On The Right Side

by Tom Sears

  The Military Deserves More Respect

  Just a little more on the book “Lone Survivor” by Marcus Luttrell, Navy SEAL. He continues to describe what the military are up against.

  It gets very discouraging for them to pick up a paper and read about our politicians degrading the military. We all remember the Haditha Marines who were accused of murder. Jack Murtha jumped out front (with Kennedy, Kerry and Reid close behind), and with absolutely no facts, declared them guilty.

  It got even worse. He called our military rapists, murderers, and uncontrolled criminals. Predictably, the lapdog media loved it and aggressively ran with it.

  Remember, there were no facts known about the incident, there hadn’t been any trial, and no evidence had been presented, but that didn’t matter to the media and our leftist, anti-American politicians.

  Lo and behold, the charges turned out to be false. Seven marines were acquitted, and one had the charges reduced. Egg on the accusers’ faces? Of course. The sense of honor to apologize and retract? Of course not. Murtha sure didn’t feel any need to.

  And the main stream media wonder why more and more people are seeking other outlets to get the truth? If they don’t wake up soon, they will simply follow the path of the New York Times into oblivion and irrelevance. Actually, I sort of hope they don’t wake up.

  Luttrell hits the nail on the head when he says, “In the military, if we don’t know something, we say we don’t and proceed to shut up until we do. Some highly paid charlatans in the media (and politics) think it’s absolutely fine to take a wild guess at the truth and then tell a couple of million people it’s a cast-iron fact, just in case they might be right.” Do you really believe they have these special undisclosed “sources” that for integrity purposes must remain so? I don’t anymore.

  Bad things are bound to happen in war. It is not a game where you keep score and have umpires, regardless of what the politicians think. Occasionally the wrong people get killed. But what rules are you to play under when you are facing murderous, monstrous terrorists who will do anything possible to kill as many military and innocent Americans?

  When two of Luttrell’s comrades were dying, the Taliban emptied clips of ammunition into their faces so they couldn’t be recognized. This apparently is a common practice of the Taliban when they find a wounded or dying soldier. Then you say the Geneva Convention rules apply to these monsters? Give me a break. Won’t it be nice when we start working as aggressively to protect the rights of our soldiers at least as much as we do these terrorists?

  Another quote from the book: “I am hopeful that one day soon, the government will learn that we can be trusted. We know about bad guys, what they do, and, often, who they are. The politicians have chosen to send us into battle, and that’s our trade. We do what’s necessary. And in my view, once these politicians have elected to send us out to do what 99.9 percent of the country would be terrified to undertake, they should get the hell out of the way and stay there.”

  Of course the bad things should be reported, but not sensationalized. When the media start reporting the thousands and thousands of good deeds done by our military, the public will see how extremely isolated the actions of a few bad apples are.

  So who do you think deserves the higher level of credibility and respect? The combat soldier actually out on the field of battle and experiencing all of the unspeakable horrors that go with it, or the people who legislate and report in the safe little confines protected under the freedoms kept safe by our military?

  Marcus Lattrell and others like him deserve our respect. He is a decorated warrior who earned the Navy Cross for combat heroism. He has the right to speak out and be heard. Other people haven’t earned our trust and respect quite yet. Unfortunately, the persons who need to read this book the most are those who will be too obstinate to do so. Fortunately, the vast majority of Americans respect men and women like Marcus Lattrell and our military.

  A physician friend of mine asked that I point out a piece of history that occurred last week. After the president’s weekly radio address, the opposing party is allowed to reply with a rebuttal. The doctor proudly pointed out that for the first time in the history of radio, the opposing party was represented by an orthopedic surgeon, Sen. John Basso, from Wyoming. Now he owes me

  Cheney Is In the Right

  I think the Democrat’s, Barack “shoot from the lip” Obama, and “Queen” Nancy

  Pelosi in particular, learned some valuable lessons recently.

  They learned the hard way not to go up against a Republican who has a backbone, experience, ethics, a protect-Americans-first philosophy, and the truth on his side. That person is Dick Cheney.

  All Cheney did was simply state that America was less safe under Obama than it was under President Bush. He was sick and tired of all the insulting comments made by Barack and the Democrats, attacking Bush and Cheney, and wanting to treat them as criminals. And the Democrats didn’t like it when Cheney pushed back.

  Obama, in a childish, immature snit, actually put our security in danger simply to make a political point. He irresponsibly caused the release of classified interrogation reports describing the procedures used on terrorists but conveniently forgot to also release the follow-up reports that showed how critical these methods were in obtaining valuable information, information that probably saved thousands of American lives.

  Cheney simply demanded these follow-up reports also be released so that the public saw the entire picture, not the less than ethical half truths Obama wanted them to see, letting them decide who was telling the truth and who was lying.

  Lo and behold, Obama, like all liberals do when exposed, immediately backed down. This guy is becoming easier and easier to catch deceiving people, and I am having less and less concern that he will last longer than his present four-year reign. I am concerned, however, as to how long it will take for the country to heal itself from his poorly thought out, destructive goals he wants to accomplish.

  Now let’s us turn to Nancy Pelosi. Talk about an embarrassment to the party. Here is a typical liberal Bush-hater who is so desperate to tarnish the Bush legacy that she will revert to anything that could possibly bring this about.

  She willingly took up the Chris Dodd call for “Truth Commissions” to be held in order to prosecute and throw in jail those in the Bush Administration who allowed these enhanced interrogation methods to be used on our enemies.

  She (and other radical lefties in the Democrat Party) feigned moral outrage, and manufactured indignity, about these methods of “torture” and her wild stories of CIA lying to her and Congress got her into some pretty hot water during one of her recent weekly press conferences.

  I actually enjoyed watching her make a fool of herself by stammering, stuttering and tying herself into knots as she tried to respond to reporters’ questions about what she knew and when did she know that water boarding was being used on terrorists.

  She claimed that the CIA had lied to her in a September 2002 briefing, saying,

  “We were told specifically that waterboarding was not being used.”

  Unfortunately for Nancy, truthfulness is a foreign concept. Also unfortunate for her is that the reporters didn’t let her off the hook with her wacky answers.

  When her first explanation didn’t fly she said “I wasn’t briefed. I was informed that someone else had been briefed about it.”

  It was simply lie after lie, and it eventually caught up to her. Other members of Congress remembered her being there when they were briefed about the methods being used. The CIA released a chart that showed a minimum of 13 briefings at which she had been present, where specific mention about waterboarding took place.

  Former CIA Director Porter Goss said the CIA provided truthful information to Pelosi and others. He also stated that during the briefings, the members asked if enough was being done, meaning, should even more harsh techniques than waterboarding be used?

  Leon Panetta, the current CIA director, agreed w
ith the Goss version of events. Now you can say that Goss was being partisan because he’s a Republican, but Panetta was appointed to the position by Obama and hardly a Bush lover. He has to carry some credibility.

  Nancy finally just stormed out and said she was finished with answering questions. In desperation, she flew off to China to discuss global warming. Pretty pathetic.

  Hopefully the House Democrats will get a backbone and realize she is a detriment to their party and vote her out of the Speaker’s position. She only won the Speakership originally by a 118 to 95 vote and she has to be in a much weaker position now.

  Everyone is pretty much laughing at poor Nancy now. From CNN and the Washington Post to the Wall Street Journal, they are all piling on. Even Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon now have lots of joke material about her on their programs (Google “Nancy Pelosi jokes”).

  Go away Nancy, just go away.

  How Long Till Obama Is Booted

  I’m wondering how long it will be before the word “Impeachment” starts being bantered about? The list of reasons to expel Obama keeps getting longer and stronger, and this is only five months into his reign.

  Everyone knows about his inexperience. His rhetorical abilities made people overlook this weakness. Even his eligibility to have become president is becoming an issue.

  He places personal and party ideologies over what is best for America. I thought when appointing justices it was supposed to be “the best person for the job” and “justice is blind.” Affirmative action policies and “empathy” aren’t part of the requirements for appointment.

  He fits the definition of being a narcissist perfectly. This makes him extremely dangerous for the country. He only cares about what is best for him, and not the country.

  He is ashamed of our country (as was his wife until Barack won his party’s nomination) even though it has given him immense amounts of opportunity. He constantly feels the need to apologize for our country’s history of perceived repressiveness.

  Sorry Barack, we are the greatest country in the history of the world. No country has done more for other countries where there has been suppression of human rights, and Americans are unmatched in raising money and necessary supplies for others when natural disasters hit. You have been hanging around the Reverend (?) Wright and Bill Ayers too long.

  You have been going around (the Muslim world in particular), speaking of “the promise of a secular nation.” How much more arrogant and ignorant can you be!

  Even though you think highly of your rhetorical skills, you are not going to change the fact that a vast majority of Americans believe in God. Why do you keep implying to other countries that our country was not founded on Judeo-Christian principles?

  Your history of duplicity is unmatched. This was illustrated numerous times throughout the campaign. You carry it forward into your presidency.

  You incur the largest-ever budget deficit and then insist that we operate on a pay-as-you-go principle from now on. Of course, shortly thereafter, you exempt your government-run health program costs from this rule. You are great with smoke and mirrors, Barack. You are the ultimate flim-flam man.

  You are a corrupt man. You appoint tax cheats and disreputable people to positions of power. You promise no lobbyists in your administration, yet no other administration had close to the number you now have.

  You fire people who uncover very serious issues of impropriety by organizations run by individuals who are close friends of yours. You had your Justice Department cancel a criminal suit against goons, representing your friends ACORN and the Black Panthers, involving voter intimidation tactics at election polls.

  You are dishonest and lie when it serves your purposes. Including examples above, you ridiculed John McCain’s idea of taxing employer-funded health insurance premiums, promising never to follow such a policy during your administration.

  Change your mind, Obama? You promised no tax increases for individuals making under $250,000. What do you call proposals like getting rid of tax-excludable programs like Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts?

  Millions of middle and low income individuals participate in these programs. What do you call new taxes proposed on soda and beer? I guess only the rich drink these.

  You are proposing one of the large increases in corporate taxes in history. Who do you think ends up paying for these increased costs of doing business? I think these mentioned items also fall under the topic of incompetence. And I thought we could never get a leader less competent than Jimmy Carter. I was wrong.

  How about your lying to the American Medical Association? You specifically said, “I’ll be honest, there are countries where a single-payer system works pretty well.” Why couldn’t your press secretary name just one when pressed for an example?

  Why did your main stream media stooges, especially The Washington Post, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, specifically leave that quote out of their news articles, but quote everything said before and after that part of your speech perfectly?

  You continually show disrespect for and trample on our Constitution, especially when it bars you from enacting your most radical ideas.

  There is hope however. Sixty-six percent of the voters from age 18 to 30 voted for you while only 32 percent voted for McCain. Voters 30 and above, on the other hand, favored you by a margin of only 50 percent to 49 percent.

  Do you think you can fool the younger voting bloc twice Barack? I don’t think so, especially when they see the impact of your socialist agenda on their lives. Maybe we aren’t going to have to wait another 31/2 years for “change.”

  Too Much Government Is a Problem

  Last Saturday, I attended a second local TEA Party. This one was held at Losie’s on Oneonta’s Southside.

  Once again I was impressed with the organization of the event and the probably 200 normal, patriotic, good Americans who simply wanted to say they have had enough of too much government.

  This event was about three times larger than the one held in Milford earlier this year, and it seems the thousands of similar gatherings across the United States experienced the same kind of growth. Atlanta had over 12,000 attendees.

  No one can say that this was a nationally coordinated Republican Party event. The media and the left will try, but they are simply lying. They are afraid this movement will continue growing.

  Rather, it was an event where ordinary people - Republicans, Democrats, and Independents - simply wanted to express their feelings and frustrations about the direction in which our government and our politicians are going.

  Thank you to those who put in the necessary hours to make the event happen and the many people who took the time to attend. It was certainly a success. Congratulations Tim and Jim.

  There are certainly many actions our politicians have in progress that should make ordinary Americans very nervous and angry.

  As we have all seen just this last week, House members acted very irresponsibly by ignoring the majority of their constituents’ feelings and passing the Waxman-Markey Cap-and –Trade Bill. This bill and its related amendment, 1,000 and 300 plus pages respectively, are ones they hadn’t even read before voting on it.

  It was exactly the same situation with the economic stimulus package passed earlier this year. No one read it before it was voted on. As a result of that fiasco, we are discovering every day more and more pork hidden in it.

  Can anyone tell me how this is responsible representation? I think not. This is the kind of action you can expect to have happen when the Democrats are in charge, especially when you have radical left-wing leadership in both houses and the White House.

  I was one of the probably few news junkies who actually watched the Cap-and- Trade Bill vote occur. The House membership is made up of 253 Democrats and 178 Republicans. The final vote looked to be very close when the count was 219 for the bill and 212 against. Nothing could be further from the truth. With 12 Democrats left to vote out of a total of 253, with only minutes left
, only 8 had voted against the bill. When the final tally was taken 44 Dems had voted against it.

  What courage! What conviction! Instead of basing their vote on conviction of principle, they had to wait first to see if the bill had a chance of failing or not before they timidly switched their votes to against the measure, apparently to appease their constituents and save their elected seats.

  Why should a person be allowed to switch his or her vote after casting it? I hope the people whom these congresspersons represent are able to see right through this act of shallow political maneuvering, and especially remember their behavior November 2010.

  We now have a bill going to the Senate that would be a disaster for our economy. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the poorest 20 percent of families could experience their annual energy costs to increase by $700 while other families could experience increases of up to $2,200 annually.

  These estimates are only for 2012, the year when the bill’s provisions kick in. Families, especially low income families, are already stretched to the limit! Where’s the sympathy, Barack? Pay attention to the working class. You are not a community activist anymore. You’ve got to grow up.

  Did I also mention that it is estimated that we will lose approximately $400 billion a year in gross domestic product? How about the estimate of 1.1 million NET jobs lost each year?

  No Barack, we can’t count saved jobs that the Department of Labor has already

  stated can’t be measured.

  Oh yes, I almost forgot. Since China and India aren’t in any way required to restrict their carbon output levels, this bill’s passage will result in a decrease of a tiny 0.1 degree Fahrenheit by 2050 instead of doing nothing. This was testimony by a research climatologist by the name of Paul Knappenberger.

  So there you go libs. You are soon going to have to defend the policies of this incompetent, inexperienced, unqualified, man-child that you elected to be your leader.