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BTaylor

About Brad Taylor

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So far Brad Taylor has created 84 blog entries.
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A Realpolitik Look at a Moral Conundrum

The savage murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate located in Turkey, followed by his dismemberment by bone saw, has generated worldwide horror and headlines, mostly centered on whether the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman (known as MBS for short), had directly ordered his killing. The argument in the United States has split along moralistic and realistic lines, with the moral side stating that a state-sanctioned murder must be confronted, no matter how powerful the man who ordered it.  The realist side states that [...]

By |2022-01-29T15:44:48-05:00November 26th, 2018|Blog|6 Comments
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Five Fast Facts from the Singapore Summit

The summit in Singapore between the United States and the DPRK is over, and there is a lot of discussion in the press, to say the least.  Here are five takeaways that I saw: The word “historic” has been used quite a bit about the meeting between Kim Jong Un and President Trump, but truly, the only thing historic about it was that the president of the United States attended. Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama all had a standing invitation to meet with their respective counterpart in the [...]

By |2018-06-13T17:22:54-04:00June 12th, 2018|Uncategorized|0 Comments
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The Syrian Conundrum Part Four – Rinse and Repeat

After the latest strikes in Syria, President Donald Trump tweeted, “Mission Accomplished!” Besides the obvious subliminal baggage of using the same term that President George W. Bush used early on in a war in which we’re still embroiled fifteen years later, what, exactly does that mean? What “mission” was accomplished? And I mean beyond the partisan divide. Beyond the left shouting that President Trump was “wagging the dog” to detract from his lawyer’s office raid and FBI Director Comey’s upcoming blistering memoir, and the right shouting that the [...]

By |2022-01-29T15:45:30-05:00April 15th, 2018|Blog|5 Comments
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Another tragic shooting, and the same tired arguments. Why is that?

After the Las Vegas Massacre, I wrote a blog for FoxNews.com. After the tragic events in Florida, I thought it was appropriate to post it again here, on my website.  Not to start a debate, but to show where the debate now stands and why nothing gets done.  There are sensible gun safety regulations I would support, but honestly, because of the partisan world we live in, I have no faith in the opposition to offer anything that would prevent the tragedy that occurred, instead using the tragedy [...]

By |2018-02-16T19:42:06-05:00February 16th, 2018|Blog, Uncategorized|10 Comments
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Transgenders in the Military? Please stop the Hyperbole – It’s Not About Equality.

President Trump’s tweet on transgender personnel serving in the military has generated enormous controversy, but – besides the incredibly idiotic way it was announced (I’m sure PACOM now has a staff duty officer whose sole function is to look at Trump’s twitter feed for “I’m going to war with North Korea”) – the actual issue is being buried in the weeds of emotion. First off, even though I’ll be tarred and feathered with the following slurs, let me say upfront I’m not homophobic. I’m not transphobic. I don’t [...]

By |2020-05-09T13:04:19-04:00July 29th, 2017|Blog|44 Comments
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The Syrian Conundrum Part III: Crossing the red line…Again

  To say the least, the Tomahawk strike on Syria has caused a great amount of chatter throughout the world, but most of it is misplaced and some is outright outlandish. I thought I’d weigh in, not in a partisan way, with an agenda, but simply to clear the air a bit. So here, in no order of precedence, are the primary questions being asked: Who did the chemical strike in Syria? The minute I heard that chemical weapons had been used in Idlib, the first thing I [...]

By |2017-11-29T22:34:34-05:00April 9th, 2017|Blog|18 Comments
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Some fast facts on NATO

Lately, there’s been some discussion about NATO and its member nations not paying their fair share, leaving the American public believing that the United States is getting screwed making up the shortfall. It’s not that clear cut. With the transition between Commander's in Chief, I thought I'd clear the air a little bit, and describe exactly what the cost is with NATO since both the outgoing commander in chief and the incoming seem to use the numbers to drive up interest. Bottom line up front: We don’t spend [...]

By |2018-07-08T12:13:00-04:00January 19th, 2017|Blog|12 Comments
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A Simple Primer on “NoFlyNoBuy”: It’s Complicated

The NRA and the right are getting shellacked for apparently religiously protecting gun rights to the point that they’d rather allow terrorists to buy weapons than give one damn inch at anything smacking of gun control. It seems simple enough: If you’re on a no-fly list, you shouldn’t be able to buy a gun. I mean, really, if the government thinks you’re so dangerous they won’t allow you to even enter an aircraft AFTER going through TSA security, why in the world would the NRA defend your right [...]

By |2017-12-12T18:20:05-05:00June 17th, 2016|Blog|25 Comments
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Waterboarding – or “The Way I Can Show How Big My Balls Are on TV”

I purposely don’t get into political debates on this forum, but I’ve grown a little weary of the current debate surrounding waterboarding and torture, as if the entire discussion was a referendum on who’s going to be “tougher” on terrorism. Today, the director of the CIA said he’d never allow his men to waterboard. From that came a bunch of talking heads opining about his comments – none of whom have ever heard a shot fired in anger, and all of whom seem to believe that being savage [...]

By |2016-04-11T23:22:55-04:00April 11th, 2016|Blog|12 Comments
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Donald Trump, Gun Control, and the Lunacy of Fear

In my hometown, a stone’s throw from my house, Donald Trump – on an aircraft carrier that actually helped destroy the tyranny of fascism – doubled down on his statement that all Muslims should be banned from entering the United States. If you’ve read my blogs, you’ll see that I understand there’s an issue with Islam. The left doesn’t want to admit it, and the right wants to demonize it, which would be business as usual in our republic, but this proclamation is possibly the scariest thing I [...]

By |2015-12-08T20:05:58-05:00December 8th, 2015|Blog|64 Comments
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