Sarge

An officer and a gentleman

General Martin Dempsey is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He says: "If someone uses the uniform, whatever uniform, for partisan politics, I'm disappointed because I think it does erode that bond of trust we have with the American people." This statement allows him to appear politically non-partisan.

The Gingerbread House

I meet lots of interesting people. They approach my group regularly looking to gain support, garner an endorsement and in general prove they have value as a candidate for some obscure (or not so obscure) office. A nice fellow came before us recently and gave me a valuable insight into the way politics is conducted by some.

Taking our medicine

When I was a youngster, I made the mistake of feigning illness to avoid school. I was ill-prepared for the treatment my caretaker guaranteed would cure me. Castor Oil was prescribed. I have no words to describe its taste but I can safely say subsequent efforts to skip school were tempered by the possibility another dose was available. I’d rather suckle a cyanide capsule than find Castor Oil in my house.

To be American

What has a left-wing, a right wing and a body that’s changing daily? Don’t know? Okay. Try this one: what starts dark; lightens with time and patience then disappears but is always there?

Circling the drain

Sascha Cekerevac, Senior Editor at Lombardi Financial and worked for CIBC World Markets for years wrote a copyrighted piece for Investment Contrarians published today (8-16-2012). It got me thinking about the qualifications necessary to be elected by the people of America. The story pertained to United Parcel Service’s (UPS) quarterly report and findings.

Gaining context

Whenever Beaurat Obama gets caught on a gaffe after not having a teleprompter available, he claims his words were taken out of context. Does he believe only what he said originally appeared in the wrong context as though the rest of the speech somehow vanished?

Beware!

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.” -- Alexis de Tocqueville

Chesterton as muse

“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashion.” “A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.”

G.K. Chesterton English writer G.K. Chesterton published works on philosophy, as well as works of fiction and fantasy. He was once called the "prince of paradox". That title moved me to thinking about our present state of affairs in the body politic, namely the nation’s misdirected course advanced by Beaurat Obama.

Dodge Ball with Hand Grenades

This year’s Presidential Campaign has combatants playing Dodge Ball with Hand Grenades. Obama’s crew is adept at the game and understands the primary rule of there being no rules and the end justifies the means. They don’t understand you mustn’t wait too long to throw the grenade after you pull the pin.

Tech tonic possibilities II

When men first went into orbit, we witnessed the birth of a new technology soon to become more a staple of life than an eccentricity. We developed miniaturized computers. The original astronauts carried computers into space having the “mechanical/mental agility” of what’s now a ninety-nine cent calculator placed at the check-out to get another buck. Today there’s more computational power in a wrist watch than Charles Babbage (“Father of the Computer”) could ever conceive.

Tech tonic possibilities

My kid and I were discussing politics the other night (yeah, imagine: me talking politics). One of the things we looked at was the way politics has always been a subject expecting the responses “of the people” to questions concerning the conduct of governmental business done in their names.

Collateral damage

vic·tim: noun 1). a person who suffers from a destructive or injurious action or agency: a victim of an automobile accident. 2.) a person who is deceived or cheated, as by his or her own emotions or ignorance, by the dishonesty of some impersonal agency: a victim of misplaced confidence; Dictionary.com 2012 
 Justice definition: is rendering to every one that which is his due. It has been distinguished from equity in this respect, that while justice means merely the doing what positive law demands, equity means the doing of what is fair and right in every separate case. Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

The Commissar Speaks

It must be a son-of-a-gun (please pardon the pun) having your mayor suggest you should be helpless and defenseless by advocating law enforcement officers (LEO) go on strike to force gun control across America.

New York’s Napoleon

New York’s Napoleon By Sarge Dear Mr. Bloomberg, You don’t know me. I, however, had the distinct displeasure to note many of the self-aggrandizing and self-serving politically engendered efforts you’ve tried to foist on your citizenry in New York City. You, sir, are a joke: a posturing, pandering organ grinder continually spinning the handle making the grating noise you try to put across as entertainment. Your belief you make salient commentary on world events, presents you as non-productive, mildly entertaining at best and aggravating for the banality of the dialogue. Please go away. You serve no purpose. You have billions of dollars in assets.

The Blind Horse

I dislike politics. Politicians disassociate people from their right to control government. We call them various names: Democrats, Republicans, Left-wing, and Right-wing. We throw out the term Liberal to vilify one dogma and catapult another name, Conservative to malign the other.

Unringing the bell

Toll, v. t. 1. To draw; to entice; to allure. [1913 Webster]; 2. [Probably the same word as toll to draw, and at first meaning, to ring in order to draw people to church.] 3. To call, summon, or notify, by tolling or ringing. [1913 Webster] When a bell rings it “tolls”. The purpose is to draw attention, to make people aware there’s a situation needs attention. It’s a warning something important has occurred and demands their awareness. It moves people to seek understanding of what the reporter offers. The reporter should speak truth.

Big Brother, 21st Century Edition

Beaurat Obama’s elastic principles are his stock in trade. He shut down his thought processes (his teleprompter) and tripped over his social experiment so badly he near broke his little head he also stepped on. He proclaimed: “if you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help…If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” He believes NOBODY gets anywhere without the largesse and generosity of the federal government and schlubs like him ready to give away your tax dollars to anybody bundling enough pre-election cash to get him elected i.e. Solyndra and its ilk. (For those not aware of how Yiddish effectively describes people, a schlub is a dull, unpolished person.

We Await Obama’s “Come to Jesus” Moment

There were questions about why this column is so hard on Beaurat Obama. The response was “because I understand him.” Nothing’s changed. Obama’s nowhere near the kind of epiphany it takes to stop his self-destructive behaviors and start the healing processes necessary for him to become a valued, human and humane member of the American citizenry.

…Of sausages and laws

I checked the definition for congress: n. formal meeting of delegates for discussion. Then I looked up discuss: n. talk or write about, converse about, review. This led to the noun, discussion: conversation, talk, chat, dialogue or debate.

Plato, Franklin and Napoleon

The people always have some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness…this and no other is the root from which tyranny springs.--Plato 4th cent.