You undoubtedly are aware that former Vice President Dick Cheney has been extremely critical of President Obama. On Wednesday, June 18th, 2014 - in an outrageous op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal - Mr. Cheney blasted the President and wrote..."Rarely has a U.S. President been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many. Too many times to count, Mr. Obama has told us he is ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - as though wishing made it so."
Has Vice President Cheney forgotten that it was he...along with his boss - the Commander-in-Chief on March 20th, 2003...former President George W. Bush - who started the Iraq War - a war that should never have begun? Mr. Cheney wants to sweep under the rug that the then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11 - the horrific and tragic attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001 - and that Saddam Hussein did not possess any Weapons of Mass Destruction...which were the reasons the Bush Administration sold the war to Congress...and to some - and I say some, not all - of the American people.
Mr. Cheney has a lot of gall - a whole lot of nerve - criticizing President Obama. Does the former Vice President not remember that less than two months after declaring war on Iraq...President Bush - on May 1st, 2003 - stood on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln...and made a televised speech to the American people that major combat operations in Iraq had come to a stop? A banner was hung on the ship behind Mr. Bush that boasted... "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED"...thus enthusiastically bragging that he ended the war in Iraq. But the war was not over. It continued throughout nearly 6 more years of Mr. Bush's administration...with President Obama having to inherit it for another 3 years - when Mr. Obama withdrew the last of our American troops from Iraq on December 18th, 2011. A total of 4,489 U.S. troops were killed during the almost 9 years of the Iraq War with 32,021 troops wounded - and the vast majority of those military casualties came after President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech.
Therefore...how dare Vice President Cheney write such a scathing editorial about President Obama...basically blaming Mr. Obama for the current turmoil in Iraq? In an exclusive interview for the Sunday, June 29th, 2014 broadcast of Meet The Press with David Gregory...David asked former President Bill Clinton if he believes "Dick Cheney is a credible critic." Mr. Clinton rightfully snickered and stated..."I believe if they hadn't gone to war in Iraq...none of this would be happening." President Clinton added..."Iraq would not have been, in effect, drastically altered as it has been. But Mr. Cheney has been incredibly adroit for the last 6 years or so...attacking the (Obama) Administration for not doing an adequate job of cleaning up the mess that he (Mr. Cheney) made. And I think it's unseemly." Mr. Clinton went on to say..."And I give President (George W.) Bush, by the way...a lot of credit for trying to stay out of this debate...and letting other people work through it."
Frankly...I penned the bulk of this commentary prior to President Clinton's remarks...but I wholeheartedly agree and echo his feelings. Vice President Cheney needs to come clean...and face the facts...that he and President Bush were wrong...and that they should never have begun a war with Iraq. It's President Bush and Vice President Cheney's fault that the United States of America was in Iraq to begin with...and we never should have been there at all. Enough said.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication
of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B.
Duglin.
The
Controversy will make an effort to publish a new commentary every Sunday.
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Copyright 2014 Gary B. Duglin and
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When did the United States business world...industries nationwide...and corporate America...begin to embrace only the young? Why if you're over 40... especially over 50...and definitely over 60...you're considered worth less than someone 20 or 30...and, in many cases, considered...worthless?
Age should not be a determining factor on what we - as Americans - have to offer. It used to be...if you were a child...a teenager...or even "a young whippersnapper" of college age or a bit older - you were ignored. Not anymore. And frankly...I never agreed with that when I was a kid. So why now are the voices of younger people heard more clearly...than those with maturity and experience?
When I'm awake at 11:35 on a weekday night...I watch the Late Show With David Letterman...as I think Dave is awesome. But on Monday night, February 17th, 2014 - as much of America did - I tuned in to the first broadcast of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. I've never been a
big Jimmy Fallon fan, but I thought I'd give him a chance as the host of the program, which has been a cash cow for the NBC television network for 60 years...since it began with Steve
Allen in 1954. After about two and a half years...in 1957...The Tonight Show continued with host Jack Paar
for nearly five years until 1962 when for the next 30 years...until 1992...the best of
the best - Johnny Carson - made The Tonight Show his own...and the staple for any late night television talk show. Johnny Carson will always be "The King of Late Night"...and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson will never be topped. But after being forced out by "The Peacock Network"...Johnny was
succeeded by Jay Leno from 1992 until 2009. However...NBC made the biggest mistake in television history...and pushed Jay to
primetime...and Conan O'Brien spent a disastrous eight months at the helm of The Tonight Show... until early in 2010 when The Tonight Show With Jay Leno returned to the airwaves for another four years...when Jimmy Fallon took over earlier this year.
In a January 26th, 2014 broadast of 60 Minutes...CBS News Correspondent Steve Kroft interviewed Jay Leno shortly before his retirement as the host of The Tonight Show. Kroft's script stated that "Soon (Jay) will no longer be on (The Tonight Show). It's part of a demographic shift that is beginning to affect millions of baby boomers...being pushed aside...to make way for a younger generation. The inevitable changing of the guard that also reflects a change in tastes, sensibilities and values."
My opinion of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon isn't really important...since obviously...it's doing quite well in the ratings - especially with younger people. Hmm. Younger people. But as The Hollywood Reporter notes in a June 5th, 2014 article..."the most compelling part of the post-Jay Leno story is how Fallon hasn't really hurt the competition. He's brought new, younger viewers, in that coveted 18-49 demographic, to late night." But The Hollywood Reporter also wrote that Fallon's "wide margin of victory hasn't taken away any considerable portion" of Jimmy Kimmel's audience on ABC or David Letterman's on CBS. But yet...Dave - on Thursday, April 3rd, 2014 - announced that he'll be retiring as the host of Late Show sometime in 2015. Dave was smart. He made the move before CBS made it for him. Or did they? After all..it took only one week for CBS to select Letterman's replacement. On Thursday, April 10th, another personality who is popular
with the younger demographics - Stephen Colbert - was tapped to take over for Dave next year.
I happen to like Colbert...but let's remember...he's very funny "in character as Stephen Colbert." He will need to be just as funny..."as Stephen Colbert."
Back to NBC...when I watched the premiere program of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon...I thought it was as bad as I expected to be. But four months have gone by and I believed the former host of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and the former regular of Saturday Night Live...deserved another chance. Sorry, Jimmy...but you're just not my cup of tea.
I realize television executives - many of which are also younger these days than they were in the past - are today appealing to those 18-34 (or younger) and 18-49 demographics...but it's a shame that just like everything else in this country today...nobody wants to focus on the more mature generations. If you're 40 or over...and especially if you're age 50 and older...we in those age brackets...are often forgotten.
I certainly understand that in a world with Internet, I-Pads, I-Pods, I-Phones and I-Everything else...the youth of today are more involved and more educated with even the simplest of technology...but that doesn't mean that experience in other areas and with other forms of business should be tossed out with the trash.
When I was a youngster, I was always offended when some adults used the phrase..."Children should be seen and not heard." It seems now that it's the other way around. Children - or at least young adults - are listened to more today...than middle-aged and senior citizens...who still have a great deal to offer to this country...and to this world.
Personally...I've spent more than 40 years as a professional in a media industry that includes broadcasting, journalism and entertainment. And when I seek out an employment opportunity...I'm told that the company is looking to hire someone with "contemporary ideas"..."an abundance of energy"...and "new, refreshing concepts." Those are all euphemisms...and buzz words...that translate to mean..."You're too old...and we want someone younger." That's discrimination. And discrimination against a person because of their age is as bad as discrimination against someone because of the color of their skin... their ethnic heritage...their religion...their gender...their sexual orientation...or for any other reason. It's criminal. Old...and older...are not dirty words. I just wish everybody - not just some - who are young...would believe that.
All of the above brings me to - who I believe will be - the next President of the United States of America. Republicans are already attacking Hillary Clinton about her age. Of course we don't know for sure if the former First Lady is going to run for President in 2016...but if she does...and is elected as our 45th President...the former Secretary of State and former U.S. Senator will be 69 years old when she takes office in January 2017. And...at the end of her second term - if elected - Mrs. Clinton would be
77. Do the Republicans not remember that they nominated John McCain for President in 2008 when the Arizona Senator was 72 years old? Do members of the GOP not recall that former Kansas Senator
Bob Dole was 73 when he was the Republican Party's nominee for President in 1996? And I doubt anybody can forget...
that President Ronald Reagan moved in to The White House in January 1981 and took the oath of office twice as our Commander-in-Chief. After serving two terms as President...Mr. Reagan vacated The Oval Office in January 1989 when he was just a few weeks shy of his 78th birthday.
I have always been one who believes that the opinions, thoughts and views of ALL Americans...must be considered. When I was a kid...I would sometimes hear certain adults remark..."What do you know? You're only 16."
We have proven over and over and over again that young people - those in their twenties and even those in their early, middle and late teens - can provide a tremendous input in to our nation and in to our world. But with age...brings experience. And the age and experience of Hillary Clinton will be a plus for America...should she decide to seek the Democratic nomination for President in 2016. After all...Secretary Clinton has more talent...more knowledge...more wisdom...and more sound judgment...in the fingernail of her right pinky...than any Republican has in his or her whole body. Therefore, I have no doubt that Hillary Clinton will defeat any person that the Republicans put up to oppose her. Thus the reason for the sleazy and despicable
comments...that Republican strategist Karl Rove made last month...when he indicated that Secretary Clinton may have brain damage. But being sleazy and despicable is not something new for Mr. Rove. What he did...purposely... with preparation and pre-meditation...was disgusting. It was a cheap shot... at the most successful woman in American political history.
The age...and the health...of any political candidate - especially one running for President - is always a concern for American voters. The New York Post in May 2014 published Karl Rove's words...when the former Deputy Chief of Staff
and Senior Adviser to President George W. Bush asked about Secretary Clinton..."Thirty days in the hospital? And when she reappears, she's wearing glasses that are only for people who have traumatic brain injury? We need to know what's up with that?"
Rove's remarks revolve around an accident when Secretary Clinton fell in December 2012. Doctors had diagnosed her with a concussion and a blood clot in her head. And besides the fabrication that Rove created about Mrs. Clinton's health...he needs to get his facts straight on the former Secretary of State's hospitalization. The former First Lady was treated at New York-Presbyterian Hospital for three days...not thirty.
I totally understand that Karl Rove will do anything he can to destroy the possible candidacy of Hillary Clinton for President in 2016. But Mrs. Clinton hasn't even declared herself to be a candidate...and Rove has already begun an ugly smear campaign. Legitimate inquiries in to the health of a politician is fair game...but the Republican strategist has gone too far by suggesting that Secretary Clinton has a permanent injury to her brain. Rove went way over the line of decency... beyond dirty politics. It was downright evil.
Former President Bill Clinton responded to Rove's lunacy by saying, "First they said she faked her concussion...and now they say she's auditioning for a part on The Walking Dead." And a spokesperson for the Clintons blasted Rove's insensitive comment saying that Mrs. Clinton has fully recovered from her fall 18 months ago. The Clinton camp noted to "Please assure Dr. Rove... she's 100 percent."
Even some Republicans jumped down Karl Rove's throat saying that his remark was ludicrous. Former Speaker Of The House Newt Gingrich said, "This was not clever. And it wasn't an insinuation. This was Karl Rove running headlong into a brick wall. In both parties, this kind of attack weakens the fabric of democracy."
I noted earlier that Rove's comments were pre-planned. His words were clearly not part of a spontaneously spoken statement. But newspapers, magazines, television and radio newscasts, and Internet Websites have stated that Rove made his remarks at "a private event." Let's get real, people. It's 2014. There is no such thing anymore as "a private event." Most everyone today has a video camera with audio on their cell phones...and in an age of Facebook and Twitter...nothing is private.
Saying that Hillary Clinton has brain damage has no substance whatsoever...and if the former First Lady decides to run for President again... nobody is going to take seriously the ridiculous remarks of Karl Rove. Besides if Rove thinks that by making stupid statements is going to keep Secretary Clinton from seeking the Democratic nomination for President in 2016...then he needs to grow a brain...because obviously...he doesn't even have one to be damaged.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication
of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B.
Duglin.
The
Controversy will make an effort to publish a new commentary every Sunday.
Unscheduled essays may appear, from time to time, on other days as
well.
Please post
The Controversy site on your own Facebook pages and on your Twitter accounts;
and please pass a link to everyone in your e-mail directories.
Now, please express your opinions in
the comment box below. You do not have to register your name and you can remain
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the editorial above and on any other commentary or essay written on this blog.
Just click on the word "Comments" below and write your thoughts in the box that
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Controversy.
Copyright 2014 Gary B. Duglin and
TheControversy.net. All Rights Reserved.
We've gone from angelic, little children in Connecticut being shot to death in their school classrooms...to innocent police officers - minding their own business - but being murdered while they eat lunch in a Las Vegas restaurant...to still another rampage in a school in Oregon where two high school students are dead - including the student gunman - but still...nobody in Congress...and nobody in state legislatures...are willing...or able...to pass the necessary bills in this country so that guns are taken out of the hands of people who should not have them.
It is becoming all too frequent in
America that people are being killed by an individual with a gun...who
otherwise would not have the opportunity to murder. The deadly school shooting on Tuesday, June 10th, 2014 at Reynold's High School in Troutdale, Oregon was the 74th shooting at an American school since the Sandy Hook Elementary School bloodbath in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14th, 2012. That's more than one shooting every school week over the last 18 months. And let's not forget all the other shootings that have not been at schools.
If you're a regular reader of The Controversy...you know I believe that NOBODY...NOBODY...in the United States of America...should be allowed to have a gun...a gun of any kind. But I understand that is not realistic...not at all possible...and that it is not in tune with the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. So be it. It's obvious that I lose that fight. And I will have to accept the fact that guns are here to stay. But that doesn't mean we can't regulate them so that only certain people...completely, medically and psychologically tested, sane people with no mental issues whatsoever...can have access to guns. But how do we do that?
There has to be universal background checks. Gun permits should not be granted for a minimum of 90 days...if not 180 days...after a person applies. We must have positive proof...with the most intense scrutiny...with the best possible discovery, investigation, inspection, examination and analysis...that a person is not purchasing a firearm...so that he or she is going to use it...to kill another person...or to massacre...and slaughter...dozens of people.
Laws must be passed so that only a minimum amount of ammunition can be bought every 60 days. And guns with magazine compartments of more than a few bullets...should be outlawed entirely.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Guns are bad. Guns are evil. And anyone who uses a gun...to take the life of another person...is in some way... mentally deranged...and should not have been permitted to purchase a gun.
I'm tired of pointing the finger and blaming those who support gun rights. I'm sick of criticizing and jumping down the throats of those who own guns. Gun violence is killing our kids and murdering innocent people from young to old. Everyone in the United States must come together in order to keep our schools safe and our entire country safe.
How many more families have to be devastated by a shooting? How much more blood has to be spilled? How many more lives have to be claimed? Everyone in this country - those of you who don't own guns and those of you who do - need to contact the Congressman in your district...and you need to tell him or her - whether they are a Democrat or Republican - that they must come to an agreement that will eliminate access of guns to the wrong people. What is it going to take for a law to be passed? We've got to do something... and we must do it now.
How many more people have to die? Must there be a school shooting everyday...instead of every week? Let's hope not. God forbid, let's hope not. God help us if that were to happen. God help us now. Maybe He can get Congress to do what is right.
We must get all firearms...all guns...off the streets...and out of the neighborhoods and homes...where the madmen of America can get them. We must stop the carnage in our country. If we don't...death by bullets...will be more and more common...and living as a United States citizen...living as an American...will be hell. And that's no way to live.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication
of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B.
Duglin. The
Controversy will make an effort to publish a new commentary every Sunday.
Unscheduled essays may appear, from time to time, on other days as
well.Please post
The Controversy site on your own Facebook pages and on your Twitter accounts;
and please pass a link to everyone in your e-mail directories.
Now, please express your opinions in
the comment box below. You do not have to register your name and you can remain
totally anonymous if you prefer. The Controversy wants to know your views on
the editorial above and on any other commentary or essay written on this blog.
Just click on the word "Comments" below and write your thoughts in the box that
appears. Make sure please that when you finish your statement that you click on
the word "Publish." Thank you for your thoughts and thank you for reading The
Controversy. Copyright 2014 Gary B. Duglin and
TheControversy.net. All Rights Reserved.
The five Taliban leaders that were released from Guantanamo Bay detention camp on May 31st, 2014
in exchange for Prisoner of War, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl are not to be compared to
General Zod and his criminal cohorts from the 1980 motion picture, Superman II. These five former inmates of the United States military prison "Gitmo" were - at one time - responsible for hideous, horrendous, heinous crimes against Americans. But they alone cannot annihilate America nor can they exterminate or obliterate the Earth. They are five men. Five men. And it's been between eleven and twelve years since these men have been the "big bad wolves" of the Taliban. Yet, there are those in the United States who feel that releasing Sergeant Bergdahl was wrong... because they think...by making a deal with terrorists for any reason...is wrong.
Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl - as with all our "boys and girls" who serve our country - must come home. We...as a nation...and the government of the United States of America - all of us combined...all of us together - need our soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors to fight for us - when they are asked to do so - and they do it with honor...with valor...with bravery...and with courage.
We don't know the facts yet about Sergeant Bergdahl. Today...Sunday, June 8th...there's a report by The New York Times that suggests that Bergdahl was beaten...tortured...and kept in a metal cage...in the dark...by his Taliban captors in Afghanistan after the 28-year old Army sergeant from Hailey, Idaho tried to escape.
Bowe Bergdahl was captured in June of 2009 after he disappeared from his infantry unit. Is he a defector? Is he a deserter? Did Sergeant Bergdahl go AWOL and leave his post for a deliberate reason? We don't have the answers yet to any of these questions...and there is no definitive, clear-cut evidence that Bowe Bergdahl is a deserter. And until we do know...let's not judge him. Let us wait until he speaks out. Only then will we know the truth about what happened to Bowe Bergdahl...how he was treated by the Taliban...why he left his post - which caused him to be captured - and all that needs to be known about Bowe Bergdahl's nearly five years of captivity by Taliban militants.
In the meantime...let's not make five people the Hannibal Lecter of worldwide terrorism. True, the Taliban is a murderous group of wicked, sinful and immoral individuals...whose sole mission in life is to destroy and bring death to Americans. These five men are dangerous...and - at one time - they were without question some of the super villains of the Taliban. So obviously...these Taliban serial killers and international felons don't
deserve freedom. But Bowe Bergdahl does. We should not paint these five men as evil characters in a Clint Eastwood or John Wayne movie. Dirty Harry and Rooster Cogburn will not be needed to go after these five former members of the Taliban leadership. They have been out of touch with the Taliban for more than a decade...and they are being monitored. They are being watched. The former inmates of the Guantanamo Bay prison were sent to Qatar...a sovereign Arab Emirate nation in western Asia...and that is where the men will remain - with restrictions - for at least one year. And if these five treacherous Taliban time bombs happen to elude those who are keeping a focused eye on them... and they re-enter the battlefield...re-enter the fight...and return to the top of the Taliban ladder...I am confident that U.S. intelligence agents...and our military...will find them...take them down... and - if necessary - kill them. They were captured before...and they can be captured again.
We cherish the lives of all our servicemen and women who wear an American military uniform. There may be legitimate concerns as a result of the swap for Bowe Bergdahl's freedom...but we bring our military troops - each and everyone of them - home. The Pentagon always says that we do not ever
leave a fallen comrade behind. President Obama and others at The White House who were involved in Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl's release...did what was right. Not for any reason do we leave one of
our own with the enemy. Sergeant Bergdahl was released from the enemy and is being treated at the United States Army hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
We have to question him. We may even need to interrogate him harshly.
But we bring our man...or our woman...home. And that's what we did.
For now...the mother and father of
one of our armed forces troops...can sleep better...knowing their son
is safe. And that alone should bring smiles to all Americans.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication
of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B.
Duglin. The
Controversy will make an effort to publish a new commentary every Sunday.
Unscheduled essays may appear, from time to time, on other days as
well.Please post
The Controversy site on your own Facebook pages and on your Twitter accounts;
and please pass a link to everyone in your e-mail directories.
Now, please express your opinions in
the comment box below. You do not have to register your name and you can remain
totally anonymous if you prefer. The Controversy wants to know your views on
the editorial above and on any other commentary or essay written on this blog.
Just click on the word "Comments" below and write your thoughts in the box that
appears. Make sure please that when you finish your statement that you click on
the word "Publish." Thank you for your thoughts and thank you for reading The
Controversy. Copyright 2014 Gary B. Duglin and
TheControversy.net. All Rights Reserved.
