Ouch.

So the question begging to be asked is whether or not this congressman, who was videotaped by the FBI as indicating he is bribable, is pulling strings behind the Navy/Marine Corps command structure to pursue this phony war crimes prosecution to the bitter end. Murtha claims to be an ex-Marine to which I say, you may have worn the uniform, John, but you are sure as hell no Marine. As I have said before, the Marine Corps motto is Semper Fi, always faithful; John Murtha’s motto is Semper I, always him.

Read the whole article.

Oh great. Obama wants to reinvent himself. Has he decided to notch himself down from the limelight? Have the halos gone away? Can I put my sun glasses away now?

Jim Margolis, Obama’s media adviser, said that, despite the long primary season, Obama still is not well known to voters in many parts of the country. “They don’t know the full story,” he said. “They don’t have a complete sense of what motivates him, what are the biographical points of his life that have made him the person that he is today and what he wants to do as president.”

Let’s see: Obama is ashamed of his country; he is very new to the political world- and it shows; he’s never managed a thing in his life. He has no experience with being a leader. His short career as a Senator is dull and boring: He produced no legislation at all. He doesn’t understand foreign policy. He is clueless when it comes to domestic issues. His advisers are all communists who are placing their lifelong hopes and dreams into this man winning this election.

GM says character counts, and of all the traits we want, need and must demand of anyone seeking to be our President, CHARACTER is number one:

Barack Obama proclaimed he would pull out of Iraq immediately, and now he says he won’t. He said that he would be using public financing for his race, and now he won’t. He has said that NAFTA was anathema, and now all of a sudden, it isn’t. He has attended a church where some of the most vile racist comments made from a pulpit have rung forth, and now he says that wasn’t the Jeremiah Wright he knew. He has associated with, and benefited from associations with an admitted but unconvicted urban terrorist. He has manipulated opposition off of the ballot in order to win elections. And he has said, in spite of no one making this association BUT him, that the opposition will play the race card.

God help America. I hope character and integrity still mean something to people.

The government is going to file an appeal in the case of Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, one of two Marines left in the Haditha debacle.

This news came out as Chessani’s attorneys spoke about taking potential legal action against the non Marine, John Murtha.

With most of the eight Marines charged in the Haditha, Iraq, incident now exonerated, the highest-ranking officer among the accused is considering a lawsuit against Democratic Rep. John Murtha, who fueled the case by declaring the men cold-blooded killers.

In an interview with nationally syndicated radio talk host Michael Savage, the lead attorney for Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani said he and his client will look into suing Murtha and the Time magazine reporter, Tim McGuirk, who first published the accusations by Iraqi insurgents.

But the attorney, Brian Rooney, said nothing will happen immediately because he wants Chessani, described as a devout Christian and the father of six homeschooled children, completely “out of the woods” legally before any action is taken. The government, through Lt. Col. S.M. Sullivan, today filed a notice that it would appeal the case to the next judicial level.

This is stupid. It’s obvious the government doesn’t have any evidence to support it’s case, yet they’re going to try to continue to push this. Talk about grasping straws here. The Marine big brass hates to lose, and will keep this going as long as they can.

All of this is funded by our tax dollars- except of course the Marines charged: They have no right to government funds to defend themselves. If you want to help Chessani with his legal expenses, donate HERE. I just did. We need to stand up with our Marines. They defend us. Let’s help them defend themselves against politically motivated, unwarranted charges.

Pessimism at work here?

Americans are glum at the moment. No, I mean really glum. In April, a new poll revealed that 81 percent of the American people believe that the country is on the “wrong track.” In the 25 years that pollsters have asked this question, last month’s response was by far the most negative. Other polls, asking similar questions, found levels of gloom that were even more alarming, often at 30- and 40-year highs. There are reasons to be pessimistic—a financial panic and looming recession, a seemingly endless war in Iraq, and the ongoing threat of terrorism. But the facts on the ground—unemployment numbers, foreclosure rates, deaths from terror attacks—are simply not dire enough to explain the present atmosphere of malaise.

American anxiety springs from something much deeper, a sense that large and disruptive forces are coursing through the world. In almost every industry, in every aspect of life, it feels like the patterns of the past are being scrambled. “Whirl is king, having driven out Zeus,” wrote Aristophanes 2,400 years ago. And—for the first time in living memory—the United States does not seem to be leading the charge. Americans see that a new world is coming into being, but fear it is one being shaped in distant lands and by foreign people.

I say the Democrats are successful at creating home grown dis-content among Americans. They are making Americans feel gloomy and depressed; policies and government meddling into our lives has taken away that CAN DO spirit once held to such high place by Americans. I’m not nearly as pessimistic and I have faith this country will survive- but- and this is A BIG BUT- if we allow liberals to continue on the HATE AMERICA path they are forever wandering down, we will no longer exist, in my kids’ or grankids’ lifetime. Liberals are destroying America. It’s pretty clear to me.

Crescent controversy on Fox News television and Fox News front page!

Check out the Fox News front page today, where “Crescent Outrage” alternates top billing with “Six-Legged Soldiers!” Finally, more than a handful of Americans will at least know that there is a controversy over the Flight 93 memorial.

They won’t get much more than that from Fox’s text report, which is pretty bare. There is no mention of the Mecca orientation of the giant crescent, no mention of the 44 inscribed translucent blocks on the flight path, no mention of the Islamic sundial, and no fact checking (the modern media disease). Still, this is big.

The text report DOES show the side-by-side comparison of the Crescent of Embrace and the Islamic crescent and star insignia. It also reports Tom Burnett’s condemnation of the crescent design as an insult to his murdered son, and it mentions our petition.

UPDATE: Red Lasso has the Fox News video clip (thanks to Avid Editor):

This is powerful stuff. Not only do they show the clear likeness between the original design and an Islamic crescent and star flag, but the image they show of the redesign shows pretty clearly how the giant crescent remains intact in the redesign:

From the crescent and star likeness, they cut to Tom Burnett, asking what people would think if a memorial were laid out in the shape of a swastika. If viewers hadn’t just seen the crescent and star likeness, that statement could be made to sound crazy, but Fox does right by Tom, giving viewers the information they need to see the reasonableness of the comparison. Many thanks to Fox for getting this right.

Fox has a lot more information at their disposal. They had a television crew at the Somerset County Courthouse yesterday where Colonel Harry Beam laid out a precise and devastating exposé of Islamic and terrorist memorializing design features, and they were sent extensive fact checking materials. None of this gets into their present reporting. If they put that material into an investigative feature, they can knock the crescent memorial out for good.

UPDATE II: Avid Editor found another completely different Fox News segment on Red Lasso. This one is even better, mentioning the Mecca orientation of the giant crescent!

Who will the white men vote for?

Political commentators’ brains grew new crevices as they pondered the imponderable: Would white males go for the woman or the black? Or as Nora Ephron more pointedly posed the question: Whom do white men hate more — women or blacks?

By Ephron’s calculus, if a white male votes for a black man, it couldn’t possibly be because he finds the man a more suitable candidate. He simply hates women more.

And if he votes for the woman, he’s probably got his nutty uncle’s white-sheet ensemble stashed upstairs in an attic trunk just in case cross burning enjoys a revival. He couldn’t possibly deem any woman superior to any man. He simply hates blacks more.

Are all white males really so monolithically repugnant and predictable?

Get this:

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Interior Ministry ordered police yesterday to begin rounding up beggars, homeless people, and mentally disabled people from the streets of Baghdad and other cities to prevent insurgents from using them as suicide bombers.
more stories like this

The decision, which elicited concern from advocates for the mentally disabled, came nearly three weeks after twin suicide bombings against pet markets. Officials said those blasts were carried out by mentally disabled women who might have been unwitting attackers.

What’s the concern for the so called advocates?

The people detained in the Baghdad sweep will be handed over to social welfare institutions and psychiatric hospitals that can provide shelter and care for them, Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf said.

Yes and the point being??

It is not clear that such people would be safe in psychiatric hospitals.

Says who? Unnamed advocates, that’s who. Could it be that the media is acting in this role here? Is it not better to be in a welfare institution than be used as a human carrier of bombs that will not only kill you, but many other people as well? I guess the advocates aren’t sure.

Russ Vaughn points to his latest writing over at Old War Dogs.

Before you go there though, check out this web site, which introduces us to Chronic Marine Syndrome:

Symptoms to look for are:

1. Pride in oneself and the organization they represent.
2. A strong willingness to put in extra attention to detail to get the job done.
3. May wear articles of Marine clothing; T-shirts, jackets, watches, well into their 80’s.
4. Will not hesitate to stand up or put their hand over their heart, or even salute when the National Anthem is played.
5. Does not succumb easily to political correctness.
6. Is sure of who they are.
7. Is often either respected or hated by others, due to their abilities and talents.
8. May donate toys to needy kids at Christmas.
9. Some have been known to wear their hair in a high and tight well into their 90’s.
10. Will look you in the eye when talking to you.
11. Will give you a firm handshake.
12. Knows what honor, courage and commitment mean.
13. Can usually be found in some type of leadership position in whatever organization they work for.
14. Will often regard their drill instructors with the same respect as their parents.
15. Often found in either law enforcement or various professions.
16. Is extremely thorough at what they do.
17. Does not wear a bunch of patches to adorn their uniform. Their title of Marine is often sufficient.
18. Often arrives at work earlier than expected. If they wear a shirt and tie in their job, you might see the tie clip. between the third and fourth button centered.
19. Had spent time training at one of two places; Parris Island or San Diego.
20. May be able to field strip their rifle, up to 60 years after leaving active duty.
21. Can recite the nomenclature of the M1, M14 or M16.
22. May often have his pencils sharpened to a perfect precision point.
23. Will not back down from a fight.

…again, don’t ask me why Jarheads make me oh so horny.

X Posted @ Michael’s (A jarhead who does make me horny)

Spot on! I vaguely remember scanning some hyper headline about suicide rates being very high among US Soldiers and Marines…because it was a MSM hit piece, I didn’t read it. This article sheds a lot of light on this subject. Make sure you read the whole thing though.

You know the war in Iraq is going better when the mainstream media stops reporting on casualties there. In fact, the casualty count has decreased so much that the media has given up claiming that our soldiers will all be killed if we don’t surrender soon, and is now forced to claim instead that our soldiers will just all kill themselves if we don’t surrender soon.

That was the tacit message in widely carried reports last week that the military suicide rate had reached crisis proportions. As I’ve pointed out before, the media has no use for the soldier when he is healthy, gung ho, and mission focused. But let him get killed, maimed, abused, drunk, arrested, evicted, or otherwise in deep trouble and suddenly they care a lot. The media loves a soldier, when he’s a victim.

I just got home. I almost sat through the entire movie. But I couldn’t do it. My buddy kept checking his watch. I kept checking my watch. Hoping. Hoping beyond hope, that the movie would end soon. But it didn’t. And it was getting late.

The movie in question is Uwe Boll’s “In the Name of the King“. It is quite possibly the WORST movie I have ever seen. The screenplay was horrible. The storyline was horrible. The editing was atrocious (scenes just jumped around without in coherence). And there were some big names in it…

Like Burt Reynolds! (Okay, he was supposed to play the role of a medieval king, not exactly who I would cast for that role either.) And then there is Ray Liotta, who plays the “evil sorcerer”, and the role doesn’t fit him
.
Jason Statham, the hero known as “Farmer” who is actually the king’s long-lost son (didn’t see that one coming), tries his best to be good action hero, but he has nothing to work with because the script sucks. So he just looks like he’s pissed off that he got suckered into the half-assed three ring circus that is In the Name of the King.

Matthew Lillard as the King’s treasonous nephew. He acts like the goofy killer in the first Scream throughout the movie. Or perhaps like Shaggy in the movie Scooby-Doo. Maybe a mixture of the two. Maybe he was high during filming. I dunno.

There are other actors in this movie that you will probably recognize. And apparently they too were either suckered in or have just fallen on hard times and need any kind of work. Sad.

As far as the rest of the movie. I just don’t know where to start. The Krug, the evil Lord-of-the-Rings orc-like beasts, look like they belong as the bad guys on Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. They honestly look like they are guys in rubberized suits. Nothing near the caliber of Lord of the Rings. I have seen better on made for Sci-Fi Channel movies.

The story line. Poor. As with many movies adapted from video games, its hard to make the plot fit into a two hour movie. But it doesn’t even appear that the writer even tried. Its like something a rambling three year old high on sugar came up with.

And the editing, there were actually a few times throughout the movie where the screen blanked out for three or four seconds and a digital timer clock came on the lower corner of the screen. Obviously the editor of the movie forgot to graduate from film school edit that out of the movie during production. Maybe they thought it would add to the entire amateurishness of the entire experience.

And that is exactly what it was. An experience. Much like being robbed or anally-violated with a pineapple might be labeled “an experience”. This is the kind of stuff that, if it were shown to detainees at Gitmo, I’d have to side with Amnesty International’s claim that to view this movie would equate to heinous torture.

This is not even a renter. Don’t see it. Ever.

Yes my friends… it was that bad.

Why?

Huckabee wins in Iowa over Mitt Romney, McCain is tied with Thompson there. THEN McCain beats Mitt Romney in New Hampshire. The only consistent person throughout these first days has been Romney. Now Romney is not my first choice, but I do believe I prefer him over McCain and I just don’t have faith in Huckabee in the general election. I just get the feeling that the MSM is going to try to keep this a horse race and now that TWO states have chosen Huckabee and McCain, they try to make it sound like Romney, Guiliani and Thompson all should just fold up their tents because two states have chosen our nominees. Bullcrap. I hope that Thomspon, Romney and Guiliani keep fighting till the end. I’d take any of those three over Huckabee or McCain.

(NOTE: I’d hold my nose and vote for McCain as opposed to Hillary or Obama, mainly because he IS tough on terror, though he has no spine on immigration).

Two “Haditha” Marines will face Courts Martial:

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Two Marines were ordered Friday to face courts-martial for their roles in the killings of Iraqi civilians in Haditha.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani faces charges of dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order for allegedly failing to accurately report and investigate the Nov. 19, 2005, killings of 24 Iraqis.

Chessani is the most senior U.S. serviceman since the Vietnam War to face a court-martial for actions or decisions made in combat, said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who teaches law of war at Georgetown University Law Center.

Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum faces a court-martial on charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault.

The decision by Lt. Gen. James Mattis to send Tatum to court-martial comes after the investigating officer said last month that the evidence was too weak to prosecute him. But Tatum will not be tried on the murder count he originally faced.

The Marines now stand before their peers in the Military Justice System. It will up to this process to determine innocence or guilt. I stand with the two Marines involved and I believe Lance Corporal Tatum is innocent. The process isn’t over. They have not been proven guilty of any crimes. I have faith in the UCMJ to come to the right conclusion in these cases.

Chris Matthews writes an Op/Ed in today’s Boston Globe:

What you see when the cameras aren’t watching

By Chris Matthews | October 19, 2007

I SAW something at last week’s Republican presidential debate in Michigan you couldn’t see on television.

It was how the candidates acted off camera.

For much of the two hours in Dearborn, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain, and the others wore their game faces. They showed a serious sense of purpose we expect from people seeking the presidency.

What grabbed me was how differently they all behaved when the lights dimmed for CNBC and MSNBC commercials. As they each drifted away from their lecterns I felt a palpable shift of mood.

Matthews is experiencing some melancholy??

I’m no political Pollyanna. I love debate. Democracy is noisy. And sometimes it gets hot. In matters of war, it ought to be hot. And sometimes rules are broken - Watergate, Iran-Contra, the Scooter Libby matter.

But the scenes I witnessed during the breaks in the Dearborn debate are the glue that holds the rest together.

I’ve spent 36 years in Washington and this is the political world I’ve come to love. It is the place where people, especially the professionals, get along.

Certainly it’s the way it was on Capitol Hill back when I worked for House Speaker Tip O’Neill. After all the fighting over tax cuts and how to end the Cold War, people got along.
[...]
It’s possible to live another way. Some people have the luxury of rendering unchallenged political opinion. They work on keyboards. Politicians have to pass one another in the hallway. They have to meet in rooms and get things done.

My favorite lesson from the great politicians is not to let it get personal. “Welcome to the room where we plot against you,” I welcomed Ronald Reagan to the speaker’s ceremonial office when he came to give the 1982 State of the Union speech. “Oh no, not after six. The speaker says we’re all friends after six.”

Hmm it doesn’t appear to me that Matthews learned any of the lessons his old boss taught him. Not at all. Has it ever occurred to Matthews that HE is a part of the problem with the modern political discourse? That his snickering partisan remarks, body language and overall tone add to the increasingly vile and negative tone? That his obviously slanted and biased views shine through every time he opens his mouth?

We’re all friends after six, Chris… Are you?

So what else did Lt. General Sanchez have to say the other day? While he did bash the administration (for good reason) for it’s lack of good planning for this war in Iraq, he also said some other things not being talked about at the NYT.

WASHINGTON — The former top commander of coalition forces in Iraq may have called U.S. efforts there catastrophically flawed and unrealistically optimistic, but much of the criticism of the media by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez has been left unreported.

In his speech to the Military Reporters and Editors Association in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Sanchez accused reporters of “unscrupulous reporting, solely focused on supporting an agenda and preconceived notions of the U.S. military.”

Without naming a specific company, Sanchez said “parent media organizations” have political agendas that direct the news coverage of the war and in some cases put U.S. service members in deadly situations.

“What is clear to me is that you are perpetuating the corrosive partisan politics that is destroying our country and killing our service members who are at war. My assessment is that your profession, to some, has strayed from these ethical standards and allowed external agendas to manipulate what the American public sees on TV, reads in newspapers and what they see on the Web,” Sanchez said.

I would have loved to have been there. The room must have had some red faces. Or maybe not- this is the media we’re talking about here. They have no ethic or shame.