Thursday, March 31, 2016

Courage comes in all forms: The last great act of Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko

These are purported to be the last words of Russian Army Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko, a forward observer deployed against Syrian rebels who had identified and surrounded his position as he was calling fire in on them.

He left behind an expectant wife and the respect of the entire professional military world.  This is the text of what is purported to be his final communication with his firebase.

Don't misunderstand me: I in no way am a supporter of either side in Syria.  But some times, courage transcends politics.  This is one of those times... and I stand in awe of this young man who sacrificed his life for HIS country... just like we do for ours.

Prokhorenko : command I am compromised, I repeat I am compromised.

Command: Please say again and confirm.

Prokhorenko : They have spotted me, there are shooting everywhere, I am pinned, requesting immediate extraction.

Command: Extraction request acknowledged.

Prokhorenko : Please hurry I am low on ammo, they seem to [be] everywhere, I can’t hold them for too long please hurry.

Command: Confirmed, hold them off, continue returning fire, retreat to a safe position, air support is monitoring, state your coordinates

Prokhorenko : [gives coordinates which are blurred in the transcript]
Command: [command repeats coordinates which are blurred.] Confirm

Prokhorenko : Confirmed, please hurry I am low on ammo, they are surrounding me, bastards!

Command: ETA on evacuation 12 minutes, return to the green line, I repeat return to the green line.

Prokhorenko : They are close, I am surrounded, this may be the end, tell my family I love them dearly.

Command: Return to the green line, continue returning fire, help is on the way, followed by air support.

Prokhorenko : Negative, I am surrounded, they are so many of these bastards!

Command: Extract ETA 10 minutes, return to the green line.


Prokhorenko : I can’t they have surrounded me and are closing in, please hurry.

Command: Return to the green line, I repeat return to the green line.

Prokhorenko : They are outside, conduct the airstrike now please hurry, this is the end, tell my family I love them and I died fighting for my motherland.

Command: Negative, return to the green line.

Prokhorenko : Unable command, I am surrounded, they are outside, I don’t want them to take me and parade me, conduct the airstrike, they will make a mockery of me and this uniform. I want to die with dignity and take all these bastards with me. Please my last wish, conduct the airstrike, they will kill me either way.

Command: Please confirm your request.

Prokhorenko : They [are] outside, this is the end commander, thank you, tell my family and my country I love them. Tell them I was brave and I fought until I could no longer. Please take care of my family, avenge my death, good bye commander, tell my family I love them!

Command: [No response, orders the airstrike]
What amazing courage and presence of mind.

Respect.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Lesson learned about media manipulation.

"We report.  You decide."

Here locally, the democratian has been on their anti-conservative jihad for the last couple of decades generally... and against effective conservatives particularly (Madore/Mielke/Benton) for the past few years taken to a higher level.

But it's not just the leftist media that engages in an effort of rampant manipulation.

FOXNews now plays the game as much as MSNBC.

There poll, an obvious outlier, shows Trump at only +3 nationwide.  They're acting like it's all over for Trump, as they have done at least a dozen times before... only to have to wipe the egg off their face repeatedly.   And the polls that show Trump collapsing to Cruz are obvious nonsense to anyone paying attention.

But not to FOXNews.  And when other polls come out showing how idiotic FOXNews polling was here, they won't even mention it.

Recently, the issues of Donald Trump's campaign manager has again shot to the fore, with a misdemeanor charge of simple assault resulting in FOXNews' effort to equate it with a serial rapist and to use that to splatter Trump... never mind that the prosecutor is in the tank for HillBilly.

I can see mentioning the allegation... and that, of course, is all it is: an allegation.

But to focus on it as if it mattered; repeatedly, 24/7?

That's a level of hatred that would make Lying Lefty Lou Brancaccio blush in envy.  In fact, FOXNews is doing their own imitation of the daily democrat here locally, and they've set their sights on Trump.

Trump says something, and they stuff a camera into the faces of his opponents and ask them what THEIR opinion of his words are.

Well, what do you EXPECT them to be?  And why would anyone care what those clowns have to say?

You see, rarely does it go the other way: rarely do we see each and every speech undergo their microscope and then, once parsed, do they go for Trump's opinion, relative to the reverse happening to Trump.

To that end, FOXNews HAS reported and I HAVE decided: I've decided that don't want Trump to be president any more than they want Sanders.  I have decided they will do anything they can to keep that from happening, including harping on their bizarre, outlier polls as if they were legit... to make that happen.

They are, in effect, as guilty of bias as that scumbag in Vancouver that runs the daily rag.

And like so many other elements of dishonorable politics, BOTH sides engage in it: not just the left.

Those of us on the right would like to THINK that lies, manipulation, exaggeration and that sort of thing is the hallmark of the left: after all, hasn't MSNBC become the punch-line of a million jokes on the subject of media bias?

But now, the allegations from the left concerning FOXNews are beginning to ring truer and truer; perhaps just not the way they would suggest.

The outcome, however, is the same.

As I look at the current situation: the idea that Ted Cruz can't seem to keep his pants zipped for example, made a quick splash and then, just as quickly, FOXNews made it disappear, even though there appears to be more evidence, IMHO, that it did happen then it didn't; it would seem that FOXNews intense focus on this issue... which has precisely nothing to do with Trumps suitability or lack thereof for the presidency, is the thing.

This is the equivalent of Trump's driver getting a parking ticket.  It has zero relevance to the campaign, zero relevance to Trump's ability to govern and, in fact, is the same kind of "gotcha" politics the leftist outfits practice.

I could care less if the guy even did it or not.

Unlike Cruz's zipper, this issue has nothing to do with Trump as an individual.  FOXNews knows that, so by hammering him on it, hour in, hour out; day in, day out; they're attempting to MAKE it an issue to negatively impact Trump's efforts in the primary.

So now, instead of watching FOXNews, which has lost any pretense of fairness or non-bias, I'm finding myself watching decade-old JAG reruns on INSP with a soupçon of "Our First Flip" or whatever it is on DIY (comedy gold) because I'm not interested in watching ANY political jihad network, left OR right.

This is yet another indicator of the insanity of this election cycle.  But like so much in politics... it does tend to bring out the true colors of those in positions of power.  And it's going to get far worse before it gets any better.  If it ever does.

And like so many others... I loath what I see.

RINO RIvers screws us with her vote again.

While different from her utter betrayal on the gas tax/tab fee increase vote of hers that helped to hang a $1500 or so tax anchor around our necks, it does go to her RINO pattern of supporting either the left or the Establishment's efforts to screw us when it comes to taxes or expenditures.

Every other voting legislator... or EITHER party... voted "no" on the budget... except for Rivers.

Once again, her vote was not needed for passage: the final tally for the budget vote was 27-17, two more votes than required... much like Rivers' vote to raise the gas tax/tab fees in violation of her pledge to us all to OPPOSE any increases in the gas tax/tab fees... since we've "spoken" and all... and she has "listened."


And there's no doubt that she HAS "listened."  The problem, of course, is that she's not listening to US.

Talk about being co-opted by the special interests.


Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Dinner with Sandernistas...

So, last night, we had dinner with two more avowed followers of Bernie Sanders.

And a fascinating experience it was.

Did you know that 9/11 was an inside job?

Or that Sanders isn't supported by corporate money?

And that TRUMP followers have shown "alarming aggression?" (Because, for example, Trump supporters block traffic and cause riots to keep Sanders from speaking...)

Or that muslim attacks in the United States are OUR fault?  (Think in terms of a fringe-left Ron Paul.)

And that the mere support or opposition of policy by the American people is enough to drive policy.

Or that the fact that Hillary Clinton has amassed millions more votes than Sanders "doesn't mean much" because he's got "momentum" and the super delegates will all bail on Hillary and shift to Sanders... as if the Establishment doesn't exist on the Left.

And that the explanation for the movement for delegates to be armed at the National Convention is so Trump delegates can take the convention over and force their guy to be nominated?

And that Sanders can pay for all the free stuff.

It was sickening to listen to.  It was the complete ignorance of youth.

It was altruistically based nonsense.  It was an exercise in self-restraint on my part.

And it's being duplicated among millions in this country... who want something to believe in so badly that they overlook the warts on this worm... the 30 years in the Senate with the passage of a single bill... the concept of stealing from the rich to distribute to the not-rich... the turning of a blind eye to the Venezuelas and Greeces of the world to the artificially enhanced socialism of the "Nordic" countries... because the reality of the Venezuelan and Grecian socialist disasters do not fit the meme and are, therefore, to be disregarded.

Or that the United States has no foreign policy responsibilities around the world... like our withdrawal from the world scene would not result in one of those vacuums filled by the Russians and the Chinese.

This, of course, was the early 20th century view that arguably resulted in World Wars One and Two.

Look, I get why these two believe in this: they have to believe in it to suspend their disbelief to support this guy.

But to me, after the Trump remark, when I asked them what was going to happen when Sanders did not get nominated, I was told "...that's when the REAL Revolution will start."

"What does that look like?" I asked.

I didn't get an answer.

On one hand, it was heartening to see that the young can believe in something... anything... so strongly.

On the other hand, it was DISheartening to see the remarkable ignorance and lack of political self-awareness that was on display.

Sanders is as much a sellout as any of the rest of them.  He's tapped into youthful ignorance and gullibility in the same way that Trump is tapping into anger at the betrayal of the GOP Establishment from the bogus promises they made to meet with such success at the national level... such as the fake promise to repeal Obamacare.

His shtick that he's not getting corporate backing is nonsense, as a quick view of OpenSecrets.org shows.

These people are zealots.  Most are.

Ultimately, there are mirrored problems here: if Sanders doesn't get his way, he and his people are going to throw a fit.

If Trump doesn't get HIS way, he and HIS people are going to throw a fit.

But if, as I was told, revolution in the classic sense breaks out over this insanity... the left is going to lose.

Big.

Monday, March 28, 2016

Proposal: Washington State Veteran's Suicide Program

Earlier, I had been pledged an effort by Rep. Liz Pike to implement a state-level Veteran's Suicide Program of some sort to pick up the obvious slack of the failures in that regard of the federal Veteran's Administration program.

Washington State has a large veteran/active duty population.  Lack-luster efforts have been made and are being made by the Fed to address this problem... but those efforts are failing at a spectacular rate.

Yes, this is a federal problem.  I freely admit it. But those dying and those at risk are immune to issues of bureaucratic territorial authority/jurisdiction.

Frequently, the VA system fails us.  Not always... but far too often.  I believe the problem of suicide is one of those issues.

Unfortunately, Rep. Pike failed to act.  At all.  Just too busy.
I signed into several related bills and voted yes on all that came up for a vote. I can work more on this over summer. Short sessions are tough.
Liz sponsored 34 bills these past two sessions.  One more would have been one too many.

And unfortunately, I can't find ANY "related bills" that were introduced by ANYONE TO sign onto.  And the source for that information was the list of bills Pike actually did sign on to.

Here's how I envision it:
The Fed has dropped the ball on suicide prevention on Veterans.  I have no idea what the vet suicide rate is in Washington State, but it’s likely substantial with our active/reserve/guard and veteran population within the state.

I’m thinking that the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs might be a great place to coordinate this program.  Might be worth a call or two from your office to find out.

I suggest that a veteran suicide hotline might be, say, 711 as a phone number or something… an easy number to remember once publicized.

I see a shop set up in veteran’s affairs, staffed around the clock with, at a minimum, para-professional psych types who can defuse a situation, get medical support as needed, provide psych support at the caller’s location and identify psychiatric assets in any given geographic area and coordinate that treatment.
The purpose of this exercise isn’t to make something happen in the brief time left in session.  But this can be extremely high profile while sticking it to the VA and our US Senators for failing our Veteran/Active population in this situation.  They’re talking: you’re acting...
The horror stories are, for example, easy to find… Veterans killing themselves in VA Hospital parking lots, PTSD types committing criminal acts because they can’t get the help they need…
The start can be psychiatric issues… PTSD and that sort of thing… with, perhaps, a segue into actual medical treatment for service-connect physical ailments.
The Fed is failing us.  This may be the beginning of a way to take care of those most troubled and most in need instead of turning a blind eye to the problem because it’s not our job… it belongs to the Fed.
And we’re dying because of it.
I, of course, will not be benefiting in any way from such a program.  My empire won't be expanded... no money in my pocket as a result.

And maybe... just maybe... we can put an end to this sort of thing.





Mark Makela for The Daily Beast



ASHES TO ASHES

03.27.16 7:10 PM ET

Veteran Burned Himself Alive Outside VA Clinic

A retired sailor walked nine miles from his home to the facility where he was being treated and committed a fiery suicide.
NORTHFIELD, New Jersey — The last evidence of the life of Charles Richard Ingram III is a circle of scorched earth next to a Veterans Affairs clinic.
Ingram, a seven-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, arrived at the VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic around 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 19. He had been there before for treatment, but this would be his last visit.
The 51-year-old walked nine miles from his home in Egg Harbor, past an American Legion park and a memorial dedicated to military veterans, before finally stopping a few yards short of the clinic parking lot curb. Once there, he doused himself in gasoline and set himself on fire.
A motorist called 911, according to Capt. Paul Newman of the Northfield Police Department, and firefighters arrived three minutes later. A bystander was already at Ingram’s side, trying to extinguish the fire with blankets. Twenty minutes later, Ingram was airlifted to Temple University Burn Center in Philadelphia, where he died that evening.
“I’ve seen people die before with complications associated with minor burns, but he was 100 percent burned,” Northfield assistant fire chief Lauren William Crooks told The Daily Beast. “Gasoline burns extremely hot, so how he survived the short time that he did was in my opinion a little unbelievable, but people react in unpredictable ways to trauma.”
Self-immolation accounted for 0.04 percent of all suicides in the United States in the past 15 years on record. (By comparison, firearms were used in approximately 50 percent of suicides.) The act is most commonly associated with protest, as in the iconic images of Buddhist monks in Tibet and South Vietnam.
Capt. Newman said he was supposed have the afternoon off but was called in and arrived before Ingram was evacuated.
“Regardless of where you work, that’s a significant thing, one you hope to never have to see in your career,” he said.
On a recent day, a halo of black char crowned an arc of the oblong plot of black dirt in the otherwise verdant field outside the clinic. An oak tree’s trunk was ashen gray at the base and charcoal black above, the sole witness to Ingram’s suicide. The dirt had been raked and the mound dressed in flowers and flags.
Three floral bouquets were laid at the burnt edge next to a stylized cross; a crystal butterfly atop a thin wrought iron pedestal was flanked by two spotless American flags; a pinwheel with metallic red, white, and blue spokes stood beside another bouquet. Someone had placed a single empty bottle of pale ale in front of one of the flags. Altogether it would have resembled a solemn grave had it not been so strikingly scarred by the recent moment of violence there.
“Rich,” as he was known to family and friends, served in the Navy from 1985 to 1992, attaining the rank of chief petty officer. He left behind a wife, Billie, and two children, ages 3 and 5. The day before he killed himself, a local newspaper photographed the kids playing with other locals at nearby John F. Kennedy Park. Two days prior was his wife’s birthday; his daughter’s fourth birthday was two weeks away.
No one answered the door at the Ingram home in Egg Harbor Township on the Saturday afternoon one week after his death. The house number was short its last digit, which was peeling away from the mailbox, the front yard and porch were bare, and a pickup truck, bright white and freshly washed, was parked on the gravel drive beside the house. The blinds of the front window were unevenly gapped in half a dozen places as if habitually peeked through but never properly opened. (Family members said they were not ready to speak when reached by The Daily Beast via telephone.)
Ingram’s last years in the Navy were aboard the amphibious command ship the USS La Salle, one of five vessels in the Persian Gulf when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. Ingram stayed at sea throughout Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He was chief on deck when the La Salle cruised into Ash Shuaybay, Kuwait, on March 12, 1991, the first American warship to enter the newly liberated port.
After retiring from the service, Ingram married Billie Bessler; the two lived briefly in Pennsylvania before settling in the house she still owns in Egg Harbor.
The clinic in Northfield is a community-based outpatient clinic of the VA Medical Center in Wilmington, Delaware. The VA’s Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) serve patients in rural or remote locations who may not be able to travel to main hubs as a result of physical disabilities or psychiatric illnesses. Since most of the specialists, including psychiatrists, only see patients at the hub medical centers, CBOCs schedule “telehealth” appointments: closed-circuit “office visit” teleconferences. (Telehealth was first pioneered in combat medicine to provide troops in places like Afghanistan access to mental health services.) The approach is not intended to work like “phoning it in,” though: The VA’s guidelines for telehealth prescribe an intensive outpatient regimen of weekly sessions taking about five hours each. If Ingram received psychiatric services at the Northfield clinic, as Capt. Newman said, then it is likely he availed himself of telehealth or was waiting to do so.







EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, NJ - March 25, 2016. A memorial forms beside charred earth outside a Veterans Affairs clinic, where a 51 year old man set himself on fire with gasoline last Saturday.  He is currently hospitalized in critical condition.  Credit: Mark Makela for The Daily Beast

Mark Makela for The Daily Beast

A memorial forms beside charred earth outside a Veterans Affairs clinic in Egg Harbor Township, NJ, where 51 year-old Charles Richard Ingram III set himself on fire with gasoline last Saturday.

A memorial service for Ingram is scheduled for April 2 at the United Methodist Church of Mantua. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Operation Smile.


The CCRINO candidate's refusal to communicate.

Look, the crux of the matter is simple: the CCRINO candidates (McDaniel, Noelck and Blom) are being used as cudgels to nail conservatives.

On the 16th of this month (March) I emailed the CCRINO candidates the following question:

Recently you announced as a Republican, your desire to run against another incumbent Republican in the upcoming primary.

I would appreciate knowing, with specificity, why we should vote for you over the candidate endorsed by or running as the incumbent.

Specifically, since the County charter was fully implemented this past January, I would like to know where you would have voted any differently whatsoever, in any matter that has come up in front of the County Council, that would be different in any way than the votes of counselors Boldt, Stewart, and Olson.  Or, for that matter, Councilor Madore.

I look forward to your response as a prospective constituent, and am intrigued at the prospect of closely watching your campaign as you seek to justify replacing the current incumbent or the candidate endorsed by the incumbent who was so instrumental in helping to kill the worst project this County has ever known, specifically the CRC… A subject you seemed to be remarkably quiet about when it really mattered.

Thank you for your time
None of them have responded.

And that's the bottom line.

My own Senator, Ann "Gas Tax" Rivers continues to fail to respond to an email I sent her asking for clarification of her lie uttered in her town hall meeting in Battle Ground last January wherein she made the fallacious claim that had she voted against the gas tax/tab fee increases she had pledged to oppose to get elected, the taxpayers of Clark County would have been responsible for $7 BILLION in taxes, vacuumed out of our local economy to support King County's boondoggle Big Dig and replacement of the floating bridge disaster... as if I, as a constituent, am not worthy of a response.

Why should any of these political traitors be given the opportunity to take office so THEY can ignore us on matters of governance... or so they can vote like the Three Stooges on the county council already do?

Is a bill passed any more with a super-majority than with a 3 - 2 majority?

This is vindictive politics at its very best.

This is CCRINO revenge politics... what's best for them... and not us.

Saturday, March 26, 2016

In our hide our heads in the sand world...

Is the Cruz sex-scandal fatal?

So, reports have it that Ted has something of a problem keeping it zipped up.

If true, will it be fatal?  Or will we see a "tit-for-tat" from Trump's ex's?

The timing is obvious.  The question is one of both source (Where did it come from?) and veracity.  (How true is it?)

The source for most of this is the National Enquirer.

They've got a relatively recent history of goring the high and mighty on this issues: Most famously, perhaps, skewering the political career of then-rising star John Edwards, for example.

The nature of their rag has certainly caused massive doubt.  But the question here is this: what if they're right?

Local politicians have a problem keeping their clothes on, to be sure.  I have little doubt that rampant adultery is the de jour hobby of the powerful in the seats of all governments, from the local to the national level, with intermediate stops at the county and state level.

(Look up "Aaron Reardon," for a particularly brutal case of a guy thinking with the wrong head... and fragging his otherwise bright political future.)

In some instances, this type of information, if publicized, would certainly damage the future prospects of local pols engaging in this sort of thing.  "TrusTed" will likely suffer at least some level of damage as a result of all of this as well, since his shtick is primarily evangelicals, who, I believe, take a rather dim view of that sort of thing.

Locals have indicated disbelief.  That's to be expected as they find their confidence in their guy to be, well, shattered.

Here, of course, is where I point out that when it comes to sex and the powerful, it makes no difference between the hated Establishment and the political mavericks.

Lousiana GOP US Senator David Vitter had this kind of problem and survived it to win reelection, though he subsequently lost an election bid to replace the term-limited Governor Bobby Jindal..  Somehow.  He was one of those Jim Bakker hypocrite-types, family value variety, who happened to kind of get caught with his equipment hanging out.

Meanwhile, this thing is percolating and other sources have come forward to at least partially confirm the allegations:

BREAKING: Washington Times Reporter Drops Bomb On Ted Cruz Mistress Allegations (PHOTOS)
 
Last Updated on March 25, 2016 
The April 4 edition of The National Enquirer makes damaging claims about Ted Cruz in a bold, above-the-fold headline. But don’t be so quick to write it off as another silly claim by a silly tabloid. A political columnist for The Washington Times just backed up the story that Cruz had multiple extramarital affairs.
cruz drew johnson
The first actual measure of impact is going to be April 5 in Wisconsin:  Fortunately for Scott Walker, Wisconsin Governor and earliest casualty of the GOP Primaries,  out of sheer, dumb, luck, he hadn't endorsed Cruz as yet.

Between now and then, however, polling is likely to make the impacts known and then the question will become which way will most of the votes go: Kasich, who has a better chance of winning the lottery than becoming the nominee... or Trump, who's path to the nomination likely cleared a great deal today with the discussion of these allegations against Cruz.

Because of the stage, there's a possibility that Cruz may not only not get the nomination, but likely have to resign his Senate seat.

Time will tell.  But I believe time is likely up for TrusTed. And if he fails to file suit against the National Enquirer, then he WILL be in trouble as this sort of thing takes on an Anthony Weiner-life-of-its-own.

Friday, March 25, 2016

If it's not Trump, I'm voting democrat. Further, I'll vote democrat over any CCRINO.

As I watch the machinations of the GOP Establishment types at both the local and national levels, I've decided I will not vote for a CCRINO or any GOP'er not named Trump.

Look, clearly, the CCRINOs are being manipulated by democrats (Jim Mains, Hector Hoshino, Temple Lentz, die hard, fringe leftists all) into supporting the candidates the left wants in office, most recently the Young Democrat-endorsed Marc Boldt, a clueless moron who actually cries during meetings (Shades of John Boehner) and now, they've been actively assisting the CCRINOs in recruiting and running fake Republicans against conservative incumbents.

Well, for me, there's no need to vote for a fake democrat when we can get the real thing.  And I am not remotely interested in rewarding the CCRINO scum for their hissy fit bercause the base kicked their collective asses out.

And the idea that the cowards running the national GOP are working ten times harder to keep Trump from getting the nomination than they ever did to stop Obama from wrecking this country and a large part of this planet is certainly not confidence-inspiring.

To that end, I will vote for whichever democrat is on the ballot if these clowns screw the people out of a Trump candidacy through their back-room maneuvering.

You see, I will never vote for the "settle-for" candidate again.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

America to Establishment: Who the hell are you people?

Politically, there is nothing more that I hate than "The Establishment."

For me, The Establishment is the same both locally and nationally.

They're a group of people who simply do not give a damn what the people they would govern want as long as THEY stay in power.

Locally, The Establishment are scum who fit the mold completely.  For one reason or another, they've been kicked out of their positions of privilege within the local party hierarchy and find themselves adrift from being the centers of the GOP universe.

The result?

Their efforts to elect democrats such as Marc Boldt and RINOs in an effort to remove the current GOP regime from power so they can get back in charge.

Thus, here locally, every conservative or neo-conservative (As some begin to drift their way out of fear) find themselves challenged by the local political dregs the CCRINOs have dug up.

Nationally, this situation is mirrored by an Establishment terrified by the thought of a Trump presidency on the right and/or a Sanders presidency on the left that may well cost them their comfortable, powerful existence.

The other reasons you see... fear of losing the Senate and/or the House, are both a lie and a smokescreen... misdirection designed to excuse their conduct.

Locally, the CCRINOs make no bones about it: they control the local county council and their first order of business was to raise our taxes, increase regulation and strip rural landowners of their hard-fought protections.

It has nothing to do with "better government."  Instead, it has to do with revenge and local power.

Both my state senator and the chair of the local county council have, for example, threatened my clients because of what I have written here, for example.

This then, is a take on the situation at the national level, but the local applications are clear and obvious.





Elections 2016
March 24, 2016 3:26 PM

America to Establishment: Who the hell are you people?



Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article68042192.html#storylink=cpy

Life in the enlisted manager side... formerly known as the NCO side.

Back when I was an NCO, it was a much simpler life.  We were actually shaking off McNamara's corporate quality philosophies... talk was underway at the Soldier Support Center as far back as 82 that having professional technicians without further career aspirations (Why would we have to kick out an expert truck driver because he fails to become a staff sergeant at 12 years... thereby forcing him to become a non-truck driver supervisor, for example... loosing all of that experience as a truck driver merely because he/she failed to meet some arbitrarily imposed deadline for promotion to a position they did not want?) kicked out for failing to get promoted was an idiotic waste of time, money and talent; and that, by God, the soldier actually DID come first whenever possible.

Well, that has gone completely to hell under the Obama regime.  It will take decades to undo the damage that fricking moron has caused our military; blood has been spilled by American troops as a direct result of his hatred of the US Military.

This letter, although directly addressing the Air Force of today, can equally apply to the other Armed Services as well.

I wouldn't be caught dead in the military of today.  And here's a snap shot of part of the reason why.

“Backbone in Need of Traction” …Dear Boss, NCO Version

NCO
The letter below was submitted to JQP by an Air Force NCO who gave permission to publish it on the condition of anonymity. In a note accompanying the letter, the author pointed out how previous iterations of these sorts of messages have come exclusively from officers, but that the systemic conditions and organizational failings articulated are just as acute — if not more so — for the enlisted corps … and that the issues are no less severe for support personnel than they are for those in or near operations. As the service explicitly acknowledges — for the first time — a crippling manpower deficit, senior officials still refuse to acknowledge a growing morale problem. The substance of that problem is captured ably in what follows, and the themes are both vivid and familiar. The Air Force continues to beg Congress for more money, pretending cash flow will solve its problems. But if letters like this (of which we receive a steady stream) are to be believed, the service’s problems are less about funding and more about fundamentals.  -Ed.
—–
Dear Boss,
Well, I quit. I am finally to the point where putting on this uniform feels worse than dousing myself in scalding water. I grew up in the Air Force, and I believed it stood for something. I used to think the Air Force was the best in the world. I believed in saluting my flag, and standing side-by-side with my fellow Airmen through anything. I believed in honoring a legacy and this nation’s cloth I wear. I felt a sense of pride and honor to protect this country that I love so much. Now, all I see when I put on this uniform is everything the Air Force has taken from me – my dignity, my faith in humanity and, most recently, my basic rights.
I knew when I raised my right hand and swore to protect and defend that I would have to make sacrifices, and I was okay with that. I knew I would miss birthdays, graduations, weddings and funerals. I knew I would have to put the Air Force before my own needs, all in the name of protecting those I love the most. I have done that – for the past 10 years. For 10 years of my early adult life I have put this institution before myself. I’ve worked 12-14 hour days, constantly. I’ve taken all the courses, done all the trainings and become an expert at every administrative job in the Air Force. I’ve done everything the Air Force has asked me to do, without question or complaint, and for what?
I have been micromanaged every step of my career. At first, I thought it was because I was new … and I needed to learn what the Air Force was all about. Well … I guess now I know. It’s all about micromanagement, and doing much, MUCH more with much, MUCH less. We’re told by the SecAF, CSAF and CMSAF to say when ‘enough is enough.’ Well … ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! However, when those thoughts are vocalized, we get the standard – ‘well, figure it out.’ WHAT?! How am I supposed to do 32 hours worth of work in 24? Oh … and still do my PME (or heaven forbid I might not be able to reenlist), and do all my additional duties (which all have program managers who should, in theory, actually be the ones who own those duties), and focus on my education (which, even though I already have a bachelor’s degree and am technically overqualified for my current position, I guess the Air Force wants me to be qualified to do my OIC’s job as well), and remain ‘fit to fight,’ and spend at least 10 hours a week volunteering (that’s low-balling, I’m sure). I guess I shouldn’t even bother trying to have a healthy relationship with my spouse or family. It’s no wonder I find myself happier at the bottom of a bottle than in actual conversations with real people.
I’m just really tired. I’m tired of hearing that Airmen are the #1 priority, but not seeing it. I’m tired of jumping through hoops just to find myself back at square one – speaking of squares … I’m tired of the reasoning behind doing anything these days is to put a checkmark in a little box that doesn’t actually mean anything. I’m tired of staying late at work just because it ‘looks bad’ to go home on time. I’m tired of E-8’s and E-9’s who are more concerned with ‘being seen’ than actually doing right by their people. I’m tired of them being lapdogs for colonels and commanders while the ‘backbone of the Air Force’ is so strained it’s going to need traction for at least eight months. I’m tired of having to stop my job for ‘wingman day’ or ‘resiliency training’ where I learn that it’s bad to rape people. Umm … I’m pretty sure I’ve known that for my entire life and I certainly don’t need a ‘stand-down day’ to be reminded of it. I’m tired of ‘mandatory fun’ where I’m supposed to act like I really support and enjoy this forced-motivation BS being crammed down my throat. All these senior leaders who laugh at the stupidest jokes, just to make sure they get a good rating on their next OPR or a stratification for Chief.
Oh … and as a side note. While those ‘wingman days’ and ‘resiliency days’ seem like they’re a great idea because you don’t have to be at work … it’s all just an illusion. Your workload doubles or triples because you spent an entire day learning about things that every decent human being already knows. I don’t think it’s the Air Force’s job to teach me how to be a functioning adult in society.
Anyway. I’m also disappointed. I’m disappointed in what has happened to this institution. The world’s greatest Air Force? Doubtful. With all the scandals, lack of accountability, micro-management and abuse of authority, it’s a wonder we haven’t been knocked out of the skies yet. I don’t want that to happen … I never want that to happen, but it will. We are losing the best and brightest in droves. The only people staying in the Air Force these days are the people who could never make it on the outside. The degenerates … the ones who actually, probably, DO need that training that teaches you how to be a decent human being.
The smart ones are jumping ship, before being sucked further into this oppressive and deceitful organization. Airmen are now being taught they have no rights, and that speaking out against something they believe to be wrong will land them in serious trouble, if not legal proceedings. Is this really what we want for our Air Force? Are these really the people we want leading our military? How can you expect Airmen to defend the freedoms of others if they don’t even think they have those freedoms themselves? We’re told we’re ‘powered by innovation’ but that only applies to innovative ideas that fit neatly inside the box the Air Force has decided to be acceptable variance from the status quo. Please.
So, that’s it for me. I refuse to further my career and become a boot-licking E-9 who cares more about his golf game and apparent compliance than he does about his Airmen. The E-9 who no longer wants to be the gritty, crusty, cranky top enlisted member who bucks the system when things are wrong, making sure there is a balance between the bureaucracy of the officer corps and the (fading) irreverence of the blue-collar NCO corps. I mean, let’s be honest … I’d never make it that far. Those positions are now reserved for the box-checkers. The people who start stepping on people early in their career and who have no idea what it means to be a true leader. This is what has become of my Air Force, and it breaks my heart.
With all of that said, and with absolutely no respect whatsoever (since none is due), I submit my resignation. May God have mercy on the future generations of Airmen, and on the awesome and powerful mission entrusted to this Air Force.
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