How Do We React?

Hey All -- Doing the blog out of order this weekend -- gotta catch up on some work, so duty calls.

This week, we have seen a terrorist gang threaten to topple a government that we left in place in Iraq.  After all the lives given up, after all of the blood spilled, and after all of the damage sustained in this backwards, tribal, and bitterly divided country, this is the fruit of our labor - a country thought to have been liberated from a bloodthirsty dictator and utter lawlessness is now only falling to fanaticism and death-worship.  Frustrating.  Agonizing.  Infuriating!

This follows on the very heels of five other gangsters being released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for one soldier captured by the Taliban, who may have actually been more than willing to join them.  Clearly, there is an anti-American element in the Middle East that has been gaining more and more strength, and the possibility of another attack against the United States looms large.

So what's the right way to respond here?  Another war?  Another surge?  Sending in more men and women to face an even more dangerous environment?

No.  How about this instead:

(1)  Increase CIA presence in that region.  If we want to shut down likely terrorist camps to train more American-hating gangsters, let's first find out where they are.
(2)  Persuade our only true ally in that region, Israel, to attack those camps once they are located.  They're a little better at that than we are.
(3)  In exchange for this favor, which Israel may or may not be willing to grant, stop negotiating with the Palestinians.  They are as interested in peace with Israel as most teenagers are interested in geometry.  Their eyes glaze over . . . .
(4)  Further pay Israel back the favor by aiming our famous drones at Hamas and Hezbollah gangsters.  One hand washes the other, that's real diplomacy.
(5)  Once all of these terrorist gangs have been disbanded, de-fanged, disarmed, and safely neutralized, invite all "moderate" Muslim leaders to voluntarily confirm that these gangsters do not represent the true spirit of Islam, and that they do not sympathize with their ideals.  No coercion, no threats, not like how the gangsters forced their prisoners to rail against their own countries.  Just give them the choice to go on record and condemn the terrorists, or not.  Everyone else can form their own opinions as to that action or inaction.

There should be no fear of reprisals because the threat will be contained.  There should be no "terror" because that's what these "terrorist" gangsters want us to feel.  And most importantly, we would not be sending in more soldiers to stabilize a region that does not understand how to live in peace.

No, all we need to do is take action against the actual threats to the United States.  Other than what I mentioned to preserve a strategic alliance, there is no need to intervene in the affairs of that region ever again.  Let them resolve their own problems once we've eliminated the threat against our country before someone decides to go on an anniversary flight into the Freedom Tower, and not afterwards.

Once this threat against the United States is eliminated, just like the Nazis and the Soviets eventually lost their empires, we can concentrate on the 83 million other problems our country faces.  Since we will not use military action to solve a problem that clearly was not solved earlier, there will be no hand-wringing over our allegedly imperialist nature.  Just simple research and alliance-bolstering, with the further proof that Islam itself is not the enemy, but gangsters who just happen to be Muslims most certainly are.

Much as I encourage the readers of this blog, the United States must be bold and bulletproof.  We have to be willing to make tough decisions, much like those described above, instead of always "just working it out."  We also have to be ready to face whatever reaction can be aimed at us, and to neutralize it once it's aimed at us.  I can only hope that we really can be.

Last but not least, I'd like to wish a very Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Specifically, I wish it to my own father, who always taught us that he who does not learn the lessons of history is forever condemned to repeat them.

DISCLAIMER:  I have no plans to run for office anytime soon, and have no intention of re-educating our diplomats, intelligence, or military brass.  I am also no bigot.  Criticism is welcome, but reading into things that are not here is strongly discouraged.

Boldness

Hey All!  It's about that time again.

When I started taking this little enterprise in its current direction, I heard a small, but tolerable, amount of criticism.

"Beta males, David?  You're putting your audience down by definition!  You're saying that they're all second-rate, and you're reminding them that the alpha males get all the women, while they'll be left with nobody!"

Au contraire.  The point is unfortunately missed.  This blog is about the advancement of beta males, among other things.

I am not telling my audience that they need to stop being themselves and start being someone completely different.  That's like telling the introverted kid in high school that he has to dress differently, speak differently, and act completely unnaturally in order to get more people to like him -- that's ridiculous.

The first step to this advancement, if it's not obvious enough already, is for a beta male to replace his self-doubt with confidence as his first layer of armor.  From the inside outward, he must know that he is a good man just the way he is.  He must know that he is capable and confident.  He must know the right questions to ask to gain the knowledge he seeks.

He should never seek to change who he is, substitute his values, or try to emulate someone who has a completely different make up than his.  Instead, he should believe that he has every right to his thoughts, his words, and his choices.

He should not feel crippled, defective, or mortally wounded by his mistakes.  He should never feel that his shortcomings define him.  And he should never think that anyone else's opinion of him can save or damn his very soul.

To put it short, he should be bold.  Not tough, not badass, not cocky, and not full of himself.  Bold.

Even if he feels afraid or nervous, he still feels confident.  Even if he faces criticism or insults, he minimizes them as others' opinions, and not his own.  Even if he loses or fails, he knows that dwelling on the losses or failures to often will immobilize him, and he keeps moving instead.

Pretty simple really.  Shame on me for not spelling out earlier, but I've done it now instead.

So let's be Bold -- starting tomorrow!

I EXIST.  I MATTER.  I BELONG.  I DESERVE.

I AM BULLETPROOF.  I AM BOLD.  I AM BETA.

OK, We Got Him. Now What?

Hey All.

Well, our friends in Boston have breathed a huge sigh of relief, and toasted the efforts of their local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in apprehending the surviving accused terrorist who attacked the marathon.  No further attacks anytime soon, we hope.

So now what happens?  The legal issues.  Will he be tried for murder under state law in Massachusetts, which does not have the death penalty?  Or will the US Attorney General charge him with capital murder, which by definition, carries the death penalty?  Will this exception to the Miranda warnings stand up in Court if challenged by the public defender?  Or will his all-too-important statements be excluded from evidence?  Or will the proper authorities realize the risk of this overconfident maneuver, wait until Tsarnaev regains consciousness, and read him his rights just as a CYA move?  Or better yet, will they deem him an enemy combatant and ship him off to Gitmo?

This is why we have police, this is why we have courts, and this is why we have at least two overlapping justice systems.  Let's leave the second guessing to the pundits and prognosticators, and trust that they'll figure it out so we don't need to deal.

But what about the rest of us?  I think we've already seen what to do next.

(1) Remember the victims and their families.  Whether it's buying a shirt to show support, running in a race to acknowledge them, or just plain posting inspirational messages on your feed, just show them that they matter more than any extremist, miscreant, or gangster.

(2) Remember that life matters, just like we all did after 9/11.  It's not a guarantee, it's a gift.  Although we all have laws and standards to live by, we also have free will.  Unfortunately, free will is sometimes used to accept hatred and anger, and to commit unspeakable acts because of them.  But it's no excuse to avoid living life just because there's a risk that someone will take it from us.  Rather, it's even more of a reason to live, and live even better.  Nobody, not the FBI, CIA, TSA, DHS, or ICE can ever stop this from happening.  But we can still live anyway, and live with greater purpose.

In fact, what better reason is there to live, than with the knowledge that our death could happen 20 years from now, or tomorrow?  I apologize in advance for the thoughts this hypo may generate, but what if you or I were lost in that bombing?  Granted, the media would grant you a brief, but sincere-sounding epitaph.  And they may take a few tearful statements from your loved ones.  But wouldn't it be better if you knew, just for yourself, that you were living life the best way you knew how, When The Hour Comes?  Wouldn't it be satisfying, at least for your loved ones if not just for you, that you died doing what you loved?  Instead of postponing it because the other daily crapola got in the way?

(3) Let Love Trump Anger.  This one I'm borrowing from a good friend of mine.  This friend has recently become a fan of this blog, and has reviewed some of my posts dealing with anger.  This friend acknowledged that anger sometimes stays with us longer than necessary, and believed that some anger stays with us permanently, no matter what we do about it.  However, this friend believed that the best possible way to keep anger at bay is to let it be trumped by love.

That doesn't mean we should all bake cookies and send them to this miscreant while the feds grill him.  It does mean that we do the same thing we did after 9/11, and use this as a chance to heal.  Act a little friendlier to total strangers, maybe -- if you're in NYC, give up your seat on the subway to someone else, and pay it forward.  Or if elsewhere, drop a quarter in someone else's parking meter.  Maybe even strike up a conversation with a total stranger at the DMV.  And even now, when at least one playoff series pits New York against Boston, taper off the anti-chowder rhetoric and show a little respect and understanding.

Smile at people.  Pay a few compliments.  Be less rigid.  Know what to sweat and what to let go -- I mean really know this.

There's no reason to forgive this Chechen extremist, whether he was brainwashed or not.  But there is a reason to live like it matters, and to enjoy life by letting our righteous anger be pre-empted by good old-fashioned happiness with life.

That's all from here -- and thanks to that friend of mine who gave me a little reminder.  :)