American national security is a voter issue

Right now it is the Middle East, Iraq, and Iran.

The alternatives are all out and about. One alternative is let there be debate within the executive and hopefully a select group of congressional leaders. Another alternative is let there be a debate within the media, with pundits, retirees, and self-appointed experts all weighing in, and some of the American public reading or listening. Another alternative is let there be a debate within the international community, again moderated by an expanded media, where pundits, armchair generals and diplomats and historians, and selected leakers all have their way.

Very seldom do we hear about the normal, as in old fashioned way, about deciding our national security. It is called congressional debate, with one option being a declaration of war. Since most do not trust the media because of bias and competency, many would rather hear all the pros and cons hashed out in our Congress. The debate would be more trustworthy, and provide a basis for future votes. Of course this will probably never happen. But just as leaders of GM’s management and unions have been leading themselves to oblivion, and similar leaders have brought airline companies like Eastern, TWA, and Pan American down, so can our political leaders do us in. And the debate still does go on at the coffee club and family level, so politicians who ignore the public should be wary about their future. Just because it is not being reported or polled does not mean it is not happening within American discussion.

It seems embarrassing that much about our national security debate is even in such publications as the New Yorker Magazine. And it too is embarrassing to read headlines and articles about war plans as if they are something new, which of course they are not (they are continuous). It is alarming to read about the amount of paid subterfuge going on in politics and the media, in the old days called propaganda, that still seems to work. In this latter case, what is often a short term gain can be a long term loss, all with practicing payers and leaders doing us in.

The present situation is intolerable, as not being in the national interest about our national security. The voters will be best served by a Congressional debate. Anything less, like a media controlled debate and coverage is not in our best national interest, nor trustworthy. And a Congressional debate must result in more than senses of the house, which are a good start, but woefully short of leadership responsibility for our national security. Most politicians will avoid all this like the plague for all the reasons most voters suspect. But the same politicians cannot avoid the voters say in their future.

This is why national security is a voter issue. I for one am working on five of my fellow voting citizens, and I am not sure who is influencing who. But for sure, it is not the national media, or present day politicians, and their hired or appointed staffs. Hence the value of a national debate in our Congress.