Confederate History Month?

Yes, it's true. Great article here by Frank Rich, that sums up my attitude about it.

Somber quote in wake of the Polish anguish...

“History counts its skeletons in round numbers” -Wislawa Szymborska

"Winning" in Afghanistan

This is the rest of the discussion I mentioned briefly earlier. My buddy Joe and I were talking about the Army's nation-building skills or lack there of. What I see is the lack of a stratigic planning, or more likely many people are going through military posts with the complete interest of not fixing any of this.

"Osama bin Laden is not Adolf Hitler. Al-Qaeda is not Nazi Germany. Al-Qaeda poses a threat. It does not pose an existential threat. We should view Al-Qaeda as the equivalent of an international criminal conspiracy. Sort of a mafia that in some way or another draws its energy or legitimacy from a distorted understanding of a particular religious tradition.

And as with any other international criminal conspiracy, the proper response is a police effort. I mean, a ruthless, sustained, international police effort to identify the thugs, root out the networks and destroy it. Something that would take a long period of time and would no more succeed fully in eliminating the threat than the NYPD is able to fully eliminate criminality in New York City."

-Andrew Bacevich

Not only is this a very accurate assessment, it is the only real viable and sustainable option for us. Despite what the Neo-con and Republican circles think, the military option is untenable.

Perfectly stated...

"Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution," - Clay Shirky

Knowledge, ignorance and fear

With the new Tea Party rallies going on and the momentum that the movement is gaining I am trying to find something more than some vague principles:

Mission Statement
The impetus for the Tea Party movement is excessive government spending and taxation. Our mission is to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize our fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with our three core values of Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets.

Core Values
Fiscal Responsibility
Constitutionally Limited Government
Free Markets

More to follow.

Readjusting...

It's been two months and I need to write something... so....

*something*