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

Category: Usual Suspects

  • IVAW; the peace movement’s stalking horse

    All week we’ve been running a series about the prospective Board of Directors of the IVAW. As we documented, the IVAW is more interested in being a band of peace activists than a veterans’ organization like Vote Vets worries more about Democrat legislative priorities than veterans’ issue. Well, here’s something I found last night in my usual perusal of the lunatic Left;

    call-for-action

    Notice were it says “Endorsers (list in formation)”? IVAW is the first organization listed – that means they’ll be in the front of the protest march. Why? What does the G-20 conference have to do with veterans? Are they withholding some benefits? Closing veterans facilities? The IVAW refugees who hang out here have told us that the third plank of their platform (Full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other support for returning servicemen and women) was more of an after thought than a real goal.

    In an interview last year, Medea Benjamin said that IVAW gives the peace movement it’s “street creds”, that’s why whenever you see Medea in DC, her poodle Geoffrey [Stolen Valor] Millard is near. That’s all that matters to the peace movement, using the IVAW for a stalking horse.

  • Conyers: Why read the bill?

    You’ve probably seen this already, but I just saw it. It’s a real Zen moment for American voters;

    In reference to the massive healthcare bill, John Conyers, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says; “What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you’ve read the bill?”

    What good indeed. That’ll be my defense when I’m hauled into court for violating the provisions in that bill – because I don’t have two days or two lawyers to explain it to me either.

    I bought a new car the other day, and I drove the salesman nuts because I read everything I was signing and asked questions. But, see, I’m personally invested in an automobile contract, Conyers isn’t personally invested in the healthcare bill, or anything else he signs. The Party tells him to sign it and he signs it.

    The only benefit he hopes to gain from signing the bill is the political capital it’ll bring him in the form of patronage and donations. Why should he care it actually works?

    Anyone going to ask him about his wife’s legal problems? Just last week he called for an investigation into the Bush Administration. So, he’s got all of that going on, so we really can’t expect him to read a bill before he signs it.

  • Two Reps return from Honduras

    Two Republican Congressmen have returned from their trip to investigate the supposed coup in Honduras and their estimation of the situation differs, unsurprisingly, from the Administration according to The Hill;

    “The majority of folks think Zelaya should come back to the country, but to stand trial,” Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) said.

    Mack told The Hill that he found Hondurans to be in “disbelief” at the Obama administration’s reaction to the ouster of Zelaya.

    “Whether or not [Hondurans] agree on how he was removed all of them agree that he broke the constitution, broke the law,” Mack said. “A large majority believe he should not return to Honduras and to power.”

    Bilbray said the U.S. can’t put itself in a position of supporting a president over a country’s constitution and the rule of law. “That’s a scary place for us to find ourselves, especially considering our history,” he said.

    Well, it’s not that hard to figure out, actually. The Obama places a higher value on the friendship of Chavez, Ortega, Morales, Correa and Zelaya than he does on the friendship of the Honduran people. I’d like to know the name of the Obama advisor who read the Honduran Constitution and then gave Obama the advice to support the unconditional return of Zelaya to his office.

    While the Honduran Army has vowed that it won’t fire on Honduran people, Zelaya is urging Obama to place sanctions on his country. Interim president Micheletti has promised to step down to keep the peace, while Zelaya has threatened “blood in the streets”. So who is thinking of the Honduran people and who is thinking of their own political survival?

    Thanks to TSO for The Hill link.

  • A compliment from Bill Maher

    At about 1:55, Bill Maher tells Wolf Blitzer, in reference to the possibility that Sarah Palin would run for President that he wouldn’t put anything past “this stupid country”. He expands on that empty thought at about 4:55. Of course, the election of Barack Obama was an aberration. Just because we accidentally elected a smart guy doesn’t make us smart, he says. Then at about 7 minutes, he calls Michael Moore’s documentaries “brilliant”.

    I’m guessing he’s being contrary for effect. Anyone who calls Americans stupid and Michael Moore brilliant is just working too hard at being funny.

    To demonstrate how smart he is, Maher tells us that capitalism would be good if it wasn’t for profit motive. I guess that’s his idea of brilliant.

    You’d think Wolf Blitzer, who considers himself a journalist, would be embarrassed to be seen interviewing this clown.

  • World Can’t Wait protests NAACP

    It seems that the World Can’t Wait and their attendant affiliates got angry at the NAACP “Diversity Career Fair” at their annual convention earlier this month. In the post-racial era, the Left decided that people of color shouldn’t be allowed the opportunity to serve their country and reap the benefits of the service. And who is surprised that Matthis Chiroux was on hand;

    The demonstration was a follow up to a press conference held on Saturday July 11th, the opening day of the convention where Benjamin Jealous, CEO and President of the NAACP, was asked by a high school student and a military mother why military recruiters were invited to recruit, given that the NAACP had come out against the Iraq war. Benjamin Jealous refused to disinvite the Army Strong Recruitment Tour and said that the recruiters would not be recruiting.

    At the press conference this afternoon Debra Sweet, representatives of the Ya Ya Youth Network, revolution youth, war resister Mathis Chiroux, and Barbara Harris all spoke very eloquently as to why the NAACP should not allow military recruiters into its convention. The main points driven home were that the wars/occupations decided to go inside the convention to see what the Army Strong Tour was doing. What we found was appalling. Over 60% over the Diversity Career Fair was military.

    That’s horrible – unless you factor in that the military is the most color-blind facet of our society and has been for decades. In fact, one Black recruiter got a first hand look of the racist attitude of the writer of this piece;

    The recruiter tried to defend recruitment by going into what the navy had done for her. My activist friend began to tell her she understood that this recruiter felt that the navy had done a lot for her but … This was when the conversation was cut short by another Black male recruiter approaching us and demanding to know what we were doing there. He demanded that we leave and that if we didn’t we would be escorted out. My friend asked why. We were told we were being loud and disruptive.

    The Black female was obviously so stupid that she didn’t realize that the Navy had abused her somehow and it took a white loudmouthed Leftist to tell her how her life wasn’t really better.

    All WCW and the others will accomplish is convince more impoverished Blacks to be left out of the economy. According to the Stars and Stripes this morning, the basic training stations are jam-packed with new recruits;

    A sagging economy, declining casualty rate in Iraq and a resurgence in the U.S. military’s popularity appear to have contributed to a strong recruiting year, Army leaders said.

    And the steady training schedule at Fort Jackson is likely to continue into next year as recruits find themselves on a waiting list to report for duty.

    “Shipping dates are anywhere from six weeks to two to three months out,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jay Jenkins, who works at the Army’s downtown Columbia recruiting station.

    So instead of helping minorities out their poverty, WCW and Matthis Chiroux are content to leave them mired in their unfortunate circumstances. Oh, and here’s a little bit about World Can’t Wait from Discover the Networks;

    Founded in June 2005 by Charles Clark Kissinger, a longtime leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party, World Can’t Wait (WCW) is a direct action movement seeking to organize “people living in the United States to take responsibility to stop the whole disastrous course led by the Bush administration.”

    I guess that’s where the money is, huh, Matthis? Did it suddenly dry up in Alabama?

    Thanks to Navy Brat for the link.

  • IVAW’s mixed message

    The IVAW board has decided to take action against Carl Webb, but not how you might think. Webb has advocated for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan to sabotage equipment and hinder our efforts there, putting the troops in more danger. But the IVAW says that’s not against it’s rules. The Board has warned Webb against trying to drive IVAW membership away, instead. This is from a letter the Board sent to several members who complained about Webb;
    (more…)

  • The IVAW Board Series: Seth Manzel

    When I first started reading about Seth Manzel, I thought I was going to have to write a bio like TSO wrote yesterday for Cameron White. Manzel is one of the few who actually served in Iraq (2004-2005) and he’d served in an old regiment of mine (the 5th Infantry). So I settled in for writing a tongue bath. But I did my research.

    I found him quoted in Dahr Jamail’s new book “The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan” along side Geoffry Millard:

    “So we would go and drop the dismounted people at some house with an air conditioner, where they would kick in a door and hang out and drink tea with those people, while we would proceed with the vehicles and bide time out of visible range.”

    He founded the “Coffee Strong” coffee shop outside of Fort Lewis, WA and he’s a member of Port Militarization Resistance. Under contacts and influence he wrote:
    (more…)

  • Priorities

    The real news in the country is that Obama’s health care planis floundering in Congress because no one wants to be responsible for destroying the economy and the health care system in the country. Obama and his favorability ratings are falling in the polls. But what does the Washington Post put on the front page of their fishwrap this morning?

    palin-poll

    I guess it’s hard to break old habits. While Palin was the vice presidential nominee last year, the Post and the media in general, thought it was more appropriate to compare Obama, the presidential nominee, to Palin rather than a more appropriate comparison to the Republican presidential nominee. In such a comparison, Obama fell short in experience and actual accomplishments, but against the Governor of Alaska, they thought Obama looked more competitive.

    So, while Obama’s favorability rating falls 12 percentage points, the Post finds this more newsworthy;

    Overall, the new poll found that 53 percent of Americans view Palin negatively and 40 percent see her in positive terms, her lowest level in Post-ABC polling since she first appeared on the national stage last summer as Sen. John McCain’s running mate.

    It’s clear that the Post senses an insurgency campaign from Alaska that threatens the status quo in Washington. Why else would a governor of a distant, remote state, who is leaving her office in a few days, garner more attention than a president who is losing his momentum?