Pizza or Obama
Several friends who are Obama fans have been encouraging me to write about some other thoughts than those of a political nature. One friend suggested that she enjoyed my writing but her eyes glazed over when I went after Obama again and again
Thoughtful criticism should be considered so I started to make some lists of subjects that I knew something about, places where I’ve visited or worked and people I know or knew about that I found interesting.. I thought about Pizza in America, Cape May NJ, Cody WY, San Francisco, East Coast Cities, Joe Frazier, The Lakota Sioux , Wall Drugstore in North Dakota, The Princess Royal, The Farzanegan brothers, The Danube, The Badlands, Ed Bacon( Kevin’s Dad), Deadwood, The Outer Banks in NC, Belize, Gary Jobson, The Marine Corps, Beaufort SC, Bucky Walters, The West Country in England(Dorset, Devon & Cornwall), Hobie Alter, The Florida Keys, The Abaco Islands & Turtle Key in the Bahamas, Italy, Mexico City, Hawaii, Monaco, Grace & Jack Kelly Jr., Yuma Arizona , Sweden, France, Demels in Vienna, Germany & the Costas Smeralda in Sardinia. This is my 10 minute list unedited.
I promise to expand and work on the list but Obama just won’t let me get started.
Our President may look good, is obviously charismatic and seems to be a family man. He however doesn’t know his American history or perhaps really doesn’t care about it.
The President of the United States does not bow to the Queen of England. I didn’t consider bowing when I met her, because I am an American. Brave men in Philadelphia started the Revolution that gave me the freedom not to bow to any monarch. The Queen understands this, Great Britain understands this, but apparently neither the President nor his advisers have considered the history between our two countries and why the President or any American does not bow.
I was moving past his bowing gaff trying to be generous. But he won’t let up for a minute His conversation with France and Germany was too much to bear quietly. Begging for forgiveness for America’s rude behavior and dismissive attitude toward Europe in recent years was mind boggling. This conversation starts to clearly show the truth of his deficiencies in the way of the world and the faithful support by America of Europe for decades.
I’ve been to Germany and France enough to have developed a different view and expectation of their relationship with America.
I love to travel in France . Paris is arguably the most beautiful city in the world. It remains beautiful in no small part because of the U.S. Marines who fought in the Battle of Belleau Wood. The French desperately asked for our help in defending against the German advance through Belleau Wood. Pershing sent the Marines. Shortly after they arrived the French Commanding office called for retreat. Marine Capt Lloyd Williams answered” Retreat hell! We just got here. On June 6th 1918 1000 Marines were killed while stopping the German advance. In the battle Gunny Sgt Dan Daly leading the attack shouted to his men “ Come on you sons of bitches, you wanna live forever. The German advance was stopped and Paris saved. The Germans called the Marines Teufel Hunden literally Hounds of Hell or “Devil Dogs”. A nickname still proudly carried by the US Marine Corps.
Normandy in France is a more recent memory, as the site of the American and Allied assault that led to the freedom of Europe in WW11. Tom Brokaw chronicles this in his book, The Greatest Generation. Paris was once again free to be “Paris” thanks to the lives and funds spent by America as the arsenal of democracy. Europe was rebuilt with American funds and the Marshal Plan which also helped Germany become an important nation in the “New Europe”.
The President can and should work to improve ties with Europe but needs to understand the reality of the relationship. We are the nation that produced that Greatest Generation that Brokaw wrote about. Not France, not Germany. The President does not have as part of his job description a responsibility to make us into an imitation of the EU. Look at the tepid NATO response to the President’s plea for troop help in Afghanistan . The French answer was not tepid, it was an absolute No!
Defending the concept of freedom is not a part of the European Union ethos. The EU is recently most noted for squabbles about which chocolate will be the EU standard to be called chocolate( French), what is real sausage( not British) and levying fines on produce venders who priced tomatoes on their signs in pounds rather than Euros.
I’m becoming convinced that the President has a limited interest in history and why we are America. I don’t think that he became President to fail but he needs some big time help which won’t come from Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid.
When I was a real person and not just an obscure blogger there were preparation methods I used for serious events. Before I went to an important meeting I surrounded myself with my smartest people to grill and test me on important issues and my behavior requirements for the situation. If the President’s people don’t know that he shouldn’t bow to the Queen; What help are they giving him on more complicated issues?
If the President ever goes to Munich he should look at the map and note the nearby town called Dachau. If he gets to visit Normandy check out the rows of white crosses where thousands of Americans and British soldiers are buried. Those crosses mark the graves of those killed, while freeing France from Germany and the French Vichy government.
The Germans make great cars. I have owned and driven a Mercedes,
my grandson has a BMW. They are really outstanding cars. I have enjoyed *ein wurst mit brot und sempf on a street corner in Munich. Germany is clean, orderly and an interesting place to visit. It is also a country that has caused more horror than the current generation can imagine.
In addition to standing on a German street corner with my wurst I have stood on the Relatives Platform**in NY with grieving family members of the 3000 killed in the attack on 9-11.. That is one sight that Obama might not have had the opportunity to personally witness. I am not about to apologize to Europe for our actions of recent years in pursuit of terrorists. We may have made mistakes but whimpering and asking for forgiveness from France and German should be no part of any conversation by a President of the United States.
And now our Secretary of State has announced the Obama policy that there no longer a War on Terrorists or Terrorism
I think I’ll move to discussing pizza this week.
* My spell check does not handle German and my German has become shaky from little use. What I did on the street corner was have a Bratwurst with bread and mustard
**Note: I am not a relative of anyone killed. I was in NY visiting AIG to see how we could help in their computer operations after the attack dust had settled. They were then a client of my company.
There was a big Irish NY cop guarding the entrance to the platform. As one Irish guy to another I explained that I simply wanted to spend some time on the platform to say a prayer and gather my thoughts on the attack. He understood, let me enter and said “Say one for me”.
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Great article,Buck! Had you been an English major at Lafayette [which you should have been] you would have made Dr. Watt proud!