Fort Hood

All the world now knows of the tragic event that has happened in Fort Hood. The loss of life and the injuries inflicted cannot even begin to express the horror and shock that has swept over the country. There has been constant coverage from all media and constant speculation on how an officer of the Army could inflict such pain on his fellow soldiers and their families.

Blame and more speculation is flying around as to the cause, reason and rationale behind this, but the real picture is slowly coming clear

Major Hasan, contrary to was told, was a born Muslim. He was a mild mannered man, vouched for by family and friends. He was an Army psychologist at Walter Reed Hospital, and contrary again to what has been said, had not been deployed in recent years; but he had been hearing gut-wrenching storied from the boys that had been to Iraq and Afghanistan and the horrors of what these boys had been through in the wars which are still ongoing. All this was getting to him badly.

It seems, though I am not positive, that he had been asking for early retirement from the Army, even if he had to pay to get out, but bureaucracy, Army regulations and who knows what else, got in the way of his getting his release. Not only, to add insult to injury, he was transferred to Fort Hood and told that he would be deployed!

Now this Army Major was a devout Muslim who attended his mosque regularly. He was being deployed to fight against a Muslim people. Irrespective of why this war was on, that it was the West's genuine intention to bring peace and democracy to both Iraq and Afghanistan, in his mind he must have been very reluctant to fight people of his faith and of, unfortunately, his radical beliefs. Also, a fellow Muslim attendee of the same mosque, said that Major Hasan had asked him to find him a wife who wore the traditional Muslim headdress as well as who prayed five times a day. How could he have been considered good material to be deployed?

The Army MUST have known about the increasing unease of this Muslim Major, of his reluctance to be deployed and the real reason behind this reluctance. Why did they not give him the discharge he was requesting? In my mind, they should not only have discharged him but also given him an honorable discharge to be sure that no one could say that it was a case of ethnic bias.

Bias aside, in this day and age, when the whole Christian and Jewish world is in a deadly fight for the survival of western principles, mores and hard earned emancipation, against the fundamentalist extremists who want it otherwise, do you think that any of the US armed forces should keep amongst their ranks any soldier or officer whose religious mores are so much in direct contrast to the policies and politics of our Armed Forces and Government?

These times are not for pussy-footing around the risk of offending somebody's extremely touchy sensibilities! There is no place in today's Armed Forces for people whose sentiments and beliefs are in such radical contrast to what we believe in and to the politics and policies that were are now following.

There are many devout Muslims in the US who live as good citizens of the US and who are an example to all; but, the extreme element is lurking there and to ask and expect them to fight for principles that they do not believe in, is tantamount to extreme folly as was seen in the Fort Hood tragedy.

As always, we have to wait for some tragedy to happen before we take a close look at how we are handling each and every situation.

Last of the trio.

This is the last of the trio and definitely last on this subject. All that is now left is for all to make jiudicious decisions and to hope that this is not a lesson for which we shal pay very dearly.

Letter from Procter & Gamble Exec

Please read, even if you are an Obama fan. It is legitimate, written by respected Lou Pritchett, formerly of Proctor and Gamble. Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America’s true living legends-an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me. You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you. You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American. You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll. You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core. You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare!

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one. You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world. You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations. You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people. You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient. You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do. You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Reillys and Becks, who offer opposing, conservative points of view. You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it. Big surprise! Since it hit the internet, however, it has had over 500,000 hits. Let's keep it going. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing. It's happening right now.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Criticism from North of the Border

The following rather alarming critism came in today from Canada on my mail. I thought it worth while publishing!

Obama's White House is Falling Down

By Daniel Greenfield

In the sixth month of his presidency, Obama has turned an economic downturn into an economic disaster, taking over and trashing entire companies, and driving the nation deep into deficit spending expected to pass 10 trillion dollars.

Abroad, Obama seems to have no other mode except to continue on with his endless campaign, confusing speechmaking with diplomacy. It is natural enough that Obama, who
built his entire campaign on high profile public speeches reported on by an adoring
press, understands how to do nothing else but that.

While the press is still chewing over Obama's Cairo speech, this celebrity style coverage
ignores the fact that Obama's endless world tour is not actually accomplishing anything.
Instead his combination of ego driven photo op appearances and clueless treatment of foreign dignitaries have alienated many of America’s traditional allies. Those who aren't being quietly angry at Obama, like Brown, Merkel or Netanyahu, instead think of him
as absurdly lightweight, as Sarkozy, King Abdullah or Putin do.

While his officials carry out their dirty economic deeds, Obama responds to any and every
crisis as if it were a Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland musical, with a cry
of, "Let's put on a show." Thus far Obama has put on "shows" across America, Europe and the Middle East. And what the adoring media coverage neglects to cover, is that Obama's shows have solved absolutely nothing. They have served only as high profile entertainment.

Neither alienating America’s traditional allies, through a combination of arrogant bullying and ignorance, nor appeasing America’s enemies, has yielded any actual results. Nor does it seem likely to. Islamic terrorism is not going anywhere, neither are the nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran. While Obama keeps smiling, the global situation keeps growing grimmer.

At home, if Obama was elected as depression era entertainment, the charm of his smiles and his constant appearances of magazine covers appear to be wearing thin on the American public. Despite the shrill attacks on Rush Limbaugh or the Republican Enemy of
the Weak-- the Democratic Party of 2009, is polling a lot like the Republican Party of 2008. The Democrats have suddenly become the incumbents, and the only accomplishment they can point to is lavish deficit spending, often on behalf of the very same corporations and causes they once postured against.

The European Union Parliament's swing to the right cannot be credited to Obama, though
doubtlessly some European voters seeing socialist economic crisis management
on display in the world's richest country decided they wanted none of it, but it is part
of a general turning against federalism. And Obama’s entire program is dependent on heavily entrenching federalism at the expense of individual and state's rights. Yet that is precisely his Achilles heel with independent voters who are polling against more taxes and expanded government. And no amount of speeches by Obama can wish away his 18 czars or the national debt he has foisted on generation after generation of the American people. That leaves Obama with a choice between socialism and the independent voter. And thus far he has chosen socialism.

Obama's tactic of hijacking Bush Administration era policies on the economy and the War on Terror, and exploiting themes Trojan horses to promote his own agenda, have left him coping with a backlash from his own party, as well as general Republican opposition.

His Czars are meant to function as the bones in an executive infrastructure accountable to no one, but a lack of accountability isn't just another word for tyranny, but for incompetence. A functional chain of command is accountable at multiple levels if it is to function effectively. Obama’s White House by contrast is in a state of over-organized chaos, the sort of
organized disorganization that undisciplined egotistical leftists naturally create
for themselves, complete with multiple overlapping levels of authority and no one in charge but the man at the top, who's too busy doing other things to actually be in charge.

Dennis Blair as National Intelligence, who collaborated with the Muslim genocide of
Christians in East Timor, trying to muscle out the CIA to create his own intelligence network, is typical of the kind of chaos being spawned by every chief in an expanding government bureaucracy working to make sure that all the Indians answer to him. Similarly the National Security Council wrestling with the State Department, highlighted by Samantha Power getting her own specially created NSC position to butt heads withSecretary of State Hillary Clinton, illustrates the state of conflict and chaos in American foreign affairs. A state of chaos so pervasive
that incompetence has now become commonplace and no one can even be found
to double check the spelling of a Russian word that is meant to be the theme of American's
diplomatic reconstruction with Russia, or to pick out a gift for the visiting British Prime Minister.

Meanwhile on the economy, Obama exploited the ongoing bailouts, transforming them from bailouts into takeovers meant to shift the balance of power in what had been a
democracy and socially engineer not only corporations, but the lives of ordinary Americans. But the public's patience with corporate bailouts is at an end, most Americans were never happy with them to begin with, and want them to end. The death of Chrysler at the hands of Fiat and the UAW might look like a victory in the union ranks, but it doesn’t play too well outside Detroit. And tacking on CAFE standards that will kill the pickup truck and the SUV will badly erode Obama in the swing states, if exploited properly in 2010 and 2012. Despite the constant media barrage, orchestrated out of the White House, the public is growing disenchantedwith the performance of Obama and the Democrats.

With unemployment booming and the economy dropping, the jobs aren't there and the spending is out of control. Republicans today are polling better on ethics and the economy, than the
Democrats are. That shows a trend which is likely to register in the mid-term elections in 2010, in the same way that the EU parliamentary elections served as a shock to the system.

In the opposition, Republicans are free to embrace the rhetoric of change, to champion reform and push libertarian ideas about the size and scope of government. In turn all Obama has is his celebrity fueled media spectacle world tour. A charade now serving as a parallel to the depression era entertainment that functioned as escapism in a dour time. But before long, it may be Obama that the American public will want to escape from.

Obama has tried to play Lincoln, Reagan, JFK and FDR-- but in the end he can only play himself, a shallow, manipulative and egotistical amateur who is in over his head, and trying to drag the country down with him. Obama's White House is falling down and while the
flashbulbs are still glittering and the parties are going on in D.C. and around the world, Obama and the Democratic Congress may be headed for a recession of their own

Sarah Palin: Why the virulence?

For the past week we have been bombarded incessantly by news, pictures and videos about Michael Jackson and his untimely death. So much so, that the surprise news of Sarah Palin's upcoming resignation from her position of Governor of Alaska, has not generated the headlines and dastardly press in the amount that anything about her and her family usually causes.

No doubt, it shall all begin once again, now that Jackson has been laid to rest!
Why have so many people decided to be so virulent about her? What has she ever done to them. Why would the liberal Press be consistently and persistently so antagonistic towards her? Was there nothing about her that they found good or interesting or worthwhile? Are the people of Alaska so dumb that they would elect her to the highest post in the State if she really is all that the press say about her? I think not! The dumb ones are the press and their nasty minded readers and followers.

She came out from relative obscurity, called by Sen. McCain to be his running mate for his presidency attempt. She came over as a breath of much needed fresh air to a campaign which could only be described as boring. Her approach was natural, down to earth, home spun, some called it, but it boosted ratings for McCain in a way he would never have got on his own.
She spoke of a change for decency and honor in politics, for truth, for values, all of which have been sadly lacking. People who heard her loved her, but, those on whose toes she may have trod, hated her from the get-go and set up to destroy her in the meanest, most vicious and untruthful ways possible. Nothing was taboo. Her handicapped baby, her oldest daughter, her clothes, her way of life, all were brutally torn to shreds in a manner unprecedented in the history of modern politics. Why?

Nothing about the negative press gives a shred of evidence why they would hate her so. She may not be Presidential material just yet but this does not justify the hate. Nor does the taking for granted attitude that McCain would not live the length of his presidency had he been elected, justify their actions. McCain may be a senior citizen but he is healthy and strong. He survived the campaign and its brutal pace, didn't he?

I hope she decides to run for Senator. The next Republican President would be wise to choose her as his Secretary of State for Finance. She would certainly go after all those who have brought this great Country nearly to its knees with their greed for money at all costs and to hell with the people from whom they stole it. I think she would live once again to her college nickname," Barracuda," and clean up the mess left behind.

Who knows what the press would have to say about this!