Scary Quotes Time: Gangs In The Military

I want you to look at the picture below and be honest is your first reaction: 1) That is sort of funny or 2) My God the military has been overrun with gangbangers seeking to learn how to commit murder and mayhem.



There is also another misconception perpetuated in this report that I would like to dispel. YOU CAN NOT ENLIST IN THE MILITARY AS A DIVERSIONARY PROGRAM BECAUSE OF A JUDGE!

I am sort of the resident expert on this since I served as an Army recruiter in Alabama in the early 90's. Any applicant who walked in the door and either stated or it was discovered had come there with the intent to enlist to avoid jail was automatically disqualified. Permanently. I wish this urban legend would die because you do not want to know how many people I turned away for just that reason. Sometimes they came down there at the behest of their parents in an attempt to get junior off on some charge or a judge not really understanding that such a thing was not tolerated had given them the option. Think about this for a minute folks. If people could be enlisted in the military instead of going to jail why don't you see recruiters in every courtroom in America? So can we knock it off. And anybody who says they enlisted to avoid jail is lying to you.

Well according to some folks who have taken it upon themselves to interpret the recently released from the FBI it is a clear indication that members of the military are nothing but gangbangers looking to kill a little time in between their incarcerations in the penal system. Of course these are the same folks who wet their pants over pictures of "assault weapons" and the mention of high capacity magazines.

Folks here is the portion of the report dealing with the findings regarding the military. I will call your attention to the lack of specifics so I am not sure what sort of conclusions can really be drawn from this report. There has always been former members of gangs in the military and gang membership does not in itself indicate anything further in most cases then self preservation.

Gangs and the Military

Gang recruitment of active duty military personnel constitutes a significant criminal threat to the US military. Members of nearly every major street gang, as well as some prison gangs and OMGs, have been reported on both domestic and international military installations, according to NGIC analysis and multiple law enforcement reporting. Through transfers and deployments, military-affiliated gang members expand their culture and operations to new regions nationwide and worldwide, undermining security and law enforcement efforts to combat crime. Gang members with military training pose a unique threat to law enforcement personnel because of their distinctive weapons and combat training skills and their ability to transfer these skills to fellow gang members.

NGIC reporting indicates that law enforcement officials in at least 100 jurisdictions have come into contact with, detained, or arrested an active duty or former military gang member within the past three years.

Gang members have been reported in every branch of the US militarym, although a large proportion of these gang members and dependent gang members of military personnel are affiliated with the US Army, Army Reserves, and National Guard branches.

Many street gang members join the military to escape the gang lifestyle or as an alternative to incarceration, but often revert back to their gang associations once they encounter other gang members in the military. Other gangs target the US military and defense systems to expand their territory, facilitate criminal activity such as weapons and drug trafficking, or to receive weapons and combat training that they may transfer back to their gang. Incidents of weapons theft and trafficking may have a negative impact on public safety or pose a threat to law enforcement officials.

As of April 2011, the NGIC has identified members of at least 53 gangs whose members have served in or are affiliated with US military. Among the identified gangs with military-trained members are street gangs such as the Asian Boyz, Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings, MS-13, Sureños, Tiny Rascal Gangsters, and the Juggalos; the Aryan Brotherhood, Barrio Azteca, and Texas Syndicate prison gangs; and OMGs including the Bandidos, Hells Angels, Mongols, Outlaws, and Vagos. Some gangs, particularly OMGs, actively recruit members with military training or advise members without criminal records to join the military for necessary weapons and combat training.

Younger gang members without criminal records are attempting to join the military, as well as concealing tattoos and gang affiliation during the recruitment process, according to NGIC reporting.

Deployments have resulted in integrating gang members with service members and/or dependents on or near overseas military installations, including those in Afghanistan, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Japan, and South Korea. US military officials have reported a rise in gang graffiti both on and off post in Afghanistan and Iraq (see Figure 14).

BTW I think that picture is funny as hell, I watch Sons of Anarchy on a regular basis and back in my youth was known to look at an issue or two of Easy Rider magazine.

Pew Research On The Military/Civilian Gap

Pew just recently released a poll in which they conducted a survey of veterans and civilians in an attempt to gauge not only the attitudes of the veterans towards their service in what they are dubbing the 9/11 era but also civilians for the same period. While I am still digesting some of the findings there were some key points that did stand out for me.

The first is this one. Only about one half of one percent of the U.S. population has been on active military duty at any given time during the past decade of sustained warfare. Next was this, half of the public say the wars have made little difference in their lives.

The veterans seem to be evenly split as to whether fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were worth it with half supporting the efforts in Afghanistan and about 44% supporting the war in Iraq.

When it comes to politics it seems another stereotype gets debunked with 36% identifying as Republicans, 35% Independents and 21% as Democrats. While the gap between Republicans and Democrats is big it is not as big as most assume. According to Pew the corresponding civilian numbers are 23% Republican, 35% Independent and 34% Democrat which shows a flip between veterans and civilians but also causes me to question their statistical breakdown. Maybe a breakdown of the Independents as to whether they lean Republican or Democrat would have been helpful, not because I question the numbers for veterans but I do for the civilians, but to be fair if I question one side of the equation I do need to question the other side.

Ready for some more preconceptions to take a hit?

What has it meant to serve in the military during the post-9/11 era? Compared with their predecessors of a generation or two ago, those who serve in the modern military are fewer, older, better educated and more likely to be married. A greater share is women and minorities.

All through the report there is evidence of the differences in opinions and attitudes between those who served and those who didn't.

Modern-era veterans would make good military recruiters. Some 82% say they would advise a young person close to them to enlist in the military; 74% of pre-9/11 veterans say the same. The general public is much more ambivalent. Despite their great admiration for the troops, just 48% of members of the public say they would advise a young person to join the military; 41% say they would not.

Anyway for all the veterans out there the report is worth a look, it is pretty extensive, and for civilians you might find some enlightening information in the report also. The report covers a range of topics from reintegration to civilian life, PTSD and a whole host of other topics so everybody should find something in it that will spark their interest.

I did not participate in this survey nor was I contacted, just to get that full disclosure thing out of the way.

Editorial: One Grunt's Opinion On Changes to Military Retirement

I have been laying off writing of anything about the proposed changes to the military retirement system being talked about because I realize for the vast majority of Americans they could really care less, and in their single-minded focus of making everything fair game honestly believe that changes can be made with no harm. There is another very small minority of far left that feel if this will further weaken the American warmaking machinery then they are all for it. They are not driven by any fiscal sense of responsibility, but rather an irrational hatred of the military.

With that in mind, I wanted to try and acquaint readers of some aspects of military life that while they may be aware of, do not truly appreciate the full consequences of, and why among the benefits military personnel look forward to, the retirement plan is probably the most important.

Right up front let me say that if you are enlisted and do your 20 and retire you are not going to be able to live off of it. I retired in 1999 and my annual retired pay is about $14K. Not exactly what you would call extravagant.

So what did I have to do to earn this windfall? For starters I endured low pay, long hours, frequent separations and the attention of folks who really didn't think too highly of those of us in uniform and would from time to time try to put a .30 caliber punctuation mark on those feelings.

When I took my final physical upon leaving the Army they pumped me full of dye and did an x-ray. It was revealed that I had a grand total of 2 bones which showed no signs of damage or breakage. The right shoulder blade and the left femur. Every other bone in my body at some time in the previous 20+ years had either been broke or damaged enough that it showed up on this x-ray. Granted, a lot of them were what is called stress fractures like the collar bones and the toes. I have knees with no cartilage and joints that aren't. I wear the scars of knife marks, shrapnel, and bullet grazes. And all of this was accomplished while serving during a period when we were at peace. Well except for Grenada, Haiti, Panama, Somalia, East-West Germany, Desert Storm ... you get the point.

The physical toll is just one aspect. There is the mental toll not only on the service member but for anybody foolish enough to become a part of their life. It is the 2 am phone call with a voice on the other end informing you that your unit is on alert and you have less then 2 hours to get to base, get your unit organized and ready to deploy. Even before you hang up the spouse has turned the TV to a news network to try and glean some information about what little corner of the world has suddenly gone to shit and the only answer is the United States. You go to the bathroom for a quick brush of the teeth and to shave because you don't know when the next time is you will see running water. You grab your bags, already packed, and embrace for what may be the last time and as you close the door she is left with her fears, knowing it may be days or even weeks before she hears from you again.

If your children have the television station numbers memorized for the cable news outlets by the time they are 8, then you know of which I speak. Thank goodness for DoD schools too, where when asked what your daddy does for a living and the response is "kill people," nobody bats an eye and knows right away that he is in the Infantry. Or if they say "jump out of airplanes," then they know he ain't right. When they are asked where is your dad you ask them for a globe to point it out and the inevitable answer to when is he going to be back is a shrug of the shoulders.

If you aren't awakon out of a good night's sleep it may be the orders you received assigning you overseas. An assignment that does not allow you to bring your family for the year you will be gone.

So for any of you that want to use that shared sacrifice argument I am waiting to hear your side. For those that think being in the military is just a 9-5 job where you get to hop down to a bar after a hard day of chasing jihadis, dodging bullets or defusing IED's, I really look forward to your tales of how writing 10 pages of C++ code compares. I'm sure somebody can tell me how an 8-hour shift on your feet at a retail store equates to launching multimillion dollar aircraft off of the deck of an aircraft carrier. Who wouldn't trade a job selling car parts for loading 500 pound ordnance onto the wing of an aircraft.

There is very little that service in the military guarantees you. One is that if you survive today you get to do it all over again tomorrow, and the second is the 20 year retirement. Health care bit the dust long ago, and while the program is still active we pay for it just like ya'll. Lower premiums sure, but the copays are about the same.

If they mess with the military retirement in the manner they are proposing they may never recover from effects in terms of military readiness. It is not a regular job and to try and make those comparisons is both foolish and foolhardy.

Enjoy The Fourth With Lt. Dan

I had to lift this video from Big Hollywood about Gary Sinise and his Lt Dan Band. Gary has worked tirelessly on behalf of our service members raising funds, giving concerts and visiting the wounded. He doesn't do it for the attention, he does it out of conviction.

The full movie is going to be released on the Fourth of July online only. It will be available here with a portions of the proceeds going to his foundation which the military and their families.

During my time in service we didn't get a lot of USO shows. I remember one in Seoul, South Korea with Tanya Tucker. For about 90 minutes I was able to forget that just 30 miles away was about 4 zillion fanatical fighters led by an insane leader who could come charging across that border on a moments notice.

The other person I remember is Charlie Daniels, who really is a giant of a man. He stopped by the little outpost I was on and went to the gym and just hung out. No concert, no entourage, just a big man with an even bigger heart hanging out with the guys signing autographs, posing for photos and answering questions.

This 4th of July weekend let's all take a few minutes to remember that this is the day that a group of men with their own convictions pledged their lives and fortunes that this country may be born. A country that has been protected for 235 years by the men and women who have worn the uniform of this country.

Here's hoping Mr Sinise continues doing what he does.

In Praise of Local News

Often bloggers are accused of being the antithesis of traditional journalists and news media because of what seems to be our constant criticism of them. I want to take a moment to offer a little bit of praise for the guys and gals who work studiously for local news outlets.

It is because of the efforts of a couple of reporters for the Chicago Tribune that we became aware of how the Obamas rose to power and used the Chicago political machine to remove obstacles to their ambitions. Another recent case has been the shooting of Iraqi war veteran Guerena by the Pima County police force. The reporters there have worked tirelessly to piece together the story and get the information out. Both of those cases represent just how inadequate the big boys can be at reporting and reflect great credit upon those working on the local level.

Now comes another case that, while lacking the drama, is nonetheless important because it involves a group near and dear to my heart, our US military.

The story started with a YouTube video, like so many stories seem to trace their origins to nowadays, from a couple of NCO's complaining about baggage fees they were charged by Delta Airlines on their return from Afghanistan. At first blush, this story was unthinkable, but thanks to the work of some reporters at a local Atlanta channel, 11 Alive, we got more of the story and indeed got the ball rolling on getting the matter addressed.

The first kudo goes to Bill Liss, a consumer reporter for the channel who, upon being made aware of the video, went straight to the sourc--Delta Airlines--to get their side of the story. At that time, Delta issued the standard no comment. 11 Alive hosts an interactive portion of their newscast once their on-air presentation is over and it was during this session that they got a real sense of just how much this story meant to their viewers. The host Brenda Woods and producer Chris Sweigart began asking questions of those participating in the live chat and also informing them of what questions they were going to pursue. Watching this in action was fascinating, and the sense of commitment they conveyed to get to the bottom of the story came through, so I sat with crossed fingers to see what would happen.

I knew not to expect much overnight, but on each subsequent newscast they provided updates on the story. Right now the story stands at Delta issuing a statement promising to look into the matter, but thanks to the efforts of the 11 Alive crew they aren't letting Delta sit behind a mere statement and I expect that further action will be taken.

In fairness to Delta, they are not the only airline charging service members baggage fees. The reporters uncovered that United and Continental also do. For most travelers, they are probably wondering why baggage fees for service members is such a big deal. We all have to pay them, after all. True, but how many of you as a condition of employment must deploy for a year to war zone then pack up all of your worldly possessions, including your military issued gear, and return back to your home office? It is the charging of service members for having to carry their required equipment that causes the heartburn. Like the soldier in the video states, his fourth bag contained an M4 outfitted with a grenade launcher and a 9mm pistol, items that the TSA sort of frown upon as carry-on luggage.

Anyway, I just wanted to start your day out with a little bit of good news concerning our mass market media, but I have stated many times in the past that the local guys do a far better job then the national guys, and if you want to get to the root of a story you need to visit the source and not rely on the big guys. Also, I want to send more praise to the 11 Alive folks, who awhile back promised to present a newscast that was not merely a recap of the police blotter report and for making their news more engaging for their viewers. They host the interactive sessions several times a day, including an editorial session around 3 PM everyday for folks to sit in on to provide input on the stories that will make it on air during their regular 6 PM newscast. For folks in Georgia I encourage you check out the 11 Alive web site and get a glimpse of what the future of news is going to be. Interactive, engaged, with realtime feedback and more in touch with those whom they serve.

UPDATE: From Delta

After careful consideration, effective immediately, U.S. military personnel traveling on orders in First and Business Class can check up to five bags at no charge. This change also adds dependents traveling with active military on orders. Each bag may weigh up to 70 lbs. (32 kg) and measure up to 80 linear inches (203 cm), which offers added flexibility over the standard 50 lbs. and 62 linear inches (157 cm) allotment. Because of weight, balance and space constraints, Delta Connection carriers will accept up to four bags at no charge. You can read the updates to the travel policy on delta.com.

Before we get too excited, however, I need to point out that this policy only applies to those flying in First/Business class. Most, if not all military fly in coach, so I am not sure this change will have much if any impact. C'mon, Delta, you've got to do better.

Correction: While not contained in the explanation on the blog site, on their parent site they do list the new rules and indeed those flying in economy class are now allowed 4 bags at no charge.

Active duty U.S. military personnel traveling on orders to or from duty stations are allowed up to four checked bags in Economy Class and up to five checked bags in First and Business Class on Delta and Delta Connection® carriers at no charge. Each bag may weigh up to 70 lbs. (32 kg) and measure up to 80 linear inches (203 cm).

Thanks, Delta, for making this right.

I still give all the credit to the folks at WXIA 11 Alive in Atlanta who pursued this matter and I hope they continue to pursue it until Delta realizes that the military doesn't fly First Class, especially on unit moves like this one.

Sorry Ladies, Not This Time

To put it more succinctly, not NO, but HELL NO!

I was ambivalent on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell debate because, quite frankly, I have a great deal of confidence in the average military service member to deal with any agent provocateurs that would infiltrate in an attempt to garner some headlines and be a martyr to the gay/lesbian community, but allowing women to be in front line Infantry units is not only a bad idea, it is a deadly one.

Infantrymen are the pointy end of the sword. I was one for 20+ years so it is something I can speak on with a fairly certain amount of expertise. We refer to ourselves as bomb dodgers and bullet stoppers. In the words of one senior NCO I had somewhere during my career, he stated that fully 95% of all weapons and tactics designed by man were developed with one intent. That is to maim or kill the Infantryman. The other 5% that were not specifically designed for that purpose could be quickly modified to do so.

Being an Infantryman comes along with a certain amount of unique characteristics. These are not only physical, but mental and sociological. Yes, the Infantry is the largest collection of good ol' boys you will ever find, but that is exactly what molds them into the most effective force. When you throw females into the equation that delicate balance is upset, and anything which upsets that balance leads to greater chance of injury and death for all. Surviving as an Infantryman, even when nobody is shooting at you, requires a great deal of effort.

A lot people will go on and on about the physical issue, which is very real, and regardless of what a bunch of eggheads want to theorize about, it is immutable and undeniable. But beyond that there is a thing called trust. Trust is the one intangible that receives very little attention, but without it, no front line fighting force can function effectively.

Trust is a reason I was ambivalent on the DADT question. I knew gays in the military, and while they were not in Infantry units, my contact came through the medics assigned to accompany us. I could have cared two flips less that you were gay as long as two truths remained. You could patch me up or get me to safety should something happen and you didn't go around dressed in drag propositioning me or my men. In other words, I could count on you to do your job and all that I had contact with could and did. If they didn't they would not have been around my unit very long.

Women are a completely different story. Infantrymen are macho, testosterone-laden Alpha males complete with an entire set of codes related to ensuring the safety and protection of the weaker sex. In addition to adding to their list of worries about bombs and bullets you now want to add the stress of protecting what used to be known as the kinder and gentler sex? Care to guess what happens when a couple of Alpha males wish to curry favor from the same female? I haven't even come close to what happens when the rumor mill goes into overdrive concerning what Johnny and Jill are doing.

I can tell you a long litany of anecdotal stories related to when units I commanded came into close proximity of women while in field environments and the often negative effects this had on the unit cohesion, but the talking heads would say that these social behaviors can be modified over time. Gentlemen and ladies who argue for this approach I would put this forth as an argument. Time is not an ally.

For much of my career, while stationed stateside I was part of what was then known as the Rapid Deployment Force. It's mission was to have boots on the ground anywhere in the known world within 96 hours. Do you think your high-minded social experiment will be ready for deployment in 96 hours?

Oh, no. Before any of you elitist social engineering snobs want to go tinkering with the front line unit dynamics I would suggest you spend about 30 days with them out in Injun country, far removed from anything approaching civilization. If you want to destroy the greatest military in existence you just go ahead and allow women to join the Infantry.

Burn Notice Does Iraq

"When you're a spy who has been burned...."

Those are the words which begin every episode of the USA show "Burn Notice" which is basically a buddy show which teams a former CIA spy, Michael Westen, whom the agency has cast aside, an FBI agent, Sam Axe, who used to pursue the spy and now works with him to help the average person, a female hit woman, Fiona Glennanne, who loves to blow stuff up and this year they have added a new character who is also a burned spy but in this case the main character of the show is the one who burned him.

Anyway in between filming for the show the guys headed to Iraq to visit the soldiers. It seems Bruce Campbell, who plays FBI agent Sam Axe has a brother who serves in the reserves and is currently a military adviser in Iraq. The Bruce Campbell fan club has put up some pictures of the visit along with some comments from the actors, but the pictures are worth viewing if for no other reason then to read the captions.

Some of ya'll may recall Bruce from his early days when he was on such tv shows as 'Hercules' and 'Xena' or from his campy horror flicks like 'Army of Darkness'. He always portrays a smart alecky action type character.

Anyway I just wanted to give credit where credit is due and anytime celebrities can take the time out to visit our troops they deserve to be recognized for it.

Now if they could get those motorcycle gang members from the 'Sons of Anarchy' to go after the Taliban this whole Afghanistan thing could be wrapped up pretty quickly. There would be no rules of engagement.

When the Generals Have To Check With Their Lawyers....

Ever since the Democrats have taken power in the federal government, they have worked non-stop to neuter our military. They are of the mindset that the war against radical Islamists is nothing more then a law enforcement issue. Former Vice President Dick Cheney has said it repeatedly along with a small minority of Republican lawmakers, but as Mitch McConnell discovered on his recent trip to Afghanistan, we have reached an absurd level now.

He said at one point he asked a general about policies and the general "didn't want to answer the question without turning to his lawyer, who was also in the room."

If this is such a big law enforcement issue, why don't we pull out the military and replace them with FBI agents? Maybe we can send the New York City Police Department over there and our troops can assume their duties on the streets of the Big Apple.

The policies of this administration are leading us right down the path to ruin. How they can hold their heads up bragging about holding the moral high ground while service members are paying the price with their lives and civilians in this country now face a bigger threat then most can remember over the last eight or nine years is beyond me. They want to feel good knowing that if a jihadist happens to kill you or loved ones they will use the "full extent of the law" to prosecute the offenders.

Provided, of course, there are any pieces of the attacker big enough to not fit in Ziploc bag.

Another Good Photo Op

Remember this?



Well having discovered that being surrounded by members of the military is a good photo op he is now going to unveil his magnificently grand and stupendously great plan for Afghanistan at West Point.

The president says the American people will support his strategy once they understand the perils of losing the war.

Hmmm, hey numbnuts, some of us have known for a long time what the stakes are in this war and it didn't take us 3 months. Three months during which you had a drive by meeting with the commander on the ground, which was sandwiched in between fund raisers, parties, golf games and jetting off around the globe to apologize for being number 1.

The part that really grinds my gears however is leaked reports say he is going to commit 34,000 troops to Afghanistan. What seems to be lost on all the experts is that the current troop level in Afghanistan is 68,000. A tour of duty is 12 months. If he is promising 34,000 troops over a six month period then that simply works out to the normal rotation of soldiers in and out of theater.

Can anybody provide me with evidence that the 34,000 will be a net increase and not merely normal rotations?

Poll Stunner: Military Overwhelmingly Supports McCain

No surprise, of course, but you'll be happy to note there's also a racial divide here. I mean, how could a story about this election go by without the ubiquitous mention of race?

Sen. John McCain enjoys overwhelming support from the military’s professional core, though race appears to be a decisive factor for career-oriented black service members, a Military Times survey of nearly 4,300 readers indicates.

McCain, R-Ariz., handily defeated Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., 68 percent to 23 percent in a voluntary survey of 4,293 active-duty, National Guard and reserve subscribers and former subscribers to Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Corps Times and Air Force Times.

The results of the Military Times 2008 Election Poll are not representative of the opinions of the military as a whole. The group surveyed is older, more senior in rank and less ethnically diverse than the overall armed services.

But as a snapshot of careerists, the results suggest Democrats have gained little ground in their attempts to appeal to a traditionally Republican voting bloc in campaign messages and legislative

“The military has been perceived as a conservative Republican institution,” said Peter Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University and a special adviser to the National Security Council from 2005 to 2007.

“A lot of people thought that eight years of frustration with the Bush administration was going to undermine that,” he said. “This evidence suggests that it hasn’t undermined it as much as they thought, at least not yet.”

Officers and enlisted troops, active-duty members and reservists, those who have served in combat and those who haven’t, all backed McCain by large margins, to about the same extent they supported President Bush four years ago.

About 69 percent of respondents said they voted for Bush in 2004, while about 16 percent voted for the Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry.

McCain’s majority wanes among women and disappears altogether among black respondents.

But that's not racist, of course. How dare you even suggest that!

Well, that's about it on good poll numbers for McCain. See here for a summary of all the others.

Obama: I Registered For the Draft Before Selective Service Was Reinstated

Somehow upon graduating high school in 1979 Barack Obama registered for the draft, even though selective service wasn't reinstated until 1980.

Oops.

Sen. Barack Obama — locked in a tight presidential race against Sen. John McCain, widely considered a war hero — said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he once considered joining the military himself.

Speaking to ABC's "This Week," Obama said, "You know, I had to sign up for Selective Service when I graduated from high school. And I was growing up in Hawaii, and I have friends whose parents were in the military. There are a lot of Army, military bases there. And I actually always thought of the military as an enobling and, you know, honorable option.

"But keep in mind — I graduated in 1979. The Vietnam War had come to an end. We weren't engaged in an active military conflict at that point. And so, it's not an option that I ever decided to pursue."

This sounds awfully like Hillary Clinton's lame claim she wanted to enlist in the Marines.

Obama needs to get his dates straight. I imagine his memory will soon be jogged.

More at LGF.

Update: Obama indeed did register in 1980. Via Hot Air.

Congress Has Lowest Rating Ever, Trails Military 71-12%

That Nancy Pelosi Era is really working out, huh?

Gallup's annual update on confidence in institutions finds just 12% of Americans expressing confidence in Congress, the lowest of the 16 institutions tested this year, and the worst rating Gallup has measured for any institution in the 35-year history of this question.

And what do you know, the military enjoys the highest rating of any group.

In the latest update, Congress ranks just below HMOs, for whom 13% of Americans express "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence. Big business, the criminal justice system, organized labor, newspapers, television news, and the presidency all receive relatively low confidence ratings.

In contrast, Americans express the most confidence in the military, as they have each year since 1988 (with the exception of 1997, when small business edged it out). Small business ranks second in the current poll, just ahead of the police. These are the only three institutions that for whom a majority of Americans express a high degree of confidence.

So given the mess left by Pelosi and her crooked bunch, why won't people just sweep them from office? The Democrats have spent the better part of the last five years slandering our troops, and look where it's gotten them.

Well the circle is almost complete

The mass market media continues to push the storyline and the narrative that the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) is nothing more then Vietnam Part Deaux. Further proof. Here is a series that Brian Ross and his bosses at ABC news are doing on drug abuse among soldiers. Here is the first part complete with footage from "Apocalypse Now", which unbeknownst to me is a documentary apparently.

And if that isn't enough here is part 2
Do some soldiers resort to drug use and abuse? Certainly. Is the current conflicts to blame? They may contribute but nobody seems willing to go back and do some research and see just how many folks had their military careers cut short for exactly this reason during the 80's and 90's. You know that period of time in which we had unprecedented peace everywhere. Well except for Haiti, Panama, Bosnia, Desert Storm, and the Cold War.
There is no way to compare the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan to the war in Vietnam, just like you won't be able to compare any future conflict to the current conflict. Each war is unique.
Folks you just need to go with the flow here. Unlike our military, the mass market media is unable to adapt and overcome.

America

A Patriot's Everlasting Gift To His Country

His opening tribute to American heroes placed this above and beyond all other interpretations.

We are truly blessed with this gift from a true patriot, as well as for having him in our presence for so many years..

Thank you, Ray.

Also at Mark Levin; FortHardKnox

Media Groupthink

Gerd Schroeder exposes the duplicitous media and their military coverage. Way too much to quote, so read the whole thing.

The Pantsuit Salutes the Military

OK, stop snickering. She means it this time. Plus, she's learning how to salute! That will surely earn her the respect of our men and women in uniform.

Mindful of Past, Clinton Cultivates the Military

Of all the early problems Bill Clinton faced as president, few stand out to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as more frustrating and avoidable than his rocky relationship with the military, her advisers say.

During his 1992 campaign, Mr. Clinton was attacked for avoiding the Vietnam draft and organizing antiwar marches in the 1960s. After taking office, his early focus on gay men and lesbians in the military drew sharp criticism from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin L. Powell, and other officers. Even his ability to salute properly was called into question.

Mrs. Clinton, to use a phrase, has been practicing her salute. As a senator and now as a presidential candidate, she has cultivated relationships with generals and admirals, prepped herself on wartime needs and strategy, and traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sister Toldjah and Michelle Malkin are also incredulous.