A Hollow Military

Obama hates America. There are few areas where this is more apparent than in the condition of our nation's armed forces.

Forget about the longtime standard of a military capable of fighting two major wars simultaneously, which the United States abandoned four years ago. The current military would have trouble fighting one major conflict.

That is the assessment of some prominent defense experts, who contend the military has degraded to dangerous levels after eight years under President Obama.

“We have lost our edge,” said Daniel Goure, senior vice president of the Lexington Institute. “We are no longer technologically superior in a whole list of areas … This is a military that is on the brink of collapse.”

For years liberals have argued that America cannot be the world's policeman. But most other nations do not operate under the same guiding principles of freedom and personal liberty that America possesses. It is foolish to assume otherwise.

Throughout recorded history we are  reminded that powerful nations will extend their sphere of influence and crush those that oppose them. The only way that this oppression can be resisted is through the application of military power.

If and when our political leaders determine that we are not capable of resisting foreign influence, they will surrender our interests to please other nations. Under whose sphere of influence do you wish to live your life? China? Russia? Iran?

Our overwhelming superior military strength is what has kept us free. That freedom could be lost if our military becomes weak and ineffective, which is exactly what Obama's agenda is trying to accomplish.

“We are actually below peacetime levels,” said John Venable, a retired Air Force colonel who serves as a senior research fellow with The Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense. “But we’re actually fighting a war.”

This is the change that Obama promised.

• The Army needs 25 brigades to fight one major conflict. It has 31, but Venable said only 10 are “mission ready.” 

• The Navy had 272 ships, below its 308-ship goal, and Venable said only about a third of the vessels are ready for combat. 

• The Air Force needs 600 planes to fight one major conflict. Although the service currently has 1,159, Venable said less than half are ready for combat. 

• The Marine Cops has 23 battalions, more than the 13 needed to fight one major conflict, but the Heritage report estimates only half are ready.

Story here and more here.

Johnny Angel

My daughter called me this afternoon to ask me a question regarding information she had received from my grandson. His friends showed him a nude picture of a girl in his middle school; she had sent it to one boy's cell phone and of course it went from him to his friends and their friends. I told her it was a felony to possess or transmit this image file and to inform the school principal immediately. The principal was already aware as was the child's parents; the local police are investigating it as well.

I feel bad for this young girl - only 13 or 14 years old. Those images will never go away and she will have a potential source of embarrassment hanging over her head for many years.

There are reasons, none good, why she did this. Lack of judgement and naivete are two of them. The social and emotional pressures on young people today are enormous and so many lack the stability and maturity to resist them.

It truly was a lot easier "back in the day" when sex was seen irrevocably tied to marriage. Our culture then supported that notion and it was reflected in our pop music. "Going to the Chapel" by the Dixie Cups was one such example. Another was "Johnny Angel."

It is really really tough to stay a kid nowadays.