Victory Institute Action Alert

January 9, 2009

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In September, Navy SEALs captured Ahmed Hashim Abed – a most-wanted al Qaeda leader – during a nighttime raid. Abed is the suspected mastermind of a 2004 ambush that brutally murdered four Blackwater security contractors – including a former SEAL – in Fallujah, Iraq. The contractors were burned, mutilated, and suspended from a bridge. According to the terrorist himself and conflicting statements from another sailor, these SEALs might have hit Abed in the stomach.

The objective of Operation Neptune’s Fury is to exonerate the SEALs, who should be honored as heroes, not tried as criminals.

The charged SEALs are:

• SO2 Matthew McCabe, 24, of Perrysburg, Ohio
• SO1 Julio Huertas, 28, of Blue Island, Ill.
• SO2 Jonathon Keefe, 25, of Yorktown, Va.

All are from SEAL Team Ten in Little Creek, Va.

The Navy has just over 2,000 SEALs, and it takes years of training to become one. These men are some of the most elite warriors in the world. They accomplished their mission, yet could face discharge because the man responsible for the Fallujah ambush could have received a fat lip?

"How long before America’s front-line troops begin to wonder if the country really has their backs?" asked Lt. Col. Ralph Peters in a New York Post op-ed.

Unfortunately, they already are. As a SEAL officer told me in an interview, "SEALs are tired of having to watch their back – not only from the enemy – but also from our own leadership." These warriors clearly need our help. This is a battle that they cannot win.
Take Action!
Let the SEALs know that the United States does have their backs. Admiral Eric Olson is the Commanding Officer of Special Operations Command; he is a SEAL himself and has the authority to stop the trials. Politely inform him that the charges against the SEALs must be dropped. These elite warriors have went above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to securing our freedom, and deserve to be treated as heroes rather than tried as criminals.

Remember, what you communicate could either help or hurt these men’s careers.

1. Call Admiral Eric Olson at               (813) 826.5100         (813) 826.5100
2. Or Fax (813) 825.5109
3. Or Email: olsone@socom.mil
4. Then Forward this to as many people as possible

Sign up to receive Victory Institute Action Alerts here.

Donate to the SEALs’ Legal Defense Fund

I encourage all of you who can do this to express your opinion and your support for these men in honor of the sacrifices they make in the name of our safety and protection.  In my opinion, these men are heroes and Abed is lucky to still draw breath.  His fate has been far more kind than the fate of the men that he captured, tortured, murdered and then hung their desecrated bodies on display for the entire world to see.  Enough is enough.

It is a well know fact that once elected politicians almost immediately forget the very promises that got them elected in the first place.  This administration has been no different.  Of course they have kept some of the promises that they made, but those are only the ones that serve their purposes and drive their agendas. 

What promises have they kept?  Well that is easy, we were promised justice for those held in Guantanamo Bay, they have certainly delivered on that.  In fact those who are now held at Gitmo can rest assured that they will have far more legal rights then the very soldiers that captured them on a foreign battlefield.  You see the Obama administration promised them justice and they shall have it in the form of the American civil legal system, something actually denied our brave men and women who serve and die for this nation.  No, military tribunals or courts martial was not good enough for the illegal enemy combatants who fought our soldiers overseas.  They must have far superior legal rights, attorneys paid for by the American tax payer and access to all the case law, precedence and jurisprudence afforded each and every American citizen.  Who cares that our brave servicemen and women do not get this luxury, those terrorist suspects certainly deserve it.  You see when you become a soldier, airman, sailor or marine in service to this nation, you not only pledge your life to the defense of this nation and her Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic, you also waive your right to the very guarantees provided by the document that your are duty bound to protect.  You swear to surrender your rights and be governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).  However, now those who fight against American troops on the field of battle do not have to worry about such details.  Now they can have the same rights as any other American criminal, including the right for some sleaze ball attorney to find a legal loop hole to let them go free, because some bureaucratic bookworm did not fill out some piece of paperwork in triplicate or some soldier was insensitive to the cultural needs of a detainee.  Not to mention the fact that in their utmost lack of wisdom, the Federal government has decided to try some of these terrorist just miles from the scene of the ‘crime’.  I be New Yorkers will welcome any verdict that comes out of these trials that they will be forced to host, even if it is an innocent one, so long as the rights of these terrorist who killed 3,000 innocent New York citizen were not violated in even the slightest way.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is one promise that the Obama administration has kept: Far superior legal rights and proceedings for terrorist suspects than is afforded our very own soldiers, all at the expense of the American taxpayer.

You want an American trial for these jihadist?  Well, I agree.  Here is my idea.  Dress them in bright pink jumpsuits, pick a day and time to release them in Hoboken or Queens, broadcast the location and time of release to everyone in the Tri-State area, then let them go.  If they can make it out of the city alive, they are free to go.  It is a hell of a better fate than the three thousand innocent civilians that burned to death or were buried alive in the rubble so many years ago.

What other promises have they kept?  Ah, yes, healthcare.  They told us they would ram a Federally controlled healthcare plan down our throats whether we liked it or not.  Almost a year later they are close to succeeding, but here is where some of the broken promises come in.  Now I am not talking about the one we would have plainly been fools to believe, like that he would not have any activist or lobbyist as his advisors or that he would not sign any bill with a single piece of pork attached to it.  No, I am talking about those that he repeated over and over again that gave all the naive liberal votes hope that we would see the shining light of democracy from the unprecedented transparency promised by the Obama administration.  You see he knew this healthcare thing was poisonous.  He knew that the American people would not willingly sacrifice their choices, their rights and their control over their medical decisions if they really knew what was being planned.  No secrecy would be key to the success of this agenda.  The American people could not really find out what what in this healthcare bill or they would resist, but if he promised us that we would get to see each and every deliberation about this  live on CSPAN it sounded awfully good for the campaign.  Complete transparency, it seems, is just a bit more opaque than we thought.  Where has this CSPAN coverage been?  Why now that people are demanding that he live up to his promises is he hemming and hawing about allowing his bumbling press secretary to blurt out one half-witted excuse after another?  It is funny how those promises that you never meant to keep, come around and bite you in the ass, Mr. President.

On to other promises, how about that unemployment rate?  Hey, I know this one personally.  Both my wife and I had good productive jobs to start off 2009.  Nine months later neither of us did.  So what was this about if we passed the TARP bill, or was it the Omnibus, that we would not go over 8% unemployment?  What about the transparency promised with all of these bailout an stimulus programs?  Oh, sure there was a website created and job loss numbers spewed about, but then we find out that those numbers were complete bullshit.  They included thousands of jobs that had not even started yet and did you know that almost one billion dollars, that is right $920 million of your dollars cannot be adequately accounted for from the funds that were spent in the first six months.  Oh and did you also know that much of this money did not even go to create jobs?  Well that is of the money that has actually been spent of the staggering amounts allocated for these travesties that were voted into law.  That is another thing that apparently was just a flat out lie or just something that this administration does not care much about.  You see, for weeks we were told that we had to act now to avert a crisis.  We had to infuse the economy with these staggering trillions of immediately of face collapse.  Funny, that, because as of today only about 20% of the funds for first $890 billion so called stimulus packages has been spent with another 20% or so in process to be spent within the next six months.  That does not sound like a shot in the arm, but more like a long term prescription plan.  So why the rush if we are going to sit on more than $600 billion dollars until well into 2010?  Why did we have to pass this massive bill in its entirety right then?  Could we not have slowed down and voted to spend the roughly $160 billion dollars that we have so far, then taken our time on the rest?  Hell, now there is even talk of another stimulus package, because the first one was ineffective and the economy has not recovered.  Well no shit, Sherlock.  If $890 billion dollars in funds immediately injected into the American economy was the real answer, then spending $160 billion over six months won’t have the same effect.  That is the difference between a shot and a slow drip IV, not anywhere close to the same thing.

You know there is a question that I always hear thrown around at election time.  Are you better off today than you were four years ago?  It seems that is how we are to judge the effectiveness of our leaders, most pointedly the President.  Well, Mr. President, I am not better off that I was four years ago, nor even two for that matter.  Two years ago, my wife an I both had very profitable jobs in solid industries, hers in the middle of a growing boom.  We were making significant salaries, had good future prospects, good health insurance, large life insurance policies, a healthy stock portfolio and plenty of money in the savings.  Yeah, uhm, we don’t have any of that anymore.  My wife has spent the last nine months unemployed because her industry freaked out about Cap and Trade and I joined her for two months as the economy wore into my job as well.  Hell I even worked for a government contract regulatory lab.  People HAVE to have done what we did, but it still cut into our business enough that I am not even sure my former company will survive after being in business since it was founded in 1976.  No, Mr. President I am far, far worse off now than I was before you were elected and there are many Americans who are right there with me.  You have had a year and all your policies have done is make worse an already bad situation.  You have three years left.  The clock is ticking.

Since I am in an analogy mood, this evening I will give you another one.   Let’s say you take your car into a mechanic and he charges you $890 dollars to fix your engine.  A week later you have to take it back to him for the very same problem.  This is when you discover that he only spend $160 dollars to fix your car the last time, hides the invoice when you try to look at it, can’t explain to you what some of it was spent on and tells you that it should be running better because the flux capacitor is now in synch with the primary phase coil, but he promises that if you will give him another $1,000 he will make sure it runs right.  Now, ask yourself, how likely would you be to let this man work on your car again, provided you do not punch him out straight away and take your money back forcibly.  Now ask yourself how likely would you be to let him recommend a doctor for you and your family, or decide what medical procedure you need or do not need?  Scary thought isn’t it?

As we approach the celebration of our hard fought independence just a few weeks away, I have been pondering how far we have come in the past 233 years. We successfully threw off the tyranny of England and forged a new form of government never before seen on the face of the Earth and forever changed the future of this planet.

For years our young country still struggled with many of our own difficulties. Small wars for territories, westward expansion and a bloody civil war to preserve this fledgling nation and end the stain of slavery all plagued us within the first century. Growing out of these struggles emerged a strong industrial nation. We emerged a nation not only capable of defending ourselves, but we were a nation capable, if not always willing, to stop global threats and liberate millions of people from oppression. Twice this past century we stood against massive global threats and by our sweat, blood and tears entire nations were freed. We survived great depressions and financial recessions always emerging a stronger, more capable nation. This nation has pioneered the fields of medicine, manufacturing, science, engineering and so many others. Our might has brought forth terrible weapons of war, but our compassion has tempered their use only to protect and liberate. Our feet first touched the soil of another planet and our ingenuity gave birth to much of the modern digital world. Our arts, music, television and music lead the modern world in creativity, beauty and skill. Our farms feed the hungry nations of this world, while our medicines heal the sick an injured.

In less than a quarter of a century, this young county of ours has grown to be the greatest nation in the world, comprised of the most generous of people and representing the strongest force for good this world has ever known.

I fear for this nation as our Independence Day approaches. We have abandoned the principles that shaped this nation into what it has been over the past quarter of a century. Today we move farther from the dreams of our founders and we betray their ideals with massive government expansion, government ownership of and interference in private industry and the usurpation of the rights of the States and the citizens by an overly powerful central government. We no longer stand for liberty and freedom. We are no longer willing to protect and liberate the innocent. We no longer have the will to stand against global threats for our own protection nor that of others. We have become a weak shadow of our former selves and we allow our fear of what others think of us to paralyze us into inaction.

Today, citizens of Iran die in the streets while they call for freedom and liberty much as we did just over two centuries ago. We sadly turn our eyes away from the horror, too cowardly to even condemn the actions or voice outrage against this oppressive regime. After years of telling these people to throw off their oppression and rise against this totalitarian government, we turn our back on them when they finally do. We, who possess strongest, most advanced military in the world, cower in the face of public opinion and let innocents suffer at the hand of a brutal government, just as we did in Somalia and Darfur.

Is it because we are so focused on the possible nuclear threat posed by the rogue nation in Asia who threatens to launch a weapon towards one of our states this very Independence Day? No, unfortunately not. Once again, when we face an open, hostile threat toward the peace and security of this nation and her allies from a unhinged, uncontrollable rogue state that potentially has the capability of delivering nuclear weapons to the continental United States, we cower and do nothing. We stand by and wait for them to act, at which time it may be too late. Just as before with the horrible attacks of Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Center, we want to avoid conflict at all cost while our enemies plot our destruction. If we have learned nothing else from our past, the one thing we should have learned is that appeasement of our enemies is the fastest way to cost more American lives than was necessary. It failed with Germany. It failed with Japan. It failed when Israel had tried it with the Palestinians. It has failed when we have tried it with the terrorist threats we face today. Appeasement is weakness.

I fear for the future of this nation, her citizens and all those worldwide who depend America’s benevolence, compassion and strength. What exists before your eyes today is a shadow of its former self, an echo of its strength and a pale reminder of its purpose and will. I will celebrate this Independence Day with some sadness in my heart as I realize, this could well be one of the last ones we celebrate, lest we offend some other minor groups of people who hate us no matter what we do.

Once again we see the intolerance, violence and hatred of the left. There have been many leftists that I have disagreed with, vehemently at times. However, I can recall not one single incident where I actually wish physical harm to come to one, especially not publicly or to such a vicious level at to completely demean the subject.

Here is your tolerant left. Here are your champions of women’s rights. No. The sarcasm fails me. They are nothing of the sort.

Today, Playboy Magazine published a list a list called So Right, It’s Wrong. This is a list of the top ten conservative women that they would like to hate f*ck. You heard me right. I did not coin that term, it was used many, many times in the vile article posted on the Playboy website. That is until the cowards pulled the article due to the outrage it caused. If you want to view some of the postings, I found a website that captured screen shots of the insulting article before the spineless scum at Playboy pulled it. You can view the comments on these professional women and the abhorrent languages used to describe how they would like to have violent sex with them, on RedState (Caution: Content Possibly NSFW).

What I find so infuriating about situations such as this is that when it is a leftist showing their complete intolerance of, hatred of and violence towards others it is somehow acceptable. There has been no mainstream media condemnation of this vile assault against these women. None on the left have come forward to condemn the actions of these petulant children for their assault on these women. Just as when that complete waste of skin Perez Hilton assaulted Carrie Prejean because she gave an honest opinion that he did not share, the left can call these women horrible names and suggest vile actions against them and it seems acceptable.

However, we are not to criticize a judicial nominee based on her racist comments or horrible record from the bench, when the Democrats schemed to prevent Miguel Estrada from being nominated to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals based solely on the fact that he was Hispanic, ignoring that he was one of the most well respected trail lawyers and was supremely qualified.

We are told to be nice and not criticize President Obama’s dishonest, appeasing, apologetic speech where he panders to those who would just as well see us dead, when the left spent the last several years calling multiple members of the Bush administration everything from murders to Hitler himself.

We are said to be the sexist, racists, intolerant, ignorant rednecks, clinging to our guns and religion, but when you look for intolerance and hate, you only need to look to the left to find abundant examples. I will not stand for this hypocritical double standard bullshit any longer. Every single one of the people responsible for this article should be immediately terminated from Playboy. That means authors, producers, editors, researchers, etc. Everyone needs to be gone for this abomination against these women. I mean if Don Imus gets canned for a nappy headed ho comment, then these guys have to hit the pavement and hit it now.

No longer will I stand for the racist, sexist, hateful, bigot claims of the left. I dare anyone to bring that argument to me. I will bury anyone who does in multiple examples of bigotry and hypocrisy from the left. I am done with this hateful bullshit. I will stand for it no longer.

I did not get to hear the speech that President Obama gave this morning, but I have just finished reading its transcript. I have to admit that this man can surely stir emotions within me when he delivers a speech. Unfortunately these emotions are frustration, embarrassment, shame and fear. I want to examine a few points of his speech that really caught my eye and cause me grave concern.

“The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights.”

Uhm, no. The Qur’an has done that. The religion itself has done that. The very words of Mohamed himself have done that. Islam is hostile to America and anyone who does not believe as they do. It is NOT the religion of peace and it is absolutely intolerant of any other religions or non-believers. I can quote passage after passage, and have done so before, that show Islam to be the violent religion that it is, completely opposed to the basic human rights that we cherish.

“I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles – principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”

Again, Islam is intolerant and does not respect any who do not believe. There is no mutual interest that can be seen between a Muslim and an infidel. The principles of justice that Islam prescribes are violent and absolute ones, showing no mercy or compassion whatsoever. They practice honor killings without trials or remorse, even unto their own flesh and blood. They beat women for being independent, outspoken and free willed. They suffer no deviance from this strict religious and accept no argument towards moderation. The question of same sex marriage is an easy one to answer under an Islamic style system of justice: simply kill the homosexuals and there is no issue.

“There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground.”

They will not listen to us. They wish to learn nothing from us. They will never respect infidels. There is absolutely no common ground.

“It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.”

Let’s see here… Algebra was developed by the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians well before Islam ever existed so, no. The magnetic compass is believed to have been developed in China during the Qin Dynasty of 221-206BC, so again, no. Other tools of navigation, possibly but that is too vague a statement to discern. Our mastery of pens and printing? Well since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440 in Germany, the Chinese perfected movable clay type in 1041 and the Buddhist introduced the earliest form of block printing in 880AD, I am calling this one false as well. The statement that they have given us our understanding of how disease spreads and is cured is just beyond ignorant. This understanding has come from many cultures, both ancient and modern. Islamic culture has also given us: terrorist hijackings, suicide bombers, honor killings, wife beatings, barbaric executions, jihads against innocent civilians and oppression of women’s rights for centuries. Throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds it absolute intolerance of other religions and racial hatred.

“As the Holy Koran tells us, ‘Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.’”

Well, that is true and in that case I fear that President Obama is completely screwed. This entire speech was full of lies, half-truths and utter bullshit. Maybe tomorrow I will go into the absurdity of his support for Iran’s nuclear program that he briefly highlights in this openly apologetic and appeasement full speech.

I find it simply amazing how Nancy Pelosi knew about water boarding, knew nothing about water boarding, knew about it but thought they wouldn’t use it, knew about it once they had used it and was simply lied to by the CIA all along. Now it is apparently her belief that the CIA lied to her the entire time and continuously lies to Congress on a regular basis. Isn’t that nice? Slam the CIA just to cover your own incompetent ass.

In the absolute height of arrogance, this woman is demanding investigations and possible criminal charges for those who acted in good faith on information that they thought was lawful and appropriate. She wants to retroactively target CIA operatives, advisors and administration officials for actions taken that were lawful at the time they were carried out, regardless of their legal status now.

Now we see the treachery and deception present on the left. This woman knew full well about all of these procedures and interrogation techniques and signed off on them. She knew before anyone was ever water boarded that it was a technique that had been approved by the CIA and would be employed in the most severe cases. She knew after it happened and never raised any alarm until it was politically profitable for her to do so. This is not about torture. This is not about interrogations. This is about political capital and maneuvering. This is about revenge against the Bush administration and retribution against political opponents. This is petty, corrupt, unethical, deceitful and dishonest. Where is the outrage from the left? Where are the objections to her knowing this was occurring but staying silent until it politically benefited her not to?

She needs to go. Not because she supported the water boarding of vicious, murderous bastards bent on the destruction of as many innocent Americans as possible. Hell, she should be commended for that. No, she needs to go for lying through her teeth and attempting to have dedicated professionals who simply did their jobs brought up on charges for doing the very things she knew there were going to do to keep this country safe.

Seriously, let us remember who we are dealing with here.

There has been an awful lot of discussion surrounding the torture subject again since the Obama administration has floated the idea of criminal investigations into the harsh interrogation methods used by the CIA to extract information from al-Qaida operatives. The Obama administration has received both harsh criticism and demands for further investigation after the releasing the CIA memos detailing the interrogation methods used by the CIA and the decision making process surrounding them. I believe this is a reckless step aimed at political gain and poses a great risk to our nation on many fronts.

To begin this discussion, one must first decide what exactly torture is and what remains a harsh interrogation method that does not cross this line. This is a question over which much debate has raged throughout the last few years. While some clearly see water boarding as torture, others disagree and find the practice perfectly acceptable when used in high level, critical interrogations where other methods have failed. Many would also argue that these interrogation methods are ineffective and do not produce reliable results. However, it appears that the evidence in hand on that point tends to demonstrate otherwise.

This is a difficult question to answer, as Americans have always fought against regimes that torture and abuse people. Therefore to even consider such measures must place great strain on our core beliefs. Herein lies a question faced by many of our great leaders in the past, to what lengths can we go to protect this nation without destroying what this nation stands for? When President Lincoln was faced with the dissolution of the Union, he suspended the basic rights guaranteed under by Constitution under the Bill of Rights and marched a standing army against American citizens to preserve that Union. When President Truman faced the decision to invade Japan at the cost of millions upon millions of American and Japanese lives, or to drop tremendously devastating weapons of mass destruction on civilian population centers in an attempt to force a Japanese surrender, he chose the lesser of two evils and the lower cost of life. When President Bush was faced with another impending terrorist attack on this nation, he authorized what methods he thought legal and justified to extract the information from our enemies that allowed us to prevent these attacks. For none of these men were these decisions light, but they were easy ones to make. They did what they must to protect this nation in dire times of need. They chose the only path they could to save this nation or the lives of her citizens.

For me this question is simple. I for one do not consider water boarding to be torture, nor do I consider many of the other methods detailed in the memos that were foolishly released by the Obama administration to be above the uncrossable line. When dealing with a ruthless enemy who will slowly cut the head off of an innocent American contractor while filming it for propaganda purposes, I find it perfectly acceptable that we would pour water over his head until he decides to talk. When dealing with a people who believe it acceptable to murder their own children in ‘honor killings’ because they have not behaved in some particular way, I find no problem sticking them in a room with an insects that they fear. When dealing with a people that strap bombs on to women and children, teach that it is acceptable to beat your wives and kill indiscriminately innocent people who will not yield to their way of life, I do not see a problem with slamming them up against a wall and threatening to beat the information out of them.

Someone asked me a very simple question one day in an attempt to define what I saw as torture. If your children had been kidnapped and the man sitting before you had the information that would save their lives, to what lengths would you go to obtain that information? Where ever you chose to stop or whatever you decided you could not do, was your definition of torture. After contemplating the question for some time, I realized that it is not that difficult of a question for me to answer. This may make me a horrible person in some people’s eyes, but I could think of very little that I would not do to save the life of just one of my children, not mention all of them. If the person still possessed the ability to draw breath once they gave me what I needed, they should consider themselves very fortunate indeed. I would gladly water board him and his entire family to save my children and I would sleep well at night knowing I had done so. I would stop at nothing to protect my children. How could I think less of a nation that did likewise to protect her citizens?

Someone once argued with me that I would be sacrificing my morality by taking such actions, even in the defense of my children. I disagree. I feel that it would be a moral imperative to do anything and everything possible to save my children. Failing to do so would be the ultimate moral failure. These people have sworn to kill as many innocent Americans as the possibly can by any means that they can. We are at war with an enemy that knows no rules and respects no boundaries. Our citizens and soldiers are offered no quarter and are brutally murdered and hung in public as examples of their barbarism. How there are people in this country who have a problem with pouring water on these people to scare them into releasing information that will thwart their horrific plans is far beyond me. Failing to do so, to me, seems the ultimate failure of a nation and its moral obligation to protect its people.

Well I could not have been more pleased with the turnout yesterday for the Weatherford TEA Party. The police estimated about 850 people at the peak of the event. Official estimates provided to QXFM 89.5 by the Weatherford Police Department put the final number between 1,200 and 1,500 people in attendance. People started arriving about an hour before the event and stood around talking about issues, handing out flyers and grabbing signs to carry. By the 4:00PM start time, a decent sized crowd had gathered neat the speaking platform. American and Texas flags covered the crowd in a sea of red, white and blue. Signs were held aloft proclaiming a wide variety of slogans all aimed at the same message, we are fed up.

The most encouraging thing to see was the diversity of ages in attendance. There were children waving flags and holding signs in the midst of teenagers and young adults cheering on the speakers. The range of adults in attendance stretched from college students just starting on their taxpaying journey to people way into their retirement ages. I even witnessed a blind woman brave the danger of walking in a public street, cane outstretched feeling the way in front of her, just so that her voice would be heard as well. We have a wonderful showing of veterans and even a couple of full uniform military personnel showed up, even though they are not supposed to appear in uniform at events such as these while. I for one was honored to have them there.

Just after 4:00PM we began our march. We started off on a small street near the assembly area and marched towards the courthouse square. Many people stood waiting for us to walk by. They waited on their front porches, at street corners and in front of businesses along the route. Almost off all of them were cheering the rally us on, some waving signs and banners of their own. After a few minutes we had reached South Main St and turned our march north towards the courthouse. They had shut down the outside lane of traffic for the march and as vehicles passed they shouted out measures of support and honked their horns as they passed us by. The march line stretched out over several city blocks and finally wove its way back to the original assembly grounds where after the pledge of allegiance, the national anthem and a short prayer we listened to people speak about the issues.

I cannot claim that I was enthralled by all of the speakers, but the young and vibrant JJ Williams and the colonial clad Judge Mark Riley, were the highlights for me. I was glad to have Ms. Williams speaking at the event to show all the young people in attendance that this was their issue too. She seemed to really connect with some of the teenagers in the crowd when she was speaking. Judge Riley in particular delivered a powerful speech that excited and energized the crowd, spurning shouts of agreement and the occasional, “Hell no!”

Members of the Parker County Young Republicans canvassed the event speaking directly to those who came to protest and signing people up for our mailing list. It is our sincere hope that we can build upon the energy displayed at the TEA Party and turn it into a political force, not just simply for change, but for reformation of this nation. I am sure there will be more events and other times in the future where the American people must stand together and demand that the government heed our call.

I was pleased to see the massive turnout of protestors all across this nation, most of whom were average everyday people from all walks of life and all political affiliations. I was also thrilled with the Governor of the great State of Texas, Rick Perry, as he attended several TEA Parties himself yesterday and sent a clear, concise message to the Federal government. Texans are a proud people who remember the cost of freedom and we will take no more of this. What did surprise me some was his discussion of secession with reporters after the events. I had heard that people were yelling the slogan at many of the rallies, but I just assumed that it was the normal call to secede we here so often down here when we disagree with what Washington does. However, to hear a sitting governor of Texas actually discuss the possibility of secession with a reporter is a chilling event. As you can see from this Dallas Morning News article, Governor Perry is not calling for secession, but he is also not discounting it as a possibility in the future if this long train of government abuses is not reconciled.

These are definitely interesting times we live in.
 
 
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In the short month since President Obama has been inaugurated he has made good on his promise to deliver change to this nation. We have seen a massive increase in Federal spending from the pork laden $820 billion stimulus package to the Omnibus appropriations bill filled with over 8,500 earmark projects. Earlier this week the President hosted a fiscal responsibility convention where political leaders from across this nation gathered to discuss our soaring deficit and struggling economy. At the conclusion of this summit, President Barack Obama stood before the nation and simply lied to our faces. He promised that the Federal government would operate on a pay-as-you-go program and ensured us that he would not spend any money that we did not actually have. He promised to cut non-essential programs in favor of those critical to the success of this nation, not raise taxes on any families making less than $250,000 annually and ensure that Washington did not leave a massive debt that would crush our future generations. Apparently, it was all a lie.Yesterday, Obama released his new fiscal budget to Congress totaling nearly $3.5 trillion dollars in a direct contradiction to his words just days earlier. Considering the $700 billion dollars already allocated to financial bailouts, the $820 billion dollars in the federal stimulus package, the $420 billion dollars in the Omnibus appropriations bill and not the $3.5 trillion dollars in the new Federal budget, within his first month in office, President Barack Obama has spent over $5.4 trillion dollars with promises of more to come. Our nation and our economy will be crushed under this massive debt. This is more money that any country has ever spent in such a short time in the history of this planet. This is the change we were looking for?

To show a fine example of more undesirable change, allow me to explain the new decision handed down by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. Since 1991 it has not been permissible for the media to photograph fallen soldiers returning home from a war zone. President George H.W. Bush prohibited this practice in 1991 during Desert Storm as a means of protecting those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation from being politicized in the media. Acknowledging the dishonor that this nation did unto its servicemen in past wars by using them and their sacrifice as political tools to seed dissent, President Bush (41) decided that he would no longer allow the media to photograph fallen soldiers returning to military bases in this nation. Yesterday, Secretary Gates decided that the media’s desire to plaster images of dead soldiers on television, websites and periodicals across this nation in an attempt to discredit this war should be allowed. I will give him the credit for providing the stipulation that the families must give permission for this to occur, but I can just imagine what will come of this. The first time a media outlet convinces a family to allow them to photograph their fallen loved one so that they might honor their service and sacrifice and then turns around an politicizes the soldiers death as a means to further a political agenda, Gates’ resignation should be demanded.

The media claims that Americans have been sheltered from the real cost of war by not allowing them to photograph our returning dead. Bullshit. We know the cost of war. We know the sacrifice made by those that the media dismisses as murderers before a fair trial. We know the price paid by the returning dead and wounded. I know personally. I have a dear friend who fought willingly for his country and fell in battle to a sniper round. Luckily the brilliance of military surgeons saved his life in Baghdad, but he will never be the same. The round stuck him in one temple and exited the other doing serious brain damage along the way. By the skill of those surgeons and the grace of God he managed to live, but his life is forever changed due to his injury. We know the cost.

If the media were not completely biased and had shown willingness to report fairly about this conflict, this might be a different story. All we ever hear from Iraq and Afghanistan is negative. None of the good is ever reported. I still have friends serving there. I hear from them how the children run to them when they see them on the street and how civilians invite them into their homes to thank them for what they have done for their country. We hear of Marines who killed innocent civilians, but we do not hear of the ones that placed themselves in extraordinary danger to avoid civilian casualties. We hear of soldiers who violated their rules of engagement, but never of those who lost their lives because those rules so restricted them from defending themselves as they needed to.

I have another friend, a Marine. This is a good man, good father and fiercely dedicated soldier. He flies an F/A-18 Hornet for the Corps and I personally know he has taken innocent lives in this conflict. Were the incident left unto the media, my friend would be labeled as a murderer, a horrible example of American aggression, but he is so far from that it is not the least bit humorous. What was his crime? What drove him to kill several innocent civilians? The answer is very simple: bad intelligence. What he thought was a legitimate, approved target containing high level al-Qaeda leaders, was not. Was it his fault that the wrong vehicles were in the wrong place and the wrong time? Was it the analyst fault or the soldiers that collected the intelligence that they were sure was solid? Was it the commander’s fault who issued the strike order? Was it the fault of the ground crews that loaded his weapons or the tanker crew that topped him off on his ingress to his target? No. None of them deserve the blame as this was not an intentional attack on civilians. This was an unfortunate mistake; something that happens quite often in war. This does not make my friend or anyone else involved some horrible person who disregarded human life. It makes them all soldiers doing the best to serve their country with honor and integrity. Things such as these unfortunately occur in war, but left to the wiles of the media my friend, this good faithful soldier, would have been made out to be a murder instead of the hero that he is. They would not have cared about all the close air support missions he flew covering other soldiers and Marines that were pinned down. They would not have cared that at times he took out targets using only the cannon on his fighter to avoid collateral damage when he carried a full payload of much more destructive weapons that would have kept him out of harm’s way. They would not have cared that this incident tore him up emotionally; leaving him unable to fly combat missions for weeks until he stopped blaming himself for those innocent deaths and realized that it was part of war. They would not have cared that this strong, seasoned jarhead called his wife crying the day that it happened and was unable to even tell her why. To the media, he would just be a murder. We know the cost of war and we know where the intent of the media lies.

Now these people have the ability to photograph our fallen dead as they are returned in honor to an ungrateful nation and a mourning family. This is the change we can believe in? Well, this is the change that we got.

Today begins the fifth day of Israeli air strikes into the Gaza Strip. Earlier this morning, Israel rejected a United Nations proposed 48-hour cease-fire and continued its punishing air campaign against the militant terrorist. While the UN wrings its hands over the civilian casualties and humanitarian problems the Israeli air campaign is causing, Israel is building up ground forces to send into Gaza and finish the job. Good.

For starters, it was ignorant of the UN to suggest a cease-fire in the first place. This current conflict started when the previous cease-fire ended and Hamas started lobbing rockets into Israeli cities. What would be accomplished by agreeing to another cease-fire other that giving Hamas the time to regroup and rearm? No, Israel should give no respite to these violent thugs who prey on innocent civilians. They should obliterate them form the face of the Earth and take the Gaza Strip back into Israeli protection.

Gaza is no longer a Palestinian protectorate. It has been reduced to nothing more than and armed camp stockpiled with Chinese and Iranian made weapons and supplied through underground tunnels used to smuggle those weapons to Hamas.

Time and time again, Israel has capitulated to the demands of Hamas and Hezbollah. They have given land for peace, showed incredible restraint while under constant assault and painstakingly tried to avoid civilian casualties when it did retaliate against the aggressors. What has it gotten them? Shells and rockets raining into their major cities, terrorist blowing themselves up in malls and pizza joints and the condemnation of the insufferable and corrupt United Nations Human Rights Council.

I am sick to death of hearing people chastise Israel for her actions against Hamas and fortunately I seem to not be the only one. In a surprising change of heart, Egypt has placed its military on high alert and canceled all personal leaves, brining its military to its highest state of readiness. They are apparently supporting Israel’s prosecution of Hamas and have stated that they will seal off the southern border of the Gaza Strip if Israel sends in ground forces thereby preventing the escape of Hamas terrorist fleeing Israeli troops. Jordan also appears supportive of Israel and oddly enough, Hezbollah, who historically has joined her Hamas brethren in its terrorist assaults against Israel, has remained remarkably quite and still. This could have something to do with the warning issued from the Israeli Air Force that if it even suspected Hezbollah troop movements, it would immediately begin hitting their forces in the north. It seems that some of these countries in the Middle East are finally tiring of the endless violence caused by these radical terrorist organizations.

What needs to happen this time is nothing short of the complete destruction of Hamas. Israel needs to completely obliterate them and destroy their ability to regroup and rearm and all those people crying about the inhumanity of Israel’s actions, ask yourselves where were you when innocent Israeli’s were being killed by these terrorist barbarians. Did you protest and demand that Hamas stop their actions against a sovereign nation? Yeah, I did not thinks so.

So I cheer Israel on. Screw Hamas, screw the corrupt UN and screw an idiotic cease-fire agreement that would benefit no one but the terrorists.

Israel must be allowed to defend herself and her citizens. Would you not expect that we would do the same?