Time for Courage. A message from a black man in Lubbock, Texas ... About tells it all... Sherman

At the TEA PARTY, a black man, Dr. Donald May, delivered this message from the courthouse steps in Lubbock . He electrified the audience like I haven't seen in a long time. His delivery was masterful. I am sorry you could not see him in action. Anyway, I thought you might enjoy his words. The news media was there, but not one word of this man's appearance ever appeared on TV or in print, even though he completely dominated the scene.

This is A Time For Courage

April 15, 2009 - 11:49 pm

Ladies and gentlemen, This is a Time For Courage.

We are gathered here today on the Plains of West Texas in common purpose. We are here to remind our government that this is our country. We the People are still in charge, and our government is still our servant and not our master.

Our Nation's founding document is The Declaration of Independence .. It tells us that our rights come from God and not from a small group of Elite men and women.

Our Constitution starts with the words "We the People." Our Constitution was written for ordinary Americans like you and me. Our Constitution protects us from our government and from the politicians.

Our President has complained that our Constitution gives ordinary people too much protection. He has ridiculed us for the high value we place on our Bibles, our guns, our personal property, and our Liberty .. He tells us we do not deserve to keep the money we have earned.

We are told freedom has not worked. Personal responsibility, free enterprise, and Libertyhave not been effective. Our government will now make more of our decisions for us.

Other than our military, I can think of not one government agency I have ever found to be helpful.

And speaking of our military, how about those Navy Seals blowing the heads off those three terrorist pirates? Don't you just wish our entire government would function with such efficiency, professionalism, and courage?

We watch in disbelief as our beloved United States is weakened economically, militarily, and morally by a Radical President and his eager accomplices.

What has taken generations to build is systematically destroyed and replaced with the same Socialist Evil that brought poverty, destruction, and despair to untold hundreds of millions.

The problems we face today have occurred because we have not defended our Nation from Socialism. For too long we have allowed the wrong people to make the worst possible decisions.

The Bible warns us of class hatred. The Radical leadership of our government daily fans the evil flames of class envy.

Our European and Canadian friends beg us to not make the same Socialist mistakes they did.

The President of the European Union warned our President that his Socialist economic plans are taking the World down the "road to Hell."

The path to power for Socialists includes taking God and guns from the citizens. Without spiritual and physical protection, people cannot defend themselves and their Liberty . They soon become slaves.

We are angered that our President apologizes for the exceptionalism and heroism of theUnited States of America . We are deeply troubled that he told others the United States is not a Christian nation.

We are angered that we have been called cowards and racists because we oppose Socialism. Socialism is not racial. Socialism is an equal opportunity destroyer.

We are angered that a recent Department of Homeland Security report has singled out our military men and women who are returning home as being radical threats.

The report also characterizes you and me as right-wing extremists and radicals because we favor smaller government and lower taxes.

You and I are average citizens who believe just like most of our fellow Americans. We want our government to leave us alone and to keep its hands off our money, our religion, our guns, our private property, and our lives.

We demand that our government stop spending money it does not have.

Stop confiscating our money and private property.

Stop printing money.

Stop subsidizing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the other failed financial institutions and companies.

Mr. President, stop appointing tax cheats to positions of power and influence.

Mr. President, secure our borders.

Mr. President, do not divert money from our missile defense, F-22 Raptors, and other vital military equipment. This gives encouragement, aid, and comfort to our enemies. Protecting us is your number one job.

Mr. President, do not give voting rights to millions of illegal aliens and felons. You have no more right to create new voters for your benefit than you do to use our money to buy the 2010 and 2012 Elections.

We gather peacefully here today because there is a growing concern for what our government is doing to us and to our future. We fear for the very survival of our Republic.

Yet there is much to make us hopeful and to fill our hearts with optimism and courage. This is still our country!

The Constitution of the Unites States belongs to We the People. Our Constitution still protects us from our government.

Call every possible elected official, including our President, Vice President, and the Speaker of the House.

Demand that they stop stealing our money and giving it to ACORN and their other political supporters in order to buy votes.

Call Senators Cornyn and Hutchison, and Representative Neugebauer. Thank them. Urge them to do much more. Remind them now is a time for action and not for campaigning.

Volunteer to work on our 2010 Census. Confront ACORN. Keep our Census honest. We must not allow our President to take control of our Census for his political advantage.

We must replace as much of our Far Left Congress as possible in 2010. Get involved. Do not let the ACORN control our 2010 Election.

Talk with someone every day who does not understand our nation's history and our great heritage. Tell them why the United States is a good and prosperous nation. It still remains that brightly lit city on the hill. It still is the best hope for all mankind.

Talk with all of the young people you can find. They are our future. Many do not understand what they have and that their future is being destroyed.

Encourage your elected State officials to pass legislation that will protect us from our Federal government. This is a time for strong peaceful action. Let us pray that We the People can quickly return our government to its Constitutional responsibilities.

Our President and Congress were elected to be our servants and not our masters.

May God help our President and Congress to quickly realize the error of their ways and stop their reckless and unwarranted spending, cut our taxes, and reduce the size of our Federal bureaucracy.

If they do not, may God grant us the courage and determination to vote them out of power next year.

May God richly bless and protect each of you, and our Constitution, as together we pursue Liberty !

Delivered at the Lubbock , Texas , TEA Party by Dr. Donald May

Cartoon from Mike Ramirez... Letter from Mike Walker... All, a. North Korea: Clinton+Clinton+Bolton=Pretty accurate view of US policy Hillary Clinton: The release of two US Journalists will not lead to a change in the Nuclear Talks with N Korea-Correct Bill Clinton: If the release of two US Journalists will not lead to a change in the Nuclear Talks with N Korea then getting them freed is a win-Correct John Bolton: The release of two US Journalists will not lead to a change in the Nuclear Talks with N Korea as a regime willing to let its children to starve to death so it can purchase nuclear weapon components rather than food will never give up its nuclear weapons-Correct b. Clunkers for Cash: The glass half full, half empty dilemma The glass half full: The program works, it gets inefficient cars off the streets and helps the struggling auto industry recover at a critical time. The glass half empty: Washington DC underestimated the future cost of Medicare by at least 500%. Washington DC initially underestimated the cost of the "Clunker for Cash" Program by at least 400%. Aren't those good reasons to be worried about how much Washington DC thinks Health Care Reform will cost in the future? Regards, Mike

Something to ponder, are you aware that the White House sent out a directive to develop a list of persons or organizations that disagree with the Health Care Bill? A dissent database, sounds like Hugo Chavez. http://powerlineblog.com/

(This is a timely interjection in the "Health Care" debate from Mike Walker, USMC Colonel, retired)

All,

The head of the CBO recently stated that the Pelosi Health Bill will increase not decrease health care costs. To understand why the increase will occur we need to look at the four disjointed and unbalanced revenue streams that influence the price of health care and health insurance.

We also need to make the distinction between getting health care and having health insurance as this will have an impact on the future cost of health insurance. For millions of Americans without health insurance, getting health care is not an issue as they get it the old fashioned "pay-as-you-go" way i.e. they get sick, they go to the doctor's office, get treated and then pay their bill.

They get all the health care they want without having health insurance. I do not recommend this model (due to the cost of a major illness) but it is a component of the system we need to watch. More alarmingly, there is a mutant form of "pay-as-you-go" health care in some government run health care programs that creates a risk to the financial stability of the health insurance program. More later.

Let us return the four major revenue sources for Americans seeking health care.

1. The largest revenue source today is the Federal Government via Medicare/Medicaid

2. Next are those who have private health insurance.

3. We then have those cited above who do not have health insurance but get health care through "pay-go."

4. Finally, we have those without health insurance who cannot afford to "pay-as-they-go" for health care.

As is well understood, the last group still gets health care. The cost is not offset by revenue so the health care system looks elsewhere to pay the bill, primarily by increasing the rates paid through private health insurance. That is why insuring this group, if done right, can benefit everyone paying for health care.

What is less well understood is that Medicare/Medicaid also drives up the cost of private health insurance. The Federal Government does this, in the case of Medicare, through artificial cost controls i.e. they set a price for goods and services through the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) calculation that is below the actual cost of the heath care provided.

This distorts/perverts the equilibrium of the market and again, as in the case of those unable to pay for their health care, requires health care providers to look elsewhere for money to pay the bill. Again, the burden primarily falls on those covered by private insurance through higher premiums.

This distorted outcome will be exacerbated under the Pelosi Health Bill, as it proposes to further reduce the Federal Government payments for Medicare, which is one reason why the OMB raised the alarm.

There are only two viable remedies to ensure services match resources (or balance revenues to costs): (a) Limit services or (b) find additional revenues.

Most means of limiting services are not included in the Pelosi Health Bill so that leaves finding more revenues. Further, any government run health insurance program is guaranteed to follow Medicare with an SRG-type mechanism that will further distort/pervert the market calling for more revenues.

In both cases, this will default to Americans who get their health care from the private insurance sector through increased premiums, increased taxes on employers, or a combination of the two. None of this is good news for the economy.

There will be some efficiency savings from improved use of information technology, etc but since the greatest inefficiency in the system is not going to addressed (the effects of litigation) these savings will not add up to much of a change at all.

While the plaintiff lawyer industry only generates about $4 billion annually through health care court cases, up to 9% of the total cost of health care is tied up in excessive malpractice insurance and, even more damaging, medically unneeded testing that is carried out as “prevent-defense” against possible litigation.

Finally, let us revisit the "pay-go" system and the risk of a physically and financially devastating major illness for an individual who can afford but declines to get health insurance. A poorly crafted government health plan can significantly increase the cost of the plan if it does not require long-term participation by the "pay-go" participants in the health care system.

If there is (a) no barrier to/surcharge for entry into the government insurance plan based on pre-existing conditions and (b) the "pay-go" participants are allowed to opt in and out of the government insurance program at will then the plan has swallowed a "poisoned pill" for cost control.

What will happen is that many "pay-go" participants will only enter the government-run plan when faced with a high cost illness. They will then be willing to pay the premium equaling pennies on the dollar for the health care provided. As soon as they are well again they will opt out to save themselves the cost of the premium.

Everyone else in the government plan that is in for the long-term will have to pony up the additional dollars to pay for the bill for the "here-today-gone-tomorrow" crowd. If the cost of the government health plan is capped through an SRG-type mechanism then the costs will once again fall on the Americans in the private insurance sector.

All this has a remote potential of spiraling out of control if a tipping point is reached at some point in the future where the cost difference between the private insurance plans and the new capped government plan is so great that the numbers of Americans leaving the private plans for the government plan will cause the private insurance industry to collapse.

This is mentioned as the possibility of the home mortgage finance industry collapsing was also considered a very remote possibility in 2005 but became a harsh reality a few years later.

Fixing the health care system is critical. Now is the time to do it. But getting it right is the most important thing of all.

Warm regards,

Mike Walker

The author sits on the board of directors for a non-profit health insurance association in Southern California.

Another must read from Mike Walker, Colonel USMC (retired) All, Please resist the populist salve of taxing the "rich" that has crippled California public finances. We have a model where 1% of the earners pay about 50% of the income taxes. What could be better? Soak the rich and the rest of us schmoos get it back in the form of government programs. Hurry, hurry, get your free ticket for the Government Gravy Train! Well, as we have painfully found out it California, nothing could be any worse. First, California's spark for job creation is small businesses (and has been since the end of the Cold War nearly two decades ago). They are also the largest percentage of high earners for income taxes. Movie stars and pro-athletes are a fraction of a percent of these earners. Tax small businesses into a cave and kiss job creation good-bye! Second, when 50% of your taxes are tied to 1% of the earners you get a life-long pass on the government revenue rollercoaster (which has no resemblance to the government gravy train mentioned above). It is a wicked ride. It kills you when it's up and it kills you when it's down. When the rich boys and girls are riding high, the government coffers will take in a fortune in taxes as California did in 2000. How is this bad? Because politicians will never believe that this peak is a one-time occurrence. They will put on their rose-colored glasses and assume that the rollercoaster only goes up and up. So instead of pausing to enjoy the view, they commit the government to on-going spending increases that takes them (and the rest of us) right off the rails and out into the wild blue yonder. Which is an even better view until gravity takes over. And what happens when the rich boys and girls in California have an economic sneeze like we do today during the recession? Well, then your handy-dandy government catches pneumonia. We still do not know how sick California government is right now. We do know it is as close to death as it has ever been and will not be getting better anytime soon. So the moral to the story is that when you hear some Wahington D.C. politician (especially one elected from California) tell you the big fib that all your problems can be solved by taxing the rich then grab your wallet, lock your door, and pray for divine intervention. Because if these fools get their way the whole United States will be getting onboard "Mr. Crazy California's Wild-Ride" to governance oblivion. And then we can change the name of Washington from the District of Columbia to the District of California. Party hardy, dudes! All the best Mike

Califoria Asseblyman Paul Cook, 65th Assembly District, from recent "Cook Chronicles"

Real Budget Solutions Require Spending Discipline, Not Tax Hikes

When it comes to balancing California 's budget, many of the special interest groups in Sacramento just don't get it. Despite decades of ever-expanding state spending, they still demand more tax dollars and are battling ferociously against any attempts to bring spending under control. Rather than reducing state spending, they're attempting to balance the budget by piling more taxes on the backs of hard-working Californians. These special interest groups feel tax hikes are the best way to solve the state's financial woes - but this couldn't be any further from the truth.

Facts can be stubborn things. Take for example when taxes were increased in 1991 to paper over a similar budget crisis. Some thought higher taxes would cause state revenues to increase, but, to their surprise, overall state revenues actually declined the following two years.

The reason is simple: taxes take money out of the pockets of California families and stifle job creation – two things that must avoided, especially during an economic crisis like the one our state is currently facing.

What the special interest groups don't understand is that the real solution to California's financial problems is true economic recovery and spending discipline. The Legislature must do everything in its power to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit that allows companies to do what they do better than any government program ever will: create jobs and provide opportunities for the two million Californians who are currently unemployed.

Some of my colleagues and I were successful during budget negotiations earlier this year when we passed a measure to give small businesses tax breaks for hiring new employees. This measure encourages companies to do business in California because they receive $3,000 for every new full-time employee that they hire. And since small businesses make up 99% of employers in California, this measure will undoubtedly help stimulate our economy and provide new opportunities for unemployed workers.

Another successful business incentive that we passed back in February was known as the ‘single sales factor.' This measure will spark economic recovery because it gives corporations the option of being based on their sales - rather than requiring them to pay taxes based off of their sales, payroll, and property. By providing tax flexibility, these corporations have an incentive to do business in California and hire more Californians.

During upcoming budget negotiations, I will continue to fight for measures like these that help revive our economy, not restrict it – because that's how we put Californians back to work and generate more revenue for the state. We must create a business friendly environment in California so that companies aren't forced to move to states with smaller tax burdens (taking their jobs and revenue with them). The only jobs these special interest groups are creating are in Nevada and New Mexico by making it too difficult and expensive to operate here in California.

The big spenders in Sacramento still want to believe that taxes are the solution to all of our problems – I think they are wrong. As your Assembly member, I will do everything in my power to keep their hands out of your wallet. If the Legislature is truly interested in generating more revenue, we must promote real economic recovery, create jobs, and not allow any new taxes or tax increases.

Show us your feathers Barry!

Let's see, late and weak response to Iranian problem....

quick and immediate response to Honduran.

cartoon, Mike Ramirez written letter, Mike Walker All, Looking casually at the military coup in Honduras begs the question: Is it business as usual once again in Latin America? The one unpleasant recurring thread in too many of those former Spanish colonies seems to be dictatorial rule by the elite, whether on the right or the left but always at the expense of the democratic rights of the people. Latin America also seems to be another world center for the "A free and honest election - but only once!" malady. That is where the "out of power" rightist/leftist party pushes for a democratic election until it wins and takes the reins of power. After that it is back to elite dictatorial rule for life secured by whatever means required. So where are we in Honduras? This is an interesting case that may be unique. We had a leftist President who was destroying the constitutional government of Honduras via the "only one free election" principle described above and a rightist military that has also badly violated the same constitution in its coup yesterday. So what do two wrongs make? That is hard to answer but a "right" is not it. What happens over the next days and weeks will be critical. The options run from the institution of a right-wing military dictatorship to the successful return of an upcoming left-wing dictatorship, or perhaps something in between that may actually strengthen Honduran democracy. The glimmer of hope is that civil authorities in Honduras have a chance to restore the rule of law and send both the leftist and rightist "wanna be" diktat factions packing, perhaps even to jail. On the left, President Zeleya broke the law when he violated the process on constitutional referendums. On the right, the military had no legal authority to exile President Zeleya.

Zeleya's referendum was to change the constitution to allow him to be elected de facto "President for Life" by abolishing the one-term limit in the constitution (which was purposely put there to end this type of dictatorial power grab).

As in the United States, Honduras requires any constitutional change to garner a passing vote in upper and lower houses of congress plus nation-wide passage. The main difference is that in the US, following passage in congress, the constitutional change takes effect after 2/3 of the states ratify it. In Honduras, after the congress passes it, there is a national vote for approval.

Zeleya could not get his referendum through the congress. So he declared the constitution null and void on this issue and declared a national vote without congressional approval.

The issue went to the Supreme Court which ruled the president's act unconstitutionally illegal. The Attorney General vowed to uphold the court ruling with the support of the congress.

Ignoring the legal will of both the legislative and judicial branches of government, Zeleya ordered the military to carry out the referendum.

The Honduran equivalent of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff refused citing the Supreme Court ruling. Zeleya sacked him and demanded the military comply. They would not.

Zeley'a supporters then stormed the building holding the ballots and began to distribute them to their political strongholds making the potential election both illegal and a fraud.

Then the military broke the law. It had a constitutional duty to refuse to obey Zeleya's unlawful orders. It may also had been required to assist in the detention/arrest of Zeleya BUT only within the legal framework of Honduran law as outlined in the constitution. It appears this did not happen. Further, the military had no authority to remove Zeleya from power.

The best of all possible worlds is for the proper civilian authorities in Tegucigalpa to legally and peacefully wrest power from the military.

Both Zeleya on the left and responsible generals on the right need to stand trial. A vigorous and unstinting defense of the constitution and the rule of law is the only road to a better future.

It is time to close the door, once and for all, on dictatorial rule by the rightist and leftist elites.

Semper Fi,

Mike

California Activists Fight over Census of Illegal Immigrants

(Contributed by Col. Mike Walker, USMC, retired )

All,

I have long been an ardent supporter of undocumented immigrant rights to the chagrin of many of my friends.

My "problem" is that they all are people to me therefore deserving of the full measure of human consideration and respect. Bashing these people is deeply troubling.

It is simply a matter of right and wrong.

However, the schism amongst the undocumented immigrant activists here in California is equally troubling.

The issue is about counting undocumented immigrants in California during the upcoming 2010 census, primarily in order to get more seats in the United States House of Representatives.

One side is arguing to make every effort to count undocumented immigrants in the 2010 census of U.S. citizens. This is destructive to our democratic republic.

It is simply a matter of right or wrong.

Politically, it is insidiously neutral. It favors all California political parties equally, only non-California U.S. citizens are hurt.

Undocumented immigrants do not get to vote but counting them inflates the numbers making the rest of us Californians sort of "super voters" i.e we get more congressional representation than the actual number of citizens.

Is is tragically like the slavery days when white southern males were able to count slaves to get an unfair and divisively larger number of seats in the House.

As the LA Times reporter Teresa Watanabe pointed out in the recent Sunday edition, as a result of the 2000 census, the undocumented immigrant count garnered California three House seats that also caused the loss of one seat each in Indiana, Michigan, and Mississippi.

The added undocumented immigrant count also ensured that all three went to California, narrowly beating out the citizens of Montana. Nice try and better luck next time Big Sky.

Or maybe not if some California undocumented immigrant activists have their way.

And there is a price to be paid by the citizens in the other 49 states. It comes in the form of federal aid that is calculated by a population statistic. More in any category means more federal dollars flowing into California. Neat, if you are a Californian, documented AND not.

This is not my first dilemma with undocumented immigrants. I have long found it unconscionable to charge an Afro-American citizen from Ohio a higher "out-of-state" tuition rate at, say, UC Berkeley while giving an undocumented immigrant from Michoacan Mexico a very reduced "in-state" tuition rate. Michoacan = California. I think not.

It is simply a matter of right and wrong.

But hey, when push comes to shove, what do you care? Really?

Surfs up, dude!

Mike

(Contributed by Mike Walker, retired USMC Col.)

All,

Sent e-mail below back in January. My opinions have not changed.

But here are a few amplifications about miscalculations and how wars begin:

The highest ranking N. Korean ever to defect was on the road from the airport to downtown Seoul in the late 1990's. He was convinced that the S Korean gov't had taken every car in S Korea and put them on that few-mile stretch of highway as a propaganda gambit.

This official, one of the best informed/educated senior leaders in N Korea, could not believe that S Korea had even a fraction of the industrial might it possessed to produce not only cars for S. Koreans but cars that were sold worldwide. He probably had a fit of apoplexy when he saw the world's largest steel mill in Pohang.

My nightmare is that the less "worldly" N. Korean military thinks that the S Korean reserve armed forces are still using 1950's F-86 Sabre jets and 1940's M-4 Sherman tanks just as their reserves are using 1940's T-34's and 1950's Mig-19's. And that the primary means of communication in an infantry battalion, as is that in N. Korea, is the "runner" soldier, not 21st C4I commuter technology.

The list goes on and on but the truth remains. The South Korean armed forces is better trained, equipped, and physically superior to any of their N. Korean counterparts. And do not let the soft living in the South confuse you. Underneath the facade, there is real steel in the will of the S. Korean army.

Semper Fi,

Mike

(Earlier writing, 1/18/2009)

All,

A very short note.

Worked intelligence on Korea off and on in mid/late 1990's into 2000. Trained/deployed there in 1982, 1991, 2000 in the infantry and in intel.

The South Korean military is almost as superior to that of North Korea as we were to the conventional Iraqi Army in 2003.

With the US as allies they will clean N. Korea's clock.

This allied role is "doable" for the US as S. Korea does NOT need a lot of ground troops but could use high tech air power etc.

Those are the very forces (especially carrier battle groups) that are NOT heavily committed in the current war on terrorism.

The big difference is that the N. Koreans will fight long and hard in their defeat so the casualties will make our fights in Iraq/Afghanistan pail in comparison.

Civilian casualties in the South, if N. Korea decides to target them, will also be appalling.

The problem is that all wars are started by miscalculations on the part of one or both parties.

There is not a more dangerous government in the world that makes more decisions based upon a self-imposed vacuum of ignorance that the one in N. Korea.

That makes the odds of a horrific miscalculation on their part that much higher.

Semper Fi,

Mike

May 25, 2009

AP Photo by way of FoxNews...

From my family to all who have lost family members or friends in military action...

We remember the loss, we honor the sacrifice, and we proudly stand with you...

Michael Ramirez is a visual genius, always hitting the nail on the head...

A contribution from Mike Walker, USMC Colonel, retired

Reflections on water boarding

Let me begin by stating that as Marine who served as an intelligence officer, in peace and war, active and reserve, for over a decade, I have not in the past and do not now support the torture of prisoners.

But I am deeply disturbed by the attempts of people who should know better to put the defense of our nation ahead of a poorly thought out and largely partisan political action on this subject.

Criminalizing policy differences is to follow a path that is destructive, unpredictable, and, in the end, uncontrollable. It is a weapon that will as assuredly destroy those who wield it as the targets aimed at.

I am a witness to “torture” as many are defining it as a young Marine infantry officer. Here is how I recall it.

When we captured an officer, we turned them over to the interrogators. The prisoner was stripped, blindfolded, and held out of doors in a large chicken coop. The weather was cold, coming close to freezing at night. Questioning began inside a barn with the still naked and blindfolded prisoner having his hands tied and his arms stretched over his head by means of rope tied to his wrists and hung over a rafter.

If the prisoner did not satisfactorily respond to the questions he was brought outside and staked down to the ground at his hands and feet as well as on either side of his head so he could not move it. A towel was then placed over his face and five-gallon water cans were lined up. If the prisoner gave an unsatisfactory answer then water was poured continuously over the towel making breathing very difficult if not impossible. The prisoner was instructed to grab the nearby trouser leg of an interrogator with his staked hand when he wished to provide a satisfactory answer. It worked very well. The interrogators said it worked on everybody except some SEALS who they claimed were half fish.

The interrogators always had an Army medic nearby and as the procedures became more severe they would consult back to the rear on how far too go via a satellite link run by some Army Ranger communicators. In the actual event, the medic was never needed.

This happened almost thirty years ago in the Piedmont region of western North Carolina. The recipients of the water boarding were U.S. Army officers trying to qualify for the Special Forces who had been captured by us. This all occurred during the Robin Sage Exercise conducted by the U.S. Army Institute for Military Assistance (now the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center). The President of the United States at that time was Jimmy Carter. I can only wonder how long water boarding has been around.

So what exactly is torture? I can’t begin to answer that. The water boarding I witnessed was pretty harsh stuff and I have no problem with the “higher ups” making an official call that it is torture and not to do it.

But to listen to others, everyone who lived in a dorm in college in my generation was a victim of systemic torture either by omission or commission at the hands of the heads of the universities and colleges. The colleges, so this line of reasoning goes, created a culture causing widespread and continuous sleep deprivation due to the playing of loud music (in college dorms). Employees (Professors) routinely tortured students by assigning workloads that caused repeated sleepless periods known as “all nighters,” especially during final examination periods.

And for all my fellow grunts who served in the infantry, virtually your entire existence, in peace or war, was and/or is one long, endless program of CRIMINAL torture as these folks define it.

Now some may say that the college and infantry examples above are absurd and silly distractions. I only wish it were so. If we put prisoners through the rigors typical to infantry training it could be a CRIMINAL act under these fatally flawed definitions of torture. If we actually repeated the noise, lack of sleep, and time-pressure demands put to a college freshman then that treatment could result in CRIMINAL charges as some are now defining torture.

If I can’t figure out what is torture then I also cannot understand what are the goals here. Why is this a selective and backwards looking prosecution? Clearly, it has international implications so how long will the allegations be out there? What is our policy in that regard?

Should we be petitioning the heads of Peoples Republic of China and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea for a truth commission to go over the torture and illegal execution of U.S. prisoners in the 1950’s? Should we be petitioning the head of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for a truth commission to go over the torture and illegal execution of U.S. prisoners in the 1960’s and 1970’s?

Torture is torture, right? Does anyone not understand what happens to American prisoners captured in Iraq and Afghanistan? It is unspeakable torture followed by beheading or some other barbaric execution. What are all these champions against torture proposing to do about that? Certainly the Congress must value at least equally the fate of an American as that of an enemy? If you torture U.S. prisoners we will never stop until justice is done seems to be a missing component in this policy. Do we not want to send that message as well?

When you look at this “torture” morass one point stands out, our policies (past, present, and proposed) are confusing, contradictory, and to a large degree, self-defeating. On the one hand, it now appears that there is no atrocity carried out by our enemy that will cause a collective cry of outrage, condemnation, and action within a civilized legal framework. On the other hand, it appears there is no hardship, no matter how small, endured by a prisoner in U.S. hands that will not evoke immediate approbation and condemnation as torture.

We have created the worst of all possible worlds, a world where the word “torture” is now meaningless. We have enemy that can torture without fear of any meaningful legal consequences and we have Americans who are unjustly tarred with the term by a definition that only an idiot could concoct. And it is our men and women in uniform who will pay the ultimate price for these feckless actions.

Semper Fi,

Mike

From Mike Walker (retired USMC Colonel)

Several points about Somalia.

A. No one should consider a long-term “stabilization /nation building” operation for that unfortunate land. Why? A short “History of Somalia” may answer the question.

Historically, there were once a handful of thriving coastal city-states on the Somali shoreline, most notably Mogadishu, which brought peace, stability and wealth to the enclaved population. The hinterland, on the other hand, was always the home of decentralized nomadic clans living marginally above the subsistence level. But there has never been an historic nation of Somalia in recorded history.

The European (Italian, British, and French) powers colonized the region in the 19th century but there efforts had a minimal effect on creating a unified nation. The Italians poured in millions of dollars always with a losing result. The British basically maintained a “do no harm” policy. The coast was kept peaceful by leaving the nomads alone. They invested little or nothing with a similar expectation on any return. The French simply never left. They are still their today in their little corner of the region (Djibouti).

Perhaps because of its lack of perceived (real?) value, Somalia was one of the first Sub-Saharan African countries to gain independence from its colonial masters in 1960. It quickly reached the status quo of a failed state by the late 1970’s. It has remained much the same ever since.

If some one else wants to try to recreate the Somali city-state pockets of stability in a hope that it will tame the inland deserts, more power to them but now is not the time for the United States to consider such a risky undertaking.

B. Is this “piracy stuff” linked to the war on terror?

It is now acknowledged that the first two attacks by al Qaeda against the United States took place on 29 December 1992 in Yemen, home of Usama bin Laden. It was directed against US forces there preparing to participate in the Somalia humanitarian aid mission Operation Restore Hope.

This fact is brought to the fore for several reasons. First, we didn’t even know that al Qaeda existed at that point in time even though it had been operational for as long as four years. Perhaps that is because it was operating under front names such as the International Benevolence Foundation and the al Kifah Refugee Center.

Second, the same bases used by the pirates today were used then to smuggle weapons and al Qaeda operatives into Somalia from Yemen during Operation Restore Hope. At the very least the smugglers then and the pirates today are almost certainly from the same clans. It would not be surprising to discover they are the same groups and even have some of the same outlaw members from the 1990’s.

Third, there would not have been the level of sophistication in the Somali warlord forces during the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” battle in Mogadishu had it not been for al Qaeda and the Somali smugglers/pirates. The point is what is real and what we think is real about today’s piracy is not necessarily the same thing.

We underestimated the complexity of the situation then. We underestimated the resources available to our opponents then. We underestimated the true motives of our opponents then. We underestimated the emboldening consequences of being perceived as having been bested by our enemy.

Anyone who claims that the pirates are not connected in any meaningful degree to al Qadea is just wasting everyone’s time in a useless exercise of wishful thinking. The real question is how connected are they are now and how is the relationship evolving.

C. Economics 101

Getting the incentives right is the toughest part of any progressive economic policy. In the case of Somalia, it never worked out under the colonial powers. It never worked out under successive pro-Western or pro-Soviet governments in the Cold War. Hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign development aid never did the trick. Well if we couldn’t succeed then we certainly are doing a great job of setting Somalia up for further failure. Talk about a textbook example of creating the worst possible incentive. A few years ago, the Somali pirates were taking in a few million dollars. Last year, estimates are in $50 million range. This year, they look to reach $100M.

We failed in helping Somalia but we have done a grand job of turning them into huge criminal enterprise. Cheers! The silver lining is that the figures are just huge. If we really want to turn this around and get to the bottom of it we just need to follow the money.

And therein lies the rub. Clearly a few pennies make their way into the local community, but that is a distraction. Big bucks never stay in Somalia. So where are they? More importantly, do we have the guts to face the answer? I ask this because after the Oil-for-Food corruption/criminal operation, I doubt that some “power that be” in the international community really want anyone to get to the bottom of this operation. They would like to put it to bed with the killing of some hapless Somali pirates, if need be, and quickly change the subject.

If any fool thinks that these are just a few simple fishermen who have turned to piracy out of dire necessity then I have hedge fund for you to invest in. I believe Bernie Madoff is pulling it together using mortgage backed securities created by Fannie Mae. Even better, your investment is totally secure because it is protected by credit default swap derivatives from AIG Financial Products. Make checks payable to the Somali Benevolence Foundation.

D. What do we do next?

First, let us give President Obama high marks for handling this crisis. He adeptly avoided legitimatizing these guys by refusing to become personally engaged with them. He refused to be intimidated or enfeebled by the crimes of the pirates by choosing decisive action.

So what is next? We should seriously consider putting U.S. Marines on all U.S. flagged vessels sailing through the stretch of the Indian Ocean as an appropriate defensive step that applies only to the situation in Somalia. This can be done under the envelope of UNSCR 1816. Make this an overt move and state openly that the Marines and U.S. Navy in order to prevent, repress, and/or deter acts of piracy and armed robbery will use force.

That should create a nice little test of competing economic incentives, attack U.S. flagged vessels and die or go elsewhere to get rich.

Semper Fi,

Mike

From Mike Walker...(well said!)

All,

Moving On

The President did not get it entirely right in his address earlier this week.

What he should have said is “The era characterized by too much reckless borrowing and spending by too many is now being replaced by an era of too much reckless spending by too many in Big Government.

This is NOT the change our Country was either promised or needs.

Semper Fi,

Mike

Tea, anyone?

Have you been depressed lately concerning the incoherence that is our "New Nation"? I have been experiencing that as well.

This all reminds me of the old sage "Young people begin to see the wisdom of their parents as their own lives unfold".... geez, I hope that it won't be too late for "O" to mature as the realities of our dangerous world and the things that have made this country great begin to evaporate. A broad and general strike might be the order of the day, or just a 10 million person tea party.

Read Scott Johnson at Powerline to fill in the blanks... you may have to cut and paste...

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/03/023140.php