Lance Corporal Kevin T. Preach

One of our own from my home state in service to our nation in our armed services is being laid to rest next week, Lance Corporal Kevin T. Preach. A young man all of 21 years old serving in Afghanistan in the United States Marine Corps from a small town in Massachusetts called Bridgewater. He passed away from wounds from an IED in Afghanistan. Too young and yet honorably serving his country willingly. God bless his soul. God rest his soul.

A funeral service with full military honors will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 11 a.m. at the Central Square Congregational Church, 71 Central Square, Bridgewater.

I’m raising this subject because I will be there for him and his family even though I never met them or him personally. It’s called respect and I honestly believe that we need to show respect to all that have served and those that paid the ultimate price for America. I may talk politics from my extreme liberal perspective but Kevin Preach served to defend my right to rant and I owe him my personal thanks. Thank you Kevin and everyone else out their in uniform in our nations military.

Men and woman like Kevin Preach deserve our respect and honor and in that thought I am thankful to be a proud member of the Patriot Guard Riders. I can take some time out of my busy life to say thank you to not just his family but to Kevin Preach when he needs me most. Kevin may or may not see it, he may or may not hear my heart felt gesture but those that knew him need to know that he wasn’t alone in his desire to serve America. Kevin and his family need to know that we supported him and we will be there for them. He will not make this last trip to his final resting place alone. My gratitude and prayers are with him. God bless you Kevin Preach, I can‘t shake your hand but I sure as hell can make sure you get the respect you deserve.

May he rest in peace.

Papamoka

American Flag Burning in Iraq

One military death in Iraq is one to many. As the war mongering political right of American politics goes then 19 dead is progress? Explain that fact to the 19 mothers and fathers of the kids killed in the war for Daddy by President Bush. My humble heart felt prayers go out to the parents of the children killed in Iraq but somehow the media spin is that their deaths was a sign of better days to come in Iraq. I don’t get it. One death is to many in my eyes and it should be shouted at the tops of the lungs of anyone thinking that this is not okay.

When you analyze the number of deaths of your own troops as a measure of progress then true diplomacy is dead. When was the last time you heard or read about the Republican Bush lead administration talking about diplomacy to end the non stop violence in Iraq? You have not read about it because it is not happening. Kill them all and let God sort them out is the only policy that President Bush has to offer and he isn’t backing down from that stance any time soon. In times of war, each side sees God as on their side and in both circumstances both sides are wrong if stronger minds do not have a voice to end the conflict. War is madness when either side refuses to negotiate peace. Till that time comes the body count grows on both sides. History teaches us that the ones with the bigger weapons always win but in this case that isn't likely. The Iraqi people are fighting a religious war and we are there for nation building in a society that wants nothing to do with politics. Those two things just do not go together.

Over at the New York Times they have this piece on the current war dead and how much of a relief that only 19 American Military people were killed in Iraq…

U.S. Deaths in Iraq Fell Sharply in May
By ANDREW E. KRAMER
Published: June 2, 2008

BAGHDAD — American casualties dropped in May to their lowest monthly level — 19 — since the invasion in 2003, the United States military said Sunday, though officials said they were reluctant to highlight the number as a milestone.

There have been troughs in American casualty rates before, only to be followed by rising numbers of fatalities. Just on Sunday, one American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. The military has instead focused on falling rates of enemy attacks, among other indicators, as a measure of improving security.

Even amid the news of declining deaths, efforts to negotiate a long-term security pact that would set out how long American forces stay in Iraq suffered a setback on Sunday when the Iraqi government criticized proposals from American negotiators and vowed to reject any deal that violates Iraqi sovereignty.

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has been under political pressure to resist some American demands. Street protesters loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, for example, burned American flags on Friday to oppose the deal, and Mr. Sadr promised that his followers would stage regular protests through the summer. - New York Times

When it comes right down to it, the current election cycle for President of this nation comes down to your willingness to accept any number of military dead for the sake of a land that has no American respect. Our troops could leave there tomorrow and the same tribal wars that have gone on for thousands of years will break out. One has to face the facts that Baghdad is not Washington D.C. or Crawford, Texas.

While the dissenters of an American military presence in Iraq burn our flag in Iraq we have to accept the fact that Iraq is not Boston, Chicago, Memphis, or Kansas City. Changing political philosophy in Iraq is tantamount to converting a lion to a vegetarian. It just isn’t in the works to happen at any single time in our lifetime. All of the unrest in Iraq is now due to the vacume or loss of an absolute dictator under Saddam Hussein and that is the battle that the people of Iraq must come to terms with. Our military presence in Iraq only instigates more hate against America even though we toppled the bastard that oppressed the thoughts and freedoms they now feel they must instigate against our troops. Freedom is a double edged sword and sometimes it swings against the people that gave them the voice to speak.

I’m supporting our troops, I’m just not supporting the reason they are in the line of fire. God bless them and keep them safe. One soldiers death is too many for my thoughts when diplomacy is always an option.

Papamoka

Pay Up Westboro Baptist Church!

Picture courtesy of Arlington National Cemetery

Did you ever think that for every bad action in the world there will come several opposing good actions to bring the scales of good and evil into balance. I believe that sometimes the scales of good need to be tipped just a little bit more in the world when it comes to our troops. Especially, in times when one of those soldiers is killed in the line of duty. At times like those, a family is devastated and lost in grief.

I hate to even write about the Westboro Baptist Church because I honestly believe that they are a group of radicals hiding behind the cloaks of their church with their message of hatred against homosexuals. Well, some nimrod in that organization had an epiphany that the only way to spread that hate message was to blame God first and point it out that God killed your son or daughter serving in our military for a reason. Showing up at military funerals and protesting that your spouse, your son, your daughter, or even a parent died while in service to America because God hates homosexuals was not a bright idea. Westboro Baptist Church disgusts me with their actions. How you can call yourself a Christian and think that selling hate at a funeral makes you a better person or more God like is beyond my mental comprehension. I’m not being anti Christian, I’m just pointing out how stupid and self centered these people are.

Tip the scales of right and wrong back to the right side and along comes the Patriot Guard Riders. This is a group of bikers and just regular folks that believe in supporting our troops and proudly show up by invitation of the family, to support a fallen son or daughter of America’s military. They don’t ask for any money, many of the Patriot Guard Riders will drive thousands of miles at their own expense to be there for the funeral to legally block the protestors from the families view. Big American flags and bikes lining both sides of the street is a sight to see that I am sure the parents or spouses of the fallen soldier appreciate more than anyone will ever know. Law enforcement officers tend to have a little more respect for people with a positive message than folks with a very negative message at a military funeral. Gee, that took a ton of brain activity to figure out.

Tipping the scales a little bit further for the good side and we have this court case by a parent against the Westboro Baptist Church by the Associated press in the Houston Chronicle…

Church that pickets military funerals ordered to pay $2.9 million

By ALEX DOMINGUEZ
Associated Press

BALTIMORE — A grieving father won a $2.9 million verdict today against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals out of a belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified damages after members staged a demonstration at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.

Church members routinely picket funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, carrying signs such as "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags."
A number of states have passed laws regarding funeral protests, and Congress has passed a law prohibiting such protests at federal cemeteries. But the Maryland lawsuit is believed to be the first filed by the family of a fallen serviceman. - Houston Chronicle

Three words, IT’S ABOUT TIME! I can hear the Amen coming from all my proud to serve brother and sister Patriot Guard Riders over this decision. My own personal applause goes out to the father of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder. Albert Snyder, you sir deserve this court decision and from my family to yours I offer my thanks for your sons service to our nation and of course my heart felt prayers over the loss of your son.

Thank you Mr. Albert Snyder.

Papamoka

Proud Member of the Patriot Guard Riders!

Cross posted at Bring IT ON!

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Semper Fi is not just Republican

Picture courtesy of the White House.gov

Given the times and our nations conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan I am constantly finding myself thinking of our citizens in uniform and in our military. I’m proud of them for doing what they were trained to do. Our military is something that every American should be proud of. Not because you are of one political party or the other but for the fact that they are everyone’s children. In that sense then they are my children as well.

I read the news, watch the television version of the news and every single day the body count goes up for the war in Iraq. It isn’t just a body count, those are people reduced down to a number. Our children that are being killed and shipped home for burial is a personal fact of life when in service to our nation in the military to their families. It disgusts me that they are just a number in the grand scheme of things when it comes to Iraq. I hate the fact that people use the deaths our military men and woman that have died as just another statistic.

My political thoughts run to the liberal side of the aisle but my heart is with my upbringing and a father that was proud to serve his nation in two wars. At no point in my upbringing was it ever suggested or inferred to bash our men and woman in uniform. At no point in my transition from child to man was it insisted that I serve in the military. Real men, like my father, who fought in the bloodiest conflicts during World War II, know what war does to a person. He never wanted any of his children to join the military but he was very proud of his own service to his nation.

Dad never spoke of his personal experience during the war until his later years. Alzheimer’s and dementia took him from me but I wonder if the horror he spoke of is just as bad as our kids serving in Iraq and Afghanistan today? I’m pretty confident that it is but then again he never spoke of it his entire life with me till then. His stories were graphic and very intense and his tears and emotion of keeping it all bottled up for all of those years showed in the sorrow of his face and the anger that he could not have saved more lives. As a medic attached to the Marines he was known as Doc, many of the men he promised to take care of did not make it out alive. He felt that he broke the promise to dozens if not hundreds of men that he considered his brothers. For most of his adult life he could not fall asleep unless he took a Sominex or some other sleep inducing pill.

I wonder how much conflict is coming home with our children in uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan that are wounded or rotating out? I worry about them and if they can ever get back their lives in America. My heart goes out to all veterans because war is hell. Veterans of battle only talk to other veterans of battle for a reason, they don’t want to recall the intensity of their service and pass it on to their children. World War II veterans are classic cases of this point. They know the experience and yet they do not talk about it for a reason. Many friends, many brothers in service died horribly.

Our nation is blessed with a military that is not of any political party. All of the men and woman in service are there for a reason and a purpose and that is to serve America first. Their orders come from a civilian government and they follow the civilian government orders. They serve proud and they serve with the bravest and brightest that America has.

Over in Europe there are mass graves for our military sons and daughters killed in combat. In the battles to come in the Middle East there will be no burial grounds for American soldiers. That is a thought to think about when people tell you that you can fight them here or over there. Sound bites are nice but somebody just died and they should never be just a number. That person was someone’s child or someone’s husband or mother. They died for America and not for any political thought or ideology.

My personal thought is that if our fallen soldiers are not good enough to be buried on Arab soil then they should not be fighting for your freedom.

Papamoka

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Loss of the Greatest Generation

Picture courtesy of Dinoto Funeral Home

I hate to steal the line from Tom Brokaw but I admire his work and his tribute to the many veterans of World War II. For some of us World War II is a history that many never have the chance to understand from the point of view of those that served during the war. For that matter, many of the brave men and women that served never talked about it. They did what our nation asked and returned home changed but lived an amazing life none the less different for it.

Our veterans from World War II are fading into the final adventure that is part of life and I think it only just to pay tribute to them for the sacrifices they made when not only our nation needed them but the world needed them. I’ve posted several lost military service people here on Papamoka and I am proud of what I have posted on their behalf. I am truly thankful for all of our military people and when they have a loss so do I in my heart.

I grew up knowing my father served in World War II and in Korea. He never spoke of the horrors of his service till his later years. His later years took him from me but all the books and events he never missed when it came to veterans he passed on to his youngest son. My father and my friend was always a family man first. He lived for his family first and the past was just what it was. Jack O’Keefe didn’t bring the war home to Manor Road, he brought family to Manor Road. As much as my mother made us feel that home was our entire families home, Dad made sure that it was just that by just being our Dad. He wasn’t perfect but he was not a push over for any bull that any of his seven children could pass on at any given time.

While the pages of Military persons that are dying in Iraq or Afghanistan are filling up on the internet I find it kind of ironic that the people that fought to defend the atrocities in Europe are being laid to rest by the thousands every single day without any tribute. If any man or woman that served in any battle or war there is no generation that we as a nation should be more thankful too than the WWII Veterans.

Life is funny, my father never pushed any one of his sons into the military unless we were completely out of control. He cried when he came back home to sign my older brother up for the Navy. He didn’t regret it though. What the child he signed up learned was respect and to this day he knows what that means. If Jack didn’t make that step, our families future and that child’s future would have been very different. That was a very difficult decision and given our fathers experience during war time that he never wanted to see any of his sons experience what he endured that became a life time of pain for him.

Enough of that stuff and here is a tribute to just one other WWII Veteran. I hope and pray that his family does not mind that I post his obituary here.

Over at the Worcester Telegram they have this WWII Veterans obituary…

Robert Thore Gustafson, 88, died Friday, August 24th, at home.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, E. Marcia (Hooker) Gustafson; his two children, The Rev. Lisabeth M. Gustafson and Donald P. Gustafson. Bob was the son of Thore and Clara (Benson) Gustafson. He is also survived by his sister, Margaret Engwall, formerly of Worcester, now residing in Beavercreek, OH. He was predeceased by his sister, Ethel V. Nelson and brothers Walter, Roy, Carl, Ralph "Nick" and G. Herbert Gustafson.

Mr. Gustafson was a lifetime resident of the Worcester/West Boylston area. He grew up in the Quinsigamond area of Worcester. After graduating from South High School in 1937, he joined the Navy, serving throughout World War II. He was serving on a cruiser during the attack on Pearl Harbor and then transferred to submarine duty in the Pacific for the remainder of the war. After returning home from the service, Mr. Gustafson went to work for the New England Telephone Company where he worked for over 37 years. - Worcester Telegram

Thank you Robert Thore Gustafson for your service to not only your nation but to your family as well. My personal thanks to his family and my condolences on his passing. Our nation and the world is a far better place to live in thanks to the people like him that did what they had to do and did it damn well!

Papamoka

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Military Deaths Just Being a Number

Picture courtesy of Patriot Guard Riders

While many of us bloggers bitch and moan about the war in Iraq and our reasons to oppose it or support it our children from both sides of the argument are still dying. That fact alone is nothing to beat your chest over regardless of what point of view you have concerning the war. Burying a child is still the same and your political affiliation does not matter. Undertakers and funeral homes have all the rituals and pomp and circumstance for any service required. Mothers will cry and be broken hearted and fathers will be proud and strong to support the family left behind. Tears of the fathers will be shed when not a soul is looking but the lost child from above.

From my very liberal mind I understand fully the need for a national defense and I fully support all of our troops and members of our military. One of the last things that I want to do is attend a funeral for a fallen soldier friend or family member because I know how much heart ache the parents are going through. It’s so easy to toss stones when you have never served in the military. It’s even easier if you only look at one side of the equation that is the war in Iraq, Afghanistan or wherever our military is sent. Stones are easy to pick up but serving your country is not. That commitment takes guts and it is the children we have and our brothers and sisters that made that commitment that we need to respect.

Serving in our nations military is never about politics. It is about honor and respect for what has been given to you as an individual and your personal choice to give back to America. For some people that is the ultimate price to pay and for others it is the experience of a life time that will never be equaled.

For the families that have to bury a loved one killed in war time, I offer my humblest of condolences and my families prayers. I also offer you thoughts of many grateful Americans that are The Patriot Guard Riders. They and I appreciate your lost family members sacrifice in service to our nation in our United States military. With dignity and respect The Patriot Guard Riders ride for the family and support the fallen soldiers and I am so grateful that there are people like them around to do that. It touches my heart and I think that it means so much to the families to know that absolute strangers will travel thousands of miles to just stand quietly with our nations flag waving in support of the family that is burying a loved one.

No greater loss to a parent is to bury a child. Knowing that many people that belong to The Patriot Guard Riders that care is a gift in a time of great sorrow. It is a memory that will never be lost.

Thank you Patriot Guard Riders for supporting the troops by being there when their families need you the most. If the families do not ever get the chance to thank you then you have a blanket thank you here. Ride hard, ride fast, and ride because you believe you are just in your mission. Thank you!

Hopefully, we can end your missions and our nation and our military will still respect bloggers like me posting to end the war and bring all of our troops home alive and well.

Papamoka

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Broken Hearts from a Broken War Strategy

While the President is insistent that we stay the course with regards to the war in Iraq the base of his political support is fading steadily. What were once strong holds of the Republican Party are becoming opponents to the president in what seems to be a never ending parade of funerals for our fallen sons and daughters.

As the President plays on the peoples worst fears the battle truly being fought does not have a definition to declare the war over. There will never be a signing ceremony where the opposing parties agree to an end of the hostilities. In its place we have an endless loop of a war that has the appetite to continue for generations if so allowed.

Each day the numbers of killed in the war in Iraq have become just that, numbers. To many people these numbers have no faces, families, or friends. Have we as a people become numb to the consistent body count that is on the news every single day? That is not the case in small tightly bound communities where everyone knows everyone not just by a face but by a name, who your family is and more importantly as a friend.

As more Republican Senators and Congressman join the ranks opposed to the war the President will dig in deep wearing his cast iron resolve like a life vest. As his strategy for the war in Iraq sinks below the waves and the president clings to the tip of the mast, the only thing certain is that the strategy that was his ship is in fact sinking.

The days of this President’s personal war in Iraq are coming to an end. Not today, or tomorrow but with the increasing loss of support from Republicans in the Congress, and in the heartland.

Papamoka

Staff Sergeant Daniel A. Newsome

My heart felt prayers are with this young mans family that is left behind. He served his nation and joined the ranks of many brave young men and woman that have paid the ultimate price in service to our nation. There are no greater words to say than a simple thank you to his family.

Just as an outside observer I appreciate the fact that our Governor, Deval Patrick is taking a personal stance on our sons and daughters lost to us in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some people might choose to call it politics but I tend to believe that the Governor is a man of honor and respect. Respect and tribute for the life lost is what the families that are burying their dead need most. They above all need to know that the loved one lost in service to America was not just another number on a tote board.

Over at the Boston Globe they had this to say about Daniel A. Newsome and his life…


Chicopee bids farewell to another hometown soldier
By Claire L. Cummings, Globe Correspondent
July 6, 2007

CHICOPEE -- The fallen soldier's little boy smiled as Governor Deval L. Patrick gave him a comforting rub on the back. The 1-year-old, dressed in a gray Army exercise shirt and miniature camouflage pants, is already the spitting image of his father, relatives said.

As family and friends gathered yesterday to remember Army Staff Sergeant Daniel A. Newsome, they recalled that his life's mission was to raise his son to be a great man. For those who love and miss Newsome, who died June 27 in Baghdad from injuries he sustained in an explosion, it is a mission they will now make their own.

"All of us are the mold that made Dan the man he was, and though we cannot make a new Dan . . . a new Staff Sergeant Daniel Allan Newsome, we can do our best to mold and shape a man very much like him," said Eric Ritter, the soldier's stepfather. "He already looks like his Daddy. His little hands and feet are Dan's. He has Dan's eyes. And when he frowns, his forehead wrinkles just like his Dad's did."

Others said the 27-year-old Newsome was a responsible leader who took his job seriously, but thrived on making people laugh. – Boston Globe

This war is taking its toll on the young people serving in our military and the toll it is taking on families is multiplied exponentially. Not one person in America will understand the loss that these families will go through over the next decades of what we all call life. Little boys, little girls, wives and husbands will go through life without the one person that was a very influential part of the small part of the world we call a family. There is only one way for any of us to understand the pain of the Newsome family and that is to bury one of our own. Something no parent, spouse or child would ever want to have to go through.

Their voice may have been silenced in death but the spirit of their life will live on. In service to our nation and with a respectful burial we as the American people need to be thankful for the sacrifice but be diligent in thought when placing our military in harms way.

Daniel will be in my prayers and thoughts along with a long list of other fallen heroes in service to America.

God Bless them all,

Papamoka

Proud Member of the Patriot Guard Riders

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Flags at Half Mast for Military Fallen In Mass.

In the wake of the Romney is the next best thing to sliced bread as a governor in the main stream media we finally have a Governor that isn’t about what people want to hear or see at the state level. We have a Governor that will do what is right and just by the families that have lost a loved one in service to our nation from Massachusetts.

Governor Deval Patrick today ordered all state buildings have their flags at half mast on the day of the burial for any of our fallen heroes. Governor Deval Patrick has brought forth the sacrifice to all of our minds that many of our families have paid in service to our nation with a simple gesture of respect that these brave men and woman deserve.

Over at the Worcester Telegram and Gazette they have this to say about this issue…

Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Patrick orders flags lowered on day of soldiers' burial
The Associated Press

BOSTON— Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday ordered that all flags on state buildings be lowered to half-staff on the day any Massachusetts soldier killed in a war zone is buried.

The order takes effect immediately, and means that all flags on state buildings will be lowered on Thursday for the funeral of Staff Sgt. Daniel A. Newsome of Chicopee.

Newsome died last week of wounds suffered in a blast from an improvised explosive device in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Legislation passed by Congress last month would also require all federal agencies in a state to comply with a governor's request that they fly their flags at half-staff to honor a fallen service member.

"We want to acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice that these servicemen and women and their families have made to this country and the commonwealth," Patrick said. - Worcester Telegram

I salute Governor Patrick for this declaration. Let us not forget the brave sons and daughters that serve our nation.

Enjoy your fourth of July celebration and just for the hell of it, thank a family member or friend that is a veteran. It can’t hurt and they just might need the hug.

Papamoka

Is Bush Taking on Iran Too?

Picture courtesy of U.S. Department of Defense


In my own mind I can picture the President setting up his game board of the Middle East with his tin soldiers with the full intent of stamping the entire region as “Property of BIG U.S. OIL”. You can literally see the President staging the props for his next conquest and that target is Iran. Piece by piece he is building the set. Iran is building “Nuc’lar” weapons, Iran is funding the terrorists, Iran is going to wipe Israel off the map and as the President builds the set and arranges the lighting the stage and reasoning for his last “Preemptive War” is set.

It should be interesting to see him try and pull this one off now that the entire press of the United States and the world knows that his sources for information are not credible or reliable. His own personal reputation and his word is no longer acceptable as “Good enough for me too” amongst even our staunchest allies anymore.

Over at the Washington Post they have just a sound bite on yet another part to the Bush reasoning to attack Iran. I found it interesting that this information was released in Paris of all places…

U.S. Envoy Says Iran Is Arming Taliban
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 12, 2007; 1:10 PM

PARIS -- A senior U.S. diplomat accused Iran on Tuesday of transferring weapons to Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, where NATO forces are deployed to bring stability to the country.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, speaking to reporters in Paris, said Iran was funding insurrections across the Middle East and "Iran is now even transferring arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan. - Washington Post

All of this preparation for the President to pull the trigger on Iran will give him the reasons he needs to tell the people why our sons and daughters will be fighting and loosing their lives on yet another front. I’m beginning to think this President hates all nations that start with a vowel!

Tell me that I am wrong but wasn’t this the same information we started to hear about Iraq before he gave the go ahead to invade. Was Iraq not lead by a leader that despised the United States so much that supposedly he too was building weapons of mass destruction. The list of accusations went on and on and most of them turned out to be false. Other than Saddam Hussein being a bastard to his own people there was no reason for our troops to invade Iraq.

With all of the suggested possibilities for reasons to attack any sovereign nation given by the Bush administration, I’m keeping a real close eye on them Canadians. They have to be plotting against us during them long cold winters. They might not have yellow cake but I’m pretty sure there just might be some biscuits hidden in a bread drawer somewhere up there.

Mexico is okay because nobody really lives there anymore but that is another discussion for another day.

Papamoka

Cross Posted at Bring It ON!

Political Honesty

Picture Courtesy of the White House

Politicians are great at telling you what you want to hear all the time. Sometimes when you actually get the chance to meet a real elected politician you can feel the sense of being in the presence of greatness and you should. Then again you have to remember that they use the same damn bathrooms you do and some of them do not wash their hands as often as they should.

We all know that the President has the Congress by the old short gray hairs and his trump card is the military. As much as this President wants to continue his private war in Iraq is just as much the same levity as the Congress wanting to end the war in Iraq. From two perspectives there has to be one and our nations military can not and should not be a pawn in this chess game of millionaires. Moving a Rook to take a Bishop is one thing but having to move the entire chess board to take down the King is another task.

From my perspective the new Congress has no clue how to play the game of chess that is politics and the President is very confident in his game. Just look at all the pieces that he has sacrificed to win his will? There is no piece on the board including the Queen that is not disposable. Pelosi and Reid are playing a weak strategy and the President is taking them out for a walk around the board. Check Mate is not truly in their game plan. Time is what they are counting on and that is a very weak strategy and the President knows it.

While he watches all the players fall around him he will survive because they are not strong enough to win the game that is Washington politics. Just as in chess games by the masters in the middle of play you are not thinking about your next move but ten moves later and that is where the President has the Congress. He is set in his strategy and they are fumbling on what the next move is.

Knight has the King at check mate is not in this Congress ability and President Bush knows it. All of his Pawns that are the Military are the Democrats weakest link and the President has no problem putting them in harms way to protect his spot on the board. It is political suicide to go against our sons and daughters in battle and Bush knows it and lives it.

Pieces on the chess board sacrificed by President Bush are numerous but the will of the voting people of America is stronger than the Presidency. That is one move he never planned on.

Pawn takes King.

Papamoka

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USMC Snubbed by VFW for Burial Reception

Picture courtesy of the Boston Herald

According to 96.9 FM Talk in Boston and Eagan & Braude the reception post the burial of a Rockland, MA native son, Walter K. O’Haire who was killed in Iraq serving in the United States Marine Corp was snubbed by the local VFW for a Bingo game. Apparently, the contract from the local Son’s of Italy was iron clad and the reception for a fallen soldier was passed on by the VFW to host the Bingo night.

I’m speechless.

Was the hall built for veterans and their families or was it built for Bingo players? Our kids are being killed serving our country and yet Bingo is a higher priority in the minds of the local VFW?

Fallen Rockland Marine is laid to rest
By Jessica Van Sack
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - Updated: 10:38 AM EST

A hush fell over the hundreds in Rockland who clutched flags and saluted yesterday as the mournful procession arrived carrying the casket of fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Walter K. O’Haire on what would have been his 21st birthday.

From inside a limousine, his uncle, through tears, saluted back to the crowd, which included local schoolchildren, military families, area soldiers and veterans. Then the slow cadence of bagpipes began, breaking the silence.

“Wally saw himself as defending his country and his family,” said the Rev. James Hickey at Holy Family Church in Rockland. “All of that stuff was so important to him.” – Boston Herald

There is no logical explanation for why this happened and yet the mother of the 21 year old man holds no animosity toward the VFW. She buried her son and that was something that she needed to focus on and I offer my heart felt prayers to her and her family.

Papamoka

***** US Military has linked to this post...

Margery Eagan covers this in her column over at the Boston Herald...

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