First Dispatches From the Vets For Freedom Embeds

People may not be aware but Vets For Freedom, that organization that brought you the National Heroes Tour, and headed by Pete Hegseth, has these heroes on a new tour. This time as embedded reporters in Iraq and the first dispatches are starting to come back. David Bellavia, now no longer running for congress in New York has my favorite. Top Tens Signs the Surge has worked.

8. Number one complaint of Green Zone soldiers is the lack of decals for the new Les Paul Guitar Hero: Aerosmith model edition.

Go to Blackfive to read them all. They have some big time support this time from the National Review Online and The Weekly Standard.

David Bellavia is running for congress

When I read this I got happier then I have been in the last couple of years. David Bellavia strikes me as a truly great guy and why he would want to get involved in politics is beyond me but I hope he wins. Not only that I hope he wins and he gets to look John Murtha in the eyes every day and watch him squirm.

Go here for information and if you can send him some money and support him. He just finished up the National Heroes tour with the Vets For Freedom, and he has been nominated for the Medal of Honor for his action in Fallujah.

He is the real deal and just what we need to shake up the halls of congress.
Damn David I am sorry I live in GA and can't vote for you but all you folks at FT Drum in the 10th Mountain get off your butts and help get this man in congress.

National Heroes Tour at Ft Bragg, NC

The National Heroes Tour made one of its' last stops last night at Ft Bragg, NC, home of the 82nd Airborne and the Special Forces Command, and a very appropriate stop for these heroes. Monday and Tuesday they will in Washington DC to show their support of Gen Petraeus along with members of the Gathering of Eagles, Move America Forward, Vets For Freedom and Vets for Victory.
Here courtesy of Jim Hanson, Uncle Jimbo from Blackfive is the video of that stop.


I know this is a rather lengthy video, 50 minutes in duration, so if you don't want to watch the whole thing fine, it is your loss. You absolutely must set aside time to watch these folks and listen to their stories, but at a very minimum go to the 45 minute mark and listen to LTC Steven Russell sum it up.
I heard one comment about the low turnout again! To me that has been the big national disgrace associated with this tour. Why they are not talking to filled stadiums is beyond me and it is causing me to reconsider where our country is when these heroes can not draw larger crowds then they do and the total lack of any sort of national press coverage this tour has garnered. Maybe David Bellavia has it right, if only somebody on the tour had won 5 golf tournaments in a row like Tiger Woods they would be getting more attention.

An apology, an explanation,and finally some news

First off let me start by apologizing for not posting here much in the last week. In way of explanation let me say that I do have a day job. Well that day job turned into a day and night job last week when a big project I was working on went to hell in a handbasket because one person didn't do their job. In todays' corporate world where the bottom line is the most important metric upon which a company is judged, and payroll is the biggest expense, many companies like the one I work for all too often trim the personnel roles so thin that there is just one person for a position, which makes it all the more critical that everybody do what they are supposed to do. So we went to work day and night to fix in one week what this one person was supposed to have been testing and evaluating for over 3 months. The best thing I can say about my job is the pay ain't so great but the hours are more then you handle!
So enough of the whining let's get on to something that you visit this site for, my insightful, witty, and definitive take on the news you can use. That is why you stop by ain't it?

First up a picture that is just begging for a caption.

U.S. President Bush and Russian President Putin meet in Sochi, Russia
U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin take a sunset walk on a pier along the Black Sea during a visit by the President and First Lady Laura Bush to the President Putin's summer retreat, Bocharvo Ruchey, in Sochi, Russia on April 5, 2008. (UPI Photo/Eric Draper/White House Press Office)

In Georgia they reaffirmed the 2nd Amendment by granting more latitude in the carrying of a concealed weapon.

Among the public places where holders of concealed gun permits would be able to take a weapon under the altered bill are Georgia restaurants, public transportation and state parks.

The newspaper said public parking lots, churches and sporting events, which previously were among the proposed sites where gun owners could legally carry concealed weapons, were not included in the final version.

Which begs the question, if I can carry a gun on public transportation how do I get it from the public parking lot to the public transportation?

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) has some straight talk for the House Democrats led by Mama Nancy Pelosi.

"For a majority party that never wavered in its promises to wean America off foreign oil and put us on a path toward energy independence, these figures from the EIA are absolutely striking. Not only have Democrats failed to end our reliance on the Middle East for essential energy, they've actually helped grow that dependence to historic and dangerous new levels -- all because of their doctrinaire refusal to allow responsible energy production here at home.

"The result is a level of dependence on OPEC and the Middle East that we've simply never seen before -- not even in the darkest days of the Carter administration. But instead of working with Republicans to approach the energy issue from common sense perspective, this majority remains tied to a dogma that insists responsible energy development and sound stewardship of our environment are mutually exclusive endeavors.

Until they let us really pursue all of the various energy options available to us in this country this is only going to continue. Allow drilling in ANWR and the Gulf of Mexico, allow nuclear energy, build refineries and pursue the various alternative energy sources such as wind. Drilling and refining oil locally buys us time to develop the other alternative methods, and make no mistake about it, nobody nowadays wants to continue our dependence on an oil only energy policy and will work to replacing oil with other sources, but we need to make sure until such time as this is accomplished we can lessen our dependence from countries such as Venezuela, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

And lastly scan down this blog entry to the portion that is a Q&A with a military spouse. The author of this piece is LTC Michael Baumann, a member of the Vets for Freedom. The National Heroes Tour is in its final days and they will be taking their message to the steps of the capitol on April 7 and 8 ahead of Gen Petraeus briefing congress.

Question #13

13. 'Well in my opinion.....'
Stop right there. I didn't ask for you your personal political opinions. Hey, I love a heated political debate, but not in the grocery store, not in Jamba Juice, not at Nordstrom, not in a bar when I'm out with my girls trying to forget the war, and CERTAINLY NOT AT WORK. We tell co-workers about deployments so when we have to spend lunch hours running our asses off doing errands and taking care of the house, dog, and kids, they have an understanding. We do not tell co-workers and colleagues because we are giving an invitation to ramble about politics or because we so eagerly want to hear how much they hate the resident, esp. while we're trying to heat up our lean cuisines in the crappy office microwaves.

National Heroes Tour on BTR

The National Heroes Tour is in Evansville, IN today and they will be on Blog Talk Radio today also. They are participating in an event aboard an LST and the BTR host CyberPastor will be broadcasting it live starting at 3:30 EST. So for those of you not able to make it to the Heroes Tour in person here is a chance to tune in, listen and participate in a chat rooms with these guys.

Update:
This link will direct you to the site with the chatroom and the audio.

Winter Soldiers Part Deux

For those unfamiliar with the term Winter Soldiers, it was originally coined to describe service members, and as later revealed but ignored, non-soldiers who delivered a series of testimonies to a "panel" fronted by folks like John Kerry, to bring discredit to the service members fighting in the Vietnam conflict.

This charming piece of propaganda even had enough influence to get into the Congressional Record mainly on the efforts of Kerry, who then rode this bit of traitorous activity all to the way to his own seat in the Senate and then a presidential bid.

Well, there is an equally vile group today named the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) who are going to stage their own version of these hearings for the current generation of service members and undoubtedly are hoping for the same outcome. There is no doubt they will present story after gut-wrenching story of the horrors of war designed to do one thing--tug at the heart strings of all who hear them while portraying our service members in the worst possible light.

Obiter Dictum has quite a bit on this issue.

The IVAW also follows one of the other rules that may be applied to all liberal causes. The surest clue that a website or blog is run by a liberal is that it will have the dot.org tag rather then the more common dot.com ending. The other hard and fast rule is that any story involving a Dem in a scandal will omit the party affiliation until the middle or the end of the story.

So if the party affiliation is not in the first paragraph. the rule of thumb is that it is about a Democrat.

Back to the IVAW. Their latest attempt at the Winter Soldiers hearings is going to be March 13-16 in Washington, DC, and no doubt just like in a previous generation, they are going to try and get their 15 minutes of infamy in front of Congress and, who knows, the next senator from Massachusetts could be presenting their case to a sympathetic congress.

A lot of the antiwar groups who have veterans among their ranks are starting to make noise again. Another one of these groups is Vote Vets. I implore everybody to keep your eyes and ears on these groups and do not let them hide behind the shield of being a veteran, which they view as a victim shield, from getting any traction or credibility.

They do not have the best interests of service members or veterans in mind. They are political action groups pure and simple who have aligned themselves with the most far left groups in this country. One other piece of interesting information. The IVAW, Vets for Peace and Vote Vets get funding from something called the Inavale Foundation. Do a search engine search for the foundation. Let me know your results.

Obiter also has a letter for the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee along with the contact information for the senators who sit on this committee.

Instead of paying attention to these bitter publicity-seeking malcontents, might I suggest that your time be better spent attending a meeting of the Vets For Freedom Heroes Tour.

Vets For Freedom National Heroes Tour

Check out the stops on this tour and if you are able make your way to it be sure to show these guys how much they are admired and appreciated. Unfortunately, much of the southeast is not covered. They do have stops in the Carolinas.

Many of America’s most decorated war heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan have packed their bags and are hitting the road on a national bus tour to take their non-partisan message of progress and freedom from coast-to-coast.

The Vets for Freedom National Heroes Tour is about supporting our troops, honoring their commitment, and rallying the country to complete the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

National Heroes Tour Schedule

I had posted earlier about the National Heroes Tour and now the schedule is finalized. Go here for all the details.
This is a chance for you you to see and interact with some real heroes. Not the plastic Hollywood type or steroid pumped up prima donnas who are payed millions to entertain you. If they are coming to your area please try to see them and take the kids.

National Heroes Tour

Vets For Freedom
Uncle Jimbo over at Blackfive has received word of a cross country tour of some of our bravest and most decorated heroes from the global war on terror. The people the New York Times either ignores or try to paint as victims.

Coast-to-Coast Bus Tour by War Heroes to Drum
Up Support for America’s Brave Troops
SAVE THE DATES
Feb. 24-Mar. 12
Monday, January 14, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

WHO/WHAT: The Vets for Freedom National Heroes Tour (NHT) is a coast-to-coast bus tour to personally thank America’s men and women who risk their lives by having served—and currently serving—in the armed forces; to thank their families; and to rally support for commitment to completing the job in Afghanistan and Iraq.

There will be rotating groups of four, highly-decorated veterans carrying their personal stories and message to the American public in 15 states and Washington, D.C. Each of these heroes has an incredible story to tell, and is willing to answer questions about his/her tour and commitment to getting the job done in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This is the group that took the lead when moveon ran their slanderous ad against Gen Petraeus.