Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Which Public Option Does He Mean?

Up at Camp David over the weekend, we mostly worked really hard on the Congressional speech for Wednesday night.

Because we expect the Wednesday speech to be at least as popular as the school speech, we had the Camp David staff sit in to applaud during the speech so we could time out exactly how long it would take us to get through the full speech.Usually a Big Guy tour de force - like there is any other kind of Big Guy speech - takes up to 90 minutes if he has something he really wants to say. And boy, does he have a lot to say on Wednesday.

We were really surprised that Big O was able to read the speech in under 10 minutes. I mean it was just crickets in the room; which makes me wonder what kind of health insurance those Camp David guys have. So we asked Jon Favreau, our speechwriter and well known film director and schlubby actor, to break off from his directorial duties on "Iron Man 2" and come back rewrite the speech with a few more, "Let me be clears" and "Let's do it for Teddys" to make sure we could get some energy in the room.


It's a pretty clear cut speech.  Big Guy will tout the "public option" and the need for change.  But I guess I'm missing the point, I thought he was talking about health care, why he has to bring up the choices voters have in 2010 is beyond me, but I guess Axelrod knows best. 

56 comments:

  1. Uh.... so do you mean, TOTUS, that BO is going to CHANGE our system, so we'll just ignore the "public option" for voting in 2010?
    We won't get to vote at all, right?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Say, TOTUS----you're mentioned right up front on Drudge! He links to the article by the WA Times' editor emeritus, Wesley Pruden, who points out the Gibbsy was unwise to diss conservatives as using "Animal House" antics. Pruden points out this is a Big Week for you!
    (C'mon: BLOW IT! Throw in some TRUTHINESS!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. TOTUS, could you possibly throw in some "Uhhh"s? I'd love to see Big Guy reading verbal fillers like that. lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. Totus, just saw "the speach" at the schools. You forgot to have him tell the kids it's better if you get in with RICH people to help you get into college, help finance your home and hide all your records from your past.

    ReplyDelete
  5. TOTUS: Scroll the Indian Health Service highlights that the tribe members have with their health care.

    Like having to get the hell off the reservation to a real hospital because Dr. Thundercloud only prescribed payote and Ibuprofen for sepsis!

    ReplyDelete
  6. After 112 speeches what new can he possibly say about health care?

    I watched his speech in Ohio at the AFL-CIO picnic yesterday and he looked like one angry, uptight dude...must have had a pack or two (Virginia Slims, menthol)on AF1 back to DC.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Susan, Susan, surely you don't think BO merely smokes ciggies!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Maybe Obama can't help himself.

    Find out why at: http://ObamasBlackberry.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  9. You do realize that if you don't do what BObastard wants you to do, he'll raid your checking account and take what he wants, and then sic the IRS on you to fine you up to $3,800

    THEY ALL MUST GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

    ReplyDelete
  10. Who ya gonna call (when the White House is full of thugs)? GO-11! ;)

    BTW, THANKS for all those fun lyrics back on the never-ending thread, MRS1953. How's the Mustang?

    ***************************************

    B. Hussein's new nickname: "S'PEACH" (as in, "Hey, man, it's Peach makin' a speech -- AGAIN).

    This is S'PEACH smoking at the joint session --> (:d)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hey I recently started up a website and was wondering if you would be interested to do a blogroll link exchange.

    Thank You,
    Alex

    ReplyDelete
  12. Say, MRS, just received what may be the answer! My word was "poldrain."

    PULL THE DRAIN!

    Hmmm. What to do about the scum left behind....

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Alex (a.k.a., Matchbox 2120),

    It has been many moons since TOTUS responded to anyone's posts, at least by posting a response on this blog page. Perhaps, there is a better way to contact him (we're almost certain he is a he), but I don't know what that would be.

    Good luck with your website.

    Sincerely,

    TWW

    ReplyDelete
  14. ".....and when she heard them singing rama lama lama lama ding dong...."

    ..."who was that man? I'd like to shake his hand. He made my baby fall in love with me!"

    I thought this was the inspiration for rhama lama ding dong dinners and festivals at the WH.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Of course TOTOS Dear is a "he"! I can't get gender reassignment with my healthcare plan! Hmmmm....can I get it with the gov't option?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Well, tonight I heard several pundits say that tomorrow night's speech will be a "make or break" speech for the Health Care plan as well as for the Obama presidency.

    I kinda doubt that.

    The Health Care fight won't be over, even if he doesn't "hit a homerun" with his speech on prime time tomorrow night. Right now, as we post, they are wheelin' and dealin' with the "Gang of Six" - three Dems and three "Dem-lites" (RINOS) who are "trying to work out a "bi-partisan" compromise. Like the so-called "trigger" option, which is just another way to say "we'll get the public option in 2013, it will just look like we didn't".

    As for his presidency - the unions, liberal left, Socialist Party members, Communist Party members, and all the people who voted for him "because he looks like me" won't give up supporting him so easily.

    And don't forget, he has big, BIG plans for Friday, 9/11! I'm sure he has another big, inspiring speech to give. Time for TOTUS to stand up and slip in some truth.

    Its like, the never-ending campaign. I am SO SICK OF SEEING HIS MUG ON TV, with that patented smile. UGH!

    Bill O' revealed an email that GE sent to their people, bragging about how they are "working with the Obama admin" and how GE's future will be better because of it. GE owns NBC and they no longer hide the fact that they are actively promoting the Obama agenda.

    disgusting.

    Susan - I'm sure that gender reassignment will be provided under the gov't option.

    Expensive cancer drugs won't be covered, because we have to control costs;

    Care for disabled children who "will never become productive citizens" won't be covered;

    Care for the elderly "who are no longer productive citizens" won't be covered;

    But sex-change operations, heck yeah! The gov't plan will take care of something like that. Gender identity is IMPORTANT! And abortions, those will be covered, too. Another very important issue.

    Gotta keep the base happy, people.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I posted the following on an earlier, earlier post from today. TOTUS has me going from post, to post, to post.

    Here it is:

    Thomas Sowell points out something that I think WE are all aware of, but a lot of folks are not:

    === If the urgency to pass the Health Care legislation were to deal with a problem immediately, then why postpone for years the date when the legislation would go into effect (2013) — specifically, until the year AFTER the next presidential election?

    If this is such an desperately needed program, why wait for years to put it into effect? And if the public is going to benefit from this, why not let them experience those benefits BEFORE the next presidential election? ===

    I think WE know the answer to that.

    Ask the people who so ardently support the Obama plan and see if they have an answer.

    Or just send them this link and let them read it and ponder the answer for themselves ....

    link - http://tiny.cc/GoQB2

    ReplyDelete
  18. OH, here is another important thing that will be covered under ObamaCare - health care for illegal immigrants.

    NumbersUSA sent me an email with some stories about the care that illeglas are already getting:

    === "I have been a surgeon in a small Tennessee town for over 25 years. I was on emergency room call for my local hospital one weekend and performed emergency surgery on four patients with appendicitis. Three of my four patients could not speak English. I performed the same operation on these three patients as I did the fourth. They received exactly the same quality of hospital care, the same medications, antibiotics, etc. that the fourth patient received. I did not ask about their immigration status, I just took care of them. One of these patients told me later, through a friend that spoke English, that America is a great place. If he was in Mexico and got sick, he would be expected to pay for his medical care, but here in America it was free!"
    Dr. Bill B. of Tennessee ===

    and

    === "Even though I am ill , on social security disability and out of work I feel the need to contribute. [In August] on the front page of the Las Vegas Review Journal for all the world to see was an article about how illegal aliens go the University Medical Center 3 times per week, each and every week, to get free Kidney dialysis treatment. Each treatment costs over $18,000. There were pictures of 4 illegal's very happily receiving their "free dialysis" and saying how great this country was to them. This makes me PUKE! Where was Harry Reid? Where was President Obama or Nancy Pelosi."
    Claire S. of Nevada ===

    These kinds of stories make me ill.

    Wonder if treatment for the ulcer I'm developing will be covered under ObamaCare?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Now, I axe you TOTUS, what is the ROTUS (Ruler of the United States) going to do when an emergency arrives. With all this attention given to his pet peeve - public dissent from his will - what is the Messiah going to do if, say, the Israelis wipe his best bud Imadinnerjacket off the map. Or, God forbid, his big, fat, ugly cow with the striking resemblance to Dr. Zira goes astray with Toes?
    http://www.imdb.com/media/rm376477696/ch0003461

    Imagine his discumbobulation.

    And I'll let TWW loose on that one..........

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hey, I thought the cow was in LUV with the Jolly Green ex-czar Jones?

    Or are we talking about different cows?

    Hey, here is some info I just found out about immigrants taking American jobs, while more and more Americans are being laid off:

    === American businesses have shed 6.9 million jobs in the past 20 months (the length of the current economic depression). During this same time period, American businesses have imported 2.4 million workers. While American workers are feeling the pinch, American businesses have not been forced to hire American workers. Clearly, the Congress has been protecting American businesses instead of American workers. ===

    Check out NumbersUSA.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ohhh-HO! I'll bet Mean MO is highly upset tonight with Oprah! Didn't you hear? THOUSANDS of people in Chicago missed watching BO's speech to the children today. They chose instead to:

    === help the talk show host (Oprah Winfrey) celebrate the 24th season of her show with a public taping Tuesday that included performances from the Black Eyed Peas and Jennifer Hudson. ===

    People started lining up at 5:30 this morning to get a chance to participate.

    How DARE she upstage BO!

    I love it.

    An added insult - The taping was free and open to the public. SHE DIDN'T EVEN CHARGE THEM AND DONATE THE MONEY TO BO'S 2012 CAMPAIGN FUND!

    tsk-tsk

    And Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is giving Oprah credit for job creation! He said that today's event "will give the city global exposure and create jobs."

    Probably more jobs than the stimulus has created. Or saved.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hey FOTS, you ever read Camile Paglia? A very, very liberal person, BUT, also very critical of the Dems these last couple of years. Yet, surprisingly enough, someone who likes Sarah Palin. That's what got me to reading her pieces on a regular basis.

    Anyhoo, Camile has come out with her latest column. Here is a sample:

    === An example of the provincial amateurism of current White House operations was the way the president's innocuous back-to-school pep talk got sandbagged by imbecilic support materials soliciting students to write fantasy letters to "help" the president (a coercive directive quickly withdrawn under pressure). Even worse, the entire project was stupidly scheduled to conflict with the busy opening days of class this week, when harried teachers already have their hands full. Comically, some major school districts, including New York City, were not even open yet. And this is the gang who wants to revamp national healthcare?

    Why did it take so long for Democrats to realize that this year's tea party and town hall uprisings were a genuine barometer of widespread public discontent and not simply a staged scenario by kooks and conspirators? First of all, too many political analysts still think that network and cable TV chat shows are the central forums of national debate. But the truly transformative political energy is coming from talk radio and the Web -- both of which Democrat-sponsored proposals have threatened to stifle, in defiance of freedom of speech guarantees in the Bill of Rights. ===

    read the rest of it here -

    http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2009/09/09/healthcare/

    ReplyDelete
  23. Okay........ Betty Ann........ the always zany, sometimes entertaining, TWW "went loose" on "discombobulate." (sort of)

    (to the tune of Good King Wenceslas)

    Solo: Big Mo got a new hair do...
    Chorus: Discombobulation!

    Solo: Peach, he don't know what to do....
    Chorus: Discombobulation!

    Chorus: I'maDinnerJacket's gone!
    Bombed by the Israelis!

    Solo: Peach will go and smoke a bong.....
    Chorus: DIS-COM-BOB-U-LAAAA-AAAAAA-SHUNNNNN!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Say, Cris (or was it Chris?) and Shovel and all of you who kept your kids away from Hitler's speech to the youth today.... how did it go?

    I was praying for you all for today and for tomorrow, too.

    How are those hives, MM? Gone, I hope.

    **************************************

    Miss Jamie, thank you so much, once again, for all the worthwhile information and suggested reading. Hope Nick is still feeling okay. And how is that little Yorkie baby?

    Say, on a completely irrelevant topic, two days ago, when I was wondering "where is everybody," I started paging through the photos (avatars) of the TOTUS followers. Hardly ANY of them EVER say anything! Wish they would pipe up. I only recognized a handful of names: Writer X is the sunflower, Betty Ann is a cute little stick-figure girl, Pat Jenkins (I think) was a smiley face. I haven't joined.

    When it says you are a "follower" of TOTUS, what exactly does that mean? Is it just a list of pseudonymns with accompanying avatars?

    Well, I am an invisible fan of TOTUS.

    THANKS FOR ALL THE FUN, TOTUS, O silent one.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Not too bad. Not too bad.

    How about this one, to the tune of, "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay..."

    I'm the president and I'm the Way
    They say that I was born on Christmas day!

    I cut my teeth on a holy book
    Just which, I don't remembah!
    I'd put on muslim clothing
    But Michelle won't wear Burka!

    He's the president and he's okay!
    We decided he was born on Christmas day!

    He cuts down Sean, he cuts down Rush
    We love him to lie to us!
    Even so we still just love him
    He's our own homemade messiah!

    He's the lamest duck but he's okay
    He's black and angry so he gets his way!

    ReplyDelete
  26. There's lots of posters, really.

    What you need, TWW, is a tee shirt. A FOT tee shirt. You would be surprised at the feeling you get wearing a FOT shirt around. 'Course, nobody knows what FOT means. But YOU do!! That's what counts. I bet Obama knows what a FOT is, too. He's jealous, you understand, insanely jealous of TOTUS's popularity. Any luker who sees you on the street will realize what FOT means, too. Us FOTae must stick together.

    ReplyDelete
  27. LOVED IT, Betty Ann!

    And I'll just betcha Peach likes to "dress in women's clothing," too. LOL.

    "He's black and angry so he gets his way!"

    SO TRUE.

    Hopey the Clown isn't even in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s universe, much less league.

    A T-SHIRT?! What a great idea. :D

    Everyone who sees "FOT" as I walk the aisles of the grocery store will project their own ideas onto it:

    Environazi: Friends of Trees

    Repairpersons: Fix Our TV

    Pilots: Flight's on Time

    Bakers: Fond of Tarts

    British Johns: Fond of Tarts

    :)
    (:)]
    (:D)

    ReplyDelete
  28. TWW - I think the 'followers' are the folks that are signed up to "follow" TOTUS on Twitter. Once signed up for Twitter you can "follow" other Twitterers and receive every "tweet" (posted message) that they send throughout the day.

    I signed up for Twitter a while back. Its a little strange, because within a day or so, I had already accumulated "followers". I thought "how did they find me, I used an obscure id". It spooked me a little bit.

    Then I figured it out - there must be a way to mass select people to 'follow', because a lot of them are advertising something and they follow just about anyone, in the hope that, in turn, you will follow them and receive their adverts (or propaganda).

    Some are websites/blogs. That is how I found NobodysNews, a pretty cool blog with "video news".

    There are even pornographic twitterers who post links to online porn. (I block those).

    I even got one follower who apparently wants someone to follow her. Her message "Would someone please follow me? But only if you are NORMAL - no perverts or weirdos."

    So, I learned how to block the ones I don't want following me and how to find the ones I want to follow.

    I am currently "following" TOTUS, Glenn Beck and NobodysNews. Of course, I tend to forget to log in to read their tweets most of the time.

    Every once in a while I post a tweet or two. I'll send a link to something that I read or pass along a great link that I get here.

    Some people LOVE it. I just think its ok.

    ReplyDelete
  29. TOTUS:
    Once this doesn't pass because this country belongs to the people, and not that Magic Moron, is the media going to finally crawl out of his rear and start paying attention to the war he has escalated, but has no intention of attmepting to WIN?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Glenn Beck Not the Joker from Batman, depicted in Posters. Glenn Beck is the Riddler.

    http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/09/sighkids-glenn-beck-isnt-joker-hes.html

    ReplyDelete
  31. Bettyann, the mainstream media seems to be nearly radical leftist at times, such that they'll start dumping on BO (just as other radical libs are) only when BO doesn't do every liberal thing they want him to do.

    That is, they won't suddenly realize they're not treating him with the objectivity they supposedly have as journalists. (HA!) They don't CARE if they aren't objective about him.

    Tell me: are your loved ones in the military feeling that BO is sabotaging their efforts and putting them at more risk than necessary?

    ReplyDelete
  32. MM:
    We don't raise the kind of Americans in this family who would ever admit it. Even if they may think it.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hi, bettyann,

    Hmm.... I don't think "the kind of Americans" in the military (who are reporting that they're experiencing really odd, pretty-much-sabotaging treatment by THIS particular president) are unAmerican people or bad military people, just because they're thinking and reporting it to America.

    Aren't they instead being (on a basic human level) nonsuicidal? Aren't they being absolutely crucial reporters, to let the rest of America know they are being sacrificed unnecessarily, against their strategic missions, against the stated goals of military policy and practice?

    Aren't they helping us know what a POSeur this Commander in Chief is!?

    I had no idea you would think such a thing. Hmm.... Well, I think if the supposed CIC is as rotten as you and I and most of the other bloggers/commenteers here THINK he is, then why the H can the military guys NOT report this, when it's their LIVES he's sacrificing!? (The brute)

    I don't get it....

    ReplyDelete
  34. But I want to stick by you, bettyann, as a collegue in FOTs-ness (wink), so please let me know how to understand this about the military: can they not report to loyal Americans when their leaders are being diametrically opposite, ie. acting as unAmerican saboteurs!? (Even if it's the Magic Moron, as you put it?)

    ReplyDelete
  35. OH! And this just occurred to me: your own husband is in the military, so I'm not looking for details or information from you that could jeopardize anyone's lives. Maybe we should just drop this line of discussion, come to think of it; it is your family's livelihood here. SORRY!

    Okay, but let's just say: < I > do have information, which I've shared here, about how that rotten BO is pulling air support and ruining the safety of our troops. SO in MY opinion, he's a traitor who should be impeached.

    ReplyDelete
  36. "He" meaning BO. I think he's a traitor, and should be impeached.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Just heard the cloture vote on Cass the Whacko Regulatory Tsar. So he'll pass. Very disappointed in the R's who voted lefty. Again.

    But, wait a minute...what was that lumberjack tune...don't know it. Can you hum a few bars?

    ReplyDelete
  38. Just heard that andrea mitchel just asked an important reporter question. "What happens if the teleprompter fails during speach". Wow, a very journalistic question..TOTUS please blow a fuse tonight and save us from this fiasco.
    Thank you in advance....

    ReplyDelete
  39. Mountain Mama, I want to hear Betty Ann's explanation, but, she has me scratching my head, too.

    I agree with you, MM, a truly patriotic, Constitution-supporting, fellow-warrior-loving, soldier, marine, airperson, or sailor, will not (in my opinion) stand silently by while an IMPOSTER CIC subtly, but deliberately, sabotage's the efforts of the U.S. Armed Forces to WIN a war.

    At least, I would hope that they would anonymously let someone know. Mutiny can be a good thing if the captain turns out to be one of the enemy [as shown by his actions].

    Betty Ann, you are one cool lady. Guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

    ReplyDelete
  40. The German national character which includes an exceptionally high desire to obey authority figures made Hitler's job much easier than it would have been otherwise.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Susan! You DON'T KNOW THE LUMBERJACK SONG?! ;)

    Heh, heh.

    If I recall correctly, it was featured on "The Monty Python Show." Here, I'll hum a few bars.......
    Hm Hmmmmm Hm Hm Hm Hm and Hm Hm Hmmmmm! :D

    Here are the lyrics (mostly likely a bit off %$--

    Oh, I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay!

    Work all night and I sleep all day.

    I dress in women's clothing.....

    [that's all I can remember (shrug)].

    ReplyDelete
  42. "Just heard the cloture vote on Cass the Whacko Regulatory Tsar. So he'll pass."

    Damn. Glenn Beck urged people to call their congressmen about this today, but I've given up calling them. I doubt it would've made a difference if I had called them. I haven't given up on the Tea Parties, though.

    Maybe we can force Sunstein to resign if we keep spreading his sound clips around.

    I'm listening to BO's speech now, for reasons I don't yet understand. Where did you guys dig up those sob stories, TOTUS?

    ReplyDelete
  43. Whaaaaat? I dress in women's clothing? Whaaat?
    --------------
    Ok, the 7 Republicans who voted for cloture...
    Collins and Snowe! Who is surprised.
    Voinovich OH
    Bennett and Hatch UT
    Lugar, IN
    Gregg, NH.

    If you live in those states, get on the phone, man!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Susan:
    The lumberjack song is from the whacked out humor of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zey8567bcg

    MM and TWW:
    I meant what I said, and nothing more. The oversight of troop's and orders lies with the officers in charge. If they believe there is something amiss, it is their responsibility to address that issue.

    My husband cannot abide Obama. Yet, he will not complain about him. He is a soldier. As a soldier or a marine or an airman you take an oath to obey the commander in chief. Complaining about the commander in chief deteriorates moral. And we have all seen enough of that.

    My husband is about to retire. The blood we have in the game are both young marines, age 18 and 19. The 19 year old is on float in the Pacific, then he goes to Afghanistan. So I do not yet have any boots on ground to report about. I can only tell you that my nephew is the kind of guy who would not complain, but quietly do his duty and obey orders. Though it is certian he would not do so if those orders betrayed the other parts of his oath.

    I'd like to see some of these articles you are talking about. The thought that this president would put American troops in harm's way makes all our blood boil, and I hope it is not true. If it is true, why is it not on all the front pages, instead of this effort to socialize the country? Where are the congressmen of those troops and their families? Why isn't Rush all over this? Or Hannity? Though I admit I haven't listened to Sean in a couple of weeks, because of taking care of grand boys.

    ReplyDelete
  45. bettyanne - "If it is true, why is it not on all the front pages, instead of this effort to socialize the country?"

    The msm is practically ignoring the war now that Obama is CIC. They are doing all that they can to SUPPORT him. They won't report anything negative. They won't give a daily tally of the deaths. They won't mention cutbacks. You know the routine.

    The only thing important to them now is that Obama gets what he wants and continues to give them "exclusive" interviews....

    I am taking a "mental health day" off from work. I have oodles of sick time that I have to use by the end of the year when I retire. I know that is selfish, but I worked on days that I didn't feel like it and did not abuse sick day policy. FOR WHAT? So, now I'm going to take it.

    I'll look around today and see if I can find any articles about Obama policies undermining the troops.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Here is something I found rather quickly. This article points out some things that undermine our troops in Afghanistan (and elsewhere eventually):

    === Examples of Obama's "current leadership" in Afghanistan:

    - releasing enemy combatants, who will now be able to join the ongoing jihad against those troops;
    - Miranda warnings for captured enemy combatants, which will deny battlefield intelligence to those troops;
    - fecklessness on Iran, which continues plotting against those troops;
    and
    - a law-enforcement approach to counterterrorism, which has loosed the federal courts on those troops. ===

    === Obama is not interested in defeating the enemy that is Islamism. As the Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid writes enthusiastically in the Washington Post, the Obama plan “emphasizes agriculture, job creation, and justice.” U.S. military commanders tell the New York Times that a buildup in forces would focus less on combat and more on job training and improving the delivery of services by the teetering new government. ===

    === at the Justice Department, Obama is having wartime legal policy made by lawyers who spent the last several years doing pro bono work for the enemy.

    And at the State Department, he’s installed a legal adviser who would make our national defense subject to U.N. control and who is sympathetic to European interpretations of the Geneva Conventions Protocol I (not ratified by the U.S.), which would severely hamper our ability to conduct combat operations. ===

    McCarthy also mentions how the Obama Justice Department is "intimidating the intelligence community into paralysis while helping left-wing activists make war-crimes cases against the American officials who’ve prosecuted the war"

    link: http://tiny.cc/oejAc

    ReplyDelete
  47. Hi Jamie:
    Thank you. I knew those things, we have talked about them here. But MM said that troops were, "...experiencing really odd, pretty-much-sabotaging treatment by THIS particular president," and "...they are being sacrificed unnecessarily, against their strategic missions, against the stated goals of military policy and practice?"

    I am not in anyway trying to down play this president's and the media's obvious manipulation from the left of the public's dispostion toward the war, nor do I doubt that this administration has adopted policy that undermines the troop's ability to win the war. But there is a huge difference between delibrately putting them in harm's way, and the policies which potentially (even inevitably) put them in harm's way.

    My point was merely that the American soldier does his job. He or she is highly trained, and valuable. The American warrior abides by an ethos. And part of that ethos is to do the job assigned without complaint. I doubt you will openly hear many soldiers or marines complaining. This is the mindset which places our warriors in the role of victim. WE worry back home, wepary and we are proud of them, and we object to policy when it undermines the mission, or unduly places soldiers in harm's way.

    I would just like to see something about this having actually happened now, rather than being sometohing potential. Because I do know, that above all, officers take their responsibility for troops very seriously. I cannot see them blindly sacrificing men and women in their charge because the goddamn Commander thinks they are expendable, due to having chosen an occupation unpopular in San Francisco. We would see rebellion on a major scale in that instance. The officers I know - who are right now with my husband's unit in Mosul - would be the first to step up to that plate.

    Hence my answer to MM - we do not raise soldiers in this family who would admit, read "complain", about being put in harm's way. In war we kill people and break their stuff. That's the job.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Oh, I agree.

    I'm thinking that the articles I linked to are what MM was talking about. Most of us who work at average civilian jobs cannot comprehend how the military works. We don't think of our co-workers as family. We don't look to our bosses to protect us and "blindly sacrifice" as you spoke of. We all tend to look out for our own welfare. At the end of the day, we all go home to our families and we don't worry about our co-workers. You can't do that in the military.

    In the military - the "boss" looks upon the "troops" as his family. The troops look to each other as brothers/sisters because their welfare depends upon each other. They all have to rely upon one another. And they all have to do what they are told, follow the rules that are in effect, etc. You can't allow doubt to enter the picture.

    THE MAIN THING IS - OUR LIVES DON'T DEPEND UPON WHAT OUR CO-WORKERS DO OR DON'T DO.

    I think it is one reason a lot of the military marriages have problems - if the spouse cannot understand the connection their spouse has with his or her "troops", then they will most likely have problems.

    I see it in my daughter's marriage. When Kirk first made Staff, Sabrina had to adjust to her husband taking care of "his airmen". He counsels them, he brings them home, he helps them study, etc .... in other words, he is there for them. And sometimes that means that he isn't always home for her and the kids. But, she is ok with that. She understands. She helps out when she can. Kirk's troops love her. (She bakes for them, babysits for them, etc.) Sabrina and Kirk are in their mid-twenties, but you would think they were much older.

    I'm very proud of my son-in-law. He gets out there with his guys and works with them side-by-side. He stands up for them when its warranted. And sure, he has complaints, but he doesn't voice them in front of the troops. He deals with frustrations through the proper channels (which can cause more frustrations). But he knows that you cannot allow people to doubt what they are doing.

    I don't know if I expressed it right, but I think I know what you mean.

    ReplyDelete
  49. You expressed it beautifully. Tears are blurring my eyes.

    Your daughter is the backbone of what our military is. She her man's source of strength; God bless your family, Jamie. God bless and keep them.

    ReplyDelete
  50. God Bless you and your's, too, bettyanne. Please do this for me - thank your husband and young family members for their service. Without them where would we be?

    Whenever I would visited them on base, it always brought a smile to my face when I drove through "the Rez" (the residential section) and saw all of the children of our soldiers (airmen). It gave me hope to see that we had so many children being raised to respect our flag and our country!

    Last year my daughter and her family spent a month here with me before they moved to Italy. During that time they enrolled their 8 yr old daughter in our local elementary school. (They didn't want her to get behind in classwork.) The school had the 2nd graders put on a program where they sang songs. It was great.

    Anyway, Serena had to learn the words to the "Star Spangled Banner" and her daddy sat her down and explained to her the importance of the song and when and why it was written. Serena really took it to heart, too. She is a sweet little girl.

    That is the kind of thing that all our children should be taught.

    I'm the kind of person who gets all teary-eyed when I hear the National Anthem played. The first time I visited them on base, I was surprised to find out that at 5:00 p.m. every day, they played the National Anthem over the loudspeakers all over the base. No matter what you were doing, you stopped doing it. If you were driving, you pulled over until it was finished. I heard that song played every day at 5:00 p.m., so you can imagine, I cried every time.

    Fewer and fewer Americans are taught to respect our flag and what it means. It really upset me while at that school program, how many people did not put their hands over their hearts during the Pledge of Allegiance.

    I am so proud of our military. They are strong and brave, they sacrifice so much for us. It just disgusts me when we have politicians play their games and deny the military what they need, and cut their benefits as if they were clerks or garbagemen, just more "civil servants".

    I especially dislike the politicians, like John Kerry, who denigrate the military. Cowards like Kerry should bow down before soldiers and thank them for keeping this country safe. Actually, Kerry should be in jail for treason, after what he did during the "Winter Soldier" investigations. What is wrong with the people of Massachusetts, voting for a creep like him?


    GOD BLESS AMERICA!

    ReplyDelete
  51. the same creeps that keep voting for the Kennedys, yep, they're all brain dead.

    have no sense of honor or loyalty or integrity

    it's all about he $$$$$$$

    ReplyDelete
  52. I remember with an interview on the streets of Boston the day after Kerry lost to Bush and this young woman crying, saying "How could he lose, he is so mainstream, he's just like us".

    John Kerry, MAINSTREAM???

    Was she saying that the majority of folks in Massachusetts are elitist snobs, who marry for money, are out of touch with the rest of the country, and who would consort with the enemy during wartime just to further their own political fortunes? OMG! Tell me it isn't so.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Betty Ann, thank you for taking the time to help me (and MM) better understand your point of view. Much appreciated. It was reassuring to read that most officers would do what is right, not slavishly obey the Con Man in Chief's orders.

    Yeah, I agree. In any group, people must:

    A. follow the leader and not complain and grumble or

    B. take action to remove that leader or

    C. get out.

    Mere grumbling and grousing only renders a group ineffective.

    **************************************

    Jamie,

    Thanks for sharing about your wonderful daughter and her wonderful husband. Encouraging.

    And, yes, I too tear up or, at least, come close, whenever I hear our national anthem played. All I have to do is hear those opening measures of solo drum roll and my pulse beats faster.

    Yes, indeed. As long as there are Betty Anns and Jamies and families like yours, that star spangled banner shall yet wave........

    "...o'er the land of the free

    and the home of the brave."

    THANK YOU!

    ReplyDelete
  54. eskort ankara bayan eskort servisi web tasarımı web tasarımı, internet sitesi google optimizasyonu escort bayan izmir eskort kızlar escort bayan escort girls. türkiyenin özel kızları sallama kelime kolleksiyonu burada türkiyenin eskort kızları bayan erkek eskort servisi istanbul ankara izmir köpek eğitimi köpek eğitimi ve bakımı arkadaşlık Sohbet siteleri chat
    islami evlilik siteleri bayan partner siteleri arkadaşlık sitesi arıyorum en güzel kızlar bu sitede ücretsiz üyelik sistemi bayan arkadaşlar kız arkadaşlar arıyorum
    bayan arama eskort izmir telekız hizmeti veren siteler car rental oto kiralama araba kiralama araç kiralama türkiyenin kızları en sexy kızlareskort istanbul bu sitede aradığınız kızı bulacaksınız. attım kafadan kalıp tasarımı firmanıza uygun kalıp tasarımları escort bayan türkiyenin en güzel kızları. biz www.bizdensor.com sinema dizi full film izle belgesel video clip play game çocuklar oyunlar erkek çocuk games escort istanbul deneme sallama mail escort bayanlar Ankara cdret

    ReplyDelete
  55. Interesting Read. You might have to show me how to do this blog thing.
    escort bayanlar ankara services which are best to use at home or office. i will love to return here again as i get time. escort bayanlar This is first time i am here and i really like the stuff on your
    pages as i was wandering on internet for escort bayan These shots are amazing! You get to see what happens underwater (which like nobody ever gets to see) Awesome!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  56. hank you for your time and consideration, and have a wonderful day, buddy. I've read through a few of the blogs and online that have been put here, and they're all interesting.Visit us

    ReplyDelete