Politics and Candidate Types
Remember back to the distant past of 1991? The US had just won the Gulf War and President George H. W. Bush was riding high and looked unbeatable. None of the leading Democrats wanted to run against him and risk…
Our Atavistic Fears
When I sit in my garden office, I often smile at the squirrels, rabbits, and birds as they move about eating and socializing. But on the times that I see the local black snake, I cringe a bit. Now,…
Responsibility and Accountability Part 5: Voter Responsibility and Accountability
This is Part 5 of a series on accountability and responsibility. This part looks at the voters and to whom they are accountable. As the graphic from My Comic Shop shows, voters are accountable to themselves. But they are also…
Coexist Part 5: Wrap-up
This is part five of the Coexist series. It wraps up the series started in Part 1. It also provides a framework for assessing these groups and their actions. The opening graphic shows the results of the mass Heaven’s Gate…
Responsibility and Accountability Part 4: The Judiciary and Accountability
This is Part 4 of a series on accountability and responsibility. As the graphic shows, the two should work together, but can but can get jammed. But often the two are divorced, or at least separated, in this case, by…
Responsibility and Accountability Part 3: The Bureaucracy and Accountability
This is Part 3 of a series on accountability and responsibility. As the graphic shows, the two should work together, but can but can get jammed. But often the two are divorced, or at least separated, in this case, by…
Can a Free Republic be a Superpower: Part 4 Toxic Debt
Toxic Debt threatens not only the ability to be a superpower, but our entire way of life. When I was in Bosnia right after the 911 attacks, many of our soldiers said this could never happen in the US. I…
Can a Republic be a Superpower Part 3: Operational Security, Transparency, and Security
When I looked at the question, Can a Free Republic be a Superpower?, the conflict between transparency and security troubled me. I set the series aside for a bit and was reminded of it when I wrote a post…
Can a Free Republic be a Superpower: Part 2b: Superpower or Sleeping Giant?
Potential Energy (source https://www.livescience.com/65548-potential-energy.html) Japanese Admiral Yamamoto reportedly said, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” after WWII. The US quickly mobilized society and all elements of…
Reconstructing History, Part 2: The Maskirovka of History
Traditional wisdom is the state has a monopoly the power to enact laws and compel their enforcement. As the Commander of CJTF-180 in Afghanistan once told me, “that briefs well, but can you do it?” Over the relevant range of…