Embarrassment!

Yesterday on the Senate floor, the thought that John Bolton might be confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations brought, Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) to the brink of tears.

I heard the recorded speech and the way he choked up, so I'm not just repeating what some pundits have said.

First I was filled with revulsion, then embarrassment. How can someone that is supposed to represent the people of the United States and specifically the people of Ohio make such a spectacle of themselves?

In public, on the floor of the Senate, he whimpered and whined as he said:

"I came back here [to the Senate] and ran for a second term because I'm worried about my kids and my grandchildren. And I just hope my colleagues will take the time (pause, almost in tears) and before they get to this well, do some serious thinking about whether or not we should send John Bolton to the United Nations. I yield the floor."

How could you, Sen. Voinovich. If you can't control your emotions any better than this, you have no place in the Senate, let alone representing Republicans.

If a woman Senator had pulled this stunt there would be people saying that women do not belong in the Senate because they can't control their emotions. I heard one woman say that you are a walking advertisement for zoloft.

Perhaps you need a stint at the Betty Ford Clinic.

BOOM!

U.S.
Intruding pilots released without charges
Prompted red alert at White House, mass evacuations

Thursday, May 12, 2005



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A pilot and a student pilot were released without criminal charges Wednesday after their plane flew within three miles of the White House, prompting evacuations throughout the capital, officials said.

A Black Hawk helicopter and two F-16 fighter jets forced the Cessna 150 aircraft to land at a small airport in Frederick, Maryland at 12:37 p.m., officials said.

If you live in a cave, this news item brought quite a bit of attention last week.

I listed to it while it was going on, before the Cessna was forced down, and realized that it was most likely another idiot that got lost near the capital.

'Most likely', isn't the same as a foregone conclusion and I was appalled to hear the reaction from some quarters that call it an "over-reaction".

The Cessna 150 is considered a trainer, (There is some confusion in the information I have found), with a maximum passenger load of 300lbs and maximum cargo/luggage load of 120lbs. It is a slow flying 2 seater aircraft and quite small.

Lets say that the pilot weighs 170lbs, that gives us 250lbs to play around with. That doesn't sound like much does it? But what could we do with 250 lbs.

We couldn't haul around a lot of chemical weapons because the plane is too small for the equipment it would take to disperse them effectively. The same for biologicals but you could still terrorize the population far in excess of the actual threat would warrant.

But lets consider another scenario.

Suppose we put a nuclear device onboard and a pilot on a suicide mission.

What? You say that 250lbs is too small?

You would be wrong!

I have seen them with my own eyes and I'm not talking about the fabled brief case bombs. There were nuclear rounds made for the 155mm and 203mm howitzers that weighed less than 100lbs and 240lbs respectively and quite a bit of that weight was the heavy steel casing of an artillery round.

If we had them, the Soviets had them and since the fall of the Eastern Block, there has been much confusion over exactly what did happened to these weapons.

Now imagine a small plane, skirting radar, flying low with one of these on board. Congress is in session and a small nuclear device is set off over the capital building.

BOOM!

Col. David Hackworth

Col. David Hackworth died yesterday. He had been battling bladder cancer, he was in Mexico for treatment. He had been ill for some time but I had no idea that he was sick.

"Hack", as he was affectionately known, was an outspoken critic of military policy that needlessly put America's young warriors in harm's way. He criticized every administration's policies, everything from the table of organization to weapons and equipment.

He lied about his age in order to join the Merchant Marines during WW2, he was 14 years old .

At 15 he joined the US Army as a enlisted man and served at the end of WW2 until his retirement 26 years later.

He received a battlefied commission in Korea and became that war's youngest Army Captain.

After almost five years in Vietnam Hack's cup runneth over. In 1971, as the Army's youngest colonel he spoke out on national television saying, "This is a bad war ... it can't be won we need to get out." In that interview, he also said that the North Vietnamese flag would fly over Saigon in four years -- a prediction that turned out to be right on target. He was the only senior officer to sound off about the insanity of the war. Understandably, Nixon and the Army weren't real happy with his shooting off his mouth.

Hack, was all about his troops and his troops were every ground pounder, sailor and fly boy that served this country. He was all about the troops!

AWARDS & DECORATIONS
COLONEL DAVID H. HACKWORTH
(U.S. ARMY, RETIRED)

Individual Decorations & Service Medals:
* Distinguished Service Cross (with one Oak Leaf Cluster)
* Silver Star (with nine Oak Leaf Clusters)
* Legion of Merit (with three Oak Leaf Clusters)
* Distinguished Flying Cross
* Bronze Star Medal (with "V" Device & seven Oak Leaf Clusters)(Seven of the awards for heroism)
* Purple Heart (with seven Oak Leaf Clusters)
* Air Medal (with "V" Device & Numeral 34)(One for heroism and 33 for aerial achievement)
* Army Commendation Medal (w/ "V" Device & 3 Oak Leaf Clusters)
* Good Conduct Medal
* World War II Victory Medal
* Army of Occupation Medal (with Germany and Japan Clasps)
* National Defense Service Medal (with one Bronze Service Star)
* Korean Service Medal (with Service Stars for eight campaigns)
* Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
* Vietnam Service Medal (2 Silver Service Stars = 10 campaigns)
* Armed Forces Reserve Medal

Unit Awards:
* Presidential Unit Citation
* Valorous Unit Award (with one Oak Leaf Cluster)
* Meritorious Unit Commendation

Badges & Tabs:
* Combat Infantryman Badge (w/ one Star; representing 2 awards)
* Master Parachutist Badge
* Army General Staff Identification Badge

Foreign Awards:
* United Nations Service Medal (Korea)
* Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960)
* Vietnam Cross of Gallantry (with two Gold Stars)
* Vietnam Cross of Gallantry (with two Silver Stars)
* Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal (1st Class)
* Vietnam Staff Service Medal (1st Class)
* Vietnam Army Distinguished Service Order, 2d Class
* Vietnam Parachutist Badge (Master Level)
* Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
* Republic of Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation
* Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (with three Palm oak leaf clusters)
* Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class Unit Citation (with one Palm oak leaf cluster)

World War II Merchant Marine Awards:
* Pacific War Zone Bar
* Victory Medal

Hack is an advocate of military reform and a believer that the big fire power -- "nuke-the-pukes" -- solution won't work anymore, but that doesn't mean war will go away. He sees big and little fights ahead and urges military reform. He believes passionately that "America needs a streamlined, hard hitting force for the 21st century" and beyond. Hack brings to his mission his unique experience acquired in almost 52 years of bouncing around hot and cold battlefields. He also brings an insider's view of the Pentagon and the military establishment made deadly current by input provided on a daily basis by serving warriors from around the globe. E-mail frequently brings him the word before the Pentagon gets it.

He was a frequent talk show guest and I have listened to him many times.

His books include "About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior", "Hazardous Duty", "The Price of Honor" and "Steel My Soldiers' Hearts", which is still in the book stores.

A man could do far worse with his life than to emulate David Hackworth.

Rest in peace, Hack, we will watch over your Troops.

Cat herding

Russet Shadows at Strange Fire has a post up on Affirmative Action.

To be any more successful, the government would have to engage in lunatic conspiracy actions; but there's no need for that when you've already poisoned the well.

The Beak is Spanking the Recidivist again. (Part 6)
Beak, isn't your arm getting tired?

Jason Pappas at Liberty and Culture says:

To keep religion out of government as many on the left demand, we need to take government out of education, welfare, the arts, and the humanities as some of us on the right demand.

Mr Beamish appears to be going to a Time Traveler's Convention.
So I guess we will see him yesterday... er... uh, next week or something.

The Drummaster is watching way too much TV.

Kajando is advocating a plan to ship illegals, directly to Canada from the border.

And our friend Elijah at BLAAG has noticed the silence in the MSM about the plight of non-white victims of oppression.

The Montagnards

Montagnard is French for mountaineer or mountain people. They are also known as the Hmong, the Vietnamese call them Moi, or savages.

They call themselves the Dega or Hmong and they are the indigenous people of the highlands of Southeast Asia. One Dega said, "Like the American Indians in the United States, we have lived for centuries in the Southeast Asia, long before foreigners ever touched our shores. When the Vietnamese overran the coastline, we settled peacefully in the mountains known today as the Central Highlands of South Vietnam".

They are not an oriental people. Many appear Polynesian and their language is non-tonal, resembling the group of languages which includes Polynesian. Once there were more than forty distinct and recognizable aboriginal groups that inhabited the Central Highlands of Vietnam and may have numbered 3 million persons, but now have dwindled to only a few hundred thousand survivors.

Today the Government of Vietnam seeks to destroy their culture by the policy of cultural leveling in which the differences among people are suppressed, diluted, and finally erased. Their world revolves around small villages where resources are shared and kinship is important. They farm the plateaus, the slopes, and the bottom land of ancient rivers. They fish the streams and hunt the forest.

Their lifestyle would almost seem idyllic, except for one thing. The Communist Vietnamese.

Over 200,000 had died buy the time of the fall of Saigon, many of them fighting along side of American Special Forces which still hold a special place in their hearts for these simple brave people. The children of these brave fighters are now trying to survive under Communist rule which represses their culture and punishes them for their practice of Christianity. The Dega are engaged in a battle of fighting off malnutrition, disease, and trying to cope with the ever encroaching Vietnamese population. The government of Vietnam has even admitted to the forced sterilization of female Dega.


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