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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
.
.
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 help myself. haha
I have a question about Senator Barack Hussein Obama. Obama was born in 1961, and was therefore required to register for Selective Service (”the Draft”) under the law. Does anyone know if he registered?
"He never once asked me for any favors"
Um hey Obama I have news for you. When you do any kind of business with low lifes such as criminals or let's say Mafia types you are not always asked for a favor on the spot, it might take months or years when your FAVOR is due. And when it is you better sure as heck be available to return whatever the favor you are asked to do.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:50 AM | Comments (8)
Execution Would Make Martyrs of 9/11 Plotters
Mukasey: Execution, Though Appropriate, Would Make Martyrs of 9/11 Plotters
LONDON
U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Friday he hopes the men charged with participating in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks aren't executed if found guilty in order to avoid creating any martyrs.
Mukasey said many terrorists want to be martyrs and that by sentencing them to death, U.S. authorities risk granting that wish. He made the comments while answering a question after a talk at the London School of Economics.
Mukasey said, however, that the punishment would be fitting if the accused are executed.
"One of them at least is proud enough of it to have written to his wife that he thinks he is innocent because it was only 3,000 (people who died in the attacks)," he said. "If those are not poster children for the death penalty I don't know who is."
Still, Mukasey said he leans against the death penalty in this case "many of them want to be martyrs."
The attorney general said his view was a personal opinion. The Justice Department will participate in the trial, he said, but the Defense Department will be in charge.
The U.S. military is moving ahead with plans to try six men at Guantanamo Bay in connection with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks but only one military defense lawyer has been assigned to the case. None of the defendants has seen a defense lawyer yet.
Prosecutors filed charges Feb. 11 against the six high-profile detainees, who include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the Sept. 11 attacks, and Mohammed al-Qahtani, who allegedly would have been one of the hijackers if immigration officers had not prevented him from entering the United States.
Wild Thing's comment........
So what, let them be martyr's. Any Muslim who wants to be a martyr should be martyred. Quickly, efficiently, and brutally. I think it’s better if these people are killed, so that we don’t have to feed and provide medical care for them.
We have to show our friends that we have the strength of our convictions and are not constantly bedeviled by self doubt. The contempt that Osama bin Laden and friends hold us in is based largely on our perceived lack of moral courage and commitment.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:48 AM | Comments (10)
Vietnam Campaigners Hope for Senate Action
Vietnam Campaigners Hope for Senate Action
Campaigners for democracy in Vietnam are hopeful that long-delayed legislation to promote human rights improvements in communist-ruled Vietnam may move forward on Capitol Hill, following a Senate hearing this week.
The House of Representatives passed the Vietnam Human Rights Act by an overwhelming vote last September, and the legislation is now before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Previous versions, passed by the House, made no headway in the Senate.
The legislation provides funding to promote human rights and democratic change in Vietnam and links future increases in non-humanitarian aid to verifiable improvements in its human rights record.
Critics of the one-party government in Hanoi say the political situation in the country has deteriorated, even as its bilateral relations with the U.S. have improved.
The State Department's annual report on human rights around the world, released this week, cited a "crackdown on dissent" in Vietnam, including the arrest of activists and disruption of nascent opposition organizations.
Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee subcommittee hearing Wednesday that although "social freedoms" had increased in Vietnam, "serious deficiencies remain in political and civil liberties."
Hill, who visited Vietnam earlier this month, said he had urged officials to release dissidents, and would continue to do so.
The best known of these, Catholic priest and democracy campaigner Nguyen Van Ly, was sentenced a year ago to eight years' imprisonment for distributing anti-government material and communicating with pro-democracy activists abroad.
Another imprisoned campaigner, Nguyen Quoc Quan, is an American citizen who was arrested in Vietnam last November. Hanoi said the American, who is a member of an unauthorized group called Viet Tan -- which Vietnam considers a terrorist organization -- was trying to overthrow the government.
The 26-year-old Viet Tan (or Vietnam Reform Party) says it promotes change through "grassroots, peaceful means," including an underground newspaper, the Internet and radio broadcasts to spread its message. It says Nguyen Quoc Quan was merely preparing to distribute pro-democracy flyers in Ho Chi Minh City when arrested.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who chaired the hearing, said the arrest of pro-democracy campaigners was "not the type of news that we want to hear out of a country that is one of the largest recipients of U.S. aid in East Asia."
The two arrests -- and others -- came during a year which began with Vietnam being granted permanent normal trade relations with the U.S. and entry into the World Trade Organization.
Later in the year, the State Department removed Vietnam from a blacklist of religious freedom violators, despite protestations from some experts that the step was premature in the light of ongoing restrictions affecting Christians and Buddhists who want to organize free from government control.
Viet Tan chairman Do Hoang Diem told the senators the country's democracy movement was growing rapidly since 2006, comparing it to similar groups in communist Poland and Czechoslovakia during the Cold War.
"After more than 50 years in power, for the first time, the Vietnamese Communist Party is facing numerous and unprecedented challenges to its rule," he said. "The desire for real changes in Vietnam is stronger now than ever before. In response, the regime is using terror tactics to silence opposition."
The choice for the U.S. is not whether to isolate or engage Vietnam, but how to pursue the relationship in the most constructive way, Do said. He urged the Senate to pass the Vietnam Human Rights Act, speak out on abuses and support democracy.
On Thursday, Do said he thought the hearing had gone "very well," and noted that Boxer had expressed support for the Vietnam Human Rights Act.
"That is very encouraging," he said. "We are confident that we will continue to enjoy more and more support as we move forward."
In a letter to Boxer on Thursday, Vo Van Ai, the Paris-based international spokesman for the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, whose leaders are under house arrest, urged the Senate to pass the Vietnam Human Rights Act, saying that economic development alone would not bring democracy to Vietnam.
"By supporting human rights as well as enhanced trade, you will positively impact the lives of 84 million people in Vietnam," he said.
The House passed the Vietnam Human Rights Act last September by a 414-3 vote. It was introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), whose earlier attempts to get similar bills through the legislative process died in the Senate.
Opponents have included Arizona Sen. John McCain, now the Republican presidential nominee, and Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
The two senators, both Vietnam War veterans, were instrumental in the normalization of bilateral relations in 1995.
Do said Thursday his organization has not yet had any clear indication of the three presidential candidates' positions on the latest legislation.
Wild Thing's comment..........
Interesting that both McCain and Kerry once again in agreement about Vietnam.
.....Thank you Jack for sending this to me. Jack's blog is Conservative Insurgent.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (6)
Some History Of B.Hussein Obama and Jeremiah Wright
Obama's Church: Cauldron of Division
August 9th, 2007
Presidential candidate Barack Obama preaches on the campaign trail that America needs a new consensus based on faith and bipartisanship, yet he continues to attend a controversial Chicago church whose pastor routinely refers to "white arrogance" and "the United States of White America."
The connection between the two goes back to Obama's days as a young community organizer in Chicago's South Side when he first met the charismatic Wright. Obama credited Wright with converting him, then a religious skeptic, to Christianity.
"It was ... at Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side of Chicago that I met Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., who took me on another journey and introduced me to a man named Jesus Christ. It was the best education I ever had," Obama described his spiritual pilgrimage to a group of church ministers this past June.
Since the 1980s, Obama has not only remained a regular attendee at Wright's services in his inner city mega church, Trinity United Church of Christ, along with its other 8,500 members, he's been a close disciple and personal friend of Wright.
Wright conducted Obama's marriage to his wife Michelle, baptized his two daughters, and blessed Obama's Chicago home. Obama's best-selling book, "The Audacity of Hope," takes its title from one of Wright's sermons.
Several prior remarks by Obama's pastor have caught the media's attention:
* Wright on 9/11: "White America got their wake-up call after 9/11. White America and the Western world came to realize people of color had not gone away, faded in the woodwork, or just disappeared as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring black concerns." On the Sunday after the attacks, Dr. Wright blamed America.
* Wright on the disappearance of Natalee Holloway: "Black women are being raped daily in Africa. One white girl from Alabama gets drunk at a graduation trip to Aruba, goes off and gives it up while in a foreign country and that stays in the news for months."
* Wright on Israel: "The Israelis have illegally occupied Palestinian territories for over 40 years now. Divestment has now hit the table again as a strategy to wake the business community and wake up Americans concerning the injustice and the racism under which the Palestinians have lived because of Zionism."
* Wright on America: He has used the term "middleclassness" in a derogatory manner; frequently mentions "white arrogance" and the "oppression" of African-Americans today; and has referred to "this racist United States of America."
Wright's strong sentiments were echoed in the Sunday morning service attended by NewsMax.
Wright laced into America's establishment, blaming the "white arrogance" of America's Caucasian majority for the woes of the world, especially the oppression suffered by blacks.
To underscore the point he refers to the country as the "United States of White America." Many in the congregation, including Obama, nodded in apparent agreement as these statements were made.
The sermon also addressed the Iraq war, a frequent area of Wright's fulminations.
"Young African-American men," Wright thundered, were "dying for nothing." The "illegal war," he shouted, was "based on Bush's lies" and is being "fought for oil money."
In a sermon filled with profanity, Wright also blamed the war on "Bush administration bulls--t."
Wright first came to national attention in 1984, when he visited Castro's Cuba and Col. Muammar Gaddafi's Libya.
Wright's Libyan visit came three years after a pair of Libyan fighter jets fired on American aircraft over international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, and four years before the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland — which resulted in the deaths of 259 passengers and crew. The U.S. implicated Gaddafi and his intelligence services in the bombing.
In recent years, Wright has focused his diatribe on America's war on terror and the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Obama attributed Wright's controversial views to Wright being "a child of the '60s" who Obama said "expresses himself in that language of concern with institutional racism, and the struggles the African-American community has gone through."
"It is hard to imagine, though, how Mr. Obama can truly distance himself from Mr. Wright," writes Jodi Kantor of The New York Times. On the day Sen. Obama announced his presidential quest in February of this year, Wright was set to give the invocation at the Springfield, Ill. rally. At the last moment, Obama's campaign yanked the invite to Wright.
Wright's camp was apparently upset by the slight, and Obama's campaign quickly issued a statement "Senator Obama is proud of his pastor and his church."
Since that spat, there is little evidence, indeed, that Sen. Obama has sought to distance himself from the angry Church leader. In June, when Obama appeared before a conference of ministers from his religious denomination, Wright appeared in a videotaped introduction.
One of Obama's campaign themes has been his claim that conservative evangelicals have "hijacked" Christianity, ignoring issues like poverty, AIDS, and racism.
This past June, in an effort to build a new consensus between his new politics and faith, Obama's campaign launched a new Web page, www.faith.barackobama.com.
On the day the page appeared on his campaign site, it offered testimonials from Wright and two other ministers supporting Obama. The inclusion of Wright drew a sharp rebuke from the Catholic League. Noting that Obama had rescinded Wright's invitation to speak at his announcement ceremony, Catholic League President Bill Donohue declared that Obama "knew that his spiritual adviser was so divisive that he would cloud the ceremonies."
He noted that Wright "has a record of giving racially inflammatory sermons and has even said that Zionism has an element of ‘white racism.' He also blamed the attacks of 9/11 on American foreign policy."
Donohue acknowledged that Obama may have different views than Wright and the other ministers on his Web site, but "he is responsible for giving them the opportunity to prominently display their testimonials on his religious outreach Web site."
Political pundits have suggested that Obama's problems with Wright are not ones based on faith, but pure politics. The upstart presidential candidate needs to pull most of the black vote to have any chance of snagging the Democratic nomination. Obama's ties to Wright and the activist African American church helps in that effort.
But the same experts same those same ties may come to haunt him if he were to win the nomination and face a Republican in the general election.
The worry is not lost on Wright.
"If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me," Wright told The New York Times with a shrug. "I said it to Barack personally, and he said 'yeah, that might have to happen.'"
Wild Thing's comment.......
This preacher is not preaching the gospel, he is simply preaching hate. I don't get why if someone hates America so much why they stay here. There are other countries they can move to.
Krauthammer said (about Wright) “ This is not a problem, this is a cancer”.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:44 AM | Comments (10)
March 14, 2008
House To Close Its Doors For Spying Bill
The US Capitol dome is seen in the early morning in Washington, DC. The US House of Representatives on Thursday agreed to hold a rare secret session, the first for a quarter century, on a wiretapping anti-terror bill, as a standoff with the White House deepened
House Democratic leaders agreed Thursday to a rare closed-door session — the first in 25 years — to debate surveillance legislation.
Republicans requested privacy for what they termed "an honest debate" on the new Democratic eavesdropping bill that is opposed by the White House and most Republicans in Congress.
The closed-door debate was scheduled for late Thursday night, after the House chamber could be cleared and swept by security personnel to make sure there are no listening devices.
The last private session in the House was in 1983 on U.S. support for paramilitary operations in Nicaragua. Only five closed sessions have taken place in the House since 1825.
President Bush vowed to veto the House Democrats' version of the terrorist surveillance bill, saying it would undermine the nation's security.
House leaders said they would vote on the bill Friday, just before taking a two-week recess. The bill would then have to be approved by the Senate.
Bush opposes it in part because it doesn't provide full, retroactive legal protection to telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on their customers without court permission after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
About 40 lawsuits have been filed against telecommunications companies by people and organizations alleging they violated wiretapping and privacy laws. The lawsuits have been combined and are pending before a single federal judge in California.
The Democrats' measure would encourage the judge to review in private the secret government documents underpinning the program in order to decide whether the companies acted lawfully. If they did, the lawsuits would be dismissed.
The administration has prevented those documents from being revealed, even to a judge, by invoking the state secrets privilege. That puts the companies in a bind because it puts off limits evidence they might use to defend themselves.
It wasn't clear what information would be presented in the closed session. Just a fraction of Congress has been allowed to read secret documents underpinning the surveillance program, and those who have arrived at varying conclusions.
The Senate Intelligence Committee, after seeing classified material, said the companies acted on the good-faith belief that the wiretaps they allowed were lawful. Democrats on the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees were unconvinced after being presented with the same material.
Rhode Island Democrat Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse sits on both the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees. He said the documents lay out the Bush administration's rationale for why it was legal to sidestep a special secret court that normally authorizes wiretaps. Congress created the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 1978 to prevent government abuse of wiretapping.
Whitehouse said the documents assert that the president has the power to determine what his constitutional powers are, particularly in a time of war.
The surveillance law is intended to help in the pursuit of suspected terrorists by making it easier to eavesdrop on foreign phone calls and e-mails that pass through the United States. A temporary law expired Feb. 16 before Congress was able to produce a replacement bill. Bush opposed an extension of the temporary law as a tactic to pressure Congress into accepting the Senate version of the surveillance legislation. The Senate's bill provides retroactive legal immunity for the telecommunications companies.
Bush said lawsuits against telecom companies would lead to the disclosure of state secrets. Further, he said lawsuits would undermine the willingness of the private sector to cooperate with the government in trying to track down terrorists.
Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said intelligence is already being lost.
"Each and every day our capabilities are eroding," he said.
Directing his message at the House, Bush said, "They should not leave for their Easter recess without getting the Senate bill to my desk."
Bush predicted the Senate would not pass the House version of the bill, and said even if it did, he would veto it.
At least one Senate Republican said the lawsuits should go forward to determine whether the wiretapping program was illegal. But Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter wants to substitute the government for the phone companies as the defendant in the court cases.
"The president can't have a blank check," Specter said in an interview. "If you close down the courts, there's no check and balance."
He added: "Wiretaps are important for national security. There's no doubt about that. Al-Qaida and terrorism continue to be a major threat to this country. It is my hope that the president will not find it necessary to veto the bill, that we'll be able to work it out."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Bush is misrepresenting the House bill, and suggested the fight is less about surveillance powers than it is that House Democrats are refusing to bend to Bush's wishes.
"Congress owes the American people more than blind obeisance to the executive branch," said Hoyer, D-Md.
Wild Thing's comment........
It's a secret so I will whisper.....shhhhhh
LOL Wait a second. They had the place swept so no one could eavesdrop on their discussion of eavesdropping? Too funny. The word ironic comes to mind.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (6)
Share and Tell
I am so excited. I have been using this mousepad I got at a blog called Clarity and Resolve. It no longer exists, but I have been using this mousepad since I started my blog in Sept. of 2005. LOL
Well it finally died on me. It was getting to be a mess, rolled edges you name it. hahaha
Last month Nick and I had our wedding anniversary, it is on February 14th , yes Valentines day. He asked me if there was anything I would especially like to have. So I told him I would l love a new mousepad. LOL He laughed and said that's it? I said yep and I know the exact one I would really like.
I love it and never knew they had so many different kinds to pick from. So consider this a fun post of me just sharing something new. heh heh
It just arrived and here it is.......... cool huh! And it has my favorite form of transportation on it..... the helo! Tah dah!
The funny thing is I want it to last so I am fighting putting the old one back on my desk and just having this one to look at. hahaha That would but nuts but I actually did think that for a second.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (16)
Court Challenged To Allow Christians Right To Pray
Rev. Hashmel Turner
Appeal seeks to overturn decision eliminating 'Jesus'
A court hearing is coming in which the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will be asked to restore to Christians the rights that political correctness in the United States today grants other religions, including the right to pray to their God.
The case involves Rev. Hashmel Turner and the city of Fredericksburg, Va., and is being handled by the constitutional experts at The Rutherford Institute.
Turner, a member of the city council in Fredericksburg, was part of a rotation of council members who would take turns bringing a prayer at the council meetings, and he ended his prayers "in Jesus name."
That offended a listener, who promptly brought several heavyweight activist groups into the picture with their threat of a lawsuit if the elected Christian council member wasn't censored, so the city adopted a policy requiring "nondenominational" prayers, effectively eliminating any reference to "Jesus."
John Whitehead, the founder and chief of The Rutherford Institute, told WND it's an issue of freedom of speech and freedom of religion, burdened with the politically correct atmosphere in the United States that appears to endorse or at least allow any sort of religious acknowledgement, such as the University of Michigan building footbaths for Muslims, but allows no similar acknowledgement of Christianity.
He said the Fredericksburg case is one of the first to be battled through the courts, and is being watched closely by city councils and state legislatures across the country.
WND has reported several times on various religious leaders, including one high-profile Hindu from Arizona, who have been asked to say prayers at various state legislatures and in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, leaders in the Senate specifically rejected permission for a Christian leader, former Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, permission to do the same.
The arguments in the Turner case will be March 19, and will focus on the circumstances that led the city to tell Turner, "You can't refer to your God," said Whitehead.
"The city passed this regulation telling people how to pray!" he said. The penalty for violating would be a citation for "disorderly conduct."
A lower court dismissed the First Amendment complaint, despite arguments that the restriction "violates Turner's constitutional rights to free speech, to freely exercise his religious beliefs and to equal protection of the law."
"The essential question in this case is whether the government can provide an opportunity to pray to a select group of individuals, all the while dictating the content of the prayers and excluding anyone who refuses to go along with their dictates," Whitehead said.
"The answer, as the Supreme Court has ruled in the past, is in the negative – the government simply cannot prescribe or proscribe the content of any 'official' prayer without violating the Establishment Clause, and it cannot discriminate against any person based on his or her religious viewpoint without violating that person's rights to free speech and free religious expression," he said.
Turner joined the council in 2002, but since the 1950s the council called on members on a rotating basis to open in prayer. He prayed both for himself individually that he might have wisdom and guidance in carrying out his duties and likewise for the council, officials said, ending "in Jesus name."
The result was a threat of a lawsuit from the ACLU, which later was joined by other similarly situated advocacy organizations.
The council buckled, adopting a policy of "nondenominational" prayers only. The district court opined that the councilman's prayers were "government speech," an argument Whitehead challenged.
"Government cannot itself pray, thus prayer cannot be government speech," the appeal noted. Moreover, the standing definition of "government speech" generally has applied when the government controls the content, not during an individual council member's prayer.
Whitehead, in an opinion column on the case, which already has been in the courts for two years, said the people of Fredericksburg "should be grateful for a representative who knows how to stand his ground and fight for the things that matter."
"There are some things in life that cannot be compromised," he continued. "For Hashmel Turner, his faith, his integrity and his civil liberties are three things worth fighting for."
He noted Turner was the oldest of 10 children and served in the Army in Southeast Asia from 1969-1972, then returned to help each of his nine younger siblings get a start in life.
He and his wife Alice have been married more than three decades. He's served as an interim pastor and works as a motor vehicle operator and safety training instructor.
"In the state where Thomas Jefferson penned the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom to protect the likes of three Baptist preachers jailed for uttering unlicensed prayers, it may seem strange that ending a prayer with three small words could ignite a legal brushfire," Whitehead said. "Yet it has.
"Other members of the city council are able to pray in the manner they choose and describe God in their own words. Apart from three small words, the other council members' prayers are not much different from Turner's," he said.
Whitehead told WND the case is just a symptom of the total secularization of America intended by groups like the ACLU and one of the newer organizations to join in trying to censor Turner, People for the American Way.
He cited another case his firm has handled: A student in Las Vegas who wanted to "mention" Jesus during her valedictory speech at graduation. School officials told her no, and when she did, turned off her microphone during her speech.
"There's a political correctness," he said. "Here's what I'm seeing nationwide. People don't want to offend anybody, so if one person is disturbed by the name 'Jesus" they want to eliminate it."
Yet at the same time the public is making accommodation for Muslim prayer rooms, footbaths and other special provisions for members of that faith.
"There seems to be very much of a tolerance for other religions, but not for Christianity," he said.
Wild Thing's comment........
Our country has been making exceptions for the Muslim needs, their prayer rooms and foot baths etc. When we give in to Muslims and say NO to Christianity and the Jewish faith it must be causing our Founding fathers to spin in their graves.
If a person is offended by the name Jesus they ban it? And yet if a person is offended by caving in to Islam it is OK? Something is terribly wrong and God help us all. Islam the so called religion that teaches hate for the people of the book which are the Christians and Jews. That alone if we knew nothing else about this cult of Islam should be enough for us to have sirens going off of danger to our country.
....Thank you Mark for this article.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (16)
Friday Funnies ~ Thank you
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.....Thank you Larry this is so funny.
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The Haircut
One day a florist goes to a barber for a haircut. After the cut he asked about his bill and the barber replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The florist was pleased and left the shop.
When the barber goes to open his shop the next morning there is a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.
Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The cop is happy and leaves the shop.
The next morning when the barber goes to open up there is a 'thank you' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.
Later that day, a college professor comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The professor is very happy and leaves the shop.
The next morning when the barber opens his shop, there is a 'thank you' card and a dozen different books, such as 'How to Improve Your Business' and 'Becoming More Successful.
'Then, a Congressman comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The Congressman is very happy and leaves the shop.
The next morning when the barber goes to open up, there are a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.
And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the members of our Congress.—
Vote carefully this year.
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The Dying Priest and The Clinton's
The old priest lay dying in the hospital. For years, he had faithfully served the people of the nation's capital in Washington D.C. He motioned for his nurse to come near. "Yes, Father?" said the nurse.
"I would really like to see President Bill and Senator Hillary Clinton before I die," whispered the priest.
"I'll see what I can do, Father" replied the nurse.
The nurse sent the request to the Senate and waited for a response. Soon the word arrived; the Clintons would be delighted to visit the priest. As they went to the hospital, Hillary commented to Bill, "I don't know why the old priest wants to see us, but it certainly will help our images and might even get me elected President. After all, I'm IN IT TO WIN IT."
Bill agreed-it was a very good thing for her campaign once they put out a press release about it.
When they arrived at the priest's room, the old priest took Bill's hand in his right hand and Hillary's hand in his left. There was silence and a look of serenity on the old priest's face.
Finally Bill Clinton spoke. "Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?"
The old priest slowly replied, "I have always tried to pattern my life after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
"Amen" said Bill.
"Amen" said Hillary.
The old priest continued......"He died between two lying thieves. I would like to do the same."
....Thank you Lynn for these funny jokes. hahaa
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Dilemma
The Democratic Party has a crisis of monumental proportions:
They don't know whether to vote for the "Nut" with two Boobs or for the "Boob" with two Nuts!
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....Thank you Mark for this video it is so funny.
HOMELAND SECURITY AT THE BARROW, ALASKA AIRPORT
....Thank you Jack this is great, I love bears. hahaha
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (8)
Memo From McCain's Camp : Play Nice
McCain topper to allies: Stay on message
"After being forced to respond to three separate incidents in recent weeks of conservatives alluding to Barack Obama's middle name, John McCain's campaign manager today sent a memo to top supporters urging them to stick to the campaign's preferred message -- and to avoid taking gratuitous shots at their Democratic rivals. 'Overheated rhetoric and personal attacks on our opponents distract from the big differences between John McCain's vision for the future of our nation and the Democrats,' wrote Rick Davis in a document the campaign e-mailed to Republican officials and staffers this afternoon. 'This campaign is about John McCain: his vision, leadership, experience, courage, service to his country and ability to lead as commander in chief from day one.' McCain, Davis added, 'has held himself to the highest standards and he will continue to run a respectful campaign based on the issues. We expect that all supporters, surrogates and staff will hold themselves to similarly high standards when they are representing the campaign. To help guide you, please find talking points below.'"
So the McCain campaign has sent out talking points to supporters, surrogates, and staff telling them what to say. "Those talking points focus entirely on McCain's biography and positions on key issues."
And from Rush Limbaugh because he said exactly how I feel about this:
" I have to tell you, this doesn't apply to me, folks. No, it doesn't. I'm not trying to be provocative here. This does not apply to me. I'm not a surrogate. I am a liberated American who will discuss the candidates as I see fit, without the help of the McCain campaign and their talking points. Can you believe this? Talking points? This is going to extend beyond just surrogates and staff and anybody that speaks for McCain, is going to be asked to stick to these talking points. I've never heard of a candidate issuing talking points to supporters, telling them to stick to those points and not to express their own views their own ways."
"This is still pandering to the lib media, folks. Just stick to this, if you would, please. Just say that McCain has the experience, the judgment, the character to lead America in a dangerous world. That's one of the primary talking points. This is not the way we Republicans do things. We don't do this. You're -- you're asking us to compromise our principles. This is something the Democrats do. You remember the calls. "Where is your integrity on this? "
Wild Thing's comment...........
Um what happened to freedom of speech? Just asking of course but it seems to be talking points, memo's and forget about speaking the truth. I agree with Rush, this will never apply to me, nor to this blog. I would not waste my time doing one post if I had to be under some kind of American version of Islamic law or something. No thank you.
And oh just one more thing, I will never do what this jerk Rick Davis of all people requests.
Past post about Rick Davis:
McCain and Connections To Soros ~ Ugly Stuff
I guess they just want us to go off quietly, in silence and not mention anything we learn about. Hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil. Sorry I did not come from a monkey. LOL
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (8)
March 13, 2008
Confronting John Kerry about Winter Soldier II ~ Must See Video
Sen. John Kerry confronted about Winter Soldier II
Here’s the transcript:
Opening slate: On January 31, 1971, John Kerry organized the Winter Soldier Investigations, a media event that falsely accused American soldiers of routinely raping, torturing, and murdering innocent Vietnamese civilians.
Second slate: From March 13-16, 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War has coordinated a second Winter Soldier Investigations in an effort to assail the U.S. Military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Third slate: On March 11, 2008, Jason Mattera of Young America’s Foundation confronted Senator Kerry (D-MA) about Winter Soldier II and the Senator’s shady past.
MATTERA: Hey, Sen. Kerry! Jason Mattera with Young America’s Foundation. How are you?
KERRY: Jason. How are you?
MATTERA: I was wondering: Do you have any advice for the new group of activists who are organizing Winter Soldier II?
KERRY: I haven’t [unintelligble] what they’re doing or where they’re at. I just don’t…
MATTERA: Do you think this crop of anti-war activists, do you there’ll be any frauds like Al Hubbard?
KERRY: I have no idea. I hope not.
MATTERA: Do you think that they will make slanderous accusations–accusing the troops of raping women, pillaging villaging, just like you did to the Fulbright committee?
KERRY: Uh, I didn’t make those.
MATTERA: You didn’t?
Audio clip, John Kerry, 4/22/71: [They told the stories at times] they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.
Kerry claims Winter Soldier Investigations were substantiated by further investigation.
MATTERA: Did you ever verify those –
KERRY (crosstalk): I’ve been misquoted about that hundreds of times.
MATTERA: So you never substantiated those charges before you–
KERRY: I proposed–I gave them to the committee because I felt that they ought to be investigated and that’s exactly what I said. These are the–many of those charges, incidentally, were subsequently verified by different entities.
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Wild Thing's comment........
I am thrilled to see this, I love how Kerry got rattled and into the interview asked who Jason was ( Jason had already told him. hahaha) and who he was with. LMAO Kerry is lucky he lives in a politically correct USA, because if it was a Wild Thing USA he would be in jail for what he did, or worse. Because of Kerry soldiers died and I will never forgive him.
Never Forget!
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Comments (10)
Protestors Intend To Shutdown The Tacoma Mall
Fort Lewis officials are alerting soldiers and their families to avoid the Tacoma Mall
The anti-war movement is ramping up their attacks with a call to harass military personnel and their families at the Tacoma Mall, this Saturday the 15th.
Recommend that DOD affiliated personnel, family members, retirees and civilians avoid the Tacoma Mall area on 15 March 2008 from 1200 to 1730 hours.
Local protest groups have announced their intention to shutdown the Tacoma Mall and the recruiting station located at the mall to call attention to the upcoming anniversary of the start of the Iraq War. They want to "Make it impossible for business as usual to continue as the Iraq War approaches its 5th year."
Anticipated activities include distributing anti-war and anti-military literature, confront local recruiters or persons trying to enter their facilities, and attempts to interact with soldiers, family members and/or civilians who appear to be military or have DOD decals on their vehicles.
Recent protests against the war at the Port of Olympia have been marked by increased levels of violence. DOD personnel, family members and civilians should avoid contact, to include conversations or dialogue with protesters. Protesters may be filming activities for reporting in independent media or use in legal actions.
Commanders and supervisors should strongly encourage their soldiers, family members, and civilians to avoid the Tacoma Mall area during this time and to report incidents of violence to local police.
For incidents of violence, call 911
For non-critical information, contact Washington State Police at (253) 536-6210 or Tacoma Police Department at (253) 594-7800.
Conservative Talk radio KVI-570 has put out a call to all listeners to show up and support the troops. Bring a flag, a sign, a banner, and most of all a friend.
Wild Thing's comment........
There are about 20,000 Soldiers at Fort Lewis, 5,000 Airman (USAF) and about 15,000 Sailors and Marines in the Puget Sound area.
I am sick and tired of seeing people act malicious toward us soldiers and their families. And having to otell military families to stay away from the mall is not lilving under the precious FREEDOMS their loved one and our Veternas have fought for.
It is past time for leaders in the Senate and House to demand an investigation into the nationwide epidemic of attacks on recruiting stations. U.S. Attorneys should prosecute the agitators. The Constitution provides that the federal government be able to raise an Army during wartime. The escalation in attacks is not only costing taxpayers money, but they could cripple the country’s ability to defend herself.
If this isn’t treason, what is? What they want to do goes way beyond the First Amendment rights!
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:50 AM | Comments (12)
B. Hussein Obama's Mentor Jeremiah Wright Obama's Minister
Barack Obama's mentor, Jeremiah Wright of Trinity UCC (United Church of Christ) preaching on the notion of a black Jesus being oppressed by white people and his tirade against Hillary Clinton stating that, "Hillary ain't never been called a......
And then there is also this, it should mean trouble for Obama but since there is a double standard it probably won't:
Obama’s Controversial Pastor Puts Church in Hot Water
CHICAGO - Barack Obama’s controversial pastor and the church he’s served for 36 years may be in hot water over statements he has made from the pulpit in support of the Illinois senator’s run for the White House.
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. preaches that he follows the righteous path, but when it comes to the federal tax law, his Trinity United Church of Christ may have crossed the line.
Although Wright delivered what was billed as his final sermon last month on his path to retirement, prior to his departure he delivered commentary from the pulpit now being scrutinized in which he praised Obama.
“There is a man here who can take this country in a new direction,” Wright said during his Jan. 13 sermon, according to recordings obtained by FOX News.
It was not the first time Wright appeared to endorse Obama, who was baptized at Trinity United, has been an active member of the church for two decades and receives spiritual mentorship from Wright.
The title of Obama’s second book, “The Audacity of Hope,” was taken from a sermon by Wright.
During a Christmas sermon, Wright tried to compare Obama’s upbringing to Jesus at the hands of the Romans.
“Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people,” Wright said. “Hillary would never know that.
“Hillary ain’t never been called a nigger. Hillary has never had a people defined as a non-person.”
In his Jan. 13 sermon, Wright said:
“Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No he ain’t! Bill did us, just like he did Monica Lewinsky. He was riding dirty.”
FOX News purchased the video recordings of Wright’s sermons from the church.
“It’s pretty clear an indirect endorsement of Barack Obama - that’s not something you’re supposed to do according to the tax code,” said Andrew Walsh, a professor at Trinity College who specializes in religion in politics.
The tax code bans churches from participating in or intervening in a political campaign. Violations can result in the loss of a church’s tax exempt status.
The Obama campaign issued a statement in response to FOX News’ inquiries about Wright’s sermons.
“Senator Obama has said repeatedly that personal attacks such as this have no place in this campaign or our politics, whether they’re offered from a platform at a rally or the pulpit of a church,” said Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman.
“Senator Obama does not think of the pastor of his church in political terms. Like a member of his family, there are things he says with which Senator Obama deeply disagrees.”
Obama defended Wright’s longtime activism for blacks in America last week at a campaign event in Ohio.
“Jeremiah Wright … has said some things that are considered controversial because he’s considered that part of his social gospel,” Obama said.
The Internal Revenue Service wouldn’t comment on whether it is looking into potential tax violations at Trinity United. The church declined to make Wright available for an interview.
Congregant Dwight Hopkins, a professor of Theology at the University of Chicago, said there is no basis for the IRS to go after the church.
“From the church side they will say it’s theology,” said. “If it wasn’t a senator running for president and it wasn’t his church, then I think we could say all kinds of things.”
The IRS has written dozens of letters warning churches against political advocacy from the pulpit. Yet it has revoked a church’s tax-exempt status only twice in the last half-century.
Walsh said it’s not typical for the IRS to enforce the rules.
“There’s a tension here between the desires of the religious leaders to say important things in the public marketplace and the IRS rules, and so most of the time, the IRS does not enforce these rules,” Walsh said.
The public scrutiny of these sermons comes in the wake of last month’s revelation by the head of the United Church of Christ that the IRS is investigation a speech Obama gave at the denomination’s national conference last year in Connecticut.
In a certified letter, Marsha Ramirez, IRS director, EO Examinations, wrote:
“Our concerns are based on articles posted on several Web sites including the church’s which state the United States Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama addressed nearly 10,000 church members gathered at the United Church of Christ’s biennial General Synod at the Hartford Civic Center, on June 23, 2007. In addition, 40 Obama volunteers staffed campaign tables outside the center to promote his campaign.”
The church and the Obama campaign have denied that any inappropriate political advocacy occurred during this speech.
Wright’s sermons often address themes of white supremacy and black repression, and critics have called them racially divisive.
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Wild Thing's comment........
This is one very sick minister, human being!
I don't understand hate, there are people I don't respect at all, there are people I think should go to jail or even yes be executed for treason. But I don't waste time in my heart to hate any of them. Hate like love is a strong emotion and unlike love that is a positive force, hate is destructive as much to the person it is directed upon as it is the person holding hate in their heart. Maybe it is called categorizing feelings I don't know. It is just that I say how I feel about let's say Hanoi Jane or Kerry, Murtha etc. rant about them, know what I would like done to them for punishment and then I move on. I know there is only so much I can do about my anger at them even though it runs deep within me. At the moment of a rant I can feel my blood like it is boiling, but when the rant is done my blood stops boiling till the next time. haha
My enemy is the enemy within our country. They are the ones that concern me the most. Not the terrorists you might ask? No they aren't. Sure I want to be safe and all, but we know if we had to we could shoot them if they attacked us, if the situation was such that we had a gun with us at the time. But the enemy within is killing our country, and seems bound and determined to hand it over to the followers of Islam / socialism/progressives / communism / globalize. They are my immediate enemy and that kind of fight would have to be done with strong leaders that think and believe like we do. And that is the catch 22 that drives me up a wall. Because those kind of leaders are few and far between and most certainly none of them are running for President. And there is no way anyone should do violence against this kind of enemy it would be wrong and against the law as well. It is not an enemy that can be shot no matter what.
If I was in the military I would want to be a Marine sniper. One shot, one kill no remorse. Job done and go on with what I had to do next. But this is not life in the military, this is political suicide, this death to America is something that creeps across our land in laws, and PC and protesters against those fighting to keep us safe and living in the land of the free. It is back room deals and secret talks about amnesty and how to ignore existing immigration laws.
The enemy within has their sites on our Flag and what it stands for, on what our Founding Fathers fought each other and worked so hard to make the America we have to exist. They loath our military and have lied to our Veterans with the stroke of a pen. They leave our POW's behind not by accident but intentionally as we know this has happened and is documented. They use poisons on our troops in the jungle and now too in the land of sand. Then deny their guilt and responsibility when the soldier gets home and gets sick. Making it hard as heck to get the right treatment. They scoff at rebuttals as though we are beneath them and they are the ones that live each day with hate ruling their very being just like the followers of Islam.
And just like this preacher of Obama's church, a man filled with hate, smaller then small in character and only is capable of preaching his hate instead of working to do positive things for blacks. It is easier to yell vile things then it is to teach ethics and high character and how blessed they should be to live in America. No instead it is hate the white people and cop out to being responsible human beings and citizens. "Give me give me" like Michelle Obama has talked about in her speeches.
Being a positive person I can only say to pray, pray for America, pray for our military and their families. We can be fighters, Patriots and warriors and we need to be. We should never give up on this great land, this is the best country in the entire world.It might be where we have to go through some hell and it sure seems so but we will get our chance as long as we don't give up. The enemy doesn't realize and never will, it would take a thousand of them to equal ONE of you.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:48 AM | Comments (12)
Undercover Reporting in Berkely of Their Protests of Marines, Iraq War and Deodorant ~ LOL
Marines in Berkeley
Rob Riggle goes undercover to report on Berkeley, CA's reaction to a new Marine recruiting station. Code Pink protests Berkeley Marines and war.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:47 AM | Comments (6)
Second Muslim Elected to Congress
Andre Carson Becomes Second Muslim in Congress
Andre Carson was elected in Indiana in a special election on Wednesday, becoming the second Muslim in Congress.
Carson was elected to fill the seat left vacant after his grandmother, Democratic Congresswoman Julia Carson, died last December.
Andre Carson, 33, is a member of the Indianapolis City Council who converted to Islam about a decade ago. The first and only other Muslim member of the US Congress is Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, also a Democrat, who is in his first term.
Unlike Ellison who sparked controversy for swearing his oath on a Koran instead of a Bible, Carson's faith was not mentioned much during his campaign.
Wild Thing's comment........
If someone had told me in October of 2001 that there would be any muslims elected to federal office, and that the democrat front-runner would be named Barack Hussein Obama, I’d have fallen off my chair in laughter.
I can’t believe that people are that willing to turn their government over to people whose religion is the most intolerant on the face of the planet.
This was a post I made on Feb. 17, 2008 about this man Andre Carson running for office:
Islam Convert Seeks A Seat In Congress
And this one is a post I made on Feb 21st 2008
CAIR’s Guide to Muslims Running For Office
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (8)
Code Pink's Full Week Plans For Protesting in Berkeley
Code Pink protests Berkeley Marines, Iraq war
Toting house plants, pink pajamas, drums and organic veggies, protesters in Berkeley began settling in Monday for an around-the-clock protest at the Marine Corps recruitment center this week to mark the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq.
"We wanted to step up the pressure," said Medea Benjamin, leader of the activist group Code Pink, which has been conducting regular protests at the center in downtown Berkeley since October. "Baghdad has a Green Zone. We wanted to create a really, really green zone with plants and bicycles and films about ecology."
A few dozen protesters are expected to camp out until Friday on the sidewalk in front of the Marines center at 64 Shattuck Square, and spend their days doing yoga, singing, waving at motorists and watching sustainability documentaries on a laptop computer.
But they're likely to run afoul of the Berkeley Police Department when they unroll their sleeping bags. Police intend to enforce state laws banning camping on the sidewalk, city spokeswoman Mary Kay Clunies-Ross said.
"They understand that we have a responsibility to keep the sidewalks clear and safe for everyone," Clunies-Ross said. "So far everyone's been cool about it. If this changes, we'll adjust. But so far, so good."
Four protesters spent the night in front of the center Sunday night but weren't arrested because they didn't sleep, Lt. Andrew Greenwood said.
"We're going to continue to monitor the situation and keep the lines of communication open with the demonstrators," Greenwood said. "We're happy today was uneventful and we hope it stays that way."
The usual penalty for sleeping on a sidewalk is a citation requiring suspects to appear in court at a later date, Greenwood said. Police would bring in suspects only to be fingerprinted and booked into jail if there was a likelihood they would immediately commit the same crime again.
Anticipating a deluge of protests in Berkeley leading up to the war anniversary on March 19, the city is cracking down on laws that keep the sidewalks clear and requiring all protest groups to obtain permits. Several groups have requested permits for Civic Center Park and 64 Shattuck Square on March 19, and city staff is trying to work out a compromise with all the interested groups, City Manager Phil Kamlarz said.
The protests don't seem to be fazing the Marines, who conducted business as usual Monday even as Code Pink activists strung up banners proclaiming "Women Say Enough!" and arranged houseplants on the sidewalk.
"They don't bother us," said a Marine in the recruitment center who declined to give his name. "We're used to it. We don't get a lot of people coming to the office, anyway. We usually go out to meet people."
Code Pink has a full roster of activities planned for the week, including: yoga every morning at 8:30, organic potlucks every noon; nightly movies and popcorn; a bike ride around Berkeley on Tuesday; an open-mike musical jam on Wednesday; and a "send-off" to the Marines on Friday, when protesters will bring suitcases and pink berets for traveling.
"Since Berkeley is such a green city, we thought we'd turn the Marines recruiting center into a green zone," said Benjamin.
The center made international headlines last month when the City Council approved a proclamation that the Marines are "unwelcome intruders" in Berkeley. The city also granted a weekly parking permit to Code Pink outside the recruiting station to facilitate the group's regular protests.
Thousands of military supporters and peace activists from throughout the country descended on Berkeley for the City Council's reconsideration of the matter, creating the city's largest and most colorful protest in years.
The council revoked the declaration, but restated its opposition to the war. Since the vote, protests have become nearly constant at the center, which opened in January 2007 in a small downtown storefront.
.
Wild Thing's comment........
What I don't get is when they put that sign on the window isn't that defacing property? Shouldn't that person be arrested?
""Baghdad has a Green Zone. We wanted to create a really, really green zone with plants and bicycles and films about ecology."
OMG Can you believe this? LOL
"The council revoked the declaration"
Ms. Jones needs to check her facts. The council did NOT revoke their declaration, they only rescinded the portion about sending a letter to the Marine Corps.
The irony of all their foolish efforts is that Marine recruitment is. OOHRAH!
So up yours Code Pinko's!
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:44 AM | Comments (4)
Marines Deserve Better Thanks Than This
A Tracy man calls out the Berkeley city council and a protest group for their actions against U.S. Marine Corps recruiters.
By Craig Dander is a Tracy resident
In December 2006, U.S. Marine Capt. Richard Lund and staff moved from the old Federal Building in Alameda because it was scheduled to be torn down. He found a new location at Shattuck Square in Berkeley in proximity to the University of California, Berkeley, campus and many other colleges.
Lund is a Marine with more than eight years of service. He flew transport helicopters during most of this time, with two stints in Iraq and a tour in Sumatra, where he delivered humanitarian aid to victims of the 2004 tsunami.
He requested to come to the Bay Area to serve recruiting duty. He is the selection officer for the northern Bay Area; it is his job to recruit, interview, screen and evaluate college students and college graduates who show interest in becoming officers in the U.S. Marine Corps. Once they have formally committed to pursuing the program, his job is to help them apply and prepare for the rigors of Officer Candidate School and the challenges of life as a Marine officer.
To be eligible for the program, you have to either be a full-time college student or a college graduate. High schools students are not eligible to become officers.
Being a Marine officer is not the easiest path in the world; leading Marines requires incredible self sacrifice, and in today’s Marine Corps., succeeding in one’s quest to become a Marine officer almost guarantees a trip to Iraq.
Recently, the Berkeley City Council, in a 6-3 vote, approved a declaration proposed by council members and led by councilwoman Linda Mayo that the U.S. Marine Corps close its Berkeley recruiting center. The document went on to say that the Marines were “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.”
That same night, the council went on to approve a parking permit right in front of the Marine Corps offices and a noise permit — both free of normal fees collected by the city— to the antiwar group Code Pink.
These Code Pink folks try to characterize themselves in the media as a “bunch of grandmothers” who just want to see the boys come home from a stupid war. Nothing could be further from the truth.
They painted across the front doors of the Marine office in Berkeley: “Recruiters are traitors!” They’ve thrown animal feces at the Marines entering and exiting the building and posted signs that say things like, “Marines — the few, the proud, the insane!”
Councilwoman Mayo described Lund as a traitor in an interview on National Public Radio. She suggested that the Marines “take advantage of those in society with the fewest options … and they exploit the poor and impoverished to acquire more Marines to fight their war.”
She might be surprised to find that many young men and women seek out the Marines because they are an elite fighting group and the best amphibious assault force on the planet. They join because they want to be a part of something worthwhile and fulfilling. Often, these young people are fulfilling lifelong dreams in the pursuit of the Marine Corps.
We are an independent nation with an all-volunteer fighting force. We must maintain a military or be allied with those who do. Marines fight by order of the president. They have no power to change political policy here or abroad, so to insult them as a group or as individuals in such a hate-filled manner is misdirected at best. It’s not “their war,” and it should be remembered that they serve when and where they are asked to fight.
The Berkeley community has a tradition of respecting free speech and the rights of others. It’s a shame that those traditions have not been on display here. Instead, people with an utter disdain for the Marines, in the name of ending the war, demonized them as was done during the Vietnam era. They treat them as unwanted interlopers, and the council, in its arrogance, evidently thought endorsing this kind of message was for the greater good.
The Berkeley City Council and Code Pink are elitist, segregationist and self-righteous in both word and action.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of these United States of America, and I give my heart to the U.S. Marines and all the armed servicemen and -women who have given me the freedoms my family takes for granted each day. May God bless them all with a lifetime of abundance as they return home from active duty!
Wild Thing's comment........
If you go to the link you can also read the comments at the Tracy Press article. Many are from family members of those serving now.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:40 AM | Comments (4)
March 12, 2008
McCain's Campaign Condemns King's Remarks About Obama
McCain Slams Rep. King’s Obama Comments
John McCain’s presidential campaign has condemned remarks by Rep. Steve King, who claimed that terrorists will be “dancing in the streets” if Democrat Barack Obama is elected president.
"The senator rejects the type of politics that degrades our civics, and this campaign will be about the future of our country," said Jill Hazelbaker, spokeswoman for the presumptive Republican nominee.
"McCain could not be clearer on how he views these types of comments, and obviously that view extends to Congressman King's statement."
King, a three-term Republican from Iowa, made the comments to a radio station on Friday as he announced his bid for another term in the House, the Washington Post reported.
"I don't want to disparage anyone because of their race, their ethnicity, their name — whatever their religion their father might have been," King said.
"I'll just say this: When you think about the optics of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected president of the United States — I mean, what does this look like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the world of Islam?"
King then said: "I will tell you that if he is elected president, then the radical Islamists, the al-Qaida, the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11 because they will declare victory in this war on terror."
King then told Fox News on Saturday that if “we elect Obama to the presidency and . . . if they don’t dance in the streets, I will come and apologize to you and everybody in America. But I’m saying, ‘I’m right.’”
Obama responded during a campaign stop in Mississippi on Monday: “I think that Mr. King has it backwards. The fact that the continuation of a presence in Iraq as Sen. McCain has suggested is exactly what, I think, will fan the flames of anti-American sentiment and make it more difficult for us to create a long-term and sustainable peace in the world.”
Wild Thing's comment.......
I stand with King...McCain needs to apologize to King.
Regarding my being ticked at McCain for his being a liberal, it never seems to end..........Michael Corleone: "Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in."
I don't see how McCain can campaign against either Obama or Hillary, especially if every time a Republican says something anti-Democrat, he jumps in to defend the lib. I have never seen a politician do so much to alienate his base as McCain has.
It's true. Terrorists will be dancing in the streets. Tough cookies but Obama has painted himself as a terrorist-enabler by offering them a "summit". Terrorists don't deserve a "summit". All the hand-wringing will bring us an Obama presidency.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 PM | Comments (17)
Afghanistan - "The Coldest Winter" (Mar.2008)
Wild Thing's comment.........
So many lies to our troops, if ithey have weapons or not, how old the weapons are that they do have when our soldiers find them, and the patience our troops show these people. Amazing!
"We have to look constantly at ways to do it better and do it differently", states Woods.
Prayers for our troops, for their safety and thank God for every single one of them.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:55 AM | Comments (6)
Navy Adm. William Fallon Resigns as Mideast Military Chief
U.S. Central Command Navy Adm. William Fallon
Fallon Resigns as Mideast Military Chief
The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East resigned Tuesday amid speculation about a rift over U.S. policy in Iran. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that Adm. William J. Fallon, whose area of responsibility includes Iraq, had asked for permission to retire and that Gates agreed.
Gates said the decision, effective March 31, was entirely Fallon's and that Gates believed it was "the right thing to do."
Fallon was the subject of an article published last week in Esquire magazine that portrayed him as opposed to President Bush's Iran policy. It described Fallon as a lone voice against taking military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program.
"Recent press reports suggesting a disconnect between my views and the president's policy objectives have become a distraction at a critical time and hamper efforts in the Centcom region," Fallon, who is traveling in Iraq, said in a statement issued by his U.S. headquarters in Tampa, Fla.
"And although I don't believe there have ever been any differences about the objectives of our policy in the Central Command area of responsibility, the simple perception that there is makes it difficult for me to effectively serve America's interests there," he said.
President Bush praised Fallon in a statement. "During his tenure at Centcom, Admiral Fallon's job has been to help ensure that America's military forces are ready to meet the threats of an often-troubled region of the world, and he deserves considerable credit for progress that has been made there, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan," Bush said.
Gates announced that Fallon's top deputy, Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, will take over temporarily when Fallon leaves. A permanent successor, requiring nomination by the president and confirmation by the Senate, might not be designated in the near term.
Dempsey could be elevated to Central Command chief, although he already has been selected to become the top U.S. Army general in Europe. Among other possible candidates for the post — considered one of the most important in the U.S. military — is Army Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who had just been named to a top post on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and who had been commander of U.S. special operations forces in Iraq.
Another possibility is Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who serves as Gates' senior military assistant and is a former senior commander in Iraq.
Gates described as "ridiculous" any notion that Fallon's departure signals the United States is planning to go to war with Iran. And he said "there is a misperception" that Fallon disagrees with the administration's approach to Iran.
"I don't think there were differences at all," Gates added. He said he believed Fallon was fully supportive of the administration's policy on dealing with Iran through diplomatic and economic pressures.
Fallon, 63, a veteran of the Vietnam War and a former vice chief of naval operations, has had a 41-year Navy career. He took the Central Command post on March 16, 2007, succeeding Army Gen. John Abizaid, who retired. Fallon previously served as commander of U.S. Pacific Command.
Gates called Fallon a very able military strategist and said his advice will be missed at the Pentagon.
"I think this is a cumulative kind of thing," said Gates, speaking of the circumstances leading up to Fallon's decision. "It isn't the result of any one article or any one issue."
Wild Thing's comment........
From a policy standpoint it makes little sense to use the threat of war as a diplomatic tool if your commanding general is openly opposed to it. I think this move may be more in line with keeping all our options open. Iran doesn’t understand subtlety.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:50 AM | Comments (6)
Chuck Norris Visits Troops In Iraq
Chuck Norris Visits Troops In Iraq
3/10/08
Chuck Norris is helping to inspire U.S. troops in Iraq - after soldiers erected a shrine to the tough guy in their base.
The troops in Baghdad have created a shrine out of cardboard and Post-It notes to the seemingly invincible actor.
CLICK IMAGE OF CARDBOARD SEE SEE LARGER IMAGE
"Chuck Norris puts the laughter in manslaughter."
"The fastest way to a man's heart is with Chuck Norris's fist."
"Chuck Norris doesn't tea bag, he potato sacks. Booya!"
Norris has made the trek to Iraq several times to visit with troops over the years, including Falluja.
"The Marines love him. He's like a mythical legend," Staff Sergeant Amy Forsythe, who is stationed at the base in Falluja, told Reuters.
"He's helped us a lot. The appeal is also his martial arts, and sheer physical presence ... I don't think I go a day without hearing a Norris joke," said Corporal Ricardo Jones.
Norris' appeal has reached Iraqis as well. "I've seen his videos, he's a hero," said police trainer Khaled Hussein. "He saves the city, he protects women and children and he fights crime wherever it is. We should all be like Chuck Norris."
Sergeant Joe Lindsay says, "The jokes all add to his legend. They're not derogatory. He's an icon."
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:48 AM | Comments (11)
Outside the Wire: Documentary Series
Former Marine and television news producer JD Johannes traveled to Iraq in 2005 with his old Marine Corps unit to produce syndicated TV news reports for local stations.
From those reports comes a view of the war that only the grunts who operate outside the wire experience.
From a dust-up with Al Qaida outside Abu Ghriab, to a night raid on the home of an insurgent leader, you will see what the Marines saw and hear the story in their own words of why they joined, volunteered for the deployment, why they fight and what it is like to go outside the wire and into combat.
Extended trailer for 3 upcoming documentaries on the Iraq War. JD Johannes travels outside the wire as an embed with the US Military."The DVD…which is actually a Double Disc documentary trilogy is so close to be released it is maddening. (Individual episodes will also be sold on DVD.)
The three episodes, with all the special features, will give you 190 minutes of Iraq as only those who operate outside the wire get to see it.
There are more documentaries in the Outside the Wire Series to come."
From the website
About the Documentary Series:
The 'Outside the Wire' series of four documentaries about Iraq started when JD Johannes went to Iraq with his old Marine Corps unit in 2005 to produce syndicated television news reports.
Johannes returned to Iraq in 2007 to see 'The Surge' and the 'Anbar Awakening' first hand.
The 2005 trip resulted in the the release of the original 'Outside the Wire: Call Sign Vengeance' which follows one Marine infantry platoon through their deployment to the Fallujah area in 2005.
The 2007 trip resulted in three documentaries: 'Danger Close', 'Anbar Awakens' and 'Baghdad Surge'.
'Danger Close' is an up-close, in-depth look at a complex attack by Al Qaida on small, distant U.S. Army outpost on the edge of the Euphrates river valley. JD Johannes was the only reporter to witness the attack and followed the US Army paratroopers into combat--nearly getting himself killed.
'Anbar Awkens' shows the greatest turn-around of the Iraq War--the tribes of Al Anbar province joining with the coalition to fight Al Qaida--from the perspective of the Jumayli tribe. The Jumayli tribe--with no prompting from the Coalition--turned on Al Qaida and engaged in a serious gun-battle with Al Qaida before formally joining with the coalition.
'Baghdad Surge' is a look at the surge from asphalt level. This episode follows a U.S. Army infantry Captain through a 'day-of-the-surge' and the modern three-block-war.
The interviews with Soldiers and Marines were conducted at the Combat Outposts they lived and worked at by JD Johannes.
With the exception of digital animations and brief clips of insurgent video--everything was shot by JD Johannes.
Nothing was staged, recreated or rehearsed. The bullets, bombs, blood and bad guys are all real.
Wild Thing's comment........
I missed the show I didn't know about it ahead of time or I would have posted about it for all of you to know as well. I just went to their site though and signed up for their newsletter and to be able to get the DVD when it is released.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 AM | Comments (4)
Rice Says Human Rights, Liberty Are Values Practiced by Most Muslims
Human Rights, Liberty Are Values Practiced by Most Muslims, Says Rice
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the appointment of Washington's first-ever special envoy to the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference will help to promote principles that Muslims and non-Muslims alike "hold dear," such as human rights, liberty and the rule of law.
"These are not American values or Western values," she told OIC ambassadors in Washington on Monday. "They are universal values, values that are lived and practiced by the majority of Muslims in the world, many of whom are citizens of democracies."
Fourteen of the OIC's 57 members qualify as "electoral democracies," according to criteria applied by Freedom House in its latest report on freedom in the world. None are Arab states.
And only six of the 57 -- Benin, Guyana, Indonesia, Mali, Senegal and Suriname -- are deemed "free" according to a Freedom House evaluation that scores nations for both political rights and civil liberties, and classifies them as "free," "partly free" or "not free."
Sada Cumber, the man appointed by President Bush to serve as the first U.S. envoy to the OIC, acknowledged that he will have his work cut out for him.
"I will be advocating American interest on a range of hard issues from Iraq to Palestinian issue to nuclear issues," he told the OIC ambassadors and others gathered at the State Department ceremony.
"While I do not expect to always reach consensus on ever issue, but I do hope and pray and desire that we can foster a climate of mutual respect and trust," the Pakistani-born Texas businessman added.
Rice told the ceremony that the envoy's appointment was part of a broader administration effort to increase its engagement with Muslims worldwide.
He would combat misperceptions about the U.S. that are spread by America's enemies, she said.
"The notion that the United States is at war with Islam ... is simply propagated by violent extremists who seek to divide Muslim communities against themselves, to judge who is and who is not a pious Muslim and to commit any atrocity, even against their fellow Muslims, to impose an intolerant ideology on their societies," Rice said.
"The OIC plays a vital role in promoting moderation, dialogue and understanding and we welcome the statements that this organization has made in support of those values."
Established in 1969, and with its secretariat based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the OIC groups 56 independent countries plus "Palestine."
The Arab-Israeli conflict has been a top priority, and enhancing Islamic solidarity its stated goal, although over the decades it has also faced frequent crises within its ranks, such as during the Iran-Iraq War, a 10-year conflict between Libya and Chad, and the Persian Gulf War.
In the years since 9/11, the OIC's focus has increasingly turned to relations between the West and Islam, the campaign against Islamist terrorism, and episodes of what it calls "Islamophobia," such as the publication by Danish newspapers in 2005 of 12 cartoons satirizing Mohammed.
Wild Thing's comment........
Her appeasing words that spit on the graves of all the victims of the death cult of Islam.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the appointment of Washington's first-ever special envoy to the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference will help to promote principles that Muslims and non-Muslims alike "hold dear," such as human rights, liberty and the rule of law.
Hey Condi, yeah, right. Show me one nation under Islamic Sharia Law that "holds dear" anything remotely resembling liberty, human rights and rule of law.
They “hold dear” the right to murder a daughters that won’t practice the Muslim religion. I am SO tired of the political two step that our State Department dances to. A skilled diplomat can speak tactfully and effectively without lowering themselves to the point of uttering blithering, false, stupidity. She is not up to the job. She seems unable to speak without pandering. But I cannot blame her entirely, President Bush has said more then once, that Islam is the religion of Peace.
An old quote by Condi that she should not have made as well:
Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Remarks before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State,
Foreign Operations and Related Programs
May 12, 2005
"Mr. Chairman, before I begin my actual testimony, I want to speak directly to Muslims in America and throughout the world. Disrespect for the Holy Koran is not now, nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be, tolerated by the United States. We honor the sacred books of all the world's great religions. Disrespect for the Holy Koran is abhorrent to us all.
There have been recent allegations about disrespect for the Holy Koran by interrogators at Guantanamo Bay and that has deeply offended many people. Our military authorities are investigating these allegations fully. If they are proven true, we will take appropriate action. Respect for the religious freedom of all individuals is one of the founding principles of the United States. The protection of a person's right to worship freely and without harassment is a principle that the government and the people of the United States take very seriously. Guaranteeing religious rights is of great personal importance to the President and to me.
During the past few days, we have heard from our Muslim friends around the world about their concerns on this matter. We understand and we share their concerns. Sadly, some people have lost their lives in violent demonstrations. I am asking that all our friends around the world reject incitement to violence by those who would mischaracterize our intentions."
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:46 AM | Comments (12)
Revealing Article on Obama
Obama and Me
By Todd SpivaK
It was the year 2000, and I was a young, hungry reporter in Chicago with a young, hungry state legislator on my speed dial.
It's not quite eight in the morning, and Barack Obama is on the phone screaming at me. He liked the story I wrote about him a couple weeks ago, but not this garbage.
Months earlier, a reporter friend told me she overheard Obama call me an asshole at a political fund-raiser. Now here he is blasting me from hundreds of miles away for a story that just went online but hasn't yet hit local newsstands.
It's the first time I've ever heard him yell, and I'm trembling as I set down the phone. I sit frozen at my desk for several minutes, stunned.
This is before Obama Girl, before the Secret Service detail, before he becomes a best-selling author. His book, Dreams From My Father, has been out of print for years.
I often see Obama smoking cigarettes on brisk Chicago mornings in front of his condominium high-rise along Lake Michigan, or getting his hair buzzed at the corner barbershop on 53rd and Harper in his Hyde Park neighborhood.
This is before he becomes a U.S. senator, before Oprah starts stumping for him, before he positions himself to become the country's first black president.
He is just a rank-and-file state senator in Illinois, and I work for a string of small, scrappy newspapers there.
The other day, while stuck in traffic on Houston's Southwest Freeway, I was flipping through right-wing rants on AM radio. Dennis Praeger was railing against Michelle Obama for her clumsy comment on being proud of her country for the first time.
Praeger went on to call her husband a blank slate. There's no record to look at, he complained, unless you lived in Barack Obama's old state Senate district.
Well, I lived and worked in that district for three years—nearly half Obama's tenure in the Illinois Legislature. D-13, the district was called, and it spanned a large swath of Chicago's poor, black, crime-ridden South Side.
It was 2000, and I was a young reporter at the Hyde Park Herald and Lakefront Outlook community newspapers earning $19,000 a year covering politics and crime.
I talked with Obama on a regular basis—a couple times a month, at least. I'd ask him about his campaign finance reports, legislation he was sponsoring and various local issues. He wrote an occasional column published in our papers. It ran with a headshot that made him look about 14 years old.
Spinning through my old Rolodex, I see that I had two cell phone numbers for Obama. Both have since been disconnected.
I also had cell phone numbers for Jesse Jackson; his son, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.; and David Axelrod, who now serves as Obama's senior presidential campaign advisor.
Axelrod, too, had begun his journalism career at the Hyde Park Herald before joining the Chicago Tribune as a political reporter, then starting a political consulting firm. Another Hyde Park Herald alum was Seymour Hersh, the legendary investigative reporter who uncovered the My Lai massacre for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal for The New Yorker.
My view of Obama then wasn't all that different from the image he projects now. He was smart, confident, charismatic and liberal. One thing I can say is, I never heard him launch into the preacher-man voice he now employs during speeches. He sounded vanilla, and activists in his mostly black district often chided him for it.
I was 25 and had no problem interviewing big-wig politicians, but I always had to steel my nerves when calling Obama. His intelligence was intimidating, and my hands inevitably shook and sweated.
It was serendipity that I ever came to know Obama at all. Looking back, I think of it as a Forrest Gump moment: History was unfolding, and I was at the center of it, clueless. It's a huge bummer to me that I never taped our interviews.
I moved to Chicago from the East Coast after a bad breakup. I had just one year of newspaper experience, working the courts beat for a small Vermont daily.
I picked Chicago because I had friends there. Plus, it was one of the few American cities left with two competing dailies, upping my chances of landing a gig.
I arrived determined to work for one of the big papers. I once spent an entire day dressed up in my only suit and tie—the one I wore to my brother's wedding, where I ripped a hole in the knee while dancing with my niece—and stood, résumé in hand, outside the newsroom at the dumpy old Chicago Sun-Times building.
Columnist Neil Steinberg was gracious enough to accept my folder and even gave me his home number to call later that night. Unimpressed by my clips, Steinberg said most new recruits graduated from top journalism schools such as Northwestern or Columbia—or their mommies or daddies worked at the paper or knew somebody who did.
His advice: To work in Chicago, you have to leave Chicago. Go prove yourself someplace else, kid.
I had a friend at one of the local journalism schools who let me tag along for a school-sponsored tour of the Chicago Tribune building. After the tour, page-two columnist John Kass told us about how he got picked up by the Tribune while in his early 20s after breaking a big story at a little South Side paper.
I spent three months sleeping on a friend's floor on the city's South Side. He was a broke grad student who had earned a mostly free ride at the University of Chicago, working toward a Ph.D. in comparative literature. His studio apartment in Hyde Park was tiny.
We joked that the only way I could stretch my legs at night was to open the oven in the kitchen. It was like the old blues lyric, "I got a gal she's long and tall, sleeps in the kitchen with her feet in the hall."
Obama, who then earned about $50,000 a year as a rookie state senator, lived in a small condo just two blocks away. I had never met or even seen his wife, Michelle, though I'd heard she was employed at University of Chicago Hospitals. Their second daughter, Natasha, had not yet been born.
Every day, I walked past the Hyde Park Herald office, set upstairs from Obama's barbershop. The newspaper box out front said all I needed to know. It was dented, covered in graffiti and broken. The thing ate your two quarters and offered nothing in return.
I didn't want to work there. My aspirations were bigger than that.
Desperate, I finally swallowed my pride, climbed the steep, smelly staircase and submitted my shamefully thin résumé to the receptionist. To my dismay, the editor called later that afternoon with a job offer.
Chris Matthews, the MSNBC political pundit, recently grilled Texas state Senator Kirk Watson for supporting Obama despite knowing nothing about the candidate's legislative record.
"Can you name any—can you name anything he's accomplished?" Matthews pressed.
"No," Watson, whose district includes Austin, finally admitted. "I'm not gonna be able to do that."
"Well, that's a problem, isn't it?" Matthews said.
Hillary Clinton recalled the incident with a chuckle during last Thursday's debate at the University of Texas.
When asked about his legislative record, Obama rattles off several bills he sponsored as an Illinois lawmaker.
He expanded children's health insurance, made the state Earned Income Tax Credit refundable for low-income families, required public bodies to tape closed-door meetings to make government more transparent and required police to videotape interrogations of homicide suspects.
And the list goes on.
It's a lengthy record filled with core liberal issues. But what's interesting, and almost never discussed, is that he built his entire legislative record in Illinois in a single year.
Republicans controlled the Illinois General Assembly for six years of Obama's seven-year tenure. Each session, Obama backed legislation that went nowhere; bill after bill died in committee. During those six years, Obama, too, would have had difficulty naming any legislative achievements.
Then, in 2002, dissatisfaction with President Bush and Republicans on the national and local levels led to a Democratic sweep of nearly every level of Illinois state government. For the first time in 26 years, Illinois Democrats controlled the governor's office as well as both legislative chambers.
The white, race-baiting, hard-right Republican Illinois Senate Majority Leader James "Pate" Philip was replaced by Emil Jones Jr., a gravel-voiced, dark-skinned black senator known for chain-smoking cigarettes on the Senate floor.
Jones had served in the Illinois Legislature for three decades. He represented a district on the Chicago South Side not far from Obama's. He became Obama's kingmaker.
Several months before Obama announced his U.S. Senate bid, Jones called his old friend Cliff Kelley, a former Chicago alderman who now hosts the city's most popular black call-in radio program.
I called Kelley last week, and he recollected the private conversation as follows:
"He said, 'Cliff, I'm gonna make me a U.S. senator.'"
"Oh, you are? Who might that be?"
"Barack Obama."
Jones appointed Obama sponsor of virtually every high-profile piece of legislation, angering many rank-and-file state legislators who had more seniority than Obama and had spent years championing the bills.
"I took all the beatings and insults and endured all the racist comments over the years from nasty Republican committee chairmen," state Senator Rickey Hendon, the original sponsor of landmark racial profiling and videotaped confession legislation yanked away by Jones and given to Obama, complained to me at the time. "Barack didn't have to endure any of it, yet, in the end, he got all the credit.
"I don't consider it bill jacking," Hendon told me. "But no one wants to carry the ball 99 yards all the way to the 1-yard line and then give it to the halfback who gets all the credit and the stats in the record book."
During his seventh and final year in the Illinois Senate, Obama's stats soared. He sponsored a whopping 26 bills passed into law—including many he now cites in his presidential campaign when attacked as inexperienced. It was a stunning achievement that started him on the path of national politics, and he couldn't have done it without Jones.
Before Obama ran for U.S. Senate in 2004, he was virtually unknown even in his own state. Polls showed less than 20 percent of Illinois voters had ever heard of Barack Obama.
Jones further helped raise Obama's profile by having him craft legislation addressing the day-to-day tragedies that dominated local news headlines.
For instance, Obama sponsored a bill banning the use of the diet supplement ephedra, which killed a Northwestern University football player, and another one preventing the use of pepper spray or pyrotechnics in nightclubs in the wake of the deaths of 21 people during a stampede at a Chicago nightclub. Both stories had received national attention and extensive local coverage.
I spoke to Jones earlier this week, and he confirmed his conversation with Kelley, adding that he gave Obama the legislation because he believed in Obama's ability to negotiate with Democrats and Republicans on divisive issues.
So how has Obama repaid Jones?
Last June, to prove his commitment to government transparency, Obama released a comprehensive list of his earmark requests for fiscal year 2008. It comprised more than $300 million in pet projects for Illinois, including tens of millions for Jones' Senate district.
Shortly after Jones became Senate president, I remember asking his view on pork-barrel spending.
I'll never forget what he said:
"Some call it pork; I call it steak."
In Hyde Park, I eventually moved into a room a few blocks from the newspaper offices. For $150 a month, I lived in a former servants' quarters with a closet and a connecting bathroom set just off the kitchen in a dingy apartment occupied by several grad students. My 8-by-8 room fit a mattress on the floor and not much else.
During those rare moments when I wasn't working or hanging out with my new girlfriend, I sat on the apartment's crumbling back deck smoking cigarettes and drinking beer in cans with a very nice but drug-addicted homeless woman who crashed in a sleeping bag on the cement floor below. A couple years later, I wrote her obituary.
Hyde Park was the most racially integrated neighborhood in a city with a long, tortured history of segregation. Along 53rd Street, the neighborhood's main commercial corridor, chess players filled the parks, student activists chanted political slogans and women clad in bright colors and elaborate headwraps sang church hymns while strolling the sidewalks.
I would sometimes sit smoking on the fire escape outside my office and feel like I'd wandered into a Spike Lee film.
The communities surrounding Hyde Park were predominantly black and impoverished, marked by high crime, boarded-up storefronts and vacant lots. Some residential areas were several miles away from banks and grocery stores.
On the stump, Obama has frequently invoked his experiences as a community organizer on the Chicago South Side in the early 1990s, when he passed on six-figure salary offers at corporate law firms after graduating from Harvard Law School to direct a massive voter-registration drive.
But, as a state senator, Obama evaded leadership on a host of critical community issues, from historic preservation to the rapid demolition of nearby public-housing projects, according to many South Siders.
Harold Lucas, a veteran South Side community organizer who remembers when Obama was "just a big-eared kid fresh out of school," says he didn't finally decide to support Obama's presidential bid until he was actually inside the voting booth on Super Tuesday.
"I'm not happy about the quality of life in my community," says Lucas, who now heads a black-heritage tourism business in Chicago. "As a local elected official, he had a primary role in that."
In addition to Hyde Park, Obama also represented segments of several South Side neighborhoods home to the nation's richest black cultural history outside of Harlem.
Before World War II, the adjacent Bronzeville community was known as the "Black Metropolis," attracting black migrants seeking racial equality and economic opportunity from states to the south such as Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Storied jazz clubs such as Gerri's Palm Tavern regularly hosted Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Josephine Baker and many others. In the postwar era, blues legends Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and B.B. King all regularly gigged in cramped juke joints such as the Checkerboard Lounge.
When the city of Chicago seized the 70-year-old Gerri's Palm Tavern by eminent domain in 2001, sparking citywide protests, Obama was silent. And he offered no public comments when the 30-year owner of the Checkerboard Lounge was forced to relocate a couple years later.
Even in Hyde Park, Obama declined to take a position on a years-long battle waged by hundreds of local community activists fighting against the city's plan to replace the historic limestone seawall along Lake Michigan—a popular spot to sunbathe and swim—with concrete steps.
It would be comparable to representing Barton Creek in Austin and sidestepping any discussion about conservation.
Obama's aloofness on key community issues for years frustrated Lucas and many other South Siders. Now they believe he was just afraid of making political enemies or being pigeonholed as a black candidate. Lucas says he has since become an ardent Obama supporter.
"His campaign has built a momentum of somebody being born to the moment," Lucas says. "He truly gives the perception that he could possibly pull us all together around being American again. And the hope of that is worth the risk when you look at the other candidates. I mean, you can't get away from old school when you look at Hillary."
Lucas even believes Obama made the right choice by declining PBS talk-show host Tavis Smiley's invitation to speak at this week's State of the Black Union 2008 conference in New Orleans.
"Obama can't bring those issues up if he wants to be elected," Lucas says. "And that's the travesty of the situation that we find ourselves in as African-Americans."
In the presidential campaign, Obama has been criticized for a shady land deal and other past ties to Tony Rezko, the Chicago real estate developer and ubiquitous political donor who now faces federal charges of attempted extortion and money laundering.
In a debate held before the South Carolina primary, Hillary Clinton charged that Obama had legally represented Rezko "in his slum landlord business in inner-city Chicago." The issue was turned back on her a few days later when an old picture of a smiling Clinton posing with Rezko surfaced on Drudge Report.
Though it didn't make national news, Obama inflamed many residents in his old state Senate district last March when he endorsed controversial Chicago alderman Dorothy Tillman in a runoff election.
Flamboyant and unpredictable, Tillman is perhaps best known for once pulling a pistol from her purse and brandishing it around at a city council meeting. The ward she represented for 22 years, which included historic Bronzeville, comprised the city's largest concentration of vacant lots.
Just three months before Obama made his endorsement, the Lakefront Outlook community newspaper ran a three-part investigative series exposing flagrant cronyism and possible tax-law violations that centered on Tillman and her biggest pet project, a taxpayer-funded cultural center built across the street from her ward office that had been hemorrhaging money since its inception.
The series won a national George Polk Award, among the most coveted prizes in journalism. Not bad for a 12-page rag with a circulation of 12,000 and no Web site. (I had already left the Outlook and had nothing to do with the project.)
In the end, Tillman lost the election despite Obama's endorsement, which critics said countered his calls for clean government. Obama told the Chicago Tribune that he had backed Tillman because she was an early supporter of his 2004 U.S. Senate campaign.
Many speculate Obama only bothered to weigh in on a paltry city council election during his presidential campaign as a gesture to Chicago's powerful Mayor Richard M. Daley, a Tillman supporter. Even so, Obama should have remained neutral, says Timuel Black, a historian and City Colleges of Chicago professor emeritus who lived in Obama's state Senate district.
"That was not a wise decision," Black says. "It was poor judgment on his part. He was operating like a politician trying to win the next step up."
Obama has spent his entire political career trying to win the next step up. Every three years, he has aspired to a more powerful political position.
He was just 35 when in 1996 he won his first bid for political office. Even many of his staunchest supporters, such as Black, still resent the strong-arm tactics Obama employed to win his seat in the Illinois Legislature.
Obama hired fellow Harvard Law alum and election law expert Thomas Johnson to challenge the nominating petitions of four other candidates, including the popular incumbent, Alice Palmer, a liberal activist who had held the seat for several years, according to an April 2007 Chicago Tribune report.
Obama found enough flaws in the petition sheets—to appear on the ballot, candidates needed 757 signatures from registered voters living within the district—to knock off all the other Democratic contenders. He won the seat unopposed.
"A close examination of Obama's first campaign clouds the image he has cultivated throughout his political career," wrote Tribune political reporters David Jackson and Ray Long. "The man now running for president on a message of giving a voice to the voiceless first entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by clearing it."
Three years later, in September 1999, Obama was already preparing his first U.S. Congress campaign. He ran against veteran incumbent Bobby Rush, a former co-founder of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party.
Rush painted the largely unknown freshman lawmaker as an out-of-touch elitist and won the 2000 primary by more than 30 percentage points.
Three years later, in January 2003, Obama announced his bid for the U.S. Senate, in which he cruised to victory thanks to the self-destruction of his top opponents in both the primary and general elections.
Obama joined a field of seven candidates vying to fill an open Senate seat being vacated by retiring two-term incumbent Peter Fitzgerald. For months, he polled in the middle of the pack behind frontrunner and former securities trader Blair Hull, who spent $30 million of his own fortune on the primary.
But Hull's campaign imploded just weeks before the election when his divorce files were unsealed, revealing an ex-wife's charges of verbal and physical abuse.
Obama unleashed a barrage of television ads just before the election, when the other candidates had largely depleted their war chests. He won the nomination with 53 percent of the vote.
In the general election, Obama squared off against another multimillionaire: Jack Ryan, who later dropped out of the race after a judge ordered his divorce files unsealed. The documents revealed that Ryan's ex-wife, actress Jeri Ryan, a former Miss Illinois best known for her role as Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager, accused him of trying to coerce her to perform sex acts in public.
Obama spent several weeks facing no opponent as the Illinois Republican Party exhausted a laundry list of replacement candidates that included former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka. The GOP ended up recruiting two-time failed presidential hopeful Alan Keyes from Maryland to fill the slot.
Keyes' strategy of using bombastic rhetoric to attract headlines turned off most voters. Most memorably, he said Jesus would not vote for Obama and that homosexuals, including Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter, participated in "selfish hedonism."
In the end, Obama won more than 70 percent of the vote in the most lopsided Senate election in Illinois history and became the fifth black person to win a seat in the U.S. Senate.
Three years later, in February 2007, Obama announced his bid for the White House in front of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, where Abraham Lincoln had made his famous "house divided" speech.
I moved to Springfield in early 2004 to work for the Illinois Times, where I covered Obama's U.S. Senate bid.
My first assignment was to profile Obama, who was largely unknown in Central Illinois.
In fact, at that time just four years ago, Obama was still largely unknown even in his own community.
I followed Obama one wintry morning as he visited several black churches on Chicago's South Side urging people to vote for him in the upcoming primary. Congregants greeted him with lukewarm applause.
I noted in my article that one lady sitting in a pew beside me was noticeably impressed with the young man and asked to borrow my pen. She wrote on her church program, "Obama, March 16," then underlined the date.
Over the years, most of my interviews with Obama were conducted by phone. So it felt good when he immediately recognized me and shouted my name from the end of a long, empty hallway inside the church after his speech.
After all, I admired the guy—and still do.
We shook hands and walked outside together. I asked some questions and snapped some pictures before a dark blue Chevrolet Suburban with tinted windows whisked him off to another congregation less than a mile away. I followed behind in my beat-up Oldsmobile.
My story ran on the cover of the Illinois Times. The more I thought about it, though, the more I thought it was fluff. Obama's own public relations flack could have produced something comparable.
At the time, the Illinois media had fallen head-over-heels in love with Obama and his squeaky clean image. "As pedigrees go, there is not a finer one among the Democratic candidates," the Chicago Tribune gushed in its endorsement.
All this predated TV pundit Chris Matthews' more recent comment that Obama's speeches send chills up his legs.
"He's been given a pass," says Harold Lucas, the community organizer in Chicago. "His career has been such a meteoric rise that he has not had the time to set a record."
A week after my profile of Obama was published, I called some of my contacts in the Illinois Legislature. I ran through a list of black Chicago lawmakers who had worked with Obama and was surprised to learn that many resented him and had supported other candidates in the U.S. Senate election.
"Anybody but Obama," the late state Representative Lovana Jones told me at the time.
State Representative Monique Davis, who attended the same church as Obama and co-sponsored several bills with him, also did not support his candidacy. She complained of feeling overshadowed by Obama.
"I was snubbed," Davis told me. "I felt he was shutting me out of history."
In a follow-up report published a couple weeks later, I wrote about these disgruntled black legislators and the central role Senate President Emil Jones played in Obama's revived political life.
The morning after the story was posted online, I arrived early at my new offices. I hadn't taken off my coat when the phone rang. It was Obama.
The article began, "It can be painful to hear Ivy League-bred Barack Obama talk jive."
Obama told me he doesn't speak jive, that he doesn't say the words "homeboy" or "peeps."
It seemed so silly; I thought for sure he was joking. He wasn't.
He said the black legislators I cited in the story were off-base and that they couldn't have gotten the bills passed without him.
I started to speak, and he shouted me down.
He said he liked the other story I wrote.
I asked if there was anything factually inaccurate about the latest story.
He repeated that his former colleagues couldn't have passed the bills without him.
He asked why I wrote this story, then cut me off when I started to answer.
He said he should have been given a chance to respond.
I told him I had requested an interview through his communications director.
He said I should have called his cell phone.
I reminded him that he had asked me months ago to stop calling his cell phone because of his busier schedule.
He said again that I should have called his cell phone.
Today I no longer have Obama's cell phone number. I submitted two formal requests to interview Obama for this story through his Web site but have not heard back. I also e-mailed interview requests to three of his top staffers, but none responded.
Maybe he'll call the day after this story runs. I'll get to the office early just in case. And this time I'll have my recorder ready.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:45 AM | Comments (6)
March 11, 2008
Wall Street Celebrates Spitzer's Possible Fall
Spitzer's Rise and Fall
One might call it Shakespearian if there were a shred of nobleness in the story of Eliot Spitzer's fall. There is none. Governor Spitzer, who made his career by specializing in not just the prosecution, but the ruin, of other men, is himself almost certainly ruined.
Mr. Spitzer's brief statement yesterday about a "private matter" surely involves what are widely reported to be his activities with an expensive prostitution ring discovered by the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. Those who believe Eliot Spitzer is getting his just desserts may be entitled to that view, but it misses the greater lesson for our politics.
Mr. Spitzer coasted into the Governorship on the wings of a reputation as a "tough" public prosecutor. Mr. Spitzer, though, was no emperor. He had not merely arrogated to himself the powers he held and used with such aggression. He was elected.
In our system, citizens agree to invest one of their own with the power of public prosecution. We call this a public trust. The ability to bring the full weight of state power against private individuals or entities has been recognized since the Magna Carta as a power with limits. At nearly every turn, Eliot Spitzer has refused to admit that he was subject to those limits.
The stupendously deluded belief that the sitting Governor of New York could purchase the services of prostitutes was merely the last act of a man unable to admit either the existence of, or need for, limits. At the least, he put himself at risk of blackmail, and in turn the possible distortion of his public duties. Mr. Spitzer's recklessness with the state's highest elected office, though, is of a piece with his consistent excesses as Attorney General from 1999 to 2006.
He routinely used the extraordinary threat of indicting entire firms, a financial death sentence, to force the dismissal of executives, such as AIG's Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. He routinely leaked to the press emails obtained with subpoena power to build public animosity against companies and executives. In the case of Mr. Greenberg, he went on national television to accuse the AIG founder of "illegal" behavior. Within the confines of the law itself, though, he never indicted Mr. Greenberg. Nor did he apologize.
In perhaps the incident most suggestive of Mr. Spitzer's lack of self-restraint, the then-Attorney General personally threatened John Whitehead after the former Goldman Sachs chief published an article on this page defending Mr. Greenberg. "I will be coming after you," Mr. Spitzer said, according to Mr. Whitehead's account. "You will pay the price. This is only the beginning, and you will pay dearly for what you have done."
Jack Welch, the former head of GE, said he was told to tell Ken Langone -- embroiled in Mr. Spitzer's investigation of former NYSE chairman Dick Grasso -- that the AG would "put a spike through Langone's heart." New York Congresswoman Sue Kelly, who clashed with Mr. Spitzer in 2003, had her office put out a statement that "the attorney general acted like a thug."
These are not merely acts of routine political rough-and-tumble. They were threats -- some rhetorical, some acted upon -- by one man with virtually unchecked legal powers.
Eliot Spitzer's self-destructive inability to recognize any limit on his compulsions was never more evident than his staff's enlistment of the New York State Police in a campaign to discredit the state's Senate Majority Leader, Joseph Bruno. On any level, it was nuts. Somehow, Team Spitzer thought they could get by with it. In the wake of that abusive fiasco, his public approval rating plunged.
Mr. Spitzer's dramatic fall yesterday began in the early afternoon with a posting on the Web site of the New York Times about the alleged link to prostitutes. The details in the criminal complaint about "Client-9," who is reported to be Mr. Spitzer, will now be played for titters by the press corps. But one may ask: Where were the media before this? With a few exceptions, the media were happy to prosper from his leaks and even applaud, rather than temper, the manifestly abusive instincts of a public official.
There really is nothing very satisfying about the rough justice being meted out to Eliot Spitzer. He came to embody a system that revels in the entertainment value of roguish figures who rise to power by destroying the careers of others, many of them innocent. Better still, when the targets are as presumably unsympathetic as Wall Street bankers and brokers.
Acts of crime deserve prosecution by the state. The people, in turn, deserve prosecutors and officials who understand the difference between the needs of the public good and the needs of unrestrained personalities who are given the honor of high office.
Wild Thing's comment........
I am no fan of Spitzer on many levels. He has ruined the lives of good men, hard working men that accomopilshed the American dream. His morives were for political reasons and not because he was some crusader for honor or integrity.
There was Troopergate and then also the licenses-for-illegals.
Just as an example of the kind of total as Spitzer has been:
Mr. Spitzer Has Gone Too Far by John C. Whitehead (April 22, 2005)
Something has gone seriously awry when a state attorney general can go on television and charge one of America's best CEOs and most generous philanthropists with fraud before any charges have been brought, before the possible defendant has even had a chance to know what he personally is alleged to have done, and while the investigation is still under way.
And then there was this also:
Eliot Spitzer and Fred Dicker, Albany Press Conference discussingi 'Troopergate" ( "troopergate," a dirty-tricks plot to smear Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, a Republican rival. )
And some more of what a NON great guy Spitzer has been:
ELIOT SPITZ FIRE BLOWS UP AT GOP CRITIC
ALBANY - Gov. Spitzer viciously berated a state lawmaker, saying, "I am a f - - - ing steamroller" who will crush the assemblyman and anyone else who stands in his way, The Post has learned.Sources told The Post yesterday that an enraged Spitzer bitterly denounced Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco last week after the Schenectady-based Republican called to complain that he had been cut out of negotiations on a just-announced proposed new state ethics law.
"Listen, I'm a f - - - ing steamroller, and I'll roll over you and anybody else," Democrat Spitzer angrily yelled at Tedisco - who was driving in his car and speaking on a cellphone, sources familiar with the conversation said.
Spitzer then boasted about his political strength, saying, "I've done more in three weeks than any governor has done in the history of the state," the sources said.
Tedisco later said, "He [Spitzer] has a different side to him than a lot of people realize.
Posted by Wild Thing at 11:47 AM | Comments (14)
A Blogger Threatens Bomb Threat Against the Gathering of Eagles
A Bomb Threat Against the Gathering of Eagles
The blogger in question claims to be Evan M. Knappenberger. Evan M. Knappenberger is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. It looks pretty plausible because Knappenberger uses the same "Gathering of Smeagols" title line. Apparently he has threatened GOE ( Gathering of Eagles) not ONCE but THREE TIMES!
He’s IVAW member Evan M. Knappenberger.
http://ivaw.org/user/542
And look at this at that was at the end of his IVAW post:
Peace, and non-violence, always, Evan M. Knappenberger
A blog hosted on blogspot is now threatening a domestic terrorist attack at Gathering of Eagles events.
More of their threats:
Michelle Mallkin pointed out his threat at her blog and Evan Knappenberger has chosen to respond to Michelle since she pointed out his threat.
Wild Thing's comment........
Michelle will be updating and there is more information at her blog about this. We are certainly at war at home as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan. The enemy is not going to win. They are cowards and bullies but they can do damage and hurt people all the same. We need to be stronger then they are, active and not let them even think they can get away with their threats and attacks on our awesome military and Veterans.
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:55 AM | Comments (19)
Veterans, Troop Supporters Oppose “Winter Soldier II”
A national coalition of pro-troop and veteran organizations is gathering in the Washington area next week to oppose a planned reenactment of Sen. John Kerry’s infamous “Winter Solider” anti-Vietnam War event that, like its predecessor, will feature “testimony” alleging atrocities committed by American troops this time in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Eagles Up www.eaglesup.us and other organizations are taking aim at Winter Soldier II, patterned after a similar event staged by Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry’s Vietnam Veterans Against the War in 1971.
Although most of the “veterans” who “testified” in Kerry’s event a generation ago were later found to be frauds, and their testimony was either disproved or impossible to verify, the damage to the Vietnam generation was long enduring.
Hosted by Iraq Veterans Against the War, the ANSWER coalition, CODE PINK, MOVEON.ORG, and associated organizations this generation’s Winter Soldier reenactment is considered to be on a par with its predecessor, with a twist. In 1971 the media accepted the stories of atrocities literally without question, and Kerry even testified before Congress using graphic images of torture and murder, which he claimed were widespread and American military policy.
But Eagles Up and the other pro-troop organizations including Move America Forward and Rolling Thunder will not allow this attack on our troops to go unchallenged. Vietnam and Iraq war veterans and their supporters are demanding that all who participate in the IVAW event submit to identification verification and that their claims are specific including times, dates, places, units involved, leadership and witnesses.
In addition, anyone claiming to have participated in or witnessed an atrocity without attempting to halt it or report it will be referred to the appropriate civilian and military authorities as participants in or accessories to war crimes. Eagles Up leader, Col. Harry Riley, US Army (ret.) said
“We have two objectives: To counter and challenge IVAW Winter Soldier II (WSII) Testimony on March 14 by demanding ‘truth.’"
Col. Riley added, “Our second objective is to participate in a peaceful march in Washington, DC on March 15th that reflects a view of appreciation, uplifting, pride in America, our troops and families. This will be a positive event with flags, banners, patriotic music, fellowship, and oriented for the entire family of patriots.
“Americans are standing up to attacks on our nation and people from those that tend to support the constant drum beat of surrender," Col. Riley said.
Thousands will put "boots on the ground" in Washington, DC on March 14/15 to challenge one devious aspect of the threat on America – those that would have us surrender to the Islamic butchers and dishonor our warriors,” Col Riley added.
“It's a sacrifice for many of us to get to DC but it's also a sacrifice for our families and warriors to offer up their lives. The least we can do is protect their backs.”
For Immediate Release Contact: Harry Riley, COL, USA, Ret
850-689-1818
Map/ Dates and other information can be found here:
http://eaglesup.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=22&Itemid=227
.
Wild Thing's comment........
Outstanding! Please send this to all the Veterans you know. I am sure those who can't join with their boots on the ground in DC will be joining in spirit and with prayer.
Times have changed. The far left liberal establishment can no longer plan on running public displays of disgrace, without anticipating a counter attack. Future Hanoi Johns will have a harder time trying to leave their mark.
Eagles Up will also be joined by Gathering of Eagles and other Veterans groups.
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:50 AM | Comments (8)
Spc.Monica Lin Brown~ Medic Awarded Silver Star
Spc. Monica Lin Brown from Lake Jackson Texas of 82 Air borne stands guard at a forwarded operating base in Khost, Afghanistan.
Medic Stationed in Afghanistan Becomes 2nd Woman to Be Awarded Silver Star
CAMP SALERNO, Afghanistan
A 19-year-old medic from Texas will become the first woman in Afghanistan and only the second female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest medal for valor.
Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province in April 2007, the military said.
After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said.
"I did not really think about anything except for getting the guys to a safer location and getting them taken care of and getting them out of there," Brown told The Associated Press on Saturday at a U.S. base in the eastern province of Khost.
Brown, of Lake Jackson, Texas, is scheduled to receive the Silver Star later this month. She was part of a four-vehicle convoy patrolling near Jani Kheil in the eastern province of Paktia on April 25, 2007, when a bomb struck one of the Humvees.
"We stopped the convoy. I opened up my door and grabbed my aid bag," Brown said.
She started running toward the burning vehicle as insurgents opened fire. All five wounded soldiers had scrambled out.
"I assessed the patients to see how bad they were. We tried to move them to a safer location because we were still receiving incoming fire," Brown said.
Pentagon policy prohibits women from serving in front-line combat roles — in the infantry, armor or artillery, for example. But the nature of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with no real front lines, has seen women soldiers take part in close-quarters combat more than previous conflicts.
Four Army nurses in World War II were the first women to receive the Silver Star, though three nurses serving in World War I were awarded the medal posthumously last year, according to the Army's Web site.
Brown, of the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, said ammunition going off inside the burning Humvee was sending shrapnel in all directions. She said they were sitting in a dangerous spot.
"So we dragged them for 100 or 200 meters, got them away from the Humvee a little bit," she said. "I was in a kind of a robot-mode, did not think about much but getting the guys taken care of."
For Brown, who knew all five wounded soldiers, it became a race to get them all to a safer location. Eventually, they moved the wounded some 500 yards away and treated them on site before putting them on a helicopter for evacuation.
"I did not really have time to be scared," Brown said. "Running back to the vehicle, I was nervous (since) I did not know how badly the guys were injured. That was scary."
The military said Brown's "bravery, unselfish actions and medical aid rendered under fire saved the lives of her comrades and represents the finest traditions of heroism in combat."
Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, of Nashville, Tenn., received the Silver Star in 2005 for gallantry during an insurgent ambush on a convoy in Iraq. Two men from her unit, the 617th Military Police Company of Richmond, Ky., also received the Silver Star for their roles in the same action.
Wild Thing's comment.........
Do not mess with women from Texas! Tah dah!
God bless and protect this brave warrior Sgt. Monica Lin Brown, and all our awesome troops!
And I hope her friends and family learn that it is their job, not hers, to bring that award out and make sure it's displayed. Show it proudly in their home. Too many people take their Silver Star and hide it away ~ their excuse is "Just doing what I was supposed to do". I hope her loved ones show their pride in her when she gets home.
What a great story!
..... Thank you Tom for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:48 AM | Comments (14)
Passport Identification
Watch what happens when the face doesn't match the passport photo. Hilarious
Wild Thing's comment........
LOL This is so funny, but I wonder too how many times this kind of thing could happen.
..... Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:47 AM | Comments (2)
Sweden's Many Changes And Islam Taking Over
Sweden industrialized nation to bananarepublic in 20 years.
"Before 1977 Sweden had an immigration of 2000 per year. More recent years the government decided to promote massimmigration, nearly 100.000 per year is arriving in Sweden. The number is equal to the population in three average Swedish cities every year.
The results of the massimmigration can be seen in hundreds of communities around the country. Sweden never verify the identity of the asylumseekers. The never check the crime record. It measn the violent criminals come as asylum seekers and can obtain a new clean identity and move freely within EU.
We know that expelled criminals has come back under new name and were allowed to stay in Sweden. Most convicted criminal asylum seekers won't be expelled. In Sweden they tolerate anything so the crime rate is the highest in Europe.
Most of the asylum seekers come from Somalia, Iran, Irak and many other moslem countries. They bring their culture and use the same tradtitions they are used to from their 6th century homeland. Honor killings are common, they kill their family members if they like to dress differently, meet non-moslim friends or have the "wrong" boyfriend. Girls are not stoned, they are tossed from a high balcony by their family members.
The government is sponsoring Islam and promote the spread of Islam. They fund some of their organisations, schools and programs. Mosks are receiving support, contributions and generous terms for new land and buildings.
The result is that hundreds of thousands of skilled swedes feel pushed out and leave Sweden. The last two years shows a record number of Swedes leaving almost 50.000 per year."
Wild Thing's comment.........
Sweden the land of liberals and anything goes. That is what they used to stand for. Now that same mentalilty and anything goes is going to be the ruin of Sweden as they invite Islamic's to move freely in their country and their government backing their every wish.
I hope America is listening to what we are seeing in Sweden, and the UK as well. In today's world to say it would never happen here in America would be to have our head in the sand.
.....Thank you John for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:45 AM | Comments (8)
March 10, 2008
Clinton and B. Hussein Obama Fighting Over Torture
Obama, Clinton Campaign Spar Over Torture
Hillary Clinton’s campaign responded Sunday to charges from rival Barack Obama that the New York senator “flip-flopped” on the issue of torture during her presidential campaign, saying she held strong positions against its use by government officials.
When President Bush vetoed a bill Saturday that would have prohibited the CIA from using harsh interrogation techniques, Obama used the occasion to criticize his Democratic presidential opponent.
"We need a Commander in Chief who has never wavered on whether or not it is acceptable for America to torture, because it is never acceptable,” said Obama. “While I have consistently opposed torture, in the course of this primary campaign Hillary Clinton has flip-flopped from her past position of tolerating torture. …
“When I am president, the American people and the world will be able to trust that I will outlaw torture, because unlike Senator Clinton I have never made an exception for torture and I never will."
Obama was making a reference to Clinton’s decision late last year to rule out any use of these techniques in interrogations, after a meeting with a group of retired generals who opposed their use. Earlier, Clinton had said they might be an option if authorities suspected their use might help prevent an imminent attack – a position that was also held by her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
The Clinton campaign responded with a statement that said her “strong position opposing torture” had led to her endorsement by Gen. Antonio Taguba, who wrote the official report on the military’s Abu Ghraib scandal.
Wild Thing's comment.........
How about waterboarding both of them and see who wins. hahaha
Obama's kind of leadership sends a nice warm and fuzzy hug to the terrorists that we have no spine, we are weak, we will cater to them and just say pretty please tell us what you know. Oh you don't feel like it, ok, want to just sit here and play backgammon? Sheesh!!!!
I am a huge believer that our government our CIC should never ever say NO to what would be done or not regarding torture. I don't think we should ever say what we would go for or not go for. Only the military should know these kind of tactics and it is no business of the enemy to be hearing about this kind of thing.
But we do have a problem Houston since all three candidates are against torture. ( shaking my head )
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:55 AM | Comments (12)
He Wore Feelings On His T-shirt
Donald Miller III, a freshman at Penn Manor School, and his mother, Tina, decided to take action after school officials told him to turn his shirt inside out or face detention.
Parents believe son’s wearing of anti-terrorist message was patriotic; Penn Manor saw images of guns and thought of school violence. Family sues on First Amendment grounds.
One day in December, Donald Miller III wore a gun to school. As you might imagine, it got him in trouble.
But the gun wasn't loaded; indeed, it wasn't a real gun at all. It was the image of a gun, printed on the front and back of a T-shirt — a shirt the Penn Manor freshman wore to honor his uncle, a soldier in the U.S. Army fighting in Iraq.
On the front pocket, in addition to the picture of the military sidearm, were the words: "Volunteer Homeland Security." On the back, superimposed over another image of the weapon, the words "Special issue — Resident — Lifetime License — United States Terrorist Hunting Permit — Permit No. 91101 Gun Owner — No Bag Limit."
They are, said Miller, 14, patriotic sentiments in a time of war. He feels pretty strongly about these things.
So do officials at the Penn Manor School District, who wanted him to turn his shirt inside out. When Miller refused, he got two days of detention.
His parents, Donald and Tina Miller of Holtwood, got angry and called a lawyer.
And now a lawsuit has been filed in federal court, accusing Penn Manor of violating Miller's First Amendment rights. The Millers and their attorney, Leonard G. Brown III of the Lancaster firm Clymer & Musser, accuse the school district of following a "vague Orwellian policy" that throttles both patriotism and free speech.
Penn Manor says the case has less to do with free speech than it does guns.
In the post-Columbine era, said Kevin French, an attorney for Penn Manor, school districts are duty-bound to create a safe environment for students, a place where intimations of violence aren't permitted. District officials aren't trying to impugn Miller's patriotism, said French. But when someone brings even the image of a gun to school, he says, that violates school policy.
And the district, he said, will fight to keep it intact.
The start
The incident happened Dec. 4, according to the federal complaint. But the story actually begins last spring.
That's when Miller's uncle, Brian Souders, shipped out to Iraq. He had been stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., and bought the shirt at the base post exchange, or PX, and gave it to Donald as a gift.
With his uncle on the front lines of the "War on Terror," Donald said he wanted to show his support. And so one day toward the end of eighth grade, he wore the shirt to school — and was admonished by Penn Manor Middle School officials. Donald didn't want to get in trouble, so he turned the shirt inside out.
But he didn't think that was right. In early December, he wore the shirt to Penn Manor High School. No one said a word about it all day, he said, until his final period, when a classmate complained to the teacher.
The teacher asked him to turn the shirt inside out, but he refused. Miller was sent to the principal's office. Once there, he said he was again told to turn the shirt inside out.
"I told them to call my parents," said Miller. And his refusal to comply resulted in detention.
Three days later attorney Brown sent a letter to Penn Manor Superintendent Donald Stewart asserting that the "strong-arm censorship by school officials amounts to content discrimination and is unconstitutional."
But, wrote Brown, the Millers wished to "resolve this issue amicably" and "avoid unnecessary litigation and media attention." Brown asked that the district rescind the detention, allow Miller to wear the shirt, provide training to district employees on the subject of students' constitutional rights — and pay attorney fees, about $2,500.
Initially, the district decided to make a concession: It agreed to drop a line from its "student expression policy" that prohibited speech seeking "to establish the supremacy of a particular religious denomination, sect or point of view." And in a Jan. 8 letter to Brown, district solicitor Robert J. Frankhouser, of the Lancaster law firm of Hartman Underhill & Brubaker, said Penn Manor might be willing to consider tinkering with other, similar policies.
But on the issue of guns, and the advocating of violence, the district vowed to "vigorously defend its policy and the application of policy in this instance," wrote Frankhouser. Students, he wrote, "may not wear clothing to school that advocates the use of force or urges the violation of law or school regulations.
"The shirt in question contains the image of a firearm and clearly advocates illegal behavior," he wrote.
That, he concluded, should be the end of the matter.
It wasn't. A week later Brown filed the lawsuit, asking the federal courts to declare Penn Manor's policies unconstitutional and to grant a permanent injunction forcing Penn Manor to let Miller to wear his shirt. The suit also seeks "nominal damages and compensatory damages," attorneys fees and costs, and "further relief as it is just and proper."
"Donald Miller wears the T-shirt to make the political and emotional statement that he supports his uncle, and all our armed forces, as they bravely exercise their duty to defend this great nation," Brown wrote in the federal complaint.
"The message that Mr. Miller's shirt conveyed was simply that the United States military and law enforcement personnel are actively engaged in a war against terrorists who seek to destroy this country. … Mr. Miller's shirt makes a political statement that he agrees with and supports the efforts of his uncle and the rest of our military," Brown wrote.
"Such a viewpoint may not be politically correct in Mr. Miller's classrooms, but his right to express his viewpoint is constitutionally protected."
A federal judge will hold a conference on the case March 31, to either reach a settlement or proceed.
The case is beginning to generate interest online, where the conservative news site WorldNetDaily.com published an article on the lawsuit last week. That story, like the federal complaint itself, focused on the alleged attempt to censor political, patriotic speech.
Contacted by the Sunday News, Penn Manor Superintendent Stewart said he had "nothing to add to the comments of our solicitor." He did, however, tell WorldNet Daily that, "It's the district's position the wording on the T-shirt advocated violation of the law and acts of violence.
"The district," he told WorldNet Daily, "feels it's taken an appropriate stance in terms of T-shirts or anything a student would wear that advocates acts of violence."
But Brown countered last week: "If you believe something is going to create violence, you have to show a history of that in Penn Manor," Brown said. "If this shirt was truly something creating a [dangerous] environment in school, it should have been picked up first thing."
School board president C. Willis Herr did not respond to a message seeking comment.
This would not be the first incident in which T-shirts at Penn Manor provoked controversy — in 1997, a group of about 30 Penn Manor students wore white T-shirts to school to proclaim white supremacy.
Still, attorney French, speaking on behalf of the district, said the Millers and Penn Manor "are talking about two different things." The Millers, and Brown, want this issue to be about freedom of speech, he said.
Penn Manor is talking about guns.
"In light of incidents of violence in schools," said French, both district officials and district parents tend to come down on the side of caution. "Students who come to school enjoy limited First Amendment rights," French said, "but the school district has the right to enforce policies that protect students. And all this has to be understood in the context of what's happening today — Columbine, Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University."
"There's a much higher level of sensitivity these days," admits French.
"But it's based on reality."
Wild Thing's comment........
When parents and schools make guns the enemy, when they teach liberal thinking in the reason why our country is free and how some phony miraculous way peace exists and not because of the power of our military, and how there is a right way to fight for peace to keep peace through military strength and not from some fear of guns or chanting make love not war on a sign held on a street corner, well then this kind of stupid thinking will abound.
This story is a good example of how out of control the liberal mindset has gone in controlling the minds of young Americans. This boy meant no harm, his shirt sent a message of support for those fighting terrorism and also a message to terrorists as well with the "United States hunting permit" logo. He wore it because he was proud of his Uncle was serving our country and fighting terrorists.
He was not wearing a shirt that demanded anarchy, or violence against citizens of the USA. His shirt said nothing even close to the t-shirts worn at the same school in "1997, a group of about 30 Penn Manor students wore white T-shirts to school to proclaim white supremacy."
We say to ourselves how the hell did we get people thinking like the anti-war jerks, how do they not see why we are free, who paid the price for our freedom and why we can live in peace. Well schools like this, that instill fear of wearing something that supports our troops, speaks out against terrorism is just one of the reasons why we are more and more living in the land of oz where the liberal socialist agenda spreads like a virus across our land.
....Thank you Mark for sending me this article.
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:50 AM | Comments (14)
They Are known as Los Zetas
They are one of the deadliest gangs working along the U.S.-Mexico border. They admit to causing terror in Mexico and say they're busy in America. They are known as Los Zetas.
Los Zetas are Ex- Army Special forces, regular troopers, police agents and common criminals who work for Osiel Cardenas in the drug trafficking business. Some have received special-forces training under the U.S. Army at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia [1]. The members with military backgrounds can be considered mercenaries working for Mexican drug cartels. The name Zeta comes from a radio code used by the Mexican federal police to locate high-ranking battalion commanders.
By Michael Webster Investigative Reporter
Investigators say the feared bands of ex-military elite forces are operating in Texas and other parts of the United States unchecked. A team of rogue Mexican commandos blamed for hundreds of killings and kidnappings along the U.S.-Mexico border has carried out at least five drug-related slayings as far north as Dallas, a sign that the group is extending its deadly operations into U.S. cities, U.S. law enforcement officials say.
The men are known as the Zetas, former members of the Mexican army who defected to Mexico's so-called Gulf drug cartel in the late 1990s.
"These guys operate like a military well trained and with precision," said Arturo A. Fontes, an FBI special investigator for border violence based in Laredo, in south Texas. "They have their hands in everything and they have eyes and ears everywhere. I've seen how they work, and they're good at what they do. They're an impressive bunch of ruthless criminals."
Dallas and federal officials said that since late 2003 eight to 10 members of the Zetas have been operating in north Texas, maintaining a "shadowy existence" and sometimes hiring Texas criminal gangs, including the Mexican Mafia, M-13 and Texas Syndicate, for contract killings according to the Dallas police dept.. The Texas Syndicate is a prison gang that authorities blame for several murders nationwide.
It is also believed by some officials at the CIA that they may have Al-Qaeda and other terrorist connections and maybe helping them breach our borders.
The U.S.-Mexico border is becoming like a war zone states Texas sheriff's from El Paso, McAllen, Laredo.
The feds in El Paso alerted law enforcement throughout the country, warning them that Mexican commandos are now working for drug cartels.
Most Americans are shocked to learn where the commandos were trained.
A memo from the Justice Department warns that Mexican commandos were trained by U.S. forces, but switched sides. They are now using their deadly skills to work for the drug cartels often with the Mexican regular army.
A recent Intelligence Bulletin from ICE we obtained says the Zetas are responsible for hundreds of violent drug-related murders. It says they've executed journalists, murdered people in Dallas, El Paso, McAllen, Laredo, Tijuana and Juarez. They even detained two DEA agents and recently they've shot at Border Patrol agents, County sheriffs and the US National Guard. At the Texas and Arizona borders with Mexico agents are already seeing a major increase in murder and other violence.
Perfecting their commando training, Los Zetas are known to be extremely violent killers and have been blamed for an outbreak of violence along the Mexican border for several years now, with no real resistance from the US Government.
Federal agents stationed at the El Paso Criminal Intelligence Center told local law enforcement, "that Not only did they receive some early military training but they developed their own internal training as well increasing their violence far beyond their own original capabilities."
The normally busy streets and busy stores in El Paso, Nogales, Sonora and Laredo on both sides of the river have been less busy due to all the violence and threats. It’s reported that many shop keepers in all of those broader cities and others are scared. Many claim their business has really fallen off since the Los Zetas showed up. Most shop owners like Seth (does not want to use his last name) who fear retaliation say “it’s a direct result of drug wars and random shootings.” Seth says,” the tourists are simply afraid to come to our cities to shop.
U.S. Customs agents, US Boarder Patrol and county Sheriff’s all along the boarder from California to east Texas have been involved in shootouts with an enemy they had not seen before. According to one Texas sheriff’s deputy “ these guys are equipped with automatic weapons, 50 Cal machine guns, M-60’s, infrared technology body armor, Humvee’s and state-of-the-art communications, he said ,” it is a combination of Los Zetas and Mexican military.”
As the drug wars heat up and expand between the Gulf Cartel to the east and the Tijuana Cartel to the west, a Justice Department bulletin warns:
“The violence will spill over the Mexican border into the United States and law enforcement agencies in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California can expect to encounter Los Zetas in the coming months and years.”
The violence plaguing the border towns has led to dire warnings issued by the State Department saying that narco- traffickers are on the hunt for US citizens.
The military training comes in handy with the arms the Zetas carry, including 9mm weapons and infrared technology - all parts of an armory equivalent to an American SWAT team. Drug money pays for it all.
The Zeta arsenal could make the group attractive to other groups, like al-Qaeda or the Mara Salvatruchas.
According to one of there own jailed members during an interview with law enforcement said, “there are some of the Maras and al-Qaeda inside the organization”. The phenomenon of the Maras, is a violent Central American gang that originated in Los Angeles and has become a nightmare in the region. …
While the Zetas are a problem for Mexican police, they also claim to work with drug dealers in the United States. Their work includes cold-blooded killings. They told us they knew of a hit on two men outside a Rio Grande City restaurant, and the murder of two men watching a cock-fight in Starr County according to a TV report aired in Arizona.
Law enforcement including Sheriff’s, Police Chiefs and regular concerned citizens along the Mexican American border say the US Government is doing very little to support and protect our hundreds of miles of borders. And say the Zetas are operating with immunity and doing what ever they like without and repercussions. They want something done and right now it is already completely out of hand and is dangerous for there kids and everyone else. Business owners on both sides of the border and even law enforcement are reluctant to talk about the problem fearing retaliation from these thugs.
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Wild Thing's comment........
So what are we doing in our country to keep an eye on these people. It seems we just keep hearing about tallks behind closed doors for amnesty, and a fence that is not going to be built. We have two good men, Border Partol agents that did their job arrested and in prison. Chertoff saying he has a "gut feeling" more on coming in illegally, and a President and presidential candidates that have no plan either except to give in to the illegals. What a world amazing. The do nothing mentallity till it is too late.
There is a video HERE where two of the Zetas are interviewed.
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:47 AM | Comments (12)
Barack Obama Is Anti-American
Obama Stops Wearing American Flag Pin
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he doesn't wear an American flag lapel pin because it has become a substitute for "true patriotism" since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Asked about it Wednesday in an interview with KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Illinois senator said he stopped wearing the pin shortly after the attacks and instead hoped to show his patriotism by explaining his ideas to citizens. "The truth is that right after 9/11 I had a pin," Obama said. "Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we're talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security. "I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest," he said in the interview. "Instead, I'm going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testament to my patriotism."
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Wild Thing's comment.........
I really am going to have a problem with this person if he wins the election. I don't care if he doesn't wear the Flag lapel pin that is not the point. What does matter to me is the reason he gives why he does not wear one.
If he wins I will not call him President or even Mr., I will show no form of respect for this total POS.
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:45 AM | Comments (12)
March 09, 2008
Support The Troops Report At Bombed Recruiting Station at Times Square NY
Urban Infidel has a wonderful slide show of the support the troops rally.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
America will answer back when things like this happen and that is something that makes me so proud to be an American, one of the many reasons we live in an awesome country. When it comes to our military and supporting our troops we totally out number the anti-American military loathing jerks.
It was a wonderful turn out and I am very proud of those that lived close enough to attend. I didn't see any coverage on TV at all. Which is typical of the media, it is more important to them to show the left filled with hate then to show true Americans, Veterans and civilians that appreciate our troops and Vets.
* LGF
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Comments (12)
Marines Find Ramadi More Welcoming Than Berkeley
DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES
Marines find Ramadi more welcoming than Berkeley
California city officials would banish them
By Matt Sanchez
BERKELEY
"The Marines are unwelcome here." These weren't the comments of a banana republic dictator or the rantings of a religious radical. These were the words of Tom Bates, the elected mayor of Berkeley.
It's difficult to match up the animosity of the residents of Berkeley, Calif., USA, with the residents of Ramadi, Anbar, Iraq. I met Ramadis who were so happy to have the Marines among them that they literally hugged and kissed them on the streets. Children made high-five signs when they saw Marines of the 3rd battalion 7th Marines on patrol and residents insisted they come in to drink chai and eat goats the hosts were willing to kill in their honor.
One resident grumbled the Marines of the 2nd battalion 5th Marines never stayed long enough after dinner. Iraqis are very hospitable and dinner can last several hours and long into the night.
Of course, Ramadi was no cakewalk. In 2005, the Marines told of having to run during the entire patrol. A moving, erratic target made it harder for an eager sniper to pick off a Marine. That was a tough time for the 3rd battalion 7th Marines Kilo Company, as told by Cpl. Tar Po.
Po was born in Burma. His family fled that Southeast Asian nation because of the political situation. Thanks to an aunt, the corporal's parents moved the family to California when he was just five years old. Po sailed through the school system until he hit a few bumps in his teenage years.
"I was hanging out with the wrong crowd," said the corporal, in his early 20s. He participated in the JROTC to join the Navy, but decided to join the Marine Corps after meeting a gunnery sergeant who impressed him.
"He kept me out of big trouble," said Po, who later confessed that he wanted to join the Corps to "blow things up." His teenage years were turbulent and the corporal still regrets putting his parents through so much grief. He joined the Marine Corps on an "open contract" and eventually became a 0311, "a grunt", a rifleman.
Like many young men and women recruited during a time of war, Po had no illusions. Most of the people I spoke to in Iraq and Afghanistan had joined after the start of hostilities. They signed up during a time of war.
We were standing in Ramadi, the sun was beating down hot and we were in full battle rattle. After loading up the vehicle for a convoy we headed for the chow hall, a makeshift building where Marines served meals out of robust Mermite containers. It was going to be a long day.
"I wanted to come to Iraq," said Po in a quiet voice that made him seem younger.
Choosing to come to a war zone is difficult enough for war protesters back in Berkeley to understand, but it makes sense to any military recruiter. To Po's generation, the generation whose parents posted "Baby on Board" signs in their rear window, the idea of risk and danger are not only appealing, for the few, there is a yearning to rise to a challenge so as not to fall to mediocrity.
Po got his share of danger when on Oct. 11, 2005, while rolling down Michigan Avenue, his convoy was hit by a pressure plate IED. .
After such a severe injury, Po could have left the Marine Corps. He could have gotten out and no one would have blamed him. His scar was an impressive gash across his arm, there were marks from the needle surgeons had pushed in and out of his skin. But Po chose to go back.
After only a couple of weeks in country, Po was injured again during a patrol. His arm was split open. Within hours, he was out of the country, on a military flight to Germany, at least that is what he was told. He actually doesn't remember much until he got back home to California.
It's one thing to go into the "unknown" to test one's limits, this is the motive for many who seek adventure or just want to see what they can stand. It's quite another to be wounded seriously and head back to a war zone.
At home, Po spent much time recuperating, but rest wasn't always on his mind.
"I really felt that I had let the other Marines down, like I wasn't doing my job."
The events that changed the corporal's life weren't strictly limited to his wounds.
"I respect my parents more than ever, they were there for me the whole time. I'm sorry I put them through so much."
After surgeries, therapy and much pain, the next question was obvious.
"No, I've never regretted becoming a Marine. It's one of the best experiences of my life."
Down the Bay from Berkeley, the Fremont Marine recruiting station is next to a shopping center, and just a stone's throw away from the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Station. This is an affluent area nestled near a chain of hills that run along the San Francisco Bay. If you visit the recruiting station, you'll see a few Marines hanging out with a couple of "poolees", young men and women who are about to join the Marine Corps. These are the ones who have passed the battery of tests that the majority of applicants will fail.
"Of every 10 people who are interested, only about three are qualified," said Staff Sgt. Felton C. Williams, the U.S. Marine Corps recruiter for the Fremont area. After completing the first part of the process, the screening, the poolees will become recruits at Marine basic training. Anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of those recruits will not finish the initial training.
Groups like Code Pink and The World Can't Wait shouted for a ban against the Marines and yet young men and women will seek out the Corps, looking for something they can't find elsewhere.
"It's business as usual. We aren't planning to move that office," Gunnery Sgt. Pauline Franklin said Monday. "We've been recruiting qualified men and women for 232 years. That's not going to stop now."
"We failed our city," said Gordon Wozniak, who was one of three council members who voted against the original declaration. "We embarrassed our city."
"It hurts to see what some of the people back home, saying the war is pointless," said Po wincing, the gash on his bare arm impossible to hide. It was a bright sunny day in Ramadi and we were about to convoy to a meeting at the city council. In fact, we were going near the road where Po was wounded.
"They just don't know," said the corporal. If anyone had the right to complain about the presence of Marines in a city, surely it was this young Marine who was on his second tour.
Who will defend the citizens of Berkeley should they come to some danger? The answer is those same Marines who are willing to be wounded and still return to duty. After a couple of days and a bit of pressure, the mayor of Berkeley and most of his city council members have capitulated in defeat.
Fortunately, as "intruders" the Marines are made of much tougher stuff. If the Marines were able to tame Ramadi, a city that was proclaimed the religious capital of al-Qaida in Iraq by members of that organization, the Marines won't be swayed by a couple of people protesting.
Despite all the commotion about Berkeley, there was an upside to this story.
"More people inquired about becoming a Marine officer," said Officer Selection Officer Captain Richard Lund with some hesitation. Not everyone who wants to become a Marine can, but those who do, like Cpl. Tar Po, truly are the few.
Wild Thing's comment........
God bless our military and God bless our Marines. Great story and what an ending to it too where more people are interested in becoming a Marine.
....Thank you Les for sending this story to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:50 AM | Comments (8)
Speaking Up About Islam
Wild Thing's comment........
This guy says a lot of good stuff and I wanted to share it with you. He has had it with Islam and their agenda!
....Thank you SSgt Steve for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (12)
Obama Camp Wants McCain to Denounce Rep.Steve King
Obama Camp Wants McCain to Denounce Rep. for Saying Terrorists Will Rejoice for Him
John McCain’s campaign distanced itself Saturday from a supporter who told an Iowa newspaper that terrorists would be “dancing in the streets” if Barack Obama is elected president.
Iowa Rep. Steve King made the remarks to the Daily Reporter in Spencer, Iowa, basing his prediction on Obama’s pledge to pull troops out of Iraq, his Kenyan heritage and his middle name, Hussein. Obama’s campaign immediately called on McCain to denounce the remarks.
McCain traveling press secretary Brooke Buchanan told FOX News that King has no affiliation with the campaign.
“The Senator has been clear that he intends to keep this campaign about the issues. He has condemned similar comments by (radio talk show host) Bill Cunningham. He doesn’t agree with King’s comments,” Buchanan said. “He intends to run a respectful race and keep it about the issues.”
The Arizona senator recently chided Cunningham after the Cincinnati talk show host referred to Obama three times as “Barack Hussein Obama” while introducing McCain.
“These comments have no place in our politics,” Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said earlier, before McCain’s campaign responded to King.
King told the Daily Reporter that his comments were not meant to demean Obama but to warn how an Obama presidency would look to the world.
“The radical Islamists, the Al Qaeda … would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror,” King said.
“His middle name does matter,” King said. “It matters because they read a meaning into that.”
Wild Thing's comment........
Obama is out of touch with reality if he doesn’t know that King is right. King is on target. McCain would do well to remember who his friends are.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (18)
March 08, 2008
Weather Underground and B. Hussein Obama
Throughout the 1970’s, the Weather Underground was responsible for the bombings of the National Guard offices in Washington, D.C.; the U.S. Capitol Building; the New York City Police Headquarters; and the Pentagon and other things.
38 years ago on March 6th, 1970, the same day as the morning's bombing of a military recruitment center in New York's Times Square, domestic terrorists got a dose of what they deserved.
According to Weather Underground member William Ayers, the bomb they were working on in a New York City townhouse was destined for a military dance at Fort Dix.
Brownstones stand like soldiers in a row on tree-lined West Eleventh Street in lower Manhattan. Many were built at the turn of the century when pride in workmanship still prevailed in the building trades. Eleventh Street is just three blocks north of famed Washington Square Park, once a public execution ground in the 19th century, and extends west through Greenwich Village, past historic Hudson and Bleecker Streets, ending finally at West Street on the shore of the Hudson River. A long line of artists, writers, actors, musicians and celebrities of every manner and fashion has called this area home. Herman Melville and Walt Whitman once lived here. And Edgar Allen Poe wrote The Raven when he lived in a boarding house on Greenwich Street in 1844. The great "Satchmo" played the blues here from time to time and Sara Vaughn often performed in Village jazz clubs, along with Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, "Cannonball" Adderly, Monk and Miles Davis.
On March 6, 1970 at 11:55 a.m., Susan Wager, former wife of film actor Henry Fonda, was in her basement at 50 West Eleventh Street with her housekeeper sorting her laundry. A few minutes before noon, she heard a tremendous explosion outside her building. "We both looked at each otheryou could feel it, a real quaver ran through the ground," she later told reporters.
Immediately, she heard two more rapid-fire explosions. Mrs. Wager hurried up the steps and out into the street. She saw that the explosions came from building number eighteen. As she ran down the block, Mrs. Wager saw the flames blowing out the front windows of the townhouse. There was concrete debris lying on the sidewalk and large pieces of the townhouse on the tops of parked cars. In the doorway, she saw a "red, incandescent glow, more scary than flames" emanate from inside the 1st floor hallway.
fire consumed the townhouse as gas lines exploded and windows shattered into the street. But firefighters were able to get hoses on the inferno quickly and soon, it was brought under control. In the early evening, a man's body was found in the basement and a short time later, a woman's torso was discovered on the first floor. Police also found several handbags with personal identifications that were stolen from college students over the previous few months. Late that same night, cops located at least 60 sticks of dynamite, a live military antitank shell, blasting caps and several large metal pipes packed solid with explosives. Neighbors, including actor Dustin Hoffman, who lived next door, began leaving in droves.
The dead man was later identified as 23-year-old Theodore Gold, a leader of a student strike at Columbia University in 1968. He was a member of the Weathermen, a radical group of college students who believed that the only way to change America was through confrontation and violence. The dead girl, whose body was horribly mangled by the powerful blast, was eventually identified as Diana Oughton, another former college student. Seven days later, police managed to locate another dismembered body of a male. His identity remained a mystery until the Weathermen later claimed it was Terry Robbins, one of their own members.
James P. Wilkerson, a radio station owner from the Midwest, owned the townhouse. His daughter, Catherine Wilkerson, 25, was also a known member of the Weathermen. She was currently out on $40,000 bail on assault charges in Chicago where she struck a police officer with a club during a political demonstration. A close friend of Catherine's, a girl named Kathy Boudin, was staying with her at the time of the blast. Boudin, too, was out on $20,000 bail on similar charges in Chicago. Neither of the girls could be located. Police soon speculated that the town home was being used as a bomb factory and the occupants were probably assembling bombs when something went very wrong.
Columbia University in New York City and Berkeley University in California were two institutions where radicals assumed center stage. Various political groups and peace organizations sprung up everywhere but especially on college campuses where anti-war factions found fertile ground for recruitment.
One such political organization was the Students for a Democratic Society (S.D.S.). The S.D.S. wanted action, not words. But as time passed, several groups broke away from the organization to form their own ideological cells. Such a camp was the Weathermen, named after a line in a Bob Dylan song, "Subterranean Homesick Blues." The line went like this: "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."
The Weathermen were radicals. They wanted their people to get involved, demonstrate, get arrested and force change down the throat of the "establishment." They fought at the Democratic Presidential Convention in 1968 and converged in Chicago in 1969 for an event that came to be known as "Days of Rage." The more violent extremists during that era were responsible for a score of bombings in places like Harvard University, various corporate headquarters and a number of government institutions. They praised Charles Manson and freed Dr. Timothy Leary from prison. Wherever there was violence and chaos in the name of dissent, the Weathermen were there. But after the townhouse explosion in New York City in 1970, the group was forced to go "underground" and remove itself from the prying eyes of law enforcement and public scrutiny.
Due to the extreme length of the artible.......Skip to .........The Agony of Parole
This is a slap in the face of every officer in our state and our nation who put their lives on the line every day to protect the citizens of our country. It is the worst travesty of justice that I have seen in a long time!" Such were the words of Fraternal Order of Police President Frank Ferreyra when he learned of the New York State parole board decision to free 60-year-old Kathy Boudin.
Boudin, a former Weather Underground member, has been in prison for the past 22 years for her role in the notorious Brinks armored car robbery in Nyack in 1981, during which two police officers and a security guard were murdered. On August 20, 2003, the two-member parole board voted to release the 1960s radical as early as it may be feasible.
Boudin said of her early years, "I had an ideology...that said essentially, white people, beause of having privilege, are essentially bad." But the parole commissioners took notice of the good work performed by Boudin during her incarceration, including her assistance to inmates who have AIDS.
Her attorney, Leonard Weinglass, told reporters. "It's only just and fair she be released in accordance with the agreement."
Her son, Chesa Boudin, 23, told the press that her mother wants to apologize personally to the victims' families. "It's very important to her that the families of those three men - know how terribly she feels about what happened," he said.
Chesa's father, David Gilbert, who drove one of the getaway vehicles in the bloody hold-up, is serving a 75-year-to-life sentence in Attica prison and will be eligible for parole himself in 2056. Gilbert has never cooperated with authorities in the investigation of the crime, which netted Boudin and friends $1.6 million in cash.
Chesa was later raised by comrades Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn and recently graduated from college. "If there is anything any of us could do to go back and change history, we would," he said recently to reporters.
The decision to parole Boudin enraged the law enforcement community in New York, especially in Rockland County where the robbery took place. Local groups have consistently opposed the release of Boudin and have worked tirelessly to make their feelings known to the parole board and the governor's office.
The Village of Nyack has erected monuments to the slain officers and holds an annual ceremony in their memory. Officer Waverly Brown, 45, and Sgt. Edward O'Grady Jr., 33, were killed on October 20, 1981 when they stopped a U Haul truck occupied by gang members who had murdered Brinks' guard Peter Paige just minutes before. When the officers tried to open the rear doors of the U Haul, the suspects, who were never all identified, came out shooting. Brown and O'Grady were instantly killed by a barrage of bullets from automatic weapons. Kathy Boudin, a passenger in the front seat of the truck, was apprehended as she ran from the scene of the carnage. She was already on the lam for over ten years as a result of an explosion in a Greenwich village townhouse-bomb factory that unintentionally killed three fellow terrorists.
In a letter published by the New York Post, Diane O'Grady, widow of Sgt. Ed O'Grady and mother to their three children raised without a father, addressed the parole of Boudin. "I do not believe that there is a shred of guilt, shame or remorse felt by inmate Boudin," she wrote. "To see and hear of the celebrating by Boudin and her supporters was hurtful and indecent." Mrs. O'Grady also responded to Boudin's request for a face to face apology. "I want to set the record straight and leave no room for doubt," she wrote, "I will never meet with inmate Boudin or her son. I would never dishonor my husband's memory with such a meeting. Nor do I have any desire to help Boudin ease her conscience or to give her a better public image for her next book."
But one thing is sure: Kathy Boudin, now 60 years old, will walk out of Bedford Prison a free woman. Her debt to society for her actions on August 20, 1981 will have been paid. She will start a new life, much to the dismay of some people. There have been published reports that Manhattan's St. Luke's Hospital has already offered her a job to work with AIDS patients. Undoubtedly, her image will appear on television talk shows, media events and the inevitable book deal may soon follow. New York's "Son of Sam" law, which prevents those convicted of crimes to profit from them in movie or book contracts will apply to Kathy Boudin, but other criminals have gotten around the law. It remains to be seen if Boudin has such ambitions.
In the meantime, her family and supporters are ecstatic. "Right now, she's hysterically happy," attorney Weinglass said to reporters recently. "It's a pretty overwhelmingly joyous moment," Chesa Boudin told the Associated Press from his home in Chicago. But in Nyack, where the blood of murdered cops once flowed through village streets, there was a different reaction.
It's nothing to celebrate," Diane O'Grady wrote to the Daily News recently, "Nine children are still without fathers."
.
Wild Thing's comment........
This is a very long post, I hope it is ok. I try not to do this often. I needed to do this to put a history of all of this at Theodore's World for reference. It will be kept at the link in the sidebar listed as Traitors To America.
So much was happening in the late 60's and early 70's in my life, moving to Calif. in 68' from Dallas Texas, the Vietman War, trips with Bob Hope to Vietnam (68',69',70' and 71') and life back in California when I was at home.
I knew Sharon Tate, we were not friends just two girls that ran into each other since we both worked in showbiz (acting and modeling) but she seemed sweet and was always a kind person. Years later when I met Nick he shared a story with me how he had lived in the same apt. building she did and they would run into each other as well usually out by the pool. He gave her an old radio he had when he was moving out of his apt. into a house he bought in the Hollywood hills. Just a canyon over from where Sharon Tate was killed that horrible night along with the others. Small world but that is why this is extremely interesting to me since I knew so little about all of this about the Weather Underground.
...."Wherever there was violence and chaos in the name of dissent, the Weathermen were there. But after the townhouse explosion in New York City in 1970, the group was forced to go “underground” and remove itself from the prying eyes of law enforcement and public scrutiny.”....
B. Hussein Obama has served on boards with Ayers - and been a guest in his home.
Re: William 'Bill' Ayers, one of the most troubling feature of Barack Obama is his association with the dreadful Ayers Dohrn pair.
"I don't regret setting bombs," Ayers was quoted in the opening line of the Times profile; "I feel we didn't do enough." In 1969, Ayers and his wife convened a "War Council" in Flint Michigan, whose purpose was to launch a military front inside the United States with the purpose of helping Third World [Maoist-communist] revolutionaries conquer and destroy it.
Today William Ayers is not merely an author favored by the New York Times, but a Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois, Chicago. His Lady Macbeth is not merely a lawyer, but a member of the American Bar Association’s governing elite, as well as the director of Northwestern University’s Children and Family Justice Center. These facts reflect a reality about the culture of facile defamation of America and ready appeasement of her mortal enemies, that confronts us as we struggle to deal with the terrorist attack....911 attacks.
There is more at FrontPageMag.com
Allies in War,
By David Horowitz:
"Obama served on the Wood's Fund board alongside William C. Ayers, a member of the Weathermen terrorist group which sought to overthrow the U.S. government and took responsibility for bombing the U.S. Capitol in 1971." "Obama was a director of the Woods Fund board from 1999 to Dec. 11, 2002, according to the Fund's website."
Ayers, who in 1970 was said to have summed up the Weatherman philosophy as: ''Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, kill your parents, that's where it's really at,'' is today distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. And he says he doesn't actually remember suggesting that rich people be killed or that people kill their parents, but ''it's been quoted so many times I'm beginning to think I did,'' he said. ''It was a joke about the distribution of wealth.''
Something Ayres shares with his wife mentioned below as Ms.Dohrn:
In 1967 Ayres met Ms. Dohrn in Ann Arbor, Mich. She had a law degree from the University of Chicago and was a magnetic speaker who often wore thigh-high boots and miniskirts. In 1969, after the Manson family murders in Beverly Hills, Ms. Dohrn told an S.D.S. audience: ''Dig it! Manson killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them, then they shoved a fork into a victim's stomach.''
At a 1969 "War Council" in Flint, Michigan, Dohrn gave her most memorable and notorious speech to her followers. Holding her fingers in what became the Weatherman "fork salute," she said of the bloody murders recently committed by the Manson Family in which the pregnant actress Sharon Tate and a Folgers Coffee heiress and several other inhabitants of a Benedict Canyon mansion were brutally stabbed to death: "Dig it! First they killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them. They even shoved a fork into the victim's stomach! Wild!" The "War Council" ended with a formal declaration of war against "AmeriKKKa," always spelled with three K's to signify the United States' allegedly ineradicable white racism.
In Chicago recently, Ms. Dohrn said of her remarks: ''It was a joke. We were mocking violence in America. Even in my most inflamed moment I never supported a racist mass murderer.''
Michelle Obama obviously hates America, is a rascist, hates the establishment and corporate America - their church preaches loyalty to the Mother Land, Africa - not America.
Barack Obama has a problem in saluting the Flag when given a chance to, at least on a regular basis.
Michelle Obama's own hatred of everything ‘white’ in link below. Black Power movement has never gone away - and is now a whisper from the Oval Office.
some notes from this next excellent article:
Sing, o muse, the wrath of Michelle
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/JC04Aa01.html
The wrath of swift-footed Achilles, of which Homer called his muse to sing, nearly lost the Trojan War for the Greeks. The wrath of swift-tongued Michelle Obama well might lose the White House for her husband. We had a peek into her diary last week when the Obama campaign finally made public her undergraduate thesis, titled "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community". The contents of this remarkable document sharpen the profile of Obama's women.
Barack Obama, I argued, evinces a preternatural sangfroid, for he is in America but not of it, a Third World anthropologist profiling Americans. But his wife's anger at America will out, for it is a profound rage amplified by guilt.
Michelle felt she was betraying "lower class Blacks" by assimilating:
... the path I have chosen to follow by attending Princeton will likely lead to my further integration and/or assimilation into a White cultural and social structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society, never becoming a full participant. This realization has presently made my goals to actively utilize my resources to benefit the Black community more desirable.
"Mr. Ayers, who has been described by one supporter as 'friends' with Mr. Obama, openly speaks and writes of his role in the 1974 bombing of the U.S. Capitol Building where Mr. Obama now serves. Mr. Ayers is widely quoted from his reminiscence, which appeared in the New York Times on the infamous Tuesday, September 11, 2001: 'I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough.'
When asked in that same interview if he would set more bombs today, his response was, 'I don't want to discount the possibility.'"
And from Human Events....The Obama Files :
"They're certainly friendly" --quote from "Obama's chief strategist (and reigning expert on Chicago's political tribes), David Axelrod"
Jump ahead to 2000...In addition to his professoship, Ayers is The Woods Fund board chairman, and a young state senator, who like Ayers is living in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, is a fellow board member--that person of course is Barack Obama. Why any organization would have Ayers serving on their board (he's not chairman any more, but Ayers is still on The Woods Fund board), is astonishing to me and any other person with common sense. And who'd want to serve with him? That year, Ayers and Obama (who should've abstained) voted to invest $1 million in Woods Fund money into a firm run by a former boss of the then-state senator, Allison Davis.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (17)
B.Hussein Obama ~ Building a Religion
Wild Thing's comment.........
What the hell happened to this being a Presidential election?!?!?!
His followers remind me of those Jim Jones followers. Brain dead idiots, seeking someone to pay attention to them and believing anything the person says even if he is saying trash!
The only thing is though this man is much more dangerous them Jim Jones ever was, this man will destroy our country and not just a small group of civilians tucked away from the world.
42% of all voters said the person they’d most want to answer the phone was John McCain. Among all voters, 25% picked Clinton and another 25% named ObamaAmong Democrats, 46% said they’d like Clinton to take that call while 36% named Obama. Among Republicans, 79% named McCain while neither Democrat reached double digits.
Among unaffiliated voters, 39% said McCain would be their top choice to handle such a crisis.
An Obama foreign policy advisor said that neither Democrat was prepared to take that call, a comment that John McCain was quite happy to endorse.
.......Thank you Cuchieddie for sending this YouTube video link to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (16)
Obama and Gore: the dream ticket???
What If There is No Back Room?
The search for a way out of the Democrats' dilemma
Newsweek for complete article
Eleanor Clift
"No matter who wins the remaining primaries, there's no way for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton to capture enough delegates to reach the magic number of 2,025 needed to secure the Democratic nomination. The decision will then fall to the superdelegates, elected officials and party people often demonized in the media as hacks or backroom operators. A majority of them will swing behind one or the other candidate—likely Hillary Clinton—boosting her over the top even if she lags behind Barack Obama in the pledged delegate count.And they will do this dastardly deed behind closed doors, in the electronic equivalent of the smoke-filled room, plotting over cell phones and making their decision based on implied favors and self-interest.
The roughly 350 superdelegates who have not yet endorsed are all free agents. There's nothing that says they have to act in concert, and they'll work to avoid anything that fuels conspiracy theories. "My real worry is there is no back room," says this adviser. Clinton says she'll go all the way to the convention in August. If there's a stalemate, the superdelegates could decide to pass on the first ballot to test the candidates' strength at that juncture. We could then be way back to the future, the first time in the modern reform age that a candidate is not chosen on the first ballot.
If that happens, the convention could turn to a compromise candidate. Al Gore is the most obvious and perhaps the only contender who could head off a complete meltdown in the party. "
It is also being written about here..........and this one is written by an extremely obvious Obama supporter kool aid brain. hahahhaa
Obama and Gore: the dream ticket
"This means that the Democrats have only one dream ticket: Obama and Al Gore who is the only potential candidate with more national security experience, and world profile, than Republican John McCain. Without Gore as Obama's running mate, the party's continuing candidate contest will simply play into McCain's hands ...."
"The facts are that neither Obama nor Hillary have as much experience as does McCain. Hillary has an experienced husband, but she never even had security clearance in the White House. No First Lady does and no First Lady, including Bill, should have be privy to national secrets and strategy sessions"
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Wild Thing's comment.......
I put the two links because it does show it is being discussed. The first one from Lynn is the best one, because the second one I found is so pro Obama it is sickening.
Not sure how much of this is wishful thinking on the part of Eleanor Clift, but in thinking about it I don't see Al Gore playing VP again. Gore is not going to be second fiddle ever again He is an unstable person imo and I think that is why he likes his playing the Global warming god to his mother earth goddess he worship's.....what is it called Gia or something like that.
Also Gore is making tons of money now fleecing gullible idiots.
Whatever ticket Obama will be on, his own alone, or under Hillary hahaha is a “nightmare” as well as a national disgrace.
Thank you so much Lynn for sending the first link and article to me.
Thank you Mark for the photo of the German Mardi Gras float.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:50 AM | Comments (8)
Yes, We Can- Barackapella from Lewis & Clark College, Oregon
"This is an a cappella version of the song "Yes We Can." We are a group of students from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
On Friday the 29th, leap day, some members of my a cappella group and I did a benefit show called Barackappella at my college in Portland, Oregon. It was so much fun, I wanted to share the story with you.I support Barack Obama. I am very happy about the phenomenal voter turn out and political participation his campaign for the presidency is inspiring, and I am so excited about what I believe he will do as president. One of the many things I like about Obama is that he inspires action among really diverse groups of people. He inspires different people in different ways, but a lot of us love his speeches. A few weeks ago a group of famous artists put portions of some of his speeches to music, and made a very cool video called Yes We Can. Millions of people have watched it at the original site and also on YouTube, where it was re-posted.
I cried the first time I watched this video, and I know I was not alone. It is so nice to hear a “We” instead of an “I”. It is so nice to be so proud of a person who represents our country as a senator, and who I believe will be our President. Words do matter. I feel empowered when I say “Yes I Can,” and I feel even more empowered when I feel connected to something large enough to say “Yes We Can”. I believe more empowerment and civic engagement would be great for our country, and our world.
Just days after first watching this video, some friends and I wondered if we could arrange an a cappella version. I was already in an a cappella group at my school called MoMo and the Coop, and I knew that most of the other members were also Obama supporters. Long story short, most members of our group and another friend decided to do a benefit concert, and to call our concert Barackappella. Our performance was one of many “Leap for Change” events nationwide. About eighty people attended, including some of MoMo and the Coop’s fan base, and many Obama supporters we had not seen before. Some in the audience were much younger than me, and others could have been my grandparents. The video above is our version of Yes We Can, we also posted videos of the seven other songs we sang that night.
I am the guy with pink pants in the video, in case you were curious. I hope you enjoy it, it was so wonderful for me. By the end of the song my normally confident voice was quivering - definitely a symptom of my strong emotions, not stage fright. The audience really loved it, but I cherish most the proud and excited expressions of my friends who helped build this version of Yes We Can. Thanks guys.
The original Yes We Can speech was phenomenal, and the Yes We Can video is probably a lot more impressive musically, but I think our project is special. We are not famous or powerful, I think we are an interesting bunch, but all things considered we are ordinary Americans. But, we are participating in this movement in a way we would not have for any other politician since we were born. We are participating in our own way because a very inspiring person told us that ordinary Americans could do extraordinary things..."
Wild Thing's comment.......
These kids are communists, socialists and oh man I am so ticked I am out of words for how I feel about these POS American's!! I went to their website and the links in column (sidebar) on the right are filled with crap about Cuba etc.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:48 AM | Comments (7)
Wrong E-mail Address ~ LOL
A lesson to be learned from typing the wrong e-mail address...
A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a
particularly icy winter.
They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their
honeymoon 20 years earlier.
Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their
travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on
Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.
The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his
ro om, so he decided to send a e-mail to his wife. However, he
accidentally left out one letter in her e-mail address, and without realizing his
error, sent the e-mail.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston , a widow had just returned home
from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to
glory following a heart attack.
The widow decided to check her e-mail expecting messages from
relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed
and fainted.
The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor,
and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I've Arrived
Date: October 16, 2004
I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here
now and you are allowed to send E-mails to your loved ones. I've just
arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been
prepared fo r your arrival tomorrow.
Looking forward to seeing you then!
Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
PS. Sure is freaking hot down here!!!
.
.....LMAO Thank you Jack for sending this to me. Jack's blog is Conservative Insurgent.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (2)
March 07, 2008
Obama Adviser Resigns After Comment
Obama Aide Resigns After Calling Clinton a ‘Monster’ in Interview With Scottish Paper
WASHINGTON
A Barack Obama adviser resigned Friday after calling rival Hillary Rodham Clinton "a monster."
Samantha Power, an unpaid foreign policy adviser and Harvard professor, announced her resignation in a statement provided by the Obama campaign in which she expressed "deep regret."
"Last Monday, I made inexcusable remarks that are at marked variance from my oft-stated admiration for Senator Clinton and from the spirit, tenor, and purpose of the Obama campaign," she said. "And I extend my deepest apologies to Senator Clinton, Senator Obama and the remarkable team I have worked with over these long 14 months."
Power's interview Monday was published Friday in a Scottish newspaper, even though she tried to keep it from appearing in print.
"She is a monster, too ? that is off the record ? she is stooping to anything," The Scotsman quoted her as saying.
As U.S. news media picked up on the remark, Power issued a statement of apology and the campaign said Obama decried the characterization.
The Clinton campaign held a conference call with several of the former first lady's congressional supporters calling for Power to be fired.
"Senator Obama has called for change, and a new kind of politics," said New York Rep. Gregory Meeks. "This is the worst kind of politics."
Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson noted that those involved in the Clinton campaign had been removed when they spoke of Obama's teenage drug use or helped spread the false rumor that the Illinois senator is a Muslim.
He defended his own comparison of Obama to independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr, saying he'd been responding to "attacks" from the Obama campaign regarding Clinton's tax returns and real estate transactions. That, he said, was a clear reference to Whitewater and so it was appropriate to bring up Starr in that context.
Wild Thing's comment........
LOL As they say the truth shall set you free. heh heh
First you can't make fun of Obama's ears, then you can't call him a LIBERAL, then you can't use his middle name HUSSEIN. And now in this Presidential race you can't call Hillary a monster. LMAO
Hey grow up boys and girls running for President, first Hillary is a monster, Obama is a liberal and his middle name is Hussein. I guess the next thing is a person can't say Obama is black. I mean what other obvious bits of information about these candidates is the world going to be unable to say.
Political Correctness is a bad idea. The list of things "you can't say" keeps growing and growing. Meanwhile, the stuff I hear on TV -- stuff people "shouldn't say" around children -- keeps increasing.
I read long ago about some of the name calling that was often used during the campaigns of Andrew Jackson. Monster would have been user friendly compared to some of the names he and his staff used, and they were Democrats. hahaha
She should not have resigned. What a sense of power Horrible Hillary must now have. First McCain goes on his knees because somebody used Barack’s middle name, now “monster” is added to the naughty word list. What about those who have called Bush a Nazi? That is okay?
Hillary, Michelle Obama, Obama, Bill Clinton, are ALL MONSTERS.
And regarding Samantha Power, from a post I did about her awhile back.
"One Obama adviser who's especially difficult to explain away is Samantha Power, whose views are virulently anti-Israel and none too warm towards American Jews. Perhaps Obama can explain which of Powers' views (as documented by Lasky and Baehr) make her so attractive to him. Is it her view that the Jewish lobby pushed us into war with Iraq (a view that even Walt and Mearsheimer are no longer willing to defend)? Is it her view of Israelis as war criminals whose tactics the U.S. mimics to its detriment in Iraq? Is it her outrage at the way Israel treated the U.N.'s faux peacekeepers in South Lebanon, the ones who stood by while Hezbollah gained a dominant position and used it to commit aggression against Israel? Perhaps it's simply her willingness to embrace virtually every slander of Israel that can be dredged from the fever swamp, and the hatred of that State this willingness reflects."
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:55 PM | Comments (8)
8 House Dems Get Letters, Photo of New York Recruiting Station Before Bombing
Police officers with the Washington Metropolitan Police Department sit in their cruiser outside an Armed Forces Recruiting Center, Thursday, March 6, 2008, in Washington as another officer, left, exits the center. Police are investigating letters that arrived Thursday at Capitol Hill offices containing a photo of the New York Times Square military recruiting office before it was bombed and including the claim 'We Did It.'
(AP Photo/Haraz Ghanbari)
An official holds an ammunition box similar to the one that held an explosive device that exploded outside the U.S. Armed Forces Career Center, during a news conference in New York's Times Square March 6, 2008. The U.S. Homeland Security Department said it was monitoring and investigating a small explosion that caused minor damage to a U.S. military recruiting center in New York's Times Square.
REUTERS
Letters under scrutiny in NY blast
A law enforcement official says police are investigating letters sent to Capitol Hill offices showing pictures of a Times Square military recruiting station that was bombed.According to the official, who was briefed on the investigation, the letters included words to the effect of, "We did it." The official did not know which offices received the letters.
The small bomb caused minor damage to the New York military recruiting station before dawn Thursday and police were searching for a hooded bicyclist seen on a surveillance video peddling away.
.
And this..................
8 House Dems get letters, photo of New York recruiting station before bombing
Eight House Democrats were mailed a letter and photo of a Times Square recruiting station in Manhattan before it was bombed this morning, according to House insiders.
UPDATE 2: A senior House aide suggested many more members than the eight Democrats originally believed to have received them could have gotten copies and suggested law enforcement officials do not know the full scope of how many missives were actually sent at this time.
The letter did not contain any specific threats against the lawmakers or the site, but the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI are now investigating the matter.
It was unclear which lawmakers received the letters or their party affiliation. The letter was postmarked Feb. 28, a week before the explosion in New York.”
More but from another link
'We Did It' letters eyed in NY bombing
Capitol Hill offices received letters Thursday containing a photo of the Times Square military recruiting office before it was bombed and including the claim "We Did It."
The manila envelopes contained a photo of a man standing in front of the recruiting station before it was bombed. The photo was the kind commonly sent as a holiday greeting card, according to a Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is under investigation.
The message on the card: "Happy New Year, We Did It."
The envelope also contained a packet of approximately 10 sheets of paper that seemed to be a political manifesto railing against the Iraq war and a booklet. The aide didn't know what the booklet was. A second aide, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said similar letters arrived in as many as 10 offices.
Capitol Police, FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service were investigating. In an e-mail to lawmakers, Capitol Police said the envelopes went through the standard security process. That process, which involves radiating incoming mail, can easily take a week or more, making it likely the letters were mailed well ahead of the bombing.
The small bomb caused minor damage to the New York military recruiting station before dawn Thursday and police were searching for a hooded bicyclist seen on a surveillance video pedaling away.
Each envelope was stamped with two $1 stamps and contained a white label with a return address, which the police did not identify in the e-mail. Police said the letters were safe and did not contain threats to lawmakers.
The man in the photo was thin, white with graying hair, wearing a striped flannel shirt and jeans, the Democratic aide said. A law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing, confirmed some of the contents of the letters as described by the aide.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of an e-mail sent from the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to other lawmakers Thursday that reads:
"A few offices on the House side have received a letter today addressed to 'Members of Congress' with a picture of a man standing in front of the Times Square recruiting station that was bombed in New York today with the statement 'We did it.' He is standing in front of it with his arms spread out and he's attached his political manifesto."
The blast left a gaping hole in the front window and shattered a glass door, twisting and blackening its metal frame. No one was hurt, but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the device, though unsophisticated, could have caused "injury and even death."
UPDATE:
Canadian Border Incident, Photos Part Of Times Square Investigation
NEW YORK
WNBC.com has learned NYPD, Homeland Security and FBI officials are now revisiting an incident that occurred along the Canadian border last month, concerned there might be a possible connection to the Times Square explosion.Four men trying to cross the border attempted to flee the checkpoint as Canadian officials tried to question them, investigators said.
Two of the men got away, officials said. The men left behind a backpack with photos of various New York City locations including Times Square, according to sources speaking on condition of anonymity. One of the photos included the military recruitment center, officials said. As a precaution, NYPD outreach officers last month went to various New York City businesses, including the Times Square military recruitment center, to investigate if there had been any specific threats. No threat information was known at the time, a law enforcement source said.
But after Thursday morning?s explosion, FBI, NYPD and Homeland Security officials are reaching out to Canadian authorities to try to learn more about the men who were at the border crossing last month.
One law enforcement official described two of the men are believed to be "anarchist-types." He stressed as of now there is nothing to link the men to Thursday's explosion. But it is a prudent to follow this possible lead, he said.
Wild Thing's comment.......
This was a deliberate act of anti-military domestic terrorism!!
Here is a video of the person on the bike and then the explosion.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Comments (14)
Palestinian Gunman Attacks Jewish School In Gaza But Rice Says Halt IDF in Gaza
Israel tightens security after Jerusalem attack
JERUSALEM (Reuters)
Israel imposed a security clampdown on Jerusalem and the West Bank on Friday to prevent violence after a Palestinian gunman killed eight students at one of the holy city's most prominent Jewish religious schools.
Thousands of mourners poured into Jerusalem to take part in open-air funerals for the victims, aged 15 to 26. Police set up road blocks and the army tightened restrictions on Palestinian travel in and from the occupied West Bank for 36 hours.
The gunman, whose family in Arab East Jerusalem said he had once worked as a driver for the college, was shot dead after opening fire with an automatic rifle at students in the library. The Merkaz Harav seminary has long been an ideological base for the Jewish settler movement in the Palestinian territories.
Police named the attacker as Ala Abu Dhaim, a driver. It was the bloodiest attack on Israelis in two years and the first such bloodshed in four years in Jerusalem, whose Arab residents have open access to Jewish parts of the city and the rest of Israel.
Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, hailed the "heroic operation" but stopped short of claiming responsibility.
The attack was greeted with celebrations in Gaza, where an Israeli offensive that ended on Monday killed more than 120 Palestinians, about half of them civilians.
The gunman's home was decorated on Friday with the flags of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Islamist groups. None had claimed responsibility for the attack, however.
Israel called Thursday's shooting a "massacre" but said peace talks would continue with West Bank-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who condemned the attack.
CITY ON ALERT
Israel deployed thousands of police in Jerusalem, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, and limited Palestinian access to Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site.
Police feared violence would break out in the Old City, where Jews and Muslims gathered for prayers. The al-Aqsa mosque overlooks the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site.
The shooting could complicate U.S. efforts to broker a statehood deal by the end of 2008. It followed a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who persuaded Abbas to return to talks after suspending them over Israel's Gaza offensive.
Washington has pressed Israel to ease travel restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank. Though the attacker did not come from there, the killing makes that less likely to happen soon.
Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, called on Abbas to do more to rein in militants.
"They have clear obligations to act against terrorist cells, to act against the infrastructure of terrorism," he said.
"While we understand they have limitations on their capabilities today, we believe that they could be doing much more, and it is incumbent upon them to do so."
Israel has yet to meet its own commitments under a long-stalled peace "road map" to halt all settlement activity and to remove Jewish outposts in the occupied West Bank.
President George W. Bush, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Germany, France, Russia and Britain condemned the killings. The United States accused Libya, backed by several other countries, of preventing the U.N. Security Council from condemning the assault as a "terrorist attack."
A member of the Libyan delegation said the council should not speak about the Jerusalem attack while ignoring Gaza.
In addition to those killed at the seminary, 11 people were wounded. It was the highest Israeli death toll since April 17, 2006, when 11 people were killed and more than 60 wounded in a suicide bombing during the Passover holiday in Tel Aviv.
Libya blocks condemnation of Jerusalem attack -US
UNITED NATIONS, March 6 (Reuters) - The United States accused Libya on Thursday of preventing the Security Council from condemning as a "terrorist attack" a deadly assault on a Jewish school in Jerusalem, but Tripoli called for "balanced action."
The United States had drafted a statement that was discussed at an emergency U.N. Security Council session called to debate an attack by a Palestinian gunman who killed at least eight people and wounded at least 10 more at an Israeli religious school.
"The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack that took place in Jerusalem March 6, 2008 which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of Israeli civilians," said the draft statement.
The U.S. delegation had hoped the 15-nation council would unanimously support the text but Libya, backed by several other council members, prevented its adoption.
Wildl Thing's comment........
Now one would think we would be upset as well with Lybia but I have to say that I am just as angry at Condi Rice at this............check it out, nice huh! Not!
Report: Rice Ordered Olmert to Halt IDF in Gaza
American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice personally told the Olmert government that it must stop its counterterrorist operations in Gaza, according to the London Jewish Chronicle. "Rice came and told us that we had to stop the operation in Gaza,” an Israeli government minister told the newspaper. He added that the Security Cabinet decision to instruct the IDF to continue actions to eliminate rocket attacks "is meaningless and was made only for public consumption."
Since the decision, the IDF has limited counterterrorist attacks to aerial strikes on rocket launching cells. The army withdrew ground troops less than two days before Secretary Rice arrived in Israel to pressure Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to resume negotiations with Israel. He suspended them in protest of the counterterrorist operations.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:48 AM | Comments (19)
Police Give Permission for Rally at Times Square Recruiting Station Island
The Police have allowed a rally to be held at the Times Square Recruiting Station Island, 43rd Street and Broadway, to show of encouragement and support for our troops and our recruiters.
Date : Saturday March 8, 2008
Time: from 1300 to 1600
There should be a big turnout, Partriot Guard Riders and Gathering of Eagles, and all Veteran’s groups and any of you that wish to attend to show support of our troops, our Veterans and our recruiters are most welcome too.
Here is a Times Square Cam and they might be on here on Saturday where you can also see the rally, not positive how the cam thing works.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (10)
Welcome Back
Vilmar is back and he is "Kicken and Screamin".
Here is the link to his new blog.
We are all wsihing you the best Vilmar, give them hell my friend! Good to see you back especially now with the election going on.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (5)
Marines Cooking in Iraqi Kitchen
Marines cooking food in Iraqi kitchen
Wild Thing's comment........
I love this, total dedication with their missions, friendships made, fun when there is time allowed and there is a Brotherhood that will always exist.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM
March 06, 2008
Explosive Device Thrown at Military Recruitment Office in Times Square, Manhattan
The New York Police bomb squad investigates an explosion, outside the U.S. Armed Forces Career Center in New York's Times Square March 6, 2008. A small explosion caused minor damage to a U.S. military recruiting center in New York's Times Square area in the early hours of Thursday but there were no injuries, police said. The U.S. Homeland Security Department said it was investigating whether there was a terrorism link to the explosion.
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Bicyclist sought in Times Square bombing
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Authorities are searching for a man on a bicycle as a possible suspect in the Thursday bombing at a military recruiting station in Times Square, investigators said.
The blast, around 3:45 a.m., caused no injuries, officials said.
A witness and an officer at a police substation just steps away from the recruiting office saw a man riding a bicycle, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said at a news conference.
They did not see the man's face, but he was wearing a backpack, he said.
The bomb consisted of some kind of "low order explosive" contained in a military-style ammunition box, Kelly said.
"This was not a particularly sophisticated device," he said.
No one saw the device being placed, and no one has taken responsibility for the attack, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
"Whoever the coward was that committed this disgraceful act on our city will be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Bloomberg said.
Authorities were reviewing tapes from security cameras, but the process "will take many hours," the mayor said.
The recruiting office, one of the nation's busiest, has been the site of periodic anti-war protests, The Associated Press reported.
"If it is something that's directed toward American troops, then it's something that's taken very seriously and is pretty unfortunate," Army Capt. Charlie Jaquillard, commander of Army recruiting in Manhattan, told AP.
"The fact that this appears deliberately directed at the recruiting station insults every one of our brave men and women in uniform stationed around the world fighting to defend our freedoms and the things we hold so dear," Bloomberg said.
After the incident, the Army sent an alert to the 1,650 Army recruiting stations across the country, said Douglas Smith of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command.
The blast is similar to two other incidents in New York, one in October and one in May 2005.
Both times an explosive device was detonated around 3 a.m.
In the October incident, a bomb was detonated near the Mexican consulate, shattering windows. At that time the authorities said the explosive device was similar to the ones used in a May 2005 blast at the British consulate.
In both cases, authorities were looking for a person spotted riding a bicycle in the area.
Police stopped several bicyclists for questioning Thursday morning near Times Square, but no one was detained, WABC-TV reported.
The recruiting office, whose neon lights help it blend in with the bright atmosphere of Times Square, sits on a triangular traffic island across the street from the Hard Rock Caf.
Two witnesses, a man and a woman, told a local TV station they heard a "huge bang" from their hotel rooms, but there were no police or fire reports of serious damage or injuries.
"I was on the 44th floor and I heard it. I could feel it from up there," a woman told WABC-TV.
The office's front door and window were shattered by the explosion, and the door's metal frame was bent. A large television screen above the door was working intermittently.
Investigators from the New York police and fire departments as well as the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sifted through the shattered glass by hand, placing small pieces of material into evidence bags.
The evidence was sent to the FBI's crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, Kelly said.
Police and fire squads initially cordoned off part of an area around Times Square. Later, vehicular and foot traffic resumed in the area, but the traffic island was closed to pedestrians.
Before the mayor's news conference, several people in military uniforms walked unimpeded through the scorched door. Recruiters will work from an office in Union Square until repairs are made, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told AP.
Subway service to Times Square was briefly halted but resumed in time for the morning rush hour.
"New York City is back and open for business," the mayor said. To prove his point, Bloomberg walked across the busy street after the news conference and bought a cup of coffee at a cafe.
Wild Thing's comment........
Found this too.... ABC news
For a half century, the station was the armed forces’ busiest recruiting center. It has set national records for enlistment, averaging about 10,000 volunteers a year.
And this is in from the NY GOE website:
"From the photographs and video it is obvious that this was not the work of kids playing with firecrackers. The safety glass windows are shattered. The steel door is sprung from its hinges. The large video screen above the entrance is damaged. Witnesses on the 21st floor report feeling the building shake at the Marriott Hotel two blocks away. "
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:44 PM | Comments (12)
Vermont Towns Put Bush and Cheney On Arrest List
Vermont towns vote to arrest Bush and Cheney
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Voters in two Vermont towns on Tuesday approved a measure that would instruct police to arrest President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for "crimes against our Constitution," local media reported.
The nonbinding, symbolic measure, passed in Brattleboro and Marlboro in a state known for taking liberal positions on national issues, instructs town police to "extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them."
Vermont, home to maple syrup and picture-postcard views, is known for its liberal politics.
State lawmakers have passed nonbinding resolutions to end the war in Iraq and impeach Bush and Cheney, and several towns have also passed resolutions of impeachment. None of them have caught on in Washington.
Bush has never visited the state as president, though he has spent vacations at his family compound in nearby Maine.
Roughly 12,000 people live in Brattleboro, located on the Connecticut River in the state's southeastern corner. Nearby Marlboro has a population of roughly 1,000.
Wild Thing's comment........
I wonder what would happen if the FBI and about 5,000 federal marshal’s showed up and took down the names of the voters and arrested them all for treason and shipped them all to GITMO?
Better yet, just throw a barbed wire enclosure around both towns and release the Gitmo detainees in their midst. Afterall McCain and the other candidates want to close GITMO anyway. Now we have found a place to store them with their friends. hahahahhahaa
Just have to make sure the Republicans are given notice to get the heck out of dodge first.
I would like to see Bush and Cheney walk cheerfully down the sidewalks downtown. Just call their bluff
Cheney has the balls to look them square in the eye, raise his eyebrow and say you want what???
heh heh
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (15)
Murtha Granted Exemption From Explaining
Marine Lt. Colonel Chessani Thrown Under the Bus for Political Reasons; Fair Trial an Illusion
ANN ARBOR, MI
“Military Judge Colonel Stephen Folsom’s, USMC, ruling yesterday refusing our request to take the deposition of Congressman John Murtha, D-PA, is the latest indication that it will be impossible for Marine Lt. Colonel Chessani to get a fair trial regarding November 19, 2005, Haditha incident,” said Richard Thompson, Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, the Ann Arbor, Michigan based public interest law firm defending Lt. Col. Chessani.
“This entire prosecution is politically motivated and stinks to high heaven. Denying us the right to take Murtha’s deposition so that we could show undue command influence, as well as denial of our request for production of documents in the possession of Lt. Col. Chessani’s superiors makes it impossible for us to render this loyal Marine officer the effective assistance of counsel he deserves — they are attempting to throw him under the bus. In many ways this is a trial like the one in Alice in Wonderland—the verdict first and then the trial.”
Continued Thompson, “In the next couple of weeks we will reveal startling facts tracing the impetus for this prosecution to the highest levels of military and civilian command.”
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani is charged with “dereliction of duty” and “orders” violations stemming from the terrorist attack in the once insurgent-laden town of Haditha, Iraq on November 19, 2005. At the time, Chessani was battalion commander of the Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment – one of the most decorated battalions in our nation’s history. This battle cost the Marines fourteen casualties – including one Marine killed-in-action. The insurgents, hiding amongst women and children in civilian homes, caused the death of fifteen civilians as the Marines fought back.
Months before the investigation was completed, Congressman Murtha made the rounds on TV news programs claiming there was no firefight in Haditha on November 19, 2005, and that the Marines killed innocent Iraqi civilians in “cold blood” and officers “covered it up.” Murtha publicly stated he received his information from the highest levels of the Marine Command – this statement in itself is enough to cause a dismissal of the charges because of undue command influence.
Congressman Murtha holds significant influence over military appropriations and in the past has boasted he can get the Pentagon to do what he wants.
Murtha is the same person caught on tape negotiating bribes with Arab Sheiks during the FBI’s 1980 Abscam investigation – he was an un-indicted coconspirator in that case. Clearly, the Haditha incident provided ammunition for his well known anti-war stance.
Murtha also has ties to Navy Secretary Donald Winters. Winters had over 65 NCIS investigators assigned to investigate Lt. Col. Chessani and the Marines charged in the case. The NCIS Director claimed that to be the highest number of investigators assigned to an investigation in the history of the NCIS.
Hearings on the motions ruled on by Colonel Folsom were held February 20, 2008, and Thursday, February 21, 2008. Law Center attorney Rob Muise and detailed military defense counsel Lt. Colonel John Shelbourne, USMC, presented oral arguments on the five motions at Camp Pendleton, California.
Lt. Col. Chessani, one of America’s most effective combat commanders in Iraq, now faces dismissal (an officer’s equivalent of a dishonorable discharge), loss of retirement, and imprisonment of up to 3 years.
The actual court-martial trial is scheduled to begin April 28, 2008.
Thompson concluded, “We remain undaunted despite these latest rulings. We will continue to vigorously defend Lt. Col. Chessani against this politically-driven prosecution. At least one more motion hearing is scheduled in April, and we intend to file several more motions that will be argued during that time.”
Also found here.................
Murtha granted exemption from explaining
A member of Congress who publicly condemned U.S. Marines fighting the war on terror in Iraq for killing civilians in "cold blood" is being granted an exemption that means he will not have to answer questions about his statements, including his earlier explanation that his information came from the highest levels of the Marine Command. ....see liknk at WND for entire article
Wild Thing's comment........
He is a Traitor to The Marine Corps, he is a Traitor to his country and any fool that allows that jerk to remain in office is also a Traitor.
I know that some of the bible thumpers may beat up on me for this, but I hope this bastard dies slow and painful death... and then rots in Hell!
May God not have mercy on this bastards soul.
I will never for get this either that Murtha did...............
Watch this Senate Democrat John 'ABSCAM' Murtha run like a scared girl and order the peasants around when he's confronted with Apologizing to the Marines he slandered.
When he wasn’t busy over the past year or so arguing that we ought to fight al Qaeda in Iraq from our bases in Okinawa and Diego Garcia, Rep. Jack “Abscam” Murtha has been busy stuffing his face with pork, behaving questionably over appropriations and smearing US Marines. Now that three of the Marines Murtha prejudged to be guilty of cold-blooded murder have been cleared of all charges, Murtha ought to answer for what he has been saying about them.
Jason Mattera of the Young America's Foundation confronted Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA) for accusing the Haditha Marines of murder "in cold blood." Most of the charges in that trial have been dropped.
Democrat Murtha wrongly accused Marines of Murder, refuses to apologize...runs away from interview.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (16)
' America Is A 'bully' Says B.Hussein Obama
Obama says America is a 'bully'
Presidential candidate calls for more diplomacy, less bluster
WASHINGTON
In his election-night speech from San Antonio, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called for America to rely more on diplomacy and less on bluster, characterizing recent U.S. policy as "bullying."
In the context of a blistering critique of U.S. policy in Iraq, Obama said: "It's the same course that continues to divide and isolate America from the world by substituting bluster and bullying for direct diplomacy."
Obama did not specify where America was acting in the bully role.
Obama, and his wife, Michelle, have been criticized by some Republicans for what appears to be increasingly harsh rhetoric critical of both America's domestic and foreign affairs.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Sure isn't that what someone would say when running for President of the greatest country in the entire world? NOT!!!
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:48 AM | Comments (12)
Michelle Obama: America is ‘Just Downright Mean’
America is ‘Just Downright Mean’
Two weeks after making her disdain for the nation clear during a campaign speech for her husband in Wisconsin, Michelle further debased America by saying that we're a country that is "just downright mean."
Given how media made excuses for her comments in Wisconsin, it will be quite interesting to see just how much of her interview in the March 10th edition of The New Yorker.
"Obama begins with a broad assessment of life in America in 2008, and life is not good: we're a divided country, we're a country that is "just downright mean," we are "guided by fear," we're a nation of cynics, sloths, and complacents. "We have become a nation of struggling folks who are barely making it every day," she said, as heads bobbed in the pews. "Folks are just jammed up, and it's gotten worse over my lifetime. And, doggone it, I'm young. Forty-four!"
"You're looking at a young couple that's just a few years out of debt," Obama said. "See, because, we went to those good schools, and we didn't have trust funds. I'm still waiting for Barack's trust fund. Especially after I heard that Dick Cheney was s'posed to be a relative or something. Give us something here!"
The Obamas' financial standing has risen sharply in the past three years, largely as a result of the money Barack earned from writing "The Audacity of Hope." In 2005, their income was $1.67 million, which was more than they had earned in the previous seven years combined.
"The life that I'm talking about that most people are living has gotten progressively worse since I was a little girl. . . . So if you want to pretend like there was some point over the last couple of decades when your lives were easy, I want to meet you!"
Wild Thing's comment........
Keep her talking. LOL Michelle is all about gloom and doom. ‘Give me something.’ Great, a perfect First Lady she’d make. NOT!! And I think the ‘mean’ she is seeing is in her.
If Michelle were to look in her (Obama Mirror) she would see the true racist.(Herself)
"Folks are just jammed up, and it's gotten worse over my lifetime."
Jammed up? What kind of talk is that from someone wanting to be First Lady.
B. Hussein Obama`s rallying cry - “Yes, we can!”
Michelle Obama`s rallying cry - “Give me something!”
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 AM | Comments (16)
Walks Like A Duck, Talks Like A Duck, It's A Duck!
Obama Served On Board That Funded Pro-Palestinian Group
JERUSALEM
Democratic presidential frontrunner Sen. Barack Obama served as a paid director on the board of a nonprofit organization that granted funding to a controversial Arab group that mourns the establishment of Israel as a "catastrophe."
The co-founder of the Arab group, Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi, is a harsh critic of Israel who reportedly worked on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization when it was labeled a terror group by the State Department.
Khalidi held a fundraiser in 2000 for Obama's failed bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Although AAAN co-founder Rashid Khalidi has at times denied working directly for the PLO, he reportedly served as director of the official PLO press agency WAFA in Beirut from 1976 to 1982, a period during which the PLO committed scores of anti-Western attacks and was labeled by the U.S. as a terror group.
While the Woods Fund's contribution to Khalidi's AAAN might be perceived as a one-time contact with Obama, there is evidence of a deeper relationship between the presidential hopeful and Khalidi.
According to a professor at the University of Chicago who said he has known Obama for 12 years, the senator first befriended Khalidi when the two worked together at the university. The professor spoke on condition of anonymity. Khalidi lectured at the University of Chicago until 2003; Obama taught law there from 1993 until his election to the Senate in 2004.
Khalidi said he supports Obama for president "because he is the only candidate who has expressed sympathy for the Palestinian cause."
In addition to questions about his relationship with Khalidi, Obama may face increased scrutiny over his ties to William C. Ayers, a member of the Weather Underground terrorist group that sought to overthrow the U.S. government and took responsibility for a string of bombings in the early 1970’s.
Obama served on the Woods Fund board alongside Ayers (who is still on the board). Ayers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has written about his involvement with the Weather Underground’s bombing of U.S. governmental buildings including the Capitol in 1971 and the Pentagon in 1972.
Although charges against him were dropped in 1974 due to prosecutorial misconduct, Ayers told a newspaper reporter several years ago that he had no second thoughts about his violent past. "I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough," Ayers told The New York Times in an interview published, ironically, on Sept. 11, 2001.
In his memoir, Fugitive Days, Ayers wrote: "Everything was absolutely ideal on the day I bombed the Pentagon" – though he continued with a disclaimer that he didn’t personally set the bombs but his group placed the explosives and planned the attack.
Besides serving with Obama on the board of the Woods Fund, Ayers contributed $200 to Obama’s senatorial campaign fund and has served on panels with Obama at several public speaking engagements.
Wild Thing's comment........
This is the craziest election year since I’ve been voting age. The democrat party is pro Arab Islamic state in Israel in general and anti Christian and Jewish in works also. So of course they will do what Europe does as they are pro UN and anti American sovereignty anyway.
They all hate America in their love of perverse diveristy and the world citizen under totalitarion and cruel one world government is their end, even if they don’t think it is.
Run a candidate that has a Muslim name.
Run that candidate with the Muslim name with a Muslim background.
Run that candidate with the Muslim name and Muslim background with pro-Muslim connections.
Run that same candidate with those same connections in the U.S. during a war in which U.S. is battling Islam.
And do it during a time in U.S. history when the battle cry is diversity, multiculturalism, and nonjudgmentalism.
Run a candidate that is immune to ALL criticism of any kind, because to criticize would make you a racist, AND THERE'S NOTHING WORSE THAN THAT in today's modern life.
I hope America's sense of nationalism and self-preservation kicks in in time.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:45 AM | Comments (16)
March 05, 2008
Michelle Obama is Not Proud of Her Country AGAIN !
.
Susan Estridge: “Hillary looked great tonight. Barack Obama looked good, but tonight he was not born in the manger.”
John McCain has Won the Republican Nomination for President
Huckabee has just dropped out of the race.
B. HUSSEIN Obama wins Vermont.
Hillary wins Rode Island.
Hillary wins Ohio.
Hillary wins Texas.
She finally won something so now she stays in and keeps the heat on Obama. The longer Hillary stays in the race, the more the demorats will be divided and get nasty with each other.
GOP voters crossing over in large numbers
Poll watchers throughout Ohio are noting large numbers of Republican voters crossing over to vote in the Democratic Primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.In the Republican roost of Chagrin Falls, veteran poll worker Liz McFadden was amazed at the number of people jumping the party's ship. Democrats accounted for 70 percent of the voters in her precinct, one of seven at the village's high school.
"That's a complete reversal of what it normally is, even more so," she said. "I've never seen a switch like this."
The defectors had motives both pure and sinister.
One woman voted for Clinton in hopes of delivering John McCain a weaker debate opponent. Another picked Obama because her vote could help deny Clinton and her husband a return trip to the White House.
A 69-year-old Catholic nun, Sister Ann Marie, was converted to the Clinton camp because of the former first lady's experience. John Baggett, another ex-Republican for Clinton, said he simply wanted to switch, and Clinton represented a known commodity.
"I'm happy with Republicans, in general," Baggett, 50, said. "I don't believe they've done a good job the last eight years."
In Strongsville, middle-aged couple Lucy and Pete See -- longtime Republicans -- both voted for Hillary Clinton. "I like that she has more experience in foreign affairs," Pete See said. "The Republican candidate was older than me.
Lucy See said she voted for Clinton as well. "I want to be part of makiing history," she said.
In North Ridgeville, pollworkers said that by noon nearly 50 Rebublicans had switched to vote Democrat, the highest crossover since the 2000 election.
Voter interest was so high that a line was forming just after 6 a.m. at the polling site, the party room of the Ridgefield subdivision off Bagley Road.
In Chester Township in Geauga County, also a GOP stronghold, Democrats had outvoted Republicans by nearly 50 percent early in the going. Geauga Elections Board Director Arch Kimbrew said that trend was being duplicated throughout the county.
Kimbrew said morning turnout has convinced him that his projection of a 45-percent turnout will be too low. "There are a lot of Democrats out and at every polling place," he said.
And there is this, they are already fighting...................
Clinton Camp's Conference Call Surprise
Howard Wolfson, communications director, acknowledged the “chaotic” nature of the caucus system but said that what was happening in Texas “is not typical. It’s actually quite extraordinary.”
The Clinton campaign said they had received hundreds of complaints to support their allegations. But they said they wouldn’t be taking any legal action Tuesday evening. Rather, the call with reporters was intended to “draw attention” to the issue.
Campaign officials got a surprise when they opened the conference call to questions. Instead of a reporter, they heard the voice of Bob Bauer, a legal adviser to the Obama campaign. Bauer accused the Clinton campaign of being anti-caucus, citing complaints from Iowa, where Clinton came in third, and a lawsuit the campaign filed in Nevada, a caucus state that Clinton, in fact, won.
Wolfson thanked him for his participation, denied his allegations and said that next time the Obama campaign held a phone call that they would look forward to being part of it. Woflson described Bauer as “someone we all know” and said he was “attempting a vigorous defense of the indefensible.”
The exchange between Bauer and the Clinton staff just CLICK HERE, it is near the top of the page.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (16)
Headquarters Marine Corps Answering Machine
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Wild Thing's comment........
LOL I LOVE this!
.... Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (13)
Obama’s Troubles Mount
Obama’s Troubles Mount — Just in Time for the Latest Primaries!
New York Mag Daily Intelligencer
Barack Obama must be wondering how the worst press he’s received practically all campaign season came down just before today’s primaries — his chance to close the deal. He can look inward for answers.The big story, of course, is the meeting an Obama advisor, Austin Goolsbee, had with a Canadian official about NAFTA. After Canadian TV reported that Goolsbee had assured the Canadian official that basically all Obama’s tough talk on NAFTA was political maneuvering, the Obama campaign denied the meeting ever took place.
Then, on cue, a Canadian memo surfaced confirming that the meeting did take place. The Obama campaign’s evasive answers and qualified denials have failed to placate a press corps determined to prove they’re holding Obama accountable.
At the same time, a former Obama supporter, Antoin Rezko, begins his trial in Chicago for influence peddling. While nothing unethical or illegal has been proven about Obama’s relationship with Rezko, the fact that new details are still emerging raises doubts about Obama’s previous claims that he has divulged everything about their association.
None of this meshes well with Obama’s claim to be running on a new kind of politics, and, from looking at the polls showing a Clinton rebound, voters are taking notice.
Wild Thing's comment........
Will his devout followers care I don't think so, mostly because they seem to be in some kind of la la land with their chanting and fainting and reaching out just to touch his hand.
There are so many things about Obama that move he is a dangerous man for our country. We could almost have our pick of what is wrong with him.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (12)
A Bad Time for Murphy’s Law
Combined Joint Task Force-82
Public Affairs Office
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan
It’s a simple law: “If it can go wrong, it will.” Murphy’s Law is known and experienced by people all over the world.
Sometimes the law is followed by a special clause: “At the worst possible time.”
Paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division’s Long Range Surveillance Detachment are no strangers to the law or the clause that often follows it.
During a fire fight Sept. 9, 2007, near the village of Qaleh Saleh, Tag Ab District, Kapisa province, Afghanistan, Army Sgt. Jonas Jerome Allen and Spc. Charles Villasenor had a little run in with Murphy’s Law.
Fortunately for the two Paratroopers and their fellow Soldiers, a second law came into effect after the first. This time the law wasn’t named after Murphy; it was named after Sir Isaac Newton.
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” is Newton’s third law of motion.
Paratroopers from the LRSD, along with a Marine Corps Embedded Training Team and soldiers with the Afghan National Army’s 3rd Kandak, 3rd Brigade, 201st Corps, were on a mission to assess damage from an earlier engagement when the unit began taking enemy fire.
Allen was manning a .50 caliber machine gun in one vehicle while Villasenor was behind a MK-19 grenade launcher when the fighting began.
“When we began taking fire, I began suppressive/terrain denial bursts at a low wall about 130 meters (429 feet) to my front,” Villasenor, a native of Santee, Calif., said.
Soon after the fighting began, Murphy’s Law came into effect.
“I fired four to five bursts and I had to reload due to a break in the link; when I charged the weapon I noticed that the right side charging handle was still towards the back of the weapon,” Villasenor said.
“During his reloading there was a malfunction with the MK-19,” said Spc. Christopher L. Baker, who was driving the truck Villasenor was manning the gun on at the time. “When he couldn’t fix the malfunction I called ‘gun down’ over the radio.”
“When I heard over the radio that [Villasenor’s] gun was down, I was still shooting my weapon and we were taking contact from a house and the rooftop,” Allen, then a specialist, said. “I glanced at [Villasenor’s truck] and saw that the gunner was having trouble and I knew we need the MK-19 rocking.”
“I could not fix the gun at that time because what I had was a major malfunction and it requires the weapon to be almost completely disassembled in order to fix,” Villasenor said.
“The driver, Spc. Baker, made the radio call, ‘gun down,’ and I had him back away from our position,” Villasenor said. “I yelled over to the Marine gunner to take our position due to the downed gun.”
“At this time, while taking small-arm and [rocket propelled grenade] fire … Sgt. Allen waved for our vehicle to pull up beside his,” Baker, a Newaygo, Mich. native, said.
Enter Newton’s Law.
“I jumped out and told the gunner (Villasenor) to get out and get into my turret,” Allen, who is Ranger-qualified, said.
“At that time, we were still taking sporadic small-arms and RPG fire when we jumped out and switched trucks,” Villasenor said.
Allen had more experience operating the MK-19 than Villasenor. He also had additional training from his team leader on major malfunctions, Allen said.
Once the two gunners swapped trucks, Villasenor began to fire the .50 cal., while Allen began to work on the malfunctioning weapon.
“I jumped into the turret and saw that the charging handle was stuck behind the bolt and I knew the only way to fix it was to disassemble the weapon system,” Allen said. “I knew I had to hurry because we were taking RPG’s and small-arms fire and I’d rather fire at the enemy than to have the enemy fire at me.”
Allen said he disassembled and reassembled the weapon as fast as he could.
“I just was thinking that if I hurry up and fix the MK-19, I could start engaging the enemy and kill them,” he said.
Once he repaired it, he had the driver of the truck move him into a better position then he put it to use.
“After checking the weapon, we both decided to stay where we were,” Villasenor said. “He had more knowledge on the MK-19 and I am more proficient on the .50 cal.”
“I fired the MK-19 into the house and the rooftop we were receiving contact from and after I unloaded an ammo can of 40 mm rounds, I reloaded it and kept engaging the enemy until we stopped taking contact,” Allen said.
Both troopers feel the weapon was necessary in the fight.
“I can say that if I didn’t fix the MK-19 the fire fight could have lasted longer because there is something about a loud boom that the enemy don’t like and it always usually gets quiet, meaning they stop firing or can’t fire once the MK-19 starts firing and blowing things up,” Allen said.
“There is no telling what would have happened. I do know that in a fire fight each heavy weapon is essential,” Villasenor said.
During the battle, the two laws caught up with each other. Murphy’s Law came into play when the weapon malfunctioned. Newton’s law answered Murphy’s with an opposing reaction from Allen.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 AM | Comments (6)
Come Fly Along
The music is The Champions" track from "The Mass" by Era.
"If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed, if you will not fight when victory will be sure and not so costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no chance of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." Sir Winston Churchill
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:45 AM | Comments (5)
March 04, 2008
Who Is Nadhmi Auchi and What's His Tie to Obama?
Who Is Nadhmi Auchi and What's His Tie to Obama?
By Jack Kelly
You probably would have heard of Nadhmi Auchi by now if Sen. Barack Obama were a Republican.
A British citizen of Iraqi descent, Mr. Auchi, 70, is a billionaire, the 279th richest man in the world, according to a Forbes magazine survey last year.
A great deal of Mr. Auchi's money was made doing business with the regime of Saddam Hussein, much of it under the table. In 1987, Mr. Auchi helped French and Italian firms win a huge oil pipeline contract in Iraq, chiefly by paying off Iraqi officials, according to testimony given by an Italian banker to prosecutors in Milan. In 2003, he was convicted for his role in what was then the largest scandal in French history, involving payoffs from executives of the oil company now known as Total to political figures in Spain, Germany and Africa.
"He has been able to collect British politicians the way other people collect stamps," wrote Nick Cohen in a 2003 profile of Mr. Auchi in the left wing British newspaper the Observer.
Mr. Auchi was a leading supplier of arms to Saddam's regime. A former Belgian ambassador to Luxembourg charged that a bank in Luxembourg owned principally by Mr. Auchi laundered funds -- including oil for food money -- for Saddam and other Islamic dictators.
"The name Nadhmi Auchi was just another name for Saddam's intelligence service, or so we thought," said Nibras Kazimi, a former Iraqi dissident who is now a visiting scholar at the Hudson Institute in Washington D.C.
Mr. Auchi is a business partner of Syrian-born businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who has supported Mr. Obama financially since his first run for the Illinois state senate in 1996.
Mr. Rezko currently is in jail awaiting trial on charges he extorted money from firms seeking to do business with the state of Illinois. (Mr. Rezko was also a fund raiser for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.)
Mr. Rezko's bail was revoked Jan. 28 when the trial judge learned that he, friends and relatives had been wired $3.5 million from firms in Lebanon controlled by Mr. Auchi. The judge feared Mr. Rezko was about to flee the country.
Federal prosecutors allege a $10,000 contribution made by Mr. Rezko to Sen. Obama came from a $250,000 kickback, but there is no evidence Sen. Obama was aware of the source of the funds.
Nor is there evidence Sen. Obama did any favors for Mr. Rezko that skirted the law.
The most eyebrow raising connection between Mr. Rezko and Sen. Obama is the assistance Mr. Rezko provided in the purchase of the mansion on Chicago's South Side that Sen. Obama bought in 2005.
The Obamas bought the house for $1.65 million -- $300,000 below the asking price -- perhaps because Mr. Rezko's wife purchased from the owner an adjacent garden plot for $625,000. (The sellers deny they offered the Obamas a discount.) The Times of London wondered where Mrs. Rezko got the money to buy the garden plot. At the time, she had a salary of $37,000 and assets of only $35,000, the Times learned. Her husband told a court that at the time he had "no income, negative cash flow, no liquid assets," the Times said.
The Times learned Mr. Rezko received an earlier $3.5 million loan from Mr. Auchi on May 23, 2005, through the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA.
Mr. Rezko has described Mr. Auchi as a "close friend." Mr. Auchi says they have only a business relationship. They've been partners in a chain of pizza restaurants in Wisconsin and in a major real estate development in Riverside Park in Chicago.
The connection between Mr. Auchi and Sen. Obama is tenuous. But given Mr. Auchi's shady past, his history of bribing politicians, it's not unreasonable to ask if Mr. Auchi, through Mr. Rezko, was trying to buy influence with a rising political star. And it's curious that outside of the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune, both of which have written extensively on the Rezko-Obama relationship, only a British newspaper is asking.
Wild Thing's comment........
but there is no evidence Sen. Obama was aware of the source of the funds. Nor is there evidence Sen. Obama did any favors for Mr. Rezko that skirted the law.
To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, the absence of evidence (of wrongdoing by Obama) is not the same as the evidence of absence.
This is from an article back in 2004
"Banque Paribas, headquartered in Paris, with a significant portion of shares owned by Saddam's cousin Nadhmi Auchi, moved money for the Al-Mahdi network in the 1980s and was the bank chosen to handle the Iraqi oil-for-food payments. In fact, Iraq insisted that Paribas handle the oil-for-food escrow account. A corporate document for Al Taqwa Trade, Property and Industry Co. Ltd. of Liechtenstein -- an al-Qaeda network shell company also shut down by the United States -- lists Banque Paribas, Lugano, where it had accounts. (Paribas in 2000 merged with another French bank to create BNP Paribas, with Auchi continuing as one of the largest shareholders.)"
Following Saddam Hussein's Secret Money-Laundering Trail
"A detailed analysis of Saddam Hussein’s secret money-laundering techniques shows here for the first time how he used the same offshore money launderers as Osama bin Laden. That covert money network, based in the tax havens of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Panama and Nassau, helped bankroll the war machines of both Iraq and al-Qaeda."
"More than 1,000 pages of confidential corporate, bank and legal documents show how the network functioned. The papers come from court cases filed in several European countries, from corporate records, from investigations by Italian police, from a report of the Kroll international investigative agency, and from private sources. The documents are the basis of further investigations coordinated in Europe by the prosecutor of Milan. They show, for example, that a father-and-son team in Liechtenstein, whose business is setting up shell companies and secret bank accounts, worked to move the money of both Saddam and al-Qaeda."
"Engelbert Schreiber and his son Englebert Schreiber Jr. are listed as founder or board member of Mediterranean Enterprises Development Projects, Tradex, Techno Service Intl., Saidomin and Executive Flight Assistance, all Liechtenstein companies that handled arms sales and payoffs for Saddam. They also are listed on corporate documents for Nasreddin International Group Ltd. Holding (Liechtenstein). Ahmed Idriss Nasreddin, on the U.S. terrorist blacklist, was a founder of Al Taqwa, the bank that moved money for al-Qaeda and which was closed down by the United States after 9/11. The Schreibers declined to respond to numerous requests for comment."
And then this........................
Cronyism In Iraq?
November 2003
Time CNN
"Now another deal is coming under scrutiny. A senior Pentagon official told TIME that the U.S. is reviewing its decision to grant the mobile license for Baghdad and central Iraq to a consortium led by Egyptian telecom giant Orascom because of its ties to Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi-born billionaire who built his fortune partly through arms deals with the Iraqi regime in the 1980s. Industry sources say Auchi provided Orascom with a $20 million loan to help pay down its $500 million debt. The sources say the loan gave Auchi, who faced French prosecutors earlier this year for his role in a corruption and embezzlement scandal, a controlling stake in Orascom. A senior U.S. official says Orascom's ties to Auchi are being investigated. As a result, no mobile licenses have yet been issued."
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (9)
Sailor's Trial Reveals Top Navy Fears
Sailor's Trial Reveals Top Navy Fears
U.S. Navy commanders were wary as their ships headed to the Persian Gulf in the months after a terrorist ambush in 2000 killed 17 sailors aboard the USS Cole.
Passing the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow, busy shipping lane that often invited challenges from Iran, was never easy. Ship commanders decided to travel quickly at night after conducting a drill. Sailors took up machine gun positions and shut valves and hatches to limit damage in case of attack.
"We really weren't sure what to expect," said Lt. Commander Jay Wylie, who was on board the USS Benfold.
No one expected to find a threat from within.
But federal authorities say there was. A Benfold signalman, Hassan Abu-Jihaad, had provided suspected terrorist supporters in London with sensitive details of when U.S. ships would pass through the strait and their vulnerability to attack, prosecutors say.
Testimony last week in Abu-Jihaad's trial has provided a window into the fears of top Navy officials after an explosives-laden boat rammed the Cole as it refueled in a Yemen harbor. It also revealed how heightened vigilance after Sept. 11 triggered an investigation that began in Connecticut and expanded to London before Abu-Jihaad and others were arrested.
Abu-Jihaad, 32, of Phoenix, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he provided material support to terrorists and disclosed classified national defense information.
Prosecutors rested their case Friday. Abu-Jihaad does not plan to take the stand Monday when his attorneys call one witness before closing arguments.
Abu-Jihaad, an American born Muslim convert, changed his name from Paul Hall in 1997. A year later, he was granted security clearance that gave him access to secrets, according to Navy officials.
Abu-Jihaad was one of the first sailors Petty Officer Josh Kelly met when he boarded the Benfold. Abu-Jihaad was chatty about where the ship was headed, Kelly says.
"We always wonder where we were going," Kelly testified, noting the stress of life at sea.
But advance movements were a closely guarded secret. Dennis Amador, a quartermaster and Abu-Jihaad's supervisor, told his wife where he was in code.
"We in the Navy are taught from the minute we come in that loose lips sink ships," he said.
Those details were kept locked in a safe with a red sticker marked secret. But when the charts and travel plans were laid out, Abu-Jihaad could see them in his job as a signalman, Navy officials say.
The Benfold and other ships left San Diego in March 2001. Their first stop was Hawaii, where the sailors were treated to a luau feast.
As the ship headed toward the Middle East, Abu-Jihaad began to send e-mails to Azzam Publications, a Web site that authorities say provided money and equipment to terrorists.
While the Cole was the worst nightmare for commanders, Abu-Jihaad called it a martyrdom operation in one of his e-mails to Azzam and praised "the men who have brong (sic) honor ... in the lands of jihad Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, etc."
Abu-Jihaad signed the e-mail: "A brother serving a kuffar nation," meaning nonbeliever or infidel, according to testimony. He also ordered graphic videos from Azzam that depicted Muslim fighters in Chechnya and Bosnia.
"He seemed to be fascinated with the Chechen conflict and seemed to be supportive of the Chechen rebels," Amador said, not thinking much of it at the time.
Abu-Jihaad kept communicating with Azzam until a little over a week before the Sept. 11 attacks.
Shortly after the attacks, a company that hosted Web sites raised concerns with federal authorities about one of Azzam's Web sites in Connecticut. That complaint led investigators to those they say ran Azzam in London, where they say they found the leaked ship details in an apartment.
Authorities also say they found Abu-Jihaad's e-mail account with Azzam. They were able to recover e-mails he exchanged with the group, but say accounts were regularly purged by e-mail service providers.
Authorities acknowledge they do not have direct proof that Abu-Jihaad leaked the classified details. His attorneys call the case weak, urging a judge Friday to dismiss the charges while prosecutors objected.
Navy officials acknowledged that the allegedly leaked details were filled with errors. Still, they say the leak was alarming and they would have immediately changed plans had they known about the compromise at the time.
The ships were never attacked.
The Navy did plenty of soul searching after the Cole attack, said Rear Adm. David Hart Jr., commander of the battle group.
"It was a very vulnerable period of time for us," Hart testified.
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Wild Thing's comment........
Its called treason and if you review the record, you see that American Muslims are on the same sheet of music as their overseas murderous brothers and sisters......Item: Several days before the invasion of Iraq, a muslim in the 101st Airborne Division murdered a Major and Captain in their tent in a fragging incident. Now this. There are more examples. Yet the PC crowd at the Pentagon led by that dishrag Gordon England crow about the "religon of peace" and crap about its contribution to civilization.
“His attorneys call the case weak, urging a judge Friday to dismiss the charges while prosecutors objected.”
Hang this bastard from the yard arm for treason.
This is horrible all this PC rules applying in our military and it puts our service men and women in tremendous danger!
This saiilor should be given the old punishment of being given lashes around the Fleet and when completed, be strung up on the USS Cole’s yardarm, in front of his muslim “Buddies”....I have no remorse for these type of traitors.
The Navy did plenty of soul searching after the Cole attack, said Rear Adm. David Hart Jr., commander of the battle group. "It was a very vulnerable period of time for us," Hart testified.
Notice how Rear Adm. David Hart Jr. uses past tense in his testimony. Last I heard, there were some 15,000 Muslims in the Armed Forces, and how many converts might there be NOT using an Arabic name, who have NOT declared their mohammadanism and their intent to fight the kuffar in the cause of Allah?
Seems to me the folks at the Defense Department are aware of the danger that lurks within, but while the official policy is 'Islam is just one of the three great religions' an entire flotilla of Navy ships could be blown out of the water before the threat from mohammadanism is officially declared. In other words, a whole lot of good people need to die first.
The solution will not come from the top...rather, the service people themselves need to understand that each one of their lives is at stake - when their declared enemies are able to dine at the same table and are privy to operational secrets. As it is, the young men and women who are at the front lines of the war against the killer-cult of Mohammad are sacrificial lambs.
This with the Muslims in our military reminds me of the Walkers spy ring. When the Soviet Union was receiving U.S. Naval code keys from the Walker family spy ring, and that spy ring began in 1967 and was not be broken until 1985. The spy ring made it possible for the Soviets to read U.S. Navy coded transmissions like an open book for much of that time.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (16)
Evil Tyrant 101: How To Try To Start A War At Home To Distract Your People
Members of the Venezuelan army stand in formation at a barrack in Maracay, 100 km away from Caracas on March 2, 2008. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered the withdrawal of personnel in his country's embassy in Colombia
Some background first........Thank you Jack.
Update: June 2006, 33,000 of 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered from Moscow arrived, this gives Hugo leverage against Columbia. August 2007, the Russians are building an AK-47 Kalashnikov Assault Rifle factory in Venezuela to give armament support to Communist Rebel groups throughout the Americas. Russia's Izhevsk Mechanical Plant (IMP) has already manufactured and supplied about 100,000 AK-103 assault rifles to Venezuela under an earlier contract, and they have also signed a contract for two arms plants in Venezuela (one to produce AK-103a and the other to produce 7.62-mm ammunition for those rifles), with construction to begin at the end of 2007 and be completed by 2010. Bush had better pay attention to Putin on both fronts.
Chavez Warns Of "War" if Colombia Strikes Venezuela
CARACAS (Reuters)
March 2, 2008
President Hugo Chavez warned Colombia on Saturday it would be a "cause for war" if its forces struck inside Venezuelan territory as they did in Ecuador killing a top Colombian rebel commander there."Don't be thinking that you can do that here ... because it would be extremely serious and would be a causa belli, a cause for war, (if there is) a military incursion in Venezuelan territory. There's no excuse," Chavez said in his most belligerent comments to date in a diplomatic dispute with Bogota.
Colombia's military said troops killed Raul Reyes, a leader of Marxist FARC rebels, during an attack on a jungle camp in Ecuador in a severe blow to Latin America's oldest guerrilla insurgency. The operation included air strikes and fighting with rebels across the border.
Chavez has been at odds with U.S.-backed Colombian President Alvaro Uribe over the Venezuelan's mediation with the FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, over the release of hostages held by the rebels.
Chavez sends tanks to Colombia border in dispute
ynet news ( reuters)
March 2, 2008
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez ordered tank battalions to the Colombian border on Sunday after Colombian troops struck inside another of its neighbors, Ecuador, in an attack on rebels.He also ordered the shutting of Venezuela's embassy in Colombia and the withdrawal of all diplomatic staff in the dispute, warning Colombia's actions could spark a war in South America.
Colombia: Chavez, rebels in 'armed alliance'
$300 million Venezuelan payoff to rebels alleged
BOGOTA, Colombia
March 3,2008
Colombia’s police chief on Monday said documents found on a slain rebel’s laptop computer suggest Venezuela recently paid $300 million to Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, perhaps in exchange for the release of six hostages.Other documents show the rebels had appeared interested in buying uranium, Gen. Oscar Naranjo said at an explosive news conference where he lashed out at Venezuela and Ecuador for the financial and political support they have provided to Colombia’s leftist rebels.
“When they mention negotiations for 50 kilos of uranium this means that the FARC are taking big steps in the world of terrorism to become a global aggressor. We’re not talking of domestic guerrilla but transnational terrorism,” said Naranjo, without giving more details.
Naranjo said the $300 million was mentioned in a Feb. 14 message in the laptop of Raul Reyes, who was killed Saturday in a Colombian military attack just across the border at a rebel camp in Ecuador. Colombia was investigating to determine if the money was intended as payment for Chavez brokering the rebels’ recent release of hostages, he said.
Naranjo said other documents suggest Ecuador’s president is deepening relations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia as well — a claim Ecuador denied — and that Manuel “Sureshot” Marulanda, the top FARC leader, is closely allied with the Venezuelan government.
“This implies more than cozying up, but an armed alliance between the FARC and the Venezuelan government,” he said.
Did Chavez get FARC money earlier?
Another document in Reyes’ laptop suggests that rebels have had financial ties with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez since 1992.
Colombia: Chavez Funding FARC Rebels
March 3, 2008
.....And this shocker: Colombia says some documents suggest the rebels have bought and sold uranium.
"When they mention negotiations for 50 kilos of uranium this means that the FARC are taking big steps in the world of terrorism to become a global aggressor. We're not talking of domestic guerrilla but transnational terrorism," Gen. Oscar Naranjo said at an explosive news conference.Naranjo didn't give any details on when, where or from whom the uranium was allegedly bought. He provided no proof of the payment and wouldn't release copies of the documents, which he said are "tremendously revelatory" and are being examined with the help of U.S. experts.
Maintaining trade with Colombia, essential to Venezuela's economy, is one of many factors weighing against outright war. But the bellicose rhetoric has worried Latin American leaders. The presidents of Chile, Mexico and Brazil offered to mediate, and an emergency session of the Organization of American States was scheduled for Tuesday in Washington.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the United States supports Colombia's right to defend itself against the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and called for dialogue.
Wild Thing's comment........
I try to do a timeline with things like this because sometimes when the news about something happens just within a few days and gets kind of confusing to me. hahahha Who is doing what to whom kind of thing.
Anything to divert the attention of the Venezuelan people from the failures and misery that Chavez has caused for their country.
I absolutely believe he will attempt to generate an open conflict. An open war is a great explanation for shortages and administrative failures. It can be used to explain away starvation, disease and the failure of the nation's infrastructure.
And it can be conveniently blamed on the Colombians and those devious Americans - Chavez will fix them! OH yes right. sheesh
The interesting thing about failed socialist dictators is just how predictable they are. At any rate, now he'll be able to do something with all of those arms he's been buying up with oil money. Can't feed the people with it, but he can start a hellavuh big fight.
I do think there will be blood before Chavez goes.
.
....Thank you Jack , Conservative Insurgent , for the headsup on this.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM | Comments (5)
Yikes ~ LOL
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:45 AM | Comments (2)
March 03, 2008
B. Hussein Obama is a " Mack Daddy"
Obama taken to the woodshed big time. LOL
Wild Thing's comments.......
LMAO If we did this we would be called rascists for sure. WOW! hahaha
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:47 PM | Comments (29)
Barack-back mount: Sermon on Mount Justifies Same-Sex Unions
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Obama: Sermon on Mount Justifies Same-Sex Unions
By Terence P. Jeffrey
CNSNews.com Editor in Chief
March 03, 2008
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) told a crowd at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio, Sunday that he believes the Sermon on the Mount justifies his support for legal recognition of same-sex unions. He also told the crowd that his position in favor of legalized abortion does not make him "less Christian."
"I don't think it [a same-sex union] should be called marriage, but I think that it is a legal right that they should have that is recognized by the state," said Obama. "If people find that controversial then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount, which I think is, in my mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans." ((Hear audio from WTAP-TV)) St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans condemns homosexual acts as unnatural and sinful.
Obama's mention of the Sermon on the Mount in justifying legal recognition of same-sex unions may have been a reference to the Golden Rule: "Do to others what you would have them do to you." Or it may have been a reference to another famous line: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged."
The Sermon, recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, includes the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes, an endorsement of scriptural moral commandments ("anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven"), and condemnations of murder, divorce and adultery. It also includes a warning: "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."
The passage from St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, which Obama dismissed as "obscure," discusses people who knew God but turned against him.
"They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised," wrote St. Paul. "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion."
On the topic of abortion, Obama said his support for keeping it legal does not trespass on his Christian faith.
"I think that the bottom line is that in the end, I think women, in consultation with their pastors, and their doctors, and their family, are in a better position to make these decisions than some bureaucrat in Washington. That's my view," Obama said about abortion. "Again, I respect people who may disagree, but I certainly don't think it makes me less Christian. Okay." (Hear audio from WTAP-TV)
Obama opened his town-hall-type meeting at the college with a short speech and then provided lengthy answers to a handful of questions. One questioner, Leon Forte, a Protestant clergyman, asked Obama about evangelical Christians who were concerned about his position on issues that conservatives consider "litmus tests."
"Your campaign sets a quandary for most evangelical Christians because I believe that they believe in the social agenda that you have, but they have a problem in what the conservatives have laid out as the moral litmus tests as to who is worthy and who is not," said Forte. "So, I will ask you to speak to those two questions."
Obama volunteered that he believed Forte was talking about abortion and homosexual marriage, and then he gave answers on both issues that were not as explicit as positions he has staked out on these issues in other venues. Last Thursday, for example, as reported by Cybercast News Service, Obama published on his Web site an "open letter concerning LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) equality in America."
In that letter, Obama said he favored same-sex unions that were equal to marriage--including adoption rights--and that he was open to states codifying same-sex marriages.
"As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws," Obama said in the letter. "I personally believe that civil unions represent the best way to secure that equal treatment. But I also believe that the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples--whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage."
In Ohio on Sunday, before mentioning the Sermon on the Mount, Obama insisted he was against "gay marriage" and did not mention his support for allowing same-sex couples to adopt children and have the same "family" status as heterosexual couples.
"I will tell you that I don't believe in gay marriage, but I do think that people who are gay and lesbian should be treated with dignity and respect and that the state should not discriminate against them," said Obama on Sunday. "So, I believe in civil unions that allow a same-sex couple to visit each other in a hospital or transfer property to each other. I don't think it should be called marriage, but I think that it is a legal right that they should have that is recognized by the state. If people find that controversial then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount, which I think is, in my mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans. That's my view."
Obama also has been more aggressive in framing his pro-abortion position previously than he was on Sunday. When he was in the Illinois Senate, for example, he repeatedly opposed a bill that would have defined as a "person" a baby who had survived an induced-labor abortion and was born alive.
In a 2001 Illinois Senate floor speech about that bill, he argued that to call a baby who survived an abortion a "person" would give it equal protection rights under the 14th Amendment and would give credibility to the argument that the same child inside its mother's womb was also a "person" and thus could not be aborted.
When the Illinois Senate bill was amended to make it identical to a federal law that included language to protect Roe v. Wade--and that the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to pass--Obama still opposed the bill, voting it down in the Illinois Senate committee he chaired.
Yet, in Ohio on Sunday, Obama depicted abortion as a tragedy to be avoided, while being kept legal.
"On the issue of abortion, that is always a tragic and painful issue," he said. "I think it is always tragic, and we should prevent it as much as possible .... But I think that the bottom line is that in the end, I think women, in consultation with their pastors, and their doctors, and their family, are in a better position to make these decisions than some bureaucrat in Washington. That's my view. Again, I respect people who may disagree, but I certainly don't think it makes me less Christian. Okay."
Before discussing his views on same-sex unions and abortion, Obama told the crowd he was a "devout Christian."
"In terms of my faith, there has been so much confusion that has been deliberately perpetrated through emails and so forth, so here are the simple facts," he said. "I am a Christian. I am a devout Christian. I have been a member of the same church for 20 years, pray to Jesus every night, and try to go to church as much as I can when they are not working me. Used to go quite often.
"These days, we haven't been at the home church--I haven't been home on Sunday--for several months now. So, my faith is important to me. It is not something that I try to push on other people. But it is something that helps to guide my life and my values."
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Wild Thing's comment........
I think B. Hussein Obama is confused about the term “mount”! New campaign logo for him should be Obama ‘08 - Bending over backwards to please homosexuals.
Hello Barack HUSSEIN Obama, Christ complains about sexual immorality about a dozen times in the gospels.
"which I think is, in my mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans"
Obscure???? What other parts of the Bible should we discard, Sen. Obama?? So Obama knows more about doctrine than the author of that obscure book of Romans? Paul will be surprised to hear this news...of course he knew we would go up against “principalities and powers” so he probably is not that surprised at all.
And before shooting his mouth off about “obscure” passages in Romans, he failed to read the verses prior to that one. Gotta love the irony in that.
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” Romans 1:22
I missed it, where is the part of the Sermon on the Mount that says - blessed are the same sex marraiges???
He uses a different Bible than I do. I cant even figure out which part of the Sermon can be twisted and tortured enough to make it pro gay marriage.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil!
Recently Jonah Goldberg wrote about a 2007 New York Times interview of Barack Obama with Nicholas Kristof, who documented,
Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated...Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as ‘one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.’”
For someone who wasn’t “influenced” by his “brief” stint in the Islamic faith, Mr. Obama certainly has command of a difficult language (words) and fond memories of a prayer that translated literally means,
“Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Hasten to the Prayer, hasten to the Prayer. Hasten to real success, hasten to real success. Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. There is none worthy of worship but Allah.”
According to Islamic scholars, reciting the Shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith, makes one a Muslim. This simple yet profound statement expresses a Muslim's complete acceptance of, and total commitment to, the message of Islam.
Obama knows this from his Quranic studies -- and he knows the New York Times will publish this fact and it will be seen throughout the world.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:55 PM | Comments (6)
Ahmadinejad On Iraq Visit
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures during a press conference in Baghdad.
Ahmadinejad pokes Uncle Sam in eye on Iraq visit
BAGHDAD (AFP)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad poked his finger in the eye of Uncle Sam on his visit to Iraq on Sunday, displaying his country's regional influence in the face of 158,000 US soldiers in Iraq.
Top officials from the US-supported Iraqi government welcomed Ahmadinejad with hugs and kisses on a trip that opens a new phase between former enemies which fought a bitter war in the 1980s.
The televised lovefest was enough to give supporters of US President George W. Bush a seizure.
Ahmadinejad talked about regional stability upon arrival. He acknowledged Iraqis were going through "tough" times, but he was certain the Iraqi people would "overcome the situation".
"A united, powerful and developed Iraq is in the interests of all countries of the region," he said.
After a red-carpet welcome at President Jalal Talabani's Baghdad residence, Ahmadinejad travelled to the heart of the US presence in Iraq -- the Green Zone citadel -- for talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The premier's office is located less than two kilometres (just a mile) from the US embassy.
US officials went to great lengths to distance themselves from the visit, emphasising that Ahmadinejad was an Iraqi guest, and that the US military was not involved in any way.
Washington broke off diplomatic ties with Tehran in 1980 after Iranian students stormed the US embassy in Tehran and held its staff hostage.
US-led coalition soldiers, Iraqi soldiers and private guards provide security around the Green Zone, but the Iranian visitor was whisked inside under Iraqi official escort.
At Maliki's office, Ahmadinejad took a verbal swipe at Bush, who on Saturday accused him of "exporting terror".
Ahmadinejad's response: "Bush cannot solve US problems in the region by accusing others. Gone is the era of accusations. The Iraqi nation does not want the US.
"Six years ago there was no terrorism in our region. As soon as strangers (the Americans) put their foot in the region, the terrorists came here," he said.
And this has some more information...........
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said overnight Iraq "does not want" the US and dismissed President George W. Bush's charge that Tehran supports militants in Iraq.
"Bush cannot solve US problems in the region by accusing others. Gone is the era of accusations. The Iraqi nation does not want the US," Mr Ahmadinejad said at a joint news conference with Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad.
Yesterday, ahead of Mr Ahmadinejad's landmark visit to Baghdad, Mr Bush accused him of "exporting terror" to Iraq.
Speaking at his ranch in Texas, the US president called on Iran to "quit sending in sophisticated equipment that's killing our citizens".
Washington accuses Tehran of supplying weapons to anti-US insurgents and training them. Iran denies the charges.
Mr Maliki said Mr Ahmadinejad's visit "represents the desire of both countries to deepen the joint interests".
"We had talks related to trade, industry. This is a very matured visit ... in the past there was tension," Mr Maliki said in an apparent allusion to devastating 1980-88 war between the two neighbours when Saddam Hussein's regime was still in power.He said Mr Ahmadinejad's visit was a message to Arab states to develop ties with Iraq.
"This is a message to the neighbouring countries and a positive message to reinforce their relations with Iraq," Mr Maliki said.
He said his talks with Mr Ahmadinejad were "friendly, positive and full of trust".
"There was a high level of trust and I frankly say that the recent Iranian position towards Iraq is extremely helpful," Mr Maliki said.
"The visit will encourage and motivate neighbouring countries to visit Iraq."
Wild Thing's comment........
"Speaking at his ranch in Texas, the US president called on Iran to "quit sending in sophisticated equipment that's killing our citizens".
If so, why isn't Bush doing something about it instead of whining?
I wish the Iranian terrorist rat should have been arrested immediately upon setting foot in Iraq, for training, arming, bankrolling & instigating Iranian agents responsible for the murders of American, British, other Coalition forces coupled with Iraqi troops & civilians.
How the hell could they let this man into their country while he is supplying terrorists and arms that are killing OUR troops and also the people of Iraq. That little Mahdi worshiping terrorist exporter is boldly mocking US, and doing in right in front of our servicemen serving in Iraq. This is beyond appalling!
And B. Hussein Obama wants to have friendly talks with this guy! God help us!
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:55 AM | Comments (17)
Ladies and Gentlemen the USS New York
USS New York, With Steel From World Trade Center, Set for Christening
Here she is, The USS New York (LPD 21), made from the World Trade Center!
It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center.
It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.
Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite , LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept. 9, 2003 , 'those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,' recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. 'It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.'
Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the 'hair on my neck stood up.' 'It had a big meaning to it for all of us,' he said. 'They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back.'
The ship's motto is ........ 'Never Forget.'
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:50 AM | Comments (12)
The Cactus Cuties Sing The National Anthem ~ Lubbock, Texas
January 20th, 2008, Lubbock, TX
The Cactus Cuties Sing The National Anthem
The Cactus Kids, Cactus Kiddos, and Cactus Cuties are mentor programs created and directed by Terri and Cami Caldwell. The idea, born out of the Cactus Theater in Lubbock, Texas, is to develop future “Stars of West Texas.” These young and talented entertainers perform all over the West Texas area for various community events. Their ages range from 4 to 17 years old. The Cactus Kids feature a variety of music, including Nostalgia from the 1940’s through the 90’s, Country, Patriotic, and Holiday songs.
Andi Kitten - 11
Baylee Barrett - 13
Madeline Powell - 8
Tatum Lowe - 11
Blaire Elbert - 10
Directed by Cami Caldwell
Wild Thing's comment.......
I love this and God bless these kids. Patriotism is alive and well and it makes me so very proud.
.....Thank you Tom so much for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 AM | Comments (14)
An Amish Farmer ~ LOL
An Amish farmer walking through his field, notices a man drinking from his pond, with his hand.
The Amish man shouts: "Trink das wasser nicht. Die kuhen haben dahin gesheissen."
Which means: "Don't drink the water, the cows have shit in it."
The man shouts back: "I'm a Muslim, I don't understand your gibberish. Speak English, infidel!"
The Amish man yells back: "Use two hands. You'll get more water."
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:45 AM | Comments (10)
March 02, 2008
Arabs Handling A Motor Bike ~ LMAO
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:55 AM | Comments (6)
Update On Specialist John Johnson and His Wife After Car Accident
From my post on November 6th 2007
Specialist John Austin Johnson was injured in Baghdad, Iraq, with Traumatic Brain Injury. His wife, Lisa and their three children, Logan (2), Ashley (5), and Tyler (9) left Ft. Bliss (El Paso, TX), to drive to San Antonio to be with him. They were in a horrific car accident and all three children died.
The Texas Chapter of Operation Homefront
This is an UPDATE on how they are doing:
"A former Fort Bliss soldier and his wife on Thursday opened the bright red door to a new home and what they hope will be a fresh start after a tragic car accident claimed the lives of their three children.“It’s just more than I could have ever imagined,” Lisa Johnson said, smiling, as she and her husband, Army Spc. John Austin Johnson, toured the couple’s first home. With the help of Operation Homefront, the PGA Tour and KB Homes, the Johnsons purchased the 2,400-square-foot home and moved from Fort Bliss to a small San Antonio suburb.
“For them, this is really more than they’ve ever had in their lives,” said Amy Palmer, a co-founder of Operation Homefront, which helps wounded warriors returning from battle…Injuries from Austin Johnson’s two tours and the five explosions left the family in debt and led to bankruptcy, she said.
Operation Homefront raised $140,000 to help the Johnsons pay off their debt, complete their bankruptcy proceedings, buy a car, finance their home and move them from El Paso to San Antonio. The PGA tour raised $78,000, while KB Homes furnished the home.
Contributions paid for about half the cost of the $154,000 home. With the organization’s help, the couple secured an affordable $600 monthly mortgage payment for the remainder, Palmer said.
The Johnsons have more help, too, from generous donors in the El Paso area who contributed to an account that FirstLight Federal Credit Union established for the family.
The account closed Thursday with more than $86,000 in donations that came in over about two months, said Charles Morris, the credit union’s vice president of marketing.
“It could never fill the void or make up for the emotional damages and the trauma this couple has gone through, but it certainly will help,” Morris said.
Along with the financial generosity from El Pasoans, the Johnsons’ new home will have a long-lived reminder of their two years at Fort Bliss. Travis Elementary School, which Ashley and Tyler attended, dedicated an evergreen tree to the children and sent it to the Johnsons."
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Wild Thing's comment........
I am so glad to hear how they are doing. So many times when we all post things we seldom find out updates. Please continue to pray for this family, healing is a slow process. Thank you all so much.
.
.....Thank you so much Mark for the link for information.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:50 AM | Comments (11)
Congress Considering Slavery Apology
Congress considering slavery apology
WASHINGTON, Feb. 28
The U.S. Congress is considering an apology for slavery, something five states have done in the past year.
While it has apologized before, Congress never apologized for slavery, USA Today reported Thursday.
"We've seen states step forward on this," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, noting resolutions in Alabama, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia. "I'm really shocked, just shocked" that the federal government hasn't apologized. "It's time to do so."
Harkin said he and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., will propose an apology for slavery and subsequent "Jim Crow" laws that furthered racial segregation. Among the bill's backers are Democratic Sens, Hillary Clinton of New York, the party's first female presidential candidate, and Barack Obama of Illinois, the party's first African-American candidate.
A similar House measure introduced in 2007 has 120 co-sponsors.
Congress apologized to Japanese-Americans in 1988 for imprisoning them in camps during World War II, giving each survivor $20,000. In 1993, Congress apologized to native Hawaiians for the overthrow of their kingdom a century earlier. In 2005, the Senate apologized for failing to enact anti-lynching laws.
Wild Thing's comment.......
It is the democrats who enslaved the black man all those years who fought a costly war to keep that right and it was the democrats who did all they could to keep the black man down. Hence the 13th 14th and 15th amendments were enacted It is the Democrat party party that held on to slavery. It was their party that passed Jim Crow laws. It was their party that fought integration. It was their party that fought equal rights.
The 15th Amendment
Amendment XV (the Fifteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution provides that governments in the United States may not prevent a citizen from voting based on that citizen's race[1], color, or previous condition of servitude (i.e. slavery). It was ratified on February 3, 1870.
That was enacted because the democrats tried to keep the black man from voting and when they did vote and voted republican, they would beat if not kill the black man for doing so.
Has that changed? I don't think much pi$$es off a democrat more than a black republican. Just look at the smears they have for Clarence Thomas, J.C. Watts, and Condi Rice and many others for escaping from the plantation the democrats built for them.
I REALLY hate this stuff. The Democrats work so hard to keep rascism alive and they were the ones to blame more then anyone else for slavery of the blacks.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:48 AM | Comments (21)
Why Are Most Blacks in America Democrats?
Why are most blacks in America Democrats?
Perryman outlines in his book, “Unfounded Loyalty: An In-depth Look Into the Love Affair Between Blacks and the Democrats.” In it, and in his lawsuit, the Seattle minister details events which occurred from 1792 through 2002 which he claims show the pattern of bias and racism from that political party.
* for over 150 years, blacks were victims of terrorist attacks by the Democrats and their Klan supporters, including lynching, beating, rapes and mutilations
* On the issue of slavery, the Democrats literally gave their lives to expand it; the Republicans gave their lives to ban it.
* Many believed the Democrats had a change of heart and fell in love with blacks. To the contrary, history reveals the democrats didn't fall in love with black folks, they fell in love with the black vote knowing this would be their ticket into the white house
"In our brief, we have included Congressional Records of the Democrat’s opposition to Civil Rights laws, the Democrat’s [Racist] Political Platform from 1835 to 1954, Senate Investigative Reports highlighting Democrat’s racist practices and their connection with the Ku Klux Klan, and the works from our nation’s top historians including those from Princeton University and Harvard.
We have included landmark Civil Cases, a multitude of case law, historical letters from African Americans in the 1800’s citing the atrocities committed by the Democrats. We included in detail - documented lynchings that were attended by Democratic officials and the works from our nation’s top psychologist indicating how all of this have affected the African American community.
Win, lose or draw, this is still a historical landmark case."
Black Minister Seeks Racism Apology from Democratic Party
June 14th, 2006
By Christopher Tidmore, Political Columnist
Despite massive outreach by the Bush Administration and senior Republicans, African-Americans continue to maintain a perception that the GOP is at best less sympathetic to the needs of the black community than the Democrats’ and at worst hostile.
However, an influential member of the African-American clergy, who was one of President Clinton’s highest profile supporters and worked in Democratic politics for years, has now launched a legal campaign to convince black voters that Democrats have been even more hostile to the black community and have never taken responsibility for those historic views.
Rev. Wayne Perryman, associate pastor of Mt. Calvary Christian COGIC in Seattle, Washington, first filed a significant reparations lawsuit against the Democratic Party in 2004. The suit was dismissed two times before Perryman refiled in 2005 and now the case is pending further action in the U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, Docket #0535890.
Perryman’s lawsuit does not seek millions of dollars. It asks that the Democratic Party issue a national apology for what he termed its past racist policies and practices toward blacks-and that they fund production of a series of documentaries which would record and preserve the tainted legacy of the party with free distribution to all public and private schools in the country.
These reported Democratic transgressions, Perryman outlined in his book, “Unfounded Loyalty: An In-depth Look Into the Love Affair Between Blacks and the Democrats.” In it, and in his lawsuit, the Seattle minister details events which occurred from 1792 through 2002 which he claims show the pattern of bias and racism from that political party.
Perryman explained his motivation in an open letter given to The Louisiana Weekl:
“I am a community activist and an inner-city minister located in the Seattle Washington. In addition to working with gang members and professional athletes, I spend my leisure time doing research. In 1993, based on personal research, I challenged major Christian Publishers and scholars that continued to produce publications promoting the Curse of Ham theory (a theory that justified slavery from a Christian perspective). My efforts resulted in a public apology and the removal of the 400 year old curse theory from all of their publications including removing it from the Encyclopedia Britannica. My book: The 1993 Trial on the Curse of Ham was based on that research.”
“Most of my adult life I have voted for, and worked with a number of Democratic candidates at the local level. In 1996, I served as a member of the Washington State Black Clergy to Re-elect President Bill Clinton and worked closely with the co-chair. After President Clinton was re-elected, I was challenged by a group of young people from our church regarding the history of the Democratic Party and their relationship with blacks. Their challenge prompted me to devote a considerable amount of time researching the subject.”
“My research included reviewing Congressional Records from 1860 to present, reading the works of several renowned history professors (both black and white) and looking at the Democratic Platform from the early 1800’s to 1954. In addition to these documents I reviewed the research of those who produced the books: Without Sanctuary, 100 Years of Lynchings and added to my library the History Channel’s series on The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow and Reconstruction: The Second Civil War. Excerpts from those books and film documentaries were included as exhibits in my Reparations lawsuit against the Democratic Party.”
“The graphic depictions of whites fighting over the private parts of black men (penises, fingers, ears) after hanging them and igniting them with kerosene, is forever embedded in my mind. I can still hear the cries of the victims’ wives and children pleading and begging for the lives of their loved ones while Democratic national and local elected officials joined the crowd and cheered. The lynching of Mary Turner, the nine-month pregnant mother was even more horrific and graphic. All of these events took place under the banner of “States Rights” in regions controlled by Democratic governors, mayors, judges, sheriffs, Congressmen and U.S. Senators. Like Dr King, my parents lived through those times in Atlanta and I never fully appreciated what they and other blacks went through until I had completed my research.”
“In addition to lynchings and terrorist attacks by the Democrat’s terrorist organizations (as revealed in the 1871 Senate hearings), Democrats legislated Black Codes, Jim Crow laws and a multitude of other repressive legislation at the federal and state levels (and repealed other key pieces of Civil Rights legislation) all in an effort to deny blacks their rights as citizens. The entire system of racism in America was meticulously thought-out and carried-out by a powerful political machine. And that political machine according to Historians, was the Democratic Party - the party of “White Supremacy.”
“Based on these findings, I sent the April 5, 2004 letter to the D[emocratic] N[ational] C[ommittee] requesting that they issue an apology to African Americans. In 2005, I sent a second letter to the DNC, again requesting an apology. When the DNC ignored these requests, I filed my first lawsuit on December 10, 2005.”
Perryman maintained that his demand for an apology mirrors a demand made by the members of the Congressional Black Caucus in a letter to former African-American Republican Congressman JC Watts on January 28, 1999. In that letter the Caucus told Mr. Watts and his GOP counterparts that they must “clearly and publicly distance themselves from the CCC and any other white supremacist, anti-Semitic or hate groups’.”
The Seattle minister continued, “In my letter to the DNC, I expressed similar sentiments. I told the DNC ‘An apology is one of the only ways modern-day Democrats can distance themselves from the party’s racist past while bringing some closure to the African American Community.” Instead of apologizing, Howard Dean hired one of the most powerful law-firms in the country, to defend the party’s racist past.”
“Without an apology and repentance there is no way the Democratic Party can ever sincerely honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ms Rosa Parks; two individuals who literally gave their lives to destroy the racist programs, policies and practices that were established by the Democratic Party. And without an apology and repentance there is no way the Democratic Party can ever respect African Americans. Their past programs and practices from slavery through Jim Crow which literally destroyed the lives of millions of blacks, was an act of mass murder. And to hire an attorney to defend that racist past is not only an official endorsement of murder - it is an insult to the entire black race and to those whites who gave their lives to eliminate racial injustice.”
National Democratic officials have called the lawsuit ridiculous, citing the Democratic Party’s defense of African-American issues. Eager Republicans have begun to circulate Perryman’s charges against their opposition, emphasizing GOP relationships with the black community.
Until 1939, Republicans won the majority of enfranchised black votes. Starting with Franklin Roosevelt and ending with Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy as former Dixiecrats joined the GOP, African-Americans turned overwhelmingly into the Democratic camp.
Perryman, who has switched his party affiliation to Independent, contended in his recent book, “Unfounded Loyalty: An In-depth Look Into the Love Affair Between Blacks and the Democrats:
” that Republicans have less to apologize for than Democrats, outlining events which occurred from 1792 through 2002 which he contends show patterns of bias and racism from the Democrats. One interesting point, the clergyman makes deals with the currently controversial discussion of reparations for slavery.
One of the proofs he cites in his case is that Republicans, in 1866, introduced a Senate bill for reparations but Democratic President Andrew Johnson vetoed it.
“We would have had reparations if it weren’t for the Democrats,” Perryman told journalist Adeeba Folami. He also asserts that it was in Democratic controlled states where blacks were doused in kerosene, set on fire and lynched, many times while their homes were simultaneously being burned to the ground. All the while, Democratic mayors, judges and other elected officials joined in and cheered the activities along or looked the other way.
“You never found anywhere or [in] any public record where the Democratic Party ever apologized,” the former Democrat said, adding that he believes last year’s Resolution 39, the government’s official apology for lynching, was inspired by his lawsuit as it was introduced by a Democratic, southern senator on the same day the DNP was to have responded to his lawsuit in federal court.
The author views that effort as one aimed at circumventing his case, however, the irony, he said, was in the fact that it was Republicans who congressional records show were introducing anti-lynching laws in the 1870s, laws that were never passed or supported by Democrats.
Perryman asserted that his major motivation is for the true history of the Democratic Party with African-Americans to become widely known - whether he wins or loses his legal case. Yet, he has a distinct political motive as well, a desire to see blacks become more knowledgeable of the political process and that they need representation in both parties along with bipartisan coalitions to affect real change on their issues of concern.
He stated that the DNP has hired a large, corporate law firm for their defense while he represents himself, pro se, and he also lamented that the National Bar Association, even though aware of the case, has refused to offer assistance through their network of thousands of black judges and attorneys.
“I’m out here fighting by myself but David fought Goliath and the Lord helped him,” he said optimistically. “I’m just praying God will help me prevail.”
Perryman’s lawsuit presents a short term political challenge for Howard Dean. The DNC Chairman has banked his tenure on the so-called “fifty state strategy.” Under the plan, Democrats would spend money in key districts across the nation, even in Republican strongholds to attempt to swing GOP seats to the Democrats. An essential part of the plan involves motivating unregistered or inactive black voters to participate, thus changing some previously uncompetitive seats into the competitive column.
Other Democrats such as Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have called the plan unworkable, advising that the DNC should spend its money in existing Democratic majority districts that have Republican Congressman representing these marginal seats.
Should Perryman’s case come to hearings prior to the 2006 elections, with Dean and his DNC as its major target, the negative publicity could depress black turnout, thus defeating the Chairman’s strategy.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 AM | Comments (12)
The Danger Of B.Hussein Obama’s Amateur Diplomacy
The danger of Obama’s amateur diplomacy
Thomas Lifson
After suggesting that he would invade our ally Pakistan and talk to our enemy Iran, Barack Obama has moved on to potentially damage our relations with Canada, our friendly neighbor and number one foreign oil supplier.
Under the terms of NAFTA, Canada is prohibited from cutting off oil exports to the US if there is a worldwide shortage or supply disruption unless supplies are also rationed to Canadian consumers by the same amount.
After the Hillary/Obama debate, Canada's trade minister pointed out that if NAFTA is re-opened, Canada might want to opt out of this clause, which would then leave Canada free to sell its oil to any other country for whatever price it could get.
Both Clinton and Obama have made a big issue out President Bush's alleged insensitivies to other countries. And now these two geniuses are blithely talking about canceling a trade agreement with our two neighbors on which both their economies now depend.
"Beijing has signalled its interest in Canada's growing oil sector. Two of China's biggest energy groups, China National Offshore Oil Co and Sinopec, have invested in small Calgary-based companies with ambitions to extract heavy crude oil from oilsands in Canada."
So the Obama campaign has been caught in a lie and is potentially opening a door for China (among others) to become involved in our most secure source for foreign oil, where the oil sands contain deposits equal to those of Saudi Arabia, while alienating our best friends in foreign countries.
Wild Thing's comment........
He isn't even President yet and he is going to make all these problems before he even gets elected.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:45 AM | Comments (10)
March 01, 2008
New Age Chanting Empty Rhetoric and Drive from Obama Supporters
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Wild Thing's comment........
These videos, combined with the mindless speeches and thoughtless writings, can only lead one to conclude that this movement appears to be a cult. This man may not be the anti-Christ but he is close enough to it. I am embarassed to see how many mindless American's there are in my wonderful country.
Posted by Wild Thing at 09:55 AM | Comments (13)
Bloodhound 17 Nabs 16 Caches in 10 Weeks
Bloodhound 17 Nabs 16 Caches in 10 Weeks
By 2nd Stryker Cav. Regt. PAO, MND-B
BAGHDAD, Iraq
His call sign is Big Dawg 17, but you might as well call him “Bloodhound 17” after he and his 30-man platoon sniffed out a total of 16 buried ammunition and weapons caches over a 10-wek period.
Sgt. 1st Class Connell, 40, a native of Polson, Mont., has the reputation of being tough, but fair, on his men. He is on his fifth consecutive year as a platoon sergeant, and he runs his platoon one way – his.
Connell is currently assigned to 1st Platoon, Battery B, Fires Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. His current tour of duty in Iraq marks his second stint, and he barks out orders like a drill sergeant.
“Take Bravo 17 (an up-armored humvee) down to maintenance and get it fixed,” he bellowed, “It blew cherry juice all over Route Lincoln.”
For his Soldiers, his instructions are well understood as they hurry to follow his guidance.
“The man is determined, said Spc. Ronald Butler, who hails from Bennett, Iowa. “I’ll just leave it at that.”
At the beginning of December, his platoon took over an area northwest of Baghdad in what used to be an al-Qaida stronghold that historically was a prime spot for hidden munitions and homemade explosives.
After a few days of searching, his platoon observed suspicious holes near an abandoned building. Four days later, the Soldiers seized munitions from two finds. In the first seizure, the captured a 2.75-inch rocket with 450 AK-47 rounds and 150 heavy machine gun rounds. At the second site, they nabbed four tank rounds.
By the time Christmas rolled around, approximately two months later, the platoon had sniffed out a total of 16 caches, including one on Christmas Day.
“I had to shell out $150 dollars to buy the platoon pizza,” said Connell reflecting on his platoon’s expensive find. “I promised them (his platoon) if they found a cache on Christmas, they’d get pizza from me.”
Maj. Tim Hunt asked Connell who it was that he and his platoon were so successful in finding the illegal munitions and weapons, to which Connell replied in his typical bluntness: “Sir, we just kick a lot of dirt.”
Hunt is from Dupont, Wash., and serves as the squadron’s executive officer.
Connell enlisted with the National Guard in January 1987 and is an artilleryman by trade. Four years later, he joined the active-duty ranks. He said he has spent the majority of his 21 years career behind the breech of a cannon, launching 100-pound projectiles into impact areas many miles away from his position.
The war in Iraq changed all of that for him – and many others. His first deployment was in northern Iraq, he said, and most of his time was spent raiding houses and looking for suspected terrorists – a duty formerly thought of as a job specifically for an infantryman. It was valued experience he carried through with him for his current tour.
“I’m amazed at how knowledgeable he is of the area,” said Spc. Matthew Pawlikowski, a native of Garfield, N.J., who serves as the platoon’s armorer.
The platoon’s largest cache to date was found in early February, the day after a car bomb exploded under a local sheik. His platoon took immediate action after receiving a tip. After two hours of searching, Connell was the one who found six 120mm mortar rounds and a complete 120mm mortar system buried underneath a staircase.
Another hour of searching yielded the discovery of a buried water tank filled with more than 4,000 pounds of munitions that included rocket-propelled grenades, grenades, detonation cord and mortars. An explosive ordnance disposal team was called in to destroy the seized cache.
As to what his plans are for when the deployment is over, he said “I’ll spend time with my newborn son.”
He also said he hopes to get an assignment with the University of Montana, where he would relish the opportunity to serve as an assistant instructor for the Reserve Officer’s Training Corps program so he can pass his knowledge to the Army’s next batch of fresh, young second lieutenants and, of course, to teach them “to kick a lot of dirt.”
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:55 AM
HOLY COW AND GOATS Batman!! ~ Kenya Ticked About Obama Photo
Clinton Vaces Kenya Cattle Fine Over Obama Photo
NAIROBI (Reuters)
Kenyan elders may impose a fine on U.S. presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, payable in livestock, after a photo of her rival Barack Obama in robes dragged their people into the race for the White House.
The picture, which appeared on a U.S. Web site, showed the Illinois senator in a white headdress and traditional Somali attire during a 2006 visit to Wajir in Kenya's remote northeast.
Obama has battled a whispering campaign by fringe elements who wrongly say he is Muslim and his aides accused Clinton's campaign of "the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering" after the photograph was published.
Wajir elders resolved to file an official complaint with the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, dropping earlier plans to hold a protest after Friday prayers.
They said they would also convene a traditional Somali court to investigate the matter. It can impose fines that are payable in cattle, goats or camels.
"We will go ahead with this case whether Senator Clinton or Democratic party leaders turn up or not," said Mohamed Ibrahim, a member of the clan that hosted Obama during his trip. "But this whole thing can be avoided if only an apology is made."
The late father of the Democratic frontrunner was from western Kenya.
Many in the east African country support Obama the way the Irish idolized President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s -- as one of their own who succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
"The clan he was with have every right to be offended," said Hussein Ali, a 32-year-old unemployed man outside the main Jamia Mosque in the capital Nairobi.
"Obama's enemies are trying to portray him as a terrorist, saying all Muslims, and especially Somalis, are dangerous men."
MOLLIFIED LOCALS
Clinton's campaign denies authorizing the release of the controversial photo but says that, with 700 staffers, it could not be certain someone had not sent it out unofficially.
That has not mollified locals in Wajir, a small desert town near the Somali border, who demanded Clinton "clear her name."
Other Kenyans questioned the timing of the picture's publication, days before make-or-break votes in Ohio and Texas next week.
For many Americans, Somalia conjures up disturbing images of dead U.S. troops being dragged through Mogadishu's dusty streets during the "Black Hawk Down" battle of 1993.
The U.S. military launched air strikes on the Horn of Africa country last year in its hunt for al Qaeda, including suspects wanted over the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1988.
"We suspect the intent behind releasing this picture now, just before Tuesday's very critical vote," said Omar Jamal, head of the St Paul, Minnesota-based Somali Justice Advocacy Centre.
His lobby group, which works with Somali immigrants in the United States, has also demanded an apology from Clinton's camp.
"They are trying to make a link between a man who could be the next U.S. president and a country with al Qaeda terrorist activities. They're trying to tell citizens, look who you might be voting for," he told Reuters by telephone.
"Everyone is very upset. It's outrageous and undermining."
Wild Thing's comment........
DANG! Reality is funnier than any satire or comedy show!
It can impose fines that are payable in cattle, goats or camels.
That’s a little ironic. Didn’t Hillary make some money in cattle futures? Can she pay with cattle futures? LOL
So let me get this straight. It is not only offensive to say Obama's middle name: Hussein it's also offense to show him in his ancestral clothing? I have a Swiss heritage, I have a pair of Lederhosen (shorts made of leather) and if I ever wore then it would not offend me if someone had a photo of me wearing them. What’s the deal?
On the serious side. Obama’s shame of his heritage has now made him look totally ridiculous. It is extremely childish behavior on the part of Obama and his outspoken wife. For one thing where is their anger at the photographer that took the photo if they don't want anyone to see it. Even so when a person is a public figure there is always a deal a person makes with the public, not written but known, and that is public is what it means.
There are tons of photos of Bush and Laura too with garb on of the cultures of countries they have been to. Just as we saw Bush in the latest trip to Africa and his dancing with the Saudi's etc.
So this while behavior by Obama is inexcusable and the same with the idiots wanting a goat, a cow or whatever.
I am in no way defending Hillary, but what Obama with the no liberal word to be used, the middle name BS and this photo thing should scream to voters how much Obama will be a dictator!!
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:50 AM | Comments (13)
Iraq War Budget Barabara Boxer Calls Our Troops Occupying Forces
Foreign Relations Committee hearing with Condoleezza Rice. This video is of the portion where Barbara Boxer questions Condi Rice.
Wild Thing's comment.........
People like this Barbara Boxer should NEVER ever be in power of any kind, not ever! To call our troops occupying forces is bad enough. She kept saying it over and over too. This should be called what it is TREASON and there should be some kind of horrible punishment for this.
* Yankeemom....Thank you so much Yankeemom for having this video at your blog.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:48 AM | Comments (11)
Barack Obama Magic 8 Ball
To try it out just go to the link...... CLICK HERE
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Wild Thing's comment........
LOL I asked it questions about his campaign and Hillary's. heh heh Nothing serious here jsut a fun thing.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:47 AM
U.S. Soldiers, Iraqi Army Discover Huge Weapons Cache
Soldiers from Company A, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), uncover a huge cache of spent and unused munitions, Feb. 25, west of Owesat. Photo courtesy of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs.
U.S. Soldiers, Iraqi Army Discover Huge Weapons Cache
Friday, 29 February 2008
By Capt. Allison Flannigan
101st Airborne Division Public Affairs
CAMP STRIKER
Soldiers of Company A, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) discovered a significant weapons cache, Feb. 25, just one day after Iraqi Army (IA) Soldiers turned in three caches in Yusufiyah.
While establishing a checkpoint, Soldiers from 1st Platoon, Company A, conducted a security sweep. Staff Sgt. Jon Hood, from Kansas City, Mo., noticed a plastic bag on the ground.
When he kicked the bag and heard a clink, he looked down and discovered several rounds uncovered by the rainy weather. Seeing the exposed rounds, Hood and his fellow Soldiers started digging and unearthed the largest cache the brigade has found since arriving in October.
“There was a lot more to that little cache than we thought,” Hood said. In all, more than 300 live mortar rounds, between 56 mm and 155 mm, were intermixed with more than 8,000 mortar shells. With the help of local Sons of Iraq, the unit spent more than 26 hours digging up the cache.
This is the largest cache I’ve seen since I was a platoon leader with 3rd Infantry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom I,” said Capt. Terry Hilderbrand, of Atlanta, Ga., commander of Company A. “This is definitely the largest cache we’ve pulled up since we’ve been here.”
The discovery of the massive munitions stash came one day after Soldiers from Company C, 3-187th Inf. Regt. received three caches from their IA counterparts.
Iraqi troops from 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division recovered three large caches from Qarghuli Village and Shubayshen, and turned the munitions over to Soldiers at Patrol Base Yusufiyah.
In total, the three caches yielded one complete improvised explosive device, 190 pounds of unknown bulk explosive, 40 pounds of dynamite, (74) 82 mm mortar rounds, (18) 122 mm artillery rounds, (38) 60 mm mortar rounds, 400 additional projectiles between 23 mm and 155 mm, hundreds of assorted munitions pieces, several radios and documents.
Wild Thing's comment........
FANTASTIC! God bless our troops!
It is so amazing the tremendous amount of weapons they find. Just the thought of all of that being there and taking into consideration how much of it was probably moved to the countries nearby.
Each time they find these weapons my first thought is how these will NOT be aimed at our troops, and then I feel such pride in ouor soldiers immediately after that.
Posted by Wild Thing at 12:45 AM | Comments (4)
“When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry,” - VP Dick Cheney
A toast to each of you 
