HUMMMMMP DAY READS

Boston Tea Party

American Leadership

Today the recommended reads are few, but rich in content. First off, blog-friend Lexington Green, the nom de guerre of a rather brilliant barrister who hails from the windy city has in the words of the zenpundit made the big time ever since he penned a piece about the Tea Party and gained the attention of the likes of the MSM, Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh. Lex, has an article on the rightnetwork and begins with this about insurgency.

Mass political movements often begin with a single, striking event. The Insurgency began in the fall of 2008, when President Bush, Senator Obama, and Senator McCain appeared together to endorse the TARP bailout. At that moment the lights came on for many Americans. It was glaringly obvious that both political parties jointly operated the system, and the system existed to protect the well connected at the expense of everyone else. The public opposed the TARP bailouts; the banks got their money anyway. The Insurgency, long brewing, began.

The Insurgency is a movement of citizens directed against unsustainable government taxation and regulation, and spending, both of which benefit insiders rather than ordinary people. The target of the Insurgency is a leviathan in Washington, D.C. that will ruin us all if it is not dismantled.

The Insurgency is part of a long tradition of mass political movements in our history. It has the potential to make a fundamental change in American life-for the better.

Read more:
Enter Stage Right

These next recommended reads, come from two gentlemen who have dialed back on the blog posts and in return, are turning out what I deem extremely high quality observations and analysis.

Iranian Flying Boats

Galhran the master of Information Dissemination  has fired off a salvo on naval gunnery. Granted in the missile age, this seems out of touch, but wait until you read both articles then decide. Is a return to ships bristling with automatic crew served weapons, a nod to the last ditch defence against Kamikazes in the last months of the Pacific War?

It is very easy to look at this technology and be dismissive... but that our weakness isn't it? We are a technology society and look at the specifics of technology to form the basis for our judgments. It a technology doesn't conform to our conceptual expectations regarding capability, then 'it doesn't pass the smell test' and is usually dismissed with sarcasm. I expect there is plenty of sarcasm to be easy shared upon examination of this little piece of tech being fielded by Iran.

Read more:
The Swarm

Twin Ma-Duces

In this post about a recent gunfight, Galhran writes.

In the missile age, it is noteworthy that with the exception of a single torpedo attack - we continue to see a series of gunfights of various natures define military combat at sea. Navy Times reported yesterday that just two weeks ago, the US Coast Guard engaged in one such firefight.

Read more:
Peacemaking: The High Seas Gunfight

Mumbai, 2008

Next?

And finally, today's news has been abuzz about the reported terror plot to launch Mumbai style attacks across Europe. Thomas Barnett, dialed back the volume of posts on his must read blog, and is now posting when he feels the need to provide an indepth review of major stories and trends. Barnett's analysis of the terror plot and how we handle the next one, makes this a spot-on piece to read and ponder. Tom begins by answering:

Why it's important to pay attention:

■It's long been my contention that extremists operating in NW Pakistan, most likely in some collusion with al Qaeda (not a big leap), will keep trying to make some big splashy strike in the West. Many experts saw the Times Square bombing attempt as a practice run using an expendable. Figuring how hard that is to pull off--in a relative sense, and with AQ and its net falling from our collective memory thanks to the economy, the default alternative for such groups to regrab the headlines is to do something easy and cheap like Mumbai II and to do it in Europe. So yeah, I find this whole logic believable. 

And I give you this his final thoughts with the link to read more.

Then tack on Obama's statement to Woodward that "We need to make clear to people that the cancer is in Pakistan."  I guarantee you, the next scheduled-by-our-enemies response (when the drones aren't enough) will induce a serious calibration effort/opportunity with both China and India.

Read more:
Report: NATO members foil Mumbai-style wave of attacks on Europe

The common thread I found in all of these articles is the call for leadership; real inspired visionary leadership, like the kind that got us through crisis’s in the past. Lex, Galhran, and Tom are pointing out that amid all those layers of rhetoric and micro management of the current and recent administrations, that as a free people, we are collectively waiting for an unnamed and unseen leader who can provide the essence of visionary leadership the has served the world before.