Using The Weapons

Teddy Roosevelt had common sense when he said "Speak softly but carry a big stick." Got to have the weapons, but also the common sense to know which one and whether to use them.

John Kennedy averted war in the 1961 Cuban missile crisis.

This a world full of bullies. Nobody respects a defenseless person or a weaponless country. In the Central L.A. riots a few years ago, only those who brandished iron stayed whole. Thus, as a nation, by keeping both tactical and strategic weapons, logically, we should be able to avoid strife. Politically, that didn’t happen… we screwed up in the second Persian Gulf war.

The problem is subjective judgment.

When do you shoot?

So, then, the other side of the issue is a need for common sense and for using our hearts and minds, not initiating nor escalating but maintaining a good defensive posture. A balancing act. Can’t design common sense into a weapon. Can hardly find any common sense among our population!

And thus we need a mix of weapons AND the right individuals with the common sense to use them properly. And that is The Big Deal in politics… who has common sense? Where's the next Statesman? It's just the world at stake! This is an election year! Yikes! It's scary!

- © 2008 by Willy
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