Voting 'Present' on Afghanistan

President Obama’s speech Tuesday night has been widely dismissed and panned in a rare display of bipartisanship.  Democrats (or Liberals, if you prefer) are not happy because he promised to send more troops and deepen the war effort.  Republicans (or as they’re sometimes known, Conservatives) are not happy because he didn’t send enough troops, set a deadline for withdrawal, and didn’t seem truly committed to The Cause.

 

Our President, who we remember from a year ago being swept into office amidst universal acclimation, love, hope, and nearly God-like adoration, managed to tick off just about everyone in the country in one speech.  Truth be told, by initial reports, a lot of folks around the world may not be too pleased either.

 

So, how did Mr. Obama, after nearly three full months of careful, ponderous debate… considering every possible option… have managed to blow it?   What’s particularly surprising is that he did it in a way that should have surprised… no one.  Mr. Obama has previously shown a predilection for avoiding conflict, decisiveness, and wading bravely in front of a movement.  As much as the previous White House occupant was mocked for his self-declaration, there was truly little doubt that he was a ‘decider’.  Mr. Obama, on the other hand, in his Illinois legislature days showed a favored choice of not voting more liberal or conservative, but just… Present.  The Safe alternative.

 

I have little doubt that the previous three months consisted of the President desperately wishing for this particular choice to pass him by.  He’d have given Michele’s right arm if he thought it might have helped matters.  Anything but make THIS decision.  Essentially, it came down to:  Should he aggressively advance the war, giving General McChrystal everything he asked for and needed to win, OR should he follow what he’d suggested for Iraq and begin the return home of our troops?

 

It was a decision fraught with consequences.  With his popularity, and political cache declining, his marketability and power in Washington is steeply dissipating.  This is currently evidenced by a Health Care bill which, once promised to be done by August, may be lucky to be completed before Christmas, and even then, it won’t be pretty.  He would risk annoying a major constituency in some way no matter what he chose.  Here he was, the most powerful man in America, able to fire CEOs, win Nobel Peace Prizes based on 12 days of work experience, and he’d been reduced to damned-if-he-did-and-damned-if-he-didn’t.

 

It’s ironical isn’t it that the President, who as a candidate had mocked his opponent as not being ready for the crisis 3 am phone call, was now wilting in the face of just such a decision?  Even more so when that former opponent, now his Secretary of State, was speaking far more decisively and clearly about the decision ahead.

 

So, what did Mr. Obama do (besides hope for a sudden change in the situation)?  He did what he often does, try to please everyone.  He didn’t vote Yay for war or Nay – bring them home.  He voted Present.  Do both, yet neither.

 

And pleased no one.  Not one person.  There’s something to be said for being decisive, after all.

Song That Touched Me...

I've had this on my iTunes for a bit... and it's just really touched me. So, I thought I'd share with you here...

For All Mankind

Forty years ago, mankind as represented by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

And nothing has been the same.

Human history is traditionally divided into BC and AD (or BCE/CE), yet it could just as legitimately be divided into BA/AA - Before Apollo and After Apollo. Before Apollo, we were a culture that had never journeyed beyond our home. And After Apollo, we were a mankind that could look up at the moon at night and know that there were twelve sets of footprints up there.

This is the main thrust of history as it's taught to us. Yet, as time passes, does this truth continue?

The story of Apollo contains not only one of mankind's greatest triumphs, landing and walking on the Moon, but also an enormous and growing tragedy - our failure to return. And this failure can be traced to the time immediately following the historical first steps and the beginning seeds of the television generation.

Apollo 11 was covered by the three networks at the time with constant and unceasing coverage. All moon, all the time. And even though Armstrong's first steps were taking place at a late time in the evening, Americans (and easily the whole world) were glued to their tv. Every possible moment was watched and absorbed like a sponge that could not be filled.

Until, it was over. President Kennedy's goal had been achieved, and the country's attention span turned. Not unsurprisingly, there was a letdown... a feeling of "been there, done that". And while Apollo 13 restored some drama, it was due to not going to the Moon.

In fact, by Apollo 13, the budget cuts had already begun, Apollo 20 had already been canceled, and Apollo 18 and 19 would soon be axed as well.

Americans were losing interest, and with that loss, NASA lost funding.

NASA refocused on the Space Shuttle and Americans turned their attention elsewhere. And with two notable exceptions, NASA has further cemented spaceflight as "routine". Their success at effectively turning the shuttle into something like an airline (all sorts of 'regular' people got to fly) became a downfall as the lustre of Apollo became a distant memory.

Now, the Shuttle is facing imminent retirement after nearly three decades of service. In orbit, there's a Space Station which is finally nearing completion, nearly twenty-five years after being first proposed. And while built with a large amount of American effort and American funding, soon there will be no American spacecraft to reach it.

America is working towards a new space system, called Constellation. Yet, it too is in doubt. Will NASA and the nation commit to its continued funding? Will we decide to stay in Low Earth Orbit, where our Shuttles have endlessly circled for thirty years? Will we embark to return to the Moon? Or will we commit to strike out for eventual journeys to Mars?

The answer to these questions will say as much about our budget priorities as it will say about us - as a nation and as a people.

"We came out of the cave, and we looked over the hill, and we saw fire. And we crossed the ocean, and we pioneered the West, and we took to the sky. The history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration, and this is what's next... We're meant to be explorers." - Aaron Sorkin, 2000

President Kennedy also famously summed it up in his speech at Rice University. A year after setting America on course for the Moon, when the country's sum total of space travel experience was fifteen minutes and not even the first orbit of the Earth, he reminded us why we must embark on this journey. These words are as true now as they were then (start around :

"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." - President Kennedy, 1962

Too often these days, we shy away from risk. Whenever things are hard and difficult, we often retreat to that which is more comfortable and sheltered. But reward is not without risk, and risk is out there. We need to explore. We need to embrace the risk... and conquer it. Nothing easy makes us stronger, as facing challenges does. And even failing makes us better.

Space travel, like aviation and many things before it, has its lessons written in the blood of those who've gone before. Fear of shedding the blood should not prevent us from writing the next chapter.

Let us end the tragedy of Project Apollo and restore the legacy of human exploration. It's time to leave home, again. The benefits are not for us alone, but for those around the world, and for those who come after us... in short, for all Mankind.

A Special Moment

Been wallowing a bit, feeling... lost. Adrift.

Anywho, I was detemined to really try to pull together for the holiday, and as part of the effort, we were going to have a family time... Is it the family that was? No, but it is the family that is.

Picked the kids up, and as a surprise, headed off to the local minor league baseball team statium for a baseball game! It was my first pro-game, and T's, too. M's third... which was good, cause this way she at least understood what was going on. While she may not yet grasp the infield fly rule, but then, who does... she does understand the basics of the game. T, on the other hand, was happy with learning that some guys were just trying to hit the ball, catch the ball, and run around the bases.

We had a great time... between ballpark feasting and the music, and their favorites, the mascots... it was fun.


And then (mercifully for some), the game ended.

And it was time to celebrate what M calls "A Special Day". First, the announcer had the music guy play the service songs. For those who don't know, this is a neat tradition. The Army, and I presume all the other branches, have a rule that when your song plays, you stand. And for those who aren't up on all the latest rules, the announcer will usually ask those present to stand whenever their affiliated service song plays.

So, the music starts, and the first song is... (instrumentally) "First to fight..."

HOOAH!

I stand. Cheering. Go Army! Looking down, I have two beaming smiles there. As a later conversation in the car made clear, these two children are all too aware of a) what Daddy does, and that b) it means being apart and c) sacrifices are involved. Yet, they are proud of their Daddy and what Soldiers do. 6 and 4, folks... 6 and 4.

The other services go through... and it's time for fireworks.

There were, predictably, the little babies who are terrified by fireworks, but not these two, they LOVED it. And while the fireworks flew, and we hugged, and oohed, and ahhed... I reflected on past 4ths.

I remember my first 4th with M... sneaking down from AIT to watch fireworks in Duck Ditch with E and her... she loved it then...

A year later, we were apart. I in Deutschland, and they waiting to come over in the States. However, the good news was that the 4th in that year was but a few weeks shy of a wonderful wedding. And the 4th at an overseas base is a unique experience.

The next year, the 4th was also spent apart. This time, I was again at an overseas base, but this time, it was in more hostile territory (hint, see name of blog). E was in Deutschland, and the family was larger. And it was still neat.

Following that came a together Fourth, the last... in Deutschland, too.

I'm kinda hazy on the next one. I really can't recall exactly what we did. I think the kids were with their grandfather, but... as that year totally sucked, much of it has been blocked.

We had a decent Fourth, well, sort of, after that... the fireworks were cool, but there was much tension around... not exactly a happy one.

And now, there was this experience. A restart. Independence from... the past? Hoping for a better future? I don't know, don't want to get too deep. However, sitting there... at a baseball game (of all places), I felt something that had been missing for a few Fourths.

Family.

They're getting so big, and starting to be their own individuals. And while they can be frustrating as kids are wont to do (and adults), I treasure them. They keep me going. And to hold them, and have them hug and lean into me, and ooh and ahh, cheering, as we sang (some knowing the words, others making up sounds as they go along) to the patriotic music, perhaps the best feeling was this:

Progress.

Not a huge step, but the biggest steps are often the smallest.

Happy Fourth, everyone!

Idle Interstatial Musings

• You know it's hot when the air from the hand-dryer at the rest area is cooler than the outside air.
• The hybrids like the Prius are supposed to be super fuel efficient - thus their popularity when gas was $4/gallon. How fuel efficient are the lil' buggers when their tiny engines are trying to maintain 80-85 MPH?
• Miss driving in Germany where the left lane is lawfully kept clear... And to the recently licensed adolescent ladies (0ne of whom was dangling her freshly painted toesies outside the window) sure showed me by driving slowly in the left lane. When you finally cleared to the right, and then defiantly moved back to the left and tailgated me, I knew who was boss. Especially judging by the look on your faces when you got super close and I tapped my brakes.
• The state has nice beautification projects along the interstate. However, it loses a lil' something when there are signs announcing them coming up. Smacks of "Look at what WE did!" Beauty stands on its own... it doesn't need signs telling you to look at it.
• There's a certain... joy and freedom that comes from interstate driving. The only way to improve it would be to add wings to the car. Glad folks are working on that!

Watch This Space...

Coming soon... the blog relaunch/restart...

Something We've Lost...

There’s quite a movement going on through the country these days.  You’ve probably heard of the Tea Parties.  More generally speaking, people gather and bemoan how the country has “lost its way” or “her soul”.

And perhaps we have.



I know something we’ve lost, and it may seem oh so trivial… but, I, for one, think it’s fundamental.

With digital, cable, and satellite TV, it’s become more and more rare for a television station to actually sign-off (to go off the air).  I was lucky enough to grow up during that time, and I can remember staying up to see TV stations go off the air.  I was drawn to it…  the music, the scenery, and yes, even the plane.  Such an inspiring way to end the day.

And, it helped form a cornerstone of citizenship in this country.  No, watching a tv channel go off the air isn’t the secret to American Patriotism, but it was a piece of the foundation.  TV stations used various videos for their signoffs, but generally it featured the Star Spangled Banner or other patriotic recitations.  (For more blast from a bygone era, some videos even mention prayer!)

Here are some of my more favorite ones:




This is one from a local station I grew up on:
 
This one taught the evolution of our flag… and our country:




Even Armed Forces TV used to sign off… Here’s a particularly nice one:
    (Since it was shown in Japan, they also featured the Japanese National Anthem.)


(This one is just some airplane porn… not patriotic at all… but, it’s from the 1960′s, and kinda cool.) 



We’re not the only country that did this.  Even the Russians had something similar.  I’ve always been a fan of their National Anthem, and look at how this video similarly inspires pride in their nation.




Alas, stations don’t go off the air anymore.  Each channel is proud that it’s 24/7, always there for you.  Even if they’re only showing the latest infomercial gizmo, there they are.  We never stop anymore… never rest… and are no longer reminded of who we are and our history – even when it’s just the TV turning off.
Something we’ve lost…