Passing View 2

Dear Citizens:
Remember in Passing View the lady on the train.
Let's examine her question on seeing the tent city: "Why can't the government do something about this?"
While I do remember a dint of pity in her voice did she mean help the tent dwellers with aid or remove them with force?
Small but necessary first steps in essential aid --porta potties from the local governments, request from area churches for food and bottled water-- looked to be in place at that time but the problem of the displaced person still remained and to this day, six months later, still remains.

CNN reports "Tent camps once associated mainly with the "Hoovervilles" of the Great Depression are springing up in places as varied as Sacramento, California; Nashville, Tennessee; Pinellas County, Florida; Providence, Rhode Island; and Seattle, Washington."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/29/washington.homeless.camp/index.html?iref=newssearch

Should we tip our teabaggedly treated tricornes, as we ride by, all the while complaining to the club car patrons that "big" government of this new "illegit" administration made this problem therefore the one solution we don't need is more interference from the government and then shouting to the tent dwellers,  "Don't worry, when the economy gets back on it's feet your tent cities will go away and you will have jobs and your homes back."

Well, of course not!  That would be just silly.  It becomes the Laissez-faire or the Lazy Fairy approach. Pass out a few bottles of water and blame someone.  I've done what I can now leave me alone.  Read--give me my government back.
Too much government or not enough?
Do we help or just get off the train at the next stop?
Hard choices to make.
What would Jefferson and Hamilton say if they had been on the train?
Soon
Be Well and I am trying to be civil.
A Journeyman Citizen

Afghan notes 1

Grave assessment from an old friend:

The "surge" worked in Iraq because and only because it was never designed to produce anything more than a temporary tactical advantage... which it did... but look at what's going on in Iraq now and ask yourself, "What did the surge do for Iraq and the Iraqis?"

However, since it worked so well for Petraeus [4 stars, CINC Centcom, etc.], "surge" seems to have become the current general officer answer to any counterinsurgency conundrum. Awfully reminiscent of the remedies offered by Westmorland to Johnson, ain't it?

1.  Stop conflating al Qaeda with the Taliban.  Focus on and eliminate al Qaeda.  They're still a threat to us.  Drones, a battalion of SPECOP soldiers supported by a rapid reaction brigade based in Kandahar, and patience should do the job.

2.  Engage and coopt the Taliban.  Any strategy that would have us oppose them militarily is a recipe for becoming mired in somebody else's civil war... and will motivate the Taliban to become more active in exporting terrorism. [They've already imported all the terror expertise they need to get their program going as is evident from the rising incidence in Afghanistan of Iraqi insurgent/al Qaeda tactics -- sophisticated roadside bombs and suicide bombers.

My concern is that the Obama administration doesn't have the expertise to formulate effective pol/mil strategy.  If I'm right about that, like previous Democratic administrations the Obama administration will either rubber stamp what the generals are telling them to do... or get into a battle of wills with them. 

Whatever, soldiers lose... the Army loses... and America loses.  More and more blood and treasure lost... for nothing?

Pemberton

Here we go

Dear Citizens
I need some help.
Please give me your input on the Afghan problem!
Your help will be published here.
Be well
 A Journeymancitizen

The Afghan problem

Passing View

Good Morning Citizens:
     Last spring I journeyed by train across country from Virginia to visit relatives in Seattle.  Business in Denver made me take the somewhat circuitous California Zephyr route from Chicago to Sacramento and then up to my destination riding the Coast Starlight.  Outside Sacramento near the American river the train snaked its way through mile upon mile of tent cities.  When we first glimpsed the brilliant blue Taylor tarps and pricey octagon domes we assured each other a boy scout jamboree or upscale camp out was happening.  On closer examination the truth became shockingly clear.  These were folks like ourselves forced to live rough. It was a sobering moment. 
A well dressed female traveler looking away asked "Why can't the government do something about this?"
Twenty minutes later we arrived at the station and went our separate ways.
I wonder now, six months later, about that traveler's question.  Was the question a cry to help the campers or to control them?  Change or status quo?  More or less government?  Did I imagine refugee camps of our own displaced citizens in the one state that always spelled hope and promise.  Not since the great depression etc etc.
What would Jefferson and Hamilton say if they had traveled with us in that AMTRAK club car?
More next time.
Be well citizens
A Journeyman Citizen

Unter Donner Und Blitz

Good Evening, Citizens:

This past week in Washington reminded me of earlier times.
Years ago around this time of year I used to visit a small circus that came to my town.  I bought a ticket not because I liked circuses but because I knew the band leader and I enjoyed his small but very powerful brass band.  In order to get to the main tent and hear those windjammers (musicians) I had to negotiate gingerly through the midway.  This was no easy proposition, even close to show time, with a daughter and wife in tow.
A cacophony of seductive cries from, hawkers, barkers and pitchmen beckoned.
"Buy a ticket for your daughter to ride the elephant."
"Candy floss for the little lady."
"Show your lady how strong you are sir, ring the bell." and if I begged off with "We want to see the show"--It came back "Two more shows today Mister, come on-- take a chance."
"Watch out for those death panels, folks."  Oops, excuse me.
On and on.
The idea was to keep us occupied for a while, take a little loose change from me and if I was distracted from the main event well I could catch it later. No harm done.
Once seated inside the big top, announcers, vendors and the ringmaster took over and finally, almost as an afterthought, the show.  During the acts the band, with marches, waltzes and polkas, did everything musically  to control our emotions.  My favorite circus music was called a screamer.  This was a fast and furious double time march or polka played to an nth degree of the musicians technique.  When you heard Unter Donner Und Blitz, Johann Strauss' polka schnel, something exciting was coming or happening--you just knew it from the sound.  Then it was over and we walked out into the cool night air and went home.
Sound familiar?
With the Teabaggers, birthers, populists and nativists last Saturday and the Value-Voters in town this weekend it is hard to get to the main tent but persevere.  March forward, gentle friends.  I can hear the band warming up. Don't be distracted and don't look back  My circus pals tell me that is bad luck.

Be Healthy my friends,
A Journeyman Citizen

Advise and Consent

Good Morning Citizens:
      I was raised in Colorado by my Grandparents.  We knew little about the workings of the local, state or federal government beyond the obvious taxes you had to pay and services the government provided us, so when the movie Advise and Consent.played locally we went to see it and believed most of what we saw.
     Now, almost fifty years later, my thoughts about the Senate and the House are still influenced by that movie. I checked out the book and although I was warned it is somewhat dated, if you mentally edit in 24/7 TV and a Blackberry per senator, which I do, it makes for a good read.   (Full disclosure--I must tell you: I do not edit in MSNBC, Fox News or Rush--after all the book is not Science Fiction)
     The book and the Movie imply, if they don't outwardly state, a set of rules for our Legislature to run and act by.  I know I will be perceived by many, as naive, but those rules are still in place.  You don't say "You lie" to anyone in that august body without suffering consequences, most especially to The President in a formal setting like last Wednesday. They fuss with the prime minister in the UK during question time but he is the Head of Government not the Head of State.
     Let me give you an example and it was just a minor infringement:  Years ago Congressman Newt Gingrich was giving a "special orders" speech and demeaning democratic lawmakers.  What you saw on TV was a congressman waving his finger and scolding the opposition and no one opposing him.  You would think the rest of the body must agree. (Special Orders time is granted to all congressman usually when no one is around -before or after a session--in those days you couldn't tell the House was empty). The Speaker of the House "Tip" O Neal was furious with Gingrich for his manipulation of the TV coverage and later took to the well of the House to tell him so. When O Neal's language got personal "then" congressman Trent Lott called from the floor that O Neal's words "be taken down" and O Neal's words were gaveled down.  A severe punishment for any house member to suffer but it was proper.
What Joe Wilson did was far more serious and I wonder if "Race" did not play a part.
But we will discuss that at a future time.  I now must go read The Distinguished Senator from Montana's Health Care proposal.
Be Well Citizens
A Journeyman Citizen

Welcome

Good Day Citizens

Let me get right to it--

Blogging is a new concept for me and this blog will concentrate on my thoughts and opinions on being a journeyman citizen of the United States of America.  I have been a citizen since birth and although I am proud to be a citizen of the U.S.A I am sometimes flummoxed by the actions of my fellow citizens.  Through this blog I hope to understand or as my Grandmother would say "make sense" of the political climate of these days. 

A climate in which civility and good manners of many of our citizens have given way to rudeness and bad  behavior can only be explained by those who do or condone such actions.  Now I like to rant and rave about problems as well as the next person but apologizing after yelling "fire" in the crowded theatre or "you lie" to an elected official, for me at least, doesn't resolve that issue.

This is where you get to help.

I want your civil input on this behavior and these posts and whatever else floats your boat as long as it is related to the political climate of the day.

That's simple enough

Regards

A Journeyman Citizen