North Korea: Madman's End Game

North Korea, or specifically, Kim Jong Un, appears to be trying to find a reset button for dealing with the global community, or in particular, with the United States. But time may have passed the pudgy-cheeked little dictator by and left him in the ditch. After all, it’s hard to move from espousing the bright red LAUNCH button on your desk for one that quietly reads, reset, adjust rhetoric, kiss baby.

Why, you ask in a civil tone and with eyebrows properly furrowed, would Kim Jong Un even want a reset? After all, he is a third generation murderous lunatic who kills his former supporters and relatives with everything from mortar shells to bullets. He starves his population, feeds mainly the military that feverishly applauds his every decision, and runs the harshest political prisons this side of, well, everywhere. He survives by threat, bluster, and the occasional attack on shipping or the border that separates the two Koreas. “He is the poster boy for crazy,” you state with finality and flaring nostrils.

But what if, I ask with all due respect, that if under that outlandish and possibly irretrievable haircut, there lurks a plan, or dare I say it, an endgame? And what if that endgame was simply the ability to wage nuclear war and the means to wage it on foreign soil? If that is the case, then the little demon has achieved his goal, and no amount of negative publicity, American or United Nations’ sanctions will get that ability out of his hands.

But now what? Having nuclear capability doesn’t mean you can use it. On the contrary, if you use yours, then the real super powers will use theirs, and it is the end of the line for a one-trick-nuclear-pony. No, the only benefit of nuclear capability is the rational understanding that no sane nation wants to see that capability exercised.  This is why Kim wanted to meet with the South Koreans regarding the Winter Olympics. This is why the verbal salvos to Trump have been more muted. Kim Jong Un is now ready to walk on the international stage as an equal, as a part of the global community, to have his say in world affairs, to make trade agreements and other treaties. And all of this goes hand-in-hand with the understanding that other nuclear have-nots will see North Korea as the global banker whose nuclear expertise can be bought. And on the other side of the coin, the Western powers will have to court Kim Jong Un to keep him in line and his arsenal unpilfered by such louts as Hamas or ISIS.

But then there is the ditch that I mentioned earlier, the one that history may have already planned for the likes of Kim Jong Un. You remember the recent fiasco in Hawaii over the non-existent incoming missile that convinced Jim Carrey he was down to just ten minutes to live.  (In only ten minutes, how do you reconcile your self-worth with Dumb and Dumber To in the equation?)  More importantly, it scared the living daylights out of millions of people and probably pushed the inevitability factor toward the front of the military planning scenario.

The planning meetings might proceed in this vein. The Hawaii event demonstrates that we have millions of Americans that truly live in fear of a madman in North Korea. Without any known plan of his own, Kim Jong Un now knows that we were basically unprepared to massively retaliate for a perceived strike. Now, since we also realize that Kim Jong Un will think in this manner, our determination to retaliate moves closer to the trigger. But more importantly, we know that a nuclear exchange will be messy. But then, we think, the exchange could be manageable or, possibly not at all, if we strike them first? And of course, this same thought worms its way through the bad haircut and into the brain of Kim Jong Un. You know, the same guy who may or may not be, a mad man.

People We Don't Want to Think About

In our day-to-day lives it appears there are two things that we can always count on. Well, actually there are four. President Trump seems to be constantly on the minds of a great many people, some positively and some negatively, but I try and refrain from writing about him as there is ample verbiage on that subject to satisfy or pester anyone. And of course, we can always count on God being at hand and hopefully, to save us from ourselves.

I was, however, thinking of Vladimir Putin and the Arab Street. I can feel the quandary in your face through my computer screen. “Why, I never think of the two at all,” you say, “and if they come to mind, it was just a passing thought and it flittered away just as quickly and quietly as it came.” First of all, I think you are too nimble of thought not to recognize their importance, and secondly, these two lurk in the recesses of your mind and worm their way to your consciousness on an all too regular basis.

Let’s take Vladimir. He’s just a light-hearted fellow who enjoys walks on the beach and being photographed with his shirt off.  Some financial publications believe he is by far the world’s richest person with an estimated wealth valued at 200 billion dollars. He has already declared that he will seek reelection, which would mean that, at the end of his next term, he would have controlled (ruled) Russia for 24 years. Don’t ever believe that the wealth he accumulated through power will allow him to give up the reins of power. He believes the greatest mistake Russia ever made was allowing the break up of the Soviet Union. Every political action he takes is designed to reestablish control over those countries that left the USSR. He has no qualms about using military force either overtly or covertly with Syria and Ukraine as the examples. He puts oligarchs in prison if they refuse to come under the Russian Federation’s control, and he murders individuals like Alexander Litvinenko when they get under his skin.  Our politicians in Washington and our media outlets seem shocked that Russia may have meddled in our last election. Of course they did. They meddle in all elections so as to weaken their adversaries. Vladimir Putin may be our biggest bogeyman, but he is not invincible or infallible. He will never be our friend and he could care less who won the election. Putin deals in turmoil.

And then there is that irrepressible Arab Street; just a bunch of guys and gals out to have a little fun with flaming effigies and colorful signage.  President Trump just signed the order to make Jerusalem the location for our embassy, and the world’s media and weak-kneed European leaders brace for the inevitable chaos in the Arab world. So what? When has the Arab Street not been incensed at something?

The term “Arab Street” does not have the connotation that it used to. A term for the opinions of the regular guys on the streets and markets is an illusion undermined by the ability of the local militias to turn out demonstrations at a moment’s notice. It’s amazing what an AK-47 can do for opinion polling.  Our concern, and that of the European countries, is whether or not the visual animosity of the Palestinians, or demonstrators in Turkey, Iran, or Pakistan has the ability to cause damage on Main Street, USA or in London. The answer is yes, it does. But the scary truth is that they had the ability before the declaration by Trump, and they exercised their murderous qualities before they had any specific reason. They want us dead or subdued. They want Israel wiped off the face of the earth. I know this and so do you. We would just rather not think about it.

A Thankful Thanksgiving

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reads this blog and to hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. As I grow older I find myself looking forward to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays more each year.

I am so thankful for my family. My brother, sister and I still have the ability to talk regularly by telephone and to discuss our children and the pleasant memories of our parents, and our aunts, uncles, and cousins who have already passed on. I am especially grateful for my wife, her parents and grandparents. Her father and grandparents were very loving to me as their son-in-law, and treated me as if I had always been a part of the family. I miss them. My wife and I eat at Hilda’s, my mother-in-law, every Sunday. My wife is my best friend and I measure all that I do by her approval.

I am especially grateful for the mercies of Jesus Christ. I count all the members of my family as true believers in the saving grace of Jesus, and I have never had to attend the funeral of a relative that did not profess their Christian faith. God is good.

I look forward to Christmas with my family by birth and marriage and with my Church family through the shed blood of Jesus. Most of my friends and family members of my age shake our heads at all that transpires in our earthly world. I know my Dad was aghast at what he observed in his lifetime, and I sometimes wonder, should he be alive today, at how I could begin to explain the morals and positions that we have gotten into as a nation. Thank goodness our faith is not dependent on this world, our leaders, and this nation, but on the enduring promise of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

And on a personal note finally, I would ask you to check down the right side of this blog to the heading “Who I Follow”. You will see a new link entitled “laurenstrahan.com”. My daughter, also an author, has just begun a blog, and I know she would appreciate you passing a moment of time with her musings.

Ho, Ho, Ho.

A Merry Christmas, We Hope

We are entering the holiday season and with the eager anticipation of turkey, family gatherings, football, and gift giving also comes the sobering announcements by ISIS of various forms of death and destruction to the infidel and Christian societies. Islamic terrorists keep close track of our holidays just as we do.

This is nothing new, but events in the Middle East make this season especially inviting for an attack. Within the last week one ISIS-following intelligence site revealed a direct threat against the Pope and the Vatican. The Vatican security forces insist that these threats come in all the time and this one will be treated with the required scrutiny. This Christmas will be radically different that the last few years however, because the Islamic Caliphate has been crushed. The ISIS terrorists need a big event to change the momentum, and the Vatican at Christmas fills the bill.

There is another event that adds gravitas to the threat which is the fall of Raqqa, the last stronghold of the Islamic State in Syria. As the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) tightened the noose around the IS forces, the original plan was to annihilate the remaining IS leaders and foreign fighters. However, at the last moment, a deal was brokered by the American, British, and Arab leaders to allow these remaining terrorists to leave the city and save the need for further bloodshed. One of the agreements in the truce was that no foreign fighters or heavy weapons would be allowed to leave. As the convoy departed however, the trucks were filled with those same foreign fighters and loads of weapons and munitions. The BBC chronicles the entire movement in this article. (Here)

So now, as the Western countries prepare to celebrate Christmas, truckloads of battle-hardened fighters and their munitions have spread out to Europe and beyond. To make the decision to destroy what was left of Raqqa in order to truly destroy ISIS would have been a hard decision. The ISIS controlled area was booby-trapped and manned with individuals who would fight to the death, and there were still civilians trapped in that hellhole. But what do we tell the citizens of Europe or the United States when these Muslim extremists launch their attacks against unsuspecting civilians? We had the troops on the ground, the air support, and a depleted and exhausted enemy. I am afraid we should have stayed with the original plan

I''m Blogging Again

Tomorrow, the 16^th of November, will mark the one-year anniversary since my last blog. It almost coincides with the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump as President. Although some might jump head long to the conclusion that with Trump as President, I have been in a state of depression, unable to string together a coherent thought. They would be wrong.

While some of it does involve our President, most of my reasons do not. As for Trump, I find it mind-numbing that everyday is basically the same. Trump throws out a tweet (Thankfully, I have no idea how to do that.), the press goes into a state of quixotic blubbering, the Trump supporters circle the wagons and shake their fists toward Washington, and the blue-blood Republicans yearn for a normalcy that kept them from winning elections and having to actually lead. Republican governmental ineptness has been a real shock to my system. I never imagined that being the downtrodden loyal opposition gave them such a warm and fuzzy feeling.

But to get back on track, my real incitement to write these blogs was hindered by work. That’s right, I have a job. At first it was just a part-time gig; seasonal they called it. I work for the IRS (now stop that spitting) and originally it was for about four months per year. Just enough to provide extra money for my cigar habit. I don’t smoke those over-the-counter dog rockets you see in the gas stations, just the good stuff; long-filler and with a nice white ash, from countries where machetes are carried like pocketknives. But then, about eighteen months ago, things got totally out of hand. The four-month little gig turned into six months, and now it’s all the dang time. I’ve had about four weeks off over the last year and a half. I’ve worked so much that I am now eligible for another retirement check! I don’t have time to smoke, much less write.

But all of that is going to change. If the Astros can win the World Series, then I can figure out a schedule to do some blogging. I will start my nagging and finger-pointing next week. 

We Need Camel's Knees

James, the brother of Jesus and the traditional leader of the Jerusalem church, eventually contracted a unique moniker. Not only was he called “James the Just” because of his piety, he was also known as “The Man with Camel’s Knees.”  It seems James was always keeling in intercessory prayer for his fellow Christians, a practice that eventually calloused his knees and gave them the appearance as those of a camel. We need to become intimately acquainted with that malady.

Many of the verbal autopsies of the recent Presidential election make mention of the tremendous support Donald Trump received from evangelicals. I am one of them and only decided to cast my vote for Trump on Monday after months of prayer. As with many other Christians, I had and still have issues with some of the history that is attached to the President-Elect. But when it came to decision time, I felt that the chance for Trump to become a better standard bearer for my beliefs was greater. I had no such estimation for Hillary Clinton.

As Christians, and especially those of us who voted for Donald Trump, we now have a duty. We must actively and continually pray for him. And pray not with a routine prayer “for the leaders of our government,” but for Donald Trump the man. We must pray for him to have wisdom and discernment. We must acknowledge that his behavior needs to reflect our desire that he lead this nation back to some Biblical principals, or at least away from the secular oblivion that was, and still may be, awaiting America. We need to pray that he surrounds himself with counselors that also pray, men and women who understand that America has achieved this level of greatness through God’s divine love and authority, and not with singular military might or technological achievements. And we must pray this prayer not occasionally, but as regularly as we pray for our loved ones. Prayer works. And for those who need them, kneepads are available very reasonably at your local Lowe’s or Home Depot.

A Regrettable Debate

I finally rose up off of my writing rear-end and decided that today is the day that I would continue blogging. After all, with the scheduled debate of the century or, as the television media would have us believe, the most significant political event since Brutus stuck the shiv into the back of Julius Caesar in the Roman Senate, today is a day worth noting.  The two notable aspects of this ritualistic, media-mandated, poll-driven, piece of political malpractice are that neither candidate, when considering the oppositional attitudes of their acolytes, are physically armed. The other is that both candidates adequately represent the culmination of political choices available when a society’s moral compass has gone askew.

I, for one, am not so overly aghast at the non-conservative bona fides of Donald Trump.  I also voted for Romney. And I also voted for McCain, the oft-commended war hero who crosses the political aisle so frequently that he forgets where his seat is located.  Nor do I exhibit too much squeamishness when I consider the voters who support him, the great unwashed as penned by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, or the basket of deplorables as offered by Trump’s adversary, Hillary Clinton. After all, we unwashed deplorables have our standards, too. At this point I would kindly suggest reading a piece by Victor Davis Hanson of National Review. I’m sure any political junkie remembers the gauntlet thrown down at the beginning of the primary season as the austere conservative publication declared that they could not support Trump, as his conservative instincts did not pass muster. Hanson, one of the magazines regular contributors points out the futility of this type of attitude. After all, this is politics we’re talking about. The article is here.

As for Hillary Clinton, she is a known quantity. There is no liberal cause that she will not advocate, no lie she will not tell, and no one she would not throw under a bus to achieve the Presidency of the United States. Not only has she not only abetted a sexual predator as a husband, she knowingly attacked the women who crossed his path. She sells influence for money and steps over the dead bodies of those who did her bidding. She has held high positions and accomplished nothing other than filling the family coffers under the guise of a humanitarian foundation. Hillary Clinton and public service should not be written or mentioned in the same sentence.

Tonight, these two bastions of the democratic process will verbally battle it out on public television. Put the kids to bed early. Tune in the NFL. Dig for worms in the back yard or pick up the dog droppings in the park. The moral decay of a nation has come down to a bragging buffoon and a person who stands for absolutely nothing. To make matters worse, it is our entire fault. God has turned this nation over to its sinful ways. We have a choice between a man who states he has never asked God for forgiveness and a woman who states that we need to change the religious views of Christians to support abortion (here). How can we ask God to bless the United States when we allow these two people to be our only choices?

Obama Visits A Mosque

President Obama’s final year in office, if today is an indicator, is shaping up to be just as forgettable as the first seven. As the first President to visit a mosque on American soil, he took the occasion to preach about the traditional American and constitutionally mandated values of religious tolerance. In typical Obama fashion he aimed his remarks at the wrong people. (here) Where Muslims are concerned, Americans have bent over backwards to respect the Muslim viewpoint, even after repeated acts of Islamic terrorism aimed at the United States and innocent citizens.

President Obama continues to trumpet the liberal viewpoint that Islam is the religion of peace and that some individuals (I call them Islamic terrorists) have used a few verses of the Qur’an and misinterpreted these verses to support their violent views. If that can possibly be the case, then there are a multitude of Imams in some of the most prestigious mosques who seem to follow those same misinterpretations.

On July 6, 2015, Sheikh Muhammad Abed, known as “ Abu Abdallah,” declared that from “the land of the Prophet’s nocturnal journey”—a reference to Jerusalem—“armies will set out to conquer Rome, to conquer Constantinople,” and then he added to the list “Washington and London.”

In an Oct. 27 address at Al Aqsa, Sheikh Khaled Al-Maghrabi called for the annihilation of the Jews all over the world, providing justification by quoting the well-known hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) of the stone and the tree: “Oh Muslim there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.” Earlier at the mosque, on May 29, Sheikh Al-Maghrabi explained why Jews were killed in the Holocaust. “On Passover,” he said, the Jews “would knead the dough for these matzos with children’s blood. When this was discovered, the Israelites were expelled across Europe . . . It got to the point where they were burned in Germany.”

The above-italicized paragraphs were spoken in the Al Aqsa Mosque, the holiest Islamic site outside of Saudi Arabia. (full WSJ article here) President Obama needs to be speaking to these Muslim clerics about tolerance, not Americans. This is what is being preached by the Islamic mainstream, not some small madrassa in the mountains of Afghanistan.

And as a final jab at his detractors, President Obama joked that he was thought to be a Muslim by some and that he was not the first American President to be called a Muslim but that “Jefferson was the first.” It should be noted that Jefferson insisted Muslims be given the same freedom of worship as Christians or Jews to ensure the concept of religious tolerance was all encompassing. (here) It should also be noted that Jefferson knew how to handle thugs and pirates as he proved on the Barbary Coast. President Obama would do well to stop worrying about Jefferson’s religious character and study instead how Jefferson handled threats to the United States.

Merry Christmas In Today’s World

I would like to preface this blog with a heartfelt desire for everyone to have a Merry Christmas, one with a deep thankfulness in which we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The opening sentence was easy to write but less so to live. I was born in 1948. My parents married late in life and then started having children after a few years. My father was born in 1901 and my mother in 1908. Both were adults in the Great Depression and my brother, sister, and I were basically raised in a home with 1940’s values. My parents were conservative democrats (Yes, at one time there were Christian conservatives living out full lives as democrats.) and both of them were unabashed in passing down to us the history and traditions they grew up with. Our upbringing began in the home, and they needed no help from the government or a school to inform us as to what right and wrong entailed. Sometimes in the early morning as I pour coffee and read the newspaper, I wonder how I could ever explain to my parents how the world is today or the price of gasoline (We now consider below $2.00 a gallon as cheap.) All of this is a segue to remind you of some of my prior writings where I cautioned against the ease with which

technology has taken over our lives.

I am linking an article here. It is rather long and somewhat wordy, but I highly recommend a complete reading of it. There are some very interesting comments about some Christians (I am guilty of this.) who equate Biblical teachings with a desire to change the overall social and institutional aspects of the nation without emphasizing some of the personal Biblical teachings. The author discusses a philosophy whereby our youth are being pulled and pushed to more of a technological self-imprint than a human one. In short, they can choose how they want themselves to be represented. This of course, is in direct conflict with Biblical teaching (man, woman, father, mother). The writer goes on to present how our children have no concept of right or wrong, history, and Biblical concepts. Now before you shake your head and remind me that your Church has an active youth group and a full-time youth minister, just read the article and decide for yourself how much good our Churches and Christian parents are doing for our kids. Over the last few years, I have had second thoughts about our Baptist Churches and their active outreach to kids. Look at the methodology our schools use in their curriculum and the results they bring, and then ask yourself if Churches aren’t falling into the same trap as we try to entice kids to come to the Church? I am not attacking any part of any Church, but I am also not willing to give our Churches a pass just because they have youth leaders or sound systems that mimic our secular lifestyle.

U.S. Strategy Against ISIS, the Caliphate, and Dabiq

After listening to the short speech by President Obama last Sunday, the general consensus among those of us not inclined to list this President as a global strategic savant dismissed the speech as more of the same: all talk and redundancy. It certainly did not offer any rational effort to assuage fear in the American populace, nor did it offer any new methodology for combating ISIS, or ISIL, a term for the Islamic State this administration, for some reason has wedded itself to. In actuality, it was more along the lines of a lecture to the American people to be nice to the Muslims among us. This was unnecessary as we have yet to vent our anger or frustration on our Muslim neighbors.

The President did emphasize again that large numbers of boots on the ground, specifically American boots, is not the answer. This is especially interesting since the very basis for the Islamic State is that they must hold ground. Their claim as the rightful heir as a caliphate is based on having a landmass. Without land, they are no better than al-Qaeda or Hezbollah, or the other terror groups that play a murderous game of hide-and-seek with established government militaries. Without territory they cannot issue a jihadist call for Muslims worldwide to come to the Islamic State. They cannot demand jihad against infidels worldwide or obeisance of all Muslims to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-appointed Caliph of the Islamic State. It therefore would seem logical to eliminate the land holdings. So, why don’t we do just that?

Interestingly, the New York Times (full article here) brought up the Islamic apocryphal teachings regarding the jihadist desire for the great battle to commence. I have no idea whether or not the White House prompted the article to give a basis for President Obama’s grand strategy, or whether ISIS uses the Qu’ranic teaching as another type of threat that the situation can only get worse if foreign troops enter the fray, or the Times simply just printed the story.  For ISIS, they embellish the threat.  Peter Kassig, a former US Army Ranger, was beheaded in Dabiq, the prophetic site of Islam’s version of Armageddon, with the statement by the executioner, “Here we are, burying the first American crusader in Dabiq, eagerly waiting for the remainder of your armies to arrive.”

Dabiq is a small town in Syria near Aleppo, the Koran-assigned site of the great battle between crusader forces (that’s us) and the followers of Islam. Dabiq is also the name of the magazine of ISIS. I have linked the first issue of it here if you are interested in reading the well-written and professionally published propaganda of these thugs. Dabiq equates the Caliphate’s operations to Qu’ranic teachings and offers a religious affirmation for their recruitment of soldiers worldwide.

It now comes down to this. Do we allow the American and other western populations to be held hostage to the Islamic end-time prophecy by continuing to absorb the terrorist blows of ISIS, or do we destroy them by any means necessary? Do we believe their version of a great Islamic victory over the crusaders at Dabiq, or do we follow the Christian faith that has offered hope, peace, and salvation through Biblical teachings that has sustained western democracies for 2,000 years? We have no reason to fear Dabiq.

A Step-Up In The Game

San Bernardino is the latest location for victims of terror, although we have not yet been told if any organized group has claimed responsibility for the atrocity. While I am sure that any multiple murderous events feels unique to the innocent victims involved, this one is so different that it could possibly be a step-up in the evolution of mass murder.

The shooting appears very well planned. The escape vehicle was on-hand and the shooters obviously had cased the location so as to be near an interstate for their escape. The escape is central for uniqueness. If this was al-Qaeda or ISIS, their modus operandi calls for killing as many people as possible and then getting themselves killed in the process. Virgins, here I come. Here, not only was a vehicle ready to leave the scene, but there are reports that the assailants wore body armor which is indicative that they meant to live through the mayhem. For the gunmen to leave so quickly without maximizing their slaughter, they probably had a prearranged number of rounds to fire before exiting, probably one magazine if semi-automatics were used.

If there is no claim of responsibility for the killings, then it could well be some locals who may not have decided who merits their umbrella allegiance. The target itself, a facility for the care of disabled persons is a very soft target and not tied to any part of the government. I don’t see how it could be linked to workplace violence although we’ve seen that term abused by this administration in the past. I tend to believe it is a local group of radicalized thugs who don’t have the battlefield experience and deep-rooted belief to die in a blaze of glory. At best it could be three perpetrators out for some type of video game thrill. At worst, it is a terror cell that is not yet finished.

       

Turkey Ratchets Up The Tension

Turkey’s military forces just shot down a Russian SU-24 fighter. This is a problem and not just because the rebels on the ground destroyed a search and rescue Russian helicopter and then shot, or more accurately executed, a pilot of the downed Russian aircraft. The problem is that this event brings microscopic scrutiny onto the past failings of the Obama Administration.

This is not just piling on for the sake of piling on. The President of the United States has been the de facto leader of the free world since WWII up until President Obama began to apologize to anyone who would listen. He and his two Secretaries of State have exemplified weakness and uncertainty in the global arena from Ukraine, Iran, Yemen, Libya, the Benghazi affair, and on into the Syrian civil war with the infamous “red line in the sand” comment. All of this has been done with the most aggressive Russian leader since Nikita Khrushchev in Vladimir Putin.

So this is where we are now. Recep Erdogan of Turkey and Putin are adversaries. Erdogan believes that Turkey, with images of the Ottoman Empire still dancing in his dreams, is the natural master of the Middle East. He views Iran as the chief adversary in the area and Russia supports Iran. He is so enamored with the desire of Turkish hegemony that Putin should have expected an almost irrational act from Erdogan. From a realistic point of view, even though Turkish airspace was violated numerous times by Russian aircraft, do you really want to shoot one down? It doesn’t matter if you are right; is it the most logical way to respond? I would think that having Turkish fighter planes escort the errant Russian out of their airspace would suffice and then using the diplomatic avenues to vent your rage would be more prudent.  But what Erdogan did was pull the trigger and now expect NATO to have his back. And by NATO, I specifically mean the United States. Erdogan appears ready to play the NATO Treaty Article V card, which requires NATO to come to the aid of any member country if attacked.

And now we need to seriously question Erdogan’s mental acumen. Does he expect President Obama to actually launch military forces against Russia? Does he know where Obama’s backbone is hidden? Doesn’t he realize President Obama doesn’t even protect American borders? Worse still, Vladimir Putin has what he considers a “good read” on President Obama. He watched the American President waffle when Russia downed the civilian airliner in Ukraine, saw Obama go color blind over red lines in Syria, and grasped at any unbelievable promise by the Iranians during the nuclear negotiations (that word is a joke when discussing our State Department) with Iran. Putin’s first response was to move a guided missile cruiser into range in the Mediterranean Sea, not a favorable sign. Putin will probably not even consider President Obama worthy to mediate the dispute.

Some of the more adult members of NATO such as France and Great Britain need to convince Erdogan that this is not a prudent action and that NATO is not his big stick. Putin will look for a way to deescalate the confrontation, but he has to be able to convince the Russian people that their national pride has not been wounded. This will require some astute maneuvering by all concerned. It will be better if President Obama and Secretary Kerry are kept away from the discussion.

Obama Embarrassment On The Global Stage

How many of you dear readers thought you would ever witness France and Russia taking the lead in order to defend basic humanity? I seriously doubt any of you are raising your hands. But I guess when the United States has a president who coins the phrase, “leading from behind,” that revelation is to be expected.

As has been said before, Mr. Obama takes action when it is apparent to everyone that what he has failed to do becomes the problem. Only his personal failures spur him to action, a narcissistic tendency that encompasses his presidency. He increased the number of air strikes and sent in 50 special operations personnel when Vladimir Putin exposed him as impotent in his handling of the Syrian conflict. Putin moved into the region with strength, and Mr. Obama felt compelled to answer but did so with only the most trifling of military support. Francois Hollande strikes back at ISIS with intelligence information supplied by American assets. How long were we going to sit on that intelligence? If we knew where the training bases were, why didn’t we eliminate them earlier? It takes a comment by Donald Trump regarding the destruction of ISIS controlled oil refineries to prod Mr. Obama and our military to attack a large supply of oil transporters. According to reports our planes stayed on the attack until they ran out of ammunition. This was a huge target, yet it went undamaged until the Republican front-runner offered his own plan. Mr. Obama enforces rules of engagement that state even if one innocent civilian might be killed, the attack must be scrapped. This is a requirement that ISIS not only does not follow but instead seeks out the innocents as the target.

Within the week the Americans will be told by some administrative or Democrat operative that all of these problems stem from George W. Bush. Horse-pucky! ISIS is Mr. Obama’s issue in total. His weakness and a disdain for the greatness that is the United States has allowed these murderers to flourish. To make matters worse, the Democrat debate on Saturday demonstrated that the next person in the queue for the Democrats would play off the same sheet of music. They refuse to even name the enemy. And will somebody please tell Bernie Sanders that the Middle East has always been hot and the temperature has nothing to do with the murderous history of Islam.

Paris: ISIS Feels The Pressure

We have all heard the horrible, and all too familiar news about the attack in Paris. The young perpetrators, who still seemed to be battle-hardened, were armed with bombs, AK-47 automatic rifles, and suicide vests. All of these are the bloody trademark characteristics of Muslim hatred.  I listened to President Obama’s speech last night as he promised to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the French people and recited that this was a crime against humanity. I agree with his remark regarding our long-standing French friendship, but the attack was not aimed at humanity but at the home of the crusaders, that catchall Muslim justification for their cauldron of hate.

One has to wonder if ISIS is responsible for this atrocity. If so, they have taken a giant leap in coordination, something most anti-terrorism experts previously felt was the sole domain of al-Qaeda. But if it turns out to be an ISIS operation, as ISIS currently claims, then the West needs to brace itself for more of these attacks.

As Muslim terror groups go, ISIS up to this point was fairly unique. They brashly named themselves a caliphate and demanded that Muslims everywhere declare loyalty to the caliphate and the caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. It’s one thing to have the name but quite another to have a protective air force, which ISIS does not. A caliphate, by definition, must hold land and that is why ISIS was hell-bent on spreading out as quickly as possible. Their army was nimble but thin. After all, a Toyota pick-up does not offer protection from bombs. As long as the ISIS murderers were successful, their public relations minions could make recruiting videos, some with snappy-looking black-clad soldiers, some simply horrific, and this brought in fresh fighters, the literal life-blood of the caliphate. All went well at first because the west offered token and uncoordinated resistance, a result of ten years of fighting in the region.

But then Vladimir Putin entered the fray and did it with heavy weapons. While Putin is primarily there to secure Bashar al-Assad, the Russian air force pulverized ISIS if they were in contact with pro-Assad forces. With Putin all in, the West and Barack Obama had to do something, hence the more timely and more frequent attacks by U. S. forces, to include an increased ground role. The ISIS invincibility was vanishing as the Iraqi forces, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, and various groups in Syria began to make gains on the ground against ISIS. What is ISIS to do in order to keep the lifeline of foreign fighters coming? They go to big soft targets like Paris.

The death knell for the invincible Caliphate can be heard. Putin and the Western forces that were dragged in to the fighting will probably finish the job. The butchery in Paris will bring additional fortitude into the equation, and the very desperate act to induce more volunteers will backfire. And finally, don’t fall for the crusader gambit. Mohammad himself began the first crusade when he and his Muslim hoard set out to conquer the adjoining lands that had been settled by Christian churches for 600 years.

Keep Digging. We’re Not At The Bottom, Yet.

I guess this is the fundamental change Barack Obama was imagining when he became president. We enact, with only liberal Democrat support only the gargantuan and overreaching Affordable Care Act, then watch Obama initiate a “reset” with Russia that enables a bombastic and ruthless Vladimir Putin to expand Russian control and influence from Ukraine to the Middle East, and then by presidential fiat to override enacted immigration law and ignore other laws with which he disagrees. Any disagreement is vilified as racist by the media and liberal activists. Just when any rational adult should believe it can’t get any worse, we see how mistaken we are.

The farce at the University of Missouri is a problem on a number of levels. First of all, it demonstrates how our institutions of higher learning (I know, you’re starting to giggle) have bought in to the liberal agenda by having all of these leftist professors spout their unending bilge to students without any appreciation of consequences for their instruction. After all, as long as the Federal and state dollars keep rolling in, what could possibly go wrong? The result is that we have students who will launch a coordinated attack on anyone they choose. The preferred weapon is either the race card (if you defend yourself against that, then you are automatically racist), or some perceived affront to your psyche. I’m amazed at the tender little feelings these students must possess. We need to have their mothers with them at all times, it seems. They allege offenses with no proof, and if there is proof, then only the highest of heads can be lopped off as adequate retribution. It matters not one whit that the offending collegiate officialdom could even be remotely accountable for their hurtful and unnamed adversaries.

Secondly, the universities have made their own uncomfortable and now shaky bed by chasing revenue. The universities look for cash cows wherever they can, from deep-pocketed alumni and corporate sponsors to federal grants. And they have finally sold their collective souls to athletics.  In 2011, Missouri joined the SEC for sporting affiliation. This was a money-chasing decision for additional television contracts and football attendance. So as more dollars from sports came in, more money was spent. This same year the NCAA went into cardiac arrest when the Northwestern players tried to unionize. Although the NLRB reversed an initial decision that would allow college athletes to be able to unionize, Missouri, by their total capitulation, has again placed themselves and other universities at the mercy of student/athletes (again, no giggles please) by the threat of refusing to play, or more accurately, refusing to let the university reap any financial benefit from their services.

If this is the result our universities want, then so be it. But this type of action will not end with the Missouri leadership resigning. The sponsors of this escapade in Missouri and others throughout the United States saw the quick capitulation, and their plans are already in motion. No actual offense is required. After all, I guess it is easier to get a new university president and chancellor than a running back. That’s it, keep on digging. 

Different Perspectives vs Progressivism and Perseverance

This last Tuesday was election day in the United States, a day that used to signal the end of something, either as a candidate for public office, or for any number of proposed changes to public law or policies. I am not sure whether the new norm is good or bad, but nothing ends anymore with the results of an election. Two appropriate examples are the failure of the “HERO Act” in Houston yesterday and the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

The Houston LGBT community, with national help from both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, pushed for a city ordinance to allow penis-armed males to use women’s bathrooms by claiming they were of the transgender persuasion. When I was a young boy, a bathroom peephole would have been considered the ultimate in voyeurism. To walk boldly in where no young boy had dared to go before was unthinkable. Even Superman’s X-Ray vision was curtailed at the bathroom door. But true to current form, the LGBT proponents and liberal Democrats everywhere immediately declared that this injustice (Injustice? Who said you couldn’t pee? Just don’t pee in this room.) would not be tolerated and even suggested the 2017 Super Bowl be withheld from the City of Houston. They vowed to never give up the fight.

The US Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973. Liberals argue that the abortion law is decided and that opponents should just get over it. Conservatives, Constitutional lawyers, and Christians have never given up trying to water down or overturn the effects of this law.

Perspective decides which side you are on, but from this point on, the progressives have it in spades with regard to perseverance. They never give up, they refuse to get fatigued, and they never break ranks to achieve their goals. This progressive indefatigable spirit is the true issue. America was founded as a Christian nation with Judeo-Christian ideals, and these ideals are under an unrelenting attack by liberals. But according to the 2014 Pew Research Center report on religious habits (here), Americans are becoming less religious. According to Pew, only 53% of adults say religion is very important in their lives. This is down 3% from 2007. The religiously unaffiliated has increased from 16% to 23%, and the generational replacement of older adults is being replaced by less religious young adults. For example, 67% of the Silent Generation attends weekly religious services while only 38% of the youngest Millennials do likewise. The study notes that over 80% agree that churches and religious organizations have a positive impact on society, but there is a downside in that 80%.  Almost half (52%) state religious institutions focus too much on money and power, 51% focus too much on rules, and 48% state religious institutions are too involved in politics. In plain language, what these last three groups actually tell us is these identified people enjoy the affiliation as a social group, they don’t want the moral rules of the affiliation applied to them, and since this is just a social organization, keep the religious views inside the walls of the church.  

Liberals, progressives, or Democrats, however you arrange them, never give up. They demand to move society and the morals attached to that society to their point of view. They are unbending, unapologetic, and forever scheming to achieve their goals. They use television, a compliant media, and the unconstitutional power of the Justice Department to achieve their results. Hillary Clinton, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, when speaking on the abortion question said that, “deep seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.” (here) I can only imagine the moral landfill that she aspires for America.

A Few Thoughts on Iran, Trump, and Personal Request

I thought I might engage a few different subjects instead of just exasperatingly pounding away at a single topic. Besides, the longer I spend on a single subject the more I tend to froth all over my keyboard, and my wife hates to get that stuff on her fingers as she edits out my mistakes (for the record, commas are the bane of my existence).

We have just decided to send Special Ops personnel to Syria although the presidential mouthpiece, Josh Earnest, states that this is an action that was decided a year ago as an “intensification strategy.” I guess it is just a coincidence that it appears to be a response to the increased Russian presence and weaponry at the disposal of Bashar al-Assad. The article (full article here) ends by stating that the increased military forces should not raise hopes. “The President has been quite clear that there is no military solution to the problems that are plaguing Iraq and Syria.” This statement begs the question as to why we send in troops if they are not the answer? I believe I have the answer. Russia as everyone knows is supporting the forces of Assad and is doing so at the expense of CIA trained anti-Assad rebels. It would be both risky and imprudent to try and protect our investment in rebel activity by confronting Russian military forces through a no-fly zone or in any type of standoff. However, if we make it known that we have embedded our Special Ops personnel in the rebel areas, it then puts the burden on Putin to either continue supporting the Assad forces in direct contact with the rebel forces and risk killing American troops, or limiting Russian attacks to ISIS targets. It is not a military risk for Obama, but it is highly risky for the Americans on the ground. Another Benghazi scenario waiting to occur.

As to the Trump phenomena, if you were still wondering why Donald Trump maintains his poll numbers, all you have to do is observe what occurred in Washington this week. John Boehner violated every promise he made to the Republican voting base by caving in on the budget. If you remember back to the last elections, the first thing that Mitch McConnell said at his national press conference when it was apparent that the Republicans had won the Senate, was that “there would be no shutdown of the government.” In other words, the leaders of both Houses of Congress ceded the only leverage they had for pressuring Obama to move back toward the center before they ever entered the arena. Whether Trump is, or is not, what America needs as a leader is still up for debate. But what the Republicans have now offers nothing to the Republican voters but a pack of lies.

Now as for the personal side of things, I use this blog for two reasons. One, it gives me a sense of release when I offer up my opinions on whatever subject that strikes my fancy. I tried just stepping outside and railing away at the night sky, but my neighbors seem to find reason for alarm at that. It also irritates my dog who tends to just yowl when I rail. Therefore I blog.  I also and without any apology, use this blog to advertise my novels, which I believe are quite readable. In this vein, I would ask you, dear reader, to pass on my blogs to those whom you think might find it interesting. I also welcome any comments you might have, but at the present time, you have to log in on Google+ for them to appear under the article. So much for blatant self-promotion and on to the weekend.

Time Is Of The Essence

Time is of the Essence. A phrase in a contract that means that performance by one party at or within the period specified in the contract is necessary to enable that party to require performance by the other party. Failure to act within the time required constitutes a breach of the contract. (from legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com)

I put the above legal definition in just as a point of reference. The Time is of the Essence clause determines how fast the parties to a contract work toward completion. Failure to complete in a timely manner usually has penalty clauses that follow it. I won’t and can’t get into a legal discussion of contracts, but it is decidedly interesting to see how global powers are behaving as if an implied contract comes to an end on January 20, 2017. That is the day a new President of The United States is sworn in.

If there is a Republican president after Obama, the implied contract with global antagonists like Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and China (a contract that included ham-handed ineptness, wishful thinking, mind-numbing blunders over nuclear weapons programs, and alienation of our most trusted allies) as provided by Obama and his Secretary of State would probably come to an end. So you see, Russia and China, the major players, are very busy at the moment. Putin, that bare-chested buffoon, has to grab as much territory and global positioning that he can. The rush from Ukraine and Crimea to the Middle East has to be done completely before Obama leaves. Under the watchful eyes of this administration, Russia now appears to have the operational capability to deploy sophisticated expeditionary forces and back them up with long-range cruise missiles. Iran, Syria, Iraq, and now Afghanistan all know where the global power will reside for the next decade, hence the working agreements with Russia to utilize their military might. All they have to do is look at the ashes of Yemen and Libya to see how America treats her allies. Russia can promise them no worse.

And China is working wonders in the South China Sea. Don’t tell the Democrat Party anything about China. Senator Webb tried to educate some of the Nabobian mass at the Democrat Debate and was run off the stage. But in eighteen months the Chinese have completed three new island building projects, complete with military capable airbases that can control access in the South China Sea, where $1.2 trillion of U.S. trade passes yearly. You don’t need aircraft carriers if you have land-based aircraft 500 miles from your own land mass. They have not limited their activities to the South China Sea. They are moving at break-neck speed to encircle India and the rest of the Pacific with naval basing sites to complete their logistics and force projection capability.

But like I said, the end of the contract is January 20, 2017. If they are not finished securing their aspirations at that point, then they will have to try and solidify their holdings and client states. But then again, if Hillary slithers into office, Russia and China can trust Hillary to hit the reset button again as long as they don’t hamper the Clinton’s cash intake.

They Travel In Pairs

I watched only a few moments of the Benghazi Committee questioning Hillary Clinton yesterday. A moment or two was all that was required to get the gist of what was and would be occurring.

As the scene unfolded I was reminded of an old folk tale and a warning from my parents. The folktale was about the scorpion and the frog. Most of you know it I’m sure. A frog and a scorpion come to a stream. The scorpion respectfully asks the frog for a ride across the stream with the promise to the frog that the scorpion would not sting the swimming frog. The scorpion lied and stung the frog. When the frog asks why since they would now both die, the scorpion simply responded that it was in the nature of the scorpion to sting. The warning has to do with snakes in that my parents always said if you see one snake, there is another nearby so be careful. I’m actually not sure about that but it sure made my brother and I stay on our toes and keep our eyes moving.

Bill Clinton is a snake. He was dangerous to those who trusted him and even to unsuspecting women who were unaware of his boldness. As Hillary slithered into her seat for the hearing she was a known liar. She dodges and weaves with the truth as if it is something to be avoided at all costs. The truth would not set Hillary free; it would bind her to her devious activities for all to see. George Costanza, the character on Seinfeld, once said, “It’s not a lie if you believe it.”  She can no longer recognize the truth.

Just like the scorpion’s nature, Hillary’s nature is to lie and she knows no bounds. Liberal pundits and even some conservative commentators showered her performance as unflinching, steady, and other such bilge. I just imagined her sucking down a hapless rat. We are the hapless rats.