Its now public knowledge that President Obama keeps even his Cabinet officers on a tight leash! Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel, and Hillary Clinton, too, have all told the same story. Most presidents have more of a partnership with their Cabinet, allowing these officers to substantially contribute in shaping policy.
But Barack Obama is a micro-manager, and if you work for him you dance to his tune. And its his privilege to do so. All Cabinet officials serve at the pleasure of the president.
Regarding Libya, the presidents 2012 campaign had already begun. The administration was making major claims that terrorism was on the run and that Al Qaeda had been reduced to insignificance. It seems that throughout the Obama administration the word had gone out to do or say nothing to contradict those statements.
So when Ambassador Stevens asked for greater security personnel, the request was denied. When the the danger level went up, and our allies pulled out, Stevens was ordered to stay. When the Al Qaeda affiliate attacked with RPGs and other weapons, the Obama administration responded with nonsense about a spontaneous demonstration that got out of hand in response to an anti-Muslim movie.
Naturally they knew better, as revealed in HRCs e-mails. The administration was simply hoping to blow smoke until the election. As a senior serving member of the administration, Clinton had no choice but to go along with the cover story.
She still cant speak honestly about it, but I suspect that her grief for Chris Stevens and the other Americans was quite real. And I suspect shell tell the real story in her memoirs.
· Suggested Reading
What are the differences between a democracy and a republic?
Democracy means rule by the people. It doesnt necessarily mean direct. A direct Democracy would be like ancient Athens, where the people gather and take a vote on everything.
Even that wasnt a true Democracy, because a lot of the people had no votewomen and slaves. Democracy is about the participation of people in their government, and voting is probably the single most important tool a Democracy has to ensure rule by the people. A Republic is a form of government whereby laws are made by representatives of the people.
Usually this is through the democratic vote, but not necessarily. Representatives could for example, be appointed by the Emperor, or the political party in poweror a combination where the people are allowed to elect from an approved list of candidates. The US is a democracy with a constitutional republic.
Although at some times in our history we have been more democratic and other times less so. We seem to be lurching, or are being dragged by the minority and foreign interests, into a less democratic phase in our historyin an effort to give out-sized power to the minority. Whether or not these efforts remain fruitful remains to be seen.
Countries that are more democratic usually tend to have a higher standard of living, more effective governments, and less corruption, because democracy provides a means to keep the government responsive to the majority, and accountable.One last thingwhenever you hear were a republic, not a democracy, thats bullshit. Were both.
The two terms are not mutually-exclusive, they mostly overlap. They use this mantra as an excuse for undemocratic and often extra-constitutional measures, such as voter suppression, gerrymandering, etc., because they know they can no longer muster a majority of the American electorate with their current platform.
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Why have big battleships (e.g. USS Iowa and the Bismarck) become obsolete in modern navies?
Battleships were made obsolete by airpower. Look at World War 2. Japan had some pretty crazy battleships, Yamato, Musashi, Ise, Nagato, Fuso, Kongo (technically a battlecruiser but whatever).
Most of these ships were sunk by American aircraft. This can be attributed to a lack of Japanese aircraft in the area. Now, any modern battleship will be incorporated into a carrier battlegroup, which presents us with a tactical issue.
Do you keep more of your fighters back to protect your additional ship in the battlegroup, or do you send them to protect your strike aircraft? If you keep your fighters back, you may not eliminate the enemy. If you send them out, you may lose parts of your fleet.
Better to not have to worry about this in the first place.Considering that nowadays missiles and planes far outrange any gun system we have and that radar can detect ships at hundreds of miles, and any modern naval engagement will occur at long range, where the battleship wont be able to do anything but sit there as an AA ship at best, which didnt work out so well for the Tirpitz in Norway. Even in a hypothetical close quarters naval battle, modern ships are so lightly armored that a battleship AP shell will simply punch through and out the other end, and if you fire an HE round which would devastate an enemy ship, you will damage your friendly ships which dont have the same level of protection as a battleship.
In a close quarters naval battle, you may be better off strapping a GAU-8 to a speedboat and turning everything into swiss cheese.From a tactical standpoint, the battleship is no longer a viable asset, and while it does have its uses in shore bombardment, we simply dont bombard shores enough for it to be worthwhile. In any other situation its not so useful
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What is your favorite u201chidden gemu201d from Led Zeppelin?
A song that was never very popular.
It's very hard for me to say what would be considered a not very popular song by Zeppelin. Most folks I keep time with are fans and we love them all.
Id have to go with In the Evening. I am a big fan of hard, aggressive rock music and Led Zeppelin never fails to deliver when that's what I'm seeking. Sometimes however, I like to slow it down a bit and set a mood.
In the Evening does that quite nicely. It has this slow walk to it, if you can understand what I mean by that, and a vibe that comes from the gut that feels heart pumping and the mood it sets is unbelievably sexual. Which is the mood I'm usually trying to set when I play that song!
That song is the definition of sexy as far as I'm concerned. Absolutely love it. EDIT: Today, 5 August 2018, I drove up to Green Bay Wisconsin to busk at Bay Beach and did so until the flatfoots pinched me for not having a street trades permit.
I brought one of my 6 string acoustic guitars and my mandolin along and performed one of the few songs I play exceedingly well on mandolin. That happened to be a less popular Led Zeppelin song that would have gone well in this answer. That would be The Battle of Evermore.
I had forgotten all about this song at the time I wrote the answer and I think it would tie In the Evening for my favorite lesser known Zeppelin tune. Its also the first song I learned when teaching myself mandolin. Thanks much to Bridget McCrea for being my muse insofar as providing the conversation that reminded me of this beloved hidden treasure!
I highly recommend checking her out here, as she is another treasure who you may not be aware of and really should be.
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How many of you think Obama and Hillary couldu2019ve done something different to prevent what happened in Benghazi? If anything, what?
u201ccouldu201d is one thing. That requires the DoD to do it. Give the order.
Said it before, in 1970 the PLO had five airliners down at Dawsonu2019s Field, an old Brit airfield east of Amman, Jordan.Ii was at Ft. Bragg when the alert Brigade was getting spun up in response.
I was in a class for advising ARVN units. The alert unit guys went out looking for friends who were jump qualifiedu2014I wasu2014who were at Bragg for other reasons as I was. The post was closed and there were preparations to take the non-jumpers for the second wave.
The passenger hostages were spread out and there was no chance weu2019d be able to round them up so we didnu2019t go. Point is, the Stand Up order can be given.Then come the questions of what could have been done.
We were going to fly nearly seven thousand miles, according to reports the last couple of hundred without fighter cover unless the IAF was in. That was considerably more problematic than the various hypothetical plans people have posted. Iu2019m not interested in arguments about what could or could not have been done.
I would suggest, however, that more resources were in the area when the Benghazi happened than fifty years earlier. The 173d Airborne Brigade was in Viet Nam then. Itu2019s in northern Italy now.
Ditto Marine units in and on the Med. And intel. The State Department was in real time commo withe site.
Drones for overwatch. Or strikes, for that matter.Itu2019s been said by the partisans that no stand down order was issued.
I want to know if there was a stand up order and if not why not
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What are good careers for highly sensitive people?
u201cCareers for highly sensitive people, or HSPs, celebrate their tendency to take in and interpret more sensory information than most people do, while keeping them out of situations that can cause them to become overwhelmed.u201cAccording to Dr.
Elaine N. Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive Person, in an interview at Joyful Work for Sensitive People, 20 percent of the population inherits the highly sensitive trait. Highly sensitive people often pick up on subtleties in their environment that others miss.
However, they can easily become overwhelmed, tired and frazzled because their nervous systems overload in an attempt to process too much sensory input at once.Best Careers for Highly Sensitive PeopleMany of the careers for highly sensitive people have a creative orientation because people with high sensitivity adeptly process and convey ideas and feelings. Jobs that allow a sensitive person to work independently or one-on-one with another person tend to work best because too much stimulation could hinder the highly sensitive person's performance on a job.
Some of the best careers for HSPs include:WriterEditorArtistMassage therapistCounselorActorAccountantMusicianPersonal assistantBusiness ownerMusic teacherTutorInterior designerFashion designerDetectiveInvestigatorPerfume testerAnalystHighly sensitive people should look for careers that allow down time throughout the day so that they can recuperate from very stimulating environments. Down time at work won't consist of rest and relaxation, of course, but will allow windows of alone time interspersed throughout the day so that HSPs can recharge. It is important for highly sensitive people to accept this about themselves because attempting to process so much information at once can deplete energy long before the day is over.
For more information on finding the ideal career as a highly sensitive person, you may be interested in Making Work Work for the Highly Sensitive Person by Barrie S. Jaeger.u201dCareers for Highly Sensitive People