Here's the Thing

Here are several thoughts for your consideration. Feel free to agree or disagree. I am just throwing these thoughts out there because they amuse, bemuse, bewilder, astound, or just downright irritate me. Maybe I'll find that I am not alone in my thoughts and that there is a huge, silent majority out there that feels as I do and is ready to elect me to the position of President/Emperor. Maybe I'll find that I am alone in my thoughts and that I have finally gone over to the lunatic fringe element side of the hallway. Step softly. Carry a big stick. Watch out for the bogeyman. See? I'd make a good President.

Did you ever wonder about this? For eight years, and even longer, the Republican Party has been pushing legislation to make sure that everybody knows that the United States is a Christian country and to make sure that Christian ideals are displayed in our courtrooms and taught in our public schools. For eight years, and even longer, the Republican Party has been advocating the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq. So tell me this: why has the Republican administration stood aside while Christian family after Christian family has been forced from their homes in Iraq? Many of them have been forced from Iraq. Aren't we embarrassed that Christians had less to fear from their Muslim neighbors under the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein than under the so-called representative Democracy overseen by U.S. troops under the command of a self-proclaimed Christian commander-in-chief?

For that matter, do you wonder why the Christian political element so instrumental in electing and re-electing President Bush hasn't been howling and screaming about this sad state of affairs in Iraq? While we're all patting ourselves on the back for the "successful" surge, shouldn't we be asking ourselves why Christians are leaving Sunni, Shiite, Kurd, and Turkmen cities and neighborhoods?

While we're at it, if the President and his supporters have spent all this time telling us that he will listen to the commanders on the ground rather than the critics at home, then why isn't the President listening to the commanders on the ground? They've been telling him that the solution in Iraq must come through the political process, not from the military process. They've been telling him, publicly and loudly, that we need troops, many more troops, in Afghanistan, and that we need them now. They've been telling him that we need more aircraft, more helicopters, and more aerial tankers. So, why did the President's Secretary of Defense fire the commanders who told the President what we need?

We're in a Global War On Terror. The President told us so. The President based his re-election campaign on it. The President based his campaign to circumvent civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution on the Global War On Terror. The Defense Department has given it an acronym, the GWOT, to impress us with its importance and to impress us with the Department's ability to create acronyms. John McCain and Sarah Palin are telling us not to elect Barack Obama, because they say he is our enemy in the GWOT. In this GWOT, the President has claimed the right to hunt down and kill the terrorists wherever they may be, because the terrorists will get weapons and kill us if we don't.

Okay. So, how come a band of pirates in Somalia has been allowed to capture ship after ship after ship in the Gulf of Aden, ransom off the crews and cargo, and use the money to buy more weapons and fund the activities of groups like Al Quaeda? Dick Cheney, President Bush, Condoleeza Rice, and just about every Republican in sight castigated President Clinton for letting a bunch of thugs ambush a Ranger and Delta unit, drag their bodies through the streets, preen for the CNN cameras, and get away with it. They said that was a very bad thing for the President to do. I agree. We should have left smoking craters in Mogadishu. So how come we now have the spectacle of a few thugs holding a Ukrainian ship loaded with Russian tanks in a harbor surrounded by six, yes six, U.S. warships and we're waiting around for.......what? To just sit there? And wait? For the Russians to show up and maybe save the day? John McCain spoke of Teddy Roosevelt during the debates. What would Teddy do? Trust me, the image of six U.S. warships being held at bay on the world stage while pirates brazenly pick off shipping across one of the world's most important shipping routes will not strike fear into the hearts of the terrorists.

Does anybody else think that allowing Al-Quaeda to survive and regroup in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while a U.S. military machine unmatched in the world got bogged down in an insurgency in Iraq due to unbelievably bad judgement calls by a clueless civilian leadership intent on imposing political doctrine back home rather than getting the job done over there has done at least as much damage to future U.S. security as inaction during the Clinton years did? I'm guessing that the terrorists are no more afraid of us now than they were on September 10, 2001.

Does anybody else wonder, when some civilian tells you how important it is to fight the terrorists over there so that we don't have to fight them over here, why that civilian isn't over there helping to fight the terrorists? If you think the War On Terror is so important, shouldn't you put on a uniform and get your ass over there in the trenches and on the choppers next to the men and women you are so willing to send over there?

I'll tell you what I think. I think the loudmouths who are waving the flag and counting the flag pins on lapels, and telling people how patriotic they are.....I think they're afraid to fight the terrorists anywhere. I think if the terrorists do make their way over here, most of the loudmouths, flag wavers, and flag pin wearers will be cowering in their basements hoping somebody does something before the bad guys make it to their houses. The flag wavers and flag pin wearers who will be out there making the terrorists duck and run for cover will be the men and women who have been there and done that. The men and women who have worn the uniform or currently wear the uniform. They know what freedom requires and most of them are not afraid of fighting the terrorists over here. When they say "Bring it on" they don't need anybody else to "take 'em on". They'll do that themselves, thank you very much.

That's what I think. Don't worry. I've got more thoughts that I'll be sharing. Or, maybe, you should worry.