197 – Unrelenting September 23, 2014

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE

By Hetty Gray

 

# 197

 

September 23, 2014

 

“The Relentless Pursuit of Imperfection…”

 

Yep! I’ve done it again. I’ve put a twist on an advertising campaign, in this case one for a Luxury automobile. Lest you think I might slip into an editorial hole using the title, consider current conditions.

 

Food and water, these are two items basic to any people, free or captive. Depriving a prisoner of either or both can result in an admission of real guilt or simply an admission to anything when faced with death.

 

So, where does the title take us now? I use it as a premise to assess America’s image in the world at large. Once upon a time, America stood as the premier defender and exporter of freedom, a land of promise and opportunity, both in terms of politics and business. At the heart of both were honesty, open communication, and — more than anything else — stick-to-it-iveness! America, quite simply, did not back down or quit.

 

Despite the odds, America prevailed and won its major conflicts until Korea’s DMZ and the total abandonment of the South Vietnamese people put an end to the goal of “total victory.” We were left in perpetual limbo with American troops defending the border between North and South Korea in the first instance and in an embarrassment that signaled to the world (in the second instance) that America no longer won her fights.

 

Sadly, American troops never lost a single battle in Vietnam. Her military was defunded and unsupported at the highest levels. That abrogation of the American government’s commitment to its troops ended Vietnam’s quest for freedom at a cost of blood and treasure that still haunts many Vietnam veterans. Today, seen from satellite, North Korea remains dark, her people doomed to deplorable conditions, most people without electricity. They live in darkness, politically and economically.

 

And so we come to the Gulf War in 1991. Joining with other nations, we freed Kuwait from the iron grip of Saddam Hussein. Some cite that we stopped short of taking Baghdad and bringing forth a new regime. Oh, people on both sides of the aisle in the Congress play “woulda, coulda, shoulda.” We have come to expect that, but the cardinal rule in war is to win. The military knows that to its core, but it seems that the administration is more concerned with previous promises to “get out of Iraq” than to move in with force and remove ISIS completely.

 

Nothing short of eradication will work here, folks. Sad, but true… And then we come to 9/11 and the Boston bombing. The events of 9/11 awakened America, but we fell into complacency after nothing else horrendous happened in the aftermath.

 

And what of Boston? It took untold numbers of law enforcement to find one man. Today, many see the ISIS having tens of members in the Boston area alone. How could we contain them?

 

Iraq brought new challenges and politicians will debate for years whether we should or should have not gone into “country.” However, announcing when troops would withdraw and the failure to orchestrate a Status of Forces Agreement led to what we see today. Such a SFA assured peace in Korea.

 

America still maintains bases in Germany nearly 70 years after the end of World War II. Absent robust American presence in Iraq, it was just a matter of time until conditions disintegrated into chaos and the country was seen as a prime target for terrorists.

 

And what of Boston? It took hundreds of law enforcement personnel to find one man. Today, many claim ISIS has tens of followers in the Boston area alone. How could we contain them? Extrapolate that to cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco….. well you get the point.

 

In America, it is harder to get into a Federal courthouse than to saunter across unsecured borders. Americans clamor for borders security; yet nothing happens. Bills languish on the Senate Majority Leader’s desk, passed by the House but ignored by the Senate. Over three hundred bills….

 

Once the position’s prerogative to schedule bills was unquestioned because nobody thought the legislative process could be held hostage to political ambitions. A leader was assumed to be a true leader: measured, forthright, and focused on the good of the nation. So much for assuming, eh folks? I fear those days are gone in this administration, and that absence puts us all at risk. It’s not exactly a thought that assures a good night’s sleep, is it?

 

America no longer commands her once unquestioned international respect. The current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue began his first term apologizing for supposed American shortcomings and sins. My, how nice.

After nearly six years of such imprudent commentary, we stand at the precipice that has faced many civilizations in which power trumped all else.

 

With more and more power exerted over our lives at the federal level, we slip closer and closer to the situation that the Revolutionary Army witnessed — a veritable state of monarchy. They broke from England. We, on the other hand, are simply broke. And the current leadership only deepens our debt.

 

And so we stand, just as the British army did, ablaze in our red (white and blue), lined up and easy targets for our enemy.   Yes, this administration risks all we cherish by the failure to recognize the threat for what it is — existential.   Talking in terms of years, and ignoring the advice of the military (whose job it is to win conflicts), this leadership pales when compared to that of, let’s say, World War II. Can you imagine Churchill, Roosevelt, Patton, De Gaulle and Eisenhower coming out to say what they WOULD NOT DO, where they WOULD NOT GO? Oh, please, folks….

 

The failure of our schools to teach factual history — military history in particular — has come home to haunt us. Our young people are far more interested in their cell phones and their social media than in the peril their country faces. A working knowledge of military history would have warned them of what looms for America.

 

And so we watch and agonize as the leadership continues its relentless pursuit of imperfection, and in the process, we slip further and further into the abyss of decline that collapsed Rome and other great civilizations.

 

An uninformed public is easy to control. The educational shortfalls of the last three decades have achieved the dream that any committed socialist could have envisioned. Only a minority of us realizes the danger or even cares about anything beyond the next meal or entertainment venue.

 

Pray for America. More than any time in her history, she needs your prayers now. God has not forgotten us, but I fear that many of us have forgotten God. Think about it.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments are closed.