LEATHERNECKM31

The worst of humans, the best of animals

While I’m not a fiction writer, I think I could adequately acquit myself due to a decent imagination.

However… I would never have come up with the following:

“White House officials are disputing an allegation making the rounds in conservative media outlets that a White House official threatened Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., that if he doesn't support Democratic health care reform legislation, Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base will end up on the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list.

“White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement issued Wednesday night that the ‘rumor is absolutely false, as the people spreading it well know. This is nothing but a cynical, crass political game that is designed to maintain the status quo’."

My friends, Offutt is not simply an Air Force base… it is perhaps THE military U.S. base. 

Why is it in Nebraska…. c’mon, put on yer war caps; because it’s as far as you can get from missiles fired from Russian and China.

• President Bush was taken to the Offutt Strategic Command Underground Command Center’s underground bunker designed to withstand a nuclear blast after  9/11. From this location he received the latest intel and prepared for the coming war.
• It is  headquarters to the  U.S. Strategic Command,  Air Force Weather Agency, and the 55th Wing of the Air Combat command.
• It is home to all branches—approximately 10,000 military and federal employees are assigned.
• Offutt is also home to 14,232 military dependants, 25,500 military retirees (4-state area) 3,000 civilian employees and 500 reservists.

Yes, Real Americans, the Fifth-Columnist President has threatened to close America’s most important base and crush our national defense to strong arm an elected member of Congress for not supporting ObamaCare.

And speaking of the air war… Newsweek reports that the Commander-in-Chief who finds the “victorious” attitude of our military distasteful is now highly concerned about “… firing (drone) missiles into urban areas like Quetta, where intelligence reports suggest that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and other high-level militants have sometimes taken shelter, would greatly increase the risk of civilian casualties.”

It’s even obvious to a third grader how stupid and suicidal this is, and he probably already knows that Obama’s ROE (rules of engagement) prevent our soldiers and Marines from engaging the sub-humans in villages and especially in mosques. ( HotAir.com reports.)

So Johnny, where might we find the aforementioned IslamoNazis? 

And speaking of where homicidal wastes-of-skin can most easily be found, there is this—a five-story building two blocks north of the World Trade Center site, now houses a Muslim prayer space. The building housed a retail business until Sept. 11, 2001, but had been vacant since, until a group of Muslims bought it in July:

“But for months now, out of the public eye, an iron gate rises every Friday afternoon, and with the outside rumblings of construction at ground zero as a backdrop, hundreds of Muslims crowd inside, facing Mecca in prayer and listening to their imam read in Arabic from the Koran.

“The building has no sign that hints at its use as a Muslim prayer space, but these modest beginnings point to a far grander vision: an Islamic center near the city’s most hallowed piece of land that would stand as one of ground zero’s more unexpected and striking neighbors.

“The location was precisely a key selling point for the group of Muslims who bought the building in July. A presence so close to the World Trade Center, “where a piece of the wreckage fell,” said Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the cleric leading the project, “sends the opposite statement to what happened on 9/11.”

Jed Babbin of National Review online reports that one of America’s best somehow slipped past the nation’s attention for his bravery in a combat zone….  by fighting his superior officers:

While serving in Iraq in 2003 artillery commander LtCol. Allen West was in charge of interrogating and Iraqi police officer suspected of having information about planned attacks on American forces.

Local informants told West he was specifically targeted for assassination and fingered the double-agent who was uncooperative. West took a few of his men to the interrogation area to see for himself, where he found the prisoner being questioned by two female officers. They told him the man “was belligerent, and wasn't giving them any information.”

Aren’t you shocked, shocked that chicks questioning ragheads doesn’t work?

West, obviously a throw-back to WWII, sat across from the man, and after about 20 more minutes of useless questioning , West grabbed the man, held him down near a box full of sand used to discharge jammed weapons, and threatened to shoot him at the count of five.

No response.

West held the man down, counted to five, and then fired his pistol into the discharging box about a foot from the Iraqi's head.

He began talking… quickly. Over the next few minutes, the prisoner gave very specific information, he named the conspirators, gave times and dates of the assassination plan, and even described how attacks would be made. Lives were saved.

West immediately went to his commanding officer, woke him up and told him what he had done, and about the information he'd gotten from the Iraqi.

Everything went up the chain-of-command.

West, just short of 20 years’ service, was charged with violating UCMJ articles 128 (assault) and 134 (general article) and was in danger of receiving an 11 year prison sentence, dismissal, and losing his retirement benefits. West was

Processed through an Article 32 hearing, he admitted wrongdoing, was fined $5,000 over two months for misconduct and assault. He then submitted his resignation, and was allowed to retire with full benefits in the summer of 2004.

Almost 100 members of Congress signed letters urging full retirement for the career solider.

After the ordeal West said: “I stand by my actions and those of far more courageous men and women who understand the commitment to protect the American people. I made a simple statement at my Article 32 hearing when asked if I would take the same action again, ‘If it is about the safety and lives of my men, I would go through hell with a gasoline can’.

Man’s best friend

And now a great dog story… I’ve been aware of the wonderfully named Faith… a Lab-chow mix who is one of God’s greatest creatures and has done more for humans than most humans.

AP reports:

Born without front legs to a junkyard dog around Christmas 2002, Faith the puppy was rejected and abused by her mother. She was rescued by Reuben Stringfellow, now an Army E-4 specialist, who had been asked to bury other puppies in the litter.

Jude Stringfellow immediately took in the happy puppy who always wanted to play despite her initially ability to walk; she persisted until, amazingly, she simply rose on her hind legs and never looked back. 

Stringfellow will never forget a woman from New York who happened to see Faith on a street corner. The woman was depressed and had lost both legs to diabetes.

"She was in her wheelchair and saw us. She was crying. She had seen Faith on television. She just held her and said she wished she had that kind of courage." Stringfellow said. "She told us: 'I was on my way to pick up the gun.' She handed the pawn ticket to a police officer and said she didn't need it anymore."

Faith is now helping our troops. Last weekend she headed to Washington state, where she met with as many as 5,000 soldiers at McChord Air Force Base and Fort Lewis. Some of the soldiers were headed to war, some were coming back, some with disabilities.

"She just walks around barking and laughing and excited to see them all," Jude Stringfellow said. "There is a lot of crying, pointing and surprise. From those who have lost friends or limbs, there can be silence. Some will shake my hand and thank me, some will pat her on the head. There is a lot of quiet, heartfelt, really deep emotion."

But Faith's most emotional reunion — with Reuben Stringfellow, who rescued her 7 years ago this Christmas — will have to wait for January. He's already gotten Faith a birthday present: a peanut butter cookie with her name on it.

For more great pictures like these go to Faith’s website. If you are so money send a few dollars of buy a book or two to support this noble dog.

And here she is in action:

Play Video Video: First Person: Faith the Dog inspires with two legs AP

Gotta run… I’m going to hugs my dogs.

“Movin’ on up …. to ‘Marxist’s Vineyard’ ”

It’s 10:30 a.m. Central Standard Time… do you know where your president is?

He’s on vacation once again… you know, following the adage: when the going gets tough, the bastard sons of communists hide behind their children.

“Pleading for privacy, the White House said Obama would have no
public events while vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard with his
family and close friends.

“Aides also asked that  the journalists also not take pictures of the Obama's two young daughters, age 8 and 11, when they aren’t with the president.

“’He wants you to relax and have a good time. Take some walks on the beaches. Nobody’s looking to make any news’, White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters.”

While America’s sons and daughters are being maimed and killed on the battlefield their moral and physical coward of a CnC is taking time away from destroying America (it’s hard work undoing something that has worked near-perfectly for more than 230 years) so he can relax…. have a good time… walk on the beach and get in a few rounds.

And they ridiculed President Bush for giving up golf while his troops were in harm’s way.

And weren’t they just at the Grand Canyon a few days ago? 

                                      ---------------

We live in a time of cowardice…. the most ardent voices for Real America right now are a former disc jokey (Glenn Beck), a former governor, mother-of-four (Sarah Palin) and a guy who once made a movie with Jane Fonda.

 Jon Voight 8/21/09--

"There's a real question at stake now. Is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country?"

"We are witnessing a slow, steady takeover of our true freedoms. We are becoming a socialist nation, and whoever can't see this is probably hoping it isn't true. If we permit Mr. Obama to take over all our industries, if we permit him to raise our taxes to support unconstitutional causes, then we will be in default. This great America will become a paralyzed nation."

 Matthew Vadum at The Spectator reports via Weasel Zipper:

When  you hear “nine-one-one” or see the digits—9/11—or even hear the numbers used in a story about an emergency, what do you think of?

As he promised, Obama’s changing our traditions….:

“The Obama White House is behind a cynical, coldly calculated political effort to erase the meaning of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks from the American psyche and convert Sept. 11 into a day of leftist celebration and statist idolatry.

“This effort to reshape the American psyche has nothing to do with healing the nation and everything to do with easing the nation along in the ongoing radical transformation of America that President Obama promised during last year's election campaign.

“(Last April)… the president signed into law…. that designated Sept. 11 as a National Day of Service, but it's not likely many lawmakers thought this meant that day was going to be turned into a celebration of ethanol, carbon emission controls, and radical community organizing.”

Read more at The Spectator.

And now in economic news:

The looming fiscal disaster we face, would… were it in a proposed novel, make it past a good editor.

These communists, intent on no less than destroying capitalism, are on track to do just that.

Simply, he will have doubled the accumulated national debt since since 1776…. by 2019.

Even if you are an Obama supporter idiot, refuse to see the trees as well as the forest, give up your political partisan-ship, or you’re of the let-George-do-it school of socialist/fascist thought, you still must be deeply concerned about what this will do to your children.  

Palate cleanser:

(Ground control to) Maj. Tom and Pam have a new best friend—a blue-merle Aussie named “Merlin”, named no doubt after the V-12, 1600-horse engine that powered the legendary P-51 Mustang, is now frolicking-in-residence at Lindsay International Airport.

She is a very sweet pup… but then I’m biased in favor of the “little blue” shepherds that were developed in America (not Australia) for keeping sheep, cattle (children, ducks, scraps of paper) in an orderly fashion.

And The Boys and I have had a houseguest for the last 24 hours.

Yesterday morning I grabbed “Roscoe” off Grand Avenue where he was headed for trouble. I noticed him trotting through a car parts store parking lot with that goofy, lost-looking, aimless and random way common in escaped canines.

I held up 2-3 lanes of traffic and pulled into another parking lot; when I called to him he immediately came over.

He had a makeshift collar with a heavy jumper cable clamp attached to it. Apparently he had been tethered by the cable until it broke at the connection.

A very quiet and sweet little Miniature Pinscher/ Chihuahua (?) mix, Roscoe (I immediately called him that/dunno why) is a first-class escape artist, having somehow gotten out of my back-yard last night for a few minutes and again this morning when I had him on a lead he slipped out of due to the makeshift collar.   

I just took him to Noah’s Ark this morning with hopes his chances of a forever home are very good; second best is being re-claimed by his owner.

… who is no doubt one of the 68 million dumbest people in the country (see today’s top story).

It was "like losing my team again..."

I simply couldn't bear to write this or even read about it until today:

Marcus Luttrell is in a very dark place right now.

The Navy SEAL and Navy Cross Recipient medically retired because of grievous wounds sustained in Afghanistan, is somewhere right now, hopefully not alone (but probably is) trying to quiet the terrible rage in his soul and the grief that overwhelms him.

Luttrell is "The Lone Survivor" of the worst day in US Special operations history.

0100 hours, April 1: Luttrell was instantly awake at the distinctive report of gunfire close by... a sound he knew as well as his own name.

Quickly he swept and cleared his home, checking on his mother, the heft of his 9mm auto-loader no doubt familiar and reassuring.

The Houston Chronicle reported: he then "...bolted out the door, where he found dead his beloved Dasy, a Labrador retriever given to him to help him recover from his own wounds and the loss of his fellow SEAL comrades."

“'I could tell she tried to get away because there was a blood trail. When I saw she was dead, the only thing that popped into my head was, I’ve got to take these guys out.’”

Despite just being released the hospital after another round of surgery for his wounds, Luttrell crawled under a fence, skirted a ditch, and using darkness and available cover, worked his way to within 25 yards of four men in a sedan who apparently killed his dog on a whim with a .357.

Luttrell said they were oblivious as he raised his 9mm pistol, it's luminous sights center mass on one of the four who had no idea his death was just a few pounds of trigger pull away. 

But as the car pulled away, he didn’t fire.

He ran back to his truck and pursued the sedan at speeds up to 100 mph through three counties while maintaining an open line to the 911 dispatcher.

“I told them, ‘You need to get somebody out here because if I catch them I’m going to kill them,’” he told the operator.

The murderers were finally stopped by the Onalaska Police Department, and the Texas Rangers arrived almost immediately. Luttrell leapt from his truck and immediately confronted the men.

"Which one of you guys killed my dog?" he said. “They started talking smack.”

As the Texas Rangers led the subhumans to patrol cars, one of them foolishly, suicidally, threatened Marcus' life.

“When we get out, we’re coming for you next. First it was your dog. It’s going to be you next."

Marcus Luttrell--6'5" and 240--is a quiet, and very hard man, physically, psychologically and emotionally; he said:

“Excuse me, Ranger, do you know who I am?”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Luttrell, I do.”

“You might want to explain to these punks I could have killed them 600 different ways and if I wanted to kill you guys after what you just did to my dog, I would have pulled you down into my basement and I would have tortured you for days and you wouldn’t have died until you begged me for death. So before you start saying you’re going to come after me, you better learn whose dog you killed.”

So far, two of the men have been charged with felonies that carry least six months' jail time upon conviction. This story will follow these subhumans to jail where inmates too love dogs. I hope they both meet a very painful end at the wrong end of prison justice. 

Michael John Edmonds II, 21, and Alfonzo Hernandez, 24, both of New Waverly, are charged with cruelty to nonlivestock animals. The driver of the vehicle was arrested on suspicion of not having a license.

The fourth suspect, Michael Edmonds had somehow escaped before the chase and later turned himself in; only he and Hernandez are charged with Dasy' killing. Further investigation reveals that the four are probably responsible for the random killing of at least four others dogs in the Houston area.

RX: the love of a good dog.

"Dasy" was not only a faithful companion, she was a therapy dog who helped Marcus cope with the death of his SEAL team during Operation Red Wing in 2005.

And... she was named for his team: Daniel "Danny" Dietz, Matthew "Axe" Axelson, "Southern boy" (Marcus), and Michael "Yankee" Murphy. She was given to him in recovery to help him through rehabilitation.

Marcus said that her death was "like losing my team all over again."

"I did everything right; I didn’t do anything wrong,” he told the Houston Chronicle of the April 1 incident. “Make sure everyone knows they cold-bloodily murdered.”

This great American hero suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder and many days are a struggle for him. He doesn’t sleep, often hyper-alert until sunrise, just in case. “I don’t talk about it much. I just don’t sleep at night,” he said. “I am in and out of the house all night, going, moving around.”

Luttrell said he’s left town for now and wants to stay as far away as he can. Speaking from a place he described as “the middle of nowhere,” Luttrell said he knows the attack on Dasy pushed him to a place where he doesn’t want to be.

“I was trying to talk myself out of being who I am,” he said. “Talking to myself about not doing the one thing I am good at.”

Marcus Luttrell needs your good thoughts, support and prayers. May he one day know peace, and peace of mind... there is no better way to get there than with the soft breath of a dog on your cheek when waiting for the long night to end.

Dasy's story has touched the nation and when Marcus is ready there will be hundreds of offers of great dogs, but none will ever replace Dasy or his team.  

I was going to post photos of the killers, but I can't stand to look at them, because I want them dead and for a long time I'll distract myself with fantasies about ending their lives... for Marcus and Dasy. 

Besides, the pictures of Dasy and her best friend are the only ones that count.

Hero dogs

Most every day I write about politicians rat-bastards, thieves, traitors, liberals and their fellow communists... so on to my favorite topic, dogs---people I can believe in:   

At right is George, a Jack Russell terrier who was posthumously awarded the New Zealand Society for the Protection of Animals bravery medal saving a group of children.

In 2007, nine-year-old George, despite a heart condition, fought two pit bulls to keep them from attacking the youngest of five children as they walked in their neighborhood. The children are shown below; a four-year-old holds a photo of George. 

Severely mauled in the terribly uneven fight, George's wounds proved mortal, and he was put to sleep.

Moved by George's bravery, an Austin Texas Vietnam veteran sent George's family one of his Purple Hearts, describing George as a "little warrior" who deserved the honor.

                                           

Hero dogs tries to save injured pal 

You've probably seen the video (link above) which is heart-breaking and heart-warming at the same time. A traffic camera captures the image of a dog in Chile performing an intentional and heroic act, trying to pull to safety a badly injured friend who had been struck in heavy traffic. The small rescuer bravely dodged cars to drag the second dog to the side of the road.

Remarkably, as the video shows, he does not tug the smaller dog with his teeth by the scruff of the neck, but by actually pulling him with his fronts paws, while inching backward to the roadside.

Highway crews arrived to remove both the dead and live dogs from the median strip of the Vespucio Norte Highway shortly after the Dec. 4 incident, but the rescuer dog ran away.

Authorities say images of the rescue prompted some people to call and offer to adopt the dog, but neither highway workers nor a television crew could find they animal when they went to hunt for it.

On the upside, such stories prompt people to adopt from shelters, neuter their dogs and not allow their dogs to run loose.  

                                                 

Along with most people who understand dogs, I believe that pit bulls get a bad rap for being a vicious breed.

The only thing wrong with pits is red necks, ghettos criminals, rappers and Michael Vick.

Case in Point:

The 2007 National Dog Day's Hero Dog of the Year was Maya, right, a red and white, female pit owned by Angela Marcelino

Angela rescued Maya from the Santa Clara County Animal Shelter....and on June 17th, 2007, Maya returned the favor.

It was Fathers Day 2007. I opened my front door and was about to walk inside when I saw someone’s shadow out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head just as a man pushed me into my house.

I screamed as loud as I could, but the man had slammed the door shut behind him. “Shut up” were the only words he said to me. He was choking me with one hand. I was able to scream one last time. After I did, his grip tightened around my neck.

That is when I saw a white streak run in from the other room. His grip was so tight that I could only gurgle the words “Maya, get him.” He still had a grip on my throat, as his other hand was busy trying to fight off my angry dog. I don’t know how, but I managed to get on my feet.

The subhuman fled with Maya right behind, but he jumped in a car sped away.

Later when police officers arrived to investigate, they noticed there was blood on Maya's head, but she was not injured.

A sample was taken and an arrest was made days later when DNA results proved which suspect had attacked Angela and was bloodied by her protector. (Maya is shown above with her giant reward for protecting her mistress.)

"I cry sometimes when I hug Maya and ask her 'What would I do without you?' But first, I thank God for bringing Maya into my life," Angela said.

                                            

Another canine hero is Sam, a German Shepard serving with the Britain's Royal Army Veterinary Corps Dog Unit who was honored with the Dickin Medal holding for holding back a baying mob, bent on attacking ethnic Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Balkans.

Sam, a German shepherd, was posthumously awarded the Dickin Medal (the animal world's Victoria Cross) after holding back a angry mob, bent on attacking ethnic Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

His handler, Sgt. Iain Carnegie said Sam performed many acts of bravery while on duty and was the first Army dog to win the medal since 1944.

In 1998 Sam gave chased down a armed criminal and pinned him until officers arrived. Then six days later, a mob armed with crowbars, clubs and stones surrounded a group of about 50 Serbs, but Sam held them off until back-up arrived.

In 2004 Sam retired at the age of 10, and died from natural causes soon afterwards.

War heroes

He was the 59th animal to be awarded the Dickin Medal was established to honor animals who made an outstanding contribution in World War II.

In the past, the medal has been awarded to 32 carrier pigeons, 19 dogs, three horses and even a ship's cat.

He was the first dog to be awarded the medal, above, since 1944.

 

                                     First civilian dog awarded Dickin Medal

In WWII a number of American bombers, crippled by flak on combat missions over Europe crashed in the rugged hills around Northumberland England, claiming many lives.

The hills were sheep country.

After one such crash of a B-17 Flying Fortress which killed two of the crew, four of the surviving seven airmen climbed from the wreckage and into a winter storm; they found shelter in a ditch 100 yards away.

After several hours, a wounded waist-gummer awoke to a dog licking his face. The dog's barking then brought two shepherds, who had been searching in the storm for survivors after hearing the the crash. 

The dog, a border collie named Sheila belonged to shepherd John Dagg, led her owner and another shepherd to the airmen who were out of sight in the ditch. 

Sheila then led the group through the blizzard to Dagg's cottage. His daughter ran two miles through the storm to summon help by telephone. Later that night the four sergeants were taken to the same RAF hospital that treated three other crewmen who had survived and walked out in another direction.

Sheila received the Dickin Medal a year later and Dagg was awarded his second British Empire Medal for his rescue efforts in WWII.

Dagg later sent one of the collie's puppies to the family of Sgt. Frank Turner who did not survive the crash.

In 2005 Dagg's and Sheila's medals were auctioned together and brought more than $50,000 at a London auction. Sheila was the first civilian animal to receive the PDSA (People's Dispensary for Sick Animals) Dickin Medal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another airman saved by a hero dog:

Iraq 2007---Another working canine saved a life by alerting his US Air Force MP handler to an improvised explosive device.

Staff Robert Brown said he was grateful for Nero's warning which he said saved him from greater injury or death.

Brown sustained a concussion and and shrapnel in the explosion. He and Nero were checking a field in Tahrir City, Iraq, for hidden weapons when Nero alerted to a suspicious object. The object was detonated by a nearby insurgent.

Nero was not wounded and accompanied Brown to stateside duty at Maxwell AFB.

There...  I feel better, hope you do too.