Letter to My Grandnephew

Dear xxxx,

I am George Potts, your great uncle. My sister, xxxxxxx, was your mother’s mother. I am a 81 year-old fart who won’t be around a whole lot longer. But you will ... and I would like to leave a few thoughts with you to compensate you for no celebrations surrounding your high school graduation ... and for you to chew on when you look back on this coronavirus pandemic:

- First, this world-wide crisis was possibly an accidental release of the coronavirus from a Chinese virus lab outside Wuhan, China ... but it’s spread throughout the rest of the world seems purposeful by the Chinese Communist party. I suspect you will find out a lot more about this malfeasance on its part ... and the consequences that resulted therefrom. I am reasonably sure the consequences will be enormous. I just wish I could look back with you to see this sea change. If, in the meantime, you have had to learn Mandarin  ... then the bad guys won ... and you should probably burn this missive.

- They say the winners write the history books .. so, if Trump is still viewed as a pariah, you will know that he will be blamed for much of the damage of this pandemic. For what it is worth, from my perspective, I think President Trump performed as well as anyone could have during this crisis. I know, I know that many in this country disagree. But, if my age and experience are worth anything, Trump has been and will be unjustly vilified.

- In the meantime, all the dislocation and suffering you have experienced and will be experiencing until this Wuhan plague has abated ... all this will be topics for your holding forth with those yet to be born ... your children, grandchildren and, hopefully, even great grandchildren. And, don’t tell anyone, but you are allowed to exaggerate some of this narrative. For sure I won’t tell.

Congratulations on your graduation and I wish you a long, happy and successful life.

Your Greatuncle George

The Obama Doctrine

President Obama gave the graduation address at West Point yesterday and once again tried to enunciate the Obama Doctrine. And today on “Morning Joe" (MSNBC), Joe Scarborough asked his assembled lefties to say what this Doctrine actually was. None did a very good job defining it. But by carefully reading our fearless leader’s commencement address text, I think I might be able to codify this Doctrine. Here goes my elevator capsule:

America will never again send our armed forces into battle except under extreme duress and actual threat to our homeland. We will deal with any and all other foreign aggression which does not meet these criteria with “soft power” which is defined as moral suasion, diplomacy, and, if necessary, sanctions … but will never include the implicit or explicit threat to use our military might or atomic weapons. As a consequence the United States will allow our armed forces and armaments to depreciate to a level appropriate to this new foreign-policy stance.

Read the subtle and circuitous route through Obama’s commencement address at West Point (including that which lies between the lines) and see if you don’t concur with my above assessment … see: The New York Times' Transcript  In this speech, Obama does decry our slipping back into our pre-WW2 isolationism.  However, if my statement of the Obama Doctrine is accurate, that is exactly what we are doing ... and I've said this before, see: The World Map. I could be wrong, but I really don’t believe that this is the zeitgeist that now pervades America … despite our foreign policy mistakes under George W. Bush.

I honestly don't think that the American people are ready to step back and concede the rest of the world to the Dark Side.

Afterward: And apparently the New York Times editorial board somewhat agrees with my slant ... see: NY Times Editorial.