Should President Obama stop campaigning and address the scandals?

It seems that President Obama just can't get a break these days. If it isn't a natural disaster sweeping in to break up his vacation schedule, it is a man caused disaster landing on his desk that he has to deal with. Some people think this is the reason for his many excursions to escape the White House and get out on the golf course or campaign trail.

But to add to the pressures of his job of dealing with a recalcitrant Congress, Greece reneging on its debt, stock market on a roller coaster ride, record high unemployment and a Mideast situation that could turn into Armageddon...The President has the taint of scandal growing around his administration and that can be the death knell for his aspirations of a second term. If he doesn't deal with them quickly and decisively they will develop a life of their own.

There are three major scandals now surrounding the administration of Barack Obama, each one big enough on its own merit, to bring down a President:

Fast and Furious: Previously written about on Irish Central is the unfolding scandal of high powered gun running to Mexican drug cartels. The scandal refuses to go away and so far the body count these guns are responsible for are two of our own American agents and hundreds of Mexican nationals. The Congressional committee investigating has complained it is not receiving cooperation from the Justice Department. The Fast and Furious reflects our failed drug policy http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/from-the-right/the-fast-and-furious-reflects-our-failed-drug-policy-124226534.html

The Solyndra scandal: This half a billion dollar boondogle has many arrows pointing right back to the White House and needs to be dealt with decisively and quickly before it spirals out of control. Not only was the Solyndra loan guarantee by the Obama administration the poster child for green energy, The President even went so far as to personally visit the operation and praise it as the example of what green energy can do. It recently went belly up and it is being revealed that the backes of the company were campaign donation bundlers for the president and they were frequent visitors to the White House. Green energy stimulus bang for buck costs 5.5 million per job. Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/from-the-right/green-energy-stimulus-bang-for-buck-costs-55-million-per-job-130020123.html#ixzz1Z4Y83BT6


The Lightsquared scandal came to the surface after our four star General complained publicly that he was pressured to change his testimony. This is another technology company championed by the administration that would extend wireless broadband. The trouble is that it interferes with the GPS signals used for defense systems and aircraft navigation systems. But an even bigger trouble for the White House, is that the company seems to have ties to the Obama administration that show their executives were hefty donors.

Solyndra-Lightsquared-Fast & Furious

President Obama should address these troubling matters before they get out of control and cause his administration great harm. As Congressman Thad McCotter said in his interview with Irish Central, he thinks the Fast and Furious was a rogue bureaucratic boondoggle at the lower levels of power. President Obama should quickly nip these erupting scandals in the bud and take away weapons that his enemies will use against him. By attending to these matters now and directing full cooperation with Congressional oversight committees, they could not be campaign issues by November 2012. See Congressman McCotters Irish Central interview http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/from-the-right/gop-presidential-candidate-congressman-mccotter-talks-to-irish-central-128905723.html


For other points of view visit Carroll Standard: www.carrollstandard.com

GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain is an inspiration for our country

GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain describes himself as a problem solver and not a politician. He is the only one of the GOP candidates who has no experience in elective office, it has shown sometimes, as he may respond with a not so polished and well honed response to some of the questions thrown at him. But he is a voracious competitor and has learned to smooth out those rough spots as time goes on in this political contest.

We have watched the GOP as their candidates are put through the crucible of the campaign trail. They are under the microscope of live debates, live interviews and of course the mothers milk of American politics: fund raising. Some are wilting under this pressure and falling by the wayside, some are getting hoisted on their own petards of gaffes and "misspeaks," but others are showing their mettle and appearing stronger.

The old adage of "what does not kill you will make you stronger" could not be more appropriate when it comes to GOP Presidential candidate, Herman Cain. Five years ago he beat stage 4 cancer, showing his great strength and determination that has been a hallmark throughout his life. With irony, Cain says that if he had been diagnosed with his cancer under Obamacare, he would be dead, because of the red tape & time involved in decision making. But beating cancer has only been one of the battles he has triumphed over, he has always been a fighter and has beat the odds before...many times..

Born in humble beginnings, his mother was a cleaner and his father was a janitor, but he was given their love and very importantly, their work ethic. He graduated college with a degree in mathematics and a masters of science in computers. Before his business and economics career he worked as a mathematician for missile ballistics in the U.S. Navy. Presidential Candidate Herman Cain has a long history in the business private sector and has faced many challenges in that arena. He has taken struggling company's and turned them into successful entities, using his common sense approach of recognizing the problems, coming up with solutions and turning these solutions into a working plan.

Herman Cain has appeared at more than 40 Tea party rallies throughout the country and his message resonates with many American citizens. When he speaks of smaller government and more private sector direction for our country, he speaks with the experience of a CEO and leader who has a vision for us. He has concrete solutions to our economic woes and is not afraid to speak out on controversial issues. He is a courageous man, the kind needed by our country in these perilous times.

History has proven it can be very difficult to determine who the eventual candidates will be at this point in time. The front runners of today can be the back benchers of tomorrow and underdogs have the habit of humbling political pundits. John McCain and Bill Clinton are two prime examples.

Don't ever count Herman Cain out of any race. He again showed his strength today by winning the Florida straw poll by a wide margin, leaving his nearest GOP competitors in the dust.

For a time capsule in American and world history visit:http://lifemagforsale.com/

For other points of view visit Carroll Standard: www.carrollstandard.com

Post Office sitting on a gold mine, but still going broke

The Postal Service has been around for a long time and as far back as we can remember, they have been having financial problems.

But in a classic study of ineptitude, we watch the Postal Service going into an unnecessary death spiral, claiming it is short of funds again. Saying that unless an influx of billions of tax payers dollars come in and/or postal rate increases kick in, the postal service will not be able to meet it's obligations.

We stand back and watch this and then wonder just how efficient government healthcare will be if it is put into effect the way President Obama and his 5,000 pages of healthcare rules envision it.

Of course the Postal Service will have to slim down and streamline, that is a given. But people are still going to need mail and packages delivered long into the foreseeable future.

Certainly with email, online banking and competition from private sector package delivery services, it is a new world for the USPS. But there have been innovations just waiting to be used that, if it was the private sector, would have been aggressively pursued and utilized.

But the Postal Service is reminiscent of the crew of the ship adrift off the coast of South America. Dying of thirst, they don't realize they are surrounded by fresh water from the Amazon river. All they had to do is lower their buckets and bring up all of the fresh water they could drink. But they don't and they die of thirst.

So short of having a different entity take over the operations of the Post Office lets throw a few private sector ideas out there and see if they can grasp them to prosper:

Let the USPS get into the electronic mail business. Certified, secure official email sent via the USPS email system. There are would be many uses of this especially in the medical, legal and business field who would take advantage of this.

Corporate logos & advertisements on stamps. This is an untapped source of income for the Post Office, selling advertising space on stamps. Similar ideas for raising revenue have been appearing all over the country, such as naming sports stadiums after corporate sponsors. It is an easy leap to see the picture of a Chevy Volt on a first class stamp, instead of a butterfly , especially when the postal service would realize millions in advertisement dollars.

We see postal trucks and vans everywhere, why not rent out advertisement spaces on them? You can't drive anywhere in a city without seeing a public bus plastered with ads. Why can't the Post office take advantage of this?

The Post Office sells boxes/envelopes and packaging materials. Why not sell advertising space on them as well?

In rural areas where addresses are far flung making it expensive to deliver mail, set up regional mail pick up sites where people can drive in and get their mail.

Cut out weekend deliveries of mail, unless a customer pays extra for that service.

Make the wages/benefits of employees comparable to what is offered in the private sector.

With a few of these suggestions the Postal Service could lower it's bucket down into the ocean of private sector ideas and rescue itself. Think it will happen?

For other points of view visit Carroll Standard: www.carrollstandard.com

Green energy stimulus bang for buck costs 5.5 million per job.

I don't know about you but if I ever get a choice between a govt. backed green energy job or the cash equivalent, I'll take the 5.5 million cash equivalent instead.

Yes folks, the numbers are coming in and it looks like we got 3,000 "permanent green energy jobs", as a result of our 20 billion of govt. stimulus and loan guarantees we injected into this industry...and many more "investments" are on their way.

Using an archaic formula only government numbers crunchers know, this is success and offers the model for moving forward into green energy independence. My only question is how much more success can we afford?

Last week Dr. Ivar Giaever, 1973 winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, abruptly announced his resignation from the American Physical Society in disgust over its officially stated policy that "global warming is occurring. (APS) supports the theory that man's actions have inexorably led to the warming of the planet, through increased emissions of carbon dioxide.

Couple the esteemed Giavers resignation with the petition signed by over 31,000 scientists, that disputes man caused global warming. When you stack the "Climategate email scandal" on top of all of this, you start to get the feeling that when Al gore says the science is settled...it really isn't.
http://www.petitionproject.org/

Since man caused global warming is one of the lynch pins used as the impetus to propel us into "green energy", perhaps we should slow down with "investing" our treasure into this unproven and unprofitable industry. If it is going to work, let private industry move forward with it to see if it it becomes commercially viable, if possible. Why pump billions into unproven, commercially unviable business models?

In the meantime it seems scandals are brewing in the "green energy" field as the Solyndra company just went belly up taking over 1/2 billion of our money with it. Solyndra is not the only green company to fail after receiving tax payer assistance and it looks like other Solyndras are out there.

Seems to many, that if industries have to be propped up with subsidies, tax breaks, special deals and tilting the playing field in order to exist...something is wrong. Why should the public be financing and taking the risks?

Dr. Charles Krauthammer says the green energy industry is a fantasy, fueled by "lemming socialism" and "crony capitalism" The biggest losers? American taxpayers

It seems the attitude in Washington these days: With a stroke of a pen and unlimited amounts of other peoples money, the laws of physics and economics can be overcome.

There are billions of dollars of Solyndra" type stimulus in Obamas proposed "jobs" bill: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/09/rep-paul-ryan-on-solyndra-there-are-billions-of-more-of-this-exact-kind-of-spending-in-the-stimulus-video/

But China is eager to compete with our subsidized "green industry", happily manufacturing the solar panels and other components of "green" much cheaper than we do by using their coal fired power plants. China then sells these "green industry components to us at a huge profit. But under the Obama administration, Americas coal power is being heavily punished, driving many power plants out of business and making it virtually impossible to build new ones.

Interestingly America is known as the Saudi Arabia of coal reserves and we are not exploiting these resources. I wonder if you took a fraction of the billions poured in to "green energy and directed it to the science of cleaning up/refining coal, if we couldn't achieve total energy independence and clean air much sooner?

For other points of view visit Carroll Standard: www.carrollstandard.com

Weiner seat is tip of iceberg that will sink Democrats

Update: In the waning hours of election day 9/13/11, Republican challenger Bob Turner has been declared the projected winner in the Congressional race. As Ari Fleischer, President Bushes press secretary jokingly said: “Obama calls for NY-9 to return to it’s pre-1967 status. Last time an R held the seat was 1922.”

A new poll shows the once safe Democrat haven, New York's 9th Congressional district, is about to turn Republican after tomorrows special election.

The seat up for grabs, was once formerly occupied by far left Democrat Congressman Anthony Weiner, who resigned in disgrace a few months ago. The Republican challenger, Bob Turner, is clearly ahead of his Democrat opponent, David Weprin, by six percentage points, a whopping turn around in this hugely Democrat district in Brooklyn.

This race portends disaster to Democrats on a national scale for the 2012 elections. Many consider this Congressional race a referendum on the way the Obama administration and the Democrats in the Congress/Senate have lead the country. Dissatisfaction with policies and the way the economy is being managed are turning droves of once loyal Democrat voters towards the Republican party.
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READ MORE:
Hillary Clinton nostalgia grips leading Democrats as Obama fails and fades

The world was never the same again after 9/11 ---I saw loss and love on that terrible day

GOP Presidential candidate Congressman McCotter talks to Irish Central
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The poll found that the once reliable bloc of the liberal Jewish vote in District 9, has turned against policies they perceive, have weakened and isolated Israel. Republican Turner is winning the Jewish vote by an astounding 56%-39% margin. Many consider the State Department/Obama administration as anti Israel. This belief will part the political sea and allow a mass exodus of Jewish voters to journey to the Republican side of the ballot in the coming elections.

No matter how the spin meisters try to turn this around, if the Democrats lose Weiners seat by a substantial margin, it is a double whammy loss for them. In a strange sort of way Weiner seemed almost a Munchhausen Disease by proxy figure, who did the Democrat anger work for them in a very public, vitriolic way. He was the point man and attack dog of the house and was known for his emotionally charged speeches and semi meltdowns that captured the main stream medias attention.

To not only lose a person of Weiners stature, the Democrats will also suffer the additional humiliation of having a Republican in his stead.

But like icebergs whose mass is underwater, the Weiner election is just showing the surface damage. The real damage, the great gash to the USS Democrat Party, occurred long before the Weiner election and will lead to its sinking in 2012.

For other points of view visit Carroll Standard: www.carrollstandard.com

To Obama and the left -civility is a one way street

As we approach Thursdays speech by President Obama to the joint session of Congress, many are wondering if the President will acknowledge the uncivil rhetoric that has been emanating from his allies.

It hasn't been that long since the Presidents erudite speech in Tucson had many swooning over his rhetoric calling for a new civility. But since that time, it seems his "new civility" must pertain to any that oppose his policies. His allies are free to say anything without repercussion from the White House.

The President himself has been an offender of his "civility" mantra, going so far as to castigate and criticize sitting audience members of Congress during the last joint session. Congressmen and women, out of courtesy and protocol, are not able to answer back the insults the president hurls their way. These speeches are one way conversations with the President setting the tone and topic, which to many is more than uncivil and seems very partisan.

The President publicly demanded a joint session on the very night the Republican debates had been scheduled....for months. The Speaker of the House, bridled at the Presidents bullying tactics and said, "you can do it on another night, but not Wednesday".

So Obama gets another captive audience Thursday to unveil what many think will be a re-run of more Keynesian failed economic policies to "stimulate" our failing economy. Or could he surprise us and use this opportunity to set a new tone of civility and spirit of non partisan cooperation. He is the President and he has the Pulpit.

If the President wants to set the tone and disarm his critics, he could execute a brilliant move and do something uncharacteristic for him: Acknowledge that his allies are using harsh, uncivil rhetoric in order to create animosity and division among the populace. Some say it is deliberate, class warfare of divide and conquer. Let the president call for a new era of civility from his high profile allies who wield great power:

President Obama should by name, ask Congresswoman Maxine Waters to apologize for telling American citizens to go to hell.

President Obama should by name, ask his Vice President Joe Biden to apologize to American citizens for calling them terrorists and barbarians.

President Obama should by name ask his friend, Jimmy Hoffa Jr., who delivered the Presidents warm up speech in Detroit, to apologize to the American people for calling them sons of b*tches and saying we're going to take them out.

President Obama should by name ask Congressman Andre Carson to apologize to American citizens when he said Americans want to see blacks hanging from trees and they yearn for the return of Jim Crow laws.

So Mr. President take this opportunity to disarm your critics and step up to the plate to become the great uniter many thought you were capable of being when they voted for you.

America looks forward to a new tone of civility coming out of Washington D.C, starting with their President.

For other points of view visit Carroll Standard: www.carrollstandard.com

Irelands Michael Collins. Father of the Republic and father of insurgency

I asked James Biesterfield for his expertise in understanding the impact Michael Collins had on the world of terrorism/insurgency. Mr. Biesterfield is a retired Special Agent for Counterintelligence from the US Army. He is currently a counter-terrorism consultant, author and trainer based in Riverside County, California. James and I co-authored this piece.

St. Michael, the Archangel, is considered to be the Patron Saint of Warriors. In some circles, Michael "Mick" Collins is almost considered a saint. There are truths, falsehoods and legends that surround this iconic man. To some, he was one of the fathers of the Irish Republic – an honored hero. In the counter-terrorism field he is viewed as the father of modern day terrorist tactics. So, how should we view Collins?

By all accounts, this youngest of 8 children, was exceptionally bright and his father, also named Michael, stated that his young son would do great things for his country in the future. This pronouncement made on the deathbed of the elder Collins. He would not be wrong.

In the world of violent groups, the old adage is, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. This could not have been truer in the case of Michael Collins. From a purely analytic viewpoint, Michael Collins was absolutely critical in the advancement of modern terrorist & insurgency organizations.

In the year 1909, the 19-year-old Collins joined The Irish Brotherhood. He rose quickly in the ranks, obtaining a solid reputation and being given a great deal of responsibility with their Finance Ministry and leadership with the Irish Republican Army. Collins made some significant contributions in logistics and organization for the IRA and the Republican government. As President of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, under the bylaws of the Brotherhood, he was President of the Irish Republic. Collins was shot and killed in August 1922, during the Irish Civil War.

After the Easter Rising of April 1916, Collins was arrested after surviving the attack on the Dublin Post Office. Almost given the death penalty, he was instead sent to Frongoch Prison in Wales. He was released in a Christmas Amnesty in December 1916 and allowed to return to Ireland. While in prison, he had time to consider how IRA operations were being conducted.

For the most part, IRA fighters were loosely organized in their particular home areas and locally commanded and directed. This allowed no continuity of action between the various fighting groups. Collins played a prominent part, in re-organizing IRA fighters into what he called Flying Columns. He also centralized Logistics and Training allowing continuity among all of the Flying columns. Thus, if one guy got “too hot” in one area, he could be transferred to another area without appreciable changes in his training base.

This was incredibly innovative for the time. Previously, terrorist/insurgent groups operated independently, or in loose cooperative efforts. (Did you notice the variety of weapons among the Libyan Freedom Fighters? A logistical nightmare! A lack of training dragged that fight out for 6 months, even WITH NATO support.)

In following the timeline through the 20th Century terrorist groups, it appears that virtually ALL groups have and are following the IRA Model. The PLO used and improved upon this model in the 1960’s and 1970’s. This led to a vast number of terrorist fighters from all over the world attending training at PLO camps located in Libya during this period. Following this, we began to see cooperative efforts on the part of terrorist groups (i.e. Lod Airport, Rome Airport, Mogadishu, etc).

Even today, Islamist groups follow a similar model that allows interoperability between disparate groups throughout the world.

However one might view Michael Collins – saint or sinner – his contribution to insurgent/terrorist groups cannot be discounted. The important thing for law enforcement, special operations and intelligence organizations is to understand that impact, its relationship to groups in present day and begin to analyze future changes to the logistical and training capabilities on the part of such groups.

Mr. Biesterfield can be reached: On Twitter @xspook2 as well as Face book and Linkedin.

For other points of view visit Carroll Standard: www.carrollstandard.com