Boom. Right Or Wrong.

MARIANAS: CREWS The ground crew of the B-29 "Enola Gay" which atom-bombed Hiroshima, Japan. Col. Paul W. Tibbets, the pilot is the center. Marianas Islands.
MARIANAS: CREWS
The ground crew of the B-29 “Enola Gay” which atom-bombed Hiroshima, Japan. Col. Paul W. Tibbets, the pilot is the center. Marianas Islands.

Just finished reading Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing the Rising Sun“. As I have said many times before, I lived through WWII, remember it vividly, and had family serving in the Pacific from Midway through the end of the war. I don’t really remember the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but I do remember my cousin returning home from the war and how happy I was that it was over.

Over the years I solidified my opion of the decision President Harry S. Truman made, and I have always felt that we did the right thing ending the war by whatever means available to us. Japan was showing no sign of surrender, even as we opened it’s back door, Okinawa (losing 6000 American lives), and prepared to fight Japan on it’s homeland, they would not unconditionally surrender. Estimates of 100,000 to several million allied lives and more millions of civilian lives would be saved by forcing the surrender. Japan still had 40 million rabid followers of Hirohito vowing to fight to the last man.

As I read O’reilly’s description of the horrendous devastation of the two cities I paused. Descriptive words like vaporized bodies, skin falling off, instant death, and total devistation, caused me to rethink my feelings and judgements. Then I recalled the Bataan March, the Philippine autrocities, the Comfort Women and the take-no-prisoners stories I heard as a child, and reread in O’Reilly’s marvelous recounting; my original feelings were reinforced.

I whole heartedly believe that Truman and the Joint Chiefs made the correct decision. We had spent too many years, lost too many lives and shed too many tears to, any longer, put up with a petulant dictator (Hirohito) and an egomaniacal general (Tojo) to continue sheding more precious American, Australian and British blood.

Read the book, form your own opinions remembering over 1,000,000 Americans were killed (406K) or wounded (607K) in WWII, and the likelyhood of doubling that figure was at stake when the Hiroshima/Nagasaki decision was made.

The End of an Era

ArnoldPalmerCoastGuard1953

At my age I get very concerned when an Era ends, and yesterday an Era ended for me. I worshiped Arnold Palmer. He was a winner, he was a great golfer (in spite of his swing), and above all he was a marvelous human being.

When I was discharged from the Navy in 1960, at age 21, I began my college career, and also took up the game of golf. I was never really great, nor consistant, but in my prime I could go around most courses under 82. My greatest golf story was when two of my golfing buddies and I played Pebble Beach. For the first four holes I carded birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie (five under). I came out of the fifth hole even and went for 115 pops that fateful day. I wiffed my first T shot playing with my father-in-law to be, who was an All-American basketball player, and a pretty solid golfer. I couldn’t find a hero in myself on the golf course, so I looked to Arnie.

Arnold Palmer won 62 tournaments during his career on the PGA Tour. Widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all-time, Palmer captured seven majors that included four Masters wins from 1958 to 1964 and two British Open titles. He never won the PGA, which haunted him his entire career from 1958 to the day-before-yesterday.

I remember joining Arnies Army and following him whenever he came to town to play. One day in 1966, at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, Palmers twosome was waiting for the groups ahead, he was 10 feet from me, and I said to him, “Arnie, I think you got this one today.” He gave me a big smile and walked over to me. We actually chatted for about two minutes, he thanked me for my support and walked back to his ball. He took a swing; that God aweful, loopy, flat, three-quarter swing, of his; and whacked the ball still to the pin. He characteristically hitched up his pants, turned and winked at me and strode off. I’ll miss you Arnie.

 

Chipping Away

Chipping away

The Second Amendment to the constitution states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Infringed is defined as: “actively break the terms of (a law, agreement, etc.)” and “act so as to limit or undermine (something); encroach on”. Synonyms include, Restrict, Limit, Curb, Encroach on; Antonym, Preserve.

There you have it in a nutshell. There is no mistaking the words.

Now, the people have spoken and have allowed lawmakers; if not to infringe, then to redefine the word ‘people’. Background Check laws redefine what ‘people’ are; sane, and non-felons. I personally think this is a good thing, but it is currently a joke process, because the Government has not enforced the law as it should be enforced. Chip, Chip away.

The biggest fear of responsible gun owners is that the government will chip away at the Second Amendment to the point of removing guns from the American landscape (witness Australia). Case in point, Gavin Newsome now wants ligitimate gun owners to register and wait two weeks each time they purchase ammunition for their ligitimate firearms.  Newsom’s proposal would, among other things: Ban possession of and confiscate hundreds of thousands of lawfully possessed magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds; Require licensing of all ammunition vendors and drastically limit the places where ammunition could be sold; Require ammunition buyers to undergo a background check before they could purchase any ammunition; Turn law-abiding citizens into criminals should they fail to report lost or stolen firearms to police within a limited amount of time after they “should have known” a firearm was missing. Chip, Chip, Chip away.

I firmly believe that the Second Amendment is as valid today as it was when the founding fathers penned it. Responsible gun owners require firearms for hunting and for personal security. Gavin Newsom may be against guns, but I guarantee you his bodyguards carry loaded firearms. Please don’t fall victim to double standards, and political agendas; Vote No on Prop. 63, but more importantly support Second Amendment Rights, and demand governments enforce existing gun laws.

 

Nero Fiddles While Rome Burns

nero-fire

ROME IS BURNING

I remember, 2008, as if it was yesterday; President Obama, his wife and children walking out on stage after his election. He looked like a deer in the headlights. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Oprah, Al Sharpton and many other African-American notables looked on with tears in their eyes. I believed, in that moment, that the tears were tears of joy, of “lifted oppression” and of hope.

Sitting here, nearly eight years later I wonder what the hell happened. Obama, the first African-American President was, in that moment, given everything he needed to attain the elusive goal of healing racism in the United States. You would think that would have been the uppermost thought in his mind as he strolled out on the stage, waving, smiling and posing. What a legacy that would have been; equal to our 14th President.

“He could have been my son”(BO on Trayvon Martin); “For the first time in my life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is making a comeback”(MO 2/18/2008); “She’s a typical white person” (BO referring to his grandmother); “The motivations of the shooter remind us that racism remains a blight that we have to combat together”(BO on the Charleston Shootings); “The situation in Ferguson speaks to broader challenges we still face as a nation including the mistrust between law enforcement and communities of color”(BO on Ferguson). He speaks of combat, challenge and hope, but does nothing.

I waited, with the rest of America, for Obama to roll up his sleeves and end racism once and for all, and instead he issues statement after statement pushing the divide further and further apart. Why did Obama allow a decorated police officer in Ferguson to lose his career to a 400LB bully who obviously was out of control and a threat. Why did he go to Charleston and condole the suffering in complete privacy; did he not think that the rest of us, white, yellow and brown might want him; as our leader’ to comiserate for us as well.

He has never understood that he is the President of all of us, the hope of all of us, the strength of all of us. Instead he chose to polarize, politicize, and intellectualize. I have never really understood why, and he continues til today. Rome is burning.

I Just Don’t Understand

Death Penalty

In 1965, two cousins abducted two fifteen year old girls, brutally raped them, blew them away; at close range, with a shotgun, and then dumped their bodies in a ravine. For 51 years this bizzare autrocity languished in the cold files of the California Police Department. Recently, a detective, with time on his hands, decided to look into the case. He found DNA evidence, still preserved, after all this time. He has the evidence analyized and low and behold, the cousins are unmasked. One is still in Callifornia and the other is living somewhere in the southeast. Both are immediately jailed, and are now awaiting arraignment.

Today’s headlines read; “Cold Case Killers Escape Death Penalty”. This really peaked my curiosity, because they haven’t even been tried, and the media is already headlining the penalty, or lack thereof. The article went on to say that the reason they won’t receive the Death Penalty is because they committed the crime during a period in California when the Death Penalty was abolished. Hmmmmmmm.

Okay. Two guys commit a heinous crime; languish in obscurity for 51 years, living la vida loca; and then are further rewarded by avoiding the death penalty; which seems to make perfectly good sense to our judicial system, media, and the public in general. Well I don’t get it.

In my humble opinion, a criminal should be punished in the milieu of prosecution, not of committment. Punishment should fit the mindset of the accusers, not the victims. But then I wonder, if the situation were reversed, would the victim feel cheated. It is really confusing. In reality, if those two filthy bastards got the Death Penalty today, they would again languish in a broken judicial system that takes 25 years to carry out the final punishment.

All we really want, as a society, is a safe place for our fifteen year olds to grow up. A place where we can go to bed at night and not worry that our grand parents will be home invaded, that or our children will be abducted from their beds, that our wives and daughters will be preyed upon on a jogging trail. The bottom line is that heinous crimes require serious and timely capital punishment which can only be accomplished through a reformed criminal appeals system and a mindset that rape, murder and physical abuse are heinous.

 

I’m Deplorable And I’m Proud

Deplorable

I’M DEPLORABLE AND I’M PROUD

Clinton’s Basket of Deplorables certainly brings up images and thoughts of ‘How the shoe fits‘. The definition of Deplorable is: ‘Deserving of strong condemnation’; ‘Shockingly bad in quality’. Synonyms include: Disgraceful, Shameful, Dishonorable, Unworthy, Unpardonable, Unforgiveable (and more); in other words, pretty bad hombres we deplorables be.

However:

Leaving one of your Ambassadors without protection and security, is a pretty good definition of DISGRACEFUL.

Stealing $200,000 worth of White House property,  is a pretty good definition of SHAMEFUL.

Lying about your e-mails to the FBI,  is a pretty good definition of DISHONORABLE.

And then lying to the American people about the e-mails and the FBI investigation, is a pretty good definition of UNWORTHY.

Deleting 33,000 e-mails just before turning over data to the FBI, is a pretty good definition of UNPARDONABLE.

This whole thing smells of ‘Black Kettles’ and ‘Glass Houses’. If I dug up the entire list, from White Water to the Clinton Foundation I think I could fill a few sheets of 8 1/2 X 11 paper with alternate definitions. Whether exhausted by the flu, pooped by the campaign trail, fatigued by embattlement, Hillary needs to either get new speechwriters or read her speeches before they start rolling by on the teleprompters. Whatever the case, she was inexcuseably off mark, off base and off color with her statement. Gee, what do you know, another defenition, and I wasn’t even trying.

IF THE SHOE FITS, Madam Secretary, WEAR IT, DON’T SWEAR IT.

English Spoken Here

Countries_where_over_50%_of_the_population_are_native_English_speakers

If you make a stand for a Border Wall, you are a Racist Isolationist. If you want to pledge allegiance to the flag, you are a Patriotic Isolationist. If you want English to be the official language, you are a Purist, Racist, Isolationist. A man of logic, whom I respect completely tells us why about the latter.

– Charles Krauthammer, Time Magazine, June 4, 2006

  1. To stipulatethat although government may use other languages, to be legally binding and authoritative e.g. “official,” it must act or communicate in the English language.
  2. To clarifythat whenever there is a conflict in meaning between government laws, regulations, or pronouncements issued in more than one language, the English version is the authoritative one.
  3. To clarifythat unless government decides to provide it, no one has an entitlement or right to government services or documents in a language other than English.
  4. To recognizethe historical fact that the United States has been an overwhelmingly English speaking nation since it was created and that its constitution and foundational documents are in English.
  5. To recognizethat while the people United States value and respect diversity, they want to preserve English as their common language and therefore immigrants have the responsibility to learn English.
  6. To conformto the majority of the states (31) that already have made English their official language.
  7. To respondto the will of the American people, 87 percent of whom believe English should be our official language, according to a May 2010 Rasmussen Reports survey.
  8. To conformto the rest of the world: Eighty-five percent of the UN’s member nations have official languages. Fifty-three (53) of those nations have adopted English as their official language.
  9. To avoidthe costs, burdens, and conflicts that arise in nations like Canada or international organizations like the European Union that attempt to conduct business in more than one official language.
  10. To bring the federal government into conformity with national institutions like the U.S. Army and the federal court system, who for practical                  reasons have decided to operate in English.

Makes sense to me, So call me a Purist, Racist, Isolationist.

A Border Fence Is Not Isolationsim

Border Fence

Building a Border Fence is not ISOLATIONISM.  Isolationism is defined as: a policy of remaining apart from the affairs or interests of other groups, especially the political affairs of other countries.

We are surrounded on two and a half sides by Oceans, Gulfs and Great Lakes (95,000 miles or 93%), one side by a country that mutually respects borders (5,525 miles or 5%), and one half side by people who disrespect borders (1,989 miles or 2%). If we are labled isolationists today it is by geographical conditions only and certainly not by political choice.

The United States was Isolationist from its inception until 1941. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, we began to intermingle in the affairs and interests 0f other groups. Once that event happened, there was no turning back to Isolationism by the United States. We mingled in North Africa, Southern Europe, England, and Western Europe and the Pacific as a direct result of WWII. Since then we have mingled in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, The Koreas, the Vietnams and on and on, spreading the word of democracy; sometimes successfully, sometimes not. The United States mindset is not Isolationist.

Drug running across the border began in earnest in the 70’s, human trafficing, beginning at the turn of the century, flourished in the 70’s anad 80’s and still goes strong today; along with other illegal activities such as money laundering, contraband and sex trafficing. In the pursuit of illegal activities come the bad guys and undesireables. Left leaning policies of the 80’s made the situation worse. A sanctuary city is a city in the United States or Canada that adopts local policies designed to not prosecute people solely for being an illegal alien, which we now see has been taken to extremes.

Because of the North American appetite fed by the illegal Central and South American supply lines flourish, there can be no doubt that the level of abuse has reached epidemic proportion, and every responsible citizen wants it stopped. A wall is inevitable, 16,500 more patrolmen are inevitable.

Four More Months, Will We Make It

1St AmendmentThe First Amendment. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”. We all understand this, RIGHT?

Certainly we do, which is why I am sick and tired of everyone, including you Mr. President, and you Missy MacArthur who say; “I don’t agree with what he says, but I respect his right to say it.” We all as American’s, if you didn’t know, respect the First Amendment to the Constitution. It is the law of the land. It is the basis on which our society functions, it is why we don’t shoot every bastard we disagree with, it is why America has the potential to be great.

It is why, when someone does something, or says something that I strongly disagree with, I stand on my hind legs and the First Amendment and state my case. Merely saying, “I respect his right to say it”, gives weight to what he says or does.

If you disagree with something or someone, Mr. President and Missy MacArthur, take a stand, comfortably, on the First Amendment, which;BTW, has no political agenda; and say what you really think. Mr. Kaepernick has the protection of the Constitution to say what he thinks, but he has no right to disrespect the American Flag, the National Anthem, or the majority of his team. You only spread the divide, Mr. President and Missy MacArthur when you choose your words so carefully that they confuse and misguide.