Patriots and Pissants

Written by Anonymous on 9:40 AM

The screaming leftards have finally gotten their way. Defense Secretary Gates has given in to their manufactured anti-war outrage. He will now allow flag draped coffins to be used as anti-America propaganda by the foam-at-the-mouth leftists who are still angry about us winning the Iraq war.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Pentagon will lift its ban on media coverage of the flag-draped coffins of war victims arriving at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

But the families of the victims will have the final say on whether to allow the coverage, he said.
This has been a sore subject for me. Regardless of where you stand on the war, you know there are casualties; the government is not hiding anything. In fact, each death is announced, along with the person's name and a picture if available. That is a small but fitting recognition of a hero's ultimate sacrifice. Taking pictures of coffins and having ideological spats over them disrespects our fallen patriots.

I particularly detest those smirking bed-wetters who use a picture of flag draped coffins as their avatar when they post their self-indulgent, left-wing, anti-American, fleck-spittle, diaper rash rants. Every time I have the misfortune to stumble upon some libtard pant-load using a picture of coffins in some public internet forum, I deliver this message to them:

Unless you knew every person in each of those flag draped coffins, and knew that they agree with your political point of view, you are exploiting them. I doubt you ever stood at attention while they loaded or unloaded one of those boxes onto a C-130 you were on. You probably never ran your hand over the fabric of the flag and said a silent prayer before you went down the ramp. You probably never had to see one of your friends leave theater in one of those coffins. You are exploiting fallen heroes for your own smirking, petty purposes.

To paraphrase that old poem:

It's not the America-hating liberal college professor or the unhinged, ranting street protester that gives you the right to be an ignorant, unpatriotic moron. It is the American soldier, who serves under, and is wrapped in, the flag you spit on and burn. God Bless America.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/26/pentagon.media.war.dead/
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/

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Idiot Abroad: Obama Campaign Steps on Maliki's Toes

Written by Paul Zannucci on 10:15 AM


It should be unsurprising that the Obama campaign would take things out of context and attempt to use them for political gain. And given that Barack is clueless on foreign policy, it should be only slightly more surprising that they continue to do so even when it means stepping on the toes of foreign leaders.


Right now Obama is doing what every conservative would have hoped. He's embarking on an 'idiot abroad' tour that is bound to come back to haunt the man who doesn't even realize that Canada has a Prime Minister.


Right off the bat, Iraq, where the campaign immediately trumpeted the news that Iraqi PM Maliki "supported Obama's plan" for the 16 month troop removal. Unfortunately, according to CNN, "A spokesman for al-Maliki said his remarks 'were misunderstood, mistranslated and not conveyed accurately.' Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the possibility of troop withdrawal was based on the continuance of security improvements, echoing statements that the White House made Friday after a meeting between al-Maliki and U.S. President Bush."


That's quite a bit different from the blanket, over-simplified statement, "supported Obama's plan". Of course, the Obama wants to keep it simple for their simple constituency. They want to boil everything down to 1 to 3 key words that the emotional voters on the left can agree with. Never mind the specifics. Obama is "change" and Iraq "supports Obama's plan."


Foreign leaders are not likely to take much pleasure in being boiled down into political soundbites. I doubt that will stop this clueless campaign from trying, however.

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Obama prepares to flip-flop on Iraq

Written by Paul Zannucci on 2:59 PM

Using his strategist, David Axelrod, Obama now is backtracking on his Iraq stance, saying that he will certainly listen to military advisers as to when he will pull out.

Obama Flip-flops on Iraq

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Israel, please just go ahead.

Written by Paul Zannucci on 12:34 PM


Israel, I don't really know what your intentions are during this standoff with Iran. Some folks are suggesting that this is all just a bluff to maintain pressure on the Iranian and world leaders to work for change. I hope that is not the case.


Mind you, you must do what you believe is best for Israel. You know your own military capabilities and Iran's better than I do. If you think it would be folly to launch a conventional attack and don't feel you could get away with a non-conventional attack, then so be it. That will, however, just make the world a much more dangerous place.


Iran's regime is true evil. Allowing them to enrich uranium for weapons is potential suicide. This is nothing at all like the North Korean situation. For years, North Korea's leaders plead with the world to open dialogue with them. Their entire nuclear development program, now being dismantled, was little more than a cry for recognition and assistance. Not so with Iran.


Iran's leaders constantly lash out at the non-Muslim world, making grandiose threats. They actively, if covertly, fight against American troops in Iraq and gleefully support Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. They cannot be allowed to advance their weapons program.


Israel. If you are waiting on the rest of the world, it will be too late. The U.N. security council is a joke. And if you are waiting on American support, it's not coming. The Yanks have lost their way under the constant barrage of negativity over Iraq. Unfortunately, you will fight this battle on your own. But, in my opinion, you will have to fight it at some point whether you want to or not. Wouldn't it be better to fight it now while Iran does not have nuclear capabilities?

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Needless to say....

Written by Paul Zannucci on 2:30 AM

When Iraq's foreign minister meets with a presidential candidate, he picks the one who understands foreign policy and the situation in Iraq. Thanks to the surge, America's goals of a free and democratic state for Iraq, one that doesn't support terrorism, are going to be met. Here, McCain talks about his meetings and how successful the surge, which Obama voted against, has been.


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McCain on why the Supreme Court made a lousy decision.

Written by Paul Zannucci on 10:05 PM

Another good reason to see McCain as the sane choice.

First of all, you have recidivism. And these are not drunk drivers. These are terrorists. When you have recidivism amongst terrorists, potentially thousands could die. Already some 30 released prisoners have gone back to their old trade.

Next, you have cost and information security. How much will it cost to bring all these folks to trial in U.S. courts? Besides standard court costs, I doubt that any of them will be calling the family attorney to represent them. We'll have public defenders, at taxpayer expense, filing motions to delay proceedings, to release confidential information, to pay for expert witnesses, etc. Then, just when you think you're about done, the terrorist will demand a new attorney...and get one.

Last, you'll open up an avenue for anyone who is then released to come back and file lawsuits.

Twenty out of the last 28 years we've had conservative presidents, and this is as good as we've managed to get the Supremes. Don't think Obama will squander his opportunity to advance the liberal agenda in the courts.

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Libs continue to play politics with Iraq supplemental spending bill

Written by Paul Zannucci on 3:44 PM


According to this article from The Hill, Democrats are struggling to get Republicans to agree to take up a thirteen week extension of unemployment benefits in the Senate, so they are likely just to tack it onto the Iraq Supplemental Spending Bill and see if they can ram it through and avoid a veto. Senate Republicans had already voted in favor of a similar proposal that also include a new G.I. bill, but this measure met with resistance in the House, where some liberals are demanding offsets for the G.I. Bill (which was added by Democrats to begin with) and other liberals are demanding a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.


All of this is only complicating a bill long stalled as politicians argue over adding pork and earmarks to legislation necessary to our fighting troops overseas. Avoiding the topic of playing with the needs of our military men and women, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid talked about tacking the unemployment changes to the Iraq spending bill, “We have an obligation to help people … People are desperate.”


Technically, I don't know for a fact that he managed to bring up tears when he said that, but I'm sure he would have if at all possible.


This merely ads to the problems for the House version of the bill, or perhaps it doesn't. It's hard to say at this point. A bill of this prominence inspires so much populist political exhibitionism that it's hard to track which factions will settle for what. Perhaps this is some inside the beltway version of "Let's Make a Deal". Add the unemployment without the G.I. Bill in the Senate and the House Dems will take the timetable off the table? Any way you look at these deals, all the curtains have donkeys behind them, as usual.

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Here's a Story that Won't Get Much Play

Written by Paul Zannucci on 8:12 AM


From the New York Post, we have this story, WHAT I LEARNED AT 'ANTI-JIHAD U', which tells what is currently happening in a couple of Iraqi detention camps. Far removed from the Abu Ghraib prison that still hits the news seemingly every single day, these camps of some 23,000 insurgents are designed around a concept that moves one step beyond nude photography. No, not nude moving pictures. These camps are actually making a difference in the lives of these Iraqis.

"Ahmed, a 30-year-old Sunni, talked with me as he was being released. He told me he'd never been physically abused or mistreated during his 11 months there - and had learned how to read, write, do carpentry and play chess. "Because I had never played chess before, I had to cheat to win," he joked. "None of this would have happened in an Iraqi jail."

And learning a trade, it seems, is very important. Amongst the other interesting things we have found in running this camp is that "...most (insurgents) are motivated mainly by money, or lack of it. Some 78 percent said they'd participated in attacks against Coalition forces to feed their families, and 79 percent have children. Only one in three said that they had a strong religious belief. Some 64 percent are illiterate."

As for the litteracy rate, we have this revealing quote, "After Iraqis here learn how to read and write, they can read the Koran themselves for the first time," says Sheik Ali, a Sunni who counsels detainees. (Like most Iraqis working in the program, he declined to give his surname; he must live in a US-guarded compound to avoid reprisals.) "I've seen detainees break down and cry when they realize that the conduct they thought was sanctioned by God is actually a sin."

Perhaps this shows that hope is not all lost in the Middle East. Perhaps enlightenment can come afterall. A large number of detainies have already been released back into the population with remarkablly low levels of recidivism (if we had that level of recidivism in U.S. prisons, we have to start closing them in short order). Perhaps there is hope for the Bush legacy after all. If we can create a blueprint for social change in this area of the world, it could lead to some good things. Maybe even to that ever elusive Middle East peace.

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