http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/6354 The conviction of Libby caused me to wonder what Custer had planned for an encore; more Indians? Such seems the &ldquo;plan&rdquo; of the Bush administration. Custer may not have said &ldquo;Bring it on!&rdquo; or put out posters for Sitting Bull &ldquo;Wanted Dead or Alive!&rdquo; but the overall picture begins to take on an uncomfortable similarity to the present White House. Knowing of Custer&rsquo;s ego it isn&rsquo;t difficult to imagine before his last stand having already prepared a banner &ldquo;Mission Accomplished,&rdquo; which would at the very least have proved as premature as that of the present occupant of the Oval Office. Of course, there is nothing of humor about those who died with Custer. The best that can be said of the battle is that their leader died with them, paying the ultimate price for his arrogance and seeking for glory. But Bush sits comfortably in the White House protected from taking any risks to his own hide or that of his friends while ordering others placed in harm&rsquo;s way. Certainly we don&rsquo;t expect generals to be on the front lines of battles, but we do have a right to expect generals to at least be concerned about casualties. This has not been in evidence with our &ldquo;general&rdquo; sending troops into battle unprepared and with no real plan for either protracted war or any exit strategy together with the debacle of Walter Reed. Brilliant people, even those of great genius can make stupid mistakes and stupid statements. The time would fail in producing a list of examples. I can easily believe Ann Coulter had a &ldquo;psychotic episode&rdquo; in her remark about Edwards causing such harm to the very people, conservatives, she has long championed. I don&rsquo;t doubt Howard Dean wishes he could take back his scream and Hillary wishes she hadn&rsquo;t succumbed to a similar episode with that shrill, tin ear attempt to be &ldquo;one of the people.&rdquo; But some stupid mistakes by leaders, brilliant or not, often cost actual lives. As to Custer, like so many battles and prominent people involved, historians continue debating these things often having to depend on secondary rather than primary sources. However, one would think in our modern technological world with computers and instant communications it would be easier to nail the guilty; but this has not proven to be the case, as the Libby fiasco makes so indelibly and painfully clear; and We the People are left once more wondering if truth and justice have any chance at all in America? We still wonder about JFK, the Warren and 9/11 Commissions, and there is simply too much corruption in government to take any politician&rsquo;s word as the truth about anything. The passing of time and the lack of primary source material lends an ephemeral and azure tint to things like &ldquo;Remember the Alamo&rdquo; and such things are easily romanticized. But there is nothing about our present leadership Republican or Democrat that lends itself to romanticizing. On the contrary the actions on the part of our leaders seems so very tawdry, none of them lending themselves to anything heroic, anything by which history will recall of any of them that is not tarred by the brush of corruption throughout. One of the things, and a very essential thing that helped us during WWII was our heroes. Those my age recall we had real heroes during that era. That so many would prove to have had feet of clay has no bearing on what we believed of our heroes during that period of time when we needed such heroes to fight a world war against the Axis foes. Just as some neuroscientists think we are genetically disposed to religious beliefs, reflecting my own thoughts and writing about an &ldquo;instinct to believe,&rdquo; so there would seem to be a need for heroes in order to gather people to a cause. But without that all-important element of romance you cannot possibly have heroes. There has to be something to give the substance to words like glory and heroism, there have to be leaders who gather others to them on this basis to have any hope of success against the foe. The painfully obvious vacuum of leadership in America today, the lack of any of real virtue who are convincing in the role of &ldquo;hero,&rdquo; cries out to be filled. Not to even suggest any invidious comparison but I have no doubt Bush cast himself in a romantic role relishing the cowboy mystique, that he sees himself much like that famous painting of Hitler in shining armor. But just as things turned out disastrously for Hitler, so things are proving disastrous for Bush. We can only hope our entire nation does not fall prey to such a dark romanticism as that of Hitler. But the dark side should not be ignored. Hitler presumed an expertise he did not possess and became blind to the obvious, refusing the counsel of all opposed to him because of filling a position of such immense power. It is an old story filled with much grief, that leaders too often presume wisdom and expertise on the basis of position rather than actual ability. Our own leadership throughout seems to suffer this affliction. An historical axiom has it power destroys those that do not use it wisely. Our hope as Americans is that our whole nation does not have to pay the price Germany did for the lack of wisdom among those holding power. It would serve us well to remember the history of nations that have fallen due to the lack of virtue in their leaders and act accordingly as we are subjected to a parade of those who would presume to lead without virtue, and without virtue being without wisdom. Of this much we can be assured, though it is an uncomfortable assurance: No nation can survive without a national identity based on heritage, culture, language, and secure borders. That we do not have a leadership dedicated to this inescapable imperative of history and nations, that there is no such prospective leadership being offered bodes ill for America. The conviction of Libby caused me to wonder what Custer had planned for an encore; more Indians? Such seems the &ldquo;plan&rdquo; of the Bush administration. Custer may not have said &ldquo;Bring it on!&rdquo; or put out posters for Sitting Bull &ldquo;Wanted Dead or Alive!&rdquo; but the overall picture begins to take on an uncomfortable similarity to the present White House. Knowing of Custer&rsquo;s ego it isn&rsquo;t difficult to imagine before his last stand having already prepared a banner &ldquo;Mission Accomplished,&rdquo; which would at the very least have proved as premature as that of the present occupant of the Oval Office. Of course, there is nothing of humor about those who died with Custer. The best that can be said of the battle is that their leader died with them, paying the ultimate price for his arrogance and seeking for glory. But Bush sits comfortably in the White House protected from taking any risks to his own hide or that of his friends while ordering others placed in harm&rsquo;s way. Certainly we don&rsquo;t expect generals to be on the front lines of battles, but we do have a right to expect generals to at least be concerned about casualties. This has not been in evidence with our &ldquo;general&rdquo; sending troops into battle unprepared and with no real plan for either protracted war or any exit strategy together with the debacle of Walter Reed. Brilliant people, even those of great genius can make stupid mistakes and stupid statements. The time would fail in producing a list of examples. I can easily believe Ann Coulter had a &ldquo;psychotic episode&rdquo; in her remark about Edwards causing such harm to the very people, conservatives, she has long championed. I don&rsquo;t doubt Howard Dean wishes he could take back his scream and Hillary wishes she hadn&rsquo;t succumbed to a similar episode with that shrill, tin ear attempt to be &ldquo;one of the people.&rdquo; But some stupid mistakes by leaders, brilliant or not, often cost actual lives. As to Custer, like so many battles and prominent people involved, historians continue debating these things often having to depend on secondary rather than primary sources. However, one would think in our modern technological world with computers and instant communications it would be easier to nail the guilty; but this has not proven to be the case, as the Libby fiasco makes so indelibly and painfully clear; and We the People are left once more wondering if truth and justice have any chance at all in America? We still wonder about JFK, the Warren and 9/11 Commissions, and there is simply too much corruption in government to take any politician&rsquo;s word as the truth about anything. The passing of time and the lack of primary source material lends an ephemeral and azure tint to things like &ldquo;Remember the Alamo&rdquo; and such things are easily romanticized. But there is nothing about our present leadership Republican or Democrat that lends itself to romanticizing. On the contrary the actions on the part of our leaders seems so very tawdry, none of them lending themselves to anything heroic, anything by which history will recall of any of them that is not tarred by the brush of corruption throughout. One of the things, and a very essential thing that helped us during WWII was our heroes. Those my age recall we had real heroes during that era. That so many would prove to have had feet of clay has no bearing on what we believed of our heroes during that period of time when we needed such heroes to fight a world war against the Axis foes. Just as some neuroscientists think we are genetically disposed to religious beliefs, reflecting my own thoughts and writing about an &ldquo;instinct to believe,&rdquo; so there would seem to be a need for heroes in order to gather people to a cause. But without that all-important element of romance you cannot possibly have heroes. There has to be something to give the substance to words like glory and heroism, there have to be leaders who gather others to them on this basis to have any hope of success against the foe. The painfully obvious vacuum of leadership in America today, the lack of any of real virtue who are convincing in the role of &ldquo;hero,&rdquo; cries out to be filled. Not to even suggest any invidious comparison but I have no doubt Bush cast himself in a romantic role relishing the cowboy mystique, that he sees himself much like that famous painting of Hitler in shining armor. But just as things turned out disastrously for Hitler, so things are proving disastrous for Bush. We can only hope our entire nation does not fall prey to such a dark romanticism as that of Hitler. But the dark side should not be ignored. Hitler presumed an expertise he did not possess and became blind to the obvious, refusing the counsel of all opposed to him because of filling a position of such immense power. It is an old story filled with much grief, that leaders too often presume wisdom and expertise on the basis of position rather than actual ability. Our own leadership throughout seems to suffer this affliction. An historical axiom has it power destroys those that do not use it wisely. Our hope as Americans is that our whole nation does not have to pay the price Germany did for the lack of wisdom among those holding power. It would serve us well to remember the history of nations that have fallen due to the lack of virtue in their leaders and act accordingly as we are subjected to a parade of those who would presume to lead without virtue, and without virtue being without wisdom. Of this much we can be assured, though it is an uncomfortable assurance: No nation can survive without a national identity based on heritage, culture, language, and secure borders. That we do not have a leadership dedicated to this inescapable imperative of history and nations, that there is no such prospective leadership being offered bodes ill for America. en-us <p>Good idea to compare Bush to Custer.&nbsp; But I believe at the time of the Little Bighorn Custer was perceived to be a hero.&nbsp; Now it appears that the majority of this nation believe Bush to be either a buffoon or a liar.&nbsp; </p> <p>I currently hold neither of these beliefs.&nbsp; I think that he is correct in fighting the forces of fundamentalist followers of Islam.&nbsp; I believe them when they say that they hate us and wish we were dead.&nbsp; Why shouldn't I believe them - they have proven beyond all doubt that they are happy to kill us.</p> <p>As to our leadership problems - they are freightening.&nbsp; It appears that the Democratic hopefuls do not agree that the Islamic fundamentalist really want to harm us.&nbsp; I don't think the Democrats are stupid or ignorant.&nbsp; I just want to know how they would face the threat.</p> <p>I am not worried that Islam will conquor this country.&nbsp; Islam doesn't want to.&nbsp; But a few of the followers of Islam have the ability to do great harm by terrorist tactics.&nbsp; I would prefer that we fight them away from our home soil.</p> <p>So I am saying that Bush is showing leadership by continuing to fight an unpopular war that was started by an enemy that does not owe allegiance to any political state.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/6354/#c_63904 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/6354/#c_63904 <p>Good idea to compare Bush to Custer.&nbsp; But I believe at the time of the Little Bighorn Custer was perceived to be a hero.&nbsp; Now it appears that the majority of this nation believe Bush to be either a buffoon or a liar.&nbsp; </p> <p>I currently hold neither of these beliefs.&nbsp; I think that he is correct in fighting the forces of fundamentalist followers of Islam.&nbsp; I believe them when they say that they hate us and wish we were dead.&nbsp; Why shouldn't I believe them - they have proven beyond all doubt that they are happy to kill us.</p> <p>As to our leadership problems - they are freightening.&nbsp; It appears that the Democratic hopefuls do not agree that the Islamic fundamentalist really want to harm us.&nbsp; I don't think the Democrats are stupid or ignorant.&nbsp; I just want to know how they would face the threat.</p> <p>I am not worried that Islam will conquor this country.&nbsp; Islam doesn't want to.&nbsp; But a few of the followers of Islam have the ability to do great harm by terrorist tactics.&nbsp; I would prefer that we fight them away from our home soil.</p> <p>So I am saying that Bush is showing leadership by continuing to fight an unpopular war that was started by an enemy that does not owe allegiance to any political state.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> Your point about Bush is well taken as that about Islam. My concern is the lack of leadership throughout capable of fighting a war to win. http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/6354/#c_63908 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/6354/#c_63908 Your point about Bush is well taken as that about Islam. My concern is the lack of leadership throughout capable of fighting a war to win. Hey Sam, what happened to your other Blog about wanting the Vice President Dead??, and anytime Left wing extremists start comparing Bush to Hitler, they lose all credibilty, with all fair minded people, such as you have lost here,&nbsp; http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/6354/#c_63928 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/6354/#c_63928 Hey Sam, what happened to your other Blog about wanting the Vice President Dead??, and anytime Left wing extremists start comparing Bush to Hitler, they lose all credibilty, with all fair minded people, such as you have lost here,&nbsp;