Theodore's World

THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called a proposal to make English the official language “racist” on the Senate floor yesterday.

“This amendment is racist. I think it’s directed basically to people who speak Spanish,” the Democrat said during the already tense debate over immigration reform.

Moments later, the Senate approved the measure on a 63-34 vote. Virtually all Republicans were joined by 11 Democrats to approve the largely symbolic amendment. Immediately following that vote, the Senate approved a second amendment, declaring on a 58-39 vote that English is the “common and unifying language.”
Such proposals enjoy overwhelming support among American voters.
A poll by Zogby International earlier this year found that 84 percent of Americans say English should be the official language of government operations. The same poll found that 77 percent of Hispanics agree.
And it’s a bipartisan issue, according to the poll, which found that 92 percent of Republicans and 82 percent of Democrats approve making English the country’s official language.
Mr. Reid’s charge of racism caused a stir of whispers in the Senate chamber and gallery, and Sen. James M. Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican who offered the amendment, was clearly offended.
As Mr. Reid continued his floor speech, an aide passed him a note on a folded sheet of yellow legal paper. After reading the note, the Nevada Democrat tried to clarify his remarks.

“Even though I feel this amendment is unfair, I don’t in any way suggest that Jim Inhofe is a racist,” Mr. Reid said. “I don’t believe that at all. I just believe that this amendment has, to some people, that connotation — not that he’s a racist, but that the amendment is.”

It’s certainly not the first time that Mr. Reid has used stark language in the debate over immigration.

“Our federal wallet is stretched to the limit by illegal aliens getting welfare, food stamps, medical care and other benefits without paying taxes,” he said in 1993. “These programs were not meant to entice freeloaders and scam artists from around the world.”

Earlier this year, Mr. Reid confessed on the Senate floor that his anti-immigrant fervor “mostly lasted about a week or two” before his wife brought him around to the more open position he holds today.
But nearly a year after his “freeloaders” statement, Mr. Reid was on the Senate floor criticizing immigrants again and worrying about their cultural impact.

“We must reduce the annual admissions of legal immigrants to more moderate levels in order to provide for a better country — both environmentally and socially — in the years to come,” Mr. Reid said, according to a June 16, 1994, report by States News Service.

When Mr. Inhofe took to the floor yesterday, he didn’t address Mr. Reid over his charge of racism but did defend his proposal.

“I think it’s an insult to Hispanics to say that we are not going to have English as the national language because you’re not capable of operating and speaking and succeeding in a country like this,” he said.

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Wild Thing’s comment……
Gee, imagine that. Wanting to make English the official language of an English speaking nation. What are these guys thinking? By default, dungy Harry is calling English speaking people racist. Almost every country on the earth except us has an official language. It is not racist to have an official language. Is China racist to impose Mandarin Chinese as its official language, Franch has French as their official language as well.
It’s the language our Constitution was written in. Oh and it’s the language the Atomic Bomb was invented in too.
If Harry Reid gets his way we will have:
Press #1 for English
Press #2 for Spanish
Press #3 for Farsi

Assyrian International News Agency
As noted by the Iraqi daily newspaper az-Zaman, the Iranian government is supplying Iraq’s al-Qaeda terror cells with the heavy weapons they have previously lacked including advanced anti-aircraft missiles, explosives and BKC machineguns.
The surface to air missiles are of the Russian Strela type.
The Strela is a heat seeking, self-contained, shoulder fired weapon and similar to the U.S. “Redeye” missile.
Though not having enough range to seriously challenge fast moving jet fighters and bombers, they are however viewed as grave threats when deployed against helicopters which must operate at much lower altitudes.
The newspaper report details that the technology transfer took place after meetings held in Beirut Lebanon between representatives of Iraqi al-Qaeda leader Zarqawi and the Iranian funded terrorist group Hezbollah.
The weapons were provided by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp IRGC.
The United States and Iraqi officials have repeatedly accused Iran’s Islamist government of sending agents and arms into Iraq to assist the insurgency.
The IRGC is viewed as a religious defense force which was formed in the first days of the Iranian revolution of 1979 which overthrew the Shah of Iran Reza Pahlavi and brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power.
It is believed that the leadership of the IRGC reports directly to Iran’s present day Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Wild Thing’s comment…..
Just a second this is ticking me off big time. I want to hear Iran added to the axis of evil in 5 – count em’ 5 seconds.
Or did I miss the memo on this!

Report: China claims its tech can detect U.S. stealth jets
Special to World Tribune.com
EAST-ASIA-INTEL.COM
China’s military claims it has developed technology to detect U.S. F-22 jet fighters.
The F-22 is the newest Air Force jetfighter equipped with radar-evading stealth characteristics. The first jets entered service last year.
According to a report from a weapons research institute in China, the Chinese military has developed “a number” of technologies that can be used to detect and attack stealth jets.
The U.S. military pioneered the use of stealth jets with the F-117 fighter-bomber, the B-2 strategic bomber and the new F-22. The jets use composite material and unique shapes to reduce radar signatures.
“Owing to the fact that some technologies and means of stealth planes were developed in light of current air defense system, we totally can, through analyzing their technologies and facts, weaken or eliminate their stealth capability,” a Chinese expert was quoted as saying in the PRC-owned Ta Kung Pao newspaper.
The effort involves the use of multiple sensors to measure reflected radar beams from targets. The new system permits locating and locking on to the targets.
The Chinese expert claimed the technology has been “mastered.”

Gore pictured with his rifle aimed at his own head……….Bwahahahahaha!!!

Al Gore, Movie Star
His new documentary on global warming is a great campaign ad: “Elect me or we will all die”
By ANA MARIE COX
Even by Washington standards, the D.C. premiere of Al Gore’s new global warming film, An Inconvenient Truth, was lit by some very low-wattage celebrities: political journalists, Congressmen, people from National Public Radio.
Those concerned about greenhouse gases would have done well to avoid Joe Wilson, whose presence at these sorts of things appears to have been written into D.C. liberals’ social contract, but all together the wonky audience generated about much heat as Jennifer Lopez’s little finger. Fittingly, the carpet wasn’t even red, but green, and there wasn’t champagne but rather some perfectly serviceable California chardonnay that came in boxes. Or you could hit the “yogurt bar.”
Al Gore’s movie: It is, essentially, a two-hour PowerPoint presentation, enlivened — if that’s the right word — by periodic shots of Al Gore staring pensively out of plane windows, Al Gore frowning contemplatively at computer screens, and Al Gore pacing thoughtfully through airport terminals. The man could make playing a kazoo look like meditation. The movie is about the threat of global warming, and it is full of dire predictions and horrifying scenarios for the Earth’s future should we not change our fossil-fuel-guzzling ways. Rising sea-levels, hordes of refugees, parching draughts: Call it a docu-trauma. Surprisingly entertaining docu-trauma, with at least as much emotional range as The Day After Tomorrow, and with more intentional humor.
The crowd at the National Geographic Society — a suitably studious setting — saw it as the world’s longest campaign ad. Even as Gore’s spokesman circulated, repeating the words “He’s not running” so frequently it started to sound like a round, no one wanted to believe it.



Al Gore warns South Park elementary about Manbearpig. ON one of tohe Southpark shows, Al Gore comes to South Park to warn everyone about Manbearpig (read: global warming), a creature who is half man, half bear, and half pig. Or possibly half man and half bearpig. No one really knows for sure because Gore is apparently the only one who believes he exists.
Al Gore is depicted as a crazed, friendless drifter who believes he’s doing the right thing but only manages to hurt those he’s trying to help. The gist of the show is that despite Gore’s supposedly noble intentions, he’s really just using issues to get people to pay attention to him.
Wild Thing’s comment……
When I was in viet nam…… oops wrong @sshole. sorry. If you want to upset one of those enviro-weenies — when it’s cold out, say, “I could go for some global warming right about now.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
I am going to post the various articles on this below. There is some question as to this being true or not. I tend to believe it because of the hate for the People of the Book by Islamists. But this is for all of us I suppose to see what is true in fact by the actions taken in Iran. If it IS true we need to come down hard on this asap and not wait till another holocaust to ever happen again.
I do not take things like this lightly, threats and this kind of thing never should be. Perhaps they are doing this to anger Israel and our country to jump the gun so to speak making Iran a victim of our attack. I have no idea, but either way, it is a wait and see for sure.

Iran may force badges on Jews, Christians
TEHRAN, May 19 (UPI) — Iran’s parliament passed a new law this week that would force the country’s Jews, Christians and other religious minorities to wear color-coded ID badges.
Iranian expatriates confirmed reports the Iranian parliament, or majlis, has approved a law that would require non-Muslims to adhere to a dress code which mandates they wear “standard Islamic garments,” according to Canada’s National Post.
The roughly 25,000 Jews living in the Islamic Republic would have to attach a yellow strip of cloth to their clothing, Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would wear blue ones.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader and highest authority, must approve the law for it to take effect.
“This is reminiscent of the Holocaust,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, head of the Simon Weisenthal Center in Los Angeles. “Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis.”
The Weisenthal Center has written to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to call on the international community to pressure Iran into abandoning the measure.
“There’s no reason to believe they won’t pass this,” Hier told the Post. “It will certainly pass unless there’s some sort of international outcry over this.”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejan has publicly called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.” The West believes Tehran is secretly and illegally using its nuclear energy program to develop a weapon, a claim Iran denies.

Majlis passes bill setting out new dress requirement
Iran-Fashion-Majlis bill
Majlis deputies here on Sunday approved the outlines of a bill setting out a dress code suitable for Iranian culture and society and a national fashion trend.
When the bill is passed into law, a committee composed of representatives from the ministries of culture, commerce and industries as well as the Management and Plan Organization, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and Majlis Cultural Commission is to be created.
The culture ministry and IRIB will have the primary responsbility of promoting the required dress or clothing design as confirmed by the committee and prevent Western-style fashion that are against Islamic teachings.
After the law is passed, the culture ministry, with the help of the ministry of commerce, will hold national, regional and international festivals and exhibitions to promote cultural exchanges, including Islamic fashion, among Muslim nations.
Seasonal fairs will be held by the commerce ministry to introduce as well as promote sales of Islamic dresses and garments to the public.
The national dress plan was approved in Majlis by 137 votes in favor, 45 against, and 11 abstentions.

Iran report of Holocaust-style badges questioned
The National Post is sending shockwaves across the country this morning with a report that Iran’s Parliament has passed a law requiring mandatory Holocaust style badges to identify Jews and Christians.
But independent reporter Meir Javedanfar, an Israeli Middle East expert who was born and raised in Tehran, says the report is false.
“It’s absolutely factually incorrect,” he told The New 940 Montreal.
“Nowhere in the law is there any talk of Jews and Christians having to wear different colours. I’ve checked it with sources both inside Iran and outside.”
“The Iranian people would never stand for it. The Iranian government wouldn’t be stupid enough to do it.”
Political commentator and 940 Montreal host Beryl Waysman says the report is true, that the law was passed two years ago.
“Jews should wear yellow strips, Christians red strips, because according to the Iranian mullahs, if a Mulsim shakes hands with a non-Muslim he becomes unclean.”

Iran eyes badges for Jews
(Part of long article)
This is reminiscent of the Holocaust,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. “Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis.”
Iran’s roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.
“There’s no reason to believe they won’t pass this,” said Rabbi Hier. “It will certainly pass unless there’s some sort of international outcry over this.”
Bernie Farber, the chief executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress, said he was “stunned” by the measure. “We thought this had gone the way of the dodo bird, but clearly in Iran everything old and bad is new again,” he said. “It’s state-sponsored religious discrimination.”
The new law was drafted two years ago, but was stuck in the Iranian parliament until recently when it was revived at the behest of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

* Ace of Spades HQ
* STOP the ACLU
* RightwingSparkle
* Captain’s Quarters

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Update to this post:

 

From Captain Ed at Captain’s Quarters:….Thank you Captain Ed

“In an interesting twist, Canada.com has pulled the original story, although Amir Taheri’s article is stil available. If true, this will send shock waves around the world — and if not, Canada’s National Post may never live down the damage.”
UPDATE: The National Post appears to be backtracking more intently, if not furiously, this evening:
Several experts are casting doubt on reports that Iran had passed a law requiring the country’s Jews and other religious minorities to wear coloured badges identifying them as non-Muslims.
The Iranian embassy in Otttawa also denied the Iranian government had passed such a law. …
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre and Iranian expatriates living in Canada had confirmed that the order had been passed, although it still had to be approved by Iran’s “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect.
Hormoz Ghahremani, a spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa, said in an e-mail to the Post yesterday that, “We wish to categorically reject the news item.
“These kinds of slanderous accusations are part of a smear campaign against Iran by vested interests, which needs to be denounced at every step.”
Sam Kermanian, of the U.S.-based Iranian-American Jewish Federation, said in an interview from Los Angeles that he had contacted members of the Jewish community in Iran — including the lone Jewish member of the Iranian parliament — and they denied any such measure was in place.
It’s not the National Post’s finest moment, it seems …

We were at Brawler command post when this little puppy came wandering in. A lot of vehicles were moving around, so Sgt. Huber put the puppy on the hood of a humvee. Sgt. Alexander was lying down on the hood having a smoke and the pup crawled up on him. The pup lived with Brawler for a few days then the Marines found him a home with an Iraqi family.

In The News Around The World…………..
From correspondents in London
18may06
THE world’s first “theme park” dedicated to sex and relationships is set to open in London’s bustling West End later this year, its promoters said today.
Amora: The Academy of Sex and Relationships, featuring “high-tech and interactive exhibits together with new media displays”, expects up to 600,000 visitors within its first year in the Trocadero Centre at Piccadilly Circus.

“Titillation is not the goal,” the promoters – who include sexologist and self-help book author Sarah Brewer – said in a statement, refuting comparisons with museums of erotica in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Paris.

“Our vision is to build a Kinsey-type institute in Europe for Generation X and Y to bring modern thinking around sexuality. … It truly is the world’s first theme park dedicated to sex and relationships.”

Wild Thing’s comment…..
I think this seems weird. Say what??? What kind of rides would they have?

CNSNews.com Staff
(CNSNews.com) – While Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha has ascended to the national stage as one of the most vocal critics of President Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq, he has also long downplayed the controversy and bitterness surrounding the two Purple Hearts he was awarded for military service in Vietnam.
Murtha is a retired marine and was the first Vietnam combat veteran elected to Congress. Since 1967, there have been at least three different accounts of the injuries that purportedly earned Murtha his Purple Hearts. Those accounts also appear to conflict with the limited military records that are available, and Murtha has thus far refused to release his own military records.
One of Murtha’s former Democratic congressional colleagues and a fellow decorated Vietnam veteran, Don Bailey of Pennsylvania, alleges that Murtha admitted during an emotional conversation on the floor of the U.S. House in the early 1980s that he did not deserve his Purple Hearts.

“Murtha is putting himself forward as some combat veteran with serious wounds and he’s using that and it’s dishonest and it’s wrong,” Bailey told Cybercast News Service on Jan. 9.

Murtha served in the Marines on active duty and in the reserves from 1952 until his retirement as a colonel in 1990. He volunteered for service in Vietnam and was a First Marine Regiment intelligence officer in 1966 and 1967.
World War II Navy veteran Harry M. Fox, previously indicated that Murtha in 1968 personally asked Fox’s boss, then-U.S. Rep. John Saylor (R-Pa.), for assistance in obtaining the Purple Hearts, but was turned down because Saylor’s office determined that Murtha lacked sufficient evidence of wounds. Murtha later challenged Saylor for his House seat in 1968 and lost. Fox said he personally viewed Murtha’s military records in 1968 as Saylor’s aide.
When Saylor died in 1973, Fox attempted to succeed his boss in Congress, but was narrowly defeated by Murtha in a 1974 special election.

“Pretending to be a big war hero and boasting about having medals is a slap in the face to our veterans who were seriously wounded or killed in action,” Fox was quoted as telling the Uniontown Herald-Standard in the newspaper’s Nov. 1, 1996 edition. “He campaigned as a war hero and I’ve never seen any documentation that he earned any of these honors,” Fox reportedly stated.

On Friday, Jan. 13, Murtha’s congressional communications director provided Cybercast News Service with a copy of a letter from the commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, citing Murtha’s request of Sept. 26, 1967, seeking Purple Hearts. Cybercast News Service did not authenticate the letter.

“The records of this Headquarters show that you are entitled to the Purple Heart and a Gold Star in lieu of a second Purple Heart for wounds received in action against insurgent Communist Guerrilla forces on 22 March and 7 May 1967 in the Republic of Vietnam,” according to the letter signed by an individual identified only as A. Gardoni. Gardoni’s title is not listed on the letter.

Cybercast News Service attempted to contact Fox for this article, but learned that the health of the 81-year-old was too poor to allow him to communicate. But in a 1996 newspaper article, Fox questioned whether Murtha deserved his Purple Hearts, alleging that there was insufficient evidence of injuries and that Murtha was never confined to a hospital.

“Of course Congressman Saylor wanted to help if he could, but there was nothing in the service record to indicate the wounds were of any severity and the documents specifically indicated that next of kin was not notified in either instance,” Fox told the Herald-Standard in 1996. “We were amazed that Mr. Murtha was asking for Purple Hearts for superficial lacerations,” he added.

Murtha’s accounts of his Vietnam War wounds may also conflict with the available U.S. Marine medical records obtained by the media.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on May 12, 2002, reported that “Marine Corps casualty records show that Murtha was injured in ‘hostile’ actions near Danang, Vietnam, on March 22, 1967, and May 7, 1967.

“In the first incident, his right cheek was lacerated, and in the second, he was lacerated above his left eye. Neither injury required evacuation,” the Post-Gazette reported.

But an Oct. 26, 1994, article in the Herald-Standard quoted Murtha as describing two different injuries.

“I was wounded in the arm with shrapnel from a bullet that hit the motor mount of a helicopter. In the other, my knee was banged up and my arm was banged up when a helicopter was shot down from a very few feet,” Murtha told the Herald-Standard.

A June 1, 1967 report in the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat quoted a letter that the newspaper indicated was sent by Murtha to his wife that same year. The letter apparently detailed yet another version of how Murtha qualified for one of his Purple Hearts. According to the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, Murtha’s injuries involved his being “struck in the ankle” by a “shot that ricocheted off the helicopter.”
Murtha, a 16-term congressman from southwestern Pennsylvania and the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, drew national attention on Nov. 17, 2005, when he called for an immediate withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.
The Vietnam veteran even took a swipe at President Bush and Vice President Cheney, neither of whom have actual combat experience.

“I like guys who’ve never been there, who criticize us who’ve been there,” Murtha said. “I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and sent people to war and then don’t like to hear suggestions that what may need to be done.”

Murtha discussed his own combat experience as a marine intelligence officer in his 2004 autobiography, “From Vietnam to 9/11: On the Front Lines of National Security.”

“I had been awake more than twenty-four hours by the time we landed. A few hours into the battle, an on-again-off-again event, I could no longer keep my eyes open. I curled up next to a bunker and fell into a deep sleep for about an hour. Even the noise of frequent gunfire didn’t wake me up. (One of my fellow officers told me the next morning that when he hadn’t seen me for an hour or so, he assumed I was dead,)” Murtha wrote of one of his Vietnam combat experiences on page 14 of the 2004 paperback edition of his book. Murtha’s two Purple Hearts are referenced on the back of the book.

In addition to his Purple Hearts, Murtha received the Vietnamese Cross for Gallantry and the Bronze Star with combat “V” for service in the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam. Murtha also served in the Marines during the Korean War but did not serve in Korea, according to his book.
‘He’s a phony and a liar’
Bailey said during the time Murtha was being investigated for his role in the Abscam FBI sting in 1980, Murtha made a confession on the House floor.

… you admitted, back in our corner, that you didn’t earn your purple hearts (sic) (you indicated you had small scratch on your cheek that wasn’t even directly related to an APC [Armored Personnel Carrier] that ran over a small antipersonnel mine that was behind you). The other purple heart [sic] you even declined to explain,” wrote Bailey in an open letter dated May 5, 2002.

Bailey is also a decorated Vietnam combat veteran. He served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and was awarded a Silver Star and three Bronze Stars.

“At the time (of Murtha’s alleged admission), you were feeling particularly vulnerable because it wasn’t too long after you had called me crying and sobbing, thanking me for ‘saving your life’ before the ethics committee (on Abscam-related charges). There was no doubt in my mind that you were expressing to me that you did not believe you did anything sufficient to earn the purple heart [sic] and that you didn’t want to be active in my efforts to laud Vietnam veterans that served with us,” Bailey wrote in his May 2002 letter.

“You may deny that all you wish — but you and I know that that conversation took place,” he added.

In the Jan. 9 interview with Cybercast News Service Bailey affirmed the contents of his 2002 letter.

“The issue here is this idea or pretense that [Murtha] knows combat and he’s got two Purple Hearts. He’s a phony and a liar,” Bailey said.

Bailey also questioned why Murtha has thus far declined to release his full military records in order to clear up the controversy.

“The Marine Corps ought to be able to produce all the orders, the medical stuff, the citations and the orders granting [the Purple Hearts] and everything else. Where is that stuff?” he asked.

According to a May 16, 2002, edition of the Washington, Pa., Observer-Reporter, Murtha “produced military paperwork indicating he was entitled to the awards,” and a Murtha spokesperson was quoted as saying that “the media for years has investigated ‘and found nothing.'”
But Murtha’s paperwork did nothing to sway Bailey’s opinion.

“You may fool a few reporters into believing that merely because you got some perfunctory paperwork made out by a friend, that that means you earned the purple hearts [sic]. But even if you were awarded the medals later, there should be affidavits from witnesses. These things should be easy to get,” Bailey wrote in his letter while demanding an apology from Murtha for questioning his credibility.

Murtha could end the controversy at any time, Bailey added, simply by calling a press conference and producing the evidence of his wounds.

“Explain where you were and what you were doing when you got the purple hearts.[sic] Explain who was with you and treated your wounds, but most important, Jack, describe your wounds or the lack thereof, as you did for me, years ago,” Bailey wrote.

“Unless the Marine Corps gives out medals for unsubstantiated noncombat-related telltale scratches, procured for use in political campaign — then show me the money, Jack,” Bailey added.

Murtha: ‘I’m proud of my service in Vietnam’
During the 1994 congressional campaign against GOP opponent Dr. William Choby, Murtha’s two Purple Hearts became a political issue.

“Explain your Purple Hearts. He (Murtha) used them to get elected,” Choby charged in 1994.

In responding to the charges, Murtha claimed that he “didn’t ask for the Purple Hearts.
“I’m proud of my service in Vietnam. I don’t know if he (Choby) served in the service at all. I left my family and my business to serve in Vietnam. My family made great sacrifice for me to make that service in Vietnam, so I’m very proud of that,” he told the Uniontown Herald-Standard in the newspaper’s Oct. 26, 1994 edition.

“I am disappointed that a guy (Choby) would say something like that when I volunteered in the reserves and I felt it was important that I go. What’s the point in all this? It’s irritating,” Murtha added.

Choby also challenged the validity of Murtha’s Bronze Star with Combat ‘V’ during the 1996 congressional campaign.

“I find it very curious that Combat ‘V’ doesn’t even exist in any of the materials he had distributed,” Choby was quoted as saying in the Herald-Standard of Oct. 13, 1996. “His military record improves over the years,” he added.

The Murtha controversy is reminiscent of the flap surrounding the war record of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. But while critics like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacked Kerry in 2004 because of his anti-war activism of the 1970s, Murtha’s three chief accusers all made their allegations years and in some cases decades before Murtha emerged last November as a prominent anti-war activist.

Choby told Cybercast News Service on Jan. 5 that Murtha’s entire political career is based on his war record. “Without that credibility of those combat medals, he would have never been elected to office,” Choby said.

Wild Thing’s comment…..
I always thought the way a Purple Heart was awarded is that there is a write up at the unit of the individual and then signed by medical personnel…and then it is processed. I may be wrong, but isn’t it very strange that years after…one applies for a PH.

Tom Donegan, foreground, Bob Loy, rear left, and Joe Kurnos start out from Fairfax, Va., Monday morning on their “Ride for America’s Patriots” to San Antonio, Texas.
By Leo Shane III –
Stars and Stripes Pacific edition
Thursday, May 18, 2006
WASHINGTON — Tom Donegan wants to send the wounded soldiers at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas a big, loud “thank you.”
So he and a handful of friends will come roaring into San Antonio later this week on a fleet of noisy motorcycles flying a banner praising the patriots recovering there.

“We just want to thank them for their service,” said Donegan, who owns a Virginia real estate firm. “They need to know that their sacrifice hasn’t been forgotten.”

The 3,200-mile, 10-day round-trip began Monday outside of Washington and will wind through Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana. The riders are hoping to raise more than $20,000 for the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, which funds grants and programs to help wounded veterans move on with their lives.
Donegan said he was inspired to help the injured soldiers after meeting with coalition spokesman J.R. Martinez, a former soldier who was wounded in an IED attack in Iraq in April 2005.
The group will visit Martinez — and the other patients at the medical center — from May 19 to May 22, delivering souvenirs from the ride and grateful handshakes.
Donegan said he expects other riders to join the convoy for at least part of the ride. One confirmed day tripper is Josh Forbess, a soldier wounded in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in 2003.

Forbess said shows of support like this are crucial during the recovery process. “It’s just you and your thoughts when the lights go out,” he said. “It’s good to see that, to know there is support.”

A webcam mounted on the front of Tom Donegan’s motorcycle will allow the public to follow the progress of the “Ride for America’s Patriots.” Connected to a laptop powered by the engine, the cam will send an image every 10 seconds. At the end of the ride, the images will be combined into a video. (Joe Gromelski / S&S)
The bikers have set up Web cams on the motorcycles and will be giving daily updates of the ride through their Web site.….Ride For America’s Patriots

Left to right, Bob Loy, Tom Donegan and Joe Kurnos, before leaving for San Antonio on the “Ride for America’s Patriots.”
Wild Thing’s comment……
I love hearing about stories and people like this. God bless them everyone of them! And God bless and protect our troops and keep them safe.
Thank you to all our Veterans and wounded in the military. My heart is full of respect and appreciation for all you have done.

(D-PA) Joins Growing Dem Chorus Critical Of U.S. Troops; Claims Troops Killing “Innocent Civilians In Cold Blood”:

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA): “Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” (“Marines Killed Iraqi Civilians ‘In Cold Blood: US Lawmaker,'” Agence France Presse, 5/18/06)

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL): “We are an irritant. And we help spur the insurgency, even as we are defending a fledgling Iraqi government against that insurgency.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 1/22/06)

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA): “There is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children …” (CBS’ “Face The Nation,” 12/4/05)

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV): “It’s our presence that’s also a problem. We’re an occupying force” (Mort Kondracke, Op-Ed, “Democrats Look Weak Calling For Iraq ‘Exit,'” Roll Call, 2/3/05)

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) Said That U.S. Troops Were Part Of The Problem In Iraq. “‘The U.S. military presence has become part of the problem, not part of the solution,’ Kennedy said in remarks prepared for delivery at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.” (Lolita C. Baldor, “Kennedy Calls For Troop Withdrawal, Says Military Is Fueling Insurgents,” The Associated Press, 1/27/05)

Rep. John Murtha Promises Dems Will Cut And Run In Iraq If They Gain Control Of Congress:

Rep. John Murtha Claimed Dems Will Withdraw From Iraq If They Take Over. MSNBC’s CHRIS MATTHEWS: “[A]re the Democrats going to seize the leadership of the Congress, win the votes, take over Congress and end the war? Are they going to do it?” … REP. MURTHA: “We have to convince Democrats and Republicans that this war has to end.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 5/17/06)

Rep. Murtha: “Let me tell you something, Chris. This war is going to end.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 5/17/06)

Rep. Murtha: “[W]e’ve got to have a scheduled withdrawal, just like we have to have a schedule around here.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 5/17/06)

Rep. Murtha: “My timetable is to immediately work and say to them, ‘Look, you’re going to have to take over yourself, this is your responsibility. And we’re redeploying our force.’ The sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned.” (Rep. Jack Murtha, Press Conference, 5/17/06)