WEEK OF FEBRUARY 15, 2009

A New Englander Shows Good Judgment 

The news floating around the internet tonight is all about New Hampshire Republican Sen. Judd Gregg deciding to turn down the offer of being Pres. Obama’s Secretary of Commerce. He cited irreconcilable differences with the president over the issues of the Stimulus Package and the takeover of the 2010 Census by the White House. Three cheers, no, four cheers for Sen. Gregg. Now if he could only impart some of his courage and integrity to those other two so-called “Republican” senators from New England. 

We also applaud him for having the graciousness to praise the pres after his announcement. We just wonder what was going on in the back of his mind while doing so. On second thought, maybe we don’t, because this is a family show.

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It’s All Over but the Shouting 

It’s all over but the shouting, as they say. Actually, the shouting is probably over as well regarding the “European Socialism Act of 2009”, as Sean Hannity refers to the so-called “Stimulus Bill” that will result in massive spending but not do much “stimulating”. Other conservative “websitarians” such as Jeff Schrieber at America’s Right, Philip Mella at Clear Commentary, the entire crew over at American Thinker, plus dozens of others, have said just about everything that can be said about the gigantic folly.  

All that I will add to the conservative ranting is that I just returned the request for a donation that I received today from the National Republican Congressional Committee. I did so because of their continuing support for the Senators named Snowe, Collins, and Specter. I also added a note telling them why and asking to be removed from their mailing list. I will probably do the same with the next request that I receive from the Republican National Committee. Henceforth, all of my donations will be sent to specific candidates of my own choosing, and to conservative organization such as CCM and the Heritage Foundation. When, at some point in the future, those three turncoats are replaced with true Republicans, I may reconsider my position. Until then, there will be no need for them to waste postage seeking my financial help. 

I would like to urge all of my fellow conservatives to join me in this protest effort. Together we can send a message to the National Party that we will no longer tolerate the type of unprincipled behavior that these three senators displayed in this, the most crucial piece of legislation addressed by Congress in well over fifty years. If the voters in Maine and Pennsylvania want to continue sending these “moderates” to Congress, that is their prerogative. I only hope that others will join me in not supporting their efforts to do so.

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Some Fertilizer for the Mall's New Sod 

This from the Wall Street Journal/Opinion Journal:

We know what it isn’t, Mr. President. It is not over $700 billion in pork-barrel projects called for by the Democrats in Congress who wrote this "Stimulus Bill" knowing full well that there would be no other way to get their pet projects funded. Cut the crap, Sir!

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It Took Just One Week 

We expected it to happen sooner or later. But that it happened just one week into the Obama presidency came as a surprise. To many Americans, it probably is not very important. To most of us who have served in the military, however, it is seen with dismay and worry. Just as troubling, perhaps, is the fact that the source of the report was a foreign newspaper, since no evidence of it was found in American media. That is not too surprising. 

The “it”, in this case, is the reported conflict between the President and the nation’s military brass over the issue of Iraq.  

Now, every good American knows or has been told that someone who graduates Summa Cum I-Know-Everything from Harvard Law School is much more knowledgeable about foreign policy, military strategy, and national security than those narrow-minded, uneducated, and unsophisticated generals who have spent decades fighting America’s wars. Even Chris Matthews, Harry Reid, and Barbara Streisand are believed my many to know far more about war than the generals. 

According to a report furnished on February 3, 2009 in Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper, the President met on January 21 with General David Petraeus and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. The report states:

In the weeks and months before I was commissioned as a brand new Second Lieutenant in the Air Force, I was strongly advised not to go into my new career with the attitude that I was God’s gift to the Universe; to lean on and seek the knowledge and advice of the career non-coms who I would legally out-rank, on paper, at least, but were the people who actually made the Air Force run.

President Obama would benefit greatly from similar advice. He is new and he is very inexperienced. Whatever knowledge of military issues and national security that he has, if any, was learned in a classroom. He has much real-world learning to do.

When he made his commitment to withdraw American troops from Iraq during the campaign, he did so without the benefit of the military and intelligence briefings that he has received since then, yet he appears to be committed to go forward with his uninformed campaign promises. In doing so, he risks losing the personal respect and confidence of our nation’s military leaders.

Even if this means little to most Americans, it matters significantly to those who may be called upon when danger threatens to sacrifice their lives for their commander-in-chief and their country. This is a concept that, unfortunately, too few of those Americans understand. Yet they would need to look no further than the vast differences in the morale and effectiveness of our armed forces during and after the Vietnam War, as compared to those same qualities during the War in Iraq. 

Critics will be quick to point out that by law, as embodied in the U.S. Constitution, the military is subservient to the civilian government. as personified by the Commander-in-Chief. Nobody has or will question the importance and validity of this chain of command. Long before any disagreement between the president and his military commanders were to approach the status of a pitched battle, those commanders would quietly and obediently, but begrudgingly, slip back into the shadows. And as we learned in Vietnam, they would take their effectiveness with them. 

President Obama is acknowledged by most Americans to be gifted with high intelligence. There is, however, a vast difference between intelligence and wisdom. Unfortunately, on this issue, he has demonstrated neither.

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