• There is another hysteria currently gripping the liberal chattering classes in Washington: the fear that we are about to attack Iran.  Not that we wouldn't like to, given Iran's efforts toward gaining military nuclear capability, and given their attacks on our forces and interests in Iraq.  And not that Israel must be kept on a short leash regarding those same issues (? the incident in Syria this week).  But we won't because we can't.  Mismanagement of the war in Iraq by this Pentagon and by this administration have nearly broken our military capability.  That's why we won't. 
• More about nuclear proliferation.  The responsibility of world macro-thinkers is to think through all options.  And yet, one option - which I discussed months ago - never appears.  Preventing more nations from joining the nuclear club may be like turning off gravity.  And furthermore, nuclear energy is the only environmentally safe alternative to the tyranny of Oil.  So, consider accepting a world with wider access to civilian nuclear energy, access that is tightly controlled by the current nuclear club nations by means of carrots and sticks.  The Carrots: free nuclear power for domestic civilian development, donated by the nuclear club.  The Stick" tight external oversight...and the prospect of a deviant nation being bombed into oblivion if it deviates into military or terrorist capabilities.  Now, I can guess the twenty "reasons why it won't work".  I'll give just one reason why it has to be considered: "the prevention of nuclear proliferation" is at heart an exercise in futility and not a real option.  The IAEA is a joke.  North Korea is not to be believed.  And Iran can be stopped only by Russia and China...and they won't stop it.  It's past time to consider this option. 
• Meanwhile, the race-baiters in this country are alive and well.  There are the absolute idiots who for many years took pride in a "Whites Only" shade tree on their school campus in Jena, La.  There are the craven professors at Duke and the un-principled DA in North Carolina.  There are the ignorant whites and blacks throughout the country who still see and assert a distinction between the races different from those of class and education.  Will this cancer in our midst ever leave periodic remission and finally be cured?
• On the local scene, a comment must be made about the "completion of Route 11".  The Day newspaper ran three good summary articles on this subject during the last ten days.  In addition, we are reminded daily about the pressing needs of our bridges and particularly about I-95, whose Connecticut transit is one of the worst of its entire run.  My opinion at this time: completion of Route 11 from Salem to East Lyme would be unnecessary and wasteful, would rape a pristine region of the State, and represents yet another boondoggle promoted by developers and by the independent Duchy of DOT.  Route 85 can be better modified and monitored to improve safety.  Our existing highways and bridges need intensive care now.  And mass transit could easily provide for the alleged needs for transporation between the Connecticut interior and the shoreline.  Governor Rell, will you finally provide firm leadership on important issues such as this.  Or will we continue to be "led" by a moistened finger held boldly into the wind?

• The Democrats are absolutely hysterical over Iraq and President Bush's belated candor on the subject: America forces will be in the Middle East for a very long time, in our own vital national self-interest.  This hysteria is a direct reaction to their self-delusion, beginning with the fact regarding who actually won the Presidential election of 2000.  Folks, CALM DOWN.  You look and sound silly, beginning especially with Harry Reid. 
• Meanwhile, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is calling for a "clean break" with the Bush administration and with Washington business as usual.  Although not announced yet, he is another likely Republican candidate for President.  There is a great deal regarding the Bush administration to "break" from.  But even this short period of time with the Federal legislature in the hands of Democrats like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi has shown how bad change in the wrong direction can be.  It also shows how "change" is usually a facade in deeply entrenched Washington.  What to do? Vote for people who are honest with you...even if you don't like their entire message.

The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll

data I found rather hard to believe.  It must be true given the source,

right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the 

direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy 

with the performance of the president.  In essence 2/3s of the citizenry 

just ain't happy and want a change.

So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What we are so

unhappy about?''

Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a

week?  Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the

summer and heating in the winter?  Could it be that 95.4 percent of these

unhappy folks have a job?  Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery

store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in

the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic

Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through

each state?   Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we  would

find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having

thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just 

not good enough.  Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency 

workers show up and provide services to  help all and even send a 

helicopter to take you to the hospital. 

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.  You 

may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of 

trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to 

extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. 

 

Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar 

or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest 

will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.  This all in 

the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and 

pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own 

cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy

that are the envy of everyone in the world?  Maybe that is what has 67

percent of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has 

ever seen.  No wonder the world loves the U.S.,  yet has a great disdain for 

its citizens.  They see us for what  we are.  The most blessed people in the 

world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have , and what we 

hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know.  What about the president who took us into war and has

no plan to get us out?  The president who has a measly 31 percent approval

rating?   Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days 

after 9/11?  The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of 

recession?   Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in 

the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe 

from terrorist attacks?

The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there 

defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news  

or talk show?

Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a

look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?

Think about  it......are you upset at the President because he actually

caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was

failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.

Make no mistake about it.  The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have

volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom.

There is currently no draft in this country.  They didn't have to go.

They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general''

discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, 

a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of

Americans?  Say what you want but I blame it on the media.  If it bleeds 

it leads and they specialize in bad news.  Everybody will watch a car crash 

with blood and guts.  How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the 

corner?  The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit 

corporations.

They offer what sells , and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 

"justifying" them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a 

murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his 

wife, but if he did he would have done it this way......Insane!

Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the

TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird

cage.  Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is

exponentially more good than bad.

We are among the most blessed peoples on Earth and should thank God several 

times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative."

"With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding,

severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and

with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure this is a

good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?

• Immigration Cowardice and Madness Continue.  The NY Times finds something useful in the current stalemate between  Republican fantasy-world and  Democratic venality (Sunday, Sept. 9, Wk p13).  President Calderone of Mexico bellows that "Wherever a Mexican is, Mexico is there".  And Cardinal Mahoney of Los Angeles, he of recent notoriety involving his role in clergy - sex scandals, expounds on the rights of illegal immigrants with little comment on their responsibilities.  Does the Cardinal have a problem himself with responsibilities?  See my earlier comments on this subject: Rapid Response, (in www.asthma-drsprecace.com) May 31 and 2, 2007; Point and Counterpoint #20 (in same site); several other comments, accessed by a Search of the above site for "Immigration".  And there will be more to follow, until this nation of immigrants comes to its senses. 
• How many prosecutors like the disgraced Duke University one are there out there?  New Orleans seems to have its share, with the unwarranted and unsuccessful prosecution of the doctor and the nursing home owners there.  Why not turn your attention to the elected officials, local, State and Federal, who were guilty of gross negligence before and after Katrina. 
• For another fine insight into the Middle East Cauldron,  see Thomas Friedman's article, in the same NYTimes edition noted above (in Wk p14) entitled: "What's Missing in Baghdad".  That's better than anything you'll hear from General Petraeus this week.

• First, a comment about the coming Budget Referendum in New London, Ct.  The greatest problem with this budget is the process by which it was produced...the opposite of transparency, especially concerning the Education budget.   This happens year after year, with the Education administration using smoke and mirrors.  As a life-long student, a 44 year resident of New London, and a former member and Chairman of the Board of Education, I am definitely PRO-EDUCATION.  But I am pro-good education that provides full value for every dollar spent.  That is not the case in New London...and in many other public education systems throughout the country.  (See my section on Public Education on this web site).  The Education and the City governance must be encouraged to exert more self-discipline...and offer much more information during this process.  So, this is a message: VOTE "NO" ON WEDNESDAY, SEPT 12.   
• Fred Thompson to the rescue!   We are told that the "Republican Base" has been unhappy with the Republican Presidential candidates available to them.  Not pure enough.  But who is?  Before the last few days, we had to wait and see whether the Base would be willing to embrace a necessary compromise candidate that could actually win...like John McCain or Rudy Giuliani; or whether they would be pure and nominate an un-electable choice.  Now we have Fred Thompson...not pure, but pretty darn close, and so photogenic!  If he is nominated, he could even be elected based upon his star qualities. But I fear that a lot of people would be surprised on the day following Election Day to find that they had not only voted in a talent show...but that they had actually elected the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.   Wow.  Only in America.
  

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. plans for handling Iraq after the 2003 invasion were "fatally flawed," a retired British general said, adding that the U.S. administration had refused to listen to British concerns about postwar planning.

Major General Tim Cross said he had talked to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld before the invasion about the need to have international support and enough troops on the ground to reconstruct Iraq.

"He didn't want to hear that message. The U.S. had already convinced themselves that Iraq would emerge reasonably quickly as a stable democracy," Cross told the Sunday Mirror.

"Anybody who tried to tell them anything that challenged that idea -- they simply shut it out," Cross, the most senior British officer involved in planning post-war Iraq, added.

His comments echoed those of General Mike Jackson, head of the British army during the invasion, who was quoted by The Daily Telegraph on Saturday as describing Rumsfeld's approach as "intellectually bankrupt."

The unusually outspoken comments by former top military men follow weeks of commentary, mainly in the U.S. press, suggesting British forces have failed in southern Iraq and are set to flee.

Defense analyst Charles Heyman told Reuters the criticism was surfacing "because everybody realizes this is now a failed policy and they are all casting around for scapegoats."

"Why didn't someone resign at the time and say this is foolish and foolhardy?" he said.

He said the recriminations were not helpful to future military and diplomatic relations between Washington and London, which have traditionally boasted of a "special relationship."

PULLOUT FROM BASRA

British troops are expected to pull out of their last base in Basra city in the next few days to concentrate their presence in an airbase outside the city.

This is part of a plan to hand over control of the province to Iraqi security forces by the end of 2007 and pave the way for an eventual pullout of all British forces.

But the departure of Prime Minister Tony Blair in June to be succeeded by Gordon Brown has raised speculation that Britain could speed up the withdrawal of British forces.

Blair had staked his personal reputation on standing "shoulder-to-shoulder" with the United States.

Heyman said it would be very difficult for the British to withdraw entirely from the airbase as they were needed to protect supply routes and, if necessary, the oil fields.

He said he expected quite large numbers of British troops still to be there six months from now.

William Hague, foreign affairs spokesman for Britain's opposition Conservatives, said on Sunday the generals' concerns strengthened the case for Britain to hold a full-scale inquiry into the origins and conduct of the Iraq war.

The British government has successfully resisted previous opposition calls for an inquiry while British troops are operating in Iraq though it has not ruled one out in the future.

Hague, whose Conservatives supported the Iraq war, said "very crucial mistakes have been made."

Planners "clearly underestimated ... the number of troops that would be needed for an effective occupation force in Iraq (and) they clearly made a mistake in the immediate disbandment of the Iraqi army," he told Sky News.

Rumsfeld resigned last year after becoming a focal point for criticism of the U.S. administration's handling of the unpopular Iraq war.

• Here is another example of the "30 second attention span" dumbing down Americans.  A provocative article in the NYTimes is entitled "As 9/11 Nears, a Debate Rises: How Much Tribute Is Enough?" (NYTimes Sunday, Sept. 2, pA1).  We no longer talk much about the Battle of Yorktown - but well over two hundred years have passed.  We still are moved by the Gettysburg Address given during the Civil War.  We know (or should know) about our role in the terrible World War 1.  We still "remember Pearl Harbor"...or do they teach that in our schools any more.  We carry the brand of our first defeat, Viet Nam, on our psyche.  Then came 9/11/2001, the first time we were massively attacked on our shores.  Do you think that we might just possibly remember that for a few decades, at least? 
• The battle continues over Schip, the Federal health program for children.  But even the NYTimes is choking, despite its ample gullet, over the Democratic proposal to include in this good Federal assistance program "Help for the $82,000 Family" (NYTimes Sunday, Sept. 2, 2007, pWk 9).  Where is the line between legitimate need and personal responsibility?
• That question is also relevant regarding the cries of both the needy and the fat cats over a bailout from the sub-prime mortgage orgy.  If you think that you have a clear answer to these two questions, remember that answer when you choose between Democrats and Republicans in November, 2008.