Conservatives deal with facts and reach conclusions; liberals have conclusions and sell them as facts.
The news is good, at least for the time being, but I was rather amazed to learn that JROTC, which has been around since before WWI, all over America, is “controversial”: The San Francisco school board gave the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps yet another vote of confidence Tuesday, ensuring
Continue readingTo my chagrin, I forgot to make my salute to D-Day on this blog. My head was so taken up with my Midway post, that I simply lost track of time. Two pivotal battles that changed the course of World War II, one marking the beginning of the end for
Continue readingSentiment: “refined or tender emotion; manifestation of the higher or more refined feelings.” Ours is a cynical age. The traditional values that defined us as Americans (weirdly old-fashioned ideas such as the belief that we are a wholesome, good and honorable culture) seem to have been jettisoned. Even though I
Continue readingOver at Ricochet, there’s a really interesting post about women in combat, written by a former paratrooper. The point that fascinated me was his claim that women aren’t leaders. I’ve always defined myself as a born follower. I’ll fill a vacuum if no one is leading, and I have no
Continue readingMy daughter is trying to compare medical treatments and outcomes during the Civil War and during the current wars. Broadly speaking, that’s quite easy, ’cause all you really need to know are antibiotics and sterile techniques. Everything else is a subset (and yes, I know I’m grossly over-simplifying). The problem
Continue readingThree days ago, I asked whether the military has warmed up to Obama during his two years as C in C. By sheer coincidence, today Gallup gives the answer: No.
Continue readingI hope that you have a lovely Memorial Day in the company of your family and friends. Spare a moment, though, to think of and thank those who currently serve, and those who gave their all for the freedom we (still) enjoy today.
Continue readingDo you remember this video contrasting the Marines’ response to Bush and to Obama? [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIHz5tevLAw[/youtube] The video came out very early in Obama’s presidency, when he was a relatively unknown quantity with regard to the military. Now that he’s been in office for more than two years, do you think
Continue readingBoth the SEALS and Charlie Sheen have been in the news lately, the SEALS for an extraordinarily well-planned, brave and effective operation, and Charlie Sheen because he’s a drugged-out piece of human detritus. Did you know, though, that the two — that is, the SEALS and Sheen — have something
Continue readingWhile the media swoons about Obama’s having, apparently quite reluctantly, made the right decision (and it was the right decision), Greyhawk tells of a terribly wrong decision that the media just can’t seem to wrap its head around (i.e., it ignores entirely). UPDATE: Greyhawk sent me all the links in
Continue readingBut for the Navy SEALS, Osama would still be waltzing around Pakistan, hiding behind his wife. The SEALS did an extraordinary job, right down to the incredibly accurate shooting that eventually sent Osama to, I hope, some place that is permanently fiery and painful. May I again suggest a contribution,
Continue readingYou all know that I like the American military. It really doesn’t make sense, given that I’m a petite woman raised in a pretty darn Left -wing Jewish environment in San Francisco during the 1960s and 1970s (i.e., the Vietnam and post-Vietnam era). My daughter made me realize, however, that
Continue readingMy husband and I recently watched two movies about the military. Or rather, I should say, he watched one and I watched the other. The movies’ tones were instructive, especially because I later got corroboration for my sense that Hollywood’s post-Vietnam hostility to the military has real world consequences (that
Continue readingHere’s J.E. Dyer about the administration’s threat to cut off pay to active duty military: The possibility that the military will be required to continue on duty without pay also highlights one of the important differences between the military and the rest of the federal government. The government can’t require
Continue readingMy question earlier this week about military happiness with the Libya mission was directed at the rank of file heading to Libya. What we do know now is that leadership is unhappy.
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