Are military members just props for politicians?

While I was watching the State of the Union, I was thinking what I could post about today on the blog. I was all set to write about presidents and their desire/ability to bypass congress and change laws with signing statements and executive orders.  This has been the norm for the last five presidents however, the current president was the one who campaigned on breaking the chain of executive orders and signing statements.  But this topic will have to wait for another day.

Just another prop?

Just as I started to outline the blog post on executive orders I saw something that just upset and bewildered me. The use of Army Ranger Sergeant Cory Remsburg as a political prop is one of the most disgraceful parts of this SOTU address. All presidents have pointed to the hero in the balcony for the last 30 years, but I find it most terrible that this is done with not only a uniformed service member but also one that was terribly injured and maimed by fighting in a war.

The SOTU is not an annual report on the state of the Union as a whole. It has become a platform for the President to put forth his partisan plan for the year and then attack the opposition for not helping and for being a villain. The State of the Union has turned into a partisan campaign tool for the party that has control of the executive branch.  For those who do not know military members are not allowed to attend or participate in any partisan political rally and they are not allowed to go to any type of political rally in uniform. Yet the President has this member attend in his uniform and uses him as a political prop. Don’t get me wrong I appreciate the attention that this soldier is receiving and he deserves every single bit of it for the sacrifices that he has made on behalf of his country.  However, this does not change the fact that presidents have for many years have allowed members to break this rule when it is in the president’s best interest to do so. If in the next election cycle a military member attends a political rally in uniform or volunteers to work for a campaign and it gets back to his superiors I can guarantee that that member will be punished and possibly kicked out of the military.  Military members have their freedom of speech silenced in order to maintain good order and discipline within the military it is not right to then use service members to propel the presidents partisan message.

A Pyrrhic Victory on Benghazi

Republicans in Congress need to ensure they do not win the battle at the cost of the overall good of their party. Let’s look at things realistically; most Americans, and almost all the media, don’t care about the semantics and the deceit that the Administration put forth in the days and months after the September 11^th 2012 attacks in Benghazi.  Outside of the conservative echo chamber, very few people care, it is sad but true. People that I have discussions with believe that the President and his administration tried to hide the true nature of the attacks in order to keep the President looking strong on terrorism for the November election. Most are willing to forgive and forget as long as security has been raised and these mistakes don’t happen again.

Thanks in a large part to the whistleblowers and Sharyl Attkisson, @sharylattkisson, we have learned the Administration did indeed try to convince the American people that the attacks were not based on Islamic extremists’ intentions to destroy the US but to pass it off as a spontaneous reaction to an internet based movie trailer. Attkisson published a story earlier that detailed the changes made to the talking points to soften the blow of four dead Americans. This is a huge story but unfortunately the narrative has already been written on this point, and the truth has lost out. It’s time to move on.

It’s only time to move on because there are bigger and more important issues that have come to light in the last few days. The IRS story keeps getting bigger and bigger every day. What were initially reports of a few low level employees in Cincinnati has now turned to higher level players in Washington. Conservative groups, Jewish groups and several others have come forward to state that they have been harassed by the IRS. Now even a liberal group,  ProPublica, has come forward saying that the IRS gave them unapproved applications which are not legally available until they have been approved for tax-exempt status. This is the story that has legs and which could potentially bring the most discredit to the Obama Administration.

Yes the facts must come out of Benghazi and they will in time but the IRS and possible the AP scandals are where the Republicans in Congress must center their efforts if they wish to win this war. The American people will forgive someone who was trying to mislead them but they are not willing to allow elected members of government to use their positions and the powers of their offices to torment their political opponents. Just ask Nixon.

Will it be this man that turns the Media against his boss?

A little about me

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     I hope some people have been reading my thoughts about current events and hopefully enjoying my commentary.  While there are many things that I could talk about today, I would like to take a few minutes and tell and bit about myself. Hopefully, this will give everyone an idea where I am coming from with some of my opinions and interpretations of the daily news.

     Most importantly I am the father of two teenage daughters and the husband of my wife and best friend. We have been married just shy of 17 years (this Friday is our anniversary) it is amazing how fast time can go by when you are not paying attention.

     I grew up in small town Ohio and was exposed to the hectic family and small town politics that comes along with living in a small town. I think I turned out pretty good in spite of that. Also being from Ohio means I am a big Ohio State fan Go Bucks!!!!!!

     I am also a 16 year Veteran of the US Marine Corps. I have served overseas several times over the years and have held many different hats while serving, it has been a pleasure (for the most part) to serve this great country.

     Now for the political stuff, growing up in the farmland I believe that I have very common conservative beliefs. I believe in limited government interference in my life, the free market will determine who are winners and losers just fine without government intervention, I am pro-life by choice but also believe that people do have a right to make their own decision, I am not a republican or a democrat, I believe there are good politicians from both parties and politicians who are looking out for themselves in both parties as well (I reserve the right to criticize anyone from either party if it is warranted).

  

     As for my qualifications to comment on political topics other than being a concerned citizen and it is my right and duty as an American citizen to do so. I have a BA in Political Science and I am currently working on my master’s degree in Political Science and Criminal justice from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, so I hold the proper education to make some informed and insightful observations.