The weekend begins with an earthquake in Japan and a tsunami in Hawaii. The week concludes with Libya in flames, passionate revelations by Newt Gingrich and increasing demands for a Donald Free March.

Fantasyland Foreign Policy

Senator John McCain and Senator Joseph Lieberman took to the microphones last week and criticized President Obama for not involving the U.S. military in Libya. These scions of the Senate seem to feel that the United States should support the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi by committing troops, materiel and imposing a “no fly zone” over Libya.

Senator McCain flew a jet that was shot down over Vietnam and he spent 5 ½ years as a prisoner of war. While his courage in the face of adversity should not be questioned, I am not clear as to why that experience makes him an expert on military affairs. Senator Lieberman has no military experience although he has a tremendous amount of experience in betraying his political allies when it is convenient.

I don’t think that one has to be Sun Tzu or Metternich to recognize the dangers of easing onto the slippery slope of “limited” military engagement for unclear purposes. The lessons of Vietnam, Iraq and Pakistan are quite clear.

Additionally, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been adamant in advising against this country stumbling into yet another quagmire.
The American military resources do not include magic wands.

There is also a whiff of politics in the air around Messrs McCain and Lieberman. During the past year hundreds of defenseless citizens have been killed by government forces in the Ivory Coast. During this same time frame there have been countless thousands of men, women and children slaughtered by soldiers in the Congo.

I can find no record of a call to action from the offices of the gentleman from Arizona or the gentleman from Connecticut. But now, Libyan liberation is the cause du jour and they perceive another opportunity to pillory President Obama.

I would also remind Senators McCain, Lieberman and others (like Senator John Kerry) that careless commitments of the military have resulted in disasters and too many men and women have already died, too much treasure has been needlessly wasted, because there was never a clear goal.

Let us hope that it doesn’t happen again in Libya.

The Passion of St. Newt

The G.O.Tea Party continues its race to the bottom with a gaggle of presidential candidates that can only help Barack Obama sleep better at night. The retreaded Newt Gingrich has made faux news by announcing that he will announce his candidacy for president sometime in May. I do not recall hearing a collective gasp of anticipation from the America public when he uttered these words.

Mr. Gingrich also stated that he has engaged in some moral indiscretions for which he is sorry. Presumably these indiscretions would include serving his wife with divorce papers while she was recovering from breast cancer surgery.

Another indiscretion would be the extramarital affair in which he was engaged while he was calling for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton because of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
If you are scoring at home that would be – infidelity, hypocrisy, and just plain meanness. That’s quite a trifecta for the Newt Who Would Be President.

And there’s more. Mr. Gingrich blamed his “passion” for working so hard for America for causing him to lose his moral compass. This is a new and refreshingly inane excuse for poor behavior.

I don’t think that this lead balloon will ever fly.

A Donald Free March

During the past week Donald Trump announced that he would make a decision about whether he would run for President of the United States at the conclusion of the season of his “Apprentice” program.

It is good to know that The Donald has his priorities in the right place.

It is now time to proclaim a Donald Free March. It is too much to ask that he go away. But we don’t have to listen to him, do we?

Have a great weekend!