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!

Russian President Putin Blinked -- Calls President Obama on Ukraine

According to Bloomberg, Russia was already starting to feel the effects of the sanctions.  During this week's G-7 Conference, leaders of the European Union discussed even tougher sanctions against Russia which seems to have sparked President Putin to reconsider his saber rattling at least for now. Did Putin believe the loudmouthed Republicans that President Obama was weak?   If he did, he found out they like talk to hear themselves talk and espouse a narrative since they have a problem with facts. Best to ignore what they have to say because most of the time recently it has added little to the conversation.  When President Obama does something the Republicans want they then decide it is not such a good idea and go the opposite direction.  The credibility of Republicans in Congress is rapidly going into a black hole. So happy that today the President seems to just laugh it off as you cannot please these Republicans.  Today he once again is showing he can get the job done without their support.  

The President is proving to the neocons that diplomacy does work which is something they cannot seem to understand as today another Bush Administration official, Former Secretary of State Condi Rice joined Former Sec of Defense Rumsfeld and Former VP Cheney talking about being tough and trying to rally Americans to support another war.  Takes a lot of nerve from the trio that got us into Iraq on false pretenses to say anything at all.  Arrogance of former Republican leaders from the Bush Administration knows no bounds as we are seeing on an almost a daily basis.  Extremely happy that President Obama doesn't seem to pay the saber rattlers much attention.  Smart man!

The White House readout on the call is telling (Note: Russian Pravda has still not reported the call):

Readout of the call by Russian President Putin to President Obama from the White House: 

President Putin called President Obama today to discuss the U.S. proposal for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in Ukraine, which Secretary Kerry had again presented to Foreign Minister Lavrov at the meeting at the Hague earlier this week, and which we developed following U.S. consultations with our Ukrainian and European partners. President Obama suggested that Russia put a concrete response in writing and the presidents agreed that Kerry and Lavrov would meet to discuss next steps. 

President Obama noted that the Ukrainian government continues to take a restrained and de-escalatory approach to the crisis and is moving ahead with constitutional reform and democratic elections, and urged Russia to support this process and avoid further provocations, including the buildup of forces on its border with Ukraine. 

President Obama underscored to President Putin that the United States continues to support a diplomatic path in close consultation with the Government of Ukraine and in support of the Ukrainian people with the aim of de-escalation of the crisis. President Obama made clear that this remains possible only if Russia pulls back its troops and does not take any steps to further violate Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. President Obama reiterated that the United States has strongly opposed the actions that Russia has already taken to violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The comments by Jason Easley, Politicususa, made my afternoon:

Bloomberg reported that the sanctions are pushing Russia’s economy towards a recession and that current sanctions will already hurt Russia’s economic growth for two quarters. Experts also suggest that the energy sector of the Russian economy could take a big hit if the sanctions are expanded. 

All of the Republicans who suggested that sanctions have been a pointless failure are wrong. The sanctions are doing what they are supposed to do. Putin is coming to the table, and he suggesting that he is ready to solve this crisis diplomatically. 

President Obama hasn’t needed troops or to threaten militarily. His administration has clearly targeted Putin and the oligarchs that control the Russian economy. Republicans have been like fanboys with their praise of Putin’s strength, but it turns out their new hero has been being brought to his knees by the intelligent and determined foreign policy of Barack Obama.

Imagine that -- sanctions are starting to work and there is zero need to even consider going to war. What do Republicans have to say now their hero, Putin, blinked?

The call from President Putin was made to President Obama while he was in Saudi Arabia today  on a formal visit with Saudi King Abdullah.   Wonder what made President Putin pick today while the President was meeting with Saudi leaders after yesterday when he met with Pope Francis?  Is Putin feeling world opinion turning against him?  Time will tell!

President Obama Bids Farewell to Pope Francis

Why do Some Republican Senators Act Like They are Entitled to Make all Decisions for the President?

“It seems to me that trying to speak with one voice — one American voice — seems to have become a quaint thing of the past. I regret that enormously.” Former SecDef Gates

The fault of that lays right on the doorstep of Republicans in Congress especially in the Senate led by Graham, McCain, and Inhofe who cannot seem to comprehend they don't run the Government.  Truly shocking and the Republicans in Congress seem to have forgot the history of how foreign policy used to be handled in this Country.  Shame on them!

What was so amazing to me about this article from David Ignatius was the fact I was talking to someone about this very topic over the weekend after all these broke and the usual suspects went running out to microphones.  Here was Scoop Jackson one of the leading hawks in 1980 recommending prudence.  We needed a lot of that out of LBJ on Vietnam and instead received a micro manager of our military forces on the ground costing many lives.  Poor example of a wartime President. Many bought into the GOP hype that Jimmy Carter was a weak President and that is why the Iranian hostage situation happened. Today the Republicans are using the same mantra on President Obama that he is a weak President which couldn't be farther from the truth.  It is like replaying the late 70's and 80's today in the GOP.

Shame Presidents Reagan, Clinton, and the granddaddy of them all Bush 43 didn't pay attention to what Senator Jackson was saying.  Might have have saved this country a lot of lives, military resources, and our budget if we didn't spend so much on military weapons which far exceeds what the next country spends.  What we are doing is not only upgrading but now those upgrades are keeping big defense companies rolling in dollars when they can pay their CEO 26M+ a year with bonuses.  DoD has turned into a money maker for their companies who depend on war.  How many cruise missiles did Clinton send basically into tents or factories?  They had to be replaced at a fairly high cost.  Made Boeing happy.  Where would we be if those Presidents mentioned above had listened to Jackson?

The year was 1980. The Iranian revolution had toppled the shah’s regime, the Soviet Union had just invaded Afghanistan and the United States’ president, Jimmy Carter, was widely perceived as a weak leader. Looking for a sharp-edged evaluation of the situation, I decided to interview Sen. Henry M. Jackson, a leading hawk. 

What Jackson (D-Wash.) said was surprising, even at a distance of nearly 35 years. Rather than demanding tougher statements or more saber-rattling, he said he worried about “overreaction” to events: “We appear to be going from one crisis to another,” with Washington dispensing “red-hot rhetoric at least once a week about the dire consequences of this or that or something else.” 

“We need to be prudent,” said Jackson, who was perhaps the most prominent Cold Warrior of his day. “There is a need for the U.S. to make careful decisions, stand by those decisions, and avoid sending false or conflicting signals” to U.S. allies or the Russians. David Ignatius (Wash Post)

I purposely left out Bush 41 because the first Iraq War was to free Kuwait who Saddam Hussein had invaded with his forces.  The United Nations was clear that Hussein had to leave Kuwait or he would be thrown back into Iraq.  Bush 41 and General Schwartzkopf and along with their staffs did a excellent job of planning and executing those plans of the coalition to remove Saddam from Kuwait. They planned for the future after he was removed from Kuwait.  In the aftermath, sanctions plus a no-fly zone were instituted against Iraq.  That also meant it was near impossible for Saddam to have the amount of WMD's/chemical weapons touted by the Bush/Cheney Administration when there were also mandatory inspections.

Looking back invading Iraq to remove Saddam had no relation to the Taliban or Al Qaeda in Afghanistan as Saddam did not allow Iraq to become a haven for them to operate out of Iraq.  Why did the US invade with trumped up evidence? M-O-N-E-Y for companies like Halliburton where Cheney came from before becoming the Vice President candidate when he couldn't find anyone else.  How convenient.  SecDef Rumsfeld was part and parcel to the invasion of Iraq and using phony evidence in a presentation to the United Nations.

This time the combination of Cheney/Rumsfeld didn't plan for the peace when Saddam was ousted which cost many more lives then the actual invasion of Iraq.  I do vehemently disagree though with some pundits who compare our going into Iraq with Putin going into Ukraine.  First of all there was a no-fly zone in Iraq along with sanctions that Saddam thumbed his nose at time and time again plus he was a brutal dictator so IMO even with trumped evidence it was no big loss to remove him and his sons from power.  What was a travesty was no plan in place for Iraq following his removal.  I also believe any action against Saddam should have been delayed until we had firmer footing in Afghanistan and more help from the locals.  We had no business fighting two wars at the same time.

In 2001, President made the famous comment that to this day I cringe:

We are talking about Putin who was KGB and frankly I along with others think that Bush 43 was suckered into believing Putin.  Putin may not have an honest bone in his body, he lies openly and when confronted Putin loses it as we saw earlier this week when asked a question.  From New Republic:

Slouching in a fance chair in front of a dozen reporters, Putin squirmed and rambled, and rambled and rambled.  He was a rainbow of emotion:  Serious! angy! bemused! flustered! confused!

Today Putin is on a charm offensive and we are expected to trust this man?  What else was Bush 43 led down the primrose path by Cheney and company?

Yet these same Republicans who supported Bush on Iraq 100% now go after President Obama as being weak?  Former Mayor Rudy Guiliani made a fool of himself on Fox News going after Obama like Rudy is some sort of military guru.  On Fox, Giuliani Praises Putin: He's "What You Call A Leader," In Contrast To Obama.  Found it sickening and disgusting coming out of the grandstander.

Seems the German Chancellor Merkel has a different take on Putin then Rudy when she talked to President Obama:

By Tony Paterson, Berlin1:42PM GMT 03 Mar 2014 

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel is reported to have become “really annoyed” about Russian President Vladimir Putin and has questioned whether he “was still in touch with reality.” 

The German mass circulation Bild newspaper wrote on Monday that during a telephone conversation she held with US President Barack Obama to discuss the growing crisis in Ukraine she complained that Mr Putin was “living in another world.” 

“She appears to have become really annoyed,” Bild remarked. The paper said it had gained inside information on the telephone exchange between the US and German leaders from American sources. 

The two leaders roundly criticised Mr Putin in their conversation and agreed that Russia’s military intervention in Crimea was in violation of international law. A German government spokesman said that both stressed that it was important for the international community to respond to the crisis in unison. 

Both were said to be in favour of sending an immediate fact finding mission to Ukraine and backed the idea of setting up of a contact group, possibly overseen by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with the aim of ending the crisis through political dialogue.   

Read More at The Telegraph

McCain and Inhofe I have to come to expect BUT and it is a big one I do not understand how Senator Lindsey Graham who is an Air Force Reserve Officer can attack his Commander in Chief as being a weak President and try to undermine him at every turn.  The US Taxpayers pay his salary in the reserves.

IMHO he should be subject to the UCMJ, Section 88, Contempt toward Officers, for his derogatory remarks over and over again against President Obama.  If he wants to speak out against the President who is his boss, then resign his commission today.  He is an affront to the men and women who serve honorably.  For a JAG officer to act like this is even more sickening.  He deserves no respect from anyone.  It is not about the man who is President but the fact he is the Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces which Graham does not seem to comprehend.   If that wasn't enough to make you think Graham has lost it, this should do it:

My son sent that to me -- what I said when I saw this I don't use on here.  How stupid can one man get because Graham is approaching the lowest levels of some pretty dumb Republican comments.  He cannot let Benghazi go no matter what which brings into question his teaching any classes in law while in the Reserves to fellow JAG officers.  He doesn't sound like a lawyer but someone who cannot stand anyone but a white guy as President and along with his buddies, McCain, Inhofe, now Rudy, and some others will never give President Obama any credit.  I cannot even fathom how they would treat a woman the way the GOP treats women today.

When I read in the Washington Post about what former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director Gates had to say, I couldn't agree more.  Maybe it is time that those GOP jokers decided to put aside their internal feelings to support the Country -- what a novel idea.  Excerpted comments from Ignatius interview with Secretary Gates:

I asked Gates what he thought about the criticism of Obama by McCain and Graham. “They’re egging him on” to take actions that may not be effective, Gates warned. He said he “discounted” their deeper argument that Obama had invited the Ukraine crisis by not taking a firmer stand on Syria or other foreign policy issues. Even if Obama had bombed Syria or kept troops in Iraq or otherwise shown a tougher face, “he still would have the same options in Ukraine. Putin would have the same high cards.” 

Gates, a Republican himself, urged the GOP senators to “tone down” their criticism and “try to be supportive of the president rather than natter at the president.” 

Gates can be an emotional person when he talks about national-security issues, as any reader of his recent memoir, “Duty,” can see. And he showed some of that emotion when he said, near the end of our conversation: “It seems to me that trying to speak with one voice — one American voice — seems to have become a quaint thing of the past. I regret that enormously.”

That sums up what I many of us are thinking that today's Republican Party has lost all sense of decorum and traditions of the past to become grandstanders who do not accept the outcome of elections. What we have witnessed out of Republicans in Congress since January 2009 is driving many of us to leave the Republican Party.  I won't remain in the same party with a bunch of arrogant jerks like Graham, McCain, Inhofe, Rubio, Rudy, and the list goes on and on in the Senate and House as well as Governors and members of state legislatures.

Want to do the Country a huge favor?  Oust the GOP in 2014 from leadership and get some common sense back in the Congress where work will actually get done!

 

What Happened to Foreign Policy Stops at the Water's Edge?

This is what I grew up with that foreign affairs stop at the water's edge:

Senator Arthur Vandenberg (1884-1951) of Michigan delivered a celebrated "speech heard round the world" in the Senate Chamber on January 10, 1945, announcing his conversion from isolationism to internationalism. In 1947, at the start of the Cold War, Vandenberg became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Asserting that we must stop “partisan politics at the water's edge," he cooperated with the Truman administration in forging bipartisan support for the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO. As recalled by Francis Wilcox, the first chief of staff  of the Foreign Relations Committee, Vandenberg's Senate career stands as a monument to bipartisanship in American foreign policy. Vandenberg died in 1951, but his legacy continues. (From US Senate)

This past weekend I witnessed in politics something I never thought I would see and which disturbs me with sitting US Senators from the Republican Party McCain, Graham, Inhofe calling President Obama weak on Ukraine when he wants diplomacy and the saber rattlers want more war.  Then there is the Junior Senator from Florida Rubio telling the President what to do.  Throw in former SecDef Rumsfeld and you have five men who are still angry President Obama was reelected and defeated Mitt Romney by fairly large numbers.

The words in this house are not fit to print on here but suffice to say that being mad was mild.  Never in my life have I been so angry at five men who forgot they don't don't run the Country and obviously don't give a moment's thought to the Oaths they took as US Senators.  This is all politics all the time and President Obama is always wrong.  If I had my way, I would throw the four out of the Senate for cause.  I am sure there are more but these five men and their comments stood out:

Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called President Obama weak and indecisive for not already having done something about Russia invading Ukraine 

Sen John McCain, R-Ariz., blamed President Obama's "feckless" foreign policy for inviting the crisis in Ukraine on Monday, telling a pro-Israel group that the president has repeatedly failed to demonstrate American strength in the face of adversaries. 

Sen Jim Inhofe "The arrogant actions of President Putin and Russia in recent days is a direct result of President Obama's disarming of America since the beginning of his Administration." said Inhofe, top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (may be most hated SecDef ever by troops) on Fox News:  Rumsfeld called America weak. He said, “The U.S. is behaving in a way that tells the world we’re in decline, that we’re in withdrawal. We’ve created a leadership vacuum in the world, and it is being filled by the Putins of the world, by people without our values or our interests.” 

Then there is the Junior Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, who knows all about the Ukraine and has "8 Steps Obama Must Take to Punish Russia" -- please forgive me while I laugh -- this guy couldn't even get straight when his parents came from Cuba or why. The very fact he lectured the President sent me through the roof.  Rubio is the Senator with no backbone because when things got tough with the Immigration Bill he took off for the hills.  The fact that McConnell was dumb enough to put Rubio on the Senate Intel Committee makes me cringe.  Republicans have a habit today of putting junior people on key committees.  Intel of all committees should be reserved for those who have been in the Senate for more then one term and are known not to leak or grandstand which leaves Rubio out as he is one of the biggest grand standers ever.  He also likes to run out to a microphone at every chance.

Some might ask why I am so irritated but my irritation goes way back when it comes to getting this Country into war.  If we are not there to win, then get out or if we don't have a vested interest in going to war like after our Country was attacked on 9/11 from terrorists harbored by Afhanistan, then use diplomacy not troops.  We had no business going into Iraq on trumped up evidence by Cheney, Rumsfeld and Company that made Halliburton (Cheney's Company) and other defense contractors piles of money.  These same Republican Senators voted against veterans just recently but now want to send our military into another clash?  What is the Republican mantra?  Send our troops to war but don't take care of them when they get home?  Beyond words I can use on here.

I lived through the Vietnam War working at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and witnessed kids I went to school with being killed in Vietnam.  I knew countless Air Force officers who were serving in Southeast Asia a lot of them in Thailand because so many Air Force missions came out of Korat AB Thailand or from the B-52's out of Andersen AFB, Guam.  When military from Wright-Patterson started getting spit on when they went to shop in Dayton, word went out if you were an officer not to wear your uniform after work in downtown Dayton.  We also had the bad luck of being close to Berkley of the East at Antioch College with their band of spoiled rich kids who didn't take baths demonstrating every Saturday outside the main gate which last time I was back at Wright-Patt a few were still there.   Don't know if the same guy with the long white hair is still demonstrating or not but he was there probably 6-7 years ago on a Saturday.

Antioch College closed their door the other year and must admit that this pro-education person thought it was awesome the lowlife college shut down.  Nothing but trouble -- trying to shut down our gates, jumping on the cars, spitting on the military, calling us all kinds of names and to this day I can remember protesters surrounding my car and pounding on my windows.  They were the trashiest/scariest looking people I ever saw with their faces pressed the window which frighted me.  It wasn't just military but civilians working at Wright-Patt they were attacking.  After that incident when they called for protests, the guy I sat in an office with picked me up.

I don't care if they were against Vietnam, my friends had died over there and had people close to me still in the area and here are a bunch of unwashed, dirty long hair people, trying to block cars from going in the gate and pounding on our windows.  It left a really bad taste in my mouth for protesters of any kind that is still there today.

We were told if we had a decal on our car not to drive through Yellow Springs on the way to the Upper Valley Mall in Springfield.  They were not non-violent people -- more like stoned on something and very seldom wandered to class.  On of my friends had a rock thrown at her car in Yellow Springs just driving through which broke a side window.  Very non-violent. (sarcasm)

Had my younger brother with me shopping at the mall and he goes "Look there is a hippy" and guy just glared at us -- out of the mouths of a young boy!  He also went with me to the dedication of the new AF Museum at Area B when President Nixon spoke in 1971.  Protesters were sticking daisy's in the guards gun barrel's and taunting them.  They were arrested, taken on buses, dumped out in the middle of nowhere and had to find their way home.  Worked in the Command Section so I had tickets and remember some snotty girl with long dirty hair making a comment as we walked in and I just looked at her and glared -- no way was I going to answer back.

Still love visiting the Air Force Museum and if we when go back in the Wright-Patt area that is a definite stop -- my three kids grew up visiting the AF Museum.  Seeing the history of aviation and all those planes with the new building additions and then taking in IMAX is well worth a trip.  Makes you so proud to have been part of this Air Force tradition in some small way.

When the War in Vietnam was escalated by President Johnson there wasn't this automatic trashing of Johnson by members of Congress like we saw this weekend by Republicans which I am still having trouble comprehending why they would want us in another war this time on Ukraine against Russia.   My only explanation is like Iraq -- money for defense contractors who are seeing their budgets shrink which is about time.  The Defense budget is so far out of control, I have to laugh at Inhofe and others complaining about cuts.  They want cuts to troops now not defense contractors who are their big donors.

How can these same men who pushed so hard to go into Iraq under false pretenses, which led to fighting two wars at once, want us to get into military action against Russia over the Ukraine?  Look at facts:  Putin is not Saddam - KGB versus dictator, we had a no-fly zone over Iraq after the 1st Gulf War, Russia has a military force of airpower, seapower, and ground while Iraq's military was decimated not to mention Iraq is a lot smaller.  If members of Congress would have stopped to think on Iraq, they would have figured out that Saddam was bluffing and he didn't have new weapons -- there was no way with the 'no fly zone' and weapons inspections he could have pulled that off.

This article from the Washington Post is so true today because politics in today's Republican Party who cannot get over Romney lost to the man in the White House, is still against anything President Obama does no matter what.  I swear if Obama said he was going to use our military to go after Russia instead of diplomacy, this group of hard right would be out there calling him a war monger and we need diplomacy.  Those names of Senators and former Sec Def mentioned above have lost all credibility and deserve not one ounce of respect -- Graham, McCain, Inhofe, Rumsfeld, and Rubio.  Know there are more but these five stood out to me.

Found this article on Foreign Policy stopping at the water's edge interesting from Washington Post.  He is right today that politics doesn't stop at the water's edge but I can remember in the years of President of OU then Senator Boren of OK as head of Intel and Senator Sam Nunn of GA as head of Defense making sure partisan foreign policy stopped at the water's edge back in the 80's and early 90's on the First Gulf War-- people like those two great men who worked across the aisle are few and far between today and almost non-existent in the Republican Party:  

Does polarization in domestic politics affect foreign policy as well? There is a long-standing belief that it should not. A classic statement of that view can be found in the widely cited words of a leading Republican senator in the early days of the Cold War. Speaking in 1947, Sen. Arthur Vandenberg (Mich.), the influential chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, provided key support to Democratic President Harry S. Truman and admonished his colleagues that “we must stop partisan politics at the water’s edge.”  And in practice, when it comes to military intervention, both the urgency of events and rally-round-the-flag effects are often conducive to wider support within Congress and among the general public. Thus Gallup has found that in 10 conflicts over the past two decades, initial public approval averaged 68 percent.   

Eventually, as the memory of recent conflicts recedes, and with new threats and challenges, public opinion will evolve yet again. At the same time, partisan loyalties and presidential politics will continue to manifest themselves. In short, politics does not stop at the water’s edge. 

(ROBERT J. LIEBER, 10 Feb 2014, Professor of government and international affairs at Georgetown University)

Thank God that President Barack Obama is in the White House not Romney or any Republican because America can be assured he is standing for our Country with a backbone of steel no matter what the Republicans say.  You could see it in his face while talking to the Israeli puppet of the hard right Netanyahu -- he was not happy as he wants progress in the Middle East.

A lot of us have your back Mr. President and our Prayers.