You know, I sit here every day watching the diaries that scroll on the recent list. I see which diaries jump right to the rec list. It still amazes me how some people here are so unwilling to fight a fight and how many are right behind them singing kumbaya.
As I read these diaries, as I read these comments, I reflect over my own life. This is going to start out a very personal diary and I hope after you read it you will begin to see the truth of my words.
So, off we go... back... way back... back into time...
Being the son of a man who was career Navy, I moved around quite a bit. I had already lived in four different states by the time I was five years old. In my life, I have lived in 10 states (3 of them on two separate occasions), Guam, and Turkey. I went to four different school systems.
I bring this out because, while there are some who live in the same place all their life and only go through this once; I had to go through it over and over and over.
When I was starting the 2nd grade, my father was stationed on Guam. I learned a new word; haole. Americans were hated on Guam and it wasn't just the adults; the children learned the hatred as well, just like kids learn racism or bigotry. In the school I went to in Piti, Guam, as a haole you didn't walk down "suicide hall". "Suicide hall" was the small breeze-way that connected the two parts of the school. Any haole caught in "suicide hall" was beaten to a pulp -- haole's had to go around. My first fight was in that school. I don't even remember if I won it or lost it, but, I do remember that if you weren't willing to fight in that school, even in the 2nd grade, you didn't last long. At the High School level on Guam, which my oldest brother had just started, they were having knife and gun fights. I lived on Guam for two years before my father retired and we moved -- again.
My father was from Tennessee -- born and bred -- so, when he retired we moved to Tennessee. I started the school year in Jackson in the fourth grade. Like many of the "old-timers", when I was a kid in grade school they still used corporal punishment. I had to fight in that school as well. Sometimes I won, sometimes I didn't, but, I did get a paddling for it by the teacher in front of the whole class.
By the time I was starting the 7th grade, Junior High School, we had moved again, this time, to Missouri. By this time, I had gotten quite a few paddlings from teachers and really didn't enjoy them; so, I stopped fighting. I didn't fight during the 7th grade. I didn't fight during the 8th grade. Then, I went to High School. By this time, after two years of being the "better man" and walking away from fights, the kids thought they could walk all over me because I wouldn't fight back -- and, they were right. They did and I did.
Yes, High School sucks for everyone. Yes, most people get "picked on". I got picked on by the jocks and the punks until I had enough of it and I finally stood up for myself. I stood up to guys on the football team. I stood up to their little punk buddies. I flat held my ground and said, "if you wish a fight, fine". Suddenly, I wasn't so picked on anymore. They really didn't know what to do -- they had never seen me fight, so, they didn't know they could win. When I got picked on I held my ground. In fact, I only had one fight during High School, and, I got my ass royally kicked to the point I was a bloody mess.
I was a bloody mess because every time I got knocked down, I got back up and waded right back into the fight only to get knocked down again. No matter how hard he hit me, no matter how bloody I was, he couldn't put me down and keep me there. I'm not talked about a couple of hits, I'm talking about a fight that lasted a good 30 minutes. A friend of mine finally stepped in as I was about to wade back in for the umpteenth time and told me he wasn't letting it go on -- he was tossing in the towel. I almost got into a fight with my buddy over that. After that fight, not one person in that school picked on me ever again; I had earned their respect. Yes, it was a grudging respect, but, it was respect nonetheless. I had lost the only fight they ever saw me fight, but, because I didn't run, because I wouldn't give up, because I showed them that I wasn't being "put down", I gained their respect for having the courage to never give up. That fight occurred at the end of my freshman year.
Yes, High School sucks for everyone. It sucks even worse when you get scarring acne on your face so bad that strangers walk up to you and tell you right to your face that you look "hideous". It got it so bad that my Junior and Senior year of High School there were no photos of me taken; at all. While strangers had no problem voicing their opinion of my misfortune, not one person in High School did, at least, not to my face. A few years, some experimental medication called Accutane, and a surgery called DermAbrasion later, I was almost "normal" again, albeit, the scarring was so bad, so deep, it would never be totally gone.
I learned important lessons growing up. I learned that if you wanted respect; you fought for it. I learned that once you showed people you'd fight them to the finish; few wanted to fight. I learned that people want to see who you are, as a person, what you stood for, what you'd fight for, and, whether they liked you or not, they would at least respect you if you would fight for it. I learned that if you wouldn't stand up, wouldn't fight, people not only didn't respect you; they despised you. I learned that people can be cruel and would do things simply because they thought they could and get away with it. I took those lessons with me when I enlisted into the military.
While I was stationed at Incirlik AB, Turkey, our unit was divided into four "teams". I was moved, due to personnel incoming and leaving, onto a different team. One of the first mornings I was on the team, the team leader told me to go out and check out our teams vehicles, so, I did. But, checking out vehicles properly took two people, so, I went outside and waited for him to send me some help. When that help never arrived, I started checking out the vehicles the best I could by myself. At one point, the team leader stuck his head out the door and I called over to him to see if he'd come over and give me some help. He said, "no" and went back inside. I finished up as best as I could. I walked into the big bay where we kept all of our equipment and the team leader was there with a few other of the techs; some were on our team, some weren't. He looked over as I walked up and asked, "did you get the trucks checked out?" I looked at him and said, "I sure did, and, btw, thanks for the help!" He got a puzzled look and replied, "Huh? I didn't help." I snorted and said, "EXACTLY!" Well, that got his dander up and mine. Soon we were nose to nose yelling at each other. I didn't care that he was an E-6, he was going to get both barrels of my ire and I wanted to make sure that by the time it was over, he knew exactly how I felt. We screamed at one another. We got nose to nose. We cussed each other out. We did everything but go to blows. We were finally pulled apart and he stalked back into his office. I knew what was coming and I waited for it; the paperwork. He called me back into his office and had another team supervisor in there with him as witness to him giving it to me. I still remember how that conversation went...
He looked at me and said, "you know you are getting paperwork." I said, "yep... I do." I was looking him straight in the eye and I wasn't backing down there either. He leaned back a bit in his chair, looking me back right in my eyes, and said, "you know you were wrong." I said, "No, I wasn't wrong and I'll take the paperwork." He kind of got a little smile and said, "wellll... you could have handled it better." I gave a little shrug and said, "I probably could have... but, I asked you for help and you flat said "no"... you left me out there to do the job of two men by myself and that pissed me off." He nodded, looked at me, and said, "you know... I respect the fact that you will fight when you believe you're right... you're still getting this paperwork... sign here... and let's try not to let this happen again."
After that day, he and I worked famously together and never once did we have a problem. You see, he respected me after that and I respected him. It didn't matter if I was right or wrong; I fought for what I believed was right, I didn't back down and I willingly took the consequences for my actions. I worked for him for just over a year and he turned out to be one of my biggest supporters in that shop when I fought other battles in it.
After I left the military and went into law enforcement, I learned other lessons. I learned that for some people all it takes is being kind and respectful towards them. I learned that for other people they only respect one thing; the person who is bigger than they are. I learned that there are people out there in the world who, if they sense fear, will pounce on you like a rabid animal.
I was out on patrol one night, alone, and walking around my beat. It was early in the morning and few people were out. As I walked down the sidewalk, approaching a parking lot, I heard a man and woman arguing, so, I steered myself towards them. As I got into sight of them, I heard the woman say, "you better watch out, it's the police", and I heard him reply, "fuck the police." Oh yeah, now it was "chat" time to see just what this argument was all about. I approached the two and, as I got to them, he jumped at me like he was going to take a swing. I didn't even break stride when I hit him. I knocked him backwards and I stopped, folded my arms, and shook my head. I looked at him and said, "you know... you just made one stupid mistake... you want to fight?... I'll slap one cuff on you, drag your ass across this parking lot... and when your bruised and bleeding, I'll simply take your ass to jail... now, you want to talk, let's talk... you want to fight, be stupid enough to jump twice." He didn't jump twice. She went home, which is what the argument was all about anyway; she wanted to leave and he wouldn't let her. He left and I continued my walk. He just wanted to see if I was afraid of him and I wasn't.
I've been fighting one battle or another, whether it was winnable or not, since I was very young. Over the years, I repeatedly had to earn the respect of people, whether I went to school with them, worked with them, or dealt with them as an officer; and at times, that meant standing up and fighting for what I felt was right and not backing down.
I relate my own personal history because in the political landscape as we see it today, my life experiences bear out that if you want respect; you have to fight for it.
What is one of the things McCain did that earned him the derision of not only Democrats, but, Independents and some conservatives?
That's right. When McCain hugged the man who smeared his family. It was that moment where most of us lost respect for the man. He sold out his own family honor, his own dignity, his pride, by hugging the man who smeared him and his family. He stopped being the "maverick" who would fight and became a boot-licker who would stoop to any level; even selling out his family name.
You see, people simply despise cowards who don't fight for what is right.
Say whatever you want, but, facts are facts:
Congress' job approval rating has dropped five percentage points over the past month, from 19% in June to 14% in July, making the current reading the lowest congressional job approval rating in the 34-year Gallup Poll history of asking the question. The previous low was 18%, last reached in May.
Both record lows were achieved by the cowardly Democrats in Congress in 2008. Think about that for a minute. As much damage as the GOP did when they ran Congress, they still had a higher approval rating with the public than the Democrats who run Congress now. As much damage as Bush has done to our country, he still has a higher approval rating than the Democrats running Congress. As much as people hate Bush and the GOP, and the gods know I am one of them; people simply despise the Democrats for being cowards who will not fight for themselves or the people they were elected to serve.
Remember when I said that there were some people who only respected the guy who is bigger? Well, that is the GOP. Right now, the Democrats are the kid who just got his lunch money stolen who yells, "i'd kick your ass if my mom wasn't calling", and when the bully looks at them, they run off screaming, "mommmyyyyyyy....", and, everyone knows that tomorrow it will be the exact same thing. Consider the swing voters the crowd that watches this spectacle -- day after day. The crowd is watching, waiting, for the kid to stand up to the bully. They can't interfere, it's his/her fight. But, they are rooting for him/her! "Come on kid... FIGHT!" And, every day, the kid ultimately runs off screaming "mommyyyyyy...." And then... to make it worse... when the bully isn't around, the kid walks up to the crowd going "I'm going to fight him tomorrow!"... yeah yeah... Soon, the crowd stops rooting for the kid and begins to mock him/her -- it isn't that they like the bully because they don't -- it is simply they have zero respect for the kid anymore, so, it turns from "fight him!" to "watch, he'll yell bullshit and run away.. watch.. watch.."
Yeah, we know the "enemy" will mock the Democrats:
The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. After yesterday's advertisement in the NY Times, in which MoveOn.org referred to General Petraeus as "General Betray Us" and made other half-witted, half-truth claims aimed at convincing Americans to root against their own country in this war, according to the AP,
Republicans expressed anger, and sought a vote in the Senate on non-binding legislation condemning "personal attacks on the honor and integrity" on Petraeus and the troops. Democrats felt obliged to block a vote rather than take a position.
Spineless cowards. Clearly MoveOn money and invites to YearlyKos are more important than daring to actually call unconscionable slime what it is.
So what else is new? This is, after all, the Party of moral relativism, political expediency, and power at the cost of a blow to the country they help govern -- it shouldn't be a surprise at all, regardless how abjectly pathetic, spineless, and weak it shows them to be.
That is what bullies do. But, it isn't coming simply from the conservatives anymore; it is coming from the Democrats' own supporters.
The "Bush lied" Democrats in Washington are either the ones telling lies or cowards.
And every time the Democrats run, it gets worse:
Here are the coward Democratic Senators who voted against the basic concept of free speech in America by condemning Moveon.org: Max Baucus, Evan Bayh, Ben Cardin, Thomas Carper, Bob Casey Jr., Kent Conrad, Byron Dorgan, Dianne Feinstein, Tim Johnson, Amy Klobuchar, Herb Kohl, Mary Landrieu, Patrick Leahy, Blanche Lincoln, Claire McCaskill, Barbara Mikulski, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Mark Pryor, Ken Salazar, John Tester and Jim Webb.
I urge all these politicians to officially change their party affiliation to Republican right now--and, really, what difference would it make in voting?--so real Democrats know where we stand. Let's get rid of these rats on a sinking ship. We will rebuild the party from scratch.
These coward Democrats in the U.S. Senate clearly do not want to distinguish themselves from their Republican colleagues or Imperial President George Bush despite public polling that shows people are sick and tired of the Iraq occupation. Polls also show Americans do not believe a word Bush or his political cronies, such as Petraeus, are saying about Iraq.
And then the mocking is soon joined by everyone and it isn't going to stop:
Meet Your Democratic Leaders: ChickenSh*t Coward Edition
You see, it is now everyone mocking the Democrats and it has been going on for years:
Democrats have been voting for stuff I dislike for as long as I've been voting for Democrats, but I have to say that their poll-tested cowardice on the detainee bill over the past couple of weeks has been about as bad as anything I can remember. And what makes it worse is that not only is it craven, it's probably politically stupid as well.
No, not everyone abandons the kid who won't stand up to the bully. There are always a few who hold his/her hand and goes, "it's ok... their just bullies", who pats the kid on the back with a, "you'll get him tomorrow".
Except, there is no compromising with the GOP unless it entails the GOP getting everything they wanted and the Democrats getting to say they passed a bill. We have seen this time and time again. There are those who understand this, and those who don't.
It's simple; fight if you want respect. I guess, we have to get into the whole Bill Clinton, "what is the definition of 'fight' is", nonsense.
Here is what a "fight" is:
A 25-year CIA veteran has written a unauthorized, 384-page book that sharply criticizes the mismanagement and misdoings of the agency, creating an unprecedented test of the rights of former employees to reveal potentially harmful information.
"The Human Factor: Inside the CIA’s Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture" was written under the pseudonym "Ishmael Jones" to protect people the author has met who didn't know he was working undercover, CQ Politics reported.
"I realized the CIA’s clandestine service was broken," the author said in an interview with FrontPage Magazine. "My mission has always been to defend America, and for many years I sought to do this by producing intelligence as an active CIA officer. Today, using this book as a tool, I seek to defend America by working to fix our broken clandestine service."
"I’m ready to take whatever they have to do," Jones said of his former employer.
Welcome what it means to fight!
This is not a "fight": first Obama says off-shore drilling is bad, then the GOP tries to derail a veteran's bill by attaching off-shore drilling measures, we get Obama stating he'd support SOME off-shore drilling if only he could get something out of it because the GOP threatened to shut Congress into gridlock.
"'If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage - I don't want to be so rigid that we can't get something done,' Obama said."
More: "[H]e told the Post he would be open to expanding the current drilling boundaries if it meant winning approval for more fuel-efficient cars, developing alternative energy sources and making the country more 'energy independent.'"
"'I think it's important for the American people to understand we're not going to drill our way out of this problem,' he said. 'It's also important to recognize if you start drilling now you won't see a drop of oil for ten years, which means its not going to have a significant impact on short-term prices. Every expert agrees on that.'"
So, let's break it down:
# The GOP wants offshore drilling
# Obama says that it is bad
# GOP threatens to shut down Congress
# Obama says "ok, I'll 'compromise!'"
Duh... guess what... the Democrats just got steamrolled... AGAIN. The GOP will get their offshore drilling and then, they will fight every Democratic measure.
In 2006, I wrote this diary about the importance of the independent vote; the "crowd" that watches the fight between the bully and the coward. The poll numbers from 2006 prove, beyond any doubt, that the independents, the "crowd", was rooting for the cowardly kid (the Democrats):
The CNN poll shows a clear 12% Independent vote that went to the Democratic Party within a 5 month window.
The USA today poll shows the Republicans picking up 5% of the Independent vote right before the election within the same 5 month window.
The Newsweek poll shows a 4% shift of Independent's to the Democratic Party in a 6 month window right before the election.
And with Obama continually backing down (FISA now offshore drilling) he is tied in the independent poll, you know, the "crowd" who once supported the cowardly kid by an overwhelming margin.
Oh, we'll hear the excuses; it is racism, it is the smear campaign, it is that he is young, he is inexperienced. But, no, all it would take is Obama standing up to a fight, holding his ground, and showing the electorate that he really does stand for something, and the tide would swing his way in an tsunami. They will do it because then he will have gained their respect. Everyone who is reading this, who remembers their own formative years, knows this to be true.
Fight if you want respect...