LEATHERNECKM31

A picture (in Washington D.C.) is worth ten-thousand words

This is the photo America should remember—that of Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin shown with his parents, Gene and Dona Griffin.

Sadly, Sgt. Griffin, killed in action this week in Afghanistan will be remembered (or more accurately, his flag-draped casket will be remember) as a photo prop for his Marxist Commander-in-Chief.

Not since the last democrat president has there been such a disgusting display of monumental cynicism, black-hearted calculation and rage-educing bitterness. 

And this was the political/visual/media pay-off for his stomach-churning manipulation; the AP, which chose to call Griffin a “…college student who was struggling to find his way in the world when he turned to the military” reports:

“… (Griffin) came home in a line of flag-draped coffins saluted in Thursday's pre-dawn darkness by President Barack Obama at Dover Air Force Base.

(Ed. note: Obama did not salute a “line of flag-draped coffins”….. only one, Griffin’s.)

And save me the eye-rolling lecture about a “president doing what he’s supposed to do as commander-in-chief”; haven’t you been paying attention the last two-three years?

Of the 15 military troops and three DEA agents killed last week, only one family—the Griffins—gave its permission for the photo op.

But the still and video images carry a far different message, don’t they?

The assumption by most Americans is that Obama awoke in the “pre-dawn” darkness to honor all his fallen servicemen.

Absolutely not.

Did Obama’s henchmen contact all the grieving families and could only obtain permission from one?  

Did all refuse, but the Griffins gave in? Mr. Griffin is a Mormon bishop from Terre Haute … and he and his wife allowed the TelePrompTer to use their dead son as a prop?

Perhaps the Griffins were placed under a great deal of pressure, or perhaps they even thought it was a great idea; is that likely? I do not know.

And of course, the AP used the faux ceremony to bash President Bush:

“The dramatic image of Obama on the tarmac was a portrait not witnessed in years.”

Compare that with Bush—a very good war-time President, and decent man—who refused to use dead young men to further a political agenda. Without checking all eight years of his daily schedule, not one knows how many grieving families from this war he prayed with and cried with… in private. 

Bush also knew that had he done so publically, he would have been pilloried for doing exactly what Barack Hussein Obama has done and will likely continue to do when the need arises for a little distraction from the truth: that he’s leading our brave young men and women to defeat.

Finally… Obama went to Dover with his usual retinue of news media lackeys. Why? If his gesture was genuine and respectful, he would have closed his appearance to all journalists.

And no one had to teach George Bush how to render a proper salute.

The White House news bureau at MSNBC reported: “The president's trip to Dover, something he has wanted to do for months, came at a pivotal moment for the Afghanistan war.”

No argument there… he didn’t go to Dover until he needed the caskets for political cover.

Barack Hussein Obama has spent more time taking his wife to dinner, more time playing basketball and golf, more time brushing his teeth than talking to his Afghanistan commander with whom he has met once.

What enrages we Real Americans is that Obama has time to generate propaganda, but hasn’t the time to heed his theater commanders and send the 40-80,000 reinforcements which would very likely have saved Griffith’s life.

Barry is trading our sons’ and daughters’ lives to placate the radical left which wants America to surrender to its enemies, and demands that Obama surrender as he promised he would.  

Griffin (shown second from left), died along with six other soldiers and an Afghan interpreter  when their Stryker armored vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.

Griffin, 29, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.

He died Oct. 27 in Arghandab Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an IED. Also killed were

• Pfc. Brian Bates, 20, New Orleans.
• Staff Sgt. Luis M. Gonzalez, 27, of South Ozone Park, N.Y.
• Sgt. Fernando Delarosa, 24, of Alamo, Texas.
• Sgt. Issac B. Jackson, 27, of Plattsburg, Mo.
• Sgt. Patrick O. Williamson, 24, of Broussard, La.
• Spc. Jared D. Stanker, 22, of Evergreen Park, Ill.

KABUL - Eleven US troops and three US drug enforcement officials were killed in two helicopter crashes in Afghanistan yesterday, the heaviest one-day loss for American forces in more than four years, military officials said.

The crashes involved three copters, two of which collided midair in the south of the country and a third that went down in the wake of a firefight in Afghanistan’s west, according to NATO and US officials.

In a separate air crash in Afghanistan on Monday, seven American soldiers and three U.S. civilians died when their Chinook helicopter went down in western Afghanistan; eleven US service members and one US civilian were injured, as were 14 Afghan troops.

Seven soldiers died Monday in the crash of an MH-47 helicopter in Darreh-ye Bum, Afghanistan.

They were identified as:

• Staff Sgt. Shawn H. McNabb, 24, of Terrell, Tx.
• Chief Warrant Officer Michael P. Montgomery, 36, of Savannah, Ga.
• Chief Warrant Officer Niall Lyons, 40, of Spokane, Wash.;
• Sgt. Josue E. Hernandez Chavez, 23, of Reno, Nev.;
• Sgt. Nikolas A. Mueller, 26, of Little Chute, Wisc.;
• Sgt. 1st Class David E. Metzger, 32, of San Diego., and
• Staff Sgt. Keith R. Bishop, 28, of Medford, N.Y.

McNabb, Montgomery, Lyons, Chavez and Mueller were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Regiment (Airborne), based at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.: Metzger and Bishop were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), from Fort Bragg, N.C.

Air disaster

Capt. Kyle R. VanDeGiesen, a Marine Super Cobra pilot, was 29 years old. He was one of 14 Americans killed in Afghanistan today on two flights - the deadliest day for U.S. forces in that war since June 28, 2005, when 19 troops were lost.

Captain VanDeGiesen and his wife Megan are shown here on their wedding day.

VanDeGiesen and his widow Megan have a daughter, Avery; the couple is expecting their first son.

Survivors include his parents, Ruth Ann and Calvin VanDeGiesen, two brothers, Ryan and Christian, and a sister, Caitlin.

A UH-1N “Huey” carrying Cpl. Gregory M.W. Fleury, 23, and Capt. Eric Jones, 29, below, crashed into a the Cobra piloted by Capt. David Mitchell, 30, and Capt. Van De Giesen, in Helmand Province. 

The combined 14 deaths from the loss of the three aircraft made it the deadliest day for U.S. personnel in the Islamic republic since 2005.

These are the faces and names of our finest who have been killed as a result of 68 million voters casting a ballot for a Communist Manchurian Candidate intent on destroying this military, our society and our nation.

I wonder how they sleep?

May God comfort the families, and welcome America’s best and brightest to his embrace.

And Semper Fi.

This is the end, my friend……. and good riddance

Last night on Beck, I think it was, I saw Doug Hoffman for the first time and wasn't impressed.

The Fox TV host was quizzing him about his candidacy for the the U.S. Representative NY-23 district special election where he’s opposed by an Obama robot, and a “Republican” Obamabot-lite with

the improbable name recognition, Dede Scozzafava.

Guzuntight!

A novice to politics, Hoffman, a bespeckled, Christian, veteran, middle-aged man appeared to be exactly as advertised: a self-made, middle-class conservative fed up with what is happening to his country, and believes it is caused by two things: democrats and republicans.

From his website, this is his campaign:

I'm running for Congress because I sense the America I love is being taken away from us.  I want to tell Washington: No more bailouts. No more taxes. No more trillion dollar deficits. That's what I'm fighting for.

My opponents have bought and paid for $876,000 in TV ads. I urgently need to raise $125, 000… immediately. 

My opponents are a liberal Republican who voted for gay marriage (twice) and was endorsed by ACORN, and a Nancy Pelosi Democrat.

Defeating them comes down to one cold, hard fact – money.

In 1980, I helped Lake Placid with our Olympics when the US beat the Russians in hockey – the same year Reagan was elected. It’s time to send Washington a new message now.

Refreshing, no?

Hoffman’s entered the bizarre world of GOP “special masters” who gave us John McCain, so he finds himself being opposed by his own (former) party, as well as some of it’s luminaries, such as Newt Gingrich who offers this great insight into 2010 politics:

“Conservatives are inadvertently hindering the cause by backing Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman over Dede Scozzafava.”

“The Newt” is in the tank for a stealth democrat in drag; he rationalizes, “I never second-guess the local party.”

Moreover, the New York GOP which is running attack ads against Hoffman in favor of Scozzafava, who is pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, and the wife of a union capo.

The former small town mayor, Scozzafava (below, left) is infamous for calling the cops on an AP reporter who had the temerity to ask obvious questions of the candidate. (Click here and scroll to the bottom of the article for this very odd piece of campaigning.)

When I said I wasn’t impressed with Hoffman at the top of this, I meant that he isn’t exactly as TV friendly as I’d hoped, but perhaps we’ve crossed a symbolic Rubicon with this humble man who is simply fed up and is willing to fight for his country.

That’s more than enough for me.

The GOP default position every four, if not every two years is the ancient “big tent” strategy; essentially this… conservative Americans are in the minority (a lie, see proof: here.) and must attract illegal aliens, cross-dressers, idiots, numbskulls, popinjays, ex-cons and tolerate the likes of the GOP’s “youth consultant” and full-time trolip, Meghan McCain, to have enough votes to win in November.

Oh, shut-up…. I can hear it now: oooh, a candidates “children” are off limits.

I write very few things that lack grounding… to wit:

Yeah, spawn of Maverick.

She just had to post this to her Twitter account… appropriate, no?

The bimbo is so stupid that she doesn’t realizes that the dems and the news media are using her for the limited conservative-bashing ability she offers.

Once she’s served her purpose, she’ll be tossed aside, Cindy Sheehan-style.

Pardon, I digress.

This more important than it appears; the unlikely candidacy of Doug Hoffman may have finally provided the very necessary tip of the spear for the 9/12 folks, tea party-goers, and angry white males, a conservative movement that has been brewing rather aimlessly for decades.

The time is well nigh to finally jettison the old-style Republicanism—Rockefeller-elites who have more in common with the state-run media and the liberal wing of the dem-party than they do with America… let alone conservative America.

What and whom do I mean?

Here are a few current quick shots from the hip:

Asked Sunday on “Deface the Nation” if he agreed with former Vice President Dick Cheney's (God love him) recent remarks, in which he said, that Obama’s "signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries," McCain said, "I wouldn't use that language."

Of course he wouldn’t… he uses this language:

“And so the more united we can be behind him, I think the more the chances are of success and American public support. 

"Let's look forward. I want to support the president. I want this strategy to work. I know it can work, and I know it will work if . . . it's properly resourced.”

To which Real Americans demand, “What effing strategy???”

“Shamnesty” Graham who is clearly on crack:

"I think an Israeli attack on Iran is a nightmare for the world, because it will rally the Arab world around Iran and they're not aligned now. It's too much pressure to put on Israel," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Fox News' Chris Wallace.

Oct., 10, 2009:

“Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina publicly announced his support for climate legislation on Sunday in an op-ed column with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.”

Wasn’t Kerry a 90-day hero in Vietnam? Didn’t he take the early out with three paper cuts and leave his PBR shipmates to their fates?

Didn’t he say this: … Vietnam veterans “had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam…” 

Why do I want to rip Graham’s throat out before Kerry’s?

Because I hate traitors more than opportunists.

Finally… oh, stop groaning.

Finally, if we are to turn the tide of this socialist coup, we are far better served by the Doug Hoffmans of American because there are many of them in every city, town and community in the nation, and very few in the republican party upper echelon.

It’s not up to them, it’s up to us.

Strike now.

Death in Afghanistan; CnC works on the only handicap he can do something about

News item:

The US military had a tough day in Afghanistan, with 11 soldiers and three civilians killed and three helicopters lost. In the largest incident, a CH-47 Chinook crashed as it was departing a firefight in Baghlan province (this very likely was a Chinook as there were 14 Afghan troops, 11 US troops, and 1 US civilian injured in the crash). The Taliban claimed it shot down the Chinook, but the US military said "The cause is not believed to be from enemy action."

Here is the initial report of the Chinook crash (the follow-up report provided the casualties). The three civilians killed are Drug Enforcement Agency personnel. The operation targeted drug operations:

Read more from the Long War Journal

Meanwhile, here’s the Fifth-Columnist who can’t seem to find the time to command troops in the field or even send critically needed reinforcements, but has all the time in the world to play Charles Barkley-like golf.

And where’s the state-run news media on this obvious outrage? He has time to declare pig flu a “national emergency”, yet where are his words of comfort and reassurance of retribution for  families and comrades of the dead?

Why, the answer is right here (via Weasel Zippers.com):

CBS' Mark Knoller — the unofficial documentarian and statistician of all things White House-related — wrote on his Twitter feed that, "Today-- Obama ties Pres. Bush in the number of rounds of golf played in office: 24.

Took Bush 2 yrs & 10 months."

Where’s the outrage that was heaped on President Bush for playing golf? And he was winning his war.

Here’s some more golf links-politics that Barry Hussein has time for…. bending to the demands of the National Association of Gals—N.A.G.—whose presidentrix, Terry O’Neal (with an apparent straight face), was grousing about:

"The boy's club" atmosphere at the White House, as exemplified by the president playing basketball earlier this month with 11 members of Congress and four Cabinet Secretaries -- all men.

Well what’s a failing, lying, president to do?

What priorities must be served…? Well, in a master stroke (pun intended), Barry The Timid—in an incredible coincidence—took to the links with a woman — chief domestic policy adviser Melody Barnes.

(For more formal photo shoots in keeping with the dignity of being a presidential advisor, Miss Barnes wears shoes.)

Finally, a president we can be proud of… and another first to Barry; the dreaded Putting Green Ceiling has been shattered. It is a wonderful moment for The One and his subjects.

OMG! Hold the presses… I just discovered the Melody Barnes is black!!!! (above). So it’s TWO more first for the TelePrompTer POTUS!… first woman, and first black duffer.

But his presidency is certainly not about race.

The Predator Update: 

Where is Mr. Blackwell when you need him?

I swear to God… if this woman does not stop outraging my sense of color, fashion and layering I will publically rips my eyes out in front of the White House.

I read she was on Leno’s show (sic) the other night where she decided this ensemble was best for TV:

Is this woman blind!?

I remember this pattern from my grandmother’s bed spreads.

I’ve had acid trips that weren’t this jarring.

And what better to go with than orange flowers in this garden-like setting but a large, chocolate, satin bow with rhinestones?

It’s enough to make me want to say periwinkle.