“Walk softly and carry a big stick" Teddy Roosevelt
"Well said." John Glenn
Things that make you think a little........
1. There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq during the month of January. In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of January. That's just one American city..........about as deadly as the entire war torn country of Iraq.
2. When some claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war, state the following FDR led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us, Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year.
Truman finished that war and started one in Korea, North Korea never attacked us. From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,334 per year.
John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam "conflict" in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire.
From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost, an average of 5,800 per year.
Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent, Bosnia never attacked us. He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.
3. In the four years since terrorists attacked us:
President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.
The Democrats are complaining about how long the war is taking, but it took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51-day operation.
We've been looking for evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records.
It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick killing a woman.
Wait, there's more.......................
Some people still don't understand why military personnel do what they do for a living. This exchange between Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of one man's explanation of why men and women in the armed services do what they do for a living. This is a typical, though sad, example of what some who have never served think of our military.
JOHN GLENN ON THE SENATE FLOOR
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:13
Senator Howard Metzenbaum to Senator Glenn: "How can you run for Senate when you've never held a real job?"
Senator Glenn: "I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different occasions. I was in the space program.
It wasn't my checkbook, Howard, it was my life on the line. It was not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take the daily cash receipts to the bank.
I ask you to go with me ... as I went the other day... to a veteran's hospital and look those men - with their mangled bodies - in the eye, and tell THEM they didn't hold a job!
You go with me to the Space Program at NASA and go, as I have gone, to the widows and orphans of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee... and you look those kids in the eye and tell them that their Dads didn't hold a job.
You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more friends buried than I'd like to remember, and you watch those waving flags.
You stand there, and you think about this nation, and you tell ME that those people didn't have a job? I'll tell you, Howard Metzenbaum, you should be on your knees every day of your life thanking God that there were some men - SOME REAL MEN - who held REAL jobs.
And they required a dedication to a purpose - and a love of country and a dedication to duty - that was more important than life itself. And their self-sacrifice is what made this country possible. I HAVE held a job, Howard! What about you?"
NOTE: For those who don't remember - During W.W.II, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney representing the Communist Party in the USA!
6 comments:
Very well said, Dorene.
You make some valid points, though I don't agree with your opinion on the war in Iraq. You might have mentioned however that John Glenn who you seem to admire for his great service to this nation is a Democrat! So maybe telling democrats why they should shut-up over the war is rather hypocritical of you.
I have nothing against Ds, I think they are people who make just as many mistakes as the Rs.
Listening some Ds whining that war is strictly an R thing I find hypocritical in my strictly Alaskan view of American history.
There are some intreguing arguments against the war in Iraq that I am willing to listen to and consider, this D vs R thing is not one of them.
Another one is that our boys don't want to be there. If you don't want to type, don't go into data processing. If you don't want to talk on the phone, don't be a telephone operator. If you don't want to put your boney pink butt on the line when the Commander in Chief picks up the phone, don't join the US Armed Forces.
I am sure that during WWII many of our boys, literally boys, in the trenches wanted to go home. There loved ones wanted them home. But they bucked it up and held the line. I know that because I know some of them, personally.
Their self-sacrifice is something that I hold dear and honor. Just as I hold dear the self-sacrifice of my boys in uniform today. Bit of a sticking point with me.
I appreciate your point of view and I agree that an
argument against the war in Iraq should not be based
on a democrat vs. republican basis, however I was
simply responding to the title of Your post--which was
I believe something like "Why the Democrats should
shuttup about the war in Iraq" That is of course not
verbatim I'm sure (my memories not that good-ha), but
it is the gist of it, correct?
If you don't want democrats pointing fingers at republicans as a basis for their arguments perhaps you should rethink some of your own slightly inflammatory comments/rhetoric.
I don't mean that in a insulting way. I actually
enjoyed your post and found it to be the most well
thought out and historically justifible argument I've
heard for supporting the Iraq war.
Democrats can be as hard headed and inflammatory in speech as anyone, but then so are the Republicans. I don't think either side is completely right or completely justified in their arguments for or against the war-at this point.
You are correct, my headline was a gross generalization and not on-point to the substance of the post.
I think we are on the same page here.
Just curious, shouldn't you mention that this blog post was just a copy and paste of a recycled, anonymous email that's been making the rounds on the net? Do the ethics of plagiarism apply to blogs?
Other than the deceiving "original" posts, I like your site.
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