Change You Can Believe In

Obama, fall ‘07:

“You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin. Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we’re talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for, I think, true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest.

“Instead,” Obama added rather grandiosely, “I’m going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism.”

Obama, Spring ‘08:

Pennsylvania:

West Virginia:

Barack Obama sported a flag lapel pin and talked up patriotism Monday as he campaigned in blue-collar West Virginia. He also shot a solid game of pool.

So what changed?

A Patriotic Lapel Pin Even Obama Would Love

Check it out over at Suitably Flip.

The reason I haven’t said anything about this latest gaffe of Obama’s is because everybody knows these slips of the tongue on the campaign trail happen to all politicians at one time or another.

A couple of thoughts, though, first the most obvious one: If McCain had said this, it would have been covered exhaustively in newspapers all across the country; it would have been evidence of him being an old man “losing his bearings”, and it would haunt him relentlessly all the way to election day. Obama says it, and of course he receives howls and cat-calls from the right-wing blogosphere, but it doesn’t receive a great amount of attention from the MSM. Because it’s just evidence of a man fatigued from too many days on the campaign trail. Which is what it is….but wouldn’t be if McCain had said it.

Second…where did he even get the 57 number? What the heck? At first I thought, “Maybe he means 57 cities?” But surely he’s been to more cities than that. I mean….???

UPDATE:

Possible answers:

1. Liberal commenters from all across the internets are saying “he was clearly joking”.

2. Hmmmmm.

3. (Most likely): He meant 47 states. He has one left + Alaska & Hawaii that he “wasn’t allowed to go to.” That’s all 50.

Not a joke, just a misstatement.

Thanks Geoff.

UPDATE:

Weird Coincidence!

Guess how many FBI officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty, last year?

That’s right.

Marine Corps Reservist Rescues Flag From Unspeakable Fate

He was arrested for his troubles, but no charges are being filed:

- A U.S. Marine Corps reservist won’t be charged for ignoring police requests and wading into a protest to rescue an American Flag.

(Ray Adam) Modisette of Shawnee was arrested Friday afternoon on a complaint of interfering with official police process.

“We believe the act was emotional and not really deliberate,” Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes said. “It caused us to take action, but we hated to have to do it.”

What caused the 20 year old reservist to react the way he did?

A Westboro Baptist Church protester was stuffing the American flag down her pants. 

Modisette was leaving Tinker Air Force Base in his car Friday when he saw the protester with the flag. He said he turned around and headed for the crowd to get the flag. He was handcuffed after ignoring several requests by officers to move away from the small group of demonstrators from Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan.

 Midwest City Assistant City Attorney Randal Homburg said he thinks there are grounds to prosecute Modisette for an act of civil disobedience, but he said that at the request of police, he’s declining to file charges.

Thank goodness. He should also be given a medal for service above and beyond the call of duty.  Semper Fi, dude!

Hat tip: Crime Scene KC

Move America Forward Fights Berkeley City Council

To sign the petition and/or donate to the Move America Forward ad campaign please visit the MAF website.

No Apology!

(Photo from Zombietime).

Can we question their patriotism, now?

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

After a day of enraged confrontation outside Berkeley City Hall between anti-war and pro-military demonstrators, the City Council backed down early Wednesday from its controversial decision to tell the U.S. Marines they are “unwelcome intruders” for operating a downtown recruiting center.

Council members conceded that they had erred in passing a resolution Jan. 29 that condemned the Marines - rather than the war in Iraq - and some council members added that they felt they owed U.S. troops an apology as well the many Berkeley residents who were ashamed and offended by their position.

“To err is human but to really screw up it takes the Berkeley City Council,” said council member Gordon Wozniak. “We failed our city. We embarrassed our city.”

That’s putting it mildly…..but what’s this?:

In the end, however, the council voted against issuing a public apology for its January action.

“We erred”, “we failed”, “we embarrassed”….but we don’t apologize!!!

That is some mighty chutzpa these people have.

The officials said, however, that they strongly believe the Bush administration has used lies and deceit to lead the country into a war in which nearly 4,000 American troops have been killed. They also criticized the government for what they said was hiding the horrors of the war behind a “support our troops” mantra....yada yada yada.

The chronicle reports that at its peak, there were 2000 people gathered outside City Hall.

Three protesters were arrested for minor scuffles with other demonstrators - and a fourth for allegedly slapping a police officer - in what was one of the largest demonstrations in the city in years.

Three of the protesters were teenagers, two boys 13 and 15, and a girl, 18, for slapping a police officer who told her to back away when she demanded the other two be released.

A 49 year old man was also arrested for brandishing a knife. He had foolishly ventured over to the anti-war side and was wrapped up in a banner by the pinkos. He took out his knife in self defense.

See Michelle Malkin for Melanie Morgan’s after action report about the Berkeley police’s open hostility toward the pro troop side. In part:

The cops were openly hostile toward the people who showed up at 5:00 a.m., never stepping in to protect the patriots from the assaults that took place against elderly folks, Gold Star parents, Blue Star families and Joe and Jane Citizen who were waving the flags and showing their pride in the Marines. The police allowed hundreds of Berkeley High School kids (accompanied by their teachers) to gather with CodePink, receive their mandatory face masks and F—k Bush t-shirts, and allowed them to mill around our PA where they tried to cut the power cords to the system.

Infuriating!

The intrepid Zombietime was there, yesterday. You can view all his pix at his website.

See also Neocon News for some tasty moonbat photoshops.

Code Pinkos And Patriots Face Off In Berkeley

Move America Forward and friends commenced picketing the City Council Chambers at 5:00 a.m. w.s.t., in time for the morning news cameras.

You can check the Move America Forward website throughout the day for photos, videos, and updates.

Michelle Malkin reports on some Senate shenanigans that took place last night as Dingy Harry pulled a fast one:

As you’ll recall, Sen. Jim DeMint moved to deny Berkeley millions of dollars worth of earmarks to the troop-bashing city. This would have put Democrats on record: For the moonbats or for the troops?

Well, Harry Reid managed to stymie movement on DeMint’s measure. He used a rare maneuver to delay the vote until later today–giving the council a chance to backtrack and giving cover to the Dems. A Senate staffer told me: “It’s truly incredible that they went to such great lengths to avoid having to deal with this.”

Where was John McCain?

THIRDWAVEDAVE left for Berkeley last night in this:

THIRDWAVEDAVE 1

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the crowd is expected to get big and rowdy today:

The city also is setting up barricades so staff can get in and out of the building safely and is beefing up police, fire and paramedic services throughout the day.

Code Pink activists got an early start on the demonstration by camping out Monday night on the lawn at City Hall. About 60 activists, including a few of the tree-sitters from UC Berkeley’s Oak Grove, danced, sang, listened to jazz and drank carrot juice as they pitched their tents for the night.

“This is a great gift to us to be able to ignite a national debate,” said Medea Benjamin, Code Pink spokeswoman. “We’re drawing a line in the sand on Shattuck Avenue and saying the war stops here.”

What a maroon.

See also Jamie Colby of Fox News

and

The Radio Patriot who has a live thread of the events. Things are already getting heated:

6:21 am - Daylight dawning on a crowd getting more heated in its vitriol. Code Pink is nose to nose with the patriots, but the police will not separate them. There are 30 police officers with riot gear, standing in a line waiting for something to happen, which will. Radio show host Melanie Morgan of Move America Forward is now on scene, making phone call to someone, insisting they separate the Code Pinkos from the patriots before someone gets hurt. Code Pinkos already are at fever pitch and it’s only now just dawn….More to come from our man on the scene…

PHEW:

The police have separated the groups. The Radio Patriot’s man on the ground reports that there are about 100 Code Pinkos and 150 patriots.

By noon the number has swelled to about a thousand pinkos and patriots evenly split. Many on the pinko side turned out to be teenagers playing hookie. When a blue star mom explains to some of them that Code Pink and International A.N.S.W.E.R are commies, the teens leave, significantly diminishing the pinko numbers.

UPDATE:

Michelle Malkin has more on the confrontation between the Pinkos and the MAF patriots:

Berkeley erupted in violence Tuesday morning when the Communist, terrorist-supporting anti-war group crossed into Martin Luther King Park and assaulted pro-troop individuals. Riot police stood by, but did not stop the assaults. Police agencies did not respond to calls for help.

Move America Forward, the nation’s largest pro-troop organization, received permits from the City of Berkeley to hold a daylong demonstration in MLK park against the City Council who passed three outrageous resolutions calling U.S. Marines “unwanted intruders.”

“It is mayhem on here,” MAF communications director Danny Gonzalez said from the park early Tuesday morning.

Code Pink was permitted for across the street. The two sides were to stay separated, according to rules laid down by the city. But the city has a history of giving Code Pink special preference.

You just know the Pinkos were acting bold because they know they’re on safe turf. They were hoping to goad the patriots to react violently so they could watch them get arrested, as they themselves often are in less friendly territory. The MAF forces are to be commended for their show of restraint, as the urge to bust some heads must have been simply overwhelming.

MAF Exeutive Director Catherine Moy attempted to get help from the Berkeley police as the mayhem unfolded, but an officer hung up on Moy. Moy asked the California Highway Patrol to help in the emergency, but the CHP refused. “I have never in my life experienced such inaction in the face of an emergency, “Moy said. “I will ask the Federal Government to investigate, as well as the State Attorney General.

Meanwhile, the Berkeley City Council’s actions have embarrassed even some liberal peace activists, as CNN reports:

Kriss Worthington, a progressive Berkeley activist and council member for 11 years, believes the council overreached.

“The inflammatory language in the City Council item is really outrageous — not just to right-wing people, but to mainstream liberal people and even to some peace activists who have said they’re insulted that the city would have such language,” Worthington said.

He said Berkeley owes an apology to the military and to the peace movement “for having such embarrassing language allegedly trying to promote peace.”

“When you make a colossal blunder, you can’t just sort of ignore the mistake and go about your way. You have to do something to fix it,” Worthington said.

The CNN website also has a slide show as well as a stomach churning video of some code pinkos singing a ditty that manages to be both anti-military and anti-religion.

Here are some almost live pictures from the MAF website. (Be patient, it’s takes a few seconds to load).

UPDATE (FEB 13):

No Apology from the City Council! 

Supah Tuesday!

Nothing to report yet, obviously, since voting just started, but I can say that the weather isn’t cooperating. We woke up to thunder and lightening this morning, and the heavy rain is going to change to freezing rain, sleet, and snow as the day progresses.

Gateway Pundit has full election coverage at his site, as does Michelle Malkin.

I’ll be voting in a little while…It’ll be interesting to see how busy the polls are.

Worth Reading today:

On Super Tues., You Call The Play by Michael Graham of the Boston Globe, about the unpredictability of this year’s contests:

Remember how certain you were that the Patriots [team stats] would go 19-0? How Tom Brady [stats] could start making room on his mantle for another MVP award?

That’s how certain political pundits, present company included, have been at every turn in this election.

Just six months ago, all the “smart guys” knew that Hillary Clinton had the nomination in the bag and Rudy Giuliani was her opponent in waiting. The headline “John McCain wins GOP nod” was as unlikely as “Violence in Baghdad down 70 percent.”

Just four weeks ago, Obama “couldn’t get votes from white people,” and most people mistook Mike Huckabee for an opening act in the Grand Ol’ Opry.

Then we had an actual vote in Iowa, and the same geniuses who blew it immediately declared Huckabee a front-runner and Hillary a has-been.

And so it has been after every vote this year: Pontification, bloviation and, afterward, humiliation. And still the pundits blather on.

Another good one:

A Republican(!) journalist from Advertising Age describes his Brooklyn voting experience in My Adventures In Voting Irregularities.

UPDATE:

Well, there was only one person ahead of me at my poll station, so voting was a snap. My husband and I went at 2:30 this afternoon, and the middle school’s (where our polling station is) parking lot was full of cars, and busses because the kids were just being dismissed from school. I would have thought that some of those parents might have killed two birds with one stone, and voted at the same time. But voter turnout was light, at that time.

Anyhoo, I did my civic duty.

UPDATE:

I was listening to local campaign coverage in the car, while I was driving my daughter to dance class. Callers were telling the hosts who they voted for, and why. It’s amazing how out of touch with reality some people are.

A couple of folks (Republicans) switched sides ( you can do that in MO) and voted for Obama because Hillary is sooo scary. But of course, Hillary would be easier to beat in the general…and Obama is more Liberal than Hillary…if they were paying attention at all, they would know that.

One caller said he got a bad feeling about McCain…wasn’t he in favor of Amnesty?

One Marine voting downtown was told there were no Republican ballots. They had to go to the storage room to find him one.

Also interesting:

There apparently are no Republican election night parties in Kansas City. The best one reporter could do was find KMBZ’s Shanin and Park’s radio show broadcasting live from The Hereford House, (a steakhouse, downtown), for election night coverage on the Republican side. Shanin’s a solid Republican, and Parks is an Independent.

The Obama and Clinton Campaigns both had events planned for reporters to cover.

The tally so far, from Drudge (11:00 ct):

CLINTON: AR, AZ, MA, MO, NY, NJ, OK, TN
OBAMA: AL, CT, CO, DE, GA, ID, IL, KS, MN, ND, UT

HUCKABEE: AL, AR, GA, TN, WV
MCCAIN: AZ, CT, DE, IL, MO, NJ, NY, OK
ROMNEY: CO, MA, MN, MT, ND, UT

Delegate Counts so far (from ABC News):

Biden		3
Clinton		466
Dodd		4
Edwards		41
Gravel		0
Kucinich		0
No Preference		0
Obama		411
Richardson		5

Republican Primary Results Real-time Race Results: Updated February 5, 2008 - 11:58 PM (all times Eastern Standard) Totals indicate the number of delegates accumulated to date. Needed to win: 1,191
Candidate		Delegates
Giuliani		1
Huckabee		138
Hunter		1
McCain		411
No Preference		0
Paul		9
Romney		168
Thompson		5
Undecided		0

Jim Geraghty says Fox has called CA for McCain.

Well, it’s all over.

Wednesday’s Hero

By Indian Kris Kringle @ 9:30 AM This Week’s Hero Was Suggested By Mark Bell

Born in Philadelphia, Marty Horn spent 20 years in the Army as a Military Policeman, retiring in 1993 and going to work in Internet technologies. In 2003, his son Brian Horn deployed to Iraq. Trying to support their son’s unit, Marty and his wife Sue, who also served as in the Military Police, put together the concept of Any Soldier. In essence, Any Soldier is an effort to provide support and encouragement to those who are in harm’s way. Due to overwhelming requests for ready-made care packages on the AnySoldier.com site, Sue Horn started TreatAnySoldier.com.

Using his background in Internet technologies, Marty built and maintains the web site. The Any Soldier program slowly expanded to include other Army units. In 2004, the program opened up to include all service branches.. In 2005, the websites for AnyMarine.com., AnySailor.com, AnyAirman.com, and AnyCoastguardsman.com were launched.

In the words of the Any Soldier web site: “The success of Any Soldier has far exceeded expectations and continues to grow with the invaluable help and guidance of our supporters, board members and Support Team.”

In the words of Marty Horn: “It is the supporters who deserve the credit.”

Thanks to the efforts of Marty and Sue, their son Brian, and a dedicated staff, over 950,000 servicemen and women received support and encouragement they would never have been able to get through the Any Soldier program.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

Project Valour IT

Nice Deb has joined the Air Force Team of bloggers raising money for Project Valour It, which helps provide voice-controlled and adaptive laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines recovering from severe injuries at major medical centers.

Funds collected, as of today, here.

The goal is $240,000, and we’ve still got a ways to go.

Here’s the PayPal link if you want to help out.

I’m still trying to find a way to put a link button to the Project Valour IT site on my left sidebar, but so far it’s not cooperating.

UPDATE ( November 20):

Good news from Soldiers Angels, New York:

The 3rd Annual Project Valour-IT Fundraising Competition has come to an end. While the total of checks has not yet been reported, the expectation is that the total will be over $200,000.

Thanks much to everyone who contributed.

Happy Veterans Day

Remember Our Injured Soldiers This Christmas

It’s that time of year, again.

Ed Gruberman has a post about how to send our wounded soldiers some holiday cheer.

Since 2001, packages that are addressed to “Any Wounded Service Member” have been disallowed for safety reasons at Walter Reed.

In addition, the U.S. Postal Service is no longer accepting “Any Service Member” or “Any Wounded Service Member” letters or packages. Mail to “Any Service Member” that is deposited into a collection box will not be delivered.

But there are alternatives.

All of the pertinent info at Gruberman’s.

Please check it out, I don’t want him to hurt me — Snap… Crack Woosh!!!

UPDATE:

Another idea for those of you who would like to do something for injured soldiers is  Project Valour-IT.

Every cent raised for Project Valour-IT goes directly to the purchase and shipment of laptops for severely wounded service members. As of October 2007, Valour-IT has distributed over 1500 laptops to severely wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines across the country.

More at Confederate Yankie

The Deuce You Say!

You probably haven’t heard about this, because according to Gateway Pundit, the media didn’t cover it, but yesterday, on the White House lawn, Bush declared that, (according to General Petraeus) “we are succeeding in Iraq”, and “we will succeed”.

The President was speaking before groups of military support organizations on the south lawn, where the families chanted USA! USA!, and gave him a standing O. (Video at Gateway Pundit).

There were mothers in that group, Sally Field. Proud mothers who support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and their deployed sons and daughters.

Imagine that.

Flying Submarines

No, not sandwiches, silly.

Dark Roasted Blend says the U.S. Navy is getting ready to turn pulp fiction into reality.
Today, the “flying sub” concept is very much alive, and even being considered by such heavy-weights as Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works (developers of the U-2 and Blackbird spy planes). This article details plans for an airplane that “starts and ends its mission 150 feet underwater”

Very cool.

H/T: Jonah Goldberg at The Corner

Anti-War Protest Kansas City Style

Well, the kids went back to school, this morning, so I thought I’d mosey on down to the big city to check out the moonbat action outside Bartle Hall, where Bush was speaking before the National VFW Convention.

Kansas City protesters aren’t as colorful or numerous as the ones in say, San Francisco, or NYC, but I took some pictures anyway. The signs were what you’d expect: the obligatory Bush/Hitler comparison, Abu Ghraib man-on-the-box pic, and inflated Iraqi casualty numbers (that neglect to mention how many of the dead are by terrorists….or are terrorists),

and of course, “Impeach Bush”.

I liked the plain cardboard placard — old school. My husband said it was probably a wall from his house. He’s terrible!

As I was heading back to my car, I ran into some Vets and their wives who had returned to their hotel. I asked if I could take their picture, and they were a little uptight about it until I told them that I was pro-American, unlike the bunch in front of Bartle Hall. Then they loosened up. They all enjoyed Bush’s speech.

Fred! To Speak At National VFW Convention In Kansas City

He is scheduled to speak at 11:00 cst.

Here’s a live feed.

I heard speculation this morning that he might decide to finally announce candidacy for President at this forum.

Dick Cheney used this forum to outline the case for war with Iraq in August, 2002.

UPDATE:

Forget it. He already spoke. No big announcements.

I was at the Oral surgeon’s with my nine year old; she had to have two baby teeth pulled, so I missed it. Bummer.

Word on the street, (Buffalo Woman at AOSHQ), is that he’ll announce on Sept. 5th at Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry.
If he doesn’t do it by then, he’s dead to me.