Category Archives: Uncategorized

What the Hell is Going on with Ukraine

December 2, 2025 pleasethink1 Leave a comment

Last month the Trump administration put forth a 28-point plan to end the war in Ukraine. The plan at first glance looked like a complete capitulation to Russia. A second and third glance does not make the plan look any better. It calls for a reduction of the Ukraine military, a promise to not attack Russia or try to reclaim lost territory and blocking Ukraine from ever becoming a NATO member. The rest of the plan is much the same, Ukraine gives and Russia takes. While Ukraine was not a party to this they have agreed to the concept. Trump being more of a businessman then a politician sees this plan as an opening of a negotiation and has said it is not his final offer. What does that mean?

While any analysis must begin with the assumption that it means exactly what it says and that it must be taken as a final offer. As a former intelligence analyst I must assume at some point the position of a red team or devil’s advocate. In this position I will look at as many alternative reasons as possible.

From the beginning it had to have been known that this proposal was totally unacceptable to Ukraine. It gives Russia everything it wanted with nothing in return for Ukraine. But what about the other parties that must be considered, especially Europe.

Trump for years has chastised Europe for its lack of decisive action on anything. The EU and its member nations have supported Ukraine by backing the U.S. and suppling arms. With this proposal European security is threatened as this gives yet another win to Russia along with its victory over Georgia and the recognition of independent Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are in fact vassal states to Russia. Then there was the Russia annexation of Crimea, support to Syria and interference in Africa, among others.

The first alternative analysis therefore is that the proposal was designed to force Europe to step up and be more committed to the defense of Ukraine and to take responsibility for its neighborhood.

While it was assumed that Ukraine would outright reject the proposal there appears to be some backdoor negotiations that have allowed them to accept with the provision it was not final as Trump had said. While Russia should have accepted without hesitation there appear to be some aspects that have made them hesitate to accept. It maybe that while it calls for provisions in Ukrainian law that they will never join NATO there is an opening for them to become full members of the European Union which does carry some mutual defense provisions. The true aim of the Russian invasion was to take full control of Ukraine membership in the EU would be a strong block.

The second alternative analysis is that it would be rejected by Russia and therefore open the door for a stronger U.S. and European presence in Ukraine and block Russia both militarily and economically. It would also allow Europe to release frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.

To make it clear I have no direct knowledge of these negotiations and the observations are made based on years of analysis and a study of history. I also read art of the deal and the follow on books that give me some insight into Trumps thinking.

Afghanistan, Current events, Uncategorized

Why Did He Do It?

December 1, 2025 pleasethink1 Leave a comment

After Rahmanullah Lakanwal shot two National Guard troops, killing one the press and others are on the usual trail of looking for a motive. Many are asking why he was allowed into the country without being vetted, others say he was vetted and worked for the CIA. How could a person who was supposedly an ally and who worked closely with Americans in Afghanistan have suddenly become a cold-blooded killer?

There has been much speculation on this with law enforcement saying they are still looking into a motive. So let me throw in my two cents worth.

America is a very open and welcoming country, but it does have its own culture similar to many western countries but distinct. While it is similar enough to many other cultures it is also different from others. The difference is enough to cause culture shock to those who have not been prepared.

We should concentrate on preparing new immigrants beforehand. Smauel Huntington in The Clash of Civilizations spoke of this with the story of the country boy who went to the city and found the only thing familiar was the Mosque. Without any contact with his old life, he was easily radicalized. This or something similar is likely what happened to Lakanwal.

There is nothing racist or nationalistic about observing the difference in culture, but it is necessary to ensure safety for all concerned. There was an article out today about an honor killing in the Netherlands in 2022, were a father and brothers killed an 18 year old for becoming too western. A final sentence will be issued in January 2026.

It was not until 2021 that female genital mutilation was made a federal crime and to date only 41 states have outlawed the practice. Supporters of the practice claimed it to be a religious/cultural practice.

There is nothing wrong with protecting you culture and insisting that new comers assimilate into your society. In the past refugees coming into the U.S. were given support and there was a process that allowed them ease of entry into our society.

We need to ensure that those who have been allowed entry are assimilated. You do not have to give up ethnic or cultural identity but we must return to the days when immigrants became American.

American Politics, Current events, Epstein files, Maxwell, Trump, Uncategorized

What is the Future of the Epstein Files?

November 19, 2025 pleasethink1 Leave a comment

What is next, now that Congress has passed legislation demanding the Justice Department release the #Epstein Files? To begin Jeffrey Epstein was a degenerate creep that prayed on young girls and developed a sex trafficking network that is reported to have many rich and important clientele. #Epstein began his professional life as a stock trader and then a financial consultant. In this portion of his life, he became affiliated with many rich and powerful men both in business and government. He will however only be remembered for being a sexual predator and procurer. This is how it should be. Unfortunately, his criminal activities have become politicized to the point that the crimes have become secondary to the political circus that it has evolved into.

It is highly unlikely that there is a “list” as most people understand the term. There are, however, tens of thousands of pages of evidence. Do these tens of thousands of pages directly link people to actions, probably not.

To begin with Epstein was not stupid. He was a creep, a degenerate and a narcissist, but not stupid. Epstein was arrested and jailed in July of 2006 and went to jail in June of 2008. If there was extensive evidence against him it was likely destroyed years ago. It is interesting to note that in this case, attorney Brad Edwards who represented many of Epstein’s victims said that Trump was the “only person that helped in the persecution of Epstein.” Which brings us to the brouhaha that is the political circus we see today.

In the world of business and politics most of the rich and powerful knew each other. #Trump knew Epstein. Trump Knew Sen. #Shumer, Trump knew the #Clintons, they all knew each other. They meet each other at diner parties and other events. While Trump was one of many that knew Epstein, he is one of few who took action against him. He removed Epstein from membership in Mar-a-Lago and as stated provided information against.

This brings us to the last chapters of the case. Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. This was in the last months of Trumps first administration. Epstein shortly thereafter committed suicide or was murdered, subject for another time. This then ended any formal investigation into him. The investigations continued into his associate #Ghislaine Maxwell who was arrested in July of 2020, during Trumps first term, and then convicted.

Her conviction came in January of 2021 at the beginning of the Biden administration. Since Epstein was dead and the Judge in the case closed it there apparently was no further investigation other than into Maxwell. For four years the files sat undisturbed, until Trump was elected for a second term.

Trump made the mistake of promising to release the files when he got to the White House then it was compounded by the Attorney General Pam Bondi saying the list was on her desk. If there is no list why promise. Because there were files but not what anyone would consider a list. Trump should have explained this even knowing the left would attack him for lying. All this has done is opened up the door for the lefts propaganda campaign of “Release the Epstein Files.” Democrat politicians pound the desk and say if he has nothing to hide why not release the files. While others rightly say if there is anything in those files why didn’t Biden release them in the four years, he was president.

There are two possibilities for the delay. First there are things in the files that could compromise national security or other ongoing investigations. Second the files are so large and extensive that Trump knows that the left can take them apart and release out of contexts sections. An example is the recent email the Dems release from Epstein that proports to show Trumps collusion. By redacting the name of the “victim” it indicates Trump was involved. When the actual email was shown the “victim was #Virginia Giuffre who has repeatedly said Trump was never involved in any thing to do with the sex trafficking. What makes it worse is since the Democrats on the committee had this email for years they did not release it until Giuffre was dead and could not rebut it.

There is a third possibility, Trump knows exactly what is going to be released and that it is going to cause a lot of trouble for the left. It is now a waiting game and there will be no end. The most important information may also be in the grand jury testimony which release has been blocked by three left wing judges.

Stay tuned…

American Politics, American Politics, Current events, Uncategorized

Is the Signal Chat leak the End of Civilization As We Know it or a Nothing burger?

March 26, 2025 pleasethink1 Leave a comment

OK a group chat included the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg. The chat discussed the political implications of an attack by the United States on the terrorist group known as the Houthis and was designed to be between high level government officials. The Houthis are a radical Islamic terrorist group They started out rebelling against the government in Yemen and have been for years attacking shipping entering or exiting the Red Sea from the Suez Canal. Houthis use weapons supplied by Iran to disrupt commercial traffic that supplies a large percentage of good to the world.

So why has the United States only now acted? This was not the first strike by the U.S. just the latest. What is the problem with the leak from the Atlantic and why was Goldberg even on the chat.

The questions that must be answered are whether Goldbergs’ inclusion was a mistake or intentional? How much of what was in the chat classified?

To answer the last question from Waltz’s text on March 14, per the New York Times, he advised the group that the Presidents guidance would be in their high side inboxes. High side is government speak for classified, and reading through the rest of the messages there was nothing that could be called classified. What was released would at best been noted as sensitive but not classified, yes there is a classification for things that are not classified. So, what do we know? There was classified material provided between the principals but not in the signal text. So, to that point there were no war plans or other secrets discussed on signal.

Now to the inclusion of Goldberg. It was either intentional or unintentional, so which was it? We do not know and may never know so the following is speculation based on a lifetime of being in the IC and studying history.

It may have been unintentional but how? Why would Goldberg even be on Waltz’s contact list? If he was on the contact list, which would have allowed for his inclusion in the group, or the list of some staffer who added him to Waltz’s contact list by mistake. To accept this scenario requires the belief that a number of mistakes were made within the confines of the NSC and no one caught it in time. I would say the odds of this are less than 10%.

The more likely scenario is that Goldberg was added intentionally for an unknown reason. The first and most likely reason is that someone wanted to embarrass Waltz or cause harm. It must be remembered that this administration has only been in office for a little over two months. There is likely many in holdovers that are not happy. If this is the case, they will be found. A second but less likely scenario is that for some reason the administration wanted the information to leak or for it to find its way to allies or enemies. A similar use of a journalist was during the Cuban missile crises when both the U.S. and the Soviet Union used ABC News correspondent John Scali to pass backdoor messages. This is unlikely as Scali was an ally of Kennedy and Goldberg is an enemy of Trump. Be more interested in

In any case we need to wait and see what facts come out as there has been nothing to date other than the Signal Chat was passed to Goldberg, and the Houthis were hit. We should in fairness to all parties since nothing classified was passed and lesions learned we need to all just sit back and Pleasethink.

Uncategorized

Democrat Hypocrisy

December 1, 2022 pleasethink1 Leave a comment

Among the headlines in the Washington Post this morning was “Trump’s dinner with antisemites provides test of GOP response to extremism.” While I agree that the dinner was wrong, even if Trump did not know who Nick Fuentes was, he knows Kanye West (now Ke) is an antisemite having made a series of antisemitic statements. I also have to question Trumps staff for not stepping in before the dinner

This all, however, brings up the hypocrisy of the democrats and the news media. Where was the outrage over the statements of congresswoman Ilhan Omar and her fellow congressional antisemite congress woman Rashida Tlaib? The House under Democrat control has failed time and again to censor their actions or statements.

If we are to stand against evil, we must be ready to do so without prejudice. Antisemitism is evil, racism is evil, white supremacy is evil, and it does not matter the political affiliation. You cannot take the moral high ground if you are willing to ignore immoral acts based on politics. Wrong is wrong in all cases, not just in the third person, our side is right only their side is wrong.

Uncategorized

Trump, the Press and the coming election

November 28, 2022 pleasethink1 Leave a comment

“You furnish the pictures and I will furnish the war.” This famous anecdote was attributed to William Randolph Hearst when the illustrator Frederick Remington, whom Hurst had sent to Cuba to cover the revolution, wired that there is no war and he would like to come home. I bring this up to illustrate the power a corrupt press has over the people. We are entering the next phase of elections which will result in the 2024 Presidential election as well as the second House election since Joe Biden has assumed office.

Many who had hoped for a red wave this past cycle are obviously disappointed yet should not be surprised. While part of the problem can be laid at the feet of the Republican party for putting up weak candidates, we must not forget the role the press plays in shaping public opinion.

The main stream media played up Trump in every possible way as the spawn of the devil and the democrats pushed this narrative with all their might. While polls showed most Americans where not buying into the Dems narrative of any Republican victory meant the end of Democracy, they could not escape the constant drum beat of Trump, Trump, Trump being the end of the world as we know it.

I can blame Trump for many things that have happened in the past. He was never a leader from a political perspective. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit he should have led by example by, at least, wearing a mask. He did however lead by increasing the number of respirators available, moving hospital ships to high population areas and rushing the development of a vaccine. The press however concentrated on his being an arrogate ass and putting himself out there seeming to be on the side of those who refused to take the pandemic seriously.

There are those who are attempting to rehabilitate Trumps image by putting out on social media actually facts that showed Trumps successes such as reviving the economy and reducing unemployment, increasing the number of minority businesses and more. Theses are the things ignored by the MSM, if it could not be ignored at least it was minimized.

For all the real good Trump did he will never overcome what the press has done to him. I am sorry to say that I cannot support Trump in his attempt to regain the White House, I would vote for him if he gets the nomination but I am very afraid he is coming with too much baggage and will hurt the republican party in the long run.

The Republican party needs to get a much larger portion of the middle road and Trump cannot do that this time around. The press will never allow the truth to come out and the right does not have the proper outlets to overcome that.

American Politics, American Politics, Current events, Uncategorized

The Enemy of My Enemy is My Freind

March 23, 2022 pleasethink1 Leave a comment

The United States today appears to be divided between left and right polls. If the news media is to be believed there is no middle ground. I personally believe there is a large middle ground, but they are being beaten into submission by the extremes. What is driving this may be understood using the old adage “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” We have seen this philosophy used countless times, not only in war but politics as well. Many are unaware that one of the reasons the founding fathers put freedom of speech in the constitution was to insure that people with opposing thoughts had the right to express them. This also kept opposing forces from joining together to oppose the government. As long as they could express their beliefs and opinions freely there was no need to join with their enemies. This could be a lesson for some social media groups who impose their “community standards” on their sites giving rise to competition. This was seen in the 2d World War with resistance movements such as the French maquis. The maquis included such groups as the French Communist party and the Young Catholic League. Two sworn enemy who joined together to fight the evil occupation. This did not end well, at the end of the war these groups turned on each other.

How does this reflect in today’s America? A recent example of how far we have fallen is a report from Yale University that around 100 Yale law students: “…disrupted a bipartisan panel on civil liberties by trying to shout down and intimidate the speakers — who had to be escorted out of the building by police, according to reports.

The panel “hosted by the Federalist Society featured Kristen Waggoner, a controversial anti-LGBTQ speaker with the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, and Monica Miller, an associate at the progressive American Humanist Association,” when reminded of Yales policy of free speech and free expression the students could only understand that they had a right to protest and that the panel did not have a right to express their views.

On the other side we have some right-wing extremist in Congress calling the president of Ukraine a thug and saying we should not support him. The congress approved a measure designed to help pressure Russia with eight republicans voting against it, Of the two, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, have repeatedly pushed propaganda that mirrors that of the Putin. Why, because if Biden or the Dems say it, it must be wrong.

We have been subjected to the concept of “Cancel Culture” which both sides use. Also called call out culture, it can be an effective way to pull back the curtain on things that otherwise would be left in the dark. The MeToo movement was a start to correcting the process that had kept survivors of sexual assault from speaking out. It was instrumental in bringing down people like Harvey Weinstein, but then it became a political tool. One of the most famous political uses of this was during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. Kavanaugh, a distinctly conservative jurist, was about to be confirmed as a justice of the Supreme Court. Toward the end of the hearings a professor from Palo Alto CA, Christine Blasey Ford, claimed that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her when the two were in High School. The cry rang out that victims must be believed. The problem with this is that there was no proof. Even after Ford named a friend at the party who could confirm the attack. This witness, Leland Ingham Keyser, stated she had no memory of the party and did not know who Kavanaugh was, regardless some of the public accepted Fords claim and would not be dissuaded by the facts. Similarly the public has been told that Trump is the personification of evil and regardless of facts continue to cancel him, with no direct or supportable evidence.

Today we see in the same type of cancel culture attacks on the current Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. To be honest she is much too liberal for my taste, but I cannot find a reason to deny her the nomination. Calls that she was too lenient on child pornographers are a subjective argument. She sentenced within the guidelines, which themselves may be too lenient, but the sentencing was legitimate. Worse are calls of how she defended clients when she was a public defender. While some of her clients may be the scum of the earth, it is a lawyer’s job to provide a defense.

What does this all mean? Are we all becoming extremist or is the way we get our information failing? Information that the public gets has always been skewed by those reporting. A prime example was back when the US and Spain were almost at war. As the story goes William Randolph Hearst, a powerful news paper publisher, sent one of his illustrators, Frederick Remington, to cover the insurrection in Cuba. Remington cabled Hearst that there was no war to which the reply was “You furnish the pictures. I’ll furnish the war.” Today open any news paper or watch any news station and count the times the reporters attack a person or political party rather then just give us the news. Look at how many times you will see FOX News or CNN attacked by rivel networks. There was a time that those of us of a certain age remember watching a news show because of the popularity of the person giving the news, rarely did you have any idea of their political affiliation. Even worse is the proliferation of online sites that don’t even pretend to be news reporters but attempt to play into a certain segment of society while pretending the opinions or “news” they are giving are facts.

What to do? Remember there are no GOOD news sources, suspect story. If it is important to you do your own investigation. Accept that those with opposing views not only have the right to express them but that they may be right. In the end PLEASEThink for yourself.

Afghanistan, American Politics, American Politics, Current events, International Politics, Military, National Defence, Uncategorized

Why US Foreign Policy Continues to Fail in Afghanistan

August 31, 2021 pleasethink1 Leave a comment

Now that lives have been lost and we have withdrawn, this ill-conceived operation once again highlights the lack of US Foreign policy capabilities or our understanding of what is needed to protect American interests. Since the end of the Korean War the US has slowly lost the will to build influence and continue to lead the world. The Cold War was the last hoorah for what was left of US influence mostly based on the nuclear stand off with the Soviet Union. Much of the problem stems from the United States inability to adjust to a different world. Most of US foreign involvement since the cold war has been in Asia and the Middle East, cultures that most in Washington do not understand. This should not be the case as it is not in many other western countries and the US foreign service should be able to accept the different cultures but has always ended up trying to impose US values on the nations we get engaged with.

In 1648 the Treaty of Westphalia helped establish the countries we know today that make up Europe. There were tweaks along the way, but it established the customs of international relations we know today. It was established within the bounds of European customs and cultures and of course held little sway as countries pushed out of Europe to colonize the world. At the end of the First World War the victorious nations sliced and diced the world up to their economic and political advantage. Ignoring the wants and desires of the indigenous population they put in motion decades of violence. Many countries put together by colonial powers were countries in name only. Following the Second World War and then the Cold War many of these countries broke apart or fell under ruthless regimes that held them together at gun point.

After the creation of Israel, the US seems to have locked out any further changes, no new countries. This of course left the made-up countries like Iraq to fend for themselves. We refused to acknowledge the different ethnic, religious, and even linguistic differences. The United States has the distinct advantage/disadvantage of being one of the most heterogeneous nations in the world. Regardless of all our knowledge we refuse to accept that not all countries and people will accept our values or adhere to our customs. We are seeing this play out today in Afghanistan. A tribal nation that many have tried to forge into a single country. It will not work. We needed to arm and train tribal forces not a national army. If it was ever to change it would take generations a century or more to make it whole. The United States unfortunately maintains a five second view of the world and has no idea of second and third order effect of its decisions. We look to deal with problems on a country-by-country basis while the countries we are dealing with are acting in regional or overarching religious aspects. In the case of the Taliban, they see their version of Islam as the only correct interpretation.

Biden said that after 20 years it was time for the Afghans to take charge, but who are the Afghans? As a single entity they do not exist. Our presence did begin to push a lot of the country forward. At a minimum woman were being educated. We are now talking to a group that holds a world view front he 7^th century and act as if they have changed in 20 years and are now willing to become a part of the world. But all that will end simple because our foreign policy professional has failed once more.

Afghanistan, American Politics, American Politics, Current events, National Defence, Uncategorized

Afghanistain lesson not learned

August 18, 2021 pleasethink1 Leave a comment

There will be much finger pointing and recriminations following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban. There will be Congressional hearings and white papers from think tanks, and none will address the root cause of this and other problems that face the government and the people. The culture within the decision-making process sucks.

Much of what I am going to say can be summed up by a saying attributed to Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House in the mid 1950s to early ‘60s. When speaking to young congressmen who told him of their ambitions his reply was, “to get along you have to go along.” This is the basic philosophy that drives career government and military leaders as they advance, don’t rock the boat.

This is not to say that there are not those who do indeed rock the boat, but they are few and do not last long. Those in the Intelligence Community are known as Cassandras, from the Greek woman in mythology who was given the gift of prophecy and the curse of never being believed. While there should be a place for different analysis, and in fact has doctrinal support, it is seldom if ever used. Those who go the route of “Red Team,” or Devils Advocate,” rarely survive, it’s a career ender.

While this mentality is less evident in the military it begins to rear its ugly head as people advance. To that end those that reach the higher command levels tend to be more politician than warrior. This was not always the case. There is an old story about a Soviet officer saying that the difficulty in planning against the Americans is that they rarely read their regulations or feel an obligation to follow it. Today strict adherence to doctrine is the road to success. George Patton would likely not have made it past captain.

I am not sure this problem will be, or can be, address. Those who write reports for the decision makers have their own form and language. If they are certain of the results, their superior wants they can structure the report to fit the desire. If not, which is more often the case, they can structure the report to be interpreted as needed. An absurd example would be a report that should read, “it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, we conclude it is a duck” would conclude more like “… we conclude with a high degree of probability that it is some form of waterfowl.”

Many have touted the results of a recent final report to congress from the Afghanistan Study Group that had listed several courses of action and the resulting consequences. Today most zero in on courses of action from the chapter of Alternative Pathways. The recommended pathway was to maximize existing US leverage to achieve an acceptable negotiated peace agreement. The most risky pathway was called a Washing of Hands and warned of the results, which we have now seen. The conclusion of the report stated that

“With the launch of peace negotiations, the conflict in Afghanistan has entered a new phase. This new phase requires a new understanding. Afghans must take primary responsibility for their own future. The United States must orient its efforts and resources toward shaping the conditions around the peace process—resetting and reframing it in ways recommended in this report—in order to give it the best chance to succeed. It should be reiterated, however, that our troop presence is a key point of leverage. U.S. troops play a vital role in ensuring the continuity of state structures, and thus their presence is essential to brokering a lasting peace. Success, it should be acknowledged, is not guaranteed. But there is a clear path forward. There is now a real possibility of the conflict winding down and Afghanistan becoming a country that needs far less help from the United States. If this happens, the United States can bring its troops home and both countries can move forward as sovereign nations with friendly relations based on shared values and sacrifices.”

The answers were given to the decision makers, not from the IC or DoD but a select group empowered by Congress. This groups membership consisted of retired politicians and retired military as well as former diplomats and academics. In other words, this group consisted of people who could speak their minds without fear of professional recriminations, and they got it right. This also shows that the information was out there for anyone willing to see it and think.

This failure of allowing the unpopular analysis to get through to the decision makers needs to be corrected and the culture of fear over being out of step with the mainstream needs to end. This needs to be a major lesson leaned or this problem will just continue.

American Politics, Current events, Uncategorized

Atlanta

March 22, 2021 pleasethink1 Leave a comment

The Murders in Atlanta are a horror and an abomination, as they would be anywhere. The horror of what the left is making of them is even worse for our society. The suspect Robert Aaron Long, is a troubled young man with a history of mental illness. Two stories in the Washington Post highlight the problems the left has with dealing with reality. The first, headlined in at the beginning of the online and print versions spoke of the troubles Aaron faced in his life, starting the article with “The war within Robert Arron Long was evident for years.” Long is portrayed as a quiet young man who was raised in a strict religious family and community. He was seen changing after graduation from High School when he became obsessed with sex. He found relief through pornography and visits to massage parlors where the women would help him masturbate. He was in rehabilitation programs that centered on religious therapy. He eventually succumbed to guilt and decided that killing the sex workers at the Spas would reduce his guilt. He was captured on the way to Florida where he intended to attack the Porn industry.

Six of the eight people he killed were Asian. The media immediately declared this a hate crime and decried the rise in hate crimes against Asians, blaming it on President Trump calling the Covid-19 virus the Chinese virus. Statistically a case can be made for an increase. According to reports the number of hate crime against Asians rose 150% between 2019 and 2020. The number of hate crimes recorded against Asians in 2020 was 122. Society should never tolerate hate crime and one is too many, yet 122 is hardly at crisis level. To be clear these are reported hate crimes and the number does not cover anti-Asian racist incidents.

The second article in the WP was about President Biden and Vice-President Harris on a trip to Atlanta speaking out on the crime and declaring it a racist act. This is reminiscent of President Obama’s visit to Ferguson Missouri following the death of Michael Brown. Browns death at the hands of a police officer was called police brutality perpetrated by a white officer. This launched the Black Lives Matter movement as well as several deadly riots across the country. Obama and his AG, Eric Holder, met with the community and spoke of the horror of racism and the need for police reform. In the end, after all the evidence was collected, it was determined that Brown had attacked the officer and that the shooting was justified.

As the evidence is being collected in Atlanta it is becoming clear that this is not a hate crime against Asians, but murder committed by a deranged individual who targeted sex workers who he felt were guilty of his problems. What the takeaway should be is to look at the potential of sex trafficking in this case, the use of massage parlors to conduct prostitution, and the need to pay attention to the mentally ill in need of help. The response should bot be an instant cry of racism and protests and calls for more laws. We need to look at the reality and evidence and wait and see were that leads us. In other words, Pleasethink before just reacting.

We need to remember the story of the boy who cried wolf. When will the cry of racism become ignored? A military axiom from Frederick the Great of Prussia states, He who defends everything defends nothing. We can extend that today and say when everything becomes racist, then nothing is racist. There is racism in the world, always has been and always will be. The objective is to blunt its impact on society. Today however we reward its activities and when there is not enough, we make it up. The people that gain from this are not the few racist/white supremacist/black activist, but the politicians who use it to increase their hold on power at the expense of the people. I for one am tired of them trying to manipulate me.

What happened Atlanta was a crime, it was murder, it was mass murder, but it was not racially motivated and to insist that it was is to deny the facts and ignore the true nature of the crime which means that crimes like this will continue while society looks the other way.