(The Gazette is beset with tech issues this a.m. Things somewhat scattered.)

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A response to Kelly Scoles' letter:

Once again, Kelly, the difficulty here in this week’s debate lies in identifying facts. Reading Gen. Brown's "answer" to Senator Schmidtt's simple question, shows Brown is a particularly adroit liar. If "word salad" (the politician's best friend) is aggravating to an honest inquiry, military word salad can kill the conversation. I regret these public hearings provide only 5-minutes or so for each questioner; Schmidtt should have demanded clarification.

• I did my usual homework before writing the last Realities. I verified Brown's notorious reputation as both the most successful member of the Air Force (now 4-stars) and a slavish Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) monger. Before you castigate me, why not read "Too many red flags to be CJCS by Scott Sturman, Air Force Academy, Class of 1972 - quoted last week? Why do you continually attack the facts I affirm? If you read Brown's answer to Senator Schmidtt's question carefully, and acknowledge his DEI mandate, you should conclude that the General is doing what Sturman well describes; "General Brown represents DEI in euphemistic terms that are palatable to the public and allude to fairness and equal opportunity. But DEI has deep Marxist roots based on critical theories, where merit is minimized, and power structures are based on identity, oppression, and racism. It is a stealth weapon devised by academics that breeds conformity of thought, marginalizes members of organizations solely due to superficial characteristics, and engenders favoritism. The Air Force faces a 2000 pilot deficit, but General Brown's priority is not focused on this crucial concern but rather the racial and sexual distribution of the pilots he commands." Brown's logic here: Well, we're short 2000 pilots, I guess we should cut back on White pilots to make room for the Black, Asian, multiracial, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Native Alaskan pilots we don't have. Hmm…

• So, Brown's statement about "making clear that the military's merit-based personnel system remains firmly in place" is farcical, a contradiction of reality. Your comment… "Once again, the General did not say that." Oh yes, he did; it just sounded like he didn't, in military salad vocabulary. I suggest you keep your eye on the donut, Kelly, not on the hole.

• More of Brown's DEI leadership: "Two years ago, Air Force Recruiting Service boss Maj. Gen. Ed Thomas told reporters the service planned to bring in a more diverse set of applicants, particularly among rated officers. The Air Force did not disclose the figures it wanted to hit." A more diverse set of applicants? With nobody coming in how can you be so choosy?

• More Gen. Brown fantasy: "Now, the Air Force is for the first time setting separate targets for male and female applicants within each racial and ethnic group; for example, aiming for 8.5% Black men and 4.5% Black women. That will help the service see where its attempts at gender parity are falling short, and can lead to higher outreach to underrepresented women of color.”
• General Brown and his radical Woke minions have failed brutally at their attempts to rebuild our armed forces after creating a DEI niche for any non-white minority who might think of coming to the service. At the same time, he has demeaned and rejected the normal white citizen with an attitude of limiting normal white applications.
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• This year, 2024, in my private, humble opinion, will find America facing multiple enemy aggressions, mainly from Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and several Muslim nations. Our own military experts say our armed forces, smallest in 80 years, can no longer expect to win a two-front war; we may be unsuccessful in a single front war. If we honestly, objectively account for all of our most fatal flaws, and they are many, prayer and conversion is our only true defense. As deplorable as unbelievers find this statement, it will prove to be factual.
• America seems to be unable solve our most glaring weaknesses, like 8-million illegal aliens (hundreds of thousands from hostile countries), wildly obvious, corrupt leadership at every stage of federal and state government, a confused and unprepared military, but most of all, a contempt for God. We are no longer able to turn on a dime as we did after Pearl Harbor. The new hoards of pro-Hamas protesters are enemies within, invited here by the Biden Trojan Horse. Our country is widely vulnerable at all critical points - financial, power grid, cyber threats, terrorism, and scores of other vulnerabilities.

• Most worrisome to me - our proven inability to act. We have watched 8-million illegal transients, with millions more on the move, and we seem paralyzed. This is how democracies die.

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• (Note) My time is disrupted today, medical and technical issues. I will sign off by asking Israel to rescind its recent law, paying for all abortions. This is a curse to the nation. Biblical scripture and New Testament state abortion cries out for Divine vengeance. I strongly support Israel, and hope they quickly obliterate Hamas. But this new abortion law will be a curse to that nation.

• I think the US will be in war, at disadvantage, in the first half of this year.
• So much more to say; so little time to say it in.