In The Begining

I often have a hard time finding a starting place when it comes to the current political climate and writing about it. Other times I become so distraught with emotion that it is all but impossible to write, especially when one is screaming at the news monitor that, when I am at home, runs constant news.
I have never been so involved in politics in my life, as I am at this moment. I was a student politician in college, and ran in elections, became Class President and was on several councils. That was college though, and soon I found myself on Parris Island with everybody but me doing the thinking. Politics were quickly reduced to a chain of command that I memorized and could recall on demand. Politics were forgotten about.
That way of thinking continued for a long time. I have a business to run, two daughters, and countless projects and “to do” lists that kept me plenty busy. I didn’t have time to devote to activism. I voted, listened to the news, made my own personal opinion about this or that, and went about my life.
In February, 2007, then President George W. Bush presented his budget to Congress for FY2008. It was nearly 3 Trillion dollars. I happened to be, as fate would have it, doing my own personal budget on the kitchen table. I was literally deciding if I should make a truck note, or stretch it out another week in order to pay my mechanic, and pray nothing else happened that week to any of the trucks. When the news person announced the amount to be budgeted, my ears shot up like a dog hearing a strange noise. I realize we were in two separate wars, but still, what on earth could we as a country, possibly need 3 Trillion dollars for? I wrote out that amount like I was writing a check. People, if you have not done this yet, I ask that you do it now. Get a sheet of paper and write a “check” for 3 Trillion dollars. It looks like this…

$ 3,000,000,000,000.00

Go ahead, write that check, and see if you don’t feel that sickening feeling as you go past the ninth zero. There are twelve zeros there friends. That’s how much the President reckoned we needed that year. This is what woke me up. This is what sent me sailing, headfirst into the muddied waters of politics. Honestly? Things have only become worse.

Old Glory

Testing mobile email delivery of photos. This flag has hung on my porch longer than a few of my readers have been born. God Bless America!

Moving from Facebook, well kinda...

Because of a conversation with a friend last week, I have decided to maintain the majority of my political ramblings and commentary here on TimothyPruitt, my blog. My thinking here is multifaceted, but while I will never squelch my thoughts and opinions about this or any administration, I feel that Facebook, or at least my very close-knit group of friends and family tend to use the service to keep up with how everyone is doing, rather than use the service as a diving board for political rhetoric. In no way am I backing down from those that believe our government should continue to grow and allow our country to continue to grow dependant on handouts until we are a socialist union. I will fight, in any way that I possibly can, fight and out this abhorrent behavior until my heart beats no more.

When I have added a new post here, I will post a link and brief comment about what the post is about. To my continued, faithful, like-minded (and otherwise) readers, I say thank you! Thank you for being here and thank you for your support. If you are reading my blog for the first time, I welcome you and encourage your thoughts and opinions.

TimothyPruitt

The Firing of a War Time General

by: Timothy Pruitt

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has issued David McKiernan, the top US Commander in Afghanistan, his walking papers. The firing of a wartime Commander has not occurred since the controversial firing of Douglas MacArthur on 11 May, 1951 while commanding the Korean theater. While
McKiernan, a four star General, has been on the job less than a year, Gates says he is looking for, “fresh thinking” and “new eyes” on Afghanistan.
"We have a new strategy, a new mission and a new ambassador. I believe that new military leadership is also needed," Gates said.
Unnamed sources inside the Pentagon say that McKiernan has been labeled as over cautious and too conventional minded for the unique skills required for counterinsurgency. These feelings are apparently echoed in the statements of Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander of U.S. forces, who sees the Iraq and Afghanistan missions as more than killing the enemy, but protecting its population and helping to rebuild the local governments. Sentiments which seem to have hailed from the White House.
Gates praised McKiernan’s “decades of distinguished service”, but fell short of being overly critical.
Asked by reporters whether this decision would effectively end McKiernan's military career, Gates replied: "Probably." Douglas MacArthur was greeted with a hero’s welcome upon returning to Washington, and many Senators attempted to rally the retired General to run for President. The plan never got off the ground, as MacArthur faded away from public life.
McKiernan will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal,
the director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff who recently ran the special operations forces in Iraq. McChrystal takes over with his own share of controversy. McChrystal came under fire for his role in the delay of acknowledgment of the "friendly fire" death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, a former NFL player, in Afghanistan in 2004, an incident likely to come up during confirmation.
McChrystal takes the lead as today’s USA headlines scream out about the five US servicemen killed by a fellow soldier at a Baghdad counseling center. No other media source seems to mentioning this, at this writing. This watermarks the deadliest bout of violence between US servicemen since the start of the Iraq war, and should echo through the halls of the Pentagon the urgent need of counseling, training, and just how bad an idea the stop-loss initiative was/is.
All this proves to me that all these West Point types and Politicians alike can’t see the damned trees because they are staring at the forest.
Wake up America!