This is why President Reagan was able to “tear down that wall” and win the Cold War.
He was a true role model for leadership and what a President is.
– Faith in G-d.
– A strength of convictions.
– The Integrity that touches hearts.
– Courage to carry forward.
– Pride in our nation.
– Judicious use of our might.
Go USA! 😉
Space Force as another full branch of the military is the right thing to do!
The things that get focused on, get accomplished.
Space is the “final frontier.”
And as Gene Roddenberry realized with the creation of Star Trek in 1964, it is the future of Mankind’s very survival.
It’s time to stop thinking small as in planet Earth, and start thinking big as there is a whole universe out there!
Russia and China get it–hence their development and testing of anti-satellite rockets and other “kill vehicles” in space as well as lasers and jamming equipment against our satellites, and of course, their plans to colonize the Moon and land men on Mars and beyond.
Why have we in America only gotten it in Hollywood?
Yes, there have been a few notable exceptions such as President Reagan with his vision for the Star Wars’ Strategic Defense Initiative and President Trump with the bonafide stand up of a Space Force.
Some of the Pentagon brass, particularly the Air Force, may hem and haw about the politics of this thing…losing money and prestige for their branch of the military, but their power is not the concern, our power as a nation is!
I envision a day in the not too distant future when the Air Force doesn’t run Space Command, but rather Space Force runs the Air Force.
We need to put politics aside and stop laughing at our own ignorance about the potential of space for our future survival and for conflict. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So our Navy is shrinking for real, but growing on the books.
Steve Cohen writes in the Wall Street Journal how the “U.S. Navy is stretched too thin.”
And we are down to just 283 ships, but for reporting purposes it’s 293–that is–because we now include hospital ships, small coastal patrol vessels (“lightly armed [with machine guns]…and not true oceangoing”), and a high-speed transport in the calculus.
Moreover, “only 35% of the U.S. Navy’s entire fleet is deployed, fewer than 100 ships, including just 3 aircraft carriers.”
According to the Heritage Foundation, gone is the promise of a mighty U.S. with a formidable 600-ship navy, and instead “U.S. naval leaders are struggling to find ways to meet a new requirement of around 300 ships…with “predictions [that] show current funding levels would reduce the fleet to [just] 263 ships.”
Sure, today’s fleet is comprised of ships more capable than predecessors, but our enemies are also not resting on their laurels.
China is now building its 2nd aircraft carrier, and Russia has formally secured Crimea home to it’s Black Sea fleet.
The function for military readiness includes not only capability of each, but numbers available to fight.
There are times that less is more, but less can also be less. 😉
(Source Photo: here with attribution to Jon Olav)
There is a very good interview in the Wall Street Journal today (14-15 July 2012) with George Shultz, former Secretary of State, Treasury, and Labor.
Shultz talks primarily about our countries devastating financial situation today.
On the economy, he states bluntly: “We have some big problems in this country.”
But according to the interview “the policies for revival are obvious with the right leadership.”
Shultz gives an example of former President Reagan (who I blogged about previously (24 June 2012) in It’s The Right Thing To Do] as someone who had what it took to lead us out of difficult times.
“It took long-term thinking…[Reagan] knew and we advised him you can’t have a decent economy with the kind of inflation we’ve got…The political people would come in and say ‘You’ve fot to be careful Mr. President…You’re gonna lose seats in the mid-term election.”
And as Shultz reminds us, what was Reagan’s response?
“And he basically said, ‘If not us who? If not now when?”
The article goes on that “it took a politician with an ability to take a short-term hit in order to get the long-term results that we needed.”
Reagans words and deeds remind me of the Jewish teaching from the Book of Avot (“Ethics of Our Fathers”) from more than 2,000 years ago which reads in 1:14–
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
And if I am [only] for myself, what am I?
And if not now, when?”
Reagan was in tune with this ancient wisdom of our forefathers, that we have an obligation to take the appropriate actions to care for ourselves and others and not to put off these actions unto others or for later.
This is one of those true leadership qualities that made Reagan one of the most popular and favorite leaders on the 20th century.
Reagan acted based on principle and not based on votes–the long-term health and outcomes for the country was more important than the minute-by-minute polling.
Of course a leader needs to represent the will and wishes of the people, but he must do so with the bigger-picture and long-term view in mind for the nation to survive and thrive.
Similarly Peggy Noonan writes today about how we need a “political genius” to get us out of the mess we are in as a nation.
She too uses Reagan as an example and explains how he used to state about congress that: “when they feel the heat [from voters], they see the light,” and it is the President’s job to help the people understand and “galvanize them.”
As Ms. Noonan states about a real leader: “he’s direct and doesn’t hide his meaning in obfuscation, abstraction, cliches and dead words.”
A leader who knows and believes as in the wisdom of fathers, and like Ronald Reagan, “If not us who? If not now when?”
(Source photo: here with attribution to Tom Magliery)
In election season, there is a lot of confusing messaging and as citizens, we are left trying to figure out where to go with our country’s leadership next.
The rhetoric is heating upas each side tries to outdo the other on why they are right and the other side is wrong on the issues and who will be better at leading us into the future.
– But where is the negotiation, balance, compromise, and win-win for all the people?
Then of course, there is the blame gamethat seems to go on too, with politicians saying things aren’t getting done because of partisanship or this administration or that’s mistakes–this is the finger-pointing.
– What ever happened to the buck stops here?
Related, we have others that won’t even admit what they’ve said or where they standon the issues–first, they may just try to deny it and say they never said it, and perhaps later, they admit they said it, but they didn’t mean it quite that way–like, it’s a sound bit taken out of context.
– Is this conviction or just playing to the audience?
Finally, what are candidates even trying to sell us when they are electioneering–slogans, potshots, sleight-of-hands, political publicists or genuine directionfor how to make this country great.
– Is it a person, a party, or a platform that we are even voting for and how does race, ethnicity, sex, religion and so forth factor in to the votes?
Some commentators, like Peggy Noonan, have rightfully said (Wall Street Journal, 18-19 June 2012) that candidates must find a theme that people can sensibly grasp unto–something that gives a “sense of meaning” for their run.
Ultimately, we need to know who the candidates are as human beings–what is in their soul–what do they really think–and most important, what will they actually do, if they have the power.
A few weeks ago the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial called “Four Words that Moved The World: ‘Tear Down This Wall'”–those where the words uttered by then President Ronald Reagan on June 12, 1987 in a speech in front of the Berlin Wall.
Reagan told his deputy chief of staff that even though some would be mad at him for saying it, “it’s the right thing to do.”
Those six words are even more powerful than the four in his speech, because, especially as a leader, doing–not just saying–the right thing, is everything!
The hard part, as voters, is figuring out who will dowhat the right thing when they are called on.
(Source Photo: herewith attribution to Randy Robertson)
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