Flotsam & Jetsam

The World Cup is finally over. Well, not officially, but since the United States lost to Ghana, there is no longer a need to watch. ESPN has invested a lot of time and money into presenting the World Cup and got a boost when Team USA got a little further along than many predicted. Frankly, I don't get soccer and I think most Americans will now turn their attentions to a real sport...BASEBALL!

Speaking of which, Edwin Jackson of The Arizona Diamondbacks threw the fourth no-hitter of the year Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays. If you count the almost no-hitter/perfect game in Detroit, there have actually been five no-hitters. One more and Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will lower the pitcher's mound and order starters to throw one inning with their opposite hand.

Dateline (Jim Thorpe) If Jim Thorpe is actually buried in Jim Thorpe, then Jim Thorpe's body should be moved out of Jim Thorpe and buried in Oklahoma. The name of the town Jim Thorpe should then be changed to "Mingo." And if you get that reference to 1960's television, congratulations. You've just won two tickets to the Finals of the World Cup.

Where's Trump When You Need Him?

Anyone who reads this blog knows I'm not a big fan of the President. With a decent mandate, he's squandered his first year and a half in office. Don't say he passed Health Care, because none of us, including the President, really knows what's in the law. Don't get me started on baseball.

My Old Man (that's truly a term of endearment) always talked about the chain-of-command. He did a lot of things he didn't agree with. But he said, "you take orders and you don't embarrass the Boss."

General Stanley McChrystal has apologized for his intemperate remarks to Rolling Stone.

If the President doesn't fire him, he'll be perceived as weak. If he does pull a Harry Truman on Douglas MacArthur, he'll be criticized.

It's not going to be enough for the General to lose a star

The meeting in the Oval Office, I think it will go something like this:

The President enters the room, McChrystal stands up. The President says, "Please, sit. I've been looking for some ass to kick so, YOU'RE FIRED."

The Chief.

CPO Donald M. Jordan USN 1930-1996

Today is a good day to remember.

On this Father's Day I remember my Dad, Chief Petty Officer Donald Miles Jordan. He served in the United States Navy from 1948 to 1968 which included two tours in Viet Nam. He was a proud member of PF-143 "The Pukin' Dogs."

Circumstances were such that we couldn't be there when he retired and was "piped overboard" at the NAS Beeville, Texas.

When he died a group of local Navy Chiefs "piped him overboard" the night before his funeral in a ceremony, which still brings a tear to my eye.

He was a veteran longer than he was active duty, but he was Navy through and through.

We lost him way too soon.

He was a good guy. My brother and sisters and I miss him every day.

Happy Father's Day, Chief.

C'mon

While watching Fox News Sunday, I saw a commercial for the new talk station in town, 94.3 The Talker. It promoted their line-up including Sean Hannity. Problem is it was spelled, "H-A-N-N-E-D-Y."

C'MON!!!

By the way, unless the station offers some local talk and a real local news department, I fear it is bound to fail.

Point Man

It's hard to imagine any President taking a page out of Richard Nixon's play book, but President Obama should.

With the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico getting worse each day, the federal government is widely perceived as doing little, if anything at all to help residents and businesses affected by the catastrophe. This despite the President visiting the Gulf three times since the disastrous explosion of the New Horizon oil rig.

After the June 1972 Agnes Flood, President Richard Nixon visited Northeastern Pennsylvania but once. At the time Agnes was the worst natural disaster in American history.

Nixon appointed Frank Carlucci, a native of the Wyoming Valley, as his point man for the recovery.

His job, ostensibly, was to cut through the red tape and keep the federal effort on track. Politically, Carlucci's mission was to keep any fallout from hurting Nixon's re-election chances in November of that year.

Carlucci, who went on to serve as Defense Secretary and National Security Advisor to President Reagan, is widely acclaimed and given high marks for his efforts.

President Obama has been criticized for appointing "czars" to oversee specific parts of his agenda. In this instance however the President should do just that. Appoint a federal czar to take command of the disaster.

And if you need advice on how to make this work Mr. President, call Frank Carlucci. He can show you how it's done.