A CONSERVATIVE Texan's thoughts on Equality

Rhode Island has become the tenth US state to grant same sex marriage equality.  Texas is NOT among the other nine.

It may come as a shock to some who believe all Texans are Bible thumping, hate mongering, hypocrites but as a true CONSERVATIVE I am for Equality.  Sadly too many mouthy, judgmental, hateful, nasty 'christians' claim that God gives them the power to hate, to be cruel, to be nasty.

I was raised a Southern Baptist.  For those who may be a bit confused on what that is, let me give you a quick & dirty rundown.  Southern Baptists don't drink, don't dance, don't gamble, don't do drugs, and are fine upstanding people.  Southern Baptist women are meant to be quiet, pregnant, in the kitchen while the man takes the reins of everything.  Well, that's what SOME Southern Baptists would like you to believe.  It is incredibly far from the truth.

My Poppy was a deacon in our church.  It was years before he would take the position as he drank beer regularly.  My Mimi was anything but a quiet, subservient wife in the shadows.  She was a lady about it, but she spoke her mind and stood her ground.  You might never have expected to find cold hard steel in her veins, but under than cute little rolly polly exterior beat the heart of a lioness.

My aunt sat on the board until she was RUN OUT of that church by some of the aforementioned hateful, nasty 'christians'.  She was legitimately elected to office by the members of that church and a few holier-than-thous decided to take it upon themselves to 'cleanse' the church of her.  They claimed her being gay was morally wrong and God was against it, that Jesus condemned her for it.  Thing is, Christ NEVER said anything about homosexuality.  PERIOD.  Nada!  Not one single, solitary, RED word was EVER attributed to him.

These same holier-than-thous put into office, without election, a gay man that then cruised the church for young men to abuse.  He was caught doing it many times but was always protected by those nasty 'christians', the vipers in the den so to speak.  Don't think gay had anything to do with their hate - they used it as an excuse to punish those they wanted & reward those that kissed their asses.  That is NOT in keeping with the message of Christ.

I was raised by true Christians.  Those who said it was NOT their place to judge, not their right to deny others the same things they took for granted.  People who would give you the shirt off their back, the sweat of their brow, the food from their plate.  People who were learned, 5 generations of teachers & counting!, educated, worldly people who stood for what was right.  There was no moral grey ground, there was right & there was wrong and there aren't enough of them left in my opinion.

As a product of these people I can not, WILL not stand idly by and watch my fellow Texans denied the very basic right of marrying someone they love.  I'd like to take on quite a few of the most common arguments against equality - in all its forms.

Marriage has LONG predated Christianity, every Abrahamaic religion is a baby compared to the concept of marriage.  Marriage was not "one man, one woman".  Even today Islam, an Abrahamaic religion at its core, is NOT about "one man, one woman".  Mormons, not Abrahamaic but still a commonly practiced religion, is NOT "one man, one woman".  That argument will NOT hold water with anyone that has even a passing understanding of human history.

Marriage between consenting adults has been going on long before Christianity came to this land.  Hundreds of tribes held same sex marriage as sacred, blessed by the Gods.  Just because someone says that Jesus says its wrong doesn't mean it is.  Nor does the claim that no one has ever done same sex marriage here make it so.

The government has no business deciding what consenting adults can, or can not, get married.  The government only takes money to issue a marriage license.  Since the government issues the money, and issues the license, at what point does someone who is 'gay' using make it illegal?  How can a government both issue money claiming to represent the people while at the same time denying the people the ability to spend it equally as they see fit?

The Equal Protection clause clearly states that any marriage contracted in one state is valid in all others.  Hence why my 16+ years of marriage have been valid in Colorado and Virginia even though I was married in Texas.  What basic Constitutional understanding would allow someone to believe that the Equal Protection Clause applies only to heterosexuals?

Those that claim marriage is for the production of children, since when?  In my own family I can pinpoint people who are married without children.  Be it the male or female that is infertile, a conscious choice not to have children, or a medical condition preventing it their marriage is no less valid under the law.  Bearing children is NOT and never has been the point of marriage.

The claims made that marriage can't be redefined.  I beg to differ.  Two hundred years ago my father would have had to PAY my husband land, crops, goods, or animals if not all the above, to marry me.  In short, I would have been SOLD by my father to my husband.  That is not marriage.  That is a form of slavery.  Thousands of years ago I would have had to have slaves to buy my marriage.  Heaps of gold, spices, pricey materials, animals, property, land, slaves ... they were all required to purchase a groom.  We don't do that any more, thus marriage has already been 're'defined.

One of the more ludicrous arguments is that if gays can marry, then homosexuality will spread.  That one is so far beyond the reach of logic, but I shall try.  Guns are legal, not everyone owns one.  Cars are legal, not everyone owns one. Marriage is legal, not everyone marries.  The sheer lunacy of saying that two consenting adults making a commitment will somehow make people gay is just beyond me.

There are those that say a gay marriage will cheapen their heterosexual marriage.  My marriage is NOT under threat from gay people.  There isn't some light in his loafers man hiding in a dark alley waiting to jump my husband & make him FABULOUS!!!  If you're really that terrified that your marriage will end and your spouse will marry someone of the same sex, you've got much deeper issues in your life.

The most odious, to me, claims are from those quoting Leviticus.  One can not claim Christianity & go Old Testament.  Christ clearly stated he came to make a NEW covenant, thus negating the old one.  He negated the dietary laws of Leviticus - bacon y'all, we're talking the loss of bacon if we go OT.  The sheer number of supposed, self described 'christians' that flaunt every violation of Leviticus while claiming homosexuality is wrong boggles my mind!  God said all sin is equal, thus eating bacon is on par with being gay if you want to actually see the Bible for what it says.  Polyester clothing, shellfish, BACON, they're all wrong according to Leviticus.  In my world, if BACON is wrong I don't want to be right!!

I think I hit on most of the big arguments against equality, but really they all boil down to one nasty, ugly truth.  That some Americans believe they're legally better than others.  That is in direct violation of our basic premiss of government.  "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."  The ability to LIVE, the LIBERTY to purse HAPPINESS.  Not dependent upon color, religion, sexuality, hair style, height, age, weight, yada yada yada.  Just the basic 3 rules of our entire form of government - LIFE, LIBERTY, pursuit of HAPPINESS.  Gardening makes me HAPPY, doesn't mean I'm going to force you to garden!  Mall shopping does NOT make me happy, but I'm not going to try to ban you from doing it if you enjoy it.  Thus, no one who truly supports liberty, any basic student of logic, any true Christian, can possibly stand against equal rights.  It is beyond odious to me that some even dare attempt to twist such basic, honest beliefs to fit their hate.

Shifty Powers & how we treat our REAL Heroes

So the oft carried, always miss attributed, Shifty Powers letter is making the rounds again on Facebook.  It got me to thinking.  Sadly, Darrell Powers (aka Shifty) passed in 2009, right before we PCSd back to the states.  I know we got coverage on AFN in Europe, but I doubt there was much coverage in the states - it isn't like the man was a genuine HERO (at least according to the garbage they show on US tv).


I remember, late May 2002, waiting to board a plane in Dallas.  We were flying out to our next duty station in England.  There was a mild kerfuffle at the x-ray & security station.  I thought nothing of it really, until I realized the hold up was an elderly gentleman & his wife.  I couldn't for the life of me figure out why he was being held up, he clearly did not pose any threat to anyone.


I was busy getting an infant, a young child, myself & the husband through security so I wasn't paying that much attention.  Until I caught the emblem on his hat.  It was just a standard dark blue, military retiree style, baseball cap.  I had made a mental note to tell him "Thank You" for your service when I realized it was a retiree, but that emblem.  It troubled me.  I KNEW it, but it was rare to see.  I honestly had to think about it for a few moments before I placed it.  That was a very rare, very seldom seen, very important emblem.

That is, for those who may not know, a Congressional Medal of Honor ribbon.  That was the ribbon on his hat!  When it hit me what it was, I was in genuine awe.  That is not a medal often seen, and it was awarded for going well above the call of duty to his nation.  It made me that much more determined to give him a proper thanks for his service, and hopefully find out a little bit about him.


I got a moment to speak to him while we were waiting to board early.  He was accepted for early boarding, I assume, due to his age.  We got early boarded due to the kids.  I was just glad we managed to be right behind him in line so I could chat with him.


Turns out he served on the European front, and was captured by the Germans.  He didn't go into much, but I mentioned my great-grandfather was a POW of the Japanese (he was), and was rescued from Cabanatuan.  This gentleman, I never caught his name he was very polite but not at all in to talking about his exploits, made a point of saying he endured nothing compared to what the Japanese did to their POWs.  That, to the great granddaughter of a man who lived it, is belittling his own experiences.  The Germans weren't nice to POWs, they didn't obey the rules of war, they blocked the Red Cross just as much.  This man went hungry, was cold, was mistreated, had suffered in the name of his fellow countrymen & women to protect them from his very pain.  He was, and IS, an hero.  He came when called, he offered his life blood to his nation to protect & defend those he loved.  That is no small feat.  This man, who had fought for his country while a young man, didn't think himself worthy of what my great-grandfather went through.  It nearly broke my heart for him to think he didn't really do anything worthy of the praise he received.


He went on to mention that he didn't endure nearly what those that didn't come home did.  The mark of a truly humble, honest, quiet servant of his nation & people.  He discounted his own trauma, his own suffering, as not up to that which others endured.  I had no real response to that, other than he served his nation where & when he was needed and he shouldn't think that his experiences weren't important.


I happened to ask what the hold up was at the security line.  I was being nosy, I admit it.  It turns out he was flying with THE MEDAL in his carry-on bag.  Yes, THAT medal.  The highest honor his nation's military could bestow on him (or anyone for that matter) for his military service.  He offered to get it out & show it to me, but he was already being much more than polite by having a chat with me so I didn't put him out in any way.  Yes I'd have LOVED to see it, but then I'd have wanted to touch it and well, that's just rude!


The reason THE MEDAL was in his carry on?  I shouldn't have to explain that one.  The fact that it was is what had caused the kerfuffle.  Apparently security made him put it through the x-ray machine!  Then demanded he open it as it was metal & it seems they though it was a "threat" to security.  Not a "thank you sir, for your service". Not an awed silence at seeing one, and the man who earned it.  Just total ignorance of WHAT it was, and WHY he had it.  That, well even now I admit flabbergasts me!  How far the US has fallen that a real, genuine, CMOH award recipient & his CMOH were unknown, and instead viewed as a security threat!


This quiet, unassuming man who should have had parades in his honor, was a "threat" as deemed by the security folks at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.  As a Texan, I was doubly humiliated and offended that this man was ill treated.  He bore it with quiet dignity, answering their questions about himself & the medal.  He bore my questions & chat with dignity.  All I had to offer to him in return was a mere, meager, "thank you".  I'm sure he'd had that before, and I pray he had it since, but I was honored to be in his presence & to have the ability to offer such a thanks.


We boarded the plane, and as we always keep the kiddos on until last to avoid the crush to get off, I didn't get to speak to him again.  I never did catch his name, and never really knew enough of his service to find him on the Congressional Medal of Honor Society site.  Sadly I don't know if he is still living or if he has since passed.  What I do know is that for one fleeting moment in time, I stood beside & chatted with, a REAL hero.  I know that one of the, still giving, gifts of his service & his life is my thankfulness for the smallest moment to speak to him.  To offer to him the true thanks of myself, for everything he endured.


I never got to meet my great-grandfather, he passed long before my birth, but I did get to meet a man who bore arms at the same time he did.  Maybe a different theater, a different version of the same nasty enemy of freedom, but a man of quiet honor none the less.  I hope he knew just how much it meant to me to get to speak to him, to get to offer him a humble, simple thanks.

ENOUGH!!

Enough I say!  Enough, enough, ENOUGH!!

Stop blaming 3rd party voters for Romney's defeat.  Romney SUCKED as a candidate.  The GOP has no one to blame BUT themselves for picking him as their candidate - 3rd party voters can't even vote in most state primaries!

STOP with the damn secession talk!  Texas can NOT survive without the US.  This is NOT Sam Houston's day.  We do NOT have the means to support ourselves as a nation, nor would the US let us go our own little way with no fight - that we CAN'T win!

STOP with the "I'm moving to Canada".  You dumbasses!  Canada has gay marriage & socialized medicine.  You know, that shit you're throwing tantrums about.

STOP finding what divides us!  START working to unite us!  We're ALL Americans.  We're ALL in this boat together.  Trying to pigeon hole hundreds upon hundreds of millions of people into 2 extremes is the problem!  NOT that the voters are fed up with it!  Look at your neighbor, see what you have in common, how you can work together instead of trying to tear each other apart.  That crap has put us in this boat.  Decades of it, on BOTH sides.  The POTUS has been elected.  Don't act like some of Gore's supporters in 2000 - behave yourselves and SERVE your nation, not destroy it from within!

STOP with the "God, save us" bullshit!  Your right to your religion is supreme, but SO IS MINE!  Treat those as you wish to be treated, NOT like horrible lepers that are out to destroy you.  Christ did NOT say to hate your neighbors, to destroy them, to degrade them, to lie about them, to be nasty to them.  He said to LOVE them.  If you truly ARE a Christian you would do that - quite a few I know that claim Christianity do NOT follow the word of Christ, but are instead twisting it to suit their own hate filled agendas.  STOP IT!!


START acting like Americans.  We're different, through & through, but we're also stronger for it.  If your God wanted us all to be like you, he'd have made us that way.  He didn't, so why the hell do you think you should have to power to do so?  Are you so conceited in your hate, so firm in your miserly spirit that you think you are better than your own god?

START living the "Golden Rule".  EVERYONE - pagan, christian, jew, muslim, taoist, shintoist, etc, etc, etc - has that creed.  LIVE BY IT!!  Don't buy into DC's hate & propaganda, prove you're better than that.  True Americans ARE better than that.  Are you a TRUE American, or just giving lip service?

VOTE

Get off your ass & VOTE. I don't care who you vote for, nor will I ask you who you voted for as it is none of my business. JUST VOTE!! Too many men, women, and children, have fought & died for the RIGHT to vote. Make your freedom count!! (I am A Texan Abroad, and I approve this message.)

Wounded in our service? WE DON'T CARE - so says Knob Hill in GA

Imagine a country in which you serve your nation, you get wounded, you come home & you're denied the right to a home. That nation is AMERICA, that time is now, that location is Knob Hill in GA.

Sgt First Class Sean Gittens served his nation with honor. He was wounded, left paralyzed and unable to speak. Homes for Our Troops purchased land to build him an adaptive home, one that helps meet his needs for the rest of his life.

Along comes the Knob Hill Property Owner's Association. After Homes for Our Troops working closely with them for months, being given permission to build, and preparing the site they Property Owners threw a fit. It seems that a home for a wounded warrior is NOT IN KEEPING with the appearances of their suburb. They pressured the suburb directors, so they've rescinded the building permit!

Clearly the whiny bellyachers in Georgia disdain their military. You're okay to send to die, but don't you come back & expect to live near us! The entire community, their city, their region, their state & nation are all tarred with the filth that they are. A bunch of overpaid whiners who don't know the meaning of sacrifice in the name of others has decided that a wounded man does NOT need to live near them - I guess they think he's contagious (we can only HOPE some of their spawn would serve their nation).

If you've got a problem with it, email President of the Board of Directors, Rick Trump, at Rick.Trump@Comcast.net. (I don't even care if the spambots get hold of his address, I hope they do.)

Thank you Rep Poe!

Rep. Ted Poe, of Texas' 2nd District, is Urging that Mr. Frank W. Buckles be Lain In State in the Capitol Rotunda. Hallelujah! THANK YOU Rep Poe!

If you would like to take a moment to thank Rep Poe for listening, you can e-mail him.

Washington is beginning to hear the roar of the people. Don't let up on them, double & redouble the contacting, the emails, the phone calls, the faxes. Let us give our last Great War veteran the honor for his generation.

CALLING ALL AMERICANS

Light up DC's Switchboard! Call, fax, email, if you're local WALK IN, if you're not MAIL A LETTER! Frank W. Buckles has EARNED the honor of the Rotunda by being the last WWI Veteran we will ever have.

Frank W. Buckles passed away 27 Feb 2011 at the age of 110. He was America's LAST WWI Veteran. We have no others, we will never have another. We must do this right, and do it now, or we slip even more deeply into a lack of respect and honor for those in the service.

Mr. Buckles should Lie In State in the Capitol Rotunda in DC. This honor is not for him, it is for the 4.7 million Americans he represents. It is for the entire generation that fought the Great War. We have lain men who send boys off to die in the Rotunda, but according to Speaker of the House Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, the last man standing to have survived that war has earned no honors.

Frank Woodruff Buckles was born in 1901. He lied to enlist to serve his nation. He would go on to be a civilian Prisoner of War of the Japanese in the Philippines in WWII. He saw the horrors of the battlefields of France as an Ambulance driver. He spent several years after WWI helping to repatriate German POWs. He suffered years of starvation and deprivation at the hands of one of America's most brutal enemies. He asked NOTHING for himself in return for those services, that suffering. He has more than earned the honor of being remembered, as have all his brothers & sisters in arms.

To add insult to injury, the DOD has REFUSED to provide an Honor Guard to Mr. Buckles' body if anything happens outside of Arlington. He only got the 'right' to rest in Arlington because President Bush ordered it so in 2006. This is NO way to treat a veteran, let alone the last of his brothers in arms. A 2 star general has claimed it is not cost effective to send an Honor Guard across the Potomac river to guard the body of the last Doughboy. Even now the DOD is fighting to prevent Mr. Buckles' use of the amphitheater in Arlington which is within earshot & sight of the Tomb of the Unknowns which houses the remains of a solider who also fought WWI.

This is not about politics, this is not about party affiliation. This is not about which branch is better. This is about honoring a generation through their last known survivor. Even now WWI has NO federal memorial, just a dilapidated run down hulk in DC that's purely a city memorial. We CAN and SHOULD do better. Mr. Buckles never asked for anything for himself, but he spent his last years fighting to get the veterans of WWI recognized and remembered. Let's not fail him in death as we so pitifully did in life.

We have laid the likes of Rosa Parks in the Capitol Rotunda. The Unknown Soldier of WWI laid in the Rotunda. Teddy Kennedy, a lying whoremonger alcoholic Laid In State. Congress even exhumed Pierre L'Enfant, architect of Washington DC over 100 years AFTER his death, and laid him in the Rotunda but according to two stubborn old men who have not served one day in the uniform of their country Mr. Buckles (and every veteran he represents) is not "entitled" (yes, that is the word they chose to use) to such remembrance. Neither Reid nor Boehner has served their nation, but they've sent you all off to fight wars in their names while they stayed comfy at home in DC. They've never seen combat, they've never had to leave their families for months or years on end to be shot at, to live in sand and dense jungle, to sweat and bleed for those back home. These are the likes of the 2 men blocking the honoring of the last WWI Veteran.

Britain is the sole country to have survivors of the Great War, and they only have 2 - 1 in the UK (a 109 year old woman) and 1 in Australia (a 110 year old man). France has none, Russia has none, Poland has none, every other country party to War to End All Wars has none and now, we have but the shell of the last. France honored their last with their own version of a Lying In State, as did Russia, and every other combatant nation to have fought WWI. Surely Mr. Buckles' body deserves to be draped in the flag he fought for, the flag of the nation he suffered for, the flag of the nation he honored to his last breath. Surely we as a nation can send representatives of our military services to stand guard over that flag draped coffin, and beyond a shadow of a doubt that coffin deserves to lie in the polished marble halls of the capital of the nation.

As Texans we pride ourselves on honor, duty, respect to our elders, respect to our military, and doing things the old fashioned way - with love and care. We have the most military members (either born or settled) of any state in the nation who call us home. Its time to act like we remember where our backbone is and demand that the nation gets the chance to honor their own.

It is time that the so-called servants of the people, answer to the will of the people. I'm not asking for your money, I'm asking for your voice. I am asking for your time, just a few precious minutes, to do the right thing for our elder.

Please, if you support it or don't, call / email / fax. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

Lying In Honor for Mr. Buckles ~ We need your help!

Speaker of the House Boehner (Bonehead is more like) is REFUSING to give Mr. Frank W. Buckles a Lying In Honor, or a Lying In State in the Capitol Rotunda. He's also REFUSING to say WHY!


I want to know WHY Frank W. Buckles, the LAST US veteran of WWI is being denied the honor of a Lying In Honor or a Lying In State. Its okay that the shriveled up old draft dodger cry babies hold office & send men off to die, but its NOT okay to honor those who came back from the killing fields they were sent to?

Rosa Parks got the honor of a Lying In Honor in the Capitol Rotunda, but the LAST veteran of the Great War to wear a US military uniform who went on to be a civilian POW of the Japanese in the Philippines isn't "entitled" to the honor according to the Speaker.

Worse yet, if you contact his office his staff has said that he only represents the 8th District of Ohio, NOT the American People. Yet he is the Speaker of the House so he answers to ALL Americans. Right now, he's refusing to answer to anyone.

Instead he's taking thousands of dollars a head to whine at fundraisers about his affair & blubbering on national television. That damn well doesn't sit okay with me!

Even the BBC & the French are having a go at the US for refusing to honor our last doughboy! Is the US so bereft of respect for their military that they'll allow an elected wind bag, who cries at the drop of a hat, ceremonially shit on the last US WWI veteran?

If you don't approve of this treatment of the last of an era, CONTACT YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES!

Speaker of the House

House of Representatives

112th Senate

The White House

Your Governor

Ask that Mr. Frank W. Buckles be given a Lying In Honor (if not the higher honor of a Lying In State) with an Honor Guard, in the Capitol Rotunda.

Ask what rules are being used to deny him this honor.

Ask why an elected official has refused to answer or explain his decision.

Ask why an elected official would refuse such an honor.

Let's get Mr. Buckles, and all his fellow doughboys, the honor they have long been denied!

Veteran's Day

To all my friends, family, and readers who are veterans, related to them, or support them - THANK YOU

I have been blessed to be raised around Marines, Navy, & Army troops. I am blessed to have met & married one of the most honorable, awesome men on the planet & lived an insane & priceless life with him. I have been enumerable blessed to meet & befriend so very many men & women in the military, my life would be severely lacking without you. I have been honored & blessed to meet just a few of our Allies but they are shining examples of the best mankind has to offer, deep & true friends. I have been blessed to meet (sometimes in person!) many of my blog readers who have served their nation & I am constantly ...

Humbled

Honored

Blessed

& so many more things by living this life.

The military people I know & love are wonderful examples of what an American is. They are from so many different walks of life, but they all personify the virtues that make this nation the greatest on the planet. Honor, dignity, responsibility, dedication & selflessness. You are heroes among men, even though none that I know would ever consider themselves a hero, nor would they toot their own horns. So as a wife, a grandchild, a niece, a friend, a loved one of so very many of them, I'll toot their horn for them.

THANK YOU to each and every one of the myriad military members I've had the great honor to know in my life. You have helped make me a better person, you've helped make my country a better place to raise my children, and you've helped make the world a better place for everyone. There are not words enough to convey the depth of my appreciation, or thanks but to each and every one of you, I owe a deep debt for all you've done & all you'll do.

Thank you!

A date which will live in infamy

To the Congress of the United States:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that Nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the Secretary of State of form reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government had deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our Nation.

As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces -- with the unbounded determination of our people -- we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December seventh, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

68 years ago we were sucker punched. 68 years later, we still remember.


Today, when the bell tolls again, remember those young men & women who withstood the onslaught of hate & terror. Who got themselves up, bandaged their wounds, buried their dead, & fought with a righteous anger against an aggressor without the intestinal wherewithal to fight fair. A bully is a bully, no matter what their size. Their hallmarks are to strike in the dark, attack civilians, & lay waste without thought to the costs in innocent lives. We've fought bullies before, we fight bullies now & I have no doubt that they will soon meet the same fate which is far more merciful than that which they gave out.

Happy Birthday

234 years young, and still the pride of the American people & the scourge of those who seek her destruction. Happy Birthday Marines! OORAH!

Memorial Day

In Flanders Field - John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.






Dirge for Two Veterans - Walt Whitman

THE last sunbeam
Lightly falls from the finish'd Sabbath,
On the pavement here, and there beyond it is looking,
Down a new-made double grave.

Lo, the moon ascending,
Up from the east the silvery round moon,
Beautiful over the house-tops, ghastly, phantom moon,
Immense and silent moon.

I see a sad procession,
And I hear the sound of coming full-key'd bugles,
All the channels of the city streets they're flooding,
As with voices and with tears.

I hear the great drums pounding,
And the small drums steady whirring,
And every blow of the great convulsive drums,
Strikes me through and through.

For the son is brought with the father,
(In the foremost ranks of the fierce assault they fell,
Two veterans son and father dropt together,
And the double grave awaits them.)

Now nearer blow the bugles,
And the drums strike more convulsive,
And the daylight o'er the pavement quite has faded,
And the strong dead-march enwraps me.

In the eastern sky up-buoying,
The sorrowful vast phantom moves illumin'd,
('Tis some mother's large transparent face,
In heaven brighter growing.)

O strong dead-march you please me!
O moon immense with your silvery face you soothe me!
O my soldiers twain! O my veterans passing to burial!
What I have I also give you.

The moon gives you light,
And the bugles and the drums give you music,
And my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans,
My heart gives you love.