Thursday, February 24, 2005

The Next War

People tend to want to fight the war they were trained for as lieutenants. What we need is people who can visualize what the next war will be and be ready for that.

The first and most important thing to remember is airpower and seapower win NOTHING. Wars are won when the Marine or soldier with a rifle stands on a piece of ground and holds it for our country. The rest of the services are merely support units, they win nothing. Yet that young fellow cannot get there without help.

Right now there is no creditable threat that the F-15E(enhanced) cannot deal with fairly expeditiously. It will sustain more casualties than the F-22 would, but the cost of the F-22 would be better spent on airlift. The F-22 is a very capable air to air machine, we just currently have no real air to air adversaries. If we did, there will not be enough of them.

With the reduced numbers of aircraft, we must build one fighter type and build a lot of them. Thus the fighter must be multi-role like the F-4 was and the F-15E is. The F-22, if it is bought, should change to a two seat stretched multi-role version, otherwise it is useless.

There was an internal Boeing proposal to make a C-17 derivative the next manned bomber. Not a joke. It would out perform the B-52, which is apparently good enough, and cost almost nothing.

We need more sealift, much quicker than airlift when you get beyond brigade sized units, more long range airlift and more intra theather airlift.

Read Tommy Franks' book and "Boyd". It becomes clear that the first thing to do is retire everyone above O-5 and their GS/ES equivalents. While there are a few people who progress above that level on real merit, most get there because they agree with the current Chief of Staff. We have had enough of that. Yes, we have won wars, but we have not done as well as we should have. Look at all the problems Tommy Franks had getting people onboard with winning for the country instead of their rice bowl.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Projection

Definition - Projection
n 6: (psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your own traits and emotions are attributed to someone else

Finally a rational explanation of why liberals keep saying that Republicans "stole the election(s)", why they keep saying that Conservatives want to control "your body", why they say President Bush lied, why they are for the "poor", the "downtrodden" and the "oppressed" and Republicans and Conservatives are against all those things.

Perhaps some of the dimmer lights on the Democrat "holiday tree" actually believe what they say, it is possible, however implausible it might seem.

The facts are very clear, but there are none so blind as those who will not see, nor so deaf as those who will not hear.

Conservatives, as the word is commonly used today, believe the US Constitution being written in common English, as used in these United States, means precisely what it says. There are no hidden meanings, no living document, just plain English. English, not Spanglish or Japlish or Engrish. Conservatives believe the Constitution delineates individual rights, there are no group rights. Conservatives believe in the individual, they have problems dealing with Mexican-Americans, African-Americans and all the other special groups, because, surprise of surprises, they do not see people as part of other than Americans. Individual Americans, one of the nation's citizens, a single person, part of our One Nation Under God.

Democrats are the party of the poor, the oppressed and the downtrodden. Without a doubt. They cannot live with freedom, prosperity and individualism. The current Democratic Party is that party, because they are the ones doing the oppressing and downtrodding! Republicans are the party of the rich and the free. If you want to be poor and oppressed, vote Democrat!

Lincoln lead the country to unity and freedom, Democrats lead the Confederacy to ruin.

I know what party I belong to.

Monday, February 21, 2005

Freedom isn't Free

Freedom isn't free. It never has been and it never will. Those who would sacrifice freedom for safety deserve neither and soon have what they deserve.

We owe our freedom and prosperity to the warriors who made our country free and have kept us that way since 1776. All have given some and some gave all. All the warriors give their today for our freedom, some give a portion or even all of their tomorrows here on earth for our freedom.

We owe them.

Very few of the warriors have a sense of being owed. Seldom do warriors realize what sacrifice they are making.

There is the constant threat of death or injury. Not only in combat, but in training. For many warriors, training is more dangerous than combat.

Most warriors are young, many have young families. Not for twenty years or so after the fact, do they realize what it meant to their family to be gone. Gone for Christmas, gone for New Years, gone for Easter, gone for the birthdays, anniversaries and funerals. Gone for school plays, gone for the Big Game. Gone, so you and I can be free. Warriors spend a lot of time away from home, training, deployed, in combat, all time away from their families. Both Active, Reserve and Guard. Gone.

Warriors do what they do because that is who they are. They do it for God, Honor, Country. They do it so their families can stay free. They do it because they have a sense of debt to those who have gone before. They do it to keep the war far from our homeland.

Yes, it is an "All Volunteer Force." But, that does not mean we do not owe them for what we will not do or cannot do.

As you spend time with your family, thank the warriors, remember them in your prayers.

Saturday, February 05, 2005

Nation of Laws

What sets the United States of America apart from any other nation on earth? We are a nation of laws.

But, you say not so, other nations have laws.

We are unique. Our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution recognize that our inalienable rights come from God, not man. Our Constitution ensures, or tries to at least, that those rights are in fact inalienable.

The Constitution acknowledges our rights to freedom of (not from) religion, free speech, private property, self-defense, freedom from unreasonable search and siezure. All the things we learned in school. These cannot be taken from us by the government and the government is bound to assist us when others attempt to take these from us.

No vote in Congress, no Presidential Executive Order can take these from us. We are ruled by law, not man. The Constitution means what it says. It is clearly written in common English, or more accurately, common American.

We have individual rights, there are no group rights. Citizens are citizens, not Hyphenated, not Segregated. "E plurubus unum" is the original U.S. motto, "Out of many, one." No one is to be granted rights denied another, without due process of law.

This bothers the left.