Rudyard Kipling"
āWhen you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldierā
General Douglas MacArthur"
āWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā
āIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā āOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
āThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā
āMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā āThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
āNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
āIt is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Down and Dirty, The president is giving half the country the finger by Mona Charen
Friday, November 02, 2012
You
could, without stretching, make an aesthetic case for voting against
Barack Obama. Leaving aside the hobbled economy, the promised second
term āflexibilityā with Putin, the job-diminishing Dodd/Frank act, the
Benghazi debacle, the train wreck called Obamacare, the assault on the
free exercise of religion, the pretense that the Lilly Ledbetter Act
codified equal pay for equal work, the limp response to Iranās nuclear
threat, the many Solyndras, kicking Bowles/Simpson to the curb, the
āfreeā contraceptives, the recommendation that Israel do some āserious
self-reflection,ā the preening over bin Ladenās assassination, the Bill
Clinton ad saying Romney wouldnāt have approved the mission, the
pretense that Gabby Giffordsās shooting should put us on the path to
political civility, the savaging of Paul Ryan in a speech to which he
had been specifically invited, and the fact that Obama didnāt know the
number when David Letterman asked about how big the national debt has
become ā there are grounds for firing Obama that rest upon seemliness.
Barack Obama isnāt the first candidate to go ugly in search of votes ā
but he may well be the first whose reputation for high-mindedness seems
not to have been the least bit dented by his bottom-feeding. Both he
and his acolytes on the left have dragged our public life down to the
vulgar level to which theyāve already dragged popular culture.Often, the two intersect. Madonna exhorts her fans at a concert to
vote for Barack Obama and when some boo, she extends her middle finger.
MoveOn.org has an ad up that is just the sort of thing Comedy Central
types find naughty and delightful ā elderly Americans using foul
language about Romney. One woman in her 90s promises to āc*** punchā the
candidate. Ah, hope and change.
The president isnāt responsible for every vile expression of his
supporters. But is he at least responsible for his vice president?
Bidenās behavior is beyond unseemly. He has strayed so far beyond
propriety as to provoke doubts about his mental stability. Do we really
think itās cute for a vice president to call a major piece of
legislation a ābig f***ing dealā? Is it just olā Joe being Joe when he
tells a black audience that Republicans āwant to put yāall back in
chainsā? His performance in the debate ā bullying, crude, manic, and
boorish ā has set a new low for debates on the national level. Weāve
seen befuddled performances, surly ones, bored, and even incoherent
displays by candidates for president and vice president. But Joe Biden
behaved like a mean drunk. The response of his boss and his party to
this thuggishness was . . . applause.
The debate was not Bidenās lowest moment. That came during the solemn
ceremony greeting the body of slain Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods. Biden first
approached Charles Woods and, referring to his own experience with
family tragedy, noted that āI received one of those damned phone calls.ā
Just a few minutes later, the vice president of the United States
sidled over to the grieving father and asked, āDid your son always have
balls the size of cue balls?ā
Biden seems to set the tone for the Obama White House. Presidents
have used swear words before, but Barack Obama now has the distinction
of using them, not in private, but in an on-the-record interview. And
not in the abstract, as in, the ās*** hit the fanā but as an epithet
about his opponent.It was Barack Obamaās campaign, not a super PAC, not an independent
supporter, that ran a crass ad aimed at women comparing voting for Obama
with losing oneās virginity. (An idea lifted from, of all people,
Vladimir Putin!)
Mr. Obama was always a down-the-line leftist, but when he ran for
president the first time, he did so with dignity and even a touch of
elegance. That style may have led some voters to overlook the
reactionary leftist policies the ācoolā candidate was peddling.
This time, the elegance is gone, the fangs are bared, and standards
of honesty are long gone. His policies failed, so no accusation against
Mitt Romney is held back: Heās an enemy of women who will outlaw all
abortions (no exceptions), he will raise taxes on the middle class just
to cut them for the rich, he ships jobs overseas and pockets the
profits, he won the first debate through lies (sheesh), he gives cancer
to the wives of unemployed workers, he delights in bankrupting
companies, he wants to prevent women from getting āaccessā to birth
control, and so on.
