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by Barry Kelly | July 25, 2012 · 11:36 pm

Eight Decades of Insights – 13

The following are my opinions based on years of government service and academic study. This piece is not about Republicans versus Democrats. I’ve voted both ways and miss the Democratic Party that has been taken over by the Progressives who are definitely not Democrats or believers in the American Dream.

This election is not about Obamacare, war in Afghanistan, fossil fuel vs green renewables, immigration/border control, nuclear weapons for Iran, the Arab Spring, radical islam, monetary policy or all the other burning issues that disguise the real struggle.
In November the contest is about power. Everything else is simply a distraction or tactic to further the Progressives only goal, which is to get power and keep it. Only the Progressive Socialists understand the only real prize is power. It is perfectly acceptable within this ideology to say anything and do anything as long as one is focussed on getting power. Truth doesn’t matter. Keeping your word is not important. They are only words that can be recycled for the faithful. The “end justifies the means” is the Progressive ideological mantra.

This is not a conspiracy of the Democratic Party. The traditional Democrats are not evil. They are Americans who believe they have won an election.They are focused on the Progressive dream of a perfect utopian America. Now the Democrats must join with their Progressive leaders to achieve the goal of transforming America. Heard that before. Believe it. It is real. Before transformation America was a nation whose political system was founded on the diversification of power. Checks and balances. Three equal branches of Government. The Progressive agenda cannot prevail with power diffused. Piece by piece it must be centralized. Control of the health industry, the financial structure, industry, especially manufacturing, housing, traditional power generating resources, commerce and, of course, the unions is the prize. Jobs and the economy are only important as a means in the struggle for power. A failing economy, burdened with debt and high unemployment presents Progressives with opportunity.

Does acceptance that the Progressive Wing of the Democratic Party is following a campaign focussed on centralizing power make current events and issues understandable? I believe it does. Mr. Alinsky has provided the plan. Now his disciples have only to carry it out. (Read Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals for more enlightenment.)

What traditional American political party would even consider undertaking the following issues and actions?
*Class warfare rhetoric about taxing the rich, taxpayers making more than $200K annually. Surely, they know the revenue gain would be marginal. But for the Progressives, the political appeal to the fifty per cent that pay no income taxes is a winning argument. The middle class is a force that must be destroyed. The middle class, in the Progressive scheme, is very different. We will all be in their middle class. It will be the only class. No one failing. No one succeeding. This is not the stuff of the American dream where hard work and sacrifice provide opportunity for the individual to advance. Try to get elected preaching the line that everyone gets the same income regardless of their success and work skills. It’s far too early for that political platform.
*Pushing an unpopular, poorly crafted health care bill through Congress was politically wise? Only for the goal of centralizing seven per cent of the economy was it worth the storm of protest. Thousands of new IRS officers will be policing the system. What better way to control people and their destiny. Is making the IRS even stronger and more pervasive an attractive political goal?
*Use of the Justice Department to challenge the power of the House of Representatives. Making the Congress look stupid is worth the few shouts of protests. The Justice Department will not investigated any White House leaks or anything else that reflects badly on the Administration. Forget border security and “Fast and Furious,” suing states, investigating voter ID laws in swing states is more likely. This is not the traditional Justice Department that protected our freedom. President Nixon misused the power of the executive branch and we know what happened to him.
*Deliberty dissing our traditional allies, the U.K. and Israel as well as India and Poland, all democracies. While catering to Russia, the Muslim world, Venezuela and China. Not a democracy among them. Is this traditional American foreign policy? Has it ever happened before?
*Supporting disruptive street demonstrations and the willful destruction of property by the “Occupy Wall Street” mob led by Van Jones, a former Obama Czar for Green industry and an avowed communist. Search your memory for the last time the Democratic or Republican Party publicly supported a similar action.
*Bringing back the very unpopular “Death Tax”. Why bring this up in an election year? Some believe that the Progressive wing of the Democratic party has always wanted to destroy wealthy family dynasties. They can weld too much power so they can be a check to Progressive attempts to gather power. And it appeals to the “want it now have nots”.
*Before any political group can usurp power, they must control the military. A weak military force with weak leadership is a much easier target. Taking money from Defense and using it on entitlement programs makes Progressive sense. It weakens the military and spreads more wealth to those who depend upon government and who vote for the hand that feeds them. Did anyone think sequestration would work? The Republican leadership that hasn’t yet figured out what is happening, fell for the sequestration bait. Now the nation has to cope with declining power in a dangerous world.
*What political party ever set out to destroy the American power industry? Or send billions of taxpayer dollars to make believe green solutions for energy independence? Progressives talk “all of the above,” but act differently. And routinely use the power of Executive Orders to marginalize Congress.

Does the above make sense within the American political sphere? Not for any traditional party. For the Progressives, it is the only platform they can use to transform America. Most of us will not recognize or like the end result.

Be careful Democrats! If the Progressives win, the next election could have very different rules and you won’t be part of it.

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by Barry Kelly | March 31, 2012 · 7:04 pm

Eight Decades of Insights – 9

Afghanistan. Yes, it is time to pack up and come home. The original mission was to drive out the Taliban and deny Afghanistan as a training/staging site for al Qaeda. Five hundred or so CIA , Special Forces troops, plus the fighters of the Northern Alliance assisted by the firepower of the US Air Force and Navy did exactly that years ago. War over. Mission accomplished. Leave some Special Forces and CIA personnel in country and focus on other strategic problems.

But no. Then the liberal politicians took over. Iraq was a mistake, they said. Afghanistan is the “good war.” Get the troops out of Iraq and surge our force in Afghanistan. Develop a nation-building strategy, for that is required by the new mission. Wait a minute, didn’t we try some of that in Vietnam? Our military forces, even though frustrated by archaic rules of engagement, never lost a firefight, much less a battle. In war, our uniformed men and women do very well. No one is better. But nation building is another thing. We don’t do that. No one trains in the skills, whatever they are, for nation building. If there wasn’t a nation there to start with, there will not be one when we quit trying. I know. I was there. Corrupt leaders ruling by military and police forces do not a nation make.

Alexander the Great, and his mixed force from conquered lands, once invaded and ruled Afghanistan but he did not make it a nation. And history does not tell us much about his success and tactics. Later, the British and Russians tried to invade and rule Afghanistan. Invading they found easy. Ruling was hard. They both left beaten and bloody. The Afghan tribes are not, never have been, and today are not ready to submit to a centralized government. Just ask the Pakistanis. How well have they have managed or extended their national authority to their tribal areas? Karzai is corrupt and with or without our military forces, he and his “centralized” government will not last.

Failure to succeed at nation building in Afghanistan cannot be blamed on U.S. military forces. They are the best. Just don’t expect them to create a nation out of tribes. Political authority that sees the world as they want or believe it to be rather than how it is should not expect anything but failure. Afghanistan is a near perfect example of “mission creep” and political expediency snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It’s time to leave. Do not spend anymore blood and treasure on mindless political objectives. Leave the course of Afghanistan to the tribes, and our intelligence people and Special Forces, none of whom are interested in nation building. Afghanistan is not “the good war.”

INSIGHTS FROM EIGHT DECADES #5

January is here and a new election experience faces all of us. What can we expect? All writers have biases. Mine is I used to be a Democrat and am now a Republican. The change is partly to age and changing values. The dramatically increasing influence of the Progressive Wing of the Democratic party also is a big factor in my bias. National Security issues are very important to me, having spent nearly all my working life playing a role in the Cold War. Two years as a Special Assistant to President Reagan made me more than a Reagan Democrat. So enough about my bias. First what can Republicans hope for: The Party will nominate the candidate that seems to be the most electable. Nothing is more important than the limiting of the incumbent to one term. Fiscal responsibility, a serious effort to decrease the national debt, a strong military, a smaller Federal Government that promotes an environment that stimulates growth and increases jobs, a simpler and fairer tax code, welfare and medical assistance delegated to the states,a President who respects the Constitutional bounds on his/her power, and a foreign policy that supports our friends and allies while earning respect for American power around the world. Those broad hopes seem to be appropriate to both parties and I think they are, but the rhetoric of the White House is beating a different drum.

The democratic drum of the Democratic Party leaders calls for a different kind of nation than I grew up in and served. I’m pretty good at understanding drum beats but I maybe a little off base here. For I hear a call to class warfare through the glorification of the middle class and the evil of the one percent. I also hear a cry for the systematic distribution of wealth in a quest for equality. The desire to increase the number of people on some sort of Federal assistance is prevalent. The shrinking of the military, both personnel and weapons budget, is a clear part of the message. The desire to protect citizens from all sorts of threats from our capitalist free market society is clear in past and pending regulations. Strongest of all is the belief that only government can solve today’s problems. What I distill from the total call of the drum is we must move to a European Socialist economy dependent on Keynesian monetary principles. Sorry, no thanks.