Clackamas, Oregon Mall Rethinks Banning American Flag

To say people were shocked to hear that a major shopping Mall, Clackamas Town Center in Oregon, had informed the operator of a Kiddie Train that he must remove the American Flag he had placed on the train, due to it being “against policy” would be a gross understatement. To think that a local and popular shopping venue would jump on the bandwagon of anti-American flag hysteria was not only unthinkable, but caused a huge uproar in both Oregon and Southwest Washington, from where many drive the 20 miles or more to shop and dine at mall establishments.

A KATU-News Report posted on Sunday, July 29, 2012 told us that Thomas Phelps, manager of the children’s train at the mall, said he was “being forced to remove flags that he uses to decorate the train ride.” Phelps, a Vietnam Veteran, was told displaying the flag was “unapproved visuals.”

I am left to ponder just when did the flag of our nation that has proudly flown and carried into many battles fighting for freedom and liberty around the world become an “unapproved visual” in America?

These last few years we have seen housing associations demand and take to court Medal of Honor recipients to force them to remove an American Flag, TV anchors not willing to wear our flag on their lapels, city vehicles told to remove a flag and even Barack Obama, when a candidate for president stopped wearing the flag of our nation saying,

“I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest. Instead, I’m going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testament to my patriotism.”

Obama also claimed back then,

“the American flag lapel pin has become a substitute for 'true patriotism' since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.”

And Sunday we are told Clackamas Town Center views our flag as an “unapproved visual.”

Even though reported on a Sunday when Mall management would be off, the uproar and outrage at the Mall’s position was immediate, swift and strong as by Monday morning, July 30, 2012 the Mall posted a statement,

“We honor, support and respect what the United States flag represents. The actions and letter that were communicated certainly did not convey that. And for this, we apologize. We can see how many were offended. It was never the intent to offend or show any disrespect. The U.S. flag will remain displayed at the kiddie train and in other locations within the mall. We wholeheartedly support those who fight to allow us and everyone else to display the flag. Clackamas Town Center hosts and sponsors events every year that recognize and honor these and other heroes and will continue to do so.”

Yes, strong and immediate outrage from citizens in both states and hopefully well beyond caused them to rethink their folly.

But it is something that should never have happened. The apology and rescinding of the policy may appease some, but you can bet not all.

The assaults on our flag, even desecrating it, ruled constitutional by the US Supreme Court, must stop! No other flag or symbol in history has stood for freedom and liberty as much as our National Flag. Millions of our citizens have fought and many have sacrificed their lives to free others from oppressive regimes and given the opportunity to choose their own course.

Above all, we should never be ashamed of flying our flag high nor should we cower when political correctness calls on us to hide or take down our flags.

I care not if you are Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or what have you, this is our country and that is our flag. It belongs to all of us and if you are ashamed to display or see it flying, maybe you are in the wrong country.

If my flying my American flag offends, you will just have to deal with it.

Veterans Obama Met With in Portland, Or. Admit It Was a Set-up

Pool Photo/Getty

As I stated in my post, Obama Stages an ‘Unscheduled’ Visit With 3 Veterans in Portland, the “unscheduled,” coincidental meet between Barack Obama and 3 area Veterans was indeed “scheduled.”

All three have now admitted to the Oregonian newspaper that “On Tuesday morning, all three met with a staffer and were driven to the restaurant and arrived shortly before Obama. The three said the restaurant workers and other patrons received notice only a few minutes before the president arrived.”

Also admitted, “All have connections to the Obama reelection campaign and were presumably chosen for good political reasons.”

There is no problem with Obama meeting one on one with any Veteran, but trying to portray it as a circumstantial meeting, just something that happened because Obama is a “regular” guy who mingles with the common folk when it was actually a pre-arranged meeting is deceitful.

I brought this up Tuesday in the Oregonians comments section and was immediately challenged, understandably, for a source.

I replied it was heard over the public airwaves in a live interview with the lady who waited on their table and she admitted to having never seen them before.

That was followed by another challenge, “Who claimed that Obama’s team didn’t ask the vets to meet them there?”

Mike, who challenged the comment, must have missed the prominent use of the word “unscheduled” in the article and ever report on television and radio while Obama was here.

The Oregonians Jeff Mapes also commented with a clarification, “The Obama campaign did indeed arrange the meeting with the three veterans, which is very common for campaigns to do. I should have made that clear in my reporting.”

There too is that little word “unscheduled” used the article and all news reports.

While it is indeed very common for campaigns to arrange meetings with certain people, it is not very common to misrepresent the meeting as “unscheduled” when we know a President stopping in a private business usually entails intense scrutiny from the Secret Service.

The Obama campaign must be desperate, seeing his poll numbers dropping steadily among Military Veterans and Active Duty to attempt such a deceitful act.

But what else have we come to expect from this administration?

I applaud the 3 Veterans for being honest and owning up to the “scheduled” meet.

If only we had a President who was honest.

Obama Stages an ‘Unscheduled’ Visit With 3 Veterans in Portland

What a guy that Barack Obama is, we would be led to believe. Taking time out of his busy golfing schedule to campaign for Millions of dollars in donations across the country and when visiting Portland, Oregon yesterday, July 24, 2012, just happened to stop at a little out of the way Breakfast Restaurant for a quick bite while on his way to lunch and just happened to run into and sit down with 3 Veterans who also just happened to be in the restaurant for the very first time, it turns out.

Pool photos/Getty

All just by coincidence, we are supposed to believe.

Ignore that wherever a President intends to visit, it inspected days in advance by agents of the Secret Service who also sweep the place moments before they enter and hold everybody there once he arrives until he leaves.

No, just ignore all of the Standard Operating Procedures to believe that Obama, trying desperately to appear like just a regular guy, as his poll numbers amongst Veterans continues sliding, just happened to stumble into such a prime setting to counter challenger Mitt Romney’s speaking before the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Reno, Nevada.

Television, radio and print media were all a gushing over Obama’s happenchance meeting Tuesday with the 3 Vets he coincidentally ran into at Portland’s Gateway Breakfast House on Halsey.

But, a closer look shows it probably was not so coincidental after all.

As reported in the Obama Foodorama Blog, Los Angeles Times, Tribune Washington Bureau pool reporter Michael Memoli was supplied bios of the 3 Veterans by the Obama campaign in the pool report.

-Dean Dilley from Portland
Dean enlisted in the U.S. Army 1972 when he was 20 years old. He served for three years, from 1972-1975 as a supply specialist. He retired from American Honda Motor Company in 2009, where he worked as a stock and material handler and is currently a volunteer for Obama for America.

Dean says that health care is the issue that is most important to him, particularly as he is getting older. He is also focused on veterans-related issues and says he is grateful for the President’s commitment to supporting veterans like himself.

-Mark Peterson from Portland
Mark is a retired veteran. He served in the Air Force and Air National Guard for 27 years, from 1966 – 1993. In the Air Force, he was rated as a Navigator and flew B-52s as an Electronic Warfare Officer and in the Air National Guard he was a Weapons System Officer in F-4s and F-101s. Following his service he worked as a CPA, and retired around 2006.

Mark is focused on health care and foreign policy. He is thankful for his military benefits and Medicare coverage, but as the father of two disabled children, he knows a lot of people who have had problems with coverage, so he knows how important it is to have access to quality, affordable health care.

-Thomas Foeller from Oak Grove
Tom is a retired Vietnam War era veteran. He enlisted in the Navy Reserves in 1967 during his junior year at Portland State University because he wanted to serve his country. He left the Navy Reserves as a lieutenant in 1976. He served for a total of nine years; four of those were active duty. He was a member of the Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit and spent six months stationed in Japan, then six months in Guam while on call to deploy to Vietnam. His unit never received the call to deploy.

Tom retried from a career in the housing industry six years ago. At the time of his retirement, Tom was diagnosed with stage III rectal cancer, during a routine physical. He believes that had the Affordable Care Act – and the emphasis on preventative care – been in place a decade or two ago, he would have caught his cancer earlier and could have saved tens of thousands of dollars in healthcare costs.

So much for Obama’s “coincidental,” just happened to stop in an out of the way little place and stumble across 3 Veterans eager to discuss healthcare with him.

Of particular interest, Dean Dilley just “coincidentally” happens to be a “volunteer” with Obama for America.

The lady who served their table admitted she had never seen the Veterans in there before in a live interview mid-afternoon, indicating they were not regulars.

But we are to believe this was all just a coincidental meeting, unscheduled and just happened to unfold, unplanned.

Yeah, right. I just fell off of the turnip truck too.

Sorry Obama, but we Veterans are not so easily manipulated and fooled.

UPDATE: Two of the Veterans, Thomas Foeller and Dean Dilley, the Obama for America volunteer had agreed to an interview on a local talk show, but cancelled telling the shows producer that someone from the Obama Campaign would be in touch with them. Hmmmmmmm.

ABC = Always Blame Conservatives

In continuing what I previously posted in Malfeasance of the Jurassic Media on Yet Another Tragedy, concerning the media’s rapid effort to report news and how they often get it wrong, news comes now of how ABC (Always Blame Conservatives) News network seems to have got it wrong on something else in their reporting on the tragic shooting this past week in Aurora, Colorado.

I’m sure you all recall the earlier ABC News report quoting the suspects Mother as saying, “You Have the Right Person.”

I know I am not the only one whose eyebrow was raised over such a quote. How could a person some 1100 miles away, woken up at 5 am and told her son was arrested for something she had no knowledge of be able to so cavalierly state “You Have the Right Person?”

What did she know that she didn’t speak? Why wasn’t want she knew reported to anyone who might have prevented the heinous act? How could someone with such knowledge just sit back and wait until it happened and then say what she was quoted as saying?

All sorts of questions entered my own mind as I am sure it did yours too.

As it turns out, what she says she said is not exactly as ABC quoted her.

A report from Politico quotes Holmes’ mother, speaking through her attorney as saying her words that morning were actually,

“I was awakened by a call from a reporter by ABC on July 20 about 5:45 in the morning. I did not know anything about a shooting in Aurora at that time. He asked if I was Arlene Holmes and if my son was James Holmes who lives in Aurora, Colorado. I answered yes, you have the right person. I was referring to myself. I asked him to tell me why he was calling and he told me about a shooting in Aurora. He asked for a comment. I told him I could not comment because I did not know if the person he was talking about was my son, and I would need to find out.”

ABC made their claim in the same article where they got it wrong by trying to link the suspect to the Tea Party in Colorado, misidentifying another John Holmes as the possible suspect who was some 30 years older than the actual suspect.

ABC issued a somewhat apology for getting that one wrong, but they are not apologizing for this one. No, ABC is standing by their reporter, Matthew Mosk in another article with the charged headline of Alleged Colorado Gunman’s Family Stands by Son, only acknowledging their quote was being challenged deeper in the article.
Holmes’ mother, Arlene Holmes asked through her attorney, Lisa Damiani for a recording of the call, but none exists. Then Damiani read the statement from Mrs. Holmes’ clarifying what she said.

I find her version much more plausible over ABC reporter Matthew Mosk as her version makes sense. It clears up the questions raised of why she would just blurt out so quickly “you have the right person.”

Few of us in the pacific Time Zone knew what had happened earlier in Aurora at 5 am and I can only imagine what I would say, being woken up so early by such a call.

ABC should apologize for this additional slip up and get some reporters that “get it right” and not cast aspersions on people they interview under such conditions.

The public is not served by any media that I so quick to get a story out that they get so much wrong, especially given that in the case of the wrong John Holmes, he began receiving threats from many who apparently ignored ABC’s weak apology over misidentifying him as the suspect who just shot up a theater, murdering 12 people and injuring over 50 others.

I find it incredible how so many, especially liberals, are so quick to avoid Fox News as unreliable due to their giving fair coverage to conservatives, but place so much faith in ABC who has now shown their main effort appears to be “Always Blame Conservatives.”

If they got this one so horribly wrong, you must wonder just what all else have they gotten wrong in regards to the Tea party, conservatives and conservative causes and that they reported as factual?

What other members of the “Jurassic Media” have followed suit and also misreported things?

A Little Reminder On Gun Bans

A little reminder as we see the inevitable cry of the gun-grabbers to ban guns again in the wake of the tragic shootings in Aurora, Colorado. The emotional testimony of Suzanna Gratia-Hupp who witnessed her parents being gunned down in the 1991 Luby’s Restaurant shooting in Killeen, Texas. She owned a gun, but left it locked in the glove box of her car to be in compliance with the law banning guns in restaurants then.

35-year-old George Pierre Hennard did not care about complying with the law and slaughtered 23 people while wounding another 20 before committing suicide.

Malfeasance of the Jurassic Media on Yet Another Tragedy

Once again a tragedy has struck a community and multiple people have been gunned down by a lone gunman, reasons unknown. Aurora, Colorado is the latest victim having to deal with such tragedy as we woke this morning to read of 12 dead; 59 wounded in the Aurora Sentinel.

Later reports have identified the shooter as 24 year-old graduate student and PhD candidate, James Holmes, who was arrested in the Century 16 Theater parking lot shortly after the melee.

Although any reason he had to commit such a heinous murder spree remains unknown, once again we see the media, ABC’s Brian Ross specifically leaping to assign blame and point fingers at those who have absolutely no connection to the tragic murders.





In the haste to build ratings, make a profit and get a scoop, an innocent man living in Aurora who unfortunately has a similar name was tied to the shooting with no one at ABC contacting either him or the Tea Party in Aurora to make any confirmation. As it turns out, the man linked by Ross is in his 50’s and has absolutely no connection to the shooter 3 decades younger.

ABC has issued an apology, but that doesn’t do much for the innocent man who has received so many hate calls over his telephone morning that he has had to have his telephone shut off.

While an apology is the least of what ABC should issue, it does not remove Brian Ross’s erroneous linkage that has been seen and continues to spread, those people already seeking any reason to continue the false claims of the Tea Party being out of control gun nuts ready to latch onto any weak claim they can to further their own hate.

This is not the first time the media or ABC has engaged in such ‘yellow journalism,’ “biased opinion masquerading as objective fact that often involves sensationalism, distorted stories, and misleading images for the sole purpose of boosting newspaper sales and exciting public opinion.”

Can we forget how CBS’s Dan Rather became embroiled in such allegations in the 2004 Presidential campaign with the “False but accurate” memo scandal he purported to have uncovered that resulted in his resignation?

Those are hardly lone examples of such media malfeasance. We saw it in 1995 with horrific bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as media and then President B.J. Clinton quickly leveled allegations that popular conservative radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh was at fault, following that same false connection again in 2011 immediately after the tragic shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords in January of that year.

We saw it in 2010 when a lone man flew his aircraft into an FBI building in Austin Texas and ramblings he left in a note were erroneously linked to Tea Party involvement, even though his friends that knew him said he was in no way connected to the Tea Party.

We saw it in 2009 when MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer doctored a report linking a Black Man attending a second amendment rally blocks away and hours before an Obama town-hall meeting to claim White Racism directed at Obama.

With little known about this shooter, ABC was quick on the gun to link him to the Tea Party. The apology later means little as the link was made on national television to falsely link someone not associated in any manner with the event to the heinous act.

There is no effort to confirm before such reports are quickly aired.

With a growing move towards legalizing marijuana, there is no effort to discover if maybe the shooter was also a pot smoker.

There is a Private Investigator making claims of Holmes being part of the Black Bloc group loosely involved at Occupy Rally’s, but is his link any stringer than what ABC’s Bran Ross used? Until such evidence becomes available, I can only list his claim as specious as well.

In the wake of the erroneous ABC report, the Colorado Tea Party released the following statement:

“The Colorado Tea Party Patriots and the Tea Party Patriots are saddened to hear of the death and wounding of theater goers in Aurora, Colorado. The member of the Colorado Tea Party Patriots, Jim Holmes, age 52 is not the same person who has been identified as the shooter.”

“The attempts of some media organizations to characterize the shooter as a Tea Party member without having made any effort to contact our organization are shameless and reprehensible.”

“Shameless and reprehensible” is the least of what comes to mind. Whether a result of an effort to scoop others or a deliberate attempt to create a negative link, it is irresponsible and must be stopped. There is no excuse for these continuing false linkage claims to the Tea Party or conservatives in America.

The claims are lies and the media should not be permitted to hide behind their first amendment right to “freedom of the press.”

I have no idea what will come of this false report, but Brian Ross should resign or be fired as well as any other “journalist” who makes such false claims. They have happened too often now to believe they are just slips.

They are bright and shining examples of why many refer to our media as the “Jurassic Media” and many people no longer buy the newspapers and viewership continues to decline.

A free media is essential to a free country. But biased media stretching news reports to false or specious allegations with no verification is nothing more than manipulative journalism.

Little wonder many people look down at journalists.

From Sea to Shining Sea, Veterans Memorials Continue Under Assault

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.” - John Stuart Mill English economist & philosopher (1806 - 1873)

War is indeed an ugly thing and those who are sent to one pay a steep price, some paying the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives. We are known for giving honors and respects to those who fall in battle protecting our country and erect Memorials to honor the fallen across the land

It wasn’t always like that, though. Prior to World War One, few Memorials existed in the world and of those erected, such Memorials like The Arc de Triomphe in Paris or Nelson’s Column in London bore no names, the war dead often just shoveled into mass unmarked graves.

In the late 19th century, the British Army began erecting small monuments listing the names of their dead from small Imperial Wars. Our own Confederate Monument in Arlington Cemetery was not erected until early in the 20th century.

While there were monuments erected to great military victories, few were erected to honor those who sacrificed much in those victories.

That would change after World War One as Britain and France decided to “construct governmentally designed cemeteries” to recognize the “massive devastation and loss of life.”

Although entering very late in the war, America followed suit and Memorials to our fallen began springing up across the country to honor the fallen warriors’ and give the families and Veterans who bear the visible and invisible scars of their war a place of respite and to reminisce with fallen buddies.

To Veterans, each Memorial sits on hallowed ground and is a sacred place where we take honoring our fallen brothers and sisters very seriously.

For most of our history this has not been problem for any in the country or if it did offend then, knew better than to incur the wrath of Veterans in honoring our fallen.

But that seems to have changed as we see atheist groups and members of the ACLU leaping at any chance to seek to destroy our Memorials, claiming they violate some “establishment clause” they think gives them the right to not have to look at our Memorials in public places if they may contain any symbol those malcontents deem “religious” in nature.

As atheists, often with the willing help of the ACLU have decided they can wipe out references to God within the country, Veterans Memorials have become the target as most contain some sort of symbol related to religion, as the majority in the country do hold some religious view, even more so at the time many of our Memorials were erected.

Veterans, families and community leaders opted for such symbols to offer solace and comfort as people who visit the Memorials to honor the fallen and would often pray that their souls were received by the Heavenly Father.

Where those who may not believe in God or hold to a mainstream religious view once would honor the fallen at such Memorials silently, tolerating others expressing their views toward religion openly, now lawsuits are springing up across the country to have the Memorials destroyed or disfigured in such a manner to remove the symbols of religion that brought so many comfort as they remembered those who did not come back.

From Southern California to Rhode Island, Veterans Memorials are under assault with courts alternately ruling they must be torn down or covered as was the case deep in the Mojave Desert where a simple cross erected by World War One Veterans stood for some 70 years. As the courts gave approval for it to remain, vandals removed it in the dead of night, bringing on another lawsuit to block a replacement Memorial to be erected in the same fashion as the previous one.

San Diego is still the battle ground in a decade’s long case trying to save the Mt. Soledad Memorial from the bulldozers blade, after standing in its present location silently, ready to offer comfort to any who visit it for over 50 years.

Memorials have been being vandalized and defaced these last few years, but none of us expected it to be the courts that would approve the destruction of a Veterans Memorial due to it having a symbol of religion upon it when erected decades before many of us were born.

But that is what we see coming from atheist groups and the ACLU across the country as word of two more Veterans Memorials coming under assault in two other states reaches us.

Even though atheists lost in their initial court challenge to have the Statue of Jesus removed from atop a mountain at Whitefish Mountain Resort ski area in Montana, The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has launched anew efforts to have the courts mandate the destruction of a simple statue of Jesus, erected in the “1950′s by Knights of Columbus World War II veterans who wanted to commemorate the service of fallen soldiers.”

It is said the simple Memorial statue was inspired by similar statues these Veterans saw alongside mountains as they fought their way across Europe in World War Two.

That matters little to this group of atheists who label it a “ruse and a sham” claiming it “insults and excludes the many ‘atheists in foxholes’ and non-Christian veterans who defended our country.”

There is no desire to erect another Memorial of their liking, just destroy the one that brings others comfort.

Attorneys with the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) are fighting the Wisconsin based FFRF, but need our help in the way of signing petitions calling on our Memorials to be left alone as well as any who can should donate what funds they have to help defray the legal costs as this atheist group is also targeting another Veterans Memorial.

The well funded FFRF has sent a letter to the town of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, demanding the town disfigure a Memorial erected 91-years ago to “honor the city’s war dead, including three brothers killed in World War I.”

Rebecca Market, FFRF senior staff attorney wrote the town, “We ask that you immediately remove the cross from the Fire Station parking lot and remove the prayer and angel from the Woonsocket Fire Department website.”

Even the simple Fireman’s Prayer doesn't escape the hate of religion and God from this atheist group.

Although the town’s mayor, Leo T. Fontaine vowed the cross will remain, he also admits that the town is in deep financial troubles, much like every other town in America right now and cannot afford a costly legal battle with the FFRF hate group. Therefore, he says they may end up having to move it to a piece of private property.

As for the angel and prayer on the town website, Fire Chief Gary Lataille says he has “no plans of removing them from the WFD’s web site.”

As a layman with no legal training, I am struck wondering just how it is if our first right listed in our Bill of Rights says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” that atheists groups can pervert our Bill of Rights and have government decree the destruction of religious symbols on our Veterans Memorials that have stood proudly and silently for decades without bothering anybody.

How is it that a small group of hate filled atheists can twist our laws to call for the destruction and disfigurement of Memorials erected on what was private land when built, but was taken over by government and now, such places of honor must be destroyed?

We must stand up and push back against these malcontents who feel their feigned offense at our Memorials grants them the right to remove our places of solace. We must fight to protect what is ours.

After all, if they succeed in destroying these Veterans Memorials, what might they target next?

If you ever wonder why God has allowed this country to slip into such disrepair and our people to continue suffering through several disasters, just remember that you sat back and did nothing as he was kicked out.

Rob McKenna Favors Letting Homosexuals into the Boy Scouts

It seems that Rob McKenna is finally stripping away any semblance to conservatism that he once tried to mask himself in. It’s almost as if he has decided conservatives and our values mean absolutely nothing and he expects liberal Democrats to flee Jay Inslee and vote for him instead.

Most of us realize he is a moderate, a RINO if you will and has taken strides to prove he opposes many conservative values while issuing statements at times that he might have some support for conservatism.

We saw this as he scrambled to perform damage control after he let it be known he disagreed with the rest of the conservative Republicans on appealing Obamacare after the Supreme Court ruled it constitutional as a tax penalty.

We saw it as he fought all the way to the Supreme Court to release the names, addresses and signatures of all those people who signed R-71, the referendum to allow or deny the “everything but marriage” domestic partnership law, even though it was well known by him that homosexual activists wanted to information to contact people opposed to their agenda and have “uncomfortable conversations” with them.

Some of us thought maybe he was waking up when he said he opposed homosexual marriage, but after today I even question if he really does or was just blowing smoke.

As most of us know, the Boy Scouts of America placed a complete ban on homosexuals volunteering as leaders in Scout Troops long ago after a series of scathing lawsuits and scandals involving homosexual pedophile adult men that had molested some of the young boys.

While I have been assured by some homosexuals I know that not all homosexuals are pedophiles and I have no reason to question that, how is one to tell which ones are and which ones may be? They don’t wear signs, after all.

Pedophiles that molest little girls are not likely to want to be Boy Scout leaders as their perversion is girls, not boys.

But to protect the young boys that are in the Boy Scouts, the BSA imposed a ban on allowing any homosexuals to volunteer and recently reaffirmed their two decade old ban that has withstood a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.

It is a sensible policy to prevent a repeat of what was seen years ago and to protect young boys from predators.

Rob McKenna seems to disagree with trying to protect small boys in the Boy Scouts as he came out today saying he disagreed with the Boy Scouts ban on homosexuals

McKenna campaign spokesman Charles McCray said McKenna has had

“some initial conversations with other Boy Scout volunteers in the state on how at least locally, the leaders out here could encourage the national organization to reconsider the national policy,” adding that removing the ban on homosexuals “[is]something that is on his radar.”

McKenna claims he opposes the states recently legislated homosexual marriage, but doesn’t oppose letting young boys possibly face homosexual predators again?

Fortunately, we Washington State voters have a choice in Shahram Hadian, conservative Republican running for governor and who the establishment WSRP marginalizes as they promote RINO Rob McKenna.

Hadian’s campaign issued a statement this afternoon on the Boy Scouts ban,

“I applaud the boy scouts for standing on the core convictions and principles of their 102-year old organization. The Boy Scouts are a private organization, and as such, have every right to determine their membership and their values. The State of Washington, Governor Gregoire, Rob McKenna, and Jay Inslee have no business trying to force this private organization to change their policies to include homosexuals. I am proud of the Boy Scouts for standing on family values, and on maintaining the integrity of their historic organization.”

Hadian sees the importance of protecting our young from predators. McKenna would prefer to allow predators’ once again free access to young boys who join the Boy Scouts of America. Rob McKenna claims to have been an Eagle Scout, the highest rank achievable for boys in Scouting. Did he forget the oath we all took as Boy Scouts?

On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight

It makes no sense to me that Rob McKenna, allegedly a Republican would favor giving homosexual predators’ open access to young boys again.

It makes no sense to me that I would be expected to support and vote for Rob McKenna knowing he would do so when there is a strong conservative candidate ready to lead our state courageously out of this mess we have been in for some time.

I urge you all to join me in wanting to protect our children from predators’ by voting for Shahram Hadian, governor of Washington State.

Just How Uncivil Can Democrats Get?

“At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized - at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do – it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.”

Barack Obama January 12, 2011

Simple words spoken by Barack Obama shortly after the tragic and senseless shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona in January 2011. Words many thought might help quell the rising rhetoric and unsubstantiated blaming of the shooting on any and everything conservative or Republican.

And words all too many Democrats ignored as their party whipped people into a lynch mob frenzy of hate towards President George W. Bush during his 8 years in office and since.

Words that today many Democrats like to throw back at Republicans after they finish assailing a Republican and tired of just taking it all of the time, the Republican throws back at them.

There has always been spirited discussions, friendly ribbing or heated arguments between people of different ideology, but we used to be able to put that aside and accomplish much together.

Those days seem far in the past as ever since President narrowly won the 2000 election, Democrats have increased the pitch of their vitriol to the point that even children singing God Bless The USA are not exempt any longer as they lash out at the children of conservatives and Republicans.




We even see such meanness locally and increasing as once again, we are in an election year for the Presidency and several other offices at state and local level.

It has been reported to me that while one of our female candidates was out doorbelling neighborhoods with her grandson, as candidates from both parties do, the vitriol we have seen increasing from liberals came at her from not just one, but two households in the same neighborhood.

She said, “Yesterday while out walking a precinct I encountered a man who asked me whether I was Democrat or Republican. I obviously answered Republican to wit he yelled ‘You have to be f***ing stupid in the head if after George Bush and Dick Cheney you are still a Republican! Get off my property’!”

She left and met up with her grandson walking back from the home next door. The grandson reported that when he rang the door bell and the homeowner answered, he said, “Hello, I am out ringing doors today to pass out flyers for my grandmother who is running for the state house. She is a great woman. May I give you this flyer sir?”

The man grabbed the flyer from the boys’ hands saying “your grandma sucks” while ripping it up in front of him and throwing it on the ground.

Is this really what our community has descended to, adults insulting and cussing children for supporting their grandmother if she is a Republican?

It’s bad enough with sign vandalism and theft out of people’s yards, but to attack children and cuss out a female candidate who stops by your door just to introduce herself is just getting to be much.

We joke about Jehovah’s Witnesses stopping by to proselytize and even they receive better treatment than Democrats now show candidates.

I hope these two insensitive hate filled neighbors are in a distinct minority and the rest of you will stop and think about what you are doing and why you hate others so much.

Candidates, Democrat, Republican and Independent deserve better. They have volunteered to stick their necks out to try to improve the conditions of our community and to represent all of us in the community at the state government.

They know not everybody is receptive to their ideas and message, but a polite no thank you is all that needs said, especially if a child wishes to share a flyer on behalf of his grandmother.

It’s long past time we took to heart once again the words of Abraham Lincoln spoken back in 1858, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

The country was on the brink of collapse to the point that we ended up in a bloody civil war with brother killing brother.

Are we far away from a repeat when even children are cussed out at your door and you cannot find a civil word to say to someone because their political views differ from yours?

Disagreeing is not racist or even demeaning, it’s just disagreeing.

Democrats have long demanded civility, but I have yet to see any coming from many within the party membership.

Wake up, People. The rhetoric about Republicans want you to die, war on women, want to starve your children, steal from you and such is a lie. Why do you fall for the divisive rhetoric coming at you in campaign emails and through the Television from party leaders?

Most of all think about what you are teaching your own children in how to address others, you included when they grow older and disagree with you.

Celebrate Heterosexuality

We’re Straight – It’s Great – Get Used to It!

https://www.facebook.com/HeteroAwarenessMonth

They Get The Goldmine, We Get The Shaft

California has long been known as the “Golden State,” noted for the Gold Rush Days of the mid-1800’s with that nickname being officially adopted in 1968. For many years, California was seen as one of the wealthiest states and the destination of many seeking to make their fortune in the world along with several International Businesses that located there.

But California’s leaders just like our leaders in Washington D.C. lost track somewhere along the line as both that state and the nation now each hold the largest debt in our history, California’s exceeding $300 Billion and the United States exceeding $16 Trillion with both still climbing.

We have gone from the wealthiest land to the deepest in debt on the planet, with money owed to just about every other developed nation, large bank, insurance companies and Wall Street as politicians continue selling us down the river towards collapse.

Perhaps reflecting back on the canard of how FDR saved the country during the Great Depression, politicians today seem to feel all they need do is keep spending massive amounts of money in pork barrel and so called infrastructure projects to see the country thrive again. We all know how Roosevelt is credited with leading the country out of the Depression with his public works projects, but that is not the truth of what happened.

In reality, he prolonged the Great Depression. World War Two was just a temporary boost to the economy that saw the economy teetering on a return to pre-war days of Depression as millions of returning G.I.’s had no jobs to go to, the war industry being no longer needed.

In opposition to the desires of then President Truman, who wanted to restart the Roosevelt public works projects, Republicans and Conservative Democrats (yes, there really did use to be such a thing) held firm and cut taxes to individuals and industry, spurring growth that supplied jobs.

Unfortunately, the progress was short lived as the Korean War broke out in 1950, devouring much of our revenue and necessitating increasing taxes once again, as noted by the Wall Street Journal and the CATO Institute.

Fast forward to 2012, another election year as we hear Barack Obama touting his record and saying he has the nation’s economy “heading in the right direction.”

Like California, Obama seems to think all that needs done is keep spending us into oblivion, take over industry where possible and just raises taxes while borrowing more and more from the corporations he complains about having too much money, hit China up for a few Billion more or just print money out of thin air with nothing to back it.

California shows their folly by approving adding a potential $203 Billion more in debt on top of their already well over $300 Billion debt for a short high speed rail line that is not needed at this time.

Our own local political leaders are pushing for us to follow suit by their adding up to a $10 Billion additional debt on us for a new bridge across the Columbia River, all designed to force us to accept Portland, Oregon’s light rail system that we have repeatedly rejected when allowed to vote on it.

But Obama speaks of leading in the “right direction” even though his policies of “spending stimulus, housing bailouts, auto bailouts, financial bailouts, cash for clunkers, cash for caulkers, and $5 trillion in deficit spending” has resulted in the Joint Economic Committee releasing a report saying “the Obama recovery now ranks dead last in modern times” reported in an article by Lawrence Kudlow in the July 7, 2012 New York Sun.

Kudlow says, “That’s a real milestone in the post-WWII era. It’s ten out of ten for both jobs and economic growth. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, real GDP has expanded only 6.7% over the eleven-quarter recovery since the recession ended. The Reagan recovery at the same stage had increased by 17.6%. The Clinton recovery by 8.7%.”

As Obama speaks of the economic problems “built up over decades,” he sounds as if everybody from Reagan on, to include B.J. Clinton are to blame, not him.

Add to this now that we will soon be facing over20 new taxes and untold restrictions on us from Obamacare, thanks to Chief Justice John Roberts who in essence rewrote the bill for Obama to find it constitutional as a “tax” over a mandate to force us into purchasing government approved health insurance policies.

Obama frequently points behind him to tell us just “how bad everything was” before him. We are to believe everything wrong today is “Bush’s Fault.” But the numbers from Obama’s own Bureau of Labor Statistics shows much different.

When Democrats took both houses of congress in 2007, unemployment was at 4.6%, down from a high of 6.3% as we recovered from the Clinton recession and the attacks of September 11, 2001.

When Democrats got full control of the government and Obama was inaugurated in 2009, unemployment was at 7.8%, soon to exceed 10% after his “stimulus” to prevent unemployment from exceeding 8% was passed into law and signed by him.

We are now in our forty-first straight month above 8% unemployment with the U-6 unemployment, those who have given up looking or are underemployed, sitting at or right near 15%.

All the while, Obama ignores and does not take any credit for a massive increase in people having to rely on food stamps to feed their families.

Instead, Obama and California continue pumping scarce tax dollars in failing Green ventures like Solyndra and overly expensive public transportation policies like California’s High Speed Rail that few will use and our own “locally preferred alternative,” a massive bridge that fails to meet U.S. Coast Guard Standards and Federal Aviation Administration at the same time, has sucked up nearly $150 Million with nothing but worthless paper to show for the cost so far while we brace for more and more taxes from all levels of government and businesses continue to struggle, unable to expand from the burden of government fees, regulations, taxes and restrictions.

In 1982, the popular singer Jerry Reed released a song addressing divorce, She Got The Goldmine, I Got The Shaft.

If we can’t divorce ourselves from these Big Government policies implemented by Obama and the Democrats, by voting as many of them out at all levels as possible, they, the public employee unions and bureaucrats’ in government will be getting the Gold Mine while you and I continue to get the shaft.

Vote as if you and your children’s future depend on this election.

Because it does.

Cruise-in Fundraiser for the Clark County Veterans Therapeutic Court

The itsy-bitsy spider Climbed up the water spout Down came the rain And washed the spider out

Out came the sun And dried up all the rain And the itsy-bitsy spider Climbed up the spout again

As we get older and our children have grown and began families of their own, we tend to forget little things we heard from our parents to teach us how to handle our own adulthood. We use them for our own small children, but once they are grown and gone, little lullaby’s like above seem to slip from our minds.

Perhaps you’re wondering just what a children’s lullaby has to do with the Clark County Veterans Court Board or feel lullaby’s have no place in dealing with troubled Veterans, but this one does.

It provides a very simple message to all of us, “don’t give up.”

Those few Veterans experiencing trouble readjusting and the community both need to remember to never give up on each other. Veterans, don’t give up on yourselves either.

Our community not giving up is the premise behind the Veterans Court Board that “provides a means to successfully rehabilitate veterans by diverting them from the traditional criminal justice system and providing them with the tools they need to lead a productive and law-abiding life through treatment, rehabilitative programming, reinforcement and judicial monitoring.”

Even though few in number, every Veteran deserves a chance before they go too far and let their particular demons take over them.

As much as the Veteran needs to not give up, the community can do much to also not give up. Qualified community members can apply to be a mentor to these Veterans, but even if you don’t qualify as a mentor, the Court can use your donations to remain in existence to continue helping these Veterans.

While donations to support the Veterans Court can be made at any branch of the Columbia Credit Union or by mailing a check to P.O. Box 61628 Vancouver, WA 98666, public events are scheduled too for the community’s enjoyment and to seek donations.

July 14, 2012 is the next scheduled event and promises to be very entertaining. A Press Release received from the Court says,

“On behalf of the Clark County Veterans Court, Jett Burger Cafe, located at 3531 SE 2nd Ave., Camas, WA 98607, (360) 335-1430 will be hosting a free Cruise-in Concert to benefit veterans in Southwest Washington. On Saturday, July 14, 2012 the entertainment will start at 2 pm with One of a Kind Drumline who has performed at the Rose Garden. Siarra Edmondson performs at 3 pm and 4 pm. Jesse Wade Holyk at 3:30 pm and 5 pm. Ashton Rogers at 4:30 pm and 6 pm and award winning vocalist Petya Grozeva at 5:30 pm and 6:30 pm. Internationally Acclaimed Classical Guitarist Ernesto Quilban will perform for an hour at 7 pm and World Ranked Elvis Tribute Artist Mark Stevenz closes out the concert at 8 pm.”

See Cruise-in Flyer here.

Also scheduled is a special appearance by Col. Dan Kern and some other surprise performers and free gifts and face painting for children, a free fun day filled with entertainment and surprises for all who can attend. And any donation you make will go to help those few troubled and deserving Veterans.

In the late 1980’s, Carly Simon released a song, “Coming Around Again” and combined it with “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” one of my favorites. The chorus goes,

“I know nothing stays the same
But if you're willing to play the game
It's coming around again
So don't mind if I fall apart
There's more room in a broken heart”

Anybody who has served in war will not be the same. But let’s help those few who need and deserve it by “playing the game,” supporting our Clark County Veterans Therapeutic Court before they reach the point of “falling apart” by helping to mend, not so much a broken heart, but possibly a broken or damaged spirit.

Those few deserve our help in “coming around again” to be productive law-abiding citizens.

Enjoy Ms. Simon as she sings her song, but let’s also support our Veterans Therapeutic Court by coming out July 14.

You will have a fun day.

About Obama's Health Insurance Mandates

He lied!

The Shame of America, Homeless Veterans

Once again, we celebrate our Independence from Britain over 200 years ago. We will enjoy backyard barbecues, community picnics, fireworks displays or just a pleasant time enjoying friends and family, many people receiving the day off from work. We’ll hear speeches and thanks given out for why we are a free country, those few throughout our history who have stood in the fire to fight for and protect our freedoms.

Tomorrow, everything will return to normal, though. Forgotten by all too many will be the fleeting words of praise given to Veterans of all past wars as people return to business as usual and Veterans will be shoved off into the back corners of people’s minds until the next time a holiday rolls around and some politician feels they need to score a few points.

All too many really don’t care very much about the sacrifices of our Veterans and this can be readily seen in politicians and our media, who sees Veterans as little more than props to score points against an opponent or to sell newspapers or build ratings by flashy reports.

We claim deep respect and admiration for our Veterans and Military and many individuals actually do hold deep respect for them. But, all too many do not. To many we are little more than tools to promote their agenda. To others, we are damaged and something to be fearful of, afraid we may “go off” at any time.

I covered part of this years ago in the posts Veterans, Warriors and Heroes, not Victims and America’s Veterans, A Better Breed.

In spite of the occasional lip service given, too many Veterans still struggle seeking employment when they return to civilian life. Naturally, if they cannot find employment, they become homeless, living on the street.

It is refreshing the read a press release Labor Department Announces Grants to Train Homeless Vets from the Department of Defense saying, “The Labor Department today awarded 90 grants totaling more than $20 million to fund job training and support services that officials said will help more than 11,000 veterans succeed in civilian careers.”

Well meaning, I am sure, but it ignores the root causes of high unemployment and homelessness seen in today’s Veterans. Yes, we remain in deep economic recession and everybody is struggling, but unemployment amongst our Veterans remains well above that of civilian counterparts, sitting at 12.7% currently according to Rex Huppke of the Chicago Tribune and syndicated in the Olympian.

Huppke is right where he says “Veterans deserve [a] fair shake in [the] job market,” and in mentioning why Veterans are not receiving a fair shake, “a lack of preparedness for the transition to civilian life to an unwarranted concern by employers that all veterans carry psychological baggage that could lead to on-the-job problems.”

Even in his article he commits the very act that compels employers to shy away from Veterans when he quotes Texas-based psychiatrist Harry Croft saying, “it’s incumbent on employers to learn about PTSD and its symptoms. That will help them better understand what a veteran might be experiencing in day-to-day life,” and “companies should have someone available for veterans to speak with in confidence, preferably a person familiar with PTSD.”

Scant mention is made of Croft’s other words that PTSD “can range from mild to debilitating” or that only 20% of returning Iraq or Afghanistan Vets will suffer any PTSD symptoms at all.

Croft does mention speaking with HR people who say, “We want to hire these veterans, but we can’t ask if they have PTSD,” and “We’re worried that violence could erupt in the workplace or whether other employees could catch PTSD.”

Huppke stops well short of mentioning his own mediums culpability in why employers hold “an unwarranted concern,” as expressed from Croft.

Stop and think back over the years of this current war. Compare how many times you read or viewed reports of the heroic actions of our Troops compared to claims of atrocities or murderous acts of a few who may have served?

Our media has devoted many hours of broadcast time and pages of print informing of every time a veteran does wrong. But how often do you read of a Veteran’s actions saving someone? Or serving in his community in some charitable fashion?

Stories of the good acts of Veterans, that in reality far outweigh the few who do commit criminal acts, don’t sell papers nor do they attract viewers. After all, good stories and reports on Veterans do not fit in with the axiom, “if it bleeds it leads.”

It is totally hypocritical of the media to report on employers being unwilling to hire Veterans when it is they who perpetuate the myth of the Deranged Veteran with their strong coverage of the few who do wrong, always making sure to mention they are a Veteran, and give little or no counter coverage to the huge amount of good Veterans do for their individual community.

It is they who instill the thought of Veterans of going berserk in the workplace as they publish report after report of PTSD Veterans while not acknowledging how small the numbers actually are, misleading employers to believe it is all of us.

They do not report to employers of the highly skilled abilities learned in the Military or how those skills could easily be worked into their place of business. They do not report how the discipline and sense of duty learned by Veterans would mean tasks done on time, complex problems worked out with the utmost of ability. They simply ignore the importance of teamwork taught Veterans to accomplish a mission would easily translate to greater cooperation in the work place.

Mentioned above was the fear that PTSD could be caught by others at work as it if were a common cold. PTSD is not communicable.

But, a sense of working together, leading others and cooperation that Veterans had to use in the Military is caught by others.

Devoting funds to help Veterans return to civilian life is great. But money doesn’t solve everything. NO amount of money can overcome the misperception of Veterans the media teaches people.

The truth about who and what we Veterans are could accomplish much more.

Is It Clear Enough Yet?

Vote this election as if it were our last, it very well might be.