America’s Military Dishonored By The Obama Administration
By: J. D. Longstreet
*****************************
Someone once said: “A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to his country for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people who no longer understand it.” The author of this bit of wisdom is unknown to me. But it is a truism that fewer and fewer people understand as less and less Americans feel a need to “give something back to their country” by serving her in her military forces. There is no higher calling. And yet, some Americans seem to go out of their way to dishonor the very men and women who stand between them and death, or worse… slavery, 24 hours a day… EVERY day.
I thought about this recently when I learned that the government was going to allow photos of the flag-draped coffins of dead American service men and service women as they are off-loaded after being flown from the battlefield that claimed their lives to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
It makes me sick to even think that soon the leftist media, and by that I mean the Mainstream Media, will soon have us wallowing in photos and video of fallen American warriors. Of course, the government says it will allow the families of the deceased service personnel to decide if they wish to allow the photos or video of their loved ones coffins splayed across the TV screens of the nation, indeed, the world.
You know, there is something just flat-out vulgar, almost blasphemous, about using the bodies of dead heroes, who have given their lives to ensure your freedom. That includes freedom to advance your political plans, your political philosophy, and even your political crusade. It’s just wrong! In fact, few things in life are as wrong as that. But… that is what was happening when President George H. W. Bush shut it down by forbidding the press from filming the off-loading of the bodies of our dead soldiers. It was a move I applauded. I must tell you this change to allow it again just sickens me.
I waited a few days before even approaching this subject as a commentary because I wanted to be fair. But, over those few days I came to realize that I couldn’t ignore my own deep feelings about this practice. I think it is a mistake on the part of the President and the SecDef to allow this.
Having said this, and made clear my personal feelings about it, I must tell you that I also think we won’t be seeing those picture on the evening news for very long. Why? The answer is simple when you think about it. You see, the war in Iraq, which the President just conceded to the enemy, and the war in Afghanistan are now, both, Democrat wars. The war in Afghanistan will now, forever, be known as Obama’s War. The war in Afghanistan has vast potential to become our second Viet Nam. If that does, in fact, occur, those photos of dead American soldiers at Dover Air Force base will all be added to the list of Obama “screw-ups.” The liberal/socialists won’t allow that so those videos and photos will quietly disappear from the news shows.
The Mainstream Media on it’s own, being so completely “in the tank” for Obama will likely simply stop using the photos and film footage and nothing will be said. The TV viewers will not see them anymore, nobody will say a thing about it, and no one will be the wiser. Often that is the way sensitive things like this are handled when it causes harm to those in power.
For those of you too young to remember and too inexperienced to know, there was a time, not too long ago, when the press was the “watchdog of the people”. They felt it was their job to “watch” the government and report anything they felt would be detrimental to the citizens of America, or to the security of the country. All that is long past, however.
This is a new day in America. We are living in the “Post Capitalist” period in America. It is the “Socialist Period” in America. And the press is so deep “in the tank” for the new socialist government of America that they cannot see that the joke, if there is one, is on them.
At some point the media is going to be awakened to the fact that under a socialist regime freedom of the press is whatever the socialist government says it is and nothing more. Soon, they will have to sit up and take notice because freedom of the press is considered an eminent threat to any socialist regime and therefore freedom of the press must be drastically curtailed. In some socialist countries, in the past, the socialist government simply moved in and took over the press, entirely, rather than spend the time and effort in shepherding them in what they could report and what they couldn’t report. The socialist governments found it was much easier and far more efficient to simple BECOME the press. And they did.
Some Americans tried to convince their fellow Americans of the dangers presented by the socialists during the campaign of 2008. The press shouted us down. We also tried to make American voters aware of the left’s anti-military philosophy and their hatred for the American military. Again, we were shouted down. Conservatives attempted to bring reasonable arguments to the national conversation during that campaign but not only did the press shout us down but the liberals, in league with the MsM, shut the reasonable considerations down in favor of emotional issues the liberals wanted to pursue, and the socialists wanted to use, to secure their lock on the democrat left.
So, now, in recent days, we have learned that the Obama administration wants deep cuts in the budget for the Defense Department. Remember, now, we are at war. Plus, we learned, just a few days ago, that the Obama administration plans to force active military personnel to use their own private insurance to pay for medical treatment of wounds and injuries received in combat fighting for America!
It is obvious the left has NEVER understood that the US military is their protector. It is the US military that keeps the country safe so the left can pursue their wacky ideas about socialism and the promotion of their dreams of a socialist utopia that has never existed and never will exist because it goes against human nature and mankind’s inborn yearning for freedom.
Let’s sum up: The photos and video of the coffins of dead American warriors, cuts in the military’s budget, cuts in health services and medical treatment of wounded American service personnel, and to top it off… a draw down of US troops in Iraq, which is far too soon. In fact, it could be argued Obama’s draw down of troops is coming at a critical time in Iraq when US troops are attempting to pacify some large areas of the country and prepare as many Iraqi troops as possible to take over when US troops do eventually leave.
And for the “piece de resistance”… a build up of US troops in Afghanistan, a country where outright victory, in any war, is darn near impossible… and we have the recipe for a sharp uptick in flag-draped coffins being flown into Dover Air Force Base.
This, dear reader, is the hallmark of the left… emotion over reason. We are about to see the devastating results of the thinking and planning of an Obama administration, which is clearly “in over its head” and “ill prepared” for rapidly moving events in the Middle East. Rest assured that if this lowly commentator can see this, our enemies can see it as well. Do not think they will not take advantage of it.
J. D. Longstreet
By: J. D. Longstreet
*****************************
Someone once said: “A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to his country for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people who no longer understand it.” The author of this bit of wisdom is unknown to me. But it is a truism that fewer and fewer people understand as less and less Americans feel a need to “give something back to their country” by serving her in her military forces. There is no higher calling. And yet, some Americans seem to go out of their way to dishonor the very men and women who stand between them and death, or worse… slavery, 24 hours a day… EVERY day.
I thought about this recently when I learned that the government was going to allow photos of the flag-draped coffins of dead American service men and service women as they are off-loaded after being flown from the battlefield that claimed their lives to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
It makes me sick to even think that soon the leftist media, and by that I mean the Mainstream Media, will soon have us wallowing in photos and video of fallen American warriors. Of course, the government says it will allow the families of the deceased service personnel to decide if they wish to allow the photos or video of their loved ones coffins splayed across the TV screens of the nation, indeed, the world.
You know, there is something just flat-out vulgar, almost blasphemous, about using the bodies of dead heroes, who have given their lives to ensure your freedom. That includes freedom to advance your political plans, your political philosophy, and even your political crusade. It’s just wrong! In fact, few things in life are as wrong as that. But… that is what was happening when President George H. W. Bush shut it down by forbidding the press from filming the off-loading of the bodies of our dead soldiers. It was a move I applauded. I must tell you this change to allow it again just sickens me.
I waited a few days before even approaching this subject as a commentary because I wanted to be fair. But, over those few days I came to realize that I couldn’t ignore my own deep feelings about this practice. I think it is a mistake on the part of the President and the SecDef to allow this.
Having said this, and made clear my personal feelings about it, I must tell you that I also think we won’t be seeing those picture on the evening news for very long. Why? The answer is simple when you think about it. You see, the war in Iraq, which the President just conceded to the enemy, and the war in Afghanistan are now, both, Democrat wars. The war in Afghanistan will now, forever, be known as Obama’s War. The war in Afghanistan has vast potential to become our second Viet Nam. If that does, in fact, occur, those photos of dead American soldiers at Dover Air Force base will all be added to the list of Obama “screw-ups.” The liberal/socialists won’t allow that so those videos and photos will quietly disappear from the news shows.
The Mainstream Media on it’s own, being so completely “in the tank” for Obama will likely simply stop using the photos and film footage and nothing will be said. The TV viewers will not see them anymore, nobody will say a thing about it, and no one will be the wiser. Often that is the way sensitive things like this are handled when it causes harm to those in power.
For those of you too young to remember and too inexperienced to know, there was a time, not too long ago, when the press was the “watchdog of the people”. They felt it was their job to “watch” the government and report anything they felt would be detrimental to the citizens of America, or to the security of the country. All that is long past, however.
This is a new day in America. We are living in the “Post Capitalist” period in America. It is the “Socialist Period” in America. And the press is so deep “in the tank” for the new socialist government of America that they cannot see that the joke, if there is one, is on them.
At some point the media is going to be awakened to the fact that under a socialist regime freedom of the press is whatever the socialist government says it is and nothing more. Soon, they will have to sit up and take notice because freedom of the press is considered an eminent threat to any socialist regime and therefore freedom of the press must be drastically curtailed. In some socialist countries, in the past, the socialist government simply moved in and took over the press, entirely, rather than spend the time and effort in shepherding them in what they could report and what they couldn’t report. The socialist governments found it was much easier and far more efficient to simple BECOME the press. And they did.
Some Americans tried to convince their fellow Americans of the dangers presented by the socialists during the campaign of 2008. The press shouted us down. We also tried to make American voters aware of the left’s anti-military philosophy and their hatred for the American military. Again, we were shouted down. Conservatives attempted to bring reasonable arguments to the national conversation during that campaign but not only did the press shout us down but the liberals, in league with the MsM, shut the reasonable considerations down in favor of emotional issues the liberals wanted to pursue, and the socialists wanted to use, to secure their lock on the democrat left.
So, now, in recent days, we have learned that the Obama administration wants deep cuts in the budget for the Defense Department. Remember, now, we are at war. Plus, we learned, just a few days ago, that the Obama administration plans to force active military personnel to use their own private insurance to pay for medical treatment of wounds and injuries received in combat fighting for America!
It is obvious the left has NEVER understood that the US military is their protector. It is the US military that keeps the country safe so the left can pursue their wacky ideas about socialism and the promotion of their dreams of a socialist utopia that has never existed and never will exist because it goes against human nature and mankind’s inborn yearning for freedom.
Let’s sum up: The photos and video of the coffins of dead American warriors, cuts in the military’s budget, cuts in health services and medical treatment of wounded American service personnel, and to top it off… a draw down of US troops in Iraq, which is far too soon. In fact, it could be argued Obama’s draw down of troops is coming at a critical time in Iraq when US troops are attempting to pacify some large areas of the country and prepare as many Iraqi troops as possible to take over when US troops do eventually leave.
And for the “piece de resistance”… a build up of US troops in Afghanistan, a country where outright victory, in any war, is darn near impossible… and we have the recipe for a sharp uptick in flag-draped coffins being flown into Dover Air Force Base.
This, dear reader, is the hallmark of the left… emotion over reason. We are about to see the devastating results of the thinking and planning of an Obama administration, which is clearly “in over its head” and “ill prepared” for rapidly moving events in the Middle East. Rest assured that if this lowly commentator can see this, our enemies can see it as well. Do not think they will not take advantage of it.
J. D. Longstreet
******************
Excellent commentary and right on the money.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I completely buy into this, since the only change is to allow the families to elect to have media coverage of their loved ones' return.
ReplyDeleteWhen our Nation takes these brave men & women up on their offer, when they make the Supreme Sacrifice, when their families are deprived of a beloved relative, shouldn't We, the People, see how great the sacrifice is that's been made for us?
I've frankly never understood refusing these families' request for coverage of their loved ones' return; It seems to me that hiding what these people do for all of us, as we did, lessens our esteem for them.
Steve
I didn't cry when I left for boot camp on February 13, 2002. I didn't cry when I left for my first duty station, or when I left active duty in December 2006 (I am now in the inactive reserves). I was proud of my service and proud of my country.
ReplyDeleteOn Election Day 2008, I cried. I cried for this nation, and I cried for the thousands of men and women with whom I served.
Thank you for remembering us, and thank you for bringing attention to our bleak future. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers because it's apparent that the new government obviously hasn't.