A Terrorist Greeting Card

Wednesday evening. Grand Central Terminal, New York. Two New York City police officers, dressed in tactical black and carrying Heckler and Koch automatic weapons, overlook the main hall as passengers try to get home for Thanksgiving. What a cheery holiday scene!

(Count in about 8 panels from the right on the bottom of the sign for the first officer and another four for the second.)

Tis The Season To Be ...

INSANE


I see that everyone is getting into the holiday  spirit. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like the gift of pepper spray!



Is it me or is there a high correlation between Walmart and acts of shopping violence?

Evacuation Day- November 25th, 1783

 
November 25, 1783-EVACUATION DAY

Evacuation Day has nothing to do with post Thanksgiving  biological functions.

Once, Evacuation Day was one of the most celebrated days in America, and certainly in New York City. It's the day in 1783 that the British left New York City after occupying it from the beginning of the Revolutionary War in 1776, and wreaking destruction during that entire period.

I was pleased to see this in today's NY Daily News:

It's funny how time shifts the focus of history and this day is lost in the past. 

Also forgotten is the fact that New York harbor was filled with British prison ships and more than 11,000 Revolutionary War soldiers, Americans all, died in those ships. As the author in the Daily News notes, the 11,000 dead is a number that exceeds the number of Americans who died in battle during that war.

A day worth noting , i believe.

Some Thoughts on Veterans Day 11 11 2011

Veterans Day

It was a strange day.

I was standing in line at a coffee cart in midtown. I was in line behind a young Latino who was wearing his Marines warm up track suit. He turned to me and said “Happy Veterans day. Hoo-ah!” Uh, yeah. I had no idea what that was about. I was dressed, well, about as normal as I get. Black jeans, my civilian flight jacket with absolutely no military insignia- it does have an American flag on the left shoulder and a small brass pin on my collar “New York Aviation Alliance”. I had on my USS New York baseball cap that I bought when I attended the ship’s commissioning. And I can’t tell you how many of those baseball caps were sold to civilians on that day! So I wasn’t passing myself off as a war veteran or even as a military man.

I had come to Manhattan on my day off to attend the Veterans Day parade. I got there early but even then there was a nice crowd. I remember those Veterans Day parades of not too many years past when the marchers outnumbered the spectators and the day after the tabloids would decry the lack of patriotism. That was a long time and two wars ago.

I’m standing on Fifth Avenue waiting for the parade proper to start. It’s a typical New York scene. Commerce above all. A couple of guys walking around selling American flags, “Flags, who needs a flag? Everyone needs a flag, Three dollars.” One young mother stops him and starts to buy one, “Two flags for five dollars.” She is relived. She gets one flag for each of her kids. She knows she will be preventing a lot of distress during the next few hours.

So I’m standing there along Fifth Avenue, taking in the scene on this cold but clear day when a Marine colonel in dress blues, who was walking up the middle of the avenue, veers directly towards me, sticks out his hand and says “Thank you for your service”. I am stunned. I mumble “You too”. That’s all I could think to say. Why in the world would he come over to me and say that? I wear no military insignia. I hate people who wear insignia or ribbons which they are not entitled to wear. I claim no status as a result of my less than minuscule service in the Coast Guard reserve. Why me?

Anyhow, it was a great parade, I suppose. Not one but two Medal of Honor winners! Tons of colorful flags. Marching bands from across the country.  Veterans taking in all the acclamation they could absorb. Civilians praising their heroes.  Stirring sights of wounded veterans. God Star mothers. Kitsch with the Andrews Sisters-type singers.  More pipers than in England, Ireland, and Scotland combined! Military units! Marching bands! Politicians who needed to be seen! More than 20,000 marchers in all!  

I didn’t stay for the whole thing. I sort of felt there was too much commercialism with the walking advertisements for Chase bank and American Airlines. I felt the unseemliness of the NYC Department of Corrections hauling out and parading their white painted armored personnel carrier. Why? What did it have to do with Veterans Day?

I went to Grand Central Terminal to catch the train home and to attend a smaller ceremony at the Bronx VA. At GCT I bought a cup of chili and the guy behind the counter said “Happy Veterans Day, but I guess you can’t really call it happy.” Uh, yeah, right. What do you say to that?

On the train ride home, chili in hand, I wondered what had turned the veterans parade around from the point not too many years ago where people thought about cancelling it to the behemoth it had become. Yes, there were two wars. Yes, we had been attacked on 9/11, but it didn’t seem to explain the turn out. 

“Thank you for your service.” “Thank you for your service”. That was the day’s mantra, yet it seemed so odd. It felt wrong in concept. It didn’t sound right, and I don’t mean as it was improperly directed towards me. It was like an ill fitting suit. It looks nice but something is wrong.

Then, well, it hit me. “Your service.” “Your service.”

No “Band of Brothers” thing here. You went to war. "Your." "Your." Not mine, not ours. "Your".

With the end of the draft the military had become a separate caste, a cohort of nobles, or incompetents who couldn’t find a way to get rich, who volunteered to do society’s dirty work while everyone else went shopping or celebrated or wept over the stock market, as appropriate. Hell, they were only doing what President Bush (the Second) told them to do, “Go shopping or the terrorists win.” So they did. And so without a draft to provide a unifying force that spread the pain across all segments and sections of society, the new, heroic military caste was born, a caste separate from “us”. No more a part of us than characters in a popular video game.

The truth is that the pain of the last decade of war has been borne by less than 1% of the American public. The men who endured, and with luck survived 6, 7, 8, even 9 deployments to combat zones were mostly invisible to the rest of our society. The families who similarly bore their burdens were likewise unseen.

I then went to the Bronx Veterans Administration hospital for a remembrance ceremony put together by the Reverend William Kalaidjian, Staff Chaplin at that facility. It was a small ceremony which was held in the lovely chapel on the grounds of the VA facility. There was a lone piper who played the five service hymns (why does everyone forget the Coast Guard?). 50 maybe 75 veterans representing World War 2, Korea, and Vietnam showed up. The older guys were bent with age. Some had to be wheeled in.  It seemed that the Vietnam guys consisted of mostly black men as opposed to the white guys from the previous wars. Our politics was showing.

I guess the guys from Iraq (I and II) and Afghanistan will show up in the future.

 There was a Boy Scout color guard. We recited the Pledge of Allegiance. A chamber music quartet played Mozart and Debussy. Some words were spoken. We sang “God Bless America” then retired to the back of the chapel for some punch and cookies.

In this small ceremony, I felt that more honor was paid, and more respect shown, and with more honesty than in the big parade downtown. It was a quiet and dignified affair that matched the quiet and dignified manner of the veterans. It was solemn without being maudlin. It was altogether fitting and proper for those of us in attendance to give up a few minutes of our time in this place to honor and remember those who gave up their lives. 

So “Thank you for your service,” sounds so cheap when it comes from someone who has not served. It is cheap praise for your mercenary, your hired hand, your long term servant in good standing. But from someone who has been there, done that, and got the t-shirt (or at least a DD 214N), it is an acknowledgment of being in the brotherhood, and the sharing of an experience that no one else could possibly understand.

As I said, it was a strange day.

Occupy Wall Street- There's Something Happening Here

I spent part of yesterday at Zucotti Park, observing, talking to some of the inhabitants. As with any population, the range of opinions, political positions, etc. varies. Along Broadway you could find protesters and their signs. I think the political spectrum ran from middle-of -the road- to extreme left, but everyone had a place and the respect of others. I think the salient point was the presence of those "middle of the roaders".  Well dressed, holding signs that addressed real economic issues, these people weren't the anarchist internets hackers.

Around the back on the Church Street side were the drummers, beggars, anarchists. Yes, they are loud and noisy, but this is New York and in a way, we all make a little extra room for them.

I interviewed one woman who wore a two tone Mohawk, tattered patterned stockings and had just finished rolling a cigarette (well, the contents came from a bag indicating that it contained tobacco). She said she was from Baltimore and just had to "hit the road". She was headed for Boston but wound up in New York. She had absolutely no political agenda. I don't think she had any agendas at all.

The "comm center" had police scanners, computers, and a joint being passed around. There was a lending library. There was a group engaging in a discussion of the impacts of celebrities visiting the site.

It was an interesting discussion because David Crosby and Graham Nash were about a half hour away from an acoustic performance. Anyone- everyone- was welcome to speak.  Yes, the place was messy, and crowded. Some people got into arguments protecting their little piece of real estate.  Other folks engaged in -gasp- capitalism by selling buttons for $2. I asked one seller how much they cost . "I don't know, I'm working for the guy who made them."

Pure democracy may not be working .The OWS crowd has developed its own Security crew to keep troublemakers at bay or to escort them out of the grounds. They also have their own Sanitation Crü (yes, with an umlaut). NYPD officers ringed the park. Each officer carried enough of those zip-tie plastic handcuff to arrest a battalion. One police officer told me that they are prepared for anything and that there had been some trouble earlier in the day. I did see one clearly emotionally disturbed man shouting, cursing and threatening others. The internal OWS security was called to quiet him down. I did not see how he was handled.

The "mic check" call and response bit made me think of "Lord of the Flies" meets "Twitter" by way of "Animal Farm."

It was interesting to see all of the tourists and neighborhood people who came to check out the scene. It’s not too often that you see Wall Street suits wearing rainbow peace symbols. Yarmulka’d Jewish men were talking to some of the demonstrators. Some people obviously here for the weekend’s marathon were taking pictures and mixing with the crowd. So far, the OWS crowd seems to have a handle on the importance of images. A couple of US flags were flying.

There was one tent when had a table supporting some apparently communist/Marxist literature, but that seemed rather limited. I remember that during the 1960s the anti-war left committed a grave political error by flying Viet Cong and North Vietnamese flags and chanting “Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh. NLF is gonna win.”  Not too far from where Zucotti Park is now located, hard-hatted union construction workers clashed with anti-war protesters on Wall Street. Now, the hard hats and other union members are marching with the OWS crowd. As long as OWS remains non-violent, and the majority of the media portray it as such, it has the potential to grow.

It was hippie, political, anarchist, middle class, working class anger. Everyone with a grievance, real or imagined, found a place at OWS. But as it is constructed, or rather as it developed, OWS is amorphous, without form or purpose or goal.  And when you attack everything, you attack nothing. So it has yet to be determined whether Occupy Wall Street is a significant movement or merely a tantrum.

As Buffalo Springfield sang: "There's something happening here/ What it is ain't exactly clear."

Flower Power 2011

Yep, it's a bit of a mess

Getting into "Better Homes and Teepees"

This guys has been working here for decades! He won't do a deal with this crowd!

OK, The demonstrators do try to keep things clean . They have no resources but this trash can was full..

Economy Blues

Much , or something has been made of the fact that the latest jobs report indicates that 80,000 jobs were created last month, here:  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Job-market-improves-modestly-apf-365785889.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode= ., with a concomitant but minuscule decrease in the unemployment rate from 9.1 % to 9.0%.  The report also states that:

"The number of people considered long-term unemployed, meaning they have been looking for work for at least six months, fell by 366,000, to 5.9 million. That is the fewest since April."

Unfortunately , the job creation numbers were lower than the 100,000 jobs that were expected to be created plus these numbers do not account for those who have become discouraged and shave stopped looking for work.

The old saying, " A recession is when your friend is out of work. A Depression is when you are out of work." applies. The number of hidden unemployed is far greater than the 9.0% that the government  wants you to believe.  Modern unemployment benefits and other progressive government actions have prevented this depression from looking like the Great Depression of the 1930s. Unfortunately, the Republicans would love to turn back the clock to eliminate all of those protections. In fact they would love to eliminate everything that protects the middle and working classes. And they have the audacity, the pure chutzpah, to suggest that  the implementation of a fairer progressive tax, as well as rolling back the Bush era tax cuts for the rich, constitutes "class warfare". I submit that it is the Republicans who have engaged in aggressive class warfare against the middle class, the working class, and the poor. Liars without shame!

A Vist to Occupy Wall Street - New York

Regarding "Occupy Wall Street"-i walked through the Zucotti Park site around lunch time, just to observe: people smoking dope. begging for money,banging on drums, the overly-vigorous wild-eyed harangue, selling buttons (for a profit, i must add!), kids playing guitar in their expensive techno-tents.. Then it all came back to me... Thompkins Square park circa 1969, with a touch of 5th grade "recess:"

I did not detect anything resembling a health emergency, just crowds noise and mess. So welcome to New York. Eh! But if the protesters would take the time to clean up and organize their areas, I think they would project the image of a more disciplined and credible force. But a movement that claims it has no leaders also has no authority to impose such discipline, and so they may just dissolve into their own amorphous blob of hyper-democracy.

It seemed that a lot of people came from elsewhere and just sort of find their own home here. One gent apparently took it upon himself to whip out a pair of gardening shears and get some of the shrubbery into shape for the winter.

The amorphous nature of the complaints voiced by the "occupiers" means that they are a Rorschach of protest, so that you can come under their "big tent" of leftist non-ideology. Although I saw a table or two with outright communist literature, they Occupiers, as a whole had not yet made the mistake made by anti-war demonstrators in the 1960s by marching under the enemy flag, although in this case, does the enemy have a flag? Does the Wells Fargo Bank even have an identifiable symbol? I saw more than a few US flags flying form the OWS site. The visuals are important in our post -literate, video-brained society. So what are you against? High bank profits? Join the march! Accumulation of wealth by the richest 1%? Join the march! Halitosis? Join the march. The lack of a center of gravity for the protests , the lack of focus, makes the process intriguing but inevitably unsuccessful as a fulcrum for political change, unlike the Tea Party, which radicalized the Republican Party into a bunch of right wing ideologues who would have made Barry Goldwater proud.

I'm guessing that the mayor's strategy is to let the winter cold take care of the problem. but the petulant , the crazy, or the zealous might just make it through a mild winter ( every hear of "Valley Forge"?) Let's see what the winter brings, and whether the sunshine soldiers" of OWS will melt away at the first frost.

Suicide is Painless ???

if you are old enough to remember the Movie M*A*S*H, then you will remember the theme song- "Suicide is Painless" meant to be delivered with a sense of comic irony.

Today's overstretched, undermanned Army saw a record number of suicides in July here.

And here is the story of a soldier who had been deployed EIGHT TIMES and was facing round NINE.

So with the military facing major cutbacks, you can be sure that staffing will be reduced along with mental health care and benefits programs for those who need them.

We all fail to live up to the promises that we make to our soldiers if we allow that to happen.

OBL Still Dead!

So the sons of the mastermind of mass murder (circa 2000) says we violated international law and should have captured and tried his daddy here. let's see: 3,000 people killed 9/11, various suicide murderers, danny pearl , etc. OBL et. al. had no trouble violating any and all laws as it suited him. I say the kids have no standing.

Osama bin Laden

Here is one of the 72 dark eyed virgins waiting to pleasure Osama bin Laden

The Nightmare of Boeing's "Dreamliner"

Bad fasteners, delays in production, quality control problems, all of these brought about because Boeing tried to outsource on a world wide basis the fabrication of pieces of the 787 Dreamliner. Now, even more delays.

Will this bird EVER get off the ground?

Politics as Blood Sport

People who bemoan the state of politics don't know politics. Politics is about disagreements. It's a nasty business. Always has been. Always will be. There has been a shootout on the senate floor and more than one duel over political disagreements.

Politics ain't sitting down by a stream with your opponents and singing "Kumbaya" until you all achieve common agreements. So, Democrats, next time come to a political knife fight "armed" with something better than a flower bouquet. But you probably wont because you are against violence. Losers.

WTC Mosque

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens some some sobering thoughts on the controversy here.

Joe Sestak Ad

Here's a pretty cute ad from Democrat Joe Sestak, who is running for the Senate from Pennsylvania.

As Homer Simpson would say, "It's funny cause it's true!"

Here's a link

and this

A Reader Responds

From a reader:

"Frankly, I had assumed that this whole thing would be forgotten by now. Boy was I wrong!

Like you, I wish they would build somewhere else, but there is no legitimate reason for the government to stop Park51.

Ironically, some "conservatives" have advocated that the government bury the project in red tape or try to exercise eminent domain and seize the property. That is ironic because conservatives are normally in the forefront of protecting property rights. I guess it's a classic case of "whose ox is being gored.""

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's always a case of "whose ox is being gored" !!

I find it fascinating that the right wing loves to attack the First Amendment and defend the Second Amendment while the left loves to defend an expand the First Amendment (and the 14th) but it has no compunction about trying to so narrowly define the Second Amendment as to render it null and void.

Why have these two amendments become locked in a death-fight for the extremists?

Your Radical Moderate

When is a New York City Mosque not a Mosque?

When it is a commercial space. When it is a community center. And most important, when it is a political football.

I speak, of course, of the planned development located in Lower Manhattan at 51 Park Place called Cordoba House.

The facts in this case are simple. On September 11, 2001, two passenger jets were hijacked by a number of men, Muslims all, and they crashed these jets into 1 World Trade Center and 2 World Trade Center, setting the buildings ablaze. Trapped by the fires, many people jumped to their deaths. Approximately one hour after each building was struck by a jet, they collapsed onto themselves. Several buildings surrounding the trade center towers were also destroyed. Almost three thousand people were killed.

Now, almost 10 years later, significant reconstruction is taking place on the World Trade Center site. Two blocks north, on Park Place, stands a sealed and vacant building that formerly housed the Burlington Coat Factory, a discount clothing store. The building was purchased by a Muslim developer with the intention of constructing a cultural center, named Park 51, based on its address of 51 Park Place. Part of that development is to include a mosque.

This is from the Park 51.org website:

Park51 will grow into a world-class community center, planned to include the following facilities:

* outstanding recreation spaces and fitness facilities (swimming pool, gym, basketball court)
* a 500-seat auditorium
* a restaurant and culinary school
* cultural amenities including exhibitions
* education programs
* a library, reading room and art studios
* childcare services
* a mosque, intended to be run separately from Park51 but open to and accessible to all members, visitors and our New York community
* a September 11th memorial and quiet contemplation space, open to all

The developer has followed all applicable rules and regulations. The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission has found the site to be of no architectural significance. The local community board voted overwhelmingly in support of the project. Finally, the use of this space for Muslim prayer services is not a new development, as the 51 Park web site reports,

Daily Muslim prayer services have been held at 51 Park Place since late 2009. We hope to expand services and facilities in the coming months, although a firm date has not yet been set for the opening of Park51

So why do many people object to this development. Moreover, who are these people who so vocally and vociferously object?

There are the hate mongers, the people for whom anything Islamic is anathema. For them the issue of he Park 51's proximity to the World Trade Center is convenient camouflage for their anti-Islamism. They wouldn't be happy if Park 51 were moved 5 blocks, 5 miles, or 500 miles.

There are those who believe that this is a deliberate poke in the eye from Islamists who are following an old tradition. They say that this planned development is nothing less than a Muslim victory marker, similar to the construction of the Dome of the Rock on the site of the Temple in Jerusalem or by changing the Sancta Sophia in Constantinople to Hagia Sophia. From Wikipedia:

In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmed II ordered the building to be converted into a mosque.[6] The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over. The Islamic features — such as the mihrab, the minbar, and the four minarets outside — were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey.

There are those who honestly believe that the site is too close to the World Trade Center. For them the wounds are still too raw and the Islamic beliefs of the murderers are impossible to sever from the Islamic beliefs of the Park 51 developers. To them, an Islamic center at this specific location is an insult and the development should be moved.

There are those I call the "perpetual mourners". For them, September 11, 2001 happened yesterday. Their losses are still immediate and fresh. They have not been able to either finish or diminish their grieving and to "move on".

There is even a movement among some of the city's construction tradesmen to boycott the site despite the high unemployment in the construction industry. See this story in the New York Daily News:

A growing number of New York construction workers are vowing not to work on the mosque planned near Ground Zero.

"It's a very touchy thing because they want to do this on sacred ground," said Dave Kaiser, 38, a blaster who is working to rebuild the World Trade Center site.

"I wouldn't work there, especially after I found out about what the imam said about U.S. policy being responsible for 9/11," Kaiser said.

The grass-roots movement is gaining momentum on the Internet. One construction worker created the "Hard Hat Pledge" on his blog and asked others to vow not to work on the project if it stays on Park Place.

And what of the supporters of the Park 51 development?

The developer, Sharif El-Gamal, is digging in his heels and rejecting any offers of alternative sites:

The developer of an Islamic cultural center that would include a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero appear to have rejected Gov. David Paterson's offer to help them find a different site but a meeting may still be in the works.

On Tuesday, Rep. Peter King said he learned the governor planned to speak with the imam and developers of the mosque and cultural center later this week. Both King and Paterson are scheduled to discuss the issue on Larry King Live tonight.

Lead developer Sharif El-Gamal told NY1 yesterday no meeting had been scheduled yet. Since Paterson first offered to help broker a new location for the mosque last week, however, El-Gamal has insisted the subject was not up for debate, stressing the proximity of the planned center to Ground Zero was not an issue.

"Park51 is a community center. It is two blocks north of the World Trade Center site,” El-Gamal told NY1. “In New York City, two blocks is a great distance. There are some buildings in New York that have their own zip codes. There is such a scarcity of space in New York, especially in Lower Manhattan. Keep in mind this is a small island, so we are nowhere near the World Trade Center site."

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has become more and more strident in his support of Park 51. See this Daily News story:

“We may not always agree with every one of our neighbors. That's life. And it's part of living in such a diverse and dense city. But we also recognize that part of being a New Yorker is living with your neighbors in mutual respect and tolerance. It was exactly that spirit of openness and acceptance that was attacked on 9/11, 2001.

“On that day, 3,000 people were killed because some murderous fanatics didn't want us to enjoy the freedoms to profess our own faiths, to speak our own minds, to follow our own dreams, and to live our own lives. Of all our precious freedoms, the most important may be the freedom to worship as we wish. And it is a freedom that even here -- in a city that is rooted in Dutch tolerance -- was hard-won over many years.

So what might a radical Moderate make of this issue?

I must address those whom I called "constant mourners".

I was in the area of the World trade center on September 11, 2001. I witnessed people jumping from those buildings to their ultimate ends. I witnessed the collapse of those two towers and the destruction of the buildings that surrounded them. I breathed the acrid air of Lower Manhattan for three months as the rubble on the site continued to burn until just before Christmas. At that time, I was in discussions with two entities that operated in those buildings and had they been concluded just a bit earlier, I might have been in one of those two buildings on that unforgettable morning. Those are my bona fides. I am fortunate that I did not know anyone who died on that day. But my words should have no greater or lesser weight than the words of those who did suffer a grievous loss.

To the "perpetual mourners" I understand that your grief is deep, and fresh, and personal. I can not tell you to "get over it" and to "move on". Only you can decide that. But I resent your imposing your grief on me. And I resent your desire to prevent me from living in the present. Yes, I was there and yes, I remember. But remembering does not mean living in a frozen moment in time. I prefer to look to the future.

Truth is something that ultimately is unknowable. Whether the various charges being thrown against the Park 51 developers are true is irrelevant. What is relevant is that the developers have followed all of the rules and regulations of the City of New York regarding site location. What is relevant is that the developers, too, are covered and protected by the concepts of our Constitution and Bill of Rights which guaranty freedom of worship. I find it ironic that those on the political right who so easily attack the Park 51 development, and by doing so trammel the First Amendment at the same time stand as vigorous guardians to the Second Amendment. A consistency of philosophy is not their strong point. I think in this case it is called "hypocrisy".

I, too, am sensitive to the emotional context of this situation. I was there.

So what is the solution?

I have a cartoon posted in my office. It shows a man at a crossroads with a directional sign for each road. One sign says "Legally Right". The other sign says "Morally Right". The carton perfectly frame this issue.

The Park 51 developers legally purchased the property. They followed all rules and regulations. It is not the government's position to protect the sensitivities of those who might be offended by the construction of this facility. The laws must be upheld, even for those with whom we might harbor differences. Perhaps especially for those we have differences, when they are in full compliance with laws.

Several years ago a group of nuns wanted to build a convent on or relatively close to the site of the infamous Auschwitz death camp. Outrage emanated from the Jewish community as this was considered an affront to the particularly Jewish connection to this horrible site. Pope John Paul II, sensitive to the needs of the Jewish community, prevailed upon the nuns to move the site of their proposed convent, reportedly telly them" What you plan to do is good, but if you were to move it, it would be better."

I believe that a position that would satisfy all is available. The Park 51 developers should say that they recognize their right to build the Cordoba House at 51 Park Place. But they also say that Cordoba House is planned to be a site of peace and harmony. It is clear that siting it on Park Place would cause it to inflame passions rather than to achieve its goals. They should say that they are willing to consider alternative sites several blocks away, such as north of Canal Street, so that all may enjoy Cordoba House it peace.

But you know that's not gonna happen.

Exquisite!

I recommend this wonderful story from Esquire magazine here.

Army Alledged Murderer ( "Alleged" because my Legal Dept. requires it!)

Do you have one bit of doubt that the army pushed alleged murderer Maj. Nidal Hasan along because of a fear of a claim of racial/religious discrimination? As the reports come it it appears that incompetence and fear on the part of his superiors and supervisors protected Hasan. See the latest report.

Rating Obama- Part 3 International Relations

The one word that could sum up the first year of the Obama administration is "naive". This administration believes that rational thinking and professorial reserve are effective traits in dealing with the entire world. They are not. Sure, Western Europe can fall in love with him, but their support, if it is present to any degree, is minimal and ineffective. When it comes to dealing with our enemies, specifically radical Islamists, rational 21st Century cool will not prevail.

Let's briefly look at some areas.

Afghanistan:

The Obama administration to add 30,000 troops over the next year is a half baked measure in light of the President's announced plan to begin withdrawing them in 2011 and 2012. First, the president has cut off at the knees his own on scene commander, Gen. McChrystal, who asked for 40,000 troops. Second, he has given the Taliban and al Queda a timetable for them to resume their operations.

Counterinsurgency operations are long term commitments. Obama has demonstrated that he is not willing to make this commitment. For his failure to define an effective strategic position , Obama earns an "F". For their failure to effectively engage the enemy in their assigned areas of operation, our allies earn an "F".

Iran:

Obama has offered a open hand of friendship to the Iranian administration. His efforts have garnered repeated slaps in the face from the Iranians. In dealing with Iran's clear efforts to develop nuclear weapons, Obama is hampered by European weakness and the outright antipathy of both Russia and China. As a result of the positions taken by the latter two countries, it will be impossible to implement effective sanctions. Absent either covert mechanisms to destroy or disrupt the Iranian effort or a massive bombing campaign to destroy nuclear facilities, for the first time nuclear weapons will be in the hands of religious radicals with a 7th century mindset. For his failure to engage the issue effectively and vigorously from the beginning of his administration, Obama earns the grade of "F".


Israel-Palestine:

"Naive". It is the word that best fits the Obama approach to this area of the middle east. Obama has failed to appreciate several realities. Israel is under real and significant threats from entities sworn to her destruction-from the North in the form of Iran back Hezbollah; from the East, with a corrupt and lawless Palestinian Authority and Iran; and from the South, from Hamas controlled Gaza. At this point, Obama might have learned that the Palestinians believe that they can gain everything that they want by continuing to say "no" to any overture from Israel. The initial American position of trying to be an honest broker can not achieve any tangible improvements when one of the parties on the other side believes that it can accomplish more by refusing to negotiate. It is the tactic of the souk. And it can be very effective for them. For its part, Israel fails to play its strongest had, by making life for the Palestinians on the West bank easier, richer and more successful at a faster rate than it has been moving in this direction. There are intractable issues. Israel will never give up Jerusalem and failure of Western powers to understand that the holiest location for Israel-the Western Wall- lies in what would otherwise be Arab Jerusalem. Another non-starter is the idea of making Jerusalem an " international city". Nowhere has this idea worked. Nor will Israel allow the Palestinian refugee families to return whence they came.

Overall, I an tempted to give the Obama administration an "F" , but with the hope that a great degree of learning has taken place this year, I'll raise the grade to "D".

Russia:

After hearing the yapping from Russia, Obama decided to scrap a defensive nuclear missile program that would have placed radars in the Czech Republic and Anti-missile weapons in Poland. In return for undermining our allies, who took undertook a great degree of risk in allowing these facilities to be placed in their respective countries, the Obama administration received nothing in return from Russia. Since these defensive weapons were designed to deter an Iranian threat, one might reasonably expect that the Obama administration would tie the removal o the weapons with Russian support for strong measure to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon. However, the Obama administration failed in achieving that simple goal. It can be fairly said that the administration surrendered a bargaining chip without securing anything in return. Grade "F".

Rating Obama- Part 2- Economics/ Domestic

In late 2008, the United States economy, and by extension , the world economy, was at the brink of the abyss. The risky business practices of banks and brokerages had caused a collapse in the credit markets and bank failures were at their highest rates since the Great Depression. Home mortgages were unpaid at near record rates. Foreclosures and bankruptcies exploded. The famous Lehman Brothers brokerage house failed. AIG Insurance failed. Fear flooded Wall Street as the media broadcast news of an imminent Great Depression II and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost almost half its value from its high point. In the last days of the Bush administration, the Republican President was forced to step in and inject money into the banks and brokerage houses to keep the nation solvent. The Great Bailout of 2008 had begun.

When Barack Obama took office, national economic failure was still an option. He quickly put together an economic stimulus package designed to get money flowing into the economy in the form of public works projects. Obama's supporters on the left felt that the almost one trillion dollar stimulus package was too little to do the job of turning the economy around. His opponents on the right felt that the stimulus would burden future generations with crippling debt. The future may prove that both sides were correct.

Along with the failures of the economic markets, the nation's automobile manufacturers were also near collapse. Decades of poor business practices and their collective failure to bring to market the products that the public wanted, and which needs were satisfied by Japanese and European manufacturers, all resulted in a downward spiral of sales and earnings. General Motors, the nation's largest car maker had run out of cash. Chrysler had nothing left in its tank. Ford was still solvent, but its products had not been selling either. These factors,combined with the lack of credit from the 2008 meltdown, meant that cars weren't moving off lots, manufacturing ceased, and the American car industry, along with its plethora of independent suppliers, was about to die, and if they did millions would be unemployed.

Against a background of Republican charges of Socialism, the Obama administration forced bankruptcy on General Motors and a subsequent sale of Chrysler to Italy's FIAT Corporation. In return for these measures, as well as product restructuring plans and union contract givebacks, the administration pumped needed cash into both companies to keep them solvent. Ford alone eschewed government intervention as the corporate leaders felt that they had enough cash on hand to weather the storm.

Today, the economy pulled back from the brink. Economists as talking about "green shoots of recovery". Following a period of severe layoffs, companies are stating to talk about hiring. A small glimmer of hope is on the horizon.

So how does one grade President Obama's performance? Within a short time after taking office, he had to have his team in place and form appropriate responses to the banking failures, the freezing of credit markets, job losses, and the potential failure of the entire automobile industry. Mr. Obama never set up false hopes of rapid recovery. He spoke calmly and honestly about the problems. Despite taking fire from both the left and the right, the President steered a course that was admirable in both its effectiveness and in its restraint, trying to do what had to be done, neither too little money nor too much government intervention.

In the category of "Economics/Domestic" President Obama earns a grade of "A".