LINK.

Quote Originally Posted by Jack_Gander View Post
...Of particular interest to COIN practitioners is the issue of corruption. As a friend from the IC told me when he was recently in Afghanistan, he spoke to a Gov’t official regarding corruption. The official laughed in his face and told him to go home and fix the problems on “K Street” first, then come back and lecture them about corruption.
Heh. The Afghan had a very good point. See below.
As a senior political appointee told me Congress is just doing their job and actually representing their constituents. The gridlock in Congress is just an indicator of how divided our country is on many issues.
True dat. I'm hitting 80 and that has been true all my life; we're just more vocal about it and we communicate so much more efficiently and rapidly. The 24 hour news cycle has a lot to answer for...
Military Power or coercion only goes so far. Is America today the same “Shining City upon a Hill” that Reagan spoke of?
The first item has always been true but many of our not terribly wise Politicians do not know or accept that. Nor did many of their predecessors over the past couple of centuries. That factor and politics in general make Reagan's statement a myth. We've always been just as self focused and devious as any other big power; perhaps even more so than most if not all. Shining city on a hill we are not -- and that's okay, no one else is that either...

Politicians say a lot of stupid stuff that's just plain wrong and they know that when the mouth it. The Afghan had a good point because K Street is simply the current manifestation of a 220 plus year old tradition. Read the tale of the building of the USS Constitution and her sisters. Lobbying and political chicanery are more American than Apple Pie. So are less than wise furrin adventures -- though most of the small one work out well; it's the big ones that we do not do well.
Austerity measures, particularly at the state level, are coming – the “can” can only be kicked so many times.
Probably true and there will be upset. The fascinating thing is that at State level, 'austerity' is required mostly due to excessive Federal expenditure and the Feds oversized take of the tax receipts. Either way, there will be hate and discontent as the current generations inf power and those soon to have power seem rather selfish.
What do you see as a means to calm the growing unrest or tension?
Probably not much that can be done to calm it, it will probably be contained but we will do that rather ineptly -- it's the American way.
DHS, and Federal, State and local Law enforcement agencies are facing the same "tough choices" as is the DoD. There is no mechanism in place to balance the entire national security portfolio.
Heh. That, too, is the American way.

The good news is that most people are going to behave reasonably decently and we'll muddle through.