Is it any wonder that the print journalistic media are going out of business in record numbers of late? Their refusal, and the refusal of most of their liberal broadcast brethren, to cover legitimate stories of a non-liberal bent (a despicable process called “slanting” or “propagandizing” rather than doing real journalism) leaves that happy job open to the internet and to FOX broadcast news and the talk radio shows and all have been responding to the challenge admirably.

The New York Times famously subtitles their rag, “All the News that’s Fit to Print” as their masthead logo. Of course it’s a terrible lie, the Times has for at least 55 years only printed less than one half of all the news that’s fit to print. This is the price you pay when your editorial policy is to slant every story to fit your publisher’s ultra-liberal bias. The Times is just one small part of the problem, of course. In their sainted ivory-towered offices the Obama-protecting Barak-worshipers of Main Stream Media (MSM) as a whole look to be committing the cardinal sin of the news business: missing out on important stories. 

Right now when it comes to having a “newspaper of record” in the United States that honor falls to USA Today, which unfortunately is only a weekday newspaper: certainly the NY Times has abdicated all right to that lofty title. The fact is that the liberal media, MSM if you will, has entirely failed to vett Obama himself . . . if they had done that job as good journalists must, they would have found Van Jones to be an Obama Clone nothing more . . . and that neither Obama nor Jones is fit to wear the mantle of public official. But, of course, liberals are never challenged by the NY Times or other MSM -- that would be high treason. 

The MSM can’t seem to get their story straight about Van Jones. Some like Tom Brokaw insist that Van Jones was a good man “railroaded unfairly by the uncontrolled, irresponsible internet nut cases and crazy FOX.” Meanwhile the Washington Post claims that Obama’s vetting policies are to blame and rues the fact that “the resignation will prove a distraction" to the important work of passing Obama’s health care reform initiative.

In the wake of their refusal to vett and even thoroughly interview ex-Obama Green Czar Van Jones or even to properly cover the story of his demise (because he was a czar and not vettable by the FBI and the legislative branch, it was their very important job to find up what’s what with Mr. Van Jones and all 36 of the Obama Czars – Rajjpuut must reiterate:  that job has NOT been done yet) . . . it now appears the MSM has been reduced, as David Limbaugh put it, to “sputtering incoherence” and is about to miss another scoop. And what scoop is that? Who or What does it involve?

                Call it “GE-Gate,” call it “Obama-Payola,” call it “Rent-a-Senator” . . . whatever you call it, hearken back to the days of proud smokestack America when an idealistic young actor was serving as spokesman for and signing off from one of the most popular shows on television, General Electric Theater with his signal anthem: “At General Electric where progress is our most important product.”

That young actor, a union-paying Democrat and later union president before coming to GE, was so impressed by the corporate culture, integrity and sense of purpose at General Electric that he eventually became a conservative and later served as Governor of California and President of the United States. While in the oval office he helped win the Cold War, end the Warsaw Pact and the USSR and Eastern-European communism while bringing the Berlin Wall crashing down. Those were the halcyon days when General Electric really commanded respect. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Rajjpuut doubts very much that Ronald Reagan would be proud to serve as GE spokesman nowadays . . . .

                Today, once mighty GE, proudest long-time resident atop the Dow Jones 30 Industrial Stocks, is in the butt-kissing and apple-polishing business full time with none other than the nation’s first black president . . . a charismatic speaker and out-and-out charmer who promised to “. . . clean up Washington” and “run the most open, transparent and accountable administration in the country’s history.”

                 “. . . clean up Washington” and “run the most open, transparent and accountable administration in the country’s history.” Memorable words, unfortunately NOT SO the deeds!

The only question now is, “What's the going rate to buy one U.S. Senator's vote for the most important event in corrupt-new suddenly Eco-conscious GE’s life?” Will it take $50,000 or $75, 000 or $100,000 each to pass the “cap and trade Waxman-Markey bill?” Forbid it almighty God, I know not what course the pikers may take, but for real payola, hold out for $200,000 minimum!

Once mighty General Electric has spent so much money buying influence in Washington that it’s now become a one-penny-dividend stock. That’s right, it’s last dividend was one whole penny. Oh, for the glory years when retired teachers, store clerks and profligate Hollywood celebrities could survive and thrive on the large steady dividends from GE. But somehow they've gotten diverted from their old sense of corporate purpose. 

General Electric spent more on lobbying in the second quarter of this year than any other company, according to federal lobbying files. Since 1998, GE has been the undefeated long-term champion of lobbying excesses, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, outpacing its runner-up by 40 percent in the last decade plus. Meanwhile GEPAC has become perhaps the shadiest political action committee in a mighty shady town. Tying the lobbying and PAC effort together, is the noble profession of Vice Chairman John G. Rice who, poor baby, may be suffering from “Deep-Throatitis” since a secret corporate e-mail he wrote was recently leaked to the press and revealed embarrassing strategic goals and tactics all based upon supporting Barak Obama and buying votes for GE-favoring measures. This in itself is perhaps only playing hard ball with a nine-pounder cannon . . . however, GE besides owning a financial arm that recently received $139 Billion dollars in federal bailout funds courtesy of the Obama administration . . . most sinister fact of all: GE also owns NBC and all its Obama-praising affiliates such as MSNBC and CNBC.

While it may have been obvious during the presidential campaign that MSNBC news was incapable of mouthing anything less than glowing praise for Barak Obama . . . their closet relationship has come out into the open courtesy of the aforementioned leaked memo GE Vice Chairman Rice wrote in that Aug. 19 e-mail to his colleagues at GE. First a bit more background . . . .

                In the most blatant and shameless sell-out in American journalistic history, Barak Obama now “owns” MSNBC journalistic coverage of Himself and scratching the back that scratches his: General Electric (GE: MSNBC’s parent company) now “owns” the inside track on all cap-and-trade contracts; global warming contracts; green job contracts; and, oh yes, bailout money for the nearly bankrupt** General Electric during the Obama administration. GE, of course, has already received $139 Billion dollars in federal bailout funds for its financial arm.

                It appears that this “open scandal” is no surprise to anyone. The other liberal-leaning networks aren’t commenting, however, so the only party-pooper in the crowd is conservative channel Fox News. The MSNBC-Obama mutual back-scratching act is so blatant that Barak himself made light of it at the Radio and TV correspondent’s dinner when he said, he was trying to come up with ideas for his comments at the gathering and couldn't sleep. But suddenly he knew where to go for help. So he just rolled over in bed and asked Brian Williams for his opinion.

                If you watch political news at all, it’s no secret that the Fox Network is on Barak Obama’s enemies list; and that MSNBC, owned by GE, is easily the most pro-Obama TV news department in the whole country. In a land of left-leaning antennae, MSNBC could just as well change its name to the “Barak Network” and no would notice or raise an eyebrow.

There was one instance during the presidential campaign when light criticism of Barack the Beloved resulted in a wrist slap and another in March of 2009 when some of their CNBC financial analysts began criticizing Obama and his proposed programs (“a spending spree” according to one pundit) -- the typical government spending boondoggles GSBs liberals are famous for. Virtually immediately GE CEO Jeff Immelt and NBC President Jeff Zucker both dropped in on aforesaid commentators to inform them as to the weather: “Boys, this is how the wind blows around here . . .” 

Apparently the “re-orientation chat” worked. Since that time criticism, even subtle criticism of Obama the candidate or Obama the president has been non-existent. Their bias for Obama had always been outrageous, but today Zucker and Immelt have become Obama’s trick ponies and President Obama is deified at least three times daily on each NBC affiliate company. Other than Obama getting unlimited use of NBC teleprompters during the campaign and later as president, no one could be sure exactly what the tie in was. Up till late August the nature of their “pact” was still anybody’s guess. Let’s look at three examples of the suspicious nature of the relationship:

1.        GE is relying on the Obama administration to come through on a promise that all American health records could by law only be computerized with GE and its supposedly “superior technology” having the inside track for a contract that would bring in billions. When word of this “cozy relationship was first aired in early August, Obama began showing a bit less favoritism at news conferences and even invited ABC in for one-on-one interviewing. Instead of a whole slew of government contracts, however, GE might be cruising for a bruising. Fox commentator Bill O’Reilly opined recently that any important contract for GE

“would make Watergate look like a Shirley Temple movie.” If that is the case, then one video clip that will make every highlight reel will be Kareem Dale (Special Asst. to Obama) smiling, “At the White House, as we always like to say, we love MSNBC.”

2.      GE appointed former Senator Tom Daschle to its health advisory board. Daschle, President Obama's nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services until a tax scandal derailed him, has strong connections to the Obama White House. So obviously there is a huge potential conflict of interest here. NBC News is in on the “hear no evil, see no evil, SPEAK no evil” take for Obama, even as GE, the parent company, is aiming to corral billions from the federal government. Hard to believe that MSNBC has only run positive spin stories on Obamacare for the last 11 ½ weeks isn’t it? NBC, was once renowned for the high ethical tone of its (liberal) news coverage but now with Zuckerman, Immelt and Daschle running point for the news gatherers, all you can hear is poisonous left-wing fanaticism supporting the president unerringly. Literally, sneezing or partial eye-rolling while reporting an Obama story is now a capital offense at NBC.

3.      GE, the once mighty Dow Jones Smokestack America Industrial giant who’s dividends were all any frugal retiree every needed, is now (unless the White House comes through) moving toward not just penny dividends, but actual penny stock status unless the White House comes through for them. To arrest that slide they have created a whole new strategy arm called “Ecomagination” which is plotting to win a wide array of ecology-themed contracts associated with global warming, green-tech, and cap and trade legislation. It all comes down on the “Obama connection,” will the president come through?

The connections that were assumed are now obvious, the August 19 e-mail memo from GE Vice Chairman Rice made it all official . . . .

"The intersection between GE's interests and government action is clearer than ever," Vice Chairman John G. Rice wrote in his August 19, 2009 e-mail to colleagues. He was calling on all GE people and GE subsidiary people to join GEPAC, the General Electric Political Action Committee. "GEPAC is an important tool that enables GE employees to collectively help support candidates who share the values and goals of GE,” that is, as the e-mail continued:   sharing the values and goals of GE means “support for policies that profit the company.”

Rice continues by getting specific about climate change, "we were able to work closely with key authors of the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill, recently passed by the House of Representatives. If this bill is enacted into law it would benefit many GE businesses."

GE has put almost all its eggs into the Waxman-Markey basket. W-M would profit GE Greenhouse Gas Services, which deals in greenhouse gas credits, products that have value only if a cap-and-trade bill like Waxman-Markey passes. That is if W-M fails, GM is up the creek. Rice did not pull any punches, "Our Company is heavily impacted by a number of issues pending in Washington this fall.”

GE spent more on lobbying in the second quarter of this year than did any other company, according to federal lobbying files. Since 1998, GE has been the leading lobbier, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, outpacing its runner-up by 40 percent. Tying the lobbying and PAC effort together, Rice said, " . . .we must also make sure that candidates who share GE's values and goals get elected to office . . ."

Six House members have received more than $4,000 from GEPAC this cycle -- all Democrats -- Representative John Murtha, D-Pa., faces a tough re-election next year, thanks to accusations that he has used his chairmanship of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee to benefit donors and patrons. GE is a top defense contractor.

The other big recipients are all incumbents in powerful positions, presumably safe for now: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt, House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, Ways and Means member Richard Neal, who chairs the subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, and key appropriator Norm Ducks**. This year two-thirds of GEPAC money has gone to Democrats, but during the 2008 elections, recipients were pretty equally divided.

Why would GE give $15,000 to every senatorial candidate regardless of party in the last election? Obviously, it was not because they cared so much who won, but rather because this way they had an “in” with the winner, whoever he/she was. The process is called “Rent-Seeking” which means: Lobbying and contributing to campaign funds so that favorable government legislation or regulation; or defeat of unfavorable legislation or regulation happens precisely in the manner most calculated to generate huge profits for the company which ordinary free market interchanges could never provide. 

                Call it “GE-Gate,” call it “Obama-Payola,” call it “Rent-a-Senator” . . . whatever you call it, hearken back to the days of proud smokestack America when an idealistic young actor was serving as spokesman for and signing off from one of the most popular shows on television, General Electric Theater with his signal anthem: “At General Electric where progress is our most important product.” 

That young actor, a union-paying Democrat and later union president before coming to GE, was so impressed by the corporate culture, integrity and sense of purpose at General Electric that he eventually became a conservative and later served as Governor of California and President of the United States. While in the oval office he helped win the Cold War, end the Warsaw Pact and the USSR and Eastern-European communism while bringing the Berlin Wall crashing down.  Those were the halcyon days when General Electric really commanded respect.  Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Rajjpuut doubts very much that Ronald Reagan would be proud to serve as GE spokesman nowadays . . . . 

                Today, once mighty GE, proudest long-time resident atop the Dow Jones 30 Industrial Stocks, is in the butt-kissing and apple-polishing business full time with none other than the nation’s first black president . . . a charismatic speaker and out-and-out charmer who promised to “. . . clean up Washington” and “run the most open, transparent and accountable administration in the country’s history.” 

                 “. . . clean up Washington” and “run the most open, transparent and accountable administration in the country’s history.” Memorable words, unfortunately NOT SO the deeds! 

The only question now is, “What's the going rate to buy one U.S. Senator's vote  for the most important event in corrupt-new suddenly Eco-conscious GE’s life?” Will it take $50,000 or $75, 000 or $100,000 each to pass the “cap and trade Waxman-Markey bill?” Forbid it almighty God, I know not what course the pikers may take, but for real payola, hold out for $200,000 minimum!

While it may have been obvious during the presidential campaign that MSNBC news was incapable of mouthing anything less than glowing praise for Barak Obama . . . their closet relationship has come out into the open courtesy of the aforementioned leaked memo GE Vice Chairman Rice wrote in that Aug. 19 e-mail to his colleagues at GE. First a bit more background . . . .

                In the most blatant and shameless sell-out in American journalistic history, Barak Obama now “owns” MSNBC journalistic coverage of Himself and scratching the back that scratches his:  General Electric  (GE: MSNBC’s parent company) now “owns” the inside track on all cap-and-trade contracts; global warming contracts; green job contracts; and, oh yes, bailout money for the nearly bankrupt** General Electric during the Obama administration. GE, of course, has already received $139 Billion dollars in federal bailout funds for its financial arm. 

There was one instance during the presidential campaign when light criticism of Barack the Beloved resulted in a wrist slap and another in March of 2009 when some of their CNBC financial analysts began criticizing Obama and his proposed programs (“a spending spree” according to one pundit) -- the typical government spending boondoggles GSBs liberals are famous for. Virtually immediately GE CEO Jeff Immelt and NBC President Jeff Zucker both dropped in on aforesaid commentators to inform them as to the weather: “Boys, this is how the wind blows around here . . .”  

Apparently the “re-orientation chat” worked.  Since that time criticism, even subtle criticism of Obama the candidate or Obama the president has been non-existent. Their bias for Obama had always been outrageous, but today Zucker and Immelt have become Obama’s trick ponies and President Obama is deified at least three times daily on each NBC affiliate company. Other than Obama getting unlimited use of NBC teleprompters during the campaign and later as president, no one could be sure exactly what the tie in was. Up till late August the nature of their “pact” was still anybody’s guess. Let’s look at three examples of the suspicious nature of the relationship: 

1.        GE is relying on the Obama administration to come through on a promise that all American health records could by law only be computerized with GE and its supposedly “superior technology” having the inside track for a contract that would bring in billions. When word of this “cozy relationship was first aired in early August, Obama began showing a bit less favoritism at news conferences and even invited ABC in for one-on-one interviewing.  Instead of a whole slew of government contracts, however, GE might be cruising for a bruising.  Fox commentator Bill O’Reilly opined recently that any important contract for GE

“would make Watergate look like a Shirley Temple movie.” If that is the case, then one video clip that will make every highlight reel will be Kareem Dale (Special Asst. to Obama) smiling, “At the White House, as we always like to say, we love MSNBC.”

2.      GE appointed former Senator Tom Daschle to its health advisory board. Daschle, President Obama's nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services until a tax scandal derailed him, has strong connections to the Obama White House. So obviously there is a huge potential conflict of interest here. NBC News is in on the “hear no evil, see no evil, SPEAK no evil” take for Obama, even as GE, the parent company, is aiming to corral billions from the federal government. Hard to believe that MSNBC has only run positive spin stories on Obamacare for the last 11 ½ weeks isn’t it?  NBC, was once renowned for the high ethical tone of its (liberal) news coverage but now with Zuckerman, Immelt and Daschle running point for the news gatherers, all you can hear is poisonous left-wing fanaticism supporting the president unerringly. Literally, sneezing or partial eye-rolling while reporting an Obama story is now a capital offense at NBC.

3.      GE, the once mighty Dow Jones Smokestack America Industrial giant who’s dividends were all any frugal retiree every needed, is now (unless the White House comes through) moving toward not just penny dividends, but actual penny stock status unless the White House comes through for them. To arrest that slide they have created a whole new strategy arm called “Ecomagination” which is plotting to win a wide array of ecology-themed contracts associated with global warming, green-tech, and cap and trade legislation. It all comes down on the “Obama connection,” will the president come through?

The connections that were assumed are now obvious, the August 19 e-mail memo from GE Vice Chairman Rice made it all official . . . .

"The intersection between GE's interests and government action is clearer than ever," Vice Chairman John G. Rice wrote in his August 19, 2009 e-mail to colleagues. He was calling on all GE people and GE subsidiary people to join GEPAC, the General Electric Political Action Committee. "GEPAC is an important tool that enables GE employees to collectively help support candidates who share the values and goals of GE,” that is, as the e-mail continued:   sharing the values and goals of GE means “support for policies that profit the company.”

Rice continues by getting specific about climate change, "we were able to work closely with key authors of the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill, recently passed by the House of Representatives. If this bill is enacted into law it would benefit many GE businesses."

GE has put almost all its eggs into the Waxman-Markey basket. W-M would profit GE Greenhouse Gas Services, which deals in greenhouse gas credits, products that have value only if a cap-and-trade bill like Waxman-Markey passes. That is if W-M fails, GM is up the creek. Rice did not pull any punches, "Our Company is heavily impacted by a number of issues pending in Washington this fall.”

GE spent more on lobbying in the second quarter of this year than did any other company, according to federal lobbying files. Since 1998, GE has been the leading lobbier, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, outpacing its runner-up by 40 percent. Tying the lobbying and PAC effort together, Rice said, " . . .we must also make sure that candidates who share GE's values and goals get elected to office . . ."

Six House members have received more than $4,000 from GEPAC this cycle -- all Democrats -- Representative John Murtha, D-Pa., faces a tough re-election next year, thanks to accusations that he has used his chairmanship of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee to benefit donors and patrons. GE is a top defense contractor.

The other big recipients are all incumbents in powerful positions, presumably safe for now: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt, House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, Ways and Means member Richard Neal, who chairs the subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, and key appropriator Norm Ducks**. This year two-thirds of GEPAC money has gone to Democrats, but during the 2008 elections, recipients were pretty equally divided. 

Why would GE give $15,000 to every senatorial candidate regardless of party in the last election?  Obviously, it was not because they cared so much who won, but rather because this way they had an “in” with the winner, whoever he/she was. The process is called “Rent-Seeking” which means: Lobbying and contributing to campaign funds so that favorable government legislation or regulation; or defeat of unfavorable legislation or regulation happens precisely in the manner most calculated to generate huge profits for the company which ordinary free market interchanges could never provide.  

It’s a fact of life in Washington, D.C. and GE is playing the game for high stakes with its presidential stooge benefitting from the firm's (via NBC) unfailing support over the airwaves. A $15,000 contribution to both horses in a two-horse contest may cancel each other out, but they work fine if what you’re really paying for is the “ear” of a congressman.  But really, that's not the question is it . . . "How much for just his soul?"

Ya’all live long, strong and ornery,

            Most Americans are sadly lacking in knowledge of their own history, not to mention the history, culture and especially the languages of the rest of the world. This makes it very difficult to make correct foreign policy decisions. Our CIA, then called the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) hid the truth in South East Asia from Roosevelt and Harry Truman, lied directly to Eisenhower and Kennedy and helped Johnson make all the wrong decisions as well, more on that later. But there were, thankfully, two great bright spots in this time:

          John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, two men whose speeches in front of the Berlin wall let the rest of the world know, that despite our constant foreign policy bungling, America’s heart was in the right place.

On another front, (for a mere $1 rental fee, Americans who haven’t seen the charming and rather marvelous film “Charlie Wilson’s War,” can acquaint themselves with the part America played in bringing down the Red Army in Afghanistan and eventually crumpling the once mighty Soviet Union) again it was the CIA proper (striving against the actions of one bare-knuckling CIA operative, Gust Avrakotos, who provided much of the wherewithal for Charlie Wilson to pull off his miracle) which bungled the issue badly. Once Reagan discovered the truth, of course, the CIA elite were only too willingly to take credit for the successes in Afghanistan up to that time. Reagan, changed the playing field gave the Afghans the resources they needed and the mighty Red Army was toast.  

Unfortunately, the United States which had helped win that war, went on to lose the peace by leaving a vacuum in the country which the Taliban was only too eager to exploit. To understand just how inexpensive and beautiful it could have been, Rajjpuut suggests the reader get the book “Three Cups of Tea,” the story of how one American lost on a hike on K-2 was found by the Afghans and repaid them over the next decades by building schools and infrastructure, but no, that opportunity was lost despite Charlie Wilson’s efforts and influence.  

It had been the same story when Eisenhower in 1955 and 1956 had stood up for the Egyptians against the French and English colonizers in the Suez Canal matter . . . and that, like Charlie Wilson’s War gave America a foothold in the hearts and minds of the Muslim world. But again there was no real follow through and the goodwill went for naught. This is a continuing theme in American foreign policy, unfortunately. 

So our foreign policy successes have been few and far between in recent times. It’s, of course, unknown how much Kennedy might have influenced things. He was a CIA pawn in the Bay of Pigs fiasco and had come to distrust them and reportedly had come to know the truths (I’ll be revealing in a few paragraphs) about Viet Nam in the last few months before his assassination. Certainly Reagan’s speech in front of the Berlin Wall where he famously said, “Tear down this wall Mr. Gorbachev!” (and that wall did get torn down) along with Charlie Wilson’s War were the highlights of American interventionism.  

Two of our worst failures were Hungary and Viet Nam. In Eastern Europe the American funded Radio Free Europe had been telling all the enslaved people of the Warsaw Pact countries for about a decade to “rise up and throw off the shackles” of their Soviet despots. When the Hungarians did, we stood by and watched as the Kremlin’s tanks rolled in and eventually mowed down people fighting bravely against them with handguns, outdated rifles and quickly constructed Molotov Cocktails and we did nothing. 

The RFE enterprise had been quite naively certain that if one Warsaw Pact nation stood up to the Russians, they all would . . . but other countries rightly stood by and did nothing like we did . . . they were watching to see if the mighty U.S. would do something, anything to help the Hungarian freedom fighters They were watching to see if our words were empty, which they were. And we did nothing. There was no plan in place. We had no plan to do what Charlie Wilson did in Afghanistan, to arm the people so that they could win their freedom. No bazookas they could use to take out those tanks. 

But, if Hungry was a horrendous foreign policy blunder, Viet Nam was utterly tragic, deplorable, horrendous and totally unnecessary. The most heinous country in the world other than the Togo-led Japanese and the Nazis (with Mussolini’s Italians) themselves . . . was Petain’s Vichy@@ French. Yes, there were heroic French resistance fighters throughout France. But Petain’s Vichy government collaborated fully with the Nazis in France; and with the Japanese in French Indo-China (Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam); and they even fought against the American troops,  the Free French Army (under DeGaulle) and British forces when they made their first invasion attempt of World War II on the North African coast on November 8, 1942. 

Had the Vichy French forces succeeded in throwing that North African invasion back into the sea, the Nazis and Italians likely would have defeated the British in Africa once and for all and maybe even (with more freedom to pay attention to the Soviet Union) won the war on the Eastern Front. If that had happened, the world might be a tragically different place today. No, the Vichy French government was NOT our friend. 

Viet Nam, again saw the full collaboration of the Vichy French. Saigon had long been known as “Little Paris” and “The Pearl of the Pacific” before the war. The French rulers there fired NOT ONE SHOT but welcomed the Japanese “Invasionary” forces in with open arms. Saigon and the major cities suffered virtually no damage in the war. The Vichy signed an agreement with the Japanese via their Nazi allies that in exchange for their full cooperation, only 6,000 Japanese soldiers would be stationed permanently in the country and no more than 25,000 armed forces could be in the country at any one time. 

The Japanese, naturally enough having no iron, coal or oil to speak of, were interested in the oil, tin, rubber and other resources in French Indo-China as well as the country’s rice. But mainly, they saw occupation of French Indo-China as a means to stop the American support of China (10,000 tons of military supplies every month) so they could finally conquer that country and devote full attention to attacking the British and Australian strongholds (they were still a full sixty-two weeks from attacking Pearl Harbor and ten hours later that day another “surprise attack” on Clark Airfield in the Philippines where Douglas MacArthur, despite Pearl Harbor, was totally unprepared). 

Any damage suffered by the Japanese (and the collaborating Vichy French government) in Indo-China came from the efforts of the Viet Minh led by a brave native freedom fighter Nguyen Sinh Cung, today known as Ho Chi Minh.  Uncle Ho, as he came to be called, collaborated not with the Japanese but with the allies and most specifically with the OSS (forerunner of the CIA).  A little bit of help in arming and supplying the Viet Minh was all it took. The Japanese spent a lot of time, effort, money and lives trying to pacify the Vietnamese countryside . . . effort they could have used against American forces in the Pacific or against China. 

Ho, of course, was a real patriot fighting for his people against ALL foreign occupiers, not just the Japanese but also the French. It was during their resistance against the Japanese that many of the guerrilla strategies that dogged the French and tragically us Americans over the next three decades (concentration on night fighting; tunnels, and sabotage) were first introduced. Sometime in late 1944, Ho went to the OSS and presented them with two documents. The first looked an awful lot like our Declaration of Independence and the second like the American Constitution with a bill of rights. 

As loyal readers know the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights are the two early American documents Rajjpuut, a dyed-in-the-wool Libertarian considers the most Republican of documents – so you will forgive him a moist eye here . . . .

The strangest thing about the whole Viet Nam mess is this: when the Japanese came into the country on September 22, 1940, Ho Chi Minh and almost all the Vietnamese people welcomed them. It was the first time they’d seen the “Colonizers” defeated and they were taken in briefly by the fact that an oriental people were defeating Europeans. But when the Japanese proved every bit as rapacious as the French, Ho swung into action with a countrywide guerrilla war against Japan. Ho, who had been self-educated in Paris and was well read, was eager to join forces with the American OSS. 

Later the French who needed American support against Ho would show that the little oriental had been reading books on communism while in Paris. It was undoubtedly true. Ho had been denied access to the best schools in Paris but used their libraries to educate himself on French and all western history read everything he could get his hands on.   Even though he had no status whatsoever, Ho, not in those days known as Ho first tried to make contact with America.  Citing the language and the spirit of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and calling himself “Nguyen the Patriot” petitioned Woodrow Wilson in 1920 for help removing the French from Viet Nam and replacing it with a new, nationalist government. His request was ignored.

Two decades later Ho, now an important American ally, told the OSS that this was still the government he wanted for his people and asked them to convey copies of the proposed Vietnamese Declaration of Independence and Constitution to President Roosevelt (and later in early August, 1945, he repeated the process asking them to carry the information to Truman) it appears neither Roosevelt nor Truman was told of Ho’s requests. 

Ho was asking one of two things from America: either a positive response (America would help as a reward for their Vietnamese allies); or at worst a neutral response (we would NOT support the French when they tried to resume business as usual in their colonies after the war). It certainly seems like we missed a huge powerful chance to either A. show the world what we thought about Japanese and Nazi collaborators and about European Colonial powers or B. just to stay out of places where we didn’t belong. The duplicitous French, of course, pulled up copies of Ho’s library cards, or said they did, and informed the United States that Ho Chi Minh was an out and out communist.  American aid increased when the Soviet Union became the first world power to recognize Ho’s government.

What the French failed to announce was that Ho had been a paid-informer for the French police and “ratted on” a semi-anarchistic and terroristic communist cell in Paris. Americans also failed to remember that Ho’s life had been saved by the OSS treating him for combined malaria and dysentery. Ho still had a soft spot in his heart for Americans but his heart was soon to harden toward us. Shortly after the Russians recognized the Ho led Vietnamese government he journeyed to Moscow in February, 1950 to meet with Stalin and Mao. Ho was thereafter a communist-sympathizer.

When America began backing the French with weapons and supplies, Ho decide to have the game as well as the name and, bypassing Russia, went directly to Red China. Ho did not stop at GO either, he not only secured military funding and supplies and training from the Chinese, he dedicated himself 100% to communism for his people. Apparently he’d had enough of western words and hypocrisy by that time. 

We had one more opportunity to make things right. The United States could have left Ho alone after he defeated the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu when the much ballyhooed French Foreign Legion and all of French Colonial power was defeated and ousted not only in Viet Nam but throughout the entire former French Indo-China. However, instead we supported a variety of dictators and American puppets first with supplies and military advisors and then with thousands of American “boots on the ground” against Ho’s forces. No other engagement in history has so damaged America’s reputation . . . and everything negative about the Viet Nam experience was totally unnecessary, everything negative.

It now appears that American troops in Iraq will soon be removed. The fighting escalates in Afghanistan and along the Pakistani border as it must. But the real war that Americans MUST WIN is the counter-communist revolution against Barak Obama. It must be won,  just as Ronald Reagan defeated the Soviets, by winning the hearts and minds of Americans to the Republican Party or to a rationally centrist-fiscally conservative new American party.  E ither will do.  That’s right, either will do. Rajjpuut states unequivocally that a major shift is needed from our present Tweedle-dumb and Tweedle-dumber major party politics** to absolute patriotic statesmanship; fiscal conservatism and responsibility; return to largely unfettered capitalism; and  to an accountable, transparent government with a strong national defense.  

One would hope the G.O.P. would rise to the challenge and turn away from the Dixiecrats and their vocal minority that have dominated the Red State's party since 1968 (Nixon’s “Silent Majority). It is NOT enough to run as the “lesser of two evils,” as Republicans have in all years except 1980 and 1984 under Reagan, it is time for a fundamental shift back to the original Republican values first expressed in that little white school house in Ripon, Wisconsin in 1854! God bless us, everyone. 

Ya’all live long, strong and ornery,

 ^^ Actions like these where we successfully opposed the Soviet Union and Communism directly while inspiring the people of the countries involved to take action . . . are regrettably much too few and far between

** Tweedle-dumb and tweedle-dumber major party politics wherein the Republican party has lost miserably. 41% of American women “hate” the Republican Party and call themselves Democrats; another 32% of American women call themselves Indepents.  Men, while looking more favorably on the G.O.P. then women do, are likewise more likely to call themselves Democrats or Independents than Republicans.

Most Independents see the Republican Party as a party concerned with the old-fashioned racist policies of the Dixiecrat south. It is time for a change. Sorry Dixiecrats, but it’s not the “War of Northern Aggession,” it’s the Civil War. You lost. Integration is a fact and it’s good. Separation of church and state has been a constitutional given since 1787 so religious teaching does NOT belong in public schools but should NOT be banned from private or parochial education.

Like most Republicans I’m no fan of abortion on demand. However, abortion IS the law of the land, lo these last three and a half decades. Republicans missed out on a chance to win women’s approval by consistently refusing to honor the “right” to an abortion in cases of danger to the mother’s life, rape, incest, mental illness, retardation, and extremely young expectant girls. Now women vote in slick politicians like Bill Clinton and Barak Obama by huge majorities. If no prominent Republican ever said another word on abortion until it was decided once again that political suicide was vital . . . hell, you get the point.