Show respect for our National Anthem

  

The original star-spangled banner

 

Forwarded to me by a former classmate. I do not know if it was indeed written by a USMC colonel in Afghanistan, the words are something many of us will agree with:
Marine Col. In Afghanistan … Please, Sing National Anthem in the Traditional Manner for Our Military and Vets…     

"So with all the kindness I can muster, I give this one piece of advice to the next pop star who is asked to sing the national anthem at a sporting event:

Save them vocal gymnastics and the physical gyrations for your concerts. Just sing this song the way you were taught to sing it in kindergarten - straight up, no styling.

Sing it with the constant awareness that there are soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines watching you from bases and outposts all over the world. Don't make them cringe with your self-centered ego gratification.

Sing it as if you are standing before a row of 86-year-old WWII vets wearing their Purple Hearts, Silver Stars and flag pins on their cardigans and you want them to be proud of you for honoring them and the country they love - not because you want them to think you are a superstar musician. They could see that from your costume, makeup and your entourage. Thanks to Gail Downie, Nehalem, Oregon
 

 

Letter of the Day: Sing the national anthem respectfully

Sing 'The Star Spangled Banner' with the courtesy and humility that tells the audience that it is about America, not you.

And please remember, not everything has to be sung as a Negro spiritual. We're getting a little weary of that. Francis Scott Key does not need any help." Semper Fi !

 

So help me, there is even a Facebook page devoted to properly singing the National Anthem:
 Sing Our National Anthem Correctly

Obama has managed to negate any good the troops did before he became President and since he became president

Background on the article posted  

 

"We spend our whole lives training to defend this country, and then we were sent over there by this country, and you're telling me because we were over there doing what we were told by our country that it was senseless and my guys died for nothing?"

 

 "That was how former Navy SEAL and Lone Survivor author Marcus Luttrell responded to CNN's Jake Tapper during an interview about the new movie based on his book, about an ill-fated mission in Afghanistan in which 19 of his fellow Navy SEALs and other special operations personnel were killed by enemy forces."

 

From Bookworm Room: Yes, the SEALS’ sacrifice during Operation Red Wings was a waste
"Before you start hammering away at me, let me explain what I mean about my claim that the sacrifice the SEALS and their rescuers made during Operation Red Wings was indeed a waste.  I am referring, of course, to Jake Tapper’s asking Marcus Luttrell whether  his comrades died in vain.  That was a foolish and tactless question to ask Luttrell, and Luttrell couldn’t and wouldn’t give the real answer in any event.  There is an answer, though, and Tapper was right.  Here’s why:" ....

... "The above examples of wasted deaths in war are familiar to any history student.  Barack Obama has added an entirely new category to “wasted war deaths,” one that I don’t think has ever before occurred in recorded history:  deaths that are a waste because the Commander-in-Chief couldn’t care less about victory or the troops, but merely wants to give the appearance of fighting for short-term domestic political advantage." ....
....

"So, yes, Operation Red Wings was a waste... and this is so because we have a president who views war solely in terms of his own self-aggrandizement and political objectives, without any regard for America’s national security or strategic interests, or for the troops who have served and are currently serving in our American military.  Obama has managed to negate any good the troops did before he became President and, since he became president, they are merely objects on his own personal chessboard.  Like some spoiled potentate, he moves them around for his pleasure and views their deaths with clinical dispassion."

Senior UK Defense Advisor: Obama Is Clueless About ‘What He Wants To Do In The World’

President Obama is “chronically incapable” of military strategy and falls far short of his predecessor George W. Bush, according to one of Britain’s most senior military advisors.

 Sir Hew Strachan, an advisor to the Chief of the Defense Staff

Strike three for Christie?

Deflating Christie   "The Democrats, along with the media, appear to think that they've struck a mighty blow in the preparations for Hillary's 2016 "coronation" in taking down Chris Christie. (And he has been taken down -- the accusation from Mayor Dawn Zimmer of Hoboken is strike three, and that's the end of it.)
"But in truth, they've done the GOP a great favor in removing a loose cannon that could only have damaged the party and its chances in the upcoming election.
...
"We can be certain that Christie has such a trail, and the Democrats have documented every last milestone on it. Bridgegate tipped their hand early; it would have been much better for them to wait until the last possible moment to reveal Christie's various faux pas, but media frenzies have their own rules, and the Dems are now behaving as if they planned things this way all along." More.
J.R. Dunn

Regarding Mayor Dawn Zimmer: The Scandal Is MSNBC

"MSDNC strikes again. I saw many media outlets just blindly picking up this Christie story without fact-checking it."

Watergate 2? For Over a Week, Chris Matthews Has Hyped Christie as the New Nixon
"Matthews showed a chart of Nixon's slow drop in popularity and connected: "Everything was great, until the evidence came in. Now, Christie can do all the campaigning and showboating he wants, I will argue, but then again, he might as well, because he is going down anyway.' "

Hollywood Blacklist 2: Actress Out Of San Francisco Production After Endorsing Tea Party Candidate

CBS SF   "A famed actress is facing backlash in San Francisco’s Latino community, after she voiced support for a conservative candidate for California governor.
"Maria Conchita Alonso starred in a campaign ad for Assemblyman Tim Donnelly of San Bernardino County, a Tea Party favorite who is seeking the Republican nomination.

You have to see this really nifty ad:

"Donnelly has voiced strong views against illegal immigration and was once involved with the Minutemen Project, a group that patrolled the border with Mexico to catch immigrants coming across.
....
"Standing next to Donnelly, Alonso jokingly translated in Spanish, “We’re screwed.' ”
....
"Alonso is an actress of Cuban and Venezuelan descent. She is perhaps best known for her role in the movie “Moscow on the Hudson” which also starred Robin Williams."

Women Fail to Achieve Male Marines’ Lowest Standard

Western Journalism

Advocates for women in combat have mouthed the words: If women can make the standards, they should be able to serve in the combat units and Special Forces.  If they are telling the truth, why don’t they insist women be tested on the men’s unaltered standards?  Three pull-ups is the bare minimum; it would put a man at the bottom of his unit.  Women get 100% for eight pull-ups where men have to do twenty for 100%.  Is that equality?
Read more at http://www.westernjournalism.com/women-fail-achieve-male-marines-lowest-standard/#6pG3VejIavFRbxCj.99

Biden Still Wrong on Afghanistan

Max Boot   “ 'I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”  –Bob Gates on Joe Biden
"Biden is obviously determined to maintain his perfect batting average, to judge from this Wall Street Journal article, which reports: “Vice President Joe Biden has resumed a push to withdraw virtually all U.S. troops from Afghanistan at year’s end, arguing for a far-smaller presence than many military officers would like to see, said officials briefed on the discussions.' ”....

.... "But if all goes well with Afghanistan’s election, Karzai won’t be president much longer. The U.S. would be crazy to hold hostage our long-term policy in Afghanistan and the region to his whims–or to Biden’s misguided policy prescriptions." ...

http://www.wnd.com/2011/08/330429/

Charles Krauthammer: How in good conscience?

Charles Krauthammer   "By early 2011, writes former defense secretary Robert Gates, he had concluded that President Obama “doesn’t believe in his own [Afghanistan] strategy, and doesn’t consider the war to be his.”

"Not his? America is at war and he’s America’s commander in chief. For the soldier being shot at in the field, it makes no difference under whose administration the fighting began. In fact, three out of four Americans killed in Afghanistan have died under Barack Obama’s command. That’s ownership enough." ....

Tony Branco

Mr. Krauthammer could always see it; in the above article he refers us to this column he wrote back in 2009:

Obama's hollow speech on Afghanistan  

 ... Which made his last-minute assertion of "resolve unwavering" so hollow. It was meant to be stirring. It fell flat.

Back to Mr. Krauthammer's original piece in which he points out the political hackery of this president:


... "Even worse, Obama ordered a major escalation, expending much blood but not an ounce of his own political capital. Over the next four years, notes Gates with chagrin, Obama ignored the obligation of any commander to explain, support and try to rally the nation to the cause.

"And when he finally terminated the surge, he did so in the middle of the 2012 fighting season. Militarily incoherent — but politically convenient. It allowed Obama to campaign for reelection proclaiming that “the tide of war is receding.' ”
It is said that a nation gets the leaders it deserves. Let us give thanks to Obama voters who gave our nation and Western Civilization this mediocre socialist for our president.

Benghazi: Hillary, Obama and the Press

 

'Core Al Qaeda' nonsense: The Big Mac problem  ... "But now it is acknowledged by the Senate Intelligence Committee (chaired by Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-CA) that the attack was preventable because warnings of AQ terror cells in Benghazi were offered to Hillary Clinton's State Department and ignored:"....
 

But here is something the left will buy:

... "So a new fiction has been invented: that the groups operating in Libya were not "core Al Qaeda.""
....
But not Steve Hayes and Thomas Joscelyn. They call this ..."a reprehensible evasion." That they say "explains why the United States has failed to bring the Benghazi perpetrators to justice. But it in no way excuses that failure."

I call it more cowardice from an administration that turns against America's allies, cowers before our enemies, and viciously condemns entire classes of American citizens. Anyway, back to the article:

The Real Scandal  ... "A new report on the attacks from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, along with more than 400 pages of newly declassified congressional testimony from senior military officials, provides fresh insight. The explanation for this failure—a lack of will, combined with a shameless mischaracterization of intelligence—is almost as outrageous as the failure itself."

Our Perpetually Surprised President

NRO   "Our president’s time in office has been one of wonder and astonishment. He was surprised by the depth of the recession when he came into office. He then became surprised at the duration of the bad economy.
He was surprised to win the Nobel Prize for Peace.
He was surprised there were no shovel-ready jobs.
He was surprised the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was running guns to Mexican drug cartels.
He was surprised S&P downgraded the United States’ credit rating for the first time in history.
He was surprised the IRS was targeting conservatives.
He was surprised the Arab Spring imploded.
He was surprised his CIA director was under investigation by the Justice Department.
He was surprised reporters were under surveillance by the Justice Department. He was surprised  Catholic bishops were upset                   about Obamacare’s contraception mandate.
He’s regularly surprised by bad unemployment numbers.
He was surprised the sequester actually went into effect.
He was surprised Israel’s defense minister excoriated the Iran nuke deal.
He was surprised by the opposition to his plan to strike Syria.
He was surprised the Obamacare website was a debacle.
He was surprised how complicated it is to buy health insurance."

 

ABC Swoons: 50 Ways to Celebrate Michelle Obama’s Birthday

NBC   "In preparation for the first lady’s 50th birthday on Saturday, ABC News has served up a fawning list 50 ways to celebrate the occasion.

"It highlights Michelle Obama’s most memorable and glamorous moments. Below, ten examples from the list, which you can read in full here:" 

 

 The first suggestion: Dance to Beyoncé, followed by these:

Move into a massive new house with your family and invite your mother to move in too

Make the cover of Vogue

Buy a Jason Wu dress

Hang out with your friend, Oprah

Roll your eyes at House Speaker John Boehner or the Danish prime minister

Hug, kiss and fist bump the President of the United States

​Travel the world on Air Force One

​Dine at Spiagga in Chicago

​Hang out in Hawaii for an extra week as an early birthday gift

 FLOTUS        ✔ @FLOTUS Follow

Excited to join Barack in the 50+ club today… check out my @AARP card! –mo

 

Target issues details for signing up for free credit monitoring

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Target released details Monday on how customers can sign up for a year of free credit monitoring from Experian, including identity theft insurance, in light of Target's recent data breach that affected between 70 million and 110 million people.
"Target sent out emails to customers Monday from president Gregg Steinhafel and placed a full page ad in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other major newspapers, apologizing again. The email directs them to a website where they can sign up until the end of April.
....
"All Target customers who shopped at U.S. stores can take advantage of the offer. The free credit monitoring starts once people enroll, Target said.

"Here's how to sign up:
■ To request an activation code, enter your name and email address on Target's website, creditmonitoring.target.com. The deadline to request the code is April 23. Credit reports are for a person, not a credit card number, so people who used multiple credit or debit cards at Target only need to sign up once."  Read more from Journal Sentinel:
 

Obamacare’s Fishy Navigators; In New Mexico, 38 of them turned up in a federal crime database.

More photosnark from Rich Terrell

NRO  "When navigators sign up people for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, they have access to private information, including Social Security numbers, financial data, and health records.

 

"Certified New Mexico navigators had been charged with crimes including: eight domestic-violence charges, including aggravated battery and aggravated assault of a household member; four drug charges; two larceny charges; one petty-theft charge; one shoplifting charge; and two child-abuse charges. There were also several driving-related charges, including DWIs, DUIs, and speeding or traffic crimes. In at least two instances, navigators had traffic charges for lacking insurance."