Soap Box

When I was in grammar school, my dad's job necessitated several moves, requiring my attending three schools in a single school year more than once.

This was over 70 years ago when disagreements among school aged boys were likely to be settled with name calling, fisticuffs, or wrestling bouts, depending on the kids involved and how far things were allowed to proceed.

Being the perpetual "new kid" was always a tough role to play, as most of the schools I went to were small and the kids in any given class had gone to school together since first grade and had relationships and a familiarity I had no part of, so every change of school was like starting all over again.

In those days, almost every class had a pecking order starting with the class bully and filtering down through the boys he could intimidate, excluding of course the kids with older brothers who attended the same school and were known to settle scores for their younger siblings.

I had neither brother nor stalwart friend to take my part and was left to deal with the bully on my own, which I did, on several occasions.

It's not that you always win a fight with a bully, but that you let it be known that you will not be picked on and that you are going to rise to the occasion every time it presents itself, giving as good as you get, bloody noses and battle scars not withstanding.

Bullies only pick on people they can intimidate, they don't really want to fight and wouldn't be caught in a fair one with someone who could take them on and when they find out that they have to stand and fight every time they pick on you they soon back off.

Standing up and being counted is the only way you can ever make a bully leave you alone.

Vladimir Putin is a bully and he has had Obama's number since the time he told Medvedev to "Tell Vladimir� to basically go easy until after the election.

In my opinion, he measured Obama's mettle right there and knew that he had weaknesses that could be exploited, and now the time has come to exploit them.

Russia has been slowly becoming more and more belligerent, annexing territory, buzzing our warships in combat formations, issuing warnings and threatening at a rate that hasn't been seen since the Cold War.

I look for this provocation to increase in regularity and severity until somebody sits in the Oval office that will say enough is enough, and that person is not going to be Obama.

It should be obvious to the world what Putin is doing. The international price of oil has dropped dramatically the last couple of years and for a nation who has nothing to barter with except petroleum and nesting dolls, it's pretty slim pickings and nothing takes the attention off the economy like military shenanigans, especially when they are presented in the guise of national pride.
And no, my cherry picking friends, I am not suggesting that we get into a shooting war with Russia, but there are many ways to hurt Russia without ever firing a shot.

But first of all, there has to be a strong response to the bully informing him that his future hijinks will not be without consequences.

It's time to flex the American muscle and inform Mr. Putin that, in spite of Obama's dangerous downsizing of our military, it is still the strongest nation on the planet and the most dangerous enemy.

Then proceed with the economic moves that put Russia's cojones in a pair of vice grips and squeeze them until they get in line.

The more bullies get away with, the bolder they get and sooner or later somebody is going to take a shot at somebody.

It doesn't have to go that far.

But it will, if America doesn't get some leadership with backbone to stand up to a bully and the consequences are going to be a nightmare.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

� Charlie Daniels

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