Polianiac

Sometimes I wonder what planet I am on. What language is this? What country is this? A few examples of my latest Current Pet Peeves…

“Victory with Honor”: This recycled Viet Nam era slogan is not appropriate today. We were supposed to have learned our lessons and moved forward.  I would like to see the concept “Deployment with Honor” replace the current adage— Put some beef behind it by meaning it, knowing it, and living it…

Libertarianism as anything other than fantasy: We live in the 21^st Century, in a country that now contains over 300 million people from every corner of the Earth; many from cultures that have no clue what “Individualistic culture” means or requires. The “cultural clash” cannot be solved in a study course for the U.S. Citizenship test…It is so much deeper than “just do it”. Libertarianism is predicated on individual self governance. I am reminded daily that we as a people have yet to demonstrate mastery of that concept. Personally, I love the ideal of Libertarianism. Unfortunately that ideal is always confronted with a rude reality check.

Conservativism: If I were having dinner with Jefferson and Madison I would have the luxury of being a conservative. Today I must ask everyone to qualify what they mean when they claim to be a “conservative”. The language is starting to implode…Today conservatism represents a huge range of views—and not all compatible. Take the Neoconservatives since Reagan—how does the advancement of Empire, the rise of militarism, and the most glaring Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war fit within the Gestalt of Conservativism? How do “black budgets” advance the cause of Conservativism? How does an ever-expanding Executive Branch possibly wash as conservative? How does the concept of “permanent majority” constitute anything but radically liberal? This is the stuff that makes my head explode…More to come.

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