Time To Read Something Else

Time Magazine makes a sorry attempt to equate the “war on global warming” with World War II, and more specifically the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Let’s put aside the fact that global warming is still very much in dispute, as is man’s contribution to it, if it does exist at all. The morphing of this iconic photograph of US Marines raising our Flag into a photograph of dyslexic lumberjacks raising a tree while wearing military surplus is insulting and belittles these brave warriors.

The editors who made the decision to publish this horrid photoshop should be ashamed. They aren’t though and more is the pity.

Our Marines

These are the Marines of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

Pretty cool - check it out.

Hat-tip to Op For.

Marines In Berkeley

A Daily Show video skewering the anti-war nut group, Code Pink, and its moronic and pathetic attacks on Marine recruiters in Berkeley. I can’t get it to embed, but it is absolutely hilarious.  Go see it, you will not be disappointed.

Best interchange between the disguised Marine Reservist/Daily Show Correspondent and a Code Pick dimwit who is spouting-off about their free speech rights:

Disguised Marine: “If only there was an organization that was sworn to protect free speech? ”  

Totally Clueless Code Pink Dimwit: “Wouldn’t that be great.”

Disguised Marine:  “That would be outstanding. Righttt?”

Anti-war Injustice

But don’t say this judge doesn’t support the troops.

A California judge rejected a foster teen’s request for early enlistment with the Marine Corps — and a $10,000 signing bonus — reportedly on the grounds that the judge didn’t approve of the Iraq war.

Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Marilyn Mackel denied 17-year-old Shawn Sage’s request to join the military last October, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News.

“The judge said she didn’t support the Iraq war for any reason we’re over there,” Marine recruiter Sgt. Guillermo Medrano of the Simi Valley U.S. Marine Corps recruiting office told the paper.

“She just said all recruiters were the same — that they ‘all tap dance and tell me what I want to hear.’ She said she didn’t want him to fight in it.”

Sage, a Simi Valley, Calif., resident, begged the anti-war judge for permission to join, according to the Daily News.

“Foster children shouldn’t be denied [an] ability to enlist in the service just because they’re foster kids,” Sage told the paper. “Foster kids shouldn’t have to go to court to gain approval to serve one’s country.”

Sage plans to join the Marines when he turns 18 in June and his case has prompted a Republican lawmaker to introduce a bill that would allow foster teens to enlist in the military without the express permission of a judge.

Oh screw it, of course she doesn’t support the troops.  No one in the fricken anti-war movement - Code Pink and the rest - really supports the troops.

They are all lying sacks of poo. 

Recruiting Commercials (And More)

At the risk of building up Viper’s ego even more, I really like this commercial .  For some reason I can’t get it to link though which is really pissing me off.  Click over to see it though as it is really great. You can read all about it and more here. It’s worth the time.  Watch it more than once because I swear it gets better every time.

It’s about as good as this commerical about my old agency is bad. And it’s really bad - like 1970s porn movie bad.  Still, it does cover what they do pretty well. 

Although I do think this US Air Force commercial is very nearly as good as the Marine one.

The thing about these two recruiting commercials - the Marine one at the top and the Air Force one just above - is that they are simply true.  They are not exaggerations or fabrications like so much of what we see on TV and in the movies these days.  They are not political statements that have the weight of a feather in the wind. 

They are fact. As real the ground beneath your feet and the sky above your head.

These brave men and women have been protecting our nation since its beginning and they will continue to protect us as long as we exist.  Let us not forget we owe them everything.

Okay, end of lecture.

Here’s an interesting video of an AFOSI protective detail being ambushed in Iraq.  The chase car is taking the video and you can see it move around to cover the VIP car in the middle after the attack. 

Another video of AFOSI guys shooting with Aussies. Pretty cool.

And a news story on what AFOSI is doing in Iraq.  Very cool. I know it probably doesn’t make sense to most people but I wish I was there with them.

Pride

“Ma’am, there is nothing in life as great as being twenty-one and a Marine officer.”

Maybe, but I felt the same way when I graduated from Air Force Officer’s Training School and walked out a 2nd Lieutenant.  Serving as an officer in the armed forces of the greatest nation on Earth is a high that is difficult for many to imagine, and impossible for others. 

More is the pity for them.

But you never forget it, no matter how old you get.

Oh, and speaking of the Marines.  Since I will be traveling this weekend, here’s an early Happy Birthday wish to what is arguably the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen.  Ooo-rah!

“We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” ~ Winston Churchill