THIS COMES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
CAN YOU IMAGINE?????????
BOY THIS BURNS ME.
RICHARD
Time for him to go
Thanksgiving is this week, and President Bush could make it a really special holiday by resigning.
Seriously. We have an economy that's crashing and a vacuum at the top. Bush - who just took a trip to Peru to meet with Asian leaders who no longer care what he thinks - hasn't got the clout, or possibly even the energy, to do anything useful. His most recent contribution to resolving the fiscal crisis was lecturing representatives of the world's most important economies on the glories of free-market capitalism.
Putting President-elect Barack Obama in charge immediately isn't impossible. Vice President Dick Cheney, obviously, would have to quit as well as Bush. In fact, just to be on the safe side, the vice president ought to turn in his resignation first. (We're desperate, but not crazy.) Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would become president until Jan. 20. Obviously, she'd defer to her party's incoming chief executive, and Obama could begin governing.
As a bonus, the Pelosi presidency would put a woman in the White House this year after all. On the downside, a few right-wing talk-show hosts might succumb to apoplexy. That would, of course, be terrible, but I'm afraid we might have to take the risk in the name of a greater good.
Can I see a show of hands? How many people want George W. out and Barack in?
A great many Americans have been counting the days all year on their 2008 George W. Bush Out of Office Countdown calendars. I know a lot of this has been going on because so many people congratulated me when the Feb. 1 Bush quote turned out to be from one of my old columns. ("I think we need not only to eliminate the tollbooth from the middle class, I think we should knock down the tollbooth.")
This was not nearly as good as Feb. 5 ("We ought to make the pie higher") or Feb. 21 ("I understand small business growth. I was one.") But we do what we can.
In the past, presidents have not taken well to suggestions that they hand over the reins before the last possible minute. Senator J. William Fulbright suggested a plan along those lines when Harry Truman was coming to the end of a term in a state of deep unpopularity, and Truman called him "Halfbright" for the rest of his life.
Bush might not love the idea of quitting before he has a chance to light the Christmas tree or commute the execution of one last presidential turkey. After all, he still has a couple more trips planned. And last-minute regulations to issue. (So many national parks to despoil, so many endangered species to exterminate ...) And then there's all the packing.
On the other hand, he might want to consider his legacy, such as it is.
In happier days, Bush may have nurtured hopes of making it into the list of America's mediocre presidents, but somewhere between Iraq and Katrina, that goal became a mountain too high. However, he might still have a chance to avoid the absolute bottom of the barrel, a spot currently occupied by James Buchanan, at least in my opinion. Buchanan nailed down The Worst President title in the days between Abraham Lincoln's election and inauguration, when the Southern states began seceding and Buchanan, after a little flailing about, did absolutely nothing.
"Doing nothing is almost the worst thing a president can do," said the historian Michael Beschloss.
If Bush gives up doing nothing by giving up his job, it's possible that someday history might elevate him to the ranks of the below average. Better than Franklin Pierce! Smarter than Warren Harding! And healthier than William Henry Harrison!
The person who would like this plan least probably would be Barack Obama. Who would want to be saddled with the auto industry's problems ahead of schedule? The heads of America's great carmaking corporations are so dim that they couldn't even survive hearings run by members of Congress who actually wanted to help them. Really, when somebody asks you exactly how much money you need, the answer should not be something along the line of "a whole bunch."
An instantaneous takeover would also ruin the Obama team's plan to have the tidiest, best-organized presidential transition in history. Cutting it short and leaping into governing would turn their measured march toward power into a mad scramble. A lot of their Cabinet picks are still working on those 62-page questionnaires.
But while there's been no drama with Obama, we've been living a Technicolor version of "The Perils of Pauline." Detroit is tied to the railroad tracks and the train is coming! California's state government is falling into the sea! The way we're going now, by the time the inauguration rolls around, unemployment will be at 10 percent and the Dow will be at 10.
Time for a change.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
THIS IS FUNNY... I DON'T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY
Are alien UFO fleets protecting Barack Obama?
A number of unusual photographs and videos have surfaced showing unusual orbs or discs either circling or flying past Obama rallies and events. Michael Luckman, a New York UFO researcher has compiled a list of these occurrences: One high quality video was filmed showing what appeared to be flying silver orbs at the October 4th Obama/Springsteen concert and rally, another UFO was filmed and seen by thousands in Colorado, a UFO was photographed at a Nevada rally and finally Orbs were photographed at Obama's Chicago victory rally.This has led some Ufologists to speculate that Obama is being guarded by fleets or squadrons of UFO's. 'Being the nation’s first African-American presidential candidate for a major party initially and now the first African-American President-elect, soon to be President, there are many nutcases out there who would be feeling threatened' one expert commented. 'Sadly, this nation has a pretty racist past and the old Jim Crowe laws existed in the lifetimes of many still around today. The Ku Klux Klan is still active and the idea of a black man as President is obviously creating waves of shock amongst America's extreme racist fringe'.Already a few attempts to assassinate the president have been foiled. 'Yep: sadly Obama is going to need that extra bit of protection. There are plenty of guns out there and some are in the hands of hard-core racists and white-supremacists.' our expert continued. many ufologists believe that Aliens find our petty racist squabbles primitive. 'If a civilisation has the technology to travel through vast distances of space, literally millions upon millions of miles it would probably have evolved to the point that such petty tribal rivalries have been long forgotten. Aliens probably would love to make themselves known to humanity but realise that we are simply too primitive to deal with them.' one Ufologist we interviewed commented. 'Our gut reaction would be to fire at them: that could be disastrous, if they can travel all the way to earth they could probably crush us as we could an ant'.
Nevertheless it is believed that some contact with aliens is taking place at the highest 'above top secret' levels. The previously hushed up Roswell incident came to light thanks to well known UFO researcher Stanton Friedman. Friedman claims that in July 1947 a UFO crashed near the Town of Roswell, New Mexico and Alien bodies, some still alive were retrieved and taken to a secret base known as 'Area-51' to be studied. The UFO is said to have been used in reverse-engineering projects. Since then a number of very high profile Americans and others have come forward and testified to US Government contact with alien visitors. The most recent being that of Edgar Mitchell, who was part of the Apollo 14 mission and the sixth man to walk on the moon. Other high profile acknowledgements of this phenomenon have come from the likes of former President Jimmy Carter and Paul Hellyer, Canada's one time defence minister. Obama has made the interesting choice of naming John Podesta as a co-chairman of the Obama-Biden Transition Project. Podesta was the final Chief-of-Staff for Bill Clinton and is an avid believer in UFO's who has heavily campaigned for the intelligence community to make public what they know about the topic. 'Podesta knows more that he is giving away' a source with military ties assured us. Is John Podesta liaising with Aliens to keep Barack Obama safe? 'Aliens would truly be welcoming the election of Obama as a sign of our maturity and ability to lay down old prejudices. They might see this as an important step towards openly revealing their presence amongst us and letting humans take their place as a small part of a much larger universal civilisation. They would realise the dangers Obama faces and they would be working either with the government or of their own initiative to keep him safe and protect his well-being'. One thing we can be sure about is that if they were able to get here they definately have the technology to do so and for that we can be thankful.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
I STILL SAY THE CONSTITUTION MATTERS
WHY I DON'T JUST LET IT GO. 1. BECAUSE THE CONSTITUTION MATTERS. 2. AS A FORMER TRIAL LAWYER I THINK HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO PROVE SOMETHING AS IMPORTANT AS THIS... ESPECIALLY WHEN THE PROOF IS SO EASY... AND IF THE PROOF IS NOT GIVEN THE QUESTION BECOMES... WHY IS SOMETHING BEING HIDDEN... I'LL BE YOU CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION. I AM NOT A SORE LOSER... I JUST THINK THE FOUNDING FATHERS PUT IT IN THE CONSTITUTION FOR A REASON, AND WE SHOULD FOLLOW THE CONSTITUTION.
A last electoral hurdle for Obama. A Web-driven challenge to his legitimacy targets members of the Electoral College.
Barack Obama has one election still to win before he moves into the White House, and by all accounts he’s a shoo-in. The Electoral College – that curious body created by the Founders to put one extra check on the popular vote – meets Dec. 15 to elect the president.
But across the US, a small band of Americans convinced that Mr. Obama is not a natural-born citizen, as the Constitution requires of presidents, are lobbying Democratic electors to take one last look at the notion that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii.
The idea that Democratic electors would deny Obama the presidency strains the bounds of credulity. But the lobbying campaign points to the endurance of conspiracy theories pertaining to US presidents – and revives longstanding questions about the Electoral College itself.
“This does point out the frailty of the Electoral College system,” says Michael Mezey, an expert on the election process at DePaul University in Chicago. “The fact that in most states electors could make the decision to vote for somebody else … is a real vulnerability in the process. [Many Americans], in fact, tend to be amazed that these electors are real people.”
Here in North Carolina, the secretary of state’s office has fielded about 50 requests for names and contact numbers of electors – all public information. The last time so many people sought to contact electors was in 2000, amid a bid to urge electors to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore, who had won the popular vote.
“Most of the world thinks this is settled except for a few conspiracy theorists,” says North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall. “In the 2000 election … Republican electors felt under siege, and I expect the Democrat electors may end up feeling the same way [this time].”
Wayne Abraham, a Democratic elector in Greensboro, N.C., says he’s received three letters – two signed, one not – and one phone call about Obama’s citizenship.
“I was surprised, but I’m not worried about it,” he says, dryly. “As I said to the lady on the phone, I figured that the Bush administration had ample opportunity to investigate Senator Obama, and if they had discovered he was not truly a citizen they … would have let us know.”
A birth certificate from Hawaii
Many news organizations have debunked claims that Obama was born in Kenya to his 19-year-old American mother and his father, a Kenyan. The Obama campaign released a certificate of live birth from Hawaii in June, which would seem to have put the issue to rest. Critics, though, contend the document is a fake.
“It’s true that, if it’s not a totally impossible twist on actual facts that he’d been born in Kenya, [the Electoral vote] actually would have been quite tricky because of the statutory regime,” says Peter Spiro, an immigration law expert at Temple University in Philadelphia. “But it’s really a nonstarter because Obama was born in Hawaii.”
A disparate, Web-connected campaign appears to be driving the effort to contact electors ahead of the Dec. 15 meetings of the college in each state’s capital. It also includes a letter-writing effort to urge the US Supreme Court to intervene. One website, obamacrimes.com, has reportedly received 105 million hits in the past three months, speaking to the pervasiveness of the belief, perhaps fueled by Obama’s multiethnic background and globe-trotting childhood, that the president-elect was born abroad.
Legal challenges over Obama’s citizenship
Two pending lawsuits could yet get an audience before the Supreme Court prior to Dec. 15, and a movement is also afoot to sue secretaries of state over the certification issue. Some say the Founders intended the Electoral College to serve as the final certification board for candidates. The US has no other independent certification process, relying instead on vetting by courts, voters, and the press during the campaign.
“People are going after electors now because they can only vote for a qualified candidate, and [Obama] hasn’t shown he’s qualified,” says Philip Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., a Democrat and lawyer who has filed two lawsuits calling Obama’s citizenship into question. “I think we have enough trouble – we don’t need a fake president.”
Melanie Siewert, a stay-at-home mom in Kernersville, N.C., says her lobbying efforts mark the first time she’s been actively involved in the political process. The questions raised by lawyers like Mr. Berg, she says, are substantial enough to throw doubt on Obama’s eligibility.
“I’m not asking electors to overturn their vote, but really to, before we vote, to make absolutely sure,” says Ms. Siewert, who has contacted most of North Carolina’s 15 electors. “This is not being a sore loser or racist. This is just about ensuring that our leader is being truthful about who he is.”
Fueled by a historic presidential race that promised a dramatic shift in the direction of American power, the Obama citizenship flap, some experts say, shows that conspiracy theories still resonate with a subset of Americans. Over the years, the legitimacy of presidents from Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln has been questioned, though none about their citizenship status.
“Human beings will always go for myth because it’s compelling, dramatic, and, if it were true, it would be able to change history,” says Perry Leavell, a presidential historian and folklore expert at Drew University in Madison, N.J. “You can go back into the history of the American presidency and find over and over again people … who are prepared to believe the exact opposite of what all the data would say.”
Though many electors are bound by state law to cast their vote for the winning candidate, their constitutional role as federal agents means that any vote they cast on Dec. 15 will count. What’s more, their importance could come into sharper relief if new information about Obama’s citizenship status were to surface before Dec. 15, says James Ceaser, a political scientist at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
“The only time the electors’ role might change … is if something occurred during the election which afterwards made things look really strange,” says Mr. Ceaser. “That’s why I believe personally that human discretion should be involved in every decision until the last second, that nothing should be automatic.”
But across the US, a small band of Americans convinced that Mr. Obama is not a natural-born citizen, as the Constitution requires of presidents, are lobbying Democratic electors to take one last look at the notion that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii.
The idea that Democratic electors would deny Obama the presidency strains the bounds of credulity. But the lobbying campaign points to the endurance of conspiracy theories pertaining to US presidents – and revives longstanding questions about the Electoral College itself.
“This does point out the frailty of the Electoral College system,” says Michael Mezey, an expert on the election process at DePaul University in Chicago. “The fact that in most states electors could make the decision to vote for somebody else … is a real vulnerability in the process. [Many Americans], in fact, tend to be amazed that these electors are real people.”
Here in North Carolina, the secretary of state’s office has fielded about 50 requests for names and contact numbers of electors – all public information. The last time so many people sought to contact electors was in 2000, amid a bid to urge electors to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore, who had won the popular vote.
“Most of the world thinks this is settled except for a few conspiracy theorists,” says North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall. “In the 2000 election … Republican electors felt under siege, and I expect the Democrat electors may end up feeling the same way [this time].”
Wayne Abraham, a Democratic elector in Greensboro, N.C., says he’s received three letters – two signed, one not – and one phone call about Obama’s citizenship.
“I was surprised, but I’m not worried about it,” he says, dryly. “As I said to the lady on the phone, I figured that the Bush administration had ample opportunity to investigate Senator Obama, and if they had discovered he was not truly a citizen they … would have let us know.”
A birth certificate from Hawaii
Many news organizations have debunked claims that Obama was born in Kenya to his 19-year-old American mother and his father, a Kenyan. The Obama campaign released a certificate of live birth from Hawaii in June, which would seem to have put the issue to rest. Critics, though, contend the document is a fake.
“It’s true that, if it’s not a totally impossible twist on actual facts that he’d been born in Kenya, [the Electoral vote] actually would have been quite tricky because of the statutory regime,” says Peter Spiro, an immigration law expert at Temple University in Philadelphia. “But it’s really a nonstarter because Obama was born in Hawaii.”
A disparate, Web-connected campaign appears to be driving the effort to contact electors ahead of the Dec. 15 meetings of the college in each state’s capital. It also includes a letter-writing effort to urge the US Supreme Court to intervene. One website, obamacrimes.com, has reportedly received 105 million hits in the past three months, speaking to the pervasiveness of the belief, perhaps fueled by Obama’s multiethnic background and globe-trotting childhood, that the president-elect was born abroad.
Legal challenges over Obama’s citizenship
Two pending lawsuits could yet get an audience before the Supreme Court prior to Dec. 15, and a movement is also afoot to sue secretaries of state over the certification issue. Some say the Founders intended the Electoral College to serve as the final certification board for candidates. The US has no other independent certification process, relying instead on vetting by courts, voters, and the press during the campaign.
“People are going after electors now because they can only vote for a qualified candidate, and [Obama] hasn’t shown he’s qualified,” says Philip Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., a Democrat and lawyer who has filed two lawsuits calling Obama’s citizenship into question. “I think we have enough trouble – we don’t need a fake president.”
Melanie Siewert, a stay-at-home mom in Kernersville, N.C., says her lobbying efforts mark the first time she’s been actively involved in the political process. The questions raised by lawyers like Mr. Berg, she says, are substantial enough to throw doubt on Obama’s eligibility.
“I’m not asking electors to overturn their vote, but really to, before we vote, to make absolutely sure,” says Ms. Siewert, who has contacted most of North Carolina’s 15 electors. “This is not being a sore loser or racist. This is just about ensuring that our leader is being truthful about who he is.”
Fueled by a historic presidential race that promised a dramatic shift in the direction of American power, the Obama citizenship flap, some experts say, shows that conspiracy theories still resonate with a subset of Americans. Over the years, the legitimacy of presidents from Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln has been questioned, though none about their citizenship status.
“Human beings will always go for myth because it’s compelling, dramatic, and, if it were true, it would be able to change history,” says Perry Leavell, a presidential historian and folklore expert at Drew University in Madison, N.J. “You can go back into the history of the American presidency and find over and over again people … who are prepared to believe the exact opposite of what all the data would say.”
Though many electors are bound by state law to cast their vote for the winning candidate, their constitutional role as federal agents means that any vote they cast on Dec. 15 will count. What’s more, their importance could come into sharper relief if new information about Obama’s citizenship status were to surface before Dec. 15, says James Ceaser, a political scientist at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
“The only time the electors’ role might change … is if something occurred during the election which afterwards made things look really strange,” says Mr. Ceaser. “That’s why I believe personally that human discretion should be involved in every decision until the last second, that nothing should be automatic.”
SO VERY MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR.
It is worth remembering the Edward Winslow letter dated December 13, 1621.
We set the last spring some twenty acres of Indian corn, and sowed some six acres of barley and peas, and according to the manner of the Indians, we manured our ground with herrings or rather shads, which we have in great abundance, and take with great ease at our doors. Our corn [i.e., wheat] did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late sown, they came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom. Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after have a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the company almost a week, at which time amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest King Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain, and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.
We set the last spring some twenty acres of Indian corn, and sowed some six acres of barley and peas, and according to the manner of the Indians, we manured our ground with herrings or rather shads, which we have in great abundance, and take with great ease at our doors. Our corn [i.e., wheat] did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late sown, they came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom. Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after have a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the company almost a week, at which time amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest King Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain, and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.
Who does not thank for little will not thank for much. - Estonian proverb
Do not get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. - Galatians 6:9
We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. - ritual chant
Thanksgiving
For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, For love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, For love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
((( as i said on the air yesterday... i have been blessed so far beyond what i ever deserved. we are such a bountiful country it is easy to take for granted what we have, yet on this day we stop to remember just how blessed we are, and especially to share that blessing with others. i am so very proud of my country, this community, and you the people who listen and share your stories with me and the others who listen. let us always remember those who are not as fortunate as us, and always too... from Whom our blessings come. thankful, as always... richard )))
CAN YOU THINK OF ANY OTHER EXPLANATION?
HERE'S THE STORY. AND THE EXCUSE (I MEAN REASON OF COURSE). CAN YOU THINK OF ANY OTHER REASON THE PRESIDENT ELECT MIGHT BE GOING TO THE GYM INSTEAD OF SITTING IN A PEW. i'm just saying....
Obama Skips Church for Gym
Since the election, future President Barack Obama has traded Sunday morning pews for some quality time at the gym.
The Obamas have refrained from public prayer for fear their large retinue would disturb the church service, according to an anonymous aide.
Press reports say Barack Obama has skipped church for the gym on Sunday mornings since Election Day. An aide said the first-family-to-be didn't want to inflict their massive entourage on an unprepared church. Obama has kept a fairly low profile since the election, although he has made the occasional public appearance.
"They do not want to draw unwelcome or inappropriate attention to a church not used to the attention their attendance would draw," said the aide.
The Obamas haven't belonged to a church since the spring, after Barack Obama split with Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ because of controversial sermons by the pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. A videotape from one of Wright's sermons showed him damning America. Churches, especially African-American houses of prayer, played an important role in Obama's candidacy. Obama made campaign stops in churches. Congregations prayed for him on Election Day, and celebrated his victory.
Now, churches in Washington, D.C., are scrambling to lure the Obamas to their pews, even if Obama hasn't attended church in weeks.
The Obamas have refrained from public prayer for fear their large retinue would disturb the church service, according to an anonymous aide.
Press reports say Barack Obama has skipped church for the gym on Sunday mornings since Election Day. An aide said the first-family-to-be didn't want to inflict their massive entourage on an unprepared church. Obama has kept a fairly low profile since the election, although he has made the occasional public appearance.
"They do not want to draw unwelcome or inappropriate attention to a church not used to the attention their attendance would draw," said the aide.
The Obamas haven't belonged to a church since the spring, after Barack Obama split with Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ because of controversial sermons by the pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. A videotape from one of Wright's sermons showed him damning America. Churches, especially African-American houses of prayer, played an important role in Obama's candidacy. Obama made campaign stops in churches. Congregations prayed for him on Election Day, and celebrated his victory.
Now, churches in Washington, D.C., are scrambling to lure the Obamas to their pews, even if Obama hasn't attended church in weeks.
(((( randall note: and people get upset when i say to pray for him... hmmm... he doesn't seem to be so good at doing it himself... or for his kids... i'm just saying that perhaps just perhaps he was not completely candid about the impressions he gave to the american public ))))
Saturday, November 22, 2008
JUST FOR FUN
And aren't the weekends about fun? OK let's hit the rewind button and go back to the summer before last and take a look at the Union Pacific #844 as it comes through Colorado Springs. The location is Giuseppe's Old Depot Restaurant in downtown Colorado Springs. The train is returning from Pueblo to Denver as part of the first steam excursion to the Colorado State Fair. The train didn't run this year because of the DNC... but should return next year.
October 26, 1871, the first passenger train stopped at the soon-to-be Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Depot in the infant city of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The glorious parade ended in 1971, when the last passenger train faded from view...
October 26, 1871, the first passenger train stopped at the soon-to-be Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Depot in the infant city of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The glorious parade ended in 1971, when the last passenger train faded from view...
GOTTA LOVE THE FRENCH... REALLY
THERE ARE FRENCH TROOPS WHO FIGHT AND DIE IN AFGHANISTAN. HERE'S THEIR TAKE ON THEIR U.S. COUNTERPARTS The US often hears echoes of worldwide hostility against the application of its foreign policy, but seldom are they reached by the voices of those who experience first hand how close we are to the USA. In spite of contextual political differences and conflicting interests that generate friction, we do share the same fundamental values - and when push comes to shove that is what really counts. Through the eyes of that French OMLT (Operational Mentoring Liaison Teams) infantryman you can see how strong the bond is on the ground. In contrast with the Americans, the French soldiers don’t seem to write much online - or maybe the proportion is the same but we just have less people deployed. Whatever the reason, this is a rare and moving testimony which is why I decided to translate it into English, so that American people can catch a glimpse of the way European soldiers see them. Not much high philosophy here, just the first hand impressions of a soldier in contact - but that only makes it more authentic.
Here is the original French article, translated into english :
“We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while - they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as series showing “ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events”. Who are they, those soldiers from abroad, how is their daily life, and what support do they bring to the men of our OMLT every day ? Few of them belong to the Easy Company, the one the TV series focuses on. This one nowadays is named Echo Company, and it has become the support company.
They have a terribly strong American accent - from our point of view the language they speak is not even English. How many times did I have to write down what I wanted to say rather than waste precious minutes trying various pronunciations of a seemingly common word? Whatever state they are from, no two accents are alike and they even admit that in some crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other.
Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - we are wimps, even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans.
Here we discover America as it is often depicted : their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by promiscuity lack of privacy and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that : the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the post parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the hearth of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star spangled banner. Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location : books, chewing gums, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission. And that is a first shock to our preconceptions : the American soldier is no individualist. The team, the group, the combat team are the focus of all his attention.
And they are impressive warriors ! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump.
And combat ? If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all - always coming to the rescue when one of our teams gets in trouble, and always in the shortest delay. That is one of their tricks : they switch from T-shirt and sandals to combat ready in three minutes. Arriving in contact with the ennemy, the way they fight is simple and disconcerting : they just charge ! They disembark and assault in stride, they bomb first and ask questions later - which cuts any pussyfooting short.
We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is alright; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe.
To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America’s army’s deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owned this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers”.
(((( THANKS TO JOSH K. FOR SENDING THIS MY WAY... AND THANKS FOR HIS TIME AS A U-S PARATROOPER AND FRIEND ))))
OBAMA BIRTH CERTIFICATE PETITION
Here is the language of the petition to force Barack Obama to release information about exactly where he was born. So far more than 39,000 people have signed it.
Please note: The copy of the certificate posted here is all that Obama has released. It gives no details of where and when he was born. So far he is not willing to make that information public. Hmmmmmmm.
PETITION FOR PUBLIC RELEASE OFBARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
To: Electoral College, Congress of the United States, Federal Elections Commission, U.S. Supreme Court, President of the United States, other controlling legal authorities
Whereas, by requirement of the United States Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, no one can be sworn into office as president of the United States without being a natural born citizen;
Whereas, there is sufficient controversy within the citizenry of the United States as to whether presidential election winner Barack Obama was actually born in Hawaii as he claims;
Whereas, Barack Obama has refused repeated calls to release publicly his entire Hawaiian birth certificate, which would include the actual hospital that performed the delivery;
Whereas, lawsuits filed in several states seeking only proof of the basic minimal standard of eligibility have been rebuffed;
Whereas, Hawaii at the time of Obama's birth allowed births that took place in foreign countries to be registered in Hawaii;
Whereas, concerns that our government is not taking this constitutional question seriously will result in diminished confidence in our system of free and fair elections;
SIGN THE PETITION
We, the undersigned, assert our rights as citizens of the United States in demanding that the constitutional eligibility requirement be taken seriously and that any and all controlling legal authorities in this matter examine the complete birth certificate of Barack Obama, including the actual city and hospital of birth, and make that document available to the American people for inspection.
If you would like to sign the petition here is a link:
Friday, November 21, 2008
SOME MILITARY WISDOM
'If the enemy is in range, so are you.' - Infantry Journal
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'It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed.' - U.S. Air Force Manual ----------- --------- --------- ---------
'Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons.' - General MacArthur
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'You, you, and you ... Panic. The rest of you, come with me.' - U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt.
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'Tracers work both ways.' - U.S. Army Ordnance
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'Five second fuses only last three seconds.' - Infantry Journal
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'Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once.'
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'Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.' - Unknown Marine Recruit
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'If you see a bomb technician running, keep up with him.' - USAF Ammo Troop
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'Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death , I Shall Fear No Evil. For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing.'
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'You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3.' - Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)
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'The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.'
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'If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe.'
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'When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash.'
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'Even with ammunition, the USAF is just another expensive flying club..'
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'What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up ... The pilot dies.'
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'Never trade luck for skill.'
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'Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight.'
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'Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we've never left one up there!'
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'Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it.'
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'The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you.' - Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)
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'There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime.' Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970
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'If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to.'
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'You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal.'
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As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives; the rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks, 'What happened?' The pilot's reply: 'I don't know, I just got here myself!' - Attributed to Ray Crandell (Lockheed test pilot
THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE SCANDAL WILL NOT GO AWAY... AND SHOULDN'T
Here's what's on MY radar on a "day off" (Thanks to Jeff Crank for filling in while I catch up on the backlog that life has become.) It is GREAT news. Much of the American public is tired of the mainstream media, and judicial activists giving Barack Obama a pass on whether he is in fact a U-S citizen. The World Net Daily is launching of an online petition designed to enlist the public's help in demanding evidence of Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility for the office of the presidency. The electronic petition calls on all controlling legal authorities to take seriously the matter of where and when and to whom Obama was born and whether he qualifies as a "natural-born American citizen," according to Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. I'll be back on the air on Saturday morning from 6:00 am to 8:00 and will give details about how to sign and help spread the petition. Richard.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Obama Birth Certificate, Now It Really Gets Interesting
It is simple. The U-S Constitution is there for a reason. It has served us well. You need to be a citizen to be the leader of our country. It is easy to prove. Very easy to prove. I could give you, or a reporter, the detailed information about where and when i was born... and a release to go with it.... and within a day or two at most they could have a certified copy of proof of my having been born in the country. If it was an issue in my life why wouldn't i do that. I would. I could think of no reason not to. Why doesn't Obama do it???? The fact that he doesn't proves the point. He is slippery. Just like his prior assocations (Wright, Ayers). Or smoking. There are things he doesn't want us to know about. Why doesn't he just get it over with instead of fighting against the lawsuit calling into question his birth.
Here's the latest.
Former presidential candidate Alan Keyes joined the fight to release President-elect Barack Obama's birth certificate this week, suing to keep the California Electoral College from meeting. The suit is the latest of many lawsuits filed requesting the birth certificate, a document that Mr. Obama has so far refused to produce in court. The lawsuit, filed by Mr. Keyes and the American Independent Party (AIP) in the California Superior Court in Sacramento, requests the court to bar the secretary of State from certifying the names of electors to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., and from transmitting a certificate of election each presidential elector.
"I and others are concerned that this issue be properly investigated and decided before Sen. Obama takes office," said Mr. Keyes in an AIP press release. "Otherwise there will be a serious doubt as to the legitimacy of his tenure. This doubt would also affect the respect people have for the constitution as the supreme law of the land. I hope the issue can be quickly clarified so that the new president can take office under no shadow of doubt. This will be good for him and for the nation."
The Electoral College will meet in each state capital to cast its votes on Dec. 15. Dec. 1 is also an important debate in the controversy, as Mr. Obama must respond to a federal case in the U.S. Supreme Court by that date, which will be heard by Justice David Souter, a jurist with a liberal reputation.Mr. Keyes, an ambassador during the Reagan administration, was a presidential candidate in 2008 for the AIP. Mr. Keyes also ran against Mr. Obama for a U.S. Senate seat in 2004, losing to Mr. Obama by a wide margin. The controversy over Mr. Obama's birth certificate has been boiling on the news periphery for months. Over the summer, Mr. Obama put an electronic scan of a birth certification on his "Fight the Smears" Web site in an effort to quiet rumors. The document has been unconvincing for his critics, due to flaws in the scan and its low quality. The raised seal and authoritative signature needed to validate the document cannot be seen on the scan at all.
According to the U.S. Constitution, there are distinct requirements to become president."No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of president," it reads.
In Pennsylvania, attorney Philip J. Berg filed a suit against Mr. Obama and the Democratic National Committee in August, in the hopes that Mr. Obama would produce his original birth certificate. Mr. Berg asserts that Mr. Obama was born in Kenya. The case was thrown out of the Third Circuit Court in November because the judge ruled Mr. Berg had no standing to enforce the presidential requirements of the Constitution. Mr. Berg has since requested the U.S. Supreme Court hear the case, and Mr. Obama has until Dec. 1 to file his request that the court not hear the case.
Once he has responded, the Court will rule on whether or not the case will be heard.The Hawaii Department of Health says the original birth certificate is in its vaults, but refuses to release it on the grounds of Hawaii's privacy statutes. According to the statutes, only somebody with "direct and tangible interest" may access the birth records. This usually means that only Mr. Obama, his family, or somebody designated by him could access the document.Longtime Obama critic Andy Martin is pursuing his own lawsuit to produce the birth certificate against the Hawaii Department of Health, arguing for the certificate's release.
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