Kerry's not-so-Dumb Military

If John Kerry had read a report released on Oct. 27 by the Heritage Foundation he could have saved himself a lot of embarrasment. Here's a summary:

Our review of Pen­tagon enlistee data shows that the only group that is lowering its participation in the military is the poor. The percentage of recruits from the poorest American neighborhoods (with one-fifth of the U.S. population) declined from 18 percent in 1999 to 14.6 percent in 2003, 14.1 percent in 2004, and 13.7 percent in 2005. . . .

In summary, the additional years of recruit data (2004–2005) sup­port the previous finding that U.S. military recruits are more similar than dissimilar to the American youth population. The slight dif­ferences are that wartime U.S. mil­itary enlistees ARE BETTER EDUCATED, wealthier, and more rural on aver­age than their civilian peers.

Recruits have a higher percent­age of high school graduates and representation from Southern and rural areas. No evidence indicates exploitation of racial minorities (either by race or by race-weighted ZIP code areas). Finally, the distri­bution of household income of recruits is noticeably higher than that of the entire youth population.

Maybe Kerry should read more and talk less so the media wouldn't have to give him and the Democrats so much free advertising.

Kerry claims he was targeting his "stuck in Iraq" comment at Bush, perhaps referring to Bush's supposedly poor academic performance. Kerry is also a Yale graduate like Bush, only with lower grades.

Network News Favors Democrats

The Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) released a study today titled "Mid-term Coverage is Bad News for GOP." Read CMPA's report in pdf here. USA Today and others also reported the study.

Media bias is no surprise according to numerous studies, including this one.

The study evaluated 167 mid-term election stories aired on ABC, CBS and NBC evening news between Sept. 5 and Oct. 22. It showed three out of every four on-air evaluations of Democratic candidates and members of Congress were positive. Only one out of every eight were favorable to Republicans.

The study also showed that the three networks were not just biased in their coverage but they also worked much harder at the biased coverage. They aired fives times as many stories this year as they did in the same time period in 2002.

No wonder most of the mainstream media is headed in the wrong direction financially. In the newspaper business we call that kind of coverage giving away free advertising.

Covering GOP's Slams on Kerry

Michelle Malkin's post on AP's story by Jennifer Loven is dead on.

Is the headline, "Kerry warns students, insults troops: Don't 'get stuck in Iraq?'"

Of course not.

It's "White House Spokesman Slams Kerry Remark"

Here's how AP's fabricator and Kerry shill started her story.

The White House accused Sen. John Kerry on Tuesday of troop-bashing, seizing on a comment the Democrat made to California students that those unable to navigate the country's education system "get stuck in Iraq."

"Senator Kerry not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who've given their lives in this," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. "This is an absolute insult."

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran and Bush's rival in 2004, fired back, saying the president and his administration are the ones who owe U.S. troops an apology because they "misled America into war and have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it."

So reporting Kerry's unrelated and fact-challenged reply is worth 31 words while his original venom only merits four words out of the original 38-plus.

The full quote does appear six paragraphs later – after more of Kerry's rants and an unsupported declaration that questions about the decorated Vietnam veteran's war record are "unsubstantiated." I guess Kerry's backpedaling on his Christmas in Cambodia is just another example of his waffling, just like voting for the war before he voted against it.

And there's this "reporting" from ABC.com.

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 31, 2006 — For weeks, Republicans on the campaign trail have been looking for something — anything — to talk about other than the record of the Republican Congress and the way the Bush administration has conducted the war in Iraq.

That's not labeled as an opinion piece at ABC.com. Just the "facts" ma'am. Maybe Jake Tapper, Mike Callahan and Avery Miller, the reporters at ABC.com, should do something other than watch their own network to form their OPINIONS about Republicans.

I'll have to give Tapper, Callahan and Miller credit though for including a more complete Kerry quote higher in their story than most of their fellow MSMers.

"You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," he said.

AP and ABC are just following Kerry's lead though. When you – or your side – screws up blame the Republicans for calling attention to it.

"It disgusts me that a bunch of these Republican hacks who have never worn the uniform of our country are willing to lie about those who did," Kerry added.

It's much better to dishonor the uniform you wear then lie about your brothers in arms.

Kerry's slander against our service members in Iraq is available for all to see on YouTube. I'm still waiting for evidence of the war crimes Kerry said were committed in Vietnam or for him to release his full service record.

Thank You Australia

Blackfive and lots of other blogs have linked to a music video of "Poster Girl" by Australian singer Beccy Cole. Cole's song is another reason why I'm grateful for the folks down under. Click on the image above to play the video. Turn the volume up and call your family or friends to the computer to share.

Some of her fans didn't like her tour to Aussie soldiers, called diggers, serving in Afghanistan last year so she responded to their criticism with "Poster Girl."

Cole's home page is here. There's a link on her home page to download her songs. I haven't tried it though. She's on the Australian Apple Music Store but not the U.S. store yet. Here's a link to request her songs be added to the U.S. Apple Music Store.

Yesterday my wife expressed her gratitude for Aussie Prime Minister John Howard and his solid stand against Muslim extremists and Muslim demands that Australian law be changed in their favor.

In 1983 I covered a very large military exercise in Western Australia. The people I met were warm, gracious and unreserved in their gratitude for America. Today I feel the same way about Australia.

Boots on the Ground

Milblogs posted a link to a 12-minute Army film called "Boots on the Ground." Watch it here. It's well worth your time.

The film focuses on the commitment of the United States of American and the American Soldier. Since I'm a Navy partisan I'd have to extend that to all branches of service. An early quote in the film points to what's different, and better, about a member of the armed services.

“A soldier’s just a regular guy that’s willing to pay just a little bit more for his freedom and willing to do a little bit more for other people’s freedom.”

There's an oath service members take. Few people I work with have ever taken such an oath. Fortunately there are others who have.

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

The officer's oath is a little bit different at the end but in today's all volunteer military it applies to enlisted members as well.

"I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God."

That oath binds one to obey orders and do their all, even unto giving their very lives. And they do it voluntarily as the film points out.

“Soldiers don’t want to die. But what makes them different and special is that they’re willing to. They do it for one another. They do it out of a profound yet simple sense of duty.”

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf is quoted in the film on why soldiers do this.

“Because we believe in a cause higher than self, we chose to serve our country fully understanding that this service could result in our death. Few who have never served their country will ever understand a soldier’s heart.”

Near the end soldiers talk about their proudest moments in uniform. I was a sailor during the Cold War and have no concept of what it's like to face an enemy determined to kill me. But every time I read a service member’s account of what they did and realize a sense of wonder and awe that such people exist I remember that I too took the oath.

More Reasons for Hope

Angelina, my wonderful daughter-in-law, commented tonight about the profound change she's experienced in her thoughts on world events since giving birth to her first child. Angelina has always been deeply concerned with the welfare of others, but having a child of her own gave her new reasons to take greater interest in the state of the world her son will grow up in.

Before the attacks of September 11, 2001, young mothers were more likely to vote Democrat than Republican. By the 2004 presidential election things had changed. Security moms voted for Bush. The world we live in is a dangerous place with people who don't hesitate to hurt others, including children, to get their way.


Mothers, and fathers, realize this as they gaze into the face of their first child. It is a profound, life-changing moment which I believe will not happen with such impact in any other way.

Look at the demographics on voting patterns. Young, single adults and people living a homosexual lifestyle tend to make voting choices based personal preference issues such as expanding homosexual rights, abortion rights, gambling, etc. Married parents tend to make voting choices based on issues such as taxes, national security and economic policy.

So, which set of issues speaks more directly to the future for our children? As I look into my grandchildren's faces I know what concerns me.

Finding Hope in Iraq

This last month has been a tough one in Iraq and for those who support efforts to being stability and a lasting democracy to the Iraqi people. At times I wonder if the Iraqi people will stand firm and do the incredibly hard work of establishing their own freedoms and correcting the traditions of their predecessors.

Today Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette, gave me another reason to keep hoping. He posted a report from Haider Ajina, a Muslim living in California, about Iran's restrictions on worship in Iran and a summary of a Sermon given in Najaf, Iraq, Friday. Ajina said, in part:

I am a Muslim living in the USA and no one has ever forbidden me from practicing any portion of my religion or religious ceremonies. Muslims in the USA practice their religion freer than Muslims do in Iran.

But what was even better was what Imam Sadir Aldien Alqabanchi said in his sermon.

We Iraqis have three immovable matters,

1- No to the return of the Baathists or dictatorship.
2- No to violence or terrorism.
3- No to foreign interference in Iraqi leadership.

The imam was speaking about interference from Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia, not the U.S.

Ajina closed with his perspective on the choices Iraqis will make.

Iraqis have tasted freedom, the rule of law, democracy and rights of the individual; they will never go back to pre spring 2003.

Freedom is not free, in spite of what too many Americans seem to believe. The toppling of Saddam's statue in Fidros Square was just the beginning. There has been much hard work and will be much more to come. But Iraq seems to have many freedom-loving people who are determined to do the work and pay the price for freedom. My prayers are with them. I hope yours are too.

Adnan Hodge's Set Decorator

The Washington Times reports on some interesting Hezbollah activities in southern Lebanon in the years preceding the recent fighting.

The activity upon which Hezbollah had embarked was conversion of private homes into mini-military sites from where it could easily target Israel's civilian population. Cloaking itself as the protective shepherd, Hezbollah effectively prepared an unwitting Lebanese civilian flock as sacrificial lambs to be slaughtered in furtherance of its own war-fighting capabilities.

According to the Washington Times homes near the Israeli border were given additions which contained a rocket mounted on a launcher and sighted on a target in Israel. The rooms had no door so the residents had no way of getting in and discovering the contents of the free addition.

Hezbollah, the UN and others, including the compliant mainstream media, made a lot of noise about Israel's wanton attacks on civilians. I'm sure they'll be just as quick to hold Hezzbolla to account for setting the stage for the attacks on civilians. NOT!

Read the whole account. And don't forget Green Helmet Guy's direction on the set and the marvelous photo work by Adnan Hodge and others. They combine to make quite a tale.