Stuck in Afghanistan

Picture from StrategyPage

When we crossed the Helmand River in 2006, there was no where near that much water in it. We still had a vehicle needing similar assistance.

Forces: Afghan Air Force Flies Hard

"Afghan Air Force Flies Hard"

I remeber seeing the MI helicopters flying over Camp Phoenix from time to time.

Broken Clock—Currently Right.

Good article, but I remember a lot of articles during the previous administration that portrayed female Soldiers as victims, not only of circumstances—having to serve in a war—but of their male counterparts who were (are?), naturally, sexual predators.

Women at Arms - Living and Fighting Alongside Men, and Fitting In - Series - NYTimes.com

Summer of Statism (pt. 2)

I've been away for work and the Guard, so I didn't get to comment on the "teachable moment"/race issue that came up while I was away. I did want to expound on the lesson that I came away with though.

The kerfuffle makes it very clear to me that the President is a statist, through and through. No great revelation, but I think that for those who would deny it, or try to diminish it, it might be effectively pointed out that it's in the small things and reactions to them that a person's real character can most easily be seen.

A President who values the Constitution, who understands and agrees with the separation of powers, Federalism and ordered liberty illustrated there, would never have made any comment on what is a local police matter and would have refused comment if asked. It is this disregard for the founding principles that is most clearly illustrated by President Obama's decision to comment at all. Actually another explanation exists; ignorance—but I don't think that we can support that position here.

It was never the intent of the founders that the Federal government have daily contact with, or influence upon, the lives of individual citizens. Any need for police power, the most intrusive and persistent aspect of government, should rightly be handled at the state and local levels and the federal government remain limited to its proper spheres of national defense, foreign policy and trade regulation.

President Obama is not solely to blame. Through our history, in particular WWI and the Great Depression, the federal government has expanded its influence all out of proportion and our government and the Constitution are not properly aligned and have been so far out of whack for so long that we have come to see it as normal, if not correct. The average citizen is not aware, without studying the issue, of what those proper relationships between himself and the various levels of his government, is supposed to be.

Not solely to blame, but still willing to take advantage of it. When the President says that this is a teachable moment, he's offering to give us a lecture on how we should treat each other. A good, one size fits all, solution to race and personal relationships, so pay attention. It is here that the instinct to statism is revealed. I find racism to be an ugly thing, but I also find having action, and especially thought, dictated, more ugly. A sovereign people have the right to be wrong. They have the right to be bigots. They have the right to make bad choices and they have the right to fail on their own merits. The instinct in those who wish to right all wrongs and protect us from our poor judgment is not worthy. The statist believes that a truly free people cannot come to good or just ends. That control and restriction liberty and thought are the only means to justice. And that's what the President is doing when he offers us a "teachable moment"; he is trying to tell us what and how to think.

Once the "lesson" is learned, Voltaire's offer to defend to the death your right to say what he does not agree with, loses all value.