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Misusing professional cadets at West Point as a political prop, President Barack Obama delivered his speech on the Afghanistan war forcefully but with fearful undertones. He chose to escalate this undeclared war with at least 30,000 more soldiers plus an even larger number of corporate contractors. He chose the path the military-industrial complex wanted. The…

There was something both sad and strange about President Obama’s weak presence in China last week. Sad because he arrived with no seeming goals and left empty handed just after visiting the ancient Great Wall, which he said gave him a perspective on time. Strange because he allowed the Chinese rulers to quarantine his stops…

November 18, 2009 Dear President Obama, You are nearing the day of decision as to whether you order the dispatch of more soldiers to Afghanistan. Some of your advisors have urged up to 50,000 more soldiers, including several thousand called trainers of the Afghan army. Other advisors have urged more caution, notably the U.S. ambassador…

The House of Representatives debate on the health insurance “reform” is over with the Democrats failing the people and the Republicans disgracing themselves as having left their minds back in the third grade (with apologies to third graders). House Democrats were determined to pass any bill with a nice sounding name, such as “The Affordable…

Matthew P. Hoh, a former U.S. combat marine captain and Department of Defense civilian in Iraq starting in 2004 and until September a political officer in the Foreign Service stationed in Afghanistan is giving some consternation to President Obama’s advisors as the Commander in Chief considers sending more soldiers to that war-torn country next to…

I just received a letter from President Obama. Right there on the outside envelope are the words “I need you.” After not answering several letters which I have mailed and faxed to him, I was, for the briefest of moments, curious about this personal plea for help. Then, of course, I realized that it was…

What planet is Congressman Barney Frank on, anyway? It is the planet of the banks and other financial firms that keep his campaign coffers humming, as their chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. On his extraterrestrial perch, camouflaged by his witty and irreverent observations, he sees the agony of gouged, debt-ridden consumers and homeowners,…

Stuart Hagen must either be greatly overworked or possessed of an overwhelmingly monetized mind. As the author of a Congressional Budget Office’s reply to the request by Senator Orrin G. Hatch (Rep. Utah) for an “updated analysis” of medical malpractice reform, Hagan neglected to mention a salient tragedy. About 100,000 Americans die every year from…

Consumers rejoice. Floyd Norris has just penned a piece for the New York Times titled: “Rich and Poor Should Pay Same Price.” Mr. Norris said, it seems “absurd to have a system that requires people who do not use credit to subsidize those who do. You know there is something wrong when a middle-class person…