Episode #214: Gabrielle Ledoux

Anchorage-based attorney Gabrielle Ledoux, a long-time Alaskan, is running for State House in District 13. Her priorities are Education and Economic issues.

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Episode #213: Are We Mad Enough Yet?

Events in the United States and around the world seem to be spiraling out of control. When will the majority make up the collective minds to do something to end these negative trends?

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Though the lens of history the Korean War

Don White and I have discussed the Korean War a fair bit off air.  So it gives me great pleasure to bring the listener this discussion. One point I do agree with Don on that I didn’t get to mention on air, is his point concerning the use of Chinese Nationalist troops. Based on their performance in World War Two they would have been more of a hindrance then a help.  In the Burma theatre General Stilwell would have to go around to individual units and motivate them to fight. Leadership issues and a lack of equipment/training were also big hampers.  They would have further added to the language barrier that stood between South Korean and other UN forces. IMO the war would have been over before of Chinese Nationalist divisions could have been made a half decent force.  The lack of will to bring the war to a reasonable conclusion leads to the stalemate. Troops from allied countries were still being killed and seriously wounded while Harry Truman twiddled his thumbs.  Had Truman allowed offense action to take place after allied forces had recovered from the Chinese intervention, he would have really cemented his legacy. Had Truman allowed offensive action one of two things would have happened, that would have ended the war sooner. Loss of territory would have lead North Korea to the negotiation table.  Option two is that North Korea would have ceased to exist other then narrow strip of land north of Pyongyang.

IMO either option would have brought us a unified Korea.  In a 19^th century manner the fall of Pyongyang would have heralded the end of the North Korean state.  Even if the first option had occurred the North Korean state would have been reduced to a small enough size that it would have been unable to survive.  Truman missed out on being regarded as one of the greatest presidents rather than just a great one.  Had the Korean War ended in the manner I describe his name would etched next to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  Historians have overlooked the stale mate in Korea because it came so close on the heels to World War 2.

 I will add in the interest of fairness that back in the 70’s (the last decade of Truman life), no one and I mean even the most foresighted of people, could have foreseen events. Once South Korea transition to a democracy and its economy becoming one of the Tigers of Asia were both an enormous turn of events! A final note on Truman. When people use to ring up his presidential library and get the man himself.  That will never happen again.  If the reader/listener would like a similar discussion on Vietnam let us know!  

Fw de Klerk foundation interview

I had the great privilege of talking with  Dave Steward of the Fw de Klerk Foundation. Dave was the Director-General in the office of South Africa’s President F.W. de Klerk. Before the reader goes on any further they need to have listened to the program. For the following is just my perceptive on my chat with Dave.     The discussion focused on constitutional issues in South Africa. Yet it is very simple to apply much of the subject to a worldwide point of view. From my Kiwi view point, I felt like I was attending a constitutional school. The kind of “school” New Zealand future leaders should attend. Unlike our Australian cousins New Zealand has no formal Constitution. Only the Treaty of Waitangi stands as a back bone. More on the treaty another time.   Why I am going down this road? New Zealand constitutional is a bare cupboard a sort of parliamentary paradise. The existing safe guards come from our Constitutional Monarchy. The fact that Kiwi Republicans offer up nothing on this front makes them total nut jobs in my eyes.  South Africa never had to face this kind of issue because they became a Republic during the fairly early days of Apartheid.

I have gotten way of track in terms of what was discussed during the program. IMO South Africa remains a cultural soup. From the soup backup by the constitution a new national ID could or can be forged. The forging of this sword comes from what amounts a constitutional mandate that in effect prevents discrimination.  Why did I ask Dave if there is a difference between Nationalism and Multiculturalism in South Africa? I should have explained my reasoning on air better. From around the time of the Boer War to the time that generation died out a strong anti British/Nationalist sentiment was a part of the Boer community.  For the reader like me who is not old enough to remember Apartheid the following is the best comparison I can come up with.  If instead of opting for Federation the states and territory’s of Australia  became separate nations. Each nation was then assigned as a homeland for a certain nationality.

Just like in South Africa in 1948 the eggs were already scrambled as Dave put it. So you already have a retarded idea even before you deal with how atrocious state enforced racial segregation is.  That and the separate nation states hood would have been poor in compared with Australia today. IMO South Africans have more vested in there constitution then Americans have in there’s. Yes the threat of a one party state aka Zimbabwe hangs over the country like the, threat of an absolute monarchy troubled the Founding Fathers.    Certain constitutional issues in the USA were settled by the outcome of the American Civil War. I have to leave things at that.

On one last final notice the grave importance of education. It is the responsibility of the South African government to make fix the mistakes it has made in this area.  The fact that the population has a whole takes an active interest in educating their kids is a key element in any successful democratic society. Events in Zimbabwe post 1980 help to prove what happens when liberation comes before education.    In western society’s we take it for granted the idea of educating our kids in e.g. literacy and mathematics.  One only has to go to Rhodesia in the lead up to UDI to find out this point.  Much of the vast black majority of the Rhodesian population had yet to adopt the cultural mentality of educating their children in the western fashion. Native peoples around the world notion of educating off spring were to teach them bush craft.  What a shame I couldn’t have the education I got in school and learned about Aboriginal/Maori bush craft!!  

Episode #211: Bay Buchanan

Bay and Her Boys, by Bay Buchanan (Da Capo Press, 2012) is a revealing autobiographical journey through the author’s life as a single mother.  Her narrative is passionate, pugnacious, and persuasive.  There’s a lot of food for thought in these pages.

This book would be useful to any single parent, regardless of gender.  My own mother died when I was twelve, after a very bitter battle with cancer that lasted for nineteen years.  That forced my father in to the role of a single parent until he re-married.

This author writes like she speaks.  Angela M. Buchanan, nicknamed “Bay” because one of her brothers couldn’t quite say “baby,” was a pleasure to talk with.   Being a single mother isn’t Liberal or Conservative.  It just is.  It’s my opinion that Parenthood could be the single greatest virtue that contributes to the long-term health of our republic.

Buchanan lays out eight ‘rules’ in her book that can be thought of as hard-won pearls of wisdom that could’ve only been cultivated in turbulent waters.  Single parenthood can be bothersome and brutal, or it can be enlightening and rewarding.

We tend to think of nationally prominent figures as having few if any troubles.  No amount of money makes up for an upside down home life.  No amount of fame washes away the loneliness associated with single parenthood.

There are certain stigmas associated with single parenthood that Bay talks about in this book.  I’m not a single parent, but I can relate to some of these slings and arrows.  As a visually impaired person, I know what it is to be shunned, slandered, and used as a scapegoat for social problems that aren’t my fault.

Bay raised three boys from cradle to college.  This one fact, by itself, makes this book worth reading for any parent who has more than one male child to contend with.  New moms and dads who want to know more about what goes on in a little boy’s mind will find Bay and Her Boys to be constructive reading.

I grew up in a two-parent home during the years when it mattered most.  Many of my friends and classmates have not been so fortunate.  The terrible truth is that one quarter of American households are lead by a single parent.  Most of those single parents are women.  A Very few of them are actually single dads. 

Today’s mainstream media seems to be so pre-occupied with sensational headlines that they’ve lost track of what I think are more important things.  I asked the publisher for a chance to speak with this author in an effort to drag this topic out in the open because I was fed up with everything I heard about “the war on women.”

It’s been said that all politics is local.  I say that all politics is personal.  How we live, and what we leave behind, does matter.  None of us are so great that we can genuinely succeed on our own.  We need help from others, whether we want to admit it or not.

Single mothers are not pathetic.  They don’t want, need, or just gotta have our pity…but…they are one person trying to do the job that two should be doing.  Think about that the next time your spouse helps out around the house.  How would you do that if they were never there?  Would it be so bad to want some encouragement?  Maybe (just maybe) it might even be totally ultimate cool to have some h-h-help.

One thing is clear to me after reading this book.  Even if your not sure about that ‘help,’ you should be sure that a little respect could go a long way.  Don’t talk trash about people when you don’t really know their situation.  Single parents don’t want to be going it alone…but…they’ll do it for the sake of their kids.  I would.

Bay Buchanan is the author of two books.  She was the youngest Person to hold the office of U.S. Treasurer (during both terms of the Reagan administration).  She’s now the chairperson for American Cause.

 Boston based Da Capo Press is a member of the Perseus Book Group.  Publishers Weekly’s 2007 Publisher of the Year.  Find them online at http://wwwdacapopress.com/

Episode #210: Martin vs Zimmerman

Courtney Herring talks with Justin Oldham about recent revelations concerning the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

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Episode #209: Politics and Economics

Politics and Economics seem to be a volatile mix right now. Or, are they? What are we missing?

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