What an honor!

A national website has named our congressman, Steve King, the "GOP Hypocrite of the Week." As they stated in their press release, "Can someone tell us why Republicans are so mean, offensive and bitter?" Good question!

For more details on King, go to www.kingwatch.org

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The Des Moines Register editorial board today suggested that Steve King should be named U.S. ambasador to Iraq, since he believes it is such a safe place to live. That was just one of the four reccomendations the Register made, based on King's fantasy that Bagdhad is safer than Washington DC.

So, rather than take issue with the validity of the comparison, we offer these recommendations:

1. Congressman King should, forthwith, call for the immediate removal of all U.S. troops in Iraq. They obviously are no longer needed there.

2. Deploy those troops in the District of Columbia. Establish a secure area (call it the Red Zone while the GOP is in control; the Blue Zone when the Democrats rule), around the U.S. Capitol and downtown Washington to protect lawmakers, federal workers and K Street lobbyists from the lawlessness.

3. Name Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld chief of police in Washington, D.C.

4. Appoint King as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, where he, obviously, will feel much more secure.

For much more on Steve King, go to www.kingwatch.org

The following is an article that just ran in the University of Northern Iowa's student newspaper. Thank God for smart students like Tristan Abbott. Article follows:

Can racists become representatives?

Tristan Abbott
NI Opinion Columnist

The Voting Rights Act, implemented in 1965 and continued under the Reagan administration, has helped hundreds of thousands of minority voters have their voices heard.

Sure, it’s been danced around an awful lot, particularly with the GOP’s shameful efforts during past two presidential elections, but at least it’s prevented some of the very worst practices, including poll taxes and selective literacy tests, both of which were designed to disenfranchise Black voters.

The VRA came up for extension late last week. You’d think congress’ renewal would be a no-brainer, right?

I mean, who in their right mind could take a stand against an act that makes it easier for people to vote?

Even if a few congress people were such bigoted morons, surely they wouldn’t be so stupid as to expose their racism to the entire nation, right?

Right?

Erm… no.

On Wednesday, May 21, 2006, a small group of Republican congressmen overrode huge, bipartisan committee support and prevented the extension of the VAR from being voted upon.

Most of these congressmen were from the south, but lucky for us, one was from Iowa: the fifth district’s Steve King.

King’s reasoning for his work in killing the Act was – and I’m not exaggerating this in any way – that he was against the fact that the VRA might have allowed bilingual voting. Seriously. Go to his website: it offers a whole section about how bilingual voting is the greatest scourge our nation currently faces (aside from Arabs), and he has even introduced legislation aimed towards banning it outright.

King supports his position by saying: “If we want to demolish modern-day obstacles and bring all backgrounds into our voting process to communicate with each other, we must unify the country instead of driving a wedge between cultures.”

His logic, then, seems to suggest that the best way to help non-English speaking immigrants to vote is to effectively prevent them from voting. It’s neat, really: it’s rare that you get to see such flawed and moronic logic on full public display.

There is no other term for King’s actions aside from racism. I don’t care what kind of BS he has to say about “culture wedges,” I don’t care how, according to his Orwellian double-speak logic, he has come to the conclusion that preventing people from voting will help their voices be more clearly heard. He is actively working to politically disenfranchise an ethic subpopulation. That is racism. If you support this, you are a racist.

I don’t know what else to say. I can’t see how anyone could possibly defend this without delving into “Mexicans took my daddy’s job if they want to live in America they should speak American” territory. All I hope is that the VRA is brought back to the floor before next June, when it will expire, and is granted precisely the kind of up-and-down vote that I thought the GOP were fans of.

As for you, if you’re as ashamed as me to hail from the same state as Steve King, give him a call and tell him so. He can be reached in Washington at 202-225-4426. If you’re a true patriot, check out his website at HYPERLINK “http://www.house.gov/steveking/” http://www.house.gov/steveking/ .

I guess I’m going to have to follow the same advice I keep dishing out to everyone else who says...

“Oh, I don’t get involved in politics...”
or
“I don’t pay attention to politics...”
or
“Politics don’t concern me...”

And my response is...

Me: “Oh, I thought you had kids.”
Them: “But I do.”
Me: “Then politics DO concern you. You’re ALREADY involved, whether you know it or not. You’re just letting OTHER people make some of the most important decisions concerning your kids.”

or

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you somehow manage to never get sick...or don’t have to worry about a job or gas to get there or health benefits like the rest of us...because if you DO, then politics DO concern you, and you’re ALREADY involved...and you know by now who’s making some of those most important decisions that concern YOU.”

Okay, so I’m not really that undiplomatic. And I’ve really only put it in those specific words to one person, but it was a sister so I could get away with a small crack in my diplomacy methods.

The fact is, I live in Iowa. Western Iowa to be precise. Iowa’s 5th congressional district to be exact. And here, there’s just no ignoring or getting around what our toothpick-chewing illiterate country bumpkin congressman is doing to embarrass ALL his constituents (oh yeah, democratic and republican alike) day after day and week after week and month after month and year after year.

Okay, so I have a new favorite bookmark. You know, the one I "might" have mentioned a time or two ... that one at www.KingWatch.org where King Steve is really getting the royal treatment. (Oh sure, blame me for a lame pun, but it's not like the Kingmeister knows what a pun is, anyway. He probably thinks it has something to do with football.)

I’m not on any kind of blood pressure medicine, so I always have to be careful when I start talking about King or start reading those articles on KingWatch.org. I mean, those folks have done their homework so well I could read for hours, but then again...that blood pressure thing.

So, I tried to ignore the KingWatch.org site for a while and read what else folks have to say about our favorite bigoted congressman, and what do I run across? That our favorite martian from Planet Kiron thinks the solution to our immigration problem is for Americans to HAVE MORE CHILDREN. You know, because it WOULD REDUCE THE NEED FOR IMPORTED LABOR. (Oh boy. I can hear Redd Roxx now...."It's the big one! I swear, it's the big one!"

I swear on a stack of Bibles, folks, I am NOT making this up. He really supports this lunacy he calls his “fertility plan.” (You know, even though I have absolutely Nothing against people without college degrees, it's really starting to piss me off when it's 2006 and an uneducated bigot can still pass himself off as a congressman and won't take the time to educate himself on matters of POPULATION GROWTH!) I mean, IS HE INSANE?? And, doesn't Congress have one of those programs where King could at least "work" on some college courses during his tenure? I'd bet his buddies would even help pay for classes just so he'd quit embarrassing them (again, democrats and republicans alike) with his 4th grade math and 6th grade grammar and pre-Civil War racism.

So, as I'm trying not to get addicted to KingWatch.org, I head on over to the Des Moines Register where I read Jane Norman's article “King says immigration views based on ‘rule of law,’” and Jane says, “There are Iowans who have great distaste for King and his views.”

You think?! There you have it, folks. The GREAT UNDERSTATEMENT of the decade.

And if you can stomach it, take a look at “Who Really Stalled the Voting Rights Act Renewal?” You may want to have a paper sack handy. I wouldn’t recommend using the same one you went running for after reading about King’s involvement with cockfighting.

Then again, who am I to be dishing out such advice?

Answer: An informed Iowa voter who will be voting for Joyce Schulte, OUR next 5th congressional district representative!

Isn't it about time we elected someone who REALLY represents Iowa values?

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

Especially if you live in Washington, D.C., but make sure you follow Rep. Steve King's advice (yeah, the hick from western Iowa standing next to Jethro) and head to Iraq, where (as he's stated TWICE now on the U.S. House floor) that it's a much safer place to live than Washington, D.C. In fact, King won't quit talking about sending his own wife there. (Hmmmmm -- perhaps he's takin' a likin' to Miss Ellie May?)

The folks over at the (terrific!!) new KingWatch.org site seem to think so. King, he likes dem der hills!

Yeah, he's got his statistics screwed up all right. (Even though unlike his friend Jethro, King did manage to graduate from high school.)

But, considering most of our folks in congress ARE college educated, surely there must be a DOCTOR around! No, not a regular doctor. I'm talking the kind where King can get comfortable on a sofa while he prattles on and on about immigration and argues about the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and how he doesn't want some of our AMERICAN CITIZENS to have the right to vote.

Why? Because they might have a little problem with their English? And King don't? [sic]

Why, yee haw, Mista Steve! Whad'ya done did with your report card, boy? You know, the one ya'll get on the 2005 Middle-Class Record (by a non-partisan, non-profit think tank) that scores how each of you folks in that dangerous city of Washington vote on issues pertaining to the middle class? You know, the one with the complete listing of each Members' grade of how they scored in efforts to "grow the American middle-class in 2005"?

Why, no wonder you done hid that report card! You got worse than an F! You got a big fat ZERO, boy! And you're s'posed to be representin' the values and morals and dreams and ambitions of western Iowans???

It's pretty bad when even Rush Limbaugh -- as a republican -- is embarrassed because of you and -- how shall we put it -- all the negative criticism you're stirring up in the House and nationwide as you constantly vie for the spotlight to tell anyone who'll listen all about that "A" you did get back in 4th grade.

You naughty, naughty boy. Why, 'ppears to me you need a good paddlin'! Then again, I really hate seeing any kind of harm come to anyone. Why don't you just head on over to Iraq with that little wife of yours. There, I'm sure you'll be much safer than you are in D.C. Ain't that right, Jethro?

Independant film maker Matt Kohn's new documentary film "Call It Democracy" features an on-camera interview Kohn did with Rep. Steve King in 2003. Kohn has generously put an 8-minute enhanced clip of the King interview on the web, and it can be viewed on the www.kingwatch.org website by clicking here.

Kohn writes, "It's despicable that King, who claims to be a moderate concerned about counting every vote and making sure that every American who has the right to vote can get that vote counted, would author this letter, and lead this new movement which so obviously disenfranchise voters.

"I've made this video in order to let people know a little bit about how this group can seem to speak about the Voting Rights we cherish, yet work against us behind the scenes. There are plenty of Republicans against this particular charade, including President Bush and House Leadership. We have to contact all our congresspeople, and the President, and let them know all Americans support multilingual ballots."

*See Cartoon Footnote (scroll down below column)

What the Fourth is For

(Note: anyone remotely familiar with any of our most important documents will notice my shameless paraphrasing, the thing is, too many people don't seem to be very familiar with them, otherwise why would we have stupid attempts to desecrate them like the recent flag-burning amendment in the Senate?)

Sometimes as life goes on, you need to cut off your political connections to a group, and take your place in the world as God and nature intended. When that happens, it’s only fair that you explain why. That’s what the Continental Congress did 230 years ago this week.

Thomas Jefferson wrote that everyone is created equal, and have God given rights, including the right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Everyone agrees that the pursuit of happiness is pretty vague and that that one can be interpreted differently by almost everyone.

Life ought to be self explanatory, but of course two centuries later, there are issues of “quality of life,” end-of-life, of course abortion and don’t forget capital punishment.

“Pursuit of happiness” has to be the one that is the most subjective. What if my pursuit impedes yours? What if yours violates my religion?

Government exists to protect our rights, and it’s a trade-off, they exist because we allow them to. We forfeit some of our rights and privileges in order to, preserve and protect others. When the government stops protecting our rights, “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,” and fortunately for us, we don’t have to fight a war for Independence every time we need to do this. Instead, every two years we elect new Congressmen, every four years we replace the President, and every six years we decide on new Senators.

We hope that they’ll look out for our safety and happiness. Unfortunately all experience “hath shewn,” that voters will put up with an awful lot before they finally get fed up and tend to prefer the devil we know over the devil we don’t know.

For the sake of unity, justice, domestic tranquility, common defense, everyone’s best interests, and to guarantee freedom for us and for future generations, made this a nation of laws, not of men.

Here are just a few of our rights and freedoms:

1. Separation of church and state, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble and to complain to the government when they’re wrong and demand that they make things right.

There is no officially established “Church of America,” but they can’t punish you for believing or worshiping as you wish.

Free speech, means having to put up with a lot of other people’s claptrap. You may not always like what I say here, but that won’t stop me from listening to the Dixie Chicks. (I like Toby Kieth too, if it helps.)

2. “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

“A well regulated militia”- that sounds a lot like the National Guard, doesn’t it? “Well regulated” Hmmm? Sounds like maybe the founding fathers didn’t think that every white supremacist needed their own semi-automatic grenade launcher after all, at least not without a background check first. But that’s just my interpretation. See there, I exercised my freedom of speech in the press and I bet someone didn’t like it- just let me pursue my happiness without endangering my life, will ya?

3.You have the right not to have to have soldiers take over your home.

4. You have a right to not have your home or your stuff searched or confiscated without probable cause, or better yet a warrant.

5. You have a right to a trial in an actual court- not a military tribunal (unless you’re a member of the military, then you’d face a court’s marshal). You have the right to remain silent- that is you don’t have to testify if whatever you say can be used to incriminate you (You can “plead the fifth”). They can’t take away your life, liberty, or property, without due process of law and they can’t temporarily commandeer your stuff without paying you what it’s worth.

6. You have a right to a speedy trial, and a jury of your peers. You have a right to be told what you were arrested for. You have a right to confront the person who accused you of whatever crime you’re charged with. You have right to a defense lawyer who has to try to find witnesses who can help you.

7. If someone sues you for more than $20, you have a right to a jury, not just a judge, even though it’s civil court, rather than criminal court.

8. They can’t make your bail or fines too outrageous, and any penalties should not be cruel or unusual.

9. The point of the Constitution is to protect rights, not limit them

10. Whatever power that the Constitution doesn’t give to the federal government that the state government doesn’t prohibit, belong either to the state government or to the people themselves.

There are 27 more amendments besides the Bill of Rights. People struggle and sacrifice for these, they fought and died for them. What a shame if anyone would be asked to die for anything less.
____________________________________________

*Cartoon Footnote:

NEW YORK Rep. Steve King, a Republican from Iowa, apologized to Helen Thomas on Wednesday for disparaging comments he made about the veteran White House correspondent.

Last Saturday, Rep. King, while discussing the death of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi at the state Republican convention, said, "What occurred to me that morning is something that I imagine a lot of you have thought about and he's probably figured it out by now. There probably are not 72 virgins in the hell he's at and if there are, they probably all look like Helen Thomas."

The remark drew wide laughter and applause.

A spokeswoman for the two-term congressman said King has apologized to Thomas, 85, now writing a column for Hearst newspapers.

King is running for re-election this fall.

Joyce Schulte, King's Democratic opponent in November, said
"Mean-spirited remarks are beneath the dignity of any self respecting congressperson, and remarks about another person's appearance are even lower. I hesitate to even use Helen Thomas' name in the same document with so vile a wretch as al-Zarqawi. But I want her and the world to know that Iowans are not insensitive buffoons who make fun at someone else's expense."

The team at the Progressive Democracy Corps have released their new website: www.kingwatch.org

KingWatch has enough information to make any thinking person sick about the stuff congressman Steve King says and does.

Did you know that Steve King is protecting the cockfighting industry (and has accepted campaign money from their PAC?) Or that King built a model of the anti-Mexican wall he says that he himself would love to build "and make a ton of money." Just click on the "Are You Embarrassed Enough" link for a more complete list of King's accomplishments.

Also be sure you look for the portrait of "Steve Clampett" and his kin on the cockfighting page!

This website is a great resource for everyone in the 5th District. I encourage you to put a link to www.kingwatch.org on your website - spread the word!

From Democratic candidate Joyce Schulte:

Congressman Steve King continues his vituperative and uncivil behavior during his speech at the Iowa Republican State Convention.

Commenting on the recent death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a most reprehensible person at best, King opined that al-Zarqawi has probably learned that 72 virgins did not await him in the hell he is in. King went on to state "And if there are, they probably all look like Helen Thomas." There was extended laughter by King and his audience.

While we should not be surprised by any of King's remarks at this point in his career, his desultory comments about the appearance of a respected member of the journalistic community is so low as to evoke a response from me.

Mean-spirited remarks are beneath the dignity of any self respecting Congressperson, and remarks about another person's appearance are even lower.

I am not an apologist for al-Zarqawi, and the hell he put many people through; Muslim, Christian and unknown others. I am certain that he is getting his justice and that there is no excuse for the kind of terror he practiced. I let God be God.

I hesitate to even use Helen Thomas' name in the same document with so vile a wretch as al-Zarqawi. But I want her and the world to know that Iowans are not insensitive buffoons who make fun at someone else's expense.

My mother (and I'll bet yours, too) used to say to me: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Yet it still ... and I repeat STILL ... took me until 2004 to finally accept the fact that there's a vast amount of voters out there who not only can be fooled once, but twice and three and four times and even throughout their entire lives. (You know, "Who you gonna believe? Me, or your own eyes?")

Guess my mother never really taught me how to *quit* giving people the benefit of the doubt. Now, though, all I can do is watch them line up and actually fight for a place in that line to get their Dixie Cup of Kool-aid. Sort of like cattle led to slaughter (who understand as much as Rev. Jim Jones's followers did), as they ignore ALL the warning signs -- over and Over and OVER again.

It's the Steve King worship thing. AKA -- "Where's my Kool-aid?"

Let's just encapsulate two things from the past week.

#1: Washington vs. Baghdad: Iowa lawmaker gets a reality check

This (June 14, '06) article by Scripps Howard News Service's Dale McFeatters will do a whole lot more than ruffle feathers. We're talking BOLD-FACED LIES here. Okay, so even if King is an uneducated college dropout, this is NO EXCUSE for a U.S. Representative who should (at the VERY LEAST) have learned how to do his homework. In a nutshell?

King says the violent death rate in Washington (D.C.) is far more dangerous than in Iraq.
His "fuzzy math":
Violent Death Rate in Iraq is 27.51 per 100,000 people.
Violent Death Rate in Washington is 45 per 100,000 people.

The Truth?
The murder rate in Washington is 35.8 per 100,000.
The murder rate for Baghdad is 95 per 100,000.

And that's not all. McFeatters quotes the Brookings Institution as saying that even THAT Baghdad number is "too low since many murder victims are never taken to the morgue, but buried quickly and privately and therefore never recorded in official tallies."

Okay. So (even now) I *tried* to give King the benefit of the doubt, thinking since he's not good with numbers, perhaps he just transposed a couple here and there. But, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get 27.51 to transpose into 95, nor could I get 45 to transpose to 35.8.

Come on, folks. We're dealing with a congressman here who DEALS IN NUMBERS on OUR behalf. What other numbers and figures has he fudged and faked as he's bluffed his way through congress picking straw from his teeth?

Which brings me to #2 for the week: And another number. A real one. As in 72 VIRGINS (King's words, not mine -- my mama raised me to be a Christian and never make fun of how ANYONE looks). But hey, it certainly got King a lot of laughs at the GOP State Convention -- regardless of the way his tacky trailer-park speech unfolded. And just because my mama raised me as a Christian, I won't focus on Mister King's lack of grammar skills and his hanging prepositions (guess Math wasn't the only reason he dropped out). Too bad no one told him about those remedial classes, but that's for another day...

The truth is, it isn't his lack of grammar skills or ability to do simple math that has me fuming over this Kool-aid King. It's the inexcusable, ill-bred and poor white trash persona he so deftly portrayed as OUR congressman when comparing 72 virgins in hell to all looking like Helen Thomas.

Shame, shame, shame on you, Mr. King. And shame on the voters too lazy to read or take the time to educate themselves who so eagerly grab that Kool-aid from your pulpit and gulp it down out of fear and ignorance and love of a party they can't begin to understand is poisoning them as they choke on their gratitude for not having to think.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Democrat who led us out of the Great Depression and through WWII once said, "if you want to live like a Republican, you need to vote like a Democrat.

Take back your party Republicans, throw the "neocons" out, send the Bush Administration a message, either don't vote this November, or vote for Democrats or Independents.

Democrats, take back America, not for control, not for revenge, just for balance and logic and the real values and principles that the United States was founded on.

Over two hundred years ago, our Party's founders decided that wealth and social
status were not an entitlement to rule. They believed that wisdom and compassion
could be found within every individual and a stable government must be built
upon a broad popular base...The late Ron Brown — former Chairman of the
Democratic Party — put it best when he wrote, "The common thread of Democratic
history, from Thomas Jefferson to Bill Clinton, has been an abiding faith in the
judgment of hardworking American families, and a commitment to helping the
excluded, the disenfranchised and the poor strengthen our nation by earning
themselves a piece of the American Dream. We remember that this great land was
sculpted by immigrants and slaves, their children and grandchildren."Thomas
Jefferson founded the Democratic Party in 1792 as a congressional caucus to
fight for the Bill of Rights and against the elitist Federalist Party.*

It's time to fight again. The first President Bush and his advisors tried to paint the Democrats as a party of elitist "boutique liberals," and insinuated that we were controlled by Hollywood (once upon a time that was also a thinly veiled antisemetic insinuation). But think, from MASSIVE deficit inducing tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of the population to their campaign to repeal the estate tax, to the war profiteering of Haliburton and the Carlyle Group, the corruption of Enron, to all time high oil company profits, today's Republicans want us to believe that they're the NASCAR loving, blue-collar, grass roots, fundamentalis Christian party, when really they are more elitist than any other group in our nation's history.

We can't change the direction of our country and return to our true values unless we gain control of the Congress and Senate in 2006. Please vote and encourage everyone you know to vote and vote for Democrats. If you haven't registered to vote yet, register. And get everyone you know to register Democrat.

Some of my best friends are Republican, please PLEASE, send the neocons a clear message. Re-register independent or better yet Democrat. PLEASE vote Democrat. Congressmen only serve for 2 years, if you're disapointed with the Democrat, by all means, rejoin the Repubblicans and throw our candidates out again in 2008, but you have to see that your party has been stolen from you. Vote Democrat and save the Republican party you used to know.

CLICK HERE to register

The Waltons Will Be OK ...
This came from www.sojo.net, a Christian Progressive's activist magazine,

... the Wal-Mart heirs, that is. But millions of other Waltons, Jones, and Smiths may not.
If Senate leadership has its way, American inequality is about to take a giant step forward with efforts to repeal or gut the estate tax. Never mind it's been in place for nearly 100 years, is a substantial source of government revenue, and has been a major catalyst to charitable giving. And it only affects the wealthiest half of 1 percent of Americans - most family farms and small businesses are exempt.

A repeal of the estate tax will cost an estimated 1 trillion dollars in federal revenue over the next 10 years, substantially increase the deficit, dramatically diminish the resources available to help low-income families escape poverty, and further increase the pressure on the budget from the high cost of war.

Make a call to preserve the common good! Tell your senators to oppose repeal or drastic cuts in the estate tax!
Call toll-free, 1-800-459-1887*, now!
Here's the message: Please tell the senator to vote against any motion or bill to repeal or drastically cut the estate tax. The Senate should not bring up such a vote because we cannot invest in the common good if we hand hundreds of billions of dollars to a tiny number of millionaire heirs.

Use the toll-free number above to reach the U.S. Capitol switchboard and ask to be connected to your senator's office. (The person at the switchboard can figure out who your senators are if you're not sure).

+ See how many estates paid the estate tax in 2004.
* The toll-free number is provided courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee which has launched a budget campaign, http://go.sojo.net/ct/k1w9Ljd1tzI8/. AFSC welcomes groups to circulate and use the toll-free number in support of nonpartisan budget goals and without linking the alert to a Web site soliciting donations or actions which may be used to support partisan lobbying or work.

+ Share this issue with your friends

recently got an email that complained-
"Americans who support our troops used to be called the "silent majority". We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers. We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing. We get no liberal media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions."

I couldn't believe how persecuted they felt. They controll all 3 branches of government. I clicked the "reply-all" button and fired back:

How the President and Secretery of Defense FAILED to support our troops:
1. Didn't send enough of them to Afghanistan
2. Began planning to send them to Iraq BEFORE they even got into office, let alone before 9/11
3. Lied to us to make us thing that Iraq had anything whatsoever to so with 9/11
4. Sent them to Iraq
5. Didn't send enough of them to Iraq
6. Didn't send them with enough or good enough supplies, from body armor to vehicle armor
7. Don't take good enough care of their families while they're gone
8. Don't take good enough care of them or their families once they come home
9. Didn't and still don't have a plan for the reconstruction of Iraq once Saddam Hussein was overthrown
10. Contract too many aspects of the oppertation out to private contractors, who get paid insanely greater amounts than our soldiers
11. Extended stays, re-ups, remobilizations
12. Failed to train them adequaitly for coping with IEDs and RPGs
13. Failed to train them adequately for security, infastructure rebuilding and general peacekeeping duties of occupation (which should be reconstruction)
14. Failed to train them in ethics and human-relations OR actually instructed them to violate international treaties, leading to abuses in Abu Grahd, and Haditha- then let them take the fall for it in the courts and the media instead of taking responsibility at the command level.
15. Abused the National Guard system for major combat opperations when they're supposed to be reserved for natural emergencies like Katrina and Rita. Especially when guys like Bush and Cheny conveniently avoided service in Vietnam by joining the Guard

Support our troops, remember them, pray for them, offer any assistance you can to their families at home, welcome them back with open arms when they do ge to come home, thank them for their service and sacrifice, give to veterans' chairities, write to them and send them care packages, vote for them when they run for office once they get home, please, PLEASE keep them and their families in your prayers- but don't stop thinking, don't start hating people who think differently than you do, don't worship our leaders and follow them blindly without scrutinizing them. Support our troops by excercizing the rights that they fight for.

Best of all, support our troops by calling for their return home.

And don't send mindless, arrogant, foolish, prejudiced, right-wing propaganda to me unless you want me to answer back with the truth like this again.

Your fellow American, and member of the TRUE silent majority- the MIDDLE!

Did anybody catch Steve King on the floor of the house today? He demonstrated how a wall could be built between the US and Mexico. King's model wall was built in front of the cameras using cardboard boxes, simulated concrete slabs, and a tiny string of barbed wire (in his hands in the photo below.) He touted his son's contracting business to build it, and alternately suggested that Halliburton could get the job done. Gosh, I hope they fast-track it using one of Halliburton's famous "no-bid" contracts.

Click for Video Clip of King Bulding the Wall

# posted by WestCork @ 9:26 PM 2 comments