US Foreign Policy

Hi All:

One of the big news stories of the past week was President Obama's willingness to want to talk with some foreign countries who are not our friends. These countries are so anti-American that previously we haven't wanted to "sit down" and talk with them. The countries that I am speaking of are: Venezuela, Cuba and Iran. Before I continue, we should look at our country's past history of dealing with countries that also vehemently hated the United States of America.

Almost sixty eight years ago, back in 1941, we declared war (and rightfully so) against Japan after their unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor that killed thousands of Americans. Japan immediately became our sworn enemy and we were not going to stop fighting them until they capitulated. In addition, we declared war against Germany (another sworn enemy) and were not going to stop fighting them until they also capitulated. It took 4 years and tens of thousands of our troops being killed until the US and our allies declared victory over both countries when they finally surrendered.

During the 1960's we went to "war" against North Vietnam due to their aggression against South Vietnam. Although that "war" lasted almost 10 years we didn't win and tens of thousands of our troops were killed and North Vietnam never surrendered. North Vietnam did take over South Vietnam which we were trying to stop from happening.

Fast forward to the present day. Now Germany and Japan are some of the most important friends this country has. Does that mean that we have to go to war against a country and beat them before we can sit down to talk with them that ultimately leads to our being friends? Not true! North Vietnam won that "war" but now relations with the US are becoming more normalized then anyone could have predicted back in 1973.

So why then it is such a bad idea to want to sit down and talk with other countries who are not our friends? Critics say that the US should never talk to these countries. Unfortunately that policy did not work during the past 8 years.

Common sense must be used here because diplomacy is the appropriate course of action to take. If this country can sit down and talk to these countries that eventually leads to ironing out what ever issues exist, without a single life being lost, then I am all for it. Go common sense!

Until next week.

Assault Weapons

Hi All:

Sometimes I read or watch a news program that makes me think that some people in this country have lost their minds and common sense is the furthest thing in their minds. I know that this subject is a touchy one with a lot of people, but we need a whole lot of good old common sense here!

Last Sunday, 4/12/09, I watched 60 Minutes, a well respected, news magazine show that has been on the air for decades. One segment on the show was about the State of Virginia gun shows. Did you know that in Virginia it is harder to buy an alcoholic drink then to buy an assault weapon? Yes that is unfortunately very true! The segment showed and talked about people selling any type of firearm, including assault weapons, right out of their car trunks in the parking lots at Virginia's gun shows. Now unless you are from Virginia or have attended a gun show there, you might not know that selling guns like that is perfectly legal. WHAT!!!!!!! Not only can guns be sold like that, there is no requirement to do a background check. If you have the money, you can buy any type of gun no questions asked. Some people say, so what, what is the big deal? The big deal is this: people with a criminal history or people mentally challenged can buy an assault weapon(s) that easily.

Now I know that the NRA consistently states their rhetoric that guns don't kill people, people kill people. But what exactly is an assault weapon? Assault weapons like the AK-47 were developed with one and only one goal in mind; to kill as many people as possible in as little time as possible. In a war, these guns are invaluable. But in private hands, these weapons can and are extremely dangerous. Have you ever heard of a hunter that shot their game with an assault weapon? I didn't think so.

Now the NRA and its members will tell you that according to the Second Amendment, individuals have the right to keep and bear arms. The actual Second Amendment does state that, "A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." The current legal meaning of the Second Amendment was recently addressed in District of Columbia v. Heller. In Heller, the Supreme Court determined that the Second Amendment protects an individual right, with the majority opinion stating that. The majority wrote that "The Second Amendment protects an individuals right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self defense in the home." But the sole purpose of an assault weapon is to kill people.

I have no objection to people owning non assault weapons. I do though strenuously object to people owning automatic handguns, 50 caliber rifles and AK-47's etc., etc. There is no need to have them. If you like to hunt, so be it, but you don't use those type of weapons. I do not believe that making ownership of those type of weapons illegal, infringes on any ones rights. If anything it will save lives.

Virginia's current law that allows such sales of assault weapons has no common sense and needs to be changed ASAP. I also believe that the Second Amendment's newest ruling by the Supreme Court should have a addendum to prohibit the sale and ownership of assault weapons. Now that would make common sense.

There is no good use for and makes no common sense in the private ownership of any kind of assault weapons, PERIOD!

Talk to you next week.

Hybrid Vehicles and Radio Talk Show

Hi Everyone:

Today's topic might seem to be a continuation of last weeks blog but with a twist. Today's blog was triggered by something that I had just read and I feel a need to talk about it. I just read an AOL news article about something that Rush Limbaugh recently said on his radio program. FYI, I have not ever listened to his radio show, but it is my understanding that millions and millions of people do listen. Therefore it is safe to presume that when he says something, there are a lot of people who believe him, be it good or bad.

Rush Limbaugh said this about hybrid vehicles: "Nobody's buying them. Nobody wants them! The manufacturers are making them in droves to satisfy Obama! Sorry for yelling. Nobody wants them!" That is quite a statement!!!

Let's look at some facts. Toyota on its own has sold over 1,000,000 Prius hybrids since 1999, when they first became available. Edmunds' Green Car Advisor, per the AOL article, points out that 1.3 million hybrid vehicles have been sold in this country since 1999. It is obvious that the year 1999 was 10 years before President Obama took office.

It is also obvious that Americans do want and do buy hybrid vehicles, otherwise 1.3 million of them would not have been sold. I have heard and read that there are a lot of people who believe that there is no such thing as global warming and hence no need for hybrid cars. Let's put that argument aside for a moment. An undisputed fact is that this country increasingly imports more and more oil with each passing year from foreign countries (some of which are not our "friends"). Doing so does not and will not make us energy independent. If we do not become energy independent, this country will always be beholden to foreign countries that can and will dictate price and availability. This amongst itself affects our country's national security.

We have all recently learned that Honda is now ready to introduce its new Insight hybrid at a cost of about $20,000. That is $3,000 less then the Prius. Let the price wars finally commence and may the buying public, our environment and reducing our dependence on foreign oil be the winners. It is unfortunate that the big 3 are still behind the eight ball and are now beginning to try to play catch up, (see last weeks blog).

Although I agree that hybrid vehicles are a good start, they still use gasoline and the batteries do not last as long as the car itself. In addition, the electric only cars are also a good start, but you need to plug them in to recharge their batteries. There are still an abundance of power plants that use fossil fuels to produce electricity. I personally believe that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will be the wave of the future. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles don't use any fossil fuels and produce no harmful emissions, which is called zero emissions. All in all, we are in the infancy of beginning to wean ourselves off of foreign oil, thank goodness!

Now getting back to what Rush Limbaugh said. I am a firm believer that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but the listening public must use common sense to distinguish between what people say as fact and what they say as entertainment. If what he said about hybrid vehicles was meant for entertainment purposes and he said so, then that is fine. Sometimes even saying something as a joke (without using any common sense) on the radio for entertainment purposes can backfire and get you fired, remember Don Imus? But, if what he said was intended as a statement of fact, then Mr. Limbaugh was dead wrong, because the facts don't support him. People in a position of being able to speak to a large audience of people should and must use common sense before opening their mouths.

Thanks for reading. I will be back April 19th. Talk to you then.