Thanks but no thanks, Rev. Graham

Evangelist Franklin Graham was to be the keynote speaker at the Pentagon’s May 6 National Day of Prayer service. Now, he isn’t. Army spokesman Col. Tom Collins announced that the invitation had been rescinded due to the nature of comments Graham had previously made about the Muslim faith. Collins said that Graham’s remarks were “not appropriate” since we are an all-inclusive military and try to honor all faiths.

Graham’s invitation was extended by the Colorado based  National Day of Prayer Task Force which works with the Pentagon chaplain’s office. The disinvite was applauded by the Council on American Islamic Relations( CAIR) which is no surprise. Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation was also pleased, adding that Graham should never have been invited in the first place.He hopes someone more “inclusive” will be  picked as  a replacement. Oh, I’m certain that any mullah will be a better choice from their perspective.

Weinstein founded the group in 2006 to rebuild the wall of separation between church and state in the military. Based on that position  why would his group want the Pentagon to participate in any kind of National Day of Prayer event anyway.

As for Graham, he was very gracious and said he wuld continue to prayer for  the troops. Hope that will not get him in trouble.

Why were these people laughing?

Seems Bill Maher is at it again. You remember him, famous for wishing Dick Cheney had been killed  while at an American outpost in Afghanistan. Unlike this next, there was  no humor involved. Bet Maher was thrilled beyond words at Cheney’s recent heart attack though.

His latest attempt at death humor involves Glenn Beck. On his HBO show, he made this statement during his opening monologue.”When we see crazy, senseless deaths like this, we can only ask why, why, why couldn’t it have been Glenn Beck?” The reference is to John Bedell, a disturbed individual who opened fire near the Pentagon a couple of days ago and  was  killed by Pentagon police.

It was bad enough that Maher tried to milk the tragic event for humor. I just cannot countenance that at all, regardless of the object. What is worse to me is that the audience reaction. What was it? Alas, it was laughter and applause. I can only hope that after reflecting on their behaviour, all would be ashamed;or at least a few of them.

Video and a further article by Noel Sheppard available at NewsBusters.

Is There A Correct Way to Criticize?

So, now that Rush has been dropped from the potential  ownership group maybe attempting to buy the St Louis Rams, one of only how many members we don’t know, since only he and Dave Checketts names were released. Doubtless there is joy in liberal land this night. As an aside, rock singer Fergie is joining the Dolphins as a partial owner. Pretty soon, the Dolphins will be able to put on some rollicking concerts, using only their ownership. You might want to check out some  of  her song lyrics and remember NFL Commish Roger Goddell saying that we don’t need divisive comments  and we here are all held to a higher standard. Contrary to Mr  Sharpton’s comments, it is not a moral victory for all Americans.

Anyway, score one for the libs. And today we have this. Award winning journalist, Seymour Hersh spoke at Duke (guess I can use that word in my blog) University last night with an interesting theme. He says that the U  S military is at war- with President Obama. Yep, that’s what he said. Gotta be true, he said . There is racism in the Pentagon and we all know it, as he was quoted in the Durham Herald-Sun.

Mr Hersh was critical of the president, particularly on Afghanistan. He said that the President must  stand up to the military. He must run the Pentagon or the Pentagon will run him. Other statements say that the military think he  is weak and the wrong color. He criticized Gen McChrystal for publicly requesting 40,000 additional troops, adding that it puts Obama in a no-win position. Give him the troops and lose politically or not provide the  troops and  lose- politically. That is somewhat telling to me. Not sending the requested troops is  a    loss  politically, not militarily. Hmm.

Mr Hersh has suggestions. Negotiate with the Taliban, it is  the only way. Continue the  process with Iran, which Bush of course mucked up. And, realize that we have a lot in common with Russia.

I close with this thought. What is the acceptable way in which one  disagrees with  the President? Can it be done without being racist? Hint only if you are a liberal, since a liberal cannot be racist, right?

Pause and Remember

As we all know, today is the eighth anniversary of  the  worst one day attack ever on the United States. I was sorely tempted to write about Charlie Sheen and his call to his man Obama  to investigate the 9/11 coverup. But after some reflection, I thought that would not be  a suitable way to remember today. So, maybe some other time for him.

At my workplace we had a moment of silence today, which is rather significant considering the normal amount of noise from people and equipment. It was more moving than I was expecting. Thankfully, the flag was at half mast also. But, alas, I am reading a good deal about how this day of remembrance  has begun to morph into  a day of service. Plant a tree, volunteer at Habitat( which I have done in years past), etc. Now these things are quite good and have their place. But in a letter released  today, te President referred to  a ” National Day of  Service and Remembrance.” The service seems to trump  the  remembrance.

Listen to these comments from a lady named Debra  Burlingame  as related to the Associated Press. Her brother was  the pilot of  the American Airlines  plane  that crashed into the Pentagon. They are in reference to the day of service and remembrance. “When I first heard about it, I was concerned. I fear, I greatly fear,we’ll transition to turning it into Earth Day where we go and plant trees and the remembrance part will become smaller and smaller and smaller.” If she is right, that would be very, very sad.  I remember where I was when I first heard the news and really could not comprehend what was happening. The more I heard, the worse it got. I have watched videos from time  to time of the planes crashing into the Twin Towers. It   is still a chilling and dramatic thing to view. I have never been to the actual site, so I can only imagine what emotions that can stir.

There is an online article under the byline of  Ralph Peters on the New York Post web site. It is entitled  Betraying our Dead. There is a chilling statement near the beginning of his article nd I quote. ” We resolved that we, the People, would never forget. Then we forgot.” The article is a great, great read, but not a comfortable one. The photo shown is an Asociated Press picture from 9/19/2001 , taken at ground zero. It is a  picture I do not recall   having seen before, but like so many others, it has a story to tell.

Coastal Visitors

Living close to the Outer Banks, we are somewhat familiar with tourist season. Lots of folks go through Elizabeth City on their way to and from the beaches. On occasion, I actually will make a brief pilgrimage to the land of surf. It is kinda neat to see the varied places from which people come  to vacation  in our area.

However, it seems of late that we are having a return of some visitors who used to come in days gone by. Lo, and behold, they have returned unannounced to our coastal waters. Yes, we are talking about  your friendly neighborhood Russian submarines. Been quite a  while  but they’re baaaccck!! Bear in mind that this comes shortly after Russian ships went through the Panama Canal for the first time.

Relation between the US and Russia are in a chilly state as it is and one  must wonder what these nuclear powered attack subs are doing. They have yet to enter into  our territorial waters but they have to know that we know and are watching their  movements. So says  our Northern Command through spokesman Michael Kucharek.

To me it reflects the persona of one Vladimir Putin and perhaps signals an intent to resume a bigger role on the world stage. That is when he isn’t diving into the world’s deepest lake in a submersible.

Gotta love this quote  by the Northern Command and the  North American Aerospace Defense Command. “We have been monitoring them during transit and recognize the right of all nations to exercise freedom of navigation in international waters  according to international law”. We know how the Russians have always loved international law. Oh, by the way, they conveniently forgot to tell us about this exercise in advance. Sneaky rascals are they not?

So at  least, we don’t have to search for Red October-yet.

From Russia with ?

But the Pentagon says not to worry.

Meet Rosa Brooks

Never heard of her? Neither had I until  a day or two ago. Rest assured that the Israeli government has heard of her and they are probably not her biggest fans. Ms Brooks has just been appointed as an adviser to Michelle Flournoy, undersecretary of  Defense for Policy(wonder what that means) , a position that heavily impacts U S policy in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Sounds a little like the NAMESTAN desk at the CIA, doesn’t it?

Rosa Brooks

Now, when you learn a bit about Ms Brooks, you might wonder why the Defense Department at all. But of course, she is quite anti George Bush as many of her L A Times articles will attest. She thinks little of Al-Qaida(aren’t they glad) as a force, saying in  2007 that we turned them into an international threat. Seems like there were issues with these  guys as far back as 1998, but I digress. She was a law professor at Georgetown and  among other things , a special counsel at George Soros’ Open Society Institute. Now,, if you were not concerned about any of this, may I offer one more item. Her final column at the L A Times argues for more” direct government support for public media” and government licensing of the news. Think about that last phrase and compare it to the  first amendment to the Constitution.  Oh yes, she also says that Obama will not be likely to ” blindlessly and mindlessly” support Israel. Welcome to the Pentagon, Ms Brooks.