As the 4th of July approaches quickly I want to take a moment to simply remember some great people in American history, people that are responsible for Freedom in this nation.

Now some would think I would start my list with George Washington. But this is an honest list. George Washington lost every battle he was in except for Valley Forge. He was a horrible General, but Valley Forge made him famous. So I won’t discuss him.

Some would look to Thomas Jefferson, a great thinker and an architect of the Constitution. Again I wouldn’t include him. He was part of those that agreed a Black man only counted as 3/5th of a man. He maintained slaves, even though he did eventually free them. And he hid the fact that he was an adulterer. Fathering children with a Black slave, he denied it though it was a well-known if not unspoken fact that was resisted until the dawn of the 21st century – hundreds of years later.

Yet some would say that I have to include Abraham Lincoln. And those same people probably have never read the words Lincoln wrote as an editorial 1 week before the Emancipation Proclamation. In that article he clearly outlines the fact that if he could keep slavery and save the Union he would. They would forget that slavery was the 5th most important reason for the Civil War, no matter how many movies and books have romanticized the past. And they ignore the Jim Crow laws and segregation that was accepted in the place of slavery for over 100 more years.

So who do I want to not forget?

The Slaves. Those Africans that were taken from their home in numbers so great it’s believed they could easily outstrip those killed in the Holocaust and if laid down could provide a bridge from Africa to America and beyond. Those Africans that fought in the American Revolution like Crispus Attucks who died in Boston and was the only African American mentioned, in the history books I grew up with, until Dr. Martin Luther King in the 1960’s. [Have history books changed at all in the last 30 years?] Like those Africans that fought in the Civil War, and the War of 1812, and the Spanish-American War, and every single war and conflict this nation has ever known.

I want to remember the Slaves that built virtually every road and foundation in the 13 colonies, especially those in the South and in New York City. I want to remember the Africans that had to give up their names, like Kunta Kinta – an ancestor of Alex Haley (who’s detailed book of his lineage was classified as a fiction in the 1970’s) – and take on the names of slave masters that split families faster than they would split up horses or cattle.

And why must I remember these Men Women and Children?

Because like the Holocaust we should never forget. If we forget we allow the sacrifices made to mean nothing. If we forget we allow the past to repeat itself. Because if we forget, the truth becomes nothing more than a yellow paper.

I love America, and on the 4th I will be celebrating like everyone else in the nation. I will think of those in Iraq and Afghanistan and thank them. I will remember my time in the Marines and those I served with. I will remember my father and the sacrifices he went thru because of Viet Nam. I will remember my best friend’s father and what he did in Korea. I will even celebrate the romanticized histories of Jefferson, Lincoln and Washington.

But today I will simply remember all those that weren’t thought of as important enough to have the freedoms, rights, and opportunity that I enjoy today – in a nation literally built on their backs and bones. Because freedom comes at a price and sometimes that price is remembering the truth.

Labels: Abraham Lincoln, Alex Haley, American Revolution, Civil War, Crispus Attucks, Dr. Martin Luther King, George Washington, Marine Corps, New York City, Roots, Thomas Jefferson

Code Pink must be angry, Moveon.org annoyed, and the New York Times is the usual indifferent paper that is common. Why are all these groups likely experiencing such emotions? Because yet again all their hype has been deflated in regard to Iraq, the Marines, and our Armed Forces.

Haditha Iraq. I’m sure even those casually paying attention to news noted the slew of articles and news reports condemning 8 Marines, alleging a murder of 24 Iraqi civilians. The comments came out before charges were made, and they all made their decision before facts were ever presented. Across the nation ultra-liberals rejoiced, and Hollywood used this story as fodder for its anti-war anti-American Armed Forces rants they called entertainment movies.

Even politicians jumped into the act, half-cocked.



NOTE that Congressman Murtha did not know any facts on the case. When confronted with information that radio communications and drone videos proved the charges false, he ignored it. He nearly implicates the Commandant of the Marine Corps in his lies and illogic. But when confronted on the veracity of what he alleged he admits that nothing like his claims were ever said. He like so many ‘honest’ ‘unbiased’ organizations has twisted facts for their own purposes.

Yet today marks the 7th Marine that was accused and eviscerated by the media and Congressman Murtha that has either had their charges dropped completely or been found innocent.

And for those that never served in the military, a court-marshal or any charges are presumed correct and the defendant guilty until proven innocent beyond doubt. Guilty until proven innocent beyond doubt. And 7 Marines have been proven innocent to date.

But have you seen that reported in the media? Have you seen any of the over 30 articles mentioning the innocence of these men or remorse for having besmirched their names and that of the Marine Corps?

How about Congressman Murtha, who had a lot to say on television and in Congress. What did he say when the Marines were being found innocent of his accusations and false charges?



Now some would say that I don’t know what I’m talking about. That the fact I was a Marine does not count, because I have not been fighting in Iraq. Only a wartime soldier would understand his views. Ok, then tell me why he can’t respond to this man.



Playing to the crowd? How could it not be more obvious that this is what he is doing?

But today there is even more room for the ‘unbiased’ media, Moveon.org, and Congressman Murtha to remain silent and stupid (in my opinion). And the fact that 7 out of 8 Marines have been exonerated beyond doubt has been reported.

Who presented the news that allowed me to share this revelation with you? Fox News. Funny how the one news source I am constantly told lies, is the only news organization that has covered fully the fact that these Marines are innocent. They are the only ones I have been aware of to question the accusations and smears these Marines have endured.

So I have just one question, based on the silence of Murtha and those like him do you think that if (and in all likelihood considering the 7 prior cases when) the final accused Marine is found innocent beyond any doubt they will publicly – as boldly and prominently as when they first opened their mouths without facts – apologize to these Marines and their families?

Labels: Code Pink, Congressman Murtha, Fox News, haditha, Iraq War, Marine Corps, moveon.org, New York Times

So is it another lie coming out of the Hillary Clinton campaign, this one voiced by former-President Bill Clinton and virtually impossible to prove false. IF it is a lie, then it’s one of the better ones.

If you have not heard the comment it is

“I remember when we were young, right out of law school, she went down and tried to join the Army and they said 'Your eyes are so bad, nobody will take you,'" he said, after heralding her record on issues of concern to the military, such as body armor and access to health care.” – Bill Clinton in Columbus, Indiana

Opportunistic? Factual? Well let’s just check a few facts.

From what can be determined, Senator Clinton attempting to join the Armed Forces was mentioned once before, and only once before. That was back in 1994. And at that time she was purported to be trying to join the Marines. This was found dubious by Maureen Dowd of the New York Times.

“The First Lady's cascading, contradictory images have been the subject of much commentary. This month's Mirabella magazine runs a dizzying array of different looking Hillary Rodham Clintons, to match her blur of different roles, with a story that frets: "We sense that we aren't seeing the 'real' Hillary, and this makes us very nervous.”

…

And it did not seem to fit in with the First Lady's own persona. After all, Hillary Rodham was an up-and-coming legal star involved with an up-and-coming political star. She had made a celebrated appearance in Life magazine as an anti-establishment commencement speaker at Wellesley College, where, as president of the student government, she had organized teach-ins on her opposition to the Vietnam War.

She was a Yale law school graduate who had worked on the anti-war Presidential campaigns of Eugene J. McCarthy and George McGovern.”

In addition this move to join some branch of the military took place just before October 1975, when she married Bill Clinton. How many brides-to-be do you know that jaunt off to the local recruiter asking to join up?

So we are left to wonder how true these statements, that were never uttered beyond these 2 times, are. One would expect that if they were true we might have heard about it during the 2 elections for Senate that Hillary went through. In the preparations and debates of 2007 it was never mentioned or alluded to. In the primaries and caucuses it has been unmentioned.

And we know this of the Clinton’s, things are not always as they state them.

From the famous re-definition of IS, to invisible snipers firing air bullets, to Hillary’s seldom used power to invoke peace during talks in Ireland – from a separate room from the discussion while having tea, to her ability to agree, disagree, and be indecisive all at once on the same question. The Clinton’s are remarkable in their power to reword and remake themselves in every situation they face.

But unlike her “misspoken” comments about Bosnia (polispeak for blatant lie that was caught publicly), this recollection and the prior comment in 1994 are basically impossible to disprove.

So it’s up to you. Do you think that this lawyer and wife to be, who had vehemently been against the war and military 3 years earlier, was willing to give up all those things to suddenly join a military that had few women and wanted fewer?

If so I have a bridge to sell you, if not what reason would you give to vote for a person willing to lie to the American public solely to gain the most powerful office of America?

Labels: Bosnia, Columbus Indiana, Ireland, Marine Corps, Maureen Dowd, New York Times, President Bill Clinton, Senator Hillary Clinton

**This can be found at All American Blog, where I am a contributing author.**

For those that are unaware, November 10th was the 232nd birthday of the Marine Corps.



As they have since the inception of the Marines, today Marines are protecting the lives of citizens and the ideals of America across the world. The Marine Corp birthday was not a day off, or even time off for many of our brave sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers. 24 hours a day, every day, they protect us and give their lives for the privileges we enjoy without thought.

Like all Veterans of all the Armed Forces, I salute what they have done, and continue to do.

Perhaps people in places like San Francisco forget this. Perhaps organizations like MoveOn.org choose not to recognize this. I for one will never forget nor fail to recognize.

America is the greatest nation on the face of the earth, with all of our flaws included. That is directly tied to those who stand up and defend those freedoms, rights and choices. Never forget

“The cost of Freedom is never free.”

Semper Fidelis

Labels: Marine Corps, moveon.org, San Francisco, Semper Fi

**this post can also be seen at All American Blog, where I am a contributing author as well.**

Oh the horror. Yes true terror because kids in school are being asked to be disciplined and respectful. That is the real argument against the new Marine Corps High School that just opened in Chicago, in my view.

I think the argument against this school can be summed up by this quote

"What it does prepare them to do is be good little soldiers, which I'm afraid we've got all too much of these days," said Andy Thayer.”

Wow. Mr. Thayer is just far too out there. We have too many American citizens protecting our nation and allowing citizens to live their lives making comments like this without being shot dead in the middle of a street. We have too many in the Armed Forces that love our country so much that they are willing, voluntarily, to giove their lives for what they see as the greatest nation in the world.

I must say that I obviously disagreee with Mr. Thayer and those that share his opinion.

In a world where Columbine events are becoming part and parcel of going to school, individuals like Mr. Thayer want to increase such events rather than lessen them as I see it. Discipline and obedience, are not bad things. Uniforms, of any type, are not a bad thing. Why all the fear?

One might conclude that the kids in this school are required to join the military. That assumption is wrong. One might think that the kids are not being taught the same as in other high schools, and again that is false.

There is a long tradition and history of great leaders that have attended West Point and other military schools. I have yet to hear anyone say that they have failed to educate or prepare their students. Yet, given this precidence, there are those that oppose a military school that is voluntary to enter, and more disciplined during this time of upheaval and confusion in our schools.

Why? Because Mr. Thayer, and others of his ilk, oppose the War in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now I respect that anyone who opposes the war voices their opinion. But I find it stupid to reject various acts that benefit our children and nation, because of that opposition.

Much like the rejection given to the Blue Angels, the Marine Silent Drill Team, and other events in San Fransico; this is based on one belief that is inflicted on those that neither have anything to do about it nor nessecarily agree. Providing children an education in a disciplined and safe environment, or allowing our returning slodiers the ability to enter an airport terminal does not help those that wish to run from the war.

Whether running away, tail between our collective legs, is an effective end of fighting versus a group of people that oppose our existence due to their religious belief is a question that will not be answwered by attacking the institutions and people that exist to help maintain and improve American lives.

It’s time that those that oppose the war stop attacking people and institutions that have nothing to do with American law and policy. If the only answer is there are ‘too many soliders ‘ then that is not good enough to attack the new Marine school. My response is simply that there are too many Columbine/Virginia Tech shootings, too high a drop-out rate, too many teen mothers, and kids in trouble to say that the system shouldn’t have a school like this.

That’s the real issue being attacked, and that has nothing to do with the Marines or the war in Iraq, no matter how it is spun.

Unless comments like this carry no weight

"When people see that we went to a military school, they know we're obedient, we follow directions, we're disciplined" Natassa Bourkas, 16, a student at the Naval academy, told the Tribune."

Labels: Chicago Public School, Columbine, Marine Corps, Marine school, Virginia Tech shootings