I have been a little curious lately about the Iraq war stance democrats and liberals have taken lately. Basically, they are going to force the President to use his veto power and then keep sending the President funding bills that include pork barrel spending or a timetable for withdrawal. Trust me, folks, a timetable for withdrawal in Iraq is like sending al Qaida an invitation to make the next pre-9/11 Afghanistan. Only this time the resistance will be weaker and the death toll will be much higher during the takeover. I am sure most people that would argue with me on that fact are going to say that I am merely using Conservative talking points. That is not the case here; it is the truth.

I am very perturbed by the fact that the current anti-Operation Iraqi Freedom battle cry is that the United States does not need to be in Iraq and, more recently, that the military has failed in Iraq or that the military can no longer sustain this operation. I find the latter statement to be a complete falsehood. The US Armed Forces contained the reach of the Soviets for many years only giving up ground where it did not make sense to fight or because of actions like this current Congress is trying to take (de-funding the war). Did the US military need to go in to Bosnia and help stop genocide? The short answer is, no. The long answer is yes, because, those people were deprived of their liberty. The Iraqi people for years were deprived of their liberty. We liberated Kuwait when Saddam Hussein deprived Kuwaitis of their liberty. A by-product of liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein is violence from terrorists. This violence must be stopped, contained, or destroyed before a withdrawal from Iraq can be considered.

I completely understand that the reason the US gave to the world was that Saddam Hussein was a madman with weapons of mass destruction. We definitely had 50% of that justification for war pegged. However, the hoards of WMDs have not turned up, yet. There have been batches of this and that chemical or biological agent found but the intelligence failure pre-OIF is now a widely accepted conclusion. However, WMDs are not the reason we are still in Iraq today. (continue reading post »)

If you’ve never heard of Gina Elise and her project Pin Ups for Vets prepare to become very informed and amazed. Gina Elise is a 24-year-old who majored in theater at UCLA. It’s not often that someone of Gina’s age gets interested in helping people. It’s even less often that someone from the state of California actively supports veterans and our troops like she does. Gina Elise is not your ordinary California girl, college graduate and with her Pin Ups for Vets calendars, specifically designed for troops and veterans, she is supporting the troops overseas, downrange, and veterans recovering here at home.

A year ago Gina Elise decided to take her, “love for retro and do something to help injured soldiers at the same time.” Gina told me that the inspiration for Pin Ups for Vets is, “The stories I hear about injured soldiers returning home from overseas really has a huge effect on me. Their lives have changed forever because of these injuries — because they served our country. The motivation and energy they have is inspiring to me. I want to do something for them.”

Gina Elise is supported by American Legion Post 360 in Lake Arrowhead, CA and makes calendars that she models in; the proceeds from which go to VA programs such as eyeglasses for Veterans, the home health program, recreational therapy, spinal cord injury & amputee programs, substance abuse program, women’s Veterans’ program, homeless program, reading materials and subscriptions for the Veterans, social relief fund, televisions, wheelchairs, and outreach programs for the visually impaired. She poses for each month in a World War II kind of retro look because Gina says she is a, “HUGE fan of all things retro. I’ve been a performer my entire life — love costumes, anything from another time period.” I’m just glad she decided to grace our time period with her looks (she’s a looker, ain’t she, fellas), grace, and caring nature.
(continue reading post »)

Allow me to make a politically correct Associated Press article semantically accurate. Let’s look at the original article.

Gunmen Slay Shiite Official in Baghdad (AP)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Drive-by shooters on Sunday killed a high-ranking Shiite official at the Iraqi industry and mines ministry in western Baghdad, the ministry said.

Eight gunmen in two cars blocked the way of Adil Abdul-Muhssin al-Lami, who served as a general director of the ministry’s engineering directorate, as he was traveling in the Sunni-dominated neighborhood of Dakhiliya.

His 27-year-old daughter, who was an engineer at the ministry, a colleague and driver also were killed in the attack that occurred as al-Lami was heading to work.

Insurgents are relentlessly targeting high-ranking Iraqi officials who are seen as collaborators with the U.S. forces.

Last Wednesday, Iraq’s higher education minister, a Sunni, escaped an assassination attempt after gunmen opened fire on his motorcade as he was traveling in southern Baghdad, killing one of his guards and seriously wounding another.

This pains me that I have to do this after 9/11 but some people still believe the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans will protect us. Allow me to present you with the edited rendition:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Drive-by shooters Terrorists performed a drive-by shooting on Sunday killed resulting in the death of a high-ranking, innocent, Shiite official at the Iraqi industry and mines ministry in western Baghdad, the ministry said.

Eight gunmen terrorists in two cars blocked the way of Adil Abdul-Muhssin al-Lami, who served as a general director of the ministry’s engineering directorate, as he was traveling in the Sunni-dominated neighborhood of Dakhiliya.

His 27-year-old daughter, who was an engineer at the ministry, a colleague and driver also were killed in the attack act of terrorism that occurred as al-Lami was heading to work.

Insurgents Terrorists in Iraq, who come from all over the Middle East, are relentlessly targeting high-ranking Iraqi officials who are seen as collaborators with the U.S. forces Iraqis that are trying to better themselves and their great nation.

Last Wednesday, Iraq’s higher education minister, a Sunni, escaped an assassination attempt after gunmen terrorists opened fire on his motorcade as he was traveling in southern Baghdad, killing one of his guards and seriously wounding another.

Now read my version and the AP’s version and tell me which version is more honest and open.

Originally Posted at Conservative Thinking

This is from Cpl M of A Soldier’s Perspective and Conservative Thinking:

The VA Mortgage Center is currently holding a MilBlogging contest with cash prizes for the top ten blogs. The number one blog will receive $3,000, and the rest of the top ten will receive $250 each. My home blog of A Soldier’s Perspective is currently in second place with a great chance of taking over the lead. All money from this contest will be donated to the Camp Lejeune Ballerinas.

Please visit A Soldier’s Perspective for more on the Camp Lejeune Ballerinas and please support us by visiting the poll and voting for “Soldier’s Perspective”.

Lately the American Family Association (AFA) has been putting a full court press against Ford Motor Company to cease and desist their support of homosexual marriages. While, ideologically, I agree with AFA that gay marriage is an immoral and unacceptable practice that should never be legal, I find their campaign a tad bit bothersome from an economic perspective.

I will be upfront and honest, I drive a 2001 Ford F-150; I actually like the truck and go to Ford for service on it. However, I don’t like GM products. Right now I think it’s overpriced, under-quality products coupled with their poor customer relations (with me specifically) makes GM a poor choice for vehicle purchases. So if you rule out Ford and GM that leaves you with Chrysler. Name one quality car (not truck or minivan) Chrysler has made five years in a row. If you can’t, you’re not the only one. So when you rule out Ford because of their political motives, GM because of their bad service and products, and Chrysler due to their horrendously bad track record that leaves you with nothing but foreign cars to pick from.

Some people think that’s okay because Toyota’s most popular car in America, the Toyota Camry, is predominately made in America. Honda has a presence here in the states and even BMW has a plant in Greenville, South Carolina. But, most of the foreign automakers are assembling one or two vehicles here in the United States, not all their vehicles sold here in the US. Walk around a Toyota lot and look at the stickers that tell you what percentage of the car was made in what country. Couple that with the small size of most Japanese cars and you’re leaving guys like me with few options.

The one option you’re leaving me with is the option I took last summer, Nissan. I bought my wife a surprisingly roomy Nissan Altima and guess where that car was made, 100% overseas. So the real question here is should you side with American workers or American values. In this case it’s hard to have your cake and eat it too.

Originally Posted at Conservative Thinking

I’m sure by now you’ve seen or heard about all the immigration rallies kicking off all around the country. People holding signs that say things like, “USA: Built by Immigrants” is true but doesn’t acurately address the issue; “USA: Built by Legal Immigrants” does address the issue. Senator Ted Kennedy using a translator to address an immigrant rally is also amusing to a degree. Trust me, it wasn’t nearly as moving as John F. Kennedy’s Berlin speech. JFK was a democrat that I could admire; today’s democrat’s would have let Khrushchev put missiles in Cuba with little to no resistance.

I digress. What’s funnier than using a translator at a rally that was probably dominated by criminals? Look no further than Detroit and Wolverine Packing where fifteen immigrant women were fired after not listening to warnings about skipping work to attend a rally on 27 Mar 06.

The Denver Channel reports: Immigrants Fired For Skipping Work To Protest

DETROIT — Fifteen immigrant women who missed work to attend an immigrant rights rally last month have been fired.

The general manager of a Detroit meat packing company said the women were warned they would lose their jobs if they skipped work on March 27.

The workers said they received no such warning.

All of the women are natives of Mexico. Many had worked at Wolverine Packing for several years, and some are undocumented immigrants

Let’s keep in mind that, “undocumented immigrants” is the politically correct way of saying, “illegal immigrants” which is a more accurate way of saying, “criminal”.

Cross-posted at Conservative Thinking

Technorati Tags: California, Immigration, Kennedy, Illegal Aliens, Special Interests, Mexico

Al Quindlan is the latest to take a shot at figuring out why Democrats don’t win as many elections as they used to. His RCP op-ed offers some solid advice. It also points out what Democrats’ problem is. Let’s take a closer look:

We stopped being the party of the people, and only for the people. The public came to view us as “the Government Party” that was more interested in being part of government than in connecting with regular people. We stopped sharing our personal beliefs and only shared our policy proposals. We stopped giving people a reason to trust us and voters began to doubt our convictions. And we stopped believing that giving voters a sense of who we are and where we come from was a critical part of communicating. It never stopped being important to voters, but somehow it stopped being important to Democrats.

That’s actually a pretty good observation, one well worth following. That’s also where their problem lies. It’s obvious that the far left fringe of the party wants Democrats to express their message more aggressively. The problem is that the party’s agenda is old and uninspiring. Democrats have been fairly characterized as pro tax increases. Just look at Jon Corzine’s budget that he recently submitted. According to Rush, New Jerseyites pay more in taxes on a pack of cigarettes than Floridians pay for a pack of cigarettes.

It’s one thing to tell people what makes you tick. It’s another to tell them what makes you tick while espousing compelling policies. I suspect that Democrats spend so much time not being specific about their higher taxes, more spending agendas that they can’t relax and be themselves. The truth is that Democrats lose big when they talk about taxing the rich. The average American doesn’t worry about ’soaking the rich’ with the fervor that Congressional Democrats do. Talk about a disconnect.
(continue reading post »)

President Bush gave a quick speech this morning on the south lawn of the White House marking the third anniversary of the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

This morning I had a phone call with our ambassador to Iraq. And the ambassador informed me of the progress that the Iraqis are making in forming a unity government. I encouraged the Iraqi leaders to continue to work hard to get this government up and running. The Iraqi people voted for democracy last December; 75 percent of the eligible citizens went to the polls to vote. Now the Iraqi leaders are working together to enact a government that reflects the will of the people. I’m encouraged by the progress. The ambassador was encouraged by it.

Today, as well, marks the third anniversary of the beginning of the liberation of Iraq. And it’s a time to reflect. And this morning, our reflections were upon the sacrifices of the men and women who wear our uniform. Ours is an amazing nation where thousands have volunteered to serve our country. They volunteered to — many volunteered after 9/11, knowing full well that their time in the military could put them in harm’s way. So, on this third anniversary, the beginning of the liberation of Iraq, I think all Americans should offer thanks to the men and women who wear the uniform, and their families who support them. We are implementing a strategy that will lead to victory in Iraq. And a victory in Iraq will make this country more secure, and will help lay the foundation of peace for generations to come.

May God continue to bless our troops in harm’s way. Thank you.

The added emphasis is mine. This less than two full minute speech reminds me of something that would only be said on Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day. But, it does remind me that as an Airman I should be thankful to my family who supports me every day. The family that waves at the C-5 as it takes off; the family that makes coming home a truly remarkable event just by being there to pick me up. (continue reading post »)

I received an e-mail over the weekend from a fellow Airman asking for some help in a charity effort. I thought that the best way I could help would be to mention the e-mail here:

I have had a dream of running a marathon for a long time and this coming June I am attempting the Steamboat Springs Marathon!!!

I will be training for the marathon with this fantastic group called Team in Training. They are an organization whose goal is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma and improve the quality of life for patients and their families. They help participants train for an endurance event and we raise money for blood cancers.

For those of us in the program, we are paired with an honoree. My honoree is a 30 year old Pharmaceutical Sales Representative, Patrick Colberg. He was born and raised in North Dakota and moved to Denver 6 years ago. In June of 2004, He was diagnosed with Acute Promyleocytic Leukemia. After 3 rounds of chemotherapy and 38 days in the hospital, He was pronounced in remission!

We never think that this will ever happen to us; but what if it does or if it happens to someone we love. This to me is enough to make me thankful for what I do have AND give me the strength and motivation to run 26.2 miles.

I have personally committed to raise $2,000 prior to the Steamboat Springs Marathon in June. Please help support me in this challenge by contributing generously to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Money Magazine has rated The Society as one of the top ten charities in the US because more than 75% of the funds spent by the Society go directly to benefit research and patient services!! The other 25% goes towards transportation, lodging, food etc.

Please check out my website. It has information on how to donate and you can actually make a donation on the site! You can also check in periodically and see how I’m doing with my fundraising. Here is the address:

http://www.active.com/donate/tntrm/tntrmKHolley

The donations are 100% tax deductible and if you’re willing to give money but not through a web site let me know and I will get you the necessary info to donate.

Every little bit helps.

Jeff Quinton’s latest venture is something we all can participate in. Here’s what he said about it.

As part of Fanblogs’ participation in Sports Bloggers Live this Thursday, I am posting a poll regarding the most hated figures in college football. Click here to vote.

The show will focus on Most Hated Athletes in all sports and I will be on to discuss college football. We limited the choices to coaches and televsion analysts since college football is unique in the fact that players are only on the field for 4 years at most. Amid discussions with other college football fans, including another Fanblogs author, I decided there weren’t really many choices for current college players. Had he not been dumped from the team, Marcus Vick would have definitely made the list. However, in general the object of hate in college football is directed at coaches since they most embody the program and all fans have their list of disliked talking heads on Saturday television.

The show will be available on demand around 5 p.m. EST Thursday at the show’s website. Voting will continue through Thursday here.

Cross-posted from:
Fanblogs
Backcountry Conservative