Archive for the ‘News’ Category

CSU Regents Reject Logic, Reason, and State Law

December 12, 2009

As noted in an earlier post the Regents at Colorado State University were in the depths of deciding whether or not to turn the campuses into Free Fire Zones. Well, they decided that a bloody mess when, not if, the next moral degenerate decides to get their fifteen minutes of fame at the expense of the student body. Not to mention their collective decision is in direct violation of state law.

Senator Greg Brophy sent them a well-reasoned letter that, as a rather successful CSU graduate you would think that they would have listened too, as well as taken into account. However, the forces of political correctness, and anti liberty and logic held sway at the end of the day. Thereby setting the stage for yet another slaughter in an institution of learning in Colorado. I’m guessing that two were not enough for these brainy types to figure things out on their own.

In any case, Senator Brophy was kind enough to allow me to reprint some of the feed back that he has received about all this. Please note the absolute lack of critical thinking, as well as a pronounced lack of logical thought that was expressed in the emails that he responded too. Then, I will follow-up with a few additional links that have related story’s.

Whoops, I need to update the update, as
the punch line is missing from the last of my email
exchange with liberal
Leather

And my favorite exchange with Richard
Leather, also from Denver:

How many crimes or violent incidents in Colorado,
over say the past 10 years, have been interdicted by
a private gun owner?

On a national basis:

•The U.S.
has an estimated 283 million guns in civilian hands
(Hepburn),
or approximately 97 guns for every 100 people (Karp).

•Each year, about 4.5 million new firearms, including
approximately 2 million handguns, are sold in the
United States
(Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF).

•An estimated 2 million secondhand firearms are sold
each year as
well (ATF).

If there are measurable interventions by private gun
owners, including
on campus, then weapons on a campus can be argued for
with at least minimal justification.

But I do not see evidence that private citizens play
any measurable
role in prevention of crime or violence.
What am I missing?

I sent back this:

You really shouldn’t bring a knife to a gun fight, so
to speak.

Two quick examples:

Shooting justified/ Woman who wounded intruder
within her rights,

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs),
Nov 23, 2000 | by Jeremy Meyer

A 72-year-old woman who shot a man allegedly breaking
into her Knob
Hill home Saturday won’t be charged, the 4th District
Attorney’s Office said
Wednesday.

Aurora woman fires at intruder who cops think
was serial rapist

By Jim Kirksey

Denver Post Staff Writer

DenverPost.com 9/23/20
A man police believe may be a serial rapist
preying on women in Aurora
and Denver narrowly
escaped injury when a would-be victim fired a shot
at him as he stood in her
bedroom doorway, said Sgt. Rudy Herrera of the
Aurora Police Department.

The liberal dummy sent this back:

Ah, I see. Once in 2000. Then again in 2005.

QED. Now
really, Brophy. Not even in the old sod would that wash.

The issue, moreover, is not
guns stashed at home, wielded in face of invasive
threat.

It’s the rationality of “gunning after” CSU trustees
facing
the problem of youngsters carrying concealed weapons.
Defending one’s
self all too readily translates to defending from
insult. That is a
tradition out here that deserves burial.

Pandering to a constituent element at the expense of
good governance is
no proper part of conservatism.

So I sent him back this:

I really feel like I need to pat you on
the head and say nice try. Maybe you
forgot about the New
Life Church
attempted mass murder in December of 2007.
Jeanne Assam had a concealed carry permit and was at
church on that
fateful Sunday, thank God. This is from
the Rocky:

Firing as he moved

Murray
approached a Toyota
minivan. David and Marie Works were climbing in with
their daughters –
18-year-old twins Laurie and Stephanie, and Rachel,
16, and Grace, 11.

Murray
walked slowly, arcing around the van, firing as he moved.

“Get down! Get down!” David Works yelled.

Murray’s
bullets shattered windows on the van and cut down
Stephanie, Rachel and their
father.

Stephanie Works died in the minivan. Paramedics rushed
Rachel Works to the hospital, performing
cardiopulmonary resuscitation all the
way – and doctors fought to save her but could not.
David Works, seriously
injured, also was rushed to the hospital, where he
was treated for wounds to
his abdomen and groin.

In another part of the parking lot, shots hit a
Toyota 4Runner occupied by
Matt and Judy Purcell and their three daughters. Judy
Purcell, who was sitting
in the front passenger seat, suffered injuries to her
shoulder and face, and
her husband sped off for the hospital.

Bullets cut through the front fender of a Honda Accord,
but the woman behind the wheel wasn’t hurt.

Murray walked toward the church, according to numerous
witnesses, firing indiscriminately from his assault
rifle, blowing holes in the
glass doors on the east side of the main church
building before he entered.

Inside, in a hallway, Murray’s gunfire hit Larry
Bourbonnais, 59,
in the arm, just as he ducked behind a pillar.

At that same moment, church security officer Jeanne Assam
drew her 9 mm pistol and shouted “surrender” at Murray.

“Drop the gun,” she yelled. “Drop the gun,
or I will kill you.”

Needless to say, he is not very happy with
me. Not that I care.

I’ll continue to work to resolve
this issue and make students and visitors to CSU
safer. I’m working closely with Dudley Brown
from http://www.RMGO.org He is really going the extra mile
to help the
students at CSU. If you are not a member
of RMGO, you should be. The other gun
groups are good and work hard. RMGO is
the best; you can always count on them to side with
the Constitution, even if
it isn’t on a popular issue – no compromising on
fundamental
rights.

Greg

Note: some spacing was edited for clarity, content un-changed.

Related is a response having to do with this issue from NRA/ILA:

Anti-Gun Lunacy Abounds On Colorado College Campuses
Friday, December 11, 2009
The carrying of firearms on college campuses remains hotly debated these days.  Recently, that debate has centered on two prominent Colorado universities.

Last week, the Colorado State University (CSU) Student Senate voted overwhelmingly (21-3) to continue allowing students with valid state-issued carry permits to carry concealed firearms on campus.  The local Sheriff endorsed the students’ decision.  But the nine-member CSU Board of Governors overruled the decision, voting on Friday to strike down the proposal.

A final decision by CSU President Dr. Anthony A. Frank on the proposal is expected soon.  In the meantime, Frank will review recommendations from both the student government and his public safety and cabinet members.

Former Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo (R) reportedly called the CSU decision “stupid.”  Tancredo has proposed a 2010 ballot measure that would ask voters to recommend to Colorado’s state officials that they oppose all forms of gun restrictions.  A December 7, 2009 State Bill Colorado article reports that Tancredo said the issue is about self-defense, stopping “horrendous” incidents and protecting the Second Amendment.

“Do you want to protect people, or do you want to be politically correct?  Which is your goal?” Tancredo asked.

“You do realize that there are about 300 million firearms in the United States in private hands.  If the opponents of concealed-carry and of private ownership of firearms were right, every city in the United States would be Beirut,” he said.

Tancredo went on to note that statistics indicate gun violence in the United States has been going down over the last decade, as gun ownership has been increasing.

Meanwhile, the University of Colorado (UC) also took up the issue of banning firearms on campus last week when they confirmed a ban on¾drum roll¾Nerf guns! Yes, Nerf guns.  You know, those toy guns that shoot soft spongy balls?  The ones kids play with in the family room?  Yes, those Nerf guns.

It seems that the game of “humans vs. zombies” has become a national craze on college campuses.  The game involves “zombie” students attempting to eliminate “human” students by pelting them with spongy Nerf balls or balled-up socks.  When campus security officials got wind of the game, they moved quickly to ban the Nerf guns.  Students using the play guns could be charged with violations of the student-conduct policy or even arrested on charges of unlawful conduct.

So, while Nerf guns may be safe to sell in “Kids R Us,” and safe for use by children in their home, apparently they are seen as enough of a grave danger for college students that UC has banned them.

“We told them that the violation of the weapons policy is a serious thing,” said CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard.  “If a third party happened upon this and called 911, we’d have to respond as if it were a real incident.”

SOURCE

“It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.”

December 12, 2009

The latest from the felon Bloomberg reveals just what lengths idiots such as he, and others like Lautenberg, Schumer, and the usual gang of suspects will go to with the express goal of depriving you of life and liberty through the destruction of the Bill of Rights.

This week, anti-gun New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, released the findings of a poll conducted by a political consulting firm called “The Word Doctors,” whose slogan is “It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.”  Word Doctors’ president is a pollster who has been reprimanded by the American Association for Public Opinion Research and censured by the National Council on Public Polls, and who says that the key to polling is “to ask a question in the way that you get the right answer.”

At some other time in our nation’s history, an organization like this would not have been commissioned to conduct a poll, and perhaps it would not even have existed. At a minimum, its poll would have been considered biased and rejected by every newspaper in the country.

But today, as the distinction between editorials and news has become blurred, information is treated so superficially that a catchy word or two is enough to get someone elected to public office, and some in positions of authority cannot conceive of the concept of shame.

Thus, earlier this week, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) excitedly called attention to the bought-and-paid-for Word Doctors “poll,” which claimed that a majority of NRA members and other gun owners support Lautenberg’s bills to prohibit the possession of firearms by people placed (often mistakenly) on the FBI terrorist watchlist (S.1317), to require gun show promoters to send ledgers of customer information to the federal government (S.843), and to let the FBI retain records for 180 days of every gun purchase approved by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)  (S.2820).  The poll also claimed support for Bloomberg’s proposal to rescind the Tiahrt Amendment, which prevents unfettered release of BATFE firearm trace data.  (Bloomberg, of course, wants to use the data in lawsuits against the firearms industry.)

But did the poll really show such strong support?  Certainly the participants didn’t have much information to go on.  The poll didn’t explain that the watchlist has been under fire by the Department of Justice’s Inspector General’s office and the ACLU for improperly including the names of innocent people, and that many innocent people have been mistaken for those who are on the watchlist. It didn’t explain that Lautenberg’s gun show bill would do much more than require NICS checks on private gun sales at gun shows.

The poll mischaracterized the issue of NICS record retention. Instead of informing poll participants that the accused Ft. Hood murderer had been investigated by the FBI and found to not constitute a terror threat months before he went through a NICS check to purchase the gun he allegedly used in the murders, the poll simply asked whether “the FBI should be able to access and keep information about gun purchases by terror suspects in cases similar to [the accused Ft. Hood killer’s]?” Worse, Word Doctors misinformed poll participants by telling them that the accused killer was still under investigation at the time he purchased the gun.

The poll also asked if participants agreed that “The federal government should not restrict the police’s ability to access, use, and share data that helps them enforce federal, state and local gun laws,” when in fact the Tiahrt Amendment fully allows access to trace information, as long as it’s related to crimes that they’re actually investigating.

And the poll also claimed that a majority of gun owners want to “balance” their rights against the need to stop criminals from getting guns. But what it actually asked was whether gun owners agreed that “We can do more to stop criminals from getting guns while also protecting the rights of citizens to freely own them.” Coupled with the poll’s findings that an overwhelming majority of gun owners believe “Criminals . . . should be punished to the maximum extent of the law” and “Law-abiding Americans should have the freedom to choose how to protect themselves, based on their personal situation,” it’s fair to conclude that gun owners understand the two concepts aren’t mutually exclusive.  Since the ideas are compatible, they don’t require a “balance,” as suggested by gun control supporters.

Notably, Lautenberg mentioned none of the poll’s findings that undercut the anti-gun agenda, and Dionne mentioned few. These include findings that an overwhelming majority of gun owners:

  • Thinks President Obama will try to ban guns;
  • Agrees that the Supreme Court’s decision in last year’s Heller case was correct;
  • Agrees that the Second Amendment should prevent all levels of government from infringing the right to arms;
  • Agrees that people should be allowed to carry guns for protection in national parks;
  • Agrees that people should be allowed to transport firearms in baggage on Amtrak trains;
  • Agrees that gun laws should be less strict or left as they are; and
  • Opposes or is neutral about gun registration and an “assault weapon” ban.

One final note: Since Word Doctors had no access to NRA membership lists, there’s no way the pollsters could verify that any of the “NRA members” actually were NRA members.  While this is a fatal flaw, we mention it at the end only because the poll’s other flaws were even worse.

SOURCE

Job creation for Dummies

December 11, 2009

As I have noted in the past on several occasions the impostor in chief is an idiot when it comes to basic economic principles. While I believe that he was well above average in the study of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals I just have to believe that his grasp of  Macroeconomics and Microeconomics are shall we say less than stellar, and that his grades would reflect that if his transcripts were ever to be released.

Mark Alexander of the Patriot Post (see the sidebar) hits another one out of the park addressing this very issue. read on…

By Mark Alexander · Thursday, December 10, 2009

“Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread.” –Thomas Jefferson

Barack Obama outlined his Recovery.gov version 2.0 on Tuesday of this week, saying, “My economic team has been considering a full range of additional ideas to help accelerate the pace of private sector hiring. We held a jobs forum at the White House…”

Indeed, Obama held a much-publicized “jobs” confab last week, ostensibly to obtain ideas about how to create (and save?) more of them. This exercise in futility was fodder so he could feign having sought advice from some people who actually create jobs.

However, most of the 135 invitees were from federal, state and local government, academic institutions, labor unions and not-for-profits. Alas, he did toss in a few folks from the private sector where job creation actually occurs. He told them, “I’m confident that people like you … can come up with some additional good ideas on how to create jobs.”

Full Story

Village Idiots

December 10, 2009

Climategates purveyors of phony science get a look from The Patriot Post…

Denial: “Nothing that has come out in the public as a result of the recent email hackings has cast doubt on the basic scientific message on climate change and that message is quite clear — that climate change is happening much, much faster than we realized and we human beings are the primary cause.” –UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

“I think the e-mail scandal is being used as a political side show to deflect interest in actually dealing with climate change. I think, in that regard, it will fail.” –Princeton University’s Professor Michael Oppenheimer

“There is nothing in the hacked e-mails that undermines the science upon which this decision is based.” –EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson asserting the farcical government stance that carbon dioxide is harmful to humans

It’ll never be enough: “Are we doing enough? The answer is obviously no — [restricting world emissions of carbon dioxide at or below 450 parts per million] is not the right target. But it is presently seen as beyond the capacity of governments around the world. We are stretching the capacity of governments even to hit a 450 target. We are gambling with the future of human civilization in accepting odds that by any definition make our present course reckless…. But it’s still the most likely path to success.” –Algore

It’s already too late: “Even a final treaty will have to set the stage for other tougher [emissions] reductions at a later date. We have already overshot the safe levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.” –Algore

SOURCE

Looks to be right out of the stupid is as stupid does file to me.

Good News! The great recession is over!

December 10, 2009
SOURCE

Not without a fight: Second Amendment March Newsletter

December 10, 2009

Read the Second Amendment March Newsletter HERE.

Director Max Lemus has finished his documentary, “Not without a fight.” Lemus wrote on his website:

This project grew out of my frustration with anchor men and women (media as a whole) who I think portray pro-gun rights people in an unfair and mostly negative light without truly giving the person interviewed an opportunity to explain the human side of gun rights. It seemed to me that the media would select a radical to interview and let the person represent all gun rights supporters, or they would cast stones at a clean cut and articulate gun rights supporters. Unfortunately the gun rights debate is sparingly presented in a logical manner.

I am shooting the documentary so that it will accomplish two things:

1. Dispel inaccuracies and introduce gun rights supporters as the regular folk that I know them to be.

2. As people share their personal journeys, I hope that they become like a blue print for others who want to get involved but don’t know how or where to start. Not just for gun rights but for all issues that affect the nation.


Included in this documentary is Second Amendment March founder Skip Coryell.

Watch a trailer here

Download the video here

Jon, the baptist…

December 10, 2009

Okay,the debate rages on… is,  Jon Caldara the new John the Baptist? I would contend that, in fact, he is not! Jon, after all does double bend overs that incite lust among the female staff at The Independence Institute!

Read on…




Beware! Evil Lurks in Teachers Refunds: Those of us who are not bleeding heart, emotional hippies are used to being called names: selfish, mean spirited, malicious, greedy and sometimes even, Jon Caldara. So it comes as no surprise that the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) president calls us “sinister” in a recent letter to his members. An excerpt from the letter,

“Dear DCTA member, BEWARE: You may have gotten a letter from the Independence Institute explaining how you can drop your Every Member Option (EMO) contribution to DCTA/CEA. It reads like a public service message telling you how to save money. But the motives behind the message are much more sinister.”

Well, I’m sorry unions. I’m a sinister kind of guy. therefore I am going to provide some resources to the teachers of Colorado, so that they might learn how to obtain the EMO refund, which can be up to $63. Along with our Independent Teachers website that houses a boatload of information on the refund, we made a video and recorded a podcast discussing the finer points of the refund. I think we’ve taken sinister to a whole new level.

Second Amendment Royalty on iVoices.org: Wow, I’m still in awe. I just finished listening to this epic iVoices.org podcast with Dave Kopel interviewing none other than Alan Gura himself! Or as Dave refers to Mr. Gura, “the Luke Skywalker of the Second Amendment.” Gura is the man behind the DC v. Heller Supreme court gun rights victory. Now Mr. Gura is taking on the new McDonald v. Chicago Supreme Court case. This case will decide whether the Second Amendment is enforceable at the state and local level via the 14th Amendment. In other words, this case is hugely important! Give a listen here.

Northern Colorado Invasion: Our transparency super-star Amy Oliver-Cooke is leading the invasion of Northern Colorado in the battle of ideas. Check her out this week in the Fort Collins Coloradoan as she lays out the “unimaginative failure” of Colorado’s Long Term Fiscal Stability commission.

Kopelization: If you support the Second Amendment and the right of self-defense, then you definitely don’t want to miss Research Director Dave Kopel’s newest book, Aiming for Liberty: The past, present and future of freedom and self-defense. The perfect stocking stuffer for the true civil libertarian.

Oh Canada: Our recent trip to Canada in search of real people with real stories of Canada’s version of Obama Care inspired this reason.tv video on Obama Care and medical innovation, with a special shout out to us. Well, the good folks at reason have put out yet another video including footage shot at our Canada trip. Check out this heartbreaking story of Canadian citizen Cheryl Baxter’s nightmare experience with Canada’s single payer health care system, and how she finally got the surgery she needed here in the states. It also includes some great insight from our friends up north at the Fraser Institute.

Must Hear Podcast: The transition for the Denver school board was going to be tough enough, but then newly elected Andrea Merida took things to a whole new level when she decided to be sworn in early and bounced off outgoing board member Michelle Moss just before key votes on the district’s reform plan were made. Over at iVoices.org, Education News Colorado editor, and eye witness, Alan Gottlieb joins Ben DeGrow to recount the dramatic confrontation and discusses what might be in store from the DPS Board in the future.

Check it out here.

Must See TV: On This week’s Independent Thinking, Colorado State Senator Ted Harvey and Kevin Miller from the National Freedom Initiative join me to talk about the conflict between social conservatives and the freedom movement, or as Kevin puts it, “Freedom nationally, virtue locally.” Tune in this Friday night at 8:30 p.m. to KBDI Channel 12; repeated the following Monday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

Perspective: In this week’s op-ed, Jessica Peck-Corry suggests that Governor Ritter “should write a guidebook on how to buy a top post in his administration.” She’s talking about the Governor’s Energy Office.

Money quote from the piece: “Ritter’s defenders may believe that global warming represents a universal concern that should be held above the political fray. But talk to the residents of western Colorado, many of whom are out-of-work energy workers displaced by the toxic mix of a faltering economy and anti-energy public policy.”

Check out the whole thing here.

Until next week…

Straight on

Jon Caldara

First, there was Sonia Sotomayor

December 9, 2009

Senate Set to Vote on Another Anti-gun Judge

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102,
Springfield, VA 22151
703-321-8585
http://www.gunowners.org

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Here we go again.

First, there was Sonia Sotomayor.  Then there was David Hamilton.

Now, we have another radical, anti-gun judge that has been nominated for the federal judiciary.  His name is Louis Butler, and he is so radical, he was twice rejected by the people of Wisconsin (which is, by the way, one of the most liberal states in our union).

When Louis Butler first ran for the Wisconsin Supreme Court — the voters rejected him by a 2-1 margin.  When he was appointed to that court by Democrat Governor Jim Doyle and then stood for retention by the voters, they again rejected him. This was the first time a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court was rejected by the voters in more than 40 years.

More importantly, Louis Butler opposes the rights of gun owners. The right to bear arms in the Wisconsin Constitution expressly notes that this right is for personal security and “any other lawful purpose.”  But in State v. Fischer, Judge Butler was the deciding vote in 2006 to hold that a Wisconsin statute barring carrying a concealed weapon for any purpose, at any time, including in a vehicle, does not violate this right to personal security that the voters of Wisconsin chose to expressly protect in their state constitution.

So he ignored the state constitution in order to impose his anti-gun views on the people of Wisconsin.

After the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Heller case upholding Second Amendment gun rights in 2008, Louis Butler spoke at an Obama for President fundraiser and specifically mentioned “gun control” as an issue that potential Obama appointees would impact.

“Gun control,” Butler said, “may ultimately be decided, and the new appointees can tip the very balance of the court.  [The] background, personal beliefs and policy decisions of the justices selected will influence how they will vote on the difficult cases before them.”

There you have it.  He is a radical activist who wants to move the courts — and our country — in a new direction.  We’ve already had enough “hope and change” for a lifetime.  We don’t need another federal judge who will use his radical “personal beliefs” to reshape our society.

ACTION:  Please contact your U.S. Senators and urge them to OPPOSE the nomination of Judge Louis Butler as U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin.  Butler was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, and could now be voted on by the full Senate at any time.

You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your senators the pre-written e-mail message below.

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Senator:

Please OPPOSE the nomination of Louis Butler as U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin.

When Louis Butler first ran for the Wisconsin Supreme Court — the voters rejected him by a 2-1 margin.  When he was appointed to that court by Democrat Governor Jim Doyle and then stood for retention by the voters, they again rejected him. This was the first time a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court was rejected by the voters in more than 40 years.

More importantly, Louis Butler opposes the rights of gun owners.  In State v. Fischer, Judge Butler expressly ignored the right to bear arms provision in the Wisconsin Constitution.  And after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Heller case upholding Second Amendment gun rights in 2008, Louis Butler spoke at an Obama for President fundraiser and specifically mentioned “gun control” as an issue that potential Obama appointees would impact.

“Gun control,” Butler said, “may ultimately be decided, and the new appointees can tip the very balance of the court.  [The] background, personal beliefs and policy decisions of the justices selected will influence how they will vote on the difficult cases before them.”

Again, I urge you to OPPOSE this nomination.  Gun Owners of America will be scoring this nomination and will let me know how you vote on this radical judge.

Sincerely,

Marine Corps Christmas: Poetry in motion

December 8, 2009

Tradition. That spells it out. My good friend and internet buddy Texas Fred found an update of something that has been said many times before. Something that a Marine writes.

Yes, Army Infantrymen write the same sorts of things too.

But ? Well, the Marines have this one cornered. Plus, I am admittedly somewhat prejudiced. I am, after all? A Marine Corps Brat!

To be sure; this could have been written by any young Soldier, Sailor, or Airman. But? A Marine did it!
Enjoy!

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “It’s really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”

“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ‘ Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘ Nam ‘,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.

Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”
“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”

“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”

Stolen from TexasFred!

Day of infamy December Seventh

December 7, 2009

Today is the anniversary of the “Day of Infamy.” I’m no big fan of Roosevelt, and what he did to this nation. But, he did in fact lead this country through it’s darkest time since the War of Northern Aggression.

The attack on Pearl Harbor began what so far has been the greatest conflagration in mankind’s known history, and spawned what has become known as America’s Greatest generation.

I would ask that all people take a minute of silence, and remember these people that gave so much so that you and I can live in a free world.