Liberty Bell

This is one of the songs the choir I’m in sang last year. (Audio from the Sing of America concert)

But very interesting: (h/t to Brutally Honest)

While every lost serviceman and servicewoman is certainly tragic and should be mourned, the actual statistics tell quite a different tale from the MSM and Democratic doom-and-gloom outlook. Comparing the numbers of lost US military personnel to past years, and past presidential terms, may even be a shock to supporters of the war.

Take a look at the actual US Military Casualty figures since 1980. If you do the math, you wil find quite a few surpises. First of all, let’s compare numbers of US Military personnel that died during the first term of the last four presidents.

George W. Bush . . . . . 5187 (2001-2004)
Bill Clinton . . . . . . . . . 4302 (1993-1996)
George H.W. Bush . . . . 6223 (1989-1992)
Ronald Reagan . . . . . . 9163 (1981-1984)

Even during the (per MSM) utopic peacetime of Bill Clinton’s term, we lost 4302 service personnel. H.W. Bush and Reagan actually lost significantly more personnel while never fighting an extensive war, much less a simulaltaneous war on two theaters (Iraq and Afghanistan). Even the dovish Carter lost more people duing his last year in office, in 1980 lost 2392, than W. has lost in any single year of his presidency.

From Expose the Left: President Bush spoke to military and civilian families in Wheeling, West Virginia this afternoon about the War in Iraq. As usual, he spent a long period of time with the audience to answer the questions they may have. One woman, a military wife, told President Bush about her husband’s career as a military broadcast journalist and the footage he got about how great things are going in Iraq. She told the President that many cable news channels are just not reporting good news and only the bad news. She wanted to know what people could do to see the good happening in Iraq. President Bush’s answers: The blogs and the internet:

WOMAN: This is my husband who has returned from a 13 month tour in Tikrit.

BUSH: Oh yeah, thank you buddy. Welcome back!

WOMAN: His job while serving was as a broadcast journalist and he has brought back several DVDs full of wonderful footage of reconstruction, of medical things going on, and I ask you this from the bottom of my heart for the solution to this. Because it seems that our major media networks don’t want to portray the good, they just want to focus –

[tremendous applause from audience]
——on another car bomb or they just want to focus on the more bloodshed, or they just want to focus on how they don’t agree with or what you’re doing when they don’t even probably know how you’re doing what you’re doing anyway. But what can we do to get that footage on CNN, on FOX, to get it on Headline News, to get it on the local news because you can send it to the news people, and I’m sorry I’m rambling on like I have –

BUSH: So was I though, for like an hour –

[laughter]

WOMAN:——can use this and it’ll just end up in a drawer because it’s good and it portrays the good and if people could see that, if the America people could see it, there would never be another negative word about this conflict.

BUSH: Well I appreciate that. No it’s –

[applause]

BUSH: Before I come out and speak, I’ve spoken in Cleveland, gave press conference yesterday. Spoke in Cleveland Monday, press conference yesterday, here today. I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing to try make sure people can here there’s – why I make decisions and as best as I can explain why I am optimistic we can succeed. One of the things that we have to value is that that we do have a media, free media that’s able to do what they want to do and I – you ask me to say something in front of all the camera here [laughter]. Help over there will ya? I just got to keep talking and word of mouth, there’s blogs, there’s internet, there’s all kinds of way to communicate which is literally changing the way people get their information and so if you’re concerned I would suggest that you reach out to some of the groups that are supporting the troops, that got internet sites and just keep the word moving.

Keep it moving…

Thanks to Freedom of Thought…

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Your alarm goes off, you hit the snooze and sleep for another 10 minutes.

He stays up for days on end.

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You take a warm shower to help you wake up.

He goes days or weeks without running water.

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You complain of a “headache”, and call in sick.

He gets shot at, as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.

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You put on your anti war/don’t support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends.

He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.

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You make sure you’re cell phone is in your pocket.

He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

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You talk trash on your “buddies” that aren’t with you.

He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.

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You don’t feel like helping out your dad today, so you don’t.

He does what he is told.

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You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.

He walks the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.

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You complain about how hot it is.

He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.

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You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.

He does not get to eat today.

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Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.

He wears the same things for months, but makes sure his weapons are clean.

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You go to the mall and get your hair redone.

He doesn’t have time to brush his teeth today.

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You are angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.

He is told he will be held an extra 2 months.

He does as he is told.

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You call your girlfriend and set a date for that night.

He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.

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You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.

He holds his letter close and smells his love’s perfume.

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You ditch class to go to a movie.

He goes where he is told.

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You roll your eyes as a baby cries.

He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they’ll ever meet.

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You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.

He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own government and remembers why he is fighting.

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You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of the men like him.

He hears the gun fire and bombs.

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You see only what the media wants you to see.

He sees the bodies lying around him.

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You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don’t.

He does what he is told.

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You stay at home and watch tv.

He takes whatever time he is given to call and write home, sleep, and eat.

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You crawl into your bed, with down pillows, and try to get comfortable.

He crawls under a tank for shade and a 5 minute nap, only to be woken by gun fire.

——————————————————————————–

You sit there and judge him, saying the world is a worse place because of men like him.

If only there were more men like him

“How can we ask our men and women in uniform to give their lives extending freedom and civil liberties to oppressed people across the globe while they are denied the very freedoms they are fighting to secure for others?”

In my previous post, Mikey’s Mission: The Facts, I told the story of Mikey Weinstein, who is suing the United States Air Force, claiming senior officers and cadets illegally imposed evangelical Christianity on others at the school. This post gives my opinion on his story.

In my opinion this case presents two questions:

1. What (in the Air Force) counts as illegally imposed?

2. Which freedom is more important, the right to express your beliefs or someone else’s right not to have to listen to them?

The answer to question no. 1 has changed, even during the lawsuit. On February 9th, the Air Force issued new guidelines on religion. The guidelines drop a requirement for chaplains to respect others’ rights to their own beliefs and no longer caution top officers about promoting their personal religious views. They also say superiors must be “sensitive to the potential that personal expressions of faith might appear to be official or have undue influence on subordinates.” With these new guidelines, the Air Force has avoided the strictness that caused problems in regards to the August edition.

It makes you wonder if there is a policy of unconstitutional religious coercion.

Air Force officials acknowledge that the guidelines were revised following an angry response from Christian groups and from 72 members of Congress who sent a letter to President Bush in January. “We didn’t like what came out in August, but this is a public retreat from where they were before,” said Mikey Weinstein.

The Air Force’s filing said the guidelines reaffirm its commitment “to protecting the free exercise of religion, prohibiting governmental establishment of religion and defending the nation.”

Question no. 2, poses a different problem. I believe you can’t label one freedom more important than another. The right to express your beliefs must be equal to another’s right not to listen to them.

In a place where rank is prominent, equality is hard to inforce - even with the guidelines.

Bregman points out that what an evangelical officer may feel is a reasonably sensitive discussion, an enlisted atheist may feel is completely unreasonable.

“Will he (the enlisted man) open his mouth and tell him that with the risk of a repercussion down the road?” he asked.

Bergman also rallied against the new guidelines saying that dismissing the lawsuit would be “ridiculous in light of what the new guidelines say.”

“They completely, thoroughly violate the Constitution of the United States,” he said.

So naturely, I went to the Constitution, via Yahoo! Encyclopedia, to see exactly what it says:

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

(I assuming that’s where Bergman was talking about.)

Now my thoughts are starting to circle, and I’m wondering whether I actually had a specific destination to this train of thought. Since I nearly always do, I’ll assume I did. If you figure out what it was please let me know.

*collecting thoughts again*

My straight opinion: Nobody should have religion forced on him/her. Freedom of speech and Freedom of religion are equally important - just as the right to express your beliefs is equal to the right not to listen to them. How the Air Force should go about this issue, I’m not exactly sure. I suggest another set of guidelines.

A bit of irony to end this post - when I looked up the Constitution online, the main advertisement on that page was for the Air Force Academy.

Weinstein with Bonnie, his wife of nearly 30 years.

An Albuquerque lawyer and Air Force Academy graduate, Mikey Weinstein, is suing the United States Air Force, claiming senior officers and cadets illegally imposed evangelical Christianity on others at the school. Mikey Weinstein’s entry into the war over the separation of church and state is - by his own admission - tardy. But he’s figures late is better then never.

Weinstein’s immediate family is Jewish; his extended family is largely Christian. He considers family most important, than the Air Force. Weinstein represents the second of three generations of military academy graduates. His dad graduated from Naval Academy. One of his sons, Casey, is a Air Force Academy graduate, the other, Curtis, is a junior.

Weinstein was going about his life as a Republican lawyer and businessman, husband and father, until July 2004, when he visited Curtis. Curtis wanted to talk, but not on base. As they traveled from the campus, Weinstein started freaking out, wondering what trouble his son had gotten into.

He said, “Dad, it’s not what I’ve done, it’s what I’m gonna do, and I’m probably going to get into a lot of trouble. I’m going to beat the shit out of the next person who calls me a “f***ing Jew” or accuses me or our people of killing Jesus.”

When Weinstein asked Casey about his experience, Casey told him that just the way it is. “Senior cadets would sit down and say, “How do you feel about the fact that your family is going to burn in hell?’”

Many problems with religion and military, result from the issue of rank. For example, you cannot respond to a senior officer insisting you accept the Lord as savior with a “Get out of my face, Sir,” or “Not interested, Ma’am.”

A June 2004 report observed that during basic training, Maj. Warren Watties called on about 600 cadets to proselytize their bunkmates and warn them they would burn in the fires of hell if they weren’t born again. A 2004 survey indicated that half the cadets at the academy reported hearing religious slurs on campus.

Official academy fliers, distributed on military grounds, promoted Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ. Within months, Weinstein said, his sons reported a rise in anti-Semitic slurs. A Jewish cadet was told the Holocaust was revenge for the death of Jesus and another Jew was called a Christ killer by a fellow cadet.

On July 12th, 2005 there was a story in the New York Times about the increasingly religious climate in the Air Force. It included a quote from Brig. Gen. Cecil R. Richardson: “We won’t proselytize, but we reserve the right to evangelize the unchurched.” Weinstein thought Richardson, No. 2 in command of the Air Force chaplaincy, would be fired, or at least reprimanded, for his statement to the New York Times. He watched for a backpedaling clarification by the Air Force to appear.

Nothing.

On Oct. 6, Weinstein filed his lawsuit, alleging that, in an attempt to impose evangelical Christianity, the Air Force is in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, the wall separating church and state. Weinstein is demanding that the Air Force prohibit its members from involuntarily converting, pressuring, exhorting or persuading fellow members to accept their own religious beliefs while on duty.

Air Force lawyers responded claiming he and the four other plaintiffs (Casey Weinstein, Patrick T. Kucera, Ariel B. Kayne and Jason A. Spindler: academy graduates who currently are serving in the Air Force) were no longer attending the academy and thus not subject to the abuse they alleged.

Weinstein countered, saying he is suing the Air Force, not the academy.

The debate spread, including members of Congress and attorneys from Christian associations.

Last month, the Air Force released new “interim” guidelines on religious expression, which include the statement that “Voluntary participation in worship, prayer, study and discussion is integral to the free exercise of religion.”

Weinstein called it a signal that the Bush administration is trying to appease powerful evangelicals, including Dobson (Focus on the Family leader) and Haggard (Head of the National Association of Evangelicals).

He’s received a lot of support from strangers:

“I’ve gotten a gazillion calls from military people all over the world saying, “OK, I’m seeing what’s happening, and this is wrong.” From the academy alone, I’ve gotten over 1,000 people coming forward: cadets, officers, civilian staff, former cadets, graduates, coaches, athletes, saying “Oh my God, thank God someone is doing something about this.’”

The vast majority, he says, are mainstream Christians — Presbyterians, Methodists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans — who are “just not used to being preyed on and prayed upon by fellow Christians saying, “You don’t accept the Lord the right way.’”

But he’s also been called the “Satan’s lawyer,” and “Satan’s assistant,” and the “most dangerous man in America.”

Weinstein says a rumor has circulated that he wants to ban people from saying “God bless you” when someone sneezes.

“If standing up for the Constitution makes you a godless secular leftist or an arch secularist, well, like I’ve said before, gee, you say that like it’s a bad thing.”

During this fight, Weinstein has hired, at one point or another, eight different law firms and five PR agencies. The 18-, 19- and 20-hour days of work and battle are starting to pile up. But, he figures, somebody’s got to do it. “It’s time,” he says, “to stop doing nothing.”

More info at:
Mikey’s Mission
and
‘Mikey’s passion’

“Deploying for Iraq in the middle of 2005 this soldier was in for a huge project dedicating to a 1 year long deployment. Not only had this soldier made a huge decision to protect his country but he also decided to dedicate his life in marriage to his high school sweet heart days before leaving on his mission… If you would like to contribute to “Operation: Honor A Hero,” please send emails of support to Honor_A_Hero@yahoo.com. The organizer will be collecting emails until April 2, 2006. The collection of emails will be arranged into a gift scrapbook, and given to the family.”

Read more…

Please support this family by sending an e-mail. It will take very little time. While you’re at it, don’t forget the Support a Military Family.

Sgt. Rickey Jones and three others where killed when a roadside bomb went off in Iraq. Instead of sympathy or support, the Jones family has had their home egged, and received calls in which the the caller said, “I’m glad your son is dead.” Read more…

CJ at A Soldier’s Perspective has organized a letter writing campaign for this family. For more information on how you can show your support, go to the link above and/or write Lauren (MyWay716@aol.com).

Dear Terrorists,

I am a Navy Aviator. I was born and raised in a small town in New England. I come from a family of five. I was raised in a middle class home and taught my values by my mother and father.

My dad worked a series of jobs in finance and my mom took care of us kids. We were not an overly religious family but attended church most Sundays. It was a nice small Episcopal Church. I have a brother and sister and I am the youngest in my family. I was the first in many generations to attend college.

I have flown Naval aircraft for 16 years. For me the flying was never a lifelong dream or a “calling,” it just happened. I needed a job and I liked the challenge. I continue to do it today because I feel it is important to give back to a nation which has given so much to me. I do it because, although I will never be rich, my family will be comfortable.

I do it because many of my friends have left for the airlines and someone has to do it.

My government has spent millions to train me to fly these multi-million dollar aircraft. I make about 70,000 dollars a year and after 20 years will be offered a pension.

I like baseball but think the players make too much money. I am in awe of firemen and policemen and what they do each day for my community, and like teachers, they just don’t get paid enough.

I respect my elders and always use sir or ma’am when addressing a stranger. I’m not sure about kids these days but I think that’s normal for every generation.

I voted for George Bush because I like him. I think I made a pretty good choice.

I tell you all this because when I come for you, I want you to know me. I won’t be hiding behind a woman or a child. I won’t be disguised or pretending to be something I am not. I will be in a U.S. issue flight suit. I will be wearing standard US issue flight gear, and I will be flying a navy aircraft clearly marked as a US warplane. I wish we could meet up close in a small room where I could wrap my hands around your throat and slowly squeeze the life out of you, but unfortunately, you’re hiding in a hole in the ground, so we will have to do this a different way.

I want you to know also that I am very good at what I do. I can put a 2,000 lb weapon through a window from 10,000 feet up. I generally only fly at night, so you may want to start sleeping during the day. I am not eager to die for my country but I am willing to sacrifice my life to protect it from animals like you.

I will do everything in my power to ensure no civilians are hurt as I take aim at you.

My countrymen are a forgiving bunch. Many are already forgetting what you did on Sept 11th. But I will not forget, and my President will not forget.

I am coming. I hope you know me a little bit better, see you soon…sleep tight.

Signed,

A U.S. Navy Pilot

[Original Author Unknown]

Cindy Sheehan has been commended by our media for her anti-war efforts after the death of her son, Casey Sheehan. It makes you wonder what Casey would think of his Mom’s efforts.

Army Spc. Casey Sheehan died in Iraq on April 4th, 2004. Casey had volunteered to be part of a quick response team when rioting started in Baghdad. His unit was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire.

“That’s all he wanted to do was serve God and his country his whole life,” Carly Sheehan said. “He was a boy scout from age 6 or 7 and an Eagle Scout. It was kind of a natural progression to go into the military from that. He said he was enjoying the military because it was just like the boy scouts but they got guns.”

Casey first enlisted in 2000, when he was twenty. He reenlisted in 2004. He knew he could be sent to a combat zone – that he would be risking his life for his country. When he volunteered to be part of the quick response the team he knew about the danger. But he went.

In Cindy Sheehan’s words:

The sergeant said, “Sheehan, you don’t have to go,” because my son was a mechanic. He was a Humvee mechanic. And Casey said, “Where my chief goes, I go.” And he knew what had to be done. And he died in his best friend’s arms in Iraq. I imagined it would have hurt if one of my kids was killed but I never thought it would hurt this bad. Especially someone so honest and brave as Casey, my son. When you haven’t been honest with us. When you and your advisers rushed us into this war. How do you think we felt when we heard the Senate reports that said there was no link between Iraq and 9/11?

Cindy started a cause that even those who disagreed with her could empathize or at least sympathize with. Her son had just died. She was a bereaved mother who blamed the president for his death. Unlike other mothers across the nation, she went on to protest in rallies, using a 8x10 in. photo of Casey “as if she is carrying a saint’s icon that she intends to use as a weapon.”

Cindy Sheehan has gone to far. She is no longer honoring the death of her son. She is an embarassment to America, those in favor of the war in Iraq and those against.

Cindy has been arrested for demonstrating without a license on 9/26/2005. In an article on MichaelMoore, Cindy wrote:

The fine for “demonstrating without a permit” is $75.00. I am certain that I won’t pay it. My court date is November 16th. Any lawyers out there want to help me challenge an unconstitutional law?

On January 31st, Cindy Sheehan was arrested after refusing to cover up a T-shirt bearing an anti-war slogan before President Bush’s State of the Union address.

Cindy is no longer a bereaved mother angry at the war and at the president. She has blatantly refused to obey the laws of America. While doing so she has become a threat to America.

I would like to say to Cindy Sheehan and her supporters don’t be a group of unthinking lemmings. It’s not pretty,” said Mitzy Kenny of Ridgeley, W.Va., whose husband died in Iraq last year. The anti-war demonstrations “can affect the war in a really negative way. It gives the enemy hope.

When you get mad at Cindy, remember Casey Sheehan was a brave man who died for his country. He deserves our respect and our honor. Hugh Hewitt comments:

When you are tempted to blast his mom, remind yourself of this man’s sacrifice and heroism and assume as I do that he loved his mom deeply and would defend her like the fine son he must have been even if he disagreed with her politics.

Honor Casey Sheehan.

Related articles to check out:
The Call
He Chose to Serve
Army Specialist Casey Sheehan - Someone You Should (Have) Know(n)
The Darkly Fascinating Times of “Mother Sheehan”