Political ad that is too political and other random musings…

NBC recently rejected an ad from Freedom’s Watch, a conservative group that supports the Whitehouse’s Iraq policy. The reason: The website displayed in the ad was “too political.” This begs the question: What is too political for a political website? If Clinton or Obama aired a political ad that had featured their URL, would that be too political to be aired? If Budweiser aired an ad for it’s beer website: Would that be too capitalistic?

I suppose it’s ok to air curse words in primetime and allow blatant sexual themes during primetime, but God forbid a political group be too political. I could pay for an ad showing bouncing boobs on bikini clad women drinking beer and that would be fine, but if I advance a political message –Oh my!

(The source information for this little blurb is a news story by JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer, appearing on Yahoo! News on Friday, December 7th.)

(Note to those blogging: Whenever possible, do cite your sources, even if it is informally, like I did here. These writers do a lot of work, and it is not right to steal their work. If you borrow my work, kindly cite it…even if it’s an informal citation like the one I have done above.)

Today is December 7th, the day that will live on in American history in infamy. This marks the 66th anniversary of Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. This attack brought large numbers of casualties on our side and limited casualties on Japan’s side.

Japan made fatal errors that day. First of all, they under estimated the resolve of the American people; much like the terrorists did on 9/11. This is a deadly mistake that I hope no enemy makes again. The American people are at their best when they are given a bloody nose. We may stop to clean up the blood, but we will not stop until justice is rendered. Pray that the next administration believes the same.

Secondly, they missed the submarine pens and fuel depots in Hawaii. Submarines would go on to sink almost 1300 Japanese merchant vessels and many Japanese warships. The US only lost about 50 of the nearly 300 submarines in service during WWII. These losses caused the slow strangulation of their military and contributed to allied successes in the Pacific.

The third mistake the Japanese made that day was not taking out the massive fuel depots in Hawaii. These fuel depots would support our carriers, support vessels, and submarines for months. Had the fuel depots been taken out, carriers and submarines would have had to return to the US to resupply. This would have caused a more serious blow than the loss of our battleships in Pearl Harbor.

The largest tactical error for Japan was not catching our aircraft carriers in port. In the wake of the destruction of our battleships, the aircraft carrier became the queen of the fleet. The turning point of the Pacific war, Midway, was a battle of carriers. The battleship became almost obsolete when the US Navy saw the carriers winning battles. The carriers could project power far deeper inland and much farther at sea than battleships. The irony is that it was still the battleship that was regarded highly by older naval officers. It was also the battleship that saw the surrender of Japan in 1945. Today, there are no battleships in active service, but there are several carriers. Without the loss of our battleships at Pearl Harbor, we many not have realized the power of the remarkable aircraft carrier.

To the survivors of Pearl Harbor and the families of those fallen: we say a hearty thanks. There has not been a generation so great; a generation so willing to fight for freedom, honor, and American way. And yes, the American Way is not a bad term, world. Without the sacrifices of these fine men and women, the US might just be another minor power on the globe. To whom would you turn when the next natural disaster strikes your country or the next despot threatens your way of life?

In other news…..

I have one class left for next week. It’s the Brit Lit final exam. I am not looking forward to it. I hate bad grades, but it would appear that I am on course for a “C” in this class. With that being said, I will have a miserable 3.0 GPA this term. A flat, boring “B.”

“The Underground Radio,” a short story well received in my Form/Tech of Fiction class, has been submitted for publication in the Thread. I will get a decision in February, and the Thread will circulated in April. Here’s hoping!

Mindy goes back to work on Monday. Pray for her!

Should hostilities once break out between Japan and the United States, it is not enough that we take Guam and the Philippines, nor even Hawaii and San Francisco. We would have to march into Washington and sign the treaty in the White House. I wonder if our politicians (who speak so lightly of a Japanese-American war) have confidence as to the outcome and are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices. -Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto