Theodore's World

“They won’t be able to continue. They won’t be able to do the deployment. They won’t have the equipment, they don’t have the training and they won’t be able to do the work. There’s no question in my mind.”

– John Murtha
Washington Times
In the wake of September 11, McGovernism — that is, the reflexive opposition to the use of force by the United States against foreign enemies that has dogged the Democratic Party since Richard Nixon’s time — became more of a liability than ever.
But in last year’s congressional elections, the Democrats came up with a shrewd, cynical new P.R. strategy that has until now served them well: saying lots of nice things about American soldiers fighting in Iraq while simultaneously advancing resolutions that denigrate their mission. But the decision to effectively cut off funds by micromanaging their use — rather than by doing so directly — may also be unconstitutional.
When the House votes today on the resolution denouncing Mr. Bush’s plans for additional troops to combat al Qaeda and other terrorist groups in Iraq, members should be under no illusions about what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic Party leadership are trying to do: to make it impossible for American troops to properly do their job in Iraq.
In an interview yesterday with MoveCongress.org, a Web site for a coalition of anti-war groups, Mr. Murtha, who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, explained that by placing conditions on $93.4 billion in new combat funds, he would make be able to effectively stop the troops in their tracks.

“They won’t be able to continue. They won’t be able to do the deployment. They won’t have the equipment, they don’t have the training and they won’t be able to do the work. There’s no question in my mind,” Mr. Murtha said.

“We will set benchmarks for readiness,” a top Democratic leadership aide told the nonpartisan Politico.com Web site, which summarized the Democrats’ strategy this way: “If enacted, these provisions would have the effect of limiting the number of troops available for the Bush surge plan, while blunting the GOP charge that Democrats are cutting funding for the troops in Iraq.”

Aside from doing severe damage to the war effort in Iraq, the Democrats’ political strategy to cripple the war effort by attaching thousands of legislative strings to war funding may also be unconstitutional. Noted attorney and constitutional scholar David Rivkin makes a strong case that Congress cannot act like a “puppet master” appropriating and authorizing funds while attaching conditions that would effectively transform the president into a marionette.
If Congress wants to cut off funding, it must do so honestly and directly, rather than dishonestly through micromanagement. In addition to paving the way for a geopolitical catastrophe for this country, the Democratic leadership may be setting the stage for a constitutional confrontation with the White House.

HERE is Murthda and the Democrats plan Murtha describes his strategy for not only limiting the deployment of troops to Iraq but undermining other aspects of the president’s foreign and national security policy. If you have the stomach to watch this entire thing … do!

MoveCongress is part of the Win Without War coalition. This of course comes as no suprise but here are some other members of the win without war coalition:
20/20 Vision
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities
Center for International Policy (CIP)
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Council for a Livable World
Families USA
Feminist Majority
Fourth Freedom Forum
Global Exchange
Greenpeace
Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)
MoveOn
NAACP
National Council of Churches
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Organization for Women (NOW)
NETWORK A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Pax Christi USA
Peace Action
Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR)
Psychologists for Social Responsibility
Rainbow/Push Coalition
Shalom Center
Sierra Club
Sojourners
Soulforce
The Tikkun Community
TrueMajority
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
United Church of Christ
United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society
Us Foundation
USAction
Veterans for Peace
Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND)
Working Assets
Artists United to Win Without War
Musicians United to Win Without War

Wild Thing’s comment…….
What a loathsome scourge has been unleashed upon our country!!! OH and get this, one of the Haditha Marines who Murtha called a cold-blooded killer is actually from Murtha’s district?
Darryl Sharratt (father of LCpl. Justin Sharratt) has asked repeatedly sent requests to meet with Murtha or anyone in his office. Darryl has never even had the courtesy of a returned phone call.
It comes down to this in pure vile fact!!
The Bush administration “won’t be able to continue.
They won’t be able to do the deployment.
They won’t have the equipment.
They don’t have the training and they won’t be able to do the work,”
Murtha said in the post on the Democrat-friendly Web site MoveCongress.org.
“This vote will limit the options of the president and should stop this surge.”

From the information I have read, this strategy is already well underway. In acting on the Omnibus spending bill, the Congress has cut the Army budget for BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) in half. Since BRAC is mandated by law, the Army will have to move money from other accounts in order to meet the BRAC statuatory requirements. One way they have done this is to inactivate the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division rather than to move this brigade from Germany to Fort Bliss (this brigade is just now returning from a tour in Iraq). This will make the brigade unavailable for a return deployment to Iraq when their turn next comes.
Democrats are also moving to remove funding for an Army Stryker Brigade’s equipment from the Supplemental Funding bill. This means that this brigade cannot convert as scheduled and therefore will not be available for deployment to Iraq.
Their scheme is designed to fool the American people by saying that they are “supporting the troops” and “funding the troops”. Neither statement is true. They are supporting the enemy, of that there is no doubt.
The President said of Congresses’ plans: ‘I hope they don’t do anything to stop the troops from doing what I told them to do’. I’m hoping with all my heart that those words mean what they would coming fom a Man(as opposed to a politician).
Push these clowns to the edge, Mr. President, you might be surprised at the resolve of those of us and others behind you.

“Currahee,” a Cherokee word meaning “stands alone” and a word that became the cry of the 506th Paratroopers Regiment (which included Easy Company). Stands Alone Together!

A video about one of our soldier’s tour in Ramadi, Iraq.
A co 1/506 2nd Plt Maniacs
Music by Johnny Cash

John 5 VN 69-70 for sending this video link to me.

More fun to see. heh heh
Love ya Rush! God bless you and your VP.

ROTFLMAO gosh I love these things!
Hahahaha

Pelosi: Bush Lacks Authority to Invade
apnews….complete story at link
WASHINGTON
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that President Bush lacks the authority to invade Iran without specific approval from Congress, a fresh challenge to the commander in chief on the eve of a symbolic vote critical of his troop buildup in Iraq.

Pelosi, D-Calif., noted that Bush consistently said he supports a diplomatic resolution to differences with Iran “and I take him at his word.”

At the same time, she said, “I do believe that Congress should assert itself, though, and make it very clear that there is no previous authority for the president, any president, to go into Iran.”

But Bush took a swipe at his critics during the day.

“This may become the first time in the history of the United States Congress that it has voted to send a new commander into battle and then voted to oppose his plan that is necessary to succeed in that battle,” the president said.

The Senate unanimously confirmed Lt. Gen David Petraeus last week to take over as the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Wild Thing’s comment…….
OK this is weird, I have not heard Bush say he was going to attack Iran…not yet.
I thought Bush had every authority he needs to protect the troops and the Country. Pelosi does not have the authority to stop him from doing either. Even though she wants her airplane better yet broom. Because she is third in line…I am so sick of the liberal dems today and the comments they read..I could just puke. They are the biggest bunch of traitors this Country has ever seen.
Pelosi is not only a biased liar, she cannot read. The military authority that Congress voted for President Bush in 2001 did the same thing that Congress authorized for President Jefferson two centuries before. Both times, Congress authorized the use of “military force” across “international boundaries.” And Pelosi voted for both of the authorizations that Congress gave to Bush.
If she wants it to be different, she can introduce a Joint Resolution to change that. Instead, she’s trying to lie her way out of the box she’s in. However, she’s right on the mark to count on the press to cover for her dishonesty.
I would reply to Speaker Pelosi, “And if Mahmoud Ahmadinejad erases Israel from the face of the Earth with his “peaceful” nuclear weapons, can we count on the Democratic Congress to stand by their decision to permit it? Let’s just get it on record that the Democratic Congress approves of the continued nuclear ambitions and overt threats of a madman.”
What a bunch of morons. The way to win this war is to stop trying to keep everybody happy. It is war after all, people die on both sides. We need to LET THE DOGS OF WAR OUT! This new strategy is already working. Check out the following site for additional information.

U.S. Presidential candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) looks at a model of the U.S. Capitol Building that was presented to her as an award during an event on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 15, 2007

Hillary Clinton Buying Black Vote for $200,000
newsmax
The press reported on Tuesday that Sen. Hillary Clinton had scored a coup in the presidential race by winning the endorsement of a key black political leader in South Carolina, state Sen. Darrell Jackson.
Now it has come to light that just days earlier, Clinton’s campaign reached a deal to pay Jackson’s consulting firm $10,000 a month through the 2008 elections – a deal worth more than $200,000.

“Jackson had also been in talks with Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign about endorsing him and entering into a consulting contract for more than $5,000, sources said – raising questions about whether Jackson’s endorsement was bought by a higher bidder,” the New York Post reported.

Jackson – who is also the minister of a large church in the state capital, Columbia – acknowledged that he should have revealed his financial dealings with the Clinton campaign when he and fellow state Sen. Robert Ford, who is also African-American, endorsed Clinton.
But he told the Post: “It’s not about the money – there were some other candidates who offered to double Clinton’s offer,” Jackson told the Post, although he declined to name them.
Support from black voters is key in South Carolina, where 49 percent of the Democratic presidential primary vote came from blacks in 2004. The state will host the first Southern primaries for both the Democrats and the GOP in 2008.

Wild Thing’s comment…….
A shoping we will go, a shopping we will go, hi ho the derry-o a shopping we will go. Whoulda thunk it?

Leftist activists who march to the Pentagon next month will discover that their path won’t be as clear as it has been in the past.
The group, led by Cindy Sheehan, Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark and their ilk, plan to gather March 17 at the Vietnam Memorial Wall to begin a march to protest America’s involvement in the Iraq war. The date marks the fourth anniversary of the war’s beginning.
This time, however, protestors will see objectors if they spit on Iraqi veterans again, or throw paint on a war memorial. This time, they will encounter a buzz saw of Vietnam veterans and supporters who will gather to protect the Wall, and show their support for U.S. troops. The counter-protestors are calling themselves the Gathering of Eagles.

Click the image to learn more, then check out the new Gathering of Eagles blog here and the forum here. It’s time to get involved, people. If you can’t make it to Washington that day, won’t you at least help spread the word?

“We’ll be there to act as a countervailing force against the Cindy Sheehan-Jane Fonda march from the Vietnam Memorial to the Pentagon,” retired Navy Capt. Larry Bailey said. “We will protect the Vietnam Memorial. If they try to deface it, there will be some violence, I guarantee you.”
Bailey and thousands of his fellow Vietnam vets are worried that the anti-war protesters will damage the wall, just as they spray-painted the steps of the Capitol at their last march.
The wall is sacred to the men and women who fought in that war.
“It is our contact with our dead brothers — those who lost their lives in the cause of their country,” Bailey said.

“And so it is that Washington will see a Gathering of Eagles – Americans determined to stand up against leftist propagandists who denigrate U.S. troops and the mission for which they sometimes sacrifice their lives.
Retired Col. Harry Riley organized the Gathering of Eagles. Organizers hope thousands will show up in Washington from as far away as Hawaii, and they won’t only be Vietnam veterans. Families, friends and veterans of other wars, including Iraq, and soldiers still on active duty, will be there to defend the Wall.
“When we say a gathering of eagles, that signifies people who support the American way,” Bailey said.

Rolling Thunder ® will also be joining “Gathering of Eagles”
The ENEMY
The movement is well-financed. Its sponsor list is lengthy and contains highly recognizable names, as well as those of Fonda and Sheehan: · Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark (who offered his services to defend Saddam Hussein)
· Ultra-liberal Congresswoman Maxine Waters
· Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney
· Ron Kovic, Vietnam veteran and author of “Born on the 4th of July”
· Mahdi Bray, executive director, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
· Waleed Bader, vice chair of the National Council of Arab Americans and former president of Arab Muslim American Federation
· Medea Benjamin, co-founder, CODEPINK and Global Exchange
· Free Palestine Alliance
· Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
· Islamic Political Party of America
· FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front)
· Islamic-National Congress
· Gay Liberation Network
· Muslim Student Association
· Jibril Hough, chairman, Islamic Political Party of America
On 27 January 2007 Law Enforcement Officers Allowed Anti War protesters to Spray slogans on the U.S, Capitol steps.
On 27 January 2007 Law Enforcement Officers Allowed Code Pink to desecrate the Lone Sailor

POS Cindy Sheehans response to Gathering of Eagles.

THE SPIRIT OF THE WALL
The Viet Nam Veteran’s Memorial

I STOOD BEFORE THE WALL TODAY …
COMPLETELY UNPREPARED
FOR THE BITTERSWEET EMOTIONS
THAT RAINED DOWN UPON MY HEAD.

MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS HAVE COME … AND GONE
SINCE THAT AWFUL WAR WAS FOUGHT …
I THOUGHT THE PAIN HAD ‘GONE AWAY’
I WAS SURPRISED THAT IT HAD NOT.

WE SENT OUR BEST AND BRIGHTEST LIGHTS
TO A JUNGLE FAR AWAY …
WHERE FOR A CAUSE SO GOOD AND NOBLE,
WE COMMITTED TO THE FRAY.

I CANNOT BEGIN TO TELL YOU
OF ALL THE PAIN WITHIN THE WALL …
OR HOW IT WAS ‘WE, THE PEOPLE’
WHO SCORNED OUR SOLDIERS, ONE AND ALL.

AS I LOOKED AT ALL THE MANY NAMES 
ENGRAVED UPON THIS WALL
I REACHED OUT WITH A TREMBLING HAND,
AS IF … TO CATCH THEM … AS THEY’D FALL.

MY HEART, I THOUGHT, IS BREAKING
FOR THE LIVES THEY’D NEVER KNOW …
AND, AS I HEARD THAT LONELY BUGLE PLAY.
I THOUGHT OF THOSE WHO’D LOVED THEM SO …

AND THEN …
I SAW A MAN – NO LONGER YOUNG
KNEELING AT THE WALL…
HIS FINGERS TOUCHED BUT JUST ONE NAME …
I HEARD HIM WHISPER …’THROUGH IT ALL’

OUR SOLDIERS NEVER FALTERED …
NEVER SAID THEY WOULDN’T GO …
AND , AGAIN, THIS DAY, THEY FIGHT FOR ME
IN SPITE OF ‘EVERYTHING THEY KNOW’.

I STOOD BEFORE THE WALL TODAY …
AND REMEMBERED.

from: In The Spirit of Things
(All Rights Reserved)

Wild Thing’s comment…..
At the anti-war protest in Washington , D.C. 2 weeks ago there was A LOT of damage done at the Capitol steps. We cannot and will not allow this to happen at The Wall or to any of our memorials.
I hope and pray I will be able to go. I fell back in November on our kitchen floor after stubbing my toe on a hutch at the entrance of the kitchen. The floor is tile ( very hard) and I really messed myself up. My left thumb they told me has the bone ripped away from the knuckle. My right knee is numb I guess I messed up my nerve endings in my kneecap. And my left deltoid and humus has been in pain now for 3 months. I go today to get an MRI done to see if something is needing to be fixed like the bone or the muscle might be torn. I pray it can be something I won’t need a stupid operation, because it if is I can’t go. And I want to go so badly. I put off the MRI because I kept thinking it would get better. augh! No such luck and it is killing me. haha sheesh what a mess. I still feel like a Mac truck hit me. And all because I stubbed my toe, how stupid is that.
I am only mentioning these things because if there is anyway to be there I truly feel this is so important. I want to go. If I can’t go of course I will be there in spirit and in my heart and soul. If not it would only be due to surgery and needing to stay away from long trips for awhile. My fingers are crossed and I am filled with hope and a prayer that I can make it.

To those of you new to this blog please feel free to visit my Tribute to Vietnam Vets page at my website.

We just can’t let vile groups like this do what they are going to do without fighting back. …….ANSWER Coalition: Free Speech Victory! Permits Secured for Pentagon Demonstration ( Party for Socialism and Liberation)

This is not only a Hat Tip to some other blogs but also a thank you to others that have sent this to me that do not have blogs.
Thank you to Cuchieddie
Thank you to John 5 VN 69-70
* Conservative Insurgent blog (Jack)
* Old War Dogs
* GRUNTS Forum

Rep. Ellison calls the cops to snuff Tancredo’s cigar
The Hill…complete article
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) believes it is his right as a Muslim to be sworn into Congress with the Quran. But apparently, the freshman lawmaker doesn’t believe it’s Rep. Tom Tancredo’s (R-Colo.) right to smoke a cigar in his congressional office.
Ellison’s office called the Capitol Hill Police on Tancredo last Wednesday night as Tancredo was in his office smoking a cigar. The lawmakers have neighboring offices on the first floor of the Longworth House Office Building.
Tancredo was still stunned a day later. “It’s very bizarre,” said Tancredo, who has never met Ellison. “Seemed to me not a good way to say hello.”
And let’s face it. Calling the cops on a colleague takes the cake for the nerviest behavior so far among members of this year’s freshman class of Congress.
This is how it all went down. On Wednesday evening, around 6 p.m., Tancredo was preparing for his trip to Mississippi. And as he so often does, he was unwinding with a cigar.
Soon enough, however, a police officer walked in to check on the smoke. The officer told Tancredo that the officer came because he was required to do so and not because the officer wanted to. The officer had already told Ellison that Tancredo was permitted to smoke in his office. The visit was more a formality.

Tancredo said he would not stop smoking in his office. “Heck, no!” he said. “If he [Ellison] would have [had] the courtesy to say something I’m sure I would have been more accommodating to his wishes.”

To help keep his office free of impurities, Tancredo has three air purifiers.

And he has no plans to meet Ellison anytime soon. “I’m sure we will, but I’m not going to make a point of it,” the presidential hopeful said, adding that he supported Ellison’s right to be sworn in with the Quran.

Ellison’s press secretary, Rick Jauert, made the call to the Superintendent’s office when he noticed the smoke. “I called because the smoke was coming through the walls,” Jauert said, adding that the Superintendent’s office referred him to the Capitol Police.

Jauert said he then informed his boss what he had done. He said “fine,” Jauert said. “He’s complained of the smoke before.”

Wild Thing’s comment…..
Interesting to note here that Muslim Ellison was informed earlier that Tancredo had every right to smoke in his own office. And yet Muslim Ellison said it was “fine” with him for his employee to do what was done calling in the Capitol Police. I love Tancredo’s response to Muslim Ellison…..Tancredo to Ellison… kiss my red, white, and blue a$$… ha ha! Poor guy, he has the Taliban next door.

 

Valentines Day
is here,
and hundreds of thousands of United States soldiers
will be far away from their loved ones,
unable to share an affectionate embrace,
a romantic candlelight dinner,
a box of chocolates or a bouquet of flowers.

Valentines Day is  about showing the ones you love
just how much they mean to you,
and no one knows this better
than friends and families of troops overseas.

So to all our
Military, and their families,
to all the Veterans,
and to all of you that are friends of
Theodore’s World blog……..
Angry Old Salt and I wish you all
a special Valentines Day!
Thank you for being in our lives and
to the troops, thank you for all you do
and for serving our country.
Thank you for our freedom!

 

 

And Happy
Valentines Day to each one of you
that are such an important part of
Theodore’s World
blog.

You are the
song in my heart.

Wild
Thing

 

Al Sadr Fled Iraq, Fearing U.S. Bombs
Insurgent Leader Reportedly Moved to Iran With Members of Mahdi Army
abc news
While members of the U.S. House of Representatives take turns weighing in on President Bush’s planned troop surge in Iraq, the focus in Iraq is not on the arrival of more U.S. troops, but the departure of one of the country’s most powerful men, Moqtada al Sadr and members of his army.
According to senior military officials, al Sadr left Baghdad two to three weeks ago and fled to Tehran, Iran, where he has family.
Sources say some of the Mahdi army leadership went with al Sadr.
Though he is gone for now, many think al Sadr is not gone for good. In Tehran he is trying to keep the Madhi militia together.
In recent months al Sadr has come to the political table to force change rather than using military force to have an impact. Sources say an even more extreme faction within his militia isn’t pleased with this turn of events, and is trying to force the cleric to respond to recent Sunni attacks with more violence.
U.S. officials say they are going to watch those member of the Mahdi army left behind in Baghdad. Sources say two scenarios are possible: Either al Sadr will be driven further into extremist mode or he will continue going forward with the political process.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
When the going gets tough, flee! hahahaha These terrorists are ALL chickens. thought martyrdom was a much sought after thing with the muslims, you know 72 virgins and all. Besides, won’t Allah protect him since he is on the correct side and killing the infidels? Keep up the pressure guys! Flush em all out! They respect ONLY one thing, thats superior firepower and the willingness to use it.
Where’s the obligatory “Reid is saddened” photo? Now Murtha, Reid and Pelosi and all the others can flee to Iran.