(Fox News) In an effort to cut the unemployment rate among veterans, the Obama administration is calling for a new conservation program that would put veterans to work rebuilding trails, roads and levees on public lands.

Let’s give him some credit for wanting to reduce the unemployment rate among veterans, even if it is surely politically motivated, geared towards peeling off some veteran support from the GOP for Election 2012. But, let’s face it, it is pathetic that Obama thinks the best use of men and women who served in the most professional, educated, modern, and high-tech military ever seen is to get them jobs as menial workers. Granted, they would get paid well, being federal money and all. But, they are certainly more capable then being offered ditch digger jobs. Not to mention simply creating new government jobs, rather than private sector ones.

Of course, much like with his Stimulus, the jobs probably do not exist. Furthermore, the idea, like most of his ideas, isn’t particularly original

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the Civilian Conservation Corps that operated during the 1930s could be viewed as a model for what the administration will try to accomplish through its “Veterans Jobs Corps.” He said that the administration will propose spending $1 billion that would be used to put an estimated 20,000 veterans to work restoring habitat and eradicating invasive species, among other activities.

So now the Obama admin. is looking towards Depression era make-work programs that failed to stimulate the economy, and helped keep the USA mired in depression for a decade.

“The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has decided not re-hear the case of a memorial cross located in a public park in San Diego, Calif., that was deemed unconstitutional.

However, supporters plan to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Mount Soledad Memorial Cross was erected in 1954 to honor veterans of the Korean War and has been the center of a legal battle for the last 22 years. The 29-foot cross in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla sits on public land atop a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

The American Civil Liberties Union has fought to have the cross removed, saying a religious symbol should not be on public land.

Supporters of the memorial cross are hopeful about the final outcome of the case as the Supreme Court’s conservative majority has shown a greater willingness to allow religious symbols on public land.

Just last year, the high court refused to remove a war memorial cross located in California’s Mojave Desert.

Source

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.). For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don’t forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me here

“Officials in this city where Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson are buried are considering limits on downtown flag-flying, including the Confederate flag, angering defenders of the divisive Southern symbol.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans organized a rally ahead of a scheduled public hearing Thursday night and an expected vote.

Officials in this college town of 7,000 insist the flag limits are not aimed at the Confederate flag. The proposal would limit the use of downtown poles to the flying of the U.S., Virginia and Lexington flags. It would not restrict the display of the Confederate flag elsewhere in the city.

“They can carry their flags anywhere they want,” City Manager T. Jon Ellestad. The city received hundreds of complaints the last time Confederate flags were planted in holders on lights poles, in January to mark Lee-Jackson Day, a state holiday.

The NAACP launched an economic boycott of South Carolina in 1999 about the Confederate flag that flew atop the Statehouse dome and in the chambers of the House and Senate. A compromise in 2000 moved the flag to a monument outside the Statehouse.

This is not the first time Lexington, is at the southern end of the Shenandoah Valley, has clashed with the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The city attempted nearly 20 years ago to ban the display of the Confederate flag during a parade honoring Jackson. The American Civil Liberties Union, which successfully defended the group’s bid to carry the flag, is closely watching this dispute from afar.

“City council could live to regret this ordinance, as it imposes unusually restrictive limits on the use of the light poles,” said Kent Willis, the ACLU’s executive director in Virginia. “Sometime in the future when city officials want to use those light poles to promote a special event they may find themselves handcuffed by their own lawmaking.”

Source

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.). For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don’t forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me here

Memorial Day signifies and celebrates America’s valiant warriors of today and yesterday. Our nation’s pride is mixed with pain as we pay tribute to America’s finest. Honoring our lost and wounded, that fought for our freedoms in all wars, is every citizen’s duty. Chance meetings with members of our military, followed by a firm handshake and heartfelt gratitude, fall shy of our deepest appreciation for their sacrifice. So, again I share a passing encounter with a young Marine who was faceless in an airport crowd, but now remains imbedded in both mind and heart.

During a long layover at an airport, dozens of Marines flowed through the crowds. One settled into a seat directly across from me. We struck up a conversation. Strong and sturdy, with an even gaze, this Marine told me how he became a man. The product of the grand mixture that is the proud heritage of America’s melting pot, he spoke of his Anglo dad and Hispanic mother. Sitting before me, he was that day an all-American of our finest caliber. His story revealed, however, that had not always been the case. He spoke of how his teen years were filled with truancy and drugs and being kicked out of the house by a strong and loving Mom and what he called an “old school” Dad whose discipline he now understands. Facing nothing but dead ends for months, he soon turned eighteen. After three days with no food, he had had enough. He sought out a Marine recruitment office and signed the dotted line. His sketchy background fell short of Marine Corps standards, yet the recruiter saw something in him and made an exception. Like a snake shedding its useless skin, his old life was soon to be left behind.

What happened next still astonishes him. Within four months after enlisting, he said, “I became a man.” Both wonder and frankness filled his voice at how the Corps transformed his life, his purpose, his duty, and his manhood. Four months, he said in disbelief at how quickly his attitude and life had changed for the better. In order to deploy, the Corps required him to get a GED. He said he was humbled to wear the uniform. I was honored to hear his story. Sitting there, he embodied our valiant sons and daughters, cousins, grandchildren and brothers and sisters. As he sat there ready to return to battle, I promised him that we would do our job to provide support for our valiant military and to sustain America and the Constitution as we know it so that they will have something to come home to. He nodded and said he’d appreciate that. He then said, “You know, when I made my first visit home, Dad came up to me, shook my hand and told me he loved me. He had never done that before.” He spoke of friends who are his age of 21 and still prowling the streets and living the life he left behind. Today, he reaches out to them while on leave. He offers them gas money to drive to interviews for a job or to an enlistment office. Some comment that he thinks he is better that they are and he answers them -”Yes, I am.” I nodded in agreement, “Yes, you are.” You were once them,” I tell him. “Now, they can step-up and be a man like you.”

It is young men and women, such as these from all walks of life, that take on the duty, burden, and honor to defend our freedoms and way of life. It is American blood that flows through their veins and it is the loss of American blood and their lives that we honor. We salute all branches of our military that stand between us and the enemy that seeks America’s destruction. They deserve and must have the best support of America’s citizens and its government.

Those in Congress or the White House, who withhold funding of our military as a bargaining tool to gain political advantage, must be exposed and expunged. It is every American’s duty to clean house of politicians who treat the U.S. military as a political pawn. Recall the valiant young Marine in the airport. We speak of expending our nation’s blood and treasure in war, but let us never forget that in regard to all who serve – their blood is our treasure.

There has however been no mass mobilization since WWII. The wars these days tend to be fought as just another budget item with only the professional military involved. The population generally have no experience of war and little acquaintance with military men. The countries concerned just live on in peace and prosperity. This has produced something of a paradox. The people at large of the world’s most “warlike” countries know little of war or of military matters.

In the circumstances, there seems to have developed — particularly on the political Left — a quite warped view of the military and often a real contempt for the military. In a patriotic country like America, that contempt has to be mostly veiled but observers of the Left will be familiar with such attitudes anyway. Because of the British tradition of emotional restraint, however, overt expressions of patriotism are rare in Britain and Australia so the Left there are more vocal in making known their attitude to the military.

So the combination of no experience with the military and Leftist contempt for military men does seem to have led to a fairly widespread lack of understanding of what military men are like and how the military functions. And as a former army psychologist, I think I might be in a position to make a few points that may dispel some of those misunderstandings.

* A very common misunderstanding is that military men are dumb. That is far from the case. The military handle some very dangerous gear so a dummy would be more of a danger to his buddies than to the enemy. For that reason all Western armies select on intellectual grounds: You have to have an above average IQ to be a soldier. And in the more specialist jobs (officers generally, special forces, etc.), the intellectual requirement is quite high. So it is quite right to refer to the “profession” of arms. It needs training, knowledge, dedication and ability comparable to many other professions.

* Another incomprehension that seems particularly common on the left is why on earth would anybody take a job where he might get shot at? That seems like a very bad deal to most Leftists and may be part of the reason why military men are overwhelmingly conservative. Guerilla war where they can shoot others from cover (as in various “revolutions” — such as Castro’s) seems OK to Leftists but they generally haven’t got the stomach for regular military service.

So why DO military men put themselves in harm’s way? The answer quite simply is that they are real men. They have inherited a strong dose of the characteristics that enabled men to survive in “caveman” times. Life was a very risky business for us for most of our evolutionary past and men who did not enjoy risks and challenges just did not survive. Military men actually ENJOY putting themselves to the test. They LIKE doing difficult and dangerous things. Sadly, the army often disappoints them. Even if there is a war on, most of your time is spent waiting around. But the army does a lot of training and sport and there is always the prospect of action. So in every army, the men are always keen to get to “the front” — where the action is and where they might get shot at! I was one of them many years ago. The Vietnam war was on at the time and I volunteered for a posting there.

A little story might help illustrate all that. During the Vietnam war, Australia had conscription and it was largely conscripts who were sent to the front. What is not generally known however is that conscripts were not usually sent to the front unwillingly. Anybody who did not want to go was discharged as “medically” unfit or was given the chance of volunteering for work in (say) a BOD (Base Ordnance Depot — a military warehouse). But given the option of spending two boring years in a BOD back in Australia and going to Vietnam, close to 100% of the conscripts chose Vietnam. Men like excitement and Vietnam offered that, even if it was dangerous.

* Another myth much beloved of Leftist psychologists is that army men are some sort of “robot”. They are all the same and just obey orders like machines. The old Prussian expression that a soldier should be “Kadaver gehorsam” (show corpselike obedience) helped establish that myth. And it does have a germ of truth. Take a look at the picture below. It is easy to see a march of robots there, is it not?

It is in fact a parade of cadets at Sandhurst, Britain’s equivalent of West Point. So all the men there are in fact highly skilled soldiers with the equivalent of a university degree who will go on to positions of leadership throughout the British army and later on lead in British life generally. Far from being robots they are an elite.

So learning to work together and take orders is certainly a part of military life but it says nothing about the character of the men involved. The fact that the army has to train its men very heavily in order to get them to that state of readiness should speak for itself. It does not come naturally. Military men are very much individuals. And when you are in the army, you get to know what individuals your fellow unit members are and come to value them accordingly. For that reason, military men feel great grief at the loss of anyone in their unit — as you will hear any time you ask them about their wartime experiences — and in later life you never walk past a member of your old army unit in the street without stopping to chat. Fellow members of your unit become very special friends. You don’t of course get on equally well with them all but you usually respect them all.

So I hope that goes a little way towards showing how wrong are simplistic judgments of the military and of military men.

Perhaps I should close on a rather provocative note: You could think that women would not be attracted to military men. The men are often away on deployment and may come home in a body bag. What sort of a deal is that for a woman? Yet as you always see, when the men come home from deployment, most have wives and girlfriends waiting eagerly to see their men again. How come? Easy: As I have pointed out above, military men are real men and real women like real men.

Take as an example the Australian soldier below. He is clearly a family man and may look undistinguished to some. But Ben Roberts-Smith is a man of exceptional intelligence, daring and courage. For his actions in Afghanistan he was recently awarded the Victoria Cross, which is as high an award for valour as there is. It is very rarely awarded. You can read his story here and here. He could join the officer corps any time he applied but he chooses to serve as a corporal leading a small detachment of Special Forces. Why? Because that is where the action is. We can be proud that the English-speaking nations still produce men like him — JR

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.). For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don’t forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me here

This is the text of an address I gave to a men’s luncheon in Niles, Illinois on March 3, 2011. Niles and its neighbor Skokie are heavily Jewish areas in the northern suburbs of Chicago. I hope it was fairly well received and that you will similarly find it interesting.

We all know there has been a complicated and often unfortunate history between European Christians and their Jewish fellows. There is an earned suspicion that Jews have for European Christians that goes back centuries. Over time relationships between Jews and European Christians has swing wildly from acceptance, to indifference to outright antagonism and back again.

Sadly, it seems that these days the pendulum is swinging back to Europeans again seeing Jews as an unwanted element and crimes against Jews in many parts of Europe have been on the rise. Some of this is due to the influx of Muslim immigrants in Europe, but not all of it by a long shot.

In the United States, however, Jews have always found a much less problematic existence. Certainly bad times have waxed and waned where Jews have been targets of abuse, but never has the abuse been as bad as that in European history. There certainly have been periods when Jews were not treated well in America — I can remember reading of the abuse that baseball player Hank Greenberg received after he refused to play a major league game on Yom Kippur in 1934, for instance — but even in America’s earliest days the abuse has never reached European outrages.

Absolutely no abuse should be excused, but when simply looking at the facts we see that the USA is a more welcoming environment in relative terms. For the most part, in the United States Jews have been able to succeed in any field in which they are able to excel without much mind to their background, especially over the last 60 years or so.

Yet even at that many American Christians have offered only a rocky road to acceptance for America’s Jews. For that matter, until about the 1960s, even American Catholics have found America to be quite inhospitable at times. In the 1928 presidential race, for instance, New York Governor Al Smith was excoriated as a “Papist” throughout large sections of the country and it was widely claimed in the South that he would take his orders from the Vatican and not the Constitution and the people.

It’s a shame, too. From my reading, Smith would have likely made a pretty good president. Instead we ended up with Herbert Hoover.

In any case, I bring all this turmoil and uncomfortable history up by way of saying that I really cannot blame Jews for being wary of Christians whether in America or anywhere else for that matter. But that being said, there is a new reverence that many Christians in the United States — especially the conservative Evangelicals — have developed for Jews in general and Israel in particular. And it is a relationship I’d like to see American Jews pay a bit more attention to developing as I think that American Jews can find some fast friends and allies in these Evangelical circles.

This changing relationship started in the 1980s during the Reagan administration and the rise of the Moral Majority Christians that at last began to turn their attention to politics. Previously to 1980 American Christians as a block did not pay much mind to politics believing that God’s realm was separate from Man’s world of politics. But thanks to the left’s constant attack on traditional American culture in the view of folks like Jerry Falwell and Pat Roberts, the so-called “culture wars” brought these conservative Christians into politics in a huge way. And they have yet to drift from their active participation.

Along with that new attention to earthly politics came attention to American foreign policy and, naturally, attention was turned to Israel. Thanks to the rising threat of radical Islam, feelings for Israel among Christians has only gotten stronger in the United States over the last 40 years as more and more Christians come to see Israel as our only friend in the Middle East, not to mention as a stalwart democracy facing a horde of despots, tyrants, and killers. In fact, a 2002 poll by The Tarrance Group found that Evangelical Christians are more likely than any other group in America — except Jews — to express enthusiastic support for Israel. Another poll conducted by Pew in 2006 found similar results.

Support has grown so that even tourism by American Christian groups has increased as tours of the Holy Lands grows as an industry. Yet even with all this support, many American Jews find Evangelical support to be an uncomfortable fit.

It is a fact that the American Jewish community is not monolithic and neither is Israel itself, granted. As a practical matter many Israeli politicians have embraced the Republicans and the Evangelical community’s support of their country. So too many Orthodox Jews in America have come to find the support offered them by Christians to be welcome news, indeed.

Of course, Orthodox Jews, themselves a minority in the American Jewish community, leans far more toward conservative politics as it is, so the fit is far more natural, to be sure.

But one would think that this untrammeled support for Israel evinced by American Christians would be welcomed with open arms by all Jews, especially American Jews, when all around them they still see oppressive forces aligned against them. Unfortunately, many Jews eye American Christian’s support with suspicion. This might seem odd until one looks at what sort of political positions American Jews and American Evangelical Christians take otherwise from Israel.

It is well known that for many years the bulk of America’s Jewish community has leaned toward a liberal, left-wing perspective. Quite despite the fact that more liberals and left-wingers are turning against Israel every day in America, Jews have stayed with their traditional left-wing political views. It is just as well known that the Evangelical Christian community has allied itself with the conservative viewpoint. This makes for uneasy alliances, for sure.

Yet even as Jews may eye Christian Evangelicals with suspicion, those same American Christians have made no effort on any level to insist that Jews come over to the conservative side on domestic political issues and have offered their hand in friendship on matters of Israel without pre-conditions. Even the Anti-Defamation League’s Abe Foxman has admitted that there has been no demand of any quid pro quo by Christians in order to gain their support of Israel.

Times change and this is one situation where the change is dramatic. Old time conservatives like Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul still cling to the animosity for Israel, but their part has passed them by on the issue. Too many Jews, though, still see the Buchanan’s of the world as representative of the whole.

I know it’s hard to see when things have changed when nursing past slights. I spoke to a Viet Nam war vet just this week and he was going on about how the country mistreats him and his fellows. But I asked him to name the last time he was actually mistreated by anyone due to his service in the war and the last time he could remember was back in the 70s.

I reminded him that everywhere you look there are Nam POW flags, in every Memorial Day or Veteran’s parade there are contingents of Nam vets proudly marching. And I pointed to the traveling wall, the Washington D.C. memorial and many others across the country.

I pointed out that Viet Nam War vets are no longer treated like they were in the 70s except perhaps by the most unhinged leftists. Times have changed but he was still seeing the world through eyes opened in 1974.

Things have changed with conservative’s support of Israel, too, and for the better. It is entirely shortsighted for American Jews to turn away the open hand that Evangelicals have offered them for support of Israel. When advantageous coalitions can and should be built across party lines. Just as many African American groups are increasingly joining forces with Republicans and conservatives on school choice, Jews should find it logical and advantageous to accept Evangelical’s full-throated support of Israel.

It may seem odd to political liberals, though, to ally with political conservatives even if just on their support of Israel. But let’s face it, alliances on the left are odd, too. For instance, many Jews assume that African Americans are their natural allies on the left, yet Blacks are increasingly anti-Israel in America today. Look at the anti-Semitic rants of the Reverend Louis Farrakhan, for one and the often anti-Semitic comments by Jesse Jackson for another. But many Jews overlook this fact when investing in political alliances.

One of the reasons against allying with Christians I’ve seen put forward by Jews in America is that they find it distasteful when Christians try to convert them to Christianity. Personally I find this sort of whiny claim a bit absurd when in other parts of the world Jews are not just cajoled to convert but simply murdered outright. One would think a little Christian proselytizing would be easy to slough off for Jews that have faced some of the most inhuman oppression in history! Yet this proselytizing is a chief complaint that Jews, even those like Abe Foxman as I mentioned above, offer for a reason not to ally with Christians.

Another issue that turns Jews off from Evangelicals is the whole end-of-times scenario that many Christians ultimately believe in. Jews see the Armageddon scenario as an utterly insulting belief, and for good reason, I think. After all, to fulfill these Evangelical’s eschatological position Armageddon is a necessary aspect of the return of Jesus and Jews and Israel are an important part of that ideology.

In any case, it is shortsighted for American Jews to get all upset about end-of-times scenarios when Iran, the Palestinians and many Arab states are making to plan the REAL obliteration of Israel, not just some shadowy, mythical possible end-of-times game plan, but a current, real wiping out of Israel in the here and now.

Again, it is odd for Jews in America to slap away the hand of support for Israel offered by Evangelicals especially when it is Evangelicals that have brought the Republican Party into support of the state of Israel. There have been times in the past when the GOP has not been a fast friend of Israel, but that has ended with the advent of politically active Evangelical Christians. Just as the Democrat Party has increasingly turned away from supporting Israel, the GOP has taken up Israel’s banner and that is due to the Evangelical Christians that fill the rank and file of the Republican Party.

So, to sum up, I would urge American Jews to ease off their overt suspicion of Evangelical’s support of Israel. Granted even Ronald Reagan had a saying that goes “trust but verify,” but I would urge Jews to reach out to America’s Christians and wholeheartedly accept their support for Israel. Jews don’t have to fear being forced to become Christians. Jews don’t even have to feel obligated to support the Republican Party even as the GOP supports them. But Jews should stop their sneering distrust of Evangelicals and should accept their practical hand of friendship on matters of Israel. After all, we both, Christians and Jews alike, are at war with those forces that want to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Let’s save our contempt for the true enemy.

Congress is known for producing lots of “hot air.” If some senators and representatives have their way during the new Congress, “hot air” could literally be the result of their work.

Certain senators and the new Republican-controlled House are attacking the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to limit carbon pollution. This is likely to have devastating consequences for our environment and our national security.

Over the past 14 months, Operation Free and thousands of veterans across the country, from every generation, have worked to support a national clean energy policy. The Veterans for American Power tour visited hundreds of communities nationwide, meeting with thousands of Americans to deliver the message that U.S. national security is closely tied to our energy policy.

In Washington, veterans have met with scores of senators to ask for support for a climate and energy policy that reduces dependence on oil.

Of course, not all veterans are Conservatives, and even some people on the Right have bought into the stupidity of anthropogenic global warming. Quite frankly, anyone using the phrase “climate change” to support their Belief that greenhouse gases are warming the planet and causing everything (hot, cold, dry, wet, snow, ice, etc) is an idiot.

We do need a better energy policy, one which relies less on oil from countries that support radical Islam, as well as less from countries with dictators and piss poor human rights (such as Venezuela). We do need more from cleaner sources, such as solar, wind, hydrothermal, and nuclear, most of which the alarmists support in theory, but typically block actually being implemented. Funny that. But when I say “clean”, I mean less actual pollutants, rather than a trace gas (CO2) which is necessary for life.

This oil dependence is among the most dangerous threats to U.S. national security. For years, senior military and intelligence officials have warned that too much of U.S. oil payments eventually trickle down to terrorists, who use it to buy the weapons used against our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

So, how about allowing the United States to obtain oil from our own lands and waters? Oh, sorry, I forgot, the alarmists just do not like oil. Except when it gets them to work in their large gas burning vehicles. And flies them off to exotic vacation spots for “climate change” conferences.

Let’s take a quick look at what Operation Free believes

Tropical Storms and American Cities. Climate Change causes tropical storms, like Hurricane Katrina, which displaced 1.1 million Americans and destroyed a great city.

So, Hurricane Katrina was apparently caused by man-induced global warming, because there were never any landfalling hurricanes prior to Katrina. Nutso.

Iraq and Afghanistan. The longer the U.S. remains dependent on fossil fuel, the more the U.S. will have to engage in tough fights just to protect our energy supplies.

And there we have the Leftist meme that Iraq and Afghanistan were wars for oil. And Osama agrees with these alarmists

Osama bin Laden has targeted our oil infrastructure: “One of the main causes for our enemies’ gaining hegemony over our country is their stealing our oil; therefore, you should make every effort in your power to stop the greatest theft in history.”

Actually, OBL and al Qaeda have targeted our people and economy, not our oil infrastructure. But, again, why not allow us to obtain oil from our own national resources?

The leftist alarmists are simply hiding behind a “national security” meme, and using leftist military members, to push their Big Government control agenda. Yes, a changing climate can create national security issues. But, the climate has always changed. That is part of nature, a reality that envirowacko left conveniently forgets.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach

Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, helps provide voice-controlled/adaptive laptop computers and other technology to support Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries. Technology supplied includes:

• Voice-controlled Laptops – Operated by speaking into a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, they allow the wounded to maintain connections with the rest of the world during recovery
• Wii Video Game Systems – Whole-body game systems increase motivation and speed recovery when used under the guidance of physical therapists in therapy sessions (donated only to medical facilities).
• Personal GPS – Handheld GPS devices build self-confidence and independence by compensating for short-term memory loss and organizational challenges related to severe TBI and severe PTSD.

This year, I am joining a great group, led by Carrie at Villainous Company and Cassy at Cassy Fiano, in supporting the Marines. Our brave military folks can be wounded in service, and this is the time we can give back for their honor. Giving back. Yes, that is something that Neal Boortz rants about, usually rightly. In this situation, these wounded warriors have given so much to protect America and our way of life, so, yes, this is a great way we can give back. So join up. Choose a branch of service to support. If you want to go Marines, contact Cassy, Carrie, or me, and I’ll pass it on (make sure to remove the NOSPAM from the email address in the top bar under the header.) Or, Tweet me. Whatever. Join in!

Go Team Marines!

Democrat Representative Jim Moran of Virginia’s 8th District is seeking reelection and like all politicians he proudly displays those groups and individuals that have endorsed him on his campaign literature. But Moran has a bit of a problem with at least two of his claimed endorsements. They didn’t endorse him.

As it happens Rep. Moran has included two endorsements on his literature that simply can’t have happened. He lists endorsements from Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) but neither association endorsed him. Further neither ever endorse political candidates.

To be sure that neither DAV nor MOAA endorse political candidates, I gave both a phone call and it was confirmed by representatives from those groups that they do not do so. In fact, they cannot do so for tax reasons.

Click here to download a full sized .pdf of Moran’s literature.

So what gives, Rep. Moran? Will you make this right and announce your… uh… “mistake”? Or will you blunder ahead as if there is nothing wrong even as your campaign literature is filled with lies?

And will rival Patrick Murray make political hay out of this Moran gaffe like he should?

Check out Patrick Murray for Congress and see.

First, a catering business located across the street from the memorial erected a 35-foot flag pole to fly the Christian flag.

“We just thought it would be a good way to show people what we think about the whole thing. I know it’s not city hall, but it’s as close as we could get,” said Mike Marshall, owner of Divine Catering.

Marshall said he hates that it took the city removing the flag to remind the company they should have been flying the flag this whole time.
Then, the sales of Christian flags started to take off in King, a town of about 6,000 residents. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, “The controversy surrounding the removal of a Christian flag from the town’s Veteran’s Memorial is helping Gullion’s Christian Supply Center — so many people have bought Christian flags that the store has ordered 300 more to satisfy demand.”

A local veterans group then erected a temporary flag at the site of the memorial and are standing guard over it as a measure of respect and to protest the original flag’s removal.

On Monday, many town residents participated in Christian Flag Day:

According to a flyer being distributed in King, residents are encouraged to fly their flag on Monday. “We are asking citizens, business owners and churches to demonstrated support for the Christian Flag to fly atop the Veterans Memorial at Central Park in King, NC by flying a Christian flag on this day,” the flyer reads.

Some residents are saying that the community’s bond has been strengthened amid the controversy. “If there’s a message to go out, it’s ‘Thank you’ to this individual who brought this community together,” one man at the rally told FOX8.
At a public hearing held Monday night, King residents asked the City Council to put the flag back in place and to fight the ACLU.

“Look at all the hundreds of people that got upset that the flag was taken down. I think we count for something,” said Pastor David Keaton, a King resident.

Supporters asked city leaders to put the Christian flag back up at the memorial and said they will provide the needed support.
The controversy has united this town, but it is still a huge battle. Too often we see the same thing happening across the country. Whether it is removing a manger scene from public view during Christmas (Hello! Christmas is a Christian holiday!) to removing prayer from sporting events to trying to strike “Under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, there is a bombardment of attacks against Christian symbols and actions. Aren’t we supposed to be tolerant? What ever happened to that?

Inspirational and encouraging.