TWO AMERICAS

Are we becoming two Americas? Are we half liberal, Democrat, progressive and the other half conservative, Republican, traditional Americans? And if we are, can we ever get together at some level for the good of the country? In my several years on this planet I have seen many Administrations come and go. I have seen successful Democrat presidents and I have seen successful Republican presidents. I fondly remember Democrat Harry Truman and I also fondly remember Republican Ronald Reagan. Some of the Administrations had like thinking Congresses and some had to deal with opposition in Congress. Regardless, most of these Administrations were capable of governing and successful with their attempts.

Don’t get me wrong. Most elected Administrations have had to work to get the job done. But, the job, for the most part, got done. In my lifetime America has been involved in several major wars and many more so-called police actions. Most but not all were concluded with America and her influence in tact.  

Today we have evolved to a state of debilitating non-compromising, party first, country second, I win, you lose politics. The people we have hired to govern seem to prefer their political party over their country. Bickering has become the order of the day. We are involved in an interminable war in the Middle East that has lasted over ten years, the longest war in our history and there seems to be no end in sight. Scandal after scandal keeps popping up. Government agencies and lifelong civil servants seem incapable of doing their jobs and even less interested in the good of the country.

Poll after poll finds the American people fed up. Fed up with both the President and the Congress. Today President Obama has the lowest approval ratings of his presidency.  Congressional approval ratings are much lower yet. The people are also fed up with civil servants who refuse to answer questions and explain their mistakes and misjudgements.

Have we gone too far to recover? Can people of good faith, people who love this country, sit down and work out satisfactory solutions to our problems? Everything isn’t politics. For the good of the country sometimes the Republicans have to win. For the good of the country sometimes the Democrats have to win. The most important thing is that the country wins.

Today we have major problems facing us. Our never ending war in the Middle East for one. We have scandals which will not go away and they must be resolved. Now we are faced with possibly the most dangerous issue we have seen for decades. That is the invasion on our southern border of illegal aliens from all over the world. We absolutely cannot afford this influx of illegals. They are who knows who from who knows where. They bring nothing to this country but problems and costs.

It is past time for adults, liberal and conservative, to get together and fix the messes. They are not going away. We are not two Americas. We are one country that needs to resolve its differences for the good of the whole.

Ron Scarbro

ISRAEL IS HERE TO STARY

I wrote recently about a fact of war. In war there are no ties, only winners and losers. Secondly, a war is never over until a winner and a loser have been established. Another fact is that wars are generally won by the best armed and the best equipped. That country with the best fighting force with the best leaders and Generals are usually the winners.

Consider now Israel. Israel is fighting a war but not a war against another country. Israel is fighting against a terrorist group known as Hamas. Hamas is armed and supplied by Iran whose objective is to annihilate Israel. They are currently using Gaza as their base and setting up their missile launchers in schools, mosques, hospitals, and other civilian buildings. They do that because they are cowards and choose to hide behind women and children. They do this because they mistakenly believe Israel will not fire upon such sites.

Well Israel has evidently decided, for once and for all, to end the continuing harassment and shelling by Hamas. Israel is eliminating the Hamas threat.

Some countries have apparently decided that Israel is a bully for taking this action against this small country and this very small contingent of fighters. Our own president has been strangely very quiet about the action being taken by Israel. I choose to speak and to speak loudly about this event.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said on many occasions that if Hamas stopped their constant shelling of Israel, this war would be over. If Israel stopped firing though, Israel would ultimately be destroyed. It is clear that Israel doesn’t want to expand their territory. They just want peace and security.

Here are some more facts. Israel is by far the best equipped and the best armed country in the region. They are our ally. Their Generals are the best trained and the best educated. What this all means to Hamas is they had best learn to swim because Israel is not going to stop until Hamas is driven from Gaza and into the Mediterranean Sea.  

For years now Hamas has been poking at the sleeping bear and today that bear has awakened. The bear is angry and the bear is going to seek out and destroy those who have been poking at him. And if you are paying attention Iran, you might want to start practicing up on your backstroke. You may want to reconsider arming groups like Hamas because Israel just may hold you responsible for what has happened. I hope they do and keep going until the entire Middle East comes to understand that Israel is here to stay. That could be very bad news for terrorist supporters like Iran. With the weaponry in Israel’s hands Iran could be reduced to rubble in a matter of hours.

There are some clear lessons to be learned here. Much to the consternation of Iran and many other Middle Eastern countries, Israel is here to stay. Another lesson is that Israel doesn’t particularly care what other countries think. There is definitely going to be collateral damage but any blood that is spilled will be on the hands of cowardly Hamas and their supplier, Iran.

Ron Scarbro

THIS IS DESERTION, NOT POLITICS

Now let me see if I have this straight. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been checked out by the medical personnel and has been declared healthy enough to return to active duty. And though he is under investigation for crimes up to and including desertion in a time of war, he is not under any restriction and can come and go as he pleases. He has been given a nice clean desk job. Meanwhile the soldiers with whom Bergdahl was stationed in Afghanistan have not been contacted or questioned. Yes, I think I’ve got this straight.

By way of background, I am a veteran of the US Army. The first thing learned as a new recruit was how and when to salute. On my first day in the Army I was confronted by a young 2nd Lieutenant who was extremely unhappy that I didn’t offer up a snappy salute when I saw him. In my defense at the time I didn’t know a 2nd Lieutenant from a pine tree. To make sure I didn’t ever forget the young Lieutenant had me spend the next thirty minutes saluting a pine tree.

The second thing I learned was the rules under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The number one no no was that a soldier never, under any circumstance, deserts his post. It was made clear to us that such a desertion in wartime was punishable by death, period. You desert, you die.

So now what we have here is a probable deserter who was traded for five enemy killers who will doubtless go back to their old ways. Five killers who we will have to deal with again and again until we finally eliminate them.

Of course the problem here is that our President made this deal and cannot be made to look like a jerk. A lot of us believe that that horse left the barn long ago and he didn’t have to make this stupid swap to look like a jerk. He took care of that much earlier. Politicians, especially politicians who have never worn the uniform, make a lot of mistakes regarding the military. Obama thought this deal was going to make him look good. This was going to take all of the scandals off the front pages. Well it has but not in the way he planned.

Am I angry that this swap took place? Absolutely. Am I angry that Bergdahl hasn’t been dealt with yet? You bet your life. But what I am most angry about is that the Army, my Army, would even consider whitewashing this deserter’s actions to protect a moronic decision by Obama. Any failure to prosecute Bergdahl will be pure politics.

Does anyone actually believe this is going to just go away? Do the morons in this Administration think we are just going to look the other way? Do the relatives of the soldiers who were killed looking for Bergdahl just forget the whole thing? Not likely.

The US Army, my Army, is not going to be a party to any such garbage. Those little Generals who think they can cover up a wartime deserter for political reasons had better reconsider. As is always the case, the cover up will be much worse than the original crime.

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is going to have to stand trial for his actions. He is going to have to face his fellow soldiers whom he abandoned. He is going to have to face the relatives of the soldiers who were killed looking for him. Then if he is found guilty, he must face the penalty determined by the court martial.

Ron Scarbro

OBAMA'S SNUB OF HILLARY

You know what’s funny? Obama is snubbing his nose at Hillary and supporting Elizabeth Warren to follow him in the White House. After all that Hillary has done for Obama from lying about Benghazi to getting Bill to help him win his re-election, she is dropped like a hot rock. I think it is funny. If Hillary expected anything else from the “Emperor” she misjudged him. Oh, and I don’t care. She should have known better.

Do you know anything about Elizabeth Warren? Neither do most people. She is an ultra liberal Democrat from Massachusetts who has been in the US Senate for two years. She literally makes Obama look like a Tea Partier. She is a part of the anti-gun, northeast liberal establishment determined to destroy this country and turn it into a European cesspool. Just a few short years ago in our history she would have been arrested for treason. She is bad news with a capital B. The problem is that she has a constituency in this country that could actually number into the forty percentile of voters. For a certainty these are the low information voters who for the most part are government program dependent, the ill-informed who get their news from the elite media, and the so-called education establishment from liberal colleges.

What is truly disturbing is that these types could never win a national election if the traditional thinking Americans would just get up off their rear ends and vote on Election Day. Haven’t we seen enough of what happens when these liberals are put into positions of authority?

Today we have several crises facing us. We have another Middle Eastern war heating up. We have the IRS running a criminal enterprise and lying to cover up. We have dead Americans who haven’t seen any justice because liars won’t fess up. We have a punk North Korean dictator threatening war because of a movie he doesn’t like. We have a true disaster on our southern border as Central Americans are deciding to abandon their children for us to take care of. This because our President refuses to obey the law and his oath. He is causing these problems and now believes he should name his successor. God help us. Haven’t we had enough yet?

It is frightening to know that our very existence as a free country often hangs on five to four decisions of the Supreme Court. What would happen if the liberals were given their wish and could seat just two more justices on the High Court? That is what is at stake. It is probable that the next president will have the job of appointing at least two justices. We desperately need a majority in the Senate also.

I dislike fear mongering but it is incumbent upon all of us to take this stuff seriously. We absolutely cannot entrust our government to any more morons. Just look at what the last six years has produced. Our first opportunity to retake this country is this November. Do not let the election be decided by low and no information voters who haven’t a clue. And they are not as bad as people who should know better. Educated people who so believe in their superiority that they think they know what is best for the little people. This hierarchy of morons would be the first to be displaced if Socialism were ever to find a home in America.

As for me, I don’t like Obama, Hillary, or Warren. They are all dangerous to this country. They all should be snubbed.

Ron Scarbro

PROUD AND HAPPY TO BE AN AMERICAN

Happy 238th birthday America. You don’t look a day older than 237. Unlike some of us, you have aged well. That isn’t to say that mistakes have not been made, they have. Some of our choices as voters have been ridiculous. Some have been good. We do correct our mistakes and we will correct this one as well.

As I get older I find myself reflecting on life. More specifically on my life here in this country. I think of what this life has given me and my family. I speculate on how life might have been different in some other country. I know from time to time we all take our freedoms for granted. I do. I try to be thankful for what this all means but I know I fall short. I don’t mean to compare living in America with living somewhere else; I just want to note some of what living as an American means to me.

Here in my seventh decade of life I still am amazed by the little things. I got up this morning and switched the thermostat on to air conditioning and within minutes my home was deliciously comfy. In the kitchen I push a button and in moments I have hot coffee. I push another button and cook my breakfast. I serve myself on beautiful dishes which, after breakfast, I place in the dishwasher to have ready for my next meal.

I turn on the TV and watch the news. If I don’t like what one station is reporting, I turn to another and another. It’s my choice. I go outside and get the newspaper. The news disturbs me and I write a letter to the editor expressing my unhappiness with some politician or some government program, and nobody comes knocking on my door to ask for an “explanation.” It is great to be an American.

What if, back in 1940, I had been born to Jewish parents in Germany, or drawn my first breath in Central Africa? What if I had been born in Stalin’s Russia, the Middle East, or even worse in North Korea? As a matter of question, what if I had been born anywhere but in this glorious country called America? Knowing me the way I do, it is unlikely that I would have survived to my seventh decade.

The lives which we take for granted here in America are mere dreams for the majority of the world. The poorest among us live lives of luxury when compared to the rest of the world. Our freedoms are too precious to take for granted. When we get tired of a politician, we vote him out, pretend to read his silly “memoirs” and give him a fat pension. We don’t shoot him and his family. We let him cut ribbons at grand openings. When Congress passes a law that doesn’t work, we override it through the courts. And no one is above the law. The same speed limit that applies to me on the highway applies to presidents and all government officials alike.

This column is about my love affair with America. This column is about how proud I am to have been so blessed to have been born here instead of those other places I talked about. It is no wonder that people from all over the world are doing whatever they can to live here. It is my hope that reading it will cause you to reexamine your life here in America. How blessed you and I are.

Ron Scarbro