This Doesn’t Seem Very Peaceful To Me

CNN is reporting today that Iranian warships briefly pointed the weapons on its deck at a U.S. military helicopter and coalition warship two weeks ago in the Gulf of Aden. First of all–this story is listed under CNN Politics. This is not politics–this is national security–which until recent years was apolitical. One of the problems with the current politicians in Washington is that they are perfectly willing to sacrifice the good of America for the good of their political party. Term limits are needed, but that is another article.

The article at CNN reports:

In a statement released early Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Navy characterized the interaction as “unsafe and unprofessional.”

The U.S. Navy took photos of the incident but has not publicly released them. The incident was observed by the USS Farragut, which had launched the U.S. helicopter.

The official said it’s been several weeks since there have been any serious encounters with Iranian military ships, although on two recent occasions, U.S. Navy ships did sound their horns to warn Iranian ships they were too close, and those ships moved to a farther distance.

The U.S. Navy said its forces are routinely approached by Iranian warships as they operate in the region, with the majority of all interactions by the Iranians conducted “in a safe and professional manner.”

“Unsafe and unprofessional!” What does it take for America to stand up and say that this is unacceptable? I am not in a hurry to go to war with anyone, but it seems to me that if we do not stand up to this sort of bullying at some point, it is only going to get worse. Obviously, the time to stand up to this bully is before he is equipped with nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, our current leadership in the White House does not seem to understand that.

When You Vote, Remember The Government’s Priorities

This is a picture taken from Townhall.com:

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It is a helicopter hovering over the veterans protesting the barricading of the National Mall. The veterans took down the barricades and carried them to the White House, where they left them outside the gates on the lawn.

The article at Townhall reports:

It costs around $15,000 per hour to keep a helicopter in the air. As a reminder, the government is still shutdown and “non-essential” services are still unavailable. Apparently monitoring veterans with a helicopter is an “essential” function.

The National Mall is an open area. The cost of maintaining the Mall is the cost of picking up the trash and mowing the lawn. Neither of these activities approaches $15,000 a month, much less $15,000 an hour.

The closing of the Mall is an attack on the freedom of Americans. It is only one example of the government doing things to inconvenience Americans for political reasons. While World War II veterans are being denied access to their own monument, Camp David is open to the Vice-President and his family for a vacation. The political class should not be given special treatment while American citizens suffer because of their decisions.

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