A lot of things do not make sense. That much is obvious.

On AOL News today, the Associated Press has released a series of interesting stories of interest to veterans.

First there is a story about the man who is running for office in South Carolina who has started his campaign by raffling off an AK-47 at his political rally.  South Carolina is the only state in the Union that allows candidates for the office of Adjutant General for the National Guard to run for office in a general election.  The story is here.

I wonder if someone in the crowd screamed at him "You a liar!" at the rally?

Next we have a story concerning the FBI and its release this weekend of the building’s security video tapes of the Oklahoma City bombing of 19 April 1995.  Several of the most crucial minutes of the tape are missing and they appear to be edited by the government.  Again?  Cannot our government play straight with us at least once?  This gets very old.  What country is this?  Who pays the bills here?

Here is a short quote from that article: "A spokesman for the FBI in Oklahoma City, Gary Johnson, declined to comment and referred inquiries about the tapes to FBI officials in Washington, who were not immediately available for comment Sunday."

I am shocked.  Our government withholding information from the citizenry?  This cannot be! Again??!! 

Next we have a story concerning Iran, that great big liar in the Middle East.  They have test fired yet another series of short range missiles.  Apparently they are getting ready for war.  Do we have enough National Guardsmen left anywhere in this country to send over to the Middle East to prepare for yet another war?  I sure hope not.

Here is a story about the GTMO Detention Center.  Apparently we cannot close it by the deadline that the Obamites have promised. 

Here is a story about Iran (again).  It seems that the West wants unfettered access to Iran’s nuclear facilities to inspect them.  These are the same nuclear facilities that Iran has done a very good job of politically camouflaging one way or another over the years from the U.N.s Atomic Energy Commission.

Here is a very disturbing story for any of us who write on this web site. 

We hear a lot of talk from veterans about anti-government reactions to this or that action (or non-action) from the Department of Veterans Affairs.  But somebody in Kentucky actually killed a part time federal census taker, hung him nude and bound and scrawled the word "Fed" across his chest.  And this was a hometown boy! 

This does not bode well and speaks to huge anti-government feelings among the population.  We staff writers deal with this kind of emotion a lot on this web site.  My heart goes out to this poor man and his family.  We need to pay attention here. 

Rage is all over the country and rightly or wrongly, fairly or unfairly, it is focused on the federal government.  This is just more proof.  We are now long past the time when we can have another "study" or "survey". 

The federal government’s very mandate to govern is now actively being challenged by citizens who rightly or wrongly see themselves as victims of federal programs (or non-programs as it were.)  This poor man was murdered and the fact that he worked part time as a census taker was a big part of the motivation for his murder apparently.  This is very dangerous and is a clear indication of the social schizophrenia enveloping the country.

To be frank, we hear this kind of threat from veterans a lot on this web site.  We all need to start paying more attention.

In an article in Politics Daily, former President Bill Clinton assures us that in his view a vast right wing conspiracy still exists and is aimed at the Obamites and wishes them to fail.  The story is here.  I never really bought into that to be honest.  Politics is dirty and cheap and underhanded by its very nature.  However, when I consider what Clinton said and the story previous to this, he might have a point to some degree.  It is something to watch out for anyway.

In today’s Washington Post there is an article about the U.S. and our NATO allies pledging support to President Karzai in Afghanistan.  Here is the quote that leads off the article.

"The United States and NATO countries fighting in Afghanistan have told President Hamid Karzai’s government that they expect him to remain in office for another five-year term and will work with him on an expanded campaign to turn insurgent fighters against the Taliban and other militant groups."

This guy just stole the election.  The European Union had observors at the polls and three weeks ago they reported unequivocally that he won the election by fraud.  What am I missing?  The story is here.

I just don’t understand.  It is okay now to steal an election?  He is our friend again?

I guess I just don’t need to understand.  I am not that important for my government to let me in on this sort of thing.

I just pay the bills.

CWO3 Tom Barnes, USCG (Ret.)