Phony phony soldier story

This whole thing about Rush Limbaugh calling all soldiers who oppose the Iraq War "phony" is really so ridiculous that I had to respond. I listen to Rush everyday and am a Rush 24/7 subscriber so I have access to transcripts, video, audio, etc. Rush was talking about the phenomenon of civilians faking military service and lies about atrocities - phony soldiers.

Exhibit A:
Here's the transcript with my comments boxed, bolded and in black:

CALLER: No, it's not. And what's really funny is they never talk to real soldiers. [real, as in, actual soldiers, i.e. people ho have served and are not making up stories that they were in the military] They pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue [literally out of nowhere, because they are fake] and spout to the media.

RUSH: The phony soldiers. [He means FAKE soldiers, not actual soldiers who have served but disagree with Iraq]

CALLER: Phony soldiers. If you talk to any real soldier and they're proud to serve, they want to be over in Iraq, they understand their sacrifice and they're willing to sacrifice for the country.

RUSH: They joined to be in Iraq. [They chose to serve, were not duped into serving, they understand what they are doing and joined to help in Iraq]

CALLER: A lot of people. [Most, not all]

RUSH: You know where you're going these days, the last four years, if you sign up. The odds are you're going there or Afghanistan, or somewhere. [If you disagree with what the military is doing, why would you sign up in the last few years?]

[then they talk about WMD, etc. if you want to read the whole thing yourself click on the link above]

RUSH: Here is a Morning Update that we did recently, talking about fake soldiers. [FAKE, not real, phony, people who did not serve, but claim to] This is a story of who the left props up as heroes. [they don't like the war, so their heroes are anti-war] They have their celebrities and one of them was Army Ranger Jesse Macbeth. Now, he was a "corporal." I say in quotes. [Because he wasn't a corporal, he was a phony] Twenty-three years old. What made Jesse Macbeth a hero to the anti-war crowd wasn't his Purple Heart; it wasn't his being affiliated with post-traumatic stress disorder from tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. [the left often likes to overhype the number of PTSD stories] No. What made Jesse Macbeth, Army Ranger, a hero to the left was his courage, in their view, off the battlefield, without regard to consequences. He told the world the abuses he had witnessed in Iraq, American soldiers killing unarmed civilians, hundreds of men, women, even children. In one gruesome account, translated into Arabic and spread widely across the Internet [now a lot of people around the world think it is true and commonplace and will not hear the rest of the story] , Army Ranger Jesse Macbeth describes the horrors this way: "We would burn their bodies. We would hang their bodies from the rafters in the mosque." [Very tempting story for those who call US soldiers baby-killers and terrorists]

Now, recently, Jesse Macbeth, poster boy for the anti-war left, had his day in court. And you know what? He was sentenced to five months in jail and three years probation for falsifying a Department of Veterans Affairs claim and his Army discharge record. [i.e. he is a liar, a PHONY SOLDIER] He was in the Army. Jesse Macbeth was in the Army, folks, briefly. Forty-four days before he washed out of boot camp. Jesse Macbeth isn't an Army Ranger, never was. [PHONY] He isn't a corporal, never was.[PHONY SOLDIER] He never won the Purple Heart, and he was never in combat to witness the horrors he claimed to have seen. [liar, phony, hurt the US cause and put our soldiers in danger by perpetrating torture lies] You probably haven't even heard about this. [You only hear about Abu Gharib] And, if you have, you haven't heard much about it. [Or you only heard the part about the torture and murder and still believe it] This doesn't fit the narrative and the template in the Drive-By Media and the Democrat Party as to who is a genuine war hero. [Because the only heroes in their minds are those who are against the war, paint US troops as cold blooded killers, and help push public support against the Iraq War] Don't look for any retractions, by the way. [Don't look for any retractions about the phony soldier story either] Not from the anti-war left, the anti-military Drive-By Media, or the Arabic websites that spread Jesse Macbeth's lies about our troops, because the truth for the left is fiction that serves their purpose. They have to lie about such atrocities because they can't find any that fit the template of the way they see the US military. [They want a repeat of Vietnam where stories of soldier atrocities helped turn public sentiment against the war - most of those atrocities were fake and many of the people who reported them were phony soldiers - i.e. were never soldiers or never served in Vietnam] In other words, for the American anti-war left, the greatest inconvenience they face is the truth. [The truth is that there are not large scale atrocities commited as a daily occurence with the approval of everyone up to the president, but that is what the anti-war left wishes for the most]

Exhibit B:
From the daily e-mail Rush 24/7 subscribers get called "Rush in a Hurry" that I received on 9/26 at 5:23pm (Media Matters reported on the story at 1:24pm on 9/27):

A caller claiming to be a Republican against the war, asked, "How long is too long to stay in Iraq?" The answer, of course, is that we should stay as long as it takes to achieve victory. A soldier returning from Iraq responded to the call and Rush shared the story of the "liberal war hero" [phony soldier] that you won't hear about. He pawned himself off as an Army Ranger and made the rounds yakking against the war effort. [notice how it doesn't say "and Rush talked about how soldiers who want to pull out of Iraq are phony]

Exhibit C:
The bottom of the transcript I linked to has a link to a HotAir article that talks about this ABC News story about Jesse MacBeth:

"Macbeth's lies fueled hostility to our servicemen in Iraq and here at home," Sullivan said.

Federal prosecutors and investigators with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Veterans Affairs say they are in the midst of a crackdown on phony heroes.

"The phony war hero phenomenon plagues the American landscape and tarnishes the service of thousands of veterans who have served honorable," said Douglas Carver, special agent in charge of the VA's inspector general operation in the west.

Rush responds:



Bottom line: Rush Limbaugh did not call anti-war US soldiers phonies!

Team's best player is mascot

Chiefs get momentum from mascot’s tackle

The confident man ran on the field, and for the longest time nobody ran out to get him. The Chiefs’ security staff seemed about as alert as the Chiefs’ players. The man ran around, then he taunted the Vikings for a few seconds (one player even made a fake as if he were going to go after the guy), then he ran again.
...Then, the yellow coats of security started to close in around the man. That’s when KC Wolf entered the scene. He ran on the field to help. In his 18-year career, KC Wolf has stopped two overzealous fans — one at Arrowhead and one (believe it or not) at the Pro Bowl. Wolf was not looking to be a hero. He just wanted to help block the man’s path.

But some have greatness thrust upon them. The man looked around, surveyed his situation, saw that he was being stalked by five security guards and also a 7-foot-2 wolf, and he made the rather shrewd strategic decision to run at KC Wolf.

That’s when KC Wolf took him down. Wolf stood up and belly-flopped on the guy and security guards. He flexed his muscles as security took the man away.

The crowd erupted in the loudest cheers of the day. The Chiefs’ sideline erupted in laughter. The cheerleaders erupted in dance. There were a lot of eruptions.

“That was awesome!” Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen said.

“That was classic!” Chiefs offensive guard Brian Waters said.

“Hilarious!” Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez said.

“That really was funny,” Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said.

I just loved the picture! Here's the video:

When onions attack

Des Moines police investigate attack by onion

A Des Moines man went to jail Wednesday afternoon for allegedly throwing an onion at his wife.

The police report begins: "(The victim) states her husband had been drinking and they got into an argument."

James Izzolena, 54, of 3515 Sheridan Ave., was charged with domestic assault causing injury. Police said he became upset with his wife, Nicole Izzolena, 27, and tossed an onion at her, striking her in the back of the head.

No, NO NOT BARRY! Anything but Barry Manilow!

Ft. Lupton Judge Punishes Violators With Manilow Unusual Sentence Results In Few Repeat Offenders

FORT LUPTON, Colo. - Violaters of the city of Fort Lupton's noise ordinance were in for a big surprise this past Friday. The city's judge sentenced citizens who have been busted for being too loud to 1 hour of listening to unpopular or unusual music.

In a courtroom with mostly young adult offenders, Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" played loudly on a boombox.

During the full hour of punishment, they were not allowed to chew gum, eat, drink, read or even sleep.

Most violators found the first few minutes funny. As time wore on with Karen Carpenter, Barry Manilow and Barney songs, they weren't laughing anymore.

..."When you have a person playing rap at extreme volumes all over the city, and they have to sit down and listen for an hour to Barry Manilow, its horrible punishment," he said.

Don't they do this sort of thing in Gitmo only Amnesty calls it a human rights violation?

All we are saying is give victory a chance!

I went into DC on Saturday to show my support for the troops and their mission as the anti-war march went by. That's me holding the blue sign quoted in the title of the post! A lot of people took pictures of me with my sign, I'm disappointed the only one I found online doesn't show my face. I tried to make a point of not blocking my face so that anti-war protesters couldn't say I was hiding behind my sign.

The new Knut!

San Diego Zoo veterinarians confirmed Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007, in San Diego, that the 4-pound giant panda cub is a girl. Born Aug. 3, the cub is the third female panda born at the San Diego Zoo's Giant Panda Research Station since 1999. A male cub was born in 2003. Following Chinese tradition, she will receive her name after she is 100 days old.

A live webcam of the baby panda can be found here: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/ex_panda_station.html

Update on previous flag article

School Rescinds Ban On Flag Clothing

A North Carolina High School that came under national attention over their rule that prohibited students from wearing items with the American flag, or any flag from other countries, has lifted the ban.

Superintendent Dr. L. Stewart Hobbs, Jr said they have lifted the ban on flags and “from this point on, all dress code changes will be made at the school board level.”

Hobbs said the county has a dress code policy in place and says individual school dress codes are not allowed.

He adds that principals cannot make a policy that exceeds the board policy, "The principal acted in good faith and said no flags."

According to Hobbs, the policy all stems from information from law enforcement of gangs wearing foreign flags as gang symbols and the board does have a policy to prevent gang signs in schools.

Two days late and a dollar short. At least they corrected it, but it was a mistake that should not have been made in the first place.

I guess I was wrong about why they banned flags - gangs are another good guess when it comes to schools banning clothing.

The flag still stands for freedom and they can't take that away

High School Bans American Flag

SAMPSON COUNTY, N.C. – On the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, students at one high school were not allowed to wear clothes with an American flag.

Under a new school rule, students at Hobbton High School are not allowed to wear items with flags, from any country, including the United States.

The new rule stems from a controversy over students wearing shirts bearing flags of other countries.

Gayle Langston said her daughter, Jessica, was told to remove her Stars and Stripes t-shirt.

“Today she wanted to wear her shirt, and I had to tell her no,” said Langston. “She didn't like it at all because I knew it would get her in trouble. Of all days, 9/11, she could not wear her American Flag shirt.”

The superintendent of schools in Sampson County calls the situation unfortunate, but says educators didn’t want to be forced to pick and choose which flags should be permissible.

Uh, I don't know what kinds of problems they were having - Mexican flags during the immigration debate might be a good guess - but to a normal red-blooded American the choice is simple: the United States flag should be permissible no matter what. At the very least these PC teachers should have relaxed the rules for one day.

If someone is offended by the US flag, then they are offended by our country, so what the hell are they doing here and how dare they ask us to disassociate ourselves with it?! Our country is not perfect, we are not mistake-free, but we are the best the world has to offer. We should never be ashamed of ourselves and what we stand for. Never apologize for loving your country!

So, be proud, America! We are the last great hope for mankind! U-S-A! U-S-A! Cue Lee Greenwood!

(Sorry, I had to let out some pent up 9-11 fury)

In Memory of Mildred Rose Naiman

My September 11th tribute as part of Project 2,996 is to Mildred Rose Naiman, 81, from Andover, MA, the town next to my hometown. According to WBZ Boston, over 200 people with ties to Massachusetts died on 9-11-01.

"Millie," as she was known to her loved ones, was on her way to California to visit her 2 sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren when she was killed. She was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to be hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center.

Born on March 24, 1920, Mildred Naiman worked at Western Electric Co. as a tester. In her later years, she lived in a self-proclaimed "bachelorette pad" - her apartment in a retirement community - where she was active in planning and organizing events with her friends.

In a profile published on January 6, 2002, her daughter-in-law, Carol Naiman, told the New York Times, "She had a little bit of a lead foot. She had been stopped for speeding and was totally insulted the officer would give an old woman a ticket."

Although the feisty great-grandmother had had several knee replacement surgeries, cataracts, and other health problems, she still loved to travel. Her son Russ said, "If something was wrong with her, she'd go to the doctor and say, 'Fix me up; I've got a lot of traveling to do.' "

While she needed the help of a wheelchair at the airport, she still managed to visit her family twice a year. The Sunday before her fatal flight, a family member had asked if she was afraid of flying; her granddaughter, Hope, remembers her reply: "No, I've gone everywhere already--to Germany, the Bahamas. I'm not afraid to fly."

Incredibly, on July 24, 2004, the New York Post reported that the medical examiner's office had identified her remains. Many 9-11 victims are still unaccounted for. I hope her family gained some sense of closure with this discovery and was able to finally put her body to rest.

Today, on the sixth anniversary of her death, we celebrate the life of Mildred Rose Naiman.
May she, and the other 2,995 tragically murdered on that day, rest in peace.


9-11: NEVER FORGIVE, NEVER FORGET

Lord Help Us All

Paris Hilton: I want to have a baby next year

First it was charity work, now Paris Hilton has a new plan to transform her life - motherhood.

The heiress, who has this week been spotted dancing on various nightclubs podiums until the early hours of the morning, is planning to get pregnant.

She revealed: "I want kids next year, so I've got to get my body ready."

"I just started working out and it feels great. It gives me so much energy."

She appears taking cues from her Simple Life co-star Nicole Richie, who is four months pregnant with her first child to rocker boyfriend Joel Madden.

There is one minor hitch in her plans - she currently single.

I weep for the future

Bush Derangement Syndrome Hits the NFL

Go 2 Guy: Seahawks duo blitzed by Bush backlash

Are you still fans of Matt Hasselbeck and Mack Strong after they visited President Bush last week in Bellevue? Or have their political leanings turned you against them?

The Seahawks quarterback and fullback gave the 43rd president a No. 43 jersey with his name on it at a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser for Rep. Dave Reichert at the Hyatt.

At the time, Hasselbeck called it a thrill and said it was a win-win, this opportunity to meet the president and get out of a team meeting.

...But Washington is a blue state, and deep, deep Democratic blue in King County. So objections were raised, and Hasselbeck heard them and read them. He got nasty voice mails, e-mails and text messages.

"I had no idea," Hasselbeck said.

One guy told him: "I hate you, I'll never wear your jersey, I'll never like the Seahawks again."

"Huh?" Hasselbeck thought. "Seriously?"

"Politics can be very mean and dirty," he said. "The things politicians say about each other, and what activists say, I had a brief glimpse of that for a couple of days.

"If I ever had any questions about whether I wanted to run for office, I now know the answer -- I don't."

As a quarterback, he's used to getting booed. "But this was a whole new level," he said. "I was very surprised how mean (they were)."

..."To learn that two of the most popular Seahawks are strong (Bush) supporters ruins the season for me and my family," wrote another.

...When told that Hasselbeck lost some fans, Holmgren said: "That's too bad. ... Fans should keep these two things separate."

Added Hasselbeck: "I don't understand. This is America. We're not going to agree on everything."

Strong doesn't get it either, saying: "Any time you have a world leader come to your city, you should welcome him whether you like the person or not. That was the right thing to do."

Besides, Strong wonders, "Why would people care about what we do as far as going to see the president and giving him a Seahawks jersey?"

Strong and Hasselbeck said they would have welcomed a Democratic president, too, and noted that they once visited Gov. Christine Gregoire in Olympia and gave her an autographed football. When he played in Green Bay, Hasselbeck also met former Vice President Al Gore.

You couldn't have been much of a fan to begin with if THIS makes you hate the team and ruins the season for you.

The Right to Arm Bears

I thought I'd highlight a gun self-defense story since the media doesn't like to do it.

Rabid bear killed trying to enter Garrett Co. home

A rabid black bear trying to rip out a window air conditioner lost its tug-of-war with a terrified housewife when her husband blasted the beast with a shotgun, the woman and a state wildlife official said today.

The bear rushed the house after Charlotte Stanton yelled out her screen door to try to scare it away from a goat pen. Stanton, 39, of rural Grantsville in Garrett County, said she was losing her tussle with the 134-pound sow when Michael Stanton pulled the trigger.

"I finally yelled at my husband, because I couldn't hold on to that air conditioner much longer," she said. "It seemed like forever, but I'm sure it was just seconds."

The load of buckshot didn't kill the bear, which lay bleeding and moaning in the yard of the Western Maryland home for about 30 minutes Aug. 29 before a state Natural Resources Police officer arrived to remove it.

...Michael Stanton, 49, won't be charged with a wildlife violation because the state allows killing bears out of season to defend people and livestock, The Cumberland Times-News reported.

...Spiker said the agency tested the bear for rabies because she was so aggressive.

"That behavior was just completely out of the ordinary," Spiker said.

Stanton said bears often come into her yard and most are easily chased away. But now, "when I see a bear in the yard, I'm not going to think twice about running for the house or even getting a gun out," she said.

They had to wait a half hour for an authority to come help them?! Thank goodness they had a gun!

Sick, sick Massachusetts

Massachusetts incubates the "viruses" that afflict the Democratic Party
I just love this headline!

Veteran Boston political reporter Jon Keller also invites us to behold his native state . . . and shudder in dismay. In "The Bluest State," he argues that, although Massachusetts does not suffer alone from its notorious affection for liberalism, it is the incubator for "Massachusetts viruses" that infect the national Democratic Party. The viruses come in many forms: "addiction to tax revenues and a raging edifice complex couched in disrespect to wage earners; phony identity politics without real results for women and minorities; reflexive anti-Americanism in foreign affairs; vain indulgence in obnoxious political correctness; self-serving featherbedding; NIMBYism; authoritarian distortion of the balance of governmental power, all simmered in a broth of hypocritical paternalism."

When Democrats fight off the viruses and run more centrist campaigns, Mr. Keller says, they can prosper, as they did in 2006. But the infection is always lurking--and could be the party's undoing next year. It should be noted that "The Bluest State" is not a book by a Republican cheerleader; Mr. Keller can be withering about the GOP. I know, because I have listened to his morning radio commentaries for years. But Republicans are largely beside the point when it comes to Massachusetts. Despite winning four out of the past five elections for governor, Republicans hold by far a smaller share of legislative seats--one out of six--than in any other state. Only next-door Rhode Island is even close.

Massachusetts is one of the few states losing population--230,000 fled the Bay State between 2000 and 2005. It has not regained the 150,000 technical jobs that it lost in the bursting of the dot-com bubble. Job growth has been flat since 1999.

I grew up listening to "Keller At Large" - I gotta get this book!

Thank you, judge, may I have another?

Judge Accused Of Paddling Inmates

In Wednesday's edition, the Press-Register is reporting suspended Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas is being investigated for allegedly paddling inmates. The newspaper is reporting Thomas is accused of periodically removing prisoners from Mobile County Metro Jail and spanked them in a room at the courthouse.

According to the Press-Regiser, once inside the room the judge would ask the men to drop their pants and prepare to be spanked with what was described as a wooden paddle. Judge Thomas told the Press Register that he did not have any comment on the allegations. Sources also say that between six to 12 men have shared their accounts with investigators.

Give me back my porn so I can peep privately

Man Sues Police to Get His Porn Back

A man recently released from jail after being convicted of secretly videotaping a woman and a teenage girl has sued a Marin County police department for the return of a massive porn collection taken during the investigation.

Dennis Saunders, 59, filed suit against San Rafael police in Marin County Superior Court after the department refused to give back some 500 pornographic movies and 250 magazines his lawyer described as unrelated to the peeping case.

"There's absolutely no legal foundation for them withholding perfectly legal adult-oriented material," Tiburon attorney Jon Rankin said.

The video collection alone was likely worth at least $10,000, Rankin said.

Saunders, of Healdsburg, was arrested in 2002 and charged with taping the women in their homes at a San Rafael apartment complex where he worked. He was released last month.

A lawyer representing the city said authorities wanted direction from a judge on whether it would be "lawful or appropriate" to return the material to Saunders, who has a history of peeping-related arrests dating back to 1979.

Karma's a biatch

Ouch! The moment Piers Morgan broke three ribs falling off the Segway he said was 'idiot-proof'

If he didn't believe in karma before, Piers Morgan must surely do now.

The ex-newspaper editor, now a columnist for The Mail on Sunday's Live magazine, took great delight in making fun of President Bush for falling off a Segway - the two-wheeled, motorised, gyroscopically balanced scooter that, its makers promise, will never fall over.

His paper, the Daily Mirror, ran the headline in 2003: "You'd have to be an idiot to fall off, wouldn't you Mr President." It added: "If anyone can make a pig's ear of riding a sophisticated, self-balancing machine like this, Dubya can." So, it seems, can Mr Morgan.

He broke three ribs after falling off the Segway at 12mph in California - just three days before he was due to make his biggest TV appearance to date, as a judge on the grand final of reality show America's Got Talent.

...Writing in Live magazine this week, Morgan is rueful about the comments on Mr Bush. He says: "Since only he and I appear to have ever fallen off one, I think the makers of the Segway can probably still justifiably claim the machines are "idiot-proof"."