harry hope

The Hartford Advocate, 8/21/03:
http://hartfordadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:29956

Hero Sandwiches

Troops get death and pay cuts while Bush gobbles barbecue, rakes in
dough

by Alan Bisbort - August 21, 2003

Who's got time for presidentin' when there's pig on the barbie?

Not since the days of Marie Antoinette, or at least Nancy Reagan, has
there been such a disconnect between the ruling elite and what Marie
and Nancy might call the unwashed masses.

A potent symbol of this cynical detachment is provided by George W.
Bush's month-long vacation, during which his only forays among the
unwashed masses have been to whack his little white balls around a
golf course -- and to host a "down-home" barbecue to shake down rich
donors for another run at the White House.

The cover charge for barbecue with the Bushes?

Each of the 350 "very special guests" paid $50,000 to nibble on those
Republican pig and cow carcasses.

Meanwhile, the temperature in Iraq is 30 degrees hotter than it is in
Crawford, Texas, and 20 degrees hotter than what killed 3,000 French
people and hundreds of other Europeans.

Iraq is, in fact, so hot that official meteorological data has been
blocked from the media by the Department of Defense, presumably so
that Americans won't know that our troops are the human equivalent of
down-home barbecue.

What the DoD has also tried to keep a lid on, though foreign news
services haven't been so easily bullied as the embedded American
press, is that our troops are operating in this inferno without
adequate water supplies, sanitation, shelter or barbecue -- actually,
any type of food.

To the ruling elite -- like the Crawford pig-nibblers -- these men and
women in uniform are useful members of the unwashed masses.

They served their purpose as of May 1, when Bush -- who went AWOL from
military service during the Vietnam War -- dolled himself up with
codpiece and flight helmet for his campaign photo-op aboard the
aircraft carrier.

"Mission accomplished," he trumpeted, and the media played along with
the charade.

Since then, at least 126 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq,
and thousands have been wounded, physically and psychologically.

In the midst of Bush's month-long AWOL from his duties as president
during wartime (and crises like the worst blackout in U.S. history),
the Department of Defense announced last week it intended to cut the
pay of the 148,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and the 9,000 still in
Afghanistan.

These troops were to receive increases in imminent danger pay (from
$150 to $225 a month) and family separation allowance (from $100 to
$250).

Sen. John Kerry, who did not go AWOL during the Vietnam War, sounded
presidential when he told an Iowa audience:

"The Bush Administration says they just can't afford it. Well if they
can't afford to pay our soldiers in harm's way, and support the
families they left behind, then they better get their priorities
straight ... The Bush Administration questions the patriotism of those
who ask questions about how you win a war, but I know no deeper
violation of patriotism than dishonoring those who wear the uniform of
our nation ... ."

Am I the only American citizen who remembers Bush telling one of the
network news dollies:

"I hug the mothers and the widows of those who may have lost their
life in the name of peace and freedom"?

As of this writing, no hugs have been extended to American mothers or
widows by the commander-in-chief.

Maybe Bush doesn't want that kind of photo-op, though it comes with
his job.

Or maybe he fears that he'll be slapped in the face, literally, just
as his pick for the 9/11 investigation, Henry Kissinger, was
figuratively slapped in the face by the families of the World Trade
Center attack (thus leading to his resignation).

The families of the troops are not taking this lightly.

Because they, like the families of the World Trade Center victims,
have been ignored by the White House, they -- and other veterans,
active duty personnel and reservists -- have taken to the Internet,
via http://www.bringthemhomenow.org.

The spirit of their dissent is summed up in this letter from a woman
in Minnesota, posted on Media Whores Online:

"After watching a piece on CNN the other night about the wounded
soldiers now being attended to at Walter Reed, many of whom are now
minus one or two limbs, I couldn't help but wonder:

Was it just me?

Did I miss the coverage of the current White House resident spending
some serious time visiting these young soldiers?

It would have been the decent thing (not to mention the least he could
do) for Junior to have spent the first day of his vacation visiting
with these brave young men.

Before going on to Crawford and picking up the golf clubs, how about
having spent some time with the young man who will never be able to
hold his newborn infant with both arms?"

__________________________________________________ _____

Your words are falling on deaf ears, ma'am. The kid's busy eating
barbecue, playing golf and fundraising.

Harry

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".........our troops are operating in this inferno without adequate water supplies,
sanitation, shelter or barbecue -- actually, any type of food........."


It's disgraceful to treat your troops like this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Is wearing a small flag on your clothing, an indication that you would be prepared to serve
with the military in Iraq ?


What about those young men with the flag on their car ?
Is this their way of telling the government that they would accept a military draft to Iraq ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

captain binghamton

Why would anyone serve with the way s***bags on the left treat them.