Merry Christmas, My Friend

I totally forgot to include the original poem, courtesy of Snopes.com, in my previous post. Be sure you thank a soldier, marine, guardsman, airman, or sailor in this busy time of year.

Merry Christmas, My Friend
By James M. Schmidt, a Marine Lance
Corporal stationed in Washington, D.C., in 1986

Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone, In a one bedroom house made of plaster & stone.
I had come down the chimney, with presents to give and to see just who
in this home did live
As I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,no
tinsel, no presents, not even a tree. No stocking by the fire, just boots filled
with sand. On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land.
With medals and badges, awards of all kind,a sobering thought soon came to my mind. For this house was different, unlike any I'd seen. This was the home of a U.S.
Marine.
I'd heard stories about them, I had to see more,so I walked down the
hall and pushed open the door. And there he lay sleeping, silent, alone,Curled up
on the floor in his one-bedroom home.
He seemed so gentle, his face so serene, Not how I pictured a U.S. Marine. Was this the hero, of whom I’d just read? Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?
His head was clean-shaven, his weathered face tan. I soon understood, this was more than a man. For I realized the families that I saw that night, owed their lives to these men, who were willing to fight.
Soon around the Nation, the children would play, And grown-ups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day. They all enjoyed freedom, each month and all year, because of Marines like this one lying here.
I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone, on a cold Christmas Eve, in a land far
from home. Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye. I dropped to my knees and I started to cry.
He must have awoken, for I heard a rough voice, "Santa,don't cry, this life is my choice. I fight for freedom, I don't ask for more. My life is my God, my country, my Corps."
With that he rolled over, drifted off into sleep, I couldn't control it, I continued to weep.
I watched him for hours, so silent and still. I noticed he shivered from the cold night's chill. So I took off my jacket, the one made of red, and covered this Marine from his toes to his head. Then I put on his T-shirt of scarlet and gold, with an eagle, globe and anchor emblazoned so bold. And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride, and for one shining moment, I was Marine Corps deep inside.
I didn't want to leave him so quiet in the night, this guardian of honor so willing to fight. But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure, said "Carry on, Santa, it's Christmas Day, all secure."
One look at my watch and I knew he was right, Merry Christmas my friend, Semper Fi and goodnight.

A Soldier's Night Before Christmas

Just another brick in the wall

I have to agree with radio commentator Michael Medved, we should not refer to the end of the Berlin Wall the "fall of the Berlin Wall". Saying that the wall fell implies that nothing contributed to its destruction other than the law of gravity. Trees fall, people fall, symbols of unspeakable evil oppression are destroyed. To say that the Berlin Wall fell is to ignore the sacrifices of thousands of Americans and Europeans who gave their lives to stop the "Evil Empire".

So on this 20 year anniversary of the destruction of the wall I would like to thank all those who sacrificed to reunite Germany and all of Europe. I would also like to thank President Reagan, Prime Minister Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II for not accepting the existence of the wall as a permanent fixture and Europe. Thank you for standing up to a force of evil that the rest of the world was willing to turn a blind eye to. Two years after President Reagan demanded that Mr. Gorbachev tear down the Wall, it finally was. Only it wasn't Gorbachev who did it, it was the people who answered Reagan's challenge.

Brazil to the World: "Yes We Créu!!!"

Congratulations Brazil, I can't wait till 2016. Women's beach volleyball is going to be awesome. Still, I have to feel a little sorry for the Obama's. After all their sacrifice to lose the chance to have the Olympics in their home town in the first round of voting has got to hurt. I wonder what could it have been that cost Chicago the glory of the Olympics. Surely it was not the quality of their speeches:


Okay...a little self absorbed but at least she enunciated well and spent equal amount of time between addressing both the right and left sides of the podium. Lets see how her hubby did:




OK, better then his wife's speech but still just as egotistical and self absorbed. Turning a bid for the Olympics into a chance to brag about your electoral victory is no way to endear yourself to other nations. I'm starting to think even world opinion towards our president is starting to turn against him. Watching both speeches, all I could think to myself was "Man, they must love the smell of their own farts." You South Park fans know what I'm talking about.

So Chicago won't get the Olympics in seven years at least they took the news well:




At least they handled it better then the media did:





Oh well, there's always 2020.

A tax by any other name would still cost you money

Here it is, the start of the new television season and already they are into reruns. President Obama continues to pop up everywhere on the telly, showing up on no less then five different shows yesterday and appearing on Letterman tonight, in order to change the public perception on his plans to change health care in this country. Now it seems as if even the media is starting to turn on him. Check out this exchange he had with George Stephanopoulos on ABC:

Maybe its just me but the Prez seems to be just a little annoyed at George's line of questioning especially when it came to the tax question. You would think a Harvard graduate would know the dictionary definition of tax. Maybe he was distracted by Acorn's financial troubles.

And comparing mandatory health care to auto insurance is just asinine. People who have no license or car have no need to get auto insurance. Auto insurance is only there to protect you from catastrophic loss, that may or may not happen to you within your lifetime. It is pretty much guaranteed that we will all experience a major health problem at some point in our lives. Please, stop using auto insurance for your health care analogy, they are nowhere near being similar. If they were then Geico would pay for every time you went to the gas station or got the oil changed, the same way health insurance covers yearly check-ups with your doctor. If auto insurance was like that then it would be insanely expensive.

Oh, before I go, here are just some of the industries taken over or about to be taken over by the government; the car industry, the banking industry, home mortgages, health care, and student loans. He even seems to be moving in on the award show dress making industry.

From NobodyDoesn'tLike

My friend, we'll call her SaraBert just to keep the bert theme going, has an awesome post about her recollections on 9/11 that I think you should go check out. Here's an excerpt:

I’ll admit I am one of those Americans who in the years since 9/11/01 passed have pushed the day and the weeks and months and year that followed deep deep deep into my subconscious. Truth be told if asked right now what I did 9/11/07 or 9/11/08 I really couldn't say. I don’t think it was anything other than just a day. It was just September 11th. Usually the girls’ school has them dress in red white and blue and they will gather around the flag and sing a patriotic song. But this year they did nothing. My kids still wore red white and blue. And most years this is the extent of it…the girls in their patriotic garb and me stealing a few quiet seconds in the shower to offer up a prayer for our nation, for all those affected and all those still fighting for us….and then we are on with our day.

For the rest of her post click here and enjoy all of her musings.

Eight years later...

And I still cry.

I remember driving into work at 6 am, still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes because at that point I had only been "fully" awake for fifteen minutes. It was my last day of work before I started my birthday vacation. I tuned my radio over to Dave, Shelly, and Chainsaw, and was immediately informed of a plane hitting on of the towers at the World Trade Center. Now my first thought was that a small Cessna had accidentally hit it, since Dave wasn't too clear on the scope of the plane. Fifteen minutes later the second plane hit and this time Dave was pretty clear on the kind of plane it was, and I knew our world would never be the same.

As the years move us further and further away from the events of 9/11, it becomes easy for us to forget how fast everything was happening in those early morning hours. I remember hearing unconfirmed reports about an explosion at the Pentagon, about the Capitol building and White House being evacuated. I even remember rumors of helicopters opening fire at the Pentagon and that there were four planes still unaccounted for. No one knew what the hell was going on. All we knew was we were under attack and no one seemed to know what to do, except for the firefighters, police officers, and paramedics who sacrificed to help others.

When I heard that the towers had collapsed and were gone, I was so numb to the events that my mind hadn't quite grasped the full impact. A coworker pulled up pictures of the towers falling and still my mind seemed to be in denial. By the end of the day, everyone at work was just going through the motions, eager to get home, to be with loved ones, and finally see the events of the day on their TVs.
The very first thing I saw on television was the collapse of the towers. I watched on in horror and fear as the images were replayed again and again, forever burning themselves into my brain. Finally, my brain had accepted the truth of the situation and I fell into my couch and cried.

Here we are eight years later and life continues as normal. 9/11 gets pushed further and further to the backs of our minds as more immediate concerns grab our daily attention. I fear that we may be losing our sense of what is truly at stake when we look at 9/11 and the war on terror that followed. For many 9/11 was a freak occurrence, one of those tragedies that happen every few years, like Waco or the Oklahoma City bombing. I fear that our successes in averting more 9/11's has made us complacent in regards to our nation's security. You can see it everyday in the coverage of the war. Currently there is an increasing call for withdrawal from Afghanistan, and that is supposed to be the "just" war. We seem to be more concerned about the rights of evil, bloodthirsty murderers then we do about our own right to exist in peace as a nation. Every year, the events of 9/11 gets looked at more and more through the prism of moral relativism. We constantly ask ourselves, "Why do they hate us?", " What can we do to make them love us?" like some battered wife.

I don't care why the terrorists do what they do. All I care about is that we stop them, permanently. Because I recognize that our country has been a force for good through our 200 plus years of existence and will continue to spread good through out this world in the centuries to come. We are Americans and its just what we do.

Its 9/11, eight years later, and I still cry.

Just what we need. Another whiny blog about politics

Not so fast there. This is a work in progress. A culmination of years of blood, sweat, and tears. I've spent years laying the ground work for what I hope will be my magnum opus. Awww, who am I kidding. This site is something I came up with on my drive home from work today. A place where I can focus on the crazy political world while leaving the boring minutiae of life to my other wonderful site.

No comic book rants or pictures of my dog here. This site will be a mish mash of political instability and controversy. That is assuming I can convince some of my good for nothing lazy friends to contribute something every now and then. Right or left, I really don't care, just as long as its stimulating, educational, and entertaining.

So hopefully this will work out and I'll finally put my fancy degree to some practical use. Now all I need is catchy closing phrase. Oh, I got it.

To infinity and bey...nope can't use that, don't want to be sued. Oh well, maybe next time.