J. D. Pendry

J. D. Pendry

It is Inauguration Day. Either you voted for or against the person taking the oath. Or, you sat at home due to apathy, disenchantment, because you wished to make a personal statement or for some other as yet undefined rationalization. Either you fulfilled your obligation as a citizen to the greatest representative republic in recorded history by voting or you did not. It really is that simple. Your rationalization is irrelevant to a nation on the brink of becoming something none of us can recognize anymore. What is relevant is that if you did not participate, you forfeited your voice either for or against whatever follows the inauguration speech

Across the globe, in places you have never heard of and in places that are also in the news every single day, American fighting men and women confront people that wish you and me dead and who do not like the idea of free people choosing their leaders. They are trying to help nations of oppressed, terrorized people progress into nations of free people with the opportunity to vote for the leaders they want. They are doing just what they did at the beginning of this free nation. Voting and choice is something you value when you never before had either or maybe when it is gone.

Here in the world’s best example of freedom, a place that some scholarly types have dubbed the world’s last great hope, we consider anything approaching 50 percent as a great voter turnout. Less than half of us, who can, often choose the leaders for the rest of us. When we look at the products of some of those elections, it is not always obvious that it was the brightest 50 percent who actually went to the polls. Yet, it was the 50 percent that fulfilled an obligation of their citizenship and helped choose the direction of our nation through participation rather than consternation. If you, for whatever reason, sat it out then by your action you expressed contentment with that direction whatever twists and turns it brings. That great silent majority we hear so much about does not amount to a hill of beans if it indeed is silent on Election Day.

Following his speech, President and Commander in Chief Obama immediately began to fulfill his promises. Trying to correct what he called America’s greatest foreign policy mistake, he ordered the immediate stand down and cessation of action by all United States Military Forces currently in the Middle East. He reiterated his position that this is a war that should have never been started, should have never been waged and has resulted in wasting the lives of the bravest young Americans. He reminds us that the money wasted on George Bush’s war could easily fund many programs here at home such as his plan for subsidized and socialized medical care. While US Forces are in stand down, President Obama fulfills his next promise to hold a summit with Muslim nations for his stated purpose of improving America’s image. He then follows through on his commitment to meet unconditionally with Raul Castro, Hugo Chavez and other dictators. Michelle Obama reiterates that for the first time in her life, she is proud of her country. The question left in the minds of many Americans is what country is that exactly and is this the change with which we thought we could live?

Following her speech, President and Commander in Chief Clinton began to fulfill her promises by ordering the stand down and immediate redeployment of all United States Forces from the Middle Eastern theater of operations. She instructs the Democrat led Congress to give her legislation to sign into law that immediately repeals the Bush tax cuts and adds new taxes on energy company profits. She also wants legislation that provides a $5,000 baby bond to each of the nearly five million new babies born each year. A gift that will likely cost that baby more in a lifetime of taxes than it will actually ever be worth. She also asks for legislation that begins the national health care payroll tax deduction. This is to ensure that all Americans do, in fact, purchase health care coverage. This of course will be a proportional tax, one that distributes the total cost to those most able to pay it. Then she asks for a new payroll tax. This one she needs to fulfill her promise of a 401K retirement plan for every American. This is in addition to the increases needed to sustain the current social security and Medicare systems. Her promise of taking from some of us to the betterment of all of us is fulfilled. Somewhere Karl Marx dances a little jig. Bill Clinton continues to be Bill Clinton.

Following his speech, President McCain… Oh, sorry, there was no President McCain …

Copyright © J D Pendry 2008 All Rights Reserved

J. D. Pendry

“Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody.” – Franklin P. Adams, 1881-1960

I think Franklin understood politicians. He also understood that the lesser of evils is more often than not the reason some make it into office. I am noticing something different from that. Not long ago and in the early morning hours on my way to work, I was putting some three dollar a gallon gasoline in my truck when another gentleman pulled up to the opposite side of the pump. Did you ever have a perfect stranger start discussing presidential politics with you at 5 AM? You are not quite sure how you should react. Should you nod, smile, agree, debate or feel your coat pocket to make sure your gun is in there? My philosophy is that when standing at the gas pump in the early morning; check your coat pocket because you never know when the meat clever might appear.

This gentleman was rather distraught. First he grumbled about the price of gasoline. I nodded and smiled. Then he said out of the blue, Edwards would have fixed that. Edwards was a union man he said and he was going to take on those oil companies. My first inclination was to roll my eyes, but my spidey sense activated and stopped the eyebrows just as they began to head north. Now that Edwards had quit the campaign, he could not bring himself to vote for any of the Democrat remainders. He figured they could not win anyway so he thought he would just stay home on Election Day. Let the doggoned Republicans keep it. The more he talked, the more the pitch of his voice rose and the more he looked like Chris Matthews with a little bit of spittle hanging from the corner of his mouth and his eyes flashing. With my hand in my pocket, I started whistling and keeping watch for the meat clever.

Just as I was thinking that people wired as tight as that needed their medications adjusted and should have to undergo psychiatric evaluation before being allowed to vote for anything, I arrived at work and switched the radio on to the local morning talk program. The host began his morning by lamenting how the only true constitutional conservative candidate in the contest was not getting the media attention or voter support he deserved. It was Ron Paul. This time I did roll my eyes, because in the office at 6 AM it was only me and the security guard. Then he started his anti John McCain rant. I do not know much about radio broadcasting, except for my qualifications as a listener. Do the microphones have spit and splatter guards on them? Because just as I hit the off switch the screeching had risen to an irritating pitch and I got an image of fists pounding, eyes flashing and a noggin exploding. I was convinced beyond doubt that this particular host would certainly not sacrifice the purity of his conservativeness by voting for Senator John McCain to be the President of his United States. I could only conclude that, like meat clever man back at the gas pump, he was saving his political purity for that Election Day when his idea of the perfect candidate arrived on the scene.

I put a Norah Jones CD into the computer, which was much more soothing than the screeching I had just switched off. I began perusing the morning headlines before the workday began. Scrolling through I noticed that Ann Coulter stated that not only would she not vote for John McCain, but if he was the Republican candidate she would campaign and vote for Hillary Clinton. Now I like Miss Coulter. She strikes me as being a very bright woman. I enjoy reading her work. Lord knows that she has made much money writing it, a good bit from me actually, whereas I have made zilch except for an occasional yet tiny royalty check. So, maybe I am ill-qualified to criticize. Sometimes, however, I believe people become a little too self-absorbed. I bought and read Miss Coulter’s latest book. It turned out to be a compilation of her own quotes from her previous work. I have a book titled The Quotable Lewis, which is a collection of C. S. Lewis quotes organized by topic. Mr. Lewis did not need to compile it himself. Ann with her vote for Hillary slam of McCain, I expect is trying to preserve her political virtue for her encounter with the perfect conservative.

Rush Limbaugh insists that as far as the war is concerned, it does not matter who is elected because the Democrats will not withdraw from Iraq and accept defeat. Rush is probably right, they will not withdraw. Instead, they will saddle our Soldiers with a Vietnam like strategy that hamstrings them and gets many more of them killed after which they will declare peace and leave. Rush says that if the country is going to be destroyed, he prefers that Democrats own the destruction. The politicians never own it Rush we do and the sad conclusion is that in a war, credit for victory always belongs to the politicians and defeat is always shackled to the Soldiers. But, what the heck? We will build a nice memorial somewhere.

So, your perfect candidate just might not be on the ticket. Republicans were not conservative enough for many in 2006 so voters stayed home to reinforce the views provided by self-proclaimed, flawless and pure conservative pundits – who mostly have never had to make a national policy decision. Because they stayed home, we get to watch Henry Waxman worry over the possible needle tracks in Roger Clemmons’ butt while our ability to monitor the communications of our enemies just fades away.

So, stay home and wait for that time in history when everything aligns and your idea of Mr. or Ms. Perfect materializes. But, just remember that when you do you are taking action and whatever happens to the country because of it, you own it.

“Right actions done for the wrong reason do not help to build the internal quality or character called a “virtue,” and it is this quality of character that really matters.” – C. S. Lewis

Copyright © J. D. Pendry, 2008, All Rights Reserved

J. D. Pendry

When Johnny comes marching home again
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We’ll give him a hearty welcome then
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer and the boys will shout
The ladies they will all turn out
And we’ll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.

Mr. Frank Woodruff Buckles is 107 years old. A resident of Charles Town, West Virginia, he is the last known surviving Veteran of World War I. Most Americans, I believe, cannot tell you very much about the war meant to end all wars. They could not talk to you about American Army recruits boarding ships headed for Europe having never fired a rifle in training. They never fired them because they did not have them. Our standing regular Army before entering the war was practically nonexistent by any reasonable standard of measurement. Mentioning names like Ardenne, Belleauwood, Chateau-Terrie, and Meusse-Argonne will probably not get a conversation started outside of military circles. Most also do not know that men like Mr. Buckles were not welcomed home with a GI Bill of Rights to help them restart their post war lives as were the Veterans of World War II.

World War II Veterans came home to a grateful nation. Grateful, because we were a nation at war then rather than a nation preoccupied with which celebrity overdosed this week while its Soldiers were at war. World War II Veterans were fortunate to have the GI Bill of Rights, The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944. If you study it, you will learn that it did not come easily as most things of value do not come easily from our politicians. In the end, it was as much about trying to make themselves feel better for their neglect of World War I Veterans as it was to help World War II Veterans restart life. Regardless of what motivated each individual Congressman, the GI Bill provided one of the greatest returns to our nation of any investment ever made in it by a collection of politicians.

Before the war, college and homeownership were, for the most part, unreachable dreams for the average American. Thanks to the GI Bill, millions who would have flooded the job market instead opted for education. In the peak year of 1947, veterans accounted for 49 percent of college admissions. By the time the original GI Bill ended on July 25, 1956, 7.8 million of 16 million World War II veterans had participated in an education or training program.

Of our living Veterans, 13.9 percent (2006 statistics) are World War II Veterans. 39 percent of our total Veteran Population is over 65 years old. Some who read this will be present on the day when someone writes about the last surviving Veteran of World War II. If there is by that time anyone left who would care to write or read about it.

Our largest population of Veterans is from the Vietnam era, comprising 33.5 percent of our total Veteran population. This group of Veterans endured combat in a politically mismanaged war that they were not allowed to win. Those who were grateful to them for their service had their voices drowned out by those who welcomed them home with baby killer signs and mischaracterization of their service in all forms of the media. They were repeatedly Kerryed, but rarely thanked or defended. The 1960s provided us with the ugliest view of some Americans and politicians. Young men and women sent off to fight a war that our political leaders believed necessary and once the politicians got them into it they seemed to always be facing 3 down with 9 yards to go in a never ending game of political football. How does a young person understand being sent to a place where every single person he confronts might want to kill him only to come home to a collection of people that openly detest his very existence?

Nothing much has changed since then. In print and broadcast media and by politicians, our Veterans and serving Men and Women are still mischaracterized. In the most recent episode of liberal lunacy, the Berkeley, California city council voted to tell the United States Marine Corps Recruiters that they are unwelcomed intruders in the Republic of Berkeley. I will bet you my tiny Military Retirement check that if these were Murtha Marines, the Berkeley city council would offer them the keys to the city. This is not new for Berkeley. In October 2005, I wrote Cancelled in Berkeley about how old anti-war hippie Joe McDonald caused the city’s Veteran’s Day observances to be cancelled. I will also bet you that this nonsensical collection of miscreants got more press than did Mr. Buckles.

So, here we are now with an apparent Presidential nominee who is a War Veteran and former Prisoner of War. One who clearly sacrificed in service of his country. If you read last week’s posting, you know that I’m not a fan of the politics of Senator John McCain and had the Republican Party bosses here in Wild Wonderful given me the opportunity, I would have voted for another candidate. But let us put that aside for a minute. The Senator will oppose either the first Black or Woman candidate for the Presidency, both of them liberal media darlings of the Berkeley class of politicians – make no doubt. I will make you another wager. In the not too distant future, the papers will fill with stories of post traumatic stress disorder hinting that someone who has endured the traumatic events of war that Senator McCain has must surely suffer from it. Then will follow the stories about his temper and hot headedness ad nauseam and all of it meant to not so subtly put the question of fitness into the minds of voters. The people who have made careers out of loathing the military will not change their spots to be nice to War Veteran and Prisoner of War Senator John McCain.

As you enter the voting booth on Election Day, you may not have it in your heart because of your political disagreements to vote for Senator McCain. Maybe you might want to consider accepting the task as I have. In the interest of Service Men and Women, Veterans and the security of our country – even Berkeley – I must and will pull the lever against Obama or Clinton.

Let love and friendship on that day,
Hurrah, hurrah!
Their choicest pleasures then display,
Hurrah, hurrah!
And let each one perform some part,
To fill with joy the warrior’s heart,
And we’ll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.

Copyright © J D Pendry, 2008, All Rights Reserved

J. D. Pendry

Don’t you know me, I’m your native son? –from City of New Orleans, written by Steve Goodman and recorded by Arlo Guthrie

I have been looking for a candidate to support for president. Now that Woody’s boy, Arlo, has endorsed Ron Paul it is becoming clearer to me what I need to do. Take a harder look the least endorsed candidate.

Mike Huckabee is endorsed by Chuck Norris. His odds of surviving this contest as the nominee are about as good as a fried chicken leg’s chances of surviving a Baptist Church dinner. He is running to stop Romney and hoping to be rewarded for it as McCain’s VP choice.

John McCain has Sylvester Stallone’s and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s endorsements. Listening to Fox news on the satellite radio in my truck the other morning, I also became convinced that Geraldo Rivera has a serious man crush on the Senator. It got gushy. I was waiting for a parental guidance warning. He is also endorsed by the Lindsey Graham, gang of 14 liberal Republican types. It is difficult to go against the seasoned wisdom of Rambo, the Terminator, liberal Geraldo, and Lindsey Graham, but I am trying hard to contain myself.

I know the Senator, not personally, but I know him. Anyone who has served in the Armed Forces of our great country for any length of time knows the Senator. He is the occasionally encountered mediocre commander who firmly believes he is a better First Sergeant than the actual First Sergeant is and sets about daily to prove it concurrently neglecting his own role and responsibilities. Senator McCain believes he is a better Commander in Chief than the serving one and has spent 8 years trying to prove that as well. He believed he was a better Secretary of Defense than was Donald Rumsfeld. His actions showed that he believed he was a better Senate majority leader than Bill Frist was. The pattern will not change. I promise you that he also believes he is a better General than those now serving. As Commander in Chief, John McCain, who always knows better, will be way down in the weeds making decisions that should be made on the ground and in real time. That is how we fought and lost the war in Vietnam. Being allied with John Kerry though, he probably is not too clear on how all of that happened. Setting aside his liberal leanings on amnesty for illegal immigrants, taxes, environment and energy, I believe that he is also a military disaster in waiting. The failure he may deliver will only be slower and more painful to Soldiers than the failure Obama or Clinton will bring about. What he and the media tout as his strongest attribute is his most dangerous one for our country. For conservative talk radio, how far away can the Fairness Doctrine be for the man who helped write the legislation that already limits our rights to free speech?

Only one Republican candidate stands without a major celebrity or political endorsement, unless you count a few radio talkers leaning toward him and some ex-politicians. I have grown quite cynical of politicians over the years. People endorse political candidates for different reasons. When I see media celebrities and liberal leaning politicians contorting themselves to laude an alleged opposition candidate such as McCain, it causes me to wonder why. For the politicians, the most obvious reason is that they do not want someone who is not a member of their club. That might upset the Washington status quo. For the celebrities, who actually cares what their motives are. They do, however, bring along with them a percentage of mushy headed people who will actually vote for the politician because of the celebrity. Politicians simply hedge their bets. Those publicly endorsing McCain are members of the Washington country club and the conventional wisdom tells them he is going to win the nomination. Maybe he will win. Gerald Ford won and we got 4 years of Jimmy Carter because of it.

There is no longer a major political party in America than can claim conservatism as its mantle. Both parties are tilting left toward liberal socialism and are beholden to special interest groups. One is only slightly to the left of the other and you and I are not the groups in which they appear interested. If my choices on Election Day are McCain and either Obama or Clinton, I don’t see that there is a dime’s worth of difference. I will not go as far as Ann Coulter has declared she will and vote for Hillary Clinton, but maybe I will write in a name. Arlo, Chuck or Rambo maybe. When it is all done, a meaningless write-in is going to make about as much sense to me as a vote for John McCain or another member of the club will.

Maybe I’ll just forget it all and go hang out with Arlo. After all, “You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant. Excepting Alice.” Or a President.

Copyright © 2008 J D Pendry All Rights Reserved

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