In October, the Interior Ministry of the Kurdistan Regional Government honored a fallen American soldier with a statue at the opening of a police college in Erbil. U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ashley Henderson Huff of the 385th MP Battalion, based out of Fort Stewart, Georgia, was honored for her work toward establishing the new academy, which will accommodate up to 650 people. Huff had worked on behalf of Coalition Forces with the Interior Ministry to build the police academy, but she was killed by a suicide car bomber in Mosul in 2006. Interior Minister Sinjari said, “First Lieutenant Ashley Henderson Huff was a woman of courage and determination. We are honored to have worked with her. Her family and colleagues should be proud of what she did for her country and for the people of Iraq in the liberation of our country. Her statue will act not only as a remembrance of her but will also inspire our police cadets to live up to her standards of commitment and professionalism.”
Archive for November, 2008
Profiles of valor: U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ashley Henderson Huff
November 14, 2008Apply for a position with Obama
November 14, 2008“Have you ever had any association with any person, group or business venture that could be used — even unfairly — to impugn or attack your character and qualifications for government service?” –page 7, question 61 of the questionnaire required of prospective Obama administration cabinet members
One among 63 intrusive questions that will serve only to drive qualified people away, this question stood out for two reasons: Obama himself has many troubling associations (though that didn’t seem to matter to 66 million voters), and prospective cabinet members would have to answer, “Yes, I’m associated with Barack Obama.”
Political analyst Rich Galen also observed, “If this were an incoming Republican Administration, I guarantee you the name ‘McCarthy’ would be on every front page in the nation in describing [this questionnaire].”
And speaking of guns, question 59 reads, “Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage.”
Memo to Obama: Other than in the twisted world of Washington, DC, guns are not registered, nor should they be.
SOURCE: Patriot Post, of course
A Mandate? With approval ratings like they are?
November 14, 2008At the bottom of this piece from the Patriot Post is the gist of what really matters in this well written work. Americans are not happy with foggy bottom, not at all. Read on…
News from the Swamp: Committee assignments take shape on Capitol Hill
House and Senate Democrats are currently picking the committee leaders for the 111th Congress — leaders who will wreak havoc on capitalism, liberty and common sense. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) will remain as head of the Senate Banking Committee to maintain continuity during the financial crisis. After all, it only makes sense to keep Dodd there since he was such a large beneficiary of Fannie Mae’s political contributions.
Russ Feingold (D-WI), the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act and an original opponent of the liberation of Iraq, is in line to become the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; the current chairman, Joe Biden, is heading to the White House. If Feingold does get the position, he could force Barack Obama’s hand on withdrawing American troops from Iraq. He is also likely to spill a number of secret programs out into the open via attention-grabbing investigations into our nation’s rendition and surveillance efforts.
In the House, it appears there will be a coup attempt by California Democrat Henry Waxman, who seeks to wrest control of the Energy and Commerce Committee from John Dingell (D-MI). Dingell, who was first elected to Congress in 1955, will become in February the longest-serving member in that body’s history. He is a moderate on climate change, however, and some of his fellow liberals have accused him of being too cozy with Detroit when he should be putting the squeeze on the industry for the sake of the tree huggers. But Dingell’s supporters believe they have the votes to hold off Waxman, an environmental extremist. Many see Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s fingerprints on the effort to oust Dingell. She is close to Waxman, and she is a vocal proponent of all so-called “green” legislation.
It looks as though Joe Lieberman (I-CT) will remain chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee for the time being. He created enemies among his former fellow Democrats with his public support of John McCain. He met privately with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) this week, and both men would say only that they would talk further and weigh options before making final decisions. The Democrats must win all three remaining contested Senate seats to reach a supermajority of 60 votes. Regardless of the outcome, however, they will need Lieberman, whose apostasy can apparently be overlooked if it helps the Democrats tighten their grip on power.
Republicans stand to lose some committee seats as well, thanks to the gains Democrats made last week. Reid is likely to follow the model for committee apportionment used during the 103rd Congress when the Democrats similarly held 57 seats in the Senate. The GOP is likely to incur its biggest losses in Appropriations, Budget, and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Meanwhile, any hopes Hillary Clinton had to lead the renewed effort for health care reform were effectively dashed by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Kennedy considers himself a champion of health care, and he has no intention of ceding the issue to Clinton. She currently ranks eighth in seniority on the committee, and others on the committee are not keen on the idea of her leapfrogging senior colleagues to lead some special subcommittee or task force. Beyond all that, Obama is likely to run any health care reform drive from the White House, meaning that Clinton may be involved in the crafting of legislation, but she will not have the chance to lead, and likely fumble, a plan as she did in 1993. Hillary might take comfort, though, in the current Beltway buzz that Obama is considering her for the secretary of state post.
However Congress shapes up in the coming weeks, the denizens of the Swamp will have a long way to go before earning the respect of the American public. In a Rasmussen Reports survey taken after Election Day, 55 percent of those polled rated the job performance of Congress as poor. Only 11 percent said Congress was doing a good or excellent job. Republicans were more unsatisfied than Democrats — 74 percent to 37 percent. A separate survey indicated an unfavorable rating of 42 for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and another 27 percent didn’t even know who he is. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) earned a 53 percent unfavorable rating.
Ratings like those are well deserved. Those in power, and coming into power should note that there is no mandate. The continuation of failed ideology, by both the President AND Congress … only point out just how disgusted the people that are laird over in fact really are.
Our sacred honor … to support and defend
November 14, 2008Some things that we come across in life never change. At least for those with a sense of duty and honor. Indeed, when these things come up for discussion most people think in terms of the military. Either very supportive or quite the contrary. I submit that Firefighters, EMS personnel, and Police Officers fall into that group as well.
So then, what started this sense of dedication? Not the historical sense, but, here in these United States of America? Why do Firefighters run into burning buildings instead of away from the flames? Why does the Paramedic get into a closed space and care for people that carry diseases as deadly as any bullet? Why does a Police officer risk all that he or she has facing down a madman with a gun? I submit that it is a sense of duty and honor that is learned as one develops into an American adult. So then just what started all of this mentality?
Mark Alexander at the Patriot Post scores again writing about the formation of the American psyce, and the price paid so that so many of us can enjoy the freedoms that we have as an American birthright.
14 Novem
By Mark Alexander
In 1776, an extraordinary group of men signed a document that affirmed their God-given right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” By attaching their signatures to our great Declaration of Independence, they, in effect, were signing their potential death warrants.
Indeed, the last line of our Declaration reads, “For the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
Many of these men, and many of their countrymen, the first generation of American Patriots, would die fighting for American liberty.
A decade later, their liberty having been won at great cost, our Founders further codified their independence and interdependence by instituting yet another historic document, our Constitution.
The Constitution specifies in Article VI, clause 3:
“The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution…”
Bound by Oath to support…
The Constitution also prescribes the following oath to be taken by the president-elect: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Preserve, protect and defend…
Commissioned and enlisted military personnel are also required by statute to “solemnly swear, that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same…”, though the officer’s oath doesn’t include any provision that they obey orders.
Against all enemies, foreign and domestic…
Notably, all these oaths mandate the preservation, protection, support and defense of our Constitution as ratified, not the so-called “living constitution” as amended by judicial activists populating what Thomas Jefferson predicted would become “the despotic branch.”
While uniformed Americans serving our nation defend our Constitution with their lives, most elected officials debase it with all manner of extra-constitutional empowerment of the central government, not the least of which is the forced redistribution of income to benefit their constituency groups which, in turn, dutifully re-elect them.
Military service personnel who violate the Constitution are remanded for courts-martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, while politicians who violate the Constitution are remanded for — re-election.
On that note, the latest crop of Leftists on their way to Washington under the supervision of President-elect Barack Obama are destined to make a greater mockery of our Constitution than any administration in history. Clearly, Obama and his ilk have no history of honoring, or intention to honor, their oaths and, in fact, have no context for such honor.
A small cadre of liberals who believe themselves to be “patriots” have asked, “Can’t I be a bona fide Patriot and support Barack Obama?”
In a word … NO, unless in a state of solemn repentance.
In the spirit of charity, perhaps Obama supporters, who self-identify as patriots, are just grossly misinformed about our Constitution, our history and their own civic duty. Of course, they would likewise be grossly deluded about their identity, but perhaps the delusion is temporary.
I would suggest that Obama “patriots” are nothing more than “sunshine patriots,” as Thomas Paine wrote, who “will in crisis, shrink from the service of his country.”
At its core, the word “patriot” has direct lineage to those who fought for American independence and established our constitutional republic. That lineage has descended most directly through our history with those who have been entrusted “to support and defend” our Constitution — more specifically, those who have been faithful to, and have abided by, that oath. As previously noted, by “our Constitution,” I am referring to the United States Constitution, not the adulterated vestigial remains that liberals call “the living constitution.”
I have taken oaths five times in the service of our country. But I did not have to take any oath to understand my obligations as a citizen “to support and defend” our Constitution.
So, does the title of “Patriot” apply to an individual who votes for a man who has not honored his public oaths of office previously, and has given no indication he intends to “bear true faith and allegiance to the same” as president — a man who subscribes to the errant notion of a “living constitution” which, in his own words, “breaks free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution”?
No authentic Patriot would support those who violate their sacred oaths.
Unfortunately, in this most recent election, we saw even a handful of flag-rank military officers who have no more reverence for their oaths than Obama. However, they are the exception, not the rule.
Obama’s mantra, “change,” is a euphemism for constitutional abrogation — an incremental encroachment on liberty until, at last, liberty is lost.
Our nation’s second president, John Adams, warned, “A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”
As for Obama’s deception about his own patriotic pedigree, I commend the words of our nation’s first president, George Washington: “Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. …[W]here is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths…?”
Regarding the Presidential Oath of Office, Justice Joseph Story wrote: “[T]he duty imposed upon him to take care, that the laws be faithfully executed, follows out the strong injunctions of his oath of office, that he will ‘preserve, protect, and defend the constitution.’ The great object of the executive department is to accomplish this purpose.” He wrote further that if the president does not honor his oath, his office “will be utterly worthless for … the protection of rights; for the happiness, or good order, or safety of the people.”
Of course, Barack Obama proposes to further constrain the rights of the people by advancing centralized government control of the economy by way of regulation and forced income redistribution, all in the name of “happiness, good order, and safety of the people,” but in direct violation of his oath.
“To protect and defend, against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
ber 2008 – Vol. 08 No. 46
The Nuge, a recording artist!
November 13, 2008Ted Nugent, God love him and all that is his! In a recent piece the “Nuge” has received a lot of coverage, and thank God someone is finally listening. He covers things that have been beaten to death on this, as well as other blogs for quite some time. Perhaps his very notoriety will get those ideas noticed. What the heck? Perhaps Ted will even hammer the folks over at the NRA for comprimising away the very rights that they claim to uphold. Seems a little late, but this “coming out” is certainly better late than never. Strong work Blood Brother!
The following is a short list of blogs that have been pounding this theme for years.
Time is Running Out for President to Free Border Agents
November 12, 2008Regular readers of this blog are more than well aware that my feelings toward President Bush and his cronies are anything but kind on many issues. Illegal immigration is one of those things and related to that issue is the shear terrorism that the Bush Administration has committed against those that put their lives on the line every single day. When the Justice Department flays those that protect us what is there to fall back upon? The power of the President, that is what. I will not bother with listing what many consider to be abuse of power by past Presidents using the power of the pardon. I seriously doubt that I would live long enough to do so. Not to mention that something like that, by it’s very nature would be quite subjective.
This brings us to the cases of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. The trial was a farce, pure and simple. Those men were railroaded by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton. I know it, anyone, including President Bush knows it, and now it is past the time to do what is right and correct. President Bush, pardon in full these two brave men that put their butts on the line for the United States of America.
This is yet another bald faced example of the failure of the War on Drugs. No, I am not at all in favor of drug use. I am also very much in favor of line soldiers in that war. In plain English, if you are for this war, you are for making thugs and murderers into wealthy people. That, after all, is the end result of the war on drugs. In more than twenty years working the streets of Denver and the Front Range I saw precisely four, that’s correct four, people that died from taking drugs, or those that were driving while under the influence of drugs. I saw in that same time several Officers from different agencies, Firefighters, and by standers including small children killed or wounded as a direct result of the drug war. It’s time for change alright, change from a policy that was brought upon us by another President.
President Bush needs to step up to the plate and pardon these men.
Read more about this, and how to join the ranks of those that want this travesty reversed click HERE
Not your usual post-election commentary
November 11, 2008Downsize D.C. keeps their turbulant tradition going with this not so politicaly correct commentary. Enjoy!
Quote of the Day: “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” — William Shakespeare
Subject: Not your usual post-election commentary
The media describes every election as historic, the most important in a generation, etc. When the voting is done they tell us a new era has dawned, that things will change, that nothing will ever be the same, blah, blah, blah.
One aspect of these claims is true, this time. It is both historic and meaningful that the United States has elected its first African-American president. We applaud and celebrate this. We think the significance of this event transcends mere symbolism. Otherwise, the election was what all other elections have been . . .
” . . . a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Can we support this harsh assessment? Consider . . .
The election thoroughly repudiated the Republican Party. They lost the White House in a landslide, and got clobbered in Congressional races. We might assume from this, if elections really produced change, that many Republican policies of the last eight years will be reversed. We predict that almost none of them will be.
The Republicans were responsible for . . .
* Enacting the largest new entitlement in decades — the prescription drug program
* Passing social engineering schemes like “No Child Left Behind”
* Starting an un-provoked war
* Gutting constitutional liberties
* Running-up vast deficits
Will the Democrats reverse any of these actions? Sadly, we think the answer is “No.” What, then, was the point of the election?
Was it merely to punish the Republicans while leaving their sins uncorrected? Was the purpose to give the Democrats permission to pursue all of their own pet projects for social engineering, and to spend, spend, spend to their hearts content?
Undoubtedly this last item is the message Democratic politicians will claim they heard. After all, they received a mandate, and if the mandate was not to pursue their dreams then the word has no meaning.
Of course, some voters can say, “Don’t blame me, I voted Libertarian . . . or for the Constitution Party . . . or the Greens.” Didn’t these voters, at least, send a clear message about what they want?
We think not.
What does the average person assume when he or she sees third party candidates listed in his newspaper with tiny vote percentages next to their names? We think he or she assumes that . . .
“Those are fringe candidates with fringe ideas that no one supports. Therefore, I need not consider what they have to say.”
The system is rigged against third parties. This guarantees low vote totals for those parties. It also guarantees that the ideas those parties represent will always be viewed as marginal.
Third parties don’t promote ideas, they marginalize them!
Oh yes, we know all about the exceptions, like the Socialists and the Progressives, both of whom had ideas adopted by the major parties. But please notice, those ideas made the politicians, and even tax-funded intellectuals in the school system, MORE POWERFUL. That’s the real reason those ideas were adopted; it wasn’t because the Socialists and the Progressives managed to score a few points on Election Day.
So what does voting for partisan candidates actually accomplish? What does it communicate? As far as we can tell the answer is nothing, except that . . .
It gives the victims of the con game — the American people — an illusion of control. But we have no control — no say so.
Voting in the partisan electoral contest merely gives sanction to the con-artists who constantly victimize us. That’s the role of the voter, to sanction what the politicians do. That’s it. It’s like Emma Goldman said, “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.”
Is this the way you want things to be?
The ways of the future do not lie in the ways of the past. The ways of the past involved hoping the new boss would be different than the old boss. But many decades have come and gone, and the new boss has always been the same as the old boss. We should abandon the old ways and adopt new ways.
The way to a better future lies in withdrawing our consent and issuing direct orders to our supposed public servants. Votes send confusing signals. But plain talk is rarely misunderstood.
The new way involves building a new social force with the power to make public servants miserable. Withdraw consent. Issue orders. Make the public servant submit.
The politicians are busy right now convincing themselves that the public wants top-down, centralized, Democratic social engineering. Who can disabuse them of this notion? After all, the votes have been cast. The people have spoken.
Only YOU can disabuse the politicians of their self-serving interpretations of inarticulate votes. The Republicans were repudiated. Therefore, the things the Republicans did must also be repudiated. This should be the mandate for the new Congress. Fortunately, we have a vehicle for doing just that . . .
Ron Paul’s “American Freedom Agenda Act” would repeal a good chunk of the bad things the Republicans did. Use our Educate the Powerful system to ask your elected representatives to pass this bill.
Use your personal comments to tell your elected representatives that the Republicans were repudiated, therefore the things the Republicans did must also be repudiated.
And stay tuned for new steps in a new direction, starting next week.
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h
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Veterans Day
November 11, 2008Just what does Veterans day mean to me? Well, I believe that it means a lot that is different from the perspective that most people have. I could recount the history of Veterans day, as I am sure that many will do elsewhere, so why bother.
I could write of heroic deeds performed by men and women in defense of our nation as well as other nations thereby defending freedom and democracy. The American way if you will. However, I am also sure that stories of that genre will also be all over the Internet as well.
I could write about the men that helped my mother to raise me after my Father was killed on a hillside near Chosen, Korea. Those men are a part of history, not just that of the Marine Corps, but the worlds history as well.
No, I think that today’s post will be about something different;
“I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
Think about those words, about what they mean;
“I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God.”
The oath that Officers take is slightly different yet some things are held in common with the oath taken by enlisted personnel. Indeed they share many characteristics. The overwhelming one that stands out to me though is that neither oath sets an end to the oath. A term of service if you will. So today I will write about veterans that carry on after their term of military service has ended, but their fealty to the oath that they have taken has not. Some things will be in general. Others more specific.
Ralph Montoya had a habit of hiring people that were down and out. He was a supervisor for a large well known corporation. He knew that people that were having problems could, and would work out those problems when given the tools to do so. His methodology was self discipline and hard work that led to a sense of personal pride. He once said that to him, a poor credit record meant that the person needed a decent job. Not being further kicked to the curb like so many organizations practice. Just by being himself he garnered a degree of loyalty that is seldom seen in the civilian sector. It also helped that he had two Rangers on staff. He managed material, and lead people. We lost Ralph last year to cancer. He was a highly decorated Medic that had served in Viet Nam.
David Allen works for a pretty large telecommunications company. He is pretty average as far as his size and looks go. Scars, at least physical scars fade with time. David goes home from work and builds model trains. That is what he likes to do. That, and fellowship with current and former Marines. The trains all stop though when David gets working on his other passion in life. David has put in countless hours with the ” Toys for Tots” program. He’s come a long way from the rice paddy’s and deserts. Still, he hears the call to duty, and exemplifies Marine Corps spirit. Semper Fi Sergeant Major!
John, as I will call him for OpSec reasons, works as a town deputy, and part time police officer in Colorado on the outskirts of Denver. During his free time he works with kids, street kids that are in a bad way. Kids that are in, or are toying with becoming gang members. he teaches them life skills. Skills that the kids turn into tools that can be used to lead to productive lives instead of prison, or an early grave. It is said that the way to tell the difference between Special Forces and Navy Seals is simple. That Seals leave craters, while you never knew that the Special Forces were there. I asked John about his work with the kids that just might put a knife into a kidney that belonged to him sometime. His response was typical of those that put selflessness into practice in every day life. “It’s simply a thing of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter” was his response. Fair winds and following seas CPO.
These are but three of so many that not only have walked the walk. But have never forgotten that they have pledged any and all that they have for the betterment of our people, nation, and society for as long as they live.
Happy Birthday MARINES!
November 10, 2008Being a generational Marine Corps Brat how could I pass up an opportunity to post about the history of the Marine Corps?
On 10 November 1775, the Second Continental Congress resolved to create two battalions of Continental Marines for the War of Independence from Britain. In 1798, President John Adams signed the Act establishing the United States Marine Corps.
It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.It is the soldier, not the campus [or community] organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.— Father Dennis Edward O’Brian, USMC
Semper Fi!
Marine Corps
Hymn Lyrics
From the Halls of Montezuma
To the Shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
of United States Marine.
Our flag’s unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun;
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job
The United States Marines.
Here’s health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve
In many a strife we’ve fought for life
And never lost our nerve;
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.
No better friend, no worse enemy.
Happy Birthday Marines!
Semper Fi!
Conservative Libertarian Outpost 