ANOTHER CHANGE, ANOTHER SITE

RattlerGator Blog has moved yet again.

NEW LINK TO THE BLOG

Here's the updated link:

RattlerGator Blog

And here's a personal opinion piece from Memorial Day Weekend 2004 that tells you where I'm coming from:

W.E.B. DuBois said the problem of the 20th Century would be the problem of the color line; solidly within the color line in the culture of the United States stands African Americans, obscured from view by something similar to a veil -- those within are visible behind that veil, but precisely how clearly? Those within obviously see beyond that veil, but again . . . exactly how clearly? I believe the challenge of the 21st Century will prove to be the same as the challenge of the 20th Century but with this distinct difference: the "special" burden presented by the challenge and that burden which must be shouldered will no longer be on those from without the veil. No, the special burden in the 21st Century will be on those of us within the veil. As it should be.

And here was the very first column:

RattlerGator
Tallahassee, FL
Memorial Day Weekend, 2004

Tuned In, Turned On, Dropped Out

A Personal Transformation from Democrat to Republican

Timothy Leary was an American icon of the countercultural Sixties. As a former Harvard psychologist, his advocacy of mind-altering drugs made him, in President Richard Nixon's words, “the most dangerous man in America.” A mantra associated with him was “tune in, turn on, drop out.” Charitably speaking, it was an invitation to release one’s inhibitions and take another look – a fresh look – at the world. I have a very strong feeling that many Americans, more than suspected, have done precisely that as a result of the events of the last three years. The 9/11 attacks had just such a beneficial effect on me: it freed me from the unquestioning shackles of the Democratic Party. Unfortunately for the Democratic Party, my subjective scrutiny of their partisan approach to these shocking attacks on the American mainland finds them severely lacking as a responsible political party.

Tuned In

As I recall it, the morning of September 11, 2001 was bright and clear here in my corner of Florida. I was at home watching the Today show, I believe, when the news arrived of a plane crash at the World Trade Center. In retrospect, everything seemed to happen so fast after that. My attention span quickly moved from that of news curiosity, where you are multitasking and taking note of a tragic accident, graduating up to one of news emergency replete with amazing speculation that commanded my attention, to, finally, to an attention span of national crisis that did not simply command my attention, it focused me completely. I have not lost that focus on the pure contemplation of terror.

I fully remember the moment when this event moved from news emergency to national crisis for me. I was on the phone with my older brother’s daughter – she, too, was watching the spectacle on television. As we were discussing just how absolutely incredible all of this was, and soaking in all of the speculation about the Pentagon and other planes in the air, the first World Trade Center tower to fall began that sickly majestic plunge. That was it for me. No more time for talking. This was war.

Turned On

As a man who served this country proudly in the United States Army, was granted a Top Secret clearance while at Fort Bragg, and, through a quirk, was able to witness an early training exercise of the Army’s Delta Force in the backwoods of North Carolina, the attack was very personal for me. Over and over I thought of a single line I had to type again and again in advanced individual training with the U.S. Army Signal Corps at Fort Gordon – NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD MEN TO COME TO THE AID OF THEIR COUNTRY. That’s exactly how I looked at it then and precisely how I look at it now.

It was not long, however, before it became clear that other seemingly like-minded friends thought of things much differently. It wasn’t about coming to the aid of America – no, it was about consultation with Europeans. Or it was about the evil deeds done by America to generate such intense depravity (if it was even seen as depravity). There was a genuinely shocking level of equivocation in the sense of statements made by people I knew to be learned that were not literally or necessarily false but nevertheless avoided an (apparently) unpleasant truth about the perpetrators – they were depraved. They were depraved – not America.

In my circle of acquaintances, however, curious questions about why they hated us so much kept being raised. As I stated to the wife of a longtime friend, once someone flies a plane into one of our leading commercial centers in an attempt to kill tens of thousands I stop giving a good *#*/*%#* what their complaints are or why they think the way they do – I start thinking of ways to kill them.

This, apparently, is the problem. The Democratic Party has become infested with people who, at best, have a superficial understanding about military forces and the application of military power. Worse still, that Party now has a significant number of members who have a simplistic opposition to the military. These are people (the so-called “Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party” or DWDP for short – Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton, et al.) who will look you dead in the eye and insist that they support the troops – yet odds are they have rarely celebrated Memorial Day as an In Memoriam salute to the sacrifice required for freedom or visited some purely military memorial like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Needless to say, they wouldn’t be caught dead waving an American flag. But they sure as hell support the troops, man. Yeah . . . right.

It is because of the DWDP (apparently) that so many former Clinton officials, active in the decisions made to prosecute action in Kosovo, have curious positions on the War in Iraq. I mean, given the fact that under President Clinton our “unilateral” action in Kosovo was not only a “war of choice,” it was also a pre-emptive war arising from a region that was no threat to the United States and not only had no United Nations mandate but it also lacked an international coalition.

The most egregious error made by the Democrats for me was their decision to play politics with our effort in Iraq. It has been nothing short of shameful. The benefit of the doubt should have been given to the President on this issue, not Jacques Chirac and the European Union. The burden of proof in Iraq should have remained on Saddam Hussein, not the President’s decision to make him finally accountable for his actions or lack thereof. The skepticism should have been directed at Mullah Omar’s punkish actions and Osama’s run and hide strategy, not the President’s attempt to bring them to justice. And can I be the only person sick of the DWDP’s “War for Oil” nonsense? I mean, if you’re going to prosecute a war against the United States and you are a shadow group in the Middle East, what’s your most inviting target? Oil! Why do you think Saddam invaded Kuwait?

Dropped Out

I gladly voted Democratic in every Presidential election since becoming eligible to vote. In fact, I don’t think I’ve voted for a Republican in my life. That is about to change. My gradual evolution away from the Democratic Party has consciously occurred over the last two and one-half years. Unconsciously, it’s been happening for quite some time. I’ve taken a fresh look at both parties. I’ve engaged in intense debates with friends when casual statements were made that I disagreed with and may in the past have ignored or gone along with simply to not make waves.

I’ve come to understand that the military officers of our armed forces were allowed to have far too much influence during the Clinton administration. Much of the griping we hear today from those officers is because Donald Rumsfeld is doing what has to be done – reasserting civilian control over the Defense Department. He’s also making it clear that a military doctrine that says we cannot act without an overwhelming mass of forces plays directly into the hands of our enemies.

If you believe in a strong national defense, as I do, the Democratic Party looks like a wasteland willing to barter with an overly political military class of officers that ultimately serves to undermine the principle of civilian control. Secretary Rumsfeld, a former Navy pilot, did underestimate the centrality of the United States Army – but that’s an error often committed by warriors from the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. If Iraq has done nothing else, it has proven this point yet again – as did the flexibility demonstrated by Army Green Berets in Afghanistan. That said, I love Rumsfeld. He is absolutely the right man for the job at this time and the intensity of the people trying to get him to resign only proves the point.

To my great satisfaction, this genuine political transformation has lifted a veil that I willingly cloaked myself within. I suspect that many other African Americans have done likewise. We are woefully ignorant of the history of the Republican Party and openly hostile to associating with them. This ignorance has significance beyond the Republicans – we as African Americans are also quite ignorant of the Democratic Party and even more clueless about how the two-party system works in this country. This ignorance ultimately hurts the Democratic Party also because without the mass of black voters, the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party is impotent. Without having to bow down to their stupidity, the Democratic Party would be freed to address the issues of the day, foreign and domestic, without kowtowing to the “Blame America First” crowd. The further sad fact is that the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party is the most dissimilar base of voters in the Democratic Party from the average black voter. Most African Americans have far, far more in common with the average Republican than the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party.

In the coming weeks I hope to return to some of the issues raised in this column. For now, I’ve engaged in the single most effective protest available to a voter in our system – I have changed my registration from Democrat to Republican. President George W. Bush must be reelected and, also quite important to me, John F. Kerry must be kept out of the White House.

[ E N D ]

Yes, in retrospect I couldn’t be prouder of the switch I made or of the fact that I helped keep John F.’n Kerry out of the White House.

And every single time I hear or see ANYTHING from Al Gore I absolutely shake my head in amazement. The caricature he’s become is, on a certain level, depressing as hell.

Link

www.englishandwhite.com/id8.html