Previous Commitments

Dear Reader,
Do to some new commitments I will not be posting a new blog until July 6, 2012. If you like you can look through my archives and read previous observations, until then have a great Fourth!!!

T. P.

"Ambush!"

How far back can you remember? Do you remember playing “hide and seek”? This game is fun for all kids, and when you have a large family, it can be a riot! As kids, we could hide in our pantry or the basement or the attic, behind furniture or the television set; the possibilities seemed endless. If you found a good hiding place, it could take your pursuer quite a while to find you, but eventually, you would get caught. If you were fortunate enough to stay hidden, the “looker” would yell out “Olly, Olly, Ochshen! Free! Free! Free!” and you would reveal yourself in victory!

In combat situations, you can also play a serious game of “hide and seek”. Sometimes you may have to set up an ambush, you would find a site that would conceal you and your men from the enemy and give you a good “field of fire” when the enemy approached. You and your squad would put on camouflage to blend into the surroundings, and “hunker down” in the weeds, waiting for the enemy’s patrols.

On the other side of the coin, at times you and your men are the “seekers” in this most dangerous “game”. A patrol of about ten men would spread out about three meters between each member, stay off trails, looking for trip wires and move as silently as possible, using hand signals to communicate. Total awareness is the key to the survival for you and all of your men; one misstep, one failed observation or one loud noise can cost you and your men their lives! This isn’t quite as much fun as “hiding in the pantry”!

This game usually ends with the sound of “claymore mines”, “m-60 machine gun fire” and “.262 rounds flying in all directions”; nobody yells “Free! Free! Free!” at the finish; you only get a “body count”. Somebody always gets caught!

Before we would go on a patrol, we always had some information on enemy movement, so we could have a “heads up” of what to expect ahead of us. The more information we had, the better off we would be; nobody wants to walk into a battalion! Nobody wants to be fooled or surprised by “the bad guys”. Intelligence is the key to success in a military operation, and also in an investigation; facts give you strength, and truth comes from knowledge.

Every day we fight on a battlefield in search of truth, in our life, and in our leadership. I want truthful leadership in America; everything else is unacceptable! I want a leader who is trustworthy and open. A squad leader always puts his men ahead of himself, their safety, and well being are dependent upon him. A President is like “America’s Squad Leader”. He must put America before his own needs, ahead of anything else. Before a patrol, the squad leader always has a meeting with the squad to explain the mission, so his men have as much information as possible to complete the mission and do it with as little danger as possible; he holds nothing back!

Congress is in the middle of an investigation into “Fast and Furious”; it has been going on for many months, and for most of those months, the investigation has been waiting for documents from Eric Holder. Suddenly, after all these months, President Barack Obama has decided to “hide” these documents under the cover of “Executive Privilege”; suddenly national security is involved. The question that needs to be asked is “Why did this take so many months to determine as an issue of national security?” If this was a security issue 18 months ago, then “Executive Privilege” should have been invoked then; why was it such a long wait, Mr. Obama?

Who is Mr. Obama protecting? Is America better off not knowing the facts of this scandal? Does this investigation go beyond the Justice Department? Is this a “cover-up”? Is America being caught in an “ambush” from the Obama White House? My only comment is this; “I wouldn’t want Barack Obama as my squad leader; I don’t trust him!”

"Silver Axe?"

My wife and I don’t go to the movies very much anymore. I must confess that I have gone to both of the “Iron Man” films and the new release of “The Avengers”, as I am now an “Iron Man” addict. We probably go to the movies two or three times a year; I really must be moved to want to spend between seven and ten dollars per ticket to see a movie that will be at the video store in six months. As a boy, I remember spending twenty cents to go to a Saturday matinee, and that was a double feature!

I like classic movies that are well written with depth of characters and interesting plot turns. Today, most of the movie fare is action fest, special effect extravaganzas full of explosions, space monsters and zombies. They are usually simple good vs. evil allegories and are probably written over the course of a week-end by a group of staff writers; the characters are all interchangeable from one film to another.

There is a new movie which just came to the theatres this week-end; I couldn’t believe it when I heard the title, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”. I now believe that Hollywood has finally completely run out of ideas! What are they thinking? Abe was sometimes called the “Rail-Splitter” for his legendary ability to split logs; in this movie Abe’s axe is “coated in silver” so he can “vanquish vampires”, and it has a hidden gun in it (honest). The premise for this film is that Lincoln’s son, Willie, was the victim of vampires; could this be the most tasteless movie ever made? Lincoln’s life was filled with personal tragedy, and to turn those tragedies into fodder for the ridiculous is dishonorable and horrid; these producers should be ashamed of even thinking about this film! The movie says Lincoln goes to New Orleans and finds out the plantation owners are vampires and need the slaves as a “ready blood supply”. What really bothers me is those idiots that are with OCCUPY WALL STREET will think this is a documentary.

We already have enough “blood suckers” in Washington now. We have already had billions of taxpayer’s dollars “sucked away” because of SOLYNDRA and numerous other failed Obama programs. Private enterprise has had a stake driven into its heart from over-regulation and threatened higher taxes. The national income has shrunk because of the drain of higher government cost and stagnant employment. Millions of Americans wander the streets like zombies because the life blood of our economy has been hampered by small businesses, unable to establish loans to expand their facilities.

Well, if Abe Lincoln was a “vampire hunter”, then who is Barack Obama? The closest I can figure is President Obama must be the reincarnation of Baron Frankenstein. Mr. Obama has taken parts from failed administrations like Jimmy Carter and Lyndon Johnson and pieced together a “monster” to ravage the “villagers”, and those “villagers” are the people of the United States of America. This “creature” has roamed the countryside of America for almost four years now, and its destruction is visible all around us; foreclosed homes and businesses, life savings depleted or completely eliminated and no relief in sight!! What does “Doctor Obama” suggest; continue to “feed the monster”. As one of the “villagers” I will be getting my “torch” in November and getting rid of the monster and his creator!! Abe, bring your “silver axe”!!

"November Diogenes"

Have you ever lost something, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t find it again? Over the course of our lives we all have had that frustrating quest of “looking everywhere” for an item that you were sure you knew where it was, yet it wasn’t there.

There have been times I have been working on the car, or some household repair and I put down a tool, look away for a few seconds, and that tool “magically” vanishes into thin air! My poor wife has heard my grumblings and complaints on numerous occasions as I ranted over this type of situation. She wisely never comments as she knows what an idiot I can be when I’m frustrated. Sooner or later, I usually find the tool only a few inches from its original location, hidden by a shadow, or another tool. I quietly continue with my repairs, embarrassed by my quick temper and obvious “dumbness”.

Let’s travel back in time to Greece, to the year 320 B.C.; way back then, Greece was the epicenter of the world’s intelligentsia. Great philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle were the great minds of the society, Hippocrates was the father of medicine and Greek art was the “measuring stick” of the known world. All the Greek Philosophers were searching for the answers to life. One of these philosophers was a fellow named Diogenes of Sinope, a very interesting guy. It was said Diogenes lived in a tub instead of a house, and he would spend his days roaming the streets of Athens with a lighted lamp, in search of “an honest man”; this was a most noble task. I found most of my lost tools; unfortunately Diogenes is still looking for that “honest man”.

Every four years in America, we have a Presidential Election. It is preceded by months of primary campaigns and debates, news stories and television commercials about every man or woman seeking this high office. Many things are uncovered during this massive bombardment of information. We find things out that we had no clue of only weeks before about people of politics and business whose lives were part of the public forum long before they sought the Office of President. We find out about what they did in high school, college and in their private lives; at times, it may become a little embarrassing and even unnerving to the people involved.

What I truly find amazing about this new “fount of information” is how some of these things remained “secret” for so long from the general public. How do people remain in public life for several years and keep these things from our “impartial media”. When there are people who held this knowledge for many years, why did they wait so long to be “responsible citizens”? I know there must be some folks out there that do these things for the good of America, yet I still wonder “when the book is coming out”; we love a good scandal and are willing to pay for it!

I sometimes feel like old Diogenes when our election process starts. Where do I look for “that guy”, you know, the man or woman who doesn’t have horrible stories in their lives, who wants this office because they want to serve the people of America out of pure patriotic love and nothing more?

This coming November, America must choose a President; we must all be like Diogenes, walking the streets of America, carrying a lighted lamp 24 hours a day, looking for an honest person, someone with ethics and humility, who will lead America for the next four years. Hold your lamps high my fellow Americans, look into every corner and choose wisely. In the end, this is all up to us, not news stations or poll takers. Look for integrity, not politics!

"Priviledged Character?"

I am the first born son of six children; in an Italian household, this is a little special. My Grandmother, Nona, did her very best to spoil me with cookies, candy and affection. When we had family dinners, I always sat at my Father’s right hand, the traditional place for the first son. I had my favorite meals; hamburgers, pizza, eggplant parmigianna, roast beef and I even had a favorite pasta sauce, pasta pomod’oro, sometimes called “depression pasta”, as it was very economical to make and required no meat. My mother knew how much I liked this sauce, and at times, when she made pasta, she would make her marinara sauce and she would also make a separate pan of my favorite sauce just for me; I was a “privileged character”. My Dad would even make a comment or two about Mom’s special treatment in the kitchen. Sometimes it is good to be the first born! I was definitely a “privileged character”.

There are other people who we sometimes call “privileged characters”; those people who get preferred seating at restaurants or the theatre, or those who don’t have to wait in line while us “common folks” stand patiently. Athletes, entertainers, politicians and even some famous “gangsters” (Al Capone) are given special treatment in certain situations. You usually don’t see the mayor sitting in the “cheap seats” at a baseball game, even if he shows up late!

Earlier this week, we have heard the term “executive privilege” used in regard to the Congressional Investigation of Eric Holder’s involvement in the “Fast and Furious” scandal.

It seems the Obama White House is going to use this policy to try to block the Congressional Committee from receiving certain documents in their investigation of the questions surrounding Mr. Holder’s knowledge about this incident; you know, “what he knew, and when he knew it” questions.

Presidential Executive Privilege is supposed to be used in cases of national security, where information could compromise any security issues, both foreign and domestic, if revealed to the general public. There are legitimate uses of “Executive Privilege” and it has been used since the time of George Washington, who used it once. Many Presidents have used this since the time of George Washington; G.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, H.W. Bush, and Richard M. Nixon all used executive privilege at times during their respective administrations; sometimes it was allowed, and sometimes it wasn’t. Reagan, G.W. Bush and H.W. Bush all had this policy rejected during their terms in office. The most famous rejection of this policy was, of course ,Richard M. Nixon’s use during the Watergate scandal. Mr. Nixon tried to use this power to “cover up” a criminal act from members of the White House Staff by hiding information from the American people. This privilege has the “proviso” that it can only apply to something that applies directly to knowledge by the President to the information that is requested, if the President makes the request.

During the Watergate scandal, this action was used to cover-up a “minor league” break-in for political purposes. “Fast and Furious” has the potential of being connected to the homicides of several people, including that of Officer Brian Terry, who was murdered by this program’s smuggled weapons. Murder is quite a bit more than a “small time burglary”, and must be investigated, no matter where it takes the investigation!

Now we have President Barack Obama involved in the pursuit of this investigation through his actions. We must question why he is trying to hamper a Congressional Investigation of such an important nature! Is there an involvement of the Chief Executive of the United States of America in a possible felony of the highest type? Is this another “cover-up” similar to Watergate? Mr. Obama, what did you know, and when did you know it?! Are you a “privileged character”? It seems that Brian Terry wasn’t privileged, was he?

"Celebrity Guest!"

Many years ago, in the land of “black and white”, there was a show called “What’s My Line?” The show’s premise was that a group of celebrity panelists would question a guest and try to figure out what he or she did for a living. The last guest on the show was always a celebrity and the panelists were always blindfolded while they questioned the celebrity. Most of the celebrities tried to disguise their voices with high pitched squeals or false baritone growls. It was fun to see John Wayne try to disguise his most recognizable voice, and the audience would invariably erupt with laughter.

Some people are very easy to identify. Jay Leno has his famous “jaw”; David Letterman “parts his teeth”; Sly Stallone has his “muscles” and Donald Trump has his “unusual hair-do”.

Some people are identified by their speech: Ray Romano has a heavy New York accent and Andy Griffith has his Southern drawl and the late Desi Arnaz had his Cuban accent. Muhammad Ali was well known by his braggadocio; Kareem Abdul Jabbar is known by his height and Jackie Gleason was known for his girth.

The more we see of people, the more identifiable they become to us. Certain physical and vocal traits become so obvious, we know they can only be identified with one person. Sometimes a statement, even when we don’t know the speaker, will be enough of a “signature” that we can identify the words with the individual. Sometimes personality shows through, even when we don’t know the name.

We have all heard people of influence speak, especially during an election year. Politicians, businessmen and entertainers have filled our ears and our airwaves touting one person or another.

I am going to give you some quotes and observations, and let’s see if you can play “What’s My Line?” and figure out who this person really is; it can be male or female, and has lived or is living within the last 80 years. Here we go!

“I believe in my success. I believe in it unconditionally.”

Never allow the public to cool off

Never admit fault or wrong

Never concede that there may be some good in your enemy

Never leave room for alternatives

Never accept blame

Concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong

A low tolerance for criticism, an inability to express gratitude, a tendency to belittle, bully and blame others (personality observation from an M.D.)

“Since the events of last year, his faith in his own genius, in his instinct, or as one might say, in his star, is boundless. Those who surround him are the first to admit that he now thinks himself infallible and invincible. That explains why he can no longer bear either criticism or contradiction.” (This statement quoted from a close political confidant)

How are you doing so far? Are you adding up the quotes and statements? Who can this individual be? Do these things remind you of someone who has dominated the political scene?

The answer may sound like it should be American President Barack Hussein Obama, but here is the BIG SURPISE!! These words and observations belong to Adolf Hitler; they were taken from statements by those who knew him and secret documents assembled by the O.S.S. during a 1934 study of Hitler’s psychological profile.

You can draw your own conclusions about this “game” you just played, and apply them to your next decision when November rolls around. Is it possible for two men to share the same personality traits? Hmmm?

"Audience Participation"

Several months ago, I wrote a blog called “Who Reads This Stuff?” which profiled all of the different nations that read this blog. I mentioned readers from all of Central Europe, Russia and most of Eastern Europe. Many readers came from the South American nations, much of South-East Asia and the Asian Peninsula including Red China and Japan. I have to admit, I am humbled by the fact that so many people are interested in what I write, as most of my blogs are targeted at my readers from the United States.

Over the course of the years that I have been writing these articles, my political philosophy has probably become quite apparent to regular readers. I am obviously no cheer leader for America’s current President, and if there is a “hit list” of private citizens my name could easily be on it. I am caustic and critical of Barack Obama and always try to back my statements with “cold hard facts”; I don’t deal in lies or conjecture and I don’t like “edited” quotes that have been “chopped” to serve a political purpose. I try not to resort to “name calling” and I don’t use racial or ethnic epithets of any kind (unlike some on the left). I believe if a point can’t be made in fact, then there is no point to make. I believe that the louder the argument the thinner the fact base; truth need not be cacophonous.

This is not my normal blog, as I am vexed about the last few days of my postings. I have many regular readers, and their views are available to me as I look at my statistics for each day.

Since Friday, June 15^th 2012, I have no records of anyone viewing my posts for the last three days. I show viewing of many of my older articles, some as far back as 2010, but nothing for those recent posts. This is highly irregular, and I am not sure what to think.

My last posts have been fairly critical of Barack Obama, but that is certainly nothing new to anyone who reads my blogs. I don’t believe my criticism has ever bordered on “hate speech”, so I don’t think there could have been any legitimate complaints about content. I believe I have always offered an intelligent discourse to all of my readers; I want to stay clear of ranting and raving.

It is my sincerest hope that this is just a “glitch in the system” and not a form of censorship of free speech from my provider.

I don’t often ask for favors, and this will only cost you a little time. I ask that those of you who read this, please post a short comment or statement; nothing elaborate, I just want to see if this is just a system problem.

Thanks to all of you who read my blog, I hope you enjoy it and it provokes a thought or two!