American Betrayal by Diana West

The Secret assault on our Nation’s Character I recently purchased this book from Amazon. I had heard about it and since I have written several articles on what I assumed would be the same subject I wanted to check it out to see if my concerns were addressed. As I started reading the first chapter my pen was busy page after page underlining statements concerning our current elected leader’s inability to accept the curse of Islam as it spreads its poison everywhere. Then she changes course and for the next ten chapters she recounts problems beginning in the years after WWI, concentrating most of her bile on the Roosevelt Administration and in particular Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt’s most trusted advisor. She does her best to paint Hopkins as a communist doing all he can to aid Russia not for the obvious need to keep Russia in the war against Germany until our forces could be built up in sufficient quantity to make an impact on the war against Hitler but rather as supporting communism itself. I will not attempt to refute her admonition that communist sympathizers were imbedded in all areas of our government and they had an impact on the conduct of the war effort. She does elaborate on the attempts by a number of people to expose the threat to no avail. I lived through the war years and have read many books about it in my lifetime as well as watching documentaries, etc. She does correctly point out that FDR was convinced of his ability to charm Stalin and get him to mellow. In this he was completely wrong. By ignoring Stalin’s history of killing over 20 million of his own people, he through the mistakes made during the conferences created the ability of Stalin to subvert the freedom of all people behind the iron curtain for over 50 years. This was totally wrong. Neither Truman nor any other President until Reagan did anything of substance to free these nations. Finally Reagan referred to the USSR as the “Evil Empire”. Many world leaders and the press were shocked. She is convinced the Second Front in attacking France was wrong and that we could have ended the war sooner by massively pushing our way up the length of Italy. She is wrong. The mountainous terrain kept us from using our armor effectively. Not only that but we needed a huge base to assemble our forces. England was that base. N. Africa, Sicily or Italy could not have provided that need. In her final chapter she returns to exposing Islam as the threat of today. She says ‘Islam is the Communism of today. But, because of our failure to come clean with Communism, we are unable to deal with it, trapped as we are in the old Communist habit of deceit and double-speak that used to haunt the countries in the East and that now haunts all of us”. In this I am totally in agreement. My condemnation is not only President Obama but also 90% of Republicans in leadership positions. Not one presidential candidate spoke to the issue. I cannot give this book high marks as I found it depressing to read her disparage General Marshall, Eisenhower and others, men who were of sterling character in my opinion. I was alive during the war, she wasn’t. Jack B. Walters October 1, 2013

Another Example of the Inability of Congress to Function

In 1956 when Eisenhower was President the Highway Revenue Act was approved to pay for the Interstate Highway System. The Federal Tax rate was set at 3 cents. In the 50’s it was raised to 4 cents. In 1982 under Reagan it was increased to 9 cents, then under G.H.W. Bush it increased to 14 cents, of which 2.5 cents were designated for deficit reduction and lastly it was increased to 18.5 cents under Clinton in 1993. All of the increase designated for deficit reduction. There it has remained to this day. The fund continued to drop to where Congress authorized a transfer of $35 Billion from the General Fund to shore it up between 2008 and 2010. Senator John McCain and Hillary Clinton during their campaign to become President proposed a gas tax holiday. Hillary suggested making up the shortfall with a windfall tax on the oil industry. Since 2000 there have been half a dozen attempts by members of Congress to suspend the gas tax entirely. THE FUND IS PROJECTED TO BECOME INSOLVENT THIS YEAR. Believe it or not the U.S. Chamber of Commerce actually supported raising the gas tax this year. All of the above data I gleaned from Wikipedia. Why take the time to write about it now. My reason is that in this week’s newspapers were two articles which caught my attention. The first had to do with increasing sales of large SUV’s and pickup trucks, the second was a proposal to generate funds for highway and bridge repairs by installing toll booths as the only viable way to raise funds for road repair. Just think of the added cost of installing and manning booths and the travel delays that would be a result.. So here you have it, the fund will go broke yet this year but no one in Congress or the President has the intestinal fortitude to state the obvious that the tax must be increased with all funds for construction and maintenance. Had they just had the wisdom in 1956 to tie the tax to inflation it might have grown sufficient to cover the needs. They didn’t and no Congress since then has seriously given this need the proper attention. It is like everything else including Social Security and Medicare. They keep pushing off into the future instead of preparing seriously to assure funds are available when needed. It is so ridiculous that there are Arizona legislators who are complaining that electric and hybrid vehicles are not paying gas tax and that something must be done about it. Never mind that the responsible people who purchase these vehicles pay a high price to purchase. Friends of mine who have them do it as their contribution to lower pollution and out of concern for the rise in temperature in the world. They should be applauded not penalized with a special purchase tax or however they deem it prudent to extract funds. Even if they did I can assure you the funds accumulated would not go for road maintenance. They would find some other purpose or no purpose at all just add to the State general fund Once Americans understood that the cost of gasoline would be increasing year by year they would make their purchases accordingly. Merely mandating CAFÉ increases will be ineffective as there will always be exceptions carved out as they have done repeatedly over the decades. It has been so long since we had leaders we respected that I accept that no politician will ever propose an increase in the gas tax either on the National or State level. Should we have leaders we felt we could trust then I believe the old fashioned American can do spirit could be rekindled. Without it our roads and everything else will continue to deteriorate until we are just the shell of a once great nation. Jack B. Walters September 15, 2013

Letter to the editor

Senator John McCain’s response to the Syria question He said yesterday, “We have to make it clear that a vote against this would be catastrophic in its consequences”. What he means is that if we don’t strike Syria militarily, that the world would no longer respect nor fear America’s military might. Wouldn’t it be nice if the world respected us because of our values and efforts to promote democracy, freedom and improved living standards around the globe instead of living in fear of being attacked by us? Ever since Bush’s attack on Iraq we have been losing respect everywhere. Obama has not reduced our belligerent agenda. He has expanded it in Afghanistan and Libya. One last thought, should he attack Syria I believe he should be ordered to return the Nobel Peace prize. It was given to him in the hope that he was a man of peace. It didn’t work. Jack B. Walters September 3, 2013

Letter to the editor

President Obama’s Syria Decision I have never underestimated his intellect. Yesterday he showed how politically savvy he can be. His decision to throw the ball back to Congress was brilliant. For weeks now Republican leaders have been pressing him to attack Syria. The thought of a mere demonstration would not have appeased them. They want full out war and to depose Assad as we did Khadafy in Libya. No matter what course Obama might have taken would not have satisfied them. They will vote in unison in favor of attacking with the full power of our military. Only the dove portion of Democrats in the House and Senate might be able to override their zeal. We will be committing national suicide if we take sides in a civil war that is of no national concern to America. No use writing McCain and Flake. Contact Ron Barber he might listen. Jack B. Walters September 1, 2013

Letter to the editor

Syria is potentially our next victim I am going to pose a question. We have been fighting against Al-Qaeda for over a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are a major factor in the rebel opposition to Assad. I equate this group the same as “The Brotherhood”. Their goal is the same, the installation of Sharia law over every nation. As far as I am concerned under Obama we have been on the wrong side. Khadafy of Libya kept them under control. We aided them in murdering him. Mubarak of Egypt also kept them under control. We threw him under the bus as the old expression goes and now Assad. Won’t it be great when the Brotherhood gets their hands on those stockpiles of chemical weapons? It won’t be so great for Israel. They will be the first victim followed by America. Our John McCain is pushing Obama. Please tell him to stop. Jack B. Walters August 30, 2013

Roosevelt's Centurians by Joseph E. Persico

FDR and the Commanders he led to Victory in World War II I have read so many books about WWII; I have memorized the persons involved and the events. It is always a pleasure for me to re-live those perilous times that I was fortunate enough to live through, old enough to understand but too young to participate. I found this book at a local book store and purchased it. The principle military leaders were Marshall, Eisenhower, MacArthur, King, Halsey, Nimitz, Patton, Bradley, Stilwell and Arnold. FDR had a direct influence on selecting and working with these fine Americans. Together the war was ended with us the victor. In this short review I don’t intend to re-live the war but rather would like to present the author’s summation of how FDR achieved the objectives of selecting military leaders, deciding how and where the war should be fought and his performance as cheer leader in chief. FDR receives top scores on his selection of military chieftains capable of winning the war. They were stable and reliable staying in their positions untill the end. As a strategist the results are mixed. His decision to concentrate on Germany was correct. That was a far greater threat than Japan. Going into North Africa, Sicily and Italy the author feels was a mistake and may have prolonged the war. FDR reasoned that our Army had to engage the Nazis somewhere in 1942. Churchill was adamant that a frontal attack across the channel could have disastrous results. Based on the initial blooding of our troops I believe his decision was correct. We were able to keep German troops occupied giving some relief to Russia. FDR was criticized for his declaration of unconditional surrender. Some felt this stiffened German resistance. No doubt this did occur. The decision to split the Pacific into two zones was correct. McArthur did retake the Philippines and rescue thousands of prisoners while Nimitz drove North taking islands ever closer to Japan. The decision early on to spend billions developing the atomic bomb was a definite yes. Without it the war would have dragged on, perhaps for years with unimaginable casualties. I personally give FDR the highest rating as a home front leader. He exuded confidence. The timbre of his voice, firm yet fatherly, the fireside chats, the dazzling smile, the upturned hat, the jaunty angled cigarette, the quips and banter with the press told us that if our President could be so upbeat then how dark could the outcome be. He created the women’s Army Corps. He gingerly integrated the services. He visited war plants and stimulated bond drives by having films made to inspire workers and soldiers alike. Lastly his greatest long lasting achievement was establishing the G.I. Bill of Rights, one of the most transformative social experiments in the nation’s history. Over 10 million veterans participated including yours truly. I never would have left my home town had I not had the opportunity to receive a college education. Most of the comments in these last paragraphs are the author’s words, not mine. It is a well-researched book worthy of being read. Jack B. Walters August 15, 2013

Grant's Final Victory by Charles Bracelen Flood

Ulysses S. Grant’s Heroic Last Year After completing his eight years as President, General Grant placed his assets in a jointly managed investment company. Two of the associates stole funds which when discovered wiped out the funds Grant needed to support his wife, children and grandchildren. Friends came to help by providing loans. He had been solicited to write his memoirs about his war time experiences in the Civil War. This presented the best solution towards earning enough funds to pay off his debts and provide for his family. As he started the project he suffered severe throat pains. A cancer was discovered at the base of his tongue. It was painful to swallow liquids or eat. Nonetheless he continued on day by day the arduous task of putting his thoughts to paper. Along the way Mark Twain entered the picture and convinced Grant to let Twain’s Company to publish. Twain provided valuable assistance to aid Grant. The story describes his year long struggle to accomplish the goal despite the continuing deterioration of his body. A growth grew on the left side of his neck to huge dimensions. He communicated by whispering and writing notes. It was completed three days before he succumbed to death. The result was a two volume book entitled “Personal Memoirs” which contained 1,215 pages of text and 291,000 words. He died at 8:08 A.M. July 13, 1885. His son Colonel Frederick Grant walked over to the clock and stopped the clock. It remains that way to this day. His wife Julia lived an additional 17 years, a widow who had become wealthy from the sales of her husband’s book. She would lie beside him in the massive tomb the next generation would know. The place selected was a temporary tomb on the cliffs above the Hudson River in N.Y. City. It was the largest parade in the history of America. It was estimated at one and one half million people along the parade route. It was led by General Hancock. Everyone wore black. The buildings had black streamers hanging down. The hearse was drawn by twenty four black horses. There were twenty generals, some former Rebel Generals. Julia insisted that several of them should be allowed to be pallbearers. President Grover Cleveland and former Presidents Rutherford Hays and Chester Arthur followed in their carriages. There were many bands and thousands of soldiers including rebel soldiers paying tribute. I must now order books to learn why he was so beloved. Jack B. Walters August 15, 2013