arch stanton

To me, the word that the Obama administration has tried hardest to redefine is transparency. It was his buzzword when it suited him. No way should a United States senator have to resort to filibustering nominations to get answers. The president is commander-in-chief, not sole authority on military issues. Classifying everything under the veil of national security is dictatorial bullshit. 

This is a new area and it deserves to be debated publicly since the choices made now will affect all Americans for years to come. The more they try to hide, the more they should not be trusted.

You know, you could start your own Clippers forum, invite all the one who dislike the troll and then you can be the dictator who swings the sword of banishment.

First things first, Panetta out, Hagel in. Weapons system cuts aren't that easy because they are huge money in the states where they are produced. 

The education benefits will be back as soon as the sequester is squashed. When they finally get around to agreeing on permanent cuts, the F-35 program is going to get gutted. F-22 already has. The problem with this is that these are both Lockheed projects and Lockheed owns and operates several Republicans members of Congress in both Texas and Georgia. They are both ridiculously expensive because of the stealth technology which will become obsolete as our enemies develop other means of target acquisition besides radar. They need to get to work convincing all the other countries who were supposed to be participating on the Joint Strike Fighter that it's worth it and more cost efficient that the Eurofighter Typhoons. 

Full disclosure- Nearly every dollar I've earned in my adult life is related to the F-15. It's one of the best defense investments we've ever made. It has owned the skies for 40 years and will be around for another 20 at least.

Yes. Please note, I was incredibly drunk last night, and I DO NOT wish for the WHOLE Constitution to be rewritten. BUT, you cannot argue that there aren't some things that need Amendments. I believe in the freedom of religion (even though religious prejudice is very much alive and well in this nation) and the freedom to say whatever you want, even though some abuse that right (Westboro Baptist Church). But I also believe that our justice system needs a fixing. It's insane how much money is being poured into prisons, especially in California. But, that's for another topic. 

 

In my insane and probably irrational opinion, I do not believe that someone who has CLEARLY murdered people deserves due process. 

Cases that are that black and white are the exception and not the rule. That's the reason for the Constitution and it works. Standing by its principles is much better than the alternative.

In the case of Pastor Homophobe, he's a typical bully using his bully pulpit to enjoy the sound of his own voice. It's our responsibility to protect those who might be endangered. Did you ever notice who are the favorite targets of these clowns?  Pregnant women and gays. They don't feel so religiously superior to gangs and drug dealers because they fight back. They are cowards who hide behind a few cherry-picked lines from their favorite book of fairy tales to justify organizing their army of mouth breathers to harass the weak and unprotected in our society. If they succeed it's not the fault of the Constitution, it's the fault of those of us who won't protect our own.

the hacked issue can be resolved so I don't see that as a road block. As for due process, no one is even hypothetically suggesting using drones for civil law enforcememt. The only time drones would be used on American soil as a lethal weapon is in an extreme circumstance that calls for military action. As a military action, it would require the same kind of authorization military action is required now. Again, extreme circumstances that are improbable to ever exist in country. If lethal military action is called for, and a drone is the most efficient means to an end, why not use them as opposed to some other lethal military action?

It's nice that you say so. It's even nicer now that the government says so.

Now it's Rocks Off by the Stones

The 100 hottest women I know are mostly still performing nightly in Pattaya, Angeles City, Amsterdam, ....and there's this one ticket counter lady at the Dubai airport who could not hide behind that uniform.

I don't think I watch enough TV to qualify but NCIS is always #1 on network and I think it blows.

The underrated J Geils Band, "One Last Kiss"

 

 

Also on my ipod.

I love Animal and Dark Side and The Wall but overall I like Zeppelin a bit better.

I don't know if I'm understanding this correctly... You want to go out publicly with all the evidence against the target and publicly say that we're ready to take whatever steps necessary to neutralize the target? If that's the case, wouldn't any smart domestic terrorist run directly into a crowd of citizens? I say bring a judge in on it to make a ruling, then take out the target, THEN publicly announce what you did and why.

And are you saying you want to live in a place where people can be murdered and tried by propaganda after the fact? I don't. Innocent until proven guilty, public trial by jury, right to confront witnesses, these are good things and need to apply all the time. Proactive freedom does not exist.

This is the type of misdirection that gets you sidetracked from the issue. The issue is entitlement spending. That's what sucks up all the cash. Fix the gaping, spurting sliced artery before you bandage the scrapes on the knee.

Emmylou Harris - Red Dirt Girl

Popped up on my ipod this morning on the drive to work. 

If you ever served in the Pacific theater in any service then you know that it's time once again for "Team Spirit". It's the annual exercise that is designed to see exactly how  many US military troops can fit on the peninsula south of the 38 parallel. It never fails to agitate the North Koreans or to challenge the South Koreans to see just how much Soju and OB they can produce.

I want Barak Obama himself to stand up and explain in detail who gets to choose the murder targets, who decides the acceptable level of collateral damage and what criteria are used to decide who is an eligible target. This goes for all aspects of this unending war on terror.

Random and probably inaccurate math? Are you running for office?

Even growing up in Orange County in the 70's it was hard. My whole family were Dodgers fans but I couldn't stand the fat, noisy 3rd base coach or the phony Mr Clean guy playing 1B. Went to a few games at the Big A and I was hooked. Long live Ryan and Tanana.

In '79 they finally won the division so at least my insufferable Dodger loving friends and family had to shut up for awhile.

Hey, Bubba.

If only there was some technology, some means by which the president could see other parts of the country without leaving the White House.

Camera footage from a Predator drone?

I can't really think of much else by Sheen either that I'd highly recommend, but I would definitely recommend Badlands. Terrence Malick's first movie.

Looks interesting. I'll see if I can download it this weekend.

Not a fan of Badlands?

I don't think I've seen it.

Vietnam movies are my favorite. Apocalypse Now is in my all time top 5. It's the only thing Martin Sheen every did that I like. The Deer Hunter is a fairly distant second. 

Full Metal Jacket is great in the boot camp scenes but a bit slow once the combat starts.

Saving Private Ryan has some great combat scenes but I felt let down by the all star cast.

The examples are poor. Drones would have been useless in either case he mentioned. And I really don't care what Holder has to say. I want it from Obama's mouth.

The use of drones or any military action against Americans on American soil should be completely transparent. Any evidence against a potential target should be made public and be held to the standard of beyond reasonable doubt. It should be known in advance that no one has immunity and every person in the loop will have complete accountability for the results and collateral damage is not tolerated..

And for the record, during my time in the military I would have refused to attack Americans unless I was 100% positive that they were a threat.

As long as they're all together, they should let the College of Cardinals elect their new president.

It's unbelievably short sighted to get on the bad side of the people feeding you.