Jasper Journal

Poor Gen Petraeus.  He works wonders in Iraq; is promoted to commander of CENTCOM; is libeled and lambasted by the democrats during the election campaign in the most vile ans disrespectful way; and now is being asked to pick up the pieces of a failed policy, and assume the job of one of his subordinates. Is he still commander of Centcom? Will he have to do both jobs? Isn’t there anyone else who Obama even remotely trusts in the military? Does Obama really care?

If I were Petraeus I am not sure I would jump in and save the president after what he did. He obviously didnt care enough to defend him when the general  was under attack.  Does he owe these people anything?  All I can think of is that Petraeus cares about the troops on the ground and did this to protect their lives. The General does not need the fame or experience or the headaches. But the country needs a winner. Since we do not have one in the White House   it is clear that the vacuum must be filled. Thank you Gen Petraeus.  You are a bigger man than the president.

Arrived back in Colorado yesterday after a wonderful  family cruisevacation to Alaska.  It was my first time to our 49th state and I was awed by its beauty, grandeur and independent minded people.  They are pretty self reliant there and proud of it.  I listened to a talk given by Libby Riddle the first woman to win the Iditarod. Eighteen days of dogsledding from Anchorage to Nome in blizzard-like conditions. Made me feel like a real slouch! We stopped in  Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Anchorage and sailed through  Glacier bay.  If you have the chance, go; It will restore your faith in all things beautiful.

Now that I’m back I see that the oil spill is still not fixed, but the president  and his administration are still on top of it , as they have claimed to be from day one.  The only good news is that the press is gradually starting to wonder if this guy has the leadership abilities he claimed to have.  Maureen Dowd is mocking him, as is Bill Maher, and even democrat pundits such as Kirsten Powers are puzzled by his recent actions such as vacationing  in Chicago during the memorial day remembrance service at Arlington. He is also being buffeted by his hamhanded account  of the obvious bribe offer in  the Pennsylvania senate race.The situation in the middle east and asia could not be worse and the economy is not getting better. So where is the smartest president we ever had?

While I was away my friend Bob sent me this bit, a takeoff from the old Dragnet series. Joe Friday really says it all. .

A US District judge has just ordered that the University of Wyoming MUST allow Weather Underground leader William Ayers to speak on campus. Ayers, a 1960’s radical, linked to terrorism and, by the way, associate of our president, has had speeches cancelled at the Universities of Nebraska and Boston College.  The judge, while deploring what Ayers stands for, cited his free speech rights; the University was concerned about security issues.  Obviously free speech rights trump concerns for student safety.

Now lets move back to an analogous topic: fear of offending Islam by the media. Clearly the free speech line is drawn there because of fear of getting blown up. OK, lets review this: a 60’s radical, whose group engaged in terrorism and blew things up,  is allowed to speak  publicly because of free speech; yet radical  terrorists today who do blow things up and kill regularly, can prevent the exercise of free speech on televison and newspapers when it deals with Islam. Where does this make sense?