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March 31, 2008
Obama Survey Says
Interesting article from Capt. ED and Politico
Politico has caught Barack Obama in another misstatement about his past, and this one goes right to the heart of his posing as a New Politics candidate. Working on a tip from opposition sources, Kenneth Vogel found a survey with Obama’s handwriting that he had previously denied handling. It shows that Obama himself established much more liberal positions on gun control, abortion, and other issues than he has admitted in his campaign:
During his first run for elected office, Barack Obama played a greater role than his aides now acknowledge in crafting liberal stands on gun control, the death penalty and abortion– positions that appear at odds with the more moderate image he’s projected during his presidential campaign.The evidence comes from an amended version of an Illinois voter group’s detailed questionnaire, filed under his name during his 1996 bid for a state Senate seat.
Late last year, in response to a Politico story about Obama’s answers to the original questionnaire, his aides said he “never saw or approved” the questionnaire.
They asserted the responses were filled out by a campaign aide who “unintentionally mischaracterize(d) his position.”
But a Politico examination determined that Obama was actually interviewed about the issues on the questionnaire by the liberal Chicago non-profit group that issued it. And it found that Obama – the day after sitting for the interview – filed an amended version of the questionnaire, which appears to contain Obama’s own handwritten notes adding to one answer.
In 1996, Obama ran as a political unknown, although one with friends in high places — friends like Tony Rezko, William Ayers, and Bernadette Dohrn. He wanted the endorsement of Independent Voters of Illinois, a group in which he and his campaign manager had worked in the past. The survey was an important part of IVI’s vetting process, and Obama needed to make sure that it had the answers he needed for the endorsement.
So what were Obama’s positions in 1996, according to the questionnaire that bears his handwriting?
* Opposed to parental notification on abortions. He amended this to say that he might possibly support it for 12- or 13-year-olds, but no older.
* Flatly opposed the death penalty, a position he denied ever having.
* Supported bans on the sale, possession, and manufacture of guns, again a position he denied ever taking.
Those positions won’t even fly with a large number of Democrats, let alone in a general election. The Hillary Clinton campaign has already begun making the argument to superdelegates that Obama holds extremist views so out of touch with the American electorate that he can’t possibly win in November. The questionnaire will bolster that argument, especially on guns, where the Democrats had tried to soften their stance since Al Gore lost his home state of Tennessee in 2000.
The Obama campaign’s response to Politico has to be read to be believed:
Through an aide, Obama, who won the group’s endorsement as well as the statehouse seat, did not dispute that the handwriting was his. But he contended it doesn’t prove he completed, approved – or even read – the latter questionnaire.“Sen. Obama didn’t fill out these state Senate questionnaires – a staffer did – and there are several answers that didn’t reflect his views then or now,” said Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for Obama’s campaign, in an emailed statement. “He may have jotted some notes on the front page of the questionnaire at the meeting, but that doesn’t change the fact that some answers didn’t reflect his views. His eleven years in public office do.”
This makes no sense at all. If Obama’s handwriting is on the survey, then he filled it out. If the answers didn’t reflect his views, why didn’t he change them when he “jotted some notes” on it? If the answers were wrong, Obama would have “jotted some notes” to that effect, rather than allow such mistakes to get transmitted to IVI. And the “eleven years in public office” defense might make sense if Obama hadn’t spent much of that time voting “present” instead of taking actual stands.
Once again, we have more evidence that Obama represents nothing more than the political winds. He has zero credibility, zero experience, and a penchant for telling people what they want to hear rather than any truth about what he actually believes. Either he lied to IVI or he’s lying now. In either case, it’s hardly the New Politics Obama has promised.
Wild Thing's comment........
I agree with Capt. Ed, there are some Democrats that will not lilke Obama's answer on guns.
Obama promises the world to his sheep, but they better wake up and see what they are voting for.
Posted by Wild Thing at 11:55 AM | Comments (10)
SSgt Matt Maupin Remains Found ~ Rest in Peace, Brave Warrior
The nightmare began on April 9th, 2004
U.S. soldier captured in Iraq
Name: Keith Matthew "Matt" Maupin
Branch/Rank: U.S. Army Reserves / Pfc - Spc - Staff Sgt
Unit: Army Reserves 724th Transportation Company, Bartonville, Ill
The insurgents ambushed a convoy guarded by the 724th and took Private First Class Maupin, then 20, captive. The attack on Maupin's convoy came Friday near the village of Abu Ghraib. They were ambushed by attackers using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.
Arabic television station Al Jazeera broadcast a video tape that showed U.S. Private Keith Matthew Maupin held by masked and heavily armed guerrillas after being captured in an attack on a convoy last week.
"A group of mujahideen (holy fighters) has succeeded in taking an American soldier prisoner...and he will be treated in the Islamic tradition of treating prisoners and he is in good health," one guerrilla read from a statement.
The poor-quality tape showed Maupin dressed in military fatigues sitting on the floor.
Something about Matt
By all accounts, Matt Maupin was a highly regarded young man in the small western Clermont County community.
"Matt is a great kid, and he comes from a great family," said Dennis Ashworth, the principal of Glen Este High School, where Maupin graduated in 2001. "All of us here are extremely concerned about his well-being."
The young man was a scholar-athlete in high school who maintained a 3.5 grade-point average while playing three years of football, mostly as a wide receiver.
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From October 31, 2005
Fort Drum Soldiers Search For Sgt. Maupin (only American soldier listed as captured in Iraq)
They kept low to the ground, their backs hunched, inching over the terrain. Some crept on hands and knees. They sifted sand in their fingers, overturned rocks and probed the scraggly bushes that survive in a desert.
The sun battered them. Out here, they seemed to move as slowly as the hours. They sought a scrap of clothing or a fragment of bone. Some really weren't sure what to look for, but kept to the search, clinging to the faith that, somehow, when they saw it, they'd know it.
So it went Saturday, in the ceaseless search for Sgt. Keith "Matt" Maupin, a 20-year-old Army Reservist from Batavia, Ohio, who remains the only American soldier listed as captured in Iraq.
In April 2004, insurgents attacked Maupin's convoy in the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad. Soon after, a grainy video turned up on the Al-Jazeera television network showing a man being held at gunpoint. The man identified himself as Maupin.
"I am married with a 10-month-old child," he said, apparently reading from a sheet of paper. He was not heard from again.
To the soldiers of the Army's 10th Mountain Division, who have studied his picture and read his story, finding Matt Maupin has become a quest that transcends war and peace; it is a mission that defines their values as soldiers.
"He needs to go home to his family," said First Sgt. Joseph Sanford, 38, a native of Poughkeepsie. ". . . And there needs to be closure for his family. Those are the two things we're trying to bring: closure to his family, and a way to send this young man home."
Sanford's Alpha Company of the 2-22 Infantry the "Triple Deuce" combed a stretch of land between two highways in the Abu Ghraib section. A recent tip suggested that Maupin's body might lie here, so they parceled the tract into sections and moved systematically through them.
Thirty-two soldiers went out Saturday, 30 the day before, and 28 on the day before that. The soldiers formed a line and inched forward, scouring the ground for clumps of hair or bones or subtle mounds that might suggest movement of dirt 18 months earlier.
"The physical search is the key," Sanford said. "It's all hands-on. It's picking up every rock, it's looking under every bush, it's turning over every piece of clothing or trash that we find out there. And we've found many indicators."
They had dug 45 holes and bagged and tagged 10 items that could hold the answers to Maupin's fate a scrap of military clothing, a clump of hair and several pieces of bones. Each will be shipped to a lab for analysis.
"They could be anybody. They might be Sgt. Maupin." Sanford cited the Warrior Ethos, in which a soldier vows never to leave a comrade behind. Sanford said he learned the meaning of the creed from his sergeant, during the invasion of Panama in 1989.
"When it comes down to it, it's not about fighting for your country," Sanford said. "It's not about fighting for their freedom over here. When it all comes down to it, it's about the man on your left and the man on your right. It's all about protecting their flanks and making sure they get home."
"In the back of your mind, he said later, as the search wore on, "you're always hoping. And the search does get stressful after you dig for three or four days, and every hole you dig comes up dry. But you keep going back. . . . You're hoping that this is the one, and you'll bring closure to his family and send this boy home."
Sanford never knew Matt Maupin. He has never met Maupin's family. Still, he thinks of them often. And among his men, most of whom are near Maupin's age, the fate of their lost comrade is always in their minds.
Some say the tedium of the search mirrors the day-to-day grind of the war. "This is a very patient war," explained Sgt. Bryan Hatfield, 27, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. "I mean, you may go 15, 20 patrols like we've been doing, and you may not see anything. Then comes that one time that you do. "
"So we may go out there day after day, time after time, scouring the grounds . . . Then comes that one time, you might find something, and it'll be worth it. The hope is always there that, yeah, he could be here. So I'll go and look."
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March 5, 2006 ....more searching and with more troops
Marines assist in search for Army Sgt. Keith M. Maupin
Marines from 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, assisted recently in the search for Army Sgt. Keith M. Maupin remains. The recovery team consisted of U.S. Army and British soldiers.
Test results confirmed that several partial sets of remains that were recovered were not American. Still, Marines and soldiers were proud to take part in the search to recover Maupin.
“It is the noblest of missions,” said Gunnery Sgt. Brett A. Turek, a 37-year-old Mobile Assault Platoon commander from Hinsdale, Ill. “Fifty years from now, when we’re bouncing our grandkids on our knees and they ask what we did in the Marine Corps, we’ll be able to say this is what we did to make a difference.”
Marines searched several possible grave sites south of Fallujah. Maupin was taken captive by insurgents April 9, 2004, when his convoy was attacked near Abu Ghraib, south of Baghdad. He was shown on insurgent propaganda films and insurgents later claimed to have executed him, although the video was never authenticated.
“We exploit every single one as if it’s the one,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class James Haftmann, a 37-year-old from Charleston, S.C., assigned to Multi-National Corps Iraq’s Personnel Recovery Detachment. “But we don’t stop searching.”
The recovery team was comprised of Marines from 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Logistics Group, as well as soldiers from MNCI’s Personnel Recovery Detachment and British soldiers from the Joint Forces (United Kingdom) Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group, 32 Engineer Regiment.
Maupin is the only U.S. servicemember listed as missing in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher is still listed as missing from Operation Desert Storm.
Efforts to find Maupin have been ongoing since June 2004, shortly after his capture. A total of 72 grave sites were excavated, unearthing remains. Still, the search for Maupin continue.
Haftmann said hundreds of servicemembers behind the scenes have been dedicated to recovering Maupin. Intelligence gatherers and analysts down to infantrymen and engineers pored over multiple sites, hoping each hole would yield the answers for which they searched.
British engineers 1st Lt. Chris Elworthy, Cpl. Iain Hammond and Lance Cpl. David Berry dragged a ground-penetrating radar over the protruding mounds of sand and confirmed that anomalies – disturbances – lay beneath the sand. This was the proof they sought that remains might actually lay beneath the ground.
Marine engineers were called in and began digging the sand away, scraping away the sand and shards of limestone. Marines and soldiers searched each bucket for signs of remains.
Nearly an hour into the digging, the first bones were unearthed. Marines and soldiers crowded closer, carefully combing through sand. The chugging of the diesel engines from the construction equipment nearly drowned out the Marines’ whispers and they bent closer, examining nearly every grain.
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August 9th, 2006....Matt Maupin Promoted
Keith “Matt” Maupin, the only soldier listed as captured in Iraq, has been promoted to staff sergeant, the Army announced Tuesday. Maupin was a private first class when he was captured.
The Army, in announcing Maupin’s promotion, said it is “unwavering in its commitment to find Maupin.
Until he is found, Maupin remains on active-duty status with all rights and privileges for pay and promotions, the Army said.
March 30,2008
Maupins Confirm D-N-A is from Body of Son, Missing Soldier Matt Maupin
Union Township, OH
Keith Maupin, the father of Matt Maupin, confirmed Sunday afternoon that the remains of his son, Matt Maupin, have been identified by the army in Iraq.
In a statement Keith said "We are proud of the continued efforts of the military and the army to return Matt to us. We must now work on efforts to return Matt.'
"Please keep the military and our family in your prayers."
Carolyn Maupin, Matt's mother said, "Thanks to everyone for their prayers and continued strength of the family."
"It hurts after four years of hope and this is what happens it is like a let down for me and I'm trying to get thru that right now."
"Pray. This is going to be very difficult and stay by our side in support."
Keith says that the family was informed this afternoon about 1p-m by a three star general. The body was identified by the D-N-A remains.
n a Sunday evening press conference, Staff Sergeant Maupin's parents Keith and Carolyn said they were told of the news around around 1 p.m. Sunday.
"My heart sinks, but I know they can't hurt him anymore," Keith Maupin said.
* Here is the website his parents have had
* This is their Gusetbook where you can leave a message
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (12)
Death To The Emeny From The Sky
Genghis Khan: The Greatest Happiness is to scatter your enemy and drive him before you. To see his cities reduced to ashes. To see those who love him shrouded and in tears.
Soldiers kill 12 criminals in separate operations
BAGHDAD
Multi-National Division
Baghdad soldiers killed 12 criminals after a small arms and rocket-propelled grenade attack in northern Baghdad March 30.
At approximately 1 a.m., a 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division patrol was attacked, and Soldiers pursued the criminals as they fled.
An air weapons team arrived on scene to provide support. After positively identifying the attackers, the air weapons team engaged and killed the 12 individuals.
“We are exercising great effort to protect the people of Baghdad,” said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, MND-B spokesman. “We are only targeting criminals and those acting outside the rule of law. We will continue to defend ourselves and the citizens of Baghdad.”
Soldiers kill 8 criminals in separate operations
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
Baghdad Soldiers killed eight criminals in separate operations late March 29 and early March 30.
While on patrol in northeast Baghdad, Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment encountered and engaged a three-man rocket-propelled grenade team, killing all three.
MND-B Soldiers later came under fire by a three-man gun team on a nearby rooftop. The soldiers returned fire in self-defense and killed the three criminals.
While manning a checkpoint in Kadhamiyah, soldiers from 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment were attacked and called in a an Apache air weapons team for support. The air weapons team fired two Hellfire missiles and killed two.
“These criminals show how little they regard the lives of innocent Iraqis,” said Col. Allen Batschelet, chief of staff, MND-B. “We will continue, along with our Iraqi Security Force partners, to target individual criminals, criminal networks and anyone involved in violent crimes ignoring al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr’s ceasefire pledge.”
Soldiers kill 25 criminals
Baghdad Soldiers killed 25 criminals in eastern Baghdad March 30.
Soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, were traveling in a combat patrol to investigate a possible point of origin for an indirect fire attack when their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device.
Immediately after the IED attack, Soldiers discovered a second IED in the area and attempted to secure it.
While attempting to secure the IED, they were attacked with indirect fire, rocket propelled grenades and small-arms fire from a house in the vicinity of the IED strike.
An aerial weapons team was called in to support the Soldiers on the ground. A mortar team was spotted on the roof of the house where the attack was coming from, and the AWT defended the Soldiers on the ground and killed 25 criminals.
One Soldier was injured in the IED attack.
“We will defend ourselves when attacked by armed criminals,” said Lt. Col. Steven Stover, MND-B spokesman. “We are not the aggressors, but we will defend ourselves and the Iraqi people with all resources available to us.”
Wild Thing's comment........
" criminals "
Criminals? Ah that is one way to refer to them I guess, I can think of better ones though.
This must be how they are calling it now.
terrorist = al-Qaeda or Taliban
criminals = Moktada al-Sadar’s Madhi Militia
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (10)
B.Hussein Obama: Let's stop "air-raiding villages & killing civilians"
Obama: Let's stop "air-raiding villages & killing civilians"
Wild Thing's comment........
People that are cowards show their true selves if we let them talk enough. This was said awhile back but I just now found the video that had the exact clip of what he said that I was looking for.
Of all the things about Obama that we have learned so far this tops it for me. His obvious hate for white people, to, his thinking Farrakhan is a great leader, his saying that the call to prayer for Islam is the most beautiful thing he has ever heard, his association to the Black Panthers and the list goes on and on.
What he said is no different then what Murtha said about the Marines, and what Hanoi Kerry said when he came back from Vietnam. This quote will be what should be tattooed on Obama's forehead as a mark of the beast that he is. A quote that will stick with him for the rest of his life and into eternity. And this man wants to be President of the United States of America. God help us, America and our troops.
We have already seen in the video:
Barack Obama: There Will Be Bamboozling
http://www.theodoresworld.net/archives/2008/03/barack_obama_there_will_be_bam.html
Notice the many things Obama has used from others speeches instead of coming up with his own. There is no harm in quoting someone else, but for his massive use of others quotes, speeches etc. it sure as heck shows he has no ability to discuss almost everything without the words of others. OH unless it is to call his Grandmother a "typical white person" or did he steal that one too maybe from Rev. Wright.
Great leaders, like Reagan, Chesty , Patton and others they have their own and have been handed down through the years with deep respect and admiration. This will never happen to B. Hussein Obama even his mantra of "Change" is a bunch of BS and certainly not original.
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:48 AM | Comments (12)
In Country With Paratroopers from the 173rd Special Troops Battalion
Paratroopers from the 173rd Special Troops Battalion and Afghan border police patrol the bridge between Afghanistan and Pakistan
By Sgt. Nathan Bowen, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service
173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
DOD
NANGAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan
As part of their ongoing effort to enhance communication and cooperation, Afghan and Pakistani border security forces at Torkham Gate met with the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s Special Troops Battalion commander to address security and communication issues and the upcoming opening of the Khyber Border Coordination Center.
Preventing insurgent operations in the border area requires constant communication between the Afghan and Pakistan border forces, said Army Lt. Col. Jeffrey Milhorn, the battalion commander. He said he hopes to improve the chances of catching insurgents by supplying the Afghan and Pakistani border police with radio equipment so they can speak directly with each other.
The recent improvements at Torkham Gate, such as installing an X-ray machine to scan incoming cargo trucks and people who regularly cross the border into nationwide databases, are just some of the processes put in place to more efficiently regulate border operations.
Pakistan Army Col. Qaiser Alam stressed the importance of the Afghan and Pakistani border police and the U.S. military pooling their resources to combat a common enemy.
“A terrorist is a terrorist,” Qaiser said. “He has no nationality, no religion, no color.”
The meeting moved to the roof of the border checkpoint on the Pakistan side to take in a full view of the bustling Afghan border station across the bridge, and plans were discussed about future changes. Qaiser said he hopes for newer facilities on his side of the border, alleviating some of the burden from the Afghan side.
No paperless communication exists among the Afghan, Pakistani and U.S. forces, and although they’re only a few hundred feet apart, the checkpoints work independently of each other. Improving the forces’ cooperation ultimately will benefit both sides, officials said.
“Estimates by experts indicate that (Torkham Gate) has the potential to generate $350 million in revenue each year – money that could be put back into government projects,” said Army Maj. Scott Sonsalla, Special Troops Battalion’s executive officer. “Our goal is to improve the country through prosperity and security. Closing the border to illegal traffic does both.”
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 AM | Comments (4)
Soldiers Field New Improved Outer Tactical Vests
Pfc. Joe Piotrowski, with the 6th Iraqi Army Division Military Transition Team, 4th Infantry Division, dons his Improved Outer Tactical Vest March 14, before a mission in Baghdad. He said the new vest is more comfortable than the Interceptor Body Armor and has a better carrying system for his equipment. Photo by Spc. Aaron Rosencrans, Multi-National Division-Baghdad.
First Combat Test: Soldiers Field New Improved Outer Tactical Vests
Story by Spc. Aaron Rosencrans
Multi-National Division - Baghdad Public Affairs
BAGHDAD
After stomping around for a few days with the new Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV), 4th Infantry Division Soldiers reported both pros and cons about the new tactical gear. The new vest has several design differences and some added features, which keep the Soldiers in mind when they're in times of trouble.
The first noticeable difference in the vest design is the way Soldiers don the IOTV. Rather than slipping into it like a jacket, as with the Interceptor Body Armor, they lift it over their head and pull down, which sometimes requires another person to help get the vest on properly.
Soldiers can also detach the fasteners on the wearer's left shoulder, and slip into the vest from the side.
Another key design change is the addition of a quick release lanyard that reduces the vest to its component pieces, which allows the wearer to get out of the vest easily in case of an emergency situation.
Though the troops had mixed feelings about the new vest, they ultimately said they understand the IOTV is a new piece of equipment and they will work with it the best they can.
"I noticed right away how the weight is more evenly distributed with the new vest," said Pfc. Joe Piotrowski, a native of Chicago, who serves as an infantryman with the 4th Inf. Div., Military Transition Team, Multi-National Division - Baghdad. "However, there's more Kevlar on the inside of the vest, so it got twisted easily and made it uncomfortable."
Piotrowski said he managed to fix the twisted Kevlar inside the vest and hasn't had the problem since.
One of the perks of the new design was a flush front, where Soldiers have more room to attach accessories to carry weapon magazines and other necessary equipment.
"Tactically, it's better because I have more places to put my magazine pouches to make them more accessible," said Piotrowski. "Also, you don't have two sides to worry about; you get to work with the whole front flap, which is nice. I like the built-in side plates as well. They're a lot better than the other ones."
Turner and Piotrowski both said the quick release system was a good feature to have in case of an emergency; however, it needed to be reworked to prevent it from pulling the vest apart when it wasn't intended.
"The quick-release feature was a good idea..., but I hear it's a pain to put back together," said Piotrowski. "If something does happen where you're submerged under water or something like that, it'll be a lot better to take this vest off rather than the other one where you have to take it off like a jacket. The new system will just fall off of you."
He added that the quick-release system should be modified so it’s not as easy to pull, just to ensure the vest doesn't fall apart during combat operations.
Soldiers have added tape to the cord on the quick release system to prevent it from loosening accidentally.
Due to the added components of the IOTV, Soldiers now understand it's not just their weapon and vehicle they need to properly maintain, but their armor as well.
Turner said it's more important to perform preventative maintenance checks and services than with the old system. He explained how he had seen a vest malfunction on a Soldier while climbing into a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.
The IOTV was issued to Soldiers who initially received the IBA for their deployment and have 120 days or more remaining on their tour. For the most part, Soldiers are adapting to the new system, and they are working with the IOTV to make it better as the days go on.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Hopefully these are more protective BUT not weigh a ton. The last I heard was that the weight of having all their gear on is around 85 pounds. Not sure what it would be with this new Tactical vest.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:45 AM | Comments (8)
March 30, 2008
Interview with Geert Wilders About His Film FITNA
Dutch Parliament Member Geert Wilders has released a controversial film about Islam which some politicians in the Netherlands tried to ban. Wilders has called the Koran, Islam's holy book, a "fascist" book that incites violence.
The film is called "Fitna", a Koranic term sometimes translated as "strife". In March 2006, Mr. Wilders told the BBC that he thought that 5-15% of Dutch Muslims were sympathetic to radical Islam.
"I believe we have been too tolerant of the intolerant. We should learn to become intolerant of the intolerant," he said.
Because it is a Dutch film there is a focus on Theo Van Gogh and Dutch newspaper headlines. Wilders now requires a constant security detail due to threats to his life.
A Dutch judge is due on Friday to hear the petition of a Muslim group seeking an independent review of the film to see whether it violates hate speech laws. The petition, seen by The Associated Press Thursday at the Hague District Court, says the Dutch Islamic Federation "believes the situation of Muslims in the Netherlands today is comparable with that of our Jewish fellow-citizens in the 1930s." The federation asked for a fine of €50,000 ($79,000) per day if Wilders airs the film, and a €5,000 ($7,900) fine for each future instance of an "injuring remark."
The following is the two part interview that Wilders did with Fox News in January 2008:
Wild Thing's comment........
I hope this man is able to stay safe. I realize he knew the danger of what his film meant to himself but even so to stay silent is also a kind of death.
As long as Muslims applaud and tolerate those who commit terrorism and violence in the name of their religion, Wilders' criticisms will continue to resonate with non-Muslims the world over.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (13)
Black Hawk Helicopter Pilot A Story To Share
Army Chief Warrant Officer Fred White, a Black Hawk pilot with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, demonstrates the preparations he makes before a flight March 18, 2008, at the 3rd CAB flight line in Baghdad. White lost two fingers in a 2003 roadside bomb blast and overcame his injuries to become a pilot. Photo by Spc. Emily J. Wilsoncroft, USA
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CAMP STRIKER, Iraq
March 21, 2008
When Army Chief Warrant Officer Fred White sits down at the controls of a Black Hawk helicopter, he looks just like any other pilot in his battalion. He wears the same flight suit, the same helmet and the same air of confidence – the only difference is that at the end of the day, his wrist might be a bit sore.
White suffered injuries that led to the loss of the first two fingers on his right hand in a 2003 roadside bomb attack in Iraq.
Now an aviator and communications officer with the 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, White was not always a pilot. He enlisted in the Army in 2001 as a cavalry scout.
“I always wanted to be in the Army,” he said. “Cav scout seemed like a cool job. I knew I didn’t want to be infantry, but I did want to be in combat arms.”
During the second year of his enlistment, White’s unit became attached to 3rd Infantry Division for the initial push up to Baghdad from Kuwait in the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“There was a lot of fear and uncertainty when we originally crossed the berm,” he said, “but after that, it became more of a daily routine.”
The routine included route clearance, convoy security, vehicle security, observation post setup and maintenance – “pretty much anything that needed to be done in Sadr City,” as White put it.
On Sept. 5, 2003, the routine was disrupted.
“We were pulling security for the engineers that day,” White recalled. “We were on our way to the site, going down Highway 5.”
As the convoy passed under an overpass, it was hit by a remotely detonated 120 mm mortar round.
“It blew up my truck,” he said. “I was the gunner, and the blast threw me against the back of the turret. … My driver took shrapnel in the side of his neck; the (vehicle commander) lost his left thumb and his right eye.”
White -- who was hit by shrapnel in his hands, legs, face and buttocks -- lost his fingers as a result of the attack.
For many soldiers, that would have been the end of the road as far as a military career was concerned. But White, who fully recovered from his injuries after less than a year, decided he wanted to be a pilot.
White said that although the doctor had cleared him medically, the ROTC medic said he wasn’t fit for the Army. “So I (turned in) my warrant officer packet and was picked up for flight school.”
Although there were some who tried to tell White he wouldn’t make it through flight training, he said, his injury didn’t hold him back at all.
“Flying is more of a mental thing,” he said. “You have to be physically coordinated, but a lot of it’s in your mind. You have to think three-dimensionally to maintain control.”
One of the controls in the helicopter resembles a joystick, he explained, on the front of which is a radio control that functions through a trigger-type mechanism.
“I just sewed up the first two fingers on my glove and changed my hand position,” White said, demonstrating how he wraps his wrist around the control. “I was set on proving the people who doubted me wrong, and I adapted so I could succeed.”
White’s battalion commander, Army Lt. Col. Alex Covert, was quick to note the young warrant officer’s success.
“Fred is an above-average UH-60L Black Hawk pilot,” Covert said. “He has flown over 150 hours in combat under the harshest conditions flawlessly.”
Aside from White’s skill as a pilot, Covert also lauded his perseverance and devotion to his military career.
“I cannot describe in words what it takes for a young soldier, … wounded in combat, to not only continue to serve his country, but to take the initiative, become a warrant officer, an outstanding Army aviator and serve as a (battalion communications officer) in combat,” he said. “His selfless service is clearly an example for others to follow.”
White plans to stay in 2-3rd Aviation Regiment, based at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., for at least the near future.
“All the experiences I’ve had in the Army have led me to where I am right now,” he said. “I have no regrets, no resentments. I know I’m lucky to still be here, and I appreciate that.”
Wild Thing's comment.......
Thank you Army Chief Warrant Officer Fred White.
What a wonderful story of courage and dedication.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:50 AM | Comments (10)
B.Hussein Obama and The 3:00 A.M. Call
When you are faking a pose for a camera photo opportunity, you should at least get the phone turned around in the right direction!
And he wants to be President??????
Clock says: 3:00 A.M.
Wrong end of phone
And who is that on the floor?
LMAO
....Thank you Tom this is so funny.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (16)
Barack Obama: There Will Be Bamboozling
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (2)
Comedians Visit Troops
Comics Steve Treviño, far left, and Scott Kennedy sign autographs and talk with 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade Soldiers following a comedy show, March 22, at the 3rd CAB flight line dining facility at Camp Striker, Iraq.
Spc. Emily J. Wilsoncroft,
3rd Combat Aviation Brigade,
3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – After a long day of work at the Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division flight line, Falcon Soldiers were treated to dinner and a comedy show, March 22, at the flight line dining facility.
Scott Kennedy, Butch Bradley and Steve Treviño made a stopover at the Dining Facility to perform and visit with Soldiers during their tour, which was sponsored by the USO.
The three comics kept their audience in stitches, often singling out individual Soldiers to good-naturedly pick on.
“The show was really funny; it was something different to do,” said Staff Sgt. Joseph Navaret, a Black Hawk pilot with Company B, 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment.
Navaret, a Chicago native, was one of the pilots scheduled to fly the visitors out to a small forward operating base the following day.
In response to Treviño’s challenge to “give us an exciting (helicopter) ride,” Navaret chuckled. “Oh, I’ll give you something,” he laughed.
All three comedians said they genuinely enjoyed performing for the Soldiers.
“The whole point is that I don’t want any Soldier to feel forgotten,” Bradley said.
“We’re going to be here until (Soldiers) aren’t,” Kennedy added. “It recharges me to see how appreciative everyone is. Bringing them a little piece of home is how I serve my country.”
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (2)
March 29, 2008
"Jihad, USA" Documentary To Air Tonight and Sunday Night On Fox
Jihad USA: Confronting the Threat of Homegrown Terror
Law enforcement officials and security experts are warning against the threat of homegrown terrorism as several cases involving alleged American jihadists enter the courts.
"The public is getting complacent," New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly tells FOX News. Kelly, who was the police commissioner during the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, has developed a task force of counterterrorism officers trained to spot jihadists.
Although there has not been a major terrorist strike in the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001, Kelley says the country cannot let down its guard.
"We can't afford to be complacent in law enforcement, and I don't think we are," Kelly says in the new FOX News documentary, "Jihad, USA," which will air at 9 p.m. ET on March 29.
Several terror-related cases now in the courts highlight this need for continued vigilance, experts say.
— In Florida, the retrial of six of the "Liberty City Seven" is coming to a close. The group members, who allegedly plotted to destroy the Sears Tower in Chicago and swore allegiance to Al Qaeda on a secret FBI surveillance tape, were arrested in June 2006. Their first trial ended in a not-guilty verdict for one defendant and a mistrial for the other six.
— In Washington state, the murder trial has begun for Pakistani-American Naveed Haq, who is accused of opening fire in Seattle's Jewish Federation Building in July 2006, killing one woman and wounding five others. Haq allegedly said he was mad at the Jews and how they are running the country.
Two other cases are to enter court next month.
— In Michigan, a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Houssein Zorkot, a Lebanese-born medical student at Wayne State University in Detroit who posted on his Web site in September 2007 that he was launching a personal jihad. He was arrested that same day in a nearby park, wearing camouflage paint and holding a loaded AK-47.
— In South Carolina a trial is set for Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed, two University of South Florida students who officials say had pipe bombs in their car when they were caught speeding near the Goose Creek weapons base.
Terror experts say these and other cases since Sept. 11 illustrate an emerging threat from homegrown terrorists, people who have been radicalized by extreme Muslim doctrine within the U.S.
"Al Qaeda is depending today upon the spontaneous emergence of these jihadist cells that are not tethered to the leadership of Al Qaeda by either telephone or e-mail," terror investigator and author Steve Emerson told FOX News.
But others say the threat of homegrown Islamic terrorism is overstated.
In "none of these cases brought in the United States did the government ever produce any evidence suggesting that someone had prepared a bomb," says Jim Wedick, a former FBI agent. "Someone's actual ability to do harm needs to be taken into the equation."
Wedick consulted with the defense on the Liberty City Seven case.
"The solution is not to treat the whole Muslim community as a suspect community," says Hussam Ayloush, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "This is not about ignoring a threat, but this ... should not be about exaggerating any threat in a way that promotes certain political agendas."
Kelly says the threat is real and the only way to combat it is through prevention.
"Just imagine if the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11 were arrested on Sept. 10," he says. "How would that have been characterized?"
Wild Thing's comment........
There is a preview video at the Fox site HERE
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:44 PM | Comments (5)
Earth Hour ~ Goes Global
Gov. urges public to join State of IL in observing Earth Hour from 8 to 9pm on Sat., March 29
Look at Google for the UK
Google for all of us
CHICAGO
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich announced today that the State of Illinois will participate in Earth Hour from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday.
Earth Hour is a public awareness event created by World Wildlife Fund that encourages businesses and residents to join in turning off the lights for one hour on March 29th, 2008, to demonstrate that “individual action on a mass scale can help change our planet for the better.” More than 30 cities on six continents around the world are participating in Earth Hour.
Chicago was chosen as the flagship Earth Hour city in the United States, and we will be joined by Atlanta, Phoenix, and San Francisco, as well as Copenhagen, Toronto, Melbourne, Brisbane, Bangkok, Dubai, Dublin, Christchurch and Tel Aviv globally.
“Earth Hour’s purpose is to highlight the difference all of us – from large organizations to individual people – can make regarding the problem of climate change. We will be joined by the City of Chicago and hundreds of local businesses, residents, and organizations in conserving energy and demonstrating our commitment to combating climate change”, said Gov. Blagojevich. “Our hope is that people will see how easy it is to take action against climate change and join us in celebrating Earth Hour. By working together and thinking of ways to change our habits in the long-term to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, each one of us can make a positive impact to help combat the effects of global warming.”
“By supporting Earth Hour, the State of Illinois is sending a powerful message to the world about its commitment to finding solutions to climate change,” said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund. “We very much appreciate Governor Blagojevich’s support of Earth Hour, an event which symbolizes that by working together we can make a difference in the fight against climate change.”
As part of Earth Hour, the State of Illinois will turn off the lights in state-occupied buildings in Chicago, including the James R. Thompson Center, the Michael Bilandic Building and 401 S. Clinton. This includes all non-essential and decorative outside lights. Elevators, security lights, hallway lights, stairwell lights, emergency lights and safety lights will not be turned off. All street lights and lights vital to public safety will remain on. American, State and POW Flags flying outside the James R. Thompson Center and the Michael A. Bilandic Building will remain lit – allowing the flags to continue to fly.
In addition, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has placed posters in rest areas urging the public to join the Earth Hour effort by turning off non-essential electrical items, such as lights and appliances.
“As human beings, we all have a responsibility to preserve our world for future generations,” said IDOT Secretary Milton R. Sees. “As a Department, we recognize that responsibility and are participating in Earth Hour and Earth Day events, as well as continuing our green initiatives. We urge everyone to do their part and protect our environment.”
The State of Illinois has initiated year-round efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. Gov. Blagojevich’s Green Government Initiatives have saved the state millions of dollars and reduced the amount of waste going into landfills. The sale of state surplus items on iBid (www.ibid.illinois.gov) puts used items back into use, instead of in the trash.
Central Management Services (CMS) implemented several energy efficient practices such as deploying energy efficient computers that have saved the State of Illinois over $1 million dollars in energy costs. In addition, CMS has advanced online publishing – saving over 3 million pieces of paper in 2007 alone. The state recycles used tires, automotive anti-freeze, paper, aluminum cans and fluorescent bulbs, to name a few. And CMS strives to purchase “green” items, including Hybrid and E-85 vehicles, printer toner cartridges, paper, janitorial supplies and even toilet paper.
For more information on Earth Hour, visit the Earth Hour website at: www.earthhourus.org.
Wild Thing's comment........
GOOD GRIEF! How about Earth Day every day, and we shut down government offices we really don’t need? heh heh
The scary thing is some criminals are probably already planning how to take advantage of empty offices and occupied homes being in darkness for a predetermined hour!
LOL If only there were a way to make things so that all the dingbats who turn off their lights suddenly discover that they cannot turn them back on!!
I already promised some polar bear that I would leave mine ON tomorrow night from eight to nine to demonstrate my solidarity with the polar bears.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (17)
Charges Dropped Against Another Marine Accused of Haditha Killings
Charges Dropped Against Marine Accused of Haditha Killings
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.
The Marine Corps on Friday dropped charges and gave full immunity to a serviceman who was accused of involuntary manslaughter in a squad's killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha in 2005.The case against Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, 26, was dropped as jury selection was about to begin for his court-martial.
The government has been seeking Tatum's testimony against the squad leader, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich.
In February, Tatum received an order to testify against Wuterich and an unrequested immunity order that said anything to which he testified would not be used against him in his court-martial. On Friday, a new immunity order was issued along with the dismissal of charges.
In addition to two counts of involuntary manslaughter, Tatum had been charged with reckless endangerment and aggravated assault.
Tatum's attorney, Jack Zimmerman, said there was no agreement with the government before the dismissal.
"Absolutely, there is no deal," he said.Zimmerman said Tatum would testify if called as a witness in future trials but that he would testify as a neutral witness, not a government witness.
The case stemmed from a squad's assault in response to a roadside bombing of a convoy that killed one Marine and wounded two others. The government says Wuterich and another Marine shot five men at the scene and the squad leader then ordered his men to clear homes with grenades and gunfire, killing unarmed civilians. Wuterich faces nine counts of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and obstruction of justice.
Message from the defense lawyers
"All charges were dismissed with prejudice against LCpl Tatum this morning, on the day his trial was to begin on allegations stemming from actions in Haditha, Iraq on 19 November 2005. The government said it was done to further the truth seeking function. We emphasize that LCpl Tatum will testify truthfully if called as a witness but there is no deal for his testimony. It became clear to the experienced prosecution team that the right thing to do was to dismiss all charges against LCpl Tatum. We believe the evidence shows that LCpl Tatum reacted to an enemy attack the way he was trained to do. "
"This result is consistent with the recommendation of the Article 32 investigating officer who recommended last summer that no court-martial be held in this case."
JACK B. ZIMMERMANN
KYLE R. SAMPSON
LTCOL MATTHEW W. CORD, USMCR
MAJ JEFFREY V. MUÑOZ, USMC
From the LA Times
"Lance Corporal Tatum will testify truthfully if called as a witness," said his attorney, Jack Zimmerman.He said his client was relieved by the news and considered it an affirmation of his contention that he and his squadmates responded to a perceived threat as they had been trained to do.
UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin has a write about Gary at Let Freedom Ring makes the case for indicting John Murtha.
From Gary's site at Let Freedom Ring:
"Let’s highlight that conflict between rep. Murtha and the Marine Corps spokesman because it highlights extremely important information.If Gen. Hagee did indeed brief Rep. Murtha on May 24, 2006, that means that Rep. Murtha couldn’t make these accusations based on irrefutable facts; at least he couldn’t do that on May 17, 2006.
That brings us to our first ‘counts’ against Rep. Murtha: Violating the Haditha Marines’ constitutional protection of (a) being presumed innocent until provent guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and (b) violating their due process rights.
Another accusation Rep. Murtha made was that the officers in charge of the 3/1 Marines covered up their findings of what happened on November 19, 2005 in the city of Haditha. That’s absurd because we know that Captain Jeffrey Dinsmore put together a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation, which was sent up the chain of command. That isn’t speculation; that’s his sworn testimony. The fact that the people further up the chain of command said that there isn’t anything to investigate says it all.
Rep. Murtha told ABCNews’ Charlie Gibson that he knew there was a cover-up “someplace.” As I’ve said before, if you think something is true but can’t prove it, then you should say that “I believe that there is a coverup someplace.” You don’t say that you know there’s a coverup.
That’s the second count in the indictment. Rep. Murtha made false accusations against the Haditha Marines. What’s worse is that he made those accusations without verifiable proof of wrongdoing. Knowingly filing false charges against someone is a crime.
The third count in the indictment is possibly the weightiest of charges. Murtha’s connections within the Pentagon are deep. He’s built a mini-empire by acting as a ‘recruiter’ for companies in the military industrial complex. When they want a new hardware, Rep. Murtha gets it for them. As a result, they paid particularly close attention when Rep. Murtha made an accusation against the Haditha Marines.
With his clout, Rep. Murtha did everything except play the role of judge, jury and executioner. In civilian court, he would’ve been accused of poisoning the jury pool, which is another violation of the Haditha Marines’ due process rights."
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Wild Thing's comment........
I am so happy that charges against Stephen have been dropped. NOW, let’s do the same for the others!
Eight were charged. Five have had all charges dropped. Three will stand trial.
The next scheduled court martial is for Lt Col Chessani on April 28.
SSGT Frank Wuterich, and his proceedings have been delayed indefinitely.
Another Haditha Marine that won't be railroaded by the despicable John Murtha.
Thank you God and God bless this man and his family and the other Marines as well in this horrible lies and court trial they have been through.
...Thank you Mark for the UJPDATE on this.
for the UPDATE
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:50 AM | Comments (14)
Vietnam War - The Impact of Media
Vietnam War - The Impact of Media
Length: 56 min 28 sec
Vietnam War - "The Impact of Media" explores in detail the 'media distortions' due to television's misrepresentations during the Vietnam ... all » War. It rebuts the view promoted by PBS's 13-part documentary series, "Vietnam: A Television History". The rebuttal also applies to "The Ten Thousand Day War" series.
"The Impact of Media" is a must-see for historians and politicians alike. The late President Ronald Reagan lauded this rebuttal video when he watched it and said that it's "something all Americans should see".
For a much larger screen image of the video you can also go HERE
Wild Thing's comment........
Our major news media are a disgrace and nothing but propaganda mills. They have blood on their hands for their part in helping the enemy. We never lost a battle in Viet Nam! It was our own politicians, the media and the godless, communist hippies that messed things up.
The lies are tremendous many we already know, but it also tells of how planned those lies were, how sound effects would be added, so many things. All done by the media! UNFORGIVABLE!
I am so very grateful to our Vietnam Vets, to all of you. I am so very proud of you, what an honor it is to know you.
....Thank you Mike (Nam Recon vet )
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:47 AM | Comments (11)
More Obama racist friends: The Black Panther
And here are some of Obama's past racists quotes:
"I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingtegrating myself to whites,"
"I found solace in a sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race,"
"The other race (White) would always remain just that: Menacing, Alien and Apart,"
"It was into my father's image, the Black man, the son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself,"
"That hate hadn't gone away, blaming white people,"
"My grand mother was a typical white person."
Wild Thing's comment........
Shaking my head, what horrible people. There sure isn't any way to argue or debate with them. But putting them on TV for all the world to see how awful they are is an excellent idea.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (13)
March 28, 2008
Film FITNA Pulled At LiveLeak
Geert Wilders, the MP who made the film, is under police protection because of his anti-Islamic views
Fitna the film
The long-awaited and controversial movie Fitna, which graphically portrays Islam as a religion seeking to dominate the world and slaughter non-believers, finally debuted on the internet on Thursday night.Within two hours of the film's release on Britain's LiveLeak.com video site, close to two million people had seen it. More than half of them were from Holland, home to the film's producer, Dutch politician Geert Wilders.
Moslem terror attacks around the world, including beheadings, disfigured bodies, destroyed buses, and the like. The scenes are accompanied by the relevant verses in the Koran, such as, "Prepare for them whatever force and cavalry ye are able of gathering to strike terror, to strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah and your enemies." This particular verse is followed by clips of a plane slamming into the World Trade Center and setting the building afire, and imams calling for the annihilation of all infidels.
One Moslem cleric is seen calling for the murder of Jews; he unsheathes a sword and cries out in nearly uncontrollable frenzy, "By Allah, we shall cut off the Jew's head! Allah is great! Allah is great! Jihad for the sake of Allah!" The audience, in a similar frenzy, cheers him on.
The film ends with the sound of a page being torn out of a book, followed by stark sentences on the screen reading, "It is not up to me, but up to Moslems themselves to tear out the hateful verses from the Koran. Muslims want you to make way for Islam, but Islam does not make way for you. The government insists that you respect Islam, but Islam has no respect for you. Islam wants to rule, submit, and seeks to destroy our Western civilization. In 1945, Nazism was defeated in Europe. In 1989, Communism was defeated in Europe. Now, the Islamic ideology has to be defeated."
Located at YouTube till they take it off over there too.
PART TWO
And this is at LIVE Leak where they state why they have taken the film down.
"Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly lead to the harm of some of our staff, Liveleak.com has been left with no other choice but to remove Fitna from our servers.This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else. We would like to thank the thousands of people, from all backgrounds and religions, who gave us their support. They realised LiveLeak.com is a vehicle for many opinions and not just for the support of one.
Perhaps there is still hope that this situation may produce a discussion that could benefit and educate all of us as to how we can accept one anothers culture.
We stood for what we believe in, the ability to be heard, but in the end the price was too high."
And this from Timeonline
"Britain was dragged into the controversy over an anti-Islam film made by a far-Right Dutch MP after Iran condemned its appearance on a UK-based video-sharing website today.“This heinous measure by a Dutch lawmaker and a British establishment… is indicative of the continuation of the evilness and deep vengeance such Western nationals have against Islam and Muslims,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Mohammad Ali Hosseini, called on the Dutch, British and other EU governments to block any further showing of “this blasphemous, anti-Islamic and anti-cultural film”.
…Mr Wilders’s film, which intersperses images of the September 11 attacks and other Islamist bombings with quotations from the Koran, was first posted on the website of his small right-wing Freedom Party on Thursday night.
It disappeared after a few minutes because of “technical difficulties” before becoming available in Dutch and English on LiveLeak, a Manchester-based website, raising fears that extremists could also target British interests. Some 4,000 British troops are serving in Iraq and a further 7,800 in Afghanistan.
The company running LiveLeak defended its decision to host the film. “Liveleak.com has a strict stance on remaining unbiased and allowing freedom of speech so far as the law and our rules allow,” it said in a statement posted online.
David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said “we hold fast and firm to European values of freedom of speech”. However, speaking in Slovenia where he was attending talks with his EU counterparts, he added that “in each of our countries there are legal and judicial systems to ensure that freedom is not used to incite religious or racial hatred”.
Wild Thing's comment........
Ah, those moderate, peace-loving muslims. I love the way they continue to prove out the stereotype that they protest.
"This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else."
I agree I understand how they feel being threated. The more I think about this the more it makes me angry.
Something to think about though, are we as a society, unwilling to even put ourselves at risk for our rights. If push comes to shove we'll just give them up without a fight! That should tell us something about how easy it will be for islamic extremists to take over. I know the people here are different, but liveleak and other popular websites are the reflection of our modern degraded society. The masses will cave and the rest of us will have to carry their dead weight in our fight to maintain our rights. When are we going to learn to value our freedom of speech? When we're all dhimmi? Men fought and died so we could have that freedom. They placed the freedom of speech for OTHERS above their own lives!
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:44 PM | Comments (12)
McCain's World Affairs Council ~ foreign policy speech
McCain speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council foreign policy speech)
OR Let's call it Listen to the rustling bones of our forefathers
Full Text of McCain's Speech can be found HERE
MCCAIN: We can't build an enduring peace based on freedom by ourselves, and we do not want to. We have to strengthen our global alliances as the core of a new global compact, a league of democracies that can harness the vast influence of the more than 100 Democratic nations around the world to advance our values and defend our shared interests. At the heart of this new compact must be mutual respect and trust.
Wild Thing: We are the leader of the free world. We owe it to ourselves to protect and maintain our own freedom and we must do that by ourselves. We cannot subject our freedom to the possibility we may not have allies in one of our quests around the world. That's one of the things that conservatism has always been strong about, but obviously not McCain.
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MCCAIN: Our great power does not mean we can do whatever we want, whenever we want, nor should we assume we have all the wisdom and knowledge necessary to succeed. We need to listen, we need to listen to the views and respect the collective will of our Democratic allies. When we believe international action is necessary, whether military, economic, or diplomatic, we will try to persuade our friends that we are right. But we in return must be willing to be persuaded by them.
Wild Thing: So let's see if other countries think we are wrong even if it is the best decision for OUR country we are supposed to listen to other counties and let them influence us greatly. We are to allow them to change our minds.
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MCCAIN: America must be a model citizen if we want others to look to us as a model. How we behave at home affects how we are perceived abroad. We must fight the terrorists and at the same time defend the rights that are at the foundation of our society. We can't torture or treat inhumanely suspected terrorists we have captured. I believe we should close Guantanamo and work with our allies to forge a new international understanding on the disposition of dangerous detainees under our control.
Wild Thing: You ALL know how I feel about closing GITMO. This kind of thinking of McCain is dangerous and unnecessary to say the least. The prisoners there eat well, sleep just fine, get treated better then ANY POW ever has from our country.
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MCCAIN: We need to about good stewards of our planet and join with other nations to help preserve our common home. The risks of global warming, the risks of global warming have no borders. We in the other nations of the world must get serious about substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years, or we will hand off a much diminished world to our grandchildren. We need a successor to the Kyoto treaty, a cap-in-trade system that delivers the necessary environmental impact in an economically responsible manner. We Americans must lead by example and encourage the participation of the rest of the world.
Wild Thing's comment: Bush and even Clinton NEVER signed the Kyoto treaty. Hello!! McCain what does that tell you when even the scum draft dodger, Flag burner Clinton didn't even sign it.
MCCain is NOT a leader, not a leader of men, not meant to be a leader of a country and sure as hell is not meant to be a leader of the most powerful country in the world. A leader can say NO when proof has shown this stupid Kyoto treaty is a farce, a joke and a total mess.
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MCCAIN: Americans north and south share a common geography and a common destiny. The countries of Latin America are the natural partners of the United States, and our northern neighbor Canada.
Wild Thing: He is still insisting that we be compassionate to illegal aliens.Common destiny? If McCain has his way we’ll be just another latino speaking 3rd world country. A huge percent of Mexicans will not learn English. Many who have been here for years and attended school will not learn English. The cost factor of the illegals here are bleeding the hospitals tens of millions of dollars a year.
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MCCAIN: I hold my position because I hate war, and I know very well and very personally how grievous its wages are. But I know, too, that we must sometimes pay those wages to avoid paying even higher ones later on. I run for president because I want to keep the country I love and have served all my life safe and to rise to the challenges of our times as generations before us rose to theirs.
Wild Thing: Oh wait is this John Kerry ooops nope it is John but this John is McCain.
I realize that radical Islam is primed to take over 5 continents and we do and will need friends, other countries to join us in this war against Islam terrorists. But being strong, taking a stand garners respect also much more the catering and kissing up to natiions that are NOT our friends even when we have done all we can for them. Sometimes a hand out causes resentment NOT respect. And yes sometimes it causes gratitude, but that is what we have to see in the future as we have from our past associations and friendships with other countries.
As I read McCain's speech I wept at the lows that this nation has been brought to. We have a nominee that is so disgustingly wrong. I wonder if the Romans of the late empire also recognized that their world was collapsing and that they were being lead by a bunch of egotistical, mediocre half-wits.
Yes he will be OK with our troops and that is VERY important to me. But on mostly everythihg else McCain is just not the man for the job. I know we have no other choice on our side of the fence. That is one reason I LOVE the Operation Chaos that Limbaugh came up with. Voting for Hillary has sent the Democrat party into a frenzy of anger, confusion and fighting back and forth among themselves. LOL That is truly fun to see on the nightly political talk shows.
And while McCain SAYS he'll prosecute the war tooth and nail, he says nothing about securing our Southern border, pushes for amnestying people who break our laws, forces our continued dependence on foreign oil by refusing to support drilling in ANWAR and wants to close Guantanamo. Until he says those things, it's obvious he isn't really serious about the war.
McCain's speech simply put is a total turn off to what I feel and think as a conservative. God Help Us All and America.
The communists have achieved their goal by infiltrating both political parties in the US. THIS is indeed a fact.
Lest we forget:
The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (19)
"Damn America" Pastor Wright Gets $1.6M Home in Retirement
Obama’s Former Pastor Getting $1.6M Home in Retirement
By Jeff Goldblatt
This was supposed to be the week that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. returned to the pulpit to preach for the first time since his anti-American sermons generated nationwide outrage and drew condemnation from his longtime parishioner, Barack Obama.
But, citing security concerns, Wright canceled his speaking engagements in Florida and Texas. A spokeswoman at his former church in Chicago said his schedule is pending.
A two-week FOX News investigation, however, has uncovered where Wright will be spending a good deal of his time in retirement, and it is a far cry from the impoverished Chicago streets where the preacher led his ministry for 36 years.
FOX News has uncovered documents that indicate Wright is about to move to a 10,340-square-foot, four-bedroom home in suburban Chicago, currently under construction in a gated community.
While it is not uncommon for an accomplished clergyman to live in luxury, Wright’s retirement residence is raising some questions.
“Some people think deals like this are hypocritical. Jeremiah Wright himself criticizes people from the pulpit for middle classism, for too much materialism,” said Andrew Walsh, Associate Director of the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life with Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
“So he’s entitled to be tweaked here. So the question really is, how unusual is this? Somewhat unusual,” he said.
According to documents obtained from the Cook County Register of Deeds, Wright purchased two empty lots in Tinley Park, Ill., from Chicago restaurant chain owner Kenny Lewis for $345,000 in 2004.
Documents show Wright sold the property to his church, Trinity United, in December 2006, with the proceeds going to a living trust shared with his wife, Ramah.
The sale price for the land was just under $308,000, about $40,000 less than Wright’s original purchase two years earlier.
Public records of the sale show Trinity initially obtained a $10 million bank loan to purchase the property and build a new house on the land.
But further investigation with tax and real estate attorneys showed that the church had actually secured a $1.6 million mortgage for the home purchase, and attached a $10 million line of credit, for reasons unspecified in the paperwork.
There is apparently nothing wrong with that, according to non-profit tax expert Jack Siegel of Charity Governance Consulting, who examined public documents FOX News obtained from the Cook County Register of Deeds and the Village of Tinley Park.
“At least looking at it from a public document standpoint, there’s clearly not a problem that jumps out or some sort of wrongdoing,” Siegel said.
Siegel characterizes the transaction as unusual, however, because of the way Wright sold the property to Trinity and the way the deal was financed, with the attached $10 million line of credit.
Because churches are classified as private businesses, Trinity isn’t required to reveal its intended use for the line of credit. Nor, because it’s a non-profit entity, is it required to provide that information to the IRS.
A spokesman for ShoreBank, the Chicago-based financial institution that secured mortgages for the loans, said the deals were aboveboard.
Wright did not respond to repeated calls for comment, and Trinity United refused to discuss the specifics of the home it is building for him and the way the deal was financed.
The church referred FOX News to its denominational headquarters in Cleveland, which provided a statement of support:
“It is customary and appropriate in many Christian denominations, including the United Church of Christ, for local churches to offer housing provisions for retiring clergy, especially in cases where pastors have served long-term pastorates. We support efforts by our 5,700 local churches to ensure that retiring pastors and spouses have continuing housing, adequate pension and health care, as an expression of our continuing appreciation for their years of service. Each local UCC congregation is free to honor a retiring pastor in ways it feels most appropriate to address the needs of that clergyperson’s circumstances,” wrote the Rev. J. Bennett Guess, spokesman for UCC’s national office.
“This is about how these kinds of churches work,” notes Walsh. “These pastors who made big successful churches are real valuable commodities. Is it morally wrong? Well, Protestants don’t have the idea that their religious leaders should live modestly or aesthetically. We’re not talking Buddhist monks or Catholic priests here. There’s no tradition that says they have to live poor.”
Tradition at Trinity United centers on a congregation that’s unashamedly black and unapologetically Christian, according to the church’s website. There are also no apologies from the church for the home it’s building for its former senior pastor, who nurtured a religious empire that grew to have more than 8,000 congregants.
Wild Thikng's comment........
LMAO well here we have the ole hated American dream that Wright attacked in his sermons. Too funny!!
If Wright was a wonderful man of God, that taught the Gospel, how God wants us to be the best we can be for Him and for ourselves too as a person. To be kind to others and slow to anger etc. All the things the Bible teachers, then I would cheer him on for a beautiful home. But he has spent a lifetime of hating my awesome country, spreading and spewing hate of a white race that has never as far as I know been out to get him, hang him, make him a slave or anything close.
He has damned my country and NO one does that and get's away with it. I will never wish him well, I will never be happy for him in any way. He is evil and that is all he is as a man, as a citizen and as a minister or hate.
Growing up the church we went to the minister was an awesome man. He had moved to America from Toronto, he was originally born in Scotland, he had been a hockey player and then went to school to become a minister. He fell in love, got married and adopted two children from the same place that I was adopted from. He was a fantastic preacher, a caring person and well loved and respected.
We would have church ice skating parties and he would love to skate again and was so good too especially since being a hockey player in his past. We all loved it when he would really let himself have fun and watched him do a lot of the fancy skating and spins etc. He would skate with his wife and kids too and they had such fun.
I mention this because he was of course given a home to live in as pastor of our church. It was a very nice house, in a safe and clean neighborhood with good schools for his children. His wife worked in her garden and it was beautiful. The house was not a mansion but that would have been ok too.
I don't care if Wright has a mansion it is the man that concerns me. His character and that is lacking in the most devastating way. He is without any good character and has done much harm to those with mush brains that soak in all his hate he preachers. That to me is sad and very scary. And his damning America is unforgivable.
....Thank you Les for sending this article to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:50 AM | Comments (14)
33 Senator's Should Be On List As UnAmerican
33 Senators voted against English as America 's official language on June 6, 2007. Of the 33, only one is a Republican and two are Independents; the rest are Democrats!
On Wednesday, June 6, 2007, at 23:35:23, Colonel Harry Riley, USA-Ret. wrote:
Senators:
" Your vote against an amendment to Immigration Bill 1348 to make English America's official language is astounding. On D-Day, no less, when we honor those who sacrificed in order to secure the bedrock, character and principles of America , I can only surmise your vote reflects a loyalty to illegal aliens.I don't much care where you come from, what your religion is, whether you're black, white, or some other color, male or female, Democrat, Republican or Independent, but I do care when you're a United States Senator representing citizens of America and you vote against English as the official language of the United States.
Your vote reflects betrayal and political surrender. It violates your Pledge of Allegiance, dishonors historical principle, rejects patriotism, borders on traitorous action and, in my opinion, makes you unfit to serve as a United States Senator. Impeachment, recall or other appropriate action is warranted or possibly even worse.Four of you voting against English as America 's official language are current or former presidential candidates: Senator Biden, Senator Clinton, Senator Dodd and Senator Obama. You are and were four Senators vying to lead America, but you won't or don't have the courage to cast a vote in favor of English as America's official language when 91% of American citizens want English officially designated as our language.
This is the second time in the last several months this list of Senators have disgraced themselves as "political hacks" unworthy of being Senators and certainly unqualified to serve as the President of the United States .
If America is as angry as I am, you will realize a backlash so stunning it will literally "rock you out of your pants" and, preferably, totally out of the United States Senate. The entire immigration bill is a farce. Your action only confirms this really isn't about America , it's about self-serving politics and it's despicable at best. It has been said, "Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level!"
The following Senators voted against making English the official language of America :
Akaka (D-HI)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE) (Unsuccessfully ran for President)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Clinton (D-NY) (Wants to be President)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT) (Unsuccessfully ran for President)
Domenici (R-NM) (Coward. Protecting his Senate seat.)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI) (Not unusual for him!)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA) (Unsuccessfully ran for President)
Kerry (D-MA) (Unsuccessfully ran for President)
Kohl (D-WI))
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (I-CT) (Disappointment here.)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL) (Wants to be President)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV) (Senate Majority Leader)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
President Abraham Lincoln stated:
"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled or hanged!"
Wild Thing's comment........
This is a great letter that Colonel Harry Riley wrote.
What nerve it takes and a hate for America for a politician to vote against English to be our language. Whenever I traveled out of the country I always took a small language booklet with me of whatever the language was in the country I was going to. I was never good at speaking other languages but I at least tried, out of respect for the country where I would be visiting or working.
There are many languages spoken by those coming to this country and it is WRONG that we have press #2 for Spanish instead of letting them know they need to learn English if they plan on living here.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:48 AM | Comments (12)
God's Busy
GOD'S BUSY
If you don't know GOD, don't make stupid remarks !!!!!!!
A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments.
He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed atheist and a member of the ACLU.
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, "God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes." The lecture room fell silent.
You could hear a pin drop.
Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, "Here I am God. I'm still waiting." It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him, knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold.
The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence. The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, "
What the heck is the matter with you? Why did you do that?"
The Marine calmly replied, "God was too busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like an idiot like you did............................ So, He sent me."
Wild Thing's comment......
God bless our Marines! LOL I love this.
....Thank you John, love it.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (12)
Free Kittens
Little Suzy had a box of very small kittens that she was trying to give away, so she had them out on the street corner with a sign 'FREE KITTENS' next to them. Suddenly a long line of big black cars came up with a policeman on a motorcycle in front. The cars all stopped and a tall man stepped out from the biggest car. 'Hi, little girl, what do you have there in the box?' he asked.
'Kittens' Little Suzy says. 'They're so small, their eyes are not even open yet.'
'What kind of kittens are they?' he asked.
'Democrats' says Little Suzy. The tall man smiled, returned to his car and they drove away.
Sensing a good photo opportunity, Sen. Obama called his campaign manager and told him about the little girl with the kittens. It was planned that they would return the next day, have all the media there and tell everyone about these 'democrat' kittens.
The next day, Little Suzy is standing out on the corner with her box of kittens with the 'FREE KITTENS' sign and the big motorcade of black cars pulled up with all the vans and trucks from ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN. Everyone had their cameras ready and then Sen. Obama got out of his limo and walked up to Little Suzy. 'Now don't be frightened,' he said, I just want you to tell all these nice news people just what kind of kittens you're giving away today.'
'Yes sir,' Suzy said, 'they are all REPUBLICAN kittens.'
Taken by surprise, Sen. Obama said, 'But yesterday you told me they were DEMOCRATS.'
Little Suzy says, 'Yes, I know. But, today they have their eyes open.'
.
Wild Thing's comment........
LOL I love this, it is funny but also makes an excellent point too.
....Thank you RAC.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (10)
Michelle Obama Bashes America at USC
Michelle Obama Bashes America at USC
"It's easier to hold on to your own stereotypes and misconceptions, it makes you feel justified in your own ignorance...That's AMERICA"
From January of this year by Michelle Obama to students at the University of South Carolina, presumably just before their primary. It shows how Mrs. Obama can utter some truth but put it in such a tone-deaf manner that she obscures the truth with hostility and sneering condescension. In this case, she starts by challenging students to actually embrace diversity by having the courage to reach beyond their social comfort zones, and winds up calling America ignorant:
"We don’t like being pushed outside of our comfort zones. You know it right here on this campus. You know people sitting at different tables- you all living in different dorms. I was there. You’re not talking to each other, taking advantage that you’re in this diverse community. Because sometimes it’s easier to hold on to your own stereotypes and misconceptions. It makes you feel justified in your own ignorance. That’s America. So the challenge for us is are we ready for change?"
Wild Thing's comment.......
She has certainly flunked her 'training' to be First Lady.
Princeton - - then Harvard Law - - earns $360,000 per in a figurehead job - - married to a U. S. Senator and presidential candidate.
Yup, she sure has a lot to complain about. Just wait until she’s First Lady! She’ll still be bitching about how tough it is to be black in America.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:40 AM | Comments (14)
March 27, 2008
Hillary Arrives On A Tank ~ LOL
Wild Thing's comment......
The music is the Panzie lied song. haha
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 PM | Comments (6)
Hillary wasn't lying! Bosnia Gunfire Footage Discovered ~ LOL
Wild Thing's comment.........
LOL
Barely Political is a left leaning site but they have lots of funny stuff there in some of their other video's. It’s also were the Obama girl videos come from.
The most important thing people need to take from this gaffe is just what an empty suit she really is. If she strays from the script even a little, she steps in do-do. thats why her interviews are scripted and managed. She cannot function when the end result is not pre-arranged.
I knew this was going to be a parody, but I didn’t think it would be this funny. ROTFLMAO! Personal fav: the part where she executed the terrorist.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:09 PM | Comments (5)
Saddam Paid For Lawmakers' Iraq Trip
US: Saddam paid for lawmakers' Iraq trip
Federal prosecutors say Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion.
An indictment in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti of arranging for three members of Congress to travel to Iraq in October 2002 at the behest of Saddam's regime. Prosecutors say Iraqi intelligence officials paid for the trip through an intermediary.
In exchange, Al-Hanooti allegedly received 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil.
The lawmakers are not mentioned but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California. There was no indication the three lawmakers knew the trip was underwritten by Saddam.
And this.............
Prosecutors: Saddam’s regime paid for U.S. lawmakers’ prewar trip
The lawmakers are not named in the indictment but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott, Washington; David Bonior, Michigan; and Mike Thompson, California. None was charged and Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said investigators “have no information whatsoever” any of them knew the trip was underwritten by Saddam.During the trip, the lawmakers expressed skepticism about the Bush administration’s claims that Saddam was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. Though such weapons ultimately never were found, the lawmakers drew criticism for their trip at the time.
Al-Hanooti was arrested Tuesday night while returning to the U.S. from the Middle East, where he was looking for a job, his attorney, James Thomas, said. Al-Hanooti pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, illegally purchasing Iraqi oil and lying to authorities. He was being held on $100,000 bail.
Wild Thing's comment........
Treason charges should be filed! Hey Nancy Pelosi, does this meet your "high" ethical standards?
And who has the where-with-all to do anything about these fine Congressmen? NOBODY!! As usual. The inmates control now the asylum.
"Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California. There was no indication the three lawmakers knew the trip was underwritten by Saddam"
Oh of course they didn't have a clue...what a bunch of BS. Who did they think was paying?!?!
Are any of these seats being contested in November? Hmmmmmm let's see now, Bonior retired from Congress several years ago, McDermott is a commie America-hater and Thompson I don't know about.
From 2002 National Catholic Reporter:
......conservative columnist George F. Will termed Bonior and his two Democratic colleagues "useful idiots"--useful to Saddam Hussein, that is. Pundit Christopher Caldwell termed the Baghdad visit a "treason tour."
From the Omega Letter:
Who Did Saddam Bribe?
List Names Top Officials in France, Russia
Terror - Islam
Monday, February 09, 2004
MEMRI
On January 25, 2004, a daily newspaper in Iraq called al Mada published a list of individuals and organizations who it says received oil from the now-deposed regime. Among those listed is Shakir al Khafaji, an Iraqi-American from Detroit, who ran "Expatriate Conferences" for the regime in Baghdad. Al Khafaji also contributed $400,000 to the production of Scott Ritter's film "In Shifting Sands." Finally, al Khafaji arranged travel and financing for the "Baghdad Democrats"--Jim McDermott, Mike Thompson and David Bonior--last fall. Following the trip, al Khafaji contributed $5,000 to McDermott's Legal Defense Fund.
And one last one here from the past:
US lawmakers push diplomacy in Iraq
30 September, 2002
The congressmen brought an anti-war messageThe three members of the House of Representatives - David Bonior, Jim McDermott and Mike Thompson - have been in Iraq for four days to assess the humanitarian situation.
Mr McDermott, of Washington state, said the US should concentrate on making sure Iraq was safe, not toppling its leader.
"Regime change requires war, disarming can be done diplomatically," he said.
He also suggested that former President Jimmy Carter, who has become involved in peace-making and monitoring elections, could check that the UN inspectors were allowed to do their checks unhindered.
....Thank you Jack for the article, there is no other name for this then treason. Jack's blog is Conservative Insurgent.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (10)
Supreme Court Rules Against Illegal Alien Death Row Murderer
Medellin was born in Mexico, but spent much of his childhood in the United States. He was 18 in June 1993, when he and other members of the Black and Whites gang in Houston encountered two teenage girls on a railroad trestle..The girls were gang-raped and strangled. Their bodies were found four days later
Supreme Court rules against illegal alien Death Row murderer; upholds US sovereignty
This is very good news. Congrats to the state of Texas, which had to fight the open-borders lobby and the Bush administration all the way to the high court to prevent international law from superseding American sovereignty:
President Bush overstepped his authority when he ordered a Texas court to grant a new hearing to a Mexican on death row for rape and murder, the Supreme Court said Tuesday.In a case that mixes presidential power, international relations and the death penalty, the court sided with Texas 6-3.
Bush was in the unusual position of siding with death row prisoner Jose Ernesto Medellin, a Mexican citizen whom police prevented from consulting with Mexican diplomats, as provided by international treaty.
An international court ruled in 2004 that the convictions of Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row around the United States violated the 1963 Vienna Convention, which provides that people arrested abroad should have access to their home country’s consular officials. The International Court of Justice, also known as the world court, said the Mexican prisoners should have new court hearings to determine whether the violation affected their cases.
Bush, who oversaw 152 executions as Texas governor, disagreed with the decision. But he said it must be carried out by state courts because the United States had agreed to abide by the world court’s rulings in such cases. The administration argued that the president’s declaration is reason enough for Texas to grant Medellin a new hearing.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, disagreed. Roberts said the international court decision cannot be forced upon the states.
The president may not “establish binding rules of decision that pre-empt contrary state law,” Roberts said.
Andy McCarthy summed up the bottom line on this case last fall:
"At bottom, the case is about the freedom of Texans to govern themselves, to put sadistic murderers to death if that is what they choose democratically to do, as long as they adhere to American constitutional procedures in carrying out that policy choice. Sure, it offends Mexicans, Europeans, international law professors, and a motley collection of jurists who see themselves as a supra-sovereign tribunal. But that is not a basis for the President to interfere.The administration has made a great show of promoting democracy. Democracy, however, begins at home."
Wild Thing's comment........
This is excellent news. What a brilliant and clear thinking Chief Justice we have! And Bush had way exceeded his authority big time.
You can also go to my post from October 11, 2007 to read how hard Bush tried to favor this criminal.
Bush Sides With Sides With A Murdering Rapist Against State Of Texas
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:54 AM | Comments (12)
U.S. Based Revolution Muslim Website Spreading Messages of Hate
.
U.S. Based Revolution Muslim Website Spreading Messages of Hate
Fox News at this link there are also links to video's this jerk has made.
NEW YORK, N.Y.
On any given day, log on to RevolutionMuslim.com and a host of startling images appear:
— The Statue of Liberty, with an ax blade cutting through her side;
— Video mocking the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl, entitled "Daniel Pearl I am Happy Your Dead :) ";
— Video of a puppet show lampooning U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq;
— The latest speech from Sheikh Abdullah Faisal, an extremist Muslim cleric convicted in the UK and later deported for soliciting the murder of non-Muslims.
Even more surprising is that RevolutionMuslim.com isn't being maintained in some remote safe house in Pakistan. Instead, Yousef al-Khattab, the Web site creator, runs it from his home in the New York City Borough of Queens.
And, because al-Khattab enjoys the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, all the authorities can do is watch.
Formerly known as Joseph Cohen, al-Khattab is an American-born Jew who converted to Islam after attending an Orthodox Rabbinical school, which he later described as a “racist cult.”
The 39-year-old New York taxi driver launched RevolutionMuslim.com with the mission of “preserving Islamic culture,” “calling people to the oneness of God” and asking them to “support the beloved Sheik Abdullah Faisal, who’s preaching the religion of Islam and serving as a spiritual guide.”
In 2003 Faisal was convicted in the U.K. for spreading messages of racial hatred and urging his followers to kill Jews, Hindus and Westerners. In sermon recordings played at his trial, Faisal called on young, impressionable Muslims to use chemical weapons to “exterminate unbelievers” and “cut the throat of the Kaffars nonbelievers with a machete.”
Authorities believe Faisal’s sermons have influenced 2005 London transport bomber Germaine Lindsay and "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, who attended mosques where Faisal preached.
At times, al-Khattab's postings are farcical, such as a picture of him holding the book "Nuclear Jihad" with a wry smile on his face. Other messages call for radical Muslim rule worldwide.
Al-Khattab claims the Sept. 11 terror attacks were an “inside job,” and he blames U.S. foreign policy for spawning the terrorism that carried out the attacks.
He calls Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and beheaded in 2002 by Islamic extremists in Pakistan, “a convicted spy.”
“I could care less about Daniel Pearl,” al-Khattab said in an interview with FOXNews.com. “I’m happy to see that he’s gone.”
The content changes constantly. One reason is that the fast flow of information allows messages to spread through cyberspace quickly. Another, terrorism analysts say, is to make it difficult for law enforcement to monitor the site.
Despite his radical anti-Western views, al-Khattab says he does not support terrorism of any kind.
Yet, RevolutionMuslim.com claims to be the official site of “North American representatives” for Sheikh Faisal, and it appears dedicated to spreading his radical doctrine.
He says Faisal “never said to kill innocent people” and was unjustly imprisoned. He says the real terror organizations are the U.S. Army, the CIA, and the FBI — and the National Coast Guard, “to a lesser extent.”
According to RevolutionMuslim, Faisal — who was deported to his native Jamaica in 2007 — is now receiving donations solicited on the site, including money for a new laptop and DVD burner to spread his message.
It's not illegal to post these messages or collect money for Faisal, but it would be if Faisal were designated a terrorist by the U.S. government. He currently is not listed on any government terror list; a Department of Justice spokesman could not confirm or deny if Faisal is being investigated for any terror related activity.
RevolutionMuslim may look amateurish when compared with other extremist Web sites, but it is no less of a threat, says Mia Bloom, political science professor at the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs.
“It may lead people who become radicalized by it to turn to other, more dangerous Web sites,” such as those run by terrorist organizations, she said.
Bloom characterized al-Khattab’s message as “narrow” and “misinformed” and said he is attempting to “proselytize or radicalize people who share some of these same ideas.”
“He has obviously been duped or is duping others because that’s not what Islam preaches,” she said.
On his site al-Khattab appears to condemn the very democracy that guarantees him the freedom to express himself — a freedom he cites in a disclaimer on his homepage:
“We hereby declare and make absolute public declaration that revolutionmuslim.com operates under the first amendment right to freedom of religion and expression and that in no way, shape, or form do we call for war against the U.S. government or adhere to the enemies of the United States elsewhere.”
Under the law FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said it is difficult to bring criminal charges against the operators of Web sites like RevolutionMuslim.com unless specific threats are made against an individual or individuals.
Kolko while not speaking directly about RevolutionMuslim said radical sites like these are not often prosecuted.
"It's usually a First Amendment right if they don't cross the threshold of making any threats," said Kolko. "There's nothing we should or could do."
“Until the rhetoric reaches the point in which it’s no longer protected speech under the first amendment, it’s hard to stop it,” said security expert, Harvey Kushner.
Wild Thing's comment........
Get this guy out of America! Sub-Human evil people. They are using our freedom against us!
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:50 AM | Comments (12)
Insulted Military Blasts Hillary's Serial 'Sniper" Lies
NOW BUNKO HILL IS UNDER FIRE
New York Post
Hillary Rodham Clinton's lies about risking her life under sniper fire during a visit to Bosnia as first lady have infuriated the US military brass and troops.
"She has no sense of what a statement like that does to soldiers," fumed retired Maj. Gen. Walter Stewart, the former head of the Pennsylvania National Guard.
"She is insulting the command in its entirety," he said yesterday.
Clinton came under fire after saying she "misspoke" about what happened during the trip and claimed it was the first time she erred in describing her visit - an assertion Barack Obama's campaign quickly disproved by finding at least three prior occasions over the last few months where she's claimed there was sniper fire.
Stewart, who was assigned to the Army's European headquarters at the time of Clinton's visit in 1996, called her statements "really astonishing."
"Believe me, heads would have rolled all over" if the military put the then-first lady at "unacceptable risk," added Stewart, who is supporting Barack Obama.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Buster Glosson, a John McCain supporter who ran the air attack in the first Gulf War, said, "It bothers me any time anyone running for the highest office in the land fabricates a story.
"That should bother any American, whether you're military or nonmilitary."
Another source, a former Army analyst who was stationed abroad when dignitaries visited, said, "You know, we have soldiers overseas now who are getting shot at by real bullets from real enemies who really want to kill them.
"Getting shot at by snipers is not something you forget - or make light of," he added.
Wild Thing's comment........
Hillary is a congenital, pathological, blatant, obvious, non-caring liar! EVIL and so is Obama, both sent to us from the hell of the democrat party.
Interesting to note on one of the military quotes....this one from Maj.. Gen. Walter Stewart::
Maj. Gen. Stewart, a surrogate for B.Hussein Obama, aka “God Damn America” Obama. Hillary is a liar and a fraud but the person that the good Maj. Gen. is supporting is no better!
More power to Operation Chaos.
I am still hoping that she hoping that she hangs on long enough to make the Democrat convention a total mess.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:48 AM | Comments (10)
Muqtada al-Sadr Orders Iraq PM Out Of Basra
Relations between Sadr and Nouri al-Maliki have deteriorated sharply as the two men clashed over fighting between Iraqi forces and gunmen in Sadrist communities in Iraq.
The Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has demanded that the country's prime minister leave Basra where he is overseeing a military operation to purge the southern city of its radical Shi'ite militiamen.
Maliki gave followers of Sadr and other Shi'ite gunmen 72 hours to surrender their weapons and renounce violence or bear the brunt of a military crackdown.
"We are not going to chase those who hand over their weapons within 72 hours," said Mr Maliki. "If they do not surrender their arms, the law will follow its course."
A spokesman for Sadr said his movement had appealed to Mr Maliki to reduce tensions in the city by returning to Baghdad and sending a parliamentary delegation to seek an end to fighting.
Liwa Sumaysim, a spokesman for Sadr said: "Sadr has asked prime minister Maliki to leave Basra and to send a parliamentary delegation to resolve the crisis in the city."
Fighting has raged in Basra since Tuesday morning.
A military operation targeting rogue elements of the group was also underway in the Sadr City area of Baghdad
Wild Thing's comment........
Uh...he actually thinks the Maliki will just get up and leave one of his own cities because a random cleric said so? Mook-man is full of Shi’ite.
OK so here is a hint for Maliki, the American way. Forget the 72 hours, forget letting them threaten you Maliki.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 AM | Comments (10)
The Bunker Notebook ~ News From In Country
This Category Bunker Notebook at Theodore's World,
will be about the things shared in emails from
our troops and other Americans that are
located in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Theodore's World is very aware of how
loose lips endanger our troops and other Americans
working in the hot zones, so at all times great care will be
taken in how much information is posted.
Some notes will be directly from the troops
and other notes from those such
as employees with Halliburton and others..
.
A note from my friend and employee with Haliburton in Baghdad:
" This has been a rough few days. I'm not in the Green Zone, but am near enough to hear the bombs that have fallen there constantly today. I was just outside and there are gunbattles going on in this part of town. I heard more than one. I hope the good guys are winning.The coalition is standing down and letting Iraq handle this and Iraq wants to. This is a testament to how well the coalition has trained them. They would never have been able to do something like this a year ago.
I just think that letting Mookie live is going to have a real negative impact on Iraq in the future. - Wild Thing email back.
Oh, I've never favored that little creep taking one more breath. But we're not even sure he is alive right now. Some "spokesman" in Tehran is doing all of his talking right now. It's all very strange. The Mehdi Army is getting its marching orders from Iran, so it'll be interesting to see what they do.
It's just after midnight in Baghdad and unfortunately, just when I thought it had quieted down, I head a couple more mortars a few minutes ago.
Maliki has issued an ultimatum that the Mehdi-Scum has 72 hours to turn in their weapons. I'm in favor of the US forces dropping a few very loud messages off in Tehran, personally. Even terrorists have to rest and those cockroaches have been busy today.
This latest attack I feel will have a good ending. It just might be a bit rough getting there. "
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:45 AM | Comments (9)
Mahdi Army Attacks Opposition and Iraq Leadership
Map locating the four cities where Mahdi Army fighters fought with Iraqi and US forces Tuesday.
(AFP/Graphic)
IMPACT: Shiite enclave back on edge
Shiite militiamen are everywhere. Police and Iraqi army checkpoints are nowhere in sight. U.S. soldiers are keeping their distance.
Sadr City — the Baghdad nerve center for the powerful Mahdi Army — is suddenly back on edge as the militia leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, and Iraq's government lock in a dangerous confrontation over clout and control among the nation's majority Shiites.
The epicenter of the showdown has been the southern oil hub of Basra, where clashes have claimed dozens of lives this week and al-Sadr's forces face a Friday deadline to surrender.
But a more finely tuned measure of the tensions may be found among the one- and two-story homes and shabby storefronts of Sadr City. As the crisis deepened, The Associated Press toured Sadr City on Wednesday to observe its rapid swing from relative quiet to a return of the Mahdi Army swagger before the U.S. military troop buildup in Baghdad last year.
Sadr City — named after Muqtada al-Sadr's father, who was assassinated in 1999 — is seen as critical to the overall stability and security of the capital.
A resurgence of Madhi Army attacks and opposition could roll back the gains that have allowed Baghdad residents to take cautious steps toward normal life and offered Washington hope of accelerating troop withdrawals.
But recent days have resurrected old challenges.
Al-Sadr's militia forces, estimated at about 60,000, now seem itching for a fight. The current crisis came to head over U.S. and Iraqi raids that have detained hundreds of Mahdi Army loyalists even as the group maintained a shaky cease-fire since August — which the Pentagon has credited for helping bring down violence.
The tensions have spilled over into street battles in Basra between Mahdi fighters and Iraqi government forces. Fighting also has flared in other cities across southern Iraq's Shiite heartland — where Iran is hedging its bets by supporting factions of the Mahdi Army and its main Shiite rival.
Mahdi fighters also are blamed for a series of rocket barrages on the U.S.-protected Green Zone, which was hit again Wednesday. The Pentagon appears to want no part of the current troubles. Commanders worry that American troops could be drawn into difficult urban conflict, sapping energy from the fight against al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni insurgents.
U.S. forces have made only sporadic stabs into Sadr City, choosing instead to strengthen a security cordon on the outskirts. U.S. commanders, meanwhile, have a limited presence in southern Iraq and show no signs of diverting soldiers — as they did in the last major fight against the Mahdi Army in 2004.
"We are a different force than the one you saw in 2004," a senior Mahdi commander said at his Sadr City home.
"We are now better organized, have better weapons, command centers and easy access to logistical and financial support," added the commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Squatting on the floor next to two of his fighters, the commander sipped sweet black tea as a U.S. helicopter flew low overhead. A burst of gunfire rang out at one point. Another moment, he listened to the screech of a rocket.
"That's going to the Green Zone," he said.
When one of his fighters left the house, he warned about driving too close to American patrols on the edge of the district — a grid-pattern of teeming streets in northeast Baghdad built in the 1950s to house poor Shiite workers.
It was first named Revolution City. Then it became Saddam City. After Saddam Hussein's fall in 2003, it was designated Sadr City after al-Sadr's father, Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, whose death is blamed on Saddam agents.
"Don't be too impressed with what the Americans have. We can still win because we have faith and a just cause on our side," said one of the two militiamen in the commander's home.
Sadr City, home to 2.5 million people, looked like a place bracing for battle.
Its streets — normally crowded and noisy — were oddly quiet. Beside the militiamen, only youngsters were out in large numbers, playing soccer on dirt fields. Most stores were shuttered.
The militiamen, some wearing ammunition belts and sporting two-way radios, were out in full force dressed in a ragtag collection of tracksuits, jeans and pajamas. But they carried the essential firepower for effective street conflict: AK-47 rifles or grenade launchers.
Some stood behind rickety market stands with machine guns perched on top. Snipers took up position on rooftops. Others drove in pickup trucks fitted with machine guns.
Many curbs showed traces of disturbed asphalt — usually a telltale sign of freshly planted roadside bombs. Streets were barricaded by rocks, metal furniture or burning tires. Lookouts on motorbikes relayed the latest movements of U.S. armor deployed nearby.
Mahdi Army commanders have told the AP that the militia has recently taken delivery of new weapons supplied by backers in Iran. The arsenal, they said, included roadside bombs, anti-aircraft guns and Soviet-designed Grad rockets.
They also said an infusion of cash, also from Iran, helped the militia set up new command centers equipped with Internet-linked computers, fax machines and satellite mobile phones. They have also received global positioning system devices, they said.
The United States has long accused Iran of providing Shiite militias in Iraq with arms and training. Iran denies it.
Aides to al-Sadr in Baghdad insisted the Mahdi Army cease-fire remained in force, but warned of dire results if Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government continued its crackdown against Mahdi militiamen.
"There will be grave consequences," said Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, al-Sadr's chief representative in Sadr City.
"We are not going to stand by and watch our sons getting killed," he told tribal leaders at a mosque. "You must tell the government that you will disown it if it doesn't stop the operations in the entire south."
Al-Sadr's movement gained ground in Sadr City in the immediate aftermath of Saddam's ouster. It quickly filled the vacuum left by the regime's fall — and Washington's lack of postwar planning — by running basic services and clamping down on looting in a district that had once been notorious for high crime and unemployment.
The militia is not universally popular in Sadr City because some of its men are involved in extortion and kidnapping. But the Mahdi Army is credited by most residents for protecting the district against Sunni militants during the height of Baghdad's sectarian war in 2006 and early 2007.
The bond between Sadr City's residents and the militia was on display Wednesday, with families offering fighters water, tea and food.
"Today, a family sent us rice and meat for lunch," said another militia commander, who identified himself only by the nickname Abu Ali and said he was one of 12 who oversee the Mahdi Army operations in Baghdad and the south.
Al-Sadr's support was instrumental in helping al-Maliki clinch the prime minister's job in 2006, but the two men fell out about a year ago.
"Down with al-Maliki's government," is now common graffiti in Sadr City. "The Dawa party is treasonous," declared another one, referring to al-Maliki's party.
This is the report from Reurters
14 killed, 140 wounded in Baghdad's Sadr City
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Fourteen people were killed and more than 140 wounded in clashes between security forces and Shi'ite militants in Baghdad's Sadr City slum, a medical source said on Wednesday.
Another UPDATE:
U.S. airstrike in Iraq reportedly causes 60 casualties
Amid heavy clashes between government forces and Shiite Muslim militants in Baghdad and the southern port city of Basra, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki issued an ultimatum Wednesday demanding that the militias surrender their weapons within 72 hours. Radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr , whose Mahdi Army militia is a prime target of the government offensive, responded by demanding that Maliki leave Basra.U.S. forces joined Iraqi troops in Baghdad to fight Mahdi Army militants, and police said that at least 20 people had been killed in the Sadr City neighborhood, a stronghold for Sadr's backers.
The city's fortified Green Zone sustained a third round of intense mortar fire beginning at 5:30 a.m. that seriously injured three U.S. government employees, according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy. A mortar round struck near Maliki's office.
With barely functioning hospitals and people holed up in their homes it was unclear how many people had died in Basra. According to health ministry officials in Basra, at least 33 people had been killed and 150 had been wounded in the fighting.
Maliki stipulated in his ultimatum that the militants would be spared if they surrendered their weapons within 72 hours. Sadr called for calm, asking Maliki to leave the Mahdi Army-dominated oil hub of Basra and send a parliamentary delegation to solve the crisis through dialogue, Sadr spokesman Hassan al Zargani said from Tehran, Iran .
In Baghdad , Mahdi Army-dominated neighborhoods remained sealed off, angering residents who couldn't open their businesses, get to hospitals or send their children to school.
Wild Thing's comment........
I sure wish Muqtada al-Sadr was no longer consuming oxygen. I sure hope they can use this chance to take down Mookie and his “army” once and for all, if he is still in Iraq.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:40 AM | Comments (9)
March 26, 2008
Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Cancels Florida Appearance
Rev. Earl B. Mason Sr. addresses the press from the sanctuary of Bible-Based Fellowship Church of Temple Terrace. ( Tampa news)
A Florida church has canceled an appearance by Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., citing security concerns and the anticipation of a media circus.
According to media accounts, Rev. Earl Mason told reporters at a press conference Tuesday that he asked Wright to stay in Chicago instead of lead a three-day revival celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Bible-Based Fellowship Church of Temple Terrace.
The revival was to be Wright’s first public appearance since his remarks that were critical of, among other issues, American domestic and foreign policy surfaced on the Internet.
Wright has been a longtime staple at church revivals around the country. He has made regular appearances at the Temple Terrace church because of his longtime friendship with Mason.
The Rev. Earl Mason cited security concerns and said the three-night revival featuring Wright was turning into an "event" and media circus, rather than the celebration of the church's 10th anniversary that it was intended to be, so Mason asked him to stay in Chicago.
Tampa police said the department was prepared for Wright’s visit and did not recommend the event be canceled.
The Tampa Police Department was prepared to handle the visit from the time he landed at the Tampa International Airport, through the event and until his departure from our city,” the recording said. “We were surprised to hear of his cancellation."
According to police, officers had scouted the location, gathered intelligence and put a security plan into place employing both patrol and plainclothes officers. “We had additional officers on standby if there was any unusual activity or threats,” the recording said.
Wright is scheduled to receive an award from Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Tex. on Saturday after contributing to a panel discussion about the state of the black church.
Wild Thing's comment.....
This is so funny, democrats just cannot tell the truth if their life depended on it. Last night this story was on local TV news. The police said just like the article above that they had done the preparation to be ready for whatever could happen. Then the news played a video of the minister of the church , Rev. Earl Mason, and he said the church cancelled Wright's visit because the church could not get the police to say they would protect them and give them security. The only thing the police told the church they would have to take care of getting their own security for would be the parking lot. I guess the church did not want to spend the money for that part of it.
But why the lie, that the police said no. I am glad though it is better that he does not come to Florida, he can stay far away with his rantings as far as I am concerned.
My guess is though that Obama's campaign told Wright NOT to have any speaking engagements for awhile so we will see if Wright goes to Texas or not or will they cancel that one too.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:55 AM | Comments (19)
America's Enemy Within Afraid Of Real Heroes
Minneapolis high school cancels former student’s and Iraq vets’ talk
The veteran’s bus tour featuring decorated veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is stopping in the Twin Cities today. But controversy at Forest Lake High School forced the tour to make a change in plans. Capt. Pete Hegeseth founded the group Vets for Freedom. He is an Iraq War vet and a Forest Lake High School graduate. He received word yesterday that the school did not want the bus rolling through, calling the talk too political for a public school. He said parents and an outside group threatened to protest if they came. Instead, the group spoke at the Forest Lake American Legion. Dozens of students at Forest Lake High School were so upset that they skipped school to go see the speech.
Students Skip School To See Iraq Speech
A veteran's bus tour featuring decorated veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is stopping in the Twin Cities today.
But controversy at Forest Lake High School forced the tour to make a change in plans.
Capt. Pete Hegeseth founded the group Vets for Freedom. He is an Iraq War vet and a Forest Lake High School graduate. He received word yesterday that the school did not want the bus rolling through, calling the talk too political for a public school.
He said parents and an outside group threatened to protest if they came.
Instead, the group spoke at the Forest Lake American Legion.
Dozens of students at Forest Lake High School were so upset that they skipped school to go see the speech.
"My brother's in the armed forces...it's a slap in the face for people with family members in the armed forces," said student Elijah Miller.
The non-profit, non-partisan group does talk about staying in Iraq, but Hegeseth said the current speech has been adjusted for public school students. He said it's about sharing experience.
"I was out there for three days outside the neighborhood outside the green zone and I didn't hear a single shot fired or a single explosion," Heggeseth told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. "Markets were open, the Iraqi Army was out on the street corner--that's not political, that's what I saw first hand," Hegeseth told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.
School officials repeatedly denied our requests for comment on the situation.
Coast-to-Coast Bus Tour by War Heroes
Wild Thing's comment.........
"He said parents and an outside group threatened to protest if they came"
Can you imagine, it is not only the school saying no but it says...... parents too, sure the outside groups are probably CODE PINK's and ANSWER ETC. But parents?!!
OK so here we go, parents like this are teaching their kids the steps in being a good liberal, a good American hating communist military loathing citizen. Now kids this is how mom and dad want you to feel about our military, this is how we want you to disrespect and show zero support to those that fought for your being able to live in the land of the free.
No thank soldier is not on our side he is the enemy. We don't like people like that. And we certainly don't encourage the things they do by going to hear them speak or applauding them and cheering for them.
Yep nice huh, my guess is that is exactly the conversation that goes on in the house of liberals with their mush brained kids.
God bless these soldiers. And God bless the students and families that were not like the leftie's that wanted no part of this very special time in their lives.
* Blackfive ....thank you for the video
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:50 AM | Comments (19)
China Wants Troops To Guard Olympic Torch In Australia
85,000 miles of protest against the Murderers of Beijing! This photo above was taken in Greece on Monday.
CHINA has told Australia its army should oversee the local leg of the Olympic torch relay amid mounting security concerns.
Chinese officials have asked Australian Federal Police to hand over security to its own forces to ensure protests do not mar the relay when it lands in Australia next month.
The move – which has been rebuffed by the AFP – comes as Beijing reels from an embarrassing relay launch in Greece when human rights activists hijacked the event.
China has responded by radically cutting back its relay legs in cities where it expects more trouble, police sources told The Advertiser.
The U.S. city of San Francisco, with a large expatriate Chinese community and Paris – headquarters of Reporters Sans Frontieres, the group behind the Athens protests – have had their legs of the torch relay cut.
It is understood Beijing is concerned that protesters will turn the Australian leg of the relay in Canberra on April 24 into another public relations disaster.
"They're absolutely wetting their pants but the federal police have really rammed home to them that while the torch is in Canberra security is our responsibility," a Government source said yesterday.
The Canberra leg will parade a cavalcade of Australian Olympic stars including Ian Thorpe, Jodie Henry, Petria Thomas, Marjorie Jackson-Nelson and Ron Clarke.
It will pass through Federal Parliament and outside the Chinese Embassy in the Canberra suburb of Yarralumla.
The Australian Olympic Committee said yesterday there were no plans to cancel or limit the Canberra leg.
"The relay will definitely go ahead," said AOC spokesman Mike Tancred.
"We have explained to the Chinese Embassy people have a democratic right in Australia to stage demonstrations and people are free to demonstrate when the torch does arrive, but we would hope that demonstrations are peaceful and won't disrupt the relay in any way."
The security taskforce for the relay, formed 18 months ago, includes a Chinese Embassy official, the AFP, the AOC and ACT Government representatives.
Wild Thing's comment........
NO NO and NO! . Since when to ChiCom troops get to enforce their human rights violations on NON CHINESE SOIL???
That is so wrong in so many different levels!
#1 -- are they saying that the Australian security is incompetent and China's is not?
#2 -- and what exactly will you do to the protestors -- reeducate them like you are doing to the Tibetian monks and gun then down or beat them horribly with wood?
#3 -- You must think Australia is really dumb enough to allow Chinese armed forces to police public areas...
This whole thing is insane, the Olympic Committee was wrong in every way to let China have the Olympics in their country. The only thing they were thinking about was how much money would be in the briefcases passed under the table to them by the Chicoms if they gave them the olympics.
Can’t you just see it now? A torch runner surrounded by a squad of Chinese cops with helmets on and riot guns at port arms. Showing up with their tanks and the whole thing.
ChiComs are wanting to do this in Aussie land probably because of this:
Protests disrupt Olympic torch ceremony
CNN
OLYMPIA, Greece (CNN) -- Activists protesting China's crackdown in Tibet briefly disrupted the Olympic flame-lighting ceremony in Greece on Monday, calling for a boycott of the Summer Games in Beijing later this year.
Despite the brief disruption by protesters, the Olympic flame began a 130-day, 85,000-mile journey Monday slated to take it from ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing, China, where the 2008 games are to begin in August.
Charging onto the field of an ancient Greek stadium in Olympia, three protesters unfurled a banner calling for the boycott.
Police said they detained the three French protesters -- members of the Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders, who had evaded security to unfurl the black banner, which depicted the Olympic rings as handcuffs.
"If the flame is sacred then so are humans," the French group said in a written statement. "We cannot let the Chinese seize the Olympic flame, a symbol of piece, without denouncing the dramatic situation of human rights in the country."
Olympic officials said it was the first time the movement's flame-lighting ritual had been interrupted by protests at the birthplace of the games.
More protests followed, after the torch began its long trek. A Tibetan woman covered herself with red paint and lay on the ground, forcing the torchbearer to weave around her as other protesters shouted "Flame of shame."
Other protesters were detained by police for trying to stage a peaceful protest along the torch-relay route.
A pro-Tibet group said in a written statement that two of its members were "violently detained after unfurling banners and Tibetan flags on the road as the torch made its way through Olympia."
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:48 AM | Comments (8)
Bill Clinton Voodoo doll very funny ~ Oldie But Very Funny
Bill Clinton Voodoo doll very funny
Wild Thing's comment.........
I remember seeing this back when Bill Clinton was President and just saw it again. It is very funny.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 AM | Comments (3)
Visiting With our Troops
Capt. Aaron Bowman, commanding officer of Naval Station Mayport, presents a command coin to 8-year-old sea cadet Jesse Carter for having the best uniform during a uniform inspection. (U.S. Navy photo)
With a little help from Command Senior Chief Don Abele, three children lead hundreds of invited guests in reciting the pledge of allegiance while aboard USS Constitution during the ship's 2nd underway demonstration of the year. The three masted, wood-hulled frigate was towed about three miles to Castle Island area where she gave a 21-gun salute to the nation for USS Constitution Day. At 209 years old, USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, manned by 64 active duty U.S. Navy Sailors and visited by nearly half a million tourists annually.
Wild Thing's comment........
I loved seeing this, what wonderful children and they are being taught how special our military is which always makes me very happy.
God bless the children and our troops.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:45 AM | Comments (6)
March 25, 2008
Negative U.S. media linked to increased insurgent attacks
Negative U.S. media linked to increased insurgent attacks
Researchers at Harvard say that publicly voiced doubts about the U.S. occupation of Iraq have a measurable "emboldenment effect" on insurgents there.
Periods of intense news media coverage in the United States of criticism about the war, or of polling about public opinion on the conflict, are followed by a small but quantifiable increases in the number of attacks on civilians and U.S. forces in Iraq, according to a study by Radha Iyengar, a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in health policy research at Harvard and Jonathan Monten of the Belfer Center at the university's Kennedy School of Government.
The increase in attacks is more pronounced in areas of Iraq that have better access to international news media, the authors conclude in a report titled "Is There an 'Emboldenment' Effect? Evidence from the Insurgency in Iraq."
The researchers studied data about insurgent attacks and U.S. media coverage up to November, tracking what they called "anti-resolve statements" by U.S. politicians and reports about American public opinion on the war.
"We find that in periods immediately after a spike in anti-resolve statements, the level of insurgent attacks increases," says the study, published earlier this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a leading U.S. nonprofit economic research organization.
In Iraqi provinces that were broadly comparable in social and economic terms, attacks increased between 7 percent and 10 percent following what the researchers call "high-mention weeks," like the two just before the November 2006 election.
The study also found that attacks increased more in parts of Iraq like Anbar province, where there is greater access to international news media, measured by the proportion of households with satellite TV, which its authors say increases the credibility of their findings.
The researchers conclude that the increases in attacks are a necessary cost of the way democratic societies fight wars and say they are concerned that the research may be seized upon by the Iraq war's supporters to try and silence its critics.
"We are a little bit worried about that," Mr. Monten said in an interview. "Our data suggests that there is a small, but measurable cost" to "anything that provides information about attitudes towards the war."
Wild Thing's comment.........
Where do I begin at how much this has my blood boiling.
First let's start with this......"Periods of intense news media coverage in the United States of criticism about the war...are followed by a small but quantifiable increases in the number of attacks on civilians and U.S. forces in Iraq".
Any person with half a brain would KNOW that negative comments, negative press (media), politicians spewing BS about pulling out, anti-war protests, violence and protest at recruiting centers etc., politicians and the American haters like Code Pink, ANSWER, and others saying we are NOT winning when our military reports of tremendous success in so many areas, that the surge IS working ............... a person with a brain would know these things effect the war and give aide to the enemy!
So there is NO need to spend 1 second on some stupid study about it. What a total waste of time, and you just know these idiots got paid probably to do this kind of investigation and report on it.
Secondly........"The increase in attacks is more pronounced in areas of Iraq that have better access to international news media".....again anyone with a brain would know that the areas that have access to the media would hear of these people above that I mentioned and the things they have been saying and take it that they have friends in America that are on their side NOT on the side of the troops. How soon they forget that Saddam LOVED CNN and loved to watch it. That is why I post about the things Murtha, Reid and others say and call them what they are TRAITORS to America one and all, and that IMO they should be punished as anyone committing treason and being a traitor should be punished.
And third...... "concerned that the research may be seized upon by the Iraq war's supporters to try and silence its critics.".......they say they are worried about you and I, and wanting to silence the critics of the war when this information in their report is exposed. What on earth do they think the support the troops rallies are about.
What the heck do they think drives a blogger to never give up and want to share the awesome things our troops are doing since the communist media will not. Did they do a full investigation or not!?!?!? Because IF they did they would find out from Murtha and Reid and Pelosi, Code Pink , ANSWER and the rest of our enemy within that they have received tons of emails, tons of Fax's, and phone calls of our protesting THEM, and how dangerous what they say and do is for our troops in harms way.
The many rallies that go on are to support the troops and to make sure that the voice of those of us in America is heard. That we appreciate the sacrifices and are aware of the danger our troops are in every day 24/7.
This is NOT the 60's and early 70's when we had no real internet, no blogs to get the word out, to plan rallies of support. We will never forget how our Vietnam Vets were treated, how the media and the vile leftie bunch I spoke of at the beginning of my comment existed back then and we had no real way of setting up our own rallies like today.
Then there are the numerous support the troops organizations we know of from being on the internet where we can find ways of giving more support to the troops too.
I swore to myself back during the Vietnam War, that NEVER AGAIN would the left have a voice without my fighting back, letting them know how I felt with all I am. From my fisrt visit to Nam, there were things a person could do back here at home. I remember back then how when a few soldiers got out of the hospitial a bunch of us drove up the coast in Calif. and put Hanoi Jane stickers in the urnials in the bathrooms along the drive up and back down the coast. heh heh
Today there are rallies, and t-shirts that a person can wear and it is fun to see how many get upset when they see me wear "the party of cut and run" with a few of the Dems on the front image. Or one of my favorite Marine t-shirts that says...." USMC Spring Break in Iraq, making it possible for the enemy to die for his country".
And fourth, they say "Our data suggests that there is a small, but measurable cost" to "anything that provides information about attitudes towards the war."
Oh my gosh, the lives of our troops is a small but measurable cost when negative remarks about the war are made? SMALL but measurable cost???????? This isn't about the stock market for pete's sake!
Ready on the right
Ready on the left
Ready on the firing line.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (13)
Obama's Blind Spot on Race and Character
Obama's Blind Spot on Race and Character
By Frances Rice
Her blog, The Black Republican
(Frances Rice, a lawyer and retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, is the chairman of the National Black Republican Association )
In his Philadelphia speech on race, Senator Barack Obama justified his 20-year relationship with his anti-American pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, by castigating as racist a host of people, including his own white grandmother who he later lambasted as a "typical white" racist. Conspicuously omitted from Obama's culpability list is the architect of modern day racismthe Democratic Party.
Obama's failure to even mention the Democratic Party's racist past, while confessing that he lied about when he first heard Rev. Wright's hateful rants, calls into question Obama's character and judgment. The shocking words of Rev. Wright can be heard by viewing the video:
Without flinching, Rev. Wright damned his own country, declaring that innocent Americans deserved to be killed by Islamic terrorists on September 11, 2001.
Since Obama refuses to end his ties to Rev. Wright and has put forth a false face as a presidential candidate, we need to look behind the mask and examine his past to see the real Barack Obama.
Obama's Slave-owning Relatives
Notably, in his speech, Obama mentioned the slavery history of the family of his wife, Michelle. He failed to say one word about the unsavory slave-owning past of his own white relatives. Historical records uncovered by researchers and posted on the Internet at: http://www.freedomsenemies.com/_more/obama.htm show that Obama's maternal forbearers were slaveholders. In fact, one of Obama's ancestors, George Washington Overall, owned two slaves as is recorded in the Nelson County, Kentucky 1850 Census. The same records show that another one of Obama's ancestors, Mary Duvall, also owned two slaves. All of Obama's slave-owning forbearers were Democrats.
Obama, following in the footsteps of his white ancestors, is also part of the Democratic Party that: (1) fought to keep blacks in slavery; (2) started the Ku Klux Klan to lynch and terrorize Republicansblack and white; (3) passed the discriminatory Black Codes and Jim Crow laws; (4) fought every piece of civil rights legislation from the 1860's to the 1960's; and (5) attacked Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights protesters with skin-burning fire hoses and vicious dogs.
While hiding the racist past of the Democratic Party, Obama refuses to give credit to the Republican Party that: (1) started in 1854 as the anti-slavery party and fought to free blacks from slavery; (2) amended the Constitution to grant blacks freedom, citizenship and the right to vote; (3) started the NAACP to stop the Democrats from lynching blacks; (4) passed the civil rights laws of the 1860's that were overturned by the Democrats when they took over Congress in 1892; (5) founded the HBCUs; (6) started affirmative action enforcement in 1969 to help blacks get jobs and contracts based on merit; and (7) fought the Democrats for over six decades until Republicans finally achieved passage of the civil rights laws of the 1950's and 1960's under the leadership of Republican Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois.
It defies logic for Democrats to claim that, after Republicans spent over 100 years fighting the Democrats on behalf of blacks and finally won, all the racist Democrats suddenly rushed into the Republican Party. In fact, those racist Democrats declared that that they would rather vote for a "yellow dog" than a Republican because the Republican Party was known as the party for blacks. Facts about the racist past of the Democratic Party can be found in such books as A Short History of Reconstruction by Dr. Eric Foner, Unfounded Loyalty by Rev. Wayne Perryman, Bamboozled by Angela McGlowan, and Wrong on Race by Bruce Bartlett.
Exposed in these books are the facts that the chief opponents of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act were Democrat Senators Sam Ervin, Albert Gore, Sr. and Robert Byrd, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan. Democrat President Lyndon Johnson is applauded as a proponent of civil rights. However, in his 4,500-word State of the Union Address delivered on January 4, 1965, Johnson mentioned scores of topics for federal action, but only thirty five words were devoted to civil rights. He did not mention one word about voting rights.
Democrat President John F. Kennedy is lauded as a civil rights advocate. In reality, Kennedy voted against the 1957 Civil rights Act while he was a senator, as did Democrat Senator Al Gore, Sr. After he became president, John F. Kennedy opposed the 1963 March on Washington by Dr. King that was organized by A. Phillip Randolph who was a black Republican. President Kennedy, through his brother Attorney General Robert Kennedy, had Dr. King wiretapped and investigated by the FBI on suspicion of being a Communist in order to undermine Dr. King.
In an effort to shift the racist past of the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, Democrats point a finger at Republican President Richard Nixon for his so-called "Southern Strategy." These same Democrats expressed no concern when the racially segregated South voted solidly for Democrats; yet unfairly deride Republicans because of the thirty-year odyssey of the South switching to the Republican Party that began in the 1970's. Nixon's "Southern Strategy" was an effort on his part to get fair-minded people in the South to stop voting for Democrats who did not share their values and were discriminating against blacks. Georgia did not switch until 2004, and some Southern states are still controlled by Democrats, including Louisiana until the 2007 election of Republican Bobby Jindal, a person of color.
Democrats also castigate Senator Trent Lott for his remarks about Senator Strom Thurmond in a blatant attempt to unfairly paint the Republican Party as a racist party. Where was the outrage when Democrat Senator Christopher Dodd praised former Ku Klux Klanner Democrat Senator Robert Byrd as someone who would have been "a great senator for any moment," including the Civil War. Notably, Senator Thurmond was never in the Ku Klux Klan and, after he became a Republican, defended blacks against lynching and the discriminatory poll taxes imposed on blacks by Democrats. If Senator Byrd and Senator Thurmond were alive during the Civil War, and Byrd had his way, Thurmond would have been lynched.
Obama's Muslim Connections
While not denying the basic facts about his Muslim connections, Obama and his defenders parse words, Clintonesque style, in a blatant attempt to discredit anyone who raises the issue. It's important to scrutinize Obama's Muslim background to determine if his Islamic past influences his decisions and actions toward America, including his decision to select an anti-American pastor as his spiritual advisor.
Obama readily exhibits his disdain for our country by refusing to wear an American flag lapel pin. Obama was also photographed with his back turned to our flag and his hands clasped defiantly in front of him during the saying of the pledge of allegiance.
Now that his relationship with Rev. Wright has been exposed, Obama is trying to deceive the public by giving speeches with American flags being used as props in the background.
To more fully understand the extent of Obama's Muslim experiences and how this connection influences his attitude about America, we need to examine some basic, undisputed facts.
Obama was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, and his full name is Barack Hussein Obama. He is named after his father who was born on the shores of Lake Victoria in Alego, Kenya. Obama's father was raised as a Muslim and married a white American woman, Anna Dunham of Wichita, Kansas while both were students at the University of Hawaii. Obama's parents divorced when he was two years old, and when he was six years old, his mother married an Indonesian oil company executive named Lolo Soetoro, who was also a Muslim and who introduced Obama to Islam.
The family moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, where they lived for five years from1968 through 1973. Obama first attended a Catholic school for three years. In that school's documents, Obama is listed under the name Barry Soetoro as an Indonesian citizen, and his religion is listed as Islam. Later, Obama attended a Muslim school where he received Islamic religious training before he was sent back to America to live with his maternal grandmother while his mother and his half-sister, Maya, stayed in Indonesia.
Obama's half brothers and sisters in Nairobi, Kenya are Muslims. His step-grandmother, Sarah Hussein Obama, is a lifelong Muslim who said: "I am a strong believer of the Islamic faith." In an April 30, 2007 New York Times interview, Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng who now lives in Hawaii, said: "My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim."
Obama, while describing his 1992 wedding, admitted that he was proud of his brother, Roy, who chose Islam over Christianity. "The person who made me proudest of all," Obama wrote, "was Roy. Actually, now we call him Abongo, his Luo name, for two years ago he decided to reassert his African heritage. He converted to Islam, and has sworn off pork and tobacco and alcohol."
If Obama were not a Muslim from the time his religion was recorded in Indonesia as Islam until he "converted" to Christianity, then what was he for 27 years? We, as citizens, have a right to know this information about the man who wants to be our next president.
Obama's Legislative Actions
Considering Obama's Islamic connections, it is not surprising that he introduced a bill in Illinois called "Islamic Community Day" which proclaimed that November 1, 1997 would be the South Shore Islamic Community Center Day.
Obama's other legislative actions in Illinois demonstrate that he is a liberal Democrat who puts left-wing ideology before the best interest of the people.
Incredibly, Obama opposed four times the Born Alive Infant Protection Act that would have prohibited a baby that was born alive from being left to die, simply because the mother said she wanted the baby to die. He also sided with the Democratic Party's radical pro-abortion special interest group by opposing a bill that defines as a "person" a fully born baby who survives an abortion.
Obama was the only member of the Illinois Senate who voted against a bill that prohibited the early release of sexual predators. He also refused to vote for a bill that would have increased penalties for drug traffickers. Obama voted against a bill that made it a criminal offense for convicts to have contact with a street gang while out of jail on bail or on probation. He even voted against a bill that would have delivered the death penalty to gang members who murder first responders. Obama sent a shock wave throughout the state of Illinois when he voted to make a criminal out of a homeowner who was forced to use a gun to defend himself in his own home.
As a US senator, Obama voted against the minimum wage bill. Now, Obama is on the presidential campaign trail promising to increase the minimum wage. What a hypocrite.
Obama and Black Poverty
Obama, in his Philadelphia speech, loudly denounced the deplorable conditions in black communities. Yet, he said not one word about the fact that those communities have been run by Democrats for the past 40 years. The socialist policies of the Democrats have fostered a culture of dependency on government handouts and turned those communities into economic and social wastelands. Obama also rails against the failure to educate black children. However, he gives a pass to teachers' union special interest groups that are responsible for black children not being educated. Those groups are aligned with the Democratic Party and are against school choice opportunity scholarships that would help black parents get their children out of failing schools. Liberal teachers act against the best interest of black children because they want to keep control of the buildings, and thus the money, but the money belongs to the people, not the buildings.
The root cause of the grinding poverty in black communities that is ignored by Obama is well documented by black Democrat Juan Williams in his book entitled Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America.
Comments by Juan Williams about how Obama, a rich, half-white Harvard educated man, is using the black community for partisan political gain can be seen at:
http://election.newsmax.com/williams_obama/?s=al&promo_code=4780-1
The sad truth is that Obama is one of those phony, socialist Democrats who wants to push on the rest of America the failed socialist policies that have devastated black communities.
Obama and Corruption
Just coming to light are the sleazy facts about Obama's relationship and shady real estate deal with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the Arab-American fundraiser and immigrant from Syria. Rezko has been a friend of Obama's since his days at Harvard, and Rezko was recently indicted for corruption, found guilty of skipping bail and sent to prison.
The details of the Obama-Rezko deal are astonishing and involve the purchase of Obama's Edwardian-style mansion in Kenwood, an up-scale section of Chicago where Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan also lives. When Obama sought to buy the grand house, the former owner refused to sell unless Obama also agreed to buy the adjoining land which Obama apparently could not afford. Obama's friend, Rezko, came to the rescue and bought the adjoining land for $625,000, even though the property could not be accessed from the public street. This cleared the way for Obama to buy the mansion for $1,650,000, about $300,000 less than the asking price. Then, six months later, Obama bought one-sixth of Rezko's property for $104,500. All of these financial dealings raise questions about whether Rezko subsidized the purchase of Obama's mansion in violation of ethical rules.
Also, campaign contribution records show that Rezko made substantial contributions to Obama's 2000 campaign for Congress. A recent report in a British newspaper, The Times, shows that in May 2005, Rezko was loaned $3.5 million by Fintrade Services, a Panamanian company controlled by Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi-born British billionaire. This is the undeclared loan that landed Obama's friend and bagman, Rezko, in jail.
We ignore the stench of corruption that surrounds Obama at our peril.
As citizens, we must ask ourselves whether Obama has the character and judgment to be our president. Unfortunately, the answer is no.
Wild Thing's comment........
What an awesome writer and a beautiful woman as well, add in to that factor a an Army Veteran and it make me so happy to see this blog post she made. She walks us through so many things about Obama and many things I never knew.
This writing of Frances Rice goes along with what we all have talked about here at Theodore's. How if only the blacks wanting to vote for Obama or any Democrat would just realize that the Democrat party is NOT their friend. It truly has been their enemy.
....Thank you Jack for sending this to me. Jack's blog is Conservative Insurgent.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:40 AM | Comments (16)
Iran 'behind Green Zone attack' ~ Gen.David Petraeus
Plumes of thick black smoke rises from central Baghdad's Green Zone after a rocket attack March 23, 2008. Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the Iraqi parliament and U.S. embassy, was hit by a sustained barrage of rocket or mortar bomb fire early on Sunday, witnesses and officials said.
The most senior US general in Iraq has said he has evidence that Iran was behind Sunday's bombardment of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.
Gen David Petraeus told the BBC he thought Tehran had trained, equipped and funded insurgents who fired the barrage of mortars and rockets.
He said Iran was adding what he described as "lethal accelerants" to a very combustible mix.
There has as yet been no response from Iran to the accusations.
In response to the news that 4,000 US military personnel have now been killed in Iraq, he said it showed how much the mission had cost but added that Americans were realistic about it.
He also said a great deal of progress had been made because of the "flipping" of communities - the decision by Sunni tribes to turn against al-Qaeda militants.
The extent of this had surprised even the US military, he said.
'Promises violated'
In an interview with BBC world affairs editor John Simpson, Gen Petraeus said violence in Iraq was being perpetuated by Iran's Quds Force, a branch of the Revolutionary Guards.
The attacks led to 15 civilian deaths
"The rockets that were launched at the Green Zone yesterday, for example... were Iranian-provided, Iranian-made rockets," he said, adding that the groups that fired them were funded and trained by the Quds Force.
"All of this in complete violation of promises made by President Ahmadinejad and the other most senior Iranian leaders to their Iraqi counterparts."
The barrage hit the Green Zone on Sunday morning. Some rockets missed their targets killing 15 Iraqi civilians.
Later in the day four US soldiers died when their patrol vehicle was blown up by a bomb in southern Baghdad, putting the total number of US fatalities above 4,000.
This and other bloodshed on Sunday came despite an overall reduction in violence since last June, when the US deployed an extra 30,000 troops for the surge.
Days earlier, Mr Bush marked the fifth anniversary of the invasion, saying that it had made the world a better place.
Wild Thing's comment........
It will always tick me off that this was allowed.
Ahmadinejad On Iraq Visit on March 3 of this year.
http://www.theodoresworld.net/archives/2008/03/ahmadinejad_on_iraq_visit.html
To let him come ofr a visit like that when for a long time now we have been told by our awesome military how Iran is sending insurgents and weapons to Iraq.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (8)
Two Navy Ships
USS REAGAN
Seeing it next to the Arizona Memorial really puts its size into perspective...................ENORMOUS
BEAUTIFUL!
When the Bridge pipes "Man the Rail" there is a lot of rail to man on this monster: shoulder to shoulder, around 4.5 acres. Her displacement is about 100,000 tons with full complement.
Capability
Top speed exceeds 30 knots, powered by two nuclear reactors that can operate for more than 20 years without refueling
1. Expected to operate in the fleet for about 50 years
2. Carries over 80 combat aircraft
3. Three arresting cables can stop a 28-ton aircraft going 150 miles per hour in less than 400 feet
Size
1. Towers 20 stories above the waterline
2. 1092 feet long; nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall
3. Flight deck covers 4.5 acres
4. 4 bronze propellers, each 21 feet across, weighing 66,200 pounds
5. 2 rudders, each 29 by 22 feet and weighing 50 tons
6. 4 high speed aircraft elevators, each over 4,000 square feet
Capacity
1. Home to about 6,000 Navy personnel
2 Carries enough food and supplies to operate for 90 days
3. 18,150 meals served daily
4. Distillation plants provide 400,000 gallons of fresh water from sea water daily, enough for 2000 homes
5. Nearly 30,000 l light fixtures and 1,325 miles of cable and wiring 1,400 telephones
6. 14,000 pillowcases and 28,000 sheets
7. Costs the Navy approximately $250,000 per day for pier side operation
8. Costs the Navy approximately $25 million per day for underway operations (Sailor's salaries included).
US Navy welcomes the USS Bill Clinton
Sunday July 2nd 2006 Vancouver, BC, Headed for Seattle, WA., the US Navy welcomed the latest member of its fleet today.
The USS William Jefferson Clinton (CVS1) set sail today from its home port of Vancouver, BC.
The ship is the first of its kind in the Navy and is a standing legacy to President Bill Clinton "for his foresight in military budget cuts" and his conduct while president.
The ship is constructed nearly entirely from recycled aluminum and is completely solar powered with a top speed of 5 knots.
It boasts an arsenal comprised of one (unarmed) F14 Tomcat or one (unarmed) F18 Hornet aircraft which although they cannot be launched or captured on the 100 foot flight deck form a very menacing presence.
As a standing order there are no firearms allowed on board.
The 20 person crew is completely diversified, including members of all races, creeds, sex, and sexual orientation.
This crew, like the crew aboard the USS Jimmy Carter, is specially trained to avoid conflicts and appease any and all enemies of the United States at all costs!
An onboard Type One DNC Universal Translator can send out messages of apology in any language to anyone who may find America offensive. The number of apologies are limitless and though some may sound hollow and disingenuous, the Navy advises all apologies will sound very sincere.
The ship's purpose is not defined so much as a unit of national defense, but instead in times of conflict, the USS Clinton has orders to seek refuge in Canada
Wild Thing's comment.......
LMAO I love it.
....Thank you Lynn for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (12)
Can You Hear Me Now?
Global warming making fish hard of hearing
Sydney - Climate change is dulling the hearing of fish and making it more difficult for them to find a home, Australian researchers say. More carbon in the atmosphere means less calcium in the water and consequently poorer hearing in fish, who use hearing as much as sight to locate a habitat.
James Cook University researchers Monica Gagliano and Martial Depczynski says tropical fish on the Great Barrier Reef, off the east coast of Australia, are growing asymmetrical ears.
Increasing acidity has cut the calcium carbonate that fish need to grow healthy bones including ear bones, the researchers said. The higher acid levels makes it more difficult for fish to absorb calcium.
"If their hearing is compromised because they have asymmetry ... it's going to affect their ability to navigate back to the reef and they'll just get lost in the open ocean," Depczynski told Australia's ABC Radio.
Gagliano said that "ear bone asymmetry in the early life stages of reef fish interferes with their capacity to find and settle on coral reefs."
Wild Thing's comment........
Global warming making fish hard of hearing
And all this time I thought they were ignoring me.
“More carbon in the atmosphere means less calcium in the water”
Obviously. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!
THE BLONDE AND THE LORD
A blonde wanted to go ice fishing. She’d
seen many books on the subject, and finally getting all the
necessary tools together, she made for the ice.
After positioning her comfy footstool, she started to
make a circular cut in the ice. Suddenly, from
the sky, a voice boomed,
“THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE.”
Startled, the blonde moved further down the ice,
Poured a thermos of cappuccino, and began to cut
yet another hole.
Again from the heavens the voice
bellowed,
“THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE.”
The blonde, now worried,
moved away, clear down
to the opposite end of the ice.
She set up her stool once more
and tried again to cut hole.
The voice came once more,
“THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE.”
She stopped, looked skyward, and
said, “ IS THAT YOU LORD? “
The voice replied,
“NO, THIS IS THE
MANAGER OF THE HOCKEY RINK.”
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:44 AM | Comments (8)
Man Declared Dead Feels 'Pretty Good'
Man Declared Dead Feels 'Pretty Good'
OKLAHOMA CITY
Four months after he was declared brain dead and doctors were about to remove his organs for transplant, Zach Dunlap says he feels "pretty good."
Dunlap was pronounced dead Nov. 19 at United Regional Healthcare System in Wichita Falls, Texas, after he was injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident. His family approved having his organs harvested.
As family members were paying their last respects, he moved his foot and hand. He reacted to a pocketknife scraped across his foot and to pressure applied under a fingernail. After 48 days in the hospital, he was allowed to return home, where he continues to work on his recovery.
On Monday, he and his family were in New York, appearing on NBC's "Today."
"I feel pretty good. but it's just hard ... just ain't got the patience," Dunlap told NBC.
Dunlap, 21, of Frederick, said he has no recollection of the crash.
"I remember a little bit that was about an hour before the accident happened. But then about six hours before that, I remember," he said.
Dunlap said one thing he does remember is hearing the doctors pronounce him dead.
"I'm glad I couldn't get up and do what I wanted to do," he said.
Asked if he would have wanted to get up and shake them and say he's alive, Dunlap responded: "Probably would have been a broken window that went out."
His father, Doug, said he saw the results of the brain scan.
"There was no activity at all, no blood flow at all."
Zach's mother, Pam, said that when she discovered he was still alive, "That was the most miraculous feeling."
"We had gone, like I said, from the lowest possible emotion that a parent could feel to the top of the mountains again," she said.
She said her son is doing "amazingly well," but still has problems with his memory as his brain heals from the traumatic injury.
"It may take a year or more ... before he completely recovers," she said. "But that's OK. It doesn't matter how long it takes. We're just all so thankful and blessed that we have him here."
Dunlap now has the pocketknife that was scraped across his foot, causing the first reaction.
"Just makes me thankful, makes me thankful that they didn't give up," he said. "Only the good die young, so I didn't go."
Wild Thing's comment..........
“Only the good die young, so I didn’t go.”
He’s still got his sense of humor. A good sign, I’d say. He’s already recovered enough to be brighter than most liberals. LOL
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:40 AM | Comments (6)
March 24, 2008
Hillary Clinton's "Bosnia Sniper fire" Lie
Photo refutes Hillary 'sniper fire' account
Image of Bosnia ceremony contradicts story used to boost foreign policy cred
Sen. Hillary Clinton has used a story of arriving in Bosnia under sniper fire to bolster her foreign policy bona fides, but the Washington Post retrieved a photo showing that upon landing, she actually was greeted in a customary tarmac ceremony, complete with a kiss for a native child.
Clinton has declared on the campaign trail that a welcoming ceremony for the March 25, 1996, arrival in Tuzla was canceled, and she had to run from the airplane into an airport building for safety.
The then-first lady's traveling party included 15-year-old daughter Chelsea, the comedian Sinbad and singer Sheryl Crow.
"I remember landing under sniper fire," Clinton recounted. "There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."
But the Post's Michael Dobbs says that "as a reporter who visited Bosnia soon after the December 1995 Dayton Peace agreement, I can attest that the physical risks were minimal during this period, particularly at a heavily fortified U.S. Air Force base, such as Tuzla."
Dobbs's report in the Post's "Fact Checker" column has been noted by weblogs Newsbusters and HotAir.com but virtually ignored by mainstream media.
"Had Hillary Clinton's plane come 'under sniper fire' in March 1996, we would certainly have heard about it long before now," Dobbs writes.
He pointed out that numerous reporters, including the Post's John Pomfret, covered Clinton's trip, and a review of nearly 100 news accounts of their visit "shows that not a single newspaper or television station reported any security threat to the first lady."
Pomfret declared, "As a former AP wire service hack, I can safely say that it would have been in my lead had anything like that happened,".
Dobbs says Clinton and her entourage were greeted by smiling U.S. and Bosnian officials, and an 8-year-old Muslim girl, Emina Bicakcic, read a poem in English.
The actor Sinbad had a different account of the trip than Clinton, telling the Post's "Sleuth" column Monday the "scariest" part was worrying about whether "we eat here or at the next place."
Clinton defended her story on the campaign trail this week and dismissed the actor's contention, saying, "Sinbad is a comedian."
Clinton repeated the Bosnia story, saying she remembers "landing under sniper fire" and that "we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."
Hillary in Tuzla: The Tale of Bosnian Sniper Fire
and another one...........
No Sniper Fire: Hillary Lies Again!
UPDATE:
Clinton 'Misspoke' on Bosnia Trip
AP
Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign said she "misspoke" last week when she said she had landed under sniper fire during a trip she took as first lady to Bosnia in March 1996. The Obama campaign suggested it was a deliberate exaggeration on Clinton's part.
Clinton often cites the goodwill trip she took with her daughter and several celebrities as a part of her foreign policy experience.
During a speech last Monday about Iraq, she said of the trip: "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."
Wild Thing's comment........
Misspoke??? LMAO oh sure well ok. hahaha HOw about an out an out lie dahling!
Here's what really sucks about this. The people who support her will continue too because they don't care about her lying. They only care about her gaining power. It's obvious she's lying, and she's got to know it doesn't matter. GRRRRRR
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 PM | Comments (13)
New Obama Pastor Charges Rev. Wright Victim Of 'Lynching'
Easter Sermon, New Obama Pastor Charges Rev. Wright Victim Of 'Lynching' Compares him to Jesus
CHICAGO
The new pastor of Barack Obama’s church delivered a defiant defense of its retiring reverend Sunday, comparing media coverage of Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. to a modern-day lynching that resembles Jesus’ death at the hands of the Romans.
In a sunrise Easter sermon, Rev. Otis Moss III never mentioned Wright by name, but implied that his mentor, who has delivered sermons in which he likened the U.S. to the Ku Klux Klan and declared it damned for its “state-sponsored terrorism,” is facing the same challenges Jesus did.”No one should start a ministry with lynching, no one should end their ministry with lynching,” Moss said.
“The lynching was national news. The RNN, the Roman News Network, was reporting it and NPR, National Publican Radio had it on the radio. The Jerusalem Post and the Palestine Times all wanted exclusives, they searched out the young ministers, showed up unannounced at their houses, tried to talk with their families, called up their friends, wanted to get a quote on how do you feel about the lynching?” he continued.
The criticism surrounding Wright has not softened the services at Trinity United Church of Christ, where Obama has been a congregant for 20 years. Instead, Moss defiantly defended their method of worship, referencing rap lyrics to make his point.”If I was Ice Cube I’d say it a little differently — ‘You picked the wrong folk to mess with,’” Moss said to an enthusiastic congregation, standing up during much of the sermon, titled “How to Handle a Public Lynching.”
Wright’s sermons were criticized for casting the country as institutionally racist and Obama sharply condemned Wright’s remarks as racially divisive in a high-profile speech Tuesday, though the candidate would not renounce the pastor himself. Church officials said Wright, who is now on sabbatical and entering retirement after nearly 40 years of service with the church, was not attending any service Sunday.
Obama and his family were spending Easter on vacation and also were not attending services.
Though the church recently moved a once-prominent section on its Web site about the “Black Value System,” the congregation still describes itself as “unashamedly black and unapologetically Christian.” A plaque states this prominently behind the front desk.
The sermons Sunday, which kept references to Wright as a common thread, implied that the firestorm over Wright’s remarks has taken the church’s teachings out of context.
Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the first female bishop in the AME Church, also delivered a sermon, in which she talked about visionaries like King and Gandhi and “Jeremiah” (it was unclear whether she meant Wright), and argued that their words weren’t about “anger,” but about “a passion that demands confrontation.”
“The purveyors of information are trying to be judge and jury over prophetic utterances,” she said.
The church program handed out Sunday also included an essay called “Not on My Watch” from the Rev. Samuel B. McKinney of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Seattle. McKinney said he was “greatly disturbed” by the “media feeding frenzy that has tarnished everyone in the process.”
“Dr. Wright represents the best among us … An attack on this man of God is an attack on all those of the cloth who believe in the social Gospel of liberation. And I will not stand for it,” he wrote.
Moss issued several pleas to congregants to donate to what he called the “Resurrection Fund,” stressing that during this time of battle, money is needed to defend the church. He offered no additional specifics about the fund, telling churchgoers he didn’t want to get into it because Trinity is streaming the service live on the Web and the services are available for purchase on DVD.
He concluded with another analogy, saying, “In order to crucify him you’ve got to lift him up … he had more visibility on the cross than he did during his entire ministry.”
Wild Thing's comment.....
Hmmm... where was this “church” and this pastor and B.Hussein Obama when Clarence Thomas was being " lynched" ? THAT what a media/leftist lynching really looks like, in case they need help identifying it.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (12)
Jeremiah A. Wright
Jeremiah A. Wright
* Longtime pastor and spiritual mentor of Barack Obama
* Considers the U.S. to be a nation rife with racism and disrimination
* Blames American racism for provoking the 9/11 attacks
* "Islam and Christianity are a whole lot closer than you may realize," he has written. "Islam comes out of Christianity."
* Embraces liberation theology and socialism
* Strong supporter of Louis Farrakhan
* Likens Israel's treatment of Palestinians to South Africa's treatment of blacks during the apartheid era
The son of a Baptist minister, Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. was born in Philadelphia on September 22, 1941. On March 1, 1972, he became the pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ (TUCC), a position he held until February 2008.
After a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy, Wright went on to earn a master's degree in English from Howard University in 1969. Six years later he earned an additional master's degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School, and in 1990 he received a Doctor of Ministry Degree from United Theological Seminary.
The writings, public statements, and sermons of Rev. Wright reflect his conviction that America is a nation infested with racism, prejudice, and injustices that make life very difficult for black people. As he declared in one of his sermons:
"Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run!... We Americans believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God."
This view is entirely consistent with Rev. Wright's devotion to the tenets of liberation theology, which is essentially Marxism dressed up as Christianity. Devised by Cold War-era theologians, it teaches that the New Testament gospels can be understood only as calls for social activism, class struggle, and revolution aimed at overturning the existing capitalist order and installing, in its stead, a socialist utopia where today's poor will unseat their "oppressors" and become liberated from their material (and, consequently, their spiritual) deprivations.
An extension of this paradigm is black liberation theology, which seeks to foment a similar Marxist revolutionary fervor founded on racial rather than class solidarity. Wright's mentor in this discipline is James Cone, author of the landmark text Black Power and Black Theology.
Arguing that Christianity has been used by white society as an opiate of the (black) masses, Cone asserts that the destitute "are made and kept poor by the rich and powerful few," and that "no one can be a follower of Jesus Christ without a political commitment that expresses one's solidarity with victims."
You can go HERE for complete article
Wild Thing's comment..........
This guy is not going away quietly if at all. If Obama wins the election my guess is Wright will be a regular guest in the Lincoln bedroom and have tea with his Muslim friends in the Rose Garden.
Muslims aren’t interested in getting along with anyone unless they are muslim, and just like those who subscribe to Black Liberation Theology. Not surprising those two linked up, but where does that leave Obama. Not innocent by any means.
Obama warns of "Quiet riot among blacks"...:
"Those 'quiet riots' that take place every day are born from the same place as the fires and the destruction and the police decked out in riot gear and the deaths," Obama said. "They happen when a sense of disconnect settles in and hope dissipates. Despair takes hold and young people all across this country look at the way the world is and believe that things are never going to get any better."
...Thank you so much Mark for this information.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (8)
Marines reunited with Iraqi Puppies
Marines reunited with Iraqi puppies in Encinitas
A group of Marines are reunited with seven puppies they adopted while deployed in Iraq. The parents of the pups served as guard dogs for the Marines
ENCINITAS
When Marines in Border Transition Team 1/5/2 returned from deployment in Iraq on Saturday morning, something very special was waiting for them.
Seven Iraqi puppies, raised by the Marines, were reunited with their owners at the Rancho Coastal Humane Society in Encinitas.
The seven white puppies ran around on the grass, chewed treats (and sometimes leashes) and generally acted like puppies.
The petting and hugs were extra meaningful to the Marines, who, having been back in the U.S. for less than 12 hours, had been waiting weeks to be reunited with their dogs.
The story started at a combat outpost on the Syrian border, where the team was training Iraqi border police.
A female dog that visited the camp looking for food delivered a litter of eight puppies. After one starved to death, it was clear that the mother couldn't care for the puppies, and the Marines took charge of raising them.
The puppies are now just over 6 months old.
"Immediately after they were born, we knew we'd have to take them back to the states," said Marine Capt. Jamisen Fox, who is adopting Kirby and Princess from the litter. "Leaving them there wasn't an option."
"They definitely helped us out while we were out there," said 1st Lt. Nathan Nielson, who is going home with Gus, the puppy he says he was drawn to.
"I think we definitely had a chance to bond, especially under the circumstances," he said.
It wasn't an easy option. Included in the list of activities by a Marine Corps general order, just after possessing illegal drugs and destroying historical artifacts, is "Adopting as pets or mascots, caring for, or feeding any type of domestic or wild animal." Because of this, none of the resources of the armed services could be used in moving the puppies.
"I was starting to get the feeling we'd spent a whole lot of time and a whole lot of money and nothing would come from it," said Steve Ronk, founder of Operation Cookie Jar, who took charge of getting the puppies' passage booked.
Ronk said that because there are many wild dogs in the Middle East, they're seen as pests more often than pets, and the future looked bleak for the puppies when the Marines were sent home.
According to Ronk, to ensure their safety, Operation Cookie Jar and the Marines at the outpost arranged for a private security firm to drive the canines from the Syrian border into Baghdad, where they would fly to the U.S.
Once in the U.S., the American Legion cared for the puppies until they arrived at the Rancho Coastal Humane Society, where they were spayed or neutered, microchipped, tested for various health problems, vaccinated, and sent to their own "boot camp," where they learned basic obedience at no cost to the Marines who would adopt them.
"They don't get enough credit for what they do over there," said Jim Silveira, president and CEO of the Rancho Coastal Humane Society, adding that the happy, active puppies have been great fun to take care of. "The staff and the volunteers all love them ... they've been cute little guys to have around."
Wild Thing's comment........
I love this story, and that it has a happy ending makes my heart smile.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (6)
Attack On 507th Altered Training Of Support Troops
Attack on 507th altered training of support troops
Fort Bliss no longer has a 507th Maintenance Company. But the March 23, 2003, ambush that left 11 soldiers dead as the 507th struggled to keep up with U.S. forces rushing toward Baghdad has memorialized the unit in Army history and training.
The ambush initiated changes, officials said, at the root of armoring Humvees and other trucks, treating supply missions as combat missions and training every soldier as a combat arms soldier. Now, supply and support units are harder to attack and are better equipped to fight, according to officials with Army Training and Doctrine Command units at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., that track history and train leaders.
"Tactically, it was a small event," said Charles Collins, a civilian instructor with the Combat Studies Institute, a military history think tank that creates historical surveys and educational courses. "Emotionally, it was a huge event for the Army because it did expose a weakness."
The ambush drove home the fact that U.S. troops were fighting enemies who blend into the neighborhood and then reappear -- armed and with deadly intent. It was, for the most part, a new type of war.
Among the 507th company prisoners of war were Johnson; Lynch; Spc. Joseph Hudson; Spc. Edgar Hernandez; Sgt. James Riley; and Pfc. Patrick Miller. Two pilots from Fort Hood also were captured and kept with members of the 507th.
Among the 507th members killed were Estrella, Piestewa, Spc. Jamaal R. Addison; 1st Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy; Pfc. Howard Johnson II; Spc. James M. Kiehl; Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata; Pvt. Brandon Sloan and Sgt. Donald R. Walters. Two other soldiers who were not a part of the 507th, but were with the company at the time, also were killed.
Almost immediately after the ambush, soldiers arriving in Kuwait were put through battle drills that burned into their brains the appropriate responses to ambushes, snipers and other attacks, said Col. Steven Mains, director of the Center for Army Lessons Learned, also at Fort Leavenworth.
Nearly as quickly, those changes were relayed to training and doctrine centers in the United States, Mains said. In 2004, a new logistics convoy handbook was issued that addressed the importance of pre-combat checks -- making sure a unit has the right weapons and that they are functioning properly.
Over time, supply truck cabs were armored and had tracking and mapping equipment installed. And nearly every one was equipped with a heavy machine gun. All those changes started with the 507th ambush and continued as the Army collected more information on enemy tactics, Mains said.
Every supply mission was now a combat mission, which required intelligence briefings and detailed planning on routes and security.
"It had a profound effect on how the Army trains its non-combat soldiers," Reese said.
Before the ambush, combat support soldiers rarely fired their weapons unless they were doing their annual qualifications, Reese said. Commanders wanted the soldiers practicing their supply jobs, and past experience indicated they would be operating in rear areas where they would rarely need combat skills.
"There used to be a cultural attitude in the Army," said Collins, a retired soldier. "The Army has made great strides in overcoming that cultural attitude. Any unit, whether a postal unit or a supply unit, will be in training that prepares them for something like this."
More of the story HERE
Wild Thing's commnet........
This happened 5 years ago, and I remember it well. At the time this happened, I didn't have a blog, but I was posting daily at one of the Vietnam Veteran forums. One of the posters there was a relative of one of the POW's ( Spc. Edgar Hernandez) and we all joined in with her in our prayers and concerns daily till he was released. The POW's were finally released and as this article says the military made a lot of changes after this attack.
Prayers for all our troops every day for their safety.
...Thank you Jim for sending this article to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (6)
Terrorists and Their Friends Might Want To Learn English ~ LOL
Most Syrians struggle to even read Arabic, much less have a clue about reading English.
So, how do a group of Syrian protest leaders create the most impact with their signs by having the standard "DEATH TO AMERICANS!" (etc.) slogans printed in English?
ANSWER:
They simply hire an English-speaking civilian to translate and write their statements into English. Very easy to do throughout the world.
HOWEVER . . . in this case, they were unaware that the "civilian" insurance company employee they hired for the job was a retired U.S. Army Sergeant! Obviously, pictures of this protest rally never made their way to Arab TV networks, but the results were PRICELESS!
Wild Thing's comment.........
LOL I love this!
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (4)
March 23, 2008
Happy Easter
Army Rangers recieving Easter baskets in Afghanistan
Happy Easter to our Troops, you are in our thoughts and prayers.
~ Wild Thing and Team Theodore
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (7)
Via Dolorosa
Via Dolorosa - Isaiah 53 - Sandi Patty
Via Dolorosa - written by Billy Sprague and Niles Borop
He was bleeding from a beating
there were stripes upon his back
And He wore a crown of thorns
upon His head
And He bore with every step
The scorn of those who cried out
for His death
Down the Via Dolorosa called
the way of suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah,
Christ the King.
But He chose to walk that road out of
His love for you and me.
Down the Via Dolorosa
all the way to Calvary.
Por la Via Dolorosa, triste
dia en Jerusalem
Los saldados le abrian paso a Jesus
Mas la gente se acercaba
para ver al que llevaba aquella cruz
Por la Via Dolorosa, que es
la via del dolor
Como oveja vino Cristo, Rey, Senor
Y fue El quien quiso ir por su amor
por ti y por mi
Por la Via Dolorosa al
calviro y a morir
The blood that would cleanse
the souls of all men
Made its way through the heart
of Jerusalem.
Down the Via Dolorosa called
the way of suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah,
Christ the King
But He chose to walk that road out of
His love for you and me.
Down the Via Dolorosa
all the way to Calvary.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (4)
Motorcycle-riding Supporters of Marines Roar Into Berkeley
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Singer Dana Nagy, right, joins hundreds of supporters of the Marines gathered in front of the Marine Recruiting office in downtown Berkeley and sang the “Star Spangled Banner”.
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This is a video of Diana Nagy singing ...."Where Freedom Flies"
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Hundreds gathered in front of the US Marine recruiting office in Berkeley.
Mike Anderson, left, of Modesto, and Scott Conover, of Tracy, join hands during a prayer as hundreds gathered in front of the US Marine recruiting center in Berkeley.
Motorcycle riders with the group Eagles Up rode in Berkeley to show their support for the US Marines.
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Motorcycle-riding supporters of Marines roar into Berkeley
Berkeley is hosting a decidedly different kind of protest today. A couple hundred flag-waving leather-clad pro-troop bikers have roared into town to show their support for the often besieged Marines recruiting center in the city.
"I'm here because I support my Marines," said Steve Bosshard, a retired San Francisco police officer who came from Santa Rosa. "I don't like what Berkeley's done. They don't realize the effect it has on the troops."
The center was criticized by the Berkeley city council and is often the target of protests.
Today's demonstrators, most of whom are military veterans, said they were protesting the Berkeley city council decision in February to waive the amplified-sound permit fees and provide reserved parking in front of the Marines' office for Code Pink, an anti-war group that stages protests at the recruiting center.
Saturday's demonstrators said they plan to boycott Berkeley businesses until the council is recalled, apologizes or grants free permits to a pro-troop group.
The group that organized today's protest, Eagles Up, had to pay for their permit.
More pro-Marines demonstrators were arriving shortly before noon, when a rally with speakers was scheduled.
These Heroes stood in front of the Office for quite some time. Brave warriors from wars past.
Marines, Marines and more Marines. I Love it!
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From Eagles Up website
Grassroots group Eagles Up will muster Saturday in Berkeley to pushback against the anti-American antics of the City of Berkeley and its anti-military minions, while showing overwhelming support for U.S. Marines.
Hundreds of patriots on motorcycles are expected to roar into town from around the western United States, while other true Americans roll into Berkeley to stand with the bikers at the Marine Recruiting center on Shattuck Avenue.
"We expect a massive crowd to send a message to the city of Berkeley, Code Pink and any other anti-military group that Americans are sick and tired of their hateful, dangerous behavior,” said Doug Lyvere, Eagles Up
The mayor has expressed a willingness to extend similar rights to other organizations, but only for recurring protests of the Marine office.
Move America Forward’s request for similar rights to protest the city council were denied, and EaglesUp is paying for the permits for Saturday’s events.
Many patriotic motorcycle groups are expected to attend and stage formal rides to and from the event, which will feature speakers at noon.
WHO: EaglesUp, Patriot Guard, MAF’s Melanie Morgan, Catherine Moy, and an assembled crowd
WHAT: A patriotic rally with prominent speakers WHEN: This Saturday 3/22/08 with a crowd starting to form around 10 a.m. and speakers at noon
WHEN: This Saturday 3/22/08 with a crowd starting to form around 10 a.m. and speakers at noon
WHERE: the Marine officer selection office at 64 Shattuck Square in Berkeley
WHY: to support the Marines and their right to operate in Berkeley
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Wild Thing's comment........
For a brief shining moment today, Berkeley became part of America. What an awesome sight to see all those patriots with their American flags. God Bless everyone who showed up and made a difference for our Marines and for our country.
From someone that was at this event :
"An interesting event happened early on. I was talking with a guy running the sound system before the event. They were twirling dials, doing microphone checks and running wires from the back bed of a pick-up, parked just one spot up from the Marine station. Geek wires all over the place. Tie-downs and a soundboard, with a wireless system also. Flags and signs all over the truck. An event permit clearly on the front dashboard. A cop comes over and asks, “Is this your truck”? Oh-oh!The truck owner gulps, says “yes” in a hesitant, quizzical tone to the officer. We both were wondering what this was all about???? GULP!!!!
The officer nicely asks if he had any tie-downs so he could attach some American flags to his bike! We both broke into large grins, and handed the office some tie-downs. LOL"
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (10)
Thumps Up From Berkeley Commie For Anti-war Groups
The head of the Chamber of Commerce of Berkeley facing lady with the camera.
This is about the above photo, it was sent to me and written by someone that was at the Suppot the Troops Rally:
"I was standing across the street from the Marine Office and he started talking to me. About how these kind of events are ruining the businesses in Berkeley. And that they are very damaging to the city.I asked him if he lived in Berkeley, and he said no.
It was then that he told me he was head of the Chamber of Commerce of Berkeley. He kept pretty much saying the same thing over and over while I tried to tell him why we came today.
And told him it wasn't us, but the code pink, ANSWER, World Can't Wait and various other commie groups that have disrupted his (his?) little town.
When I tried to impress upon him that it was the antagonizers of the Marine Office that he needs to have stop their subersive actions, he would interrupt me every time.
He would not entertain the thought of stopping code pink, etc, but was very negative about a Positive Support Rally for the Marine Office.
He would have none of it, and would only focus on our very Positive Troop Support Rally that is and has been ruining business in Berkeley. A true slimy politician.
When I mentioned that the news is out that he and the Mayor have mended fences and are united in purpose, he said Oh, that's what the media says, not what is really true.
So I asked him (he had that camera pointed at him all this time) what is the truth then, and he waffled and said that he had talked to the leaders of the rally a little earlier and I could ask them.
I told him, why not tell me with this camera here so we can know the truth.
He didn't want to go on record with any statement at all.
I backed away, and he did start talking to the camerawoman and I watched for a minute of so, and then the speakers started so I left him with the lady with the camera."
Wild Thing's comment.......
What a total worthless jerk, he only minds if it is a group of supporters for our troops that are on the sidewalks and not if it is CODE PINKO's, ANSWER, or the other anti-war groups. The anti-war groups are there every Wednesday and sometimes all week long and that is ok with this mentally challenged person.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (8)
Mukasey 'surprised' by scope of terrorist threats
Mukasey 'surprised' by scope of terrorist threats
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorney General Michael Mukasey has been taken aback by the scope and variety of potential terrorism threats facing the United States, he told reporters Friday at an informal meeting in his office.
"I'm surprised by how surprised I am," said Mukasey, who as a federal judge presided over terrorism-related trials in New York.
"It's surprising how varied [the threat] is, how many directions it comes from, how geographically spread out it is," he said.
Mukasey issued no warnings, made no pronouncements and offered no suggestion of increased danger or newly detected plots.
He would not discuss specifics of potential threats, which remain secret.
The attorney general said that after meeting with his European law enforcement counterparts last week in Slovenia, he understands their degree of anxiety as well.
"They're all concerned, and they're all looking for ways to cooperate with the United States and with one another," he said.
The attorney general used the occasion to once again urge congressional passage of a measure to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. An initial update, termed the Protect America Act, expired last month.
"I never thought I'd see that [expiration] happen," Mukasey said. "The danger doesn't fade."
He also referred to the terrorism updates he receives in early morning national security briefings.
The people I hear about every morning, their fatwas do not have an expiration date," Mukasey said.
The House has refused to bow to administration pressure to pass a version of the law that exempts telecommunications giants from legal action for taking part in the government's program to eavesdrop without a warrant when one of the parties is inside the United States.
Critics said the program violated the law, and phone and Internet companies face as many as 40 lawsuits related to their participation.
The Senate has passed a version that includes retroactive immunity for the telecom companies.
Mukasey said Friday that he is open to "a creative compromise" but that he has no "particular basis for hope."
"I'm hopeful, but if someone asked me for a reason, I'd be stuck for an answer," he said.
When the law first lapsed several weeks ago, some intelligence may have been lost, but that the problem has been rectified, Mukasey said.
"There were a couple of days where we weren't working as smoothly [with the telecom firms]. That has since been put back together," he said.
"I don't know what intelligence we missed," he added.
Asked about the latest taped comments from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Mukasey shook his head. "Am I alarmed? I'm alarmed, I guess. I wish he weren't in a position to issue them.
Wild Thing's comment............
Uh..this is our AG?? He sounds like Gomer Pyle.....”Surprise, Surprise”
So why doesn’t he “URGE” them to seal the darn border?
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:46 AM | Comments (6)
No Escaping Granny For KFC Robbery Suspect
No escaping this granny for KFC robbery suspect
Thieves, robbers: Stay away from Camas, Wash. It's Mary Chamberlain's town. The 67-year-old had picked up a friend at a hospital Wednesday and was driving by the local KFC when an employee came running out, chasing a man and yelling "He robbed us!"
Many people might have called 911 and left it at that. Not Chamberlain. The employee gave up the chase, but Chamberlain started driving after the man. "I thought I'd slow him down, anyway," she said.
The suspect kept shouting "I didn't do anything!" prompting two men to come out of the local Kingdom Hall and ask what was up. They called police. Chamberlain stayed in pursuit.
"I followed him on down the road. He ducked into the yards. I couldn't find him. I figured he was going yard-to-yard-to-yard jumping fences."
She eventually spotted him trying to climb a fence.
"I jumped out of the car," she said with a casual air, like the grandmother of 12 she is. She said she didn't stop to think whether the suspect was armed.
"I pulled him off the fence. He didn't swing at me. I just told him, 'Just give it up. You haven't got a chance.' I had my arm around his neck, and I was going to try and bring his arm up behind him. It looks easy on TV. Believe me — it's not."
The suspect was about the same height as Chamberlain, 5-foot-6, with an average build. The pair ended up locked together in a slow dance moving toward the gate of the fence.
"I wasn't going to let go," she said. Both could hear sirens by now. "I told him, 'Just give it up,' then the police showed up and hollered at him to get down."
Police arrested Joshua G. Crowley, 22, of Washougal, Wash. He is accused of robbing the KFC at knifepoint, said Camas Police spokesman Mitch Lackey.
Lackey doesn't recommend acts of vigilantism such as Chamberlain's.
Chamberlain is retired from a job at United Parcel Service and, as a regular customer of the restaurant that was robbed, says she just felt the need to defend it.
"You're messing with one of my favorite places," she said.
Her four kids think she's crazy, Chamberlain said. But she wants them to tell this robbery story to the grandkids.
"They'll know they'll always be safe with Grandma."
Wild Thing's comment........
Hmmmmm now look at that......so now.....a good citizen has become “vigilantism”.
Hey Obama this is one of those "Typical white person granny's".
"You're messing with one of my favorite places," she said."
ROFL! "This is MY HOUSE, dogbreath!!"
Being nabbed by a granny will not go over well in the Big House.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (6)
March 22, 2008
Raining McCain
LOL I think this is for real.
Posted by Wild Thing at 11:55 AM | Comments (12)
Jeremiah Wright Met With President Clinton
The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. and President Bill Clinton at a prayer breakfast at the White House in September 1998
Photograph of Bill Clinton and Rev. Wright Surfaces
During one of the most difficult periods in the presidency of Bill Clinton, he addressed a group of clerics at an annual prayer breakfast in September 1998 just as the Starr report outlining his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky was about to be published.
Among those in attendance, was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., who is seen shaking hands with Mr. Clinton in a photograph provided today by the Obama campaign. Mr. Wright’s relationship with Senator Barack Obama, as his longtime pastor, has been the subject of considerable controversy in recent days because of incendiary excerpts of sermons Mr. Wright gave at their church, Trinity United Church of Christ, in Chicago.
In providing the photograph to The New York Times, the Obama campaign appeared to be trying to divert some attention to the Clintons after a week in which Mr. Obama’s relationship with Mr. Wright has left him facing one of the biggest challenges of his campaign. There is nothing in the picture or the note that addresses whether Mr. Clinton had met Mr. Wright prior to the White House meeting or whether he or Mrs. Clinton knew anything about Mr. Wright’s views.
Asked for a response tonight through email, Howard Wolfson, a top aide to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, wrote, “Urgent indeed — a picture — oooooooo!”
Senator Clinton’s spokesman, Phil Singer, sent along this reply to a request for comment:
In the course of his two terms in office, Bill Clinton met with, corresponded with and took pictures with literally tens of thousands of people.
Mr. Wright was invited to the 1998 prayer breakfast, and in addition, he received a thank-you note from former President Clinton for his expressions of support about six weeks later.
According to an account by James Bennet, former White House correspondent who has since left The Times:
With tears in his eyes, President Clinton told a roomful of clerics this morning that he had sinned, speaking just hours before the world was presented a painstaking account by prosecutors of when, where and how.Addressing an annual prayer breakfast at the White House, Mr. Clinton drew on the New Testament, the Yom Kippur liturgy and Ernest Hemingway as he made his most abject confession yet of personal failure, while declaring that he would defend and redeem his Presidency.
‘’I don’t think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned,'’ he admitted softly, saying that after resisting expressions of contrition he had reached ‘’the rock-bottom truth of where I am.'’
For the first time, Mr. Clinton also asked for forgiveness from Monica S. Lewinsky, on the day that the details of their intimate relationship — details that he had denied and struggled to suppress — poured out through the Internet, whose wonders as a tool of communication he has so often extolled.
Mr. Wright is not mentioned in the article. Also visible in the photograph is Vice President Al Gore.
And according to the newly released schedules of Mrs. Clinton by the National Archives of her years as first lady, she was in attendance, too.
Her schedule reads:
Religion Leaders Breakfast (w/POTUS)” in the East Room from 9-10:30 a.m.
Format:
- The President and First Lady are announced into the East Room and proceed to their tables.
- The Vice President makes remarks and introduces The President.
- The President makes remarks and introduces Dr. Reverend Gerald Mann.
- Dr. Reverend Gerald Mann gives blessing.
- Breakfast is served.
- Following breakfast, The President opens discussion.
- Upon conclusion of the discussion, The President introduces Dr. Reverend James Forbes.
- Dr. Reverend James Forbes gives benediction.
- The President, First Lady, and Vice President depart.
PARTICIPANTS: Approx. 130 guests to attend.
The wording of Mr. Clinton’s thank-you note to Mr. Wright, dated Oct. 28, 1998:
Dear Pastor Wright: Thank you so much for your kind message. I am touched by your prayers and by the many expressions of encouragement and support I have received from friends across our country. You have my best wishes. Sincerely, Bill Clinton
UPDATE: The Clinton campaign is not happy about the release of this photo:
"The Obama campaign put this photo out? How pathetic," he said. "Less than 48 hours after calling for a high-minded conversation on race, the Obama campaign is peddling photos of an occasion when President Clinton shook hands with Rev. Wright.." .....from the Clinton's campaign.
Wild Thing's comment........
How wonderful how Obama and the Clinton's are all connected. So Wright is popular with the left, LOL, and now they all can fight over who knew him first or better yet who does not want to admit to knowing Wright.
I wonder if we will also find out that Wright also went for dinner with Saddam or Osama Bin Laden. That Wright sure does get around. Free food must be a strong pull on the ole hate monger. LOL
....Thank you Mark for this article.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (8)
Clinton Camp Raps Obama Over Photo ~ LOL
Clinton Camp Raps Obama Over Photo
WASHINGTON (AP)
Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign criticized Barack Obama's campaign Friday for "peddling photos" of former President Clinton and Obama's longtime pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
A photograph of the former president and Wright shows the two shaking hands with at a White House prayer breakfast in September 1998. The New York Times posted the photo to its Web site on Thursday and said it was provided by the Obama campaign.
Excerpts of Wright's sermons have been the source of controversy for Obama in recent days. Videos of the former pastor railing against the United States and accusing the country of bringing on the Sept. 11 attacks by spreading terrorism have appeared on television and the Internet.
Obama strongly condemned Wright's most controversial statements in a speech on racial issues on Tuesday in Philadelphia. But he did not repudiate Wright or his overall ministry, saying the man who officiated at his wedding is like a family member.
"Less than 48 hours after giving a great speech calling for a high- minded conversation on race, the Obama campaign is peddling photos of an occasion when President Clinton shook hands with Rev. Wright, though President Clinton took tens of thousands of photos during his 8 years as president," said Clinton spokesman Jay Carson.
Wild Thing's comment........
This is really great to watch. Quite an illuminating view into the abyss of the Dem party.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (6)
'Speak English' Signs Allowed At Philly Shop
Commission on Human Rights rules Geno's postings do not discriminate
msnbc for complete article
PHILADELPHIA
The owner of a famous cheesesteak shop did not discriminate when he posted signs asking customers to speak English, a city panel ruled Wednesday.
In a 2-1 vote, a Commission on Human Relations panel found that two signs at Geno's Steaks telling customers, "This is America: WHEN ORDERING 'PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH,'" do not violate the city's Fair Practices Ordinance.
Shop owner Joe Vento has said he posted the signs in October 2005 because of concerns over immigration reform and an increasing number of people in the area who could not order in English.
Vento has said he never refused service to anyone because they couldn't speak English. But critics argued that the signs discourage customers of certain backgrounds from eating at the shop.
Commissioners Roxanne E. Covington and Burt Siegel voted to dismiss the complaint, finding that the sign does not communicate that business will be "refused, withheld or denied."
Wild Thing's comment......
Yipee about time!
This is a great update to a psot about this that I did about Joe Vento's place and how it was getting pro and con reactions.
I heard Joe Vento on one of the talk radio shows and he said what he does if a person does not speak English he will give them whatever is at the top of the menu. LOL I love the idea. He is still serving them and they get food, just not what they ordered if they won't order in English.
....Thank you Lynn for sending this link to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (10)
Vietnam Veteran Navy SEAL Philip “Moki” Martin Rewarded
Martin (center) received congratulations from fellow Vietnam veterans Frank Sayle (left) and Eric Knudson (right). Recognition was delayed because the mission was so secret.
Secret peril rewarded
CORONADO
As he plunged through the darkness and into the stormy waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, Navy SEAL Philip “Moki” Martin knew he and his buddies were in trouble.
Of the 700 or so jumps Martin had made from Navy helicopters as a SEAL in training and during the Vietnam War, he could hardly remember one with such nasty conditions.
This mission – deep in enemy territory on June 5, 1972 – was, quite literally, a leap of faith: The pilot wasn't sure how high they were or whether the Grayback, the submarine they were supposed to meet, actually was there.
“I counted one thousand, two thousand, three thousand. Then I said, 'Oh no, that's too long. We're too high!' ” recalled Martin, 65, now retired from the Navy and living in Coronado. “I hit (the water) like a ton of you know what.”
Martin suffered a twisted knee when he hit the water. His commander, Lt. Melvin “Spence” Dry, died upon impact. A third SEAL, Fireman Thomas Edwards, was badly hurt.
Yesterday, many of Martin's old platoon mates watched as he received a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with a combat “V” for valor. The ceremony took place at Coronado Naval Amphibious Base, near the headquarters of the Navy's Special Warfare Command.
Martin's wife, Cindy, and daughter, Callie, watched as Rear Adm. Joseph Kernan, the unit's commander, handed Martin a framed plaque containing the medal.
“It's been a long, long time coming,” Kernan said. “Thanks for waiting for your celebration, so this generation could share in it.”
Two weeks earlier, Dry's family had received his Bronze Star with combat “V” posthumously in a similar ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
The recognition had been long delayed because the mission, Operation Thunderhead, was kept so secret that few of the sailors and SEALs aboard the Grayback knew how significant and perilous it was.
“We saw people leave, and nobody ever came back,” said Frank Sayle, 58, of Houston, a SEAL who served aboard the Grayback at the time.
Only Martin and a handful of others knew that the platoon's job was to rescue two prisoners of war who had hatched a plot to escape from the infamous Vietnamese prison camp known as the Hanoi Hilton.
After a 2005 magazine article about the mission revealed that neither Martin nor Dry had been decorated for their actions, the Grayback's then-skipper, John Chamberlain, nominated them for the awards.
That the Thunderhead mission failed at every turn doesn't diminish its importance, said several of the men involved in it. Its lessons are still taught in SEAL training, some of them by Martin himself.
“It's a bit of closure for us,” said Eric Knudson, 59, of Vacaville, who was a yeoman third class in the platoon.
The Grayback was to slip into North Vietnamese waters and let out several four-man SEAL teams in small, submersible vehicles just offshore on June 3. The teams were to rendezvous with the two prisoners – who had communicated their plans through a method that today remains secret – on an offshore island.
But the currents proved unexpectedly strong. Martin, Dry and their teammates couldn't reach shore or make it back to the sub. They stayed in the water, praying the North Vietnamese wouldn't discover them during the eight hours before a rescue helicopter was supposed to pick them up and take them to the Navy cruiser Long Beach.
Aboard the Long Beach, Martin said, the SEALs knew they had to get back to the Grayback to warn other SEAL teams about the currents. So they made plans to return the following night.
The sub couldn't communicate directly with Dry's team, but it would use an infrared beacon to guide the helicopter to its location.
The helicopter crew had great difficulty spotting that beacon, said John Wilson of Maui, Hawaii, 67, a crew chief aboard the helicopter that dropped off Dry's team.
The helicopter finally found a signal at sea and then sent the team on its fateful jump. It turned out to be a distress signal from a second four-man SEAL team. The Grayback had aborted the drop because of North Vietnamese patrol boats in the area, but the message didn't reach the Long Beach in time.
Wilson's crew returned the next morning to pick up the seven survivors, as well as Dry's body. Operation Thunderhead was called off days later after commanders learned that the POW escape also had been aborted.
“You just had no idea what was going on, because no one was allowed to know,” Sayle said. “We never talked about it again. We never saw each other again.”
Martin stayed in the Navy until 1983, shortly after a bicycle accident while riding to the Coronado base left him a quadriplegic. He later earned a degree in painting and photography at San Diego State University. He has won awards for his artwork.
Yesterday, he was moved by the turnout among his platoon mates.
“I wanted this to be about them, more than me,” Martin said. “The medal is just a piece of hardware they give you.”
Wild Thing's comment........
It is such an honor to read stories of our Veterans, America's heroes one and all. America is so blessed that men and women have been willing to serve our country, we owe them all so very much, more then we can ever repay.
I am sorry about the small size of the photos, I didn't want to enlarge them since it would make them very blurry to see. These small size photos were at the article.
You can also go to THIS WEBSITE .....To learn about Operation Thunderhead and Lt. Philip "Moki" Martin. It is a great site and has photos, write ups and biographies
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (4)
Hayden's Hell
Hayden’s Hell
By Kathy Shaidle
It is a disgraceful and shameful name for all those who opposed communism with honor in Southeast Asia four decades ago.
The superstar anti-Vietnam War activist, one of the infamous “Chicago 7” defendants, is still making sure that name of shame is connected with Vietnam -- the tragic nation he helped destroy in the 1960s and '70s through his collaboration with the North Vietnamese Communists. After having made a lucrative career out of hating his own country and the free economy on which it is based, Hayden, now aged 67, is evidently going strong.
Unsurprisingly, the latest utterance of the one-time president of the radical Students for a Democratic Society will do little to enhance his already fading and self-created reputation as a supposed forward-thinking visionary.
The March 10, 2008, issue of Nation magazine carried a long essay by Hayden entitled “The Old Revolutionaries of Vietnam.” A poorly written, passive-voice exercise in self-pity, Hayden’s essay recounts his return to the Southeast Asian country he visited throughout the 1960s and '70s. As detailed in DiscovertheNetworks.com:
Among the most visible and outspoken mouthpieces of the pro-Communist camp during the Vietnam War era, in the early 1970s Hayden organized -- along with his wife Jane Fonda, John Kerry, and Ted Kennedy -- an ‘Indo-China Peace Campaign’ (IPC) to cut off American aid to the regimes in Cambodia and South Vietnam. The IPC worked tirelessly to help the North Vietnamese Communists and the Khmer Rouge (led by Pol Pot) emerge victorious.
“Hayden and Fonda took a camera crew to Hanoi and to the ‘liberated’ regions of South Vietnam to make a propaganda film titled Introduction to the Enemy (1974) whose purpose was to persuade viewers that the Communists were going to create an ideal new society based on justice and equality.
That “new society based on justice and equality” ultimately witnessed the murder of 2.5-million Indochinese peasants by Hayden’s revolutionary heroes. But the author of the hippie manifesto, “The Port Huron Statement,” is not about to let all those corpses get in the way of his narcissistic nostalgia trip for the Nation:
During Christmas 2007 I traveled back in time with my family, to Vietnam, for the first time in thirty-two years,” Hayden writes. “I was feeling a deep need to see the place once more, a regret at having withdrawn from a country I had visited four times during the war. I wanted to understand the long-term lessons and, on a personal basis, track down the Vietnamese guides and translators, men and women, who assumed an ideological faith in the American ‘people’ they escorted through ruins inflicted by the American ‘enemy.’ (…) Most were survivors of the French and American wars and would be in their 80s by now. Were they still alive? How had they suffered? After the exuberance at their victory and reunification after 1975, how had they adjusted to a Vietnam without war?
That opening paragraph sets the tone for the rest: oddly chosen scare quotes, plenty of question marks, and plenty of self-obsession.
Those first-person pronouns are real. Musing upon an old photo of himself, Hayden can’t resist claiming, for example, that he’s gained a mere ten pounds in the intervening thirty-five years. But Hayden’s questions are mostly rhetorical. He still subscribes to the stale Marxist theory he first swallowed whole in his early twenties. As he finds out to his dismay, however, most Vietnamese don’t.
“Not even Vietnam [itself] can shake him,” writes Robert Fulford, in a scathing takedown of Hayden’s preening travelogue. “Its economy grows swiftly and so does its per capita GDP. It's a single-party state, still using the name Communist Party, and it has economic freedom without the other kinds of liberty. During his trip, a leading Vietnamese novelist told him, ‘Some Americans may sympathize with communism, but I lived under it and couldn't stand it.’ The novelist has a son making millions traveling for a high-tech corporation.”
The only resident of Vietnam more distressed than Hayden by all this prosperity is – not surprisingly – another former American anti-war activist turned ex-patriot and capitalist: Gerry Herman is a now successful film distributor, and even he just seems irritated because China is getting better trade deals than his adopted country.
"Far be it from me," says Hayden, "to question the desire of the Vietnamese to share our globalized consumer culture like everyone else."
But of course, Hayden does just that, for thousands of workmanlike words. What else can he do, having devoted his entire adult life to fighting American capitalism and “imperialism” in book after book, and demonstration after demonstration? Unlike those of many of his contemporaries, Hayden’s Communist sympathies were no mere fashionable pose.
As his former fellow radical David Horowitz recalled:
Hayden and I were deadly serious about our revolutionary agendas. During the Vietnam War, Tom traveled many times to North Vietnam, Czechoslovakia and Paris to meet communist North Vietnamese and Viet Cong leaders. He came back from Hanoi proclaiming he had seen “rice roots democracy at work.” (…) Hayden offered tips on conducting psychological warfare against the U.S. He arranged trips to Hanoi for Americans perceived as friendly to the Communists and blocked entry to those seen as unfriendly, like the sociologist Christopher Jencks. He attacked as “propaganda’ stories of torture and labeled American POWs returning home with such stories as “liars.”
And Hayden’s “revolutionary” activities were not confined to traitorous oversees excursions:
On the domestic front, Hayden advocated urban rebellions and called for the creation of “guerrilla focos” to resist police and other law enforcement agencies. For a while he led a Berkeley commune called the “Red Family,” whose “Minister of Defense” trained commune members at firing ranges and instructed high school students in the use of explosives. He was also an outspoken supporter of the violence-prone Black Panther Party.
Today, Hayden allows himself to wonder – in only the most tentative manner, of course, with the usual disingenuous rhetorical questions – whether or not he and his radical comrades might have been wrong all along:
“The question,” Hayden writes, “is whether the future, aside from the obvious advantages of peace, will be worth the sacrifices of the past. Is the period of anticolonial revolution--which Vietnam symbolized and so dominated our thinking in the '60s and beyond--becoming an obsolete memory in the era of globalization? Has the promise of those inspiring revolutions faded with the decline of naked colonialism and the emergence of so many corrupt authoritarianisms in the Third World? Or are the supposedly scientific models of history long embraced by the left being replaced with a kind of chaos theory of unpredictability? Is this all that was ever possible?”
The natural desires of ordinary people, be they American or Vietnamese, to trade in goods and services, to enjoy decent food and housing and to exercise their basic human rights, are summarily dismissed as “chaotic” and “unpredictable” by an obviously shaken Tom Hayden. (No doubt Adam Smith would be mystified and perhaps amused to hear capitalism compared to quantum physics.)
Hayden’s only hope of achieving equilibrium is to do the unthinkable: humbly renounce his delusions. Fortunately, he has a couple of timely examples to imitate should he care to do so.
Robert Fulford noted the delightful coincidence of Hayden’s Nation essay appearing at the same time as a Village Voice column by the acclaimed playwright David Mamet, entitled “Why I Am No Longer A ‘Brain Dead Liberal.’” Mamet chronicles his somewhat reluctant journey from Left to Right, such as his newfound respect for corporations and limited government.
“It may seem odd,” Fulford remarks, “that a much-admired writer makes such a noise about the banal fact that he thinks the society he's always lived in is grounded in sound principles and operates reasonably well. But in his milieu, that opinion remains big news.”
More “big news” was made shortly thereafter by another playwright. Writing in the Sunday Times of London, Tom Stoppard issued a remarkably similar declaration. Even in its soixante-neuf heyday, admits Stoppard, he considered the Left “politically dubious,” writing that he “was embarrassed by the slogans and postures of rebellion in a society which, in London as in Paris [in 1968]. . . seemed to me to be the least worst system into which one might have been born -- the open liberal democracy whose very essence was the toleration of dissent.”
The way it looks now, Tom Hayden will resist joining Stoppard and Mamet to his dying day. And when all is said and done, he can never undo the enormous damage he helped perpetrate upon millions of Indo-Chinese people. Longing for a Vietnam that now mirrrors everything he wished to destroy, the anti-war activist now faces his destiny: going down in history as, at best, a pathetic footnote or a cryptic joke, and at worst, an accessory to mass murder and oppression ultimately repudiated even by the oppressors.
Wild Thing's comment........
For me Tom Hayden, Jane Fonda, John Kerry, and the others that all stood on the side of the enemy during the Vietnam War have blood on their hands for LIFE and beyond. There is no place even in hell that would do justice for the deaths they caused of our soldiers, and contributing their propaganda to the horrendous treatment of our POW's.
This is an excellent article about Tom Hayden and how he is less then nothing then ever before.
....Thank you Mark for sending this article to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (8)
Kerry On Why B. Hussein Obama Should Be President
With Extreme Prejudice
Kerry recently endorsed Barack Obama, and earlier this week he sat down with the editorial board of the Standard-Times (New Bedford, Mass.) to make the case for his candidate.
Kerry said that a President Obama would help the US, in relations with Muslim countries, "in some cases go around their dictator leaders to the people and inspire the people in ways that we can't otherwise."
"He has the ability to help us bridge the divide of religious extremism," Kerry said. "To maybe even give power to moderate Islam to be able to stand up against this radical misinterpretation of a legitimate religion." Kerry was asked what gives Obama that credibility.
"Because he's African-American. Because he's a black man. Who has come from a place of oppression and repression through the years in our own country."
An African-American president would be "a symbol of empowerment" for those who have been disenfranchised around the world, Kerry said, "an important lesson for America to show Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, other places in the world where disenfranchised people don't get anything."
One obvious question: What do the events of this week, involving Obama's own church, tell us about his ability to "stand up against" a "radical misinterpretation of a legitimate religion"? Nothing very encouraging in this columnist's view, but many observers view Obama much more charitably in this regard than we do.
What is really striking about Kerry's case for Obama, though, is that it rests on what may be the crudest stereotyping we have ever observed. Commentary's Abe Greenwald has a chuckle over Kerry's racial stereotyping of Obama:
Where is this "place of oppression and repression" in which Obama has suffered "through the years"? Hawaii? Harvard? The Senate? We should find out immediately and do something about this horrific crisis.
But Kerry isn't just stereotyping blacks. He is stereotyping Muslims too. And he is drawing an equivalence between American blacks, a racial minority in one country, and Middle Eastern Muslims, a religious majority in a whole region.
Never mind that, as Greenwald points out, "Arab Muslims [are] none too happy with their black countrymen in northern Africa." Never mind that in some African countries, notably Sudan and Mauritania, Arab Muslims still enslave blacks.
To Kerry, it seems, all "oppressed peoples" look alike. The man has all the intellectual subtlety of a third-rate ethnic studies professor.
Wild Thing's comment........
"Where is this "place of oppression and repression" in which Obama has suffered "through the years"? Hawaii? Harvard? The Senate? "
Well my gosh, we should find out immediately and do something about this horrific crisis. heh heh
LOL I love what Rush said about this.......
"RUSH: …Man, this is what I mean. When you got guys like this speaking for you, you have no control over. Do you realize what you just heard? This is the former Democrat presidential nominee, and he has just encapsulated here the liberal Democrat view of this country where it comes to race: "We are guilty!" Whatever anybody, particularly our enemies -- whatever radical Islam thinks of us -- they're right. We are guilty, because we are racist, sexist, bigot, homophobes and all that. And we need to elect an African-American president, a young leader, obviously visionary, to show the rest of the world that we are who we say we are as a people. To bridge the divide of religious extremism? (laughing) Kerry said this on Monday. I don't think Jeremiah Wright was a common household name at that time. (laughing) Bridge the divide.? He has created the divide! He's widening the divide! He's dredging the divide! He's dumping the sand of the divide on both sides of the shore. "
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:40 AM | Comments (14)
March 21, 2008
Add McCain to List of Candidates Passport Files Breached
All three presidential candidates had passport files breached
WASHINGTON -- State Department employees inappropriately examined the passport files of Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican candidate Sen. John McCain, a security breach that forced Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to apologize to Obama.
Rice said Friday she apologized to Obama for a security breach in which three State Department contractors reviewed his file on three occasions earlier this year. Two of the employees were fired and a third disciplined.
"I told him that I was sorry, and I told him that I myself would be very disturbed," Rice told reporters.
Separately, Clinton issued a statement saying Rice told her that her passport file was breached in 2007.
The State Department said the same contract employee who examined Barack Obama?s file also looked at McCain?s.
The State Department's inspector general is investigating the Obama passport breach, which occurred on three separate occasions -- Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and as recently as last week, on March 14. On Friday, the department announced that the Justice Department would be monitoring the probe in case it needs to get involved.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday that the State Department would make results of the investigation available to congressional oversight committees and to Obama's office.
Bill Burton, a spokesman for Obama's presidential campaign, has called the incident "an outrageous breach of security and privacy."
Aside from the file, the information could allow Obama's critics to dig deeper into his private life. While the file includes his date and place of birth, address at time of application and the countries he's traveled to, the most important detail would be his Social Security number, which can be used to pull credit reports and other personal information.
"This is a serious matter that merits a complete investigation, and we demand to know who looked at Senator Obama's passport file, for what purpose and why it took so long for them to reveal this security breach," Burton said on Thursday.
McCormack said the breaches occurred were detected by internal State Department computer checks. The department's top management officer, Undersecretary Patrick Kennedy, said certain records, including those of high-profile people, are "flagged" with a computer tag that tips off supervisors when someone tries to view the records without a proper reason.
The firings and unspecified discipline of the third employee already had occurred when senior State Department officials learned of the breaches. Kennedy called that a failing. Rice only learned about the breaches Thursday.
"I will fully acknowledge this information should have been passed up the line," Kennedy told reporters in a conference call Thursday night. "It was dealt with at the office level."
In answer to a question, Kennedy said the department doesn't look into political affiliation in doing background checks on passport workers. "Now that this has arisen, this becomes a germane question, and that will be something for the appropriate investigation to look into," he said.
The department informed Obama's Senate office of the breach on Thursday. Kennedy said that at the office's request, he will provide a personal briefing for the senator's staff on Friday.
Wild Thing's comment........
Clinton’s file is improperly viewed. No outrage
McCain’s file is improperly viewed. No outrage
Obama’s file is improperly viewed. Yes outrage and media pushing for Obama go nuts. Oberman on MSNBC went balistic last nighit. And other networks pulling for him as well. LOL
Don't we have a right to know where they travel? I mean we pay their salaries, they work for us. If a public figure travels on MY TAX MONEY, I have a right to know it. It’s part of the public record. Senators are not undercover CIA operatives. LOL
I am really curious who did this. haha Maybe Clinton probably did it to herself so that she could use it as cover when her own people eventually got caught. Or omaybe it is just because of my thinking of the 900 FBI Files collected by the Clinton's. Just a thought heh heh I would love to see the media compare the breach of a passport file to 900 FBI files.Keep those Clinton gates in the news too.
I am not sure, but I think the Passport thing would only be dangerous in regards to knowing a person's social security number and probably their home address. That IS bad but that cant be the reason this breach happened. Who cares about where these idiots live or their SS#. What the Clinton's did with the 9090 FBI files was horrendous and personal and private information on anyone they considered and enemy real or imagined.
From MSNBC
There Were Three Types of Breaches
"(1) Fall 2007. A training exercise last fall involved somebody typing in Hillary Clinton's name... The person involved was not fired.
(2-a) January 9, 2008. A contractor looked at the passport file of Barack Obama. The supervisor felt it was a firing offense. The contractor was fired. But the immediate supervisor didn't notify officials outside office of consular affairs.
(2-b) February 21, 2008. Another contractor looked at Obama's passport file. Supervisor felt it was a firing offense. The contractor was fired. The immediate supervisor didn't notify officials outside office of consular affairs.
(3) March 14, 2008. A third contractor accessed Obama's passport file and McCain's passport file. Supervisor felt it was not a firing offense. The contractor suspended. The immediate supervisor didn't notify officials outside office of consular affairs.
Key questions: What made the Jan. 9 and Feb. 21 breaches of Obama more serious than the fall '07 breach of Clinton and the March 14 breaches of Obama/McCain? "
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 PM | Comments (6)
Obama Passport Files Violated State Dept. Investigates
Obama passport files violated; 2 workers at State fired; 1 rebuked
Two State Department employees were fired recently and a third disciplined for improperly accessing electronic personal data on Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, Bush administration officials said today.
The officials, all contract workers, used their authorized computer network access to look up files within the department's consular affairs section, which processes and stores passport information, and read Mr. Obama's passport application and other records, in violation of department privacy rules, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was notified of the security breach today, and responded by saying security measures used to monitor records of high-profile Americans worked properly in detecting the breaches.
Mr. McCormack said the officials did not appear to be seeking information on behalf of any political candidate or party.
"As far as we can tell, in each of the three cases, it was imprudent curiosity," Mr. McCormack told The Washington Times.
A similar data breach took place in 1992 when State Department officials looked up data on presidential candidate Bill Clinton, in an attempt to find out information from the late 1960s, amid unfounded political campaign rumors that Mr. Clinton had sought to renounce his citizenship to dodge the draft during the Vietnam War while a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford.
That incident triggered a three-year investigation by a special prosecutor, who found that no laws were violated but officials exercised poor judgment. The 1992 search of Mr. Clinton's passport records was part of an effort to speed up Freedom of Information Act requests.
The Obama campaign denounced the accessing as "an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an Administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years."
Spokesman Bill Burton said "our government’s duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes. This is a serious matter that merits a complete investigation, and we demand to know who looked at Senator Obama’s passport file, for what purpose, and why it took so long for them to reveal this security breach."
One administration official said the FBI is conducting a preliminary inquiry into the officials involved in the unauthorized access incidents related to Mr. Obama, Illinois Democrat. An FBI spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Government records of political candidates are tightly restricted because of concerns they could be used against candidates or the data could be altered as part of campaign dirty tricks.
In this case, it does not appear that records were copied or altered, Mr. McCormack said.
Passport application data includes such details as date and place of birth, e-mail address, mailing address, Social Security number, former names and travel plans. Mr. Obama was born in Honolulu in 1961 to a Kenyan father and American mother. He lived in Jakarta, Indonesia, from age six to 10.
Computer-monitoring equipment detected the activities by the three employees on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14, triggering alarms in each case, Mr. McCormack said.
Mr. McCormack said the officials accessed Mr. Obama's records "without a need to do so."
"In each case, we immediately contacted our contractors, their employer, and two were fired and one was disciplined," he said.
"We have strict rules restricting access to passport records," Mr. McCormack said.
Each time an employee logs on to the passport-records network, they are informed that the records are protected by the Privacy Act and are "available only on a need-to-know basis," he said. But no technical bar prevents a person, once he is in the system, from gaining access to Privacy Act-protected records to which he has no "need-to-know" rights.
But the network has an electronic monitoring system that is tripped when an employee accesses a record of a prominent person, like Mr. Obama. The alarm then triggers an inquiry into the incident, and "when the answer is not satisfactory, a supervisor is notified."
Such records can be accessed when it is part of an official inquiry, but in the case of Mr. Obama, it was not, Mr. McCormack said.
Asked whether a political candidate or party is behind the incidents, Mr. McCormack said: "None at this point in time that we have determined."
Mr. McCormack declined to provide the names of the employees or the contract, but he said they were hired by the contractor involved in producing, processing and approving passports.
"This is supposed to be a transaction between an individual and the government, and this is private information that we take a lot of steps to protect, and we take that responsibility seriously, not only for high profile individuals but for everybody," he said.
Mr. McCormack said the incidents took place at consular affairs facilities in the Washington area.
Wild Thing's comment........
Anyone check Sandy Berger’s pants? He lilkes to mess with top security files. LOL
I bet Obama will be trying to push for an investigation to get the focus off his pastor. LOL This is serious and shouldn't happen to anyone on either side. But it is funny and the timing is just soooo perfect to get the subject to change in the media and blogs and talk radio....the American people. hahaha
Obama campaign says it’s outrageous breech of security.
They are EATING this up...talk about a subject-changer. They went nuts on the various networks. Knowing the Clinton's and their padt FBI files on one and all, it sure seems like a set up by either Clintonistas at State Department..or Obama himself to get Preachergate off the news!
Well, I guess Obama will release his passport records when Hillary releases her tax records.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (8)
Obama Website Yanks 'Black Panthers' Plug
Obama Website Yanks 'Black Panthers' Plug
wnd ....for complete article
'It's part of the game,' says anti-white, anti-Jew leader
The removal by the Barack Obama campaign from its official website of an endorsement from the black supremacist New Black Panther Party, or NBPP, was decided upon for "understandable political reasons," according to the party's national chairman."It's the game of politics," the NBPP's Malik Zulu Shabazz told WND. "The Obama camp's move to remove our blog doesn't mean much because I understand politics. We still completely support Obama as the best candidate."
Shabbaz, who has given scores of speeches condemning "white men" and Jews, said today Obama "is the best guy to bring the kinds of racial changes supported by our community at the New Black Panthers."
The NBPP, which inherited its name from the Black Panther Party of the 1960s, is a controversial black extremist party whose leaders are notorious for their racist statements and anti-white activism. The organization's own website also was taken down today too.
And from Fox News
Obama Camp Rejects New Black Panther Party Endorsement After Removing Web Posting
Barack Obama’s campaign has rejected the support of the New Black Panther Party, after removing an endorsement by the group from its Web site Wednesday.
Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor issued a statement rejecting the Panther backing, and told FOXNews.com: “The page in question has been removed from our campaign Web site. It’s our policy with any content generated by a group that advocates violence.”
The blogosphere was buzzing Wednesday about whether his campaign planned to remove the Panther posting, just one day after the Illinois senator delivered a speech calling for improved race relations in America.
Malik Zulu Shabazz, who has led the group since 2001, told FOX News the Obama campaign’s reaction to the endorsement was understandable.
The NBPP is identified as an extremist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a tolerance education organization. The Anti-Defamation League calls NBPP “the largest organized anti-Semitic black militant group in America. … Under Shabazz, the group continues to organize demonstrations across the country that blend inflammatory bigotry with calls for black empowerment and civil rights.”
After the death of Black Panther Party's former leader Dr. Khallid Muhammad in February 2001, Malik Zulu Shabazz, a Washington D.C.-based attorney, took over leadership of the group.
Here is a video of Dr. Khallid Muhammad, the man that the new leader Malik Zulu Shabazz said at the Dr.'s funeral was "one of the greatest Black leaders to ever live."
ALERT: This video contains the most extreme hate speech I ever knew existed in my life. I just want to make you aware of it if you decide to watch this. I had to watch part of it then try again to see the entire thing. It is very upsetting, very scary.
.
Wild Thing's comment........
The image at the top of this post was posted directly on the “Obama for America” website which is controlled by Obama’s campaign and if it was that easy to pull it off by the campaign then it had to have gone through the campaign in the first place to be posted.
Also notice the dates that I circled in red, this was put on his site back in January. Obama and his campaign team only now this last Wednesday decided to take it off the site. They were not noticed or at least ignored for 2+ months. Yep, the MSM is on top of their jobs. NOT!
All of this has been a real education for me. I guess I have lived a pretty protected life when it comes to how some groups feel. I know the terrorists hate us and want us dead. I knew about the Black Panthers and what they did a long time ago. But I never heard their words in your face kind of thing, like in the video.
Here is what I do not understand.
Obama wants to be President, he is not stupid or is he. He had to know that these people hate ALL white people. He knows to be President it means of all America not just President of the black communities. He had to know that he could not have connections to radical groups, hate groups, hate filled preachers screaming of their hate for the very country he ( Obama) wants to reside over as President.
And yet he has done just that, allowed their endorsement at his campaign website, stuck by his pastor until confronted by the LIBERAL media asking about it, and still he has not separated himself completely from any of this.
So my question is does he think the citizens of this country are stupid? He has to know he will not get elected if he only counts on the black vote. He has to know that even Democrats if enough hate the white guy is in their face even they will be offended sooner or later. The old time Democrats at least would be offended, the kind like Zell Miller etc. He has to know that the most racists white people in the USA have always been Democrats.
I just don't get it, maybe he is that stupid or maybe he is self destructive.
.... Thank you RAC for sending the link to the article and the video link to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (14)
Obama's Church Published Hamas Terror Manifesto
Compares charter calling for murder of Jews to Declaration of Independence
JERUSALEM
Sen. Barack Obama's Chicago church reprinted a manifesto by Hamas that defended terrorism as legitimate resistance, refused to recognize the right of Israel to exist and compared the terror group's official charter – which calls for the murder of Jews – to America's Declaration of Independence.
The Hamas piece was published on the "Pastor's Page" of the Trinity United Church of Christ newsletter reserved for Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., whose anti-American, anti-Israel remarks landed Obama in hot water, prompting the presidential candidate to deliver a major race speech earlier this week.
Hamas, responsible for scores of shootings, suicide bombings and rocket launchings against civilian population centers, is listed as a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department.
The revelation follows a recent WND article quoting Israeli security officials who expressed "concern" about Robert Malley, an adviser to Obama who has advocated negotiations with Hamas and providing international assistance to the terrorist group.
In his July 22, 2007, church bulletin, Wright reprinted an article by Mousa Abu Marzook, identified in the newsletter as a "deputy of the political bureau of Hamas." A photo image of the newsletter was captured and posted today by the business blog BizzyBlog. The Hamas piece was first published by the Los Angeles Times, garnering the newspaper much criticism.
According to senior Israeli security officials, Marzook, who resides in Syria alongside Hamas chieftain Khaled Meshaal, is considered the "brains" behind Hamas, designing much of the terror group's policies and ideology. Israel possesses what it says is a large volume of specific evidence that Marzook has been directly involved in calling for or planning scores of Hamas terrorist offensives, including deadly suicide bombings. He was also accused of attempting to set up a Hamas network in the U.S.
Marzook's original piece was titled, "Hamas' stand" but was re-titled "A Fresh View of the Palestinian Struggle" by Obama's church newsletter. The newsletter also referred to Hamas as the "Islamic Resistance Movement," and added in its introduction that Marzook was addressing Hamas' goals for "all of Palestine."
In the manifesto, Marzook refers to Hamas' "resistance" – the group's perpetuation of anti-Israel terrorism targeting civilians – as "legal resistance," which, he argues, is "explicitly supported by the Fourth Geneva Convention."
The Convention, which refers to the rights of people living under occupation, does not support suicide bombings or rocket attacks against civilian population centers, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America noted.
Marzook refers to Hamas' official charter as "an essentially revolutionary document" and compares the violent creed to the Declaration of Independence, which, Marzook states, "simply did not countenance any such status for the 700,000 African slaves at that time."
Hamas' charter calls for the murder of Jews. Among its platforms is a statement that the "[resurrection] will not take place until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them, and the rock and the tree will say: 'Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, kill him!'"
In his piece, Marzook says Hamas only targets Israel and denies that Hamas' war is meant to be waged against the U.S., even though Hamas officials have threatened America, and Hamas' charter calls for Muslims to "pursue the cause of the Movement (Hamas), all over the globe."
Trinity Church did not respond to a phone message requesting comment.
Obama's campaign also did not reply to phone and e-mail requests today for comment.
Obama aide wants talks with terrorists
WND reported in January that Malley, an Obama foreign policy adviser, has penned numerous opinion articles, many of them co-written with a former adviser to the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, petitioning for dialogue with Hamas and blasting Israel for policies he says harm the Palestinian cause.
Malley also previously penned a well-circulated New York Review of Books piece largely blaming Israel for the collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations at Camp David in 2000 when Arafat turned down a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and eastern sections of Jerusalem and instead returned to the Middle East to launch an intifada, or terrorist campaign, against the Jewish state.
Malley's contentions have been strongly refuted by key participants at Camp David, including President Clinton, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and primary U.S. envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross, all of whom squarely blamed Arafat's refusal to make peace for the talks' failure.
In February 2006, after Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament and amid a U.S. and Israeli attempt to isolate the Hamas-run Palestinian Authority, Malley wrote an op-ed for the Baltimore Sun advocating international aid to the terror group's newly formed government.
"The Islamists (Hamas) ran on a campaign of effective government and promised to improve Palestinians' lives; they cannot do that if the international community turns its back," wrote Malley in a piece entitled, "Making the Best of Hamas' Victory."
Malley contended the election of Hamas expressed Palestinian "anger at years of humiliation and loss of self-respect because of Israeli settlement expansion, Arafat's imprisonment, Israel's incursions, Western lecturing and, most recently and tellingly, the threat of an aid cutoff in the event of an Islamist success."
Malley said the U.S. should not "discourage third-party unofficial contacts with [Hamas] in an attempt to moderate it."
In an op-ed in the Washington Post in January coauthored by Arafat adviser Hussein Agha, Malley – using what could be perceived as anti-Israel language – urged Israel's negotiating partner, Abbas, to reunite with Hamas.
"A renewed national compact and the return of Hamas to the political fold would upset Israel's strategy of perpetuating Palestinian geographic and political division," wrote Malley.
He further petitioned Israel to hold talks with Hamas.
"An arrangement between Israel and Hamas could advance both sides' interests," Malley wrote.
Wild Thing's comment........
The Obama bus continues over the cliff.
I’m glad this is coming out because Obama’s advisors are all socialists that believe Israel and America are at fault for every hardship in the world, and terrorism is justified against us. Hopefully this will start to shed more and more light on the people around him and their sympathy for terrorists.
The left and their support for terrorists, add in to that their hate for our military they all go together.
....Thank you Mark for this article.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (12)
McCain Aide Suspended Over Obama Video
McCain Aide Suspended Over Twitter (Sent out Obama video)
The ongoing saga of the McCain Campaign’s effort to keep the political discourse respectful added another chapter today. As reported by Jon Martin, the campaign has suspended a junior staffer, Soren Dayton, a conservative blogger/consultant who worked in McCain’s political department.
His crime: Distributing, via Twitter, a smarmy Youtube video that mashes together the words of Barack Obama, Jeremiah Wright, a photograph of the 1968 Olympics black power salute and a Public Enemy song, among other things. The video suggests, in a rather crude fashion, what conservative commentators have long held: That Wright’s inflammatory rhetoric is a key window on the secret radical agenda of Obama.
But the McCain campaign still ain’t gonna playing that game. As Communications Director Jill Hazelbaker told Martin,
"We have been very clear on the type of campaign we intend to run and this staffer acted in violation of our policy."
Dayton’s suspension comes just a week after the McCain campaign sent reporters a opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal suggesting that Obama’s relationship with Wright showed his radical agenda. The McCain campaign later said that the article was sent out in error, and McCain told Fox News’s Sean Hannity that he does not hold Wright’s inflammatory statements against Obama...
“I do know Senator Obama,” McCain said. “He does not share those views.”
And for those who are counting, the smarmy YouTube attack on Obama has yet to get many viewers. As of this posting, it has only been watched 53,694 times.
Wild Thing's comment........
I wonder if McCain thinks Obama would make a "good president", like he thinks Hillary would. This is funny to me because it is one of the videos I posted on March 18th.
B.Hussein and Michell Obama and Wright Being Wrong
I understand what McCain is trying to do, take the high road and all. But one can go too far in that direction when trying to win a battle.
Thing is, he's never missing an opportunity to dis a supporter and make gratuitous statements defending his opponents. Hmmmmm like this for instance.....My good friend Obama, my good friend Kerry, my good friend Teddy, my good friend Liebermann, my good friend Hillary and on and on.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (4)
The Revolt Of The Vietnam Veterans
The revolt of the Vietnam veterans
By Bruce Kesler
December 19, 2004
Post mortems in the liberal press on the role that Vietnam veterans played in presidential candidate John Kerry's defeat mask the key role of the liberal press, which tried to suppress the vets' story and is distorting it now. I was there at the creation of a veterans group and all along, and know better. The American people deserve to know better too.
In 1971 I organized Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace. John O'Neill enlisted to counter the smears of American servicemen in Vietnam. No one else spoke up for us, so we had to. The mainstream press was more diverse than today and we got a spotty but honest hearing.
Kerry's light dimmed then. Americans got the message that a motley crew of exaggerators and frauds didn't speak for Vietnam veterans. We said our piece and went home, back to our diverse, nonpolitical lives.
Meanwhile, anti-Vietnam war protesters of the 1960s marched through academia and the media to claim its power as their own. In 2004, they fought to defend their self-image by defaming that of anti-Kerry Vietnam veterans.
In February 2004, anti-Kerry Vietnam veterans were shocked that he won the Democratic nomination. The mainstream media blessed this coronation. No one except Kerry and his advisers really wanted to revisit Vietnam, but they saw it as a way to appeal to anti and pro-war voters.
Kerry's Vietnam veteran opponents hadn't been in contact for over 30 years, so we searched each other out. Scott Swett, creator of wintersoldier.com that collected research on Kerry's protest activities, was an invaluable connector among us, creating an Internet political network that bound us together.
While we knew all too well about Kerry's anti-Vietnam protest period, we compared notes and surprised ourselves at the extent of deceptions in Kerry's self-hagiography about being a sterling war hero. It was intolerable that John Kerry brazenly glorified this suspect record to centerpiece his few months as a junior officer 35 years ago as qualification to lead the United States in this most challenging time since the Cold War.
The liberal media portrayed anti-Kerry Vietnam veterans as a long-planned, far-right funded conspiracy of liars. That's far, far from the truth. The real story is like the Minutemen, rising from peaceful lives to spontaneously come together to again fight for the America we so deeply love.
There was little or no coordination, just mutual support, with each volunteer shooting from behind his own tree in the same direction. We came to know each other on the field of our revolt against the false image created by Kerry of himself in the media and the false image Kerry was instrumental in painting of us and America.
John O'Neill got off his sickbed. He asked me whether I had the contacts and resources to lead as I did in 1971, which I didn't, and he dug in his own pocket to get the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth started. Vietnam veterans from every service, and Americans from every walk of life, joined in and followed O'Neill into political combat.
Early in the year a friend with access to the Kerry campaign warned me it was digging for any kind of dirt to destroy us. Contrary to the liberal media's story that we surprised Kerry in August, he thought the mainstream media could succeed in ignoring and stifling the Swift Boat veterans, and he had long planned a new smear campaign against us.
The surprise to the Kerry camp and liberal press was that the new media did break through and that Vietnam veterans could not be intimidated. In August, as reported by Newsweek, Kerry operatives fed negative documents and talking points to the New York Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe. Subsequent articles in those newspapers reflected negatively on the Swiftees.
With only one halting exception, the mainstream media refused to investigate the sworn affidavits of 60 credible witnesses to Kerry's behavior, or to follow up on the abundance of additional information given them. The New York Times repeatedly used "unsubstantiated" as its adjective describing the Swift Boat veterans' allegations without ever exerting its considerable power to investigate.
Kerry wasn't pressured by the mainstream media to reveal his full military records to resolve issues, nor questioned as to what he was hiding. The mainstream media's zeal in chasing down every scrap of trivia about Bush's service stands in sharp contrast. That alone strongly suggested a liberal bias.
This behavior by some of the liberal media was purposeful. The survival of their favored candidate was endangered by our truth and facts. As important, the self-image of many reporters was endangered. Their myths of our pervasive evils in defending Vietnamese freedom, and of their valiant memories of mounting school libraries' ramparts, could not take the incongruence of exposure.
In the campaign to discredit anti-Kerry Vietnam veterans, some charged that we were reviving an old vendetta. Actually, we had ignored Kerry until last February. Some charged that we were refighting a cultural war from the '60s. Again, untrue. Many of us smoked marijuana, rocked to the same songs, grew the same long hair. We're Democrats, independents and Republicans.
The true post mortem of Kerry's defeat is simply the last hurrah of simple patriots, amateurishly but fervently rising up and banding together, with few resources, to defeat the mainstream media's boy and juggernaut. Polls and the election show we succeeded.
Wild Thing's comment........
This is a great article and what a time that was too. Vietnam Veterans gathering together at the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth website and all across the internet at various forums. Posting their hearts out as they did all they could do to counter John Kerry's lies and bring the truth to the media and to all of America and the entire world.
During that time I did not have a blog, but I did have my website and what an honor it was to meet (online) some of the Swift Boat Veterans. I still have my emails from John O'Neil and Tom Forrest (when he was President of the "Swift Boat Sailors Association" (SBSA). Tom passed away May 1, 2006 . My last email from him was in March of 2006 and I am so glad I was able to tell him how grateful America was for all that Swift Boat Veterans had done.
The reason we do not have John Kerry for President is due to the hard work of the Vietnam Veterans and yes their revolt which was a great success.
You can see Tom's photos and a small write up at my Tribute to Vietnam Vets page.
When a person serves their country it has always been my hope that they could know their fight was done and they could come home and enjoy the freedoms that they fought for and served our country to preserve. But when John Kerry entered the race they all went right back into the most amazing fight for our country.
Thank you.
....Thank you Mark for sending this article to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (6)
March 20, 2008
What True Ameircan's Say To Our Troops ~ Thank you!
A wonderful ad for the US Army
U.S. Marine Corps aviators in a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (5)
Army Recruiting Station Vandalized ~ Milwaukee
Army Recruiting Station Vandalized
People driving by the Army Recruiting Station on Milwaukee's east side are finding it boarded up with a vandal's message on the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War.
Vandals put graffiti saying "War Is Offensive" and broke windows at the facility on the 3100 block of North Oakland Avenue, near the UWM campus.
Officials there later boarded up the windows. A man who works in the area said he saw anti-war slogans written on the windows also.
This is not the first time the place has been vandalized.
Last year, on the same Iraq war anniversary, police arrested 21 people for an attack with smoke bombs while throwing paint at the facility.
Wild Thing's comment........
The homegrown terrorists in Milwaukee had free reign to trash a recruiting center. Why won't the police enforce the protection of recruiting stations in SF, DC, New York, and now Milwaukee? This isn’t good. I see problems brewing.
If this continues which it likely will, this country is going to have to decide at what point enough is enough. And then they need to come down HARD on these people aiding the enemy.
....Thank you Lynn for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (10)
Operation MySpace Brings Entertainment to Deployed Troops
WEBSITE FOR Operation MySpace to Support The Troops
Jessica's MYSpace
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Operation MySpace Brings Entertainment to Deployed Troops
By Pfc. Christopher Grammer
50th Public Affairs Detachment
KUWAIT
The show included performances by Disturbed, The Pussycat Dolls, Filter, DJ Z-Trip as well as Carlos Mencia and Metal Sanaz as the Masters of Ceremony.
“It took us about five months to set up,” said Tom Anderson, president of myspace.com. “It’s the biggest thing we’ve ever done.”
The entertainers arrived two days before the concert to meet with troops and tour the post.
The members of the band Disturbed and Carlos Mencia toured the training village at Camp Buehring and experienced the capabilities of the training facilities for deployed troops first hand.
Following the tour the entertainers attended an autograph signing at the post exchange were troops lined up to meet the entertainers.
The purpose of the concert was to bring a little bit of home to the troops, boost morale and show the troops that America supports them, said Anderson.
“Seeing the celebrities out here showing that they do support us has lifted my spirits,” said Spc. Kayla Guffin, a radar repair technician with 76th Brigade Combat Team. “I’ve been looking forward to this since I heard about it.”
Troops deployed to Kuwait or awaiting deployment north to Iraq got to relax and take their minds off the stresses of deployed life during the more than five hour show that took a crew of more than 80 personnel to set up.
It’s an honor to play for the troops and it’s an honor to be here,” said Richard Patrick, the vocalist for the band Filter.
Prior to the start of the concert, myspace.com personality Metal Sanaz interviewed servicemembers in the crowd to get their views on the upcoming show.
Comedian Carlos Mencia, the master of ceremonies started out the show by introducing DJ Z-Trip who plays more than 100 shows a year many of which are sold out. His eclectic tastes and non-conventional style draws a large fan base.
Following up after Z-Trip was the metal band Disturbed who played many of their hits including “Down with the Sickness,” “Stupify” and “Liberate.”
The Pussycat Dolls performed many of their hit songs for the troops and shared their support for the service members who are deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Adding to the mostly metal line-up was the band Filter who have been around since 1993. Sgt. Frank Cavanagh, the original bassist for the band was able to rejoin them and perform the song “Hey, Man, Nice Shot.” Cavanagh will be deploying to Iraq in April for his first tour.
Topping off the motley line-up was a performance by Jessica Simpson. Simpson sang for the crowd despite health issues just prior to the concert.
Twice as many service members showed up for the concert as originally expected.
Wild Thing's comment........
Giggle, I love the last line of the article......
"Twice as many service members showed up for the concert as originally expected."
There is such a great feeling when a person goes to thank our troops in person, and the estimated number of service men and women that might be able to come to a concert or show is increased. It really makes a person even happier to know you can thank even more of our troops then were expected.
You can also go to their website promoting this and click on the various entertainers to go to see thier MySpace, hear their music etc.
I think this is a great idea. MySpace is fun and a great way to support the troops in a unique way. Just my little MySpace that I have I hear back from a lot of Vietnam Vets and other Vets as well as troops serving today.
I just found out about this and I see there will be a repeat of the show that has aired one time before. I have no idea how it is presented but I am sure the troops must have loved it and had a good time. And I am even more sure that those entertainers that went were touched by meeting and seeing the troops 10 fold to what they gave.
With so many protesting the war, protesting our troops and recruiting Stations, it feels good to be able to show you something on the positive side of people that care about our troops and the sacrifices they make daily.
God bless our Troops and keep them safe.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (8)
US Military Recruiting Station Attacks Nationwide And Also Some Gov. Buildings
Anti-war protesters paraded in the streets of downtown D.C., causing traffic tie-ups for many commuters Wednesday afternoon.
Groups of demonstrators marking the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war blocked intersections along K Street between 13th and 17th Streets in Northwest.
WTOP's Michelle Basch reports at least 100 people used their bodies and placards to block the streets around McPherson Square.
People started protesting at 7:30 a.m., and are planning an evening march from the National Mall to the Democratic National Committee Headquarters on South Capitol Street.
Many of the protesters are wearing white masks and black clothing to represent the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
Earlier Wednesday, D.C. Police used brute force to remove some of the protesters off of the streets and onto the curb.
The D.C. Department of Transportation issued delays and detours throughout and even after the evening rush hour.
Authorities are stringing yellow police tape around the area to prevent some people from walking onto the streets. Police are also protecting a military recruiting center downtown.
Earlier Wednesday, police arrested more than 30 protesters outside the Internal Revenue Service building for crossing a barricade and blocking the building's entrance.
D.C. Police report demonstrators throwing items at officers, but there are no serious injuries.
Paint Ball guns used on the windows of the Recruiting Station
At 12th Street and Constitution Avenue, one frustrated driver got out of his small, red, four-door car and physically moved a bicycle that a protester had put in the road, WTOP's Kristi King reported. The driver then waved traffic on until police arrived.
Police also stopped protesters who tried to connect their bicycles together with a chain.
Other anti-war protests and vigils were held throughout the day.
In Syracuse, N.Y., police arrested 20 protesters who blocked traffic by creating a mock Baghdad street scene. One person dressed in camouflage lay on the ground. Another was covered in a white sheet with red markings and a woman leaned over as if grieving. They were from a group of more than 100 demonstrators who marched downtown in a steady rain over the lunch hour.
On the West Coast, police arrested a handful of protesters outside of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, police Sgt. Steve Manina said. Black balloons were tied to trees along San Francisco's main downtown thoroughfare, and protesters at a table offered coffee, oranges and "unhappy birthday cake" to passers-by.
Other protests but there were ALL across America yesterday, in hundreds of cities. The only thing different might be the way they decked themselves out to protect, or how much violence there was at different places. How many arrests etc in the different cities too would be depending on what went on.
DES MOINES, Iowa
Two people were arrested Wednesday during a protest marking the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq.Eleven protesters with Des Moines Catholic Workers carried signs and a mock coffin draped with an American flag into the hallway of the Armed Forces Career Center, a Des Moines recruiting office.
Officials at the center called police and asked the protesters to leave.
Protesters to the war in Iraq perform a demonstration of waterboarding torture techniques in Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington
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Wild Thing's comment.........
They hate America, and they could care less about our troops. They hold up signs of how many of our soldiers have died and there is no way on earth they give a hoot about their lives, their sacrifice. No way!
What if the red paint had been something even more harmful, something truly deadly? This is very serious.
List of Organizations Supporting the Demonstrations ....CLICK to see below..
National and International Organizations
9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
AfterDowningStreet.org
Call To Action
Campus Anti-War Network
CCAN
CODEPINK
Declaration of Peace
Foreign Policy In Focus (IPS)
Generation Truth
Green Party Peace Network
Historians Against the War
Islamic Political Party of America
Jews Against the War
Loose Change
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
Network of Spiritual Progressives
Not in Our Name
No War, No Warming
Office of the Americas
Organic Consumers Association, Planting Peace
Our Spring Break
Peace Action
Peace Movement Aotearoa (New Zealand)
Peace No War Network
SOA Watch
Students for a Democratic Society
Student Peace Action Network
Tent State University
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
US Climate Emergency Council
US Labor Against the War
Veterans For Peace
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
War Times/Tiempo de Guerras
The Will to Act Movement
Witness Against Torture
World Can’t Wait
Local and Regional Organizations
Action Center For Justice (Charlotte, NC)
Action LA Coalition
Arlington South (Naples FL)
Asbury Park Coalition for Peace & Social Justice
AskSlim.org
Baltimore Algebra Project
Bloomington Peace Action Coalition
Brandywine Peace Community
Brevard NOW
Brevard Patriots For Peace
Brooklyn For Peace (formerly Brooklyn Parents for Peace)
Cedar Valley United for Peace & Justice
Central Colorado Coalition On The Iraq War
Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War
Central Ohio Peace Network
Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Chicagoans Against War and Injustice
Chico Peace and Justice Center
Coalition for Peace Action - Chester Delaware County
Coalition for Peace Action - Regional Office
CobaltCSG
CODEPINK Arizona
CODEPINK Denver/Boulder
DuPage Anti-War Network - Glen Ellyn
DC Students for a Democratic Society
Delaware Pacem in Terris
Delaware Valley Veterans For America
Flagstaff New Day Peace Center
The Flames of Discontent
Fort Wayne Peace Action
Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition
Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition/Atlanta
GlynnPeace: Citizens to End the War in Iraq
Greater Lansing Network Against War & Injustice (GLNAWI)
Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition
Green Party of Utah Desert Greens
Help E.A.R.T.H Thru Art
Impeach Bush & Cheney Townhall Meetup of Santa Barbara
IMPEACHOK1 - The Tulsa Impeachment Committee
Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War
Local 1000, American Federation of Musicians
Logan Square Neighbors for Justice and Peace
Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives
Lutheran Peace Fellowship of the Great Plains
Mad Anarchist Bakers League
Massachusetts Peace Action
Melting Pot NYC
Merriam Park Neighbors for Peace
Mid Hudson Progressive Alliance
Mid-South Peace and Justice Center
NYC-UFPJ
Operation Iraqi Freedom: Brown’s Antiwar Group
Peace Action New York State
Peace Takes Courage
People for Peace and Justice of Utah
The People’s Coalition of Santa Barbara
The Pride group at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Progressive Blend Radio
Progressive Democrats of America - California
Progressive Democrats of America - Ohio
PDA / DFA Progressive Democracy South Jersey
Queers Without Borders, Hartford Ct.
Radio Free Maine
Rainbow Affinity Group/Yippie (Brooklyn, NY)
Rude Mechanical Orchestra
San Pedro Neighbors for Peace and Justice
Socialist Party of Tampa Bay
Software Plexus
Students for Social Democracy (Columbus, GA)
Syracuse Peace Council
Thomas Merton Center Anti-War Committee (Pittsburgh, PA)
United for Peace and Justice Bay Area
Veterans For Peace, Chapter 132 (Corvallis, OR)
Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety
Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (10)
Students To Protest War Today
National Days of Student Action to Protest the Iraq War - All out for March 20, 2008
"Every year, there have been protests marking the anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that was launched on the basis of lies and deceit. Students have historically had an especially important role in the struggles against racism and war, and we continue to do so today. Last March, over 80 high schools and colleges answered the call by chapters of Students for a Democratic Society to come together to send one loud resounding NO to the Bush administration and the Republican agenda, to the Democrats who refuse to carry out the mandate of their constituents, and to the University administrations that so often support war efforts.
This March, SDS is urging all students, as part of the broader community of people of conscience, to voice our opposition to the war in Iraq. As the presidential election nears, candidates need to be sent a clear message: we will not stand for vague time lines and empty promises, we will not tolerate sanctions, threats, and aggression against Iran, and that we will stand in solidarity with the Iraqi people who are struggling to liberate their country.
We want as many people as possible to join us in this protest; the larger the protest the stronger the impact we have, and the sooner we can help end this war. We are calling on any and all student and youth based organizations that are opposed to the war in Iraq to mobilize their memberships, their campus, their community and hit the streets for the week of March 17-21, with March 20 as the focal point.* We are calling on students to take action on their own campuses, where we have the power to reach the entire student body with our message and build resistance on our own campuses. We are calling on our fellow students and youth to take the lead and do whatever it takes–from rallies, marches, walk-outs, civil disobedience, and direct action–to send a clear message to the U.S. government: Get out of Iraq Now!"
Wild Thing's comment........
That’s the New SDS (you know the group the Weathermen bombers were part of) site. They are doing their thing tomorrow. There is a list of “participating schools”, including high schools at the link.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (4)
March 19, 2008
Operation Iraqi Freedom Begins March 19th, 2003
It began.......
Some of the good things going on because of Operation Iraqi Freedom
"I don't think you can overstate the importance that the rise of Islamic fundamentalism will have to the rest of the world in the century ahead-especially if, as seems possible, its most fanatical elements get their hands on nuclear and chemical weapons and the means to deliver them against their enemies." --Ronald Reagan
Wild Thing's comment........
All of us here at Theodore's World want to thank you all serving our country. You are in our prayers and thoughts daily.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (4)
Michelle Obama
Blacks Inferiority Complex sabatoging Obama!
Wild Thing's comment........
Give me a break, please and thank you. I just don't believe this is a black issue at all. This is a a negative enforcement that can be done by anyone to anyone by someone that is not a good person.
You can't do this you are not smart enough, you can't enter that contest you will not win. You can't try out for that sport there are better athletes then you are and you will not be chosen. You shouldn't have your own business it is a lot of work and you might not do well. You shouldn't go on that tour you could get killed or kidnapped. Tons of other comments I try to forget so won't put them here. haha And this one was what my socialist/democrat brother-in-law told one of his son's, you shouldn't go in the military you will have to make your bed every day. LOL
Negativity that can come from parent, a relative, so called friends or co-workers. But to make it a Black thang' is a bunch of BS.
I have met people that have been told this, I have been told some of these things when I was a growing up and other things. My heart is what kept me trying, driving me to do things I cared about. Sure lots of tears and hurt from the negative input, but still maybe it built some kind of determination in me that I would not have had if I had the go ahead from all I knew. I have met people non blacks that had the same negative input and they chose to believe it. They gave up before even trying.
How many people that own their own business's were told it is a hard road to have your own company, your own little business and yet they went on to do well and accomplish things in their life. They were and are able to support a family and know it is because they had a dream and did what they could to make it happen. Again this has nothing to do with being black or white or polka dot.
Michelle and Barack are making this a rascial thing, out loud or quietly, and it stinks to high heaven. And to make it that because of negativity or not getting a break a person is to hate this country and not be proud of America. This is NUTS!
America is a country of opportunity and that has been proven over and over again by millions of people of all colors and all faiths.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (16)
Legacy of Ashes
You can see the video by clicking on the arrow on the bottom bar of the video screen.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
When I frist saw this it took me hours to stop crying. I am sorry I have to show this to you, I don't want to make you cry too. But this cannot nor should not be kept secret or silenced. These men deserve to be respected!!!!!!!!
Oh dear God why did this happen. How does a person live with themselves and treat our Veterans this way??????
There is something seriously wrong in our country that this could happen. It's soul, the heart and soul of our Red, White and Blue................. God help us never to let this happen ever again.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (14)
WWII Vet Celebrates 100th Birthday At His Favorite Restaurant
Petty Office 2nd Class Lafe Denton, left and Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Tabbert present Pearl Harbor Veteran John Persinger with a special plaque commemorating his birthday and years of service in the Navy.
Centenarian celebrates with women, wings
John Persinger turned 100 Wednesday and did what few new centenarians do.
He celebrated at Hooters, the politically incorrect restaurant chain known for hot wings served by young women in hot pants.
Persinger is a widower, so his wife didn't mind. Truth is, Vi wouldn't have minded anyway.
"We opened the place in 1993," he says in a low, sandpaper rumble. "We went for the shrimp and chicken wings."
And they became regulars. They'd been married almost 72 years when Vi died at 89.
Persinger doesn't exactly fit the Hooters demographic, but so what? You don't hit the 100 mark by paying strict attention to convention.
A boy born in the United States today can expect to live 75 years. When Persinger came along, the life expectancy was a hair under 50.
He's different from most of the 40,000 centenarians in the United States. All but 6,000 are women.
"I don't know how I did it," he says. "Good living, I guess. A lot of good food. Steaks, fried potatoes. I sip a little Royal Crown now and then."
Don't get the wrong idea. He means Crown Royal.
Persinger lives by himself in a one-bedroom home near Merle Hay Mall. He gets plenty of help from his kids and their kids. They check in on him, give him a hand with the housework.
He does much of the cleaning and almost all of the cooking. He can be ornery when he finds a grease spot on the stove.
Persinger tells me it's hard to beat his onion rings, chili, pancakes, meatballs and, of course, his famous fried mush.
"Fry till it gets brown," he says, "add syrup and butter. Oh, it's really good."
I'll wait for meatball day. At 120 pounds, Persinger doesn't weigh much more than a plate of meatballs.
He was sturdier in his prime, during World War II when he watched a Japanese kamikaze pilot carry out a suicide mission.
"I was the oldest sailor on the USS Nashville," he says. "They called me 'Pops.' "
On Dec. 13, 1944, the ship was a few miles from the Philippines when a single-engine fighter came crashing down, two bombs strapped to the wings.
The plane hit, the bombs exploded. Flames and bodies were everywhere.
"He came right over the trees and hit us behind the stacks," says Persinger, who escaped injury. "Killed 133 sailors and wounded 197. But he didn't sink us."
Persinger came home, but he wasn't finished. Korea was next. Somehow he and Vi raised three children, who gave him eight grandkids, who were followed by 14 great-grandkids.
Every Christmas Eve, without fail, the entire family squeezes into the little house on 59th Street. After 38 years in a row, it's a tight squeeze.
A person can jam a lot of living into one century. Persinger survived the Depression, lived on the farm and in the city and not always in "Ioway."
He built dams, milked cows, worked in a munitions plant and a rock quarry.
He adopted a black bear cub in Alaska, flew Cessnas after the GI bill covered his lessons.
He learned to drive a car when he was 6 and was cruising over to Hooters at 98. He doesn't get behind the wheel anymore.
"The doctor said I shouldn't be driving," he says. "I could drive OK. I never had a wreck, but I didn't say anything."
Never had a wreck, never had major surgery.
When Persinger retired from his job as a diesel mechanic in Rock Island, he went to work part time at Continental Western, fixing and maintaining lawn equipment. He did that until he was 88.
Persinger still plays the harmonica. When it's somebody else's birthday, he picks up the phone and knocks out "Happy Birthday" or "Roll Out the Barrel."
He's into politics. "Oh, God," he says. "George Bush ruined the country."
The birthday celebration began Sunday with a party at Meredith Drive Reformed Church. Seventy-five, maybe 100 friends showed up.
"I saw the 100-year-old man," one little boy said. "He's real."
On Wednesday, another 40 or so gathered at Hooters, where a sign above the bar wished Persinger a happy 100th.
A group from the Navy Operational Support Center gave him a plaque.
Persinger sat in a chair, nibbled on some wings, sipped a beer and accepted hugs and handshakes.
Not everybody thinks Hooters was such a perfect party location. Some, apparently, would have preferred Chuck E. Cheese's.
"One guy at the church said, 'Didn't you hear the message this morning about looking at girls and everything?' I told him I was going to Hooters to eat chicken wings."
It's the truth, but maybe not the whole truth. Persinger has been known to ask the women if they'd like a 100-year-old kiss.
Talking about it, the 100-year-old man lets out a 100-year-old laugh, which seems like a decent consolation prize.
Wild Thing's comment.......
He seems to have a good sense of humor too and is having a great time. He hates Bush LOL.
...Thank you Jim for the article.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (8)
An Obamanation by Russ Vaughn
An Obamanation
It’s unfair the Obamatons howl,
To charge guilt by association;
Our boy has committed no foul;
He’s just one of the congregation.
While sitting there twenty long years,
As the reverend spewed out his odium,
Naught wafted into those large ears,
But spittle and froth from the podium?
No such tirades did I ever see,
Says Obama now that it’s news;
No rants about AIDS heard by me,
Nor venomous bile aimed at Jews.
You cherry pick dribbles and bites
From sermons of many long years;
You say my preacher hates whites?
My goodness that’s news to my ears!
But a man picks a church like a wife,
As a comfortable mate for his soul,
With commonly shared views of life;
They are parts of the man as a whole.
So Obama is welcome to try
To convince us that his soul is pure,
But it’s just a political lie;
He buys into his preacher’s manure.
Why else then sit in that church pew,
With children and wife at your side?
If you truly do not share the world view,
Of your hate-spewing spiritual guide?
Yet now you denounce Jeremiah,
In your quest for power and station;
He’s a conveniently banished pariah;
Barack, you’re an Obamanation.
Russ Vaughn
Vietnam 65-66
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Wild Thing's comment........
Excellent, and pointing out too how children are in the audience of the hate spewing as well. Little children being taught such things and then we see Islam doing the same thing with their wee ones. There should be the same outrage for both.
....Thank you Russ for sending this to me and for your awesome writings.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (6)
Before You Go ~ Awesome Video
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Please CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO
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Wild Thing's comment..........
There is such a special video I would love to show all of you. It is called Before I Go. There is no way in this world I can thank all you Veterans and our troops today equally to what you have all given to me, to America and to the world. You are my heroes and I thank you with all my heart and soul!
....Thank you John 5 (VN 69/70)
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:40 AM | Comments (10)
March 18, 2008
The Obama Bargain By Shelby Steele ~ Excellent Article!
The Obama Bargain
By SHELBY STEELE
March 18, 2008
Geraldine Ferraro may have had sinister motives when she said that Barack Obama would not be "in his position" as a frontrunner but for his race. Possibly she was acting as Hillary Clinton's surrogate. Or maybe she was simply befuddled by this new reality -- in which blackness could constitute a political advantage.
But whatever her motives, she was right: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." Barack Obama is, of course, a very talented politician with a first-rate political organization at his back. But it does not detract from his merit to say that his race is also a large part of his prominence. And it is undeniable that something extremely powerful in the body politic, a force quite apart from the man himself, has pulled Obama forward. This force is about race and nothing else.
The novelty of Barack Obama is more his cross-racial appeal than his talent. Jesse Jackson displayed considerable political talent in his presidential runs back in the 1980s. But there was a distinct limit to his white support. Mr. Obama's broad appeal to whites makes him the first plausible black presidential candidate in American history. And it was Mr. Obama's genius to understand this. Though he likes to claim that his race was a liability to be overcome, he also surely knew that his race could give him just the edge he needed -- an edge that would never be available to a white, not even a white woman.
How to turn one's blackness to advantage?
The answer is that one "bargains." Bargaining is a mask that blacks can wear in the American mainstream, one that enables them to put whites at their ease. This mask diffuses the anxiety that goes along with being white in a multiracial society. Bargainers make the subliminal promise to whites not to shame them with America's history of racism, on the condition that they will not hold the bargainer's race against him. And whites love this bargain -- and feel affection for the bargainer -- because it gives them racial innocence in a society where whites live under constant threat of being stigmatized as racist. So the bargainer presents himself as an opportunity for whites to experience racial innocence.
This is how Mr. Obama has turned his blackness into his great political advantage, and also into a kind of personal charisma. Bargainers are conduits of white innocence, and they are as popular as the need for white innocence is strong. Mr. Obama's extraordinary dash to the forefront of American politics is less a measure of the man than of the hunger in white America for racial innocence.
His actual policy positions are little more than Democratic Party boilerplate and hardly a tick different from Hillary's positions. He espouses no galvanizing political idea. He is unable to say what he means by "change" or "hope" or "the future." And he has failed to say how he would actually be a "unifier." By the evidence of his slight political record (130 "present" votes in the Illinois state legislature, little achievement in the U.S. Senate) Barack Obama stacks up as something of a mediocrity. None of this matters much.
Race helps Mr. Obama in another way -- it lifts his political campaign to the level of allegory, making it the stuff of a far higher drama than budget deficits and education reform. His dark skin, with its powerful evocations of America's tortured racial past, frames the political contest as a morality play. Will his victory mean America's redemption from its racist past? Will his defeat show an America morally unevolved? Is his campaign a story of black overcoming, an echo of the civil rights movement? Or is it a passing-of-the-torch story, of one generation displacing another?
Because he is black, there is a sense that profound questions stand to be resolved in the unfolding of his political destiny. And, as the Clintons have discovered, it is hard in the real world to run against a candidate of destiny. For many Americans -- black and white -- Barack Obama is simply too good (and too rare) an opportunity to pass up. For whites, here is the opportunity to document their deliverance from the shames of their forbearers. And for blacks, here is the chance to document the end of inferiority. So the Clintons have found themselves running more against America's very highest possibilities than against a man. And the press, normally happy to dispel every political pretension, has all but quivered before Mr. Obama. They, too, have feared being on the wrong side of destiny.
And yet, in the end, Barack Obama's candidacy is not qualitatively different from Al Sharpton's or Jesse Jackson's. Like these more irascible of his forbearers, Mr. Obama's run at the presidency is based more on the manipulation of white guilt than on substance. Messrs. Sharpton and Jackson were "challengers," not bargainers. They intimidated whites and demanded, in the name of historical justice, that they be brought forward. Mr. Obama flatters whites, grants them racial innocence, and hopes to ascend on the back of their gratitude. Two sides of the same coin.
But bargainers have an Achilles heel. They succeed as conduits of white innocence only as long as they are largely invisible as complex human beings. They hope to become icons that can be identified with rather than seen, and their individual complexity gets in the way of this. So bargainers are always laboring to stay invisible. (We don't know the real politics or convictions of Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan or Oprah Winfrey, bargainers all.) Mr. Obama has said of himself, "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views . . ." And so, human visibility is Mr. Obama's Achilles heel. If we see the real man, his contradictions and bents of character, he will be ruined as an icon, as a "blank screen."
Thus, nothing could be more dangerous to Mr. Obama's political aspirations than the revelation that he, the son of a white woman, sat Sunday after Sunday -- for 20 years -- in an Afrocentric, black nationalist church in which his own mother, not to mention other whites, could never feel comfortable. His pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is a challenger who goes far past Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson in his anti-American outrage ("God damn America").
How does one "transcend" race in this church? The fact is that Barack Obama has fellow-traveled with a hate-filled, anti-American black nationalism all his adult life, failing to stand and challenge an ideology that would have no place for his own mother. And what portent of presidential judgment is it to have exposed his two daughters for their entire lives to what is, at the very least, a subtext of anti-white vitriol?
What could he have been thinking? Of course he wasn't thinking. He was driven by insecurity, by a need to "be black" despite his biracial background. And so fellow-traveling with a little race hatred seemed a small price to pay for a more secure racial identity. And anyway, wasn't this hatred more rhetorical than real?
But now the floodlight of a presidential campaign has trained on this usually hidden corner of contemporary black life: a mindless indulgence in a rhetorical anti-Americanism as a way of bonding and of asserting one's blackness. Yet Jeremiah Wright, splashed across America's television screens, has shown us that there is no real difference between rhetorical hatred and real hatred.
No matter his ultimate political fate, there is already enough pathos in Barack Obama to make him a cautionary tale. His public persona thrives on a manipulation of whites (bargaining), and his private sense of racial identity demands both self-betrayal and duplicity. His is the story of a man who flew so high, yet neglected to become himself.
Mr. Steele, a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and the author of "A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win"
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:44 PM | Comments (3)
Obama's Speech In Full
“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.
The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.
And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.
This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign – to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.
This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.
I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one.
Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.
This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either “too black” or “not black enough.” We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.
And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.
On one end of the spectrum, we’ve heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it’s based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we’ve heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.
I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.
But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.
As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.
Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way
But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth – by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:
“People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend’s voice up into the rafters….And in that single note – hope! – I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones. Those stories – of survival, and freedom, and hope – became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn’t need to feel shame about…memories that all people might study and cherish – and with which we could start to rebuild.”
That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety – the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity’s services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.
And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.
Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.
But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America – to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.
The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through – a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.
Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, “The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.” We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.
Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven’t fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today’s black and white students.
Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments – meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today’s urban and rural communities.
A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one’s family, contributed to the erosion of black families – a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods – parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement – all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.
This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What’s remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.
But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn’t make it – those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations – those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings.
And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.
In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.
Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.
Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.
This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy – particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.
But I have asserted a firm conviction – a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people – that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.
For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances – for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives – by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.
Ironically, this quintessentially American – and yes, conservative – notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright’s sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.
The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country – a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen – is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope – the audacity to hope – for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds – by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.
In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother’s keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister’s keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.” This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.
This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don’t have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.
This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn’t look like you might take your job; it’s that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.
This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should’ve been authorized and never should’ve been waged, and we want to talk about how we’ll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.
I would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation – the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.
There is one story in particularly that I’d like to leave you with today – a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King’s birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that’s when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.
Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother’s problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn’t. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.
Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they’re supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who’s been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he’s there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, “I am here because of Ashley.”
“I’m here because of Ashley.” By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.
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Wiild Thing's comment.......
The story here is not that the Great Society failed. We all know that already. Obama is the one who plays race card and then goes “Who Me?”
This is the first time in my adult life that I have seen black racism which is endemic actually take some heat and have to whither under the light of day. Note how Obama can't take that heat, he still wants to opine about America's failures rather than truly confront his and Wright's own demons.
Excuse me....we have some momentum now and I hope some have the balls to drive this home. The sad fact is most Americans are clueless. This sort of talk ( that pastor Wright did) is not uncommon in black urban churches from fiery preachers.
Imagine a white politician attending a white church that spoke this vitriol of blacks ....he would have withdrawn from the campaign.
I am tired of it. This crap spews right into rap music lyrics, black thug culture and beyond. The next time some black thug walks up and carjacks some soccer mom in Target parking lot and kills her for sport, do you really think that rhetoric like that from Wright has not made it's way through the black community and influenced his heartlessness towards whites?
I take this white hater Wright personally in his spewing believe me.
Years ago I had finished a day of working at one of the Car shows at the Convention Center in Los Angeles. I was tired and had been standing for 12 hours in high heels handing out brochures. As I was on my way to get on the freeway to go back home ( it was after 22:00) the entrance I was to get on was closed due to some accident. I had to take anouther route. The Convention Center is in a bad part of town and as I drove around trying to find another on ramp I ended up driving deeper into the bad area which is called Watts. This is an all black community and all I could think of as my hands began to shake and my heart beat fast was how unfair it was to be white and be afraid for my life just because I was lost.
The outfit I had on from the modeling job at the car show was certainly not the kind of thing a girl would get out of the car wearing in the area called Watts. Not unless she wanted to possiblly get raped or killed.
Finally I saw a 7-Eleven, and there thank God was a cop car in the parking lot. I pulled up next to the police car and waited, and waited for him to come out. Finally he did, I rolled down my window and asked to speak with him. I told him my situation and asked him if I could follow him to an on ramp to the freeway that was open and that I would really appreciate it. He did and I will alwasy remember his understanding and kindness to me.
My point of sharing this is the double standard. I doubt most blacks feel this terror if they ended up lost in white neighborhoods.
Reverend Wright and his enablers deserve the same fate as Tom Metzger, and other people of the White Aryan Resistance types. They are doing the same thing to my race they accuse us of doing to them.
That Obama can even run for POTUS with this baggage is so pitiful.
Do blacks get a pass on racism? Wright and Obama wants us to do that.
Obama would only use his office to further inflame, validate and vindicate that which he obviously believes due to his 20 year love affair with Wright....and his friendship with Ayers and Dohrn and Casto and Chavez.......it goes on and on.
I am in NO WAY condoning hate on either said, but to say it is OK for people like Wright and Michelle Obama and B. Hussein himself to give it a fluff pass that is just plain wrong.
Posted by Wild Thing at 11:55 AM | Comments (3)
Air Force's F-117 Stealth Fighters Making Final Flights
Air Force buffs, prepare to salute a true American hero as it makes it way into the annals of military history: the F-117 stealth fighter. The planes -- one of the most enigmatic members of the military's arsenal -- will be making their final trip on April 21st from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico to Tonopah Test Range Airfield in Nevada, the home of their first flight. The aircraft is being replaced by a newer model, the F-22 Raptor, and the government says it has no plans to bring the radar-dodging planes out of retirement. In all, there have only been 59 F-117s that have rolled off the assembly line, 37 of which have already been taken out of the skies, and another seven which have crashed. We'll miss you, F-117, and all the totally awesome, completely secret stuff you did.
DAYTON, Ohio
(AP)
The world's first attack aircraft to employ stealth technology is slipping quietly into history.
The inky black, angular, radar-evading F-117, which spent 27 years in the Air Force arsenal secretly patrolling hostile skies from Serbia to Iraq, will be put in mothballs next month in Nevada.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, which manages the F-117 program, will have an informal, private retirement ceremony Tuesday with military leaders, base employees and representatives from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.
The last F-117s scheduled to fly will leave Holloman on April 21, stop in Palmdale, California, for another retirement ceremony, then arrive on April 22 at their final destination: Tonopah Test Range Airfield in Nevada, where the jet made its first flight in 1981.
The government has no plans to bring the fighter out of retirement, but could do so if necessary.
"I'm happy to hear they are putting it in a place where they could bring it back if they ever needed it," said Brig. Gen. Gregory Feest, the first person to fly an F-117 in combat, during the 1989 invasion of Panama that led to the capture of dictator Manuel Noriega.
The Air Force decided to accelerate the retirement of the F-117s to free up money to modernize the rest of the fleet. The F-117 is being replaced by the F-22 Raptor, which also has stealth technology.
Fifty-nine F-117s were made; 10 were retired in December 2006 and 27 since then, the Air Force said. Seven of the planes have crashed, one in Serbia in 1999.
Stealth technology used on the F-117 was developed in the 1970s to help evade enemy radar. While not invisible to radar, the F-117's shape and coating greatly reduced its detection.
The F-117, a single-seat aircraft, was designed to fly into heavily defended areas undetected and drop its payloads with surgical precision.
A total of 558 pilots have flown the F-117 since it went operational. They dub themselves "bandits," with each given a "bandit number" after their first flight.
Feest, who is Bandit 261, also led the first stealth fighter mission into Iraq during Desert Storm in 1991. He said the fire from surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns was so intense that he stopped looking at it to try to ease his fears.
"We knew stealth worked and it would take a lucky shot to hit us, but we knew a lucky shot could hit us at any time," he said.
Incredibly, not one stealth was hit during those missions, he said
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (6)
Berkeley Police Brace For Big Anti-war Protest
Sammi/Zanne Joi, on the left, and Mari/Toby Blome, on the right. Two of Code Pink's Berzerkeley Babes.
Facing criticism over their handling of recent demonstrations, Berkeley police are bracing for a flood of protesters Wednesday marking the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war.
Police plan to have 50 or 60 extra officers on duty to keep crowds from getting out of control, Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said.
Officially, three groups are applying for event and amplified sound permits, but it's anyone's guess what unofficial protests may take place. Events are planned all over the Bay Area.
CodePink will have its usual protest in front of the U.S. Marine Corps recruiting center on Shattuck Avenue. Word Can't Wait -- Drive Out the Bush Regime plans a protest at the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street, just a block and a half from the CodePink protest. And a group called the Answer Coalition plans an event with speakers and a hip hop group in Civic Center Park.
Kusmiss said the department's crowd control team has been used more in the past 21/2 months keeping anti-war demonstrators in line than it has in the past 17 years. The team was called out the day of the Feb. 12 City Council meeting when up to 2,000 people converged on Civic Center Park while the council debated whether to retract a statement telling the Marines they are unwelcome intruders in the city.
Since then, the team has been used to control crowds at the recruiting center. The last time it has been used this much was in 1991, when there were violent protests at People's Park over a plan to install volleyball courts, Kusmiss said.
"We're going to have extra officers working in overtime capacity that day, much like the day of the protests during the big City Council meeting in February," Kusmiss said. "Not preparing or anticipating crowds would potentially be very problematic. (During recent protests), we have had vandalism and criminal behavior, which has an impact on business and traffic flow."
During the Feb. 12 City Council meeting, the department spent $93,000 on officer overtime. On Feb. 15 and Feb. 20, the department spent $20,000 each day in overtime controlling anti-war protesters downtown, said city spokeswoman Mary Kay Clunies-Ross.
The police department has taken some criticism for its use of force during those three events.
Berkeley's Police Review Commission, which takes citizen complaints about police behavior and recommends policy changes, held a hearing last Thursday to hear complaints about the department's crowd-control team.
The commission voted to form a subcommittee to look into the complaints, and Berkeley Police Chief Douglas Hambleton will meet with the subcommittee, said Lt. Andrew Greenwood.
And two commissioners will meet with Hambleton and City Manager Phil Kamlarz today to make sure the department is well-prepared for Wednesday's protests.
"Force was used (during those three events); we have been open to saying that," Kusmiss said. "There has been more guidance given by supervisors about the team's approach. The size of the team is not large enough to work with crowds we have had. The leadership of the department sees it as an ongoing effort, so we are doing some more training."
Kusmiss said the team has endured some attrition, and the department has had to transfer some patrol officers to monitor World Can't Wait and Code Pink.
"The feedback we have received is officers have been professional and shown tremendous restraint under challenging situations," Kusmiss said.
Clunies-Ross said the city is hoping to achieve a balance Wednesday.
"It's hard to tell how big the events will be and what will happen," Clunies-Ross said. "Our goal is to preserve people's safety, and to allow people to have their voices heard against the war."
Wild Thing's comment........
With any luck...the continued protest will bankrupt Berkeley.
Free Speech is used in many manners. But the one manner in which it should never be used in, is in a seditious manner. One can question the Government or support the Government with their Free Speech. There is nothing wrong with that. But when one uses their free speech to break the resolve of the people,and our troops while we are at war, that is sedition and should be treated as such.
The war was debated before we went. They will have plenty of time to debate it when it is over. While we have boots on the ground, now isi the time while we are at war to stand with our Troops and their efforts.
It is my understanding that while we had boots on the ground in Vietnam, Minh was funneling Russian and Chinese money into an organization called the CPUA (Communist Party USA). The CPUSA were the ones who organized most of the anti war protest here in the US during the Vietnam war. You can credit some of these people in this organization for breaking the will of the people to fight the war. We did not lose that war on a battle field. We lost it right here in the United States of America.
If we allow people to irresponsibly use our Free Speech, this same thing could happen again. There has to be a line drawn at some point. We have to hold people responsible for their motives and their actions words and deeds.
You can find most of the Democrats and their organisations are intertwined and all lead back to the International Solidarity Movement -- the world-wide communist front.
Socialist International ... DSA/USA....VVAW.... IVAW ....Code Pink.....
If you want a good overview of the left, spend some time scanning through DiscoverTheNetworks.org links, and follow the money, manpower, and methods -- all communist/socialist, and mostly hiding under the radar.
Map engine takes 2- 5 minutes to load at the site.
And the infiltration is pervasive, endemic, and worming its way into the Republican party as well -- see Specter for one example.
18 USC Chapter 115 - Treason, Sedition, and Subversive Activities , referring specifically to Sec 2388.
Crimes and Criminal Procedure - 18 USC Section 2388
Sec. 2388. Activities affecting armed forces during war
(a) Whoever, when the United States is at war, willfully makes or conveys false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies; or attempts to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, WILLFULLY OBSTRUCTS THE RECRUITING OR ENLISTMENT SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES, TO THE INJURY OF THE SERVICE OR THE UNITED STATES, OR ATTEMPTS TO DO SO - Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years or both. (b) If two or more persons conspire to violate subsection (a) of this section and one or more such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each of the parties to such conspiracy shall be punished as provided in said subsection (a). (c) Whoever harbors or conceals any person who he knows, or has REASONABLE grounds to believe or suspect, has committed, or is about to commit, an offense under this section, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. (d) This section shall apply within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, and on the high seas, as well as within the United States.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (10)
Hillary: I'll Ban Armed Private Contractors In Iraq
Hillary: I'll Ban Armed Private Contractors In Iraq
Speaking this morning, Hillary hits Obama for not ruling out continuing to use armed private contractors in Iraq. She wants to ban such contractors.
Those contractors are protecting Iraqi government officials. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, as Hillary once called for threatening to take away Iraqi lawmakers' security if they didn't reach a deal. And at least one Democrat didn't find that to be a wise move:
Addressing Mrs. Clinton’s latest proposal to cap American troops and to threaten Iraqi leaders with cuts in funding, Mr. Biden lowered his voice and leaned in close over the table.“From the part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’ We’re not going to equip them? O.K. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea.”
The result of Mrs. Clinton’s position on Iraq, Mr. Biden says, would be “nothing but disaster.”
She goes on to talk about how she'll go after the favorite Democratic bogeyman, the infamous "no-bid" contracts.
"There's been a lot of talk about earmarks in this town (and she hasn't released her lists; credit Obama for going that far) but no-bid contracts are ten times more costly than earmarks. When I introduced my legislation, I could not get, as of this moment, Senator McCain's support for that."
Wild Thing's comment........
Well that was easy! Now she can just ban terrorism, too!
So her "plan" includes drawing down military in Iraq by XX per month (can't remember if she said a Division, Brigade, or just what) AND banning all armed civilian contractors. She said she'd remove the contractors that "perform the functions our military normally would" in the same sentence she said she'd drawdown the military. Sooo...we're going to completely abandon the Iraqis under her plan.
Hillary Clinton isn’t fit to command a platoon Mess Hall... Unless you’re trying to give them all Ptomaine poisoning. She’s just gonna get people slaughtered..our troops, our allies, our friends. I guess she could always send Janet Reno after them with a tank.
A perfect illustration of one of the fundamental tenets of Leftist thinking; everyting must pass through their bureaucratic filter, and be under Politburo control of the commissars. Everything.
They despise private enterprise, prvate initiative and even basic private behavior (smoking, guns, food, and yes even your toilet), with every fiber of their being.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (4)
B.Hussein and Michell Obama and Wright Being Wrong
From Hugh Hewitt at Townhall
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (6)
Thank you Ben Stein
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (2)
March 17, 2008
Obama Camp VERY Upset With Major Garrett ~ God Bless Garrett!
Major Garrett did an awesome interview of B. Hussein Obama about his church. Obama went on several news channels BUT Garrett's interview was the best!
I want to show you something from Melanie Morgan's blog that she wrote about what happened that night, it is excellent and very interesting ~ Wild Thing
First here is the video:
Barack Obama was interviewed by Major Garrett
Added: March 14, 2008
Barack Obama was interviewed by Major Garrett about his pastor on the 3/14/08 edition of Hannity & Colmes
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. Reporting From Inside the Fox News Green Room by Melanie Morgan:
"As I was waiting to go on-the-air, Major Garrett of Fox News was on stand-by to do further reporting on his excellent interview with BHO in which he simply asked a number of questions like: "Did Reverand Wright marry you? Did Reverand Wright baptize your children? How often did you attend church? Did you donate money to the church?"After that segment aired, Major Garrett's phone started buzzing. He recieved a call from Obama's campaign, and they were REAMING him over the report. From his end, I heard Garrett say "I have nothing to apologize for."
He repeated that several times, and he amplified by saying that he was merely asking questions that everyone wanted answers to.
That did NOT satisfy Obama's people, and Garrett flushed a couple of times while responding to the invective thrown his way.
He finally ended the conversation by saying 'I'll see you guys in April after I go home and visit my three children who barely know their father anymore."
I was scheduled for the last segment with Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes. Bob Beckel, a Democrat strategist with whom I have shared a split screen on several previous occasions, appeared just before me.
This time, he was FURIOUS. Madder than I have ever seen him on TV. He was making a point that I didn't really understand about kids who go to Obama's church growing up to become President, and was drilling Sean about that.
Whatever.
Here's the interesting part.
After the segment was over, I exchanged seats with Beckel. As he was leaving, he slammed the studio door so hard that it almost broke some expensive audio/video equipment, according to the technican who was threading my microphone.
He was STEAMED.
Later, I asked him why he was so upset.
He replied ..."because Obama's people didn't vet him and now Hillary's going to win.'
Catch that? A senior Democrat strategist thinks that Obama has lost the campaign over his association with Reverand Jeremiah Wright's militant separatist language that includes statements like "God Damn America."
I pointed out in my segment that my co-author Catherine Moy wrote about Obama's close personal association at this very website about a year and a half ago. Catherine and I were excoriated for making that piece public. "
.
And here is the transcript of the video:
MAJOR GARRETT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Senator Obama, thank you very much for joining us on FOX. I want to ask you a set of basic, sort of threshold questions about your faith experience at Trinity United Church of Christ because I think it will help Americans understand the story.
So the first question, how long have you been a member in good standing of that church?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I've been a member since 1991 or '92. And -- but I have known Trinity even before then when I was a community organizer on the South Side, helping steel workers find jobs. And we were organizing with churches and trying to recruit folks to get involved in that process.
Trinity was one of the churches that we tried to get involved in some of these community projects.
GARRETT: As a member in good standing, were you a regular attendee of Sunday services?
OBAMA: You know, I won't say that I was a perfect attendee. I was regular in spurts, because there was times when, for example, our child had just been born, our first child. And so we didn't go as regularly then. But...
GARRETT: When you attended, sir -- when you attended, did you donate frequently?
OBAMA: Yes.
GARRETT: OK. Were you and Michelle married there, and did Reverend Wright preside?
OBAMA: Yes.
GARRETT: Were your two daughters baptized there, and did Reverend Wright preside over the baptisms?
OBAMA: That is correct, Major.
GARRETT: Very good. I wanted to talk to you about your statement released this afternoon, because earlier today when I contacted your campaign and I asked them if there was any way the campaign felt the need to add further context, add further distance between yourself and the statements of Reverend Wright, the one-word answer I received was "no."
Then late this afternoon, you have a statement that says, "I vehemently disagree, strongly condemn." I'm trying to understand the evolution between this morning and this afternoon. And I'd like to know specifically, Senator, what you vehemently disagree with and what you strongly condemn.
OBAMA: Well, Major, I've got to confess that, you know, as you know, I was voting in the Senate all day yesterday. So I wasn't following this story as carefully as I could have been. And then I flew back to Chicago.
When I saw these statements, many of which I had heard for the first time, then I thought it was important to make a very clear and unequivocal statement.
None of these statements were ones that I had heard myself personally in the pews. One of them I had heard about after I had started running for president, and I put out a statement at that time condemning them.
The other statements were ones that that I just heard about while we were -- when they started being run on FOX and some of the other stations. And so they weren't things that I was familiar with.
Once I saw them, I had to be very clear about the fact that these are not statements that I'm comfortable with. I reject them completely. They are not ones that reflect my values or my ideals or Michelle's. And that, had I heard them, had I been sitting in the church at the time that they were spoken, I would have been absolutely clear to Reverend Wright that I didn't find those acceptable. Obviously.
GARRETT: Sir, would you have -- would you have quit the church had you heard them personally?
OBAMA: You know, I guess -- keep in mind that, just to provide more context, this is somebody who I had known for 20 years. Pastor Wright has been a pastor for 30 years. He's an ex-Marine. He is somebody who is a biblical scholar, has spoken at theological seminaries all across the country, from the University of Chicago to Hampton. And so he is a well- regarded preacher. And somebody who is known for talking about the social gospel.
But most of the time, when I'm in church, he's talking about Jesus, God, faith, values, caring for the poor, those -- family, those were the messages that I was hearing.
And so you know, I think that the statements that have been strung together are compiled out of hundred of sermons that he delivered over the course of his lifetime. But, obviously, they are ones that are, from my perspective, completely unacceptable and inexcusable.
And if I had thought that that was the tenor or tone on an ongoing basis of his sermons, then, yes, I don't think that it would have been reflective of my values or my faith experience.
GARRETT: So, quick yes or no. If had you heard them in person you would have quit?
OBAMA: If I had heard them repeated, I would have quit. I mean, obviously, understand that -- understand that, you know, this is somebody who is like an uncle. If you have -- to me. He's somebody who helped me find Christ. And somebody who always talked to me in very powerful ways about relationship to God and our obligations to the poor.
If somebody makes a mistake, then obviously, you recognize -- I make mistakes. We all make mistakes. If I thought that that was the repeated tenor of the church, then I wouldn't feel comfortable there.
But, frankly, that has not been my experience at Trinity United Church of Christ.
GARRETT: Senator -- in the time we have remaining you said that, in your statement today, "When I first heard these I was beginning my campaign." Yet, you did not begin your campaign on December 4, 2007, when in a press release your campaign announced that Reverend Wright was a part of a quote, unquote, "African-American religious leadership committee."
I'd like you to try to help me understand the inconsistency there. Because obviously, if you knew about them at the beginning of your campaign and you put him on this committee later, you would have been aware.
OBAMA: No, no, no. Wait, wait, Major. I didn't know about all of these statements. I knew about one or two statements that had been made. And, as a consequence, as I said, if it was just a function of one or two statements, then that's not something that would lead me to distance myself from either my church or my pastor.
And if I was going to have a committee talking about faith issues, which we've been very active in doing all across the country, reaching out to evangelicals and talking to the church communities all across the country, it would -- would not make sense if my own pastor wasn't on that committee.
Now, Pastor Wright is retiring. And part of the reason that this is not an issue, once it came to my attention, that we pressed very hard, was the fact that he is on the brink of retirement. He's preached his last sermon. He's taken a sabbatical. He is not going to be active in the church and has not been active in my campaign, and he is no longer a part of that committee.
But you know, my judgment at the time was that this was not as problematic as what I've seen over the last couple of days.
GARRETT: Senator Obama, always a great pleasure to talk to you, sir. Safe travels. We'll see you on the campaign trail.
OBAMA: Major, thank you for taking the time. I appreciate it.
GARRETT: Thank you, sir.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:47 PM | Comments (3)
Obama To Deliver “major speech” On Race Tomorrow
Barack Hussein Obama- racist, lying, anti American- is going to lecture us on race ....My title for this.
source for information below:
Washington Post The Trail
"I am going to be talking about not just Rev. Wright, but just the larger issue of race in this campaign, which has ramped up over the last couple of weeks," Obama told reporters after a town hall meeting here. According to aides, he was up until 3 a.m. Monday working on his remarks.
He added that he would "talk about how some of these issues are perceived from within the black church issue for example," he said.
He also briefly defended Wright from the image that has come through in a handful of repeatedly televised clips from recent Wright sermons.
"The caricature that’s being painted of him is not accurate," he said.
Wild Thing's comment........
This is major damage control, polls must look pretty bad. LOL
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 PM | Comments (3)
St.Patrick's Day ~ "The Minstrel Boy" by Thomas Moore
"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone In the ranks of death you will find him; His father's sword he hath girded on, And his wild harp slung behind him; "Land of Song!" said the warrior bard, "Tho' all the world betrays thee, One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard, One faithful harp shall praise thee!" -- Verse from the Minstrel Boy
THE MINSTREL BOY
by Thomas Moore
The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone
In the ranks of death you will find him;
His father's sword he hath girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him;"
Land of Song!" said the warrior bard,
"Tho' all the world betrays thee,
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee!"
The Minstrel fell! But the foeman's chain
Could not bring that proud soul under;
The harp he lov'd ne'er spoke again,
For he tore its chords asunder;
And said "No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and brav'ry!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free,
They shall never sound in slavery!"
An emotionally stirring and inspirational song, The Minstrel Boy was written by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) who set it to the melody of The Moreen, and old Irish aire. It is believed by many that Moore composed the song as a memorial to several of his friends he had met while a student at Trinity College and who had participated in the 1798 rebellion of the United Irishmen. One died in prison, another was wounded, and a third captured and hung. The song originally consisted of two verses. Due to its popularity, the song was a favorite of the many Irishmen who fought during the U.S. Civil War, primarily on the Union side. It was at this time that a third verse was added by unknown authors:
The Minstrel Boy will return we pray
When we hear the news we all will cheer it,
The minstrel boy will return one day,
Torn perhaps in body, not in spirit.
Then may he play on his harp in peace,
In a world such as Heaven intended,
For all the bitterness of man must cease.
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This song plays over the closing credits of the 2001 movie " Black Hawk Down". It has appeared, in various recordings, in a surprising number of movies, including 'The Informer', 'Untamed Heart', 'Gods & Generals', 'Gettysburg', 'The Departed', 'Rough Riders', 'The Man Who Would Be King', as well as episodes of Star Trek:TNG and Star Trek:DS9.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (11)
What Did Obama Know About Wright's Past Sermons?
Just What Did Obama Know About Wright's Past Sermons?
In his Friday night cable mea culpas on the incendiary comments made by his spiritual adviser Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., repeatedly said,
"I wasn't in church during the time that these statement were made. I did not hear such incendiary language myself, personally. Either in conversations with him or when I was in the pew, he always preached the social gospel. ... If I had heard them repeated, I would have quit. ... If I thought that was the repeated tenor of the church, then I wouldn’t feel comfortable there."
Obama told CNN that he "didn't know about all these statements. I knew about one or two of these statements that had been made. One or two statements would not lead me to distance myself from either my church or my pastor. ... If I had thought that was the tenor or tone on an ongoing basis, then yes, I don't think it would have been reflective of my values."
But according to a New York Times story from a year ago, the Obama campaign dis-invited Wright from delivering a public invocation at Obama's candidacy announcement.
“Fifteen minutes before Shabbos I get a call from Barack,” Wright told the Times. “One of his members had talked him into uninviting me."
In a phone call with Wright, Obama cited a Rolling Stone story, “The Radical Roots of Barack Obama," (the name of which has curiously been changed on the RS website) and told him, according to Wright, “You can get kind of rough in the sermons, so what we’ve decided is that it’s best for you not to be out there in public.”
That story included the following passage:
"The Trinity United Church of Christ, the church that Barack Obama attends in Chicago, is at once vast and unprepossessing, a big structure a couple of blocks from the projects, in the long open sore of a ghetto on the city's far South Side. The church is a leftover vision from the Sixties of what a black nationalist future might look like. There's the testifying fervor of the black church, the Afrocentric Bible readings, even the odd dashiki. And there is the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a sprawling, profane bear of a preacher, a kind of black ministerial institution, with his own radio shows and guest preaching gigs across the country. Wright takes the pulpit here one Sunday and solemnly, sonorously declares that he will recite 10 essential facts about the United States. 'Fact number one: We've got more black men in prison than there are in college,' he intones. 'Fact number two: Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run!' There is thumping applause; Wright has a cadence and power that make Obama sound like John Kerry. Now the reverend begins to preach. 'We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns and the training of professional KILLERS. ... We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God. ... We conducted radiation experiments on our own people. ... We care nothing about human life if the ends justify the means!" The crowd whoops and amens as Wright builds to his climax: 'And. And. And! GAWD! Has GOT! To be SICK! OF THIS S***!'"
This was more than a year ago.
So ... what did Obama know then and what did he just all of a sudden learn?
Wild Thing's comment........
If I were to discuss this with a leftie that wants to make excuses for Obama about this preacher of his, I would keep repeating two words to the person. Two key words....... 20 Years!!!
....Thank you Mark for sending this article to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (11)
'Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!' - Happy St. Patrick's Day!
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....A friend of mine, her name is Siobhan lives in Kerry, Ireland. She made this for me for today's St.Patrick's Day post.
....Some Irish jokes from Lynn, thank you Lynn.
Irish Coffee
An elderly Irish woman goes to the doctor and asks his help to revive her husband's sex drive ...
"What about trying Viagra?" asks the doctor.
"Not a chance," says Mrs. Murphy. "He won't even take an aspirin for a headache."
"No problem." replies the doctor. "Drop it into his coffee, he won't even taste it. Try it and then call me in a week to let me know how it worked out."
A week later, Mrs. Murphy calls the doctor and he inquired as to how things went. "Oh, faith and bejaysus and begorrah it was terrible, just terrible, doctor."
"What happened?" asks the doctor.
"Well, I did as you advised and slipped it in his coffee. The effect was immediate. He jumped straight up, with a gleam in his eye and with his pants bulging fiercely!!! He swept the cutlery off the table, at the same time ripping my clothes off and then proceeded to make wild, mad, passionate love to me on the tabletop! It was terrible!"
"What was terrible?" said the doctor. "Was the sex not good?"
"Oh no, doctor, the sex was the best I've had in 25 years, but I'll never be able to show me face in Starbucks again."
Two Irishmen, Patrick Murphy and Shawn O'Brian grew up together and were lifelong friends. But alas, Patrick developed cancer, and was dying. While on his deathbed, Patrick called to his buddy, Shawn, "O'Brian, come 'ere. I 'ave a request for ye." Shawn walked to his friend's bedside and kneels.
"Shawny ole boy, we've been friends all our lives, and now I'm leaving 'ere. I 'ave one last request fir ye to do."
O'Brian burst into tears, "Anything Patrick, anything ye wish. It's done."
"Well, under me bed is a box containing a bottle of the finest whiskey in all of Ireland. Bottled the year I was born it was. After I die, and they plant me in the ground, I want you to pour that fine whiskey over me grave so it might soak into me bones and I'll be able to enjoy it for all eternity."
O'Brian was overcome by the beauty and in the true Irish spirit of his friend's request, he asked, "Aye, tis a fine thing you ask of me, and I will pour the whiskey. But, might I strain it through me kidneys first?"
Two Irishmen, Patrick & Michael, were adrift in a lifeboat following a dramatic escape from a burning freighter. While rummaging through the boat's provisions, Patrick stumbled across an old lamp. Secretly hoping that a genie would appear, he rubbed the lamp vigorously To the amazement of Patrick, a genie came forth. This particular genie, however, stated that he could only deliver one wish, not the standard three. Without giving much thought to the matter, Patrick blurted out, "Make the entire ocean into Guinness Beer!" The genie clapped his hands with a deafening crash, and immediately the entire sea turned into the finest brew ever sampled by mortals. Simultaneously, the genie vanished. Only the gentle lapping of Guinness on the hull broke the stillness as the two men considered their circumstances. Michael looked disgustedly at Patrick whose wish had been granted. After a long, tension-filled moment, he spoke: "Nice going Patrick! Now we're going to have to pee in the boat!
McQuillan walked into a bar and ordered martini after martini, each time removing the olives and placing them in a jar. When the jar was filled with olives and all the drinks consumed, the Irishman started to leave.
"S'cuse me," said a customer, who was puzzled over what McQuillan had done. "What was that all about?"
"Nothing," said the Irishman, "my wife just sent me out for a jar of olives."
A Texan walks into a pub in Ireland and clears his voice to the crowd of drinkers. He says, "I hear you Irish are a bunch of hard drinkers. I'll give $500 American dollars to anybody in here who can drink 10 pints of Guinness back-to-back."
The room is quiet, and no one takes up the Texan's offer. One man even leaves.
Thirty minutes later the same gentleman who left shows back up and taps the Texan on the shoulder. "Is your bet still good?" asks the Irishman.
The Texan says yes and asks the bartender to line up 10 pints of Guinness. Immediately the Irishman tears into all 10 of the pint glasses, drinking them all back-to-back.
The other pub patrons cheer as the Texan sits in amazement. The Texan gives the Irishman the $500 and says, "If ya don't mind me askin', where did you go for that 30 minutes you were gone?"
The Irishman replies, "Oh... I had to go to the pub down the street to see if I could do it first."
Into a Belfast pub comes Paddy Murphy, looking like he'd just been run over
by a train.
His arm is in a sling, his nose is broken, his face is cut and bruised and
he's walking with a limp " What happened to you?" asks Sean, the bartender.
" Jamie O'Conner and me had a fight," says Paddy.
"That little shit, O'Conner," says Sean, "He couldn't do that to you, he
must have had something in his hand."
" That he did," says Paddy, "a shovel is what he had, and a terrible
lickin' he gave me with it."
"Well," says Sean, "you should have defended yourself, didn't you have
something in your hand?"
That I did," said Paddy.
"Mrs. O'Conner's breast, and a thing of beauty it was, but useless in a
fight."
An Irishman who had a little too much to drink is driving home from the city one night and, of course, his car is weaving violently all over the road.
A cop pulls him over.
"So," says the cop to the driver, where have ya been?"
"Why, I've been to the pub of course," slurs the drunk.
" Well," says the cop, "it looks like you've had quite a few to drink this evening."
"I did all right," the drunk says with a smile.
"Did you know," says the cop, standing straight and folding his arms across his chest, "that a few intersections back, your wife fell out of your car?"
"Oh, thank heavens," sighs the drunk. "For a minute there, I thought I'd gone deaf."
I hope you all have a fun St. Patrick's Day. And to those that are Irish thank you for the music, the humor and the hearts uplifting others in your joy. A toast to William F.Buckley, he was Irish and will be missed.
God bless our Troops and their families. We are all in our thoughts today as everyday.
~ Wild Thing
Here are a couple of songs for today:
Celtic Woman - Danny Boy
This is a perfect rebel song......
luke kelly Rising Of The Moon
The Dubliners - Molly Malone
This is the fight from the movie "The Quiet Man "
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (8)
John Adams HBO Mini-Series
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John Adams mini series Website
A miniseries on the life of John Adams and the first 50 years of the United States.
When Hollywood's movie-makers and docu-dramatists get their hands on American history, accuracy, reality and truth often are tortured beyond recognition. It is by all accounts a high-quality, historically accurate and meticulously faithful adaptation of super-historian David McCullough's blockbuster 2001 book of the same name.
The seven-part, nine-hour mini-series "John Adams." Co-executive produced by Tom Hanks, starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney as John and Abigail Adams, it is by all accounts a high-quality, historically accurate and meticulously faithful adaptation of super-historian David McCullough's blockbuster 2001 book of the same name. McCullough, whose 2005 best-seller "1776" is also in development by HBO, is a two-time winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
Wild Thing's comment........
As most of you know I am always off of the computer in the evenings so I can spend time with Nick. Then I come back on late to do posts for the next day and reply to comments of the day if I have not done so yet.
Last night Nick told me about a mini-series that might be worth checking out. They aired the first two hours of John Adams and will repeat last nights shows the restof this week. Then air a a chapter each Sunday night till the 7 chapters have been aired.
I have to tell you it was one of the best things I have seen in a very long time. There was no re-writing of history, no lies about what happened. It left both Nick and I with tears in our eyes at the courage, determination and conviction of John Adams, George Washington and others.
If you have HBO it is well worth watching. McCullough’s “John Adams” and “1776” are two of the best books on the American Revolution that I have ever read. And this series did not let me down.
None were cardboard cutouts. All had virtues as well as warts, but what they accomplished, both individually and collectively was amazing. McCullough manages to capture the people and the times.
Interesting note on this. McCullough initially set out to do a book on Jefferson but in the course of his research naturally came across much correspondence from Adams and realized he really didn't know much about the man. McCullough switched topics and spent nearly a decade reading every letter written to, from, or about Adams in that time. In the end, he abandoned the Jefferson book because he found Adams to be the more interesting of the two men.
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:47 AM | Comments (6)
Gen. Petraeus Comments On New Pres. Wanting Withdrawl
(Center) Army Gen. David Petraeus, commanding general, Multi-National Forces-Iraq, reenlists Spec. Marcus Cleary, Pfc. Brandon Tiago, Sgt. Douglas Wagner, Spec. Matthew L. Phillips, Spec. Ryan Werts, and Spec. Demetris Gilbert from 1st Battalion, 23th Infantry Regiment at FOB Warhorse. A total of eight "Tomahawk" Soldiers from Fort Lewis, WA cite the oath of re-enlistment to continue to serve their country.
Petraeus: New Prez Pushing Ill-Advised Withdrawal Could Replace Me
David Petraeus was diplomatic in his language and careful to honor the primacy of civilian authority over the military. But the commanding general of multi-lateral forces in Iraq has left little doubt that if a new president wanted to withdraw from Iraq faster than would reflect Petraeus's considered military opinion, his family would be happy to have him home.
ABC's Bill Weir interviewed the Gen. Petraeus as part of a Good Morning America special today marking the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq. The opening segment focused almost exclusively on the costs of the war. Some producer had apparently calculated that the war has cost 19 times the annual budget of Los Angeles. Who knew? But a subsequent segment did highlight some of the progress that has been made, notably in terms of former insurgents now come over to the multi-lateral side. Then came the Petraeus interview, which ended with this exchange.
BILL WEIR: You serve at the pleasure of the president. If our new president, a year from now, says general, I want out of here in a year. What do you say? Is that even feasible?
PETRAEUS: Well I think you have to look at what the conditions on the ground are at that time, obviously, and then offer your best professional military advice. And we always have the option of allowing them to pick someone else for his or her best professional military advice. As I told congress back in the confirmation process in January of 2007, that if at any time someone wanted someone else's best professional military advice, I'd be happy to allow that to happen. I am also coming up on three-and-a-half years in Iraq on top of a year in Bosnia, so my family would be, would not be disappointed I don't think if, you know, Dad were to come home --
WEIR: Sure.
PETRAEUS: For awhile.
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Wild Thing's comment........
Gen. Petraeus is a class act! God bless this fine man!
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:45 AM | Comments (8)
Obama's Church Fights Back
Obama's church accuses media of character assassination
CHICAGO
The church attended by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) fought back Sunday against mounting criticism of its pastor, accusing the media of character assassination and “crucifixion.”
Otis Moss II, the current pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, used his pulpit to defend his congregation and its past minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., from a wave of controversy stemming from inflammatory statements made by Wright.
"We have listened and watched as the wonderful work of our church has been vilified this week," he told about 3,000 congregants on Palm Sunday morning. "This week should be special for us because I guess we know a little something about crucifixion."
The church also released a statement that began: “Nearly three weeks before the 40th commemorative anniversary of the murder of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.’s character is being assassinated in the public sphere because he has preached a social gospel on behalf of oppressed women, children and men in America and around the globe.”
Trinity, an 8,000-member church on the South Side of Chicago, came under intense scrutiny over the past week for statements made by Wright that harshly criticized American society as racist and blamed U.S. leaders for the Sept. 11 attacks.
Moss delivered a fiery sermon Sunday, defending the African-American church’s right to speak out about social issues. He stressed Trinity's work in its still-impoverished community, mentioning the church's scholarship programs, drug counseling, SAT prep classes, and missions to Africa.
"Our very sanity is connected to the church. If it hadn't been for the church we would have lost our minds in the insanity of racism," he said, in a sermon titled, "Why the Black Church Won't Shut Up."
Although Moss never mentioned Obama explicitly, he alluded to his most famous parishioner in a prayer asking God to "do something amazing in this country" and "break down walls that are centuries old."
Neither Wright or Obama were present Sunday.
Moss’s sermon also echoed the inclusiveness theme that runs though Obama's stump speeches, highlighting how the church welcomes worshipers of every color, creed, and sexual orientation.
In the statement released to reporters, Moss said called criticism of Wright and the church an “attack on the legacy of the African American Church which led and continues to lead the fight for human rights in America and around the world.”
Obama's relationship with his church has been a long-running hot button issue for his campaign. But new tapes that circulated of Wright last week reignited a firestorm of criticism.
"God bless America? No. God (expletive) America!" preaches Wright in one particularly fiery sermon circulated in news reports last week.
In a Friday column posted on The Huffington Post, Obama both rejected and condemned Wright's statements.
"The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation," wrote Obama.
On Friday, Wright also stepped down from Obama's African-American Religious Leadership Committee. The 66-year-old pastor is currently in the process of retiring from his position as head pastor of the church.
Obama first distanced himself from Wright early last year, when he withdrew an invitation for the pastor to deliver a public prayer at his announcement for the Democratic nomination.
But in his commentary, Obama made clear his strong ties to his congregation.
Wright built the church from a small flock of less than 100, to a strong pillar of African-American Chicago. The church preaches an Afro-centric theology, describing itself as "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian."
Their black heritage is seen throughout the sanctuary. Painted glass windows depict famous scenes from black history, like the founding of the NAACP, and church officials wear bright African print tunics and robes.
In Wright's farewell sermon, early last month, he did not mention Obama by name but alluded to his biography and stump speech slogan.
"But, if you use your mind, instead of a lost statistic in a hate-filled universe, you just may end up a law student at Harvard University. In fact, if you use your mind, you might end up as the editor of the Harvard Law Review. If you use your mind, instead of [being] a statistic destined for the poor house, you just may end up a statesman destined for the ... Yes, we can!" he told cheering congregants.
On Sunday, business went on mostly as usual at Trinity. The 150-person choir rocked, 10 babies were blessed, and congregants prayed.
But Moss was well aware that he was hosting some guests. At least a dozen reporters sat in the pews, taking notes on the services. Moss asked them to be respectful and his congregants not to grant any interviews.
"Some people, looking for their 20 minutes of fame," Moss teased his flock, "No interviews."
Here is the full text of the statement, with the headline, “AN ATTACK ON OUR SENIOR PASTOR AND THE HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCH”:
Chicago, Ill. (March 15, 2008) — "Nearly three weeks before the 40th commemorative anniversary of the murder of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.’s character is being assassinated in the public sphere because he has preached a social gospel on behalf of oppressed women, children and men in America and around the globe.“Dr. Wright has preached 207,792 minutes on Sunday for the past 36 years at Trinity United Church of Christ. This does not include weekday worship services, revivals and preaching engagements across America and around the globe, to ecumenical and interfaith communities. It is an indictment on Dr. Wright’s ministerial legacy to present his global ministry within a 15- or 30-second sound bite,” said the Reverend Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ.
During the 36-year pastorate of Dr. Wright, Trinity United Church of Christ has grown from 87 to 8,000 members. It is the largest congregation in the United Church of Christ (UCC) denomination.
“It saddens me to see news stories reporting such a caricature of a congregation that has been such a blessing to the UCC’s Wider Church mission,” said the Rev. John H. Thomas, UCC general minister and president, in a released statement. “ … It’s time for us to say ‘No’ to these attacks and declare that we will not allow anyone to undermine or destroy the ministries of any of our congregations in order to serve their own narrow political or ideological ends.”
Trinity United Church of Christ’s ministry is inclusive and global. The following ministries have been developed under Dr. Wright’s ministerial tutelage for social justice: assisted living facilities for senior citizens, day care for children, pastoral care and counseling, health care, ministries for persons living with HIV/AIDS, hospice training, prison ministry, scholarships for thousands of students to attend historically black colleges, youth ministries, tutorial and computer programs, a church library, domestic violence programs and scholarships and fellowships for women and men attending seminary.
Moss added, “The African American Church was born out of the crucible of slavery and the legacy of prophetic African American preachers since slavery has been and continues to heal broken marginalized victims of social and economic injustices. This is an attack on the legacy of the African American Church which led and continues to lead the fight for human rights in America and around the world.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached the Christian tenet, “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Before Dr. King was murdered on April 4, 1968, he preached, “The 11 o’clock hour is the most segregated hour in America.” Forty years later, the African American Church community continues to face bomb threats, death threats, and their ministers’ characters are assassinated because they teach and preach prophetic social concerns for social justice. Sunday is still the most segregated hour in America."
Wild Thing's comment........
Moss delivered a fiery sermon Sunday, defending the African-American church’s right to speak out about social issues.”
No one is saying you can’t speak out on social issues. Its the America is racist, the white man caused 9-11, hate America, hate white people etc. that is disgusting.
Sorry but playing the victim card will not fly.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:40 AM | Comments (9)
March 16, 2008
Sunday Morning Talking Points From The DNC
Chris Dodd is defending Obama on Fox saying “guilt by association is un-American.”
Chris Dodd, Obama has rejected these statements, we don’t need to dwell on it, we need to move on.
And then Dodd went on and is defending Obama on Fox saying “guilt by association is un-American.
Sen Bradley says the pastor is no big deal, he is retiring anyway.Let's move on.
Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y, Obama has made his statements about this and it is time ito move on.
Nancy Pelosi : It is time to move on.
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Wild Thing's comment.........
When Obama and his wife repearly heard someone that agreed with them and saying it from the pulpit and they did! Then my feeling is that it gave Michelle Obama even more nerve when she made her comment about "for the first time in her life being proud of being an American."
This association with Wright is not a casual thing. It is not getting an endorsement from a guy that you’ve had no real history with. It’s twenty years of close association and mutual support. It is bad.
LOOK AT THIS VIDEO:
He praises his preacher and also warns of "Quite Riot among Blacks”.
In June of 2007, Obama attended the 93rd annual Hampton University Ministers’ Conference and it was videotaped. In the first minutes of the video, Obama had this to say:
“I’ve got to give a special shout-out to my pastor, the guy who puts up with me, counsels me, listens to my wife complain about me. He’s a friend, and a great leader. Please everybody give an extraordinary welcome to my pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr. ...Where he at? -There he is! That’s him right there!”
Repeatedly, he referred to the riots that erupted in Los Angeles after a jury acquitted four police officers of assault charges in the 1991 beating of Rodney King, a black motorist, after a high speed chase. Fifty-five people died and 2,000 were injured in several days of riots in the city's black neighborhoods.
"Those 'quiet riots' that take place every day are born from the same place as the fires and the destruction and the police decked out in riot gear and the deaths," Obama said. "They happen when a sense of disconnect settles in and hope dissipates. Despair takes hold and young people all across this country look at the way the world is and believe that things are never going to get any better."
He argued that once a hurricane hits or a jury renders a not guilty verdict, "the frustration is there for all to see."
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:55 PM | Comments (8)
Wal-Mart Whores To Moslems Bucks
Wal-Mart Tweaks Store for Arab-Americans
Wal-Mart Does Homework to Lure Middle Eastern Shoppers in Detroit-Area Store
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP)
Faten Saad knew she wasn't in a typical Wal-Mart when she saw an end-of-the-aisle display featuring Mamool.
Boxes of the date-filled, whole wheat cookie from the Middle East welcomed the 21-year-old Lebanon native into the international aisle of the new Wal-Mart store in this Detroit suburb known as the capital of Arab America. Aisle 3, which also features Eastern European and Hispanic food, represents many of the 550 items geared toward Arab-American shoppers in the store that opened last week.
It might be statistically tiny in a store with more than 150,000 items, but it's symbolically huge for the world's largest retailer as it seeks to change from a cost-is-everything monolith to one that customizes its stores to meet neighborhood needs.
Managers say they seek peace with the neighborhood's merchants -- and vow not to undercut them on Middle Eastern specialties. But some experts and observers say Wal-Mart's well-planned launch in Dearborn is bound to shake up the buying and selling in a community that has long supported its own. Southeastern Michigan is home to an estimated 300,000 people who trace their roots to the Middle East.
"I have not heard of anything this tailored. It's inspiring to me as a shareholder," said Patricia Edwards, portfolio manager and retail analyst in the Seattle office of San Francisco-based investment manager Wentworth, Hauser & Violich, which has 537,000 shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. stock.
The Dearborn store also sells Arabic music and plans to offer Muslim greeting cards. But the modifications go beyond merchandise: It has 35 employees who speak Arabic -- noted in Arabic script on their badges. The store also has hired a local Arab-American educator to teach the staff cultural sensitivity.
It's clear as soon as shoppers walk in that this isn't a typical Wal-Mart. Inside the grocery entrance are 22 produce tables filled with squash, beans and cucumbers common in Middle Eastern dishes. The section also features grains and vegetables popular among blacks and Hispanics, two other demographics with sizable populations living nearby.
"It's like a farmers' market," said Bill Bartell, the store manager who developed the international aisle with Tut's International Export & Import Co., the Dearborn-based distributor that handles the sourcing for many of the store's Middle-Eastern items.
"Because we did all this due diligence prior to moving into this area, we came to realize our clients really kind of liked this atmosphere, and they liked the variety that we can give them."
More than a year of studying the market and meeting with community groups was put to the test last fall, when Bartell and a Tut's executive began to work on what would become aisle 3. They set up an 80-foot-long counter in an empty warehouse and hauled out products -- date-filled cookies, grape leaves, vacuum-packed olives, chick peas and a 97-ounce jar of olive oil imported from the Middle East. The men spent two weeks working on a way to present a new line of products.
As he recalled their effort, a few women in hijabs -- traditional Muslim head scarves -- inspected produce. One spoke in Arabic to Mohamad Atwi, the developmental store manager.
Bartell said the store aims to offer convenience -- not a comprehensive selection of specialty products.
"It's very important that we have the variety of the Muslim, Hispanic items, local items, at a comparable price," he said. "If you go over to Warren (Avenue) where there's other ... small retailers, they have a variety that goes on and on and on."
At the Super Greenland Market, which Wal-Mart studied to come up with its new store, customers can find one whole side of an aisle with more than 20 different varieties of chick peas and fava beans.
"We have vendors that extend from here to the end of the planet," said Jamal Koussan, owner of Super Greenland. "We import directly. That puts us at a big advantage."
He said Wal-Mart doesn't concern him, but he is watching it. He tracked his store's sales on Wal-Mart's opening day and saw no dip.
"I'm not saying they will have no effect on our business but nothing that will threaten us, that will threaten our existence or threaten our bottom line," he said.
Still, the lure of everything under one roof could prove stronger than product depth for some who frequent Middle Eastern shops.
Saad, the college student who emigrated from Lebanon in 1990, marveled while shopping at Wal-Mart and plans to return.
"I don't think I would come all the way here just to get those things, but I'd pick them up on the way if I was already here doing my shopping," she said.
Warren David, a public relations and marketing specialist focusing on Arab-American and Islamic markets, called Wal-Mart's arrival bittersweet. He's happy for the steps it's taken, but "at the same time I can't help but think it's going to have some kind of impact on the local business community."
The Dearborn Wal-Mart is part of a two-year-old corporate effort to help sales by tailoring stores to local demographics, said spokeswoman Amy Wyatt-Moore at Wal-Mart's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters. It targeted six groups: Hispanics, blacks, empty-nesters/boomers, affluent, suburban and rural shoppers.
Dearborn's store is designed to reflect its neighborhood, not serve as a national template for Arab-American shoppers, she said.
"We realize there are more than those six broad demographic groups around the country. In some places the result will be a unique store," Wyatt-Moore said.
Edwards, the analyst, says the Dearborn store is a good move for a company that historically has been better at the science, rather than the art, of retail.
"Wal-Mart is a little kinder and gentler than they were 10 years ago. They are fierce competitors ... but I don't think they're trying to do a scorched earth policy," she said.
"The trick for these local merchants is ... they're going to have to change how they operate in the face of this changing competition."
Wild Thing's comment........
So what will it be, Suicide Belts On Aisle 3? When Islamic Jihadists start beheading American citizens on our own soil, odds are the terrorists will do it with Chinese knives purchased at Wall Mart.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (24)
Seattle Diners Have Sweet Surprise for Christopher Yanez a Machine-gunner and His Girlfriend
Diners have sweet surprise for soldier, girlfriend
When Chris Yanez wanted to take his girlfriend out for a special dinner to celebrate their one-year anniversary, he chose the venerable restaurant Canlis, perched high above Lake Union.
Yanez, a soldier returning from Iraq, knew the dinner would be pricey. What he didn't expect is that it would be free. And he also didn't expect that when he walked out, the place would be in tears.
Before going to dinner Wednesday night, Yanez, a reservist who spent a year in Iraq as a machine-gunner, put on his green dress Army uniform, the one he was proud to wear. With his girlfriend, Liz Coleman, on his arm, he walked into Canlis, where owner Mark Canlis found the couple a special table with a panoramic view of the lake and the city.
"I was a captain in the Air Force, so I have a soft spot there," Canlis said.
A few minutes later, a man at a nearby table — who wanted to remain anonymous — walked up to the restaurant owner. "I was noticing the young soldier and saw them looking at the menu," he told Canlis. "I know he was looking at prices and I know this is a special thing, so I would like to take care of part of their bill."
Then another family, the Greenbergs, said they, too, wanted to help pay for the meal. By the end of the night several patrons had, unknown to Yanez, offered to pay for the young couple's meal. With Canlis also sharing the costs, the $150 bill evaporated.
Yanez and Coleman were sharing a peach-cobbler dessert when Canlis walked up with a piece of molten chocolate lava cake.
"There's folks in this restaurant who don't think you should have to share a dessert," Canlis told the couple. "And they don't think you should pay the bill."
Coleman burst into in tears. Tana Greenberg, whose family helped pay the bill, said she, like several other patrons, was wiping her eyes.
"This brought out the patriotism in all of us," she said. "It was just the right thing to do. We're sending our kids over there and they're dying to uphold our beliefs. We just said this couple should not have to buy their meals. It was showing our belief in the uniform and what it stands for."
Yanez, 20, a student from Renton, said he was stunned by the gesture.
"I knew Canlis was expensive, but this is a one-of-a-kind restaurant and this was a special occasion," he said. "It was the greatest thing ever. It makes me feel like people appreciate the troops and they care about people in the community. I was in shock and my girlfriend started to cry. It was really emotional."
Canlis said his grandfather, who spent 39 years in the Marines, once told him that he should never let a soldier in uniform into his restaurant without being taken care of.
He said it's not the first time in recent months that returning troops have been honored at Canlis. Several months ago a man came in with his wife to treat her to a special dinner to make up for the two years he had spent in Iraq. The entire Canlis crew decided to pay the bill.
"That's what makes it fun for us," Canlis said, "being able to take care of people in a special way."
Wild Thing's comment........
I love stories like this sooooo much! People like this are why America has a chance to survive the left and the enemy within. God bless Christopher Yanez and his girlfrieind and all those that support our troops.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (18)
Demonstrators Face Off Outside Tacoma Mall ~ For The Troops Outnumber Hippies
Demonstrators face off outside Tacoma mall
TACOMA, Wash.
About 150 people -- those opposed to the Iraq War and those supporting it -- gathered noisily outside a Tacoma Mall office building on Saturday.
A group known as World Can't Wait had organized an anti-war protest to mark the coming fifth anniversary of the Iraq War. But long before their protest was scheduled to begin, counter-protesters arrived.
The counter-protesters surrounded an office building that houses military recruiting offices, which anti-war protesters had said they planned to "shut down." They shouted "God bless our troops" and waved American flags.
As the two groups faced off, dozens of police officers, including some in full SWAT gear, served as a buffer zone. They formed a human line to divide the groups.
But there were no arrests or injuries.
The demonstrators shouted insults at each other and each side attempted to out-yell the other side.
"They don’t appreciate our soldiers and what they do for our freedom," said Cheryl Ames.
"I am on this side because I do not agree with the way the war started," said Tommie CeBrun.
Protesters held up photos of Iraq detainees tortured at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghad. They also laid out 281 pairs of shoes on the sidewalk in front of the building, including 81 pairs of combat boots that carried tags bearing the name of a U.S. military member killed in Iraq who listed Washington as his or her home state.
The protesters said the 200 pairs of shoes represented the 200-to-1 ratio of the Iraqi-to-American death rate. But the act was met with a volley of insults.
Warnings for military families to avoid the mall had been circulating for days, since some recent protests, including one at the Port of Olympia, have seen increased violence.
Meghan Tellez and her children planned to avoid the mall. Her husband is in the Navy Reserve.
"I love that mall, but I don’t want my children around that," she said.
From KOMO TV
Dozens of police officers, including some in full SWAT gear, served as a buffer zone separating the two sides.
The protest targeted the office building because of U.S. military recruiting stations located in it and because of its proximity to Fort Lewis, wihch has sent thousands of troops to fight in Iraq.
Protesters held anti-war signs and banners, while counter-protesters waved American flags.
Shelley Weber, a counter-protester who supports the military, wasn't persuaded.
"We're not going to put up with this (anti-war protest)," she said. "We see what they're doing around the nation in recruiters' offices down in Berkeley, New York and elsewhere. It's a disgrace to our military."
There is a VIDEO HERE YOU CAN WATCH
And this was from a one of the comments sent in about what happened in Tacoma:
" I was with the Support the Troops people today. What a pathetic turnout the anti-military protesters had. They at best had 50 people, all college age punks, probably from Evergreen State Col the most liberal campus on the west coast. The Support the Troops side had at least 3 or 4 times their number, including about 25-30 of the coolest leather clad bikers I ever saw. At The mall it was business as usual, full of shoppers stimulating the economy with their hard earned dollars. If the protesters goal was to interrupt commerce, they failed miserably. They also failed to shut down the recruiting office. The office they were in front of was closed anyway. The Army recruiter around the corner of the building was open for business, and even gave out donuts and coffee for the Support the Troops people. And for the military being ordered to stay away? No Way! There were many many young men walking around with military haircuts, many of who walked over and thanked us for what we were doing, several even staying with us. Many more of their families honked as they drove by our line of flags. And the Police did a fantastic job keeping the ant-war goons confined to a small area near the recruiting station, making sure they could not block access to the opened office or cross onto Mall property. My message the anti-military punks is this: Tacoma is a Military town, and damn proud of them. Go protest some place else you losers. Be sure to watch the King5 video on the link. The news did a fair job, except when they said there was no real difference between the two groups - That was BS. Few of them looked like normal decent people. Many went for the anarchist look, with scarves over their faces and black hooded sweater shirts, that sort of thing."
Wild Thing's comment........
I wish I could fly acorss our country and go to every pro troops rally there is. It would be impossible for many reasons but in my heart I sure would love to show support by being there.
It is so wonderful how so many showed up to show support for our military.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (12)
Obama and Rezko - Match made in heaven
Not guilty"
The use of this phrase isn't the only thing Barack Obama and Antoin Rezko have in common.
Obama insists he's just gullible but we ought to give the Democratic presidential nominee more credit than that. But where's the 'change'? We've always had lying and corrupted politicians!
Additional note:
Obama has released his tax returns for 2006 ONLY and this was just the form; no attachments were released. He didn't release the 2007 one. His tax return forms from all his time in the Senate are not available to the public either.
When Obama spokesperson, Bill Burton is asked about any pre-2006 or 2007 returns, he says he "will keep you posted."
Some info about MIchelle's 2005 tax return: Her salary as an administrator at the "not-for-profit University of Chicago Hospitals" nearly tripled to $316,962, from $121,910 in 2005.
Wild Thing's comment.........
Obama just keeps demonstrating to the nation poor judgment. His choice in a preacher ( which I will always believe he and Michelle agreed with 100%) and his choice in others in his life like Rezko and Ayers and who knows who else that will show up in the furture.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (5)
Obama "Just Words" About His Preacher
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Wild Thing's comment........
NO B. Hussein Obama they are much more then just words, it is hate mongering.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (6)
March 15, 2008
I’ll take “Thrown Under The Bus” for $500, Alex
.
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Controversial minister leaves Obama campaign
Presidential candidate condemns words but not ministry of former pastor
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., condemned racially charged sermons by his former pastor Friday and urged Americans not to reject his presidential campaign because of “guilt by association.”
Obama’s campaign announced that the minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., had left its spiritual advisory committee after videotapes of his sermons again ignited fierce debate in news accounts and political blogs.
Obama did not clarify whether Wright volunteered to leave his African American Religious Leadership Committee, a loose group of supporters associated with the campaign, or whether the campaign asked him to leave.
“I think there was recognition that he’s obviously on the verge of retirement, [that] he’s taking a sabbatatical and that it was important for him to step out of the spotlight in this situation,” Obama said.
Wright was the latest in a series of advisers to Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who have stepped aside as supporters of both candidates trade racially charged accusations.
Obama rejects comments
Obama spoke warmly of Wright, who retired last month as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Wright is a man “I’ve known for 17 years, who helped bring me to Jesus, helped bring me to church,” he said.
“I strongly condemn” Wright’s statements, but “I would not repudiate the man,” Obama said. “He’s been preaching for 30 years. He’s a man who was a former Marine, a biblical scholar, someone who’s spoken at theological schools all over the country.
“That’s the man I know,” Obama said. “That’s the man who was the pastor of this church.”
But Obama acknowledged that “there’s no doubt this is going to be used as political fodder, as it has been in the past.”
“What I hope is that what the American people will trust is what I believe,” he said, that “my values, my ideas, what I’ve spoke about in terms of bringing the country together will override a guilt by association.”
But the sermons, at least one of which was delivered long before Wright retired last month, revived uncomfortable questions about Obama’s ties to the minister, whom conservative critics have accused of advocating black separatism.
A videotape of one sermon captures Wright using a harsh racial epithet to argue that Clinton could not understand the struggles of African Americans.
“Barack knows what it means, living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people,” Wright said on Christmas Day of last year. “Hillary can never know that. Hillary ain’t never been called a [N-word]!”
In another sermon, delivered five days after the 9/11 attacks, Wright seems to imply that the United States had brought the terrorist violence on itself.
“We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York, and we never batted an eye,” Wright says. “We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is brought right back in our own front yards.”
In a later sermon, Wright revisits the theme, declaring: “No, no, no, not God bless America — God damn America!”
Wild Thing's comment........
B.Hussein Obama was questioned last night on various news channels about his hate monger rascist preacher and church.
Too little , too late. Obama has known this guy is a racist America-hater for 20 years. Obama wrote that Wright was his mentor. And this church is also probably part of what has fed Obama's wife, Michelle, the hate she abounds with and speaks about.
They went because they agreed with what was said in the church simple as that. And this is lilke getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar. The Obama's relationship with Wright and this Church has a long history, and is completely voluntary on his part. He joined this Church, and if he attended it even infrequently he must have heard at least some of those sermons.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (16)
Dude can you spare some CHANGE?
Obama: Rezko Raised Up to $250K
AP for complete article ( some of this article I am not including in this post I have already posted about in the last few weeks, but this part is new information)
CHICAGO
Presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday that he got more political money from indicted Chicago businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko than he has previously acknowledged.
Rezko helped raise up to $250,000 for his various political races, Obama's campaign said. The campaign had previously put the figure at $150,000 but now says that amount was only for his 2004 Senate race.
And in interviews with two Chicago newspapers, the Democrat again said it was a mistake to involve Rezko in his purchase of a new home — not just because Rezko was under federal investigation but because he was a contributor and political activist.
Still, Obama said he did nothing unethical.
"He never once asked me for any favors, or ever did any favors for me," the Illinois senator said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times. "He never gave me any gifts or gave me any indication he was setting me up to ask for any favors in the future."
Obama met Friday with the editorial boards of the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times in an effort to resolve nagging questions about his relationship with Rezko, a Chicago businessman and major fundraiser in Illinois politics.
Rezko is on trial on charges including mail fraud and attempted extortion. Federal prosecutors say he tried to use his connections to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to demand kickbacks from companies wanting to do business with state government.
Wild Thing's comment........
That's some SERIOUS "CHANGE"!!! CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!!!....LOL sorory I could not he