In a speech today, Barack Obama refers to the United States as living under "the tyranny oil". Is this the most ridiculous thing Barack has said ever, or just this week? Tyranny of oil? Is he serious? What in the world did the learned senator study while he was at Columbia? We know it wasn't economics or finance, but I guess he also passed on a course on the history of American Business too. Just to fill in the gaps of his swanky Ivy League education, oil has literally been the fuel that drove American economic growth over the past one hundred years. It has been cheap and accessible powering our cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes. It facilitates directly or indirectly everything we have enjoyed from an economic growth perspective since the turn of the last century. It is only the political hi jinks of oil and energy production in general that has created the problems we face today. If we in fact live under tyranny, it is not the tyranny of oil, but rather the tyranny of over zealous environmental ninnies and the weak-kneed politicians who cannot stand up to them. When considering our energy predicament today, the accurate conclusion can never be drawn that we are suffering from a shortage of energy sources, we are suffering from a lack of political courage and the leadership to do what is best for the country, instead of what is best for the next election cycle.
Ironically, Barack Obama plans to make his first visit to Iraq under the umbrella of safety provided by the troop surge he vehemently opposed and publicly stated was not working...until it became politically fashionable to recognize that it was. I never thought I would miss Bill Clinton, but Barack Obama makes me pine for the days when biggest presidential shortcomings were spotty marital decency and an over active, fraternity-boy libido.
I wonder how Barack plans to get to Iraq, maybe it is on a flying carpet which will certainly be part of his "green initiative" if he becomes president. If it was not going to cost us all so much dadgum money in higher taxes and an economy in perpetual recession under the ever-regulatory eye of a president Obama, it might almost be fun to have him in the white house for four years just to see what goofy ideas come out of his mouth next. Who would have thought that a graduate of Columbia and Harvard could seem so pedestrian in his thought process? Takes a little of the shine off those universities if you ask me.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Vernon Baker - The American Hero Everyone Should Know
The word "hero" get batted around a lot, probably a lot more than it should. If anyone does something that smacks of selflessness they are quickly dubbed as a "hero". I guess there really is not anything wrong with that. In my view it devalues the term a bit when an admirable act on behalf of others is enough for a person to earn hero-status. Every one has their own definition of what a hero really is. I am not sure I can put my definition into a short pithy statement that does justice to those who truly earn recognition as a hero. However, I am confident that while I may not be able to describe what a hero is in terms that accurately describe the attributes of such a person, I do know a hero when I see one. If you want to read about a hero, do yourself a favor and read the book "Lasting Valor" about Vernon J.Baker one of many unheralded African-American "buffalo soldiers" who fought in World War II.
I think an attribute that often, but not always is present in a person deemed to be a hero is lasting performance over time. Certainly a person who rescues a child from a burning building performed a heroic act and may even be a hero, but often times that type of action may be more reflexive than anything else. Vernon Baker lived in a time when many things in America were stacked against him, including the law of the land which in many ways relegated him to second class citizenship. Baker's story accurately portrays the daily life of a kid and then a young adult where life was unfair, in the truest definition of the word. There were times when Baker was mad, there times when he was dejected, there certainly times when he had enough justifiable frustration to knock some one's block off, but he didn't. When the time came to do his duty, for a country that had stacked the deck against him, Vernon Baker and his fellow black soldiers did their duty. In Baker's case he and many of his colleagues performed their duty with such daring, bravery, and effectiveness that they were awarded the nation's highest military honor, The Congressional Medal of Honor. The only catch is that they were recognized for their accomplishments, for their magnificent performance under fire by President Clinton, not President Roosevelt or Truman. So Vernon Baker, the only non-posthumous recipient, lived for over 40 years, knowing that he had served his country with rare distinction yet was not recognized for his heroics because he was a black man in a white man's army during World War II. It seems to me (and probably if it were me) that this might be a source of bitterness over a lifetime and could drive a great deal of discouragement and resentment towards the country and the people for whom I and my friends had risked our lives. If you are interested in the detailed story, please, read the book. You will read the story of a true hero, a story that I wish more people in the United States knew.
From my perspective, it is not just the acts of courage and bravery that make Vernon Baker a national hero, it is the conditions under which her performed them and his reactions to the injustice of his lack of recognition. Mr, Baker is a hero, not just because he was a tremendous soldier. He is a hero because he was able to persevere through decades following the war to lead the successful life of a man of great character in addition to his great courage. His is an inspiring story. Maybe that is a critical credential for heroism. I don't know, I cannot put it into words, but I know one when I see one and Vernon Baker is an American Hero in the truest sense of the term.
I think an attribute that often, but not always is present in a person deemed to be a hero is lasting performance over time. Certainly a person who rescues a child from a burning building performed a heroic act and may even be a hero, but often times that type of action may be more reflexive than anything else. Vernon Baker lived in a time when many things in America were stacked against him, including the law of the land which in many ways relegated him to second class citizenship. Baker's story accurately portrays the daily life of a kid and then a young adult where life was unfair, in the truest definition of the word. There were times when Baker was mad, there times when he was dejected, there certainly times when he had enough justifiable frustration to knock some one's block off, but he didn't. When the time came to do his duty, for a country that had stacked the deck against him, Vernon Baker and his fellow black soldiers did their duty. In Baker's case he and many of his colleagues performed their duty with such daring, bravery, and effectiveness that they were awarded the nation's highest military honor, The Congressional Medal of Honor. The only catch is that they were recognized for their accomplishments, for their magnificent performance under fire by President Clinton, not President Roosevelt or Truman. So Vernon Baker, the only non-posthumous recipient, lived for over 40 years, knowing that he had served his country with rare distinction yet was not recognized for his heroics because he was a black man in a white man's army during World War II. It seems to me (and probably if it were me) that this might be a source of bitterness over a lifetime and could drive a great deal of discouragement and resentment towards the country and the people for whom I and my friends had risked our lives. If you are interested in the detailed story, please, read the book. You will read the story of a true hero, a story that I wish more people in the United States knew.
From my perspective, it is not just the acts of courage and bravery that make Vernon Baker a national hero, it is the conditions under which her performed them and his reactions to the injustice of his lack of recognition. Mr, Baker is a hero, not just because he was a tremendous soldier. He is a hero because he was able to persevere through decades following the war to lead the successful life of a man of great character in addition to his great courage. His is an inspiring story. Maybe that is a critical credential for heroism. I don't know, I cannot put it into words, but I know one when I see one and Vernon Baker is an American Hero in the truest sense of the term.
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