Just Thinkin'...

...that I may not watch much news till about December. Why? Quite frankly, I've only been back in the States for a short while, but I'm already politically fatigued. I suppose that it has been all the immigration stuff that has been tapping my strength. I have three things to offer: time, talent, and treasure. I have donated money to individuals in some key races, donated to The Minutemen, and supported the VFW and The American Legion. That was TREASURE... on the TIME side, I've sent some letters and made phone calls to my Congressman and Senators about immigration and petroleum exploration. On the TALENT side... I've... well, I've really got nothin'. Guess I'll save that up for another day. At least I can feel like I've contributed to society in some capacity since I've been back. Cool.

Airborne, what have you done for your country today?

Memorial Day 2006 - Part II

Some of my earliest memories were of Memorial Day. I grew up on a farm five miles outside of a very small town in Iowa. Every year, that small town would have a memorial service at the Baptist church. Following an opening prayer, a student from the elementary school would recite the Gettysburg Address... from memory. It was an honor to be chosen for the recitation. We sang patriotic hymns, including the Battle Hymn of the Republic. At some point a veteran would get up and speak to the packed house about why Memorial Day is so important. One such veteran resounds in my mind to this day. Mr. Gehring was an extremely interesting man... particulary to a young boy. Mr. Gehring had lost his left hand in World War I at the Battle of Belleau Wood. Instead, he had two hooks that he could squeeze together using a contraption attached to his shoulder. Wow. Needless to say, he was old in a way that was nearly incomprehensible to me. My grandpa was old... Mr. Gehring was of another time altogether.

I remember clearly Mr. Gehring talking about the sacrifice of soldiers. Inparticular, I remember him telling us that when he was a boy, sitting in those same pews where we sat, it was a Civil War veteran that was standing at the pulpit and Civil War veterans that were gathered in the back. It was Civil War veterans that lead the march down the hill to the graveyard, a veteran that sounded Taps, and veterans that would assemble back at the church for reminiscence and food. Wow. The links to the past in rural America were strong and ever present. Our county seat boasts three Medal of Honor winners and scores of others decorated for valor. Now, I am the link to my son's generation that extends all the way back to the Civil War.

But now there is no service at the Baptist Church. The World War Two veterans are nearly gone and the Vietnam veterans aren't as visible. The composition of this country is changing and the links to the bravery and sacrifice of our past are fading. But not in my house. Not this year. We will stand among those who hold the line and stand in the gaps. We remember.

De Oppresso Libre.

Memorial Day 2006 - Part I

As we prepare for Memorial Day, here are some important reminders and information.

United States Code Title 4 Chapter 1 — The Flag says, in part:

Time and occasions for display:
It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness. The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously. The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except when an all-weather flag is displayed.

The flag should be displayed on all days, especially on

New Year's Day, January 1
Inauguration Day, January 20
Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, third Monday in January
Lincoln's Birthday, February 12
Washington's Birthday, third Monday in February
Easter Sunday (variable)
Mother's Day, second Sunday in May
Armed Forces Day, third Saturday in May
Memorial Day (half-staff until noon), the last Monday in May Flag Day, June 14
Independence Day, July 4
Labor Day, first Monday in September
Constitution Day, September 17
Columbus Day, second Monday in October
Navy Day, October 27
Veterans Day, November 11
Thanksgiving Day, fourth Thursday in November
Christmas Day, December 25

and such other days as may be proclaimed by the President of the United States
the birthdays of States (date of admission)
and on State holidays.

Flag ettiquite may be found here and here. You may also check out U.S. Army Regulation 840-10 for more heraldic information.

The History Channel has an excellent site dedicated to Memorial Day.

Me and my brothers will be out on Sunday doing our annual run to the wall. If you've never experienced it... I recommend that you do.

Finally, take a moment... The Price of Freedom is Visible Here!

POW/MIA

SCIF

Stuck in a Sensative Compartmentalized Information Facility today. Dammit!

I did, however, take a minute to donate some $$$ to the woman challenging that Asshat Murtha. You can help Diana Irey here!

Dan Flynn Rocks!

In a post from his site today:

We all know that members of the Duke lacrosse team gang-raped a single-mom working to put food on the table.

We all know that Duke lacrosse captain David Evans has a fake mustache that he ceremonially wears whenever he rapes a stripper. We all know that if your own DNA is found in your own trashcan in your own house alongside a fake fingernail belonging to a stripper, it's conclusive proof that you're a rapist. We all know that running from the police after throwing a loud and raucous party with underage drinking isn't the normal response of a college student. We all know that it means that you're a rapist. We all know that Evans demanding, and passing, a polygraph test means nothing. We all know that the victim's "ninety-percent sure" identification of Evans as a rapist passes the "reasonable doubt" test.

Read on.

Light Blogging

The whole immigration thing is taking its toll on me. I'll be sure to put something up about latest developments and thoughts later today.

BTW- My wife, Sexy Squirrel, is pregnant and about to add a mini-squirrel to the nest on or about Memorial Day.

PS- Murtha is still an Asshat!

Now That's Immigration!

Ballcap tip to Blackfive.




Iron Brigade Soldiers Become US Citizens

By PFC Paul J. Harris, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team

BALAD, Iraq (May 12, 2006) -- 120 Soldiers became U.S. citizens in a naturalization ceremony May 12 in a theater on Logistical Support Area Anaconda near Balad, Iraq.
<...>
Five Soldiers from 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers received their citizenship during the ceremony. The newly naturalized citizens are Spc. Sola Ogundele, automated logistics specialist, Company A, 64th Brigade Support Battalion; Staff Sgt. Ricardo Silva, heavy wheeled vehicle operator, Company G, 64th BSB attached to Task Force Pacesetter; Cpl. Rey Pena, human resource specialist, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery; Spc. Xiang Tran, logistical supply specialist, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Special Troops Battalion; and Spc. Suhee Onder, cook, Forward Support Company, 1-8 Combined Arms Battalion.

For a civilian there is normally a five year residency requirement to be eligible to obtain citizenship. With military service members the requirement is waived along with the processing fee, said Walter Haith, immigration officer from the Frankfurt, Germany, office.
<...>
Ogundele came to the U.S. 13 months ago from Nigeria on a diversity visa. He immediately joined the Army after arriving in America. Ogundele has a bachelor’s degree from Nigeria and joined the Army for the tuition money to earn his master’s degree. He was not worried about going to Iraq so quickly after joining the Army. In fact he wanted to experience the combat he read about in books and saw on the news.

“I am the happiest man on Earth today to be a U.S. citizen,” Ogundele said. “I know the sky is the limit for me in the United States. I (now) have absolute freedom to pursue my dreams.”

For some Soldiers citizenship meant the chance to secure their future with the Army and for their families. Silva wanted to make a career of the Army and wanted to move up in rank. He was approaching eight years of service in his military career and the Army has a requirement to become a citizen after eight years to continue serving. Silva was born in Portugal but had lived most of his 25 years in the U.S. He felt after he had given the oath of allegiance to the U.S. a big weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"It feels a little different now when you wear the American flag," Silva said.

Having the ceremony in Iraq instead of America was bittersweet for some of the Iron Brigade Soldiers. Pena and his family from the U.S. and Mexico wished they could have been together at the theater to witness him becoming a citizen.

"My wife wished she could have been there but it was good that I had my Army buddies there cheering me on," Pena said. "It is a big accomplishment, it feels great."

For Tran and Onder receiving their citizenship papers meant the end of long journey from immigrants to the beginning of a new one as citizens. The emotion of the ceremony got to Onder as the oaths had been rendered as she fought the tears of joy knowing she could now go forth as an American citizen...

Before the ceremony concluded President George W. Bush gave a taped message to the newly inducted citizens.

“Today the United States is not only your home it is your country,” Bush said. “With a single oath all at once, you became as truly American as the most direct descendant of the founding fathers. You are now an important part of the great democracy … I am proud that you are citizens of our country. I am honored to be your President.”

52 countries were represented by the 120 Soldiers who had endured a six-month application process. The process included an interview which the applicant had to demonstrate the ability to write and speak a sentence in English and pass a 100 question exam for the right to become a U.S. citizen.

More Immigration Asshatery

Well, the Senate Republicans just did it again. They blew us off by voting against an amendment to the immigration bill that would prohibit the granting of legal status to any illegal immigrant UNTIL the border security measures addressed in Section 233 are fully completed and fully operational. Well, it was voted down. My particular Asshat (John Warner) was one of the "conservatives" voting nay. Check out how each person voted. I just sent Senator Warner an email explaining my disgust and voiced support for any true conservative smart enough to run against him next time around. Presidential hopeful? Not anymore.

You Go Snow!

So, it appears that Mr. Snow is going to do well as the new press secretary... if his first day is any indication. The full transcript can be viewed here. He took on Helen Thomas fairly well:

HT: The President today denied he'd ever broken the law in terms of wiretaps. He also indicated that anything that was looked into, any calls, had some sort of foreign aspect either to or from. And he has said he's always obeyed the law. Are all of these stories untrue that we've been reading for the last several days that millions of Americans have been wiretapped?

MR. SNOW: Well, let's --

HT: Are the phone calls turned over to the government?

MR. SNOW: Okay, let's try to segregate the stories here. What he's said about the terror surveillance program is that these are foreign-to-domestic calls and they were all done within the parameters of the law. He has not commented on the --

HT: He, himself, has said he didn't obey that law.

MR. SNOW: No, he didn't. What he said is that he has done everything within the confines of the law. The second thing is, you're mentioning a USA Today story about which this administration has no comment. But I would direct you back to the USA Today story itself, and if you analyze what that story said, what did it say? It said there is no wiretapping of individual calls, there is no personal information that is being relayed. There is no name, there is no address, there is no consequence of the calls, there's no description of who the party on the other end is.

HT: Privacy was breached by turning over their phone numbers.

MR. SNOW: Well, again, you are jumping to conclusions about a program, the existence of which we will neither confirm, nor deny.

HT: Why? Don't you think the American people have a right to know --

MR. SNOW: Because -- what's interesting is, there seems to be a notion that because the President has talked a little bit about one surveillance program and one matter of intelligence gathering, that somehow we have to tell the entire world we have to make intelligence gathering transparent. Let me remind you, it's a war on terror, and there are people -- I guarantee you, al Qaeda does not believe --

HT: He doesn't have a right to break the law, does he?

MR. SNOW: No, the President is not talking about breaking the law. But al Qaeda doesn't believe in transparency. What al Qaeda believes in is mayhem, and the President has a constitutional obligation and a heartfelt determination to make sure we fight it.

HT: -- to obey the Constitution --

MR. SNOW: Absolutely right.

HT: -- the Fourth Amendment --

MR. SNOW: Absolutely right, and he believes in obeying it.

Nice. Ms. Thomas, please, please retire.

Now, What to do?

Alright, seems like every blog is covering the immigration stuff. Here is some of the stuff that I've read:

Polipundit told guest bloggers to either toe the line or go home. My reaction: it's his sandbox, he makes the rules.

National Review Online had a symposium that is worth reading. Contributor John O'Sullivan noted:

Take the idea of sending the National Guard to the border. This idea seems to shrink hourly so as not to offend Vicente Fox. The guard will now apparently play a purely advisory role in defending the country. But why will stepped-up border enforcement be needed if anyone who can contrive a job offer from a “willing employer” can be admitted perfectly legally? Tough talk about border security is simply camouflage for Bush’s policy of halting illegal immigration by the simple device of making it legal. Prospectively legal in the case of his guest-worker program, retrospectively legal as regards his “not an amnesty” amnesty.

The Washington Times tries valiently to expose what the Senate's 614-page "compromise" bill really means.

A bunch of telling quotes pulled from the President's speech last night can be found with Michelle Malkin.

Confederate Yankee is understandably pissed.

One of my regular blogs that I check is Iowa Voice and he is speaking to me:

Mr. President, you think 30% approval is bad? Try the mid-twenties....or even lower. It's going to be a long two years for you after November, and I'm afraid you won't have a lot of conservatives watching your back any longer.

You can count me as one of them.

Also, Glenn Reynolds has the full text for your perusal.

Yep, I'm disappointed.

Presidential Speeches and Such

So, I wonder if the President is listening. I suppose that we will know tonight. I suspect that the vast majority of us will be less than satisfied with his view. Toothless comes to mind. What really chaps my cheeks is that I donated time, talent, and treasure to ensure that conservatives would have enough power to do something and 'they' simply refuse to listen. I'll try not to grit my teeth as I miss an episode of NCIS and possibly The Unit. Maybe I'll even take the edge off the Gateway Pundit way! Hell, I'll even spring for a bottle of Patron Silver at the Class 6. Nice.

Update: Disappointed.

Back In the Day

What happened to the old days in Special Forces when some men "resisted?" The Resistor has been labeled as 'racist' by the ACLU and it's ilk. Untrue. If they only knew how the many elite troops typically feel about a number of issues... Green Beanies are, afterall, the embodiment of genuine American foreign policy. Ah well, that is worthy of a collaborative effort by all my brothers in the sidebar... what do you think? Interesting?

Articles Related to Immigration

Okay, so the posse down in Arizona has had one arrest. No problem, I'll take one every single evening if only cause it sends a message. Undoubtedly, there will be plenty of others. I still support this effort and the efforts of the Minutemen.

Meanwhile, the Department of Defense is looking at how they can help:

Thursday's House vote allowed Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to assign military personnel under certain circumstances to help the Homeland Security Department with border security. The vote was 252-171, and the provision was added to a larger military measure.

Okay, we'll see what happens. I've done many JTF-6 missions in my career. This is going to be a tricky area, primarily due to interpretation of the Posse Comitatus Act. Some, however, think that is it somewhat less ambiguous.

Now it appears that the President is going to address the nation regarding immigration tonight at 20:00 hrs. I am anxious that he is getting the message from the American people. Do your damn job! I should clarify that our CINC is not the only one who is not listening. Again, do your damn jobs.

Rainy Day

... AND I'm stuck in a SCIF all day today. I'll try to blog more tomorrow.

BTW - Thanks to Blackfive for the link. See you soon brother!

Great Story

So I was perusing Michael Yon's website. I've never met him and I really don't know anybody who knows him (yet... remember Six Degrees). I love his writing and sense of adventure. I like him because he is... me... and all other Green Berets. Anyway, he linked to a Washington Times (one of only a couple papers worth reading) reporter, Ms. Maya Alleruzzo, that he really respects. I found her story about an Iraqi Captain extremely compelling:

Capt. Furat's eyes scan the Atlanta traffic outside his ambulance, a survival instinct that served him well during his nine years as a soldier, first in Saddam's army, and then in the post-invasion creation.

"You are safe now," says Deborah Revis, 50, Shepherd's vice president of clinical services, as she holds his hand the entire 30-minute ride. "We will take good care of you here."

When he emerges from the ambulance, he is greeted by some of his American friends from Iraq.

"It took a long time, but we were able to do it," says Lt. Col. Roger Cloutier, one of four officers who step forward to embrace him. They came to know and love Capt. Furat as he worked alongside the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment.

"Thank you very much, sir. My mom is very happy," Capt. Furat responds, managing a smile after an exhausting three-day journey from Balad to Georgia.

How are we (the human race) so fortunate to have men such as these?!? Please read the whole article.

Islamic Caliphate? Never Happen.

Okay, via Hugh Hewitt, the Christian Science Monitor has an article about the re-emerging idea of a unifying Caliphate. The article says, in part:

It's a simple and seductive idea that analysts believe may someday allow the group to rival existing Islamic movements, topple the rulers of Middle Eastern nations, and undermine those seeking to reconcile democracy and Islam and build bridges between East and West.

"A few years ago people laughed at them," says Zeyno Baran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the leading expert on Hizb ut-Tahrir. "But now that [Osama] bin Laden, [Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi, and other Islamic groups are saying they want to recreate the Caliphate, people are taking them seriously."

Even more moderate Muslim groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt pay lip-service to the ideal of reestablishing the Caliphate, leaving less ideological space for Muslims who want to move toward Western models of democracy.

"The Caliphate is a rallying point between the radicals and the more moderate Islamists," says Stephen Ulph, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation. "The idea of a government based on the Caliphate has a historical pedigree and Islamic legitimacy that Western systems of government by their very nature do not have."

Bottom line... the Muslim world is extremely fractured. Muslims are their own worst enemy. Racism is rampant. When you go to a McDonalds in the Gulf, who waits on you? Philipinos or Pakistanis. Do they enjoy any protections? Nope. They are clearly third class residents (note that I didn't say citizens). All the non-Arab states are expected to toe the line, but Arabs fight amongst themselves unlike any other culture that I've seen. For context, I assert that Arabs are typically more educated, than say, your typical African (who are also good at infighting). For a civilization that can rightly claim to be the cradle of civilization, they are surprisingly stupid in their ability to unite.

The ONLY thing that they all have in common is Islam... and there are, of course, a cornucopia of flavors of Islam. The chance that Muslims will all unite under a Caliph is laughable to anyone who even remotely understands middle eastern culture. In short, much ado about nothing. That is no reason, however, not to be constantly vigilent for "Dhimmitude."

Immigration Problem Progress

So, the NY Crimes has an article (may revert to subscription only) about Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona doing something about immigration. You know this Sheriff...

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a colorful and controversial character who has instituted severe policies at phoenix's Maricopa County Jail since taking office in 1993.
According to his bio on the Maricopa County Web site, he enjoys being known as "America's toughest sheriff."
He got nationwide attention when he established the Maricopa County tent city for inmates.
More than 2,000 prisoners live without smoking, coffee, pornographic magazines, movies and unrestricted television in all jails.
The eRumor says the meals cost less than 40 cents but the cost figure is actually less than 20 cents.
Arpaio has also instituted what he calls "Hard Knocks High", the only accredited high school in an American jail.
That, along with an anti-drug program, says Arpaio, has resulted in a high percentage of his inmates leaving jail without their addictions and few of them returning.

Nice. So the NY Crimes now tells the story about how the Sheriff is actually doing something in his county.

On Wednesday, the posse, a civilian force of 300 volunteers, many of them retired deputies, are to fan out over desert backcountry, watching for smugglers and the people they guide into these parts.

Already, a small team of deputies roams the human-trafficking routes to enforce a nine-month-old state law that makes smuggling people a felony and effectively authorizes local police forces to enforce immigration law.

So Arizona is fed up with the Federal government's lack of concern for their illegal immigrant problem and Sheriff Arpaio is taking full advantage of the new law. His constituents are happy, but the politicians that created the law?

Not only do deputies charge the smugglers, but many of their customers have also been jailed. That has drawn criticism from several quarters, even the politician who sponsored the law and has generally supported Sheriff Arpaio's position.

"That was not our intent," said the sponsor, State Representative Jonathan Paton, a Republican, who added that he would prefer to detain smuggled immigrants under trespassing laws, a move lawmakers are considering under a package of bills intended to crack down on illegal immigration.

Geez, quit the nitpicking. Typical politician that enacts a law but doesn't like the way that it is enforced. The answer is simple, write a law that is detailed enough that there is little ambiguity. In any case, Sheriff Arpaio is actually doing something meaningful. Right on brother!

News from CENTCOM

Sgt. Gehlen, over at the USCENTCOM PAO, sent me a link to an interesting article. They have posted a new document on their website in the “What Extremists Are Saying” section. Check it!

Another Immigration Mess

Okay, so I'm watching FOX News and I see a spokesman from the Minutemen explaining that the US GOVERNMENT has been telling the MEXICAN GOVERNMENT when and where the Minutemen would be patrolling. Holy shit... that really just pisses me off. Okay, so it is really no secret where these patriots will be patrolling, but why does the Mexican government have so much influence over our foreign (and domestic) policy? Just a guess, but how about cowardly bureaucrats.

You can check out an article about this disappointing revelation here.

The Road to remembrance

As we move inexorably toward Memorial Day, I find myself reflecting on my service and what it means to me. While I'm a simple enlisted man, I have long been drawn to the history of our military. I'm sure that I'm not alone.

On 12 May 1962, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was at The United States Military Academy at West Point to accept the Sylvanus Thayer Award. He gave a speech that is genuinely moving. You can read and hear it here.

An excerpt:

... your [the Army's] mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable: it is to win our wars.

Everything else in your professional career is but corollary to this vital dedication. All other public purposes, all other public projects, all other public needs, great or small, will find others for their accomplishment. But you are the ones who are trained to fight. Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory; that if you lose, the nation will be destroyed; that the very obsession of your public service must be: Duty, Honor, Country.

Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men's minds; but serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation's war-guardian, as its lifeguard from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiator in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded, and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice.

Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government; whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing, indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as thorough and complete as they should be. These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a ten-fold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.

You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the nation's destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds. The Long Gray Line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country.

This does not mean that you are war mongers.

On the contrary, the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.

But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have seen the end of war."


I am always moved nearly to tears by this speech. My wife says that I have a habit of "crying red, white, and blue." Yes. Yes, I do.

De Oppresso Liber

Circulation for Top 20 Newspapers in USA

Via: The Drudge Report

Mon May 08 2006 08:55:53 ET

Here it is. The paid weekday circulation of the nation's 20 largest newspapers for the six-month period ending March 31, 2006.

1. USA Today, 2,272,815, up 0.09 percent
2. The Wall Street Journal, 2,049,786, down 1 percent
3. The New York Times, 1,142,464, up 0.5 percent
4. Los Angeles Times, 851,832, down 5.4 percent
5. The Washington Post, 724,242, down 3.7 percent
6. New York Daily News, 708,477, down 3.7 percent
7. New York Post, 673,379, down 0.7 percent
8. Chicago Tribune, 579,079, up 0.9 percent
9. Houston Chronicle, 513,387, down 3.6 percent
10. The Arizona Republic, 438,722, down 2.1 percent
11. Newsday, Long Island, 427,771, down 2.7 percent
12. The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., 398,329, up 0.9 percent
13. San Francisco Chronicle, 398,246, down 15.6 percent
14. The Boston Globe, 397,288, down 8.5 percent
15. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 365,011, down 6.7 percent
16. Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul, 362,964, down 2.9 percent
17. The Philadelphia Inquirer, 350,457, down 5.1 percent
18. Detroit Free Press, 345,861, up 0.04 percent
19. The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, 343,163, down 1.6 percent
20. St. Petersburg Times, Florida, 323,031, down 4.4 percent


Nice way to start the week!

Sunday Startle

Okay, so I break from tradition and thumb through the local rag, the Washington Post (we get the Sunday edition for the coupons) and I'm in a pretty good mood. Church was good, sermon was nice, and the boy was exceptionally well behaved... then I see this article and just about heave my Cheerios. You need to read it.

So now the Democrats are planning to ensure that no future president can ever make a decision. If that person does, they can plan on being impeached. Damn. Remember, if you will, that the Democrats voted FOR THE WAR and don't have the votes to run things the way that they want too. Waaa! Freakin' crybabies.

My bad, I should have known better than to open up The Rag.


Update: I see that RedState is covering this story as well. They, of course, have a better line of discourse than I.

Weekend Reading

Here are links to reading that I think is worth visiting.

The National Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars spoke to the Senate Committee on Veteran's Affairs back in March. His testimony can be found here.

I don't know if you have already heard about him, but Corporal Brett Lundstrom (USMC) gave the lastfull measure of devotion on January 7, 2006 and was honored by his tribe, the Oglala Sioux. A moving event.

Also, the local elections in Herndon, VA (near me) are being called a referendum on illegal immigration. La Shawn Barber has a nice summary.

Grilling time is here and I will probably be using mine on a daily basis. Therefore, I would be remiss if I didn't plug my favorite seasoning. Good. Really good.

Another Kennedy asshat. I would love to see if he (or his Dad... Ted) had any comments about Rush.

Personal knowledge: Porter Goss is another breed of asshat.

A revisit to one of my favorite economists, Dr. Walter Williams, in his article about gas prices. Face it, it is a complicated issue.

Finally, I have to agree with Peggy Noonan that jurors in Virginia should have put Moussaoui to death.

Whew, I hope that tides you over for the weekend!

About Iraq

I've been thinking a lot about what I should blog about my most recent trip. Essentially, I worked my ass off, brought in (or down) a bunch of bad people, and was glad that it was a short tour. Other than that, I can say that the place is constantly changing is very different from the last time I was there. First, big Army is large and in-charge... i.e. not fun at all. Also, the infrastructure is boomin', technology is available, and people are still happy to have us there.

It is, however, much more dangerous for our Iraqi partners. My Iraqi interpreters were in constant fear of death. I tried to track down some of my old Iraqi interpreters and found that one had since been burned alive in her house with her family. Make no mistake, these people are patriots. They understand are at stake. They are also baffled by the rhetoric of the MSM. They see us (military) killing ourselves for the mission and then see the looney lethargy of the left as broadcast continually by the MSM. When asked, I couldn't find a way to describe it that they would understand. Probably because I don't freakin' understand it myself.

I guess that I don't have a lot to add except that we are doing the right thing. BTW, I now have something like 45 months in combat over my career... heh, at least my Dad is impressed.

Thoughts on Immigration

Okay, so I love immigrants. It seems to me that immigrants are one of the primary fuels that drive the engine of our economy. Why? They work their asses off. (Incidentally, Special Forces is filled with immigrants and they are part and parcel of our history.) I really respect the guts it takes to make a new life... however, I have to preface the work immigrant with legal. The immigration situation is already waaay out of hand.

I don't have a lot of anwsers, but a cursory thought is that we need to close the floodgates and only then can we have a discussion about what to do with the reported 12 million illegal immigrants that are already here. I don't care if they are brown, pink, or purple... illegal is illegal. I'm with the Minutemen... I'm even going to put my money where my mouth is... will you?

May Day

So I'm now back from all the tiresome "don't beat the wife just cause you're back from the sandbox" briefings. Thanks, but Sexy Squirrel can handle herself just fine. Anyway, one thing inparticular that I've found interesting since I've come back is that people are pissed at the Prez. Why? (Y'all probably already know this, but I'm still getting my sleep patterns back) Because of immigration and gas prices. Seriously. People who are diehard conservative patriots (at least around Ft. Bragg/Fayetteville) would kick the CINC in the nuts about these two things. To be more accurate, folks seems livid about immigration and extremely annoyed about gas.

I've used the gas price issue to bring up another favorite point of mine... withholding tax. I think that people are pissed about prices because it has an immediate impact on their wallets and gas stations post prices that constantly remind us. I've long contended that if the American people were paid their wages, in cash, at window A, then had to pay their taxes, in cash, at window B, that Washington would be a smoking ruins right now. Hmmm.

Maybe once I get some sleep, I'll be really pissed too...