My Blog
If we can accept that water boarding is torture and that is torture is illegal, the United States Senate is morally bankrupt. It has confirmed Mukasey as Attorney General.
Mukasey refused to answer questions about the legality of torture techniques. If the chief law enforcement officer of our country cannot tell right from wrong we are in worse shape than many of us imagined. In his defense, the president says there is classified information that Mukasey has no access to. The president has the authority and the responsibility to give that access to his attorney general designee. But apparently he would rather hide behind baseless rationale than do what is right.
On the other hand, maybe Bush and Mukasey are craftier than the average bear. Maybe they realize that they have stepped over the line and that scores of interrogators should be subject to criminal prosecution (up to and including the SecDef, Vice President and President that authorized ‘aggressive interrogation techniques.’)
Remember when Elliot Richardson and William Ruckelshaus resigned as AG and Deputy AG rather than carry out orders that flew in the face of law from a president who, like Bush, willfully violated his oath to “…preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Actually the oath precedes the above quote with “…to the best of my ability…” As we have seen, the best of Bush’s ability falls well short of acceptable.
Is the Bush administration, like the claims of so many GOP administrations before it, supportive of our military? Many of us have argued that sending troops into combats based on false claims and with inadequate planning is the ultimate display of non-support and disrespect.
What do America’s premier junior officers think? West Point graduates must serve for a minimum of five years upon graduation, usually rising to the rank of Captain. After their initial service obligation about 30% per cent of those graduates leave the Army. But the statistics are much worse for recent graduates you have been the squad, platoon and company commanders of Bush’s ill-conceived war.
Thirty-five percent of the class of 2000 left after five years; one year later 46% of the class of 2001left the Army; this year, 58% of the first class to graduate after September 11, 2001 left the Army.
Is Congress listening? Does Bush care? Are you aware that less than one-half of one percent of Americans are making the sacrifice of repeated duty in Iraq and Afghanistan to sustain OUR Global War on Terrorism?
Add Gen Patraeus to the long list of Bush officials that hide behind a rather lame "I don't know" or an even lamer "I don't remember" to avoid answering questions.
Today Patraeus was asked if his mission in Iraq was making America a safer place. He doesn't know. Are the men and women he commands fighting for their country? Does their sacrifice (and that of their families) mean anything to the security of this country? The General DOES NOT KNOW!
This is a fine example of the military leadership given to us by the Washingtoin chicken hawks (Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld (thank God he's gone), Wolfowicz (thank God he's gone)).
Fran Townsend, the president's personal, in-house, homeand security adviser, when on TV Sunday and told the world that Osama bn Laden was "virtually impotent." Is that like waving a red flag in front of a bull?
Does it make any difference that her boss, several years ago, declared that bin Laden was public enemy #1 and was wanted "dead or alive"? Does Bush remember who bin Laden is and what he did to this country 6 years ago?
Does Townsend care (or know) that the Director of National Intelligence, the director of the CIA, the director of the FBI, and the Secretary of Homeland Security disagree with her?
Has Bush repudiated her remarks?
Is Townsend (on her own or at the direction of the president) taunting bin Laden into another attack to bolster the image of her "wartime president"?
What has Larry Craig done wrong? Well, there are the homophobic comments and the embarrassment to the republican party. But other than that, how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
If the incident at the Minneapolis airport stemmed from a desire to rid the area of inappropriate behavior in a public place, I think somebody pulled the string a little too soon. Have we succumbed to the point of fear that we react so strongly to subtle signals?
Do we really want a society that promises to kill or deport anyone who might offend us in some way? I sure hope not but it seems as though that may be the theme of the so-called 'compassionate conservatives.'
Should the republicans be worried about their convention in Minneapolis next summer? First the bridge fell down, then the pants fell down; what might fall next?
In the wake of recent ethical lapses by prominent Republicans former RNC chair and current counselor to the president, Ed Gillespie said that by 2008 the party, "will not have candidates who have any kind of ethical considerations that will be a concern to the voters." I guess it's time for 'America's mayor' to fold his tent and go home.
Another casualty would be the 'please like me' come-back attempt of Lizard Gingrich.
So Rove and Gonzales are on the way out. I have two brief comments.
1. It's about time.
2. Don't let the door bump you in the butt on the way out.
Recently, the Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy, Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler, put the academy on a ‘wartime footing.’ The most positive thing that I can say about that is it is reassuring (I guess) that a three-star officer is willing to blindly follow the ill-conceived and executed dictates of his commander-in-chief.
But, like his president, ADM Fowler is more bluster and less action.
One of his actions was to require all midshipmen to attend every meal from Sunday evening through Friday noon. I strongly support this action. Meals are one of the few times a day when squad members all meet face-to-face. Like the family meal, dining together builds comradeship and team spirit.
So, the admiral tells the mids what to do and tells the alumni of his great vision…BUT did he tell his supply officer or the food services officer? It appears not, he even forgot to tell his second in command, “Capt. Margaret Klein, commandant of midshipmen, acknowledged that the Naval Academy has been caught off guard by the new food policy.”
Perhaps ADM Fowler took more than his rhetoric from his commander-in-chief. It appears that he also took his ‘wartime’ planning and execution from the great minds in the White House. At least the midshipmen have some food to eat; they also have electricity, running water and sewers that work unlike the Iraqis that we ‘saved’ nearly five years ago.
Care to comment? Post it here or better yet address it to
pao@usna.edu.
I am a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Class of 1971, and a Commander, United States Navy (Retired). Thanks to my plebe summer roommate for alerting me to this problem.
Last week my column in The Daily Record addressed China and its ties to the US economy. Check it out at http://www.mydailyrecord.com/main.asp?SectionID=10&SubSectionID=224&ArticleID=89781&TM=28263.28
There are also a couple of comment there from local "fans."
Here are a couple of comments that were emailed to me:
"China is definitely big news as you stated in your article! My family has actually been accosted by the Chinese bombardment first hand. My daughter-in-law is an engineer and has worked for a U. S. company for several years. ALL of the people in the plant received word in the middle of June that the plant would be closing down in June 2008 and moving to China, because it was closer to resources, it would be cheaper to manufacture the product in China, and, of course... the labor would be cheaper. Consequently, they will ALL be unemployed as of next June.
Some part of the plant's business is already in China, and is having many problems with various things trying to get things started. I don't know exactly what the problems are. Recently the current employees of the U. S. plant were asked to volunteer to go to China for a year (they will pay to move them and their families) so they can help train the Chinese how to set up the new plant. Can you imagine training people how to do the job that they are going to take away from you!?! I don't think anyone has signed up yet."
And from another reader:
" This is one issue where we agree. Just a couple of points - for one thing, you roll too many issues together while you're making a point about China, so it's hard to see where you're going. The other thing is that while you're blaming the Reagan administration and both Bush administrations, you leave out the fact that the continuity was maintained by eight years of Bill Clinton, and he was one of China's best friends - as a matter of fact, he has a large share of the responsibility for us being so cozy with them, including giving them military info. I don't think anyone gets off on the China problem.
But as far as the other economic policies that are sinking the middle class, I agree with you. It's a joke how Mattel pretends that it didn't know about the toys - of course it did, because it did whatever was cheapest. Now maybe it will cost a few execs their bonuses - good luck."
He's right about too many issues...it's a problem having 'only' 500-700 words per week in The Daily Record and being a bit verbose. I'll try to do better inthe future (Still trying to figure out using this page to expand on the Daily Record stuff.
I wasn't trying to let the Clinton administration (tucked in among the unholy triumverate) off the hook....my point was more aimed at the gross decifits of those three republicans while the Democrat actually worked WITH Congress to achieve a balance budget.
After 25 years in the Navy and another 10 as a Navy spouse, my one opportunity to live outside the USA was two years in Japan. With our fifth cruise in as many years we made it to the Med and beyond.
Going to Europe is an overnight flight, so we arrived in Rome bleary eyed and just a bit tired but we hit the streets running. By 1030 we were ready for lunch and found a sidewalk table for pizza and cappuccino. We tried a midday refresher at the hotel but that didn’t work so we hit the streets again and headed for the Coliseum. (an aside: never stay at the Jolly Leonardo daVinci in Rome, the only thing worse than the service is the attitude of the staff!)
After a guided tour of the Coliseum we wandered through the Forum. Yes, just actually wandered through the same streets that saw conquerors and orators hundreds of years ago! It gave new meaning to ‘speechless.’ The other part of speechless came when we saw the lines to get into the Vatican.
Actually anyone can just walk into the Vatican but you need to go through a metal detector to get into St Peter’s (what’s wrong with this picture?). The bigger outrage is the line and the fee to see the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel. Unless you are on an organized tour (i.e. paying somebody to get you to the head of the line) you can stand in line for 2 or 3 hours and pay $20 to get in. At 20,000 visitors a day it is not a money losing venture. For your dollars and your time you get to see about 7000 of the 50000 works of art ‘owned’ by the Vatican. It would seem to me that part of those admission monies could be used to put many of those stored pieces on tour around the world so a lot more people could share in their beauty. But who am I to suggest benevolent acts to a major religion?
The next morning we were in Naples, very quiet and very dirty on a Sunday morning. A round trip train ticket to Pompeii was less than $10. Again, we were speechless walking through the ruins of an ancient civilization. Many of the buildings in town were open for us to walk through; there seems to be no worry about deterioration from the foot traffic.
Santorini sits on one of three islands that form the caldera of an ancient volcano. We took the city bus (about $1.50 each way) to Oia and wandered among the people-wide streets and white washed houses built up the side of the mountain. Very much a resort area, as our lunch (really pretty simple) cost about $100! Our entry into Santorini was via cable car from the pier but we decided to walk down the steps to get back to the ship. We shared the steps with the donkey trains that carry people up and down the path (we had no desire to try that!) We didn’t see too much scenery on the way down, we were too busy looking where we put our feet.
Our next stop was Volos, Greece on the Aegean Sea. Took a tour up to the mountain top village of Makrynitsa with its spectacular views. Unfortunately no one told the locals that 4 tour busses would descend on their little town and all the food and drink was soon gone.
Through the Dardanelles, the Bosporus and into the Black Sea.
The highlight of Varna, Bulgaria had to be the museum with its 600 years old artifacts. Most were within easy reach, though we once again restrained from touching. Some of the gold jewelry was so detailed that it could only be appreciated through a magnifying glass. After the man-made art we went to sea the coral columns formed many years ago that are now high and dry. In the 1890s Charles Dickens described them as a ‘petrified forest’ and the name has stuck.
Downtown Odessa is a beautiful city of tree lined streets. Even in 90+ degree heat it was nice to walk downtown in almost complete shade. The town hall is the former stock exchange and, as befitting an old stock exchange, it is adorned with statues of the gods/goddesses of agriculture and the harvest. We got a simple lunch of local beer and pizza from a street vendor for under $4! On the way back to the ship stood at the top of the Potemkin Steps, an architectural delight. From the top you see only the steps; from the bottom, only the platforms; and, the steps appear to be the same width but the bottom is about ½ the top.
As we sailed into Odessa, the old sailor in me noticed several Russia (they ‘rent’ warm water port space from the Ukrainians) warships in the harbor. Imagine my surprise to look off to one side and see the US Navy destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG75) sitting pierside. How times have changed since my Navy days.
We spent very little time in Yalta (our next stop) as we ventured out to the old Soviet submarine pens (carved out of a mountain) in Balaklava and then on to Sevastopol. As we rode through Tennyson’s valley of death (…rode the 600…) we were once again struck with the history of the area. At an overlook at this battle field of the Crimean War we saw displays of Russia tanks and guns with a simple chapel visible in the background through the trees.
Our next stop was Istanbul. We never made it to the Asian side of the city but shipboard there was probably at least a moment when we were straddling two continents. We avoided the once grand but now touristy Grand Bazaar for a stroll through the local shopping districts. Each street seemed to have a theme (shoes, mens’, womens’, garden, etc); like a giant department store spread across the city. After a bit of wandering around we did find the old spice market and bought a few souvenirs. We did manage to get out of the high pressure rug store and saved about $7000 on a rug we didn’t need!
Our final stop was Athens and it did not disappoint. Like Rome it was amazing to walk down a modern street and look up to see or nearly trip over something that is several thousand years old. Views of the Acropolis and its magnificent Parthenon are everywhere in the city. Braving 104F heat we climbed to the top of the Acropolis. In the midst of ancient temples I was struck by the fact that the ground we were walking on was marble! Marble polished by tens of hundreds of years of foot traffic. Trying to get pictures of the ancient architecture was difficult without the added attraction of street vendors or trolley wires in front of 3000 year old ruins.
