Most Americans are probably only concerned about how the problems in Egypt will affect prices at the gas pump. However, there is more than fuel prices to be concerned about. Our only faithful ally in the Middle East is Israel. Iraq, if it remains stable and able to defend itself from Iranian aggression might become an ally but because of strong muslim roots this is doubtful. Turkey? Well they are moving closer to relations with Iran - their ancient enemy. Let us pause to consider what is happening and maybe more importantly what hasn't happened.

Currently, populations in the Middle East are rising against their governments. First came Lebanon, then Tunisia and now Egypt and Jordan. The American media blithely believes that these uprisings are yearnings for liberty - Western style. I would argue it is a yearning for liberty under Sharia law. This is a totally antithetical to Western liberty. Just as the concept of peace means two different things for the Middle East and the West, liberty shares the same discordance. 

To the Middle Easterner, peace is synonymous with submission and liberty is only found through submission through the law of Allah, or Sharia. It could be said that liberty comes through submission to Allah just as peace does. The Middle East doesn't have a tradition of separating church and state and seventy percent of Egyptians are said to prefer Sharia law over the existing system. 

Under the Carter administration we were in an economic malaise, downsizing of troops in South Korea was occurring, OPEC was decreasing the available fuel supply with impunity - causing an energy crisis, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and revolution in Iran resulted in the overthrow of the Shah and a hostage crisis. Our enemies perceived Carter as weak. Our allies and enemies moved without us.

Much the same is true today. The economy is in malaise, we haven't solved anything about our energy needs, and our allies and enemies perceive President Obama as weak and are moving without us. Successful terrorist attacks on U.S. soil have been down since 9-11 because of vigilance and overall awareness. Because of the difficulty of attacking Americans in the U.S., terrorists may have changed strategy by attacking our allies in the Middle East under the guise of popular uprisings. Iran has a vested interest in this. Egypt is Israel's tentative ally since the Camp David Accords. To wrest control of Egypt from the West would be a significant triumph. It would threaten the Suez Canal and remove the support that Israel has had enforcing its southern border and possibly turn back the clock to 1973, especially if Jordan's government falls and a new one is hostile to the U.S.

Just think, why there? Why now? And who stands to gain from this? Answer: The fall of strategically placed American allies will greatly inhibit any punitive actions towards Iran. The Iranians are about to go nuclear and all indications  point that elBaradei, the General Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency has been covering up Iran's nuclear intentions and is openly anti-American. Therefore, Iran would benefit the most. They have the money and have been fomenting problems in Iraq, Lebanon, and other nations in the region.

Sadly, U.S. policy has historically shown us that we won't do much until something drastic and tragic happens. Just as many on the American Left identified with and admired Hitler before World War II, we have many on the Left admire our present enemies. Until our leaders learn that peace and liberty are not universal values shared by the rest of the world, and that power is the value that our enemies yearn for, we will always find ourselves faced with enemies that will do all they can to destroy us.

The other day in my U.S. History class I mentioned what was going on in Europe in regards to their rushing out of socialism (while we are rushing in to fill that vacuum). I specifically targeted the issue of what is an appropriate retirement age. I suggested we eventually raise ours to seventy years of age and hoping for a reaction, I got one. It was a big one too. 

Most of the class resented the idea of having to work until the age of sixty-five. Most wanted to retire at fifty-five. Life is just too good to have to work all the time. My response was that no one person is involved in making the decision when that person is to retire. It is usually an individual choice, brought about by environmental circumstances. Since Social Security is bankrupt, my generation and those that follow should not count nor hope to receive any benefit from that system. So, I advised you should start planning now and saving at least ten percent of your income. Not being a financial advisor, I did not specify how or in what manner (the whole liability/teacher/position of authority advice that may have negative repercussions later on, i.e. "He told me too!" scenario). 

Anyway, I know that just because I don't ever foresee myself actually retiring, but slowing down a little bit, I know that others don't see it that way. However, I was a little astonished at the vehemence of the response. My point is, we are reaching a tipping point in our civilization. We may have already gone too far to peacefully turn back. So many people feel that they are guaranteed or owed something in our society is at epidemic proportions. Even more astonishing, I said "Did Daniel Boone expect to get a government entitlement?". To which one student, and a very bright one at that responded, "I don't know who that is." So I broadened the statement to, "Did the pioneers expect social security?".

My message was implied, stop looking for someone else, especially government to solve your problems.

The Second Squadron’s mission in Iraq is approaching full closure and along with that we are a part of closing the door on combat operations in Iraq. Operation Iraqi Freedom ends August 31 and this Squadron will have helped not only reap the fruits of what other units have sown but also what it had sown during its first mission here in 2005.

 The Squadron’s two deployments have been neatly spaced apart by five years. There are some fundamental differences in the two deployments that offer some very unique perspectives on the course of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). There are many things that are familiar to veterans of the first deployment; however, over the course of the past five years there have been many important changes that make the second deployment very much different from the first deployment.

In the 2005 deployment the Squadron operated the full spectrum of military missions. They were assigned to and responsible for an area of land about half the size of Middle Tennessee. They were on the offensive actively seeking out insurgents as well as providing security for local nationals and coalition forces. This time there is no coalition and the Squadron provides force protection to U.S military personnel.

Instead of operating in one location and working with local nationals, this time the Squadron operated all over Iraq dealing with U.S. military and civilian contractors. Simply put, the Squadron went from offensive operations in 2005 to defensive security operations in 2010.

In May, LTC John G. Krenson was invited by the Sheiks Council of Balad to visit one of their council meetings. The Sheiks wanted to address concerns they had about their citizens and our convoys sharing the road. This theme was a critical aspect of the Convoy Security mission. The Squadron encapsulated its mission in its deployment motto of “Run Hard, Run Clean!”

This motto addressed the two important missions that the Squadron had for defending convoys: 1) protect the convoys ensuring their security as they rolled to their destinations – this was done by “running hard” and setting an aggressive posture to deter or respond to attacks; 2) share the road with local Iraqis in support of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which gave Iraqis sovereignty of their own country – including the roads. This meant that the Squadron had to achieve a balance in deterring insurgents from attacking convoys while ensuring that the convoys did not dominate the roads or create friction with the local population – this was done by “running clean”.

The Sheiks Council meeting amply illustrated the changes in Iraq since the first deployment. From the beginning of the deployment the Squadron knew it must now share the road. Five years ago drivers ran down the roads however they saw fit, but now they were required by the SOFA to follow traffic laws, to a certain extent. Convoys had to allow Iraqi civilians to overtake and pass them. Running a convoy down the middle of the road to avoid road-shoulder emplaced IEDs is no longer an option available to them. Convoys must share the road instead of dominating it as they did in 2005.

To mitigate these dangers, the U.S. military has fielded a new vehicle that was not available in 2005. The MRAP (pronounced "em-rap") has replaced the Humvee as the vehicle of choice for defending convoys. The Humvee was never designed to be an armored car - which it had been forced to become of sorts in the early days of the war. It is a Reagan-Era vehicle platform that was designed for the linear battlefield, not for the asymmetrical warfare we find ourselves currently fighting. It was meant to be operated in secure areas, like a battlefield taxi, it was never intended to be a combat platform. Since the U.S. military didn't have a platform ready-made when the war began, it was thrust into the role - adapt and overcome.

Staff Sgt. Chad Haines of G Troop and a Crossville, TN native is on his third tour of Iraq. “The MRAP is a great vehicle,” he said. “It keeps Soldiers safe, a lot safer than the Humvee. I’m not near as worried about surviving a hit from an IED like I was the last two times I was here.” He goes on to say that the addition of mine-rollers to the lead vehicles add greater security because any suspicious object on or beside the road can be safely investigated by running over it with the mine-rollers.

2^nd Lieut. Culbert of H Troop concurs that the MRAP is ideally suited for its mission to defend convoys. “It would not make a very good tactical vehicle - taking the fight to the enemy. It is too slow and doesn’t maneuver very well over rough terrain, but as long as the mission is to protect and defend convoys and keep soldiers as safe as possible from attacks, it is the right vehicle for the job,” he said.

Another significant change is that most logistics convoys run mostly at night - part of the share the road concept. A convoy of twenty to one hundred trucks runs best at night because of lighter traffic on the roads, but unfortunately this makes one more susceptible to an IED attack. However, a change for the better is that there are much fewer attacks. The security situation has improved to the point that the risk of an IED attack is so low that running at night is now the preferred option for most units in Iraq.

Much of this stems from the fact that the Iraqi population as a whole sees U.S. forces, more or less, as a force for good. The positive results of progress are to be seen all over Iraq. Shiny new cars, American and Japanese, are being driven on Iraq’s roads these days. This is an indicator that there is good economic activity and a growing prosperity.

An even better indicator is the amount of large construction projects - even in some of the poorest of places. Typically this indicates that the Iraqi people are confident that better days are ahead and are willing to invest huge sums into the infrastructure and national economy.

 Even the Sheiks at the Balad Council meeting told LTC Krenson that they knew Americans were helping Muslims all over the world – Bosnia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Afghanistan and their own city of Balad. They stated that they appreciated the Squadron’s efforts and wanted to be sure their people saw the best of Americans on the road.

 All over Iraq the hard-work, sacrifice, and dedication of our nation’s Soldiers can be seen bearing fruit. The Squadron has seen many changes come to Iraq in the last five years, but one thing that was familiar to the veterans from the last deployment was the Squadron’s military professionalism and aggressive attitude. This is summed up by the attitude of “Run Hard, Run Clean!” They always stayed in bounds of the “rules of engagement” but kept an aggressive posture that told anyone that might be observing their movements that they were not afraid to get in a fight, in other words they made themselves hard targets.

 This dedication to duty and professionalism not only led to a great working relationship with other units across Iraq and civilian contractors but also resulted in Second Squadron leading the Regiment in many areas such as missions and maintenance. This allowed the Squadron to successfully close the door on Operation Iraqi Freedom and usher in Operation New Dawn.

THE RING-GIVERS

A reader of mine had hoped that I would write a few essays on leadership during my deployment time. I admitted that I began this blog with that intention in mind but lost sight of it in the wake of other topics that sprang to mind. Studying history is a small pastime of mine and looking for keys to leadership has been a part of that study. I've not limited my studies to just history and when I embarked on my quest to become a commissioned officer I very seriously read all the recommended contemporary books on leadership as well as biographies on leaders. Each contemporary book on leadership had listed what its author considered were the essential qualities and virtues required in a successful leader. These lists were not dissimilar. The various qualities and virtues are often ranked in no particular order and generally suit what the author deems most important. I will do likewise and the first virtue I will list is benevolence. 

In general, benevolence is usually on most lists and ranked near the end. I think benevolence is the most important because the very nature of leadership requires the empowerment of others and benevolence is the keystone that holds the arch of empowerment together. Benevolence is very much a part of our Judeo-Christian heritage; however it is not unique to that heritage. For instance, in pre-Roman times the leaders of the Celtic and Germanic tribes in Europe gave rings as treasure to their followers. War Lords gave booty and bounty to their followers, they led them to victory, they were not loved because they were kind but because they were generally just (at least to their followers). 

Readers familiar with Beowulf will know that King Hrothgar was called a ring-giver; however, a ring-giver was not necessarily a king, it could be a warlord, chieftain or warrior with a faithful following of other warriors. Rings or treasure was earned by ones prowess and success in battle, the more valor one showed in battle the greater the spoils could be. This system bound clans and tribes together and the more rings one had, the more respect he had from his fellow warriors.

In the modern world benevolence takes many forms.  Instead of giving rings leaders award medals but another form of recognizing excellence is the coin. A lieutenant colonel or a sergeant-major typically commission a unit coin to be handed out on the spot as a way to immediately recognize a worthy act. Another example is the recent flood back home in Tennessee. The State Adjutant General, commander of all Tennessee Army and Air Guard units, wanted to know which soldiers families, specifically those who were deployed, had suffered from the floods and needed assistance. Another is a captain that took all those under his command to Buffalo Wild Wings and bought them a meal, drink and one adult beverage (if they were thirsty for something other than tea or soda). 

Benevolence, however, is still more than just handing out tokens and awards, it is so much more. True benevolence is empowering someone to achieve excellence. Giving of ones time or resources so that person can not only succeed but surpass ordinary standards. To often leaders guard the resources in their area of responsibility as if they personally owned them and do not share with others around them or below them, they seem jealous of other's successes. They don't share the first fruits but only offer the left overs and scraps. True benevolence is more like a sacrifice, a willingness to give up something valuable, something important to aid in someone else's striving. This is the essence of teamwork and without benevolence there is little teamwork.

If my time on an Army staff has taught me anything it has taught me this: all too often it is easy for each staff section to "stovepipe" information. In other words, they only spend time working in their own area of expertise and send information up the "smoke stack" or "stove pipe" to their higher section and not share what could potentially be valuable information other staff sections are also seeking. Time and energy are uselessly expended by other sections as they try to track down this information. The team is not working as a cohesive unit but a dysfunctional one. Sharing information is the least one can do. Again, benevolence extends beyond just simple sharing of information, benevolence acts like oxygen on a fire and the best organizations have learned this. Benevolence extends to helping others complete their work when yours is done.

Another type of leader I have seen in the Army is the "I'm here to get all the rank I can, as fast as I can." I'm sure everyone has encountered this type person somewhere in there life. The quote above comes from an officer I was acquainted with years ago - and yes, he introduced himself that way. The main point to take away from this is to avoid appointing these type leaders to positions of great responsibility, mainly because they are responsible to no one but themselves. This is a selfish type of leadership that has ruined many a large corporation, e.g. Tyco and Enron. Too often these aggressive self-starters have a win at all cost mentality and folks get hurt, even crushed by this attitude; I think they lack confidence and cover up incompetence by throwing others under the bus.

Lastly, the supreme example of benevolence is the Christ. Yes, he did extraordinary works of benevolence; raising the dead, making the blind see, healing the sick, feeding the hungry and so on, but His ultimate act of benevolence was to die on the cross, for by the shedding of His blood man has been set free. I only truly began to understand this by visiting the scenes of war, a people trapped in a cycle of violence that has lasted thousands of years. It is my argument that the West is free, only because of its Christian based traditions. So contrary to human wisdom, it is more blessed to give than to receive.

So not being satisfied, there must be someone who thinks "Keith Olbermann sucks." Every one in the media has someone who hates them. So, I went to the Yahoo search engine and put in "Keith Olbermann sucks," bingo! I got all kinds of stuff. Did you know you can get "Keith Olbermann sucks" tee-shirts and bumper stickers?! Wow, so what does MicroSoft's Bing have to say? It got even stranger, "Keith Olbermann Sucks in Bed!" Double wow, apparently there is a dissatisfied woman that is spilling the beans about an alleged recent liaison with him. Disappointingly I still got links to his show or even articles in praise of him.

So what is the purpose of all this? Over here on the military bases in Iraq we don't get Fox News exclusively or even CNN exclusively. Armed Forces Network (AFN) runs a rotating mix of news shows and "Countdown with Keith Olberman" (sucks) comes on before Glenn Beck - so I wait, not wanting to miss a minute of Glenn Beck, and suffer through Keith Olbermann (sucks). What I've learned from watching Keith Olbermann (sucks) is that the lower his rankings go, the more hateful he becomes to Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Fox News, and any others that are to the right of his political leanings.

I took the most umbrage over was his showing of Sarah Palin's speech on the latest nuclear treaty with Russia. He never addressed anything about that topic, he only called Sarah Palin an "idiot." It didn't stop there, he called the Tea Party folks (whom he calls tea-baggers), who were in attendance "idiots" as well. He then shows a clip of Obama saying Palin is inexperienced in such matters and should be ignored. Keith Olbermann (sucks) stated, "I couldn't have said it better myself."

Oh, the hypocrisy. At least Keith Olbermann (sucks) has made his income by earning a living and holding down a job. When has Obama ever done this? Yet, Obama not only sees himself as an expert on foreign relations but an expert on jobs creation and just about anything else. Just read Charles Krauthammer's postings on www.nationalreview.com, to learn more about just how foolish Obama is on the nuclear question. Are we really surprised by all this? Keith Olbermann (sucks) made his reputation taunting and insulting athletes from the safety of his broadcasting studio.

Now then, go to Google and put in the search box, "The Fat Lady sings for Keith Olbermann," and you will get a few excellent articles on the "abysmal" state of Keith Olbermann's (sucks) ratings. Along with them you'll also get articles defending Keith Olbermann (sucks) as well.

So what is Keith Olbermann's (sucks) response to this, it is a Right-Wing smear campaign. Talk about not taking responsibility! It's not his fault he says (it's NEVER the Left's fault), "the right wing believes that Countdown is about to be cancelled, because it so desperately wants it to be cancelled," never mind his viewership is down over 45% from the 2009 (by comparison, Bill O'Reilly is up 55%). For more on Keith Olbermann (sucks) ratings go to National Review and do a search there, and for Keith Olbermann's (sucks) defense of his ratings go to the Huffington Post and search for "Keith Olbermann (sucks) Defends 'Countdown' Ratings, Claims Right Wing Smear Campaign." Of course Keith Olberman (sucks) is above smearing anyone himself.

If there was a conspiracy, then what's up with Google? Are they protecting Keith Olbermann sucks? I've heard they squash searches for Pro-Life websites, maybe they squash other Right leaning information too. Anyway, if Keith Olbermann's sucks rating are plummeting - it just might be that Americans are demonstrating their good sense and know who the the real frauds are, to paraphrase Lenin, Americans are voting with their remotes.

Speaking of smearing, you should read the Bob Cesca blog on the Huffington Post while your at it, he self-righteously claims he is "Exposing Glenn Beck as a Dangerous Fraud." His basic tenant is that Americans aren't smart enough to figure this out for themselves, so he will ride in on his white horse and save those benighted fools who believe one word of Glenn Beck, pathetic. Always character attacks, not only on Glenn Beck but also the assumption that Americans are to stupid to figure this out, especially those who have any religious convictions. Not once is anything that is said by Glenn Beck addressed, except to say that "such a corruption of the news is inherently damaging to democracy" and that "it's only a matter of time before Beck's deception takes a tragic turn." Never mind that teachers like myself teach much of the same things Glenn Beck addresses on his show in Social Studies and History classes across America. I guess we are all benighted fools.

Oh! My favorite attack by this Bob Cesca blogger is that Beck is getting filthy rich off his endeavors. Sounds like jealousy to me, greed and jealousy that is behind this low brow attack. Gov't forbid, that someone go out and earn a living for themselves. Financial independence? How dare he become independent of the government! Instead of being a loyal peasant for Big Government, dependent on his very existence, a government that truly knows what is good for him, he sells out to Fat Corporate America and has the audacity to attack what is Good - Big Government!

Lastly, some may wonder why I put the epithet "sucks" behind Keith Olbermann's (sucks) name so many times. It's because that is the way search engines work. If I put Keith Olbermann sucks together in a sentence, or an article as many times as I can, and I can get my readers to type it often into search engines, and they can get their friends to do the same, Google might have to change. I seriously doubt it but I do hope it leads people to this blog and then to other sites like National Review, American Thinker and so many others.

Things haven't slowed down so much as I've been able to get into a rhythm so I can start writing again. Over here we call it a 'battle-rhythm' and consider it to be very important. Getting into a good rhythm not only makes work more productive and efficient there is a certain healthiness to it as well, it lowers ones stress level and that is always healthy.

Many things have changed since I was last here. The first thing that grabbed my attention is the lack of graffiti in the port-a-johns. How they've managed to police that up, I don't want to know. Some of the other changes include moving outside the wire only at night and the number of areas we just don't go into. These no-go areas are part of the agreement we signed with the Iraqi government. 

Some lifestyle changes include not having to pay for cable, we get AFN (Armed Forces Network) for free. Last time if you wanted cable, you had to pay for it and you'd get the satellite feeds from Europe - including all their porn. I guess that is why they are providing free AFN cable and a TV. 

AFN news is lame. By lame I mean it is an equal mix of Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. Most of us really dislike the latter two and we are wondering why AFN shows these programs. Yes, there is many an officer who dislikes the Social Democrats and Obamacare and the general direction our country is turning. If you had ever experienced military medicine you would have fought tooth and nail to prevent Obamacare. The government can't educate our children and now we trust them with our health, and the power to deny us healthcare, and our medical records!

Whilst I was on pass in Gulfport with the family I got to catch up a little bit on the news. Certainly our economy faces many serious challenges but I have little faith in the Republicans and even much less faith in the Democrats to remedy these problems. The latter have been saying the same thing for the past 100 years and it has gotten very tiresome. They claim the big guy is out to screw the little guy every which way he can and big government needs to protect the little guy - only problem is, they've never fulfilled that promise.

Instead they continue to hurt the little guy while claiming it is really the big guy they are after. They don't teach basic government and economics in school any more, they may have classes called that, but they aren't teaching anything. I have many commercially available lesson plans for high school teachers and they are awful, but some lazy teacher will use them anyway. I digress, one lesson of economics is your not going to pay for something if you don't have too, namely costs. Big companies and small companies pass along the costs of taxes to the little guy every time, I was a small business guy and I did the same thing. So in a very real sense big guy doesn't pay for much at all, little guy does. Since their are tens of millions of little guys, the burden is distributed very widely and it is not so tiresome, but there are only thousands of big guys in comparison and this is why this can be done. I know, over simplification but I'm not writing a dissertation here.

Take Peyton Manning and Bill Gates for just a minute. Both are gazillionaires but both arrived after huge amounts of hard work. Peyton will leave almost no mark on society or culture. There are many gazillionaire athletes, and he won't certainly be the last and he is more than amply awarded for entertaining us with his aerial artistry on the grid-iron. He is a hero to many, or villain to opposing fans, but still he ranks high in public opinion. Bill Gates, however, does not. Not that he seen as a villain by most in society, he is not esteemed as much as Peyton. Yet, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs, and other brainiacs with mega-loads of brain talent have changed our culture and society in ways that social engineers on the Left can only dream of. But we begrudge their salaries, while we use the iPods, and Blackberries, and PC's to make life easier for ourselves. We believe the lie that he is out to stick us, the little guy, for more greedy profits.

Obama and his ilk want to limit big bonuses for big executive guys, bad idea. Very bad idea, because big executive guy is smart, because he has large amounts of money; he has much more options available to him than little guy does. He will take his extensive talents and go play somewhere else. Somewhere, someone (likely another big executive group of guys) will pay him well for his services. This would cause a brain-drain in our country, just like we've run off manufacturing to foreign countries because of taxes so we will run off the big guy executive and what will we have left then? Big executive guy takes his money, and his talent, and goes somewhere else to play. Then little guy has no job, and only taxes or he becomes a ward of the state. Maybe that is the real goal of our present government.

As much as I talk about disliking Camp Shelby I don't want folks to get the impression that all of deep Mississippi is bad. Hattiesburg has grown up since I was there in 2004 during our last mobilization. There are much more amenities and restaurant choices. Gulfport looked like a war-zone after Katrina. It was as messed up and dirty as anything I saw in Iraq. Today, the scars can still be seen but I would argue it has made a full recovery and is growing very nicely. 

This stands in contrast to New Orleans. Certainly, New Orleans has come a long way but much more needs to be done. There are still deep scars left on the landscape. There are still many damaged buildings and and a sense of abandonment. In Biloxi and Gulfport there are almost no wrecked building left, there are many vacant lots where commerce once stood but there are many more new constructions being erected. The roads and traffic flow is much better, they seemed to have taken disaster and made improvements to there community.

The most amazing thing we saw in Mississippi was Beauvoir. This the last home of Confederate States President Jefferson Davis. It was walloped, devastated, crushed, beaten hard by Katrina (finding the right adjective is difficult). The home has many of the damaged housewares and artifacts on display beside the pictures of a nearly destroyed house. They visitor's center is a trailer and much of the place is ad hoc, new construction work covers much of the grounds.

Anyway, the house stands on sixty brick pillars, Katrina took half of them, but restoration workers were able to replace them. FEMA has poured money into preserving the place. The old visitors center was pancaked along with the chapel. Only the original three residences were left standing, barely. The FEMA money was able to hire the best specialists in the world to fully restore the home. It looks marvelous, probably the best it has looked since it was built in the 1850s. They are now restoring the grounds, and erecting a new visitors center. I recommend if your ever in the area, you must visit Beauvoir.

We also visited the WWII Museum in New Orleans. Very nice, not as nice as the one at Camp Shelby, but still well worth the admission price. Across the street stands Memorial Hall. It is a forlorn looking building surrounded on three sides by the Southern Art Museum. I was amazed when I went inside. There in its hallowed walls is one of the largest collections of Confederate memorabilia, displayed in the original cases when the hall opened over one hundred years ago. It's not as sexy as the WWII Museum, it is quiet, small, and a living time machine. The WWII museum takes up an entire city block in size, has three theaters, vehicles, planes, and visceral displays, but does not even have half the artifacts that the 3500 square foot Memorial Hall has. I sincerely hope, as much love and attention the WWII Museum has received that Memorial Hall gets to profit from its gigantic neighbor across the street.

Lastly, a special thanks to Michael DelGiorno and the wonders of Facebook and the internet. His restaurant recommendations were excellent. I'm a little lighter in the wallet and a little broader in the waist, but our vacation was much richer.

Standing here on the eve of another deployment has caused me to reflect on this event and America in general. I remember on my first deployment back in 2005 wherever you drove, there were yellow ribbon magnets on at least four out of five vehicles; today you might say the ratio is about one in ten. I think one of the reasons there was so much support was the element of danger to America was still fresh, and not to carry water for George W. Bush, he at least spoke in a determined tone that rallied the public behind the military. Also, the stain of how shabbily the Left treated our military during Viet Nam was a shame that Americans did not want to repeat.

I don’t think it is a coincidence either that you don’t here any more news out of Iraq. You’d think we’d be trumpeting our successes but curiously the media is silent, and I think most Americans have bought into that faulty line of thinking that it was the wrong war. When I was attending a school at Ft Sill, Oklahoma I met soldiers from around the country and was somewhat surprised at the reaction of two soldiers from California. They almost gushed about how well they were treated in public by the citizens of Lawton, OK. They were pleased when folks shook their hands and told them ‘Thank you, for your service.’ They did not experience that gratitude in California. Now I know California is a big state and it may depend on where your stationed, so this may not be representative of the mood of the entire state. It only says that some parts of California are cool and maybe even hostile to the folks in the military.

However, it made me proud to be from Tennessee. I cannot go anywhere in public, in my uniform, and not have some one express their gratitude. Even greater, is the support the citizens of Dickson showed for their returning soldiers and the support Cookeville has shown for their departing soldiers. The citizens of Cookeville cooked us breakfast and dinners, adults and children serenaded us with songs of patriotism and love, they gave us free haircuts but most importantly they just expressed a heartfelt gratitude for the service and sacrifice their fellow Tennesseans are making to help keep America safe.

What I take away from all this is this: in spite of all the troubles our country faces, I know that as long as we can gather together to sing God Bless America, pray in open Christian unity, and rally around our troops, America is going to be all right.

Often times I listen to NPR (know thine enemy...). I can’t help notice that most of the bumper music they play is usually some form of free style jazz, soft rock or worse. In contrast, most conservatives play metal and hard rock. I can’t help wonder why, but I’ll give it my best shot. Heavy metal music is larger than life, and for the most part has a can do, ‘I’m gonna kick your arse’ attitude, and I think attitude is the key word here. The attitude is not an ‘I’m gonna lay down and take this’, instead it is ‘I’m gonna get up and fight.’ This is capitalism at its best. Metal bands get little or no airtime, work hard, play harder and have mastered the free market and capitalism. Their fans reward these efforts with unswerving loyalty when they work hard and drop them when their faking it. I’ll elucidate on this more later. 

The NFL, commissioner Roger Goodell specifically, owes Rush Limbaugh an apology. If they are afraid Rush will make the league look bad, I think they needn’t worry. They do a good enough job without Rush. Need I say Bud Adams? We shouldn’t be too hard on Mr. Adams, after all he did loose his wife of 61 years this year and that is to applauded in our divorce happy society, but it exposes the assinine owners and their hypocrisy, at least it exposes those who objected to Rush’s attempt to be a co-owner of the St. Louis Rams. Goodell should have welcomed Rush with open arms but instead caved to political correctness.

The NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL is a millionaires club. Some bemoan this fact, that we are paying folks, who like actors/actresses, don’t manufacture anything but still earn a seven figure or higher income. They argue that we should pay teachers that much instead and because we don’t, our priorities are misplaced. Did anyone stop to think about the sacrifice and hard work these talented people made to get that kind of income, and then were rewarded for those efforts? 

This is not to say that teachers don’t sacrifice or work hard. This is not so much an indictment that we care more about athletes than educators. Actors, actresses and athletes are just reaping the rewards for a true capitalist system, a true free market. A system that rewards hard work, talent and sacrifice on merit. Teachers are not allowed to participate in the free market, instead we have tenure. They are held back from maximizing hard work and talent which retards their income. Can you imagine a running back whose skills have dropped off being kept on a team because of tenure?

I think this disparity says great things about our society. The free market works, and where else can a person from a low income background go on to earn millions with their talent and results based on merit? Teachers should be given the same opportunity. Reward those who sacrifice, work hard, and give students their best. Let them shop these skills around on the free market to get the most money. This would be difficult in the public school system but what is holding back the private schools? The true indictment is government involvement. Wherever the government is involved, pay is low, and results are lower. Good enough for government the saying goes.

Comedians and Hollywood movies in general have had made many a joke about British dentition. Has it ever occurred to anyone that the reason British teeth appear so dilapidated is that they have government healthcare? This may not be the case at all, but I don’t want to find out.

Much has been said about the poor quality of refereeing in both college and professional football these days. The referees are under much more scrutiny with instant replay, a technology that wasn’t available when the sport began but now often dictates the pace and outcome of games. One thing that is still true, and should be remembered, you need to play better than your opponent AND the referees. Just make more plays than the other team and no amount of poor refereeing can change the outcome of the game without completely throwing the game.

Football has fewer problems than basketball. In an interview, Will Perdue the seven foot center of the Chicago Bulls in the 90‘s stated that often he was called for fouls that Michael Jordan had committed. Apparently this is common in the NBA, the stars get passes and the supporting cast get the fall. This is harder to do in the other major sports, but in the NFL it would seem that great wide receivers get the same benefit. Just play hard enough to beat the refs.

The American media seems to behave in a manner that the refs in professional sports do, they give their favorites a pass and scrutinize those who oppose their favorites. Sarah Palin is just one example. Another are the authors of the book Superfreakonomics. In their 2005 book Freakonomics they stated that the Roe v. Wade decision had reduced crime because so many potential criminals had been aborted. They were the darling of the media and no one on the Left questioned this questionable claim. However, in their latest book they dare to question global warming and are called irresponsible and naive. 

Could our economy be worse than the government is letting on? With Obama going around the world bowing to foreign leaders, could it be that the borrow is servant to the lender? Could it be that we can no longer meet as equals and shake hands and now we have to scrape and bow? If Congress keeps spending more than it takes from the American people who will foreclose on them? Will it be the people of the United States or China?