Donald Trump issues memorandum to ban most transgender soldiers.

Courtesy of Politico:  

President Donald Trump on Friday issued orders to ban transgender troops who require surgery or significant medical treatment from serving in the military except in select cases — following through on a controversial pledge last year that has been under review by the Pentagon and is being fought out in the courts. 

The memorandum, which drew swift condemnation from gender rights groups, states that while the secretary of defense and other executive branch officials will have some latitude in implementing the policy, “persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria — including individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery — are disqualified from military service except under limited circumstances.” 

The memo also said that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, “in the exercise of his independent judgment, has concluded [the policies] should be adopted by the Department of Defense.” It added that “the Secretary of Homeland Security concurs with these policies with respect to the U.S. Coast Guard,” which would also be affected by the policy. 

The decision comes after a number of top military officials over the past year-- including most members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- have gone out of their way to defend the thousands of transgender troops who are believed to be serving in the military.

Remember there is a tweet for everything. 

I somehow doubt that too many LGBTQ folks were fooled by this, but if there were some, don't you feel silly now?

Personally I think that Trump is simply using this as another diversion to keep us from talking about that huge omnibus bill he signed yesterday and that Stormy Daniels 60 Minutes interview tomorrow.

Trump is the kind of guy who would poison the family dog to keep his parents from finding out that he stayed out past curfew.

I seriously doubt that this memo will have any real impact, and fully intend to pay attention to all of the things that it was designed to distract me from.

Donald Trump cannot even make a condolence call to the family of a deceased soldier correctly.

Courtesy of AP: 

Relatives of people who died in military service have recounted varied interactions with President Donald Trump in the difficult days and weeks after their loved one’s death. Despite Trump’s boast that he reaches out personally to all families of the fallen, interviews with families members did not support his claim. Some never heard from him at all, and a few who did came away more upset. 

The Associated Press reached out to the families of all 43 people who have died in military service since Trump became president and made contact with about half the families. Of those who would address the question, relatives of nine said they had heard from Trump by phone or mail. Relatives of nine others said they haven’t. 

Several spoke of being comforted by Trump but at least one call went awry: Cowanda Jones-Johnson told the AP that Trump spoke disrespectfully of her fallen nephew, Sgt. La David Johnson, when he called family members Tuesday. Johnson was among four servicemen killed in Niger earlier this month.

Of course the story that was tearing through the internet yesterday was this one.

Courtesy of WaPo:

President Trump, in a personal phone call to a grieving military father, offered him $25,000 and said he would direct his staff to establish an online fundraiser for the family, but neither happened, the father said. 

Chris Baldridge, the father of Army Sgt. Dillon Baldridge, said that Trump called him at his home in Zebulon, N.C., a few weeks after his 22-year-old son and two fellow soldiers were fatally shot by an Afghan police officer on June 10. Their phone conversation lasted about 15 minutes, Baldridge said, and centered for a time on the father’s struggle with the manner in which his son was killed — shot by someone he was training. 

“I said, ‘Me and my wife would rather our son died in trench warfare,’ ” Baldridge said. “I feel like he got murdered over there.” 

Trump’s offer of $25,000 adds a dimension to his relationships with Gold Star families, and the disclosure follows questions about how often the president has called or written to the parents or spouses of those killed.

When reporters started trying to get an answer from the White House as to why Trump did not actually write this check, this happened:  

President Donald Trump sent a $25,000 personal check to the family of a fallen soldier the same day that The Washington Post reported that he had promised the soldier's father a personal donation during a June condolence call but never followed through. 

A White House official confirms to CNN that the President sent a personal check Wednesday to the family of Army Cpl. Dillon Baldridge Wednesday. Baldridge, 22, was killed in June by an Afghan police officer.

Now to be fair a president is NOT expected to volunteer his personal money to the family of a fallen soldier. But when you are trying to convince the country that you are better at this than your predecessor, well then let the mocking begin.

However before we turn to such frivolity we need to remember that there are those who will go to great lengths to defend the Orange Fuhrer.

Courtesy of CBS Miami:

Rep. Frederica Wilson’s office claims multiple threatening phone calls directed at congresswoman came into her D.C. office on Wednesday. 

Her staff told CBS4’s Carey Codd the calls were directly related to the phone call from the president to the wife of Army Sgt. La David Johnson. 

The congresswoman’s staff said they alerted the Capital Police, Miami Garden Police and the threat division of the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Codd was told she is safe and that she is being protected at this point.

It must be remembered that this entire thing was self inflicted.

Trump was the one who bragged that while other presidents before him, President Obama in particular of course,  were a little hit and miss when it came to reaching out to Gold Star families, he was talking to ALL of them.

And then when called out on that lie, and confronted with his lack of empathy, he started to attack those who criticized him.

This is why we are not supposed to allow a thin skinned lunatic into the White House. 

Donald Trump today accused President Obama, and other former presidents, of not calling the families of fallen soldiers.

12 days after it was announced soldiers were killed in Niger, Trump says "I will at some point during the period of time call the parents." pic.twitter.com/vPh85JNF4x

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 16, 2017

Courtesy of TPM:

During a press conference on Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump made the dubious claim that former President Barack Obama and other former presidents did not personally call the families of soldiers who died in combat. 

Trump quickly walked back the claim when a reporter followed up. 

The President first told reporters that he had written letters to the families of soldiers who died in the recent attack in Niger and said he would soon call the families as well. He then claimed that his approach was unique, and that not all past presidents made those calls. 

“The traditional way, if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls. A lot of them didn’t make calls,” he said. “I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it. They have made the ultimate sacrifice so generally I would say that I like to call. I’m going to be calling them.” 

That was more than one former Obama adviser could stand.

that's a fucking lie. to say president obama (or past presidents) didn't call the family members of soldiers KIA - he's a deranged animal.

— Alyssa Mastromonaco (@AlyssaMastro44) October 16, 2017

I absolutely do not blame her for that response.

They did not call President Obama the "Consoler-in-Chief" for nothing.

He met with the families of fallen soldiers. (Mostly in private.)

Met the caskets of soldiers who lost their lives in battle.

Attended multiple military funerals for those who lost their lives.

And visited the hospital beds of men and women who had been wounded fighting for their country.

Here was what Pete Souza the White House photographer under President Obama had to say.

Pete Souza: 'I photographed [President Obama] meeting with hundreds of wounded soldiers, and family members of those killed in action.' pic.twitter.com/01pICn3YVo

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 16, 2017

We know that Donald Trump is a lying POS but this is low even for him.

Just in case you have not had enough opportunities to cringe today, here is Donald Trump congratulating a soldier for getting his leg blown off.

Pres. Trump awarded a Purple Heart on Saturday to an Army sergeant recently wounded in Afghanistan: https://t.co/MSRsIByw9Y pic.twitter.com/StQ5gJ7H6D

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 22, 2017

Courtesy of Mediaite:  

President Donald Trump congratulated an army sergeant for being wounded in Afghanistan during his visit to the Walter Reed Medical Center on Saturday. Except, of course, that it’s not appropriate to “congratulate” a recipient of this type of award for almost getting killed.

The president and First Lady Melania Trump met with Barrientos and his wife at the hospital, and they had a small ceremony as Trump presented the sergeant with the Purple Heart. The medal is the longstanding award bestowed upon those wounded or killed in their service to the U.S. Military. 

“I heard about this and I wanted to do it myself,” said Trump. “Congratulations on behalf of Melania, myself, and the entire nation. Tremendous job.”

Not only does this soldier look like he would rather be just about any place else, but did you notice Trump slobbering on his wife?

You know I read that Trump got quite a lot of support from members of the military. I wonder how they are feeling about that vote right about now?

Father of soldier slain in Yemen raid refused to shake Donald Trump's hand, wants investigation.

Courtesy of the Miami Herald:  

Owens’ father, Bill, had learned only a short time before the ceremony that Trump was coming. Owens was sitting with his wife, Marie, and other family members in the solemn, living room-like space where the loved ones of the fallen assemble before they are taken to the flight line. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to see him,’’ Owens recalled telling the chaplain who informed him that Trump was on his way from Washington. “I told them I don’t want to meet the President.” 

It had been little more than 24 hours since six officers in dress uniform knocked on the door to Owens’ home in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. It was not yet daylight when he answered the door, already knowing in the pit of his stomach what they had come to tell him. 

Now, Owens cringed at the thought of having to shake the hand of the president who approved the raid in Yemen that claimed his son’s life — an operation that he and others are now calling into question. 

“I told them I didn’t want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldn’t let me talk to him,” Owens said Friday, speaking out for the first time in an interview with the Miami Herald. 

Not only was Mr. Owens repulsed by the idea of meeting the man whose carelessness resulted in his son's death  (He was not even in the Situation Room during the raid.), he wants an investigation.

“Don’t hide behind my son’s death to prevent an investigation,” said the elder Owens, pointing to Trump’s sharp words directed at the mission’s critics, including Sen. John McCain. 

“I want an investigation. … The government owes my son an investigation,” he said. 

I don't support using this man's tragedy as a political tool, nor do I want this to turn into some Benghazi style witch hunt, but the man DOES deserve a little closure.

And he also deserves the right not to be exposed to the toxic personality of Donald Trump.

Can you even imagine how inappropriate he would be in a situation like this?

Mother of soldier slain in Benghazi attack literally blames Hillary Clinton for the death of her son.

For me this is what set the tone for the first day of the GOP convention.

Right before Pat Smith took the stage former Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell spoke and he was similarly hyperbolic.

However Smith's anguished condemnation of Hillary Clinton used "weaponized emotion" to attack the Democratic nominee in a way that I don't think any of us have seen before at a national convention.

It was ugly, misinformed, and incredibly unfair.

Hillary Clinton has been thoroughly investigated by no less than nine investigative committees, most of which were led by partisan Republicans desperately trying to find something to use against her in the 2016 election, and not one of them blamed her for any of the deaths in Benghazi.

As for her claims that Clinton blamed the video in private talks with her, Politifact looked into that and found that her version did not necessarily jibe with other family members, but even if true did not mean that Hillary would have been purposefully lying.

However this Pat Smith has been a frequent guest on Fox News and other Right Wing media outlets where her charges against Clinton have grown ever more aggressive and emotional.

Having her speak on the first night of the convention is a clear sign that Donald Trump is prepared to go after Hillary in the ugliest and nastiest way imaginable.

There is a lot to mock with this GOP convention, but we should not ignore the level of rage and and outright hatred toward the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton that is felt by many of its attendees.

George W. Bush charged $100,000 to speak at a fundraiser to benefit veterans maimed in the wars that he started.

Courtesy of ABC News:  

Former President George W. Bush charged $100,000 to speak at a charity fundraiser for U.S. military veterans severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and former First Lady Laura Bush collected $50,000 to appear a year earlier, officials of the Texas-based Helping a Hero charity confirmed to ABC News. 

The former President was also provided with a private jet to travel to Houston at a cost of $20,000, the officials said. 

The charity, which helps to provide specially-adapted homes for veterans who lost limbs and suffered other severe injuries in “the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said the total $170,000 expenditure was justified because the former President and First Lady offered discounted fees and helped raise record amounts in contributions at galas held in 2011 and 2012. 

“It was great because he reduced his normal fee of $250,000 down to $100,000,” said Meredith Iler, the former chairman of the charity. However, a recent report by Politico said the former President’s fees typically ranged between $100,000 and $175,000 during those years.

So Bush not only charged them for the "honor" of having him raise money to help with the wounds that his lies and arrogance caused, but he also lied about giving them a discount.

You know it is at special moments like this that I really wish there were a Hell, so that I could take comfort in the idea of this POS suffering for all eternity.

But you know what, I am a reasonable man, I will settle for him being charged with war crimes and caged like an animal for the remainder of his days.

Anything less would be a travesty of justice.

Joni Ernst claims that US troops are ready and willing to fight a new war in Iraq.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

“I am not ready to put ground troops in, but I think we are coming to a juncture where we will have to make that hard decision,” Ernst argued. 

“How would you tell those military families, again though, when so many have fought, so many have died, how do you say we’re going to go back again?” Karl wondered. 

“We haven’t made that determination yet, we will have to make a decision at some point,” the Iowa Republican replied. “But having served in the Middle East, I see a need at some point. If we don’t get this situation under control, ISIS will continue to spread.” 

“And I think most of our service members understand that, and I think many of them are ready to go back,” she continued. “If that call comes up, they are going to answer that call.”

Yes our troops will answer the call, but they are certainly not "ready to go back."

Some of our soldiers have endured four and five tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, and if they are not suffering from PTSD yet, than they are only one more tour or so from suffering that fate.

Human beings are not designed to live under constant stress and fear of death without risking the loss of their sanity or their humanity.

As for Jodi Ernst she may have received the combat veteran status since she was deployed to a combat zone, but she herself did not experience any actual combat as her job was to run supply convoys not engage in fire fights.

So for her to make a blanket statement concerning what soldiers are, or are not, ready to do is incredibly disingenuous.

If we send our troops back into Iraq to fight an enemy that once again we helped to create, we will be sending possibly dozens if not hundreds more of our people to die on the sands of a foreign land whose people do not want us there, to end a conflict that has literally been going on, in one form or another, for over a thousand years

Mike Huckabee suggests that parents dissuade their children from joining the military until President Obama leaves office. Apparently he has an "open hostility toward the Christian faith."

Courtesy of HuffPo:

 Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) suggested Friday that young Americans planning to join the military should wait until President Barack Obama leaves office to do so because his administration has an "open hostility toward the Christian faith." 

Huckabee told Iowa talk radio host Jan Mickelson that the Obama administration “orders its chaplains to put its Bibles away, not to pray in Jesus' name, not to counsel people on the issues of sexual morality.” (In other words counsel gay soldiers to suppress their sexuality.)

“When you have this attitude that is more about promoting gay marriage and gay rights in the military than it is about being able to protect religious liberty for those people of faith,” Huckabee said, “it’s going to be hard to find people that are truly devoted people of faith and Christian believers and Orthodox Jews and others.” (Bummer! Gee, how will the military survive without all of those fundamentalists bringing Christianity to the Middle East on bullet at a time?)

He then suggested that parents should stop their children from enlisting until America has a new commander in chief. 

“I’d wait a couple of years until we get a new commander in chief that will once again believe ‘one nation under God,’ and believe that people of faith should be a vital part of the process of not only governing this country, but defending this country,” he said.

Silly me. Here I thought that people joined the military to serve their country, not to serve Jesus. 

You know I can't help wondering if the Republicans are really willing to nominate a potential presidential candidate who is on record telling Americans not to join the military?

Army platoon based in Alaska hosts a "Racial Thursday" where every racial slur is not only allowed but encouraged. Seriously?

Courtesy of the Army Times:  

The Army is investigating allegations that a platoon of soldiers was given a free pass to use racial slurs against each other during what was known as "Racial Thursdays." 

The soldiers belong to 2nd Platoon, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, according to a member of the unit who spoke to Army Times. 

The battalion belongs to the 25th Infantry Division's 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. 

"When I first got to my unit, someone said we should do 'Racial Thursdays' because it's been a tradition," said the soldier, who asked to remain anonymous. "It's something they made up where you can say any racist remark you want without any consequences. The platoon sergeant said no, but the shit is still going on." 

The soldier, a staff sergeant, added: "It's degrading to the soldiers. We've had soldiers almost fight over the crap that's going on here." 

The NCO, who is black, said no one has directed any racial slurs towards him because he made it clear he would not participate or put up with the practice. 

But he also said he felt compelled to bring the issue to the media because the unit "has a bad habit of sweeping things under the rug."

I think the first thing I would like to say is that the majority of soldiers stationed in Alaska are not themselves originally from Alaska.  In fact the military stationed up here comes from all over the country.

Having said that I should also admit that Alaskans are not inoculated from racism however, and we have had our fair share of racist hate, much of it directed at our native population.

I am not sure exactly how an idea such as "racial Thursday" came to be, but I can pretty much assume that it was the brainchild of some white guy who was itching to use the "N" word and not get busted for it.

It kind of makes you wonder if there was not a "gay bashing Saturday" and a "misogynistic Monday" to go along with "Racial Thursday?"

We certainly know there was a "Whore mongering Wednesday" because a soldier was arrested for it just last year.

I know that we are all supposed to worship at the feet of the military, but I think it better serves us to remember that a lot of these folks are actually just kids who come from some of the poorest rural areas in the country, and that they come to various parts of the world encumbered with the superstitions, stereotypes, and prejudices provided to them by their parents and communities.

And what is even more troubling, is that many will serve out their enlistments with all of those superstitions, stereotypes, and prejudices firmly intact. And some made even worse.

Veteran calls the Republicans out on their hypocrisy concerning the military.

Courtesy of the Greenville Gazette:  

In a recent post on FaceBook, veteran Jim Adams told the Republicans, ‘don’t you dare thank me for my military service’. He goes on to tell them, ‘you no longer have that right’. Mr. Adams tells the Republicans they sent him to war on a lie, and now want to cut his health and food benefits. He reminds them how they are voting against every veteran bill that hits the floor. He tells them he knows they don’t give a f**k about him or any other veteran and is insulted that veterans are part of the ‘47% takers’ they do not want to support. 

One of the bills the Republicans voted against, and showed their abandonment of veterans for, was the Senate Veteran Bill. This bill would have expanded medical, educational and other benefits for those who have served our country. Thousands spoke out in support of this bill to honor and take care of those who have taken care of us. It was shot down by Senate Republicans as they could not use the lives of soldiers as a bargaining chip.

I am hoping to see a lot more of this in the future as more veterans come to realize that the fake patriotism of the Right Wing focuses on drumming up reasons to go to war and sending our military into foreign countries to die.

And it is not only on Facebook where veterans are speaking out, recently a former sniper addressed the mythology surrounding Chris Kyle and the movie "American Sniper."

To be blunt the conservatives and Republican party are dedicated to ensuring endless war and continued American casualties, all in the name of patriotism and protecting the homeland.

The REAL patriots are the people trying to protect our military from dying needlessly and receiving the care and support they need when they return home from putting themselves in harm's way at the direction of politicians whose children are kept far away from the front lines.

How the deification of soldiers is hurting them in the long run.

This is an excerpt from a Boston Globe story entitled "Joining the Military doesn't make you a hero:"  
When soldiers were part of society, people recognized them as ordinary human beings. Now, with the emergence of the all-volunteer army, society has transferred the burden of war to a small, self-contained caste cut off from the American mainstream. This distance allows civilians to develop extravagant fantasies about soldiers that feed the militarist impulse. If we believe our soldiers are superheroes, it makes sense to send them to faraway battlefields to solve our perceived problems in the world. That is why, in this era of seemingly endless war, politicians, the defense industry, and even big-time sports compete with each other to promote hero-worship of soldiers and veterans. 

This serves the cynical interests of those who, for political or business reasons, want to encourage American involvement in foreign wars. Even worse, it distracts attention away from the scandalous way we treat our veterans. Cheering for them in public and saluting them in cliché-ridden speeches is a way to disguise the fact that our society callously discards many of them. Shocking rates of unemployment, mental illness, homelessness, addiction, and suicide among our veterans constitute a national disgrace. It is far easier, however, to spend a few seconds applauding a smiling soldier than to contemplate a troubled veteran left behind by an uncaring country. 

The soldier acknowledging cheers at a ball game is a fantasy figure we can easily admire. Veterans in need are more disturbing, so we keep them invisible. If we truly considered our uniformed fighters heroic, we would show them real gratitude rather than the phony kind that gives us a shiver of momentary pride but does them little good.

This issue has been bothering me for quite some time, only  in today's world discussing it is tantamount to treason in the eyes of many.

I think we have all seen politicians giving lip service to our military men and women, and then turning a blind eye to their needs after their service is complete.

The suicide rate for veterans far exceeds the number killed in combat, and even if they do not kill themselves many others are diagnosed with PTSD and have significant trouble reentering civilian life.

By labeling them "heroes," and giving them almost mythical abilities, we forget to treat them like the fragile human beings that they are.

In the end we place them on a pedestal and then abandon them as if they were a marble monument to bravery, instead of a thinking, feeling, suffering, member of the human race.

With the whole Benghazi thing blowing up in the conservatives faces, Obamacare doing much better than they predicted, and Hillary Clinton gracefully dodging GOP mudslinging, Sarah Palin decides to focus on breaking a Marine out of a Mexico jail instead.

Courtesy of the White Walker of Wasilla's Facebook page:  

Does it seem like a decorated Marine is the only one Obama doesn't want crossing our border? 

I’ve had the good fortune to be in contact with associates of Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, the U.S. Marine jailed in Mexico after inadvertently crossing the border with three registered guns in his car. Fox’s Greta Van Susteren has been covering this story diligently, and has traveled the route our Marine traveled when straying across a highway into Mexico, noting it seems quite easy to end up in Mexico without planning on it, because signage is so poor along the roads. 

As reported, his mother has had difficulty finding good legal representation for her son, but they’ve now acquired a good attorney to present his case and get him released as soon as possible. 

This terrible and unnecessary situation will likely be resolved via the court system and there is every indication that Sgt. Tahmooressi has a strong case to win, but it’s a crapshoot. And it’s crappy (Boy I remember when I was ten years old and liked to say some version of the the word "crap.") that more hasn’t been done to help free this detained U.S. Marine who’s suffered months in a Mexican jail for crossing the boarder into their country with registered arms. We must implore our commander-in-chief to help America’s Marine under his command, and help his family with at least having their questions answered. (You know as a civilian I am more than a little insulted at the idea that somebody in the military is more deserving of justice than any other American. It's not like there are not people in uniform who are incapable of breaking the law, or doing terrible things.) Please don’t prove this is par for the course for your administration, Mr. President. Perhaps if Sgt. Tahmooressi had deserted his post, his mother would get the red carpet treatment at the White House instead of being ignored. (Okay that is just an ugly and unnecessary dig at Sgt. Bergdahl.)

Let’s bring our honorable Marine home. An organization helping Sgt. Tahmooressi will have information for all of us soon, so stay tuned for more info – I'll get it to you – and please do what you can to support them in bringing an honorable American son home. 

- Sarah Palin

I know NOTHING about the ease with which one can accidentally cross the border into Mexico, but you would think with everybody so focused on security that it would not be something quite so easily accomplished.

And it appears I'm right.

Here is some information that Palin seems to be willfully overlooking:

According to Vice News, Tahmooressi entered Mexico with a 5.56mm rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and a .45-caliber pistol, as well as more than 400 rounds of ammunition. The chief Mexican customs officer at the San Ysidro crossing told Vice that the guns, all loaded, were "just wrapped up in his belongings" rather than locked away and unloaded as required by California law. Vice also reported that "the rifle was found behind the driver’s seat, the shotgun on the passenger seat, and the pistol was in the driver-side door pocket, along with several cartridges." 

It's pretty hard to accidentally end up in Mexico. Especially with guns. There are big signs on the U.S. side telling travelers that guns are illegal in Mexico. There’s plenty of warning that the border is approaching. Is it plausible that Tahmooressi crossed by accident in the dark? Maybe. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, even though he admitted that he lied to Mexican officials about how many times he'd crossed the border.

Okay now if you were a Mexican police officer and you found an American who entered your country with illegal firearms in their vehicle and four hundred rounds of ammunition, and they then lied about how many times they crossed your border, would you trust that their motives innocent?

But hey if Palin is hell bent on grandstanding in a totally useless fashion, she can join these guys:

U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi has been in a Mexican prison for almost three months — and a group of bikers have decided that’s long enough. 

John Harrington, founder of Shield Tactical, grew tired of waiting on President Obama to intervene on the Marine’s behalf, so he is organizing a ride to the Mexican border to demand Tahmooressi’s release. 

“I started last Thursday to organize the ride on the border to demand the release of Sgt. Tahmooressi,” Harrington told the Guerilla Media Network in a roadside interview earlier this week. “Somebody has to stand up for these guys. It’s time we start fighting liars with fires. So that’s what we’re doing.”

How does one "fight liars with fires" by the way?

So these motorcycle morons are going to ride their Harley's to the border, and gun their engines in order to intimidate the Mexican law enforcement into releasing the ex-Marine.

It sounds like somebody has been watching too many episodes of the Sons of Anarchy.

The actual Marines have a more reasoned approach to this matter:

In a letter this week to Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs Commander Lt. Gen. Robert Milstead said the Corps has limited ability to help Tahmooressi, but was willing to do whatever possible to bring him back. 

“I understand ... this matter rests appropriately within the U.S. Department of State’s capable hands,” Milstead said. “While it is not within the Marine Corps’ purview to unilaterally intervene in matters involving a foreign government, I assure you that we are prepared to assist as necessary to the greatest extent permissible under law.”

You see THAT is the kind of support that is appropriate.  To "assist as necessary to the greatest extent permissible under law." Only attention seeking idiots rant and rage about something that is already being handled by the courts of country with whom we have a friendly relationship.

So here is my question.

What happens if the Mexican authorities turn up some new evidence that Tahmooressi wasn't the innocent border crosser he claims to be? What if it turns out that he was engaged in illegal activities?

Will Palin, Fox News, and the Right Wing rabble rousers then suggest that we invade Mexico to break him out of jail? Or do they actually respect the sovereignty of other nations like they are always saying?

 I can just hear John McCain now, "Bomb, bomb, bomb... bomb, bomb Mexico."

President Obama resists the urging from Republicans, and states that we will NOT be sending soldiers back into Iraq.

Courtesy of CNN:  

No troops to Iraq, but other options are being considered. 

That was President Barack Obama's message Friday in response to the lightning advance by Sunni militant fighters in Iraq that could threaten the government of Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. 

In a statement delivered from the White House South Lawn, Obama said the United States "will not be sending U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq," but that he would be reviewing a range of other options in coming days. 

"This is not going to happen overnight," the President said, adding that unless Iraq fixes its internal political problems, short-term military help from the United States won't make much difference. 

Of course this comes in defiance of those who are banging the war drums and urging the President to send more of our young men and women back into the Iraq meat grinder. 

In fact John McCain is now claiming that the war was won, until the Obama administration lost it again: 

"We had it won," McCain said. "Gen. [David] Petraeus had the conflict won, thanks to the surge. If we had left a residual force behind, we would not be facing the crisis we are today. Those are fundamental facts ... The fact is, we had the conflict won. We had a stable government ... But the president wanted out, and now, we are paying a very heavy price. And I predicted it in 2011."

Of course that it ridiculous, and John McCain knows it.

No matter how long American troops stayed the sectarian violence was ALWAYS going to ratchet back up once they were gone, and the Sunnis were never forget that they were in power before the Americans came along and handed the country to their hated adversaries the Shiites.

And besides America left Iraq, because Iraq asked us to leave. So what choice did we really have?

If McCain had his way we would have troops in Iraq for forty or fifty more years until the generation that remembered the war had all died out.

Of course if Senator McCain had his way we would currently be fighting at least four or five more wars. He always reminds me of Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore from "Apocalypse now:"

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

And apparently John McCain loves the smell of America soldiers dying.

Did six soldiers lose their lives looking for Sgt. Bergdahl as the conservatives claim? Doesn't look like it.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

Did the search for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl cost the lives of American soldiers? 

Since last weekend’s prisoner exchange in which Afghan insurgents turned over Sergeant Bergdahl after five years of captivity, a number of the men who served with him have called him a deserter. Some have gone further, blaming him for the deaths of six to eight soldiers. 

That second claim is hardening into a news media narrative. CNN has reported in scrolling headlines that six soldiers died looking for Sergeant Bergdahl after senior American military officials say he wandered off his base. The Daily Beast published an essay by a former member of Sergeant Bergdahl’s battalion, Nathan Bradley Bethea, who linked the search to the deaths of eight soldiers whom he named. “He has finally returned,” Mr. Bethea wrote. “Those men will never have the opportunity.”

However the Times examined the casualty reports and military logs from around that time, and things just don't add up.

Two soldiers died during the most intense period of the search after Sergeant Bergdahl’s June 30 disappearance. Both were inside an outpost that came under attack, not out patrolling and running checkpoints looking for him. The other six soldiers died in late August and early September.

It seems unlikely that any deaths that took place in late August or early September were from soldiers involved in an active search. Apparently the people making that claim are suggesting that the Taliban knew the soldiers were stretched thin and chose a vulnerable moment to strike, which seems to be more a matter of conjecture rather than the study of cold hard facts.

Let's face it the conservatives simply cannot allow the President to do ANYTHING good without attempting to turn it into something bad.

But what they are doing to this soldier, and to his family, may in fact may be a new low.

They even forced his home town to cancel his welcome home celebration. 

It seems in their overwhelming desire to undermine the Obama presidency there can be no innocent bystanders left uninjured, no line uncrossed, and no gutter in which they will not crawl, if there is any chance that by doing so they will injure the President.

Sarah Palin cannot think of anything stupid enough to say about the return of Sgt. Bergdahl. Fortunately for her Bristol is a fount of ignorance.

Of course this was not quite dimwitted enough so Palin also had her Facebook ghostwriter jot this down:

Bristol posted an answer to supporters of Obama's terrorist negotiations to free the Taliban's Dastardly Dream Team in exchange for the sketchy "I'm-ashamed-to-be-American" Sgt. Bergdahl, who is accused by his fellow soldiers of deserting and denouncing America before going AWOL – a decision which cost other soldiers their lives as the Army mounted extensive operations to find Bergdahl after he abandoned his post. Sympathizers now tell the media Bergdahl can't be held to account anytime soon because he can't be interviewed... claiming he's forgotten how to speak English. Really? See below. Then # Call1-800-RosettaStone. 

Does anyone remember abused POWs like John McCain, Tom Moe, James Stockdale, Tom Kirk, and other American troops forgetting the English language during their years and years of brutal, inhumane captivity? Seems these war heroes returned to their beloved country not speaking Vietnamese, but speaking KickAss against those who would destroy the red, white, and blue. 

- Sarah Palin

You know if I were Palin I would not be so quick to use John McCain as an example.

This from Rolling Stone magazine:

McCain has also allowed the media to believe that his torture lasted for the entire time he was in Hanoi. At the Republican convention, Fred Thompson said of McCain's torture, "For five and a half years this went on." In fact, McCain's torture ended after two years, when the death of Ho Chi Minh in September 1969 caused the Vietnamese to change the way they treated POWs. "They decided it would be better to treat us better and keep us alive so they could trade us in for real estate," Butler recalls. 

By that point, McCain had become the most valuable prisoner of all: His father was now directing the war effort as commander in chief of all U.S. forces in the Pacific. McCain spent the next three and a half years in Hanoi biding his time, trying to put on weight and regain his strength, as the bombing ordered by his father escalated. By the time he and other POWs were freed in March 1973 as a result of the Paris Peace Accords, McCain was able to leave the prison camp in Hanoi on his own feet. 

In other words, unlike Bergdahl, McCain was treated quite well for the majority of his five years in captivity, and, also unlike Bergdahl, he was surrounded with fellow prisoners with whom he could converse with in English.

But here's the thing, there has been no official word as to whether or not Bergdahl is having trouble answering questions, nor if he is why he is. It's the parents who have suggested that he has forgotten how to speak English. 

But that may not be the reason, or at least not the ONLY reason.

This courtesy of CNN: 

Roy Hallums, a private contractor held by Iraqi insurgents for 10 months, said he didn't have trouble readjusting to English, but said he couldn't talk for a while because he had been forced to stay silent under threat of death. 

"It's like your vocal chords are like your muscles in your arms. If they don't get any use, they get out of shape," he told CNN's "New Day."

There are also reports that Bergdahl is quite ill, and suffering some emotional damage. So this may have less to do with a language barrier, than an actual physical or emotional impairment. 

I really don't know.

And because I don't know I would certainly not feel comfortable attacking him, or those who are trying to assist him.

But then again Sarah Palin, and her hateful offspring, are not exactly known for empathy.

President negotiates release of soldier held by Taliban since 2009. Receives universal praise. Well, almost universal.

President with parents of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl

Courtesy of NBC News:  

The family of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was overjoyed when President Barack Obama personally called them Saturday and gave them the news they were desperately hoping to hear: Their son, captured by the Taliban in 2009, was still alive. And he was finally coming home. 

“We cannot wait to wrap our arms around our only son,” Bergdahl’s parents, Bob and Jani Bergdahl, said in a statement, thanking supporters and those who helped secure his return without a single shot fired. 

“And of course, we want to take this opportunity to thank all those in the many U.S. Government agencies who never gave up,” the statement continued. “Today, we are ecstatic!” 

Bergdahl, 28, was rescued Saturday evening local time (10:30 a.m. ET) in eastern Afghanistan — in exchange for five prisoners who were held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center — and is back in the hands of the U.S. military, officials said. 

“Sergeant Bergdahl's recovery is a reminder of America's unwavering commitment to leave no man or woman in uniform behind on the battlefield,” Obama said in a statement.

Apparently Bergdahl was captured after he wandered away from his  military base in eastern Afghanistan.

The exchange for his freedom happened without any shots being fired, and has been heralded by many as a victory of diplomacy.

Well unless you are former Ambassador to the UN John Bolton that is: 

Just hours after the president announced that 28-year-old Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl had been freed, Bolton told Fox News host Jeanine Pirro that a dangerous precedent had been set by trading five Guantanamo Bay prisoners for one American. 

“The president has sent the Taliban an unmistakable signal that he will pay any price to get the United States out, and that’s a signal that’s bad for Taliban and al Qaeda to hear and our adversaries around the world,” Bolton opined. “And perhaps even worse, it is despicable for a president of the United States to grant moral equivalence to these terrorist in Gitmo compared to an American servicemember. The idea that there’s any equivalence at all between and American soldier and a terrorist, I think, is reprehensible.” 

Pirro argued that Obama was “putting us in jeopardy” by accepting Qatar’s assurances that the five prisoners would not return to the battlefield. 

“Well, he is,” Bolton agreed. “When you put a price on an American like Sgt. Bergdahl, you put a price on all Americans, and the Taliban know that.” 

“And basically teeing it up for Americans to be abducted!” Pirro declared.

Yes so much better to leave this man in the clutches of the Taliban for another five years, or until he dies, rather than to show any sign of weakness by negotiating for his freedom.

Personally I think that any advice coming from somebody in the Bush administration about what to do about our military, Afghanistan, or any other fucking thing, should be ignored completely.

After all these were the assholes that got us into this mess in the first place.

It's Memorial Day so that means war pimping, warrior bod birthing, Sarah Palin MUST make a statement. And if she can get a dig in at the President, all's the better.

Courtesy of Lady Liberal Libation's Facebook page:

Enjoy this long, glorious spring weekend, and please never forget the true meaning of Memorial Day. We set this time aside to honor the men and women who for generations have ensured our safety and our ability to spend a day like this in freedom and peace. They are more than just names on gravestones in national cemeteries and battlefields. They were someone’s child, sibling, spouse, parent, and friend. As President Reagan said, on Memorial Day we remember “those who were loved and who, in return, loved their countrymen enough to die for them.” 

Thank you, God, for instilling the passion for freedom in these patriots. Thank you for equipping America with the resources to defend the liberty You have given us. (Did she just thank God for the Military Industrial Complex? You know, the people who donate millions of dollars to politicians so that they will keep starting wars that allow them to sell their murderous products to the government.)

Please remember our active veterans today as well as those who have fallen. Every American should feel outrage at any injustice done to our veterans seeking what was promised them when they volunteered to defend the homeland. They are owed the health care they have already paid for. Friends, be determined to right the wrongs our vets face today. (Ah, gotta twist that knife buried in President Obama's back, don't you nasty?)

President Lincoln knew our military heroes as "those who gave the last full measure of devotion” for our freedom; let’s continue Lincoln’s legacy of respect and always keep faith with our veterans. They, more than any, deserve our country’s unending respect and gratitude.

 - Sarah Palin

Reagan, Lincoln, did you ever notice that Palin likes to mention the same American presidents that Barack Obama said that he admired in past speeches and comments? Calling Dr. Freud.

Yes today is a day to honor our fallen soldiers who gave their lives in service of our country.

However it should not be a day for half term governors, failed reality stars, and current D-list celebrities to attack the President of this country, while pretending to care about the deaths of the actual soldiers whose lives were put in the kind of jeopardy that her own political connections protected her own son from facing.

In other words this should be a day free from hypocrisy.

Sarah Palin uses recent revelations about the VA falsifying records to once again try to defend her "death panels" lie.

Since when do injured soldiers wear their uniforms while lying in a hospital bed?

Courtesy of ole Death Panels Facebook page:

 I love this American Awakening when finally more voters can’t say they weren’t warned. Stamped with the media’s “Lie of the Year”, I had the sticky label on my back for years used as convenient “proof” that commonsense conservatives just don’t know what we’re talking about.  (Yes, becasue they don't.) Denouncing from the Orwellian Left and a squishy Right ensued. But the truth stares us in the face and pocketbook, especially as we see the unworkable Obamacare. 

What happens next is the Left will subtly suggest moving America toward a single-payer system, which was their intention all along. (Really? Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I can hardly wait!) Watch for this gradual, but driving, descent into statism.

So, are you still relying on Obamacare to help and not hurt you? On the Democrat’s watch, health care in the hands of unaccountable bureaucrats proves Reagan’s adage that government is not the solution; government is the problem. (Well under Republicans, sure.)

And speaking of the VA scandal, we’ve seen how Obama merely gives lip service to his bureaucrats “investigating” his bureaucracy, so don’t be surprised if he finds nothing wrong in the government’s VA health system – “NOT EVEN A SMIDGEN”! 

- Sarah Palin

Okay well you know this whole VA thing IS a real scandal, and somebody needs to get a public spanking over it. And probably fired as well.

According to journalist Dana Milbank that choice is clear:

Eric Shinseki has served his country honorably as a twice-wounded officer in Vietnam, as Army chief of staff and finally as President Obama’s secretary of veterans affairs. 

But his maddeningly passive response to the scandal roiling his agency suggests that the best way Shinseki can serve now is to step aside.

Sounds about right.

However despite Palin's claims, what is happening at the VA is by no means an indictment against Obamacare, or even government run healthcare in general.

After all Medicare seems to be doing well, and the Medicaid expansion seems to be going well. (In the states that adopted it of course.)

Besides the facts are that the problems at the VA started happening well before Obama took office: 

Paul Sullivan, the executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a veterans’ advocacy group that sued the VA in federal court, said attempts by the White House to portray Bush as an advocate for veterans is beyond shameful. 

“Bush is the worst failure for our veterans since Hoover,” Sullivan said, expressing shock that the President “would shamefully continue his legacy of lies to the American people as he and his political cronies are forced to leave office on Jan. 20.” 

Sullivan disputed some of Bush’s claims as misleading, such as the assertion that he doubled funding for the VA. “However, President Bush failed to disclose that the number of veterans seeking VA healthcare doubled, from 2.7 million to 5.5 million, and that rising healthcare inflation actually resulted in a net decrease in spending per veteran by VA during the past eight years,” he said.

Yes President Obama promised to fix this, and he selected General Shinseki to do just that. And I don't think it is appropriate to make excuses for the number of patients who waited months to see a doctor, and the information destroyed to cover that up.

However as bad as this is, and yes it's bad, it does NOTHING to change the fact that Sarah Palin absolutely earned that 2009 Lie of the Year for her death panels BS.

She was wrong then, and she remains wrong today.

Now about that photo at the top of this page which Palin included with her Facebook post. Did you notice something off about that photo?

Here is the President visiting various wounded vets in their hospital rooms.

Now this is the President of the United States, and yet these soldiers did not bother to climb out of their beds and put on their uniforms in order to show respect for their commander in chief.

And yet when Sarah Palin visited a vet, he was all dressed up like he had was going to the Commissary to buy some groceries.

Now I'm not saying it's fake, but remember this IS Sarah Palin we're talking about.

Australia's army chief, Lieutenant General David Morrison's message to soldiers who prey on women in the military, "Get out!" This is a MUST see!

"I will be ruthless in ridding the Army of people who cannot live up to its values." Oh hell yeah!

This is of course in response to an ongoing sex scandal within the Australia military that have been made even worse with reports that some men had recorded sex acts with female soldiers and put them online behind the woman's back.

I love this guy's attitude, and would like to see OUR military take this same kind of no nonsense, fuck you if you don't like it, approach.