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Political Commentary

Commentary from a conservative viewpoint, no I don't mean the Republican Party line. Republicans haven't been true conservatives for years. We believe in a common sense approach to conservative principles, no right-wing knee-jerk reactions here.

The Haitian Earthquake: A viewpoint

A human tragedy? Yes. But one that could have been prevented. No, we can't stop earthquakes, and I don't think a pact with the devil made it happen as Pat Robetson has commented. Reminds me of Flip Wilson's "The devil made me do it!".

We could not have prevented the earthquake, but we could have prevented the enormous human tragedy. The widespread and huge deaths and injuries were the direct result of shoddy building practices in a country so poor and destitute that it doesn't follow the basic of building codes.

The poverty of that nation is a direct result of years of their government mismanaging their economy and a failure of promoting freedoms of commerce. This is a country in free fall first from dictatorial rule and then with socialist rule, which is almost the same thing but patterened slightly different. This island nation is situated in a prime location to benefit from tourism from other countries especially the United States. However, who would want to go to Haiti? Crime is rampant, government officials are corrupt, living conditions are horrible, and the facilities are non-existent.

I have spent time vacationing in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island with Haiti. Beautiful scenery, friendly people, magnificent ocean and clearly world class facilities for the vacationing tourist. But even Dominicans warn about entering Haiti.

My point? Look around the world at poverty stricken nations and you see that there is a direct relationship between the degree of poverty and the system of government. Zimbabwe was a rich country that was a huge exporter of food. Now under the new ruling class it can not feed itself. North Korea's people are starving while South Korea flourishes. In many of the mid-eastern countries their people are living in squalor while their ruling elite clerics are living well and blaming America for their peoples ills.

Unfortunately, our own government is now hell-bent on reducing our own living standards in order to compensate for the ineffective and corrupt governments in other countries. Aided by companies such as General Electric, (see Malcolm Berko's column by clicking here)

Our view on Afghanistan

Although we have a huge stake in the outcome of the war in Afghanistan my perception is that we are pursuing the war the wrong way. As a Vietnam veteran I know the frustration of using tactics that are developed by civilians and not the military. We made significant errors in the beginning of the war that haunts us today. For instance we did not hit the Taliban with enough force to destroy their will, allowed Mullah Omar to escape, installed a week puppet government and failed to understand the influence that local warlords and tribal chieftains have over the populace. Then, to compound our errors, we started another war in Iraq that strained our resources and opened up a two front war. Did we not learn from the mistakes the Germans made in WWII and more recently the Russians in Afghanistan?

Donald Rumsfield's management of the war effort was pathetic at best and I don't see that Gates can do any better. It is possible that we shall never succeed in this venture until we change our mind set and understand that this is a type of guerrilla warfare that is similar to what we experienced in Vietnam with the significant difference of adding a fanatical religious element that not only permits but encourages subjecting their own people to terror and torture.

This war can only be won by the Afghan people themselves. The best we can hope for is to find a strong leader within Afghanistan that will be tolerant if not friendly with the west while understanding that a secular society is the only hope for a civilized Afghanistan. We need to dismiss the idea that the only proper type of government for everyone is one based on democratic principles. Not all societies are based on, or understand, democracy nor should we try to impose our ideas of how their societies should be governed on them. We have to take into account their traditions and values instead of trying to impose our ideals on societies that view those ideals as foreign and strange. I would much rather see a benevolent dictatorship than a democracy in an unstable society. An unstable society with a democratic form of government can result in tyranny by those that manage to get elected.

So far Obama has been more concerned and has put more effort in his health care reform than to a solution of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I think that says a lot about who he is. He is fixated on passing his socialist agenda and cares little about the soldiers, their families and the pain and suffering they are being subjected to, not to mention the people of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Our views on conservatism

True conservative principles means less government intervention in our daily lives, a strict view of the constitution, and the unalienable rights of the individual.

Commentary worth repeating

Articles, comments and other forms of commentary by those that have the same views as we do.
Gun Control -Who benefits?

Barak Obama -What did he say?

Change is good? What change is that?

Why the image of the elephant & donkey in our logo banner? They represent our two major political parties, and if you notice, they both have their hands out.! They dress in red, white and blue but it's only to try and fool me and you!