MARTIN LUTHER KING………the enduring American history produced great men who matched the moment. A voluntary 18th century British colony gave birth to the greatest political thinkers ever. Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Franklin, Hamilton, Washington, Jay. …..the crises of the 20th century bring forth Lincoln, the 20th century and FDR. Equally miraculous is Martin Luther King Jar, Black America’s righteous revolt against a century of p0st-emancipation oppression could of gone in many bitter destructive directions, it did not. This was largely the work of one man’s leadership, moral imagination and strategic genius. The result was not just racial liberation, but national redemption…..such a life deserves a monument alongside other miracles of our history—Lincoln, Jefferson and FDR, where his statue precisely stands……It opened this past Monday on the Tidal Basin, adjacent to Roosevelt’s seven acres, directly across from Jefferson’s temple, and bisecting the invisible able line connecting the line connecting the memorials for Jefferson and Lincoln. King now takes his place as the only non-president to be so honored. As of August 22, 2911 there is no room for any additional memorials on the shores of the Tidal Basin.
AMERICA’S INVESTMENT IN NATO, IS IT WORTH IT…..we are now in the fifth month of the Libyan intervention, that President Obama’s administration said would involve “days not weeks”, an undertaking about which Prime Minister Cameron and French President Sarkozy’s sudden zest for waging humanitarian war., under the umbrella of NATO. Before its objective, was became regime change, the point was to prevent Gadhafi from inflicting humanitarian disaster. Of course oil had no consideration in deciding to act, and where was the United States when the French and British decided to come to the aid of the mass of the anti Gaddafi Libyans and the USA warships just happened to be nearby, and flew many “sorties”, killing only Gaddafi “beasts”.
Once Gaddafi is gone, while other nations will now be coming out of the woodwork, to police Libya’s post war chaos, which there surely will be, but can any one answer the question, “did NATO’s operations actually those of a minority of NATO nations, really serve the humanizing objective of economizing the violence in Libya……and we , Americans, can decide whether this was a sensible by a British government whose austerity program, announced BEFORE the Libya affair, that Britain was reducing their army by 30%, decommissioning their only aircraft carrier
The United States has over 39,000 active troops under the command of NATO, originally organized to be part of the resistance of a Russian expansion during the Cold War, and a determinant to any Russian ideas of enlarging their position in Europe, that is long gone and it’s time for the USA to stop being a policeman for European countries. We have lost enough of our Armed Forces, and we are no longer the POWER OF THE WORLD, and in this global world, we had better make sure that our homeland is safe, and have the time and energy to rise to where we not so long ago……..Searching for new energies, climate control and other social changes will not happen with a weakened United States. America’s military requires the ability to respond forcefully and effectively, and relies on Congress and the President to provide the necessary resources.
A DAY TO REMEMBER…..on September 2, 1945, 66 years ago, Japan surrendered to General MacArthur on the deck of the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay……very few Americans in 1945, and fewer today, know about the elaborate plans that were created for the invasion of Japan, labeled as “Operation Downfall” consisted of two points of the invasion. More than 1.5 million combat soldiers with millions more in support. Would have been directly involved in these two amphibian assaults. Some 4.5 million American service men, more than 40% of all service-men still in uniform in 1945. Were to part of “Operation Downfall”
The Naval forces consisted of two AWESOME fleets, third and fifth……The Third was under the command of Adm. “Bull” Halsey and the Fifth under Adm. Spruance, it would consist of over 3,000 ships of various sizes.
The invasion never happened, President Truman authorized two atomic bomb s…one on Hiroshima on August 6th and on August 9th, and the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. This decision probably saved the lives of over 1 Million American causalities; the Japanese surrender on August 15th avoided innumerable Japanese lives and property.
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER on OBAMA’S VACATION……” I think his problem is not the choice of time, the length of vacation; it’s the choice of place. Everyone understands the president, like any chief executive, has to have time off, they would not begrudge him…..but choosing an exclusive enclave like the Vineyard, after spending three days on the road rolling against the rich, and the wealthy and the millionaires and billionaires and the corporate jet owners who Vacation exactly the same place and then spending 10 days in their company, speaks of a kind of dissonance or hypocrisy. You know, the Vineyard doesn’t have any bridges to it, you either have to get on the ferry, or in your Maserati, or on a jet or helicopter. It’s not exactly where ordinary folks will take a vacation……”
IS AMERICA LOSING its RECOVERY CONFIDENCE? The CBO has again warned policy-makers of the urgent need to get Washington’s fiscal house in order, in its 2001 report this is the third straight year that our deficits will be in excess of $1 Trillion dollars. This report confirms again the reckless over spending has not produced the economic growth or the jobs that the President promised and that American families need. Perhaps the administration needs less “economists” and more successful business oriented advisors.
Obama tried that when he appointed GE Chairman Jeff Immelt to head his commission on job creation (another Czar) who was supposed to help create jobs…… I think there must have been a miss-understanding between Obama and Immelt. As the news reports, GE is planning to move its 115 year old X-Ray division to Beijing, China. In addition to moving the headquarters, the company will invest $2 billion in China, and train more than 65 engineers and create six research centers.
This is the same GE that made $5 billion in the U.S. last year but paid NO TAXES- the same company that employs more people overseas than it does in the United States……..I guess the President “forgot” to tell him which country he was to increase the much needed JOBS !!!!!!!
The President just appointed Alan Krueger, Princeton University, as Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Mr Krueger comes with high recommendations, like those who previously held that post, Mr. Golsbee and (giggles) Christina Romer, both from the University of California (hope he doesn’t agree with Romer that the “stimulus plan” was too small to be successful……
That is it for now hope you all enjoyed the holiday, see ya’ll in the funny papers………..AP