Say no to Kony 2012

What interest does America have with Joseph Kony in 2012?  Joseph Kony is an African warlord and leader of the Lords Resistance Army in the African nations of Congo, Sudan, and Uganda.  Kony’s LRA army is said to be composed mostly of children.  There is a video on Youtube made by the charity group Invisible Children that has millions of views from people demanding that Americans take action against Joseph Kony and the LRA.  Invisible Children is asking their supporters to pressure influential celebrities and policy makers to promote the cause of Kony 2012.  Celebrities such as Tim Tebow, Justin Bieber, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton and several others were targeted in a campaign designed to rally American public support to Invisible Children’s cause of Kony 2012.  Their ultimate goal is to bring public pressure to ensure that the U.S. military advisers support the Ugandan army until Kony has been captured and the LRA has been completely disarmed.  Invisible Children says that the United States needs to follow through all the way to the finish with what they have started. 

Ugandan Blogger says that Kony 2012 doesn't tell the whole story 

Thank goodness that our foreign policy is not based on the Oprah Winfrey Show and the number of thumbs up on a Youtube video.   There are plenty of warlords in Iraq and Afghanistan and we need to get out of those countries, not get into more countries.  We probably will not leave the middle-east any better than we found it over a decade ago when we first decided to take on this task of nation building.  These Middle Eastern and African countries need to change internally.  We can not build their culture and that is what needs to change.  The capture of one man, whether it is Kony or Bin Laden, will only cause a different leader to rise up and lead the various rebel groups around the world.      

Black Hawk super64 before it was shot down in the
battle of Mogadishu

Something just didn’t smell right to me about this whole Kony 2012 story.  Why was America suddenly involved in African police actions again?  Doesn’t anyone remember Black hawk down?  If you don't remember that event, it was when U.S. soldiers were attacked by rebels during an African peace keeping mission.  America lost 19 army rangers and 73 more were wounded.  Two black hawk's were shot down and the dead bodies of American soldiers were dragged through the streets.  That was in Mogadishu, Somalia 1993, so shouldn’t the region be stabilized by now since we were getting Americans killed over there twenty years ago?   No, well how much blood do we have to shed in African civil wars?  Will America be allowed to rule these countries and profit from them?  Heaven forbid such exploitation and --dare I say-- colonization of these “independent” nations.  No, America is simply expected to come in clean up the mess and turn the nations over to a different warlord. 

America will hand over tons of American tax payer money to build schools and train their army and police forces of African nations before we leave the region in failure after ten years.  The problems of these nations are NEVER solved through American intervention; the only change that we ever seem to impose is a change in leadership.  How is Afghan President Karzai working out for us?  Karzai already told his nation that he would fight against America if we had a war with Pakistan. We continue to prop up the Karzai government in Afghanistan, even though that nation makes it clear that we are not welcome there.  The same was true in Iraq, and it will be true in any African nation.  If we want to capture Kony in 2012, it will take significant investment and military intervention.  The cost to stop the LRA is not in America's interests. 

Are the nations of Africa independent nations or are they ruled by the United Nations?  If they are independent nations, then perhaps they need to step up and stomp out their own insurgencies.  We do not need to be involved in every civil war in the world.  If we do capture Kony in 2012 and somehow we miraculously disarm the LRA, someone else will step up and lead the next insurgency.  That is how the history of Africa has been for thousands of years.    This is why there are hot spots all over the continent of Africa.  

America funded the Mujahideen in Afghanistan.
After the Cold war they transformed into Al Qaeda.  

 If we arm a group to kill Kony in 2012, then will we be blamed for arming that group when they go crazy?  If the Ugandan army invades South Sudan or the Congo do we have to get involved in those conflicts as well?   Remember when we sided with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union?  Every liberal in the world does, and they tell us that the CIA funded Osama Bin Laden.  I don’t want to fund any more Bin Ladens especially in a country that does not effect me at all.

We need to learn from our nation building mistakes.  We have spent enough blood and treasure fighting the wars of other nations.  How did our war in Libya go?  Kaddafi is not bombing his own people, but now the Muslim extremists are getting their revenge on former supporters of the state.  Just because some group puts together a propaganda video like Kony 2012, it doesn’t mean that America needs to get involved.  Last week someone had us sending troops to Syria, new week it will be Iran, there are floods in Pakistan so we should be there as well?  No, this is an American military that has constitutional restrictions to protect America.  Our military is not a world police force.  Do you remember how long it took America to capture Bin Laden?  Do you want to see another ten years of wasted American lives and billions of wasted American dollars sent over to the Government of Uganda to slaughter the children that are fighting for Kony and the LRA? 

There are reports that the Ugandan government has committed similar atrocities as Kony and the LRA.  We do not know the whole story, so do not allow one video on Youtube form your opinion for you.  Look at the big picture and in the end you should side with America, not Uganda.   This war in Uganda has been going on for twenty years, and Kony is not fighting himself.  The Invisible Children charity is not a unbiased source of information either.  They stand to raise millions of dollars with this campaign.  Only 38% of that money will go to the people in danger if they follow their current business model.  The rest of the money is used by the organization to promote itself and pay it's employees large salaries.  

Is the International criminal court (ICC) really an organization that we should be supporting?  The video above says no.  They claim that the ICC has muddied the situation and caused Kony to fight for his life rather than fight for his cause.  Uganda has been relatively safe for a few years, so this whole cause of Kony 2012 is designed to find a force that has been exiled to the bush of the Congo.  Do we want peace or justice, and why would we want to give legitimacy to the ICC?  The ICC is a court that has a filing on record accusing President George Bush of war crimes.  Do we really want to empower this body and give them legitimacy to punish American soldiers?  

Another strange thing is the timing of Kony 2012.  What happens at the end of 2012?  An election!  Isn't is funny how the production Kony 2012 also shows its supporters painting Obama Hope posters?  It makes me wonder what is really behind this propaganda video.  We will soon find out if Kony 2012 is being used as a political tool.  Until we know for sure, I will continue to say no to Kony 2012 and any American involvement in the region.  

Kony 2012 poster

ICC logo

© American Wing 2012

Morality is a big deal in Politics

Honest Abe: He always tried to be a moral politician
As a lawyer he never took a casethat he did not believe in.

In politics today a lot of people want to set morality aside and overlook the immoral lifestyles of today’s politicians.  So what if Obama grew up a Muslim and went to a radical black liberation theology church for twenty years.  So what if Obama’s preacher, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, said “God damn America”.  So what if Obama admitted to using hard illegal drugs like Cocaine.  So what if Obama broke dozens of campaign promises and lies to the American people on a regular basis.  Hey it is politics, and we overlook some of the sleaziest things when “our guy” is guilty of immoral behavior.   

My newest pet peeve is this idea that “it’s politics; so of course they are going to say what they need to say in order to get elected”.  Hillary Clinton embraced this point when she told Tunisia to ignore campaign rhetoric.   Essentially, she told the world not to pay attention to America’s leaders because we are a bunch of liars.  After hearing that do you think that the Arab world believes us when we say that America is not at war with Islam?  The lack of morality and accountability is unacceptable in today’s politics.  I realize that most of our politicians are lawyers that are trained to lie in order to get their way in court.  That doesn’t mean that we have to look the other way while we are lied to in politics.  The government expects us to trust our leaders to make decisions that are in the best interests of the American people.  I have absolutely no trust in this government.  They don’t give me any reason to trust them, and I am not alone. 

The government gives us unemployment numbers and forecasts that do not represent reality.  We have stimulus packages that only stimulated debt and the pockets of crony capitalists that “invest” in candidates.  We also have a healthcare bill that very few people wanted, but everyone has to pay for.  We have representatives that do not represent the people, because they are too busy representing their party.  This is evident during the townhall meetings before healthcare when several congressmen refused to face their constituents’ opposition to their votes.

You might be wondering how bad political decision making is linked to morality.  There is a direct link between the two.  If a politician lives his personal life with a me-first attitude, then of course he is going to bring that same attitude with him into politics.  Most of the people that we are electing into political office are political opportunists.  They have lied their whole lives, and put political agendas and big money donors before the people that they are supposed to be serving.  Their consciouses have been seared with a hot iron, and they do not see a problem with politics as usual.  Many of them preach family values, yet they live their lives completely different than they preach.  I am not just talking about the Democrat party here, I am talking about all of our politicians. 

The sad thing about this situation is that people look in the mirror and forgive the mistakes of our leaders.  People think that politicians are entitled to a second chance because many of us have fallen victim to the same mistakes as our leaders.  I pointed out Newt Gingrich’s three wives, and someone told me that I have obviously never been divorced.  This man was justifying Gingrich’s behavior which led to two failed marriages because it reflected his own past.   The difference is that this man is not running for President of the United States.  What the man that I was talking with does with his life is his business.  What you do with your life is your business, but what a President of the United States did in his life is everyone’s business.  I don't want my president to be my intellectual and moral equal.  I want someone that is better than me to serve as the president of the United States. 

We have 300 million people in this country.  Can’t we set the bar a little higher than it is currently set?  I don’t want to have a beer with the president.  I don’t want my president to be Joe Blow the taxi cab driver.  I want the best of the best to lead our country.  I don’t want to simply measure his intellectual capacity; I want to know that our leader is has a constant focus on morality.  Not a focus like Bill Clinton, who lied about his morality in order to protect his image.  I want a person of moral character that is proud of the life that he lives.  A man that wants to serve the American people out of a sense of duty, not as a sense of opportunity.

Have you ever heard the term evil genius?  It is about time that we stop placing smooth talkers, guys that we want to have a beer with, and evil geniuses into positions of power.  We need to start electing men of high moral character that can get the job done.  How much is trust worth to you?  I would like to trust the government to serve me for a change wouldn’t you?  Until America raises its expectations and demands to a certain level of morality in politics, we will continue to be lied to and misrepresented by politicians.  We need to stop defending liars and hypocrites on the political stage if we want some real hope and change in America.  The support of the lesser of two evils is getting old.  I don't want to put my support behind anyone that is evil, even if he is less evil than the other guy.  It is about time for Americans to start to insist that we have men of high character to lead our nation.

© American Wing 2012

Attack on Limbaugh, Conservatives, and Christians

Attacks from the left are nothing new for
Conservative Radio Show host Rush Limbaugh

There is an attack on the free speech of Conservatives and Christians in America.  This attack has been ongoing for years.  Occasionally these attacks will get some media attention around Christmas time.  During the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth, atheists tend to target manger scenes and other displays of Christian faith on both public and private lands.  These attacks go mostly unnoticed throughout the rest of the year, but the political left wages war on the freedom of speech throughout the entire year here in America.

  

When the focus of a coordinated attack by left wing activists is the free speech of a conservative media giant like Rush Limbaugh, all Americans that value their freedom of speech should take notice.  Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke, a 30 year old reproductive rights activist that went to Capitol Hill to demand Government funded contraception, a slut.  Rush then compared Fluke to a prostitute since in essence she was asking to public to pay for her to have sex.  Whether that is right or wrong is for you to decide.  Rush Limbaugh concluded that he was wrong and publicly apologized for his remarks concerning Fluke after several of his advertisers removed ads from his radio show.

The story that the media is focusing on is the story about the outrageous comments that Rush Limbaugh made about Fluke.  Then the media and the left in general got all giddy when Rush Limbaugh decided to apologize for his remarks.  I have some bad news for them, when someone is forced to apologize, they aren’t really sorry.  Rush Limbaugh is probably sorry for losing some advertisers, but that is about it.  Those advertisers are replaceable for Rush Limbaugh.  We aren't talking about some back bencher lightweight that is dependent on one or two advertisers.  Rush is in demand.  What the media should be focusing on is this left wing campaign organized by a few websites to bring a boycott against Rush Limbaugh's advertisers. 

Remember when Glenn Beck had a Television show with over 2 million viewers on Fox News?  He started shining a light on powerful liberals like George Soros, Frances Fox Piven, and Van Jones to name a few.  Left wing activists developed a boycotting war against any company that advertised on Glenn Beck’s Fox News program.  Rather than deal with the boycott advertisers refused to support Becks highly rated show and he was taken off of the air.  What we are witnessing here is an organized effort by powerful people to silence their political enemies. 

This should concern all Americans, because when one side is boycotted to silence in this political war it means that the other side is sure to find themselves on the receiving end of a counter offensive.  If you are on the left and you like the idea of silencing Rush Limbaugh, then you need to think a little deeper in this political game of chess.  You are simply a pawn waiting to draw an attack from the powerful forces of your opposition.  Do you think that the right is going to sit idly by as they are boycotted out of existence?  I think not.  

If you are successful in silencing Rush Limbaugh, then we will see boycotting efforts used as a political weapon against left wing organizations.  Imagine a Hollywood boycott by the right.  I don’t think that the movie industry wants to think about that.  Imagine a boycott of any company that employs labor unions.  That wouldn’t be good news for any buy American campaign now would it?  Where does it end?

It should end with recognition that this is America and people are free to speak their minds in the political arena.  If you don’t like Rush Limbaugh, then don’t listen to him.  I personally like what Rush Limbaugh has to say, but I rarely listen to him.  Now think about this, if I agree with Rush Limbaugh most of the time and I don’t listen to him, then why are you listening to him if you don’t like him?   It makes absolutely no sense.  Some people are just looking for a reason to be offended. 

Speaking of those people, it brings us full circle to the attempts to silence Christianity by atheists that are looking to be offended.  Bible believing Christians are silenced continuously in America.  I am not talking about Westboro Christians that receive main stream media coverage continuously as a means to mock Christianity.  I am talking about the normal everyday Christians that have made this country great throughout our nation’s wonderful history. 

The inscription on the  Liberty Bell is straight out of the Bible:
"proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the
inhabitants thereof Lev. XXV X

Our Christian heritage is being stripped away piece by piece from our country.  Can we talk about some of the great speeches in history in our classrooms?  Is George Washington’s thanksgiving proclamation taught during our national day of Thanksgiving?  Our current president won’t even give thanks to God in his disgraceful Thanksgiving address.   No one dares to speak about the faith of our founding fathers or their support of the virtues of Christianity.  Those men set up this very government to encourage the free exercise of religion, but now that same Government is the main vehicle for silencing religion.  The Ten Commandments cannot be displayed in a public courthouse, even though those same Ten Commandments are the moral foundation that our law is built upon.  There is no prayer in schools, the very same public schools that were established so that Americans could learn to read their Bibles and understand their American Representative form of government.  

The left wing assault on main stream America is continuing to  a point where nothing is off limits.  If you like Conservative radio, the left wants you take that away.  If you like celebrating Christmas in your community, the left wants to keep you indoors.  For those that don't believe the slippery slope analogy, just think about the Thanksgiving addresses between the historic presidents of the United States and this current President.  We have gone from complete support to family values, to a mindset where conservative Christian family values and our freedom of speech is on the front lines of this culture war.

© American Wing 2012

America should support the Chevy Volt

2012 Chevy Volt

The Chevy Volt was developed as a technological achievement that was designed and produced through American ingenuity and scientific advancement.   Many of my fellow conservatives scoff at the Chevy Volt.  The Volt is viewed as a big government project that was subsidized by the Obama administration.  The Volt is thought of as a crony capitalist kick back to the UAW to keep their tax payer bailed out factories at Government Motors producing green cars for Obama's liberal fantasy land.  Thoughts of the Yugo and other substandard vehicles produced in communist bloc nations during the 1980s spring to mind at the mere mention of the Chevy Volt.  Images of Hollywood liberals driving around in their $40,000 toy cars preaching a “holier than thou” green agenda enter our minds.  It is disgusting to think of the Chevy Volt being used as a tool of the wealth elites as it carries them from their fifteen thousand square foot mansions to their private jets.  Yes there are many reasons to oppose the story of the Volt, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. 

Politicians will not let us drill our way to energy independence 

None of these perceptions should force anyone in America to oppose the concept behind the Chevy Volt.  The Volt may not be the American marvel that GM and the Obama administration claim that it is, but it is a technology that needs to be pursued for the good of our country.  Not for the elimination of green house gases or global warming, but for America’s independence from foreign oil.   Let’s face the facts; we cannot get either party to drill for oil.  Don’t fool yourselves about the Republican Party either.  They have held the presidency for 20 of the last 32 years and oil prices were at their lowest point during the Clinton years.   They may be the lesser of two evils, but they sure haven’t done us many favors on the issue of energy independence.

Neither party has shown any support towards the idea of America become self sufficient when it comes to energy production.   George W. Bush had a Republican congress and all that they managed to do was to send the price of oil to record highs.  Both parties also support free trade agreements that have benefited the growth of China and forced America to compete with Communist slave labor.  These trade policies; along with government regulations on American business and high corporate taxes have forced America into this global economy.  The same economy that has increased demand for oil in China which in turn has led to increased energy prices in America.

Oil is a global commodity, and it seems that our government has decided that American petroleum companies can sell American oil to foreign countries without lowering the price for American citizens.  That is the free market right?  The oil companies drill the oil and they get to sell the oil on the world market.   If the price of gasoline is low in America, then these global energy giants will ship American oil to the highest bidder until the price of gasoline in America is raised up to the global level.  That isn’t the biggest problem with the oil market.  Fear mongering is great for the petroleum industry on the global oil market.  It seems that all that the Arab world has to do is threaten Israel and price of oil sky rockets due to speculation. 

OPEC is not going to let America lower the price of Oil

If all of that isn't bad enough, we have Russia and the OPEC nations producing a lot of the world’s oil.  If America does decide to try to drill itself out of high gas prices, then all that these less than friendly nations have to do is cut their production and American oil will be flowing away from U.S. consumers to the rest of the world.  This might be good for American oil companies, but it is not the best case scenario for American energy consumers.  As long as Saudi Arabia and the other OPEC nations have their hands on the oil spigot, we will always be at their mercy when it comes to the cost of oil.   

Hate the Chevy Volt, but love the concept

This is why all Americans should support technology like the Chevy Volt.  We need to encourage industry to produce vehicles that benefit America’s economic security and national security.   The government is going to waste money.  That is what it does.  How many times do you heard about a military jet or tank program that was canceled?  That is wasted money as far as those projects go, but the R&D involved with those platforms can lead to new development in other programs.  Likewise, any money that has been wasted by the government on the Chevy Volt may still result in a technological breakthrough down the line.  We are still investing money in cancer research and no one complains that people are still dying of cancer, what is the difference? I don’t think that anyone opposes cancer research other than Dr. No and his loyal band of followers.   It costs billions of dollars to send a man to the moon, and Newt Gingrich wants to put a colony on the moon.  I think that it would be much more beneficial for our money to stay on the earth and focus our national attention on energy independence for the good of America.  

The Chevy Volt is not the final answer to our energy independence, but it is a leap forward.  Maybe electric vehicles will never become a practical form of transportation for Americans.  That is definitely a possibility.  But putting our focus on energy independence is not a bad thing.  Rather than thinking of the Chevy Volt as a pay back to big labor unions, conservatives should view the Chevy Volt as a focus on energy independence.  I don’t remember hearing conservatives attack President Bush for giving government money to research hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, so why are so many people hostile toward the Chevy Volt?  I will never buy a Chevy Volt (here is why), and you may never buy a Chevy Volt, but if someone wants to buy a Chevy Volt I will applaud their contribution toward American Energy Independence.  Even if that person is a liberal that is more concerned about the environment than America’s Energy independence.  That person will still be doing their part to take us off of foreign oil.

 © American Wing 2012