August 31, 2008
All Class
And you thought Michael Moore was the only Dem callous enough to joke about Gustav and the political implications of a hurricane coming ashore the week of the Republican Convention:
If I were John McCain, I would call for the convention to be not postponed, but canceled. I would then appeal to the volunteers and organizers to head for the storm-ravaged area and help. The delegates can vote at a later time in a smaller venue.
August 30, 2008
Palin From Wasilla
John McCain's pick of Gov. Sarah Palin for his running mate is the smartest thing he has done thus far during this campaign. I believe the Senator and his people realize that he needs to keep solid conservatives on board, not just win the favor of undecided voters. I've always been suspicious of undecided voters, mainly because I believe if you are still undecided at this point in a Presidential campaign, you are so uninformed that you should probably stay home for the good of the nation. I'm not joking.
It's amazing to witness how important political experience has become to the Dems since Friday. Despite the fact that Obama's political career has been thankfully short, Paul Begala and the rest of the Party of Defeat's undead talking heads have been talking about Palin as if she worked at a laundry mat until Thursday night. Barack Obama has ZERO experience in an executive, command position. Though Palin has barely two years of gubernatorial experience, it's two more years than Lord Obama.
Gov. Palin has several things going for her:
1. She's never lived in Washington. Obama chose 'Slo' Joe Biden, the face of the political establishment inside the Beltway. A bad decision made by a man scared by foreign policy hurdles.
2. She's a woman. No, this will not sway Hillary voters, but it shines a light on the liberal belief that all Republicans are rich white men. You could say that most Democrats are young whites with the attention span of rabbits and be closer to the truth.
3. She's pro-life. She gave birth to a child earlier this year with Down's Syndrome. She knew beforehand the challenges she and her family would face and she had the child anyway. It's not just talk with her. You want your daughter to see a woman with grit? Look no further.
4. She hunts and loves the NRA. That's right, kiddies: we Cro-Magnon conservative types like our guns. Big guns with flash suppressors and 30-round magazines. It's the kind of thing that makes liberals wet themselves.
5. She's young. Yes, the concerns about McCain's age can and will hurt him. She balances that out. I've already heard the sly remarks about the father/daughter thing, but it won't go anywhere. To paraphrase Christopher Hitchens, it's the kind of thing that only stupid people laugh about.
I'm really looking forward to a Biden/Palin debate. He'll be disassembled by her.
August 28, 2008
The Laying On Of Hands
As I write this, millions of people are waiting to hear Barack Hussein Obama's acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for President. I expect to see a crowd response not seen since the heady days of Bill Clinton in 1992. And yet, we will be no closer to understanding who Obama is or what he really plans to do if he wins the White House.
If you are a Obama supporter, please do one thing for me: tell me, in detail, what Obama's energy plan is, how he plans to deal with Social Security, who is going to get a tax cut and whose taxes will increase. In detail. You will not receive any answers tonight, as this speech is going to be exactly like the rest of Obama's campaign: high on emotion, wordiness and class warfare.
August 25, 2008
Level
As the Democrats' convention begins, there's interesting news from Gallup: Obama and McCain are tied in their poll. They have been statistically tied for a while, in fact. Using history as our guide, we see that this is not good news for the Obama campaign. He received no bounce from his European deification. If he does not receive a 10-point bounce after the attention he will receive this week, his campaign is headed for failure.
But McCain should not be overjoyed by the poll numbers. Too many people still associate him with George W. Bush, a man who, like him or not, is not very popular right now. But McCain has always been a maverick, and I hope that comes through in some way. My fear is that it will come out in his Vice-Presidential pick.
Speaking of close races, it's time for those of you who are conservatives and will not vote for McCain to knock off the crying. I know some of you want to see four years of Obama so the nation will move back towards true conservatism. That would be a great idea but for the fact that four years of Obama will seriously damage this nation. Is it worth that?
August 24, 2008
Biden His Time, Drinking The Wine
And so, our savior Barack the Magnificent has chosen his running mate, Delaware senator "Slow" Joe Biden. For all his talk of change, Obama certainly picked someone unoriginal and unexciting. Senator Biden is a classic liberal from the northeast. He's been in Washington since Obama was dating cheerleaders.
This choice tells me the Obama inner circle is worried about their guy's lack of experience, something that should worry any serious voter. But Biden? He would've been better off with Hillary. After all, they're lovey dovey now, aren't they?
August 19, 2008
Big Hoax
Last Friday, two Georgia men claimed to be in possession of a Bigfoot corpse. Now, it has become obvious that the entire thing was a hoax.
I hate stories like this because it drains credibility from those who may really find something new in the deep forests of North America or the slopes of the Himalayas. Most people laugh at the concept of a large man-like creature living in the woods, but I don't think it's a laughing matter. I have a theory and since you're bothering to read this, I'll share it with you. Tell me what you think of this story:
During the last Ice Age (about 11,000 years ago), ice covered much of North America. A tribe of humans, cut off from the rest of early society, survived the weather by wearing thick layers of animal skins. Over time, they grew coarse hair all over their bodies (don't think this isn't possible; for example, the average North Korean is almost three inches shorter than the average South Korean. This divergence has occurred in the past 55 years). As the ice receded, these humans maintained their lifestyle and remained disconnected from the rest of humanity.
As the centuries creeped by, Native American tribes moved back to the formerly inhabitable areas of the continent, forcing the furry humans to recede further into the wilderness. Indians and "Bigfoots" would sometimes meet while hunting; the stories of these run-ins become the basis for the modern Bigfoot legend.
As time went by, the Bigfoots became fewer and fewer in number. By the time Europeans began to settle in the western part of what would become the United States, most or all the Bigfoot humans had died out. Yet, the stories survived and were passed to the white men who lived near the northwest Native American tribes. This explains why the body of a Bigfoot has never turned up: none of them have existed for more than a century.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
August 17, 2008
Turning It Up To Eleven
This is how a nation gives the finger to one of its neighbors. It would be funny but for one thing: world wars start in such ways.
I listened to an audio book some months ago entitled "Comrade J". The author, a former KGB officer who defected to the West in 2000, asserts that the Cold War is still a going concern to those who run the Russian government. These men, who came of age watching one communist blunder after another, are intelligent enough to realize that they must have a capitalist economy but still maintain centralized control of government and media, just like China. Today, Russia seems like a rusty giant. But haven't we, once again, become a sleeping giant?
August 14, 2008
What Do You Do?
You can insert almost any IT-related job into this and the flowchart will end the same way---believe me.
August 13, 2008
Another August Like The Others
I may be spending too much time thinking about the issue, but I have a very bad feeling about Russia's incursion into the disputed areas of Georgia. I believe it is a test---of NATO, of European resolve, of the United States' limits in terms of military action. Our response will determine how Russia shapes its future---as a democracy or as an autocratic empire overrunning her neighbors.
We are in no position to go to war with Russia, nor should we. But the pot is on the stove and the water is simmering. The causes of war do not build overnight, but over months and years. I hope we are not seeing another August like 1914, but I have no faith in Moscow's willingness to act in the best interest of peace.
August 12, 2008
The Old Schoolyard
The Lovely Kelli officially begins her career as an English teacher today. She has been an employee of the Jefferson County Public Schools for several weeks now, but today is the first day of school for the kids in the Louisville metro area, so this is her first day with a room full of empty minds waiting to be filled with her wisdom. That's my image, anyway. She chose this career path over two years ago, when we were already in our mid-30s. It is the rare person who can walk away from one career into another at this point in life; other than Kelli, my best friend Peter is the only person I spend time with who has done so. It takes an enormous amount of faith in oneself to make it happen.
Kelli told me about some of the plans her school has in place in the event someone comes in and takes hostages or starts shooting. For the sake of security, I will not delve into the details here; suffice it to say that it served as a real wake up call for me as to the realities of school life in the 21st century. As Kelli spoke, I was thinking about the training I had received in the Navy. When a ship prepares for battle (called going to general quarters), some or all the watertight hatchways on board are closed. While seemingly callous, the reason for this is simple: if one compartment floods, it will not flood the entire ship. The crew in the flooded compartment will die. That's the way it works. The men and women who serve on warships accept this grim possibility because that's part of the job. It may not enter their minds every day, but when something goes awry (like a seal on a torpedo tube door leaking), it is expected that the hatchways in and out of their compartment are going to be sealed until the trouble is fixed or everyone in there is dead from drowning.
I am saddened by the fact that public and private schools across this country are forced to deal with deadly possibilities because those possibilities have come to fruition in places like Columbine and dozens of other towns across this and other countries. No 14- or 17-year old signs up for this; they are in school to receive an education. It says something terrible about our society that all children now live with the unspoken reality that this can happen anywhere.
August 08, 2008
The Devil's Alternative
Today being the 8th of August, we are between the anniversary dates of the bombings of both Hiroshima (August 6th) and Nagasaki (August 9th). On August 6th, 2004, I posted the following entry. I can not improve on it in terms of statistics and my opinion has not changed. This is something I think of every year around this time.
On this day in 1945, at 8:16AM local time, the world's second atomic bomb (the first was a test bomb exploded in New Mexico on July 16th) was detonated over a hospital in the center of downtown Hiroshima, Japan. The hospital was not the target of the weapon; a T-shaped bridge nearby had served as the aiming point. The bomb was set to explode 1900 feet above the ground. On its casing was scribbled several messages including "Greetings to the Emperor from the men of the Indianapolis". The USS Indianapolis, a heavy cruiser, had been torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese I-boat (submarine) after delivering parts for the atomic weapon to Tinian Island, the base from which the air mission was launched.
After dropping the weapon, the Enola Gay (named after pilot Paul Tibbet's mother) and her accompanying instrument and weather planes made a steep, turning dive to get away from the blast. They then headed back for Tinian. In Hiroshima, 80,000 people died immediately from the blast, including a group of American POWs being held in the city. Later, nearly 100,000 people (figures vary according to the source) would die from their injuries. The city was cut off from the outside world for two days; the government in Tokyo did not believe the reports they were receiving of a city-destroying bomb. The Allies demanded complete and unconditional surrender from the Japanese, but the ruling military leaders considered this unthinkable. But there was a small group of realists who understood that the war was lost.
Three days later, Bock's Car dropped another atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki. It was only after this second mission that the Emporer made known his desire to accept the Allied terms of surrender. As he said in a broadcast to the Japanese people (the first time his voice had ever been heard in public), "We must accept the unacceptable, bear the unbearable." Hostilities ended on August 15th and the formal surrender was signed on September 2nd in Tokyo Harbor on board the USS Missouri. The Second World War was over, six years and one day after it began.
What you have just read is what actually happened in the two weeks before the end of the war in the Pacific. The actions of the United States have been a source of debate ever since. In fact, rumor has it that the surviving crew members of the two missions still receive hate mail. Some critics claim that Hiroshima was not particularly important in a strategic sense but that it was bombed because it had not been seriously damaged during conventional raids. There is also a racial component to the criticism in that many believe nuclear weapons would not have been used against Germany. There is also a military aspect: Japan's navy and air force were decimated; she may have surrendered anyway in time. Or, perhaps the atom bomb could've been tested, in public, on an uninhabited island that Japanese officials would've been allowed to witness.
I will not attempt to answer all of those criticisms here. What I will do is present what was being planned for Japan before the weapons were used.
Planning for the invasion of the Japanese home islands was well underway by August, 1945. The conquest of Japan was to be called Operation Downfall and it would happen in two seperate invasions: Operation Olympic (invasion of the southern islands in the chain) and Operation Coronet (invasion of the Tokyo Plain). Olympic was to involve an initial landing of 500,000 troops, many of them belonging to divisions transferred from Europe after the end of hostilities there. The second invasion would've involved that many Army personnel plus the entire Marine Corps. Both invasions would've required the commitment of 90% of the US Navy (all 74 of her aircraft carriers) and untold contributions from England, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It was projected that the war would not end until 1947 and that the United States would suffer 250,000 casualties. Up to that point in the war, in both the European and Pacific Theatres, American losses had been a little less than 400,000, depending on who you ask.
It has been projected that more than a million Japanese civilians would've lost their lives defending their homeland. The Imperial government had gathered millions of able-bodied citizens and taught them to fight with old rifles, spears and even bamboo sticks. Every beach on every island had been cleared of brush and trees so as to create free-fire zones with no cover for invading troops. The Japanese Air Force had nearly 5,000 aircraft in ready reserve for use as kamikazes against the fleets offshore and there was no shortage of volunteers willing to fly them. Japanese civilians had already shown a willingness to fight to the death and commit suicide instead of surrender on the islands of Saipan and Okinawa.
The invasion of Japan would've had an enormous effect on the American homefront as well. Although they were protected from direct fighting by two oceans, the American people had sacrificed much in order to assure that we remained the Arsenal of Democracy. By 1945, that willingness was wearing thin. We hear stories today of rationing and war bond rallies and how high everyone's morale was. These stories are true, but many historians believe that another two years of war and the transfer of millions of men to the Pacific from Europe (instead of the expected trip home) could've planted the seeds of unrest. A huge number of casualties in a very short period of time (the Olympic invasion was projected to cause as many as 50,000 casualties on the day of the invasion) would have been a huge blow to the nation's morale. Would there have been protests in the street? It's doubtful, but it definitely would've changed the nation's attitude about defending Democracy around the globe. It is doubtful that Korea would've been defended at all after such a costly loss less than a decade earlier.
Another factor to consider is Soviet intentions. The Soviets declared war on Japan in August right after the Hiroshima bombing. They probably would've done so anyway, meaning that Japan would most likely be divided between north and south just like Korea is today. It's economy would probably be a shadow of what it could be; this would have economic effects all over the globe.
I'm not going to say that the use of nuclear weapons was a great idea. Like all decisions in war, it was a choice between two evils. But not using them would've left us with a fundamentally different society and a world that, in my opinion, would've been more likely to consider the nuclear option.
August 06, 2008
The Hillary Offense
When Hillary Clinton quit campaigning a few months ago, she did not officially concede. I should have posted my thoughts here to prove it, but I knew this was coming:
Sen. Hillary Clinton told a gathering of supporters last week that she's looking for a "strategy" for her delegates to have their voices heard and "respected" at the Democratic National Convention -- and did not rule out the possibility of having her name placed into nomination at the convention alongside Sen. Barack Obama's
August 04, 2008
Check Out The Big Brain!
I'm in Chicago this evening. While talking on the phone earlier, The Lovely Kelli told me that our newest and youngest cat, Genny, made the connection between the use of the keyboard and the appearance of letters on the monitor. I expect her to be texting her friends in a week or so.
August 03, 2008
The Man With The Mustache
Alexander Solzhenitsyn is dead. More than any other single person, he showed the West the horrible underbelly of Soviet communism. Believe it or not, the name "Solzhenitsyn" was one with which I was familiar even as a child. My mother (and father, I think) read the Gulag Archipelago series that Solzhenitsyn wrote some 35 years ago. The evils of communism were grist for the mill of our family discussions.
The death of Solzhenitsyn is a marker of sorts, an indication of the end of an era. We will soon lose everyone who witnessed firsthand the brutality of the Soviet system under Stalin or the planned genocide of the Nazis. As we have seen with the American Civil War, nation sometimes romanticize dark periods in their history. The powers that gripped the Soviet Union from 1917-1991 can never again be allowed to rule. But as we see by looking at Russia today, the lesson of Solzhenitsyn is already being forgotten.
