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

Category: Usual Suspects

  • 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;
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  • IVAW Flag-burning still an issue

    IVAW's Matthis Chiroux, Robyn Murray and MFSO's Elaine Brower burn the US flag "This is not my country!"

    I know I haven’t mentioned the IVAW’s flag burning last month in a while, but it’s time has come again. It seems that there is still an internal discussion going on and some of it leaks out through the cracks in IVAW’s leaky security. Most recently, one member of the Los Angeles Chapter sent out a missive on the subject (all of the spelling, grammar and lack of Caps is from the original);
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  • SV Millard: Iraq veteran in Vietnam

    Geof “Stolen Valor” Millard has a story up on the IVAW website which chronicles his latest adventure to Vietnam, entitled “My part in a veterans deligation [sic] to Vietnam“. Millard is famous for his trips to places like Hugo Chavez’ Venezuela to denigrate America. Now he goes to Vietnam with VVAW and VFP members to trot out his biases and blow his own horn;

    Virtnam may seem an odd place for an Iraq vet whose parents had not even met when the last US forces retreated in defeat hanging from helicopters, but somehow I was the perfect peice to complete a very complicated puzle. You see there are many conections to be made between the two wars but I was there because both were toxic battlefields that left veteran and civillian alike scared for many generations.

    I guess he doesn’t have spell check on his computer;

    I was amazed to see vterans of both sides share war storries as easily as stories of thier children, most of whom are many years my elder. These vets also share disseases that are just as much the legacy of Vietnam as is that black mirrored wall on the north west side of our national mall, just to the left of lincolns feet.

    My thoughts offten wandered forward in time to the day when I would go to Iraq. When I would meet with my former foe. When I would help press my government to take resposability and provide relief for the toxic battlefield we have been creating seince the first gulf war.

    Millard had an enemy in Iraq other than boredom? He was a general’s gopher. He spent his whole time in Iraq trying to get back to the States because he had an owie in his back (that he admits he had since high school).

    Depleted uranium is killing our soldiers in Iraq & Afghanistan.

    We must fight for compensation and treatment before thousands die from DU as they did from AO. We must link our struggle for justice with that of those left alive in the toxic battlefieds that we are now slowly pulling out of.

    There it is – the IVAW is going to try to copy the Vietnam War veterans by pushing this absolutely ridiculous depleted uranium canard. That’s all they have and if you don’t believe them they’ll wave the Agent Orange bloody shirt.

    I’m proud of my trip and I am proud of the work done by VVAW, VFP, and IVAW. I am proud that while some spend thier time protesting antiwar veterans, we the antiwar vterans are hard at work for peace and justice for all.

    “Hard at work” only if it involves completely ridiculous trips to communist countries to push an agenda that doesn’t help American veterans. Then swat at ghosts of completely manufactured maladies.

    I guess he’s saying that the American Legion and VFW are “protesting antiwar veterans” but if he’s trying to say that IVAW has done more more for veterans than the traditional VSOs because they took this one useless trip, he’s fooling himself.

    In fact, maybe IVAW can stop pushing their “Veterans as sociopathic nuts” meme to help fix this problem;

    “Part of the issue is there’s a real disconnect between the military and the rest of America,” said Mark Walker, deputy director of the American Legion’s economic division.

    “People outside the military don’t know about PTSD or TBI. It’s all new to them. So they worry, ‘Am I going to see some sort of outburst? What might he do?’”

    How about fixing that, Geoff, instead of flying to Vietnam to take shots at us!

  • I guess it’s safe enough now

    Funny how some IVAW members have finally foound Iraq safe enough to visit these days. Last year TJ Buonomo, the guy who got a free education at the Air Force Academy and then filed as a conscientious objector went over. This year, it’s former Kokesh girlfriend, Tracey Harmon.

    cimg3374_2_small

    Oh, look out Tracey, you might get some Saddam cooties on ya!

    Now the article that I got the picture from says that Harmon is a conscientious objector, but I don’t think I’ve ever read that anywhere before. If she was a CO, that makes this trip even more pathetic. For some reason, I got the impression that she just lucked out and didn’t get deployed, but, hey, the hippies know her better than I do, so we’ll go with their story. For some reason, researching the females at IVAW feels like stalking to me, and I’m not into that.

    There are more pictures of her standing on and around the same tank here, if you’re interested. It’s all pretty boring.

    We can probably count on her to use this as some sort of authority on the war now (I think she’s been in the region a few times since she left the Reserves).

    The article reads;

    Representatives of the Iraq Veterans Against the War and the Ladies of Liberty Alliance, including conscientious objector Tracey Harmon (pictured below), are spreading the message of freedom to Iraq – not with war, but with peace.

    Yeah, go talk to al Qaeda first.

  • Parody misses mark

    At the IVAW blog, Jeremy Berggren, another one of those Iraq Veterans Against the War who has never been to Iraq or any war, tried to write some parody about the organization as it slowly outlives it’s designated 15 minutes of fame, Of course what parody about IVAW would be complete without some shots at Casey Porter and me.

    There are reports that a former member of IVAW is making a mini documentary about the situation and will take all the credit for anything productive that comes from this internal debate. And each undercover operative that has infiltrated IVAW agrees that this is really what makes their jobs worthwhile.

    An expert critic of IVAW who runs the blog “This Ain’t Hell” was asked why he continues to try and stir things up from outside the organization. It seems the blogger, also known in some social circles as “Pappy Small Dick” and “Poochy McGee” cannot stand an organization that isn’t made up of all middle aged white men that spent a major part of their lives in the military, particularly when all members are veterans and are now challenging the same white supremacist heterosexist patriarchal system he is clinging on to. Poochy McGee claims he will keep attacking IVAW as that is what his mentors would like and references such legends as Joseph Goebels, Rush Limbaugh, and Eugene “Bull” Connor as his mentors and heroes. McGee then stated he in fact, does not care about all veterans because that would mean he would have to treat “everyone as equals.” Several of his “ghey ritard” supporters unequivocally support his continued attacks and their own privilege.

    Good to see that they’re reading and taking notes. Too bad he sees the truth as propaganda.

    ADDED: Oh, I just figured out who Berggren is; he’s the guy who got PTSD from NOT deploying. How could I forget? That explains his sense of humor, or the lack of a sense of humor.

  • Taking responsibility for things you didn’t do

    I guess it was last year that Matthis took responsibility for occupying a booth at Baskin Robbins on Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan for six days and apologized to the people of Afghanistan. Today, we get IVAW member Josh Stieber (who was being punished and wasn’t on the operation) and Ethan McCord who, apparently was on the operation, apologizing for what is now known as the “Collateral Murder” video;

    Peace be with you.

    To all of those who were injured or lost loved ones during the July 2007 Baghdad shootings depicted in the “Collateral Murder” Wikileaks video:

    We write to you, your family, and your community with awareness that our words and actions can never restore your losses.

    We are both soldiers who occupied your neighborhood for 14 months. Ethan McCord pulled your daughter and son from the van, and when doing so, saw the faces of his own children back home. Josh Stieber was in the same company but was not there that day, though he contributed to the your pain, and the pain of your community on many other occasions.

    There is no bringing back all that was lost. What we seek is to learn from our mistakes and do everything we can to tell others of our experiences and how the people of the United States need to realize what have done and are doing to you and the people of your country. We humbly ask you what we can do to begin to repair the damage we caused.

    We have been speaking to whoever will listen, telling them that what was shown in the Wikileaks video only begins to depict the suffering we have created. From our own experiences, and the experiences of other veterans we have talked to, we know that the acts depicted in this video are everyday occurrences of this war: this is the nature of how U.S.-led wars are carried out in this region.

    We acknowledge our part in the deaths and injuries of your loved ones as we tell Americans what we were trained to do and carried out in the name of “god and country”. The soldier in video said that your husband shouldn’t have brought your children to battle, but we are acknowledging our responsibility for bringing the battle to your neighborhood, and to your family. We did unto you what we would not want done to us.

    More and more Americans are taking responsibility for what was done in our name. Though we have acted with cold hearts far too many times, we have not forgotten our actions towards you. Our heavy hearts still hold hope that we can restore inside our country the acknowledgment of your humanity, that we were taught to deny.

    Our government may ignore you, concerned more with its public image. It has also ignored many veterans who have returned physically injured or mentally troubled by what they saw and did in your country. But the time is long overdue that we say that the value of our nation’s leaders no longer represent us. Our secretary of defense may say the U.S. won’t lose its reputation over this, but we stand and say that our reputation’s importance pales in comparison to our common humanity.

    With such pain, friendship might be too much to ask. Please accept our apology, our sorrow, our care, and our dedication to change from the inside out. We are doing what we can to speak out against the wars and military policies responsible for what happened to you and your loved ones. Our hearts are open to hearing how we can take any steps to support you through the pain that we have caused.

    Solemnly and Sincerely,

    Josh Stieber, former specialist, U.S. Army
    Ethan McCord, former specialist, U.S. Army

    Since Steiber was in the rear with the gear, why did he think that an apology was even necessary? McCord did everything he could to save that child’s life – so what’s he apologizing for? It’s just another feel good moment for the duo – a grand, empty gesture. As meaningless as Steiber being called a “witness” to the shooting, even though the first time he ever saw the operation was when the rest of us saw the leaked video.

    Thanks to Jake D. for the link.

  • “Liberty Candidates” threaten law suits to defend Kokesh

    There’s a group of candidates in the country who call themselves the “Liberty Candidates“. Among them is IVAW member Adam Kokesh. Another group of voters have formed the “American Patriots Against Kokesh“. Two groups with varying opinions. Here is the “Liberty Candidates” Mission Statement;

    Our mission is in sync with Campaign for Liberty from whence the Liberty Candidate questions evolved:

    * Individual Liberty
    * Sound Money
    * Free Market
    * Constitutional Government
    * Non-interventionist Foreign Policy

    Our Goal is to have at least one Liberty Candidate in each state: 50 Dr. No’s*!!!

    Innocuous enough, oh, I forgot this line; “Dr. Ron Paul is a.k.a. Dr. No because he votes NO for all legislation outside the Constitution!”

    Yes, they Ron Paul supporters hiding behind their unexpressed interpretations of the Constitution.

    Well, apparently the “Liberty Candidates” don’t like the fact that the APAK folks get a voice and one of the “Liberty candidates” have threatened to sue;

    To: Susan Wolf, American Patriots Against Kokesh and associated hate groups;

    RE: Slander, Libelous Statements, Use of threats, coersion to prevent income, tampering with election funding, use of misleading video clips and doctored footage.

    On behalf of Liberty Candidates, as I am one, I find your actions abhorrent and unlawful. Those organizations using a 503c Charitable Organization charter will be subject to diciplinary measures by the authorities in your respective states. This serves as notification that Liberty Candidates, all 126+ are in the process of filing legal action against your all of the organizations in the coming week. For those of you that are private citizens that participated in this outrageous action, I should hope that you are financially well off. Your plan to threaten the citizens of the United States into not donating to a political candidate of their choice and in their state violates many laws that we do not have enough paper to possibly list here. Groups holding a 503c charter are prohibited from endorsing ANY particular candidate. By slandering Adam Kokesh, Candidate for New Mexico’s race, you have indirectly endorsed Lujan. All candidates have suffered large financial losses to their campaign funding, so enjoy your moment of gloating. It will be short lived. Rest assured, we have employed several laywers that will work on a pro bono basis to recoup these losses from your hate groups. This is your one and only notice to CEASE and DESIST from these types of unlawful activities. We are asking for the sum of $126,000,000.00 (one hundred and twenty-six million dollars) from each group responsible for these actions. We will begin serving these complaints in the next 7-10 days, one as a class action lawsuit, and should that fail; each candidate will be serving their own individual complaints against you following that. I suggest you focus your activities on a local level, and be more productive in helping those in your communities. You have run up against a large group of determined individuals that refuse to be stopped in their quest to return America back to the Constitution. We will use this great document to the fullest extent in making sure that the 2010 elections are not influnced by hate groups such as yours. Have a nice day!

    Sincerely, Steve Susman, Liberty Candidate

    Here’s Steve Susman’s website. It looks like he’s running for Congress in Texas, but who can tell by the website? Another Ron Paul basement-dwelling pseudo-intellectual who will probably end up telling me do my own research at some point.

    I guess “return America to the Constitution” means “sue everyone who disagrees with you and provides indisputable proof”.

    Since all of the evidence that I’ve provided against Kokesh is original documentation, since none of my videos have been altered in anyway, I’ll quote the smartest president of the 21st century thus far – Bring it on! If you think that Kokesh is worth dragging your organization down to his level, if you think you can campaign and wage a legal war at the same time from the comfort of your parents’ basement, sue me, bitches.

  • Karl Eikenberry is a dick

    Many of you know that Karl Eikenberry, our current ambassador to Afghanistan was once my platoon leader in Battle Company of the 1st Ranger Battalion back in 1975 and the only comment I’ve ever made in reference to him is that he’s a dick. Well, someone in a position to know has reinforced my opinion with some inside information from the embassy.

    Eikenberry has a policy in place which he calls “Green Water”. Basically, it means that everyone in the Embassy has to drink local water instead of bottled water. Well, everyone except Eikenberry himself who gets his bottled water flown in occasionally – but enough so that he doesn’t have to drink the local water.

    He has another policy that forbids anyone from carrying their weapon in the Embassy except the Marine guards when they’re on duty and his own protection detail.

    So you can see that leading from the front by example is something with which he’s not too familiar. Like I said, he’s a dick.