The two sides of America observe this holiday in different ways. What follows are descriptions of just two events for this year...
First the bad (as in annoying) news:
Gateway Pundit had the initial story I saw this morning on CodePink’s disruption of the 4th of July swearing-in ceremony for new citizens at Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello. This is an annual event, presided over for this last time by President Bush.
A lot of Code Pink fellow travelers reside in Charlottesville Virginia, where Monticello is located. As usual, President Bush maintained his aplomb as the loud mouth, CodePink member Desiree Anita Ali-Fairooz, was exited stage left by the security detail. [Reuters photo by Joshua Roberts]Here is one report from the MSM. I left out their editorializing about the Iraq War:
President Bush invoked the memory of Thomas Jefferson Friday in welcoming new U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony at Monticello, saying “I’ll be proud to call you a fellow American.”
On his final U.S. Independence Day as president, Bush told an audience Friday at the home of the Declaration of Independence’s author that he was honored to be present for the naturalization. Shouts from protesters were heard during Bush’s remarks, and the president responded by saying he agrees that “we believe in free speech in the United States of America.”
[…]
For the people assembled with him at the naturalization ceremony, he said: “When you raise your hands and take your oath, you will complete an incredible journey. … From this day forward, the history of the United States will be part of your heritage.”
For CodePink, it doesn’t matter about the people gathered for a life-changing ceremony, something they worked hard to attain. For CP, it’s all about an opportunity for one of their narcissistic theatre events. As I said in the comment I left at Gateway Pundit:
We went to Monticello with Neo-neocon last autumn. And my son was there just a few weeks ago with his girlfriend. It’s a wonderful place.
If you’ve been there, you wonder what Jefferson’s ghost thinks of this mess? It certainly is against everything he stood for…
Happy 4th to the Loons. What a way to celebrate.
These must be the children of the Brats of the ‘60s. Want to guess who they’re going to vote for? These are the same Blue Folk of Charlottesville (where Monticello is located) who show up on the pedestrian mall downtown sporting T-shirts with witty sayings about Bushitler, et al.
NYC is the Big Apple. Charlottesville is Lil Kumquat: sweet on the outside, sour and seedy in the middle…
- - - - - - - - -
Part of Lil Kumquat’s anger is driven by the fact that it is nothing but a tiny blob of blue in an otherwise red Congressional District, which continues to vote in Virgil Goode at every election.
Goode went from being a Dem, passing thru being an Independent, and on into the Republican party. They try to paint him as stupid (aren’t all Republicans inherently stupid and unhappy?) but it won’t wash.
I actually had a Dem, a graduate of Va Law school and a bright young woman, ask me if I knew that Virgil Goode was not bright. I pointed out to this otherwise intelligent Echols Scholar (they get to live on the Lawn at UVa) that like she had, Virgil had graduated from the Law School. I asked her if she had made the Law Review. She admitted sheepishly she hadn’t. I pointed out to her that Virgil had indeed done so and asked if she thought it might be an affirmative action appointment (Virgil is very white)…
First time I ever walked away from a conversation with a Dem in which I got the last word. Did I change her mind? Nah. She’s a lawyer, after all, caught in the Charlottesville socialist miasma.
On the other hand, we have the good news (good as in “encouraging”), which I first saw at Redneck’s Revenge.
Twelve hundred soldiers in Iraq gathered in one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces to re-enlist (the palace is now fittingly renamed “Camp Victory”). The men and women swore their oath, repeating the phrases after General Petraeus; it is his voice you hear in the video.
Go here for background on the event you see on the vid:
The ceremony is but one of many mass re-enlistments occurring to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the all-volunteer U.S. Military forces which began on July 1, 1973, which was when the draft ended.
After the ceremony, the soldiers were treated to a favorite meal. Three thousand deep dish pizzas were flown in from Lou Malnati’s restaurant in Chicago [for our European readers, Chicago is famous for a number of foods, one of them being deep dish pizza].
Don’t worry, no tax money was harmed in this operation:
The 3,000 pizzas - each with a pound of cheese and packed with other toppings - were cooked by Lou Malnati’s Restaurant staffers last week, then shipped though New York, Belgium and Bahrain on their way to U.S. troops around Baghdad.
The logistical nightmare of frozen freight and military regulations cost nearly $100,000 to pull off, most of that coming from donations from the restaurant chain and DHL Express.
But the idea came from retired Master Sgt. Mark Evans and his 16-year-old son Kent, Illinois residents who have sent much smaller care packages to overseas troops in the past
“My son and I were having a man’s night - eating some of Lou’s pizza while the women were out - and they were talking about the war on TV,” he said. “He asked me about the food over there, and I told him, ‘They do their best, but it’s not like home cooking. They don’t have pizza like this there.’
“Then he asked if we could get some over there.”
Over the next month Evans contacted local eateries, shipping companies and military officials in Iraq, coordinating all the details needed to get Chicago’s signature dish delivered on the other side of the world.
Originally, Evans said, he hoped for about 300 pizzas to be sent overseas, but as donations poured in to his Pizzas 4 Patriots charity the plans quickly expanded.
Evans said Malnati’s immediately volunteered to help, donating most of their stock for the popular “Taste of Chicago” event this weekend for the effort. DHL global service manager Ethan Mattern called the delivery a tremendous challenge “but a fantastic idea” that the company was happy to participate in.
That’s such a typically American response, as our commenter, Babs, can tell you. Find a need? Fill it and then refill it until the cup runs over.
From the Digital Journal, again:
This ceremony comes following a new Gallup survey which showed that 62 percent of Americans believe that serving in the U.S. Military shows a “great amount” of patriotism with 25 percent believing it shows a “moderate amount”, leaving 13 percent thinking “not much” or “not at all” or not answering
The majority of Americans understand the patriotic nature of the duties these men have chosen to re-enlist to perform.
Bob Krumm, the observer at Camp Victory today, gets the last word, when he writes, “It was as humbling an experience as I have ever witnessed. On this 4th of July, while you celebrate around grills and coolers all across America, keep in mind the 1,215 who allow us that privilege.”
All in all, I’d say that the good guys won this July 4th. Eat your hearts out, CodePink.
16 comments:
Soros has many on his payroll, Code Stink being only one.
I just finished watching a re-run of the South Park episode from 2005, "Die, Hippy, Die!"
How appropriate.
As for the reenlistment ceremony, I did catch that story on Fox News earlier, before company came over for the cook-out, and fireworks viewing.
Freedom of Speech is not the Freedom to Interrupt by Screaming during a ceremony that is irrelevant to the screamers.
Obnoxious and silly.
Bush will be out of office in 6 months, and they're still delusionally crying IMPEACH!
Must be Vincent "Helter Skelter" Bugliosi's kids.
When Dymphna's referred to Code Pink as CP it suddenly hit me CP is PC reversed.
"...For CodePink, it doesn’t matter about the people gathered for a life-changing ceremony, something they worked hard to attain. For CP, it’s all about an opportunity for one of their narcissistic theatre events. As I said in the comment I left at Gateway Pundit: ..."
profitsbeard,
I heard Medved and Bugliosi go at it over his new book last week.
For a man who was such an excellent prosecutor, he sure has gotten a severe case of BDS in his old age. That or he really needs the money badly, that such a sensational and fact challenged book can bring.
Barack "I'm now wearing an American-flag lapel pin, to show what a great patriot I am and have been all along--and I'm wrapping myself in as many American flags as possible" Obama met with Jodie Evans, co-founder of Code Pink, just recently, didn't he?
And Code Pink, or perhaps it's just she, has funneled or has pledged to funnel $50,000 into Obama's campaign, hasn't it/she?
Nothing wrong with Obama's judgement, is there?
And his words mean exactly what he says, patriot that he is, right?
Maybe someone should take a close look of those colors on that lapel pin?
What this code pink person did is rude in the extreme, at the very best.
This type of rudeness warrants a response in kind, with an added punitive content. In fact, the left that practices this type of behavior truly, truly deserves to receive the discipline they never had as children. It is simple common sense.
Put another way, "the rod for the back of fools".
Correction: This wasn't one Code Pink person - this was many angry Americans with a unique opportunity to speak out at the Bush regime. Rude and childish? Maybe. Violence - like the unsolved domestic anthrax attacks - would have been much worse.
Bush was interrupted at least 9 times in his less than 10 minute speech. There were many yells of fascist, war criminal, f*** you, respect the Constitution, he has brought fascism to our shores, impeach, etc. None of the attendees tried to stop the protesters. They looked respected by the other members of the audience.
The original Monticello July 4th 2008 speaker was supposed to be Ken Burns but Bush asked/offered at the last moment so there was short notice that Bush was coming. Monticello issued 1,000 tickets without Rove / Party approval, so this was unlike other Bush appearances which have carefully screened audiences who normally provide the background for Bush. Monticello declined to press charges against any of the protesters.
Those protesters are true American patriots, inspired by Thomas Jefferson, unafraid to challenge power. People have been jailed and tortured for less by this administration. There are videos of several different protesters who remained standing being removed - but protesters who stood up, yelled and sat down were not removed.
Here's a link to the full speech where you can hear the consistent protests http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q135_9GaGDM
I'm not expecting Congress to stand up for our rights, nor preserve our Constitutional Rights, nor do I expect msm to do investigative reporting, after Democrats and the press were sent Fort Detrick's anthrax. These angry citizens were venting the frustrations of many or most Americans: Bush regime's lies, domestic surveillance, the Patriot Act, FISA, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, thousands of dead American soldiers, hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis and Afghanis, deteriorating American infrastructure, our State National Guards being overseas (instead of helping in Alabama, Louisiana, Iowa, California, etc), our shrinking national resources, our energy dependence, our failure to find alternatives to carbon/fossil fuels, and a huge national debt that has financed our sworn enemies, private armies like Black Water and Cheney's Dubai-based company. Think what an additional $30,000 per student would have done for our educational system.
I appreciated the many informative articles on this website and I thought this site was intended to discuss how to make us safer from Jihads. Frankly, I'm sure the we and the overwhelming majority of the world are less safe now and violent Islamic people are safer. What do you think?
You will be interested in the following - Hillary Clinton heckled by middle age woman at Young Democrats convention http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFNHXZ-g6ks
Teach--
There is so much you say I find to be misleading or untrue that it's hard to know where to start.
I'll pick two of the more egregious comments:
CodePink members, of whom there were many to call on in Charlottesville to make up the audience for our new citizens' swearing-in ceremony, are hardly "patriots" in the Jeffersonian sense.
They certainly are in the Jane Fonda tradition of disruption and a lack of understanding of history. I reserve for them the special category of "unserious" -- these people give demonstrations a bad name. Narcissistic and headline-hungry and funded by Soros. They are friends of ANSWR. They ruined the day for those people who came to be made US citizens.
As for using money to fund any further public education, you must be joking. Tell me that was meant as a joke.
Our educational "system" is thoroughly corrupt from kindergarten through doctoral level programs. It needs to be cleaned out thoroughly before one more penny is wasted on it.
If you think money is a solution to the American educational mess, then you don't even begin to understand the problems that this growth sector of our economy faces.
Why do you think the teachers' unions fight privatization and school choice? They know full well most parents would take the money and run to the nearest private school.
In fact, the people who would willingly maintain their children in public schools are the ones whose kids are on the college track. Everyone else would flee.
Charlottesville has the nearest high school to Monticello. There, the college-bound students are so thoroughly segregated from the hoi-polloi, that the latter never see the bright kids. They are schooled and fed separately and city leaders point with pride to the fact that *their* kids go to public schools.
What a farce. Like many other places, Charlottesville puts a pretty veneer on a corrupt practice.
BTW, one of the vice-principals at CHS told me how it's done. I couldn't figure it out without his/her help. When I asked one of the college-bound kids, he agreed. They never saw the "trailer park trash" was how he put it.
One of the "trailer park trash" -- who actually lives in a house not far from Monticello -- confirmed the explanations of both principal and college-track student. He never saw one of them in his years there.
BTW, I am also intimately acquainted with the saga of a ten year-old Charlottesville elelmentary school child who told the guidance counselor he felt depressed. The school response? To have this boy take off his shirt and be patted down every morning before he was allowed in a classroom. They went thru his backpack, too. Zero tolerance, don't you know?
No, he never got any therapy from them, either. Just daily trauma in the name of their liability insurance.
Our educational system is a good example of fascism alive and well in the US, and it takes place every single day right near Thomas Jefferson's home.
Now tell me Mr. Jefferson had that in mind when he set up his "academical village."
Yelling "fascist" is an absurd putdown. The word has lost all meaning through misappropriation and overuse by idiots, mostly leftist idiots. Which is extremely ironic given that Fascism was a movement leftists. I have problems with Bush, sure, but he's not a fascist.
Imagine, for a minute, that Bush really *WAS* a fascist. You know, someone like Mussolini or Franco.
Do you think Medea Benjamin and her ilk would be allowed to disrupt event after event and be sent on her merry way? Of course not, she would go to jail, whence to be beaten badly, or be disapeared - at the first instance.
Instead she's been allowed to go on acting the fool for years and dozens of incidents.
Yelling "f**k you" at the President is pure emotionalism, without substance or content. It is hard to take seriously as political protest. It's what confused 15 year old boys yell at the dads when they have been caught and confronted doing something wrong.
Finally, I don't spend a lot of time in the fever swamps of the left. It is your theory that the FedGov itself used military bio-weapons to intimidate the American press? That seems to be your Anthrax story. I had not heard that before, but it makes about as much sense as the controlled demolition of the WTC nonsense.
You know I respect protesters. I have watched the C-Span of gatherings on the mall for lots of events. The Million Man March, the Million Mom March, the ANSWER coalition. They are always interesting and while I don't agree with much of what is said at such events the speakers and organizers do have the opportunity to get their message out.
What is interesting about the anti-war protests is that they started with a big bang and faded to nothing. The more people saw of them the less they wanted to do with it all.
I have one freind who is staunchly a "labor" guy. He went to the first big Washington anti-war protest. I chided him for going to watch Jane Fonda and other fringe leftists talk. I watched the event on C-span, and am not surprised that he's never been back.
The cause can't carry itself on it's own logic. It cannot formulate it's own rhetoric, which is why the 60's stuff is recycled endlessly, and why ugly rude theatrics like this are employed.
All in all I agree with the previous poster: my message to Code Pink and their co-travelers is: Grow Up!
Sorry I didn't clearly make my earlier points. (By the way, thank you for the impetus to look up quotes from Thomas Jefferson.)
I'm a fiscal conservative, a constitutional conservative (including all of the Bill of Rights), etc, so your rightist/leftist screech is wasted. Also, I didn't call Bush a fascist - but please see the section below "Limitations on the Executive Branch vs Autocracy and the Unitary Executive". Please leave rhetoric out of your responses, if you choose to respond, and I welcome facts (that's why I visit this site).
Seriously, maybe you want to help out in the public schools - all change will come from within. I know how hard it is to survive on a teacher's pay, let alone the near minimum wage paid to teaching assistants, so I understand why so few are willing to do so. Maybe you could afford to help out part time? Folks at this excellent website are probably far more literate and informed than most.
You may be more religious "conservative" than me, but both in the context of the Constitution (which conspicuously does not use the word God) and the context of this website, I don't think that being more religious is a positive. Regarding Bush being a religious "conservative" - and our shared fears of Jihad - I think "a world that is too smart to follow one religious extremist will follow two". Don't you think so? (If you'd like to read an interesting novel about a theocracy in the USA, written just after the installation of the theocracy in Iran, I'd suggest the Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.)
I wasn't interested in the protesters rudeness, I was pointing out the cause of so many in the audience following the albeit rudeness, which I believe included the setting at Monticello since Bush is consistently at odds with Jefferson's legacy.
To be specific, here's why Monticello was so inappropriate a setting for Bush:
--- Separation of Church and State vs Faith Based Initiatives ---
Thomas Jefferson: "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."
Bush's faith-based initiatives use federal money to support his faith's religious activities. Billions of taxpayers' dollars now go to churches and other religion-based organizations under the guise of being providers of social services. This includes religious requirements on hiring and taxpayers' money spent to build and renovate houses of worship. In his July 4th 2008 speech, Bush said: "We pray tribute to the brave men and women who wear the uniform of the United States of America." I pay tribute to all who have served, and I can't say whether his use of the word "pray" and not "pay" was intentional, or a Freudian slip, or simply a mistake, but Jefferson would have cringed.
--- Fiscal Sobriety vs Borrow and Spend ---
Thomas Jefferson: "The question whether one generation has the right to bind another by a deficit it imposes is a question of such consequence as to place it among the fundamental principles of our government. We should consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts and morally bound to pay for them ourselves. "
Bush is clearly the all time leader in "Borrow and Spend." Worse, Bush's deficit spending could lead to the demise of America (as it happily did to the Soviet Union).
--- Universal Public Education vs Decreased Spending on Public Education ---
Thomas Jefferson: "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." He thought free universal education was important. Thomas Jefferson said his greatest accomplishment was the founding of the University of Virginia - he had his university presidency, not the US presidency, carved on his tombstone. Public education made this nation "King of the Planet" - which no army could have accomplished. Jefferson was right: education's the key.
Bush has decreased spending on public education. Funding for "No Child Left Behind" has been left behind.
--- An Informed Citizenry and Freedom from Foreign Intervention vs Media Monopolies ---
Thomas Jefferson: "An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will". "Wretched, indeed, is the nation in whose affairs foreign powers are once permitted to intermeddle." "The commerce of England has spread its roots over the whole face of our country. This is the real source of all the obliquities of the public mind."
Bush has led the way in changing laws to allow media monopolies, and even worse, foreign ownership of media monopolies.
--- Limitations on the Executive Branch vs Autocracy and the Unitary Executive ---
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first." Under our second president, John Adams, the Executive Branch claimed new powers including the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts which was used to silence and imprison critics and political opponents. His successor, President Thomas Jefferson, eliminated the abuses.
Bush’s authority as commander in chief of the armed forces has been taken to mean that he can ignore a law if he finds a connection to national security. Bush claimed he has the sole discretion to decide who is an “enemy combatant,” and can have an American citizen seized and thrown into prison for life with no trial (as in the case of Jose Padilla). Bush found the FISA law outdated, so he was under no obligation to come to the legislative branch to change the law; he simply chose to ignore it: “The FISA law was written in 1978. We’re having the discussion in 2006. It’s a different world.”
--- Conclusion ---
In Thomas Jefferson's first inaugural he said: "[The essential principles of our Government] form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation... [S]hould we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety."
One way we'll know we've made great progress is when we return the Pledge of Allegiance to how it was in 1952.
teach remind me to another poster "formerly known as gordon" who spouted off incessantly accusations regarding the fascist nature of the Bush adm. He lamented the loss of his freedom - Patriot Act etc. but when I asked him to share his horror stories with us, namely how was his freedom curtailed or limited he offered no answer.
tech said:
"People have been jailed and tortured for less by this administration. "
I ask the same question to you: care to elucidate your statement since we are kept in dark by the Bush Junta: who, why, where and when were tortured and jailed those people you spoke of?
FOR LESS THAN PROTESTING....
You are on the wrong blog, either a Libertarian or the DailyKos better suited to your world view: this is an international forum dealing with the European Islamisation chiefly, and by extension also touching American point of views and situations.
Apart from you, nobody was prosecuted by the Bush cabal on this forum, no one was tortured like you, so we appreciate all the confidential information you are privy to as far as the Bush crime family concern.
I'm a fiscal conservative, a constitutional conservative
Oh, don't you just love that word. Today we are all conschwervatwee..ick!
Teach--
I wouldn't volunteer in any public school system in the US. I don't believe in public education, and it was the "No Child Left Behind" Act that was the final straw for me. That bill includes not one penny for vocational training.
The sooner education is returned to its origins in the local communities and churhces, the sooner education will improve.
The whole edifice has to topple eventually and I don't want to impede that process in any way.
OTOH, I have no animus against those who choose to work in that system. It is a choice after all, and they are free to work in other sectors where results are required of employees.
Results are not required of school systems, just churning out of SOL scores. I know one kid who passed her SOLs with ease, but since she was in dumbed down classes in Ch'ville and not on the college track, she was bored and didn't do her assignments.
Actually, there's a case where I did volunteer -- on behalf of the kid. I went with her and her mom to their IEP meeting. What a farce! The sytem needed to keep this child in the learning-disabled group because they get federal money for producing those long, bureaucratic reports on the childrens' progress.
I read several previous years' IEP objectives and goals. One of them was that "the child would come to school each day." I pointed out that this behavior hadn't been happening for years, and the mother was at her wits' end. If that was their goal, what objectives did they have in mind to bring about improved school attendance. They looked at me blankly.
Finally an administration person said they would get the truant officer involved for the coming year. The mother pointed out that the she was already working with the truant officer and this hadn't had much effect.
The school didn't have any other suggestions or ideas. All they had was their paperwork for this IEP (Individual Education Plan) and they wanted it signed and done with. They had demonstrated that they didn't care if any goals were met -- the same goals would be on the next IEP. What the kid did wasn't germane to getting the paperwork in order.
As I said, I wouldn't volunteer in such a system for anything. In fact, it would be wrong of me to do so given what I have seen of the public school system.
Instead, I volunteer with the fed-up parents, the ones who don't get the summers off and struggle harder financially than most teachers.
BTW, if you limit your comments to 500 words or less, people are more likely to read them thru.
Many of our commenters fail to follow that rule and post things that are TL-DR (Too Long -- Didn't Read). I will say what I've said to them: if you want to be heard, be brief. If brevity is not possible, then cut your post into several pieces and post them separately. This makes your ideas are more likely to be read.
Just as television seems to do, the blogosphere (when it comes to commenting) seems to decrease the reader's ability to focus. As a teacher, I'm sure you're aware that it's a good idea to understand the medium if you want the message to pass thru its membrane. Beware the TL-DR pothole that lurks in the comment sections of blogs.
Besides, when we choose brevity over needing to express it all, our thoughts and words become more focused. I like to contemplate the structure of the Gettysburg Address. A perfect speech and it was comprised of 286 words.
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Code Pinkos are simply insane, it's really quite amazing and fascinating. The Troops re-enlisting in Baghdad on the 4th is quite a contrast.
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absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
believe Leftie partisans
angry ranting moonbats
cheering losing Marxism
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
never fight for freedom
let your government rule you
and not protect your rights
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
loot your country's treasures
don't demand a fair price
big countries take advantage
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe feels
man may not press his rights
be grateful to your tyrant
for the scraps he throws you
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe will
have aliens invade Earth
so then humans will unite
like in Independence Day
.
All real freedom starts with freedom of speech. If there is no freedom of speech, then there can be no real freedom.
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Philosophy of Liberty Cartoon
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Help Halt Terrorism Today!
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USpace
:)
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I try to be as much PC as humanly possible lest I will be shunned;
I checked Wikipedia and the fascist, Nazi editors there dare to slander Soros and Code Pink boss Medea Benjamin by stating that these people belong to a Bolshevik tribe "that must not be named".
Should I delete this comment?
Hate speach?
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