Samson's Jawbone

In the Nathanael Hawthorne's  novel  Scarlett Letter  set  in June 1642 in the Puritan town of Boston, a crowd gathers to witness the punishment of Hester Prynne, a young woman found guilty of adultery. She is required to wear a scarlet "A" ("A" standing for adulteress) on her dress to  shame  her. The persistent victories of Donald Trump in the early primaries reveal a new mark of shame. Now any politician that has the letter (R)  next to his name is marked as an adulterer, one who has broken the most sacred bond of trust with their family.  Few pundits and even fewer politicians understand Trump's popularity is a result of adultery, a betrayal of trust, a broken relationship. The Republican party has over the last two decades treated its base like the people of Boston treated Hester Prynn e. Over and over again from the passage of the Medicare Prescription drug act to several attempts to pass comprehensive immigration reform the party leade...

The United States military has a history of leaving a conflict before the job is finished. Vietnam, the first Persian Gulf War as examples. I was surprised to hear Kate Mc Farland, a former Regan, national security advisor suggest that we might consider pulling out of Afghanistan. Some people feel the costs are too high and we have lost too many lives. I understand people's weariness with the war. We are going on our 10th year there and like every conflict it has had its ups and down. The current occupant of the White House ran on an election plank that this was the war we should be fighting rather than Iraq. He promised to pull us out of Iraq which he has not done, and promised to end Afghanistan by July 2014, which now appears to be a noble goal. With huge budget deficits and calls for reduction of spending some argue we can ill afford the 2 billion dollar a day price tag. Some will argue that Afghanistan is a rugged terrain that cannot be conquered and point to the Soviet defea...

In response to General Mc Crystal's and NATO's request for 40,000 additional troops some are arguing we need to pull out of Afghanistan now. The arguments for pulling out in Afghanistan belies a knowledge of history and a commitment to defending our nation. Was it not Senator Kerry's argument in the 2004 election that President Bush had "taken his eye off the ball" by going into Iraq, and that Afghanistan should be the main front? Did not then Senator Barak Obama argue that the war in Afghanistan "could not afford to be lost," even threatening to invade an allied nation to win it? Yet now when the going starts getting a little tough Senator Kerry and some in this administration are losing their courage, calling for a pullout. The problem is there arguments for a pullout are specious: Senator Kerry and some of his colleague argue that the Soviets fought there for ten years and were not able to defeat the Afghan War Lords, what makes us think that ...

I am old enough to remember Vietnam quite well. I remember that we made our goal to support a corrupt regime and to keep the battle contained in very limited geographical boundaries. I remember that battlefield tactics were determined in the Oval Office rather or the Pentagon, rather than on the battle field. I am also old enough to remember the botched rescue attempt of our hostages in Iran, while President Carter ran the operation from the Oval Office. Now some are asking if Afghanistan is Obama's Vietnam, whether it is a lost cause.I submit that the reason Vietnam was lost was because of an unsuccessful strategy that is typical of the way Post-World War II democratic administrations prosecution wars. If Afghanistan fails it will be because the President's strategy is flawed. Beginning with Harry democratic Truman Presidents have fought wars for political expedience and then sought what they have called "exit strategies," which is euphemism for easiest way to en...