Your Tax Dollars at Work - The ACLU Gloats Over the Flag Amendment Defeat

This article from the ACLU website deserve no further comment:

ACLU Praises Senators for Rejecting Flag Amendment, Says Bill of Rights Stands Strong and Intact
(6/27/2006)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Senate for rejecting a proposed Constitutional amendment to ban flag “desecration.” The amendment, S.J. Res. 12, fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for passage.
“The Senate came close to torching our constitution, but luckily it came through unscathed,” said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “We applaud those brave Senators who stood up for the First Amendment and rejected this damaging and needless amendment.
“America prides itself on tolerance and acceptance; it is essential that we not amend our founding document to allow censorship, even when the speech in question is reprehensible,” Fredrickson added. “Today the First Amendment and, indeed, the entire Bill of Rights remain untarnished and more meaningful than ever. It is our hope that the Senate will now move on to the real problems this country faces.”
The ACLU noted that flag burning remains an isolated and rare occurrence, even with the resurgence in political protest prompted by the war in Iraq. The vote was projected to be the closest it has ever been in the Senate – and it was with the margin of defeat of only one vote. Proponents hoped that election year pressures would swing the vote their way.
Opposition to the amendment has always been ideologically and politically diverse. Former Secretary of State and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell said in a 1999 letter, “The First Amendment exists to insure that freedom of speech and expression applies not just to that with which we agree or disagree, but also that which we find outrageous.” In addition to Powell, former Senator John Glenn and former Reagan Defense Department official Lawrence J. Korb had spoken out against the proposal. Veterans Defending the Bill of Rights, Veterans for Peace and Veterans for Common Sense had also been vocal in their opposition.
“Today is a victory for the First Amendment and all Americans who cherish the freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights,” said Terri Ann Schroeder, ACLU Senior Lobbyist. “We are thankful, that with the help of thousands of veterans from around the country that the Constitution has survived yet another round of election year politicking.
“The constitution has somehow survived once again, unfettered and unstained by the political powers that be and that is reason to celebrate,” Schroeder added. “Allowing a ban on flag desecration would have compromised the very freedoms that our Founding Fathers struggled so hard to attain. By wisely voting down this amendment, the Senate has done its duty as protectors of our Constitution.”
For more on the ACLU's concerns with the Flag Desecration Amendment, go to: www.aclu.org/flag

A Second Look at Veteran Priorities

By D.A. King, Washington Times, February 26, 2006
http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20060225-101555-7193r.htm

In 1966 my friend Fred was sent to Vietnam and survived a year as a door gunner on a U. S. Army "Huey" helicopter gunship. You won't hear it from him, so I will tell you that Fred had one of the most dangerous jobs possible in that long ago and divisive war. While Fred's ship went down more than ten times in action, he came home without a scratch.
Welcome home Fred Dague -- and thank you.
Unlike Fred, in 1970, after observing my 18th birthday in Marine Corps boot camp, I was fortunate enough to draw duty in sunny southern California.
We both kept our promises to our nation.
Like our fathers, as young recruits, both Fred and I were promised lifetime free medical care by our government as a benefit of our service.
We are learning that this is not our father's America.
As "50 somethings," Fred and I have both applied to the Veteran's Administration for those promised medical benefits.
In 2004, both of our applications for that promised free health care were denied.
The response from the VA reads in part: "Each year, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs determines which priority groups will be enrolled in the VA health system ? you are not eligible for enrollment or VA health care for most conditions."
Fred and I have been placed in the "Priority Group 8g" [www1.va.gov/visns/Visn02/vet/benefits/table.html] which means that we applied after January 2003, earned over $31,000 last year, and have no service related ailments -- thereby disqualifying us for the free medical care we were promised as young men.
Priority Groups are the result of the federal government's budgetary shortages. Veterans without service-connected health problems are now held up to a means test to determine eligibility for VA medical benefits. For now, we can both make do without the promised care, but many of the approximately 200,000 other category 8g veterans cannot.
So much for the promise. So much for priorities.
For Fred, myself and the other vets who are denied or offered limited medical care from our government, these priorities are difficult to accept while we watch millions of illegal aliens not only demanding, but receiving taxpayer funded free medical care at American emergency rooms and clinics.
There is no "means test" for the free health care provided for anyone -- from anywhere in the world -- who can illegally cross our intentionally unsecured borders and get within 250 yards of an American emergency room. It's the law.
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1985 (EMTALA) is a law that is vigorously enforced.
We are taxpayers, Fred and I, so to us, it is a little more than ironic that as veterans, we are paying for health care for millions of illegal aliens while we are not eligible for that same promised free care from our own Veterans Administration.
The Medicare Prescription Drug Modernization Act of 2004 included one billion dollars to help reimburse American hospitals for the federally mandated health care that they must provide to illegal aliens. It included nothing to help Priority Group 8g veterans.
Priorities indeed.
Because illegals and their criminal employers seem to have a better lobby than American vets in Washington, our nation is keeping the promise to the illegal aliens. This definitely is not our father's America. We are no longer certain it is our America.
With millions of illegal aliens pouring into our republic each year and tens of thousands of brave young American troops defending borders all over the world, we cannot help but question which of the promises being made to our future vets will be kept.
We can't help but wonder how giving illegal aliens and their employers amnesty -- no matter the label used -- will discourage more illegal immigration. It clearly didn't twenty years ago.
The same people who have decided which promises to keep have also made a decision on which of our laws are enforced. Not that anyone asked, but if it is a matter of priorities, in our search for a better life, Fred and I would much rather see the laws that apply to border security and illegal immigration enforced ? and the VA Priority Groups ignored.
If it is a matter of priorities.

Mr. King is president of the Dustin Inman Society, a Georgia-based coalition of citizens dedicated to educating the public on the consequences of illegal immigration.

On the Web: (http://www.TheDustinInmanSociety.org)

The American Dream?

Think something like this isn't happening? Scary, it is happening as you read this...

We know Dick Lamm as the former Governor of Colorado (a Democrat). In that context his thoughts are particularly poignant. Recently, there was an immigration over-population conference in Washington, DC, filled to capacity by many of American's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor by the name of Victor Hansen Davis talked about his latest book, "Mexifornia", explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal - was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The American Dream.

Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the United States. He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America. It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide." "Here is how they do it," Lamm said:

"First, to destroy America, turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country. History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put it this way: "The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy." Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, and Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion.France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans." Lamm went on:

"Second, to destroy America, "Invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural differences. I would make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.

"Third, we could make the United States a 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: "The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multi-cultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together." Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities."

"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school."

"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology'. I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population."

"My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship, and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity.I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshiped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions.Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" -- From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus'. instead of the 'Unum,' we will balkanize America as surely as Kosovo."

"Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits. Make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity'. I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking.Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate. Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology'. I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them."

In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence followed. Finally he said, "Lastly, I would censor Victor Hanson Davis's book Mexifornia. His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."

There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate 'diversity'. American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a Third World in America.

Take note of California and other states - to date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book "1984." In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building: "War is peace", "Freedom is slavery", and "Ignorance is strength".

Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially The American Dream .

Thought provoking? Tell a friend about this Weblog.

Author of the foregoing piece is unknown.

Letter to the Editor AJC - Illegal Immigration

This letter was posted in the AJC today, June 11, 2006, by a friend of mine in response to "Illegals look at housing with caution." News, June 4

State legislators made right move

Looks like our Georgia legislators got something right with the immigration bill if it's already making illegal immigrants think twice before setting down roots in our state.
But what's just as amazing in your story is the boldness of illegal immigrants in displaying their names and faces. And they advertise the fact they fraudulently bought Social Security cards - a felony. They know the federal government is a giant wimp that will do nothing to deter this ongoing crime.
Real estate agents and mortgage companies who do business with illegal immigrants are actually violating the law. It's a felony to encourage an illegal immigrant to stay in this country, and by selling them a house, isn't that encouragement?
But our old Uncle Sam has become deaf and blind, hasn't he? Poor ole codger. It's a wonder he gets anything right.

LOUISE STEWART

Norcross

Thought for the day - or maybe a lifetime ...

"The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher plain." - George McGovern

The Amazing Vagaries of War

By: James E. Stoll, 6/10/2006

I am 75 years old and a U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean Conflict. Having served during one, I abhor the need for war.

The son of one of my favorite nieces, by marriage, is serving his second tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Iraq. He is 28 years old and he is already an old man. Yesterday, I received a report that a second member of his unit was killed in action, or murdered, as you choose to say it, in Iraq. Naturally, he was killed by automatic weapons fire from inside a building adjacent to the street that his squad was patrolling. No “innocent” Iraqi men, women and children were “murdered in cold blood” as a result of response action initiated by the remaining members of his squad, because there was none. The applicable “rules of engagement”, would not permit such action, in this type of situation. So, his living squad members gently carried his dead body back to their barracks for “processing”. There has been no mention yet of his dying on the evening news, and his death did not evoke any accolades from his commander in chief. He will simply become another statistic, number such and such, and the contents of a flag-draped box to be sent home to his loved ones. His name will soon be forgotten by all except those who loved him and will miss him at home.

Yesterday it was also reported that one Iraqi man and three Iraqi women were killed some days ago, in Iraq, for no known reason other than that they were in the same building with Al Zarqawi and his spiritual advisor, when two 500 pound bombs fell on their heads from two U.S. warplanes circling at 12,000 feet overhead. That attack was ordered by senior commanders, on longstanding authorization from their Commander in Chief, The President of the United States. No one has expressed any confirmed knowledge of how many “innocent” men, women and children were in the building at the time of the attack. The President of the United States made a special announcement of the action from Camp David, with glowing praise for the results of the mission and glowing accolades for the two brave airmen who had executed this action with such speed and efficiency. They will probably get a medal. No mention was made regarding the “innocence” of the other man and three women who were also killed. Nor was any mention made about any violation of “the rules of engagement” pertaining to this action, even though it was totally a one sided event.

Several months ago, another Marine was cut in half when an improvised bomb, buried in the earth beneath a city street, exploded beneath the lightly armored vehicle in which he was riding, while on an early morning patrol in Haditha, Iraq. Twenty-four reportedly “innocent” men, women and children were killed during the response action mounted by the remaining members of the dead marine’s unit, in the aftermath of the explosion. For whatever reason, the response action taken by the dead marine’s comrades has been labeled a “massacre” and a “horrible atrocity”, by media outlets of questionable integrity around the world, by elected leaders of our government, by American news commentators, by a host of “expert”, and ”former” anything you can think of, and by the Prime Minister of Iraq, all babbling about how these young Marines must be charged with cold blooded murder and, if convicted, either executed or jailed for life. On last Sunday, I watched and listened, on national TV, as three separate panels of selected “experts” on everything, charged, tried and convicted these young marines, even though other news media had reported that an investigation of the action would not be complete for between 6 and 8 weeks and that the families of the “innocent” victims would not allow investigators to exhume their bodies, for the purpose of gathering forensic evidence.

Even a cursory examination of the above three actions indicates that “The Rules of Engagement” for airmen, senior commanders and the remote commander in chief are significantly different from the “Rules of Engagement” for squad leaders and foot soldiers in direct line of fire on the ground. If the rules were the same, then the two airmen, the commanders who gave the order to attack, and the commander in chief who authorized the order, should be charged with the same “horrible atrocities” as are being demanded against the young marines in Haditha. I agree that the world is a better place because Al Zarqawi and his Spiritual Advisor are dead. But what about the four other people who were killed with him, three of them women? Is the world a better place because they died too, or don’t they count?

I know that no one, including me, is going to recommend that The President of the United States should be charged with heinous crimes. This is war, and he did what he had to do. But his actions, in response to the mad-dog activities of Al Zarqawi, were identical to the responses of the young marines, in Haditha, to the mad-dog activities of the person who buried the bomb beneath the roadway. Kill everyone in the area. Whether you do that with two 500 pound bombs, from 12,000 feet, or with automatic weapons and grenades on the ground, makes no difference of substance, other than that it is a lot safer and costs a lot more money doing it from 12,000 feet.So, as a respected and well recognized leader in our nation, or as just a common citizen, if you have an ounce of human decency left in your soul, you must stand up and publicly demand that The President of the United States pardon everyone who was involved with the events in Haditha, remove all reference to those events from their records, give them an honorable discharge from the service, if they so desire, and send them home to their loved ones. They have suffered enough, at the hands of their own countrymen and countrywomen. He should tell anyone who disagrees with those decisions that they are simply not negotiable. This is war and the same rules apply to everyone, regardless to which side you are on or what your stature and your responsibilities might be.

The Haditha Conspiracy

By: James E. Stoll, 6/03/2006

Let’s suppose that you are one of those fearless elected leaders of this nation who voted to send our children to a God forsaken place in the world, to fight a war with a political agenda, in a land that is populated by a people who believe it is their God-given duty to blow themselves up in the midst of crowded markets, or other gathering places, with the sole purpose of killing as many innocent men, women and children as possible. A land where one cannot distinguish friend from foe. Let’s also suppose that you are one of those fearless leaders who approved the “rules of engagement” for America’s forces, knowing that the enemy’s only rule is the oldest rule in the history of warfare: “Do whatever it takes”.

As you contemplate the much reported “horrible atrocities” committed by our valiant warriors in a war they did not choose to fight, while sitting in your comfortable easy chair, in your air conditioned office, with hot coffee and fresh donuts available on demand, surrounded outside by concrete barriers and protected by your own private police force, why don’t you try to envision yourself as one of those warriors, living as they live, enduring as they endure, fighting their battles as they fight them, in the place where you sent them, under rules in which they had no say in the writing.

It is 6:00 AM and your company has been ordered to patrol a small city named Haditha, in the midst of an area that is known to be a hotbed of insurgent activity, to seek out and destroy as many insurgents as you can locate. Your company, consists of 16 marines, ages 19 and 20, led by an “experienced” Staff Sergeant, age 21, who is the senior rated person in the patrol and therefore, in command. You are traveling in two lightly armored Humvees, which are known to have a soft underbelly. Each member of your company is wearing full body armor, carrying automatic weapons, rocket propelled grenades and hand grenades. Each member also carrys 60 pounds of ammunition, medical supplies, emergency rations, water and radios, in the event that their vehicle is disabled and/or they are forced to fight on foot. It is early and rather cool this morning, just under 110 degrees. But, God it’s hot under all this friggin’ gear. You are soaking wet.

As you penetrate deeper and deeper into the maize of the city, on its narrow dirt roadways, you realize that you are subject to surprise attack from any direction, including the rooftops. There is virtually no one visible on the street, but it’s early and all seems calm. Then suddenly, hell erupts all around you. A huge explosion, smoke, fire and debris everywhere. Your Humvee is ripped apart and disabled. Your comrade, sitting across from you is cut in half, his blood and body parts splattered all over you and your compartment. You, and your comrades who are still living, are now sitting ducks. An IED, buried in the dirt roadway, has exploded. Did the civilians know the IED was there? Of course they did. Would they warn you? Of course not. You’re mad and scared and you didn’t notice the temperature as it passed 115 degrees F.

Fearing a trap, by an enemy with a history of almost always fighting with civilians, women and children as human shields, you know that your company must respond quickly, if you hope to stay alive. But wait. First, your “experienced” Sergeant must ascertain what level of force is permissible in this situation, under the latest rules of engagement. You can attempt to withdraw on foot, using the remaining operable vehicle as cover, knowing that, if you are successful, your company will likely be labeled as cowards in the face of the enemy. You could exit the vehicles and approach the buildings on either side of the street on foot, knowing that you and your company would be little more than targets in a shooting gallery. Now you see another vehicle pull into the middle of the street behind you and stop, blocking your retreat. Then, shots ring out from a building on one side of the street and the die is cast. You know you are in a trap and the only alternatives left are to either kill or be killed. So be it. The only rule of this engagement is now : Stay Alive.

The Sergeant in command orders the operable vehicle to move tight against the buildings from which the shots were fired, with that squad exiting the vehicle to take cover against the wall of the buildings. He orders the survivors of your squad to exit your vehicle and take cover against the building wall on the other side of the street. Both squads assign sharpshooters to watch the roofs on the opposite side of the street. The vehicle blocking the street behind you suddenly starts to back up and both squads cut it to shreds, until it stops, killing all of its passengers. The squad on the side of the street from which shots were fired are now ordered to start kicking in doors, first spraying the inside space with automatic weapons fire and then throwing in grenades before entering the rooms. The insurgents, who planted the IED and set the trap, have all melted away, out the back doors, taking their guns with them. Your company is left holding the bag with one dead marine and a bunch of dead civilians, women and children who had been used, as cover, by the insurgents.

You know now that the object of the engagement was never to kill one company of Marines. It was intended to trick you into believing that you were in a trap, forcing you to take actions based on that belief, thereby causing you to commit what could later be proclaimed by the masses, the media, and friendly government figures around the world, as a massacre, to be condemned by all as a “horrible atrocity”. Image conscious U.S. leaders will then finish the job by either executing the valiant warriors who were suckered and had fought only to save themselves, or by jailing them for the rest of their lives.

Quit trying to be so apologetic and think about it. Your problem is that you cannot believe that a people like these people exist. Until you do, our valiant warriors will forever face triple jeopardy, wherever you send them: The environment, the enemy and their nation’s respected leaders. There is no honor in defeat. There is no justice in victory. War is Hell.