Stop Militarization of America's Police Departments NOW!

The federal government can stop this increased militarization at its source. The Pentagon must end its transfer of military-grade weapons through the 1033 program. And the Department of Homeland Security should stop handing out the terrorism grants. The ease with which police departments can avail themselves of Homeland Security funding for enormous caches of weapons and ammunition in the name of counterterrorism is deeply disconcerting.  NY Times Oped

This week I have been watching events unfold in Ferguson, MO, and am angry as can be at the militarization of our police forces by the Department of Defense surplus equipment handout to local police agencies called 1033 and the Department of Homeland Security grants for anti-terrorism that gives money for guns, ammo, and the like.  This happened on Monday when one guy walking down a sidewalk with his hands up is confronted by this many people in riot gear.  Question is would they have done to this to a white guy?  My guess is no but this picture says it all about how some of our police forces are now out of control:

Frankly I am beyond furious at a Republican Congress and President Clinton who passed/signed this 1033 monstrosity into law.  Made Defense contractors who manufacture weapons even richer and has now fleeced the American taxpayer.  No wonder there is a deficit when DoD buys equipment for big bucks and sells it to local police for pennies on the dollar or the fact that Homeland Security has a program that was set up to provide grants to local police and it is still on-going for terrorism from the Bush years following 9/11.  Had no idea it was still ongoing.  Picture is getting clearer of how these local police are better armed and have better protective gear then some of the military we send into battle.

Are these mostly white, seemingly uneducated cops a front for the KKK, militia, white supremacy or just plain racist and ignorant playing soldier?  They seem to miss the part during school that the Constitution guarantees Freedom of the Press, Speech, and Right to Assemble.

When cops arrest reporters they have gone way too far acting more like jack booted thugs then local police.  Then to find out the Federal Government because of stupid legislation is providing/funding these militarized local police organizations sent me over the top -- took a day to wind down and not be too angry to write a blog post like I was earlier this week at what this Country has become when you look at pictures of St Louis County PD and cannot tell the difference from police in Egypt going after demonstrators and Ferguson, MO.

Something needs to happen and a good start is canceling 1033 and the bill that gave Homeland Security the money to fund local police.  How much ammunition do you need? This is Ferguson, MO, not a 3rd world country but it sure looks line one.

People from Gaza were twittering how you handle tear gas to the people of Ferguson.

There were no molotov cocktails hurled at police - erroneous report -- people standing on their own property had tear gas launched at them along with reporters from Al Jazerra America.  Some suffered wounds from the rubber bullets that were fired by police on peaceful protestors holding up their hands. This is beyond horrendous and looks to be waking up a Nation that has been asleep far too long.   Demonstrations around the Country standing in solidarity with Ferguson protestors last night and the pictures coming from Ferguson of a peaceful march led by Captain Ron Johnson and the MO Highway Patrol after they were put in charge after a call from President Obama to Governor Nixon yesterday morning.

This oped which appeared in the editorial section of the New York Times in today's print edition of the paper is one of the best about 1033 and Homeland Security programs I have read on the situation:

Get the Military Off of Main StreetFerguson Shows the Risks of Militarized Policing
By ELIZABETH R. BEAVERS and MICHAEL SHANK AUG. 14, 2014 

WASHINGTON — FERGUSON, Mo., has become a virtual war zone. In the wake of the shooting of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, outsize armored vehicles have lined streets and tear gas has filled the air. Officers dressed in camouflage uniforms from Ferguson’s 53-person police force have pointed M-16s at the very citizens they are sworn to protect and serve. 

The police response has shocked America. The escalating tension in this town of 21,200 people between a largely white police department and a majority African-American community is a central part of the crisis, but the militarization of the police is a dimension of the story that has national implications. 

Ferguson’s police force got equipped this way thanks to the Pentagon, and it’s happening all over the country. The Department of Defense provides military-grade weapons and equipment to local law enforcement agencies through the 1033 program, enacted by Congress in 1997 to expand the practice of dispensing extra military gear. Due to the defense industry’s bloated contracts, there is a huge surplus. To date, the Pentagon has donated military equipment worth more than $4 billion to local law enforcement agencies. And the giving goes on, to police forces in all 50 states in the union. 

Ferguson’s police department is just one recipient; small towns all over America are now the proud owners of “MRAP” armored vehicles. The largess has gotten so out of hand that a congressman, Hank C. Johnson, is introducing a bill to block the 1033 handouts.
Whereas the Department of Defense hands over weapons directly, the Department of Homeland Security provides funding for arms. It has distributed more than $34 billion through “terrorism grants,” enabling local police departments to acquire such absurd items as a surveillance drone and an Army tank. 

... 

In the absence of extreme violence or actual terrorist threat, what happens — as the American Civil Liberties Union has documented — is that the equipment and weapons are used by SWAT teams in routine situations, such as low-level drug raids or the execution of search warrants. As Ferguson shows, this militarizing of routine police work exacerbates tensions and increases the likelihood of disorder. This, in turn, appears to justify a militarized police response, and so the cycle continues.
... 

Please Click Here to Read the complete oped editorial.

Today the Chief of Police of Ferguson released still photos of a robbery and 16 pages basically defending the killer cop for killing a young man holding up his hands surrendering without ever informing Captain Johnson who is in charge in Ferguson of what he was releasing.  You want to know what is wrong in Ferguson, look no further then the Mayor and especially the Chief of Police who was allegedly trained in Israel about riot tactics and went on Fox News Hannity while the St Louis County police were hurling tear gas at demonstrators holding up their hands.  Says all you need to know about the Chief of Police who needs fired IMHO!

This militarization of police departments throughout America needs to end and end now.  American people need to get out to vote in massive numbers to turn racist out of office this November.  Make this truly a country of We the People not We the White Males we are seeing/hearing from today from the Republicans in Congress to local office holders led around by the nose by the Koch Bros Tea Party.  Time to end racism once and for all in this Country and if the hard right doesn't like it -- shove it!

This graphic says it all after a 97 year old minority woman who has voted for years was denied the right to vote because she couldn't provide an ID.  We must stand united against the racism that is leading the passing of ALEC anti-minority voter registration laws throughout the Red States.  Turn Red State Governors Blue this November and end this injustice.

Thank You President Obama!

BREAKING NEWS

Sunday, May 25, 2014 12:30 PM EDT 

Obama Makes Surprise Visit to U.S. Troops in Afghanistan 

President Obama made a surprise trip to Afghanistan on Sunday to visit American troops there, landing at Bagram Airfield outside the capital, Kabul, for the first time since a visit in 2012 when he signed a strategic partnership agreement with the government there to bring the war to an end.

The trip was unannounced, and Mr. Obama slipped out of the White House secretly on Saturday evening in advance of what White House officials said would be a Memorial Day rally with the troops.
Officials said the president is also expected to get an on-site briefing from his military commanders and visit wounded service members.

Officials said that Mr. Obama will rally with some of the 32,000 service members who are currently in Afghanistan, many of whom are due to return home at year’s end when the 13-year war is officially brought to an end.

Brad Paisley, a country music singer, traveled on Air Force One with Mr. Obama to Afghanistan and will perform at the rally on Monday. The president is expected to use the appearance there to offer thanks to the members of the military, but is not expected to make any major policy announcements.

Instead, Mr. Obama is expected to wait until he returns to the United States to offer his latest foreign policy and national security vision, during a speech that he is scheduled to give at the West Point graduation on Wednesday.

Russian Aircraft Buzzes USS Cook in Black Sea 12 Times

"The Donald Cook is more than capable of defending itself against two Su-24s," Colonel Warren

That statement is probably the understatement of the year.  Does President Putin think this saber rattling is going to influence the US into giving in?  If he does, then he must be watching Fox News and listening to the Republicans in Congress who keep dissing President Obama over Ukraine and siding with the Russians time and time again which makes no sense.   What do the Koch Bros have to gain with the GOP siding in many cases with the Russians?  Becoming more obvious by the day that the Koch Bros are pulling the puppet strings of the GOP who are doing their bidding.

Then you have former AR Governor Mike Huckabee talking about North Korea is more free then US which is mind boggling.  Offered today to set up a PAC to help him move, willing to help pack him up, and even throw in some boxes from previous moves.  The man is a lunatic.  From the Daily Mail United Kingdom:

Fox News personality and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee stunned a New Hampshire crowd on Saturday by likening the federal government's treatment of airport passengers to the totalitarian regime of Kim Jong-un. 

'My gosh, I'm beginning to think that there's more freedom in North Korea sometimes than there is in the United States,' he told a partisan crowd at the inaugural New Hampshire Freedom Summit. 

'When I go to the airport, I have to get into the surrender position, people put hands all over me, and I have to provide photo ID in a couple of different forms to prove that I'm not going to terrorize the airplane,' he deadpanned. 

In a speech filled with jokes, Huckabee seemed deadly serious.

Would  Huckabee rather have no security and let terrorists fly on our planes.  Guess he figures N. Korea has no security for their flights.  Is the man even sane to make the comparison?  Yet he is running for the Presidential nomination as a Republican.

When I received this email from American Forces News Service which covers the Pentagon, I wasn't really shocked.  Been waiting for something like this to happen.  Does Putin know how stupid Russia looks buzzing a guided missile destroyer of the US.  Bet the Russians are the butt of some jokes on the destroyer.  Has Putin totally lost it because it is hard to see what Russia can gain from this:

Russian Aircraft Flies Near U.S. Navy Ship in Black Sea

04/14/2014 01:03 PM CDT
By Jim Garamone 

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2014 - A Russian attack aircraft repeatedly flew near the USS Donald Cook in international waters in the Black Sea on April 12, a Pentagon spokesman said today.

USS 

Donald Cook is the first of four Arleigh Burke-class

 guided-missile destroyers to be stationed in Rota.

The USS Cook was patrolling in the western Black Sea when an unarmed Russian Su-24 Fencer attack aircraft repeatedly flew near the Navy ship, Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters.

"The aircraft did not respond to multiple queries and warnings from Donald Cook, and the event ended without incident after approximately 90 minutes," Warren said. "This provocative and unprofessional Russian action is inconsistent with international protocols and previous agreements on the professional interaction between our militaries."

Two Russian aircraft were present, but only one took part in the provocative actions, Warren said. The aircraft flew from near sea level to a couple of thousand feet, he added, but never overflew the U.S. Arleigh Burke-class destroyer." 

The Russian plane made a total of 12 passes," he said. 

The wingman stayed at a considerably higher altitude, Warren said. 

Officials later said the aircraft approached within about 1,000 yards of the ship. The USS Cook was never in danger, Warren said. 

"The Donald Cook is more than capable of defending itself against two Su-24s," the colonel said. 

Warren said he does not think this is an example of a young pilot joyriding. "I would have difficulty believing that two Russian pilots, on their own, would chose to take such an action," he said. "We've seen the Russians conduct themselves unprofessionally and in violation of international norms in Ukraine for several months, and these continued acts of provocation and unprofessionalism do nothing to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine, which we called on the Russians to do." 

The Cook arrived in the Black Sea on April 10. The ship is now making a port call in Constanta, Romania.

We have all this going on and our illustrious Congress is not in town -- time for another vacation when they just came back from a week off.  Yet Rep Moran (D-VA) thinks they are underpaid in comparison to CEO's. Think they are overpaid for time worked.   

Monday, Apr 28, 2014 2:00 p.m.: Convene and begin a period of morning business.
5:30 p.m.: Proceed to executive session to consider nominations.

Previous Meeting Friday, Apr 11, 2014 The Senate convened at 4:00 p.m. and adjourned at 4:14 p.m. No record votes were taken.

We have the Russians who invaded Crimea in the Ukraine, hold a phony referendum, take back Crimea, and Republicans are either siding with the Russians or calling the President weak in his policy. Here are some headlines:

GOP skewers Obama’s ‘weak’ response in Ukraine 

"feckless" Foreign Policy for Ukraine Crises by none other then Sen McCain who still has a lot to answer for over the years but now he is the expert.  Seems he has never gotten over his loss in 2008 to President Obama.

Ukraine Crisis:  Republicans say Weak Obama Policy Caused Russians to Invade (CBS)

The GOP Just Screwed Ukraine Out of Billions to Hurt Obama (Michael Tomasky) (excerpts)

Agreeing to IMF reforms would have helped him. So now Republicans’ mission to weaken the president is spilling over into foreign policy, too.You know those people who carry on all the time about how the United States looks weak to the world, and how we have to do everything we possibly can to help poor Ukraine stand up to the evil Vladimir Putin? Well, guess what they just did? They just made the United States look weak to the world—and they actually just reduced (yes, reduced) the amount of global aid that can flow to Ukraine to help it stand up to the evil Vladimir Putin.

And so it happens that the people who caterwaul about America being weak in the world become the very people who make it weaker. What does the world think as it watches this? Maybe some think merely that Obama is weak. But I’d wager most don’t. I’d wager most Europeans and others reach the right and reasonable conclusion: That American partisan dysfunction, driven far more by Republicans than by Democrats, now weakens not just our ability to carry out domestic politics but our foreign-policy aims as well. 

The more the Republicans ran to the microphones and Sunday shows, you realized that they had the same narrative -- some went as far as to defend what Putin had done and side with Russia which they had been doing since last fall.

Therefore, when Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote an op-ed for the New York Times, many on the right rallied around the former KGB agent and asked that Obama follow Putin’s lead. In his column, Putin asked that the United States respect the United Nations and follow the advice of the Security Council (which Russia is a part of) and practice caution on any action related to Syria. Putin also stated that peaceful dialogue and diplomacy should be utilized first and foremost and that military action should only occur with a consensus of other nations. 

At that time, you had members of the right-wing in this country go ga-ga over Putin. Pundits like Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, Erick Erickson and Sean Hannity were praising the Russian President for his stance. Other Republicans like Pat Buchanan and Ralph Peters claimed that Putin was providing the type of leadership that the US apparently lacked at that moment. Basically, if you tuned into Fox News or talk radio during that time, you got a whole lot of Putin hero-worshiping.

What we have is a Republican Party who would rather weaken President Obama then do the right thing not only domestically but in our foreign policy but yet want re-elected.  Time to tell the Republican candidates for the most part to take it and shove.  Let them find out what the unemployment line is like except they probably will become lobbyist and make more money.   What the Republican Party has done by selling out this Country to wealthy donors like the Kochs and Adelson should be  crime especially now that it has gone over into foreign policy.

Never could figure out the love affair that some conservatives had with Putin except he is white and Obama is black.  These people supported a former? KGB agent like he was a hero which shocked me at the time.  Frankly it still does and Huckabee is carrying on tradition bragging about North Korea and yet some of these people want to be President -- give me a break.

JUST NO TO Republicans running for Congress!

President Obama gave a Masterful State of the Union Speech with a Lot of Slam Dunks!

Last night while sitting here at the computer, I am reflecting on what brought me to support President Obama in 2012 after years as a Republican activist and supporter at all levels from Presidential campaigns to county campaigns and non-partisan Mayor's races.

As I listened to the President,  I was reminded that I first started supporting him because he truly cares about all the American people not just members of his party.  He is a huge believer in education and so am I. The cuts to education by Republicans are a sin in my book.  Have yet to figure out how cutting arts and humanities which take up such small parts of the budget are a target of the GOP members of Congress and State Legislatures.  Makes no sense to me.  To deprive any child of a first rate education is flat out wrong and should get the people who vote in the cuts fired from office.

Charter schools have become vogue in GOP circles with most being run by big donors and follow no standards.   Evangelical Christian schools here where parents send their kids sometimes because they can make better grades and not worry about flunking are providing an inferior education and one where everyone is taught to think alike.  Teachers do not have to be certified and in once instance north of us some of the teachers have no degrees but who cares as they are members of the same family.

Then there are the home schoolers -- we have some in our neighborhood and many of us are wondering when they do their lessons as they are always outside during the school year.  Their parents are not qualified to be teachers but that doesn't make any difference because they can teach creationism and the earth is 7,500 year old theories instead of real science courses.

Cheered the President when he said that we need schools that teach our children the various trades and skills to get jobs.  He is so right that we have to spend more money on vocational training and the two year college programs because many kids are not 4-year college material and need to know that they can get good paying jobs by developing the skills they need.   Manufacturers are looking for skilled employees and are willing to bring back jobs from overseas which has been a nightmare in some instances if they are guaranteed a skilled workforce.  We need to give manufacturers that skilled workforce and get the jobs back in this Country with better quality control.

You would never watch or hear this speech from today's Republicans who are so much into limited government that it hurts people in disasters but then the GOP in Congress doesn't believe the Federal Government should be helping during disasters.  Today's GOP has the least empathy I have ever seen out of politicians and probably the rudest.  Speaker Boehner looked like he was sucking on a lemon last night as did Cantor and Rubio.  The Majority Leader of the House turned his back on the President last night.  Cantor has the class of a gnat.  On second thought a gnat probably has more class.

It took four GOP to answer the President's State of the Union and all were failures.  Rep Cathy McMorris Rogers was a joke saying Republicans support women on healthcare when that morning the GOP House passed another anti-abortion/contraceptive bill.  Reading her speech left me cold.  All four were billed as answers to the President's State of the Union and obviously they didn't know what he was going to say because none of the four were on the same page and didn't answer what he was talking about.  More of the GOP following a narrative with little facts.

Thought the President was masterful last night as he zapped Republicans in a nice way but left no doubt what he was doing.  I compared him a basketball player getting slam dunks.  It was so funny to watch Vice President Joe Biden enjoying himself and Boehner looking like he was sucking on that lemon. Even on parts of the speech like bringing our troops home from Afghanistan or no more long term commitments of our troops overseas fighting with no end game, the GOP just sat there.  Their lack of reaction to making sure our veterans get everything they deserve was met with the same blank stares -- lot of lemons being sucked on the GOP side last night.

Many of the President's ideas were about a better America and how we get there by working together but with Republicans who will give this President no credit for anything, that is a steep mountain to climb.  The American people could see what he is up against last night and the GOP loses.  They lose on having four responses with none of them making much sense.  They lose on no new ideas by regurgitating their old smaller government for economics but big government for social issues.  That flies in the face of most Americans.

Last night at the end of the speech I said it has been a long journey going from Republican to Democrat but I am at home with the Democrats and have quit being in dust-ups since leaving the hard right GOP behind. I am on the same side of people who believe education is important, our water and air should be clean, renewable energy sources should be explored, our veterans should be a priority as well as a decent wage for everyone.  I believe that infrastructure needs fixed across America which will bring good paying jobs.  Anyone who has traveled I-40 from the east going west knows when they cross into Oklahoma with the accordion road.  Parts of it have been fixed but it needs a total redo.  Bridges are in bad shape across the Country although Oklahoma is near the top for bad bridges and roads.

As an American, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother I feel that we owe our children and their children the same opportunities we have had over the years.  For every rough spot, there has always been the belief that better days were ahead and sure enough they always came.  Want our children and grandchildren to have that same belief and be able to make their dreams come true in the years ahead. We do that by working together not having a major political party be a bunch of obstructionists and defeatists.  We are to the point in DC that either GOP is with the President in getting the job done for all Americans or get the he** out of the way.  No more can the American people allow the GOP to hold our Country hostage for their flawed agenda.  Time to jump on board to help elect people who will get the Country moving forward not back in time.

Together, let's make this the biggest Get Out the Vote effort ever in 2014 to give the President a Congress who has his back instead of stabbing him in the back.

The Legacy of Martin Luther King

This Message from Rep Joe Dorman reminds all of us of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Joe Dorman is running for Oklahoma Governor to be the Governor of all Oklahomans:

Sharon -  Today, we take time to pause, remember and to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His dedication and service changed all our lives for the better. We owe a great debt to his work, and the work of other great civil rights pioneers, many of whom are Oklahomans.  I hope you’ll join me to reflect on the progress our society has made and the promises we have yet to fulfill. In honoring Dr. King's life and legacy, may we remember what connects us instead of what divides us. His example, his life, his actions all demonstrate the power of love and kindness to change the world and the necessity to stand up for what is right and inclusive versus tearing down through division and hatred. Dr. King’s inspiring legacy demands that we continually work to make our state and nation a place where freedom and equality are a reality for individuals of every race, creed, ethnicity and gender.  The message of Dr. King is just as important today as it was during his life.  Sincerely, Joe “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. . . every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”  - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rep Dorman is correct that the message of Dr. King is just as important today as it was when he was alive.  Over 50 years ago, Dr. King gave his 'I Have a Dream' speech. This excerpt is what I remember the most from his speech when I have listened to it over the years:

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. 

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." 

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. 

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. 

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today. 

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. 

I have a dream today. 

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. 

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." 

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! 

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! 

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California! 

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! 

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! 

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. 

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Where would we have been today if the life of MLK was not cut short?  Sometimes the hateful words that come out of the hard right toward minorities make it seem as though we are going back in time not forward.  Will never understand men and women I used to think were reasonable who have become so hateful and nasty because a black man was elected President.  It says more about them then it will ever say about President Obama.  The Conservative Republicans who attack our President relentlessly are small minded people who are not open to change.  They want the status quo before minorities or women could vote in their non-reality world.  The leadership of the hard right is devoid of empathy for their fellow human beings as the 'my way or no way' crowd has taken over.  

It is up to all of us to ensure that the legacy of Dr. King is never forgotten and strive every day in our own communities to make this a better place for all Americans.

When I read this today it hit home the foresight Dr. King displayed and how important it is that we not only honor him but we take his words to heart:

Martin Luther King's Leadership Lessons
Posted: 01/20/2014 4:49 am 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a leader who, like Mahatma Gandhi before him, and Nelson Mandela after him, showed us the way from weakness and division to strength in unity. 

He challenged and inspired us to reach deeper within ourselves, despite ourselves, for our best, which sometimes is, simply, better than yesterday. His power endures because it's rooted in the courage to hold hope and faith in each others potential: "knowing" we can do it... we can be better every day, each in our own way. 

On this, the U.S. holiday celebrating his life and legacy, I present you with ten of his extraordinary thoughts on leadership:

• "A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus."

• "I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good."

• "All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality."

• "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"

• "The time is always right to do the right thing."

• "We must use time creatively."

• "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

• "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically."

• "Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness."

• "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy"

Was so impressed with the President's speech on the 50th Anniversary of the MLK 'I Have a Dream' Speech on August 28, 2013, that I thought it was worth reliving on this MLK Day:

Heard on the news that over 10,000 people lined the parade route today in Tulsa:

Tulsa's MLK parade draws thousands downtown 

Clear skies and shirt-sleeve temperatures drew thousands of people to downtown Tulsa’s Martin Luther King Day Parade. 

With nearly 200 entries from as far away as Missouri and Kansas, the annual parade has become a truly regional event and one of the largest MLK celebration in this part of the county, said parade chairman Fred Jones.

“We like to look good in Tulsa,” he said. “And I guess we do because we’re getting attention from all over the place.” 

Highlights included the University of Oklahoma’s Sooner Schooner followed by the 2014 Sugar Bowl trophy.

As we go forward into the 2014 election cycle, we need to elect office holders who will work for all the people not a select few.  The person who donates $5 needs to be considered the same as the person who donates thousands because it is a lot harder for some to donate that $5 then it is for wealthy donors to give thousands.  

We need to make sure that our water and are air are clean for our children and grandchildren and they have an opportunity to be anything they want to be by joining forces to fulfill the dreams of Dr. King.

God Bless this Great County and its people!

President Obama has finally had it with Republicans Wanting Debt Ceiling Held Hostage to Defund Obamacare

A lot of Republicans seem to believe that if they can gum up the works and make this law fail, they’ll somehow be sticking it to me.  But they’d just be sticking it to you.  (President Obama)

This is the most disgusting part of the Republicans attack on the Affordable Healthcare Act (AHA). Some Republican members of Congress are lying to their constituents which is flat out wrong but then integrity and GOP can no longer should be used in the same sentence.  Those same constituents they are lying to are being hurt in States like Oklahoma where they refused the exchanges and millions of dollars.  Many of the constituents believe what they are told by Republicans and refuse to question anything as they have become convinced Republicans won't lie even when it is put right in front of their faces.  Is the dumbing down of the Republican Party in full operation mode by the Koch Bros?

Great to see President Obama finally go after the Republican attacks on the Affordable Healthcare Act after the GOP run House voted for the 40th time to overturn Obamacare knowing full well that it was another vote that meant nothing except to their base.  Some Freshman were clamoring they needed a vote to end Obamacare before the 5-week recess so they could go back to their district and tell voters they voted against it.  Wasting our tax dollars to show they voted on something that is DOA tells you how the GOP base of today processes what they are told.  It seems today's GOP base will swallow anything the Republicans tell them if it is anti-Obama.  Really stupid if they swallow the GOP can overturn Obamacare with a House vote.  From President's Obama's Weekly Address:

Many Members of Congress, in both parties, are working hard to inform their constituents about these benefits, protections, and affordable plans.  But there’s also a group of Republicans in Congress working hard to confuse people, and making empty promises that they’ll either shut down the health care law, or, if they don’t get their way, they’ll shut down the government.  (my bold)

Think about that.  They’re actually having a debate between hurting Americans who will no longer be denied affordable care just because they’ve been sick – and harming the economy and millions of Americans in the process.  And many Republicans are more concerned with how badly this debate will hurt them politically than they are with how badly it’ll hurt the country. 

A lot of Republicans seem to believe that if they can gum up the works and make this law fail, they’ll somehow be sticking it to me.  But they’d just be sticking it to you.  

Some even say that if you call their office with questions about the law, they’ll refuse to help.  Call me old-fashioned – but that’s lousy constituent service.  And it’s not what you deserve. 

Your health insurance isn’t something to play politics with.  Our economy isn’t something to play politics with.  This isn’t a game.  This is about the economic security of millions of families. 

See, in the states where governors and legislatures and insurers are working together to implement this law properly – states like California, New York, Colorado and Maryland – competition and consumer choice are actually making insurance affordable.  

Today's bought and paid for Republicans continue to play games with the American people as they attack AHA, jobs, economy, healthcare, social security, medicare, SNAP Program, women's rights, minority rights and the list goes on as they do what they are told by their wealthy donors like the Koch Bros.  People like Boehner and Cantor could care less about you and me and how we are faring during their obstructionism and sequestration.  They get paid regardless and never had to take a day off every other week to save money as Federal Employees had to do in the Executive Branch as Congress controls the purse strings of the Government.

Instead the GOP House is taking 239 days off in 2013 and holding a few Town Halls during a 5-week recess because they are so tired after barely working.  Just imagine how tired the House will be after working a whole 126 days this year.  How many members of Congress are making trips overseas to interfere in foreign policy on our nickle?

Despicable bunch of Republicans in the House that their main aim is to defund Affordable Healthcare Act.  It is already saving people money in states that are not headed by a bunch of hard headed Koch/ALEC puppets who refused to implement the exchanges and thus cost their states millions and millions of dollars.

President Obama has finally had it with the "Repeal Obamacare Republican Members of the Congress" threatening to hold the debt ceiling hostage until they get their way:

WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama said we are on the way to fully implementing the Affordable Care Act and helping millions of Americans. Unfortunately, a group of Republicans in Congress are working to confuse people and are even suggesting they will shut down the government if they cannot shut down the health care law. Health insurance isn’t something to play politics with, and the President will keep working to make sure the law works as it’s supposed to, and he encourages everyone to visit HealthCare.gov to find out more about the law and how to sign up.

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Weekly AddressThe White HouseAugust 17, 2013 

Hi, everybody.  Over the past few weeks, I’ve been visiting with Americans across the country to talk about what we need to do to secure a better bargain for the middle class.
We need to rebuild an economy that rewards hard work and responsibility; an economy built firmly on the cornerstones of middle-class life.  Good jobs.  A good education.  A home of your own.  A secure retirement.  And quality, affordable health care that’s there when you need it. 

Right now, we’re well on our way to fully implementing the Affordable Care Act.  And in the next few months, we’ll reach a couple milestones with real meaning for millions of Americans. 

If you’re one of the 85% of Americans who already have insurance, you’ve already got new benefits and protections under this law that you didn’t before.  Free checkups, mammograms, and contraceptive care.  Discounted prescription medicine on Medicare.  

The fact you can stay on your parents’ plan until you turn 26.  And much, much more.  And it’s okay if you’re not a fan of the Affordable Care Act – you can take advantage of these things anyway. 

If you don’t have insurance, beginning on October 1st, private plans will actually compete for your business.  You can comparison shop in an online marketplace, just like you would for cell phone plans or plane tickets.  You may be eligible for new tax credits to help you afford the plan that’s right for you.  And if you’re in the up to half of all Americans who’ve been sick or have a preexisting condition, this law means that beginning January 1st, insurance companies have to cover you – and they can’t use your medical history to charge you more than anybody else.  

You can find out more about the law, and how to sign up to buy your own coverage right now at HealthCare.gov.  Tell your friends and neighbors without insurance about it, too.  And tell your kids that there’s a new, easy way to buy affordable plans specifically tailored to young people. 

Excerpt:  See WhiteHouse.gov for full transcript of speech

Heritage Foundation's head, Jim DeMint, plans to host Town Halls across the Country to defund AHA which goes against the non profit tax status of Heritage but that hasn't stopped any Republicans from moving ahead with their agenda as rules/laws don't apply to them in today's world.  Talking point papers for Republican members of Congress to use were prepared by Heritage and Groundswell plus the Koch brothers are investing millions into ads with misinformation and lies about AHA as they try to keep it from being implemented but it is an abject failure. Groundswell was outed several weeks ago:

Mother Jones’ David Corn details a behind-the-scenes conservative messaging push: “Believing they are losing the messaging war with progressives, a group of prominent conservatives in Washington—including the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and journalists from Breitbart News and the Washington Examiner—has been meeting privately since early this year to concoct talking points, coordinate messaging, and hatch plans for "a 30 front war seeking to fundamentally transform the nation," according to documents obtained by Mother Jones. 

Dubbed Groundswell, this coalition convenes weekly in the offices of Judicial Watch, the conservative legal watchdog group. During these hush-hush sessions and through a Google group, the members of Groundswell—including aides to congressional Republicans—cook up battle plans for their ongoing fights against the Obama administration, congressional Democrats, progressive outfits, and the Republican establishment and "clueless" GOP congressional leaders. They devise strategies for killing immigration reform, hyping the Benghazi controversy, and countering the impression that the GOP exploits racism. And the Groundswell gang is mounting a behind-the-scenes organized effort to eradicate the outsize influence of GOP über-strategist/pundit Karl Rove within Republican and conservative ranks.”

At least we know why so many appointees of Obama were being held up -- Republicans hoped to bring the Obama Administration to a grinding halt which didn't happen.  Thank you Senator McCain for stepping forward to get some of these people who had been appointed confirmed.

Now a group of Senators want to hold the Country hostage on the debt ceiling in exchange for ending Obamacare which is not going to happen.  Voters need to think twice about a group that would hold the Credit Rating of the United States hostage to get their way.  They all need voted out of office when they are up for reelection because they just broke their oath.  Senator Rubio doesn't listen to his own state but to former Senator DeMint from Heritage:

(Jul 30) WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) – Senator Marco Rubio’s plan to shut down the government if Congress doesn’t defund the Affordable Care Act is going up in smoke in the nation’s capital. 

Senator Rubio, along with Senators Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, signed on to a letter that said no government funding should be passed, including raising the debt limit, unless the ACA, also known as Obamacare, was defunded completely. 

Rubio has written editorials for conservative media outlets touting his plan, but it appears a growing number of Senators are not ready to shut down the government. The plan has opened a schism between the more conservative tea party members and establishment Republicans.

Rubio hardened his stance in an interview at The Blaze:

(Aug 5)  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is taking a hard stance in the fight to defund President Barack Obama’s landmark health care law. In fact, he says he is willing to fight to the bitter end to derail “Obamacare,” regardless of the consequences. 

“There has to be some issue at which we say, ‘look, this is the issue where we draw the line’,” Rubio said on Mark Levin’s radio show Monday. “I mean, we understand about all the other things but there’s an issue where you’ve got to draw a line in the sand and say, this is it. I mean, on this issue we’re willing to fight no matter what the consequences, politically or otherwise.” 

“If that issue is not Obamacare, I can’t understand what issue it would be,” he added. “And that’s the point I tried to make. Of all the issues out there, if there was one issue that, I think, we should be willing to go to the limit on, this is it.” 

Looks like Rubio is putting his plan to run for President over what is good for the people of this Country by trying to hold the debt ceiling hostage to defund Obamacare.  He is not listening to the people of South Florida today.  What about all those senior citizens who are going to be benefit with the AHA on prescriptions, etc.  Rubio is making sure that he will not be reelected as Senator if my phone call this morning was any indication.  Long time Republicans in Florida are as mad as long time Republicans across the Country at these bunch of jerks from the Tea Party in the Senate and House who do as they are told like little puppets.  Koch's control Heritage and DeMint along with the Tea Party who control many of the GOP in Congress.

Sad situation for America and only one solution - vote the GOP out of all leadership and then we can move the Country forward.  

Senate and House Republicans Refuse to Face the Fact they Lost in 2012 as Their Obstruction Continues

Group of small minded Congressional Republicans today who since they didn't win in 2014 they want to take the ball that belongs to their opponents and go home.

As I was going through my email this morning, I found the link to this article from Politicususa by RMuse, Making It Up As They Go Along, Republicans Use Fantasies To Block Obama Nominees which I have excerpted.  All of a sudden it is beginning to make sense.  In the Senate the GOP is using the power of the new style filibuster to make it difficult on President Obama to put his team together.  Maybe if he had a full cabinet and heads of agencies like ATF, the GOP wouldn't be able to be so obstructive as the Obama Administration would have more voices to speak to the American people.

The very idea that Republican Senators don't think President Obama has the right to pick members of his Cabinet and Administration goes against everything we have been taught over the years that the Senate will only hold up really bad nominations like Harriet Miers, the Bush nominee for SCOTUS, which both parties tabled.  The attacks on Obama nominees are so far over the top that I have a hard time believing that Republicans in good conscience can even bring up the lies to keep someone from getting confirmed when they know it is false like "Friends of Hamas" which Cruz (R-TX) and Inhofe (R-OK) used as part of their attacks on Secretary of Defense Hagel.  Group of small minded Congressional Republicans today who since they didn't win in 2014 they want to take the ball that belongs to their opponents and go home.

Find these tactics out of Republicans in Congress reprehensible and is not why they were elected by voters to go to the Congress.  This group of Republicans continue to put wealthy donors and party over what it good for the Country and all Americans not just a privileged few.  The longer this is going on, the more Republicans I know who are saying we are supporting Democrats in 2014 and 2016 because this Country cannot take another Republican President until it gets back on its feet completely if ever.

Throughout the President’s tenure, Republicans have raised false concerns about every nominee and judicial appointment to the point that instead of listing the nominees and appointees they have obstructed, it is easier to cite those they did not obstruct; John Kerry. Kerry was easily confirmed without objection because Republican chose him to be Secretary of State, and as long as this President allows Republicans to run the government and choose who serves in high-level positions, the confirmation process moves quickly through the Senate. 

Typically and historically, the duly-elected President gets to choose his own cabinet members, department heads, and federal judges, but this is the 21^st century, and either Senate Republicans decide who serves in government from their minority position, or they will block, place holds, and obstruct nominees and appointees regardless the Constitution or results of two elections. 

Over the course of the past two-and-a-half months, Republicans have used Benghazi, drones, and now a levee and lone African American with a beret to hold up the President’s nominees to serve as Secretary of Defense, CIA director, Labor Secretary, and head of the EPA for no other reason than obstructing the President and the government. It is no small coincidence that every single high-profile position in the President’s administration has been blocked, held, obstructed, or warrants a special investigation by Republicans in the Senate, and it is not because they are radical extremists or pose an existential threat to America, but because Republicans have to block the President to prevent the government from operating and serving the people. 

It is time to cite the real problem, and reason, Washington is dysfunctional and government is ineffective, and it is not poor personnel choices by the President, it is Republicans refusal to accept the results of two elections coupled with their belief that they control the African American in the Oval Office and run the government, and if he fails to comply, they will block and obstruct. The problem is not isolated to Senate Republicans either, because House Republicans refuse to allow a vote on any matter that does not eliminate anti-poverty programs, slash domestic spending, kill jobs, or raise much-needed revenue to run the government, but they will push entitlements for the rich and impose religious edicts on women and gays with ferocity and single-minded determination. 

Republicans have distinguished themselves as the most ineffectual Congress in a century, if not in America’s history, through their obstructionism and inability to govern, or serve the people who elected them. They have, though, managed to say no, block, and attempted to prevent anyone from governing effectively, and used their deviance to find absurd reasons to keep government from working. As incompetent and worthless as congressional Republicans have been over the past four years, at least they are efficacious at something, but saying no, blocking progress, and obstruction for obstruction’s sake is not why they were sent to Washington. The media, Democrats, and especially President Obama need to tell the American people why government is not working, but only if Republicans give them permission to speak without citing deficit reduction and entitlement reform.

Seems Congressional Republicans are okay with spending money like a drunken sailor when they have a Republican President but when it is a Democrat especially a black Democrat, they have a real problem and refuse to face reality or to listen to most of their constituents preferring to listen only to the hard right.  This has created a bubble like I have never witnessed where these obstructionist Republicans feel perfectly free to go against the wishes of the majority of Americans on issues like gun control, sequestration, budget, job bills especially for veterans, or aid for farmers still hurting from the drought which were left to flounder in the House until they went in the trash can when the new Congress took over.

Problem in the Senate is that Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV) seems too weak to handle being Majority Leader cutting deals with GOP Minority Leader McConnell which is like trying to feed an alligator with your bare hand - going to get bit off every time.  It takes outrage from voters across America to give Senator Reid a backbone on gun control measures like the Assault Weapons Ban which will be brought up for a vote in a few weeks after originally saying he doesn't have the votes.  Need to keep the pressure on to make sure Senator Reid keeps his backbone and cuts NO more deals with Republicans.

From Rolling Stone

After watching voters punish the GOP in the 2012 elections, Republican elites have been talking a brave game about reforms that would make the party less repulsive to Latinos, women and gay-friendly millennials. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the GOP's hip-hop-quoting young standard-bearer, is pressing conservatives to back an amnesty for undocumented immigrants. Dozens of party stalwarts, headlined by former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, renounced their opposition to gay marriage in a Supreme Court brief. GOP bigwigs have even launched New Republican – a group modeled after Bill Clinton's centrist Democratic Leadership Council – which seeks to rebrand the party as "colorblind," "not anti-government" and dedicated to "ending corporate welfare." 

How the GOP Became the Party of the Rich 

Don't be fooled. On the ground, a very different reality is unfolding: In the Republican-led Congress, GOP-dominated statehouses and even before the nation's highest court, the reactionary impulses of the Republican Party appear unbowed. Across the nation, the GOP's severely conservative agenda – which seeks to impose job-killing austerity, to roll back voting and reproductive rights, to deprive the working poor of health care, and to destroy agencies that protect the environment from industry and consumers from predatory banks – is moving forward under full steam. 

The hardcore rump of the party is even working to punish moderate outliers like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – the party's most popular leader – who was denied a speaking role at the conservative movement's annual convention, CPAC. Today's GOP may desperately need to remake itself as "culturally modern, environmentally responsible and economically inclusive," argues David Frum, a veteran of the George W. Bush White House, but it remains, he says, in the throes of a "Tea Party tantrum." 

As it works to lock in as many retrograde policies as possible before it finally chooses to either modernize or die, the Republican Party is like a wounded beast: Rarely has it been more dangerous.

Finally dawned on me why it became easy to support President Obama after being on the other side - he reminds me of President Eisenhower and the way he governed.  Ike didn't believe in the huge defense/industrial complex and warned the Country that it could be a huge problem in the future which has turned out to be 100% right.  He believed everyone had the same rights to an education when he integrated schools in Arkansas.  Ike was my Dad's hero and turned into mine - read every book I could find on Ike and then used for book reports to the stage by English teacher asked if I could ready other types of books.  Turns out that Ike is turning out to be the last Republican President who truly understood what was best for all Americans.

Progressive ideas of today are similar to Republican Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln

Ike is also why my premise that Republicans want to return to the 50's is wrong as today's hard right Republican Party doesn't like President Eisenhower - too much of a progressive.  Received my "I like IKE" bumper strip in the mail which is sitting on my desk -- thinking of putting it on my car to irritate the hard right in my state.  Will take warmer weather but about 95% sure, it is going to end up on my car.

In the Tea Party narrative, president Obama is a reckless socialist spending America into oblivion. In reality, the president has governed like an old-school Republican. Despite having taken heroic measures to rescue the economy in 2009, Obama has presided over the slowest expansion of federal spending since Eisenhower – and repeatedly offered to help Republicans slash the social safety net as part of a "grand bargain" that would restore the nation to fiscal balance. 

Thanks to a rebounding tax base and the nearly $1 trillion in budget cuts that both parties agreed to in the first phase of the debt-ceiling deal, the deficit, entering 2013, was shrinking at a faster clip than at any time since the peace dividend after WWII. Federal outlays on both guns and butter were on a path to hit postwar lows as a percentage of gross domestic product by the end of Obama's second term.

Anyone who believes what the RNC Chair Priebus and other Republicans are peddling about an outreach need to understand this is for media consumption only as they have no intention of changing their policies or making the GOP inclusive as long as the hard right and donors like Koch Brothers run the Party.  As soon as Priebus came out with his $10M plan to better get out their message, I laughed.  It is their message that is out of touch and delivering that message to more voters will help the Democrats.

Democrats would be in better shape if they had better party organizations in Red States where they are not all that competitive even though they outnumber Republicans.  State Democrat Parties need an infusion of a backbone like the one Reid needs.  It is almost like they ask Republicans if it is okay to do something in the states and don't seem to be able to strike back very well.

The new Organizing for Action (OfA) that grew out of the Obama campaign's Organizing for America is a whole different story and believe they are the future of Democrat wins even in the Red States.  They are organized, have people from all walks of life, welcome all Americans to help, and have one of the best GOTV operations I have ever seen.  On Twitter a new group which supports OfA, Unite Blue, is doing the same thing with bringing people together to support Democrat candidates in 2014 and 2016.

Time to join the efforts of Americans across the Country who want obstructionists ousted from the Congress as they are not listening to "We the People" but a small group of wealthy donors and supporters from the hard right.  Time to move American forward not backward like members of the Republican Party want to do to women in particular with their wanting to return to the back alley abortions after restricting birth control.  Neanderthals had more brains then this group of anti-women hating men of today's Republican Party.

The future looks bright for America if we can defeat the Obstructionists in the House in 2014 and keep the Senate but it is going to take hard work to oust some of those House Members who are in gerrymandered 'safe' House seats.  Those so-called safe seats do not take into consideration how mad a lot of Republicans are at today's GOP.  We will be helping Democrat candidates oust the obstructionist in 2014 and see where it goes from there.  Don't think it is going to change as the hard right shift of the GOP doesn't look to be ending.  For many of us who used to vote and support Republican candidates, putting the Country first while turning our backs on Republicans has been an easier process then we could have ever imagined.  That tells me the GOP I knew no longer exists with the hard right shift.

Progressive ideas of today are similar to Republican Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.  Just call me a progressive today following the lead of those three great Republican Presidents.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel Meeting with Veterans Groups Today

Secretary of Defense Hagel gives Veterans a voice in his tenure at the Department of Defense

This is one reason that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel garnered so much support among not only active duty but retirees veterans in his nomination fight with Senate Republicans.  We knew that a priority with the Secretary of Defense would be a reach out to veterans groups on how they can receive the help they need in the future.  The House GOP killed the veterans job bill last year which the military community will never forget. Saw this email in my inbox this morning from ForeignPolicy.com which brought a smile to my face as it is a promise kept from the Secretary of Defense that he will never forget our veterans.

Already received a few emails asking if I saw that Hagel was meeting with Veterans Groups so word is spreading that Veteran's voices will be heard at the Department of Defense under the new Secretary of Defense:

Hagel meets with more than 20 veterans groups today 

MARCH 21, 2013By Gordon Lubold   

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will meet with representatives from about 20 veterans and military groups for a roundtable discussion on a host of issues, from the fiscal 2014 budget to transition assistance to veterans employment to the mental health of the force.  

Who's attending today's meeting? A who's who of veterans and military groups, Situation Report is told: representatives from the Air Force Association, the American Legion, AMVETS, the Armed Services YMCA, the Association of the United States Army, Blue Star Families, Disabled American Veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Marine Corps League, the Military Child Education Coalition, the Military Officers Association of America, the National Military Family Association, the Navy League, Operation Homefront, the Reserve Officers Association, the Student Veterans of America, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), the USO, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, the Vietnam Veterans of America, Wounded Warrior Project, Fisher House Foundation, Inc., and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (Hiring Heroes Program). 

Then, tonight, Hagel boards a military jet for Tampa, where he will "RON" (remain overnight). On Friday morning, he'll have a "working breakfast" with Adm. Bill McRaven, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. Then he'll preside over the change of command at U.S. Central Command, the combatant command that could be known as the tinderbox command since it's responsible for some of the countries that pose the biggest threats to international security: Iran, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and more than a dozen others. Gen. Lloyd Austin is taking over for Gen. Jim Mattis, otherwise known as "Chaos," who is retiring. 

Staffers on a plane - Acting Chief of Staff Marcel Lettre, Senior Military Assistant Lt. Gen. Tom Waldhauser, and chief speechwriter Jacob Freedman. 

Reporters on a plane  - None.  

Is the Distinguished Warfare Medal the "New Coke" of medals? 

Hagel's meeting today with the veterans groups is about budgets and other issues, but the one topic that will generate the most lively discussion will be the Distinguished Warfare Medal. The medal, announced as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta walked out the door, recognizes the contributions of drone pilots -- to many, the unsung heroes of modern day warfare. But it has caused an uproar on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and from groups across Washington. Critics decry less the creation of the medal than its "precedence" -- where it sits in the hierarchy of medals for the hierarchy-heavy military. The new medal will be above the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, and just below the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Many in the ground service believe its placement denigrates medals recognizing acts of merit, heroism, or valor in a combat zone since it would be typically awarded to a drone pilot who maneuvers planes remotely.
It's likely the award would only be given under rare circumstances -- and for highly classified operations. That may have contributed to the thinking in the Pentagon that its creation wouldn't have caused so many problems.

Still, although the award underwent what one Pentagon official referred to as a "serious process" and the service chiefs all apparently signed off on it, there is now widespread recognition that the vetting process should have been better. "There's a sense that all of the right  bases weren't touched and that the degree of opposition was underestimated," the official told Situation Report.

Although it wasn't his doing, Hagel confronted the controversy soon after entering office and, perhaps seeking credibility with the uniforms, directed that a study look at the award and its precedence. But the review does not necessarily mean there will be big changes. "It's not leaning in any direction," the official said.

Some officials suggest the award could be downgraded to below the Bronze Star but, possibly, still above the Purple Heart. Or, the Bronze Star and the Bronze Star with the "V" device for valor could be split into two -- an unprecedented move for awards -- giving the new Distinguished Warfare Medal precedence over the Bronze Star, but not over the Bronze Star with "V," in a move that would still put valor above joysticks. Even some of the award's most ardent supporters think changing the precedence of the medal in some form would probably be acceptable. But Dave Deptula, the retired three-star who oversaw the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance program, says the fight over the medal represents legacy thinking.

"We need to be able to award brains as well as brawn," he told Situation Report this week. "And doing so takes nothing away from those who risked their lives in combat. The fact of the matter is that we have moved from an era of industrial age warfare to an information age where the battle space is not defined by lines on the ground and can occur in every domain." 

Read More from the Situation Report about North Korea at Foreign Policy.com

Looking forward to four years of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel at DoD who is the first enlisted man to hold this prestigious position which is fitting for a man who has worked hard to get where he is today from the days of an Infantryman in Vietnam.  Looking forward to his first trip back to Capitol Hill as Secretary of Defense to face the nastiest bunch of Republican Senators I have witnessed in a hearing.  Wonder if Sen Cruz of TX will bring up 'Friends of Hamas' again?  Sorry, couldn't resist.  Still cannot believe those hearings of Hagel's filled with half-truths and outright lies against the former Senator from NE.


Have to admit that the funniest part of the article comes from his visit to Tampa later today:

Reporters on a plane  - None. 

That made me laugh as it is so fitting that no DC press is accompanying the Secretary of Defense on his trip to CENTCOM.  Bet President Obama would love to leave some of the White House Press Corps behind when he travels like NBC's Chuck Todd who made a fool of himself once again this time in Israel when he asked questions not one question:

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both jabbed at NBC's Chuck Todd for asking multiple questions at a press conference in Israel on Wednesday

Time for a restart on the White House Press Corps - out with a lot of the old like Chuck Todd - in with new, younger reporters who seem better fitted for the task.  Maybe some younger reporters have actually filled out the NCAA Basketball Tournament Brackets like the President.  Todd is just one of many jerks in the White Press Corps.  Don't see how the Press Secretary Carney handles all the dumb questions thrown at him in his Press Conferences from the White House and on the Presidential trips.  

Bet President Obama didn't realize he was going to explode GOP heads when he filled out his Bracketology picks for the NCAA Tournament as Speaker Boehner used the moment to insert politics about the budget.  Then GOP heads are exploding all over on how well he gets along with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu who he calls Bibi which Republicans hate.  Whiners!  Then there is one of my most disliked WH Reporters Chuck Todd getting outed for being the jerk he is with his questions in Israel. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is meeting with Veterans Groups today and flying to CENTCOM in Tampa with "no press".  To top it all off, the NCAA Tournament is underway.  Good week so far when you ignore the Congress and RNC.

ESPN Reveals President Obama's Picks for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship

Woke up this morning to watch ESPN as President Obama's picks for the NCAA Basketball Tournament were revealed:

Barack-etology President Barack Obama makes his selections for the NCAA tournament 

From ESPN:

President Barack Obama is favoring the Big Ten in this year's NCAA tournament, ultimately selecting Indiana to win it all. The president predicted that Louisville, Indiana, Ohio State and Florida will reach the Final Four and that Louisville and Indiana would meet in the title game.

"I'm going with Louisville. I know it's not a surprise pick," he said on a tape shown on "SportsCenter" Wednesday. "And I'm going with Indiana These are the two best teams right now, and for the championship I'm going back to the Big Ten. I think this is Indiana's year." 

Obama filled out brackets for both the men's and women's tournaments Tuesday in an exclusive interview with ESPN. This is the fifth consecutive year Obama has filled out a men's bracket for ESPN. He correctly picked two Final Four teams -- Ohio State and Kentucky -- last season, but his national champion selection of North Carolina lost in the Elite Eight. This year, Obama picked Louisville, the tournament's top overall seed, to reach the Final Four out of the Midwest Region. Obama believes the Hoosiers will win the East Region as the only other No. 1 seed in the Final Four. Obama likes Ohio State for the second straight year, picking the second-seeded Buckeyes to win the West Region. He went with the third-seeded Gators in the South Region. 

The president has Baylor, Connecticut, Notre Dame and California in the Final Four of his women's bracket, which will be unveiled in its entirety Friday.

NCAA Basketball is taking over this week with play-in games last night and tonight - then the real NCAA Tournament kicks off on Thursday morning.  NIT, where teams go that miss the Final 68, started last night with last year's NCAA Tournament Champion, Kentucky, going down to defeat by Robert Morris.  They played the game at Robert Morris due to the fact that Kentucky is hosting some games in the NCAA.  Robert Morris fans stormed the court after the game as this has to be the biggest win in the history of their program.

This time of year people turn into basketball games that haven't watched many all year as this is the Road to the NCAA Championship for 68 teams, eight of them playing games to get into the Tournament.   There were two good games last night for two of the play-in spots won by North Carolina  A&T in a close game with Liberty while St Mary's beat Middle Tennessee.  There will be two more games tonight to complete the brackets.

Tomorrow the NCAA officially begins its 64 Team Tournament Challenge, brackets are being filled out across the Country and now we can see how well we did against the President's picks.  If anyone wonders why President Obama favors the Big 10, it is because he comes from the Big territory with Northwestern in Chicago and University of Illinois downstate.

Today if you are in Norman, you can send off our Men's Basketball team to the NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia from the Lloyd Noble Center around noon.  Since this is Spring Break for OU and Norman Public Schools, you will be seeing a lot of high school kids plus adults who are part of Krug's Crew at the event.  Early Friday morning there is a send-off for our Women's Basketball team to Dayton.  We are one of ten teams in the NCAA where our football program went to a Bowl Game and both of our basketball teams are in the NCAA.

We are used to the girl's being in the Tournament, but our Men's team was down for the last several years missing the tournament until Lon Krueger became the OU Basketball Coach who is in his second season.  Krueger now has OU in the NCAA Tournament which is a record setting fifth team he has taken to the tournament.  The Sooners led by All Big 12 Romero Osby will be playing the last game on Friday night against San Diego State.  Know what this Sooner and many more are going to be doing Friday night at 8:30 - watching our Sooners play San Diego State in Philly.  Might even go buy some Philly Cheesesteaks in honor of Philadelphia today although they are not as good here as the original.

The rest of the week is all about basketball.  The President is in Israel and can imagine, he will be checking his cellphone regularly for scores.  Love how this President is so down to earth with his cell phone, texting, on Twitter, loves playing basketball and just an all around American guy you could have a beer with who happens to be President.  Maybe that's what the media hates - he is down to earth not some pretentious Mitt Romney type.  He has totally earned my respect even if I do disagree with him that Indiana is going to win - I have Louisville against University of Miami in the Finals with Louisville winning.

Must admit that I am slightly prejudiced for University of Miami as the Cincinnati Reds star shortstop Hall of Famer Barry Larkin's son plays for The "U."  Our family ties go deep for the Reds having grown up in Ohio and my Dad being the biggest Red's fan of all.

Good Luck to the Sooners and hope they break my Final Four bracket!

Boomer Sooner!