First Monday

Veterans Day 2012

Things aren't looking good for General David Petraeus, and I would guess the morale in the world of U.S. Defense must not be very high. The U.S. Military has been fighting in the most difficult environments since the Fall of 2001. The U.S. Military has seen a roller coaster of victories followed by terrible set backs, followed by new strategies and tactics which led to success only to have more defeats and casualties in Afghanistan and in Iraq at a later date. At one time Afghanistan looked like a great success by a strong U.S. Military; and initially Iraq looked sucessful as well, until insurgents prowled about and ambushed unsuspecting infantries and plastered the carnage in the news media. Insurgents took over entire regions of Iraq and restarted the war again and again. Complete enemy surrender has not taken hold.

After a surge led by General Petraeus, the situation in Iraq improved, but then security in Afghanistan began to decline. Following the Obama election in 2008, Petraeus himself has been shuffled around, and now after a horrible and question raising debacle in Libya, suddenly Petraeus himself is involved in a huge scandal of marital infidelity.

Since 2001, public opinion shifted in manic patterns and showed the world that U.S. Citizens have little patience for the battles that Islamic extremism has made necessary. At first too many liberals wanted to quit due to the casualties; now too many conservatives want to quit over the fiscal expenses, while liberals have moved on to worshiping their President and focusing on remaking America in his image. Many hawks have turned into broken down military supporters who show no signs that they once supported U.S. intervention in the Middle East; their support had an expiration date. The battle for the U.S. Economy and securing the pocketbook has been the main focus of the right and left for 4 years now.

Our Military deserves better than this.

No Rush for Immigration Reform

Just for the record via the Pew Research Center. Hispanic Votes Always Go Majority Democrat by double digits:
--1980 Jimmy Carter, 56% Ronald Reagan, 35% +21
--1984 Walter Mondale, 61% Ronald Reagan, 37% +24
--1988 Michael Dukakis, 69% George H.W. Bush, 30% +39
--1992 Bill Clinton, 61% George H.W. Bush, 25% +36
--1996 Bill Clinton, 72% Bob Dole, 21% +51
--2000 Al Gore, 62% George W. Bush, 35% +27
--2004 John Kerry, 58% George W. Bush, 40% +18
--2008 Barack Obama, 67% John McCain, 31% +36
--2012 Barack Obama, 71% Mitt Romney, 27% +44

I was pleased to see National Review back away from the chorus of the Republican power brokers who are in a rush to grant amnesty for the political gain they predict will be the result.