A Marine Combat Vet who is infuriated with what the Bush Administration is doing to our country. Chair of the Nevada Democratic Veterans & Military Families Caucus, and Senior Advisor & Nevada State Captain for VoteVets.org
Its very early in Las Vegas and I just got done watching Andrea Mitchell complain about Democrats going after John McCain. They are talking about General Clark's comments on Senator McCain's qualifications on National Security. Andrea believes the comments of General Clark are not the way to go after John McCain's qualifications.
After saying, "I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war," he added that these experiences in no way qualify McCain to be president in his view:
"He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn't a wartime squadron," Clark said.
"I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president."
I've got one question for Andrea Mitchell... Why not?
As I'm sure everyone has heard by now, Democracy for America and Netroots Nation are teaming up to offer scholarships to Netroots Nation. What DFA and NN are doing is such a great idea. It is such a great program which will allow folks who have tight budgets to come and take part in the convention.
I'm sure you can see where this is going. I have applied and am trying to win your support to go!
Why should you choose me? I'll show you below the fold!
YES WE CAN!!! ON TO DENVER AND TO WASHINGTON D.C TO TAKE BACK THE WHITE HOUSE!!!!!!!!! ITS TIME TO FIX EVERYTHING IN OUR COUNTRY!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Is there anyone one else who is just as excited as I am? I feel as though weight as been lifted off my back... I can breathe again.
DISCLAIMER- THESE ARE MY THOUGHTS AND MINE ALONE. THEY SPEAK FOR NO ONE BUT MYSELF
Throughout the history of our nation we have awarded the Medal of Honor to many deserving military members. These have been military members who have answered the call gallantly in all of the nation's wars. I can think of no man or woman who would ever degrade the meaning of this award. In fact, this award is so meaningfull and hallowed that most of the time you have to perish from this Earth to even receive it.
I have thought long and hard about writing this. I don't want to believe a President would politicize the Medal of Honor. I'm not yet willing to go on the record saying this is what I believe, but the question begs to be asked. Did President Bush use a Medal of Honor ceremony to help coordinate a political strategy?
Here in Nevada there is one race which will draw a significant amount of attention. Jon Porter (a failed Republican Congressman) will once again be defending his seat in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District. Last cycle Porter barely hung on to his seat facing a first time candidate for any elected office. Porter won by little under 4,000 votes in his race. I know many folks here at Daily Kos watched a number of our great candidates lose by similar margins across the country. This year it’s going to be different!
No, it wasn't the protesting which was rare... (Obviously) What was rare, was how the protest unfolded. We were able to do something not many protesters have before.
You see, Bush's advance people couldn't avoid us. You might say, "Mission Accomplished."
HOT OFF a State of the Union speech that failed to outline an end to the war in Iraq, George Bush is heading to Nevada, where Democrats out-organized and
out-performed the Nevada GOP in the Jan. 19th presidential caucuses!
Well the Nevada Caucus has come and gone. I stayed neutral throughout the entire process. As a result I spent most of my time helping the Nevada State Democratic Party with any odd jobs which were needed to get the caucus process up and running. What this resulted in for me was mostly volunteer time. I also had a request (which I put in back in the late spring/early summer) to run one of the at-large strip caucus sites. Being I am a craps dealer, I thought this would be right up my alley.
To be sure I figured it would be an exciting place to spend caucus day (being I would not caucus for any candidate). I had no idea the level of controversy the caucus sites would generate in the week before the caucus kicked off. I also had no idea of the enormity of these caucus sites. I helped run the Mirage caucus site along with 8 other people. We were all needed!
Over the fold I will take you on a tour of history, the first at-large caucus site in history (along with 8 other sites at other casinos).
Well it’s really close to the caucus day here in Nevada. Let me say I’m really just trying to keep my head low. I have been neutral from the beginning of this and will continue to be so. I’m doing this because of my number one goal in politics which is to get more veterans engaged in the Democratic Party. As a mean to accomplish this end, I have helped grow the Nevada Democratic Veterans & Military Families Caucus. I want to make sure I’m in a position to work with whoever our nominee is during the general election in order to keep working on this goal. As everyone knows, the energy which is expended during the Presidential Campaign is great opportunity to grow support for the party. In addition, I want to make sure all of our democratic vets in Nevada are a team and we aren’t divided. All of the recent events emanating out of Nevada are causing me plenty of heart burn. I’m hoping here in Nevada we still have a functioning party after the primaries and caucuses are over.
Here we are another holiday season is coming and going. Its times like these where I think back to Christmases past. For me the most memorable ones are the ones I spent in the Marine Corps, and didn’t spend in the United States (yet alone at home). I'd like to share them with you, along with some thoughts on the holiday season...
We are getting beat by Fark! What is Fark!? I have to go do some googling. Also of note our favorite Wingnut site Little Green Footballs is close behind us as well. Vote Vote Vote!
UPDATE: By popular request, I have decided to add hyperlinks to the diary so that the Draft Al Gore webiste comes up in google. Yes, duck and cover boys and girls because its Google Bomb time. Ha.. Isn't Daily Kos fun? In the mean time I'm doing a midterm take home. Anyone want to help?
Part II Essay:
So far in this course we have looked at several examples of imaginative response to the real world. In these philosophical essays and works of drama or fiction we have often see the opposition of "nature" and "culture." Choose two works from the following and explain how each relies on this opposition to make its argument. In this sense, you may find it useful to explain why the author has chosen to call these ideas into question (perhaps it helps her or him to criticize something in her or his society, for example).
Choose TWO of the following texts:
Gulliver's Travels
Candide
Vindication of the Rights of Women
The Social Contract
Sorry this is real short and quick because I am extremely slammed with school, work, and politics today.
No, if you are angered by anything, don't give up. Use people power, get candidates that share YOUR values. If YOU can't find one, run YOURSELF. Never stop fighting. Never give up on the real America where we don't go to war for the fun of it. Never give up.
I don't care for people who in some cases fault Democrats who they think are surrendering to George Bush, and then surrender themselves. Keep fighting. Keep fighting. Keep fighting. Change the world!
I will end with a quote:
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King, JR.
On Friday September, 14th I flew to Washington D.C. I came to lobby Congress with VoteVets.org. We also participated in some different political training to increase our skills to help create change.
Here we are at the Capitol on Tuesday the 18th.
I also went incognito and observed the two competing forces rallying in Washington that weekend.
These were the most amazing four days of my life. Read on.
Hey guys just doing a late nighter in the hotel in D.C. VoteVets is on the hill tommorow (diary coming as soon as its all done). But I thought we could all use some good laughs and an open thread.
I'm sitting in the Reno airport after watching a superbly organized event unfold. We had over 250 plus patriots who protested the false patriot organization Move America Forward while they were in Carson City. Move America Forward is on a national caravan. The media's estimates put them at 175. We smoked them as they tried to rally to keep the madness in Iraq going on strong. Our message was "Support the Troops, Not Bush." It was led by the Nevada Democratic Veterans & Military Families Caucus.
However Move America Forward has been lying all day. First Melanie Morgan said at her rally
Saddam Hussein finally got what was coming to him for attacking our country
Now they are lying about the turnout. Details after the fold.
Maccabee's diary written yesterday talks about an impending attack on Iran. While I do worry about what this administration is capable of, while reading his diary I became very skeptical about his claims.
I've spent four years in the Marine Corps as a machinegunner, some of which was on ship. I have a lot of friends who are in the navy. In addition military history, military tactics, and military equipment (especially our carriers) greatly interests me.
