The War

I've been watching Ken Burns "The War" on PBS. This epic struggle that has defined the last 6 decades,  has shaped my life and still shapes America in terms of how we think about ourselves as a nation and how we view war  and morality.

I immigrated to this country from England with my parents in 1956. Eleven years after the end of war, England was still rationing. America having won the war became the worlds economic and military superpower. America was on the march, rebuilding Europe and creating much of our present day infrastructure. Our manufacturing might made us number one and there seemed nothing that we could not achieve as a nation. Proof that we occupied the moral high ground.

So what happened? As with any superpower, first comes hubris and pride, and then comes arrogance. We failed to see that our economic expansion was a  more a result of the wars devastation of the industrial capacity of Europe and Japan than our ability to out design and out build the rest of the world . Rebuilt, the industries of Europe and Japan began to compete, and in the case of Japan began turning out electronics and automobiles that rivaled and bettered anything that America could build. Our products became shoddy our. What were once derided as cheap Japanese goods became world class products. Whole electronic industries disappeared from our shores as televisions, stereos, and radios were now made in Japan.

By the 80's Japan was regularly cleaning our industrial clock thanks to an America named Edward Demming who taught Japan about quality control and made quality the obsession of Japanese companies. What had once seemed an industrial juggernaut came to a screeching halt. We were now being out classed on both design and quality. In response to this American companies got religion and began turning our higher quality products, but by now whole industries have disappeared and now we must compete with the lowest possible cost.

Somewhere along the way we lost the moral high ground. We engaged in a series of wars starting with Korea and Vietnam that did not fit the image of a war justified. We have gone to war in Iraq based on lies and deception. We miscalculated at every step the nature of the war we started and brought shame to the founding principles of our nation.

So while The War was over 60 years ago we continue to deal with the aftermath of a conflict that many know nothing about. Our nation stands at a crossroads. Our leaders talk  in terms of good and evil and take us to war, justifying the morality of an unnecessary and immoral war, comparing themselves to Churchill and Roosevelt while decrying the lack of a Jefferson or Washington  in Iraq to lead us out of the quagmire that we created.

Where are our Jefferson's, Washington's, and Adams? What is our industrial policy? What is our energy policy? What is our Healthcare policy? What is our immigration policy?

The nation that won The War should be up to the task of figuring these issues out. There are no issues that are too tough to tackle just leaders too small to answer the call.

The Decider & The Enablers

Shortly after election to his second term as president, George Bush said he had "earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it."

Incredibly that was three years ago and it turns out that the Political Capital was imaginary. What is not imaginary was the goodwill that America accrued all over the world after 9-11, what is not imaginary is how Bush The Decider spent it all and more. So much so that we now have a goodwill deficit to go along with our budget and trade deficits.

Imagine Linda Tripp running around secretly taping Monica Lewinsky for the FBI leading to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Oh that's right; that really happened.

Now imagine Bill Clinton Invading Iraq after 9-11, lying to the nation about WMD and reasons for invading Iraq. Imagine it is 5 years later and we are still in Iraq and Iraq has turned into a morass, but we can not get out this year, next year, or even in 5 years time because that would be cutting and running.

Watching Ken Burns excellent The War I am struck by the cognitive dissonance of the time between D Day, June 6, 1944, VE Day, May 7 1945, and the notion that we can not get out of Iraq.

If George Bush is the Decider, then Republican Congressmen having found grounds for the impeachment of Bill Clinton but no way out of Iraq are the Enablers.

D Day June 6, 1944

VE Day May 7, 1945

Working Against Our Own Best Interest

An ongoing exploration of how America is working against its own best interest.

Does anyone know what our Industrial Policy Is?

Part 3

Doesn't it strike you as strange that most of the big problems in America today are of our own making. Too many times we act as a nation or as a people in ways that are not in our own best interest. We Suboptimize* the public good  by optimizing our personal, professional, or corporate gain.

Exactly what are our guiding principles, our goals and our core values. Lets start with something basic.

So what exactly is our Industrial Policy? Hands up anyone. You in the back row, no, ok you were just stretching your arms.

Ok that was a trick question because as nearly as I can figure we have no Industrial Policy. There are no industries our government is willing to protect by declaring them in our national interest. As all forms of manufacturing flow from our shores to low cost centers in other parts of the world, we have lost the garment industry, the shoe industry, the steel industry, the electronics industry, and now stand on the brink of losing our automotive industry.

Are any of these Industries worth saving? What is in our best national interest? Try this test. Is it in our best national interest that we allow millions of Garden Gnomes made in China to flow into our country? Does saving a few cents on a Garden Gnome threaten our nati0nal interest?

Now try this test. Is it in our national interest to allow millions of Automobiles made in China flow into our Country? Does saving a few hundred or thousand dollars threaten our national interest?

How you answer that last question may decide whether the middle class survives. Whether America provides good paying jobs and benefits for its citizens, or if we become a nation of have and have nots; a nation of 300 million competing for that last penny of cost with 2 billion Chinese and Indians.

I know what you're thinking, market forces will take of all of these issues. Let the market do what the market does best, squeeze out inefficiency and reduce costs. let the chips fall where the chips fall.

But is free trade really free? Do low prices tell the whole story; are we blinded by the free trade mantra into believing that our trading partners are fair? Do you think that the rise of China and India as industrial powers happened by happenstance?

Don't you think that they have an Industrial Policy, do you think that they maybe they have targeted Industries and then tied one arm behind their backs? That would not be in their own best interest would it?

I pose this question to our next president and congress. What is your Industrial Policy? Please I beg of your for our own best national interest have one, because from where I sit we are building the Chinese military one always the low price at a time.

*Suboptimize

The act of committing energy and resources to maximize a portion of a process or system that undermines the effectiveness of the overall process or system. http://www.electronictrainingsolutions.com/glossary/suboptimize.htm

Wack-A-Mole / Rope-A-Dope

As Senator John McCain has famously said on many occasions before he got surge fever, what we have in Iraq is a case of wack-a-mole. As our troops moved into one area, the enemy moves out. And so it goes, you wack-a-mole here and he pops up there. I think that Caddy Shack should be part of basic training for all would be Generals and Paradigm Shift Engineers. Having said that, the Iraqis have been watching old footage of Muhammad Ali's fights. You know the ones where he rope a dopes his opponent by standing down while his opponent wears himself, out lulling them in to a sense of security.

A lot can be learned by watching old movies and fight strategy footage...

Working Against Our Own Best Interest

An ongoing exploration of how America is working against its own best interest.

 

Does anyone know what our Immigration policy is?

Part 2

Doesn't it strike you as strange that most of the big problems in America today are of our own making. Too many times we act as a nation or as a people in ways that are not in our own best interest. We Suboptimize* the public good  by optimizing our personal, professional, or corporate gain.

Exactly what are our guiding principles, our goals and our core values? Lets start with something basic. Does anyone know what our Immigration policy is?

Ok, I know that there are millions of pages of immigration statutes and laws. Certainly there many rich Immigration attorneys. There are also many thousands of immigration workers and boarder guards all working to keep America safe. But what exactly is our Immigration Policy?

Damn If I know. Is it nudge nudge wink to the 12 million illegal aliens in the country?

Is it "Give me your poor"? By the way that last one is not in the constitution and yet the sentiment spoken during the 19th century endures today. But is it our policy?

And why do we bestow American citizenship on anyone born in America even if born of an illegal alien? That sounds like a disconnect. It rewards being an illegal alien with an American child and creates yet another emotional barrier to solving our immigration problems. Tell me is that our Immigration Policy?

 

I don't pretend to know any of the answers. What I do suggest is, that since there appears to me to be no answer to what our Immigration Policy is, that there should be a national dialogue about what our Immigration Policy should be. An honest dialogue about our current system, possible outcomes from doing nothing to enacting various alternate immigration policies would go along way to creating a future that is manageable, fair, and in our own best interest.  

For instance we might discuss;

How large should our  country's population be now and in the future?

How should our immigration policy work and for whom? 

If we know that we need x amount of farm laborers ( and have done so for many years) lets be honest about that. Lets create fair and honest guest worker programs or bestow citizenship on those who fill our pantries, but lets be honest.

Should our policy be to let anyone immigrate, or should we allow only immigrants who meet educational, skill levels, or income criteria's?

Should our policy be to do what we have always done because we are a nation of immigrants, or should we assess immigration in the light of what is in our best national interest?

Oh, and what is in in our best national interest? Now that would be in our best national interest to decide!

 

*Suboptimize

The act of committing energy and resources to maximize a portion of a process or system that undermines the effectiveness of the overall process or system. http://www.electronictrainingsolutions.com/glossary/suboptimize.htm

The Delta and "All those kind of things" Or How to Party Like its 1902

News item

(06-15) 11:00 PDT Bakersfield, Calif. (AP) --

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he supports a controversial plan to build a new canal to pipe water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The governor told a gathering of business leaders and farmers Thursday that California needs more water and should build more reservoirs and a canal.

"We need more water," he said at a Bakersfield town-hall meeting. "We need to build more storage, and we have to build conveyance, the canal, and all of those kinds of things."

It's the first time Schwarzenegger has publicly called for a canal that could divert water around the delta from Northern California to Southern California, a proposal voters defeated in 1982. The plan was envisioned as a way to preserve the delta estuary but became politically controversial when it was seen as water grab by Los Angeles-area water users.

Schwarzenegger's endorsement came after the state shut down its pumps late last month over concerns about a massive decline in delta smelt populations.

Sport fishermen and conservation groups blame the pumps for sucking in smelt and other fish as they migrate down the delta, but San Joaquin Valley farmers say authorities are overlooking other sources of stress on the fish and that restricting water could harm crops.

 

Commentary

A cheering Bakersfield crowd applauded Schwarzenegger call for a canal. The Southland, in its frenzy to acquire water, parties as like its 1902. The Ghost of Mulholland must be smiling down as he envisions the drying up of the delta in the service of Southern California. The Governor, who most recently had a near brush with wisdom, when he said that perhaps we should not build houses behind levees until the levees can protect the houses, might go that one better and say we should not be building in areas where there is no water.

The Governor who is not a full time resident of Sacramento (he lives in a hotel here while he is visiting) should stay here a while to enjoy the natural beauty of the delta and lecture Southern California on the environmental arrogance of draining one area to benefit another. Or perhaps he could fly off to a foreign country and lecture them on global warming. The problem with the delta is not the dying smelt or a canal (or, as they now call it, a conveyance) it is that too much water is being diverted from the delta and all of those kinds of things!

If We Pull Out of Iraq The Enemy Wins

After four years of shock and awe, we have managed to take the goodwill the poured out in our direction after 9-11 and turn it into loathing and hatred. We attacked a country under false pretenses, miscalculated the war at every step of the way, and now our actions are creating the kind of hatred and fanaticism that we claimed would disappear as the result of those actions in Iraq. Unintended consequences they say, this is a new kind of war, a new kind of enemy. But this is the worst kind of piffle it is the refuge of the morally bankrupt. Were  the consequences already endured not so monumental in scope it would make a good philosophical debate among intellectuals and talking heads.

Lets be clear the consequences were clear and foreseeable. After four years over 3,000 of our soldiers are dead more than 20,000 are wounded and we have spent half a trillion dollars. Our accomplishments? A constitution that allows sharia law to trump common, law an insurgency that is more fanatical today than yesterday and a country torn by civil war with over 500,000 dead and 2.5 million refugees pouring into neighbor countries. Oh and did I mention that we are hated and loathed. Would that we were feared and hated.

So the next time I hear if we pull out now the enemy wins or the next time I hear the consequences of failure are unacceptable look me strait in the eye and tell me who is this enemy that wins?

Is it Al Quaida?
Is it the Shiites?
Is it the Sunnis?
Is it the Islamists who pour into Iraq to protect Islam?
Is it the Syrians?
Is it the Iranians?
Is it the Saudis who gleefully explode their young?

The first rule of war is to know who you are fighting and who you are fighting for. We do not know the answer to either of these questions. Sadly we we did not ask them.

What are the consequences of failure? How will they look different than the civil war and the bombed out remains of the cradle of civilization we have created? 

This Blog knows, and most Americans know, that the consequences of staying are unacceptable. The enemy wins every minute that we stay in Iraq. The monster of hatred and fanaticism flourishes with our presence. We cede to them power they do not have without us, and we forfeit our goodwill and essential goodness in our complictness.

Iraq is not and never was the nexus of terrorism. While it is still not too late, fight the right war, the the smart way, use our intelligence, our wise understanding  of the past , and engage our technology to combat terrorism in new ways that will truly bring shock and awe to our the enemy. An enemy who for so long meet everyone of our predictable missteps as if they had the playbook.  Otherwise we run the risk of singing the refrain we are here because we are here because we are here over and over again and then the Enemy really will win.

Working Against Our Own Best Interest

An ongoing exploration of how America is working against its own best interest.

 

Part 1

Does it not strike you as strange that most of the big problems in America today are of our own making. Too many times we act as a nation or as a people in ways that are not in our own best interest. We Suboptimize* the public good  by optimizing our personal, professional, or corporate gain.

Exactly what are our guiding principles, our goals and our core values. Lets start with something basic.

 

• Does anyone know what our immigration policy is?
  
• Do we have an industrial policy? Are there any industries that we would declare off limits?
  
• What is our energy policy? Surely it cant be to obtain only 20% more fuel efficiency in 10 years. Is corn based ethanol in our own best interest or in the best interest of big farm conglomerates.
  
• What is our health care policy? Wait I think I know this one. Let the markets decide.
  
• What is our tax policy? As the highest tax rates compress the calls for tax cuts increases. Even as the distribution of wealth flows ever up floating no boats.
  
• What is our Trade Policy? Exactly who will we trade with? And is free trade really free if some of us are cheating?

As you can see this is just the tip of the iceberg. The answer to these questions is that no one knows. There is no coherent policy for any of these major issues of the day. That is unless you answer there is no policy, in the absence of which we act against our own best interests as nation.

*Suboptimize

The act of committing energy and resources to maximize a portion of a process or system that undermines the effectiveness of the overall process or system. http://www.electronictrainingsolutions.com/glossary/suboptimize.htm