What a difference a year makes.

Is anyone else paying attention to how the media coverage of the war has changed in a year?

When Bush was president, the media fought to cover the return of us casualties and deceased service members' caskets, and it demanded entry into Walter Reed and other hospitals to show the horrors. Everk wee or so, most of the big papers had full-page color photos and bios or every American killed overseas. The whole thing was meant to stir a public drumbeat against the war as an attack on Bush, presumably with the intent of getting a Democrat elected in the next election.

Well a Democrat was elected--with full mainstream media participation and assistance--and now Barack Obama owns the war. He promised to immediately end it many times when he was campaigning (just like he promised to close the still-open Guantanamo detention facility) but he has only escalated it and we now have more troops either overseas or heading overseas than we have since Vietnam. And the media, rather than continuing it's opposition, has flipped completely. Now they never want to show coffins coming back to Dover, even though there are more of them. They don't report on every single soldier killed, like they did when Bush was running it, and the pictures of the fallen are no longer printed. Now it's like our soldiers don't count since they cannot be used to attack a president that the media didn't like and mentioning them might reflect badly on one that they do like.

Am I the only one who sees this and has a problem with it?

Burn Notice boycott is OVER!

OK. After reading this great post on Blackfive, my self-imposed boycott of the show Burn Notice is at an end.

Some of you may recall a post a few months back where I expressed a great deal of disappointment over something that lead actor Jeffery Donovan did off the set. It was enough to make me give up watching what had been one of the very few modern shows that I ever watched. But that's all in the past now as it has been more than atoned for by his recent action--traveling to Iraq with co-star Bruce Campbell to visit our troops serving there.

That's the sort of class that we used to routinely see from our Hollywood celebrities back in the day that Hollywood was patriotic and actually supported America and our troops. (That would be "pre-George Clooney" for those who don't remember those days.)

Here they are shooting with our troops at Combat Outpost Meade on November 13th.Yeah, Jeffrey Donovan needs someone to teach him how to actually hold that Beretta M9. No one uses that old "cup-and-saucer" hold any more. But Bruce Campbell (below) seems to be enjoying that M249 SAW and making good use of it.




And here, Bruce Campbell and Jeffrey Donovan hold the U.S. flag as Spc. Peter Jank re-enlists on Nov. 12, at Joint Security Station Nasir Wa Salam, Iraq. (Spc. Jank is the one on the right, standing ahead of Donovan.)

Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell did not have to go to Iraq. They could have done as most of the rest of Hollywood has done and is still doing and just ignored our troops. But they went, and they gave our troops a much-needed boost. So because they did that, Burn Notice is once again back on the TV here. Good job, guys.

And Hey Aaron, how about shooting me Season Three on DVD?

More on Lynndie England...Why won't she just DIE?

"Oh, poor me, poor me! I didn't do nuthin' wrong, and now everybody's hatin' on me..."

That's the seemingly never-ending swan song of Lynndie England, the disgraced ex-soldier and unredeemable loser who was at the center of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq and who now haunts a trailer part in Fort Ashby, West Virginia, living on our welfare dollars and trying to cash in on the notoriety that she claims is keeping her from getting on with her sad, pathetic life. Back in the news again as she tries to gin up sympathy and hawk her new book, she reportedly wants to keep feeding America the same lies that she told the military jury that convicted her and sentenced her to a stay in prison that, for much of us, was way too short.

Christopher Graveline, the lead prosecutor at her trial and now an assistant federal prosecutor in Michigan, said England and the other defendants are free to present their side to the media.

"But they presented the same facts to the jury, and the jury rejected them," he said.

England was convicted of conspiracy, mistreating detainees and committing an indecent act, one of 11 soldiers found guilty of wrongdoing at Abu Ghraib.

The detainees in the photos involving England, for example, were not suspected terrorists, Graveline says, but some of the thousands of "Iraqi-on-Iraqi criminals'' at the massive prison. None of the men in the England photos was ever interrogated.

"The idea that she and her colleagues were working somehow for military intelligence is not supported by fact," he says.

So basically, England's scumbag baby's daddy Charles Graner was just guarding common criminals--thieves, rapists, murderers, and other garden-variety crooks--and not anyone that was actually being held for intelligence purposes. In other words, Lynndie's still lying about that, and apparently about other things as well. For example, she's still pretending that she had "no choice" but to follow orders, as if she was some sort of good, loyal soldier. However her record shows that she had a history of disobeying orders, particularly orders instructing her to stay away from Charles Grainer and his work area when he was on duty. Yet she'd been ordered to stay away from Grainer and his worksite several times, and she'd repeatedly violated those orders. According to Gary Winkler, author of her new book:

As a clerical support worker, she had no business in the so-called Hard Site at Abu Ghraib, a block of some 40 cells where the supposedly most dangerous inmates were held.

But she routinely sneaked in late at night to sleep with Graner, a hulking 6ft 3in ex-Marine in charge of the night patrol.

At the time of their affair, England was also married, to childhood sweetheart James Fike, so their relationship was against U.S. military rules.

Even after being repeatedly warned, she refused to break off with Graner and was eventually demoted.

So much for her claim that she always followed orders without question.

Winkler, who is now estranged from England, says that she's planning to sell some previously unreleased Abu Graib pictures to the highest bidder sometime in the future.

This is not someone who is honest or sorry. And lest you think I'd only speculating, I'll quote Lynndie's own words:

‘Sorry? For what I did?’ she interjects, incredulous. ‘All I did was stand in the pictures. Saying sorry is admitting I was guilty and I’m not. I was just doing my duty.’

So now unrepentant and bitter Lynndie--a girl that even her own biographer admits "isn't very deep" sits around trying to convince us all that she's the victim here (all while trying to get rich) and trying to justify her existence.

She says she submitted hundreds of resumes for all kinds of jobs, but no one would give her a chance. She stopped trying months ago and depends on welfare and her parents to get by.

She also fears for her life, though she's 4,000 miles from Iraq: "I'm paranoid about that one guy who still hates me.''

You know what, Lynndie? It's not "one guy" who hates you; it's practically every red-blooded American man and woman in this country. You disgraced our country, you dishonored our real soldiers and pissed on their sacrifices, and if you got hit by a car tomorrow, the number of people who would actually miss you are dwarfed exponentially by those of us who would smile and call it karma. I fact, if I had my way, you'd be stuffed into a sack with a dozen rattlesnakes and dropped down the closest mine shaft.

On second thought, that'd be cruel...to the rattlesnakes.

Just go away and die, you disgusting little bitch. There's no way back for you.

source
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And a picture sometimes says MORE than a thousand words

Pay special attention to the patch below the American flag on this soldier's BDU's.
It says: "Doing the work of".
The flags below it are those of France, Germany and Russia.
This SHOULD be on the front cover of Time, Newsweek, etc.
It damn sure says it all, and I hope that the world remembers the next time that we're called upon to save or defeat one of those nations again.

A bad day in traffic, Baghdad style.

A security camera in Iraq caught this collision between a civilian car and a Bradley Fighting Vehicle.



I sure would have hated to take this accident report back when I did that sort of work. I hope the Iraqi had comprehensive coverage with the uninsured motorist, hit-and-run AFV rider.

Looks like the driver didn't get hurt at least. And he's lucky that he only pulled in front of a little and not an M-1 Abrams Main Battle Tank.

And yes, it's procedure there to keep convoys moving and not stop for fender-benders with civilians. To stop is to set oneself up perfectly for an ambush. But the car owner needn't fret; Someone representing the US military will come along later to pay off the damage claim handsomely in local currency. He'll probably get three or four times the actual value of that car.

Troop spending bill exposes Democrats' true motivation

This story in today's Washington Post touches on the mater, but the Post's liberal bias downplays or ignores two important facts concerning the Dems' spending bill.

First of course is the fact that the bill is supposed to be about providing funds for our troops so that they can win the war and come home. But typical of the Dems, they added over twenty billion dollars for their own pet projects, or into the districts of other legislators that hadn't been inclined to vote for the bill before. (Anywhere but the Capitol, that would be called "a bribe".) Some of those "emergency war expenditures" covered things like $74 million for peanut storage, $25 million for spinach growers and $100 million for citrus growers. It also includes $16 million to convert the old Food and Drug Administration building in southwest D.C. into more office space for the Capitol. That "emergency" expenditure comes at a time when taxpayers already shell out $600 million "more than double the original estimate" for a mammoth expansion of the Capitol, which includes 160,000 feet of new office space.

None of that is related to the war at all and shouldn't have been tacked on, especially by the party that's been screaming that the war is costing so much. Well one reason that it costs so much is that certain members of congress are inflating the cost and funneling they money back into their own pork projects.

The second thing that's critical--and the Post completely omits this--is that the Dems are claiming that they want to stop the war and pull our troops out. They put a provision into the bill requiring our troops' withdrawal from Iraq, but they aren't to be withdrawn now. Oh no. The bill calls for them to be withdrawn in August, 2008--in the middle of the next electoral campaign. You see, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid and their followers want to use the pullout for political advantage, and they intend for our troops to stay in Iraq until election time, at which point they'll be forced to leave so that Dems running for election or re-election can scream: "look at the failure of the Bush Administration's war!" That's appalling on so many levels and if there were really justice in America, citizens from all over the country would converge on the Capitol and just start moving the furniture and possessions of legislators like Pelosi and Reid out to the curb. They should be evicted from office for this massive breach of the public trust.
If they really wanted the troops out of Iraq, they could have called for them to be removed tomorrow. But they aren't interested in that. They want our men and women to stay over there and fight a war that they claim is wrong, and continue to take casualties that they say our troops should not be suffering for 18 more months so that the pullout can help them politically in their efforts to seize control of our nation not based on Democrat accomplishments but on the perception of Bush failure which they the Democrats, are contriving to bring about...but not until it's to their benefit, of course.

I as an American call "foul" and demand that every Democrat against the war say so and either vote to pull our troops out immediately or just shut up about it forever.

A speech I'd like my President to give.

Oh I wish that President Bush would give this speech...

My Fellow Americans:

As you all know, the defeat of Iraq regime has been completed.
Since congress does not want to spend any more money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete.

This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq. This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now time to begin the reckoning. If and when it all falls apart, look to the Democrats and the few spineless psuedo-Republicans who didn't have the balls to stand up behind our troops as they liberated Iraq from tyranny and created the beginnings of a new stable democracy. If it falls apart now, they will have earned the blame just as much as their allies in Al Qeada.

Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict. This list is short. The United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark, Bulgaria, Australia, El Salvador and Poland are some of the countries listed there.
The other list contains everyone not on the first list. Most of the world's nations are on that list. My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening.

Let me start by saying that effective immediately, foreign aid to those nations on List 2 ceases immediately and indefinitely. The money saved during the first year alone will pretty much pay for the costs of the Iraqi war.
The American people are no longer going to pour money into third world Hell-holes and watch those government leaders grow fat on corruption.

Need help with a famine? Wrestling with an epidemic? Call France.

In the future, together with Congress, I will work to redirect this money toward solving the vexing social problems we still have at home. On that note, a word to terrorist organizations. Screw with us and we will hunt you down and eliminate you and all your friends from the face of the earth.
Thirsting for a gutsy country to terrorize? Try France, or maybe China.

I am ordering the immediate severing of diplomatic relations with France, Germany , and Russia. Thanks for all your help, comrades. We are retiring from NATO as well. Bon chance, mes amis.

I have instructed the Mayor of New York City to begin towing the many UN diplomatic vehicles located in Manhattan with more than two unpaid parking tickets to certain New York neighborhoods where those vehicles will be stripped and burned by local resident entreprenuers. I don't care about whatever treaty pertains to this. You creeps have tens of thousands of unpaid tickets. Pay those tickets tomorrow or watch your precious Benzes, Beamers and limos be turned over to some of the finest chop shops in the world. I love New York.

A special note to our neighbor.
Mexico is also on List 2. President Fox and his entire corrupt government really need an attitude adjustment. I will have a couple extra tank and infantry divisions sitting around. Guess where I am going to put em? Yep, border security. And as long as we have eleven million of your citizens here illegally and sending our money back to your country, you'd better start sending the oil up here gratis. If you don't like that idea, I can promise you that you'll have all eleven million of them back within the next thirty days. And just FYI--any of the ones here who commit so much as a single crime starting right now will be sent back there regardless.

Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating the NAFTA treaty - starting now.
We are tired of the one-way highway. Immediately, we'll be drilling for oil in our known reserves in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico and off the East Coast and this will take care of this country's oil needs for decades to come. If you're an environmentalist who opposes this decision, I refer you to List 2 above: pick a country and move there. They care.

It is time for America to focus on its own welfare and its own citizens. Some will accuse us of isolationism.. I answer them by saying, "darn tootin."
Nearly a century of trying to help folks live a decent life around the world has only earned us the undying enmity of just about everyone on the planet.

It is time to eliminate hunger in America. It is time to eliminate homelessness in America . It is time to eliminate World Cup Soccer from America.

To the nations on List 1, a final thought. Thanks guys. We owe you and we won't forget. To the nations on List 2, a final thought: You might want to learn to speak Arabic.

God bless America. Thank you and good night. If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.

If President Bush were to give that speech tomorrow and mean it, I and very other red-blooded American would be in his corner on election day and the Democrats would be left with the votes of the felons, the trial lawyers and the elitist liberal college professors who hate America because they've never managed to amount to anything despite the unlimited opportunity that this nation has always offered.