I guess you might just say MAJ Hassan has demonstrated he is a conscientious objector to the entire purpose of the US Military, and his own oath of office, but…he’s at best “not guilty,” and, in my estimation of “worst,” just crazy. Not his fault. Not accountable. Just, you know, not down with the program.

First off, before contrasting begins, he is doing the opposite of what the military demands, because it only can work this way: Accountability.

Now, if he objected to the system, there were ways to deal with getting released from his obligations to support and defend The Constitution of The United States, had he done just a small bit of research. He could have requested a CO admin separation. Seen it done, and the good news, if the guy never came back to shoot us, but, he had no quals about becoming a much higher paid contractor, maintaining the same weapons systems without a uniform on. Another long story.

Now, I dig back in history to May 5th, 1945 for the basic culmination of a story of another man, a US Citizen, who believed his alliengance was to his God first, and his country second. He is a man of nobility in character, humble and remained true to his convictions across his lifetime, to his death in March, 2006: Cpl Desmond T. Doss, US Army.

The true story of the life and character of CPL Doss is all not contained in the post. The core of why he did what he did, to be awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor on May 5th, 1945 is not in the linked post, but in the documentary of his life, in the movie about him. Desmond Doss was extensively interviewed, as were several of the men he served with, including, the very officer who tried to have his discharged from the Army under a Section 8 separation.

In the movie “The Conscientious Objector,” Desmond Doss himself explains how he witnessed a fight between his parents when he was young, and had to stop his father from using a gun. from that moment forward, he took to heart the 6th Commandment: “Thou Shall Not Murder.” When WWII came along and he enlisted, he clearly indicated he was a CO and would not even touch a weapon. He did not. He asked to be a medic. He was refused and put in a CO Battalion. He asked to transfer. They send him to a line company as an infantryman, and he refused to handle any weapons. Finally, after much verbal and even physical abuse, they let him become a medic Along the way, his company commander tried to get him kicked out of the Army, stating he was crazy. Desmond said he told the board deciding his fate that to accept that condition, he would have to deny the message of his God, and therefore, he would have to call God crazy. He refused. They kept him in.

On the Meada escarpment, also called “Hacksaw Ridge,” he repeatedly went out into the battle to recover, treat and then lower men down a 400 foot cliff using a rope. They first tired to put that he had saved 150 men that day and he refused, saying that would have been impossible, yet almost every man in his company had become a casualty that day and he was the medic on scene. He compromised and let them put 75 men in the CMOH citation.

That’s how people object to things that conflict between their God and their Government, not by wearing the uniform, taking the check, then shooting your fellow soldiers, to make a point about how your god feels.

So, there you have it. The records of CPL Doss and MAJ Hassan are now open for the inspection and determination of history.

One man was honorble, the other one, well…I’d have to say he’s going to have to call his god crazy, or his defense has no merit, save that of a just plain sick individual. Somehow, he acted normally enough to plan out this attack, to include preparing himself for the most likely outcome of death b distributing his belongings and cleaning out his apartment. He had a plan.

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realised; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward towards its goal. But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, “come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.

From “Blood, Toil, Tears” and Sweat” by Winston Churchill – May 13th, 1940 in his first speech as Prime Minister to the House of Commons.

Where has this spirit gone?

We do not face an enemy that comes at us in a standardized set of uniforms, holding high a flag of a nation with borders, but the Western World is being assaulted nonetheless.

Our leaders seem to be unable to envision the transmogrification of warfare from strength placed on a defined field of battle, supported by a capable logistics train, to one being waged in the court rooms, in places of worship, across the Internet, via a financial system, and in the media, and with people who dressin civilian attire and consult with our own governmental agencies, telling us they should be given special exceptions from scrutiny, and should not be profiled.

Additionally there seems to be no stomach for anything that appears to have no end, while you are standing at the beginning. No desire to mentally process thoughts that consume more than 7 seconds. A demand to not have gratification delayed, and a no vision for things beyond oneself.

First he took over the major banks with the leverage of TARP funds. Now, the ones who want to give it back could be without FDIC backing.

He directed his people to provide bonuses to those who are trying, in the publicly held financial firms, to get things back to normalcy, then decided it looked bad to his supporters and called upon the mob rule to harass those who were the benefactors of the law passed. They received death threats and had to hire security, and some committed suicide, others gave the money back, money rightfully owed to them by their employment contracts, and by Federal LAw, until it became “an inconvenient truth” in the open press.

Then he fired the CEO of a public corporation, on the grounds that they had been given taxpayer money. Then he took another corporation and handed over the a sizable portion of the control to the UAW.

The threat of severely restricting the right of the 2nd Amendment hangs in the air, as a country, unable to provide for its own domestic peace, would say it is the fault of the American gun owners who have caused the conflict across our borders, and he did not tell them they must accept the responsibility for their current struggle, for years of failed policies of the past, as he tells us that is where our current problems come from.

He’s now poised to force the entire medical care system of the nation into his vision of health care.

All the while, he is empowered with the money he is taking in from the tax base, which he is looking to make even more of a burden to those who produce the very things the entire economy, not just the Federal Government rely upon to stay in existence. The consummate politician: He cannot generate his own capital, he must take it to enable him to buy the allegiance of others, and to control their behavior.

Our money is being exploited for the gain of power by the Federal system. Power over things that are not enumerated in The Constitution of the United States.

Along the way, he is now directing the Governor of the largest state as to who will benefit from any decisions being made locally, even while the economy of that state is about to fail. His leverage? Do it or no bailout money for you and your citizens.

Wonderful. The President of the United States takes money from all over the country, launders it through thousands upon thousands of civil servants, then dictates to a state governor how the sate will conduct it’s business.

At what point will the governors of this land bring a case to the Supreme Court to tell the President his acts are Unconstitutional?

At what point will the American populace say “NO! Not with my tax dollars!”

Didn’t we have a war about this in the 1860s?

We won’t dictate to the rest of the world, who are murdering their own people and saying they will murder the people in Israel, but we will listen to them and heed their demands. He will tell Americans how they will pay tribute to him, because he won, and he will muzzle their speech, be it directly, or by threat of the power of the FCC, IRS, EPA, OSHA, CDC, etc….

This is beyond a not so funny thing. It’s becoming a nightmare. Barely over 100 days in office, and he is openly defying The Constitution and all we get is how Bush and Cheney and Palin should be waterboarded from comedians, while he sits there and laughs.

Where are the men and women in the highest offices who will step into the well of the houses of Congress and state, without reservation, what is happening and that they will oppose it?

The Republicans wonder why some people, when contacted say, no thanks to giving. Why should they be paid for doing nothing in the face of a socialist takeover of the nation?

There is a trend here: He told Joe the Plumber and few believed him. Those who did, and pointed it out in public, were shouted down. All above I have mentioned speaks clearly to exactly what he said he would do.

It may be the one promise everyone can count on him to keep…to all of our detriment,and to the rest of the world, as well.

Further, he denigrates the Nation on the stages of the World. He calls on his staf anf the press to call out private citizens for their criticism of him. It is sport to him. Honestly, it is a polite way of doing what many others, who sought total power have done – sidelining the “competition,” within and outside of the circle of the most powerful.

Better call those in Congress, who “represent” you (and I use the term loosely), before your pay is determined by the local union or the local ACORN Chapter, and it’s still not enough to keep a roof over your head and your family fed.

When the capability of this nation is handed over to the ineffectual Federal Government, against the specific language our forefathers crafted for just such a time as this, our consumer market will die off, and those other nations, on the opposite end of the “Balance of Trade” numbers shall have few to buy their goods, and they shall also whither. We are using many resources, and we are paying others around the world for them, which keeps the world in business.

How much will they love us when we can buy no more from them? Maybe we should ask ourselves how angry will they be, when their lives were beginning to get better, are now dropped back into poverty, the likes of which we do not see in our country, as the scourge of Communism and socialism were pushed back, in a great measure by the power of capitalism?

One day, if this trend continues, all we own shall become property of “The State,” and all we are given will be according to the needs as determined by the faceless bureaucrats, who will ration all in our lives, even our ability to make decisions.

Just a few days ago, President Obama felt the hostage situation was an “annoying distraction.” Now. it’s his Presidential responsibility. I know, taking over the US economy is far more important that the life of one American citizen. I understand those looking at being homelss in America face a bleak situation, but not like the possibility of being fish food, right after Somali pirates shoot you in the back…It’s a question of the most immediate threat.

Had President Obama said “My Secretary of Defense is in control of that situation and keeping me apprised continuously. I am relying on the military to handle this effectively and they have their orders.” That, I would say, would have sounded, well, Presidential. Don’t bother me with one guy in danger when I can talk to homeowners and grab more votes type of response is, well, self centered and indicative of a complete mis-understanding to the reason his bank account is getting those direct deposits from the US Treasury on the 1st and 15th of each month.

On any given day, in any given town or city, if a whack job is in a 7-11, holding a loaded gun at the head of the clerk, and the SWAT team sees a chance to engage to rescue the hostage, must they now call Eric Holder? That would be the same thing.

Now, allowing air strikes into a sovereign nation, that takes a specific authorization from the C-in-C, for keeping the heat on the Taliban and AQ in Pakistan…oh, yeah, BZ to him, that’s his decision and I think it was a good one to aid in keeping us safe, and other nations as well.

The President needs to face facts: The pirates are a threat, the Navy is there to protect American shipping in international sea lanes, the pirates held a hostage and specifically threatened that life. Another fact: The Constitution requires a standing Navy, but not a standing Army. Why? Well, international trade is and has been a fact, by sea for millenia. Pirates have been along for the ride with all nations in all recorded history.

Next step: Use “proportionate force” to neutralize the pirates. The On Scene Commander (OSC) determined kill shots were that. Sending a Marine Harrier in with APAM/ROCKEYE cluster munitions would have been overkill (disproportionate) force, and would have killed the hostage (Capt Phillips). The OSC is to be commended for cool headed thinking, and a through understanding of the ROE.

The President’s duty now is to compliment his sailors, airmen and Marines and, in this case, the FBI (which shouldn’t have been involved anyhow), then get back to handling the business of the people, not strutting and getting stroked for something that is way below his paygrade.

I’ll cheer when he takes action to stop the nuclear proliferation in NK, Syria and Iran. That’s right down his alley, therefore commensurate with the duties of his paygrade.

I’ll quit complaining when he takes the role, in the chain of command, he was elected to take, not usurping the credit of a well trained, dedicated, experienced group of Navy Petty Officers on the triggers.

Side note: The only non-proliferation he is doing is own own, and that will put us at a disadvantage in the future. How come the MSM isn’t calling him on this?

Once, while in the employ of the taxpayer, to preform one of the basic responsibility of The Constitution of the United States of America, I was assigned to a vessel as second in command. I had been aboard about 2 months, still growing into my new position when the “assist team” delivered the report on the condition of the damage control equipment status. The terms used are those ones you never want to hear: Unsatisfactory. That’s a crisis, as either pierside, or underway, fire and flooding situations can show up, and, always, unexpectedly. The best offense, is a ready defense…always ready.

So, there was our own personal and collective crisis. While it has been preached for decades that “Damage control is everybody’s responsibility!,” some are truly more responsible than others in keeping the fittings and gear in a proper state of readiness. I was in that chain, along with the Ship’s Engineer Officer, also the Damage Control Officer by that assignment, the Damage Control Assistant and the assigned Damage Control Petty Officers for each division/work center in the organization. The Commanding Officer? Yes, the man with all the burden on his shoulders was very much in it, too.

The leadership of the ship was gathered after the Assist Team was sent ashore with a handshake and a “thank you for your report.” The CO laid out the basics: All Officers, Chief Petty Officers, First Class Petty Officers, and Damage Control Petty Officers would stay aboard nightly until 2000 (8 PM), we would work regular (plus the extended time just stated) hours all weekend, too, until every single maintenance check on the entire ship was redone by the maintenance cards. Not spot checked, not looked at and left alone if it was right…but a total redo of the things that should have been done, to make sure we were fixed, and fixed right.

That was the background. The task was a large one, and the leadership, for not having managed to make sure it had been done, would do it themselves (this work was within the capability of the bunch of us, as we all had had training in damage control and maintenance).

The key: The Captain was there for every hour we were there, putting his 16 years of sea time experience into the equation. He didn’t do the work, but he was around, talking with those who were and doing his own quality assurance.

He did not leave while we worked. He used his knowledge to bring the project along. He made sure we were doing it properly, and on the weekends, he left his family, and came to the Ship to work, as he expected us to do.

One could believe that he was there “covering his six.” Yes, certainly at one level he was, for to fail, it would have blighted his career record greatly. I served 12 months with him, as a leader and a mentor. His entire concern was not for him, but for his crew. If there was a fire, or flooding, his crew would be on the hoses, or trapped below decks, knee deep in danger. Unless he made sure, as a responsibility of his duty, that every piece of DC gear was functioning, he was possibly putting someone to death. That was the foundation of his decision making process. Yes, it made him look good, too, when a very senior and high level inspection team, a few months later, told us our ship was in the best damage control condition of any ship they had seen, and they also noted they were not in the business to hand out “atta boys,” they were inspecting ships for serviceability to the nation, reporting directly to Congress and we stood out as making sure our equipment was properly maintained all around the ship (which, should have been the norm fleetwide, but it wasn’t, so we stood out in just doing the assigned jobs properly).

Regardless of the words spoken, the fact was our equipment was ready, in the event that it’s use arose.

I hope you have noted the comments about the Commanding Officer.

• He told us the obvious – We had not done our jobs
• He composed a plan, on the fly, based on his experience
• He told us we would be sacrificing time with our families, but this was more important
• He stood shoulder to shoulder with us, sacrificing himself, just as he directed us to do
• He took the view of the situation as a danger to his shipmates, and one to be solved, and solved now, before the cost was more than anyone should bear

Now…contrast that with the man who leads a nation, with problems of a far greater magnitude than my Captain faced. Is he asking for sacrifice and then doing the same? Is he present with us, as we struggle? Is his view that of his fellow citizens are in pain, and he must do what it takes to relieve the forces causing this distress?

Granted, it is unreasonable for him to completely stop conducting the duties of the Office of the President, but a good leader, using those who I served with and for for 24 years as a measure, would let his family know he had duties to attend to, and it would require him to cut short his time with them. He would tell his friends, the average person in the country needed his attention and effort, more than they needed to have cocktail and pizza at his place. He would indicate, in very real ways, that the concern was not about the comfortable temperature in the White House, but how many people we without electricity or fuel oil or natural gas to heat their homes in during massive snow storms, or if their homes and businesses were being destroyed by flood water. And, if you were a citizen aboard, not wearing the uniform of the United States military, and were a hostage of terrorists, it would show good leadership to treat the matter like the crisis it is, and not as a “distraction.”

That’s not leadership that I see emanating from the White House. To me, viewed though my life experience, I see a selfish, power hungry man, with a drive to gather the glory to himself, but then, what do I know, I’ve never been a community organizer.