Awesome Bumper Sticker

Wednesday, September 19, 2007 2:12 pm Daniel J. Summers

Saw this today…

EITHER get behind our troops, or get in FRONT of them.

Just awesome! :)

Do Not Bend

Monday, September 11, 2006 1:15 pm Daniel J. Summers

Working with mail is a big part of my duties while I'm here. Once a day, we pull a few letters out of a tray and write down where it came from and when it was postmarked - that way, we can tell how long it took to get to us and make sure these letters are flowing. It's interesting to look at the backs of these letters, which we see as we take one from the stack and turn it face-down onto another stack. There are, of course, the "We love you!"s, the "Happy Birthday"s, and the "Come back safe"s. Others have “SWAK” written across the back (Sealed With a Kiss). Today, I saw one that said “Go Vols!” - which I particularly liked.

Underneath that letter, the next one on the stack had printed across the bottom “Do Not Bend.” I'm sure that this wasn't an encouragement to the troops - there were probably photos in the envelope, so they didn't want them bent. But, on this 4^th Patriot Day, 5 years after the attacks on September 11^th, 2001, I think it is fitting advice for all of us.

The enemy we face is not ourselves. There are some among us who are going too far, but as we demonstrated with Abu Ghraib, we are willing to punish those who do. There are also some among us who intend us harm; that's for certain. However, there is a religious group that is not content to have their countries for their religious views, and live peacefully with the rest of the world. They want us dead because we do not believe the way they do. Our nation has decided (rightly, I believe) that we should take this fight to them, that we would rather fight on their soil than on ours.

I have not had access to ABC television, so I have not seen The Path to 9/11, although I have heard a lot about it. It sounds like an important film, one based on the research of the 9/11 commission, that dramatizes the failings in leadership that led up to this attack. Of course, it's really easy to connect dots in hindsight - but the barriers that had been erected to stop information sharing did much more harm than good. Both Presidential administrations #42 and #43 are criticized for their lack of taking the issue seriously, and doing what needed to be done. Thankfully, #43 has made a nice recovery, and we are now prosecuting the war on terror as we should.

We Americans have short memories - and since, for all but a few of us, this war isn't really impacting our daily lives, it is easy to grow lax, and forget that we were not the ones who started this war. But, we are the ones who will finish it. There has not been a major terror attack in this country in the five years since 9/11, and it is not because they haven't been planned. Time and time again, dedicated professionals in the CIA and FBI have been uncovering these plots, and stopping them. Every terrorist killed in Afghanistan or Iraq is one fewer terrorist that will try something - and while it's true that some cultures produce these terrorists, that's just another reason why we must continue, we must press forward, and we must prevail.

Do not forget why we are at war. Do not think about giving up before the job is done. And, yes, as the letter writer said so unknowingly yet eloquently - do not bend.

Ruminations on the News of the Day

Sunday, July 17, 2005 9:15 pm Daniel J. Summers

Several issues making news in the last few weeks…

Karl Rove – Allegations are flying about Karl Rove revealing a CIA agent's name to a reporter. As is standard procedure for the left, facts don't particularly matter. Rove did not reveal a name, only that Joe Wilson's wife was an employee at the CIA. Even if he had, she is not a covert agent, so laws against naming her identity do not apply. However, none of these facts are keeping the Democrats (and their more-than-willing accomplices in the press) from mounting what can only be described as a feeding frenzy, calling for Karl Rove to be fired.

The media is behaving particularly despicably in this. Check out the transcript of a recent press briefing at the White House. This is nothing short of desperation, and they know it. If Karl Rove were guilty, they would just be quiet and wait for the indictment - the longer Rove is around, the better for them. Of course, this is the way Democrats work. Remember, when George W. Bush (R) was certified as the winner of Florida's Presidential election, it was the Supreme Court enforcing existing law; when Christine Gregoire (D) was declared governor of Washington, the Washington Supreme Court invented new law.

Iraq - If the Democrats had to donate $1 to the Federal government every time they said something like “everyone knows there's no link between Iraq and Al-qaeda,” we wouldn't have a budget deficit. This technique is called the “Big Lie” - repeat it often enough, and people start to believe it. However, saying it three times does not make it so (unlike certain TV shows). The Weekly Standard published an article this past week called "The Mother of All Connections," that details the links between the administration of Saddam Hussein and the terror network of Osama bin Laden. It's quite lengthy, but well-researched, and demonstrates conclusively that Iraq was the next stop in the war on terror, and not just for the benefits of introducing freedom to the Middle East.

“Support the Troops” - This is another fave from the anti-Bush left. Even John Kerry got in on this when he was running for president. The logic is basically summed up like this - “Support the troops - bring them home.” This sounds good, all nice and touchy-feely (once again, the left's preference for feelings over facts is evident), but would actually be the worst possible thing to do at this point. Our nation's troops have worked hard to get Iraq and Afghanistan free, and we're still working to get them trained on maintaining their freedom. Pulling out now would be very disrespectful to the over 1,000 folks who have died in this war to date. (Again, why should that surprise me?) Think about it this way [ when a player on a sports team becomes injured, do they tell the other players "Hey man, we just need to quit - this is too dangerous!"? Of course not. We've seen, time and time again, these guys saying “You guys stay in it!” Seeing this through to its successful completion is the only way to honor and, yes, support, our troops.

I'll wrap this one up with a link to an excellent Dennis Prager column entitled, quite bluntly, "The Left Doesn't Support the Troops and Should Admit It." He puts the issue in quite plain terms that anyone should be able to understand.