Overcoming Cynicism and Giving a Fair Shot at Success and Failure. Since the August 21st graduation of two women from the Army’s Ranger School there has been an outpouring of commentary on the notoriety of the moment. Writing this article through the lens of a graduate of the Ranger Course (Class 10-87), I want to […]
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Dear Glenn Beck, I was so honored by the three interviews you did with me during the course of my congressional campaigns against John Murtha in 2008 to 2010. I will always remember how deeply you complemented me when you closed your first interview. I am writing with the hope my words will carry some […]
Words have meaning. Sometimes even the small ones by their inclusion or omission can have a huge impact. Most readers in their first glance at the title of this article
thought the word “the” was mistakenly dropped from in front of Ukraine. Over the last century, we have become used to referring the nation of Ukraine as “the Ukraine.” This writer has been guilty
of the mistake, even in recent writings.
The inclusion or omission of an article of speech like “the” conveys the difference …
This past week I took my kids to see the second movie in the Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire.
While it is a violent series, I cannot think of a better movie or book series to open the door to moral and political discussions with our teen and
preteen kids.
For those unfamiliar with the Hunger Games, it is the story of a gladiatorial competition in a futuristic totalitarian regime, which requires each of 12 isolated districts to
select a teenage …
Every year Americans gather with family and friends to celebrate a unique American holiday, Thanksgiving. The name of the holiday
remains intact on most public school calendars as the concept of being thankful is easy enough to secularize without changing the name. So, unlike the
traditional Christmas and Easter breaks, its original name remains. But the depths of thankfulness of the Pilgrims are glossed over and the origins of our national holiday are over looked. It is
doubtful that a …
As we pause to remember and honor the service of our veterans on this Veterans Day, let us also
remember those veterans who are all too often remain forgotten – even when we take the time to remember those who were intentionally overlooked for so many years. Just three of these examples
include the Filipino Scouts of World War II, the US Soldiers and their Korean Augmentees who fought and died along the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) in …
In The Art of War, Chinese strategist Sun Tsu tells the story of how one ancient warlord toppled his most dangerous rival by offering a condemned prisoner a reprieve if
he successfully delivered a secret message to the rival’s most capable and loyal general. The prisoner swallowed a wax ball containing the message and was sent into the enemy’s
territory. When he was caught, he told the enemy warlord of the message for his general. The wax ball contained the promise of payment to the general for his
proposed betrayal of his warlord. Believing …
As I type my thoughts for this coming Memorial Day, it is my prayer that are worthy of surviving the flurry of other current events and will have an impact on those who read
them and perhaps, will be referred to on other occasions and perhaps help drive the remembrance on future Memorial Days.
I always experience a bit of dread as I ponder how to say something of relevance that goes beyond the standard “honoring those who gave all for our freedom” which gets circulated
by …
As the fallout from the Boston bombing continues, Americans are coming to terms with the realities of the terrorist threats we are facing in our country. Part of this is adopting a prepared mindset to meet the threats where they occur.
The Chechens are here. So are Muslims from Dagestan, Albania, and Bosnia. Much has been made in the press about the more Caucasian look of the Tsarnaev brothers. But what sets the radicalized segments of these ethnic groups apart from their Middle Eastern counterparts, is not so much the racial aspects of their ethnicities, but the way they fight. While most are more than willing to fight to the death to avoid capture, and will kill you in a heartbeat, they are not so willing to die easily. They don’t like to waste their hard earned Jihadi talents by blowing themselves up in the middle of a random crowd. They prefer to inflict maximum harm on the “Kafirs” (infidels) and to live to do it again and again. They work very hard to ensure they live to kill more on another day.
Most American Soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan recognize the Chechen Jihadis as the most dangerous fighters of all the enemies we faced there. They were the toughest, most disciplined, and brutal. One only has to do an internet search for and watch the video of the execution of an unknown Russian soldier, or look at the pictures of the Beslan School massacre to come face to face with the reality of how profanely brutal they can be. [1]
Since early last week, listeners across the country have been hearing Glenn Beck rail against the Obama Administration for its handling of the investigation into the Boston Marathon bombing. Beck has been especially focused on the quick changes in the status and the subsequent, and very expedited, deportation of a Saudi suspect, Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi. Al-Harbi was the prime suspect on the day of the bombing and was previously on an FBI terror watch-list. He had open event files, including a 212-3B terrorist suspect designation before the bombing. In spite of this designation, Al-Harbi was quickly declared a witness and sent home. The truth behind what happened with Al-Harbi lies somewhere in the shadows, and will probably never be fully known.