Joel's Rant
A Conservative Blog

Joel's Rant

4 Unlucky Marines

January 16th, 2012 . by joel

I’ve never been in a combat zone and I’ve never been in the military.  I avoided that in the 60’s when I was lucky enough, like many other men my age, to be safely ensconced in school.  Now, in my later years, I’m sorry I didn’t serve but I understand those words ring hollow today when I’m here in the present and some of my college classmates are remembered when I visit their names engraved in a wall. 

But that doesn’t mean I don’t understand war.  I certainly do, as do most thoughtful, thinking people, who similarly never served.  According to that crackpot, Ron Paul, I’d be unqualified to be the president because I didn’t serve.  Some of our greatest wartime presidents, FDR and Lincoln come to mind, didn’t serve either.  Neither did James Madison and James K. Polk, presidents during 2 of our 5 “declared” wars.  And neither did, of course, the greatest president in my lifetime, Ronald Reagan.  But Ron Paul’s an ass, so who of consequence really cares what he thinks? 

This brings me to my point.  By now you know that 4 US Marines were videotaped urinating on some dead Taliban bodies. U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called it “deplorable” and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she felt “total dismay” after hearing the story.  There are several investigations underway by the Navy and the Marine Corps and others to see how such a terrible thing could happen.  I suppose there’s no way such a “travesty” could take place in our armed forces, during a period of war mind you, and our political class merely looking the other way, or letting it slide.  No, that could not be possible.

Here’s my take on this story. I’m glad those 4 Marines did what they did.  I’m just sorry they didn’t set those dead barbarian freak bodies on fire or desecrate them in some other way.  I’m just sorry they didn’t cut off their freak barbarian heads and kick them around like soccer balls and then fling them into a river.  They deserved to be desecrated and defiled.  Our soldiers are warriors, sent to a foreign battlefield to kill, conquer and vanquish the enemy. And they should be allowed to do so with speed and dispatch, the same way we fought our war in WWII. War is freaking war and people die and that’s what’s supposed to happen, for crying out loud. 

And how are our warriors supposed to psychologically handle that situation, the war situation, the same one Ron Paul claims I’m not supposed to understand because I’ve never been sent to fight.  How are they supposed to react after being in battle, with their very lives in constant danger?  Our vaunted leaders like Panetta and Clinton think our warriors should go out and kill the people who are trying to kill them first, and then when they’re finished killing the bad people, to apparently just shrug that off, like they would at the Pentagon or the State Department, and go back to nation building and maybe get some coffee.  Are they serious?  How can our warriors be expected to do merely that.  It’s not what reasonable people would do.  How did our warriors of WWII handle that and how did they regard those they had to kill?  With anger?  With depravity?  With worse?  Maybe. Probably.

And that’s as it should be, no?  When you put people, like our warriors, in harm’s way, we need to not be offended when they vent their rage and anger. That venting is exactly what freaking keeps them human beings, for crying out loud.

Civil War general, William Tecumseh Sherman, is well known for his quote that “War is hell.”  But that’s not his best quote.  His best quote would be “War is cruelty.  There is no use trying to reform it.  The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”  Now ain’t that the truth?

Our problem is that we are, through our sanctimonious leaders and the fifth-column mainstream media, trying indeed to reform it into something not quite so bad.  We now demand no collateral damage, no innocent’s being killed, no severity, only proportionality, defenseless rules of engagement that expose our own troops to danger and on and on.  And now we’re at a point where we have to fight a weak and insignificant-in-numbers enemy for a decade or more and still we’re not done. 

I say no.  We need to fight this war, and any war, with ferocity and focus until we have slaughtered our enemies and vanquished them from the field of battle, even if that battlefield is in a village or even a hospital.  Because that’s how wars are fought.  Because the crueler it is the sooner it will be over.  And yes, there will be dead people, and maybe lots of them.

And if we’re not going to fight like that, then let’s not send our precious warriors to fight at all.

And that’s all there is to it.


What have we learned this week?

September 27th, 2010 . by joel

What a week for Barack Obama and the Democrats?  I think they really revealed themselves in a most dastardly fashion.

Obama is revealed; by of all people the liberal pundit, author, and Sunday morning mainstream media favorite Bob Woodward, as demonstrably ambivalent about the Afghanistan War and in fact only cares about how the so-called “good war” will play out politically for him and his runaway agenda. 

Even though he campaigned furiously about the importance of winning in Afghanistan, Woodward, who was given free rein to wander the halls of the White House and to talk to anyone without restriction, portrays a president thinking only of himself and his place in history.  That campaign tough talk was all a ruse, a fake, a fraud.  It was all “so Obama.”  Why am I not surprised.

The ramifications of Obama’s dysfunctional coldness and narcissism does not much interest me here because the real issue that every American should feel and care about is how could he order over 100,000 American troops into harm’s way when all he cares about is spending more money on his failed domestic policies?  The American’s presently fighting this war are someone’s sons and daughters, or husbands and wives, or fathers and mothers, or loved ones and friends and represent real people who have their own lives to lose.  How could he possibly send them to a place where they can easily be killed when he doesn’t give a hoot for the mission to which he clearly falsely claimed was a war that must be won?  He lied, he lied, and in a very real and horrible way, people have literally died.  Literally.  What kind of person does that?  How did we let that happen?

But there’s more. 

Earlier this week, a former Voting Chief for the Civil Rights Division of the Barack Obama-Eric Holder Justice Department, testified under oath before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, that the DOJ is purposely ignoring civil rights cases that involve white victims.  What the fudge is that all about?  In fact, Christopher Coates, formerly a top attorney for the ACLU and once the lead attorney in the New Black Panthers Party case, for crying out loud, even called the dismissal of charges against the Black Panthers a “travesty of justice.”

Coates stated that Obama political appointees dismissed the case because they are opposed to enforcing civil rights laws in a racially neutral fashion.  Coates testified that he was reprimanded by Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King when he asked attorneys in job interviews if they could enforce the law equally.  He claimed King took offense because she does not support equal enforcement of the provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

To repeat, all of that was testified to by Coates under oath.

That testimony corroborated earlier testimony by J. Christian Adams, also formerly a high level attorney at the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, that Obama political appointee Julie Fernandes made it clear that the Voting Section at the Justice Department would not be bringing any more cases against “traditional national racial minorities”, like the members of the New Black Panthers Party.

So the Democrat Party, the party of inequality and blatantly racist preferential treatment, strikes again.  It’s clear the DOJ will not enforce the laws which it does not agree with.  If that’s not a definition of tyranny, what is?  What kinds of people do that?  How did we let that happen?

But there’s more.

There does not appear to be a single Democrat running for reelection this year who is embracing the “achievements” of the Obama-Reid-Pelosi legislation of the past 20 months.  If anyone knows of a Democrat running toward that agenda, please let me know.

So here are the Democrats, virtually every single one of them, who voted for $862 Billion in stimulus money even though the recession had ended in July 2009, before any stimulus money had even been spent, for Cap & Trade “Soviet-style” industrial central planning, for ObamaCare legislation that could only be passed by deception, coercion and malfeasance, and for takeovers and bailouts, for turning their backs and pretending they had absolutely nothing to do with it.  Somehow all of that economic destruction happened all on its own.  They don’t know about it, they weren’t anywhere near the Capitol Building when it was passed, it must have been someone else, the dog ate their homework and on and on.

The point is the Democrats in Congress are unprincipled leaches on our civil society.  I suppose there are some Republicans that are just as disgusting, but at least virtually none of them had anything to do with the stuff that has generated over $3 Trillion in new debt in just 20 months, forced a record number of Americans onto Medicaid and Food Stamps, generated the most housing foreclosures in history, grew unemployment from 7.5% on January 19, 2009 to 10% today with the unofficial unemployment rate actually at almost 18% and to over 20% in some states, and have taken over the health decisions of every American.  No, that’s just the Democrats, they did that, it’s all on them and none of them will take responsibility.   How did we let that happen?

And what about the voters?  I think there really is something to the old saying that you get the government you deserve.  Just look at what’s about to happen in New York State, for example.

They have Andrew Cuomo running for Governor and he is ahead in his race by about 8 points or so.  What makes that so difficult to believe is that it was Cuomo, while head of Bill Clinton’s Department of Housing and Urban Development, who instructed banks, under pain of law, to make loans to people who could never afford to pay the loans back.  It was Cuomo who decided that welfare payments and unemployment payments must be called income and included in the calculation for the purposes of determining mortgage approval.  It was Cuomo who went to Clinton’s Attorney General Janet Reno to demand actions against banks that did not accept Cuomo’s lending requirements.  But New Yorkers are still favoring Cuomo and will likely elect him to Governor of their bankrupt and mismanaged state.  Go figure!

And then there’s Kirsten Gillibrand running for Senator and leading her opponent by about 10 points.  It was Gillibrand to whom Cuomo turned while he was at HHS to find ways to make it easier for otherwise ineligible people to get mortgages.  It was Gillibrand who developed the infamous “no-income” mortgage and infamous “no-proof” mortgage.  She was one of the leaders of the policy that lead directly to the mortgage and financial crisis our nation is presently suffering through.  But New Yorkers will likely make her a Senator for another 6 years.  You can’t make this stuff up.

But wait, let’s not leave out Senator Chuck Schumer, also running for reelection and is leading his opponent by a whopping 23 points or more.  It was Schumer, along with Chris Dodd and Barney Frank, who objected to reigning in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and making sure only Democrats like Franklin Raines, Frank Johnson and Jamie Gorelick were allowed to lead these entities and take bonus and salary in the millions. Raines actually took over $90 million in salary and bonuses while Gorelick took over $20 million.  But Schumer has a complete lock on reelection bestowed upon him by admiring New Yorkers.  That’s bullcrap!

When that kind of constituent thinking permeates the Democrat party you know our country is in mortal danger.

And isn’t that what we’ve learned again this week?  That it doesn’t take much to turn our great nation into a near Third World backwater? 

These people have got to go.  Voters need to wise up. 

Regardless of your lifetime political persuasion, this time you need to do something positive for the future of our country.  This time you need to do something positive for your family’s future, for your children and grandchildren.  This time you need to vote like your very life depends on it. 

This year you need to vote Republican.

And that’s all there is to it.


The Final Solution‏

June 9th, 2010 . by joel

When was the last time all the countries in the world got together to condemn one single country.  Yes, there have been times when the United Nations, that well known cesspool of dictators, thugs, killers, and other assorted miscreants, was able to pass a resolution with the majority of the voting states condemning some nation for something or other.  Usually that denunciation meant bullcrap, and the world went on as usual, the condemned generally not stopping to even take a breath or giving a damn.

But I’m talking here about the entire freaking world voting as a block, even including those genius inventors of socialism, communism, Nazism and fascism, the Europeans, whom we can’t wait to emulate.  Even the United States of America agrees to condemn this one single country.

Maybe that one single country was North Korea.  They certainly deserve to be condemned.  Didn’t they just recently attack another country by deliberately and wantonly destroying a capital warship without any warning, killing 46 sailors and injuring many others, in what was actually an act of war?  And didn’t they secretly try to build a nuclear weapons production plant in Syria?  No, that’s not the one.

Or maybe it was Iran.  They also deserve to be condemned.  Aren’t they in the process of building a nuclear weapon that they will likely use to blackmail the rest of the world and aren’t they, along with North Korea, the most aggressive and transparent supporters of world-wide terrorism, including the proactive killing of American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan?  And haven’t they stated flat out that their goal is the destruction of a specific western democracy and member of the United Nations?  No, that’s not the one.

Could it be Sudan?  Talk about deserving to be condemned.  Isn’t their leadership responsible for the deliberate killing, starving and actually selling into slavery of about a million of its own citizens in Darfur over the past 20 years and have not yet stopped even to eat a sandwich?  No, not them either?

What about Cuba or Venezuela, subjugating their own people and exporting Communism and supporting terrorism in Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil and other Latin American nations and otherwise attempting to create instability everywhere?  They deserve to be condemned too.  But no, neither of them are “the one.”

Or what about Burma or Belarus or Zimbabwe or any number of other countries led by disgusting and degenerate leaders?  Nope, don’t be a fool, fool!

No, “the one” could only be tiny Israel, the land of the Jews.  So here’s a country of 7.5 million souls, not all of them Jews by the way, that occupies land about the size of perhaps New Jersey, surrounded by 1.5 billion (that’s billion with a “b”) Arabs and Muslims occupying land stretching from the banks of Western Africa to Indonesia, and all those latter people’s fondest wish is to see all the Jews dead.  And with all the malice that can be mustered, now it seems that the rest of the world feels the same way.

How else can the events of the past two weeks be explained?  How is it that Israel is not universally viewed as the victim here?  Any rational and thoughtful person should normally see it that way, no?  Why is it that Hamas, the Palestinians or the Turks are not being condemned? 

The killers in Hamas and Hezbollah, both proxy armies of Iran, have been engaged in war against the civilian Israeli population for the past several decades.  A summary of the atrocities perpetuated against Israel could literally fill a book, but one need not concentrate on that to get the full flavor of the injustice here.  Hamas and Hezbollah have been firing rockets indiscriminately into Israeli population centers for years with the intent of killing as many innocent civilian men, women and children as possible.  Over 10,000 rockets have been fired by Hamas alone, which makes perverse sense since the Hamas charter calls for the elimination of Israel no matter how long it takes.  It actually says that.  It’s like part of their depraved constitution.

To put that into some perspective, what do you suppose the response of the United States would be if a terrorist army in Tijuana began lobbing hundreds of mortar shells into downtown San Diego?   What is it you would expect the leaders of the United States would do?  Would you expect no action, maybe just talk and negotiation with the bad guys?  I personally would expect, assuming Barack Obama were not president, an American military response, directed by a conservative American Commander-in-Chief that would be immediate and adjudicated with ferocity and maximum prejudice.  That would seem about right to me, and hopefully to you too.

Then why does the world expect Israel to act differently, to not act in self-defense, to not protect their population and sovereignty?   Why is it that Israel must compromise while their enemies do not and, in fact, never have?  Why must Israel unilaterally return land, taken in war to provide a buffer for protection, to those that then immediately use that territory to assault their civilian populations?  Why does the world make excuses for the terrorists and condemns Israel for “atrocities?”   Why isn’t Russia ever held to account for their treatment of the people of Chechnya, or China for the people of Tibet?

The reason is simple.  It’s because the all the world hates the Jews.

Even here in the United States, our leaders and mainstream liberal media condemned Israel with the smartest woman in the world, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying our government supports the UN resolution calling for condemnation and investigations into Israel’s untoward actions, as if we would allow the UN to investigate our actions in Afghanistan, for instance.  In her statement on the subject Clinton asked absolutely nothing of the Turks or their radical Islamist leader.  She only asked Israel to account.  And what I found to be particularly insidious was Clinton’s repeated uses of the phrases “peace activists” and “humanitarian aid” to describe what was supposedly being delivered to the Palestinians.  That was a total fraud.  Only stupid people, or willfully blind people, or those that hate Jews would continue to use those deceitful and duplicitous descriptions since the flotilla represented absolutely nothing of the kind.   

So why would our government buy into this hateful effort to hurt a trusted and long-standing ally?

My guess is the Obama regime has no use for allies or friends or western coalitions.  He’s just simply more comfortable with socialists and Marxists.  Obama’s apology tour of the world, ending with his Cairo speech in which he denounced America, reveals his contempt for the United Sates and its exceptionalism and allows him to seek friendships with enemies and antagonism toward friends.  It’s the Chicago way, or maybe it’s worse.

Maybe that’s why Obama double-crossed the Poles and Czechs by embracing instead Russia’s attitude toward missile defense, for which he received absolutely nothing in return.  Maybe that’s why Obama chose to directly align himself with the dictators Hugo Chavez and the Castro brothers and against the lawful actions of the democratic Honduras Supreme Court when they ousted their communist leader.   Maybe that’s why Obama had no problem siding with the Argentines, and against the UK, in the recent trouble over the Falkland Islands, and also humiliating Nickolas Sarkozy of France by continually blowing him off instead of meeting with the French as Sarkozy requested.    

And how could anyone forget the humiliation foisted on Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, who among other acts of arrogance and disdain for Israel, was left by Obama, alone in a White House anteroom, while Obama went to dinner with his family with instructions that Netanyahu think over his own stubbornness, as if he were a petulant child.  How Netanyahu, a no-nonsense former Israeli commando who has actually faced death straight-out, had the presence of mind not to reach over and smack some sense and manners into Obama is beyond me.

But what we’re seeing here is the serious weakening of the United States, with dangerous implications and consequences for the future.  Brazil and Turkey make a deal to help Iran constitute uranium and neither country doesn’t care a whit what the United States thinks. That would have been unthinkable under either of the Bushes or Reagan or possibly even Bill Clinton.  But our enemies are watching this spectacle unfold; they’re taking notes, they sense weakness of Obama and blood in the water, they know the United States is afraid to act, even in its own self-interest.  Our allies meanwhile sense a lack of trust and commitment and discipline of purpose, and are justifiably very worried.

And that American weakness is what leads to efforts by the forces of evil to send flotillas to arm Hamas right out in the open, or sink ally warships, or kill American soldiers, because the entire world knows the United States has become a paper tiger under Barack Obama.  The entire world knows we will do absolutely nothing.

Does the world believe the United States would retaliate or come to the aid of Israel if it’s attacked with nuclear weapons by Iran?  The answer would have to be no, no?  Does anyone actually believe Obama would lift a finger to save the Jewish State from total destruction (or for that matter, save Taiwan from a Chinese invasion)?

And that’s what the bad guys think too.  And that’s what makes Iran becoming a nuclear power so dangerous.  And don’t the Jews really deserve universal and world-wide condemnation anyway?

So what Hitler ultimately failed to do, the Iranians might actually get away with.  All the green lights point that way.  The runway is being cleared.  No one will try to stop them.   The world has reconciled their hatred of the Jews.  The Final Solution is only moments away.

And that’s all there is to it.


I Should be President of the United States

January 8th, 2010 . by joel

I think I should be President of the United States.  I clearly know more about keeping Americans safe and the nation secure than that dumb ass (TDA) that is officially the President of the United States.

I’ve known that we’ve been at war with a vicious barbaric Islamic extremist enemy for the past 8 years.  Barack Obama (TDA) in his speech Thursday evening finally came to the conclusion that, in fact, we actually are at war.  He’s never said that before, in fact, he instructed his entire administration and all his lackeys that they can never use the term “war on terror”.  So he just now figured it out, 8 years after I figured it out; we’re at war.  (Of course, even though according to TDA we’re now officially at war, it doesn’t mean we’re going to interrogate the Yemeni trained terrorist Abdulmutallab (YTTA) to get real intelligence about our enemy or that we’re going to stop Mirandizing enemies caught on the battlefield or that the decision to hold a civilian criminal trial for Khalid Sheik Mohammed will be reversed, or that CIA satellite cameras will stop foolishly following Arctic ice flows and instead be trained on enemy camp sites in Yemen or Afghanistan.  Makes you wonder about TDA’s real commitment to war, no?)

I’ve known for the past 8 years that Yemen was a hotbed of terrorist activities and is considered a failed state with no discernable government, sort of like Somalia.  As late as just last week, TDA was still claiming that planned transfers of Guantanamo prisoners back to Yemen would continue without interruption.  However, two days ago he gave the order that transfers would not proceed because of the instability of the Yemini government.  What happened in the past few days to change TDA’s mind, where he thought Yemen would be fine and now just days later thinks they’re “unfine?”  And what is with this infantile fixation of TDA to close Guantanamo in the first place and set it up in Thompson, Illinois?  What changes by moving a prison from one zip code to another, except that the terrorists will be granted Constututional rights for being inside the United States?  And what’s with this complete crap about Guantanamo being a recruiting tool for al Qaida?  Can TDA or anyone else produce any substantive evidence that such a claim is even remotely true?  And once Guantanamo is closed, if that ever happens, does anyone actually suppose al Qaida recruitment will cease or be reduced?  Who thinks that foolish nonsense?

If I had been president I would have stopped playing golf and immediately come home from Hawaii to take command of the investigation of the near Christmas Day tragedy.  I would have immediately given a statement about the seriousness of the events and stated the facts that were known just that one time, unless of course new information needed to be disseminated to a worried public.  Instead, TDA has given five separate statements or speeches in which he has offered absolutely nothing new.  In all of those appearances he has merely rehashed what was already essentially known back on that Christmas day.  He says nothing of value.  He adds nothing of value.  He takes no questions.  He just drones on and on.  He’s like Castro.  He can make your head explode, for crying out loud.  And watching him give a speech is almost impossible once you notice his head continually moving back and forth and back and forth while reading his teleprompter.  I actually got motion sick watching his Thursday speech.

I’ve always known, that even as a left wing governor from Arizona, Janet Napolitano was not only over her head but was close to being an idiot.  With her ridiculous remark on Christmas Day, that the security apparatus of America worked, I knew she was not only incompetent but a complete idiot.  But her comment on Thursday, after TDA spoke, that she was actually shocked that al Qaida would attempt an attack on the United States by using only one single attacker, instead of a many faceted conspiracy, literally had blood shooting from my eyes.  It’s as if she’s been in a coma since 9/11. And then there’s the head of TDA’s counter-terrorism center that goes on vacation the day after Christmas so as not to ruin his 7-year old’s birthday, and CIA’s Leon Panetta being on vacation all last week and on and on and on.

So TDA says he’s not going to fire anyone for not connecting the dots that would have stopped YTTA from terrorizing flight 253 over Detroit.  This is the same TDA that is pushing forward with prosecuting the CIA intelligence officers that got Khalid Sheik Mohammad to give up actionable information that saved Los Angeles from a 9/11-type attack and provide insight into all sorts of al Qaida operations.  It is also TDA that is continuing with the courts martial of Navy SEALS that captured an al Qaida commander in the field because the terrorist ended up with literally a fat lip.  And don’t forget TDA’s reporting of the Fort Hood terrorist massacre.  Doesn’t TDA’s behavior in these cases, and others from the past year, show his lack of seriousness in fighting terror, that those on the front line might have cause for fear of their careers if they make a mistake or appear to be too aggressive or not to be sensitive enough?  Maybe that’s why the people in Fort Hood failed to connect the dots when it came to Nidal Hasan; maybe they feared making a mistake or worried they’d be called racists.  And given TDA’s penchant for being unserious about national security, maybe the “dot-connectors” had reason to be concerned for themselves.

It seems to me that the only dots TDA and his minions want to connect are those in the past (aka GWB).  They’re pretty happy about trying to connect those.  They just aren’t really concerned about connecting the dots of the present.  Clearly those dots are more difficult and worrisome and you can’t hide from having to take responsibility for those.  By the way, I’ve really come to hate that expression “connecting the dots”. 

It’s better for TDA to just to say everyone is not to blame, that the problem is “systemic” (I’ve also come to hate the word “systemic” which is really code for “blame George W. Bush”), and move on to making the traveling public suffer with more stupid, child-like, insipid, expensive and inane new security measures at airports, like having a machine attempt to look in my pants.  I suppose that sounds good at the surface, but how will TDA handle, I wonder, the problem he’ll be faced with when the bad guys start pushing a vile of PETN up their rectums?  I can only imagine those pat-downs.

Instead, I should be president because I’d take the offense, I’d abandon all handling of terrorists as civilian criminals, I’d unleash the American intelligence authorities, I’d profile like the Israelis do, I’d turn bad guys over to the military for interrogation, I’d not only keep Guantanamo open but I’d expand it, I’d waterboard as necessary, and I’d execute as necessary just like FDR did and I’d definitely drop a cruise missile into the homes of Kim Jung Ill and the extremist mullahs in Iran.  And most importantly, I’d make sure that terrorist states and terrorists specifically really feared the United States.

That’s why I think I should be President of the United States.

And that’s all there is to it.

http://www.nationalreview.com/onthenews/?q=Y2ZkOGFjYWQ4YWVhODU1OTA5MWQyOWUzMmJmYjQ4ZDI=

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100107/pl_nm/us_security_airline_airports

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/01/07/2010-01-07_white_defends_.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/07/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6069399.shtml


The Best Americans

December 25th, 2009 . by joel

How many people know the name Tiger Woods and can describe in pretty good detail the stories that have been in the news about him over the past couple of weeks?  Or how many people know the exploits of that idiot couple that crashed the White House state dinner a short while ago?  Or how many people refer to sports players as “heroes” because they bring entertainment to those that might be interested in their game?

Obviously the details of the “everyday” are with us and often stare us in the face even when we’re not concerned or don’t want to be bothered, or even are aghast that we even know their names.  Why do I know the name Jermaine Jackson, for instance?  Or even Jesse Jackson?  Why aren’t these people forgotten even before they make their way into our brains.

On the other end of the spectrum are people we don’t know, whose names mean nothing to us, yet they represent all that is great with America, that their souls are entwined with ours, that their very existence make us better, yet they live and die in complete anonymity.

Why aren’t the exploits of these people made known to us, and cheered by our leaders and taught in our schools?   Here are 6 of those people, whose gallantry and selfless courage make us better and represent what our country is all about.  These are the 6 Congressional Medal of Honor awardees from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.  These are people whose names everyone should know.

The links provide the exact citations but a summary of their unmitigated valor are as follows.  In this, our national holiday season, we should take a moment and remember these men and the others who have sacrificed so much for us:

Jared C. Monti, United States Army (Afghanistan)

Sgt. Monti commanded a platoon of 16 soldiers that was ambushed by about 50 enemy fighters.  While his men took cover to continue the fight, Sgt. Monti left his men to move forward to within about 175 feet of the enemy to direct artillery fire, when he spotted one of his men wounded and in the open.  Without regard to himself, Sgt. Monti tried to get the man to safety and was killed while running in the open.

Michael P. Murphy, United States Navy (Afghanistan)

While leading a 4-man team in search of a specific terrorist his men were ambushed by about 50 enemy fighters.  While he and all of his men were wounded, they fought the enemy and killed or wounded many, at which point the team’s communicator became unable to continue his effort to gain command HQ support.  Lt. Murphy at that point tried to raise HQ himself but realized he could not communicate unless he had a better position which could only be gained by moving into an open and unprotected area.  While mortally wounded, Lt. Murphy continued to fight and eventually was able to get support from HQ.  He continued the fight until he died.

Jason L. Dunham, United States Marine Corp. (Iraq)

While searching a vehicle Cpl. Dunham was attacked by an insurgent.  While wrestling with the enemy combatant, the insurgent opened a grenade.  Cpl. Dunham, without hesitation, leaped onto the grenade, and with his body shielded the blast from his comrades, saving at least 2 other Marines from certain death.  Cpl. Dunham was killed.

Ross A. McGinnis, United States Army (Iraq)

Pvt. McGinnis was manning a 50-calibre machine gun when a grenade was tossed into his 5-man armored vehicle.  Without hesitation Pvt. McGinnis leaped onto the grenade, thereby saving the lives of his 4 other comrades.  Pvt. McGinnis was killed.

Michael A. Monsoor, United States Navy SEAL (Iraq)

While engaging the enemy a grenade bounced off the chest of PO. Monsoor, who without hesitation, leaped onto the grenade and thereby saving the lives of the 2 comrades with him.  Although PO. Monsoor was the only one of the 3 SEALs that could have escaped the grenade; he instead gave his life so the others could be spared.

Paul R. Smith, United States Army (Iraq)

While under attack, Sgt. Smith jumped into a fighting vehicle to man a 50-calibre machine gun so that his comrades could withdraw and take many other wounded soldiers with them.  While completely exposed Sgt. Smith continued his fire until he was hit and killed.

http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/afghanistan.html

http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/iraq.html


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