Someone sent me this video yesterday of one of Matthis’ talks in your kids’ school about his time in the military. That’s Elaine Brower at the beginning telling us how 1 in 3 women in the military are raped. Of course, you have to buy into her definition of rape to believe that particular statistic.
Matthis, not to be outdone, claims that one-in-five men in the military have been raped by other men in their own units. All of you guys who were raped, raise your hands. Yeah, me neither.
At about 5 minutes into the video, Matthis tells how he pointed his rifle at children every time he went on patrol in Afghanistan. Every time. I wonder how many times “every time” are since he was in Afghanistan on temporary duty (TDY) for less than six days. I’m pretty sure he never left Bagram Air Base, let alone was issued a weapon.
He talks about the children starving while he gets to eat Burger King in Afghanistan. I wonder if he realizes that many of the troops on Bagram don’t get to eat Burger King like his TDY ass did?
So, I guess the history of this war will be written by guys who spent less than six days there.
You probably remember the NY gubernatorial candidate for the “Rent Is Too Damn High Party” Jimmy McMillan who made a splash during the debates for that office last month. He claimed he was a Vietnam veteran, stationed there two years, and that he’d been awarded three bronze stars. Many of you emailed and asked me to get his his records, so I asked our friends at POW Network to help us out and this is what they came up with;
Yeah, I know it says James McMiller in the name line, but, believe me, the POW Net folks search for these guys by their SSN and their current addresses. This is the guy. Here’s a quote from the debate last month;
“I’m a war vet,” McMillan said. “Don’t forget I was in Vietnam for two and half years and I have three Bronze Stars, but the chemicals of Agent Orange — dioxin and a lot of other chemicals mixed up — I would get sick. When I get home tonight, I know I’m not going to be able to breathe if I take them off. It could be psychological, I don’t know, but I just put em on and wear them anyway.”
As far as his claim of three Bronze Star Medals is concerned, he’s lying. The only three bronze stars I see are devices on his Vietnam Service Medal which mark three campaigns he was involved in – they’re not the bronze stars he meant. You probably remember Joseph DuPar, the mayor near Chicago, who claimed the same during his campaign.
If he had said that he’d been in Vietnam for two years, I’d have given him a pass, but he said “two and a half years” and his service was a year and a half; November ’66 until June ’68; 19 months which is almost a year short of “two and a half years”.
According to everything I can find, during the term of his service in Vietnam, 15 awards of the Air Medal wasn’t irregular. The Army has devices that denote many more awards of the medal because of the danger of flying on missions in Vietnam.
His record looks pretty distinguished, I don’t why he felt the had to embellish. It looks like he reenlisted when his draft years were finished. But then he was discharged as an E-2 – so there must have been something towards the end of his service that affected the character of his service.
Last March, I wrote a bit about De Hieu Tran, a guy who was busted wearing a Marine uniform in Fernsdale, MI. Well, it looks like he’s a serial phony. UpNorth sends us a link from, well…up north, where Tran has expanded his repertoire of personae to an immigration officer and scamming fellow Vietnamese;
Officer Mike Koval, of the Kentwood Police Department, investigated complaints that Tran impersonated a Marine Corps officer and an agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs, Karl Vliestra, a senior special agent for the Department of Homeland Security, wrote in a criminal complaint.
“According to Officer Koval, Tran had reportedly been receiving large cash payments from several Vietnamese nationals in the Kentwood area in return for promises that he would help them with their immigration paperwork and would expedite their becoming naturalized United States citizens,” Vliestra wrote.
Kentwood police arrested Tran on Aug. 12 after setting up a sting at a Vietnamese restaurant on South Division Avenue. Police said a woman who worked at the restaurant handed Tran an envelope containing $2,000 in return for his help getting her cousin into the United States.
The 42-year-old is also charged with wearing a Purple Heart.
Perhaps this time, judges ought to take him out of circulation for a few months.
Someone sent us this link to a World Can’t Wait propaganda piece about yet another anti-recruiting campaign at some unknown school during which Matthis;
…talked about being given a choice of jail or the Army at age 17, seeing the world as an Army journalist and telling the story the Army wanted told, before successfully refusing orders to Iraq and becoming an anti-war activist.
Yeah, we all know that Matthis was a high school graduate when he was arrested for selling mushrooms near a grade school playground when he was given the option of going to trial or joining the Army. He was 19 at the time, not 17. The difference of course is that he was supposed to be more of a grown up than he tries to relate to the easily-influenced children in the high school. This time, he was facing a real pound-you-in-the-ass prison stint instead of just the previous basketball games at the juvenile detention center.
The WCW article continues;
…a couple of students said to their classmates that they aren’t going to sign up for the military, after hearing about the reality of these wars of occupation.
How did they hear about the “realities” of the wars? From Matthis? That’s a joke. How could he tell the realities of the war from his perch in Germany and Japan?
Someone else wrote to me that the Left acts like the wars have ended because of their inactivity lately. I wrote back that this is their hibernation period every year. Since the old hippies depend on the participation of college students, those students are more focused on their Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks than wars just now.
They’ll gear back up in the Spring when the anniversary of the Iraq War rolls around.
Xavier Alvarez, was a water commissioner in Pomona, CA who told the audience at a debate for that office that he’d been awarded an imaginary Medal of Honor during his imaginary military service. Alvaez was convicted of violating the Stolen Valor Act. Apparently in an attempt to make themselves the laughing stock of the entire planet, Alvarez lawyers, during the appeal process are arguing that some of the philosophers who influenced the founding of our political system would argue that it’s Alvarez’ right to lie (Marine Times link);
They cite John Milton, a 17th century writer, and John Stuart Mill, a 19th century philosopher, to argue that falsehoods can improve public debate by spurring the search for truth. They also said the three-judge panel’s ruling was clear, that some lies are protected by the 1st Amendment and that Alvarez’s false claim to have a medal posed no clear and present danger.
Yes, you read that correctly – Alvarez’ intentional lie about his service and the Medal of Honor improves the public debate. Being a lying fuck is like being a light in the mineshaft.
In fact, because I got Bs in my two undergrad ConLaw classes, I’m declaring myself a lawyer (I’ll be a Federal judge before Spring). If you need legal advice, I’ll be hanging out in front of law offices across the country in ragged Joseph A. Banks suits (tie loosened, shirt tail hanging out, a drawing of Johnny Cochran in chalk on my back, the smell of boxed table wine on my breath) declaring myself a senior partner of the nearest law office and giving out free legal advice.
Yup, I only want to improve the public debate.
Thanks to Paul for the link.
TSO Adds:Calling all lawyers, can someone with PACER grab the filing and send it to me via email?
Rurik sent me a link to this post at Geobent about a gaggle of organizations who protested the war in Seattle. I see ANSWER signs, a Military Families Speak Out sign, and some Veterans For Peace banners and participants. One guy from the latter group stuck out to me. He wore four rows of ribbons with the Combat Infantry Badge beneath them. Anyone who was ever earned the CIB knows that it goes above everything. Well here’s a picture of the hero;
I blew up another picture that shows his rack a little better;
I may be off a bit, but it looks like his highest award (reader’s top left) is the Korea Defense Medal which is certainly not the highest among the medals he’s wearing. Next is a single award of the Army Commendation Medal which is plausible, but the next is a Meritorious Service Medal – the highest award of the whole mess. Then the Army Achievement Medal, then the Reserve Components Achievement Medal 4th Award followed by the Republic of Korea War Service Medal – a foreign award which goes after all US Army awards – and it has some funny devices on it that I don’t recognize. The ribbon on your far left in the second row from the bottom is the South West Asia Service Medal. The next one is the Overseas Service Ribbon – not a medal so it’s lower than medals. Next is what looks like four awards of the Army Service Ribbon – awarded for six months in the Army. I’m not aware of consequent awards of the ribbon. I’m pretty sure you only get it once without any palm leafs. Following that ribbon is the National Defense Medal which should be above the two ribbons preceding it – it’s a medal. That’s followed by the foreign award of the Saudi Arabia Defense Medal, it’s followed by the Kuwait Liberation Medal, but it should probably be right-side up instead of the way this doofus is wearing it.
Now, below that is the CIB and master Sergeant rank, so I have to think that he’s trying the give the impression that he’s a Master Sergeant with combat infantry experience. Now he has some reserve medals, which mean he was in the Reserves. If he was in the Reserves during Desert Storm, he didn’t get a CIB, because no reserve infantry units deployed to Desert Storm. If he was on active duty when he deployed to Saudi Arabia, where is an Army Good Conduct Medal? Just one for three years of service without stepping on his dick.
There’s no NCO Development Ribbon, yet he made it to Master Sergeant? Impossible if he was promoted after 1986. So he thinks he’s a Master Sergeant, but got his ribbons and medals mixed up and upside down? And if I’m not mistaken, the Korean Defense Medal is for combat.
But I do know that if everything on his uniform true, and someone walked alongside of me with that sign, I’d seriously think twice about the company I’m keeping because associating myself with someone that stupid doesn’t honor my fallen comrades.
If I were to name one person in the Senate who did absolutely nothing to support the troops deployed in combat, it would be Harry Reid. He declared the “surge” a failure before it began. He spent two years trying to defund the wars and leave the troops in the field without resources – two entire years. During that time, he couldn’t pass a defense budget, yet found time to bring to the floor of the Senate time and again legislation that would prematurely end our involvement in the Near East.
The mission of VoteVets.org Political Action Committee is to elect Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to public office; hold public officials accountable for their words and actions that impact America’s 21st century servicemembers; and fully support our men and women in uniform.
Yet, here’s the ad that VoteVets is running in Nevada for Reid, who somehow managed to avoid military service, and has managed to to avoid support for the troops in the field.
Titled “Highway,” the ad shows a young man hiking along the road, just as Harry Reid did once a week as he went back and forth to school. Narrated by Anthony Funches an Air Force veteran from Las Vegas, the ad chronicles how Harry Reid has always beat the odds, including his leadership to provide care and benefits to our nation’s veterans.
Are they talking about the same Harry Reid the rest of us know? In Pennsylvania, they’re supporting Patrick Murphy – their sole survivor of the 2008 cycle after their other goofus, Eric Masa screwed himself out of the House of Representatives – with this ad;
Yeah, I’m sure Mike Fitzpatrick is a bigger threat to veterans than Reid. Dick Smith promises more ads tomorrow – wanna bet it’s for Sestak?
We’ve been there to push through the new GI Bill, to push back against truly wasteful spending that could be used for the troops, and to support veterans who want to continue their service in public life, among many other things.
Yeah, since when. VoteVets and Soltz has been charging hard for the Clean Energy Bill (Cap and Trade) which has nothing to do with supporting the troops – name one thing they’ve done this year that didn’t have to do with Cap and Trade or getting Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell reversed.
He forgot to add one thing to that last sentence. It should read; “…to support veterans who want to continue their service in public life, as long as they’re Democrats“.
Look, I’m not real comfortable with a Veterans organization endorsing non-Vets at all. If there is no Vet in the race or you don’t like the one in the race, just don’t endorse.
So why are they throwing money at Harry Reid. He’s not a veteran, there’s not a veteran in his race? Why doesn’t dicksmith and Soltz just come out and be honest that the only requirement for their support is membership in the Democrat Party? Are they just that treacherous and unscrupulous?
