Hiding History At The War College
Dec 18, 2013 Commentary, Military
The US Army War College in Pennsylvania has been around for a long time. It teaches high ranking Army officers about military history and they learn battle tactics. It is one of those tickets senior officers get punched to get promoted. I know many officers who have attended and they say it was a valuable experience for them. Any time someone can learn it is good.
So long as the students are learning accurate history.
This is America and we have blemishes because we have a flawed past. We held human beings as slaves and we discriminated against them when they were no longer slaves. We fought a war amongst ourselves and we put Japanese Americans in internment camps solely because they were Japanese.
But as a nation we have learned along the way and we look at those blemishes and try to make today a better day than yesterday. We no longer have slavery and most people think that is a good thing and wonder how we could have ever had such an institution. We look at how Japanese Americans were treated and wonder how our government could have done that and then we realize the government could do it again.
And don’t get started on how Native Americans were treated after we got here and TOOK their land from them.
Through it all we retell those stories and we keep that history as a reminder of a less than perfect past that our nation lived. It teaches us that we were not perfect then and we are not perfect now. We have gotten better and we are still the greatest nation on this planet BUT we are far from perfect.
The Army War College is reportedly considering removing statues and paintings of Confederate Generals. It seems that some folks are upset that we have these things honoring men who fought against this nation. I believe the term was enemies of this nation.
The men who fought in the Civil War for the Confederate states were enemies on the battlefield only. They fought for state’s rights (not slavery though slavery was ONE of the issues concerning state’s rights) and they tried to remove themselves from a union as they were promised they were free to do when they willingly joined the union. That promise was ignored and they became an enemy.
Many of those generals went to West Point and attended classes with the generals of the Union that they would eventually battle in war. They were American citizens (until they seceded) who stood up for what they believed to be right.
No matter what one thinks of them or the war the reality is they are a part of our history and a part of what made this nation what it is today. After the war they were treated badly even though they swore allegiance to the nation and agreed that with the war over they needed to work to reunite the nation.
They are a part of our history and they have a place in it. Some of these men were the finest tacticians of their time and some of their tactics are still used today.
Hiding their pictures or statues in a corner or closet does not change the history of this nation. It only demonstrates a weakness in our military and nation at large. This weakness is the inability to learn from the past and to teach all of our history no matter how painful it is.
I guess we can always honor real men who deserve it instead…..
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: army war college, civil war, generals, hiding history
Mandela: Paying Respect To A Tyrant
Dec 11, 2013 Commentary, Terrorism
Nelson Mandela of South Africa died last week and leaders from around the world journeyed to that country to pay respect to the man. There were plenty of nice things said about him. Barack Obama took the time to pay respect and then tell us that we should follow Mandela’s example:
We, too, must act on behalf of justice. We, too, must act on behalf of peace. There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba’s legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality. ~Obama speech
I guess we should follow this because everyone knows that South Africa has no poor people and that poverty has been eradicated there and we know that everyone is treated equally.
No, the reality is that nation is poor, is always involved in some kind of internal conflict and the only people who get rich are leaders like Mandela.
There is an excellent article Crisis Magazine that lays out the history of Mandela and his tyranny. It also discusses how he was not just some political prisoner. He was tried for crimes including terrorism and sent to prison. The article discusses the entire man and not just the saintly image presented by the media and those who praise him. Here is an excerpt:
Within South Africa, on direct orders from Winnie and Nelson Mandela, the ANC targeted not only whites, but also all black civil servants, teachers, lawyers, and businessmen—essentially anyone who imagined a post-Apartheid South Africa that differed from the one mandated by the Marxist ANC. Even simple black peasants who refused to carry out terror attacks were treated as enemies, and they were killed in large numbers. Thus, just as the terroristic FLN killed far more Algerians than did the French during the Algerian war for independence, the ANC was the leading cause of death, by far, for black South Africans throughout the period of Apartheid.
He was no saint for sure. He was a brutal murderer and he used violence to push his political agenda. He went to jail for that.
It is no surprise Barack Obama would love the guy. He is a lot like Obama’s buddy Bill Ayers…
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: child murderer, nelson mandela, terror, tyranny
Family Upset That Thug Relative Was Shot
Dec 2, 2013 Commentary, Second Amendment
A young thug went into a store to rob it at gunpoint. A law abiding citizen with a Concealed Carry Permit pulled his firearm and told the thug to put his gun down. The thug turned toward the law abiding citizen and before he was able to raise his weapon the thug was shot.
The Good Samaritan was able to put down a criminal and keep innocent folks from possibly being injured or killed.
Anyone find anything wrong with this?
Well the thug’s family did. Thug momma said the person who shot her thug son should have minded his own business. You see, this thug using a firearm to commit a crime is no one’s business and that fellow who shot the thug was wrong in this.
Notice momma thug never says her boy was wrong for committing an armed robbery. Notice she does not discuss how her son involved himself in the business of the people who just wanted to conduct their transactions without fearing for their lives.
No, the way she sees it her little thug son should have been left alone to rob that store like his momma raised him to do.
The thug boy will live and when he is released from the hospital he will have new charges added to his already colorful rap sheet.
The only problem I see is that the law abiding citizen fired five shots and the thug is still alive. I am not saying he should have been killed or that I wish him dead. What I am saying is that the guy might need some more range time to ensure he hits his target when he shoots. I can’t imagine he hit the thug five times and he still lived so he must have missed a few times.
Regardless, he is a hero (though he probably does not think so). I don’t care what momma thug says, this guy did the right thing.
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: business, good samaritan, robber, thug
Lesbian Couple Wants Divorce Lickety Split
Dec 2, 2013 Commentary
A lesbian couple in Mississippi wants a divorce. They are not recognized as married by the state because the state does not allow gay marriage. The couple was married in (where else) San Francisco. Evidently they could afford to pay to go to California to get married but can’t afford to go there to get divorced.
Seems that they would still have property issues in MS though I can’t figure out how. I mean, if MS does not recognize gay marriage then it can’t recognize the property issues revolving around people who are gay and married in some other state. If they went to California and got divorced then it would be up to the California court to decide how property is divided and who pays what.
The issue of gay divorce is a problem for many gay folks who ran off to a gay marriage state, got married and then returned to a state that does not recognize gay marriage. The states rightly point out that they cannot grant a divorce for a marriage they do not recognize.
I think the woman living in MS, Lauren Beth Czekala-Chatham, should think long and hard before she demands a divorce be granted in a state that does not recognize her marriage. You see, she has a new girlfriend.
On a recent evening, in the one-story brick house she shares with her two children, a new girlfriend and several pets, Czekala-Chatham sat on the edge of a leather recliner, shaking her head.
“Why should I be treated differently, you know?” she said. “When the courthouse is a few blocks from here, I should be able to walk up there and get married. I should also be able to go up there and get divorced.” My Way News
If she were recognized as a married person then she is admitting to adultery. Since the state does not consider her married it can’t recognize her as an adulterer. But if she pushes the court for a divorce and is successful what would stop the court from deciding on the division of assets and the financial aspects based on her adultery?
The court could find in favor of the other partner and use this admission as the basis. Hell, it is likely she could be charged with a crime depending on MS law.
I agree with the state on this issue. It did not allow the marriage to take place and it does not recognize the marriage therefore it cannot act to undo what it does not recognize.
It seems to me that part of this is to force the state to recognize her marriage so she can undo it and then allow the pro gay marriage groups to use that as the basis for forcing MS to recognize (and possibly sanction) gay marriage.
This sucks for the people involved but perhaps they should have researched this before they traipsed off to California to get married so they could be a novelty item.
If they wanted to get married and be recognized as married then it seems to me they should reside in a state that recognizes gay marriage.
As is the case though, people in a special interest group want the rules changed to accommodate them.
Who knows? If she gives the court a good tongue lashing she might be successful but it will take a cunning linguist to pull it off…
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: gay divorce, gay marriage, lesbian couple, mississippi
GOP Senators Need To Go Nuclear As Well
Nov 25, 2013 Commentary
Only a few years ago Harry Reid, Barack Obama, and a host of other Democrats railed at the GOP proposal for the nuclear option. The so called nuclear option is designed to take away the filibuster and make it so only a simple majority is required for actions the Senate takes. In this case the issue was over judicial (except the Supreme Court) and presidential cabinet appointments and Democrats went nuts. The reason this came up was because Democrats were blocking the people George Bush wanted to appoint.
The Republicans eventually sat down and compromised with Democrats to avoid the nuclear option.
Joe Biden was one who screamed that he hoped to God when his party was in power it did not do what the Republicans wanted to do (exercise the nuclear option).
Well, the Democrats are in power in the Senate and last week they exercised the nuclear option. They grew tired of Republicans delaying and blocking the radicals Obama tried to appoint and those who he is trying to stack in the judiciary. Harry Reid and all the others (still serving) who lamented the end of the Republic when the GOP wanted to exercise the nuclear option gleefully voted for it. Barack Obama expressed his happiness that it was done even though he vehemently opposed it before.
Republicans in the Senate need to demonstrate testicular fortitude and exercise a nuclear option of their own. The Senate still requires unanimous consent for items to proceed and it requires 60 votes for cloture. Republicans should deny both. No matter what the issue is from immigration reform to naming a post office the Republicans should effectively shut down the Senate by refusing unanimous consent and it should ensure that there are never 60 votes for cloture.
The Republican leadership should tell Harry Reid that nothing else will get accomplished until the rules are changed back and any appointments made under the nuclear option are negated. The Republicans need to stand firm and ensure NOTHING takes place in the Senate. Without the Senate no bills can be passed and no budgets can be passed. Government will come to a halt until Reid gives in.
Eventually Reid will either capitulate or make the move to change the rules so that a simple majority is needed to get cloture or for bills to proceed.
If he changes the rules further then 2014 plays a big part of history. If the Republicans take the Senate back they will have free will to do a lot of things and if a Republican wins the White House in 2016 then Obamacare can be repealed by a simple majority vote.
Democrats took another step toward complete tyranny by exercising the nuclear option but Republicans can lob nukes of their own.
But only if they grow a spine.
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: hypocrite, lies, nuclear option, Reid, Senate