Fetterman Backlash May Be Unwarranted

Let me be clear. I generally do not support democrat senator John Fetterman. But then, do I really support people? Or do I support positions? Because regardless of whether or not I am a conservative republican, positions and policy are things I have always said, that for me, trump all other considerations.

Fetterman has, of course, received quite a bit of backlash over a comment he made on X regarding the Israel-Palestine clash over the recent attack by Hamas against Israel that has now escalated to cause the deaths of thousands on both sides.

Many of those deaths are unfortunately innocent people and children. The cost of war is real and there are always innocent bystanders who get caught in the crosshairs. And no one, including me, is calling for more death and destruction. However, there is a caveat here.

Essentially, Fetterman has said that there should be no ceasefire. I tend to agree with what he said on the basis that Hamas initiated this war and what Israel is doing is simply responding to that attack. Israel did not ask to be fired upon. But Hamas and Palestine did. 

Ultimately, I think there needs to be a strong message sent. If you attack us, there will be a price to pay. We may disagree on the underlying basis, in the eyes of Hamas, for the attack itself. But nonetheless, we were attacked, and we are going to respond.

Any country that finds itself under attack has to respond in the interest of protecting its citizens overall. And making it clear to anyone who wants to launch an attack that there will be consequences if that action is taken.

You might say that Israel has made its point. The death toll is double for Palestine than it has been for Israel. Israel has essentially won if you only go by the numbers. So, why not end it there? And maybe there is an argument to be made on that basis.

However, it's not the first time that Hamas has done this. This has been an ongoing conflict dating back decades. It's both a religious war as well as a land war. It is a disagreement between two nations about who has the claim to the Gaza strip ever since land lines were redrawn post 1967.

Ultimately, there has to be a consequence for Hamas. There has to be a consequence for Palestine. There has to be a reason for them to reconsider attacking Israel the next time they may plan to launch one. And because the attacks have been ongoing for so many years, right now Israel has a strong interest in sending a very strong message that the terrorist activities of Hamas will simply not be tolerated.

In a way they are saying, "We can have this debate behind closed doors, hashed out reasonably and sensibly in a diplomatic way. But the minute you decide to hash out this dispute with shells and bombs, we are going to respond similarly."

And they have a right to do so. Israel is well within their rights to react.

I think part of the backlash against Fetterman's comment is because there are sides who think that a ceasefire is the answer to the problem. Just stop the fighting and have both sides go about their days. Of course, most of us know that's not true. Nothing will change in the minds of either side if a ceasefire happens today, and it will only be a matter of time before we are having this discussion again.

There comes a time when anyone who is constantly under attack is going to say, "We've had enough and are tired of being your target." Thus, Israel's response to the most recent attack.

I wish that both sides could simply come to an agreement. I have stated in the past that I strongly agree with the policy of the United States to support a two-state solution and divide land lines between both Israel and Palestine along the Gaza strip to the way they were prior to 1967.

Both sides oppose this, and thus they continue to fight for what each sides think is theirs. And of course, the Palestinians don't like the Jews. They don't think that Jews should exist at all. So, here we are in this locked position with no real foreseeable resolution.

The question becomes, if a ceasefire happens today does it do anything to truly stop the carnage? Not today. But tomorrow. When the next attack happens and the fight surges on once again? If you think about it, sometimes war deters future action and saves lives.

It's been shown in wars of the past and in severe actions taken by our own country against Japan in WWII.

The entire situation is a sad one. I understand principally the stance on both sides. I wish there was a workable solution. I wish we could simply call for a ceasefire and call it done. But I am not sure a ceasefire really does anything but kick the can forward and put more future lives in peril.

When should it end? I don't know. I do know, however, that we cannot coddle terrorism and allow it to happen without consequence. There has to be a response and there has to be a strong one. And that response needs to be strong enough to send a very clear message.

Perhaps what should end this is for Israel to simply tell Palestine, "This ends now. The warring. We must now sit at the table and talk. And until that happens, we will continue to respond in the manner in which we are now."

If the war is to truly be won, the only way to truly end it, is to sit down and talk about their differences, air them out, and be willing to compromise to find a solution that may not give both sides entirely what they want, but one that ultimately is acceptable.

Fetterman gets a pass from me on this one. 

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President Obama Has the NCAA Covered, But the Rest of the World Is Screwed

Normally I would have no problem with the President of the United States taking a vacation, going to play golf, or picking the brackets for the NCAA. Let's face it. Being President of the United States is a tough job, and if anyone has followed presidents through the ages, one thing is definite.

These guys always look much older when they leave office than when they take office.

But with President Obama it has always been something done at the wrong time, in the wrong context, and it seems to me that his priorities are simply not in the right place. Ever. The man misses many of his daily intelligence briefings according to most reports, did not show up for a conference after France had one of its publishers attacked by extremist Muslim supporters, and left for a fundraiser in Las Vegas the day after an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi which left four Americans, including the ambassador, dead. He went to play golf the next day after journalist's heads were chopped off by ISIS. And he and his wife have taken extravagant vacations during the worst economic times in our history since the Great Depression. Some of that even on the taxpayers' dime.

Not to mention the fact that while the economy is improving, albeit slowly, and not due to any of his economic policies, it is still in the tank for the most part due to his lack of any sound economic policies, Israel remains under serious threat, Iran is close to obtaining nuclear weapons, and ISIS has grown in strength and numbers with no strategy to speak of from this president on really any of these issues. And quite frankly, no leadership.

The world has always looked to the United States, for better or for worse, for leadership and a firm handle on world issues. Despite a significant reduction in power the world over since Obama took office, we are still the superpower. And so the world looks to the President of the United States as sort of a leader of the free world by proxy. Obama is turning a blind eye to everything that is pertinent and important, and seems to always focus on what is trivial.

Like announcing his brackets for the NCAA.

Who cares? Who cares about the NCAA and who cares what President Obama thinks about that? Who should care? And with all of this turmoil and violence and angst the world over what message does this send again to the rest of the world about where his priorities are? And since he is the man who "leads" this country, what does it tell the rest of the world about where our (the United States') priorities are? Moreover, what does it tell our enemies?

Our president is asleep at the wheel. The people of the United States are also asleep at the wheel. No one is paying attention to the world. The people of the United States are paying attention to trivial stuff like the NCAA and are infatuated with a man who cares little about being president, and cares all too much about being the coolest guy in the room.

It seems to me like what sort of got us into a bit of trouble back during Pearl Harbor when the Japanese thought that we were an easy target, just sitting back and enjoying the American dream with little regard to everything else horrific happening around the world around us. Back then it was quipped that a sleeping giant had been awakened. These days I am not so sure that there is any sleeping giant at all. We are simply a country of people who have no idea where the country is, what the world is doing, and what the issues of the world are.

The fact that we are not calling our president out on these issues is very telling of the mindset of many Americans. Ask someone on the streets about Benghazi, for example, and the response you will get is something like, "Is that a band?" or "Ben who?"

The president can do all of the fun stuff when the times dictate that it is possible to do so. He can be a man with the people when it serves the times. But the fact is that we are not in a peaceful world, and the entire world (at least the free world) is under threat, ISIS is acting like the Nazi regime, we have real and present dangers before us, Netanyahu is left with virtually no U.S. support from serious threats, and more dangers become more and more apparent each and every day. The president should not have the time to focus on the fun stuff with the world in such a state. He should be focused on leading the country, and leading the free world, letting terrorists know that the United States will not stand idle, will support its allies to the full extent it can, and will hunker down and do the work that the president should be doing.

Like Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin often said regarding national politics when asked, he said he had to focus on his own state's affairs first and foremost. That was his focus. That was his priority. If the President of the United States is asked about his NCAA bracket picks, his response should be something akin to Jim Mora. "Playoffs?"

There are much bigger issues the world over to deal with, worry about, and focus on. And right now that is where President Obama needs to have his head. Not on basketball. If we want to know how sports will fare we can ask Mike & Mike or Boomer & Carton. The president needs to be focused on how the world will fare and how the United States will fare. And if the NCAA is the top of the news as it applies to the president, we should all be worried. Very worried.

It's great he's told us about his brackets. But we still don't know what his strategy is to defeat ISIS, nor what really happened with the IRS scandal, and most especially what happened in Benghazi...among the short list of course.

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© 2015 Jim Bauer