Pissed off at the Marines for pissing on the enemy??

Everyone has seen the video or pictures of it where the 4 Marines are urinating on the slain Taliban fighters and the outrage and condemnation has been at an all-time high.  People from all across the country have used words like disgusting, dishonorable and despicable and I want to add my own word to the list:  debatable. 

Yes, it’s a horrible image to send around the world of our brave men and women who are fighting wars against evil people but some of the condemnation seems a bit over the top.  I don’t remember seeing the words listed above in ANY of the articles about these people who go into villages and shopping areas to blow themselves up killing innocent men, women and children.  I don’t remember seeing the words listed above in ANY of the articles about the people who killed the Blackwater security contractors and then burned their bodies and hung them from a bridge in Fallujah.  I don’t remember seeing the words listed above in ANY of the articles about the Delta snipers who were killed and had their bodies dragged through the streets of Mogadishu.  What about the 2 soldiers from the 101^st Airborne Division who were beheaded and gutted in Iraq?  Where was the public and media outrage then?  Why is the condemnation saved for only when our soldiers act inappropriately?  I’d like to see how the average citizen would react after witnessing so much of the atrocities that our soldiers see on a daily basis.

What the Marines did was wrong and they should be punished under the field grade level Article 15 (non-judicial punishment) in accordance with the Marine code of honor.  Having the arm-chair Generals in the public and media pass judgment on them is disgraceful and deplorable.  As General William Sherman stated, “War is hell…” so unless you’ve spent time in the heat of battle, you should probably just shut the hell up….

Keeping the Dream Alive

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a beloved, moral and spiritual leader for millions of people in the 1960’s with a legacy that lives on today.  During the week we celebrate his life, we will see numerous speeches he gave with none more memorable than his “I have a dream…” speech that he delivered in 1963.  One of his lesser-known quotes was “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others”?  If he were alive today, I wonder what Dr. King would think of the way we treat others ?

We live in a society where charities give billions of dollars and people give countless time and energy to those less fortunate than themselves but it never seems like enough.  Millions of people are still starving, poor, homeless and hopeless and the charities are still somehow short on help and funds.  I don’t think Dr. King’s words were meant to spur his fellow man on to donate more money.  The huge bureaucracies that charities today have become make many think that nearly 50% of the money donated never gets to those people who truly need it.  His words were more literal and I wonder why more people don’t follow the true meaning?

 With the nation’s morality seemingly at an all-time low, we could use more religious leaders like Dr. King to espouse the Christian virtues and beliefs that our country was founded on.  I am overly blessed and truly proud to belong to a church where the people who attend not only put their money where their mouths are but encourage the members to “walk the walk” to help their fellow man in their time of need…… which brings me to another MLK quote: 

 “The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.”

 So again, what are you doing for others?

 

Playing the Jesus Card

After watching this weekends wildcard playoff game between Denver and Pittsburgh, I couldn’t help but wonder how many articles would be written with titles like “David slays Goliath” or some other biblical reference.  The Steelers were 8 ½ point favorites on the road for this game with extensive playoff experience while Denver was led by a QB making his first playoff start and most people wondered if he was even an NFL-caliber QB.  Tebow threw an 80 yard TD pass on the first play from scrimmage in OT to defeat the Steelers and extended the “Jesus” debate one more week but I guess my question is, “Why??”

We watch athletes celebrate their faith every day and it’s NEVER a major point of focus.  Albert Puljos wears enough crosses and medallions around his neck to crush a normal man and points to the heavens to thank Jesus after every big hit but nobody questions that.  Denard Robinson has been kneeling in prayer after every TD for the past 3 years (before it was known as “Tebowing”) and nobody asks him about that.  Athletes have given praise to God/Jesus/Their Lord and Savior for as long as I can remember and it never warrants a question in the media like Tebow gets scrutinized for his Christianity. 

You know there are reporters out there digging through every aspect of Tebow’s life to find ANY kind of dirt to debunk his faith and all they are finding is that he is as genuine as he appears.  He wears his faith on his sleeve so why is that a bad thing and why is it debated so?  For all the scumbag athletes out there in the police blotters day-after-day, shouldn’t this be refreshing?  Bottom line is the kid is a winner on the field and a shining example of everything that’s right off the field.  Thank-you Lord, indeed….

2012 Resolutions and Realities

As we start another new year, it’s time to make unrealistic resolutions that clash with reality:

Resolution #1 – I vow to get healthier in mind, spirit and body.

Reality #1 – While I continue to attempt to be the man that God wants me to be in mind and spirit, I all too often morph back into the man that can be critical of myself for failures to be that godly person.  This is not a yearly resolution but one that gets restated every day.  As for the healthy body, I’m doing the best I can with what I have to work with.

Resolution #2 – I vow to continue trying to understand the liberal-mindset and the progressive-left.

Reality #2 – Until someone can actually explain to me what “social and financial fairness” is, it’s just not happening.  Our nation was founded on working hard and striving to be your best…..NOT having some government bureaucrat with a bad comb-over passing your hard-earned money on to someone who refuses to work for his own.

Resolution #3 – I vow to find a Republican presidential candidate I can fully support without holding my nose when I go to the ballot box.

Reality #3 – Unless Chris Christie changes his mind and jumps into the race within a week or so, it will be another slow walk into the voting booth.  While Christie doesn’t have the solid social conservative stamp of approval some of the dinosaurs in the GOP are looking for, he is a man who knows how to work with members of BOTH political parties to get things done and our country needs that more than anything right now.

Finally, I resolve to be kinder and gentler with my fellow mankind.  As long as they don’t cross me….

The Infamy and Idiocy of December

Besides 9/11/2001 and 11/22/1963, no 2 dates stand out more in American history and culture that December 7, 1941 and December 8, 1980.  These are, of course, the respective dates for the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor and the assassination of John Lennon.  Ask any senior citizens and they can probably tell you where they were or what they were doing on those dates in 1941 and 1963.  The same holds true with baby boomers for 1980 and 2001 but the next 2 days will contain stories of remembrance and loss and while I was not born in 1941, I vividly remember 1980.

I listened to and loved the Beatles since I was old enough to enjoy music and continued to love them as a group through the breakup in 1969 all the way to the present.  I don’t think I truly appreciated John Lennon as a solo artist until he released Double Fantasy in 1980 only to have him tragically killed by Mark David Chapman 2 months later.  I remember sitting there watching Monday Night Football and having Howard Cosell utter the following in the final moments of the game,

“An unspeakable tragedy confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City: John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous, perhaps, of all of The Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival.”

John had actually been shot 4 times but that was immaterial at the time.  He was dead and any chance of the Beatles ever getting back together for even a single performance was now gone.  John left a legacy of musical achievement and a personal life strife with grudges, infidelity and controversy.  He was both loved and loathed by millions but the bottom line is he died WAY too soon.  Just as the infamy of December 7^th lives with us today, so too does the idiocy of December 8^th…..just imagine what could have been

Are you ready for some football??

Whether we’re talking High School, College or the NFL, there are all kinds of interesting things going on in the football world…

• Ndamakong Suh of the Detroit Lions was ejected from the Thanksgiving game Thursday after trying to clean the Ford Field Astroturf with an opponent’s face and then stomping on his arm after he got up.  In typical modern-day athlete style, he walked around on the sidelines with his hands up in the air like “What did I do wrong”??….and still has yet to apologize.
• The Penn State football scandal involving former assistance coach Jerry Sandusky continues to reverberate throughout the country.  Formerly committed recruits are de-committing and more stories are coming out about additional abuse.  I’m afraid that this is just the tip of the iceberg. 
• Steve Johnson of the Buffalo Bills celebrated a TD against the NY Jets yesterday by pretending to shoot himself in the leg in direct reference to Plaxico Burress who did this as a member of the NY Giants and currently plays for the Jets.  The “showmanship” cost his team a 15 yard penalty which the Jets used for excellent field position to score a touchdown and eventually a 4 point win.  The post-TD celebrations have become ridiculous and offensive.  Too bad more players don’t act like Barry Sanders who would just hand the ball over to the referee because in his words, “I didn’t want people to think it was the first time I had scored…”
• DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles started the season in a contract dispute and held out and after reporting without a new contract has moped, complained, missed meetings, taken stupid penalties for showboating  and been suspended by the club for a game but his worst offense to date was dropping 2 touchdown passes that hit him right in the hands in yesterdays game.  Why is that so bad?  Because I have him on my fantasy football team and he may have cost me a win….
• Urban Meyer was hired today to coach Ohio State just one year after he stepped down at Florida due to “health” reasons which most people equate to the fact that Tim Tebow graduated.  He had also stated during his resignation press conference that he wanted to spend time with his family but apparently a year was all of the time he could stand…wonder what message this sends to his wife and 3 children?  Here’s wishing him absolutely NO luck at all and another early retirement in 3-4 years.

Finally, Coolidge High School (Washington DC) head coach Natalie Randolph is the only female coaching varsity football in high school in the country.  She is in her 2^nd season at the school and just led her school to an 8-3 records and a spot in the city championship game.  With all the scandal and “look at me” moments in college and the pro’s, it’s refreshing to have a positive story for a change.

The Fall of an Icon

Joe Paterno has been a part of Penn State University for over 60 years, the last 46 as the head football coach.  He has run a clean program never under NCAA investigations, graduated athletes at a high rate and for the most part, kept his players off the police blotter.  No other head coach in the college ranks has been more respected or revered which is why the scandal that broke this month is so stunning.

I won’t go into the specifics since it’s been reported non-stop since the story broke but I have a feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg.  It is going to get uglier and uglier and it just breaks my heart.  While I feel sorry for the man, I am just dumbfounded as to how he could have just “passed this on to his supervisor” and then went on and started planning for the next week’s game.  Why didn’t he, or SOMEONE in the organization, call the police??  It is unfathomable to me that everyone thought they had done their part by just telling their boss and nobody went to the police.

He let those young boys down by allowing a known molester to continue harming kid’s right under his nose.  He had a legal and moral obligation to make sure this went to the police and he failed on both ends.  Instead of retiring on his own terms with his legacy intact, he has been fired as a part of a horrendous scandal that has damaged the lives of numerous children and appears to be getting worse….. The lasting stain is a shame but he has no one to blame but himself.

Random Gripes and Grumblings

• A sad ending for Joe Paterno after 46 years as Penn State football coach but honestly, he should NOT be coaching the rest of the year.  He should resign now.  Merely “reporting” sexual abuse to your superior and then moving on to next weeks game plan is not good enough.
• The Herman Cain train appears to be derailing.  There are now 5 “supposed” accusers and while only one has actually come forward, it looks like more are on the way.  Seems odd to me that he says he “can’t remember” any sexual harassment charges being brought against him.  Not sure about you but I would certainly remember something like that for as long as I live.
• Speaking of the accuser who came forward with Gloria Allred, let me give you some advice.  Bringing that publicity-whore with you does more to damage your credibility than anything else you may have done.  People are sick and tired of seeing her face every time there is even a hint of a high-profile story where she can insert herself into the picture.
• The bed that Michael Jackson died in is going to be sold separately at an auction.  It comes complete with bed-frame, box spring, mattress, linens, child restraint straps, ball gags, a partial bottle of “roofies” and standard legal settlement documents.
• The NBA lockout is in day 132 and the latest offer from the owners was just turned down by the players which called for them to receive 49%-51% of all basketball-related income (on top of their already over-inflated salaries).  Basically it comes down to millionaires fighting with billionaires so as far as I’m concerned, they can stay away and never come back.
• The Solyndra debacle is getting worse and worse for the Obama administration.  In a Feb27, 2010 email, they state that “They about had an orgasm in Biden’s office when we mentioned Solyndra”.  Not sure I ever expected to see the words Biden and Orgasm in the same story and not sure I want to again.
• During an Occupy Oakland protest this week, a Wells Fargo branch was vandalized during a massive downtown demonstration against corporate greed, crooked bankers and income equality.  Yesterday, the “Occupy Oakland” group deposited $20,000 in donations into a Wells Fargo bank account in Oakland.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these idiots don’t know what they are protesting, why they are protesting or who they are protesting.

Finally The U.S. Department of Agriculture is going to delay implementation and revisit a proposed new 15 cent fee on fresh-cut Christmas trees.  Americans all across the land breathed a sigh of relief that they will be able to use the saved money for…..nothing….if this is any indicator, I can’t wait to see all the “cuts” we get out of the Debt Commission….

The Liberal Lynching of Herman Cain

Ever since his entrance into the Republican field as a candidate for President, Herman Cain has been excoriated by the left-leaning media and liberals everywhere.  A few of the disgusting examples:

• Harry Belafonte calls Mr. Cain a “bad apple” and calls into question the authenticity of his racial sensibilities imitating that his self-reliance and obvious record of excellence in attaining the American Dream disqualify him as a viable representative of the “black experience”.
• In addressing Mr. Cain’s comments that racism does not play a large role in unemployment among African Americans, Princeton professor Cornell West stated Cain should “Get off the symbolic crack pipe and acknowledge the evidence is overwhelming”
• Liberal brainiac Janeane Garafalo said, “Herman Cain is probably well liked by some of the Republicans because it hides the racist elements of the Republican Party.”
• During an interview in October, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell argued that Mr. Cain “sat on the sidelines and watched” while white and black college students were killed during the civil rights protests of the 1960’s

The left is scared of conservative women like Sarah Palin and Nikki Haley but they are absolutely petrified by conservative African-Americans.  Throw in the fact that Mr. Cain is a self-made man and successful businessman and they don’t know how to take it.  A supposed sexual harassment scandal has been in the news the past few days and even though it has been debunked, the media is still attacking.  I’m sure they have a LOT more ammunition up there sleeves as his poll numbers get stronger but I just find it odd that when Republicans merely asked questions and wanted then-Senator Obama properly vetted by the media, they were accused of all kind of racist, nasty stuff.  Now that he is President, you can’t question his policies or disagree with his positions without being accused of being racist by the liberal-left.

Too bad they aren’t giving Mr. Cain the same treatment they want people to give President Obama but then again, that’s the way liberals operate.  The double-standard is mind-boggling…

The Branding of the Kardashians

It’s a common term heard these days regarding this family and their exploits.  How will this affect the Kardashian “brand”?  This will be great for Kim’s “brand”.  This should really enhance their “brand.  When will the public wake up and realize that these people are taking us all for a ride?

As you know, Kim just released a statement about her 72 day marriage that she is ending that basically said after careful consideration, she decided to end the nuptials, and that while she had hoped the marriage would last forever, sometimes things don’t work out as planned and that she and Kris remain dear friends….I mean seriously, what a load of crap!  This is the biggest publicity stunt in the history of mankind and anyone that doesn’t think so has had their brain branded.  It is believed that Kimmy earned about $18 million from this wedding and the 2 lovebirds paid next to nothing of the $20 million in costs associated with it.  Add to that the $5 million she made in settling the sex-tape lawsuit and you have $23 million in payouts for being nothing but a debutante doorknob.

I personally think the whole family ought to be branded with Kim getting KashKow on that billboard-sized ASS of hers.  But then again, I’m sure she would just turn that into a reality series that would make her even more money.