I, however, see nothing inconsistent in his behavior with his history. I consider it completely consistent.

Obama spent his early years, until he was ten, attending a Muslim school in Indonesia. I have been reading the Qur′an recently, trying to understand Muslim beliefs. I see it as a very authoritarian religion, one in which the leaders control all aspects of life. I can only assume that some of the “righteousness of authority” which I find in the Qur′an rubbed off on President Obama during his years in a Muslim school. I can see where it would be “right” for authorities to monitor and control telephonic communications.

We know little about Obama’s school years in the United States other than that he attended elite schools following his move to Hawaii. He has not released his school transcripts so there is no public evidence of his achievements and associations. And please don’t mention his graduation with "magna um laude."  Grading has become a scandal in Harvard and other Ivy League schools. It appears that to get less than “A” grades you need to be an idiot (or a conservative?).   However we know quite a bit about his history in Chicago. 

He spent twenty years in a church where the minister, now retired in a luxury mansion, routinely damned white people and the United States government to cheering hundreds in the congregation. Obama now says he didn’t notice that. He worked for ACORN, notorious for its election scandals - unnoticed in Chicago but condemned for corruption in other cities and states. He associated with persons with a history of anti-American violence.

Elected to the Presidency on his rhetorical skills and vague promises of hope and change, he brought with him to WashingtonDC many of his Chicago associates. One of his first acts was to appoint numerous (thirty plus) “czars” who were responsible only to him. They were not elected by the people; they were not evaluated and approved by the Senate, but they were placed in positions to control major elements of American life: industry (automobile for one), banking, and education among others. 

The appointment of these numerous and powerful czars was a significant change in the governance of our nation, but consistent with the governance of nations under leaders that Obama praised. For example, he praised Castro and Chavez, both of whom were elected to power on a basis of their oratory (as was Obama) and gradually extended their control over elections (think ACORN) to achieve majorities in their Congresses which modified their nations’ laws to permit those “elected” officials to become, in fact, dictators.

Other leaders to whom Obama has extended the hand of friendship include Putin, who has effectively reduced the power of the people in Russia, and Saudi Arabia, a religious dictatorship.

Simultaneously, he has ignored the attempts of the people of Iran to overthrow their de factor dictatorship and hindered attempts by democratic Honduras and Columbia to maintain and improve their economies. 

When I was young, parents would warn their children with sayings such as “birds of a feather flock together.” As a young, working, psychologist, I learned that a person’s history was a better predictor of their future than anything they said. Obama’s history is one of totalitarianism. He is already, through his “czars” and appointments, undermining our democracy. Give him continued, subservient, control of the houses of Congress and he could destroy it completely in a few years. His oratorical skills and behaviors are consistent with those of other dictators beginning, to the best of my knowledge, with Mussolini and Hitler and continuing at present with Castro and Chavez.    I do not, as one friend accused me, “hate” Obama: I fear him. I fear him not for myself, at eighty I’m unlikely to be around for his second term, I’m afraid for my nation, which I love.

It has become customary for the Obama administration to brag about the fact that the number of newly unemployed is dropping each month. With 10% unemployed and a total of 17% either unemployed or under-employed fewer are becoming unemployed. Why is this something to brag about? Think of a large pot of soup. If you take several large bowls of soup out of it, is it surprising that future helpings of soup will be smaller? Naturally, as fewer people are employed, there will be fewer to become unemployed. It is difficult to get soup out of an empty pot.

Martha Coakley lost in Massachusetts. She deserved to. I believe that after what she did to the Amault family she should have gone to prison. I don’t believe that is why she lost, although I hope it helped. She lost for the same reason that the Republican lost in New York. The party simply nominated a dependable political hack for an elected position and people are tired of dependable political hacks.

Reading this morning about how it is Bush’s fault that Coakley lost – along with other problems that are all of Bush’s doing, I thought about Congress. I have yet to read an article which pointed out that a Democratic Congress was enacting laws during Bush’s last two years, the two years that began our current depression. Other articles question whether Obama will be able to move to the center, as Clinton did. They also forget to mention the role of Congress, the Republican Congress elected after Clinton’s poorly managed first two years, which passed the reforms that Clinton is now credited with creating. This continued failure by the major media to report fully the role of Congress and of specific Congressmen in our troubles interests me. I can think of only three possible reasons for it. One, the reporters are too lazy to do their job properly. Two, the media bigwigs think the American people are too stupid to understand that it is Congress   which makes the laws, the Federal government under the President that carries them out. Or, three, the major media all support the Democratic Party and will distort the news for their party’s benefit. Unfortunately, until the news media give the elected Congressionals full credit for their role in government – by name and party – people will be unable to vote intelligently in Congressional elections.

Coakley’s pursuit of the Amault family reminds me of the trials of witches in colonial Massachusetts. Just as the burning of witches has been a historical blot on the Puritan rule of Massachusetts, the destruction of the Amault family will be a continuing disgrace for Ms Coakley and the Democratic Party.

Sheila and I were interested in President Obama’s appeal to the Republicans to assist in getting bills passed rather than being, according to him, obstructionists. Sheila has taken time to write to our Republican Senators suggesting that they take one of their small suggestions, such as permitting people to purchase health insurance across state lines, and ask for his support in passing that. Of course, the idea that Republicans have been able to block any of his plans in his first year is absurd considering the Democratic blockage proof majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.  

I am astonished by the media’s expose′ and surprise of the fact that Sarah Palin and her husband talk with one another, perhaps for a different reason than that shocking the media. In my world, and I believe it is one shared by millions of others, husbands and wives talk to one another, advise one another and help one another. Why is this so surprising to the titans of the media? Whom do they trust in their private moments? It is true that the Clintons made no secret of the fact that they advised each other, but everyone knew their marriage was one of political convenience. Perhaps that is why their public cooperation was not shocking to the media personalities. What sort of marriages do these media personalities have? What sorry lives these people must lead to not understand that marriages are partnerships of mutual trust and support!

On the same subject. Listening to Megaera’s description of her car problems, I thought she might have water in the gas tank. I suggested she stop at the automotive stop she passed in Clarksville on her way to the university and purchase anti-freeze to put in the gas tank. “Good idea, Dad.” When she and Sheila returned home I asked about the alcohol. She had forgotten, but said she could go out to Wal-Mart to buy some. “You don’t have to go that far, there is a large automotive store a few blocks from your house in Dickson.” “Oh, I don’t know where it is.” “It is next door to Dickson Donuts.” “Oh, yes.” For the uneducated: the automotive shop in Dickson occupies most of a city block. Next to it is a tiny building housing Dickson Donuts, whose serving room is smaller than any room in my house except the bathroom. Dickson Donuts makes their donuts fresh every day, beginning at three in the morning. They’ve won the “Best Donuts” award for the area four years in a row. That tiny shop my daughter knew. The massive auto supply whose parking lot she drives through to reach Dickson Donuts, she didn’t know. Some things don’t change with age.

Recently, we needed some cash. It was eighteen degrees outside and I considered what I would have to do to obtain the cash at the bank.  It meant fumbling in my wallet for the bank card, then punching it in and, finally, having received the money, continued standing in the cold while fumbling to put away the card and my share of the cash in my wallet. Certainly, easier and more efficiently, Sheila could have her card ready while I was driving, then I would simply leap from the car, put the card in the machine, punch in the numbers, retrieve the card, cash and receipt and then return to the warm car and continue driving while Sheila did the sorting and putting away. More efficient in every sense, reducing cold time and getting to the hospital faster. I proposed the new system and my bride agreed. Now meet reality. I leapt from the car, put Sheila’s card in the machine and typed in her numbers. After a short wait, her card came back with a receipt – no cash. I waited. I waited some more. I looked at the receipt – wrong number. Returning to the car I opened the car to that warm interior and mentioned the problem to Sheila. She admitted she might have given me the wrong number, but that she was certain she would think of it in a few minutes. Fingers stiffening, I told her not to bother, fumbled for my wallet, fumbled for my own card, did the transaction, returned card and my share of the money to my wallet and, finally, got back in the car. Sometimes efficiency should be forgotten, especially at home if married to an artist. 

Driving to the Cardiac Club the other morning we spotted a man walking by the side of the road talking to himself. Sheila said he was on the telephone, one of those that plug into the ear like a hearing aid and leave your hands free. Forty years ago, in my working days as a psychologist, I would have assumed he was schizophrenic and needed hospitalization. How times have changed! But have they? Sheila and I find the world a marvelous place, incredibly wealthy in sights and sounds – and interesting people.  Every day, every place, all people are different. These telephone addicts, and you see them everywhere, are shutting all of this wealth out of their lives. Is this so different from the schizophrenic who creates an imaginary world to avoid the real world? Is the difference a sad matter of degree?

My son Stephen says he would accept Dr. Williams, but would prefer Dr. Thomas Sowell also a nationally known economist. I could accept that. I just wish one of those two would run for the Presidency. Think of the uniqueness of having someone with intelligence, knowledge and integrity for President! Of course the Liberals (Socialists? Statists?) would argue that neither Williams nor Sowell was a true Black. After all, they grew up in poor Black neighborhoods during the depression and earned their doctorates before the advent of affirmative action.  What do they know about American Blacks? Obama spent his early years in a Muslim school in Indonesia and, when deserted by his mother as well as his father and step-father, he retreated to live with wealthy grandparents in Hawaii, attend an expensive private school and claim affirmative action credentials as an Indonesian in college. That is why he understands American Blacks.

This repudiation by our socialist liberals of Williams or Sowell would fit their current argument that Palin was not a real woman. After all she has five children, a husband who loves her and has worked her way up in politics beginning as a member of the school board.  Real Women have an abortion or two and become successful in government jobs or business, based at least partly on marrying wealthy men or, if I can judge from their pictures, on their looks. 

I received notice today that my Social Security retirement this year would not be increased because of the lack of growth in the economy this year – Bush’s fault I suppose. I expected this from news articles, but if the economy doesn’t support a 2% increase in my retirement benefits, how does it support the 2% increase in wages for federal workers? Not to mention, of course, the reported millions of dollars in bonuses being given out to federal employees. Putting this together with the Obama Care plan to take several billion dollars away from Medicare, which I and all other retirees have paid for over the years and continue to pay for, I can only think of one answer. Obama really does want to dispose of the elderly, counting everyone who is retired, other than the automobile union workers, as elderly.

Bubble, bubble, still more trouble! President Obama is urging banks to relax requirements and give more loans. Not long ago, while Bush was President, a Democratic congress passed legislation to force banks to give easier loans and the Bush administration supported it. It worked. Under threat of punishment banks gave easier loans. An economic bubble was created that led to the housing bust. Now, having given banks millions of tax dollars to save them from the “Bush” bust, Obama is urging banks to give easier loans. Do I see another bubble coming?

When the price of gasoline hit 4$ a gallon, people were crying to harvest the oil in Alaska, the United States western states and off shore. The political, Democratic, response was that it would take ten years to get that oil, we should have drilled for it ten years earlier (when Carter was President). Now, watching the price of oil edge upward, I’m really glad our Democratic Congress supported drilling two years ago when gas was 4$ a gallon. Or did they? Sometimes I wonder if those who call Obama a Muslim are right. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on oil from the Muslim nations, keeping their people employed and wealthy. If we would drill in our own nation it would reduce our unemployment problem, make our nation wealthier and lower the price of gasoline, which would give people more money to spend on other things. For whom are Obama and our elected Democrats working?

I confess to being amused by the general in charge of troops in Iraq. Complaining that he is losing too many female soldiers to pregnancy, he has made pregnancy a court martial offense with prison time threatened. What did the military expect when they put boys and girls in their twenties together in distant places? When Sheila and I worked at Fort Devens, the women soldiers were very open in saying that if they were assigned to someplace dangerous, or even one the they didn’t want, they would simply get pregnant. Perhaps we should only allow women who are lesbians in the military.

In March, 1946, following my 16^th birthday and on my Mother’s orders, I walked the streets of downtown St. Louis looking for a Saturday job. At 10:00 in the morning Famous Barr employed me as a stock boy in men’s clothing. My job was to hang up suits that had been tossed on top of display cases by salesmen: matching coats, vests and pants. It kept me busy. There were eighteen salesmen. My pay for the day was $3.50, of which I received $3.15. The other 35 cents went to Social Security. I began paying into Social Security then and continued throughout my life. Supposedly, it went into a special fund from which I would draw following retirement.

I suspect that Mr. Williams has a savings account in a bank somewhere. I’ll bet that if or when he went to draw some money out of that account, he would not call it an “entitlement.” If he was told the money had all been used up by the bank for other reasons, he would call them thieves. We call the people who used up the Social Security money “Congressmen.” The fact that they took money from an account that was promised to exist, but never did, for other purposes and are now taxing people to pay what generations of Congresses have stolen, does not mean I am getting something for free when I draw Social Security. 

The same is true of Medicare. I have paid for Medicare since the program was started just as I have paid for other insurances over the years, including Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The fact that I used my automobile insurance, following an automobile accident and used Blue Cross on occasion does not make them “entitlements.” The fact that I now use Medicare (in addition to Blue Cross) on occasion does not make it an “entitlement.” It is something I have paid for over the years and continue to pay for. In fact, as I noted in a letter to my Senator, the cost of Medicare to me has gone up considerably faster than the cost of living of my Social Security. 

No, Mr. Williams, I don’t consider myself receiving an “entitlement” when I receive my Social Security or my doctor receives a payment from Medicare. I think I, and my doctor, are receiving something I paid, and continue to pay, for.

The last part of your sentence was unusually stupid if I understood it correctly. I believe you said, or at the very least implied, that government health insurance would be free. To whom? Are the doctors and the hospitals going to work for free? If not, who pays: Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Cuba? I doubt any of these, although it appears that our Democratic Congress and President Obama are making it free to those who belong to the “right” businesses, unions, such as automotive and service workers or have the “right” senators. 

I first met Mr. Tanner and his assistant, Randy Ford, several years ago. At the time I was writing articles for the local paper and had some questions, now forgotten, that I wanted to ask him. So, I wrote and asked for a meeting the next time he was in Dickson. Not too long afterwards I received a call, I believe from Randy, who suggested we meet for lunch at the Sisters Restaurant in Dickson, setting a day and a time. I agreed. 

Sheila and I arrived on time, went though the line selecting our meals and sat down to eat. Waiting for Congressman Tanner, I didn’t know what to expect. I had seen the television shots of Senator Gore, surrounded by a police escort and adoring fans and rather expected that. Instead, we were almost finished eating and the restaurant almost emptied when two rather ordinary men walked in and went through the line. They looked much like the salesmen and businessmen that I would see in restaurants when I worked in downtown St. Louis as a youth: everyday men, tired and perhaps a bit harried. After paying for their meals, they looked about the empty tables, spotted Sheila and I, walked over and introduced themselves. Thus I met Mr. Tanner and Mr. Ford.

I don’t remember the topics of the lunch, but I remember that I received straight forward answers, no hedging, to straight forward questions. I also remember thinking they were people I would welcome in my home at any time. 

In the years since then I have, on occasion, asked for Congressman Tanner’s help or support on something. I have always received quick replies, usually from Randy, and usually the information or assistance I needed. In a couple of cases, I was directed to the proper source for assistance. 

I have paid attention to Mr. Tanner’s voting over the years. There are times when I think he has made mistakes, but I have yet to meet anyone who hasn’t – especially me. I also believe he has been wrong on some issues, but then again, who hasn’t? There is also the possibility, remote of course, that I was wrong about his decision and he was correct.

In general, I believe he has been an honest representative of the district. It might amuse him to know that I have considered writing to him, at times, suggesting that he join the Republican Party.  

His retirement decision resolves a dilemma for me. I had hoped that the Republicans would put up a candidate whom I could whole-heartedly support. That would relieve me of the concern for voting for Mr. Tanner again. Actually, a vote for a Republican for whom I was less than enthusiastic would have been a vote, on my part, against Ms. Pelosi, whom I believe to be an unscrupulous politician, more interested in her own welfare (and wealth) and that of her family than in the good of the nation as a whole, including the people in the district who continue to elect her.  That problem is now resolved. Two people will be running, neither of whom I know, but I do know that a vote for the Democrat will be a vote for Pelosi as well. Does that telegraph my vote?

There were other reports of serious problems also.

Siberian winds are bringing severely cold weather and snow to China serious affecting life for many Chinese. They are believed to be the coldest temperatures in forty years.

Continuous snow fall in Switzerland is causing avalanches. Several deaths have been reported.

Russia is experiencing heavy snow and temperatures well below freezing, causing problems in transportation as well as influencing living conditions.

Germany is having transportation problems, canceling commercial airline flights because of powerful cold winds and snow.

There are extreme cold weather warnings in England and Scotland. 

India has reported snow and cold resulting in numerous deaths. 

Here in the United States there is a blanket of cold. Weather warnings include temperatures as low as -30 degrees as far south as Kansas City. Iowa has a continuous moan of temperatures ranging 30 degrees below normal and Vermont has had a record snow fall.

Worst of all, of international importance, Cumberland Furnace has had almost a week of temperatures in the low teens, never arising above freezing and making ten degrees one morning, with another week predicted and with no end in sight. 

I told my bride, thank God for global warming. Gore and his taxpayer supported disciples at the various universities must stop reducing it. Global warming is helping in reducing our heating bills right now. 

Still it is possible that the global warming people are right and this warming needs to be stopped. Perhaps our world is getting warmer. After all, Mr. Gore has said so. The current cold waves are simply a momentary reaction to global warming. Soon all of this snow and ice will be melted and our low lands will be flooded. San Francisco may be flooded. Pelosi’s Congressional District might be flooded. Horrors!

I don’t want to be an alarmist, but I fear that the cold weather we are having and the hundreds of people freezing to death across Europe and Asia might slow down the global warming concerns. My bride said I shouldn’t worry, but I do. Even though current efforts lack thought, global warming must be stopped!

Gore and his disciples are doing something extremely important, but they don’t seem to have the imagination to do the job properly. At least they aren’t exhibiting it. Instead of trying to destroy our economy and reduce the birthrate on this planet to control or accommodate global warming, they should concentrate on using their scientific expertise to increase or decrease, as necessary, the temperature on adjoining planets such as Venus and Mars. Certainly if they can control Earth’s temperatures they can control the temperatures on other planets. Then we can reduce our population problems by colonizing those newly habitable planets. 

I would even, reluctantly, permit Mr. Gore and the global warming people the privilege of being the first to go to these newly enriched planets. My son, however, thinks our Congress should be the first to go with President Obama leading the way. Either way, they appear to belong in space.

20 Random Things About Sheila:

1. Being a Christian wife and (grand!) mom defines who I am.

2. I adore my family - so much so that sometimes I’m afraid that I’m guilty of idolatry.

3. I still can’t believe how good looking my children are: thank God, they took after their father.

4. My husband is a true romantic and generous to a fault.

5. When I was a child I collected owls, toads and skunks but today I collect interesting antiques with a twist like my house and my husband (do we notice a pattern here?).

6. After we married, Bill and I moved 11 times within 15 years but I've been settled in Cumberland Furnace for 17 years since his retirerment.

7. I love to travel. I've been to 42 states, 6 Canadian provinces, and 12 other countries. I would love to see Athens, Italy, Anartica, Alaska, Cambodia, New Foundland, New Zealand, and The Andes Mountains.

8. My secret ambition is to study stone masonry. My ideal paid job is that of artifact restoration and museum curator. My avocation in life is to offer a spiritual retreat for those in need of creative renewal. 

9. I love to read and will read just about anything (except supermarket tabloids – icky!) but I’m particularly drawn to Christian or religious writings.

10. I don’t want to know “all” about my favorite musician/actors/superstars lives. I guess it comes from growing up in the Nashville area and knowing all the latest gossip on all the Country Music Industry stars but I don’t want them to know my “business” and I am certainly not interested in theirs. If it were up to me the paparazzi would have to find real jobs.

11. I’m a “Black and White” kind of person. To me, most problems have their root in improper etiquette therefore the solutions to those problems are to be found in proper etiquette. That doesn’t mean there aren’t “shades of gray” situations. I just believe there are fewer shades than most people want there to be.

12. I believe in “Free-will,” “Grace through Jesus Christ Alone,” “Once Saved; Always Saved,” “Priesthood of the Believer” and I observe two ordinances: 1. Beliver's Baptism in obedience and public witness and 2. the Lord’s Supper (Communion) in remembrance and anticipation. Everything else is frosting on the cake.

13. I’m a “Pan-Millennialist.” Everything will pan out the way God intends.

14. I have a split personality: I’m an independent-minded dependent, a soft-hearted realist, a hard-headed simpatico, a liberal conservative and an optimistic pessimist.

15. The cure for self pity is to help someone less fortunate.

16. Lately I’ve noticed I can’t hear unless I’m wearing my glasses. I tried to wear contact lenses but my eyes are too dry. It was like trying to see though increasingly thick fog. 

17. They say that pets and their owners start to look alike after time. Between my crippled old dogs I can almost get one healthy dog. My husband’s deaf and I’m blind, he’s got a broken chest and I walk with a cane. Combined we almost make one whole person.

18. Most people are very, very kind to me. Sometimes I believe it is because they see my waist-long, straight hair and believe I'm Mennonite or something similar.

19. Hair dressers used to cry whenever I came into their shop. When the last one threatened a nervous breakdown, I gave up and just let it grow. Luckily my husband loves long, flowing hair. I buy cheap Shopvac vacuum cleaners because they are the only ones that can handle my long hairs shedding all over the house. I’ve often wondered if I shouldn’t shave it and wear wigs.

20. Have you ever noticed how many people would be dangerous if they only had brains?
    
    Sheila sent this to family members. Here is my brother’s response. “I'm attracted to goofy women. Will you marry me? Joe”. Sorry Joe, I’ve got her. Love, Bill

Obama has given TWO BILLION dollars to Brazil to assist in off-shore drilling, something he won’t permit done off the United States shorelines. By agreement, all oil discovered will go to China. Why we are providing money, and jobs, to Brazil may be explained by the fact that Mr. Soros is a major stock holder in the company doing the drilling. Soros, of course, is a major contributor to Obama and the Democratic Party.

Page A5 of the Wall Street Journal (November 14-15) had a headline “War-Zone Counselors in Short Supply” which speaks to a shortage of mental health professionals to work with the troops in combat areas. War has certainly changed. In my day, the only counseling we were provided came from experienced Sergeants on how to stay alive. 

During O. J. Simpson’s trial there was a general belief among people I knew that any Black on the jury who voted “guilty” would be unable to again live or walk in a Black neighborhood. Now we have Islamic terrorists, or, to be politically correct, human disaster providers, on a public trial for the murder of over two thousand people. How would you like to be on a jury that found these killers guilty? In the past few years, we have had Islamic radicals in the United States who indiscriminately killed innocent peOople from California to New York to the Carolinas – anywhere they chose.  The jurors and their families would be promising targets.

Considering Obama’s expected cuts to Medicare and the establishment of a board to determine the “value” of medical treatment I look at other members of the Cardiac Club and wonder how many of us would have received treatment as persons “of value” to society. My heart surgery cost a combination of Medicare and Blue Cross/Blue Shield approximately two hundred thousand dollars.  To date, that has given me three additional years of life. During this time, I have participated in community events and supported a family. How many years must I do this to justify the cost? Worse yet, I have been surprised by the number of our members, mostly in their seventies and eighties with one couple in their nineties, who have had replacement knees and replacement hips. These are expensive also. Are they worth the cost? But there is also a cost in not doing surgery. Nursing homes would be required for those persons whose knees and hips no longer operate. They could live for years. That would be very expensive to society. So how does this balance? On one side of the scale we have years of nursing home treatment. Perhaps the surgery is cheapest.

Each day, I tune in to Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity to hear what they have to say. Today one of them, I believe Hannity, said that our Democrat controlled government’s plans will take away the money of the wealthy.  He was wrong.  It won’t. The wealthy, the Kennedys, Pelosis, Clintons, Soros and other multi-million and billionaires have so much of their money tied up in tax exempt “foundations” and other tax exempt situations that the government could take away all of their salaried income and they would still be wealthy. The plans our government is making will only PREVENT others from becoming wealthy in addition to impoverishing the middle class.

President Obama has made his decision. He will send thirty thousand additional troops to Afghanistan (instead of the forty thousand requested by his generals) and withdraw them in three years. Great! All the Taliban and Al Qaeda have to do is lie low for three years and then take over. It is an extended dithering. In the meantime thousands of American soldiers will have their lives up-ended or destroyed, to go with those who have had that happen during the six months before this decision. There is certain to be criticism following these three years, whether for not sending the needed fighters or for not withdrawing immediately, I don’t know. But I do know it will be Bush’s fault.

I like Sarah Palin, I like her background and her history, my sole problem concerning her is that she is the only conservative Republican taking leadership at the this time.  We don’t need one, we need many. Where are the others?

We sacrificed 500,000 healthy young men in WW II on President Roosevelt’s assurance that we were fighting so that people could be free to choose their own governments. Then, when the Vietnamese leaders came to the United States and asked for help in driving the French from their country, we turned them down. When the Chinese communists helped them, we helped the French: the French, those occupiers of the land who had cheered for Japan in WW II.   

I remember war every Christmas. I arrived on the front line with the 15^th Infantry Regiment on Christmas Eve, 1952, and saw my first enemy shell fire on Christmas morning. I was in a reasonable safe job, but volunteered for the scouts and served four months as a scout. I saw one bloody action, five nights of mass attacks interspersed with three days of minor attacks. I am alive because of combat smarts, quickness and luck, mostly luck. But this is beside the point. The point is that, like every other man who has been in combat, I hate war. But if we place men in combat they must have our support. Otherwise we are sacrificing them meaninglessly.

A year ago, running for election, Obama declared that Afghanistan was important, not Iraq. After he was elected he repeated the need for victory in Afghanistan. He replaced the general in charge and sent in 20,000 more troops. Obama’s general said that he needed more troops to win: 60,000 more. 

Months have passed following Obama’s election. During that time President Obama had time to travel about Europe and Central and South America apologizing for our help to the people and our weak attempts to neutralize dictators. He visited old friends in Chicago, went to Europe to campaign for the Olympics and campaigned for various Democrats running for office. But he didn’t have time to do anything about the request for help in Afghanistan.

During that time we had American soldiers fighting and dying in Afghanistan who lacked the support and equipment they needed. But Obama was too busy thinking about it. He finally decided. He will send thirty thousand more troops to fight, half of those the generals say they need, but plans to withdraw them in eighteen months. This is pure stupidity. Why sacrifice young people for eighteen months before bringing the survivors home?

Personally, I’m in favor of getting out. The founders of the United States fought for their own freedom, let the people of Afghanistan fight for theirs - if they want it. The one thing I know about Afghanistan is that no outside nation has ever conquered it, not even Alexander the Great, and I don’t believe Obama can.

I not only would want the United States military to come home from Afghanistan, I’d like them to come home from everywhere. We have thousands of troops stationed on Okinawa. The people of Okinawa don’t want us there. Why are we there? To defend Japan? Japan is quite capable of defending itself, as it proved by conquering much of Asia in WW II. 

Similarly, South Korea is one of the world’s wealthiest nations. It has much more money and many more people than North Korea. Why do we have thousands of troops in Korea? They have the money and the men to defend themselves. 

We also have thousands of troops in Germany. Why? 

I worked for the military for eleven years: in the United States, in Korea and in Germany. When at the WarriorPreparationCenter in Germany, I was asked to write the history of the center as a gift to a departing four star general. I did some research and wrote that the Center had been established to conduct war games to prepare the two army corps then in Germany to defend West Germany for an attack by the Russians through the Fulda Gap in East Germany. East Germany no longer existed. Poland was independent of Russia and the likelihood of such an attack no longer existed. W no longer had two corps in Europe and we had not conducted a war game in over two years. Still we currently employed six civilians, the one with the lowest rank being a GS 12, all of whom received free housing and medical treatment in addition to their salaries, more than thirty contractors the least expensive of whom cost the government $270,000 per person, and over a hundred military.

My history of the Center was never sent to the General.

During my tours in Korea and Germany, I saw many visitors: colonels, generals and politicians. They paid brief visits to our “research” facilities and then went shopping or visiting the sights in the area. The only reason I can see for keeping so many military men and women in these places is to expand the military, meaning a greater need for more well paid colonels and generals as well as a greater variety of countries to visit on well paid trips by high ranking officers and politicians from the States. Well paid with tax dollars. We spend billions of dollars on this. We could use that money at home. Bring them home.

In her article “Questions No One Wants to Ask Gen. McChrystal” (Townhall.com, December 11, 2008) Diana West lists some of the Rules of Engagement (ROE) that our men and women must obey in fighting the enemy or face the possibility of imprisonment when they return to the United States. According to Ms West’s article these rules include the following:

1.      No night searches

2.      Villagers must be warned prior to searches

3.      Searches must account for the Islamic attitude towards women

4.      Soldiers must not fire on the enemy unless the enemy is preparing to fire on them first

5.      Soldiers may fire on a person PLACING a mine, but not on one walking away from placing a mine. 

6.      She indicates there are others such as no air support for ground troops except in case of “emergency.” This rule already led to the deaths of some soldiers who had radioed for help, which was denied.)

As a person who has had six months “up front” in combat including four months of continuous front line duty as an infantry radio scout, let me respond to this. 

First, almost all of my work was done at night. That was when the enemy was up and about. Our most vicious battles, such as Outpost Harry which cost us 2300 casualties, were also at night.

Secondly, the idiocy of telling the enemy, who work from villages, when the village is to be searched is beyond understanding. Naturally the Muslim jihadists, who wear no uniforms, are going to take time to hide their weapons and be friendly during those searches. They might even be able to retrieve their weapons and kill a few of our men as they are leaving.

Third, caring for the Islamic attitude towards women is a statement which would border on the hilarious if it didn’t reflect such profound ignorance. My first knowledge of this attitude came from a Master Sergeant whom I had learned to respect when he was coach of Andrew’s t-ball team. He was sent on a mission to Iraq and I met him on his return. I asked him what it was like. He responded, “They are a really beautiful people, but women are strictly second class citizens. They use women and girls to clear mine fields because women are less valued than men.” (Anyone who doubts that attitude should read Surah (Chapter) two, line 288 of the Qu′ran.) For men in combat, this means that these Islamic fighters are quite willing to have women conceal weapons and explosives under their burkas or hide behind women while shooting at them. (Incidentally, the North Koreans used women in this fashion in the Korean Conflict, but we weren’t prevented from shooting them.)

Fourth, to not shoot at an enemy fighter unless that fighter is preparing to shoot at them. Any soldier stupid enough to obey this is giving the enemy the first shot. Of course if he doesn’t obey, and lives, Obama’s generals will send him to Leavenworth prison.

Fifth, this means that anyone who is spotted placing a mine only has to turn his (or her) back and begin walking away to be safe. 

When combat soldiers are not working, all they are is tired, but when they are working they live by combat or die. 

On the positive side, I never knew of any combat soldiers who harmed peaceful civilians. In fact, I knew of those who tried to help the innocent. Red Curry, who was a top combat scout, actually cried when he had to carry a sick young woman to safety. Our supply room took in an elderly, wandering, civilian man; gave him a bed and provided him with food. Our cook was criticized by a colonel new to Korea for feeding stray children. A friend who was present said he looked at the colonel and replied, “Sir, as long as I am in charge of this mess hall, I’ll feed children.” The colonel left. The same could not be said for some rear echelon soldiers. I heard some of these non-combat men brag about how they had abused innocents in the rear area, but, fortunately, there weren’t too many of them. Good thing for us they were in the back, they wouldn’t have had what it takes to face armed men interested in killing them. 

To return however, to the “Rules of Engagement” promoted by our current leadership, anyone who has a loved one going there should get an extra hug from them.  Their work is being made suicidal.  They are much less likely to return alive than they would be under intelligent leadership.   

Sorry if this is badly written. It is an emotional topic for me.

Now I know better. Gorian Scientific Thought has made me realize that all the warmth is brought about by the human race. It is true that atmospheric scientist Al Gore has made millions of dollars and received a Nobel Prize for warning the world about the danger of the existence of the humans, but that is incidental to his desire to save the planet. And Mr. Gore has other scientists on his side, hundreds of them. I looked up one strong supporter. She is a professor of, I think, social work – although it may be a similar, related science such as sociology. With such backing, how can Gore be wrong about global warming?

But social science professors are not alone in their endorsement of Gorian Thought. There are numerous scientists directing and employed by organizations devoted to the study of global warming who warn of its existence and the disastrous effects it will have on the earth’s future.  It is not the millions of dollars they receive, however, that inspires their continued concern. It is for the good of the planet.

Numerous suggestions have been made to reduce this warming. Most of them have to do with ordinary people reducing their “carbon footprints” in varied ways, mostly by purchasing things from companies from which Gore and other leading worriers expect to make a lot of money. None of these appear to be working well however and I have a different idea.

Consider the earth tilt problem. Could we be increasing it, and global warming, by all of the sky scrapers we are putting up? Perhaps as an experiment we should take a few cities with a lot of sky scrapers, perhaps New York and San Francisco, and reduce all buildings over two stories. The people there could live in grass huts as our millionaire politicians seem to believe we do in places such as Cumberland Furnace. I don’t really believe they will eliminate sky scrapers however, no matter how sensible my idea sounds. 

Yet there is another problem. Our earth has not been warming recently, not for the last ten years. It may actually have been cooling.

If the earth has actually been cooling for the past ten years, think how much colder it would have been if we hadn’t had global warming. I have considered that possibility and discovered what I consider the absolute truth of the desire to reduce the ersatz global warming.

Remember that every time some Republican begins to attract national notice as an articulate and reasoned critic of our movement into socialism, the national news media begin to demonize him or her. The greatest of these attacks has been on Sarah Palin. They have not only attacked her, making up “facts” as suits their needs, they have also attacked her family. Naturally her oldest daughter deserved it. After all she is the only eighteen year old child/woman to become pregnant out of wedlock. No other parent of a teen-aged daughter has had such a problem, or fear of such a problem. However, I thought they went a bit far when one comedian suggested that Mrs. Palin’s fourteen year old daughter was at a baseball game in order to have sex with a ball player. All appears fair in attacks on Sarah Palin. Still, thoughtful people, called conservatives, continue to support her. This is the real concern. This is where global warming comes in.

Government (taxpayer) paid “scientists” are fully aware that the past ten years have been global cooling years. If, by attacking anything which contributes to global warming, they can increase global cooling, they may be able to create a new ice age. In such case, as Democratic leaders and scientists, such as ex-Vice President Gore, calculate, a glacier would cover Alaska and, hopefully, Sarah Palin as well. That would solve the Palin problem.

Michelle Malkin’s book, “Culture of Corruption” is truly depressing. I could take only so much at a time. I always read Malkin’s essays, because she states facts for her opinions and gives the sources of those facts. She does the same thing in her book. I believed that the Obamas obtained power through the corrupt Chicago politics, but I hadn’t realized the extent of it – she quotes sources, dates and money. Then she continues to do the same thing with the crowd with whom Obama has surrounded himself in DC including Joe Biden. It is discouraging that these people are running our nation. 

Charles Forelle has an article worth reading in the Wall Street Journal (3 Nov 09). He reports on a survey of 5, 694 citizens of nine former members of the Soviet bloc. The people surveyed reported that they were much happier than they had been under Communism but were not especially happy with democracy and capitalism. Reading it reminded me of an article I read on the slave who accompanied the Rogers/Clark expedition exploring the northwest. On his return, as a reward for his efforts, he was given his freedom and the ownership of a stagecoach line. Some months after assuming his position as owner, he abandoned his ownership and left. He was reported to have said that it was easier to be a slave than a free man. It is the same with the peoples of Eastern Europe. Under Communism, they had the security of a minimum existence. They had minimum food and medical treatment and guaranteed jobs where little was expected of them. Now life is riskier, they must depend on themselves.  Democracy and freedom require effort and thought - as the Eastern Europeans have discovered. 

Recently, Harvard honored the 10 graduates who had received Medals of Honor for their military service in our recent wars. This was an empty gesture. Harvard professors continue to refuse permission for ROTC to operate on campus. Despite this, they receive hundreds of millions of tax dollars from our government. I have difficulty understanding why we should give millions of dollars to any institution that refuses to permit a recognized government agency on campus. I recommend that Congress bar the granting of any federal money to Harvard or any other educational institution which refuses to permit government agencies on campus. I know this will not affect the instruction and research at Harvard. Their professors have complete integrity and will not object to their salaries and benefits being slashed as a result of their following their convictions and barring the ROTC from campus.

The extent to which the media has ignored the Muslim beliefs and terrorist connections of Nidal Malik Hasan while seeking and creating other reasons for his behavior is astounding and displays great creative imagination.  

The articles by persons astounded by the lying and cheating by university faculty in the area of “global warming” amuse me. Are people, theoretically educated people, really so naïve as to think that people are honest just because they are employed by universities? There was a time when university professors were very poorly paid, but they only “worked” twelve or fifteen hours a week as teachers. The rest of the time they led a pleasant life. They could study and conduct research in anything that interested them. Campus swimming pools and tennis courts were free to them. They could attend plays, concerts, football or basketball games or all of them, according to their interests, for free. It was a pleasant life, but not a highly paid one. Then President Johnson was elected. In addition to paying out huge sums of money for people not to work, called welfare reform, he also poured money into colleges and universities. Millions of dollars were poured into universities to conduct “research” provided it was research that the government wanted. Salaries skyrocketed and teaching loads of professors dropped. With almost thirty years experience in universities, in both administration and teaching, and as a producer and reader of research, I can guarantee that I knew professors who cheated like mad in their reports in order to keep the funds coming.  I am certain that if prominent politicians, such as Vice President Gore, wanted global warming, global warming there would be, regardless of factual evidence. Too much money was at stake.

Governor Huckabee had best forget running for President. The man who walked into a restaurant and shot to death four police officers he didn’t know who were sitting at a table, drinking coffee and preparing for their days’ work, had been serving a life sentence for murder and assorted other violent crimes in Arkansas. His sentence was commuted and he was released from prison by Governor Huckabee against the advice and wishes of all. The deaths of those four police officers are a direct result of Huckabee’s decision, one which would appear in ads across the country if he received the Republican nomination. I, for one, would give up and stay home if my choice were between Obama and Huckabee in 2012.

This is a letter more than an essay, in fact it is a letter copying a letter. I have been concerned about all the investigations at Fort Hood. But the Hassan incident at Fort Hood was the flowering of a weed, not its conception. You cannot kill a poisonous vine by cutting off the top. You must destroy the roots. My concern has not been about the investigation of the murders at Fort Hood, rather it is about the failure to examine the program at Walter Reed which permitted it.

I wrote to my senators and congressman about this. A reasonable copy (I’ve changed a few words) of the letter follows. I have heard nothing from my senators or congressman about it as yet, it is really too early to expect a reply, but it could be that they consider the idea it expresses unimportant. If you agree it is important, perhaps you might send it to your representatives in DC.

William D. Dannenmaier                                                               

1126 Earl Leach Road                                                                       615 789 6670                       

Cumberland Furnace, TN 37051                             wdannenmaier@yahoo.com blog: sparksfromthefurnace.Townhall.com

22 November 2009

Letter to congress:

In one of my blogs, I commented that Congress needs to investigate the Walter Reed Military Hospital. My reasoning then, as a retired licensed psychologist, was that ANY hospital which speculated that a student could be psychotic and still graduated him as a licensed psychiatrist should be investigated. There were also questions concerning his devotion to Muslim extremism. Now, we know that this same person was placed on President Obama’s Security Task Force (listed eighth on page 21 of report “http://www.gwumc.edu/hospi/old/PTTF, Proceedings Report.)

The Senate and the House are busy investigating FortHood security. More important would be an investigation of the Walter Reed training program. How many other persons have they certified as psychiatrists with such plans or problems?

William D. Dannenmaier

Conversations with my bride are often interesting. For example, the other day I brought a bunch of grapes into the room to eat while I was reading. Before starting, I received a telephone call from a friend who wanted me on his talk show. It was pleasant talking to him, until I noticed the last of my grapes disappearing – Sheila was sitting next to me. I brought in some more and, as she reached, pointed out that they were my grapes. “I’ll trade you some chocolate for some grapes,” she said. I asked where she had chocolate. She replied, “I don’t, but you do in your drawer.” “In other words,” I responded, “you will trade me my chocolate for my grapes.” “Yes.” Then she looked at me and said, “Isn’t it a good thing we didn’t know each other too well before we got married?’’

Stephen keeps exotic tropical fish. Part of their diet includes worms he digs from the garden or, being short of garden worms, some he purchases at the store for his fishing trips. He told me that there is an interesting difference between the two groups of worms, despite the fact that they look exactly alike – to him. He reports that when he drops a garden worm in the aquarium, the fish go after it immediately, but when he drops in one he has purchased the fish ignore it, only casually going after it once it is lying on the bottom of the aquarium. Isn’t it interesting? We haven’t the foggiest idea of why.

AustinPeayStateUniversity announced a display of art work by former students. Each person was permitted to submit three works and a university panel would decide which of them should be displayed. All three of Sheila’s entrées were accepted for display. One won a ribbon. The Art Department Chair told her that another one received very favorable comment and invited her to display her work at a permanent display room they were opening downtown. Sheila said I shouldn’t talk about this because she doesn’t approve of bragging, but I’m doing the bragging. When Sheila was debating whether she should continue painting or not earlier this year, I told her that her problem was her strict background had taught her nothing she did was “good enough.” That I thought her work was excellent – except for a lack of female nudes. To prove me wrong, she resumed painting. The ribbon and compliments prove me right again. I usually am, as I have always told my children, who should listen to me more carefully. 

One has to admire the city of Dickson. Authorities across the nation are warning people to stay away from crowds. Schools are being closed and shoppers are wearing masks to avoid contamination with the killer swine flu. But not Dickson. Dickson held its 34^th annual charity fundraiser “Christmas in the County” arts and crafts festival Saturday at the DicksonHigh School. Accepting quiet but firm pressure from my bride, I attended along with her. I can’t remember a more crowded event. The halls were lined with tiny cubicles for artists to display their work: charcoal drawings, oil paintings, stained glass, wood carvings, jewelry, needlework – you name it, it was there along with the creators. To walk down the hallways was an adventure, the cubicles, artists and admirers filled all but a narrow lane while those trying to walk along stood in lines as in a mess hall except that the lines were moving in two directions. Thus, while bumping into the person in front trying to go west, you had to shove past the other person in front trying to go east. The dining room and the gymnasium were equally bad, with narrow pathways between cubicles lining the walls and positioned in rows created where students ate lunches and played basketball during the day. Yep, no fear of swine flu or any other contagious disease in Dickson. Dickson has courage. I wondered if the event was sponsored by the medical association.

A lady from church announced with pride that her daughter and son-in-law were expecting a second child after the great difficulty they had in securing the first. As an addendum she commented that the first was now crawling and standing. There were numerous responses to her announcement. All of the women said, “How wonderful!” ALL of the men responded, “Knock her down, once that baby starts walking it only gets worse.” So much for no sex differences.