This note links to a pictorial essay from the point of view of a  Conservative-GOP adherent.  This posting comes on the heels of the 5th anniversary of the War in Iraq.   It follows a number of anti-war demonstrations across the country. For those, as I do, who believe the military action in Iraq is simply part of a larger Global War on Terrorism, these demonstrations are a sad reflection on some, privileged to live in America today, because brave men who came before us stood up to tyrants who wished to plunder our Freedom. 

Moreover, the anti-war demonstrators spew a volley of half truths and full-up distortions in their zeal to “bring our Troops home”. So this blog today, actually a  powerpoint discussion (see link below) tries to offer an evidence-based rebuttal to the anti-war mantra. The anti-war folks cry: OIL! ; THERE WERE NO WMD’s ! ; SADDAM WASN’T OUR ENEMY! ; AMERICA CAN’T AFFORD THIS WAR ! ; etc, etc.  

But the evidence says: IT’S NOT THE STUPID OIL; THERE WAS AND IS A WMD THREAT; SADDAM WAS WORKING WITH AL QAEDA; THE WAR IS NOT OUR PRIMARY BUDGET THREAT.   Some will believe this analysis; some will not. But a good part of the data is laid out. All can draw their own conclusions.

My own belief is that the threat to our Freedom is real and serious. Can we be the American generation that fails to carry the torch of Liberty? Will we be the shirkers, who were so concerned with our own well being that we squandered the secure America we inherited, and left tyranny for our children and grandchildren.   Our Military will certainly not be such shirkers. But some of our politicians and peaceniks may very well try. We should not let them succeed!

“All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing” ……. Edmund Burke

The link below will  take you to the Powerpoint charts. At the site, to view, click on the icon below the chart, "full” (i.e.,  full screen view); then use the new bottom arrows to navigate from chart to chart.  Here's the link; please discuss the issue with your friends and  pass along your thoughts to your Congressional Representatives and other community leaders: http://www.slideshare.net/MarkS181    , see  DEFENDING THE NECESSITY FOR WAR

This note links to a pictorial essay from the point of view of a  Conservative-GOP adherent. It tries to make several  basic points:

o       The Conservative view has been accorded  reduced public admiration and respect in the last 2 decades.   Mostly coinciding with events subsequent to the conclusion of Ronald Reagan’s shining Presidency.

o       This deterioration is not due to the obsolescence of Conservative principles, which remain strong and sound. Rather, I believe, it is our own inadequate, ineffective public advocacy  coupled with the growth of the Liberal Media’s drumbeat disparaging our views.

o       I don’t mean to imply the Conservative side is without some leadership. The Limbaughs, Savages, Ingrahams, Hannitys, Coulters, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times and many others do lead the fight. The problem seems to be that the Followership is content to leave the battle to that leadership.   Not so, on the Liberal side. An amalgam of far left forces ( Al Gore’s “Global Warming” zealots, MoveOn.org, Code Pink, etc. ) seem to be amassing adherents who hit the streets and Congressional phone lines with the flimsiest of  arguments, which often remain unrebutted. This lack of rebuttal ultimately adds credence and momentum to the Leftist goals  - -  particularly to our young people.   It has gotten us today, to the spectacle of 2 extreme Liberals seriously vying for the Presidency of one of our major political parties, which already has control of both Legislative Houses.

o       But hand-wringing will get us nowhere. More grassroots leadership and much more active organization is required. To me the best hope on the horizon is the movement that Newt Gingrich is trying to organize, under the banner of “American Solutions”.  Newt’s path remains true to our Heritage, but is forward-looking and focused on solving today’s problems. Moreover, it addresses these problems through reliance on such solid bedrock Conservative values as are found in:

§         the great body of political thought  we have received from our Founding Fathers

§         the ethical and philosophical  teachings of our major religions,  and

§         the precepts of Capitalism and it’s reliance on the individual and the free market

o       So, do we all chain ourselves to the nearest Liberal  bastion and create a media event? Well, that’s not exactly what I had in mind. But there are many paths open to make a much more substantive showing: greater participation in the new media; issues discussion with local, state and federal  officials (both friendlies and unfriendlies); government initiative processes;  periodic Rallies to support worthwhile ideals and programs.   Sound too mundane? Perhaps. But I believe the citizenry at large have a hunger for a more righteous America with a more participative government. Moreover, without this level of activism, we are abandoning our young people to fall prey to the empty, Messianic slogans of Socialism.    I fear we are letting our freedom slip away. Are we to be the generation which allows the ideals of America to crumble?

Hopefully, this essay offers some constructive thoughts. 

The link below will  take you to the Powerpoint charts. At the site, to view, click on the icon below the chart, "full” (i.e.,  full screen view); then use the new bottom arrows to navigate from chart to chart.  Here's the link; please discuss the issue with your friends and  pass along your thoughts to your Congressional Representatives and other community leaders: http://www.slideshare.net/MarkS181    , see  APPLYING OUR HERITAGE OF FREEDOM )  

I’m advancing this note in connection with our Conservative Enthusiast Group, which meets monthly to discuss issues such as this.  We’d like your participation in our presentations as a speaker and/or a listener / questioner. If you have some thoughts on issues that you feel need further exposure or discussion, please contact Mark S at  msussm@msn.com  to coordinate a meeting date and time allocation for your briefing.

This blog is largely in Powerpoint format.  The purpose of this specific presentation is to voice deep skepticism of the growing political hype and zealotry over the Man-Made Global Warming (MMGW) issue. Al Gore likes to say the threat is proven and now "settled" by scientific consensus.  But this is simply untrue.

My critique here points out some of the many good scientists who remain deeply skeptical of, if not substantively antagonistic to, the allegation of significant MMGW. This perspective is based on significant data and physical reasoning, which suggests MMGW is an erroneous result of inadequate science being badly applied and then blindly hyped by various groups.

Alarmingly, the MMGW issue has stimulated a broad swath of emotion and legislation affecting much of the Nation’s political agenda. This combination of bad science and fear-mongering can lead to deflection of large national resources away from needy issues into the dead-end track of multiple “solutions” in search of a real problem. Furthermore, an important collateral damage is the gross deformation of American science and the scientific method into just another series of political sound bites.   At this stage of our Nation’s history, this is a misstep we would do well to avoid. 

The link below will  take you to the Powerpoint charts. To view, click on the icon below the chart, "full” (i.e.,  screen);  then use the new bottom arrows to navigate from chart to chart.  Here's the link; please discuss the issue with your friends.  Pass along your thoughts to your Congressional Representatives and other community leaders.

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkS181/manmade-co2-impact-one-skeptics-view-feb-15-08 

I’m sending this note in connection with our Conservative Enthusiast Group, which meets monthly to discuss issues such as this.  We’d like your participation in our presentations as a presenter and/or a listener / questioner. If you have some thoughts on issues that you feel need further exposure or discussion, please contact Mark S at  msussm@msn.com  to coordinate a meeting date and time allocation for your briefing.

This blog is largely in Powerpoint format.  The subject is the morality of using waterboarding to extract critical intelligence from captured Terrorists.  There has been a fair amount reported on this issue in the news recently.  Most of the Media have been critical of this method.  But the media assessment is usually made in the absence of any cogent  counter-argument.  In fact there is an implicit assumption that there is no room for counter-argument.  But is this really true?  Arguments are made in the  presentation below that challenge  that assumption.
 
The link below will  take you to the Powerpoint charts. You can click on the icon below the chart, "full” (i.e.,  screen);  then use the bottom arrows to navigate from chart to chart.  

Here's the link; please discuss the issue with your friends.  Pass along your thoughts to your Congressional Representatives.

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkS181/morality-of-waterboarding 

To Michael Medved:

Michael, I find your analyses are usually objective and skillful. In the case of your August 8 Townhall column, “Talk of Bombing Mecca Undermines US Security”, I don't think you responded to Tom Tancredo's ultimate point. You say, accurately, that Tancredo suggested "that such threats against Mecca and Medina could serve to deter Islamic Terrorists from staging nuclear attacks on the United States." You don't talk about the pre-requisite nuclear event implicit in Tancredo's promised retaliation.

So, to me, your analysis fails to address 2 critical points: (1) How should the U.S. respond IF a stateless Terrorist Group succeeded in a nuclear attack which killed, say, 100,000 Americans? And, more importantly, WHAT should the U.S. do to prevent such a horrendous loss of innocent American life in the first place?

Now I can agree that the choice of a nuclear attack on Mecca may not be the best strategic weapon or target.  But a deterrent policy that promises swift, devastating conventional bombing RESPONSE -- on the infrastructure of Countries known to be now coddling Terrorists -- strikes me as little different than the M.A.D. policy announced and implemented by America with high credibility against the Soviet Union during the multi-decade-long Cold War. You could say that was equally irrational and would only serve to enrage the Communists.  But you may have noticed that this “M.A.D.” deterrent apparently succeeded.

Moreover, the sworn duty of our President is to protect this Nation.  Losing 100,000 Americans -- after already losing 3000 Americans on 9/11 to the same enemy -- would certainly have to be regarded as a colossal failure to perform that duty.

So I believe that a "new M.A.D. policy", adapted to the current/future asymmetric warfare that we are likely facing for several decades -- is not that irrational. Clearly, there should be some associated threshold of American lives lost in the pre-requisite attack on us: [100 lives lost? OK, too small. 5000 lives lost? OK, perhaps still too small. 100,000 lives lost? Perhaps including my children and grandchildren? Perhaps including your children and grandchildren? NOT TOO SMALL a threshold in my book !]

Such a policy begins to hold accountable those Nations who currently get a free ride for coddling Terrorists, a situation which is enabling the continued slaughter of our best and brightest. If you attack Tom Tancredo as "unhinged and wildly irresponsible", I think you are at least required to offer your own solution to both the (1)deterrence issue to avoid slaughter of American innocents, and (2)the issue of holding accountable those nations which permit the stateless al-Qaeda-like groups to hide behind the sanctuary they provide.

An unhinged and irresponsible strategy? Well, perhaps to some. But then, what is your strategy to prevent al Qaeda's promised "American Hiroshima"?

The recently defeated Senate immigration bill, S.1639 has been administered a well-deserved execution. I realize that many in the media and some elected officials believe this death to be the work of a few misguided, right wing die-hards. But the truth is: i) the American people overwhelmingly disliked this bill (and for good cause), ii) independent of any saving-grace features - - this bill was birthed in a back room and the American people had zero confidence in our government to deliver on the enforcement aspects, having seen no evidence in that regard since 1986.

Some say we had to "swallow the whole package, in order to achieve a political consensus”. This is just a political excuse for failing to do what is right and honest. And this turns the concept of a government of, by and for the people on its head. Elected officials should not arrogantly assume that the people really don’t "understand". Particularly when the public outcry was so vehement. Rather, our elected officials need to accept the people’s verdict: earn the public trust first by enforcing our existing laws, remove the current chaos of a totally dysfunctional immigration system, and support the safety of current citizens before institutionalizing benefits to illegal aliens.

Today, a vacuum exists in this legislative arena. Our elected officials need to hunker down, do the people’s bidding and earn the public’s trust. Enforce the current law. Add new legislation to toughen significantly the penalties for breaking the law. Regain control of the total immigration process through improved identity and tracking procedures. In short, make this government competent in this arena. Let the law operate for 2-3 years and prove itself. Then, and only then, should legislation regarding a Guest Worker program and any associated entitlements allocation, be instituted.

There should be no excuses for failure to act. If the current set of elected officials cannot summon the will and integrity to make America the law-abiding Nation it once was, then the people must fire them and hire better public servants. Fortunately, in America, the elected officials cannot (at least not yet) fire the American people.

I like President Bush.  If I could get his attention for a minute and speak to him as a friend, I'd take him aside and say this: I applaud your persistence in Iraq for 4+ years.  But I strongly condemn your blind rigidity on the immigration issue.

You think the public doesn’t  “understand” this bill.  In fact, “We the People” understand only too well the failure of your Administration to enforce border control for 6 years. We suffer the crime impact and we pay the costs due to your failures. We worry about the Terrorists who are penetrating our borders, possibly with nuclear weapons devices.  Your own FBI Director, Bob Mueller, believes this latter worry is not paranoia.  He says he loses sleep over this at night.   So, what we don’t understand is NOT the Senate Bill, but how you can expect us to swallow more paper promises after 6 years of failed performance.

Here’s what we want:
1) Total border enforcement – 100%
2) Enforcement of total benefits denial, in the realms of workplace and entitlements,  to any non-citizen. This requires demonstration and use of a tamperproof ID system.
3) When the above 2 items have been demonstrated to be effective for several years, then a “Guest Worker’ program can be added, with proper safeguards: i) Any job must first be offered to a U.S. citizen. Only after finding zero applicants, can it be added for guest worker listing. ii) All guest worker jobs must have a time limit not to exceed 1 year and a fail-safe mechanism to accompany the worker out of the Country, on completion of the job duration.  iii) The “guest” worker provision applies to the wage earner only, not to any family members. 

That is, we want a controlled, enforceable, legal process.

Now we are not anti-immigrant.  My 4 grandparents were proud immigrants.  But we oppose  out-of-control  illegal immigration.  It's a sign of a messy housekeeper.  Now, I revere this Country as my own home. And I object to your Administration's messy housekeeping.  I voted for you twice as a patriotic, competent executive.  You have less than 2 years  to prove me not wrong.

Now, back to Iraq. A recent news story says you have decided not to attack Iran. To me, this is a decision to forfeit further lives of our servicemen to a policy of lose-the-war in Iraq.  In 2001, you pronounced yourself a “War President”. I took solace in that assessment.  But War Presidents must WIN, not LOSE the war !   That means you must apply American might to vanquish and lay prostrate the enemy, until he no longer has an appetite to fight. That means: i) innocent civilians, must be accorded 2^nd priority, well below the lives of American servicemen. Any other approach prolongs this war, sees more Americans die and is an immoral position; ii) Enemy enablers such as Iran, Syria (and segments of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan) must be damaged sufficiently so they conclude their policy is not prudent.  Today, you're allowing them to inflict casualties on us without any retribution in kind.

So, Mr. President …please return to your vision and promise.  Renounce the recent  turnabout of your view of the American Citizen as uninformed and in need of education.  Rejoin Thomas Jefferson in his trust in the American people.  Renounce the recent softening of your view to pursue Democracy in the Middle East. It's a noble view and worthy of sacrifice and tenacity.  Rejoin Ronald Reagan in his quest to preserve Liberty and destroy the new Evil Empire. 

Mr. President, I want to follow your leadership -- but not over a cliff.