First Things

Again, we are ignoring first things. When the Cheoan was attacked by North Korea, our response was to delay, allow enough time for the people to forget about it and then issue a statement to the effect that we’ll really get mad if it happens again. Nobody doubts that both Beijing and Tehran are wise to the game. Apparently, it is totally acceptable for any axis of evil nation to keep poking a stick in our eye. But it doesn’t stop there.

The saying goes, that shit rolls downhill. So let’s take a look at who lives down hill. It’s we and our allies. Don’t feel sorry for Obama. He is not one of us. He’s made that abundantly clear. It’s no skin off his nose when shit happens. Look at what’s happening with these pat downs. Some malcontent puts explosives in his pants and a year later 300 million Americans run the risk of being sexually manhandled by the State. “It’s for our safety,” we’re being told. The American people are no longer buying it. There’s a rumor going ‘round that the enhanced pat-down procedures are deliberately aggressive to get people to opt for massive doses of x-rays instead. Let somebody follow the money: Who has bought stock recently in the company that is producing these machines? There’s the added benefit, of course, to get the American public used to rolling over as our police state gains momentum. (Update: George Soros recently sold his shares in OSI-Systems, owner of Rapiscan. So, I guess, the scheme has gone about as far as it will go.) What everyone is ignoring here is that Janet Napolitano was unable to answer the question of whether Muslim women in burkas would be required to submit to the new procedures. First things.

Our president feels it is quite alright to bully Israel into indefensible positions, demanding all manner of concessions, while ignoring the fact that the Arab world will never recognize Israel’s right to exist as a state. When Obama speaks of a two-state solution, he speaks of a two Arab state solution. First things.

Our health care system is in disarray. Doctors are fleeing the profession. Premiums are becoming prohibitively expensive. Companies can no longer cope with employees’ health care insurance needs. Everything we were told about the bill was a lie (as anyone with even an ounce of sense could have figured out for themselves). So, why did it pass?

We’re never told first things.

Were We Attacked?

I couldn’t sleep last night. It wasn’t the red fox screeching outside my open window; it wasn’t my lumpy bed; it wasn’t the extra cup of Brazilian coffee I had after dinner.

You keep saying “accident”. How do you know the Deepwater Horizon platform explosion and its subsequent collapse two days before the world was to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day was an accident?

Nobody could claim that 9/11 was an ‘accident’. There were too many witnesses. But everything done since has been to assign ultimate blame to America. Then there was what was widely suspected as the torpedoing of the South Korean naval vessel by North Korea a month ago. If true, this was clearly an act of war, but nobody’s talking. Why? Because chivalry demands a suitable response to an act of aggression and no one is currently in the position to respond to an act of war given the multitude of other concerns nations in general are facing. Bin Laden himself said that he based his murderous campaign against the West on his belief that the West would not respond effectively to the challenge.

Better to sweep this sort of thing under a rug and pretend it didn’t happen. Worry about nickel and dime economies, tea parties, and who’s sleeping with whom…

Just in case nobody’s noticed, the axis of evil has expanded to our own hemisphere since Obama has been in power. Venezuela, for instance, has been palling around with the likes of Russia, Iran, North Korea and Zimbabwe. Notwithstanding the North Korean MO of torpedoing ‘enemy’ ships and now possibly oil rigs, these rogue nations have been paying attention. They’ve seen that we will not retaliate no matter what happens. We’ll try to get away by proposing media lynchings based on Sarah Palin’s sock drawer …and ‘accidents’. The American media/government complex will happily go along with it. Besides, it fits in neatly with their anti-war, anti-oil (energy) Marxist agenda. The public has been suitably trained to immediately assume ‘accident’. Did Obama give it away when mentioning sending in S.W.A.T. teams?

The reason I couldn’t sleep was because I kept wondering: Were we attacked?
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Note: The Deepwater Horizon was built in Ulsan, South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries at a cost of approximately $365 million and entered service in 2001.

Why Are We There?

Let’s step back for a moment and ask the question, “What do we hope to accomplish in Afghanistan?” Is it nation building? No. Is it to prop up an illegitimate puppet government there? Not in so many words. Is it to protect the homeland? Hardly. Is it for oil? Officially speaking, no. Is it to protect Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal? It’s a concern, but no. So why are we there?

As time goes on, this question is becoming harder and harder to answer. If the way in which we’re fighting this war is any indication, it does not seem to be critical that we should win. So why are we there? To maintain a presence? To remain a factor - to reserve a seat at the table where the ultimate solution for the region will be decided? Perhaps.

It seems to me, that if we want to remain relevant in what happens in this tortured region, we must be certain of what we ourselves hope to accomplish. Such clarity, unfortunately, is not readily apparent. We appear to no longer believe in human rights. We no longer believe in democracy. We no longer believe in free market capitalism and the energy that sustains it. We no longer believe in American exceptionalism. We no longer believe in Israel. We no longer believe in ourselves. So, why are we there?

Is it perhaps to inflict another crushing blow on our military; to re-create Vietnam, April, 1975? Is it our stealth desire to install an Islamic Caliphate in the region? Is it to overwhelm global political systems to the point of ushering in a world-wide economic and political collapse; hence, revolution; to clear the tables of any and all evil Western influence?

When Bush spoke of the “axis of evil”, we had the last indication of a strategy that had the potential of advancing America’s largely benign influence. With one or two coherent, coordinated strokes we could envision a victory that would bring peace to the region by holding any corrosive elements at bay; assuring the uninterrupted flow of oil to western nations; and securing Israel’s right to exist.

All of that has been officially disavowed now. There is no longer any reason for us to be conducting any foreign campaigns; no reason to spill the blood of our bravest and finest. Why then are we there? All that makes sense at this point is that we are aiming to blunt the last arrow in our quiver that stands in the way of total chaos.