Friday, May 06, 2011

Leadership Vacuum...Part 1

I recently thought back to the first Gulf War, of which I was proudly a part of as a Aircraft Handler on board the Amphibious Assault Ship, USS New Orleans, LPH-11. I recalled the excuse used at the time for not removing Saddam Hussein from power, that it would create a leadership vacuum in the middle east paving the way for it to be filled by the likes of the Mullah's from Iran. What began as a reminisce of good times, became a review of our own current leadership vacuum, at the highest levels of the US Government.

Leadership, especially at the level required in the Office of the President, is a very visible thing, especially when it is all but non-existent. America has a long standing history of leaders. Men, and women, who stood head and shoulders above their peers, and lead the way forward. Now, let me be clear here, this is NOT a partisan thing. However, ideology does come into play. You see, it is yet another difference between Capitalist leadership and Marxist/Socialist leadership.

A Capitalist leader understands that someone has to make the call. Someone has to be the one to make the tough decision, and willing to take the lumps that come with being wrong. A Socialist leader believes that decision making is a consensus exercise. A leader from the socialist mold is basically incapable of making a decision without consensus from the collective. These leaders have to surround themselves with like minded individuals in order to ensure that the collective consensus actually occurs. Capitalist leaders understand that a leader is sometimes the loneliest person in the room. Socialist leaders can not even stand being alone in a room.

A socialist leader has to have cover and deniability at all times for any decision made. These leaders never want to have the full responsibility of made decisions on their shoulders. Thus, they rely on the argument that it was a consensus decision and therefore shift the blame for failure to someone else. This is the problem that we currently have in Washington, DC. You see it in almost every decision made or not made, by the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

We have been told that President Obama is a leader among leaders. That to question his leadership or his ideology is to be racist and insensitive. We are pounded daily by reports of his "style" of leadership and his erudition. We are treated to professorial lectures whenever We the People do not buy into his collectivist decisions. This is not leadership, on any level. Leadership is not about style and lectures. It is not about speeches and fundraising dinners. It is about standing up and standing out for your ideas and your decisions. Perhaps the questions we should have asked during the 2008 election was what had he ever been a leader of.

We have had the press try to paint Obama as a leader in the mold of Ronald Reagan. However, putting the two side by side shows just how little leadership Obama has shown in comparison. Like many great leaders in History, Reagan stood head and shoulders above those around him. He made his decisions and stood by them. He stood up to fascists and communist dictators alike with stalwart strength and resoluteness. He stood up to Qaddafi in Libya, and struck fear into the heart of the mullahs in Iran.

Now, Obama, in comparison, has failed to even engage the problems of his time. North Korea is more defiant now than two years ago. Qaddafi has defied and continues to defy America while Obama has pushed any decision making and responsibility off to some NATO collective. Iran laughs out loud of the weakness of American leadership, and China and Russia are completely unimpressed or persuaded by the President.

So, if Obama pales in comparison to Reagan, than who can he be compared to...Nero perhaps.

Thursday, May 05, 2011

Enough is Enough

I was willing to give this self serving, self centered, self aggrandizing president the benefit of the doubt. That must be the compassion that my liberal friends say I don't possess. However, after today's obvious political grandstand in NYC, I have to say...ENOUGH IS ENOUGH Barack.

You see sir, We the People are wise to your political shenanigans. That is why so many want to see the picture of OBL dead. It is time for you to get your liberal heads together in DC and get your stories straight. You see Mr. President, a true leader leaves no doubt about his goals, his vision, and what the results of his actions are. We Killed bin Laden, more to the point, the US Navy Seals and CIA Operatives killed bin Laden. Yes sir you get the credit for making the call, and you also have to deal with your base about that same call.

Leadership is saying to your people, your organization that I made this call, it was the right call, and if you don't like it, get off my bus. Don't fudge around trying to find a story that is palatable to your base. If the sycophants that propel you through life don't understand what was done than apparently there is a recently vacated compound in Abbadabad Pakistan for sale....CHEAP.

At some point Mr. Obama, people will begin to tire of the facade. People will begin to see through the veneer that you have so carefully applied in order to be president. In fact, a large portion of the people that helped get you elected have seen through the lies and deception and are leaving you in droves, and no amount of terrorist killings or military success will change that. Sir your lack of real leadership has this country smoldering in a prolonged recession with housing prices lower now than in 2008, wages are stagnate while prices for food and gas are at all time highs, and unemployment once again headed in the wrong direction. These are direct results of your leftist social justice policies and inability to understand even basic economics.

Lastly sir, your foreign policy, wherever you have applied your own brand, is an absolute shambles. You have provided no clear message or leadership in Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, or North Korea. America is supposed to be the beacon of freedom and liberty, and your policies have shown her to be a weak and flickering flame of despair. The only real successes you have had in the foreign policy arena are when you applied the tried and true method of peace through strength, as with the surge in Afghanistan and the death of Osama bin Laden.

Sir, We the People are wise to you. We know all to well the road your policies are taking us, and we do not like the direction. I look forward to the fields of debate in this next election cycle and truly hope that a candidate arises who will not fail to challenge you on the basis of your ideology and lack of leadership.

Monday, May 02, 2011

The King is Dead...Long live the King

That king of course, is the king of Al Qaeda. Thanks to the bravery and consummate professionalism of our elite operators, Usama bin Laden has reportedly been eliminated from the terrorist equation, at least as a living entity. Kudos to the President and his advisers on selecting a course of action that would reduce the opportunity for questions and conspiracies about bin Laden's death.

Today is a day for tempered celebration and retrospection. I myself was not jumping up and down for joy at the news. I was pleased, and extremely proud of the operators who took this action and rid us of this mass murderer. I don't subscribe to the partisan rhetoric from some in both ideological spectrum's for any reason. The President was presented with options for taking action based on creditable and actionable intelligence on the ground. This was something that needed to be done, and the President chose the appropriate response to the intelligence available.

In keeping with the professionalism of our special forces operators, OBL was provided with the opportunity to submit to arrest/capture and he refused. Exactly what followed will likely remain classified for a number of years, but OBL was removed from this earth by a bullet in the malignant brain bore responsibility for the deaths of so many people around the world.

In keeping with the highest traditions of the United States and the Navy, every precaution was taking to make sure that the disposal of OBL's body was done in accordance with Islamic law and precepts. We had no obligation to do this, we could have just dumped his body overboard in a standard at sea burial procedure. However, as Americans so often do, we respected his right to burial at sea based on his own religious beliefs. America once again, by acting in this manner, shows to the world that unlike those who are constantly trying to kill us, we respect their religious beliefs.

Make no mistake, Al Qaeda is not dead with OBL. In fact, we may see a dramatic surge in terrorist activity against America and its allies. The charismatic figure that was bin Laden, however, is gone. In the long run this will likely lead to division and disarray within the organization as it tries to replace a leader.

To Al Qaeda, the message has been delivered. You can run, you can try to hide, you can attempt to carry out your plans to kill innocent people, including your own. However, we will nor rest, we will not become complacent, we will not stop searching and removing those who seek to harm America and her interests. It took us almost 10 years, but your leader is dead, killed by an American Soldier with an American bullet. Should you choose to continue your course of action, should you decide to continue to make war against America and her interests around the world, we will hunt you, we will find you, and we will remove you from this planet.

God bless America, Semper Fi, Fair Winds and Following Seas. HooRah to our CIA and Special Operators on their success in this mission. Praise be to god that we suffered no loss of American lives in the process.

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