Category Archives: Politics

by Barry Kelly | November 22, 2012 · 2:00 pm

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 27

English: The Pittsburgh City-County Building in Pittsburgh 40°26′17.8″N 79°59′48.4″W / °S °W / ; latd>90 (dms format) in latd latm lats longm longs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I hope to publish this novel early next year. It is more than half complete. Watch my web page for more information and thanks to all my readers who have inquired about the next Brandon story. Shadow’s backup is also introduced in this tale.

PROLOGUE FOR HARD JUSTICE (A new Jack Brandon thriller novel)

Jake was not bright, but he could shoot. His dad was a Vietnam war vet and a gun nut. When Jake was in his middle teens, his dad sent him to a shooting camp run by a former squad buddy who took special interest in Jake when he saw the raw talent the kid had. The first summer the instructor told Jake’s dad that his kid wasn’t even full grown yet, but he was a better shot than his dad ever was. Jake thought his dad would be angry but, instead, he gave Jake a rare hug and praise.

His dad was dead now. Jake liked to revisit the praises his dad gave him about his shooting skills. When he was honest, Jake would say he was very good at shots under 300 yards. After that his success dropped off sharply. But then, how many times had he had to make a kill beyond a couple of hundred yards. Not today. Exactly 125 yards. No wind. Good light. Doesn’t get any better. The police cruiser was in plain sight angled into the curb at a 7-Eleven just off Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh. Jake liked his hide. If you took the time to case your kill site, it was easy to find good targets and plenty of good shooting angles. He had found line-of-sight to the popular coffee stop place for cops from the top of a building further up the street. Two cruisers were pulled into the curb. The angle was better than he usually had. Picking the lock on the access door to the roof took less than a minute. No scratches left on the lock. His bogus fire inspector credentials were not needed.

Jake loved the rush of shooting from an ambush site. He was a God. He controlled the destinies of his targets. It was up to him. He could kill, select the severity of the wound or just scare them. The short term, five minutes after squeezing the trigger, was almost the same. Mass confusion, multiple responses, wailing sirens and scurrying pedestrians. Long term was different. Killing a cop was serious stuff. They would never forget and the search for the shooter was much more intense. Today, in the next minute, he would shoot to seriously wound two of the laughing cops leaning against a squad car.

Jake often wondered why the voice that called him on his cell paid him for shooting cops or firemen. The voice gave him a date, time and city. The rest was up to him. Never any complaints from the voice. His pay arrived in his P.O. Box on time. It was a good deal. He had never had so much money. Jake knew something this good couldn’t last. He hid the money in the log wall of his cabin near Big timber, Montana. When he needed the money there would be no time to mess with banks and leave a trail for the cops. They hadn’t I.D. Him yet. But the hunt was on for the City Sniper.

Jake glanced at his Timex watch. One more minute. The voice told him he did not have to be exact, just close. But he was a professional and one of the marks of a professional is being on time all the time. He was viewing the cops through an old 4X scope mounted on a vintage .22 bolt action Winchester rifle. If need be, he could leave the weapon behind. He bought it at a yard sale for cash. Cleaned up, sighted in and loaded with .22 long rifle hollow points, it was a lethal weapon within one hundred and fifty yards. Hollow points didn’t leave much for ballistics guys to find out.

Officer Sam Reilly was hit first as he was taking a sip of his heavily sugared coffee. The hollow point hit him in the left side of his jaw, blowing a large piece of his tongue and several teeth out of the exit wound. His partner pulled Sam to the ground but not before another hollow point hit him high on his right shoulder. Neither one remember hearing the shots. There was no panic on the street or in the coffee shop. By the time the first police and rescue vehicles, with their screaming sirens, arrived, Jake had cleaned up the shooting site, put the disassembled rifle in his tool box, picked the roof door lock closed and casually walked the short distance to his pickup truck. Another successful shooting and escape. He had planned to hit both cops but the one he hit first got in the way. His next act was a week later in Saint Paul, MN. He hated to leave the late spring weather in Pittsburgh for the uncertainty of the weather in Minnesota. It could be unbelievable cold waiting in a sniper hide. Only people who were strong and dumb could put up with only three weeks of warm weather. He wasn’t either.

http://www.factsandfictions.com

1 Comment

Filed under Action thrillers, Books, bouviers, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Spy novels

Tagged as eight decades of Insights, Jack Brandon

by Barry Kelly | October 31, 2012 · 2:04 pm

Eight Decades of Insights 25

Before You Vote

Conservatives, Liberals, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Progressives please look over the following checklist before exercising your right to vote.

All of us should think twice before putting a person in the White House who:

* Has not shown he or she is willing and eager to undertake the difficult job of being a hands on President;

* Has not demonstrated an ability of working with political opponents;

* Does not believe in the doctrine of the separation of powers among the three equal branches of Government;

* Believes in growing the powers of the Federal Government over the Constitutional powers of the States;

* Does not believe there is a distinct difference between civil crimes committed by US citizens and acts of war/terrorism committed by foreign nationals;

*Does not believe Capitalism and the doctrine of Free Markets are the foundation of the American Economy;

* Believes Socialism, Government spending, and Government jobs are the path to an expanding economy;

* Believes in the cradle to grave care of a centralized Government over Individual initiative and personal responsibility;

* Does not believe in American Exceptionalism;

* Does not recognize that national strength is the road to peace;

* Speaks and acts as if the world is the way he believes it is and not the way it actually is;

* Uses the rhetoric of class warfare to govern America;

* Believes in government conducted in secrecy using Czars rather than Senate confirmed Cabinet members to govern;

* Believes an annual budget accepted and approved by Congress is unnecessary;

* Does not believe a balance budget is a good near term goal;

* Believes the role of the Attorney General is to protect the Administration from Congressional Inquiry;

* Does not believe the protection of Americans serving abroad is his responsibility;

* Favors Islamic nations over Israel in middle east disputes;

* Is afraid of regular press conferences to inform the American people;

*Conducts foreign policy negotiations with Russia through whispered messages to Putin via Medvedev; (caught by an open mike)

* Doesn’t accept that the President gets all credit for the good his administration accomplishes, but also the blame for all failures.

http://www.factsandfictions.com by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller series

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS #24

OBAMA’S WALL

President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney exchange views during the second presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. They interrupt each other, bicker and ignore the moderator. Romney poses his own questions and demands answers. Thats not true, Obama huffs over and over. This is presidential conduct? It was squirm-inducing for some viewers. But the candidates have little to lose by cranking up the heat in a tight face, where the focus is on persuading the undecided and firing up their fans.

Throughout history, totalitarian regimes have erected brick and mortar walls as well as more subtle barriers to the flow of information. Often the walls and barriers are to prevent those outside the walls from seeing what the regime does not have, more than to protect what they have, from prying eyes. The Soviet Union was certainly ultra-sensitive to protecting their shortcomings when they built walls to hide behind. Outside their missile program and other militarized areas, the Soviet Union was a wet paper tiger. What they did not have in the 1970s was truly astounding. I spent two years in the Soviet Union from 1973 to 1975. I left being convinced they were a dangerous enemy, not because of their strength, but because of their weakness. Fear of the growing power of the West might have influenced them to strike before the gap widened further.

President Obama, with his totalitarian approach to governing and arrogance that only he and his Chicago mafia know what is right for America, have erected walls to hide mistakes and weakness as well as denying anyone outside the walls to see what has not been done. The president’s fiscal policy is non-existent. His military strategy for an increasingly dangerous world is not even a work in progress. His plan for job creation, beyond hiring 100,000 more teachers, infrastructure improvements, and green energy jobs, has never been seen. Unemployment numbers are seriously flawed. His energy policy is beyond understanding. He is not a brilliant or even a bright man and must hide his deficiencies, at least those David Axelrod cannot fix. Now there is a brilliant political strategist struggling with a hard-to-manage pupil. I cannot believe Axelrod told the president to cover up the Benghazi fiasco. In my opinion, Obama doesn’t even realize the importance Americans place on the protection of its fellow citizens, especially those sent in harm’s way without the tools to work and survive.

The presidential debates are beginning to tear down the walls erected to hide the failed promises, fantastic accumulation of debt, inept foreign policy, ignorance of economic development, amateurish military strategy, and the extreme left-wing objectives. You see a debater who is far better at displaying arrogance, anger, petulance, denial, and how-dare-you question me than he is at presenting a rational defense of his record or a cogent plan for the next four years. Don’t expect things to improve, no matter where your political allegiance resides. What you see is what you have. If you are a voter, push past the words and carefully consider if you and the nation can stand another four years of government behind the walls. Pull the walls down. Let the daylight in.

www/factsandfictions.com The author of the Jack Brandon Thriller Series.

1 Comment

Filed under Alexrod, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, political solutions, Politics, Presidential Debate, Russia

by Barry Kelly | October 4, 2012 · 2:38 pm

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS #22

SURPRISED?

Unless you have been hardwired to TV channels like MSNBC, you should not be surprised by President Obama’s poor performance last night. He now has a record to defend. No more soaring rhetoric, promising hope and change. Hope is a wonderful state of being. We all love it. So, no wonder a majority bought into the hope and change thing in 2008. It helped that his opposition failed to inspire even the Republican base and ran an inept campaign. Who wouldn’t be wishing Obama’s rhetoric would be matched with equally inspiring deeds? Could a people often accused of racism possibly vote for a black man? Even those of us who worried about his lack of experience and his history of associations wished him well. We were proud of our nation for electing a black man.

The years past and the deeds did not match the words. Unemployment remained, maybe even got worse. The deficit got much worse. The plans for recovery never came. The man who promised to bring us together proved, in deed and word, instead to practice divide and conquer. His foreign policy speeches, especially abroad, sound more like pleas to forgive our past mistakes and please like us. We will change under my leadership. Allies and foes alike where confused. The worst thing a President can do as Commander-in-Chief is to create uncertainty in US policy. President Carter, who demonstrated the same lack of leadership and resolve, failed to act in Iran after the fall of the Shah, and led the Soviets to believe he wouldn’t take action if they filled a centuries long goal by invading Afghanistan on their first step to a warm water port. President Carter wanted the American people to put aside their pride and innovative spirit and put on his doom and gloom hair shirt. Our President must have studied Carterism at Columbia or Harvard. President Reagan corrected the damage his predecessor caused in our foreign policy, in the economy, the morale of the people and the readiness of our armed forces. Another four years of Carter who have left irreparable damage. See a similar danger here?

What does President Obama bring to the table? Given a teleprompter and a prepared speech he will deliver a magnificent piece of oratory. A performance that few in our history could match. But what else? He may project likeability but he is not. He is quick to anger. Carries grudges even those of his family. His treatment of the Supreme Court Judges in one of his State of The Union speeches was unprecedented. Remember his treatment of Representative Ryan. Not the work of a kind or gentle man. He cannot think on his feet. You have seen how he does without the prepared speech on a teleprompter. He is very thin skinned and cannot take criticism. He would prefer to do nothing if he can’t have his way. He does not even meet with his
Cabinet, Jobs Council, or Democratic leaders and certainly not Republican leaders. If he ever reaches across the aisle, the opposition better duck.
On top of all that, he doesn’t like hard work. His preparation for the debate shows that. I believe he is causing David Axelrod, the brains behind Obama, and a man who can think on this feet, to lose his hair. His ward is neither bright nor willing to work hard. Just examine his schedule. Almost never working in the White House. Unlike his mentors Presidents Carter and Clinton who both worked hard at the job.

I can’t stand to close this piece without debunking President Obama’s bragging rights. I know something about preparing operations for Presidential approval. I did that for President Reagan for the last two years of his administration. Take drones. They were developed and flying operations long before Obama’s tenure. All he did was approve the increase in their use. I agree with their use for it saves lives of our men and women in uniform. The only hard part for the President to decide is what is the political and foreign affairs fallout. The same is true of the Usama bin Laden affair. There is political risk in both approving or disapproving the staff recommendation to go. If it fails, ala Carter’s attempt to rescue hostages in Teheran, there will be negative fallout from the opposition. If the staff recommendation to go is disapproved there will be, sometime later, attacks from the opposition. Being President is a very hard role to fill. Sitting around the Situation Room with anxious looks for photo ops is not necessary. The credit goes solely to those who execute and face the real risks. Nor is leaking classified intelligence successes necessary to campaigning for re-election. Last night you saw the real President Obama who is not used to people talking back. Most supreme leaders and emperors are like that. Last night was no surprise.
http://www.factsandfictions.com The author of the Jack Brandon thriller series.

Share this with your friends:
Email
Facebook
Pinterest
Print
X
Tumblr
LinkedIn
More
Reddit
Like Loading...

Pages: 1 2

1 Comment

Filed under Alexrod, Eight Decades of Insights, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, political solutions, Politics, Terrorism

Tagged as Axelrod, Debates, Democrats, Drones, foreign affairs, President Clinton, president reagan, Representative Ryan, Republican, Romney, Supreme Court

by Barry Kelly | September 28, 2012 · 2:06 pm

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 21

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

MY PERSONAL VIEW OF PRESIDENT REAGAN

In December of 1986, Frank Carlucci pulled me aside in the coffee hour following a worship service and told me President Reagan had asked him to be his National Security Adviser. He was putting together an entirely new Security Council Staff and wanted me to do all the intelligence, covert action, counter terrorism and counter narcotics staff work on his staff. I greatly admired Frank Carlucci and would have followed him anywhere. I reported for duty just after the first of the year. What follows is my personal view of President Reagan whom I would soon meet for the first time.

My motivation for writing this after decades of silence is the similarity between where President Carter and President Obama have led this nation. Neither one of them could ever have led us out of where we were then and now. But I have nothing but praise for President Reagan. I have several unflattering comments I could make about people in his Cabinet but silence is the better choice. I will say that Cabinet government cannot work without a strong, committed presidential staff. In my time, that was the National Security Council Staff. Cabinet members are soon captured by the organization they lead and soon are presenting the organizational viewpoint rather than that of the president. Please don’t believe I was an important person in the White House or that I was close to the president. In this case, admiration flowed one way. I was in his presence several times in the Situation Room and the Oval Office, but less so in the latter. My role was to provide the staff preparation for National Security Council meetings that fell within my area of responsibility. Okay, enough of the establishing of credentials.

In my first meeting with President Reagan in the Oval Office, he immediately made me feel at home and that he wanted to hear what I had to say. After his opening humorous story or joke, he said, “Frank, unless you tell me what is happening, I have no way of finding out.” He wanted us to know we could say what we thought without holding back. Bad news as well as good news is all relevant to the president. He was always gracious and sincerely interested in the well-being of his staff. I never saw him treat anyone with anger or sarcasm. He was extremely loyal to Cabinet members and Pentagon officials even when they deserved being sent to the wood shed. Keeping government organizations on the course the president wants, not what they want, is more than a full-time job.

Foreign officials couldn’t understand that the Reagan Revolution was first and foremost for Americans. His vision of the ‘Shining City on a Hill’ was not for nice-sounding rhetoric read from a teleprompter. It was call to all of us to throw off the cloak of doom and gloom and to remember our heritage, remembering also that government growth diminishes individual freedom. This is the president who destroyed Communism, rebuilt our military power, restored faith in capitalism and the free market, spoke truthfully, practiced transparency, and was respected by both parties. The most powerful man in the world never thought of himself in those terms. He understood those of us from blue collar backgrounds. The last quote I remember from him was, “Barry, I want Americans to be able to walk down any street in the world and be safe.” He cared about all of us. I’m glad he is not here to see Americans slaughtered in Libya while Carter, sorry, I mean Obama, dithers.

http://www.factsandfictions.com The author of the Jack Brandon Thriller Series.