Category Archives: Books

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 3, 2014 · 7:35 am

INSIGHTS 170 — Writer’s Choice

With the publication of my second non-fiction book, “Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” I will have said most of what I believe about the dangers of -ISMs, progressivism in any form without repeating the same theme. “Stepping Stones to Tyranny” has been approved by CIA in manuscript form but they still need to approve the galley proofs before I can publish the book.

“Stepping Stones” is a follow to “INSIGHTS: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought for?” with new material. Both of these books were written to explain the ‘transformation process’ to all Americans regardless of political leanings. If we get the government we deserve, as many pundits have stated, we at least should understand what we voted for.

I will still write some blogs, but fewer and not all about politics. My keyboard is now occupied with my fifth novel in the Justice series using Jack Brandon and his team to keep us safe from terrorism, both foreign and home grown. I’m having fun again. I enjoy putting my characters in dangerous positions and watching them deal with the bad guys. I know these characters so well they take over the writing, or, at least, it seems they do. I now call my novel in progress “Quiet Justice.” Of course, my editor and publisher haven’t approved my title yet.

As a parting reminder: It doesn’t matter which party increases the size of government, it is the absolutely wrong thing for a free people to do. Without big government and the high taxes necessary to support it, tyranny doesn’t have much of a chance. Deciding when government is big enough to perform its constitutional duties and when its very size presents a danger to freedom should be the decision foremost in every politician’s head. For the conservatives the danger of big government is the lynch pin in their core beliefs. Nearly everything else is negotiable.

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. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. If you think this message is important, please share it.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Books, Intelligence & Politics, management theory, Obama, political solutions, Progressives, Terrorism

Tagged as Immigration, transformation

by Barry Kelly | October 27, 2014 · 7:35 am

INSIGHTS 168: TERRORISM AND YOU

There are only two subjects I put ahead of terrorism — freedom and the economy — and they are hard to separate. Terrorism will be with us for a long time. The “Red Army,” the Baader Mienhof gang, Black September and Abu Nidal’s PFLP (the Palestine Front for the Liberation of Palestine) never had the power and support that Islamic Radical Islam enjoys today under its various names. There are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world today. In nearly 50 countries they are a majority. The goal of radical Islam is not to disrupt Western nations. The goal is world domination. A world that lives under Sharia law. That includes you, your children, and grandchildren. So don’t you think you should know more about it than news media sound bites?

I have followed this subject for several decades as a CIA officer, a special assistant to President Reagan with responsibilities of being his point on terrorism and intelligence, and from the vantage point of several field assignments, including Vietnam, South Asia, and the Middle East. Much of my knowledge and experience is contained in the novels I have written. Of course, I would like to be a best-selling author but also I have knowledge I want to share with my readers. My first two novels, “Justice Beyond Law” and “Justice Without Mercy,” take the reader through the setup of terrorist cells and targets including the recruitment and training of Americans by Islamists to attack soft targets in America. The novels also show that the Obama administration’s blind reliance on “law and order” tactics cannot win the war against terrorism.

My last novel, “Run to Freedom,” contains a fictional dialogue between two KGB officers in a spy school outside Moscow discussing the tactics and strategy of terrorism. The reader gets to follow the terrorists and their opposition step by step until the conclusion. It is fiction but the operational planning on both sides is guided by real experience and nothing is beyond the realm of the possible.

I’m am now writing a fifth novel with the same characters. I now call this story “Quiet Justice.” This novel won’t be published for a few more months. It will feature ISIS terrorism activity in America.

Meeting with President Reagan, Vice President Bush, Deputy National Security Adviser Frank Carlucci and General Colin Powell in the Oval Office.

This blog is written by the author of the Jack Brandon novels. The author (pictured far right) has 27 years of government service, including two years serving President Ronald Reagan (middle left) in the 1980s as an adviser. His books can be found on Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Nook or ordered through your local book store. Visit me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/factsandfictions and follow me on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Action thrillers, Barry Kelly, Books, Conservative views, Intelligence & Politics, Spy novels, Terrorism

by Barry Kelly | October 6, 2014 · 7:30 am

INSIGHTS 162: A DIFFERENT KIND OF BOOK

Nearly four months ago I published my first non-fiction book titled INSIGHTS: Transforming America – Is This What We Fought For? I wanted to write abook that would explain to all Americans what the progressives’ transformation of America means and how it is being accomplished. I have a couple of degrees in political science from respected universities, have travelled widely, lived abroad for years and, after retiring from the CIA, served as a special assistant to President Reagan for National Security Affairs. I tell you all that to support my

Barry Kelly shakes hands with President Reagan in the White House.

claim that I could have written a book for academics and political theorists. Instead, I wanted to write a book for the people who don’t have time to research and study national and world affairs. They are too busy trying to keep families together and get the bills paid.

Because living in today’s economy takes so much time and effort, people shouldn’t find out when it’s too late that their freedom of choice has disappeared. Freedom often slips away slowly, and piece by piece. Unless you’re paying close attention, you won’t notice government has grown beyond need, and power has been centralized by an elite political group. There is nothing new here. History tells us successful radical left-wing political groups have always ended up in tyranny, even though that may not have been the original intent.

I work with a near-perfect editor and a small but very talented publisher. The combination of the two put out a very professional product. Ingram and Amazon distribute the books worldwide. The downside is that we don’t have the contacts to publicize my books. People buy books when someone they know and respect recommends the book. With that truth in mind, we wrote to 20 well-known conservative politicians and leaders. We received some very nice responses from a few of them but nothing to help getting the message out. The price of the paperback and digital versions is very affordable.

To me, getting the message out to help change the direction President Obama and his progressive followers are guiding the nation, is far more important than any profit. It may sound strange but I’m depending on the people to get the message out to the people. Word Press, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Goodreads are the social media I’m using to get the message out.

I believe in the value of never giving up. I now have another book, INSIGHTS: Stepping Stones to Tyranny, under pre-publishing review at the CIA. This book should be published in the next month. It’s too late for the mid-term elections, but right on for the next two years and a chance to use the ballot box to sweep the progressives out of office. This book is also written for the people. It explains the progressive process and their use of issues in a step-by-step approach that is meant to be read bit by bit and thought about. Please leave any ideas you may have about getting the message out in the comments box.

Thank you from an old Cold War warrior who doesn’t want to see our cherished freedoms gained at such a cost be lost without notice. Peace through strength.

Written by the author of “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an ebook, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. If you think this message is important, please share it with your friends and contacts.