American History

Today's Washington Post has an article by right wing hit man John Solomon. Today Solomon goes after John Edwards and his infamous $400 haircut. They are coining it as "the stylist speaks out", even though I got a feeling Solomon worked hard to get him to "speak out".

Instead of quoting this piece of crap, which has absolutely nothing to do with leadership, I think it is prudent to remember our history. 231 years ago 56 brave men signed their own death warrant. That death warrant was called the Declaration of Independence, and if the Revolutionary War would have gone the other way, all these men would have been hanged for treason.

They took the ultimate risk to build a nation that was better. One above all others. Now we got this - a country that worries about how much a haircut costs. This is not some "scandal" trademarked by Edwards. Clinton also faced the same scrutiny, lead by a rash of right wing lies when he got a haircut aboard Air Force One.

So why is it the right can only find petty things to pick on?

Look at who their top voices are. Ann Coulter, who sinks to the lowest of human standards by making jokes about Edwards dead son. The same person who can joke about a presidential candidate being harassed, while claiming it a "joke" (and you are welcome Bill).

Or how about a man they want to be the next President, Newt Gingrich. This is a man who told a bunch of other neo-cons that people died in Katrina, because the people were "so uneducated and so unprepared, they literally couldn't get out of the way of a hurricane". This statement was also received by a bunch of cheers.

So let's compare Katrina and Edwards haircut. Number of people who have died from Edward's getting an expensive haircut - 0. Number of people that died from Bush wanting to look good? 1836.

While we are on the current leader of the Republican party, let's discuss some other things. This is a party that has applauded the largest assault against justice ever exhibited - Scooter Libby. This is a man who contributed to the lies that lead us into war. A man who purposely lied to investigators in order to steer off an investigation into those lies and the repercussions that lead to the outing of a CIA agent.

When Bush announced he was commuting the sentence of Scooter, he said he "respected the decision of the jury". What about the respect for the jury that Libby lied to? This is the jury that was charged with getting to the bottom of the actual crime and Libby threw sand in their face, so to reward that you give him the ultimate gift?

231 years ago, some of the bravest men this world has ever seen stared down the threat of certain death in order to let people live life more free. They were tired of forced religion and an imperial leader who did not care about the people, or justice.

On August 27, 1776, the British landed in New York. Not every American was as brave as those 56. Many ran and were moved to boats of shore, safe from cannon fire. These were the people who coward and chose the cowardly route that lead behind King George's shirt tails. If this were today, some of the people on those ships would be the likes of George Bush, Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter and all the other's on the right who continue to insult the liberty given to us by 56 brave souls.

Now don't let them fool you. They will try to convince you that they are the brave souls. They would have called people like John Hancock, Ben Franklin, Sam Adams and Thomas Jefferson cowards. When the left stands up to the assault on our liberty done by this President, we are called cowards also. If we are the cowards, then I am proud to be one, and in a country that is filled with cowards. Instead we choose to stand up for what we believe in, and not focus on such petty things as haircuts. We realize there are serious problems facing our young nation and choose to face the challenges head on.

People like John Solomon and the right wing stooges he feeds are not worthy of the gift they were given by our founding fathers. They are actually an insult to the history of this nation, and the reason our great political system has become so poisoned. Perhaps it is time for them to leave this country and head back to King George with their heads held high, saying they tried to destroy the rebels in America.

Why does the GOP want Foley on the front page? Because they don't want news like this becoming the focus point of the 24/7 news cycle:

The number of U.S troops wounded in Iraq has surged to its highest monthly level in nearly two years as American GIs fight block-by-block in Baghdad to try to check a spiral of sectarian violence that U.S. commanders warn could lead to civil war.

Last month, 776 U.S. troops were wounded in action in Iraq, the highest number since the military assault to retake the insurgent-held city of Fallujah in November 2004, according to Defense Department data. It was the fourth-highest monthly total since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

The sharp increase in American wounded -- with nearly 300 more in the first week of October -- is a grim measure of the degree to which the U.S. military has been thrust into the lead of the effort to stave off full-scale civil war in Iraq, military officials and experts say. Beyond Baghdad, Marines battling Sunni insurgents in Iraq's western province of Anbar last month also suffered their highest number of wounded in action since late 2004.

More than 20,000 U.S. troops have been wounded in combat in the Iraq war, and about half have returned to duty. While much media reporting has focused on the more than 2,700 killed, military experts say the number of wounded is a more accurate gauge of the fierceness of fighting because advances in armor and medical care today allow many service members to survive who would have perished in past wars. The ratio of wounded to killed among U.S. forces in Iraq is about 8 to 1, compared with 3 to 1 in Vietnam.

The toll in Iraq is growing at a phenomenal rate. Even worse is the post traumatic effects this war is having on our returning soldiers:

A year after they returned home, members of a badly battered Marine Corps unit are still finding it hard to adjust to their civilian lives.

Some Marines of Lima Company, which lost 16 reservists in Iraq, say they dislike being in crowds, because crowds in Iraq meant trouble.

"I feel like a different person," said Cpl. Seth Judy, 25, who had surgery in July to remove the last bit of shrapnel embedded in his left knee. "I don't have a free spirit the way I used to."

The Columbus-based company, part of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, returned home Oct. 7, 2005. The unit was the subject of A&E Television Network's documentary film, "Combat Diary: The Marines of Lima Company," which used personal video shot by the Marines.

I openly admit I am not a religious person. I consider myself an Atheist and, as much as people try, will not change my views unless something happens in my life to make me change.

Having said that, I find what the religious right is doing to America today is despicable. We all know that this is not a "Christian" nation, but rather a nation of religious freedoms. These zealots have tried relentlessly to rewrite American history, and what she stands for.

I firmly believe that our forefathers knew the dangers of having politics and religion mixed. They wanted a separation of church and state to not only protect our nation, but more importantly to protect religion. They knew the dangers of politicians getting power hungry and invoking faith as a reason to wage war.

This millennium has shown a big change in those views. We now face more and more churches throwing their political hats in the ring and our leaders crediting their decisions with the “will of God”. This is very dangerous and leaves people like me feeling even more disconnected from our country.

     It's been five years since terrorism grappled America, spurring a seeming endless trail of hampered freedoms.  Even now, to this day, the Bush regime continues it's role in murky dealings.  The legislative nightmares and fumbled policies may pale in comparison to the attacks of September 11th, 2001 and for good reason.

     On May 16th, 2005 footage was finally released officially by the Department of Defense via Freedom of Information Act.  The captures entail one frame of a thin, white protrusion entering from the right side.  The next frame captures a silver-white explosion, followed by a fireball and trailing smoke.  For your convenience, Intoxination provides you with that video:

http://www.intoxination.net/2006/05/16/911-pentagon-video-1/

http://www.intoxination.net/2006/05/16/911-pentagon-video-2/

Something our nation seems to forget is where it came from. While watching Good Night and Good Luck the other night I was interested in how Edward R. Murrow constantly held his Kent cigarette in his hand while doing his broadcast. Since that occurred 20 years before my time I missed it when it actually happened.

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Now thanks to the good folks from RealityBasedNation.com we get a fresh reminder of how else cigarettes helped shape our television viewing.