The (Daily) Vent 2

(War. By Other Means) The great Prussian military theorist, Kael von Clausewitz, once remarked that war is politics by other means. And the old Junker was right because what is war but a failure of politics to resolve a dispute without violence. The reverse is equally true, however. Politics is war. in the same way. On this, September 3rd, the date Britain and France declared War on Nazi Germany who had invaded Poland two days prior.  These pages began in 2010, during the Obama Administration. A tendency among Democrats was noted that in order to pass their legislative program, it could not done by popular acclaim. Democrats policies are not generally popular and generally would not win in Congress. That is when a solicitation to the  courts is sought, or if that bench is not friendly, or of it is the wrong people on Capitol Hill. In their minds, power is an end in itself that could never be achieved with Constitutional limits. If the Supreme Court was packed ? ...

(These Proceedings Are Closed ?) One can feel some sympathy for General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur. In a career that had made him Army Chief of Staff, when the Pacific War started, MacArthur was in command of the Philippines and when those islands fell, the General was given command of the Southwest Pacific Area, a position he held to the end of the War. The Solomons and New Guinea campaigns were under his direction but he had promised to retake his beloved Archipelago. But MacArthur had an equivalent in the European Theater, a former aid of his named Dwight David Eisenhower. Eisenhower had been the Supreme Commander for the invasion of Western Europe. General MacArthur it was thought that when the time came, he would lead the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands, an endeavor that would dwarf Eisenhower's accomplishment in the ETO, more men, more ships, and more planes. Then came Hiroshima. Then Nagasaki. Then General of the Army MacArthur was denied the glory of what would ha...

(Embassies To The Son Of Heaven) The so-called "Son of Heaven" has been a reference to the Chinese emperor as his was the position that had been granted mandate from the Above. His' was the divine right to rule. These days, of course, there is no Dynasty in the Forbidden City but instead Xi Jinping who is the head of the Chinese Communist Party. And he has been receiving "embassies" from the Biden Administration. The latest had been Commerce Secretary, Gina Romando. As one might remember, Secretary of State Blinken paid a visit to Beijing some months ago.  That was followed by a visit from Treasury Secretary Yellin, who was seen kowtowing at the incident. Romando went asking what her predecessors had and that was stability and mutual security. The Peoples' Republic is not interested in either outcome and all these "state visits" accomplished was to display the weakness of Washington in its relationship with Beijing. How can China not proper when th...

(Chill Pills) When the Titanic sank, one of the recommendations in the aftermath was to have the U.S. Coast Guard to monitor the ice conditions in the North Atlantic and warn any traffic sailing into the affected regions. It also was not uncommon, assuming the berg was big enough, to step on and cut a piece to cool off a beverage, The same thing could be done in Greenland or the Antarctic, cleaving pieces of ice to put into a drink. Home Economics personality Martha  Stewert was seen enjoying a cocktail, chilled with piece of glacial ice. And, for some reason, some people freaked.  Ice is ice and whether it comes from a Greenland glacier or an ice machine in a freezer. The goal is a cold drink. Another one who take a chill pill is perhaps Tucker Carlson. The former Fox News personality has gone on to Twitter/X and gave an interview to former President Trump the same night as the Republican Debate, but the sit-down garnered perhaps as many as 100 million views.  A qu...

(Re-tirement Home) It can be a mark of leadership when a leader in advanced age has the wisdom to step aside. the Roman Emperor Nerva had been a consensus choice in the aftermath of the death of Emperor Nero and the political chaos that followed. Nerva was aged himself and was content to serve only two years as Emperor. He did nominate a successor and made him his heir, the one who would become known as the Emperor Trajan.  There are today many politicians that are old like Nerva and like the Roman Emperor, should perhaps step aside. President Biden has been a clear example for some time. Also, Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is having cognitive issues of his own, seemingly freezing while speaking. The Senator did have a fall some time ago so that be a contributing factor. Senator Diane Feinstein is also in advanced years and is having difficulty. That being said, removing any of these individuals from Office would have profound political c...

(Case BLUE) In the German Ostheer (Eastern Army) in 1942, its southern formations, Army Group South, was further divided into two Army Groups, A and B which was further divided into four army level headquarters. Army Group A included the Seventeenth Army that was an infantry formation that had tanks and the First Panzer Army that was an armored formation that marched infantry. Army Group B included the German Sixth and Fourth Panzer Armies. On this date in 1942, as a part of the second year of the German of the Sovirt Union. The German plan had been to send Army Group A into the Caucuses Mountains but Army Group B was ordered to the Volga and the seizure of Stalingrad.  Now, one generally is aware of the ultimate outcome. In November, the Soviets counter-attacked and eviscerated Axis forces in the bend of the Don River and encircled the Sixth Army till it was destroyed by early 1943. The efforts to relieve Sixth Army were complicated as available...

( Getting Rolled. . .) In an ignominious display, several climate protesters who were blocking a highway to the Burning Man festival of all things, backing up cars for miles. In any event, they were removed with some force by Nevada Rangers. Big white pick-up trucks crashed the demonstration and place several members in cuffs. The  activists complained loudly. They were protesting on behalf of the environment. They were non-violent. But, they had been something else. They were blocking the way. One can ask those on that Silver State highway what happened at Maui and was it climate change ? In reality, it was a bad live line that arced in high wind and sparked the blaze and bad subsequent executive  decisions made things worse. President Biden had declared the pandemic over but is now "concerned" over some new covid variant so one needs to get another booster and put those masks back on.  And social distance. of course. The absurdity of the idea is appa...