ARMY SYSOPS

Another Runaway General: Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators
I guess Rolling Stone sees itself as a more sophisticated National Enquirer. At least the generals in this media exposure were smarter than the McChrystal crowd in not trusting the Rolling Stone reporter. To me, it is pretty sorry to gain someone's confidence and then expose their true feelings in an article. The Reporter is an asshole, let's face it. I still believe McChrystal outsmarted us all. He saw Afghanistan as a "fast train to nowhere" and figured out a way to get the hell out. He has really been quiet since leaving and so I think there's probably more truth than fiction in my theory. And, the fact that the patron saint of the military, Petraeus, didn't defend him makes me even more suspicious.

We have a disgruntled National Guard weinie telling us that Psychological Operations have been embraced by generals and turned on their VIP visitors to see how to influence them. I doubt it. In first reading the article, I thought, "these people don't have enough to do." My experience with psyops has not been good; "route step" I've always thought. Kind of an unsophisticated psychobabble. My guess is that some general's (Caldwel) underling came up with the idea, ran it by the general and the general either didn't pay attention or somehow didn't take it serious. Our Generals are smarter than this, not because they are some one like MacArthur (who was not exactly without faults. He had his aids literally crush many of the hats he wore to give the appearance of wear, thus assuring ideas of combat. I think I read this or might have made it up myself). Modern day generals are much more political, as astute and more so than many politicians. My old time hero generals can't be emulated. Generals like Bill Lee, the father of the American airborne and Jim Gavin, commander of the 82d Airborne during D Day. How can you compare these guys who had a simple mantra, "close with and kill the enemy" to some general sitting over in Afghanistan, trying to win the hearts and minds of a people who haven't changed in a thousand years.

Maybe the highups did harass the "poor" psych ops team--There appears to be something to the retaliation thing. In the military in a combat environment, it's hard to say. Soldiers who are out there on the "front lines" so to speak are not dealing with this sort of bullshit; fraternization, thinking about starting businesses, etc.--they are trying to stay alive. But, the fact that others are dragged into it must mean something is there. In the military, if "they" want to get you, they can. Many areas in the military are hazy and probably are covered by some regulation. I was in an assignment once where they (powers that be) attempted to nail a guy for using a government telephone to call his wife. It happens. Suddenly, what everybody had been doing, becomes illegal or violates a regulation.

I really don't know where today's military is and social media as relates to the military is a good example. Take

Facebook

: it is credited with fermenting the peoples' revolution in Tunisia and Egypt, for God's sake; but having a Colonel in combat with a FB page, seems a little over the top, I think--what are these guys doing? They sure as hell need to be more productive than sitting around checking their emails.

Here we have two wars and, trust me on this, nothing is assured that we are cleanly going to get out of Iraq. When we do, about all we can show for it is a semblance of democracy, maybe. Surely nothing else but the tragic loss of thousands of young Americans and trillions of dollars. And, Afghanistan, truly give me a break! There's no area that anybody who is objective can see which is not screwed up. We can't talk to the military because they put spin on it and maybe that is what we see here in the psyops accusation. And, as for Rolling Stone, they are a f..king music magazine and that is what they ought to stick too.

Hell, a Senator ought to be more with it than to be snowed by psyops, which has a dubious role at best and probably we could do just as well without. Of course, most of these VIPs don't have any military experience, other than John McCain, a POW for five years. Is there more psyops than that?

My recommendation to the military in this situation: someone stand up and stop this bullshit. Look at the problem, see that everybody in the situation may have a point from their perspective. Investigate the idea of the female LTC, don't let her go down for a bullshit reason. It takes leadership for something like this to happen and I'm not seeing it in the military. My View.

RETOOLING THE SOUTHERN ACCENT

Recently, I tool a trip South to visit family and to get my southern accent retooled. A couple of family members had aged. I am laughing every time I say such a thing: I know they are looking at me and saying, "This guy has really aged."

My brother Corb is eighty and in some ways like all of us seeing the "end" whatever that might be. We are all moving in that direction let's face it. My stories of him are smile producing. He has been working since he was eleven or earlier. Work in my terminology is not our farm but working for wages. He started in a grocery store, progressed to owning the store and began a succession of successful businesses.
We were farmers: poor but didn't even know it. My Fad had a serous stroke when I was in the tenth grade and for me, Corb more or less became my surrogate Dad. The farm pretty much went away and I worked for Corb in his big grocery store. It was quite a time. I was going on a date once and Corb spied me, "No way are you wearing jeans, (in the fifties, only the poor wore blue jeans as we called them." He immediately went into our hometown to The Men's Store, (for us a really nice clothier) established an account and overnight I became the best dressed kid in my high school.

THIS COULD BE A WIKILEAKS

Recently, I attended Boxer Day, which is the day after Christmas, at my former neighbor's pad. It is mainly a day to get together and eat and drink. A good time. My wife and I have this little game we play: who can find the most interesting person at the gathering. I won hands down. Ian, a recently naturalized American from Scotland. He was so proud of being an American and could not be restrained from telling about the process: the paperwork, the interviews, the tests, the people he had met along the way. If only Americans felt the same way about their country. Anyway, got me to thinking and I dug out this email I had saved from a friend. As we begin a new year, being appreciative of all we have and living in such a great country is no small thing and a good place to begin a year.


A friend commented on comparing America to the UK. It is too good not to preserve. He was discussing what it meant to be back in England, after living in the States for years. England is still a strange mix. The people here are still grindingly nasty, rude, ignorant, angry and miserable. The majority of them really are detestable. On the other hand we have little contact with the outside world and at this time of the year (and at almost all others) we live in a beautiful city. The fact that we have the National Health Service gives me a strong sense of security about life. It's the one important thing I think the US lacks. Of course it is screwed up here in so many ways...but that's another story. Funny though the psychological difference it makes to a person who has been living in the USA since 1985.

MY COMMENTS:I'm smiling about your comments about your fellow countrymen. It sounds like you are homesick for America which isn't a bad thing. You would have to be after being here so long. With all our faults, relatively speaking, one can be what they want to be or say what they want in America and sometimes I even wish it was a little less. I am appalled at these idiot shouters like Beck and Limbaugh and the nasty stuff they say about the president or others they don't like. I want to kick their asses but it is America. I think the "GFs (Girlfriends) are somewhat of a microcosm of America. You have one who is to the right of Ghengis Khan and then another who is way left of most anybody. They argue, curse and fifteen seconds later they are talking about something else and the rest of us happily join right in.

From my standpoint it is a matter of perspective. I think in general the world is in a pretty big mess and we're working our way out of it crisis by crisis. Most of it is like the American fairy tail, Brer Rabbit, facing the Tar Baby. You hit one place and stick but before you know it, there's another and you are stuck on the last crisis. And, to be perfectly honest, I worry, which is my tendency, about the future of our grandchildren when you have idiot nations with nukes; and, our own nation making stupid decisions like Iraq and Afghanistan.


One thing that really bothers me is that the pressures of life make it harder to be compassionate and generous. That sounds like an excuse but it has felt that way for the last couple of years. But with everything that's happening to undermine our sense of security (which is I think what human beings really crave) and then all the wonderful personal news I have had recently it makes me turn ever more inwards to enjoy cherished and to protect the things that are mine. I must remember to look outwards and at lease give money to charities as a substitute for giving my time. I really felt I was doing something useful when I volunteered. You know that the US people are by FAR the most generous when it comes to giving. It's harder in the UK because there simply is not the culture. I think it says a lot about the U.S. and its citizens.

Anyway, my feeling is that all I can do is provide financial insulation from the vaguries of life, and hand in hand with that give a strong and joyous character so tat she is kind, compassionate, generous, happy and strong... Now how do I do that????? I was talking to my Mountaineer brother about this yesterday - can you develop a good character without suffering?... Discuss!

Develoing a good character without suffering? I think so but suffering is often not chosen but when, through no fault of our own, it happens, at some point down the road, we can reflect and say, "it has made me better." We had this same discussion with the "Girlfriends" recently. It centered around the fact that so many soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan are claiming PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Andy, ever the skeptic relayed his own experience as a 12 year old when the Nazis occupied his Greek Village. He watched the Nazis gun down all the men from his village. And, yet, even though the trauma of it has haunted his entire life, he has moved on and been extremely successful. His story is recounted in this really good memoir, Just Another Man. HIs question and one that will be asked often in the future. How does tragedy incapacitate some and mobilize others.

AFGHANISTAN ASSESSMENT

SITREP (situation report) for Afghanistan. Poor, bad, awful. These surely aren't the spin of the President and other admin figures as they talked about the Afghanistan Assessment. And, I will have to say that I feel badly being the "nay sayer" but I don't hear anybody else out there saying how stupid we are.


Have we made progress? Sure. We have tapped down some of the Taliban activity based on the saturation with troops. However, we continue to ignore even a modicum of truth. Even on Iraq, those like General Kean, retired, and talking on PBS's Newshour and comparing Iraq and now the surge of Afghanistan as working. It is an example of self delusion at worst and spin at best. The surge in Iraq merely separated the factions and ultimately performed a type of ethnic cleansing which moved the Sunnis out of Badgdad or to their own enclaves. I am not comvinced that it will not come back to haunt us but at least for today, violence appears to be reduced and Iraq is less a media story so it has slipped to the back section. But, the comparisons between Iraq and Afghanistan simply don't work.

I will say this for General Keen. He let it all hang out as relates to Pakistan. Despite the trainload of bucks we've given them, they are not helping and complicity, I suspect. I hope the good general is not on the payroll, his ass will get fired (think McChrystal. Presidents, even thinking ones, don't like less than public lockstep). Pakistan is simply one among many issues of Afghanistan--a fast train to nowhere. F..K.

In Afghanistan, we have a "tarbaby." remember the story: the tar baby is made of tar and turpentine as I remember. Brer Rabbit confronts the "tar baby." Brer Rabbit gets stuck. The more he fights, the more entangled he becomes. "Tar Baby" is more than a sticky situation--everyday the situation is aggravated because we keep trying to deal with the "tarbaby." Impossible and Americans keep dying!

The President is either bamboozled by the generals and his own group of "yes sir, yes sir, three bags full." Or, it is politics or a combination of both. I am still an Obama supporter but I am disappointed in his decisions on Afghanistan and his attempt of justifying our presence by using Bush and neocon rhetoric by evoking 9-11. Please! He should have rejected what the media put on him: Obama's War. "Hell no! Not my war. I am fulfilling my duty as Commander and Chief but I say again, hell no, not my war." The polls say 60% of Americans want to get the hell out. Hillary can take a "high falootin" view of "we don't make decisions by polls." The last time I looked, she's not running for office but you can bet your jollies that the pols are watching. Americans who care are becoming more and more weary as we continue to be stupid with our "Tar-baby" war while more and more young Americans die.

NO PAIN NO GAIN

NO PAIN, NO GAIN
Wife's tribute to her husband


This country isn’t at war in Iraq or Afghanistan. Americans have no clue what it’s about, they sacrifice nothing, they feel no pain. Only the military family is at war, and they sacrifice all. No one should be able to send our kids into combat unless they send their own as well. My husband told friends that he’d experienced the pain of war and that was a lesson he really didn’t want his sons to learn. He was very angry at the way the war has been run, especially the repeated combat tours with no recovery time in between. And he often asked civilians how they expected soldiers who were trained to fight and kill people, to be policemen and nation builders. How could they expect a soldier whose instinct was to kill before he was killed to think and ask questions and determine if someone was truly a threat? And then you expect them to come home and behave like perfect gentlemen?

He has been a long term advocate of universal service. It’s one of the few times we agreed with Charlie Rangel! He was very proud of the fact that 3 of his kids did serve their country.

My husband was desperately waiting until people got tired of the war and realized they’ll be paying for care of thousands of injured troops forever--a theme he used often, Nothing’s too good for the soldier, and that’s exactly what they’ll get. Nothing.”

GRINCHES

The Republicans are back and just as "mean spirited" as ever. They ought to be ashamed, denying unemployment benefits for over two million Americans at Christmas for God's sake. Assholes!!!! Talk about some MF...ing Grinches.

Most economists actually think the unemployment payments help the economy. I can't wait to see how the party of "NO" fixes what ails the country. I've never fully understood the phrase, "the people get the government they deserve.". I think I'm "getting it." Those who voted into power the party of "No" are snuggled before their fireplaces. They have a job, healthcare, a home and probably congratulating themselves on how they've finally taken back the country. Good luck all you selfish bastards. Amen

AFGHAN POLICE TRAINING

Few times have I ever thought of the media being prophetic but...0n 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper did a program on the training of Afghan police. A couple of days ago, one of the Afghan trainees turned his weapon on his American trainers, killing six Americans. Prophetic?

The Sixty Minutes program explored the utter futility of what we are attempting to do. I actually felt sorry for am American General and believe me, "me feeling sorry for a general" is no small thing. (Generals as a rule get where they are through politics. It doesn't mean they are not good military men, just that, like most politics, they are "yes sir , yes sir three bags full;" and, in the case of this general, wanting to tell the
truth while appearing to be loyal to his mission. On the same program was the former Number two guy for the United Nations who said things like, "impossible to train illiterate policemen in the next year or two", maybe a hundred years. He got fired for probably saying, "the police are the most corrupt institution in the country." Here is part of his comment, "who are the police, they are illiterate villagers...how can you teach someone to read and write in six weeks, plus be a policemen."

And, of course, the very danger that Anderson Cooper pointed out, i. e., loyalty of the trainees cost six young Americans their lives. Stories of the trainees returning to the Taliban are rampant. A film shot by one of the American soldiers actually showed them doing drugs. We are literally attempting to train Afghan policemen in impossible circumstances. Some of the American trainers were National Guard, good soldiers who, under impossible circumstances, were attempting to do the task at hand. Six Americans are now dead, shot by police recruits.

The utter sadness and totally unacceptable to me is to give American soldiers missions that are impossible and at grave risk to their very lives. When are we going to wake up to the fact that what we are attempting can't be done?

WIKILEAKS

Thousands and thousands more of pages of government documents, "leaked." Will this never end! I honestly don't know how I feel. On the one hand, I want to kick the ass of whoever let some Sp4 ( lower ranking enlisted person--the one accused and now at Leavenworth, the long course. There's also a great Army school at Leavenworth, Command and General Staff College) have access to classified documents. Think how stupid that is. It isn't to disparage young enlisted soldiers. Many of them are in Afghanistan dying for God's sake. But, think of it like this, if this young troop wasn't leaking documents, he's be some highly paid young 20 something in Silicon Valley or hanging out at North Beach in San Francisco in some bar trying to get laid. How much depth of experience does a young kid like this have? Give me a break. And, the military let's this guy have assess to all this classified material? PLEASE!! Damn stupid. I personally am amazed at the volume of it all. And, do we think this asshole at Wikileaks gives a s... about this young guy. He claims to be some idealist. Let's try opportunist.

Now for for the leaks themselves, embarrassing and revealing. In a sense, we can't have it both ways, open society and state secrets. Some of the embarrassment on Americans' parts, downright righteous indignation I would think. However, let's face it, most Americans will give an obligatory yawn and get on with their Christmas shopping. However, what about the revelation that we forked over millions in cash to a corrupt government official in Afghanistan and turned our head? We are talking cash here. Appalling and now we want to know who was that American official who turned his head? And, then we have the revelation that the president of Yemen was complicit in some drone attacks which may hinder future operations. Who knows. Also, the nations like Saudi wanting us to take care of Iran-- made me smile. Yeah, "let America do it and then we can jump in and condemn them." Sorry MFers. Maybe we ought to give the "leaker" a medal if in the long run, we are forced to clean up a few things.

KOREA

Very few people on the planet know more about Korea than me. Pat, pat, pat. At some point during my two years in Korea, I decided that at some time in the future, I would write a great epic novel of the country. Consequently, I researched and then I researched some more. This was before Google and Wikipedia.

My hangout spot was Uijongbu, a great little town located between Seoul and the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), the border separating North and South. The TV show MASH give gave Uijongbu its fifteen minutes of fame. The field hospital, 4077, was located just outside Ujongbu, where Hawkeye and team did their doctoring during their fictional Korean war). I loved that show.

We need to get excited about North Korea's sword rattling because KIM JONG Il is crazy. And, how do you know someone is crazy? You can't understand them. The so called experts, diplomats, whoever can think all they want that they can apply normal logic to Kim. Forget it. Crazy!

All of Korea is a Confucian Society, which is not a religion, rather a philosophy. And, the top rung on the philosophy ladder of Confucianism is "Ruler over Subject" and this makes all the people in North Korea, relatively speaking, blindly followers of Kim as leader with absolutely no logic.

There is no easy solution to North Korea. If the madman decides to come South, we can't stop them till they've taken Seoul. South Korea is a formidable military presence but they couldn't do anything really against a surprise military attack. The U. S. would have to intervene. We'd probably have to nuke them. We will make a grave mistake if we don't have a contingency of what to do WHEN it happens.

NEGOTIATING WITH THE TALIBAN

Richard Holbrook, the President's envoy on Afghanistan--whatever the hell thListening to him being interviewed, he sounds F...ing senile to me.

Negotiating with the Taliban. GREAT! Any way to get the hell out of Afghanistan. The military is saying they are forcing them to come to the table. Yeah, we definitely believe that. Now, of course, the guy who is suppose to be representing the Taliban is an imposter. This is great.

Reading or hearing about Afghanistan gets worse and then more absurd. It is damn crazy. And, what amazes me is that we are all reading the same stuff. In one story among many, it has one of the locals saying that the Soviets were better than the Americans because they did more projects. HELLO!

In a sense, it is unthinkable that we'd give the country back to a group of ruthless thugs, barbarians and lethal fanatics like the Taliban. The alternative is staying there forever. The counter insurgency strategy which we are supposedly following in winning the hearts and minds of the people essentially has no ending date. To be sure, somebody, somewhere understands that. You can't trust those like Holbrook and others tied to politics. If they don't lie, they spin. And, at the top levels of the military, they justify, denying reality and all the while our soldiers die. Wikileaks hasn't helped, only reinforced that which we already know; Karzai is paranoid, according to one document. Yes, this is news.

All the above being said in resignation, the President's deadline of July, 2011 appears to be our best hope. Here is a last zinger: Most Americans don't give a s..t anyway and the politicians could care less (anybody hear any Afghanistan rhetoric on the campaign trail). Want my scant evidence: the massive offensive to rid Kandahar City of the Taliban. The story is buried in an obscure page 10 of the NY Times. And, you better believe a media giant like The Times has the pulse of the people. And, why should the people care: all but 1% have no "skin in the game" and are not affected--now anyway. This is Vietnam revisited and worse. As we began to get out of Nam, it was "Vietnam who."

What makes our involvement in Afhanistan so hopeless to me is that we will stay. We have no great outpouring of "get out" like Vietnam and I don't think we will until it hurts us economincally or someway personally touches us. F...ing discouraging.
at is!

BAGS OF CASH

I really don't know how we can be more stupid. Hamid Karzai said that once or twice a year, Iran gives them close to a mil for official presidential expenses and that Washington also provides bags full of money for the same official duties. You have got to be kidding me.

I don't even know how master spinner Holbrook (special envoy on Afghanistan) could spin this but he could. In addition to thinking he has been hauling the bags of cash to Karzai, to listen to him is tortuous. And why in the hell the Newshour (PBS) would have interview him is beyond me. Margaret Warner, who is really a good interviewer, would have to be embarrassed by Holbrook (President's rep on Afghanistan) or any government official trying to defend Karzai.

The story is again one of our utter idiocy. How any of them would not be mortified is beyond belief. Here's what is predictable and the MFer would say, "You have to understand the big picture. The bags of cash are for helping the president appear stable." Oh yeah, we get that! How about lining his pocket and those of his cronies.

VOTING AGAINST YOUR OWN SELF INTEREST

29% of voters who voted for Obama in the last election didn't vote this time. And, this is what turned the tide. African Americans, Hispanics, young people, age 18-23. Damn. What those who didn't vote, don't get: by not voting, they voted against their own self interests. Stupid! Stupid!

QUESTIONABLE "DECISION POINTS"

Listening to the former president is painful. I actually like the guy and sad to say, I voted for him the first time around. My comments aren't personal even if they sound that way, really; but the guy is still in denial. Presidents, like all politicians, never apologize to the people or to governments. None of them ever say, "I f...ed up or f..k you very much, I'm going to do what is right and f..k the next election." Forget it. It ain't gping to happen with any of these assholes, regardless of their politics

W. says he doesn't regret Iraq. Thinks he did the right thing. Even after no weapons of mass destruction, thousands of American lives lost, millions of dollars, much of it foen yhe drain; and with most Iraqis wishing Saddam was back--still, George is sticking to his guns. I've always felt he was a little or a lot dumb, letting those like Cheny and Rumsfeld, both who should be in jail, lead him around by the nose.

I'm going to probably thumb through the book (doubt he really wrote it. Probably a good editor, let's face it, to be fair, most of these politico's don't write their own stuff, i. e., JFK's Profiles In Courage that won a Pulitzer; recently, in his obit, the true author admitted he wrote it. I guess you have to die to tell the truth on a politician). Jimmy Carter's recent memoir is a better read than Bush's Decision Points and surely more enlightening.

POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

This last Veterans Day, HBO presented a program on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The program will cover PTSD from the Civil War to the present. I will never hear that term (PTSD) that I don't think of Mel Gibson in his latest movie, "Edge of Darkness, " (unrelated to his various crazy tirades of late. Those might make a good movie). Anyway, in the movie, Gibson is a little on the "edge" constantly and comes out with a statement, something like, "He doesn't get the modern way of war, all this post war stress bullshit. As a Korean war vet, he thought nightmares and being a little nuts was the price everybody paid for going to war."

In most ways, this is the rub of the whole question of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Mel, in that one statement pretty much sums up the difficulty for dealing with this very real problem. I haven't seen the documentary but heard an interview of it by one of my favorite NPR interviewers, Terry Gross.

PTSD IS REAL and any of us who have been in combat understand just how real it is. The HBO program deals with some sad issues, mainly suicide. One mother said something that so resonated, "the Army taught my son how to be a killer. What they don't do is unteach him." So true.

The military is "no day at the beach." It has one mission, "to fight and win wars" and is not a social organization nor an encounter group. They teach individuals how to kill--war is not a place where people sit around and cogitate their navels.

Sadly, a Mom has to have her moment of truth. Her son drove out to a remote area, took all the pictures of himself and stabbed them and then he took his dogtags, put them up next to his temple and shot himself through them.

Terry also interviewed a former Army psychologist who is now a consultant and is running the military's study on suicide. Not personal but this guy was so weak and didn't deal with the real facts. I use to fight with Shrinks all the time over their role and this guy confirmed it. The Army hires soldiers to fight. The Army is paying this guy, the Shrink, to treat the soldier and get him back to battle.

Sadly, what I see which nobody will discuss is something we saw in Vietnam and later with Vietnam vets who had to fight continually for recognition. The "2" war view: fought a war in Vietnam and fought a war at home, as they, in a twisted public way, were blamed for the war. For the Vietnam vet, the PTSD diagnosis was a long time coming. And, don't let anybody fool you, even with relaxed requirements for the active duty soldier, the stigma remains. Mel Gibson is still pretty much where it is: "He doesn't get the modern way of war, all this post war stress bullshit...nightmares and being a little nuts is the price everybody pays for going to war."

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT LESTER

One of my favorite TV guys is Lester Holt. Last night, he reported from Kabul. According to Lester, his goal in being in Afghanistan is to ignite the dialogue, get people talking again about the war, about these brave soldiers who are fighting the war, laying it on the line everyday.

Good luck, Lester! Everybody says they support the troops. And, why not, they aren't asked for anything. No sacrifice, nata, nothing.

I talk to people all the time about the war. Most of the time it's the "nobody's home look" or downright uninterested. For a few, they'll say, what's the use, nothing we can be about it. And, in a sense, the wars don't even merit mention other than in passing. The NY Times will usually have an article, some "hook" about the war on page 8 at best. Iraq has faded into almost oblivion. Good luck with that Lester.

WINGNUTS

I have no new revelation. Beck is a "wingnut," the same as the MSNBC' Keith Ohberman, recently and briefly fired for contributing to a political candidate. He was smart with his rally but fits exactly in the category of talk show shouters of being a classic "wingnut." Playing to an element of fellow wingnuts. What those of us who try to be objective and move toward the center have to do is challenge this sort of stuff. Somebody told me that Beck apologized for calling the president a racist. I hope so.

Yesterday, I heard this lady, must have been a hundred, really "putting it on him," as we say in South (do we say that)? Anyway, she was saying awful things about the president: racist, Muslim, ignorant, really! My view about "wingnut" behavior is that by by being so bigoted, she is disrespecting the country. As President, he is the symbol of America and really saying all these awful things is "bad mouthing America. 60 million people voted against the President but he is still our president and I get infuriated when people talk bad about the country. We live in a great country and if someone doesn't directly threaten the President, they can say anything. Just because she can say racist things doesn't mean you should. There are many places where a guy like Beck would be in jail. He is a f...ING Philistine. And, now that many "wingnuts" will be in Congress, will be interested to see if they can get anything done.

FORGETTING IRAQ

Give me a break!!! 50,000 troops still in Iraq and combat operations ended. I DON'T THINK SO. But, this is no small happening either. Troop withdrawal. HooAhhhhh!!!!! And, regardless of spin, pretty smooth and orderly--proud, damn super. Not like Vietnam where we left with our tail between our legs. The military should be proud of themselves. They did good. And, anyone who has the slightest bit of objectivity has to admit that there's lots of positive stuff: Deposed a tyrant, had elections, restored order.

I'm less certain that we have united the country: Kurds are surely happier. The Shiite and Sunnis remain as much divided as ever. The so called "surge" did that, separated the factions, essentially moved the Sunnis out of Baghdad. What happens in the future is anybody's guess. As a young former captain who was there during the "surge" said on an NPR program: "it was a kind of ethnic cleansing without the bloodshed." Stay tuned.

Seeing reporters walking through the markets in Baghdad was pretty inspirational. Shop keepers saying they could be open everyday. Terrorists attacks down to just a few a week means progress I guess.

All of this being said, however, for Americans, the question that will inevitably come down the road and by far the most important: WAS IT WORTH IT? I can only answer for myself as a Vietvet (have spoken to many of my buddies who feel the same way). Was Vietnm worth It? No, not a single American life.

NEW ORLEANS REVISITED

On PBS recently, Jeffrey Brown interviewed Kenneth Feinberg. Louisana has received over 700 billion from the Fund BP set up. Why didn't they do something like this after Katrina? I can still remember those sad days of Katrina five years ago. I kept thinking: what is wrong with us!!! Send in the 82d Airborne. Later on, we discovered what was wrong: incompetence, hesitancy, simply a government's failure to act.

My first trip to New Orleans was as a college student in the ROTC' s (Reserve Officers Training Corp), Pershing Rifles, a drill team. I wasn't much interested in the military but I surely was in New Orleans and the Mardi Gras. I've visited NO dozens of times since but like most, just hit the French Quarter.

Katrina's impact on New Orleans has been analyzed, dissected, microscoped in every possible way. In an NBC segment, Brien Williams revisited many he had followed from five years before. How were they? Little had changed with those tragic faces we'd seen five years earlier. The French Quarter, most everywhere frequented by the tourists and shoppers and the Mardi Gras crowd seemed back. All but the infamous 9th ward.

Beyond comprehension is the sober reality as we still see the disenfranchised who are the poor, the old, the uneducated, and the sick and who just happen to be mostly minorities. THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY REMAIN THE SAME. Fault? Blame? Damn if I know.

But, in pondering all of it on the not so happy recent anniversary and now the BP oil spill, I think New Orleans may be a microcosm of any large city in America: pockets of poverty, ignorance, minorities disenfranchised. What is sad is that after five years, we can't point to a city like New Orleans and say, "See what we've done. We have rebuilt, poverty has been eradicated, there are few to no disenfranchised, adinfinitum." I hope I'm wrong but for a showcase city in what can be done, it looks to me like we've dropped the ball again.

WHAT THE HELL IS IT WITH LOTS OF AMERICANS

When I went to my local bookstore and discovered that the number one book for the store was by Glen Beck, I almost fell over. You have got to be kidding me! I thumbed through it and basically thought, "Rush Limbaugh revisited." Then there was George W's, Decision Points. A couple more by Beck, one even on Christmas: then there's the other bigot on Fox, O'Reilly, has one. What the hell.

So we've had Beck's rally on the very mall where Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., made his "I have A Dream" speech, This guy has a "pair.

Fast forward past the rally. As the news media that I respect reported it: a combination of an old fashion revival meeting and patriotic rally. What! The content of the rally was hard to argue with, even squeezed Sarah Palin to stay clear of politics.

And, another thing that greatly impressed: Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson's replacement and who'll show up in a millisecond if a camera is around, guided his own crowd to merely peaceful repartee. Maybe most important, in my view, and a fact that distinguishes us from other nations is that we didn't have a single person blown up by suicide bombers. Way to go Americans.

DANG CHARLIE

I've always liked Charlie Rangel. Mainly, he's adecorated vet. And, he has been the only Congressman who has advocated for the military draft. And, it wasn't for show. He believed it. Charlie wanted all Americans to know the sacrifices that only 1% of Americans share.

Is Charlie guilty of the charges? Stupidity maybe? Maybe not. He says not. He's being censured whatever that is. I do think there's something about politics that seems to border on corruption in about all cases. Do long serving Congressman like Charlie think they are above the law. I think so and the evidence is all around us. It is sad. I doubt that overall, it is going to have much effect on Charlie at this stage but I still hate it. Damn Charlie!!!