No Fly Zone

Louisiana is now experiencing historic record flooding ... not this time from the likes of Hurricane Katrina, but rather because of just plain torrential rains which have flooded many of the same upstate  areas where George Bush's perfidy caused wide devastation back in 2005 ... see: Weather News. Although the death toll between the two events is not comparable, certainly the damage to personal property may soon be nearing parity.

President Obummer, having learned from history, has decided not to fly over these devastated flooded zones to look down in sympathy. Rather, he has opted to play another few rounds of golf on Martha's Vineyard.

Humble Pie

The P5 +1 Iran nuclear-reduction talks in Lausanne, Switzerland have taken on the tone of an Indiana state legislative cave-in as all the other players have left this swank venue except Iran, England and John Kerry searching the distant horizon and crooning "Chloe" ... see: Breitbart Article. It must be quite lonely at that big conference table without those other negotiators ... Iran smiling slyly ... and the other two ... scowling behind spread-palm face-covers. But there is some solace ... it just means there is more Beluga caviar and Dom Perignon for the remaining three.

But how much humble pie can "Christmas in Cambodia" Kerry also eat before he understands how he is sullying himself and his country? I do suppose that he is on a short leash from his links-obsessed boss who never seems to feel any pressure for his screw-ups ... just as long as he can off-load them on dweebs such as Hanoi John.

Or blame the Republicans and George Bush ...

A New Chant

Now we find that George Bush and Colin Powell were right. The New York Times reveals today (apparently without a hint of embarrassment) that at least five thousand chemical warheads were discovered in Iraq during the years after the United States invasion … see: NY Times Story. This combined with the obvious relocation on truck convoys of many more of Saddam Hussein’s WMDs from Iraq into Syria in the months before our coalition’s invasion … see: PJ Media Story … and the discovery in Iraq of 550 metric tons of yellow-cake uranium in 2008 and its subsequent shipment to Canada … see: WMDs  … all suggest that the rationale for Bush's Iraqi war did indeed have some real underpinnings.

So, how about a new chant?  BUSH NEVER LIED ... SADDAM DIED!!

HIV Misconceptions

I did not know that HIV/AIDS has not been cured. I had thought that the daily cocktail of anti-viral drugs being taken by HIV-infected people cures their disease … unfortunately it just suppresses it. Yesterday’s New York Times’ “Science Times” section has comments from two people … one gay man who stopped taking his drug cocktail briefly only to have his HIV come roaring back (top right of page D3). I didn’t know this was happening … nor that, even while suppressed, this disease can still be transmitted in a small number of incidences … see: Catie News Story.

Apparently, neither do lots of gays and transgenders who are engaging in promiscuous sex … as the rate of HIV infections is once again skyrocketing … see: Breitbart News Story.

Now will Barack Obama be accused of purposely ignoring this problem … just as George Bush had been?

Don't Spike the Ball

Governor Scott Walker has thankfully prevailed in his recall election in Wisconsin.  This, despite the full-throated efforts of the public-service unions there and from around the country (see: Forbes Story) ... and the fact that voter turn-out in uber-liberal-leaning Madison was 119% (see: Breitbart Story).  Curious!?!

Not that he takes my advice, but I have a suggestion for Governor Walker ... "Please don't spike the football."  The emotions in Wisconsin have been running very high and what may otherwise appear to be rational people have been acting quite irrationally.  In fact, I have been shocked by the rabid actions of those who have been skunked in this Waterloo for public-service employees.  Describing the actions of many of these wing nuts as bordering on "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest" is not too much of a stretch.

Both George Bush and Barack Obama have made the mistake of spiking the football after a victory ... and they have lived to regret it.  A more modest and self-effacing reaction from Governor Walker to this victory would indeed be refreshing ... and probably beneficial to him in the longer run.

General Quarters

At an event this weekend I was asked (by a liberal … what else in Massachusetts) who my favorite President was. I said that, in my lifetime and although I didn’t vote for him, Ronald Reagan was the best, but probably Lincoln overall. Trying to bait me, I think, this amiable lefty then ticked off a number of, to me, awful presidents, Clinton, LBJ, Carter, etc. Then he mentioned General Eisenhower. I said he was OK, but not great.

This got me to thinking about Generals who later went on to be President … George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin Harrison and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Clearly Washington was the standout General/President on this list … for he led our nation through its pre-political nascence with a steady, moral hand and established gentlemanly codes of conduct for the President and the Office of the President that have survived up until recently. All the others, although serving admirably militarily, in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and World War II did not, in my opinion, add much luster to the White House.

The question that then begs itself is why? Perhaps, it is because governance is so different from leadership in battle. As a General, your subordinates are a little more focused and loyal when they know (knew) that they could be shot at dawn for screwing up. More recently, Presidents have seen many of their staff write “tell-all” books in order to get their 15 minutes of Warhol fame. George Bush, in particular, was plagued by a retinue of incompetent direct reports. His loyalty to them usually far exceeded theirs to him. Barack Obama, unfortunately, seems to be suffering somewhat from this same lack of competent underlings, but with the loyalty ratio inverted. Generals have staff members who have survived years of testing in their respective jobs. Presidents, on the other hand, often surround themselves with fresh-faced political hangers-on who often mistake media fawning for good decision making.

Generals take an existing organization and move it forward. Presidents build a new organization every four or eight years and the good ones must be able to inspire these organizations to excel. In other words, Generals lead with their stars while Presidents lead with their ideas. Using this as criteria, General Colin Powell probably would not have excelled had he been elected President. And the U.S. electorate should probably pause before it next tries to promote a military hero to its Presidency.