Setting the Record Straight: American History in Black & White

A Patriot’s History of the United States: From Columbus’s Great Discovery to the War on Terror

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors

Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America’s Enemies

I will also take this moment to say that I am still around but doing the summer semester at school as well as doing the job search thing, updating my website and creating one for my wife’s artwork as well.

So, busy, busy, busy.  But I guess that is better than ‘bored out of my skull’.

The decline began in August when the British and the mercenary Hessian troops had routed Washington from Long Island and then pushed them out of Manhattan as well. Washington was forced to retreat to New Jersey and by December they had given that up and crossed into Pennsylvania. The British occupied New Jersey, Rhode Island, and New York. To the British is appeared that the rebellion had been crushed and the remnants would soon be rounded up.

Washington’s troops were demoralized and battered. Many of them didn’t even have shoes and instead had burlap sacks wrapped around their feet to try to keep them warm. Washington knew that he had to act quickly before the remnants of his forces fell apart or were killed by the harsh winter so, on Christmas night, he and his forces attempted the most daring attack that they had ever tried, they crossed the ice swollen Delaware river nine miles north of Trenton, New Jersey to attack the Hessian forces that occupied the town.

The weather during the crossing was horrendous; raging winds, snow, sleet and rain created almost impossible conditions, but they crossed anyway and then marched the nine miles south to Trenton. Remember, many of these men, if not most, had no shoes and they marched through blizzard like conditions. These were men who knew what they were fighting for and were willing to suffer the hardships that came with it.

The next morning, December 26^th, Washington’s troops attached and overran the Hessian troops who surrendered when their commanding officer was killed. The Continental army then retraced their path and withdrew back across the Delaware taking their prisoners with them.

This was the turning point in the revolution. In its darkest hour when all hope seemed lost and defeat was inevitable, rough men stood forth and grabbed victory for all of us and galvanized the spirit of the Colonies by showing the people that they could win. After this battle the ranks of the Continental swelled and the stunned British army realized they had a fierce opponent who would not go down in defeat quietly.

I write this because it reminded me that while we now face a different enemy that is attempting to rewrite our Constitution and slowly strip us of our right to self determination and freedom from government dictates, mandates and meddling, all is not lost. They may seem to have the upper hand now by controlling Congress and the White House but if we hold strong and fight on we can, and will, be victorious.

Out here on the left coast I encounter so many people on the left who hate anyone or anything that is different than they are. But there is one thing about hate that I have learned, it eats you up and burns you out. The far left tries to claim ownership of the crown of acceptance and diversity because they talk about it all the time, but I learned something from my old martial arts instructor on this matter. Those who practice what they preach don’t need to talk about it because their example will show.

We will win because the left’s ideas are hollow, their compassion false, and we have a better way. Keep the faith my brothers and sisters in God and in the military. We are Americans and we will not go quietly.  Don’t despair and don’t be afraid.  That’s their weapons, that’s what they want.  Look at their ads, look at how they attack anyone who disagrees – hate, fear, cries of racism.  No, we are better than this and we will win.

God bless you all.

I find it strange though.  Only eight years have passed since that horrible day and out here in San Francisco people are like “Oh, yeah, that’s right 9/11…”

How can you forget something like this?  How is it that on THIS DAY of all days you don’t remember what happened in a history you were part of?  Did the attacks mean nothing to the people out here?  Did they sit around thinking to themselves “Well, we’re peaceful, man, and like they should know that”

No, I don’t understand how this day can come around and the people I see aren’t filled with rage remembering what happened.  They shrug and move on with what they were doing.

I spent seven years of my life defending this country and risking my life so that I could come home and watch people react with total disinterest when remembering the most destructive attack on US soil in modern history.  The left coast makes me sick.

Never forget, never forgive, never surrender.

**UPDATE**

Obama shows his strong resolve this day by painting a living room.  Can we end the joke now and put the adults back in charge? It’s gone on long enough.

And from your perch on the frozen, bone-dry lunar sand you would see the same pattern, the same pulse, the same heartbeat: a slow, steady rise, followed by a precipitous, shockingly quick fall… and then centuries, or even millennia of darkness, fear, superstition, disease and ignorance before the spark took hold again elsewhere.

One thing in common these patterns bear: the rise slow, the fall seemingly precipitous, and in every case we find the loss of nerve and strength and will comes not from the bottom, not from the common people at all, but from the rulers, the philosophers, the most affluent and educated who, in their comfort and Narcissism, abandon duty for self-absorption and self-gratification and who in boredom or self-loathing decide to fling open the gates of the city to the barbarians beyond, while the common man still stands at the walls prepared to die for the people in his charge.

And now here stands America, inheritor of that great tradition, astride that same cycle in its most dangerous and dire moment. And by any measure America is by far the most brilliant light the world has ever seen. And I can prove it, too.

Go, read, enjoy.

The first parts of the world that I saw was San Diego CA (boot camp), Millington TN (A school) and then LeMoore CA (Duty Station).  When I hit Lemoore I was assigned to VA-147, the Argonauts.  They had just come off a cruise when I got there so it was over a year before we went on another one.

We headed out to Fallon a few times to do training during that first year which was a lot more dirt and dust, something that I had grown up with, so I wasn’t to impressed by it all. I wanted the ocean!  I wanted to see the WORLD!  Not more dirt, scrub brush and sandstorms.  Finally though we were packing up to go on our first training cruise and we were heading back to San Diego to meet our ship – the Kittyhawk.

When we reached the pier that Kitty was tied up at I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.  She was big, grey and beautiful.  I remember wondering how I was going to keep from getting lost on something that big.  Walking through the hangers was like walking through our hangars back home, they were HUGE to me.  Combine that with the smell of the salt water and the sound of seagulls, and this desert rat was ready to go!  The sea was calling and I wanted to answer it!!

During one of our training exercises we provided security for a missile test by keeping ships out of the launch area and making sure it was clear.  I remember being up on the flight deck when the missile burst from the ocean waves.  It was like a white hot star leaping for the sky.  I learned later that the glow of it was seen all the way into Arizona and people had called in to report a UFO.

It was on Kittyhawk that I first saw the world.  My first cruise on her was also, sadly, my last.  We took her around the world from San Diego to Philadelphia and back to the port that she originally sailed from for an overhaul.

In the Philippines  I learned to always keep my wits about me, no matter how friendly the company.  Some pickpockets are very, very good at serving beer.  From there is was on to the Indian Ocean and Karachi Pakistan where I found out that you can get some very nice boots for a very good price if you are willing to haggle over it.  Pattaya Beach Thailand I learned that sometimes you should go ahead and catch that boat back to your berth and not wait for the next one to come it.

Italy was my first taste of Europe, and a welcome one it was after traveling at a snails pace through the Suez canal.  The canal was so narrow for a ship our size that I still swear that if I had jumped off either side of the flight deck I would have landed on sand.  That was probably the tensest moment for us during the cruise, we were helpless.  A carrier relies on it’s air-wing for defense and going through the canal there was no way for us to launch anything.  We were essentially sitting ducks.

After Italy we stopped in France and after that Rota Spain which was probably my favorite stop on the whole cruise.  There was a shop in Rota, a smoke shop, and the owner was an old man who had behind the counter a display of every American military zippo lighter that he had collected over the years.  He had over 25 different ships in his collection, he thanked us for our service and told us he was a child during WWII and he never forgot what we Americans did.  I was glad to add a Kittyhawk lighter to his collection.

Miss Kitty helped this young boy become a young man.  I saw places that I will never see again, some good and some bad but all of them incredible in their own way.  Now we say goodby to Miss Kitty, sometimes called the Shitty Kitty, god bless that wonderful ship and all the men and women who served on her.

Of course, there are always some assholes who will try and say that Pearl Harbor was our fault:

The high-handed tone of the Hull Note of November 26, demanding Japan’s withdrawal of all its troops from China, was a final blow to the moderates in Japan’s government, who still hoped for diplomatic negotiations. By this time, many policymakers were convinced that the US was not ready to hear them out. It was ultimately in the name of saving Asia for all Asians from what was regarded as western arrogance that the government united to wage war. On December 1, it was decided that the war would commence in six days.

It was the “Hull Ultimatum”, but yes, how dare we demand that Japan stop invading China and massacring it’s people like they did at Nanjing.  We should have said ‘pretty please’ and begged them, because that sure would have been more effective.

And then of course comes my favorite part

With almost 70 years of hindsight, Pearl Harbor should offer some lessons for US foreign policy today. Despite obvious differences between Pearl Harbor and recent Islamist terrorist tactics, they show the common desire of self-proclaimed Davids to topple their Goliaths in a clearly lop-sided battle. These Davids depend on western technologies to overcome imbalances of power, and are driven by a sense of real or imagined humiliation.

Yep, there it is “real or imagined humiliation”.  Doesn’t matter what the reality is, just what their perception of reality is.  Gosh, they think we insulted them by not converting to Islam so gosh golly we better apologize right now.

This the kind of useless jerk who will blame everything on everyone except the person that is actually responsible.  Crime?  It’s the fault of the wealthy for having stuff to steal.  Pearl Harbor, it’s the US fault for taking a stand with an ally;  9-11?  Well of course it’s our fault because of the “imagined humiliation” that those poor terrorist suffered from because we actually exist.

The good thing about the free west is that you can say what you will; the bad thing is that people like this moron actually say stuff at all.

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute recently did a study and found that not only our the politicians ignorant of what a free market system actually is, they also found that 71% of Americans are ignorant on some of the basic principles and history of our government and country.

- 30 percent of elected officials do not know that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” are the inalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence; and 20 percent falsely believe that the Electoral College “was established to supervise the first presidential debates”
- Almost 40 percent of all respondents falsely believe the president has the power to declare war
- 40 percent of those with a bachelor’s degree do not know business profit equals revenue minus expenses
- Only 54 percent with a bachelor’s degree correctly define free enterprise as a system in which individuals create, exchange and control goods and resources
- 20.7 percent of Americans falsely believe that the Federal Reserve can increase or decrease government spending

This isn’t rocket science, hell, it isn’t even science, it’s basic government knowledge and history and yet seven out of every ten people FAILED this quiz.

Think about that for a moment.

These are people from all walks of life, all educational levels, both liberals and conservatives.  Not one area of our society was immune from this ignorance of how our founding fathers wanted our country to operate.  The vast majority of people living in the United States of America have no idea how it was supposed to run.

Combine this with a population that is easily manipulated by the press into voting for a candidate that they know little to nothing about and we come to the current state of affairs that we have in the United States now.

Our schools are more concerned with teaching to a test rather than teaching facts and critical thinking.  This attitude is backed up by a government that determines school funding by how many kids pass the test, which means that teachers who want to keep their jobs will make sure every child is drilled over an over to make sure they are ready for test day.

If I was a cynical person I would almost think that our government wanted our kids to be badly educated, ignorant and easily lead to the slaughterhouse.  I mean, if that were the case they would be able to do all kinds of things that would have our founding fathers turning over in their graves, stuff like $700 Billion dollar bailouts and trying to pass weapons bans that go against the second amendment.

Naw, that would never happen….

Oh, and my score was 93.94%.  Yea, I am that good.

A wish for God’s protection to our soldiers on the field and peace to those that have served and come home.

***UPDATE***

Read about one of the bravest of us all, Colonel John Ripley.  If you don’t know who he is, now is a good time to learn

That is the real difference between conservatives and the new liberals. When we lose we accept it, move on, and plan for the next fight. Lefty Liberals don’t; instead they scream, cry, hold protests and demand the courts to step in. A perfect example is Proposition 8, it passed here in California and what has been happening since then? Protests and demands that the court overturn it.

So for the next four years we will have a president that I have heard many liberals compare to Jimmy Carter, this doesn’t fill me with a warm fuzzy feeling. The best one was “He’s a great thinker, just like Carter. He can take all this information in and assimilate it and then he come out with these brilliant ideas.”  Yes, we’ve seen the brilliant ideas Carter came up with, which is why he is the worst president ever.

In the end the United States will survive this, but it shows what happens when an education system fails to teach our youth to think critically about issues; what happens when we have a society that starts to think that they shouldn’t have to work for what they want and instead the government should take care of them, and what happens when the press become more about propaganda than actual information.

In four years I’ll pull the lever again and it will be for Palin, if she decides to run.  I just hope in four years that the Republican party can remember what being conservative is all about.  If they can’t, the I guess I will join Bill Whittle’s Piranha Party.

But here are the real questions I have:

1- Drawings of Bush showing him as a chip were fine, can we do the same with Obama or is that Racist?

2 – Comparing Bush to Hitler was fine, so can we now point to Obama’s policies and call him a socialist or is that Racist?

3 – Making fun of how Bush talks was fine, so can we now make fun of how Obama stammers around when he is off the teleprompter or is that Racist?

4 – Calling Bush ‘Dubya’ seemed to be OK for the left, so can we refer to Obama as Hussein or is that Racist too??

That’s the problem with having a new president, you have to find out what is fine and what isn’t.  All such a bother, really.

My wife and I have done our ballots and cast our lots. I won’t be home tonight to see the results, nor will I be at McCain headquarters here. Nope, I’ll be at work which kind of sucks but since I have to pay my taxes to support the 40% in this country that don’t pay any, it what has to be done. Besides, according to Joe “I’m not a plumber” Biden it’s patriotic to pay more in taxes, so if Obama wins you can bet we will all be very patriotic, indeed.

The saddest part about today is how many people I know at work who are voting and when I ask them what their reasons are for picking Obama the response is almost always “Well, he sounds really good.” Or “McCain is old and Obama is hip.” Then, when I start asking them probing questions about things like Obama’s fund raising, or his connection to socialist causes the response is the same as well “Gee, I never heard about that, are you sure it’s true?”

But my favorite reason that people give me for voting for Obama is “Well, he’s going to take all that money away from the rich.”

When I ask why they are so jealous and envious that someone has more money than they do it’s always the same “Well, it’s not FAIR.”

“Well, how bout you work hard and get a good job and you can become rich too. Just save your money up and invest it wisely.”

That always gets a look like I grew a third eye. “That would take YEARS!!!”

So, it comes down to this, those of us that think that hard work should pay off in the end and not be punished for it versus those who think that they shouldn’t have to work for that 55” plasma TV that they want so they can watch American Idol in style.

I’ve chosen my side, and win or lose we’ll go at it again in another four years.