From the White House to Ithaca

The White House
Main Entrance

What an interesting day I experienced yesterday. The day began in Washington, DC, with a tour of The White House and ended with an arrival at my parents house near Ithaca, NY.

The White House tour was fabulous. It was cold waiting and walking around DC, but the tour was definitely worth the effort. I will write more about the tour itself tomorrow.

What was really interesting was that Chris and I were back at our house by 1130 AM, and I was on the road for Ithaca an hour later.

The trip to Ithaca started with the Baltimore beltway being shut down due to an accident, but WAZE got me around it. I drove into a snow squall in Shamokin Dam, but drove out after 10 miles.

The rest of the trip was thankfully uneventful.

What a day, however, it included the winter cold of DC, the elegance of The White House, and the snow of Ithaca.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Danby, NY

Space is not Just for Dreamers

John Glenn and Friendship 7

The passing of John Glenn at age 95 yesterday caused me to pause. The New York Times calls him an American Hero of the Space Age. He was the last surviving member of the Mercury 7--the first seven astronauts selected by NASA.

I remember growing up and following each successive barrier that was broken and each new achievement that was made during the Cold War Space Race. The pride of the country rode on the backs of a few brave men, yes they were all men then. 

Mercury 7 Astronauts

I learned new words like Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. I also learned about Redstones, and Saturns; the boosters that these brave barrier breakers rode into the heavens. 

My mind was on the space and space travel as I considered the possibilities. In my young mind, I believed that we would have missions to Mars during the 1990's. For a while I wanted to be an astronaut and ride the fire into the heavens.

The country chose to go another direction in space; developing the highly successful Space Shuttle program to haul payloads into low earth orbits. The dream of Mars remains. Sadly, the United States does not currently have the capability to launch people into space. There are no man-rated boosters or vehicles in the inventory and the cruel twist of fate is that we are dependent upon to Russians to carry Americans into orbit to the International Space Station. Many of our space launch vehicles rely upon Russian produced engines--the U.S. has lost the technological lead.

The space program provided something back then that our country lacks. We were dreamers and we set our sights on the stars. There were new horizons to conquer and the successes and the failures came almost every day. Life has become so routine since then. We still making stunning advances in space, but it has become the expectation.

Godspeed John Glenn!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Roads' End

I have had the pleasure of standing at the end (or was it the beginning) of two famous highways.

The beginning and end of US 1 in Key West is one. 

The other was Route 66, which ends on the Santa Monica Pier in California after traversing the western portion of the country.

US 1 is a road that I deal with daily. I drive on part of it every day. There is almost no way to leave my house and not traverse a portion of this famous North-South route which runs from Maine to the very southern tip of Florida. 

Route 66 is a bit more elusive for me as it runs East-West from Chicago to Santa Monica. But the road makes the famous connection across the middle portion of the country.

I have enjoyed being at the end/beginning of these famous highways an thinking amount how much of our country is connected because of them. Interstate highways may be faster, but in terms of connecting cities and towns and people, these two roads are some of the workhorses of our society.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

My Take: Projecting Power

Air Force One
Reagan Library

I was there, recently, at the Reagan Library and I saw it first hand. I saw and touched, and entered the aircraft that served as Air Force One during the Reagan administration.

It is beautiful. 

When it carries the President of the United States, it is the most important aircraft in the world!

I read with fascination yesterday how the President-elect was making an issue about the purchase of two new aircraft to serve as Air Force One. 

It is important to note that the current aircraft are almost 30 years old. There are a lot of improvements to technology which have occurred since these aircraft first flew.

When Air Force One touches down in a foreign country, it is a statement. The President of the United States has arrived and no other county's leader arrives in such a manner. It recently infuriated the Chinese and caused an incident. 

But Air Force one is more than transportation, It is an extension of the Office of the President. It is a working area that allows the conduct of the Executive branch to continue during long and otherwise non-productive flights. 

Air Force One is as much a projection of national power as sending an aircraft carrier into some country's backyard or flying B-52's along a disputed border area. It makes a statement: The U.S. is here. 

My Take: The President of the United States should not be transported in a 30 year old aircraft. Project power and prestige with a new symbol of national power. The President-elect needs to focus on big issues.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

When is a General Not?

General Mattis
Being Considered for Secretary of Defense

The construction of President-elect Trump's cabinet continues to draw the attention of the news media and his expected selection for Secretary of Defense is the current hot news item of the day.

I am happy the issue is not a Constitutional one, but a legal requirement imposed when the Department of Defense was created. Established during 1947 the Department did not take on its current name of Department of Defense (DoD) until 1949. An interesting twist of history.

The laws that established the DoD mandated that persons being appointed to the top jobs in the Department must be separated for at least 7 years. It was originally 10 years, but later amended. And even with the newly created DoD, an exception to the law was given for General George Marshall in 1950. 

My point here is that the "law" has been changed in the past and the situation must be evaluated based upon it merits. Sadly, the blind application of law seems more important that looking at the merits. 

I believe it is time for someone to lead the DoD who has experienced the weapons, tools and tactics being provided by the to the troops and he may be able to separate the good from the unnecessary. I believe that the DoD is bloated and inefficient, but much of that is due to Congressional mandates. If the DoD is going to become efficient, then Congress needs to back and allow DoD to get about the task of defending the nation. 

Maybe General Mattis will restore some swagger to the DoD.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - December 5, 2016

1. It is less than three weeks to Christmas.

2. The year 2016 is crashing to a close. I am amazed how quickly.

3. It is hard to make vacation plans if you don't know where you want to go.

4. There are a lot of Christmas specials on TV right now. I am glad they only show them once per year. 

5. It is exciting to watch the President-elect put together his team. It is being done very differently than on the past. That may be good.

6. How weird is the NFL this season. Seven of the teams that were in the playoffs last year may not make the playoffs this year. 

7. Thankfully, the weather has not been too miserable so far this season. We have had a bit of rain, but no snow, yet.

8. As the President-elect creates his new cabinet, I think it is important to remember the words of Ronald Reagan: “Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.”

9. Wine is a great addition to a holiday party.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Jingle Bells

It is the season for Christmas movies on TV and stories. Last evening I watched my favorite Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life produced in 1946 starring Jimmy Stewart. 

Seasonal songs are playing on the radio, we have our favorite station that plays Christmas songs 24/7.

I believe that December is the month where we combat the increasing darkness with seasonal songs. 

The sound of the song Jingle Bells reminds me of the joys of being a child listening for the sounds of Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve.

I am amazed at how the old songs are still the ones that I hear most. I hear Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song ten to twenty times per day. And Andy Williams is singing continuously somewhere in the background.

It all works together to make the season.

I enjoy the humor as well. The season is moving along so quickly. There are three weeks until Christmas! I can scarcely believe it is passing so quickly.

I may even begin counting the days until I plan to open my pool.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Midnight Madness in Old Ellicott City

Ellicott City
Midnight Madness
Looking up the Hill
December 2, 2016

It has been an annual event, the Midnight Madness in Old Ellicott City. This year, however, it was definitely different.  Old Ellicott City was almost destroyed by a ravaging flood during late July and many of the shops were not able to open. Those that did, bravely carried on the tradition. 

Ellicott City
December 2, 2016

I was pleased with the turn out of people trying to make normal again that which is still under repair. The shops near the top of the street, Ellicott City is built on a hill, were generally because they suffered less damage while those near the foot of the hill were partially open.

Signs of repair were everywhere, but as well, people were reveling in the cool temperatures and trying to infuse the Christmas season into their hearts. There were long line in some of the stores and I have to admit, many of the stores provided light refreshments including wine or champaign which was a very nice touch.

Ellicott City
December 2, 2016

School choirs were singing on the street and people were shopping. It was a resurgence for the city and the business district with many of the stores rushing to open for the event. That so many stores and restaurants were open was a miracle. 

But Ellicott City remains damaged and, sadly, I know that some of the shops and restaurants will never reopen. 

The flood was a disaster, but the spirit to rebuild is strong. I hope that Midnight Madness provided the stimulus to encourage the rebuilding to continue and eventually restore Old (or Historic) Ellicott City to it former radiance.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Recount

A vote recount is underway in Wisconsin, and a partial recount is underway in Pennsylvania according to a New York Times article titled, ‘We’re Going to Get This Done’: Wisconsin Vote Recount Is Underway.

Why?

It seems a huge waste of money.

I guess it is important to know that the electronic voting machines were not tampered with, but with Michigan falling into the Trump vote column the other day, the lead seems insurmountable.

Losing is hard to accept for some people especially given the breakdown of the popular vote, I get that. But we have to have faith in the integrity of the voting system.

Yes, I am one of the first to say things like, "Vote early, vote often!" But I don't mean it. I say it just to encourage people to get out and exercise their right, or is it a privilege, no it is a responsibility to vote.

As the world has changed from paper ballots to computers, we do need to ensure that the computer tallies cannot and are not tampered with.

Recount? Not to change the outcome, but rather to confirm it and provide confidence in our automated vote counting process.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

America the Great

One of the campaign slogans during the recent national election was "Make America Great Again."

I always took exception to that phrase because I could not determine when America stopped being great.

In my mind, America remains the greatest country on the planet. And why do I believe this? 

It is not because of our military, there are large militaries, but none better equipped than ours. It is not because of our leadership, because we all have seen through the facade of Washington. It is not because of our economy, even though we are one of the strongest and most resilient economies on the planet.

Why is America great?

It is because of our people. 

Ronald Reagan got it right when he said:

"The greatness of America doesn't begin in Washington; it begins with each of you -- in the mighty spirit of free people under God, in the bedrock values you live by each day in your families, neighborhoods, and workplaces."

Address to the Nation on the Eve of the Presidential Election, November 5, 1984

America is and always has been great!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD