Are you allowed to dislike some classical music?

The other day I read someone quoting his offspring as saying he "hated classical music," and the parent being absolutely in disbelief that anyone could say that. I guess we are free to have opinions and personal preferences as long as they agree with the tastes of our solons. I happen to tire of the classical music offered on the typical radio station program. No offence to Beethoven, but not 24-7. I was so pleased to discover a Sunday hour of Baroque music, an era that preceded Beethoven, includes such luminaries as Bach and Handel and often features trumpets and complex interwoven strings of music. It is not all violins all the time. So when someone says he "hates classical music," maybe what he is really saying is they need to expand the universe a little, get daring and maybe even play a little Purcell. But what do I know about programming?

How Not to Prosecute a War

We wonder why successful civilizations lose their vigor. I am not a historian and have only a layman's concept of the forces behind such declines.

However, we are now living through a time in which the United States and the its culture and power are being battered, and not by the influx of immigrants, a historical source of strength in this country's history. The U.S. is suffering from success.

When a population is living on the edge of survival as were the early settlers in this country, there is no room for windy debate and sensitive concern for the enemy. If you don't defend yourself vigorously, you die. The pilgrims had rules of engagement and protocols about treating captives, but they fought to survive.

The United States is now wealthy and comfortable. Its citizens have leisure time and disposable income and some feel secure enough to indulge in undermining the country's battles for survival. Yes, there are different opinions as to what exactly is threatening the U.S. and how dangerous it really is. But this is no way to prosecute a war.

A leader in battle needs to be able to make independent and timely decisions. He cannot afford to engage in a gentlemanly debate before every move. This is true for the Commander in Chief and it is true for the local squad leader on the ground. Once a decision is made to fight, the leaders must be allowed to fight effectively. Those who oppose the engagement need to try to stop it through democratic means. Undercutting the effort by such indirect means as misrepresentation in the press, an insistance on rules of engagement that foreclose successful engagement, constant second-guessing by opposition leaders with no viable alternatives to offer - these tactics serve only to emasculate the efforts of the honorable fighters.

It is a war of attrition against the leaders of the war effort. It swells the costs by requiring more effort to overcome the deleterious effects of this resistance. The leisured political class, with too much time on its hands, is engaged in a fight for political power at the expense of the country's security. This is no way to prosecute a war.