As I was poking around my favorite blogs today, I saw an interesting post from AsFoxSeesit, which pointed me to an article in the Washington Post about Jim Peterman in Finlay, Ohio. Mr. Peterman has heard enough wild rumors about Barrak Obama that he isn't sure whether he can vote for him or not. After all, some of his friends and neighbors, whom he trusts, are saying that Obama was " born in Africa, (and) is a possibly gay Muslim racist who refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance." On the other hand he hears that Obama is a Christian, family man, born in Hawaii. He doesn't know who to believe.
Also, going around the news broadcasts and the internet today is a quote from Gen. Wesley Clark, in which Clark says that John McCain's flying an airplane and dropping bombs doesn't necessarily qualify him to be president. The media has jumped on the clip from a Sunday news show and made a big deal out of it. While it may not have been the thing for someone of Clark's prominence to say, I agree with him, and I have written about it before. A war record or military service record doesn't make a president or a county commissioner, but most candidates roll out their military records when they start to run. In reality no one has presidential experience for obvious reasons.
I think Clark's statement is a molehill, which has been made a mountain. On the other hand others have begun to make comments about McCain's being a traitor, because he appeared in films for the North Vietnamese. They are dragging up the old worn out Vietnam anti-war issues about bombing civilians and saying anyone who served in such a capacity is guilty of war crimes and shouldn't be president. Such comments are reminiscent of the "Swift Boat Veterans" ads during the last election and serve no purpose other than to feed those who are too ignorant or too biased to ignore them. Obama has rejected these comments, including Clark's, and I hope he continues to distance himself from such.
McCain, as well, has to disavow his "surrogates" as these speakers are being called. He can shut them up, if he will. Unfortunately, these kinds of lies and rumors are too effective and too tempting for candidates, who want so badly to win. They just can't bring themselves to take any action that might quell the tide, so they often give only lip service to condemning the nasty ads and statements and seize upon them to make political hay. McCain, today, criticized Obama for saying negative things about him and, therefore, indirectly accused him of being behind the statements.
This is just the beginning, unfortunately, and it will worsen as time goes on. Such drivel does nothing to clarify either candidate's stand on the issues. Instead the focus is shifted away from the issues to the unimportant, emotional, sidebar of dirty politics and innuendo. The candidates can control it to a degree, if they will not yield to the temptation to win at all costs.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Nuclear Proliferation
For years we endured the Cold War as the United States and Russia competed to stockpile enough nuclear warheads to destroy the world many times over. We read in the papers almost daily about the numbers of those terrible death dealing weapons that each nation possessed. Nuclear non-proliferation treaties were the talk of the day.
As the twentieth century came to a close nuclear proliferation was beginning to build a new head of steam. Israel, India, and Pakistan possessed nuclear weapons. Iraq had, at one time, made an attempt at beginning the process of developing nuclear material, and it was rumored that other nations, particularly in the Middle East were in the process of developing the capability of enriching uranium.
The Bush Administration embarked on a new, more dangerous route that, instead of curbing the spread of nuclear weapons, actually encouraged their development . The "Axis of Evil" was identified, and, in typical Bush fashion, these same countries were branded as enemies, and threats against them were made. This type of shoot first and talk later foreign policy only poured fuel on the fire and made those countries even more eager to complete the process and develop nuclear weapons. Our un-provoked attack on Iraq, citing weapons of mass destruction as the reason, made clear the fact that the United States would no longer use its military might simply as a deterrent for war.
These newly branded enemies of the free world would, naturally, feel threatened by a country that simply stated that Iraq had WMD and attacked. That threat, combined with an already militant and irresponsible nature heightened their desire to speed up development of a weapon, they could only hope would lessen the threat posed by a militant Bush administration. At the same time nuclear capability would make them a player on the world stage. Add the independent and very dangerous terrorist organizations, who also desire nuclear materials, and the world has quickly stepped to the brink once again.
When Israel's possession of nuclear weapons is factored into the equation, it is easy to see the various Arab nations' desire for an equalizer. With the United States' support, Israel seems to have Carte Blanche to attack when they wish or can claim a threat from a particular Arab entity. Combine the Israeli threat with a militant United States Administration and the Middle East becomes an even more dangerous powder keg.
It is a dangerous and very unpredictable world that the new "Leader of the Free World" will face next year. The next administration is going to be charged with beginning a world diplomatic process to dampen this nuclear threat from the Third World. Then there are the terrorist organizations such as Al Quaida, who may already possess the nuclear materials to produce a dirty bomb. It is certain that they desire to possess these materials. Instead of "staying the course" in Iraq, he must step up the pursuit of Bin Laden and bring him either to justice or oblivion. If our soldiers must die in the Middle East, they must die ending the real threat of terror, not as we languish in Iraq.
As the twentieth century came to a close nuclear proliferation was beginning to build a new head of steam. Israel, India, and Pakistan possessed nuclear weapons. Iraq had, at one time, made an attempt at beginning the process of developing nuclear material, and it was rumored that other nations, particularly in the Middle East were in the process of developing the capability of enriching uranium.
The Bush Administration embarked on a new, more dangerous route that, instead of curbing the spread of nuclear weapons, actually encouraged their development . The "Axis of Evil" was identified, and, in typical Bush fashion, these same countries were branded as enemies, and threats against them were made. This type of shoot first and talk later foreign policy only poured fuel on the fire and made those countries even more eager to complete the process and develop nuclear weapons. Our un-provoked attack on Iraq, citing weapons of mass destruction as the reason, made clear the fact that the United States would no longer use its military might simply as a deterrent for war.
These newly branded enemies of the free world would, naturally, feel threatened by a country that simply stated that Iraq had WMD and attacked. That threat, combined with an already militant and irresponsible nature heightened their desire to speed up development of a weapon, they could only hope would lessen the threat posed by a militant Bush administration. At the same time nuclear capability would make them a player on the world stage. Add the independent and very dangerous terrorist organizations, who also desire nuclear materials, and the world has quickly stepped to the brink once again.
When Israel's possession of nuclear weapons is factored into the equation, it is easy to see the various Arab nations' desire for an equalizer. With the United States' support, Israel seems to have Carte Blanche to attack when they wish or can claim a threat from a particular Arab entity. Combine the Israeli threat with a militant United States Administration and the Middle East becomes an even more dangerous powder keg.
It is a dangerous and very unpredictable world that the new "Leader of the Free World" will face next year. The next administration is going to be charged with beginning a world diplomatic process to dampen this nuclear threat from the Third World. Then there are the terrorist organizations such as Al Quaida, who may already possess the nuclear materials to produce a dirty bomb. It is certain that they desire to possess these materials. Instead of "staying the course" in Iraq, he must step up the pursuit of Bin Laden and bring him either to justice or oblivion. If our soldiers must die in the Middle East, they must die ending the real threat of terror, not as we languish in Iraq.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
My Grandfathers
Yesterday, I went to the barbershop to "have my ears lowered," as we used to say. The owner of The Hair Shoppe, Bill Kuykendall, usually mentions a song that my grandfather wrote about a neighbor and his hog. This set me to thinking about my grandfathers. I never knew either of my them, so I missed out on whatever it is that grandfathers do with their grandchildren. So, too, has my son. My father died at age 86, when my son was 10. My father-in-law died two years before my son was born.
My paternal grandfather, the songwriter, was killed at the age of 60 in the Pochohantas Coal Mine in Pochohantas, Va. in December of 1920, thirty years before I was born. He was hard of hearing, dropped his glasses, and didn't hear a tram approaching. He was struck and killed instantly. He would walk and hitch rides from northern Georgia to West Virginia or Virginia each year to earn extra money in the mines. He was more a miner than a farmer, so the mines called. My father was 11 years old when this tragedy took place.
My maternal grandfather died in 1966 in Bartow Co., Georgia. I did not know that he existed until my mother's cousin came to our house to tell her of his death. My grandmother and he were divorced in 1914, when my mother was two years old. The divorce was granted on the basis of abandonment, according to court documents. I suppose that, since I had no paternal grandfather, I never questioned the existence of the other. I wouldn't have been told anything anyway. This family secret is sealed, never to be opened. A cousin of my mother's still lives and says it was never discussed, so she doesn't know what happened either. A tidbit heard here and there points to my great grandfather's overbearing nature as a possibility. My father referred to him once as a "mean old b_ _ _ _ _ _ d." He was a Justice of the Peace, and court documents reveal him to be pretty severe in his decisions.
Both of my grandmothers were single parents. My paternal grandmother was left with five children of her own and one from my grandfather's previous marriage and a mountain farm to manage. Fortunately, she had three sons, one of which was 20 years old. My maternal grandmother had only my mother to raise. Fortunately, for her my great grandfather still lived, but many years later, he would pass on leaving the two of them to subsist alone on a mountain farm. My father's arrival on the scene saved them from complete devastation. That same farm sold several years ago for seven figures. No, we didn't own it. The descendants of the people who purchased it from my grandmother in the mid-50's were the fortunate ones.
Several years before my mother passed away she wrote her father's second wife and asked for a picture for me. The picture is quite old, so he was probably approaching middle age, when it was taken. My son bears a resemblance to him. It would be interesting to know why he left. I suppose I understand my mother's aversion toward him. He apparently never made an effort to contact her. A story I heard recently from a relative relates that my father saw him at a singing convention in the Union County Courthouse once, and tried to get my mother to talk to him, but she refused. Who knows what her mother and grandfather told her about him. The truth? Maybe. Maybe not. There are two sides to every story.
My paternal grandfather, who had been born in October of 1860, left his widowed mother and his brothers and sisters in North Carolina sometime prior to the mid 1890's and came to Georgia. Family history tells us that he and his mother quarreled, and the result was his departure. He married soon after, and his wife died in childbirth, leaving him with a daughter to raise. As was often the custom in those days, she went to live with a friend's family. That family turned out to be the family of my grandmother. After they married, they set up housekeeping in Fannin County, Georgia, while he worked in the copper mines in Copperhill, Tennessee. Later they moved back to Owltown in Union County, Georgia. Eventually, they settled in the Trackrock section of Union County and it was there that they lived, when my grandfather was killed. My grandmother remained on that property until she sold it and moved with her two unmarried daughters to Young Harris, Georgia in the mid 1950's.
They are gone now. All of them. The grandmothers and their children. The hardships that these two single mothers must have endured had to have been immense. My paternal grandmother was not a warm, loving type of grandmother. She was the family matriarch, who had endured and raised her children, and she expected them to cater to her. She seemed to simply only tolerate her grandchildren. I do not remember ever sitting in her lap. My maternal grandmother lived with us until her death in 1963. She was a very sweet, kind, and loving grandmother and is responsible for much of what I am today, although I guess I shouldn't place the "blame" on her.
How different would life have been for my parents, had those grandfathers been there for them as they grew up? How would they have shaped the lives of their grandchildren? Those questions will never be answered, of course. I do know that as I grow older, I wonder more and more about those men, what they were like, and what led them to make the decisions that ultimately resulted in their departure from our lives.
My paternal grandfather, the songwriter, was killed at the age of 60 in the Pochohantas Coal Mine in Pochohantas, Va. in December of 1920, thirty years before I was born. He was hard of hearing, dropped his glasses, and didn't hear a tram approaching. He was struck and killed instantly. He would walk and hitch rides from northern Georgia to West Virginia or Virginia each year to earn extra money in the mines. He was more a miner than a farmer, so the mines called. My father was 11 years old when this tragedy took place.
My maternal grandfather died in 1966 in Bartow Co., Georgia. I did not know that he existed until my mother's cousin came to our house to tell her of his death. My grandmother and he were divorced in 1914, when my mother was two years old. The divorce was granted on the basis of abandonment, according to court documents. I suppose that, since I had no paternal grandfather, I never questioned the existence of the other. I wouldn't have been told anything anyway. This family secret is sealed, never to be opened. A cousin of my mother's still lives and says it was never discussed, so she doesn't know what happened either. A tidbit heard here and there points to my great grandfather's overbearing nature as a possibility. My father referred to him once as a "mean old b_ _ _ _ _ _ d." He was a Justice of the Peace, and court documents reveal him to be pretty severe in his decisions.
Both of my grandmothers were single parents. My paternal grandmother was left with five children of her own and one from my grandfather's previous marriage and a mountain farm to manage. Fortunately, she had three sons, one of which was 20 years old. My maternal grandmother had only my mother to raise. Fortunately, for her my great grandfather still lived, but many years later, he would pass on leaving the two of them to subsist alone on a mountain farm. My father's arrival on the scene saved them from complete devastation. That same farm sold several years ago for seven figures. No, we didn't own it. The descendants of the people who purchased it from my grandmother in the mid-50's were the fortunate ones.
Several years before my mother passed away she wrote her father's second wife and asked for a picture for me. The picture is quite old, so he was probably approaching middle age, when it was taken. My son bears a resemblance to him. It would be interesting to know why he left. I suppose I understand my mother's aversion toward him. He apparently never made an effort to contact her. A story I heard recently from a relative relates that my father saw him at a singing convention in the Union County Courthouse once, and tried to get my mother to talk to him, but she refused. Who knows what her mother and grandfather told her about him. The truth? Maybe. Maybe not. There are two sides to every story.
My paternal grandfather, who had been born in October of 1860, left his widowed mother and his brothers and sisters in North Carolina sometime prior to the mid 1890's and came to Georgia. Family history tells us that he and his mother quarreled, and the result was his departure. He married soon after, and his wife died in childbirth, leaving him with a daughter to raise. As was often the custom in those days, she went to live with a friend's family. That family turned out to be the family of my grandmother. After they married, they set up housekeeping in Fannin County, Georgia, while he worked in the copper mines in Copperhill, Tennessee. Later they moved back to Owltown in Union County, Georgia. Eventually, they settled in the Trackrock section of Union County and it was there that they lived, when my grandfather was killed. My grandmother remained on that property until she sold it and moved with her two unmarried daughters to Young Harris, Georgia in the mid 1950's.
They are gone now. All of them. The grandmothers and their children. The hardships that these two single mothers must have endured had to have been immense. My paternal grandmother was not a warm, loving type of grandmother. She was the family matriarch, who had endured and raised her children, and she expected them to cater to her. She seemed to simply only tolerate her grandchildren. I do not remember ever sitting in her lap. My maternal grandmother lived with us until her death in 1963. She was a very sweet, kind, and loving grandmother and is responsible for much of what I am today, although I guess I shouldn't place the "blame" on her.
How different would life have been for my parents, had those grandfathers been there for them as they grew up? How would they have shaped the lives of their grandchildren? Those questions will never be answered, of course. I do know that as I grow older, I wonder more and more about those men, what they were like, and what led them to make the decisions that ultimately resulted in their departure from our lives.
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