WHY ARE THEY RIOTING IN BALTIMORE? Opinion by Colonel Donald J. Myers USMC (Ret.)

If the people in Baltimore want change, then they need to change the people in government. The Baltimore mayor stated on Monday that she was allowing distance so that those who wanted to destroy could do so. What kind of leadership is that? Later, she denied stating that and blamed the media for taking her comment out of context. There is absolutely no way that her comment could possibly be misunderstood. I listened to it several times

Opinion: A majority of Americans thought he was a deserter from the beginning

. Politics must be why it took so long and even after the investigation was complete, it took months before the results were published. After all of this time, an article 32 will be held. That is the military equivalent of a civilian grand jury to determine if the charges are valid and punishable according to the Military Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). This also will probably take too long.

Opinion: ARE WE AT WAR OR NOT? Radical Islam is the enemy and it should be attacked with a vengeance rather than pin pricks as is the current case when dealing with ISIS

The waging of war is a terrible thing and it should not be entered into without serious thought. Of course there are times when that serious thought is of little value because of an attack such as we suffered at Pearl Harbor in 1941. The American people supported the president as he requested a declaration of war from congress. For almost four more years our military fought all over the world while the civilian population supported the effort with buying war bonds, building the materials to fight the war, and undergoing all types of rationing on the home front. That was what has been described as the “Greatest Generation.”

CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS FROM A MARINE

Upon returning my fourth deployment with the marines from Camp Lejeune, I had orders to Vietnam and spent 1965 as an advisor to a Vietnamese infantry battalion near the demilitarized Zone. By the time that I left Vietnam, I was a captain. Christmas was just another day, although the rear areas celebrated in one fashion or another. 1968 found me back in Vietnam first as a company commander in 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines and later as the operations officer. We were in the field for Christmas working with Vietnamese troops. I think that we did have a hot meal, but I am not sure. It was just another day. I do recall that one of the units had some type of Christmas tree and it was decorated with soda and beer cans along with other elements that could be found in a combat area. We got a big kick out of it. I still have a picture of it in one of my scrap books. Humor and relief is where you find it.

End of the Dyson-Bohanan Political Dynasty May Signal the Advent of Replacement of Steny Hoyer

In 1974 Dyson was successful in seeking one of the three delegate seats shared by Charles and St. Mary’s Counties and led the ticket in the Democratic Primary, forever earning the animosity of then-Speaker of the House John Hanson Briscoe for piling up more votes than the Speaker in his home county.

Dyson went on to run and win the Democratic nomination for Congress just two years later and ran an unsuccessful campaign against incumbent Republican First District Congressman Bob Bauman. Bauman, a rising star in the GOP for his mastery of the rules of the House of Representatives was a thorn in the side of Speaker Tip O’Neill and Dyson’s campaign was able to attract national money to his effort, but the district was fully in Bauman’s camp

Opinion: WE ARE CONFUSED BY WHAT WE HEAR ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST

Historically President Obama consistently delays making difficult decisions in the hopes that things will improve. As I have said in earlier articles, bad news rarely improves with time. ISIS will not disappear by itself, and I doubt that the Syrian army will be able to defeat it. I also doubt that the friendly Syrian rebels along with the Kurds and Iraqi army will be able to do it either unless we are able to give effective air support.