Great blog for military families

I don’t support the government’s current wars, which all are unconstitutional because Congress never declared war in any of them, as mandated by the U.S. Constitution.

But I support the troops. First, I support them so much I want to bring them home right away.

Second, I support military families. I was in the military myself, the U.S. Army from 1978-82, so I saw first hand the hard time these families have — especially when the troops are sent overseas, and even more so when the troops go into combat.

A great resource is The Kitchen Dispatch, by my friend Kanani Fong, whose husband is a military surgeon. She is a professional writer, and she writes every day. A sample blog is below; the picture is from that blog:

Compassionate, Quick, and Constant: A tribute to the medical teams

Today is one of those quiet, introspective days when I give thanks for all that we have. When I count my blessings that we are able to share our knowledge, expertise and experience with those who need it most.

Here’s a shout out to a group who has been charged with what seems to be the impossible. These are the techs, nurses, doctors, orderlies, janitors who work tirelessly to bring some semblance of peace into days wrenched with conflict, tension and uncertainty. Under conditions that most would never imagine, they save lives, take care of the wounded, and for those for whom it is too late, prayers are said and tears are shed.

So here’s to the solid professionals. The Real Deals. The Right Stuff. To the Forward Surgical Teams who will do this time and time again. Amazing. Utterly, spectacularly breathtaking. Their courage and commitment is to be admired.

Bush, Schwarzenegger have U.S. Marines patrolling for DUIs

Bush and his sidekick, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger-Shriver-Kennedy, keep plunging America into a police state. The latest tyranny: A California Highway Patrol public relations release of Dec. 10 announced:

The Morongo office of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in conjunction with the  San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department and the USMC military police will conduct a joint sobriety/driver license checkpoint on Friday, December 12, 2008, somewhere in the unincorporated/incorporated area of San Bernardino County.

But this is a civilian area! Indeed, it’s a local matter, in which the feds should not be involved at all — although by edict they have imposed federal age limits for drinking, and federal blood-alcohol limits.

And as the DUIBlog noted:

As an American citizen, not to mention a former Marine, I find this troubling — particularly in view of the clear wording of the Posse Comitatus act of 1878, described in Wikipedia:

The Posse Comitatus Act is a  United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1385) passed on June 16, 1878, after the end of Reconstruction. The Act prohibits most members of the federal uniformed services  (the Army, Air Force and State national Guard forces (when such are called into federal service) from exercising nominally state law enforcement, police or peace officer powers that maintain “law and order” on non-federal property (states and their counties and municipal divisions) in the former Confederate states.

The statute generally prohibits federal military personnel and units of the National Guard under federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress. The Coast Guard is exempt from the Act.

Schwarzenegger is in charge of the CHP, so he’s perpetrating this outrage, too, along with Bush.

The Posse Comitatus Act is essential to prevent the U.S. military from becoming an oppressive domestic occupation force, like the KGB (the Committee for State Security), the Gestapo (the Geheime Staatspolizei, or Secret State Police), or the Stasi (the Ministry for State Security).

Is this America?

Or is this Gov. Arnold’s native Austria back in 1938-45?

If you get rousted from your bed tonight by a U.S. military official in uniform demanding, “Papers, please! Achtung! Schnell! Schnell!” — you’ll know the answer.

Outrage: West Point footballer exempted from Iraq duty

West Point cadets train to lead men in combat. When a war is on, they get shipped straight to the front.

Not Caleb Campbell, a football star for Army. AP reports:

In full cadet uniform, Army’s Caleb Campbell sat upright in one of Radio City Music Hall’s plush seats. On his head was a Detroit Lions ballcap.

Cupped in his left hand was his ticket out of Iraq.

It was the card the Lions turned in to take Campbell 218th overall on Sunday at the NFL draft, changing his post-graduation plans to lead a platoon, one that may well have seen combat.

“I’m very fortunate,” Campbell said. “Without the Army and the academy … I wouldn’t be able to do this.”

Campbell is the first Army football player to benefit from a new policy allowing athletes with a chance to play professionally to complete their service by serving as recruiters and in the reserves.

He’ll still be an Army officer, just working as a recruiter as he earns millions as a safety for the Lions.

It’s a common story: Rich man’s war, poor man’s fight.

If you’re among the powerful, like Bush, Cheney, and Campbell, you get out of wars and profit from them. If you’re a peon, you fight and die.

World War II heroes

This also shows America’s Elite doesn’t take the Iraq War seriously (despite their lying rhetoric). In World War II, the wealthy as well as sports and showbiz figures were expected to fight, and maybe die.

Joe Kennedy Jr., Glenn Miller, and Leslie Howard were killed in the war.

Ted Williams was a war hero, a fighter ace — then went on to fight in the Korean War. Jimmy Stewart was a decorated bomber pilot; the French gave him the Croix de Guerre, with palm. Robert Montgomery became a lieutenant commander in the Navy. Clark Gable, though in his 40s, according to Wikipedia:

as an observer-gunner in B-17 Flying Fortresses between May 4 and September 23, 1943, [he earned] the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts. Adolf Hitler esteemed Gable above all other actors; during the Second World War he offered a sizable reward to anyone who could capture and bring Gable unscathed to him.

Jackie Robinson wouldn’t break baseball’s infamous “color barrier” until 1947. But in World War II served in the Army and missed combat only because he resisted the Army’s segregation of blacks and was discharged.

My favorite director, John Ford, was a Naval Reserve officer nearing 50 when the war started. He was put in charge of film crews for Naval Intelligence. At the Battle of Midway, he was wounded. He filmed the D-Day invasion. He later became an admiral.

The policy will backfire

Showing its usual cluelessness, the Bush administration thinks this new policy somehow will increase recruits. The opposite will happen as youngsters see the obvious double standard at work.

Instead of Lt. Caleb Campbell going to Iraq, Lt. Kilroy Smith will go. Lt. Smith believed the Army propaganda about “An Army of One” and joined to get help with his college education. Although in good shape, Lt. Smith obviously isn’t an NFL-caliber athlete. Maybe on patrol his reflexes will be a little slower than Lt. Campbell’s would have been, and he’ll get himself and his platoon killed; whereas if Lt. Campbell had been there, everybody would have survived.

In the past, athletes starring at the service academies knew they would not be treated differently. They would have to put in five years of service after graduating. Then they could go to professional sports. Roger Staubach graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, then served in Vietnam. After his service, he joined the Dallas Cowboys as a 27-year-old rookie, and won 2 Super Bowls. He’s in the NFL Hall of Fame.

Napoleon McCallum starred for Navy. He briefly played for the L.A. Raiders while serving in the Navy. But then he began his full-time, five-year “active duty obligation,” as it’s called. After his commitment was met, he again played for the Raiders until a busted knee ended his career. The Navy named the Napoleon McCallum Trophy after him, giving it to the Navy player who gains the most all-purpose yards.

That’s the way it’s supposed to be: You get your free education at the taxpayers’ expense, you fulfill your active duty obligation as a member of the president’s officer corps, maybe you go to war — and only then do you go on to the NFL and make millions.

Caleb Campbell, if he went to Iraq, might get killed or badly wounded. Or he might just get a minor wound — say a broken leg — that would end his NFL career, keeping him from getting those millions.

But at least he would have honorably kept the promise of service he made when he went to West Point.

It’s Pythonesque

West Point’s players are called the Black Knights. That’s because, historically in Europe, the knights got to run things in return for training to defend the country, duchy, principality, etc. Fighting was their job. Jousts were to get ready for fights, not to be just entertainment.

The Caleb Campbell escapade turns the the West Point Black Knights into the Black Knight from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (YouTube here.)

“Tis but a scratch!”