Some years Memorial Day just sneaks up on me; before I realize it’s that time of year, there’s a reminder in my local newspaper of the ceremony at Oakridge Cemetery, to commemorate those veterans who have served our country with honor and valor, but who are no longer with us.

This year is different. I’ve spent a lot of time recently working on a book about Tift County veterans who died in World War II. Tom Brokaw called them “The Greatest Generation.” I’m not sure I completely agree with that. Although our country lost millions in that war, it was at least largely supported by the American public. As Dickens might have said, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Though people struggled financially, everyone seemed to feel personal responsibility for helping with the war effort. The stakes were high, and bond drives succeeded in motivating even the poorest Americans to contribute whatever they could. Some newspapers published lists of contributions, even those of less than a dollar.

Service members who fought in Vietnam and more recently, those in the war against radical Islamic terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan, are just as great, in my opinion. Perhaps men and women who will fight the unpopular wars are even greater heroes—making a conscientious decision to buck the tide of popular opinion and do their part in defending freedom.

A fellow military retiree sent me an e-mail message recently, telling me about a television program he had just seen, which detailed how so many of our newer veterans are returning from a violent war with traumatic injuries– many missing limbs or eyes; others with an assortment of similar physical disabilities. Though modern medical science can create artificial limbs and in many ways help them compensate for the physical losses, dealing with the mental trauma is much harder. Their memories return every night in hellish nightmares that force them to vividly relive the horrors of war. Sometimes the memories even take over during waking hours, causing flashbacks that transport the mind to a different place, a different time. Escape is impossible, and the suffering is relived over and over. “Our country isn’t providing them the assistance they need,” my friend lamented. Consequently, many resort to crime. Others are homeless wanderers, unable to adjust to “normal” life.

Almost a hundred years ago, in 1915, a woman named Moina Michael, inspired by the poem, “In Flanders Fields,” (by Canadian Colonel John McRae) began wearing red poppies on Memorial Day to honor our nation’s war dead. The tradition grew and even spread to other countries. In 1922 the VFW became the first veterans’ organization to sell the artificial poppies made by disabled veterans as a national effort to raise funds to support programs for veterans and their dependents. In 1948 the U.S. Post Office issued a red 3-cent stamp honoring Michael for her role in founding the national poppy movement.

WE SHALL NOT SLEEP
(later titled “In Flanders Fields”)
by Col John McRae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly.
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

When you see that American Legion or VFW veteran selling poppies in front of Walmart this year, give a generous donation, then take a poppy and wear it proudly. Let’s let our veterans know we appreciate their sacrifices.

And instead of just celebrating with a cook-out, take time to attend your local Memorial Day ceremony. Never forget those who have died in service to our country and the legacy of service that is perpetuated by our all-volunteer military forces today.

“And this day shall be unto you for a memorial…” – Exodus 12:3

Thirteen restaurant employees in Chandler, Arizona got fired for skipping work to protest the new immigration law. It was not a political retaliation, as one employee who was scheduled to have the day off and attended the demonstration did NOT get fired. It was simply a business decision. From KPHO, Phoenix comes this:

“We got fired,” said Pei Wei employee Elizabeth Serefin. “All of us that were at the march.”….

“I can understand it because that’s their business and we were supposed to work, but come on, they have to understand us too,” Serfin said.

Serafin says they all understood they were taking a risk, and as the general manager of Pei Wei in Chandler reaffirmed Sunday, it’s just business, but for thirteen people, taking a chance to secure a future was more important than another day of work….

These remarks pretty well sum up the arrogant attitude of the illegal aliens who sneak into our country to rob our public services. First, the restaurant is under no obligation to “understand” them. The restaurant owners are paying them, so it is their job to understand what the restaurant owners want. That’s capitalism. Second, if they had paying jobs and were willing to take personal responsibility for themselves, they did have a future. The idea that you “secure a future” from the United States government reflects their desire for socialism.

The more we let people like these into our country, and worse yet, into the electorate, the more we secure the future doom of what was once a great country.

Thousands of illegal aliens are protesting in front of the Arizona capitol today. Among them is a caravan bussed in from Southern California yesterday, bringing food and water with them so they would not have to spend any money in Arizona.

Tea Party activists are also out in force, protesting the protest. Among them is the family of Jamiel Shaw, an exceptionally promising 17-year-old high school football star who was shot to death in March 2008 by an illegal alien. The killer, Pedro Espinoza, had been in a Los Angeles jail on an assault charge, but was released the day before.

Here are some ideas:

• Stop the busses transporting the protesters for some minor traffic violation (no bus driver is perfect) and check all of their IDs. For all those who cannot prove legal residence or citizenship, send them to Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
• Call the illegal alien hotline today. The number is 866-347-2423. Tell them that there are a bunch of illegals outside the state capitol in Arizona and the authorities need to apprehend and arrest them. They are out there in droves with signs saying, “Look at me I am illegal.” How hard is it?
• Since these folk don’t want to spend any money in Arizona, tell them their money is no good when they try to buy gasoline for the bus trip home. See what they do when their food and water runs out.

Tail wag

Tail wag: Mary Seales

Related:

CNN — Thousands to go to Phoenix to protest Arizona immigration law

The Massachusetts legislature has passed a law which would enable the State of Massachusetts to help enforce immigration law.  This just shows that the canard about how “immigration is a federal issue and the states cannot do anything about it” is just political blather designed to fool the public.

Individual states can and should do a great deal to enforce immigration law. They can mandate that employers use the E-Verify system to ensure that their employees are US citizens or legal residents with valid social security numbers and not illegal immigrants. And they can make sure that social benefits designed for US citizens do not go to illegal immigrants.

From the New York Times — NY Times: Massachusetts Seeks to Help Enforce Immigration Law:

The Massachusetts Senate on Thursday approved a series of measures to tighten immigration enforcement, reflecting election-year unease over the issue in a Democratic-controlled Legislature that has spurned such crackdowns in the past.

The measures, which passed 28 to 10 in an amendment to a budget bill, would require state contractors to confirm that their workers were here legally and prohibit the contractors from doing business with the state if they were found to employ illegal immigrants.

The changes would also codify into law an existing state policy that bars illegal immigrants from qualifying for resident-tuition rates at state colleges. And they would require public housing agencies to give legal residents priority for subsidized housing.

In addition, the state attorney general’s office would be required to set up a hot line for people to anonymously report businesses that hire illegal immigrants, and to investigate any such reports….

A Suffolk University/7 News poll released Wednesday found that 84 percent of voters want the state to require proof of citizenship before awarding benefits like public assistance….

Massachusetts shows the way!

Obama left Washington for Chicago Thursday night. He just doesn’t get it. He is the President — The Commander in Chief — or he is not. If he is, he needs to understand the culture of those sworn to follow his orders. He needs to show them respect. He needs to honor their dead.

These are not just the military’s dead; they are our dead: Fathers, Mothers, Brothers, Sisters, Sons, Daughters, Friends… The most important duties of the president are not codified, are not part of some legal document or treaty. The most important duties are written in blood on sand, rock, wood, and water across the expanse of our battlefields.

To dishonor the sacrifice of these millions in favor of a few hours of personal time shows the fundamental misunderstanding and deep character flaw upon which Obama claims the office. The needs of others outweigh personal needs, wants, and desires for the individual who is honored to be president of the United States — it is not just another job. Worse, this comes at a time when the military needs a show of support in light of the don’t ask, don’t tell vote.

From Fox News:

President Obama, who was headed to Chicago on Thursday night, will not be at Arlington National Cemetery for the Memorial Day ceremony — which he attended last year. Instead, the president plans to be at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Ill., while Vice President Biden takes his place in Arlington for the wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Below this article, Fox is conducting a poll:

YOU DECIDE

• He should be attending ceremonies at Arlington
• At least he is marking the day, even if it’s in Chicago
• He’s not required to do anything specific, give him a break
• Other (leave a comment)

Please follow the link and vote your conscience.

What Do You Think About Obama’s Memorial Day Plans?

The hint of a White House bribe helped U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak in the Democratic primary for the Pennsylvania US Senate seat. But it will be a liability in the general election.

In an environment of massive anti-incumbent sentiment, it was advantageous to Sestak to differentiate himself from the self-serving Arlen Specter, who had switched parties to gain Obama’s sponsorship in hopes of saving his place in the Senate. One does not reach a high level in the military without being socially and politically prudent, and Sestak rose to the rank of three-star Admiral. He was also street-savvy enough to win two terms in Congress after that. Yet one can understand how he was tempted to let the story of the White House job offer, purportedly made last July, slip during the taping of a mid-February public affairs television show.

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak … stands behind his contention that the Obama administration offered him a federal job if he would back away from a Democratic primary race against Sen. Arlen Specter.

“Yes, I was offered a job,” Sestak said….

Sestak said top party officials urged him to abandon his Senate bid when Specter joined the Democratic Party….

“Look, I am comfortable that I answered honestly,” Sestak said. “I said I would never agree with the type of deal that was done with Specter, so I would never go for a deal for myself.”

As early as last June, establishment Democrats were lining up against his then unannounced candidacy.

The public mulling of a Senate bid by Sestak – a retired admiral who’s just begun his second term in the House – is giving heartburn to many influential Democrats in Washington and in the Keystone State. Democratic leaders painstakingly worked to recruit Specter, potentially the Democrats’ filibuster-breaking 60th vote in the Senate, under the assumption that the former Republican would be able to coast through his adopted party’s primary on his way to another term.

Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell personified the great disconnect between Democratic incumbents and public sentiment, and proved himself a dismal prognosticator, when he assumed a loss for Sestak last June:

Gov. Ed Rendell (D) offered especially blunt words against a Sestak candidacy, telling MSNBC that “Joe should not run for the Senate in the Democratic primary. He would get killed. … [If] Joe Sestak runs against Arlen Specter, he is out of the Congress after just two short terms. We will lose a terrific Congressman and when he loses to Arlen, he fades into political obscurity.”

Now Sestak has handily won the primary, and the spectre of Specter has instead faded into political obscurity. Within Democratic circles, Sestak is diametrically opposed to the incumbent administration. He was a Hillary Clinton supporter. And there is a more painful fact, one that most political pundits overlook — Obama’s minion Admiral Michael Mullen, currently Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was responsible for ending Sestak’s 31-year naval career.

Sestak’s Navy career ended in a less-than-ideal fashion. In July 2005 – within a week of Adm. Michael Mullen’s swearing-in as chief of naval operations – Sestak was dismissed as deputy chief of naval operations due to a “poor command climate,” according to the Navy Times…. The ouster represented a stunning (albeit temporary) reversal of fortune for Sestak.

In fact, Mullen fired Sestak his first day on the job, so it most likely was a political move, and not based on performance.

So much for the machinations of the Democratic primary. The story of the job offer, potentially a bribe intended to interfere in the electoral process, has taken on a life of its own. The White House denies it, but Sestak is sticking by his story.

Democratic Senate Nominee Sestak Repeats Claim: White House Offered Him Job to Drop Out of Race Against Specter
Friday, May 21, 2010

Rep. Joe Sestak, the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat, said again this week that the White House offered him a job to keep him from challenging Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary.

Darrell Issa, a Republican Congressman from California, wants to find out whether Obama committed an impeachable offense.

Rep. Joe Sestak’s allegation that the White House offered him a job to drop out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary race against Arlen Specter is a crime that could lead to the impeachment of President Obama, Rep. Darrell Issa said….

Issa, R-Calif., is one of many inside and outside Washington who want the Democratic Senate primary candidate to explain in detail what offer the White House made.

“It’s very clear that allegation is one that everyone from Arlen Spector to Dick Morris has said is in fact a crime, and could be impeachable,” said Issa, who is threatening to file an ethics compliant if Sestak doesn’t provide more details about the alleged job offer.

….Sestak, a former vice admiral in the Navy, first alleged in February that the White House offered him a high-ranking position in the administration last summer if he would sit out the primary against Specter, who won the backing of the White House and state Democratic leaders for switching parties.

If this event happened as described, here is the legal basis for impeachment:

U.S. Constitution Article II, Section 4 – Disqualification – The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

And here is the definition for impeachment:

Impeachment – Impeachment, in the U.S. and Great Britain, proceeding by a legislature for the removal from office of a public official charged with misconduct in office. Impeachment comprises both the act of formulating the accusation and the resulting trial of the charges; it is frequently but erroneously taken to mean only the removal from office of an accused public official. An impeachment trial may result in either an acquittal or in a verdict of guilty. In the latter case the impeached official is removed from office; if the charges warrant such action, the official is also remanded to the proper authorities for trial before a court.

An article in the Washington Examiner details the dilemma facing Sestak in the general election:

During his bid for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania Sestak claimed that he was offered a job in the Administration if he would agree to drop his bid to challenge the incumbent, Arlen Specter.

This is a felony according to the law.

The U.S. Code specifically forbids anyone from seeking to tamper with an election by offering a bribe or anything else of value or substance to a candidate. This is known as ‘quid-pro-quo.’ And it is a serious offense for which a person who is convicted of the crime could spend up to 5 years in prison….

How could the White House claim that nothing inappropriate took place when the very fact that Sestak was engaged in conversations with Administration officials during a hotly contested campaign is a highly suspicious act in and of itself?

Why would the White House even wish to talk to Sestak at all when it had clearly thrown its support to Specter?

Someone in this sordid mess is lying. And there are only 2 choices–Sestak or Robert Gibbs at the White House, who as press secretary must state to the public whatever he is instructed to say by the President and his advisers.

If Sestak is lying and the entire story is bogus, then his chances of beating the Republican in the Fall will drop like a lead balloon. But if he is telling the truth and continues to refuse to name the parties at the White House who offered him this deal, then he is protecting a felon. Either way Sestak loses.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton issued the following statement:

This latest bribery allegation reflects a disturbing pattern by the Obama White House. We still don’t have all the details about involvement of Obama administration officials in the sale of Obama’s former Illinois U.S. Senate seat by Rod Blagojevich. And we still don’t have answers about the charge that Obama Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina offered a federal job to Colorado Democratic Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff to keep him out of the Senate race. There is also the report that President Obama tried to push disgruntled White House Counsel Greg Craig out of the White House by offering a federal judgeship on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. And now we have Joe Sestak.

The Chicago Machine has truly come to Washington.

Other than impeachment, other parts of the law might be relevant, according to Judicial Watch:

According to Judicial Watch, the following laws (among others) may have been violated in the Sestak matter: 18 USC 210: Offer to procure appointive public office; 18 USC 211: Acceptance of solicitation to obtain appointive public office; 18 USC 595: Interference by administrative employees by Federal, State or Territorial Governments; and 18 USC 600: Promise of employment or other benefit for political activity.

That legal opinion is reinforced by Jay Sekulow of The American Center for Law & Justice, who said in an interview:

Well, article 2, section 4 of the Constitution is there for a reason. And … this is spinning out of control, as far as the White House is concerned right now. This is getting big coverage and it’s getting big coverage because something’s wrong here. It’s undercutting democracy if, in fact, offers were made to have someone not run.

And it’s not just one or two sections of federal law that’s been violated here. We’ve done an analysis of this. There could be four or even five sections of the federal criminal code that was violated….

These are serious allegations here. …. I understand why Mr. Sestak is trying to not say anything right now because he’s now obtained the nomination and he may want the White House support. But the reality is, somebody’s going to have to speak. And if, in fact, it is established that an offer of employment was made so that he would not run, that is interference with a political campaign, it’s interference with elected office, it’s the promise and solicitation of a job opportunity in order to forego something. That violates … not only the Constitution, it violates federal law….

The opinion by most legal observers seems to be that Obama must have known if a job offer was made, but that someone else in the administration will take the fall for it. We, as ordinary citizens, watch this play out and have to decide who is not telling the truth — a high ranking military officer or a community organizer from Chicago. Hard choice that!

Related:

Michelle Malkin — Obama responds to Sestak scandal: Just trust me

Dick Morris.com — PENN AG TOM CORBETT SHOULD EMPANEL GRAND JURY IN SESTAK AFFAIR

Hyscience — Just ‘trust him’

UPDATE, May 28 3PM: I can’t do any better than this. Go visit The Right Side of Life to read Phil’s excellent compendium detailing the progress of the White House spin machine. They have elected to throw Bill Clinton and Rahm Emanuel under the bus on this one.

This whole affair stinks like a pile of rotting dead fish. The preposterous story being put out by the White House may prevent a legal challenge, but the whole mess will probably hurt the Dems in the general election. By saving Obama’s bacon, they have damaged their candidate and made him look like a liar.

HBO has been showing a piece on the history of the Philadelphia Flyers’ most famous edition of their hockey team, “the Broad Street Bullies.” Typical of America’s MEDIA today, the Flyers are being criticized in the Democrat MEDIA for their “brutish” tactics with a piece on 10 May 2010 by Joe Lapointe in the Huffington Post which is TYPICAL of their nonsense in decrying the Flyers uniquely brutal tactics along with making the Soviet hockey team the heroes when they were defeated by the Flyers in 1976. Lapointe’s article is pulsing negativity without ANY balance on either the nature of hockey in the time period or any recognition of positive results. The “Broad Street Bullies” are treated like Republicans even though most of them were Canadian nationals.

I grew up as a sports fan nut because of my New York Yankee-loving maternal grandparents who had along the way made friends with a retired former New York Ranger hockey player. Consequently, I ran into the Flyers watching the Rangers in the early 1970s. I was watching a televised game in Philadelphia in 1973 between the two teams & became an instant Flyer’s fan when I saw a rooting section for the then young Dave Schultz in the Spectrum who were wearing plastic German Army helmets. Hockey “fighting” was common in the National Hockey League (NHL) at that time & I later learned that the Flyers had problems when they started with other teams bullying them because the 1st editions of the team emphasized the skating & stick handling approach of the Montreal Canadians, not toughness. Dave “the Hammer” Schultz changed the equation but didn’t start the practice.

Before the championship run of the Bullies, the “Big Bad Boston Bruins” had been a dominant team. Their tough guy, Wayne Cashman, was appropriately knocked senseless by Schultz as the Flyers began their ascent. Flyers coach Fred Shero was a hockey innovator who made use of the skills of his team, not trying to recreate some purist image of the flying skating Montreal Canadians or the Soviets. The Flyers checked their opponents better than anyone else & knocked them off the puck which allowed Flyer scorers like Center Bobby Clarke to excel. Schultz, as the most astounding hockey fighting “enforcer” ever, did set records for penalties, but Schultz didn’t permanently harm ANYBODY. On the other hand, a famous stick fight between Wayne Maki & Ted Greene in the same period almost killed Greene.

Naturally, the Democrat MEDIA doesn’t care about TRUTH & instead spins to reinforce the Marxist ideal of a herd philosophy where individual rights or “styles” are demeaned. Lapointe’s article is typical of the Democrat MEDIA criticism with its active devotion of the Soviets. It ignores the fact that the Soviet Hockey Team was made up of NHL quality PROFESSIONAL hockey players who delighted in beating national teams of college age kids. These commie bullies got a different dose of their own medicine when they ran into the Flyers. Their cowardice in leaving the ice wasn’t about excess violence by the Flyers but the fact that the Flyers didn’t just roll over & play their style.

The Flyers victory was a VICTORY for the individual rights of free men over the Marxist herd as befitted the song “Philadelphia Freedom” which came out in commemoration of the Flyers 4 to 1 triumph. The Flyers spirit of never giving up & toughness is sorely needed in America today. A Dave Schultz right to the skull of the typical Democrat pinhead wouldn’t hurt either. The Democrat MEDIA intolerance for anything but the Marxist spin of the Democrat politicians comes shining through their childish criticism of the toughness of the Flyers. This atmosphere of Marxist-only solutions which is epitomized by the hosts of MSNBC keeps the constant FAILURES of the Obama Administration behind a fog of lies. 2 November 2010 needs to have the power of a Flyer slap shot to clear the horrific threat to American democracy from today’s Democrat Party.

Twelve thousand hundred National Guardsmen to the border? Are you kidding me?

Pres BO “ain’t doin” a lot of leading these days! He is whining and finger pointing but he is not taking ownership of the problems!

On the border, he apparently will send 1,200 troops! (By the way, are we getting any troops in Texas? Read Perry’s request goes ignored for more than a year.)

My guess is that most people will react with amazement. Why are we just sending 1,200 to protect a 1,000 mile border? How do you reconcile that decision with this — Feds Issue Terror Watch for the Texas/Mexico Border?

We need to send 10,000 troops and spread them between Brownsville and San Diego. It will send a serious message to everyone, from the law abiding citizen in a border state to the cartels and coyotes sneaking into the US.

The US-Mexico border is a national security concern. When is Pres BO going to see it that way?

OK, it’s only a state-level election race, but it’s a great ad. Every red-blooded American will enjoy watching…

Bend your ears boys and girls for another of Baron von Münch-Kane’s once-spun yarns and twice-told tales.

In this Hitchcockian melodrama, I’m a former English professor, not a red herring. I’ve got a dog, a wife, and several coffee houses that depend upon me, and I don’t intend to disappoint them all by getting myself slightly killed. 

Not that I mind a slight case of mistaken identity now and then, but I get kind of unreasonable when a leftist droid at Live Leak and fellow cronies at Little Green Footballs post my blog URL at The Millstone Diaries identifying me as the alleged cop killer Jerry R. Kane. 

Late Friday and early Saturday morning, I began receiving death-threat comments on my about page condemning me to the nether regions of Hell. Although I was grateful for the attention, I wondered what I could have written that created such a stir and what the devil it was all about. 

I soon discovered that a leftist dreg posted a news story “Relatives ID West Memphis Shootout Suspects” by Zack McMillin and Marc Perrusquia at Live Leak and wrote above it:

You can go to Jerry Kane’s Web site – See link below….Sounds familiar – Tea Party, NRA, Marxism, Jews

http://imkane.wordpress.com/about/

A bit later I found the following at Little Green Footballs posted in:  What Right Wing Extremist Violence?

Charles this is supposed to be the site of the alleged West Memphis shooters Jerry Kane and Joseph Kane. (Gee, more Jew bashing White Supremacists, who’d of thunk it?)”

[Link: imkane.wordpress.com...]

And of course the good little Leninists kicked the post through the comment section a bit before one of the more learned in the English alphabet noticed a glaring difference between middle initials “A” and “R” in the name Jerry Kane. 

Perhaps when these red-diapered droids were young and impressionable their parents told them that they couldn’t have Cabbage Patch kids, Tickle Me Elmo dolls, and Transformer toys until the great storehouse had enough to redistribute to all children. 

Their deranged hatred for anyone on the right daring to express a diverse worldview prevents them from distinguishing between those who criticize statist thinking and white supremacists who truly hate blacks, Jews, feminists, homosexuals, and environmentalists. 

Leftists imagine themselves as architects building a better world where everyone shares with everyone else, where no one is poor, and where everyone works their hardest for the benefit of others. 

Like Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s Vara Pvalovna, they have become fixated on the Crystal Palace at Sydenham and share her fourth dream of a radiant future, all the while denying the historical reality that the ten planks supporting their utopian fantasies have never increased civility within the social order, but brought instead only death, destruction, and ruin to society. 

In the world of the left, truth is subordinated to the demands of ideology. There’s no such thing as a lie; there’s only expedient exaggeration to promote their anti-American, statist agenda.  

So don’t be fooled boys and girls; leftists are not good-hearted, misinformed, misled folk. They presume that anyone who thinks differently from them is a violent, anti-Semitic, racist, redneck richly deserving of their insults and smears; therefore, they vilify and slander those with whom they disagree with deliberate malice and forethought.