Motley Moose – Archive

1 giant hole at Ground Zero still.

2,974 civilian dead and another 24 remain listed as missing.

1,375 military dead in Operation Enduring Freedom.

4,661 military dead in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

100,000+ civilian dead in OIF and OEF.

A Missouri woman complained that she was inconvenienced by a procession accompanying the casket of Sgt. William Woods, who was killed by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.  I don’t need to add much else because Sheriff Boyer said it better than I could.  I am not including her…ahem…nonsense…but you can find it in the link below.

Sheriff Oliver “Glenn” Boyer’s response to this “complaint”:

Dear XXXXX:

Yes, you do deserve a response and I am willing to give you one.

I would like to say that I am sorry for the inconvenience we caused you during the funeral procession of Sergeant 1st Class William B. Woods, but I cannot do so. I would ask instead that you take a moment of your time to take into consideration the scope of the event. Your very right to complain was the reason Sgt. Woods fought for his country and ultimately gave his life; thus making the ultimate sacrifice for you and your family.

Let me introduce you to him. After high school, Sergeant Woods entered the Marine Corps. After his contract was up, he joined the Army, where he became a Green Beret. He comes from a long line of military members in his family. His Uncle is a Vietnam Veteran and two of his grandfathers were World War II Veterans. His job in the Army was one of the most dangerous jobs – he was a sniper looking for the bad guys to stop before they killed or injured one of our soldiers. He has numerous decorations to include the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

He grew up in Catawissa and was best known by his middle name, Brian. He enjoyed the outdoors, playing sports, and skydiving. He had a wife, Elizabeth, and two daughters, whom he loved dearly. He was a soft-spoken, level-headed young man who was proud to serve his country no matter what the risk. Now, I did not know him, but I wish I did. I am quoting from newspaper articles written about him.

At the young age of 31, he was shot during an engagement with Taliban forces in Ghanzi , Afghanistan . He died of his wounds in Germany on August 16, with his family by his side. He did not choose the time of his death, nor did he choose the time his remains would be brought back to his home in Catawissa. He just did his duty. He was quite a young man.

While you were being inconvenienced in your car on your way home, there were soldiers just like Sergeant Woods carrying 100+ pounds of equipment in 120 degree heat, up some mountain or in the middle of some desert. They will shower out of a helmet liner if they get the chance. They will eat a cold meal of MRE’s; something most people would consider garbage. They cannot text their family or friends, or go to McDonalds, or watch TV. They can only continue the mission and look out after the guy to the left and right of them. They don’t complain because they know they volunteered. The only thing they ask is that we do not forget the sacrifices they have made.

One of the dirty “big hoo ha” bikers, as you call them, was Brian’s uncle, a Vietnam Veteran, like myself. We were not treated with a homecoming. We were spit on and called baby killers by a misguided public. Brian’s uncle was giving him the respect that he, himself, never received when he came back and I, for one, am proud of him for doing so.

You say that your brother is a deputy in another Missouri county. I am sure he would be proud to escort the casket of a fallen solder, the same as he would that of a fallen officer. I am also sure he would not agree with your complaint about being inconvenienced.

My mother recently passed away. She was a World War II Veteran, serving the U.S. Army. She would say, maybe you should pick up Sergeant Woods’ ruck sack and carry on where he left off. Then you could see first hand what it really is to be inconvenienced.

Per your request, I will forward your complaint to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for his review. It is my personal opinion that your complaint is self-serving and without merit.

Sheriff Oliver “Glenn” Boyer

R.I.P. Sgt. 1st Class William “Brian” Woods, and thank you for your ultimate sacrifice.

crossposted at Navy Blue Wife

$1,000,000+ and still going for Rob Miller!

Shame on you, Rep. Joe Wilson.  You had the audacity to scream at the President during his Congressional address, “You Lie!”

Controversy is swirling around the Associated Press’s decision to publish a photograph of a 21-year-old Marine in his final moments of life.

Cpl. Braxton Russell pays tribute to Lance Cpl. Bernard during an August 27 memorial service in Afghanistan.

(Julie Jacobson, AP Photo, USMC)

Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) died shortly before midnight on Tuesday at his home in Hyannis Port, MA.  He was suffering from brain cancer.

The lounge is open for business, and I am sitting back sipping some rum and juice coffee beer, reading teh interwebs, looking for something other than health care reform (blah blah blah) to entertain me…pull up a chair and kick it old skool with me, moosey peeps.

Recently, the lunatic fringe began demonizing the National Health Service of Britain, and in response world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who suffers from Lou Gehrig’s disease spoke out against this madness.  Paul Krugman took up the matter in the New York Times, and I thought that I would take a raw look at the benefits of the NHS.  These statistics arm those of fighting for health care reform with more FACTS to fight against the tales from the darkside.

The Sunday morning political talk programs were filled to the brim with health care reform discussions, and central to these discussions is the idea that the insurance industry needs competition.  Competition, in the form of a public option or in health care cooperatives, is supposed to level the playing field and bring down premiums for all Americans while providing as close to universal coverage as we can do right now.

There’s just one itty bitty, teeny weeny problem.  The insurance industry has federal IMMUNITY from competition!

As I was taking a shower the other day, I started thinking about this whole health care debate.  I haven’t really weighed in on it, and honestly, I have felt rather apathetic about the whole thing.  I started wondering why I wasn’t all hot and bothered like everyone else.  And then it struck me…I’m part of U.S. government funded SOCIALISM!!!

Our military, of which I am a part, is socialist.  That’s right.  I said it.

Those “patriotic” yellow ribbon car magnet neo-cons created socialism in the great United States of America and gave it to the men and women proudly serving our country and protecting our freedoms.  They loved our military so much that they made sure to subsidize our basic needs!

More than one-third of my husband’s pay is a non-taxable housing subsidy!  I shop at the base’s commissary and exchange, which are government subsidized!  We also receive a monthly allowance (read SUBSIDY) for food and bills!  My husband also gets extra money each month because he is married to me (I’m a “dependent” according to the government).  MY VERY EXISTENCE IS GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIZED!

But wait…how could I forget?  I left one thing out of my list of socialist benefits.  We have FULL COVERAGE FREE HEALTH CARE.

I sleep very easy at night because I know that if I or my husband were to have a medical crisis, we would be okay.  We would not lose our savings.  We would not have to contemplate declaring bankruptcy.

When it comes to health care coverage, EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN should be as blessed as we are.

Let me tell you about my health care coverage.  I have a choice between receiving care in the private sector or on the base where we are stationed.  My choice mirrors the public and private option.  I have done both.  Currently, I am on the public option because I have ZERO deductible, and if my medical needs (such an E.R. visit) cannot be covered by the base, I can go to a local hospital and still have full coverage.

Jon Stewart recently slapped neo-con Bill Kristol about the head using our military’s universal health care program as a rebut to Kristol’s nonsense.

STEWART: So you believe no public option, so even though that’s good enough for the military, not good enough for the people of America.

KRISTOL: Well, the military has a different health system than the rest of Americans.

STEWART: It’s a public system, no?

KRISTOL: Yeah, they don’t have an option, they’re all in military health care.

STEWART: Why don’t we go with that?

KRISTOL: I don’t know. Is military health care really what you — first of all, it’s expensive. I think they deserve it, the military–

STEWART: But the American public do not.

KRISTOL: No. The American public do not deserve the same quality health care as our soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan deserve, and they need all kinds of things that the rest of us don’t need.

STEWART: Well, no, they can have that level of care, but are you saying that the American public shouldn’t have access to the same quality health care that we give to our better citizens?

KRISTOL: Yes. To our soldiers? Absolutely. The American public–

STEWART: Really?

KRISTOL: I think that if you become a soldier, you deserve–

[crosstalk]

KRISTOL: One of the ways we make it up to the soldiers, since they’re risking their lives, we give them first-class health care. The rest of us can go out and buy insurance–

STEWART: So you said that the public–

[crosstalk]

STEWART: Get this on the record. Bill Kristol said that the government can run a “first class health care system.” And a government-run health care system is better than the private health care system.

KRISTOL: I don’t know if it’s better.

STEWART: You just said that.

KRISTOL: I don’t know if it’s better.

STEWART: You said it was better! You said it’s the best. It’s a little more expensive…

KRISTOL: The military needs different kinds of health care…

STEWART: I just want to get this down: “The government runs the best health care.”

Pure poetry.  In addition to the overall smackdown of the neo-con argument against universal health care, what REALLY works here is that the Republicans and those opposed to health care reform cannot refute this argument without disparaging the military.  Either military health care is HORRIBLE or government run health care is AWESOME because it is good enough for our men and women in uniform.

So give me your best shot, neo-cons.  Tell me I’m wrong about universal health care!  I TRIPLE DOG DARE YA!

If any single one of them had the guts to reply that the VA has all sorts of problems with providing quality health care, then we could all jump in on them for NOT FUNDING the VA.  The problem has NEVER been with the military medical corps.  The problem is with the Republicans hero-worshiping while stripping funding from the VA.

In fact, our military medical corps is so awesome that they go on humanitarian missions providing FREE health care to people around the world.  First Lady Michelle Obama was just in Norfolk, VA welcoming back the USNS Comfort from a humanitarian mission and said about the Comfort:

But this ship has done more than just provide help to people here at home. It has also offered its services to those who suffer beyond our shores. For its most recent mission, Continuing Promise 2009, the Comfort brought medical and dental care along with engineering assistance and training programs to countries throughout the Caribbean, Latin America and South America. Doctors treated patients, Seabees built schools, veterinarians cared for animals, and the Air Force band delighted local audiences. The crew formed friendships with each other and with the local residents. More than 100,000 patients were treated on this mission, 1,600 surgeries were conducted, 135,000 prescriptions were filled, and more than 300 pallets of aid were delivered.

Our military is out in the world demonstrating what is best about America.  We provide comfort to those in need, providing health care in third world countries.  And all of it is funded by taxpayer dollars.  It brings tears of joy to my eyes.

So let’s call a spade a spade, neo-cons and Blue Dog Dems.  Your bullshit is about GREED and POWER.  It’s not about doing what’s best for all Americans.  You’ve done what’s best for our military and our military families by providing universal health care, so now it’s time to ante up and provide it to the civilian world.

What’s good for our military is good for all Americans!