Thanks!

Imagine living in a crude log home. The winter is coming soon, and you have no food to get you through. You look at your neighbor and wonder how long you could get by if you cooked him. But your neighbor is getting just as thin as you are, and you realize there isn’t enough meat on his bones to feed you and your family for long. Enduring many months on a ship to make it to your new home where you are free from religious oppression, and now it seems that you will all die.

As all of these terrible thoughts are going through your head, you see a movement in the bushes on the other side of the clearing. The native people of this new land have seen your plight and have come to help feed you, and to show you how to make a living off the land of your chosen new home. This one act of friendship, and caring, will mean the destruction of these same natives.

We celebrate Thanksgiving and fondly remember the kind Native-Americans who provided the necessary food for our forefathers to survive on this continent. Without them, things may have been a lot different in the world. Unfortunately, I don’t think the Native-Americans would have survived no matter who first claimed North America.

The sad truth is, if it weren’t for one group of white men it would be another. England, Spain, France and others were all poised to try and claim North America for their own. The downfall of the Native-Americans was that they were too nice. They were the unfortunate casualty of progress in the modern world.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let’s remember the Native-Americans, the African-Americans, the Irish-Americans, and all of the other hyphenated Americans and emigrants that helped to build this country up to what it is today. Many different cultures poured a lot of sweat and blood into this country, and many more have gave their lives defending that way of life even today.

There will be a lot of articles that will talk about the men and women that are now serving this country at home and overseas. This is just another one of those articles. I’d like to think that the quantity of these types of articles show that Americans do understand what is at stake, and just who is to thank for their ability to eat turkey until they have to undo their pants and sit on the couch to watch football.

Our military are on every continent, and just about in every country on this planet. Every one of them is there for one purpose and one purpose only. To ensure that those of us that are living back here in the United States have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving.

Many of our military will spend the holiday season eating sand and walking around with targets painted on their backs so that they draw the attention, and the war, away from their families and friends in this country.

The attack on 9-1-1 was horrendous. Not simply because we were being attacked on our own soil, but for who was attacked. Thousands of innocent people were slaughtered with no remorse of the action. Historically an enemy would focus their attacks on military targets. That is what the military does. Its purpose is to place itself in harms way so that the people they represent don’t have to. Almost every country believes this, and follows this unspoken rule; until recently.

The enemy we now face is the worst form of coward I have ever known. They sneak around blowing up innocent non-combatant civilians. For some bizarre reason they think that their war involves anyone who does not think as they do. They are like a cancer on this planet, and they spread their vile filth to the minds of their children. Never mind the fact that their twisted sense of war has not worked throughout the history of this planet, and will never work or allow them to ever achieve their goals.

This is why the rest of the world views them for what they are, spineless, cowardly, murderers of innocent people. Nice religion folks. I would really love to see some sort of goals based on their beliefs. Do they honestly think they can kill every living soul who does not believe as they do? Do they honestly think that this will attract more people over to their way of thinking?

It’s easy to brainwash idiotic citizens when you prevent them from learning and to thrive with freedom. Once the communication doors are open, and freedom takes hold in a country, it’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle. The Soviet Union attempted this a while back and it didn’t go very far at all. Free people will not be oppressed again. They will fight to remain free!

This Thanksgiving we all have a lot to be thankful for. Top on the list is our freedom. A close second is the ability to bring freedom to others who have known only fear and hatred. Terrorist will eventually run out of steam, and supporters. The eyes of the Earth are being pried open slowly. Soon, there will be very few people left who are in the dark.

I am thankful for the men and women, both past and present, which have fought for the freedom that we now enjoy. I am thankful for a strong president that was able to stand up against the weaker of our nation and lead the fight a little further to rid this world of evil. And I am thankful that I live in a country where I am free to write down my views and share with you all my thoughts whether they are a popular position or not.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Push Me, Shove You

Lately it seems more and more like the terrorists are on the offensive. Daily we are seeing news that something else has been blown up. English targets were hit recently to coincide with our Presidents visit to England. Has the free world bitten off more then they can chew this time?

It’s a sad world we live in where people have to die for a cause. Whether that cause is freedom, democracy, or religion, people should not have to die to defend their views. Yet this is what is happening all around us, and it’s the same process which has molded the world throughout its history. If you don’t live the way we want you to, we’ll attack you until you do.

You know what’s really nuts? As terrible as that sounds, by not attacking we leave ourselves open to being attacked and taken over by others.

There is no handholding “Kum Ba Yah” answers to world relations.

It all rolls back to the “survival of the fittest” rule that I tend to lean on with many explanations. It’s not how right your view is, or even if your view is correct. It comes down to whomever has the largest pair to enforce that their view will be dominant.

We hear that we are fighting for the cause of freedom for all people, but isn’t the point that we are fighting for “our” brand of freedom for all people?

Those that we are fighting believe just as strongly that their religion, as oppressive as it seems to us, is the only true path. The sad part is that their religion, like most organized religions, is terrible. To rule an entire region of the world by one group’s narrow-minded religious views is crazy. THAT, my friends, is what we are fighting for.

The fact that we have opened up a hornet’s nest should not concern us. This mess in the world has gone on too long, and the only way to eventually remove the problem is to keep at it until it is, well, suppressed. I believe that from this day forth we will have terrorist attacks for a long time to come. We must meet this challenge head on, and root out the little bastards wherever they fester. Killing innocent people to try to make your point has never been acceptable in a civilized society. Just like children these folks need to finally be taught some manners.

The world community has looked the other way while countries commit atrocities against their populations. The United States has done this as well. On the defense of those countries, it’s difficult to make the decision to go into another country and slap them around for acting like thugs. It’s an extremely brave decision to finally say enough is enough.

I don’t think any leader wants to be the one to risk his population just to straighten out the sleaze in another country, but I for one am proud that G.W. had the strength to make that decision for us. Even if it did take 9-1-1 to make us realize that the time has come to open up a can of whup-ass.

Change is a hard thing to take, and we are in the process of not only moving the cheese of another country, but we’re trying to change the way of life they have lived since the beginning of history. That’s a huge movement, of cheese that is…

We cannot turn tail and run because a few of them are blowing things up and killing folks. The end result of that move would be a complete and total disaster for the world. The only course of action is to stay in the fight no matter how long it takes. Believe me when I say, this fight is going to take a long time and span the terms of multiple presidents.

For as long as we are dedicated to this cause we will be under attack, both on our home soil, and in other countries. I believe that if we stick to the fight, and if all other freedom-loving countries stick to it as well, we will prevail! We will never please everyone, but we can certainly defuse many of the runaway evil empires that have surfaced in this world.

Another disaster would be if other countries left us to fight this fight alone. It would take down our strength and start to wear on our resolve. We would be forced to pull back to a smaller front. This would send a terrible message to terrorists and evil countries all over the world. For this reason England, and all other countries that are in this fight with us should be praised for taking a stand for freedom.

Just as there will always be idiots that commit heinous crimes against people in this country, the same will be true worldwide. The goal is to make this the exception, not the rule. In our country people kill others, but it’s on a manageable level. It will be a long process, but I think the world community can reach this level of civilized behavior. Sure it’s a lofty goal, and some weaker people in our society can’t even fathom a world where terrorists are a small problem.

From my viewpoint, protesting the extermination of terrorism is showing us where the weakness in our society truly is. The folks who believe that if we just all hold hands and sing songs, the big bad people will leave us alone is borderline crazy. That line of reasoning went down with the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

Terrorists have slapped us in the face with their gauntlet; we cannot afford to cower now, or ever!

Jessica Lynch

Okay, so I watched the Diane Sawyer interview of Jessica Lynch tonight. Did you really think I would not have an opinion to share with you all? Here’s my take on some things that came to mind while watching the interview.

You know what I find sad? Hearing people ask why Jessica Lynch is getting all of the attention and they are not. One thing that helps me cope with this nonsense though, is that it seems that these comments are coming from the relatives of the military members, and not the military members themselves.

Luckily, Jessica Lynch sounds like she is doing well while trying to deal with her injuries, and her popularity. She has the support of the Army, as well as a very loving community and family. If you saw the interview, I’m sure you don’t need me to rehash the heartwarming parts, and are anxious to read some of my more critical thoughts on the subject.

At one point, Diane leads Jessica into commenting on the fact that her rescue was filmed by the military. Jessica seemed to be of the opinion that her rescue should not have been filmed. My thought is, why not? A daring rescue, or what was thought to be a daring rescue, should be filmed. When a country is at war why not do a little PR work and film what was hopefully going to be a fantastic rescue?

We find out from Jessica, and upon hindsight, that the hospital was not really defended at all, and was basically just a hospital. Comments were made that the military went in using maximum force, and perhaps too much force was used.

When you’re at war, how much force is too much force? If I were a person asked to organize the rescue of a P.O.W., I would most certainly assume that this P.O.W. was heavily guarded because it was a fairly rare thing for the Iraqi’s to actually have a prisoner. How could you even think that resistance would be minimal? It’s easy to armchair quarterback this type of situation, but I think the military approached the rescue in the absolute correct manner.

If there were even minor resistance, and the rescue force was ill prepared and all killed, what sort of story would that have made? Better to be over prepared then taken by surprise. This isn’t football, it’s a war!

Let’s not forget about the Iraqi doctor’s and nurses who helped save Jessica, and cared for her while she was in their charge. I realize that many people have some harsh views on Iraq, and Muslims in general since 9-1-1, but I also realize that an entire society is not to be blamed for the sins of a few of its members.

Perhaps I’m an optimist, but I feel there is good in all people, and that an entire race should not be condemned for the actions of a few. Don’t get me wrong, we should be fighting with full force during this war on terrorists, but as we have learned throughout history, our beef is not with every single Muslim, but with those who use their religion to try and justify their actions. You bet your butt I’m taking an extra cautious look at any Muslim looking individual I see in this country, but I am not automatically condemning their entire race in the process. In this country, I still believe that you are innocent until given a reason to suspect otherwise.

One story I have been hearing is that Jessica Lynch is getting more disability pay then Shoshana Johnson. If they both had similar circumstances, why is Shoshana getting less then Jessica? I have read story after story adding fuel to Jesse Jackson and his typical idiotic, narrow-minded view of life as he thinks he sees things. The fact is, that it’s very obvious that Jesse Jackson, and the multitude of reporters who write things that they have no clue about, are all confused.

Disability percentages are based on the amount of injuries or medical issues you have, not by your skin color or how loud a family whines. There are many blacks, Hispanics and other races who receive disability pay equal to or greater then Jessica Lynch. There are also a large number of white folks that are receiving smaller disability percentages then Jessica.

Should everyone injured in Iraq receive 100% disability just because? Should they just toss out how disability percentages are figured out because Jesse Jackson has once again opened his mouth wide enough to drive a truck through, then shoved his foot into it all the way up to his ankle? As far as I can tell, it’s Shoshana’s family, and not Shoshana, who have brought this mess up. All I have to say to them and Jesse is… Whaaaaaa!

On a happier note, it’s nice to see the media go over to Iraq looking for the poor GI stories, and come back instead with stories of many soldiers that believe we should be over there, and that we are doing a good thing. There are many successes, and a lot of proof that we are on the right path.

There are still news stories of the terrible things we are doing over in Iraq. There are stories about the war that is being fought for oil, or the poor soldiers that have been injured during this conflict. Even with all of this negative reporting, I feel that the American people know the truth, and sometimes these claims just seem so silly I can’t believe that some people believe them.

A recent claim was that the war was created by our current administration for political reasons. Do people really think that anybody, much less our president, would do such a thing for just a political means to an end? Just because past presidents seemed to have wagged the dog for political gains, I have not seen, or heard, one shred of evidence to even come close to support these fairly tales.

I have one question for you on closing.

What did you and your family do to honor the veterans today?

If your answer was nothing, remember them in your prayers and at your table on Thanksgiving. You can honor them daily, or at any time. When you see a person in uniform, thank them for their service. Next veterans’ day, try a little harder to remember those who have fallen, and became injured, so that we can live as free as we do.

A special thank you to all who have served, and who are currently serving, this country.

Generally Speaking

You should know that I am not a religious man. Not in the context of any organized religion anyway. On the other hand, I am not an anti-religious man. Throughout history religion has played a major part in each race or people, and each country where human beings have sprung. I recognize its existence, and the role it plays in our society.

Recently, Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin has been placed in the spotlight based on some comments he made at church. What do I think about this?

In the military we are taught that we do not wear our uniforms to any organization or function we attend so that it does not give the appearance that the military is endorsing such a gathering. In fact, we are even discouraged from wearing our uniform outside the performance of our normal duties. For example, you don’t go to the mall in your uniform on the weekends to shop.

As with most things I comment on, I have not done a weeklong in-depth research into all of the facts of this case. My opinions spring from basically what I know by listening to the radio, watching the news, and reading brief news articles on the subjects. That being said, I’m not sure if the General wears his uniform to a civilian church, or to a church on a military base.

Now that I think about it, this should not be the issue either. The problem as I see it, is not that the general spoke his mind, based on his faith and belief system, or even that he slammed another religious belief in the process. The big problem is that he did it in uniform, and as a general. If he was talking wearing a suit and tie, this would have gone nowhere, but he was wearing a symbol of our country, and preaching against another religion in that uniform.

Every Sunday many military folks attend church, and say things like, “Lord please help bring our military home safely.” Some may even say, “watch over our military and protect them in their duty.” These comments are fine, and welcome in the spiritual uplifting that they provide to friends and family that hold the same belief system.

To quote Uncle Ben, “With great power comes great responsibility”. A general of the United States has great power, and great responsibility. Just as a political leader has to be careful what they say, how they say it, and to whom they say things, a general does as well.

Wearing of the uniform is not something you parade around in to impress people. You should not go into church in uniform so that everyone at church knows you’re a general too. A suit would be more appropriate in a civilian church setting on a day-to-day basis. Especially if you’re going to climb up on the soapbox and start preaching with a big dose of political commentary mixed in.

There is freedom of speech in this country, and that’s not what this is about. He has not been told he cannot speak his mind, or do so at church. Again, the issue was that he was doing so as a general of the United States military by wearing his uniform. This is wrong. And again, not wrong because he wore his uniform to church, but wrong because he began speaking about issues that can inflame a current situation.

Despite what Christians may think, there are many U.S. service men and women who are not Christian. I was one of them. Occasionally things would come out like Bible study after work, or praying in some meeting that would make me a little uncomfortable. If you start allowing leaders to attempt to rally their troops based on Christian teachings, eventually those troops are going to start feeling just as divided as the country does.

In the military we all shave our heads and wear the same uniform for a reason, so that we are all one big happy team. Start dividing that team by race, sex, or religion, and you will have a big mess on your hands.

If a general stood in a mosque, in uniform, and began telling of the joys of Allah we’d string him up big time. Or perhaps a general may stand up and pray to the goddess for strength and end the prayer with blessed be. How would you react then? Don’t whip out the, “well our founding fathers B.S.” either until you have read most of my articles on this site.

As I have mentioned time and again in my writings, we must be careful where religion is brought into the mix. Unfortunately, many of the Christian faith have not left the crusades behind them, and still believe that because they believe, the rest of the world should too.