CONSUMER ALERT
CBS News has a consumer alert on their website warning their viewers about shrimp that may be contaminated. If you are a shrimp lover, as I am, you may want to read the story.

I did not, however, find a consumer alert on the website warning viewers about CBS News. In the interest of protecting the viewing public, the Noble Eagle Blog will issue one.

CONSUMER ALERT!!! (exclamation points added to underscore the seriousness of this alert.)
Viewing CBS News may seriously impair your ability to distinguish fact from fiction. Recent events have demonstrated that CBS News, and it's ace reporter/managing editor Dan Rather, operate under the belief that the seriousness of a story outweighs the authenticity of the evidence offered in support of the story. As a result of this policy, you may be subjected to a pack of lies that you are told to believe because Dan Rather says you should. Watch this program at your own risk.

Apparently, Rather & Co. believe that even if the documents are forged, their story is still legit. According to Rather:

The focus on "questions over the veracity of the memos was a smoke screen perpetrated by right-wing allies of the Bush administration," he said. "This is your basic fogging machine, which is set up to cloud the issue, to obscure the truth."

I wonder how Dan's "authenticity doesn't matter" philosophy would work out in the real world. To that end, I have devised a little experiment to test it (kids, DON'T try this at home). Take a $100 bill and make a really bad black & white copy of it (one side only). Then try passing it off at your local supermarket. When the cashier notices that it's a fake (believe it or not, about 1 in 5 won't), insist that it's real and refuse to leave the store until your transaction is complete. When the police come to arrest you, tell them that you believe that the bill is real, and that they have no business contradicting you on that. When you go to court, tell the judge that while the $100 bill may not be entirely authentic, you still believe that it's worth $100 dollars, and that these counterfeiting laws are like "your basic fogging machine, which is set up to cloud the issue, to obscure the truth." If charges are dismissed (for reasons other than insanity), I guess that Dan was right after all. If they aren't dismissed, I guess that means that Dan needs to get a freakin' clue.

DISCLAIMER: The above experiment is offered for illustrative purposes only. The Noble Eagle Blog accepts no responsibility for the fate of those dumb enough to actually try it. If you are that clueless you should not be viewing this website, you should be viewing a site intended for someone who is incapable of independent thought, like this one.

(COUNTER)F(E)IT TO BE TIED

I just saw Carl Bernstein (of Watergate fame) on Hannity and Colmes.  Bernstein is one of the icons of investigative journalism and his opinion was asked regarding the "Memogate" fiasco.  Bernstein referred to the scandal as a "sideshow" and said that President Bush's Air National Guard service in the early 1970's is the real story here. 

 

So it's a sideshow, is it?  A major news organization, headed by a respected (by others in the media, if not by me personally) journalist, does a story that could have a profound impact on a presidential election (in the middle of a war, no less!), and uses forged documents to prove their case.  How in the hell is this a sideshow?  CBS and Dan Rather engaged in (either willfully or negligently) a fraud perpetrated on the American people.  Bernstein's attitude, which mirrors CBS' attitude, is that no explanation is owed to the American people.  We all have a duty to pretend it never happened and to tune in to 60 Minutes next week and willingly ingest whatever they decide to spoon-feed to us.

 

I'm sorry Mr. Bernstein, but I'm not buying it, and neither are a lot of other Americans.  "Buying it" sums the situation up quite well. actually.  You people (the news media) are a business.  Your credibility is essential in order to stay in business.  Without it, no one will buy what you're selling.  To make an analogy, think of yourselves as cookies vendors.  Last week, Dan Rather and Company sold their customers a bag labeled "chocolate chip cookies".  As it turns out, the actual contents of the bag consisted of 100% pure bovine manure (bullshit, for those of you with Ivy League educations).  It's pure arrogance to deny your customers an explanation, and even more arrogant to expect them to buy another bag next week.

 

I have a feeling that Dan and his crew are going to keep on hawking more bags of (C)BS like nothing happened.  I don't know about you, but I'm not buying.

SEPTEMBER 11th
Saturday marks the third anniversary of the attacks on the US by Al Qaida. Many have referred to 9/11 as America's wakeup call. Sometimes I fear that we have fallen back to sleep. I make it a point to periodically look at pictures of the attack and its aftermath to remind myself of what happened and what we are still facing.



Here are some videos of the WTC attacks (most of these files will take a while to download if you have a slower internet connection):
1
2
3
4
5
6
CNN cameraman describing what he saw that day.

We owe it to the people who died that day, the people who have died in the War on Terrorism, our children, and our children's children to never forget what happened on September 11, 2001.

MORE ON MEMOGATE
The CBS 60 Minutes memo story continued today. The mainstream media appears to be picking up the story with a vengeance. In spite of this, Dan Rather is standing behind the authenticity of the documents.

I dug into my old military paperwork today and found my original DD Form 214. The document, issued at the US Army's hi-tech National Training Center in 1990, showed my last duty assignment as the 177th FSB. The "th" after the 177 was NOT in superscript. I sincerely doubt that the Texas Air National Guard had more advanced typewriters in the early 1970s than the Army had at NTC in 1990. I am becoming increasingly convinced that these documents, at least some of them, are forgeries.

In the long run, the real implication of this story does not involve the election. I don't think that the authenticity of the documents is going to change voters minds either way (although former democratic pollster Pat Caddell thinks that this scandal may cost Kerry the election). The real potential damage here is to the credibility of CBS. This scandal may drive more people to seek out alternative sources of information. The MSM's monopoly on the flow of information is coming to an end, and they can't handle it.

LIKE A SNOWBALL ROLLING DOWN A HILL
The 60 Minutes memo story has spread like wildfire on the internet. At last count, there were 193 trackbacks to the post on Powerline. After I read the post this morning, I sent a tip to Drudge via his website. I'm certain that I'm not the only one who did that today. By mid-afternoon, he had the story linked on his site. On the Fox News Channel, the story was featured on Special Report with Brit Hume (it was actually the last story discussed by the panel at the end of the show).

Now ABC News has picked up on the story. They are reporting that the son the the late Jerry Killian, the officer who wrote the memos, doubts their authenticity.

Gary Killian, who served in the Guard with his father and retired as a captain in 1991, said one of the memos, signed by his father, appeared legitimate. But he doubted his father would have written another, unsigned memo which said there was pressure to "sugar coat" Bush's performance review.

"It just wouldn't happen," he said. "The only thing that can happen when you keep secret files like that are bad things. ... No officer in his right mind would write a memo like that."

CBS is sticking by their story that the documents are legitimate. Not that that is a surprise. Credibility is essential for any news organization to stay in business (and it IS a business). If it turns out that the documents are forgeries (some experts have already weighed in saying that there is a good chance they are forgeries), CBS will find itself on the receiving end of the type of savaging that they are used to dishing out. Look for the other broadcast networks to pile on as well. In the fierce competition for a dwindling number of viewers, ABC and NBC will not pass up this opportunity to grab some of CBS' business. It's sure to make for an interesting show.

FORGERIES?
The Big Trunk at Powerlineblog is reporting that the memos regarding President Bush's Air National Guard service that were featured on 60 Minutes last night might be forgeries. This makes for some very interesting reading. If true, this would be a new low in American politics. You can see the whole story here.

After reading the post at Powerline, go to the CBS News website and look at the PDF file copies of the memos. Very interesting.

OLD EUROPE
Blackfive has an excellent post about Europeans. Apparently they hate us because of the war in Iraq. HA!!! I spent two years in Germany in the 80's and I can tell you this for sure; they hated us then, too. I think the war has just given them a new excuse. Ya gotta luv 'em.

BEATING A DEAD HORSE
The Dems are getting desperate. After several unsuccessful attempts to get traction from the bogus Air National Guard "AWOL" issue, they are taking another shot at it (again). These guys are taking the concept of never learning from your mistakes to a new level.

DNC bag-man Terry McAuliffe is criticizing President Bush for serving in the Air National Guard rather than going to Vietnam.

"We know that John Kerry was in Vietnam," said Democratic Party chief Terry McAuliffe in a conference call with reporters. "My question, Mr. President, is where were you, Sir?"

The implication, of course, is that President Bush failed to serve his country in the armed forces. The last time I checked, the Air National Guard is part of the military. In essence, McAuliffe's statement implies that members of the ANG aren't "real" military personnel. This urinates on the service of many thousands of men and women who have served in the ANG. To add insult to injury, I've seen no evidence that McAuliffe ever served in the military in any capacity. Furthermore, McAuliffe is the lap dog of a politician who really did dodge the draft. He gave his unwavering support to said politician in a political race against a decorated combat veteran.

I know you have to be a hypocrite to be a left winger these days, but McAuliffe takes it to the extreme. To paraphrase the Dixie Chicks: Just so you know, I'm ashamed that Terry McAuliffe is from New York.

ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
Our illustrious news media is reporting that the number of military deaths in the Iraq campaign has topped 1,000. No doubt someone will try to spin this number to suit their political ambitions. The number will climb higher still before we are done in Iraq. Such is the nature of war.

Consider these numbers:

-At the battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War, 7,058 soldiers were killed (3,155 Union, 3,903 Confederate). When the wounded and missing numbers are added, the total goes over 50,000.

-During the invasion of Okinawa, over 12,000 US military personnel were killed.

-In the second week of October 1943, the Eighth Air Force lost over 1,000 crewman in bombing raids over Europe.

-About 2,500 American troops died during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day (an exact number has not yet been determined).

-In the year 1968, about 14,000 US troops died in Vietnam.

As Robert E. Lee once said, "It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it."

To learn more about the brave men and women who have given their lives in the war on terrorism, visit the Fallen Heroes Memorial.

OUR FRIENDS THE FRENCH
Just for fun, go to Google and type "French military victories", then hit the I'm Feeling Lucky button.

This picture (and other hilarious stuff) available at Flash Bunny.

AWOL
Baldilocks has a very informative post on her site concerning the media-manufactured controversy over President Bush's service in the Air National Guard. This is a topic that aggravates me to no end. I've blogged about this issue before. The mainstream media seems to love this story so much, they can't stop reporting on it. They do not, however, love it enough to do any actual research on how the Guard and Reserves work. Baldilocks' site would be a good place to start that research. If you go there and read her post on the subject, I promise that you'll know more about Guard and Reserve service than the entire staff of the New York Times combined.

REASON ENOUGH TO VOTE FOR JOHN KERRY?
I'll leave it for you to decide.

MOORE (OR LESS)
I didn't see this exchange myself, but if it really happened this way, I'd have paid money to see it.

Hat tip: Kate

CONVENTION, DAY 4
Thankfully, my predictions about an increase in serious protester incidents did not come true. Did it have anything to do with the City of New York dragging its feet on releasing those who had been arrested? I guess we'll never know for sure, but I'm willing to bet that in the long run, these fines were a bargain.

The President's acceptance speech was, in my opinion, a home run. If there was one theme he hammered home, it was his decisiveness. This contrasts with his opponents waffling on the issues, especially the war.

Senator Kerry held a midnight rally in Springfiled, OH to give his response to the convention. I can't recall this ever haveing been done before. It looked like a move of desperation to me.

A shot was fired into Republican headquarters in Huntington, WV last night during President Bush's speech. So much for polite discourse. I guess the Democrats have given up on gun control, or at least made an exception in this case.

CONVENTION, DAY 3
The number of protesters arrested in NYC yesterday was down from the day before. Down a lot, in fact (think VERY high double digit percentage). This was probably due, in large part, to the fact that many of the hardcore troublemakers were still in jail (so much for the "incarceration doesn't prevent crime" theory). Look for things to get a little crazy this evening. Many of the protesters/vandals/thugs/punks who have been arrested will doubtless make bail or otherwise be released in time for one more "adventure". Also, the President is scheduled to speak tonight; further motivation for the most radical of the radicals to "exercise their first ammendment rights" in as disruptive and destructive a manner as possible.

By the way, you'll be happy to know that the National Lawyer's Guild has observers posted at the various demonstrations to ensure that the rights of the protesters are respected. They can be identified by the distinctive lime green hats they wear. I saw one of these observers on the news last night. She was watching as a protester severely beat a police officer. The officer, Detective William Sample, suffered a concussion and bruises on his face and chest. Jamal Holiday, the 20 year old jackass who assaulted him, was arrested Tuesday night at another protest. Apparently, the Lawyer's Guild's concern for civil rights doesn't extend to the rights of police officers.

PROTESTERS
By midnight tonight the NYPD will probably have arrested about 2,000 protesters since the start of the Republican National Convention. I've been reading about some of these groups on the net. One group, the Ruckus Society has set up a text alert system in order to gather protesters quickly in a particular location. Some of these groups are pretty well organized for "anarchists". Isn't being organized antithetical to the anarchist's philosophy? More evidence that you have to be a hypocrite to be an extreme leftist.

On a side note, a former Ruckus Society member named Zack Exley is the Director of Online Communications for the Kerry/Edwards campaign. Exley has also worked for Moveon.org. You can learn more about Ruckus and Mr. Exley in this excellent column by Lowell Ponte.

BACK IN UNIFORM
I haven't had time to post lately, as I've been on active duty in support of the Republican National Convention in NYC. Fortunately I didn't have to leave home since I'm working at the ops center at HQ. I'm on an overnight shift, which is exhausting due to the reverse schedule. Everyone I work with is pretty cool though, which makes it all more bearable. Even the general is easy going. I made his A-list by being the only one in the room who knew who said "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice". I shot further up the list by knowing who referred to "the nattering nabobs of negativism". Who says that being good at trivial pursuit is worthless?

THE NEW SOLDIER
Ed at Monkeywatch informs me that John Kerry's antiwar book (a picture of the cover is linked in my previous post) is available online. You can read it here. Spread the word. This is something the voting public needs to see.

HERO OR GOAT?
Apparently the Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth have hit a nerve. The Kerry campaign has sprung into action as Kerry's support from veterans has fallen in recent weeks. He has even enlisted the assistance of former Senator Max Cleland in stopping the Swiftvet ads (poor Cleland has become nothing more than a pathetic mascot for the Democratic party).

The debate over Kerry's medals and whether he deserved them are a moot point, in my opinion. Medal Inflation has been going on for years. The sad truth is that an officer will often receive a higher award for the same deed as an enlsited person. This is nothing new, and there is no end in sight (this is less likely when the chain of command is populated by high quality officers). This debate clouds the real issue at work here.



The real issue at here is Kerry's conduct after he returned from Vietnam. When he returned, Kerry turned on his fellow veterans, calling them war criminals. In 1971, he told the following story to the Washington Star newspaper:

"We established an American presence in most cases by showing the flag and firing at sampans and villages along the banks. Those were our instructions, but they seemed so out of line that we finally began to go ashore, against our orders, and investigate the villages that were supposed to be our targets. We discovered we were butchering a lot of innocent people, and morale became so low among the officers on those 'swift boats' that we were called back to Saigon for special instructions from Gen. Abrams. He told us we were doing the right thing. He said our efforts would help win the war in the long run. That's when I realized I could never remain silent about the realities of the war in Vietnam."

Following his "Winter Soldier Investigation", he told the following story to Congress in 1971:

They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the country side of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.

These statements made life harder for his fellow veterans, giving the antiwar crowd an excuse for their mistreatment of returning veterans. Even worse, the propaganda victory that Kerry gave to the North Vietnamese and Vietcong undoubtedly encouraged them to fight harder, costing more military and civilian lives.

Whether the Swiftvets' allegations are true or not, John Kerry has already shown America he is unfit for command. If he was telling the truth in 1971, and I don't believe that he was, he is a war criminal. If he was lying, he is a traitor. Either way, he is hardly Commander-in-Chief material.

PROBLEM SOLVED
I finally resolved my font issues. Unfortunately, it required that I delete all of the posts I have made since I first attempted posting by email. I lost about a half dozen posts. Oh well, sh*t happens. I guess that I was lucky that I've been lazy about posting lately. I guess posting by email was a bust.

BACK TO THE GRIND
After 2 weeks of lying around, it was time to go back to work. I had drill last weekend, so I got to wear the green cammo uniform (they still look weird after a few months of the desert uniforms). I went back to my civilian job today to find a pile of work waiting for me. My supervisor is on vacation this week, so at least I won't have him looking over my shoulder while I get caught up.

Vacation was good. We went to Virginia Beach. This was the third time there for us. We did the usual tourist/beach stuff. We also
-went to an aquarium
-heard some ghost stories
-solved a murder at a mystery dinner theater
-rode roller coasters at Busch Gardens

On the way back we stopped in Pennsylvania for a couple days to ride more roller coasters at Hershey Park (The Great Bear is a trip).

I also got some reading done. I read three novels and a book of short stories. All were by Donald Westlake. There's nothing like good crime fiction to take your mind off the routine.

Speaking of crime, there were a number of developments in the world of politics while I was on vacation. It'll take me awhile to catch up, but I trust the archives of my favorite bloggers will be useful in getting up to speed.

OPERATIONAL PAUSE
My blog will be on an operational pause for a week as I go on vacation with my family. I'll be in a sandy environment again, but it'll be the beach this time, not the desert.

ANYTHING WORTH DOING IS WORTH DOING RIGHT
Senator (he was a Senator for awhile following his tour in Vietnam, but he doesn't talk about it much because he doesn't like to brag) Kerry punctuated his speech at the convention last night by saluting the audience. I saw a picture of the salute on the net today. Lame is the first word that came to mind. I'm inclined to give the Senator a break, though. After all, he did serve in the Navy, a service whose traditions dictate that members only render a salute while wearing a cover (hat). Kerry's drill and ceremony training likely did not include saluting while not wearing a cover. However, if he is going to use the salute in his campaign speeches, it would behoove him to find an Army or Air Force veteran (both services salute without headgear in certain circumstances) to teach him to do it properly.

ANNIVERSARY
Today is the anniversary of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis.

At 12:14 a.m. on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea and sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 men on board, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remainder, about 900 men, were left floating in shark-infested waters with no lifeboats and most with no food or water. The ship was never missed, and by the time the survivors were spotted by accident four days later only 316 men were still alive.

The Indianapolis was returning from delivering the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

ANOTHER ANNIVERSARY
Today is also the sixteenth anniversary of my marriage to Mrs. Eagle. The fact that both of these events occurred on the same date is purely coincidental.

DISASTER STRIKES
Drudge is reporting that a major catastrophe occurred at the Democratic convention in Boston. DNC Director Don Mischer was heard over CNN's broadcast saying:

'Go balloons, go balloons! Go balloons! I don't see anything happening. Go balloons! Go balloons! Go balloons! Standby confetti. Keep coming, balloons. More balloons. Bring it- balloons, balloons, balloons! We want balloons, tons of them. Bring them down. Let them all come. No confetti. No confetti yet.

'No confetti. All right, go balloons, go balloons. We need more balloons. All balloons! All balloons! Keep going! Come on, guys, lets move it. Jesus! We need more balloons. I want all balloons to go, goddammit. Go confetti. Go confetti. More confetti. I want more balloons. What's happening to the balloons? We need more balloons.

'We need all of them coming down. Go balloons- balloons? What's happening balloons? There's not enough coming down! All balloons, what the hell! There's nothing falling! What the f@#k are you guys doing up there? We want more balloons coming down, more balloons. More balloons. More balloons'...

Without enough balloons, how are the American people expected to choose the better man for such an important job?

You can hear an MP3 of the above here.

THK TO THE RESCUE
Maybe I've been too hard on Theresa Heinz Kerry. At last night's Democratic Convention festivities, she did something that I would not have expected. During her speech to the delegates, Ms. Heinz Kerry told the crowd:

"My only hope is that, one day soon,” she said, “women who have all earned the right to their opinions -- instead of being called 'opinionated' will be called smart and well-informed, just like men."

I may be mistaken, but I think that THK was standing up for conservative columnist Ann Coulter. Coulter was hired by USA Today to cover the convention. The paper subsequently spiked the column she wrote for the July 26th edition of the technicolor, graph-intensive paper.

I know it sounds farfetched; a far out lefty like THK standing up for a card carrying member of the vast right-wing conspiracy. But who else could she have been talking about. THK was allowed to address the convention and speak her mind. Hillary Rodham Clinton was allowed to speak. Even the politically incorrect Iowa first lady was allowed to address the convention.

The only woman I can think of who has been "censored" so far at the Dem Convention is Ann Coulter. Yup, THK musta been standing up for Ann. That was damn nice of her, doncha think?

Okay, you can stop laughing now.

BLAST FROM THE PAST
Drudge is reporting that the Boston Herald has unearthed excerpts from a book that Theresa Heinz Kerry wrote in 1975 in which she lamented the "putrid politics" of the Democratic Party and said:

"I know some couples who stay together only for politics," Heinz Kerry said at the time. "If Ted Kennedy holds on to that marriage (to ex-wife Joan) just for the Catholic vote, as some people say he does, then I think he's a perfect bastard."

The Herald piece also includes a quote from a 1971 interview:

In an interview with The Washington Post in 1971, Heinz Kerry declared, "Ted Kennedy I don't trust, like I don't trust Nixon, although I think Nixon's done a helluva lot better than I thought he would."

Looks like the Senator from MA (John Kerry, not the "perfect bastard") is going to have his hands full this election season. Not that anyone would be surprised by that. Two words of advice for Senator Kerry: duct tape.

WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE
Our wannabe first lady did her best Johnny Paycheck imitation in Boston, telling a reporter to shove it when he asked for clarification of a statement she made in a speech to Democratic Convention delegates. Ironically, the speech was about the growing incivility in politics. Ms. Heinz Kerry's statement was caught on tape, leaving her Democratic Presidential Candidate husband with no other choice but to defend the statement.

Note to Ms. Heinz Kerry: You have to be careful of those open mikes. Just ask President Bush about that.

FOR THE (PRO-CHOICE) WOMAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING
Planned Parenthood has a new way for its supporters to make a fashion statement. You can now purchase T-shirts reading "I had an abortion". According to their store website:

They have finally arrived!

Planned Parenthood is proud to offer yet another t-shirt in our new social fashion line: "I Had an Abortion" fitted T-shirts are now available. These soft and comfortable fitted tees assert a powerful message in support of women's rights.

Order yours for $15 each.

What's next? T-shirts reading "I selectively reduced"?

RECORDS FOUND
There is a story linked on Drudge's site about the President's missing Air National Guard records. Apparently some of the missing records have been found by the Pentagon. According to the story, the recently located records shed no new light on the time period following his transfer to the Alabama Air National Guard.

This is such a non-issue that words fail me in describing how stupid this "scandal" is. Service in the Guard and Reserves is MUCH different than serving in the active force (trust me on this, I've done both). Excused absences from drills (weekend training) are not uncommon. The absences are supposed to be made up, but they are not always. If a reserve member earns a minimum number of points (50, if memory serves) during a year, they earn credit for a "good" year. A drill weekend is worth four points. Each active duty for training (ADT) day is worth one point. Mobilized days for a war/contingency/emergency are worth one point each as well. I have had years where I did not attend all of my drills. This year will be one of them, as I was deployed for several months. Other years, I have not gotten in all of my ADT days for various reasons. I have had nothing but "good" years since I've been a "weekend warrior".

The fact that records are missing is also much ado about nothing. A friend of mine quit the Army National Guard in a huff when they shorted him several good years in his retirement calculation. He swore that he never missed a drill or an ADT day. He was not dilligent about saving his payroll records (as many people aren't), so he had no way of proving them wrong. When you switch units in the Guard or Reserves (I've done this before, too), the odds of having a records SNAFU increases. The only way I avoided this fate myself was to hand carry my records from my old unit to my gaining unit.

Another point worth noting, while I'm on the subject, is early releases. Guard and Reserve personnel are sometimes granted an early discharge from the unit if circumstances in their civilian jobs or personal lives make it impractical to stay in. They are usually transferred to an inactive status for the remainder of their commitment. My father was released a year early from the Army National Guard when he took a new civilian job that afforded him less time to meet his military obligations. A guy in my current unit was released last year when he obtained employment as a Federal Air Marshall.

If the wannabe Woodward and Bernsteins in the news media really want to make a name for themselves, maybe they should look into alleged UN oil for food program corruption instead of this bogus "scandal".

THE FOURTH ESTATE
Larry Elder wrote an excellent column on media bias the other day. He demonstrates how journalists frame stories to convey a message above and beyond a straight reporting of the facts.

CNN's "American Morning" anchor compared an upcoming Kerry campaign speech to one being given on the same day by President George W. Bush: "President Bush heads to the swing state of Florida today. He'll be in Tampa appealing to conservative voters (emphasis added) with an address on human trafficking and then to a rally in Beckley, West Virginia. . . . And John Kerry will be in Washington speaking to the American Federation of Teachers. He's promising full funding for the No Child Left Behind Act. Later he'll hold a rally in Arlington, Virginia." And exactly what kind of voters did Kerry aim for in his teachers union speech? "Liberal" voters, perhaps?

On the same day, "CNN Headline News" compared the two speeches: "Earlier today, in Tampa, the president addressed the Justice Department conference on human trafficking. He says it's a global problem that the U.S. must tackle head-on. It's also an issue many conservative (emphasis added) voters say is important in November's election. . . . Bush's Democratic opponent is talking to teachers in the nation's capital today. Right now, John Kerry is addressing the American Federation of Teachers. The Democratic candidate says he would fully fund the No Child Left Behind education reforms authorized by Congress."

Wait a sec. Again, Kerry's speech before the teachers union, apparently, does not count as a pitch to his "liberal" base? And when did the issue of human trafficking concern primarily "conservatives"?

Elder hits this one right on the head. "Objective" journalists seem to believe that equal time=balanced reporting. By portraying Kerry's speeches as addressing important issues while implying that Bush is pandering to fringe groups, there is a not-so-subtly hidden message here as to who is the better man for the job.

Elder also did an intersting comparison of how the "three wise men" (Jennings, Brokaw, and Rather) covered the first days in office of President Clinton and President Bush (43) respectively. This one's well worth checking out. You can read the whole column here.

THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT
The 9/11 Commision report was released today. The Commission's ultimate conclusion was that there was enough blame to go around in terms of failing to predict and prevent the terrorist attacks. Congress' role in this failure did receive special attention in the report. Their systematic gutting of our intelligence capabilities goes back to the 1970's and the Church Committee hearings on CIA misdeeds that essentially threw the baby out with the bathwater.

The report also recommended creating a new high level intelligence office overseeing the intelligence function of all of the agencies in the intelligence community. This sounds like a good idea, but it would not be the panacea that its supporters claim. For one thing, there is already a position in the intelligence community for someone who oversees the entire community and reports to the President. That person is the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). Most people refer to this person as the CIA Director, but the DCI is more than director of one agency, he is the President's primary advisor on intelligence matters.

Another issue that complicates the Commission's recommendation is bureaucracy. This new intelligence "czar' would be the supervisor of people in various agencies that are in different cabinet departments. The FBI Director would answer to the Attorney General, but his intelligence personnel would answer to this new intelligence official. The same would go for the agencies that were a part of DoD, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Homeland Security. Would their intel personnel answer to an outside official (a bad plan from the get-go), or would they answer to both the agency head and the intel czar (an even worse plan).

The answer is to let the DCI do his job. If he advises the President properly and coordinates between the agencies, the information can flow in the proper directions. In the end, they ALL work for the President. Their job is to make his job easier, not to bicker amongst themselves.

OOPS. NO, REALLY!
Unless you've been living under a rock, or you are hyptonized by "reality" TV, you're probably aware that former Clinton National Security Advisor Sandy Berger is under investigation concerning some classified materials he took from the National Archives while preparing for his testimony before the 9/11 commission. At first, reports were that he "only" took the notes he made while studying the documents. As attorney Ron Kuby, hardly a member of the vast right wing conspiracy, points out this is still illegal:

"You're not permitted to remove anything from that room - period," he said Tuesday morning. "And that means even your notes. If you're taking notes about classified information, those notes are now classified. They're placed in a secure area. You can have access to them only while being viewed by a security officer. Nothing gets removed."

Even if Berger had removed only his personal notes on classified material, it would still be a crime, said Kuby, who learned about classified reading room procedures during his own involvement in the trial of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers.

Now it appears that Berger also took documents other than his notes from the archive. Some of these documents have not been located as of yet. Berger stepped down today as an informal advisor to Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry.

Many on the right are speculating that Berger was trying to conceal documents that did not reflect well on the Clinton administration's handling of terrorism. The folks on the left side of the aisle are questioning the "timing" of the leak that Berger is being investigated. Further, many have stated their belief of Berger's statement that this was all an accident. Berger has said that this is just a case of "sloppiness".

Sloppiness? According to some reports, Berger was seen stuffing documents in his pants and socks. I find it hard to believe that even the most enthusiastic left-wing kool-aid drinkers among us believe him.

If there are two things I know about, it's stealing and lying. After I was discharged from the Army in 1990, I found employment in retail loss prevention. I spent five years as a store detective and seven as a loss prevention manager/investigator. In that time, I caught somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 thieves (give or take a crook, or two). If there is one thing I can say without equivocation, it's that people who take something they aren't supposed to have, conceal it in their pants (or socks), and then leave the building with it, are thieves. He meant to steal. Another thing worth noting is that when "respectable" thieves get caught, they almost always say it was an accident ("Honestly sir, I have no idea how that 10 lb lobster got into my purse." Yeah, musta crawled in there looking for tictacs; happens all the time).

Sadly, Berger will probably get off with little or no punishment for what he did. The Republicans, ever fearful of being called "partisan", will let him skate. I hope I'm wrong about that.

HOLLYWEIRD
Last week, Tammi posted an entry on her blog about movies that you just have to watch all the way through if you catch them while flipping through the channels. She listed her "must watch" movies and asked her readers for theirs. My list (which is, I'm sorry to say, much longer than what I posted in her comments section) included the movie Ocean's Eleven. I was referring to the recent remake, not the "Rat Pack" film it was based on (also a good movie, BTW).

I was flipping through the channels a few nights ago and there it was, Ocean's Eleven. True to form, I watched it through to the end. As I watched it, I couldn't help but notice that this movie contains some prominent members of the Hollywood liberal elite. In 2003, cast members Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould, and Carl Reiner all signed a letter to President Bush imploring him not to pursue military action in Iraq. While I disagree with these folks, they do have a right to their opinion. A few of cast members, however, have been downright mean about their liberal "activism".

-George Clooney made light of actor/NRA President Charlton Heston being recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He justified it by saying that being head of the NRA made Heston deserving of his affliction. Clooney also compared the Bush administration to the Sopranos TV crime family.
-Brad Pitt taunted Jenna Bush while she worked as an intern at a PR firm that represented him.
-Julia Roberts, the Pretty Woman herself, remarked that it is no mistake that Republican comes between "reptile" and "repugnant" in the dictionary (yeah, like she even owns a dictionary). Who says beauty is only skin deep.
-Matt Damon compared President Bush to Fredo (the dimmest of the Corleone brothers) in The Godfather.

It's hard to justify watching a movie with people like this in it. After all, I'm putting money into the pockets of some less than wonderful people. On the other hand, if I only watched movies made by people I agreed with, or were at least less disrespectful in their "activism", I would have a very short list of "approved" movies to watch. Since I am a movie buff, that just won't do.

I finally came to peace with this issue by viewing entertainers as service providers. After all, I don't know what the politics of the kid who served me that burger at the Wendy's drive-thru are. Ditto for my mailman, my car mechanic, the guy at the car wash, or the receptionist at my dentist's office. My only concern is that they provide me with good service. As long as they provide me with good entertainment, I guess I can overlook the politics of celebrities. There is, however, a limit to how far they should go. Politics is one thing, mean-spiritedness is another. Even the kid at the drive-thru knows that, which may make him smarter than Matt Damon and less repugnant than Julia Roberts.

I have to admit though, that there are a couple of them who are near the point of no return with me. It's not saying much about the state of things when you have to choose between popular culture and civility.

HE'S NOT JAMES BOND, BUT HE PLAYED HIM ON TV
Cliff May has an excellent column on the National Review website about Joseph Wilson IV. As you may recall, Wilson is the former diplomat who was sent to Niger to investigate intelligence reports that Iraq had attempted to purchase yellowcake uranium there. After reporting that the intel reports were unsubstantiated, he hit the TV/media circuit to make his case that the Bush administration lied to make its case for the Iraq invasion. Soon after, columnist Robert Novak wrote a column exposing Wilson's wife Valerie Plame as an employee of the CIA. Wilson cried foul, claiming that his wife was an undercover operative and that the exposure endangered her life and the entire Wilson family.

Reacting like any international man of mystery would, Wilson hit the cable news circuit even harder. He then granted an interview for a piece in Vanity Fair, even posing for a picture with his undercover wife (wearing a clever disguise) in a jaguar convertible (hey, at least they didn't pose in front of their house with the street address visible in the picture). He even wrote a book "exposing" the Bush administration's transgressions.

The media tried to turn this into a scandal ("Plamegate"). An investigation was started to determine who was responsible for leaking Plame's name to Novak. I've always believed that there was a real scandal here, but the media missed the point entirely. Why was Jospeh Wilson, who had no military, intelligence, or investigative background, sent on such an important mission? What role did his wife play in his selection for this contract? How much of the taxpayers' money wound up in the Wilson family coffers?

Wilson denied that his wife played any role in his selection for this contract. According to May, evidence uncovered in a Senate investigation says otherwise:

For starters, he has insisted that his wife, CIA employee Valerie Plame, was not the one who came up with the brilliant idea that the agency send him to Niger to investigate whether Saddam Hussein had been attempting to acquire uranium. "Valerie had nothing to do with the matter," Wilson says in his book. "She definitely had not proposed that I make the trip." In fact, the Senate panel found, she was the one who got him that assignment. The panel even found a memo by her. (She should have thought to use disappearing ink.)

Wilson not only lied about his wife's involvement in his employment by the government, he lied about the evidence that led to his conclusions about the uranium. He claimed that CIA reports showed that the documents connected with the attempted uranium sale were forgeries.

The problem is Wilson "had never seen the CIA reports and had no knowledge of what names and dates were in the reports," the Senate panel discovered. Schmidt notes: "The documents — purported sales agreements between Niger and Iraq — were not in U.S. hands until eight months after Wilson made his trip to Niger."

Not only did Wilson lie to further a political agenda, all the while endangering the security of the United States, he DEFRAUDED the government. His wife used her position to get him a job that he was not qualified for. He was paid, and I would love to know how much, to conduct an investigation. He took the money and spent eight days in Niger "drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people" (his own words). If there is a point to criticize the Bush administration on here, it's sending Joe Wilson on this mission in the first place. Who sent a clown to do the lion tamer's job?

HATING BUSH (AND LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT)
Many of the opponents of President Bush are not satisfied to merely disagree with him. Working to defeat him in the upcoming election isn't enough for them either. For some, hate is the only answer.

A FEMA employee was sent home for wearing a shirt that read "Love America, Hate Bush". Hollywood luminaries at a recent fundraiser for the Kerry/Edwards campaign engaged in a Bush bashing fest where:
-Paul Newman said that the Bush tax cuts are "borderline criminal".
-Jessica Lange called the Bush administration “a self-serving regime of deceit, hypocrisy and belligerence.”
-Chevy Chase said of the President: “This guy is as bright as an egg-timer.”

Why all the hate? Whatever happened to honest disagreement? Maybe Eric Hoffer's study of mass movements might offer us an answer:

Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all unifying agents.

Even more telling is this:

Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil. Usually the strength of a mass movement is proportionate to the vividness and tangibility of its devil.

George W. Bush as the devil? If he never existed, the Movement would need to invent him.

THE TRUE BELIEVERS
Several days ago, I saw a link on the Drudge Report about a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom who was marching in a 4th of July parade on Bainbridge Island in Washington state. According to the story,

Jason Gilson of East Bremerton, who as a Marine corporal was wounded in Nasiriyah early in the Iraq conflict and is now in the inactive Ready Reserve, marched in Bainbridge's July 4th parade holding a sign that said "Veterans for Bush."

While marching in the parade, Gilson was met with booing by members of the crowd, and was reportedly called a "murderer" and a "baby killer".

I was angered when I read this report, but unsurprised. I considered posting about the incident on my blog, but decided against it after reading many excellent posts by other bloggers out there. Since they already said what was on my mind (minus the profanity that keeps popping up in my head when I think about this), I saw no reason to say what has already been said so eloquently.

As I gave this story more thought, the thing that I have found most disturbing about this is how unsurpirising it was to me. Why should it seem like business as usual when people behave in such a mean spirited and hurtful fashion. These people probably don't know Jason Gilson. I'm sure they have no idea what he did, or didn't do while serving in Iraq. Their actions betray their real beliefs: anyone who serves in this war is a criminal.

I have blogged before about how anti-war protestors often make it a point to "support the troops". This incident goes beyond mere hypocrisy, though. Some of these people made it a point to hurt Gilson personally. Why would such "compassionate" people be so mean.

First of all, Gilson supports President Bush. Service members are seen by the left as victims of the President's "evil plans". Since Gilson refused to play the victim, he therefore forfeited the "support" of those on the extreme left.

The second reason I came up with was based on something I have been reading recently. It's not an article, a blog, or even a book on the current best seller list. I found this bit of wisdom in a fifty year old book by a man named Eric Hoffer. Hoffer was a self educated longshoreman who became a respected political philosopher. He published a number of books. The most famous of these, The True Believer, is where I found my answer.

Hoffer's book examined mass movements and the people who are drawn to them. According to Hoffer, mass movements fill a void in some people that they are unable to fill themselves. Affiliating themselves with The Movement gives meaning to the lives of such people. They feel that they are important because they are a part of something important. For many people, this doesn't present much of a problem. For others, their dedication to The Movement takes on fanatical undertones. Their political beliefs become more than a mere point of view. These beliefs become a sort of dogma. Questioning the belief system of the fanatical is met with the same reaction one would expect from a religious zealot whose faith had been attacked.

This brings us to Jason Gilson. The people who attacked Gilson probably don't know him. All they know is that Gilson, the non-victim service member, represents an attack on their belief system. A wounded veteran who supports the man who should be held accountable for his injury (President Bush) is a living contradiction to their faith. Gilson is a threat to The Movement, and The Movement gives meaning to the lives of the faithful. Consequently, Gilson is evil. Evil deserves no mercy. So they lashed out at him the only way that spineless cowards (left wing pacifists) know how to, they engaged in name calling. It's revolting behavior, but not surprising. It appears that the left is waging its own Jihad against "infidels".

IRONY
Drudge is reporting that a new documentary will debut in New York City on Monday that shows Republican bias at FOX News. FOX has countered claiming that they are prepared to go public with a behind the scenes look at the editorial methodology used by CNN and MSNBC.

In a twisted bit or irony:

Elsewhere, the NY TIMES magazine on Sunday is planning a detailed expose on the FOX NEWS movie, and the question of the documentary's fair use of footage broadcast on FOX NEWS.

That's perfect. The people who gave us Jayson Blair is going to expose FOX's lack of journalistic integrity. What next? Bill Clinton touring the country to give lectures on sexual harrassment?

A CIVILIAN AGAIN (FOR NOW)
I completed my processing today. As of 1600 (4 p.m. for you civilian types), I am back to reserve status. With no drills (weekend training) scheduled until mid-August, I may have to grow long hair and a beard. On second thought, maybe a goatee will be sufficient rebellion for now.

ON THE NET
Charles Krauthammer has an excellent column on Frontpage Mag about Hans Blix (the UN's answer to Mr. Magoo) and the mindless complacency of the left. You can read the column here.

Thomas Sowell has an excellent column on the "political malpractice" of the 2004 Democratic ticket.

It is an insult to our intelligence to act as if posing with guns is as significant as how the Senator has voted on gun control laws during his 16 years in Congress. It is an insult to our intelligence to claim conservative values when both liberal and non-partisan organizations have rated John Kerry's voting record as the most liberal in the Senate, more liberal even than Ted Kennedy's.

You can read the rest of it here.

STILL ON LEAVE
Today is my last day of leave. I'll be back in uniform tomorrow for my last day on active duty. After I finish out-processing, I'll be back to "weekend warrior" status again (for now). I'll be back to work at my civilian job on Monday. In the meantime, I'm trying to spend time with the kids. I took them to lunch at McDonalds today. If they get fat, I may have to sue. Hell, even Ronald McDonald is suing them. Serves them right, damn profiteers. How dare they get paid for their efforts.

In my internet travels today, I saw that Michelle Malkin gave Ted Rall a much needed cyber-spanking on her website. If only Rall's parents had given him a few of the real kind when he was younger he might not be such an insufferable jackass (apologies to jackasses everywhere) today. Apparently, Red Ted has grown tired of urinating on the graves of dead heroes like Ronald Reagan and Pat Tillman. His new gig is to judge the racial "authenticity" of minorities who dare to disagree with him. How dare they?!?!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, USA
I've spent very little time online recently, so I've been remiss in posting. I'm trying to spend as much time as I can with my kids, so posting will be spotty for another week or so.

Wednesday's trip to the beach went well. The weather cooperated and the beach wasn't too crowded. A stop at Dairy Queen on the way home made everybody happy.

We went to see Spiderman 2 on Friday. If you liked the first one, you'll love the sequel. In some ways I found it superior to the original. It's been doing monster box office since its opening last week. It would be a terrible tragedy, however, if it drained viewers away from Fahrenheit 9/11, a movie that gives us the "truth" about the war on terrorism.

On a side note, according to Drudge, Time magazine will report that Michael Moore is unhappy that his "documentary" has been hijacked by those who would use it as a tool in the 2004 election. Poor Michael. I guess no one told him that you forfeit ownership in propaganda films to "the movement". He should have learned that lesson from his most famous predecessor.

STILL HERE
It's always tough when you first come home after being away for awhile. There's always the temptation to try to do it all in such a short period of time. Combine that with the jet lag of recovering from a seven hour time difference and you get some serious disorientation. I got home ten days ago, but it seems like I just got home yesterday.

Last week my kids had their end of the year awards ceremony at school. Since I was on leave, I made it a point to go. It was the first one I had ever attended.

I also stopped in at my office (civilian employer). I BS'd with my boss and co-workers. I gave them my tentative return date (July 12) and went to lunch with a friend of mine.

Over the weekend, I took my daughters up north to attend my niece's high school graduation. I wasn't feeling up to the trip, but I didn't want to disappoint her. My wife couldn't attend due to a previous commitment. The ceremony was nice (and short!).

Yesterday I took the kids to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. They had seen it before, but wanted to see it again. It was good. A bit darker than the first two (this one had a new director), but well worth a couple hours of your time, if you like Harry Potter movies.

Tomorrow, it looks like we're going to the beach. The rest of the week looks like it may be less hospitable, weatherwise.

I'll have to start getting caught up on the news in the near future. If I'm going to continue blogging, I'm going to need something interesting to say. If I just blog about my day-to-day life, I'll wind up boring myself. Life's too short to be bored.

THE TRIP
While well worth the effort, my journey home was far from snag-free.

LEG 1
I arrived at the airbase three hours prior to the rotator's (a plane chartered by the military to ferry troops into and out of the theater) scheduled departure. I was informed by the airman at the check-in desk that the "bag drag" for my flight was completed hours earlier and that the luggage was already loaded and all passengers had long since checked in. I was told that I probably wouldn't be able to take this flight. Rotators must be booked weeks in advance and commercial was out of the question (I was transporting a weapon). I was unhappy, to say the least. My transportation office never told me that I was supposed to be there six hours early.

The airman got his supervisor. Her response was about the same as his. I asked if there was anything she could do. She made some phone calls, talked the ground crew into loading my gear, and checked me in. Thinking outside the box and making things happen is the sign of a true professional. I hope that the powers-that-be at the passenger terminal at Al Udeid AB know how lucky they are to have MSgt Russell working for them.

I boarded the plane and found myself seated in a middle seat between two big guys. I'm not small myself, so the trip was less than comfortable.

LEG 2
We stopped in a European city to change flight crews. We landed, taxied to a stop and waited. And waited. And waited. I walked toward the front of the cabin to get some fresh air from the open door. I chatted with one of the flight attendents. He told me that we were waiting for the other crew to arrive. It seems that no one bothered to tell them that they were flying today. Eventually, they showed up. Then we waited some more. A flight attendent announced that we were waiting for ice to be delivered to the plane. Ice. We couldn't take off because there was no ice for the beverage service. BEVERAGE SERVICE!?!!?? IT'S ONLY AN HOUR AND CHANGE TO OUR NEXT STOP!!!! SCREW THE BEVERAGE SERVICE!!! KICK THE TIRES AND LIGHT THE FIRES; LET'S BLOW THIS BURG!!!! Since I was not the Captain of the aircraft, my advice went unheeded. I am not an airline pilot and I don't play one on TV. Hell, I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. So we waited. The ice came. We took off. They served beverages. I had a Coke....with ice.

LEG 3
We arrived at Rein Mein AB in Germany. Some of the passengers were not continuing on. We had about an hour in the terminal before takeoff. I sat and watched the clock, occasionally looking out the window to admire the cloudy, rainy day (not many of those in the sand box). Having had an icy cold beverage on the plane, I decided not to seek further liquid refreshment during my layover.

We boarded the plane, along with new passengers flying Space-A (space available) back to the states. Many of them had children with them. I returned to my middle seat between two new guys. These guys were smaller, but hot and sweaty, nonetheless. I was hot and sweaty too, so I fit right in. Not comfortably, though.

Being seated near the bathroom, I got to see each child on the flight approximately forty times, figuring five trips per hour for an eight hour flight. Children seem to use the bathroom more than adults (I'm a dad, trust me on this). Traveling children need to use it even more. When you factor in the fact that bathroom has a folding door that you need to SLAM when you close it, you come up with a place that that sits midway between McDonalds Playland and Disney World on the average kid's fun-o-meter. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep on this leg of my trip.

LEG 4
I arrived at the airport in the US (we all cheered when it touched down on our native sod) tired, but happy. After an interminable period of baggage claim and Customs checking, I carted my gear to the ticket counter for my next flight. As it turns out, two of my bags were too heavy. Apparently the seventy pound per bag limit given to me by the military does not apply with Continental Airlines on domestic flights. I spent the next few minutes playing musical bags with my gear, trying to find the right mix.

Once checked in, I rushed to the security checkpoint so I could board in time. I got into line behind millions (ok, it was probably really only a couple hundred) of people to be screened by TSA personnel, who look suspiciously like the contract security personnel who used to do the screening, but with cooler uniforms. After I was thoroughly screened, I ran to my gate as my flight was already scheduled to be boarding.

When I arrived at the gate, I was told that the flight was delayed another hour. Another hour? How would I make my connecting flight?

LEG 5
My connecting flight was cancelled. Sorry, no more flights until tomorrow. WRONG ANSWER!!!!

LEG 4 (REDUX)
The lady at the Continental desk called around until she found a flight with another airline that had a connection to my final destination. She got me the last seat on the flight. She then graciously called to make sure my bags would be transferred. (Note to Continental: Brianna at BWI is top shelf). My new arrival time was now three hours later than originally scheduled. I called my wife to let her know when to pick me up.

The plane, a twin engine turboprop, arrived late. We boarded late and took off late. I had a window seat with no one in the seat next to me. There was no icy cold refreshing beverage, but a good flight nevertheless. As long as I didn't miss my connection, that is.

As we were landing at LaGuardia, my boarding time for the next flight came...and went. We taxied around the airport forever. OK, it wasn't really forever, but the taxiing did last as long as our flight.

LEG 5 (REDUX)
I got off the plane as my next flight was supposed to be taking off. I went to the desk at the gate and asked if I was too late. Nope. The plane wasn't even there yet. At last a delay that worked in my favor.

I boarded the plane (a puddle jumper, even smaller than the previous plane) and took my seat. We taxied out toward the runway. The pilot announced over the PA that there would be a delay, as we were sixteenth in line to take off. The cockpit door was open, allowing us to see out the aircraft's front window. Fifteen planes looks like a lot when they are all lined up in front of you. The line looked as long as the security checkpoint line I had gone through earlier.

Eventually it was our turn. The pilots wound up the rubber bands as tight as they would go and released the propellers. We took off and headed north. An hour later, we touched down.

My wife and oldest daughter were there to meet me. Our youngest was at a sleepover. We claimed my bags, which (surprisingly)arrived, undamaged no less. We hit the Wendy's drive through and got some homestyle chicken strips (with the southwestern sauce, of course). After eating, I hit the sack. In my own bed. It was all good.

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED
At 9:30 p.m. last night, which was about four hours late. It was a long and frustrating trip. More on that later. For now, it's just good to be home.

NET STUFF
I ran across the following tidbits while riding the cyber-surf:

Matt Drudge gives us this interesting look at our would-be first lady.

Michelle Malkin takes Paul Krugman to task over his recent column on AG Ashcroft.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Check out these pictures of a June 5th rally in (surprise! surprise!) San Francisco.

Massachussetts Governor Mitt Romney is calling on Senator Kerry to resign while he pursues the presidency. "Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, a Republican, said Kerry has missed 64 percent of last year's roll call votes and 87 percent this year, including a vote on banning Internet child pornography."

David DeBatto has an excellent column in Defensewatch about what President Reagan meant to the military.

AUSTRALIAN SAS

A large group of Taliban soldiers are moving down a road when they hear a voice call from behind a sand-dune.

"One Australian SAS soldier is better than ten Taliban".

The Taliban commander quickly sends 10 of his best soldiers over the dune whereupon a gun-battle breaks out and continues for a few minutes, then silence. The voice then calls out "One Australian SAS soldier is better than one hundred Taliban".

Furious, the Taliban commander sends his next best 100 troops over the dune and instantly a huge gunfight commences. After 10 minutes of battle, again silence. The Australian voice calls out again "One Australian SAS soldier is better than one thousand Taliban".

The enraged Taliban Commander musters one thousand fighters and sends them across the dune. Cannon, rocket and machine gun fire ring out as a huge battle is fought. Then silence. Eventually one wounded Taliban fighter crawls back over the dune and with his dying words tells his commander, "Don't send any more men, it's a trap, ...there's actually two of them."

Seen at ozjokes.com.

HOMEWARD BOUND
My time here in Qatar is growing short. I will be picking up my tickets at the transportation office tomorrow. This time next week I will be home. I can't say it hasn't been interesting, but I'll be happy to be out of here. I miss my wife and kids more this time than I did last time I was mobilized.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this blog. I originally started it to document some of my experiences while deployed. I had volunteered for a job that would have taken me all over the region. When I arrived here, I was told that I was needed here in Qatar and would not be traveling. Since I wasn't going to be posting about my travels in Iraq or Afghanistan, I used this blog to comment on the various issues in the news that caught my attention. If nothing else, maintaining this blog gave me something to do in my spare time here.

I guess I'll wait until I'm home to decide what I'm going to do. Until then, I'll try to post again before I leave, time permitting.

SPEAKING OF THE MEDIA
I received this from a coworker via email yesterday:

CBS News Anchor Dan Rather, NPR Reporter Cokie Roberts, and a U.S. Marine were walking through the desert one day when they were captured by Iraqi insurgents.

They were tied up, led to the village and brought before the leader. The leader said, "I am familiar with your western custom of granting the condemned a last wish. Before we kill and dismember you, do you have any last requests?"

Dan Rather said, "Well, I'm a Texan, so I'd like one last bowlfull of hot, spicy chili."
The leader nodded to an underling who left and returned with the chili. Rather ate it all and said, "Now I can die content."

Cokie Roberts said, "I'm a reporter to the end. I want to take out my tape recorder and describe the scene here and what's about to happen. Maybe someday someone will hear it and know that I was on the job 'til the end."

The leader directed an aide to hand over the tape recorder, and Roberts dictated some comments. She then said, "Now I can die happy."

The leader turned and said, "And now, Mr. U.S. Marine, what is your final wish?"

"Kick me in the ass," said the Marine.

"What?" asked the leader. "Will you mock us in your last hour?"

"No, I'm not kidding. I want you to kick me in the ass," insisted the Marine.
So the leader shoved him into the open, and kicked him in the ass.

The Marine went sprawling, but rolled to his knees, pulled a 9-mm pistol from inside his cammies, and shot the leader dead. In the resulting confusion, he leapt to his pack, pulled out his M4 carbine, and sprayed the Iraqis with gunfire. In a flash, the Iraqis were dead or fleeing for their lives.

As the Marine was untying Rather and Roberts, they asked him, "Why didn't you just shoot them? Why did you ask them to kick you in the ass?"

"What!?" said the Marine, "And have you liberal jerks call ME the aggressor?"

OUR ILLUSTRIOUS MEDIA
I received an email from a friend who tipped me off to a story in the New York Post about the media coverage of the death of President Reagan. Apparently, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw think that the media has over-covered the story. According to Rather:

"There is other news, like the reality of Iraq," said the "CBS Evening News" anchor. "It got very short shrift this weekend."

I have to say, I do agree with Dan on that one. The problem is that when they do report the news from Iraq, they tend to miss the stories that don't show the administration in a bad light. It's no accident that the number of Americans who know who Lynndie England is dwarfs the number who know who Chief Wiggles is. England's story is more sordid than the Chief's, but there is no doubt that his efforts will have a more lasting effect on the Iraqi people than England's. Negative stories play better, and the Reagan story is one of optimism and triumph over adversity.

While the coverage of President Reagan's death may be a bit much, there is no denying that he had a major impact on America and that he is held in high regard by many. That may be the real point of contention for Dan & Co. I think Reagan's successes still bother them to no end. I don't recall hearing any such complaints about the wall to wall media coverage of the death of JFK Jr. I remember one of the cable networks showing the ship that buried his remains at sea going back and forth, back and forth for what seemed like forever. No comments from the media about that one. Kennedy was the son of a Democratic icon. Reagan was an icon of the "extra chromosome right wing".

My advice to the "big media" types out there is to just zip it and gut it out. This too shall pass. America will mourn the loss of a great man. Many will praise him and his achivements. Eventually, we will move on because that's what he would want us to do.

Then, Dan, Tom, Peter and friends can get back to reporting on Iraq. Heck, they may even give Chief Wiggles some more coverage. Unless, of course, more Lynndie England pictures turn up.

(Thanks to DS for the heads up on this story)

COMMENTS
I have added comments links to my blog. Actually, I did it last week using the template provided by Blogger, but it wasn't user friendly. Today, I switched to Haloscan. Haloscan, which seems to be very popular in the blogosphere, also has a trackback function.

WORTHWHILE STUFF

-Peggy Noonan pays tribute to President Reagan. She sums up the Reagan foreign policy quite nicely:

Ronald Reagan told the truth to a world made weary by lies. He believed truth was the only platform on which a better future could be built. He shocked the world when he called the Soviet Union "evil," because it was, and an "empire," because it was that, too. He never stopped bringing his message to the people of the world, to Europe and China and in the end the Soviet Union. And when it was over, the Berlin Wall had been turned into a million concrete souvenirs, and Soviet communism had fallen. But of course it didn't fall. It was pushed. By Mr. Know Nothing Cowboy Gunslinger Dimwit. All presidents should be so stupid.

Noonan is an excellent writer. She also knew (and worked for) President Reagan. Her column is worth a look.

-Michael Reagan pays tribute to his father.

-Michelle Malkin, one of my favorite columnists, has changed the look of her homepage and added a weblog.

-Thomas Sowell has an excellent column today examining the differences between doers and talkers. Doers are the people who are out there getting things done. They're the ones who are constantly under a microsope. The talkers are the ones looking through the microscopes. When you think of talkers, think of congressional hearings and the various commissions that are always competing for time on the cable news channels.

RONALD REAGAN, 1911-2004
In 1984, I did something I had never done before. On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, I walked into a booth, closed the curtain behind me, and voted. The election that year wasn't just any election, it was a Presidential election. The first person I cast a vote for wasn't just any politician, he was the man who inspired my personal political philosophy. That man, Ronald W. Reagan, died over the weekend at the age of ninety-three.

I was only sixteen during the 1980 election, two years too young to vote. In spite of my age, I was a Reagan supporter, through and through. I was first exposed to Ronald Reagan's politics during his campaign for the Republican nomination in 1976 (that's right, I was already a political/news junkie at twelve). I remember being disappointed when President Ford, an honorable but uninspiring man, won the nomination that year. I just knew he would lose to Jimmy Carter. I took no satisfaction in being right about that.

In 1980, Reagan finally got his chance to run in the general election. He ran as a different kind of politician. He fought for his beliefs, but did not appear to have a combative nature. He was maligned by his detractors, alternately portrayed as an evil mastermind and as a kindly but clueless old man. In spite of the brickbats hurled his way, Ronald Reagan never responded in kind. He was always gracious. The man had class.

In an era of post-Watergate, post-Vietnam cynicism, Reagan was always the optimist. He saw America as a "shining city on a hill", while his opponent saw a land beset by a plague of "malaise". An unshakeable faith in the American people was the Reagan way. Ronald Reagan was proud to be an American. He made it o.k. for the rest of us to be proud again, too.

I am proud of my vote to reelect President Reagan in 1984. I am equally proud to have worn the uniform of my country's military during his tenure as Commander-in-Chief. There will never be any doubt in my mind that we won the cold war (and we did WIN, by the way) because of the policies of Ronald Reagan.

I will miss President Reagan, as will many Americans. I am saddened by his passing, but glad he was finally released from the hellish grip of an insidious disease that destroyed the keen political mind that he possessed.

If there is one thing I am certain of, we are a better country for having known Ronald Reagan. Goodbye, Mr. President. Thank you for being there for us.

LAST NIGHT
Last night was a good night. After an uneventful shift, I went with a couple of the guys to a neighboring base to shop in the exchange. Their exchange isn't that much better than ours, but they have different stuff. I needed to buy some souveniers to bring home. My wife likes shot glasses, and the other exchange has a better selection than the one on our base. I also needed T-shirts for the kids. Afterwards, we stopped at Pizza Hut for dinner and then brought a guy to the airport.

Once we got back to the base, a few of us went our for drinks. We hung out and drank our three beer limit (three more than you can get in much of this part of the world). A few of the folks were playing cards, a couple guys were smoking cigars, and our supply NCO was playing his guitar (he's pretty damned good, too). I heard several guys who were on R&R from Iraq discussing how good it felt to be outside without helmets on. When midnight came, the MP's came and sent us on our way, as they do every night. Not an exciting night by "back in the world" standards, but pretty good for the Middle East.

I walked back to my room and turned on the TV. One of the news stations was doing a biography of former President Reagan. I had read a report earlier in the day on Drudge's site that his health had taken a turn for the worse. As soon as I saw that report on TV, I knew that President Reagan had died. A sad end to an otherwise happy night.

D-DAY
Sixty years ago today, allied forces mounted the largest amphibious assault in military history. The Normandy invasion spelled the beginning of the end of Hitler's reign of terror in Europe. In addition to the massive assault from the English channel, thousands of paratroopers were dropped behind the German defenses. The drop was done in darkness. A number of paratroopers were injured in the drop. There was no medevac for those who needed it. Units were scattered over wide areas. Many an officer or NCO could not find all of his troops after the drop.

In addition to amphibous assault craft and parachutes, gliders were used to move troops and equipment into Normandy. Of the gliders launched for the invasion, less than half landed intact. The glider and airborne assault tied down the German reserves, preventing them from reinforcing the coastal defense during the allied amphibious assault.

According to a story on the FOX News website, the number of troops killed in the invasion is still unclear.

Bodies disintegrated under bombs and shells. Soldiers drowned and disappeared. Company clerks who tallied casualties were killed. Records were lost.

The final number is estimated at between 2,500 and 5,000 killed on D-Day.

I watched Saving Private Ryan on AFN earlier this week. I find the ending of the movie to be particularly touching. A much older James Ryan visits the grave of a fallen comrade with his family. He asks his wife if he has lived a good life, if he is a good man. Ryan hopes he has been worthy of the sacrifices made by others so that he could live. This scene is a metaphor for all Americans, of our obligation to be worthy of the sacrifices made by others for our freedom.

ANOTHER GREAT QUOTE
"…if you are going to use military force, then you ought to use overwhelming military force. Use too much and deliberately use too much… you’ll save lives, not only your own, but the enemy's too."

Gen. Curtis E. LeMay

I often wonder how General LeMay's philosophy of war would pan out in our war on terror. I know that it wouldn't be too well received by the hand-wringers among us. Curtis E. LeMay was a controversial figure in his day. He was the first commander of the Strategic Air Command (SAC). He is said to be the inspiration for the war-mongoring "Buck" Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. LeMay believed that the only way to ensure victory was to destroy the enemy's ability to make war. This was the philosophy of the day during World War II.

Large bombing raids were mounted against the enemy with the goal being to inflict massive damage not only on his military, but on his industrial capability as well. In the process, massive civilian casualties (what we call "collateral damage" today) were inflicted. Massive losses were also incurred on our part as well. In a single bombing raid mounted on the German cities of Regensberg and Schweinfurt, over six hundred men and sixty aircraft were lost. That day, October 14, 1943, went down in history as Black Thursday. General LeMay was later quoted as saying "What other method in modern warfare could be used to destroy that much of the enemy's war effort with the loss of 600 men?" A harsh attitude, to be sure, but one that was right for the times.

While I'm not advocating the carpet bombing of Iraq and Afghanistan, there may come a time when we have to return to the "total war" philosophy of WW II. Will we have the will to do it? I honestly don't know. If our country's future depends on it, I hope so.

MUST READING
H. N. OShannasey is the pen name of an active duty Marine Corps officer. In her latest column on Defense Watch, she takes a hard look at how our news media is serving us. One important issue she addresses is the "public's right to know."

Is it my right to gawk at a distraught father and son embracing on their front lawn, upon hearing the news of a brutally executed family member? Is it my right to watch Iraqi people desecrate the bodies of slain American contractors? Is it my right to stand next to a Marine sniper on a rooftop, breathing down his neck, analyzing his every move? Should I really be playing judge and jury to the actions of every service member in the heat of combat while I sit on my couch glued to the television?

This is something that first occurred to me during the OJ Simpson trial. Defense attorneys and the news media were picking apart every action of the police and declaring every discrepancy proof of a frame-up. Could anyone survive extreme scrutiny of their every move with their reputation intact? Not likely. Come to think of it, the media hasn't fared too well under scrutiny either.

You can read the rest of this excellent column here.

MORE GOOD STUFF
No reading list would be complete without at least one Michelle Malkin column. Today I have three.

-The ambulances-for-terrorists scandal exposes a tactic that is becoming more common, especially in Iraq. You wouldn't know it by reading this bit of "journalism" by the BBC.

-This column looks at Islamic extremists behind bars.

-Breeding Terror looks at the spread of Islamic extremism in America's prison system. Scary stuff.

FOX News is reporting that the Army is going to implement the stop loss program for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Someone needs to go to DC and tell those political types that we need the same size Army we had in the 80's. We don't need more stop losses, we don't need the draft, and we don't need to keep all of the reserves on active duty indefinitely. We need a bigger Army, and it's going to cost more than what we've been spending. It's time to admit that the Peace Dividend was a bust. We got conned into blowing our money on the fiscal equivalent of junk bonds. Lesson learned (?).

MEMORIAL DAY
Memorial Day weekend has come and gone. With the war on terrorism underway, the day took on special meaning to many. The dedication of the World War II Memorial also served to give special meaning to the day.

Since I had Monday off, I decided to go out on Sunday night and drink a few beers (three or less, according to base regulation) with some of my fellow troops. The conversation turned to the subject of Memorial Day and to the WW II Memorial. The question arose as to why it took so long (nearly 60 years) to erect a monument to the crowning achievement of the greatest generation. America's WW II veterans played the decisive role in defeating the spread of tyranny. Why did it take so long? I thought about this for a bit and the answer I came up with is this:

The veterans of World War II are a humble lot. Considering what they accomplished and the obstacles that they overcame to accomplish it, they have every right to bask in the glory that comes with such an achievement. In spite of this, they aren't prone to bragging. I've known a number of WW II vets. While I never met one who wouldn't answer any questions put to him by an inquisitive (sometimes annoyingly so, I'm sure) young man, none of the vets I knew would bring up the subject on his own. To these guys, the war is something that they just had to do, a job that needed to be done. Forty years ago, it probably wouldn't have occurred to any WW II vets that they needed a memorial.

As time has moved on, we've begun to lose the members of this generation to whom we owe so much. Too many of our young people aren't familiar with what these veterans did and don't understand the debt we owe them. It is high time that we have a monument to these great Americans. In the end though, the true monument to our World War II veterans isn't the structure in Washington that was dedicated last weekend. The United States is the true monument to these great Americans; our strength, our prosperity, and our freedom. Without their courage and sacrifices, we wouldn't be the country we are today.