Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Wrong Answer, Mitt!

Over the weekend Mitt Romney demonstrated why he will lose the general election in the Fall.

He is letting Obama set the agenda, and he is weak and unfocused in his responses.

Obama recently announced that he is enacting the DREAM act through executive order.  This obviously unconstitutional and crass political ploy to get all these people to vote for Obama illegally.

The political play here is to set up Romney as anti-Latino, and he is falling into the trap.  This is not about immigration.  This is about the unconstitutional nature of the Executive Order.

Romney should be denouncing this move in the strongest terms possible based on the illegality of the Order, not the content of the order.

Here, instead, is his response:

At a campaign bus tour, Mitt Romney criticized President Obama’s newly announced immigration policy not to deport DREAM Act-eligible youth, but did not say explicitly whether he would reverse the order if elected.

“I think the action that the president took today makes it more difficult to reach that long-term solution because an executive order of course is just a short-term matter,” Romney said, echoing Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).

“It could be reversed by subsequent presidents,” Romney said. “I would like to see legislation that deals with this issue. And I happen to agree with Marco Rubio as he will consider this issue. He said this is an important matter. We have to find a long-term solution. But the president’s action makes reaching a long-term solution more difficult. If I’m president, we’ll do our very best to have that kind of long-term solution that provides certainty and clarity for the people who come into this country through no fault of their own by virtue of an act of their parents. Thank you.”


Here is what he should have said:

President Obama has issued an Executive Order to enact parts of the DREAM Act, specifically issuing work permits to illegal aliens.  I strongly condemn this action because it is Unconstitutional.   The President has no power to make laws.  He only has the power to enforce the law.  The DREAM act was not passed into law by Congress.  It was defeated.  It is a grossly unconstitutional act to issue an executive order creating new laws. 

I call on President Obama to rescind this order. I call on Congress to reign in the President and re-establish the separation of powers called for by the Constitution. I call on the Supreme Court to intervene and stop this madness.

If this Order still stands when I am sworn into office I will immediately overturn it and restore our Republic to the Rule of Law.

Romney's willingness to get sucked into the trap of being against immigration will not help is election campaign.  The press will overshadow the true issue at hand and play up the "Romney hates Latinos' angle.


What's Wrong with Muslims

So, what is wrong with Muslims?  Well for starters, they are wrong.

By that I mean their world view and their facts are completely wrong.

There was recently a meeting here in Chicago where some of their beliefs were on display:


According to the American Muslim Forum for Democracy, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the group that hosts the meeting, is a radical origination that promotes world-wide jihad, and targets young children to join their movement. The following excerpt comes from AMFD’s 2009 call for Muslim organizations to denounce and condemn the Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

Dr. Mohammed Malkawi (aka. Abu Talha)
Hizb ut-Tahrir is an Islamist network that is committed to creating an Islamic Caliphate that spans the globe. The organization is banned in Germany and Russia as well as several Arab countries and targets Muslim children between the ages of 9 and 18. Many compare their efforts to organizations like the Hitler Youth. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, is counted among their alumnus.

There were four speakers at the event, three of which that wanted to remain unidentified, with the center of attention focusing upon the key note speaker, Dr. Mohammed Malkawi aka Abu Talha, Hizb’s Deputy Spokesperson. The following are some of the claims made by the four speakers:

  • American Capitalism has caused all that is wrong with the Muslim world today.
  • The Capitalist System was created to restrict Muslims.
  • Jews and Christians will not be happy with Muslims until they adopt their way of life.
  • The fall of Communism and the decline of Capitalism sends a clear message that the rise of Islam is imminent.
  • Capitalism has failed due to its high suicide, high poverty, and many other adverse rates, while at the same time there were no statistics mentioned about the same rates in Arab Nations.
  • Capitalism systematically creates poor people.
  • The Democratic process in the US and around the world is a mirage.
  • Obama failed on two issues, Palestine and dealing with the entire Muslim world.
  • That they are a peaceful non-violent movement, however, while viewing the diagram on the overhead projector showing the structure of the Sharia governing cabinet, it listed a private secretary in charge of Jihad.

Let's look at each of these claims.

American Capitalism has caused all that is wrong with the Muslim world today. It is hard to take this claim seriously.  Genital mutilation, honor killings, and pedophilia are caused by American Capitalism?  The rampant poverty in Muslim countries is entirely due to the economic policies enforced under Sharia.  This claim is the opposite of the truth.  Blaming America is an easy way to avoid looking in the mirror and taking responsibility for the horror that is life in Muslim countries.

The Capitalist System was created to restrict Muslims.  I hate to break it to him: we don't think about you that much.  He gives us too much credit, and he places himself in a larger role in the western mind than is true.  Capitalism was not 'created'.  Unlike Marxism, Capitalism is what happens naturally if you leave people alone to trade freely with each other.    We are Capitalists because it is the only moral and effective economic system, and 'restricting' Muslims has nothing at all to do with it.

Jews and Christians will not be happy with Muslims until they adopt their way of life.  This is sheer tautological nonsense.  We are not happy with you because you are trying to kill us. You are trying to kill us because your beliefs demand that you slay the infidels. You will keep trying to kill us until we become Muslims.  OK, got it.  Submit or die.  How about this: stop trying to kill us.  Then we will go back to not thinking about you.

The fall of Communism and the decline of Capitalism sends a clear message that the rise of Islam is imminent.  Here he may actually have a point.  The collapse of Communism and the unwillingness of the West to defend itself have created a power vacuum that Sharia and Islam have moved into.  Where I would disagree is that I do not view this through the same theological lens -- he seems to be  claiming a mandate.  I would view it as a failure on the part of civilization to defend itself from the barbarians at the gate.  If only there were an example we could learn from where a great power declined and fell to savages...

Capitalism systematically creates poor people.  This is the opposite of the truth.  Capitalism creates rich people.  If capitalism creates poor people, how were there poor people in time before Capitalism?  The Bible mentions the poor.  Robin Hood robs from the rich and gives to the poor.  Capitalism arose in the 15th -17th centuries.  Poverty pre-exists Capitalism.  In fact, Capitalism is the only economic system that raises the poor out of poverty.  Simply look at the Heritage Foundation rankings of countries by GDP.  The truth is crystal clear.  Capitalism makes people rich.

The Democratic process in the US and around the world is a mirage. The US election process is not perfect, but the West has free and fair elections.  Apparently he is aligned with the Trilateral Commission and Bilderberg nut bags that think everything is being controlled behind the scenes.  Or he is projecting the ridiculous farce that he sees at home in Third World elections onto the West.  But either way, our elections are as close to the Voice of the People as any process ever used.

Obama failed on two issues, Palestine and dealing with the entire Muslim world.  Here he approaches the truth.  Obama has failed on Palestine and dealing with the entire Muslim world.  But I suspect he and I do not agree on the nature of that failure.  I think that Obama has sown the seeds of global warfare by supporting the 'Arab Spring' revolutions that have allowed radical Muslims to rise to power throughout the Middle East. But let's stick to the basics point where he is wrong: Obama has failed on a lot more than two issues...

they are a peaceful non-violent movement... listed a private secretary in charge of Jihad. This is absurd on its face.  Islam is the most violent religion/philosophy in the world today.  It is sheer nonsense to claim non-violent status while rioting, killing, bombing, and beheading people everyday. The fact that they have someone in charge of Jihad is interesting, but you need to look no further than the daily newspaper to see that Islam is inherently violent.


Our Muslim troubles stem largely from two sources: 1) their desire to kill us; 2) their complete detachment from reality.

I don't know how to engage in 'peace partnerships' with such savages.
 

Monday, June 11, 2012

How to Lose a War in 7 Simple Steps

One peculiar aspect of American war fighting is our enthusiasm for fighting with self imposed handicaps.

This began in Korea, where we refused to attack certain targets or fight in certain areas, and became standard in Vietnam.  We never lost a battle, but we managed to lose the entire war.  The loss was ultimately political -- we lost the will to win, and the fighting on the ground was dragged out because we severely handicapped our troops ability to win.

We are now recreating the circumstances of the Vietnam war in Afghanistan, and it seems we are bound and determined to lose this war too.

So how do you lose a war against an enemy that is 1/100th your size and mired in the stone age? 

Easy, if you follow the 7 Simple Steps:

1.  Announce that you plan to lose -- the object of war is to defeat the enemy.  To kill them if necessary, but more likely, you convince them that the cost of fighting the war exceeds the benefits.  When you tell the enemy that you plan to leave in a few years, you tell them that all they have to do is wait you out. We have occupied Germany for 70 years with no end in sight.  We occupied Japan for 50 years. What is the point of telling the Afghans that are leaving other than to demoralize our own troops and embolden the enemy?  Why would our troops fight for a place we plan to give back to the savages in a few months?  Why would the savages surrender when they know they only have to endure this pain for a few more months?  Announcing a timetable for withdrawal is announcing that you plan to lose the war.

2.  Cede the Moral High Ground -- we are fighting a just war against people that are trying to kill us and destroy all of Western Civilization.  We do not need to be ashamed of what we are doing.  When we allow the press and the Left to portray the war as nothing more than white man's greed and the deliberate killing of innocents, we have lost the moral high ground.


3.  Defer decisions to the locals -- no offense to the Afghans, but why in the world would we consult with 7th century savages on how we conduct a 21st Century war?  We are fighting over there precisely because the locals were unable to defeat the Taliban in the first place.  Allowing them to plan and run the war is folly.  Like Vietnam, our 'ally' is of dubious loyalty and capability. Letting them plan and run the war effort is like letting a monkey drive a bulldozer.  It ain't gonna end well.

4.  Telegraph your punches --Our Afghan 'allies' in this war have not exactly earned our trust over the past 10 years.  Allowing them to veto night raids, telling them the location of planned patrols, and sharing the location of our ground forces is the same as giving this information directly to the Taliban.  During Vietnam we shared the location of our Green Beret teams with the South Vietnamese, who promptly shared it with the North Vietnamese.  We will come to find out that the exact same thing is happening in Afghanistan, and we are foolishly telling the enemy where to find us.

5.  Give the enemy a safe haven -- War is hell, and it helps to have a place to rest and refit. We lost in Vietnam because we respected borders that the enemy did not.  The Viet Cong routinely used bases in Laos and Cambodia as safe haven from attack, and we lost the war because we would not root the enemy out of these bases.  We are now doing the exact same thing in Afghanistan.  We are respecting a Pakistani border that neither the Afghans nor the Pakistani's respect.  We are allowing the enemy to rest and refit in plain sight in Pakistan, and we will lose this war unless we go after them in these safe haven training camps.

6.  Fight like a bunch of lawyers -- In order to reduce friendly fire and civilian casualties, we are requiring soldiers to get permission to fire from people many levels higher in the chain of command.  Watch some of the video coming out of the war.  It is infuriating to watch Taliban soldiers fighting in plain sight while our troops do nothing but wait for permission to return fire.  These rules of engagement are insane, requiring men bleeding in a muddy ditch to get permission to return fire from lawyers sitting in an air conditioned office a thousand miles.  There are countless examples from Vietnam where these policies got troops killed and helped the enemy win the war.  Why are we not letting the troops fight?

7.  Tell the enemy where to hide -- We have not only placed entire countries off limits, but we placed specific building off limits as well.  We will not strike or attack mosques, as an example.  This is the height of stupidity, as it give then enemy a base of operations that is immune to attack.  Now we have extended that immunity to nearly EVERY BUILDING in Afghanistan(!!!).  Seriously.  We will no longer target buildings for fear of creating civilian casualties. This is a far cry from our attitude in 1945 where we deliberately killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Dresden and Hiroshima. We have zero chance of killing the enemy if we allow them safe haven in every building in the country.

When you look at the war as a win-lose proposition, it does not appear that we have the will to win.  We have the technology, the firepower, and the most capable army ever fielded.  We simply lack the will to allow them to win the war.

In fact, the current rules of engagement are so restrictive that we appear to be actively trying to lose the war.

It is criminal to place our troops in harm's way and then prevent them from defending ourselves.

Either win the war, or admit defeat and get the hell out.







Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Maybe, just Maybe...

Maybe the tide has turned. 

Perhaps in a few years or decades, we will look back and see this as the turning point.

Like the moment the Germans surrendered at Stalingrad as the Japanese carriers disappeared beneath the water off Midway, the failed ouster of Scott Walker may be viewed as the pivotal defeat of the Left. 

The Unions have been working on a grand bargain with politicians for 50 years: The politicians deliver super sized salaries, pensions, benefits, and entitlements, and the Unions deliver votes.

This bargain has made government workers the best paid workers in the land, with the average salary well above the average household income.  The low retirement ages and incredibly rich pensions have allowed cops, firefighters and teachers to retire at 50 years old with 80% of their pay, often more than $100k per year. 

It has also bankrupted virtually every state, county, and city in the land.

Scott Walker, Wisconsin Governor, fought to break that cycle by depriving the Unions of a small sliver of that bargaining power and by forcing the union workers to kick in a small payment towards their retirement.

The Media, the Unions, and the Left reacted with fury.  Democratic representatives fled the state rather than vote.  Protesters disrupted the capital, occupied government buildings, and burned the governor in effigy.

When all that failed, they initiated a recall election.

Well, that recall effort appears to have failed.  And failed big, with a 60-40 split in a very liberal state.

Wisconsin taxes are stable, the budget is under control, and the economy is starting to grow.  If the people of Wisconsin can figure it out how to break the control of the unions, anyone can.

The Unions have lost face, lost power, and they are starting to lose members.  Now that Union membership is no longer a requirement for a government job, Union rolls are down sharply.

Politicians no longer need to fear the power of the Unions.  The people have spoken, and they have spoken loud and clear:  We will not stand by idly while the country drives over a Union created cliff.

Perhaps this is the moment where the rest of the country realizes what we are capable of doing, and standing up in November and throwing Leftist and Statists and RINO Republicans out of office.

Our situation is much like that of the Allies in 1942 -- things look bleak, and we have a lot of fighting left, but we may have just turned the tide.