(Belated) Memorial Day 2011

I remember, Major David G. Taylor

“Only the brave, who have stood the line, can comment on what has been done out here. And the glimmer of democracy and liberty in this once biblical land is a wonderful thing to behold. There are many who would say we are failing – but they are the doubters and the weak. Your son had courage and was one who believed in the true value of freedom.” – LTC John Holden, a British officer in the Queen’s Royal Artillery in a letter upon the death of my friend, Major David G. Taylor who was killed in action in Baghdad Iraq on October 22, 2006

“David once mentioned to me that there are those people who merely talk about America and our wonderful freedom, rights and privileges and then there are those who step up and put their money where their mouth is. David came from a long line of military men. Our proud and decorated father, David Sr., was an armored cav. officer who did two tours in Viet Nam, his father-in-law, Joe Thresher, served in Vietnam, our grandfather, Kenneth Taylor, was a WWII naval officer, and our other grandfather, JC Overman, was a staff sergeant who was critically wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. Our great-grandfather, John Overman Sr. served in WWI and our great-uncles served in WWII.” – A eulogy by John Taylor, brother of Major David G. Taylor

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag. – Charles M. Province

(photo borrowed from Arlington Cemetery’s website)

You have no enemies, you say?
Alas, my friend, the boast is poor;
He who has mingled in the fray
Of duty, that the brave endure,
Must have made foes!
If you have none,
Small is the work that you have done.
You’ve hit no traitor on the hip,
You’ve dashed no cup from perjured lip,
You’ve never turned the wrong to right,
You’ve been a coward in the fight. — Charles MacKay (1814-1889)

If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves. – Winston Churchill

Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say, ‘What should be the reward of such sacrifices?’…If you love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen. – Samuel Adams

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty. – John F. Kennedy, Democrat

The world has no room for cowards. We must all be ready somehow to toil, to suffer, to die. And yours is not the less noble because no drum beats before you when you go out into your daily battlefields, and no crowds shout about your coming when you return from your daily victory or defeat. – Robert Louis Stevenson

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. – Dwight David Eisenhower

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. – Albert Einstein

There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it. – Anonymous

For more see the quotes page.

New DNC chair is one stupid liberal (then again, I repeat myself)

Holy crap have the Dems given us one staggeringly ignorant Congress critter from Florida to act as their party’s leader:

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D.-Fla.), chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, denounced Republicans last week for believing illegal immigration “should in fact be a crime.”

At the same Christian Science Monitor breakfast, Wasserman Schultz said, “If it were up to the candidates for president on the Republican side, we would be driving foreign cars; they would have let the auto industry in America go down the tubes.”

The Hill newspaper quickly reported that Wasserman Schultz owns a 2010 Infiniti FX35, a Japanese car whose parent company is Nissan. The newspaper cited Florida motor vehicle records.

Further during the breakfast, she stressed that support for Israel should not become a partisan issue, and believed that Republicans were trying to make it one. But she referenced President Barack Obama as “probably” being pro-Israel.

“One of the most tremendous sources of pride for me is that I am the first Jewish woman to represent the state of Florida in Congress. And another tremendous source of pride is that I am a pro-Israel Jewish member of Congress and I probably support a president that is pro-Israel,” Wasserman Schultz said.

I just looked up the word “illegal” and think the DNC chair should too…

Cowards use roadside bombs…

7 NATO Service Members Killed in Afghanistan Were Americans

A U.S. official says that Seven NATO service members killed in explosion in southern Afghanistan were Americans.

NATO said in a statement that all seven died in a roadside bomb explosion Thursday. The coalition did not release further details.

Tens of thousands of U.S., NATO and Afghan forces have been working for months to rout the Taliban from their strongholds in the south. The Taliban have retaliated with targeted assassinations of Afghan officials and attacks on Afghan and coalition forces.

Obama goes for the trifecta

2008.

The Queen’s Toast.

Now this: Barack Obama’s speech failed to live up to his own high standards

That’s my Barack!

Quote of the Day

“Our current president embodied the potential of a generation. So many talents. So much charm. Such great skill. But, in the end, to what end? So much promise, to no great purpose.” – George W. Bush, 2000, on Clinton and foreshadowing Obama.

via the Washington Examiner

Urkel strikes again…

Good news: Obama botches toast to the queen

The president paused, the guests stood, and the orchestra prepared to play.

But the president wasn’t done speaking.

“The vitality –“ the president said before the orchestra began…

“To the Queen,” the president finally said.

He lifted his glass to her, she smiled a bit uncomfortably.

But because the song was playing, no one drank from his or her glass, including the president, who put his glass down on the table.

Protocol, apparently, requires the toastmaster to wait until after “God Save the Queen” plays and then begin the toast. But the almighty O waits for no sovereign, so he launched straight into his shpiel. To which I say, good for him. What else was the American revolution about, if not the right of the president to half-ass some formulaic niceties about the British monarch? He should have punctuated it with a weary “whatever” and downed the glass in one gulp.

This is why he doesn’t get invited to weddings, guys.

I long for the days before Obama, say around 2008 when we had 57 states in our union .

LMAO

Don’t tell Obama, but Prime Minister Netanyahu got 2 dozen standing O’s from Congress for this

Heh

Congress’ reception of Netanyahu doused the Obama speech with ice-water realism.

via Congress to Bibi: We’re Behind You

O’s Ministry of Truth joins Twitter

Ah Orwell, you knew us so well: Meet the White House’s New Story Squasher & ‘Director of Progressive Media’

Just so you know, your tax dollars are now paying for a “director of progressive media & online response” within the White House. Translation: a dedicated enforcer and story squasher that loves the liberal media.

“This week, Jesse Lee will move from the new media department into a role in the communications department as Director of Progressive Media & Online Response,” Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in an internal memo provided to The Huffington Post. “For the last two years, Jesse has often worn two hats working in new media and serving as the White House’s liaison with the progressive media and online community. Starting this week, Jesse will take on the second role full time working on outreach, strategy and response.”

How does HuffPo take that? “The Obama administration has created and staffed a new position tucked inside their communications shop for helping coordinate rapid response to unfavorable stories and fostering and improving relations with the progressive online community.”

If the name Jesse Lee sounds familiar it’s probably because back in 2009 he wrote a White House blog post bashing Glenn Beck.

Via a new official White House Twitter account, Lee has already started the spin…

I’m still waiting for a reply from @jesseclee44 regarding whether we are or are not still at war with Eurasia.

Quote of the Day

“This is real democracy.” – Benjamin Netanyahu

Video:

I am a fan of Bibi. He knew what was important when he was in his 20s. Others? Not so much…

Ha! Like the Palis have ever been interested in peace…

Palestinians: Netanyahu peace outline unacceptable

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s parameters for a peace deal, outlined in a speech to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, fell far short of what is needed to resume negotiations, Palestinian officials said.

Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu’s insistence on keeping key parts of the territories the Palestinians want for their state is a “declaration of war against the Palestinians.”

Go figure

Tax cheats among recipients of stimulus money

Thousands of companies that cashed in on President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package owed the government millions in unpaid taxes, congressional investigators have found.

The Government Accountability Office, in a report being released Tuesday, said at least 3,700 government contractors and nonprofit organizations that received more than $24 billion from the stimulus effort owed $757 million in back taxes as of Sept. 30, 2009, the end of the budget year.

The report said the tax delinquents accounted for nearly 6 percent of the 63,000 contractors and grantees examined and cautioned that the real number might be higher because the known tax debt does not measure such factors as income underreporting.

Among the examples was an engineering firm that received a $100,000 stimulus act contract but owed $6 million in taxes. The IRS called it “an extreme case of noncompliance.” A social services nonprofit that received more than $1 million in stimulus funds owed taxes of $2 million.

The GAO referred those two cases and 13 others to the IRS for further investigation.

If guilty can Giants fans beat Giovanni Ramirez to a pulp?

Family of beaten Giants fan grateful for arrest

Relatives of a San Francisco Giants fan who was brutally beaten outside Dodger Stadium two months ago said Monday they were grateful the main suspect was in custody.

The parents and two sisters of Bryan Stow made a brief appearance outside San Francisco General Hospital, looking relieved but still shaken by the nearly two-month ordeal of caring for the badly injured father of two and awaiting news that his attackers had been found.

Stow, a 42-year-old paramedic, remains in critical but stable condition under heavy sedation to prevent seizures caused by the traumatic brain injury he suffered in the March 31 attack.

Los Angeles police raided an East Hollywood apartment building Sunday and arrested Giovanni Ramirez, 31, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

Let’s hope that in the least (and aside from my exaggerated hope that a biblical punishment be handed out), that if found guilty, Giovanni Ramirez gets what is coming to him and not just a tax payer’s holiday in prison.

Remember it’s the people who allow this type of behavior that make the Dodger’s home Chavez LATRINE, not the team nor the location.

It’s a great law, here’s a waiver!

Hot Air: Latest beneficiary of ObamaCare waiver: AARP

His Majesty, President Obama: 35 “I”s while supposedly congratulating others

Let’s hear it for our self-important, narcissistic ass of a C-in-C who mentions himself ad nauseam while supposedly congratulating the people doing the actual work of defending and protecting our country: Remarks by the President, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and DNI Director James Clapper to the Intelligence Community at CIA Headquarters