As a retired military, I naturally keep up with military matters and issues. One way is by reading the on-line Defense News’ “Early Bird Brief.“ In this morning’s “Brief,” under the heading “Military,” there were only two entries: “After The Battle, Fighting The Bottle At Home,” summarizing a New York Times story, and “Gays In Military Pose No Risk, Study Finds,” summarizing a Boston Globe story. The first story, “Fighting the Bottle,” is about a former marine and Iraq...

After his disgraceful tenure as U.S. Attorney General and his humiliating resignation, I did not expect to hear from Alberto Gonzales for at least the number of years John McCain says we will be in Iraq. But, lo-and-behold, on July 2, Alberto Gonzales published an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times. That alone is surprising. But what is even more remarkable is the subject of his piece. In “What Latinos want from their president,” the disgraced former Attorney General, a Latino, has the...

In his much-awaited, Monday New York Times column, William Kristol for a change focuses his attention on something that badly needs attention, and lots of work: McCain‘s fixer-upper campaign. Just like all of us every week anticipate great things from Kristol’s Monday column, so does Kristol from “Murphy” in “Where is Murphy.” But, who is Murphy? Kristol tells us: “Murphy” is Mike Murphy, the 46-year-old G.O.P. strategist who masterminded John McCain’s 2000 primary race against...

For some reason–I can not figure out why–Michael Stickings’ post, “How can McCain Win in November? Bigotry” reminded me of the feature article in today’s New York Times Sunday Magazine starring Rush Limbaugh and written by Zev Chafets. It is a good article on the right-wing radio talk show host who just signed a new contract with Clear Channel Communications that will bring in for him about $400 million over the next eight years. It has also a couple of excellent, large, black-and-white...

If the title of this post has you befuddled, you are not alone, but please bear with me. My hometown newspaper this morning carried a story by Eunice Moscoso, on whether Senator John McCain is a natural born U.S. citizen, and whether he is eligible to be U.S. president. This is not the first time that this issue has been raised and, I am sure, it will not be the last time. At the heart of this “controversy” lies the fact that McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone–not within the 50 United...

Happy Fourth of July. I actually got a head-start on the holiday because I read the July 4 issue of that great military newspaper, the Stars and Stripes, on July 3. You see, because of the time difference, the Middle East edition of the Stars and Stripes is published around 2 PM Central Standard Time, in effect “the day before.“ In the July 4 issue there is an opinion piece, “In foot-in-mouth contest, Clark is swiftest,” by Jay Ambrose, in which Ambrose takes retired Gen. Wesley Clark to...

In his “ Gallup: Hispanic Voters Overwhelmingly Support Obama,” Joe Gandelman points to a new Gallup Poll that shows very strong support among Hispanic voters for Barack Obama. The poll itself: Hispanic registered voters’ support for Barack Obama for president remained consistent and strong in June, with Obama leading John McCain by 59% to 29% among this group. And, Gandelman adds (from the Gallup piece): Gallup has interviewed more than 4,000 Hispanic registered voters during this time period....

In a USA Today story, “Price of Power: McCain accepts ex-Swift Boaters’ donations,” we learn that Senator John McCain, who four years ago condemned the “Swift Boat’s” attacks on Vietnam veteran John Kerry as “dishonest and dishonorable,” has now accepted nearly $70,000 from the top donors of this group. According to USA Today, That’s nearly four times the amount McCain received from those donors in the 14 years before launching his current campaign at the end of 2006,...

President Bush today signed the $162 billion war funding legislation that includes the $63 billion New G.I. Bill. According to ABC News, “The GI Bill measure, authored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., had such extraordinary support from both Democrats and Republicans that White House objections were easily overridden.” The New G.I. Bill, which will be officially known as the Post 9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2008, will increase the education benefits of service members, give a monthly...

I have written several articles in support of the New G.I. Bill, which–after much unnecessary, partisan wrangling–has finally passed Congress and is now on its way to the President, hopefully for his signature. Having been retired from the U.S military for a long 30 years, there is the possibility that my views may be somewhat dated, or politically slanted. It was thus very bolstering, to come across an opinion piece on this very same issue written by someone who should really know, a...

In his much-awaited, Monday morning, pre-July Fourth New York Times column, Bill Kristol writes a stirring and fitting tribute to the signers of the Declaration of Independence. In “The Choice They Made,” he quotes a Thomas Jefferson letter in which Jefferson writes, referring to his fellow signers, “That host of worthies, who joined with us on that day, in the bold and doubtful election we were to make for our country, between submission or the sword.” Kristol continues to extol...

It is funny how the mind can wander, especially on a slow, hot, lazy Saturday afternoon. Joe Windish’s column, “Gay plot for hijacking America uncovered!” certainly got my mind “awandering.” My mind started thinking of the infamous Senator Larry Craig, then of Conservatives, then of hypocrisy, and then of “family values and moral values”–perhaps not in that exact order. Then, my mind somehow wandered back to the 2,000 and 2004 elections, and how, during those elections, Conservatives...

For a change, I will refrain from expressing my personal opinion on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the District of Columbia’s ban on hand guns, and I will especially refrain from “characterizing“–glorifying or demonizing– the Supreme Court justices for the way they voted. On the latter–and as an aside–it has been fascinating to observe the diverging reactions by some to the flurry of decisions rendered by the Court in recent days–some of them on very emotional...

In “A Hot Political Trend: Saying Sorry.“ (June 23), U.S. News’ Kenneth Walsh discusses what he perceives to be a trend that “has gone generally unnoticed in the presidential campaign.“ The trend is that of “saying sorry.“ According to Walsh: Politicians of all stripes are acknowledging mistakes more than ever. They seem to have finally realized that it’s not a cardinal sin to say you’re sorry. In fact, even candidates for president who don’t like to admit goofing...

Pressured by countless telephone calls, tens of thousands petition signatures and letters to Capitol Hill, thousands of letters to the editor, and hundreds of columns and opinion pieces (hopefully one or two of mine included therein) a sufficient number of Republican Senators have joined their Democratic colleagues to overwhelmingly–I.e. “veto proof”–pass Senator Webb’s version of the 21st Century GI Bill. In a strong show of true support for our troops, last night, 77 U.S. Senators...

The Iraqi refugee crisis–and it is a crisis–continues to draw my interest, and, the refugees, my compassion. Perhaps it is because of my personal involvement in another refugee crisis in the seventies; perhaps it is because, in my opinion, the tragedy is a direct, albeit unintended result of our disastrous decision to invade Iraq and our equally disastrous mismanagement of the subsequent, nearly six-year-long occupation. While, according to some sources, the situation in Iraq seems to...

This Sunday’s LA Times carried an interesting column, “McCain may have conflict brewing.” As the title hints to, the article deals with the possible conflicts of interest that the business dealings of some of the McCain family members–such as Cindy and Andrew McCain–may create for John McCain, should he be elected President. While most of us know what those business dealings are–it rhymes with fear (no pun intended)–the following information did come as a surprise...

Yesterday, I wrote a column comparing–contrasting–the Vietnamese refugee crisis with the present and ongoing Iraqi refugee crisis. My comments were based mostly on personal experiences and on personal views on the issue. Most of the experiences came from a stint of military duty in 1975 at one of the Vietnamese refugee camps as a Senior Refugee Liaison Officer–a tour of duty that turned out to be one of the most fascinating and rewarding aspects of my entire Air Force career. Coincidentally,...

I guess Barack Obama and other key Democrats (“Liberals,“ Bill would say) didn’t do or say anything that Bill Kristol could use as fodder in his much awaited, once-a-week, Monday morning New York Times column. I say that because Bill Kristol decided to go after MoveOn.org by dredging up last September’s General Petraeus ad, and by mischaracterizing a new 30-second TV spot that MoveOn is airing and is called “Not Alex.” I resisted the temptation to view the ad before reading Kristol’s...

Author’s wife (center) with a family of South Vietnamese refugees at the Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, refugee camp in 1975 The New York Times periodically publishes an “Op-Chart” that graphically depicts the progress, or lack thereof, that we are making in Iraq. The latest Op-Chart published today (Sunday, June 22), (”The State of Iraq: An Update”) does indeed reflect progress on several fronts, including the all-important political and military fronts. The Op-Chart analysts,...

A superb opinion piece in last Sunday’s (June 15) LA Times belatedly caught my attention (I have been on travel, and my computer crashed). It is by Ted Widmer, a former speechwriter for President Clinton, and Director of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University. Although my comments are almost a week late, Widmer’s words could not be more current, or relevant. In his piece, “America isn’t over,” Widmer laments the tragic state of affairs of our foreign policy and the setbacks...

It has almost become a sure bet to find some partisan claim in William Kristol’s much awaited, once-a-week column in the New York Times. Today, however, Mr. Kristol pleasantly surprised me. In his “Big Tim” column in this morning’s New York Times, Kristol writes a heartfelt, personal and touching tribute to his friend–America’s friend–Tim Russert. In his column, Kristol tells us, in a non-partisan way, how Tim Russert evolved from a (Democratic) “pol”...

In “McCain: Four More Years of Mumbling?” Michael Reagan says, “…a quick look at the amazing progress in present day Iraq accomplished by the president reveals a greatness that offends liberals.” While I agree with Michael Reagan that we definitely do not want “Four more years of mumbling,” and although I am not a “liberal,” I am offended, but–please–not by President Bush’s “greatness.” In fact let’s take...

The Bush administration has for days denied that it was trying–secretly–to hammer out a (secret) treaty with Iraq that would guarantee the U.S. military the right to maintain more than 50 bases indefinitely in Iraq, along with many other rights that a sovereign nation usually does not grant to a foreign power–including immunity from prosecution for U.S. military, contractors, etc., and the right to conduct land and air military operations at will. (Read “Not So Secret Anymore.”) However,...

About a week ago, the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant carried a story with a tantatalizing title, “Secret Plan: The U.S. to Stay in Iraq for Years.” The (translated) story, which can be read in its entirety at watchingamerica.com, starts out as follows: “The Bush administration wants to use 50 military bases in Iraq for an indefinite period of time. Washington also wants to continue to control Iraqi airspace in the future. American military must be able to continue to conduct military...