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AKA "Prime's Worm Hole," formerly "The Borg Conspiracy"
A must read for those searching for answers and the reasons why.....
Perhaps the most over used but most accurate term used to describe the policies and ideology of the American Left is the "Law of Unintended Consequences." There is virtually nothing that these people espouse that once put in place has not had detrimental effects on either the people of the United States or the world.
Today there is a global food shortage and sky-rocketing prices. This has become the underlying factor in the riots in Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt, where up to 56% of a person's income is dedicated to the acquisition of food. These riots are now leading to the upheaval of governments and the very real possibility of the ascendancy of the radical elements into control.
While bad weather in various parts of the world is an element of the accelerating food prices there are two other factors directly related to the United States and its policies.
First, because of the enormous deficits run up by Obama administration and the Democrat controlled Congress, the Federal Reserve has had to effectively print trillions of dollars which have flooded the global market. Commodities are priced in dollars, consequently emerging markets throughout the world, and the food sector in particular, are suffering from rapidly rising inflation.
The CRB food index is up an incredible 36% over last year. Raw materials are up 23%. Since 2009 the dollar has declined by over 13% against the Japanese Yen and 25% against the Canadian dollar.
Hillary has issued a total recall of all America's ambassadors and envoys from around the world for a meeting on Monday.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is convening an unprecedented mass meeting of U.S. ambassadors.
The top envoys from nearly all of America's 260 embassies, consulates and other posts in more than 180 countries will be gathering at the State Department beginning on Monday. Officials say it's the first such global conference.
That has never been done before and the timing cannot be overlooked in the wake of what is happening in Egypt. I am surprised that the president has allowed it. Provided that he is even aware that it is happening.
I would love to be a bug on the wall at the State Department next Monday. In the interim, watch what happens in Egypt then consider how that will play with American diplomacy as we move forward and then consider what Hillary may be telling these diplomats at next week's meeting.
PLAINS, Ga. -- Former President Jimmy Carter called the weeklong political unrest and rioting in Egypt an “earth shaking event” and said that the country’s president, Hosni Mubarak, “will have to leave.”
Carter’s remarks came at Maranatha Baptist Church, where he regularly teaches a Sunday School class to visitors from across the country and globe.
“This is the most profound situation in the Middle East since I left office,” Carter said Sunday to the nearly 300 people packed into the small sanctuary about a half mile from downtown Plains.
Can I get an Amen! brothers and sisters!
I was beginning to wonder how long it would take for Carter to reemerge and interject himself into the conversation. The most profound situation since he left office? You don't say.
Many people alive today either weren't born or they are too young to remember Carter's meddling in the middle east under the auspices of bartering his infamous middle east peace treaty. Nothing was bartered and nothing was solved, aside from the fact that it cost then Egyptian president Anwar Sadat his life as his price for the agreement.
For those who may have never been told and for those who choose not to remember, Jimmy Carter is the man responsible for the last collapse in the middle east and he is responsible for giving birth to the Islamic militancy that has engulfed the region ever since.
Therefore, for Carter to sit back and pontificate to the media on anything concerning the present circumstances in Egypt is laughable at the least and arrogance at the worst. Jimmy Carter was America's first social anarchist president and while it has taken thirty years for the damage that he accomplished to fade into memory, we now have our second.
Barack Obama is at the center of responsibility for what has happened in Lebanon and Tunisia and now in Egypt. His lackadaisical methodology of non confrontational diplomacy with the Muslims of the middle east has emboldened them. Obama has bowed to Islam and conveyed the message for the last two years, that in essence, he is not concerned with the radicalism and fundamentalist militancy that has continued to grow since he took office.
So now America will once again pay for socialist ignorance and arrogance. And as Egypt slips ever so firmly into the militant alliance formed against America, so too will Israel slip ever closer to the war and conflagration that has been just over the horizon for years.
The time of America's protection of Israel and leadership in the middle east is over. We have enriched these tribal nations with our oil money and now we have given them our permission and approval to seek the level and balance that their religion both mandates and demands.
Before you can change the minds of men, you must first change the hearts of men. And as long as the worship of a so called prophet and the ritual practices of sixteen hundred years of murder and rape and oppression are allowed to flourish, nothing will change. There is no such thing as democracy in the middle east and there never has been where Islam is allowed to continue it's infection of the mind.
Turkey is probably the closest example to a self governing nation in that region and they are only so, because of their not being predominated by the 'religion of peace.' Lebanon was once also an island of separation from the Mohammedans, but over the last forty years the west has allowed that too to be consumed and destroyed by the clerics and guerrillas of Allah.
Nothing has changed and nothing will change this week in the middle east, other than Egypt will fall to Islamic militancy and the smiling man in the White house will be pleased with his accomplishments.
Meanwhile, our stock market will react negatively and continue to fall, the price of oil per barrel will continue to rise over $100 a barrel and the cost of food will go up. Mean while, the smiling man in the White House will continue to demonstrate his steadfast commitment to "a fundamental change that we all can believe in."
Believe it America....that change is happening....Jimmy Carter believes it. He is just sorry that he couldn't be the one to have done it sooner.
Jimmy Carter will go down in American history as "the president who lost Iran," which during his term went from being a major strategic ally of the United States to being the revolutionary Islamic Republic. Barack Obama will be remembered as the president who "lost" Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, and during whose tenure America's alliances in the Middle East crumbled.
The superficial circumstances are similar. In both cases, a United States in financial crisis and after failed wars loses global influence under a leftist president whose good intentions are interpreted abroad as expressions of weakness. The results are reflected in the fall of regimes that were dependent on their relationship with Washington for survival, or in a change in their orientation, as with Ankara.
The indecisiveness, the ambiguity and lackadaisical wait and see approach. The bottom line, Obama has been instrumental in influencing what is now happening in Egypt and the main reason he has done nothing is that he wants Egypt to collapse and cease to be America's Allie.
This has been in the works since the day he took office and now he is sitting quietly and watching the fruit bear forth.
U.S. border guards got a surprise when they searched a Mexican BMW and found a hardline Muslim cleric - banned from France and Canada - curled up in the boot.
Said Jaziri, who called for the death of a Danish cartoonist that drew pictures of the prophet Mohammed, was being smuggled into California when he was arrested, along with his driver Kenneth Robert Lawler.
The 43-year-old was deported from Canada to his homeland Tunisia in 2007 after it emerged he had lied on his refugee application about having served jail time in France.
Time for something a bit more meaningful on this Sunday morning.
What a great man. What a true American. I miss him.
I was privileged to get to see one of his tours while I was in S.E. Asia. I will never forget it.
A 1997 act of Congress signed by President Clinton named Hope an "Honorary Veteran." He remarked, "I've been given many awards in my lifetime — but to be numbered among the men and women I admire most — is the greatest honor I have ever received."
Some might think that Egypt is the ground zero flash point presently most in need of American interjections at this point in time. They would be wrong.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is flying to Haiti to mediate in a political crisis there while other administration officials are keeping watch on violent protests halfway across the world in Egypt.
Clinton will meet Sunday with President Rene Preval and the three candidates vying to succeed him during her visit. She will also see a treatment center for the cholera epidemic that has killed almost 4,000 people.
Haiti's political crisis stems from a first-round presidential election in November that was marred by fraud.
The U.S. wants Preval's preferred candidate, Jude Celestin, to bow out because the Organization of American States says he had the least support. The U.S warns that continued aid for Haiti's reconstruction from last year's earthquake is at stake.
Haiti's presidential run-off is in March.
Remember three years ago when the issue arose of the 3 AM phone call at the White House? And who would answer it and what they would do? Looks like that concern has been vetted and answered now. Egypt has all but been ablaze for almost a week now and rather than send the Secretary of State to the region to attempt to mediate a resolution, our president has sent her to Haiti to modulate the election process of a non concern nation.
Egypt will fall this week and all that remains to be seen is who will step in to fill the void. My money is on a militant who will steer the nation away from America and more toward Islamic militancy and Israeli hatred. And soon there after, expect to see our president bowing to the east once again.
Egyptians who are part of the street demonstrations told ABC News that the evidence of the U.S.-made tear gas sends a powerful signal.
"The way I see it the U.S. administration supports dictators," said Aly Eltayeb, 26, who has participated in the protests since Tuesday.
"The way tear gas works is by spreading panic," he said. "Your eyes tear up a lot so you can't see, and you feel like your suffocating. You can actually breathe but you feel like you are suffocating so you try to run, but when you run you inhale more."
If these reports are any indication, then the way America is being seen right now by the Egyptian people? Well let's just say that it isn't good. Perceptions are being created there as each day passes and those perceptions of America are the ones that we should be concerned about.
And in most every corner of the world, perceptions are realities. How we are portrayed is who we are. The good and the bad and everything that we do to influence those perceptions has a lasting effect.
So combined with the leaked information that America has been secretly behind bringing down Egypt's president, the reality of how stories like this one are played up, will ultimately be how most young Egyptians will see America for many years to come.
America? The country that was only trying to give us democracy? America, the country that was truly behind the fall of the authoritarian Mubarek regime? Or, America....the nation that sided with a tyrant and provided him with the military means and material to oppress the people.
As Cairo burns, once again the revelations come forth of our back alley dealings and clandestine attempts to spread our supposed American style democracy in the region.
Yet is that what has really been going on of late?
Mubarak ordered troops and tanks into the capital Cairo and other cities overnight and imposed a curfew in an attempt to quell protests that have shaken the Arab world's most populous nation, a key US ally, to the core.
Despite dozens of deaths in Friday's clashes, people turned out in the streets Saturday in defiance of security forces and said they would carry on protesting until Mubarak quits.
And then there is this.....
The US government has previously been a supporter of Mr Mubarak’s regime. But the leaked documents show the extent to which America was offering support to pro-democracy activists in Egypt while publicly praising Mr Mubarak as an important ally in the Middle East.
So once again it looks as if compliments of Wikileaks, the world is burning, yet the entire focus of what and why remains centered on Hosi Mubarek and whether he will succumb and what will replace him.
So to this point, we have Tunisia completely imploded and Egypt on the verge of complete collapse and a regime change that will surely lead to radical Islamist rising to power in the void created by Mubarek's ouster.
Anyone else see the similarities? Think about it now. Have a look back or go peek at an old old history book. We have seen this before. Back when another of our favored authoritarians was deposed and what followed in the wake of that. Try looking up the recent history of Iran and how that happened and who was involved and what the US did and didn't do.
Too bad Jimmy Carter only had one term, or he would have accomplished the same in Egypt as he did in Iran before he left office. As it was, he almost did. He succeeded in getting Anwar Sadat assassinated and Mubarek has simple been station keeping for the interim thirty years, until the next social anarchist could be elected in America.
Something tells me that Mubarek will be secreted away in a reed basket and floated down the Nile to Saudi Arabia by the end of next week and the smoldering aftermath left in the wake of it all will be another Islamic state enemy of America and the west.
Softly softly catchy monkeys......and you still think that Wikileaks is the result of a lone errant US Army PFC with too much access to America's secrets and too little safeguards to prevent the destruction of American credibility globally? And all that has been accomplished by one lowly Army PFC?
Cable television network TNT issued an apology late Thursday for a comment made by "30 Rock" star Tracy Morgan about former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin during a live broadcast.
Morgan made a crude remark about the key Republican’s looks during an appearance Thursday on “Inside the NBA."
During a pre-game chat ahead of the Miami Heat-New York Knicks clash, co-host Charles Barkley asked the actor, “Sarah Palin’s good looking, isn’t she?”
Morgan replied, "Let me tell you something about Sarah Palin, she's good masturbation material. The glasses and all of that... She is great masturbation material."
So....what can be said. Aside from the blatant crudeness of the remark and the fact that the network and the FCC won't do a damn thing about it. And there is no way for republicans to retaliate, as the democrats haven't got the first star in their galaxy that a remark like that would even pertain to.
Rush Limbaugh's imitation of the Chinese language during a recent speech made by Chinese President Hu Jintao has stirred a backlash among Asian-American lawmakers in California and nationally.
Another example of the reversed reality world of the politically correct leftist who control media in America.
The Chinese president comes here and while one of his own compatriots insults the nation during a state dinner by the playing of a Chinese propaganda song? (Lang Lang) Nothing is said by the American media. Barely a ripple across the surface of the following day's news reporting.
America was insulted and our president didn't have sense enough to either realize it or have anyone competent enough to recognize it in his administration and yet the incident goes all but unreported and unnoticed to the American people.
Yet let Rush Limbaugh make fun of the China man? And suddenly it is an international incident with partisan Chinese descent elected officials in America calling for apologies and boycotts.
No, these complainers are not 'Chinese Americans.' They are Americans of Chinese descent and they obviously hold a greater allegiance to China than to America. And if they don't like being recognized for who and what they are? (Americans of Chinese descent) They can take their preferred heritage and their boycotts and head back to their motherland. They already seem to favor that Chinese tune more than the national anthem of America anyway.
For many, no single word evokes as much pain. Challenger. A quarter-century later, images of the exploding space shuttle still signify all that can go wrong with technology and the sharpest minds. The accident on Jan. 28, 1986 — a scant 73 seconds into flight, nine miles above the Atlantic for all to see — remains NASA's most visible failure.
But in the meantime support our troops and take the time to let them know that you really do care.
These men and women need our support, and as importantly, they need to know that their sacrifices are not in vain. Regardless of the politics of war, the warrior bears the cost and like many of these soldiers, they must carry that burden for the rest of their lives.
Honor them. Let them know that you support and appreciate them. Never allow them to ever feel alone or forgotten.
Join "The Wounded Warrior Project."
Epilogue..........
I had the opportunity last fall, to participate in small part in the Wounded Warrior Project. My experience involved a former Marine, a Gulf War veteran. He was forty three years old and diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. His name is Martin Martinez.
Martin was in hospice at the time, his body racked with the devastation of the cancer that was consuming his body, but the disease hadn't stolen away his character or his personality. At least not yet.
Martin had served honorably during the Gulf war and was decorated and returned home to begin a new life. He was married and had two children. But there was something stalking him, something that would haunt him in the background, unbeknownst to him.
Whether its affects ultimately resulted in his divorce is something that only he and his former wife may ever know. It was at some point after the divorce that Martin learned of the thing inside his head. Initially the doctors offered encouragement that it could be removed and treated. Martin underwent surgeries and treatment and afterward he was tentatively given a good bill of health. But the stalker returned.
By mid 2010 the doctors brought Martin the bad news. The cancer had returned and his brain tumor was inoperable, there was nothing they could do. By August, Martin was swollen from all the steroids and treatments and he was unable to walk, he was in a wheel chair and he labored just to get through each day. By September Martin was moved to hospice and told that the time would be 'soon' maybe a matter of weeks.
One of his nurses asked him what he would like to do if he could, before his appointed time to leave this life. Martin told her...."I'd like to see the mountains one more time. I'd like to go trout fishing." And she contacted the "Avet Project" and those in the "Wounded Warriors Project" and the "Patriot Guard Riders" came together to make Martin's last wish in this life a reality.
In less than a week's time, donations were made to pay for Martin and his fiance and his nurse, to fly from Fort Worth Texas to Knoxville Tennessee. A cabin in the Great Smokey Mountains on a prime trout stream was donated for the weekend and all food and expenses were donated and paid for in advance. And on October 1st, 2010 Martin Martinez arrived at the Knoxville Tennessee airport, to a heroes welcome.
Seeing his face that day as he was wheeled into the terminal atrium, as he suddenly saw the Patriot Guard flag line and the signs welcoming him was more than he was prepared for. Martin had been told of the trip to Tennessee and the cabin and the weekend of trout fishing and hopefully some respite and peace from his fate, but Martin did not know that he was to be welcomed as a hero. Martin didn't know that over one hundred Patriot Guard Riders and hundreds of others were there to meet him and escort him the thirty miles to his cabin. Martin didn't know that there would be TV cameras and the mayor of Knoxville there to read a proclamation declaring it Martin Martinez day in Knoxville Tennessee.
There was a pure white limousine waiting on Martin at the curb and over 100 Patriot Guard motor cycles there to escort him into the Great Smokey Mountains. There was also a police escort and throngs of people at the airport that day, who took the time to pause and applaud Martin as he made his way through the airport.
To say the least, it was a moving experience for all present. As for myself, I had ridden over two hundred miles that October morning from Georgia, just so I could be there for that moment when Martin arrived. Then later to be one of the many who escorted him to the peace in the mountains that he had a week earlier, only dreamed of. And I would not trade the experiences of that day for anything. The opportunity to see Martin's face was all the reward that was needed for me. A lot of people came together that day to make a memory for a young man who deserved a far better fate than the hand that life had dealt him.
My one thought and hope as I rode home the next day, was that somehow this would be a moment in time that Martin could embrace as the disease that was stealing his life slowing took him away. I prayed that God would allow him to embrace the memories of his trip that weekend as something that could stave off the pain until he finally slipped the bonds of this life.
As I go forward, I hope that I can be part of other memories for those who have served and sacrificed for this nation. I hope that I can contribute in someway to thank and repay them for their sacrifices.
And I hope.....that many others will do the same. So say a prayer for peace, but also say a prayer for them. Then let them know that you care and that you will remember them.
The next front in Obama's war on America won't be with the republican controlled congress. On the contrary, the next front for the American imposter will be in the state houses across America.
No less than ten states are now proposing legislation requiring those running for president of the United States to prove that they meet the constitutional requirements to run for the office.
Arizona may have the most advanced plan, but 10 of the United States – controlling 107 Electoral College votes – are now considering some type of legislation that would plug the hole in federal election procedures that in 2008 allowed Barack Obama to be nominated, elected and inaugurated without providing proof of his qualifications under the U.S. Constitution.
And they aren't all the simple legislation such as that adopted in New Hampshire a year ago that requires an affidavit from a candidate stating that the qualifications – age, residency and being a "natural born citizen" – have been met.
In Georgia, for example, HB37 by Rep. Bobby Franklin not only demands original birth-certificate documentation, it provides a procedure for and declares that citizens have "standing" to challenge the documentation.
Watch as the media and the White House each ramps up to attempt to thwart these states. Watch as the media and the White house attempts to demonize all involved with questioning the interloper's credentials to hold the office. Watch as those like George Stephanopolis and Diane Sawyer and Katie
Couric and Chris Matthews and company attempt to first belittle and make fun of those involved. and failing that, watch the open all out assaults and partisan attacks that all involved in enforcing the constitution will endure.
Once again the evidence bears out the reality. Illegal aliens, (AKA undocumented workers) are the least of our worries as it concerns our unsecured border with Mexico.
A book celebrating suicide bombers has been found in the Arizona desert just north of the U.S.- Mexican border, authorities tell Fox News.
The book, "In Memory of Our Martyrs," was spotted Tuesday by a U.S. Border Patrol agent out of the Casa Grande substation who was patrolling a route known for smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs.
Published in Iran, it consists of short biographies of Islamic suicide bombers and other Islamic militants who died carrying out attacks.
According to internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection documents, "The book also includes letters from suicide attackers to their families, as well as some of their last wills and testaments." Each biographical page contains "the terrorist's name, date of death, and how they died."
Maybe just some traveling reading material for an errant traveler? I think not. No more than I believe that this book was simply something placed to be found.
"At this time, DHS does not have any credible information on terrorist groups operating along the Southwest border," a Department of Homeland Security official said in a statement. "We work closely with our partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities and as a matter of due diligence and law enforcement best practice, report anything found, no matter how significant or insignificant it may seem."
Well no, why would they have any credible information. I don't believe that homeland security has any credible information on anything period. It is an agency staffed by bureaucratic incompetence and being led by a partisan liberal who has done everything in her power to deny the threats to this country since the first day she assumed the position.
Yet the evidence is there on the desert floor, for those who take the time and bother to look.
Statements from U.S. officials, including FBI director Robert Mueller, have raised serious concerns in recent years over "OTMs" -- or illegal immigrants other than Mexicans -- who have crossed the southwest border at alarming rates.
Mueller testified before the House Appropriations Committee in March 2005 that "there are individuals from countries with known Al Qaeda connections who are changing their Islamic surnames to Hispanic-sounding names and obtaining false Hispanic identities, learning to speak Spanish and pretending to be Hispanic."
And they are obviously staying abreast of their fanatical inspirations and following their martyrs glorious history of attacking the infidels. And this is evidence that is present on our borders right now, today!
I believe that America is on the cusp of a devastating terrorist attack. Something that will cause 9/11 to pale by comparison. And I can only wonder, 'what will be the response of this administration when it happens.'
On second thought, I already know what this administration's reaction will be. they have already told us. They have already stated that another and more significant terrorist attack on America? Is something that 'we can withstand.'
This is an ongoing conversation between me and the president of the United States. Albeit a one sided conversation, it is a conversation none the less. At least the president seems to think so.
I received this in email immediately following the state of the union address last night.
Tonight I addressed the American people on the future we face together.
Though at times it may seem uncertain, it is a future that is ours to decide, ours to define, and ours to win.
I know we will.
Because, after the worst recession in decades, we see an economy growing again.
Because, after two years of job losses, we've added private-sector jobs for 12 straight months -- more than 1 million in all.
Because, time after time, when our resolve has been tested, we, as a nation, have always prevailed.
Overcoming the challenges we face today requires a new vision for tomorrow. We will move forward together, or not at all -- for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics.
Yet the story of America is this: We do big things.
Just as the progress of the past two years would not have been possible without your hard work, we will not realize the agenda I described tonight without you.
So as we continue this great mission together, and we set out the plans for how far we can go, I need to know that you are ready to work side by side with me once more.
Will you stand with me as we strive to win the future?
The last two years have been marked by unprecedented reforms and historic progress.
But there is much more work to do.
Moving forward, America's economic growth at home is inextricably connected to our competitiveness in the global community. The more products American companies can export, the more jobs we can create at home.
This vision for the future starts with innovation, tapping into the creativity and imagination of our people to create the jobs and industries of the future. Instead of subsidizing yesterday's energy, let's invest in tomorrow's. It's why I challenged Congress to join me in setting a new goal: By 2035, 80 percent of America's electricity will come from clean energy sources.
It means leading the world in educating our kids, giving each of our children the best opportunity to succeed and preparing them for the jobs of tomorrow.
We must build a 21st century infrastructure for our country, putting millions of Americans to work rebuilding roads and bridges and expanding high-speed Internet and high-speed rail.
We must reform government, making it leaner, smarter, and more transparent.
And we must take responsibility for our shared debt, reining in our long-term deficit so we can afford the investments we need to move our country forward.
That is the vision I laid out tonight. That is how we win the future.
It is going to take a lot of work -- but I have no doubt we are up to the task.
Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we'd beat them to the moon. The science wasn't there yet. NASA didn't even exist.
But after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets. We unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs.
This is our generation's Sputnik moment.
Please stand together with me:
http://my.barackobama.com/WintheFuture
It is because of each of you, who define the will of a people, that the state of our union is strong in the face of tough challenges. You are the reason our future is still bright in the face of deep uncertainty.
And you are the reason I believe that future is ours to win.
Thank you,
Barack
I believe I called it. I believe I said that the content of the speech would center around two things, the supposed successes of the last two years, while he completely ignoring the present unemployment levels and economic woes, while calling for more cooperation between the parties.
Admittedly, I did not call the president's proposals to veto all ear marks, although I'll have to admit, I will believe that when I see it. Let's just say...'that ain't gonna happen.'
So the bottom line seems to be this. Barack Obama is now ready (after two years of shoving socialism up our collective butts) to supposedly rein in spending and work together. On another note, the president's real plan last night, was nothing more than more of the same once you listened to it. Touchy feely catch words and empty promises and more lipstick on the pig IMO. More of the FDR version of let's let government fix this and let's work with government to see that it gets done.
At one point, the president talked about his hopes of seeing over one million totally electric cars on the roads of America by 2015. I am sorry, but I could care less about seeing a million electric cars on the road. What I would like to see? Would be ten million more jobs added over the next four years. And gasoline prices back down to under two dollars a gallon. What do you think about that mr. president? Oh....I forgot, This is a one sided conversation after all.
And I would like to see our borders secured and the America of my birth being led forward as opposed to being constrained and strangled by a socialist agenda designed to allow government to provide our every need, while reducing America to a third rate European socialist state.
I am sorry and my apologies to Chris Matthews and the other luminaries of the left, but I didn't get any tingling feelings up my leg last night. Barack Obama did nothing last night to address my concerns for this country, aside from attempting to portray his moves toward the center as some new direction, while at the same time telling us that his health care legislation is a non negotiable base position.
In the end, my crystal ball says two more years of the same thing. Maybe we can change that come 2012, maybe not. In either event, it remains a one sided conversation between Barack Obama and the American people.
Next week, there will be a hundred and ten reasons to stop and pause and reflect on what it means to be an American. What it means to sacrifice. What it means to remember.
Next week is Frank Buckles one hundred and tenth birthday. The last surviving Dough Boy, the last of Pershing's Patriots. It should be a time that is hallowed in our history. A time when the last living survivor of the war to end all wars should be celebrated and hailed as a national treasure.
I wonder how many Americans will know. I wonder how many Americans will be told of this man's milestone by the media. Tonight the eyes of the nation will be tuned to the words spoken by the president to the nation. We will be told how great things are and how much better they will be. But we won't be told of the heroes who made this nation possible.
We won't be told of her defenders or of those like Frank Buckles, who went to war as boys and came back as men and contributed to saving Europe's and ultimately our own future.
How many people will remember? I don't know yet. How many people will stand and salute the life of America's oldest patriot? I don't know, but I will try to report back.
Taco Bell might want to change it's "Think Outside the Bun" campaign to "What's Really in That Taco?" after a class-action lawsuit filed against the fast-food giant claimed its taco filler doesn't, um, "meat" federal standards.
The suit against the YUM-brands chain also has a "beef" with the company's advertising, charging its claims of using "seasoned ground beef" or "seasoned beef" in its food products is false.
According to the suit filed by the Alabama law firm Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, the YUM-brands owned chain is using a meat mixture that contains binders and extenders, and does not meet the minimum requirements set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be labeled as "beef.”
And so it goes. I imagine if the FDA were to have a closer look at all of the fast food industry, they would fine the same reality across the board.
I remember back when Wendy's big advertising campaign centered around the slogan "where's the beef?" Back when the issue was, 'who's using less and less beef." Now, I dare say all of them are using extenders and fillers, including Wendy's.
One sure fire sign of that is in the taste. Nothing tastes like it use to anymore and that is not all about them switching oils and such. They are using fillers and extenders in their meats. And all it takes is one bite of any contemporary fast food hamburger to realize that.
Presently, there is only one sure fire hamburger chain, still serving hamburgers the way they use to be and that chain is Five Guys Burgers. If you haven't yet, try one. That or get your next Burger at some upscale eatery like Ruby Tuesdays etc. Either way, be prepared to pay at least $5 for a real burger. So go someplace where they actually make their own beef patties. Just don't look to get a real burger or real beef at the major hamburger franchises anymore.
They have done away with real beef the same as they did away with real sugar thirty five years ago. It's all high fructose corn syrup now. And it looks like it is all soy and oak fillers when you order fast food beef.
Maybe all those oats and soy will soak up some of the hormones and antibiotics they are injected with, but I think not.
Unless you have been in a media blackout since last week, all the buzz of mainstream media for the past week, has centered around the president's state of the union address tonight.
The founding fathers, back when they first established the country, wrote into the constitution the requirement that the sitting president, give an accounting to congress and to the American people once every year. The president is to report to both congress and the people, the 'state' of the nation.
The media has spent the last week trying to glean all available information concerning what the president might say tonight, in advance of the actual speech. So who wants to bet that the speech will touch on most of the hot button issues. Things like jobs and the economy, but with a heavy emphasis on the supposed accomplishments of the past two years.
In my opinion, the accomplishments of this administration won't take ten seconds of air time all told, although I fully expect the president to have put a lot of lip stick and lip gloss on his pig of an administration, in an attempt to reassure the American people that his hope and change is working.
Yeah right....
And mean while, the republicans will have to do battle with the Tea Party as to who will have the best or most watched rebuttal tonight, between republican Rep. Paul Ryan and Tea Party star Michele Bachmann.
Personally, I don't think there will be any earth shattering news one way or the other. Obama will talk about what a good job he has done, while at the same time calling for bipartisanship 'now' and a consensus that the American people and their politicians just need to get back to work on the nation's problems.
I am of the opinion that I have heard this song and dance before. I remember when Clinton told us we needed to stop shining a light up his skirt, so that he could get back to the business of running the country. Right before the Lewinsky affair hit full stride.
I believe the same will be true of Obama's speech tonight. He will attempt to call for a return to order and civility, bipartisanship and cooperation. He will cite his success with the recession, while deftly side stepping the unemployment reality and the fact that we are a hair's breath away from a double dip.
And the address will be met with the usually partisan smattering of applause at all the right moments. The only thing that will be missing, will be "Jack in the Box Pelosi" as his backdrop this go around. I'll bet even old Joe Biden is secretly happy about that.
Once again the collective forces of the left combined with a pliable media, closes ranks to insure that the cover up of Barack Obama's birth remains a covered up and buried secret.
A privacy law that shields birth certificates has prompted Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie to abandon efforts to dispel claims that President Barack Obama was born outside Hawaii, his office says.
State Attorney General David Louie told the governor that privacy laws bar him from disclosing an individual's birth documentation without the person's consent, Abercrombie spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said Friday.
"There is nothing more that Gov. Abercrombie can do within the law to produce a document," said Dela Cruz. "Unfortunately, there are conspirators who will continue to question the citizenship of our president."
It relatively simple mr. president, the people of America have a right to know that their president is who he says he is. Never before in the history of this country, has so much effort been placed in concealing the background and history of a sitting American president.
Dan Rather and CBS news went as far as to concoct and forge documentation on George Bush in their pursuit of vilifying the man, yet these same vaunted journalists turn a cold shoulder to looking into the stench coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. as it concerns the impostor who resides there.
And yes, as far as I am concerned, anyone who refuses to provide to the American people, reasonable documentation to dispel rumors and reveal the truth is an impostor.
All it takes is for Barack Obama to produce the simple document that the rest of America has absolutely no problem producing. Yet the man continues to refuse and he continues to pay millions to lawyers to keep his secrets secret.
In the law, there are terms known as preponderance and absentia. Simply stated, Barack Obama is convicted by the preponderance of the evidence concerning his birth records and his refusal to produce same. And his hiding behind his supposd right to privacy, while serving as the president of the United States, does not lessen the burden of the evidence.
And absent his providing the documents to dispel all questions and absent his coming forth to address the issue in a forthright manner, the man is convicted in the court of public opinion in absentia.
This story will not go away and American will in all probability never know the truth until he is out of office and the damage of his presidency has been done.
For those who might be paying attention and those who might actually care?
The Chinese are literally laughing at us and rubbing our noses in it and all the while our president is smiling.
Lang Lang the pianist says he chose it. Chairman Hu Jintao recognized it as soon as he heard it. Patriotic Chinese Internet users were delighted as soon as they saw the videos online. Early morning TV viewers in China knew it would be played an hour or two beforehand. At the White House State dinner on Jan. 19, about six minutes into his set, Lang Lang began tapping out a famous anti-American propaganda melody from the Korean War: the theme song to the movie “Battle on Shangganling Mountain.”
The film depicts a group of “People’s Volunteer Army” soldiers who are first hemmed in at Shanganling (or Triangle Hill) and then, when reinforcements arrive, take up their rifles and counterattack the U.S. military “jackals.”
The movie and the tune are widely known among Chinese, and the song has been a leading piece of anti-American propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for decades. CCP propaganda has always referred to the Korean War as the “movement to resist America and help [North] Korea.” The message of the propaganda is that the United States is an enemy—in fighting in the Korean War the United States’ real goal was said to be to invade and conquer China. The victory at Triangle Hill was promoted as a victory over imperialists.
The song Lang Lang played describes how beautiful China is and then near the end has this verse, “When friends are here, there is fine wine /But if the jackal comes /What greets it is the hunting rifle.” The “jackal” in the song is the United States.
The name of the song is “My Motherland,” originally titled “Big River.” In an interview broadcast on Phoenix TV, the first thing Lang Lang is quoted as saying is that he chose the piece.
The Chinese have reason to smile. They have surpassed our economy, they have surpassed our production and manufacturing capability and soon they will surpass our military might. And to add insult to injury, they literally own this country financially.
America is on the cusp of becoming a third rate has been and a footnote in history. Anyone else up to another dose of hopey changey yet?
Ed Mauser, the oldest survivor of the Band of Brothers has left us.
A member of the "Band of Brothers" who fought in some of World War II's fiercest European battles, Ed Mauser shunned the limelight and kept his service with the Army unit a secret, even from some of his family.
His role came to light only after his brother-in-law got him a copy of the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers," said Terry Zahn, who met Mauser during a 2009 Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C., to see the World War II memorial. Mauser, who died Friday, told his family that some of the things in the miniseries, like the locations of buildings, weren't quite what he remembered from being there in person.
But before that, "he never talked about it for years and years and years," said Zahn, president of the Midwest chapter of the 101st Airborne Division Association.
They are all slowly passing away now. By the hundreds each day, we are losing those who fought and bled and died. Ultimately they prevailed to secure and protect our freedoms. And yet the large majority of Americans are not only oblivious to their passing, but they are oblivious to the debt that we owe these men.
Zahn said he kept his service a secret, even from his relatives. After it became known, he reunited with some of his Army buddies and made a few public appearances. He preferred to stay out of the limelight.
"Don't call me a hero," Mauser told the Lincoln Journal Star in a 2009 interview. "I was just one of the boys. I did what I was told, and let's leave it at that."
None of them wanted to be called heroes, yet that is what they were and who they are to those of us who recognize their sacrifices and their love of their country. Ed didn't want to be called a hero in life, he only did what he was told to do and what was required of him to hear him tell it.
But Ed Mauser was a hero by all definition. Along with the thousands of others who returned home and the thousands who didn't. They each answered the call of their nation and gave what was required, as best they could. They contributed, each in their own ability. And yes, the measure of a hero can be weighed.
A hero is the individual who held out and held on when their minds screamed to them that there was no more holding out or holding on.
A hero is the individual who looked death in the eye and stood fast, as they would rather have died facing death eye to eye, than to have walked away or fled their duty.
A hero is the individual who gave selflessly for the benefit and safety of others, often times to the sacrifice of their own life. But they never brag about what they did.
Heroes never intend to be heroes. They shun the title and deep down inside I suppose many of them think "If they only knew how scared I was, they would never think of me as a hero."
Little do they realize, that fear is what staunched their souls and kept them at their posts and provided them with the last ounce and measure of courage required at that single moment in time.
Ed Mauser was a hero. He was a young man when he answered the call of his country and when he endured the threat of death at Normandy and later at Bastone. When all others including their enemy saw no point to their continued resistance, Ed and his band of brothers stood fast and held on. And for that they will always be known as 'The battling bastards of Bastone." They never quit, they never gave up on each other and they never gave into the pressure of their enemy.
So was Ed Mauser a hero? You can count on it. Ed embodied what all heroes share. A love of his country and a love of his brothers in arms, to the last man. Ed has gone to be with those brothers now, both those lost so many years ago on those battle fields and those who have slowly marked the passage of time since, before their own passing.
I am sure as Ed's last breath settled, there were immediately those present around him to walk with him into glory. Gladly patting him on the back and telling him of his welcomed arrival in heaven.
Was Ed Mauser a hero? I for one will always believe so. As I will always believe that he now once again serves in the company of heroes, once again with his brothers in heaven.
A privacy law that shields birth certificates has prompted Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie to abandon efforts to dispel claims that President Obama was born outside Hawaii, his office says.
State Attorney General David Louie told the governor that privacy laws bar him from disclosing an individual's birth documentation without the person's consent, Abercrombie spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said Friday.
"There is nothing more that Gov. Abercrombie can do within the law to produce a document," said Dela Cruz. "Unfortunately, there are conspirators who will continue to question the citizenship of our president."
The really amazing part of this entire episode, is the culmination and end of an investigation that was a sham to begin with. Governor 'elect' Abercrombie had boasted that he would get to the bottom of the controversy even before he was elected. Then after he won election, he set about to set the record straight, just as soon as he assumed the office.
And yet here we are, not quite at the end of the month and the trump card has been played.
But Abercrombie's attempt reached a dead end when Louie told him the law restricted his options.
Hawaii's privacy laws have long barred the release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who doesn't have a tangible interest.
So there you have it. There are no tangible interests in proving or dispelling the issue of the president's birth. Certainly, the American people have no vested interest. And the US Constitution (which clearly delineates the eligibility for office) doesn't have a tangible interest.
So the rather curious application of the law (a law that was apparently present before Abercrombie's investigation began) is invoked to shut down the governor of the state. Yet those who defend this type of clearly partisan chicanery, want to point crooked fingers at those who would dare to question the president's right to hold office and assert: "You have no right to violate Obama's rights to privacy!" "Yoy have no tangible interests!"
Silly me, I thought that a person elected to the highest office in the land gave up certain rights to privacy "in the public interest?" Apparently there is no public interest in the public's interest.
But we do know that the president has been indexed by the state of Hawaii.
That was Abercrombie's only piece of supporting documentation? And he can't even produce it for his own curiosity.
Personally? I believe the president's real birth records are probably being kept at a super secret site for national security reasons. Some place like Area 51 in all probability. ;-%)
Does he or doesn't he? Only his hairdresser knows for sure.
Photos of President Obama released this week are prompting a feverish round of "does he or doesn't he" speculation about whether our commander in chief dyed his hair.
The visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao has provided the nation's pundits and politicians with plenty of serious talking points. From the potential threat posed by China's increasingly sophisticated military to the impact that Beijing's monetary policies have on the U.S. economy, there is no shortage of weighty issues. So it may be no surprise that, after Wednesday's White House dinner for Hu, the question spiking interest on the Web is about … Obama's hair.
Recent before-and-after photos published by outlets including England's Daily Mail online, Gawker and a number of print tabloids apparently illustrate a recent pronounced darkening of the president's coif.
OK, so the media has just now noticed that the great one seems to have suddenly lost his gray? They are kidding right? Or are they just that oblivious to reality... I suspect the latter.
But to even ask the question begs to the reality that the media is so out of touch with what is right before their eyes, as to make their sudden curiosity with his hair color a joke.
Show the photos to a group of fourteen year old girls and ask them if they think that he is dying his hair.
I say a collective "well Duh! will be the immediate response.
The American media is a truly scary place. And to think, we have entrusted these people with the right to speak freely and to protect our rights to speak freely. Perhaps there are those who can now see why those rights are under attack and in jeopardy.
Returning home late last night, I was greeted by the news that Keith Olbermann had been unceremoniously and spontaneously fired last night by MSNBC.
Most who follow cable news, were aware of his recent brushes with management over his politics and activities, but this move came as a complete surprise to many, not the least of which being Olbermann I am sure.
Although they are denying it, it strikes me that NBC Comcast merger was the catalyst for the ouster. Now what remains to be seen is if and where Olbermann can find employment in the industry. I would imagine that he will have 'ten foot pole marks' all over him after this.
Olbermann returned from one last commercial break on "Countdown" to tell viewers it was his last broadcast, and read a James Thurber short story in a three-minute exit statement. Simultaneously, MSNBC e-mailed a statement that "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract." The network thanked him and said, "we wish him well in his future endeavors."
Neither MSNBC President Phil Griffin, Olbermann nor his manager responded to requests to explain an exit so abrupt that Olbermann's face was still being featured on an MSNBC promotional ad 30 minutes after he had said goodbye.
Olbermann was nearly fired in November, but instead was suspended two days without pay for violating an NBC News policy by donating to three political campaigns, including the congressional campaign of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. He returned and apologized to his fans, but not the network.
Psst! The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Aren't in the constitution congressman. Perhaps you can get with your other colleague (Hank Johnson) from Georgia and get a discount on some current affairs, American history and common sense courses.
Based on poll results posted today by Fox News? I'd say that there are a helluva lot more folks out there like Jared Loughner than anyone ever suspected. Those folks who must be seeing blue trees and orange skies like Loughner claims to have done. Because I am at a complete loss to fathom the fickleness of a goodly portion of America.
After two years in office, over half of American voters say President Obama is failing to live up to expectations, and a majority is dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country today.
Still, the president’s job approval rating is at its highest level in over six months. These are just some of the findings from a Fox News poll released Thursday.
Approval of Obama’s job performance stands at 47 percent, up from 40 percent in December.
The last time approval of the president was this high was late June 2010 (also 47 percent approval). The new poll found 44 percent disapprove of the job Obama is doing.
A year ago 50 percent approved and 42 percent disapproved (January 2010).
OK.....so what have I missed? Unemployment is still over 10% nationally and in some places (like Nevada and Michigan, it is bumping 15%). The economy continues to lumber along like a three legged dog on ice skates and the price of gas has gone up thirty five cents in the last two months. Not to mention the costs of groceries that no one seems to notice, much less report on. And the Chinese are about to hand us our asses globally as the economic leader of the world (soon to be followed by military leader).
So what did I miss? Oh!
The president's handling of the Tucson shooting? So that was it huh......
Ok, let me see if I have this straight. Obama didn't prevent the shooting. He didn't do anything new or innovative to aid in the investigation or prosecution of the perpetrator. Unless you consider his phone call to Sheriff Dupnik to congratulate him. The same man (sheriff) who fanned the fires of liberal discontent and angst nationally. The same one who aimed his own vitriol at talk radio, Sarah Palin Rush Limbaugh and anyone else that the left felt was guilty of inciting violent rhetoric.
And oh! I almost forgot. Obama was the guest rock star at the Tucson rally/memorial. Complete with his campaign slogan T shirts that someone else was responsible for and weren't really campaign T shirts to begin with.
And for these accomplishments? The president's approval rating rose seven points in the last two weeks. Well hallelujah and pass the spam and butter peas please! For a minute there I thought that the American electorate may have completely lost their minds. At least based on these polling numbers.
Then it dawned on me, this is basically normal for most of them. Or par for the course as some might say. The American electorate, (at least those polled by Fox News this week) seem to have completely forgotten about the economy, jobs, Obama's health care debacle that is about to cripple the country and everything else that the man 'hasn't accomplished' over the last two years. And some how at least 'those polled' are beginning to get some of those tingly feelings up their legs again apparently.
I can't quite put my finger on it? But something has changed between now and two weeks ago. Obviously something changed for this noticeable shift in the quantum dynamics of public opinion concerning a man who has done absolutely nothing to justify their renewed approval on any level.
Wait a minute! Could it be that the new season of American Idol is back on the air this week? And that has been the much needed distraction that this administration needs? Who the hell knows. But one thing is for sure. I'd love to be able to peek inside the heads of some of these folks who believe that this president is doing a good job.
Just once. So that I could have a look at the world through their eyes. Because something tells me? There are colors of the rainbow in their world? That the rest of us are completely blind to.
Hail Caesar! Pass the beer, chips and wings and will someone PLEASE! tell me when the Super Bowl comes on! We need some serious business in this country to get people back on track with what is really important in their lives.
More beer! More Football! More American Idol! More Justin Beber and Brittany Spears! And for God's sake! More Barack Obama! Amen.......
It was bad enough when upon the arrival of the Chinese president, once again Barack Obama was captured for posterity bowing to him. I saw the photograph on Drudge yesterday and elected to not even acknowledge it.
Now today comes the true revelations of what this Chinese visit represents and how our tin man president has handled the Chinese since the beginning of his administration. While Obama has placed America prostrate before the great dragon and full of self imposed humility and false political positioning, the Chinese have seen no reasons or justifications to return the favor.
The Chinese are stepping off and flaunting what they now know is inevitable.
''If China becomes the world's No. 1 nation ... ." That was the headline in the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, The People's Daily, on the eve of Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to Washington. The article went on to boast how "China's emergence is increasingly shifting to debate over how the world will treat China, which is the world No. 1 and has overtaken the U.S."
A story like this does not appear by accident in the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper on the eve of a state visit to the world's (current) No. 1 power, the United States.
Hell no that headline didn't appear by accident and Americans need to read the full extent of how they have been betrayed by this interloping impostor we have allowed to become president. No, this headline isn't a misprint any more than Obama's approach to the Chinese since he took office has been by accident. Obama has all but taken this country to the place where he has bent America over to be subjugated by the Chinese, much like he subjugates himself to them and the Muslim kings of Arabia.
America use to be the nation that set the tone and carried forth the policy of democracy to the rest of the world. From the time when Teddy Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet around the world to let the rest of the world know who truly was the real big dog on the block, to the time when America stood up and defeated tyranny on two sides of the globe simultaneously during WWII.
Those times are no more and Barack Obama intends to see that they never return. He is content to do what he promised to the stupid and the ignorant that voted for him and allowed him to be elected. He is fundamentally changing this nation and once his 'change you can believe in' is accomplished? The America of the last two hundred plus years will no longer exist.
While The people of this country have been deprived the truth by the media and the government sponsored education system in this country over the last forty five years, the dupes that have been produced from this inbreeding of the socialist mind has produce a generation too stupid to see that they are being led toward the cliff of oblivion and destruction like the lemmings that they are.
God helps us!
The great red dragon has risen and we have brought it to life and fed it with the knowledge and experience and money and technology that we created to support it. Now as it looms on the precipice of consuming us, I can only wonder what the majority of those who never knew their country and never cared to learn of their heritage will think. What will they think when they are driven into the barren out lands of the shadows of all that was once great and has been destroyed.
I hope they enjoy their bowl of rice and their bicycles and their prayer mats when they get them. Those who survive.
My wife has had to have some ongoing dental work done of late and between winter storms and unforeseen events, we have had to postpone today's visit several times. There are times in life when things happen when we don't understand why and there are times when the answers are revealed to us later. Sometimes much later. Today was one of those times in my life when something was revealed to me.
I met a hero today.....and had things gone as planned originally, that meeting would never have happened. Had those original dental appointments not been postponed, I would have never had the opportunity to meet and talk to a man who is literally, part of our living history.
Today as I was sitting in the waiting room, while my wife was seeing the dentist, an elderly couple came in and sat down across from me. I looked up from my reading to glance in their direction across the waiting room and as I looked, I saw that the gentleman had on a ball cap with embroidered lettering indicating that he was a world war two veteran.
I folded my book and began to contemplate my feelings as I waited for the opportunity to approach. The gentleman's wife was seated next to him and was completing some paperwork for the dentist office. As I looked on, another gentleman seated adjacent to them, struck up a conversation with the man and as they talked, I could hear spillovers of the conversation, enough to learn that the man was a former crew member on a B-17.
Hearing that piece of information immediately piqued my interest, as I have an elderly friend who flew B-17's during the war and the plane has always been an area of love and interest for me since I was a child. So I waited for the right moment, then I stood and walked over to the gentleman to introduce myself and to shake his hand. He immediately brightened up upon my approach as I was wearing my 3rd Marine Division Vietnam veteran hat. He readily extended his hand and smiled. I shook hands and told him that I appreciated his service and was literally in awe to be in the presence of a man such as himself who had flown on B-17's.
He introduced himself as Elmer Browning, "B-17 Ball Turret Gunner." That realization further enamored me, and I sat down immediately right in front of him on the reception room coffee table and began to listen intently to some of his remembrances of his life and experiences. As I did so, his wife Melba looked up from her clipboard and smiled. She then reached inside a small bag at her feet and handed me a copy of a small book and one for the other gentleman present. The book was titled "Elmer's Tune" and it is the story of Elmer Browning and his experiences during WWII as a B-17 ball turret gunner.
Some might call a meeting such as ours today as a 'by chance' meeting, I would call it serendipity.
As we sat and talked, Melba (upon seeing my hat) thanked me for my service. I asked her if I could buy one of the books and she said "you sure can." I asked if she would take a check and she said "yes and Elmer will autograph it for you too." As I handed Elmer the book and a Pen, I noted that he was having trouble hearing me when he asked my name when he asked who to address it to. Melba interjected that Elmer had lost the hearing in both ears due to his experiences in the ball turret, but added "he can read lips."
She went on to tell me that the book was based upon Elmer's journals and that she had told him one day "you need to write a book about this, as this is part of history." She then said that Elmer had dictated the book and that she had typed and edited it and then they found a publisher. Melba also noted that the book was a bit thin when they finished, but that this to had been providence, as they had taken to giving copies of the books to service men and women deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan....."and the size is perfect for them to travel with. They couldn't have carried a big book with them" she said.
Elmer took the pen and slowly addressed the book to me and added this line, "thank you for being interested in our life. God Bless....Elmer Browning"
Elmer then handed me the book and pointed to the photograph on the cover of a young man in his sheep's wool lined flight suit, squatting in front of his ball turret. He tapped the photo with his finger and said: "that was me when I was 19 years old."
I sat for the next thirty or so minutes literally in awe of this fragile man who I learned from his wife is eighty six years old. As we talked, his Melba would explain things or tell the stories and Elmer would interject with his own comments. He can apparently read her lips well enough from the side to make out most of what she is saying and he obviously he knows the stories.
Melba told me of the time when he and his crew were on a mission to bomb Berlin and right before coming over target, it was his time to get down in the ball turret and prepare. She said he told her of hearing this mysterious harp music, but after a while, the music was interrupted by the pilot coming on the intercom to tell them that their target was aborted due to cloud cover and that they were heading to an alternate target. She said that he told her that he never heard the harp music again and that no one else in his crew apparently heard it.
Melba spoke of the time when Elmer's turret was shot up and about to fall off the plane and the crew was desperately trying to pull him back up through the escape hatch and they couldn't quite get him out. When he suddenly felt this giant hand on his backside. She said: "he said he felt this giant hand on his buttocks that pushed him up and out." She said: People don't believe that, but there were angels with them." Elmer just nodded in agreement.
She also told me of the time when his plane was shot up so bad, that they almost didn't make it back. Of the frantic time they spent jettisoning everything on the badly damaged plane, in an attempt to keep it airborne just long enough to get them back to England. And that on the return from that mission, they threw everything into the English channel as they flew back, including the ball turret and all the machine guns and everything else that wasn't bolted down.
Melba sat and told me of how the pilot landed the plane on the expanded steel runway of a fighter base somewhere on the coast of England, as the plane couldn't make it any further on its own. She told me of how Elmer had told her of the indignant young fighter squadron leader who came charging out to chastise the crew of Elmer's B-17 for having landed there and blocking his runway. He ordered them to move the damn thing! Then in the midst of it all, how he stopped and looked at the battered old flying fortress and exclaimed: "Oh my God! How did you ever fly that thing back? The plane so obviously damaged as to make it a wonder that it could remain in the air at all.
But fly it they did and the pilot landed it, just in time according to Melba, as the last engine died as they landed. She said the pilot looked up at the indignant officer and told him: "if you want it moved? You move it." As Melba related the stories, Elmer would interject comments. "It's all in the book."
As I listened to these stories of living history and was captivated by being in the presence of Elmer and his wife, I handed him one of my Patriot Guard business cards and began to explain what the Patriot Guard does and why. I also asked Melba if Elmer had ever been to Washington and seen the WWII memorial. She said no. I told her of the Honor Flights program that are taking WWII veterans on day trips to Washington and that the Patriot Guard had recently escorted one such flight from Fayetteville Ga. last fall. I told her that we escorted a hundred and seventeen WWII vets to the airport and that later (a couple of months later), we participated in a reunion with them at the Fayette County community center.
Elmer said he would like to see the memorial one day and Melba asked: "do they let the wives go along too?" I told her that they did and that they send chaperons and medical staff along with them to cover all eventualities. Elmer and Melba both smiled upon hearing that.
A few minutes later they came to take Melba back to her dental appointment and I sat for another fifteen minutes with Elmer just taking about his experiences and the plane. I told him that the day we held the reunion for the Honor Flight veterans, that they had a B-17 do a flyover and how the old fortress had made two low passes for the veterans.
Elmer's face changed slightly and he told me: "I'm glad I wasn't there, I still get cold as I can be every time I see one. (B-17) Brings back the memories of the time I spent in the ball turret and how cold it was." He then added: "It must have been the Liberty Belle. I signed the turret on that one and they put something over it to seal it so it wouldn't wear off."
Elmer then took off his hat and showed me his ribbons on the side of his cap. Elmer had the miniature ribbons for the medals he was awarded during the war and I could tell he was waiting to see if I recognized any of them. I looked at them closely and I told Elmer: "I know what this one is, that's a Purple Heart. And this one, that's the Silver Star" and as I reached the upper most ribbon on the left and pointed to it, before I could say it, Elmer did. "That's the Distinguished Flying Cross." (The second highest award given by the United States military. Second only to the Medal of Honor). Elmer pointed to the rest of his ribbons and named them all. European theater awards, presidential unit citations and air medals. Many with numerous stars and oak leaf clusters. Elmer Browning is a true American hero.
Elmer added that of the original ten man crew of his B-17, he was the last survivor. The other one (their radio man) had passed last year. Now it is just Elmer. He was obviously one of the younger ones.
Before long and all too soon, my wife appeared and it was time for us to leave. As she came into the waiting room, she saw me sitting on the coffee table in front of Elmer and I could immediately see the questions in her eyes. I stood up and introduced her to Elmer and told her that I had simply been sitting here talking to a hero and who he was. My wife immediately began to tear up and when Elmer extended his hand, my wife reached and gave him a big hug and thanked him for who he was and for all he had done for this country.
Elmer then turned and looked at me as I stood there and then he slowly saluted me. I returned the salute and asked him if I could take a picture with him. I gave my wife my camera phone and we took a picture together. After one last hand shake and a hug of thanks, we departed.
And as soon as I got home, I immediately fired off an email to a friend of mine in Patriot Guard. Someone who knows the people at Honor Flights. Someone who I know will know how to make it happen for Elmer. That is now my new mission. I want to insure that Elmer gets to be on the next Honor Flight to Washington and if at all possible, I intend to be there with him.
Semper Fi Elmer my friend
Edited August 28th 2011. The week before Gene passed, (Gene passed on July 30th)I had the opportunity to stop in and see him and Melba. I was able to let them know that day, that Gene and I had been accepted by Honor Flight and that the trip was scheduled for September 22nd. I was looking forward to that trip and so was Gene. He is there now. With a bird's eye view and seeing it all from above.
Hawaii governor Abercrombie has been on a crusade since day one of being elected governor, as it concerns his own personal quest to prove that our dear president was in fact born in Hawaii and is therefore, a US born citizen.
One minor problem: It would seem that not even the democrat governor of Hawaii can produce the long form birth certificate to prove Barack Obama's American birth rights.
To my followers, (both the doubters and those who believe as I do, that Barack Obama's heritage and history is one of the best laid cover ups of all time,) do follow the link and read the analysis and commentary as it concerns why all that can be obtained at this point, is the certificate of live birth.
There are reasons for everything and there are reasons for Gov. Abercrombie's present conundrum. It's all a matter of time before the truth prevails.
Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie suggested in an interview published today that a long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate for Barack Obama may not exist within the vital records maintained by the Hawaii Department of Health.
Abercrombie told the Honolulu Star Advertiser he was searching within the Hawaii Department of Health to find definitive vital records that would prove Obama was born in Hawaii, because the continuing eligibility controversy could hurt the president's chances of re-election in 2012.
Donalyn Dela Cruz, Abercrombie's spokeswoman in Honolulu, ignored again today another in a series of repeated requests made by WND for an interview with the governor.
Toward the end of the interview, the newspaper asked Abercrombie: "You stirred up quite a controversy with your comments regarding birthers and your plan to release more information regarding President Barack Obama's birth certificate. How is that coming?"
In his response, Abercrombie acknowledged the birth certificate issue will have "political implications" for the next presidential election "that we simply cannot have."
The pencil-thin president caught the parasites on a trip last year to Hawaii, where he and his family also vacationed over Christmas, according to top political insiders.
"Barack has wanted to keep the stomach parasites under the radar," revealed a close source.
And there is no denying the reality that more and more people are seeing and taking notice of. Are stomach parasites the real reason behind it as the Enquirer is now reporting? Who knows. Could be a tape worm, or could be something else. In any event, something is going on and it is showing.
Most presidents age rapidly and turn gray almost overnight, but few simply dry up and blow away.
Of course the other possibility is that he is simply melting. I must go did up my old copy of the movie and look for similarities.
