Author Archives: Barry Kelly

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.

by Barry Kelly | December 5, 2014 · 7:35 am

INSIGHTS 176 — WHO IS TO BLAME?

Pulling the lever at the polling place for your party or candidate is a citizen’s duty. But it doesn’t begin or end there. When you vote for a winning candidate, you own a share of the candidate’s successes and failures. After all, you helped put them in office.

Being president of the United States is the most difficult job in our world. The decisions or lack of decisions the president makes affects the very existence of our nation and the continuation of life on planet Earth. How do you select a man or woman to move into the White House?

It is your responsibility to make an effort to size up the candidates, separate facts from fictions, and understand the difference between your emotional inclinations and the actual observable facts. You may believe your candidate would make a great president but recognize your candidate does not have the experience to be a president. You also know no one, no matter how cool or smart, can learn enough after taking office to be a good president. This is not a position for basic leadership nor ‘on the job’ training. Even highly qualified candidates have much to learn. The good ones have had years of management experience, are natural leaders, and realize their limitations require them to surround themselves with very good people who know how to do their jobs. A good staff makes a good president even better.

The qualification of experience is easy to judge. A candidate either has had years of command experience in management of large organizations with thousands of people or not. They have either learned the importance of keeping their word and know their actions will define them or they don’t know it. They either realize they are not defined by their speeches or they believe their speeches make their presidency a good one.

As a rule, senators and representatives do not acquire leadership or management skills in the performance of their responsibilities. They manage by manipulating individuals and playing one group against the other. These are not the primary skills a president needs. In their world, words are the tools they use, not actions. They are used to saying one thing when later say they meant another. When a candidate uses the words “I” and “my” many times in every speech, you know this person is not a leader and does not understand how to manage large numbers of complicated missions.

In American political life, leaders come from being governors, high-ranking military officers, and captains of industry. You still need to be careful in selecting from these ranks, but at least you know they have had the required management and leadership experience.

One of the things I have learned from life is that no matter what a job requires, people do what they know how to do. If that happens to be giving speeches, fundraising, and playing one group against another, that’s what you get.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/mystery novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an ebook, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” will be published before Christmas. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Books, Conservative views, Intelligence & Politics, political solutions

Tagged as America, candidates, Obama, President, qualifications, speeches, voting

by Barry Kelly | December 3, 2014 · 7:30 am

INSIGHTS 175 — POLITICAL CORRECTNESS IS A VIRUS

Most of the phenomenon of political correctness is rooted in liberalism. But it seems to be immune from messages from the ballot box. Common sense is a better antidote to political correctness than conservatism. Maybe there should be a common sense party. They would get my vote.

Political correctness is often wrapped in angry statements or charges of racism and the violation of minority rights. Let’s expose a few of the most common uses of political correctness:

Racial profiling is often mentioned when used by law and order authorities in fighting crime. This use of PC is used almost 100% of the time in discussions of police abusing black citizens, especially in high crime areas. In these areas, most of the crime is committed by blacks on blacks. If a local population has a very high percentage of one race, most of the crime will be performed by that racial group within the predominant racial group they share. It doesn’t matter what ratio of blacks or other races are on the police force. The police force will attack crime where it is and will be not be on the alert for racial groups that do not have a history or record of violent crime. If young black men are committing most of the violent crime who will the police, regardless of procedures or sensitivity training, profile?

This same anti-common sense thinking has worked its magic in a group that is supposed to protect us from all dangers, foreign or domestic. None of the people who try to manage an unmanageable Department of Homeland Security believe that elderly American men or women are likely terrorists. Yet they are treated as if they present the same profile as a Middle Eastern appearing traveler from Muslim countries. Why? Simply because they are afraid to say publicly that Arab Muslims are a much higher threat than any other group. A common sense approach would be to openly conduct security operations with the concept that all Muslims are not terrorists, but most terrorists have been Arab Muslims.

Moving beyond profiling, our local governments and all educational institutions should start applying common sense in the management of their respective responsibilities. Refusing to allow public displays of traditional Christmas scenes, religious or not, is not in keeping with our history, traditions, or freedoms. The common sense approach would be allow all religions to celebrate their traditions without local governments or schools having a say, yea or nay. As long as the government doesn’t discriminate among religions, what is the harm?

Displaying the American flag and maintaining English as the language of our educational system is another area where political correctness raises its loud, ugly head. This is America, the United States. The American flag should be at home wherever it is raised. Repeating the “oath of allegiance” in school and saluting the flag is a good thing. Unlike many other nations with enforced political correctness of a more ominous kind, people who don’t want to respect America’s flag and traditions are free to go elsewhere. English is the national language. Every citizen should know how to use it. Not teaching English in our schools handicaps non-English speaking children.

Lastly, if other religions want to respect their fallen with a different symbol than the cross, they should do so. But don’t object to the use of the cross to mark the resting place of our dead or of our monuments. After all, you are here by choice. The door swings both ways. We welcome those who want to come here and understand those who want to leave.

Let’s all forget about and ignore the rules of political correctness. They don’t belong. Common sense does. Forget the liberal leap to defend the criminal. Show more concern for the victim.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Books, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics

Tagged as America, flags, political correctness, racial profiling, religion

by Barry Kelly | November 22, 2014 · 10:00 am

INSIGHTS 174 — WHY IMMIGRATION NOW?

Before jumping into the trenches to fight Obama’s executive action on immigration, remember that is exactly what he wants conservatives to do. His tactics haven’t changed. He doesn’t care one smidgen (a presidential word) about Hispanics. Never has and never will. He proved that when he chose Obamacare over immigration.

But he cares a lot about the immigration issue. This issue is tailor-made for a ranting progressive to mislead the people into believing his opposition is anti-immigration and wants to break up families and keep illegal immigrants from ever getting a path to citizenship.He wants to use the immigration issue to attack the Republican congress.

By making villains out of his opposition he can show he still is a force to be reckoned with and that he still has the support of the large number of people who didn’t come out and vote for him. I can understand how Hispanic illegals think the president’s illegal action is a wonderful thing. Finally a step toward becoming a legal resident and all that means.

In fact, nothing has changed. No one was going to deport the people affected by his action. Most of them have been here for a generation. The vast majority of conservatives are very willing to have law-abiding, hardworking people stay here and become citizens.

My single reservation is one most conservatives share. You cannot have immigration reform, including a clear and obtainable path to citizenship, until the border is secured. Otherwise making it legal for millions of illegal immigrants to stay here will only attract a flood of new people illegally crossing our open border. That is what happened under President Reagan when many illegal immigrants were allowed to remain in America. The Republicans told us then that part of the bill would make the border secure. It never happened.

How can anyone trust the word of a president and his administration who have deliberately and knowingly lied several times to the American people? There is no longer any trust of this government. Only the progressives who are intent on transforming America into a socialist nation believe in the leadership of President Obama.

I can’t find a better example of the president’s slavish adherence to Saul Alinsky’s political creed, the issue is never the issue. Never try to solve national or international problems, just capture an issue and attack the opposition. Any means to take power from the haves and give it to the have-nots is good. The end justifies the means. That, fellow Americans, is what Obama’s immigration order is all about.

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

Tagged as Conservatives, executive order, hispanics, Immigration, Obama, Progressives, reform

by Barry Kelly | November 17, 2014 · 7:28 am

INSIGHTS 173 — GOP, ACT LIKE A WINNER

I readily admit to being a proud right-of-center conservative, but I have mixed feelings about being called a Republican. The establishment party is both timid and dumb. No conservative should be timid in announcing what they believe and what they want to accomplish. The Republicans are afraid to tell the people their legislative goals and plans. They are afraid the progressives will challenge their programs.

Being dumb is harder to understand. The House and Senate Republican leadership have never understood what Obama is about. He is not a typical left-wing Democrat or liberal president that battles over issues with the opposition. He has told everyone he is about transforming America. He has steadily worked toward a one-party socialist system of government and a re-distribution of wealth. He controls the agenda of government. The Republican Party, with the energy provided by the various tea parties, just won a resounding victory. But who is controlling the government agenda? Not the victors, but the loser!

Instead of telling the American people what great things they are going to do to restore economic growth, protect the rights of the people, re-establish our military and diplomatic prowess, and preserve the separation of powers doctrine, they are letting Obama dictate the agenda. The Republicans charge as long as the master manipulator flicks the red cape of executive power. He doesn’t care about Hispanic immigrants. If he did he would have passed legislation in the first two years of this reign when he controlled both houses of Congress. He only wants the Republicans to keep their identity as the party of anti-immigrants.

Why let a defeated president control the agenda of politics? Let him do his immigration executive order and work to pass a real immigration bill that will supersede Obama’s executive order. Strengthen the borders and give more border authority and funds to the border governors to fix their borders. They’ll do a better job than the federal government ever has or will. Ignore the rambling rhetoric of the president. Draft and pass real legislation. So what if he vetoes it. Keep legislating. That’s what you do. That’s your power base. That’s what you know how to do. Do not spend your energy and our time battling the president on his turf and his rules. Take charge. Let him pout and threaten to rule America with his pen and phone. See how far that gets him. The people have said Obama is irrelevant. Why don’t you believe them?

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, democrats, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, Progressives

Tagged as GOP, government, Obama, politics, Republicans

by Barry Kelly | November 14, 2014 · 7:57 am

INSIGHTS 172 — DOWN BUT NOT OUT

President Obama’s opposition now controls both houses of Congress. He will have more obstacles to his transformation process. The pace of transformation has been slowed. However, we must remember he and his fellow progressives are not using the same measurement for the success of his presidency as past presidents.

He will fix no national or international problems. Nor will he worry about the economy, health care, tax reform, immigration, ISIS, Russia, China, or Iran. As in the past, issues evolving from those areas will be used to further the transforming of America. Make no mistake about the goal of achieving a one-party political system and the socialization of America. That goal is still front and center.

Use the socialization of America as a yardstick of Obama’s accomplishments and you will see he has made significant progress. Health care is sliding awkwardly into position, unemployment, Keynesian Federal Reserve policies, and over regulation have greatly widened the gap between the rich and the poor, creating bigger groups of each. This is the environment that promotes class warfare. A widespread awareness of one class or race against another is the catalyst necessary for the formation of socialism and its big brother, communism.

Obama’s success in the weakening of the armed forces, the corruption of the civil service, the unprecedented growth and scope of the government, runaway social services, the appointment of progressive judges in the American justice system, and the movement toward reliance upon international organizations, all clearly show the progress of Obama’s promised ‘transforming of America.’ We have slowed the process — now it must be reversed. More work is ahead.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/mystery novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an ebook, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” will be published before Christmas. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. If you think this message is important, please share it.