usa politically incorrect

7/30/2019 USA Politically Incorrect

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Politically Incorrect


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Preface / Introduction

U.S. Politicians and some of the major faux-pas reviewed here.

1. Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle faces the music

2. Wrong Right From The Start

3. Up to $60 Billion Squandered

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Table of Contents

1. Up to $60 billion squandered in Iraq and Afghanistan says The Wartime Contracting Commission.It's time for massive overhaul.2. Wrong right from the start. Problems, muddle, confusion, embarrassment at the Edward M.Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.3. 'Ya got trouble, my friend, right here.' Disappointment, anger, chagrin, shame, sadness,smoldering rage and a sense of betrayal as Westfield State University's embattled President EvanDobelle faces the music, man, about his egregious spending habits. And those aren't even the worstpart of this developing scandal.


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Up to $60 billion squandered in Iraq and Afghanistan saysThe Wartime Contracting Commission. It's time for massiveoverhaul.

By Dr. Jeffrey Lant

Author's Program Note: Are you a tax-paying American? Then today's article will not merely irritate

or anger you; it will enrage you.

It is the story of stupidity, of waste, of fraud, of corruption -- and of a government asleep at theswitch; it's all too frequent position.

There are three ways to approach this story:

1) you can ignore the facts and, ostrich-like, put your head in the sand and keep it there for theduration, or

2) you can say, "What can I do? I have no way to influence the people who need to be influenced toeffect the necessary changes", or

3) you can say, "I am mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore."

I want you to know, I am very definitely in the third camp, and I want you in the third camp, too.

To get you in the right mood to tackle this problem, I've chosen one of the best "jump-up" songsever, "You keep me hangin' on," by The Supremes (released in 1966). The lyrics are perfect for thisarticle. As you read them, imagine you are uttering them -- to the people in charge, the peoplefrittering away your hard- earned money:

"Set me free, why don't cha babe Get out my life, why don't cha babe 'Cause you don't really loveme You just keep me hangin' on."

In this tune, an exasperated Diana Ross says, "And there ain't nothin' I can do about it."

But there is......

Start by going to any search engine to get this tune. Clear a space. Turn up the music... and get thenecessary "in your face" attitude. Then dig in...

The facts.

The United States has lost billions of dollars to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan and standsto repeat that in future wars without big changes in how the government awards and managescontracts for battlefield support and reconstruction projects, independent investigators reported

August 31, 2011.The Wartime Contracting Commission urged Congress and the Obama administration to put in placeits detailed recommendations to overhaul the contracting process and increase accountability. Thecommission suggested that the joint House-Senate debt reduction committee take a close look attheir proposals.

The commission was adamant, failure to act now ensures continuing waste and fraud at the massivecurrent levels. "What you're asking for is more of the same", said Dov Zakheim, a commissionmember and the Pentagon comptroller during President George W. Bush's first term. "More waste.More fraud. More abuse."

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The bipartisan commission, created by Congress in 2008, estimated that at least $31 billion and asmuch as $60 billion has been lost in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade due to lax oversightof contractors, poor planning, infrequent competition, and corruption. "I personally believe that thenumber is much, much closer to $60 billion," Zakheim said.

The commission's recommendations.

The commission offered 15 recommendations including creating an inspector general to monitor warzone contracting and operations, appointing a senior government official to improve planning andcoordination among federal agencies, and carefully monitoring contractor performance.Representative John Tierney (D-Massachusetts), top Democrat on the House Oversight andGovernment Reform national security subcommittee said the commission's findings are alarming andthat he'll introduce legislation to create the inspector general's post.

This is all fine as far as it goes, but it's not good enough, not least because it won't capture theattention of the American people and get them sufficiently interested to demand the necessaryreforms, and demand them NOW!

What then is necessary?

Senator Harry Truman and his approach suggest a do-able solution.

All wars produce massive fraud, mismanagement and corruption, even "good" wars like World WarII. And all wars require that every expenditure be reviewed. The man who did this in WWII was anobscure senator from Missouri, Harry Truman. Thanks to David McCullough's magisterialbiography, at hand as I write this, I am in a position to share Truman's important work as chairmanof the (Senate Special) Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program. It provides thenecessary inspiration and specific steps we must take to solve this infuriating, debilitating problemand solve it now before we hemorrhage to death through mind-boggling selfishness,mismanagement, and stupidity.

Truman's secret? Legs.

Harry Truman had no idea what he was getting into when he decided to see for himself what waswrong with the nation's wartime contracting process. But he was a game fellow and knew the secretwas understanding how the process worked, including where abuses were likely to occur. This meantgetting out of Washington, to visit wartime facilities, meet the people, understand the procedures.And so facility managers woke up to discover an unexpected and unannounced Senator Truman attheir door, pleasantly (but sternly) asking for admittance and cooperation. This is the kind of thing hefound, this time at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri:

There "he found costly equipment and material lying about in the snow and rain 'getting ruined,things that could never be used, would never be used...' The contractor had no previous constructionexperience.' And there were men, hundreds of men, just standing around collecting their pay, doing

nothing'. Truman walked about this and other sites taking notes on what he saw and whatever peoplewere willing to tell him."

In due course, through one on-site visit after another and then informative Senate hearingsshowcasing the usual abuses, Truman captured the attention of America... and fueled by concerned,aggravated, irritated Americans he was able to effect dramatic changes and save millions of dollarsneeded elsewhere. They knew, Senator Truman knew, as we know -- there is nothing Americanscannot accomplish together so long as we clearly understand the task and have an inspiringhard-working leader like Truman, willing to put shoe leather to pavement to achieve the goal. Andby the way, if it hadn't been for this work he would never have been selected by President Rooseveltfor vice president in 1944 and thus would never have become president of the United States.




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President Obama take note.

This vast effort needs an elected leader, a big man or woman with grit, determination, perseverance-- and a smile, the better to put a human face on the task, work and achievement of the goal, no merebureaucratic inspector general will do. We need leadership and we need it now, capiche?

And remember, Diana Ross and The Supremes are here to help us aggrieved taxpayers. We need allthe help we can get!

"You're just using me Go on, get out of my life And let me sleep at night 'Cause you don't reallylove me You just keep me hangin' on...

Why don't you be a man about it And set me free Now you don't care a thing about me You're justusing me."

Exactly.




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Wrong right from the start. Problems, muddle, confusion,embarrassment at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for theUnited States Senate.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

Author's program note. You've got to wonder whether the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy and his

second wife Victoria Reggie ever bothered to read the Constitution of these United States beforeadvancing what the Senator saw as his 'legacy," the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the UnitedStates Senate.

Article 1 Section 1 of the most important and influential document of the Great Republic reads thus:

"All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shallconsist of a Senate and House of Representatives."

In crystal clear language, the Constitution lays out what legislative entities there will be, whatpowers they shall possess, how many representatives there will be in a state, who is eligible to serve,what officers there will be, how they are chosen, etc.

At no time does the Constitution state or imply that one branch shall be considered superior to theother. Instead, the Constitution lucidly makes the point that the two branches of Congress are equal.

This being the case, any discussion of the Congress, its history, and its place in the Great Republicmust perforce focus not on one branch or the other but on the two co-equal branches and how theywork together to advance the people's business, or not.

Why did Senator Kennedy decide to focus his institute on just one branch? First, because he servedin the United States Senate for nearly fifty years and was widely regarded as one of its Grand OldMen. Second, because it was the sole branch of government in which all three famous brothersserved, John, Robert, and Edward.

Once the decision was made that the Institute should focus solely on the United States Senate, a hostof otherwise avoidable problems was planted and began to grow. These problems are now numerousand acute, threatening an already illogical organization that wiser heads than those in charge wouldhave seen as a disaster waiting to happen, taking prompt remedial action accordingly, not least tosave the face of this celebrated family.

The project is born (2003).

When you're a Kennedy of the Camelot Kennedys, it is expected, anticipated that you will have asuitable monument, large, grandiose, something that adds to the family's renowned place in thehistory of the Great Republic. For after all, to be a Kennedy is to be an historic figure. No one knows

this better than the Kennedy in question, the next to be immortalized. Discussions amongst thecognoscenti go something like this: "Should I run for offices for which I am entirely unqualified... ornot?" "Should the names of my several spouses and friends with benefits be included in mymonument... or not?" "Should this stirring quotation attributed to me but written by my ghost writerbe chiselled in my eternal stone... or not?"

Such questions are unending, continual... and treated with the utmost seriousness by those expectingapotheosis, victims all to a collective edifice complex, the latest example being the Kennedy SenateInstitute, a whopping 40,000 square feet of hubris. And what is to take place in all that space? Justabout everything that has to do with the Senate, including its history, members, operatingprocedures, educational programs, issues, debates, filibusters, legislative training et al. Only




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senatorial amours and favorite salad dressings have been left out.

The problem is, the way this institute is organized is egregiously incorrect. Just as love and marriagego together like a horse and carriage, so does the United States Senate go hand-in-hand with theUnited States House of Representatives. Whilst each has its unique aspects, neither makes completesense (much less a productive legislative enterprise) without the other. They are two halves of thewhole.

Imagine this scenario.

Ms. Martin's 5th graders are learning about how Congress works, how bills become laws... or not.Emmy Sue asks what happens when a bill passes the Senate. What then? And there's the rub... theSenate-only institute stops just when it needs to continue, so that people understand the completeCongress, the total legislative process, not merely its seigneurial "upper" branch. Even Emmy Sue,age 10, will know something's amiss when the guide says, "Er, the Senate bill goes to the House, butthis institute only covers the Senate, so I cannot tell you more...." Even ten-year-olds would considerthis weird, bogus, dumb. And they'd be right. That's why there must be a complete halt to the currentfarce... and a total rethinking of this embarrassing "institute" that has "Keystone cops" written allover it, before there are further cost over runs and another seventy million dollars, more or less, arewasted.

What must be done?

1) The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate as presently configured must beterminated. Its 40,000 square feet should be transferred to the JFK Presidential Library. Suitablespaces within the whole should be carved out for Robert Kennedy, Edward M. Kennedy, their wivesand families, personal lives and professional achievements.

2) Focus should shift to a much needed Congress facility where everything about the Congress of theUnited States, past, present and future, can be showcased and presented to a nation whichdesperately needs a brilliant state-of-the-art interactive facility, the apogee of American technology,architecture, and historic preservation and presentation.

3) A suitable Washington, D.C. location should be scouted, considered, selected... no other locationcan or should be reviewed, much less Dorchester, Massachusetts, its current pied-a-terre.

4) ALL current administrators should be graciously, courteously shown the door forthwith.

5) The highest possible blue ribbon advisory board and trustees should be appointed with the sittingpresident a must as honorary chair. Mrs. Victoria Reggie Kennedy can have an honorable seatamongst them, but no more. An important institution requires important governors, and it is tellingthat the current institute has none.

6) A complete fund raising plan should be drafted with both private and public funds to be raised.

7) A knowledgeable, hands-on, organizational expert must be appointed, an individual of skills,deep pockets, and determination. My suggestion? Mitt Romney, if the presidency eludes him. Afterall Romney salvaged the 2002 Olympics. He is even an historic footnote in the story. He ran againstSenator Kennedy in 1994, and lost. Mitt would do the project proud. His considerable pride alonewould see to that.

Can such a radical shift take place? Of course. IF the principals now bobbling the matter are open toreason and a willingness to put the needs of the Great Republic above their own. Thus we need a"fixer" to arrange matters with grace, kindness, clarity, efficiency and such ruthless and surgicalincision as may be called for.




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In short, we need Joseph P. Kennedy, Patriarch. He would have seen the point, dragooned thepersonnel and raised the lavish funds required. Oh, where is Joe Kennedy now, and where shall wefind his like -- and fast enough to avoid more muddle and abashment? For these, muddle andabashment, have set the two surviving children of Edward Kennedy against the woman he loved andrevealed how toxic this situation already is and how much more poisonous it could get. For now, thisis the sad legacy of Edward Moore Kennedy, and until it is firmly taken in hand, rethought andredirected it will fester and deteriorate into rancor, bitterness, and enmity. Musical note. As themusic to accompany this article, I have selected "The Country's In The Very Best of Hands" (music

by Gene De Paul; lyrics by Johnny Mercer) from the 1956 production of "Li'l Abner." Go now tohear this ironic gem... and let's hope it motivates the folks so over their heads and misguided at TheEdward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, so obviously not in the best of hands, oranywhere thing near.




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'Ya got trouble, my friend, right here.' Disappointment, anger,chagrin, shame, sadness, smoldering rage and a sense ofbetrayal as Westfield State University's embattled PresidentEvan Dobelle faces the music, man, about his egregiousspending habits. And those aren't even the worst part of this

developing scandal.by Dr. Jeffrey Lant.

Author's program note. "Professor" Harold Hill was broke, skinned, impecunious, the source of hisvery next meal dubious. But despite threadbare clothes and growling stomach he maintained onegolden, unassailable asset: his unrivaled ability to dazzle people, motivate people, and arouse peoplethrough Big Ideas and a licketty-split presentation style unmatched anywhere on Earth. He knewthat if he could excite the people, he could pick their pockets. And so, arriving at River City withnothing, he was undismayed... for he had the means readily at hand and perfectly honed to geteverything... And this, as he walked confidently into the local pool hall, is precisely what he meantto do.

Thus was born one of the great moments of the cinema, when in the 1962 film "The Music Man"Meredeth Willson, as Hill, belts out the best example of fast-talking, wise-cracking, get up and at'em quintessentially American patter ever made. The speech is brilliant; the delivery astonishing,each word clear as a bell and utterly unmistakable, a rollicking tour de force leaving us breathlessand in awe, and in possession of the certain knowledge that the good people of River City, thechurch-going, sober-living, tax-paying, civic-minded, gullible hicks haven't got a chance against thedetermined genius of Hill and his mesmerizing, unbeatable "can-do" approach to any problem.

I shouldn't be at all surprised if Evan S. Dobelle (born April 22, 1945) mentioned it was his favoritetune and that "Professor Hill" was his main source of inspiration. No, it wouldn't surprise me at all.

"Friends, lemme tell you what I mean."

The first time you look at Evan Dobelle's resume you cannot help being impressed. But the secondtime you review it, if you scrutinize it carefully, you begin to see certain worrisome aspects. He waselected twice (1971 and 1975) as Republican mayor of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, a notableachievement which immediately established him as a player in perhaps the most Democratic state ofthe Union. Then he ditched the GOP to work for Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign. He wantedfast promotion (he always did).

Having been a Republican until just 5 minutes ago, he wanted to be a power in the DemocraticParty. But Timothy Kraft was in the way. No matter. The Wikipedia reports that Dobelle charged

him with using cocaine in New Orleans (doesn't everyone?) in 1978.Kraft was forced to resign, clearing the way for the exigent Evan, who became National Chairman ofthe Carter-Mondale Presidential Committee. The charges against Kraft were later dropped but thedamage was already done, whether by that you mean Kraft's demise... or Dobelle's ascent.

Carter, of course, won the election... and Dobelle got a hefty part of the bling: he became U.S. Chiefof Protocol with the impressive rank of ambassador; (his wife Kit served as Chief of Protocol andChief of Staff to First Lady Rosalynn Carter). Dobelle was also appointed treasurer of theDemocratic National Committee. These were the glory days... Dobelle was everywhere...

He had everything necessary to scale the heights of power... yet he never did so. He knew everyone;




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everyone knew him. Maybe that was the reason real power eluded him. (Note. It was at this time thatDobelle took me on a tour of the White House, including a visit to the Oval Office, which likeeveryone else who sees it, I found smaller and less impressive in person. What was impressive,however, was how virtually everyone we encountered greeted Dobelle warmly, as an old friend.Yes, these were the salad days... and of course he dangled the prospect of a plum job in the CarterWhite house before me...)

"It takes judgement, brains, and maturity to score."

It soon became obvious to the power cognoscenti that Dobelle, like Kansas City, had gone about asfur as he could go. Seasoned Washingtonians play this crucial game with withering skill; their acidjudgements determine destinies. Dobelle failed to impress these oracles. So, his mind ever fertile andinventive, he changed course -- again; this time he selected higher education administration as hisdesignated bailiwick. And so his rather odd (and always short-termed) trajectory began.

First, from 1987-1990, he was president of Middlesex Community College in Lowell,Massachusetts. He stayed just long enough to get the library named after him, but not a minutelonger. The irony here is that he was not a notable reader and has no scholarly work at all.

>From Lowell, he became president and chancellor of City College of San Francisco (1990-1995);

president of Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut (1995-2000), then the University of Hawaii(2001-2004).

Take a good close look at the dates of his administrative tenures, on average just about 4 years.Now, as any college administrator knows 4 years is grossly insufficient to effect major change. ThusDobelle's accomplishments were meagre, often merely cosmetic, never pace-setting, though heinsisted that he was a visionary with the future lashed to his chariot. Maybe so, but to old collegehands he came across as glib, superficial, impatient, and lazy; his bags already packed for quickget-away when the need for real leadership and major decision making and planning becameglaringly apparent.

It all came to a head during his presidency at the University of Hawaii. There Dobelle ran through 5

chairmen of the board in a breathtaking 2 1/2 years, a situation not only unparalleled in Aloha'sparadise, but perhaps in all of higher education's history. One food fight after another occurred, withDobelle's wanton spending habits and his disdain for the University's trustees providing particularflash points. Finally the board had enough... and dismissed Dobelle "for cause." Dobelle said he'dsue; the board blinked; a mediated settlement was the result, a settlement worth millions to Dobellewho, amongst other things, agreed he would never, ever apply for any other post at the University,something to which both sides happily subscribed.

Enter Westfield State College, Dobelle's latest feeding trough.

People like Evan Dobelle, so generous, so profligate with Other People's Money, so niggardly with

their own funds, always need a host to feed on; all parasites do. And in Westfield, Massachusetts hefound one tailor-made for his habits -- and his expansive, unquenchable needs.

Brief history of Westfield State.

Located 45 miles from Hartford, 90 miles from Boston, Westfield's main 256- acre campus islocated in a well-tended, leafy neighborhood. It was founded in 1839 at the behest of and with theenthusiastic support of Horace Mann (1796- 1859), the premier educator of the Great Republic. Hewanted Westfield to serve the needs of the Commonwealth, producing citizens who would be acredit to God, the republic, Massachusetts, its business and industry, and, of course, Westfield itself.

It was a noble objective... and on this basis the institution prospered, with the overwhelming majority




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of its graduates women who become the teachers that transformed immigrants into Americans.

It was crucial work and it was done thoroughly and well. Sadly, in a state where private institutionsreigned supreme, public institutions like Westfield often felt undervalued and left behind. Theyoften felt sorry for themselves, felt they should get more than the occasional pat on the head, alwaysan afterthought.

They were thus positioned for their own Professor Hill. And this Evan Dobelle, with a catalog ofdubious acts and lavish spending longer than Leporello's (as reported by The Boston Globe, August18, 2013), brought his specious and superficial visions, pulsating Big Ideas et al to Westfield, whichdespite a stadium of red flags flying appointed him president in December, 2008. The virgin waswell and truly in Bluebeard's experienced hands. He knew precisely what to do.

And he'll have fun, fun, fun 'til...

In 1964, the Beach Boys had a hit on their hands entitled "And she'll have fun, fun, fun 'til her daddytakes the car keys away." The same applied to our Evan, only he had fun with a credit card theschool's private foundation gave him for charging dinners with potential donors and other smallamounts. It was a big mistake since Dobelle never met a credit card he didn't like, so long as hedidn't have to pay the bill.

In the fall of 2008, these bills started to come in and staid, respectable, rather dull Westfield State(soon to inflate its standing by calling itself a university) discovered what their popinjay was goingto cost them... and their collective gasp of pocketbook pain and shocked disbelief rang out, forBluebeard was having a helluva good time... all at their expense.

$539,201 on a "celebrity speakers series"... $145,000 on a group trip to Asia... $58,000 for a campusrock concert... $16,000 for a welcome party at a Brewster resort... $10,000 for Tanglewood tickets...and on and on and on. My personal favorite is the $939 bill he racked up taking three journalismstudents to New York to shake hands with Katie Couric and dine at Stage Deli and fabled 21. Hewanted them to have the full "Queen for a Day" treatment. Oh, yes, they were all female and, I'll bet,cuties, each lovier -- and younger -- than the last.

There was no stopping this born again teenager.. . he thought it, he wanted it, he got it... especially ifit took him away from the institution he was supposed to be administrating; (78 out-of-state trips inhis 68 months as president)... and, of course, he charged it.

How could he get away with it? The same way Professor Hill succeeded... by enthusing, smoozing,taking their minds off their troubles and the merely necessary and lifting them with the Big Dreams...the dreams he never stayed around long enough to achieve. Dreams were fun... work for hicks... thehicks who paid all his outrageous bills, long-suffering, decent, fleeced, regretful, now exposed to theentire world as the bumpkins they were afraid from the get-go people would adjudge them.

As for Dobelle, this time his gig is surely up as his twin Nemeses, the state's attorney general and

inspector general, fueled by leaks from his office, gather their forces, prepared to pick up every rockto see which of Dobelle's schemes, chicaneries, plots, stratagems, tactics, hustles, extravagances,and ploys is underneath . It should be most instructive for all... not least for the next institution ofhigher learning which has the bright idea of gambling their future on appalling, unrestrained,irresponsible, fritterin' Dobelle, never guilty, always innocent, soon to be available to eat at your finetrough.




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Resource

About the Author Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. , providing a widerange of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also a historian and authorof 18 best-selling business books.

Republished with author's permission by Lisa Martiniukhttp://TheHomeOfficePeople.com.

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