Twelve years ago, I was sitting in trailer 2 for algebra II with Mr Q, except he wasn't there that day -- it was that creepy old dude sub who I think had military experience and thought he was a total hardass but was completely worthless -- when we found out that a plane had hit the Pentagon. We tried to stay calm, even thinking that old guy was joking, but every one pulled out their cell phones and started calling their parents. It's not an easy thing to hear when you live in the Metro area. We knew that there was another plane (the one that would crash in Pennsylvania) and no one knew for sure if it was heading for NSA (where again, a lot of kids' parents worked) or another spot in DC. We were shuffled inside to the library where we watched the second tower fall (despite the fact that we were sophomores and juniors, they shut it off immediately citing that we didn't need to be exposed to that, a sentiment that makes me laugh given what today's sophomores and juniors are exposed to). We were released early, told to go straight home, and my brother thought I was nuts for sitting there and just watching the news channels for the rest of the day. There was total disbelief from me, how could we, a great nation be under attack? I think President Bush should be commended with the way he handled the news (in case you forgot, he was reading to children at a local school when he received the news) and how he addressed the nation. As a sixteen year old junior, I felt reassured that those who attacked my great nation would pay.
Fast forward to 2012, another fall, another deployment, no big deal I thought. We've been through hubby being down range on 9/11, we got this. Um, no we don't. Panic, trying to keep distracted after hearing that Ambassador Chris Stephens, and three other Americans, Tyrone Woods, Glen Doherty, and Sean Smith, had been killed after the consulate in Benghazi, Libya had been overtaken. Holding your breath trying to get through the day without hearing anything bad at of Afghanistan, avoiding the gossipy wives in the unit to make sure that you save your sanity. Feeling horrible for those four families, and the military families that would receive knocks that day and over the next several days.
I want so badly to turn this into a political diatribe for the rest of this but I won't. We lost so many people in DC, New York, Pennsylvania, Benghazi, Iraq and Afghanistan since. We will continue to lose Americans in Afghanistan as long as we're still there. Don't just remember these Americans just today, remember them every day. Remember Pearl Harbor every day. Remember the two World Wars, the Korean War, the Viet Nam war, the Gulf war every day. Remember that we come from great people, even if people, both domestic and foreign, try to tear down this country every day. Don't let those we've lost fighting for this country to ever be forgotten, fight for their legacy and to keep this country as great as they thought it.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Quickie
Just a quick blurb before I'm out the door, meetings and appointments today so I will try my hardest to get a decent post in later this evening. Warning, I just watched bits and pieces of Fox & Friends this morning and haven't really gotten a chance to read what the heck is going on, therefore what I'm about to write is just from bits and pieces.
So, we're really going to trust Russia to help Syria gather all their nuclear weapons and stash them in one place and let the international community keep an eye on them? This just doesn't sit right with me. I know that the administration has signaled that it won't send bombs, or boots, in but let's face it, it's only a matter of time. If you seriously think that we won't be invading Syria (even though we have no business doing so since there's no credible threat to the US and we'd be aiding the same people who have bombed us, helped jihadists shoot up a base and bomb a marathon) just give it time. Someone will find a way and we'll be over there, even if it's just a surprise to save face for the administration. I'm sure that they're not taking Congress not supporting this well, but give it time. However, if the president keeps pushing for what is basically a stall in pay raises for the military, he's going to have a tough time convincing them to support this mess (side note to the military families who voted this fool in, are you finally ashamed that you did and ready to take that damn "O 2012" bumper sticker off your car?). And if you say, well your family is lucky enough to get a pay raise. Dude, it's ONE PER CENT. We don't really see it because of taxes. You want these guys to go to war for you, give them and their families a better incentive. Give up your fancy salaries (you too Congressmen), give up your fancy vacations and stuff and make sure that the funding is there for troop readiness. With all your politics and bullshit sequestration stuff troop readiness is not at its peak. Add it war weariness, you definitely don't have a case. The people have spoken, the troops who actually do work over there have spoken. Just let it die the way you have let every other so-called phony scandal die. Maybe it's time you start working on getting answers for the families that lost loved ones in Benghazi, you know where Americans actually were threatened and killed. Maybe it's time you focus less on the Syrians and more on repealing Obamacare. Just thoughts from this war weary Army wife.
So, we're really going to trust Russia to help Syria gather all their nuclear weapons and stash them in one place and let the international community keep an eye on them? This just doesn't sit right with me. I know that the administration has signaled that it won't send bombs, or boots, in but let's face it, it's only a matter of time. If you seriously think that we won't be invading Syria (even though we have no business doing so since there's no credible threat to the US and we'd be aiding the same people who have bombed us, helped jihadists shoot up a base and bomb a marathon) just give it time. Someone will find a way and we'll be over there, even if it's just a surprise to save face for the administration. I'm sure that they're not taking Congress not supporting this well, but give it time. However, if the president keeps pushing for what is basically a stall in pay raises for the military, he's going to have a tough time convincing them to support this mess (side note to the military families who voted this fool in, are you finally ashamed that you did and ready to take that damn "O 2012" bumper sticker off your car?). And if you say, well your family is lucky enough to get a pay raise. Dude, it's ONE PER CENT. We don't really see it because of taxes. You want these guys to go to war for you, give them and their families a better incentive. Give up your fancy salaries (you too Congressmen), give up your fancy vacations and stuff and make sure that the funding is there for troop readiness. With all your politics and bullshit sequestration stuff troop readiness is not at its peak. Add it war weariness, you definitely don't have a case. The people have spoken, the troops who actually do work over there have spoken. Just let it die the way you have let every other so-called phony scandal die. Maybe it's time you start working on getting answers for the families that lost loved ones in Benghazi, you know where Americans actually were threatened and killed. Maybe it's time you focus less on the Syrians and more on repealing Obamacare. Just thoughts from this war weary Army wife.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Oh Monday...
Sorry if I seem a bit sluggish this morning. I'm waiting on my coffee, suffering from a two day football binge, and we're in the middle of potty training B and if you ever successfully potty trained a two year old boy well hats off. But here we go...
If you've liked the facebook page, then over the weekend you saw I posted some silly memes, photos, graphics, whatever you want to call them. As much as I love the Obama-Bush sports comparisons, and the French lesson (which totally made me giggle seeing as how I was joking with hubby the other day that learning French would be good, after all they're our only potential ally in this Syria debacle), I love, love, loved the Stephen Colbert photo I put up. In case you didn't see it, here it is:
How true is this? I know we expect satire from Stephen but this is such a great argument that you just have to stop and say, "huh." Not huh? but huh. It makes total sense, doesn't it? Of course no one in this administration is willing to admit that the great hometown of Barack Obama has a gun problem. How could they, they have very stringent gun control and of course thugs, gangs, felons and drug lords would never obtain a weapon illegally. (Oh! Coffee! Thanks hubby, now we're cooking!) I guess it's sort of the same as when the District and Baltimore had insanely high murder rates -- like the kind where they said a soldier more likely to die in Baltimore than Iraq insanely high -- and these two cities are the playground and backyard for the White House. But when it's the President's acclaimed hometown that has a shooting problem of that proportion and the President isn't using any sway with the mayor (you know, the guy that was his Chief of Staff, good ol' Rahm Emanuel (side note: there was a hilarious fake twitter account in his name when he was running for mayor, it was the greatest thing ever)) to help clean it up. I mean, kudos for doing an amazing job keeping it out of the media for the most part -- especially during the circus that was the Zimmerman trial. There were a few people demanding to know why Jesse, Al, and all of them weren't protesting in Chicago every damn day. Of course they tried to play it off like there wasn't a problem in Chicago.
We all are smart enough to know that the Zimmerman trial was all about politics. If the country knew how bad Chicago really is with their gun violence, it'd be a political nightmare. First off, it shows that clearly gun control is a joke. While I support background checks, and even mental health checks, the fact is if someone wants a gun they will find a way to get one. Whether it's stealing one from a law abiding citizen, or buying one through a cartel that runs guns and drugs (ok, maybe I watch a little too much Sons of Anarchy, or maybe we should just ask Eric Holder?) the fact remains, somehow people are getting guns and murdering other people. Second off, ok I know that people are already against Syria (minus a few nutjob Senators who should be voted out) but this (along with you know the economy, Benghazi, the IRS scandals and the fact that they'll be the ones regulating Obamacare, NSA snooping on everyone and their mother, voter fraud, Obamacare, what else I am missing?) should rally even more people to demand that we focus on domestic issues until there is a credible threat against the United States. Yes it's horrific what's going on Syria, but when you have people running around this country killing people just because (it's not just regulated to Chicago as evidenced by the Chris Lane and Delbert Benton murders) something needs to be done. Until we can get our own issues, no matter how phony the administration may consider them, fixed we have no business getting this country into another long, drawn out, no decisive victory, lose more of our good men and women war. Is it 2016 yet?
If you've liked the facebook page, then over the weekend you saw I posted some silly memes, photos, graphics, whatever you want to call them. As much as I love the Obama-Bush sports comparisons, and the French lesson (which totally made me giggle seeing as how I was joking with hubby the other day that learning French would be good, after all they're our only potential ally in this Syria debacle), I love, love, loved the Stephen Colbert photo I put up. In case you didn't see it, here it is:
How true is this? I know we expect satire from Stephen but this is such a great argument that you just have to stop and say, "huh." Not huh? but huh. It makes total sense, doesn't it? Of course no one in this administration is willing to admit that the great hometown of Barack Obama has a gun problem. How could they, they have very stringent gun control and of course thugs, gangs, felons and drug lords would never obtain a weapon illegally. (Oh! Coffee! Thanks hubby, now we're cooking!) I guess it's sort of the same as when the District and Baltimore had insanely high murder rates -- like the kind where they said a soldier more likely to die in Baltimore than Iraq insanely high -- and these two cities are the playground and backyard for the White House. But when it's the President's acclaimed hometown that has a shooting problem of that proportion and the President isn't using any sway with the mayor (you know, the guy that was his Chief of Staff, good ol' Rahm Emanuel (side note: there was a hilarious fake twitter account in his name when he was running for mayor, it was the greatest thing ever)) to help clean it up. I mean, kudos for doing an amazing job keeping it out of the media for the most part -- especially during the circus that was the Zimmerman trial. There were a few people demanding to know why Jesse, Al, and all of them weren't protesting in Chicago every damn day. Of course they tried to play it off like there wasn't a problem in Chicago.
We all are smart enough to know that the Zimmerman trial was all about politics. If the country knew how bad Chicago really is with their gun violence, it'd be a political nightmare. First off, it shows that clearly gun control is a joke. While I support background checks, and even mental health checks, the fact is if someone wants a gun they will find a way to get one. Whether it's stealing one from a law abiding citizen, or buying one through a cartel that runs guns and drugs (ok, maybe I watch a little too much Sons of Anarchy, or maybe we should just ask Eric Holder?) the fact remains, somehow people are getting guns and murdering other people. Second off, ok I know that people are already against Syria (minus a few nutjob Senators who should be voted out) but this (along with you know the economy, Benghazi, the IRS scandals and the fact that they'll be the ones regulating Obamacare, NSA snooping on everyone and their mother, voter fraud, Obamacare, what else I am missing?) should rally even more people to demand that we focus on domestic issues until there is a credible threat against the United States. Yes it's horrific what's going on Syria, but when you have people running around this country killing people just because (it's not just regulated to Chicago as evidenced by the Chris Lane and Delbert Benton murders) something needs to be done. Until we can get our own issues, no matter how phony the administration may consider them, fixed we have no business getting this country into another long, drawn out, no decisive victory, lose more of our good men and women war. Is it 2016 yet?
Friday, September 6, 2013
A Mommy Snark
Once again, I'm dating myself. Growing up we had fire drills. I had friends who would go through tornado drills as well because of where they lived. Today though, a friend of mine's kindergartener will go through a "bad guy drill" or a lockdown drill. What in the hell has happened to our society in which we need to run lockdown drills with our school children? I was in middle school when Columbine happened but still, we didn't run lockdown drills. I was a junior in high school when 9/11 happened, we still didn't run lockdown drills. I was a senior in high school and lived in between Baltimore and the District when the beltway sniper shootings were going on -- one of the shootings was roughly 15 miles from my school. Guess what, still no lockdown drills. Granted during those times when shootings did happen we were on lockdown, but we never once ran a lockdown drill. Or a bomb threat drill, even though we would have the occasional bomb threat, those sucked in the winter. Anyway, the point is, what the heck has happened to our society to warrant this extreme of a drill?
Please don't even start to say it's guns and access to guns because it's not. Harvard, a bastion of liberal higher education, even found that more guns does not mean more crime. And if you're still skeptical google Chicago's murder rate, and remember that they have some of the strictest gun control laws on the record. Also remember, thugs will get guns by any means possible. Law abiding citizens who go through the background checks and gun safety classes and all the hoops are the ones that are starting to be denied the right to defend themselves against the thugs who will get a weapon by any means necessary. Anyway, back to the lockdowns... I just get so frustrated by this because children shouldn't have to go through these drills. They should feel safe inside their schools. Clearly there are individuals who have greatly compromised this and that is sad. Instead of blaming guns, maybe we should look at the parents. Parents you need to be in your kid's business. Know what they're into, who they're talking to and if there's any indication that they could potentially put a school on lockdown. Laissez-faire parenting isn't parenting, it's a cop out. If you let your let's say second grader play Call of Duty with you, sit down and discuss the difference between shooting someone in a video game and shooting someone in real life. I know that sounds crazy, but I think sometimes these kids are so exposed to violence at such a young age that they become desensitized; and perhaps if they're young enough don't understand the difference between the violence in the movies and video games and that of real life. We also need to push responsible gun ownership and safety as well. A kid who learns to shoot at a young age needs to be taught that a gun is a weapon, it is to be respected and is not a toy. Glorifying a gun as a means to solve your problems, it is not. We need to get back to basics as parents and be concerned with how our children will turn out and not be so selfish 24/7.
**Note, I edited this post for clarity on 9/7/2013
Please don't even start to say it's guns and access to guns because it's not. Harvard, a bastion of liberal higher education, even found that more guns does not mean more crime. And if you're still skeptical google Chicago's murder rate, and remember that they have some of the strictest gun control laws on the record. Also remember, thugs will get guns by any means possible. Law abiding citizens who go through the background checks and gun safety classes and all the hoops are the ones that are starting to be denied the right to defend themselves against the thugs who will get a weapon by any means necessary. Anyway, back to the lockdowns... I just get so frustrated by this because children shouldn't have to go through these drills. They should feel safe inside their schools. Clearly there are individuals who have greatly compromised this and that is sad. Instead of blaming guns, maybe we should look at the parents. Parents you need to be in your kid's business. Know what they're into, who they're talking to and if there's any indication that they could potentially put a school on lockdown. Laissez-faire parenting isn't parenting, it's a cop out. If you let your let's say second grader play Call of Duty with you, sit down and discuss the difference between shooting someone in a video game and shooting someone in real life. I know that sounds crazy, but I think sometimes these kids are so exposed to violence at such a young age that they become desensitized; and perhaps if they're young enough don't understand the difference between the violence in the movies and video games and that of real life. We also need to push responsible gun ownership and safety as well. A kid who learns to shoot at a young age needs to be taught that a gun is a weapon, it is to be respected and is not a toy. Glorifying a gun as a means to solve your problems, it is not. We need to get back to basics as parents and be concerned with how our children will turn out and not be so selfish 24/7.
**Note, I edited this post for clarity on 9/7/2013
Ramblings for a Friday Morning
Yesterday afternoon I posted this piece from the Communities section of The Washington Times concerning former Presidents and their public opinions on the facebook page. Those in my inner circle know that I really like George W, and I love that he hasn't said a peep publicly about the current hot topics with regards to this administration. For me, his and his father's staying mum on these topics shows a level of class. Yes, they've been there and done that and they understand what this administration and future administrations have to deal with. I'm sure that they talk about it amongst those in their inner circles but the fact that they don't come out publicly with an opinion says a lot. Bill Clinton though has made his opinions clear, whether through himself or the actions of his wife (like he dare cross Hillary, c'mon now) and is still in the political spotlight. I know that Carter pops up every now and again, he has after all met with Assad before all of this really blew up. I just wrestle with the idea of former presidents being in the spotlight long after their terms have ended. If the administration contacts them privately, whatever, but do these former leaders really need to go and espouse their opinions in a public forum? If they disagree, doesn't that undermine the current administration? Especially with a rather popular president such as Clinton, from the beginning he was for action in Syria despite the fact that Obama had set a red line and waited over a year to reset the red line, deny he set the red line, and waffle around on the golf course debating if he was going to take military action. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of George W and the approaches he took when it came to going to war after 9/11 and the fact that he has always seemed like an approachable guy that has my judgment clouded. I'm absolutely willing to admit to that, not a whole lot of people would. I just think that the overall way that George W handled his whole presidency was with a lot more humanity and humility than what we've seen in this current administration. There weren't many flashy vacations at the expense of the taxpayers, there wasn't a whole lot of anger towards him from the military community (ok, I'm sure there was but having been in DC and heard about his visits to Walter Reed to visit the wounded warriors multiple times, his going on bike rides with rehabbing wounded warriors, and inviting the military to events not for show but just because he cared about them and their families and didn't turn it into a photo op... Just saying, the man would go into the war zone to help serve the troops turkey dinner).
The fact is, at the end of the day, this is Obama's war, not some past President's trying to relive his glory days or whatever. I have already decided my opinion when my kids, or their kids, ask me about the Great and Powerful Obama, and it won't be a pretty one. Maybe things will turn around in the next three years but I'm not hopefully as he's done nothing but make citizens more dependent upon the government, he's put the blame on everyone but himself, he still is trying to force Obamacare upon the masses while exempting himself, Congress, the Supreme Court, federal judges, unions, and everyone but the middle class. He wants illegals to jump the line and gain citizenship before those who come into this country legally, wade through the red tape and do it all right. And well we all know how I feel when it comes to him in the military. Maybe he should be powwowing with former Presidents, in private, to figure out how to not doom our country.
**Note: I edited for clarity on 9/7/2013
The fact is, at the end of the day, this is Obama's war, not some past President's trying to relive his glory days or whatever. I have already decided my opinion when my kids, or their kids, ask me about the Great and Powerful Obama, and it won't be a pretty one. Maybe things will turn around in the next three years but I'm not hopefully as he's done nothing but make citizens more dependent upon the government, he's put the blame on everyone but himself, he still is trying to force Obamacare upon the masses while exempting himself, Congress, the Supreme Court, federal judges, unions, and everyone but the middle class. He wants illegals to jump the line and gain citizenship before those who come into this country legally, wade through the red tape and do it all right. And well we all know how I feel when it comes to him in the military. Maybe he should be powwowing with former Presidents, in private, to figure out how to not doom our country.
**Note: I edited for clarity on 9/7/2013
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Rockstar of the Day
Did you catch the exchange between Rep Jeff Duncan (R-SC) and Secretary of State John Kerry? It was awesome. Seriously, he makes such valid points and I am loving it. I love that he brought up Benghazi and asked how we are supposed to send troops in to Syria but we can't even swoop in to save, let alone give honest answers to the families of the four Americans killed in Benghazi. Oh and John... John... John... You went to war, and came back and protested it vehemently in my opinion. While I thank you for your military service, I don't thank you for your political service. Perhaps it's just me, but I think you had your own little "What difference does it make?" meltdown in front of Rep Duncan yesterday. Good for you though for still trying to say that Benghazi is a phony scandal. And yes, it is about getting involved in Syria's civil war John. You said that the president has no intention of boots on the ground but the resolution passed gave way for it if need be, you even said that you're not discounting the notion of boots on the ground. As an army wife, I'm already anticipating another long drawn out war with boots on the ground and a lot more American casualties unless the Rules of Engagement are amended to shoot without discrimination because we don't know who exactly our enemy is over there. There's too many offshoot al-Qaeda groups, there's reports that both the government and these rebel groups have used gas on innocent citizens, so really let's just let them kill each other. John, tell your boss that he needs to learn how to take personal responsibility for his words and not act like he never set a red line, then try to push it off on everyone else (thanks though John for clarifying that he did indeed say that there was a red line). Tell him that he has no international allies on this so he needs to stand down. Tell him to worry about the crumbling of his own country before he goes and interferes in another nation's civil war. As for you Rep Duncan, keep on being awesome. Please don't sell out and become a RINO, America needs more lawmakers like you.
Coddling Is Always The Answer
Dang, I feel old. Seriously, I'm not quite yet 30 but already I feel like I'm super old and I just want to kick people and say suck it up buttercup! I was always under the impression until we moved here that the order of school start times always went, high school, middle/junior high school, elementary. Since when does elementary start before high school? Apparently this is a national trend, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan is proposing that schools start later. The first bell of my high school was 717am (a decade after graduating and I still remember that), yes it's early and wasn't always fun, but for the most part we all made it through (and if I can survive first period physics or first period AP biology then really??). Some families need high schoolers to start early, and before the younger grades, because of after school childcare for the younger kids. As a former teen babysitter, that was my gas money and going out on the weekend money for a long time (and in case my former families are reading this, thank you so much for trusting me with your kids and always treating me like another family member rather than hired help, two in particular and you know who you are!). I played lacrosse for a year and know that had school started later in the day, there wouldn't have been time for sports or work after school in addition to keeping up with the demands of studying and homework. I know myself well enough that I have always liked to sleep until the last possible second in the morning, so an attempt for last ditch studying or paper writing would be out the window the morning before school. I know that in college you can take classes starting at 10 and go just three days a week (or unless you stack your Tuesdays and Thursdays, that might have been the best semester ever) but not everyone goes to college and will have to work. How many of those kids will balk at the thought of getting up at 5am to get to a job that starts at 7? It's quite a possibility in this economy with more and more people only able to get part time work. Yes, getting up at 4am to help open Starbucks at 5am wasn't fun, but I did it for a time because it was the job I had, it made me money and helped me grow up a bit. And for those kids who graduate high school and go into the military, you'll learn up early, down late, sleep when you can. So should we keep coddling these kids as they get ready to embark on adulthood? Or will we just say, it's ok because as long as you can explain how you got the wrong answer you'll still survive the real world? Personal responsibility, apparently it's for the weak minded.
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