30 March 2007

Miscellany

Good thing the Iranians don't know when we will be attacking...

The UAE says it will deny any use of it's territory to launch air or ground attacks against Iran. Thanks, but we have our own territory to launch air and ground attacks, if we need it.

Why does any one still care about the opinions of idiot celebs? If I wanted to hear from a flatuating buttcrack, I'd eat more beans.

When Republicans do something wrong, they get thrown under the bus by their colleagues. When Democrats do something wrong, they circle the wagons. Maybe Republicans can reconsider their take on that whole presumption of innocence thing.

Democrats claim the November elections gave them a mandate. Neither Republicans nor Democrats understand that the November elections was the American people's way of saying "If we wanted our politicians to be spineless spinning weasels we'd elect them that way".

And now for something totally different.

As I peruse my hitmeter results, I noticed that I have repeat visitors. As in, one or two misbegotten souls wander in here from time to time from the same address!

As it is highly unlikely that these poor darlings would make the same mistake more than, say, five or six times, that means we have a following. Dare we say it? We have regular readers! And you know who you are! Worse than that, WE know who you are!

This, of course, puts us out of sorts concerning this humble space. Since we have people who apparently check up on us once in a while, we feel as if we owe it to them to occasionally have something new to read.

In that vein, I hereby promise to find something, anything, to write about at a minimum of once a week. Which means you will probably get more inane ramblings, much like what you see here.

Enjoy!
Totally unrelated photo of the East Broad Top Railroad courtesy of the Scoundrel, taken during Community Appreciation Weekend 2006.

29 March 2007

Hero Remembered

I wrote here about a young Marine who gave his life to save his warrior brothers and was awarded the Medal of Honor. He and his squadmates had been discussing what they would do if they were faced with a grenade attack. CPL Dunham theorized that a Kevlar helmet placed over the grenade and held down with the body would allow the grenade to detonate without injuring anyone.

He got the chance soon after to test his theory. Unfortunately, his theory was wrong. He did not hesitate to try it out, however, and his actions saved the other men in his squad.

On March 23rd the Secretary of the Navy announced that the Navy would remember. The newest Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer, DDG 109, will be named USS Jason Dunham.

The Navy considers the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to be its most capable and survivable surface combatant. Originally designed to defend against Soviet aircraft, cruise missiles, and nuclear attack submarines, this high capability ship is used in high-threat areas to conduct antiair, antisubmarine, antisurface, and strike operations. The Burke class guided missile destroyers incorporate the Aegis air defense system and SPY-1 phased array radar. Flight IIA ships, of which Jason Dunham is one, also embark the LAMPS helicopter as part of it's anti-submarine warfare arsenal.

Rest well Marine. The ship that proudly bears your name will continue to serve the country you loved and defended with your life, carrying on the tradition that you established.

We remember.

Semper Fi.
US Navy photo, Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS O'Kane (DDG-77)

18 March 2007

The Ragged Edge

I don't know if I am amused or annoyed at the antics of the political fringe, on the left and on the right. I do know that I am bemused that they don't realize they are on the fringe, most of the offenders think they are mainstream and are constantly amazed at the opposition to their sound logic.

On the one hand we have the Westboro Baptist Church. I suppose that given their stand on homosexuality and religion they would be considered right wing. I consider them nutcases. They go to soldier's funerals to hold signs and generally create a ruckus to draw attention to their belief that combat deaths are being caused by a God who is angry at America for allowing homosexuals to exist.

On the other hand, we have assorted lefties who believe they are "speaking truth to power" in this "facist dictatorship" by hurling invective and insult at the institutions of our society, and occasionally cans of paint at it's monuments. The fact they still draw breath outside of institutes of incarceration after doing so is proof that our society is neither facist, nor is it a dictatorship - a fact that is lost, I might add, on them.

In the middle are we, those of us who can disagree respectfully without resorting to violence or name-calling. I might disagree with you completely, but I won't scream "NAZI!" at you because you can't see my blinding brilliance. If you can do the same you will at least have my respect, if not my agreement.

The great thing about America is that we are allowed to have differing opinions. Even better, we have the right, written into our cornerstone document, to voice those differing opinions. As long as our disagreements don't escalate into violence, we are free to disagree with one another just as vocally as we want. Keep in mind, though, that if your vocalization becomes abusive and overly frantic most folks will stop paying attention to the message because they will judge the messenger to be a hopeless lunatic.

In this day and age of interwebtubiethingies our past can quickly catch up to us and smack us in the noggin. What we bloviate on today will be fodder for the cannons tomorrow, and if we can't support our opinions with fact and reason we will be judged on that. Every little rant will come back to haunt us, and every mistake will be thrown into the spotlight.

There are several sayings that apply here, but my favorite is one that I have repeated several times on this blog of late, one that I first heard from Pappy Cage.

Never miss a chance to shut the hell up.

Moonbat photo courtesy of the Barking Moonbat Early Warning System.

09 March 2007

Government 101

There has been a lot of discussion in certain circles about gay marriage, and if we should have a Constitutional amendment on the subject.

I would say it's not a good idea, especially not in the Federal Constitution. Not a good idea in State constitutions either. It has nothing to do with marriage, gay or otherwise. It has to do with the purpose of a Constitution.

Standard disclaimer here, I am not now, nor have I ever been, a homosexual. I do not currently have close friends or family members that I know of that are homosexual. Therefore, I do not have a personal axe to grind, no dog in this fight.

The purpose of a Constitution is to set into the rule of law the limits of the government. A Constitution, be it state or federal, clearly defines the roles, powers and limitations of the several branches of government; they being the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.

Notice the use of the word "limitations". Quite clearly, it defines what a government may and may not take upon itself to do.

One of the most important limitations on the powers of the government is it must not limit your personal freedoms except where the exercise thereof would put others into harm's way, that being defined as financial or physical injury.

Unfortunately we have allowed government to overstep it's bounds so often and so long that it now does so with impunity. It also does so with immunity, or so it seems.

Also unfortunately we have in this nation a particular version of native that I like to call homoirritatus uninterruptus, or Constantly Complaining Man. This species can be found just about anywhere, constantly bitching and whining that their rights (usually self defined and not written into any law anywhere) are being violated. Some common calls of the ConCom Man are "the government ought to do something" or "there ought to be a law". Subjects that they avoid are personal responsibility and self reliance. ConCom Man can often be found in the company of barkus moonbattus, the barking moonbat.

Marriage is at it's core a legal contract between two willing parties, which is why it takes an action of the courts to dissolve one. It may or may not be solemnized by a religious ceremony, this ceremony has no bearing on the legal aspect of the contract.

When you seek to limit, by law, the freedoms of another individual or individuals you start to tread on thin ice. The only justification of this limitation is to prevent physical or financial harm to a third party. This is why it is illegal to shout "FIRE" in a crowded theater, and not a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech.

If we are to limit the freedoms of another, we must have justification. If we do not, the boundaries are erased and any action that ConCom Man deems objectionable may be limited. These actions may include activities that you find personally enjoyable, such as riding motorcycles or jumping out of perfectly good airplanes.

This is why I would object to any legislation outlawing gay marriage, even though I would not engage in such activities. If Adam and Steve want to tie the knot, it takes absolutely not a dime out of my pocket nor does it remove so much as a square centimeter of my skin.

I may not understand your compulsion to throw yourselves from perfectly good airplanes either, but I would never take away your right to do so.

Alterations to our cornerstone documents, the Constitution of the United States and the Constitutions of the several States, should always be carefully considered. Three questions that must be asked are, 1) Is the activity under consideration likely to cause physical harm to another person, 2) Is the activity under consideration likely to cause financial harm to another person, and 3) Will the legislation under consideration prevent the activity from causing physical or financial harm to another person? If the answers are not affirmative for either one or two, and is not affirmative for number three, the legislation must not be allowed to become law.

Law, like fire, is a fearful servant and a terrible master.

01 March 2007

Give That Man A Ceegar!

He gets it!

He gets it!

Jim Zumbo finally gets it!

Welcome back Jim. Glad to see you made it.

Word From The Front

From Confederate Yankee comes a link to this story from al'Reuters about an Iraqi town that successfully resisted Al Qaeda terrorists' attempts to overtake their city.

As CY points out, the significant part of this event is the fact that the townspeople turned to Iraqi police to accomplish the deed. US forces took absolutely no part in the operation.

So far the MSM has Cronkited* the story in Iraq, completely ignoring the fact that most of Iraq is relatively quiet now, with the notable exceptions of Sadr City in Bagdad and parts of the Anbar province.

The surge is taking care of Sadr City, and now it looks like the Iraqi people are finally getting the confidence they need in their own police and army to start taking care of Anbar.

In case you weren't paying attention, this is exactly the kind of thing we were hoping for. It means that even though there have been mistakes made along the way, the overall strategy in Iraq is working.

I mean to say, it's what some of us have been hoping for. Unfortunately it doesn't fit the outcome that the MSM and assorted Lefties have been hoping for.

But, as CY once more points out, as long as Americans are more concerned with the fate of Anna Nichole Smith's mortal remains than with issues that will have long term importance, the story will not likely be told.

I'm just trying to help get the word out.

*Meaning, they have interpreted American casualties as "we are getting our asses kicked" regardless of the outcome of the particular battle or skirmish the American troops were in at the time, reminiscent of Walter Cronkite's declaration that the result of the Tet Offensive was that we could not win in VietNam. The truth is that we won that one, and it was enough to break the back of the NVA if we had stuck to it.

Ironically, this is the only similarity between Iraq and VietNam that actually holds true; the American people are becoming disillusioned by the war in Iraq because of the view held by the MSM that we can't win.

Pappy Says

Some words of advice from a true Virginia gentleman, Tad (Pappy) Cage:

"If you aren't in bed by 9PM, you might as well go on home."

"Use your head for something more than a place to put your hat."

And my favorite, "Never miss a chance to shut the hell up."

I really miss that old man.

Rest in peace, Pappy.

Somali Wild Ass, photo by Robert Lawton