What's Next?

The election of 2012 resulted in "no change"! For Veterans and concerned Americans that means the war on terror continues, although the administration still believes in negotiations with radicals which puts our country at risk for the next four years. We must all remain vigilant and look out for America; and be vocal about the threats we see. America is on a path that is not what our founders envisioned, a path that could destroy us from within. Stay involved in your government, in two short years we will be able to have our voice heard again.

Benghazi

The facts show a cover up - Benghazi will be the President's Watergate. Some questions that we need answered. When and who new what was happening in real time? Is it true that General Ham (African Command) was going to send a quick reaction force to rescue those under attack notified the pentagon and was told to "stand down", he elected to proceed with the operation and was "relieved" of command, and now it has been announced that he is retiring. A Navy Admiral, who was going to support the rescue operation was also relieved of command. We had AC-130 support available along with other assets (interview with General Ham), and it appears that the Navy Seals who were engaged with the enemy expected air support which never came, and four people died. This should not go away before the election, let's ask the questions and demand answers.

Vets Make a Difference in 14 Days

Here is a reminder of what we can and should do to make a change in this election. We cannot afford four more years of the same administration. More than 1,000 American soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan in the last 27 months. This is more than the combined total of the nine years before. Thirty have died in August. During the last month, over 50 additional NATO and US servicemen have been murdered, inside jobs by those who are hired to be a so-called "force for good" in Afghanistan. The commander in chief is AWOL. Not a peep, although he ordered the White House flag flown at half-staff for the Sikhs that were killed. There is a deep disgust, a fury, growing in the ranks of the military against the indifferent incompetence of this president. It has taken on a dangerous tone. No one knows what to do about him, but the anger runs deep as the deaths continue with no strategic end in sight to the idiocy of this war and how it is being handled. Obama has had 4 years to end this futile insanity, during which time he has vacationed, golfed, campaigned, and generally ignored the plight of our men and women in uniform. But, there is now a movement afoot in the armed services to launch a massive get out the vote drive against this president. Not just current active duty types, but the National Guard, Reserves, the retired, and all other prior service members. This is no small special interest group, but many millions of veterans who can have an enormous impact on the outcome of the November election if they all respond. The million military retirees in Florida alone could mean an overwhelming victory in that state if they all show up at the polls. It might not keep another one hundred U.S. troops from dying between now and November, but a turn out to vote by the military against this heart breaking lack of leadership can make a powerful statement that hastens a change to the indifference of this shallow little man who just lets our soldiers die. Veterans: Please forward to your lists. High Priority!

A Clear Choice

The choice in this 2012 election could not be clearer for voters. People vote based on different issues, but surveys tell us the key issue this year is our economic demise. The differences in the two candidates and their platforms on the issues is starkly different. Here are some examples: The Economy - President Obama would continue to ignore the free enterprize/business model in favor of more government intervention. Governor Romney understands that the government model has not worked in the past four years, he has the experience and goal of vitalizing the private sector, and creating 12 million jobs. Social Issues - Governor Romney is a man of faith, the platform recognizes our rights come from God, and our nation has been blessed by Him. Governor Romney believes marriage is between one man and one women, and is strongly pro-life. President Obama had to intercede at the Democratic convention to get the mention of God back in the platform. President Obama supports Gay marriage, even when 31 states have rejected it, and he is pro-choice, favoring abortion. National Security - President Obama proposes massive cuts in our defense, he has exercised a policy of appeasement to our enemies, apologizing for America's role in world. His platform failed to mention Jerusulem as the capital of Israel until he had it changed on the floor of the convention. Governor Romney understands the world wants and needs America to lead, and to lead from a positon of strength, he favors more not less defense spending, his platform recognizes Jerusulem as the capital of Israel. No matter which key issue determines a vote, the choice is clear in all the three key areas of issues. We must elect Governor Romney in November.

The Only Choice in 2012

The American "comeback" must begin in 2012, we risk losing the game if we keep the current administration for another four years. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs recently said that our number one threat to national security is our economic demise - the risk of becoming like Europe. We can see it beginning already in many of our states, California, Illinois and others are heading down a path that has no recovery without bold new initiatives by bold new leaders. Our nation must elect Romney and Ryan as true leaders who will take on the challenges that are being ignored by the current president. Let's remember the comeback path taken by President Reagan in his first term; he focused on the economy, it recovered, and he went on in his second term to bring down the Soviet Union and end the cold war. We can do that again if we make the right choice in November. All of us can influence friends and family to vote for America first and elect a new President and a team that we can trust to lead.

A Call to Involvment

If we love America we must get involved in this most critical election in 90 days. The facts are clear we must make a course correction before it is to late. There is a desperate attempt by the president to win at any cost,his campaign avoids fact and only attacks with rumors and lies. All of us must help citizens focus on the truth; the economy is hurting Americans, the debt rises with no budget or effort to reduce spending, businesses are under attack, America's moral foundations are being eroded, the military is being drastically reduced while our enemies grow stronger. We must elect a new President in November, it is time to sound the alarm to our fellow citizens to do what is right for our nation.

Support and Defend the Constitution

Veterans took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of  the United States of America.  That oath is for life, in or out of the service.  Veterans can make  difference in this election year by influencing family and friends to vote for keeping America the country our founders envisioned.   We cannot sit this one out - we must do all we can to remember that the threat comes from within and outside our borders.  Individual rights mean less government in our lives, leaders who will stand up and deal with the financial crisis we are in, and keeping our nation strong in a world where many would bring American down if they could.  As Veterans, we must remember the oath we took, and then do what is right for America in 2012.

Vote for America

The 2012 election may well be the most important in our nation's history. Voting for America means focusing on the key issues that are threatening our future. There are many citizens who do not vote, they need to realize how critical their voice is in this election, there are others who are "locked in" to the personality and charisma of the president and refuse to see the direction the country is heading; and there are others who have taken extreme positions on both sides of the issues. Our nation is more polarized than ever, but there are millions of people who are in the middle, and they are the ones that will determine the outcome in 2012. We must focus on three areas that threaten America's future, and view them not as partisan issues, but as key decisions for voters.
1. The danger to America's economy that must be addressed is spending and adding to the debt. The government seems incapable of making the hard decisions needed, the senate is dysfunctional and has failed in addressing fiscal needs. A balanced budget and a new tax code are what citizens should demand, jobs will follow.
2. Veterans understand what has happened in the past when we have disarmed and cut our defense budget only to see threats arise and the need for a military increase to be recognized. In today's threat environment, America does not have time to repeat that cycle, we must stay strong, the current cuts planned are dangerous and reckless.
3. The President has now decided his energy policy will be "all the above", and his campaign has outlined the policy, but without specifics. We have not increased drilling, we have not built new nuclear plants, we have stymied the pipeline that would bring Canadian oil, and we have wasted billions of dollars on failed "green energy" initiatives - the record of this administration is clear and has failed.
If the millions of voters who identify as themselves as independent, and love their country, will vote for America by electing candidates who will address the these issues in a bold way and make decisions that will change direction and restore our nation to what the founders envisioned.

Ahmadinejad, Saddam, and Ghaddafi

All this news about how hard it will be to hit Iran's nuclear installations to deal with the threat fails to take a look at recent history. When we were concerned about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, we targeted the "leadership" (Saddam); the same was true with Ghaddafi, we attempted to get him twice instead of bombing the desert in the hope of finding weapons. Why is this not an option when we have identified Iran as a nation of terror; the same as was done with Iraq and Libya. It addition, Iran is killing US troops and is the enemy of our friends. If the decision is made to attack Iran by the US or Israel, it should follow the precedent of Iraq and Libya, and opt for the easier targets of Iran's leadership. The easiest road to defeating Iran is to "cut the head off the snake".

Veterans Speak

In Clovis, New Mexico, there is a large sign on the highway that speaks to the critical issues facing our country. At the bottom of the sign it says: "paid for by a Vietnam Vet still fighting for his country". Millions of veterans can see the dangers from within and from outside, this vet speaks his mind to the thousands of passing vehicles.
"SO NOW WE KNOW CHANGE EQUALS"
MORE DEBT
MORE TAXES
MORE REGULATIONS
MORE GOVERNMENT
MORE WASTFUL SPENDING
MORE CORRUPTION

Thanks to this vet for doing what he can!

Focus on Priorities

For all voters, and especially veterans, we need to focus on the priority needs of America in the coming election. There is a lot of smoke out there making it difficult to see clear solutions presented by candidates. I would offer the following three priorities for 2012 that must happen to recover America. (1) US GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO STOP SPENDING - balanced budget, new tax code, reduce government size. (2) RETURN POWER TO THE CITIZENS - State and local governments, schools, public services need to be removed from the federal government. (3) THE WAR ON TERROR IS NOT OVER - A new strategy is needed, re-examine every country and area we have troops, focus on the enemy, and provide more not less resources to our military. Veterans can look at candidates and measure their rhetoric by the three areas mentioned. Voters who know the threat can help recover our great nation.