Many years ago, in another era of our nation, a grizzled old retired Army Colonel stood up in front of a group of Air Force ROTC Cadets on the first day of class and made the following statement: “Anybody can demand respect, but only a true leader can command respect”. Over a forty-five year flying career, thirty-seven of those years as Pilot-In-Command, I never forgot that concept.
In the current election cycle we have two candidates for President. One demands, in a loud and strident voice, that we respect her accomplishments in life, in and out of politics, and so choose her to lead the country for the next four years. The other, in frequently brash and not so eloquent language, points out his personal successes in the private sector, which are undeniable. The question then becomes who really deserves our respect? Continue reading Drain the swamp?
In the eighth year of President Obama’s “Fundamental Transformation of America”, we must ask ourselves the above question. “Quo vadis” is a Latin phrase meaning “where are you going?” I believe that is a question we need answered. Where indeed are we headed as a nation?
On January 20, 1961 John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President of the United States. In the closing sentence of his inaugural address, Kennedy said: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”.
During the Presidential campaign of 2008 I listened with interest and growing concern to the speeches given by, and various interviews of, Barack Obama. As a recent retiree, I was aware that some of his stated positions, especially concerning the cost of energy, could have a very detrimental effect on those in this country with fixed incomes, such as Social Security payments or pensions. Remember his statement: “If my plan for cap and trade is implemented, energy rates will necessarily skyrocket”? In point of fact, the price of energy, whether it be electrical or fossil fuel, affects the price of EVERYTHING. From the cost of heating or cooling your home, to filling your gas tank, to the food you purchase at the grocery store, when the cost of energy goes up, virtually everything else follows that trend.
My maternal grandmother was a font of wisdom in my youth. She worked hard jobs for most of her life, but I never heard her complain. She was among the last of the “Frontier Women”. Born an only child to parents of German-Swiss origin in the 1880’s, she was orphaned at an early age, and sent to a girl’s orphanage in Denver. Rescued from that institution at age 14 by Denver philanthropist Molly Brown (later to be known as “unsinkable” after surviving the Titanic tragedy) she was trained as a domestic servant and later “properly” introduced to her future husband by Mrs. Brown’s major-domo. She survived the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 and went on to raise 4 surviving children, after losing one to a childhood disease. After I had a bad experience with a grade school bully and came home crying and despondent, she asked me “does he look mean”? When I allowed that yes, he always looked angry, she nodded and said “what you are inside eventually comes out in your face”. I always remembered that statement, and found that it indeed applied to most of the unpleasant people I encountered in life. So, the next time you see the smiling countenance of Hillary Clinton at a staged rally or the like, ponder the picture at left. I believe that face is the true person hidden behind the smiling Kabuki mask. Do you really want that individual to be the next leader of our country? Think about it……………..
In a recent Rasmussen poll 53% of those likely voters surveyed still disagree with the FBI’s decision not to seek an indictment of Hillary Clinton over the private server, national security issues. A Gallup poll showed 26% of Americans identified themselves as Republicans and 29% as Democrats. My public school educated math then indicates that the rest, 45%, must be considered either fringe party members or “Independents”. That’s a bunch, larger than either of the two “major” parties, and that means that 27% of them want to see Mrs. Clinton brought up on charges. Unless those folks can bifurcate their feelings and vote for someone who they feel might well be a felon, this should bode ill for Hillary. Is this a strange election season or what?
As stated in the “About the Captain” section, this is an opinion blog. A wag once observed that opinions are like an odious but necessary part of our anatomy. We’ve all got them. Apparently, the story I passed on about “First Grandmother” Marian Robinson being set to receive a lifetime $160K pension when her son-in-law leaves the White House in January is a hoax. There isn’t a publication called “The Boston Tribune”. Although the slick hoax sent to me by a friend sure looked real, I should have known better. A conservative publication in Boston? They are there, but rare as hen’s teeth!
What follows is a hoax post from a fictitious publication. I and others were fooled by this incorrect information from the internet. In the post that follows I will explain why.
“With liberty and justice for all.” That sound familiar? Oh yes, it’s from the “Pledge of Allegiance”. Only problem is, the United States Government under the present administration isn’t providing equal “Justice” for all. It is allowing for selective enforcement of our laws, and that cannot be considered “Equal” or “Justice” by any rational measure. Some examples, you say? Ok, how about the Internal Revenue Service being used as a weapon to stifle dissent and penalize groups which IRS executive Lois Lerner disagreed with politically? How about the fact that when this illegal behavior was exposed by a congressional committee, the Obama DOJ refused to indict her, and she was then allowed to retire on a full government pension? How about a Secretary of State setting up and using a private, unsecured e-mail server, in direct contravention of State Department rules, and then deleting over 30,000 e-mails from that server, all of which were under subpoena from congress? How about that same Secretary of State using multiple unsecured electronic devices for official communications, and then lying to congress, saying that she had used only one such device, and then destroying the others in question? How about that same Secretary of State criminally violating numerous federal statutes concerning the proper safekeeping of confidential government documents in her care? Again, the DOJ refused to indict, and now, that same individual is the Democratic candidate for President of the United States, with a very good chance of being elected? This is “Justice”? 
The final words texted to his mother by one of the victims of the “Pulse” nightclub shooter in Orlando last June were: