Author Archives: Barry Kelly

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About Barry Kelly

Author of "Justice Beyond Law," "Justice Without Mercy," "Shades of Justice," "Justice Without Mercy," and "Run to Freedom," as well as two ,"nonfiction books ,"INSIGHTS-The Transforming of America," and "INSIGHTS-Stepping Stones to Tyranny. He also is the author of the blog "8 Decades of Insights." Barry Kelly is no stranger to the world of espionage, counter-terrorism, weapons, deep cover, and the inner workings of the governmental security apparatus. His immersion in the Cold War began with enlistment in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. Following his discharge, he earned a BA from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree from Duke. His career in the CIA included deep cover operations and overseas experience, primarily in South and Southeast Asia. He has been awarded the Certificate of Merit with Distinction, the Intelligence Medal of Merit, the Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal and the Intelligence Officer of the Year Award. After retiring from the CIA, Kelly served as a special assistant to President Reagan. He holds a first dan black belt in hap-ki-do. Visit www.factsandfictions.com or find the author on Facebook.

INSIGHTS 246 Things to Think About

Things white houseTo Think About: This 2016 election process is a big deal. Either America continues to slide down the path to state socialism or we climb back to America’s unique greatness. Both are possible. Senator Sanders, who has long been infatuated with the false vision of the wonders of socialism is attracting strong support from a naïve electorate that hasn’t experienced the harsh reality of Socialism and its resulting one party government led by an intellectual elite. The socialist message sounds appealing, its reality is awful. Russia, China, Cuba and several other nations have or are flirting with socialism. What has it ever brought but the death of millions, the loss of individual freedom and economic stagnation? Marx, Lenin, Castro, Mao, Hitler and others have imposed Socialism/Communist on their people. In America, President Obama, Senator Sanders, and Hillary Clinton seemed to be in lock step with Saul Alinsky, the brilliant American socialist revolutionary who advocated that his followers use his teachings and the term Progressivism in place of Socialism or Communism, to transform America and redistribute wealth.

When we support and vote for a candidate we should think about our problems and the positions on those problems taken by the candidates.

Will the candidate tell us the truth and run a transparent government in line with our laws and the Constitution?

Can the candidate accomplish what he or she is promising?

Is the candidate’s vision consistent with the Constitution and your life’s goals?

Have the last eight years been good for you and your family?

Do you know many people who are worse off today? People who couldn’t find a job and dropped out of the workforce?

Is America educating our youth? Are college graduates able to find employment in their field of study?

Are our veterans being well treated and honored for their service and sacrifices?

Do you feel your government is able to protect your family?

Is your government’s foreign policy dealing effectively with the dangers you see abroad? Can you trust what you are being told about foreign agreements your government has signed?

Are you satisfied with your government’s handling of the national debt and current spending levels?

Has border security been improved in the last eight years? Do you trust your candidate to improve border security and deal with immigration issues?

If you cannot answer yes to nearly all these questions, maybe you need to rethink your choice of the next president.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/mystery series. The most recent Brandon book, Blood Justice, is available at  your local bookstore.

 

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Filed under Alinsky, Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, General, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, political solutions, Presidential Debate, Progressives

INSIGHTS 245: THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Dec. 7, 2015: Remember, the president’s words from his Oval Office speech were not about Islamic terrorism. They were about his primary agenda, the transformation of America. That’s why no specifics on the war in Iraq and Syria. While he talked about bombing ISIS oil wells and oil tankers, these targets were off limits until Putin bombed the oil tankers headed for Turkey. The Kurds will not be armed with any meaningful weapons. Iran wouldn’t like that. The president’s coalition only exists in his empty words. He may believe it, but no one else does. He has alienated the Sunni Muslim world, our traditional allies, with his deal with Shiite Iran. Without a committed America, NATO nations will not put down ISIS. The only serious thing in his speech is his intent to push hard for more gun control. An armed citizenship is a serious check on the progressive party turning America into a socialist nation under the control of the progressive elites. Then, only the government would have guns.

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INSIGHTS 244: THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Nov. 19, 2015: It is no secret U.S. military forces operating in Syria and Iraq are under very tight rules of engagement to avoid civilian deaths. The rules are so unrealistic that many planes return to base with their full load of ordnance. Fuel trucks carrying ISIS oil to sell for the money needed to finance their Caliphate were not routinely attacked. Critical ISIS ground targets were untouched. Does this president care that much about civilian deaths or exposing our warriors to danger from the restraints placed upon their actions? I don’t think so. There is another reason for ‘no boots on the ground’ and restraints on both air and grObama vs militaryound operations. Our leader does not want American power in the Middle East that would check the spread of the Iranian empire and curtail Iranian support to their Shiite allies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq. His transformation is not limited to America. If he were serious about destroying ISIS, we would have armed the Kurds with the weapons they have been requesting, conducted thousands of sorties per week against ISIS on the ground, and be leading an effective ground force of U.S. and coalition forces. Instead of NATO leading the way, Putin’s Russia is now the go-to leader in the Middle East while American power and will to act is suspect in the lands of friends and enemies. Judging by the erosion of American power over the last seven years, transformation is working on schedule.

Nov. 20, 2015: Of all the things that worry me in watching the president use his transformation process to drastically change America into a progressive, socialist nation, I am most concerned that more than half of the voters elected this man two times. Surely it was clear after his first term that he wasn’t either equipped or motivated to solve America’s problems. He has not brought the nation together. His actions have attempted to divide America along class lines. Maybe democracy cannot work without the rule of law and constitutional checks and balances limiting the actions of the majority. Today, we have the government we deserve.

Nov. 27, 2015: It’s TRANSFORMATION, DUMMY. The only way to understand this president’s actions and non-actions is to understand everything is about transforming America and its international objectives. Harping about climate change being our greatest threat is only because the details of climate change will amount to one of the largest redistributions of wealth in history. Redistribution of wealth is the main pillar of the transformation process. When you are wondering how any president could make a deal that enables Iran to spread power in the Middle East, allow Chinese and Russian expansion, cripple American industry, tie American energy production in spools of red tape, disrespect our traditional allies, and reduce our armed forces, think TRANSFORMATION. For it’s the president’s bottom line, all the time.

Nov. 30, 2015: How can any so-called group of world leaders meet to discuss “climate change” as the No. 1 threat to civilization when mayhem is stalking the world in the name of Islamic radicalism and Russian expansion? Most of them smell money in the form of dollars. A few are like our progressive president who want to spread wealth from the industrialized world to the developing world. The others just want the wealth climate control legislation will send their way. This group is sane. The others believe that under their management, big government can solve any problem, even those that do not exist. We all know climate change has occurred and will continue to occur. What only those who are privy to the ‘political science’ of progressivism know, is that people cause climate change by the release of ‘dangerous amounts’ of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuel as an energy source. There is absolutely no evidence to support this belief. Instead, it is a perfect example of the insanity of depending on international bodies that progressives believe should prevail over all people regardless of their national citizenship.

 

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, ISIS, Kurds, Middle East, Obama, political solutions, Terrorism

INSIGHTS 243 — THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Nov. 3, 2015: President Obama’s concern over putting American boots on the ground is not due to his concern about the loss of American lives or the hardships of the families that is part of all deployments. It is due, I believe, solely to his obsession with the transformation of America. Chaos for him is a means to weaken America and change the world order and bury capitalism, imperialism and colonialism. Remember, he described American troops in Iraq as an “occupying force.” When the security of the United States and the well-being of the American people is at stake, lies by the president and Hillary Clinton matter. When you cannot trust the word of your leaders, maybe you should find new ones. All lies matter.

Nov. 4, 2015: Disregard anything the president or the Defense Department say about arming the Kurds in the effort to degrade and destroy ISIS. The Kurds are great fighters and a proud people. Unfortunately for them and us, the president is in the Iranian bag and Iran does not want the Kurds armed. A very high percentage of all the lethal aid the administration said it was sending to the Kurds, never got there. For politically correct reasons and guidance from Iran, the Shiite government never sent the weapons onward. Bottom line: Our policy in the Middle East comes from Iran.

Nov. 8, 2015: National security issues are a very important part of any debate between presidential candidates. When asked, “What are the most dangerous threats to America,” I have a clear but frightening opinion. It is not Russia, China, Iran, ISIS, or even radical Islam or the national debt. Our greatest danger is internal. It is President Obama and his socialist, anti-American ideology that has resulted in cutting troop levels, vetoing critical defense funds, under cutting national energy efforts, over regulation of industry and the unprecedented growth of executive power that ignores the Constitution and the rule of law.

 

 

 

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INSIGHTS 242 THE REAL LEGACY

President Obama, photo by the New York Daily News.

President Obama, photo by the New York Daily News.

Lets begin with the bottom line. President Obama has brought out the worst in America. The populace is more divided now than at any time after the Civil War. The economy is struggling. Employment participation rate is as low as it was in the late seventies. Wages are stagnant. More people are on food stamps than ever before. More people pay no federal taxes than do. Racism and class warfare is a common theme in White House messaging. The vaunted American military power has been diminished. Our traditional allies do not trust us and our enemies do not fear us. The President seems incapable of solving any national problems. When the economy is suffering with more people making do with less and the entire world in crises, President Obama constantly tells the American people ‘climate change’ is our biggest threat and that gun control is his number one priority along with closing Guantanamo Bay’s prison for foreign terrorist prisoners. He refuses to work with Congress and has made a mockery of the separation of powers doctrine and the rule of law. America’s best in the world medical system is mired in the debt and chaos of his medical plan, the infamous Obamacare. His deal with Iran must be the worst agreement any president ever made with an enemy state. In bygone times a good case would be made for his impeachment.

That is his legacy. But that is not what he has been about. His self assessment is based on other actions and on those he has made real progress. He wants to be known as the president who has advanced the cause of Socialism and income distribution farther than any other American President. Obamacare never was about healthcare. It is and was about government control of 8% of the economy. Our President has also been very effective in diminishing the very fine military machine he inherited with the purpose of making it unlikely America could ever again act as the world power. Every economic action his Administration has taken has weakened the economy with unneeded regulations. The energy industry has hung on in spite of his war on traditional energy sources. Without the Obama anchor we would be exporting billions of dollars of energy in the form of crude and refined oil products as well as natural gas in liquid form. An important result of increased American energy production is that it would free Europe of dependency on Russian oil and gas and far reduced Putin’s ability to expand the Russian empire by taking away his primary source of funds.

The President’s foreign policy has endangered Israel, consolidated Iran’s control of Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. The old power structure that allied Sunni nations with America is rapidly disappearing. Russia’s historical effort to secure a warm water port for its fleet has been accomplished. Even worse Russia now has a military presence astride the oil production fields and transportation network. The Middle East is now on the verge of a wide-spread war of Sunni Muslims against Shiite Muslims. The most likely result will be the emergence of Iran, with backing from Russia and China to be the dominate power in the area.

Through all this turmoil the World has been hoping for American leadership to protect the peace and independence of sovereign nations. President’s Obama’s leading from behind has failed them and us but has advanced the President’s ideological goals. Socialist and Communist historians will treat his Presidency with praise and reverence. Others won’t.

 

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon adventure mystery novels. The above is the result of my analysis of the President’s actions and policies from a conservative view point.

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