10 Ways to Get America Back on Track

1.     Get rid of reality shows like the one featuring those pathetic, miserable fools sisters and replace them with more inspiring subjects. Gabby Douglas and Missy Franklin come to mind. The U.S. military also has an abundance of worthy subjects. Hollywood celebrity worship is to a healthy culture as a dog-poop topping is to  pizza. Neither is improved.   

2.     Create a massively funded legal juggernaut to oppose the ACLU, with great vigor, especially on matters of religious freedom.  Maybe Donald Trump could lead it (but not make it into a reality show!).

3.     Break the public unions. Taxpayers will be well served. It’s a nasty cycle of political bribery and cronyism. God bless Scott Walker.

4.     Begin some type of ethics training for middle and high schools, and especially into undergraduate and graduate programs. The number of crooks now in our public and private sectors is worrisome.

5.     Find the right bi-partisan balance in regulating market activities, especially in the financial sector. Not overly burdensome, but smart and with plenty of bite for the offenders. And by all means don’t house the convicted offenders in minimum-security prisons. Let them experience for themselves what they did to others.

6.     Consider our national security as the primary objective for securing our national borders. Then work backwards from there to create a fair immigration policy.

7.     Enact term limits for members of Congress. Say, three terms for a representative and two terms for a senator. Stop the pattern of going to Congress and staying forever, dodging the tough votes, and retiring a multi-millionaire. Really, how much good is Harry Reid doing this nation? Your witness.

8.     Don’t gut the military. We have Islamist extremists who want to murder us by the tens of thousands, and the Chinese are building their military to control the Pacific region. We draw down at our own peril.  

9.     Address and fix the debt issue, with everything on the table.

10. Elect a president who has experience in the private sector, and preferably who would have a running mate with budget experience.

Those are my 10. What are some of yours?

A Lasting Friendship

Many years ago I had the great privilege of being Executive Officer (XO) of Battery M, 4^th Battalion, 12^th Marines, 3^rd Marine Division. We were stationed on Okinawa but made two training trips to Camp Fuji, Japan, near the base of the beautiful, majestic Mt. Fuji. We were commanded by Captain Robert L. Adams (above, right), a splendid CO who had earlier been seriously wounded in Vietnam, and who knew his business as an artillery professional. I was Captain Adams’ second in command, frankly a job I still consider to be the best I ever had.

We trained hard, and if I do say so myself Mike Battery was the best firing battery in the entire Marine Corps during our time.  We were the envy of our battalion, the equivalent of playing on a championship team. It was heady stuff for a twenty-something lieutenant in a unit of one-hundred Marines. And we found time to enjoy Japan—its sights, its culture, and especially its people. It was a terrific education.

As is tradition, Marines refer to captains as Skipper, and so for me Bob Adams was then, and remains so today, Skipper. The bond we developed enabled us to remain in touch over the many years since we were together in uniform. Skipper continued in the Marines until his eventual retirement, and I went on to a career in the business world. We raised kids, traveled the world in our respective careers, and managed to remain in touch.

Skipper and wife Leah visited my wife and I in Atlanta not long ago. When we started reminiscing it was almost like we were young and back in Japan again. The names of our troops didn’t come quite as easily as they once did, but it was amazing how much intricate detail we could recollect after forty years. We even joked as we did years ago about how Japanese often struggle to pronounce L-words like “village,” which hence becomes “virrage.”  And to be fair, my command of the Japanese language has improved nil since we were there.

I also found out that Skipper had become a woodworker of some distinction, with a gorgeous grandfather clock to his credit. To my surprise, a box arrived on my doorstep this week. Inside was a bird house, expertly crafted and made of cedar, and with my name (sorta) inscribed across the front.

I can only hope that the birds who take up residence will have as much fun living in it as I did in receiving it.

Semper Fi, Skipper. Stop by if you ever get to Atranta again.