In the strategy game “Rome, total war”, a general usually ends a battle with two options; let the enemy flee, or run them down and slaughter each of them. How the general chooses to end the fight will affect the next battle, and may be the difference between victory and defeat. Letting the enemy flee may allow the surviving enemy to join up with a larger battalion thereby increasing the possibility of casualties on the attacking general’s side. If the general runs them down, he eliminates the enemy and there is no chance at a surprise attack. The tactic is brutal, but the war is won one battle at a time.
This is where we find the modern Republican Party right now, in a rout. We have been beaten, and beaten soundly in two elections that lost us the congress, the White House, and the connection with the average American. We have so few allies now, and so few leaders that we appear to be running for our lives, desperately clinging to any possibility of leadership or hope.
The opposition has chosen to run us down, with the end goal of an epic annihilation. Carville and Begala, along with the leadership of Rahm Emanuel, have issued the final orders for the comprehensive destruction of conservatism, and by extension, the entire RNC. The media have been employed to make conservatives look like white haired throw backs from the late 1800’s, invoking this specter on issues such as abortion, stem cell research, spending, welfare, and soon talk radio. Obama’s overall plan of fear and desperation has worked the nation into such a frenzy that once free thinking citizens now believe the institute of government is their only savior. They are willing to give up personal autonomy in exchange for collective security. And conservatism, the last bastion of true freedom, is fleeing from the pounding hoof beats of enemy horses.
So it is time to stop running. It is time to rally around the core beliefs of conservatism and show the world that we are not finished. We need to stand up against old school Washington insiders who throw out principle at the first sign of trouble. We need to make sure that all congressmen and women who claim to be from the GOP, are held responsible for their actions. We must seek out the new leaders, true leaders, who are principle based and not mealy mouthed on tough issues. Only then can we re-group and form a skirmish line worthy of defense.
It is my belief that the new leaders of the GOP are right here, in social networking sites, blogs, and conservative groups. We are the new generation, and we must act accordingly. We must vigorously defend life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We must bring the standard of liberty to all those around us and be prepared to defend it at all costs in all environments. Because when the curtain finally falls on this disastrous liberal ideology, the only thing left standing will be conservative principles.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Love America? Free a terrorist.
A grass roots effort started about two years ago to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The idea was that if the US closes the base it would start the long process of repairing the world’s view of the United States. The fact that the US military was holding slightly over 200 prisoners without trial was portrayed as a black eye on the face of democracy and human rights. The effort was given further legitimacy when leftists began comparing Abu Ghraib to Gitmo, and when then presidential nominee Obama promised he would close the prison.
This whole effort was based on a profound misunderstanding of world politics and terrorism. And what was not considered then, or now, was the impact closing the prison would have on the world. In an ironic turn of perspective those who fought most ardently to repair America’s image were actually preparing to tarnish it even more.
In mid 2008 President Bush ordered the prison to begin the disposition process on those prisoners who were deemed to no longer be a danger, or had been rehabilitated from their terrorist ways. The goal was to repatriate the prisoners in their own countries thereby avoiding further imprisonment or trials. Countries around the world were asked to take in former terrorist without any explanation on what to do with them. Some of the prisoners were let go and were immediately arrested in their countries of origin, some were tortured, and some were denied re-entry. Near sixty former inmates found their way back to the battlefield and brought with them a new hatred of America, a new list of victims.
The whole process was akin to releasing 100 rabid dogs from a pound into a neighborhood simply based on the reasoning that they hadn’t bit anyone since their incarceration. Foolish? Yes. Dangerous? Absolutely.
Time has shown that the fundamentalism needed to wage acts of terror does not dwindle with imprisonment, if anything it grows and festers like a diseased wound. The Russians found this to be true then they released several former terrorists in 2003. Some of them returned in 2004 and murdered over 180 school children in Beslan. And Beslan is not the exception; it is the rule, especially when dealing with Islamic terrorism. This is what happens when you pit an image against an ideology.
The question should not be how fast can we close Gitmo, it should be, how are we going to deal with the fall out when these prisoners go home and kill again? America will then become the “paper tiger” Osama Bin Laden described after Mogadishu. We will appear weak in the face of danger, and unprepared to deal with the new global jihad.
This whole effort was based on a profound misunderstanding of world politics and terrorism. And what was not considered then, or now, was the impact closing the prison would have on the world. In an ironic turn of perspective those who fought most ardently to repair America’s image were actually preparing to tarnish it even more.
In mid 2008 President Bush ordered the prison to begin the disposition process on those prisoners who were deemed to no longer be a danger, or had been rehabilitated from their terrorist ways. The goal was to repatriate the prisoners in their own countries thereby avoiding further imprisonment or trials. Countries around the world were asked to take in former terrorist without any explanation on what to do with them. Some of the prisoners were let go and were immediately arrested in their countries of origin, some were tortured, and some were denied re-entry. Near sixty former inmates found their way back to the battlefield and brought with them a new hatred of America, a new list of victims.
The whole process was akin to releasing 100 rabid dogs from a pound into a neighborhood simply based on the reasoning that they hadn’t bit anyone since their incarceration. Foolish? Yes. Dangerous? Absolutely.
Time has shown that the fundamentalism needed to wage acts of terror does not dwindle with imprisonment, if anything it grows and festers like a diseased wound. The Russians found this to be true then they released several former terrorists in 2003. Some of them returned in 2004 and murdered over 180 school children in Beslan. And Beslan is not the exception; it is the rule, especially when dealing with Islamic terrorism. This is what happens when you pit an image against an ideology.
The question should not be how fast can we close Gitmo, it should be, how are we going to deal with the fall out when these prisoners go home and kill again? America will then become the “paper tiger” Osama Bin Laden described after Mogadishu. We will appear weak in the face of danger, and unprepared to deal with the new global jihad.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Unethical Police
The level of discourse had always been contentious in our department, but on 12/20/2008 it reached a level of depravity that shames us all.
I have long warned that politics played a major role in our department, everything from how many TASERs we have, to the color of our patrol vehicles depends on how well we sell ourselves to the citizens. Even the type of legal representation we have as officers depends on how well someone was able to convince you to join their group. We all know legal defense is critical in this job, especially in current times where a suspect’s whim is tomorrow’s IA complaint. And we have always enjoyed a level of confidentiality in our Internal Affairs department; after all, it is called “internal” affairs, and not external laundry airing. This level of confidence is essential to having complete and thorough investigations to either exonerate our fellow officers, or dole out the punishment they deserve. Never has the politics between the two labor groups crossed the line of violating that confidence until now.
By now you may know that three of our officers in Mesa had their dirty laundry aired out in the East Valley Tribune, all in the name of damning the Mesa Police Association. The IA complaints, like most of them, warrant investigation and if wrongdoing is found, then it must be corrected. But to invoke a “leak” of admonished information from IA for personal gain is not only unethical, is near illegal. And finally, to take that information and sell it to media to benefit your labor organization goes beyond unethical; it is unspeakable and shameful to your badge and the oath of office we all took.
I ask all of you to stop the arguing for a moment and think about what just happened. It should scare the hell out of you that a fellow officer felt it necessary to do this. When will it stop? Are you next? Am I next? Have you done something to the FOP that would warrant your IA file in the open media? Who knows? The officers that stand accused in these cases might have made bad choices, but do those choices warrant a public shaming all in the name of benefiting one labor group?
No matter what group you belong to, you must admit that this is low. Now is the time to take a stand against this and bring civility back to the debate.
I have long warned that politics played a major role in our department, everything from how many TASERs we have, to the color of our patrol vehicles depends on how well we sell ourselves to the citizens. Even the type of legal representation we have as officers depends on how well someone was able to convince you to join their group. We all know legal defense is critical in this job, especially in current times where a suspect’s whim is tomorrow’s IA complaint. And we have always enjoyed a level of confidentiality in our Internal Affairs department; after all, it is called “internal” affairs, and not external laundry airing. This level of confidence is essential to having complete and thorough investigations to either exonerate our fellow officers, or dole out the punishment they deserve. Never has the politics between the two labor groups crossed the line of violating that confidence until now.
By now you may know that three of our officers in Mesa had their dirty laundry aired out in the East Valley Tribune, all in the name of damning the Mesa Police Association. The IA complaints, like most of them, warrant investigation and if wrongdoing is found, then it must be corrected. But to invoke a “leak” of admonished information from IA for personal gain is not only unethical, is near illegal. And finally, to take that information and sell it to media to benefit your labor organization goes beyond unethical; it is unspeakable and shameful to your badge and the oath of office we all took.
I ask all of you to stop the arguing for a moment and think about what just happened. It should scare the hell out of you that a fellow officer felt it necessary to do this. When will it stop? Are you next? Am I next? Have you done something to the FOP that would warrant your IA file in the open media? Who knows? The officers that stand accused in these cases might have made bad choices, but do those choices warrant a public shaming all in the name of benefiting one labor group?
No matter what group you belong to, you must admit that this is low. Now is the time to take a stand against this and bring civility back to the debate.
Unethical Police
The level of discourse had always been contentious in our department, but on 12/20/2008 it reached a level of depravity that shames us all.
I have long warned that politics played a major role in our department, everything from how many TASERs we have, to the color of our patrol vehicles depends on how well we sell ourselves to the citizens. Even the type of legal representation we have as officers depends on how well someone was able to convince you to join their group. We all know legal defense is critical in this job, especially in current times where a suspect’s whim is tomorrow’s IA complaint. And we have always enjoyed a level of confidentiality in our Internal Affairs department; after all, it is called “internal” affairs, and not external laundry airing. This level of confidence is essential to having complete and thorough investigations to either exonerate our fellow officers, or dole out the punishment they deserve. Never has the politics between the two labor groups crossed the line of violating that confidence until now.
By now you may know that three of our officers in Mesa had their dirty laundry aired out in the East Valley Tribune, all in the name of damning the Mesa Police Association. The IA complaints, like most of them, warrant investigation and if wrongdoing is found, then it must be corrected. But to invoke a “leak” of admonished information from IA for personal gain is not only unethical, is near illegal. And finally, to take that information and sell it to media to benefit your labor organization goes beyond unethical; it is unspeakable and shameful to your badge and the oath of office we all took.
I ask all of you to stop the arguing for a moment and think about what just happened. It should scare the hell out of you that a fellow officer felt it necessary to do this. When will it stop? Are you next? Am I next? Have you done something to the FOP that would warrant your IA file in the open media? Who knows? The officers that stand accused in these cases might have made bad choices, but do those choices warrant a public shaming all in the name of benefiting one labor group?
No matter what group you belong to, you must admit that this is low. Now is the time to take a stand against this and bring civility back to the debate.
I have long warned that politics played a major role in our department, everything from how many TASERs we have, to the color of our patrol vehicles depends on how well we sell ourselves to the citizens. Even the type of legal representation we have as officers depends on how well someone was able to convince you to join their group. We all know legal defense is critical in this job, especially in current times where a suspect’s whim is tomorrow’s IA complaint. And we have always enjoyed a level of confidentiality in our Internal Affairs department; after all, it is called “internal” affairs, and not external laundry airing. This level of confidence is essential to having complete and thorough investigations to either exonerate our fellow officers, or dole out the punishment they deserve. Never has the politics between the two labor groups crossed the line of violating that confidence until now.
By now you may know that three of our officers in Mesa had their dirty laundry aired out in the East Valley Tribune, all in the name of damning the Mesa Police Association. The IA complaints, like most of them, warrant investigation and if wrongdoing is found, then it must be corrected. But to invoke a “leak” of admonished information from IA for personal gain is not only unethical, is near illegal. And finally, to take that information and sell it to media to benefit your labor organization goes beyond unethical; it is unspeakable and shameful to your badge and the oath of office we all took.
I ask all of you to stop the arguing for a moment and think about what just happened. It should scare the hell out of you that a fellow officer felt it necessary to do this. When will it stop? Are you next? Am I next? Have you done something to the FOP that would warrant your IA file in the open media? Who knows? The officers that stand accused in these cases might have made bad choices, but do those choices warrant a public shaming all in the name of benefiting one labor group?
No matter what group you belong to, you must admit that this is low. Now is the time to take a stand against this and bring civility back to the debate.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Lazy cop or lazy American?
Last week I had the privilege of attending a union recruiting function at our police department, and it left me with a strange question, Are Americans lazy, even when it comes to their own future?
I know there has been a thousand articles written since the election about the American sense of entitlement which reared it ugly head in a very public way, but I really wanted to believe that Americans, as a whole, were not content to sit and wait for success to come to them. Apparently I held on to this faith despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.
A young officer was supposed to tell the class of new recruits why they should join his union over a another, and the vehicle chose to deliver his message was a personal story. He told the class that he “got into some trouble” over an excessive force complaint and needed union help. He expressed dismay at the situation, after all, in his words he “had beat up people all the time and never got in trouble for it…” He continued to say, “I needed help and couldn’t find it, or maybe help couldn’t find me.” He went on to tell of how he was forced to contact an old police sergeant who gave him advice on which lawyer to call, and how this may have saved his career. I was so bewildered with the few things I quoted above that I almost missed him reiterate this point, in these words, “lets just say help didn’t find me.”
This left me with such a bad taste in my mouth that I asked my partner what he thought about it and he dismissed the whole thing as a young dumb cop spouting off. I on the other hand couldn’t shake the feeling this guy was the epitome of America right now. He stood there with simple arrogance and proclaimed that help simply did not find him. As if the help he needed was entitled to him because he existed and that was all. His phrase made me reflect on the millions of people who proclaimed in one voice on November 4th that help needed to come to them.
This ideal goes against everything I have ever been taught about being an American, let alone a police officer. Americans pull themselves up by the bootstraps and carry on. Even when times are hard, we use the goal of the American Dream to fuel our drive and we move forward. I know because I have been there. When my wife and I were married we had a broken car, very modest income, and one couch. We decided a long time ago that we were going to succeed without handouts or bailouts. Our journey is far from over, but we wake up everyday and press onward, never expecting anything to just “come our way”. That was the way I was raised, I knew of no other alternative than success at all costs.
And as far as being a cop is concerned, since when do we allow fate to dictate anything? I have seen people survive 8 bullet wounds to the body, I know people who were left for dead and came back to be stronger than ever. These people did not wait for help to come to them they literally pulled themselves up, sometimes with one arm, and survive.
And perhaps that is the answer to this plaguing question; there are still some of us out there. There are still people who wake up with nothing, and work all day to get to that somewhere someday. These people will rise to the top, or die trying, but will never be content to wait for “it” to come to them.
So maybe some Americans are lazy and have taken the easy road, but that’s all right. Because for every ten people who stand by waiting, there is one who is ready to take the reigns and move forward. And these are the true Americans.
I know there has been a thousand articles written since the election about the American sense of entitlement which reared it ugly head in a very public way, but I really wanted to believe that Americans, as a whole, were not content to sit and wait for success to come to them. Apparently I held on to this faith despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.
A young officer was supposed to tell the class of new recruits why they should join his union over a another, and the vehicle chose to deliver his message was a personal story. He told the class that he “got into some trouble” over an excessive force complaint and needed union help. He expressed dismay at the situation, after all, in his words he “had beat up people all the time and never got in trouble for it…” He continued to say, “I needed help and couldn’t find it, or maybe help couldn’t find me.” He went on to tell of how he was forced to contact an old police sergeant who gave him advice on which lawyer to call, and how this may have saved his career. I was so bewildered with the few things I quoted above that I almost missed him reiterate this point, in these words, “lets just say help didn’t find me.”
This left me with such a bad taste in my mouth that I asked my partner what he thought about it and he dismissed the whole thing as a young dumb cop spouting off. I on the other hand couldn’t shake the feeling this guy was the epitome of America right now. He stood there with simple arrogance and proclaimed that help simply did not find him. As if the help he needed was entitled to him because he existed and that was all. His phrase made me reflect on the millions of people who proclaimed in one voice on November 4th that help needed to come to them.
This ideal goes against everything I have ever been taught about being an American, let alone a police officer. Americans pull themselves up by the bootstraps and carry on. Even when times are hard, we use the goal of the American Dream to fuel our drive and we move forward. I know because I have been there. When my wife and I were married we had a broken car, very modest income, and one couch. We decided a long time ago that we were going to succeed without handouts or bailouts. Our journey is far from over, but we wake up everyday and press onward, never expecting anything to just “come our way”. That was the way I was raised, I knew of no other alternative than success at all costs.
And as far as being a cop is concerned, since when do we allow fate to dictate anything? I have seen people survive 8 bullet wounds to the body, I know people who were left for dead and came back to be stronger than ever. These people did not wait for help to come to them they literally pulled themselves up, sometimes with one arm, and survive.
And perhaps that is the answer to this plaguing question; there are still some of us out there. There are still people who wake up with nothing, and work all day to get to that somewhere someday. These people will rise to the top, or die trying, but will never be content to wait for “it” to come to them.
So maybe some Americans are lazy and have taken the easy road, but that’s all right. Because for every ten people who stand by waiting, there is one who is ready to take the reigns and move forward. And these are the true Americans.
Monday, December 8, 2008
1104 E. Backwards Avenue
"I believe in common-sense gun safety laws, and I believe in the second amendment," Obama said at a news conference. "Lawful gun owners have nothing to fear. I said that throughout the campaign. I haven't indicated anything different during the transition. I think people can take me at my word." Barack Obama as quoted by Chicago Sun Times on 12/8/2008.
This quote from the President Elect made my wife and I always cry with laughter. Forget the fact that Obama was the most ludicrous legislator when it came to gun control, focus on this quote and juxtapose it with all of the recent examples showing he has more back pedaling power that John Effing Kerry.
Remember during the campaign how adamantly Obama went after the “big oil” companies for their windfall profits? I do, in fact I can tell you on which pages of his “Obama/Biden Manifesto for Change” he proposed taxing them, simply because of the profits. Now that he has formed the Office of the President Elect, he has done a 180 on the taxing and blamed the poor economy. His words, and I have to paraphrase them, were something to the effect that when gas prices were high, that was the time to tax the companies, now that the gas prices are low, we will let them have their profits. After all, what’s fair about taxing three billion as opposed to five billion?
Follow that flip flop with the reversal on the “reversal” of the Bush tax cuts, and the change of mind on Iraq, and you have a bicycle that successfully goes backwards, right over the road that was paved for it. But that’s a topic for another time.
If Barack Obama is so willing to run right back over the liberal base that elevated him to power, how willing do you think he will be to stomp on conservative gun owners? After all, we see how easy it is for him to go back on campaign promises. So when Obama says, “I think people can take me at my word”, I have to say, that’s the problem, we are.
This quote from the President Elect made my wife and I always cry with laughter. Forget the fact that Obama was the most ludicrous legislator when it came to gun control, focus on this quote and juxtapose it with all of the recent examples showing he has more back pedaling power that John Effing Kerry.
Remember during the campaign how adamantly Obama went after the “big oil” companies for their windfall profits? I do, in fact I can tell you on which pages of his “Obama/Biden Manifesto for Change” he proposed taxing them, simply because of the profits. Now that he has formed the Office of the President Elect, he has done a 180 on the taxing and blamed the poor economy. His words, and I have to paraphrase them, were something to the effect that when gas prices were high, that was the time to tax the companies, now that the gas prices are low, we will let them have their profits. After all, what’s fair about taxing three billion as opposed to five billion?
Follow that flip flop with the reversal on the “reversal” of the Bush tax cuts, and the change of mind on Iraq, and you have a bicycle that successfully goes backwards, right over the road that was paved for it. But that’s a topic for another time.
If Barack Obama is so willing to run right back over the liberal base that elevated him to power, how willing do you think he will be to stomp on conservative gun owners? After all, we see how easy it is for him to go back on campaign promises. So when Obama says, “I think people can take me at my word”, I have to say, that’s the problem, we are.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Mumbai Report
Many of you know that I find a great deal of interest in terrorism and international intelligence, so it should come as no surprise that in the very second I learned about Mumbai (Bombay) I was scanning world wide news for info.
Here is what I have, and later I will add my commentary:
--10 Gunmen, armed with automatic rifles, hand grenades, and several other explosives
--Goal was to hit at least a dozen different places, with emphasis on the Taj hotel
--They came ashore on zodiac type boats, launched from a larger ship
--One of main targets was a Jewish Chabat house, (think religious hostel)
--In the Chabat the victims were bound then shot
--Gunmen yelled out for British, Jewish, and American citizens in the hotels
--Police were ineffective due to an emphasis on less than lethal weapons, substandard rifles, and poor training
--The hostages were probably not part of the plan, but more of an opportunity
--All of them were trained in military tactics and were very familiar with the weapons they used
--The sole survivor claims he is Pakistani, and that the terrorists trained in Pakistan
Ok, commentary. It’s clear to me that the attack was to remind the Indian people that their country’s fledging democracy was failing them. This was designed to undermine the current government and make the Indian people wish they had not chosen a democratic form of government. It just might work in the end. The theory has been proven in Spain; if you hit hard enough the people will choose a stricter government in the hopes that it will protect them. Only to realize, and often too late, they have sacrificed freedom for security.
This should send a cold chill down every Americans’ spine. Just think about the throngs of uneducated voters who voiced themselves in the last election, and look at the results. The people have totally ignored the fact that since 2001 we have not been attacked by foreign terrorists. They would rather believe President Bush was complicit in 9/11 and that he started a war in Iraq for oil. Now take these people and apply the bloodshed of Mumbai…scary concept.
This is why I urge every American, red or blue, liberal or conservative, to never allow a president or a congress, to cut our defense spending. We must always take the fight to the enemy and destroy them where they live, before they get here. This is not a tough concept, nor is it new. But it is a concept we will see under siege in the coming years. PE Obama has promised to cut “tens of billions in spending…halt the development of future weapons…stop the funding of unproven missile defense systems…” the list goes on.
Homeland security is not perfect, but it is complimented by fighting those who would harm us in their own hovels and caves, and not on Main Street.
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