By
Bruce Brager
Read history, folks. Maybe . . . maybe. . . you might learn something. Maybe not, but we can always hope. On rare occasion, people learn from experience, even world leaders.
Julius Caesar was once held captive by Mediterranean pirates. The United States fought the Barbary pirates, successfully, to the shore of Tripoli. Putting it mildly, the problem of piracy in this area took a long time, and different methods, to solve. By today’s standards, I am sure Romans would have questioned Caesar going after the pirates – or declared that we need to respect the pirate culture. Jefferson, in keeping with practice of drawing a line the sand to let your enemies know how far they can safely go, and letting know what to expect, would have pledged not to send ground troops. There would have been no dramatically successful Marine landing party. The Marine Corps hymn would have ended up “From the halls of Montezuma to (eight musical beats with no lyrics).
The modern use of “line in the sand” sets the line up as a limit at which point we have to take action. This cleaver idea tells our enemies what they can do safely. Throw in the idea of proportional response; we make it even easier for the bad guys to know what they can get away with. It is not very useful to effectively let an enemy know what we are going to strike no matter what the enemy does – see Saddam Hussein and our second Iraq War. Respond logically, but not recklessly. However, it is equally bad to rule out any method of striking at enemy, short of the big bad three, first use of nuclear weapons, use of chemical or bio weapons. There are many, many arguments against using massive ground forces to strike ISIS. Not the least of which is getting involved in a 1,000 year old quagmire for something that is not, at least not yet, an existential threat to this country. But I really wish Obama would stop announcing what he is not going to do against ISIS. He sometimes shows a reluctance to use force reminiscent of Jimmy Carter. Funny thing is -- when he uses force, he uses it well. This was not true of Carter.
Maybe we should take a lesson from the Mafia in dealing with more regional enemies. Make them an offer they can’t refuse. Behave -- you have a good friend. Misbehave -- you have a deadly enemy. A credible threat to kill someone if they take some action usually prevents action. Add it to a carrot and success becomes more likely. The problem with ISIS is that threatening lethal force against people who seem to welcome lethal force may not accomplish much. The best stick is cutting off their recruitment. Give people an alternative to hopelessness and terror. Don’t label them rabid dogs.
We get several things wrong with the “line in the sand” from the Siege of the Alamo.
First of all, it probably never happened. Second, those who wanted to stay at the Alamo crossed the line. The real lessons are the many errors of Mexican commander Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Laying siege to the Alamo gave too much military importance to the post. It gave the Texans time to declare independence and start forming an army. Murdering the few Alamo prisoners made a military defeat into the political victory for his enemies. Santa Anna’s leisurely pursuit of Sam Houston and his army showed an arrogant underestimation of a more dangerous enemy, out to take vengeance for the Alamo and the 400 prisoners murdered after the Battle of Goliad. Santa Anna’s mismanagement culminated in the carelessness which led to his major defeat at San Jacinto. Good thing our leaders never make any of these mistakes.
If we fast forward a few years, we see Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordering the militarily unnecessary firing on Fort Sumter, providing the far more politically astute Abraham Lincoln the excuse he needed to move against secession. His moves against secession, which Davis provoked, eventually led Lincoln to move against slavery.
We don‘t fight terrorism by adopting the same policy against terror victims that was used against Nazi victims in the 1930s. Keeping desperate people from reaching freedom is grotesque. Millions of people died because our political leaders lacked the guts to try and change the xenophobia of the American public. A lot of Americans died anyway when the war came.
Listen to the collection of clowns known as the Republican leadership on carefully admitting Syrian and Iraqi refugees. I guess they believe that is better to let thousands die than risk one or two bad guys, admittedly really bad guys, getting past our normally excellent border controls.
Our final case study for fighting ISIS, and most other major problems, is looking at Lincoln. He had to put up with alleged experts criticizing every idea he had. He showed patience, the willingness to try new ideas and new methods – most famously the Emancipation Proclamation (made permanent in the 13th Amendment, near the end of his administration).
One big irony, for Democrats at least, is that we actually can learn from George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. Reagan learned from his dangerous foreign policy errors and ended the Cold War. Bush, in the last year or so of his term, learned from his economic errors and, with the aid of the Democrats in Congress, started saving the economy. Maybe the many experts who criticize virtually every method of doing virtually everything should put their talents to coming up with solutions, usually more than one, to our many problems.
Historical circumstances tend not to repeat the same way. But the lessons do repeat: the lessons of thinking, of leaders having the courage of their conviction, of leaders having convictions. I believe Napoleon III said show me which the people going so I may lead them. If not him, a whole lot of modern “leaders” might have said the same thing.
All opinion pieces reflect solely the views of the writer(s) and do not reflect the opinions or views of CAB News Online.
Monday, December 7, 2015
Friday, September 4, 2015
Have Americans Become Stupid? The Web Thinks So.
By Bruce L. Brager
An article on a web news service says a man has sued McDonald’s for “unreasonably dangerous” materials in a chicken product. Bone fragments certainly qualify as dangerous, but the term “unreasonably dangerous” gets me. I guess there is reasonable danger in what we eat.
A bartender was shot at in Montana. The reason -- he used Clamato instead of tomato juice in a cocktail. The aggrieved patron killed the bartender’s dog in the incident. He is charged with attempted murder and animal cruelty. The reason the patron gave was that clam juice violated the Jewish laws of kashrut, kosher. Clams are banned for an observant Jew. Murder is also banned, and a lot more prominently -- “Thou shalt not kill.” Change the facts a bit, and you have a country song – he refused my Clamato and then he killed my dog. My sister was on a jury a few month ago, which hinged on a man who lost his girlfriend, and in the resultant fight with the new boyfriend his dog got killed by a car. He stole my woman and then killed my dog. Pity the car was not a pickup truck.
I once got a spam e-mail from a dating service for people seeking to have an affair. I have heard of Ashley Madison. Of course, a whole lot of people now have heard of Ashley Madison. I suppose it is part of the capitalist tradition to try and make money from bad things that people. Something like half of all marriages fall apart, so why not make a few bucks from bad behavior? The country music industry has been doing it for years. I have been a fan of country music for years for the melodies not the subject matter (to paraphrase an old John Anderson song).
A recent web ad promises females over 18 several thousand dollars a week for working as a personal entertainer; professional in public, impressive in private. I am sure the ad is looking for singer-songwriters. Well at least it specifies over 18; not all such ads do. In case you are interested, this was in the writing gigs section, not the full time lady of the evening section. Not the plot of the country song, this ad, more of an episode of Law and Order: SVU. Writers may sometimes feel they are getting screwed, but this is rather different.
“Legal” and “legitimate” appear regularly, usually attached to ways to make a lot of money quickly. Add “trust me” and all but absolute idiots will not trust you. There are ads for handwritten documents, which ask for handwriting samples. Right. Send a sample of your handwriting to a reply box. Be sure to include your social security number and a few passwords. For those who say that people are not stupid, see the last paragraph.
There has been this person in Yonkers, advertising on a web site for young people to handwrite stories, or film him exercising, or watch him present a play for teenagers. He always asks for the applicant’s age. He (I suppose this could be a she) got flagged and the ad taken down.
Finally, there is the swingers club in Nashville that wants to reclassify itself as a church so it can move to the suburbs. No this is not a country song, though it might make a good one. One suspects there is a fair amount of laying on of hands, and shouting “praise the Lord” going on.
All opinion pieces reflect solely the views of the writer(s) and do not reflect the opinions or views of CAB News Online.
An article on a web news service says a man has sued McDonald’s for “unreasonably dangerous” materials in a chicken product. Bone fragments certainly qualify as dangerous, but the term “unreasonably dangerous” gets me. I guess there is reasonable danger in what we eat.
A bartender was shot at in Montana. The reason -- he used Clamato instead of tomato juice in a cocktail. The aggrieved patron killed the bartender’s dog in the incident. He is charged with attempted murder and animal cruelty. The reason the patron gave was that clam juice violated the Jewish laws of kashrut, kosher. Clams are banned for an observant Jew. Murder is also banned, and a lot more prominently -- “Thou shalt not kill.” Change the facts a bit, and you have a country song – he refused my Clamato and then he killed my dog. My sister was on a jury a few month ago, which hinged on a man who lost his girlfriend, and in the resultant fight with the new boyfriend his dog got killed by a car. He stole my woman and then killed my dog. Pity the car was not a pickup truck.
I once got a spam e-mail from a dating service for people seeking to have an affair. I have heard of Ashley Madison. Of course, a whole lot of people now have heard of Ashley Madison. I suppose it is part of the capitalist tradition to try and make money from bad things that people. Something like half of all marriages fall apart, so why not make a few bucks from bad behavior? The country music industry has been doing it for years. I have been a fan of country music for years for the melodies not the subject matter (to paraphrase an old John Anderson song).
A recent web ad promises females over 18 several thousand dollars a week for working as a personal entertainer; professional in public, impressive in private. I am sure the ad is looking for singer-songwriters. Well at least it specifies over 18; not all such ads do. In case you are interested, this was in the writing gigs section, not the full time lady of the evening section. Not the plot of the country song, this ad, more of an episode of Law and Order: SVU. Writers may sometimes feel they are getting screwed, but this is rather different.
“Legal” and “legitimate” appear regularly, usually attached to ways to make a lot of money quickly. Add “trust me” and all but absolute idiots will not trust you. There are ads for handwritten documents, which ask for handwriting samples. Right. Send a sample of your handwriting to a reply box. Be sure to include your social security number and a few passwords. For those who say that people are not stupid, see the last paragraph.
There has been this person in Yonkers, advertising on a web site for young people to handwrite stories, or film him exercising, or watch him present a play for teenagers. He always asks for the applicant’s age. He (I suppose this could be a she) got flagged and the ad taken down.
Finally, there is the swingers club in Nashville that wants to reclassify itself as a church so it can move to the suburbs. No this is not a country song, though it might make a good one. One suspects there is a fair amount of laying on of hands, and shouting “praise the Lord” going on.
All opinion pieces reflect solely the views of the writer(s) and do not reflect the opinions or views of CAB News Online.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
The Local Nightmare May Be at an End
By Bruce L. Brager
New York can really be a fun city, as they used to say. Not just the stock market, the Wall Street roller coaster. But at least this time they have been panicking, and then changing their mind about the panic, over the huge Chinese economy, not the tiny Greek economy. But Wall Street is more a national than a state issue.
New York City has its problems. Poverty and crime are problems, though less than in most other major American cities. The city needs more jobs, though unemployment has greatly decreased since the Great Recession. There too many guns in the streets, but this is true of everywhere in this gun-fetishist society. New York has one of the better gun control policies in the country. We don’t have open carry, stand your ground, or anything like that belonging more in the TV version of the Wild West. But a New Yorker who wants a gun just needs a few hours’ drive to get one.
The city still needs affordable housing, despite having lost the most expensive area title to Washington, DC. But local real estate developers prefer to build condos for billionaires and a huge Ferris wheel in Staten Island. Let’s just hope the builders don’t get legionnaires disease.
The relationship between the NYPD and the Black community is worse than it has been for years. New York City traffic remains New York City traffic.
So what is the big issue in New York City recently? Times Square. Some attractive young women have taken to soliciting tourists to take picture with them. The women are wearing just bikini bottoms and body paint. Horrors. The mayor is very upset. The governor says it reminds him of the bad old days in Time Square. The police commissioner wants to tear up the new pedestrian areas to get rid of the area where these immoral women play their trade. Others want the law that allows women, as well as men to go topless in public in New York City, changed.
On a related issue, a new law has been introduced in the New York State legislature to ban the sale of sugar soda to kids under 16. The nightmare is almost over. We will soon end the horror of kids getting wired with sugar staring at half-naked women. And here I was worried about freedom of choice, gun control, the economy, crime, disease, etc. etc. etc. This is not an endorsement of kids drinking sugar, just so you readers know.
I am just glad we don’t have any statues of Confederate soldiers (as far as I know). I can’t recall seeing a Confederate flag regularly flown – at least not in Upper East Side Manhattan. There has been no having to make martyrs to the First Amendment out of idiots.
All opinion pieces reflect solely the views of the writer(s) and do not reflect the opinions or views of CAB News Online.
 |
| Needs no caption. Credit: Bruce L. Brager |
New York City has its problems. Poverty and crime are problems, though less than in most other major American cities. The city needs more jobs, though unemployment has greatly decreased since the Great Recession. There too many guns in the streets, but this is true of everywhere in this gun-fetishist society. New York has one of the better gun control policies in the country. We don’t have open carry, stand your ground, or anything like that belonging more in the TV version of the Wild West. But a New Yorker who wants a gun just needs a few hours’ drive to get one.
The city still needs affordable housing, despite having lost the most expensive area title to Washington, DC. But local real estate developers prefer to build condos for billionaires and a huge Ferris wheel in Staten Island. Let’s just hope the builders don’t get legionnaires disease.
 |
| A beautiful park in north Staten Island, with a great view of the Manhattan Skyline, is being converted into an outlet mall and a giant ferris wheel. Credit: Bruce L. Brager |
So what is the big issue in New York City recently? Times Square. Some attractive young women have taken to soliciting tourists to take picture with them. The women are wearing just bikini bottoms and body paint. Horrors. The mayor is very upset. The governor says it reminds him of the bad old days in Time Square. The police commissioner wants to tear up the new pedestrian areas to get rid of the area where these immoral women play their trade. Others want the law that allows women, as well as men to go topless in public in New York City, changed.
On a related issue, a new law has been introduced in the New York State legislature to ban the sale of sugar soda to kids under 16. The nightmare is almost over. We will soon end the horror of kids getting wired with sugar staring at half-naked women. And here I was worried about freedom of choice, gun control, the economy, crime, disease, etc. etc. etc. This is not an endorsement of kids drinking sugar, just so you readers know.
I am just glad we don’t have any statues of Confederate soldiers (as far as I know). I can’t recall seeing a Confederate flag regularly flown – at least not in Upper East Side Manhattan. There has been no having to make martyrs to the First Amendment out of idiots.
All opinion pieces reflect solely the views of the writer(s) and do not reflect the opinions or views of CAB News Online.
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