Bensblurb #607 Extraneous thoughts on Mothers Day, 5/8/11
Obama: Tough Guy?
So he got lucky, thank goodness, in ordering the Bin Laden attack. Will that be enough to bury his silly past?
Historian Victor Davis Hanson summarizes the national security positions asserted by then Senator Obama...and contrasts them with the positions he has taken as president...
Senator Obama opposed tribunals, renditions, Guantanamo, preventive detention, Predator-drone attacks, the Iraq War, wiretaps, and intercepts -- before President Obama either continued or expanded nearly all of them, in addition to embracing targeted assassinations, new body scanning and patdowns at airports, and a third preemptive war against an oil-exporting Arab Muslim nation -- this one including NATO efforts to kill the Qaddafi family. The only thing more surreal than Barack Obama's radical transformation is the sudden approval of it by the once hysterical Left....Also, Obama didn’t spike the ball in the end zone, but he did take numerous victory laps around the Bin Laden track.
Anti-South?
Meanwhile, Obama’s NLRB tries to stiff S. Carolina in Boeing factory there, and he stiffs Virginia’s request for emergency assistance for tornado damage....Then in Texas, his Fish and Wildlife Service tries to get a sand lizard on endangered list and squelch oil drilling....A pattern here?
Please stiff AG
Maybe he will, for a change, put a lid on his Attorney General Holder. But don’t hold your breath. Here’s Linda Chavez, in Washington Examiner:
While the Obama administration deservedly revels in the success of the U.S. operation to kill Osama bin Laden...one question remains: Why is the Justice Department threatening criminal prosecution of the men who made the mission possible?
CIA Director Leon Panetta has acknowledged that the initial information that led to the discovery of bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad came, in part, from information obtained by "enhanced interrogation techniques against some of those detainees." Yet, Attorney General Holder persists in what appears to be a vendetta against these very CIA interrogators.
In August 2009, Holder ordered a continued investigation into "enhanced interrogation" techniques used by the CIA, even though an earlier investigation by career prosecutors concluded that no crimes were committed. The irony in all of this is made worse by President Obama's acknowledgment of intelligence agencies' role when he announced that bin Laden had been killed.
Armed Forces Day, May 21...
A proposed new law would provide an opportunity for all of our children to be able to say with dignity that they honorably served their nation. Having a draft would not necessarily mean that everyone called to duty would be required to serve in the Armed Forces. Whether that service to our country is in our military, in our schools, in our hospitals, or in our airports, the Universal National Service act would require young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 to commit themselves to two years of national service.
For the civilian service, we wouldn't be starting from scratch, but instead building on the current community service infrastructure that we have through national programs like Americorps or local initiatives like NYC Serve. From helping to rebuild New Orleans, providing security at our nation's ports, or working in areas of extreme poverty in this country, there are plenty of jobs that will not only help our young adults learn about their country, but also provide them with invaluable experiences and training that will enrich their lives. Just like the Peace Corps, but for our nation, universal national service would a positive bonding experience for an entire generation to give back to their country.
Conscription, when everyone is called to serve, has powered some of our nation's greatest military victories, including WWII. The need for a draft is not a condemnation of our current military force, but a strong belief in equality and that the sacrifices needed to maintain a vibrant economy should be shared by all.
Currently the burden of defending our nation is carried by an increasingly smaller segment of our population. Only 1 percent of the American population currently makes the sacrifice of laying down life and limb for our country.
Far too many are being forced into repeated tours of duty, sometimes as many as six deployments. This repeated combat exposure to our troops is why 25 percent of America's active duty military personnel suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is why the Army's current suicide rate is far above the civilian rate at 22 per 100,000. The rate for the Marine Corps is even higher.
These statistics regarding the well-being of our troops are staggering. We cannot merely stand by as a minor segment of our population make continuous sacrifices on our collective behalf.
The bill’s author? Charlie Rangel...!
--Ben Blankenship
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