This wasn’t just your usual drive-by outing; it has all the elements of a Village People, psycho-sexual, Broadway-tuned, cross and double-cross story of spurned love, lust and Hell’s fury not matching a prissy little bitch’s need for revenge.

Here are just the facts ma’am:

Paul Babeu is a first-term Arizona sheriff, and until recently served as Mitt Romney’s presidential state campaign co-chair. Why no longer? Because the self-hating, left-wing gay community outted him with photos of a “Congressman Weiner type of moment” as not only as gay as the San Francisco Men’s Chorus, but in a relationship with “Jose” a Mexican illegal alien.  (Babeu made illegal immigration one of his campaign’s strongest pillars of needed enforcement.)

OMG… do you mean that the sainted “gay community” would ruin a man’s life simply because he was of a different political belief and preferred to keep his sexual preference private?

Yes… exactly what I mean. Just like blacks, the gay activists will never allow any political thought unless it is the same as theirs.

Diversity?… my ass.

You are either “out” or we’ll drive you to suicide.

So Babeu’s law enforcement career and any political aspirations are finished…. finished by gays. Everyone in AZ had to know the guy was/is gay but vengeful Christians, political opponents, fellow officers did not take it on themselves to end his hopes and dreams… his so-called “community” did.

Okay… that’s the end of that Gilbert and Sullivan operetta.

Part II: What the hell is Sheriff Jackass doing for/to his fellow citizens?

1. Violated his oath of office.

2. Broke the law.

3. Conduct unbecoming of an elected official; violated terms of the moral turpitude clause in his contract.

4. Hypocrisy of the highest order.

You’re an idiot if you are not aware that gay men are the greatest cause of AIDS in America; HIV wasn’t a pandemic from an alien world summoned to Earth by Jerry Falwell, it was caused by the indiscriminately promiscuous and long-term unprotected sex acts of men who refused to take responsibility for their own health or others.

And the died in their many thousands.

The facts are damning:

Prior to the AIDS epidemic, a 1978 study found that 75 percent of white, gay males claimed to have had more than 100 lifetime male sex partners: 15 percent claimed 100-249 sex partners; 17 percent claimed 250-499; 15 percent claimed 500- 999; and 28 percent claimed more than 1,000 lifetime male sex partners.

Is it any wonder AIDS spread like wildfire? Yet whom did the “gay community” blame? That’s right, Ronald Reagan.

So what’s the point in all this….?

Well, what all this means is that as a Nation we have lost, by accepting any and all aberrant behavior without judgement, without moral and ethical consideration.

We have become little more than inhabitants of a sewer of our own making, unwilling to change, and refusing to right our course based on the belief that more of the same acceptance will somehow be our salvation.

Don’t believe a word of it.

Houston, like so very many others in the entertainment industry died because she had no real friends left after destroying any meaningful relationships; and like Elvis, Belushi, Morrison, Joplin, Hendrix, was in the end surrounded only by those protecting their paychecks.

Like the weekly story about the 600-pound idiot who is killing himself with fried chicken and ice cream…. who gets him the fried chicken? There’s your perp.

Sure God gave Houston great talents and she threw it back in His face.

It’s not the first and it won’t be the last time someone has disrespected God and themselves to death.

There will be some glittering and lavish BET extravaganza of overweight black women in garish outfits from Frederick’s barely able to hold back tears over what Houston meant to them. But what did they ever do for her? Pass the pipe?

TV specials will solemnly note her passing and “foundations” and “awards” will be announced, but in the end no will admit the truth:

Whitney Houston is dead because she was a selfish, self-destructive crack-head unwilling to face her demons with courage or conviction, and because the so-called entertainment industry’s dark, soul-less nature took everything she had and plowed straight ahead in a never-ending attempt to wring from her diminished talent and strength the last 30 pieces of silver.

Never fear…. like Elvis, there’s more to be made from the dead…. Whitney’s “Double Re-Mastered Platinum Greatest Hits” will soon be available at Wal-Mart and Popeye’s Fried Chicken outlets near you.

If the entertainment industry cared even a little they would use Houston as a poster girl for cleaning up their own decadent, gratification at all costs, sleazy existence which so often first destroys a person’s talent… then destroys the person who had the talent.

But the industry that killed Houston did not give a damn about her, yet will now shed buckets of alligator tears at her funeral where far lesser talents will fight for a few minutes in spot light to justify the fact they stood by and watched her kill herself.

Could she have been saved from herself? Who knows? Who tried? And in truth I don’t really care…. if you’ve seen one suicide, you’ve pretty much seen them all.

The fact is that no one was willing to lose their connection, employment, free tickets or access to the rich and famous by standing up to her and declaring they they were unwilling to bob along in her wake as she committed a long suicide….

And if someone did… that’s all and the best they could do.

You can only tell someone that “the bridge is out” so many times before you have to jump to save yourself.

Most of the Memphis Mafia stayed with Big “E” until his grotesque end in a fake French antique bathroom because they were desperately hanging on to their paychecks.

And it was the same with Houston and her “posse” who stood by as late as yesterday as she….

 ….. displayed erratic behavior throughout the afternoon — flailing her hands frenetically as she spoke to Brandy and Monica, skipping around the ballroom in a child-like fashion and wandering aimlessly about the lobby. It was mentioned by a Grammy staffer that security personnel received calls of the singer doing handstands by the pool.

In the end she lived the life that she wanted to live .

Today at The Fried Pie was one of those days that make me glad I moved to Texas, and in particular, Gainesville.

The Table of Knowledge was filled past capacity with combat veterans, retired Marines, law enforcement officers, and War on Terror defense contractors… the very men America’s Marxist, Obama derides as small-town Americans, the “bitter” people clinging “to guns or religion.”

That’s right jackass… praise the Lord and pass the ammo.

The rousing two-hour gabfest covered everything from the last days of the Clyde Barrow Gang to the head space on a M-10 military rifle as well as the lighter side of     high-speed felony car chases.

I basked in a flood of testosterone that is largely unavailable or unknown to males who live in big cities, are married to gals who don’t know what a “double-tap” is, vote democrat or wear spandex and a Styrofoam hat to go the ”spin classes”.

I almost felt sorry for our fellow males who are forced to watch American Idol and pay the mortgage but have no space for themselves in a 3,200 sf house.

These poor bastards can identify “sea-foam green” and “robin’s egg blue” at 50 meters, actually know what their birth sign is and are unaware or don’t care about their son’s disturbing devotion to Broadway musicals.

After we bused our own breakfast tables (that’s the way it is at “The Fried Pie” where the abuse is free and you can order your bacon “burned”) we settled into alternating stories from The High Sheriff and ‘Ski who took his Semper Fi retirement to Iraq until it all turned into a dull and boring place overrun with bureaucrats.

Who could blame him?

I could smell the cordite as eight to 10 stout American men, many of whom had paid a price for raising their right hands more than once relived some of the Mt. Everest moments that defined them.

Scars…. some visible, some not, were well in evidence around the table as mostly middle aged men complained good-naturedly about their shoulders, eyesight and the odd joint replacement here and there.

These were and continue to be armed “rough men who stand ready to do violence on behalf of those who sleep peaceably in their beds at night”.

But we live in a country where they name Navy warships for female politicians who who had accidents and a $140,000 salary; where the jackasses in Washington can’t wait until women are assigned to combat units so they can destroy the military and get little chicks and their male comrades killed for nothing.

It’s no wonder we like to live in the past.

This is no country for old men. 

WTF…. What did she ever do but draw a $140,000+ salary/benefits and no doubt a huge retirement for being a left-wing democrat.

Why should the Navy bestow its ultimate honor on her…. for being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Is the Navy still part of the military or is it just a wholly owned subsidiary of the democrat party?

I think we know the answer…..

The last surviving Medal of Honor Recipient of the Battle for Iwo Jima, Marine Hershel ”Woody” Williams does not have a ship named for him and…..

The following are not rolling in their graves…. they are screaming BULLSHIT!!

Bull Halsey, Adm. Nimitz, John Finn……   

U.S. Navy Service Medal of Honor Recipients:

ANTRIM, RICHARD NOTT, Commander, U.S. Navy., Makassar, Celebes, Netherlands East Indies, April 1942.
BENNION, MERVYN SHARP (posthumous), Captain, U.S. Navy, USS West Virginia, Pearl Harbor, T.H., 07 December 1941
BIGELOW, ELMER CHARLES (posthumous), Watertender First Class, U.S. Naval Reserve, USS Fletcher, 14 February 1945
BULKELEY, JOHN DUNCAN, Lieutenant Commander, Commander of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3, U.S. Navy., Philippine waters, 7 December 1941 to 10 April 1942.
BUSH, ROBERT EUGENE, Hospital Apprentice First Class, U.S. Naval Reserve, serving as Medical Corpsman with a rifle company, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division., Okinawa Jima, Ryukyu Islands, 2 May 1945.
CALLAGHAN, DANIEL JUDSON, (posthumous), Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy., Off Savo Island, 12-13 November 1942
CROMWELL, JOHN PHILIP (posthumous), Captain, U.S. Navy, Submarine Coordinated Attack Group, USS Sculpin, Off Truk Island, 19 November 1943
DAVID, ALBERT LEROY (posthumous), Lieutenant, Junior Grade, U.S. Navy, USS Pillsbury, Off French West Africa, 4 June 1944
DAVIS, GEORGE FLEMING (posthumous), Commander, U.S. Navy, USS Walke, Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 6 January 1945
DEALEY, SAMUEL DAVID (posthumous), Commander, U.S. Navy, USS Harder
EVANS, ERNEST EDWIN (posthumous), Commander, U.S. Navy, USS Johnston, Off Samar on 25 October 1944
FINN, JOHN WILLIAM, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy [then a Chief Petty Officer], Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Territory of Hawaii, 7 December 1941.
FLAHERTY, FRANCIS C. (posthumous), Ensign, U.S. Naval Reserve, USS Oklahoma, Pearl Harbor, T.H., 07 December 1941
FLUCKEY, EUGENE BENNETT, Commander, U.S. Navy, Commanding USS Barb., Along coast of China, 19 December 1944 to 15 February 1945.
FUQUA, SAMUEL GLENN, Captain, U.S. Navy, USS Arizona. [then Lt. Cmdr.], Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, 7 December 1941.
GARY, DONALD ARTHUR, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, U.S. Navy, USS Franklin., Japanese Home Islands near Kobe, Japan, 19 March 1945.
GILMORE, HOWARD WALTER (posthumous), Commander, U.S. Navy, USS Growler, Southwest Pacific from 10 January to 7 February 1943
GORDON, NATHAN GREEN, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, commander of Catalina patrol plane., Kavieng Harbor, Bismarck Sea, 15 February 1944.
HALL, WILLIAM E., Lieutenant, Junior Grade, U.S. Naval Reserve., Coral Sea, 7 and 8 May 1942.
HALYBURTON, WILLIAM DAVID, JR. (posthumous), Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class, U.S. Naval Reserve, serving with 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 10 May 1945
HAMMERBERG, OWEN FRANCIS PATRICK (posthumous), Boatswain’s Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy., West Loch, Pearl Harbor, 17 February 1945
HERRING, RUFUS G., Lieutenant, U.S. Naval Reserve, LCI (G) 449., Iwo Jima, 17 February 1945.
HILL, EDWIN JOSEPH (posthumous), Chief Boatswain, U.S. Navy, USS Nevada, Pearl Harbor, T.H., 07 December 1941
HUTCHINS, JOHNNIE DAVID (posthumous), Seaman First Class, U.S. Naval Reserve, USS LST 473, Lae, New Guinea, 4 September 1943
JONES, HERBERT CHARPOIT (posthumous), Ensign, U.S. Naval Reserve, USS California, Pearl Harbor, T.H., 07 December 1941
KEPPLER, REINHARDT JOHN (posthumous), Boatswain’s Mate First Class, U.S. Navy, USS San Francisco, Solomon Islands, 12-13 November 1942
KIDD, ISAAC CAMPBELL (posthumous), Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor, T.H., 07 December 1941
LESTER, FRED FAULKNER (posthumous), Hospital Apprentice First Class, U.S. Navy, attached to the 1st Battalion, 22d Marines, 6th Marine Division, Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 8 June 1945
McCAMPBELL, DAVID, Commander, U.S. Navy, Air Group 15., First and second battles of the Philippine Sea, 19 June 1944.
McCANDLESS, BRUCE, Commander, U.S. Navy, USS San Francisco., Battle off Savo Island, 12-13 November 1942.
McCOOL, RICHARD MILES,, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, USS LSC(L)(3) 122., Off Okinawa, 10 and 11 June 1945.
O’CALLAHAN, JOSEPH TIMOTHY, Commander (Chaplain Corps), U.S. Naval Reserve, USS Franklin., near Kobe, Japan, 19 March 1945.
O’HARE, EDWARD HENRY, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, Fighting Squadron 3, South Pacific, 20 February 1942
O’KANE, RICHARD HETHERINGTON, Commander, U.S. Navy, commanding USS Tang., Vicinity Philippine Islands, 23 and 24 October 1944.
PARLE, JOHN JOSEPH (posthumous), Ensign, U.S. Naval Reserve, USS LST 375, Sicily, 9-10 July 1943
PETERSON, OSCAR VERNER (posthumous), Chief Watertender, U.S. Navy, USS Neosho, 7 May 1942
PHARRIS, JACKSON CHARLES, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, USS California. [then Gunner], Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, 7 December 1941.
PIERCE, FRANCIS JUNIOR, Pharmacist’s Mate First Class, U.S. Navy serving with 2d Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division., Iwo Jima, 15 and 16 March 1945.
POWERS, JOHN JAMES (posthumous), Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, Bombing Squadron 5, Battle of Coral Sea, 4 to 8 May 1942
PRESTON, ARTHUR MURRAY, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy Reserve, Torpedo Boat Squadron 33., Wasile Bay, Halmahera Island, 16 September 1944.
RAMAGE, LAWSON PATERSON, Commander, U.S. Navy, USS Parche., Pacific, 31 July 1944.
REEVES, THOMAS JAMES (posthumous), Radio Electrician (Warrant Officer) U.S. Navy, USS California, USS California, 07 December 1941
RICKETTS, MILTON ERNEST (posthumous), Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, USS Yorktown, Battle of the Coral Sea, 8 May 1942
ROOKS, ALBERT HAROLD (posthumous), Captain, U.S. Navy, USS Houston, Southwest Pacific, 4 to 27 February 1942
ROSS, DONALD KIRBY, Machinist, U.S. Navy, USS Nevada., Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, 7 December 1941.
SCHONLAND, HERBERT EMERY, Commander, U.S. Navy, USS San Francisco, Savo Island, 12-13 November 1943
SCOTT, NORMAN (posthumous), Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy., Savo Island, 11-12 October, 12-13 November 1942
SCOTT, ROBERT R . (posthumous), Machinist’s Mate First Class, U.S. Navy, USS California, 07 December 1941
STREET, GEORGE LEVICK, III, Commander, U.S. Navy, USS Tiranle., Harbor of Quelpart Island, off the coast of Korea, 14 April 1945
TOMICH, PETER (posthumous), Chief Watertender, U.S. Navy, USS Utah, 07 December 1941
VAN VALKENBURGH, FRANKLIN (posthumous), Captain, U.S. Navy, USS Arizona, 07 December 1941
VAN VOORHIS, BRUCE AVERY (posthumous), Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy, Bombing Squadron 102, Battle of the Solomon Islands, 6 July 1943
WAHLEN, GEORGE EDWARD, Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy, serving with 2d Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division., Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands group, 3 March 1945.
WARD, JAMES RICHARD (posthumous), Seaman First Class, U.S. Navy, USS Oklahoma, 07 December 1941
WILLIAMS, JACK (posthumous), Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class, U.S. Naval Reserve,serving with the 3d Battalion 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima Volcano Islands, 3 March 1945
WILLIS, JOHN HARLAN (posthumous), Pharmacist’s Mate First Class, U.S. Navy, serving with the 3d Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 28 February 1945
YOUNG, CASSIN, Commander, U.S. Navy, USS Vestal, Pearl Harbor, 07 December 1941

U.S. Coast Guard Recipients

MUNRO, DOUGLAS ALBERT (posthumous), Signalman First Class, U.S. Coast Guard, Point Cruz, Guadalcanal, on 27 September 1942

U.S. Marine Corps Recipients

AGERHOLM, HAROLD CHRIST (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 4th Battalion, 10th Marines, 2d Marine Division, Saipan, Marianas Islands, 7 July 1944
ANDERSON, RICHARD BEATTY (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, 4th Marine Division, Roi Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, 1 February 1944
BAILEY, KENNETH D. (posthumous), Major, U.S. Marine Corps, Company C, 1st Marine Raider Battalion, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 12-13 September 1942
BASILONE, JOHN, Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 24 and 25 October 1942
BAUER, HAROLD WILLIAM, (posthumous), Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps, Marine Fighting Squadron 212, Over Guadalcanal, 10 May 1942 – 14 November 1942
BAUSELL, LEWIS KENNETH (posthumous), Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Peleliu Island, Palau Group, 15 September 1944
BERRY, CHARLES JOSEPH (posthumous), Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 3 March 1945
BONNYMAN, ALEXANDER, JR. (posthumous), First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, 2d Battalion Shore Party, 8th Marines, 2d Marine Division, Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, 20-22 November 1943
BORDELON, WILLIAM JAMES (posthumous), Staff Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 1st Battalion, 18th Marines, tactically attached to the 2d Marine Division, Tarawa, Gilbert Islands on 20 November 1943
BOYINGTON, GREGORY, Major, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Squadron 214., Central Solomons area, from 12 September 1943 to 3 January 1944.
BUSH, RICHARD EARL, Corporal, U .S. Marine Corps Reserve, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 6th Marine Division., Mount Yaetake on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 16 April 1945.
CADDY, WILLIAM ROBERT (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company 1, 3d Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 3 March 1945
CANNON, GEORGE HAM (posthumous), First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, Battery H, 6th Defense Battalion, Fleet Marine Force, Sand Island, Midway Islands, 7 December 1941
CASAMENTO, ANTHONY, Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, Company D, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division., Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, 01 November 1942
CHAMBERS, JUSTICE M., Colonel. U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 3rd Assault Battalion Landing Team. 25th Marines, 4th Marine Division., Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 19 to 22 February 1945.
COLE, DARRELL SAMUEL (posthumous), Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company B, 1st Battalion, 23d Marines, 4th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 19 February 1945
COURTNEY, HENRY ALEXIUS, JR. (posthumous), Major, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2d Battalion, 22d Marines, 6th Marine Division, Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Islands, 14 and 15 May 1945
DAY, JAMES L., Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Marines, 6th Marine Division, Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Islands, 14-17 May 1945
DAMATO, ANTHONY PETER (posthumous), Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps., Engebi Island, Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands, on the night of 19-20 February 1944
DEBLANC, JEFFERSON JOSEPH, Captain, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Fighting Squadron 112., Off Kolombangara Island in the Solomons group, 31 January 1943.
DUNLAP, ROBERT. HUGO, Captain, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division., On Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 20 and 21 February 1945.
DYESS, AQUILLA JAMES (posthumous), Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines (Rein), 4th Marine Division, Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, 1 and 2 February 1944
EDSON, MERRITT AUSTIN, Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps, 1st Marine Raider Battalion, with Parachute Battalion attached, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, 13-14 September 1942
ELROD, HENRY TALMAGE (posthumous), Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, Marine Fighting Squadron 211, Wake Island, 8 to 23 December 1941
EPPERSON, HAROLD GLENN (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, 2d Marine Division, Saipan, Marianas Islands, 25 June 1944
FARDY, JOHN PETER (posthumous), Corporal, U.S Marine Corps, Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Islands, 7 May 1945
FLEMING, RICHARD E. (posthumous), Captain, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 241, Battle of Midway on 4 and 5 June 1942
FOSS, JOSEPH JACOB, Captain, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Fighting Squadron 121, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing., Over Guadalcanal, 9 October to 19 November 1942, 15 and 23 January 1943.
FOSTER, WILLIAM ADELBERT (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain 2 May 1945
GALER, ROBERT EDWARD, Major, U.S. Marine Corps, Marine Fighter Sqdn. 244, Solomon Islands Area
GONSALVES, HAROLD (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 4th Battalion, 15th Marines, 6th Marine Division, Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 15 April 1945
GRAY, ROSS FRANKLIN (posthumous), Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company A, 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, 4th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 21 February 1945
GURKE, HENRY (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, 3d Marine Raider Battalion, Empress Augusta Bay on Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands area, 9 November 1943
HALYBURTON, WILLIAM DAVID, JR. (posthumous), Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class, U.S. Naval Reserve, serving with 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 10 May 1945
HANSEN, DALE MERLIN (posthumous), Private, U.S. Marine Corps, Company E, 2d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 7 May 1945
HANSON, ROBERT MURRAY (posthumous), First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Fighting Squadron 215, Over Bougainville Island, 1 November 1943; and New Britain Island, 24 January 1944
HARRELL, WILLIAM GEORGE, Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 1st Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division., Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 3 March 1945.
HAUGE, LOUIS JAMES, JR. (posthumous), Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain on 14 May 1945
HAWKINS, WILLIAM DEAN (posthumous), First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, Scout Sniper Platoon, Tarawa, Gilbert Island, 20 and 21 November 1943
JACKSON, ARTHUR J., Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division., Island of Peleliu in the Palau group, 18 September 1944.
JACOBSON, DOUGLAS THOMAS, Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 3d Battalion, 23d Marines, 4th Marine Division., Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 26 February 1945.
JULIAN, JOSEPH RODOLPH (posthumous), Platoon Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 1st Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 9 March 1945
KINSER, ELBERT LUTHER (posthumous), Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company I, 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 4 May 1945
KRAUS, RICHARD EDWARD (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 8th Amphibious Tractor Battalion, Fleet Marine Force, Peleliu, Palau Islands, on 5 October 1944
LA BELLE, JAMES DENNIS (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 8 March 1945
LEIMS, JOHN HAROLD, Second Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company B, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division., Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 7 March 1945.
LUCAS, JACKLYN HAROLD, Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division., Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 20 February 1945.
LUMMUS, JACK (posthumous), First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2d Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 8 March 1945
MARTIN, HARRY LINN (posthumous), First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company C, 5th Pioneer Battalion, 5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 26 March 1945
MASON, LEONARD FOSTER (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, 2d Battalion, 3d Marines, 3d Marine Division, Guam, Marianas Islands, 22 July 1944
McCARD, ROBERT HOWARD (posthumous), Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company A, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Saipan, Marianas Islands, on 16 June 1944
McCARTHY, JOSEPH JEREMIAH, Captain, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2d Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division., Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 21 February 1945.
McTUREOUS, ROBERT MILLER, JR. (posthumous), Private, U.S. Marine Corps, 3d Battalion, 29th Marines, 6th Marine Division, Okinawa in the Ryukyu Chain, 7 June 1945
NEW, JOHN DURY (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, 2d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Peleliu Island, Palau Group, 25 September 1944
OWENS, ROBERT ALLEN (posthumous), Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps., Cape Torokina, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, on 1 November 1943
OZBOURN, JOSEPH WILLIAM (posthumous), Private, U.S. Marine Corps, 1st Battalion, 23d Marines, 4th Marine Division, Tinian Island, Marianas Islands, 30 July 1944
PAIGE, MITCHELL, Platoon Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps., Solomon Islands, 26 October 1942.
PHELPS, WESLEY (posthumous), Private, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Peleliu Island, Palau Group, 4 October 1944
PHILLIPS, GEORGE (posthumous), Private, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2d Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, on 14 March 1945
POPE, EVERETT PARKER, Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division., Peleliu Island, Palau group, 19-20 September 1944.
POWER, JOHN VINCENT (posthumous), First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, 4th Marine Division, Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, 1 February 1944
ROAN, CHARLES HOWARD (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Peleliu, Palau Islands, 18 September 1944
ROUH, CARLTON ROBERT, First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division., Peleliu Island, Palau group, 15 September 1944.
RUHL, DONALD JACK (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company E, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, from 19 to 21 February 1945
SCHWAB, ALBERT EARNEST (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve., Okinawa Shima in the Rykuyu Islands, 7 May 1945
SHOUP, DAVID MONROE, Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps, commanding officer of all Marine Corps troops on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, and Gilbert Islands, from 20 to 22 November 1943., Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, from 20 to 22 November 1943
SIGLER, FRANKLIN EARL, Private, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2d Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division., Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 14 March 1945.
SKAGGS, LUTHER, JR., Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 3d Battalion, 3d Marines, 3d Marine Division., Asan-Adelup beachhead, Guam, Marianas Islands, 21 -22 July 1944.
SMITH, JOHN LUCIAN, Major, U.S. Marine Corps, Marine Fighter Squadron 223,, In the Solomon Islands area, August-September 1942.
SORENSON, RICHARD KEITH, Private, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 4th Marine Division., Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll Marshall Islands, 1 -2 February 1944.
STEIN, TONY (posthumous), Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 19 February 1945
SWETT, JAMES ELMS, First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Fighter Squadron 221, with Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing., Solomon Islands area, 7 April 1943.
THOMAS, HERBERT JOSEPH (posthumous), Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 3d Marines, 3d Marine Division, Bougainville Islands, Solomon Islands, on 7 November 1943
THOMASON, CLYDE (posthumous), Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Raiders, Makin Island, 17-18 August 1942
TIMMERMAN, GRANT FREDERICK (posthumous), Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 2d Battalion, 6th Marines, 2d Marine Division, Saipan, Marianas Islands, on 8 July 1944
VANDEGRIFT, ALEXANDER ARCHER, Major General, U.S. Marine Corps, commanding officer of the 1st Marine Division., Solomon Islands, 7 August to 9 December 1942.
WALSH, KENNETH AMBROSE, First Lieutenant, pilot in Marine Fighting Squadron 124, U.S. Marine Corps., Solomon Islands area, 15 and 30 August 1943.
WALSH, WILLIAM GARY (posthumous), Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company G, 3d Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 27 February 1945
WATSON, WILSON DOUGLAS, Private, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division., Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 26 and 27 February 1945.
WILLIAMS, HERSHEL WOODROW, Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 21st Marines, 3d Marine Division., Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 23 February 1945.
WILSON, LOUIS HUGH, JR., Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, Commanding Rifle Company, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division., Fonte Hill, Guam, 25-26 July 1944.
WILSON, ROBERT LEE (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, 2d Battalion, 6th Marines, 2d Marine Division, Tinian Island, Marianas Group, 4 August 1944
WITEK, FRANK PETER (posthumous), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division, Guam, Marianas, on 3 August 1944

First things first…

I reacted with understandable anger two days ago when I heard the first reports that service members’ combat pay (or “imminent danger” pays as Pentagonspeak now has it), had been cut.

The dust has settled and the answer is yes and no.

According to official DOD policy adopted 1 Feb., “… service members (will receive) imminent danger pay only for the time they spend in areas that qualify for the pay. In the past, service members received $225 per month if they spent any time that month in an area where the pay was authorized.

Now, service members will receive $7.50 a day for days spent in these areas. Personnel who travel to the designated areas for periods less than 30 days should keep track of the number of days they are in the area to verify that they are paid for the correct number of days, officials said.

In other words… if you are in a “combat” zone, you will receive hazard pay regardless of whether or not you fall under enemy fire. But if you merely run a supply mission into Afghanistan from Germany for example, you’ll receive $7.50 per day for the time you are “in country”.

There is some imbalance I suppose when people “in the rear” receive the same amount as a grunt who goes on combat missions virtually every day or air crews who fly combat missions most days out of a month. But in this kind of war, when you could have your ticket canceled by a suicide bomber riding a civilian bus, or a truck bomb crashing into your mess hall, the imbalance makes little difference.

Here’s an interesting debate on  the issue.

In Vietnam the old combat pay rules allowed some service members to take shall we say, full advantage since any time spent in country netted you a month’s hazard pay. For example an air crew managed to fly in to South Vietnam on the last day of the month and leave the next day… the fliers netted two months combat pay.

Naturally there was some grousing among grunts, corpsmen and medics, PBR sailors and fighter-bomber pilots, but on the other hand we were usually distracted by concerns than someone else’s paycheck.

Young Marines were particularly pissed because lower-grade enlisted and even junior NCOs under age 21 were the only Americans in the war not allowed to buy alcohol from the PX. Now that’s something to get hacked about. Imagine a 20 year-old, two-tour corporal having to get a new in-country, 18 year-old Navy Seabee to buy him a six pack.

And speaking of war and money… I ran into one of those Paulidiots the other day, you know the type…. cut our military down to a tight little $10 billion effort, pull back to CONUS and fight ‘em when they get here… then with all that money we save we fix the economy.

Yes, most libertarians are just a frustrating as libs.

A conservative blogosphere friend, American-American, over Free-Market Circle chimed in succinctly the other day:

“According to Bill Whittle, the cost of Overseas Contingency Operations, the ongoing overseas military operations around the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan, was 14.3% of what the government spent last year, while 4.4% was for discretionary military spending. That’s a total of 18.7%, which means that 81.3% was spent on everything else!!! Anyway, here’s my reference, and a visual.. see graph in “Vote Pump” video by Bill Whittle

“Also, I highly recommend Bill Whittle’s “State of the Union: The Conservative’s Response” Definitely worth sharing with those who don’t know better.”

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — In his first 2 1/2 years in the Navy, Aeron Crouch jumped three ranks to second-class petty officer and appeared to be a rising star among the forward-deployed in the Pacific. He was a leader — motivated, tenacious, always improving and asking for more, tougher, responsibilities.

In  short form I’ve used the following quip since my “conversion” in the 80s, “Friends seem surprised that I’m not the liberal I was in my early 20s; I simply reply, ‘I grew up’.”  

“Should I be offended?” he asked.

Fair question, and one easily explained from my point of view.

I offered: “It’s a generalization; for example in my personal experience at least a third of those working as psychologists and psychotherapists shouldn’t be in the business.”

“I’d say, 50%,” he interjected.

I laughed and agreed… and I was in the field 20 years; I didn’t take offense and in fact agreed that the generalization made the point about today’s mental health professionals.

Lawyer jokes anyone?

I believe I am on safe ground opining that as we get older, we must find our way in the world, not simply bend it to our will; we grow more experienced, wiser, more risk-averse and more willing to play nice with others. But at the same time we review our lives to see what has served us well, what works and doesn’t work…. in our experience.

To me that says by necessity of age we are on the whole more conservative. Any number of polls from almost any era will confirm this simple assertion.

Winston Churchill is often erroneously credited with the following:

“If you are 20 and not a liberal, you have no heart; if you are 40 and not a conservative, you have no head.”

That, a generalization, sums up the assertion which I often make.  I accept that my 40 years of age and experience have overwritten that which I believed in my first quarter-century, praise be.

But is it invariably true of all “liberals”?

Of course not… it is a generalization and generalizations are useful in moving the argument quickly along to the specifics one wants to discuss. Were it not for generalizations we would founder in debate, getting nowhere fast as the saying goes.

Even more clear is that “all” and “never” and “totally” and other such modifiers seem to bind the speaker to an absolute.

“All Southerners are rednecks.”

Of course that’s not literally true, however “most” embrace the title and wouldn’t argue the point.

Such generalizations get us quickly to the point (Southerners are different from Yankees), and then we can begin to debate the issue(s).

But too often I find this “gotcha” society is quick to cry foul, claim offense and usually prevent the greater point from coming to debate.

Nowhere is this more evident than in current politics, which ironically has little to do with our political process; by contrast the Lincoln-Douglas Debates are Shakespeare to today’s Danielle Steele.

Mitt Romney suffered this idiocy recently when he said, “I’m in this race because I care about Americans. I’m not concerned about the very poor — we have a safety net there,” he said. “If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich — they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”

Not a damned thing wrong with the statement in delivery, content or context, but his enemies in both parties immediately sprang: “Romney doesn’t care about the poor!!”  

This (among one hundred other reasons) proves we are no longer a serious country.

So instead of talking about the needs of the middle class — the sputtering engine that drives this nation — we are treated to day upon day of small time intellects trying to throw a completely innocent statement and its owner under the propaganda bus.

And that enlightens the voters how?

So, generalizations are not just useful but necessary to establish a foundation for the debate; sadly many people (unlike my friend) do not give their fellow debater the opportunity to respond or clarify before unnecessarily condemning them and ending the exchange.

In this age of text, e-mails and in the demise of the quaint practice of writing letters, this kind of anti-communication is pandemic. Simply, people do not write anymore, therefore they don’t think much… that is, in a soundly constructed, easy to follow argument as we were expected to do in “term papers.”

I write every day, have for most of my life; one of these days I’ll get it right. But unfortunately, very few do this anymore and it is telling in debate, most especially in political discussions which can and do quickly swerve out of control. If you cannot think well, you cannot write well… simple as that.

I see it daily on FB and other mass com venues–especially talking head TV shows. Bill Buckley’s PBS show Firing Line (1966–1999) was the epitome of spirited debate on an intellectual level that has never been duplicated. Now all we have is someone like James Carville yelling over Sean Hannity.

That style has been adopted by most on the committed left, unwilling to engage much past the level of “it’s Bush’s fault,” or “Rush Limbaugh is fat.”

We see this now even at the highest levels of government.

Obama is on record as having written off the predominately white middle class American and instead has cast his 2012 lot with the welfare generations, malcontents, radicals, socialists, looters and anarchists who demand their cut without lifting an earning finger.

There was no discussion; hell, he even bypasses Congress… the House of the People, and rules in the main by executive edict, then turns on his opponents, screeching that they are divisive and unwilling to compromise.

But then, he never goes beyond generalizations.

Like most people, I cannot tolerate the sound of Barack Hussein Obama’s voice, so I passed on the marathon State of the Campaign speech last week.

But I did note from media coverage that our first Marxist Commander in Chief including his canned ”courage, selflessness and teamwork” of our military clap-trap.

Talk is cheap, most especially in Washington and quite specifically in the Oval Office. Not only has Obama made good on “fundamentally changing” our nation, he is well knee-deep in destroying our military.

The left applauds this because they hate our troops and the right hates him for it… but neither can say his intentions were cloaked.

His Defense Department cuts of half a trillion dollars will send tremors through manpower and materiel from combat troops in the field to the loss of R&D on high tech defense for next-generation weapons systems.  Worse, it constitutes yet another example of our failure to anticipate and meet enemy threats before we suffer their existence, in the old American tradition of being unprepared.

As a percentage of total federal spending, the proposed Obama DOD budget is the lowest since the pre-World War II era… when democrat progressives and some useful idiots in the GOP ran the government.

In the 1930s some troops were forced to train with broom sticks for they had no rifles, the rest were armed with the same rifle their fathers carried in WWI; the Springfield ’03, a clip-fed, 5-round, bolt action rifle adopted for use not long after the Indian Wars.

Used cars with “tank” painted on the sides stood in for armor, and the Army Air Corps was pitiful compared to the designs, performance and airmanship of Japan and Germany; hell, Howard Hughes alone assembled, maintain and manned the largest private air force in the world just to film his 1930 WWI epic, Hell’s Angels.

As a people we always seem to believe that peace is simply the absence of war. It outrages me that only one percent of our population ever has to pay the price for such idiocy and criminal malfeasance.

Obama’s reductions in the number of active-duty troops hits the Army and Marine Corps hardest; the active-duty Army will fall from a high of 570,000 in 2010 to 490,000. The Marine Corps will go from 202,000 to 182,000.  Obama plans to fire these 100,000 troops from the ranks of the two branches that carry the heaviest burden in this war–the very people who  do the jobs most Americans refuse to do.

American Legion National Commander Fang Wong correctly asks, “… how long can America’s military remain the finest in the world if we keep bleeding its resources and capabilities?” “We are seeing a shift in the military’s strategic focus from the Middle East to Asia and the Pacific. But what kind of tactical strength will we have to back it up?”

Ripple effect

Even Defense Sec. Leon Panetta has warned that the cuts to defense spending could increase the country’s unemployment rate by 1 percent – more than a million jobs.

“Make no mistake, the savings that we are proposing will impact all 50 states and many districts, congressional districts across America.”

As well, when this takes effect next January, DoD will automatically have to cut an additional $540 billion from spending over the next decade.

Yes, yes, all this is spun as “no longer fighting the wars of the last decade, and to instead beef up the Navy and other assets to help counter Iran, China and North Korea.”

If course there are substantial budget savings when you run up the white flag and come home. But history teaches that there are far greater costs than money.

This is nothing more than Dick Nixon surrendering South Vietnam to the commies having declared “peace with honor” casting the return of our POWs as proof of “victory.”

The entire premise–that our war against the Muslims is over, Obama killed OBL and Sadaam and that’s it, yea Barry!–is ludicrous.

China is more of an economic threat and ironically (and schizophrenically) an economic partner as well.

North Korea has always been and is now run by an inbred troglodyte who while annoying, is directly under the thumb of the Peoples’ Republic.

Iran is a real threat, but Obama is siding with the Muslims against our only real ally, Israel… so people should be far more worried about Obama than Ahmadinejad.

Proof?  Obama has supported, applauded and encouraged the radical Islamofascist takeover of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt – maybe even Jordan.

“Arabists in the State Department, who are really part of the Arab lobby, have traditionally made the case that in order to guarantee oil we have to appease the Arab oil producers in much of the Arab world,” said Mitchell Bard, an American foreign policy analyst. “And part of appeasing them, they’ve argued, is to have a much less warm relationship between the United States and Israel.

But that’s not necessarily true: “Historically, the truth has been exactly the opposite. The stronger the relationship between the United States and Israel, typically the better the relationship the United States has had with most Arab countries.

None of this has to do with our military, national defense or national interest; it is only Obama trying to appease the far left of his base, sorely vexed because he failed to surrender our military goals around the world via executive order on January 2009.

He has doubled down on his wager that he can be re-elected by giving the far left increasing portions of everything they demand in return for their votes.

And the nation be damned.

Speaking of “More”, I thought I would share the menu for Her Wideness’ Big Ass Birthday dinner blowout at BLT Steakhouse with you:

For dinner, FLOTUS enjoyed American Wagyu Top Cap, which is served in a 10 0z portion ($81). Side dishes were family style for the table, and included French Fries, Mashed Potatoes, Caramelized Brussel Sprouts with Bacon, Creamed Spinach, and Hen of the Woods Mushrooms. Appetizers ordered for the table to share were also steak: The American Wagyu Skirt Steak (10 0z, $55) and 28-Day Dry Aged New York Strip (16 0z, $46). House-made sauces are served with the steaks, and include Horseradish, Peppercorn, 3 Mustards, and “Steak” sauce.

The birthday cake was Red Velvet, which is not on the BLT menu but served because it is “a favorite” of the First Lady’s, the chef said. There was no inscription on top, thanks to a crumb topping, and the cake was accompanied by Cream Cheese Ice Cream. She closed her eyes and made a wish before blowing out the candles to cheers from her guests.