These, in the day when heaven was falling . . .

        In 1917 A.E. Housman wrote the short poem "An epitaph on an army of mercenaries."(you can read the poem here)
He was using the word mercenaries ironically, describing the professional soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force, who were all but slaughtered by overwhelming numbers of German forces. Their existence as a unit was ended after the battle of Ypres in 1914, but they did manage to halt the German offensive. The world has used mercenary soldiers since the time of the Spartans, who, having little in the way of resources, traded in soldiers instead.

The Dog Whistle and the Scum who Hear it.

They aren't actually dogs. calling them that is an insult to decent canines the world over, but it's politically known as the "Dog Whistle" because it's a special whistle tuned to above human hearing that dogs can hear and we can't. 

The other guy's arrow.

Word has reached me today that North Korea, otherwise known (ironically) as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, has acquired the technology necessary to construct a nuclear warhead small enough to be fitted to a long range ballistic missile. Whether this is true or not has not yet been credibly determined. President Trump, in a textbook-Trumpian show of petulance and temper, said to reporters from his vacation in New Jersey that any further threats from North Korea would result in "Fire and Fury such as the world has never known."  The DPRK just threatened to attack Guam, an American territory. Now it's on Trump. Do you take military steps, Mr Trump ? Do you?  What else is left, a blistering Tweet-Storm ? A massive Facebook Attack ? Going to get your bot-net to all applaud your insults thrown at a man who answers insults with bullets ? A leader who purged his command staff by having them shot ? Who murdered his own brother ? North Korea has an estimated 20 or so nuclear warheads. It is unknown what delivery systems they may have, but they have the warheads, and where there's a will there's a way. Well, Donnie, you have effectively painted yourself into a corner. If you back down, or even can be seen as backing down, Kim will label you a coward and continue to make provocations and demonstrations, most likely escalating them, until someone hits the wrong button or issues a vague order that is misinterpreted, and the next thing you know, Mr President, you will be a wartime president watching in helpless horror as hundreds of thousands of Koreans are slaughtered by the North's artillery, and our 28000 man force gets broken on the wheel of a million or so North Korean conscripts. How many fighters do we have to brush aside the NK air force ? How many NK SAMs are we willing to eat ? How many nukes will Kim set off, just to spite us ? The end-game here is not pretty.

The long, hot summer.

I remember it. the interval between June 17 1972 and August 9 1974 -- in between the time of the Watergate break-in and Nixon's resignation from office. The whole thing started over a relatively minor break-in at the Watergate, and spun out into conspiracies to silence people, fired Justice Department officials, congressional committees, and finally, the President who originated the phrase "It's not illegal if the President does it" resigned from office hours ahead of being impeached.
Now, 45 years later, we have another President who is working under a cloud of suspicion and derision. Suspicion because he and his campaign staff have, by all appearances, colluded with a hostile foreign power in using illegal means to gain information with which to alter the outcome of the election, and possibly even with Russian attempts to hack election boards nationwide. Further, The President has openly denied even the possibility of hacking or election tampering. Further, the President has fired the Director of the FBI in order to stonewall or stall the investigation that might show his people up as corrupt criminals. There are other, less notable things, but it is slowly becoming clear that there is a serious issue at hand here, one that might very well end the Trump presidency in an impeachment and removal from office.

The Great Crusade.

73 years ago today, American, British, Canadian and Free French forces waded ashore in Normandy, beginning what overall Commander General Dwight David Eisenhower called "The Great Crusade". 

The operation had been called off before. Weather was closing in, and summer storms were coming. Eisenhower had to make a dangerous decision. I have little doubt he didn't sleep the night before making the decision. Finally, he stepped into his briefing room and told the assembled officers: "We Go. "
The men got back on the ships they'd been on before and waited. Most were seasick. Many violently so. Yet, when the time came, they got down into those Higgins boats and set off for shore. Many of them would later say they went not because of the Great Crusade against the Nazis, or because they were ordered to, but because their buddies were going. But make no mistake, whatever reason made them go, every last damn one of them were brave men. As someone else once said -- the brave man is the fellow who is scared, knows it, yet bites back his fear and goes anyway. He is brave for maybe a few more minutes than the other guy. On one beach in particular, American soldiers got down into the boats and went. They went into the most vicious, concentrated barrage of rifle, machine-gun, artillery, and mortar fire ever. The Germans knew all about Higgins boats. They knew that you waited until the ramp dropped and then fired a burst of MG-42 fire into the opening. They knew that most of the men so treated did not live to reach the shore. The men in the boats knew all that too. And knowing it, they went anyway.
So, today, June 6th 2017, I write my little memorial to those brave men. All of the ones who waded ashore that grim morning deserve our thanks.

Memorial Day.

Memorial Day:

He's gone where the woodbine twineth. He's been called to higher service. He's paid the ultimate price. Given the ultimate sacrifice. Stopped a packet. Bought one. Bought a Farm. Mustered to Fiddler's Green. Sleeping with the angels. "Another Marine reporting in. They say they let 'em in, for they've already served their time in Hell. "
Euphamisms for killed in action. Died because there was a war on, and men (and increasingly women) must die in battle. This day used to be a day for somber reflection and for visiting the graves of your fallen family and friends, and for cleaning them up and polishing the brass. Now, it's mostly just Barbeques, Beer and Auto Racing. There's nothing wrong with those things, so long as we all remember those whose gruesome, horrible death made it possible. So tip one back for the boys of the Argonne, Tarawa, Mosul, Swat valley and other less familiar places. Take a moment to remember the guys who're On Eternal Patrol. Don't just remember why they went, and why they died, but How they died. Because it is only by remembering the horrors of war that we impell ourselves to limit the times we make war. Yes, war is sometimes necessary. But by the blood of those who won't ever be coming back, please only make war when you have to.

Okay. enough preaching. Go back to your sports and beer. You earned it.

The Passing of a Strategic Thinker.

I did not personally know Zbigniew Brzezinski, but I witnessed his work. 

 

 Brzezinski's name will always be tied in my mind with Henry Kissinger, who remains a public figure. In the early and mid seventies, those two names were on everyone's lips, like Damon and Pythias. I did not and do not agree with Kissinger's "Realpolitik" idea of dealing with whoever we needed to deal with in order to achieve some supposedly desirable end. However, this is not about my disagreements with Kissinger.This is about the man who was President Carter's national security advisor, and who along the way managed to have an illustrious academic career. Personally, I disagreed with many of Brzezinski's ideas, but he was a man of intellect and learning, who had grown up as a young boy seeing the rise of the Nazis. Brzezinski was a man of reason in a time where men of reason were rare. I offer my condolences to his family and friends.