2018 Bomber May Have Been Delayed for Right Reasons

For a Change.
H/T Dewline
Well actually, I find THIS is pretty heart-warming:

It was clear the Secretary was not comfortable … with how we define what attributes this aircraft will have," Schwartz said. He added, "There is no question in my mind that there is a need for long-range strike in our portfolio," but that Gates wants to be further "persuaded" on what the "essential characteristics" of the next bomber should be. He said, "Certainly that’s what we intend to do, here in this upcoming cycle." The characteristics will be some mix of stealth, speed, payload, persistence, and whether the aircraft should be manned or unmanned.

Read the rest at the link.

Heck, if they want to know what they really need in a long-range strike capability, all they have to do is ask. I'll be standing by, but not holding my breath.

Celebrate Earth Day: My Least Favorite Pagan Holiday

Iowahawk has a link up that captures what I believe is the correct spirit for Earth Day, my least favorite Pagan holiday.

Geez, why won't the stupid Hippies just go away already?

Yeah, That's Me! I'm Johnny Republico!

Iowahawk has outed me:

Republico matches every profile we have for a dangerous sleeper terrorist - pallid complexion, male, military veteran, weirdly unenthusiastic about paying taxes...
...In fact, we believe he may even have a gun.

Rats, I'm busted.

Read it all - TOO funny. Sad too...but funny!

Happy Endings off Somalia: AP Pi**ing in Wind

Sheez,
Captain freed. Mostly dead pirates. A good day. But no matter how good things go, the AP tries to put a negative spin on what goes down. Case in point: "Military crackdown hasn't deterred Somali pirates" put out just 7 hours ago and authored by someone named Lara Jakes. The opening:

"The U.S. military's moves to crack down on high seas piracy have done little to deter the epidemic of ship ransoms that preceded Sunday's Indian Ocean rescue, a top Navy official said Sunday."

Is that what was really 'said'? - Or is that just Lara Jakes' and/or her editors' creative 'interpretation'? The article does provide more insights...

"Despite heightened ocean crackdowns that led to criminal charges against 130 suspected pirates over the last three months,it wasn't having an effect of drawing the number of attempts down," Gortney told reporters during a telephone conference call from Bahrain.
...
For months, the Navy has sought to prevent or disrupt scores of ship hijackings near the Gulf of Aden. More than 100 ships off the Horn of Africa came under siege in the past year.

Well there you go!, sounds like the AP is just reporting the facts. But... wait a second! What's this?

But as the Navy began focusing on the Gulf of Aden and seeing results, Gortney said, the pirates shifted their activity south into the Indian Ocean. Over the past week, pirates commandeered at least seven new ships, including the Maersk Alabama.

Seeing results? Pirates shifting their activity? No deterrence in effect there eh? Any other info provided?

"As a result of our activity and a lot of Navy presence up in the Gulf of Aden, we saw both attempts and successful attacks go down," Gortney said. "But the last couple of weeks, we saw activity, attempts and successful attacks occur on the east coast of Somalia — where this one did."

So the pirates 1.) changed their behaviors such that we "saw both attempts and successful attacks go down" (i.e. the response we wanted) and 2) are trying something different (which I'm sure we expected them to do...after all, they're just turd-world thugs) . But I guess just stating the obvious isn't doom-laden enough for the AP, at least not as doom-laden as implicating our efforts are bearing no fruit.

BTW: How does the AP rule out the possibility that the last couple of weeks are not just a rough patch on the road to success? Especially since:

"Additional Navy ships also have been sent to the region to patrol for pirates, Gortney said."

Not to mention the pirates knew they screwed up by accidentally attacking an American ship.

Quick! Somebody send AP (and President Obama) a copy of Frederick Leiner's book The End of Barbary Terror, maybe they will catch a clue that success doesn't come in a day or a week.

Ron Howard: "Dopey Opie, Opie Dopey"

Whatever...

(H/T: Brent Baker)

If you are an Andy Griffith Show fan, or have just watched enough episodes over the years, you will remember the episode when the new kid comes to town and starts causing trouble with Opie and his friends by trying to lead them into what looks like a life of minor crime; stealing, vandalism, riding bikes on the sidewalk (Oh Barney Fife where are you now?!), etc. The interloper tries to dominate the Opie (Ron Howard) character and assume leadership of the group by making a fun of Opie's name, by various means including the use of a taunting rhyme: 'Dopey Opie'.

Now I admit, that as a kid I watched the Andy Griffith Show with more interest than most others (and it WAS the No. 1 show for years on TV) in part because I felt an affinity for Ron Howard and his character. We were about the same age and on the black and white TV sets we looked a lot alike as kids -- it was like having a near twin on TV, and I got a lot of "Hey! Are you...?, Well you look just like him" in the early years of the show. (Later in life , it would be the same, only with Drew Carey. But that is another story).

So I always had an affinity for Ron Howard and his work. Growing up I'd see him or his Dad on TV doing various talk shows/specials and other things and they seemed to be so common sense and otherwise 'Un-Hollywood'. As Ron Howard became a noted film maker, you had to admire and respect his transition from child-star to a powerful and successful movie maker.

Then, as they say, he had to "open his mouth and ruin everything".

It turns out that for all those years he only seemed to be 'Un-Hollywood' , while turning into some sort of BDS suffering, Obama-Idolizing idiot. After his Obama promo, I can honestly say I've felt no desire to watch any of his work and doubt if I ever will again. Since he produced that paean to Obama (and the whole Hope and Change 'thang) his movie "Frost/Nixon" was released, which from this quarter seems like an insecure attempt to endear him to the rest of the Hollywood set even more. Of course, it only helps that Frost/Nixon promotes the lefty view of the interviews, and the fact that the account of Frost interviewing the disgraced Former President is historical revisionism can only help his cause with his fellow travelers.

Well folks, Opie is still digging. On Bill Maher's show this week Howard let lose some real gems, not the least of which is:

"at a certain point I don't think we'll be so consumed with being the pre-eminent super-power and, you know, driven by sort of militarism and this need to export, you know, democracy.”

Now THAT folks, is Hybris. After seeing the 'interview', I wondered what's keeping Opie from moving to Europe already?

Go to Brent Baker's and read the rest. The post and comments are well worth the trip.

Leftard Foreign Policy or Something

Three hard-core Leftard Radicals, a Deadbeat Defaulter, and three other (but more generic) Useful Idiots of the (D) variety all went to the Workers Paradise for some fun in the sun.

Oh......and they also kissed a couple of murdering commie dictator asses. Who are the ringleaders? We shall know them by their deeds (and these are just the defense-related outrages).

The Leftard Radicals on Parade
Barbara Lee(D)
-Democratic Member of Congress, co-chair of the radical Progressive Caucus
-Former agent of Black Panther leader and convicted killer Huey Newton
-Collaborated with the Marxist dictatorship of Grenada to deceive the U.S. Congress
-Voted against using military force against terrorists following the 9/11 attacks
-Has consistently voted against U.S.-led military action, regardless of circumstances

Melvin Watt(D)
-Member of the radical Progressive Caucus

Watt has voted:
-Against the development of a national missile-defense system;
-Against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001;
-Against the post-9/11 anti-terrorism measure known as the Patriot Act;
-Against allowing the U.S. government to use electronic surveillance to investigate suspected terrorist operatives;
-Against a bill permitting the government to combat potential terrorist threats by monitoring foreign electronic communications which are routed through the United States;
-Against an October 2002 joint resolution authorizing U.S. military action in Iraq;
-Against the establishment of military commissions to try enemy combatants captured in the war on terror;
-In favor of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq immediately and by a preordained date;
-Against President Bush's 2007 decision to deploy some 21,500 additional U.S. soldiers in an effort to quell the violent insurgents in Iraq;
-In favor of a proposal to expedite the transfer of all prisoners in the Guantanamo Bay detention center;
-Against requiring hospitals to report (to the federal government) illegal aliens who receive emergency medical treatment;
-Against the Real ID Act, which proposed to set minimal security requirements for state driver licenses and identification cards;
-Against separate proposals calling for the construction of some 700 miles of fencing to prevent illegal immigration along America's southern border;
-Against a proposal to grant state and local officials the authority to investigate, identify, and arrest illegal immigrants.

Bobby Rush (D)
-Member of the Progressive Caucus
-In 1968, went AWOL from the U.S. Army
-Co-founder of the Illinois branch of the Black Panther Party
-In 1969, served six months in jail for an illegal weapons conviction

Rush has voted:
-Against the development of a national missile defense system;
-Against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001; Against the post-9/11 anti-terrorism measure known as the Patriot Act;
-Against allowing the U.S. government to use electronic surveillance to investigate suspected terrorist operatives;
-Against a bill permitting the government to combat potential terrorist threats by monitoring foreign electronic communications which are routed through the United States;
-Against an October 2002 joint resolution authorizing U.S. military action in Iraq;
-Against the establishment of military commissions to try enemy combatants captured in the war on terror;
-In favor of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq immediately and by a preordained date;
-Against President Bush's 2007 decision to deploy some 21,500 additional U.S. soldiers in an effort to quell the violent insurgents in Iraq;
-In favor of a proposal to expedite the transfer of all prisoners in the Guantanamo Bay detention center;
-Against requiring hospitals to report (to the federal government) illegal aliens who receive emergency medical treatment;
-Against the Real ID Act, which proposed to set minimal security requirements for state driver licenses and identification cards;
-Against separate proposals calling for the construction of some 700 miles of fencing to prevent illegal immigration along America's southern border;
-Against a proposal to grant state and local officials the authority to investigate, identify, and arrest illegal immigrants;

How’s this Leftard Do-it-yourself Foreign Policy working? Well the Murdering Commie Dictators are already making hay out of it.

BTW: The three generic Useful Idiots were: Emanuel Cleaver (MO), Marcia Fudge (OH) and Mike Honda (CA).

Sigh~The Bomber Flies Back Into the Wilderness

Punting Long Range StrikeThere's a lot of decisions in the FY2010 defense budget, announced today, that are problematic, but one thing in SecDef Gate's announcement leaps out as farce:

We will not pursue a development program for a follow-on Air Force bomber until we have a better understanding of the need, the requirement, and the technology (emphasis mine).

This statement is pure political Bulls***. It is a statement that provides cover for an organizational blindspot whereby unpopular answers to tough questions can be avoided.


As I illustrated only a short while ago, the long-range strike question is one of the most thoroughly examined and best understood issues in defense. Let me provide a translation of the above; one that I assure you is FAR more accurate than the drivel shoved into the SecDef's announcement:

We will not pursue a development program for a follow-on Air Force bomber until we have an answer that will NOT threaten the Fighter Establishment and its aquisition strategies. We have grand hopes that we can develop promising technologies that will greatly improve the small and fast-mover capabilities while magically be of no benefit to long-range subsonic platforms.
With these magic technologies, our Fighter Mafiosi expect to be able to FINALLY get rid of all pesky non-fighter strike aircraft.

There. Much better.

The most staggering thing in all this (to me) is that so many in the Fighter Establishment really and truly believe in their steeds and the nobility of their Crusade.

Looks like Return of the Bomber is set back, once again, by the Long-Range Blind Spot.

One Bright Spot
The recent creation of the Global Strike Command should re-establish a virile constituency for the LRS mission and mission needs. Its first 'provisional' Commander, BGen James M. Kowalski, is both an airpower theorist (see my earlier post where he is cited) AND a veteran practitioner of LRS. I only hope his selection is part of a process to groom him to take over the permanent job (or ACC) someday (It is at this time a three-star position). A competent advocacy for LRS could do much to turn the DoD's officially stated position against the entrenched parochial interests.

Gun Fear

I've been on the road for a few days and am just catching up with the world before I post a few items that I've been mulling. In the interim, here's a link to what seems to be a nice person fretting about all those conservatives with guns. (H/T Say Uncle).

I think her general lack of perspective on the subject probably arises from a life within a sheltered 'progressive' environment. She probably isn't widening her horizons much in a 'law school'. I'd recommend she begin a regimen of regularly visiting Clayton Cramer's Civilian Gun Defense blog as a prophylactic to the 'progressive' drivel surrounding gun ownership and use.

Perhaps someday she will refuse to be a victim.