Cox and Forkum

Valour-IT was just getting off the ground John approached Cox and Forkum for assistance in spreading the word. Forkum stepped up with some anonymous design work that was spot-on perfect; as is true with his wonderful drawings, pictures said more than words ever could.

A couple months later, John again asked them for assistance. And so one day in the midst of our first Veterans Day fundraiser (2005), I opened my email to find this:

The tears were instant. No words that any of us had found to explain Valour-IT and why it mattered had come close to what was encapsulated in that amazing frame. C&F went on to give us the rights to reproduce it in any form, and auctioned the original pen-and-ink drawing for a $650 donation to Valour-IT. For the following year's fundraiser auction, they offered up a bidder-commissioned caricature.

Cox and Forkum were a huge part of getting Valour-IT off the ground, giving it an online presence that has endured; just search Google Images for "Valour-IT" and see what you get...

Why do I mention this? Because C&F are dissolving their partnership as of today. It is most certainly our loss, but I wish them the best. Not only did they entertain and educate me with their witty and insightful political cartoons, they forever captured my heart.

Thank you, guys. You are irreplaceable.

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Race and Culture

Though I'm a complete Caucasian (Anglo-saxon/Norman descent), I've spent my life in close association and deep friendships with people of a great variety of races: from the inner-city L.A. black kid to the fellow high school student from Thailand who associated with the King, to the Hispanic roomate (who swore like a sailor--in Spanish, of course!) and my mother's near-lifelong best friend--my "second mother"--who happens to be Black. All are/were special and amazing people in my life.

And so, although I find myself much at odds with Juan Williams' politics, I often find myself cheering his pushback at what pop culture is doing to Blacks and where it is leading Black children today, particularly young men. The lesson they have lost is that we are products of our environment, but we are not required to spend our lives passively shaped by that environment. "Culture" is not destiny.

I'll never forget the inner-city kid I mentioned above. His mother sent him away to a religious boarding school on a local church scholarship, an attempt to keep him away from the gangs after his law-abiding father stumbled across a drug-deal-gone bad and was murdered. He grew up hitting the floor during drive-by shootings, raised by an iron-backed woman who practically willed his survival (a ready paddle assisted). He earned respectable grades in a challenging high school and was vice-president of his racially-integrated class, gained a partial scholarship to college, married a great woman, and was a certified respiratory therapist last I heard.

So, I get pretty upset at people who act as if poor Blacks have no options and are simple victims of racism or their environment. And in reading Juan Williams' defense of Bill O'Reilly (accused of racism) that veered into related matters, I wanted to stand up and cheer:

But this is an attempt to take down O'Reilly and dismiss anyone offering him support — me. This is along the lines of telling anyone who calls attention to the excesses of hip-hop culture a "self-hating" black man and skewering anyone who dares to say there is a crisis in black America because of the high dropout rates, high crime rates and high out-of-wedlock birth rates.That is what happened to another well-known Bill, Bill Cosby, after he spoke out about the self-destructive images and behavior in the black community.

The critics want to shut up Cosby, O'Reilly, me and anyone else who points out the crisis in black America. They want anyone who dares to speak publicly about problems in black America to fear being called a racist, if they are white, or a "Happy Negro" if they are black. They want silence so they can continue to make money by distorting black life and allowing black on black murder rates to climb along with the black dropout rate and the black poverty rate.

The critics want to paralyze efforts to help those locked in poverty and too often in a criminal culture where acceptance of drug use and violence becomes acceptable. They don't want black people to be known as Americans with a long distinguished history of patriotism, reverence for education and a willingness to fight for America's ideals — justice for all — despite the harsh facts of slavery and legal segregation.

As I told the children I taught in the poverty-stricken schools where I worked, where percentages of white students were counted in the single digits: "No, it's not fair. You do have the deck stacked against you. But you can beat it; it's all about how bad you want it. Are you going to let the racists and naysayers control the course of your life, or are you going to chart your own path and stick your finger in their eye when you succeed?"

And the same thing that Juan Williams discusses in his essay is what made me regularly want to throw something through my TV screen after I started teaching those children. To this day, I can barely tolerate the sound of rap, a style of music that I had previously connected with one of my favorite high school memories.

P.S. For those who have told me I am too hard on myself when it comes to achievement and coping with the situations in which I've found myself for the last year-plus, the above should explain a lot. I don't know, but it might even explain this post, if I look at it from a generous point of view.

Okay, back to my busy weekend...

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Regret, MEGEN, Valour-IT, and the Navy

Beyond busy this week and weekend, so don't count on seeing anything new here. Maybe I'll have time/faculties to post... maybe not. In the meantime:

First, I though I might regret this post, and I do. First and foremost because, as a friend reminded me, a not-insignificant portion of what I wrote was lacking in compassion. People may not make the choices I do, but they could very well be coming from a background/experience that makes the situations I described better than the alternative, in their minds. I used to know that, but have apparently forgotten (not excusing the scenarios I outlined, but looking at them now through compassionate eyes that understand a bit why those choices may seem good to those people).

Secondly, MEGEN is on the West Coast! I hope to take her for visits at sites touching on Naval topics such as local medical facilities, SEALs, historical sites, aviation-related vistas, and even some local naval bigwigs. I'll be armed with a stack of Valour-IT business cards to spread the word to passersby. And I'll be foraging for vestiges of the Naval history of a no-longer-navy base. Stay tuned!

Third, and relatedly, start thinking about the Valour-IT Veterans Day fundraiser [2006 link]. We've been the recipient of some grants in the last year, but not enough to create an endowment. And the need continues, so let's all do our part. We plan to have another auction as part of the fundraising, so if you know where you can get military-related items that might make good donor gifts or auction items, now might be the time to get started. For example, I know one person who is lining up a couple authors for signed books, and I have an antique book myself to auction off. Now might also be a good time to cultivate media contacts who could be interested in doing a profile of Valour-IT. Watch this space for more info!

As to why I'm busy, here's one of two reasons why I'll be insanely busy on Sunday:

And then there are the demands of MEGEN....

Did I mention I was gonna be busy? ;)

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No Crying in Baseball!

As I've noted before, the San Diego Padres have a tremendous track record of supporting local sailors and Marines, including local wounded (and whenever they play in DC, some of the biggest names on the team visit Walter Reed and Bethesda). They also work closely with America Supports You, and are the only MLB team to have a Military Marketing department. For as long as I can remember (I first went to a game in 1986), there have been contingents of sailors or Marine recruits attending Sunday games in San Diego, where their respective branch's songs are played to honor them.


An entire company or two of Marine recruits sit in the right-field end of the U-shaped third deck on Sundays, usually filling two sections of seats from top to bottom. Today was no different, and I enjoyed seeing them file into their seats from my perch at field level (my tickets were a gift). As usual, the Padres plied them with T-shirts and gifts, and the recruits held their best salute as the National Anthem was played.

But it had been a very long time since I'd attended a Sunday baseball game, longer than I can remember; I'm a different person than I was the last time I saw Marine recruits at the stadium.

And so, I got blindsided.

In the middle of the 5th inning, the flourishes start to sound and the crowd stands and begins to clap to the beat, looking toward the hundreds of Marine recruits standing at attention on the third level in the rightfield corner.

Then the opening notes of the first verse reverberate: From the Halls of Montezuma.... Images of the Marines I have known suddenly flood my mind--the older veterans I've met, and the wounded and dead of this war. I am somewhat disappointed in myself to discover that I now have the same emotional reaction to the Marine Corps Anthem as I do the National Anthem.

We fight our Country's battles... these young men have enlisted in time of war, as "I support the troops while I stab them in the back" types do their dirty work... I remember a recent conversation I'd had with a friend about the powderkeg much of the world seems to be right now.

First to fight for right and freedom... I think of how the hard training these recruits are undertaking is an important link in what allows us to feel safe and enjoy such frivolous things as this baseball game.

And to keep our honor clean... The scoreboard display shows close-ups of the recruits as they stand at attention: eyes forward, heads high, shoulders back... that developing confidence beginning to be visible in their newly-acquired bearing. I think of too much at once to even write--of Valour-IT, of manufactured scandals and the horrors of war, of the stories of homefront triumph and tragedy, and of how the abysmal and dishonorable behavior of so many of our elected officials contrasts with the honorable tradition into which these young men are folding themselves.

We are proud to claim the title... No, not yet... but I am so proud to think that my country can inspire them to service, so proud of the Corps' ability to mold them into the fine young warriors we need, and absolutely heartbroken over what I fear their futures may hold. My heart swells with conflicting emotions, and the two tears welling in my eyes finally fall. I try to quickly wipe them away as we sit down. Because, after all...

There is no crying in baseball!

And I broke that rule today.

[Update: edited for grammar, additional links in the first paragraph.]

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Rant

I don't think this is going to come off very well, but it's been swirling in my mind for a number of months and I had to get it out . I don't have all the articles and blog posts that fed it at the tip of my fingers, but hopefully it'll make sense, anyway. [I ran it by a friend before posting and she said, "You lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas." True, but this is my offline world these days. I'd be interested in your thoughts.]

Okay, I'll admit it... I grew up in a very sheltered world--rural, religious, educated and all-American. I could've starred in a Norman Rockwell painting.

But it wasn't that I didn't know about the wider world out there with its craziness, emptiness and even downright evilness (I read far too voraciously to be oblivious to it, and life as a pastor's daughter puts you in contact with the fringes). I just thought it was the exception, not the rule. Now that I'm an adult and have finally stepped out of the worlds of classical music's idealistic passion and elementary education's child-focused simplicity, I have been disappointed to discover I seem to have had it backwards all these years.

What has been the saddest thing I've encountered--for myself, for this generation of children, and for society at large--is what seems to be the accepted standards of social and romantic interactions between men and women, and acceptable attitudes toward family life. The following descriptions are examples of people I interact with on a regular basis offline (online is another matter):

There is the never-married woman who has been living with a never-married man for a number of years, with regular fights about why he won't marry her. They have children from previous (teenage?) relationships who live with others. Nobody seems to think anything about this arrangement is worrisome.

There is the divorcing couple who have been married for only a brief amount of time (he felt the need to hook up with a woman of the type who harasses the wife with stories about their continuing escapades). And we'll just leave off discussion of the stories the wife tells about his personality/character from BEFORE they were married...

Then there's the wife who is running herself ragged because she "can't trust her husband to take care of _________" (fill in the blank with any household responsibility). For the longest time, I thought she was a single mother, but that was just because her husband is a non-entity in their relationship and parenting. Apparently she asks him to do something, but he doesn't do it, or doesn't do it "right." And so she takes berates him and takes that responsibility back (way to motivate your man, huh?), ultimately assuming total responsibility for the family and household. I don't give that one many more years...

Or there is the couple who have been together a couple years and aren't planning on marriage, complete with the 5-year-old (from her marriage) who calls him "Daddy." The weird thing is, they seem to have one of the happier and healthier relationships of people I regularly encounter these days.

How about the very young couple living in his bedroom at his parents' house? They secretly wed a few months before announcing their engagement and preparing for the big bash of a "real" wedding." Strangely, they might actually make it in the long-term, marriage-wise.

Or try this one on for size: The 20-somethings cheated on their spouses with each other; now they're married to each other.

And I also have the joy of listening to women talk about how stupid their men are, or how they're withholding sex or otherwise making them pay for some perceived slight. Or I have to listen to a very young child sob because he has taken on the worries of the next 18 months (maybe we're going to PCS to the other side of the world, maybe he won't come back, maybe he'll get deployed again and we'll miss Christmas again, maybe, maybe, maybe...) because mom decided that dumping her fears on him was a good idea since since dad is currently deployed and isn't there to nag.

Here's a real mind-bender: working part-time taking care of other peoples' infants... in order to make enough to pay other people to take care of your infant! The scariest part of that is that the prime example of that within my circle is a woman who generally has her head on straight and a happy home life with her husband. *scratching head in perplexity*

Then there are the twits who couldn't understand why I didn't want my boyfriend to "give me a baby."

And more recently, the young, never-married mother of a toddler who said, "I love being a single mother. It's wonderful." When she and others in the room (knowing my age and never-married status) expressed surprise that I didn't have a child, then ventured that perhaps it was a sensitive issue because I might be infertile and that surely I would want a child even if I was single, my response left them with their mouths hanging open: "I don't know if I want children or not; I don't allow myself to consider it because, being unwed and with no prospects for marriage in the near future, it's not an option right now. If by some miracle of immaculate conception I managed to get pregnant, I'd put the baby up for adoption."

Their mouths literally fell open and all exclaimed they could never do that--"I would love my baby too much." I told them I would love my baby too much NOT to make sure he got what he needed--even if it would break my heart--because there is no way at this time in my life that I can fulfill a child's physical (financial) and emotional needs. They looked stupefied, so I laughed it off with a joke about why there was no chance I could become pregnant.

Then there are the over-40 single men I know, only two of whom believe in the possibility of true love and happy marriage anymore. Most look at romantic relationships as a combination of "scratching the itch" for a few trade-offs, and simple companionship to keep the wolves of loneliness at bay for a time. And I won't even get into the hypocrisy of their philosophy of men and women and what is attractive and what isn't... In their experience, dating really is a monetary transaction in the minds of both men and women.

And the really interesting thing is when these men start talking about the (in their mind, non-existent) qualities that would be required in a woman who could be worthy of marriage. They use words like honesty, loyalty, patience, integrity, "true" femininity, and openness. I look around and realize that here in my locale I know of only one or maybe two unmarried women who could fit that description.

Now, I'm as hard on the men as the women. Don't get me started on the egotistical pigs who dismiss every young woman as an empty-headed prattler, or every old woman as a manipulative, desperate hag. The men who take joy in treating the women in their lives like their male friends... Or the jerks who don't fight for their children in divorce, or who take the easy way out with a wife who has withdrawn or become overbearing (go have an affair "because men have needs").

But these days, I'm seeing things from the woman's side, and I'm ashamed of my sex:

Andi takes a throaty slug of her second raspberry martini, picks at her fish taco, then sits back in her chair. "I think marriage is the new dating and having kids is the new marriage," she proclaims loudly, as yet another woman dining with her partner turns to stare. "It's true. I wouldn't have married him if I didn't think I could get out of it."

Back to my first paragraph... I grew up in a Christian denomination with miscellaneous lifestyle guidelines that separated us from "the world" in some ways. But I always thought there really wasn't that much difference between "us and them." These days I'm beginning to wonder how much there is that isn't separating us...

If I were a single man out there, I'm pretty sure I'd be the misanthropic type like the over-40 men I described above. As it is, I'll just settle for the 30-something female version: People Suck.

Okay, Okay... I'll be mature and rational about this; the older I get, the more disappointed I am in the human race in terms of behavior, values, intelligence, rationality, etc. Case in point: I've been struggling with trying to complete a requirement at work that has been nearly impossible to do under current working conditions. Only one person with whom I've discussed it at work has not told me either directly or indirectly to lie/b.s. my way through it. Only one more understood when I said that all I have these days is my self-image, and I want to see someone with integrity when I look in the mirror.

Sigh...


FbL, misanthrope. Bet you never saw that coming...

/rant

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Unbelievable

Incompetent/lazy, malevolent, or just plain stupid? You decide:

Nelson Mandela is still very much alive despite an embarrassing gaffe by U.S. President George W. Bush, who alluded to the former South African leader's death in an attempt to explain sectarian violence in Iraq.

"It's out there. All we can do is reassure people, especially South Africans, that President Mandela is alive," Achmat Dangor, chief executive officer of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said as Bush's comments received worldwide coverage.

No, it's not Bush who's the moron here. As others have pointed out, this "Saddam killed all the Mandelas in Iraq" concept has been around for at least two weeks--Amb. Crocker talked about it in his testimony to Congress, and Bush mentioned it to the milbloggers in his meeting with them last week. Why in the world is it suddenly twisted and front page news?

The worst part? This story is has been created by the internationally-respected (though not among milbloggers) news service Reuters. Just unbelievable.

UPDATE: This may have started with Jon Stewart. More evidence of those "professional" journalists who are trained to research, fact-check, and lay out context for the unenlightened masses, I guess.

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Oh, Baby!

By my calculations, she was barely two months' pregnant when he went to sea...


[Cross-posted at The Flight Deck]

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Quitting*

From an article about a study that purports to prove "quitters" are happier and healthier ("New research finds that people who give up on unattainable goals are physically and mentally healthier than ‘bulldogs’ who persevere against all odds").

People who simply will not or cannot give up an impossible dream eventually get emotionally defeated by their Sisyphean task. Some get clinically depressed, but many others just shut down; they become pessimistic, passive, physically and mentally depleted. This dysphoria is what allows them—forces them, really—to stop and reassess. It’s said that depressed people have a more realistic view of the world...Today a little melancholy might help us give up on that Olympic gold, and in the long run avoid killers like diabetes and heart disease.

...As people age they are forced to make tradeoffs, to abandon dreams of an illustrious career or the picture-perfect marriage. We all abandon life goals. The only question is whether we make our life adjustments with grace and good timing. The misanthropic comedian W.C. Fields anticipated much of this science when he cleverly revised that 19th-century maxim about perseverance: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” he said. “Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it.”

Sigh...

Somebody get me a drink... maybe I'll forget I read that.


UPDATE: More giving up (read the comments).

*Just to be clear, this post has absolutely nothing to do with dear friends who have quit blogging recently.

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Bleg

A very kind (new) reader sent me an email today:

I've been reading a few things from you around the 'net and I'd like to ask if you'd please activate your site feed so someone with Google Reader can use it.

Found you again because of [this post], then spent half an hour trying to figure out why I couldn't subscribe to your blog. ;^p I'm a little slow.

Looked around a little and found an explanation of how to activate feeds [here].

So, could you? Pretty, pretty please?

Thank you very much,
Foxfier

I've noticed Foxfier is a reader of Villainous Company, which certainly speaks to taste and discernment. Very flattering... so how could I refuse?

Unfortunately, I'm apparently an idiot. I followed all the steps in Blogger to activate my feed, but it's not happening (see top of my last sidebar section). I suspect Haloscan and various hacked additions have screwed something up. Given enough time I could probably wade my way through all the HTML and technobabble, but I'm not positive about that--my brain is way too preoccupied. And as to "time," I'm spending the next week and a half implementing a household move (only a couple miles, but still a huge hassle, especially since it's going to be done in "stages," starting tomorrow.

So... anybody out there who can either offer me some simple tips, or is willing to wade into the swamp that is the HTML of my blog? I'd be ever so grateful.

I can think of at least a couple people who could use some karma points... ;)

[artwork: Spaghetti Code]

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Update on the Job Front

Interview went well on the face of things, but I think I might have over-sold myself again.

I spent most of the interview doing a great job of pointing out and demonstrating my skills in customer service, communication, teamwork, creativity and problem-solving... only to find out that 70% of the job is simply clerical work. I knew that was a significant part, but didn't realize quite how much.

The saving grace is that this is a superb company (management training company of international stature) that has a history of hiring "over-qualified" people in entry-level jobs. They like people of diverse professional backgrounds and transferable skills who demonstrate strong potential for advancement, often promoting from within the company.

My other concern is that I found myself talking too much about the negatives of my current job, though I discussed specific concerns from a calm and logical point of view.

But another point of encouragement is that I have my foot in the door on a couple counts: having worked for them as a teen, I know the "company culture," (a highly-valued characteristic) and I was encouraged to apply by a person whose judgment in such things carries weight within the company. That doesn't guarantee anything, but it makes it very likely I'll get a solid look.

Like all things, we'll see. By the the end of the week, I'll know if I made it to the second of four steps in the hiring process.

****************

I'm beginning to see a bit of a pattern in the last year... In the general (not military-related) business world, my job experience on paper isn't eye-catching enough to get an interview for a job that fits my true skills. However, if I slant my resume toward my actual business experience, I get noticed for entry-level jobs, then go and blow myself out of the water with a great interview that makes it glaringly apparent that I'm fishing in the wrong pond. Sigh...

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Ignorance

I've seen a lot of writing from journalists that puts their ignorance of military culture and concepts in stark relief. This bit by Dan Froomkin is probably the most fundamental demonstration of that condition that I've yet seen.

In discussing President Bush reportedly expressing to milbloggers the desire to be "out there" with the troops on the ground, Froomkin puts his ignorance on display in a way that reflects terribly on both his character and ability to empathize:

Maybe Bush was just making idle chit-chat. But this would not be the first time the president has appeared unaware of the hardships his war has caused hundreds of thousands of American troops -- while expressing a misguided sense of bravado.

The desire to join the troops who are laying it on the line has nothing to do with either bravado or supposed unawareness of hardship. It is about honor, and about we civilians recognizing that there is a level of sacrifice from which we benefit that we will never match. It's an expression of our feeling of indebtedness, and a recognition that something in all of us calls us to stand in protection of our country and alongside those we love. When you love the troops for the life they have chosen on our behalf, you long to be with them, to join them in the challenges, the suffering, the exultation and the pride of doing something that you believe matters on a fundamental level.

Has Mr. Froomkin never met a severely wounded Soldier or Marine who talked of how devastated he was that he could not return to the battlefield to be with his brothers? Has he never heard a soldier who lost his hand say that he has no regrets, never watched a friend cope with the knowledge that (due to his wounds) he will never again be allowed to command a deployable force on the ground?

Should the Commander in Chief have any less a desire to be a direct part of what he is asking of those under him, especially when he is acutely aware that he is directing actions that will likely result in hardship, injury and death while he sits safely thousands and thousand of miles away? The human heart recoils!

I would expect no less of him, would be disappointed if he felt otherwise. An able-bodied man of honor and integrity strains at the knowledge that he himself is not doing what he asks of those he commands. It is against one's sense of equality and citizenship to sit comfortably at home while those we love are in danger due to actions on our behalf. I'm an out-of-shape female and even I feel that pull, and a sense of shame fed by my knowledge that not all gifts are equal.

That Mr. Froomkin does not understand this shows not only a complete lack of understanding of that which he covers, it brings the content of his very character into question.

No wonder his coverage of military-related matters has all the informed solidity of swiss cheese...

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Inspection of in the Wall Locker

Discovered this gem of a story in the comments at Neptunus Lex:

I can still remember many things about AOCS [Aviation Officer Candidate School]. Running on the beach in combat boots in August, poopy suits, Gunnery Sergeant Bodine, being “encouraged” by the DI’s [Drill Instructor's] stick on the O-Course, even being evacuated in the face of Hurricane Camille and watching Neil Armstrong land on the moon on the Batt III TV. It’s hard to believe, but my experience in AOCS was in 1969, almost 40 years ago.

One of the most humiliating experiences, at the time, seems funny now: RLP’s are frequent and nasty, room-locker-personnel inspections. During one such RLP, I was in my assigned room with my 3 roommates, each of us assigned to our own task of preparation (if one person did the same thing for all four of us, folded skivvies and polished brass would be the same for all four… a good thing).

My job was the wall locker (closet, for civilians). We had two, and I made certain all buttons were buttoned, zippers zipped, and everything hanging straight and in the perfect center of their hangers. We had a DI who carried a cane, and he would announce himself by banging it on the door frame of each room. We could, therefore, judge how far down the passageway he was from our room = how much time we had to get “wired up.”

This particular day, he was at the far end… giving us ample time, or so we all thought. To our surprise and my sheer terror, our door slammed open as he banged his cane. The door swung open, trapping me in the wall locker! DI Armstrong commenced to swear and tear my room-mates apart verbally, demanding to know my whereabouts. After many loud outbursts and too much time for me standing in the closet at attention, the DI opened the [closet] door.

Ready for the inevitable tirade and obligatory PT in the sandpit, I said, “going up, sergeant?”

And then it did begin…

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On the Job Front

Learned in the last eight months... First and foremost: Being a grown-up and doing what has to be done (i.e. taking a job for which you know you are vastly over-qualified), will only get you so far.

So far, it's gotten me halfway to insanity!

Lessons reviewed today: when talking doesn't help, and how to reveal a superior's errors in behavior/understanding without seeming to do so (reviewed the first the hard way, discovered the latter was in fine working order, fortunately).

On a happier thought, I have an interview on Wednesday for a MUCH better job (local) at double the money I'm making now (aka, a living wage). Not the dream job I've been hoping for, but definitely a job that uses many of my skills/talents and one in which I could find satisfaction.

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Salzman at School

Recovery has its highs and lows, but athlete and former National Guardsman J.R. Salzman is back in school and trying to adjust to "regular" life. In a local newspaper article, he talks about what happened the day he got wounded, his plans for the future, and why he has no regrets:

To cope with his injuries, Salzman, who was medically discharged earlier this month and is considered 90 percent disabled, said he breaks it down and accepts it.

"Stuff happens," he said. "I don't regret going into the military and getting deployed. I am really proud of what I've done. I'd do it all over again."

Combat soldiers understand that injuries happen, Salzman said.

He is emphatic the U.S. needed to take responsibility in Iraq and fight insurgents.

"I would rather fight over there than on our own soil," he said, noting the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks proved insurgents will fight Americans anywhere.

It's a great (mostly-unbiased) look at yet another wounded soldier who is an example of patriotism, determination and sheer grit to us all.

And this is a good time to point out that it isn't just J.R. himself who has been through a long recovery process and continues to fight his way back to "normalcy." At twenty years old, his devoted bride Josie has faced her own trial at his side.

[For background on J.R, one of Valour-IT's 1200+ laptop recipients, see Blackfive, or go here and do a search for "Salzman."]

[cross-posted at the Castle]

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Democrats and Defeat

About a week and a half ago, I wrote:

The people trying to discredit the upcoming report on the progress of the war (and the surge) would rather Americans think anything good about America's fight against her enemies is false, than set aside their personal/party political goals.

Today, AllahPundit explains why.

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With reporters like this

...who needs enemies? Over the weekend in the Washington Post, I happened to run across a brief article which may truly be the worst piece of "journalism" from a major paper that I have ever seen.

We'll start with the headline: "Sunni Group Says Its 'Holy Operation' Killed Tribal Leader." At least the subheading mentions Al Qaeda in Iraq ("Al-Qaeda in Iraq lauds death of Anbar Foe") though it doesn't specifically tie AQI to the killing. Based on that introduction, though, my first thought was that it was something about civil war in Iraq.

Let's see what it was really about (quotes from the article are in italics below):

The Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq asserted responsibility Friday for planting the bomb that killed a prominent tribal leader Thursday, calling the assassination a "holy operation" that targeted Abdul Sattar Abu Risha for his alliance with U.S. forces.

Remember that: al Qaeda in Iraq is a "Sunni insurgent group." It'll come up again later.

A statement posted on the Web site of the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group believed to have been formed by al-Qaeda in Iraq, celebrated the killing of Abu Risha, whom it described as President Bush's "dog." A tribal coalition led by Abu Risha had fought against al-Qaeda in Iraq for the past year in Anbar province, leading to a dramatic drop in violence, and Abu Risha met with Bush this month during his surprise visit to Iraq.

It's wonderful that Risha led a group that fought al Qaeda, but where were the Americans? They did it alone? I guess the WaPo cleared this with Schumer rather than actually fact-checked it. But that's a bit of a quibble, perhaps; it gets much worse.

At Abu Risha's funeral in Anbar's capital, Ramadi, hundreds of mourners vowed to retaliate against al-Qaeda in Iraq, a predominantly Iraqi insurgent group whose links to Osama bin Laden's organization remain unclear.

*BUZZ!* Massive, humongous, correction-worthy errors there! The supposed leader of AQI was busted a couple months ago. Turns out he is just an actor, and he spilled the beans on AQI. Among the most notable of info he delivered was that AQI is a front organization led by foreigners, designed to give an Iraqi face to al Qaeda's activities in Iraq. Furthermore, these foreigners are in direct contact with global AQ leadership.

After a brief description of the funeral and Rishawi's brother's vow to fight on, we find the following (if you want to know the real implications of Rishawi's death, read Captain's Quarters):

Meanwhile, the republic of Georgia announced Friday that it would withdraw all but 300 of its 2,000 troops from Iraq by next summer. Georgia has become a devoted U.S. ally in Iraq, maintaining a consistent military presence since the American-led invasion in 2003 as it has pushed for inclusion in the European Union and NATO.

Yikes! Even steadfast Georgia is bailing on us! Two more paragraphs beyond that, we finally get the rest of the story on the withdrawal:

"We had an agreement with the Americans that we would cut our military contingent by the summer of 2008. This was set up from the very beginning and, accordingly, there will be no talk at all about any sort of reduction before that time," Kezerashvili said, according to the Associated Press.

Oh, it was something that had been planned four years ago! That last little bit of the spokesman's statement makes me wonder about the question he was replying to...

Also Friday, a suicide truck bomber plowed his vehicle into a restaurant near the northern city of Baiji, killing at least 10 people, police said. The bombing occurred at the only restaurant in the village of Hijaj that had remained open during fasting hours of Ramadan, Hijaj police said.

They said four police officers were among the dead because a patrol had been set up outside the restaurant.

So, who/what motivated the bombing in this town in the Sunni Triangle? The article only implies, so let's see... it was the only restaurant in the village open during fasting (Muslim heretics). Must've part of that Iraqi civil war in which both sides are Muslim. Not. Oh, wait... maybe the targets were the police patrol. Strange that police would be attacked by their fellow citizens when they felt safe enough to set up a command post in front of a restaurant that was breaking Ramadan...

If ever simply the target itself could ID the attacker, this has got to be it--whether the target is the "heretical" diners or the police themselves, it's got the power-hungry religious fanaticism and indiscriminate violence of AQ written all over it. But al Qaeda in Iraq is just a "Sunni insurgent group," remember? Sure.

And finally, the closing lines:

Special correspondents Naseer Nouri and Saad al-Izzi and other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report.

No. Comment.

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Entertainment

As someone with personal or business (blog and charity) relationships with over three-fourths of the bloggers who talked with President Bush last week, I found the commenters on a Washington Post article about it absolutely hilarious.

Never would've guessed that some of the smartest, most-driven, accomplished, independent-minded, knowledgeable and honorable people I know are actually...

• Stupid
• Ardent Bush supporters (bwaaahahahaha!)
• Unquestioning defenders of authority
• Sycophants
• Loony (well, maybe that one is true...)
• Shills
• Pigeons
• Delusional

Well, you get the idea. If you're in need of some laughs, take a peek.

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Birth of Fuzzybear?!

Apparently, in some quarters this is thought to be representative of how I started blogging.


Well, considering my blogging lineage (see sidebar)... I guess that makes the flying guy Lex, and one of the girls is Beth. But, which one is John, and why is he in drag? And where is Sgt. B?

Heh. I think I just wrecked the thought of one of my favorite works of art...

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Have You Ever Heard a More Moronic Chant?

Or maybe the proper term is "oxymoronic..."

At the "anti-war" protest yesterday, people chanted (see video), "Iraq for Iraqis! Troops out now!"

Let's dissect that:

The first sentence obviously comes from a perspective that American troops are oppressing the Iraqis and/or stealing their land (oil). Just to be nice, I'll not argue with that sentiment; Iraq should be for Iraqis, and the sooner Iraqis can take and keep it for themselves, the better.

Now let's look at the "Troops out now!" part. If the troops leave now, a couple of things are very, very likely to happen: 1) Iraq is no longer for at least 30% of Iraqis (Sunnis), who will at best be run out of the country. 2) Iraq is no longer for Iraqis at all, as it will be run by Iran and/or al Qaeda, with Turkey rushing in to stabilize the Kurdish areas "just in case."

Nice little dichotomy of a chant you guys got going there. Being the enlightened and educated folks you are, I'm sure that was intentional...

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How it All Started

In the last two years, I've often been encouraged to tell the story of how I got involved in milblogs, and how I ended up in the middle of Valour-IT. The story has been told in brief, but the truly interesting parts are in the details--it wasn't inevitable. This may break up into several posts, but here goes...

Ever since shortly after 9-11, when it became public knowledge that we had troops (Special Operations, etc.) in Afghanistan, I had been wanting to do something to encourage and support them; I felt deeply the imbalance of sacrifice when thinking of people fighting and dying on my behalf, but I hadn't even remote connections to anyone in the military. Every few months I would search online for ways to directly adopt soldiers, but could never find anything until the summer of 2004, when I discovered AnySoldier.

I immediately adopted several units and got to work turning my tiny living room into a Care Package Assembly Line (I loved it!). Being a complete civilian, I was acutely aware of my ignorance of warfighters' daily lives and experiences on the front lines. So I turned again to my computer and did some online word searches in order to learn how to better "support the troops."

And then I found the milblogs...

I mostly lurked, but I learned and learned, and I left comments of love and appreciation on the blogs of deployed personnel. Another commenter wrote something particularly lovely on "American Soldier's" blog in January 2005, during his pre-deployment training. AS now password-protects that post, but I still have the words written by someone who called himself "Sgt. B:"

As you travel in pursuit of your Duty, remember another song… “We Are With You”

And, when you have a chance to pause, and rest during your training, and on your missions, you will feel a gentle pressure on your right shoulder…

It is the pressure of a million hands… A million hands laid upon your shoulder in support of what you are doing, and why you are doing it.

It is the pressure of a million hands, whose owners bow their heads in prayer, praying for your safety, praying for your family, and praying in gratitude that there are men and women like you who go in Harm’s way in the name of Freedom, Duty, Honor, and Country.

We’ll see you when you get home!

It was so beautiful, and seemed the perfect words to include in my care packages to new adoptees. So I emailed Sgt. B for permission to steal his words and--to my gratified surprise--he responded with more than just a "yes" or "no." I discovered Sgt. B was a former Marine who was itching to be out there again, and he closed his email with, "...it was an honor to serve."

That little phrase was the catalyst. I wrote back, "I suddenly realized that I understand that phrase much more than I used to." And thus a friendship was born.

I continued my email reply to Sgt. B with a report on the education I'd been getting from milblogs and my adopted soldiers, and my sense of guilt for being the recipient of others' sacrifices. That was when he got downright prescient:

...the real support that us "homefront" types can show is to help these war-fighters make the transition from a front line soldier, back to that father, mother, brother, sister, regular human being...

And this is where compassionate people like you come into your own. By taking the time to understand "your" soldiers, you'll be better positioned to be part of that whole healing process. I would submit that your best days (in the field of
troop support) are ahead of you. [...]

So: Just because you aren't running through the ruins of some far off town, guns blazing and a bayonet clenched in your teeth, don't feel like you are any less important to this effort than the guy behind the rifle. You and I are a VITAL part of this, but we enter the ball game towards the end, and our actions might have an even greater overall impact than all of the combat actions combined, because we're in this for the rest of their lives.

I scoffed (remember, this was January 2005; FbL hadn't even been "born," yet). I thought he was kind but utterly absurd, especially for having based his comments on nothing more than my two emails. And yes, I told him he was. I didn't even know any soldiers outside the Internet and the letters I sent to units in Afghanistan and Iraq! How could an ignorant civilian like me with no direct connection to veterans possibly be part of a warfighter's emotional and physical recovery? As if a combat vet would even care to talk to me... Silly man.

Actually... Silly me.

[pic found here]

UPDATE: Part II

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Old Sailor

Think the officers are in charge? Lex has a great post about Chiefs, the guys who really run the U.S. Navy. At least they think they do... ;)

But most importantly, Jeopardy in MD tells us about a particular chief, his inspiration...

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Bush's War

The partisan politicization of what should never be even remotely partisan is now complete. This isn't some leftist advocacy group talking, or a random protester out there with a picket sign. This is the leader of the U.S. Senate:

"It's the president's war. At this point it also appears clear it's also the Senate Republicans' war," [Sen. Harry] Reid told a Capitol Hill news conference.

I always thought any war voted by Congress and engaged in by the American military is "America's War." Whether we think it wise or well-managed or not, it's still our war to fix and win.

Silly me. It's just Bush's war and the Republican's war. And since I'm not a Republican partisan, I have no real stake in what happens. Thanks for the education, Senator. Now I know better.

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Feinstein Supports Our Veterans

Earmarks are an ugly business, but this one--at the expense of America's military veterans--takes the cake:

[Senator] Feinstein, who in the last election received some of her largest donations from the rich area, has been only too happy to come to its defense. She honed in on the military construction and veterans affairs bill -- a sensitive spending vehicle that few Republicans would dare vote against, and that President Bush would be loath to veto. She then slipped in an earmark provision that would bar the VA from disposing or leasing any of the ground. Thus a potential $4 billion worth of help and aid for our nation's veterans goes bye-bye in the name of preserving a view for those Hollywood actors who play veterans in the movies.

It sounds crazy, doesn't it? Read the article and you'll understand.

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Once Again...

I'm with HFS on this: I don't want to talk about it and remember it all, especially this year... and in the middle of the circus and political insanity of the Petraeus-Crocker testimony on Capitol Hill, which seems twisted beyond words when contrasted with the knowledge that we thought was stamped on our very hearts only six years ago. I was right: it just gets harder.

In 2005, I wrote in a comments section on this blog:

I remember (in my mind and body) the places I went that day: the bagel store, the classrooms, the people I spoke to, my class schedule that day, standing in the hallway dialing and redialing my mother on the pay phone. I know which computer I sat at when I finally had the chance to sit down and read the news. I can see the positions of my classmates as our Australian teacher expressed her heartfelt sympathy, and suggested we watch and think carefully, for our world had changed. I remember stepping off the curb just after a bus passed that afternoon, and realizing in that instant that I couldn't have been trusted with my finger on the military "button," because in a moment of uncharacteristic rage I would've leveled Afghanistan (already being whispered as the origination point).That day just rearranged my place in this world and my understanding of what it meant to live as an American (no more ignorant safety, no more isolationistic tendencies), and I looked ahead to a life of living in wartime.

It still applies today. I still remember, and I hate the memories. The memories below are from a repost, but it was first written in 2005 when I had a slightly different readership, so I thought I'd share...

On the first anniversary of 9-11, I participated in the Rolling Requiem, a world-wide chain of performances of Mozart's Requiem conducted in memory of those who had died that day. Each performer in the event wore a heart-shaped tag with the name of someone who had died in the attacks. I wore the name of Richard P. Fitzsimons over my heart. Afterwards, we wrote a note on our tag, and the tags were collected for distribution to surviving family members.

Participation in the Rolling Requiem was emotionally much harder than I had expected. Surprisingly, it packed a physical punch. When I started to sing, I found that getting a deep breath was difficult, as it seemed that the tag over my heart was pressing down on me. I wanted to rip it off; it was suffocating. I told myself I must be losing my mind, and tried to believe it was just melodrama on my part. But I couldn't convince myself I did not feel that weight. I finally said to myself, "The families of these people are carrying a lifelong burden, you can bear that burden for an hour." And so I did. But I was so relieved to take it off when we were done.

I was safe and sound that day in 2001, and I lost no one I knew in the attacks. But in a split second my view of the world shifted to a new axis. Here's what I wrote a couple days after the Rolling Requiem, in response to a question about my memories of 9-11...

Unlike someone who either watched the news as it unfolded, or awoke on the West Coast and pieced together the news bit-by-bit, I received almost the whole news in the span of about 30 seconds.

Though a student at a Midwestern music school, I have more in common with a typical absent-minded professor. On that infamous day, I got confused about the starting time of my first class, which involved learning the trumpet. I had left home before 9:00 eastern time and arrived via public transportation early for my class, so I had heard no news.

I settled down for a little practice before classtime. I had no watch, but after a while I sensed that class should have started already. I stuck my head out the door and asked someone what time it was. Suddenly a professor came running down the hall very agitated because her computer was down and her radio was broken. She said something about hoping to find information in the library. I thought this was a little strange, but I was still very focused on practicing. I returned to the classroom.

When my teacher arrived, she apologized for being late (as was the only other student attending) by saying, "It's been a strange morning." I said it had been the same for me (referring to my time confusion). She said, "It's unbelievable, isn't it." Neither I nor the other student (who had been in a 9:00 eastern-time class) knew what she was talking about. She then told us a plane had hit one of the WTC towers. We were both horrified and said, "What an awful accident!" She said, "Wait, there's more." She had seen the second plane hit live. As we were attempting to wrap our brains around that, she said, "There's still more," and told us about the Pentagon. Then she told us about the rumor of a bomb at the State Department, and of the several planes that were at that time still unaccounted for. My classmate and I were literally speechless. We couldn't form coherent sentences. We just babbled and stuttered and stared at each other.

None of us knew what to do other than to somehow keep moving. So we picked up our instruments and started to play. Concentration was almost impossible, but we plodded ahead, stopping occasionally for incoherent exclamations of shock.

It was over an hour later before I had access to a campus computer to find more information. The first headline I saw said, "WTC Tower collapses." I stared at it trying to understand what that meant. The picture of it in mid-crumble did not make it more real. As I clicked on various stories and began to read, I kept going back to that picture to make sure I hadn't imagined or misunderstood it. As I read, the story of the other tower's collapse was posted. At first I thought it was another story about the first tower. It was all more than I could comprehend. I printed out several articles to take with me so that I could find a quiet place to try to read.

Professors in the rest of my classes either gave us time to talk or cancelled classes compeletely, knowing our minds were elsewhere. By midafternoon I could no longer bear to keep my attention on anything other than the attacks. I went home and sat in front of the TV.

That evening I worked as a personal aide to a naturalized American citizen from Germany who has clear memories of being a child in Germany during WWII. I walked through her door and just dropped my backpack on the floor. I did not say hello--that somehow seemed trite. We just looked at each other. "What an awful day," I said. She agreed. I went through the motions of preparing her meal and caring for her needs, but I felt disconnected from my body and my surroundings. Neither of us said much. As I prepared her for bed later that night, she began to talk. She said that it reminded her of the bombings of her town in WWII. She said that she couldn't bear to watch anymore. "I know what those rescue workers are experiencing", she said. "I remember what powdered buildings and dead bodies smell like. I didn't know I remembered the smell, but I can smell it as I lay here." (In the weeks ahead, she began to have nightmares and found that she had never dealt with the trauma of the war.--"I just stuffed it away, like all the Germans did." Many times over the next year, she would talk about the war).

That night I watched TV until my eyes wouldn't stay open. The next weeks were one long blur. I know I attended classes, but nearly every other waking moment was spent sitting cross-legged in front of the TV. I don't remember there being Halloween that fall, and I don't remember the change of the seasons. I would sit in front of the TV to watch the news and lose track of hours at a time. When I would become aware of myself and surroundings, I would find I was rocking back and forth with silent tears falling down my cheeks. I cried for those who died. I cried for those who survived. I cried for our national loss of innocence (or ignorance?). I cried because in order to protect me, soldiers were leaving their families and doing things that I myself did not have the courage to do.

Though I no longer have as intense feelings today, I still mourn and still worry, and I still feel the ground of our country shifting under my feet. The status quo no longer exists, and what we will become is still unknown.

That last paragraph still applies today... perhaps now more than ever.

[photo discovered via Lex]

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Tears

If you want the politics of this, check out H&I Fires at the Castle. I want to discuss what is happening today, but from the personal perspective...

I've been watching GEN Petraeus' Senate testimony online this morning.

It's been awhile since I've been at the point of tears on this subject, but hearing Petraeus discuss the good things that have happened and the challenges/issues still being faced by our men and women on the ground makes me so proud, grateful, and frightened, and the tears again fall. I'm so proud of what Americans and Iraqs have done to begin to stabilize things in Iraq so far, so grateful for our military's daily physical and emotional sacrifice, and frightened that politicians who have sold their souls will cause this country irrevocable harm.

Yeah, tears are wimpy. But it's what I've got today.

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Alive Day Memories--Updated

[Updated and bumped (originally posted 0641). Scroll down for newer stuff]

"Alive Day" is a label many wounded apply to the day they were hit--the day they could've died but lived instead. HBO has taken that label for a new documentary by James Gandolfini of Sopranos fame that seems to be worth checking out.

As regular readers know, the well-being and treatment of the wounded is a subject that is very close to my heart. So, when I hear of a documentary being done about the experiences of some of them, I start to get nervous. I worry that it will be exploitative or condescending, or in some way pitying--anyone who works with the wounded knows that in most cases, offers of pity are generally not well-received.

Somehow I ended up on the publicity list for HBO's Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq (being broadcast today) awhile ago, but I knew I had to take the time to explore it before I could endorse it. Upon getting around to reading what people who had already seen it had to say, I found most of them seemed to be viewing it through an anti-war cognitive lens that made it hard to identify the film's actual message. But simply on the basis of the following, this sounds promising. It seems Gandolfini lets interviewees speak for themselves [click on the video and see the sidebar for more excerpts and media coverage]:

The first interviewee is Bryan Anderson, whom I've written about before, and there are others in the video who have also received the help of Soldiers' Angels and Valour-IT. This sounds like worthwhile viewing, if only for the chance to see the kinds of people that need our physical and emotional support as they continue to recover from devastating wounds.

There is one concern, however: the documentary includes insurgent video of successful attacks, including those that injured the veterans featured in the film. From the tone of the preview, it seems those videos are treated as archival footage relevant to the story being told, and not as something to gasp and gawk over. Still, I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea...

Alive Day Memories is being broadcast today, and will be repeated a number of times in the coming month [click and search for "alive day"]. I don't have Cable, so I would appreciate the report of anyone who is willing and able to watch. I hope Alive Day Memories is as worthwhile as the trailer seems to promise.

Update: Wounded veteran JR Salzman gives it his full endorsement. And if you miss it today, you can also stream it on on HBO.com from 11:30PM EST Sunday September 9th until Sunday September 16th.

[cross-posted at Castle Argghhh!; h/t to Blackfive for the Salzman link and streaming info]

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Valour-IT and the Gun Bloggers

For those who may be unfamiliar with the term, "Gun Bloggers" refers to bloggers who are shooting enthusiasts and strong supporters of the right to "keep and bear arms." This can include everyone from avid hunters and former military, to antiques collectors and those who simply enjoy the confidence in learning and maintaining basic firearms skills.

This year, their Gun Blogger Rondevous has a connection to Project Valour-IT. Gun Blogger "Mr. Completely" writes in an email:

This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous will be donating all money raised to Project Valour-IT. Major Ziegenfuss [the inspiration for Valour-IT] will be our Guest of Honor.

For more information on the Gun Blogger Rendezvous check the Rendezvous site and the Mr. Completely blog.

Any publicity you can get out that would encourage Gun and/or Mil bloggers or readers/commenters to attend would be greatly appreciated.

It is a small and informal event that allows everyone to get to know everyone else, so you get to put a face to the bloggers you've been reading! It's a great lot of fun hanging out with an amazing bunch of folks!

The event will be held in Reno, Nevada, October 6-8.

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"We'll set about ye."

Remember this guy?:

He's coming to America:

The baggage handler who battled the Glasgow airport bombers will pay his respects at the annual memorial ceremony at the World Trade Center site...

New York cops and firefighters and US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were among the first to congratulate him for taking a stand against the fanatics.

And a friend of John said he hoped to "get the chance to meet and thank some of these brave men and women" while in New York.

[h/t Hot Air for the Daily Record article in Headlines]

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Osama bin Laden Kos-en?

Sorry, but I couldn't resist pointing out this bit from Powerline:

Fourth, the extent to which bin Laden's talk is a pastiche of liberal cliches and conspiracy theories is striking. He obviously has access to our newspapers, and it sounds like he may be a fan of left-wing web sites as well. Thus, "all of mankind is in danger because of...global warming." The Kennedy assassination finds its way into the story: it was ordered by "the owners of major corporations who were benefiting from [the Vietnam war's] continuation."

Speaking of Vietnam: just as the Democrats can't let go of Vietnam analogies, neither can bin Laden. He says--shades of John Kerry!--that Americans "murdered two million villagers" there. Bin Laden goes a little astray, however, when he tries to lay Vietnam at the feet of the "neoconservatives." He describes Donald Rumsfeld as "the most violent of [America's] murderers" in Vietnam. Actually, Rumsfeld served in the Navy from 1954 to 1957, but was too old for Vietnam.

On Iraq, bin Laden reads from the liberal script. Iraq is a "civil war;" America's involvement was fomented by "neoconservatives like Cheney, Rumsfeld and Richard Perle;" "American statistics" say that 650,000 Iraqis have been killed; the justifications for the Iraq war are "based on deception and blatant lies;" the war was "entirely unnecessary, as testified to by your own reports;" war opponents have denounced the conflict in "eloquent terms" like "no to spilling red blood for black oil;" "thinkers" world-wide have predicted the imminent collapse of the "American Empire;" Bush's problem in Iraq is that he "refused to look at the facts on the ground." And, weirdest of all: "If you would like to get to know some of the reasons for your losing of your war against us, then read the book of Michael Scheuer in this regard."

I'm starting to think bin Laden is a regular poster on the Daily Kos.

Sometimes you just gotta laugh to keep from crying. But I'd gladly forgo another opportunity to laugh if it meant we had an actual "loyal opposition."

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The "Bush Report"

Used to be called the Petraeus Report, until a couple weeks ago, of course.

The Democrats are forcefully pushing the idea that it is the "Bush Report," going so far as to correct reporters when they refer to it as the Petraeus Report.

Obviously, they prefer the Bush moniker. Question is... why? Logic really leaves us with only one answer: in today's political climate, one of the best ways for a congress member to discredit something is associate it with President Bush (who has a 30-something approval rating; the only government entity lower is Congress itself), rather than the widely-respected American military (with a 70-something approval rating).

Which leads to the logical question: why do they want to discredit it? If they were expecting a negative report, I suppose you could argue that they are concerned that a dismal assessment of American effectiveness in the middle of a war would be too encouraging to its enemies.

...

Umm.... yeah. Right.

Okay, let's get serious. Only other possibility is that they're expecting a positive report, vindicating President Bush for approving the "surge" strategy.

Just let the implications of that sink in... The people trying to discredit the upcoming report on the progress of the war (and the surge) would rather Americans think anything good about America's fight against her enemies is false, than set aside their personal/party political goals. And if they are successful/correct, we must then assume that the state of the war is bad (lack of progress), with the attendant encouragement to our enemies and erosion of our will to fight that accompany that public assessment.

I think I hesitate to voice the inescapable conclusions, because I still find it incomprehensible that we find ourselves with so many politicians who are willing to throw their country and countrymen to the wolves for short-term gain... I really can't bring myself to believe it. I said the other day that Schumer was either too idiotic to understand, ignorant of accurate information regarding the war, or just plain treasonous. I'm desperately trying to hold onto the diagnosis of "ignorant," because it's definitely not "idiotic."

If we have the government we deserve, I'm ashamed.

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Feminism, Love and Patriotism

In my email circle yesterday, we were talking about men (particularly military men) and the constant pull they seem to feel between the personal satisfaction of a deeply-valued career and the knowledge of its family impact. The talk then turned to whether or not women feel that pull, a question asked by a man in our circle.

A brilliant wife of a career military man (with a professional career of her own now that her children are raised) offered up the following answer, one of the best testaments to love and true maturity I've ever read:

We make decisions, not always easy ones. Sometimes part of us doesn't lie easy with them, but ultimately they are ours to make and there are always tradeoffs. My husband knows I could have been anything I wanted to, but I gave it all up to be his wife.

There are many times when that was not easy for me. But he did not make me do that.

All the same, I often wished things had been more balanced, that I'd had the chance to do some of the things I wanted to. It just didn't work out that way. The needs of the [military] and our children came first and I couldn't be a GOOD mother and a good lawyer, for instance.

So, I chose, not just in part because I thought the country needed what he does more than it needed another lawyer.

I'm going to be interested in what kind of reaction this post gets...

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What Happens When a Spider meets a Soldiers' Angel?

We were discussing the subject of killing spiders and I received the following on that topic from fellow Soldiers' Angel Maryann. She's got a heart of gold and is "supporting the troops" at a level few people can match. Somehow, her email spoke to me of an absolutely golden heart...

Yuk! Just put a glass over the spider, slip a piece of paper under the glass, lift the whole contraption up and bring it outside.

I once had a spider in the corner of the bathroom ceiling over the shower. While I was away, she laid eggs so I of course had to wait until they hatched and the younguns were mature enough to survive before I "escorted" the lot of them outside. I had to keep one eye on them while showering for about 2 weeks. It was quite stressful.

Yes, I laughed aloud. But how could you not love someone like that?

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Senator Charles Schumer is...

either an idiot, a traitor, or staggeringly uninformed. You decide.

Over at Blackfive, commenter "Jordan" has an superb rebuttal to Schumer's incomprehensible statements:

Now, that's the goal here, according to the counterinsurgency manual. You get the indigenous population to no longer accept terrorists swimming in their midsts. When the people reject them, the insurgency can't survive. Isn't that the picture of what we're trying to do here?

It's precisely because the Marines could ensure their safety that the Sunni tribes switched sides. The tribes saw that with the Marines, they had a fighting chance to get the safety and security of normal life back, so they took it, out of human self-interest.

For a couple of years now, we've all seen endless pictures on the net of our soldiers sitting down with various sheiks in earnest conversation, having tea and lamb scones (or whatever). What were they doing, Charles, playing BINGO?

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How MEGEN Spent Her Summer Vacation

Steeljaw Scribe has the pics from MEGEN's latest exploits in advertising Valour-IT.

Unfortunately, he's got 'em set up as a slide show, so I can't give you a tease; you'll just have to go look. Trust me, there are some very cool pics over there...

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Compare and Contrast

Read this, then read this (they're not long). Note the subtle differences.

I've got no comment because I can't say anything regarding the contrast that wouldn't be inflammatory, and most of my commentary regarding the original would probably insult half my readership unless I took 10 paragraphs to explain myself.

Fodder for enemy propaganda, anyone?

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More "Informed Journalists"

While looking for photos for another post, I saw this interesting tidbit, apparently unnoticed by that "vast army of editors and fact-checkers:"

From the AP caption: "Former New York Army National Spc. Geoff Millard fields a phone call prior to participating in an anti-war protest on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007...."

Two things jumped immediately to mind:

1. I didn't know NY had an army!
2. I wonder what a "National Spc." does...

Okay, that was a cheap shot. Still, I think it's the kind of error that should leap off the page to anyone covering the military. Yet it sailed right through and was approved for publication...

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President Bush in Iraq

Of course the visit is already old news, but I wanted to share with you Bush's introduction and speech to an audience of Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, and Sailors in Al Asad on Monday.

I chose the following video of the speech among several because it shows the arrival of other officials and his interactions with the troops after the speech. I don't know enough about the context of the quote from Lord of the Rings that accompanies the end to give it my full endorsement, but I agree with the basic sentiments (you can see the Major General's entire introductory speech on this video, if you can tolerate the inane voice-over leading up to it).

You can find more photos of Bush's visit here, including my favorite:

It makes me happy simply to see their excitement and happiness. May God bless and sustain them all for the road ahead...

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