The Generals

**I can understand why you don't have any use for those generals. A colonel at Pope was taken off the job, when according to the folks he worked with, he was one of the best officers they had ever worked with. Apparently the general got mad or for some other crazy reason and decided he would get him out of the way. The only explanation the general gave for his action was that the colonel wasn't effective. Some body is lying and I don't believe it is the people who worked with the colonel. My love to you.

MY OLDER BROTHER AND COUSINS

**A note from my older brother who will take up a "cause" in a minute. One of the reasons that this is very interesting to me is that the "girlfriends" and I were recently discussing the issue and I was telling them that the thing that worried me about our president was that he seemed to be listening to the Generals too much. One of the GFs expressed what many felt: who else can the President rely on for military type stuff? My comments to my brother...

Brother, you are in the ballpark on the generals and it is going to get worst. Rumsfelt's gift to the country was to reorganize the Army in his own image. Naturally, Bush let him do it and so he closed really good military posts and moved them to places like Fort Bragg, which will eventually have 28 generals which is ridiculous. 28 generals on one Post will be a nightmare. Each of them thinking they are somewhere in the Trinity--God, Jesus, Generals and not always in that order. They wouldn't be where they are if they had not been political. Once a general gets pasts one star, it is as political as any politician anywhere. He has to have sponsors, somebody at the higher level looking after him. I can assure you of this, the best leaders in the Army are not the generals. Most of the really good leaders never make it. They size up what is ahead and mostly leave the Service. We are the bigger losers. It isn't that the leadership is bad, just they are not the best. The Generals surround themselves with people who tell them just what they want to hear. They get to believing it and consequently, things happen to the Colonel you're talking about.

If I live long enough, I'm going to write about this sort of stuff: it is terrible. I can't tell you the number of times that I have gone to generals with what I considered ethical and real problems and they gave me the "nobody is home look." Rocking the boat is not a pastime of a general officers, trust me.

It is the one thing that I worry about our president, listening complete;u to the generals. The generals always want more troops and I'm still not convinced we will easily get out of Iraq. What I tell people all the time is that Westmoreland said to Johnson in 68, send me more troops and we'll be home by Christmas. LBJ ramped up the numbers of troops and we did get home by Christmas, unfortunately, it was ten years later. I think the President is smart enough to keep his own counsel. I hope and pray so.

WHO OWNS OUR LIFE

My therapist hero, now gone on to his just rewards, Al Ellis, says something like, "you own your life." Meaning, your literal life. To take it is self defeating and also often very selfish but in essence, your life is yours, according to Ellis.

I doubt that few would subscribe to Dr. Ellis views completely. And, suicide is a tense topic today because military suicides. In January, for instance, there were more suicides in the military than were killed in war. During April, there were nine suicides at Fort Campbell, home of the famed 101st Airborne Division.

There's a kind of national disturbance with those Americans who care (and not all do) about the rash of suicides with American servicemen. There has never been a conflict so instantly covered as Iraq and Afghanistan. And, let's face it, instant assess fosters complacency, plain and simple. In the commo worlds of cable TV and the Internet, the wars have become at best marginalized.

The "girlfriends" and I have discussed it often. Our views are all over the map and some truth in all the views.

Larry. I think it is the nature of the kind of soldier we are bringing into the military. As a Marine in Vietnam, we did our jobs, tried to survive, until we made it home.

Gary. All this calling home, emails. I don't know what all that means.

Ed. All these repetitive tours have to have something to do with it. Just think, 3 or four times. Family problems, finances, it has got to be tough. And, finally the immature kid says, enough and in a moment of stupidity does himself in.

Ray. In Vietnam, we would go out on operations for months at a time. Eating C rats. Some of these guys in Iraq go out on patrol in the morning, come back at night, all the comforts of home--that being said, still is very hard, has to be. (In Vietnam, servicemen relied on letters and the occasional MARS phone call. Troops today have laptops, video cameras, satellite phones and every iteration of services like Skype. They have Facebook. Their news is from the iPhone, Comedy Central, and blogs. They also are at war.)

Michael. I have a buddy, John, (a physician) you guys have met him. He's doing work with some folks who are trying to get to the bottom of this. I'm calling him. (Michael calls him and John calls us back and Michael hands the phone to me).

Jerry. Good to talk with you, John. What can you tell us or what is your view of what's behind the suicides in the military.

John. Very complicated problem. Lots of these GIs are bringing a history of mental illness into the service. And, of course we don't know that beforehand. There's no mechanism set up to deal with that information even if we knew it. One interesting thing they are discovering is that the Iraqi and Afghanistan vets cannot mix with Vietnam and Korean vets. The experience is to fresh to these guys in Iraq and Afghanistan. Whereas the Vietvets readily talk of their experiences, these guys are not ready to do it.

Jerry. It took at least ten years after Vietnam before vets talked about it. Maybe it is simply too early.

Sam. Well, what does that mean? (this is said later on).

Interpreted, John said that these guys experiences were coming to the forefront because of these psychotropic drugs often and they simply couldn't handle the stress.

CONCLUSION. Maybe what we are looking at is simply no conclusion. Not a conclusive one anyway. The military likes to wrap things up. Like the Marines, give them a two day seminar. Problem solved. Next case. Not going to happen.

The culture of the military has changed. Co-ed, smaller, no draft, repetitive tours, many soldiers less capable of coping. The chain of command may be doing the best they can: they have counseling centers, combat stress contingencies. It only makes sense to those of us sitting out here watching what is happening. Two wars, all the inherent pressures that go with it. So, what do you have? Suicides among our soldiers as part of the price of war. Sad but true. God help us and bless us.

THE FORGOTTEN HERO OF D-DAY

General Lee's story is a novel—a country boy from North Carolina who entered the military in World War I. Like the rest of the country, young Bill Lee was somewhat ambivalent about what was going on in that far-off land. Having gone to college, at both Wake Forest and North Carolina State and taken a bride, he went off to war. Serving in the trenches and facing death as a common way of life, he performed admirably remaining in Germany after the war in an official capacity as the de facto mayor of a small town. Returning to the States and to his young bride, he wrestled where to cast his lot—to choose the military as a career or pursue his love of the land. His love of country prevailed. He went on to a stint at North Carolina State teaching what we now call ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corp), then to Panama, where he discovered he was good at the profession of arms.

A succession of assignments and schools followed. He came home at every opportunity. He went to France. Bill saw the failure of the Treaty of Versailles and the aggressive military bearing of the Germans. Their parachute training captured his imagination. Bill and Dava, his wife, took advantage of their circumstances to travel. Returning to the States, Bill attempted to convince others of the new concept of the airborne infantry as he called it.

Bill’s break came during his next assignment in Washington, DC. In a prophetic quirk of events, President Roosevelt became intrigued with German parachute training. No one at the War Department was more knowledgeable than Bill Lee about the German airborne. Either true or myth, as the story goes, Bill personally shared his expertise with the White House. Major Bill Lee was then given the Airborne Project. Bill took his first parachute jump at age 47. As a General, Bill went on to command the 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles". He became intimately involved in the planning of the D-Day invasion from the beginning even helping to select the drop-sites for the invasion. He also wrote the Airborne Doctrine (how it was to be done).

Tragically, he would never see his hard work and planning come to fruition. On February 4, 1944 he suffered a heart attack forcing him to return to the States from England. Consequently, he would never see his "Screaming Eagles" jump into Normandy. In his honor, the soldiers of the 101st Airborne shouted "Bill Lee" instead of Geronimo as they dropped from planes onto the beaches of Normandy. There is no doubt that much of the airborne success on D-Day was a direct result of Bill Lee's hard work. He is singular in being WW II’s unsung hero.

 
**GENERAL LEE'S RENDEZVOUS’ WITH DESTINY SPEECH

The 101st Airborne Division, which was activated on August 16,1942, at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny. Like the early American pioneers whose invincible courage was the foundation stone of this nation, we have broken with the past and its traditions to establish our claim to the future. Due to the nature of our armament and the tactics in which we shall perfect ourselves, we shall be called upon to carry out operations of far-reaching military importance and we shall habitually go into action when the need is immediate and extreme.

Let me call your attention to the fact that our badge is the great American eagle. This is a fitting emblem for a division that will crush its enemies by falling upon them like a thunderbolt from the skies.

The history we shall make, the record of high achievement we hope to write in the annals of the American Army and the American people, depends wholly and completely on the men of this division. Each individual, each officer, and each enlisted man must therefore regard himself as a necessary part of a complex and powerful instrument for the overcoming of the enemies of the nation. Each, in his own job, must realize that he is not only a means, but an indispensable means for obtaining the goal of victory.

It is, therefore, not too much to say that the future itself, in whose moulding we expect to have a share, is in the hands of the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division.

**General Lee wrote this speech on a yellow pad. He was a prolific writer and even wrote thank you notes to folks who wrote thank you notes to him.

A MAD MAN AND UNPREDICTABLE

The North Koreans, like South Korea, is build on the Confucian ethic which is more a philosophy as opposed to a religion. And, although the North has become incredibly repressive, it is still that philosophy. The philosophy is built around four laws which, to the Koreans, are inviolate: Ruler over Subject, Father over Son, Husband over Wife, Elder Brother over Younger Brother, Friend to Friend. And, in my experience, all sorts of overlays exist around these Confucian principles. For understanding North Korea and their blindly following a "mad man" among men,the ruler over subject is critical. The Korean Confucianists, both North and South tend toward extreme orthodoxy. As an example, a chance remark attributed to Confucius, that the superior man did not talk while he ate, resulted in centuries of silent meals in Korea. Consequently, Kim Il Jong, the supreme leader is worshipped as another example of the Confucious extreme orthodoxy.

Guessing Kim, the Supreme Leader's motives is simply way beyond what almost anyone can do. Consequently, the only path it appears to me is to make the problem of North Korea, the problem of the South Koreans.

It is an insolvable problem. And, in a sense, the North is right about hypocrisy, meaning from their perspective, telling them that they can't pursue a course when we have precisely done what we are saying they can't. Where this is especially critical is in terms of the military. Without a doubt, South Korea has the best trained army in the world, to include our own. The critical move is to move American ground troops out of Korea preferably or at least to the far south. We could easily maintain a strong military presence in our Air Force but well away from the DMZ (demilitarized zone).

What most don’t realize is that in our present configuration with an American Division (two Brigades at least) sitting on the demilitarized zone (38th Parallel, established after the Korean war), they are literally sitting ducks. If the North Koreans were to swarm across the 38rh parallel, amassed, with the firepower we know they have, in all probability, the American Division would take mass casualties, drawing us into a major war again.

By bringing home the troops or at least moving them away from the DMZ, we save enormous resources, telegraph our intentions and possibly move the North Koreans toward some form of resolutions on the nukes but more importantly put the issue of peace on the backs of the South Koreans where if ought to be. Essentially, we have been in Korea since 1953, way too long.

What seems to escape most is that when dealing with a "crazy" all bets are off. The classic definition of someone who is unhinged is that you can't understand them. As I listen to the "talking heads" concerning Korea, it is very apparent that either they don't have a clue as they continue to try to paint some sort of reasonable outcome as possible. Sanctions, adinfinitum, are as we say in NC, as useless as tits on a bore hog. Simply, there is no reasoning. Let us do the prudent thing and move away from provocation which at best might buy us time.

North Korea is dangerous and paranoid and this is by far a situation which we need to take very serious and move to the rear. One of the advantages of being "mighty" is that your options are many. In this case, avoidance and passing the buck to the ROK (Republic of Korea) is what we need to do. At least what we will have are the two Koreas, guided by the Confucian logic, facing and understanding how the other thinks. NO SMALL THING.

THE BEST OF AMERICA

Yesterday,I was taken aback, somewhat by the President's Memorial Day remarks. He called the military, the men and women of America's fighting forces, both living and dead, as "the best of America." And, then it was almost as though he was thinking out loud and said, "Why in an age when so many have acted only in pursuit of narrowest self-interest have the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of this generation volunteered all that they have on behalf of others. Why have they been willing to bear the heaviest burden? Whatever it is, they felt some tug. They answered a call. They said 'I'll go.' That is why they are the best of America." That is what separates them from those who have not served in uniform, their extraordinary willingness to risk their lives for people they never met."

The president, who did not serve in the military, noted his grandfather's Army service during World War II and his status as a father of daughters ages 10 and 7. Unlike many of those in the audience, Obama said he can't know what it's like to walk into battle or lose a child.

"But I do know this. I am humbled to be the commander in chief of the finest fighting force in the history of the world," he said.

And, I will have to say to the President, I am humbled by your remarks and they gave me pause. In a twenty nine year career, I never thought about how great it was that I was serving my country. It was a choice I had made. When I was in Vietnam, rarely did the troops and I discuss what it meant to be at war. Mostly, we were doing our time and when it was over, we were thankful we had survived. For us, Vietnam vets, we didn't enjoy any of the accolades at the time of having served our country. Quite the opposite: mostly scorn from all sorts of quarters, "how could we have been so stupid to get ourselves drafted and of all things go to Vietnam." We mostly just "sucked it up and surely didn't talk much about it. At some point, ten years or so, most Americans began to wake up and realize that we didn't cause the war but were merely doing what we were told. The country sent us to Vietnam.

For us Vietnam vets, our legacy, if we have one is that because we were treated so shabbily, soldies serving now are called heros just for being soldiers. To hear the president call us the best of America is pretty gratifying even if we don't believe it.

RESPONSE TO A SOLDIER ON HIS THIRD TOUR IN IRAQ

Hey Sir,
I willingly admit that being away from home is the hardest part of my job and pretty much the only thing I ever worry about while I'm here. For all the mess that one can find himself surrounded by in a place like this, my only concerns are with my family. Something I know you and Dad can relate too. But, it is the nature of my chosen profession.

I've seen alot of changes here over the three trips. The most glaring differences between this trip and the last... Lights and silence. Since I'm mostly nocturnal in my mission execution, ground/city lights are noticeable. The first time we were here, there were only very small pockets of light around the largest population bases, i.e. Baghdad, Kirkuk, Mosul, etc... But they were subject to what I can only equate to rolling blackouts - now you see 'em, now you don't. The second time we were here, the pockets of light had been extended to cover more of the country side, but there were still huge seas of black and blackouts were still commonplace. This time, amazing... You can literally see the veins of light connecting all of the cities and towns. Hard to explain, but there was a big "wow" factor there for me. As far as the silence, I'm referring to the radio traffic. Even at peak launch and recovery times, it doesn't come any where close to the insanity that it was over the first two rotations. I can literally travel from one place to another and only hear a couple of other transmissions in route. Again, hard to do it justice in words, but also pretty "wow".



It is great hearing and thanks for the good sitrep (situation report). I keep hearing that violence is down and my usual retort is, "says who." With regular
bombings of civilians, etc; but your comments about lights staying on and radio message traffic confirms it. At least it sounds like the country views itself
as safer. I am still skeptical of being able to get out of Iraq. My feelings all along have been that our cultural and value systems are so diametrically opposed, that it cannot be overcome. To involve ourselves in a situation like this, to me, is and has been insane.

I surely understand the family thing. It is an enormous sacrifice, the absences in particular. Those are times that you cannot make up and very few in the American society understand it. I remain concerned about the Army's future as we become more and more a subculture within the greater culture. I am constantly hearing people in really high places comment about the military and it is obvious they don't understand it at all. Even the President often appears a little flumoxxed, and I think that he listens way too much to the generals. They always want "more troops." Westmoreland said in 65, give us more troops and we'll be home by Christmas: we didn't know he was talking ten years later.

It is so great that your family is around your folks. Your Dad,
like me, loves being a grandpa. I never felt like I was such a hot
dad, gone so much but I'm really making up for it as a grandpa. I bet
your Dad feels a little of the same way.

God bless. Is there anything I can send you? One thing is my good
thoughts and prayers.

The Economist

Recently, I"ve subscribed to the magazine, The Economist. I like it, very in-depth articles. I'm wading through it but since it's a British Magazine, thought these comments from my bud were interesting.

"England is a wonderful place but the people are rather up-tight and gloomy at heart. It's funny, they are genuinely sad about life, which is, I think, the enormous difference between there (US) and here. Also, there's no Netflix! I miss California rather a lot. It certainly would be nice to hang out with you for breakfast. I am planning to come over later in the year."

THE NAVY

COMMENTS FROM A FORMER NAVY ENLISTED MAN WHO BECAME AN ARMY OFFICER. INTERESTING.

The Army is vastly different from the Navy. The Navy operates under the British hierarchical system where all officers are Gentlemen and are thus better than any enlisted guy, regardless of breeding and/or background.

In the Army the officers slog around in the mud and are just as miserable, if not worse than the enlisted guys. It's a much more egalitarian system with very little "rank has its privileges" issues.In fact an E8 is much more highly regarded in the Army then an O4 (a LtCdr in the Navy).

F... Up And Get Rewarded

Messing up and getting handsomely rewarded is the order of the day at AIG, the giant insurer whose Financial Products Division more or less brought on the country's financial mess. Now, of course, they are going to get 100 billion in bonuses and we are going to let it happen. Why? We don't want to get sued. Well, la de da, what is the big deal?

We involved ourselves with AIG based on the best information we had at the time. Little did we know that we were about to fork over these gigantic bonuses to the wienies who were the ones who created the incredible mess mainly with the infamous credit default swaps. In my view, since we didn't know, we can change the rules. Want to sue us, go ahead.

Larry Summers, the president's chief financial advisor caved somewhat, saying we are a country of laws. It was code saying we knew nothing about the risky business AIG were involved in. And, the previous "deciders" let them run amuck. The fact that those receiving these outrageous bonuses had a contract before we took over their messes, means they walk away. I don't think so: I don't accept it and surely don't think that most Americans who care and are trying to understand, will accept it either.

The last time I looked, lawyers weren't running the country. Let the lawyers duke it out, at least it will take years and by that time, the 80% of AIG we own may have righted itself.

MARINES ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO TAKE THEIR LIVES

When I was in Vietnam, we had a not so subtle joke: the Marines had the highest casualty rate of any of the Services in Nam and we would always say one thing--they know one tactic, "Put your head down and charge." This wasn't really true but it was somewhat indicative of how they approach everything. Take the latest crisis: suicides on the up tick. In 2008, 41 Marines committed suicide, a rate of 19 per 1000. Last year, the Marines lost more to suicide than were killed in Iraq. Here's what they are going to do, "All Marines will receive a two hour suicide prevention presentation next month." Problem solved, Marine style.

What is happening with the Marines and the Army for that matter. Not a simple matter and truly, there is nothing that I know that is more tragic than some youngster taking his/her own life. Here are just a couple of theories from the "Girlfriends."

Andy thinks that that it has to do with disillusionment. Young Marines get to Iraq and they see the carnage, they view the attitude of the people and they asked themselves, "What gives?" Is it worth it? And, then in a moment of dispair, without thinking, they do something stupid. Larry, a former Marine himself, sees it as the basic quality of present day recruits. Vastly different than when he was drafted and chose the Marines as an alternative. Soldiers come from lower socio economic categories. They don't have the built in constraints of a value system that they once did. Plus, can never discount the fact that many are having repetitive tours which produce their own peculiar types of struggles. Gary doesn't quite see it like this as he would think that those less sophisticated might be just the ones who would not commit suicides. What we do know is that the more sophisticated have a tendency to seek out help more quickly.

My personal belief is that it is wrapped around the idea that suicide seems to be an impulse thing. And, think about it: Marines at war, weapons everywhere, they get the impulse: disillusioned, dear john, in debt, divorce, kids, loneliness, a thousand and one things that an absent Dad has to think about.

There really are no answers to this enormous riddle. Many put it off on drugs, medication, the thousand and one things that make us look for answers. Some or all of them may be true. Marines might have a good idea, a two day course. OK, no Marines are authorized to commit suicide. It is unMarine.

Letter to the Prez

I love this website and applaud our president for his openness. I am a democrat and was an initial supporter of Hillary. However, I am so glad that it worked out as it did. I really like President Obama for lots of reasons: one is he smiles easily.

I plan to do this often, not that anybody reads or responds and that is not one of my interests. My need to commo is more important than our President's to read. However, he would do well to hear a guy like me on occasion. I am a retired military, 29 years, Chaplain (Colonel). I actually sent the President early on a copy of my memoir, Gun Totin Chaplain, from my time in Vietnam. Chaplains learn to be great observers and that is why I think my comments are very relevant here.

Overall, I hope the President takes to heart a Republican view, the late Walt Rostow when he said, "all a politician (President) has to do is get 60% of the people for him, 25% will be against everything and 15% are out to lunch. Good advice. So, he can't worry about opposition as he's doing the right thing and a great job, I think.

My military comment, however, is what all the above meant to get too: Generals are wonderful and honorable but they think in a vertical way: rarely does a really creative and innovative leader get to the rank of general: Patreaus may be an exception. But, sending more troops to Afganistan is what generals want. They always want more troops. Think Vietnam. But, before we commit more lives and years, honestly, we need a strategy. Here's a good one: we have a volunteer professional Army that constantly needs to be trained. Let's do our training in Afghanistan. The military spends millions of dollars in places like the National Training Center in California. Let's put most of those dollars into Afghanistan for our military.

We have executed a counter insurgency approach that will work and a long term effort may or may not succeed. We have to train anyway and why not do Afghanistan with this in mind. Our soldiers will get better and better at counter insurgency and so will the Afghans. This might work.

THE OLD MEN DON'T GET IT

The Reader. One fine movie. I went on behest of my degenerate buddies who couldn’t stop talking about the Kate Winslet sex scenes and constant moaning about where was a woman like that when we were teenagers. Silly us, the movie was only slightly and I do mean slightly about the Kate Winslet involvement with a young boy of 15–the sex is almost beside the point. .

It is really quite a story. The movie holds you. The boy does lots of reading to Hanna, Kate’s character. It really doesn’t become clear until later down the road what the “reading” is all about, hence the movie title.

The intimacy ends. The movie moves on. In a kind of happenstance, the adult character played by Ralph Fiennes, now in law school, witnesses Hanna’s trial as a Nazi war criminal. Obviously, as a young boy, he had no idea and now faced with facts known only to him, he has a choice to make regardlng her. Basically his ethics are overwhelmed with collective German guilt. He fails to do the “right” thing. Down the road, at least in my interpretation, he attempts to make up for it by again becoming her “reader” and that is basically all I can tell without possibly giving away the movie. SEE THE MOVIE.

Is it the best movie of the year? I don’t know but for me, it cements again one thing for sure--Americans are good at: making movies. A very complicated and unweildly story and yet these movie makers succeeded in tying together a very cohesive, pensive, and timely story.

ARE WE AS GOOD AS THE "GREATEST GENERATION?"

Yes, we definitely do have a class system in our country, or as John Edwards called it, "two Americas". (in spite of his downfall, which was entirely his doing, I agreed with many of his ideas and beliefs concerning doing something about the poverty in America). It doesn't do any good for those of us who are "comfortable" to feel guilty about it. We should just count our blessings knowing we did nothing to deserve it - it is all grace - but commit ourselves to do all we can to help those who are less fortunate than us. I think that is what our dads would say, don't you? Just "do always what is right", which, for us, would be to never deny the suffering of others, but do all we can to alleviate what we can. We are blessed to have such a legacy as our parents. And, of course, they lived through the depression - in fact, my parents were married right smack dab in the middle of it! So surely some of that "true grit" was passed down to us, even though I don't think we measure up when compared with "the greatest generation", do you? I truly believe that what got us in this mess we're in now was, in large part, greed. And only our willingness to sacrifice all our "wants" and be content with thanking God that our needs are met, will get us out of it. Do we have it in us? Time will tell. bbc

HOW IS THE PREZ DOING?

Well, a couple of months have passed and we are actually into the new presidency. I thought, at first, that Obama had things pretty well together; for example, I thought the transition went pretty smoothly. But then his staff let him down by not properly vetting some of his key nominees, and the Democrats in Congress back-doored him by stuffing the stimulus package with pork which infuriates the Republicans, as it should all of us, and then he and his team haven't marketed the plan very well. That is they haven't tied specific elements of the plan to job creation. So, at this point, I'm a bit disappointed as opposed to being elated. All of this criticism after he's only been in office for 2 1/2 weeks. Wow! What an impatient, arrogant a-hole I am. I sincerely hope the situation he's in isn't the "perfect storm;" that is a combination of conditions - domestic, world-wide and economic - that will converge to overwhelm any person or team, no matter how good or well-intended. I'll tell you though, I continue to be very concerned about the state of our economy even though people continue to shop, eat out, go to movies, etc. Could this all be a case of a self fulfilling prophecy? wr

The economy where we are is not as bad as in other parts of the country, but it is definitely affecting everyone. Businesses closing every day, people out of work, retail really suffering, retirements disappearing, housing market down, down, etc. I know something must be done, but am just not convinced this huge trillions of dollars stimulus package is the answer. We are just saddling our grandchildren with unimaginable debt, and I don't feel good about that at all. I heard Obama say at a town meeting this week that if it doesn't work, we will have another president in 4 years. I know he is doing the best he can with the hand he was dealt, and all we can do is pray he is right. I wish him only the best.bbc


To be perfectly honest, I am more a fan than ever. There have been a couple of glitches but in truth, it says to me that he's not getting a pass for being black. But, I think he's a real thinker and what several have said about him is that he has the ability to think the long term and the short term. And, I like the idea that he doesn't mind facing things and saying, "If he can't turn this around, he should be a one term president." And, then admitting he screwed up, what about that? In my life time, I don't remember a president or most any politician admitting they were wrong.

I see the Republicans as a bunch of obstructionists who are so gutless as not to repudiate a dope head like Rush Limbaugh. I think the stimulus bill, although not perfect, but who knows, what would be perfect--we're in unchartered territory but to do nothing is criminal, based on where we are now. And, Obama says let's go forward. I'm for it.

Frankly I was disappointed in Dasche, as I've always liked him but money is a heavy duty issue. And, now we have Burris. I think that is going to turn out to be a mess. Power and money are surely courrupting. jda

A CLOSET JEW

I'm hanging out with my "Girlfriends" one day recently and Michael, a Jewish bud has been given a book called Haikus for Jews. It is a Zen sort of thing. But, I am attracted to the book because I'm thinking it might be the type of book format that I want for the family memoirs about my four brothers and myself growing up on a tobacco farm in North Carolina. The book, Haikus For Jews, is hard back and probably 4X6 in size. I'm telling this to Michael and he tells me to take the book.

I decide to go to the gym to work out: this is the gym for USF (U. of San Francisco, private, Catholic, Jesuit). Anyway, I do a few minutes on the rowing machine before they throw me out. Some rule that you can't exercise in bluejeans. Leave it to the Catholics to have a few rules. Anyway, I'm leaving and this couple stops me and says, "Are you Jewish?" Apparently, he has seen the book as I had it lying beside me at the rowing machine. I say, "Yes". Don't know why I said it, kind of joking, will say anything. And, he lights into me. I try to get a word in. He says all the stuff we've heard about Israel destroying the Palestinians. How heavy handed they are. How much the Palestinians need a homeland. The issue of the Jews in the West Bank. He pauses and I am ready to jump in with, I feel sorry about it all but people have a right to defend themselves, but before I can, his wife zaps me. "The American Jewish community is insensitive to what is happening with the Palestinians. Why do we discount the rest of world opinion." Then she stops and by this time, I'm thinking escape, nothing to be gained at this and I messed up I guess by kidding that I was Jewish. I should have known the Catholics couldn't take a joke. So, I decide on the spot to come clean and say, "You know, to be honest, I lied, I'm not Jewish, this is not my book. Sorry" and I walk off. It was kind of a "had to be there" thing but honestly, this is a story of the power of a book without being read.

And, it is also a story of communication or the lack thereof. We sometimes have such a great need to get our opinion across that we can't hear what others say. I should have punched the guy out.

EMAIL EXCHANGE

ARE THEY UP TO THE TASK. A very belated, but heartfelt Happy New Year to you. Do so hope 2009 will be better than the past year, and yes, I agree we have always been a resilient people who seem to always be able to survive adversity and claw our way back up. Somehow, I am a little unsure about this generation having the backbone to sacrifice what it takes for the good of all, but surely pray I am wrong. Are we as strong as the "Greatest Generation"? Guess we'll find out. Oh well, inauguration was great: a new beginning, and hope again is evident everywhere, so we will all support our new president and his administration with our prayers and best wishes and thoughts - they will surely need them. bbc


RESPONSE
What a mess, on every hand. And, we have to hope the new President is doing the right thing, mainly that he is doing something which has to happen. We have to get people back to work. I am often in the fog. For instance, if a company says it is not doing well, what it looks to me, they just aren't making as much profit. So...they are paying their bills, breaking even, people are working. So, what is the big deal? I relate it to a doctor buddy of mine who was griping about the economy recently. He went to easily making from a half million down to $200,000; his idea was because of the government, HMOs, etc., private doctors could no longer make the big money. So...2 hundred thousand didn't sound so bad to me. See what I mean, I can't get it.


THE JEWS. Your Dad was right about those who mess with the Jews, they will ultimately get zapped! But like you, this latest conflict has been heart wrenching to watch. At least there seems to be a cease fire for now, but we all know that will not last. The Jews are so despised by the Arab world, and Israel does have every right to defend themselves, so even though the whole situation appears hopeless right now, there will come a day when your Dad's prophecy will be fulfilled, because it comes right out of God's Word! bbc

DOING WHAT IS RIGHT. I have debated my Dad's philosophy a good bit. His greater one was "to always do what is right," and truly that is no small thing. Personally, I think PALESTINE (which is not a country but should be) is one of those problems like immigration, insoluable. Simply, can't be done. The politicians and "talking heads" never talk in those terms but until Jesus comes again, have to do the best we can. A recent, Sixty Minutes, carried a piece on the Jewish settlers living in the West Bank and how in a sense, they abused the Palestinians. Now, that is an example of my Dad's "doing what is right" is involved. Oh well...ja

THE PREZ IS A HUGGER

As a rule, I pretty much thought men were not huggers. But it looks like there's a general trend toward hugging. I like it. I am seeing more and more men hugging. I always hug. Some are a little uncomfortable with the bear hugging that I like. If I don't like them all that much, they get a semi-hug. This is a kind of upper body hug, a little akin to the Mafia hugs like on the Sopranos. A little better than the European cheek kissing but not nearly as good as a bear hug. What also works well is a group hug. This way, you can include all, whether you like them or not.

Our new President elect appears to be a somewhat semi-hugging type; occasionally a "bear hug. " The best one I've seen him do was on Vets Day with Tammy Duckworth, who lost both legs in Iraq. Also, on the night of the election, he and Joe Biden were hugging machines, each other, the kids. Anybody within range. What I've noticed with all the cabinet appointments is that the president elect shakes hands, leans into the person and gives them a back pat. I'm calling this a semi-hug. Pretty good!

Us "GIRLFRIENDS" us old guys,the vets: we go for the hugs. And, we are all into group hugs which is good especially if men are hug phobic. Sometimes we'll hug several times in a gathering: a hug when a guy leaves, group hug somewhere along the line. More guys leave, more hugs, group hugs. You get the picture.

During this economic down, especially with all the dismal news, let's get out and hug a few people. We'll all feel better for it.

THE BEST OF AMERICA

There is nothing left to say almost about the Inauguration. It was, in my opinion, simply the best America has to offer. Usually I pay scant attention but, like most Americans, this year was different. Our new President was selling hope. And, not in a bad way but laced with realism. His speech was simply superb and he hit every topic that are hot buttons because they are real. He didn't let us off the hook. Issues like greed and hard work and time and hope--all fixed in there together. 

Made me very proud. Our new president ls from a different generation. The issues aren't black and white but class, the inequties, the lack of opportunity between the haves and have nots, regardless of race. To put it mildly and obviously what we all know: he has a formitable task before him. So, let's put shoulder to the wheel, lean into the wind, and bridle to the mule. 

Times a'wastin

TOO COMFORTABLE

I've been thinking lots about the economy and the suffering in Gaza amid my comfort. The whole idea of "being comfortable" bothers me in my soul. Let's face it, we have a class system in America, even if we deny it. To get to the place where we are so comfortable, thinking that this is the lot for all, especially with the present suffering going on, that, I might add, I am only hearing about--this truly bothers me. An encouraging note is that the new President's nominees, several, have addressed that issue, i. e., the poor, the disparity in lives in our country. And, just because I'm comfortable doesn't mean that I can assume that there's no suffering. 

I think there's no shame in having reached a certain level of comfortableness, but not sure that we can automatically assume that we deserve it. I guess what I am saying is that we should not be too comfortable in our comfortableness. 

One of the things I think about is that we don't all get dealt the same hand. Simply as fate, we are born who we are, not our fault. We could have been born some poor child filled with anger and hate in Gaza, whose life may soon be over. GOD HELP US in our complacency. 

DEPRAVITY OF MAN, GREED

The complex financial morass is way beyond me or the average citizen for that matter. Well, to be honest, I really don't know anybody, supposedly the best and the brightest who understand it.

In some ways, it defies logic. Here's what we know: we have already given billions to bankers who if they did not cause lots of the problem, were surely complicit in the first place. And, the man who forked over the first several billion to his buds without requiring any accountability didn't once mention conflict of interest. Suspicious? When the Sec of Trea calls up his buddies, calls them by their first names--make any difference? I THINK SO.

At the heart of our financial mess has been good old greed. Who can deny that? What nobody seems to be willing to admit is that man left to his own devices will choose self interest everytime. I THINK SO. If greed is the basic nature of man that no one talks about, why do we keep avoiding it? Tell me the last time you heard a politician mention greed. Often we want answers, they are into spin when it is simple--Greed! In spiritual terms, which are as good as any, it is called the "depravity of man." I THINK SO.

Answers? I don't know any better than those who are making the decisions. But, absent of knowing, I think we are doing the best we can by at least doing something. I THINK SO.

If there has ever been a good example of the depravity of man, Bernie Madoff who is in his seventies and bilked mostly his friends out of billions, is a premo example. The laundry list of his transgressions are too much to even discuss. Another crook, in terms of "brass," is Richard Piccoli, 82, who got over 4 million from duped smart people in a 2 year period. I am amazed on many levels as these two guys should have been out playing with their grand kids. I THINK SO.

WHAT THE CAPTAIN MEANS

COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE is an Army school of a year's duration. It is mainly for potential commanders and is mostly on military tactics. Almost all the students will go on to become Colonels and Generals and lead the Army. During my time there, it was especially hard as Vietnam was in its last days. We were not even permitted to talk about Vietnam. Almost to a person, we had seen combat, some several times. Most of us had spilled blood in that very sorry war. It was hard and someone started circulating a casette tape called WHAT THE CAPTAIN MEANS. This was in 75 and the internet was not yet reality. The tape circulated among the students and we laughed and laughed. Over the years, I have tried to quote many of the comments in "What The Captain Means" but have been unsuccessful as one almost has to hear it. Now, thanks to some generous soul, it has been posted on YouTube. Thank you, thank you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ1AYVcAS7k.

There is simply no way to convey what this meant at that time. I laughed so hard, as did everybody and then one day we were sitting in the auditorium, students called it the Big Bedroom and suddenly, What The Captain Means started playing over the public address system. It was hilarious and kind of became our theme as it was a time of enormous grief as Vietnam fell --we realized that it had all been for nothing or at least that was the feeling. So, when we would see each other, someone would invariable say, "What The Captain Means" and it would take the edge off things.

And, there is much more to What The Captain Means than humor. The comments are subtle truth. And, they apply to the spin of war today just as they did in Vietnam. God help us.

A NOD TO GOD

I once was in a military assignment where I had to pray the invocation at all these graduation ceremonies. It was tradition, just as it is at the President's inauguration. (I am surprised that some ACLU type hasn't already sued to stop it). I use to call these invocations, nods to God. I kept them short with something like, "Dear God, thank you for all our opportunities. Bless us in our future endeavors. Amen." One Chaplain said it was way too short. I promised to lengthen it. I never did. My view has not permeated many of those who pray on the National scene and I doubt it will the president elect's choice of Rick Warren doing the invocation at his inauguration.

On the Newshour the other night, they crowned Warren as America's pastor. Made me smile. I don't particularly like him because I am mostly jealous. The guy or someone around him is a marketing genius. He took an average book and turned it into an industry. I know a good bit about it as I followed the success of the book through this organization I'm in, Publishing Marketing Asso. And, a friend who is the epitome of the Christian right kept me informed: he marketed The Purpose Driven Life to Christian bookstores at huge discounts who then became agents in marketing the book to churches as a study guide. The Churches leaped on it and moved the book toward bigger and bigger numbers to the best seller list at the NY Times that started the cycle again. A marketing genius. And, the guy got Obama and John McCain to his forum. Amazing. I didn't think it was a good idea for Obama then because he was pandering to a lot of zealots, plus separation of church and state issues. But, it is politics.

I think it was a bad move to have named him. There were better choices. It would have been easy to name one of the Chiefs of Chaplains of the various services. And, I admit, slap, slap, that I don't like goatees. And, obviously, Warren is not hanging out at a gym very often.

America's pastor. I don't think so. If he really wanted to make an impact, he should bow out is my view. This could be his note to the President elect. "Thank you for the great honor in asking me to give the invocation at your inauguration. But, in light of the controversy and at this point in history in our country, we must do all we can to be united and not divisive. And, I have asked myself, 'What would Jesus do?' It is clear. Thank you again. You can be assured of my personal prayers and good will."

Will he do it. No, these guys have egos the size of 18 wheelers. And, unfortunately, they have not been reading the New Testament with regularity. What about the idea that Jesus conveyed constantly, "he who would be first, let him be last." Or, "let the least among you become the greatest."

Email Responses to "Do Over" comments

I so agree with the comments on the Airborne Press website. Thank you for this. But the sad part is there are still a lot of diehard Republicans in the state of Georgia and I think it's going to be hard to get the people out to vote as they did in the General Election. Today I've had robocalls from Bill Clinton, Max Cleland and Michelle Obama, which impressed me, but how many others? The ads have been running for weeks now and some of Saxby Chambliss's are pretty ugly. He's a slimeball who rode in on Bush's tail, and I fear he still has a lot of support. Hard to believe, but as you say, people never cease to surprise. Tomorrow LTG(R) Claudia Kennedy will be at Savannah Dem hdqtrs to talk to phone bankers, volunteers, etc. and then give a speech in one of the squares in support of Martin. Should help some and Savannah's a strong military town, but Atlanta has many more, and lots of big business, votes. We shall see. sf

ELECTION IS OVER AND THE ABOVE COMMENTS PROVED PROPHETIC

Thanks for your candid comments. When the election looked like it was a tossup, my oldest daughter, whom I constantly had to say: "Take a deep breath," discussed somewhat tongue in cheek, what to do if the same old policies of the last eight years became future reality.

Honestly, I thought long and hard but never told her, what if John McCain won and we were facing another four years of George W. Where could we go, move? Ireland, maybe?. I wasn't all that serious. Fortunately, it worked out but now honestly, I think if I were you, I would think it might be time to get out of Dodge. I am partially kidding but I can hardly believe the majority of Georgians.To think they would go with the same old tired views when the economy is in the reverse, people are losing their jobs, recession is no longer even spinned; yet, they believe this elusive keeping a balance of power in Washington. What is it with these people. What planet are they on? I guess we need to be hopeful that there is only one Georgia.

I do feel sorry for those like yourself who are open minded. The flip side of the coin, however, is that maybe my brother who is a loyal Democrat and been involved in elective politics for a long time, is right: if a black is not in the race, African Americans will not vote. It sounds racist but in Georgia, it surely seems to be true. They simply didn't vote. I'm not sure even if an Obama visit would have helped. The Democrats did all they could, I think.

I truly am sorry for Georgians like yourself. Not that you need it, but to think that by a resounding majority, Georgians put back into office a man who maligned a triple amputee from the Vietnam war, on his first victory and rode back on his second term with Sarah Palen. This is pretty sad in my view.

A "DO OVER."

Thank the Lord, the political season is maybe close to being over. And, it is time to get to "figure out how to right the country." For what it's worth, I do have one last comment. Rarely in life, do we get a chance to have a "do over" or as they say in golf, a mulligan, or maybe another chance to right a wrong but it appears to me that the state of Georgia has a shot.

In 2002, Saxbe Chambliss absolutely maligned Vietnam vet and triple amputee, Max Cleland, during the Senate campaign. Even John McCain called his comments outrageous. Chambliss called into question Cleland's patriotism. Get the picture, here is a Vietnam vet in a wheelchair, legs been blown off along with one arm and Chambliss questions his patriotism and the voters bought it. Now, they have a chance for a "do over" and I hope they get it right this time.

IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ARE NOT THE SAME

Thanks to David Harris's article in Forum. His book, Coming of Militant Islam is a classic and should be read by every thinking American. I couldn't agree more on Iraq, what a mess. The so called "surge" only worked because we separated the factions and then armed the Sunnis. A strategy that is built on a house of cards. Time to get out and if the Iraqis do not approve the security arrangement, what a lucky break for us. We got rid of Saddam, we declare victory and hit the road. Regardless, we have to get out and let what happens happen.

However, I will have to depart from him on Afghanistan. Even though we are still dealing with a tribal people, we have a chance to restore, relatively speaking, the country. Here's a suggestion: we have a professional Army that constantly needs to be trained. Let's do our training in Afghanistan. The military spends millions of dollars in places like the National Training Center in California. Let's put most of those dollars into Afghanistan for our military. We simply cannot allow the Taliban to own Afghanistan again. Every American woman should be up in arms demanding this.

We have executed a counter insurgency approach that will work and a long term effort has a chance to succeed. This is the real war on terrorism. We are not the Soviets. We have a moral obligation to give Afghanistan a chance, regardless of how long it takes. Our soldiers will get better and better at counter insurgency and so will the Afghans. This can work.

FASCINATING WWll Vets--Can't miss our opportunity to know them.

A couple of nights ago I was talking to these two regular old guys at the VFW mtg ... one did 13 island landings in the Pacific before he finally was relieved and sent home. Another guy landed on France with the infantry and went all the way to Germany, he is in his 80's and ran a half Marathon last month.
the art of listening and engaging these guys is worth the effort, both for them and myself.

I asked the guy who did all the island landings what he thought of Clint Eastwoods film, "Iwo Jima", and if he preferred the American or Japanese perspective? He leaned toward the Japanese (I thought that was an excellent move on Eastwood's part to do that one also). db


When I hear of those like this, I always wonder, what
is their story and I would love to hear it. I ran into an old guy a
few years ago at the Spinaker's Restaurant in Sausalito and he was the chief executioner at the Nurnburg Trials. He didn't tell me this as I was fascinated at watching him. What a character! He was with two fairly attractive and I venture to say younger woman. It was almost impossible not to eavesdrop and after he left, I asked the waiter that I knew who he was.

I could not wait to see him again--drove one of those really expensive Mercedes. Would you believe he died before I saw him again. So, we need to get all these guys stories you can.

jda

AND THE MESS ROLLS ON

I knew there was some reason that I liked the general, Petraeus's replacement, given the fact that I'm not usually in the camp of most generals: too political to suit me. And, it sure ain't the new head general in Iraq's good looks. However, now that the Iraqi premier has threatened the good General Odierno with losing his job, I'm liking him better. The General told the Washington Post that intelligence showed Iran attemptimg to bribe Iraqi lawmakers to sabotage the Status of Forces Agreement (basically this is the document that lets us stay in the country--the rub is that the Iraqis want to have charge of our soldiers in case of an American mistake that might involve a civilian or interpretation of the "rules of engagement"--allowing the Iraqis to decide is unthinkable).

Iran and Iraq aligned--makes sense to me. From my prism, anything to get us out of Iraq. We're in a weird position and have been from the "get go." With our latest counter insurgency movement, if you think about it, we've armed and recruited the Sunnis (Awakening Councils), formerly the insurgents, who are now on our side. And, this has brought a relative degree of calm.

However, here is where it gets dicey, think about this: basically we have an official Shiite Army that we are training as our replacements but now beside them, we also have a Sunni Army, armed by us. They hate each other and have for hundreds of years. The Iranians are Shiite, like the government of Iraq and the majority of the country. Hello! And, why would Iran not want us out Dodge and if a few bribes gets us on the next train, so be it.

I'm not the only one who thinks this way, of course, but the author of Unintended Consequences has made this the thesis for an entire book.

Getting out of Iraq has to be a priority. We basically can declare victory: we got rid of Saddam, God bless you, we are gone. According to the author of Unintended Consequences, we have lost the war. I think he's probably right. If our goal is to keep the warring factions apart, staying in Iraq for years might accomplish this. I doubt it but still it could. How long? Well, John McCain says a hundred years.

We are about in as much a mess in the Middle East as we've every been so why not as the GIs use to say about Vietnam when we were there, let's "diddy mal" (get the hay out of here)!!!

FOR WHAT PURPOSE

Recently, my grand daughter and I were at a park in San Francisco and the serenity of a bright and sunny day was disturbed by the screaming overhead of these gloriously precisioned jets, the Blue Angels. They are the Navy's premier flying team, in San Fran for their yearly show called Fleet Week. Watching them practice was thrilling. Wow and more wow is what I thought!

But, later on in the day as I watched the stock market plunge to levels not seen in years, I began to think about the money spent on the "WOW" show of the Blue Angels and how many foreclosed homes that the Blue Angel money could save. And what about things like the trillions spent in Iraq. What about it? What does it all mean? For one thing, it is unbelievably complicated. How could saving on the Blue Angels possibly help the economy. It is the same view of eating one less expensive meal could hardly help the starving in Africa.

Well, it surely is complicated but there has to be some connection to our expenditures on the Blue Angels' air shows, the war in Iraq, all sorts of other things--to say it is too complex is to do or say nothing. Kind of like our present financial crisis, not figuring out how we got where we are is inexcusable: not coming to grips with the spending of millions of dollars on an air show and how it relates, is equally unacceptable.

It all has to be related. Having served at fairly high levels of the military, I use to marvel at the budget process. We operate within a budget. They must spend that money whether they need it or not or guess what? They will not get as much for next year. Spending more is even better (whether you need to or not) and that way you can asked for more.

So, how is it related? The Blue Angels have a budget, it is training and the thinking is that it relates to recruitment, kids will see the WOW of the Blue Angels and run right down and enlist.

We are too smart to simply let things like this continue. The Blue Angels are just symptomatic. I just bet if we were to dedicate ourselves to reining in purposeless spending that doesn't make sense, we could figure it out. These are tough times for the country and everything has to be on the table. Here's a good one, the Iraqis have an 80 billion dollar surplus, we have the worst deficit in history and are in crisis. Yet, we are spending billions a month in Iraq. Hello!!!!!!!!!!! Any North Carolina farmer can tell you how to handle this.

POLITICALLY USEFUL FEEDBACK

Most of us who frequent the Internet with some regularity are constantly bombarded with forwards, political opinion, adinfinitum. I get really tired of it and have been discussing it with a religious email group in which I participate. One of the members recently chided us for our lack of response. What follows is some of our discussion.

Comment. Thanks for calling this to our attention. We've been remiss. I think for me, it has been a general feeling that our group is so locked in on rigid positions and are spending most of their time watching Fox News, plus forwarding ideas of what a great choice Sarah Palin was that my psyche didn't want to deal with it. I am pulling our chains somewhat. The weird thing about where we are in our country is that if you look at the Republican President, he has gotten every single thing he has asked for, i. e., a gigantic defense bill, not a single word in it about bringing home the troops

Comment. What concerns me, however, are the somewhat useless emails that fly continuously, mostly forwards, many time we don't even know if they are true. And, why anybody would think they are going to sway opinion with some ranting is beyond me.

Comment, replying to a forward. I don't doubt any of this is true; but this is precisely what I'm talking about; forwards like this are not helpful. All politicians are inherently corrupt and or if not quite as bad, are self serving--of both parties: it is simply the way it is. A biased forward has about as much chance of reaching me as flying to the moon. Plus, with the web, it is so easy to find something to reinforce your point. Why not search for areas where we can discuss, i.e., the bailout/rescue of Wall Street. You and I discussing abortion (His comments on terminating a pregnancy--the reasons I can’t support a Democratic candidate for President is because of abortion. It troubles me that the most dangerous place in America for a child is in its mother’s womb). It is like agreeing on the idea of Eternal Security (A Christian Religious term which means that once a person has committed him/herself to Christianity, it is forever sealed), a waste of our time to discuss as well as abortion.

Comment. I believe in soul assignment. This is not original with me but makes sense. When a fetus can live outside the womb, then God assigns a soul and the fetus becomes a person. I could never believe a teenager and his girlfriend in the back seat of a 49 Ford can make an instant baby. Makes no sense to me.

Comment. Here is what I think is helpful: a discussion of the financial mess and what brought us to this point.

Comment. OK, here's a stab at something for us to discuss: In a word, greed! And, for us Calvinists, we should get this with certainty. Man is sorry, good for nothing. Worthless, only through the Lord Jesus is he brought to any sense of redemption. And, even in that, redemption still possesses the rudiment of a sinful nature.

Comment: On a practical basis, through deregulation of the stock market, greedy traders and other worthless pieces of humanity lined their own pockets by lying, creating worthless assets, which they were able to put a value on, uninhibited without anybody minding the store. Then, of course, greedy bankers, many pillars of the church (although they probably didn't tithe) and, of course, the father of derivatives (which is anything that a Wall Street shyster thinks it is) is none other than former Congressman, Phil Gramm, who authored the bill creating derivatives (helped along by Dems and Repubs who lined their pockets): during this heyday, many preachers were preaching the "prosperity gospel. "

Comment. Demos and Repubs alike turned a blind eye while greedy Mortgage bankers let those who follow the late night TV shows on house
flipping think they could make a fortune like the bankers, etc. And, of course there were those poor folks who wanted a piece of the American dream and were greedy too. But, for these poor folks, we can be forgiving as for them they merely want what many of us have.

Comment. Now, this is useful and let's have another side, not some Internet posting, bashing some candidate or putting forth a Rush Limbaugh ranting.

Comment. The flip side of the coin is that I would like to hear some logical views sans the party line why we should put the Republicans back in again based on where the country is.

Comment. My take on the financial mess after reading and trying to understand is off the wall: we need the 700 billion rescue even though we are rewarding those who have caused the mess. If we don't, who is going to be hurt are the poor people. They are surviving on credit cards, etc; it is their safety net; our country is built on credit, at least our economy. We have to continue it although philosophically it may not be the best: it is what we have. For many of us, we can say "let's go to cash, tighten the belt" but the poor folks will fall through the cracks. I feel somewhat the same way about immigration; Lou Dobbs, aside, we can't solve it, let's continue what we are doing which is the best we can. Maybe a new Prez might funnel some bucks to help corruption and drug trafficking and maybe the Mexicans wouldn't want to come here. OK, I am out of hull defoliate.

BARNEY SAYS

One of my heroes is Barney Franks who is the Democrats "point man" on the bailout fiasco, (which, as of this writing, failed) the House Financial Services Chairman. What endears Barney to me is that he is not terribly unlike Barney and Friends on TV's Discovery Chanel, watched by my three year old granddaughter, Lilly. On TV's Barney, they end with "Barney Says." These are little lessons on living life that 3 year olds get.

Well, in the financial bailout, the bankers and those related who have gotten us into this mess could use a little "Barney says." Most of the bankers should remember "Barney Says" from a former encounter. He was a last minute sub for some big bankers Association. Here they are at this big gathering, waiting to be told how great they are. Barney gets up and "flays the sheep" so to speak. He tells them how sorry they are and how they are responsible for the many ills which Americans face. He tells them they don't care for the poor, adinfinitum. And, just as he is getting warmed up, someone is heard to say, "who invited this guy?"

What makes this amazingly remarkable is that this was several years ago but in light of this present crisis, it is like yesterday. So, what am I saying? Well, along with Warren Buffet (although the majority of the "girlfriends" say that Warren is part of the same group as Paulson and consequently has a vested interest), I trust Barney to keep our best interest at heart.

For most of us, we don't understand how this has happened. We surely can't see into the future to see what might happen if we don't do something. How can we know? The ones who got us into this mess and lined their pockets don't even know. So for now, it is BARNEY SAYS.

SONS OF IRAQ

The so called "surge" has been touted as the singular aspect of strategy that has literally changed the course of the Iraq war. Not really even as we acknowledge and are grateful for the decrease in violence. But, let us be realistic in what has happened. Plain and simple, a new doctrine of counterinsurgency has been initiated. And, this doctrine in the very beginning is "get the local populace on your side." And, I might add, in any way you can. However, here is the rub: the very idea that the Iraqis will have an acceptable measure of peace is as elusive as ever, even if temporarily, violence is down.

And, here is why. In the latest scenario, the Shiite led government will begin to man checkpoints and in general assume control over the Sunni fighters known as the Sons of Iraq (also called Awakening Councils). These are the guys that were killing Americans when the new strategy was initiated. We paid them to come over to our side. It worked, they quit shooting at us. However, the strategy now stands a good chance of coming unraveled. Lions may lay down with lambs in Biblical analogies but not in Iraq. The strategy can only continue to work if we stay in Iraq forever and back the Sons of Iraq. And, then it is only a "maybe." My view.

THE SOUTH AND POLITICS

Recently, I took a trip back to North Carolina to see my brothers. I do this about every three months or so. I knew that it was going to be hard to avoid politics but didn't realize truly how difficult it would be. Politically, most are not on a different planet, rather a different galaxy. I have to shake my head because of this "sea change." Growing up, simply everybody was a Democrat. On this trip, I felt like what someone once said, "A lonely wanderer on a wind swept sea." There were a few times when I would be in a room full of people and be the only Democrat, two shakes from being "stoned." For my brothers, other than me, my Dad is turning over in his grave repeatedly. And, the idea of how the South has changed would not hack it with him. Sorry Dad.

There is simply no reasoning to their position. I gave my view of "forget the candidates, tell me one thing that is right with the country." Do we want four more years of "W." NO COMMENT. And, I follow with the idea that when things happen on a person's watch, even if it is politics, the leader has to take the "hit." The nobody's home look. I usually follow with the idea that I hope this is not prejudice since we have a black man running for President. "Oh no, everybody insist." Yes, I believe that .

HOW THE COUNTRY HAS CHANGED

When 9-11 happened, I, along with the rest of the country, wondered what our country would look like once we figured it out. We still don't know but something a friend said resonated with me at the time and is still with me: "9-11 has forever changed our country and everybody in it and anybody who has anything to do with America."

This has proven to be true. One of the very subtle ways I think the country has changed is the perpetual suspicion which is a part of our lives: suspicions of those who are different. Here's an example: On the bus, as I was crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, I glanced up and noticed a woman in a burka and beyond us, coming toward the bridge, very close, was a gigantic container ship: my first thought: how ironic that I'm in a bus with a Muslim woman, crossing the GG Bridge and my first thought is terrorism. It is in our psyche, a completely new phenomena, only since 9-11. Can any of us say that when see someone, a different look, someone we perceive to be Muslim, that our minds don't take us to Suspiciousville.

Other things, of course, remind us that life has forever changed. For one thing, two wars going on with the continuing reminders of young Americans dying, not to mention, Iraqi and Afghan innocents being blown up with regularity. (These events may have left the front pages of our newspapers but they are still going on). And, my personal pick, Gitmo where we are still holding low level types acting like they are major terrorists.

On a personal basis, I think that we simply have to protect ourselves the very best we can and then not worry about it. It is the only way to preserve our American way of life. God bless those who gave their lives in whatever ways on that fateful day of 9-11!

NOT A GOOD MOVE BARACH

When the framers of the Constitution made a conscious effort to separate the church from the state, there was a reason. And, we have a good example from Jesus when He was confronted by the Pharisees with the notion of church and state. His quote was simple and to the point, even providing an illustration, he took a coin and asked, “Whose picture is on the coin? Caesar. “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and the things that are God’s to God”. Makes sense to me.

How we have gotten ourselves to this point is beyond me. The idea that preachers can wield such power is baffling. Having studied the old time preachers, they never seemed to get into politics and yet to be fair, they didn’t have the temptation of the media either.

Billy Graham seems to be the first media religious darling to any degree. I always liked him. He never did get away from his basic message but then again, he didn’t dispute his influence either. Surely didn’t refuse an invite to the White House.

To me, it is hard to say what this religious forum means: a potential president appearing before a preacher to be questioned about his religious beliefs. Seems unseemly to me. Well, this is what my Mom would say.

The flip side of the coin is that those like Rick Warren can only be given influence and power in politics by those like Obama and McCain. I surely don’t blame those like Warren. In a sense, be is the pastor of a mega church with a slant on interpreting what Jesus meant. These gigantic mega churches usually are part church, part entertainment. I don’t care for them very much but they seem to meet many people’s need and I want to be fair. Mostly in my view, they are church/gospel/Bible lite.

THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE

Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, which I’ve read is OK as a guide for living but if people really wanted to get a formula for making it in this world and into the next, they should read the four Biblical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John which are what Jesus said and did. Unfortunately, in Church culture, most people had rather take the shortcut of listening to a preacher say what Jesus said and did. The few times I’ve been in dialogue with the clergy and they have given me the word, “Jesus said such and such or God says: ” my usual retort is, “Where does it say that God says this?” End of discussion usually!

I don’t fault Warren for this coup of getting Barach and McCain to acknowledge the perceived importance of the “right wing” mostly. They are politicians, afterall. HELLO!!

I think probably these mega church pastors are fighting to be the titular head and Warren seems to be the front runner. Others have bit the dust in various ways: Falwell has gone on to his reward. Ted Haggard left Colorado after the gay masseuse scene, the Focus on the Family 's James Dobson has become a one issue type: gays are taking over the world; and the Texas syrupy pastor Osteen’s wife is flying first class and accused of assaulting a flight attendant. So, we have Warren.

A BOOK WHICH IS A MARVEL IN MARKETING

To me, his book is the interesting thing. It is a marketing phenomena and mark me jealous. It started off with everybody in his church buying a copy or several. Then covering the entire country with promotion. All the evangelical churches bought copies and developed courses around the book, a 40 day spiritual journey that will change the reader's life was the so called, "purpose." An entire cottage industry has grown up around it. It has sold millions, reported to the various sources like the NY Times best sellers' list and the book reinvents itself over and over.

THE POTENTIAL PRESIDENT SHOULD HAVE RESISTED

Barach should have resisted. It was natural for McCain as his party routinely panders to the right wing as a part of their persona. I fear Barach is being handled already. What he didn’t get is that he can’t win these people over. It can’t be done. A kind of “Don’t confuse me with facts, I have my mind made up” exist with them. "Right wing" (in terms of social issues, I don't see any difference in the terms, right wing and evangelical) Christians have certain issues: abortion, gay marriage, prayer in the schools, stem cell research, and various other fringe ideas. These good folks are not going to change their minds. They are willing to have a war that is bankrupting us, the worse deficit in history with the very real possibility of sacrificing our children and grandchildren’s future--a litany of negatives: a spiraling down economy where no one really knows the bottom, hard working folks losing their homes,the dollar falls and falls, inflation is moving upward and lastly something totally inexplicable, an amazing blindness to reality. If only they can have a candidate to champion their issues, to hell with all this other stuff.

Obama would have been better to have said, “I respectfully decline. If I attend, it gives the impression that I am choosing one expression of faith over another. Our country has always prided ourselves on freedom of religion or no religion at all. Thank you for your invitation and may the God of your choice bless you."

DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ IS A FAIRY TALE

Sometimes you read something and you reread and suddenly, it is "ah hah." I recently had this with an article in the New York Times Magazine. It seems of late that all my stuff comes from there. Why? Well, not so but they do in depth articles for one thing and the editors obviously don’t mind giving a writer a few pages, not the usual 500 words or less. This piece, The Last Battle (The Fight Among Iraq's Shiites) by Michael Gordon, is probably the best thing I've read about Iraq: succinct and puts us where we are NOW after all the millions of dollars and lives given.

The article had to do with a team called Phoenix, not after another infamous Phoenix, I don’t think. (The CIA engineered project for assassinating enemy combatants in Vietnam). The Phoenix Team had to do with these 3 young captains that General Petraeus had recruited to work with Sunnis and Shiites to create a greater sense of security, provide some jobs through a neighborhood watch program, and in general, be his eyes and ears in a region of the country that seemed the most conducive to employing General Petraeus' counter insurgency philosophy.

I was very impressed that the good general would be this open, creative and very protective of these three young soldiers who were not career types, although true believers. There has to be an amazing "back story" to this project. Here are three soldiers: a female Lieutenant, later Captain; another, having done several tours in Iraq; a Harvard graduate--and, an enlisted guy who could have been an officer but through some idealistic view wanted to be an enlisted man, later became a Sergeant. Their connections to Petraeus, to each other, to the Marines and ultimately to this story is almost too much to believe. I don't, for a moment, doubt the veracity of the story but there has to be more to how it all came to be. Well, for one thing, it makes for a good story. The flip side of the coin is that what they attempted when fleshed out to the possibilities is equally amazing. I simply will accept it at face value. It is a story that needs to be read.

The article is too long and involved to fully convey the gist of it, even if I wanted too. Several lessons to learn from the message: the military should not be put in a position to make promises or offer incentives that they cannot deliver. Reminds me so much of Vietnam. We made all these promises to the people and in the final analysis, didn’t deliver.

But, more than anything, what The Last Battle pointed out was the overwhelming complexity that we are in the middle of in Iraq: tribes, sheiks, political alliances, fanatical believers, you name it. It is simply an impossible venue for democracy. Here's a thought: the best we can hope for is that a kinder Saddam and surely less crazy, might emerge. The Last Battle reinforces that any idea of a democracy as we know it is a will of the wisp fairy tale.

A SPIN MASTER BELIEVING HIS SPIN

For one who finds it hard to give the President much slack, I will have to say that he did a good interview at the Olympics. They didn’t talk only sports but all the hot button front burner topics to include the Russian/Geogian conflict.

I often wonder how much these interviews are scripted. Maybe Bob Costas but the President sounded pretty candid. His main theme had to do with staying engaged with China and the idea that we wouldn’t agree on all things but we would on some--talked about how far China has come and watching the Olympics who could not agree with that assessment. And, it has been good that the president has been at the Olympics. He is the President. And, here the Office transcends the man.

There's a slight side of me that feels a little sorry for him. As one who voted for him during his first term, I thought of the great hope he brought. The country was in pretty good shape. And, even with the uneven performance of the "Bill" man, he was inheriting a no deficit economy and money in the bank. And, even though a disputed election, still I applauded the Supreme Court decision, let's get on with it.

And, then 9-11. At first, he seemed to be on top of it and came Afghanistan and the country applauded. At this point, I think, he got overwhelmed by the NeoCons, Chaney and crew. From there, a series of disasters which have brought him to the end of his term as one who blew his chances--mismanagement of the Iraqi war that will be debated for years, regardless of how we get out of it, “Was it worth it?”

Listening to him talk to Costas, I thought: no credibility to talk about the Russian/Georgian conflict: castigating them on an idea of Regime Change. Hello! The most disturbing thing is when Costas tried to inject some reality on our country's challenges and the President's spin of "we don't have problems." This is a theme of denial which has costs him his legacy I think. The greatest problem is when a "spin master" believes his spin. America's a great country but we have beau coup problems and to deny them is not to face them.

THESE PEOPLE ARE OUR GARDNERS, TAKE CARE OF OUR CHILDREN, DO THE THINGS WE DON'T WANT TO DO. MOST OF THE TIME, THEY ARE INVISIBLE

When I was in the Army at Fort Bliss, Texas at El Paso with Juarez, Mexico, just over the border. We use to regularly get lectures about the pitfalls of crossing the border, especially if we drove: the possible accident, the laws of Mexico, the mordita, the payoff. In fact, when you went to Mexico, you regularly took a handful of dollars to pay off anybody who resembled authority.

The intrusion of politics in what to do about Mexicans crossing the border illegally, the numbers already illegally here, etc. have become big political issues. There's the intrepid vigilante group, the Minute Men and let's not forget the National Guard confronting the "would be" border crossers.

I do readily admit that when you are not directly involved, it is easier cogitate your navel. A friend of mine who lives on the edge of the desert close to Sierra Vista, Arizona has tale after tale of Mexicans crossing his property and trashing it. You would think, according to my friend, all our problems stem from South of the Border. Well, hardly.

It is a problem but not insoluable. Movies are one venue to get a handle on the problems and the directions to go. We should pay more attention. One movie, Bordertown, does what movies are suppose to do, at least what I like, instruct and tell a good and compelling story or confront a societal problem. Bordertowm does all of these. It is about the murders of young women working in the factories on Juarez, going home alone at night, being attacked, murdered and their bodies buried in the desert. Some estimates say that thousands have died.

Bordertowm took on NAFDA, Mexican profiteers working these poor women, often way to young, for pittance in wages, no protection at night--the rich getting richer on the backs of the poor.

As movies go, there are a few implausible things but the movie does its job in bringing the problems to light. Jennifer Lopez, as an actress, is good I think. I don't know why she gets panned so much, probably reviewers can't separate singer/lifestyle from her job. Damned if I know.

This is the third movie I think which does a good job with issues of immigration from Mexico and highlights problems. Jack Nicholson's, The Border, was one: Three Burials of Estrada was another one. And, who can forget the hopelessness and happenstance of a wonderfully sweet Mexican nanny in Babel.

A book called The Reapers Line speaks to the same issue and absolutely one of the best books I've ever read in highlighting the real border problem which is DRUGS. Although about drug interdiction, it hit the migration issue and hard. One of the best statements on the subject, something like, "The problem with our immigration policy isn't the poor Mexicans trying to gain a better life for their families but those who are profiting from them like the drug lords,etc." What we may need to root out corruption is Denzel Washington in Men On Fire. Denzel confronts kidnapping in Mexico where he kills everybody but the director.

The final hit has to be our own lack of common sense in our approach to our neighbors to the South. If we took a fraction of the money we have wasted in Iraq to root out corruption in Mexico, improve the possibilities for the workers, they wouldn't want to come to the U. S. Will we do anything? I doubt it but movies like Bordertown keep trying.

SCREWING UP A TWO CAR FUNERAL PROCESSION

My High School English teacher, Ms Dixon, use to chide us about the world situation by saying something like, “You can never accomplish anything in life unless you get lighting flashing mad". She's right on! I recently read one of those pieces in the New York Times Magazine that made me lighting flashing mad--Is Afghanistan A Narco-State? It was written by Thomas Schweich, a former senior counter narcotics official in Afghanistan. He seems to know what he's talking about and is taking on the supplier of 90 percent of the world's heroin: Afghanistan. Basically, the good professor (he's now a prof. of law at Georgetown U) says that we weren’t allowed to eradicate the opium fields in Afghanistan because of corruption at the highest levels and a myth that had been perpetuated intentionally that poor farmers are driven to raise poppies as their only livelihood: take away that and we hurt them. According to this article, not so, quite the opposite, the wealthy war lords in the South of the country are making big time bucks from poppies while in actuality the poorer farmers in the North of the country have reverted to traditional crops like veggies, cotton, and wheat and are already making great headway. The wealthy farmer/warlords/profiteers in the South are putting big bucks in their pockets, not to mention the Taliban raking in millions to finance their war efforts.

There were so many disturbing things about this article: the first glaring one is that Schweich would write it to begin with; a high muckedy muck with a good case for how we are screwing up. His patience with the corruption, based on the article, astounded me. The article may be written from his perspective but there is no doubting that he knows what he's talking about and is taking a risk. The second big discouraging issue coming from the article, is the continuing fact that it is a wonder that we ever get anything done given the egos and turf issues, to include the military. Rarely does anyone say “for the good of the country,” or accomplishing the overall mission as opposed to saying what is in it for me or how will this help or hurt my career. And, for me, it is reaffirmed that the present U.S. Administration (Condi Rice came out looking pretty good in the article and let's give her credit) could screw up a two car funeral procession.

From the article, one has to conclude that Afghanistan has become a country where it is only a matter of time until it reverts to where it was or worse, like so many places in our world, self interests trump the people and the good of the country.