Back from the Mission Mountains!

Well folks I'm now aware of at least one more personal strength and and one more weakness. The strength--- I survived a six day backpacking trip into the Mission Mountain Wilderness in northwest Montana with brother-in- law Chuck Sheroke and two other learned Coeur d' Alene attorneys Lou Garbrecht and Marc McGregor. The first day we gained 2400 ft in elevation in the first eight miles in 100 degree heat with full packs. It was that day when I began to consider whether I'd come to the end of my backpacking career. When we found our first good water and a flat spot things got better quickly. A cold bath, an early dinner, a friendly fire, good brandy, soft sleeping bag and no world news made the day's hike seem enjoyable--- such is the way of the wilderness-- a little suffering and then the ecstasy that only an alpine camp can deliver. We camped at 6080' that night. The next day we lost almost 1000' in elevation before climbing to Mollman Lakes at 7000' where we spent the next three nights in a Rocky Mountain paradise. I've posted a few pictures that will give you a perspective.

The weakness --- I need to have the discipline to post to this blog regularly. I admire my many friends who have the discipline and talent to scribe their thoughts and ideas and I'm determined to join them. Certainly since the return to civilization there has been much to comment on.

The Israeli - Hezbollah war has the mainstream press doing hissyfits. Oh my goodness how could the Bush Administration allow the Middle East descend into such chaos? What have they done to the "peace process"? The peace process? Where have these folks been for the past 50 years? It's laughable to talk about a peace process. Let's face it there is no peace process nor can there ever be a peace process until the Islamic radicals are defeated (read killed, obliterated, destroyed). A dear friend reminded me the other day that in the 1950's Alfred Toynbee wrote that the Islamic world was stuck in the Middle Ages. Look around you friends -- mass murder, be-headings, suicide attacks, death for wearing shorts in public all in the name of a benevolent Allah. The American public and the people in the Western Democracies need to wake up to the fact that there is no reasoning with Islamic militants. This war we are in needs to be won. There can be no negotiations or reasoning with people bent on our destruction. That's their goal and the will never give it up. The Bush Administration started out recognizing the facts, but they are in full retreat now as a result of their pandering to the champions of appeasement on the left.

Henry Kissinger said that his negotiations to end the Vietnam war were thwarted time and again by our anti war drum-beaters. No matter what the military advantage we had the North Vietnamese knew that America did not have the political wherewithal or the stomach to claim victory. After the evil US pulled out of Indo China millions of people were massacred by their communist oppressors and few tears were shed by our anti war factions. Now a repeat performance in the Middle East except the stakes are exponentially higher. What's at stake now is our survival. Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, Al Qaeda all know that the attention span of Americans is very short and our tolerance for a long struggle is small. We want instant gratification. How is it that we can't win this war quickly, take few casualties and move on?

The sad part for me is watching the Democratic party play into our enemy's hands so perfectly while at the same time Republican "leaders" join the appeasement crowd by offering Iran concessions like spare parts, nuclear fuel etc. for delaying their march to an atomic weapon. Neville Chamberlain would be proud. We should take all necessary steps to defeat Iran now. Help overthrow the despots. We should put Iran and Syria on notice that they will be held immediately responsible for any Islamic terror attacks on the west. We will meet force with unrelenting force. Tom Friedman in his landmark work "From Beirut to Jerusalem" made the point that in the Middle East the only rules that count are "Hamas rules" named for the town of over twenty thousand people destroyed by Ha-fez Al Assad the current ruler's father after an attempted uprising. There were no more attempts.

This weeks defeat of Joe Lieberman in Connecticut is a prime example of the high jacking of the Democratic party by the left. I never thought I'd be a champion for Joe, but I hope that he dies run and win as an independent. It would restore some of my faith in America. We'll see.