Friday, August 19, 2011

Courtside Diplomacy




Hoyas in Diplomatic Exchange

SETUP FOR DISASTER

OK first of all ... if Joe Biden and Coach John Thompson, III thought for one moment that when they boarded the plane to play China this week in a fair and civil game of basketball; that it would lead to a love fest of diplomacy and end with a hand shake and a kiss on China's home court?  If they truly believed that ... They must have had Jim Jones kool-aid on the plane or they were smoking some great weed.

Now let's review the playing field. We owe China 900 Billion US Dollars, they sell us (American consumers) 600 times more products than we sell to them, their yearly growth is almost at 10 percent (ours is barely 2 percent), they train their basketball players from birth, punish and torture them into submission and finally - winning is more important than owning gold or stealing our secrets. Although they were happy when Pakistan (our buddies) showed China the tail of our Stealth Helicopter we left behind after killing Osama.
So armed with those details which are pretty much common knowledge and accessible in most newspapers and on every network weekly ... why would our VP and the President of Georgetown University consider such a no-win diplomatic farce? Not to mention the deplorable fisticuffs they engaged in at the game. We'll get to that in a moment.

It seems to me if the US and Georgetown University wanted to do something constructive with their summer vacation they should consider one of the following activities:
1. A game between Georgetown Hoyas and Congress to end the debt.
If the Hoyas win ... Congress must pass a balanced budget the following day!
I'd buy a ticket
2. How about a game between the United Nations and the Hoyas?
If the Hoyas win ... all the UN diplomats would have to go home.

The US would save Billions and stop waisting time bickering with Countries who hate us and don't deserve our Money anyway!
OK I know they'd never go for any of those choices but it was worth the "DREAM"

AND WHAT ABOUT SPORTSMANSHIP?
Regardless of who threw the first punch or who pushed who, can you imagine if the Georgetown players would have turned their backs and didn't engage - what would the headlines have been? This would have been the noble and honorable thing to do but instead they did what a large percentage of basketball teams in the US would do ... the bench emptied onto the court and they slugged it out!

China media didn't even cover the story. It didn't happen. And even if the State controlled media would have issued a story it would have stated, "Violent American basketball players dishonor America."

Is this behavior common on US pro and college basketball courts? You bet it is. Is it coached or is it managed to a tolerably level? Some would say no to both points.

Coach John Thompson III walked his players off the court after the brawl ... after the damage was done. No one can ever take that back. The scene on the front page of the Post (pictured above) was just as shocking as the lone Chinese man standing in front of the tank in Tienanmen Square decades ago. But what message did it send to the world? And is this the message we want to broadcast abroad?

Gary S. DeMoss
IN MY RIGHT MIND




Saturday, August 6, 2011

Political Brinkmanship

political brinkmanship (bringk'men-ship') n  The practice, esp. in politics, of seeking advantage by creating the impression that one is willing and able to pass the brink of default.

Same Procedure, Predicable Results
Einstein once wrote that if you continue to perform the same exercise over and over again you will net the same results.
On Monday in similar fashion to past Congressional last minute theatrical staging, the House and the Senate passed a watered down version of a Bill that would predictably raise the US debt ceiling preventing the catastrophic event the Obama Administration reinforced ... A default of the United States.
For weeks both sides argued over cuts in the Federal Budget but neither side could consider the maverick and visionary cuts from Tea Party Republicans whose cuts would place the US on a path to financial freedom ... ending the cycle of Tax and Spend now in its 5th Decade on the Hill. Although cuts to the Pentagon, Medicare and Entitlement programs were considered ... in the end it was two Senior Senators in closed door sessions that agreed to a lack-luster Bill. Once again they kicked the hard decisions down the Beltway to the next generation to decide. Same good-ole-boy network and our gutless President is too worried about his re-election and his birthday party fundraising to do any thing that would come close to "a positive example" or consider what is best for the American People. Fooey!

Big Deal
Did it prevent Standard and Poor's downgrading the US credit rating from AAA to AA+?
Hell No!
If the Obama Administration and Congress had the balls to make the difficult and necessary decisions to end the spending spree and pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution S&P would have ignored the crisis and left the rating alone. Instead and based on Congress' inability to act in a fiscally and responsible manner; S&P downgraded the US credit rating for the first time in the history of our nation. Congratulations Mr. Obama, Harry Reid and John Bohener! You can now add to your resume one of the most deplorable statistics in our nations history ...

You Raised the Debt ...
Your Bill does nothing to decrease the Deficit.
Our Nation is downgraded for the first time in our Nations history!

Congress you've proved yet again that you can waste time creating political theater and the media will react to your every need. Sadly the majority of America could care less.
Hopefully the few of us that care about our country and know what you just did to the future of US, will react in a way that will punish you for your inability to do your job in a responsible way for the benefit of America. We will vote you out of office.

Please get these guys out of Washington!

Gary DeMoss
IN MY RIGHT MIND