A soldier died today

I don't know who wrote this poem, I received it in email but I thought it ought to be available for everyone to read.
 

He was getting old and paunchy And his hair was falling fast, And he sat around the Legion, Telling stories of the past. Of a war that he once fought in And the deeds that he had done, In his exploits with his buddies; They were heroes, every one. And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors His tales became a joke, All his buddies listened quietly For they knew where of he spoke. But we'll hear his tales no longer, For ol' Joe has passed away, And the world's a little poorer For a Soldier died today. He won't be mourned by many, Just his children and his wife. For he lived an ordinary, Very quiet sort of life. He held a job and raised a family, Going quietly on his way; And the world won't note his passing, 'Tho a Soldier died today. When politicians leave this earth, Their bodies lie in state, While thousands note their passing, And proclaim that they were great. Papers tell of their life stories From the time that they were young But the passing of a Soldier Goes unnoticed, and unsung. Is the greatest contribution To the welfare of our land, Some jerk who breaks his promise And cons his fellow man? Or the ordinary fellow Who in times of war and strife, Goes off to serve his country And offers up his life? The politician's stipend And the style in which he lives, Are often disproportionate, To the service that he gives. While the ordinary Soldier, Who offered up his all, Is paid off with a medal And perhaps a pension, small. It is not the politicians With their compromise and ploys, Who won for us the freedom That our country now enjoys. Should you find yourself in danger, With your enemies at hand, Would you really want some cop-out, With his ever waffling stand? Or would you want a Soldier His home, his country, his kin, Just a common Soldier, Who would fight until the end. He was just a common Soldier, And his ranks are growing thin, But his presence should remind us We may need his likes again. For when countries are in conflict, We find the Soldier's part Is to clean up all the troubles That the politicians start. If we cannot do him honor While he's here to hear the praise, Then at least let's give him homage At the ending of his days. Perhaps just a simple headline In the paper that might say: "OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

 

 

 

 

 

The Moslem Problem

I am musing today on the Moslem problem.  What exactly is this problem?  That's the first thing to decide.  Well, the problem is that Moslems believe that not only is killing people indiscriminately okay, it is in fact a good thing.  (You can argue that all Moslems don't believe that and you'd be right but so long as thousands of them do believe it the rest don't really matter)  Now I'm assuming that the terrorists truly believe that they are doing a good thing and that is the root of the problem. 

            In considering this subject we have to think about the unpleasant subject of killing in general.  Let's simplify it and call it murder.  If we come upon a person in the act of murdering another person we conservatives would favor murdering the perpetrator.  By that direct act we are preventing another worse act.  At least we see it that way.  It gets a little more complicated if we don't actually see the whole crime being committed.  Let's consider another possibility.  We come upon a person raping another person.  At my age the only way I can really stop it is to kill the rapist.  Is that truly the moral and correct thing to do?   Most of us wouldn't hesitate if the victim was friend or family, but it might not be so clear cut in other cases. 

            How about a death sentence handed down by a court of law?  Personally I have always favored execution as a preventative measure rather than a punishment.  Nearly all violent criminals continue to commit violent crimes - especially those that have been jailed for some period.  It also doesn't make any sense to support a person in jail for 50 years who cannot be released into society.  But, do we really have the RIGHT to murder a person when they are not in the act of committing a heinous crime?  Hmmm

            So the one time that we have a clear cut right and obligation to kill is on the battlefield, right?  The soldier in uniform is acting to protect his home and country and has a definite right to kill the enemy (and perhaps some collateral damage?) when so ordered by his superiors.  Hmmm, that doesn't seem exactly correct somehow.  In the modern world the order comes down like "drop a bomb or missile on a particular house in a particular village where an enemy is hiding."  So the soldier executes those orders as given and perhaps we kill an enemy and perhaps we kill some folks who are not enemies.  Let's see now, those orders are made by superior officers up to and including the commander in chief after they consider the totally accurate intelligence gathered by the moral folks in the field.  And those stone age Muslims hate us because they say WE kill indiscriminately.  Really makes you think, doesn't it?

 

Disclaimer:  I don't intend to draw any conclusion from the above, I only believe it warrants careful consideration by thinking Americans.  I certainly hope someone will point out the error of my musing above because I don't like the direction it takes me. 

Stop the Spending Cuts!!!

Stop the Spending Cuts!!!  That's what I'm hearing from AARP.  If you've forgotten, many months ago Congress agreed to raise the debt ceiling in return for an agreement to cut spending.  That cut never happened.  Now we are up against the debt limit again and AARP is screaming at us that we must just raise the limit again and keep on spending.  Apparently there is no end to this.  We just keep borrowing forever.  Hmmmm, that sounds like something you would go to jail for if you were a business.  Can you say "Ponzi Scheme?"   

            I don't claim to be an economic expert but I have the strong feeling that the folks making these decisions are no better qualified than I am.  It seems pretty obvious to me that we can't just keep on spending, especially when we have a dwindling income due to tax cuts.  It seems just as obvious that all spending isn't created equal.  We owe certain legitimate debts that must be paid.  These include social security payments and government retirement pensions that have been bought and paid for by the recipients.  They include legitimate debts secured by bonds, both domestic and foreign. 

            They DO NOT include the handouts that have been created during times of surplus by politicians buying votes.  The average citizen is collecting free money from the government for things that make absolutely no sense.  For instance, we pay $1000 a year for each child that a family (or person) has.  We give out billions of dollars in Earned Income Credit each year.  (That's what used to be called welfare)  We have turned unemployment compensation into a permanent income destroying any incentive to take a job. 

            So where is the solution to this problem?  Well, it's really pretty simple.  We have to cut spending AND raise taxes.  This isn't difficult math, we all know it's true.  The reason everyone is opposed to raising taxes is the government is wasting our money already.  We don't want them to waste more of it.  That's why we MUST have real cuts in spending at the same time. 

            One of the first things the government should get out of is Ethanol.  What a crock!  I was in Kansas last week where they grow all that corn and found that most stations there carried ethanol free gas.  It was generally at a price comparable to the alcohol diluted stuff and a LOT cheaper than we pay here on the east coast.  I bought mid grade ethanol free gas for $3.19 a gallon last week.  My local station sells it for $4.09.  What has the ethanol thing accomplished?  Well, it has destroyed lots of gas operated tools such as lawn mowers.  It has raised the price of beef substantially.  And SOMEBODY has gotten rich off of it.

            We are on the way to an economic boom within the next few years.  It will be easy to sit back and say that the economy will take care of itself with the new income from oil and natural gas.  That attitude is how we got to this position in the first place.    

            But to return to my original point, we MUST stand our ground somewhere and force this administration to make spending cuts.  If there is no way other than closing the government, then close the government.  Hmmm, I wonder how much we save every day the government is closed?