Benghazi

Benghazi

They came across the wall at night
Hundreds of fighters armed for a fight
We were told they were mad at a video
By those who were supposedly in the know

They stormed the gates with grenades and guns
They forced our ambassador to run
But the attackers found him in the safe house then
Killed him and dragged him down the lane

Meanwhile two American heroes defied
The orders they’d received from on high
To “stand down” and not fire a shot
Despite the hundreds whose firing was hot

These brave men, they begged for support
As our leaders watched from their secure fort
The armed jets were only two hours away
But they wouldn’t come to the rescue that day

And so our heroes lost their lives
They leave behind children and wives
But why weren’t they supposed to fight
When our embassy was attacked that night?

As I said those orders they defied
But when asked outright our leaders lied
Over and over on TV they said
The video is why the ambassador’s dead

So for hours and hours on that dreadful night
The two special forces men continued the fight
Hugely outnumbered with valor they fought
But it turned out it was all for naught

For the ambassador was already dead
The order to stand down had already been read
No help would be coming to them that night
And they both were killed in that firefight

So two diplomats and two heroes were then dead
The president on this matter never led
His surrogates lied again and again
It wasn’t terrorism—we offended them!

Well I’m not afraid to call it what it was
A terrorist act against the U.S.
On the anniversary of 911
America lost four of its sons

And to this day the real questions aren’t asked
Such as why weren’t the rescue forces tasked
With saving those men and the grounds they defended
But real journalism long ago ended

One final point I want to make
It was our president’s chance for a stand to take
He could have said they invaded our soil
But that might have cause Muslims’ blood to boil

So instead in the morning the very next day
The president left to go and play
A big party they had in Vegas that night
To help with the president’s reelection fight

And so I end this extremely sad tale
Of America and its latest travail
A story which could have had a different bent
If only some help the president had sent

One ironic thing to tell I've selected
This same president was then re-elected!
By people who, in interviews I saw
Had no idea about Benghazi at all

Because for one thing the press kept it quiet
In my view, truth, they ought to try it
For the narrative had to be terror didn't exist
So they went with the story hand over fist

But the true story is that our heroes are dead
At the hands of people by terrorists led
The policies haven't made terror recede
In fact, our destruction they have decreed

And the people we've helped into powerful posts
Are quickly showing they're really our foes
Radical theocrats are taking control
And with our help they're on quite a roll

Thousands of their opponents have died
In wave after wave of mass homicide
Settling scores is a very old game
So democrats they were only in name

So our policies in the Middle East
Have really caused democracy to cease
But once again the press hasn't spoken
Of all the policies which are broken

Yet the people don't hear it from our press
I blame them directly for much of the mess
They've ignored the real life situations
And instead focused on comedy stations

Where the president appears and tells a joke
Or perhaps on The View he can talk about smoke
Or Oprah might be the venue today
But serious questions, hah! they went away

So the masses they stay fully ignorant
While the rest of the country becomes indignant
Paying taxes to support millions of takers
And slackers and deadbeats and yes, also fakers

I understand the need for some assistance
And from me on that you'll get no resistance
But there are millions who are totally taking
And taking and taking and taking and taking

The millions of people milking the dole
Helped put us in this financial hole
But the promise of more is held out to them
And they re-elect people again and again

But once again the point I remind--
Benghazi and other things are far from their mind
For promisers they have a predilection
And these are the ones who decide the election

Time to Tap American Energy

As I watch this president with ever increasing dismay, I've come to the conclusion that he may be trying to create a situation where all citizens are dependent on government, thereby allowing him to demagogue any issue for electoral purposes. If one has everyone dependent on a check from government, it's easy to say, "The other side is trying to take away your check!" Heck, many congressmen have done this for years with their wasteful spending and their proliferating government programs. Take Social Security for instance, or what's quickly becoming "Social Insecurity." Some people have realized for some time that in the long run this program will bankrupt us. However, attempts to fix it have resulted in claims by those opposed to touching it that some are trying to take it away. Not true. Those who want to reform social security and turn it into a privatized program are trying to do what's best for the country. Some congressmen oppose this, because if it's a private program then the government doesn't have as much power and they can't demagogue the issue. In my opinion, the same thing is now happening with energy. The president has several different opportunities to open up American energy and create American jobs, but he has punted each time. He killed the Keystone pipeline, which would have resulted in more energy flowing to America, the immediate creation of tens of thousands of American jobs to build it, and long term employment to monitor and service it. The president (through his radical EPA) also has now slapped carbon penalties on the coal industry. Not only are thousands of Americans' jobs at risk, but the cost of energy will skyrocket. Mr. Obama has also closed much of American waters to offshore drilling, once again eliminating the possibility of thousands of jobs and once again increasing American's dependence on foreign oil.
Now, I understand that oil is not the future. But it is still the present, and it is definitely the transition energy source while we move to cleaner technologies such as solar. We have enough oil to make the transition smooth, and at the same time neuter the countries in the Middle East which hate us yet still sell us oil. Imagine being able to tell those countries we don't need them. Wouldn't that be great?! Yet every opportunity which comes along to exploit American energy sources is killed by this administration. I say let's drill for American energy. Let's build the Keystone pipeline. Let's allow offshore drilling. Let's get hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work, let's lower the price of energy and give Americans some economic relief, and let's create a situation where we can look at those in the Middle East who would attempt to control us through the use of energy and tell them they don't matter anymore.

For some reason this president doesn't get any of that. He seems more willing to give taxpayers' money to his cronies and fundraisers who are opening companies which are trying to harness solar energy before it is economically feasible (see Solyndra). Is it because this president is oblivious or because he actually has an agenda he is trying to fulfill? Good question, isn't it?

To the Moon and Beyond

The other day Newt Gingrich, in a speech from the Florida "space coast," called for America to once again send humans to the moon, this time to establish a colony. He has since been ridiculed by many in the press, and in a presidential debate his opponent, Mitt Romney, said that if an executive had brought him this idea, "I would have fired him." This just shows the difference between Mr. Romney and Mr. Gingrich. You see, Mr. Gingrich's speech was visionary. The only vision Mr. Romney has is a vision of himself as president, and it appears he will do or say anything to get there. John F. Kennedy once exhorted Americans to go to the moon. Not the "before this decade is out" speech, but his speech at Rice University where he sold the idea to the American people. (Google JFK Rice Moon Speech--it's 17 minutes long). In that speech, Mr. Kennedy said that trying for the moon would require that we create new technologies which would themselves create tens of thousands of jobs. On this point he was right. But he made an even bigger point in that speech. He said, to paraphrase him, that in reaching for something that hard to obtain, America would be forced to rise to the best of its abilities, and we would be united in a common purpose. "We choose to go to the moon," he said, "not because it is easy, but because it is hard." Now, colonizing the moon, as Mr. Gingrich lays out, would be hard. We, once again, would need new technologies and, once again, we would have to be united in purpose as a nation. The moon could be mined or it could be the jump off point for a mission to Mars. The point of Mr. Kennedy's long ago speech and Mr. Gingrich's speech the other day is that we can't stay isolated on this little blue pearl floating in the vastness of space. Man has always searched beyond the boundaries of his world for what was over the horizon. Have we lost our vision as a species? Have we lost the urge to strive to reach beyond the confines of our limited world? We need to get back to space. We need to strive to reach the stars. Mr. Kennedy beckons us from a long ago past. Mr. Gingrich takes up the call in our present. JFK would concur with Mr. Gingrich. Mr. Romney would fire him.