Something to think about and discuss..

faithful2youfaithful2you Madison, WI Posts: 779
edited July 2006 in A Moving Train
*John Campbell


*4th of July**: In each of the 4 years that I have been a member of the
state Assembly, we have had many "celebrations" on the Assembly floor.
These "celebrations" are orchestrated by the Democrats who control the
House and often involve singing and dancing. Every one of my 4 years
have seen substantial celebrations of Cinco de Mayo (which Commemorates
the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla ), St.
Patrick's Day (for the patron Saint of Ireland), and Chinese New Year's
Day, among others. But never once have we celebrated America's
Independence Day, the 4th of July. *

*So, this year, Republican Assemblyman Jay LaSuer of San Diego arranged
for Vietnam war hero Admiral Jeremiah Denton to come to California to be
a part of a 4th of July ceremony. As you may know, Admiral Denton was a
Navy pilot in Vietnam who was shot down and spent 8 years in a
Vietnamese prison. In 1966 while in prison, he was interviewed by North
Vietnamese television in Hanoi after torture to get him to "respond
properly." During this interview, he blinked his eyes in Morse code to
spell out the word "torture." He was asked about his support for the
war in Vietnam to which he replied "I don't know what is happening now
in Vietnam, because the only news sources I have are Vietnamese. But
whatever the position of my government is, I believe in it, I support
it, and I will support it as long as I live." Four of his 8 years in
prison were spent in solitary confinement. He later wrote the book
"When Hell was in Session" chronicling his experience in Vietnam. *

*When he stepped off the plane after being released from prison in 1973,
he said "We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country
in difficult circumstances. We are profoundly grateful to our
Commander-in-Chief for this day. God bless America." *

*Suffice it to say, Jeremiah Denton is unquestionably an American hero. *

*The Democrat leadership refused to allow him on the Assembly floor, and
there was no 4th of July celebration. A memo from the Democrat
speaker's office said "problems have arisen both with regards to the
spirit, content, and participation of various individuals with regard to
the ceremony." Apparently, they said that he did not believe in the
"separation of church and state" and therefore they would not allow him
to be on the Assembly floor or to speak. *

*Upon hearing about this, Governor Schwarzenegger offered his meeting
room for a ceremony with Admiral Denton. The room was overflowing with
people. Only one elected Democrat was in attendance. A number of
veterans of the last 4 wars were present. Admiral Denton gave a very
moving speech about the 4th of July and about the undeniable commitment
of our founding fathers' to their faith in God. He talked about how the
war on terrorism may be the most difficult war we have yet fought. And
he went on to say that he fears that partisan attacks on our mission and
our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan sound too familiar to what he
experienced in Vietnam. Following his speech, The Governor came out to
personally spend time with him. *

*Then this American hero, whose debt from us all can never be repaid,
flew home to Alabama. *

*The Assembly did meet on that day. And we did have a ceremony that
lasted nearly 20 minutes. That ceremony was to celebrate the career of
a reporter from the LA Times on the occasion of his retirement.
Democrats universally praised him as being "balanced." He was allowed
to speak for about 10 minutes. Admiral Denton was no longer in the
building. *

*Four years of Cinco De Mayo and not one recognition of the 4th of
July. An LA Times reporter praised, and the very person whose sacrifice
allows him to express his opinion is banned. It is perverse. It is
wrong. And it is disrespectful to all the men and women in uniform who
have stared death in the face and to those who gave the ultimate
sacrifice for the American people. *

*Admiral Jeremiah Denton is a hero like all the other men and women of
the Armed Forces, because he defended the ideals set forth with
America's independence. *

*Democrats are always railing about intolerance and discrimination. But
yet in practice, it is they who engage in regular state-sanctioned
discrimination and who are intolerant of the presentation of other
views. Maybe they are worried that people will listen. *

*I do not offer you this to bash Democrats. I offer you this information to
demonstrate the huge chasm that exists between registered, voting
Democrats, and elected Democrat leadership. If you are a
Democrat, don't be ashamed. Be angry. Straighten out your party and
your leadership, or leave it. *

*Fortunately, we do not need the approval of the Speaker of the Assembly
to celebrate our nation's independence. Nor do we need his permission
to thank those who fought to give us and to maintain our freedoms. On
the 4th of July, as the burgers cook and the fireworks fly, let us
always remember......and give thanks. *

*As a final offering, I give you a poem that Admiral Denton read to us,
through eyes clouded with tears:*


"It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, Who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag."
Like a word misplaced...nothing said...what a waste
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • HoonHoon Posts: 175
    Don't really wish to comment on the above.....except the poem.


    Reporters risk their lives and die for our country all they time. They are a huge part of keeping our freedom, if not for them who would the only info we get be coming from?


    It's kinda tough to place one profession over another. Kinda weird and inappropriot for this guy to pat himself on the back like this.



    It is very important that the soldier is thought of as equal to the common citizen. I'd hate to see the day when only service-folk get to vote.

    Would more people die from no doctors or no trashmen?
    If you keep yourself as the final arbiter you will be less susceptible to infection from cultural illusion.
  • hippiemomhippiemom Posts: 3,326
    First, let's make it clear that this was in California, not the U.S. Congress. Second, this story is two years old, it happened in 2004. Third, Adm. Denton is not only a war veteran, he went on to become a U.S. senator, where he voted along ultra-conservative lines. He has been quoted as saying that he does not believe in the separation of church and state, and while in the Senate argued that men who sexually assault their wives should not be charged with rape because ""Dammit . . . when you get married, you kind of expect you're going to get a little sex."

    The Admiral Jeremiah Denton foundation currently pursues two major projects. One is a humanitarian effort, the other is "One Nation Under God." Their web page states their mission as follows:

    The ONE NATION UNDER GOD program organizes support for abolishing the false premise that there is a constitutionally erected "wall of separation between church and state." The aim is to re-establish God’s Ten Commandments as the basis of our own law, to return the freedom to pray in schools, etc.

    I'd object to his appearance too, not for his war service, but for everything he's done since.
    "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." ~ MLK, 1963
  • moeaholicmoeaholic Posts: 535
    Hoon wrote:
    Reporters risk their lives and die for our country all they time. They are a huge part of keeping our freedom, if not for them who would the only info we get be coming from?

    is this a joke?
    "PC Load Letter?! What the fuck does that mean?"
    ~Michael Bolton
  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    I absolutely despise some of these sob stories. It's one thing to point out an atrocity and identify with it, but sometimes it's just taken too far. Attaching patriotism and nationalism, personal loss and all this nonesense to a loss of life. It takes away from the true meaning of "loss of life".

    I don't celebrate any days, July 1st is Canada day, but it passes me by just like any other day. We have enough celebrations each year to totally passify us from the raw realities of life. Emotion and compassion has a place, but it's equally as important to be logical and analytical.

    When I think about the Canadian healthcare system, I think in my heart that I want it to work, and in my brain I realize it's failing. I've taken the initiative to fight for change and promote the system I believe can work. However, I'm not crying over it, or forgetting about it to passify my discontent for it's current situation. And when it all comes down to it, the future of canadian health care is a very small problem. What plagues my mind the most is the state of the world and the oppression of less fortunate people. So, Canada Day can kiss my ass and the health care system can be completely destroyed for all I care, as long as things improve elsewhere.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • Uncle LeoUncle Leo Posts: 1,059
    Hoon wrote:

    Would more people die from no doctors or no trashmen?

    Good point there.
    I cannot come up with a new sig till I get this egg off my face.
  • OutOfBreathOutOfBreath Posts: 1,804
    Ahnimus wrote:
    I don't celebrate any days, July 1st is Canada day, but it passes me by just like any other day.

    Yeah, it's the same with me with our "Constitution Day" the 17th of May. But as it is a holiday, I can make over double money that day for the "inconvenience" of not getting to celebrate at home. :D Worked on the last 5 of them. I do the same with easter and any other holiday apart from christmas btw. :)

    Peace
    Dan
    "YOU [humans] NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME?" - Death

    "Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." - Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965
  • gabersgabers Posts: 2,787
    hippiemom wrote:
    First, let's make it clear that this was in California, not the U.S. Congress. Second, this story is two years old, it happened in 2004. Third, Adm. Denton is not only a war veteran, he went on to become a U.S. senator, where he voted along ultra-conservative lines. He has been quoted as saying that he does not believe in the separation of church and state, and while in the Senate argued that men who sexually assault their wives should not be charged with rape because ""Dammit . . . when you get married, you kind of expect you're going to get a little sex."

    The Admiral Jeremiah Denton foundation currently pursues two major projects. One is a humanitarian effort, the other is "One Nation Under God." Their web page states their mission as follows:

    The ONE NATION UNDER GOD program organizes support for abolishing the false premise that there is a constitutionally erected "wall of separation between church and state." The aim is to re-establish God’s Ten Commandments as the basis of our own law, to return the freedom to pray in schools, etc.

    I'd object to his appearance too, not for his war service, but for everything he's done since.

    Thanks for clarifying. I just knew there was a catch. I'm sure it was just a slip.
  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    Yeah, it's the same with me with our "Constitution Day" the 17th of May. But as it is a holiday, I can make over double money that day for the "inconvenience" of not getting to celebrate at home. :D Worked on the last 5 of them. I do the same with easter and any other holiday apart from christmas btw. :)

    Peace
    Dan

    Same, I make good money working holidays. I would work christmas (agnostic) but they usually force me to take it off.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • OutOfBreathOutOfBreath Posts: 1,804
    Ahnimus wrote:
    Same, I make good money working holidays. I would work christmas (agnostic) but they usually force me to take it off.
    Oh, the only reason I wont work christmas is because that is the one holiday where I want to be with family at home. I like the time of year, and the traditions that go along with it. And, I get to eat until it pours out my ears... :)

    Peace
    Dan
    "YOU [humans] NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME?" - Death

    "Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." - Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965
  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    Oh, the only reason I wont work christmas is because that is the one holiday where I want to be with family at home. I like the time of year, and the traditions that go along with it. And, I get to eat until it pours out my ears... :)

    Peace
    Dan

    I'm always uncomfortable during religious holidays.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
Sign In or Register to comment.