Archive for September, 2012

It begins.

We are witnessing the beginning of a global insurrection aimed at the downfall of Western civilization as we know it.  This is the end result of strange bedfellows having inadvertently, and in some cases deliberately, combined forces to achieve a common end: global domination.

It will be harder to reign in those forces now that we have been averse to self-correcting and accepting personal responsibility for our individual and collective contributions in allowing the world to lose it moral compass.

We have been gluttonous and greedy. We have feigned ignorance and allowed, in some cases condoned, oppression and suffering. The list of errors and omissions is not limited to the Western world. Eastern and Middle Eastern nations have suppressed and oppressed their own people. They condemned and tortured their own, often in the name of God, while diverting attention to the excesses of the West and blaming it for their own refusal to move into modernity.

Because of our unwillingness to be proactive, we find ourselves playing defense. So the question of the hour is, “How do we respond?” This is my answer.

1. Immediately bring all American troops home. They are overextended and depleted from multiple tours of duty.

2. Congress and the President to immediately cease, and suspend indefinitely, all financial aid to any country that protests against or attacks American interests. They do not deserve out help.

3. Alert the world that we will use our resources only to defend our borders and to support the defense of the State of Israel. They are a true ally and share in our humanity and love of freedom.

4. Above all stay focused upon peace and pray.

Judaism begins its 10-day holy period on September 16^th which ends with the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, on September 26^th. On that date, Ahmadinejad sought, and has been granted, the podium at the United Nations. Islamists love anniversaries and holidays. Do not overlook what is in the works. The time for burying heads in the sand is long gone. Awaken to the reality, take responsibility for the outcome, and create a new one before it is too late.

Anyone with a teenager knows that given the opportunity, limits will be pushed. It’s what teenagers do as they attempt to define themselves in contradiction to the generation that precedes them.  And while too much restriction or stifling by parents can harm a teen’s exploration into identity, too little can, and usually does, result in extremist and destructive behavior.

Enter President Obama’s approach to Islamic terrorism.

I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to believe that he knew that unrestrained Islamists, the Muslim Brotherhood and Ahmadinejad (to name just a few) are dangers to their own countries and the world at large. I wanted to believe he was doing everything he knew to protect Americans and American interests abroad.

However, with each passing failed opportunity…from his silent dismissal of the young Iranian protestors… to his misread of now disastrous and misnamed Arab Spring…. to his recent and insulting refusal to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu…my want has been replaced by a certainty that he is either incompetent or an enemy of this Nation.

Again, I prefer to give him the benefit of the doubt and conclude he is incompetent. What I will have a much more difficult time doing is giving anyone the benefit of the doubt who votes to re-elect this incompetent and out-of-touch politician.

In 2008, we knew little about Barack Obama. We knew little because he had done little.  But we looked past his lack of accomplishment, and his race, to trust his words and invest our future in his potential.  In hindsight, his words were vacuous and his potential nonexistent.

We can forgive ourselves our naiveté and our poor investment so long as we don’t make the same mistake again.

If enough of us are unconscious enough to go to the polls on November 6^th and give this man four more years to finish wreaking havoc on the Nation and the world at large, we will  have no one to blame but ourselves and nowhere to call a safe haven from the radicals and terrorists he calls friend.

In deciding whether or not to re-elect President Obama I think we should be asking an important question.  While I don’t expect my President to be prescient, I do expect him (or her) to have sound judgment and be able to at least sense the direction of the “winds of change”…especially where “change” was touted as an area of expertise.

So, the question is “Has President Obama been able to accurately sense critical change and lead accordingly?”

I will refrain from going into all of the policy issues (Obamacare, the economy, taxes, education etc.) and instead seek a more generalized analysis based upon our security and liberty in an increasingly danger-ridden world.

President Obama took to the airwaves to publicly support the overthrow of the Mubarak regime in Egypt. He lauded the “Arab Spring” and hailed it as a beacon of emerging democratic ideals in the Middle East.  Never mind the undertow of warnings coming from both inside and outside Egypt that the extremist Muslim Brotherhood would likely be the benefactor of the revolution and an Islamic state governed by Sharia Law the outcome.  President Obama’s dismissal of such concerns was because he apparently had more faith in the altruism of the Muslim Brotherhood than did most foreign policy experts or simply freedom-seeking Egyptians, for that matter.

Today is 9/11. The date speaks for itself in the hearts of decent people the world over. But Islamic terrorists love patterns and anniversaries.  So today, in the resultant Egypt presided over by a Muslim Brotherhood President, Mohamed Morsi, the U.S. Embassy is being stormed and the American flag torn from its rightful place.

Last week, opponents of the Morsi government were crucified in public.

It is my unwavering conviction that a President who so grossly erred in interpreting, and then wrongly supporting, a critical event in global politics and human history (as did Neville Chamberlain) is the wrong man for the job of President and Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America.

I find his continued support of radical Islam and his blindness to the threats and real danger of the Muslim Brotherhood to be not only willful disregard and gross incompetence, but also, on this date of 9/11, a dishonor to all those who died on September 11, 2001.

 

This will probably be the shortest blog I have ever written…or maybe ever will.  I am watching former President Clinton address the DNC. He is engaging, charismatic, articulate and entertaining.  His plea to the American people is that if we give Barack Obama four more years those who have not yet felt the recovery will do so. And he asked if you don’t believe it…then believe him… because he believes it…deeply.

Believe him? He lied under oath and was disbarred.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

I watched Michelle Obama’s speech to the DNC tonight. There can be no doubt that she loves her husband and is proud of him. There is also no doubt that she thinks he is a wonderful father and from all appearances he is.  She choose wisely 23 years ago.

Now, come November 6^th, we have to choose wisely as well.

When I practiced law and taught a seminar for women on the divorce process from beginning to end, I always told them that they needed to retain a lawyer only after they had educated themselves on what the issues in their particular divorce were, understood how the law applied in their case, and then interviewed three lawyers that had been recommended for their skills in the particular issues that mattered. My joke line was, “If you aren’t educated, you’ll pick a lawyer based on looks or personality. That’s a good way to pick a date. You aren’t looking for a date. You’re looking for an experienced guide to take you through uncharted waters.”

Four years ago we, the nation, chose on looks and personality. The problem, it turns out, is that we were looking for a President and Commander-in Chief for the most powerful nation on the planet undergoing unprecedented economic and foreign policy challenges and what we got was a great husband and father.

Great for Michelle, Melia and Sasha. Sucks for us. In fact, just this week the President admitted that he did less than he could in his first term because of the time and attention he gave his family. What? Did he not contemplate the demands of the job, his priorities and how he’d balance them before he accepted it?

Now, as with all things in life, the “test” comes ‘round again. We get to choose again.  Those of us who are conscious and willing to accept personal responsibility for our choices, cannot possibly make the same mistake twice. We cannot afford to…figuratively and literally.

I think that the appropriate and sensible thing to do is to allow this extraordinary husband and father, Barack Obama, to do what he apparently does best. Let’s send he and his family home to Chicago so he can husband and father.

Then, after doing our due diligence, conclude that with a failing economy dragging us over a financial (and perhaps societal) cliff, we need a leader who understands how to cut the fat, cut the spending, and revitalize a failing economy.

I don’ know about you, but my educated choice is Mitt Romney.