A Sad Day for National Security

After failing to gain traction in his campaign, Congressman Duncan Hunter has dropped out of the GOP Presidential Primary Race. As a true conservative he will be sorely missed, even more so because of his strong stance for securing our borders. My personal belief is that it was his push for the border fence that actually kept him from gaining the momentum he needed to make a showing in the Presidential Primaries.

While border security is a major concern of mine, and definitely one of the factors I have in choosing a candidate, Congressman Hunter seemed to dwell upon that at the expense of other important issues. Every interview I heard with Duncan focused on that single issue, and unfortunately, there are other issues that have to be faced in this campaign as well.

Congressman Hunter, it is my fervent prayer that you will be able to make some real progress in Washington regarding our border security, and that you will start planning now for the 2012 Presidential Campaign. This country needs strong conservative voices like yours!

Service Flag

Who remembers World War II? As a kid, did you go to the movies and see newsreels of our troops fighting in Africa, Europe or the Pacific? Even those who aren’t old enough to remember it first hand have probably seen newsreels from the era. There was stock footage of our Troops in action, tanks rolling across the desert and a lot of footage of troops marching down the road.

 

I am too young to have seen this first hand myself, but I have seen newsreels and a lot of documentaries about World War II. I remember my father telling me stories of the things they had to do without during the war as they worked to produce food on the farm for the troops. I have listened to my mother tell of Church socials, dances and activities for the troops who were home on leave or stationed in the area.

They had days when they did not eat wheat, days without meat. Staples like sugar and eggs were rationed. It seems the entire country was at war. We had a common enemy, an enemy who dared to strike our homeland without provocation or warning. We were determined to win this war, and nothing, no amount of privation or heartache would prevent us from being victorious in this common venture.

Everyone knew someone who was in the service, every family had lost someone or knew someone close who had. Parents and families who had children in the service proudly let others know by placing a service star in their window, one star for every family member in the service of their country. If they lost a family member in the service, the blue star was covered by a gold star.

People were proud of their family members’ service, they were proud even when that service caused them to pay the ultimate price. Certainly they were not happy about it, no one is ever happy to lose someone they love, but they were still proud of them and believed they died for a cause that was worth the price paid.

Where did the pride go? When did we stop being proud of the service our young people were providing by placing themselves between us and a very real enemy? Newspapers used to print lists of the men who were wounded, killed or were missing in action every day. These lists somehow did not cause people to pull out a slide rule to see if we were paying too much for our freedom. They managed instead to strengthen our resolve, to make us even more determined to win the war.

I listen to the news today and I become heartsick, all the talk on the radio news or television news is bad. Not bad in a good way, but bad in a bad way. We aren’t getting the information of how we lost x number of men in action. We hear that the insurgents managed to blow up one of our vehicles killing x number of soldiers. There is no excuse for this.

Have we completely forgotten that we are in a war with a very real enemy? An enemy who has vowed to destroy us? An enemy who attacked us without provocation or warning? An enemy who kills civilians in preference to combatants?

These are the same people who flew commercial airplanes into skyscrapers in New York City. I don’t know where all of our military installations are, but I am pretty sure that we did not have an outpost in the World Trade Center. These were all civilians for pete’s sake! Our enemies are barbarians! They will stop at nothing to destroy our way of life, yet we want to constantly snipe at our military and keep telling everyone how well the enemy is doing their job.

Our media is giving aid and comfort to our enemy and we say nothing. We have people in Congress who have declared the war lost, and we don’t scream for their impeachment on the grounds of high treason!

Friends, our Constitution gives us great power, but as it was said in Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility. We need to show that we understand and accept our responsibility by supporting our troops. Something to keep in mind is that it is impossible to support our troops by declaring the war lost. We must stop giving comfort to our enemy with our media. We need to proudly hang a star in our window to help others remember that there are sacrifices to be made, even if it isn’t Wheatless Thursdays.

 

Fertilizing the Tree of Freedom

Those who cling to the untrue doctrine that violence never settles anything would be advised to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler could referee, and the jury might well be the Dodo, the Great Auk, and the Passenger Pigeon. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Nations and peoples who forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms. ::Robert A. HeinleinRemember, it is the blood of patriots that fertilizes the tree of freedom and that if we do not finish what we started, that life blood will have been shed in vain. We must be victorious. We have the manpower, the technology, and the equipment, the only thing that may be lacking is the determination.

Six Years Later Yet Another Day Closer

Yesterday, the sixth anniversary of the attacks by terrorists on the United States has come and gone. A new message from Osama Bin Laden marked the anniversary, but nothing out of the ordinary took place. There were memorial services in New York, Washington DC, and in Pennsylvania for those lost in the attacks, and at fire and police stations all around the country to remember fallen brothers.

We remember, yet thanks to God, pain fades and we are able to get on with our lives. We must be careful though lest we not only let the pain fade from memory, but the memory itself. The memory of what happened needs to remain, to stay in our consciousness to help keep us vigilant. One thing we can be sure of is that this fight is not over. It was not one of our choosing, but it must be one we are willing to finish.

Yes, it has been six years since those dastardly attacks, but it is also one day closer to the next one, there have been several failed attempts over the past year or so. Some have been successful worldwide, some not so much, but they should all point out that we have an implacable foe who will stop at nothing to reach their goals.

Certainly we should get on with our lives. We can accomplish nothing if we sit in the corner wringing our hands crying “Woe is me!” We need to be hard and determined to defeat this enemy, while maintaining our compassion for each other. Let us get behind the efforts to kill our enemies, the same ones who want to kill us, and keep our homeland safe for our children.

An American Hero

Four Star General David Petraeus, confirmed without dissent by the US Senate to be the coalition commander in Iraq was an American Hero before he came to present his report to the Congress this week. A Soldier who has served with distinction since the days of Viet Nam. After this week, General Petraeus deserves a Purple Heart for the shots he has had to endure from the very people who confirmed him.

Moveon.org labeled him General Betray us in a full page ad published in the New York Times. Where is the humanity in our elected officials? Do they possess any dignity any more? It was always my understanding that the Congress worked for us, the American People. It seems that they are now on the payroll of liberal political action committees. It is certainly not the American People who are pulling the strings of the puppets in Washington.

Thankfully, General Petraeus has the guts and the presence of mind to answer their rants calmly and directly, showing them to be the the fools they are. Meanwhile, Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich has been busy getting face time on television bad-mouthing our presence in Iraq. Well, that is face time on Syrian Television, the only place he can find anyone to give him any on air time.

Along with spending most of their energy bad mouthing our General, they spend their spare time trying to get on Osama’s good side, by pointing out that there just haven’t been enough votes in Congress to get us out of Iraq like he wants.

A Day that Should Live in Infamy

Here it is September 11, 2007, six short years, only seventy-two short months after the brutal attacks on our nation by a group of barbaric imbeciles. I don’t mean imbeciles in the sense that they are stupid, far from it, but they are totally ignorant of the American People and our determination when we make up our minds about something. We can, and will be a formidable enemy when challenged.

Unfortunately, they are not done. There will continue to be attacks and attempts to destroy our nation and way of life until they are killed and their means of making war on us has been destroyed. I like the motto of the Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Calvary: Vigilant and always ready. This should be the motto of every American. Not just watching for terrorists, but illegal aliens, drug dealers, and nefarious doers of dastardly deeds.

Remember, this is our country, and I for one have not intention of allowing some turban headed camel jockey from the 14th century to destroy it, or our way of life. If you see something that is going on that you know is wrong, don’t sit on the sidelines. Let’s work together and make criminals afraid to practice their trade in our neighborhoods and cities. They are ours after all.

Butterbur

Warren Buffett and Terrorism

A saying that I like from Warren Buffett goes something like this, “When people are buying, I worry, when people are worried, I buy.” He is talking about the stock market and the fact that people’s human nature causes them to jump on the bandwagon just because it is going in the general direction they want to go, and that is up. When people start to worry about the market, they divest themselves, afraid of being the last one to react and losing their shirt.

Buffett is wise enough to know that the market goes up, and the market comes down, when it is going up, he doesn’t buy, but when it comes down, he is ready to pick up the bargains.

In the same manner, when we get complacent about terrorism that is the time to start worrying. When we are concerned about the threats of terrorism, then we can relax a bit knowing that people are more on guard and vigilant.

Tomorrow is the 6th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, we need to redouble our vigilance as our enemy has vowed to destroy us. Believe that they mean what they say.