Horses, Bayonets and Cyber Warfare

The final debate between President Obama and republican hopeful Mitt Romney revealed a startling weakness in the the challenger's knowledge of current military strategic and tactical plans. Horses and bayonets is clearly the catch phrase which the loyal dissidents have jumped all over.

True there are horses utilized in the DoD, and combat soldiers are issued bayonets, but the republicans missed the real point or threat to the United States. The greatest threat to the country's security is cyber warfare.

It is not unusual for Congress to allocate two-trillion dollars to projects the pentagon does not want or listed in its annual budget requirement. The two-trillion for weapon systems not listed as requirements, will only benefit military contractors and the congressmen who sponsored those bills. It is an election year.

The two-trillion could be put to better use by the military

There is an advanced persistent threat (APT) to the DoD cyber infrastructure, the internet the public uses, the national energy grid and the global supply chain. It can even includes social media such as Facebook.

APT refers to foreign governments which snoop, hack and attempt to render inoperable a specific target such as the national energy grid. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, in a cyber exercise with other government agencies, has shown how feasible it is to attack the grid.

The next surprise attack on the United States will not be physical like Pearl Harbor. It will start with a massive cyber attack with the goal of rendering our military to be helpless.

The main threats are China (Titan Rain) and Russia (Moonlight Maze). Though they strongly deny the attacks, the attacks trace back to those countries. India may also be a player but state sponsorship there is questionable.

President Obama's comment about horses and bayonets should have included those "weapon systems" are basically obsolete in modern warfare. If software/hardware systems can fly drones to attack vectors, an Air Force sans flight crews is on the drawing board. The Navy created the ability to remote control an F-4 fighter in 1971, but only within a short distance from the carrier.

The Chief of Naval Operations would enjoy sharing another two-trillion with the Air Force and Army.
But they would want to spend it on the first line of defense--Cyber Space.

The Political Wind Changing in Oklahoma City

If “all politics is local” the Republican Party in Oklahoma should pay close attention to what is happening in large minorities in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

The late, great Thomas “Tip”  O’Neill  Jr., former  Speaker of the House is credited with the phrase “All politics is still local.” But credit goes to his father who explained to TIP that he lost an election to the city council because he did not pay attention to his own neighborhood.

In the next six to eight years or sooner, the political pendulum will swing from the right back to the left. From the governor down to the lowest elected Republican in every community should be aware of the  change in the political wind.

If they are not scared they should be.

The growing number of Hispanics and Latino businesses is possibly growing faster than small businesses being opened by whites. Take a drive down 29^th street from Shields Blvd. to Walker and count the number of small business. 

It is busy night and day. The question is how many people in that community are U.S. citizens.

The answer could be resolved after the presidential election.  Precinct tallies within the community will show the number of registered voters who actually voted. That bumped up against Census numbers should give an indication of the Hispanic voting power.

When, not if, the community becomes a political force,  Republicans, especially those who have targeted the Hispanic community are going to lose power as their base continues to shrink. First to go will be the city councilman, then the state representative and last the state senator.

The same swing in power in Oklahoma City will probably occur in parallel with Tulsa politics.

Gov. Fallin will be history by then and probably most of the current state legislature so they probably don’t care about future elections  

Oklahoma is considered a red rock for the Republican party in national politics But when the south side wind prevails the rock is going to turn blue.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of the election hoo-ha as we get closer to V-Day. I'm afraid the election result is going to be very close and possibly end up with a decision by the Supreme Court. That would mean two elections being decided by the Supremes this century. The only two we have ever had. It does not bode well for our Democratic Republic.

The passion from the loyal opposition is admirable, but they and those supporting the current administration show little constraint. And it is all being played out on Facebook. True believers of both Romney and President Obama need to have open, polite communications based on facts and not GOP or Democratic rhetoric. Given the temperment being displayed on Facebook, the losing side may go ballistic. The Tea Party leadership will probably stroke out, and the Democratic leadership will have to wear depends until after the inauguration.

But civil constraint, objectivity and truth have been thrown out with the baby and the bathwater by both parties. It started when the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell went on record with the media saying the Senate Republicans would not help President Obama because they want to win this campaign. And Vice President Joe Biden's sharp tongue has certainly added fuel to the fire.

May I suggest with all this mud being thrown around by both campaign staffs, the incessant Facebook bickering by followers has lead to a wonderful opportunity to decide the outcome by a more physical process.  Instead of a debate, let's have MUD WRESTLING.

And to help lower the deficit put it on pay for view world wide at $20 a screen and not show it in sports bars. If 1 billion people watched the "Mud Tussle for the White House" a potential $10,600,000,000.

That would kill two birds with one stone. We get a president and an obscene amount of money to lower the nation's debt.

I like it.