The St Louis Cardinals won the 2011 World Series in 7 Games defeating the Texas Rangers 6-2 to complete what can only be described as an epic saga. My story on this amazing season will come later in the day.
Category Archives: Loose thoughts and musings
Cardinals Win World Series and Complete an Incredible, Improbable, Amazing and Incredible Season
Filed under Loose thoughts and musings
Slaughter at Surigao: The Old Ladies get their Revenge
USS West Virginia at Surigao Strait
This is the third article of a series on the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The Battle of Surigao Strait was the third action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf which ended in the near annihilation of one of the two groups of the Japanese Southern Force. The battle was the last ever where battleships engaged each other in a surface action.
The two task groups of the Japanese Southern Force passed the daylight hours of 24 October relatively unscathed despite an air attack that caused minor damage. The group commanded by Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura comprised of the elderly Battleships Yamashiro and Fuso the Heavy Cruiser Mogami and four destroyers was leading the charge and was followed by that commanded by Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima with the Heavy Cruisers Nachi and Ashigara, Light Cruiser Abukuma and four destroyers.
The mission of these two groups which were unable to coordinate their actions due to orders to maintain strict radio silence was to fight their way through the SurigaoStraitto assist the Central Force in destroying the USinvasion force in Leyte Gulf. The mission was for all practical purposes a suicide mission, a naval “Charge of the Light Brigade” as they sailed into the Valley of Death against the Battle Line of the US 7th Fleet.
USS West Virginia at Surigao
The Japanese Battleships had spent the majority of the war in home waters and had seen little action. They had not been part of any of the great Japanese victories in 1941 and 1942 and they had not been blooded in the Solomons. Instead the two elderly battlewagons passed the war conducting training in the inland sea. They were no longer first line ships but the Japanese were desperate. During the afternoon Admiral Nishimura received an accurate report from one of Mogami’s scout planes telling him exactly what he was up against yet he pushed on in the manner of a Samurai.
Yamashiro and Fuso
Facing him was a force built around the 6 old Battleships of Vice Admiral Jesse Oldendorf’s 7th Fleet Battle Line. The Americans heavily outnumbered the Japanese, the Battleships West Virginia, California and Tennessee were the heart of the force. Fully modernized after Pearl Harbor they no longer resembled the ships that they were before the war. Equipped with the latest Mark 8 Fire Control radar they had the ability to put their 16” and 14” shells on target at ranges farther than anything that the Japanese could counter. Joined by the less fully modernized Maryland, Mississippi and Pennsylvania, 4 Heavy Cruisers, 4 Light Cruisers, 28 Destroyers and 39 PT Boats the outnumbered the combined Japanese forces with sixteen 16” and forty eight 14” guns to twenty 14” guns on the antiquated Yamashiro and Fuso. The disparity in lesser guns was just as stark, thirty five against twenty six 8” guns, and fifty one 6” guns against six 5.5 inch guns. This massive imbalance didn’t count the nearly one hundred fifty 5” guns on theUS destroyers and as well as nearly 200 torpedo tubes.
Yamashiro and Shigure ride into the Valley of death
Nishimura’s force entered the southern entrance to Surigao Strait and was discovered by the American PT Boats at about 2236. Though the PTs scored no hits they provided critical updates on the Japanese to Oldendorff. At 0300 the American destroyers began a devastating series of attacks on the Japanese flanks. They sank two destroyers and damaged another which had to turn back, but the real damage occurred when both Fuso and Yamashiro were hit. Fuso took two torpedoes fired by the destroyer USS Melvin. She slowed and then blew up and broke in two sinking with all hands. This account has been contested in recent years but many find the new version less believable than the first. Key in the evidence was the rescue and capture of Yamashiro’s Executive Officer in the north end of the strait and the surviving logs of the other Japanese ships which reported the sinking. Yamashiro though hit continued north with Mogami and the last destroyer Shigure. At 0353 West Virginia opened fire and score hits on her first salvo. She was joined by California and Tennessee at 0355, the other battleships with their Mark 3 fire direction radars were slow to open up. Maryland got off six full salvoes by ranging in on the splashes of West Virginia, California and Tennessee. Mississippi logged the final salvo of the battle and Pennsylvania got no shots off. West Virginia fired 16 salvoes, 96 round of 16”armor piercing shells, Tennessee got off 69 rounds and California 63 of 14” armor piercing, Maryland added forty eight 16” rounds.
The Yamashiro and Mogami sailed into the maelstrom absorbing hit after hit and gamely fought back. Yamashiro hit the destroyer Albert W Grant which was also hit by friendly fire badly damaging her. Finally both ships ablaze they turned back down the strait with Yamashiro sinking with few survivors at 0420. Shima’s force entered the fray and the Light Cruiser Abukuma was damaged by a torpedo fired by PT-137 and fell out of the formation. She was sunk on 26 October by Army Air Force B-24s. As Shima came up the strait his force entered the battered remnants of Nishimura’s force, the burning halves of Fuso and the retreating Mogami and Shigure. Assuming the halves of Fuso to be the wreckage of both battleships Shima beat a hasty retreat but in the process his flagship Nachi collided with Mogami flooding Mogami’s steering engine room and leaving her crippled. She was attacked again by American cruisers and aircraft and as abandoned at 1047 and scuttled a torpedo from the destroyer Akebono sinking at 1307 on 25 October.
Nachi under air attack 5 November 1944
The battle was one of the most lopsided surface engagements of the war. When it was over only one of Nishimura’s ships had survived the “lucky” Shigure. Shima’s force survived the night but most of his ships were sunk in the following by war’s end. Nachi was sunk in Manila Bay on 5 November by aircraft from the USS Lexington with a loss of over 800 sailors while Shima was in a conference ashore.
With the exception of Albert W Grant and a PT Boat the American force was unscathed the old Battlewagons dredged from the mud of Peal Harbor had led the fleet to a decisive victory in the last duel between Dreadnaughts ever fought. The Japanese died as Samurai trying to complete a hopeless mission against a far superior force.
Next: Halsey’s fateful Decision….
Peace
Padre Steve+
Filed under Loose thoughts and musings
Deep Thoughts and Musings on a Lazy Fall Saturday
I have been down with an ear and sinus infection most of the week which has added to my insomnia and made me pretty useless. It is no fun to get up in the morning with vertigo. When this happens I wonder where Verti went. Over the past few days with the vertigo, occasional fever, sinus headaches and some coughing and sneezing I have officially welcomed in the 2011-2012 cold and flu season.
The past few days have given me time to do a lot of thinking, some praying and a bunch of writing. At least my PTSD-Mad Cow brain is functioning relatively well. But not getting out much and only going to work to go to the doctor is a bit of a downer. But it is now time to stop whining to you about this and simply be thankful for the blessings that I have.
I could have a job that had paid time off for sickness or that provided no medical coverage. I could be wondering where the next meal or paycheck was coming from or where I will sleep. One thing that I am thankful for is that we paid off a painful reminder of when where the next meal, tank of gas, medical care or pace to live was our reality. I left the active duty Army in September 1988 to attend seminary and that as about the time of the big Texas oil bust and real estate collapse. I was an Army Captain and couldn’t get a job because I was overqualified for most jobs or competing against people who could be paid less than me for others. It was brutal.
Judy was sick and could not work and eventually despite eventually getting a job with a social service agency, things fell apart. We lost our home and even our cars. It was the worst time of our lives. We never declared bankruptcy and paid off everything that we owed and this week I paid off the balance of the home that we lost in 1989 to the Veterans Administration. When the market crashed and the foreclosure came owed almost 40% of the selling price when the house sold at auction.
I am so grateful for what we have now and so being sick and laid up for a few days is really nothing to complain about. There are far too many people in our country that even a couple of years ago had what they thought were stable well paying jobs with benefits that don’t have them now. Many are veterans and their families. It is most likely that things will get worse before they get better for most people as the effects of the sovereign debt and banking crisis in Europe hits our banks.
For me what people are going through is not abstract because we have been there. I really wonder when I see people in political and economic power doing nothing with one Presidential candidate blaming the unemployed if they didn’t have a job and were not rich. I wonder what has happened to our country. I wonder why so many churches side with the rich and powerful and seem to despise the poor.
It seems heartless to say the things that this Presidential candidate said with unemployment remaining over 9% for over a year and companies deciding when they do have a job opening to give preference to those that currently have jobs. Even well qualified unemployed people are not even considered for job openings because they don’t have a job. And this is happening when the supposed “job creators” on Wall Street who the taxpayers bailed out in 2008 and 2009 are giving themselves bonuses. It just immoral and when I see many of my fellow Christians making the support of polices which are condemned by Jesus an article of faith in both theology and politics.
I have also had time to think about what is going on in the Middle East especially the Iraq withdraw and ongoing war in Afghanistan. I am really concerned with Afghanistan because of the veiled threats that Pakistan is making about cutting our supply lines. They have done this for short time periods before and there have been numerous attacks on supply convoys in that country by Pakistani Taliban. To make matters even more uncertain Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that if there were a conflict between the United States and Pakistan that Afghanistan would help them.
Sometimes I hate being a military historian because I understand what happens to armies with tenuous supply lines that are under the control of unreliable allies. Stalingrad comes to mind. Likewise the lesser known but very significant The Second Jassy-Kishinev Offensive between August 20 and August 29 1944 in which the Romanian allies of the Germans switched sides during the battle. This allowed the Red Army to destroy the German 6th Army and maul the 8th Army. The offensive probably shortened the war by six months. At Stalingrad the Germans and their allies suffered 841,000 casualties and at Jassy-Kishinev they lost 100,000 killed and 115,000 captured. Currently there are about 90,000 American and another 40,000 NATO or coalition troops in Afghanistan deployed in penny packets throughout the country fighting an insurgency. They are very vulnerable to any supply disruption especially during the winter months and if there was a conflict that shut down the supply lines we would have to rely on the good graces of the Russians to resupply or withdraw our troops. When I think about this I think about my friends and comrades serving in Afghanistan and I pray to God that this does not happen.
When I think that the burden of these wars has fallen on under half a percent of the American population and that politicians and their allies in the business sector are looking at ways to make substantial cutbacks in medical care and other benefits to those that have been sacrificing in ways that no one else has been doing the past ten years. Talks of cutting VA care for veterans is obscene when because of their preexisting conditions they wouldn’t be able to afford medical insurance even if they could get it. And the word that these politicians and their allies use is that these are “entitlements.” That is a really nasty word and it is used pejoratively because everybody knows that “entitlement programs” are bad and those that receive “entitlements” haven’t earned them and are leaching off of society. In fact a letter from the “Super Committee” in charge of finding ways to slash the budget has proposed cuts to veterans benefits including pension, disability compensation and education payments.
This is why I would rather be at work, I think too much.
But I am still grateful for all that I have and honored to serve with the fine men and women of the US Military in this time of war. I do pray that things get better in our nation, which those suffering from the terrible economy will have their needs for employment and other physical needs met. I pray that somehow the deep division that has rent our people asunder will be healed and that our political and economic leaders will do what is right for the country and our people rather than the quarterly bottom line of select corporations. And I pray for the safety and success of my friends and comrades in both Iraq and Afghanistan and that our political and business leaders will not sacrifice us and then abandon us after beating us to dust the past 10 years.
But at least the World Series is on and nothing bad accrues from Baseball. For that I am very grateful as Sharon Olds said “Baseball is reassuring. It makes me feel as if the world is not going to blow up.”
Peace
Padre Steve+
Hank Williams Junior’s Free Speech Violated? Give me a Break… it was Business doing what is best for Business
“After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision. By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It’s been a great run.” Hank Williams Jr. announcement Thursday after ESPN announced that he would no longer be featured as the intro to Monday Night Football
Back when I was in college I did something incredibly stupid simply because I thought that I was being funny. I had a part time job as a Peer Counselor with the Educational Opportunity Program. The program was to help kids from poor families with not so great educations get a chance at college. Some kids did well and others didn’t. My wife Judy was a student in the University’s program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students. The office that ran the deaf program was called Support Services for Deaf Students or simply SSDS.
Judy had a roommate named Kendra and the three of us came up with some pretty sick jokes. In fact I learned sign language more to tell jokes with Kendra more than any other reason. Since Judy was “just hard of hearing” I used some sign with her but mostly to help her understand in difficult situations as for the most part she functioned as a hearing person despite having a 77% hearing loss. Judy is also an artist and a cartoonist. One day we came up with a fake flyer for a parody of SSDS. We called it Support Services to Dead Students. Judy did the drawing and all would have been well had I not gotten the less than brilliant idea to “spam” the flyer out. Now this was way before e-mail and Facebook or any other social media. So I went to a copy store and made about 50 copies and took them to work. I put them in messenger envelopes and sent them to most school departments through the internal school mail system. I thought that it was hysterical and I must have let slip to someone that I had pulled this off this prank. Anyway a couple of days later I was called into my boss’s office and was told by him that he knew that I did it. He felt that it was deeply offensive and that I could resign or be fired. I ended up resigning and my boss was grateful. To be truthful it had nothing to do with the EOP students we were poking fun at the deaf students. Yes it was still crass and insensitive but I didn’t think that I would lose my job over it. I thought that it was a funny parody. My employer didn’t.
I learned a hard lesson. No matter how funny I thought that my parody was that it didn’t mean that my employer had to keep me on. What I did embarrassed my department and paid the price for it. Was anyone harmed? No. Was it malicious? No. Could it be interpreted in ways that I didn’t intend it to be? Yes. Did it reflect on my lack of judgment? Yes. Did my boss have a right to terminate me? Yes. Did I learn? Most of the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eF6vCv13bw
Now of course Hank Williams Jr. made a complete ass of himself on Fox and Friends Monday morning. Not only did he compare President Obama with Hitler but he went into a rant that just made him look like an angry idiot. He called Obama “the enemy” and in making the Hitler comparison really made light of the Holocaust. There is little that any American politician on the right or the left can do to be compared with Hitler. Even his Fox friends who are not known for their love of Obama looked really uncomfortable as Hank ranted on.
Now to get things right I will defend people’s free speech rights and I don’t have to agree with them. If one decides to compare any American President with Adolf Hitler Joe Stalin, Pol Pot or the Ayatollah Khomeini he or she can say it without fear of being prosecuted by the State for doing so and if he is I will defend his right to that speech, even if I think it is hateful. It may be hateful and ignorant to do what Hank did but there is no law against it and if he was prosecuted for it by the government I would defend his Free Speech rights.
That being said if one is the face of Monday Night Football as Hank was ESPN then there are risks to acting like an idiot. The producer of that show and the NFL had a right to end his relationship with the show. It is about business, other companies with that advertise on Monday Night Football don’t want to be linked to the “H” word. If they had not ended the relationship it would have been bad for business.
Let’s face it using the Hitler analogy tends to get people fired and it is not about free speech it is about business. There are probably hundreds if not thousands of “conservative” commentators, bloggers and journalists who have made the Hitler analogy frequently on the internet and in print. It is protected Free Speech. In fact when George W. Bush was President left wing bloggers and columnists frequently played the Hitler card against him. . However none of them were the face of Monday Night Football and generally they work for employers that make money by criticizing Obama and the Democrats or Bush and the Republicans so they keep their jobs. Remember each business determines what is good for their business. Monday Night Football decided that Hank was now bad for business.
Hank is now saying that he decided to leave Monday Night Football “with his rowdy friends.” He said that what happened to him was a violation of his free speech rights. Now it seems like most people with the exception of Hank and Sean Hannity think that ESPN was within its rights to end their relationship with Hank. If I recall one of the key conservative tenants is that employers are the ones that set the conditions for employing people. The right to hire and fire at will is something that conservatives and Libertarians love. Firing and shunning celebrities for doing stupid, ignorant or hateful things or even for benign associations is a sport in this country if a business deems the celebrity’s actions bad for business.
Let’s just go back 50-60 years, the McCarthy hearings and the Hollywood “blacklist” which tarred and feathered many actors, directors and others involved in the film industry being associated with the Communists or other unpopular causes at some point in their life, even if they had renounced that association. Those people were not allowed to work, many for years simply because their loyalty to the country which had nothing to do with their acting abilities was questioned and producers fearing audience backlash simply blacklisted them. Some of the many people blacklisted included Orson Welles, Burgess Meredith, Eddie Arnold and Edward G. Robinson.
Then there was an actress named Hanoi Jane Fonda, daughter of Hollywood icon Henry Fonda who had the dumb ass idea to go to North Vietnam, make anti-American and anti-war statements and be photographed on an anti-aircraft gun within a mile or so of the Hanoi Hilton POW camp. She couldn’t get work for several years and when she did start working again, many people, me included boycotted her films and I still won’t watch them. She was able to say what she wanted but she suffered the consequences and is still one of the most hated Hollywood celebrities in conservative circles.
There are so many other examples where celebrities have been fired or shunned because of their actions. Here are a few:
Gilbert Gottfried: Tsunami jokes got him fired as the voice of the Aflack Duck.
Megan Fox: Canned from Transformers due to Hitler remarks.
Madonna: Fired from her Pepsi sponsorship when the American Family Association boycotted Pepsi after Madonna released her controversial “Like a Prayer” music video.
Michael Phelps: After getting caught smoking dope was dropped by Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes.
Mel Gibson: He was shunned after making anti-Semitic comments during a DUI arrest. His career has not been the same since.
Whoopi Goldberg: The Sister Act star got canned from her Slim Fast spokesperson job when she made double entendres about President George Bush at a John Kerry fund raiser. She was also shunned by Kerry after it.
Sharon Stone: Dropped by Christian Dior inChina for suggesting that Chinese earthquakes were caused byChina’s treatment of Tibet.
The Smothers Brothers: Their hit comedy was cancelled by CBS for their controversial statements about racism,Vietnam and politics.
The Dixie Chicks: While touring “Old Europe” the country singers lashed out at President Bush and the Iraq War. They were not fired but lost a huge number of fans in the process. The fans shunned them. They lost money and have not regained their former popularity.
The list can go on but I think I make my point. If people want to claim that business are free to do as they please and hire and fire people for whatever reason they deem fit on one hand, then they shouldn’t that their Free Speech rights are being violated. It is a two way street. Think about it. If you are a business owner or in management and one of your employees does something that you think reflects badly on your business and may hurt your business would you fire them? You bet your ass you would and it doesn’t matter for what reason politics, religion or even your sense of humor.
What old Hank did was so stupid it defies imagination but he could say it. Fox didn’t cut away as he shot off his mouth, he wasn’t censored. While his words and tenor were unbelievably stupid they were not illegal. However I don’t blame ESPN for firing his sorry ass. Hank is no victim of political correctness he shot his own balls off and I don’t care if he works ever again or he overcomes this and his career recovers. However, he can say what he wants and believe what he wants and if he was prosecuted by the government for voicing those beliefs I would defend his Free Speech rights. But that is not the case here.
Now I do have a lot of strong feelings about the often capricious ways that businesses use their liberty to mistreat or silence workers for speaking their political and religious beliefs in the workplace. However if one wants to say that businesses should be free to do what they want to increase profits and market share without government interference then one has to expect that businesses will do best for business. Profit and not Free Speech is their number one concern. Many celebrities and ordinary citizens have found this out before Hank; he can just join the club. Heck, I’m no celebrity but it happened to me too… boo hoo Hank. Boo hoo. I’ll cry in my beer with you. Wow that rhymed.
Peace
Padre Steve+
Spoilers: Lowly Orioles Make for an Exciting AL Wild Card Race
Orioles outfielders Nick Markakis, Matt Angle and Adam Jones celebrate after taking 3 of 4 at Fenway from the Red Sox (AP Photo)
The Baltimore Orioles will chalk up yet another losing season after beginning with it high hopes. However the young Birds are not nearly as bad as their record indicates and during the final month of the season they have not only come on strong but more than any other team have made what seemed to be a boring Wild Card race a down to the wire affair.
It appears that the Boston Red Sox are in the midst of an epic September collapse. As the Red Sox faded the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim California or whatever they are calling themselves this year have turned up the heat and are breathing down the neck of the Red Sox who led the Wild Card race by 9 games at the beginning of the month. It has been an amazing thing to watch because the Red Sox were supposed to challenge the Yankees for the East or do battle with the Bronx Bombers in the ALCS.
But the real wild card this month is the pesky Baltimore Orioles who looked in August to be staring at a 100 loss season. The Birds pitching which had been horrendous turned around, with the exception of Brian Matusz who cannot get past the second inning. Their hitting which was already much better than 2010, especially in home runs got hotter and they started winning especially against the Rays, Orioles, Angels and even the Yankees.
The Orioles split a four game series against the Yankees and 2 of 3 games each from the Angels and Rays temporally blunting each team’s race to the Wild Card. To top it off the O’s have won 3 of 4 games at Fenway against the Red Sox this week. To make matters worse of the Sox they have to play their three games against the Yankees in New York and their final three games of the season at Baltimore against a team that now has their number.
What is wrong with the Red Sox? Well as Orioles Hall of Fame Manager Earl Weaver said “Nobody likes to hear it, because it’s dull, but the reason you win or lose is darn near always the same – pitching.” The Red Sox starters have an ERA over 6.0 in September. Their pitching staff which has struggled since mid-season now can’t seem to win a game if their hitters don’t put up double digits. They are 5-16 in September and have only won one 1 run game in that time, a 4-3 win against the Rays on September 16th. Their other four wins were by scores of 12-7 againstTexas, 14-0 and 18-6 against the Blue Jays and 18-9 in the one game that they took from the Orioles.
Big Poppy, David Ortiz sits after the 6-4 loss Wednesday night (AP Photo)
I think that things like this are what make baseball such a magical sport. For teams like the Orioles, and their National League East cellar dweller counterpart Florida Marlins who have no chance at making the playoffs these games are their playoff games and they are creating havoc. Now for the Red Sox they have to hope for their arch enemy, the New York Yankees to beat the Rays. There is drama every day of the month in September and every game can mean something. The lowliest teams can dash the hopes of the elite as the grueling 162 game season takes its toll on teams and every roster move a manager makes is important. There is no running out the clock. As Earl Weaver said “You can’t sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You’ve got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That’s why baseball is the greatest game of them all.” I’m sure that there are many Red Sox Fans that wish that they could. The Red Sox can still win the Wild Card but they need help and afford to keep losing. If they don’t get the help and cannot win some games it will be a long winter in Bean Town for the Red Sox faithful. Manager Terry Francona said in his post game interview ‘We’re going to have to fight for everything the rest of the way out.” That is true because the Rays and the Angels will do all that they can to steal this from the Red Sox.
Peace
Padre Steve+
Filed under Loose thoughts and musings
Me Myself and Hurricane Irene
In my half century of life I have been through major earthquakes and numerous hurricanes and tropical storms, a tornado and a war. However I cannot remember being more concerned about a natural disaster until now. Hurricane Irene looks like it is on target to slam into the Island Hermitage as well as my home inVirginia Beach.
Last night I was not very concerned, it looked like the bitch would stay far enough to sea that things would be fine. Late last night my Judy called me worried and with my computer I looked at the models and told her that things would be fine and the storm would likely stay far enough at sea as not to cause too much damage. This morning I got up and the first thing that I saw was that the computer models were now zeroing in on the Outer Banks and if the models are correct will also come very near to or actually strike Virginia Beach. As of now most of the models have the eye of the Irene coming ashore as a Category Three hurricane around Morehead City and Beaufort North Carolina which is about 20 miles to the north of the Island Hermitage. Since Irene is a big mother that is much too close for comfort.
Calm before the Storm
I went out to the beach this evening for the last weekend before the Labor Day holiday the beach and the neighborhood were incredibly quiet, the very real calm before the storm. When I walked out of the Island Hermitage the only noise was that of some kind of noisy insect in the trees above me. I got to the beach and decided to try to get around without my cane and I did pretty well. I think from now on I will only use it when the leg is hurting. It’s been almost a month since I broke the Fibula and the doctors said 4-6 weeks so I will give it a shot. Anyway I took off my sports sandals and walked out to the surf. There were a few people on the beach. I took a number of pictures and I noticed the colors of the sky which were tinged with the reds and oranges of the sun which had just disappeared over the horizon. The surf was heavier than I have seen since I moved here and the breakers dissipated as they came ashore. It was all too peaceful. It is hard to imagine that in less than 48 hours the serenity before me will become a watery inferno with winds gusting over 100 miles an hour.
Pat Robertson has written and spoken about how he prayed away a hurricane when he first established his ministry in Virginia Beach. Since Pat’s headquarters is in Virginia Beach, along with his Christian Broadcasting Network Studios and Regent University he has a big interest in praying this one away. So I hope that Pat gets off his ass and uses his special double top secret probation prayer line to Jesus in to get Irene back out to sea. I don’t even care if he claims credit for it on TV and in his next book.
I called Judy to let her know that she needed to take the dog and execute our evacuation plan. A neighbor will be watching our house in our absence and let me know if we sustain damage. My insurance company has already sent me an e-mail assuring us that they are with us; it’s a good thing to be a long time member of USAA. Even so I do not look forward to any kind of storm damage.
I am a safety first kind of person. I have already let my staff know that they can take leave tomorrow to get out of Dodge if needed. Since I am essential personnel at the hospital I will be caring for our patients, staff and their family members during the storm. All the models make this look really bad for this area.
Yes I am praying for all those that live along the East Coast just as I do for others. Unfortunately I have already heard some preachers, Christian ministers, the allegedly “Christian” head of the far right website Worldnetdaily, Joesph Farrah and a Jewish Rabbi announcing with almost smug arrogance that this is God’s judgment on our country. As always it is the fault of homosexuals and not the fault of the incredibly greed filled financial institutions that have contributed so much to the economic turmoil that has engulfed the world and the preachers that seem to elevate Wall Street above the Gospel.
I’m glad for these people that they are so sure of this, but I’m sure that the Lord probably thinks otherwise, besides Pat Robertson would be in the crosshairs too, but then maybe God is mad at him and the rest of us are the collateral damage. My word to all of these preachers get off their asses, pray for the people on the East Coast and be ready to render assistance as they can. After all it’s the Christian thing to do. I know that is what I will be doing, but that’s just me.
Peace and Blessings,
Padre Steve+
Filed under christian life, faith, Loose thoughts and musings, natural disasters
Gaddafi’s Götterdämmerung: The End in Tripoli
A rebel fighter destroys a poster of Gaddafi found in the administration centre after rebels seized full control of Az-Zawiyah [Bob Strong/Reuters]
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/08/201182122425905430.html
It appears that the end is near if it has not already come for the regime of Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi. After nearly six months of civil war in which a rag tag coalition of rebels aided by NATO airpower, Special Forces and intelligence agencies has reduced Gaddafi’s zone of control to the Bab Al-Aziziya-Jazeera stronghold.Green Squarethe center of many pro-Gaddafi rallies since the beginning of the uprising is now decked out in the pre-Gaddafi flag that has served as a unifying symbol for the rebels who span the spectrum from pro-Western democrats to Islamists as rebels and residents of Tripoli celebrated together amid rifle fire.
Zeina Khodr, Al Jazeera’s correspondent, said from the Green Square: “There’s a party in the Libyan capital tonight. The people are in charge of the city. They’ve decided the square is now called Martyr’s Square, the original name. They’re shouting ‘we’re free’ and shooting at a poster of Gaddafi.”
The regime began to collapse this week as rebels captured the key western city of Az Zawiyah and rapidly advanced from the west into Tripoli gaining its outskirts by Saturday even as other rebel forces advanced from the south and east, a move that Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the NTC said “There is co-ordination with the rebels in Tripoli. This was a pre-set plan. They’ve been preparing for a while. There’s co-ordination with the rebels approaching from the east, west and south.” As they did most military resistance by pro-Gaddafi forces began to collapse. There are reports that the unit in charge of Gaddafi’s security has went over to the rebels with its commander instructing his soldiers to “lay down their arms.” The rebel forces also overran a key Libyan Army base which was the home of the Khamis Brigade named for his youngest son Khamis who serves as its commander.
The government of neighboring Tunisia has recognized the Nation Transitional Council as the legitimate government ofLibyaon Saturday joining a number of western nations in doing so.
The International Criminal Court has confirmed that Gaddafi’s son Saif Al-Islam and his brother Saadi have been captured by rebel “Special Forces.” Saif who has been the face of the regime for much of the rebellion was indicted with his father and the head of the State Intelligence Chief earlier in the year for the ruthless crackdown on Libya’s “Arab Spring” demonstrators was captured very early Monday morning inTripoli. SkyNews has reported that the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court told CNN that talks will be held with the Rebel National Transitional Council about transferring Saif toThe Hague.
Another report through Al Jazeera reported that another of Gaddafi’s son’s Mohammed cut off an interview after gunfire was heard telling the reporter “I..I… I am being attacked right now…inside, inside my house, inside.” According to Al Jazeera he refused to surrender, his guards shot at rebels. One rebel was killed and one bodyguard was injured and that he and his family are “safe” but Mohammed has confirmed to Al Jazeera TV that he “has been detained and is under house arrest.” Mohammed said in the interview “I’ve never been a government or security official; however I can tell you the absence of wisdom and foresight is what brought us to here today. Our differences could have been solved easily.”
Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said “We are still very strong. We have thousands and thousands of fighters who have nowhere to go but to fight.” He also claimed that 65,000 “professional soldiers” were ready to defeat the rebels. Despite this there are reports that defecting Libyan soldiers are now clashing with the loyalists and African mercenaries that remain. The TNC admits that it does not yet completely control the city but is working on it.
As for Gaddafi himself there are some reports that he has fled even as he announced that he would not go into exile and said “We will fight to the last drop of blood,” he said. “We will never give up.” I his radio address Sunday night Gaddafi appeared to be begging for help from the people of Tripoli.
You You !
Come out of your houses and do this !
That is your duty !
Death or Life !
Come on, swarm the city of Tripoli !
From the inside and from the outside !
The women, who had weapon training, come out with her weapons!
You are all armed in the city of Tripoli
There is no excuse, just come out !
The collaborators of occupation are very small groups
How can you allow Tripoli, capital of Lybia, to fall under occupation another time, after the Revolution and Liberation and… ?
How can an armed population allow a handful of mercenaries, of traitors, of rats to open the way to occupation in the city of Tripoli
That is unacceptable
This is, this is dangerous
Tripoli burned and became like Baghdad, what is our excuse, why ?
The Tripoli that was safe and beautiful
What became of her when they made it a war zone?”
The situation is rapidly changing and at times chaotic. As in every revolution there is turmoil and it I am sure that there will still be some heavy fighting as loyalists aided by African mercenaries hired by Gaddafi continue the fight. The rebels themselves are not well organized but have the advantage of momentum and apparently the support of many citizens inTripoli. The fact that three of Gaddafi’s sons are now prisoners and that no major units of the Libyan Army appear to be intact indicates that Gaddafi’s regime is on its last legs. Despite this the rebels are preparing for more battles with Gaddafi supporters who they think will attempt to retake Green Square which has been renamed by the rebels “Martyr’s Square.”
What will come next is uncertain. The rebels represent various factions and many are Libyan expatriates who have returned to oust Gaddafi including a good number from the United States. In the mix are pro-Western democrats, Islamists, Socialists and others. Some represent the NTC while others represent tribes opposed to Gaddafi and some may be affiliated with Al Qaeda and other radical Islamist groups. The problem is that the Libyan people, despite their passion for their country have no experience in governing and with the exception of expatiates from the United States and Western European countries no experience in democracy. Thus when Gaddafi is finally overthrown the fate of Lybia and its people will be uncertain. NATO has offered assistance and support to a post Gaddafi Libya. Likewise we have to wonder how this will impact the rest of the region in the coming months.
President Obama stated that the “United States will continue to work with partners to protect people of Libya and support shift to democracy” and that “Gaddafi needs to acknowledge the reality that he no longer controls Libya. He needs to relinquish power once and for all.”
The real question now is where Gaddafi is and what will happen to him? I do not suspect that he will be able to escape at this point with a no-fly zone and with rebels in control of all major routes in and out of Tripoli if he did not make his way out of the city before Sunday. If he is able to make his way to a country willing to shelter him is hard to say, however if the rebels catch him the question is will he fight to the death or will he surrender?
There will certainly be more to follow and Lord knows what will happen. We can all pray for the best even as the rebels continue to liberate their country and President Obama and NATO leaders continue to work with the TNC. As my Iraqi friends say “Inshallah.”
Peace
Padre Steve+
Filed under Loose thoughts and musings
New Look…Same Great Content
Today I changed the layout and color of the site background in response to a comment of a reader. I have been thinking about a redesign for a while and this was not the first reader to mention that the previous black and white background was difficult on the eyes. Since I want to keep the three column format I was limited on my options but using the same theme I was able to modify it. Hopefully the new layout will be better. I was actually surprised to see how well that I liked the new look. Normally it takes me a couple of days to find something that I like and this time it took all of about 5 minutes.
So anyway I am back in Virginia for the weekend with Judy and Molly. We head over to Joint Base Little Creek-Fort Story to get my new combination cover with the “scrambled eggs” on it as well as some silver oak leaves for when I get promoted on September 1st.
Since I am still in pain and have to do the crutches for anything more than a trip to the kitchen when I can use a cane we won’t be doing much. We’ll have to find a DVD and sit back and enjoy.
Before I go here are a couple of thoughts for the journey.
“Capitalization distinguishes the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse, and helping your uncle jack off a horse.”
And to change a Yogi Berra quote about pitchers:
“All politicians are liars or crybabies”
And finally something that Napoleon Bonaparte said that all of our elected leaders and those desiring to be President need to earn and learn fast:
“In order to govern, the question is not to follow out a more or less valid theory but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.”
I see some future articles in these quotes but not one today.
Have a great weekend!
Peace
Padre Steve+
Filed under Loose thoughts and musings
August 2007: My Beginnings in Iraq
I have had a lot of opportunity to reflect today. I woke up about 0430 in pain from my broken leg. I was in enough pain to warrant a Vicodin which was the second that I had had since going to bed. It knocked me out and after making a call to my staff to let them know that I was out of action I woke up aboutnoonto the sound of a MH-53E flying over my place toward the Marine Auxiliary Airfield a few miles from my place. Vicodin makes my leg feel better but pretty much puts me out of action.
The memories invoked by the sound of the helicopter caused my period of reflection. I haven’t written about my time in Iraqin a long time. The memories of my time in Iraqstill evoke intense emotions which sometimes lead me into a depressed funk and can be brought on by many things. However since I am doing better than the last time that I attempted to write them down I figure that I might as well start over and attempt to complete what I began in 2009. Today marks the 4th anniversary of my arrival in Fallujah, the next to last stop before we arrived at Taqaddum and began our operations supporting the Marine and Army advisors in Al Anbar Province.
I arrived in Iraq with my assistant, RP1 Nelson Lebron. We had detached from EOD Group Two in early July and after stops for processing and training in Norfolk, Fort Jackson South Carolina and Kuwait we arrived in Iraq on the 5th of August. Our first stop was at the headquarters of the Iraq Assistance Group atCampVictory inBaghdad. We remained there several days getting briefings on our mission and awaiting a flight to Fallujah. Our last night at Camp Victory was an interesting night where for the first time I was in the line of fire of a hostile rocket which whooshed over my head to explode harmlessly about a kilometer away.
107mm Rocket on improvised launcher
We had a very late flight, about 0200. Since you normally need to manifest for a flight two hours prior it means that you back up at least a hour before the manifest time. This particular evening there was not much cooling going on and there was little illumination which meant in most places it was very dark. Especially in troop the billeting areas. We dragged our gear to the entrance to the billeting area. Nelson went back to his tent and I plopped my ass down on my bags. About 2300 I heard and felt a rush over my head. It was a rocket, probably a 107 mm rocket which is one of the most popular indirect fire weapon used by the insurgents or possibly a 122 mm rocket. Both are former Soviet systems produced in Iran and supplied to insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as to Hezbollah in Lebanon. They are not very accurate but still the fact that a rocket had buzzed me was disconcerting. A few seconds later I heard an explosion. I later heard the rocket had continued on and hit an uninhabited area of the camp. Soon after it went over my head a very young looking soldier came running up to me in his PT gear with an M-16 at the ready. He shouted “Sir, what was that?” The young man appeared to be a bit scared to I simply quipped “Only a rocket son didn’t hit us.” He seemed to relax just a bit and I said “You okay son?” the good thing about being as old as I am that you can get away with calling the young guys “son” because in most cases they I’m old enough to be their father. I stay in game too much longer and the new kids could be grandchildren. This young soldier said, “Well sir I’m on the quick reaction force and that sounded close.” In the background to the east machine gun and small arms fire could be heard. A pair of gunships buzzed us going the general direction of the gunfire.Baghdadwas definitely not a violence free school zone. I replied to the young soldier. “Son, if I were you I’d report to where you need to go, better grab your helmet and flak.” The young man looked at me in the dark, assuming I was a Marine officer since I was in myMarineDesertdigital cammies, saluted and said “Yes sir” to which I replied “be safe soldier and God bless, keep up the good work.” Once again he thanked me and hurried off into the night.
A few minutes later, Nelson who has been in some pretty sporty situations in Afghanistan including once where he took out a knife wielding assailant at a checkpoint in Kabul with his fists, came up to me. “Hey Chaps, did you hear that rocket? Sounded like a 107.” I said to him, “Shit brother, it felt like it went right over my head. “ He responded quickly “Boss I think we’re in a war here.” And I said “sounds like it partner, definitely sounds like it.” Then he said “Chaps, you wouldn’t believe what I just saw.” I said “Really, what?” And he told me the story. “I was over looking for our boy when I needed to go to the head, so I opened one of the port-a johns and when I opened it saw this guy and girl having sex in it, like they didn’t have the door closed and you know how nasty those things are.” I said “Partner you’ve got to be kidding me” and Nelson said “Chaps I wouldn’t do that to you, those people looked at me like I was stupid when I opened the door and I just said excuse me and closed the door. That place stank sir; I don’t know how they were doing it in there.” I replied “Partner, I guess after a year of more here some folks will take whatever they can get.” “But, you’d think that they would find some dark spot rather that a port-a-john,” replied a thoroughly disgusted Nelson. As I laughed at the misfortune of my little buddy, bodyguard and protector I simply said “There’s no accounting for taste my friend, no accounting for taste.”
We sat on our gear and waited, and waited. The time when we should have been picked up went by and after about 15 minutes of chatter about not being picked up on time, Nelson said. “Boss you want e to go find our ride?” I responded that I wanted him to as it was so dark that he might not know where to find us. A few vehicles had come and gone but none were our assigned wheels. Finally after about 45 minutes our ride showed up, Nelson had found him on the other side of the compound in his truck listening to AFN radio. He had come to the wrong side of the billeting area and was chastising me for not being there. I said, “Sergeant, I said to meet us over here and I’ll be damned f we have to lug our gear a couple hundred yards to make you happy.” I paused as he started to interrupt and then cut him off “Sergeant, don’t go there, you’re talking to a field grade officer who wasn’t always a chaplain, you went to the wrong place and you didn’t take the initiative to try to find us. We had to find you so don’t push your luck.” He replied, almost dejectedly, “Yes sir” and I said, “consider this matter ended, get us to the airfield, we have a flight to catch.” Nelson and I piled our gear into the back of the truck, got in and rode the airfield.
CH-46’s landing
In 2007 the Camp Liberty airfield, which deals exclusively in rotor wing aircraft, was one of the busiest heliports in the world. Hundreds of flights went through it every day. They were primarily Army, but a fair amount of Marine aircraft pass through as well. We were flying Marine air tonight. When we got to the heliport our chauffer had a difficult time finding a place to park. Eventually we sort of double parked and Nelson and I and Nelson and I unloaded our gear with a bit of help from our chastened chauffer got up to the manifest desk where we were greeted by a civilian. He took our names and our mission number and then took out a marking pen and wrote it on the back of our hands. I found that that at each place this was the primary way to identify who was getting off where or if you should even be on the aircraft. I found a seat and then because I couldn’t get comfortable walked outside for a while. Nelson on the other hand, ground his gear, threw himself upon it pulled his cover over his eyes and took a power nap. He can sleep almost anywhere.
With about 10 minutes to go I woke up Nelson, and I find it amazing how he can wake back up the way he does. When I take a nap I am useless for about 30 minutes after I wake up as my body tries to figure out what time it is. We both took turns guarding our gear as the other hit the head, once again a darkened port-a-john that stank to low hell. When done we staged our gear near the lineup point. Our mission was called and we lined up with about 30 others, a mixture of Marines, Sailors, contractors and a few soldiers. We geared up, securing helmets, flaks, our packs as well as our massive EOD issue sea-bags. Nelson helped me with mine as we got ready to walk, once was over my back and the second strapped across my chest, actually going from my chin to just above my knees. Many of our fellow passengers had very little gear, and one fairly large contractor offered to help me with my gear. I took him up on it about half of the 100 yards to where our bird had landed.
Watching our aircraft come in, a flight of 2 Marine CH-46s which date back toVietnamservice I was amazed at how surreal they looked coming in out of the night, their haze gray fuselages almost having a ghostly appearance as they set down. Of course we had the bird that was farthest from the line up point and I was really glad for the help of this generous contractor. As we loaded our bags onto the aircraft, stacking it in the center of the deck with everyone else’s gear, we each took one of the jump seats along the side and strapped ourselves in. Sweat was pouring off of me and I felt totally winded, no amount of running, pull ups, pushups and crunches had prepared me to lug our heavy and ungainly gear around. The dimly lit troop compartment was hot and I looked around the aircraft. I noted the machine gunners in the front doors and the crewman in the back who took a seat with a 240 series machine gun mounted on a swivel. It reminded me of the films I saw of the inside of World War Two B-17s, except that the flight suits were different. The crew gave the let the pilots know that we were ready, and I wondered what we were heading into. Nelson got my attention and gave me a “thumbs up” and I returned it as the lights went out that our flight lifted off.
Banking around to the left the 46 gained altitude and flew back across the camp as it did so I got my first view of Iraq after dark. As we flew into the city ofBaghdadthere were lights and sometimes lit streets. In a few places I could see the flashing lights of emergency vehicles. We soon began to descend into the city surrounded by tall buildings, mainly hotels and government buildings and I knew that we were in the “Green Zone.” We sat down on a small landing pad, the dim lights came back on and a couple of passengers got out of our bird which a couple of more boarded the flight. The scene fromCampLibertywas repeated and gear was off and on loaded, passengers boarded and debarked from the flight and the lights went off and the bird lifted off. Gunners took their positions and chatted on their headsets obviously scanning for threats and assessing what was going on, or they could have been talking about the new video game one of them had bought at the exchange.
Banking left we gained altitude heading east, with Baghdad fading into the night the lights of the communities along the Euphrates came into view as we flew on toward Fallujah. For me it was a fascinating experience, surreal and a bit of anxiety making but interesting as I thought of the history of the ancient civilizations who had settled here. As a historian I thought about the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians and the fact that the faith of the Christian Church through Abraham and later the people ofIsraelbegan inIraqwith Abraham’s obedience to the Lord in theLandofUrof the Chaldees.
The flight only took about 16-18 minutes and we flew into Fallujah. The bird sat down on a large tarmac and the crew motioned us to get up grab our gear and get off of the aircraft. I was praying desperately that it would not be a long walk to the terminal from the helicopter pad. As we hauled our gear off the 46 to get to the terminal I was about tapped out. The 46 had landed about 100 yards from the terminal where our ride waited. It might as well have been 100 miles. I loaded one bag on my back and commenced to drag the other. Nelson was ahead of me and realized that his old Padre was not doing well. I was about halfway to the terminal when Nelson showed up with a Marine on a John Deere Gator. My gear was loaded aboard the Gator; I gave a hearty thank you to Nelson, the Marine and to the Deity Herself as I dragged my sorry ass to the terminal.
The Fallujah terminal like most terminals at heliports in Iraqwas a plywood building constructed by the Seabees. It was well lit inside, had air conditioning which I sucked up and a large refrigerator with bottled water stashed in it. Once inside I took off my helmet as we checked in at the desk. By now it was about 0245, I had been up since 0530 the previous day, done PT a Camp Victory, had a rocket fly directly above me and dragged 200 pounds of gear more places than I wanted to in 100 degree heat and I was a spent round. War is a young man’s game and even though I am in good shape for someone my age, the key is that I am in good shape for someone my age, not a young guy. Sweating profusely I found a liter bottle of water and downed it. About that time a large African American 1st Class Petty Officer came in the door. RP1 Donnie Roland was the LPO of the II MEF Forward Chaplain’s office and worked for Mike Langston.
Donnie, who is now retired from the Navy, is a guy that you definitely want on your side. He hooked us up. Normally personnel in a transient status in Fallujah are housed in tents with cots in varying degrees of disrepair. Donnie got us rooms in the VIP quarters, nicknamed by the Marines the “Ramadan Inn.” The place had once been the haunt of Uday and Qusay Hussein, Saddaam’s sons. It had a pond in the center of the court yard and was reputedly a place where they would entertain senior members of the Ba’ath Party amid scenes of debauchery. We were given a small room that had a desk and two small Iraqi beds, both of which had thin concave mattresses which had little support but were a definite step up from a cot. Sheets, pillows and a blanket were included. Our gear took up the majority of the room but it didn’t matter. After a shower I crashed hard. The bed might have been from a 5 star hotel; all that mattered at 0330 was that I could get to sleep. RP1 Roland told us that Chaplain Langston said that we should get some sleep and come in when we could. With outgoing artillery fire going off in the background I laid my worn out body down on the waiting mattress, I thought about the day and it came to me that the rocket that had went over my head could have killed me and a chill went down my tired spine. Another salvo of artillery lashed out at the enemy, and my mind drifted back to the present. I was now in Fallujah. One more stop on the way to my war, Nelson was already asleep; I am amazed at his ability to go from 0-60 and 60-0 so fast. More artillery fire boomed and as a former forward observer I found outgoing artillery fire to be comforting, amid it’s lullaby I went to sleep.
Peace
Padre Steve
Filed under Loose thoughts and musings
Return to the Great Montana Dude Ranch Sleepover: Padre Steve’s Cure to Politics as Usual
I wrote this about a year ago and after the fiasco that we have endured during this long and all too painful year think that it is time to revisit the topic. Since I have been rather morose of late I figure that this should break things up a bit.
I don’t know about you but as a passionate moderate I am fed up with the nasty politics as usual that is killing our country. Our political ruling class appears to be hell bent on destroying the country all to satisfy their respective need for power and to satisfy the basest wants of their most strident supporters. The corruption and malevolence of the career politicians on both sides of the aisle have bankrupted the country, cost American lives in war, cost American jobs, destroyed our manufacturing base, placed the interests of financial traders who produce nothing except promote the evil practice of usury because it makes them money which they in turn contribute copious amounts of said money to their political patrons. Then to top it all off they pass laws that make no sense and that you have to have an army of lawyers to understand. They are out of touch with the everyday concerns of real Americans and have done their best to destroy the fabric of our society in their quest for power and they are many times an unseemly lot who do things that regular people could never get away with. The number of ethics violations, criminal charges and convictions and resignations due to shady financial dealings, backroom deals, sexual scandals and sometimes rather nasty criminal cases are too numerous to catalogue unless you are Matt Drudge. I won’t list them here but they include notable Democrats as well as Republicans, nor will I go into all the idiotic things that our government, both Democrat and Republican controlled administrations or congresses have done as the task would be ginormous. Since we all get spun up about different issues usually in tune with our own political or social viewpoints I leave it to you my readers to fill in the blanks and comment on what you think they are screwing up.
Part of the problem is that our political ruling class, the Federal Government particular is completely out of touch because they live in the netherworld ofWashingtonD.C. This city has become the symbol of all that ails the country and since our political class only leaves it to raise money for their next campaigns they have no earthly clue of what the rest of us are experiencing. Thus they can coddle up to their big financial supporters and most demented party extremists and unseemly lobbyists representing some of the vilest elements of our society. As a result for at least the past 10 years and I am sure a lot more they have for the most part forgotten the people that they are supposed to represent. The political class doesn’t live in our world, thus they do everything that they can not to look at what is best for the country but rather what is best for them, for their party, their supporters and their agendas. If you ask me its all out of whack and they really all should be whacked.
Since they all spend far too much time inWashingtonor raising money to stay there it is high time that they get out of Dodge so to speak. This is my idea of how we fix this situation. My suggestion is definitely not politics as usual. Instead it is based on relationships built from shared suffering and since we are suffering why shouldn’t they suffer too? So here’s my idea. First we shut down the government for a month. Now before you think that you won’t get what the government owes you I don’t mean the people that actually do the work. What I mean is both houses of Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court. We shut them down. Let the clerks of the court do their thing, let the White House staff do its job and congressional aides deal with constituents. Give the Russians and Chinese, the Iranians, Al Qaida, the European Union and everyone else a message that we’re busy the next month so don’t bother us. We’ll tell them that if they mind their own business that our stand ins with itchy fingers won’t nuke them. where is Al Haig when you need him the most? Hey MAD (mutual assured destruction) worked during the Cold War, after all nothing like an ICBM loaded with multiple nuclear warheads to keep people in line and not do anything really stupid.
So do you hear me Mahmoud and Osama? Do you hear me? All that would come between you and nuclear annihilation are a few disgruntled civil servants with road rage that just got to work after being stuck in Beltway traffic for 3 hours. Go ahead make our day.
Once we shut the place down we put all of these guys and gals on Greyhound buses packed to the gills. Each bus would have a mix of members of each party really making sure those that hate each other most sit next to each other. Secret Service and FBI agents on the buses would have the option to Taser anyone that tries to switch seats. Then we drive them all to some big assed dude ranch inMontana, outfit them in silly looking cowboy clothes with boots that are a bit too tight and leave them there in the charge of a bunch of cowboys at least two of which have had a recent “BrokebackMountain” experience.
They would have no cell phones, computers or communications with the outside world or even their minions back in D.C., nope, just them and Mother Nature sharing the experience of high plains living. In fact to liven the place up we need to bring a few folks back into the mix, some former Presidents and Speakers of the House would do fine. Also the addition of the most strident Cable TV and radio talking heads and commentators would be good too, but I digress, too many extras might spoil the moment. Maybe we should have a separate sleepover of Rush Limbaugh and Maureen Dowd or Sean Hannity and Keith Olberman later? No, we’ll throw them into this one to make it more fun.
This dude ranch living would be a bit Spartan. Since most of these folks a Spartan way is driving in a luxury car or SUV, having to fly First Class, staying in a luxury suite or eating at a 4 star restaurant they might have a hard time with what I propose but that would just be tough. They made this mess and by God we’re going to get them back in touch with the real world and in the process get them to build real relationships with each other instead of the artificial life that they have led inside the beltway for years.
Once we get them to the big assed Dude Ranch we pair them up the best we can with a liberal and a conservative in each cabin. We would try to keep the cabins of the same gender not to cause too much scandal but would make a few exceptions to that rule. Now by cabins I don’t mean those really nice cabins that people take real vacations at, no I mean really rustic, Spartan tiny cabins with no amenities and only one bed, a full sized bed that our new roommates would need to share. The cabins would have no couches, easy chairs or love seats, no sleeping bags not even a bearskin rug, nope nothing else but the bed. They would have a rather rustic communal outhouse to share with everyone else over a deep pit latrine and share their meals in a rather dilapidated chow hall eating off of tin plates and drinking from tin cups. There would be a camp saloon but it would be like those of the old west, nothing but rotgut whisky, no mixed drinks, no foo-foo appetizers, no micro-brew beer. They would sleep together, eat together and have to participate in trail rides, fly fishing, Grizzly Bear hunting, rodeo events such as bull riding and calf roping as couples, odd couples, but couples nonetheless. This togetherness would be enforced. Those Secret Service and FBI agents with their tasers… they’ll be out there too. Anyway when our leaders go on the overnight trail rides the fun really starts. After they eat their beans from tin plates, sing really bad western songs and take a swig or two or more of rotgut whiskey and then relieve themselves in the manner that the cowboys did in the old West they would get to curl up together in their own two person pup tent, a really small one and spoon. This would help break down the walls that separate them and force them to get to know each other, some possibly in the Biblical sense of the word, but in the spirit of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell I won’t go there.
There is something about shared suffering to bring people together and make them realize that there is more to life than their own narcissistic agendas and power trips. No this wouldn’t be prison for them as much as a lot of Americans think that prison would be fitting for them; prison is far too easy for our political class. Instead this would build character, character that if once they had they lost over their years inside the Beltway.
Of course they would not get to pick their room-mates so here are some of my suggestions:
President Obama and Rush Limbaugh: I know I said that the media should have their own version of this but since Limbaugh is the leader of the conservative movement he has to come and buck with his pal Barry.
Harry Reid and Orrin Hatch: They’re both Mormons so they can at least pray together.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Rachel Maddow: I don’t know it just sounds right.
Nancy Pelosi and Antonin Scalia: Sure it’s an opposite sex pairing but they are both Italians they should have fun.
Tom Tancredo and Janet Napolitano: Let’s make a run for the border and mend some fences together
Russ Feingold and Ron Paul: Government control and Libertarianism two great tastes that go great together
John Ensign and Barbara Boxer: He can’t seem to hold it in and she looks like that she could use some loving
Al Franken and Clarence Thomas: A comedian and a straight man…what a combination
John Kerry and John McCain: Both Vietnam Veterans, they understand the value of camaraderie
Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer: The just look like they need to be together
Diane Feinstein and Michael Savage: ASan Francisco treat
Barbara Milkulski and Kay Bailey-Hutchinson: Why not?
Joe Lieberman and Tim Pawlwnty: Not opposites but they seem to go together
Samuel Alito and Maureen Dowd: It just sounds right
Eric Holder and Glenn Beck: I sense real chemistry here
Hillary Clinton and Newt Gingrich: He’s running and she’s not but why not?
Barney Frank and Sean Hannity: They debate on his show often enough let them really get to know each other
Sarah Palin and Joe Biden: Not a recognizable cognitive thought between them all hormones and testosterone
Sheila Jackson-Lee and Ann Coulter: Salt and Pepper
Ruth Bader-Ginsberg and Pat Buchannan: It can’t get any better than this
John Boehner and Joe Biden: I think that they could really come to love each other
Plus some new additions
Allen West and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz: Bringing Florida together
Michelle Bachmann and Ed Schultz: That Heartland feeling
Herman Cain and Kieth Ellison: Building bridges of faith
Rick Santorum and Lawrence O’Donnell: It can’t get any better
Unfortunately some of our more interesting members of our political class have passed on I would have loved to throw Teddy Kennedy, Robert Byrd, Jesse Helms, Ronald Reagan and any number of others into the mix, but what can I say?
So after 30 days our political elites would board their buses and go back to their home districts or home towns. Then they would have some real town meetings as couples, holding hands, looking dreamily into each other’s eyes and bringing peace to the political landscape. With those pesky Secret Service and FBI agents and their tasers at the ready our leaders would have to listen to their constituents and not the lobbyists. Speaking of lobbyists they all get sent toNew Guinea. As for the Congressmen and Senators they and their new found friends would have to spend 8 months a year living in their home state or district. The would give up their palatial estates in favor of homes that are in the median real estate price for their area. They would send their kids to public schools, go to PTA meetings, coach little league or soccer, deal with local government officials as the rest of us are forced to do. They would have to do their own grocery shopping, fight lines at Wal-Mart, take out their own garbage and spend time sitting in traffic behind the wheel of their average car or SUV. They would fly coach or business class and go through the TSA checkpoints like the rest of us, maybe even getting the full body scan once in a while. They would sit in the drive through line at Wendy’s, make a run for the border, Taco Bell that is and shop for the lowest priced gasoline. The four months that they spend inWashingtonDCwill be devoted to actually fixing things that they have fouled up over the years. They would have to pass non-pork laden budgets passed, reduce the deficit and do everything that they can to bring industry back into this country, rebuild the manufacturing base, protecting the environment as they rebuildour nation’s infrastructure and eliminate the barriers that keep small businesses and entrepreneurs from developing solutions to the challenges that face the country. Likewise they would need to repeal all of the draconian laws that intrude on the everyday life of ordinary Americans. I want the Federal government out of our churches, out of our local public schools, out of our bedrooms and out of everything that they don’t belong in. Freedom baby, I love it.
Finally just to make sure that our now properly schooled public servants don’t forget the lessons of the Great Montana Dude Ranch Sleepover they would for two weeks each year have to do this again. Maybe it could be a trail ride inTexasandOklahoma, a swamp safari inLouisianacomplete with no mosquito repellent. Perhaps a winter camp out at the Donner Pass, a gang- reenactment camp in East L.A. or an Appalachian family get together, still building and moonshine making contest in some holler in West Virginia or Eastern Kentucky. The possibilities in our great country are endless after all learning should be a lifetime event.
Of course my pairings of political bedfellows may not work for you, maybe you have better ones. If so feel free to add them as a comment and on this one no pairing will be denied because it’s all about togetherness. Because as I see it everything comes down to relationships and if we can just get these folks out of Washington to share some hardship, to eat together, ride together and even spoon together after all who can’t say that they don’t feel closer to someone after spooning together?
Now before you think that I am advocating that they all have higgily-piggily sex together I am not. However if it does happen and they get right with each other and start to work together for us what can be wrong with it? Half have probably had nasty sex with people that aren’t their spouses anyway so what difference does it make? It would be a sacrifice that they make for us, their fellow Americans. I know that I don’t want to sleep with any of them and figure that you don’t either and I really don’t want to know what happens when they spoon. Don’t ask don’t tell baby, don’t ask don’t tell. Besides would you want to know what happens when Sean Hannity and Barney Frank spoon? I don’t. I’ll say it again, don’t ask, don’t tell that’s my rule for life.
If this works maybe just maybe that they will finally start looking to the issues that Americans care about. Maybe they will finally understand the desire that we all have to see our children grow up to have the opportunity to outdo us, that our children might have a better future and that the country that we live in would come together like we did in the Second World War to overcome all the obstacles that stand between us and a better future. Call me a genius or call me crazy, chalk it up to Mad Cow, after all I can’t give blood because I lived inEuropeand ate too much beef. But remember “Padre Steve” is a “Uniter” not a divider, a decider not a ditherer and a real American for real Americans.
Padre Steve: a passionate moderate with radical ideas. Sleepover anyone?
Peace and laughs
Padre Steve+
Filed under Loose thoughts and musings
The Inglorius Padre Steve's World 