My Apologies For Not Posting

I am currently attending Anti-Terrorism courses in Missouri and have been unable to continue with my posting, as my internet access is sketchy at best in the "crack shack" that I have been lodged in. I promise to get back to posting "What I Believe" when I get back to Arizona this weekend.

What I Believe (Part 2)

Okay, before I move on to the next installment of Ron's Manifesto, I must comment on some of the feedback I received on the first article. I find it amazing that you can title an article "What I Believe" and still anger so many people, as though they do not believe you should be allowed an opinion if it differs from their viewpoint. I also find it amusing that the extreme left will go to any length to destroy and/or water down an opinion which does not coincide with their plan for our country. I also received quite a bit of positive feedback, which is always appreciated. Okay, enough reflections from yesterday. On with today!

3. IF YOU'RE A CITIZEN OF THIS COUNTRY YOU ARE AN AMERICAN!! Quite simply, just as I am not a German-American or a Polish-American, you are not an Asian-American, African-American, Latino-American, or any other (insert multi-cultural tag here)-American. We are all Americans, and this constant attempt by liberals to water down and/or demonize American culture and identity by separating Americans by their origins from other countries is somewhat racist in itself. Our school children are being taught to celebrate every different culture in the world except for American culture, and it is slowly eroding our identity as a nation.

4. I BELIEVE IN THE SECOND AMENDMENT. That's right. I'm one of those evil supporters of an American citizens right to bear arms. Do tragedies happen in this country from time to time involving guns? Yes, but it is a knee-jerk, emotional, and most importantly incorrect decision to think that outlawing gun ownership is the answer. Firearms in the possession of honest Americans is a deterrent to violent crime in our country. The type of person that commits violent crimes in this nation with guns does not have any regard for any laws, much less gun laws. The only thing that will stop them is another individual with a gun. Quite simply, guns are not bad, some people are bad. This naive attempt to label guns as the problem is irresponsible, and is just another way our society is attempting to not hold people accountable for their actions.

This takes me to my next rant which I will have to continue on Monday, as I must get ready for work now.

What I Believe...Whether It Offends You or Not.

In this day and age, it is difficult to get people to clearly tell you what they believe and support. It's pretty much impossible to get this honesty from politicians. I have decided to air out my views on a variety of topics, at the risk of possibly alienating a few. I believe it is important to honestly give people an assessment of where you are coming from, and it is also a nice way to rant a little, so here it goes...The Manifesto of Ron, if you will:

1. I BELIEVE AMERICA IS GOOD...that's right, contrary to the worldwide "apology tour" Barack Obama has been on since assuming duties as President, I believe values and principles established in the founding of this great nation have changed the world in a very positive way over the past 234 years. Have we made mistakes as a nation? Of course, but we most assuredly do not owe the world any apologies for our track record of promoting liberty, removing tyranny, feeding the hungry, rescuing every third world nation from natural disasters, etc., etc.

2. I BELIEVE IN CAPITALISM...Sorry Michael Moore! As much as you attempt to villainize it, you are a huge hippocrite, as you could not have gotten where you are today without it. All you Hollywood leftist, elitist morons, listen up! I know most of you have the IQ of Forrest Gump, but you need to know that "evil capitalism" you lobby against every day is what has created your multi-million dollar mansions, cars, servants, and your ability to fly off to Africa on a whim and adopt little Ndugu for your nanny to raise. Do some people get ahead in a capitalist system via corrupt means, and at the expense of the "little guy?" Yes, but as a whole the system of capitalism is the only long term successful system there is, and it is most definitely the fairest system. It gives the individual all of the liberty and freedom to pursue and accomplish whatever goals and dreams they may have in life. It merely requires that each individual add their own EFFORT and HARD WORK, which seems to be a hangup for many.

I will continue with, " The Manifesto of Ron" tomorrow with points 3 and 4...and maybe even 5 if I'm feeling froggy, but for now I must go to work to make a living for myself and my family. For you socialists, it's that little thing I mentioned about "effort and hard work." It's a liberty the lazy and non-producing population of our country are more than willing to give away in return for the government taking care of their needs. I end Part 1 of my manifesto with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have."

Part 2 tomorrow

Leader of the Free World's Indecisiveness Proves He's Not A Leader

So I've learned many things in my young life...well, maybe not so young anymore. Nonetheless, I have learned enough from 16 years in the Marine Corps to feel confident discussing some of the finer aspects of leadership. I attempted to give our POTUS a heads up with an article I wrote earlier this year, but he must not have gotten the memo. He's probably still using the old cover sheets on his TPS reports as well (for the Office Space crowd).

Watching the current "leadership abortion" take place with the decision making in Afghanistan has caused me to once again give our Commander in Chief a lesson in leadership. If you want to read the first lesson I still have it archived here:

http://silentnomoremajority.blogspot.com/2009/05/military-lesson-in-leadership-for-potus.html

This lesson involves a simple period of instruction on decision making. Decisiveness is one of the 14 Leadership Traits which are stressed and instilled in it's leadership. Decisive, as defined by Webster's Dictionary:

Main Entry: de·ci·sive
Pronunciation: \di-ˈsī-siv\
Function: adjective
Date: 1611
1 : having the power or quality of deciding
— de·ci·sive·ly adverb
— de·ci·sive·ness noun

"Having the power or quality of deciding." So, at least according to Webster, not the little TV midget from the 80's (sorry PC police, I meant little person), this would require that the person decide, i.e. make some sort of decision!!

Let me simplify this a little more for you, Mr. President. As a leader you are faced with many decisions. By far the worst decision you can make when faced with each dilemma is no decision at all. When you are facing a tough decision and you actually have the fortitude to stand up and make a choice, one of two things happen:

A. The choice will be correct and you will receive positive feedback, a little more clout, experience, and trust among your superiors and subordinates.

B. The choice will be incorrect, you will receive negative feedback and be educated on the proper way to complete the task next time. You will take a hit on your clout and trust, albeit temporarily, as long as you continue to be decisive and gain experience your correct decisions will begin to outweigh your incorrect ones.

The lesson here is that even when you make a decision and it turns out to be incorrect, you still gain experience, knowledge, and wisdom for future decisions. What do you gain by making no decision at all? Well, as a politician, by not committing strongly to one side or the other, he is able to "straddle the fence" and attempt to keep both sides of a debate on his side, thereby helping his re-election campaign. Other than that, there is nothing to be gained by making no decision. Making no decision gives you no clout, trust, experience, wisdom, etc. It will award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul (for Billy Madison fans).

So, as my military peers wait in Afghanistan for much needed reinforcements, and their families lose sleep at night wondering if you, The President of The United States, are going to do anything to protect their loved ones, I request you take this lesson (this one is free of charge) and utilize it. Send the reinforcements or pull them the hell out of there...but DO SOMETHING because your current indecisiveness is costing young American "leaders" lives.

And They Want Us To Trust Them With Our Healthcare??

It never ceases to amaze me that so many Americans blindly jump to support any new government run program which promises to make their life easier. It takes a minimal amount of research into past government social programs to prove that this is almost never the case. The government has; time and again, proven itself to be one of the most inefficient entities at accomplishing any task. From idea to implementation, our federal government will always find the slowest and most costly way of getting things done.

Take for example the recent (if you want to call it that) report from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander on the ground in Afghanistan. On August 30th he detailed a report to President Obama which, above all other things, requested 40,000 more troops be dispatched to the region immediately to prevent the current U.S. forces in the country from losing their foothold, thus causing the mission there to fail.

Today is October 1st. No decision has been made yet. Our President and his administration are still considering the request 30 days later!!! The military expert, with eyes on exactly what is taking place in Afghanistan, has stated that our mission there will likely fail without 40k more troops on the ground and President Obama is still contemplating the request over a month later.

There are so many things wrong with that scenario I don't know where to start. Thirty days to make a decision on mission accomplishment and lives of young American servicemen?? I must deduce from the time spent pondering the request that Obama is actually considering not granting it. If that is true, why have a Commander on the ground if you are not going to trust his recommendations? I believe if I were Gen McChrystal I would resign my post if I were treated in this disrespectful of a manner. Is Obama, with his vast military experience, going to actually tell the General he is wrong on his assessment?

Meanwhile, back in the actual combat zone, our troops are undermanned and waiting for their reinforcements. They've been waiting a month, and will continue waiting much longer, for even if the decision is finally made to send them, they don't just show up there overnight like in a game of Risk. If the decision is made not to send reinforcements is Obama going to pull the military out of Afghanistan? If he is not going to give the military the tools they need to accomplish their mission, then he can't exactly leave the remaining there to be sitting ducks. Or maybe he can...he is, after all, the President of The United States, CEO of the Automotive industry, Savior of the Banking Industry, Spender above all Spenders of taxpayers money that does not yet exist, and Grand Poobah to ACORN...ooops!! My mistake...they deleted that title from the record.

Getting back to my point. If it takes this long for this administration to give a yes or no response on a time sensitive issue like sending reinforcements to a war zone, how smoothly do you think the government taking over healthcare will be? How long will it take to have decisions made regarding your health and wellness? Look at what a debacle the "Cash For Clunkers" program has been. Most dealerships are still waiting for the federal funds promised to them by this program. I think we, as Americans need to take back our liberty and start our own "Clunker Removal" program with our elected leaders. They need to be replaced with more efficient models which will support liberty, justice, and the Constitution.