VoteVets: Keep your word John McCain

Today, we're announcing a new national television ad, and wanted you to see it right away.
Senator McCain once said that if the Iraqis asked us to leave, we would have to leave. Those of us who served agree with that. Senator McCain now either has to back off his refusal to set a plan to leave Iraq, as Prime Minister Maliki requested a number of times in the past week, or tell the American and Iraqi people why he would overrule Iraq's government and turn our troops into an indefinite occupying force. Those are his only two options. Our new ad makes that clear.

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Now is not the time to send mixed messages to the Iraqis. Even the Bush administration is bending on timelines for redeployment. Senator McCain does more harm than good when he signals to the Iraqi government that their request for a timetable for redeployment is a non-starter. We should be supporting the Iraqi government, not undermining it.

Further, there is a real enemy to fight in Afghanistan. It is time to set our focus on destroying the real terrorist threat in the Afghansitan/Pakistan region. We cannot want to be in Iraq more than the Iraqis want us to be there. We cannot referee Iraq's political problems with troops, especially when we have a real job to do protecting America from the terrorists in Afghanistan. And, we cannot do it all.

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Thanks for all of your support.

Sincerely,

Jon Soltz

Iraq War Veteran

Chairman, VoteVets.org

Paid for by VoteVets.org Action Fund

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Joseph Dwyer, Army Medic and Iraq War Hero, Couldn't save Himself

Soldier In Famous Photo Never Defeated Demons

PINEHURST, N.C. — Officers had been to the white ranch house at 560 W. Longleaf many times before over the past year to respond to a "barricade situation." Each had ended uneventfully, with Joseph Dwyer coming out or telling police in a calm voice through the window that he was OK.

They found Dwyer lying on his back, his clothes soiled with urine and feces. Scattered on the floor around him were dozens of spent cans of Dust-Off, a refrigerant-based aerosol normally used to clean electrical equipment.

A photograph taken in the first days of the war had made the medic from New York's Long Island a symbol of the United States' good intentions in the Middle East. When he returned home, he was hailed as a hero.

But for most of the past five years, the 31-year-old soldier had writhed in a private hell, shooting at imaginary enemies and dodging nonexistent roadside bombs, sleeping in a closet bunker and trying desperately to huff away the "demons" in his head. When his personal problems became public, efforts were made to help him, but nothing seemed to work.

This broken, frightened man had once been the embodiment of American might and compassion.

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"I'm a soldier," he said. "I suck it up. That's our job."
___

One more casualty in a bullshit war fought for profit. Go back and click the link above and read the entire story. How could this happen? How could a bona fide American hero, who saved all he could, including the"enemy" die alone and insane, paralyzed with fear of an imaginary enemy in a country where every other car has a bumper sticker demanding that we "Support The Troops"?

Well, maybe his enemies weren't imaginary.

And maybe we aren't doing such a fine job of "supporting" those we send to kill in our names.

Maybe it really is time for "Change".

Brings to mind another Iconic American Hero. One who fought at Iwo Jima and was hailed as a hero.

One who also succumbed to his demons.

At least the war Ira Hayes fought was worth the terrible price he paid. Is this current war worth the lives of men and women like Joseph Dwyer?

I suspect Ira and Joseph had a lot in common. Good men who wanted only to serve their country when they believed their country needed them most. It's a Damn shame that country couldn't or wouldn't help them when they needed it most.

Rest in Peace, Joseph. May Ira's tribute honor you as well.

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It's All Psychological...

And now a word from our sponsor...



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Bush welcomes probe of CIA leak

Photo courtesy of scroff & Ruthie from

Any Which Way

The Lie:

'I want to know the truth,' president tells reporters


Wednesday, February 11, 2004 Posted: 1:46 AM EST (0646 GMT)



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said Tuesday he welcomes a Justice Department investigation into who revealed the classified identity of a CIA operative.


"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is," Bush told reporters at an impromptu news conference during a fund-raising stop in Chicago, Illinois. "If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.


"I welcome the investigation. I am absolutely confident the Justice Department will do a good job. ..."



Bush said he has told his administration to cooperate fully with the investigation and asked anyone with knowledge of the case to come forward.


- CNN, International Edition, Wednesday, February 11, 2004



The Truth:



Bush claims executive privilege on CIA leak



Vice President Cheney's FBI interview on the subject at issue



WASHINGTON - President Bush invoked executive privilege to keep Congress from seeing the FBI report of an interview with Vice President Dick Cheney and other records related to the administration's leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity in 2003.



- Associated Press, Wednesday, July 16, 2008



While I fervently hope that "King" George and "Dick" Cheney will be impeached and indicted, I have come to realize that this will probably never happen.



I can, and do, implore all of our elected reps, from both sides of the aisle to come to their senses and force the Bush Crime Cartel to co-operate with the legally mandated investigations "King" George promised he was anxious to co-operate with. Didn't he say something about firing anyone in his Administration who had taken part in the outing of a covert CIA operative?



By now, even the staunchest Republican must realize that Bush and his Cronies are RINO's, Republicans In Name Only, and that their party has been hijacked by criminals who make John Gotti and Al Capone look like Alter boys.



It is up to us, the People, to make sure that all of our Elected Representatives, Democrat and Republican, understand that their actions in the coming months will determine how long they "serve" the people. It's an important election year. Let's tell our "servants" that we expect honesty and openess in our Government, and that they can regain our faith in their leadership only if they restore "Government Of the People, By the People and For the People", by holding those who have abused their power, and ignored the People, accountable.



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For My Maggie

Just like the Fleetwoods, we ain't gettin' older, we're gettin' better...



I love you Baby.


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Redstate Update

Sorry. I had to. Just had to. Too goddam funny...

Man, this is some good shit...chuckle, smirk...

Enjoy...



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4th of July Weekend

The title of this post says "4th of July weekend", I know, but I just couldn't come up with any Patriotic-type stuff to post. No matter how many tokes I took on the old peace pipe, (and I just got some new incredibly amazing "pipe-weed"), I couldn't quite wrap my brain around the idea.

So I went in search of those who originally came up with the whole "Independence/Democracy" plan in the first place. The painting above, is John Trumbull's dipiction of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, (look closely, John Adams appears to be stepping on Thomas Jefferson's foot!). No matter how hard I tried, no matter how long I stared at the painting above, I could get no closer to the truth of what it was they intended for the future of this new nation.

So I thought maybe I ought to read the document they came up with, something called the "Declaration Of Independence".

Now I've read it before, most of us have. Sometime in school I'm sure. And at that time it must have been a tedious task for a rambunctious little rascal like me. But I must have muddled thru none-the -less, it all seemed so familiar. Kinda reminded me of a place I used to live. America.

And it kinda made me remember what "Patriotism" is really all about. Kitchen Window Woman wrote a terrific post on it the other day at the American Patriot Institute site.

And it made me kinda sad when I realized that many of the Charges that these brave men, (to whom we pay homage today, well...yesterday), brought against King Geroge of Great Britain could well be brought against our own "King" George in the White House.

And that made me kinda angry.

So, if I'm feeling Patriotic this weekend, it's not in the ususal sense, that is to say, a sense our current government would approve of.

But a sense of patriotism that I'm sure the Founding Fathers, the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, who started this whole Democracy thing, would be proud of me for.

Happy 4th of July!


Oh, if you'd care to refresh your memory a bit, go here.

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Welcome To The American Patriot Institute, Michael

Nothing seems more appropriate to me than welcoming a new Resident Scholar to the American Patriot Institute on Independence Day. So it is with great pleasure that I ask you to welcome Michael, of Pendragon's Hold, to our ranks.

Our little ragtag bunch has grown. What started out as a "Rogues Gallery" is becoming something of a minor force in the socio-political blogosphere. When Moderate Man took the Rogue's Gallery one step further, and founded the American Patriot Institute, it was more of an inside joke than anything-else. Why shouldn't we, he reasoned, who have served our nation and believe in the oath we swore to defend the Constitution of The United States of America, have an "umbrella organization" from which we could "issue papers" countering the propaganda of other "patriotic" organizations such as the American Enterprise Institute, and none has done so more effectively than the Moderate Man himself. (With the possible exception of Kitchen Window Woman, whose posts continue to amaze me.) Yet we all have something to contribute in our own way, and we all do. Whether it be Spadoman regaling us with details of "The Longest Walk" or the Ashland Peace Vigil, or Buffalo spinning a tale that takes us back to our lost youth, we have all continued to "fight" for the America we were once so proud to serve. We are all in accordance that the path this current Administration has chosen is terribly wrong for America and we are united in our efforts to change it for the better. While we don't always agree on all things, we do agree that we love our country and that our meager efforts to restore her to her once great glory is Patriotic and that by doing so, we are fulfilling the oaths we swore, (for some of us), so long ago.

Michael's voice will strengthen us. His writing is poignant and insightful. His dedication to our cause is clearly evident in his posts. His service in the United States Navy provides him with a perspective no chickenhawk can ever have.

Welcome aboard, Michael.

At some time in the near future, please post your "baby picture" (boot graduation pic or any pic of you in uniform), for inclusion in the image map posted in the sidebar of many of our sites. Your pic will be included and will link directly to your site, These Thoughts Escape Me. You may copy and paste the Flag and Eagle logo of the API in your sidebar, as evidence of your membership. You may also copy the link-list to the other members from my site, (I believe I have the most recent list). Shortly, you will receive an invitation to post here with full admin rights. This site is a "we" thing, so feel free to add links, change the template, whatever. This site will only grow if we all water and feed it.

Once again, welcome. Welcome home, Brother.

d.

Michael posts at These Thoughts Escape Me.

Please update your API linklists to include Michaels' website.

Oh, and Happy Independence Day Brothers and Sisters! Let us continue our efforts to win our Independence from those who have abused our nation and it's Constitution!

Semper Fi!

Also posted at The American Patriot Institute

Comical Ignorance

The following post was written by one of our fine Navy Veterans and Fellow Scholar of the American Patriot Institute, Cafkia, and posted at the Official Site of the American Patriot Institute.

Cafkia can be found at Meanderthal. Pay him a visit. It's well worth it.

Comical Ignorance

Except it isn't funny. Pitiful perhaps, dangerous maybe but, funny it aint. "It" is the response of the reich-wing bloviators I half heard on CNN late at night responding to General Wesley Clark's well considered denunciation of the idea of flying and/or crashing a fighter plane as qualifying one for the job of POTUS. I suppose it will come as a shock to no thinking person that General Clark is waaaaaayyy more likely to be right when it comes to military issues than the chickenhawk guild. However, there are a couple of points worth expanding.

In the USN, unless you are the CO or XO of a squadron, a pilot is in command of nothing. (S)He does not lead men and flying is not generally considered a command path. Even the term/job "plane captain" does not refer to the pilot but instead, to the enlisted (wo)man who has the responsibility for just damn near everything on the bird except when it is actually in flight. Yes, pilots are officers but, few of them turn out to be leaders. Their training focuses on what they can do to avoid costing the U.S. and USN a shitload of money by giving gravity primary control of an airborne plane.(Such training apparently did not take with McSame as evidenced by his time as a POW.) They also receive some training on delivering death, destruction and mayhem on command. As a general rule, with acknowledged exceptions, O3 and below flyboys know less about leadership and command than your average E6 and up. Yea, sure the E6 will have to salute the O3 but that is more tradition and general orders than it is respect.

"Line" officers are the command path officers. They learn to drive boats and head up divisions on a ship and they cross train in a lot of different shit. In running a division, they will be the leader of the enlisted men who make up that division (if the Chief lets them) and they can dream of their own command. Interestingly enough, John Kerry was a line officer with command experience. When he was being unfairly dissed and outright lied about by veteran and chickenhawk alike, such experience wasn't especially valuable to the GOP. Even to the point of the rank and file rethugs making graphic fun of Purple Heart earners at the national convention.
In short Barack Obama has just as much command experience as John McSame. Both have "commanded" political campaigns. It is comical ignorance indeed to believe that all military service is the same or that all military jobs are command prep. But, these comically misinformed individuals have huge misinformed audiences. Even worse, none of them seem to even want to know the truth. The relevant truth here is that Clark is right. Flying and/or crashing airplanes is in no way, shape, form, or fashion, suitable or significant preparation for the job of POTUS. Serving as a POW does not give one special insight into how to prosecute a war or, how to lead the nation in times of peace. Physical suffering for one's nation does not entitle one to high political office. It just doesn't.

I interacted with a lot of officers during my time in the military and, like just damn near any other enlisted puke, I learned to size them up pretty quickly. If I was being recalled into the military tomorrow and I had to choose one of the two presidential candidates to be the officer I reported to, the nation would be in trouble because with my life on the line, I would pick the intelligent, analytical, clear-headed, quick thinking one of the two. I'd pick Obama.

CAFKIA

For Anyone Who Prefers 2 Wheels to 4

Some of us are born Outlaws...

Some of us wish we were...

Some of us will never be...

Fuck safety. If I wanted to be safe, I wouldn't ride at all.

Now crank up the volume and rattle some fuckin' windows!




Ride hard.
Die fast.

Support your local 81.

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