Grind it Out

It’s only a memory.

This graphic returns by request for an encore…

We have a lot to look forward to. The “Idiocracy” feature film set in 2505 arrived early with the Obama and Biden regimes. Kamala, the Ho, is cast in the film as a woman with brains. The film missed reality a bit there.

Advice from CDRSAL 

https://cdrsalamander.substack.com/

He set it down two decades ago. Although the US has slipped since then, it’s still useful.

1. First, know the challenge: The Soviet Union was a unique global challenge that lasted decades and, as such, warped our perception of ourselves. The Soviet Union died by its own hand, and still high off the false mirage of the DESERT STORM’s easy victory that immediately preceded it, we became infatuated with our sudden dominance astride the world – “peace dividend” or not.

Through the 1990s, GBR, CAN, BEL, FRA, NLD, and other armies decamped from Germany after the fall of the Soviet Union, but we did not. Why? We became addicted to being what we were not designed to be: a quasi-empire.

2. Know yourself: We are, by design, a mercantile republic, not an empire, yet to keep the Soviets at bay for over four decades, we adopted the mantle of one. It is not a natural state. We are blessed with good neighbors, two oceans, and, for the moment, the best global economy. Our responsibility to the world is an example of solid economics and good government—not an enforcer of order.

3. Know the state of man: there will always be tyrants. To live under tyranny is the basic state of man. A higher state of man with liberty and free discourse must be desired and fought for by the people it will impact – an external power cannot impose it and then leave it to the imposed to implement in the long term. It will be seen as foreign to the people it is being imposed on, and the people will become an antibody to it. A nation will bleed itself white of blood, treasure, and legitimacy, wandering the planet looking for monsters to slay. There will always be monsters. If you embark on that quest, it will never end.

4. Bring them home: We should not be garrisoning the world as we approach the third decade of the 21st Century. Our allies are strong and well-populated enough to be their 1st line of defense, and we do not need to be on their ramparts so that they can work on other projects. We should have no maneuver forces based on the land of our allies. Zero. We should not permanently have any of our naval forces based in the ports of foreign nations. With our allies, can we have combined training, HQ, and logistics bases? Absolutely. Should we regularly have large-scale exercises where we can surge forces from the USA and back? Absolutely. That is our natural state.

5. Play to our comparative advantage: We have friendly land borders and two large oceans. We are a maritime and aerospace power, not a land empire. We are blessed with resources, talent, a stable government, and the rule of law unprecedented in mankind’s history. We are undermining that by trying to force the unnatural fit of empire. The secondary effects here and globally are clear for all to see if they wish to.

6. Land reserve: we do not need large standing ground forces. None. Outside of short notice, there is an aggressive war on our part, and there is no reason we need the active duty ground forces we have. Our design and national character answer us; most of our ground force capability in peace should be in a robust and diverse National Guard system. We can activate and bring up to full readiness as needed. As doing so would significantly disrupt economies and families throughout every community in the USA, it will stand as a check on those who want to try out their dreams of a global empire. The nation will have to be behind it, not a klatch of think tanks, politicians, media types, militarists, or excitable residents of Blobistan. Well equipped, distributed, and fully part of every part of the USA. Let the vast majority of our Army (and mobilization enablers in USAF/USN) be of and from the citizenry.

7. An expeditionary mindset: We should have a reasonably active army and USMC. However, they should be expeditionary by design and scalable with w/integrated reserve and National Guard components that will flesh them out. There are various ways to design this active force, but it will only be a much smaller % of today’s. Active component+reserves+National Guard units – actual numbers may be more. We will need more logistics, air and sea, and reserve/National Guard status, which should be fine.

So, that is the Executive Summary. Do you want to “break the wheel” of strategic stumbling, drift, and inertia? This is a way to do it.

Bullet Points:

** I wish China did not have a bone to pick with her Century of Humiliation, but she does. I have been dealing with an extension of this philosophy with some Chinese people I’ve encountered. It led to an ongoing and insipid personal — war — of sorts. Though I won’t go into details, the question of which party is playing checkers and which party is playing chess comes to mind. So far, Barbarians 1, Celestials 0. But that could change.

** Wishful thinking and warfare (Hoover Institution)

** I hate seeing an old person, and then I realize we went to high school together. Even more on point, a friend posted a picture of people on Facebook, and I didn’t recognize one of the guys. I thought to myself, ‘He looks ninety.’ Then I read the caption, and he’s my age, and I used to work with him (some years ago).

** Near the White Wolf Mine. I met Claudio and his family here a couple of months ago.

** She told me that she missed me. Normally, I’d find comfort in that, but then she reloaded.

** Powerboat racing with EdB – I’m sure the COB had something instinctive to do with this video. We also have a rare shot of EdB demonstrating aquatic skills.

A Proclamation on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. – No further comment

** New docs from the Brennan-Clapper intel committee reveal the group pushed DHS to adopt covert influence campaigns and use “trusted messengers” to get the “American people to feel” a certain way about issues.

** Would you get on the airplane if Pedo Joe Biden was the pilot and the Ho was the co-pilot?

Identify the Aircraft

1

Two photos

The forward cockpit was for the torpedoman, who would release the weapon at the right moment. I can’t imagine trying to catch the #3 wire on an aircraft carrier’s moving deck with that lump of flying metal. I don’t see any arresting gear on it. No tail hook.

2

This is the divebombing sister craft to #1 above. That’s your hint.

3

4

Not a photoshop – for those of you who are old enough to recall. Name the aircraft and the nuclear weapon it carried.

US National Command Authority maintained that it wasn’t a suicide mission. It wasn’t put to the test, but yes, it was.

In a sense, it reminds me of the US Navy’s nuclear demolition weapon to be deployed by UDT/SEAL Teams. It detonated when you set the “timer” to get you to a safe distance. Of course, we’d never play that sort of trick today…

5

There are lots of hints in the photo. The pilot was NOT from Vulcan. This aircraft was made to be a rescue plane that could be delivered in containers behind enemy lines. The project seemed doubtful, but the finished aircraft has proved to be able to meet its design objectives.

6

This one might be more difficult than it appears at first blush.

End