Category Archives: General

by Barry Kelly | May 6, 2016 · 3:22 pm

INSIGHTS 259 ENOUGH OF THE GOP PURISTS

How much of this whining do we have to hear from the ideological purists of the Republican establishment? They had their chances and failed every time. They supported two flawed candidates, McCain and Romney. We gave them control of the Senate and House and they failed again. Now the Bushes, Romney, George Wills, the National Review and Weekly Standard pundits, Paul Ryan in his Speaker of the House position, McConnell as the Majority Leader in the Senate and failed presidential candidate Senator Graham are vowing they cannot support or vote for Mr. Trump. In the long-term who cares about them but in the short run to the elections, they should grow up and do what is good for America. That is not a hard choice if they can get over their self-appointed political guardianship of intellectual conservatism and focus on what the nation so desperately needs.

Clearly the Obama Administration will leave the nation with several critical areas that need immediate bipartisan attention. The ideological conservative purists need to focus on what is good for America and not solely on worshiping at the altar of Conservatism. These areas need a pragmatic approach consistent with the Constitution and the rule of law:

Re-establish the co-equal branches of government with the checks and balances spelled out in the Constitution;

Control America’s national borders;

Rebuild our military force levels and weapon systems;

Replace OBAMACARE;

Make American companies competitive by reducing taxation and regulation by Executive Departments and Agencies;

As the national economy grows, pay down the debt and rebuild the nation’s infrastructure;

Shift responsibilities such as education and healthcare back to the States; and

Apply common sense to the size and scope of the Federal Government.

GOP leaders get over your purist problems and get on with fixing problems. No more ‘leading from behind’ or the ‘issue is never the issue.’ You are being paid by the people to make their lives safer and better, not to enforce your own brand of ideology of government. Get with the program. Take on the issues. You may not get another chance. Socialist and Progressive controlled governments do not give second chances.

1 Comment

Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, democrats, Eight Decades of Insights, General, Intelligence & Politics, Obamacare, political solutions, Politics, Progressives, Republicans, Romney

by Barry Kelly | January 29, 2016 · 8:07 pm

INSIGHTS 246 Things to Think About

Things To 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.

INSIGHTS 236 — PRESIDENTIAL WEAKNESS OR IDEOLOGICAL CONVICTION?

The Advisor put down the receiver after Chris, his Secret Service contact, told him the President wouldn’t be down today or for the rest of the week.

He had mixed feelings. The President was the only person he saw face to face. Over the years in his underground office, the Advisor had become dependent on the President’s visits. The isolation and loneliness were really affecting him. He really doubted he could function through the year remaining in the President’s term. He found himself losing track of some of his thoughts when he was writing in his journal. No question, he was really slowing down. Each day was a bit harder. His exercise schedule was a thing of the past. Without an appetite, he seldom did any meal preparation. He wasn’t sure whether it was his mental state or if age was catching up. To force himself to function, he decided to prepare a journal entry of the problems he had with the President’s actions and policies.

The Advisor thought, Even if the President is my only face-to-face contact, when he leaves I feel like I have been in the presence of a very dangerous man and I can’t do anything about it. In fact, my mission is to support him even though I know he is intent on destroying the America I fought for and loved. He is true to his ideology and background. Our President is a dedicated socialist and like so many guilt-ridden liberals, blames America for the world’s current and past problems. He is determined to be known in history as the president who weakened capitalism, imperialism, and the emphasis upon freedom of the individual. By weakening American economical and military power, he will force America to take a very diminished role in world affairs. The nation will be dependent on international organizations to define and protect the rights and privileges of all people. America will no longer be a unique nation and the hope of people everywhere.

There is no other way to understand his actions or his announced policies. He knows the withdrawal of America from the world will result in totalitarian forces like Russia, China, Iran, and the Muslim Caliphate filling the vacuum left by the retreat of the United States. To him that is a good thing. An accomplishment he is proud of. His primary foreign affairs goal is to transform not only America, but the world order as well. If anyone had described the President in these terms when he was first elected, I would have rejected them as the ravings of mad men.

When Vladimir Putin looks at the President, he sees a weak man who hasn’t the will or strength to stop him from annexing as much of the Ukraine as wants or to contest his power move into the Middle East which while very soon put Russia military into the Mediterranean with naval power and missile batteries installed in Syria. Putin doesn’t care one bit about Assad. His goal is to expand Russian power into the oil-producing regions of the Middle East and establish warm water ports for the Russian fleet. Neither Putin, the America progressive party, or Congressional Republicans understand the President is not acting out of weakness, though I believe he lacks physical courage, but he acts out of conviction. How else can anyone explain his foreign actions or job killing regulations by his administration?

The Advisor printed his journal entry and began to enter it into his journal with his slightly unsteady hand. The next time the President comes down, the Advisor thought, I just might tell him what his actions look like to America and its enemies. I’d like to discuss gun control with him. I know it isn’t the loss of life that is his point in his anti-gun crusade. If it was, he would be focused on places like Chicago and help the police and city government to enforce existing gun laws. And it isn’t just using the issue to attack the opposition party. The President knows no socialist/communist government has ever taken control of an armed population. Slave holders always have guns. Slaves never do. Doesn’t that tell us everything we need to know?

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

INSIGHTS 221 — THE ADVISOR ASKS WHAT MADE YOU DO IT.

The Advisor thought finally the President and I are getting comfortable talking about real issues. He has loosened up in the last few sessions. He knows I’m no threat and I won’t betray his candid responses to my questions. Hope he is in a talkative mood tonight. He should be here in another few minutes. I think he makes a real effort to be more or less on time and I appreciated it. He glanced up at the passageway monitor and saw the President and Chris approaching his door. Funny he has never commented on the wording on the old brass plaque. Even I don’t know its background. Maybe it is contained somewhere in the early journals. The only was to search them is to go thru them one by one. I just don’t have the time for that.

“Welcome Mr. President. Have you had a good day?”

“Can’t remember when. Everyday I get several problems that should never reach the Oval Office. I don’t know if some of my staff are afraid or just too limited to handle the problems on their own. The problems, or rather issues, that I handle always get some bad press. Fortunately I have very few consistent critics in the media. Some of them have gone out of their way to be supportive. Okay, you have some questions for me?”

“Yes I do Mr. President. Some of them are not important in the writing of history but I want to ask you why you did certain things that even your supporters do not seem to understand. My first questions is, why have you spent so much energy and time on closing Guantanamo Bay?”

“Well, the first thing is that I made a campaign promise to close this sore spot on our international record as a freedom loving nation. Gitmo is a prison and a place of torture. Students of international law believe it is a place that has no place in the twenty-first century. We can detain criminals in prisons in the Continental United States where my Attorney-General can protect their rights, examine the evidence, and bring them to trial under the American system of justice.”

“But, surely, there are cases when it would be appropriate to detain and try terrorist prisoners captured on the field of battle?”

“I just don’t trust the military to run trials of our enemies. Their rules of evidence, procedure, and concern for the rights of the accused do not meet my standards. I want America to look toward my leadership in prosecuting criminals, not the Pentagon.”

“We have both studied the law, both constitutional and international. Don’t you see the impossibility of collecting evidence, taking statements from witnesses and yet following the strict rules required by our courts regarding the chain of accountability and custody of evidence from the crime scene to the court room?”

“If we can’t get a conviction on the main charges, we’ll have to settle for prosecuting them for lesser crimes. If the military can’t or won’t meet the standards of American justice, they shouldn’t be conducting trials or detaining prisoners for years without charging and trying them.”

“Mr. President, there must be more than that.”

“Yes, in this room there is one more big one. Gitmo is a wonderful issue for me to use campaigning to attack conservatives. My base loves this issue. Elections are not won on facts. They are won by picking good issues and building them into major points. The time the conservatives spend defending Gitmo means they are playing by my rules and they can’t win. Take the Bergdorf guy who deserted his post and was held by the Taliban for years. He wasn’t important to anything, but he gave me a perfect opportunity to get five more top terrorists out of Gitmo. There was no other way I could justify their release. Who could argue sending those five criminals to one of the Gulf States for safe keeping. Who cares where they end up? Sorry I can’t continue but I must go. Thank you for the coffee and conversation. They were both good.”

As the steel door closed, the Advisor thought if you don’t want the answer, don’t ask the question. This may have been one of those times. Absolutely scary. No one would believe what I just heard. Especially since his words had the ring of truth. Get ready for an Executive Order to give Guantanamo Bay to the Castro’s.

The above is a fictional account of a meeting that never took place, but it could have.

The author’s latest Jack Brandon novel, ISIS Quiet Justice, is available at your local book store and in ebook format from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Follow the author on Twitter at @factsfictions80.

INSIGHTS 213 — A TRIBUTE TO SOUTH CAROLINA

The people of South Carolina, and Charleston, in particular, have earned the admiration of America. Yes, if you are a perpetual victim you can find remants of racism lurking around. But contrast Charleston with Baltimore or Ferguson. In Charleston the tragedy was clearly done by an openly racist white attacker on the peaceful black citizens of an historic A.M.E. Church while in a prayer meeting. It can’t get much worse than that.

I would have understood the breaking out of riots and conflicts between the police and the outraged citizens. None of that happened. Law enforcement did its job and quickly found the guilty monster. The people of Charleston and neighboring areas came together in a spirit of love to console themselves and others. The mass outpouring of forgiveness and Christian values radiated out from that tragic scene.

Charleston citizens showed that Christian values, civil manners toward all, and respect for law and order triumphed over the understandable urge to strike out with violence to get revenge and atonement for the evil that so unexpectedly befell on the innocent Charleston people at prayer.

Charleston’s example of dealing with a terrible tragedy must be remembered the next time senseless violence, wearing the mantle of hate and racism, takes the lives of innocent people. I am fearful that the champions of divisiveness who use racism to further their own ideological and personal goals will try to tarnish the wonderful shining gift the citizens of Charleston, especially those who lost loved ones, have given to the nation. I am very proud of the people of Charleston and South Carolina. You have shown the world a class act.