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Obama got Syria 'right'

Once in a blue moon, politicians get praise from the most unlikely of sources.

Such as when an Israeli prime minister known for his hawkish views relating to anything involving highly hostile neighbors heaps praise on you for not using military force in a crisis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — the hawk’s hawk — said President Obama was right to back away from his “red line” threat to use force against Syria when it became known that the Syrian government had used poison gas on its citizens.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-05-22/netanyahu-says-obama-got-syria-right

In an expansive interview with Bloomberg News, Netanyahu said President Obama offered “the one ray of light in a very dark region” when he backed off the threat of force. What happened next, of course, was when the Russians brokered a deal to get the Syrians to turn over their stockpile of chemical weapons.

“We are concerned that they may not have declared all of their capacity. But what has been removed has been removed. We’re talking about 90 percent. We appreciate the effort that has been made and the results that have been achieved,” Netanyahu told Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg.

Goldberg makes it clear in the interview that Netanyahu and Obama haven’t yet healed the deep rifts between the men, who he writes have a “famously contentious relationship.”

It’s intriguing, though, to hear Netanyahu offer words of encouragement for the use of diplomacy over military action, which is the course sought by Obama in trying to find a path to peace in the Middle East.

Indeed, when someone with Netanyahu’s experience battling next-door enemies who swear to eradicate his country speaks of the virtues of diplomacy, there ought to be lessons learned by other critics who have far less skin in this game. I refer, of course, to Obama’s critics at home who continue to harp on the need to employ “the military option” to solve foreign crises.

The Israeli leader has many issues yet to settle with the United States. For example, Netanyahu wants to continue building Israeli settlements on land taken during the 1967 Six-Day War, something the United States opposes.

However, the cause for diplomacy has chalked up an important ally who has an up-close stake in finding peace in one of the world’s most violent regions.

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Honor our fallen warriors … always

I will do something Monday I haven’t always done to commemorate a certain national holiday.

Memorial Day is upon us. It’s a time when Americans honor the memories of those who’ve fallen in battle. We go to cemeteries to lay flowers on veterans’ graves, even for those who came home, got on with their lives and then died of what we call “natural causes.”

I probably won’t do that.

No, instead I’ll visit the Texas Panhandle War Memorial. I might not attend whatever public ceremony that’s planned. I feel compelled instead to go just to look at the names on the stone tablets that encircle the memorial.

Every single name identifies a hero going back to the Spanish-American War 1898. They all called the Texas Panhandle home before they donned their uniform and answered the nation’s call to arms.

Allow me this brief point of personal privilege.

I had a small hand in developing the memorial, for which I am immensely proud. Pete Garcia, a friend here in Amarillo, used to run the Vets Center. He was tasked with coming up with putting together narratives that summarized each of the conflicts memorialized at the Panhandle War Memorial, next to the Randall County Courthouse Annex at I-27 and South Georgia Street. Pete asked me to take part. So I did, writing several of the narratives along with two other gentlemen.

I regret that I haven’t visited the war memorial as often as I should have since its dedication.

Tomorrow is a new day and I think it’s a good time to turn over a new leaf. I would encourage everyone to do so as well.

Look at the names on those tablets. You’ll see stars next to a small number of names. They identify Medal of Honor recipients. Our nation has honored their heroism officially by bestowing our highest military honor.

The other names at the memorial? Think of the families who grieved when they learned of their loved ones’ deaths. Think of how they coped with such grievous heartache. And think of the valor that each warrior possessed as they fought for our nation.

Every single name represents a hero. Each of them deserves our eternal gratitude.

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Drought far from broken

Just so that we’re clear: The drought that has gripped the Texas Panhandle for, oh, the past four years is far from being broken.

Despite the rain we’ve enjoyed the past couple of days and the anticipated rain that’s expected to fall during the next couple of days, the drought remains quite intact.

Last time I looked, Amarillo’s year-to-date precipitation level — even with the amounts we’ve had since the middle of the week — is but a fraction of where it’s supposed to be.

Yes, our playas are full of water. Many of the streams that had gone dry have water running through them. The grass is greener. The air is fresher. We’re all walking with a bit more of a spring in our step.

The drought? It ain’t going anywhere until we get a lot more rainfall.

I hasten to add that a year ago we had a spate of rain that gave us hope. Then it stopped raining. Do you recall what happened then? The ground turned dry, just like it had been before the rain came. It didn’t take long for the conditions to return to what we had known; that’s what the summer heat around here can do.

Long-range forecasts aren’t too promising. They project more dry weather and warmer-than-normal temperatures. Some experts do suggest a possible change in Pacific Ocean currents and a possible return of El Nino, the warming of the ocean water that produces more cloud cover that moves inland and brings moisture. Whether it materializes remains anyone’s guess.

We’re all grateful beyond measure for what we’ve gotten — and what we’re expected to get. Perhaps all those prayers have brought it. Who can dispute the power of prayer?

Maybe a good bit more prayer can bring an end to the drought.

It can’t hurt.

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Sen. Obama MIA at vets panel meetings

Hell has frozen over.

I am about to agree with something Karl Rove has said, which is that President Obama needs to take care when referencing his work as a U.S. senator on behalf of veterans.

Barack Obama served for three years on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. He was critical of the Bush administration’s treatment of veterans. However, according to Rove — aka “Bush’s brain” — Sen. Obama often was a no-show at committee meetings when veterans health care issues came up.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/karl-rove-senator-obama-veterans-affairs-107033.html?hp=r7

Other senators have noted the same thing about Sen. Obama, who reportedly had his eye on a bigger prize almost the moment he won the Senate seat in a landslide over transplanted Republican ultraconservative candidate Alan Keyes.

Veterans health care is in the news, of course. A scandal has erupted over the deaths of about 40 veterans who waited far too long for health care at the Phoenix, Ariz., VA hospital. There’s also the issue of cooked-up records showing patients were getting care in a timely manner. Vets Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is on the griddle over it, but so far President Obama is standing behind the embattled Cabinet member.

Back to Rove’s point.

The president is right to make veterans health care a major issue. He is right to be angry; a lot of us out here are angry — and scared — as well. The president is correct to demand answers and corrective measures. Heads ought to roll once the evidence is in and Shinseki should resign if it turns out he was negligent.

President Obama, though, is learning a terrible lesson in how politicians cannot shake their own personal history when issues come in direct conflict with their record.

Rove misfired badly in suggesting Hillary Rodham Clinton may have suffered a “brain injury” when she fell in 2012. He has found the mark, though, in questioning much of the president’s demonstrated commitment to veterans health care issues, given his spotty attendance at Senate hearings.

There. That is likely to be last time I’ll say something supportive about Karl Rove for a long while.

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Can His Holiness work a miracle in Holy Land?

Pope Francis’s tour of Israel and Jordan is getting some hearts fluttering.

It’s not just that the head of the Catholic Church is making his first trip to the Holy Land. It is that this man who’s been dubbed a “rock star” on the world stage might be able to move Israelis and Arabs closer to a peace deal.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/great-expectations-can-pope-francis-bring-peace-middle-east-n112921

The Holy Father will deliver a Mass in Bethlehem on the West Bank. Just a hunch, but he’ll pack the place with worshipers. His predecessor, Benedict XVI, delivered a Mass in Nazareth in 2009. I had the pleasure of touring the amphitheater built for that event. He drew an overflow crowd in a city that is now 80 percent Muslim. Yes, they came from all over Israel to hear it, but I think you get my point, which is that the pope represents something quite special to folks of all faiths.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have broken down. PA President Mahmoud Abbas struck a deal that gave Hamas — a notorious terrorist organization — a role in governing the Palestinian Authority, which Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu said correctly was a non-starter for Israel.

Hope is emerging that Francis might be able in private talks to persuade the two sides to resume talks. Indeed, there must be a path to peace and it well might take someone with Francis’s global stature to help the two sides find their way toward that path.

He’ll be there only for a brief time but, hey, miracles can occur in an instant.

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West questions Duckworth's 'loyalty'

Allen West served a single term in the U.S. House of Representatives before losing his bid for re-election in 2012.

Yet, the Republican keeps making waves. I wish he’d keep his trap shut.

West has implied that a decorated — and seriously wounded — Iraq War veteran might be more loyal to the “Democrat Party” than she is to her country by agreeing to serve on a House select committee charged with examining the Benghazi controversy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/22/allen-west-tammy-duckworth_n_5375138.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013

He’s talking about Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who lost both of her legs while flying a helicopter for the Army during the Iraq War. Her ship was hit in 2004 by a rocket-propelled grenade. Duckworth received the Purple Heart as a result of her injuries.

“I just don’t know where her loyalties lie,” West said in a radio interview. “You know, for her to be a veteran, a wounded warrior for the United States Army, she should know this is not the right thing,” he said. “And hopefully … she’ll remember the oath of office she took as an Army officer and not the allegiance I guess she believes she has to the liberal progressives of the Democrat Party.”

Good grief.

Congressional Democrats have said the select committee hearings on Benghazi are a sham. Duckworth is one of five Democrats named to the panel. Her office pledges that she’ll take her responsibilities on the committee seriously, which all 12 committee members from both parties have vowed to do.

Allen West’s comments about Duckworth’s “loyalties” should be scorned and condemned.

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Why don't storm drains work?

This one creates a serious head-scratcher for me.

It’s been raining in Amarillo the past couple of days, with more steady rainfall expected through the weekend. The rain hasn’t exactly been in torrents, although it has rained harder in some locations than in others. Don’t get me wrong: I am among the many thousands of Texas Panhandle residents happy to see the moisture finally arrive.

However, what’s the story with the storm drains backing up?

I heard a city engineer say something today about “silt build-up” restricting the flow of rainwater into the storm drains. City officials were cautioning motorists to stay away from underpasses along Interstate 40 because of high water.

Good grief. We haven’t had any substantial rainfall since, oh, perhaps The Flood. At least it seems to have been that long. Where did the build-up of crud come from? Doesn’t the city monitor these drains to ensure that when the rain does arrive, that they’ll move the water efficiently to prevent large volumes of standing water that strands motorists — and puts them in jeopardy?

I saw social media pictures today of vehicles stalled out because of standing water. We have the usual suspect sites with which we have to contend. Fortunately, my wife and I have been able to avoid the trouble areas.

But they’re the same places that create havoc every time.

What in the world is up with that?

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R.I.P., my fellow soldier

This blog post is adapted from a column I wrote for the Beaumont Enterprise; it was published on Aug. 24, 1990. With the country set to commemorate Memorial Day, this essay pays tribute to one young man who died in service to his country.

It took me eight years to make a journey to The Wall and to learn for myself what so many Americans have been talking about since it went up in 1982: the sight of those 58,000-plus names identifying each of the men and women who died in the Vietnam War; the array of keepsakes and tributes lined up at the base of the stark monument; the looks in people’s faces as they touched the name of a loved one while etching it on a sheet of paper pressed against the black stone.

I took my family to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., to look for a name I remembered only as “De La Torre.” He wasn’t a buddy exactly. We weren’t close. He was an Army helicopter mechanic and a door gunner I knew in Vietnam. We did not serve in the same company; mine was a fixed-wing aircraft unit, his was a Huey company next to ours at a place called Marble Mountain, just south of Da Nang.

And yet, I saw him on his last day on Earth and the memory of his happiness at flying his final mission that day in June 1969 stayed with me long after the shock of his death had worn off.

De La Torre popped into my work area full of excitement. “Hey man,” he said to no one in particular, “I’m going home!” He had one more mission to fly — aboard a Huey on a troop lift into the mountains near Da Nang. De La Torre was a gung-ho guy, I guess, because he had extended his tour several times in Vietnam. I recall him saying he had been in-country for 32 months, well past his allotted one-year obligation.

Now he was going home, he declared quite proudly that day.

We learned later that evening that our guys weren’t prepared for a “hot landing.” Intelligence reports said enemy soldiers were nowhere near the landing zone. It was to be a “routine mission”: Drop the troops off and leave. The reports betrayed De La Torre and the rest of the men on the mission. They were met with intense enemy fire. I then was left to ponder the death of someone I didn’t know well but whose ebullience at the prospect of going home remains burned into my memory.

What I learned at The Wall, quite simply, was De La Torre’s first name, which I knew once had forgotten. In truth, we were on a last-name basis.

I knew little about Jose Manuel De La Torre when our paths crossed briefly in Vietnam. I don’t know much about him now, except for his full name, that he was about five years older than me and that he came from Fullerton, Calif.

Still, De La Torre seems a bit more like a friend now than when we both served in Vietnam. Granted, I don’t know what he liked or disliked, his favorite sport, food or movie actor. I don’t know how he coped with the fear of flying all those missions or if he was just too crazy to be scared.

I will settle gladly for merely relearning this young soldier’s full name. It was a small, but significant moment of discovery at The Wall, a place of profound sadness. Yet I came away feeling happy and satisfied that I got to know, a little better, a soldier whose last words to me were that he was going home.

Rest in peace, Jose.

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Disgraceful dirty trick

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., is the tea party’s latest target for removal from public office.

But revelations from that campaign allege one of the most disgraceful dirty tricks imaginable against the veteran lawmaker.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/scandal-grows-over-photo-thad-cochran-wife

Tea party candidate Chris McDaniel is challenging Cochran. Several individuals who are supporting McDaniel, though, have charged with conspiring to take pictures of Cochran’s bedridden wife, Rose, at the nursing home where she’s lived since 2000.

To what end these pictures were being used has yet to be determined. However, the allegations suggest a despicable intent to somehow use the gravely stricken spouse of a political candidate for some political purpose.

The scandal has shaken the Mississippi political landscape to its core. Cochran had been thought to be facing a stout challenge from the extreme right wing of his party. My guess is that the allegations against those seeking to post pictures of Mrs. Cochran will all but scuttle the effort to toss the veteran senator out of office.

One guy was charged with breaking into the nursing home to photograph Mrs. Cochran to be used in an anti-Cochran political ad; at least two other tea party zealots have been charged with conspiracy.

If the allegations prove true, then we’ll have to set a new standard for dastardly political campaigning.

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Cuban speaks the truth … bluntly

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Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks pro basketball team, can be labeled many ways.

He is brash, loud, at times brusque, occasionally inarticulate.

He is not a racist.

Thus, he is getting hammered unfairly over some remarks he made recently in the wake of the Donald Sterling brouhaha over whether Sterling uttered racist remarks in that recorded phone conversation with his gold-digging girlfriend/aide/pal V. Stiviano. Sterling did show his racist colors and the Los Angeles Clippers owner has been banned from pro basketball for the rest of his life.

Cuban popped off this week about what he’d do if he saw a young African-American male wearing a hoodie and droopy pants. He said he’d walk to other side of the street. Cuban also said he’d precisely the same thing if he saw a tattoo-marked, white kid with a shaved head and pierced jewelry stuck in his ears, nose, lips and eyebrows.

http://www.realclearsports.com/2014/05/23/cuban039s_views_not_scary_censorship_is_120250.html

Does any of that make Cuban a racist? No.

I’m not the first to acknowledge this in print — although the thought occurred to me the moment I heard about the controversy over Cuban’s remarks — but the Rev. Jesse Jackson said virtually the same thing some years ago.

I don’t need to stipulate, but I will anyway, that Rev. Jackson is African-American and he was talking about the discomfort he feels when he encounters young black men on the street. Jackson said he doesn’t feel as safe as he does when he encounters young white men. No one in their right mind accused Jackson of being a racist then.

Mark Cuban deserves the same presumption now.

He was speaking a blunt truth about human beings. “While we all have our prejudices and bigotries, we have to learn that it’s an issue that we have to control … not just kick the problem down the road,” Cuban said.

Mark Cuban is not in the same league as Donald Sterling as it relates to racism.

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