Category Archives: War

The George Bush Rehabilitation Industry: A President’s Day Reminder

BAB's A List, Bush, Democrats, Donald Trump, Elections, Republicans, War, Welfare

Originally published on February 7, 2014, here is a Barely-A-Blog golden oldie:

BY MYRON PAULI

On President’s Day, I will say that I am not enamored with our current White House occupant, or with his recent predecessors. Barack Obama is a boring windbag egomaniac, mouthing a lot of leftist rhetorical garbage. However, in spite of the adulation of his supporters or the detraction of his political enemies, he is not some good or evil demigod, but rather just symbolic of the bloated corrupt corporate-socialist government.

His main opponents, Republicans (most but not all) might have one believe that on 19 January 2009, this government was a small peaceful government running a surplus and respectful of civil liberties presided over by James Monroe – until (eeek eeek) Obama the Space Alien took over. Bush and his legacies of leaving no children behind, warring in Iraq and Afghanistan, the TSA, the Patriot Act, prescription drug plans, and the bailouts – has been lost in the memory hole of amnesia. I find myself not necessarily “defending Obama,” but rather disgusted at the amnesiac hypocrisy of the Republican detractors.

So suppose that in 2016 some Republican wins – Christie, Jeb Bush, Ryan, or one of the so-called “Tea Party” Republicans. Do I expect the budget to be balanced? Do I think they will repeal previous Republican legacies like OSHA, EPA, TSA, DEA, HEW, Student Loans, Americans with Disabilities Act, Patriot Act, Leave No Child Behind, Prescription Drug Plan, and Drone Warfare? What was Reagan’s domestic legacy – repealing CETA and Nixon’s 55 mph speed limit?

Take the most important issue of world history – homosexuality…. Democrats would compel Boy Scouts to take gays and make Christians photograph and cater to gay weddings. Republicans in Virginia passed this: “This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage” – thus my will and medical directive might be invalid. Whatever happened to the right of people to create contracts? Democrats want to shove “Heather Has Two Mommies” in the school curricula while Republicans want to shove “Abstinence Education”. And where in this Kultur-Jihad is freedom of association, freedom of contract, and the authority of parents?

Another good example is health care. Democrats would have everyone compelled to pay for such wonderful medical procedures as drilling holes in developing babies, in utero, and to even require certain trained slaves called “health care providers” to partake in these procedures whether they want to or not. Republicans would have the taxpayers pay millions of dollars to resurrect a dead pregnant woman and keep her on machines for months for the 0.001% chance of creating a baby. Both parties believe they can play G-d with voters choosing between Dr. Mengele and Dr. Frankenstein.

Can we expect better in foreign policy, where our attitude towards foreign nations is either to bribe a country, bomb a country, overthrow a country, or occupy a country? Will either party stop bribing crowds to demonstrate in Kiev or dropping drones on weddings in Yemen? Republicans obsess about 4 dead in Benghazi while ignoring the hundreds of thousands dead in Iraq, forgetting the 242 marines in Beirut, and upset that American forces left Indochina after our interference in a civil war wound up with over 4 million dead.

Do we expect better for civil liberties when Republicans are upset when individual states do not want to jail dope smokers? Do we expect Republicans who shout “kill Snowden” to be any better reforming the NSA, CIA, TSA, no knock SWAT team raids, or the Patriot Act (especially with the last two being their own creations?).

Will either party eliminate agribusiness farm subsidies, ethanol mandates, quantitative easing, Sallie Mae, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, BATF, either DoE, HuD, mission to Mars, the F-35, troops in Italy, Ex-Im bank, trade ban with Cuba, DEA, Amtrak, federal student loans,…?????? Surely you jest! The irony of King Obama is that the expression that his opponents resemble the “pot calling the kettle black” is both figurative AND literal.

The rhetoric will change and the hot, putrid air will blow in the opposite direction.

******
Barely a Blog (BAB) contributor Myron Pauli grew up in Sunnyside Queens, went off to college in Cleveland and then spent time in a mental institution in Cambridge MA (MIT) with Benjamin Netanyahu (did not know him), and others until he was released with the “hostages” and Jimmy Carter on January 20, 1981, having defended his dissertation in nuclear physics. Most of the time since, he has worked on infrared sensors, mainly at Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC. He was NOT named after Ron Paul but is distantly related to physicist Wolftgang Pauli; unfortunately, only the “good looks” were handed down and not the brains. He writes assorted song lyrics and essays reflecting his cynicism and classical liberalism. Click on the “BAB’s A List” category to access the Pauli archive.

Tulsi Gabbard: Young, Unique, Reagan Democrat

Democrats, Military, Terrorism, War

JIM WEBB and Tulsi Gabbard are, I’m almost sure, the only decent Democrats in public life. By “decent” I mean individuals whose value system and loyalties are not inverted and perverse. Democratic Congresswoman Gabbard of Hawaii is a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees, also an Iraq War veteran. Gabbard is often interviewed at length on CNN, but, tellingly, never for the Faux News Channel, for she opposes the nutty No Fly Zones and the deposing of Bashar al-Assad. Nor is Gabbard prone to silly sentimentality.

Here she is talking to Wolf Blitzer who wisely frequently seeks Gabbard’s counsel:

I want to talk about what Evan just reported in a moment, but, first, U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren, he is the spokesman for the anti-ISIS coalition’s operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. He says there is still a long way to go, in his words, before we can declare Ramadi completely clear.

You served in Iraq. Realistically, what are we talking about in terms of the Iraqi military getting the job done and liberating Ramadi?

REP. TULSI GABBARD (D), HAWAII: Oh, there’s a few things that I think are happening there right now, as you have got the Iraqi counterterrorism forces, which are the Iraqi army’s most talented and most sophisticated fighters, and they’re saying that they have pulled in some of the Sunni tribes to be a part of this offensive effort, as well as using the United States Air Force for air cover as they conduct these attacks.

But I think one of the challenges they are having — and this is something, a tactic that we’re seeing in Iraq being used by ISIS, al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists groups, as well as in Syria, is planting these IEDs or threat mines that are making it difficult both for these — this offensive attack to continue at a high rate of speed, but also it makes it difficult for the civilians who, you know, may try to go back into this town after this battle is won. I think the key thing here, as we have seen in other battles

Previously in Iraq [it] is, what’s the plan next? What’s the governing plan? What’s the security plan for Ramadi? Who will be in charge of that? How will the people there be treated?

We have seen previously how in the Sunni territories, how critical it is that you have a plan for Sunni tribes to be a part of this or actually take the lead on this security and governing plan.

Otherwise, we will end up in a situation like we saw in Tikrit, where the people who lived there were persecuted, their homes were burned down by the Iraqi army and Shia militia who came through there. That’s going to be the key to being able to sustain this battle and this victory once it’s won.

BLITZER: Yes. And let’s see how long that takes and even if the Iraqis do retake Ramadi, if they can hold it for an extended period of time without ISIS coming right back in.

Congresswoman, stand by. We have much more to discuss. Let’s take a quick break. Our coverage continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We’re back with Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. Do you have any idea why this family was turned away at the airport? See that little girl’s drawing of Mickey Mouse. Pretty heartbreaking when you see that.

GABBARD: Yes, Wolf, I don’t have any further information on this and really am not in a position to second-guess the decisions that were made by our security folks on the ground.

I think this does raise a few issues though that we have got to take a look at, the first one being, as you know, I have called for a temporary visa waiver suspension in particular from these countries that have thousands and thousands of foreign fighters who have gone or traveled into Syria and are fighting alongside ISIS.

If that were in place, then people who want to travel to the United States from these countries would just apply for a visa, and if there were issues, they would have been raised long before they are in a situation where they are at the airport and about to board a plane, as this family was.

Secondly, I think we have got to be concerned about any potential blowback that may occur for our homeland security folks, those who are doing this job and saying, hey, if there is a red flag, will they be afraid to speak up and say something about it? Will they be afraid to do their job?

And that’s what we want to make sure that we prevent, because it’s something that we saw that happened in California in San Bernardino with the neighbors of those shooters who knew that there were some things going on, but didn’t speak up about it soon enough to prevent that attack.

Ann Coulter Is Evolving Wonderfully

Ann Coulter, Government, IMMIGRATION, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, War

Finally, the once-war loving Ann Coulter, who stood firm behind Bush’s war crimes in Iraq, calling them “magnificent,” is becoming so much more paleolibertarian, recognizing that the strict role of government in the American republic, RIP, is to do the only thing government might be capable of doing and is certainly empowered to do constitutionally: Keep the barbarians out. When she’s good, Ms. Coulter is so very-very good (that’s why she’s being kept off the idiot’s lantern; Coulter would finish Marco Rubio off. And Fox News is pushing Marco Robber O).

“WHEN THE THIRD WORLD ATTACKS!”:

Republicans think the way to get tough is to go to war in Syria.

Marco Rubio gives macho speeches about a military attack on ISIS—“either they win or we win!”—to distract from the fact that his immigration bill would have massively increased the number of needy immigrants pouring into our country—including Muslim refugees.

So Rubio’s plan for Middle East stability is to start more wars and then import all the displaced terrorists into the United States. Brilliant!

Not to be a stickler, but ISIS didn’t slaughter 3,000 Americans on 9/11, blow up the Boston Marathon, murder thirteen Americans at Fort Hood, or open fire on a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

ISIS didn’t kill Kate Steinle, commit mass murder on the Long Island Railroad, introduce Palo Mayombe and Santeria to our country, bring slaves and concubines from India to San Francisco, or burn down hundreds of acres of national parks to evade border agents.

ISIS doesn’t import 90 percent of the illegal drugs that kill thousands of Americans every year, steal billions of dollars from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, or rape little girls, nuns and dogs in our country.

Ms. Coulter is hip to “The Root Causes Rot,” also the title of Chapter 5 in “Into The Cannibal’s Pot” (2011). Look inside.

Continued: Round Up Of The Fox Business Presidential Debate, 2016

Debt, Economy, Military, Neoconservatism, Political Economy, Republicans, Ron Paul, War