Thing is… That is only true if there is no fire!

Of course, fire (or smoke) is a pretty clear indicator that something is awry, but are there not times when when we must make a decision based on less definitive evidence?

No point here, just musings.

I have tried, but it always seems to be a whine of some sort.

Let me offer his last coupla paragraphs:

And even if today the disgrace represented by the offspring of the 60s and 70s, by the successors of Hanoi Jane and John Kerry, has one of their ideological own in the White House, our Nation can still find hope in the Vietnam Vet still manning the perimeter and in the members of the today’s Great Generation, embodied by people like Allen West, Pete Hegseth and David Bellavia, and millions of other veterans who will, regardless of their place in our society, return this great Nation to its founding principles.

So, thank you Vietnam Vets and thank you to our newest Veterans. We, the true lovers of our freedom and our Country, will never forget.

I had read Taranto’s post, but it had slipped my enfeebled mind.

There is clearly a third position somewhere between the ignorant and the overtly agenda driven. Oikophobia!

First a disclaimer for those who don’t already know: I was at Woodstock. I’d just got back from VietNam (yes I was spit at) and gleefully spent the summer in the counter culture – free love and all that.

To be honest – some of the references in the linked article are dated, but I’ve seen the current crop of Che t-shirts and am well aware of the love affair Hollywood, and others, have with Fidel and Che.

Thing is… Only the most ignorant and/or agenda driven folks could STILL be lauding either one.

I feel a certain pity for those folks, but really don’t understand why they behave as they do.

Tsar Putin has simply reiterated a long standing statist policy.

Vladimir Putin today angrily dismissed protests against his regime as “provocations” and said anyone who took part in unsanctioned street rallies against the Kremlin should expect a “whack on the bonce”.

Seems to me being whacked on the bonce would be whole lot better than what Castro and Che perpetrated. To say nothing of Stalin and a rather long list of similar ‘dear leader’ types.

This time to disagree a bit…

His post Honor is in reference, directly, to Glenn Beck’s event yesterday in DC.

As a disclaimer: I don’t watch or listen to Beck so what I know about him and his position(s) comes from the periphery. Still, I’m not so distant as to ignore an event of the scale we saw yesterday.

Thing is… I don’t see what honor and religion have to do with each other? My personal philosophy doesn’t rise to the level of a ‘religion’. I’m a simple ‘Golden Rule’ type guy.

J. D. noted:

What exactly is honor? Years ago, I wrote the following:
Honor is a code we live by. It encompasses all our values and all that we do. When honor is a value, it means we will do what we say and live by the values we express as ours. It means we live by a code of dignity, integrity and pride. It also means that our personal integrity is maintained without any legal or other obligation. A code of honor is an uncompromising commitment to a way of life. – The Three Meter Zone

I agree 100%, but disagree with the leap he and Beck seem to make: Our “American” code can be wrapped in one predominant phrase. In God we trust.

If we need an external code to define honor do we then also need an external reference to define personal integrity? I think not.

The simple beauty of The Golden Rule is that it is ultimately selfish and internal. It’s not predicated on some external code.

When popularity has peaked and ratings are nearing toilet bowl ring level, jumping the shark to either raise the ratings or make them even more irrelevant cannot be too far behind. The question is can we survive it?

The StolenValor act is under attack, Maybe justifiably so.  I DO feel that there is a line that can be crossed of note, yet Free Speech does offer some wiggle room that shouldn’t be ignored.

Myself, I have (in a bar, drinking, etc) noted that I have spent some time with The Teams. It’s true AND not on my DD-214! It’s not some Secret Squirrel stuff, nor does it rise to the point trying to be included with many Navy guys who served with some honor in any of several Team support missions.

On Guam I dove with some folks while spear fishing!

I mention this only in the sense of limits. I never claimed any medals/ribbons I didn’t earn.

My point, and there is one, is that I’m not so sure that outright fraud need include drunken bar yammering.

The guy over at TAH exploited his alleged record.

From Professor Hale: Current politicians wait to see which way the crowd is going and then move to march in front of it and claim to be leading it.

Then there’s this concerning magic from Ilona Andrews:

… so many people are ignorant of the basic mechanical principles involved in making the phone work, to them it might as well be magic.

The phone, cars, computers, and even government, would seem to fall under ‘magic’ for most folks.

To believe in one’s self is the beginning of the knowledge that all life was created by the True Living Spirit by whatever name that may be given.To believe in one’s self is the beginning of faith in us all.

To believe in ones self is the beginning of all life.

To believe in one’s self is the beginning of truth and understanding.

To believe in ones self is the beginning of compassion for our fellow beings.

To believe in one’s self is the beginning of the love that holds a family together.

To believe in ones self is the beginning of freedom and the sacrifice that may and will be needed to keep that freedom. Our willingness to give our lives for our freedom, our nation, our families and each other.

To believe in one’s self is the beginning of the courage to protect our freedoms that were first set forth by our Forefathers which they found in the belief of the True Living Sprit which gave them their faith to draw up the Articles of Confederation, the blueprint for the Declaration of Independence, our Bill of Rights.

To believe in one’s self is the beginning of our pride to cleanse and heal our nation from those whom are within our own government who would destroy our nation by disregarding or Constitution and changing our laws at their own self interest  and greed. Who would and are taking away our rights and freedoms bit by bit over periods of time.

To believe in one’s self is the beginning of giving back to our teachers to once again teach our children the truth of history, and the likes of math, science.

To believe in one’s self is the beginning of giving back to our children their innocents that has been stripped from them by the political correctness and taken the rights of the parent which has been slowly stripped away from within our own government.

To believe in one’s self is the beginning of understanding that at times one must do what is necessary by our military, border patrols, other law officials and ourselves to protect ourselves, our nation, our family and each other.

To believe in one’s self is the beginning of rebuilding our nation as it was seen by our Forefathers.

There are many who say that they believe in themselves but their belief has to be of a misunderstanding of their own self or of a hatred of their own self, their life and hatred of the true laws from the birth of our nation. How can one have a true belief in one’s self if we deny and hide the lies of those who serve as our elected officials?

To believe in one’s self is the beginning of understanding that we must all acknowledge and understand that each one of us in some way has contributed in part, brought upon ourselves and that of our children the situation of our nation, but it is the belief in one’s self, ourselves in which is the beginning of our healing as a nation and a people as we must now stand firm and without fear as we unite as our forefathers once did.

To believe in one’s self, is knowing that everyone can not have everything, for we must have the knowledge that there are and will always be those who will do without even though it is painful to know this truth and know that this will always be. Many churches have lost the sight of helping their own and others in need and there are now laws to as where one cannot give to charity without being punished in some sort. We cannot help every country in their needs nor can we help every person in need. If we think we can and believe so then we only lie to ourselves and bring false hope to many.

We have allowed for the stripping of charity to appease those of the “It’s makes me feel good attitude”, in such I refer to those who for an example, leave their plush comfort to sleep on the street for a night or two to feel the plight of the homeless instead of helping them. All political talk about taxing the rich when they sit back in their positions with their millions of dollars, for they take people as ignorant, if they would do so they would then be taking money from their own selves, To condemn those of the medical field as greedy as they make it harder for those in the medical field to perform their dedication to the ill and injured, as they also attack and condemn the so called “Big Oil” when around 90% of these same people have some type of interest in “Big Oil”. The same is true for the pharmaceuticals when around 70% of them have some type of money making interest in the pharmaserticle companies. They verbally attack the population of not doing what they can to save energy when they make it harder for one to afford the such as they fly around in their fuel consuming jets and other means of transportation and use the money of the hard workers of our nation and those who are on a fixed income who find it hard just to survive on what they do have, so as they can have lunch parties and take their families on vacations in government owned means of transportation which is legal under the laws just so they will have a 15 minute meeting or so with some official or some other type of meeting with whom knows who, thus it is then on government business.

To believe in one’s self is the beginning of our willingness to bring back or to take back our nation “America” as was given by our forefathers by the grace of The True Living spirit.

I thank God, the True living Spirit, that I believe in myself. My Forefathers, My Family, My Friends, My County and I believe in You!

This may well be decidedly NOT yet a Lincoln/McClellan,  Truman/MacArthur,  et al,  moment.

UPDATE: McCrystal is out and Petreaus demoted.

The next few days/weeks might be entertaining if there were no boots on the ground, but there are!

I don’t give a shit about the pols OR the brass hats… The folks getting shot at don’t deserve this crap. If they were confused before, this event will be worse.