I like Facebook.....

I admit that I like this social network site and spend an hour or two a day reading posts, answering inquiries and posting information on a variety of subjects. Facebook lends itself well to my newest passions, political and social discourse, commentary and blogging. It allows me to share and compare with others who view the world as I do and even those who don’t.

I have expanded my footprint on the web, and as a result of that expansion, I have received a great deal of feedback on my specific views and my personal life. I welcome and am thankful for that feedback as it keeps me honest. Some think I just espouse a partisan position without anything to back it up. They who think this would be very wrong indeed. What most people don’t know is that I spend a great deal of time looking up the information that I comment on then post.

One characteristic most people focus on when they look at my positions is how vociferous I am about my feelings, especially about the way the elitist leadership class has failed to govern well and true by constitutional principle. The failure to do so lies in both parties that dominate the political landscape we live. Somewhere we left the concept of rigorous constitutional adherence and began attempting to pursue something else entirely. That something else is the attempt to govern in an ad hoc/by-the seat-of –your-pants manner against common sense and against the constitution. Few people today remember the basics from high school civics, but Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution enumerates the specific powers of the Federal Government. These were all that the folks in Washington were supposed to do. The states and the localities and the people were to do the rest. We need to stick to these specifics and cut back on the extra-constitutional ones that have come into being. This federal power creep has robbed the American people of freedom and have put our nation into near-fatal financial jeopardy.

As of the last published reckoning I saw a couple of weeks ago, the present administration, led by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have borrowed and spent over $1.42 TRILLION dollars. None of this money is ours (America’s). It was borrowed, every dime of it, from Communist China, the Oil Monarchies in the middle east, or from private financiers in Europe and Asia. What responsible government borrows more (almost) money than it raised in tax revenue, especially when it is over 13 TRILLION in the rears already? What responsible government spends in 9 months more money than the previous administration did in its entire second term in office, especially with no discernible improvement in the national economic position which was promised?

Another bone of contention I have commented on, rather forcefully, I might add, is that the President is not acting as a Chief of State should. I am asked why I am so harsh a critic; why can’t I just give the guy a break. Why am I so mean or so disrespectful to he who must be obeyed?

The answer is that I am hard on anyone who shows abject and serial incompetence and banality. I was harsh on Bush for his war policies as he had demonstrated a lack of vision or historical understanding of how to properly wage war. Bush and his clan did not read history of the Mideast (or anywhere else for that matter...) and realize that unless you are ready to fight a total war, willing to root out and kill the enemy and break his stuff en mass, you will loose.

Obama and Company have made some horrible decisions and have demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of how our economy works. He and his minions are apostles of gospel of class warfare and wealth envy. Every policy and spending bill now on tap will result in higher taxes on the so-called “rich” and non-rich alike. 80% of Americans are employed by small businesses. The owners of these small enterprises do their business taxes on their personal tax forms, thus marking them as targets for additional attention of the Looters in Washington. These “rich” people, who are the job creators for most of us Americans, are going to be the ones who bear the brunt of all the tax schemes that Obama and Pelosi have in store. Since they are as myopic about economics as Bush was in the art of war, we can expect the economy not to improve much as government sucks up all the cash it can from the private economy (those “rich” folks)and shunt it to government spending programs for the Moochers and incompetents who tanked the economy. This will destroy the ability for their small business to have the capitol available to hire more people or to expand their businesses or to by the means to improve productivity.


My latest rant on the present occupant of the White House is his general deportment. As a former military type who had the pleasure and privilege to escort many VIP’s, their staffs and families about when overseas or here at home, I can tell you that Obama has made many serious and embarrassing gaffes in his interactions with other heads of state. These were of the sort that I or my shipmates would have been excoriated had we made them. We were briefed and trained better than that.

His use of the bow is especially heinous. The President NEVER BOWS...EVER! This is an act of a subjugation to a potentate or a King. We fought a revolution against a monarchy to have the right NOT to bow to anyone...ever. This has been the case since George Washington’s time and still goes today. Obama has done the bow-down on two occasions when it was very public and particularly distasteful; first, his kowtow to the King of Saudi Arabia, and second, the apology bow to the Emperor of Japan. As a matter of “bow etiquette” the second incident with the Emperor was done badly from the get go. Strictly speaking, only “subjects” bow. If you bow, you are showing subservience. By bowing, the President showed a perceived weakness and subservient posture to the Emperor. It was totally inappropriate. The Emperor comes from a country that uses the bow as a matter of courtesy and course. Obama obviously didn’t get the protocol brief or ignored it as you never shake hands when bowing nor do you bow lower than another unless showing contrition for some crime or misdemeanor to the person you are bowing to. Emperor Akihito looked surprised and embarrassed by the Obama bow and did not return it. He ignored it because it was done badly and to return it would have been to compound the error. The man is a walking, talking faux pas; a protocol train wreck incarnate. This may seem minor to the uninitiated masses, but in global statecraft, perception is reality.

One last thing I should like to address is my enjoyment of the shooting arts. I like guns for a multitude of reasons. As a resident of the sovereign Commonwealth of Virginia, I get to carry a concealed one and do so (from time to time). I have a very simple, unequivocal view on the subject. I have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms and exercise my right just as some exercise their right to free speech or to worship God in their own way. But above all that, I have a right to protect myself and those near and dear to me and my property. Make no mistake, I take this very seriously!

I also get a real charge taking a small slug of lead and placing it precisely down range exactly where I want it. I am very good at it and this month, my son, his girlfriend and a couple of old Navy buddies are going to go to the rifle and pistol range and punch some holes in some paper. This will be the last SHOOT-EX of the year due to the ever chilling weather, but I will still bask in the warm glow of comradeship and fun as we spend the afternoon all together punching holes in man-shaped silhouettes at long and short range. I firmly believe in the adage “Peace can only be achieved through superior firepower...” or a much more ancient Roman axiom “Si vis pachem, para bellum” or “If you want peace, prepare for war.” It works for nations, it works for people too.