Civilian Control Of The Military

I have to tell you, I am very uncomfortable with a sight I saw tonight in Iowa.

At Congressman Ron Paul's celebration of his impressive showing tonight in Iowa, he introduced a soldier in uniform who proceeded to give a speech supporting Ron Paul for president.

I'm not uncomfortable because he was supporting Ron Paul - I think those who have gone into harm's way for this country have every right to support their choices for political office. But not while wearing their uniform.

The soldier in question wasn't an officer, but that still doesn't make it right.

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, military and naval officers and their supporters in civilian organizations like the Navy League worked tirelessly to establish the military calling as a profession. As individuals, they often retained strong party loyalties. As military professionals, though, there was no such thing as a Democratic general or a Republican general; only competent and less competent generals.

During my time in service, I gave the same professional advice to my civilian superiors no matter who was in the White House. I would have had little respect for any senior officer who tailored his advice to what he thought the boss wanted to hear. Such advice is worthless.

We had not only the legal prohibitions of the Hatch Act, we had a strong professional ethic.

Make no mistake about it. I did not keep my political sentiments a secret from my colleagues and friends. But I never would have thought of appearing in uniform at a political event.

The most extreme case of a firm dividing line between partisan politics and military professionalism was that of George Catlett Marshall. General Marshall never voted. Ever. He thought the act of voting would have compromised his professional objectivity. Nor did he vote even after being appointed Secretary of State under President Truman. During all his years of service, General Eisenhower never disclosed his own choice of party. In fact, both parties tried to recruit him as a presidential candidate in 1952.

This all began to change after the creation of the "all volunteer force," when military reservists and members of the national guard became a more integral part of the armed forces than during the Cold War.

Now reservists and national guard members move back and forth between active duty and civilian life many times in the course of a career. The lines have become confused and the rules are apparently less clear than they once were. I think General Marshall wouldn't be pleased.

Nor am I.

On The Tiger's Back

The problem with riding a tiger is that it is hard to dismount without peril.

I have often wondered if our insistence on continuous, significant economic growth isn't a case of riding the tiger. It reminds me a bit of Lake Wobegon, where "the children are all above average." Clearly, we all can't be above average.

More to the point, we measure economic activity by "gross national product," which correlates very closely to how many resources we expend. Some of those resources are finite. Logically, we can't increase our use of finite resources forever. Malthus figured that out two centuries ago.

Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard economics professor and former chief economist of the IMF, raises the question today in an article entitled "Rethinking the Growth Imperative."

"Modern macroeconomics," Rogoff points out, "often seems to treat rapid and stable economic growth as the be-all and end-all of policy. That message is echoed in political debates, central-bank boardrooms, and front-page headlines." And then he asks: "But does it really make sense to take growth as the main social objective in perpetuity, as economics textbooks implicitly assume?"

After examining a number of possible explanations for the emphasis on growth as well as statistical examples of the effect of growth, Rogoff closes by observing: "In a period of great economic uncertainty, it may seem inappropriate to question the growth imperative. But, then again, perhaps a crisis is exactly the occasion to rethink the longer-term goals of global economic policy."

Good point. Can we figure out a way to get off of the tiger without doing too much damage to ourselves.

More On Hungary - News Isn't Good

Paul Krugman has posted another update on Hungary by his colleague, Kim Lane Scheppele. The news is really not good. Hungary is on the cusp of becoming a despotism.

New Years Objectives

I don't do New Years Resolutions.

As Popeye used to say, "I yam what I yam." If there is anything I have learned in more than seven decades, it is that I am unlikely to become a better person, wiser, more handsome, faster, thinner, healthier, more skillful, funnier, or more expressive. Popeye got it about right.

But that doesn't mean one shouldn't set more or less achievable goals for the near future. Some of mine:

1. Finish repairing our house from Irene's destruction;
2. Finish my novel;
3. Organize my photographs;
4. Read War and Peace;
5. Keep blogging.

Now Synchronize Your Calendars

Set your calendars ahead one day - at least, if you live in Samoa (capital, Apia).

Samoa will have no Friday this month. At midnight tonight, Samoa will leap forward to Saturday, December 31, 2011, skipping Friday, December 30.

This decision reverses the change made July 4, 1892, when Samoa changed its date to conform to the Western hemisphere and have the same date as American Samoa, capital Pango Pango.

This isn't the only recent change intended to conform to practices in New Zealand and Australia, Samoa's closest trading partners. In 2009, Samoa switched to driving on the left side of the country's roads. Among other things, this made it easier for Samoans living in Australia and New Zealand to ship used cars to relatives living in Samoa.

Ghost Of Christmas Past

Today was a lovely Christmas Day. Good friends visited for coffee ( The Bean was closed) and for Christmas Dinner.

It caused me to recollect the first Christmas I remember. It was 1940. My parents divorced in 1938. Mother remarried in August of 1940 to a young soldier in the United States Army Air Corps. We moved from Tulsa to Tampa to begin a new life.

Here I am on the porch of our upstairs apartment with all the Christmas gifts spread out to admire. It appears that two sets of grandparents had a Christmas present competition.

I'm not sure who won the competition, since I don't remember who gave me what gift. But I remember my favorite present. It was the Erector Set leaning against the wall. I spent countless hours building different structures and machines from designs that came with the set.



This was the last prewar Christmas. Never again would there be so many toys.

But I didn't mind. The best thing about Christmas was always the family get-togethers.

By Christmas of 1941, I had a little brother. Oh, yes, and by then we were at war.

Christmas in Indiana

It looks like Santa Claus delivered a Christmas present to Indiana Democrats. You have to read it to believe it:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/23/1048083/-Good-Grief,-Charlie-White!-Why-a-Court-Ruling-in-Indiana-Could-Have-National-Implications

Hungary - Back To The Future?

Disturbing post today on Hungary's authoritarian revolution.  It sounds like a more extreme version of what has been happening in Wisconsin, Michigan and other states in the United States.

The post appears on Paul Krugman's web site, but it is written by Kim Lane Scheppele, Director of the Law and Public Policy program at Princeton University.

It sounds like what is happening in Hungary is a reappearance of the kind of authoritarian regime that has characterized Hungary in the past, including the notorious period of Admiral Horthy's dominance from 1920 to 1946. The forms of governance may resemble those of democracy, but the content is increasingly that of authoritarianism.

By the way, Newt Gingrich's recent diatribes against judges would fit right in with the new Hungarian system.