The Drum Major Instinct-Speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, on 4 February 1968.

Martin Luther King Jr.
(delivered 4 February 1968)

This morning I would like to use as a subject from which to preach: "The Drum Major Instinct." "The Drum Major Instinct." And our text for the morning is taken from a very familiar passage in the tenth chapter as recorded by Saint Mark. Beginning with the thirty-fifth verse of that chapter, we read these words: "And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came unto him saying, ‘Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.' And he said unto them, ‘What would ye that I should do for you?' And they said unto him, ‘Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.' But Jesus said unto them, ‘Ye know not what ye ask: Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?' And they said unto him, ‘We can.' And Jesus said unto them, ‘Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of, and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.'" And then Jesus goes on toward the end of that passage to say, "But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your servant: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all."

The setting is clear. James and John are making a specific request of the master. They had dreamed, as most of the Hebrews dreamed, of a coming king of Israel who would set Jerusalem free and establish his kingdom on Mount Zion, and in righteousness rule the world. And they thought of Jesus as this kind of king. And they were thinking of that day when Jesus would reign supreme as this new king of Israel. And they were saying, "Now when you establish your kingdom, let one of us sit on the right hand and the other on the left hand of your throne."

Now very quickly, we would automatically condemn James and John, and we would say they were selfish. Why would they make such a selfish request? But before we condemn them too quickly, let us look calmly and honestly at ourselves, and we will discover that we too have those same basic desires for recognition, for importance. That same desire for attention, that same desire to be first. Of course, the other disciples got mad with James and John, and you could understand why, but we must understand that we have some of the same James and John qualities. And there is deep down within all of us an instinct. It's a kind of drum major instinct-a desire to be out front, a desire to lead the parade, a desire to be first. And it is something that runs the whole gamut of life.

And so before we condemn them, let us see that we all have the drum major instinct. We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade. Alfred Adler, the great psychoanalyst, contends that this is the dominant impulse. Sigmund Freud used to contend that sex was the dominant impulse, and Adler came with a new argument saying that this quest for recognition, this desire for attention, this desire for distinction is the basic impulse, the basic drive of human life, this drum major instinct.

And you know, we begin early to ask life to put us first. Our first cry as a baby was a bid for attention. And all through childhood the drum major impulse or instinct is a major obsession. Children ask life to grant them first place. They are a little bundle of ego. And they have innately the drum major impulse or the drum major instinct.

Now in adult life, we still have it, and we really never get by it. We like to do something good. And you know, we like to be praised for it. Now if you don't believe that, you just go on living life, and you will discover very soon that you like to be praised. Everybody likes it, as a matter of fact. And somehow this warm glow we feel when we are praised or when our name is in print is something of the vitamin A to our ego. Nobody is unhappy when they are praised, even if they know they don't deserve it and even if they don't believe it. The only unhappy people about praise is when that praise is going too much toward somebody else. (That's right) But everybody likes to be praised because of this real drum major instinct.

Now the presence of the drum major instinct is why so many people are "joiners." You know, there are some people who just join everything. And it's really a quest for attention and recognition and importance. And they get names that give them that impression. So you get your groups, and they become the "Grand Patron," and the little fellow who is henpecked at home needs a chance to be the "Most Worthy of the Most Worthy" of something. It is the drum major impulse and longing that runs the gamut of human life. And so we see it everywhere, this quest for recognition. And we join things, overjoin really, that we think that we will find that recognition in.

Now the presence of this instinct explains why we are so often taken by advertisers. You know, those gentlemen of massive verbal persuasion. And they have a way of saying things to you that kind of gets you into buying. In order to be a man of distinction, you must drink this whiskey. In order to make your neighbors envious, you must drive this type of car. (Make it plain) In order to be lovely to love you must wear this kind of lipstick or this kind of perfume. And you know, before you know it, you're just buying that stuff. (Yes) That's the way the advertisers do it.

I got a letter the other day, and it was a new magazine coming out. And it opened up, "Dear Dr. King: As you know, you are on many mailing lists. And you are categorized as highly intelligent, progressive, a lover of the arts and the sciences, and I know you will want to read what I have to say." Of course I did. After you said all of that and explained me so exactly, of course I wanted to read it. [laughter]

But very seriously, it goes through life; the drum major instinct is real. (Yes) And you know what else it causes to happen? It often causes us to live above our means. (Make it plain) It's nothing but the drum major instinct. Do you ever see people buy cars that they can't even begin to buy in terms of their income? (Amen) [laughter] You've seen people riding around in Cadillacs and Chryslers who don't earn enough to have a good T-Model Ford. (Make it plain) But it feeds a repressed ego.

You know, economists tell us that your automobile should not cost more than half of your annual income. So if you make an income of five thousand dollars, your car shouldn't cost more than about twenty-five hundred. That's just good economics. And if it's a family of two, and both members of the family make ten thousand dollars, they would have to make out with one car. That would be good economics, although it's often inconvenient. But so often, haven't you seen people making five thousand dollars a year and driving a car that costs six thousand? And they wonder why their ends never meet. [laughter] That's a fact.

Now the economists also say that your house shouldn't cost-if you're buying a house, it shouldn't cost more than twice your income. That's based on the economy and how you would make ends meet. So, if you have an income of five thousand dollars, it's kind of difficult in this society. But say it's a family with an income of ten thousand dollars, the house shouldn't cost much more than twenty thousand. Well, I've seen folk making ten thousand dollars, living in a forty- and fifty-thousand-dollar house. And you know they just barely make it. They get a check every month somewhere, and they owe all of that out before it comes in. Never have anything to put away for rainy days.

But now the problem is, it is the drum major instinct. And you know, you see people over and over again with the drum major instinct taking them over. And they just live their lives trying to outdo the Joneses. (Amen) They got to get this coat because this particular coat is a little better and a little better-looking than Mary's coat. And I got to drive this car because it's something about this car that makes my car a little better than my neighbor's car. (Amen) I know a man who used to live in a thirty-five-thousand-dollar house. And other people started building thirty-five-thousand-dollar houses, so he built a seventy-five-thousand-dollar house. And then somebody else built a seventy-five-thousand-dollar house, and he built a hundred-thousand-dollar house. And I don't know where he's going to end up if he's going to live his life trying to keep up with the Joneses.

There comes a time that the drum major instinct can become destructive. (Make it plain) And that's where I want to move now. I want to move to the point of saying that if this instinct is not harnessed, it becomes a very dangerous, pernicious instinct. For instance, if it isn't harnessed, it causes one's personality to become distorted. I guess that's the most damaging aspect of it: what it does to the personality. If it isn't harnessed, you will end up day in and day out trying to deal with your ego problem by boasting. Have you ever heard people that-you know, and I'm sure you've met them-that really become sickening because they just sit up all the time talking about themselves. (Amen) And they just boast and boast and boast, and that's the person who has not harnessed the drum major instinct.

And then it does other things to the personality. It causes you to lie about who you know sometimes. (Amen, Make it plain) There are some people who are influence peddlers. And in their attempt to deal with the drum major instinct, they have to try to identify with the so-called big-name people. (Yeah, Make it plain) And if you're not careful, they will make you think they know somebody that they don't really know. (Amen) They know them well, they sip tea with them, and they this-and-that. That happens to people.

And the other thing is that it causes one to engage ultimately in activities that are merely used to get attention. Criminologists tell us that some people are driven to crime because of this drum major instinct. They don't feel that they are getting enough attention through the normal channels of social behavior, and so they turn to anti-social behavior in order to get attention, in order to feel important. (Yeah) And so they get that gun, and before they know it they robbed a bank in a quest for recognition, in a quest for importance.

And then the final great tragedy of the distorted personality is the fact that when one fails to harness this instinct, (Glory to God) he ends up trying to push others down in order to push himself up. (Amen) And whenever you do that, you engage in some of the most vicious activities. You will spread evil, vicious, lying gossip on people, because you are trying to pull them down in order to push yourself up. (Make it plain) And the great issue of life is to harness the drum major instinct.

Now the other problem is, when you don't harness the drum major instinct-this uncontrolled aspect of it-is that it leads to snobbish exclusivism. It leads to snobbish exclusivism. (Make it plain) And you know, this is the danger of social clubs and fraternities-I'm in a fraternity; I'm in two or three-for sororities and all of these, I'm not talking against them. I'm saying it's the danger. The danger is that they can become forces of classism and exclusivism where somehow you get a degree of satisfaction because you are in something exclusive. And that's fulfilling something, you know-that I'm in this fraternity, and it's the best fraternity in the world, and everybody can't get in this fraternity. So it ends up, you know, a very exclusive kind of thing.

And you know, that can happen with the church; I know churches get in that bind sometimes. (Amen, Make it plain) I've been to churches, you know, and they say, "We have so many doctors, and so many school teachers, and so many lawyers, and so many businessmen in our church." And that's fine, because doctors need to go to church, and lawyers, and businessmen, teachers-they ought to be in church. But they say that-even the preacher sometimes will go all through that-they say that as if the other people don't count. (Amen)

And the church is the one place where a doctor ought to forget that he's a doctor. The church is the one place where a Ph.D. ought to forget that he's a Ph.D. (Yes) The church is the one place that the school teacher ought to forget the degree she has behind her name. The church is the one place where the lawyer ought to forget that he's a lawyer. And any church that violates the "whosoever will, let him come" doctrine is a dead, cold church, (Yes) and nothing but a little social club with a thin veneer of religiosity.

When the church is true to its nature, (Whoo) it says, "Whosoever will, let him come." (Yes) And it does not supposed to satisfy the perverted uses of the drum major instinct. It's the one place where everybody should be the same, standing before a common master and savior. (Yes, sir) And a recognition grows out of this-that all men are brothers because they are children (Yes) of a common father.

The drum major instinct can lead to exclusivism in one's thinking and can lead one to feel that because he has some training, he's a little better than that person who doesn't have it. Or because he has some economic security, that he's a little better than that person who doesn't have it. And that's the uncontrolled, perverted use of the drum major instinct.

Now the other thing is, that it leads to tragic-and we've seen it happen so often-tragic race prejudice. Many who have written about this problem-Lillian Smith used to say it beautifully in some of her books. And she would say it to the point of getting men and women to see the source of the problem. Do you know that a lot of the race problem grows out of the drum major instinct? A need that some people have to feel superior. A need that some people have to feel that they are first, and to feel that their white skin ordained them to be first. (Make it plain, today, ‘cause I'm against it, so help me God) And they have said over and over again in ways that we see with our own eyes. In fact, not too long ago, a man down in Mississippi said that God was a charter member of the White Citizens Council. And so God being the charter member means that everybody who's in that has a kind of divinity, a kind of superiority. And think of what has happened in history as a result of this perverted use of the drum major instinct. It has led to the most tragic prejudice, the most tragic expressions of man's inhumanity to man.

The other day I was saying, I always try to do a little converting when I'm in jail. And when we were in jail in Birmingham the other day, the white wardens and all enjoyed coming around the cell to talk about the race problem. And they were showing us where we were so wrong demonstrating. And they were showing us where segregation was so right. And they were showing us where intermarriage was so wrong. So I would get to preaching, and we would get to talking-calmly, because they wanted to talk about it. And then we got down one day to the point-that was the second or third day-to talk about where they lived, and how much they were earning. And when those brothers told me what they were earning, I said, "Now, you know what? You ought to be marching with us. [laughter] You're just as poor as Negroes." And I said, "You are put in the position of supporting your oppressor, because through prejudice and blindness, you fail to see that the same forces that oppress Negroes in American society oppress poor white people. (Yes) And all you are living on is the satisfaction of your skin being white, and the drum major instinct of thinking that you are somebody big because you are white. And you're so poor you can't send your children to school. You ought to be out here marching with every one of us every time we have a march."

Now that's a fact. That the poor white has been put into this position, where through blindness and prejudice, (Make it plain) he is forced to support his oppressors. And the only thing he has going for him is the false feeling that he's superior because his skin is white-and can't hardly eat and make his ends meet week in and week out. (Amen)

And not only does this thing go into the racial struggle, it goes into the struggle between nations. And I would submit to you this morning that what is wrong in the world today is that the nations of the world are engaged in a bitter, colossal contest for supremacy. And if something doesn't happen to stop this trend, I'm sorely afraid that we won't be here to talk about Jesus Christ and about God and about brotherhood too many more years. (Yeah) If somebody doesn't bring an end to this suicidal thrust that we see in the world today, none of us are going to be around, because somebody's going to make the mistake through our senseless blunderings of dropping a nuclear bomb somewhere. And then another one is going to drop. And don't let anybody fool you, this can happen within a matter of seconds. (Amen) They have twenty-megaton bombs in Russia right now that can destroy a city as big as New York in three seconds, with everybody wiped away, and every building. And we can do the same thing to Russia and China.

But this is why we are drifting. And we are drifting there because nations are caught up with the drum major instinct. "I must be first." "I must be supreme." "Our nation must rule the world." (Preach it) And I am sad to say that the nation in which we live is the supreme culprit. And I'm going to continue to say it to America, because I love this country too much to see the drift that it has taken.

God didn't call America to do what she's doing in the world now. (Preach it, preach it) God didn't call America to engage in a senseless, unjust war as the war in Vietnam. And we are criminals in that war. We've committed more war crimes almost than any nation in the world, and I'm going to continue to say it. And we won't stop it because of our pride and our arrogance as a nation.

But God has a way of even putting nations in their place. (Amen) The God that I worship has a way of saying, "Don't play with me." (Yes) He has a way of saying, as the God of the Old Testament used to say to the Hebrews, "Don't play with me, Israel. Don't play with me, Babylon. (Yes) Be still and know that I'm God. And if you don't stop your reckless course, I'll rise up and break the backbone of your power." (Yes) And that can happen to America. (Yes) Every now and then I go back and read Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. And when I come and look at America, I say to myself, the parallels are frightening. And we have perverted the drum major instinct.

But let me rush on to my conclusion, because I want you to see what Jesus was really saying. What was the answer that Jesus gave these men? It's very interesting. One would have thought that Jesus would have condemned them. One would have thought that Jesus would have said, "You are out of your place. You are selfish. Why would you raise such a question?"

But that isn't what Jesus did; he did something altogether different. He said in substance, "Oh, I see, you want to be first. You want to be great. You want to be important. You want to be significant. Well, you ought to be. If you're going to be my disciple, you must be." But he reordered priorities. And he said, "Yes, don't give up this instinct. It's a good instinct if you use it right. (Yes) It's a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be first in love. (Amen) I want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in generosity. That is what I want you to do."

And he transformed the situation by giving a new definition of greatness. And you know how he said it? He said, "Now brethren, I can't give you greatness. And really, I can't make you first." This is what Jesus said to James and John. "You must earn it. True greatness comes not by favoritism, but by fitness. And the right hand and the left are not mine to give, they belong to those who are prepared." (Amen)

And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important-wonderful. If you want to be recognized-wonderful. If you want to be great-wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. (Amen) That's a new definition of greatness.

And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, (Everybody) because everybody can serve. (Amen) You don't have to have a college degree to serve. (All right) You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. (Amen) You only need a heart full of grace, (Yes, sir, Amen) a soul generated by love. (Yes) And you can be that servant.

I know a man-and I just want to talk about him a minute, and maybe you will discover who I'm talking about as I go down the way (Yeah) because he was a great one. And he just went about serving. He was born in an obscure village, (Yes, sir) the child of a poor peasant woman. And then he grew up in still another obscure village, where he worked as a carpenter until he was thirty years old. (Amen) Then for three years, he just got on his feet, and he was an itinerant preacher. And he went about doing some things. He didn't have much. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. (Yes) He never owned a house. He never went to college. He never visited a big city. He never went two hundred miles from where he was born. He did none of the usual things that the world would associate with greatness. He had no credentials but himself.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. They called him a rabble-rouser. They called him a troublemaker. They said he was an agitator. (Glory to God) He practiced civil disobedience; he broke injunctions. And so he was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. And the irony of it all is that his friends turned him over to them. (Amen) One of his closest friends denied him. Another of his friends turned him over to his enemies. And while he was dying, the people who killed him gambled for his clothing, the only possession that he had in the world. (Lord help him) When he was dead he was buried in a borrowed tomb, through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen centuries have come and gone and today he stands as the most influential figure that ever entered human history. All of the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned put together (Yes) have not affected the life of man on this earth (Amen) as much as that one solitary life. His name may be a familiar one. (Jesus) But today I can hear them talking about him. Every now and then somebody says, "He's King of Kings." (Yes) And again I can hear somebody saying, "He's Lord of Lords." Somewhere else I can hear somebody saying, "In Christ there is no East nor West." (Yes) And then they go on and talk about, "In Him there's no North and South, but one great Fellowship of Love throughout the whole wide world." He didn't have anything. (Amen) He just went around serving and doing good.

This morning, you can be on his right hand and his left hand if you serve. (Amen) It's the only way in.

Every now and then I guess we all think realistically (Yes, sir) about that day when we will be victimized with what is life's final common denominator-that something that we call death. We all think about it. And every now and then I think about my own death and I think about my own funeral. And I don't think of it in a morbid sense. And every now and then I ask myself, "What is it that I would want said?" And I leave the word to you this morning.

If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don't want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. (Yes) And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize-that isn't important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards-that's not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. (Yes)

I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. (Yes)

I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.

I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. (Amen)

I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. (Yes)

And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. (Yes)

I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. (Lord)

I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. (Yes)

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. (Amen) Say that I was a drum major for peace. (Yes) I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. (Yes) I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. (Amen) And that's all I want to say.

If I can help somebody as I pass along,

If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,

If I can show somebody he's traveling wrong,

Then my living will not be in vain.

If I can do my duty as a Christian ought,

If I can bring salvation to a world once wrought,

If I can spread the message as the master taught,

Then my living will not be in vain.

Yes, Jesus, I want to be on your right or your left side, (Yes) not for any selfish reason. I want to be on your right or your left side, not in terms of some political kingdom or ambition. But I just want to be there in love and in justice and in truth and in commitment to others, so that we can make of this old world a new world.


Delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, on 4 February 1968.

Sarah Palin campaigns in Perry Georgia for Sen Saxby Chambliss

Georgia:Sarah Palin in huge boost for Sen. Saxby Chambliss campaign

The Dec. 2nd senate runoff in Georgia between Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin has assumed huge local and national significance.
The Democrats at present hold 58 seats in the Senate. 60 seats would provide a filibuster proof majority and give the Dems absolute power. Victory in the recount in Minnesota and in the run off election in Georgia would provide the necessary two seats and relegate the GOP to relative powerlessness.

A titanic struggle is under way in Georgia. This is a state, which in the normal course of events should go to the GOP. However on this occasion it could slip away.
John McCain , former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney have campaigned for Chambliss. Former president Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore have appeared for Martin.

Between Oct. 16 and Nov.12, FEC filings show that Martin raised $2.4 million to Chambliss' $1.9 million.NARAL Pro-Choice America, the Service Employees International Union, the League Of Conservation Voters Action Fund and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have sent more than $1.7 million to help Martin.

A new poll conducted for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee by the Mellman Group now shows Chambliss leading Martin 48% to 46%. Thus the election is too close to call.
It is against this background that the entrance of Sarah Palin is highly significant. Palin wowed the conservative base in the presidential campaign and drew massive crowds. The McCain-Palin ticket carried Georgia on Nov. 4 by about 200,000 votes. Her decision to campaign in Georgia for Chambliss will push the GOP machine into overdrive and should help to tilt the balance. Sarah Palin will join Chambliss for four public rallies on Monday, December 1st: 8:30 am in Augusta; 11:00 am in Savannah; 1:30 pm in Perry; and 4:00 pm in north metro Atlanta.

Saxby Chambliss is the better choice for Georgia (Record far superior to that of Jim Martin)

Saxby Chambliss has a strong track record as a Senator and deserves to win the run off. Now that Ted Stevens has lost his Alaskan Senate seat and Al Franken is within two hundred votes of overtaking Norm Coleman with the Minnesota recount yet to even begin, the Chambliss seat is all that stands between the Democrats and 60 votes in the Senate, which would foil Republican filibusters. These filibusters are essential to stymie Crackpot Economics espoused by the Democrats. Lets look at the policies espoused by Saxby Chambliss and Jim Martin. Saxby Chambliss is more in tune with mainstream America. Jim Martin is out of touch on the key issues.

Taxes:

Saxby Chambliss is for lower taxes and is the Senate sponsor of the Fair Tax.
Jim Martin voted for the largest tax increase in Georgia history - a vote that raised taxes by $687 million and raised the sales tax by 32 percent.

Abortion:

Saxby is pro-life. Jim Martin voted against banning partial birth abortion.

Healthcare:

Saxby Chambliss believes Georgians should choose their own doctors. Jim Martin supports national healthcare where the government chooses your doctor for you.

Judiciary:

Saxby Chambliss supports judges who strictly interpret the law. Jim Martin supports liberal, activist judges who legislate from the bench.

Energy:

Saxby Chambliss supports increasing America's energy independence by drilling offshore. Jim Martin does not support domestic drilling and will be an ally of Barack Obama to reinstate the ban on offshore drilling.

Legislative Priority:

Saxby Chambliss works for Georgia. Jim Martin works for Barack Obama and liberal Democrats.

McCain outpoints Obama in spirited debate at OXFORD, Mississippi

This was a highly spirited debate. John McCain looked particularly fresh. This is amazing considering his exertions in recent days.
On the economy McCain burned Obama badly. Obama voted for 932 million dollars worth of earmarks. McCain hit him particularly hard on this. Obama could not explain where he would cut expenditure. Obama had plenty of populist sound bytes. McCain stressed a spending freeze. When confronted with this Obama funked the question. McCain caught Obama on the oil industry. McCain trumpeted his long opposition to earmarks. Obama had no comeback.Obama's plans for increased business taxes will speed an outflow of investment from the US. Workers have much to fear from an Obama presidency. Obama spoke about middle class tax cuts but then had to admit that many of the promises could not be implemented because of the deficit. So essentially these promises are hot air.

On foreign policy McCain had a greater overall grasp. Obama got caught out on Iran and Russia/Georgia and a potential attack on Pakistan. McCain showed a far greater grasp of foreign affairs. Obama trotted out some rehearsed answers that were naïve. He appeared rather lightweight. McCain’s reference to Putin –“I saw three letters KGB in his eyes sums up the reality of foreign policy. Obama’s approach appears more wishful thinking – a hope for the best approach. McCain exposed a frightening naivety in Obama’s approach to Iran. Quite simply John McCain is better able to deal with the worlds hard men.
On energy McCain stressed off shore drilling nuclear and renewable. Obama stressed renewable. On energy the advantage was with McCain.
To independent voters McCain appeared more presidential. McCain exuded gravitas and experience. Eight times in the course of the debate Obama commenced a sentence with the words "You are right John". Game set and match to McCain.

Palin's ABC comments on Russia misrepresented in new smear-Palin did NOT say that she would attack Russia

Some Democrats and their allies in the liberal media and leftist blogosphere have begun to spin a new smear against Sarah Palin on the basis of comments made in an interview with Charlie Gibson on ABC.
This interview was laced with booby traps.

In the interview Palin stressed her support for Georgian membership of NATO. Barack Obama and Joe Biden also support Georgian membership of NATO. Now it is important to bear in mind that NATO policy, states that an armed attack against one or more of the Allies in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all. Obama and Biden obviously agree with this.
GIBSON: "And under the NATO treaty, wouldn't we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?
PALIN: PERHAPS SO. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help."

It is important to consider Palin's words carefully here. Her reply is nuanced. She holds to NATO policy. However she uses the words PERHAPS SO. This is the mark of a skilful politician. She did not state that she favoured an attack on Russia. She left open the possibility. She has wriggle room. The word "Perhaps" according to Websters dictionary means any of the following: possibly but not certainly, maybe or something open to doubt.
If she had not held to NATO policy she would have given Russia the green light to attack NATO countries such as Poland. Russia has already threatened Poland.

Russia respects tough opponents. Russia will not risk adventurism if it knows the likely consequences. It will risk adventurism if it detects weakness. Sarah Palin did not say she would go to war with Russia. She said PERHAPS SO. JFK adopted the same policy. Remember Cuban Missile Crisis.
In the interview also:
PALIN: "We cannot repeat the Cold War. We are thankful that, under Reagan, we won the Cold War, without a shot fired, also. We've learned lessons from that in our relationship with Russia, previously the Soviet Union.
We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it's in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along. "

Democrat smear merchants omitted these comments.

She clearly has a strong grasp of foreign policy detail and has the pragmatism to accompany it.

Stop the bear-an Analysis by Mart Laar of the huge Russian threat to Europe

By Mart Laar via International Herald Tribune and SOS Georgia

Though Russia has not yet achieved the main goal of its attack against Georgia - the removal of the democratically elected president and his replacement with somebody who would bring Georgia back under Russian influence - it appears that the fighting is slowly coming to an end. A cease-fire has been signed, though Russia and its allies are ignoring it.

Looking beyond the wreckage of Gori and Tskhinvali to the long-term implications for Europe’s relationship with Russia, it is clear that there can be no return to the status quo.
Until Russian tanks rolled across the Caucasus it was common in parts of Europe to put tensions with Moscow down to a series of unfortunate misunderstandings. Warnings from new European Union member states on Russia’s growing aggressiveness were not heeded. Prospects for an improvement in relations were talked up with reassuring phrases about “common values,” “enhanced dialogue” and “strategic partnership,” as if the only thing missing was a bit of diplomatic effort on our part.

For the sake of Europe, we must now dispose of these illusions. This was not an “accidental war,” as some prefer to see it. It was the culmination of a deliberate strategy by Russia to undermine the sovereignty and independence of its neighbors and to begin to restore its former sphere of influence by force. It is wishful thinking to imagine that Russia’s ambitions are limited to South Ossetia or even Georgia.
The Kremlin’s “national greatness” project dictates that the whole of eastern Europe, including countries that are now part of the EU and NATO, should be subservient to the interests of Russia.

Nothing in the Western response to the attack on Georgia will convince Russia’s leaders that this objective is beyond them. On the contrary, they are likely to feel emboldened by the experience to go further unless the West grasps what is happening and establishes clear limits.
It is quite wrong to see Russia’s behavior as reckless and unpredictable. The ground for this war was carefully prepared over a period of years in which the Kremlin probed and tested the willingness of Western government to resist its encroachments.
It used energy cut-offs to intimidate Ukraine and Lithuania, waged cyberwar against Estonia, imposed trade sanctions on Poland and grabbed foreign energy investments at home.
In Georgia, Russia supported a build-up of separatist armed forces and provoked them to attack Georgia; introduced an aggressive economic blockade against Georgia; tried to undermine Georgia’s Western-minded government; launched missiles against Georgian territory, and shot down Georgian reconnaissance planes.

Having failed to encounter a concerted pushback in response to any of these measures, it was inevitable that Russia would resort to hard military power. Russia calculated this step very carefully. Through our inattention and weakness, it is we in the EU who have been reckless.
It is time to face up to some uncomfortable truths about our relationship with Russia. The most important of these is to recognize that the current Russian political elite does not share our most cherished European values. It rejects multiparty democracy, human rights and freedom of speech as the basis of its domestic political system.

More important, it denies sovereign independence, self-determination, the rule of international law, peaceful diplomacy and voluntary integration as the basis of interstate relations. Since these principles form the basis of the modern European state system, we are faced with a fundamental clash of political values.

Russia’s determination to reintroduce power politics, including the use of war as an instrument of policy, is a direct threat to the very foundations of the EU. We cannot afford to ignore that any longer.

We cannot reverse that impression and defend our value system effectively with the EU’s existing approach to Russia. The selfish and short-sighted bilateralism by which certain European countries have put their own concerns before those of Europe as a whole needs to be replaced by a policy of real solidarity. We need to counter Russia’s abusive use of gas and oil supplies by developing a single European energy system with a real external policy.
We should realize that the time is not right to extend the privileges of strategic partnership to the Russians or perhaps even allow them to benefit from accession to the WTO. Instead, we should focus on integrating with those democracies in Eastern Europe that share our values and want to be part of the EU. These measures are necessary for restoring the integrity of a European state system based on democracy and the rule of law.

Unfortunately, the EU’s failure to act in a timely fashion means that such tools of “soft power” are no longer sufficient on their own. Russia has reintroduced military force into the equation, so the defense of democratic Europe needs to acquire a harder edge.
It would be sheer folly to conclude that Georgia and Ukraine should now be kept out of NATO. It was precisely the failure of the Bucharest summit to back the promise of membership with real substance that encouraged Russia to believe that it had an opportunity to prevent the inevitable.

If we reward Russia’s aggression by continuing to keep Georgia and Ukraine in the waiting room, we should not be surprised if the result is more aggression.
No one should be in doubt any longer about what is at stake in our relationship with Russia. This is a moment of danger and choice for Europe. Do we have the willpower to stand up for our way of life and everything we have built, or will we succumb to power politics and autocracy? If we remain paralyzed by indecision, the choice will be made for us.

Mart Laar was the prime minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002 .

12 August Bombardment in Gori Georgia

Via Russia and Georgia At War

Stories by eye-witnesses (Russia and Georgia at War)

The following is taken from the Russia and Georgia At War blog. The stories are by eyewitnesses (letters received on email). They are heart rending and serve to display the futility of war.

"It should be my wedding day today . . . I'm looking at my wedding dress and don't know if I will ever see my fiancé. It's been the second day that he's not answering my calls. Yesterday, on BBC, I saw the Georgian hostages, walled and waiting to be shot by Russians. I looked at the back of the neck of one of the soldiers and thought that it looked exactly like my fiancé's. . . I know it's silly. . . Everyone's necks look the same from the back. I know I should not think negative . . . and brace myself . . . I've never been religious, but now, I cannot do anything but praying to God. I try not to cry . . . What is happening in my country is not expectable . . . I'd like to ask the world not to leave us in front of this bloody dragon – Russia. Georgia is not Russia's last prey. Tomorrow its' going to be Ukraine, then the rest of the Europe. Please defend us, defend yourselves! "
Tamta Kilasonia
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The Russian shell ruined down the Public School of Kurta. Arkad Mekhaturashvili, employee of the school, who was blocked inside, was asking to be taken out. In response to his help plea Russian invader killed him.
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Kato Papelashvili was killed in the yard of her house and she is still unburied.
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The old married couple residing in the village of Achabeti is trying to hide away from Russian invaders. They contact us and tell about Russian aggressors trespassing the houses owned by Georgians, robbing and taking any goods and finally setting the houses to fire.
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Happened incredible thing: Russian barbarians demolished our gorge. They bombed houses; houses with people inside were in flames. We left our homes and escaped, the road was horrifying: bombs were exploding in front of us damaging cars and people. I saw a car packed with people blew up, human intestines were flying in the air. Some women from my village chose other way to leave the gorge, through river and forests. Cars were carrying bodies of young boys. The gorge is full of dead bodies who were not buried and have been left for crows to eat. I saw a woman who bowled up in front of her house, she was split in many many parts. Wounded asked for help, but there was nobody able to help them. I saw how Russians put two men in sacks and shoot them… Elders stayed in gorge. My parents stayed there. My dad has diabetes and can’t walk. I know their life is in danger, they know it too and they are waiting for death.
Tina Khutsishvili
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It is the tenth day that I am back from Oxford, Saint John College. I studied antique writings in order to understand the concept of hero in antiquity. I came back to Tbilisi, were my husband and two little children were waiting for me. My husband is actively involved in school reform and works to inculcate tolerance in pupils. One of my sisters travels across the Caucasus holding film festival "Nationality Human" and organizes discussions on human rights issues. My second sister makes films on human rights. The war had started absolutely unexpectedly couple of days ago. My husband was recruited together with his pupils as reservist. My sister was blocked in western Georgia, where she had been looking for the place to make a film, the other sister tried to contact her Ossetian friends to get news. All day long I heard Russian aircrafts shelling city of Gori, which is some 50 kilometers far from the conflict zone. My husband was in Gori. I saw burning houses, killed and wounded people on TV. The mobile connection was paralyzed and I had no idea of what had happened to my husband. Later he and his friends came back alive. Unfortunately, I don't need antique texts any more in order to understand what heroism means, as each of us are expected to be heroes right now. Afterwards, if I stay alive, I will write on heroism nowadays.
Ketevan Gurchiani
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Maybe what I want to tell you is not so shocking, but I was crossing Gori on Sunday (place which Russia troops were bombing intensively). I was travelling with my son who is only 10 years old. We were terrified - the city seems to be dead. There were many destroyed buildings, only the gray ruins and terrified silence - no children voices, nor laugh… and what was scaring was the sky, where each moment could be visible Russian Bombardiers. And my son was asking me questions, the meaning of the words were not clear for me when I was 10. He was speaking about troop's location, about international Human Low, and the Moratorium… What a pity to take away the childhood from our children!
Manana Ratiani

Russian invasion of Georgia is a PR disaster-Has a new Cold War begun?

Today Russian forces overran the strategic Georgian city of Gori and are attacking on two fronts. Georgian forces have have fallen back and are preparing to defend the capital Tbilisi.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the original conflict Russia is now seen as an agressor by many political observers.

Russia's ambassador to Nato declared that Mr Saakashvili "is no longer a man that we can deal with". Dmitri Rogozin said: "He must be punished for breaching international law. He is responsible for many war crimes." Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, said that Russia would continue its military operation until "its logical end".

Obviously Russia wishes to topple the democratically elected leader of Georgia. This has very serious implications for world peace. Will Ukraine and Poland now face similar punishment? If so the West cannot stand idly by. Russia is bitterly opposed to closer links between the US and many former Communist East European countries. Putin wishes to send a threatening message to the leaders of those countries: You can have closer links with the US at your peril. Russia could quite easily sleep walk into a world war. Is that what Putin wants?

This invasion of Georgia brings to mind Russian tanks crushing the Dubcek regime in Czechoslovakia. Of course the Hungarian uprising and the workers uprising in East Berlin were also smashed by Russian tanks.
The invasion reawakens memories of the worst excesses of Stalinism. Russia has scored a huge PR own goal. Grave doubt must exist about the durability of Russian democracy.
Western European countries which had been moving towards closer economic links with Russia will now take stock.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline which is operated by BP and which transports one million barrels a day from Azerbaijan to the Mediterranean was targeted by Russian bombers. The £2 billion pipeline running through Georgia is the only major conduit for Central Asian resources not under Russian control and is of vital importance to Western Europe.

The Kremlin under Vladimir Putin, Russia's former president and now prime minister, has used gas exports to Europe as a tool of foreign policy. In 2007 Russia cut off oil supplies to Belarus therby affecting supplies to Germany and Poland amongst other neighbouring countries. In 2006 Russia demanded a hike in gas prices from Ukraine. Western Europe gets 25 percent of its gas from Russia with 80 percent of that coming via the pipeline through the Ukraine.
Thus Russia has the ability to blackmail Western Europe using energy as a tool. Increasingly Russia is seen as untrustworthy.

The invasion of Georgia further cements this view. Russian leaders need to rethink their strategy. Of course a newly confident Russia buoyed up by huge oil revenues may choose to ignore world opinion.
If so it is on a course to political isolation. A new Cold War may already have commenced.

Rugby Union-World Cup

One of the most encouraging aspects of the pool stages is the performance of the minnows such as the USA, Canada, Namibia, Georgia and Samoa. On the African continent Rugby Union is growing in popularity. The game is becoming a truly world wide sport.

Ireland's performance against Namibia was abysmal. Todays laboured victory against Georgia was scarcely much better. Ireland fielded its strongest team whilst Georgia introduced eleven new players. The part timers from the French second division outfought the Irish full time professionals.

On the field of play Eddie O Sullivans conservatism is smothering flair. In the course of games he is slow to alter tactics. Since he was appointed coach he has tended to use a safety first approach and has failed to blood sufficient new talent. In many cases there is an absence of real competition for places. In addition I suspect that some players are more concerned with the European Cup than the World Cup. Most of their income comes from club rugby. There appears to be an absence of hunger in the squad.

Georgian players are using the World Cup to showcase their talents. Undoubtedly some of them will secure lucrative contracts with European clubs. Their scrummaging tackling and line out work tonight were excellent. They dominated possession for much of the game and deserved at least a draw.

Ireland now face France. The omens are not good. Hopefully the team shakes off the conservative shackles and plays with flair.