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

Category: Media

  • About that jockstrap…

    jockstrap

    The local news station, which will remain nameless, since they don’t want to mention us, discovered that the reason Michael McManus is wearing a bandage on his pointy noggin is because he had a panic attack when the feds came to arrest his pathetic ass;

    His attorney says McManus’ head was bandaged today because he had suffered a panic attack, but gave no more information. If he is convicted on charges of stolen valor, McManus could be sentenced to up to a year in federal prison.

    In related news, one of our diligent readers wrote that she commented on nearly every Old Media website which mentioned McManus and she chastised the Old Media outlets for not crediting the milblogs for the take down. She claims that every one of her comments were removed. As TSO said, he spoonfed that reporter for weeks until he finally summoned the testicular fortitude to knock on big, bad McManus’ door.

    You’re welcome, fuckstick. Advice for the next time you come to the milblogs for help; pound sand, stickboy. Practice writing obituaries and police blotters.

  • Unanswered Questions About Repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

    In the President’s State of the Union, just like he did as a candidate and on multiple occasions during his first year as President, Obama promised to work towards ending the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. The Obama Administration has said it does not have the power to end DADT through executive order and that the only constitutional way to repeal the policy is through Congress. I don’t think this is even going to be a priority for the administration and Congress, with the obvious focus being on jobs, healthcare, and of course the 2010 election which are now only about nine months away. However, I am bothered by the way politicians and media discuss DADT, just like I am bothered by the shallow way that most issues involving the military are discussed. It is implied that all that needs to happen with DADT is that Congress and the President need to wave a magic wand and gays can serve openly the next day without a hitch. I’m pretty sure that most readers of this blog and anybody who has served in the military knows that this is not the case. There are serious policy, operational, logistical, and of course fiscal issues that the repeal of DADT poses to our military, which is in the middle of a very kinetic fight in Afghanistan and massive drawdown in Iraq.

    Lets go over some of the questions that nobody in the Obama administration or Congress has addressed in regards to repealing DADT:

    1. Will there be seperate barracks, berthing, and living quarters for homosexuals?

    With the Army and Marine Corps having expanded over the past three years and with the Navy changing its policies on living on ship while in port, there is a severe shortage of housing for both single and married military personnel. Not to mention that on naval vessels there is already limited berthing spaces for sailors/Marines. Mandating that homosexuals have their own living quarters (like some colleges and universities do) will require new construction of barracks and a complete rearrangement and reconfiguring of hundreds of naval vessels. On the other hand, allowing homosexuals to live with heterosexuals, will cause a whole different set of headaches for military commanders.

    2. Will homosexuals be allowed to serve in combat arms units?

    Women are forbidden by Congress to serve in combat arms units (infantry, arty, tanks, etc.). Some of the same issues surrounding women serving in combat units are present in the debate over gays serving openly in these same units.

    3. Will people discharged under DADT be allowed to reenlist/recommission in the military if the policy is repealed?

    I don’t know how many people who were discharged under DADT would want to reenter the military, but there are even more questions that need to be answered if they are allowed to reenter. Will they retain their same rank/billet regardless how long they have been out? Will they get retroactive promotions?

    4. If homosexuals are allowed to serve openly in the military, will the military recognize and award benefits to gay marriages or civil unions?

    5. Will each service be allowed to craft its own policies regarding homosexuals?

    Each service has its own operational needs and missions. Will the DoD have an across the board policy or like with women will each service be given some degree of freedom to craft its own policies?

    And finally…

    6. How much money is repealing DADT going to cost?

    Everytime the military changes a policy, it costs money. A major policy change like this one is going to cost that Defense Department a lot of money to implement and the amount depends a lot on the answers to the questions that I have posed. Thats money that can be spent on things like body armor, new vehicles, new guns, or any number of things that are important to an effective military.

    If anybody has any links to the Obama administration addressing these issues in writing or on video, I would greatly appreciate it if you provided the links in the comment sections.

  • What was Lloyd Woodson planning?

    I don’t know.

    His Navy career was brief. He enlisted in 1988, went AWOL in 1989, turned himself in and was discharged in 1997. His estranged wife who had a restraining order against him said he never laid a hand on her. He had some semi-auto weapons that scared the Jersey media (like that’s hard). One weapon was called a “possible grenade launcher” – but judging by the media’s past performance, it could have been two waste bins taped together. He was wearing a bulletproof vest.

    Curious. But you can bet that somehow it’ll all blamed on that year in the Navy over twenty years ago.

  • Denver Post goes squishy on Duncan/Strandlof

    Back in May, when Rick Duncan/Richard Strandlof was first exposed as a phony veteran who had starred in VoteVets commercials and headed money raising schemes ostensibly for veterans, the Denver Post led the posse to put Standloff on the gallows.

    A few days ago, some half-witted and unknown band of lawyers from Virginia called the Rutherford Institute filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Strandlof’s case that said, in effect, that calling yourself a veteran and claiming certain awards and accolades as your own, is protected speech and that the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional.

    Today, to prove to us how enlightened they are, the editorial board of the Denver Post declared that they agree with those nimrods of the Rutherford Institute like good members of the Liberal Bobblehead Brigade.

    Upon arresting him, federal authorities said he claimed to be a wounded Marine veteran who had received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.

    Reprehensible? Yes. But criminal?

    We have doubts about the constitutionality of the 2006 Stolen Valor Act, which makes it a crime to merely say you had received certain military decorations when you hadn’t.

    The First Amendment protects even deplorable, distasteful speech, particularly in cases where that speech doesn’t injure someone else.

    Strandlof’s alleged deception began to unravel in May, when members of the group he founded, the Colorado Veterans Alliance, began checking out his claims of having served three tours in Iraq, surviving the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and suffering a brain injury from an improvised explosive device.

    It has not been alleged that Strandlof lied to gain anything for himself other than publicity. He is accused of using his created persona to solicit donations on behalf of veterans.

    We are not defending the alleged lies, but there hasn’t been a case made that he was making such claims to line his own pockets.

    You might argue that the “injured party” is really the integrity and honor associated with the awards — that they are cheapened by frauds who falsely claim them. Frankly, if anyone is injured by such false claims, it would be the person who is lying.

    The veterans community that Strandlof had so integrated himself into turned on him, and for good reason, once they realized he wasn’t who he said he was.

    The Stolen Valor Act, introduced in the U.S. House by Colorado’s Rep. John Salazar, broadened the provisions of prior U.S. law that prohibited the unauthorized wearing or manufacturing of military decorations and medals. Salazar’s website says the congressman supported the measure because “These imposters degrade the meaning of medals earned in service to our nation and sometimes use their ‘standing’ as a medal recipient to commit further fraud and more dangerous crimes.”

    Pursuing fraud charges against those who make false claims to enrich themselves or hurt others is one thing. But criminalizing the mere act of lying is entirely another. Would truth police squads pursue all lies?

    Weasel words if any were ever written. I guess the Denver Post wouldn’t mind if I started calling myself a Pulitzer Award winning former editor of the Denver Post and put that in my bio. Lord knows, I wouldn’t make any money from it (the way you guys won’t click my Google Ads) – and my use of occasional profanity and odd sexual references wouldn’t reflect poorly on the Post at all, would it?

    So what is the solution for veterans? The Post says we should make the government put all of our records up for public scrutiny so that we’ll all know who the phonies aren’t. Isn’t that a bit like putting all of the personal information online of everyone who HASN’T committed a crime so we know who the criminals aren’t?

    We hope the judicial system will recognize the value of free speech, even when it’s not popular.

    When Strandlof led the Post and several other “journalists” down his merry path of anti-war activism, they were calling for his nuts on a skewer . Now since they’ve cleansed themselves of that, the Post wants to shove veterans under the bus and encourage the Rick Strandlofs to continue their behavior, at the expense of real veterans.

    Strandlof’s stories of his four dead Marines and stories about his experiences were meant to damage the war effort in this country and only benefited the anti-war movement. His stories about being gay make me wonder if there are really any gays in the military these days. All of the utter phonies we’ve outed have also claimed to be gay. Aren’t there any real gays who want to tell their stories?

    In short, because Strandlof supported the anti-war and anti-DADT platform and used his lies only for good (supporting Democrat candidates), the Post has determined he hasn’t done any real damage.

    Maybe he hasn’t done any damage up until now, but he’s exposed the Post for being a bunch of hypocritical Leftist ideologues who’ll take any bait tossed them from a bunch of no-name lawyers in Virginia.

    Fuck you, Denver Post, you spineless cum bubbles.

  • “Jesus” Rifles

    I’m sure some of you already saw this, but apparently Trijicon has been inscribing references to Bible passages on its optics. After several media outlets issued reports about this, Trijicon agreed to remove the inscriptions.

    Here is a report on the inscriptions from ABC News.

    I used the ACOG a lot during my time in the Marines and I never noticed this. The serial number is on the topic of the optic and I honestly never really paid attention to those numbers and letters towards the base of the scope. I never heard anybody in the Marines or any of my buddies in the Army mention the fact these inscriptions existed on the ACOG, so if Trijicon’s intention was to spread the word of the Lord to the users of their optics, I don’t think they have succeeded. Regardless, it was a stupid thing to in the first place. Now they have to remove the inscriptions from thousands of optics, which cost the company millions, money that could have gone into developing better products. Anybody with half a brain, knows that the Iraqis, Afghans, and the US military are extremely sensitive to any accusation of promoting Christianity (in other words, “crusading”).

  • Thiessen confronts Amanpour

    Former Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen sent me this YouTube video of his interview on Chritiane Amanpour’s show yesterday (the confrontation begins at about 5:48);

    It continues in this second video;
    (more…)

  • The Jarhead Thread

    There have been a few stories that I have been wanting to blog about involving the Marines, so instead of making several posts I have decided to make one. I think it will make it easier to comment and for you Army pukes to talk to trash. Enjoy…

    22nd MEU Deploying to Haiti

    These Marines just got off a six-month long deployment, most of it spent in Kuwait and other parts of the Middle East. I doubt many of the Marines that are part of this MEU are happy about this and I have no doubt if Bush were still President I’m sure Katie Couric would be in Jacksonville interviewing families about the strain this emergency deployment is putting on them. Oh the double standard…

    Politics aside, a MEU is the best equipped military unit to handle a disaster like this. A MEU has a perfect mix of equipment for operations like this, including its own fleet of helicopters, amphibious vehicles, and engineering equipment. I saw a report on CNN that said the road leading out of the main port in Port-au-Prince was heavily damaged and most of the unloading equipment was destroyed in the earthquake. The 22nd MEU can offload supplies onto any beach in Haiti while its combat engineers repair the roads and equipment at the port. This is why almost every year the three forward deployed MEUs (one out of Japan, Pendleton, and Lejuene) conduct multiple humanitarian missions every year.

    A little side story about the Marines that responded to Hurricane Katrina. Most of the Marines were rotated out when they had been in the disaster zone 29 days. Why 29 days? Because at 30 days the Marine Corps the would have to start paying separation allowances and hazardous duty pay. Most Marines were also denied the Humanitarian Service Medal, probably by a bunch of pogue officers that the closest they got to New Orleans was an office in Quantico. I wonder if this will happen again…

    San Diego Man Pleads Guilty for Posing as Marine Two Star General

    One place where it is probably not a good idea to fake being a general is at a VFW hall, especially on the Marine Corps’ birthday. But then again, you have to be pretty stupid to attempt something like this in the first place.

    Scott Ritter Arrested in Online Sex Sting……AGAIN

    What does this have to do with the Marines? Well, just like Lee Harvey Oswald, Charles Whitman, and John Wayne Bobbitt, Scott Ritter was a former Marine. His first arrest wasn’t widely reported, for reasons unknown to me (maybe it had something to do with his views on the Iraq War…) Hopefully they will keep his dumbass locked up this time.

    Last Marines Leave Iraq

    The last Marines are leaving Iraq this month, officially turning everything over to the Army and the Iraqis. When the Marines rolled into Anbar in 2004, it was the center of the Sunni insurgency. Today, it is one of the most stable parts of Iraq and has seen the quickest drawdown of American forces. The Marine Corps, Army, and Navy (the SEALs, EOD, Seabees, Corpsmans, etc.) and even the Air Force (especially in retrograde of equipment) all contributed to the victory there and it should be a point of pride in all the services.

    Semper Fidelis….

  • Tale of two Baghdads?

    For those that have not heard yet there was a large attack planned on the Iraqi Government in Baghdad. The Iraqi police and local law enforcement where able to prevent the attack in several raids across the city.

    During raids on houses and warehouses in Baghdad that lasted throughout the day, the authorities arrested 25 people and recovered more than 440 pounds each of TNT and C4, about 66 gallons of ammonium nitrate solution and 60 mortar shells, according to a statement from Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, a spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command, which is responsible for security in Baghdad, the capital.

    To me this is a example that Iraq can function on it’s own given the chance, training and time. but the
    stories from theNew York Times against the Los Angles Times differ to the point where I wonder if there are talking about the same place. For example.

    NY Times

    A wide-ranging plot to bomb government ministries and other public places, to be followed by a wave of political assassinations, was uncovered by Iraqi officials, who responded Tuesday by bringing much of Baghdad to a virtual standstill while security forces conducted raids that netted large quantities of explosives, officials said.

    LA Times

    When Baghdadis awoke this morning to find their streets sealed off and the city under virtual lockdown, the rumors began to fly.

    Army officers had staged a coup in the Green Zone, one version said. No, it was Baathists loyal to the former regime who had taken over, according to another.

    Mostly, the rumors concerned the Sunni lawmaker Saleh Mutlak, who has been recommended for disbarment from the upcoming March elections by the former De-Baathification Committee, now known as the Accountability and Justice Committee.

    It may be just me, but one seems to try to keep the rumors down while the other is all about spreading them.

    Speaking of rumors, there seem to be plenty coming out of Afghanistan from destroying Korans to killing protesters by US/NATO forces.

    Haji Abdul Manan, one of the protesters, told the German Press Agency, DPA: “The people came out of their homes today to protest this action of foreign forces in a peaceful way, but the Afghan and international forces opened fire on us.”

    Covered by none other then al jazeera, but I am sure that there is not shock there.