THE LACK OF INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE
Jason D. Jordan
Friday April 26th 2013
On
the day that reports are being made by the White House of Syria having used
chemical weapons against its people there are many questions hanging in the
air: Can we rely on the intelligence given its recent failures regarding Iraq,
the apparent Boston Bombers, and previously dismissed reports that Syria had
used chemical weapons? In his statements to the press this afternoon Secretary
of Defense Chuck Hagel said that “the US Intelligence Community assesses with
some degree of varying confidence the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons
on a small scale. . . “Having heard that, I don’t know what to believe. What
the hell does “some degrees of varying certainty” mean? There is no such thing
as actionable intelligence anymore. The process of gathering, processing, and
disseminating intelligence information is so disjointed that the timeline
expected by the public to act on information due to the evolution of technology
is completely muddled by Washington Bureaucracy and double speak.
. . .
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Jason D. Jordan
Wednesday April 24th
2013
Lately
I've heard a lot of criticism of former public officials and their staff
becoming lobbyists after their careers in public office are over. A few years
ago I would have been on the same side of that argument, but in the last few
months I was offered a job with a public affairs firm aka a lobby shop, and
being on the other side of that equation for once gave me a new perspective on
the issue. According to Opensecrets.com’s lobbying database the industry pulled
in a whopping 3.3 Billion dollars in 2012, and estimates for 2013 are expected
to be even higher. For this reason I think it’s acceptable to be wary of what’s
being done to earn that money.
In
lobbying, as in any service industry, you get what you pay for. The best
educated and most talented in the field will be compensated as such. Therefore,
those with the deepest pockets will have access to the most influential players
on Capitol Hill. On the other hand, lobbying the government is something that
anyone with a cause and the will to advance that cause can do. For example in
the last month we saw the parents of children taken at the Newtown, CT tragedy
have a powerful effect on the Senate on a gun issue that was once thought to be
untouchable. Without professional advisors, without millions of dollars spent
on campaigns, and with only a story of personal nature they broke the threat of
filibuster; something that had eluded Senate Democrats for the better part of 3
years.
. . .
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Jason D. Jordan
Wednesday March 13th 2013
 
As it turns out mining for coal and other precious resources has taken a
back seat to undermining public opinion for a living in the race for most
dangerous occupation. While annual mining deaths number less than 100 in most
recent years thanks to more stringent safety regulations, undermining public
support for gun control threatens to continue the devastating trend of more
than 10,000 gun deaths in the United States each year. Since 1938 when
child labor was made illegal by Federal law with the passage of the Fair Labor
Standards Act children have not had to fear losing their lives in the
underground hell holes that are America's coal mines. However, the terrifying
prospect of sudden death at a young age has only become more likely. The
scourge of gun violence in America claimed the lives of more than 2,700
children and teens in 2009 according a 2012 report by childrensdefense.org.
That statistic has remained steady since.
Just as in 1938, after a more than 100 year fight to get children out of
factories and mines; in the interest of justice for the most vulnerable among
us, America again overwhelmingly agrees to the tune of 91% that the congress
needs to act on gun control measures a recent Washington Post poll shows. To
put that in perspective for you, Only 11 of 13 or nearly 85% of the original
states initially ratified the constitution. Statistically speaking, more people
were (and still are) on the fence about the constitution than the need for more
sensible federal gun laws. The proposals on the table include a federal
ban on "assault weapons", a federal ban on high capacity magazines, universal background
checks that screen out criminals and the mentally ill, and recurring
registration cycles to account for changes in mental status over time. Reports
early this week say that the NRA will relent on the issue of background checks
if the congress agrees not to pursue expanded gun owner profiling and records
keeping requirements. A spokesperson for the organization has since denied the
existence of any such deal.
. . .
Jason D. Jordan
Friday December 21st 2012
Following the tragic killing of 26 people at a school in Newtown, CT the NRA promised “real and meaningful contributions” to assure this never happens again. If by real and meaningful contributions NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre meant that the NRA would hold a press conference to lobby for more federal money and tell you the same things he’s said over the last 5 years then he was spot on. As a supporter of the 2nd Amendment and someone who has studied the political realm all of my life even I found this press conference to be bizarre. The overwhelming message was that we should put guns in the hands of our teachers and principals. He said “The only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Which could only leave you to think that Wayne LaPierre is one of those unthinking people who are just a step away from being or inspiring the next Adam Lanza. At any rate he certainly didn’t do his organization any favors.
. . .
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Jason D. Jordan
Thursday December 13th 2012
Turn
the channel over to Fox News. As much as it may pain some of my more liberal
viewers to, it will prove the point of this post. I would bet my bottom dollar
that within 5 minutes you’ll hear someone call for the people to take our
country back. Was I right? Of course I was. Either I’m psychic, or this is an
ever present theme of the right leaning media machine. Sorry to break the news,
but I’m not psychic. Take our country back from what? You might be asking
yourself. Those guys are never really that specific about what they want you to
be afraid of; they just tell you that you ought to be. The reason is because
they’re in the entertainment business. They target viewers by attaching as many
concerns as they can to an issue whether they make sense or not hoping that one
of them will play and make sense to you. It’s the oldest trick in the book.
Unfortunately, few people have ever read the book because it’s not available on
your kindle or iPad. Though my friends at Fox News provide the most prevalent
and nagging example of these calls beckoning you to a state of fear or rage
this messaging tactic is something used by both sides of the aisle.
. . .
Jason D. Jordan
Wednesday December 12th 2012
Republicans
have been shameless in their pursuit of positions on issues that are incredibly
unpopular. For some reason the Republican Party never feels like it’s losing
even when it’s painfully obvious to the rest of the country. When wannabe
senator Todd Aiken began to make public his views on rape the Party didn't shut
him down. They thought they were winning and finally making positive inroads to
the abortion argument. They doubled down as only they do when the rest of the
world was mortified, and looked down on everyone who was trying to warn them of
their errors with disdain. When they finally realize their boo-boo moments it’s
almost always too late, and instead of eating their humble pie and moving
forward on issues we can agree on they refuse to admit they were wrong, put a
bookmark where they left off, and move on to the next universally unpopular social
stance that will undoubtedly serve to isolate them further away from mainstream
America.
. . .
Jason D. Jordan
Tuesday December 11th 2012
The filibuster is
a revered procedure in American governance. Examples of it’s use are typically
noted in the pages of history books for their fame, or in some cases their
infamy. Legislators reservation of the practice for only the most serious of
issues has contributed to the public appreciation surrounding it. Lately however,
the filibuster has been reduced to being yet another pawn in the political game
of chess played by Democrats and Republicans. 386 filibusters in the period
that Harry Reid has headed up the Senate is a number astronomical compared to
any other period in American History.
. . .
Jason D. Jordan
Friday November 30th 2012
The congress has decided to motivate itself to compromise on
fiscal issues by employing a worst case scenario popularly known as the fiscal
cliff to kick in at the end of this year if they couldn't get together on a
deal to address spending and taxation. Why would congress impose such a
pressing deadline when they knew that Congress doesn't get anything done; and
if it actually does do something it is never on time. America is left asking
what's next? Will they motivate themselves to move on gun violence by literally
shooting themselves in the foot? History indicates that we will go over the
fiscal cliff, and to that I say . . . SO WHAT!?!? While seemingly ridiculous to
the rest of us, it's so stupid that it might just work. Let me tell you why. .
.
. . .
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Jason D. Jordan
Sunday November 25th 2012
One of my friends wrote an opinion piece in our local
newspaper exclaiming that the voters got it wrong in this election. Dumbfounded
by the lack of thought behind that statement I had to consider the source and
realized that this was a personal issue, not an analytical one. It’s painfully
obvious that the Republican faithful are still uber butt-hurt over the
elections results nearly 3 weeks later. They continue to be befuddled about why
the manufactured scandals the right wing media force fed them in the weeks and
months preceding the election didn't really matter to the general public. Why
didn't “Fast and Furious” matter? Why didn't the controversy surrounding the
attack on our consulate in Benghazi Libya matter to voters? Why didn't the
socialist liberal policies of the Obama Administration matter to voters?
. . .
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