When Did We Militarize The Presidency?

Time was that the President was thought of as the President. Now the news folks, those who are so busy setting the national agenda, constantly refer to the President as the Commander in Chief. Our Constitution does designate the President as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces (Article II, Section 2), however he is much more, and for most of my lifetime we didn't dwell upon the President's qualifications to be Commander in Chief.

Dwight Eisenhower had been Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, but even he was looked upon as a president, and having sent so many men into battle, he worked hard at avoiding conflict during his presidency. Few people alive today know how hard Eisenhower worked at keeping the peace. A reading of the history of the U-2 spy plane program makes it clear. As wonderful as that plane was, he didn't let them fly it anywhere where he thought it might cause a war. The Powers shoot down was a shock to him.

By the time Bill Clinton ran for president, commentators were asking whether candidates were fit to be Commander in Chief. Perhaps it was Clintoin's obvious cynical draft dodging. During the George W. Bush Administration the Secretary of Defense insisted that all world wide CINCs, that is Commanders in Chief, such as the Navy's CINCLANTFLT, or Commander in Chief, US Atlantic Fleet, undergo name changes because “there is only one Commander in Chief.” It's nice to be powerful — it enables silliness without consequence.

Considering the fact that the United States has sought out and engaged in conflict almost continuously since the early 1990s, the militarization of the presidency may be understandable, but it is unhealthy.

Haiku in Memory of The Attack on Vukovar

We are Vukovar, The dying; buildings that smoke, Let dead voices speak.

The Problem Isn't What They Say, It's What They Stand For

“We need to learn how to talk to a bigger swath of the population.” — MSNBC anchor quoting a Democratic Party operative

There's a too-often employed saying that once you put lipstick on a pig you still have a pig. That Democratic Party operative must be too young to have heard the phrase. Those voters in the big red middle of the country can read. I read “Joe's Plan.” To them it was one big Bernie Sanders socialist playbook. Whether it was a worthy playbook is irrelevant. Tell those oil states their meal ticket will be worthless in fifteen years. Rush Limbaugh has been telling them that the German's have been going through rolling blackouts since they prematurely put their nuke and coal plants to sleep.

If you look at the Wednesday morning electoral map, you will see how divided the United States really is. The emphasis on electoral vote totals is so ingrained that I haven't seen any popular vote totals, but a country this divided must be in trouble.

Night Messages

Upon a lonely limb,
We might in silence
Hang our love,
Let it call out
Into the dark.

A chilled wind carries
Hopeless words,
'Till sunrise
Drowns them out,
They cannot stand
The light of day.

A Few Thoughts on Former Vice President Joseph Biden

Since I'm writing about Mr. Biden, I'm going to begin by speaking about President Trump, just to add a little balance. I think Donald Trump is a narcissistic moron. But Joe Biden has this critical quality — he is not Donald Trump. He also appears honest. The goodness ends there. He isn't up to the job.

When Mr. Biden speaks, he sounds like an old guy who might have once had it, but now is trying to sound like he still does. That's just what Joe is — a guy who once had it, maybe. I tried reading Joe's 'plan.' It's terrible. My sister, a dyed in the wool Trump supporter, thinks Joe is a socialist. That's just Republican blather. Joe isn't organized enough to be a socialist anymore. I doubt that he had much of a hand in writing his 'plan.' In the first four pages of the 'plan,' we get the phrase 'union jobs,' 'union labor,' or 'union work force,' about twenty times. OK, Joe, I get it, Democrats are all in with the unions. Are all those folks working from home gonna be organized too? Are we going to use all those good union jobs to compete against that semi slave labor in Foxcon City? Dear reader, if you don't know what Foxcon City is, then you don't understand how China has out competed us. And they did it with the help of a Taiwanese firm. China even uses its enemies to get ahead, something that is beyond Donald Trump's ability to comprehend.

Joe's plan is going to give us a carbon pollution free power sector by 2035. Knowing the clowns in charge of his party, I suspect that won't include a massive nuclear power construction effort, so be prepared to be sitting in the dark during those rolling blackouts. The Bozos who wrote the plan think 2035 is a long way away, but from an R and D to industrial production and logistics planning point of view on a nationwide scale 2035 is the day after tomorrow, given that we're beginning from a standing start.

Joe has the federal government spending trillions on things it has not traditionally done, such as insulating homes, repairing water pipes, and such. That is an enormous increase in federal spending.

Joe's plan is a crazy quilt wish list designed to bring a smile to every corner of the balkanized Democratic Party where people seem to be lined up waiting for free stuff. It is a party of unreality that, when tempered, is bound to be much, much better than the rapacious anti science thieves and traitors who currently inhabit the Republican Party.

So . . . I believe all thinking citizens should spend at least two hours each week listening to those two Republican apologists, Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh. It's important to understand how the criminals who currently control the government perceive themselves. It doesn't take a lot of time, but knowing your enemy is important. Living in a liberal bubble isn't a good idea. There will be lots of repair work to be done. And if Joe really does get elected, we will at least have the rule of law back, and then we'll see about the rest.

Today's Haiku

love falls on deaf ears,
sad tears fall in cold silence,
awaiting an end.

The Virus Chronicles - 26 Oct 2020: Inside The Plague

 

We have been inside the plague for nine months now. At first we didn't know we were there. The smart guys in the room (Fauci, et, al) told us there was nothing to worry about. We've all forgotten that, just as we've forgotten the manipulative assurances that all hands need not wear masks. That was a deception to preserve inventory for those on the front lines. But in all modern warfare, there are no front lines. The front lines are everywhere. There are only believers and non believers. In the case of the plague, there are those who accept science, and those who wish it away. As in so many other things, the Republican party is not on the side of science, or rather, its acolytes are making their own science, just as they made the silent scream, and their very own climatology.

 

Yesterday, Mark Meadows, the President's looney Chief of Staff who was once a non productive bomb thrower in Congress, admitted that the administration had no strategy for containing the plague. Their intention is to ride it out until a vaccine is available. There was no reporter intrepid enough to ask what happens if none of the vaccines work out in the short term. They'll just keep watchin' 'em die.

 

Trumpkins who have been asked to don masks in retail establishments have attacked employees making the requests. In one case an employee had his jaw broken. That could be a preview of the state of national cordiality if The Donald fails to prevail in the election, though it's understood nothing will be decided on election day. The litigation of Bush v. Gore will seem like mere finger food compared to what's in store for us this time.