After the formal surrender of Japan’s naval base in Yokosuka, I became eligible for discharge in ‘46, meaning that I had to surrender my trusty Browning Automatic Rifle that got me out of some hot spots in the past. There were no gun laws then; it was simply a matter of turning in government property. I was permitted to keep a Japanese bolt-action rifle I had picked up during the mop-up days at Okinawa but had to turn in its ammo clip. This souvenir was stolen aboard ship going home, but I ex...
I am a Texan — bullish and resolute — spawning decisiveness that's never wrong; When I move to action be assured it is absolute because I am blest by God to make me strong. My Texas strut is the natural cadence of commander in chief with confidence. GW Copyright © 2004 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: September 29, 2004. http://stevendedalus.joeuser.com
A voluntary civilian defense corps made up of primarily school drop-outs, and high school students not college-bound and senior citizens for nominal stipend; this corps would be organized and supervised by local enforcement agencies and paid for by Homeland Security. We cannot continue to police the world at the expense of our own borders . The new recruitment initiative for the national guard should be laced with an agreement that by signing up it will be only for tour of duty for th...
Putting aside the violence midst the coming Iraqi elections, heavily entrenched and financially supported exile groups are dwarfing the influence of native Iraqi political groups, only furthering the bleak promise of free and fair elections. … It seems incredible that someone did not say to the president, “Excuse me, sir, but don’t you think we should finish the war in Afghanistan first?” The closest to this was Powell’s warning Bush that “if you break it you own it.” It is unfortunate that s...
As if there weren’t enough problems in Iraq, now the Kurds are demanding that two hundred thousand Arab settlers from the Saddam regime pack up and leave northern Iraq. This is reflective of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo by way of exodus. The US commander in the region fears that this political stirring could eventuate a civil war. In addition, Turkey is against “Kurdization” of the major city Kirkuk, which is feared will be the capital of an expanding Kurdistan. Turkey, long opponents of Kurdis...
“If I had known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have used them [unconfirmed data]. I did it; it was a mistake. I’m looking deep within myself, about what I did and didn’t do.” No, this is not a Bush confession in going to war in Iraq, but Dan Rather’s soul searching. … 60 Minutes had definitely lost its confidence and prestige; it cancelled the scheduled report on WMDs. … Why in the world does Florida permit anchored mobile and pre-fab home communities highly vulnerable to hurricane dest...
It is tempting to admit that there is such a thing as political philosophy untainted by ideology. Ideology is a pattern of particulars driven by precepts that have little to do with philosophy which presupposes universals. Neither totalitarianism nor democracy is relevant to philosophy because they evolve out the morass of preferential human behavior and beliefs from which precepts evolve. A totalitarian state develops ad-hoc organization of opportune power by the precept of distrust in the m...
As a people we expect a large return from investment in education but accept a loss in terms of the intelligence of the presidency. Whoever is enthroned must still sit on his bottom; implicit is that he is but an ass. Republicans who misspeak, divinely err, while Democrats, guilty of the same, are assholes. Today, reflective thinking is flip-flopping; impulsive action is wisdom. When we aspire to goodness, we had better have the proper religion in mind. When in my mo...
Theresa Heinz Kerry is fortunate that a 527 hasn’t attacked the Albert Schweitzer Gold Medal for Humanitarianism she received for her dedication and contributions to the environment, education, women, children and health care. … I hope the trust in Allawi is stronger than the faith the administration had in Chalibi. … The tax cuts for the lower and middle class has already been wiped out by the price of gas. … It is feasible that a large part of the insurgency is due to UN and US envoys fav...
Today our darling representatives etched in stone the tax cuts. It reminds me of a hard working couple who just had to have a Widescreen HDTV and dipped into their savings for the children’s future college fund; after all, they can work their way through college. With all the brouhaha about Iraq being the main election issue, apparently congress, unlike Kerry, isn’t worried about where the money is coming from — let our children pay it off. … Where did the idea come from anyway? — if yo...
According to Senator McCain he is voting for Bush because he showed great leadership when at ground zero he put his arm around the fire-chief and announced to the enemy we’re coming. Dramatic as it was, and admittedly the country was unanimously behind the President, this is insufficient reason to vote for one on the basis of one day. After all, three years have gone by and what was done in that time is the criterion for casting a vote. McCain further said that whether in agreement or not wha...
Fortunately for Bush, the economy has been sucked into a black hole by Swift Boats, Texans for Truth, the CBS blunder, and the luck of the draw that few know what’s going on in Iraq. Unfortunately for Bush, one of the debates will be on the economy and he will have to face issues regarding the economy — disappearing quality jobs, rising health costs, out of range college tuition, erosion of Pell grants, shortchanging NCLB, prescription drug plan designed to increase the profits of pharmaceuti...
Karl Rove in August before the ‘02 election keenly held back his president’s talk of war until October when voters pay attention to elections, particularly since the administration had dropped the ball in Afghanistan which no longer made the headlines, cooling the hot image of Bush as a wartime leader. Rove also knew that dread implanted in the social consciousness above all else in politics is the primary drive and would dwarf the Democrats’ calculation that it was the economy most in ...
Either we choose a strong federation or we depend on divisive states to do what is right for themselves. Either we are Americans first or primarily Texans, Montanans, or New Yorkers — try to imagine an interstate highway without federal cohesion and revenue. As the Europeans are trying to unitize in the face of a thousand years of divisiveness, we with the exception of defense, strive to dismantle our united spirit. It is a matter of arrant pride that Las Vegas is the capital of g...
Indicative of a people in denial is that this, let alone all, presidential campaigns inevitably sidetrack issues. One There is clear cut denial that terrorism is feared at home now that the US has “taken” the war on terrorism to enemy soil. This leads to not taking intelligence and home security seriously as though terrorism has been safely exported. Two Uncontrollable deficits are not ...