United States of America; period!  We must always hold ourselves to the high standards that our Constitution and Bill of Rights deserve.  George just doesn’t understand that.  The fact that those opposed Bush’s tactics in the war on terror are presented by the chicken-hawks as choosing terrorists over America the only flawed logic Bush should be concerned about.  Those who truly love America will continue to fight the war on terror while defending the integrity of the sacred documents and principles that America was founded on.  And we will continue to fight the war on terror as responsible citizens of our global community by adhering to the Geneva Convention.

Bush showed his true character when asked about Powell's assertion that the world might doubt the moral basis of the fight against terror if lawmakers went along with the administration's proposal to redefine Geneva Convention's ban on "outrages upon personal dignity."  Bush said the Geneva Convention's ban was "very vague" and required clarification. "What does that mean, 'outrages upon human dignity?' That's a statement that is wide open to interpretation."  And there lies the problem.  If Mama Bush never taught Boy George the difference between right and wrong there is little hope he will have the moral integrity to heed the advice of the conservative military leaders of his party; let alone the millions of Americans who demand more from the occupant of the oval office.

          My older little brother had a birthday yesterday.  I refer to my brother as "older little brother" because I have outweighed him since he was a senior in high school and I was a freshman.  It’s hard to believe he is in his 50’s.  I’m not!  I’m still a pup! Well relatively speaking. 

          My seven year old is still of the age where sitting in time out for one minute per year of age is a significant behavior modification tool.  The eighteen year old twins, not so much.  They were getting froggy with me the other day and I told them to knock it off or they would find themselves in eighteen minutes of timeout!  They laughed at me and warned me that if I didn’t straighten up they’d make me sit in timeout for 46 minutes.  No sooner had they said that when a startled look came across their faces as they did one of those twin mental connection thingys that makes me crazy.  My daughter pointed out that considering the duration of my timeout really put my advanced age into perspective.  Where they would be in timeout for barely over a quarter hour my timeout would last the better part of an entire hour.  It was if they realized for the first time that their dear old Dad was in fact just that.  Old.  None of that would have bothered me so much but I swear they actually got a little quiet as they contemplated the idea that I wouldn’t always be around.  The whole deal gave me kind of a start and I was fully prepared to whoop their butts if one of them started talking about which of my prized possessions they would like willed to them in the event of my passing.  I should have eaten them while they were young.

          I still hold a little brother's admiration for my older brother.  He is four and a half years older so as we grew up I always held him on a pedestal.  When I was in grade school he was playing sports in junior high.  When I was in junior high he was in high school etc.  He was always where I wanted to be.  None of those aspirations I had were as significant as when he was in college and I had forgone college to enter the working world right out of high school.  I remember dropping him off at the local university one day while I made my way to work.  When I pulled up in front of the school we were talking about how much I loathed the workday in front of me.  Snow was blowing fiercely and my car was being buffeted by a bitter cold December wind.  He paused as he reached for the door handle, looked me in the eye and described what his day held for him.  Not only was his day exceptionally light and interspersed with things I only hoped to have time to do on the weekend but he somehow magically described his academic pursuits in a way that made me envious. 

Something happened on that cold morning in that brief moment as we talked while my brother’s hand rested on the door handle.  I had an awakening that I wanted more out of life than my present career path had offered.  Now my brother has a PhD and is the Superintendent of a major school district out East.  I still look up to him and I think I always will.  Now his work is about the important responsibility of educating an equivalent of nearly half of the school aged children in our home state of Iowa.  I remember when my brother was first transitioning from being a classroom teacher into administration.  I knew he was a damn good teacher and I questioned his ability to have the same type of impact on the lives of the kids under his responsibility.  After watching his career progress over the years he still has the fire that burns to teach kids one at a time.  Back in those early days I was very proud of the work he did and each time we departed each others company I would say, “Make ‘em learn, Coach” as my farewell.  I still close our conversations with that departing expression more often than not.

Even as an undergraduate college student my brother was having an impact on lives in education.  I would most likely have never gone to college myself had we not had that cold winter morning discussion on that wintery day so long ago.  How do you ever repay a guy for a gift like that?  I love you Coach.  Make em’ learn.

         Five years after 9/11 we are NOT safer from the Bush administrations efforts to combat terrorists.  The war in Iraq has diverted resources from protecting America from terrorism.  Don’t take my word for it; that idea was presented by the bi-partisan 9/11 Commission.  The reality of the Bush war in Iraq has inflamed the entire Middle East and is helping Al Qaeda attract new recruits.  Osama Bin Laden is still on the loose and the Taliban is gaining ground in a violent insurgence in Afghanistan and the Republican Congress has not followed through on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

          For Bush supporters to suggest that if you are opposed to the war in Iraq means that we approved of Sadham Hussein and the atrocities he committed against his people is asinine.  When Bush supporters claim that we went to war in Iraq with bi-partisan support they have their head in the sand and conveniently choose to forget that Bush/Cheney coerced the CIA into reporting unverified information.  The Congress did not have the same information that the Administration did.  To claim that those opposed to the war are fascists who would support Hitler makes me think we are arguing with third graders.  When Conservatives claim liberals do not support the war on terror they are liars.  What we don’t support is failed and foolish policies.  What we do support is hunting down and holding responsible the leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda; not nation building and imposing a western democracy in a culture that is ancient compared to ours.  You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit!

          And while I am at it I think it is way passed time to get over the fact that Bill Clinton got a blow job in the oval office.  Somehow the Conservatives have anointed themselves as a new era Christ and believe that Bill Clinton’s forgiveness is in their hands.  A momentary sexual indiscretion pales in comparison to the calculated lies and deceit of the Bush Administration that have lead to the death of thousands of people and cost billions of dollars.  I suppose I should be grateful that Conservatives can not come up with any meaningful criticisms of the Clinton Presidency.  We “libs” won’t have any shortage of failures and scandals to talk about after Bush leaves office.

          A patriotic American does not support circumventing the Bill of Rights because they are afraid of an evil external force.  It was Ben Franklin who said, “Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.”  So that means we don’t eavesdrop on American phone calls without a warrant, we don’t hold and torture prisoners without a fair trial and we certainly don’t deny an accused the right to hear the evidence against them!  The recent Bush proposal to keep secret the evidence against prisoners smacks of McCarthyism.  Thomas Jefferson said, “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”  Conservatives are unwilling to accept Jefferson’s words because they have no moral credibility or integrity with their position when they support George Bush. 

          Finally I will leave you with a quote from M. Ghandi, "There are times when you have to obey a call which is the highest of all, i.e. the voice of conscience even though such obedience may cost many a bitter tear, and even more, separation from friends, from family, from the state to which you may belong, from all that you have held as dear as life itself. For this obedience is the law of our being." 

 

Good night and good luck.

 

Hey, click here for a 15 second video!

          Republicans are screaming foul at the Democratic proposal of sending additional troops to Afghanistan.  I don’t understand their argument with hunting down the terrorists who are responsible for killing 3,023 Americans on our own soil.  It is almost as if Conservatives have completely lost their minds with bi-partisanship.  The Bush mantra of “if you’re not with us you’re against us” has now been applied to mean that any good idea for strengthening America the Democrats propose must be opposed because we pointed out that the Emperor Wore No Clothes.  The Administration is making the claim that we are winning the war on terror in the Middle East yet all of the news from the region is to the contrary.  Record civilian casualties in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Israel, the increasing numbers of wounded and killed American soldiers and now news of Iran and Iraq having meetings to become good neighbors are hardly what one would call “Mission Accomplished.”   

          The reason the Democrats want to redeploy our troops to Afghanistan is to finish the job that we went to do there in the first place.  Wasn’t it the Bush administration that assumed the cowboy stance and declared that Osama bin Laden was “wanted: dead or alive?”  Now because of our pulling resources from Afghanistan to Iraq Al Qaeda is as strong as ever and has decentralized their operations to over 65 other countries.  So, no, I don’t think we can ever forgive the President for lying about weapons of mass destruction and not finishing the job he was obligated to do.  The war on terror was supposed to be about eliminating terror not rallying the disgruntled youth of Islam to take up arms against the United States.

Does anybody really feel safer since we invaded Iraq?  We poked a sleeping bear when we should have just gone to Afghanistan found him sleeping in his cave and captured or killed him. 

          One of the most troubling aspects of the deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan that resulted from the premature withdrawal of necessary forces is it wasted the blood and resources our troops and allies spent in 2002.  The Taliban now controls entire portions of southern Afghanistan and just across the border Pakistan is just one coup away from being a radical jihadist state with a full compliment of nuclear weapons.  American General James L. Jones, NATO Commander, has said more soldiers and aircraft are needed for their sweeps in southern Afghanistan.  We left our work to be done in Afghanistan by the always Republican criticized NATO forces and now they are facing major difficulties and asking for more support.  Brig. Ed Butler, the British commander in Afghanistan reported that his troops are being attacked a dozen times a day and that his troops have fired 400,000 rounds of ammo since arriving earlier this year.  Mission Accomplished? 

          Just like it took Bill Clinton to fix the Senior Bush’s “it’s the economy, stupid” policies it is looking more and more like it is going to take Hillary Clinton to fix Junior Bush’s National Security policies.  I see Brother Jeb is not running for re-election as Governor of Florida.  If he has presidential aspirations does anybody know Billy Carter’s phone number?  We may need to call him in to clean up after Brother Jeb.

          Don’t you wish the liberals would just come up with a plan for our national security and quit complaining about the job George Dub-ya is doing?  Aren’t you tired of the libs blaming Dub-ya for all the failures in the war on terror and not offering a solution?  And what wouldn’t you give to have an unbiased press: free of the liberal agenda?  I hear that crap on an almost daily basis from my Neo-Con friends who are more worried that liberals would spend a penny of “their” hard earned money to provide medical services for a sick poor child than they are about their own liberties, our national character or real and effective national security. 

          Since the “liberal press” isn’t out creating headlines about the very real and practical plan that Democratic leaders have put forth I will outline it for you here:

“There are five principal priorities that demand immediate action: (1) redeploy from Iraq, (2) re-commit to Afghanistan, (3) reduce our dependence on foreign oil, (4) reinforce our homeland defense, and (5) restore America's moral leadership in the world. These "5 R's" -- if you want to call them that-- are bold steps Democrats will take to strengthen our national security.”  John Kerry

 

1)     Redeploy from Iraq.  Our soldiers have done their job. It’s time for the newly-elected Iraqi leaders to do theirs.  The Iraqi’s have shown time and time again that they will only respond to deadlines.  It is time for the Iraqi people to stand up for themselves.  The Democratic plan suggests that we keep a rapid reaction force in Kuwait to strike when needed against terrorist enclaves.  The combination of the rapid reaction force and air power in the region would ensure that we would always have the ability to bring overwhelming force to defend the Iraqi people.  Our own Generals have admitted that the war in Iraq cannot be won militarily.  It must be won politically.  The leaders of the Iraqi factions in their civil war must be brought together for agreements that address federalism, oil revenues, the militias, security guarantees, reconstruction, economic assistance and border security.

2)     Re-Commit to Afghanistan.  Last week – just as the President was claiming to be on the offensive against the terrorists – the American NATO commander in Afghanistan made an urgent plea for more troops to stop the offensive by the Taliban.  Specifically the Democratic plan is to send at least 500 thousand additional troops, more equipment and reconstruction money to help build support among the civilian population.

3)     Reduce Dependence on Foreign Oil. Every time we fill our car with gas we are funding both sides of the war on terror.  The Democratic plan is to reduce our oil use by 2.5 millions barrels of oil per day by 2015.  This would be done through more energy efficient vehicles and alternative renewable fuels.  The industry needed to create cleaner and more reliable energy would ensure that America would remain a technological leader in our fight for energy independence.  Finally we must slow, stop, and reverse greenhouse gas emissions to ensure our planets viability and reduce the energy consumption that is responsible for the instabilities in our ecosystem. 

4)     Reform our Homeland Defense.  We need to allocate homeland security funding based on risk.  In very real and quantifiably measurable methods Homeland Security funding has been passed out based on political considerations and not on the risk factors outlined by the 9/11 commission.  We need to fully implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations which have not been taken seriously by the Bush Administration.  We need to scan all cargo containers bound for the United States.  Five years after 9/11 less than 5 percent of cargo entering the United States is physically inspected.  For $1.5 billion less than the cost of one week of the war in Iraq we could buy the equipment needed to scan all cargo entering the United States for weapons of mass destruction.  Bush won’t do that.  We need a leader who will.  Democrats would reconstitute the Bin Laden unit at the CIA which the Administration inexplicably disbanded.  And finally as a matter of Homeland Defense, Democrats believe in securing our borders.  This would be done by comprehensively reforming our immigration system.

5)     Restore America’s Moral Authority and Global Leadership.  Smarter diplomacy, stronger alliances, more effective international institutions and fidelity to the values we have always stood for as a nation.  This means working through global institutions, engaging in direct dialogue with all nations, treat our moral authority as a national asset by never engaging in or excusing violations of basic human rights. We must work for a lasting peace in the Middle East and we must win the War of Ideas.  We must offer a more compelling vision of human potential than our adversaries by leading the march of human progress.  We must market the reality that we are a force for opportunity, for possibility, for development and progress.  And we must have leadership that will never lie to the American people or the world. 

 

So the next time someone tells you that Democrats are weak on defense or that all they do is complain without offering solutions you should remind them that if they would seek their news from somewhere other than Rush Limbaugh or Fox News they might learn a lot about what is really going on in the world and then they could be relieved of supporting the failed and embarassing policies of the C student from Yale.

         The old head was still throbbing when it came time to prepare my Monday post so I have chosen to post the article I wrote for our local Harley Owners Group newsletter.  Another reason I have selected to use a recently written piece of work is that on this, the anniversary of the attack on our country, there is little new that can be said on such a momentous day.  We will each have our own way of remembering that horrible event.  Many will try to tell us how to feel but I know that I will mourn for those who are gone and little else that can or will be said about that day will ease that pain. 

 

From the Diary of the Red Hog:  September 06 

Oy vey, have I got a headache!  I’m not sure if you knew this about me but when it comes to my physical prowess I am not exactly what you might describe as "graceful".  It seems as if I have passed the old “bull in a china shop” genetic code onto at least one of my children.  Yesterday afternoon my kids were waiting for me to be treated at the local emergency room when news of a major trauma delivery was announced on the hospital PA system.  Carter was on one side of the waiting area looking at some books. His brother and sister were seated on the other side.  Worried that he might be in the way of the new arrivals they told him to quickly join them in a seat on their side of the room.  Carter is pretty literal at times so he bolted for them on a dead run.  Just as he was about to reach them he ran out of the prosthetic he wears on his right leg.  The sudden and unexpected variance in the length of Carters locomotion appendages sent him reeling head first into a waiting room end table.  Result:  One black eye and a complimentary ice pack from the registration staff of the emergency room.

Imagine my surprise when I came from the treatment area and saw my youngest leaning back in a chair with tears running down his cheeks and an ice pack over his eye.  It’s getting to the point where a guy can’t even leave the kids alone long enough to receive eight staples in his scalp without some sort of a crisis or another.  My Father-in-law had knee surgery last Tuesday so I went to mow his lawn and see if I could be of any other general assistance.  With only about two passes remaining to finish the job I was passing under an apple tree with some low branches and forgot to duck.  I hate when that happens.  Head cuts, incase you have never had the misfortune to receive one are remarkable for the amount of blood they can produce.  This one was no exception but I was able to slow the bleeding enough to finish the job before heading for the emergency room.  I’m such a manly man I am.  Other than a throbbing head and occasionally waking up in a room that I don’t remember entering I don’t think there was any serious damage.  So I got that going for me.

 

George Bush, August 21^st 2006: people “should imagine a world in which you had Saddam Hussein with the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction and who had relations with Zarqawi.”  That is all that anybody ever could do; "imagine a world" where Saddam Hussein with the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction and with relations with Zarqawi because it has been proven that neither ever happened!  What is wrong with Boy George that he can not stop telling these lies to foster fear among his cowardly conservative support base?  Republican strategists have cranked up the pro-war rhetoric on campaign stops across the nation in recent weeks.  It is their strategy to make Democrats look week on defense while trying to diffuse the mess we have made in Iraq.  A bi-partisan Senate panel report concluded that Saddam “was distrustful of al-Qaida and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime.”  It goes further to state that Saddam Hussein attempted, unsuccessfully, to locate and capture al-Zarqawi and that the regime did not have a relationship with, harbor or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi.” (AP)  Bush lies, our soldiers die.

My kids and I were talking this morning and we concluded that Boy George, of documented dubious intelligence, has found himself in a situation that many of us find ourselves in from time to time albeit most of us have the common sense to know when we are wrong and eventually face up to it.  There are times in life where you make a mistake and are tempted to just let things run their course and accept the consequences when the storm has passed.   The difference is; when that happens to us, sooner or later, we apologize and admit that yes, it was it was we who put the scratch on the car door or yes, it was we who farted but while Boy George refuses to admit his mistakes lies; proud young Americans are losing their lives in a war that should not be fought and billions of dollars that are being mortgaged against our children’s future.