My Rants- A Retrospective

As the election approaches, I've found myself "ranting" a lot. For those of you who don't know- "ranting" is something we bloggers do when we feel passionate about something. It's a great way to blow off steam, and it always makes us feel better to write them. It's also quite fulfilling to sit back and read them from time to time. We need lots of ranting right now. We need passion. We can't afford to be overconfident. We can't allow complacency to take hold. I don't want you people to simply go out and vote. I want you to organize a get-together with all your level-headed friends and coworkers, and go have a party at the polls. Make this election an event. In an effort to ignite some passion, here's a few of my favorite rants.....

On the Mainstream Media:

This is a "milblog," so I'm going to post war-related information first and foremost. I won't spew pro-war propaganda or "go get 'em" rhetoric. I'll simply offer a refreshing alternative to the doom and destruction that you get from the mainstream media (MSM). I don't think the MSM has an anti-American bias, and I don't think they willingly give terrorists a voice. I think they chase profits. Nothing generates profits in the world of journalism better than sex (Lyndie England is pregnant and she's pointing at naked genitalia!), scandal (Abu Ghraib, faulty intel, Chalabi, missing explosives, Halliburton), and violence (car bombs, car bombs, and more car bombs).

Unfortunately, the media's need for profits is often to the advantage of our enemy (and struggling Presidential candidates, but that's another story). This upsets a lot of people, but we have to remember that capitalism is our way of life. It's what we're fighting for. We can't change how the news industry reports the news, but we CAN make a difference- we can share information using all this great technology that REALLY smart Americans (not Al Gore) created many years ago. If you don't think blogs can have an impact, I'd like to introduce you to my friend Dan Rather. Blogs have already changed the face of the media, and they're just getting started. Might as well get used to it…

On John Kerry's Vietnam Service:

John Kerry served more than most and should therefore be honored, right? Wrong! How about our "heroic soldiers" who abused the prisoners in Iraq and took the photos for all the world to see? They served more than most people. Like Kerry, some of them performed an act of courage here and there. Should they be honored? Absolutely not!!! Their lame-brained sex games caused countless insurgents to take up arms against us and kill who-knows-how-many American soldiers. To make a blanket statement along the lines of "anyone who served should be honored" is just plain ignorant. There are bad apples in every bunch, and the sad truth is that there is a small minority of soldiers in every American war that did more to hurt the cause than to help. John Kerry is one of those bad apples. "Why" you ask? Well, it has nothing to do with the fact that he lied to get medals.

As a leader/officer in wartime, one must ensure that soldiers know one thing above all else- that their leaders are looking out for them. The soldiers must believe that the ones in charge will devote every last breath, drop of blood, bead of sweat to ensure the soldiers' safety during the course of the mission. John Kerry did no such thing. He got 3 band-aid wounds, and promptly headed home. Remember- 3 Purple Hearts gave one the choice to leave- it was not obligatory. Let's also remember that Kerry went after those Purple Hearts like a man possesed. One commander refused to give him one, so he waited until he had a different commander and then asked again. What kind of message did that send to his sailors and all the other enlisted sailors in his unit? I'll tell you what message it sent- "officers look out for themselves." Officers will get rattled and say "OK good luck guys! I'm outta here!!"

Apparently a handful (maybe 9 out of about 300?) of the sailors he served with have forgiven him. Understandable, given the fact that he delivered those troops a national cheering audience that was more than 30 years overdue (at the DNC). But I'll tell you who will NEVER forgive him for what he did- the officers who served with him. He complicated their efforts, he hurt their unit's morale, he put their lives in danger, and he quickly rubbed salt in their wounds by coming home and bashing the ones who were brave enough to stay behind and do their duty. He had an anti-war agenda before he even joined the Navy. He used his credibility as an officer to propagate outrageous theories that hurt the ones who were still held captive, and caused years of unfair bias and hard feelings toward thousands of brave and honorable vets after they returned home.

He did all of this in order to win political fame and favor in the Democratic Party. It was his ticket to the big time, and he cashed it without a second thought. Reprehensible in every sense of the word. Say what you want about whether or not he deserved his medals- I could care less. As a leader in the US Military, he was an insult to our profession. He would have served his country much better by never having gone to Vietnam.

On Allegations of "War Profiteering":

This one is picking up steam today. Read this rant first, and then go check out Kerry's latest attempt at an October Surprise. I think you'll find that the story falls in line with everything I have to say on the matter:

It absolutely sickens me that these morons put all the emphasis on alleged profits and no emphasis on what's best for the troops. Are company's going to make money in time of war?? YES!!! That's been true since the days of yore. Our economy boomed after WW2. That's simply a fact, and it'll always be a fact. Don't get mad at people for supporting an industry that helps our soldiers! Show me where companies that should be getting contracts aren't getting them. That would be a scoop...

None of these blowhards ever mention an alternative to the companies that they accuse of "war profiteering." A perfect example from Dissident Voice (thanks Sweet Lou):

John Edwards said, “It is an outrage and disrespectful to the young men and women who are serving in Iraq today. President Bush should start addressing this credibility gap by calling on Joe Allbaugh and his friends to stop using their influence to secure government contracts in Iraq, and by agreeing to an independent oversight panel to ensure that contracts in Iraq are administered fairly.”

"In this enormously expensive mission, the American people ought to be assured that any dollar we spend there is for the rebuilding of Iraq, and not just the building of profit for the president's friends and political supporters," he said.

Okay, John- give us a list of companies that would do a better job for the soldiers!!!!! He doesn't!!! He never will!!! You know why? Because all the contracts were awarded to the MOST CAPABLE companies!!! I haven't seen ONE SINGLE person come forward with something like, "This company would have been better than Halliburton (or New Bridge), because the troops would have gotten better support and the American taxpayers would be getting more for their money." That would be it!!! That would be such an easy "smoking gun," but nobody comes forward with it, because it doesn't exist!! They just continue to bicker about "this company got a contract and this guy got rich."

And now we have Bunnatine Greenhouse, the chief contracting officer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (and, no doubt, Democratic Operative) alleging that "the award of contracts without competition to KBR puts at risk 'the integrity of the federal contracting program as it relates to a major defense contractor.' The contracts were to restore Iraq's oil industry." OK, Bunnatine- you worry about the integrity of the federal contracting program, and I'll worry about getting Iraq back on it's feet so that the American troops can get the hell out of there!!! And just for the record, the last sentence in that article is very telling:

While the Corps was authorized to spend up to $7 billion for the oil restoration work, the actual cost so far has been $2.5 billion. Halliburton is still working on the oil facilities, but it is now operating under a new, competitively awarded contract.

Great work, AP. Better make sure you save that part for last. Put it first, and you won't have a story to follow it. Nice job. Really.

Kerry and Edwards somehow get a pass for all this. Edwards says stuff like "let's have an independent oversight panel to ensure that contracts in Iraq are administered fairly." Sure thing, John- but does it have to be RIGHT NOW??? How many American soldiers were you planning to sacrifice while your "oversight committee" determined whether or not Haliburton was the right company for the job. Tell you what makes as much sense- let's withhold any funding for the troops until an independent oversight committee determines whether or not McDonald's is the largest fast-food chain. It certainly seems that McD's is the number one chain. Any expert in the food industry would tell you that "yep- McD's is the one. The biggest and baddest." But we'd better set up an "independent committtee." You know, just to make sure. Don't you see how proposterous this is???? Halliburton is the McDonald's of defense contracting!!! John Edwards and Senator Kerry wanted to dilly around with proper contracting procedures and independent oversight committees while troops needed critical support ASAP!!!!

I'll tell you what the real scandal is- voting against that $87 billion, knowing with all certainty that Halliburton was the right company for the time-sensitive and critical task at hand, was such an act of betrayal to us troops- I wouldn't even hesitate to call it treason. They don't care about the soldiers!!! They just want to bring down the most capable companies that support us because it fuels their political fire. Absolutely sickening. Get out there and VOTE people!!!!

On Michael Moore:

(sorry but this guy's not even worth talking about)

On the Left's Recent Obsession With the "Missing Explosives":

First off, there are nowhere near enough facts on hand to support the unbelievable spin that's been flying around the media. It's almost comical!! A news reporter has pictures of explosives!!! That proves that the 101st Airborne lost 380 tons of RDX!!!!! C'mon people! Are you kidding me???

Mistakes were made in every war that we've ever fought (although I do not believe we made a mistake at Al-QaQaa). When you seek to highlight our failures (whether it's because you want your guy to get elected or for any other reason) and completely ignore any of our accomplishments, you do us all a huge disservice. For every mistake you manage to find, I'll show you 10,000 successes. I've got 12 hours of video footage that I'll be happy to show you any time you want to see it. Probably won't want to see it if you're a lefty- way too many smiling children and grateful Iraqis...

UPDATE!!!!! I know this guy!!! MAJ Pearson worked at OBJ Dogwood during the month that I was at Iskanderia (about 10 miles south of Baghdad and 7 miles east of Dogwood). I remember him well- he truly enjoyed his job, and he had a great attitude. I just heard a soundbyte of his press conference- he sounded way nervous. Can't blame him. Talk about being in a pressure-cooker! Remember what I said yesterday? We're getting better at this. We're not standing idly by while punditicians spout lies about what we did and what we saw. Great job, MAJ Pearson!

Question for Senator Kerry: Senator, do you think it's a good idea to wait for the facts to come out before you accuse the soldiers that you wish to lead of committing "perhaps the biggest in a series of massive blunders in Iraq?" With all due respect Mr. Commander in Chief wannabe, do you automatically assume away any level of compitence that we may have because of a suspect story that you read about in the NY Times? Sorry, Senator- we'd prefer a leader who has a little more confidence in us...

Wow, that was fun. So many rants, so many memories...