WHAT HAPPENED? Some random thoughts.

 What happened?  Some random thoughts.

            Suppose the chief justice, John Roberts, had not cast his vote the way he did, on Obamacare.  Would we have the mess that this law has created?  Now, the question in my mind is...what do you suppose was the argument given to Roberts, that made him vote the way he did.  Someone once told me that it was a good thing to be in the middle on discussions…sort of straddling the fence.  Then, another person spoke up and said that if you straddle the fence you probably will get something up your butt.  Sounds logical to me.

            Even though, as a US Senator, the president was against things that he’s now FOR, people don’t seem to understand that…I wonder why that is?  Could it be that the “cool factor” overcomes all sorts of logic and integrity, and blinds some people to the obvious faults of the occupant of the Spite House?  At no time in my memory can I recall this country ever being against most of the things that made it great…oh wait, it’s not the country, it’s the administration.   The current occupant of the Spite House, is an incompetent, petulant, thin-skinned, narcissistic, lying, probably foreign-born, puppet, being manipulated in order to bring this country to its knees...and between apathy and ignorance, he will succeed.  THIS AIN’T MY AMERICA!

            What are they teaching in our schools today?  Obviously, geography, history, and penmanship are not being taught because if you ask college kids today about history they give you a blank stare.  Ask them to write something and you’ll get a printed message, sometimes with nonsensical abbreviations, because that’s what they use on texting!  Is it any wonder that our country is sinking to the level of a second, maybe even a third-tier, nation?  Cursive writing, which we old folks called handwriting or penmanship, isn’t being taught in a lot of American schools…and that’s sad, believe me.  Nothing is more welcome, at least to me, than a hand-written note of thanks or condolence.

            There’s something stupid going on in this country…well, actually there’s a lot of stupid things going on in this country, but a “trans-gendered” bathroom, where boys and girls use the same facility, in a high school, is just going beyond any sort of reason.  Political correctness is ruining this country!  Florence High School, in Florence, Colorado is allowing boys, who claim they are trans-gendered, to use the girls facilities, and the boy says his rights trump their privacy!  Where are the parents in this?  Where are the school officials in this?

Where is the common sense in this?  THIS AIN’T MY AMERICA!

            There seems to be an awful lot of high-echelon military officers that, for reasons unknown, have suddenly lost their minds and commit acts for which they get fired.  It strikes me as odd, because the ones that are left are sycophants to His Eminence, the president, the Muslim-in-chief, The Imposter, The Petulant Child.   General Martin Dempsey, as I’ve said before, is a derriere-osculator of the first magnitude, more intent on keeping his job than keeping the country safe.  He would, I believe, fire every flag-rank officer that wouldn’t go along with all that the current occupant of The Spite House would ask.             

            The FBI, which officially stands for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, should be called the Fink Battalion of Idiots.  In his book INFILTRATION by Paul Sperry, he details the absolute failure of the FBI to prevent the tragedy of 9/11.

When you read the account of how they fumbled, covered up, and ignored, you cannot help but be outraged…and then to let the head honchos get away with a clean bill of health, that’s adding insult to injury.  As a matter of fact, there’s a bunch of people that have caused this country to get a black eye, and that’s the least of it…and none have been fired, much less go to jail, where some of them belong! 

            So, what are YOU going to do about the mess that we’re in?  If you read these blogs, let me know and comment…otherwise they’re going to stop.

            Larry Usoff, US Navy Retired.      

THIS AIN'T MY AMERICA!

This ain't my America!

            Today I watched what was probably a platoon of baton-armed police in Washington DC, the capitol of the United States of America, forcibly try to keep veterans from going to someplace in the district.  Although I didn't live through the experience personally, I know a lot of people that lived through the years just before World War Two, in Germany.  What they have described over the years sounded exactly like what I saw on TV today.  THIS AIN'T MY AMERICA!   A government, driven by the most spiteful person ever to claim the title of President of the United States, and to succeed in inflicting pain upon Americans, to either prove a political point, or to gain a political advantage.   THIS AIN'T MY AMERICA!

            Our first president, George Washington was offered the title of King, and he turned it down because he, and the other Founding Fathers, knew what life was like under a king, under a person who had little or no regard for his subject.  Washington said, "A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."  He knew that ignorance and apathy would allow a despot to gain control of the government, and that the Republic for which he and others had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor, could be stolen away.  We, the people, are responsible for what happens, and what has happened to this country.  What we have now...THIS AIN'T MY AMERICA!

            It seems that almost any display of patriotism is either frowned on by officials or, as has happened many times already, it's been made illegal!  There are places where American flags, even when they are displayed inside the house, if they are visible from the street, may be against some homeowner's association's by- laws.  Open-air monuments, even those where there is NO security ever, have been barricaded, or as one guy put it, those are "barry-cades".  This wannabe-dictator has even closed off portions of the ocean!  You cannot drive near enough to Mount Rushmore to take a decent picture, and it's obvious that the closures are selected

to inflict the most pain on my fellow countrymen.  I salute the veterans who went to war, gave their lives, or came home wounded...and then are treated rather shabbily by a president who is, in my opinion, the most despicable of men.  THIS AIN'T MY AMERICA!

            On the show I sometimes refer to a Latin phrase which is the unoffical slogan of the US Navy.  It is Non Sibi Sed Patriae, and it means Not Self, But Country.

and if more of us thought of the country first, and ourselves second, and our political affiliation last, we would have a chance of regaining the glory and the prestige

that this country once had.   To see once-magnificent cities, like Detroit, become like war zones in Europe following the war, because greed overcame integrity and

cronyism overcame common sense and courage makes me ill.   Our current president has shown that he is not the man for the job but acts like a little kid when the game doesn't go his way, so he wants to take his ball and go home.  Frankly, I wish he WOULD go home...wherever that really is.   What's going on now, when history is written, people will say "how did you let this happen?"   I say it again Folks, hoping it will bring you to your feet.  Like that actor in the movie "Network", go to the window, stick your head out and yell "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"...because THIS AIN'T MY AMERICA!

            LARRY USOFF, US NAVY RETIRED

"Spitting into the wind"

            I have gone back through my blogs, and through some of my earlier shows, and when you consider the vast audience that is out there, I'm amazed that more responses don't come in.  My opinion is just that, my opinion, and while it's based on things that are printed or said, it's still my opinion.  Why don't YOU out there have more to say about what goes on in the country?  Is it too much trouble to write your elected officials...or could it be that you're tired of getting a form-letter for an answer?   They DO listen, eventually, and they DO answer, eventually...but you have to get their attention.  There's a story about two farmers, Clyde and Henry.  Clyde sold his mule to Henry and one day when they meet Henry says, "Clyde, how did you ever get that mule to do any work?"  Clyde responds, "Well, you gotta walk around front where he can see you and then you whack him between the eyes with a piece of 2x4."  Henry is aghast and this and says, "Doesn't that hurt him?"

Clyde replies, "Yep...but you gotta get his attention first."   You can't walk up to a Senator and whack him one, even though you think he deserves it, but telling them, in no uncertain terms, what you are about, and asking for a reply, addressing THAT concern, will probably get you a decent answer.

            There's a lot in this world that I don't understand, and one of those things is that administrations, both sides of the political fence, seem to be more intent on what's good for the party, rather than what's good for the country.  Term limits would put an end to career politicans, and that would be a good thing.  Another good thing, for the country, is for us to revere the men and women of "The Greatest Generation" because, as one vet put it, "...if it wasn't for us, you would all be speaking German now."   The attempted closing of the World War Two memorial, by a government that doesn't seem to know much about appreciation, was just appalling to me.  Kudos to the people who opened the barriers, and some of them were those very same elected officials that we gripe about.  It's just beyond my understanding that the men and women who sacrifice so much for us are not treated with the utmost dignity and reverence.  Maybe there should be a political party comprised of veterans and their families.  That would encompass both sides of the political fence, but stressing neither.  It could be that these folks would have the clear-headed

idea to put country first.  I have a saying over my desk and it says "Non Sibi Sed Patriae" and translated from the Latin it means, "not self but country".  I read somewhere that the veterans of WW2 are dying at about one thousand a day, and we need to know, and honor them.

            There is SO much duplication in our government that it boggles the mind as to how ANYTHING gets done...or done correctly.   No one in Washington seems to be aware that people are lying, under oath, to members of congressional hearings, or if they ARE aware, they don't seem to care.  We don't have, or shouldn't have, an elite "class" of people in this country.   We are a classless society, regardless of what you might hear or read.   So much is said about "the middle class" that it makes me ill to think about it.  Go around and start asking people what class they belong to and you're going to get some mighty strange looks and answers.   Most Americans probably think they could be doing better, and that some people might have more stuff than they do...but then, there's others that probably have less too.

Should we break ourselves into little groups so that we can be identified that way?  If you ask someone to describe another person, odds are they'll start their description with what that other person does...but that is not who that other person is, is it?

            I don't pretend to have all the answers...I don't even pretend to have ANY of the answers, but I'll still ask the questions.  So you, reading this, do you have a question that should be answered?  Do you have an answer to a question that other folks might have?  Let me hear from you and maybe we can work something out on some of these questions and answers.

            Larry Usoff, US Navy Retired

"MY TURN TO HAVE A SAY."

I saw a cartoon the other day that just bowled me over with its honesty.  It was a picture of Attorney General Eric Holder, at a podium, with the seal of the Department of Justice in the background.  The caption read "The Department of Just-Us" which, of course, is exactly the way it works now.  He has lied to Congress, and been caught at it, and didn't even miss a night's sleep over it.   The DOJ, under Holder's direction, is suing the state of North Carolina over voting requirements.  It seems that the state wants to require a picture ID in order to vote.  Well, what is the problem here?  We have to have a picture ID to buy alcohol, to get a plane ticket, to buy a gun...just about anything, so what's gotten his back up?  I'll tell you.  He is claiming that its racial discrimination because black people can't get picture ID's,

The DOJ plans to ask a federal judge to place four provisions in North Carolina’s voting law under federal scrutiny for an indefinite period of time.   The suit would claim that the North Carolina statute violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and would seek to have the state subject to federal pre-clearance before making "future voting-related changes."     Additionally, the DOJ suit also takes aim at the law's requirement that voters present government-issued identification at the polls in order to vote. The North Carolina state board of elections recently found that hundreds of thousands of registered voters — mostly the young, poor, elderly, or minorities — do not have a state-issued ID.   By the way, according to a North Carolina website, it only costs $10 to get a picture identification card.  I'm pretty sure that's within everybody's budget since it's a one-time charge.  Analysts wonder, however, why the administration did not take such “appropriately aggressive action” five years ago against efforts to hinder voting at Philadelphia polls by members of the New Black Panthers.   And while the new Black Panthers continue to go unpunished for intimidating voters at the polls, Attorney General Holder has targeted the June Supreme Court ruling that attempts to free specific states from selective scrutiny as “deeply flawed."

            How's this for a brilliant idea?  Let's have Muslim-free zones.  They'll be just like Sharia-controlled zones, only in reverse.  There will be package stores and bars, movie theatres, restaurants that serve pork products, and music will emanate from all sorts of places.  Women will wear mini-skirts, if their figures warrant it, and men will be clean-shaven for the most part and, most important, people will bathe on a regular basis.  Goats will not be objects of desire, inbreeding will be frowned upon and religious worship will be on a voluntary basis.   Headgear will consist of hats, baseball-style caps or other appropriate coverings, but will definitely not be a towel or sheet wrapped around the head.   Rape will be considered a heinous crime AGAINST  a women, not one perpetrated BY a woman, and certainly not requiring 4 male witnesses.  Testimony in court will have equal weight for men and women and, in cases of inheritance, women shall recieve their full share and not a half-share as under Sharia law.  Honor killings will be considered as murder and the killer shall get a fair trial, something that the victim certainly did not.   If, for any reason, Muslims see this proposal as being discriminatory, that would show that they are above-average in intelligence, but should stay out of the Muslim-free zones anyhow.  While no harm would come to a Muslim who happened to find himself or herself in a Muslim-free zone, they might be OFFENDED by the amount of freedom being bandied about.  Oh, wait a minute...no Muslim woman would be allowed out of the house unescorted, so we needn't worry about them.

            I'm not much of a movie fan, and very few make an impression on me...but I'll tell you one that did, and does.  It's called V For Vendetta and although it takes place in the United Kingdom, it could very well take place here...and might, if the people will just wake up and see what's happening to America.  Briefly, it's the story of an over-powering government...much like our current government, with a lot of Big Brother thrown in.  One man decides he's had enough and begins to harass the government, to the point where they notice him, and want him taken care of because he's about to spill the beans about Mr. Big, who is a really bad guy.  If you have not seen this movie, I suggest that you rent it or buy it...and watch it a couple of times.  It's brutal in spots, but it is not gratuitous brutality...just your ordinary brutality.

            If you read this...how about some comments?

Larry Usoff, US Navy, Ret.

"America's Last Hurrah"

            Slowly.  Ever so slowly I'm coming to the idea that the president is a couple of cards short of a full deck.  He looks at the world through some sort of weird contraption that shows him that everything is white puffy clouds and blue skies...when, in fact, America has been made the laughing-stock of the world.  When he was asked about whether he was wrong, or everybody else was wrong...he said everybody else was wrong.  Does that strike you as a man that has a grasp of the situation at hand?   Dithering, and when he made a decision it was the wrong one, and that just piles on the concerns about his mental state.   In a taped interview he says a red line can't be crossed...but it is, and then he denies ever making the statement.  His overt, and covert, assistance to Muslim groups, many of whom have been identified as terror organizations with direct connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, tilts the balance to one side, and that side of the scale is pro-Muslim

            Muslims are in the government.  Many are in key positions, perhaps even advising the president.  Any flag officer who had any sort of a backbone has been forced out for one reason or another.  Those that are left are, probably, the cadre the president might count on, should an armed conflict break out inside the United States.   The big question in my mind is whether the armed forces would fight their countrymen.  As a backup army, so to speak, there are about 70 agencies that are armed, nearly as well as the military.  The president made mention of that army in a pre-election speech in 2008...and now he's creating that shadow army to go with the shadow government.   We are going to be leaving the battlefield in Afghanistan, and in my opinion, it will revert back to what it was, and we will have wasted lives, money, and materiel.   For what?

            I read somewhere that there's about 275 million guns in the hands of private citizens in this country...and that's a lot of people to speak up for the 2nd Amendment.   Still, the anti-gunners, most of whom have concealed permits or are protected by armed personnel, would have the public give up their weapons...make the whole country a gun-free zone.  Now I ask you, if you're a bad person looking to do some damage with a firearm, where are you going to go.  The obvious choice is to go where no one can shoot back at you, right?  The facts are plain...where gun ownership goes up, crimes go down.  The NYPD has just had their hands tied because they can't stop and frisk anyone, so Mr and Mrs Tourist are walking to their car and they get mugged.  They report it to the police with a full description and the cops say, "Oh yeah, we just saw him...but we can't stop him and frisk him to see if he's got your stuff on him."  Crime is steadily rising in NYC...and will continue to do so until somebody comes to their senses and reverses that stupid order.

            Money, money, money...that's the big sticking point in Congress, isn't it?   Maybe if the politicians get out of the way of free enterprise, do the right thing and abolish the IRS, crank up the pipeline and other revenue-generating ventures, our economy might quit dragging its feet and start walking briskly...before it's too late.  Listen, even as a private citizen, you and I can do things for the country, instead of to the country.  Make a pest out of yourself writing to your elected officials.  Make them understand that you don't want form letters back, you want answers to your questions, and then pepper them with questions about why they are/are not doing this or that.   If they don't want to do what you elected them to do, get them out of there in this next election.

            My friends, we may not be the big dog for much longer.  The next big dog that comes along will bite us in the neck and we'll be finished as a world power.  We owe everybody, and we don't make enough to pay it all back...ever.  We no longer have staunch allies, and going it alone is not an option for a weakened military.  Wake up and smell the coffee...that's all you may have left after the bad guys eat our lunch.

            Larry Usoff, US Navy Retired

           

Our President vs. the United States of America, Part Two

As I write this, the day after the remembrance of a heinous attack on America, both in 2001 and 2012, it occurs to me that we are doing some wrong things.  Logic is a good thing and very difficult to argue against, so let's apply some logic to some of our current problems.

            First, we are worried about Iran getting a bomb, right?  Nah, not to worry.  They want a bomb?  Let's give them one.  We can send a high-flying drone over there, armed with a delayed-explosion nuclear weapon, and drop it right on their main "laboratory".  Oh sure, there's going to be damage, and there's going to be people killed...but they will be killed there, and not here.  Do I value our lives more than Iranians?  No, but it's logical to get them before they even start to get us...and if we are hesitant, they WILL get us.  Let's get this country off its knees and on its feet.

            Next, there's the matter of our current president.  I believe him to be working against this country, in every way, shape and form.  Let's put together a panel of experts, discover what we can about the man and, as I believe him to be foreign-born, impeach, indict and incarcerate him.  If he is not who he says he is he must go to jail...for a long time.

            Ok, what's next?  We have an economy that's in the tank.  We have a military that, while technologically quite good, is seriously under-manned, so we can kill two birds with one stone one this one.  Build up the military services, providing jobs for those going in, and for those supplying the goods.  Also, let's quit buying materiel for our armed forces from other countries.  It's been shown that some Chinese-supplied stuff is inferior and doesn't hold up.  Get the government out of private sector business, and you'll see lots of things happening that need to happen, but are not now getting done.  There are thousands of miles of roads in this country that need rebuilding, along with hundreds of bridges and dams.  We have the people and we have the know-how.

            Kill the IRS.  Period.  Base the tax system on money spent, not money earned.  I like THE FAIR TAX because it IS fair, and it's simple.  When you buy something on a retail level, you pay the tax.  Period, end of story.  When the IRS disappears you'll see a flood of money coming back into this country, and it won't just be our money, but foreign investors as well.  Also, we have to stop selling off pieces of this country to foreigners.  It is not good practice and while I have nothing against them owning a house or two, I have to draw the line when they buy huge chunks of land, or whole towns...and that has happened.

            We have to pare down big government.  The founding fathers never meant for Congress to be a career, so let's get them out of there after two four-year terms, and that goes for everybody in the federal service.  The ONLY exception would be for the armed forces.  They could remain in the service for 20 years and get retirement, or 30, if they are in good shape and necessary.  Our veterans need, and deserve, the finest care they can get, and if that means we have to clean house at the Veteran's Administration, so be it.

            If you think these ideas are worth considering, either let me know or, better yet, let your elected officials know what you think.

            Larry Usoff, U.S. Navy, Ret.