The President Wears No Clothes

Secretary of State John Kerry recently announced that the US will go along with Russian President Putin’s demand that Assad stay in power, after numerous clear statements from Obama and Kerry over the past 2 years saying Assad MUST GO.  Security Council resolutions and the “Geneva 1 road map” drawn up in 2012 provided for a political transition in Syria without President Assad and a transitional governing council with full executive powers.

Whether or not Syria is better off with or without Assad, the consistent pattern of “inconsistency” in President Obama’s foreign policy leaves a credibility gap so wide that our enemies see it as an open invitation to ignore US interests, whether it is Russia in Ukraine, ISIS in Syria, or Iran’s blatant violation of the recently signed nuclear agreement with their launching of numerous ballistic missiles.

I was repulsed by Obama’s global “apology tour” after he received the Nobel Peace Prize shortly after winning his first election.  Before Obama, our friends knew we were reliable and would stand with them, and our enemies feared us.

It is not comforting to read Obama’s statement that he was “unaware” that American’s felt insecure because he “didn’t watch TV”. I am sure that Michelle, his children, his staff and his advisers watch TV. Problem is, they are all handpicked to agree with him, and they have seen “heads roll” of those who disagree with the President’s policies - especially those in the Pentagon and intelligence community.

Just like the fairy tale, President Obama has been running around the White House completely naked, but no one dares tell him. The public, unfortunately, sees it in high definition and it doesn’t make them feel good - or secure.

Eject Turkey from NATO and recognize them as a supporter of ISIS NOW!

Turkey, led by radical Islamist PM Erdogan, is determined to drag the USA and NATO into the Syrian war in order to stop the slaughter of ISIS. Furthermore, Erdogan wants to prevent the West from supporting the Kurdish PKK rebels – who are currently working with the West and are the ONLY reliable, successful fighting force on the ground in Syria.

It is common knowledge that Turkey has become an open door for ISIS recruits. All they have to do is fly into Ankara, and a well-worn underground provides all the nessecities to deliver fresh ISIS fighters to the Syrian battlefield. Crossing the border from Turkey to Syria is unfettered to ISIS recruits, but an iron fist awaits any PKK rebel recruits who want to join their brothers in battle against ISIS.

It is also a well-known fact that ISIS gets a substantial amount of their oil revenue from highly discounted oil sales to Turkey. The West has know about the oil transports to Turkey via oil trucks for years because it is hard to hide a thousand trucks a day crossing back and forth over the Syrian/Turkish border.

So there you have it: Turkey is aiding the flow of ISIS fighters AND funding their war right under the nose of the Obama administration - and you might wonder why we have done nothing about it?  The USA has bases in Turkey and we need them in order to have the heavy lift capability to fight ISIS in Syria and elsewhere. Unfortunately, there is a lot of suspicion that the reason why the USA has only been using pin pricks against ISIS personnel on the field - and not destroying the oil tucks is because of pressure from Turkish PM Erdogan. We get to use the base for pinpricks against ISIS and Turkey gets to use their air force to attack the Kurdish fighters (our guys), and the USA gets to use their bases to “observe” what is happening on the battlefield. Is anyone surprised that none of our allies trust us anymore?

All of a sudden, Russia enters the Syrian war in support of Syria. Russian fighter jets immediately blow up every ISIS/Turkish oil truck convoy in sight. The world applauded the Russian strikes against the oil convoys  - and everyone wondered out loud “how could the USA have allowed these transports”? Erdogan, as retaliation, decides to shoot down a Russian fighter jet under the pretense that Russia invaded it’s airspace and then requests NATO intervene militarily on it’s side against Russia under article 4 of the NATO treaty.

Turkey has never been a reliable US ally. Turkey didn’t allow the US military to transport war materials overland to Iraq during that war – forcing us to fly everything, and now they are on the side of ISIS. It is time to stop this charade and call a spade a spade: Turkey is a state sponsor of ISIS – along with a number of other Muslim countries. You can’t win the war against ISIS just on the battlefield. They have no shortage of fresh recruits. But, if you choke off their funding that comes from their various state sponsors, they will wither into insignificance.

Progressivism VS Realism

There may not be a better example of human stupidity than the adherence to fixed ideologies. It's amazing how quickly the partisan mind forfeits its capacity to think and decide in practical terms as a given situation arises, simply because it's wed to a one-size-fits-all mindset. 

On this Syrian refugee issue, it almost seems like the "Progressive" liberal hens would allow the foxes into the house because, well, that's what we're supposed to do when it comes to accepting outsiders. The “Progressive doctrine” calls for the unquestioning, open arms of "tolerance". It prohibits us from making others feel unwanted or excluded, therefore it trumps any concern about safety and security.

Much of this adherence to ideology is driven by a need to oppose perceived political rivals. If the other side is for it, then we have to be against it, or vice versa. Pragmatism be damned, come Hell or high water, our side has to win the argument!

This mental habit can end up getting people slaughtered, as partisan morons reflexively become turkeys voting for Thanksgiving. Actually, in and of itself, there's nothing morally wrong with exercising caution on these Syrian refugees. There's nothing morally wrong with the word NO. For that matter, there's nothing morally wrong with enforcing immigration laws and keeping violators of those laws out. Either we have our own country - a country of laws - or we don't.

But good luck trying to knock these truths into the thick skull of a knee-jerk liberal.

Is MLG&W overcharging Memphians for electricity?

Energy prices have plummeted, but on the local level nothing has changed. According to the MLGW site, they are charging Memphians 0.0909 cents per KWH. Utilities in Nevada are currently able to sign long-term contracts to buy solar power for as little as 3.9 cents a kilowatt-hour from First Solar Inc. and Sun Power Corp. Wholesale conventional power is even cheaper, going for an average of 3.5 cents a kilowatt-hour at a hub in southern California.

An outside impartial review of MLG&W’s sources, contracts, expenses, mark-ups and code of ethics is needed to make sure that this city asset is being run as professionally as we have been told - and assumed for so many years. After the recent Deidra Malone scandal that brought to light the questionable arms length transactions between officials and vendors to the city, a review of ALL business practices needs to be reviewed with the goal reducing wasteful and inefficient business practices.

The UN is celbrating 70 years of failure today

The UN is celebrating the 70^th anniversary of it’s first General Assembly and I am sure there will be plenty of pomp and circumstance, speeches and patting on the back by those who profit from it’s worthless existence. The lofty goals of this institution – to stop wars, famine and disease are  lofty, worthy goals, have not only NOT been fulfilled, but the UN has actually increased the violence the world sees today. How is that?

Because the UN legitimizes religious extremists, dictators, banana republics, and despicable tyrants. Because the UN focuses its tremendous financial resources on perpetuating conflicts, like giving the Palestinian exclusive eternal refugee status. Because the UN has allowed itself to be used as a tool by the majority to disregard their atrocities and instead accuse Israel of crimes even though they are only defending themselves.

The UN makes the world more dangerous because they provide blue helmeted security forces to keep the peace between war zones – but the forces cut and run at the first sign of danger.  This false sense of security has caused thousands to die while the UN soldiers run with their tails between their legs. When the UN blue helmets are not in danger they are engaged in raping children in many parts of Africa.

The atrocities being committed against Christians in the Mideast, as well as the wars in Africa and Syria are the best parts of the U.N’s resume' of failure. I hope the next President shows more leadership than Obama kicks the UN out of NYC and forms an organization that will fill its memberships with countries that are committed to action and making the world a better place, rather than wasting assets and contributing to the problem.

Trump Candidacy: Looking to the middle to attract “Reagan Democrats

When Donald Trump first announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination, I - along with everyone else - took it as just another humorous antic by a very well known celebrity. No one took it seriously, and I consider myself a pretty serious person when it comes to politics. I now believe that Donald Trump is a candidate that cannot only win the Republican nomination, but someone who can actually win the Presidential election. Let me explain why.

I am a Republican who is moderate on social issues, but very conservative on the same issues that Trump articulates extremely well: A strong national security, strong border control, sound financial policy, the belief that America needs to provide solid global leadership, and that the current welfare system is unsustainable financially and crippling to those who receive it.

I do not agree with ultra conservatives in the Republican Party want to roll back gay rights, woman’s rights (I do think the government should not fund Planned parenthood) - or other social hot buttons issues.

Donald Trump? I believe that he may actually be a more egotistical, caustic version of Ronald Reagan. I see no problem with the fact that Trump identified as a Democrat in his past, but has changed his views over time. The only constant in life is change. There are a lot of people who identify with Trump, people who voted as Democrats in the past. This is exactly the demographic that the Republican party needs to not only win the election, but to also move the party solidly to the center – and away from the Tea Party types who can’t accept the fact that their fight to roll back Gay and Abortion issues not only has left the train station, but is harming the Party on other, more important issues

Isolationist America and ineffective U.N. are the reasons for global illegal immigration

The recent discovery of 71 decomposed bodies of Syrian refugees in the back of a truck in Austria will no doubt result in a lot of recrimination by European governments in a lame attempt to lay blame at someone else’s doorstep – probably the smugglers who led these people to their death.

In my opinion, the world is guilty of this and other atrocities, but you will NEVER hear the “global leadership” take responsibility for this illegal global shift in populations, whether it is Mexico, Africa, the Mideast or Europe. You have to ask yourself, why wasn’t this a major problem in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s or 1990s? I contend it is a combination of events and public policy that failed.

The failure of the U.N. and global world powers to intervene in places like Africa, where the U.N. saw atrocities in Uganda, Somalia and other areas grow uncontrollably – started the first great wave of illegal immigrants in a huge population shift northward to Europe.  The formation of the European Union, and the open border policy that enabled an influx of illegal immigrants  to spread across Europe assisted this illegal immigration across Europe.

The failure of a corrupt Mexican government to parlay it’s significant natural resources into transforming the country led to a lawless society where the population had little hope and saw the USA their one opportunity to live a decent life. The NAFTA free trade agreements only served to enrich a small group within Mexico, and failed to lift the general population. The failure of the USA (under both Republicans and Democrats) to secure our borders has led to an incredible influx of illegal immigrants that are changing the landscape of American society, and costing U.S taxpayer billions of dollars and driving up crime statistics in every state in the USA.

The Mideast has seen a general breakdown of governments in Syria, Lebanon and other areas of conflict and the populations there are on the move just about everywhere in the world – even suffocated in the back of a truck in Austria.

American can’t fix the world, but we also can’t refrain from the leadership void that is a result of our current isolationist  policy. The U.N. cannot continue to be a forum for hot air that obsesses with the Palestinian issue or Israel, while the rest of the world is burning. Public policy is usually well intended, but sometimes it is used to advance an ideology rather than the welfare of the general public.

I hope that the death of these 71 Syrian illegal instigate a lot of soul searching on the part of our global institutions. Unfortunately, I don’t have much confidence that the lesson will be learned.

Obama has thrown another ally under the bus – the Kurds.

I found the blog entry below about the Kurds, Turkey, ISIS and the USA written in April of 2015 that was never published in my blog. I am copying it in this entry because it is now late July 2015 and the story of the Kurds, Turkey, ISIS and the USA has taken a bizarre turn that defies reality.

Obama has thrown another ally under the bus – the Kurds.

07/27/2015: When the USA was in Iraq, the only domestic military entity that they could rely on to perform was the Kurds of northern Iraq. The Kurds secured the northern oilfields in their sector from invasion by ISIS and provided a safe haven for Westerners including the military, reporters and aid workers. There was nowhere else in Iraq that had this level of security.

A few days ago, there was an announcement that Turkey, who had allowed ISIS fighters to flow unimpeded form Turkey into Syria, was going to allow the US military to stage aerial raids against ISIS on the Turkish borders and the Turkish air force would assist. It turns out that the Turkish air force is bombing the PKK Kurdish rebels fighting ISIS because of a longstanding conflict with this minority on their border. It must be noted that a ceasefire was holding with the PKK until the Turks allowed ISIS fighters into Syria – fighters who were turning around and fighting the Kurds. Meanwhile, the USA is not only turning a blind eye to this atrocity, but is complicate in this crime against humanity by partnering with the Turks while this massacre proceeds.

Obama threw Egypt under Mubarak under the bus for the Muslim Brotherhood, he threw the Syrian people under the bus with his fake “red line” for Assad, he threw Israel under Netanyahu under the bus for Iran, and now he is throwing the Kurds under the bus for Turkey. When will this disjointed wreck of a foreign policy end, and how on earth will our next President deal with Obama’s scorched earth policy vs.-a-vies our traditional allies?

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Written 04/2015

Between the time I write this letter and the time it is published, over 20,000 Kurds will be slaughtered in Syria by ISIL.  President Obama claims he wants to “degrade and destroy” this pernicious, evil entity, but he has refused to allow our air force to overfly Syria where ISIL finds safe haven and a population to exploit. Turkey, which shares a border with the Kurdish area of Syria, has fought a long border war with the Syrian Kurdish militia called PKK. The Turks have a massive military presence overlooking this massacre and they seem to be enjoying every minute of it.

The Kurds want an independent country, and there is no question that their claims are more deserving and legitimate than the Palestinians. They Kurds are a separate ethnic group distinct from the all the other people of the Mideast and total over 30 million throughout Iraq, Syria Turkey and Iran in a four border region known as Kurdistan. Unlike the Palestinians, they have a distinct language, culture, DNA, foods, customs – and for the most part they are intelligent, trustworthy people who are not religiously radicalized. They have shown a propensity to embrace Western culture, economics and education. They were our most trusted allies when the USA was in Iraq - and we have totally abandoned them.

Turkey, on the other hand, did not allow US military access to Iraq through Turkey, even though Turkey is a NATO member bordering Iraq. Turkey has refused to join the Obama led coalition against ISIL and in fact has allowed the unfettered flow of ISIL recruits from Turkey to Syria. Turkish smugglers are also the main financiers of ISIL with their unlimited purchases of ISIL oil at $20-$30 a barrel. Even VP Biden admitted this in a speech at Harvard last week. Why does President Obama stand behind Turkey and even provide diplomatic cover? There is only one viable explanation: Turkey is the main benefactor of the Muslim Brotherhood (along with Qatar) and it is well known that POTUS Obama has strongly supported the exiled MB ever since they were thrown out of office in Egypt.

When the history books are written, I have no doubt that the Obama presidency will go down as the biggest failure in US history.  It will take decades before the USA will be trusted again. It is ironic that Obama, who stood in Cairo in 2009 and championed human rights to the entire world in the grandest of gestures, is the proud owner of Nobel peace prize dripping with blood.