More Cracks In The Walls ~
Sitting here with hands on the keyboard - so many thoughts crashing into each other as I struggle to find the place to start.
Vets on the Hill did an outstanding job Thursday and it still brings tears to my eyes in the pride I have for such fine men and women.
So many congressmen and their staff who don’t give a damn about our troops ~ truly, they don’t, as was evidenced by the ignorance and lack of respect shown to the Vets.
Slavery to the State voted in by the House last night because no one asked the most fundamental question in the whole debate: Where in the Constitution does it say that healthcare insurance is a right?
A president so consumed by his own importance and self-righteous anger that he cannot bring himself to recognize the exceptionalism of this country and the strength of the individualism that brought it to being the most powerful and freedom-loving country in the world.
A Congress filled with supposed representatives of the people who believe that statism is better than free-market trade and individual rights and have no use for the Constitution.
Political correctness and ethnic-sensitivity that is getting our troops picked off one and two at a time on the battlefield and even here at home.
A CIC who can’t bring himself to act in defense of our troops or country and consistently shows that he loathes the Military and has no use for them except as political points and photo ops.
After this week of talking with members of Capitol Hill, watching the media spin this latest Jihadist act against service men and women as nothing more than a troubled individual who had been the victim of harassment and/or PTSD (wtf?) and watching the members on the left side of the House aisle flat out lie and then win, even with so much evidence that most in America do not want their chains, I can only come to one conclusion ~ most don’t give a good goddamm about anyone or anything but themselves and their political power and are easily bought and paid for.
I have watched bad administrations and congresses come and go, but the ones in power today is hands down the most narcissistic, corrupt and power-hungry ones I have lived through.
This past Thursday was an extremely hard day to experience. I listened to our Finest Veterans (including Vietnam Vets, Gulf War Vets, Iraq and Afghanistan Vets) plea for those sitting in their cushy offices to listen to the Generals on the ground regarding support of their brothers and sisters-in-arms. I heard excuses, spin and political bluster in return. The Vets kept their dignity and calm. Me? not so much.
The day started off at the American Legion Hall with Rep Duncan Hunter speaking to us. He still speaks like a Marine! He gets it as he has been there not too long ago and knows.
After Trip to Afghanistan, Hunter Again Calls on President to Approve McChrystal Strategy
I had to remind (rather loudly, I must admit) one young staff member after hearing him whine about how hard his job is what with all the meetings and people coming and going, that he worked for us and we paid his salary. This was the fine fellow who at first wanted to hold the meeting with the Vets outside in the hall. In the HALL!!!! He also was unaware of how our Vietnam Vets were treated when they came home ~ he had never heard of them being given disrespect or having a hard time. He was educated by two Vietnam Vets and this Mom who had been through all that. Unfortunately, it didn’t get through the layers of liberal revision of reality.
As the “Mom”, I was able to say a lot of things the Vets could not. They stayed on message about more support for the troops. One staffer brought up that it had been 8 years of war and that this had to be looked at seriously and in fine detail to get it right. I asked (rather loudly again) since it had been one whole year, why hadn’t this been already done? It’s not like this is a new development. And while you all are working so hard, how about coming up with a strategy?? We already have troops on the front!! Listen to the Experts in uniform instead of the supposed experts in Suits.
Again, more excuses and political spin.
The Vets talked of the buddies they had lost and the frustration the troops felt with no concrete strategy and mission. I watched them struggle hard to keep their military composure as they spoke. It wasn’t easy for me not to get right up and hug them all to bits and scream, LISTEN!!. Hear Them! They know. They know to their very soul. But I appropriately waited my turn to speak.
The older Vets pointed out that congress could drop billions of our dollars in a heartbeat to bail out companies and CEOs and bring a healthcare bill to the floor in no time flat. Why is it that it’s taking months to get our troops what they need?
I talked about giving my most precious treasure to this country of mine and flatly stated that you all aren’t taking very good care of them. I said that I was just one Military Mom representing thousands in this country who fear for our kids, every minute of every day and night. I spoke of the anxiety of having a CIC, the boss of my kids in uniform, that has trouble with the word “victory”. I pointed to the Vets sitting there with me and said these are our kids, the finest this country has to offer. They are this country’s heroes and you are not giving them the respect they so dearly deserve. I asked why hasn’t someone stood up for our troops? All I’m asking is that someone in Congress stand up and demand that our troops are taken care of and given what they need to win these wars so they can come home. Not just write letters to the Administration or sponsor a resolution. But stand up and demand that our Troops get what they need!!
Out of the five offices I visited, only one Congessman actually met with us face to face:
He is one of the few true supporters of the troops. He seemed very knowledgeable about Afghanistan and Iraq and what our military is up against and listened pretty well to what we had come to say. He is very frustrated himself with the admin’s delaying on Afghanistan.
Rep. Degette was not available. We spoke to her staffer. Supposedly, there had been a scheduling snafu. Uh huh. Sen. Warner was not available at first, but the staffer told us to come back later ~ we did, mostly for a photo op with him, though he did listen a bit to one of the Vets. His staffer was very accommodating and gave us a rather long meeting. Sen. Webb was not available. We spoke to his staffer ~ or more correctly, listened to his staffer. (By then my head was about to explode - this was supposedly a former Marine and totally clueless.)
Rep. Wolf was not on my list but one of the Vietnam Vets and I went down to his office as we are both his constituents. As we were talking to the receptionist, Rep. Wolf walked in and spent some time with us discussing the situation. He is another one who has taken some action to get the president to move on Afghanistan.
But for the most part, we seemed to be more of an irritation and distraction from more important issues.
More important than our Military and the people they were elected to serve.
““`
A post from another Vet and MilDad:
Vets On The Hill - A New Start?
After a 2 hour drive back home, I walked into the house and my husband’s stricken face greeted me at the door. He asked if I had heard the news. I hadn’t. I then went in to see the news of the Ft Hood massacre unfolding. A double slam to my gut, heart and soul. I watched for awhile to get caught up, tears streaming down my face and anger, such anger, shooting up inside of me. I was not surprised to see the name of the shooter was Hasan. And I was not surprised to hear the crap about PTSD (even though this murderer was never in combat) and how he was a victim of harassment because of his Muslim religion. I have never felt such disgust and anger at the media or our government body as I did that moment. (and I’ve had some moments in the past.)
I wanted to get right back in the car and drive to the Capitol and shout, SEE? SEE? This is what is happening because of your elitist, ignorant and politically correct nonsense!! Not only are our kids getting picked off like fish in a barrel in the Sand Pit, but here on US soil!
According to his fellow officers, Hasan was conflicted about the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is believed he was about to be sent to Afghanistan against his wishes.
His doubts had been known for some time because of anti-American propaganda he had been spreading amongst his peers.
Officers have said they did not complain about him for fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim. (emphasis mine)
No more PC ~ those who are in power in our government are Statists who want the power to control every aspect of our lives and spend our money doing it. Those Muslims who kill our troops on our own soil are Jihad terrorists. Do our Soldiers belong to the special Hate Crimes groups?
No white-washing or spin will change those facts. And the fact that too much of America doesn’t get it, or care to, is a shameful and disgraceful stain on our country.
Disconnect:
“They are Americans of every race, faith, and station. They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers. They are descendents of immigrants and immigrants themselves. They reflect the diversity that makes this America. But what they share is a patriotism like no other.”
~ Barrack Hussein Obama speaking on the Ft Hood Massacre
Not this particular individual, or the one who gunned down the soldiers outside the recruiting office earlier this year, or the one who ran over students on his campus or the DC sniper or the fathers who murder their daughters in honor killings.
Ideology, yes. Patriotism, no.
Taliban threat to UK troops forces McChrystal to keep them out of harm’s way
Kabul, Nov.8 : Amid growing fears that the Taliban will target UK troops more than the others in the run-up to next May’s general election, US President Barack Obama’s top commander in…
British soldier killed in southern Afghanistan
(AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)An Afghan police officer stands guard as bicyclists ride past a roadside checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009. Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said…
Afghan, British soldiers, 26 Taliban killed in blasts, clashes
Kabul - One British soldier and three Afghan forces were killed in two separate blasts in volatile southern Afghanistan, while 26 Taliban militants were killed in clashes and NATO’s airstrike…
Taliban says does not have missing US troops’ bodies in Afghanistan
The Taliban denied on Sunday they had the bodies of two drowned U.S. soldiers who had gone missing last week in northwestern Afghanistan. NATO forces killed seven Afghan soldiers and police in an air…
Soldier killed in explosion in Afghanistan, number of UK soldiers killed in country rises to 231
Helmand Province of . With this announcement, the total number of military personnel that has been killed in Afghanistan has now increased to 231. The man was killed on Saturday afternoon after an…
Military planning afoot for drawdown of Afghan deployment
Canada’s top soldier has issued instructions for his officers to start making plans for the pull out of military units in Afghanistan. Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk’s order for a…
****************************************************
