As the Vietnam War began lose momentum for American troops, Sen. George Aiken suggested, “Let’s just declare victory and get out.” This is the way modern wars end.
President Obama noted the 4,400 troops that died in combat over seven and a half years in Iraq. He also made mention of American valor on Iwo Jima during World War Two. What he did not mention were the 26,000 troops that died taking Iwo Jima. Later, it was even worse during the invasion of Okinawa.
Historians noted that “Okinawa was the largest amphibious invasion of the Pacific campaign and the last major campaign of the Pacific War. More ships were used, more troops put ashore, more supplies transported, more bombs dropped, more naval guns fired against shore targets than any other operation in the Pacific.
More people died during the Battle of Okinawa than all those killed during the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Casualties totaled more than 38,000 Americans wounded and 12,000 killed or missing, more than 107,000 Japanese and Okinawan conscripts killed, and perhaps 100,000 Okinawan civilians who perished in the battle.”
That should put our mission in Iraq in some wider perspective as the Commander-in-Chief assured Americans on the evening of August 31, 2010 that “All U.S. troops will leave by next year.”
This is in stark contrast to the fact that U.S. combat troops remain in Europe since 1945, in South Korea since 1953, and on land, sea and in the air, can be found representing U.S. interests on bases throughout the world. We shall be in Iraq when our grandchildren and great grandchildren are born.
In 2008, a majority of Americans seeking “hope and change” elected the most reluctant Commander-in-Chief in modern history and, as he changed the focus of his speech from our military missions to the nation’s economic crisis, the most incompetent Economist-in-Chief.
Spread the word and send your money. Corruptocrat Barney Frank has a strong GOP challenger who needs your help in advance of the September 14 primary.
His name is Sean Bielat. He’s a businessman. He’s a Marine. He’s a young father fed up with “systemic corruption” in arrogant Washington. He opposes cap-and-tax, will fight other oppressive Obama eco-policies that are squeezing fishermen, supports a strong national defense, and believes “It’s time for our leaders to return to and abide by the Constitution.” He launched a RetireBarney campaign back in April. Bielat’s latest campaign ad roasts Frank for his recent Fannie-Freddie flip.
Watch:
His new radio ad takes on Frank and the Dems’ failed stimulus and bailout policies. Listen here.
Well, 70-year-old, nine-term House cap-and-taxer GOP Rep. Mike Castle has a challenger. She’s Christine O’Donnell — a young, energetic, fresh-faced conservative activist with a real shot at dislodging the entrenched liberal Republican. She’s been traveling the state of Delaware non-stop and reaching out to conservatives across the country for support. I met her on Saturday at a grass-roots gathering of Moms 4 America in Washington, D.C. Castle refuses to debate her and has resorted to sneaking in and out of local GOP meetings to avoid her. He has bagged out on four scheduled GOP primary debates, most recently one sponsored by the League of Women Voters. The establishment Republican fund-raising organizations are sticking by their big government brother.
Check out the side-by-side comparison of Castle’s tax-and-spend views with O’Donnell’s opposition to radical environmental policies and bailouts. Compare Castle’s weak support for life and personal liberty with O’Donnell’s unqualified support for life and 2nd amendment rights.
Senior executives, on-air personalities, producers, reporters, editors, writers and other self-identifying employees of ABC, CBS and NBC contributed more than $1 million to Democratic candidates and campaign committees in 2008, according to an analysis by The Examiner of data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
The Democratic total of $1,020,816 was given by 1,160 employees of the three major broadcast television networks, with an average contribution of $880.
By contrast, only 193 of the employees contributed to Republican candidates and campaign committees, for a total of $142,863. The average Republican contribution was $744.
Disclosure of the heavily Democratic contributions by influential employees of the three major broadcast networks follows on the heels of controversy last week when it was learned that media baron Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. contributed $1 million to the Republican Governors Association. . . .
In late August 2009, as lawmakers faced citizen revolts at health care town halls nationwide, the Colorado Democratic Party decried a vandalism attack at its Denver headquarters. A hammer-wielding thug smashed 11 windows and caused $11,000 in property damage. The perpetrator, Maurice Schwenkler, turned out to be a far Left nutball/transgender activist/single-payer anarchist who had worked for a SEIU-tied 527 group and canvassed for a Democrat candidate. Nevertheless, State Democrat Party chair Pat Waak continued to blame “people opposed to health care” for the attack.
I was reminded of this far Left hoax incident — unjustly blamed on the Tea Party — when I read today about what really happened at Democrat Rep. Russ Carnahan’s office in Missouri.
Last Tuesday August 17, 2010, Rep. Russ Carnahan’s office was reportedly vandalized and “firebombed” at 2 AM in the morning. Hours later police arrested a suspect for the crime and held him for several hours.
Of course, when the “firebombing” was reported local leftists blamed the tea party activists.
Then things got really weird. The police released the suspect and the Carnahan camp went silent. Carnahan employees were seen dumping documents into a dumpster but refused to to talk to reporters. There was a complete blackout on information.
Now we know why.
The suspect was reportedly a disgruntled progressive activist employed by Russ Carnahan. An unnamed source familiar with the case released the information. Suspect Chris Powers reportedly was upset because he did not get paid so he firebombed the Carnahan finance offices at 2 in the morning…
Here’s what one of the lefty newspapers said last week in insinuating that a conservative was responsible:
Police aren’t releasing the man’s name until charges are officially filed. No motive was given for the attack, though one could suspect that the perpetrator is not a fan of the congressman. Given what we know of him — 50, white, angry — he certainly fits the demographics of a Tea Party member.
I have watched and listened to many establishment Republicans and TV talking heads deride GOP Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth as a “clown,” “charlatan,” and a “huckster.”
I have watched and listened to many purported “Tea Party” spokespeople and limited-government lobbyists defend entrenched GOP Senate incumbent John McCain as a “conservative” “hero” who will shrink government and defend our borders.
Hayworth was far from a perfect candidate. But there is no bigger clown, charlatan, and huckster Republican serving on Capitol Hill than four-term, 24-year Big Government fixture John McCain.
After burning through a whopping $21 million in campaign funds to hold on to his seat, McCain is poised to claim a primary election victory over Hayworth tonight.
Some victory.
To stave off Hayworth, the reborn conservative McCain not only had to throw $21 million down the drain. He had to thrown his own old “maverick” self off the bus, start talking like Tom Tancredo, appear on cable news non-stop, disavow all his good friends in the “Eastern press” whose approbation he thrives on in off-election years, and pander shamelessly to the grass-roots conservative base that he has despised, undermined, and spurned for more than two decades.
Here’s the eye-roller of the day from President Obama’s Saturday radio address. This was recorded Thursday at the White House due to a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, which is the perfect command center from where to monitor the Iranians firing up their nuclear reactor (which is being overseen for safety by the people who brought the world Chernobyl — whew!).
As the political season heats up, Americans are already being inundated with the usual phone calls, mailings, and TV ads from campaigns all across the country. But this summer, they’re also seeing a flood of attack ads run by shadowy groups with harmless-sounding names. We don’t know who’s behind these ads and we don’t know who’s paying for them [the only time we shouldn't care who's paying for something is if that something is a mosque near ground zero -- DP].
The reason this is happening is because of a decision by the Supreme Court in the Citizens United case – a decision that now allows big corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence our elections. They can buy millions of dollars worth of TV ads – and worst of all, they don’t even have to reveal who is actually paying for them. You don’t know if it’s a foreign-controlled corporation. You don’t know if it’s BP. You don’t know if it’s a big insurance company or a Wall Street Bank. A group can hide behind a phony name like “Citizens for a Better Future,” even if a more accurate name would be “Corporations for Weaker Oversight.”
[...]
Well, we cannot allow the corporate takeover of our democracy. So we’re going to continue to fight for reform and transparency. And I urge all of you to take up the same fight. Let’s challenge every elected official who benefits from these ads to defend this practice or join us in stopping it.
This is a Republic and not a Democracy, but that’s of little importance at this point because we’re getting bilked out of both just so they can be sure.
Naturally, labor unions don’t fall under the “corporations” umbrella, but they do their share of advertising — it’s just that most of it goes toward helping Democrats:
Since 1990, labor unions have contributed over $667 million in election campaigns in the United States, of which $614 million or 92 percent went to support Democratic candidates. In 2008, unions spent $74.5 million in campaign contributions, with $68.3 million going to the Democratic Party. Already, unions have contributed $6.5 million to the 2010 elections, and $6 million has gone to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C.
In ads sponsored by labor unions it isn’t always obvious that the ad is paid for at least in part by unions either. “Health Care for America Now” is just one example. Watch this ad from the 2008 campaign and see if it’s obvious that it’s paid for in part by the SEIU, AFSCME, NEA and UFCW.
And forget the “corporate takeover” nonsense. Ever since the Supreme Court ruling freed up corporate political spending, labor unions are stillout-spending corporations:
Labor unions have dominated spending on independent campaign ads so far this election season, despite a recent Supreme Court decision that freed spending by corporations, a Washington Post analysis shows.
The findings are an indication that corporate money is not flooding into campaigns as many predicted would happen after the landmark decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
Speaker Mop & Glo made headlines for her call to investigate opponents of the Ground Zero mosque, but there was something else about her remarks that should have raised your hackles:
“There is no question there is a concerted effort to make this a political issue by some. And I join those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded,” she said. “How is this being ginned up that here we are talking about Treasure Island, something we’ve been working on for decades, something of great interest to our community as we go forward to an election about the future of our country and two of the first three questions are about a zoning issue in New York City.”
The deal has been signed to transfer man-made Treasure Island in the middle of San Francisco Bay from the Navy to San Francisco.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mayor Gavin Newsom and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus signed the transfer agreement on Tuesday. It includes a section of neighboring Yerba Buena Island.
Payments to the Navy could rise to $105 million, funded by private companies and revenue from developing the former Navy base into a model 21st century neighborhood.
Pelosi has used her power to push the crony-infested project for years. She pushed aggressively for legislative language that would have forced the military to fork over high-value property at no cost to local communities. And as the Washington Times recounted last fall, she presided over a “den of corruption” to secure the coveted property:
…Treasure Island is not a case of a small town that has relied on a local military base for its livelihood for decades. It is a land grab by politicians for well-connected developers. Tony Hall, the former executive director of the Treasure Island Development Authority, told us the city’s effort to develop the island is a “den of corruption.” Treasure Island Community Development, the prospective developer for Treasure Island, was granted a no-bid contract by the city.
At the core of Treasure Island Community Development are high-powered California Democratic lobbyist Darius Anderson and supermarket magnate Ronald W. Burkle. Both are well-known financial backers of San Francisco’s Democratic Mayor Gavin Newsom…
…A proposed Treasure Island development plan slates 90 percent of the developed acreage for residential use, 7 percent for commercial property and 3 percent for parking. An illustration shows about a dozen high-rise blocks of shoreline condominiums with stunning views of the city, plus 300 acres of park and recreation land. This would hardly be “affordable housing,” the $5 billion investment that Mrs. Pelosi claims would have to be recouped by the developer. The only long-term jobs created from this plan would be for maids and doormen for the high rollers privileged enough to live there.
The Navy merits praise for holding the line in defense of a market-based transfer of Treasure Island. Cloaking this land grab under a measure to help local communities suffering the disruption of military base closure is disgraceful.
Fog City Journal shines more light on the Pelosi cronyism behind the deal:
After some very serious wrangling over control (see “more info” below), the fate of Treasure Island rests mainly with TIDA: the Treasure Island Development Authority. Just as with the Presidio Trust, the people who comprise TIDA are awfully critical. It is they who decide what gets developed and who gets to develop it – and profit thereby.
Ah, it looks like the tolerant lefties in my old stomping grounds in the Pacific Northwest are at it again. There’s an anonymous campaign to target GOP homeowners who display campaign signs in their yards with signs that read “RepublicansAreADisease.”
Peace, love, rainbows, unicorns…and property destruction. Via the Seattle Times (hat tip: reader Jack A.):
A couple in Shoreline have been targeted in a campaign that involves destroying signs supporting Republican candidates, and replacing them with signs for RepublicansAreADisease.com.
The website, which is an anonymous wordpress blog, encourages it’s readers to print out signs reading, “Republicans Are A Disease” and “Republicans America’s Worst Enemy” and place them on their own and public property, and to “tell their neighbors how they feel about the criminals in the GOP.”
The couple that was targeted has replaced its signs, but the “wife is scared to death.”
The RepublicansAreADisease.com founder, who denies any malicious intentions, brags about having a sign in his/her van that reads: “Hang Rove.”
I live in Seattle. I had a sign in the back of my car that read “Republicans America’s Worst Enemy”. Just to let you know I got 20 smiles and thumbs up for every shaking head, and finger! I want to let everyone know exactly how I feel about today’s Republicon Party when I drive around. I now have a “Republicans Are A Disease” sign in my back window. When I get a little too upset, I print up some of these signs, take my ladder, and staple them up high on telephone poles in my neighborhood. If there are any Republicons around, I want my signs in their face. I am mad, and I won’t take their attacks sitting down any more. I am tired of being called names by the likes of Rush Limpbat, and his sickening right wing, ignorant ditto head friends. I love my country, and I am not afraid to let my neighbors know I think the Republican Party is America’s greatest enemy, and must be driven from power. Help me, and your country. Download these signs. Print them, and put them everywhere you can. Carry the message. NOW!!!! When the GOP stops acting like the MAFIA, I will take this website down. Until then, forget it. They are my, and my country’s biggest threat. America’s Worst Enemy!!! Every single Republican should be treated like America’s worst enemy by everyone that truly loves our country too. Just calling yourself a Republican these days means you approve of how they operate. You would have to be one sick, greedy puppy to call yourself a Republican these days. Maybe they could make their own country, and call it Torture Land. They can waterboard each other for fun.
President Obama can reach out to Republicons all he wants, while they are stabbing him in the back every chance they get. I will be poking them in the eye non stop, until they change their ways. I won’t hold my breath…
Keep checking back. I have more signs I will be uploading, and will be getting signs from others to put up as well.
Update: I changed the sign in my car’s back window. Now I have a “Republicans Are A Disease” sign. I also have a “Republicans Are A Disease” sign on the back of my van, along with a “Hang Rove” sign.
A new Republican ad released Monday sought to draw attention to President Obama’s falling approval rating and the economy’s continued malaise, using the infamous tantrum-throwing JetBlue flight attendant from New York.
The 50-second web ad — released by the Republican National Committee as a fundraising vehicle — casts Democratic candidates in the role of Steven Slater, who last week pulled the emergency exit lever on a flight arriving in New York and slid down the inflatable chute after announcing he had quit his job.
Sen. Michael Bennet, the Colorado Democrat who is running for a full term after being named to the job in 2009, is shown in the cartoon sitting in the front row of Air Force One as Obama announces he is coming to campaign for him.
Bennet and the several other Democrats are then shown sliding down a yellow inflatable slide out the side door of Air Force One, screaming as they hit the ground and run away from the plane.
Bennet has generated headlines with his recent hedging on whether he wants Obama to come campaign for him in the fall.
This week, Obama is traveling to Wisconsin, California, Washington, Ohio and Florida to raise money for state and national parties as well as individual candidates.
As the Vietnam War began lose momentum for American troops, Sen. George Aiken suggested, “Let’s just declare victory and get out.” This is the way modern wars end.
