The "Way Back Machine"

I'm probably dating my self by this, but...do you remember Sherman, Mr Peabody, and the "Way Back Machine?" For those of you scratching your heads, it was a part of the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. For those still scratching their heads, just google it! I can't spend the entire blog giving cartoon history lessons. Anyway....Mr Peabody (the genius, talking beagle with the big glasses) had a time travel machine he used to take Sherman (the red headed boy with the big glasses) back into the past and teach him about historic events-which we (and Sherman) always discovered to our amusement- never quite happened the way history told us. "Where I am going with all this?" you ask, still scratching. Well....with apologies to Sherman and Mr Peabody, let's take a trip to not so long ago in the "Way Back Machine."

Remember 2006? More specifically...do you remember how badly the war in Iraq was going in 2006? Every day it seemed, we were seeing images of yet another IED (Improvised Explosive Device) killing three or five or ten American soldiers or a suicide bomber was walking into a crowd, or a car packed with explosives was pulling up next to a mosque or bazaar or wedding and blowing innocent Iraqis to bits. Al Qaeda in Iraq was on the verge of plunging the country into civil war. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, along with most Democrats in congress as well as several Republicans, were screaming "The war is lost!" "We need to get out now!" "There's no way we can win!" In the November elections, Democrats won control of both the House and Senate, largely on the promise that "they" the newly elected (D's) would end the war and bring the troops home. President Bush ummm.....let SecDef Rumsfield resign. In December generals (retired and active) former statesment of all sorts, and just about everyone advised G Dubbyah maybe it was time call it a day in Iraq, come home, lick our wounds and let the reeling country stand or fall into chaos. G -man said "thanks for the advice," then on 10 Janurary 2007 announced "The Surge" and that he was sending 20,000 more troops into Iraq, to secure Baghdad and Anbar Province. Just about everyone in congress screamed it was folly, a waste of more lives and more money. Months went by....things didn't improve. More bombs. More American deaths. Then...slowly...the tide seemed to turn. Even though the D's wouldn't admit it- (in fact, Senator Hillary Clinton just about flat called Gen. David Petraeus a liar when he appeared before congress as said things were getting better) even though they wouldn't admit it, the tide had turned. Now spring forward to today. When was the last time you saw footage of a car bomb blowing up a mosque? When was the last time the lead story was a squad of Marines getting wiped out by an IED? Iraq has improved so much that Al Qaeda in Iraq is just about finished and new Jihadist recruits have virtually abandoned Iraq as lost and are choosing to fight in Afghanistan. (where- incidentally- there are about only 1/7th the number of American troops).

Now....some of you are probably still scratching your heads about why we took a trip with Mr Peabody in the "Way Back Machine." Hopefully, some of you have guessed where I'm going. Why did we revisit the dark days of 2006? Because oh....four months from now we'll be asked to choose between two men with very different views of history and the future and make him president. And that president will inherit the war in Iraq and Afghansitan.

On the one hand we've got John McCain; 24 years in the senate, navy fighter pilot, Viet Nam vet, POW for five years. On the other hand theres, Barack Obama; less than three years in the senate, seven years in the Illinois state senate, zero days in uniform, community organizer and civil rights lawyer.

First and foremost, let me say that having never served in the military does not immediately disqualify Barack from being commander in chief. At the same time, being a fighter pilot and POW does not qualify Sen McCain. Neither did being a Texas National Guard pilot qualifed George Bush. Or a swift boat commander in 'Nam qualify John Kerry. Or a combat journalist in 'Nam qualify Al Gore. Or a draft dodger qualify....well, you get the picture.

What qualifies a man (or woman)- old or young- red or yellow, black or white, veteran or not- to be president and commander in chief, is a clear, unclouded, realistic view of the world and what it will take to defend America and protect our interest at home and abroad.

John McCain knows how cruel and heartless the enemies of America can be. He's felt the whip. He's took the beatings. He knows what it means to "serve" his country with blood and sweat and pain. I may not agree with everything he says, but John McCain knows what it will take to protect America. He was one of the few to embrace "The Surge." In some circles it was even called, "The McCain Options" because of his unwavering support. In a large part, because of John McCain's support of the surge, we no longer see nightly footage of IEDs and dead Americans. Iraq is more secure, more safe, and on the way to standing on it's own. John McCain, will insure that we leave Iraq with a true, lasting victory.

Barack Obama's knowledge of "serving" his country comes in large part from holding a job where he's spent half of the last ten years getting paid to look for a different job, while holding a job where he can vote himself a pay raise. So has John McCain? Yeah, but...because Barack has never known the price of real service, his view of the world is decidedly different, decidedly naive, decidely....dangerous. When asked this week (while in Iraq no less) knowing what he knows now, whether he'd support the "Surge" if he could "Way Back..." to '06, Barack said,..."No." It wasn't the surge that turned the tide in Iraq. It was a convergance of forces, political, idealogical, and a change of debate...which, coincidentally, occured at the same time 20,000 more Amercian combat troops arrived in Iraq.

http://nicedeb.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/knowing-what-he-knows-now-obama-would-still-not-support-surge/

Barack Obama....ONE WEEK...after the September 11th, while the center of New York City was still a pile of smoldering rubble, said that Al Qaeda attacked us, not because they are evil, demented, heartless murders, but because they lacked "empathy" and were just....frustrated I guess, from poverty and ignorance.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=70119

Of the two, which will you trust to be commander in chief? Let's face it, despite what a President does, or says, our country pretty much runs itself on most things. But as the commander of our armed forces, the man with the finger on the red button, the man who will inherit Iraq and Afghanistan, who must face down Iran's quest for "THE" bomb and North Korea and China and the IslamoFacist, who do you want?

In 2010 or 11, if we take another ride in "The Way Back Machine," will you look back a say, "Geez....what the heck was I thinking? This is not the change I signed up for at all!" Or will you say, "You know, he may be old, but the President sure don't let the world give us no crap."

Come on Mr Peabody, I wanna take a trip back to '87 when a real American gave a speech in Berlin.