Different Styles of Leadership (in Pictures)

I realize that I am potentially running the risk of ever being allowed to become a Rodeo Clown, at least in the state of Missouri, but I think I have to take the risk and lighten things up a bit.

I came across this photo today and I seriously could not stop laughing.

And the man always looks like he "knows" it's going to blow up.....

 Then it reminded me of this interesting little photo and I laughed even harder.

Obama: I'd rather be golfing
Putin: Seriously, this is who's running your country?

 Then, after I stopped laughing I realized how much of a laughing stock we have become.

In the run up to the 2008 election we were sold a bill of goods that said President Obama was going to restore America’s credibility around the world. We were told he was the smartest guy in the room and that he would repair the foreign affairs disasters that had befallen us under the prior administration.

Here we are almost five years later and the world is erupting and our global credibility and foreign affairs portfolio lies in tatters. You wonder why no one seems to take the President of the United States seriously any more?

Tell me who you would take more seriously?

The Formative Years: Choom Gang vs KGB

Does this really need a caption ?

So who are some of the people you hang out with?
To be honest, some of those fund raising events can be down right brutal.......

So how do you spend your vacations ?

What can I say....... at least he's not wearing those bands around his pant legs 

Photo Op picture vs Trained Killer

Views on the Military

At the end of the day I have got to believe that when it comes down it, the reason why no one takes us seriously is obvious.

Any Questions? Nyet....... Good

Humor, it's a nice thing to have when the world seems to be crumbling around you. So lighten up, you know this was funny.

Extortion 17 – Never Forget

Today marks the 2^nd anniversary of Extortion 17. Another anniversary, another series of unanswered questions. It is starting to become the norm.

On 6 August 2011, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, call sign Extortion 17, was shot down while transporting a quick reaction force attempting to reinforce an engaged Army Ranger unit in Wardak province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan.

The resulting crash killed all 38 people on board, including 25 American special operations personnel, five helicopter crewmen, seven Afghan commandos, and one Afghan interpreter, as well as a U.S. military working dog. It is considered the worst loss of U.S Military life in the Afghanistan campaign, surpassing Operation Red Wings in 2005. Of the 25 special ops personnel killed, 22 were US Navy SEAL’s, inlcuing 15 from DEVGRU (SEAL Team 6).

That’s what happened. The question now is: what really happened? Too many unsettling questions remain to close the case on this. Yet, like in so many recent events, the silence is deafening.

If you don’t know about Extortion 17, then you owe it to those brave military men who lost their lives to research it and then ask: What really happened?

• Why was no air support cover provided during the mission into a live fire hot zone, in violation of standard protocol?

• Why were all of the bodies cremated without the families’ permission?

• Why were the seven Afghani troops originally listed on the flight changed at the last minute with seven others yet no changes were made to the flight manifest?

• Who ordered the Afghani troop change and for what reason?

• Why were the two flight data recorders supposedly not recovered from the crash site? A claim that a flash flood washed them away was given to the families. We recover them from the ocean floor, yet we can’t find them in a desert?

• What was the urgency that necessitated this last minute operation? Supposedly this was an urgent mission but no explanation or evidence has been provided to indicate why. Who provided the intelligence for this mission?

• The drone quit working at the time of the crash. The U.S. military also claims it did not know the identity of the helicopter that crashed for ten minutes. What caused the multi-layered surveillance and communications black out?

• After the crash, over one hundred U.S. military troops descended on the area, including pathfinders. Why were they not available before?

The people in this country have been divided into political camps. It is time for us to get our heads out of our collective asses and stop thinking as Republicans or Democrats and start thinking as Americans. We deserve better, and we owe it to the memory of those who have paid the ultimate price.