Redstate

Posted at 3:01pm on Apr. 26, 2008 My basic rule in selecting a candidate has been to

By longwalker

vote for the lesser of the available "evils."

I have voted for a candidate because I thought the candidate was the best qualified less that ten times in 48 years of regular voting.

In most cases, the Republican candidate qualified as the lesser evil but, in some local races, I have voted for the Democratic candidate or the Conservative candidate.

I am seriously considering voting for Hillary Clinton over John McCain. I know that they are equally ignorant in many ways but, while McCain has demonstrated a pig-headed stubbornness in sticking to his policy failures (McCain/Feingold, anyone?), Hillary appears more of a gambler who knows when to hold and when to fold.

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Posted at 7:40am on Feb. 4, 2008 Still undecided but I intend to vote Tuesday

By longwalker

As I have commented before, I still do not have a horse in this race. IMO, this year's field of Republican candidates is one of the poorest that I have ever seen.

I wish that there was a provision on the ballot in which voters could say "none of the above" and have it mean something. For example, if "none of the above" came in first, there would be a runoff election but no candidate on the prior ballot would be eligible.

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Posted at 12:03pm on Oct. 29, 2007 A lazy President is not a bad idea.

By longwalker

First of all, I do not have a horse in the Presidental race, yet! So this is not an arguement either for or against Fred Thompson or any other Republican candidate.

Remember the fable of the frogs who wanted a king? At first, they were given a log by the gods. When they realized that their king did nothing but lie there, they complained to the gods. Then the gods gave them a stork for king. Storks eat frogs, Quod Erat Demonstratum!

Posted in The White House — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:15pm on Oct. 11, 2007 Sorry, Gideon1789, but I was sick and signed off

By longwalker

before you asked me to recommend some books on military matters.

First of all, for a general overview, I recommend Hans Delbruck's four volume History of the Art of War or an equivalent study of warfare from antiquity to modern times.

Then, I would read Clauswitz, Liddell Hart, Sung Tzu and Miyamoto Musashi to understand strategy. Colonel Duply's book a Genius for War will serve as an introduction to military planning.

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Posted at 12:38pm on Oct. 5, 2007 An example of drive-by media from the past.

By longwalker

The 1965 Mayor's race in New York provides one of the best examples of a successful drive-by media shooting.

As the race went into the last two weeks, Abraham Beame, the Democratic candidate, was in the lead, followed by John V. Lindsay, the Republican candidate, with William F. Buckley, the Conservative candidate, trailing.

As it had been expected, Beame was losing liberal Democrats to Lindsay and conservative Democrats to Buckley and Lindsay was losing conservative Republicans to Buckley. But the huge Democratic base was holding fast for Beame. Unless there was a major change, Abraham Beame would be the next mayor.

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Posted at 7:16am on Sep. 11, 2007 "A Desert Called Peace" by Tom Kratman, published by Baen

By longwalker

Just finished reading the abovementioned military sci-fi book.

It is about a future in which another planet was "settled" by forced colonization of undesireables, including religious fanatics. Like "Gulliver's Travels," this book uses another world to examine some aspects of our present world.

Although I don't agree with some of Kratman's ideas, the book is thought provoking. I highly recommend this book just for the parts in which tribal societies are examined.

Posted in Military Roundtable — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:26pm on Aug. 16, 2007 A thought to be considered

By longwalker

How much of the success of the surge can be attributed to our prior small footprint policy? I think that, if we had gone in with a big footprint occupation in the begining, the Sunni tribes might still be hostile to us and be supporting AQI. Just a point to consider - the small footprint meant that, as occupiers, we were not constantly "in the faces" of Sunni, Shiites or Kurds. Thus they had a

Posted in Military Roundtable — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:04pm on Aug. 14, 2007 A death at the Berlin Wall, 1962.

By longwalker

Yesterday's NY Times, August 13, 2007, had a picture on page A5 showing East German Security Guards Police removing the body of a dead young German from the Wall. The photo brought back memories. The young German's name was Peter Fuchs or Fuchen and he was shot while attempting to cross the border into West Berlin.

Since the Allies (Great Britan, France, the Soviet Union and the United States) first occupied Berlin through the breakup of the "Evil Empire," the Four Powers operated under an agreement which guaranteed free access to all parts of the city. In order to keep the Soviets honest, the other powers scheduled military traffic through East Berlin on a 24/7 basis.

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Posted at 4:22pm on Jul. 19, 2007 A chilli recall due to botulism reported on AOL

By longwalker

Four cases, so far, of botulism have ben traced to canned chilli. This is the first outbreak of botulism in commercially prepared canned goods since the 1970's. So how do the posters on AOL handle the story. By comparison, they make the Koskids appear learned and wise. Or, maybe, they are the Koskids. Check it out. You will learn that our ancestors lived longer that us and that home canning is safer than commercial.

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Posted at 7:42am on Jul. 12, 2007 The Punic Wars - Lessons unlearned (as usual)

By longwalker

The other day, someone wrote and blamed Hannibal for the destruction of Carthage. The fact of the matter is that Hannibal's actions in Italy put off Carthage's eventual destruction until the Roman Senate finally put someone in charge who understood strategy - Scripio Africanus.

Scripio ignored Hannibal's actions in Italy, moved his legions into Sicily and prepared to attack Carthage. That forced Hannibal to give up his campaign in Italy and return to defend Carthage. With no allies, poorly trained troops and facing a competent Roman commander, Hannibal failed and Carthage was destroyed.

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Posted at 7:23am on Jun. 8, 2007 No pardon for Scooter Libby!

By longwalker

I repeat - no pardon for Scooter Libby. Not because I think that he is quilty but because I believe that he is innocent. A pardon cuts off judicial review and will leave Libby forever tainted as a perjurer.

I suspect that Fitzgerald and the trial judge are secretly hoping for a Libby pardon.

Their actions, reviewed by the Court of Appeals and, if necessary, SCOTUS, should result in a reversal or a new trial. Any attempt to pardon Libby before a full judicial review prevents a full airing of the respective actions of Fitzgerald and the trial judge.

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Posted at 5:57am on May 16, 2007 A great big HOOHAH for a fine young lady

By longwalker

In yesterday's NY Post, there was a story about an eleven year old Brooklyn girl. The girl was grabbed by a stranger on the stairs of her apartmenr building. But Xochil Garcia is not your ordinary eleven year old.

As she told reporters "before a robbery [sic] happens, I always think of a plan to do. But sometimes when I'm nervous or scared, I forget my ideas. I only came up with half a plan when I got caught. . . . So my plan B was to calm down, relax and try to get away."

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Posted at 11:25am on May 11, 2007 The Honest Ballot Association of New York, Inc. went out of business in 1954

By longwalker

Incorporated in 1854, the Honest Ballot Association of New York, Inc. was a leader in reforming election practices in New York. Satisfied that they had done all that was possible and necessary to secure honest elections, they closed their doors in 1954. Two of the many causes that they spearheaded during their hundred year fight for honest elections were to eliminate same-day registration and the hand counting of ballots.

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Posted at 11:35am on May 2, 2007 Kent State revisited?

By longwalker

Just out is a audiotape of the Kent State shootings in which there appears to be commands to fire on the students. However, this may be a hoax because the commands heard are not those that would have been used by any American military unit at that time. "Get set" "point" and "fire" are the commands heard on the tape. I note that only one command "fire" is a part of the military command lexicon. The correct command sequence would have been "ready" "aim" "fire."

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Posted at 12:28pm on Apr. 3, 2007 Hannibal's Strategy in his Italian Campaign

By longwalker

I noticed, in the responses to my article on Hostages, some comments about Hannibal's failure, on at least two occasions, to move on Rome and either take the city or sack it.

I would like to throw out a proposition for the consideration of all historically minded Redstaters.

That is that Hannibal, for good and sufficient military and political reasons, would never had considered either taking the city of Rome or sacking it.

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