With today's horrific attack, and the slaughter of 130 or more Children, the world looks on in horror at such barbarity. While it is admittedly brutal and inhuman terrorism, and beyond the pale of even the most bloodthirsty of radical Islamist, I see some good coming from this attack.
For years, the Pakistan Taliban has been covertly, (and overtly), supported by factions within the Pakistan's Military and Intelligence structures. The civilian populace has protested and demonstrated against Our, (USA) use of drones against Leadership and armed elements of their homegrown Taliban, and their brethren from across the Afghan border, now, as the old saying goes, "the proverbial Chickens have come home to roost".
Perhaps today's slaughter of innocents will finally make clear the true nature of the factions they have supported and defended for so long ? Maybe, just maybe, these civilians will realize that these Taliban are the true enemy, and that is not the West, the US, or anyone else who seeks to destroy their Nation and Society, but is instead the same monsters who shot Malala Yousafzia, and killed their children in the past, for the terrible sin of seeking an education.
Maybe, instead of directing their hatred against Us, they will choose to join the civilized World, in rejecting and destroying the ideology of hatred, and will see that the Taliban and similar groups seek to keep them in ignorance, while returning the modern world to a 17th Century state of a primitive and barbaric "Utopia", a place where They, the Taliban, have total control of every thought and action of the enslaved populace.
It is also a huge question of how the Pakistani Government will respond. The same Government who gives us the precise location of targets for Our drones, then decries the deaths that result in their press and condemns Us for violating their sovereignty. Will this attack finally bring about an open and accelerated effort to rid the world of these animals who take such actions against the most vulnerable of their citizens as their right in some imaginary war against "the Crusaders" which is what they call those Nations who only want a peaceful world for All.
I guess that We can only hope that this tragedy will, in the end, have a positive result in making a misinformed public in Pakistan understand which side represents their best hope for a future of peace and progress, and I look forward to seeing a closer, and more coordinated campaign against Terrorism between the Pakistani Government and the rest of the Free World.
One fear that all of us in that Free World have long held, is that a weak and divided Pakistan Military would lose control, and allow radical Islamists to gain control of their Nuclear Arsenal. I think this attack, and the deaths of so many Children of Army and Government personnel will insure that that fear is greatly reduced, because this obscenity against humanity should unite the Military as nothing We can do would have done.
If, this opinion seems harsh, or cold-blooded, rest assured, that like parents and people everywhere, I can't imagine the loss and grief, (and hopefully outrage) that these poor parents and relatives are feeling in the aftermath of this tragedy. I personally feel just as horror stricken as I was on the day of the Newtown Massacre.
My greatest hope is that the Pakistanis will finally close, and destroy all the Madrassas teaching Hate in Waziristan, and the other northern provinces of their nation. The fiction that these were actual "schools", trying to educate the tribal Children, should finally be laid to rest, and people should realize that the Suicide Assassins who murdered their kids, were taught in places just like those that exist wherever Radical Islam exists, not the least of which are located in Our major Ally in the Mideast, Saudi Arabia. It's no wonder that Osama Bin Laden and the majority of the 9-11 Highjackers were Saudi Arabians.
Once again, I solicit Your Comments and Opinions on this, or any article here on my main Blog.
Today, President Obama finally came out and spoke Truth to Stupidity. He will Veto any Congressional attempts to sidestep or avoid the Law, which requires the State Department and other Government agencies to approve any Foreign Project on Our Soil.
The Rethuglicans can tout this as a "Jobs Bill" all they want, but the Truth is that the Only American Jobs will be to construct the Pipeline. Those Jobs will go to Halliburton, and other established Oil Services companies already at full staffing.
A Far Better Plan, would be to pipe that toxic Tar Sands Oil no further than the newer Oil Refineries in North Dakota, then ship the much safer finished products by Rail and Truck to the Gulf Coast, where Canada can then send it to China, Mars, or wherever they want. This plan would generate Many Jobs. The Railroads would need to add Trains, and Crews to operate them. Thousands of the new, safer, double-hulled tanker cars would need to be built, as well as thousands of new Tanker Trailers, also of a new and safer construction. Those are high-paying, skilled labor Jobs, not the temporary drudge work of a few hundred Laborer Jobs that might come from building the Pipeline.
If the capacity of the modern refineries in ND is insufficient, well, there are more good jobs, both building those refineries for American Companies, and in operating those Refineries for years to come.
The low-information Fox-bots who sent another class of subtards to Congress this month, and the faithless Democrats who ran from Our President, (and Lost), will bear the responsibility for any Congressional Override of the President's Veto, and will further bear the guilt for the continuation of the "Do-Nothing" Congress doing even less.
Here's my (usually accurate) prediction. After being defeated on this horrible Pipeline project, the GOP will go back to their old ways of the past four years, ie; countless votes to repeal the ACA, constant idiots calling for Impeachment with no basis, (except "He's Black !"), and more attempts to reduce Voter's rights, continued obstruction of Immigration Reform, etc. They will use the Continuing Resolution to fund the Government, and the threat of another Shut-down in yet another failed attempt to blackmail the President into agreeing to their latest "Trickle Down" economic policies, as they've done for the past thirty years. They will protect Tax Cuts for the Wealthiest, try to lower Corporate taxes, and generally repeat the same dumb shit they've been doing for decades.
To my mind, "That's a Good Thing", because maybe, just maybe, the Voters will finally understand that the Republicans are nothing but employees of the Wealthy, will never do anything to bring the Middle Class and Working Poor into the new, prosperous Economy, and could care less about Our Country.
That's my take on this whole mess, what do You think ?
So, Here we are again, at another Anniversary of America's 21st Century 'Pearl Harbor'. Once again I'm recalling the emotions of that time, where I was when I first learned we'd been attacked, and how I instantly knew who the Villain was,..long before the media had figured it out._______________________________
When my (then) friend Les called to tell me to turn on CNN, that a small plane had hit the World Trade Center, I took one look at the smoke beginning to roll from the tower, and said, "Les, that wasn't a "small Plane', because I've been in that building, and only an Airliner could make that big of a hole". He said, "Who would do something like that?', and I answered, "Usama Bin Laden", and of course he asked "Who?", and I answered, "the same Asshole who blew up the USS Cole".
See, I didn't just start following Politics and the News in recent years, and I remembered back when then Senator Al Gore asked Ollie North, (during the Iran-Contra hearings), who this bad man was who had so frightened Colonel North that he spent $100,000 of taxpayer's money on Home Security systems for his personal residence. When Ollie answered "Usama Bin Laden", I went back to an article I'd just read about this former mujaheddin who was forming his own terrorist group, after being our friend and ally when we needed him to kick the Russians out of Afghanistan.
I also knew that besides the Cole, that Usama's bunch had been behind bombing our embassies around North Africa and the Middle East. Our National Security people knew about him too, and what a danger he had become, but the Bush/Cheney junta didn't want to hear it when Richard Clarke tried repeatedly to tell them what the Clinton Administration knew,
and why Clinton had been reticent to blow him away when they had him in their sights on several occasions. ( President Clinton's advisers told him that if he wasted Bin Laden on someone's sovereign soil, the Rethuglicans would say he was doing it to distract from the Blow Job scandal).
Anyway, despite what could have been done, the threat from Bin Laden was ignored, because Bush just wanted to get even with Saddam for putting a contract out on Daddy Bush, and Cheney just wanted Iraqi Oil. What happened happened, and for a few weeks there, I saw the United America, the unity and agreement between left and right, black and white, with everyone pulling together, and comforting each other, regardless of party, status or wealth. That was the kind of Nation I had been dreaming of since Vietnam,
but I also knew it couldn't last. That realization was almost as tragic as the attack itself !
Now, 13 sad anniversaries later, we're facing a new threat, and cancerous growth of barbarism which metastasized from Al Queda in Iraq, and is being led by the best Generals from Saddam's Republican Guard, the force we needlessly disbanded after our invasion of a Nation that didn't have a thing to do with 9-11, and a Leader which only posed a threat to his own citizens. Had we kept the Iraqi Army and the basic bureaucracy of that government in place, and had we not destroyed so much of their infrastructure, we might have gotten out of there in a year or two, and left behind some vestige of a Democratic society. We would also have lost a lot less irreplaceable Troops, and thousands less civilian casualties. Iraq today could have been a prospering and free Oil producing nation, and a Democratic example for it's neighbors, except that the Bush Government gave no thought to an exit strategy, and only thought of how soon they could start selling stolen Oil.
Hindsight is always 20/20, and Now we need some of that Unity and Bi-Partisanship that we experienced for a moment after that first sad Day. We need to form a better, more broad-based coalition than that which joined us in the earlier ill-advised invasion. This President needs the support of Everyone, just like We gave to Bush in the days following 9-11-01.
That's my several cents worth, and I hope some of you will comment and continue this post. Thanks, and "God Bless America, Again" !
I won't begin this by Bragging about the accuracy of my 2010 and 2012 Election predictions, because now I don't need to ! Suffice it to say that " I told Ya so ! "
Here we are again in a mid-term primary season, and I'm hoping to God that working class Voters will pull their collective Head out of the Corporate Ass that is the Republican Party, and the gaping rectum that is it's failed Tealiban sub-party.
Now, I'm not as famous a prognosticator as Nate Silver, but, I'm betting that my instincts and accumulated political knowledge will trump his predictions this year. Ol' Nate thinks that his Stat's tell him that the GOP will grab some more seats in the House, and regain a Majority position in the Senate, but my Gut tells me that the surge of enrollment in the closing days of the 1st ACA sign-up period will defy Nate's statistics, and show that the American People aren't as dumb as the Wealthy Right believes We are.
Despite all the Billions spent by Big Health and Big Hate, and considering the 52 failed attempts to repeal 'Obamacare' , it is proving to be a blessing for folks on both ends of the Political spectrum. Case in Point, Teddy Cruz ran an informal survey on his Official Facebook page, asking his fans and constituents what they now thought of the ACA, and ( shockingly enough), the majority of respondents now had a favorable Opinion. The huge lines in El Paso and Houston, during the final days of Sign-Up are clear proof to me that both Teddy and soon-to-be Ex-Governor Perry are vastly out of touch with the majority of Texan Voters.
Another reason that I think Voters are coming to their senses, is that even a majority of right-leaning Voters, even those who don't like Obamacare, are ready for the Congress to move along. The Koch Brothers, and all the "Persons" of the Corporate Persuasion have failed to control the common sense and practicality that is inherent to the American People, and despite the barrage of TV, Radio, and Cyberspace Ad's, Surveys and Editorials they've, (Koch-Suckers & Friends), bought, I firmly believe that the Democrats will regain control of the House, increase their Majority in the Senate, then show the Nation what a Working and United Congress can achieve with a Progressive President in the White House.
Yes, I know some of you will flash-back to the 2009 / 2010 Sessions of Congress, and remind me of how little the Democrats accomplished in Obama's first two years, despite being in the majority, but let me remind you that that was a Party divided by years of opposition to Two Wars, and confused by years of kowtowing to the Bush-Cheney Junta in matters both Fiscal and Foreign ! That won't happen again !
The Democrats are now a Party that has learned what can happen when they lose their nerve,(AKA "Balls"),now knows how to defeat the demagoguery of the wealthy Right, and are just dying to show their constituents that they remember how to get things done.
Comments and Critiques Appreciated !
