Iraq Vets Against Kerry

I just blogrolled another site worth noting and keeping an eye on: IraqVetsAgainstKerry. I'm too worn out right now to battle with HTML, but they'll have a button on my sidebar as soon as I'm up to it.

Jeez, doesn't anybody like this guy?

Update:

Trackbacks for Blogger users

I've mentioned in emails to a reader or two that the Wizbang Standalone Trackback Pinger is a very useful tool. Unfortunately, it seems to have been unavailable for the last day or so, so I Googled alternatives. After wading through dozens of hits for the Wizbang pinger I found one to Simpletracks. I just tested it and it works like a charm, at least with Haloscan (which I highly recommend as a way for Blogger users to receive trackbacks.)

If anyone knows of a free alternative to Haloscan that will email me when someone sends me a trackback, would you let me know?

I won't have it! I won't! I won't! I won't! I'll hold my breath! I'll stomp my foot! I'll tell Mommy! ...

Well guess what Johnny boy? It's called "freedom of speech." It's called "The First Amendment." You stupid self-centered blue-blooded braying jackass! We don't need your permission. Now, go tell Mommy she wants you.

There, that's out of the way. I know a lot of other people already said it while I was tending to family matters, but I had to get it out of my system.

Family matters.

Mom, my daughter and her husband and son, my sister and her husband and son, my brother and his wife, and me, together for an afternoon. My daughter and her family are coming back tomorrow. You'll have to excuse the light blogging.

Haloscan

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Update: This was an experiment I didn't like the results of. I may try again later when I can devote more time to it.

Update: I've added inbound Trackback capability using Haloscan. I had Haloscan commenting enabled briefly but turned it right back off after deciding I like the way Blogger does it just as well. -- Contrary to the impression you might get at http://www.haloscan.com/, the free version of Haloscan does not include email notification when you get a comment or a trackback. I may end up removing the trackback code also for that reason but I'll try if for now and see what I think of it.

A couple of Good News links

Some good news I won't take time to comment on due to other priorities:
Campaign 2004: Bush Opens Double-Digit Lead
Taliban 'Billy The Kid' Killed

John Kerry: Unfit for Command -- Update 25

[Continued from Update 24]

If I didn't have company coming (see below), I'd excerpt these two articles and some others for an anti-Kerry post. Just click the links and educate yourself:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14937
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5886604/?#040903

V.I.P.s coming

My daughter and grandson, whom I haven't seen in 5 months, are coming to town for the part of the weekend. If Zell Miller's family can come before his Party, y'all will have to understand that mine comes before my blogging. Blogging will be very light till sometime Monday.

Not happy with just slanting the news, AP has moved on to outright lies

In case you missed it on Captain's Quarters, Power Line, and the other unbiased news sources:

The AP ran this story:

WEST ALLIS, Wis. - President Bush on Friday wished Bill Clinton "best wishes for a swift and speedy recovery." "He's is in our thoughts and prayers," Bush said at a campaign rally. Bush's audience of thousands in West Allis, Wis., booed.Bush did nothing to stop them. Bush offered his wishes while campaigning one day after accepting the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in New York. Clinton was hospitalized in New York after complaining of ild chest pain and shortness of breath. Bush recently praised Clinton when the ormer president went to the White House for the unveiling of his official portrait. He auded Clinton for his knowledge, compassion and "the forward-looking spirit that mericans like in a president."

There's only one problem with the story. The boos were the product of the reporter's imagination. It's one thing to only report the good news about one candidate and the bad news about the other. The mainstream media has been playing that game for years. Looks like now that they've realized that isn't enough to swing the election to their boy, they've decided to take it to a new level.

Moved over, Al-Jazeera, make room for the American press.

Sear THIS into your memory, Senator Kerry

Valery Andreyev, Russia's Federal Security Service chief in the region, said 10 Arabs were among 27 militants who were killed. The ITAR-Tass news agency, citing unidentified security sources, reported the hostage-taking was the work of Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who had al-Qaida backing.

We have a choice, people. We can fight a "more sensitive" war on terror, and wait for something like this to happen in Dallas, or Des Moines, or we can go after the slimy low life sons of bitches before they come after our kids. Is that so tough a choice?

Pictures from BMEWS and Fox

Update: Scenes from Russia, Russia Standoff Ends in Bloodshed for 200

Democrat, Republican or Southern Republican?

Are you a Democrat, Republican or Southern Republican? What with elections coming up, perhaps this could assist you in determining which way to vote:

Question: How do you tell the difference between Democrats, Republicans and Southern Republicans?

The answer can be found by posing the following question:

You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, a dangerous looking man with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, raises the knife, and charges. You are carrying a Glock .40, and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family.

What do you do?

Click for the answers: Democrat, Republican or Southern Republican?

Second question:

You're sitting at home minding your own business when some fool comes on the TV and threatens to kill your wife and two small children, you, your neighbors, and anyone else in the world who refuses to submit to Sharia law. You have at your disposal the most powerful military force the world has ever seen.

Do you:

A) Appeal to the U.N. for help?

B) Handle it yourself?

And last, but not least... Holding the hand of that dying Marine

Damn it! What can I say? Just go read it: The Things That Were Good And The Things That Were Not Good

I've linked to BlackFive in the past, but I've never mentioned the number of great letters from our troops that find their way to his site. Go there and just keep scrolling.

I loved that "It was the Soldier" part of Zell Miller's speech, but I wish he'd mentioned our Marines, and Sailors, and Airmen, and all of the other fine, brave people overseas protecting our country. And you know what? That Marine didn't wait for French permission to throw himself on that grenade, ... or to die.

Zellfire and Brimstone

I just found a great site last night that I wish I'd known about sooner. I wish I could remember who linked to it to thank them. Check out The Daily Recycler.

In particular, don't miss Zell's Barnstormer, where they not only have the video of Senator Miller's convention speech, but also his excellent smackdown of Hardball's Chris Mathews.

Supposedly, Zell's retiring after his current Senate term ends. Maybe there's hope he'll change his mind. He'd make a great V.P. under Condi Rice in '08.

Priorities

Click image for full size

I thought it was interesting that a little over an hour ago, long after Fox and even MSNBC had decided the Russian school hostage situation was most important thing happening, CNN was more interested in one draft-dodging skirt-chasing cheeseburger-addicted Democrat than they were in 1000 Russian school children.

May he rest in peace.

25%

I have not yet achieved that moment of Nirvana that would come from identifying a Google search that doesn't point anywhere but my sight, but as of this writing I'm 25% of the hits if you search for "Which of these men do you want leading our country". Yeah, I know, "So what?" It made me smile for a minute, anyway. I only found out about it because OneStat said someone ran that search and clicked on the link to one of my posts.

I'll be back.

My apologies faithful readers (all 5 of you.) The aforementioned storm left me with a choice between blogging hours-old news or finding out what happened in New York tonight. I chose the latter. Start reading at Allah Is In The House, then hit Captain's Quarters, Power Line, and Instapundit, then start clicking random links on my blogroll. I'll be back.

Godzilla vs. The Blogosphere

Benjamin L. Ginsberg was the lawyer who resigned from the Bush campaign last week after the democrats started trying to make a stink over the fact he had also provided legal services to Swift Boat Veterans For Truth (I guess Republican lawyers aren't allowed to have more than one client at a time.) Read his excellent Op-Ed piece on the subject: Swift Boats and Double Standards.

On a related note, read what Glenn Reynolds and The Daily Texan have to say about Old Media and the importance of the blogosphere.

The days when the alphabet networks and a few big-city papers could feed you only the news they wanted you to hear are over. Long live the blogosphere.

FOXNews.com -- Navy Probes Kerry Medal

See also Judicial Watch Calls For Investigation Into Kerry’s Medals, Anti-War Actions

Navy Probes Kerry Medal

NEW YORK — ... [T]he Pentagon's inspector general's office on Thursday referred to the secretary of the Navy a request to investigate medals won by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry during the Vietnam War.

[...]

Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with FOX News, former President George H. W. Bush said questions raised about Kerry's protests against the Vietnam War were legitimate, and he saw nothing wrong with airing a TV ad assailing Kerry's anti-war testimony by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, ...

"My view is the advertisement showing Senator Kerry as a young veteran coming back and using his own words to describe atrocities committed by his own soldiers, sailors, marines or whatever it is, is devastating," Bush said.

Bush 41 also said Kerry owes the nation and Vietnam veterans an apology.

[...]

Guilty!

American Soldier Found Guilty of Trying to Help Al Qaeda

FORT LEWIS, Wash. — A National Guardsman accused of trying to give Al Qaeda (search) information about U.S. troops, including methods for killing soldiers, was found guilty Thursday on all five counts of trying to help the terrorist network.

[...]

Anderson, a 27-year-old Muslim convert, could face a maximum penalty of life in prison.

[...]

It's a shame the UCMJ doesn't allow a punishment more fitting. I'd love to see the son of a bitch serve his life sentence staked out over a Fire Ant hill in the middle of the Mojave desert. Religion of Peace my ass.

MSNBC - "Flying Triangle" sightings on the rise

MSNBC - Flying Triangle sightings on the rise

OK, Leonard, listen closely. Both steps are important:

1) Place one hand against each butt cheek and push, hard. Keep trying till your head pops loose.

2) Put the tinfoil hat back on and pull it down real tight.

"Professional news media" my sweet bippy.

So much for silly tests

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

I found this test on my daughter's blog after she found it on Bert's.

It was ANOTHER dark and stormy night

Once again, God has chosen to treat us to a beautiful display of His awesome might, never mind the fact there were things I thought I should be doing. Some day the bell will toll for me, and I'll have to accept the fact the things on my To Do list weren't that important after all. Such is life.

John Kerry: Unfit for Command -- Update 24

[Continued from Update 23]

I guess Jean Fraud's entitled to a Standing Eight Count after the Zell Miller speech at the convention. I'll wait a day or so for the "¡NO MAS!" before I start kicking him around again.

Watch the convention speeches online

A big hat tip to Allah for telling me where to find videos and transcripts of the Republican National Convention speeches. Just go to http://www.2004nycgop.org/rewind/ and watch as many as you have time for, then download some transcripts to read later.

If you only have time for one speech, make it Senator Zell Miller's. Miller, a life-long Democrat, served two terms as Governor of Georgia before being elected to the Senate in 2000. Twelve years ago, he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, which nominated Bill Clinton to his first term in the White House. In other words, a real Republican party hack. Watching the video of his speech will take you 16 minutes. Do it. It's important.

zaneirani

OneStat said someone had come to my blog from http://zaneirani.blogspot.com/. ... ??? ... So I decided to check it out and found a site I'll definitely go back to. We're so much different, us and all those foreigners. And so much alike. Go there. Now.

Lack of Muses -- Hope for the future.

Please go meet Max, a "Teenage Republican who loves the Beatles" at Lack of Muses. He left a comment on my blog, I traced it back to his blog to see who he was, and immediately added him to my blogroll. He's just getting started but I love his attitude.

Being reminded there are bright younger people out there, like Max and my daughter, makes my feel like this country may be trying to go to Hell in a hand basket, but it hasn't quite happened yet and there's still time to stop it.

Update: I probably wouldn't have blogged about this but my sister's fed up with people bad-mouthing teenagers as a group and she said I had to. Max emailed me last night to say he didn't have anywhere to store images to use on his blog and he was wondering if I'd mind if he linked to some of the images stored on my web site. OK, so a teenager, a teenager from New York, no less, is polite enough to ask permission to "leech" a little bandwidth? There's hope, people. There's hope.

Zell Miller tells it like it is

FOXNews - Transcript: [Democratic Senator] Zell Miller

[...]

[N]othing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.

Tell that to the one-half of Europe that was freed because Franklin Roosevelt led an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the lower half of the Korean Peninsula ... .

Tell that to the half a billion men, women and children who are free today from the Baltics to the Crimea, from Poland to Siberia, because Ronald Reagan rebuilt a military of liberators, not occupiers.

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And, our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home.

For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.

No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this country if he doesn't believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home.

But don't waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today. In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution.

[...]

The B-1 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, dropped 40% of the bombs in the first six months of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The B-2 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, ...

The F-14A Tomcats, that Senator Kerry opposed, ...

The Apache helicopter, that Senator Kerry opposed, ...

[...]

This is the man who wants to be the Commander in Chief of our U.S. Armed Forces? U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?

Twenty years of votes can tell you much more about a man than twenty weeks of campaign rhetoric.

Campaign talk tells people who you want them to think you are. How you vote tells people who you really are deep inside.

Senator Kerry has made it clear that he would use military force only if approved by the United Nations.

Kerry would let Paris decide when America needs defending. I want Bush to decide. John Kerry, who says he doesn't like outsourcing, wants to outsource our national security. That's the most dangerous outsourcing of all. This politician wants to be leader of the free world.

Free for how long?

[...]

IMHO, possibly the best speech of the convention so far. Don't forget this is the same man who gave the keynote speech at the 1992 Democratic convention that nominated Bill Clinton.

From CNN:

[...]

Back in Miller's home state this past weekend, angry Democrats held a protest outside his Atlanta office. They accuse him of being a turncoat, but Miller says it's the Democratic Party that's changed.

"The Democratic Party today has gone further and further to the left. It's left me, it's left moderates and it's left a lot of people who want to support a strong commander in chief," Miller says.

[...]

Click the links. Learn. It's a shame this man is retiring. There's nothing I'd like to see more in 4 years than a Rice/Miller ticket.

Update: Praise Allah, I just watched a video of Senator Miller's speech. The devil may have gone down to Georgia, but he won't be back, because he knows Zell Miller will kick his ass.

ISLAMIC TERRORISTS ... AGAIN

From Neal Boortz:

ISLAMIC TERRORISTS ... AGAIN

If you've been paying attention to the news this morning, you'll know that about 400 people, including 200 children, are being held hostage in Russia. If you listen to most newscasts you'll hear that they're being held hostage by "rebels." Some newscasters may even go so far as to identify them as "Chechnyan rebels" or "insurgents." It's what you don't hear that's interesting. The "rebels" are Muslims. They're Islamic terrorists. ...

Why is the media so petrified of identifying these terrorists as Muslims? Is there some new unwritten rule out there which says that you cannot identify terrorists as Islamic? The media sure has no problem identifying various groups as "right wing" when the label is appropriate or fits. "Left wing?" See how often you see that term used. ...

But back to the Islamic terrorists resurrecting the old Islamic terrorist staple of attacking schoolchildren, this time in Russia. Could it possibly be that some in the mainstream media realize that identifying these "gunmen," as I just heard them called, as Islamic might actually serve to remind the American people that were fighting a war against these murderous bastards? And just who might that help in
the election?

Remember the template.

Too good to excerpt -- Just go read it.

Don't miss Left-Wing Colors on Open Eyes. Read the post, browse the blog a while, then add it to your blogroll.

Hat tip: http://kommentariat.blogspot.com/

Kerry's Page at the U.S.S. Gridley Site

Well, surprise, surprise! "Tour of Duty" contains some blatant lies and exaggerations about Jean Fraud Kerry's first "Vietnam Tour" too, and the men he served with do not want him in the White House. Some excerpts from The Kerry Page on the U.S.S. Gridley site:

From J. F. Kelly, Jr., the Executive Officer on the Gridley during Kerry's time aboard:

[...]

Aside from a Christmas card and an aborted telephone call, I didn’t hear further from John until I read about his anti-war antics including his appearance with Hanoi Jane Fonda and the famous episode of throwing medals onto the capitol steps during a protest.

While he was protesting against the war, many of us were still fighting in it. Many of us felt betrayed that one of our own, a decorated hero, would give comfort to the enemy by such actions.

[...]

For that reason, even aside from his anti-defense voting record in the Senate, he is one ex-shipmate that I could never support as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

From Phil Carter, an E-5 during Kerry's time on the Gridley:

[..]

When I read “Tour of Duty”, I became concerned because the material on Kerry’s time on GRIDLEY appeared in many instances to be exaggerations and in some cases figments of an overactive imagination.

Here are my observations on the sections that bothered me:

[..]

2. Page 78 – “motivate 400 swabbies” – The First Lieutenant is responsible only for the personnel of 1st Division, not the entire crew. 1st Division had a roster of about 30 in 1968. To the extent that other divisions had responsibility for deck space, their officers would have been responsible for motivating them.

[...]

5. The trip to Danang – GRIDLEY went into Danang for briefings before going to orthern SAR. This section is so full of hyperbole that the urge to giggle is almost uncontrollable. “The panic and pressure onboard GRIDLEY, strapping on a .45, wondering if I would have to use it, B-52’s howling overhead”. A B-52 over Danang would have been so high that only contrails would have been visible, cloud cover permitting. David Simons confirmed my recollection that during our brief stay in Danang Harbor, the sky was overcast to the point of being ominous.

More seriously, no one can remember John Kerry going ashore. ...

[...]

There is no mystery about the “gruesome site of a pile of dead VC.” We saw no sign of anything like this. However, our escort to Monkey Mountain did tell us how the VC bodies were stacked up on the LZ’s after the TET Offensive, which had been several months before. Ensign Kerry would have been told this story by members of the shore party.
[...]

6. In command – Again with the hyperbole. Kerry makes much about being “in harge” of the ship after the Captain and XO. The OOD is in charge of the operation of the ship during his four hour watch but hardly in charge of the ship. ...

[...]

I have to wonder about all of those foreign leaders who will supposedly be so much more cooperative with the U.S. if Kerry is elected. Can they read? They're going to trust this man?

Hat tip: lgf: Kerry's Page at the U.S.S. Gridley Site

SwiftVets.com -- Open Letter to John Kerry

The following letter was delivered to the Kerry Campaign today by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
P.O. Box 26184
Alexandria, Virginia 22313

August 31, 2004

Senator John Kerry
901 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005

Dear Senator Kerry:

As you prepare for your address before the American Legion in Nashville, Tennessee, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth encourages you to use this opportunity to clarify your actions in Vietnam and your statements about your fellow Veterans and shipmates when you returned home. Since you have made your four-month tour in Vietnam the centerpiece of your campaign, we respectfully insist that you be truthful. The public is owed a full and honest accounting of your actions. Veterans are owed an apology from you and an acknowledgement that there was no basis in fact for the accusations you made against them.

We urge you to:

1. Apologize for your conduct once you returned from Vietnam. Your exaggerated testimony before the US Senate; the blanket indictment of your fellow veterans; throwing away medals and ribbons; all of these actions dishonored America and the armed forces. Your rhetoric and actions were not only wrong, they aided the enemy and brought great pain to POW's, veterans and their families.

2. Clarify the conflicting accounts involving the Bay Hap River incident of March 13, 1969 (Bronze Star and 3rd Purple Heart). You have now described three different versions of this incident. In the first version of this incident presented during the Democrat National Convention, you stated: "No man left behind," suggesting to the American people that you alone stayed on the river to rescue Mr. Rassmann. Later, when forced to acknowledge conflicting eyewitness testimony from fellow swift boat veterans, you said that your boat left the scene to return moments later to retrieve Jim Rassmann from the water. Yet, in another version of the same incident discovered in the Congressional Record, you reported that your boat struck a mine and Rassmann fell off the boat. Mr. Kerry, please explain to your fellow veterans and the American people which version is the truth.

3. Affirm that the injuries for which you received your purple hearts never required any medical treatment beyond perhaps a bandage and that, in all instances, these injuries were self-inflicted and came from your own weapon. Further, that if any of these purple hearts were falsely awarded, that you would not have been eligible to leave Vietnam after serving only four months.

4. Acknowledge what your own biographer is now saying, that the Christmas in Cambodia claim is "obviously wrong," that you were never in Cambodia over Christmas or any other time during your brief, four-month tour in Vietnam and that your statements before the United States Senate in 1986 were false.

If you undertake these steps we will be satisfied that the American public has been sufficiently apprised as to these aspects of your career, and we will discontinue the media advertisements you have sought so fervently to silence.

Please know that Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are eager to close our own personal chapters on Vietnam and instead focus on the war we're currently fighting — the ongoing war on terrorism. In the absence of full public disclosure and a public apology, we will continue efforts to carry our
message to an ever-expanding base of grassroots supporters.

Senator Kerry, we want to get Vietnam behind us. But, we can only do so if the truth is told.

We respectfully await your reply.

Sincerely,

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

Hat tip: Johnny_Four_Months

Buy THIS Patriotic American's Records, too

(See also: Buy This Patriotic American's Records)

I've been a Larry Gatlin fan for a lot of years. Now I have another good reason:

Since Bruce Springsteen is about to "Rock the Vote" for John Kerry, I'd be only too happy to start booking my motel rooms to hit the road for George W. Bush. With my brothers Steve and Rudy, my buddies the Oak Ridge Boys, Lee Greenwood, Mark Wills and any number of other country music artists who get their support from the Heartland, I'm going to find the time, come fall, to tell America that we're playing, and praying, for President Bush.

[...]

In closing, I'd say this to Bruce Springsteen: We do have something in common -- we were both "Born in the USA." From the bottom of my heart I say, Thank God.

Go read it all

Update: Add Toby Keith to the White Hats list

Another taste of John Kerry's love and respect for his fellow Vietnam Vets

Click the picture for a larger view

Hat tip: Mudville Gazette

I've got Gmail! Want some?

Thanks to Backcountry Conservative, I'm now bill.faith@gmail.com, in addition to my other aliases. I may or may not switch over to that account as my main email account sometime soon, after I experiment with it a little. In the mean time, I have 6 invitations to pass out to other users. I'm going to gradually lower my criteria for passing them out till I don't have any left. Heather, Vicki, Bob & Barbara, if you'd like one let me know. Use my Gmail address or my yahoo.com address either one. I'm also going to offer invitations to my nephew who's in the Air Force and to SlagleRock. That still leaves me one, for someone else on active duty who writes and asks for it. First come, first serve. After some reasonable length of time, if I have any invitations left I'll offer them to blog friends who I know come by now and then, and then later maybe to anyone who comes by my blog long enough to notice I have some.

Update: I gave my sister one invite and SlagleRock accepted one. Somehow (Google math?) that leaves me with 5.

Update: BlackFive is coordinating an effort to collect Gmail invites for the troops. I've offered him what I have but if someone else on active duty asks first, I'll send them out that way too.

Originally posted 30-08-2004 00:15

Bush twins "introduces" parents

Straight from MSNBC.com -- This was not PhotoShopped. And we're supposed to let the "professional" news media tell us what to believe?

Light Posting Tuesday night

Blogging tonight is going to be a little lighter than normal.

1. I took time tonight to go to a Lawrence County (Illinois) Republicans meeting to volunteer my time to create a web site for them. (If they take me up on my offer, it will have some effect on how much time I spend blogging for a few days.)
2. I just received email from my daughter with pictures of my grandson, whom I haven't seen since late March, attached. They'll be available at http://users4.ev1.net/~bdfaith/Ian/Ian.htm before I do any more blogging.

Update: The pictures are up. I can't wait till this weekend when he'll be in town for a couple of days.

4th Swift Vets Ad

Click here to watch "Medals"

It's Wictory Wednesday Again

It's
Wictory Wednesday Again

Dozens of blogs across the country participate in Wictory Wednesday. Every Wednesday, these bloggers put up a post asking their readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign. In their Wictory Wednesday posts, they also include the Wictory Wednesday blogroll, which lists all participating blogs.

I display the Wictory Wednesday blogroll on my sidebar seven days a week. -- Why wait for Wednesday to support the president's efforts to be reelected when we need a good man person (Rice/Lieberman '08!) in charge every day? Please do whatever you can for the Bush/Cheney campaign. We're in a war, people. We need a leader who understands that.

Once President Bush formally accepts the nomination for a second term Thursday night, it will be too late to donate to his campaign. Do it now!

Current Wictory Wednesday Bloggers:

Update and republished. Originally published 25-08-2004

Thank you Greyhawk! -- My 15 minutes of links

I couldn't figure out why my site meter was going nuts until I looked to see where people were coming to my site from. I traced some hits back and found, "Vietnam veteran Bill Faith is blogging up a storm. Scroll scroll scroll..." at http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/000359.html and "Back stateside, Vietnam veteran Bill Faith is blogging up a storm. Scroll scroll scroll..." at http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/001269.html. It's not quite an Instalanche, but to me it means more.

If you came here from Greyhawk's site and only have time to read one or two posts, please don't miss Please help some people who are making a difference.

If you found my site by some other route, please read that and then get in the habit of reading The Mudville Gazette. (And, obviously, the other things I post, if you're so inclined.)

Johnny (From Russ Vaughn)

Russ Vaughn, who gave us THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (CAMBODIAN VERSION) and Media Bias? No, By Us, has been at it again. I was honored to be one of the people to whom he emailed his latest effort:

Johnny
(With apologies to Mr. Kipling and the British Army)

Johnny went public with ‘is boasts, an’ ‘ero without fear,
“Til sudden like the Swifties say, “We got a turncoat ‘ere.”
The Libs they just ignored ‘em, sayin’ “Ah, it’s all a lie!”
Then Johnny’s outted by their ads an’ to myself says I:

Oh it’s Johnny this an’ Johnny that, ‘e’s the ‘ero of the day.
But it’s wait now, Mr. Kerry, what’s that record really say?
The horns are loudly blowin’ boys as our band begins to play,
An’ it’s goodbye, Mr. Kerry, as they blow your arse away.

Johnny goes to Cincinnati sober as a man can be,
An’ they give ol’ George a “Bravo Lad!” but John no sympathy.
They give ‘im plain their message, sittin’ silent in the ‘alls,
That when it comes to fightin’ men, they know oo’s got the balls.

For it’s Johnny this an’ Johnny that, but wait, he might ‘a lied
From the platform of his campaign train an’ on the Boston tide.
His ship is on the tide, my boys, his ship is on the tide,
An’ it’s plain as day she’s sinkin’ boys, because the turncoat lied.

Yes Johnny mocked our uniforms that guard you while you sleep.
He cheapened all our medals throwing his upon that heap;
An’ rustlin’ up his phony troops, he led them for a bit,
Until his aspirations and theirs no longer fit.

Now it’s Johnny this an’ Johnny that, an’ Johnny how’s yer soul,
In that brave front rank of ‘eroes as our drums begin their roll?
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
An’ they’ll keep right on a rollin’ boys, ‘til we chuck ‘im in the hole.

We make no claim as ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
But ‘onorable men an’ warriors fightin’ once agin for you.
An’ if your ‘ero’s record, our charges soundly taint,
That’s what we’re tryin’ to tell you blokes, your ‘ero ain’t no saint.

For it’s Johnny this an’ Johnny that, an’ “Check him out, the Loot!”
Was ‘e the “Savior of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot?
Now it’s Johnny’s turn to prove us wrong, an’ make us all out liars,
By signin’ that one eighty form an’ puttin out the fires.

Oh it’s Johnny this an’ Johnny that, ‘e’s the ‘ero of the day,
But it’s hold on, Mr. Kerry, what’s that record really say?
The horns are loudly blowin’ boys, as our band begins to play,
“Cheerio, Old Man,” to Johnny and blows his arse away.

Russ Vaughn
2d Bn, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66

Poor wittle Mikey has his feelings hurt. (Boo-hoo-hoo)

[Follow-up to McCain has his faults, but tonight he's my man]

From CNN's transcript of the McCain speech:

[...]

Our choice wasn't between a benign status quo and the bloodshed of war. It was between war and a graver threat. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Not our political opponents. And certainly -- and certainly not a disingenuous filmmaker who would have us believe...

AUDIENCE (Booing filmmaker Michael Moore who attended the convention): Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

MCCAIN: Please, please, my friends.

That line was so good, I'll use it again. Certainly not a disingenuous filmmaker who would have us believe, my friends, who would have us believe that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace, when in fact -- when in fact it was a place of indescribable cruelty, torture chambers, mass graves and prisons that destroyed the lives of the small children inside their walls.

[...]

From Editor and Publisher:

NEW YORK Following all the commotion Monday night, Michael Moore may not return to Madison Square Garden for the Republican National Convention. According to editors at USA Today, which is publishing his daily column this week, Moore told them that he was choosing not to return again.

I guess after the fat maggot watched the Democratic convention from Jimmy Carter's private box he expected adulation from the Republicans too. Well, guess what, Mikey. There are still people in this country who can think for themselves and recognize you for the scum that you are. Actually, there are a lot of us.

"Winning" the War on Terror

I'd bookmarked some things to come back to thinking I might post on how the Democrats, and the always fair mainstream media, are trying to spin George Bush's statement that “I don't think you can win [the war on terror]," but Michelle Malkin is all over it better than I could ever hope to be. Check out PUTTING BUSH THROUGH THE SPIN CYCLE. The only relevant thing I know of that she's missed is the President's interview with Rush Limbaugh. From that interview:

Really what I was saying to Lauer was, is that this is not the kind of war where you sit down and sign a peace treaty. It's a totally different kind of war. But we will win it.

So, Johnny Edwards thinks "This is no time to declare defeat." ... Doh.

McCain has his faults, but tonight he's my man

From Editor and Publisher:

The biggest commotion at the Republican National Convention Monday night occurred just before 10 pm with the entrance of anti-Bush filmmaker Michael Moore, ...

Moore had received more hassling than usual over press credentials on his way upstairs to this perch and then it took 20 minutes for him to get from the hallway just outside to his seat, as he was stopped by security two more times. [BF: Well boo-hoo*spit*hoo]

Then, after taking his seat, he watched as Senator John McCain, speaking to the crowd, referred to a certain "disingenuous film-maker" and seemed to glance at Moore above him. Much of the audience erupted in boos and then, turning to Moore, many delegates shouted "Four more years!"

[...]

And I'll bet they didn't even have his 72 raisins waiting, either. (Sob.)

Update: The whole McCain quote was:

"It was a choice between war and a graver threat. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Not our critics abroad. Not our political opponents. And certainly not a isingenious film maker who would have us believe that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace when in fact it was a place of indescribably cruelty, torture chambers, mass graves, and prisons that destroyed the lives of the small children held inside their walls."

Hat tip: Dean's World, for posting the whole quote.

A Senior Citizen's Vote For Kerry

I don't normally steal a whole blog post, but this one really touched my heart and I just had to make sure you see it.

A Senior Citizen's Vote For Kerry

I often do not post anything pro-Kerry on this blog but I got this from a friend and felt it worthwhile to share with you. The individual is not only legitimate but passionate about his beliefs.

I am a senior citizen and during the Clinton administration I had an extremely good and well-paying job. I was able to take vacations and even had some vacation homes.

Since President Bush took office, my entire life has changed for the worse.

I lost my job.

I lost relatives in the terrible Iraqi war.

I lost my homes.

I lost my health insurance.

As a matter of fact, I lost virtually everything and became homeless.

Adding insult to injury, the authorities found me living like an animal, but instead of giving me aid, they arrested me.

I will do anything that Sen. Kerry wants to insure that a Democrat is back in the White House come next year. Bush must go!

I just thought you and your readers would like to know how one senior citizen views the Bush administration.

Thank you for taking time to read my message.

Sincerely,

Saddam Hussein

Check out BMEWs. You'll be glad you did.

A Letter To The Man Without Honor

From Mike "Sergeant America" Brodie, a Vietnam-era vet:

A Letter To The Man Without Honor

John Forbes Kerry:

Having just watched a very well done tribute to our Nation's Military Services at the Republican National Convention; I cannot help but think about your hollow, empty speech at your own National Party's Convention where you, your wife and your followers did nothing more than pay tribute to your nomination. It is becoming so very difficult to read, hear or view any reports about your candidacy; as well as your improper, shallow bragging. The constant drumbeat of self serving surrogates that offer praise in regard to your four months service in Vietnam, make me ill.

You are a coward, Sir.

[...]

You are a coward, a traitor and need to be re-activated and brought to trial for your crimes while in the uniform of your Country. You are a self-confessed and self-professed War Criminal. You have given aid and comfort to our enemies. You have soiled the very Flag you "volunteered" to defend. You have destroyed any faith in you that any sane American Veteran may have had.

May you rot in Hell for your deeds and I defy you to state otherwise.

M. K. Brodie
SSgt USAF (1966 - 1970)

Roger that.

Reasons To Vote For Bush

From Infidel Cowboy:

Reasons to Vote For Bush

The swiftboat vets for truth ads controversy is a mere distraction from what should be the focus of this election. It is long past time for us to stop fighting the Vietnam war. While I blame Kerry for bringing it to the forefront again, he has only himself to blame for the visceral attacks he now faces. It was cynical and opportunistic to attempt to deflect attention from the fact that he has voted against every weapons program and voted to cut intelligence funding by billions of dollars by portraying himself as a hardened combat tested war hero. He should not be surprised that some f those hurt by his anti-war activities back then felt compelled to come forward now to hurt him. They have done that, giving us reasons to vote AGAINST Kerry, in much the same way that the 527s like MoveOn and ACT have given us reasons to vote against Bush. I have yet to hear a compelling argument for voting for Kerry, but Charles Krauthammer makes a very good argument for voting for
Bush in an article in Time Magazine. Excerpt: ...

[...]

Go read it all, then bookmark the site.

Update: I fixed the links to Infidel Cowboy's site and to his post.

John Kerry: Unfit for Command -- Update 23

[Continued from Update 22]

From Michelle Malkin:

Goat Droppings

The Michael Moore wing of the Democratic Party has made much ado of President Bush's decision to finish reading "My Pet Goat" to Florida schoolchildren for several minutes after he was informed of the terrorist attacks on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. John Kerry picked up Moore's goat droppings and his campaign is running with them--despite Kerry's own admission on CNN's Larry King Live that after the attacks, he, along with Sen. Tom Daschle, couldn't think. The Washington Times reported:

[Kerry] recalled walking into the office of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, South Dakota Democrat, and watching the second plane hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

"And we shortly thereafter sat down at the table, and then we just realized nobody could think," Mr. Kerry recalled, "And then 'Boom!' Right behind us, we saw the cloud of explosion at the Pentagon."

That was a span of roughly 35 minutes, according to precise timelines of the day...

The Times' Diana West notes today how FDR reacted after the Pearl Harbor attack:

[..]

After calling the secretary of state, Manchester writes, "the President of the United States did nothing for 18 minutes." Eighteen minutes. Why, that's 11, maybe 12 minutes more than George W. Bush paused during a visit to a Florida elementary school before taking action on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. ...

[...]

The First Lady's even getting into the fray. [Aside: Isn't it nice having a First Lady after 8 years of Hillary? Is this country ready for Teresa?] Discerning Texan has more.

Laura Slams Critics of Bush’s 9/11 classroom actions

[...]

"I think that's a ridiculous allegation by John Kerry — it's absurd," Mrs. Bush told The Post. "And I think what my husband did was perfectly appropriate. I think it was the right thing to do in front of the children."

"I think it was the right thing to do in front of the press that were there. And while he was there for those seven short minutes, his staff was getting more information.

"They didn't have any more information than what [chief of staff] Andy Card had told him when he came into the room."

You go, girl!

*****

From Cassandra on all of those connections between SBVT and the Bush campaign:

The NY Times Outdoes Itself

[...]

Who can forget the shadowy Web of Connections that finally proved beyond all doubt that John O'Neill's lesbian sister's ex-wife's hamster once bore the illegitimate cross-species love child of that shrew Laura Bush's daughter Lauren's pet Gerbil, thus establishing to any disinterested party that the White House was certainly funding the Swift Vets latest disgraceful ads?

[...]

*****

From Discerning Texan:

Mainstream media now onto Silver Star Irregularities

Last Sunday I posted a story detailing how some investigative journalists have found a mysterious “V” in the citation record for John Kerry’s Silver Star. Then on Wednesday I posted a follow-up story which found additional irregularities with the Silver Star citations (not the least of which--there were 3 separate citations, years apart, for the same medal; something that is unheard of in the military). Now it appears that the mainstream media has finally awakened to this story: the Chicago Sun-Times ran a story on this on Friday, and now the Washington Times has in its Op/Ed section a column about the mysterious “V” in Kerry’s record:

[...]

Mr. and Mrs. Holzer bring up another interesting point. Over at JohnKerry.com, the Navy citation for Mr. Kerry's Silver Star does not mention the combat "V". It appears, then, that the Navy didn't mistakingly grant a "V" with Mr. Kerry's Silver Star. So, how did it get into Mr. Kerry's DD 214?

This is more serious than one would think. In Title 19, U.S. Code, Section 1001, the law states: "Whoever, in any manner within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the United States, knowingly and willfully ... makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years or both." As Mr. Lipscomb reports, a complaint filed by Mr. Burkett actually led to the sentencing of Navy Capt. Roger D. Edwards to 115 days in the brig for falsification of his records.

[...]

From Cassandra

Hopefully My Last Word On Kerry's Silver Star With Combat V

[...]

Most people have a hard enough time following the intricacies of a story like this. The simpler the story, the more effective it will be. And the basic facts are these:

1. The combat V is not authorized for award with the Silver Star.
2. According to B.G. Burkett's research, he found no records where the combat V had been awarded with the Silver Star, except where the official record had been fraudulently altered.
3. Kerry's Silver Star citation makes no mention of a combat V. How, then, did it suddenly appear on his subsequent DD214 signed by Secretary Lehman?

What prompted the 2 subsequent embellishments of his war record? Let Kerry answer this question. Anything we need to know will come out of his answer - he requested the change, therefore he should not be allowed to duck the question. The rest is really just a distraction until we hear what he has to say.

[...]

From my earlier post on this subject:

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman has no idea where a Silver Star citation displayed on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign Web site came from, he said Friday. The citation appears over Lehman's signature.

"It is a total mystery to me. I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," he said. ...

*****

Byron York has Rear Admiral William L. Schachte's statement about the incident for which Jean Fraud Kerry was awarded his first Purple Heart. Please note my deliberate use of the phrases "for which" and "was awarded" as opposed to "during which" and "earned."

SwiftVets Called Ugly By A Warthog

Fox News:

Former President Bill Clinton defended John Kerry on Sunday, telling FOX News that one of the independent campaign ads questioning Kerry's Vietnam service bore "false witness."

If there's one thing in this world more laughable than being called dishonest by Jean Fraud Kerry it's being called dishonest by Slick Willie Clinton. Maybe they can bring in Jayson Blair for backup.

John Kerry: Unfit for Command -- Update 22

[Continued from Update 21]

Michael Graham -- John Kerry: Not So Swift:

Listening to John Kerry complain about the scrutiny his Vietnam record is getting is like Pamela Anderson complaining about the fact that guys keep staring at her breasts. What the hell did you expect? When you turn the Democratic National Convention into a four-day screening of Apocalypse Now — complete with the candidate's own home movies; when you stride to the podium with a crisp salute and a "reporting for duty"; when your political entourage has more military uniforms in it than the coatroom of a Subic Bay bordello; in short, when you base much of your campaign for president on two tours of duty in 'Nam — you, sir, have no right to complain that your opponents are too obsessed with the past.

If there were ever a candidate who is getting exactly the campaign treatment he deserves, that man is John F. Kerry.

[...]

There are people in American public life for whom Vietnam would be a worse campaign issue than it is for John Kerry. Jane Fonda, former members of the Kent State National Guard, Lt. William Calley of My Lai … That's about it.

[...]

Other must reads: Vietnam and Kerry's Worldview, The war-torn soul of John Kerry

If there's still time: David Limbaugh, N.Y. Post

Who's to blame for nation's Vietnam wounds? Kerry

MARK STEYN: Who's to blame for nation's Vietnam wounds? Kerry

Too good to excerpt. Just read it

Moronic Convergence in Manhattan

I voted for that, before I voted against it (Again). Can't this man ever tell the truth?

As Greyhawk says in his post about this article, "Vote Nader if you must."

John Kerry had just pumped up a huge crowd in downtown West Palm Beach ... when a local television journalist posed the question that any candidate with Florida ambitions should expect:

“What will you do about Cuba?"

[...]

"I'm pretty tough on Castro, because I think he's running one of the last vestiges of a Stalinist secret police government in the world,'' ... "And I voted for the Helms-Burton legislation to be tough on companies that deal with him.''

It seemed the correct answer in a year in which Democratic strategists think they can make a play for at least a portion of the important Cuban-American vote ...

There is only one problem: Kerry voted against it.

[...]

Go read the whole thing, then, if you can't vote for George Bush, vote for Nader, write in Lieberman, write in Mickey Mouse ... Do what you must. Just DON'T vote for this jerk!

The Pope Blesses George Bush

Flagrantly stolen from SlagleRock. He'll probably forgive me if you check out his site. Do it.

The Popes Texas Visit

On a tour of Texas, the Pope took a couple of days off to visit the coastal area for some sightseeing. He was cruising along the sea wall on Galveston Isle in his Pope mobile when suddenly he notices a frantic commotion just off shore.

There was John Kerry struggling frantically to free himself from the jaws of a 25-foot shark. As the Pope watched, horrified, a speedboat came racing up with two men aboard. One of the men, President George W. Bush quickly fired a harpoon into the shark's side while Dick Cheney reached out and pulled the bleeding, semi-conscious John Kerry from the water. Then using (autographed Round Rock Express) baseball bats, the two heroes beat the shark to death and hauled it into the boat.

Immediately the Pope shouted and summoned them to the beach. "I give you my blessings for your brave actions" he told them. "I heard that there was some bitter hatred between President Bush and John Kerry, but now I have seen with my own eyes that this is not true."

As the Pope drove off, President Bush asked the Veep "Who was that?"

"It was the Pope" Dick replied. "He is in direct contact with God and has all of God's wisdom."

"Well" says the president, "he may have access to God's wisdom, but he doesn't know squat about shark fishing...... how's the bait holding up?"

Someone else y'all should know -- Mamma Montezz

Go by when you have a chance and meet "Housewife, Mom, Blogger and damned good cook " Lila at Mamamontezz's Mental Rumpus Room. Sometimes she posts about political topics (which she handles in a much more "civilized" manner than I sometimes do), sometimes she posts original poetry, and sometimes she just posts about life. Whichever mode she's in, she's always a good read, which is why I visit her site almost every day. Check her out.

While you're in the neighborhood, you should also visit her Spousal Unit's blog, and definitely don't miss her blogson's. (Warning: Said blogson is an Air Force NCO and isn't always a "gentleman." -- He's my kinda people, in other words.)

1971 Kerry Senate Testimony Now Available On Video

Jeff Quinton at Backcountry Conservative has posted links to John Kerry's 1971 testimony to the U.S. Senate, available in video or audio-only format. He also links to a C-Span transcript of that testimony. Go educate yourself.

(Just in case the Kerry camp starts threatening legal shenanigans to get the video removed from the net, I've copied it to my hard drive. Please email me if Jeff's links quit working and I'll post as much of the video as I have room for on my web site.)

MSNBC - GlennReynolds.com

Rather than try to pick out key excerpts, I'll just say go red it: MSNBC - GlennReynolds.com

John Kerry: Unfit for Command -- Update 21

From Captain's Quarters:

The Media Breakthrough Has Begun In Earnest

[...]

After waiting weeks for the mainstream news media to cover the collapse of John Kerry's narrative on Viet Nam, and waiting out the media attack on the testimony of over 200 combat veterans, two bellwether media outlets have suddenly reversed themselves and reported on Kerry's lies and prevarications in their news sections, as pointed out by CQ reader Bill Millan.

First, the Los Angeles Times publishes a profile of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth organizer John O'Neill which, surprisingly, remains positive and balanced towards its subject. Scott Gold cuts through all of the hysterical Republican-shill charges thrown about by the Kerry campaign and its sympathizers and presents a much more interesting look at O'Neill and what motivates him:

[...]

Today's Washington Post reports on the effect of the Swiftvet campaign by looking at Kerry's retreat on statements made during the course of the campaign and his conflicts with the facts even when issuing clarification. Michael Dobbs even makes a reference to the Phoenix Project:

[...]

From Ed Driscoll:

Built For A 1972 Media

[...]

... For 25 years, he told The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, the United States Senate, and all manner of other well-known saps about his covert Yuletide operations inside Cambodia gun-running to anti-communists with his lucky CIA hat. To verify any of this would have required a trip to specialist reference libraries, looking up stuff on eye-straining microfiche, etc. So it was easier to let the old blowhard yak away and just nod occasionally.

Senator Kerry couldn't have foreseen that Al Gore would invent the Internet, and there'd be this Google thingy, and all you'd have to do is tap in a few words and a nanosecond later it would all be at your fingertips – veterans memoirs, Cambodian history, declassified Johnson administration documents, previous Kerry "stretchers" (as Mark Twain called them).

[..]

Additional reading: Black Five, In Bill's World, In Bill's World

I may update this with some additional links later or if I find something else significant enough I' may make it a new post.

Update: Power Line, Weekly Standard, Weekly Standard