Backing Down

Sometimes it takes a historical perspective to appreciate a true leader. When you look back at the Cuban missile crisis, I am sure that some Americans were ready to fold and let the Soviet Union base missiles in Cuba. Those Americans were probably wringing their hands and bemoaning the end of the world because President Kennedy refused to back away from confrontation. It is important to note that the nuclear devastation caused by JFK’s bold stance resulted in a substantial number of casualties. No wait. That was LBJ and Vietnam. Please note that I am referring to what I would consider a strong leader who happens to be a Democrat. Sadly, JFK and his brother Robert were both assassinated more than likely for double crossing the American mafia bosses. That is just my spin after looking at the probable list of candidates.

In our modern history, the other great leader was Ronald Reagan, who took the JFK stance one step further. He had the vision to see that the Soviet system was in shambles and knew that just a small push would topple it. He stood firm even through the cacophony of protests from all sides on the end of the world in a nuclear firestorm. Number of casualties from that crisis: one, the USSR. America remains the sole superpower both militarily and economically. America has always been successful when it has a leader committed to maintaining the course. The myriad of naysayers only want you to change your mind so they can accuse you of flip flopping. We all had a front row seat to a first class flip flopper in the last Presidential election. America chose the man who they knew would stay the course.

Now we have a President who is under siege from all sides on his policies. His rating is in the basement based on both domestic and foreign policy. Yet, employment is steady, jobs plentiful, economy is robust and life is great. What do American’s have to be upset about? We have the war in Iraq and troops in Afghanistan. This part of our Presidents policy is beyond question. We are fighting a war and to those who think otherwise, find a sky scraper and take up residence. You will get your turn in the plunge to Earth or the burst of flame as the jet fuel erupts into a ferocious explosion. Please start looking now because that is what will happen if we do not finish this war. The parts of our President’s policies that I think are flawed are his domestic ideas. He has spent more money on placating citizens that any President before him. His policy on immigration leaves huge holes in both national security and domestic programs. It is a shame that our southern border is so open and that the citizens of Mexico are very similar in looks to the terrorists from the Middle East. Lock it up and control the entry. And while you are at it, catch and export those here illegally back to their own countries. That serves to reduce the costs to our domestic programs which should be for American citizens. After all it is our money. If you want to come to America, do it the legal way. I welcome legal immigration. But our President has not shown a propensity to change his mind which on domestic policy will only end badly. I do whole heartedly support his stance on world terrorism. It has been almost 5 years and we are not backing down.

Icool

Cobb