Musings for Pearl Harbor Day

Today is the 68th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and I hope you will take a moment to remember what is now the second worst day in American history and the 2402 Americans who died there. Every year fewer and fewer of those who fought and survived World War II remain for us to thank. Both of my grandfathers and a number of great uncles fought in that war and all are now gone. Fortunately they told stories about their experiences that I will remember for years to come.

Pearl Harbor was one of the darkest days in American history. Just as many Americans awaited more and worse attacks in the dark days after 9/11/01, numerous Americans - especially those on the west coast and in Hawaii - lived in great fear of a Japanese invasion of America. Of course that invasion never came and in the microscope of history we know that Japan really didn't have the ability to launch a mass invasion of the US Mainland with the bulk of their ground forces sweeping through the Republic of China and Indochina.

A mere six months later the Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942) drove off the spectre of invasion completely as the rejuvenated US Navy tore apart the Japanese armada and made them a third rate naval power in one blow. Though the battles in the Pacific would rage on above and below water for three more years Japan was always on the defensive from Midway on.

Less than four years later, Japan's emperor stood on the decks of the USS Missouri, in the bay of Tokyo Harbor signing a complete and utter surrender of his nation without terms while two of his most important cities still burned from the atomic blasts that devastated them. In the final analysis Pearl Harbor was a brilliant tactical moment and victory for Japan (in the west, we consider sneak attacks as a sign of cowardice and evil but in the east it is an acceptable tactic - something to consider when dealing with out Chinese 'friends') but it was a horrible strategic miscalculation. Without the ability to press the attack by following up with an invasion of Hawaii, which would have starved out islands like Midway and forced the US to operate from its own shores or from the Alaskan islands far to the north; all the attack on Pearl Harbor achieved for them was to gain an additional, intractable, and righteously angry enemy before they had chased the British out of the Pacific and hamstrung or crushed Australia as an allied base of operations.

I feel sorry for Amanda Knox. I can't imagine facing murder charges in America where the burden of proof is on the prosecution to demonstrate that you did it; but to have to face the charges in a nation without many of the guarantees the accused has here and in which the burden is on the defense to demonstrate that the accused did not commit the crime must have been overwhelming. Now I don't think she did it but I have to qualify my belief because as a man seeing an attractive young woman in distress, my protective instincts start firing up. Would I be as protective if she wasn't attractive? - that's hard to say. I don't believe that she killed her roommate but she could be hiding a Machiavellian evil inside her that we miss simply because she's attractive. In the American media we only get one side of the story and I think we lose sight of the first victim; Meredith Kercher - also a lovely young woman. I want justice for her but convicting someone of her murder wholly on circumstantial evidence is a crime in itself as it denies both Meredith and Amanda justice. There is a cautionary tale here as well. As much as you should take care with whom you associate here in America, all of us and moreso young Americans need to scrutinize their acquaintances and new friends if they are travelling, working, or schooling alone overseas.

I also feel sorry for Lindsay Lohan. Like many of you, I practically watched the spunky little freckle-faced red-head grow up in Disney movies never suspecting that pretty much everyone in her life was exploiting her. I think this happens to a number of child stars and thanks to 'reality' television it seems to be happening to a lot of other children as well. We may not be far from a day when Child Protective Services come busting through your door to wrestle away your children because you dared spank them but they ignore the real damage done to children by television shows like John and Kate Plus Eight (neither one seems a fit parent and all I've ever seen is what they show on The Soup); Wife Swap (two parents were so celebrity addicted they faked their son being in a runaway balloon for publicity early this fall); and by far the worst Toddlers and Tiaras which is nothing less than the sexualization of children (again other than seeing it appear on my on-screen guide as I search my 200+ channels for something decent to watch because Phineas and Ferb isn't on, I've only seen excerpts from it on The Soup which disgusts me enough).

Finally today, my un-Christian moment. I HATE Harry Reid and Barrack Obama. I hate Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer. These people deserve our ire and disdain. They are poised to force Cap and Trade on us in spite of the fact that man caused global warming has been discredited completely, are ready to finish forcing government run health care on us in spite of public opinion, and are finding ways to spend us into oblivion. At the risk of baiting the black helicopters and an FBI investigation, I wish for the crazed Japanese pilot in Tom Clancy that rammed a 747 into the Capitol Building. That little part of me that fights against my Christian upbringing makes a little smile curl on my lip when I imagine them all suffering eternal torment in Hell. Its hard to ignore. It whispers in my ear the hope that God does not have mercy on their souls. I know its not right but its there. It is about ultimate revenge and it embarrasses me to admit it because I know that I should love my enemy and make no mistake; these people ARE my enemy and YOURS.