At this most Holy of Seasons for the World's Christians, I often reflect upon the true nature of man and his place in the wide Universe of disbelief, unbelief and other contrary beliefs. My first and most lasting conclusion on this deeply spiritual matter is that but for virtues that are timeless, all human endeavors would be vanity. This conviction underscores the meaning that I found in the lead editorial published yesterday in The Wall Street Journal's Christmas Eve edition: "In Hoc Anno Domini" written by Mr. Royster in 1949, the year of my birth. This editorial has been reprinted annually now by the WSJ for 64 years, and justifiably so:
"Along the road to Damascus, the light shone brightly. But afterwards Paul was sore
afraid. He feared that other Caesars might one day persuade men that man was no-
thing save a servant unto them, that man might yield up their birthright from God
for portage and walk no more in freedom.
And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethen, the Galatians, the
words he would have us remember afterwards in each of the years of his Lord:
Stand fast therefore in the Liberty wherewith Christ has made us free
and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
This message of deliverance from oppression is more timely today than even so more than half a Century ago, as the suffocating intrusions into our lives by government overseers become more pervasive each and every year - NSA monitoring of every citizen's every communication every day being only the latest of the perversions of our birthright of Constitutional freedom and liberty.
Therefore, to quote my favorite line from both the Bible and the movie: "A Man for All Seasons" - "What gaineth a man to win the entire World, but loseth his soul." With this thought in mind, I am willing to stand with Vermont Royster be to be a voice of contrarian views resisting the power of the collective political wisdom where all men get their daily bread handed to them by our modern day Caesars, while bonding us all in servitude to this all powerful secular State. Be of good cheer, as we will prevail - if not in our time, in God's.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Sunday, September 8, 2013
The Arrogance of Stupid Power
From the very beginning, the Obama Administration has failed the most basic tenet of national leadership on this debacle in Syria - zig zaging from one banal sound bite to the next, the public is aghast at the lack of a coherent plan or strategy to be implemented in response to the use of chemical weapons against the civilian population of East Damascus. The American people want to rally around the President in a time of international conflict that endangers our national security. Nonetheless, uniting the Nation in support of a plan of action to defend the country has been made impossible most assuredly by the absence of any meaningful plan of action by this Administration. No American citizen believes that a pin prick, shot across the bow will accomplish anything on the ground in Syria other than to embolden Assad that he has taken America's best shot and finds himself neither particularly degraded, nor in the least bit deterred from continuing the slaughter of his own people in any fashion that suits him.
Instead of hearing the rallying war cry of "Remember the Maine", "A Day that will Live in Infamy" or even "The Whole World will Hear Us Soon", we get David Axlerod tweating: "Congress is like the Dog that caught the Car". Cheap political gotcha games do not inspire citizens, nor instill confidence in our allies that America's Commander in Chief will successfully manage any military campaign, however "limited" and "precise in scope".
Yet, far worse than than the dismal optics of the Administration's misconduct of the public debate on the Congressional war powers authorization, is the clear demonstration that this White House truly believes there will be no blow back or violent response to our attack in Syria. A miscalculation of that magnitude is absolutely frightening in its arrogance, naivate and blind stupidity. When Senator Rand Paul challenged Secretary Kerry on the President's Constitutional authority to take the Nation into war contrary to the Vote in Congress opposing such initiation of military conflict, the Secretary dismissed the Senator's contention as frivolous because the Constitution requires Congressional approval only for real or "Classic war". With a straight face, and I mean that literally - a very long, straight face - Secretary Kerry pontificated with deep and sincere conviction that the President is simply going to blow up a few buildings in Syria and then all the unpleasantness will be over in a matter of days, not weeks or months.
A very telling moment then occurred when the Secretary looked to nail down his put down of the Senator by asking General Dempsey, sitting right beside him, to concur on this obviously wise pronouncement that America will take a few names, kick some Arab butt and come home credibility restored, Hezbollah terrorists, the Iranians and Russians rendered impotent. In reply, the Nation's Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman turned to face Secretary Kerry and said: "No Mr. Secretary, I do not want to speak to that proposition." Kerry, forgetting to turn off his witness microphone, said to General Dempsey, the Congress and to the entire nation: "Thanks for pulling the Rug right out from under me, General".
Better Secretary Kerry loses control of his ridiculously wrongheaded talking points, than our Great Nation lose all control of its destiny by marching off to inflict a simple pin prick that causes our enemies in Damascus, Tehran, Moscow and Beijing to launch counter pin pricks - through surrogates at first - that lead to a second round of attacks to restore Obama's street cred, that lead to yet another round of counter strikes by these emboldened adversaries, with every escalation met by a similar upping the ante of war fighting until even Mr. Kerry recognizes the existence of that "Classic War" he can't envision happening. Unintended consequences do happen after all, even to Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
Instead of hearing the rallying war cry of "Remember the Maine", "A Day that will Live in Infamy" or even "The Whole World will Hear Us Soon", we get David Axlerod tweating: "Congress is like the Dog that caught the Car". Cheap political gotcha games do not inspire citizens, nor instill confidence in our allies that America's Commander in Chief will successfully manage any military campaign, however "limited" and "precise in scope".
Yet, far worse than than the dismal optics of the Administration's misconduct of the public debate on the Congressional war powers authorization, is the clear demonstration that this White House truly believes there will be no blow back or violent response to our attack in Syria. A miscalculation of that magnitude is absolutely frightening in its arrogance, naivate and blind stupidity. When Senator Rand Paul challenged Secretary Kerry on the President's Constitutional authority to take the Nation into war contrary to the Vote in Congress opposing such initiation of military conflict, the Secretary dismissed the Senator's contention as frivolous because the Constitution requires Congressional approval only for real or "Classic war". With a straight face, and I mean that literally - a very long, straight face - Secretary Kerry pontificated with deep and sincere conviction that the President is simply going to blow up a few buildings in Syria and then all the unpleasantness will be over in a matter of days, not weeks or months.
A very telling moment then occurred when the Secretary looked to nail down his put down of the Senator by asking General Dempsey, sitting right beside him, to concur on this obviously wise pronouncement that America will take a few names, kick some Arab butt and come home credibility restored, Hezbollah terrorists, the Iranians and Russians rendered impotent. In reply, the Nation's Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman turned to face Secretary Kerry and said: "No Mr. Secretary, I do not want to speak to that proposition." Kerry, forgetting to turn off his witness microphone, said to General Dempsey, the Congress and to the entire nation: "Thanks for pulling the Rug right out from under me, General".
Better Secretary Kerry loses control of his ridiculously wrongheaded talking points, than our Great Nation lose all control of its destiny by marching off to inflict a simple pin prick that causes our enemies in Damascus, Tehran, Moscow and Beijing to launch counter pin pricks - through surrogates at first - that lead to a second round of attacks to restore Obama's street cred, that lead to yet another round of counter strikes by these emboldened adversaries, with every escalation met by a similar upping the ante of war fighting until even Mr. Kerry recognizes the existence of that "Classic War" he can't envision happening. Unintended consequences do happen after all, even to Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
A Call to Arms
Tens of thousands are dead or dying in Syria - hundreds of innocent children and women every day. Egypt is wracked by murderous sectarian violence; Iraq has blown up, again literally, Bagdad's streets are littered with shattered human wreckage and misery from daily car bombings; Iran is speeding toward wielding the largest killing machine in history, an atomic bomb; Yemen is so threatening to America that our Embassy has been closed, possibly permanently. No country in the entire Middle East is peaceable or safe for Americans, Europeans or Israel's citizens. The Arab Spring may yet lead to a Nuclear Winter for the West, our civilization reduced to rubble or destroyed by Jihadists willing to kill forever in the name of Almighty Allah.
So, as chaos reigns, hard choices - none good, nor assured of complete success - need to be made here as our war weary nation is now threatened to be engulfed in these many murderous conflicts, spanning already two continents. Russia has made its chosen path in the region known - every military armament available to be spared from the Russian arsenal has and will be flown into Syria to keep Assad, the Butcher, on his thrown, so he can kill, maim and torture his own people in perpetuity, Reset Button notwithstanding.
In the face of this vast carnage in Syria over the last three years, our Nation's key response has been to unleash first Hillary, and now John, on the Butcher Assad with ever more withering rhetoric. This week, however, America has finally reached the Rubicon, as President Obama has called upon the Congress to authorize his use of whatever military force he deems warranted to prevent more chemical weapon attacks on Syria's civilian population.
In one recent press interview, the President said he intends to "fire a shot across the bow" of the Butcher Assad. Regrettably, as Assad does not live on a boat out at sea, he probably won't even see the splash of this so-called harsh punishment. But this is no time to carp or quibble about pin pricks or other one time symbolic, face saving gestures. Because now the Congress gets a Vote, so will Assad, Putin and the Mullahs in Iran after America fires a few tomahawks into Syria's desert. This President's fervent desire to sucker punch Assad, and then pivot back to his golf game with Joe Biden is just not the way the world works.
America and our Congress must now decide whether to get very serious about the perceived need to protect our national security. We have the military power to stop the ongoing carnage, at least for a long period of time through air strikes that ground the entire Syrian Air Force. Such a "All In" intervention - at great risk to our armed forces and citizenry due Jihadist retaliatory attacks - is not the President's Way, however. Indeed, should Congress debate this authorization to go to war seriously, knowing that a sucker punch that does not knock the opponent unconscious, leads quickly to possibly countless and uncontrollable counter punches, may well reasonably decide not to intervene. As stated at the outset, there are no good or guaranteed winning choices in today's Middle East conflict.
Nonetheless, one absolute truth does exist in this geopolitical battle for regional dominance - any one or two day, pop gun shot across the bow will accomplish nothing more than reveal to the entire World that America is faking it; we will be justifiably seen as "phoning in" our supposed concern for the gassed babies, mothers and fathers of East Damascus, let alone the other one hundred thousand slaughtered by more "humane" weapons. I will not Vote for America to become the Joke of the Middle East. I have not yet decided on whether to call my Congressional reps to seek their support for "All In" either. Nonetheless, I will not be out golfing while I struggle with that seriously Life and Death Vote. Our entire Nation deserves a few sleepless nights over this dangerous game changing decision.
So, as chaos reigns, hard choices - none good, nor assured of complete success - need to be made here as our war weary nation is now threatened to be engulfed in these many murderous conflicts, spanning already two continents. Russia has made its chosen path in the region known - every military armament available to be spared from the Russian arsenal has and will be flown into Syria to keep Assad, the Butcher, on his thrown, so he can kill, maim and torture his own people in perpetuity, Reset Button notwithstanding.
In the face of this vast carnage in Syria over the last three years, our Nation's key response has been to unleash first Hillary, and now John, on the Butcher Assad with ever more withering rhetoric. This week, however, America has finally reached the Rubicon, as President Obama has called upon the Congress to authorize his use of whatever military force he deems warranted to prevent more chemical weapon attacks on Syria's civilian population.
In one recent press interview, the President said he intends to "fire a shot across the bow" of the Butcher Assad. Regrettably, as Assad does not live on a boat out at sea, he probably won't even see the splash of this so-called harsh punishment. But this is no time to carp or quibble about pin pricks or other one time symbolic, face saving gestures. Because now the Congress gets a Vote, so will Assad, Putin and the Mullahs in Iran after America fires a few tomahawks into Syria's desert. This President's fervent desire to sucker punch Assad, and then pivot back to his golf game with Joe Biden is just not the way the world works.
America and our Congress must now decide whether to get very serious about the perceived need to protect our national security. We have the military power to stop the ongoing carnage, at least for a long period of time through air strikes that ground the entire Syrian Air Force. Such a "All In" intervention - at great risk to our armed forces and citizenry due Jihadist retaliatory attacks - is not the President's Way, however. Indeed, should Congress debate this authorization to go to war seriously, knowing that a sucker punch that does not knock the opponent unconscious, leads quickly to possibly countless and uncontrollable counter punches, may well reasonably decide not to intervene. As stated at the outset, there are no good or guaranteed winning choices in today's Middle East conflict.
Nonetheless, one absolute truth does exist in this geopolitical battle for regional dominance - any one or two day, pop gun shot across the bow will accomplish nothing more than reveal to the entire World that America is faking it; we will be justifiably seen as "phoning in" our supposed concern for the gassed babies, mothers and fathers of East Damascus, let alone the other one hundred thousand slaughtered by more "humane" weapons. I will not Vote for America to become the Joke of the Middle East. I have not yet decided on whether to call my Congressional reps to seek their support for "All In" either. Nonetheless, I will not be out golfing while I struggle with that seriously Life and Death Vote. Our entire Nation deserves a few sleepless nights over this dangerous game changing decision.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Why Robert Mueller does not Matter - At All
Current, but soon to be put out to pasture, FBI Director Robert Mueller regretfully reminds me of the Nixon Bureau Director, the very late, L. Patrick Gray. When confronted with the mounds of evidence gathered by Congress (and not the FBI) of a vast criminal conspiracy being run out of the White House to dismantle the U.S.Constitution, L. Patrick testified that he missed these obvious crimes because he didn't have a "suspicious mind".
To evaluate whether Mueller should join L. Patrick in this non-pantheon of Detective Clouseaus, let's examine the sterling record achieved by Mueller's Bureau since his ascension to this high office in September of 2001:
* Shoe bomber evades detection, until other airline passengers smell smoke emanating from his sneakers in aisle 20, window seat; Christmas Eve, 2001;
* Underwear bomber evades detection, until other passengers see small flames emanating from his jokeys in aisle 31, window seat; December 2008;
* Army Major Hasan "fully" investigated by Bureau, determined to be "harmless", before murdering 13 American Patriots in the name of Allah; July 2009;
* DOJ openly smuggles more than twenty-eight hundred assault rifles to Mexican Drug Cartels; Bureau ignores this crime and its cover-up by Main Justice; October 2011;
* F.M. Global account executives secretly transfer 1.6 billion dollars from customer lock-box accounts (set up to be entry proof by Al Gore) to their own business investments before losing every last nickle in the purchase of European government debt instruments; Former NJ Democrat Governor John Corzine laughs when informed of FBI opening criminal investigation; May 2012;
* Finally, late last week, Director Mueller capped off this most impressive record of law enforcement achievements - 0 for everything important to the War on Terror/Rule of Law - by testifying before Congress that he had not even inquired into the identity of the FBI/SAIC placed in charge of the Bureau's non-existent investigation of the IRS persecution of the Tea Party groups.
So, my conclusion is that RM certainly joins LP in his Nixonian conduct of the nation's law enforcement responsibilities - control of the restless rabble by assuring all 310 million of us - There is nothing to see here, keeping moving, do not stop to question the government or to petition it for the redress of grievances. After all, you all are under surveillance 24/7/365 in every single electronic switch you activate, or deactivate. Sleep easy, therefore, as the Government is taking care of everyone all the time, with Robert Mueller's implicit blessing or total unawareness.
To evaluate whether Mueller should join L. Patrick in this non-pantheon of Detective Clouseaus, let's examine the sterling record achieved by Mueller's Bureau since his ascension to this high office in September of 2001:
* Shoe bomber evades detection, until other airline passengers smell smoke emanating from his sneakers in aisle 20, window seat; Christmas Eve, 2001;
* Underwear bomber evades detection, until other passengers see small flames emanating from his jokeys in aisle 31, window seat; December 2008;
* Army Major Hasan "fully" investigated by Bureau, determined to be "harmless", before murdering 13 American Patriots in the name of Allah; July 2009;
* DOJ openly smuggles more than twenty-eight hundred assault rifles to Mexican Drug Cartels; Bureau ignores this crime and its cover-up by Main Justice; October 2011;
* F.M. Global account executives secretly transfer 1.6 billion dollars from customer lock-box accounts (set up to be entry proof by Al Gore) to their own business investments before losing every last nickle in the purchase of European government debt instruments; Former NJ Democrat Governor John Corzine laughs when informed of FBI opening criminal investigation; May 2012;
* Finally, late last week, Director Mueller capped off this most impressive record of law enforcement achievements - 0 for everything important to the War on Terror/Rule of Law - by testifying before Congress that he had not even inquired into the identity of the FBI/SAIC placed in charge of the Bureau's non-existent investigation of the IRS persecution of the Tea Party groups.
So, my conclusion is that RM certainly joins LP in his Nixonian conduct of the nation's law enforcement responsibilities - control of the restless rabble by assuring all 310 million of us - There is nothing to see here, keeping moving, do not stop to question the government or to petition it for the redress of grievances. After all, you all are under surveillance 24/7/365 in every single electronic switch you activate, or deactivate. Sleep easy, therefore, as the Government is taking care of everyone all the time, with Robert Mueller's implicit blessing or total unawareness.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Why James Clapper Matters - Too Much
Had composed fully a eulogy to NJ Senator Lautenberg, who was the last WWII veteran serving in the US Senate. (As my Blog drafting is by pen and paper, the inability to just publish this heartfelt farewell is self-explanatory.)
The events of this past week justify the by-passing of the departed Jerseyan (who most probably was very eloquently eulogized in NYC services - hey, Weehawken just isn't the City that never sleeps.) Oops, I remember now, Hillary Clinton was the primary orator for Mr. Lautneberg.
Many elite members probably believe that this Blog Post has written itself. Not so. As you know, the pre-eminent responsibility of the National Government is the national defense. Therefore, I will withhold judgment on the legality and usefulness of the NSA Prism program in prosecuting the apparently not so ended War on Terror until its parameters are more fully understood. Of course, I would much prefer hearing that all the electronic and phone surveillance by the NSA is being conducted against our potential adversaries and host nations for terrorists, say Russia, China, Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and France. Quite possibly they are doing such spying internationally, so this massive domestic snooping is just side hustle for slow weekend duty.
Back to the point here; the Federal Government has the same pre-eminent responsibility to conduct the nation's defense pursuant to the RULE OF LAW, so that security is not pursued at the detriment of either our sacred ideals and/or Constitutional values. Among those values is that sworn testimony to the United States Congress must be truthful. It seems that the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, sees himself fully exempt from this mandated standard of lawful conduct applicable to every American witness before the Congress.
In an effort to comprehend this absolute arrogance, this absolute disdain for the Congress and this absolute stupidity, it occurred to me that possibly Clapper had been informed by A.G. Holder that lying to Congress poses no risk of DOJ prosecution, so long as you are a cabinet level federal official.
Anyone who believes that a Government - which will strip our diplomats of all security in Benghazi, and then lie about it, will give thousands of assault weapons to Mexican Drug Cartels, and then lie about it, will target and harass Tea Party groups, and then lie about it - will not abuse our lawful citizens privacy after it collects billions of private, personal information, needs a mental competency examination.
So, of course, National Intelligence Director Clapper lied, indeed bald face lied, to the elected representatives of we the 310 million Americans with no fear of any accountability for that felony. Anyone taking bets on who gets prosecuted first - Clapper or leaker, Snowden?
The events of this past week justify the by-passing of the departed Jerseyan (who most probably was very eloquently eulogized in NYC services - hey, Weehawken just isn't the City that never sleeps.) Oops, I remember now, Hillary Clinton was the primary orator for Mr. Lautneberg.
Many elite members probably believe that this Blog Post has written itself. Not so. As you know, the pre-eminent responsibility of the National Government is the national defense. Therefore, I will withhold judgment on the legality and usefulness of the NSA Prism program in prosecuting the apparently not so ended War on Terror until its parameters are more fully understood. Of course, I would much prefer hearing that all the electronic and phone surveillance by the NSA is being conducted against our potential adversaries and host nations for terrorists, say Russia, China, Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and France. Quite possibly they are doing such spying internationally, so this massive domestic snooping is just side hustle for slow weekend duty.
Back to the point here; the Federal Government has the same pre-eminent responsibility to conduct the nation's defense pursuant to the RULE OF LAW, so that security is not pursued at the detriment of either our sacred ideals and/or Constitutional values. Among those values is that sworn testimony to the United States Congress must be truthful. It seems that the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, sees himself fully exempt from this mandated standard of lawful conduct applicable to every American witness before the Congress.
In an effort to comprehend this absolute arrogance, this absolute disdain for the Congress and this absolute stupidity, it occurred to me that possibly Clapper had been informed by A.G. Holder that lying to Congress poses no risk of DOJ prosecution, so long as you are a cabinet level federal official.
Anyone who believes that a Government - which will strip our diplomats of all security in Benghazi, and then lie about it, will give thousands of assault weapons to Mexican Drug Cartels, and then lie about it, will target and harass Tea Party groups, and then lie about it - will not abuse our lawful citizens privacy after it collects billions of private, personal information, needs a mental competency examination.
So, of course, National Intelligence Director Clapper lied, indeed bald face lied, to the elected representatives of we the 310 million Americans with no fear of any accountability for that felony. Anyone taking bets on who gets prosecuted first - Clapper or leaker, Snowden?
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Why James Rosen Matters Now
Memorial Day is here, as this is written - watched the National Symphony with hosts Gary Sinise, Ed Harris and Joe Mantegna honor our fallen heroes - am not afraid to say I shed a few tears, as their stories of our Nation's warrior elite often ended in tragedy. Most striking, the Police Action, non-war in Korea cost America 36,000 confirmed fatal casualties.
I am also now reminded that the freedoms our service men and woemen willingly died for are secure only so long as we, the living beneficiaries of their sacrifice, fight for them daily. Our federal government, be it a Republican or Democrat Administration grows more powerful each day as well. A Commander-in-Chief, who has the Absolute Power to kill anyone in the entire world by merely telling a subordinate to "make it so", and in minutes 10,000 miles away a NCO operating a Joy Stick in front of a computer screen does exactly that - no fuss, no muss - is no longer a science fiction drama.
Such immense power, may or may not corrupt absolutely (it does), but it most certainly requires the checks and balances of our Constitution, starting with the free press - unafraid to hold the Executive accountable for it abuses. Accordingly, the recent DOJ declaration that Fox New's James Rosen is a criminal conspirator having joined a spy operation is anathema to the proper role of our free press.
Indeed, were President Obama to have a son, he would be just like James - hard working, industrious, smart and honest to a fault. Absolutely no one in the entire world believes that James Rosen is criminal; well. with the one possible exception of Inspector Cleauseau Holder who signed off on the affidavit asserting James' criminality; but that was before he testified under oath before Congress and completely forgot that he had endorsed this declaration.
Such a memory lapse by Holder is quite explainable, like pulling on a Drone Hell Fire missle joy stick, do it enough times and its just another day at the office.
I am also now reminded that the freedoms our service men and woemen willingly died for are secure only so long as we, the living beneficiaries of their sacrifice, fight for them daily. Our federal government, be it a Republican or Democrat Administration grows more powerful each day as well. A Commander-in-Chief, who has the Absolute Power to kill anyone in the entire world by merely telling a subordinate to "make it so", and in minutes 10,000 miles away a NCO operating a Joy Stick in front of a computer screen does exactly that - no fuss, no muss - is no longer a science fiction drama.
Such immense power, may or may not corrupt absolutely (it does), but it most certainly requires the checks and balances of our Constitution, starting with the free press - unafraid to hold the Executive accountable for it abuses. Accordingly, the recent DOJ declaration that Fox New's James Rosen is a criminal conspirator having joined a spy operation is anathema to the proper role of our free press.
Indeed, were President Obama to have a son, he would be just like James - hard working, industrious, smart and honest to a fault. Absolutely no one in the entire world believes that James Rosen is criminal; well. with the one possible exception of Inspector Cleauseau Holder who signed off on the affidavit asserting James' criminality; but that was before he testified under oath before Congress and completely forgot that he had endorsed this declaration.
Such a memory lapse by Holder is quite explainable, like pulling on a Drone Hell Fire missle joy stick, do it enough times and its just another day at the office.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Memorial Day 2013
Well, here it is, the Unofficial start of Summer - with snow falling in the higher elevations of the northeast, Al Gore be mystified, and cold. Nonetheless, irrespective of the inhospitable weather (and remember its not like the frozen (25 below F.) Chosen Reservoir in November 1950), we should all take time out from Mom, apple pie and baseball to recognize the sacrifices of those heroes who now rest in peace in our nation's cementaries from Sea to Shining Sea.
So many young lives given freely to defend our most cherished freedoms - free speech, freedom of the press, free exercise of religion, freedom to bear arms and the freedom to assemble and petition the government fro redress of grievances.
Indeed, the Bill of Rights is a collection of immortal ideas that are worth dying for. Still, war is the most inhuman, most repulsive, most detestable activity ever conceived by mankind. President Obama, therefore, is to be given credit for his steadfast commitment to ending our "forever" wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, while staying out of Libya and Syria. Staying away from (or removing) American boots on the ground in these internecine conflicts is definitely credit worthy.
What is not good policy, in my judgment, is for the President to speak before the National Defense College to announce that the Global War on Terror has been ended by an American Executive Order. Great, by the One's Proclamation of Peace in our Time, the terrorists - or to name our Enemy accurately, the radical Islamic Jihadists - have been ordered to stand down - very reassuring, unless you are a unarmed British soldier,walking peaceably down a London Street;
or, marathon race spectators standing peaceably on a Boston Street;
or, 13 unarmed American soldiers sitting at plastic tables at Fort Hood, Texas;
or, an American Ambassador and three fellow heroes working for us peaceably in Benghazi;
It is clear on this Memorial Day weekend that the War being waging against Western Civilization by the Radical Islamists will not end by the signing of a Peace Treaty on the deck of the Missouri. It is equally clear that these Jihadists will not end their mass killings because President Obama gave a speech at a venue that our national security apparatus could not even secure against one intemperate woman. When one Code Pink lady can confront, and for a period of time silence, the most powerful official in the world, my firm conviction is that it a mite premature to raise the "Mission Accomplished" banner just yet.
So many young lives given freely to defend our most cherished freedoms - free speech, freedom of the press, free exercise of religion, freedom to bear arms and the freedom to assemble and petition the government fro redress of grievances.
Indeed, the Bill of Rights is a collection of immortal ideas that are worth dying for. Still, war is the most inhuman, most repulsive, most detestable activity ever conceived by mankind. President Obama, therefore, is to be given credit for his steadfast commitment to ending our "forever" wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, while staying out of Libya and Syria. Staying away from (or removing) American boots on the ground in these internecine conflicts is definitely credit worthy.
What is not good policy, in my judgment, is for the President to speak before the National Defense College to announce that the Global War on Terror has been ended by an American Executive Order. Great, by the One's Proclamation of Peace in our Time, the terrorists - or to name our Enemy accurately, the radical Islamic Jihadists - have been ordered to stand down - very reassuring, unless you are a unarmed British soldier,walking peaceably down a London Street;
or, marathon race spectators standing peaceably on a Boston Street;
or, 13 unarmed American soldiers sitting at plastic tables at Fort Hood, Texas;
or, an American Ambassador and three fellow heroes working for us peaceably in Benghazi;
It is clear on this Memorial Day weekend that the War being waging against Western Civilization by the Radical Islamists will not end by the signing of a Peace Treaty on the deck of the Missouri. It is equally clear that these Jihadists will not end their mass killings because President Obama gave a speech at a venue that our national security apparatus could not even secure against one intemperate woman. When one Code Pink lady can confront, and for a period of time silence, the most powerful official in the world, my firm conviction is that it a mite premature to raise the "Mission Accomplished" banner just yet.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Why Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods Still Matter
Ambassador Stevens will always be the face of the Benghazi scandal, which is okay so long as we never forget the lives, and brutal deaths, of Sean, Glen and Tyrone. Sean Smith's life story is particularly poignant. He is the only child of Pat Smith. Ms. Smith will obviously not be getting any flowers, calls or visits for Mother's Day, and she just wants to know why her life is now and forever bereft of a son's love.
At the Airport Hanger Memorial Service for our four dead Americans, Hilliary Clinton made only one promise to Pat Smith - that the Administration would get and punish severely the Maker of the movie trailer entitled "The Innocence of Muslims." Having swiftly fulfilled that commitment (and finding no obstacle in the First Amendment protections afforded movies) Hilliary has "moved on" as the saying goes to her new and full life - being paid a minimum honorarium of a reported $175,000.00 per speech.
Still freely speaking to anyone who will listen, knowing that her life will not move on until she obtains an answer to why her son died alone and unprotected, Pat Smith knows that she - and the American people - deserve far better than Hilliary's incredibly arrogant dismissal of how Sean's life ended: "What difference does it make now?"
Indeed, finding and bringing to Justice the Benghazi terrorists would honor Sean, Tyrone, Steve and Glen in the most meaningful fashion. Obama's failure to do so constitutes the most egregious and unforgivable aspect of this entire debacle. It is also totally inexplicable. We all know that the President is rightly known as "The King of Drones". His kill total is most probably approaching one thousand dead - both guilty and innocent combined until God sorts them out for final disposition.
So, I'm with Pat Smith. Pat and America deserve to know why Sean was murdered by terrorists who today are alive and free to call their own Mothers with well wishes until leaving on their next mission - for sure not involving the making of any movie trailers.
At the Airport Hanger Memorial Service for our four dead Americans, Hilliary Clinton made only one promise to Pat Smith - that the Administration would get and punish severely the Maker of the movie trailer entitled "The Innocence of Muslims." Having swiftly fulfilled that commitment (and finding no obstacle in the First Amendment protections afforded movies) Hilliary has "moved on" as the saying goes to her new and full life - being paid a minimum honorarium of a reported $175,000.00 per speech.
Still freely speaking to anyone who will listen, knowing that her life will not move on until she obtains an answer to why her son died alone and unprotected, Pat Smith knows that she - and the American people - deserve far better than Hilliary's incredibly arrogant dismissal of how Sean's life ended: "What difference does it make now?"
Indeed, finding and bringing to Justice the Benghazi terrorists would honor Sean, Tyrone, Steve and Glen in the most meaningful fashion. Obama's failure to do so constitutes the most egregious and unforgivable aspect of this entire debacle. It is also totally inexplicable. We all know that the President is rightly known as "The King of Drones". His kill total is most probably approaching one thousand dead - both guilty and innocent combined until God sorts them out for final disposition.
So, I'm with Pat Smith. Pat and America deserve to know why Sean was murdered by terrorists who today are alive and free to call their own Mothers with well wishes until leaving on their next mission - for sure not involving the making of any movie trailers.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Why Christopher Stevens Still Matters
Today, Ambassador Christopher Stevens has no job. His unemployment stems exclusively from one singular circumstance - he is still dead.
Very much alive and very much still employed is Ms. Charlene Lamb, the State Department's Top Security Official responsible for stripping our Libya Embassy of all military security personnel shortly before the gruesome, murderous attacks on 9/11 last year. In an environment of complete anarchy, in which rival militias were waring daily for control of Benghazzi (these thousands of militants and terrorists were armed to the teeth with Colonel Khadaffi's looted arsenal - larger than many European NATO countries in size and sophistication), Ms. Lamb testified to Congress that a security detail of twelve non-military individuals was adequate protection for our Libyan Diplomats. That four of these brave Americans were slaughtered did not alter Ms. Lamb's absurd conviction.
Now, there is no need to ponder why a certifiably insane person remains employed by the United States Department of State. Another well qualified Department rep., spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, has informed us that pursuant to controlling federal law, incompetence is not deemed to constitute a breach of one's job duty - REALLY, I am not making this up!
Few commentors have discussed Ms. Nuland's unequivocal statement that a federal government employee can abuse the public trust so egregiously that four coworkers die and suffer no career limiting consequences, let alone job dismissal. I guess that it is taken for granted that there is no accountability for poor (to deadly awful) job performance in the federal government. Except for those brave souls who venture into "Indian Country" where personal accountability includes termination with extreme prejudice when your cohorts safe and warm back at Headquarters deem you to be expendable. Rest in Peace Chris, you and your brave colleagues will not be forgotten.
Very much alive and very much still employed is Ms. Charlene Lamb, the State Department's Top Security Official responsible for stripping our Libya Embassy of all military security personnel shortly before the gruesome, murderous attacks on 9/11 last year. In an environment of complete anarchy, in which rival militias were waring daily for control of Benghazzi (these thousands of militants and terrorists were armed to the teeth with Colonel Khadaffi's looted arsenal - larger than many European NATO countries in size and sophistication), Ms. Lamb testified to Congress that a security detail of twelve non-military individuals was adequate protection for our Libyan Diplomats. That four of these brave Americans were slaughtered did not alter Ms. Lamb's absurd conviction.
Now, there is no need to ponder why a certifiably insane person remains employed by the United States Department of State. Another well qualified Department rep., spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, has informed us that pursuant to controlling federal law, incompetence is not deemed to constitute a breach of one's job duty - REALLY, I am not making this up!
Few commentors have discussed Ms. Nuland's unequivocal statement that a federal government employee can abuse the public trust so egregiously that four coworkers die and suffer no career limiting consequences, let alone job dismissal. I guess that it is taken for granted that there is no accountability for poor (to deadly awful) job performance in the federal government. Except for those brave souls who venture into "Indian Country" where personal accountability includes termination with extreme prejudice when your cohorts safe and warm back at Headquarters deem you to be expendable. Rest in Peace Chris, you and your brave colleagues will not be forgotten.
Monday, April 22, 2013
When is an Enemy Combatant not an Enemy combatant?
With the awful horrors of the Boston Marathon attack so fresh and vivid in our minds, it compels us all as citizens to confront an Evil - so vile that our first impulse is to shrink away from this urgent task and just hug our families even tighter - immediately so that the existential threat to our civilization can be reduced. Simply stated, our open society still is vulnerable, twelve years after Nine Eleven Two Thousand and One, and after the Federal Government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on Homeland Security. Accordingly, the urgent question remains - just how do we protect ourselves against such an asymmetrical enemy in a war without any defined battlefields, where every street corner in America is a bombing target?
The answer most assuredly is not found in the criminal law jurisprudence. America is at war for its very survival. Therefore, any talk by politicians about prosecuting and jailing, or even executing Mr. Tsarnaev, upon his conviction is suicidal nonsense. We don't need to punish him for his murders - YET. We need to interrogate him to ascertain everything he knows about impending future terror attacks, and the whereabouts of any other terrorists he knows.
The ongoing debate between the liberals and conservatives is being framed in absolute terms - libs: he is NOW and ALWAYS WILL BE ONLY a criminal, so RIGHT NOW, he must be treated as a defendant with all the attendant due process rights that apply in federal civil court criminal proceedings. Conservatives: he is a terrorist and must be kept in military custody forever, or until the war ends with the signing of a peace treaty.
Both positions are too simplistic and ignore the complexities of modern terrorist warfare - in all likelihood there never will be a signed, formal peace, as we are not fighting a nation-state. Accordingly, even as an accurately identified enemy combatant, Mr. Tsarnaev, as an American citizen should not be subject to indefinite detention without a right to a trial -EVENTUALLY.
Thus, to answer my question as posed in the title of this Blog Post - an enemy combatant ceases to be such when the intel folks say so; when they have completed their non-prosecutorial interrogation, and I have no difficulty in rebuilding the wall so that all information derived from the war defense interrogation are not used as evidence in any subsequent criminal trials. When Mr. Tsarnaev can not hurt America ever again, then it is timely to turn him over to the DOJ so that we can hurt him - as the criminal defendant he then becomes - to the full extent of the Law. Nothing unconstitutional in seeing this evil man as having performed too different roles enemy combatant and criminal murderer. Our civilization is surely sufficiently sophisticated to see Tsarnaev as the Man in Full that he is.
The answer most assuredly is not found in the criminal law jurisprudence. America is at war for its very survival. Therefore, any talk by politicians about prosecuting and jailing, or even executing Mr. Tsarnaev, upon his conviction is suicidal nonsense. We don't need to punish him for his murders - YET. We need to interrogate him to ascertain everything he knows about impending future terror attacks, and the whereabouts of any other terrorists he knows.
The ongoing debate between the liberals and conservatives is being framed in absolute terms - libs: he is NOW and ALWAYS WILL BE ONLY a criminal, so RIGHT NOW, he must be treated as a defendant with all the attendant due process rights that apply in federal civil court criminal proceedings. Conservatives: he is a terrorist and must be kept in military custody forever, or until the war ends with the signing of a peace treaty.
Both positions are too simplistic and ignore the complexities of modern terrorist warfare - in all likelihood there never will be a signed, formal peace, as we are not fighting a nation-state. Accordingly, even as an accurately identified enemy combatant, Mr. Tsarnaev, as an American citizen should not be subject to indefinite detention without a right to a trial -EVENTUALLY.
Thus, to answer my question as posed in the title of this Blog Post - an enemy combatant ceases to be such when the intel folks say so; when they have completed their non-prosecutorial interrogation, and I have no difficulty in rebuilding the wall so that all information derived from the war defense interrogation are not used as evidence in any subsequent criminal trials. When Mr. Tsarnaev can not hurt America ever again, then it is timely to turn him over to the DOJ so that we can hurt him - as the criminal defendant he then becomes - to the full extent of the Law. Nothing unconstitutional in seeing this evil man as having performed too different roles enemy combatant and criminal murderer. Our civilization is surely sufficiently sophisticated to see Tsarnaev as the Man in Full that he is.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Don't Ask For Whom the Drone Flies
... because the Government will not tell us. Body counts, both as to those targeted and those innocents merely dead by kill zone proximity are top secrets for the "Most Transparent Administration" in all of recorded history, or at least the most since the invention of drones. Nonetheless, while we, the American people, can't be told who were killed from on-high, our elected reps are finally showing interest in the Constitutional dangers posed by any American President, by himself ordering the killing of other Americans with no legal or political constraints - other than the counsel of his own Executive Branch staff.
Drone Program Mastermind, John Brennen, now stands before the United States Senate awaiting confirmation to be the next CIA Director. Only when the Intel Committee refused to vote on this nomination did the Administration provide to these Senators a small number of the Justice Department's highly classified legal opinions authorizing Presidential signing of death warrants for American citizens, while affording them no due process rights such as notice or trial, just silent death from above. Reportedly, Mr. Brennen has refused to answer Senator Paul's straight-forward question - "does the President believe he has the authority to kill an American citizen located in the United States, and not in a war zone?"
Declaring this absolute power to "kill at will" too awesome, even for The One, some Democrats in Congress have advanced a proposal to create a Secret Drone Court. This group of life-tenured Federal Judges would in secret review the Executive's factual basis for declaring an American to be an Enemy Combatant, and they would all together sign, or not, the death warrant. Completely constitutionally unacceptable - first, all war powers are given to the Executive, so the Judicial Branch has no constitutional authority to manage the targeting of enemy soldiers, operatives or spies. Secondly, nothing could more assault the Rule of Law - the entire underpinning of the Constitution - than for the Government to operate a "Star Chamber" in which secret evidence, examined in secret results in the secret murder of an American, either on foreign soil or here at home. It is obvious that were life-tenured Judges to be told that a death was justified to protect them, their families, their friends and their country, and yet, should that claim turn out to be false, no career adverse consequences would occur, that death warrant will surely issue, okay only every 999 citizens out of a 1000 get Star Chambered.
Instead, we citizens must demand that Congress take this power of Life and Death away from politicians - intrinsic conflict of interest in need to deter, not combatants, but political enemies, and the Judges - having no legal authority and no means of imposing accountability. No, only career military officers have the intrinsic expertise and authority to accurately identify enemy combatants, and they are constrained by the Uniform Code of Military Justice to get it right - if negligent or intending to get it wrong ala Lieutenant Calley at Mai Lia in South Vietnam, these military commanders will be held accountable for breaches of lawful Rules of Engagement - careers ending immediately and jail for murders are standard fare for such transgressions in military service.
With Congressional focus on this grave Constitutional challenge now building, we citizens all need to demand Drone Killing transparency and accountability - on my watch, I refuse to be a Silent Bystander, as there is no innocence in acquiesing in either the Executive running "Murder Inc." or the Judiciary doing this dirty wet work in a Secret Star Chamber.
Drone Program Mastermind, John Brennen, now stands before the United States Senate awaiting confirmation to be the next CIA Director. Only when the Intel Committee refused to vote on this nomination did the Administration provide to these Senators a small number of the Justice Department's highly classified legal opinions authorizing Presidential signing of death warrants for American citizens, while affording them no due process rights such as notice or trial, just silent death from above. Reportedly, Mr. Brennen has refused to answer Senator Paul's straight-forward question - "does the President believe he has the authority to kill an American citizen located in the United States, and not in a war zone?"
Declaring this absolute power to "kill at will" too awesome, even for The One, some Democrats in Congress have advanced a proposal to create a Secret Drone Court. This group of life-tenured Federal Judges would in secret review the Executive's factual basis for declaring an American to be an Enemy Combatant, and they would all together sign, or not, the death warrant. Completely constitutionally unacceptable - first, all war powers are given to the Executive, so the Judicial Branch has no constitutional authority to manage the targeting of enemy soldiers, operatives or spies. Secondly, nothing could more assault the Rule of Law - the entire underpinning of the Constitution - than for the Government to operate a "Star Chamber" in which secret evidence, examined in secret results in the secret murder of an American, either on foreign soil or here at home. It is obvious that were life-tenured Judges to be told that a death was justified to protect them, their families, their friends and their country, and yet, should that claim turn out to be false, no career adverse consequences would occur, that death warrant will surely issue, okay only every 999 citizens out of a 1000 get Star Chambered.
Instead, we citizens must demand that Congress take this power of Life and Death away from politicians - intrinsic conflict of interest in need to deter, not combatants, but political enemies, and the Judges - having no legal authority and no means of imposing accountability. No, only career military officers have the intrinsic expertise and authority to accurately identify enemy combatants, and they are constrained by the Uniform Code of Military Justice to get it right - if negligent or intending to get it wrong ala Lieutenant Calley at Mai Lia in South Vietnam, these military commanders will be held accountable for breaches of lawful Rules of Engagement - careers ending immediately and jail for murders are standard fare for such transgressions in military service.
With Congressional focus on this grave Constitutional challenge now building, we citizens all need to demand Drone Killing transparency and accountability - on my watch, I refuse to be a Silent Bystander, as there is no innocence in acquiesing in either the Executive running "Murder Inc." or the Judiciary doing this dirty wet work in a Secret Star Chamber.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Why we don't have a Spending Problem
To understand why our Great Nation does not have a spending problem all you have to do is the math. Add up the revenues going into the US Treasury monthly and then compare the amount of dollars flowing out of that same federal institution to calculate a governmental surplus or deficit condition. Having done so, I have determined that the federal government currently spends several hundreds of billions of dollars a month in excess of what we taxpayers deposit with these same folks. As this state of affairs has been the norm for most all of the existence of our Constitutional Republic - granted not on the scale of deficit spending this Administration has achieved - it appears that government spending more than its annual revenue is no big deal really.
Of course, the government's revenue shortfalls are fully compensated for by the Treasury borrowing the needed funds from persons, businesses and nations willing to lend dollars to us in return for repayment of the loan principle plus interest. In the past, I have complained that this mortgaging of America to foreign enemies such as the Saudi's, Chi-Coms and the French gravely jeopardizes our independence. Should any of these nations threaten to pull the plug on existing or future loans, the government would be in an untenable situation - thus, my concern has been that these creditors can extort foreign policy/national security concessions from the United States by merely starting to close their Central Bank cashier's window when Uncle Sam is standing there with his handout. So far, however, I have not seen any examples of such extortion having taken place. Of course, such wielding of undue influence will not be trumpeted by press releases or public statements, so we really don't know for sure.
What we do know for sure is that this Administration, clearly cognizant of the danger of having our Great Nation "owned" by foreign enemies, has moved swiftly to rescue deficit borrowing from these unfriendlies. Today, the US Treasury just goes over to the US Federal Reserve to borrow most of the funds needed to cover the government's deficit spending. Because the Federal Reserve has unlimited money - it actually does go into the basement and print US dollars - the spending "problem" of the US government is neatly solved by this unlimited expansion of the money supply in circulation both domestically and in world markets. So, who says that there is no such thing as a magic bullet - the Federal Reserve is us; its Board of Governors will never threaten to withhold more credit or pull its existing loans, as all these guys/gals are American Patriots. So, you ask what could go wrong with this monetization of the government's deficits - only one thing: the Federal Reserve adds absolutely no value to the US economy by expanding the money supply; indeed the only asset owned by the FED is a single printing press that makes dollar bills, out of non-recycled paper I might add. Accordingly, when an nation's economy is literally flooded with massive amounts of non-assets - new dollars, indeed trillions of dollars annually - that explosion of currency makes each dollar worth less and less in buying power daily, as the same amount of good and services exist in the economy but there exists trillions of additional dollars available for their purchase.
Now, we are not speculating here. In 1924, the Weimar Republic of Germany sought to print its way to a painless way of paying off the country's WWI reparations/debt. Soon a loaf of bread at a Berlin grocery store cost more than two millions German marks. My reminders of this reality, of course, are the photos of the German moms and grandmothers going shopping with wheelbarrows of almost worthless cash, as the nation's economy has devolved into a barter system where bread was the real currency. So, I say buy wheelbarrows or bread now, as we have no spending problem, just a printing problem.
Of course, the government's revenue shortfalls are fully compensated for by the Treasury borrowing the needed funds from persons, businesses and nations willing to lend dollars to us in return for repayment of the loan principle plus interest. In the past, I have complained that this mortgaging of America to foreign enemies such as the Saudi's, Chi-Coms and the French gravely jeopardizes our independence. Should any of these nations threaten to pull the plug on existing or future loans, the government would be in an untenable situation - thus, my concern has been that these creditors can extort foreign policy/national security concessions from the United States by merely starting to close their Central Bank cashier's window when Uncle Sam is standing there with his handout. So far, however, I have not seen any examples of such extortion having taken place. Of course, such wielding of undue influence will not be trumpeted by press releases or public statements, so we really don't know for sure.
What we do know for sure is that this Administration, clearly cognizant of the danger of having our Great Nation "owned" by foreign enemies, has moved swiftly to rescue deficit borrowing from these unfriendlies. Today, the US Treasury just goes over to the US Federal Reserve to borrow most of the funds needed to cover the government's deficit spending. Because the Federal Reserve has unlimited money - it actually does go into the basement and print US dollars - the spending "problem" of the US government is neatly solved by this unlimited expansion of the money supply in circulation both domestically and in world markets. So, who says that there is no such thing as a magic bullet - the Federal Reserve is us; its Board of Governors will never threaten to withhold more credit or pull its existing loans, as all these guys/gals are American Patriots. So, you ask what could go wrong with this monetization of the government's deficits - only one thing: the Federal Reserve adds absolutely no value to the US economy by expanding the money supply; indeed the only asset owned by the FED is a single printing press that makes dollar bills, out of non-recycled paper I might add. Accordingly, when an nation's economy is literally flooded with massive amounts of non-assets - new dollars, indeed trillions of dollars annually - that explosion of currency makes each dollar worth less and less in buying power daily, as the same amount of good and services exist in the economy but there exists trillions of additional dollars available for their purchase.
Now, we are not speculating here. In 1924, the Weimar Republic of Germany sought to print its way to a painless way of paying off the country's WWI reparations/debt. Soon a loaf of bread at a Berlin grocery store cost more than two millions German marks. My reminders of this reality, of course, are the photos of the German moms and grandmothers going shopping with wheelbarrows of almost worthless cash, as the nation's economy has devolved into a barter system where bread was the real currency. So, I say buy wheelbarrows or bread now, as we have no spending problem, just a printing problem.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Torture is as Torture Does. Not.
Due to a necessary, possibly life saving, medical procedure two weeks ago, I now have first hand knowledge of pain so intense, so unbearable, so persistently those two stated impacts, that but for the immediate "crash team" intervention, I would have gone catatonic. The human body does seek surcease from torture by retreating to a state aptly called going into shock.
Not to be needlessly graphic, but when you have three muscular urologists, in turn, using all their arm strength to insert an over-sized plastic tube down/up your penis all the way to the bladder, a rational person passes quickly from "denial" to "bargaining". My first literal shout-out to my abusers was to disclose the nuclear launch codes for the President's "football". Then, I gave up the full names and social security numbers for the Dallas Grassy knoll shooters, followed by a full listing of all White House interns who had not had sex with Bill Clinton. Finally, offered my attending physicians a thirty minute interview with the military doctors who had conducted the alien autoptyies at Area 51.
OK, you get my point - a human being tortured will say anything to try to stop the unbearable pain, even the truthful answers to an interrogator's questions, should the abusesee believe that falsehoods will be seen as such by his abuser.
Now, I have not been water boarded since Frat Pledge Hell Week, but can say with confidence that the insertion of a too large object into a too small human cavity is much worse - at least underwater they can't hear you scream.
So, what is my larger point here - no pun intended? Obama/Holder have argued that the CIA operatives who subjected Islamist terrorists to water boarding committed crimes - due to the severity of the "harm/pain" inflicted upon their Gitmo prisoners. Patently, were the degree of physical pain be the determining factor of criminality, I would now be the Star Witness against three Philadelphia doctors. Of course, the physician's intent - to save my life - vitiates any criminal mens rea, making the President's assertion of criminality ludicrous on its face.
Identically, the CIA operatives' intent - to save the lives of innocent Americans - vitiates any criminal mens rea, also making the President's assertion of criminality ludicrous on its face. Now , one or two of the Elite Membership may conclude that I had consented to my mistreatment, thereby making a salient difference in these two transactions as to prosecution exposure. Well, guys and gals, as soon as I realized that the selected catheter tube was so mis-sized, I withdrew my prior implied consent at the top of my lungs, but to no avail as this procedure continued unabated for another forty-five minutes of pure agony. So, my real point here is my shout-out to this President: "Stop the Mendacity."
Not to be needlessly graphic, but when you have three muscular urologists, in turn, using all their arm strength to insert an over-sized plastic tube down/up your penis all the way to the bladder, a rational person passes quickly from "denial" to "bargaining". My first literal shout-out to my abusers was to disclose the nuclear launch codes for the President's "football". Then, I gave up the full names and social security numbers for the Dallas Grassy knoll shooters, followed by a full listing of all White House interns who had not had sex with Bill Clinton. Finally, offered my attending physicians a thirty minute interview with the military doctors who had conducted the alien autoptyies at Area 51.
OK, you get my point - a human being tortured will say anything to try to stop the unbearable pain, even the truthful answers to an interrogator's questions, should the abusesee believe that falsehoods will be seen as such by his abuser.
Now, I have not been water boarded since Frat Pledge Hell Week, but can say with confidence that the insertion of a too large object into a too small human cavity is much worse - at least underwater they can't hear you scream.
So, what is my larger point here - no pun intended? Obama/Holder have argued that the CIA operatives who subjected Islamist terrorists to water boarding committed crimes - due to the severity of the "harm/pain" inflicted upon their Gitmo prisoners. Patently, were the degree of physical pain be the determining factor of criminality, I would now be the Star Witness against three Philadelphia doctors. Of course, the physician's intent - to save my life - vitiates any criminal mens rea, making the President's assertion of criminality ludicrous on its face.
Identically, the CIA operatives' intent - to save the lives of innocent Americans - vitiates any criminal mens rea, also making the President's assertion of criminality ludicrous on its face. Now , one or two of the Elite Membership may conclude that I had consented to my mistreatment, thereby making a salient difference in these two transactions as to prosecution exposure. Well, guys and gals, as soon as I realized that the selected catheter tube was so mis-sized, I withdrew my prior implied consent at the top of my lungs, but to no avail as this procedure continued unabated for another forty-five minutes of pure agony. So, my real point here is my shout-out to this President: "Stop the Mendacity."