Biden’s Bumbling Brilliance

 

I think that Joe Biden was the worst Commander-in-Chief that this nation has ever known. We endured his incompetence for 4 years. American lives were lost. American honor was tarnished. It was a bad time to be in uniform in this nation.

I served during the Carter administration. Ammunition and critical repair parts were not available. Selective interchange quickly became complete cannibalization. Desert One was a failure before one aircraft took off.

I thought that was bad. Biden was far worse.

Obama brought us ISIS, dishonor in Benghazi, and weakened us further but nothing could compare to Biden’s incompetence.  I could not imagine serving on active duty or the reserves while Joe Biden was the Commander-in- Chief.

But his incompetence was brilliant. It was Machiavellian brilliance for sure, and I am certain that he didn’t have a clue what was happening.

Biden’s weakness invited Putin into Ukraine. The desire to bring back the Former Soviet Union was always in Putin’s heart and mind but the opportunity under the previous Trump administration never presented itself.

Ukraine’s government is undoubtably corrupt, but the Ukrainian people are a hardy people. They fight for their own land and national identity.  I don’t doubt their courage.

The Russian people just want to scratch out a living in a nation where what we would call the American Dream is pure fantasy. They just want to survive.

But when the two countries engaged in war, Sun Zsu, Machiavelli, and Clausewitz all sat up in their graves and took note.

The once powerful Russia that Putin longed to restore to superpower greatness once again had unwittingly entered a protracted war. 

The Ukrainians did not roll over. They fought hard. The United States and Europe supplied weapons and ammunition but did not put their own lives at risk.

Both paid a price. It became what Vietnam was to us and what Afghanistan was to the Soviet Union in the days of the Mujahidin who wreaked such havoc on the more advanced Soviets.

Most of the early fighting took place in the Ukraine but eventually it spilled onto Russian soil.

Yes, the Russians gained some territory but at an incredible cost. In the most Machiavellian sense, the war weakened our enemy on many fronts.

The continuation of the war weakens the Russian nation and national will every day. Putin has been embarrassed. Russia has been weakened.

Unlike the peace with honor approach that the United States took in Vietnam, Putin still thinks he can win the war. It’s possible, but at what cost and what would be the cost of an ensuing occupation?

Biden’s weakness opened the door for Putin, and Putin is paying the price. Should we celebrate the ongoing conflict?

Yes, if we abandon our humanity. The cost of weakening our enemy—who has been very quiet until the Biden administration—is paid in the lives of the soldiers of Ukraine and Russia.

Yes, it is a victory for us but comes with an increased risk of nuclear war, for Putin is not looking for an exit strategy from a poorly conceived endeavor. Putin would rather launch nukes than admit that his invasion was a failure.

Remember the Russians invented the Scorched Earth Approach and Putin would use it again even at the cost of so many Russian lives, and nuclear fallout beyond the borders of the combating nations.

Russia is weakened.

Sure, the war is unjust and Putin should not profit from it, but United States was complicit in this conflict. Bumbling Joe Biden could not have signed a better invitation to invade the Ukraine with his autopen.

Trump would like to bring the war to a close. Terms will not be fair whatever they may be. Victory for the Ukraine and the United States was in deterrence. Biden’s buffoonery to save his son from prosecution showed Putin that the United States could be manipulated.

The terms, however unfair to Ukraine, are better than nuclear war. We are not surrendering liberty. Trump is seeking to end a war between two corrupt entities that could have devastating effects beyond the borders of either nation.

It’s one of those adages about life giving you lemons and making lemonade, except you can’t make chicken salad…IYKYK.

But as long as the conflict remains contained and conventional, it serves to weaken Russia. In a very base political sense, it has its own brilliance, unbeknownst to the architects.

So, the one feather in Bumbling Joe Biden’s cap is that his incompetence has cost the Russian nation dearly in money, lives, respect, military readiness, and world standing.

That said, I never want to go down this road of incompetence again.

 

Terms you need to know: TDS and TIS

 

I say with firsthand experience that Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is real.  So many Americans have let hate supplant love of country. I get it that the man has faults. Apparently, he is human as are we all.

The Christians among us know that we all fall short of the glory of God; yet TDS still has taken root in our ranks. But he was a womanizer. True, but so was JFK, and while he was in office no less!

The country glamorized Kennedy’s indiscretions and demonized Trump’s. I’m not trying to paint Trump as the perfect human being. He is not, but his dedication to America remains unchallenged. He is rivaled only by JFK and Reagan and has surpassed them both in efficacy.

I will go farther out on that limb. President Trump has surpassed all presidents that served in my lifetime in efficacy.

But Trump had many business deals go south.  You have got a point there. He had his ups and downs in business but rebounded very well. But, but, but he sometimes lost other people’s money. Yes, Virginia, there is risk in business. Investors know that.

Unlike previous Presidents, Trump is the only one who has not personally profited from political office. That includes every president in this century and most for the last half of the previous century.

Can this be stated any more clearly?  President Trump is the only president in my lifetime not to personally profit from political office.  All others have used public office for private gain. We turn a blind eye to that and demonize the only president who did not.

I’m not here to tout Trump’s virtues or accomplishments. I do appeal for so many Americans to stop hating your country because you hate a single individual so much. But all commentary to this point is to warn of a looming danger.

TDS has marred the virtue of the American public but is not the greatest risk to our once great nation. President Trump has had such incredible success in spite of TDS that we are at risk of what I call Trump Idolization Syndrome. Let’s go ahead and slap some initials on that—TIS.

When a man fixes more problems in 100 days than any of his predecessors in the past few decades, people come to idolize him. That’s fine for a short time but it must not prevail.

He is doing exactly what he was elected to do. He is enforcing the law. He is rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse—and that’s ticking off many who were profiting from those scams. He is taking on this nation’s enemies without qualification. He is not susceptible to bribes. He is leading the charge against the disease of the past 4 years known as wokeism.

And, oh by the way, God is once again welcome in the White House. Veterans are no longer classified as mentally deranged and things kept secret for no reason other than to protect those who profited from secret dealings are being declassified.

Yet so many hate him.  Keep it up and see what happens. The pendulum could swing too far, and we as a nation are susceptible to the tyranny of the mob.  We saw the previous administration support lawlessness in our cities, at our borders, and in our foreign relations.

As those things are being righted, we must make sure that we don’t go too far.  Those screaming now are doing so not for the good of the nation but to cover their own misdeeds.

But one day, if the TDS continues, we might end up going too far in response. What is good now—and I cannot comprehend how exposing the fraud and abuse that has been a way of life for too long is a bad thing—could easily continue into something with a life of its own.

I have asked President Trump to be aware of this and lessen the focus on himself and increase the fervor for America. Yes, I realize that my request is not near the top of his inbox.

I’m not talking radical nationalism, but the America that was once a nation of laws not activist judges. I’m talking the nation that was once compassionate where compassion was needed and we were equipped to meet the need like no other nation, not sending money to anyone and everyone even those sworn to destroy us.

If we get to TIS the root cause will be TDS. The mindless, emotion driven persecution of one man could have significant unintended consequences.

What do we do, then?

Grow a set.

Man up.

American up.

Realize that Donald J. Trump is the lawfully elected President of these United States and deal with it. Get over it. If you don’t like him, find someone better for the next election.

Christians, pray for him. Pray for America. We have a better chance of putting integrity back into public office now than we have in decades.

Open your eyes. America is getting better. Don’t go looking for someone different. Look for someone better. That’s the victory of the America I knew. Get better. Make each generation better than the ones before. That’s not only a worthwhile goal; it’s a noble one.

It’s the JFK mantra. Ask yourself, what can I do for my country? We lost that along the way. It’s making a comeback. TDS must go and TIS must never take hold.

Americans must learn to love their country more than they hate one man.

Christians, we are to be known by our love not our hatred. No exceptions.

Who among us does not want a better America? Quit hating the man and start loving your country once again.

 

 

Glass Houses

 

I speak on behalf of those wo live in glass houses. I know your pain.

In over 20 years of commissioned service as a Marine officer, I lived in a glass house for much of that time. As a commanding officer, the scrutiny from those looking in from elsewhere increased. As a commanding officer on independent duty in the middle of America, the extent of capricious comments on things which most knew nothing about sometimes hit absurd levels.

Thanks be to God there was no social media at the time.

To those who live in glass houses now with special attention to those being bombarded with all sorts of comments and commentary, to include the ad hominem variety, stay the course. This is the nature of leadership in this new and less than civil century.

Stay the course. Don’t take criticism to heart if it is from someone who you would not go to for advice. Let the haters hate.  You took the positions that you now have in order to make a positive difference. Stay the course. Keep your passion for why you answered this calling. Stay the course.

Yes, some days are better than others. The easy decisions are just that. The tough ones are just part of being professional and true to your calling. Some days are better than others.

Hiring, firing, resignations, suspensions, counseling and the rest of the spectrum of leading other humans is sometimes tougher than advertised. Stay the course. Make a difference.

But if I could only tell the rest of the story…

But you can’t. You must play by the rules and the rules require much confidentiality in matters involving employment, discipline, and things the law and regulations say you can’t talk about. You knew this going in. Some days would be tougher than others. Stay the course.

For everyone jumping all over this issue, I get the sentiment and emotion of having someone that you hold in high esteem lose their job and what you know about it seems unfair. I get. We wat to know, but it’s easier to start a rallying cry for someone if you don’t know all of the facts. Facts sometimes get in the way of being uncontested in being right.

To all those who jumped on the bandwagon and started taking potshots, shame on you. This ad hominem approach is the last resort of those with neither the facts nor the analytical ability to mount a defensible argument. It is the first choice of the cowardly.

Stop it. We are better than this!

The phenomenon in play is called dumping garbage. It often comes out in marriage counseling. Things that people have stored up for too long come out in a big dump all at once, generally having nothing to do with what is being discussed.

Hurt people often want to hurt others.  While dumping garbage is common in counseling and now in social media, it does not need to continue.

This is a nation that values everyone having a say; however, we have lost the art of civil discourse. We have surrendered this fine tool of humanity for the tyranny of the mob, even the virtual mob.

We can do better.

I, like almost all of us, don’t know all of the facts of this present situation. The few in leadership positions that do are not disposed to release such personal information because they have rules and regulations that tell them not to, and if they want to keep their jobs, they will obey the law.

That should be a no-brainer.

What facts I do know are that in addition to the restrictions placed on those in authority, there are provisions for some sort of due process should the terminated request it. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure those impacted do.

I understand that the Superman desire is in play. Remember the Challenger explosion. Many Americans experienced this phenomenon. They wanted to reach up and pluck those astronauts out of the sky.

We feel the same when a situation seems hopeless for a friend or colleague. We want to do something beyond what is possible. Maybe that’s to start a cause or rally or something that is more than what we can normally do.

All of this comes from empathy for another person. That’s a good thing. But these things sometimes take on a life of their own and become the dumping grounds for anything and everything that is bothering someone.

The forum seems to be the ideal place to attack someone from the safety of the mob. Those who live in glass houses are the easiest targets.

To those who live in those glass houses, stay the course. You know why you took on this challenge. Do not be discouraged. Stay the course.

Some days are better than others, but you don’t get to those other days if you throw in the towel during the tough ones.

Not everyone is cut out for leadership. It’s a different calling and is one in which you have few with whom you can share your struggles. Stay the course.

To borrow and adjust some verbiage from one of my favorite books:

When all the world has gone a slumming, I wish to speak a word for the man or woman who quietly does what he or she has been called to do. There is no fanfare and the rewards ae often in the age to come.

But leaders don’t throw in the towel when they have to do the tough things. They don’t jump in the fray and sling their own mud.  They don’t give up when the haters come after them. They stay the course.

Along the way, double check the processes and procedures and best practices employed in the course of decisions easy and hard. Continuous improvement is in play even when other’s motives are dubious. Leaders are always looking for ways to help their organizations be more successful. So, see if you can find the diamond in the goat’s…

Very few know the whole story in this case or in most cases. We are not entitled to know no matter how much we want to know. Exercise your First Amendment rights while you still have them but be civil. The whole do unto others thing is for real. It is worth applying to the ongoing diatribe.

Kick this ad hominem approach to the curb and don’t go pick up after the sun goes down. It’s never productive.

Leaders, see what can be learned from this experience, apply it, and stay the course. Many are counting on you to do what you are called to do.

Stay the course.

 

 

The Party of Khrushchev

 

Growing up, my parents were Democrats. In Oklahoma and other rural states, they were the party of the people.  Nikita Khrushchev said he would destroy this country from within. He found an accomplice in the Democratic Party. Now, he and his ghost own them.

Democrats have become the party of Khrushchev.

That is not a victory for Republicans. It is a casualty for America. We needed and still need two strong, pro-American parties.  We need fiscal conservatives to keep our spending in line, while maintaining the generosity that comes with compassion for the least among us.

These don’t always fall along party lines. It’s better when both parties are known for prioritizing what is best for the nation and its people rather than just their party. We once knew a time when we could disagree on an issue but not be divided as a country.

This time around, it’s the Democrats that need our prayers.  Somehow, the mindset that a country in ashes is preferable to one in the hands of our current president has taken hold. That’s pushing the bounds of treason. That’s what Khrushchev hoped for—probably more than he imagined.

It’s time to American Up. Give Trump some support in restoring our republic. Give DoGE some support. They are working for us all. For us!

Remove hate from the equation altogether. Let’s get this country back on track. Only an evil ruler (party) would desire to burn their own country to the ground so as to rule over the ashes. Sun Tzu probably didn’t say it, but it applies here.

I am not happy with the Republican Party either. Much of the fraud and abuse that we are uncovering occurred under the less watchful eyes of both parties. Whether by design or by complacency, neither standard stands under scrutiny.

But we need a party that leans to the liberal and progressive side for balance.  Balance in politics helps us love our country and countrymen while disagreeing with another lawmaker or administrator.

We need the British Loyal Opposition without it becoming the Bell Cow of Discontent that sometimes deludes thinking into treasonous acts.

Differences are good and healthy. Politics often leads to compromise, but if we could convince each other that we act out of love for our country, rather than hate for one man or a party, we might find synergy and solutions that have eluded us for two centuries.

I will extrapolate from Churchill’s 1947 quote and note that we have the worst country in the world, except for all the others.

The United States of America has been a great place to live for 250 years. We didn’t get everything right the first time around. Our Constitution is great, surely with some divine inspiration included, but it didn’t always hit the target.

There is work to be done across so many areas. We can’t accomplish much as adversaries. We are not supposed to be enemies. Trust the system that divides power among federal branches and federal and state governments, while retaining many rights for the individual.

It’s a wonderful formula, but it takes work and vigilance. We have been lazy and distracted over the past few decades. That must change.

Let’s support Trump and his team as he fulfills the promises he made to the American people. It is healthy! It is the way of this republic. It is the natural swing of the pendulum and does not need to be contested at every turn.

Let’s support efforts to restore the Democratic Party as the Party of the People or some similar focus that might cause some friction with Republicans but not an acrimonious state.

We are known as the Grand Experiment, but the protocols have been ignored for too long. We are off track. Experiments take focus and discipline if we are to learn and grow from them.

I pray that we do.  

Khrushchev, you can hit the road. My parents didn’t invite you into their party. They were people who didn’t mind getting their hands dirty but kept their hearts clean. They had solid American values.

They loved America, and I am blessed to have learned how to love a country from them, two solid Americans and Democrats.

I want their party back.

Join the Group: Christians Hating Donald Trump

 

I understand people hating Donald Trump. I do not understand Christians hating Donald Trump. Actually, I do. We have been conformed to the world. The world says it’s ok to hate him. He is the exception to God's directions.

I will not offer Mr. Trump a role teaching Sunday School, but I must accept him as a brother in Christ.

But, but, but… Do you know what he has done?  Yes, he, like all of us, has fallen short of the glory of God.

But his sins are worse than mine.

Hold your horses, I was only talking to Christians.

But, I am a Christian.

The evidence is to the contrary. Hate cannot govern the heart of a disciple of our Lord, Christ Jesus. It is our sinful human nature that magnifies the sins of others and ignores or lessens the severity of our own.

What is the exact taxonomy of sin that you proffer?

Indeed, there isn’t one. It’s hate. You saw something that you didn’t like in him. Maybe some conduct disgusted you. Maybe it is his assertiveness. Maybe you don’t like his skin tone or hairstyle. They are unique.

Maybe it’s the Trump dance.

It doesn’t matter. Hate does not belong in your heart! We who follow Christ don’t get to cherry-pick this 'love one another' business.

On the other hand, we must not idolize him either. He is a man who happens to be doing good things for the country.  Love him, hate him, be indifferent to him, but understand clearly that what he is doing is for the good of our Republic.

But a judge said he couldn’t do some of the things that he did.  He has to be stopped.

Turn back the clock 222 years. We observed the same phenomenon with different motivations. Government branches were at odds with each other. The history that you know is Marbury v. Madison.

This is not a surprise to anyone who has studied power, politics, and the grand experiment known as the United States of America.

So, now I think I am a political scientist?  Is that where this is going?  Is that what you are selling me? According to Oklahoma State University, yes, I am a political scientist.

Our adventures in self-government were designed with conflict in mind. Powers that once resided in a single sovereign have been divided among three federal branches, state and federal governments, and those that the people retain.

The Electoral College is another division of power that comes into play for presidential elections.

With all of this separation of powers, boundaries have never been distinct.  What appears clear-cut on paper does not always translate to reality in practice.

The history of democratic growth throughout history is the story of wrestling power from a single sovereign. It was messy. It’s still messy.

Our system of government was designed not with efficiency but preservation in mind. Preserved from what? Tyranny.

But that’s not a thing today, right? Consider that tyranny doesn’t necessarily seek political figures. It can come from a mob, the mainstream media, or super-powerful business entities.  It can come from those entrenched in our government who have neither been elected nor vetted in any way.

Victories, setbacks, and counterattacks are the norm in politics. If your guy or gal is the one on top, things seem good. If it’s the other way around, it looks like the end of the world. It’s neither.

This is the nature of politics. Politics is the interaction among many factors. People and processes, governments and governance, law and justice, control and liberty are all competing for prominence when it comes to preserving liberty; none can remain unopposed for long.

We in this country have experienced good times and bad, but we are better off than most nations. We are blessed.  We never get it entirely correct, but we don’t give up. It’s called the grand experiment for a reason.

Presidents and other elected officials wrestle with the seductive nature of power. So many compromise values for money and prestige. That number has been growing.

The elected official who arrives in the nation’s capital on a modest income and a few years later has amassed a few million is not working on behalf of the people who sent him there but of those who are paying him.  It’s not too long before this elected official has a lot of money, his constituents forgotten, and his eyes on how much more can I get selling out Americans.

Money corrupts, but not nearly to the extent that power does.

The real danger here is not in conflict but in its absence. Conflict is natural in this system that we know. That does not mean that we don’t cooperate with others of different minds. We must!

Among the first examples of cooperation must be the exposure and elimination of fraud. This is a cancer that has been untreated for too long and must be removed. There will be some pain.

Next the government waste, and to some extent, the other major issues that delivered our current president to the Chief Executive position again. What we are seeing from him is straightforward efficacy. He is accomplishing what he promised to do.

You may still be wrestling with Trump the man, but the people of the nation agreed with how to address our current issues. It’s their turn to turn the nation that way.  Who knows how long that trend will continue? That will be in the hands of the voters, if they don’t become complacent again.

But we must realize that what is happening now is what the majority of the American people have demanded from their government. We should get behind much of that as an entire nation.

But I hate Trump!  We will come back to that for the Christians who have persevered so far, but for now have eyes to see the skill and the will that previous presidents lacked.

Every commanding officer and every business CEO knows that major change must occur from day one. There is no working into it. Others tried working into it, and inertia told them this body is at rest, and it’s staying there.

Big, immediate change often means swinging the broadsword. The medics, with bandages, and surgeons, with scalpels, follow, but they can’t lead the charge. They would be decimated.

Here’s the thing. Those who were scamming the government knew exactly what they were doing but never expected to be held accountable. Their only defense here is to cry unfair. They are not interested in getting their jobs back. They are interested in maintaining the fraud and thriving on it.

Here’s the thing. Those who got swept up in the first wave of casualties with the thieves knew it, but they knew it was for the good of the entire nation and that that same nation would restore them—eventually.  But they knew this had to be done. They are the new patriots, and those who are restored for legitimate reasons will be stronger for it and make the country stronger for it.

Who better to warn the next generation of the perils of turning a blind eye to the people's trust?

Trump came in like a juggernaut. That surprised many. Anything less would have fizzled into the nothingness of previous pontificating presidents who couldn’t muster movement. Short version: Trump has efficacy!

He does what he says he will do. We are not used to that. We are accustomed to being lied to, manipulated, and told what to say. You might think otherwise—” I haven’t been manipulated,” but he has been doing precisely what he said he would do when people elected him. We all have been manipulated over the past decades and grown accustomed to it. 

But our eyes have been forced open now.  It’s not all happening like Trump said it would, but enough is that even the wokest among us have been awakened! Things—most very good things—are happening that were thought beyond the possible before.

And the man you hate is leading the charge.

You may still disagree with the policies, the direction of the country, or even the fact that those previously labeled as extremist are now revealed as  patriotic because of genuine love for their country.

But don’t hate the man. I am talking to Christians. Those who have professed Jesus is Lord and taken his yoke upon themselves and say they are trying to put his words into practice don’t get to hate the man and claim to be faithful to the Lord.

But, I don’t know if I can do this. What do I do with all of the energy that I spend on hating him?

Blame Him!

What?  I might be able to get behind that. Just what exactly am I blaming him for?  Well other than ending my sentence in a preposition…

Blame President Donald J. Trump for causing you to walk away from your faith in God and denounce the Lordship of Christ.   Blame Trump for making you defy the Spirit that lives within you and embrace the spirit of hate as a long-lost friend.

Hold your holy horses. No man can make me denounce my faith. No one on this planet can make me do that.

Except for Donald Trump?

Have you made the one you want to hate more potent in your heart and mind than the Lord himself? 

It should be a rhetorical question. But so many Christians are surrendering to hate and blaming Donald Trump.

Then what is left for those of us who just can’t stand the man?

We are talking Christians here, right?

Yes!

Pray for him and others in authority.  Pray. It’s one of those cool Christians things that go underused.

Pray for him!

Remember that the ad hominem approach to any issue is the last resort of those who had no standing in the first place.  If you can’t argue with what he is doing, then attack the man himself for anything and everything without regard for the truth. That’s what’s happening now and Christians have jumped on this bandwagon of constant verbal abuse.

Christians don’t play that game. It has nothing beneficial in it. It will make you a stumbling block for others to come to God.

Our elected lawmakers have been on the verge of trying to push what amounts to bills of attainder by giving them other various names. They have no legal basis to prosecute Trump outside of those areas where the outcome can be manipulated. What to do?

Declare the man illegal for being Donald Trump. Open your eyes and see what is in play. These are very interesting times in which we live.

We are on the verge of becoming very much alive as a nation or fading into the obscurity of knowing our best times have come and gone. These are some very interesting times.

Here is a premise that I have noted in other epistles.

It is the nature of our republic that our domestic tranquility is afloat on a sea that separates revolution and tyranny.

It is our nature to have conflict. Our Founders thought ongoing conflict among branches better than tyranny of any sort. It can be messy, but it has been effective at preserving the blessing of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.

But we have so many problems. Yes, and we have the best chance of overcoming them that I know of when I consider the other systems in the  world.

Christians, quit hating. This is the nature of our country.

Christians, resume being known by your love, not your hate.

It’s a good trade.

 

Musk, Money for Nothing, and Apologies to Mark Knopfler

 This backlash from the Trump/Musk housecleaning is nothing new. In fact, the very fact that the attitude of entitlement among many government employees has been around for a while is why it is so necessary.

Yes, the process has begun with a broadsword. A scalpel would be totally ineffective at this point. Later, the fine carving can begin, but I get this approach and find it fundamentally sound and familiar to anyone who took over a command or a business or an organization that was floundering.

Significant changes must come early. You don’t ease into this sort of thing. This attitude has been around for a while and removing it takes bold action.

My last tour as a Marine officer was in the Naval Air Warfare Center-Training Systems Division in Orlando, Florida. I was in charge of the Marine Corps Ground Training Systems and Simulators. I was about to compete a major contract for our West Coast bases and units and needed a cost estimate on some “non-technical stuff.”

At about the same time, a project manager didn’t have enough funding to pay a couple of civil service employees. This was a Competency Aligned Organization (CAO), and it seemed nobody had any funding for these two people, at least until the next fiscal year's funds kicked in.

I had some funding and a need for a cost estimate. I briefed the two employees in detail. They acknowledged that they understood and would have the job finish in less than two weeks, which was what I had budgeted out of my program funds for a cost estimate.

I was beginning the process for a major recompete of contracts in the Pacific (Japan and Hawaii) and traveled there for the next week. Internet service in Okinawa was not too good back in those days, so when I changed planes in Osaka, I went into the United lounge and logged in to my email. I asked how the estimate was coming.

When I touched down in Hawaii for an overnight, I went to my email as soon as possible, expecting at least an update, if not the complete estimate. C’mon, this wasn’t rocket science; it was just a dozen hours of work that I expected these two could knock out in a couple of weeks. Even in those days, the bar was set very low for general performance.

Their reply was in my inbox. It said, we decided not to do it.

They didn’t decide not to get paid, just not to do the work. When I touched down in Orlando, I went straight to the office and completed the estimate myself. It took 9 hours.

The next day, I expressed to their supervisory chain my disdain for the contemptuous attitude these two had towards their jobs and their country. They may not have cared what they did or didn’t do for someone else, but these were Marine Corps funds, and I guarded them fiercely.

I needed a cost estimate and paid for one, but these two knuckleheads showed no sense of duty, work ethic, or obligation whatsoever. None!

So, I went to Human Resources upon their request. The two employees had complained that I was being unfair. I wasn’t sure which part wasn’t fair—paying their salary or expecting them to work when they came to work. I went to HR.

I explained the situation and the HR manager, said, “We’ve had trouble with military before.”

 I am not often surprised, but this was out of left field. Two civil service employees agreed to work on a 15-hour project and get paid for two weeks (80 hours). They took the pay but didn’t do the work, and the human resources folks said this was not something I should be upset about. In fact, I was the source of the problem, expecting them to do any work at all.

Finally, I met with the Executive Director (ED), who is sort of the civil service supervisor of those employees at that facility. There was a crowd in the executive conference room. The ED said that he didn’t understand why I was upset.

I told him that I paid for and expected a cost estimate, and they refused to do the work.

The executive director said that he still didn’t see the problem, but he would have them do the cost estimate.

I told him that I had already done it.

He was shocked. I just got back.

I told him that I had just returned from the airport after being overseas for over a week and knocked it out overnight. I then made a quick trip home to throw on a shave and a clean uniform and return to work.

The ED thought he was off the hook and said, I guess there’s nothing to be done. He was ready to leave.

I said, except to refund the money I sent to have the estimate done.

While this was a terrible experience due to the deeply seeded attitude of entitlement among government workers, seeing the looks on the faces of the civil service folks was almost worth it.

The pucker factor in the room among the government workers was through the ceiling.

Return the Money?

Hoping to save face, the ED noted that there was not enough time left for me to use the money in the fiscal year and it would just be lost if it was returned.  You could sense that he had finally made a point that he could defend as there were only a couple of days left in the fiscal year.

I said, "Yes, I can." Everything is in place; we are just waiting for the return of the funds. That should take 15 minutes at most.

If you know me, you might know that I can sometimes be a tiny bit ornery. So, I said “Thank You for opening my eyes.”

The ED was a bit perplexed, so I continued. If I can do two all-nighters a year, I could cut funding for a whole employee. That was about $85-100K each, including the overhead. By the way, the overhead paid the salaries of the senior civil service employees in the conference room.

If I worked four all-nighters, no, a week of all-nighters every fiscal year, I could save half a million dollars in civil service employee costs. I stood up, said, "I’m on it," and left the room.

That last part was just for fun. I had no time for civil service reform. I had Marine Corps training systems essential to training in our modern age and that’s where my mission and focus remained.

I hope this short reminiscence opened some eyes. It did for me. The entitlement mentality has had 25 years to grow and dig in from an already well-defended position. Only the broadsword can begin the process. Scalpels come later.

There will be casualties along the way. This isn’t Kindergarten where you can sit out for a while if you have a boo-boo.

This is simple, the pain of cleaning house will be less than the pain of doing nothing differently, and surrendering to this money for nothing and your chicks for free soundtrack playing in government offices.

***

While working with the civil service people associated with Marine Corps Programs, I met and worked with some top-notch people. I still write the occasional job or promotion recommendation for some, though we are all getting to the point where it’s time just for golf and grandkids.

So, how do you reward those who defy the government employee model and give it their all?

I got them bonuses. You can give a civil service employee a financial bonus. You have to plan for it, justify it, and budget it, and I did. It is that simple.

Reward the best, coach and counsel those trying to do their best, and give the entitled the boot.

It’s going to look mean at first, but it is necessary. The infection has festered too long. We get it now or lose the patient—liberty.

President Trump, press on.

Mr. Musk, stay the course.

Government Employees, work or go away.

This isn’t rocket science.