Benghazi - Fifth Update

Since I wrote my last update on the Benghazi scandals, a book has come out called "Benghazi: The Definitive Report". I do not find it completely definitive but it is worth reading and adds information. It is inexpensive and available for Kindle at Amazon. So I am posting this fifth update along with the original article and the first four updates, as I promised I would. We need to keep up the pressure on this. The press has a short memory.

Fourth Update

Today Leon Panetta testified that while the attack at Benghazi was going on, President Obama was completely out of contact and could not be reached. It seem he was on the phone with Benjamin Netanyahu doing some politicking. Also it seems that Secretary Clinton was also out of contact. So we have American soil in a foreign land being attacked and the Ambassador being killed and both the Secretary of State and the President are busy with other things? Where are the adults in this administration?

Third Update

Today Hillary testified. As I expected, she denied knowledge of any requests for additional security. She demanded "What difference does it make now?" The difference is, Madam Secretary, that American soil was once again attacked by Al Qaeda and four American heroes died. American have a right to know all the facts. And your are, to be polite, obfuscating. The malfeasance here is monumental and still they cover up. 

Second Update

The Benghazi review board has just come out with a report that is scathing to the State Department. Although it apparently didn't name Hillary Clinton, she is the Secretary of State and should have known what was going on. When questioned about the circumstances, President Obama attributed the death of four good American heroes to a little sloppiness. Really, Mr. President. A little sloppiness?

Update

Eric Boswell, Assistant Secretary of State for Security, has resigned his position. Three others have been relieved of their duties and placed on leave. Two of these employees are involved in security. So far, the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is incognito or something. A tough professional football player gets a concussion and goes to the hospital. Hillary get a concussion and goes missing. Just saying.

So we have seen some progress. Not nearly enough. The pressure must be sustained. They want this to just go away. My original article follows:

Remember Benghazi

The holidays are here and everyone is busy with their preparations. The newspaper, if they report at all, are reporting the crisis of the day. The president is heading to Hawaii in a week. Most politicians have lost interest in anything that matters. There are distractions galore. But through all this, we must remember Benghazi.

The administration, every person in it, hopes that the American people will just move on and call it done. Over. Old history. We must not do that. Benghazi is a big deal. Benghazi is not just one scandal. It is four separate scandals. Every one of them deserves our close attention.

The first scandal is that Ambassador Stevens called for more security and it was denied him. That is unheard of. An ambassador is the highest ranking American in any foreign country. He is the direct representative of the President. Normally when an ambassador makes a request it is granted without question. There are only two people in government with the power to deny an ambassador. That would be the Secretary of State and the President. So who made that decision and why? Was it made on political grounds? Was it made to appease someone in the Libyan government? After all this consulate had been attacked before. Weren't there enough warning flags up? Why was the Ambassador even there? Was he sent there secretly for a meeting? Why was he sent with insufficient personal security?

The second scandal is the attack on the consulate itself. This was an attack on sovereign American soil. When the consulate came under fire they called out for help. None was forthcoming. The people calling for help were experienced military. They had a drone overhead monitoring the situation. The battle lasted over seven hours. Help was available. Even a single C-130A sent from Italy could have been there in an hour. Four honorable Americans lost their lives while serving their country. Why? Was this also a political decision? Do we now sacrifice our people for political reasons? Who was monitoring the feed from the drone? Who did they report to? We need answers. We deserve answers. Whatever was or was not done occurred in our name.

The third scandal, of course, is the pack of lies that the administration put out to cover this debacle. The stories had not even a bit of truth to them. It was not about some movie upsetting a flash mob. Any person with more than two active brain cells knew they were lies. But for weeks after, coincidentally right through the presidential debates, the administration stuck with the story. Week after week, on the Sunday talk shows and in the news papers the media allowed this story when they must have known it was a fabrication. A man in California was jailed for his part in inciting a riot that never happened. In America? Please. That is just wrong. When did our country come to this?

The fourth scandal is a little more difficult for me.  I have a tendency to accept the military as straight forward and honorable under any and all pressure. As back in Caesar's day, they would fall on their sword rather than dishonor their uniform. General Petraeus initially mouthed the party line as to the cause of the attack on Benghazi. He reiterated the obvious lies that were played to protect the administration. It is my opinion, and mine alone, that he wanted to tell the truth. Again, my opinion, he was told that if he went public, his private misfeasance would be made public. Being an honorable man who made a mistake, he did the right thing and resigned. We, as American citizens, need his testimony as to what transpired throughout this whole mess.

I am writing this piece on the evening of December 9, 2012. I plan to publish it tomorrow. I feel it is so important that I will republish this essay periodically as a reminder to those that read my blog that the administration has not answered our questions, until we finally are told the truth or have a new administration.

A Little More Energy

In my last blog I ripped wind power as an energy source. My opinion is that solar is no better. Acres of high cost inefficient glass panels that must be protected and cleaned is no bargain. So where can we look to for energy that is clean and plentiful.

I live within a few hundred yards of a river that drops around five hundred feet in it's fifty mile length. That represents a lot of energy. To my best knowledge there is only one hydroelectric plant on that river. I would think that some hydro-power in the mix would be a good start. For a while there was talk of using tidal power to generate electricity. Where did that idea ever go? Both systems are ecologically neutral. Where is the interest there?

I mentioned natural gas, of which we have plenty, as a source. It burns clean. The products of combustion are water vapor and carbon dioxide. Oooh, that old devil carbon dioxide. Look, just about everything produces carbon dioxide. Animals do. People do. Forest fires produce enormous quantities of it. Even trees produce carbon dioxide at night. But during the day all those green plants take that carbon dioxide and convert it to oxygen and food. Remember when your junior high school science teacher bored you to death talking about photosynthesis? One of the biggest converters of carbon dioxide is all that seaweed out in the Sargasso Sea. I don't think it is the threat politicians make it out to be.

We have all those tons and tons of coal out there. There  must be some way that research can bring that to an acceptable level of cleanness for the ecology. I have great faith in the profit motive pushing technology to find solutions.

Reaching out to future solutions finds some interesting possibilities. One of these is methane hydrate. Big frozen hunks of methane gas with almost limitless amounts of energy. Unfortunately, these hunks are at the bottom of some of the deeper spots in the ocean. I have heard that initial experiments on recovery have worked out pretty well up in Alaska.

Then there is cold fusion. Every once in a while some experimenter claims to have made it work. But some how it can never be replicated. It has been said that with adequate sources of helium three, cold fusion can work. 

I am sure there are people working on things that we never hear about. I have great faith in technology. New science is opening up new possibilities every day. But we must have the patience to wait for the technology to catch up to the problem. It will, eventually.

No More Wind Farms

I have written about the energy situation before. I have said that I am convinced we will have a new method to generate electricity probably within the next twenty years. Even if it does not happen that soon, we are sitting on top of trillions of cubic feet of natural gas that can be used to generate electricity and power vehicles for, at least, the next century. So ultimately, all this hoopla about renewable energy is just a means to shovel public money out to political "friends".

So stop building those big ugly wind farms now. What brought this to my mind was a headline telling about the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts. They want to tear down two towers that were built there. Their main complaint is the noise. They say that sometimes the noise sounds like a jet engine. Just what you don't want in your back yard.

If these monsters looked like the old fashioned Dutch style windmills, at least they would be quaint and picturesque. The ones that I have seen are neither. They tower over the landscape adding absolutely no charm. They are glaringly white with enormous rotors making them look like giant helicopters gone sideways. In short they are ugly as sin.

Another feature of this supposed energy of the future is that they are extremely difficult and expensive to repair. Generators need frequent maintenance. Bearings freeze. Wiring shorts out. Parts rust and break. So now instead of having one or two big generators in a power house, you have hundreds of them sitting a hundred feet or more up in the sky. People have to go up there to analyze the problems, get parts, then go back up to install those parts. That is extremely high cost maintenance. Eventually they will be abandoned and left to blight the landscape.

It wasn't too long ago that drilling was stopped on an oil farm, I think, in Texas. If memory serves some little lizard that no one really cares about was getting upset and stopped reproducing or some such. But, it seems it is OK that these wind towers kill birds on a regular basis, including eagles, hawks, and owls. Do I see hypocrisy at work here. Maybe just political expedience.

We do need a new source of electrical power. But that doesn't mean we have to grasp at every half baked straw that comes along. Technology will solve the problem. It always has and always will. Politicians sometimes see what they want to see and it is not their nature to dig very deep for details. They just want quick headlines then on to the next big crisis. They also dislike hearing things that disputes their personal worldview. Sometimes the best solution is to have the patience to wait for the right solution.

A Little Paranoia

I have not been writing much about guns lately. That is not because I have lost interest. I just don't like being one of the crowd and , it seems, everybody that has a keyboard is now an expert. I always try to be out at the edges of a subject and supply a point of view that is different and, I hope, interesting.

I have been reading and listening to the arms debate with extreme interest. I even listen to old Uncle Joe Biden's silliness. But I got to wondering. We have had major firearms crises in the country before. From Lincoln, to JFK, to James Brady taking a bullet meant for Ronald Reagan. The anti-gun crowd gets stirred up for a while and eventually settles down.

What we are seeing and hearing today has a different feel than past efforts against firearms. There seems to be a more unified effort among those that lean to the left. There seems to be a lot of dollars coming out of the woodwork to support those efforts. Being a suspicious sort, I have to ask why. Back in the Clinton years, when they wanted to push through a less than popular idea, it was always "for the children". Everything was "for the children" even when it obviously wasn't.

Anyone with a lick of sense realizes that any laws or regulations involving firearms will only affect honest, law abiding citizens who are not and never would be caught in any illegal firearms activity. Criminals care not a whit for the law and will do what they want regardless of anything that the politicians might do. The delusionals will use guns or swords or molotov cocktails or home made explosives. They will always find a way to create havoc.

Then why all the screaming and shouting and over the top rhetoric. OK, this is where I start to get a little paranoid. If the target really isn't criminals or wackos, who is it? Well, who is left. Honest gun owners. It is my humble opinion that the liberal population of the country would like to disarm the rest of us. Some people would still have guns, of course. But now the politicians could have complete control over who has them and what they have. They would also have a list of names and addresses if they wanted to take the guns away.

There are two reasons that could be at the base of this plot, if it is a plot. If you are a pure blooded liberal, it is all about feelings. And wouldn't it be just such a perfect world if there were no guns and everybody could be safe and all that kind of stuff. That is one possibility.
There is one more possibility. I'll leave it to you dear readers to work that one out for yourselves.

More Fear For The Sphinx

Many months ago, I wrote a piece for this blog called "Pray for the Sphinx". In that article I outlined what the Taliban had done to Buddhist statues in the Bamiyan Valley  in Afghanistan. It was an historical loss. I suggested in my article that if Muslim jihadists  ever took power in Egypt the Sphinx and the Pyramids would be in danger of destruction. The loss of these historical artifacts would be beyond a tragedy. Well, the jihadists are now in power. The danger is real.

The Coptic Christians in Egypt are in an era of persecution akin to Christians in Roman days. Their lives are in danger and their churches are being destroyed. Prime Minister Morsi is not a friend of Christian or Jew. He has called for the destruction of Israel and called the Jewish people the spawn of apes and pigs. He is not what you would call, a modern intellectual.

It is a tenet of Islam to have no idolatry. The idolatry of other religions is to be destroyed without question. They do not care about historical significance since to them the only thing of significance is the Koran. Truth be told, I do not understand how this squares with elaborately decorated mosques and prayer rugs. It just seem contradictory.

Obviously, Egypt is in a state of turmoil. The Muslim Brotherhood is not in complete control of the country and those that are against Sharia Law still struggle. If the jihadists gain full control and can pacify the country they will alter the face of Egypt forever. It will be the worlds loss.

Meanwhile the people in the State Department, with the full support of the President, continue to support an Egypt that is no longer our friend. They send huge amounts of money that we must borrow along with deadly F-16 fighter planes. In my mind this is insane.

I have been waiting for the Egyptian military to step in and take control of the country. I believe that there are well trained, high ranking, officers that love their country and hate what is happening to it. I believe many of these men enjoy a supportive relationship with the United States.

I imagine that the thought of a military coup is enough to make any officer pause and be the cause of many sleepless nights. But these are men that are dedicated to their country in a way no civilian can understand. They are the only ones that can save Egypt and keep it in the twenty-first century.


Once again the Obama administration has thrown a hero under the bus. Go to this website  http://www.freeafridi.com/  to support Dr. Afridi. He is the man who made it possible to nail Bin Laden. He has been imprisoned and the Obama administration seems not to care. Sometimes they just have to do the hard stuff.

China, Really

There have been a number of cyber-invasions of the US recently. In fact, barely a day goes by that there is not some American business or some government agency that is subject to a hacker attack. The consensus of opinion seems to be that the Chinese military as at the root of most of this onslaught. 

This is not surprising. The Chinese government is immune to retribution or even any attempt to stymie their efforts as long as the present administration is in power. This administration fears the Chinese because we owe them so much money. Mr. Obama's over the top spending spree has been largely financed by Beijing. And since Mr. Obama loves spending other people's money, he never knows when he may have to go, hat in hand with head bowed and say, "please sir, may I have more". 

So they are allowed to invade our computers, copy American intellectual property, steal our military secrets, and then send send their young over for scientific and mathematical education in our best universities. The administration does not negotiate with the Chinese with skill and strength. China pretty much gets their own terms. Don't want to upset worlds largest ATM machine, you know. Not to put too fine a point on it, the administration fears China and China knows it.

I have heard Donald Trump speak on this subject. Regardless of what you feel about Donald Trump personally, he is a good business man and knows whereof he speaks. He is disgusted by the relationship between the Obama White House and Beijing. And he is not shy about speaking out on the subject.

The fact of the matter is we have a great deal more power than the administration is willing to exert. After  all what can the Chinese do? Repossess Hawaii. We are their biggest trading client. They cannot afford to lose the business that they export to the US on a daily basis.
We can go after them legally to protect intellectual property. When they attack our computers, don't just go defensive. Attack their computers tenfold. Allow their young to take only liberal arts courses in our schools. No math, no science.

This is our country. There are some of us that love and respect it enough to want it protected. I believe I recall certain things like that in certain oaths of office. It is about time for the government to put on their big boy pants and quit campaigning and start governing.

Drones, Drones, Drones

The subject of drones has been all over the news lately. Even in the liberal media. Finally there seems to be news in this country that everyone is willing to take a stake in. Both sides of the aisle seem to have the same question. What is the President thinking?

First of all, any guy will tell you, drones are cool. Hey, I’m old and I still want one. They are the ultimate big boy toy. Most of us realize that as cool as they are they are not for us. Too big. Too expensive. Too top secret. Those that really have the bug just go out and buy a little radio controlled helicopter. Way less cool but way more affordable. Now the President, because he is the President, has access to all the high price toys. 

Back in the old days there was a President named Nixon. He tended to be a little bit distrustful. He had an “enemies list”. He had people that watched those on his enemies list looking for efforts against Mr. Nixon’s Presidency. When the press found that out Nixon was excoriated. Then he lied about a break-in and was driven from office. It was a sad time in our countries history.

Then there were the George W. Bush years. The country had been attacked by terrorists. Three terrorists that were captured were “water-boarded”. The press went wild. Accused the administration of using torture. Remember, no blood was shed. No electric shocks were used. No teeth, fingers, or toes were lost. No bones were broken. No scars were left behind. But somehow water-boarding became the ultimate torture and Mr. Bush was excoriated.

Now we have a President that has an enemies list. But he doesn’t torture. He just kills them outright. He does this even if they are American citizens. Mr. Obama’s Justice Department issued a White Paper giving him permission to do so. Well, not him specifically, but a “high ranking government official”. Just put on those Groucho glasses and we’ll never guess who’s doing it. So the President can pick a name from his list. Unilaterally decide this person is a threat. Also decide that his capture wouldn’t be feasible. Then send out a drone with a couple of Sparrow Hawk missiles on board to kill that person and anyone in his immediate area. Thank God he’s not water-boarding them. 

So, let’s say that some government agency finds that a young American has joined Al Qaeda. Let’s say that he has gone to someplace way out in the boondocks of Canada to set up an Al Qaeda training camp. If I understand what is in this white paper, the President can authorize a drone strike against him. This behavior is wrong on so many levels. First, it is not a power that should be vested in any one man without checks and balances. Second, if there is no immediate danger, other alternatives should be used even if they are more difficult. Third, it is unconstitutional to take an American’s life without due process. Fourth, armed drones should be controlled by the military through their chain of command.

I have one more huge concern. That is co-lateral damage. If an innocent person is killed in one of these non-battlefield attacks it is murder as far as I am concerned. This might also be true under both domestic and international law. But even if there is no legal ramifications, it most certainly lowers the status and respect for the American Presidency.

I, like most Americans, want the terrorists destroyed. But I want it done in a manner in keeping with our country’s honor, traditions, and Constitution. Once again the President has taken unto himself power that is not his under law and the Constitution. These actions sorely damage our country and the American Presidency. 

The Lost Generation

Someone recently referred to the Obama years as the lost decade. My feeling is that the Obama years will turn out to be the lost generation. In saying that, I am assuming that we are done with him in 2016. To be honest, I am not convinced that we will be. I can envision two scenarios where he will be around beyond that hoped for time. One involves Michelle running for President. The second is oh so much worse, but not beyond possibility. I will leave that scenario to your imagination. I do not want to be responsible for frightening children.

These last four year have been the most destructive to America and the American way of life, in my lifetime. Even worse than the Carter years. For the first time we have a President that rules rather than governs. Although he is educated in the Constitution he sees it as an obstruction. He, with the full support of his political party, takes to himself extra-constitutional power whenever Congress doesn't bow to his wishes. He does this even to the point of naming American citizens on foreign soil and ordering their assassination by unmanned drones. 

He has ordered that American citizens must purchase a product even if they do not wish to. By doing this he is tying up and taking control of one sixth of the economy and damaging the health care system that has been one of the best in the world. He is turning health care into a Gordian Knot that may take more than a generation to set right.

Obama has appointed dozens of Czars that run parts of our country with dictatorial power, no oversight and no transparency. The only people welcome in his government are fellow ideologues or those that are completely compliant. He is even allowing John Brennan to run a private war in Africa without reading in State, the CIA, or the military. The blow up in Benghazi is reportedly one result of those efforts.

But far and away, the worst damage being done is economically. As I write this, the country is over sixteen and a half trillion dollars in debt. By 2016 we will be over twenty trillion down. That is a twenty with twelve zeros after it. Business is stagnant. More and more people are out of work. Don't believe the unemployment figures. The way they are calculated those that stop looking for work out of frustration no longer exist. Middle class salaries are sinking. Prices are rising. The GDP is back in negative numbers. There are two more economic bubbles expanding out there that will burst someday. One is the education bubble. The other is the Bernanke bubble. That will be the bad one.

And all through this the man who wouldn't rest until he had solved the country's problems has taken seventeen vacations.

We Finally Have A State Sponsored Religion and Some More on Benghazi

To make my point, here is how I wish to define a religion. A religion is a group of like minded persons involved in a relationship with a deity or deities and having that relationship define aspects of their behavior. I think that works as a simple basic definition. And it seems to apply from Roman Catholicism through Wicca.

Now, we need to look at part of the first amendment to the Constitution. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof".
I take this to mean that the state cannot establish a religion or interfere with one religion in favor of another. This is exactly, to my mind, what they are doing.

What religion are they favoring, you might ask? My answer would be the religion of Atheism. Those that practice Atheism would probably deny that it is a religion. Now obviously there is a fairly large group of like minded people. Their involvement with a deity is a denial which is, in fact, a negative relationship. But it is still a relationship with a deity.  That relationship absolutely controls aspects of their behavior as regards to other religions.

So there you have it. Every time a judge forces a town to rip down the Christmas Nativity Scene in the town square they are supporting one religion over another. When they force a city to eliminate a mural of the Ten Commandments, they are favoring Atheism. No Menorah on the city hall lawn. Once again they are destroying the first amendment. 

It has been traditional in the United States to honor religions. All religions! You never hear most Christians complaining about  a Menorah being displayed. If Wiccans put up a display at summer solstice, most folks would be more interested than offended. It seems to be the prerogative of the Atheists to complain whine and get their way that no one should be able to enjoy public displays of their faith. 

There is nothing quite so dismal as a group of people that find offense in the joy of others. To have your inner being shrink down and dry out so much that the happiness of others takes away what little happiness that you find in life is just sad. So I posit that the government, by minimizing the happiness of others so that they may be no happier than the Atheists, make Atheism a religion unconstitutionally supported and established by the government. This must not be allowed to stand. Allow everyone the right to publicly display their faith, and allow the Atheists the right to look away.


I just finished a new Ebook by Jack Murphy and Brandon Webb. It is titled "Benghazi:The Definitive Report". It is available for Kindle if you wish to buy it. It is reasonably priced. How ever, I find it not definitive. The authors' expertise certainly adds perspective. It also adds to the amount of information available to the American public. The information about John Brennan's private war in Africa run through the White House without the knowledge of the military, the State Department, or the CIA is stunning. This alone makes the book worthwhile.  But it does not tell us who in the State Department ignored the requests for more security made by Ambassador Stevens before the attack. It does not tell who in government was monitoring the feed from the two, yes two, drones that were overhead. Finally it does not tell us if an AC-130A Spectre was available at either Aviano AFB or NAS Sigonella in Italy or why no fighter jets were used to try to break up the attack. More info, yes. Definitive, not quite.

A More Personal View of Firearms

I read most of what I see on line lately about firearms. It generally falls into one of two categories.  It is either “If we save only one life” or “Here is the real definition of an assault rifle”. It is all redundant will never persuade anyone on the  opposite side of the debate. 

The first time I shot a real firearm I was ten years old. We had just moved to Rhode Island and my parents took me to an amusement park called Rocky Point. They had a shooting gallery there with old tube fed Marlin rifles that used .22 short. My father let me shoot. I thought it was the most fun I ever had. I wanted a rifle of my own. I could never get that one by my mother.

However, when I was fifteen I had a new friend that had a little single shot  .22. The great thing about this gun is that it took about thirty seconds to take it apart. Bear in mind, in those days a boy could walk into the local Western Auto Store and by a box of fifty rounds of ammo for fifty cents. No questions asked. We would dismantle his gun, stick the barrel down one pant leg, the stock down another, the bolt in a back pocket and head down to a large wooded area near my friends house. We’d shoot all afternoon and have more fun than should be allowed. It was a Tom Sawyer boyhood.

Then came high school, girls, and college. Guns took a back seat for a few years. In the sixties I started to accumulate a few guns including a target pistol. Some like minded friends and I tried to start a gun club. As the say in the business community we were radically underfunded. But we were fortunate. Some good people in another, more established club, offered to absorb us into their club.

I really enjoyed competitive pistol shooting. Once a week we would travel to another club for competition. I was never even close to the top shooters, but everybody got a chance. We had World Cup quality shooters in that club but they treated the rest of us as equals. 

In my life I have belonged to three gun club and shot at many more. I have shot with police, military, and  civilians. I have never seen a display of ego or temper at any time. All I ever saw was support and friendship. And I will tell you the membership in these clubs goes right across the socio-economic strata. The universal emphasis in the shooting fraternity is training and safety. New members are observed in how they handle their weapons and errors are quietly pointed out. You don’t see whack jobs at the clubs.

The problems that we face today are not problems brought on by the legitimate shooters. They are not brought on by the size shape or color of the gun. Some of these situations are brought about by mental issues. If all guns disappeared from Earth at once, those with mental problems would still find a way to do harm. Other problems are brought on by a criminal element that either steal guns or get them from those that do. Gangs will smuggle them in and get whatever they want. We really don’t need more gun laws. In some locations we’d be better off with fewer. But let slow down and not rush into the wrong solution thinking the problem is solved.

Benghazi - Fourth Update

Since I wrote my first article on the four Benghazi scandals, some things have happened. So I am posting this fourth update along with the original article and the first three updates, as I promised I would.

Fourth Update

Today Leon Panetta testified that while the attack at Benghazi was going on, President Obama was completely out of contact and could not be reached. It seem he was on the phone with Benjamin Netanyahu doing some politicking. Also it seems that Secretary Clinton was also out of contact. So we have American soil in a foreign land being attacked and the Ambassador being killed and both the Secretary of State and the President are busy with other things? Where are the adults in this administration?

Third Update

Today Hillary testified. As I expected, she denied knowledge of any requests for additional security. She demanded "What difference does it make now?" The difference is, Madam Secretary, that American soil was once again attacked by Al Qaeda and four American heroes died. American have a right to know all the facts. And your are, to be polite, obfuscating. The malfeasance here is monumental and still they cover up. 

Second Update

The Benghazi review board has just come out with a report that is scathing to the State Department. Although it apparently didn't name Hillary Clinton, she is the Secretary of State and should have known what was going on. When questioned about the circumstances, President Obama attributed the death of four good American heroes to a little sloppiness. Really, Mr. President. A little sloppiness?

Update

Eric Boswell, Assistant Secretary of State for Security, has resigned his position. Three others have been relieved of their duties and placed on leave. Two of these employees are involved in security. So far, the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is incognito or something. A tough professional football player gets a concussion and goes to the hospital. Hillary get a concussion and goes missing. Just saying.

So we have seen some progress. Not nearly enough. The pressure must be sustained. They want this to just go away. My original article follows:

Remember Benghazi

The holidays are here and everyone is busy with their preparations. The newspaper, if they report at all, are reporting the crisis of the day. The president is heading to Hawaii in a week. Most politicians have lost interest in anything that matters. There are distractions galore. But through all this, we must remember Benghazi.

The administration, every person in it, hopes that the American people will just move on and call it done. Over. Old history. We must not do that. Benghazi is a big deal. Benghazi is not just one scandal. It is four separate scandals. Every one of them deserves our close attention.

The first scandal is that Ambassador Stevens called for more security and it was denied him. That is unheard of. An ambassador is the highest ranking American in any foreign country. He is the direct representative of the President. Normally when an ambassador makes a request it is granted without question. There are only two people in government with the power to deny an ambassador. That would be the Secretary of State and the President. So who made that decision and why? Was it made on political grounds? Was it made to appease someone in the Libyan government? After all this consulate had been attacked before. Weren't there enough warning flags up? Why was the Ambassador even there? Was he sent there secretly for a meeting? Why was he sent with insufficient personal security?

The second scandal is the attack on the consulate itself. This was an attack on sovereign American soil. When the consulate came under fire they called out for help. None was forthcoming. The people calling for help were experienced military. They had a drone overhead monitoring the situation. The battle lasted over seven hours. Help was available. Even a single C-130A sent from Italy could have been there in an hour. Four honorable Americans lost their lives while serving their country. Why? Was this also a political decision? Do we now sacrifice our people for political reasons? Who was monitoring the feed from the drone? Who did they report to? We need answers. We deserve answers. Whatever was or was not done occurred in our name.

The third scandal, of course, is the pack of lies that the administration put out to cover this debacle. The stories had not even a bit of truth to them. It was not about some movie upsetting a flash mob. Any person with more than two active brain cells knew they were lies. But for weeks after, coincidentally right through the presidential debates, the administration stuck with the story. Week after week, on the Sunday talk shows and in the news papers the media allowed this story when they must have known it was a fabrication. A man in California was jailed for his part in inciting a riot that never happened. In America? Please. That is just wrong. When did our country come to this?

The fourth scandal is a little more difficult for me.  I have a tendency to accept the military as straight forward and honorable under any and all pressure. As back in Caesar's day, they would fall on their sword rather than dishonor their uniform. General Petraeus initially mouthed the party line as to the cause of the attack on Benghazi. He reiterated the obvious lies that were played to protect the administration. It is my opinion, and mine alone, that he wanted to tell the truth. Again, my opinion, he was told that if he went public, his private misfeasance would be made public. Being an honorable man who made a mistake, he did the right thing and resigned. We, as American citizens, need his testimony as to what transpired throughout this whole mess.

I am writing this piece on the evening of December 9, 2012. I plan to publish it tomorrow. I feel it is so important that I will republish this essay periodically as a reminder to those that read my blog that the administration has not answered our questions, until we finally are told the truth or have a new administration.

Differences Make A Difference

Yesterday, my wife and I attended a funeral. It was for an older woman that we have known for some time and became related to us through marriage. I was thinking about her life. It was a style of life that is not common today. To my best knowledge, she never worked outside the home. She was married once and stayed that way. Her life was focused on her home, her family, and her church. All three were essential parts of her life and she was involved with each one.

In those easier times after World War Two, most women stayed home to raise their family. A man could earn enough so support their home. Though it might not have risen to today's expectations. Houses were smaller. More people rented. One car per family was pretty much the rule. It was definitely a simpler life. 

Then all of a sudden we had a "sexual revolution". By that time I had reached an age where I was a non-combatant observer. Suddenly women insisted on the same educational and work opportunities that had been exclusively a male domain. That was generally good. There were a few things involved the were less than perfect. Employers suddenly discovered that women were smart and would work hard to prove themselves. So some employers (read that as many) exploited them by paying the less than they would a man in the same position. The other fly in the ointment was that more people in the work force caused salaries, prices, and peoples desire for more to make it necessary for most homes to have both partners working.

Over the years the lot of women in the workplace has improved. Each year they have advanced closer to parity and the glass ceiling has moved higher. Are all of the obstacles gone? I don't know. But I do know that it is better for women.

But now the social engineers in government want to take it a step farther. I feel that they are taking it one step beyond. They think it is a good thing to allow women into armed combat. I don't like the idea. I am all for women in the military. They do awesome work at whatever challenges are thrown at them. The physical requirements for armed combat would preclude almost all women. A big woman in combat condition would probably weigh around 145 lbs. A big man in the same condition would probably be around 230 lb. When heavy lifting is needed on the battle field women just don't have the muscle mass. This has nothing to do with guts, brains, or skills. It is simply a matter of size.

Fraying At The Edges

Did you ever have a piece of clothing that you absolutely loved. Maybe you've owned it a while and worn it a lot. It fit just right. And it was worn soft and comfortable. Maybe you even wear it for luck when you're watching your favorite team on TV.

Then one day you take it out of the dryer and you spot a couple of loose threads. After that, every time you wash it, it frays a little more. Finally that fateful day arrives when you are forced to decide that now it is only suitable for polishing the coffee table.

I think that we are seeing the start of a similar process happening to someone that I guess has earned it. Our President is, all of a sudden, finding things coming loose in his administration. I must say he deserves the discombobulation in which he finds himself. Since he started his first campaign, looking at everything he said and everything he promised, he has not made the grade. As a matter of fact most everything ended up the exact opposite.

"If I don't bring back jobs in my first term, I don't deserve a second." He said that in 2008. There are fewer people in the workforce than their were when he took office. He promised to reach out to other world leaders and strengthen our position and bring peace. Now our enemies hate us more than ever and no longer fear us. Our friends feel that we can't be trusted. Russia and China walk all over us.

The value of the dollar is down while the national debt is up. Salaries are down for the middle class and they are being hit with a greater tax burden. Now they find that the minimum cost for Obamacare is twenty thousand dollars per family. What, you thought it was going to be free?While our country's economics are in a mess, the President is focusing on immigration, firearms, and climate change. Always being the social engineer gay marriage and getting women into combat positions in the military have been of prime importance. Hey, they can make a movie. "Going to War With Lady SEALs." Catchy title, huh?

And to implement these poorly thought out programs, there is a constant search for political hacks to head up departments and secretariats instead of people with experience and knowledge. Chuck Hagel to replace Leon Panetta as Secretary of Defense. C'mon man.

How about that GDP? Back into negative territory. Another month of that and we are officially back into a recession. Now I know that you have been told that the recession was over and we were in recovery. Well, not exactly. We were just bumping along the bottom. The GDP never rose into sustainable territory. While the administration claimed that the unemployment rate improved, it never really did. The percentage of employable people that were employed never increased.

So you have been treated to the smoke and the mirrors. Now the magicians costume is fraying. It is fraying very rapidly. And I think I may have heard the sound of mirrors cracking.  Sometime soon the press may even notice  


Rest in Peace Chris Kyle. Thank you for your service. A life far to short for a hero.