It's amusing for me now to reflect on my time in service.
After my first 4 years in the military I was genuinely surprised just how exhausted I really was. Though I'd stay in a couple more I could barely believe how easily I adjusted to 80-100 hour work weeks and a steady distance from the ones I love the most.
There were bright moments. My time in Europe, my friends, and different commands, but it was the work that I remember most. Good work that fortifies you, tasks you, and firm's the integrity of your effort.
I take pride in my ship(s). If there were a fire, I was the lead hoseman. If there were an emergency, I was on team. If there were a combat situation I was engaged. It was not too long ago I remember Somali men firing their machine guns in my direction hoping to kill a nameless soldier. It was not too long ago I remember the cries and agony of fire and men intwined.
And I remember that in the great chain of men and woman in my command, my Navy, my American military, that we all pour our blood and souls into every day of service. We have to, just to wear the uniform. It's inherent the moment we first salute the flag to the moment taps plays in our racks.
I met my wife in service. An extremely hard working woman who, like me, invested in the American GI Bill. This fine program takes fine people around the world, in our military, and allows them to fulfill their life's purpose through college.
It's this program that gives the young people (and older) the opportunity to become tomorrow's doctors, teachers, and scientists. My wife is using hers to become a social worker for the elderly, I am now an electrician building the biggest trucks in the world for Liebherr. We've been very blessed, but the truth of the matter is many of my old friends and hundreds of thousands of soldiers I'll never meet are struggling to exist outside the military.
The jobs they served aren't transferring over to American jobs, the training they have isn't opening opportunities. And the GI bill is severely under funded.
Without a strong family and friend support system (Like my wife and I have) young men and woman of the military are finding their benefits useless without the benefits of shelter, food, and (!) gas.
So we have 2 new bills to consider.
On one hand we have McCain's supported bill that offers limited 3 year benefits to those who leave, and a slightly better 12 year benefit plan to those that stay 12 years. (Which, by default, is an almost guarantee of 20 year service)
Let me tell you something you won't hear on the news. Once in the military you have a lot of doors open to you. Credit sky rockets. New cars, homes, and loans come easy and before you know it you got a good debt to pay for.
And then comes family. Military love is world famous and for good reason, within a year or two in service, marriages are frequent and many, and families begin in earnest. The military has always known this time honored routine and has in fact counted on it. After all, a committed family man -in debt- is a committed soldier for life. (well at least 20 years)
So the McCain idea that 12 years (don't let them fool you with this "sliding scale" talk -it's 3 or 12 years no middle) is good enough service for an extra $500 a month of college money, is an intentional misdirection of the truth.
But is Obama's preferred plan (Webb-Hagel bill) too generous? What does it accomplish? What does it mean for military retention?
This original bill (the Republican plan is playing catch-up) gives every young soldier the opportunity to pay their perspective college(s) about $24,000 dollars a year, for 4 years, after only 3 years of service. The total price for Americans is about 4 months in Iraq and the pay off is hundreds of thousands of college educated troops.
It is generous!
But is it too generous?
The left's argument is there are already 75% of returning soldiers faced with an insignificant college fund
Military.com Features May 22 2008
This is the usual number and the results are the struggling troops today who thought they could go to school but find that the GI bill they paid into barely helps them through the first year.
I don't have to remind anyone how high military suicide rates, divorce rates, and depression rates are. The argument is we owe these young soldiers an American education for their American service. The argument is this the least we can do.
But the right wing has some valid concerns as well.
Young soldiers faced with the prospect of military service and significant college money will simply leave when their time is up. Go to school. And that's not good.
But is it accurate? It seems greater college benefits (Long the greatest incentive for enlistment) would actually increase enlistment across the country. Those in service may leave in greater numbers or they may make a fine career in the military.
Is hanging education over soldier's heads to only way to ensure they'll stay?
If that's the case then there are bigger problems the military needs to address to keep people employed. In fact this new GI bill may be the best thing to ever happen to the military, ensuring our troops's renumeration spreads across an entire career instead of at the end.
The bottom line is our troop's futures and the future of their families should not be manipulated to force military retention. There are better ways to ensure retention and the promise of education should always and forever be the prerogative and preserved right of anyone who gives of their life for the service of America and her armed forces.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Measure of a man
Please join me on a tour of Barack Obama's life, the truest measure of a man.
Nearly 3 years to the day Barack was questioned about the nature of politics and how we develop a dialog with presidential candidates. In Chicago, a city with a sizable history with Obama, Barack was asked to explain his experience and discuss his record on political discourse.
Here is part of that record and more.
"I frequently hear the quote "With Malice toward none, with charity toward all." and all we have around here is malice toward all and charity toward none, it gets me frustrated. There are risks in including that kind of approach in a speech like that because it's a feel good event, but one of those things that I'm trying to be mindful of is not starting to get so comfortable or risk averse that I end up sounding like everyone else."
Chicago Tribune, June 05
"If you make political discourse sufficiently negative, more people will become cynical and stop paying attention, that leaves more space for special interests to pursue their agendas, and that's how we end up with drug companies making drug policy, energy companies making energy policy, and multinationals making trade policy."
Newyorker May 2004
"What we have now is a surplus amount of conflict that is manufactured. It is manufactured in television ads, it's manufactured in terms of how the parties potray each other. There doesn't seem to be any break from the perpetual campaign. And so we never sit down and actually govern."
Charlie Rose Show Oct 2006
In 2003 Charles Barkley, a -at times- racially controversial figure himself, began working on his book interviewing a young state senator from Illinois...
"I firmly believe the overwhelming majority of African Americans are just as hard working, just as intent to go about business. What is true, though, is sometimes we get into the mode of it's easier to blame white folks for things than us taking the responsibility."
A couple years ago Barack Obama discussed America further..
"Stay amazed. And remain in wonder, at this unlikely place, we call America. I think it's easy for some people to look at all the challenges we face; to look at our poverty and our war and inequality and racism or hatred, or helplessness, and to get down on this country as a result."
"To think that there is something wrong us, and there is little hope to make things better. If you ever feel like that yourselves, I ask you to remember, all the amazing and unlikely things that have happened in this country."
"This is America! A place where millions of restless adventurers, from all over the world, still weary of their lot in life -still hoping for something better- have longed to travel great distances and take great risks for a chance to arrive on our shores."
Boston commencement address University of Massachusetts June 2006
When Barack Obama fought for reform in Washington, he required the temperment of someone willing and able to work with all sides of the issue. Barack Obama has been described for years as a man who truly is concerned with bridging the conflicts and gaps in government.
"Real reform means making sure members of congress and the administration tell us when they're negotiating for jobs with industries they're responsible for regulating. That way we don't have people writing a drug bill during the day and meeting with pharmaceutical companies about their future salary at night."
Chicago Council November 2005
"Politics in Washington has become the intellectual equivalant of WWF wrestling: Smacking each other, throwing chairs, but nothing's really happening."
Houston Chronicle Oct 2006
Recently the question of Barack's experience have come into question. Is he too green? Even more recently Barack Obama's stance on the controversial "gas tax" initiative by both Mcain and Clinton gave opportunity for the young Barack to challenge the experienced candidates one on one.
Agree or not, here is what Obama said 2 years ago..
"The only thing as predictable as the rising gas prices, are the short term political solutions that usually come along with them. Every year you have the same headlines, "Pain at the Pump", and then Americans start emptying their wallets to fill up their tanks, and politicians go through the standard responses: Tax rebates and tax holidays, investigating price gouging by oil companies."
A real solution for high gas prices Podcast May 11, 2006
Critics like to point out that Barack Obama is a wonderful speaker as if this included the totality of the man, but with a bit of knowledge it is easy to see for how long and by what measure Barack Obama has stood on issues important to him.
Here are a few more...
.."Every parent I know, Liberal or Conservative, complains about the coarsening of our culture, the promotion of easy materialism and instant gratification, the severing of sexuality from intimacy"..
.."Our political culture fixates on where our values clash"..
..Not so far beneath the surface I believe we are becoming more, not less, alike..
.."After all a cynical electorate is a self-centered electorate"..
"No what's troubling is the gap between the magnitude of our challenges and the smallness of our politics -the ease by which we are distracted by the petty and the trivial, our chronic avoidance of the tough decisions, our seeming inability to build a working consensus to tackle any big problem."
All the above quotes from book Audacity of Hope
In the end the purpose of this blog is to persuade Americans to ignore the talk radio, television pundits, and personal beliefs they hold about the candidate.
Ignore Reverend Wright, Sean Hannity, and even a pro-Obama blogger. Ignore everything that deviates from the only thing that matters in a man's life.
His life.
Study the actions that thunder louder than words and see how the words measure against the man's actions.
If you find the accord harmonizes with the measure of the man then you have truth my friends.
And we can all use a little of that these days..
How else are we all going to FINALLY come together?
Nearly 3 years to the day Barack was questioned about the nature of politics and how we develop a dialog with presidential candidates. In Chicago, a city with a sizable history with Obama, Barack was asked to explain his experience and discuss his record on political discourse.
Here is part of that record and more.
"I frequently hear the quote "With Malice toward none, with charity toward all." and all we have around here is malice toward all and charity toward none, it gets me frustrated. There are risks in including that kind of approach in a speech like that because it's a feel good event, but one of those things that I'm trying to be mindful of is not starting to get so comfortable or risk averse that I end up sounding like everyone else."
Chicago Tribune, June 05
"If you make political discourse sufficiently negative, more people will become cynical and stop paying attention, that leaves more space for special interests to pursue their agendas, and that's how we end up with drug companies making drug policy, energy companies making energy policy, and multinationals making trade policy."
Newyorker May 2004
"What we have now is a surplus amount of conflict that is manufactured. It is manufactured in television ads, it's manufactured in terms of how the parties potray each other. There doesn't seem to be any break from the perpetual campaign. And so we never sit down and actually govern."
Charlie Rose Show Oct 2006
In 2003 Charles Barkley, a -at times- racially controversial figure himself, began working on his book interviewing a young state senator from Illinois...
"I firmly believe the overwhelming majority of African Americans are just as hard working, just as intent to go about business. What is true, though, is sometimes we get into the mode of it's easier to blame white folks for things than us taking the responsibility."
A couple years ago Barack Obama discussed America further..
"Stay amazed. And remain in wonder, at this unlikely place, we call America. I think it's easy for some people to look at all the challenges we face; to look at our poverty and our war and inequality and racism or hatred, or helplessness, and to get down on this country as a result."
"To think that there is something wrong us, and there is little hope to make things better. If you ever feel like that yourselves, I ask you to remember, all the amazing and unlikely things that have happened in this country."
"This is America! A place where millions of restless adventurers, from all over the world, still weary of their lot in life -still hoping for something better- have longed to travel great distances and take great risks for a chance to arrive on our shores."
Boston commencement address University of Massachusetts June 2006
When Barack Obama fought for reform in Washington, he required the temperment of someone willing and able to work with all sides of the issue. Barack Obama has been described for years as a man who truly is concerned with bridging the conflicts and gaps in government.
"Real reform means making sure members of congress and the administration tell us when they're negotiating for jobs with industries they're responsible for regulating. That way we don't have people writing a drug bill during the day and meeting with pharmaceutical companies about their future salary at night."
Chicago Council November 2005
"Politics in Washington has become the intellectual equivalant of WWF wrestling: Smacking each other, throwing chairs, but nothing's really happening."
Houston Chronicle Oct 2006
Recently the question of Barack's experience have come into question. Is he too green? Even more recently Barack Obama's stance on the controversial "gas tax" initiative by both Mcain and Clinton gave opportunity for the young Barack to challenge the experienced candidates one on one.
Agree or not, here is what Obama said 2 years ago..
"The only thing as predictable as the rising gas prices, are the short term political solutions that usually come along with them. Every year you have the same headlines, "Pain at the Pump", and then Americans start emptying their wallets to fill up their tanks, and politicians go through the standard responses: Tax rebates and tax holidays, investigating price gouging by oil companies."
A real solution for high gas prices Podcast May 11, 2006
Critics like to point out that Barack Obama is a wonderful speaker as if this included the totality of the man, but with a bit of knowledge it is easy to see for how long and by what measure Barack Obama has stood on issues important to him.
Here are a few more...
.."Every parent I know, Liberal or Conservative, complains about the coarsening of our culture, the promotion of easy materialism and instant gratification, the severing of sexuality from intimacy"..
.."Our political culture fixates on where our values clash"..
..Not so far beneath the surface I believe we are becoming more, not less, alike..
.."After all a cynical electorate is a self-centered electorate"..
"No what's troubling is the gap between the magnitude of our challenges and the smallness of our politics -the ease by which we are distracted by the petty and the trivial, our chronic avoidance of the tough decisions, our seeming inability to build a working consensus to tackle any big problem."
All the above quotes from book Audacity of Hope
In the end the purpose of this blog is to persuade Americans to ignore the talk radio, television pundits, and personal beliefs they hold about the candidate.
Ignore Reverend Wright, Sean Hannity, and even a pro-Obama blogger. Ignore everything that deviates from the only thing that matters in a man's life.
His life.
Study the actions that thunder louder than words and see how the words measure against the man's actions.
If you find the accord harmonizes with the measure of the man then you have truth my friends.
And we can all use a little of that these days..
How else are we all going to FINALLY come together?
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