Time for Thorns

What do you make of a president who gives a 2-minute shout-out before he mentions Fort Hood?

Those in the military who had their suspicions found them confirmed by this performance.    His Oneness and Our Lady of Perpetual Dissatisfaction will find very formal,  very careful military correctness at Fort Hood.    They won’t find anything approaching the fawning adoration they have come to expect as their due.   Oh,  there will still be a sea of non-whites as a backdrop for the President,  and no one will say anything inappropriate aloud,  but Obama has blown his chances with many in the military.     They will do their duty,  but they will never again believe his claims to care about those in service.

From The Corner, a wonderful video from gratitudeoperation.org, showing how to sign “thank you” to those who should have our deepest gratitude,  the military.

I haven’t flown since 9/11 because I don’t wish to end up in jail for strangling a screener,  but I thank every military member,  by word if close,  or by sign if I catch their eye at a distance.    Too many have family who served in “Nam and were spit on when they returned.    These guys and gals deserve better.

I’m watching Obama at the  Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National,  and  his hand is placed beneath his chest,  about at the bottom  of the rib cage,  instead of  over the breast.    Does he not know where the heart is,  or is the placement an unconscious reflex?    I have the sound muted  on that tv as I’m watching French Open tennis live,  which forces me to notice body language.

Now  he’s giving his speech.   I laugh when he claims to be “humble” to be the Commander-in-Chief,  and scoff when he claims he’ll do everything in his power to keep America safe.    He has already taken waterboarding off the table,  along with the other enhanced interrogation methods,  though he reserved the right to use the latter.    And as always,  the occasion is somehow about him.

Obama is just telephoning this one  in —  there is no sense of commitment, no spark of passion,  anywhere in his remarks.    It is a dull,  pro-forma,   love-the-troops-as-Michelle-and- I- do concoction  which could have been delivered with more emotion by the teleprompter if it had a synthezised voice.

Do military personnel buy the Obamas’ supposed affection?   Not for an instant.    We already know that the Obama team handed out cellphones so the soldiers at his last little exercise could be seen holding them up to take pictures.    They  clearly thought no one would notice that all the phones were identical.

I’ve never served in the military,  but every generation of my family has,  going back to the Revoluntionary War,  so I’m entitled to comment on what military personnel think.    I also count among my family and friends a number of elite military forces members.

This Memorial Day,  remember what it is for,  and thank any military personnel you encounter,  whether active or retired,  today and throughout the year.

Read this tribute for your inspiration, and this  account.

UPDATE:  I didn’t mention this,  because Obama can’t give a speech without blaming Pres.  Bush for something,  but John Hinderaker of Powerline lets loose on this point.

An Air Refueling Squadron boom operator spotted a fuel leak on a civilian plane headed for Japan and managed to get the crew’s attention while they were still over land.

If he had not been seated on the side of the plane with the leak,  and in a seat which allowed him to see and record it,  there would likely have been a much different ending to that flight than safe touchdown in California.    So the next time you see a military uniform,  thank the wearer for his or her service.

The military needs 1 new rule:  No JAG officer should be allowed to serve as a prosecutor unless they have served in actual combat.  That would certainly cut down on the number of prosecutions which seem to be based on political considerations.  Fortunately, yet another jury made a good decision on a soldier.

The New York Post has an interesting column on why Russia has embarked on a renewal of its military.

Note that Russia wants to halve the number of troops, with the Muslim half  being released, the goal being a military composed of ethnic Russians, presumably less likely to have divided, or entirely misplaced, loyalties.

Are there any lessons we should draw from this, since we already have a thoroughly professional,  volunteer military?

Obama’s idiotic notion to make injured veterans use their family private insurance to pay for their service-related disabilities and wounds  is going nowhere, thanks to the milblogers (that’s military blogers).

Like the Ace of Spades, I didn’t believe it was serious when it first appeared, and His Oneness was careful to maintain his plausible deniability,  until he met with the American Legion.

Good thing First Lady Michelle made her pr visit to Fort Bragg before this new plan came out, as it rather defeats her claim to care so much about military families.

I just caught a snippet of Pres. Obama speaking on TGIF at Camp Lejeune.    I would characterize the applause as polite,   and his two sentences were telling the troops they “got the job done” in Iraq.  That seems to be as close as he came to using “victory” or “success”.

The backdrop was the usual military personnel,  but the segment visible in the shot was all female,  except for a Caucasian male directly behind him,  and and had only one other Caucasian.    From what I hear,  the military is less than enamored with its commander-in-chief,  and with good reason.

Perhaps they know this.

Yes,  Attorney General Eric Holder just announced  “…there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make,  and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons.”  Ah,  yes,  the dreaded assault weapon,  an evil so great it can’t be seen!

Actually, there is no such thing as an “assault weapon”  –  that’s just the scary name liberals attach to the next set of guns they want banned.    And we’ve already heard His Oneness say there’s no reason for anyone to carry a concealed weapon,   which prompted a missive asking that he disarm his Secret Service agents.    Along with Sen. Feinstein,  our glorious leader apparently thinks he is worthy of protection,  but we citizens are not.

Remember:   the only difference between “subjects” and “citizens”  is firepower.

This will set the left to howling:

http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/obama_military_ball/2009/01/02/167214.html

Seems His Oneness will have an inaugural ball open solely to the military, just as Pres. Bush did.  How interesting the announcement comes on the heels of a Military Times poll finding 6 of 10 active military have doubts about Obama…..