Saturday, June 25, 2011

135 Years Ago Today

George Armstrong Custer met his end on a stretch of high plains in Montana called the Little Big Horn. Originally touted as a sacrificial lamb to the barbarian tribes and true american hero, revisionist historians have since painted him as a 19th century glory hunting nut job that died not soon enough.

As with most things in life (all things), the truth is somewhere in between. If the jingoistas of the 21st century only knew how bad these guys had it back then, they wouldn't be so strident. Soldiers today have it much easier. Soldiers of 1876 had no telephones, let alone Skype, iChat, Email, Smart Phones, Digital Cameras, and Video Cameras. Certainly the food was worse as were the living arrangements and pay. I'd have to wonder how today's men and women (there were none in service then) would fare against an aboriginal adversary under less than modern conditions.

Still we see parallels. Soldiers were used as a tool of foreign policy (remember, these were territories, not states and the indians were considered part of a their own nation). No matter what Custer or any other soldier thought about the Indian, he had a job to do. On this day in June, 1876, there were missteps, screw-ups, and the results at this point are history and far too lengthy to go into here. So on this day in June, how do we judge such men? How will we judge our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan 135 years hence? Will revisionism strike again?

George Armstrong Custer by all accounts was an overachiever. While graduating last in his class at West Point, he proved himself in the Civil War and became the "Boy General". The take away here is that he delivered, which is the lynchpin of leadership. Under promise, over deliver, or to put it another way, don't write a check with your mouth that your ass can't cover. Ultimately, his risk taking caught up with him, in a big way.

On this day in June, 2011, I salute George Armstrong Custer, that crazy bastard that gave his all on that hill in Montana. We still need crazy bastards like him from time to time. It keeps the shit merry-go-round moving in the right direction. Unfortunately, we have become a society of effete diletantes that would rather sell their mother in a back room deal than put any skin in the game and hence, are poorly suited to real leadership, especially in bad times, because they are more concerned about themselves than anything or anyone else. What they deliver is perception, not always reality and that is the politicalization of modern society. Look behind the curtain and see.

So, was he a glory hunting nut job that died not soon enough, or a sacrificial lamb to the barbaric tribes and a true american hero? You tell me.

Thank you for reading this blog.

Monday, June 20, 2011

The Andre Controversa Show

The Andre Controversa Show Presents:

Our first Guest at 7:00PM is Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness.
Our topic will be some pro-gay sensitivity training propaganda put out by the usda, which is being implemented by the Office of Personnell Management, which wants to mandate these guideleins in all federal agencies.

Donnelly will discuss the potential effect this could have on the military if these guidelines are implemented among our armced forces.

At 7:30PM will be is Claudia Cooper. She's a student at West Hills Middle School in West Bloomfield Michigan.

She was part of a contest called Exploravision, in which young science students have to come up with technologies for use 20 years in the future. They also testified in teams before congress. We will talk about how to get young kids more interested in science; as well as the creative aspect of this contest.

At 8:00PM, for the first 30 minutes, we will be discussing a crazy ordinance in Cedar Falls, Iowa, right in your home state, mandating lockboces on all apartment buildings so that the fire department won't have to bust the door down in case of an emergecny; they would have the keys already.

Our guests for ths topic is Judd Saul, a local Tea Party activist strongly opposed to the measure and Nick Taiber.

Show time 7:00PM CST Tuesday June 21

Call in at 949-203-4821 or Stream Here.


Host Andre Traversa
Co-host and producer Jim Lagnese

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Thursday, June 09, 2011

The Andre Controversa Show: Open Lines Thursday

Andre Traversa and Jim Lagnese host the Andre Controversa Show tonight and feature Open Lines Thursday. Call in to discuss any topic you want with people that contribute to Libertarian Republican and The Right Guy Show, like The Right Guy, the ever exuberant Chuck, Ran, Will and Eric Dondero.

Show time is 8PM CST, call in at 949-203-4821 or stream here.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

The Tea Party and 2012

The first hour will feature a panel discussion on the Tea Party's influence on the 2012 election, with emphasis on the NY26 race. Russ Thompson of Tea Party NY and Jim Martin of the 60 Plus Association will be on the panel.

The second hour will be open lines .

Show time 7:00PM

Call in at 949-203-4821 or stream here.

Host Andre Traversa

Co-Host Jim Lagnese

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