We Don’t Need Another Hero

Posted: March 19, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

(With apologies to Tina Turner and the theme from Thunderdome.)

We have many, many worries that concern many of us right now about the direction our country is headed and for some of us, the direction our own lives may be heading. So, in case you missed it in all the smoke and flames surrounding our current presidential administration, let’s pause and take a moment to consider this.

According to the Washington Post and other news sources, the Department of Defense (DOD) has purged all references to prominent Black, Hispanic, female and other minority service members as well as any references to the Civil War from its website for the Arlington National Cemetery and most any other military website because they are considered to be DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) entries. In his zeal to please the president, the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) has decreed that all DOD websites shall be examined and any references to minorities, women, LBGTQ or any other individual who is not white, heterosexual and male shall be deleted.

This includes World War II aviators with the Tuskegee Airmen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of State Colin Powell, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (buried next to her husband who was a veteran) and Medal of Honor winners. The indication is that throughout DOD, thousands of pages of historical records have been removed from public access. The Arlington Cemetery Website was a useful tool for students and others that were trying to research our American history and to study those that played a prominent role in it. But, not anymore.

But wait! There’s more!

The DOD also directed the removal of a link to PFC Ira Hayes, immortalized in the iconic photo and national monument depicting the raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima during World War II. He was one of the six Marines involved. His crime? He is a Native American as a member of the Pima nation. It gets better. During World War II the Navajo code talkers were instrumental to the U.S. success in the Pacific Theater of war. The Japanese never broke the code (their native language) and critical information was securely passed from unit to unit leading to tactical and operational success. Where are the stories celebrating their contribution to our history? Gone. Deleted. I might point out that PFC Hayes, the Navajo code talkers, and many of those whose stories are now gone had never heard of the term DEI. They were not inducted into the military to meet some quota. They volunteered as Americans and their unique talents — such as the code talkers — were a bi-product of their involvement in fighting for American values. It was integral to the task at hand — not some contrived theater of the absurd to demonstrate Native American inclusion.

There are an estimated 26,000 pictures and articles (some reports indicate that it may end being as much as 100,000) that have been deleted from DOD websites, including the ludicrous removal of references to the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. We cannot have any reference to “gay” of course. Enola Gay was the name of the pilot’s mother. Reason and sanity do not prevail when one is rooting out evil influences within our military.

And it gets better still.

Should one search for the links to these Americans on DOD websites you will be disappointed but also find that they indicate they have been deleted because they are “DEI” related.

Many members of the public have protested the removal of specific entries. Some have just been restored — but extremely few compared to the tens of thousands that have been deleted.

So, let me get this clear in my head. There is no reason to celebrate Black History month or Women’s History month or any other similar event because we are all Americans and it is only American History. And yet, we eliminate references to many brave Americans. This administration is working as hard as it can, literally night and day, to re-write history as they wish it to be. The truth be damned.

Sadly, I guess Tina Turner is correct in her song. We don’t need heroes. Unless of course they are straight white men.

“So, what do we do with our lives
We leave only a mark
Will our story shine like a light or end in the dark?
Give it all or nothing”

Some lyrics from the song “We Don’t Need Another Hero”

The Beacon Of Democracy Is Dimming

Posted: February 25, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The past few days have been tumultuous for those of us that pay attention to the systematic demolishing of the democratic norms we took for granted just a few weeks ago. In the past few days an unelected South African “adviser” to the president accelerated the use of a wrecking ball to attack our proud and dedicated civil servants, senior military officers were fired because of the color of their skin or their gender, the United States of America joined North Korea, Russia, Belarus, and others to vote in the United Nations against a resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and instead continued to claim Ukraine caused the war, and the President of these United States called the President of France a liar to his face during an Oval Office press gathering when President Macron tried to set the record straight concerning aid to Ukraine. That’s a lot and it is only the tip of the iceberg.

As Elon Musk and his DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) henchmen continue to decimate the federal government, our fellow citizens are beginning to understand what is going on and are pushing back against their elected representatives in town hall meetings across the country. Officials in both “blue” districts and “red” ones are feeling the heat. So far, the opposition to the drastic cuts has had little impact. Trump, MAGA acolytes and Musk will continue to decimate the federal government. They fundamentally do not care what happens to the people serving in the jobs, the harm caused by closing down federal funding or any other second or third order impacts caused by their reckless behavior. Their goal is to establish an autocracy run by techno-bros and other rich white men. End of discussion. This is Project 2025 in all of its dimensions.

The budding autocrats are making great progress. Already the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are under the control of MAGA and are ready to wreak havoc on those that oppose Trump. The contagion is now spreading to the Department of Defense (DOD). The Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Pete Hegseth, under orders from Trump although I am sure SECDEF would have done it anyway, fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General C.Q. Brown (a black man), Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti (a woman), the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force General James Slife (a white man that was too “woke”), Lt. General Jennifer Short (a woman) the Senior Military Aide to SECDEF, and Judge Advocate Generals (JAGs) of the Army, Air Force and Navy. On his second day in office, Trump had the Commandant of the Coast Guard fired, Admiral Linda Fagan (a woman). The JAGs were fired, according to SECDEF, because they were “roadblocks” to doing what he wanted. In other words, they had too much integrity to allow SECDEF or the Commander-in-Chief to do whatever they wanted to do when it includes illegal or unethical activity. Danger, danger! Pete Hegseth, then a Fox News host, was instrumental in getting Trump, during his first term, to pardon war criminals. In November of 2019, Trump pardoned two Army officers for the murder of civilians in Afghanistan and promoted a Navy SEAL after a court martial stripped him of his rank for similar charges.

The flag and general officers fired last Friday were considered DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) hires. Even though General Brown was appointed as Chief of Staff of the Air Force during Trump’s first administration. (President Biden promoted him to be CJCS.) This, of course, disregards their decades of service and their proven track record in command at all levels of the military. They proved themselves in tough, demanding jobs. It is an insult to believe that they only attained their positions because of their “woke” ideologies or because a political party wanted to promote people only because of some vague idea about affirmative action. What they are really saying is that only white men are qualified to lead our country and that only white men can be warriors. (Hegseth is qualified? Meritocracy my …) (For an excellent breakdown of the mind set of the current administration and advocates of Project 2025, I recommend reading the article in The Atlantic magazine by Adam Serwer The Great Resegregation found here.)

Senior officers serve at the discretion of the president. However, their terms of office are meant to straddle different administrations in order to provide stability and experience to protect our national security. Even more distressing, the president is nominating retired Lt. General Dan Cane, USAF for the position of Chairman. According to U.S. law (title 10 Part I, chapter 5) the Chairman must have previously served as the Vice Chairman, Chief of a military branch, or the commander of a unified or specified command — all are four star (General or Admiral) positions. Lt. General Cane has never been in any of those positions and never achieved the rank of a four star. Title 10 does provide for a deviation from these requirements if it is “in the national interest.” I would argue that there is no compelling reason today to deviate from the law unless the president and SECDEF want someone that is willing to do whatever they want them to do, including illegal or unethical behavior. I do not know Lt. General Cane so I will not impugn his character, but let us just note that something fishy is going on here. Just as those flag and general officers that were fired were the product of the military system that produces non-political officers that have an oath only to the Constitution I want to believe that officers promoted to fill the vacated positions have an allegiance only to their duty under the Constitution and not fealty to one man. Time will tell.

The loss of American leadership was on full display yesterday in the United Nations when the U.S. supported Russian ideals rather than traditional American support for democracy. On the third anniversary of the full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. joined Russia in the U.N. General Assembly to vote against a resolution condemning Russia’s aggression and calling for an end to the war with a full withdrawal of Russian troops. It was an extraordinary turn of events as much of the world voted in favor of the European based resolution. In other words, we turned against our own allies to support Russia. The President of the United States continues to say that the war is Ukraine’s fault and that its leader President Zelenskyy is a dictator. It is not only embarrassing, it is frightening. It signals that our president is a pawn in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hand. Russia’s invasion is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II. The purpose of the U.N. and its charter is to protect the territorial integrity of sovereign nations. Apparently, we no longer support democracies around the world and find it totally acceptable for large countries to invade smaller ones. Everyone wants the killing to stop. The losses on both sides are catastrophic. But the current administration fails to understand that this war could stop tomorrow if Russia withdrew its invading force. Simple. Instead, Trump wants to stand proudly with a designated war criminal who favors murder, rape, and indiscriminate destruction of civilian targets.

Continuing to show his willful ignorance and lack of shame, Trump added insult to injury by telling lie after lie about the war and the circumstances around it while in a meeting in the Oval Office with French President Macron. When President Macron corrected him in front of the press corps, Trump’s body language was very telling, as well as what he actually said about President Macron’s statement. The discussion concerned Trump’s desire to get rare minerals from Ukraine to “pay back” the aid provided. (Roughly 75% of the aid we give to Ukraine actually stays in the U.S. as the money is used to buy U.S. ammunition, weapons and other military equipment. Trump also greatly exaggerates the amount of that aid.) He went on to claim that the Europeans have already been reimbursed. President Macron interrupted him to fact check him that, in fact, the Europeans have not been reimbursed. At the end, Trump told the press that they can believe those “lies” from President Macron if they want to. A great statesman.

In all, everyday we see how unqualified Trump and key members of his administration are in trying to keep our country economically strong and our country secure. Through design and malfeasance our great democracy is slowly crumbling. Trump has consolidated the centers of power in our government as he purges the Pentagon. The pillars of an autocratic government are nearly in place. Congress is missing in action. So far, the courts are holding firm as our last great hope. My view is that Trump thinks that he will eventually prevail in the Supreme Court as they will side with his idea of the unitary executive and Trump will use it to quash any remaining resistance. I hope I am wrong, but to date, they are succeeding. Given that he is a convicted felon that already tried to overthrow the country, there is no reason to think that he does not intend to become an autocrat.

MAGA Republicans Are Anti-Military

Posted: September 5, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment

Since February of this year, Senator Tommy Tuberville (MAGA-Ala) has been holding up the confirmation process in the Senate for over 300 senior military officers. Originally, he claimed his “hold” on the nominations would last until the Department of Defense (DOD) changes its policy on women’s reproductive health care. Specifically, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization that pushed laws concerning abortion to the states, he objects to the military paying for women to leave states where abortion is illegal or restricted to go to states where it is legal. Lately, he expanded his argument for freezing military promotions by saying that the military is “top heavy” and has too many generals and admirals.

His position may be a legitimate policy discussion to have, but the Senator from Alabama (or is he the third senator from Florida where he lives and his wife works?) does not want a policy discussion. He wants to single-handedly decide for himself what the military may or may not do. Both Republicans and Democrats have offered him a chance to bring an amendment to the floor to implement his desired changes. He refuses because he knows that his amendment will be defeated. There are Senate rules that can overcome his obstinate strangle-hold on our military, but they are laborious and time consuming requiring hours of work on the Senate floor for each nominee. A quick back of the envelope math problem shows that all other Senate work will be stalled for months while doing so. The Senator from Florida, oops, Alabama is also violating the spirit of cooperation and negotiation that gets things done in the Senate and is using the “hold” process in an unprecedented and harmful way. But, as we are finding, everything surrounding MAGA Republicans is “unprecedented” because they are there to break the system. In truth, this is one more example of their efforts to destroy our democracy and yet another anti-American stand.

The Senator has no personal military experience and is the same man that opined earlier this summer that white nationalists are not racists, they are “Americans.” In an answer to a question as to whether white nationalists should be allowed in the military, he said “Well, they call them that. I call them Americans.” He went on to say that “I look at a white nationalist as a Trump Republican.” Months later he finally conceded that perhaps white nationalists were possibly racist. This who he is. As a U.S. Senator, he may also need to take a civics class as after his election he proclaimed, “Our government wasn’t set up for one group to have all three branches of government — wasn’t set up that way. You know, the House, the Senate, and the executive.”

In todays Washington Post the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force wrote a piece about the tremendous harm Senator Tuberville is causing to the military organization, the officers, their families and those who they would lead in dangerous situations. They explain why the senator is wrong on the facts, the damage being done, and that he “is putting national security at risk.”

Among the officers that have been nominated but not confirmed are the Chief of Naval Operations, Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Chief of Staff of the Army, three of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff responsible for advising our civilian leaders on areas of great responsibility. Their predecessors all were required to retire under U.S. law, so the positions are technically empty. Other officers are filling those spots on an “acting” basis, while still doing their primary jobs. More importantly, under the law, only Senate confirmed officers in those positions can carry out most of the duties of the offices. At the end of this month, General Mark Milley will, in accordance with the law, retire, thus leaving the position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff empty. At least twenty-five two and three star officers have had their retirement put on hold until the end of the year or until the hold is released. This impacts their future livelihoods as many had civilian jobs ready to go after their retirement, bought homes in the new locations and endured significant disruption to their spouses and children as they have their own jobs and schools to figure out while in limbo.

Other top positions held hostage to assuage one man’s ego include the Commander, Pacific Air Forces, Commander, Northern Command, Commanding General Marine Forces Japan, Commander Indo-Pacific Command, and Commander U.S. Pacific Fleet. All are critical to our nation’s security and to counter Chinese mischief in the Far East and to keep our country protected.

To defer to Senator Tuberville’s desires is to seriously impact the readiness of our nation’s fighting forces by lowering morale, imperiling individuals’ health and undermining recruitment and retention. Not all military bases are able to handle all health issues. It is common practice to move personnel to receive proper healthcare as needed. Service members cannot choose where they are stationed or live. In this particular case, DOD complies with the Hyde Amendment which forbids the use of federal funds for abortions except to save a woman’s life or in the case of rape or incest. The DOD policy as it is to pay for transportation and to allow time off with pay. To the Senator, this is not acceptable.

There are further impacts on unit morale, and in retention among the ranks. For example, the current officers at the Colonel, Lt. Colonel, Captain or Commander levels, the battle hardened core of our day-to-day leadership will look at the way a politician is willing to use them as pawns in his political games. There will surely be a calculus in their minds to take their vast leadership and technical experience to the civilian sector if they feel they will be mistreated in uniform. The next generation of generals and admirals taking up leadership positions in the next decade may not be there as they vote with their feet to leave.

Senator Tuberville claims that the DOD leadership and the Biden Administration refuse to compromise with him. What he really means is that they will not give in to him, and he seems quite happy about that. I suppose he enjoys the attention. Given the total context of his six month and counting hold, what it really means is that he could care less about the health, readiness, leadership or strength of our American fighting forces. Meanwhile our adversaries in Russia, China and North Korea are loving it.

We Are Not Alone In The Universe

Posted: July 28, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

This week the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, Border, and Foreign Affairs held hearings to investigate Unexplained Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), formerly known as UFOs. This is not the first Congressional hearing concerning UAP, however this may be the most unserious one ever. In the past year or so, there have been hearings attempting to understand possible national security threats posed by UAP. Additionally, there are military and civilian safety of flight issues surrounding their possible existence. More to the point, there are UAP, the real questions are what are they, and where do they come from?

In his testimony, the star witness, a former Department of Defense (DOD) intelligence officer named David Grusch, claimed that they do exist and that they are extra-terrestrial. Not only that, as Dana Milbank reports in the Washington Post, he claimed the U.S. government has intact aircraft, dead pilots, and “non-human” evidence of their other-worldly existence. For over a century, according to Mr. Grusch, the U.S. government has covered up its knowledge of such activity and hidden evidence in an effort to “gaslight” the public and to allow the federal government to lie to our citizens. Hold that last thought, I’ll come back to it.

He offered no proof, evidence, or even a single fact that could be corroborated.

Earlier this year, Sean Kirkpatrick who is in charge of the DOD office investigating UAP testified that they have “no credible evidence thus far of extraterrestrial activity, off-world technology, or objects that defy the known laws of physics.” Other federal agencies, such as NASA, concur in that conclusion.

My own view matches that of Mr. Kirkpatrick. We on Earth have no knowledge of any other-worldly beings or spacecraft. However, I do think it likely that there are other beings in our universe. We just have not met them yet. I have no inside information or conspiracy theories to back that up. It just seems that with a universe so large that we do not totally understand its full size, the odds are that there must be other beings out there somewhere.

That said, they have not visited Earth. My primary reason for thinking so is exactly as Mr. Kirkpatrick stated. There is no evidence and in my mind, given the “known laws of physics,” there cannot be any to find. I am not a scientist of any sort, much less a physicist, but I am a reasonably educated person with common sense. When talking thousands of light years of travel to get here, how could any biological being make it? Not to mention that the size of the UAP spotted to date are far too small to carry beings and all of the logistical support needed for a trip of impossibly indeterminate time and distance. Even if manned by robots or other mechanical replacements for living beings, the practical aspects of the undertaking create obstacles too large to overcome.

There is, of course, one major flaw in my thinking. It could be that I, and others, have a failed sense of imagination. The terrorist attacks on 11 September and the insurrection on 6 January were unimaginable before they happened, demonstrating one human failing is an inability to imagine the unimaginable. Perhaps there are physical laws of the universe that we have yet to discover that undermine all that we think we know. Such a development is theoretically possible and cannot be discounted. Yet, where is the proof that those obstacles were overcome? In this age where overwhelming numbers of people literally carry a camera everywhere they go, how come no one has video or even a photo clear enough to discern the true nature of the object?

This conclusion is not meant to disparage anyone that has ever reported a UAP. They saw what they saw and I was not there. However, numerous studies have shown that reported UAP were weather balloons, birds, reflected sunlight, natural phenomena or man made objects. From personal experience I know that weather anomalies of pressure differentials, cold air over warm air and other naturally occurring events can cause technical equipment such as radar to produce false images. I experienced similar anomalies observing objects miles further away than I should reasonably be able to see them. Atmospheric conditions can cause light to bend over the horizon and travel further and in different directions than expected. It happens. Sometimes our brain deceives us. (Think mirage in the desert.) There is, of course, some small number of never explained sightings. These should be explored. From a national security and air safety perspective we need to know if there are things flying around space and in our skies that we do not know about. It is possible that those UAP are experimental air or space craft tested by a foreign power or even our own military. Remember that in the 1980s there were reports of mysterious objects spotted over the desert in Nevada and other areas of the far west that were reported as (then) UFOs. We later learned that there was a “secret” base in the desert where the U.S. Air Force F-117 Nighthawk was based and the UFOs were the first stealth fighter aircraft.

So, back to the thought I first raised above. Why would a Republican controlled House subcommittee hold public hearings where the star witness claims, among other things, that the U.S. worked a deal in the 1930s with Benito Mussolini with the assistance of Pope Pius XII to obtain an alien spacecraft, or that a defense contracting company has a warehouse containing an alien spaceship as big as a football field or any of the other unbelievable statements for which he has no proof? Primarily because Mr. Grusch also ardently testified that the U.S. government (aka: “The Deep State”) has been consistently lying to the American people, is engaged in a massive cover-up and is running secret operations to suppress the truth-tellers. Sound familiar? It is one more step in executing a MAGA Republican plan to discredit the federal government, undermine its authority, feed every coo-coo conspiracy they can find, and generally bring everything into question to create chaos. As usual.

We need serious and real efforts to identify UAP and their impact on national security. I think that, so far, they are all of this planet. However, it can be a fascinating enterprise to contemplate other beings in our universe. It has great moral, philosophical, religious and scientific implications. So many questions and almost no answers. Of one thing I am sure. We are not alone in the universe.