This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Antiwar crowd

  • Surrender Fever hits new high among Democrat “leadership”

    I learned about this from Crotchety Old Bastard to whom I’ve immediately shipped some of my blood pressure meds. 

    In a joint letter to the President, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi noted that, even though the final troops aren’t even deployed in Iraq yet, the surge is ineffectual. From AP;

    Top US congressional Democrats bluntly told President George W. Bush Wednesday that his Iraq troop “surge” policy was a failure.

    Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged the president over Iraq by sending him a letter, ahead of a White House meeting later on Wednesday.

    “As many had forseen, the escalation has failed to produce the intended results,” the two leaders wrote.

    “The increase in US forces has had little impact in curbing the violence or fostering political reconciliation.

    It has not enhanced Americas national security. The unsettling reality is that instances of violence against Iraqis remain high and attacks on US forces have increased.

    In fact, the last two months of the war were the deadliest to date for US troops.

    The letter appeared to preview a fresh showdown over Iraq between anti-war Democrats and the president, just a few weeks after Bush forced his foes to strip troop withdrawal timelines from a 100 billion dollar emergency war budget.

    It also came a few days after the US military mourned its 3,500th soldier killed in action in Iraq.

    “As predicted” they said. Isn’t that just childish and moronic. Before it’s begun, they’ve declared it a failure. Because the impatient crybaby hippies of the anti-war movement are disappointed. Apparently Harry’s “set the bar too high” explanation didn’t go over well with Code Pink.

    Meanwhile, AP also reports that the Senate will begin destroying more military officers’ careers for the Democrats’ own political benefit;

    On Friday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates made the stunning announcement that he would not recommend Pace to serve a second two-year term as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Marine Corps four-star general had not been a target previously of Democrats’ ire on the war, but Gates said lawmakers made it clear the confirmation process would be ugly.

    “It would be a backward looking and very contentious process,” Gates said at a Pentagon news conference.

    […]

    “General Casey knows Iraq and the challenges the Army faces there,” Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in February. “The principal failures that led to the chaos in Iraq were due to the civilian leaders.”

    But when it came to Pace, Levin signaled a new era in which uniformed officers close to the president would be held accountable.

    In an interview with reporters this week, Levin said Pace’s nomination would have been more contentious than other uniformed officers because he was the closest military adviser to the president on a failing war.

    Well, you know this is coming from the Code Pink/ANSWER bunch. Their most recent protests have deflated the egos of their members because, not only have they been poorly attended, but there have begun anti-anti-war protests which are increasing in numbers and strength. The anti-war movement is afraid that their decreasing popularity might make it into the media unless the politicians can win them some victories.

    And once Congress starts beating up the generals, it’ll be a signal to the Hippies-on-the-street to start mistreating the Joes and their families. I remember the playbook from the 60s, see.

    How do I know Code Pink and ANSWER are driving Reid and Pelosi? Well, there’s this in the Politico;

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “incompetent” during an interview Tuesday with a group of liberal bloggers, a comment that was never reported.

    Reid made similar disparaging remarks about Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said several sources familiar with the interview.

    This is but the latest example of how Reid, under pressure from liberal activists to do more to stop the war, is going on the attack against President Bush and his military leaders in anticipation of a September showdown to end U.S. involvement in Iraq, according to Democratic senators and aides.

    Yep, cuz there was the blog interview with Think Progress (for some reason I can’t get to Think Progress’ website this morning, but if you can, check out the comments on the Reid interview) the other day and now this one. And we all know there are no moderates with blogs – on either side of the political spectrum. And what fuels the Left? Well, how about dumbass reports like this one from the Washington Post this morning;

    Three months into the new U.S. military strategy that has sent tens of thousands of additional troops into Iraq, overall levels of violence in the country have not decreased, as attacks have shifted away from Baghdad and Anbar, where American forces are concentrated, only to rise in most other provinces, according to a Pentagon report released yesterday.

    The report — the first comprehensive statistical overview of the new U.S. military strategy in Iraq — coincided with renewed fears of sectarian violence after the bombing yesterday of the same Shiite shrine north of Baghdad that was attacked in February 2006, unleashing a spiral of retaliatory bloodshed. Iraq’s government imposed an immediate curfew in Baghdad yesterday to prevent an outbreak of revenge killings.

    Yesterday’s attack adds to tensions faced by U.S. troops, who are paying a mounting price in casualties as they push into Iraqi neighborhoods, seeking to quell violence that the report said remains fundamentally driven by sectarianism.

    Iraq’s government, for its part, has proven “uneven” in delivering on its commitments under the strategy, the report said, stating that public pledges by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have in many cases produced no concrete results.

    Now, there may be a point in pointing out Maliki’s failures, but the Post absolutely negates the war the US military has been waging against al Qaeda which has seen a steep rise in damage to al Qaeda in Iraq’s leadership – as pointed out nearly everyday by Blackfive and the other Milblogs. But I guess the Washington Post and the other hippies can’t be bothered to check out the truth.

    And of course the WaPo instantly translates “new fears of sectarian violence” into American casualties that haven’t happened yet. I guess they never figured I’d check another source and notice that the Wall Street Journal reports that the military suspects that al Qaeda were behind the attacks – which doesn’t support the Washington Post’s “fears of sectarian violence” claims;

    After yesterday’s destruction , several Iraqi police were detained, indicating the possibility of an inside job. The pattern of the attacks — both yesterday’s and last year’s — suggests that insurgents could have slipped past the security cordon to place their explosives. Top U.S. military and civilian officials in Iraq place the blame on al Qaeda, saying it was trying “to sow dissent and inflame sectarian strife.”

    Attacks by al Qaeda militants — including car bombs in crowded areas, destruction of bridges and a recent suicide bombing inside the Iraqi parliament — have become among the biggest challenges to the U.S.-led security plan.

    But it’s funny how the Washington Post suddenly decides the “surge” isn’t working on the same day Reid and Pelosi head to the White House, ain’t it?

    But, it’s nice know that the counter-protests are working. The Left is getting desperate and they need the war to end soon so they look like they have sway to their benefactors. That’s why Republicans in Congress need to hold their ground for a couple more rounds – the Left is in it’s death throes.

    Bloodthirsty Liberal wonders aloud how the Democrats felt about the increase in violence after the Normandy invasion. And Soldier’s Dad has some interesting charts related to the violence and Iraqi Security Force readiness. Bill Roggio has compiled more on the “minarets” attack.

    UPDATED: Hot Air discusses whether or not and whom Reid called “incompetent”.

  • The anti-Israel rally in DC

    We went to the rally against Israel this afternoon. We got there at about 2:30 and went by the pro-Israel group first (I had to get my bearings and I knew where the good guys were going to be). All-in-all they were a small, rational group;

    Before we left home, I checked the opposition’s websites and they predicted hundreds of thousands of partcipants. I’m sure they were fairly disappointed because there seemed to be only a few hundred. This was the view of their rally from the Pro-Israel rally;

    Most of the anti-Israeli group were crowded around the entrance. There were “marshalls” there that censored the signs that people brought themselves. I guess they were looking for overtly racist signs. The organizing moonbats brought scores of signs to hand out to participants. Too many it seems. These are the crews bringing the extras in after the rally started;

    This is about the size of the crowd at the mainstage just before it started;

    Not really hundreds of thousands was it? But as always at these events, it’s more important to see who’s on the periphery of the main rally;

    Ask us about socialism – that has to be my favorite line. As if any of the attendees were confused about the tenets of socialism.

    Here’s another little bit of hypocrisy. If the Bible isn’t a deed, then why is the Koran a deed?

    It’s a great day when you can wrap your kids in an Arafat scarf and make them a poster supporting the “next generation” of suicide-bombing haters.

    And you can muddy the debate with an accidental friendly fire incident

    And the fat cow coalition supports impeaching AIPAC, an organization that can’t be impeached. But it sure sounds stern, doesn’t it.

    And I don’t know who this guy is, but I’m fairly sure that there aren’t any Palestinians waving any flags for him or his clerical collar;

    Here’s my favorite guy. Guess what he is. That’s right, he’s a “twoofer”. His type are easily recognizable by the portable beer coaster he sports under his shirt and the aire of an intellectually superior being.

    And the dollar bill he’s holding? Well, my wife snatched it from him (before I could grab his  stubby little paw that he thrust in my face) and here it is;

    And the back;

    Isn’t that cute? That’s a real website, too, if you have the stomach for it. But I’m not driving traffic there.

    Well, we went back had a couple of gallons of ice tea at the Dubliner where we could keep an eye on foot traffic to the rally and as near as I can tell, not more than a few hundred more showed up, in dribbles and drabs (anti-democracy people are easily recognizable among the tourist foot traffic in DC when you’ve lived here as long as I have). So I’m not sure how the media is going to call this one, but I’d put attendance at about a thousand – tops.

    The pro-Israel rally was only about a hundred or so, but the Left had big expectations for their rally, guessing by the internet support. The Left generally pooh-poohed the low attendence at the March on the Pentagon back in March because of cold weather, but today was a gorgeous spring day. It was probably near 80 degrees and overcast – so what’s the excuse this time?

    My guess; the Left is just tired of pointless rallies. There were no puppets on stilts, no wildly dressed malcontents. Even the Socialist recruiting tables were less-attended than usual. I think the Left is losing it’s fire. Too bad really – I wanted some more pictures of puppets – I miss those little buggers.

    Ah, heck here’s one from last years Code Pink Mother’s Day rally for old time’s sake. (I know the date stamp is wrong – I’m no technical wiz)

    Solomonia and djca.org agree that today’s rally was pretty pathetic. More commentary from Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs.

    UPDATE: More pictures and a much better commentary at The Age of Hooper.

    Oh, ya know what? I forgot to mention that the were a couple of thousand people at the Capitol (Gay) Pride festivities (basically a street festival) just a few blocks away that generally just ignored the fact that their allies on the Left were having a rally that day. So I guess the lesson is that you can’t count on the Gay community for your goofy Leftist rallies. I’m sure the anti-Israel forces were counting on the Gays incidental appearances to swell their numbers. But it didn’t work out for ’em.

  • Whiney Kokesh whines to the whiney press

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    The Washington Examiner publishes a poorly researched AP article about poor little Adam Kokesh, the sociopath, childish war protester who thinks he had a discharge;

    Marine Corps officials argue they are enforcing military codes in the case of Cpl. Adam Kokesh.

    Kokesh, 25, participated in an anti-war demonstration in Washington in March. When he was identified in a photo caption in The Washington Post, a superior officer sent him an e-mail saying he might have violated a rule prohibiting troops from wearing uniforms without authorization. Kokesh responded with a letter that contained an obscenity.

    Kokesh, a graduate student at George Washington University, is a member of the Individual Ready Reserve, which consists mainly of those who have left active duty but still have time remaining on their eight-year military obligations. His service is due to end June 18, but the Marine Corps is seeking to let him go two weeks early with a less-than-honorable discharge.

    That could cut some of his health benefits and force him to repay about $10,800 he received to obtain his undergraduate degree on the GI Bill.

    Kokesh’s attorney, Lt. Jeremy Melaragno, said Monday during an administrative separation board hearing that his client’s free-speech rights are at stake.

    “It has everything to do with freedom of speech,” Melaragno said. “Ask yourself, would we be here if he was advocating for the Bush administration?”

    During a break in the hearing, Kokesh told reporters that the case appears to be punitive.

    So the media just goes right ahead and publishes whatever Kokesh and his lawyer tell them. And then they tell the big lie at the center of the whole debate;

    Kokesh was honorably discharged after a combat tour in Iraq.

    His attorneys said Kokesh was not subject to military rules during the protest because he was not on active duty. They said the protest was a theatrical performance, which meant wearing a uniform was a not a violation of military rules. The military considered it a political event, at which personnel are not allowed to wear their uniforms without authorization.

    As I and many others established this weekend, Kokesh has not been discharged. If he had been discharged, he wouldn’t have been at that hearing yesterday – the Marines couldn’t force him to report if they had no legal authority over him. Yet – there he was arguing to save his discharge status. Anyone with at least half-a-brain could figure that out. Well, not Heather Hollingsworth of the Associated Press, apparently.

    But, anyway, the panel recommended a general (an other-than-honorable) discharge according to the today’s Examiner;

    A military panel recommended that an Iraq war veteran who wore his uniform during an anti-war protest should lose his honorable discharge status, brushing away his claims that he was exercising his right to free speech.

    “This is a nonpunitive discharge,” said Col. Patrick McCarthy, chief of staff for the mobilization command. “The most stringent discharge that could have been received is other than honorable, and the board chose to raise that up to a general discharge.”

    Disappointing, indeed. But our little sociopath crybaby can’t leave well-enough alone;

    After the hearing, Kokesh criticized the panel for not taking a stronger stand on the issue. He said he might appeal the board’s ruling.

    “I do not think it was in the Marine Corps spirit to take the easy road or to not take a stand. In the words of Dante, the hottest layers of hell are reserved for those who in times of moral crisis maintain their neutrality, and I think that’s what happened here today.”

    Well, for once we agree, Kokesh, the Marine Corps should have taken a stronger stand and tossed your little crybaby ass in jail. Of course, since you’re a criminal and sociopath, there’s still a chance that they might since you don’t want to drop it.

    I hope you accost me on one of your hippie-patrols someday that I happen to be on the National Mall – you’ll find out which of the hotter layers of Hell are reserved for your tired, punk ass sooner than you may have expected. That’s not a threat, by the way. Just a warning to play with children your own age.

    More reasoned words from my new battle buddy, Robin, at Chickenhawk Express.

  • “Learning and Labor”

    Oberlin Ohio is located about 35 miles south of Cleveland and its college namesake has all the ambiance of Berkeley. Yeah, like the one in California.  In that vein, the Class of 2007 wore “non traditional” attire, as demonstrated by one young lady dressed like a sixties flower child. 

    Commencement Speaker Connie Shultz, journalist and wife of Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, made the gratuitous Democratic gesture of a “moment of silence” for veterans, then proceeded to get down to the business of injecting anti-war politics into her speech.  Said she to the graduates: “You’re entering a world which we’ve royally screwed up for you, and I’m sorry for that.  But because I know you are better than you think you are, I am filled with hope.”  She did the perfunctory PR about the plight of the middle and working class while decrying U.S. policy in the war against Islamic terrorism.

    Ok, first of all, who’s “we” and why the pessimistic reference about the world?  This planet has never been a hospitable place 100% percent of the time.  If she wants to take the blame for a “screwed up world”, be my guest. But I can tell her this: the reason she and her fellow anti-war mates are able to stand before a graduating class of like-minded leftist ditto heads, is because the veterans she so briefly honored stand between freedom and tyrants who want to take it away and replace it with something not conducive to their way of life.

    If Ms. Schultz thinks that this new generation is “better than they think they are”, let’s see what they do for their families, their communities and their country before we get our hopes up.  Every successive group of graduates has a sense of enthusiasm and hope tempered by a bit of trepidation. From what I’ve seen on my almost 50 years on this earth, we Americans have it pretty good.  Our standard of living is among the world’s best and even the poorest among us has a tax-payer working-class funded government dole.

    And speaking of “royally screwed”, this particular crop of Congressional and Senatorial Democrats are some of the most mentally and emotionally unstable politicians, ever. Once known as the ‘loyal opposition’, they have morphed into a gang of disloyal collaborators. Their distain for George W. Bush and the war against Islamic despots overrides any possibility of a unified, bi-partisan effort for the defense of the United States. 

    Domestically, they are elitist poufs who manipulate the unionized working class, the poor, and minorities into believing that in spite of the stark contrast between their lifestyles and their constituents, they really care. (wink,wink)

    Now that the Democrats run amok, we shall see how the “cut and run” strategy, sympathy for terrorists, and lax attitude toward illegals and national security pans out.

    As long as there are American citizens and Soldiers guarding this country from despicable enemies, Schultz should keep her mea culpas to herself. 

  • JFK terror plot was Bush’s fault, of course

     

    As soon as I heard about the busted terror plot this last weekend, I shot over to Yahoo and searched for news stories. The only national network that had anything on the internet was CBS (shiver), but I went over to read the details. At the end of the story were readers’ comments. Every comment was about how this was a story planted by “BushCo” to scare the American people into submission. I should have screen-shot the article, but I figured “Well, it’s just a fringe”. People remember 9-11 sort of, these writers were just lunatics. I mean, someone must take these stories seriously besides Republicans, right?

    But, SisterToldja reports that the LA Times says that the plot wasn’t a big deal anyway. So the terrorists that BushCo didn’t really catch in the act, weren’t going to be successful anyway. Bloodthirsty Liberal takes the NY Times to task for similar treatment of the story.

    See, here’s the way I see it. Yeah, these four dimwits and the Dix Six were pretty incompetent and borderline retarded in their planning, but the fact remains that they were committed to killing scores, if not thousands of Americans on our own soil. Left to their own devices, sooner or later they would have been successful. Maybe not as successful as they’d have liked, but somewhat successful. Even one life lost would have been one too many.

    So why are these acts being marginalized in the media? Lord help me, the media still brags about Clinton’s awesome success at stopping the Millenium LAX bombing – which was just as half-assed as any of these. And Eric Rudolph’s Atlanta, Georgia bombing at the Olympics still killed 2 and injured 111 people – again a half-assed attempt by an incompetent moron. 

    Even the Murrah Building bombing was accomplished by a gaggle of want-wits who didn’t have a plan more complicated than the old infantryman’s demolition math (P=Plenty, for the uninitiated) and parking a truck in front of the target and skee-daddling. McVeigh couldn’t even do that right – driving down the interstate with no license plate on his car.

    All criminals are stupid – that’s why they’re criminals.

    And yesterday I heard rumors about John Murtha blaming Bush for these terrorists, but I wanted to see it for myself (I’ll be damned if I’m going to waste my Sunday morning staring at that idiot George Stephanopolis and his ridiculous 12-year-old schoolboy haircut).

    So this morning, sure as it rains, I find the video at Newsbusters and Flopping Aces. Murtha claims that if President Bush hadn’t attacked Iraq, those terrorist plotters wouldn’t have been tempted to bomb JFK airport (not that it would have been successful or that the terrorists really existed in the first place).

    One of them had been in this country, working and retired for 30-fricken-years. He just decided in 2003 that we needed to be attacked? And how about the attack in 1993? Was that because we attacked the Iraqi Army in 1991 while they barbequeing in Kuwait? How about the embassy bombings in Africa, the Khobar Towers bombing, the attack on the USS Cole – did those attacks happen because of something we had done?

    Murtha is cranky old fool and the Democrats had better put a lid on him before he becomes the face of their party. Or before someone takes a swing at his wrinkled old mug.

    Makes me agree with Brit Hume when he said a few months ago;

    Even the “Washington Post” noted [Murtha] didn’t seem particularly well informed about what’s going on over there, to say the least. Look, this man has tremendous cachet among House Democrats, but he is not — this guy is long past the day when he had anything but the foggiest awareness of what the heck is going on in the world.

    And that sound bite is naivete at large, and the man is an absolute fountain of such talk, and the fact that he has ascended to the position he has in the eyes of the Democrats in the House and perhaps Democrats around the country tells you a lot about how much they know or care about what’s really going on over there.

    Maybe if we put Murtha’s office in Okinawa he’ll have a better idea of what’s happening in the world.

    But, put him in the group of idiots like one of my own crackpots who emails me (because I won’t let him post here) this morning that since 17 of the 9-11 hijackers were Saudis we should have attacked Saudi Arabia instead of Iraq. That’s just simplistic and naive – can you imagine what the Democrats would be saying if we’d attacked Saudi Arabia?

    It also demonstrates the childishness of these morons. They’re convinced that our foreign policy should be based on pure, simple revenge – an emotion – instead of reasoned insight about who are our enemies and who wishes us ill because of who we are. The Saudis are fighting the same groups that we’re fighting – for the same reasons we’re fighting them. How does it make sense that we’d turn on the Saudis?

    But no one has ever accused the Left of being reasonable people. 

  • Marine anti-war veteran may lose “honorable” status (Updated)

    Marine anti-war veteran may lose “honorable” status (Updated)

    I’ve never heard of this guy Adam Kokesh, but apparently he’s some big deal in the anti-war movement. But here’s what I got from the Washington Post;

    Adam Kokesh, 25, a graduate student at George Washington University, faces a hearing Monday in Kansas City, where the Marines will recommend an “other than honorable” discharge from the Individual Ready Reserve. He was previously honorably discharged from active duty after fighting in Fallujah and receiving the Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy Commendation Medal.

    Upon learning he was being investigated for wearing his uniform during the mock patrol, Kokesh wrote an e-mail to the investigating officer, Maj. John Whyte. The combat veteran discussed his service and his critique of the war, and asked this officer assigned to look into his “possible violation” of wearing his uniform: “We’re at war. Are you doing all you can?” He concluded with an obscene recommendation about what Whyte should go do.

    OK, so far there’s a couple of things wrong with this whole story. First of all, everyone, including Kokesh at his self-serving blog claims he’s already been discharged, but that he’s in the Individual Ready Reserve. That’s impossible, junior. You might have a piece of paper that says you were discharged, but you ain’t discharged until you’ve served your time.

    According to the Washington Examiner, Kokesh was busted back after his first tour of Iraq;

    He was supposed to go to Iraq a second time, but was demoted from sergeant to corporal and not allowed to return after it was learned that he brought a pistol back after his first tour in 2004.

    “Not allowed to return” – that means he wanted to return, but the Marines wouldn’t send him back. I think his disillusionment isn’t with the war. He’s lucky he didn’t go to Leavenworth then. The Marines cut him a break.

    And that part of the story in Washington Post story about;

    He concluded with an obscene recommendation about what Whyte should go do.

    I’m guessing that refers to the same phrase that Vice President Cheney used when he told Senator Pat Leahy what Leahy should “go do”.

    The Uniform Code of Military Justice addresses that quite succinctly;

    889. ART. 89 DISRESPECT TOWARD SUPERIOR COMMISSIONED OFFICER
    Any person subject to this chapter who behaves with disrespect toward his superior commissioned officer shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

    Not much wiggle room there, junior. And who are persons subject to this chapter?

    802 Art. 2

    (d)(1) A member of a reserve component who is not on active duty and who is made the subject of proceedings under section 815 (article 15) or section 830 (article 30) with respect to an offense against this chapter may be ordered to active duty involuntary for the purpose of-
    (A) investigation under section 832 of this title (article 32);
    (B) trial by court-martial; or
    (C) non judicial punishment under section 815 of this title (article 15).

    Yikes! That’s you, Kokesh, buddy.

    As far as the uniform regulation, it’s covered by DoD Directive 1334.1Â (.pdf) which says;

    3. POLICY

    It is DoD policy that:

     3.1. The wearing of the uniform by members of the Armed Forces (including retired members and members of Reserve components) is prohibited under any of the following circumstances:

      3.1.1. At any meeting or demonstration that is a function of, or sponsored by an organization, association, movement, group, or combination of persons that the Attorney General of the United States has designated, under Executive Order 10450 as amended (reference (c)), as totalitarian, fascist, communist, or subversive, or as having adopted a policy of advocating or approving the commission of acts of force or violence to deny others their rights under the Constitution of the United States, or as seeking to alter the form of Government of the United States by unconstitutional means.

      3.1.2. During or in connection with furthering political activities, private employment or commercial interests, when an inference of official sponsorship for the activity or interest may be drawn.

      3.1.3. Except when authorized by the approval authorities in subparagraph 4.1.1., when participating in activities such as unofficial public speeches, interviews, picket lines, marches, rallies or any public demonstration, which may imply Service sanction of the cause for which the demonstration or activity is conducted.

      3.1.4. When wearing of the uniform may tend to bring discredit upon the Armed Forces.

    Since Kokesh was pretending to torture prisoners and making a general nuisance of himself, I’d guess he’d fit under that last one, at the least.

    In fact, this from the IVAW website that Kokesh himself wrote just a few weeks ago (dated May 17th) when he infiltrated a military base in Germany to spread his bile;

    When we got to the gate, the guard said that I couldn’t bring Jeff on with me because I was not registered in their system, even though I had a valid military ID. Jeff busted out the perfect story, “We’re backpacking around Europe, and we just wanted to come on base to use the PX. I just need to get some toiletries. See, I used to be in the Army too, but my ID is expired.” The guard suggested Jeff give me a list and wait for me. So I carried on alone.

    Emphasis mine. He had a valid military ID card – he hadn’t been discharged, he’s subject to the UCMJ. Case closed.

    UPDATE: In fact, here’s another charge to tack on, Maj. Whyte;

    As I got to the security guard standing in the pedestrian passageway, the soldiers behind me started yelling. “Hey, stop that guy!” “Hey, you need to detain him!” “Stop him!” The security guard told me to stop and I just kept walking. He grabbed my sleeve, but didn’t even hold on. I turned the corner and just kept walking. I looked back and the First Sergeant was there watching me, but by then I was home free.

    If this story is true (and the authorities could probably check with the leadership at that Ansbach, Germany Army base), Kokesh is guilty of failure to obey a lawful order and resisting apprehension on a Federal facility – they have a big white sign at the entrance of all US military bases that says, in effet, that you give up up all of your 4th Amendment rights voluntarily by passing through those gates.

    According the Examiner Koresh made this statement to the press;

    “This is clearly a case of selective prosecution and intimidation of veterans who speak out against the war,” Kokesh said. “To suggest that while as a veteran you don’t have freedom of speech is absurd.”

    Sorry, buddy. You don’t have freedom of speech when you’re in the military – I didn’t have freedom of speech. There’s nothing selective about it. A field grade officer was investigating your illegal behavior and you were disrespectful – while you had, by your own admission, a valid ID card – that means you’re subject to the UCMJ. Welcome to the real world, goober.

    Looks like his lawyer is trying to frame this as a poor little Marine being railroaded by the Pentagon for his anti-war views. All it is an immature little turd who can’t follow the rules – at least as far back as 2004.

    From the Post story;

    The case also raises a fundamental question of interest to the roughly 158,000 men and women in the Marines’ and Army’s Individual Ready Reserve: Are they civilians — free to speak their minds — or not?

    “This case is about the Marine Corps seeking to stifle critics of the Iraq policy by officially labeling civilian acts of peaceful protest and political speech as misconduct and serious offenses,” says Michael Lebowitz, Kokesh’s attorney, who fought in Iraq as an Army paratrooper .

    […]

    But, counters Lebowitz, unlike other types of reservists who have specific paid duties, Individual Ready Reservists are not paid, have no weekend drill requirements and no chain of command. Therefore, he argues, they are civilians, unless summoned back to duty. And if they are civilians, they can say pretty much what they want.

    “For the military to try to punish civilians for speaking out against the war is completely outrageous, says Arthur Spitzer, legal director of American Civil Liberties Union for the National Capital Area….

    If he has in his possession a valid military ID card, and he hasn’t finished his military committment, he’s not a civilian. He’s forbidden from wearing his uniforms in public at political rallies. How hard is that to understand? He’s also forbidden to be disrespectful to superior officers. Again – real simple.

    Kokesh used his military ID to access a military installation and spread anti-war propaganda - Kokesh figured he was in the military when he flashed the card to get on base. Are we just supposed to ask him how and when he wants the rules applied to his behavior?

    “I will not be intimidated,” Kokesh says.

    That’s good, you’re going to need to remember that when you’re cell mates with Bubba.

    The Post also quoted Kokesh and his buddy who had this question;

    Kokesh and Madden say they have a question about all this: Don’t the Marines have anything better to do these days?

    No they don’t, actually. This isn’t the DC Metro police who only investigate crimes that occur in Popeye’s chicken joints or in the frontseat of their patrol cars. This is the United States Marine Corps which relies on good order and discipline in order to defend this country from our enemies. The rules are enforced uniformly and with good reason. If you don’t like being prosecuted, don’t be such a retard.

    Robin at Chickenhawk Express reports that he was engaged in the same behavior this past weekend, too – still wearing his uniform even though he knows that the military disapproves of it. Obviously flaunting his misbehavior hoping someone throws his monkey-ass in jail.

    Leftist blogs are busy spread inaccurate propaganda about poor little Adam. From “Courage to Resist“, an obvious talking points memo;

    Due to their outspoken opposition to the war, the Marine Corps is now formally threatening to revoke their discharges and retroactively change them to “other than honorable.” This is a new, unprecedented step the military feels is necessary in order to suppress a growing anti-war voice from within the military itself.

    No discharge is being changed – he hasn’t been discharged yet. I know the Left depends on misinformation to keep the brainless minions on the plantation, but this is really beyond all reason.

    From An Even Keel;

    On June 4, the Marine Corps will hold a hearing in Kansas City, MO. Adam is being re-activated just for the hearing so that they can discharge him again with an Other Than Honorable discharge. This for a man who has served two tours in Iraq during his six years of service. He has been on inactive reserve and was due for complete separation on June 18, just fourteen days after this hearing.

    He only served one tour in Iraq – his second tour was cancelled because of his misbehavior – an offense that should make the anti-gun Left freak out, by the way. The Post story said he’s been in nearly eight years (I tend to believe that since a tour in the military is eight years). And as I pointed out above, he committed an offense worthy of a court martial and reactivating him to face charges is perfectly legal and common.Â

    Lefty blogger Wonkette reported that Kokesh was just arrested by the Capitol Police last month for being a spaz. Don’t bother reading the comments – what a bunch of foul-mouthed creeps. (Editor’s Note; Ha! She deleted the comments after I linked to them.)

    UPDATE: Curt at Flopping Aces has even more at “The Dishonest AP At It Again” and Robin from ChickenHawk Express and Newsbusters emailed me this article entitled “Marine Admitted to Uniform Violations While Parodying Military Operations“. Robin also wrote on Chickenhawk Express that Kokesh requested that a Brigadier general perform the same impossible sex act as the field grade officer. So I guess that’s twice he made two mistakes.

    I’m sure the Leftists think he’s a fricken rocket scientist, but the other 70% of the country are pretty certain he’s a spoilt child.

  • Sheehan leaves politics (she says)

    In a piece entitled “Good Riddance Attention Whore” (at DailyKos), Cindy Sheehan claims to be leaving the political stage and retiring to her villa in the south of France (OK, I made that last part up, but…), in some ways I feel for her…no, really. I’m not just saying that. Here, let her tell you why I said that;

    The first conclusion is that I was the darling of the so-called left as long as I limited my protests to George Bush and the Republican Party. Of course, I was slandered and libeled by the right as a “tool” of the Democratic Party.  This label was to marginalize me and my message. How could a woman have an original thought, or be working outside of our “two-party” system?

    However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the “left” started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used. I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of “right or left”, but “right and wrong.”

    She found out that this nation’s Left can turn on it’s own people faster than a mongoose – something most of us have known all along. But, the Left, in the personage of Maureen Dowd, gave her “absolute moral authority”;

    But [President Bush’s] humanitarianism will remain inhumane as long as he fails to understand that the moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute.

    But that absolute part was less absolute than Ms. Sheehan realized. She learned that the American Left, despite the fact that they claim otherwise, really don’t care about the troops or the troops’ parents – only to the extent that they can use it against Republicans and the current administration.

    Sheehan fell for it, and even in this piece, she chastizes the Republicans for calling her a “”tool” of the Democrats”. Probably the most painful thing for her, is realizing that Republicans were correct. Of course she’ll never admit that we were right, but I think she knows it.

    But some of us understand how she feels at this point, some of us who’ve been Democrats and dreamily drifted towards the Democrats’ siren song, were also awoken to the reality that the Democrats are all about politics and votes – nothing more. There’s nothing altruistic about being a Democrat – you can convince yourself that it’s compassionate, but only to the extent that it keeps Democrat politicians in their positions.

    Look at what they did to Joe Lieberman. Did you really expect them to be different to you, Cindy? In fact, Lieberman threw the pro-Life crowd under the bus so he could be the Democrats VP candidate, and they still dumped him for disagreeing with them ON ONE SINGLE ISSUE.

    But then she loses all of my sympathy in her last line;

    Good-bye America …you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can’t make you be that country unless you want it.

    It’s up to you now.

    Um, Cindy, baby, we were around two-hundred or so years before you, I think we’ll make it through the rest without you. With or without your advice. And drop the anti-American crap, it doesn’t play well in Peoria.

    Maybe you should go to Venezuela and hang out with your buddy Chavez, I hear they’re having a big party in the street this week.

  • Edwards wants to “honor” Memorial Day with protests

    I came across this little gem while viewing the VFW website today:

    Edwards’ Call to Protest Dishonors Memorial Day

    WASHINGTON, May 17, 2007

    A (http://www.supportthetroopsendthewar.com/) plea by presidential candidate John Edwards to encourage war protests at Memorial Day events across the country has drawn the anger of the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. “Memorial Day is a solemn occasion to remember the service and sacrifice of more than one million American servicemen and women who gave their lives to create our nation, to save our Union, and to help free the world from tyranny,” said Gary Kurpius, who leads the 2.4 million-member VFW, the nation’s oldest major veterans’ organization and its largest organization of combat veterans.
    “Memorial Day is not a time to call people to protest the war in Iraq under the guise of supporting the troops,” he said. “To do so dishonors those who served, those who continue to serve, and to the families who grieve.” The candidate’s message is a link from his main website to another site that lists 10 things people can do over the Memorial Day weekend to “support” the troops while calling for an end to the war. “My generation went to war with a divided country and Congress, and our nation does not need to relive that experience ever again,” said Kurpius, a Vietnam veteran from Anchorage, Alaska.
    “Calling for protests for political gain is not how you support the troops. You support them by ensuring they are fully trained, equipped and funded, and you ensure they and their families are taken care of every step of the way,” he explained. “To support the troops is to support what it is they do,” he said, adding that U.S. troops in harms way believe the new diplomatic, economic and military strategy has a chance of succeeding. “And if they have faith, then we, as Americans, must have faith and patience, too.”

    A () plea by presidential candidate John Edwards to encourage war protests at Memorial Day events across the country has drawn the anger of the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. “Memorial Day is a solemn occasion to remember the service and sacrifice of more than one million American servicemen and women who gave their lives to create our nation, to save our Union, and to help free the world from tyranny,” said Gary Kurpius, who leads the 2.4 million-member VFW, the nation’s oldest major veterans’ organization and its largest organization of combat veterans.“Memorial Day is not a time to call people to protest the war in Iraq under the guise of supporting the troops,” he said. “To do so dishonors those who served, those who continue to serve, and to the families who grieve.” The candidate’s message is a link from his main website to another site that lists 10 things people can do over the Memorial Day weekend to “support” the troops while calling for an end to the war. “My generation went to war with a divided country and Congress, and our nation does not need to relive that experience ever again,” said Kurpius, a Vietnam veteran from Anchorage, Alaska.“Calling for protests for political gain is not how you support the troops. You support them by ensuring they are fully trained, equipped and funded, and you ensure they and their families are taken care of every step of the way,” he explained. “To support the troops is to support what it is they do,” he said, adding that U.S. troops in harms way believe the new diplomatic, economic and military strategy has a chance of succeeding. “And if they have faith, then we, as Americans, must have faith and patience, too.”Link:  http://www.vfw.org/

    Newsflash for John Edwards: The typical Democrat double speak of “supporting the troops” without also supporting the mission, is some of the most incongruous crap I’ve ever heard. The two are not mutually exclusive.

    The Democrat’s idea of “support” is an “exit strategy” that involves cut and run as well as handing the al Qaeda a withdrawal date on a silver platter.

    I don’t blame President Bush for vetoing a funding bill with a cut and run tactic attached. I would have gone to the floor of the Senate and ripped it up right in front of you.

    Tell me John, are you a “peace at any price” pacifist, or is there actually a point where you would grow a set of balls and say yep, we should not just fight back, but eradicate them and finish the job while we’re at it?

    Another ploy by the Left is to assign the “Vietnam” mantra to every war it disagrees with. No matter how badly they want it to be another “Vietnam” it isn’t happening, and their historical amnesia kicks in every time this war is debated.

    Here’s an easy scenario:
    In spite of ominous indicators, and turmoil that was contained on someone else’s turf, we remained complacent.
    An enemy sends planes to bomb and crash into U.S. territory. The attack kills roughly 3000 Americans.
    War is declared and retaliation begins against the perpetrators and their allies.
    Sound familiar?
    It happened 7 December 1941.

    There’s your comparison, Mr. Edwards.

    It’s simple: We were attacked by Islamic thugs supported not only by Iraq and Afghanistan but throughout the Middle East and they are two good places to start retaliation. Just ask Hussein, Uday, Qusay, Zarqawi, and al Masri how they feel….oh that’s right, they’re not available for comment.

    You didn’t expect them to be very happy at the fact that we brought the war they started, back to them, did you? Of course they’re going to be pissed. Of course they’re going to fight back, not just with weapons but through media exploitation. 9/11 was the Pearl Harbor of the 21st Century and all you leftist blockheads are capable of is spouting nonsense and being al Qaeda apologists.

    Soldiers are going to die in war. They go into harms way for good reasons, and I can’t think of a better one than protecting Western Civilization from being subjugated by Sharia Law.
    In case you still don’t get it, they want to kill us. They made that pretty clear on 11 September 2001.
    If you don’t understand that, maybe they didn’t hit close enough to your own back yard.

    The Left loves to wallow in body counts and pervert the sacrifice of U.S. troops into an anti-war statement, but they never praise, appreciate, or really support the military.  Dick Durbin calls us “Nazi’s”, Harry (”white flag”) Reid announced that he thinks the war is “lost”, John Murtha calls us “murderers”, and the rest of the Democrat obliviots never hesitate to add their two cents. What a wonderful way for the Democratic Party to show its true colors. (Hint: it ain’t Red, White, and Blue)

    Tell you what Senator, if you really support the military, then get your butt on the first plane smoking to the war zone, and speak with the troops. You will find that they do not want to leave without finishing the job and they want all of the resources and weapons necessary to accomplish that….if you really “support” them, that is.

    GI JANE

    sfcmac@wordpress.com