The Archives

Memorial Day 2012: THIS Is What American Troops Are Made Of…
27 May 2012 1:16 pm Warner Todd Huston

For Memorial Day, I don’t usually post much, preferring to dedicate the day to memorializing our troops. To do that this year, I am going to share this story about the mettle of our troops. What follows are excerpts from remarks by Marine Lt. Gen. John F. Kelly to the Semper Fi Society of St. Louis on November 13, 2010. Kelly’s son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Michael Kelly, 29, had been killed in action four days earlier in Sangin, in southern Afghanistan, while leading his platoon on a combat patrol:
Giving …

San Francisco Consults Harvey Milk By Ouija board Before Trying To Convince The Navy To Name A Ship After Him
24 May 2012 8:45 am John Hawkins

In an extraordinarily bizarre turn of events, one of the most anti-military cities in America, San Francisco, wants the Navy to name a ship after left wing politician Harvey Milk. In Milk’s defense, he did serve in the military and rose to the level of lieutenant, junior grade. On the other hand, Harvey Milk’s claim to fame was that he was the first openly gay non-incumbent politician who was elected in the United States and he was later shot to death by a former city supervisor who said he went …

Obama’s Narcissism: The Troops are Fighting for Me, Me, Me
10 May 2012 8:49 pm Warner Todd Huston

Obama revealed the extent of his narcissism, his outsized sense of self-regard, this week during his hasty explanation of his flip flop on the issue of gay marriage. In his ABC News interview Obama waxed poetic about those American troops that he thinks are fighting for him as opposed to fighting for their country.
During his interview, Obama told ABC News’ Robin Roberts that he feels “constrained” in war policy, but it’s what he said before that which startles for its arrogance (my bold for emphasis).

When I think about those soldiers …

Ooops: NATO Video Says Chicago is ‘Capital of Illinois’
3 May 2012 6:31 pm Warner Todd Huston

-By Warner Todd Huston
Obama must not have been paying too much attention to what his folks at NATO have been doing as they prepare for the summit coming up on May 20, 21 in Chicago because the new video touting the gathering has a few whoppers included. Namely that Chicago is the capital of Illinois (it isn’t) and is “the city he grew up in” (he didn’t).

As the mellifluous tones of the European accented, female narrator begins, we see images of the shining City of Big Shoulders, The City That …

Washington Post: Toss The All Volunteer Military
22 Apr 2012 8:33 am William Teach

Welcome to Über Liberal World!
(Washington Post) Our lives are cluttered with unnecessary traditions, ideas and institutions. Warm weather came early this year, but there’s still time for a good spring cleaning. After purging old receipts, broken appliances and unloved outfits, what else should we toss? Outlook asked 10 writers what they thought we’d be better off without. From the Cabinet to premium gas to chick flicks, here are their picks.
1. All-volunteer military by Thomas E. Ricks
2. Premium gas by Jeff S. Bartlett
3. Home equity loans by Bethany McLean
4. 3 p.m. …

If That Soldier In Afghanistan Is Guilty Of Mass Murder, He Deserves The Ultimate Penalty
16 Mar 2012 6:02 am John Hawkins

When a serial killer is caught or there’s a mass murder, people always want to know why.
Why did they do it? What made them snap?
Once you get past Muslims killing people in the name of Allah, which is unfortunately all too common, the answers people get are seldom satisfactory. We hear people blame video games, bullies, video, stress, marital problems, losing jobs, etc., etc. Thing is, there are tens of millions of people who have been exposed to the exact same stimulus who haven’t gone on a killing …

Obama Admin Proposed Active Duty Military Health Care Cuts, No Cuts for Union Civilians
27 Feb 2012 7:07 pm Lonely Conservative

President Obama again reveals where his loyalties lie – with the unions. According to The Washington Free Beacon, the Obama administration is proposing cuts to health benefits for active duty and retired military members and their families, while leaving the benefits for unionized civilian defense workers alone. If anything, it should be the opposite – those who put their lives on the line day-in and day-out, and their families who sacrifice so the rest of us are safe, should be given the highest priority.
Some members of Congress believe the proposed changes …

A Crony Military? Jerry Brown’s Man Fires California’s First Female Army General
15 Feb 2012 12:12 pm Warner Todd Huston

In August of 2011, Brigadier General Charlotte L. Miller, California’s first Army female general, was “involuntarily separated” from the California National Guard for what she feels are invalid reasons. In fact, when the order originally came down there weren’t much by way of reasons even given. At last Miller is speaking out and making some pretty serious charges against Major General David Baldwin, the man that fired her, by testifying before the California State Senate Rules Committee against his nomination to head the Calif. National Guard.
Last June, Miller was informed …

Obama’s Budget: More Tax, Borrow and Spend
13 Feb 2012 5:57 pm Michael Fell

The White House presented its 2012 budget Monday. A $3.8 trillion proposal which includes $1.43 trillion in new taxes on households whose incomes meet or exceed $250,000 (note: this is the new “progressive” definition of millionaires and billionaires), a fourth straight year of $1 trillion-plus deficit spending (which will require yet more borrowing), and new mandatory spending intended for the Education and Energy Departments.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72792.html
As has been the case for the past three years, the White House pays lip service to calls for reduced spending. There are no efforts made to …

Obama Thinks Veterans Are Only Good For Menial Jobs
3 Feb 2012 8:50 am William Teach

We’re finally going to get, after, what, a year? of talking about jobs for military veterans, his plan to get them work. And it’s as pitiful as you’d expect
(Fox News) In an effort to cut the unemployment rate among veterans, the Obama administration is calling for a new conservation program that would put veterans to work rebuilding trails, roads and levees on public lands.
Let’s give him some credit for wanting to reduce the unemployment rate among veterans, even if it is surely politically motivated, geared towards peeling off …

A Close Look At The Single Most Expensive Piece Of Military Hardware Ever”
8 Jan 2012 6:40 am Craig Newmark

The Ford class nuclear carriers, with the first three expected to average about $13.4 billion apiece.
O.K. by me. Build, baby, build.

ISU Lecturer: Patriotism Excludes People At Bottom, Troops Don’t Need Care Packages
9 Dec 2011 10:00 am Warner Todd Huston

Thomas Walker, lecturer in the intensive English and orientation program at Iowa State University, is disgusted over all this fawning over “the troops.” And so, to vent his disgust, he took to the letters to the editor pages of The Iowa State Daily. What Walker gave us is yet another screed from an extremist, left-winger being paid our tax dollars to “teach” our children his brand of hate for America.
What stirred Walker to spit his venom was a generally benign little program to assemble care packages for our soldiers overseas …

Dumping The Ashes Of Soldiers Who Died In The Line Of Duty In A Landfill
8 Dec 2011 8:11 am John Hawkins

It’s genuinely hard to understand how anybody in our own military could be fine with the remains of their brothers-in-arms being dumped in a landfill like so much garbage.
The Air Force dumped the incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops in a Virginia landfill, far more than the military had acknowledged, before halting the secretive practice three years ago, records show.
The landfill dumping was concealed from families who had authorized the military to dispose of the remains in a dignified and respectful manner, Air Force officials said. There …

Every Generation, A Salute to America’s Veterans
14 Nov 2011 5:02 pm Warner Todd Huston

A thank you to our veterans for the sacrifices they’ve made in the name of freedom featuring comments from Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, Don Stenberg, Dan Liljenquist, and Adam Hasner.

Freedom Works debuted this great video for Veteran’s Day while we were in Denver this past weekend. It is now up at Youtube and, even though the holiday is past, I thought I’d feature the video today.

Thank You Veterans
11 Nov 2011 12:08 pm Warner Todd Huston

America is a singularly different nation where it concerns our military veterans. We love them. We even have a national holiday to honor them. This is not so in most of the rest of the world. Elsewhere military veterans are not so loved as they are here.
Is that because the United States is the Sparta of the world, loving war more than anything else? Hardly. In fact its because our soldiers bring peace wherever they go, not perpetual war.
In other countries, soldiers are usually the dregs of society, living off …

Army’s Energy Awareness Month: Obama Outsourced Leadership, and Oil, in Libya War
24 Oct 2011 12:01 am Rachel Marsden

Because it’s the U.S. Army’s Energy Awareness Month, it may be a good time to remind President Obama of oil’s importance to economic security, and the role that wartime leadership and image play in getting your hands on it post-victory. He can’t just quietly outsource and downplay war because it’s icky, then call dibs on victory, as he has just done with Libya. Something has to give.
When Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi was killed in the fog of war this week, President Obama was quick to praise the “strength of …

We Need Rules for Cyberwarfare Before a President Steals That Power, Too
19 Oct 2011 2:24 pm Warner Todd Huston

A recent New York Times article revealed that the Pentagon briefly considered engaging in cyberwarfare at the outset of the actions in Libya, but decided against it for a variety of reasons. This reminds us all that as a nation we really need to discuss the use of cyberwarfare. The first question asked must be: should a president be able to simply order such an attack on his own hook?
The Times noted that one of the concerns about the use of cyberwarfare is how it would be justified under the …

You know what they say about payback
8 Oct 2011 6:28 am Craig Newmark

If you don’t–or even if you do–check out “Payback: History’s Most Famous Acts of Military Vengeance.”

Honoring our Sea Faring Services
5 Oct 2011 6:04 pm Bookworm

In honor of Fleet Week (which starts Saturday in San Francisco), I have three Navy/Marine related stories to relate and I want to promote a few of my favorite Navy related blogs.
Story 1:
My daughter has started a new school and is making new friends. The other day, I met the Mom of one of these new friends. (I’m happy to say that both mother and daughter are nice gals.)
“Is your daughter an only child?” I asked. (Go ahead, say it: I’m nosy.)
“No,” she said, “I have a son, too.” Then, …

Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
9 Sep 2011 9:07 am Courtney Messerschmidt

Leggy bay bee!
As best understood, Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges is ancient Romanspeak roughly (very roughly, mind ye) xlated as “In combat time, attorneys can like STFU”
During the decade of war (so far – nicht wahr?) Attorneys and their legion of the discombobulated detached detachment of inapropriate handwringers, boring assetted, worrying about the wrong thing
collective of cats in heat with defeat, retreat and repeat have been vocal with uncritical thinking critique of Great Satan and her new millennium wars.

Intended consequences?

“Nothing undermined the British and the French in 1939/1940 more than …

West Wing Weak: Your Guide to Obama’s Scandal-Filled Week

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