Category Archives: United States

Memorial Day 2009

by

1

This morning’s Mass was celebrated to honor those who died for our Nation.  Fr. Michael de Palma reminded us that in the Mass we remember the sacrifice of Jesus who willing died for each and everyone of us.  He said, not all men who die in our country’s wars are openly religious men.  What can be said is that they are spiritual, a reflection of Christ in their willingness to risk and possibly sacrifice their lives.  They shoulder many burdens for all of us, often living out their lives under the most horrific circumstances for the cause of our life, liberty and freedom.

It is entirely fitting that we now remember all of these who in going to battle are actually drawn to the ways of peace.  In actuality they long to return to home, family and that peace for which they are willing to die.  We remember and honor not only them, but their loved ones, who shared in their sacrifice and are the unseen, silence heroes, carrying-on, praying and watching for their return.  Fr. de Palma also remembered the chaplains, who bring God to the side of service men and women and in difficult times and circumstances call to their minds the God who is always present, always merciful and Whose Arms open wide to receive them.

H/T Ed Morrisey for: A memorial you may not have seen

Michelle Malkin leads with giving thanks:

Taps

Day is done,
gone the sun,
From the hills,
from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well,
safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep,
peaceful sleep,
May the soldier
or sailor,
God keep.
On the land
or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Love, good night,
Must thou go,
When the day,
And the night
Need thee so?
All is well.
Speedeth all
To their rest.

Fades the light;
And afar
Goeth day,
And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well;
Day has gone,
Night is on.

Thanks and praise,
For our days,
‘Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
‘Neath the sky,
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh.

Thanks to Nice Deb for sharing this for the true meaning of Memorial Day:

Tell it to Napolitano, Move on, Winter Soldiers Fakers, Penn State & Columbia

by

1

Michelle Malkin took umbrage at President Obama’s use of the word “we” in Obama’s weekly radio and Internet address (as though America needed to be reminded who her heroes and defenders were in a world gone mad and with wa President turned would-be prosecutor.)   Malkin says:

Tell it to Janet Napolitano.

Tell it to the Gen. Betray Us smear merchants at Move On.

Tell it to the anti-military academics at Penn State and Columbia and every other ivy-covered institution.

Tell it to the anti-military recruiter thugs on campuses across the country.

Tell it to all the Winter Soldier fakers and phonies .

On this Memorial Day Weekend, Malkin  makes the point:

More to the point: Does Obama know the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day?

Reader RJD e-mails: “I do believe that Obama means well, but Memorial Day is a day to remember our fallen. We have Veterans Day and Armed Services day to thank the currently and past service members. Memorial Day is specific to thank and remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. Why then does Obama ask us to thank service members on the street? While I think this is a good thing to do anyway, I am not sure he understands what the whole day is about!”

Cheney – The Lone Ranger -Silver Bullets?

by

I hope Dick Cheney keeps the pressure on Obama.  He’s a Lone Ranger with silver bullets hitting their mark.

AllahPundit writes of Cheney:

Dour though his Darth Cheney persona may be, he projects gravitas and speaks with understated eloquence. He’s bound to persuade at least a few fencesitters.

The Pundit points to Toby Harnden in Telegraph.co.uk who notes Cheney’s 10 punches:

1. “I’ve heard occasional speculation that I’m a different man after 9/11. I wouldn’t say that, but I’ll freely admit that watching a coordinated, devastating attack on our country from an underground bunker at the White House can affect how you view your responsibilities.”

Anyone who was in New York or Washington on 9/11 (I was here in DC) was profoundly affected and most Americans understand this. Obama was, as far as I can tell, in Chicago. His response – he was then a mere state senator for liberal Hyde Park – was startlingly hand-wringing and out of step with how most Americans were feeling. This statement by Cheney reminds people of the tough decisions he and Bush had to make – ones that Obama has not yet faced.

2. “The first attack on the World Trade Center was treated as a law- enforcement problem, with everything handled after the fact: arrests, indictments, convictions, prison sentences, case closed.”

This was the pre-9/11 mindset, much criticised after the attacks. Many sense that this is the approach Obama is increasingly taking.

3. “By presidential decision last month, we saw the selective release of documents relating to enhanced interrogations. This is held up as a bold exercise in open government, honoring the public’s right to know. We’re informed as well that there was much agonizing over this decision. Yet somehow, when the soul searching was done and the veil was lifted on the policies of the Bush administration, the public was given less than half the truth.”

The release of the documents was a nakedly political move by Obama and Cheney called him on it. This passage from Obama’s speech today came across as completely disingenuous: “I did not do this because I disagreed with the enhanced interrogation techniques that those memos authorized, and I didn’t release the documents because I rejected their legal rationales — although I do on both counts. I released the memos because the existence of that approach to interrogation was already widely known, the Bush Administration had acknowledged its existence, and I had already banned those methods.”

Read the full article here.

AllahPundit Update:

Update: In hindsight, wasn’t it awfully stupid of The One to rush out a national security speech to try to preempt Cheney? If he’d kept quiet, this still would have been a hit on righty blogs and Fox News but nowhere else. By jumping in, he created the sensational “terror duel” storyline that’s forcing the media to magnify this. At the very least, he should have waited a week or so and then given his speech as a rebuttal to Cheney’s. For someone so message-savvy, he crapped the bed this time.

Pelosi – Accusations Without Recourse

by

Pelosi is afraid of the issue and with Dems refusing to investigate Pelosi’s charges with a lame procedural excuse the American public is left on the sidelines with a tarnished CIA and no recourse.

ABC writes:

House Democrats on Thursday defeated a Republican push to investigate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s assertion that the CIA misled her in 2002 about whether waterboarding had been used against terrorism suspects.

Republicans Ron Paul of Texas and Walter Jones of North Carolina joined Democrats in voting 252-172 to block the measure, which would have created a bipartisan congressional panel. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, sponsored the resolution.

AllahPundit: “No retraction, no apology, not even a clarification.”

Fox News – Cheney-Obama Showdown

by

Fox gives us the back and forth of Cheney – Obama Showdown

“Master of Dis-ingenuousness” Krauthammer on Obama

by

“Master of Dis-ingenuousness” says Charles Krauthammer of President Obama.  While giving Barack Obama high points in a speech that lays out just how difficult decisions are in the making, it was also evident that Obama seeks to satisfy the masses with his mouth rather than corresponding actions.

Full text of Obama speech here: No point in reading it, it’s just more window dressing.

AllahPundit summarizes it well: “We must look forward while also remembering that everything is Bush’s fault, and we must not abandon our core ideals unless doing so would make things too difficult for The One.”

Personally, I’m glad Obama at least pays lip service to the fact that these Gitmo detainees are bad guys, hard core bad guys, not people pick -up at a picnic gone bad.

Obama: “We are going to exhaust every avenue that we have to prosecute those at Guantanamo who pose a danger to our country. But even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States. Examples of that threat include people who have received extensive explosives training at al Qaeda training camps, commanded Taliban troops in battle, expressed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden, or otherwise made it clear that they want to kill Americans. These are people who, in effect, remain at war with the United States.

As I said, I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American people. Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and those that we capture – like other prisoners of war – must be prevented from attacking us again.

Obama still doesn’t get the inconvenient truth that these are not “like other prisoners- of- war,” covered by the Geneva Convention, these are “TERRORISTS” without rights guaranteed by our Constitution to our citizens.  By the goodness of our hearts, they are still alive; even though they are still  trying to destroy this country and we are the  people they, given a chance, still intent to kill.