Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is beginning to get on my nerves again. I have had no lack of hate for the man since he made his video decapitating Nick Berg. Mr. Berg made the fatal mistake of cluelessly wandering around a war zone as an unaccompanied civilian. But now al-Zarqawi has released his latest video offering, reminding America that tapping civilians is o.k. Now while Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may be able to make a video, my means of communication is better suited to the pen, which also unsheaths quite nicely as a sword. Having read the Qur'an to completion, all 114 Surahs and 6,300 ayat (Surah: something walled on both sides.... Ayah or Ayat: a sign.... equivilent to "chapters and verses" in the Bible) it somewhat struck me that a nice little piece of poetry might be in order. So for my own American poke-you-in-the-eye response, there is poetry on the blog today.


Musab al-Zarqawi, he lacketh good sense
Whilst quoting Qur'an, hooded anger within.
For God gave not equal, the wisdom of man
To some as a fountain, to others short span.

His actions make liar, his tongue laced with hate
Swift thrust of the dagger, Allah's words doth negate.
For Allah is equitable, forbids not be kind whom
Having harmed not faith or home art forbidden to bind.

For Allah is merciful, from single a pair,
From hence tribes and nations
Sprung earth in full flair.

He loves the most righteous, knows secrets of all,
both heaven and earth, 'neath his gaze must fall.
He watches all people, doth weigh in the scales
not just words of man, but that which prevails.

Musab al-Zarqawi in pursuit of his goal,
Hath lost sight of equity
Hand clave to his sword.



Qur'an 49:13 Oh mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (not that you may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well-acquainted (with all things).

Qur'an 58:11 Allah will raise up to (suitable) ranks (and degrees) those of you who believe and who have been granted knowledge.


**Remember. This loser is a high school drop-out.


Tammy Swofford

tammyswofford@yahoo.com

What do you really think of your new Boss, Mr. Snow?

The White House staff has been tripping over their feet ever since they raised the ill-advised “Mission Accomplished” banner aboard the USS Lincoln off San Diego in 2003. But this week the staff, aka Larry, Moe and Curly, have surpassed themselves. Not only have they picked a man who is on the record saying that the president “doesn’t seem to mean what he says,” as the president’s spokesman, but they dropped every other ball that came their way as well.

On Tuesday the President used a 14 SUV convoy to take his party 2.4 miles to the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel where he delivered a speech on…Wait for it…saving fuel. The hotel is a four minute ride from the Farragut North Metro station, which is just up the block from the White House. I am not suggesting that the President take the Metro. But surely the people in at least seven of those SUVs could have without compromising presidential security. I mean, we are all safer than we were before the invasion of Iraq, aren’t we?

That blunder was merely a missed opportunity; a way of showing that the President meant what he was going to say at the Marriott.

The staff really blundered when it failed to secure for Mr. Bush a $6,500 a night suite at Vienna’s Hotel Imperial for a June Summit. Seems the staff was a few days late and the Rolling Stones had booked not only the Royal Suite, but every room on the floor. Since the United States has a foreign debt the size of Rumsfeld’s ego, why is the President’s staff even thinking about royal suites? Surely Mr. Bush could doss down in the Embassy. It can’t be any less comfortable than the family home in Midland.

Before accepting the administration spokesman gig, Tony Snow (you don’t suppose that the President confused him with his Treasury Secretary do you? John Snow has been rumored to be leaving the administration. Maybe the president thought this was a reassignment.) made a magnificent living bad mouthing the president.

Here is a sample (from Thinkprogress.org):
“George Bush has become something of an embarrassment.” (March 17, 2006)
“Bush, for all his personal appeal, ultimately bolstered his detractors’ claims that he didn’t have the drive and work ethic to succeed.” (November 16, 2000)
“Little in the character of demeanor of Al Gore or George Bush makes us say to ourselves: Now, this man is truly special.” (August 25, 2000)
Bush “has given the impression that (he) is more eager to please than lead.” (September 30, 2005)
“On the policy side, he has become a classical dime-store Democrat.” (August 25, 2000)
“President Bush distilled the essence of his presidency in this year’s State of the Union Address: brilliant foreign policy and listless domestic policy.” (February 3, 2006)

And you thought the Scott McClelland press briefings were fun.

Tom Gordon
Tsg0008@sbcglobal.net

Feeding The Hand That Bites

Both Republicans and Democrats now have had, and acted upon, their chances to protest and lament the growth and power of the federal government. Indeed, the weeping and gnashing of teeth today would make one think Janet Reno was still the Attorney General.

Nobody is willing to act. The supposedly "conservative" George W. Bush, with a Republican-led congress has increased spending much to the chagrin of his political base. Democrats decry $3.00 gasoline, though had they gotten their wish, a man calling for $5.00 gas in 2000 would have been president. It is foolish and disingenuous to carp on federal spending or intrusion when one would personally prefer more of the same.

Both major parties are hypocrites, at least as collective political bodies. It is simple to display individual liberty and statism as opposites. Try objectively setting left and right apart, however, objectively on principle. It cannot be done. Centrists make deals, and Partisans fight for principle. I prefer the partisan I oppose to the "moderate" who shakes hands and slits my throat with a smile. At least I know what I get, and the properly engaged democratic republic protects my rights.

The truth is that it all comes down to the role of government, and specifically the federal government, in our lives. Which screaming defiant anti-federal voice squares with the Constitution? Well both if you ask me, but then I'll turn it to you. The one willing to actually CUT federal spending and reduce the influence of federal action will bring us closer to what the founders expected. Republican? Democrat?

I say neither.

Republicans are too spineless to stand up for what got them elected in 1994. Brought in to clean house and return Congress to a body accountable to voters, they quickly (in electoral cycle terms)developed the ability to stand on two hooves. Today "fiscal responsibility" is just fine when made up by excessive (and excessively progressive) taxes. Democrats, believers in the idea that wealth belongs to the state first, and individuals reluctantly, love the idea of federal power and influence...except when conservatives control it.

One can reasonably conclude that both parties kind of like it this way. Why change? Who's going to stop us if we work together?

In the end, when one cuts through the mythical simplicity that is the left-right continuum, it should be clear that cause and effect have been pre-determined by a handshake. Whether by design or chance, government has joined with business and totalitarian has joined with political opportunist to rob you of your freedom.

One would think if a conservative took office in 2000 that the unconstitutional "Gore-Tax" installed clandestinely during the Clinton administration would have been summarily dismantled. Not so. In fact George Bush only slightly reformed what he should have killed. This is but a small sample of opportunity missed by "establishment" Republicans.

When the left complains about federal intrusion, it is duplicitous comedy. When conservatives increase spending just like the democrats, laughter turns to tears. If the government pays for something, it's going to control it.

Just what would you cut, to get the federal government and it's big business buddies to stop making decisions for you? Make a substantive decision, or your canoe goes over the falls. It's that simple.

How do you like that, coppertop?

Bob Miller
treo_bob@yahoo.com

(Brains) Left Behind

The "Left Behind" series of Christian novels have certainly become the goose that laid the golden egg for Tyndale House Publishers. Co-authored by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye, these books feature hardy Christians who take up arms against the Anti-Christ in an epic battle of good against evil. With over 60 million books in print, 34 related children's books targeting 10-14 yr. olds, this series is a pop culture phenomenah. Throw in ten million related items, such as calendars, movies, screen savers and postcards and the cash register is certainly ringing. I had to wonder though, about the "Left Behind" postcards. I can just see it. "Hello little Suzy. This is just to let you know that you are the only girl in the class not invited to the third-grade girls sleep-over." Flipping the postcard over it proclaims, "Sorry! Left Behind!" O.K. I am being silly, but if a reader will just send one of those postcards I would love to receive one. smile The core marketability of the books and related products goes to women in their forties, married with children and living in the South. So it makes me think that a little bit of escapism might be in order, for their otherwise orderly lives. These books, provide that thrill.

Several times I have leafed through the books and just couldn't bring myself to even buy one. They are poorly written, the plots are a foregone conclusion, and it is a lot of hype regarding things about which we really know very little. How many of us even know when it is our own "last day"? Who are we to begin to presume to know when it is the "last day" for the whole of humanity?

I do not fault anyone for reading the "Left Behind" books. God knows I sneak a peek at "People" magazine every week at the library. But there are too many Christians who are reading these poorly constructed plots that either make them feel Christians are invincible or secondarily succumb to a fatalism that stunts the drive to achieve. Hey! Why should anyone worry about getting that college degree? We won't need it hiding in a subterranean cave with a festering seige mentality. Beyond that, I have encountered too many Christians who look puzzled when I tell them I am not interested in the books. So now, I do my own social experiment and return the volley. What was the last book that they read before embarking on a steady diet of "Left Behind"? The results can be appalling and embarrassing. Howsa 'bout "Flags of our Fathers"? Puzzled look. Maybe, "Our Endangered Values"? Puzzled look. "The Bookseller of Kabul"? Puzzled look. I am not overestimating this response.

Christians are some of the nicest people I know. But a steady diet of reading only Christian fiction authors will make for a malnourished soul. And in looking for the Return of the King, an event which the Christian community has awaited with great hope for centuries now, we forget one thing: We are called to live in the here and now. Please tell me you can locate Burkina Faso on a map. Let me know that you read a daily newspaper and periodical journals. I want to discourse with you on domestic policy, geopolitics and the latest that is happening in Chechnya. I want to know your thoughts on the mumps outbreak here in the U.S. and the progression of the H5N1 virus. Talk with me in concrete terms regarding public schools, the surge we are seeing in syphilis again or the health care industry crisis. But don't waste my time with the "Left Behind" series. There is way too much exciting stuff going on right in my own backyard! Life is for living! And I will keep shooting out of that cannon every morning like it is my last day to live anyway. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Tammy Swofford

tammyswofford@yahoo.com

Save yourselves: Fire the Underlings

"Having seen the rapidly approaching iceberg, the captain left the bridge and began arranging deck chairs," about describes the recent upheaval aboard the USS White House. Scott McClelland was a disaster, even worse than Ron Zigler, Nixon’s apologist. Karl Rove had no business even thinking about policy. All he is good at is stirring up people whose only concerns are abortion and gay rights.
The horrible truth is that the wrong people are leaving. As Tom Friedman pointed out in Wednesday's New York Times, in a parliamentary form of government, Bush, Cheney, Rice and Rumsfeld would be licking their wounds on the back benches long before now.
These new Four Horsemen, Conceit, Stupidity, Overconfidence and Arrogance are driving this nation into the ranks of the has beens.
Kevin Phillips, in his latest book, “American Theocracy,” subtitled “The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century,” makes a strong case for the fact that we are on the same path that the Dutch and the British took. There are three signposts on that descending path: our failure to find a replacement for oil, the debilitating results of substituting biblical inerrancy for education and foreign policy, and the financialization of our economy. The last refers to the fact the we don’t make anything any more and merely sell each other pieces of paper, while borrowing ever increasing amounts from countries that do make things.
According to Phillips, the idea behind our war with Iraq was to take over the oil fields and flood the market with cheap oil until the other OPEC countries cry “uncle” and turn over their oil business to American companies.
Although oil was not mentioned in it, much of our Middle East policy, including mocking the UN, seems to have come from one of Tim LaHaye’s left behind books, in which the antichrist, having risen to power through the UN, has set up shop in Iraq.
Radical religion has given us other problems as well; chief among them is the disastrous effect biblical inerrancy has on the sciences, geology as well as biology. Since the Bush administration took office, fewer and fewer foreign students come to our universities, and foreign universities are awarding far more engineering and science PhDs than we are.
The dangers of a foreign policy dictated by religion are exemplified by 16th century Spain, which, despite all the treasure of the New World, impoverished itself trying to stamp Protestantism out of the Low Countries, an unsuccessful 16th century brand of regime change. The Brits looked at the First World War as Armageddon. British churches were major recruiters with a much more martial than sacred look and sound. They were covered in flags and the sermons were calls to the Crusade. When the war produced 40 million casualties and no Rapture, Britain lost its nerve and was unwilling to stand up to Hitler later.
As to debt, the third signpost on the road to the fall, when a family’s castle turned into its cash machine to maintain a living standard despite a decline in real income, even a financial idiot should see the problem. We pulled ourselves out of the Bush recession by spending money we didn’t have on imported products we didn’t need. Now interest rates are no longer negative, and a reckoning cannot be too far away.
One of the reasons the recovery has been so anemic in terms of job creation is that companies that are making record profits are not putting that money back into their businesses. They are sitting on it. As H.L. Hunt was said to have observed, “Cash is a great thing to have in a panic.” Do you think big business knows something the administration doesn’t? With those four, there is no doubt.

Tom Gordon
Tsg0008@sbcglobal.net

Pre-Paying a Funeral

Things are certainly getting exciting with President Ahmadinejad of Iran shooting off his mouth and issuing threat again that a whole nation of people must be annihilated. When heads of state start talking of killing not only the men but also women and children, the rest of the world will take note.

So it is no surprise that our ever-inquisitive journalists are now speculating that the U.S. will strike Iran. Seymour Hersh warbles of a bombing campaign (in the New Yorker) and Saturday, Paul Krugman chirps the same, in a commentary on the page of Dallas Morning News. He pontificates that Mr. Bush does not want a failed legacy, so he will go out with a "boom". So there you have it readership. We are going to war again!!

But there is a vast difference between execution of a strike and having a contingency plan. We are in the contingency planning stage, folks. We are merely pre-paying a funeral. You know how it works. One day you will die. You just do not know when. So you can pre-position everything to make it more of a streamlined process. Order that casket, pick a plot of dirt, pick out the music and browse through the flower arrangements. It makes the execution of a funeral easier.

If you are not military, there are things which you probably never gave a thought to before we engaged Operation Enduring Freedom. These things, were part of contingency plan, mapped out by professional military personnel with either "people mover" or "asset mover" expertise. Do you know how many body bags we shipped to await the troops? How about ramping up food for 100,000 soldiers? What about bathrooms and how many tons of toilet paper? Housing? You need a place to sleep. How many podiatrists do you mobilize to care for the boots on the ground? How many medical providers to care for our female troops? All of these questions and others are addressed by contingency planning. We have plans on the table for regions and nations, scenarios that already exist and the ones we hope we will never face. These plans, are updated month by month and tweaked along the way.

Technologically advanced nations can put a better contingency package into place. A couple years ago I did cold weather training in Wisconsin. We were introduced to a new articulated tenting system that looked like a giant golf bag. Watching the deployment of the large tent by the trainers once, our medical group was able to give return demonstration and get the thing up and squared away in less than fifteen minutes. Light bulbs could be screwed into the pre-existing wiring and sockets, pre-positioned generators could be fired up and heck, I could set up my cot and be reading a magazine in no time at all. The silly things can sustain winds of xx/miles per hour (sorry, trade secret) and can be snap, crackled and popped together like a giant Lego city. This is just one example of how contingency planning works. Need a Fleet Hospital with 500 beds? We can set the whole tent city up in ten days and have a functioning hospital. So technology plays a big part in contingency.

Now back to planning the funeral.... War, is all about planning someone's funeral in the end, because people are going to die. Even the victors, suffer the loss of their warriors. But are we about to execute a plan against Iran? Who knows. Do we have a contingency plan in place? You betcha. President Ahmadinejad is planning the funeral of an entire nation. "Annihilate Israel" sounds like death to me. It is good, for nations to plan.


Tammy Swofford

Chavez the Contentious

Last week I finished the book review assigned to me by the Marine Corps Gazette. The book, "Guests of the Ayatollah" by Mark Bowden (author of Black Hawk Down) made for fascinating reading. I recommend you purchase the book when it becomes available to the public at the end of the month. That is all I will say, because hey, my review will be in print later and you can read it at that point. I will give the readership a "heads up" when it makes an appearance. smile

The event of the captivity of our diplomatic corps in Tehran for 444 days was under the presidency of Jimmy Carter. That has been some time ago. But the recent torching of diplomatic missions of nations abroad in the "cartoon jihad" scandal have put into the forefront of my mind the following question: Just how safe are American ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps these days? Just the fact that Rumsfeld is quietly changing the face of the internal protection for some of our embassies, adding small special ops teams, should tell us something.

Just last week, the American Ambassador to Venezuela had his car pelted with tomatoes and eggs, apparently with the full support of the local officials in the area who then rewarded the participants with snacks. Kind of heartwarming, huh? This produced some very high level meetings between our governments. Boy, wouldn't we all like to be a fly on the wall for that little talk?

It has only been a couple months since Venezuela kicked Navy CDR John Correa off their soil, accusing the military attache of high-level espionage. It has only been a short time since President Hugo Chavez proclaimed President Bush a "jerk" and the United States an imperialistic government in a public speech. So what is this war of words really about?

Count it down folks. Hugo Chavez is nearing the end of his presidency. The man is just desperate to keep his job! For the first 1/2 of the 2oth century Venezuela was ruled by military strongmen. Mr. Chavez fits the profile. He was an army man for seventeen years. In 1959 a democratically elected government emerged. Gradually, small and beneficial democratic changes came to the nation. Sadly, Hugo Chavez has stripped the vestiges of freedom away little by little. What has emerged is an increasingly authoritarian and totalitarian ruler.

Elected to the presidency in 1999, a short time later he was re-elected president under a new constitution which increased the presidential term to six years. (election was held July 30, 2000) On August 15, 2004 there was a presidential recall vote and while 58 percent desired the president to remain, 42 percent voted in favor of Chavez stepping down immediately. His power is tottering.

The man is now hanging with his toes on the ledge and on December 3, 2006 he will either be shoved off the ledge or he will attempt to retain the mantle of rulership under a declaration of martial law. To pull that stunt off, he needs to produce a national crisis that will allow him to perform a sleight of hand. Getting into a pissing contest with the United States might just be the necesssary trick.

Venezuela is about double the size of California. But 80 percent of their export earnings comes from the petroleum industry. And fifty percent of the government operating budget comes from oil revenue. With President Chavez threatening to snuff the U.S. oil supply from Venezuela and offer it to China instead; with the hand-holding with Korea and Iran as of late, all bets may be off.

Our diplomatic mission is probably not exactly thrilled to have their vehicles pelted tomatoes and eggs. But what Hugo Chavez has up his sleeve to pelt at us next, may be much worse.


Tammy Swofford

Editorial Comment: After writing this blog, the following appeared in the news.

Rep. McKinney and the Dirty Deal

Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-4th District of Georgia) has been receiving a well-deserved thrashing in the media after whacking a Capitol police officer and following it up with stupidity and blatant lies. Although most journalists have focused on her accusation of racial profiling, the bigger issue for me is that of her whopper of an accusation of sexual misconduct.

Ms. McKinney may have forgotten her special lapel pin identifying her as a member of Congress when she bypassed the metal detector, but surely her brain and hearing were intact when an officer asked her three times to stop and produce I.D. Surely, the hand on her arm should have been an additional warning to heed the command. Instead, she chose to assault the officer. She then accused him of racial profiling and inappropriate touching.

Anita Hill brought focus to the issue that women occasionally face uncomfortable situations in the workplace with their male counterparts. We needed to talk about that issue in America. But unfortunately there was a secondary unsavory outcome to her statement against Justice Clarence Thomas during his nomination proceedings for a seat on the Supreme Court. Unscrupulous women began to understand that they could weaponize their sexuality to put the hurt on men they did not like or on whom they wished to seek revenge.

There is nothing so damaging to the career of a man as a woman who brings a false accusation of "inappropriate touching". Ms. McKinney accused a man who touched her arm of sexual misconduct. So please, Ms. McKinney! Be a bit more specific next time. The officer did not grab your crotch, squeeze your breasts, slap your buttocks or corner you in the office. And when you apologize, do not say, "....I am sorry this misunderstanding happened at all, and I regret its escalation." Tell the truth. "It" did not escalate. "You" escalated. You lied about a man. You sought to ruin his reputation to save your own. And if this man had not been in a public location where the incident was witnessed, if this man had been alone in an area without surveillance, you could have ended his career and damaged a marriage. You held to your lie for too long. You only caved under pressure. The man, could have been destroyed.

Think about it, readers. Every single day there are co-workers who deal with the uncomfortable issue of unwanted advances. But every day, somewhere in America is a person willing to lie about such issues and sink a career. Too bad we needed an elected representative of Congress to remind us of this fact.

Tammy Swofford

tammyswofford@yahoo.com

When Friends Fall Out

Surely, now that they are publicly sniping at each other, President Bush will realize that his best play is to throw a loser on a loser and fire both Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
It started in Blackburn, England, when the Secretary of State told a hostile crowd that the United States had made tactical errors, thousands of them, in Iraq.
For tactical reasons no doubt, the Secretary of Defense chose Fargo, ND, to fight back. He argued that since war is a dynamic, as opposed to a static, activity, there is no such thing as a tactical mistake, because things are always changing.
The truth is that neither one of them has the slightest idea what she nor he is talking about. Our problem in Iraq is not that we have made thousands of tactical errors; it is that we made one huge strategic error. Despite all advice to the contrary, Rumsfeld refused to send enough troops to secure the borders and keep civil order. Now there is every possibility that the job cannot be done.
Over the last three years we have spent more than $300 billion, lost thousands of Coalition and Iraqi lives and suffered tens of thousands of casualties. All that has failed to produce an Iraqi government or an Iraqi army that can hold together without our help. We have absolutely no idea where the Iraqi army’s loyalties lie. Many Iraqi security troops are actually militias in the service of religious and political parties. Iraqi security is not trusted by the Iraqi people unless they are accompanied by Coalition troops.
Bush’s problem is that if he gives Rice and Rumsfeld well-deserved bounces, who can he replace them with? It is not that there are no candidates that would do a better job than the incumbents; it is that Bush’s track record in picking qualified people is worse than his approval level, and that is abysmal. So, although by any possible measure, Rumsfeld and Rice should be fired, there is every reason to believe their replacements would be worse.
Welcome to the last three years of the Rummy and Condi show, AKA, the Battling Bickersons.

Tom Gordon
tsg0008@sbcglobal.net

Southern Discomfort

While U.S. Senators debate guest worker provisions to empty chairs, and while congress prepares to vote on further restrictions of free speech in favor of incumbency protection, "competing" foreign powers are shaking hands and digging in.

The Washington Post and Al Jazeera both report that Iran and Venezuala are cooperating in the extraction of Venezualan uranium for Iran's use. President Hugo Chavez has been acquiring helicopters and Kalashnikov rifles from Russia, and is not stopping there. He is adamant that Hitler would be "a suckling baby next to Bush". Perhaps he traded campaign soundbites with Rep. William Delahunt (D-Massachussetts) when they met in 2005. Chavez has a goal for a 1 million-strong militia, and he's seeking weapons and support from China, Brazil, and anyone else who's selling. He must be watching Keith Olbermann too.

By the way, that's just Chavez.

Chavez is actively working with neighboring leftist regimes, and seeking support from China and Russia,to fight what he sees as US imperialism. The BBC (news.bbc.co.uk) is running an entire series this week, and in their April 3 installment the columnist asserts that the United States has "lost" Latin America. The short version would say that basically the U.S. has meddled for too long in these countries and leftists are increasingly winning elections and taking over key countries including Bolivia, Brazil, and more. Ollanta Humala in Peru, President Evo Morales in Bolivia, and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega (who you've no doubt read about before)are on the move and all decry what they call the evils of the "neo-liberal model". There's one word I never thought would be attributed to Bush.

Charles Tang is the chair of the China-Brazil Chamber of Commerce. He came to Brazil from China after a short 30 years of banking in the U.S. He is very instrumental in a number of projects all designed to funnel Chinese money into Brazilian and Latin American countries. (Where have we heard this before?) He credits the Chinese government with getting "400 million people out of poverty". In most market applications, this can be called "buying business", but it sure looks like more to the BBC and U.S. officials.

The BBC's Humphrey Hawksley interviewed Dan Burton who chairs the US House committee on Latin America. Burton cited China's connection to Ortega, Chavez, Castro, and Morales as something very important to watch. After carefully referencing The Monroe Doctrine, Burton said "It's extremely important that we don't let a potential enemy of the United States become a dominant force in this part of the world."

I for one completely agree. You may fault George W. Bush for the state of things in Iraq, but you cannot deny that this growing threat exists on our back porch. How many sympathetic to their cause are already here and unaccounted for?

Sleep tight, America.

Bob Miller
treo_bob@yahoo.com

It’s Official: Tax Cuts Help the Rich

Say you are an average person making a little more than $10 million a year. Thanks to the three tax cuts of the Bush administration, your 2003 tax bill was more than $1 million less than it had been in 2002, according to a study by the New York Times.

If you happen to be making more than $26 million, you are in the same tax bracket as the fellow struggling along on between $200,000 and $500,000 a year.

On the other hand, if you are in the low six figures, your tax cuts may have been gobbled up by the Alternative Minimum Tax. Sorry about that, but you are not alone. The ATM affected 3.5 million people filling last year and will hit 19 million this year, including some with incomes as low as $30,000. That is, unless Congress restores a law that limited the ATM’s effects until now. Given, what is going on in Congress at the moment, it seems unlikely that such a law will save us.

The Republicans in the form of Rep. David L. Camp of Michigan claimed that the investment tax cut would help people making less than $100,000 a year. “Nearly 60% of the taxpayers with incomes less than $100,000 had income from capital gains and dividends,” the Republican’s chosen spokesman on this issue said on the House floor.

Not quite. IRS data shows that among the 90% of all taxpayers who made less than $100,000, dividend tax reductions benefited just one in seven and capital gains reductions one in 20. On the other hand, more than 70% of the tax savings on investment income went to the top two percent, or 2.6 million taxpayers.

If the investment tax cuts are made permanent, the government will lose $197 billion over 10 years. That is fine with the Republicans because they say it will make more money available for investment which will create jobs. This is known as the trickle down theory, a fav of President Reagan. Unfortunately, the Congressional Budget Office says not so. If the tax cuts allow you to make as much from a smaller investment, most people would not invest more. And, if they did, they would more than likely invest overseas, which would create jobs, just not jobs here.

Maybe old Harry Truman was on to something when he said, “If you want to live like a Republican, you should vote Democratic.”

Tom Gordon

tsg0008@sbcglobal.net

Why Gunnery Sergeants Do Not Bond Well

This last week-end I had the distinct pleasure to be part of the medical support for a United States Marine Corps pre-OCS "shock and awe" at Camp Bullis, Texas. OCS stands for Officer Candidate School and is the make-em or break-em Marine officer candidate opportunity at Quantico, Virginia for college graduates who aspire to join the few and the proud. I now know for sure why they are "few" and certainly deserving of the title "proud". Staffed with drill instructors straight from the bowels of Marine hell, Quantico, I have thanked God all day long that I was not on the receiving end of their attention.

The three Marine Gunnery Sergeants were built like tanks, all muscle-bound and with veins on their arms bigger than my femoral artery. I got a mental picture early on that fleeing these men would be as futile as trying to outrun three escaped and angry rhinocerous from the local zoo. This picture, was confirmed that night, as their boots beat outside my spartan little hootch yelling at the cadets.

Best of all, were the drill instructors poorly diagrammed but highly effective commands to the various platoons under their watchful eyes. We surely cannot mention the more colorful renditions of barking orders, but I will give you a few examples just so that you can understand the intentional duress which is used to carve out of the herd, those men and women judged suitable to wear the officer uniform and command our future battles. Understand that many of the commands can elicit either a yes or a no response, which can then be used to the advantage of the D.I. as the "wrong response" and further inflict needful hardship on the cadets. smile So here goes. I will give you the command, and follow it with the scenario.


*Do not puke in one spot. Spread it out, spread it out.

(Command given to the cadets who were throwing up during the three mile run after eating an MRE and slugging down canteen water immediately prior to the event. In other words, keep running after you vomit. Your misery can wait.)

*Are you tired yet?

(This question, after one hour and thirty five minutes of non-stop physical exercise. See how either "yes" or "no" can aid and abet the drill instructor? If you are tired, you are going to do more exercise. If you are not tired, you will do more exercise!)

*Am I invisible? I am bigger than you and you are smaller than me!

(This, after giving cadets fifteen seconds to run into their hootch and retrieve their gear for the next task. With the D.I. counting down the seconds, the poor cadets all fell into the trap as they rushed right past him, without acknowledging his presence. This bought the group an extra five minutes of exercise, while they yelled, "Aye, Aye, Gunnery Sergeant" after his every command. I do not think he will ever be ignored again.)

*Why am I hoarse and you are not hoarse?

(This after over an hour of barking back and forth and cadet voices were beginning to squeak a bit from within the ranks.)

*Use your big boy voice!

(This insult delivered to a specific man who did not yell loud enough.)

On the medical side, we started one I.V. for heat exhaustion, treated several other heat exhaustions merely requiring oral rehydration, plenty of blisters, an injured knee from the obstacle course and a pulled shoulder from doing pull-ups on a bar. On Sunday the cadets did a six mile forced march with heavy backpacks, and this included the female cadets. At the three mile mark, all cadets removed boots and socks and we treated new blisters. The oversight and medical care was more than adequate, but the training was rigorous and continuous, made to mimic the real thing at Quantico.

So if you are looking for a bonding experience at pre-OCS it will not be the warm cookies and milk kind of bonding that was offered by your mother. But the Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeants are seeking out a few good men (and women). And the reward arrives, when these outstanding young men and women put on the Uniform of the United States Marine Corps and join a community that is unique and wonderful.

It was a great experience for me. All cadets survived well, and to the ones who will be traveling to Quantico this summer to take on the real challenges ahead, I wish them the best of luck.

Semper Fi,

LCDR Tammy Swofford, USNR

Tradition

I can’t think of a more fitting tribute to the memory of the recently departed Caspar Weinberger, known as Cap the Ladle when he was Reagan’s Secretary of Defense. In a move reminiscent of Cap’s $400 hammers and $800 toilet seats, the Pentagon has created a system to streamline its overpayments. Actually, the system was created 15 years ago to try to reign in Cap’s excesses.

Called the “prime vendor” program, it has already overpaid millions of dollars for common kitchen items alone, according to a piece by Knight Ridder staffer, Drew Brown. Thanks to the miracle of prime vendor the Pentagon now pays $81 for coffee makers it used to buy for $29 and $20 for plastic ice cube trays we can buy for 89 cents. Cap would be so proud.

The Defense Logistics Agency has just completed a review of its $7 billion masterpiece and has declared the system to be “sound,” although it found “inadequate management oversight, incomplete auditing and poor performance by a contracting official.” Knight Ridder found that the Pentagon overpaid for 102 out of 122 items ranging from ice trays to refrigerators. This is only a very small part of the project. Last year, the Defense Logistics Agency spent a total of $7 billion of which $5.3 billion was spent on pharmaceuticals and food.

Anyone interested in learning about those halcyon days of American conservative values when Reagan was in the White House and Weinberger was at Defense, should read Andy Pasztor’s “When the Pentagon was for Sale: Inside America’s Biggest Defense Scandal.” Pasztor chronicles how Boeing managed to write the specifications for jobs it was bidding on and how consultants skinned the Pentagon for millions while they were also on the payrolls of defense contractors they were supposed to be riding herd on.

Tom Gordon

tsg0008@sbcglobal.net