SECDEF and POTUS

Good evening to all...

I imagine that most people have heard that US Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) has been in the hospital after complications from a surgical procedure.  There is more to this story.  Apparently, no one told the President (POTUS) that SECDEF was indisposed for at least two days.  Worse, POTUS did not realize that SECDEF was down.  In these situations, the Under-Secretary would take over.  She was not informed.  When she found out, she did not rush back to Washington DC from her vacation.

On the off chance that you have chosen a path of calm, a path that does not involve doom-scrolling (a term I have recently learned), then you are blissfully unaware that the world is ablaze.  Looking specifically at the Gulf of Oman area, Houthi rebels have targeted civilian shipping as well as US Naval vessels.

Questions abound:

1.  Why was there a delay of two days in informing POTUS that SECDEF was down?

2.  Who was supposed to tell POTUS that SECDEF was down?

3.  Why did POTUS not realize that SECDEF was down even without being told?

4.  With the dynamic situation in the Gulf of Oman, a situation in which US Naval vessels are threatened and in which those ships are responding, who is advising POTUS on rules of engagement (ROE)?

5.  Who is making decisions in SECDEF's absence?

6.  Why was the Under-Secretary not informed immediately that her boss was down?

The Oval Office needs to respond to this.

R/SCG

It Bears Repeating....

Good afternoon everyone.

We are all witness to the horrors going on in Israel right now.  The strong statements of support from The United States, from Canada, and other nations with any sense of decency are appreciated.  The statements have time and again emphasized Israel's right to self-defence.  Alas, while these messages are well-intentioned, they fall short of what should be said.

I have noted in the past that no nation has a right of self-defence.  It is an obligation.  Rights can be surrendered.  We can surrender a right to free speech.  We can surrender rights regarding search and seizure.

Obligations cannot be surrendered.  They come from the laws and from the citizens of any country.  In accepting political office, a politician also accepts those obligations.  To surrender them shatters the social contract between government and citizen.

As such, it would be much stronger a statement to say that the United States, Canada, and those other nations recognize Israel's obligation of self-defence, and trusts those in authority to pursue that obligation with zeal.

It bears repeating.

May we see peace and calm settle over the land speedily in our day.

R/SCG

Hot Mic....

(Picture of the Zeleneskyys and Macrons at NATO summit)

Mme. Macron: Tire mon doigt (pull my finger).

A Smile on My Face...

Top of the evening to all....

In the world of LinkedIn, you never know what could happen.  The genesis of this conversation goes back to when we lived in Honolulu 24 years ago.  The message to which I just responded has the following question in it:

"Were you the chaplain that rode around base on a bicycle from time to time?"

It is nice to be remembered.

Have a good evening.

R/SCG

And on Another Note...

Top of the afternoon too all...

I have had my criticisms of President Biden.  No matter how loyal a supporter one might be, there is a difference between loyalty and blindness.  Hopefully, even his most ardent supporters (and I am not in that category) also have criticisms.  

The news reports today that President Biden has spent a great deal of taxpayer money going to his home in Delaware for weekends.  The usual suspects have criticized him for this.

The usual suspects on the other side of the political spectrum called former President Trump on the carpet for the same thing. 

(Yawn...Nothing to see here.)

To expect the President to take weekends on the couch in the White House is not reasonable.  No other federal employee makes a regular practice of staying in the office over the weekend.  No other federal employee has the responsibilities of POTUS.  He has a right to go home and to relax with the trappings of his personal life.  Instead of being critical, maybe we should be happy that in the hardest job in the world, he still tries to strike a life-work balance.

Shabbat Shalom to all.

R/SCG

No Sympathy Please...

 Good afternoon to all.

I am now locked in the primary bedroom for the foreseeable future.  Rav Jen brings me my meals.

Why, pray tell, am I locked in my bedroom?  You guessed it.  I have Covid.

I can deal with the sniffles.  I can deal with the fever.  So what is the problem?  

There was a cartoon on the fridge back in my youth.  The cartoon said that cats only allowed themselves to be domesticated because they cannot open doors.

Two cats, both alike in dignity, a window facing due south, a wide window sill, and a kitty tower all mean that I am up and down constantly.  If one cat crosses the threshold, the other crosses the threshold, eventually.  I have COVID, but it is really a tail of two kitties.

Please do not be concerned about me.  I just did 35 push-ups.  It took 28 seconds.  Any concern is better directed towards Rav Jen.  She got sent home from work Wednesday on the 'if a then b' clause.  She is trying to navigate her workday and prepare Shabbat dinner.  That, and the laundry machine is broken.  This is no big loss on its own, as we were going to replace it anyway.  However, the laundry has piled up.

I again remind everyone of the 614th commandment: thou shalt not COVID thy neighbour's home.

Shabbat Shalom.

R/SCG

History Repeats Itself...

 Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen....

Several years back, I wrote a blog entry regarding the Obama administration's discussions with Iran.  In that entry, I noted the words of President Reagan: "for a government that will break faith with its own people can not be trusted to keep faith with foreign powers.:

Last week, I cited President Reagan's words in an e-mail to the White House, urging the immediate cessation of nuclear negotiations during the civil riots currently taking place in Iran.

I also added this:

Her name is Mahsa Amini.

Say her name.

R/SCG