Remember the 7th of December…

?

It was on this day sixty eight years ago that a metallic rain fell on the men and women of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.? Nearly twenty-five hundred Americans perished in the surprise attack on America’s home soil, with another thousand wounded.? The event changed the course of history, and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto correctly pontificated that the Japanese Empire had “awaken the sleeping giant.”? America stood bewildered for but a brief moment before springing into acton, an action that would draw some of the best from within her ranks.? My Great-Grandaddy Caster, a Marine, and my Grandfather Devine, an Army surgeon, were?both deployed to the Pacific theater along with countless other brave men and women from our free society.? They knew that the stipulation for living in such a society meant grappling with the state of nature and chaos against those who did not tolerate free societies’ existence.

A friend of mine posted a small quip on his FaceBook page, asking friends to remember the events marked by this date so many years ago.? In a sorrowful representation of pessimism, I quipped, “people are already forgetting the events of September 2001, can we expect many to remember Pearl Harbor?”? My half-empty glass was poured out even more when someone tagged along saying that perhaps one-third of his class knew what today represented.?

I could not help but think how tainted history would be, if we had Alex Jones and George Noory perpetuating the ridiculous falsities that the Roosevelt Administration knew of the attacks before their execution.? If we had Ron Paul supporters (granted not all) sporting 12/7 Truther shirts.? Now we face a difficult fork in the road as a country in the middle east.? Afghanistan has proven increasingly arduous as her sister conflict on the other side of Iran has settled.? We need the fortitude of our forefathers: grandaddies, great-grandaddies, opas and the likes.?

World War II lasted from 1939 until 1945 officially.? I am willing to entertain and hear the argument that we have been in Afghanistan and Iraq for longer than that.? It is like they forget our long-winded presence in the former Axis countries: both Germany and Japan station troops until this day.?

Surely there are many differences between September 11th, 2001 and December 7th, 1941.? However, let us not gloss over the moral of the story: let us not forget either.

-rj

At What Point Do We Take North Korea Seriously?

It was reported last evening that Japanese intelligence agencies believe North Korea plans to fire a Taepodong-2 missile at the Hawaiian Islands on Independence Day.? Besides the obvious, the scheduled launch date is a blatant affront to American liberation from British tyrrany.? Tyrrany that the citizenry of N.Korea resides under every day.? These citizens live a life by day that today’s Americans could not comprehend, and one by night that becomes radically clear.

Over the last few years N.Korea has test fired missiles over the Sea of Japan, unconcerned with the possibility of the consequences of fluke success sending the debris crashing down on top of another sovereign nation.

Now, they plan to use American soil as their next target.? Not the middle of the ocean, not a desert, not a deserted island; but American soil.

The Taepodong-2 rocket is not expected to hit its target with a range of 4,000 miles, and with the Hawaiian Islands 4,500 miles away.? But can we be assured of this?

When does it begin to sink in to our administration that this is serious? That the next “test” might not be a test?

I’m reminded of President Obama’s rebuttle to accusations of him just making big speeches.

“Just words? Just speeches?”? Yes, Mr. President.? Your full of words and speeches, and the men that you use as evidence of words and speeches brought with their voice action and resolve.? You have done neither.? You have spent five solid months telling the American people with words and speeches about fiscal responsibility, the unethical use of lobbyists and pork barrel spending, and have danced around the world on a celebrity train built to fluff not the American ideal, but your popularity.

Your words and speeches are void and empty, and your popularity poles are indicating they are beginning to fall on deaf ears.? Prove to us that your words and speeches mean something.? The time to act is now.

If the smoking gun does happen to be a mushroom cloud, it will be one mistake you certainly will not be able to blame on your predecessor.