Support our Troops

If I read, see, or listen to one more anti-military, anti-troops comment I am going to go crazy. Between Cindy Sheehan’s, ranting and raving, Fred Phelps, who in truth doesn’t just hate the military, he hates everyone with equal passion, just ask him, and the misguided media, I am on system overload, ready to try a mental system delete with as much Guniess as I can find.

Now I am subjected to one of my friends who think the NSA has a satellite following his every move, a spy behind every tree watching him, because Bush ordered it and is joining the anti-war movement. Thank God, we sure as hell don’t want him on our side. I am now inundated with e-mails discussing the conspiracy that Bush is a best friend of Bin Laden, is behind a secret oil for profit deal and who knows what else. Thank you Thunderbird for those wonderful spam filters. No more, all gone. Let the folks at AOL deal with it. That is where each of them originated. In fact I am to the point that I know that before I even look at the header.

I’m a vet, a Vet from the Viet Nam era and I should be used to it by now. The eggs, tomatoes I often write about were a part of my life back then. Put on a uniform; leave the base and INCOMING, never failed. To think I left the safety of rice paddies, tracers, mortars, and rounds popping past my head to enter the world of eggs and tomatoes. The only good thing about the previous place was I could shoot back. If I had done that in the states I would have been doing hard time pounding rocks. The thought entered my mind on many occasion, but common sense and not having access to a weapon got the better of me. I always thought there was a reason they only issued us weapons for war and not to carry around all of the time. Now I know why.

One of our rights, as an American citizen is the ability to disagree with the powers that be. As one of those citizens I have exercised that right many times. Through it all I have and always will be behind our troops 100%. It has nothing to do with the bond, the band of brothers they write about. In truth, that only pertains to those you have fought with, trusted, been there and came back with. It is simply the fact that they are professionals doing a job. They have no control over where that job may lead them. They can’t jump on an airplane and attack whoever they feel like. They are following orders to the best of their ability.

Here is another comment. President Bush is not really a bad President and the government really did not have much to do with Katrina nor the devastation in New Orleans. They are not the first responders and never, not once did they tell anyone to run into the stadium for shelter. That was the worst case of a state and city abandoning its people there ever has been. They never once thought of food, water, law enforcement, and medical treatment. Want to blame someone? Blame the Mayor, Governor and powers that be in New Orleans. That’s where it should be.

Support our troops. They are supporting you.

A few bytes of news.

A visit to A Soldier’s Perspective made for some good news. Cj was discussing the arms caches uncovered lately and calculated how many of our troops lives were saved:
Cj: “My personal conservative estimate is that at least 530 IEDs could have been built with these caches had they not been found. This equates to about 3710 lives saved that would have been affected, either by death or injury, by these illegal weapons. This number does NOT include the small arms and rocket fire that would have been associated with some of the attacks.”

Now that is great news and a wonderful way to start a Monday. News such as this should be in the morning newspapers. Now that really would be a refreshing change. Just think of it, positive news about our military!

Well, we can all sleep better at night, not worrying about Mr. Sick-creep himself, Saddam Hussein and his 11-day hunger strike. The Iraq Sun reports his court-appointed attorneys convinced him to stop. Either that or it finally hit this megalomaniac that no one really cares. I get a kick out of watching him dress down the judges, demanding to be called, Mr. President. They should be calling him, Mr. Soon-to-be-deceased. Come-on folks, we all know we want this, or at least deep down in the dark spots of mind we do. Remember all of the Saddam and Bin Laden targets the firing ranges were selling? They sold out of them too. Someone bought them.

Personally I feel the Iraq judges are in a severe catch-22 with the trial of Mr. Sick-creep Saddam. If they allow him to live, they have a troublemaker on their hands that will never go away. The second he returns to his cell will be the moment he begins his plans to return to power. If they execute him they now have a martyr on their hands, his name on every terrorist lips.  Of course our military will do their best to insure it is not uttered, but the fact remains, either way creates problems.

News this morning is German Intelligence Gave us the Iraqi Defense Plans before our troops boots hit the sand. The reporters are making statements that are driving me nuts. “Did Germany leak the plan for the defense of Baghdad to the U.S. before the invasion?”
Of course they did all of you sensational-happy, where’s my Pulitzer, shock exacerbating reporters! So what? Someone needs to take a reporter off to a side, shake him and say, “That’s called intelligence you dingbat!” The medias first thought when they get wind of something is how can they create a ruckus with it.

Now, Reuters now reports Germany denies they gave us the plans. Of course they deny it now! The reporters are all making a big story how it was provided to us by two German spies operating in the Iraqi capital before the war. The German Intelligence Agency, German Bundesamt fuer Verfassungsschutz / Counterintel is not going to admit they were acting as spies. There are no spies in the world, just ask one. Reporters, you absolutely amaze me.

Goodbye Barney, you will be missed.

I learned bullet-maintenance from Barney Fife while watching The Andy Griffith Show.  The bullet-maintenance skit was one of my favorite episodes. To this day if I happen to catch it in reruns I laugh till my sides hurt. In the bullet-maintenance show Barney was inspecting an old-timer bank guard and discovered the bullets on his gun-belt were green and moldy. Suffice to say Barney gave him a dressing down that would have made R. Lee Ermey, The Gunny, from The History channels Mail Call proud and standing tall. Barney then displayed his one, single bullet that Sheriff Andy allowed him to carry, proudly stating, “That’s bullet maintenance!” The bank guard gazed at the bullet in awe and said that Barney’s bullet was legendary in Mayberry.

Don Knotts, who won five Emmys for playing the bumbling deputy sheriff in The Andy Griffith Show has died in a Los Angeles hospital, aged 81. I had seen Knotts on a talk show a few years ago. He was very proudly talking about the millions of fans he still had. He stated that to that very day, no matter which city he went to, they would present him with a silver bullet, or a highly polished one. He said he had a pristine bullet collection that would have made Barney proud.

He also played landlord Ralph Furley in 1980s sitcom Three's Company, along with the original cast.

Goodbye Barney, we will miss you. Teach them bullet maintenance up there.

Civil War will cost everything.

It appears the two warring factions in Iraq are trying their best to throw the country into a civil war. Wednesday's al-Qaeda bombing of a Shiite shrine has thrown the war-torn region into a series of attacks and reprisals that has left all sides wondering what is next. A very sad note to all of this, if a civil war breaks out, al-Qaeda has succeeded in destroying anything we have accomplished. They have also succeeded in stopping all hopes of a troop withdrawal and once again inflame the entire Middle East. Al Qaeda attacks on the oilfields in Saudi Arabia and their subsequent promise of escalated attacks has created a critical escalating military situation there as well.

This sets in motion a series of events that will prove to be a no-win scenario for the United States as well as a critical test for the Iraqi government’s authority. If a civil war breaks out the blame will be placed directly on us. Al-Qaeda planned it this way from the moment American boots touched the ground. Misinformation, planting false information, deceiving intelligence agents is a powerful weapon of any military force. Creating dissention among the populace and distrust of those in charge being their primary goal. Place these tools in the hands of a terrorist operating in their own country and you are faced with a weapon just as strong and capable of killing as a bomb.

Starved for information to feed a hungry public the media plays right into their hands. The terrorists manipulate the media every step of the way, molding it into the story they want to serve to the people of the world. The media not only eats up each and every morsel of misinformation dropped by al-Qaeda, they sit up, tail wagging, begging for more.

Let me point out there are many reporters who stand tall, are loyal to the troops and report the truth to the best of their ability. Michael Yon personifies that fact. Sadly there are a few reporters who have paid the price, some the ultimate. There are many respectable correspondents reporting accurate information on the war. The problem is truthful reporting seldom, if ever makes the evening news. The major news sources prefer sensationalism that makes for better headlines.

Our military is comprised of professional, self-sacrificing men and women; dedicated to their country and the branch they serve. The media and the country need to stand behind it, be proud of it, and support it. The media can accomplish this better than anyone else. They need to report not only the facts, but the good they do, the humanitarian programs they accomplish, then maybe, just maybe disgusting idiots would not be protesting the funerals of those brave fallen souls who have given their all. Maybe people would not be throwing eggs, tomatoes and garbage at our returning troops. Maybe they would actually respect our brothers and sisters in uniform.

Iraq has come a long way since we began. If a civil war breaks out then everything we have done will have been a waste of time.

To answer a few comments

To answer a few anonymous comments, I do watch BBC, MSNBC, CNN, Fox, as well as read three newspapers and a few online, including, a news mix on Yahoo, Drew Curtis’ Fark.com, BBC News Online, Jerusalem Post, NewsX Portal, Scotsman.com, The Irish Times and two others, one far left and one far right, that tends to take my morning and a full pot of coffee.

Yes, I admit it I have a problem. Hello, my name is Ranter and I am a NEWS JUNKIE. There I said it, darn I feel better. I try to remain as objective as possible in blogging. Yes, I am pro-military, but if you go back a bit you will see a few borderlines. I tend to see humor in a lot of things, as well as get totally ticked off on others. As far as recognizing right wing propaganda, there are a few publications on the net that makes Pat Robertson look mild and others that make G. Gordon Liddy the same. Both of these men I respect, but each leans their own way. Let’s face it, many of us would like to get on national television and call for the open assassination of a head of state, we don’t because we know better, Robertson did, I respect that. G. Gordon’s views in his first book were earlier Germany than anything else, but that man has sand, he truly does.

Old Ranter

Thank You again

I wanted to once again thank The Patriot Guard Riders for the wonderful work they are doing on behalf of fallen soldiers. This group of men and women are a Godsend to the families not only devastated by the loss of a loved one, but also verbally, emotionally destroyed by Fred Phelps and the member of his church, Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan.

We can only hope that the protesting being done by Phelps and his follower’s leads to federal criminal laws enacted prohibiting future actions such as this.

I have been following the news and cannot understand how Phelps is claiming First Amendment rights in his protesting. Let alone how these rights are even being considered. The umbrella of free speech protection does not transcend into the domain of private property. This would be the same as someone standing in the front yard of your home protesting against you. Yes, the First Amendment dictates he has the right to utter his disagreement through the right to gather peacefully and do so. But to be within the realm of the law he would have to stand on public property. Still, if city, county or state law stipulated a permit be issued for a lawful gathering, then he would need to have that permit in his possession. Here again we have a problem. Creating a disturbance is not peacefully gathering and now falls under criminal statutes.

A cemetery is private property; the burial plot is private property. Phelps and his people are not protected under the First Amendment on private property. Also I do not understand why local law enforcement within that area is not enforcing violations stemming from the civil disturbance they are creating and directly responsible for. There are many laws being broken with disorderly conduct but one of them.

The Patriot Guard Riders should be publicly commended for the service they are providing. Again, thank you from a fellow vet.

If anyone would like to volunteer his or her time, The Patriot Guard Riders web site is:http://www.patriotguard.org/

Rush said so, that's why!

Let me get the facts straight. We are presently engaged in a war on terrorism. We have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), the command center for our Special Operation Forces community, Special Forces, Seals, Rangers, Delta, Recon, etc. has teams in – well, it’s classified and they wont tell us, so (Insert Country Name Here) and in deserts, jungles, mountains, in the air, on the ground, under the sea, in houses, apartments, trees, bushes, weeds, stores, counties, cities, in parking lots, on rooftops, let’s fact it folks, generally anyplace, anywhere on earth a terrorist can be.

Let’s add to this growing equation the undocumented fact that if there is anyplace in the air, under the sea, or on the earth a terrorist is hiding in, living in, running from, going to, avoiding, or just sitting in his cave thinking about, you can bet the farm a Special Operations team is waiting for them.

Our predator drones can and have sent missiles into many buildings with hopes of taking out one or more terrorists. Country lines, we could care less, you hide there, we will blow your butt up, that is a statement, which cannot be argued with, and not surprisingly they don’t.

I am convinced, the country is convinced, the whole world is convinced, we are in a war on terrorism and we are out to win no matter where they may hide, no matter what country hides them and to hell with anyone who gets in our way..

With all of this taken into consideration I have to ask myself, how the hell can we give up the security to our ports? A better question, how can we hand over our port security to Dubai? Somehow the fact that we can allow a state-owned Arab firm to acquire terminal management to six major U.S. ports is beyond my comprehension.

I watched Fox news for hours that day. I kept waiting for a newscaster, one of their experts, some ex-general or some guy who majored in poli-sci and finally found a useful tool for his education as a Fox analyst, anybody to explain to me how this deal was good for America’s interests. I called a friend of mine, a “Limbaugh addicted, can’t miss a show kind of person” and asked him what Rush had said. He told me that Limbaugh said we should support the deal, so that was just what he was doing. Kind of “if Rush said it is good for America, then it’s good enough for him.” Then I find out that the only reason Rush gave for supporting it was because the Democrats were against it. Gee, that sure makes sense. NOT!

At this point in time President George W. Bush, remains under fire from Congress and just about everyone else for letting a state-owned Arab firm acquire terminal management at six major U.S. ports. I remain lost in the fog waiting for someone to explain why it is good for America. Somehow just because Rush said so is not enough for me.

Man with a Yellow Hat a Bad Parent

This morning I was having my coffee, watching Fox news and generally trying to catch up on world news. I damn near choked on my next gulp of morning courage when they began reporting that a group of parents in the San Francisco Bay area are protesting the new movie, Curious George. It seems that political correctness has reached new highs of bovine excrement because this group of parents feel that the "Curious George" children's books are a minefield of cultural horrors through which to tiptoe. Imperialism. Animal abuse. Bad parenting. And lest we forget, Child Endangerment and Abuse!

Checking the web I discovered that I have been living smugly in my home, along with a hamster, goldfish and who knows how many ants, that in truth are a sentient creature just trying to make their way in the world. They have their own problems, what with the ant supporting his/her 2000 children and worrying when I will drop the next frosted flake when under the eyes of the law these are my children! Damn, call the exterminator quick before he murders anymore of my children ants! It seems that while I was being a bad animal/insect parent the writer of Curious George had been sickening the world with his stories of child abuse, abandonment, and bad parenting.

It looks like it all starts with the gun-totting Man with the Yellow Hat going off
Africa to collect creatures for animal experimentation, genetic research, or some bad company pouring acid in their eyes and comes back with a monkey who in the eyes of the law is now his son. Hmmm. The Yellow Hat guy is really a bad parent too. I mean he makes Homer Simpson look like the parent of the year because he allows his son/monkey to smoke a pipe and generally run around unsupervised. My God, what is this world coming to?

Animal abuse? Child endangerment? Huh? It’s a damn cartoon! And you know what? Kids know that, they really do. Children know that the roadrunner is not going to really be eaten by the coyote. They know when a safe drops on some poor toons head that it is really not happening. Why? Because they have brains and common sense, apparently something this group protesting Curious George does not have very much of.

We have politically corrected ourselves to the point of the absurd. We have taken this new concept of correctness well beyond the point of reality and have stepped into the boundaries of the Twilight Zone. Come on folks, it is a children’s story, in some eyes it may be a bad one, but it is a story; nothing more. Three little bears never did live in a house and eat porridge, nor were they named Mama, Papa and Baby Bear. Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus and Red Riding Hood really does not get eaten by the big bad wolf and do you know what? They were seven dwarfs, not seven vertically challenged men, with various degrees of disabilities; bipolar, delusional or asthmatic. And further more it is okay to say Merry Christmas and it really makes you feel good inside when you look at our flag and say the pledge of allegiance. That flag was and is protected by the greatest military on earth, comprised of brave, professional men and women willing to lay down their lives for what it represents and to insure it continues to wave.

Somewhere along the way the fact and the truth that this country was founded not only under the principals of freedom, but under God has been politically corrected under the carpet. The truth that the first congress used to begin its session with a prayer has not only been swept away, it has been washed out of existence. We have politically corrected our history to extinction. We have reached the point where we stop and think before we make a comment out of fear we may offend someone. Now we have ran out of things to correct so we have taken on the cartoon industry.

I was going to ask where was Popeye when he is needed, but it hit me, they destroyed him too. Yep, Popeye the sailor man, once the proud icon of American pilot’s in WWII proudly painting him on their aircraft and the sailors on their subs. His fist always pounding the enemy! Popeye who would get fed up with Bluto, eat his spinach and pound the poo-poo out of him, always winning the toothpick Olive Oil, Gone! He is now an echo-warrior I kid you not. I recently saw a 1980’s cartoon of just that. Popeye ate his spinach, joined hands with Bluto and together they skipped across the countryside fighting people destroying the echo-system. I thought I would gag. Gone!

I guess we have to hope the energizer bunny comes to our aid.

Thank you Patriot Guard Riders

Thank you Patriot Guard Riders

It appears they have found a better mix of eye medication for me and I will be able to post once again. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

So many things have happened lately that it is difficult to select one topic to rant about. A few have come to my attention though; one that really hit me was CJ’s post on A Soldier’s Perspective today.

I would like to begin with, Thank God for the members of the Patriot Guard Riders and a salute from an old warhorse.

CJ writes, “A tiny fundamentalist church who picket military funerals to reflect their belief that U.S. combat deaths are a sign God is punishing the United States for harboring homosexuals. Some protesters' signs said, "Thank God for IEDs," the improvised explosive devices, or homemade bombs, that kill many U.S. soldiers.”

This turned my stomach. How can these people call themselves Christians? Thanking God for IEDs! These so-called members of a so-called church should be on their knees praying for the souls of these departed heroes! They should be thanking God there are men and women in the military willing to protect these people’s sorry asses! They should be begging for forgiveness instead of protesting. God, people like this make me sick.

States should do more than ban protesting assemblies at a funeral; they should make it a criminal offense to do anything like this. Anything!

CJ wrote, “At a recent memorial service at Fort Campbell, church protesters and sang vulgar songs condemning homosexuals and soldiers. The Patriot Guard was also there, cheering to support mourning families across the street as community members came in a freezing rain to chant "U-S-A, U-S-A" alongside the bikers.”

These ungrateful, misinformed, disgusting people should not be anywhere near the same hollowed grounds these brave souls are being laid to rest in. Not even in the same state! The fact that these individuals are spewing vulgarities on hollowed grounds in the name of God is blasphemy! These people are not Christians they are not even human. They are sub-human bottom crawlers feeding off any media attention they can attract. They need to crawl back to the rock they came from and seal themselves in. Damn they disgust me.

I must admit that I wrote many more paragraphs about this and decided to delete them. My anger and disgust got the better of me, but there is no point in bringing more attention to people like this. It is what they want; it is why they are doing it in the first place.

I will close with once more thanking the members of the Patriot Guard Riders. Keep riding and keep up the great work!

The misinformed of today.

I don’t believe people can be so gullible, misinformed and out of touch with reality. What has happened to the informed people of today? I know a few individuals who constantly copy me on items regarding George W. Bush and the Iraq war with information that has neither truth nor validity. Not only untruthful items, but also downright contrived, made-up, wrong information about something they know nothing about.

Daily they pass out photocopied letters regarding the unjust, unlawful acts of the President, untruthful statements regarding the lead–up to and present condition of the war in Iraq and on terrorism. And where do they come up with these lies they display and email to anyone and everyone they see, know or have ever met?  They get them from the net or other misinformed, misguided individuals who think they are actually making a difference.

I know one un-named individual who returned from a Doctor’s appointment proudly displaying a copy of an e-mail the Doctor had received and besides dispensing medical advise had now taken it upon himself to pass out to each and every misguided patient who walked into his office. The individual was holding the letter in their hand as if they had just been given the Holy Grail and had decided to share it with anyone that came in contact with them. At first I totally ignored the copy being waved in front of my face, but soon had no choice in the matter as the individual and their friend who had accompanied them to the Doctor began telling me how many unlawful acts the President had managed to do in the war on terrorism. Reluctantly I read the letter. What a massive amount of bovine excrement it was too. It told a story of a man bent on power, of course they way it was written it would lead one to think it was the President right after 9/11. It ended with saying it was Hitler, Stalin, and a few other warmongers from history and segueing to point out the similarities to the President.

I just sat there looking at them. They began telling me the illegal things being done in Washington, from the war to the President being secretly investigated for his ties to Ussama Bin Ladden. I gave the letter back to them and walked away. Why, because there was no possible way I could have convinced them otherwise. They knew it all, had all the knowledge and answers and their quest was to inform the world. The only good thing was to my knowledge, neither of these individuals had ever voted in any election in their lives. Thank the heavens for that too.

What has happened to people today? I think a lot of them need to go back to school.

To my readers

To my readers,

I apologize for my lack of updates lately; I had a few medical problems that kept me out of touch with computers for a bit. I encountered problems with my eyes, which have taken a period of time to be able to medically manage.

I had a condition known as Iritis, an inflammation under the irises of the eyes. This lead to inflammatory glaucoma. My eyes tended to form higher pressures from time to time subsequently causing a massive loss of vision. Suffice to say this created a severe problem in attempting to write. The Iritis moved into a chromic phases; each time creating a new glaucoma attack. I would be walking; typing, anything and my eyes would go out.

I am now under a new spectrum of drops, which, at least for now appear to be keeping it under control. If so I will be updating very soon. I apologize to my readers and assure you I will be back as soon as possible

Thanks
The Old Ranter.