WHEN PENGUINS FLEW AND WATER BURNED This is the true memoir of one US Air Force navigator’s journey from the schoolhouses of Air Training Command to the nuclear alerts of the Cold War to combat in a 35-year-old anachronism called the B-52. It is a first-hand account of life during the last days of Strategic Air Command, the early days of Air Combat Command and the ensuing military drawdown of the 1990s. From peacetime training exercises across the globe to combat operations in Desert Storm, Jim Clonts takes the reader inside the cockpit where life and death are seconds apart. Often comical, sometimes heart-pounding, other times tragic, WHEN PENGUINS FLEW AND WATER BURNED takes you into the world of military aviation, a crucible where warriors learn the true nature of character, conscience and mortality.

Friends of Liberty VOL 50
by Jim Clonts, 2010

04/26/2010

It is now time to go on the offensive in this battle for our essential liberties, our inalienable rights. Traditionally, there have been several ways to take political action in this country. First, we vote, which is where it starts and stops with most people. Some of us write letters to the editors of our local newspapers or to our elected representatives. Those who have the long term political fire in their belly can either run for office themselves or volunteer to a campaign for a like-thinking candidate, both good, but time-consuming options. Protests are another form of political action, particularly popular on the Left. The Conservative movement is only just now getting into this venue with the Tea Parties. We have options, but they can be time-consuming and impractical when you are also holding down a steady job and raising a family.

Of course, the Leftist protesters get their message out using tools such as baseball bats, fire bombs and explosives. Ever heard of Bill Ayers? The Weather Underground? The Black Panthers? Earth Liberation Front? Ever seen a meeting of the WTO or G8 without leftists rioting in the streets, fire-bombing or overturning cars and breaking storefront windows? During the Bush Administration the Left resorted to burning the President in effigy and depicting him hung by a noose. They made movies about and wrote books with instructions on how to kill President Bush. The SEIU beat up a Conservative black man selling flags in the parking lot at a town hall meeting in St Louis and bit the finger off another elderly Conservative at a healthcare protest in Florida. Environmental Leftists have burned car dealerships selling SUVs, destroying millions of dollars of inventory. And of course we can't forget those classy folks who protested at the funerals of our fallen soldiers, holding signs calling them baby-killers and hoping they suffered as they died.

Okay, so protests can be a tricky can of worms, particularly with a Leftist media that portrays Tea Partiers and Veterans as dangerous and Leftists setting cars on fire, rioting and burning President Bush in effigy as champions of free speech.

So what can we do besides send each other emails and wring our hands in frustration?

For too long Conservative principles, the principles of our founders, have been characterized as extreme, out of the mainstream of modern American consciousness. This is particularly troublesome given that polling indicates 60% of the population consider themselves to the right of center, while only about 20% claim the title of Liberal. Even economic principles such as supply side economics, tax cuts, property rights and free-markets are characterized in the Media as racist and discriminatory to the poor.

The fact is we've become cowards when it comes to articulating our principles. The Left have no trouble articulating theirs. I've been in conversations at parties or dinners where a liberal makes some grand, usually illogical, but politically correct statement about gun control or abortion or tax cuts for the wealthy or the war in Iraq and the people around them just smile politely and nod their heads in silence, even though I know those people don't agree. I've done the same thing, not wanting to rock the boat, not wanting to cause a scene or offend another guest of the party. Out of respect for the host I'll hold my tongue and smile, not wanting my friend's party to turn ugly.

So here's the real question: why do we have to be the one holding our tongues? Why does the Liberal think he can make politically polarizing statements and we'll just shut up and take it? You see, I think they know we'll keep quiet. They know we have more class than to cause a stink. I think they count on it. Some of them know me personally and know I'll disagree. They get the message in my patronizing smile, but they know I won't push the issue. They also know they won't convince me, but they just might convince a fence-sitter in the group. If their Liberal drivel is articulated and no one rebuts for fear of sounding like an intolerant Conservative, then maybe it will seem reasonable and mainstream to the precious moderate in the group.

Folks, enough is enough. It is time to answer back, to flood the poor Liberal in logic, fact and history. Yes, it could get tense. Yes, it could turn ugly. Yes, your husband or wife might be embarrassed. Yes, the Liberal might not like you when its all over.

Personally, I've made a decision in my life. If someone comes to a party in my home and begins to extol the virtues of Marxism or redistribution of wealth or Government control of our lives, I don't want him or her as a friend and I don't want them in my home or around my kids. I will make it perfectly clear that I'm a capitalist, a believer in liberty, personal freedom and limited government. I believe in the Constitution of the United States and the United States of America as founded, not the living breathing perversions Congress, the President and Court System fabricate. If they want a debate, I'll give them one. If they are offended by my "close-mindedness" they can leave. Maybe getting kicked out of a few parties might make the Liberal realize his views may not be all that mainstream.

So here is my strategy for this group. I'm calling it Dry Powder. This refers to the old maxim of the soldier to "keep your powder dry." I'm going to begin incorporating short, and what I hope will be pithy, responses to liberal arguments in my weekly emailings. I will present a scenario and what an appropriate Conservative response might be. I'm sure we all know the answers, anyway, but I'm hoping to give you something short enough, eloquent enough, that it'll be right there on the tip of your tongue when you need it. You'll have dry powder.

I'm hoping to give you the kind of logical argument that will ring true in the ears of the "moderates" in the room. Our goal is not to convince the liberal. That is not possible or even a worthwhile goal. They are only 20% of the population. The goal is to make the fence-sitter standing next to the Liberal cringe and think, "Wow, how can anyone argue with that?" A secondary goal is to get the other quiet Conservatives in the room to agree with you or at least feel they are not alone in their beliefs. And the piece de resistance will be when the Liberal realizes he has no response and changes the topic to "Bush lied" or "you just hate the poor" or something like that. At that point, Friends of Liberty, don't get sucked into a different premise, just smile and shake your head in pity and walk away. Don't be surprised if the Moderates follow you. You won't make many Liberal friends, but you will be doing your part to return your principles to the Mainstream. Besides, unless you need to score some medical marijuana, who needs Liberal friends, anyway?

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