Manns Medium

So much has been made by the media as to why larger more ample forces in the Islamic World does not wish to get more involved with defeating ISIL.  I am quite surprised that many of them are not saying what Vice-President Joe Biden has said about those Islamic countries but then why should they.  They already have a scapegoat in Barack Obama so like many police forces, once you have a primary suspect why search for anyone else.  Just gather enough innuendo and speculations to support your position even if and when many of those have been dispelled. The question is why Saudi Arabia which was described by Senator Bernie Sanders in his interview with Candy Crowley on CNN as “Saudi Arabia is the fourth largest defense spender in the world,” he pointed out. “They have an army which is probably seven times larger than ISIS; they have a major air force. Their country is run by a royal family worth hundreds of billions of dollars.”  They appear to be a major player in t...

For some time now, people like John McCain and Lindsey Graham has been trying desperately to push this country into another long, drawn-out war in the Middle East.  A war, I must say, in which they will not have an active role in and have to dodge one bullet but will see the less that 1 percent having to re-engage if for no other reason than strictly political and try to make up for the lies that many helped spread to get us into Iraq in the first place. Some have avoided catering to their egos but still there are those who just can’t seem to help but seek their advice when it comes to things dealing with war as if their bad judgment of the past meant nothing.  The thousands of American lives lost do not seem to bother those who run straight to those cheerleaders.  Now Lindsey Graham is screaming like a little school girl who got her scarf caught in the car door as the vehicle was pulling off.  He’s saying that ISIL needs to be dealt with before they come over h...

The true definition of leadership, selfishness, bravery and courage has been demonstrated by many people but is mostly seen in war movies were the one lone hero is shown jumping on a grenade to save his fellow service members.  I guess that is one act we will not see coming from this congress. No, they much wish to avoid doing the job that they campaigned so hard to secure, the one that they are being paid so much to do.  The one that they claimed they would be better at than the other person.  Congress has and is continuing to derelict their duties but no one seems to mind.  The general public seems to be under the spell and proving an idea that many African-Americans have been saying ever since I can remember.   Growing up, I used to hear “blame it on the black man” so often that I just got used to hearing it.  As I grew older, I finally was able to realize what it meant and fought hard to help as many blacks as I could erase that excuse from thei...

Matthew Daly of the Associated Press penned an article about the Senate and House Committee finally reaching an agreement regarding the emergency bill to help relieve the very large number of veterans waiting on VA doctor’s appointments.  In it he reports “After more than six weeks of sometimes testy talks, House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a compromise plan to fix a veterans health program scandalized by long patient wait times and falsified records covering up delays. The chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees have scheduled a news conference Monday afternoon to unveil a plan expected to authorize billions in emergency spending to lease 27 new clinics, hire more doctors and nurses and make it easier for veterans who can't get prompt appointments with VA doctors to obtain outside care.  Louis Celli, legislative director for the American Legion, the nation's largest veterans group, said the deal would provide crucial help to veterans who have b...

I’m continually amazed at the arrogance of media members who seem to run straight to people like John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Billy Crystal, and John Bolton and of course Dick Cheney when it comes to questions about foreign policy.  I’m amazed because I used to think that smart people do not continue to do the same dumb things over and over again but it appears that I am wrong or those I thought were smart is not so smart. When it comes to the unrest in Iraq, many of those now experts who get paid to spew their crap on the airwaves and in front of TV cameras say that the main reason it is happening is because America “walked away” after creating this through occupation.  How many bricks must fall upon our heads before we figure out to move because the building is collapsing?  Now Joe Lieberman is penning an Op Ed in the paper to say that the same will happen in Afghanistan.  They offer criticism but no solutions except keeping military there knowing...

Not much offends me these days because so much is happening that one cannot afford to get caught up in all this unnecessary drama but when I read certain articles and view comments, I do acquire a few questions here and there. Much of the time I just either ask them quietly to myself, send a silent message to God to help me understand or just shake my heads and thank God that I do not and did not spread this type of hate to my children.  This time is different because now I feel that these questions needs answers from those who hide behind the anonymity of the internet or are comforted by money and allow these harmful acts to continue.  I say harmful but not to this nation as much as it is towards family, friends and loved ones who refuse to see the goodness in all for the sake of just belonging. I came to this decision after reading this post on Facebook by someone perpetuating the “GOPUSA”.  They posted this article “It's Time for Another Expensive Obama Family Wor...

In the beginning there were the Tea Party and it was good.   It was formed by Americans who felt that Washington was catering too much toward the rich and wealthy like Wall Street instead of focusing on the needs of Main Street.   The purpose was to follow the line of then candidate Barack Obama to keep his feet to the fire on the things that the average American needed.   Only after big money teased us with the open road to get our message to those who needed to hear it, then the bottom began to fall out of this movement.   It morphed into an extreme group concerned with reverting back to the time where the color of a person’s skin was more important than this nation as a whole.   A party were many preached “America First” in the beginning but quickly switched to taking away the legal right of a woman to choice, taking away the legal right to vote, pushing an agenda that does not truly reflect this nation and spewing pure hatred of a president based not ...

When President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize, millions of people began to look at him as weak and many thought that their mantle of Keeping America Safe was safe.   That was until his first major test of the pirates taking over an American Ship and holding the captain hostage.   The normal workings of other countries were to negotiate with the pirates, give them what they wanted and get back their ship and personnel.   That was until Barack Obama stepped to the plate to take a swing at that ball. To many surprise, he ordered the killing of those holding that captain hostage and in the end not only got back the captain, crew, ship and cargo but made all those dreaming to one day become a pirate in that region quickly choose another line of work.   Somali Pirates used to be in the headlines almost daily until they picked the wrong ship and the wrong president to test. Next came the Osama bin Laden raid where many had spoken tough about getting him but ...

I ask this question because of the recent news accounts of the current unrest going on in Egypt. Many are blaming the Obama Administration and while they may be right, I believe that there may be another explanation which no one is reporting.   Take for example my time line.   John McCain and Lindsey Graham were both in Egypt prior to the recent charge made by Egyptian Police and this curfew put in place by the Egyptian military.   History tells us that these two men, among others, have always been more about saber rattling than diplomacy.   Both have made it an art form to shoot first and ask questions later.   Could this unrest be the result of them sent to ease transition but placing an American burr under the saddle instead?   It is reported that the Vice President of Egypt has resigned over the actions not being diplomatic but forceful instead.   He believed, as those in the President Cabinet believed, that a peaceful solution coul...

I was strongly compelled to share this letter from a dying veteran to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney because it says everything that I have been saying for so long.   The beauty of this letter written by one of my fellow military members, dying from injuries received while fighting an illegitimate war. It was taken from an article written by djchefron titled “A dying veteran’s letter to George W Bush and Dick Cheney for Politicususa.com.   The first paragraph I would like to call your attention to is the one that says “Your positions of authority, your millions of dollars of personal wealth, your public relations consultants, your privilege and your power cannot mask the hollowness of your character. You sent us to fight and die in Iraq after you, Mr. Cheney, dodged the draft in Vietnam, and you, Mr. Bush, went AWOL from your National Guard unit. Your cowardice and selfishness were established decades ago. You were not willing to risk yourselves for our nation but yo...

For those who say that individuals making minimum wage is unskilled and have no experience in a workforce peep this; as a mother I am a chemist because I have to mix my babies bottles, so tell me again how inexperienced I am. As a parent, I have to fix booboos which makes me a part of the medical field. So tell me again how inexperienced I am.   School days I spend most of my mornings getting the kids up and ready and out the door, that would make me a drill sergeant, so tell me again how inexperienced I am. In the evenings I have to make sense of a chaotic world and have to explain it to a four, five or six year old, that experience would make me an educator, so tell me again how inexperienced I am. During the day, I have to coordinate and prepare nutritious meals; that experience makes me a chef, short order cook, or dietician so tell me again how inexperienced I am. During the month, I have to pay bills, balance a checkbook, keep track of finances and make money stretch, tha...

We learned today that Susan Rice has decided to withdraw her name from contention because she said it would bog down the confirmation process.   She spoke like a lady who see this as something bigger than her which is commendable but still gives “wayward” lawmakers an excuse to keep playing games instead of doing the job they were hired to do. Tell military members that their welfare is far less important than making up “talking points” to get on television or try to make a president look bad.   To say you love this country but fail to pass the jobs bill or hold up advancement of this nation for the billionaires makes no sense.   What has happened to a party who once champion military service?    What has happened to a party that once champions the worth of individuals over interest? Three major “loudmouths” and “weak minded” political pundits saw an opportunity to better their standing in the senate and cared less about the results of their actions. ...

Ever since this president was sworn in, there have been those who will stop at nothing but to oppose anything and everything that he says and does.   It is not so unexpected but it still is bewildering.   The newest media frenzy is over the anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden and decenters are given a microphone and all the time they need on every channel to roar.   The sad part of it is, many of them may have more at stake than this media mass are interested in finding out. John McCain says that the Obama Re-election Team was wrong for politicizing the death of bin Laden but many refuse to remind people that John McCain ran on having the knowledge and expertise to find and “get” bin Laden.   So was that politicizing it then or does McCain get a mulligan?   Ed Gillespie repeated close to this take but I do not remember him stepping to the microphone and declaring it off-limits when George W. Bush and Dick Cheney was going around bragging about ke...

It has become the norm for representatives of the people who get elected by promising to work for the few forget that they also must represent the many as well.   When you are elected to office, you carry with you more than those who elected you, you have now become the face of this nation and your actions or inactions reflect upon this nation.   The question which should be asked and answered by those chosen is what kind of face will others see? John Boehner may be judged on how he can not act like the adult because he has to check with Rush Limbaugh before putting a plan on the floor but Eric Cantor will also be judged on his lack of leadership skills when it comes to him whipping the votes to pass anything.   It’s an established maxim that if you cater to the minority instead of the majority, you will always be changing planes in mid-air.   These guys are now doing it without a parachute, or so it appears. If the Republican Party wishes to save itself from the T...

This week should give anyone who is watching a great look into how hypocritical the far right really is and those representing the Tea Party in the Republican Party.  Newt Gingrich stepped all in it when he spoke the truth about Paul Ryan’s budget and how it will radically change Medicare and Medicaid as we know it.  The flood gates opened and he is now still trying to find the sides before he gets swept up by the wave of criticism coming from his party.  We will learn about them by the way Rick Santorum is treated by these same individuals and groups. According to an article by the Associated Press titled Santorum: McCain doesn't understand interrogation , “former Sen. Rick Santorum said today that Sen. John McCain, who spent 5 1/2 years enduring brutal treatment at the hands of his North Vietnamese captors, doesn't know how effective waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques can be.”  He told this lie trying to defend torture as a part of the Ame...

It’s been a long time coming and I, for one, thought I would never see it again but low and behold on the floor of the senate stood a man who has more creditability on torture than any other person I know.   This man is john McCain and yes Virginia he is back. It has been reported that John McCain stood flat footed on the floor of the Senate and re-educated that body and all who listen that torture does not work and the raid on the Osama bin Laden compound was not a result of it.   He re-educated them on exactly what is gained or not gained by torture and there is no one alive today that can disagree with him.   This man lived it and did not dream it.   What happens now to those who were quick to run to torture’s defense, not sure but I hope that they have some steak sauce to go with their filet of soul. It is my wish that other politicians and pundits would take a lesson from John McCain and stand up for the truth instead of what sounds good to their particular...

According to this article by Charles McDermid and Abu Dhabi of Time titled Standing up to Iran: Gulf Alliance Flexes Its Muscles the American Neo-Cons and those who have been chomping at the bits to bomb Iran, like John McCain and Dick Cheney may soon get their wish. It reports about the back and forth between the GCC and Iran which could imply that the rhetoric may soon escalate into intervention. The American neo—cons have always pushed the need for Iran to be dealt with and this may just be what the doctor ordered for them. "These are just some of the hallmarks of the new-look Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - the bloc of six Arab nations that is shedding its image as a somnolent, oil-rich cartel and propelling itself forward in the role of hands-on military campaigner in the uprisings that are reshaping the region. It has already intervened - mainly with member Saudi Arabia's troops - in the rebellion in GCC compatriot Bahrain. This is the GCC 2.0 and the world, and mos...