Adios Afghanistan

On October 7, 2001 the USA and certain of its allies launched Operation Enduring Freedom, an invasion of Afghanistan in response to the al Qaeda attacks on the USA of September 11, 2001.  The stated goal of this invasion was to dismantle al Qaeda and dismantle its training and logistical operations in Afghanistan facilitated by the friendly Taliban regime that came to power when Russia deserted the country. 

Over the years, the USA and its allies became bogged down fighting and dismantling the Taliban while al Qaeda moved across the border to Pakistan.  During the occupation the invading forces established Hamid Karzai, a former Unical executive, as president.  Karzai, who suffers from and is medicated regularly for depression, proved to be a contrary partner and ran a corrupt administration that exercises power only over the capital of Kabul.  During the occupation and continued war against the Taliban, Karzai has repeatedly criticized the USA and its allies who are keeping him in office.  Karzai has proven that in addition to being corrupt and inept, he is not to be trusted. 

This week, after more than eleven years of military action resulting in the deaths of 2175 Americans and a total of 3255 allied forces to date, President Obama annouced that the USA is drawing down its forces and turning over to the Afghan army and police the duties of maintaining the country's security.  During the same press conference, Karzai announced that he is retiring from office this year.

This military action originally had a clear goal and mission that is quickly accomplished but became distracted by an unrelated USA invasion of Iraq instigated by a weak US president who was manipulated by a cabal led by his own vice president.  The stated goal was not to defeat the Taliban and establish a regime friendly to the allied forces but to dismantle al Qaeda.  No one in the allied command seemed to notice or care that al Qaeda was replaced by the Taliban as the on-field adversary and that the goal of the mission, costly in both human lives and financial expenditures, became the perpetuation of the corrupt and inept Karzai administration even despite Karzai's traitorous actions towards the allies.  For many years now that USA and its remaining allies in the invasion have ignored the original goal of the mission.

The USA has needlessly lost too many soldiers and spent too much of its scant resources on a mission that long ago lost its focus and resulted in the USA and its allies becoming proxies for the Karzai administration in a civil war against the Taliban.  Finally the USA has determined that it has lost too much, including most of its allies, while accomplishing little in respect of its original goal.  The enemy is al Qaeda, not the Taliban and, similar to Karzai using the USA and its allies as proxies to fight its side of its civil war, al Qaeda is using the Taliban to engage and distract the USA from pursuing and accomplishing its objective, namely the eradication of al Qaeda.

The USA has been fighting in Afghanistan too long and for no good purpose.  The removal of US forces from the killing fields is long overdue as is its support of Karzai who, not surprisingly, is stepping down as the USA withdraws.  As an adjunct to this belated withdrawal, Obama has named former US Senator Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense to oversee the withdrawal.  Hagel is the right man for this job now and Hagel will ensure that the future use of US forces will be in actions with clearly defined goals and plans of execution.  As a former war veteran and Purple Heart recipient, Hagel will fight to keep certain elements of the US government from using military force to further hidden agendas and will maintain focus of the goals of any missions undertaken. 

Adios, Afghanistan and good luck to Sen. Hagel in maintaining sanity and integrity in the use of US military might in the future.  For the past eleven years, the US has lost too much and accomplished too little.  The time to bring US troops home is long overdue.

Let's Seize the Moment

While the facts now indicate that the Tucson tragedy was not the direct result of overly heated political rhetoric, let's continue to seize the moment and tone it down. Let's discuss matters civilly among ourselves, including those with whom we disagree. Let us show respect for differing opinions and let us not demonize those with whom we disagree. Congressional members set a good example by sitting together with opposites resulting in a more orderly and civil presentation of our nation's condition. They disagree on issues, not on the worth and humanity of their opposites. Let their example permeate the political discourse and let us discuss and disagree civilly and respectfully. Those whose opinions differ from ours may be our adversaries, but they are not our enemies. They are our family, friends, and neighbors.

Also, we should take this opportunity to be more mindful of the needs of those around us. We need to occasionally leave our comfort zones to come to the aide of those who are asking for help and we should not ignore their subtle pleas. We all live in the same society and in order for that society to succeed, we need to be aware that we are not alone and that at times we may need to become proactive in aiding a person in need.

As Rodney King asked so succinctly and eloquently some years back "can't we all just get along?" I hope so, and I believe we will, if we all do our part.

Despicable Acts of Cowardice

"Sarah Palin sent condolences to Giffords’ family, but said nothing about her unconscionable SarahPAC map putting 20 House members, including Giffords, in actual crosshairs for supporting healthcare reform, or her infamous Tweet telling conservatives “don’t retreat, reload.” Giffords’ 2010 Tea Party challenger, Jesse Kelly, hasn’t apologized for inviting supporters to “shoot a fully automatic M16″ to “get on target for victory” and “remove Gabrielle Giffords from office.” " Joan Walsh Salon

Responsible people of influence do not use the rhetoric of violence to make their points and anyone in politics or the media who uses this vernacular should be condemned and shunned. The attack on a member of Congress is an attack on the American rule of law and way of life. Those who exhort others to commit such attacks do not have any place in American society. A 9 year old child lies dead this morning because of this attack, an innocent child whose life was only beginning. We cannot tolerate this. We cannot allow this. This must stop and it must begin with an end to the rhetoric of violence and hatred spewed forth by the ignorant. Those who encourage these despicable acts of cowardice, intentionally or otherwise, do not have any place in American society. I say intentionally or otherwise, but one can hardly read the utterances above and not conclude that the results in Arizona were the intentions of the speakers. Those who speak the words that encourage the actors are no less guilty for the resulting criminal acts.

A Nation in Decline

With great hope, considerable enthusiasm, and dire need for changes, President Obama was inaugurated in January 2009 at which time the "official" [read understated] U.S. unemployment rate was 7.6% (http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2009/feb/wk2/art02.htm). After almost 2 years in office, the hope has vanished, the enthusiasm dissipated, and the need for change is even more dire. The November 2010 unemployment rate has risen to an intolerable and unconscionable 9.8%, increasing .2% since October 2010 and all signs indicate that the American economy is stuck idling in neutral while the president has become remote, disengaged, and, according to some reports, unhappy with his position. He should realize that his former supporters are disenchanted, disappointed, and unhappy with his performance, or lack thereof.

Obama has failed to deliver on almost all of his campaign promises and has gone from being the omnipresent face in the media to perfunctorily continuing the George W. Bush agenda. His failure to deliver even marginal improvement in the American Main Street economy is a betrayal worthy of former Vice President Cheney. Worse yet, America is in steep decline. With de facto unemployment near 20% and in deeper that imaginable debt, America is spiraling downward like detritus in a flushed toilet. And he who promised to rescue this nation after eight long years of Bush destruction is in a snit because the job isn't as he imagined. Worse yet, the alternatives are unacceptable and we have two more years of gridlock, stagnation, decline, and lack of leadership before the next election.

The two-party system has failed to provide a check and balance to incompetence and petulant behavior and a third alternative is now essential. This nation is in serious decline and is heading towards a metaphorical waterfall without a competent and engaged captain to steer it to safety. God help America because no one else in government either has the will or the wherewithal to do so.

The Failures of President Obama

President Obama was elected on a platform of change, but to date very little has changed. He inherited a mess from a grossly incompentent president and administration and the electorate believed that he was better equipped to fix the problems than his opponent. He came to be inaugurated with great promise, hope, and support, but to date he has failed to fix any of the problems he promised to fix. For example,

1. The economy: so far the only thing that has been fixed has been Wall Street with banks flourishing and the stock market climbing while Main Street remains in depression caused by job loss reported at 10.2% but more realistically 17-20% and climbing. Financial executives are licking their collective chops over the bonuses they will receive at year's end while the working class struggles to remain employed and meet basic expenses. An economy based on consumption is debt-ridden and cash poor with credit max'ed out. The coming holiday shopping season appears to be a disaster for retailers which will result in more unemployment and more pain and suffering for Main Street. Obama seems to have forgotten that it's the economy and his forgetfulness makes him look uncharacteristically stupid.

2. Healthcare: those of us who remember the congressional gnashing of teeth and warnings of impending socialism that accompanied the Medicare debate. President Kennedy couldn't get Medicare passed in congress and it took the strongarm parental bullying of Lyndon Johnson to get the congress to do what was right. The same demogoguery is being spewed by the opposers of doing what is fair and just for the masses but the strong parent is absent so legislation that should have been passed > 30 years ago now is dragging on and on and on. Nancy Pelosi finally rammed it through the House. Harry Reid is equivocating about maybe next year and appears too weak to find a way to accomplish what everyone agrees needs to be done. The White House stands by hoping that congress will do the right thing but doesn't take the initiative to get it done. If Harry Reid can't find a way to pass this legislation, then Harry Reid needs to be replaced as Senate Majority leader. If the White House doesn't stop dithering and engage itself in the debate, then it will fail miserably where others have failed, but will have managed to literally snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. In short, no heath care reform equates to a failure by Obama to fix a festering problem that should be a no-brainer.

3. Middle East: Obama and Clinton are letting Netanyahu pull a Shamir but pretending to want peace while doing everything to prevent the forward movement of the peace process. Settlements in occupied territory are patently illegal and a major obstacle to peace but Obama/Clinton have taken the bait from the Netanyahu hook and all the positive gains from Obama's speech in Egypt have dissipated. A Middle East peace solution isn't any closer to fruition today than it was under George W. Bush, et. al. Obama has lost the initiative and his Middle East equivocation equates to failure.

4. Afghanistan: as Obama dithers over what to do, what to do, Americans continue to fight and die, once again, in the wrong country fighting the wrong war against the wrong foe. al Qaeda is flourishing in Pakistan while America fights the Taliban in Afghanistan. bin Laden must be convinced we are a nation led by gross incompetents and Richard Holbrooke is a total disaster as special envoy. What we have gotten under Holbrooke's watch is a corrupt Afghan president who stole an election more blatantly than the Iranian president. Americans continue to fight and die in now record numbers while Obama contemplates his next move. Another failure looms.

5. Iran: moving closer to nuclear weapon capacity while Obama loses Arab support due to his naivete in the Israeli/Palestinian morass. Engaging Amadeenijad after the stolen election is a huge mistake and Obama is failing to move in any direction in respect of Iran. The Iranian mullahs apparently have copied a page from Netanyahu by feigning to want negotiation while continuing to do whatever they want in pursuit of their goals.

In sum, the Obama administration continues to flounder without accomplishing any problem solving successes and the electorate is growing disconcerted and angry. The 2010 election could result in a loss of congress for Obama's party unless positive results are achieved. For all the hope of change we had last year and on January 20, 2009, we now have misgivings, doubts, slow-burning anger, and conviction that we have met the new boss and he is the same as the old boss.

Farewell to Ted Kennedy

Sad somber day. I came of age during the rise of Camelot, when America was in a state of flux and social changes that lead to upheaval and created a different world that was in some ways better, in some ways not. I always had great hopes, but few of them were realized. Now the last of the Camelot knights is gone and the era is ended. I do not find any reason to hope for the best for this country now. Ah, Teddy, in many ways you were the best of the best. God bless you and keep you. You earned your reward.

Jesus and Mary Chain

From Lost in Translation

Listen to the girl
As she takes on half the world
Moving up and so alive
In her honey dripping beehive
Beehive
It's good, so good, it's so good
So good
Walking back to you
Is the hardest thing thatI can do
That I can do for you
For youI'll be your plastic toy
I'll be your plastic toy
For you
Eating up the scum
Is the hardest thing forMe to do
Just like honey

Haven't we all had an experience like Bob and Charlotte?
Haven't we all bee somewhere
With someone unique
And together we've wanted
Time to stand still
To live forever in the moment
Only to have it end
The pain is hardly bearable
The pain endures
But we do go on
We don't have any choice
But it's not the same
And it never will be.

Iran in upheaval

Let's not all get too smug about the political upheaval taking place in Iran. The demonstrations are protesting an alleged stolen election, not an overthrow of the government itself. Each and every sovereign nation has an inherent right to the government of its own choice, regardless of whether that form of government offends the delicate sensibilities of U.S. politicians. For congressional politicians to thump their chests by passing empty and hypocritical resolutions is reckless and shows how short some people's memories are. In 2000 this country had a disputed election and instead of the U.S. Guardian Counsel, known as the Supreme Court, reviewing the irregularities in Florida, it cast aside citizens' legitimate concerns and appointed George W. Bush as president.

As with Tienanmen Square, the Iranian protesters are not looking to America for support and do not want the U.S. form of government. What they want is for their votes to be counted correctly and a fair election. America needs to sit quietly and let this upheaval play out because America does not have any role in it and can only be an impediment to a just protest. Americans, especially American politicians, should get over themselves. The world knows the real story.

For Jim Amato, my friend and mentor

I read that recently the state of Washington recorded its first assisted suicide. A person with pancreatic cancer took a lethal dose of prescribed drugs as permitted by the state's 'Death with Dignity' law.

About twenty years ago, my friend and mentor, Jim Amato, was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease and his doctor gave him the prognosis that he had three months to live. Jim went home, thought it over, and decided he wanted a second opinion. Subsequently, Jim underwent treatment by another physician and his Hodgkins was thought to have been driven into remission. Jim and his wife, Mary, moved to Pompano Beach, FL not knowing what, if anything, life had in store for them.

Jim grew stronger and accepted a teaching position at a local community college where he quickly became something of an icon to those he taught. Jim's outlook on life was free and easy, but with a practical bent and with considerable caring for his students and friends. Jim's honesty, intellect, and common sense made him a valuable asset for many whose lives he directed on the right path, including my own. Jim cared for people and he loved life.

But Jim knew something that he didn't share with those who came into his circle of influence. Jim's time was limited and twenty years was the limit. How he knew this I do not know, but as the twentieth year of his remission approached, Jim's health began to fail. After a few holes of golf with one of his former students and now close friends, Jim chipped in the seventh hole from off the green more than 125 feet away. Jim's hip was bothering him badly and he called it quits. A few days later Jim saw his doctor and got the news he knew was coming.

Jim commenced a battle with cancer that lasted for over nine months. Jim fought bravely and never gave up. The Great Spirit finally called Jim's fight with cancer a draw and called Jim home, mercifully ending his agony. Jim had beaten Hodgkins and fought cancer to a stalemate.

During the twenty years from his original diagnosis, Jim touched the lives of many people, including mine, and directed many, including me, on the right path in life. Without Jim's mentoring, caring, and friendship, many of us would have been lost. During his twenty years Jim loved his wife dearly and made life a joy for all around him. In the process, Jim enjoyed life himself and delighted in the simplest of pleasures. He had a ball. Had Jim availed himself of the 'Death with Dignity' law, many people, especially me, would have lost the benefit of his being in their lives.

I will never forget Jim. Jim's footprints are imprinted on my heart forever. I, and many others, would be much less today if Jim had not come into our lives. Therefore, I cannot endorse or support this law or anything like it. Jim made a difference in many lives and now that he has passed into the next world a light has gone out on my tree of life that has left a permanent dark spot. I am what I am today because Jim did not accept the easy way out. He endured much pain and suffering in his battles and to endorse a law such as 'Death with Dignity' would be a dishonor to the person who made my life, and the lives of many, so much better.

Perspective

What is life?
It is a flash
of a firefly
in the night.
It is a breath
of a buffalo
in the winter time.
It is as the little shadow
that runs across
the grass
and loses itself
in the sunset.

Crowfoot - Blackfeet
(poetic format added)

Black Elk Speaks

We should understand well that all things are the work of the Great Spirit. We should know that He is within all things: the trees, the grasses, the rivers, the mountains, and all the four-legged animals and the winged peoples; and even more important, we should understand that He is also above all these things and peoples. When we do understand all this deeply in our hearts, then we will fear, and love, and know the Great Spirit, and then we will be and act and live as He intends.
- Black Elk, Oglaga Lakota

We are all one, and we are all interwoven. We do not exist on our own. Listen to the trees because, if we listen carefully, the trees talk to us. The trees are made of earth, and sky, and rain and without these elements there wouldn't be any trees. The same is true for us people. The Great Spirit has given us the gift of life. We must make the most of it, but we must do so with respect for all of the elements that made us and the other living beings of the world. The Great Spirit is the source of all things, but is greater than all things.

The Obama Mission: Correct the Course, Clean Up the Mess, and Move Forward Into the Future

Tax cuts for the rich do not provide the high tide that lifts all boats and the only boats that are floated in this practice are yachts, not canoes. The 'trickle-down' theory is a cruel myth that allows the wealthy to take what little is left to the middle and lower classes thereby maintaining a huge underclass that benefits those in power. Re-establishing a more equitable tax structure is essential.

Many complain that President Obama is not ending war in the Middle East but merely redirecting the focus from Iraq (where it never should have been in the first place) to Afghanistan. This is true but necessary because the greatest threat to America comes from the terrorists who were, are, and unless rooted out, will be in Afghanistan. Mr. Obama is resetting the course to where it should have been all along instead of wasting $1 trillion in tax money and > 4,000 lives of American soldiers in an unnecessary blunder in Iraq. While doing this resetting of the course back to its correct and more productive track, Mr. Obama is embarking on an international foreign relations campaign to mitigate the hatred directed towards 'the world capitol of arrogance' by reaching out to those who present the threat. America cannot bully and beat the world into liking it and unless and until it becomes a responsible and cooperative member of the world community the terrorist threat will continue to grow. Mr. Obama is working on two fronts, militarilty in Afghanistan and diplomatically elsewhere, to correct the American course in a more comprehensive endeavor to secure America from its enemies.

Unregulated American greed has brought the world economy to its knees and threatens to reduce it to a pile of rubble. The American government has stepped in to halt the spread of greed, rein in the financial system, end the mismanagement of the auto industry, and stimulate the dormant economy through public finance programs. The economic free-fall has been halted and the American economy has bottomed out. While not everyone agrees with the programs undertaken or the scope of the effort, no reasonable person can deny that positive actions have been taken to end the downward spiral. How long the American economy bumps along the road to recovery is debatable but at least a sense of stability has been restored. The American auto industry will never be the same and that is certainly a positive because the auto industry has been the prima facie case of mismanagement and lethargy.

Going forward, global warming is being addressed, reduction in dependence on fossil fuels is progressing (much to the chagrin of the oil and coal industry), and America is finally doing what it should have done back in 1972. The health care system is being reformed so that the best health care in the world will be available to more American citizens. The failed education system is being reviewed to provide a better education and resulting opportunity to more Americans. America is finally moving forward in improving the standard of living for its citizens for the first time in more than eight years.

Not everyone agrees with the Obama agenda or its policies, but no reasonable American can disagree that major action in the areas of course correction, clean-up, and improvement are necessary. Anyone who has been to Washington has seen the size and scope of the American government and effecting change on a broad range of areas is difficult at best, especially those controlled by special interests. Progress is being made, however slowly. The course is changing, the mess isn't as pervasive, and the future is looking somewhat brighter. We must encourage the president to continue his good works and we must do our parts by becoming part of the solutions, each in our own way. Patience is a good first step. Supposedly, this is a nation of rugged individualists, but only by working together for the common good can we all move forward.

I am bothered what to believe. Some years ago a good man, as I think, came to us. He talked me out of all my old faith; and after awhile, thinking that he must know more of these matters than an ignorant Indian, I joined his church, and became a Methodist. After awhile he went away; another man came and talked and I became a Baptist; then another came and talked and I became a Presbyterian. Now another one has come and wants me to be an Episcopalian. All these people tell different stories, and each wants me to believe that his special way is the only way to be good and save my soul. I have about made up my mind that either they all lie, or that they don't know any more about it than I did at first. I have always believed in the Great Spirit, and worshipped him in my own way. These people don't seem to want to change my belief in the Great Spirit, but to change my way of talking to him. White men have education and books, and ought to know exactly what to do, but hardly any two of them agree on what should be done.
- Spotted Tail, Brule Lakota