I'm delighted that Blogger fixed whatever was wrong with my blog. Thank you.

Thanks of another sort; with a much deeper meaning, go to the men and women of the armed forces. As a veteran, I teared up watching the President's speech from the deck of the Abraham Lincoln tonight. I served during an era when the military was vilified--hated as "baby killers". We weren't then, and we aren't now. Instead, we fight for freedom. Only the will of our leadership affects the outcome. In my day, Vietnam was not a war, but a battle of attrition. Only during the operation named "Linebacker II" was the Air Force allowed to project its true power. After less than two weeks, the North Vietnamese dropped their objections to the shape of the table, and other trivial matters, and earnestly agreed to an armistice so that their entire government would not disappear in a rain of iron bombs.

Today's warriors fight with a mixture of new and old. My favorite airplane, the mighty B-52, can perform close air support missions thanks to the JDAM and other precision guided munitions. The B-52--the BUFF--is older than most of its crews, and is nearly as old as I am. I expect it to serve longer than I will.

Tonight's speech reminds us of the dedication of our best, our young men and women, to the cause of freedom. We did not seek this conflict. Al Qaida and Saddam underestimated our President, and our nation. The President declares us victorious in the battles of Afghanistan and Iraq, but not in the war against terrorism. That war goes on, as does our resolve.

God bless America.

I don't know why I bother, but I occasionally watch The West Wing on NBC. Tonight's episode included a conversation between a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and "Toby Ziegler" about reinstating the draft in order to somehow make the military more racially and economically balanced. They also said that military service was the only choice for some; the other choice would be a McDonalds uniform.

Well, according to this article, it appears that the composition of the military is diverse. It may not match the exact ratios of the racial composition of the nation according to the census. However, everyone enlisted serves by choice. There are no deferments for the elite; no draft dodgers. The level of professionalism of today's force is far greater than the Vietnam era military.

I became a computer programmer while serving in the Air Force from 1975 until 1979. I learned my skills well enough to join EDS, then a company known as Raychem, then Doelz Networks (a data communications startup), Apple Computer, GO Corporation (a pioneer in pen-based computing), and finally Microsoft. I would never have achieved what I did without that founding experience in the Air Force.

I served with all sorts of people during those years. It was tough; Vietnam had just ended, the economy was bad, almost anything was more popular than the military. However, if anything, our isolation had a positive effect. All of us felt a strong bond with one another. It was the closest experience to the feeling that I get from my family that I've ever felt.

NBC doesn't provide e-mail addresses for The West Wing on its web site--at least, that I could find. I'd certainly like to give them a piece of my mind on this issue. Shilling for Charlie Rangel's loony draft reinstatement idea makes no more sense in Bartlett-land than it does in real life.

Perhaps their overt left slant during these times accounts for their ratings decline. Or perhaps it's for this reason href="http://espn.go.com/page2/s/merron/021024.html"