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17 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by Greg in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

ballots, congress, ebola, elections, executive action, house of representatives, immigration, iraq, ISIL, ISIS, jobless, Labor Dept., lame duck presidency, lame duck president, military, new congress, obama, republicans, SCOTUS, senate, voting

I have been quiet over the last few weeks. This isn’t because I haven’t had anything to say. On the contrary, there have been so many items to go over, that I’ve felt a great surfeit of choice…sorta like being at the buffet on a cruise ship, and trying to pick just one thing to have.

We have had ISIS push hard to wreck and destroy Syria, but stymied by one town, right on the Turkish border. Makes a difference when you stand up to oppressors doesn’t it? ISIS/ISIL have found out what true determination is, bleeding their troops against a wall of determined Kurdish people who know the meaning of the word oppress, and refuse to subject themselves to a tyrannical state. Shame we can’t get out president on board with this. Shame the Turkish barely supports this. What does Erdogan think? If Syria falls, then Turkey is safe?

We have Ebola running rampant through several West African nations. The way the Africans handled it? They imposed quarantines and refused exits and entries into their countries. Borders were sealed, and house to house investigations were performed. The result: An immediate decrease in the spread of Ebola in those countries that did this. What did Mr. Obama do? Refused to implement any type of controls, resulting in at least one infected person that we know about, slipping into the country. We have a doctor floating around New York city, a city that already had one major traumatic incident (9/11), and then suddenly finding out he had Ebola. And who could forget the nurse who returned from a highly infected area, but considered it an infringement of her liberty to be held in quarantine. Yet while in Africa, this same nurse thought nothing of maintaining quarantine. What was the difference? Nothing, except her arrogance.

We have had the mid-term elections, elections that Mr. Obama claims that while he wasn’t on the ballots, his policies were, and the decisions would be shown by the American public. Yet, when the Democrat party was soundly routed in the ballots, Mr. Obama, as usual, changed his rhetoric. According to him, the reason the Democrats lost was that Mr. Obama’s demographics were ‘disenfranchised’ and that only older white people voted. Last time I checked, I was and am classified as Black, and I voted. So did quite a few people I know. The people spoke, and the people want our president to act as a president, not as a king. The last king we had in America was Dr. King, and he would be ashamed of the policies of this president.

All in all, the last few weeks have been enlightening. Mr. Obama claims mightily that he will not send combat troops to Iraq. Yet, we are sending up to 3000 combat troops to West Africa to assist in Ebola operations. Our troops are for combat. If you want to send qualified health care experts to combat disease, there’s the CDC, the Public Health Service (a uniformed service organization), Peace Corps, etc., that can be sent instead. Use the proper tools in the proper place. However, the emperor-in-chief deigns to push his forces where he may.

The latest Labor Dept. numbers for jobless claims show there is a fall in the number of claims. Okaaaayy…..and this means what? The true indicator of an employment rise is the number of permanent jobs added. However the Labor Dept., and well as several other well-meaning but short-sighted organizations, use jobless claims as an indicator of job growth. Unemployment claims, or rather, the lack of claims, prove one thing, and one thing only: People have reached the limit of their claims and cannot claim any more benefits. That’s like saying the water in a leaky bucket remains at a constant low, because no extra water is flowing in. That disregards the holes in the bucket that keeps the water leaking out at the same constant rate as the water going into the bucket. The current spin specialists in this government have gone overboard trying to make Obama look good. So far, they’ve managed to raise him to mediocre.

Yes, there is plenty to aim at with the tailings of this lame duck presidency. Let’s see: Mr. Obama wants to use executive action to resolve the immigration issue. Hmmm, seems that Mr. Obama is treading on the Congress’ prerogatives. I believe that the Supreme Court recently issued a ruling that it is up to Congress, which is the federal government, to enact and enforce immigration laws. This was the ruling that invalided some of Arizona’s laws concerning immigration. So, if it’s the Congress’ responsibility to enact and enforce the laws, according to SCOTUS, how can the president suddenly decide it’s his job? The answer is, he can’t. Executive action can only be applied to laws that are already in place, or in areas that are the executive’s portion to make a decision on. Since this isn’t a treaty, an executive order implementing any immigration reform or changes is invalid upon signature. Mr. Obama oversteps his authority as president. Let’s see, what else? Mr. Obama is now sending more troops to Iraq. Again, he states these are only for training. However, Mr. Obama hedges his bets by saying that if he were told that the ISIS/ISIL were transporting a ‘nuke’, he would be forced to send in combat troops to intercept and/or destroy said device. Short step from there to, if we see a possibility of harm to the people of the US. Can’t seem to keep your promises, but then again, Obama never said ‘If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor’ either.

I said before, and I’ll say again, Mitt Romney should have been voted President. Mitt’s advisors did him a great disservice by not letting him be the man he is. Mitt’s advisors should have taken him to the inner cities to speak with those inner-city leaders and let them see the man he is. His advisors should have allowed Mitt to speak in all the debates in the same manner as he did in the first one, and people would be able to see that Mitt is a man who cares for his country, above all else, and is not an egotist of the highest degree, like the current president. Mitt’s advisors failed him. I hope that Mitt Romney will take up the baton again, and strive for the presidency. I believe that Mitt can be what America needs to retrieve her image, and her allies, from the mess the current president has put us in.

“We Must All Stand Together, Or Assuredly, We Shall All Swing Separate…”

The ISIS Issue…

11 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by Greg in Uncategorized

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Tags

air power, Al Qaeda, iraq, ISIS, kurdish, Kurds, military, Peace Corps, Peshmarga, president, Public Health Service, syria, Turkey, US

ISIS is on the verge of claiming another town in Syria, one that could act as a launching point for attacks into Turkey, a NATO member. The Kurdish fighters who are besieged in this town are fighting courageously, holding out against odds that overwhelmed the Iraqi defense forces. US airplanes are bombing positions around the town, providing some relief, but the issue is not air power. The issue is ground support, support that should be coming from the coalition partners, to support the Kurdish fighters. Since barack Obama has denied US combat troops entry into the mission, this requires support from the coalition partners that will operate in Syria, namely the coalition of Muslim nations that have signed on for this effort. But there are no troops coming forward, and this is a bad thing.

We know it’s bad because of the tactical issue: without more support, the town may fall this weekend. But it’s bad on the geo-political strategic level, also. The Kurds are being hard-pressed, and need assistance. If the Muslim nations, UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, came to the aid of the Kurdish people, maybe there would be an opportunity for the long broiling resentments between the two peoples to be settled. The Kurds could feel that they can broker an agreement between themselves and the Muslim nations they live in, and the Muslim nations could get support from some of the strongest, most dangerous, and most organized fighters in the region. The president should have been working to foster that kind of agreement long ago, when he said no US combat boots on the ground. By supporting the Peshmarga in Iraq, and the Kurdish forces in Syria, as well as coordinating support between the groups and the Muslim fighters, maybe something could have been salvaged. As it is, we need to support the Kurdish fighters, as they are the only ones taking a concerted stance against ISIS and their splinter groups.

I do not say the Kurdish fighters are blameless innocents. The Kurds are ferocious, and courageous, and violent. The Kurdish fighters have fought Turkish and Iraqi military to a standstill, and would stop the Taliban in its tracks. Al Qaeda never attempted to subvert the Kurdish people, because the Kurds do not believe in their form of life. For the Kurds to be able to stand as they have, reflects the Kurdish lifestyle, and the hard path the Kurds have had to travel.

The administration’s strategy of bombing the ISIS fighters to “degrade and eventually destroy” ISIS only works if we are willing to use nuclear warheads. This is an unthinkable action. The use of airpower does not guarantee that ground will be captured, fighters on the ground will be subdued or eliminated, and gains will be achieved. Air power is only effective in concert with a coordinated ground campaign. And despite the many pundits elaborating on the media outlets, a ground campaign does not require the use of hundreds of thousands of troops. A decent infantry division, backed by sufficient air power, will make a severe impact and implode ISIS in its tracks. Unfortunately, we have a new-era democrat president, who believes that, like Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton before him, the military can be used piecemeal to affect “Political Changes”, despite the fact that military forces are not chess pieces for politicians. Instead of assigning a substantial number of military troops to support the air campaign, this president sends US troops into Africa to fight a disease. This president has watched Outbreak too many times. The US military is a strategic weapon of policy used to enforce decisions by the civilian politicians, or as a means of last diplomatic resolution to discussions of strategic importance. The US military is not a police or Emergency Medical Response force used to take care of those things that the president deems a problem. Use of the military in such actions degrades the combat effectiveness of the units involved, and reduces the capability of the military to respond to true military emergencies. The activities that president has ascribed to the US military would be better handled by the Public Health Service, the Center for Disease Control, Peace Corps, or any of the myriad NGOs set up specifically already for these tasks.

This president has the lowest approval rating of any president at this time of their presidency. He makes decisions based not on the needs of the country, but on political agendas. Meanwhile, in Syria and in Iraq, thousands daily are being killed, left homeless, or are fleeing one of the most horrendous groups since NAZI Germany. Even the Taliban’s efforts are paling in significance to what Baghdadi and his goons are doing, supposedly in the name of Allah.

If Islam is a religion of peace, as the president continually espouses, why are so many people raped, maimed, and killed in its name? Why are the Kurds besieged by this peaceful religion? When will the peaceful Muslims stand up and say “Enough! This Far and No Farther!” When?

“We Must All Stand Together, Or Most Assuredly, We Shall All Swing Separate…”

obama’s domestic policy…or lack thereof…

12 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by Greg in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

barack obama, Border Patrol, borders, Customs and Border Patrol, illegal aliens, military, NORTHCOM, obama, Posse' Comitatus, president, SOUTHCOM

The current administration’s domestic policy seems to be to beggar the average American, enable illegal aliens to have access to programs the average middle-class American has to pay for, cripple the education system through common core, and, in general, bankrupt the US through ineptness and ignorance.

The administration’s policies have led to such catastrophes like the affordable care act. Instead of focusing on the reasons for unaffordable health care, such as hospital, patient care, and drug costs, and the health care industry’s use of administrative people to ratchet up costs at hospitals and health care providers, this administration has decided to punish those who have need for access to health care, the actual patients and consumers. Instead of concentrating on energy independence by supporting our environmentally-efficient coal and oil industries, this administration is concentrating on impeding those industries, while attempting to promote expensive and unproven technologies such as wind and solar energy. Instead of promoting good jobs in the US, this administration has been working on taxing to the ultimate those companies in the US, forcing the same companies to move overseas, taking their tax revenue and jobs elsewhere.

The latest disaster from this administration is the border crisis. Currently, there are thousands of children coming across the border illegally, getting access through a loophole in the current laws. Currently, Other Than Mexican (OTM) children are allowed to remain until a hearing has been held to determine the children’s status. This allows the children to come here, be “reunited” with family members, given a court date, and the family disappears, generally forever. This loophole is giving thousands of children a path to the US, through treacherous areas filled with sex slavers, rapists, thieves, and murderers, in the hopes of being able to live in the US. The reality is, whose is it to say those “family members” are really family? They could be more of the same, and this would be their way to have obama and his crew recruit young children to be able to pander the children.

barack obama has the capability to close this loophole, and to reinforce the border with National Guard and even active duty troops. Actually, putting US troops along the southern border doesn’t even require a presidential order or congressional acts. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, and as amended in 1981, prevents use of the military to enforce laws and act as law enforcement except in cases of violence and violations of citizens’ constitutional rights, within the US. Due to the nature of the border, because it is a border, the commander of NORTHCOM and SOUTHCOM can detail units to patrol and defend the north and south borders, and prevent entry into the US. The Border Patrol’s mandate is to arrest those who cross the border, and to help reinforce and prevent border penetrations.

Congress can authorize the necessary funding to allow the US military to perform this duty, if necessary, from either emergency funding to the Defense Appropriations Act, or enable a Emergency Continuing Resolution to fund the patrolling of the border. If the military decides to use the patrolling as an opportunity for training and actual work, the funding actually comes from the Defense Appropriations Act without requiring additional funding, due to training.

It is actually NORTHCOM and SOUTHCOM’s responsibility to enforce the border, and again, does not require congressional or presidential intervention. Since defending the border is an actual function of the US military, and a requirement of the duties of the US Department Of Defense. The US military should step in and do its job, and allow the politicians to work out the deportation of those who are illegally in this country. This will also prevent drug smugglers from entering the US through other than air and sea ports, where Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, as well as the DEA and Border Patrol, would be better situated to capture those people.
I believe this is a simple and a correct solution to ending the chaos at our southern border, and prevent others from exploiting children and juveniles from other countries for their own ends.

“We Must All Stand Together, Or Assuredly, We Shall All Swing Separate…”

Should We Put US Troops On Our Southern Border?
(polls)

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