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

Category: Liberals suck

  • Thank you Supreme Court

    From CNN:

    Court: Cross doesn’t violate separation of church and state
    The Supreme Court has ruled a white cross, erected as a war memorial and placed on national parkland in the California desert, does not violate the constitutional separation of church and state.

    The 5-4 majority concluded Congress acted properly when it tried to transfer land around the Mojave Memorial Cross to veterans groups, an effort to eliminate any Establishment Clause violation. A federal appeals panel had blocked that property swap.

    At issue before the justices was whether the display fundamentally violates the first ten words of the Bill of Rights: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

    I was working on my other case today, but this is a big win. I played a very meager role on this, but it pleases me to no end.

    Jonn Added: Some TAH background on the story from May and August last year. TSO is too modest – his contribution was more than he’ll admit.

    TSO Added: Here is the money shot that is easily read by non lawyer types:

    The District Court did not attempt to reassess the find-ings in Buono I in light of the policy of accommodation that Congress had embraced. Rather, the District Court concentrated solely on the religious aspects of the cross,divorced from its background and context. But a Latin cross is not merely a reaffirmation of Christian beliefs. It is a symbol often used to honor and respect those whoseheroic acts, noble contributions, and patient striving helpsecure an honored place in history for this Nation and its people. Here, one Latin cross in the desert evokes far more than religion. It evokes thousands of small crosses in foreign fields marking the graves of Americans who fell in battles, battles whose tragedies are compounded if the fallen are forgotten. Respect for a coordinate branch of Government forbidsstriking down an Act of Congress except upon a clear showing of unconstitutionality.

    BTW- That is almost exactly what Tim said in the comments, so maybe I will ask Obama to name him to the Supremes.

    ALSO: Allahpundit covered it here, and I think he misses a point in there that is important. Regarding Stevens approach, AP says:

    I take his point — honoring Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist troops, etc, with a cross is rather insufficiently nuanced — but if the worry is observers feeling influenced by the display, how does Stevens justify the religious symbols on the headstones at Arlington? There’s theoretically no government endorsement problem there since servicemen get to select their own insignias, but (a) it is federal land and (b) seeing so many crosses associated with such valor, even with stars of David and crescents mixed in, is more powerful than some puny cross in the desert.

    Actually, there are numerous “unknown” graves in federal cemeteries (mostly overseas) that have crosses over them. I always felt they would be the next target, since (contra what AP says), those buried underneath clearly did not “get to select their own insignias”. Also, the WWI memorial in Arlington is a Latin Cross as well. The ACLU always promised us when we asked than they would not go after gravestones, and everytime I asked if that included the unknown ones overseas, they were silent. I wonder why that was….

    Also, you can read The American Legion’s press release here. (Disclaimer: I aided in writing portions of it.)

    The whole Supreme Court enchilada below the jump;
    (more…)

  • Hey, Hate Watch, wake up

    There’s an article on Mark Potok’s Hate Watch today that reports on the hate that staffer Larry Keller discovered on Facebook towards President Obama;

    “Dear Lord, this year you took my favorite actor, Patrick Swazie [sic],” the site’s creator wrote. “You took my favorite actress, Farah [sic] Fawcett. You took my favorite singer, Michael Jackson. I just wanted to let you know, my favorite president is Barack Obama. Amen.”

    Of course, the approval of the sentiment by more than a million Facebook members is proof of some sort of recent surge in hate directed at the President. But what Larry is forgetting (And TSO reminded me) is that was the same statement a labor official in New Jersey made against their new governor a few weeks ago.

    Dear Lord this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman Billy Mays. I just wanted to let you know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor.

    NJEA’s local Bergen County Education Association President Joe Coppola sent the message to 17,000 union members. So where is Hate Watch’s report on that “joke”?

  • Stop pretending that you care, at least it will make you honest.

    Once again there are stories being posted about the issue with suicide in the military and PTSD. Sounds like it could be good thing right? Yea I wish. More then anything it really reinforces that groups are willing to uses people in suffering as a means to a end. Case one is talking about 18 Veteran Suicides Every Day . It is not as bad as other that I have seen but still manages to bring in the politics.

    I commend the VA for their efforts and for the lives they are able to save, but obviously much more needs to be done. They not only need to increase their outreach to include many veterans not currently receiving care, but they also need to increase the quality and effectiveness of the care they are giving (because five suicides a day among those receiving treatment is just too many).

    Notice the quickness on pointing out a problem and saying that someone else should fix it. Kinda like watch your neighbors house burn making off hand comments about he should really need more water. If you not going to help, get out of our way and stop pretending that you are.

    The next one is even worse. Yet in the comments and story it tries to make it sound that James Branum that he cares about his clients or can do his job without putting his “cause” first.

    What this young man has had to face should be an outrage to us all. I hope that he will find his strength and begin to heal. I thank James Branum for his dedication to helping these soldiers find their way toward justice in the midst of the overwhelming intimidation that is the military culture.

    Yea I had a knee jerk reaction too. But it get better with the next two replies to me.

    Masterspork, with all do respect to having your own opinion, you nor thisainthell know what you are talking about. why don’t you come down to UtH coffeehouse and talk to some of James’ clients and people who have worked with James?

    Masterporks,

    Yes come talk to clients that got guilty charges. There are two that come to UtH daily. And they still stand behind James and the choices THEY made.

    As for having a general understanding of UCMJ and how it works does not give anyone the right to slander people.

    The problem with people like you all is that you always get your info wrong or make assumptions. All soldiers that we talk to know they can apply for CO for free. If they choose to ask an attorney for help and are low on funds there are great people out there that donate to help them. So there is nothing unethical that James is doing.

    As for Travis we know the story so there is no need to comment on it.

    Honey as we all know in the military community when you go up against the brass or institution it never goes well. You got two options… 1. You stay quiet and accept what they give you or 2. You tell them to go fuck themselves and get more time.

    Well that’s to bad you can’t visit UtH maybe when you come back to TX you can see for yourself what we do.

    So as a military blog with many members that had deployed with a few that have seen combat we collectively know nothing about how the military works. Still have not heard of any such people exist.

    There is at least one guy that seems to be doing it right. From the group that he runs to help soldiers with PTSD and any issues that they are facing. Here is something that I got off of his Facebook group, Soldiers Advocacy Group.

    More progress here at Ft Benning. Last week the actions of the Reduction Board were overturned and the rank that was taken from husband was restored. Again, this wouldn’t have happened without Chuck’s intervention. Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts from all of you. We aren’t done yet, but it is getting better!!!

    Taking note James this is what success looks like.

  • Is this what justice looks like?

    This last week, the media has been abuzz with the story of DC Douglas, the voice over actor who wondered aloud what percentage of the Tea party activists are retarded, to use his term, and what the movement would do WHEN one of their own actually killed one or more people for the cause. Of course, no one has been killed …and it’s very unlikely that anyone will be killed from what I’ve observed from a vantage point closer than Mr. Douglas.

    On the other hand, at least one rancher in Arizona who was killed by an illegal immigrant, and one white supremacist lawyer was beaten to death by his Black neighbor (have you read about it in your local newspaper?). A man leaving behind a suicide note espousing the tenets of Marx and denigrating capitalism crashes a small plane into a government building. A college professor guns down her peers at a meeting and the story disappears as soon as the press discovers that she was was a Left wing nutjob who worked for Obama’s campaign.

    The governor of Arizona signs legislation which permits law enforcement officers to determine if an arrestee is here legally or not and the Left goes into orbit, dragging out their Nazi imagery to hide behind. Imagine that – cops are authorized to investigate possible criminal activity, and somehow harkens back to dictatorial powers of another age in another failed state.

    So, is this what justice looks like in the Age of Obama? The majority is subjected to abuses by the minority – our rights are justifiably trampled by knee-jerk “feelings” of what may? Actual criminality of one class is ignored by the government while it focuses on the potential criminality of it’s political opponent.

  • That gaping divide [Claymore]

    Many have said that there’s a gaping divide in this country…but enough about Paris Hilton’s sex organs. I kid. I’m a kidder. Anyway, that gaping divide; nothing illustrates it better than lurking around left wing blogs and internet forums, and randomly reading some of their conversations. For instance, this little gem:

    It’s the Democrats who improve education, and health care,etc. It’s the Republicans who take money out of educational programs, who don’t want health care for everyone, and who want to get rid of Social Security. I’ve always seen the Democrats as the builders of our country and the Republicans as the spoilers.

    When I try to visualize what this country would be like if the Republicans got their way in everything, it wouldn’t be The United States of America anymore. It would be a rundown wasteland. I don’t get why Republican voters don’t get that. They shoot themselves in the foot (with the guns they keep toting around) every time they vote for a rethug.

    Taken at face value, this has 90% of the standard bleeding heart talking points encapsulated in a single post. Education, health care (which I assume includes ripping babies out of wombs), Social Security and this person even got in some cheap name calling and stereotyping to boot, all of the hallmarks of what will go on to be a very popular thread on that forum. What is interesting is that in this “visualization” our little liberal engages in, they leave out anything remotely logical about this fantasy country they think Democrats are capable of building. In my little magical world, liberals would be forced to live in the constructs of their own making; take Detroit for instance. Please. Someone take it, because it resembles a freakin’ war zone after decades of social engineering and tinkering by a Democratic machine that’s more akin to a vampire than some champion of the poor. But, let me provide another beauty from that same thread:

    Most Republicans are white and Christian. They view the Democratic party as only caring about “those people” i.e. non-whites and the poor. They view many Democrats as Atheists or Gays, or both, and the Democratic Party as the party of non-Christians.

    The old 3G mantra of “God, Guns and Gays” has a great deal to do with their worldview.

    And I say this even though I support the 2nd Amendment and the RKBA.

    Truly they only care about 3 “rights”…

    (1)RKBA
    (2)Property rights
    (3) The “right” to make money (aka the “right to steal”)

    Starting to see a pattern? Yeah, I know it’s not exactly original, in fact we’ve seen it plastered all over the news these last few weeks. Sifting through that complete load of absolute crap could take someone days, but suffice it to say that I doubt the author of that amazing piece of shi’ite even knows a single Republican, much less ever engaged one face to face in a logical debate, as opposed to endless emotional posturing. I continue reading:

    just got into a “debate” with several online. I am shocked at the hatred these people have for their fellow human beings. I believe that these are people who have such resentment and contempt for anyone they deem beneath them that so that is really all they care about. They are not thinking of the world they live in or the welfare of others – except the rich.
    I believe these people truly enjoy experiencing the emotions fo hatred and resentment. When others suffer, they feel better about themselves.

    Pretty sickening.

    Yes. That’s us, alright. Providing people with a path to self-sufficiency, reliance on themselves and giving them the bulk of the fruits of their labor is hateful. Clearly the solution is to drag everyone down so we’re all equally miserable. But I digress:

    I knew there was no reasoning in 2008 when I saw McCain/Palin signs on the lawns of the only gay couple and the black family in my tiny, redneck republican town

    Rut roh, Rorge. Now, let me be the first to say this; these types of posts embedded in an otherwise thoughtful echo chamber is usually denigrated as being some freeper lurker trying to drop a turd in their organic fruit punch. I’d venture a guess and say they’ll label this a fairy tale, but I’d risk confusing this post with the one on DADT. Let us continue:

    The ability to connect the dots between action and consequence is a sign of higher intelligence. Not all are born with equal intelligence. People who vote Republican vote on a totally selfish basis. People who vote Democratic do so based on what is best for everyone. Republicans think in the ‘I’ mode while Democrats think in the ‘we’ mode. And contrary to ‘conventional wisdom’ these facts don’t make Democrats altruistic or Republicans practical. It’s just a matter of being able to intelligently connect the dots between action and consequence.

    You don’t have to be an idealist and altruistic to see the larger picture as, for example, understanding that a better education for all people will make the country stronger in every aspect. In science, in innovation, in health, in leadership, in wealth and even in military might. There’s also no altruism in realizing that poverty has a deleterious effect on the country which would be turned around into a positive effect if people were lifted out of poverty and allowed to be an asset rather than a drain through no fault of their own. But that kind of thinking requires, well, actual thinking.

    There’s a lot of basic truth in this person’s post. Where it falls to frickin’ pieces is thinking that using the power of the government to steal and pass around what it sees fit to those who are either unwilling or uninterested in providing for themselves is immoral. This more than anything typifies the Paris Hiltonesque vulvae chasm between the two major political schools of thought. While seemingly working toward the goal of lifting our fellow citizens up, and making this nation the best is can be, the paths couldn’t be any further from one another than what’s illustrated in these admittedly cherry picked comments. Rich, Jesus-loving whites with guns have ruined the nation, want to force rape victims to have unwanted children, think the earth is only 2000 years old, want to burn books, and are flag-waving brown people haters who believe Obama is from Alpha Centauri. Explain to me how to reason with someone who thinks like that.

  • That monolithic institution Vote Vets

    Dicksmith is such a ritard. Yesterday he starts out a blog post on VetsVoice making up some shit about Fox News and liberal stereotypes, virtually admitting that he’s never watched a minute of that channel;

    There are many stereotypes that exist for progressives. Just watch Fox News for ten minutes and you’ll hear a couple of them. We’re all athiest[sic], latte drinking, Prius driving, tree huggers who want to take away everyone’s guns. As if progressivism is some monolithic institution that requires a purity test for membership. Of course, this these stereotypes are ridiculous.

    Aside from the fact that Liberals are really “all atheist, latte drinking, Prius driving, tree huggers who want to take away everyone’s guns”, I think it’s funny that he used his own stereotype of Fox News Channel to make a very blunt point. And he doesn’t stop there. He goes on to tell us he’s a gun owner and he got excited about a rally in a Virginia park wherein rally participants would be carrying guns yesterday. He was excited until he happened to check on the date (April 19th);

    April 19 is the anniversary of the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 and the government’s final confrontation in 1993 with the Branch Davidian cult members in Waco, Tex.

    Although rally organizers claim the date of their rally is to commemorate Lexington and Concord, which happened a few centuries before Oklahoma and Waco, dicksmith would rather go with his first instinct – which is right wing hooligans with guns outside the Capitol threatening the perfect freedom that Obama has brought us.

    Honestly, after the first paragraph of this article, the event appears to be nothing but a thinly veiled threat of armed insurrection, not a rally for Second Amendment rights.

    Yeah, how’d that threat of insurrection work out yesterday, gumball?

    Not to mention, what does open carry have to do with health care, climate change and bank bailouts?

    What do clean energy campaigns and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell rants have to do with Veterans? It’s as if dicksmith is impervious to irony.

  • Zombie McVeigh to appear on MSNBC tonight

    Rachel Maddow has succeeded in re-animating the rotting corpse of Timothy McVeigh and she’ll present an hour-long special of interviews from 45 hours of jail house interviews. To what purpose?

    Rachel Maddow, who has been having 1990s flashbacks with the anti-government vitriol that most recently accompanied the health-care reform debate.

    “Nine years after his execution, we are left worrying that Timothy McVeigh’s voice from the grave echoes in the new rising tide of American anti-government extremism,” Maddow says at the outset of her MSNBC special Monday night called “The McVeigh Tapes: Confessions of an American Terrorist.”

    She’s talking, of course, about the latest news about militias, weapons stockpiling, “tea party” anger and the perception of rising unrest in those who seek to reclaim an America supposedly lost to federal control: “On this date, which holds great meaning for the anti-government movement,” Maddow says, “the McVeigh tapes are a can’t-turn-away, riveting reminder.”

    Yes, it’s to scare the straights into thinking that millions of self-identified Tea Party activists are on a hair-trigger. That any moment, one of us could go off the deep end and bomb some building with a fertilizer bomb. How easy is it to create another McVeigh? Simple;

    “The McVeigh Tapes” is especially interested in McVeigh’s victimization by bullies in school; his love of firearms (without calling him a gun nut); and his disillusionment with the government after his Army service in the Persian Gulf War. Things really fell apart on April 19, 1993, when McVeigh watched on television as the David Koresh compound in Waco, Tex., burned to the ground after a long standoff with feds. “I’m watching flames lick out windows, and I’m watching tanks ram walls. My eyes just welled up in tears,” McVeigh said.

    Actually, McVeigh, a Bradley gunner in the Persian Gulf War, saw Bradley Fighting Vehicles ramming walls – not tanks. Funny how he’d forget that small point, isn’t it? Unless of course, he never saw the videos and he was just making excuses for his sociopathic behavior, garnering sympathy from the interviewer.

    Funny, how in the decade since MSNBC made these tapes that they’d wait until now to broadcast them, isn’t it? Luckily, even on a good night, the only people watching Maddow are her immediate family. And Jon Soltz.

  • Stephen Colbert Does What Nobody Else Has the Balls To Do

    We’ve been calling out WikiLeaks and their friends in the anti-military left over the “collateral murder video” pretty frequently here at TAH for the last week. We aren’t the only ones: most of the milblog community (including many left-leaning and anti-war veterans blogs) has been demolishing this blatantly editorialized video.

    Last night Stephen Colbert did what seems like nobody else in the media has the balls to do: call out WikiLeaks director Julian Assange and expose him as a fraud.

    Watch the whole thing, it is worth it:

    The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
    Julian Assange
    www.colbertnation.com
    Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

    Beautiful. Finally, someone takes Assange and WikiLeaks off its high horse and exposes them as another anti-military propaganda outfit with an agenda. I bet this guy was expecting a softball interview too. Does anybody honestly believe they leak everything they get now? How much more footage or documentation are they sitting on in regards to this incident?

    It is a sad commentary on the state of big media in this country that a professional comedian with a fake news show exposes more about a major news story than an established REAL media outlet.