Christmas Poems and Short Story

Each year for Christmas, I re-post my Christmas Poems and Short Story about Vietnam. Permission to forward. re-post or re-print, with credit to me, is granted. Enjoy. ~Bob

 

A Veteran’s Christmas Wish

Each year when Christmas comes around again,

I pause on Christmas Eve to take a dram

Of whisky, and I think of absent friends,

And Christmas in a place called Vietnam.

I think of boys who never had the chance

To see their kids on Christmas Eve at play,

Their lives were spent that freedom might advance,

From Valley Forge right up through yesterday.

They fell at Belleau Wood and Normandy,

At Gettysburg, at Iwo and at Hue,

They gave their lives to keep our people free,

And never saw another Christmas Day.

So take a moment from your festive joys,

To think of soldiers who were young and true,

And say a prayer on Christmas Eve for boys

Who gave up all their Christmases for you.

            Copyright © 2000

Robert A. Hall

Former SSgt, USMC

Published in Leatherneck Magazine

           

Spell check notes: Scotch whisky has no “e.”

Hue (Vietnam) is pronounced “way.”

The Christmas Gift

There is a gift that comes

From those out on the lines,

It is not wrapped in bows,

But, oh, how bright it shines.

There is a Christmas gift,

A pearl beyond all price,

From those who ask for naught,

But make the sacrifice.

They risk their blood and bone

On endless weary tours,

For that is all that keeps

The evil from our shores.

You worship as you will,

You freely have your say,

And all that is a gift

From sentries far away.

There is a gift that comes

From troops who guard the line,

That lets us live in peace

And joy at Christmastime.

We say “Support the troops,”

But hardly pause to think

What honor really means,

Or how near looms the brink.

There is a Christmas gift

From those who hold the line,

And you and I, my friend,

Get nothing more sublime.

(c)Robert A. Hall 2007

Former SSgt, USMC

Published in Leatherneck Magazine

Merry Christmas, Snake

By Robert A. Hall

A Vietnam Christmas

            Eddie wrapped a length of C-ration baling wire around the trunk of Aunt Thel's tree, and wedged the end between the bunker's crumbling sandbags. That corrected the starboard list caused by a bent stand. Considering that their mail had been air-dropped from a C-130 cargo plane, the two-foot artificial tree had come through remarkably well, with only the bent leg and one broken limb. At Snake's suggestion, they had turned the "bare spot" to the wall and trimmed the tree with the surviving decorations and local crafts: a tin star cut from a C-ration can, a pair of lance corporal chevrons with the black coating worn off so they glittered, some brass M-16 shell casings.

            Eddie would have preferred canned peaches from Aunt Thel, but he thought the tree looked right cheerful in their bunker. He twisted the tin star to catch light from the radios and began softly singing:

            "Jingle bells, mortar shells, V. C. in the grass--

            You can take, your Merry Christmas, and shove it up..."

            He sensed "incoming" and ducked as Snake's boot banged into the wall, safely away from the precious tree, sending a trickle of sand dribbling through the slats of the wooden pallets that served as the bunker's floor. Eddie turned and saw Snake smiling at him over a can of C-ration ham and limas. You couldn't get pissed at a guy who would trade you beanies and weenies for ham and "slimies," which every reasonable person hated the way Santa's point-deer Rudolph hated clear weather.

            Eddie wiped his eyes to get rid of the stinging caused by grit from the sandbags. It didn't help. "Since when did you get the Christmas spirit?" he asked, "I thought you were a Black Muslim?"

            Snake had announced his new religion several weeks ago, the fourth in seven months. Though he maintained a devout facade, his "conversions" were a standing joke in the platoon. Eddie had reasonably pointed out that while he, himself, was black, Snake was a white dude—an awkward start for a Black Muslim.

            Snake's response was that Eddie was an Uncle Tom; and, that since there was no other black dude to be the radical on their radio relay team, he would have to do it himself, "Just like every goddamned thing else around here."

            "Can't be a Muslim on Christmas Eve," Snake smiled, and continued dropping pieces of John Wayne crackers through the floor planks for the rat. He's been trying to kill the rat just last week, but, following the lead of the Viet Cong, had declared a Christmas truce with it yesterday.

            Eddie picked up the jungle boot, and turned it over, observing that it was nearly new. He looked down to his left boot, where the electrical tape holding it together was coming loose. The sides had rotted and he hadn't been able to scrounge replacements from supply's limited stock.

            "Hey, Snake, how about giving me your extra boots? We're the same size, almost."

            "Certainly, my man," Snake promised, "As soon as the Sear's catalog comes and I can order something more stylish. We might, however, barter--I do admire that K-bar knife on your belt." Snake rose and headed to the bunker door, which hung precariously from the hinges of shell boxes. "I'll go switch generators."

            He went into the night, taking only a small flashlight, to carry out the regular task of alternating the 400 cycle generators that powered their AN/TRC-27 radio relay unit.

            Eddie was re-taping his boot when the first mortar round exploded in the small perimeter. "Christmas truce!" he spat, lunging for the door, "Little rice-propelled bastards!"

****

            By the time the corpsman had checked the flow of blood from Snake's mangled leg, and closed the flap of open flesh on his right cheek, the painkiller had taken hold and he was babbling happily.

            "Lucky break, Eddie," he said, laughing, "I tripped over the goddamn antenna guy wire and couldn't make the hole. Now I'm going home for Christmas, buddy. I'll be dancing in Time's Square on New Year's Eve while you're still stuck in this shit hole, man."

            Eddie glanced at Snake's leg and winced as they loaded him onto the stretcher. "Nail one of them hippy broads for me," he said.

            Snake laughed again, almost a giggle. "Hey, Eddie," he said, "You can have those boots." He gave a weak, cheery wave. "Merry Christmas, man."

            "Merry Christmas, Snake," Eddie said, then he impulsively pulled the K-Bar from his belt and laid it on the stretcher, knowing that some rear-echelon pogue would probably steal it from Snake. "Take that home as a souvenir of this slice of paradise."

            Snake waved again as the corpsmen hefted the stretcher and struggled carefully up the muddy slope toward the med-evac LZ. "Merry Fucking Christmas," Eddie whispered to himself.

            He turned to go check the radios. The grit was bothering him again. Now, he thought, who the hell can I trade ham and limas to?

Copyright (c) Robert A. Hall

Previously published in Callopie, the Mensa Writer's Grioup Newsletter

Christmas Poems

From my book Old Jarhead Poems available on Amazon (Royalties to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund)

A Veteran’s Christmas Wish

Each year when Christmas comes around again,

I pause on Christmas Eve to take a dram

Of whisky, and I think of absent friends,

And Christmas in a place called Vietnam.

I think of boys who never had the chance

To see their kids on Christmas Eve at play,

Their lives were spent that freedom might advance,

From Valley Forge right up through yesterday.

They fell at Belleau Wood and Normandy,

At Gettysburg, at Iwo and at Hue,

They gave their lives to keep our people free,

And never saw another Christmas Day.

So take a moment from your festive joys,

To think of soldiers who were young and true,

And say a prayer on Christmas Eve for boys

Who gave up all their Christmases for you.

Robert A. Hall

Former SSgt, USMC

           

Spell check notes: Scotch whisky has no “e.”

Hue (Vietnam) is pronounced “way.”

The Christmas Gift

There is a gift that comes

From those out on the lines,

It is not wrapped in bows,

But, oh, how bright it shines.

There is a Christmas gift,

A pearl beyond all price,

From those who ask for naught,

But make the sacrifice.

They risk their blood and bone

On endless weary tours,

For that is all that keeps

The evil from our shores.

You worship as you will,

You freely have your say,

And all that is a gift

From sentries far away.

There is a gift that comes

From troops who guard the line,

That lets us live in peace

And joy at Christmastime.

We say “Support the troops,”

But hardly pause to think

What honor really means,

Or how near looms the brink.

There is a Christmas gift

From those who hold the line,

And you and I, my friend,

Get nothing more sublime.

            Robert A. Hall

            Former SSgt, USMC

Veteran Entitlement Mentality

Veteran Entitlement Mentality
Greg Johnson, USMC (Ret.)

I received a response about the issue of veterans’ sense of entitlement— entitlements, in this case, that go beyond what our government appropriately offers. It appears some veterans have expectations that the world owes them (e.g. free meals, state bonus, etc). In my response to that particular response I recalled an incident awhile back I had at a local barber shop. I’m going to be a little vague about the particular service represented because these anal orifice types come in all flavors (USA, USN, USMC, USAF, and USCG). A jerk is a jerk. No particular service is immune from having them!

Four or more years ago I was in a local barber shop waiting (among seven others) to get my ears lowered. Two other gents were already in the process of getting their hair cut. A very young military captain (in flight suit) came into the shop and did a quick terrain analysis. This must have been his first time at the place. I believe the captain was on the staff of one of the ROTC units at the university where I now work. We don’t have a local military flying unit, so the sight of such of an individual in a flight suite was a bit surprising.

Obviously in a hurry [like several of us] this young man asked if he could get “head-of-the-line” privileges. The barber said “Sorry”. The next comment out of the captain’s lips was a rather glib: “Well, so much for giving a veteran a break!”

At that juncture, I slowly rose out of my chair, approached the captain, and calmly asked (for all to hear I might add): “What did you say about being a veteran?” Without letting him answer I then pointed to three others in the room (whom I knew) and said: “Son, that man over there is a VETERAN who served at Guadalcanal. And that man over there is a VETERAN who served in the Army during the Korean War. And that gent over there is former Air Force rescue helicopter door gunner who served in Vietnam.”

Pointing to one of the other barbers I continued: “That barber is a Marine veteran, as am I—a 20-year career Marine Corps aviator!” I continued… “With the obvious exception of me, these are all very brave VETERANS! I seriously doubt you have experienced a fraction of what these particular veterans endured in combat; therefore don’t flatter yourself by trying to inflict your cocky self-absorbed snobbish BS ‘VETERAN STATUS’ on us!

Further, I respectfully suggest you DON’T bring up your veteran status for personal gain again in public, especially when you are in a uniform, which (in your particular case) I might add would be prohibited to wear in public by the Marine Corps! Have a seat and wait your turn like the rest. And oh, by the way: ‘Officers eat last!’”

With that our intrepid aviator declined the invitation to join us and promptly departed off into the wild blue yonder, wearing his unusually well-fitted gray-green poopy suit. He was never to be seen at that particular barber shop again! As we watched him drive off, I am guessing he was still trying to figure out that “Officers eat last” comment.

The mostly elderly gents, patiently waiting their turn in the barber shop that day, dropped their heads slowly as the captain departed, shaking their silver domes of hair from side-to-side in amusement. Score one for the Marine that day!

It would appear that youth is still sometimes squandered on the young. As a friend of mine, who I shared this little tale with, correctly stated: “This had nothing to do with uniform, or service— just one self-serving jackass.”

Amen.

US Soldiers saved my Grandparents--from a friend

US soldiers saved my grandparent's and mother's life also. I only learned two years ago, an extension of a story that I heard retold when I was younger.


It occurred in a very, very small town outside of Naples, Italy during WW-II. The Italian resistance had killed 2 German soldiers and the German soldiers retaliated by lining up as many of the men in the town were lined up and massacred with machine guns. A few dove ahead of the heap and survived.

The extension of the story was that the Germans returned and harassed the local women for any additional men. My grandmother with her children actually hid what in Italian terms would be loosely translated to "the village idiot" in their cellar and had a near miss in terms of quick inspection of the home. However, unsatisfied, the Germans pulled a maneuver which rings more like a movie... If the women did not give up all of the men, they would shell the village when the church bell struck 12. The hour approached and the women were not flinching as the tanks surrounded the village. Shortly before sure devastation, the cavalry arrived, and saved the village. My grandfather has been a commercante and farmer - and treated the American soldiers to a feast - and my forebears survived.

Years later when my grandparents emigrated here with my mother, my grandfather worked an unskilled position with Eastern Airlines. Many of the soldiers flying or residing in East Boston remembered my grandparents kindness and formed an enduring bond. Later when my grandparents returned to their homeland and re-established their home it was named "Villa Americana" which is still the only address you need to write other than the town's name "Frattaminore, Naples" when sending mail to Italy.

My great uncle was a cook in WW-I (no doubt they got good food, he was a great cook) and for many years I proudly kept his WW-I Dept of War Army blanket. I still have some trinkets from him. He had tried to re-enlist in WW-II, but alas was too old to re-enlist.

Many emigrant families from Europe will continue to have a great respect and a debt of gratitude to the military that can never be repaid.

A thanks to all veterans, and a wish for all Marines to have a Happy Birthday. It is an honor to know such men and women.
Ernest J. Bordini, Ph.D.

Political Digest September 27, 2009

I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.

Sonnet
http://newsrealblog.com/2009/09/25/lunch-break-27/
Cool: One of my poems used in David Horowitz’s News Real Blog.

Sowell on Welfare
http://newsrealblog.com/2009/09/25/conversation-with-a-conservative-icon-thomas-sowell/
Good, old clip of Sowell.

Obama and ACORN
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/obama_and_acorn.html
Excerpt: Barack Obama gave five interviews last Sunday, and only one interviewer bothered to ask him about the ACORN scandal. ACORN is the leftist activist organization that lost its federal funds last week in a Congressional vote that was not even close. Obama's answer to his lone ACORN question was amazing. He brazened it out: "Frankly," said the President, "it's not something I've followed closely. This is not the biggest issue facing the country. It's not something I'm paying a lot of attention to." Not something he's paying a lot of attention to. This is the same Barack Obama who said, in an address to ACORN in 2007, "I have been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career." One of Barack Obama's jobs out of college was with ACORN as a community organizer. Obama hired ACORN affiliates for voter registration. Obama was a speaker at ACORN seminars. Obama was their lawyer. And now he says that the enormous and growing ACORN scandal is not something he is "paying a lot of attention to"? And that the ACORN scandal is "not the biggest issue facing the country"?

Massachusetts to forcefully quarantine H1N1 victims?
http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=2827

Palin presses White House on Afghanistan
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0909/Palin_presses_White_House_on_Afghanistan.html
Excerpt: During the election campaign in the U.S. last year, you might have noticed we had some differences over Iraq. John McCain and I believed in the strength of the surge strategy – because of its success, Iraq is no longer the central front in the war on terrorism. Afghanistan is. Afghanistan is where the 9/11 attacks were planned and if we are not successful in Afghanistan, al Qaeda will once again find safe haven there. As a candidate and in office, President Obama called Afghanistan the “necessary war” and pledged to provide the resources needed to prevail. However, prominent voices in the Democratic Party are opposing the additional U.S. ground forces that are clearly needed.

Gay Conservative Website
http://www.gaypatriot.net/category/gay-pc-silliness/

Hospitals making millions from parking charges
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/hospitals-making-millions-from-parking-charges-1793627.html
Don’t tell BO—funding healthcare.

New precision missile takes out the Taliban while leaving civilians unharmed
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1216149/VIDEO-New-precision-missile-takes-Taliban-leaving-civilians-unharmed.html
Excerpt: The Ministry of Defence has released the first cockpit footage of a new precision missile which can kill a Taliban fighter with such a small explosion that nearby civilians are unharmed. The Dual Mode Brimstone guided missile is shown blasting a gunman who has dug himself a firing position or 'murder hole' in the base of a thick mud walled compound in the heart of a village in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Whereas the 1,000lb bombs commonly used in such air strikes would have flattened the settlement and could have killed dozens of people, the Brimstone's warhead kills the enemy gunman while barely damaging the rest of the compound, and the surrounding streets are untouched. (Nice. But you can’t win a war where the enemy can tolerate endless casualties and you can’t tolerate any.)

Virtue and Courage – What America Could Use Now
http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/09/25/virtue-and-courage-%e2%80%93-what-america-could-use-now/
Excerpt: Ordinarily, when a 21 year-old man thinks about what he will do with the rest of his life, he thinks in terms of years. But the tall, handsome, athletic and well-educated young man being led to his date with the executioner could have only been thinking of the minutes he had left to live. It is certain that he thought of his family because just before he was executed, he hastily wrote a letter to his mother. But family members were not the only people on his mind. He also had a message for those who gathered to witness his death that day and for every American who desired to live in freedom when he spoke in defense of the cause for which he and his comrades were fighting and for which he was about to give his life. Nathan Hale said, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” Denied a military trial, denied a Bible and denied a visit by a clergyman, Captain Nathan Hale was hanged as a spy by the British on September 22, 1776 in an artillery park near the East River in New York City. The story of Nathan Hale and his last words, which was once well-known by every school-age child in America, is about much more than just his inspiring utterance to the crowd which gathered to watch him hang. Like other school children of the 60s, I learned the story of Nathan Hale and memorized his last words without ever knowing the full story. Much to my surprise, I learned that Hale’s last words were not entirely his own. (Wait, aren’t “virtue and courage” racist? I mean, practically everything else about America is. Guess it’s a good things kids don’t learn history anymore.)

Suspected flag burner pilloried
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=846181
Excerpt: VALLEY FALLS -- The young man was given three choices: get turned over to the police, go one-on-one in a fight with a seasoned war veteran, or be duct-taped to a flagpole for six hours with a sign around his neck identifying his alleged crime: flag burning. Itwas the third option that would still have the small town buzzing a week after a 21-year-old was hunted down and forced to endure a public humiliation with its roots dating to the Middle Ages. Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1938 were incensed enough to tie up the man last Sunday after they accused him of setting the flag in front of their building on fire. Post Commander Nick Normile, a Vietnam War veteran, said the man came into the post's bar Sept. 18 on Poplar Avenue and was eventually turned away for not having a proper ID. Apparently angered, the young man, who Normile did not want to name, cut the rope of the American flag flying overhead and used a cigarette lighter to set it on fire, Normile and others said.

Apparently Obama knew, wasn’t telling us about Iran’s secret nukes
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/appease_does_apocalypse_for_weak_9HzomoUqSd9gZJINIwtJlL
Excerpt: DID it surprise a single Post reader that Iran's been hiding a big nu clear weapons development fa cility? It stunned our president when he learned about it months ago. Then he kept it secret from you. Obama didn't want you to know how much progress Iran had made. It's an embarrassment. And it raises the pressure on the White House to act -- something this president's squirming to avoid. But the Iranians have now realized we know, so they tipped it themselves. Obama had no choice but to come clean. Yesterday, he interrupted the G-20 summit to go public -- before Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did. Flanked by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain's dead man walking, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, our president offered more uselessly vague rhetoric in response to proof of a major "covert Iranian enrichment facility" and its implications.

Obama Flunks the Diplomacy Test
http://blogsforvictory.com/2009/09/26/obama-flunks-the-diplomacy-test/
Excerpt: President Obama knew that if the magnitude of the Iranian threat were revealed yesterday, the emptiness of his resolution would have been embarrassingly obvious and his cover blown. In public, at the highest levels of the U.N, he heralded generalities as significant. In private, he was petitioning lower levels of the U.N. to act on startling specifics of the Iranian threat. Why did the president not present this same evidence to the Security Council, the body with “the authority and the responsibility to respond”? Why did he not challenge world leaders to deal with the same Iranian threat that he privately was pressing upon U.N. bureaucrats? There is only one possible answer: President Obama does not have the political will to do what it takes to prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb.

How to Lose Friends
http://townhall.com/Common/PrintPage.aspx?g=24e7ead6-edbc-44ff-bc4e-8673f80e3f25&t=c
Excerpt: The United States does not negotiate with terrorists -- but we insist that Israel do so without preconditions. We will not get entangled in the distasteful internal politics of Iran -- but we define Israel's borders. We will remove missile defense systems in Europe so we do not needlessly provoke our good friends in Russia -- but we have no compunction nudging Israel to hand over territory with nothing in return. This week, President Barack Obama spoke to the United Nations General Assembly and insisted that Israel and the Palestinians negotiate "without preconditions" (well, excluding the effective precondition that Israeli settlements are "illegitimate," according to the administration -- so no preconditions means feel free to rocket Israel while you talk). This tact, Obama hopes, will lead to "two states living side by side in peace and security -- a Jewish state of Israel with true security for all Israelis and a viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967 and realizes the potential of the Palestinian people." Hate to break the news to you, but there already exists a Jewish state of Israel with true security for all Israelis. This security is attained through a perpetual war against terrorism and Arab aggression. And the most recent time Israel withdrew from disputed lands without preconditions to allow the potential of the Palestinian people to shine through was in Gaza. The Arabs, hungering for the light of freedom, used the gift to elect Hamas -- now an Iranian proxy and always a terror organization -- to rain rockets down on the civilians who voted to allow the first democratic Arab entity in history.

Commencement Speech every student should hear
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1983276/posts
Great stuff. Don’t believe this was actually given, but it should be.

Agents shoot Obama supporters seeking health care
http://news.aol.com/article/california-border-agents-fire-at-van/682472
Excerpt: U.S. authorities shut down the nation's busiest border crossing for about four hours Tuesday afternoon after federal agents fired shots at three vans filled with illegal immigrants whose drivers tried to storm past inspectors, officials said. Three people were shot and injured in the vans crammed with dozens of illegal immigrants, authorities said, and one of the vans smashed into another vehicle as it tried to bypass border inspectors, injuring a fourth person.

Does America Need Health Care Reform?
http://townhall.com/columnists/JaniceShawCrouse/2009/09/25/does_america_need_health_care_reform
Excerpt: Numerous polls indicate that most Americans are very happy with the health care that they receive. Specifically, nearly 90 percent of Americans responded to a poll sponsored by ABC News, USA Today and the Kaiser Family Foundation saying that they were satisfied with the health care coverage that they already have. Such solid information stands in stark contrast to the media hype about the necessity for health care reform and the hysteria promoted by the White House about the dire health care circumstances facing Americans.

NBC Producer to Americans For Limited Govt: “BITE ME JEWBOY !!!”
http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2009/09/nbc-producer-to-americans-for-limited.html
Excerpt: Yesterday the Folks at Americans for Limited Government emailed a mass press release to media folks all over the country it was entitled ALG Calls on Congress to "Put Up or Shut Up" on Defunding ACORN. it was nothing frothing crazy, it was a simple case of reviewing the latest scandal news about ACORN and calling on both houses of congress to follow through on their recent votes to cut all of federal funds to the criminal enterprise disguised as a charity. Like all standard press releases, this one ended with contact information, Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson. One of those press releases crossed the desk of Jane Stone a producer for NBC’s Dateline. This is the email that was returned back to Alex Rosenwald, the ALG Director of Media Outreach. She replied with a simple phrase, "Bite Me Jew Boy!" (They deny it. Can’t prove either way, since either party may have altered the e-mails provided.)

Political Digest August 25 2009

Bay State health insurance premiums highest in country
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/08/22/bay_state_health_insurance_premiums_highest_in_country/
When something is cheap, people use more of it. Basic Economics. Free healthcare is very cheap.

Explaining the Town-Hall Protests
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204884404574362333085067364.html
Excerpt: Why are they so angry? The reasons are manifold, but the single biggest reason is the arrogance of our elected officials in Washington. Think about it. For the past seven months a small group of politicians has been meeting behind-closed-doors with powerful special interests to decide whether you will be able to keep your current insurance, where you will be directed to get new insurance and at what price, what fines you and your employer will have to pay if you don't conform, and how they're going to get your doctor to change the way he or she practices medicine. In the process, they never asked you what you thought about anything. If you are not mad about this, odds are you don't understand the situation. Remember, according to a Fox News poll conducted last month, 84% of Americans rate the quality of their insurance as "excellent" or "good." When they voted for Mr. Obama for president, they thought "universal care" meant helping some unfortunate Americans obtain insurance they cannot otherwise afford. Not once did candidate Obama say he was going to make changes that affected them and their health care. In fact, he promised the opposite.

The Competition Cure
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970203550604574360923109310680.html
Excerpt: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius routinely calls for more choice and competition in health care. In his weekly address this past weekend, President Obama raised the issue directly: "The source of a lot of these fears about government-run health care is confusion over what's called the public option. This is one idea among many to provide more competition and choice, especially in the many places around the country where just one insurer thoroughly dominates the marketplace." We take it this refers to a state in which one insurer holds most of the business. It is no secret that this page is all for competition in the marketplace. If indeed that's the goal, allow us to suggest a path to it that will be a lot easier than erecting the impossible dream of a public option: Let insurance companies sell health-care policies across state lines.

Union Car Czar Poised to Dictate America's Manufacturing Policy
http://www.nrtw.org/en/blog/union-car-czar-poised-dictate-manufacturing-p08212009
Excerpt: The Obama Administration may elevate Ron Bloom, head of the government's auto task force, to a job that would set U.S. manufacturing policy more broadly, people familiar with the matter said. Bloom's responsibilities at the new position? They're extensive, to say the least. As the chief policy maker on manufacturing, Bloom would be charged with reviewing U.S. competitiveness in the global economy. His job would likely encompass trade, taxes and other economic issues . . .

Town Hall Meeting with U.S. Congressman Brian Baird
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rRE5UK6NQU
Marine vet at Congressman’s Town Hall meeting.

Health Care and Infant Mortality: The Real Story
http://townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2009/08/23/health_care_and_infant_mortality_the_real_story
Excerpt: African-American babies are far more likely to die than white ones, which is often taken as evidence that poverty and lack of health insurance are to blame. That's entirely plausible until you notice another racial/ethnic gap: Hispanics of Mexican or Central or South American ancestry not only do consistently better than blacks on infant mortality, they do better than whites. Social disadvantage doesn't explain very much.

What's with Obama's Obsession: Body Parts?
http://townhall.com/columnists/KevinMcCullough/2009/08/23/whats_with_obamas_obsession_body_parts
Excerpt: In speech after speech on the need for the federalizing control of a national health care system President Obama has taken to insulting the wrong people--physicians--but beyond that he has turned them into orated illustrations of terror.

Barack Obama’s Administration Kills a Military Fly Over
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/08/21/barack-obamas-administration-kills-a-military-fly-over/
Excerpt: For 42 years, the God and Country Rally in Idaho has started its rally with a military fly over. The God and Country Rally is a non-denominational rally that supports American soldiers. For 42 years the Pentagon has carried out the military fly over. Not any more. In Barack Obama’s America, the military is no longer allowed to do such things if the group requesting the fly over is Christian oriented.

Our Veterans deserve better than Obama's VA 'Death Book' directive.
http://www.examiner.com/x-9100-Boston-Conservative-Independent-Examiner~y2009m8d21-Our-Veterans-deserve-better-than-Obamas-VA-Death-Book-directive
Where death is a viable option!

Interesting GW video
http://ceiondemand.org/2009/07/17/policy-peril-global-warming/

Taliban cuts off index fingers of two women who voted
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/027307.php
More of the values BO says we share with Islam.

Obamacare-Point and Counterpoint
http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/08/obamacarepoint_and_counterpoin.html
Excerpt: By Frank S. Rosenbloom, M.D. Mr. Obama has gone back on the campaign trail to try to sell his health care reform to the nation. Mostly hand-picked, sympathetic attendees have been showing up to his town hall meetings. He continues to make the same points regarding health care reform, which need to be addressed specifically. I hope to address more in future articles.

Another Promise Broken -- in Record Time
http://townhall.com/columnists/PaulGreenberg/2009/08/21/another_promise_broken_--_in_record_time
Excerpt: The outstanding example of this cynical manipulation of justice is how a case against the New Black Panthers, which the Department of Justice described as a "black super-racist organization," has been quickly and quietly shelved with minimal attention to the law and the Constitution.

Muslim smugglers hid heroin in Koran -- watch for the international riots
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/027300.php
Excerpt: Remember Newsweek's spurious "Koran in the toilet" story, and the outrage and murder it touched off? There is almost certainly going to be no similar outcry from Muslims about this story -- which provides yet more evidence of the fact that that outrage was trumped up in the first place, politically motivated, and designed to try to intimidate the West into making various concessions. This incident has no such potential value, and thus will drop into the memory hole with no jihadists noting or remembering it.

The Puzzling War on the Elderly
http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/the-puzzling-war-on-the-elderly/#more-4816
There are a group of private health plans that are ostensibly doing everything President Obama says he wants to accomplish with health reform:
--They provide subsidized coverage to low- and moderate-income people who could otherwise not afford it.
--They control costs better than conventional insurance by eliminating unnecessary care.
--They provide higher quality care.
--They have no pre-existing condition limitations and some plans actually specialize in attracting and caring for patients with multiple illnesses.
--They provide an annual choice of plans.
--They even compete against a public plan.
So what does President Obama think about these plans? He wants to get rid of them, or at least cut them way back. So do many Democrats in Congress.

Quote
"Only a large-scale popular movement toward decentralization and self-help can arrest the present tendency toward statism.... A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude. To make them love it is the task assigned, in present-day totalitarian states, to ministries of propaganda, newspaper editors and schoolteachers."--English writer Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)

Political Digest August 19 2009

Bill Cahir Memorial Fund
Burke & Herbert Bank, c/o Mark Ragland, P.O. Box 268, Alexandria, VA 22313.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/08/14/a-death-in-afghanistan/
Marine KIA in Afghanistan, wife pregnant with twins.

Till Death Do Us Part
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081402519_pf.html
Excerpt: Ultimately, because of the business we are in, expected to fight, suffer and die without complaint, we also cultivate this bond to call on when needed. At times, it means being ruthlessly hard, as at Balaclava in 1854. When the "thin red line" of the 93rd Highlanders were all that stood between the Russian onslaught and the British camp, Sir Colin Campbell commanded the regiment he loved, "there is no retreat from here, men -- you must die where you stand."

At times, it means having compassion, as on Tulagi Island in the South Pacific in 1942. After an all-night attack, Marine PFC. Edward "Johnny" Ahrens lay quietly in his foxhole. He'd been shot twice in the chest, and blood welled slowly from three deep bayonet wounds. Thirteen dead Japanese soldiers lay nearby; two others were draped over his legs. Legendarily tough Lewis Walt -- later assistant commandant of the Marine Corps -- gently gathered the dying man in his arms. Ahrens whispered, "Captain, they tried to come over me last night, but I don't think they made it." Choking back tears, Walt replied softly, "They didn't, Johnny. They didn't."

For the Left, war without Bush is not war at all
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/For-the-Left_-war-without-Bush-is-not-war-at-all-8119694-53506047.html
Excerpt: Remember the anti-war movement? Not too long ago, the Democratic party's most loyal voters passionately opposed the war in Iraq. Democratic presidential candidates argued over who would withdraw American troops the quickest. Netroots activists regularly denounced President George W. Bush, and sometimes the U.S. military ("General Betray Us"). Cindy Sheehan, the woman whose soldier son was killed in Iraq, became a heroine when she led protests at Bush's Texas ranch. That was then. Now, even though the United States still has roughly 130,000 troops in Iraq, and is quickly escalating the war in Afghanistan -- 68,000 troops there by the end of this year, and possibly more in 2010 -- anti-war voices on the Left have fallen silent.

Enthusiasts Re-enacting Vietnam War
http://www.military.com/news/article/enthusiasts-reenacting-vietnam-war.html?ESRC=eb.nl
Hard to know what I think.

U.S. unions aid anti-democratic forces in Latin America
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/US-unions-aid-anti-democratic-forces-in-Latin-America--53443777.html
Excerpt: Anti-democratic forces working to de-stabilize the new government in Honduras have attracted U.S. labor unions as allies in their cause. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), UNITE HERE, and the United Steelworkers (USW) have lined up behind Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega to express their support for Manuel Zelaya, the former president of Honduras Although that country’s constitution stipulates a ban on second terms, Zelaya sought to remain in power. The Honduran Congress, Supreme Court and military decided they were having none of this and removed Zelaya from office, as provided by the county’s constitution.

Public Option Called Essential
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702859.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: Several leading Democrats voiced concern Monday about an apparent White House shift on health-care reform, objecting to signals from senior administration officials that they would abandon the idea of a government-run insurance plan if it lacked the backing to pass Congress. View Only Top Items in This Story In the Senate, where negotiations are now focused, John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.) said that a public option, as the plan has become known, is "a must." Sen. Russell Feingold (Wis.) said that "without a public option, I don't see how we will bring real change to a system that has made good health care a privilege for those who can afford it." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said that the plan will be included in whatever bill is voted on in the House. "There is strong support in the House for a public option," she said, though she did not demand that the administration express support for the idea. One Democrat predicted that without the provision, the bill could lose as many as 100 votes in the chamber.

The Public Option Goes Over
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204683204574356560765324476.html
Excerpt: There are plenty of other ways of "getting there" without a public option—namely, through the federally chartered insurance cooperatives now gathering momentum in the Senate. The idea of creating member-owned co-ops in the states, as Senator Kent Conrad originally proposed, isn't necessarily harmful. But if regulated as advertised by Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid, they'd be satellites of Washington and have 50 open checks drawn on the Treasury, creating the insurance industry equivalents of Fannie Mae. "We're going to have some type of public option, call it 'co-op,' call it what you want," Mr. Reid said in July. From the start, the Administration has always held that "the goal is non-negotiable; the path is," as Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel put it. Another path may be to convert private insurance companies into public utilities outright. In a New York Times op-ed on Sunday, Mr. Obama reiterated his plan to regulate who the insurers must cover, how generous the benefits must be and how much they can charge, including a limit on out-of-pocket spending. If Democrats decide to centrally plan the insurance market, in what sense is that different from a public option?

Pelosi digs in on public option
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Pelosi-digs-in-on-public-option--53495427.html
Excerpt: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she will forge ahead with a health insurance bill that includes a robust government-run insurance plan, despite signals from Senate negotiators that they may exclude a government plan from legislation it is drafting. "There is strong support in the House for a public option," Pelosi said on Monday, referring back to a statement President Barack Obama made in March in which he declared a public option will "give consumers more choices" and "keep the private sector honest." Pelosi pointed out that a public option is the main component of all three versions of health reform legislation that are circulating in the House as well as the committee-passed Democratic version in the Senate.

Howard Dean: Democrats should try to “tackle health reform another time”
http://www.redstate.com/dan_perrin/2009/08/17/howard-dean-democrats-should-try-to-%E2%80%9Ctackle-health-reform-another-time%E2%80%9D/
Excerpt: Carville was there for the HillaryCare flame out. And, when you are already planning to blame the Republicans for the coming health care failure, you have to be pretty clear about where the politics of continuing down this road will lead — so, it is natural for Carville to blame the Republicans. In other words, let’s keep health care alive as a political issue that can win elections, even if we let, er, uh, I mean, blame the GOP for killing it dead. These two leading Democrats, Carville and Dean, are really telegraphing warnings and caution to their elected Democratic friends: let’s wait, let’s not pass anything, we can blame the Republicans.

ABC's John Stossel on Obama's 'Health Care' Plan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9GMKK_fWKg

A Mistake or a Trick: When is Rep. Martin Heinrich’s (D-NM) Townhall Meeting?http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/08/18/a-mistake-or-a-trick-when-is-rep-martin-heinrichs-d-nm-townhall-meeting/Cute. Let supporters in first.

Whose Medical Decisions?http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/08/18/whose_medical_decisions
Excerpt: There was a time when rushing a thousand-page bill through Congress so fast that no one has time to read it would have provoked public outrage. But now, this has been attempted twice in the first 6 months of a new administration. The fact that they got away with it before, with the "stimulus" bill, may have led them to believe that they could get away with it again. But the first bill simply spent hundreds of billions of dollars. The current "health care" bill threatens to take life-and-death decisions out of the hands of individuals and their doctors, transferring those decisions to Washington bureaucrats.

The "Preventive Care" Myth
http://townhall.com/columnists/CharlesKrauthammer/2009/08/14/the_preventive_care_mythExcerpt: In the 48 hours of June 15-16, President Obama lost the health care debate. First, a letter from the Congressional Budget Office to Sen. Edward Kennedy reported that his health committee's reform bill would add $1 trillion in debt over the next decade. Then the CBO reported that the other Senate bill, being written by the Finance Committee, would add $1.6 trillion. The central contradiction of Obamacare was fatally exposed: From his first address to Congress, Obama insisted on the dire need for restructuring the health care system because out-of-control costs were bankrupting the Treasury and wrecking the U.S. economy -- yet the Democrats' plans would make the problem worse.

Taking Obama on faith
http://www.dglobe.com/event/article/id/26272/group/Opinion/
Quiz: Whose “Faith Based” program was largest, Bush’s or Obama’s? Which president appointed a 27-year-old Pentecostal preacher to head the program? Which appointed a Democrat political science professor? Which president invokes Jesus more often in his speeches? Which program got the most media coverage? Which President’s program pushed the President’s agenda hardest?

The One Lesson Democrats Never Learn
http://townhall.com/columnists/WyntonHall/2009/08/17/the_one_lesson_democrats_never_learnExcrpt:
Now ask yourself this question: If conservatives like Gov. Sarah Palin are such vaporous fools, then how can they “hijack” a national debate from the most powerful man on the planet…and all with a simple Facebook posting no less? Indeed, if Sarah Palin is the “whack job” and “intellectual lightweight” Mr. Begala claims her to be, then what does that make Mr. Obama who, according to Ms. Dowd, just got his clock cleaned by a Facebook message written by the unserious likes of a “nutty puppy” like Ms. Palin?

The Economic Consequences of Waxman-Markey
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18337
Excerpt: All of these costs will be paid for no more than a 0.2 degree Celsius moderation in world temperature increases by 2100, and no more than 0.05 degree reduction by 2050. Saddling the next generation with higher prices, higher debt, less income, fewer jobs and more taxes does not seem like a worthy legacy, say researchers.

Quote
Do you know what a soldier is, young man? He's the chap who makes it possible for civilized folk to despise war. – Allan Massie

Political Digest for August 11 2009

Newt Gingrich: Go to a Townhall meeting
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/Go-to-a-Townhall-meeting-8072177-52606957.html
Two-hundred and eleven years ago, the party in the White House grew frustrated with public opposition to its policies and passed a law designed to stifle dissent. The Alien and Sedition Acts made it a crime to "print, utter, or publish .. any false, scandalous and malicious writing against the federal government, including the President." The law was the reigning Federalist Party's attempt to beat back an ascendant Democratic-Republican Party led by Thomas Jefferson in 1798. It backfired. An outraged American public elected Jefferson president in 1800. No record survives as to whether the Jeffersonian protestors were well-dressed or not, but something frighteningly similar is happening today. For the first time in a long time, the President of the United States is actively trying to suppress public involvement in civic life. Americans have an absolute right to petition our government and express dissent. It's right there in the 1st Amendment to the Constitution….

He’s come to save the day!
http://boortz.com/more/video/its_barack_obama.html
More fun from JibJab

Chicago 2016 Olympics: Member of city's bid team has deal to develop land near park earmarked for the Games
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-olympics-real-estate-07-aug07,0,4603832.story
I’m shocked! Shocked, I say.

How much is that old clunker on the car lift?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0807goldbergaug07,0,2787266.story
Excerpt: For starters, who says the smartest thing for people with working cars is to buy new ones? Personal debt is supposed to be a problem, so why not look at this as bribing consumers into taking out car loans they don't need? Even with the $4,500 subsidy, not all of these customers are going to be paying cash for their new cars. So they'll be swapping serviceable-but-paid-for cars for nicer cars that are owned by banks.

Are Health Insurance Companies the Villains?
http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/are-health-insurance-companies-the-villains/#more-4600
Excerpt: So, when is the last time you heard about a life insurance company dropping someone's coverage because he got AIDS? Never happens. What about jacking up someone's life insurance premiums after the insured has a heart attack? Not a chance. How about dropping coverage just because a person changes jobs or retires? No way. Ever heard of a life insurer interfering with the doctor-patient relationship — say, pleading with the providers to keep the patient on life support so the company can delay paying the claim? Ridiculous. Then why does the market for life insurance work so well while the health insurance market seems so dysfunctional — even when the same insurers are in both markets? Answer: because of politicians. Politicians who think just like Nancy Pelosi thinks.

Is Obama Punking Us? (NYT?)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09rich.html?_r=1
Excerpt: Yet there is real reason for longer-term worry in the form of a persistent, anecdotal drift toward disillusionment among some of the president’s supporters. And not merely those on the left. This concern was perhaps best articulated by an Obama voter, a real estate agent in Virginia, featured on the front page of The Washington Post last week. “Nothing’s changed for the common guy,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been punked.” She cited in particular the billions of dollars in bailouts given to banks that still “act like they’re broke.”

Paralympics Offer Wounded Veterans a Chance to Dream
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/08/AR2009080802129.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: When Maryland native Keith Buckman regained consciousness in a Bethesda hospital last July, he knew he would never again play football, basketball or soccer, the sports he had loved growing up in Forestville. He barely survived a 2008 suicide bombing in Iraq's Anbar province that killed 25 people, including three fellow Marines. His legs and one arm were shattered.

Wounded Soldiers Cast Off Burdens as They Fish on the Bay
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/08/AR2009080802434.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: The owners of Rod 'N' Reel, whose grandfather took wounded World War II veterans fishing in 1946, paid for the chartered fishing trips and donated the use of a refrigerated catering truck. The local hardware store offered American flags. Girl Scouts wrapped silverware. One volunteer baked 22 cakes, another drove from McLean to help grill fish, while a third showed up Saturday with a purse full of mints to hand out to the soldiers.

They were Soldiers, Scottish Soldiers (Jocks) — Tribute to our recently fallen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXdS34dxS0k&NR=1
Great tribute

Congressmen Took Exotic 'Climate Change' Junket
http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/congress_climate_junket/2009/08/09/245746.html
Excerpt: Diving and snorkeling at Australia's Great Barrier Reef, watching New Year's fireworks in New Zealand, and sleeping in a luxury Hawaiian hotel is the vacation of a lifetime — unless you're a member of Congress. Then it's a fact-finding mission to study climate change.

C-SPAN Caller Blasts Media's Coverage of Town Hall Protests
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/08/09/c-span-caller-blasts-medias-depiction-town-hall-protesters
Excerpt: "When I watch the news people stand here and tell me that I am a member of a hired mob, that I've been called up by the Republican Party, they only wish they could have done something like this. I've never been contacted by any organized group."

Key Democrat Feels the Heat after Voting for House Plan
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/09/AR2009080902428.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- "The war's on," says Rep. Baron P. Hill, and he's not talking about a conflict overseas, but a battle over health care in his own back yard, where thousands of people are trying to tell him what to do, some not so nicely. Hill is a leader of the Blue Dogs, the caucus of 51 conservative Democrats whose hard-bargaining support is critical to President Obama's bid to overhaul the health system. He came home on recess to find himself a target of groups that want to steer the August conversation and the autumn vote.

Georgia Democrat yells at local doctor over health care
http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/back-story/2009/aug/08/georgia-democrat-rages-against-local-doctor-over-h/#comments
Excerpt: Tensions are running so high at town hall meetings that Rep. David Scott, a Georgia Democrat, yelled at a local doctor concerned about health care after mistaking him for an "astroturf" political operative looking for a fight. Mr. Scott became visibly agitated when one of his constituents, a practicing doctor, asked a few questions about health care reform during a town hall meeting. The meeting was held to discuss a road project, but was opened up for questions near the end. That's when Dr. Brian Hill stood up to speak. Dr. Hill asked Mr. Scott why he was going to vote for a health care plan similar to that implemented in Massachusetts "that is shown not to work" and if he supported a government-provided health care insurance option. The congressman replied by accusing the doctor of "hijacking" his event.

Harry Reid Will Only Do Town Halls by Telephone, Media Mum
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/08/09/harry-reid-will-only-do-telephone-town-halls-media-mum
Excerpt: The most powerful man in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), announced on Friday that as a result of recent protests at town hall meetings he won't hold any such political gatherings during this month's Congressional recess. Instead, he will only do what's called "telephone town halls" where he and his staff have complete control over the questions being asked and who's asking them. Should have been big news, right? Well, according to LexisNexis and Google news searches, not one major media outlet felt it was important enough to share with the citizenry.

Mr. President, Americans are not an 'angry mob'
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Mr_-President_-Americans-are-not-an-_angry-mob_-8076144-52674832.html
Excerpt: They aren't carrying swastikas, either, contrary to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's rant about the legions of worried citizens who have been standing up in multiple town halls and congressional forums to demand straight answers from their congressmen about what they are doing under the guise of "health-care reform." Pelosi's attempt to smear honest citizens as Nazis is only the most reprehensible manifestation of a White House-directed propaganda campaign to discredit anyone who disagrees with President Obama's health-care proposal. A growing list of major national surveys suggests that the people targeted by the campaign represent a clear majority of Americans, if not something very close to it. And they are being portrayed by some in their government as its enemy.

Meet the mob
http://thedanashow.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/meet-the-mob/
Funny by telling pictures

More on this story: Black Conservative Activist Beaten at Town Hall Meeting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTXBOgPCh9w&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fconservativepunk%2Ecom%2Farticles%2F2150%2F&feature=player_embedded
By liberal thugs, wearing union tee-shirts. Kenneth Gladney, a 38-year-old conservative activist from St. Louis, said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow flags with “Don’t tread on me” printed on them. He spoke to the Post-Dispatch from the emergency room of the St. John’s Mercy Medical Center, where he said he was waiting to be treated for injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face that he suffered in the attack. Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man, used a racial slur against him before the attack started. “It just seems there’s no freedom of speech without being attacked,” he said.
And an interview:
http://www.dakotavoice.com/2009/08/interview-with-kenneth-gladney-man-assaulted-by-union-thugs-at-town-hall/

The Chutzpah of the Town Hall Libel
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/08/the_chutzpah_of_the_town_hall.html
Excerpt: You would also conclude that we have been asking for an honest debate about the pending health care -- a debate that entertains all viewpoints and does not shut anyone out -- constituents as well as conservatives in Congress. We have been asking for town hall meetings and have been turned down long before the seeds for your article had been planted; we have been writing letters, sending faxes and emails and making calls to our elected officials and, if we receive a response, it is usually from an ignorant intern or a vapid form letter that regurgitates the congressperson's position and reveals that he/she will vote his/her conscience regardless of the constituents' opinions. This is why, Bill, we took to the streets in the first place.

You Are Terrifying Us
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204908604574334623330098540.htmlExcerpt: What the town-hall meetings represent is a feeling of rebellion, an uprising against change they do not believe in. And the Democratic response has been stunningly crude and aggressive. It has been to attack. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, accused the people at the meetings of “carrying swastikas and symbols like that.” (Apparently one protester held a hand-lettered sign with a “no” slash over a swastika.) But they are not Nazis, they’re Americans. Some of them looked like they’d actually spent some time fighting Nazis. Then came the Democratic Party charge that the people at the meetings were suspiciously well-dressed, in jackets and ties from Brooks Brothers. They must be Republican rent-a-mobs. Sen. Barbara Boxer said on MSNBC’s “Hardball” that people are “storming these town hall meetings,” that they were “well dressed,” that “this is all organized,” “all planned,” to “hurt our president.” Here she was projecting. For normal people, it’s not all about Barack Obama.

Pentagon Takes Aim at Jets for Congressional Travel
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124969431303416161.html
Private jest: bad for car company execs, good for Congresscritters.

Women demand law against genital mutilation
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/027157.php
But they will face an uphill battle, with opposition sure to come from Islamic clerics. "Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men it consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce (Ar. bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert). (A: Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna, while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.)" -- 'Umdat al-Salik e4.3.

Apologists for evil
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/027146.php
Caption: The inimitable Pat Condell excoriates the liberal Left, of which he used to be a part, for its abandonment of its own stated principles and embrace of the jihad. Along the way, he explains why opposition to Islamic supremacism is not racism, exposes the truth about the manipulative, cynical term "Islamophobia," and even skewers those who try to connect him to the BNP and to a race-based approach to the resistance to the global jihad.

Quote
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.- George Bernard Shaw

Bob's Political Digest for August 6 2009

Veterans groups have ‘grave concerns’ on health bill
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/veterans-groups-have-grave-concerns-on-health-bill-2009-07-31.html
Excerpt: the groups state “the legislation could limit the health care choices for veterans, increase the cost of health care for veterans, deny coverage to dependent family members of veterans, and threaten the quality of health care offered to veterans through the VA health care system.”

Police called on retirees at senator's LA office
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/07/30/state/n184320D61.DTL
Who do they think they are? Citizens?

Christian woman faces 40 lashes in Sudan for wearing trousers
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/027074.php
Waiting for the outcry from American feminists.

Lashley's Letter To Crowley
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/20230991/detail.html
Excerpt: One of the major problems stemming from the events of July 16 is that I, now known as 'the black Sergeant', have had my image plastered all over the Internet, television and newspapers. Subsequently, I have also become known, at least to some, as an 'Uncle Tom.'

You can bet on it: Obama will raise your taxes
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/You-can-bet-on-it_-Obama-will-raise-your-taxes-8060649-52382632.html
Excerpt: Obama is solidly popular (64 percent job approval) with voters making less than $24,000. But after that, his support starts to slide. Among the group making between $24,000 and $60,000, it's 53 percent. In the group between $60,000 and $90,000, it's 52 percent. Among those above $90,000, it's an even 50 percent. (While that last group includes anyone from Bill Gates down to a welder who works a lot of overtime, it's safe to say that most are clustered in the lower end of the scale, sharing many of the same concerns with those in the next-lower category.) In January, Obama's job approval rating among the two highest income groups was 69 and 67 percent, respectively. Now, more than a quarter of that support has disappeared. Put another way, a large segment of the broad middle class is dropping away from Obama.

One Year after Universal Car Care
http://www.theabsurdreport.com/2009/one-year-after-universal-car-care/
Too funny

Is Race for Governor More About Obama?
Some Voters Who Backed President Disillusioned Over Economic Pledges
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/04/AR2009080402787.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: For Cleland, it was another example -- one of many this day -- of the broken promises of a president who she thought would be different. Obama pledged to change a Washington culture that favored corporations and the connected and instead lift families such as the one sitting next to Cleland out of their economic funk. Rather, she said, Obama has backed billions of dollars to banks that continue to "act like they're broke" and started the country down a path that Cleland said she thinks will lead to more grief for the middle class. "He's just not as advertised," she said. "Nothing's changed for the common guy. I feel like I've been punked." (Gee, who would have guessed?)

How to Fix the Health-Care ‘Wedge’
There is an alternative to Obamacare
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204619004574324361508092006.html
Excerpt: The health-care wedge is an economic term that reflects the difference between what health-care costs the specific provider and what the patient actually pays. When health care is subsidized, no one should be surprised that people demand more of it and that the costs to produce it increase. Mr. Obama’s health-care plan does nothing to address the gap between the price paid and the price received. Instead, it’s like a negative tax: Costs rise and people demand more than they need…. A patient-centered health-care reform begins with individual ownership of insurance policies and leverages Health Savings Accounts, a low-premium, high-deductible alternative to traditional insurance that includes a tax-advantaged savings account. It allows people to purchase insurance policies across state lines and reduces the number of mandated benefits insurers are required to cover. It reallocates the majority of Medicaid spending into a simple voucher for low-income individuals to purchase their own insurance. And it reduces the cost of medical procedures by reforming tort liability laws.

Obama Energy Policies Will Hike Prices By 20 Percent
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/08/04/obama-energy-policies-will-hike-prices-by-20/
Excerpt: Barack Obama recently claimed — incorrectly — that he had yet to sign a bill that raised taxes, but the worst burdens will avoid the clear label of taxation. A new study by the Energy Information Administration, an arm of the Department of Energy, determines that the cap-and-trade bill passed by the House in June would hike energy costs to consumers by 20% by 2025.

Lawyers Emerge As Winners
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18287
No surprise-- and the Congress & many legislatures are now controlled by the Lawyers’ Party.

Did Secretary LaHood lie to Congress?
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Did-Secretary-LaHood-lie-to-Congress-52514122.html
BO’s tame IL Republican.

Special interests cash in on clunker boondoggle
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Special-interests-cash-in-on-clunker-boondoggle-52473487.html
Excerpt: And who are the customers? Not poor people — they don’t shell out five figures for new cars. No, this is a middle-class to upper-middle-class subsidy, which is probably why politicians love it so much. But the real benefit to business — and harm to the economy — comes after the car sale. The law requires the dealers destroy the “clunker” engine (which, to be eligible, was drivable upon trade-in), scrap the car and shred almost all its parts. This government-required waste reduces the supply of used cars on the road. Reduce the supply of drivable used cars, and you drive up the price of all cars.

Obama would stifle military and medical creativity
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Obama-would-stifle-military-and-medical-creativity-52473217.html
Excerpt: Cases in point: Most people in the rest of the world are free riders on the productivity and ingenuity of the American military and American medicine. They get the benefits of American military protection and American medical innovation without paying, or without paying in full, for them.

MS-13 Smuggles Muslim Terrorists into U.S.
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.3901/pub_detail.asp
Probably they’ll get empathy from a wise Latina judge….

Canada vs. US Healthcare
http://www.larryjohnwright.com/tvspots/HeatherSandstrom.wmv
Video by a woman who has lived under both.

Care Versus Control
http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/08/04/care_versus_control
Excerpt: Are decisions made by doctors who have treated the same patient for years to be over-ruled by bureaucrats sitting in front of computer screens in Washington, following guidelines drawn up with the idea of "bringing down the cost of medical care"?
The idea is even more absurd than the idea that you can add millions of people to a government medical care plan without increasing the costs. It is also more dangerous.

“We want a Christian-free society!”
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/027127.php
Excerpt: At the urging of local Muslim leaders, police in western Bangladesh have tortured a pastor and two other Christians for legally proclaiming Christ. (Ah those tolerant Muslims we keep hearing about.)

"In principle, Jihad is an offensive Jihad, which was instated in order to spread Islam throughout the world"
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/027120.php
Excerpt: An American branch of this group met recently in Chicago. No one seemed to mind. Note also that when non-Muslims point out that according to mainstream Islamic teaching, "in principle, Jihad is an offensive Jihad, which was instated in order to spread Islam throughout the world," thuggish pseudo-moderate groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations charge them with "bigotry" and "Islamophobia." But don't hold your breath waiting for CAIR's Honest Ibe Hooper or Brave Ahmed Rehab to charge Salah Al-Din 'Adhadhda or Muhammad Ibrahim with "bigotry" and "Islamophobia."

House Orders Up Three Elite Jets
http://www.rollcall.com/media/37552-1.html
Excerpt: Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing about a possible bailout of their companies. But apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air travel: At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million for the Air Force to buy three elite Gulfstream jets for ferrying top government officials and Members of Congress. (Do as I say, not as I do.)

Hand Salute for Vets
SALUTING the FLAG: Traditionally, members of the nation’s veterans service organizations have rendered the hand-salute during the national anthem and at events involving the national flag only while wearing their organization’s official head-gear. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 contained an amendment to allow un-uniformed service members, military retirees, and veterans to render a hand salute during the hoisting, lowering, or passing of the U.S. flag. A later amendment further authorized hand-salutes during the national anthem by veterans and out-of-uniform military personnel. This was included in the Defense Authorization Act of 2009, which President Bush signed on 14 OCT 08. All other persons present should face the flag, or if applicable, remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Citizens of other countries present should stand at attention. All such conduct toward the flag in a moving column should be rendered at the moment the flag passes.