Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Where Do We Go From Here? 1
All Righty Then,
Here we are. I have talked quite a bit, lately. In fact, I have posted more on my blog this month than I have in all of 2008, before November.
For those of us that consider ourselves conservatives ... and, maybe, libertarians, or, if you don't know what you are, politically, but what you have seen isn't right, then you, also, are not happy with what has happened.
The logical question that we have ... and, I fear, most of our fellow citizens will have in the next 4 years is: "Where do we go from here? ... or, more appropriately,: "How do we fix this?"
Now, as you might know, I've been a military man for over 19 years, now. So, I suggest we use some military techniques. I think this approach will be helpful.
These "Where Do We Go From Here?" posts will be, what we call in the Army, an "AAR", or After Action Review.
An "AAR" has, basically, 4 parts:
1) What was supposed to happen?
2) What did happen?
3) What happened right?
4) What can we do better?
The first step, in proper Army fashion, requires some explanation to those of you that are civilians.
Everything that is done in the Army, from the wear of the uniform, to clearing an insurgent cell meeting place, has, in regulation, a "way" to do it. The Army has a standard that boils everything to 3 elements:
1) Task (what is to be accomplished)
2) Conditions (the setting in which you have to accomplish your goal)
3) Standards (the yardstick by which you measure your relative measure of success)
Let us talk about "Standards" for a moment. It is possible to achieve different levels of success, whether you win or lose. In some cases, given a specific task, failing to accomplish a task, you might be in a better situation to be successful.
It is the reverse of the idea behind the concept of the "Pyrrhic Victory", which is tactically, and strategically sound. No matter what the task at hand is there are multiple levels of success.
This last election would appear to be a dismal failure. We (conservatives/libertarians) lost, and, supposedly, lost "Big Time".
If those of us that are conservative ... or, with libertarian, leanings, consider the "Conditions", we DID NOT lose.
Think about that for a bit.
I have some answers to that question.
Tell me yours.
Here we are. I have talked quite a bit, lately. In fact, I have posted more on my blog this month than I have in all of 2008, before November.
For those of us that consider ourselves conservatives ... and, maybe, libertarians, or, if you don't know what you are, politically, but what you have seen isn't right, then you, also, are not happy with what has happened.
The logical question that we have ... and, I fear, most of our fellow citizens will have in the next 4 years is: "Where do we go from here? ... or, more appropriately,: "How do we fix this?"
Now, as you might know, I've been a military man for over 19 years, now. So, I suggest we use some military techniques. I think this approach will be helpful.
These "Where Do We Go From Here?" posts will be, what we call in the Army, an "AAR", or After Action Review.
An "AAR" has, basically, 4 parts:
1) What was supposed to happen?
2) What did happen?
3) What happened right?
4) What can we do better?
The first step, in proper Army fashion, requires some explanation to those of you that are civilians.
Everything that is done in the Army, from the wear of the uniform, to clearing an insurgent cell meeting place, has, in regulation, a "way" to do it. The Army has a standard that boils everything to 3 elements:
1) Task (what is to be accomplished)
2) Conditions (the setting in which you have to accomplish your goal)
3) Standards (the yardstick by which you measure your relative measure of success)
Let us talk about "Standards" for a moment. It is possible to achieve different levels of success, whether you win or lose. In some cases, given a specific task, failing to accomplish a task, you might be in a better situation to be successful.
It is the reverse of the idea behind the concept of the "Pyrrhic Victory", which is tactically, and strategically sound. No matter what the task at hand is there are multiple levels of success.
This last election would appear to be a dismal failure. We (conservatives/libertarians) lost, and, supposedly, lost "Big Time".
If those of us that are conservative ... or, with libertarian, leanings, consider the "Conditions", we DID NOT lose.
Think about that for a bit.
I have some answers to that question.
Tell me yours.
