The Magnificient Ship: USS Enterprise

Call me a romantic.     
       I felt I was in rarified air. Around me were the faces of men that had seen a thousand things. In their eyes was the history of fifty-one years and the stuff of legend. They looked wistfully and recalled their youth, past glory and grief, all carried quietly, stoically in the massive ship before them. 

      It is a deep knowing for many of us that served aboard ships at sea, something our closest family and friends can't possibly understand. A connection, a bonding with steel, wind, oil and those you were with. I was humbled by their presence and the history in their eyes. 

     So it was with me as I walked the length of her. One of my earliest memories is a momentary vision of my father in his dress blues and white hat smiling and waving as he walked away from the car with his duffel bag on his shoulder and the massive gray hulk of the Enterprise behind him. That scene became a part of me and the ship he was walking toward became an inspiration to me.
     When I was a little older, we would spend hours pouring over his cruise books and photographs of the Enterprise and I would listen enraptured as he told me of his adventures. Growing up on a farm in Southeastern North Carolina made his stories my Iliad and Dad my Odysseus. It was he that first introduced me to the names Skyhawk, Vigilante, Corsair, Skyraider, Crusader and Phantom. He also ensured that Enterprise would be the standard by which all other carriers were measured; at least for me. Indeed, even as I sat there with the Lincoln and Truman behind me, I couldn't help but think I was looking at the superior vessel.
     











       It was the romance of the sea, of adventure, of being a part of the defense of this nation that led me to join the Navy. Along with my father's stories, it was that romance of being in the Navy, that Navy where the Enterprise was, that called me.
     While I never served aboard her, I did land on her once before I left my naval service. It was a parts run to an HS squadron on board. When we landed I hopped out onto the deck I had memorized from my childhood and remembered for a glorious moment and relished it. Don't get me wrong, life at sea on board a warship is no historical, lovely experience. I've never been more tired, dirty, sweaty, frozen and frustrated as I've been out there. But for that moment I was in love with the Navy.
      As I was leaving my naval service, my last commanding officer told me that I was doing what he and every other member of the Navy would have to do sooner or later. He also asked me why I was leaving to which I responded, because I love it and I don't want to hate it. 
       My father passed away a few years ago so it seemed fitting that because he was there at the first, I should be there at the end. That happened a lot that day, sons in place of fathers. 
       I recalled what my CO had said to me as I looked at the ship before me and the young faces of today's Navy, I thought, it's your time to leave, just as it was mine. Time to not be what you were and turn into something else. 
      But what you were was greatness, power, America, the product of a visionary and a country that does great things. And on a farm in Trenton, North Carolina, you were the adventure of a little boy and his dad.
Long live the name. 

       

The "Accomplishments" Re: Tyranny of the Left

1. A 5 TRILLION dollar deficit in 4 years

2. More acquired debt in 2 years than in the entire history of the country.

3. 9.7% unemployment with no end in sight.

4. Government control of the Student Loan Program

5. Government ownership of auto makers.

6. Deliberate destruction of 23000 jobs by imposing a drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico

7. Allowing drug cartels to operate unopposed in AZ, NM and TX

8. Suing a state that is trying to protect its own citizens.

9. Allowing the Black Panthers to threaten voters without criminal charges.

10. Writing and passing a law that has already started to destroy the greatest healthcare system in the world without reading it.

Thank you Democrats, we've had enough

Sons of Anarchy?

I used to think anarchy was an element of some of the songs of the Sex Pistols or The Clash. The thought of traveling to another city to protest some imagined offense was absolutely foreign to me, my family and my friends. Even the term ‘anarchy’ seemed medieval and something that happened in countries that had no government or laws. Perhaps I wasn’t paying enough attention.

The recent G-20 meetings in Pittsburgh, PA brought with it the usual suspects of “anarchists” that protest everything and achieve nothing except a beating, which they then twist into some sort of self-proclaimed accomplishment.

   

I often wondered what anarchists did when they weren’t being pummeled with batons, tear-gassed and arrested. Did they go back to their anarchist HQ in some castle in Barvaria? Maybe they were organized into regional offices like AFLAC or the Red Cross, although those organizations actually do something. In any event, wherever they went to or came from, they sure did seem to be angry about something.

With a little digging I have learned some of their concerns, methods and tactics and some of their lingo. Here, I’ll share them with you.

What they’re protesting

Globalization of economies, Global Warming, Global Cooling, lots of things Globe-related. The Environment, Capitalism, Columbus Day, Hiroshima and Nagasaki Day, America, American Exceptionalism, Technology, Running Water, Toilets, Animal rights, The Fur Trade, Free Trade, Fair Trade, NAFTA, CAFTA, The 4th of July, poverty, wealth, SUVs, anything mechanical, the treatment of native Americans, slavery, gay rights, lesbian rights, plastics, oil, gasoline, diesel trucks, skyscrapers, guns, gun ownership, the NRA, Starbucks, any corporation, Israel, NATO, war, the military, military personnel, the government, any government,......damn near anything. You name an issue, they’ve got a problem with it. And they’re mad about it, they’re so mad that they throw Molotav cocktails, rocks and pretty much anything else at the riot police. More on those guys in a minute.

How they organize and what they do when they get there

Being a sophisticated bunch, they read schedules. They find out when and where a summit is to be held be it the G-20, G-8, World Bank or any group of leaders. But the list doesn’t stop there. They show up at military bases, nuclear power plants, coal-fired power plants, championship sports winning team cities and the like. Any place a lot of people and most importantly, the media are so they can showcase their displeasure with whatever is going on.
Then they use their cell phones, computers, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or their smartphones, all of which are invented, researched and produced by those evil corporations using cheap, unskilled laborers in sweatshops that they love to protest. Most of them barely have enough money to subsist on so instead of checking into the Ritz-Carlton, which they wouldn’t be caught dead in if they had the cash, unless they were protesting it, they crash at friends’ houses, hostels, sympathizers that take them in, their tents, a sleeping bag or just out on the street or in a park. Since they’re “down with the struggle” creature comforts are to be ignored if not abhorred, except for their cell phones and cameras to document their heroic acts.

Then, they courageously don the obligatory bandana over the face, arab shemagh, face paint or ski mask to hide their identity from prying government cameras and commence with the mayhem. They are soon greeted by the aforementioned riot police who are there to prevent the more violent among them from destroying the city they are visiting. They call these police the “occupation forces”.

You may now ask yourself, as I did, why there is a need for these types of police. I present to you Exhibit A.

Being the sophisticated bunch that they are, possessing the brain power far above that of normal people, and having more causes than they know how to protest they ignore the local laws that would afford them a permit to protest and because they are “Anarchists, Grrr” it just wouldn’t do to abide by the law. And given the fact that in the past and around the world as exhibited above anarchist parties routinely escalate into full-blown riots, any responsible city government that wants to have a city to govern after these selfish, glory-mongering freaks leave, additional support is necessary. This then, is met with the normal self-righteousness as they proclaim that they “met the occupation forces and prevailed”. If any of these people actually met a serious occupation force unrestrained by a Constitution they would either end up shot or imprisoned for life.
Did I mention they are the dirtiest protesters ever? See, having no respect for law or rules also means they get to violate their own. For a group that wants to save the environment, etc., they sure could learn a lesson from the “Tea Party” movements that not only protest lawfully and peacefully, but leave the event as clean or cleaner than they found it. No shattered glass in the streets, burning cars or debris for the tax paid city employees to clean up. In order to get their point across, they destroy their credibility along with portions of the city they’re in, assuring they’ll be met with more riot police next time which, in turn, is the point of anarchy, right?


The Lingo

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the current anarchist movement is the language they use. As above they deem the police they meet in the streets as “the occupation forces”. They call each other “comrade”, a former term of derision associated with communist regimes but now their proud moniker. What is disturbing about this sort of language is the fact that they use it to describe their country that has afforded them the luxury of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, freedom, food, technology and education as being invaded and controlled by some evil regime. In a way it’s prophetic, given the events of last January 20th and the ongoing struggle of the Obama administration to control every aspect of our lives. In a way, they already have what they want. Radical Marxists in the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, they’re just too stupid to realize it. So off they go, blathering on about some imagined injustice while sipping lattes in an “indy” coffee shop, reveling in the idea that what they’re doing is something new when, in reality, it’s the same old song. They post videos of the garbage of our society, the radical activists of the sixties and seventies, heralding them as heroes of a struggle they dreamed up in their own vanity. Proclaiming them to be role models and mentors and, most troubling, answering their call for “violent action”.

I’m writing about this because I know an anarchist. I’ve known him since he was a little boy. And although I’m not related to him, I do feel somewhat responsible for a tiny bit of his upbringing. His parents are the kindest and gentlest human beings one could ever hope to meet. He grew up in happiness, never knowing crushing poverty, blinding wealth, a broken home, physical disability, utter loneliness or rejection. Moreover he was taught the Word of God in truth. He is born again of God’s spirit and has within him the seed of the Almighty. Yet he rejects out of hand all that was given to him to align himself with deceivers and the dregs of unbelief. Since he was a child he has always sought attention for himself and spooled up into a tantrum or cried like a little girl when he didn’t get it.
He is continually being called back by the voices he grew up with, those who weren’t handed life in abundance and know the danger he’s in. Yes, he’s being warned, like Paul was before he went back to Jerusalem by the people who love him the most and by God.

Anarchists live a life of hypocrisy. They seek to destroy with no plan to rebuild. They are the foot soldiers of nothing causing harm for no reason, thinking they are the oppressed when they have never seen it. The truly oppressed usually never make it. They call out from the graves in China, Russia and Rwanda. They are murdered and forgotten by the real evil in this world whether they are men, women or little children. These people, if they do make it, go on to live productive lives, thankful they were spared, praying they and their children never see the like again. The anarchist is truly selfish, seeking glory while wearing a t-shirt of the monster Che, upholding the banner of Mao while their masters know they are expendable pawns, thrown into the fray for their own gain.

Sons of Anarchy? Please.

The Time for Compromise is Over

Dear Republicans,

I hope you're very satisfied sitting back and experiencing the way your democrat colleagues are treating you in this era of 'change'.

Who knew that your friends would run roughshod over you and laugh while doing it?

Who knew they would dynamically shift left as soon as they got control and hurl the country headlong into socialism?

Who knew your esteemed colleague; (insert democrat name here) would exclude you from any debate, amendment or parliamentary procedure in order to craft a bill that endangers our future and the futures of our descendants?

We did. The conservatives. The ones that you sneer at because you're in company of the elite classes there in Washington. We knew because we live in the places you've forgotten. We knew because we witness every day the decline of our moral society and the separation from the original purposes of the Constitution and how we live now.

Oppression is the word of the day. Be it from taxation by anything with government assigned to its name, the slow creep of control in the name of public safety, the eroding of our fundamental ideas of goodness, order and morality.

Because you failed the American people by capitulation, getting along and worrying about what people thought of you, both you and we, as a whole are suffering the consequences.

The Obama administration, Congress (with or without you) and the leftist media complex is going to do everything they can to impose their brand of socialism on our government and on us, the people.

The formula by which they will do this is as follows:
First, they'll opine a crisis whether real or imagined.
Second, using the sciences, economics and popular culture, they'll start the repeating cycle. As in marketing, the more you hear and see the same message the more you accept it as good or the truth.
Third, they'll develop the need, once public sentiment is great enough, to do something.
Fourth, the President will announce that the only way to solve this is by implementing more control, more spending, more oppression. This will happen because there is no one to stand in their way.

They have already succeeded in the various stages of this system in global warming, bailouts, foreign policy and will start it up with universal health care, gun control initiatives and energy policy.

You are to blame.

You haven't articulated a cogent argument in years. When you had control you were more worried about keeping your collective asses in your seats than rocking the boat with solid conservative policy and serving the country. When a democrat is busted committing a crime or when they accuse, insult and disrespect one of our own the same predictable response is given by you. Nothing. Silence.

Case in point: I. Scooter Libby and the b.s. that was pulled during the Valerie Plame debacle. Where were you? Anyone with a brain could see that all the bleating by the members of the left would've been nullified by calling them out, standing up for Libby and ridiculing them when they were weak for attacking a member of the administration with bogus charges. And for Pete's sake why not investigate the actual perpetrator?

What in the hell are you so afraid of? This is serious business and life is not a popularity contest. I wonder how vehemently a democrat, oh wait, I know. Remember the arrogance of Bill Clinton? He actually committed a crime and still laughed at you.

Here's the thing. Great leaders are what the people of this country want. They don't want compromisers, moderates or wishy-washy political hacks. The sum of those types equals liberal democrat. Witness Collins, Snowe and Specter. They allowed themselves to be played like a blond at a poker table. They were fools to compromise because it gave licence to the liberals to enact this abomination of a bill.

Here's the way to win. Select conservatives to run in the next election. When you prepare them, make sure to emphasize that the news media is not and never will be their friends. Tell them that most of Hollywood hates them, Let them know that young people want to learn but are only being taught socialism and communism in school.

Mostly though, tell them that the times are critical and deserving of fundamentally right and moral thinking. When a policy or bill is brought forth and is labeled as "draconian" or "mean-spirited", laugh. Laugh and run with it. Call them names too like "communist" or "liberal" or "coward". Re: John Murtha.

Above all, do not compromise with these people. They are, in effect, the enemy in politics. Compromise and bipartisanship, unless framed in fundamental morality, the rule of law and the Constitution only results in enslaving the people.

The Case for Firebombing

In the desperate days leading up to the end of the second world war, it had become the policy of the Allies to bomb their target with incendiary devices, bombs that caused and spread fire when they detonated. Constructed of phosphorous, magnesium or napalm, their effect was devastating and complete. Far from surgical strikes where bombs are guided by lasers into windows, they were dropped in such numbers and in patterns they caused "firestorms" hellish cyclones of fire that literally sucked people, animals and inanimate objects into them. These bombs and the policy was implemented in order to destroy the infrastructure and war-making abilities of Nazi Germany and Japan and to break the will of the population that supported them.

The aftermath of these raids are well documented, detailing the destruction and human suffering they caused among the civilian population. The toll they took on the morality and consciences of the bomber crews that conducted the raids while incalculable has been documented as well. Human kindness and mercy are common attributes of American servicemen and women.

Dresden, Hamburg and Tokyo are the notable targets that have been written about at length especially by those that would look to blame the Allies and attempt to say the raids were unjustified and merciless killing of innocents.

In war, people die. Simplistic, I know, yet a point that bears repeating. The ones that die are not just the combatants bearing arms but innocent men, women, children, old people, kitty cats, doggies, frogs, etc. That is why the decision to go to war is the last resort and not lightly entered into in a policy meeting.

The firebombings of Dresden, Hamburg and Tokyo, while offensive to our humanity, served a greater purpose. They caused a feeling of helplessness among the the population, rocked the support of the regimes and instilled fear of annihilation among the not-yet-bombed cities. There were no whiny Greg Palkots running around displaying charred bodies for all the world to see in a 60 second byte and wondering why it happened, as if it weren't obvious. Thankfully, the press was on our side back then.

Shift to present day. America and American interests abroad have been attacked for decades by Islamic terrorists. Whether they are funded by nation-states, rich oil Arabs, fundamentalist sheiks or if they're operating on their own, they will not stop. The American people saw a glimpse of what they can do on 9-11. They can and really, really want to do so much worse. They will not stop. If we kill 300 of them in a tactical strike they'll be replaced by the next set of droids manufactured in the madrassas spread across the globe. The American people need to come to grips with this knowledge. Had the same mentality and press coverage been present during WWII we would have lost.

No voice needs to be given to our enemies, no understanding of what makes them tick or why they feel the way they do. They have spent that capital by attacking us over and over again. These people are products of their culture, criminally insane, dogs of Islam. There is nothing admirable or "holy" in murdering civilians to get media attention. In comparison to the guilt and remorse felt by the firebombers of WWII and the revulsion we experience when we read the accounts of the aftermath, the actions of the terrorists are applauded, celebrated or met with deafening silence from the countries, people and culture from which they originated.

For a while after 9-11, the world was silent. Except for celebrating in Palestine, Baghdad and Afghanistan, the rest of the world, that understands our capabilities stood quiet, waiting as if their existence was in question. Had the Bush doctrine been implemented, terrorists in every country would be far fewer in number and afraid to speak for fear of being found or sold out. Because there is no greater threat to the population surrounding the terrorists than selling out the terrorists, evil remains safely tucked away and able to appear sympathetic providers among the downtrodden.

When we are attacked again, and we will without doubt be attacked again, all mercy has to be shelved. The media must be barred from the military and the necessary things need to be done. All terrorists need to feel our wrath in real terms everywhere. Hezbollah, Hamas, FARC, Tamil Tigers whoever they are, whereever they are should start dying. If they are shielded by their populations or hidden by a goverment playing a PR game, a heavy price has to be paid. And that means a full-on, unmerciful and unapologetic annihilation of wherever we think they are. The answer to our problems with Islamic terrorism is to give them a taste of their own medicine, make them feel unsafe, reachable and hunted.

History shows us the results of having to do unpleasant things. Unfortunately, because of our unwillingness and yes flinching in the face of our enemies the war has dragged out.

A Dangerous New World

We watch in awe as the Democrats posture and preen and promise to "govern" and "find common ground". I'll believe it when I see it.

Since the American people voted on Tuesday to replace the ineffectual Republican majority, the dawning of a new period of "malaise" in this country has begun.

Keep in mind, Democrats have not successfully prosecuted a war to victory since Truman nuked the Japanese back to sanity. Unfortunately, the mindset that once inhabited and led that party fell victim to the distractions, laziness and traitorous behavior of the 1960's. Vietnam was a war that one democrat stumbled into and another blundered through until he cowardly gave up on it and handed it to a republican.

As though there had been no democrats in power prior to Nixon, the Communists, Socialists, Leftists and anarchists as well as the three networks hopped on board and deceptively proclaimed that it was Nixon's war and fault and blame. It served their ends well. It covered their collective asses for supporting the war early on, advanced leftist thinking, gave America its first defeat, caused us to doubt our morality and superiority and made us afraid to completely annihilate the enemy to protect ourselves. It also ushered in the founder of my conservatism, Jimmy Carter.

This line of thinking permeates our young people (those born from the 70's on) so much that you see the virtual reliving of the 60's mentality. They are led by the dinosaurs that were their age during that time. Pelosi, Rather, Fonda, Streisand, Redford, Kennedy and how can we forget the Clintons. These children and young adults are growing up despising this country, their home. They are conditioned to think negotiation and tolerance will keep them alive while our enemies are preparing for, conditioning for and waging war.

The spoiled, testosterone-free 60's icons paid no attention to the importance of beating back world-wide communism then (as long as they weren't affected) just like they see no reason to literally crush Islamic terrorists now. The problem is while they enjoyed the protections of a previous generation's preparation in policy and mentality, and the war was in a little country far away, the kids they're teaching are faced with an enemy that can reach them and wants to and I fear their policies, fear and lack of preparation will lose this war and more lives too.

Rest assured though, dear reader, those icon's will be protected and guarded and will change allegiances if necessary to save their skins and power and money.What is it to them if soldiers are dying now, they are dupes and pawns of the current administration and a fly-over Americana, bourgeois patriotism that happened after 9-11. If they are considered at all, they are sought out to testify how they were lied to and plastered all over national TV for a political end. If soldiers die for a reason assigned to the democrat's tenure, the heroic politicrits will slink away faster than a Union rep after a failed negotiation.

If they allow themselves to become distracted with power and revenge and a socialist mentality, instead of dealing with the clear dangers around us, they will ensure a successful attack on our country.