An Ace High Straight Flush, Beats A Queen High Hand
Topic: Iraq War
Quite some time ago, I got into a "disagreement" on a Netscape Discussion Board. It's too bad that since Compuserve took over the message boards there, that forum among others with several years of debates dropped into the world wide void.

In any case my opposite number was making a large production of an outfit called,VETERANS FOR PEACE, he loudly proclaimed that they were the largest Anti-War Vet org and proof that the Veteran Community opposed the War.

SO, I checked out their website. At the time they were proudly proclaiming that their membership had rocketed to a whole 2500 members.

Say WHAT? I posted back that, there being some 25 MILLION Vets in the US, I could not see where 1/10 of 1/10 of One Percent had any moral claim to speak for the whole and while I was not going to make the claim that the entire Vet Community supported the War without consulting them, neither could this group, they could only speak for themselves and NOT the Veterans Community.

The exchange rapidly devolved into sputtering invective and ad hominem attacks. I, to paraphrase Alice's Restaurant, was obviously someone who likes to Eat Dead Burnt Bodies and KILL, KILL, KILL!

We have all been there on the internet at one time or another, hold up and mirror and show them how foolish they look uttering some ludicrous claim and all the ills of the world become YOUR fault

The point I wish to make is that the Anti-War Movement is holding a Queen high hand, now if we meander over to Chrenkoff, you can see what a Ace high Straight Flush looks like.
"Maureen Dowd: "The moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute."

Don't argue and fuss, AGREE. Say of COURSE this is true and we should LISTEN to:

Lynn Kelly
"I don't agree" with Sheehan's views, said Lynn Kelly of Pitman, whose son, Marine Cpl. Sean P. Kelly, was killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq in January.

Linda Ryan:
"Marine Cpl. Marc T. Ryan, of Gloucester City, was killed in an explosion in Ramadi, Iraq in November.
"George Bush didn't kill her son, it's the evildoers who have no value of life who killed her son. "George Bush was my son's commander-in-chief. My son, Marc, totally believed in what he was doing," she said."

Thomas Zapp:Among those attending the pro-Bush rally was Thomas Zapp, of Richmond, Texas, whose 20-year-old son, Marine Lance Cpl. T.J. Zapp, was killed by a bomb in Iraq on Nov. 8, 2004
Zapp said that it was unfair for Sheehan to demand a

second meeting

with the president when many parents of slain GIs, like himself, have not even had a single meeting.

"I have not met with President Bush," he told the Tribune-Herald.

"Why should she get to meet with President Bush again?"





Robert Hoffman:Motorcycles roared their engines Saturday to herald the funeral procession of Marine Sgt. Justin Hoffman, one of 14 Marines killed last week in the deadliest roadside bombing since U.S. troops invaded Iraq...

"'Freedom is not free' is a phrase we hear every day, but few of us understand what it means," Robert Hoffman said Saturday at his son's funeral in Powell, another Columbus suburb. "Justin and the Lima Company understood. They gave up their lives for it


Jim Boskovitch:
Jim Boskovitch is the father of Corporal Jeff Boskovitch, one of five Marine snipers killed on Monday [8 August]. He says his family came to the vigil to support the troops still in Iraq.



I have only gone down part of the page, but why post anymore names here? You have drawn to an Ace High Straight Flush, are you going to discard and draw another card?

Just like 1/10 of 1/10 of One percent of Veterans could not speak for all 25 Million Vets, one parent cannot speak for all.

My personal thoughts are that we should not directly confront Mrs. Sheehan on any contradictions in her statements. It allows the other side to put on the Moral Armor of Righteous Indignation and accuse us of attacking the mother of a slain soldier. Remember in DailyKos it was suggested that Casey Sheehan's name never be mentioned, they wish to bury his memory and forget he was a Volunteer, who reenlisted

Instead let us go forth under this banner

The moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute."

But let the other parents carry that banner as our vanguard. Let their own rally call be used against them.

Maureen Dowd may be a broken clock, but even a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day.

UPDATE OH My GOD! Mrs Sheehan's handlers have NO Idea what is heading towards them or how it is going to hit them
Just read this at Michelle Malkin
Meanwhile, Move America Forward has a new spot from the head of Marine Moms of America. They are also organizing a caravan of military families that will head to Crawford, Tx., to counter the anti-war circus.

No corporate jets for these grass-roots activists.

Can you think of anything more intimidating than a caravan of PO?d Marine Moms?
I mean for one thing they make no attempt to pass themselves off at Pacifists. and DailyKos was crowing about getting a herd of Moms after Bush? THEY are about to have a MMEF (Marine Mom Expeditionary Forces) land on their heads and kick the other end. ROTFLMAO





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Death of a Warrior
Topic: Iraq War
With so much exposure lately of one particular person who blames President Bush for the death of her son. It is best to reflect that not all families think of the War in that manner.

One such family includes the one which descends from Tshunka Witko. Chief Crazy Horse who helped defeat Lt. Col.George Armstrong Custer, at the
Battle of Greasy Creek (Little Big Horn).

For some of us who are descended from the First Nations, the Indian Wars were long ago and this also OUR Country and it has been attacked and must be defended. Sheldon Ray Hawk was a member of the
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. One of the things that first struck ME about this website was that the domain was tsalagi-atsilvsgi.net Tsalagi is one of the Ancient Names for the Cherokee in our original language which does not contain the sounds Ch or R.

Even though I am not Lakota, this website speaks also to me. I have duplicated part of it here, I encourage you to go read all of it listen to the music, and REFLECT. Sheldon's People did NOT feel his death was useless, He died as a WARRIOR

101st. Airborne Division
Fort Campbell Kentucky

21 year old PFC Sheldon Hawk Eagle, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe

was among the seventeen soldiers who were killed on Friday, November 14, 2003, in a
tragic crash between two U.S. helicopters in Northern Iraq, believed to have been
caused
by enemy fire.

Sheldon Ray Hawk Eagle was carried to the Heart of
all that is, Paha Sapa, the Black Hills and laid to rest as
warrior with honor, dignity and respect.
His body was carried by a horse- drawn cart.
His coffin covered with a flag and eagle feathers.

A riderless horse draped with a red, white and blue
blanket waited with the horse drawn cart.
The horse, called a spirit horse will carry the warrior
swiftly to heaven. The horse wears an Eagle feather,
to represent Sheldon, for the thoughts of a man that should
rise as high as do the eagles and his sacrifice for his Nations.
It is the highest honor given to a warrior.
Sheldon descends from Tshunka Witko.
Chief Crazy Horse who helped defeat
Lt. Col.George Armstrong Custer, at the
Battle of Greasy Creek (Little Big Horn).

The riderless horse, with boots backward in the
stirrups symbolizing a fallen soldier.
Indian drums and honor songs welcomed the hero
to the sacred Paha Sapa, his final resting place.
As he was being buried, a Black Hawk helicopter flew
over the cemetery, lingered in the snowy hills.
It flew into the heart of all that is,
and was gone.
~~Somehow, it did not seem like enough.~~


The Above is only a small part of the whole, go HERE for ALL of it.

Note my discovery of this website pre-dates my blogging days, at the time I sent the information to
One-Hand-Clapping as I recall he posted about it. The Gunner has a way with words if I can find that post I will link to it HERE.

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Not in MY Name
Topic: Iraq War
At First I thought about titling this post,

Why They Need To Lose
or maybe
Why They HAVE to Lose

It contains a perfect and sordid example of why
I decided some of the thing said by the Left in control of the Democratic Party, I no longer wanted to be said in MY name.

Not that I paint the entire Party with the same tar brush, it contains many good decent sincere people and there IS hope for them, they can still wake up and become Neo-Cons.

But it is obvious that some on the Left side of the Political Aisle have diverged so far from what most Americans think, believe and feel, that they no longer realize the disgust some of us might feel, seeing their plans laid out in plain sight.

If you can stomach it, read through the following, after which I will detail my reactions and thoughts.

Framing Cindy Sheehan - we are making errors

by dataguy
Sat Aug 13th, 2005 at 06:56:05 PDT

We are making errors with references to Cindy Sheehan.

What are we trying to accomplish with promoting her?

1. Emphasizing her sacrifice.

2. Emphasizing her stating truth to power.

3. Emphasizing her plain speaking, clear statements.

4. Relate her vigil over her dead son to universal archetypes of all vigils over dead children killed by dictatorial rulers throughout all history.

My suggestions below:

* dataguy's diary :: ::
*

1. We should call her "Mother Sheehan". We should never call her Cindy; I don't know her. "Mother Sheehan" is her title, and expresses her ceremonial status as a bereaved mother, calling forth over the dead body of her son. She is not a person now, she is a mother, which is not an expression of her individuality, but rather the expression of her eternal character: the mother, the bringer of life who has been wronged by state power.

2. We should use the word "sacrifice". She has sacrificed the most precious thing a mother has, the life and promise of her child.

3. We should use the word "useless" frequently. The death of her son is a useless sacrifice, done for the vanity of the ruler.

4. We should not use the name of her son. Her son is a symbol of all sons who have been sacrificed for this useless and criminal war.

5. The term "vigil" should be used to describe the persons and their patient petition to the dictatorial ruler. It is a vigil over the body of the dead son, killed by the ruler for his own purposes.

6. The right will try to INDIVIDUALIZE and SPECIALIZE her complaint. We must try to make her cry the UNIVERSAL and ETERNAL cry of all mothers whose children have died at the whim of the tyrannical and dictatorial ruler, who has made the decision to push children to the front of the army for his own, useless purposes. We must seek to make this like funeral vigils over all time. This is not Mother Sheehan's vigil, this is a vigil over the dead son, killed by the ruler for his own selfish reasons.

7. If there are any persons who are theatre professionals at the Sheenan vigil, they should arrange things much more theatrically.

8. If I was there, I would not let Mother Sheehan talk to the press, but I would have her talk only through a spokesperson. In particular, I wouldnot allow her to argue with critics, and would allow no critics to approach her. Her dignity must be preserved. If lesser emissaries from the ruler arrive (C Rice, etc), these should not be allowed to speak to Mother Sheehan."


There you have it folks, FIRST Casey Sheehan must be forgotten and his name never used. Why? It is simple. This Nation no longer uses conscript troops to fight its Battles. Our men and women in uniform are all VOLUNTEERS. For various reasons they choose to serve, None are rounded up and forced to serve their country.

Casey Sheehan was such a person, In a website I often go to called Parkway Rest Stop Casey ( I will NOT allow this brave man's name to go unmentioned) is discussed.

Posted by: Dan at August 12, 2005 12:39 AM

Casey enlisted in the Army in 2000. His mother did not sign the enlistment papers, he did. While on leave, Ms. Sheehan tried to convince him to go AWOL to Canada. Casey refused and told her that as much as he didn't want to go to Iraq, his buddies were there and he couldn't let them down.

We're all a little poorer for having lost Casey. He was a straight-up honest guy with a lot more integrity than his mother is displaying. Instead of honoring her own son's true character, she is making him out to be some sort of friggin idiot by stating that "he never imagined being involved in a combat situation." Any of us who have been in the military know that you would have to be a complete imbecile to believe that. You know from the moment you receive small arms training why they are teaching you to shoot (both sides). You can't help but notice almost every street sign on your base or post has the name of someone who died in a "combat situation." You may think it's not probable, but you know it's always possible.

I give Ms. Sheehan credit for having raised a son with the character to honor his fellow soldiers even while he knew it might cost him his life

Everyone handles grief differently, I will make no statement about Mrs. Sheehan's actions. But she is not the only American Mother who has lost a loved one in this conflict. Thousands have , some BEFORE out entry into Iraq. I lost a cousin in Beirut. His name was also Casey. But HE thought what he was doing MATTERED, my Cousin Casey thought serving his country MEANT something.

But these people on DailyKos? They want to forget and ignore that there was even a Man named Casey Sheehan, They want only a symbol that they can use theatrically. They want to take over and rewrite the Story of his life and just to make certain this is done with out mistakes?

They don't even want to

ALLOW HIS MOTHER TO SPEAK

She might not do it the way THEY want?

In our own Grief we often forget how much others Grieve. Iraq the Model has a touching message to Mrs. Sheehan on his website.

A message to Cindy Sheehan

I realize how tragic your loss is and I know how much pain there is crushing your heart and I know the darkness that suddenly came to wrap your life and wipe away your dreams and I do feel the heat of your tears that won't dry until you find the answers to your question; why you lost your loved one?

I have heard your story and I understand that you have the full right to ask people to stand by your side and support your cause. At the beginning I told myself, this is yet another woman who lost a piece of her heart and the questions of war, peace and why are killing her everyday. To be frank to you the first thing I thought of was like "why should I listen or care to answer when there are thousands of other women in America, Iraq and Afghanistan who lost a son or a husband or a brother??

But today I was looking at your picture and I saw in your eyes a persistence, a great pain and a torturing question; why?

I know how you feel Cindy, I lived among the same pains for 35 years but worse than that was the fear from losing our loved ones at any moment. Even while I'm writing these words to you there are feelings of fear, stress, and sadness that interrupt our lives all the time but in spite of all that I'm sticking hard to hope which if I didn't have I would have died years ago.

I won't post the entire message here. I want you to go to Iraq the Model and read what Mohammed wrote there. It may help to take the taste of the post in DailyKos out of your mouth.

He closes with these words.

Your son sacrificed his life for a very noble cause?No, he sacrificed himself for the most precious value in this existence; that is freedom.

His blood didn't go in vain; your son and our brethren are drawing a great example of selflessness.
God bless his free soul and God bless the souls of his comrades who are fighting evil.
God bless the souls of Iraqis who suffered and died for the sake of freedom.
God bless all the freedom lovers on earth.
Mrs. Sheehan is not the only American mother to lose a loved one in this struggle, Thousands have. Some of them lost them before this battle in what I think of as a Long and Bitter War.

As I stated before my family lost a member in Beirut. His name was Casey too. My Cousin thought what HE did had meaning. My family agrees. He is remembered, with honor and love.


THEY would like to extinguish the name and desires of Casey Sheehan. They want to rewrite the Story of his Life into a Tale of something USELESS instead of something that had MEANING!

THAT is why the need to lose in the political arena of this Country.

THAT is why they HAVE to lose.

That is why decent Americans must speak out against this sordid distortion of a Brave Man's Life and tell them.

NOT IN OUR NAME

Do you spit on this Brave Soldier's Memory!

Keep in mind this thought, this is their own words.

We should not use the name of her son.


His name is CASEY SHEEHAN and it shines BRIGHTLY with HONOR.

NEVER FORGET THIS

You can leave a message in memory of this soldier, and/or to the loved ones left behind.

Here

Notice

This is a memorial page for Spc. Casey Sheehan. This is not a political forum nor Cindy Sheehan's personal message board. Any messages not directly related to Spc. Casey Sheehan are inappropriate for this website and will be removed or edited.

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The American Sheik
Topic: Iraq War
This story caught my eye, in a week old copy of my local newspaer, since they make you pay to look at anything but the current day's edition, I found the same story on the.

The Salt Lake Tribune

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dale Horn, right, of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., speaks with a villager and Mohammed Ismail Ahmed, left, a local sheik. Horn's assistance to locals prompted them to make him a sheik. (Dale L. Horn/The Associated Press

U.S. soldier's aid to Iraqis earns him title of sheik
By Antonio Castaneda
The Associated Press






U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dale Horn, right, of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., speaks with a villager and Mohammed Ismail Ahmed, left, a local sheik. Horn's assistance to locals prompted them to make him a sheik. (Dale L. Horn/The Associated Press)

QAYYARAH, Iraq - Sheik Horn floats around the room in white robe and headdress, exchanging pleasantries with dozens of village leaders.
But he is the only sheik with blonde streaks in his mustache - and the only one who attended country music star Toby Keith's recent concert in Baghdad with fellow U.S. soldiers.
Officially, he is Army Staff Sgt. Dale L. Horn, but to residents of the 37 villages and towns that he patrols he is known as the American sheik.
Sheiks, or village elders, are known as the real power in rural Iraq. And the 5-foot-6-inch Floridian's ascension to the esteemed position came through humor and the military's need to clamp down on rocket attacks.
Late last year a full-blown battle between insurgents and U.S. and Iraqi forces had erupted, and U.S. commanders assigned a unit to stop rocket and mortar attacks that regularly hit their base. Horn, who had been trained to operate radar for a field artillery unit, was now thrust into a job that largely hinged on coaxing locals into divulging information about insurgents.
Horn, 25, a native of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., acknowledges he had little interest in the region before coming here. But a local sheik friendly to U.S. forces, Mohammed Ismail Ahmed, explained the inner workings of rural Iraqi society on one of Horn's first Humvee patrols.
Horn says he was intrigued, and started making a point of stopping by all the villages, all but one dominated by Sunni Arabs, to talk to people about their life and security problems.
Moreover, he pressed for development projects in the area: he now boasts that he helped funnel $136,000 worth of aid into the area. Part of that paid for delivery of clean water to 30 villages during the broiling summer months.
Mohammed, Horn's mentor, eventually suggested during a meeting of village leaders that Horn be named a sheik.
Some sheiks later gave him five sheep and a postage stamp of land, fulfilling some of the requirements for sheikdom. Others encouraged him to start looking for a second wife, which Horn's spouse back in Florida immediately vetoed.



Cool we have at least ONE American Lawrence of Arabia. ;-) I bet (know) we have others no one hears about.

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RETRACTION
I WAS WRONG
Topic: Iraq War
The fact that I was not alone is no excuse.

Conclusion Jumping At CQ
Yep and jumping to conclusions by me as well

"On July 25th, I wrote that leftist vandals piled flags from the yard of a family mourning the loss of a son-in-law who died serving his country in Iraq. An arsonist had piled all twenty flags adorning the yard of the Wessel home under their daughter's car and set them on fire, totaling the vehicle and narrowly avoiding setting their house on fire. I had assumed that only someone who wanted to stage a protest to the war would do something that stupid and dangerous to make a point.

Well, I was wrong. It turned out to be pointless after all:

Two teenage boys were charged Thursday with burning 20 small American flags set up in honor of a soldier who died from injuries suffered in the Iraq war.
Police said the boys apparently did not know the significance of the flags they took from the yard and set afire under a car belonging to the soldier's sister-in-law. The vehicle was destroyed."


Yes let me repeat in the matter of burning flags from a funeral of a slain soldier, to torch the car of one of his family members

I WAS WRONG

It appears not to have had political motives.


But I am NOT wrong about

The disabled Iraqi War Vet who was harassed by a crowd during a 4 th of July parade

Veteran gets rude welcome on Bainbridge



Think about the Seattle area -- Bainbridge Island to be exact -- and you think scenic views and liberal-minded tolerance.


FOLLOW-UP
Read the latest update: An apology and -- it is hoped -- healing on Bainbridge.

At least the killer views are still there.

The bucolic island's deep reputation for civility got a gut check this week during the annual Grand Old Fourth of July celebration.

That's when Jason Gilson, a 23-year-old military veteran who served in Iraq, marched in the local event. He wore his medals with pride and carried a sign that said "Veterans for Bush."

Walking the parade route with his mom, younger siblings and politically conservative friends, Jason heard words from the crowd that felt like a thousand daggers to the heart.

"Baby killer!"

"Murderer!"

"Boooo!"

To understand why the reaction of strangers hurt so much, you must read what the young man had written in a letter from Iraq before he was disabled in an ambush:

"I really miss being in the states. Some of the American public have no idea how much freedom costs and who the people are that pay that awful price. I think sometimes people just see us as nameless and faceless and not really as humans. ... A good portion of us are actually scared that when we come home, for those of us who make it back, that there will be protesters waiting for us and that is scary."

On the Fourth, Jason faced his worst fear

It was such a public humiliation -- home front insult after battlefield injury.

Jason's mother, Tamar, says a female parade announcer locked eyes on her son who was walking behind a pro-Republican group called Women in Red, White and Blue. The group supports President Bush and the troops in the fight against terrorism.

According to Tamar, the female announcer sarcastically asked Jason:

"And what exactly are you a veteran of?"

The perceived mocking, the mother adds, set off some people in the crowd, loosing a flood of negative comments, "like a wave... a mob-style degrading."


or the parents of a slain soldier who were harassed at a memorial service.
Peace Activists Harass Gold Star Mother

SGT. CHAD DRAKE was killed in Baghdad three days ago. So when his family learned of a candlelight vigil in honor of our fallen soldiers to be held in their hometown of Dallas, they thought it would be a good way to begin the healing process.

As it turns out, they were wrong.

Drake's mother was "harassed and yelled at, booed and hissed, told her son died for nothing,"
the message read.
Drake's mother reportedly left the event in tears.

The family attended the vigil because they thought it was meant to honor U.S. casualties. The event was organized by the Dallas Peace Center, which opposes the war.


Anti-war, or just on the other side?

Family Of Killed Soldier: Vigil Crowd Threatening


Crash of Symbols

Though the Department of Defense did not describe Drake as the 1,000th casualty, somehow Drake got singled out. Ginger Drake, Chad's mother, and other members of the family declined to do interviews but gave Steve Alberts of KXAS-Channel 5 photos and information about Drake's life.

"He did a beautiful presentation of my brother," says Jennifer Ott, Chad's sister. "At the end, it said the Drake family would like to invite everyone to a candlelight vigil."

The Drakes felt the broadcast made it seem as if they were involved. Ott called Alberts, who assured her the vigil was non-political. She then spoke to Sherry Bollenbacher, a member of the Peace Center, who also reassured her it was non-political.

"I looked at my mother and said we have to go," Ott says.
About 20 of Drake's relatives arrived at Dallas City Hall just before 7 p.m. When the family arrived, only a handful of people were there, Herriage says, though they could hear drums. "I thought there was a band. Then it just didn't feel right. I could tell it wasn't like a marching band."

Herriage says a woman approached them and asked if they were there for the vigil. Mrs. Drake introduced herself and asked about the drums. "If this is some kind of protest," Mrs. Drake said, "I'm not going to participate."

Bollenbacher introduced herself and reassured her: "Oh, no, we're just here to comfort you in your grief."

Mrs. Drake saw a man with a basket full of fliers accusing Bush of war crimes. Bollenbacher again reassured her.

"I had told him he couldn't hand those out," Bollenbacher says, but she allowed a banner that read "Vets for Peace."

The Drakes saw that banner and then realized the drummer was wearing a T-shirt that said "Drums Not Guns." Believing it was an anti-war protest, Mrs. Drake burst into tears. She started screaming, "Somebody has lied to me."

Herriage says the situation turned even uglier when another woman walked over, grabbed the weeping Mrs. Drake and shook her. "She said, 'Shut up and I'll explain our cause to you,'" Herriage says. "That's when Ginger went ballistic."



Those actions DID have political motives.

Afterthought: used to be teenage punks set trash cans on fire, and bashed in mailboxes, I wonder where they got the idea burning American Flags was a cool Idea to get attention?

Oh Well two out of three is not that bad.

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For those who think harrasing Vets and their families is something new.
Topic: Iraq War
From qando.net


Iraq Casualty's family booed at Texas vigil

Posted by McQ



I keep saying it and everyone keeps telling me I'm wrong.

Maybe I am, but there continue to be events which demonstrate I'm not. Events such as the parade in Washington where a young Iraq vet was called a 'baby-killer" and now this in Texas, which again says "the anti-war crowd is not pro-troops" no matter how many times they claim to be. It keeps creeping out into the light ... the true feelings of some of the anti-war crowd, and it seems damn familiar to me:

A candlelight vigil took place Wednesday night to remember U.S. war dead in Iraq during the week of the 1,000th casualty. One North Texas family, whose relative -- Chad Drake -- was killed outside Baghdad Monday, was among the mourners at Dallas City Hall Plaza.
The vigil, though, turned abrasive toward the family members, according to a family friend. The friend sent an e-mail message to NBC 5 News that described the treatment some vigil attendees directed at the family.

Drake's mother was "harassed and yelled at, booed and hissed, told her son died for nothing," the message read.

Drake's mother reportedly left the event in tears.


To those who did this to this poor family you're insensitive pigs who don't deserve to live in the country for which young Chad Drake died. They aren't worthy of the blood the young man shed so they could act like the asses they certainly are.

Its because of better men, like Chad, that they can revel in their smug arrogance and believe their way is so superior that they mock the sacrifice of a fine young American and his family.

There just aren't words vile enough to describe how much contempt I feel for those that did this. I hope they all rot in hell.

Veteran gets rude welcome on Bainbridge

Think about the Seattle area -- Bainbridge Island to be exact -- and you think scenic views and liberal-minded tolerance.


FOLLOW-UP
Read the latest update: An apology and -- it is hoped -- healing on Bainbridge.

At least the killer views are still there.

The bucolic island's deep reputation for civility got a gut check this week during the annual Grand Old Fourth of July celebration.

That's when Jason Gilson,(who was disabled in battle near Nasiriyah) a 23-year-old military veteran who served in Iraq, marched in the local event. He wore his medals with pride and carried a sign that said "Veterans for Bush."


Walking the parade route with his mom, younger siblings and politically conservative friends, Jason heard words from the crowd that felt like a thousand daggers to the heart.

"Baby killer!"

"Murderer!"

"Boooo!"

To understand why the reaction of strangers hurt so much, you must read what the young man had written in a letter from Iraq before he was disabled in an ambush:

"I really miss being in the states. Some of the American public have no idea how much freedom costs and who the people are that pay that awful price. I think sometimes people just see us as nameless and faceless and not really as humans. ... A good portion of us are actually scared that when we come home, for those of us who make it back, that there will be protesters waiting for us and that is scary."

On the Fourth, Jason faced his worst fear

It was such a public humiliation -- home front insult after battlefield injury
****************************************************
Jason's mother, Tamar, says a female parade announcer locked eyes on her son who was walking behind a pro-Republican group called Women in Red, White and Blue. The group supports President Bush and the troops in the fight against terrorism.

According to Tamar, the female announcer sarcastically asked Jason: "And what exactly are you a veteran of?"

The perceived mocking, the mother adds, set off some people in the crowd, loosing a flood of negative comments, "like a wave... a mob-style degrading."

To every Middlesex village and farm
Topic: Iraq War
Spread the word let this story hit the top of any internet search!

Leftist Vandals Attack Family Of Slain Soldier

This is via Captain's Quarters. This kind of lowlife likes to brag I hope they spout off in the right ears.

The family of a soldier killed in Iraq and just buried less than 24 hours earlier awoke the next morning to a fire in their driveway, which totaled the car of the soldier's sister-in-law. The arsonist(s) set the fire with 20 American flags that the family displayed yard, given to them by mourners at the soldier's funeral:

American flags, lining the lawn of the mother- and father-in-law of fallen U.S. Army Pfc. Timothy Hines Jr., were heaped in a pile early Saturday and burned under a car parked in front of the home - less than 24 hours after Hines was buried in Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery. ...

The flames totaled Sara Wessel's car.

Sara is Hines' sister-in-law and Jim Wessel's oldest daughter. She had been staying at the house on Sando Drive since the family returned last week from Washington, D.C., where they were visiting Hines at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Hines, 21, was buried Friday after more than 400 people mourned his passing and celebrated his life at the Vineyard Community Church in Springdale. He was buried with full military honors, leaving behind a pregnant widow who expects to give birth in about two weeks and a 2-year-old daughter.

Wessel's father thinks the fire was "a random act of violence," but neighbors don't think so. One pointed out that the street has more than 20 cars parked near where the fire was set; why pick on the one with all the American flags in the yard? And why use the flags as torches to set the fire in the first place?

It doesn't take Scotland Yard or Hercule Poirot to figure out that the arsonists had a problem with the American flags. Likely, the arsonist(s) knew nothing about the funeral, but got offended by the sight of so many American flags at one house. They probably presumed that the flags constituted a statement about support for the Iraq War, and America in general, and decided that the appropriate response was to burn the family to death, and failing that, at least get their car. (Maybe it was even an SUV -- making it doubly satisfying for the arsonists.) Fortunately the car alarm went off before the fuel tank exploded and involved the entire house, or else the Wessels could have lost much more than a car and the flags that honored their son-in-law and his sacrifice to this country.

This doesn't constitute protest or political speech; it reflects madness. America-haters have come unhinged. When displaying our country's flag makes a dead soldier's family a target for political violence -- and there seems to be little doubt of the nature of this attack -- something terrible has gone wrong with the Left.
Posted by Captain Ed at July 25, 2005 06:29 AM
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Capt Ed,

The additional info from the news article is that the 20 flags have now been replaced by the Wessel's neighbors with 200 flags. Sounds like my kind of neighborhood.

Subsunk
Posted by: Subsunk [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 25, 2005 07:34 AM

Iraq the 21st Century Vietnam?

Topic: Iraq War
Of course the surface parallels of Vietnam to Iraq have gotten considerable play in the Mainstream Media, and those pundits on the Left who are the loudest.

But reality can be Like an onion, with multiple layers.

Peel down one layer. It has been said that by going into Iraq, we have forgotten the lessons of the Past, of Vietnam. But what was one of the most important lessons of Vietnam. The lesson that lead to the US withdrawing? It is this, a War where the enemy has sanctuary, is fought at a severe disadvantage.

Iraq, though some might Like to ignore it for a generation was one of the Major supporters and sanctuaries of International Terrorism. After the Fall of the World Trade Towers, the US though we had ignored it, realized, or many of us did that we were at War with International Forces of Terrorism.

We took steps to reduce their major areas of support and sanitary, Afghanistan and Iraq. From that viewpoint we DID use the lessons of the Past in Vietnam, to define and direct the War against our latest enemy.

But Like an onion there are deeper layers. What WAS Vietnam to the United States? It was the defining concept of an entire generation.

Despite the fact that the War was initiated by a Democratic President and enlarged to its largest extent by yet another Democratic President, the Left has rewritten History to make it a Republican Presidents War.

Like their Fathers before them an entire generation of Democratic Politicians emerged from the War and used its issues to wrest political control from what they viewed as the Reactionary Past.

History advances in cycles. The World War Two generation emerged and took the reins of political power for an entire generation and then subsided and were overwhelmed by the newer generation.

That paradigm defined the last 30 years of American Politics and Like their fathers before them the Vietnam era politicians waved the bloody shirt of their War, just as their fathers had waved the bloody shirt of World War Two.


All these years, an entire generation, the Vietnam Paradigm has been the road to Political Power.

But there is a new generation and now a New Paradigm.

Yes Iraq is the 21st Century Vietnam, but not in the sense that the Newest Old Guard realizes. It is a new Paradigm shift in America's Psyche.

Like their Fathers before them they have not seen the
Winds of Change, they continue to wave the Bloody Shirt of Vietnam, not realizing that is now THEY who are the Old Guard hanging on to the Tiller of the Reactionary Past.

And Like those they replaced they will be replaced.

History does repeat itself.

Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 6:42 AM CDT
| Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post
Updated: Sunday, 3 June 2007 6:11 AM CDT

Wow I am not alone
Topic: Iraq War
I found a fellow traveler to my opinions in my last post.

James McGovern, D-Mass, is a disingenuous fool

The House of Representatives passed a resolution today in the form of a rider on a State Department appropriations bill.

The measure, approved 291-137, says the United States should leave Iraq only when national security and foreign policy goals related to a free and stable Iraq have been achieved.

"Calls for an early withdrawal embolden the terrorists and undermine the morale" of U.S. and allied forces and put their security at risk, the amendment to a State Department bill reads.
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That the resolution drew 137 votes in opposition is a painful reminder that we do not call upon Congress to formulate geopolitical strategy for a reason.

Some Members, however, were not merely content to vote against the resolution, but opened their mouths and proved their stupidity beyond a shadow of a doubt. James McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, actually said that "to suggest those of us who oppose this war are somehow 'emboldening terrorists' is, to say the least, grotesque."

No, it actually is true. Of course Congressmen who advocate scheduling the withdrawal of the United States from Iraq are emboldening the insurgency. How could it be otherwise? The terrorists have established American withdrawal as their victory condition


Read all of it Tiger Hawk is ALWAYS great.


If your actions give Aid and Comfort to the Enemy how exactly does that fit into the framework of being a Patriot? Though I do notice that the other side of the political spectrum only uses the term Patriot to defend themselves from attack as in
You are insulting my Patriotism, at other times they use it as a swear word and an indication of mental feebleness.

I for one do not mind being called a Neanderthal.
I console myself with the fact that the cranial capacity of Homo Neanderthalis was some 20 to 25%
LARGER than modern man's and therefore MUCH larger than that of such pinheads.

Aid and Comfort to the Enemy?
Topic: Iraq War
On the news this evening, I heard something, not for the first time to be honest, and my patience and understanding snapped.

I did a search on the topic that caught my attention, and found.

Pressure grows as Pentagon misses deadline on troop levels

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | July 12, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration yesterday came under more pressure to outline the number of American forces that may need to stay in Iraq over the next two years after the Pentagon failed to meet a 60-day deadline set by Congress to provide a detailed plan for training Iraqis and for likely US troop levels.

The report to Congress, due yesterday, was required under the $80 billion war spending legislation approved in May. It is intended to help answer one of the most pressing questions hanging over the American-led occupation: when the United States might be able to begin drawing down the estimated 140,000 forces in Iraq.

The White House and Pentagon are facing rising calls from Democrats and Republicans for a more detailed strategy in Iraq -- calls that grew louder yesterday.

''I am deeply disappointed that the administration failed to comply with this initial . . . deadline," Representative Martin T. Meehan, a Lowell Democrat and senior member of the Armed Services Committee, told Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld in a letter. ''It is long past due for the administration to provide Congress with meaningful information to evaluate our progress in Iraq
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Man, do I feel sorry for those Generals. There they are fighting a WAR So I guess it just makes sense to let the enemy know our projected strength levels,capabilities, tactical and strategic plans.

Now Dan, some may say, good people may have differing opinions on this War. You are impugning their Patriotism with your rancor.

Well they are either doing what they can to ensure we LOSE this War, or they are just plain stupid.

Which do YOU think it is?