Readying for departure

[aadler]

 
Things stack up, and days go by, and then I take a look and it’s been weeks since I’ve posted. Not because there was nothing to say, but … well, just because.

First Cut — Family Stuff

Susan finally got transferred to the ICU position she’s wanted since her first few months as a night supervisor. She’s also in an online doctoral program (advanced nursing practice) that’s been taking literally all of her spare time. And, two, days from now, wel’ll be flying to Amsterdam for her to present a paper at an international conference, after which we’ll sightsee through the Netherlands and perhaps a few neighboring countries. Two weeks. Unlikely that I’ll be able to maintain a regular chronicle of that particular vacation, but I’ll try.

My birthday was four days ago. My son turned 21 today. All my children are now legal-drinking-age adults. I drove to center-state yesterday to 1) pick up Susan’s passport, 2) leave her scrofulous poodle with the kids for two weeks’ care, and 3) congratulate my son on attaining manhood. (This coming a week after someone at a restaurant gave Susan and me the senior discount without our having requested it.)

Close First Cut

Second Cut — Fanfic Issues

The last time I was in Amsterdam — strictly for an airport stop — I wrote the drabble “Parting Shot” while waiting for my departure flight. I may try to turn out an entirely new story this visit (the way I wrote “Yet to Be Seen” in its entirety during my furlough in Germany). The problem is that I don’t have any short-term ideas right now that are clamoring for attention. Something to think about … but I’d better start thinking soon.

Close Second Cut

And now — you’ve been warned — I’m about to make some political observations.

Third Cut — Political

I’m going to Iraq next year. We’ve already received notice as a unit, the official kind that puts a stop-loss, until the end of the deployment, on anyone 1) whose enlistment was otherwise due to expire, 2) who was eligible to retire, or 3) who wanted to transfer to another unit.

None of that bothers me. I was a volunteer in all my previous tours (de facto in the first, in that I joined precisely in order to go to war, and signing actual official volunteer statements for the next two), and I’d do it again except that it’s not necessary this time, I’m past the two-year window that would prevent me from being deployed without my explicit consent. What bothers me — what scares the hell out of me, in fact, in a way that attacks with rockets and mortars and the always-present possibility of roadside bombs never did — is the prospect of going into a combat theater under a President Obama.

Socially, of course, I think he would be a disaster for the nation. He is the most liberal candidate ever to seriously approach the presidency. He is a man chosen and groomed by socialist, communist, and radical mentors (with whom he appears to be in substantial or total agreement). He is a proponent of:

• nationalized medicine
• card-check union votes
• protectionist trade barriers
• redistributive tax policies
• mandatory shift to alternative energy sources, regardless of their economic feasibility or lack of same
• abortion on demand, for any reason or none at all, including opposition to any attempt to grant the status of “human being” to such infants as happened to survive the initial abortion
• a “living constitution” philosophy that continually reinterprets our fundamental legal document from a standpoint of what a given judge thinks it ought to mean at a given moment rather than what it actually says.

He could easily turn out to be the worst president this country has ever had. All of those things worry me. All of them alarm me. All of them matter, and matter urgently.

It is his international naiveté, however — coupled with an arrogance he’s never been able to hide — that put me in literal fear of my life. Because, damn it, I’ll be there, where his approach will succeed or fail … and fail it surely will.

The leader matters. America was humiliated by Iran for the better part of a year because the mullahs took the measure of Jimmy Carter and concluded (correctly) that he had no spine. Ronald Reagan ended the hostage crisis simply by being sworn in, because the same mullahs believed (probably correctly, but we’ll never know because their fear of him meant we never had to find out) that he would hit them with everything we had. Reagan brought down the Soviet Union with aggressive policies in which they were convinced (again, probably correctly) that he wasn’t bluffing.

McCain sounds like Reagan. Obama sounds like Carter. And you can bet that our enemies overseas have gotten the same impression.

Al Qaeda went for broke in Iraq … and broke, because American will (focused through a leader who, despite numerous and significant flaws, wouldn’t be swayed from pursuit of the fundamental goal) never did break. If Obama is elected, the U.S. will have a giant “KICK ME” sign posted on its back.

And I’ll be out there at what used to be the tip of the spear, but may — by then — be the seat of the pants awaiting the kick.

Comments

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Obama wants to talk to our enemies and invade our friends. McCain wasn't my first choice for the GOP nominee, but by GOD he's better than the alternative. Stay as safe as possible over there. I'll be praying for you--no matter who gets elected. *hugs*

[aadler]

Regardless of election results, I’ll have time to prepare before I actually have to go for the next tour. It’s still months away. I do wish, however, that I had more confidence in the good sense of my fellow countrymen.

[lwbush.livejournal.com]

I have no words.

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[aadler]

Pray that Obama loses … or that, if he wins, he turns out to have MUCH MORE, in the way of both character and capability, than I believe him to possess. That’s a place where I would be overjoyed to find myself wrong.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

*blinks* It was your birthday? How did I miss this, I have alerts set up because of my awful memory .... :-( Well, happy birthday to everyone in your household!

*whispers* I've been trying to be nice about it because of 80% of my flist, but I feel exactly the same way you do about Obama. Oh, and thank you for your service.

[aadler]

My service is a matter of pleasure as much as of pride. I knew serving in combat would be dangerous — I was fool enough to join because it was dangerous — but I would prefer that the danger be implicit in the service, rather than imposed on me by someone else’s incompetence.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, I joined the fire department because it was dangerous, too -- what nobody told me is that it was also dirty, cold, hot, wet, boring, and frustrating. I'll bet you know exactly what I'm talking about! We don't get shot at all that often, though, and I've never been shipped off to another country.

Regardless, everyone wants to know they have good leaders.

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

I'll be continuing to pray for you out there. I wish I could tell you I still believed in a McCain win but it's looking seriously doubtful.

[aadler]

You know, I’m beginning to wonder just how doubtful it truly is. All the media gloating, all the carefully slanted polls, all the triumphant assertions that the race is basically over already … these things are offered in place of (but fail to fully obscure) the fact that the race gets tighter as the finish line approaches. In presidential races, the polls always show the Republican as doing more poorly than he truly is; even when he loses, he generally loses by less than predicted. (In one of Reagan’s elections, the polls called it dead even, and he pulled off a sweep.) CBS tries to give Obama a 14-point lead, but more objective surveys made it 6 points, and in the last few days it’s closer to 3 … which, at this level, is within the margin of error.

I’m taking nothing for granted. American voters not only elected Bill Clinton, they RE-elected him after the loathsomeness of his character was unmistakable. I genuinely believe, however, that this is far from being a done deal, and I would love, love, LOVE to watch the mainstream media dropping from apoplexy and black depression if McCain managed to pull off a win.

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

It would hardly be the first time the media was caught by surprise. What is remarkable to me is how many undecided voters there are out there. Both candidates have been fairly clear in their platforms. They are drastically different from each other in their approaches. Surely a choice isn't that difficult to make.