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Thankless Wonders

Posted by Josh Todd on Monday, October 22, 2007 11:41:27 PM
Fans of Fox’s 24 know that the show’s main character, Jack Bauer, is virtually unknown to the public on the show. Fictional President David Palmer frequently proclaimed that the United States owes Bauer a profound debt of gratitude but cannot due to the nature of his work.

In reality, there are men and women performing great works for this country who will never be known and will never get the credit deserved. They work in the shadows, often on covert missions that may never be known to anyone. The beneficiaries of these mystery men and women are almost always unaware of their beneficiary status.

And the heroes accept the absence of gratitude as part of the job. In short, they are thankless wonders performing miracles for people they neither know nor see.

During my tour in Iraq during the calendar year 2005, an ODA, or Operational Detachment Alpha—an Army Special Forces element—was assigned to the city in which my battalion operated. As an intelligence analyst, I was privy to some of the ODA’s operational data.

Eventually, we gained one another’s trust to the point that one Special Forces soldier began asking for my work, particularly on an IED (basically, roadside bomb) cell that had been attacking our convoys daily. I polished the data and presented him with my findings. After discussing the report, he thanked me and left the office.

A few days later I received reports about mortar fire and dead bodies along a highway adjacent to the city. At the site were four dead insurgents and a half-buried IED made up of four 155mm artillery shells—a deadly combination. My SF friends had hidden on a hill near the road when and where we postulated the insurgents would emplace their bomb. At the right moment, they opened fire with rifles and mortars, ending the threat.

IED attacks were fewer and farther between over the next few weeks. The soldiers of my battalion were happier, but they didn’t have a clue who stopped the IED cell, so they never had the opportunity to thank the ODA.

The United States military is full of similar forces who work in the dark doing our dirty work: Army Special Forces and Rangers, Air Force Para Rescue, Marine Force Recon, and Navy SEALs. Each man is a real-life Jack Bauer—a real-life thankless wonder.

One such thankless wonder is now a former thankless wonder as the nation formally paid its gratitude to a fallen Navy SEAL, Lieutenant Michael Murphy. Working in a small SEAL team, Murphy was on a dangerous but important mission to hunt out a particular terrorist. A firefight ensued with roughly fifty enemy fighters converging on the minute US element.

During the fight, Murphy risked his life to communicate with other friendly elements while arranging for reinforcements. Consequently, he and two of his three colleagues were killed.

On this day, President Bush conferred upon Michael Murphy the Medal of Honor. Most military awards elicit congratulations; however, this medal begs only thanks. And so one of our thankless wonders was able to receive just gratitude, even if he isn’t here to see it. In the meantime, we should try to remember men such as these in our thoughts about the war and in our prayers.

Source(s): http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_left_story/20071022_Medal_of_Honor_for_Penn_State_grad_who_died_in_Afghanistan.html, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071022/ap_on_go_pr_wh/medal_of_honor_9,
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The Mockery X: Taking Credit

Posted by Josh Todd on Monday, October 22, 2007 10:21:59 PM
The Mockery is a column that will appear periodically when I don’t feel like writing seriously about current events. Each installment of The Mockery is written with the intent of poking fun at some of the excesses of our modern era.

After the grand opening of a lavish, new skyscraper in a big city, one man claimed his due credit. Without him, he said, we wouldn’t have this new building and we all wouldn’t have this source of pride.

How did it happen? Several years ago, the man tossed a brick through a second story window of the original building the new scraper replaced. Inspired, his followers tossed bricks, rocks, bicycles, and other objects into the building, which was subsequently condemned due to the extensive damage.

If the man hadn’t gotten the building condemned, then we wouldn’t have the new one.

Similar to our fictional account of the anarchist vandal are the remarks of Senator Harry Reid last Friday about an auction that raised $4.2million for a military-related charity.

The affair began a few weeks ago when Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, penned a letter to Mark Mays of Clear Channel, Limbaugh’s radio syndication partner, charging that Limbaugh had called all soldiers critical of the Iraq War “phony soldiers.” In reality, Limbaugh was referring to a specific soldier who will serve jail time for falsified claims about his service and a federal investigation into other similar soldiers—or, shall I say, non-soldiers.

Limbaugh, after receiving the original letter—signed by 41 senators—from Mays, subsequently put it up for auction with the proceeds going to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, a group that funds scholarships for Marines and police officers who die in the line of duty. He would likewise match the winning dollar amount.

Speaking of Mays, Reid, before the Senate, said, “[H]e and I thought this would probably not raise much money,” indicating his complicity in the auction. Thus, Reid tossed the brick through the window, his forty senator pals followed suit, and now a large number of children will have a share of a $4.2million scholarship pool. All by design, to be sure.
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The Mockery IX: The Bad Times

Posted by Josh Todd on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 1:57:17 PM
We all know that the media tends to dwell on the negative. Heck, journalists even proclaim their collective duty to bring the down and dirty elements of government and big business.

One of the most vile, evil events of our time is the Iraq War. The President lied, we are told. The troops rape and kill innocents. Oil companies are there to make obscene profits. It’s patently terrible.

Now, however, the war has taken another turn for the better. Less killing, less dying, etc. In spite of this good news, things aren’t so great everywhere.

That according to a pair of McClatchy Newspapers journalists working out of Najaf, Iraq.

Per our two journalist friends, there is great misery in the declining insurgency and sectarian violence in the war-torn country. But who, one might ask, suffers from an improving war? Al Qaeda? Democrats? Oil companies?

No—none other than the employees of Najaf’s Wadi al-Salam graveyard, widely believed to be the world’s largest cemetery. Wadi al-Salam was also the sight of a major confrontation during the Battle of Najaf in 2004, resulting in many deaths.

According to Jay Price and Qasim Zein, our two trusty McClatchy reporters, declining death rates have cut burials by at least 1/3 over the past six months, resulting in a cut in pay for thousands of workers who earn their livings burying the dead.

Now that those pesky Americans are not killing so many al Qaeda fighters and Sadrists, the employees of Wadi al-Salam suffer financially. All of this creates great confusion as to which is the greater evil: war or…a lack thereof.

Thus, even in the good times there is undue misery in the land between the two rivers.

Source(s): http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20071016/wl_mcclatchy/20071016bcusiraqcemetery_attn_national_foreign_editors_ytop
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Ohio Dems Face Troubles

Posted by Josh Todd on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 11:16:47 PM
They ran an anti-corruption campaign, and rightfully so; but now, Ohio’s newly elected Democrat caucus is having troubles of its own.

Two areas raise concern about the folks who succeeded Bob Taft, Mike DeWine, and co. earlier this year: campaign contributions and the use of the Attorney General’s office.

First, amid reports that convicted felon Norman Hsu made questionable donations to Hillary Clinton—a story that made moderate national waves—Ohioans learned that three of its most high-profile elected officials also took cash from Hsu. Governor Ted Strickland, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, and freshman Senator Sherrod Brown received contributions from Hsu. They have each since disposed of the funds even though the elections Hsu’s cash was designed to land are obviously already secure.

Attorney General Marc Dann is also implicated in questionable campaign contributions. Dann gave Kevin Zeiher state work this year on a suit for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. It was revealed this week that Zeiher gave Dann too much money during the 2006 election cycle, $2500, which is $500 beyond the legal limit.

Dann is also involved in a potentially damaging situation involving charter schools. An apparent deal between the state’s teachers’ union, the Ohio Education Association, and Dann resulted in the OEA dropping a suit against the state’s charter schools only for Dann’s AG office to pick up the suit the very next day on the taxpayer’s dime, saving the OEA millions of dollars in legal costs.

At this point, Ohioans, still disenchanted after years of corruption from Bob Taft and Tom Noe, must be disappointed in its new leadership. It remains to be seen, however, if this string of Democrat troubles will spell trouble for them at the ballot box next fall or beyond.

Source(s): http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071005/UPDATES01/71005022, http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/news.apx.-content-articles-CMH-2007-10-05-0018.html, http://www.akronnewsnow.com/news/itemdetail.asp?ID=9727§ion=news&subsection=localnews&title=Ohio_Dems_Return_Money_From_Fundraiser_Facing, http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/08/31/giveaway.ART_ART_08-31-07_B1_9S7P17E.html?sid=101
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Quid Pro Quo in Ohio AG Office

Posted by Josh Todd on Thursday, October 04, 2007 8:39:48 AM
Much has been made of Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann’s lawsuit filed against three Dayton-area charter schools. He cites the schools’ poor academic performances as justification.

Charter schools have always held the contempt of teachers’ unions. The Columbus Education Association—the capital’s arm of the OEA and NEA—endorsed incumbent Mayor Michael Coleman in his race against William Todd, who had done work in the past on behalf of charter schools. Todd now proposes a city hall takeover of Columbus schools.

The OEA even issues annual reports excoriating the low ways of private charter schools.

But the OEA-Dann alliance is about more than academic performance. In fact, 182 public schools perform around the same level as the three charter schools Dann has in his sights, yet singles out charter schools. The struggle is really about the hegemony of the OEA/NEA in the public school system.

Private schools constitute a direct challenge to the OEA/NEA control over curriculum, philosophy, pedagogy, and education funding. The latter is relevant in the battle over school choice and vouchers, wherein public schools risk losing funds allocated to a student when he or she moves to a private school.

Now it appears that the OEA-Dann alliance is formal, after all.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that Dann’s suit was the result of a request from an OEA attorney. OEA had previously filed a suit designed to shut down the state’s charter schools. They withdrew that lawsuit after Marc Dann agreed to aggressively pursue the cause himself using the executive arm of the state. Dann’s suit was filed one day after the OEA settled its suit.

As a result, OEA will save valuable funds it would have expended on a costly lawsuit, cash that can be spent on political donations and other OEA activities. Now, the Ohio taxpayers will foot the bill for the union’s vendetta. Presumably, Dann will maintain OEA support when he is up for reelection.

Source(s): http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-03-2006/0004409839&EDATE=, http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20071003/pl_usnw/ohio_attorney_general_takes_orders_from_teacher_s_union, http://daytonian.townhall.com/g/34780775-184a-4fbc-b354-de773d32ed3a
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The Mockery VIII: "See-sesh"

Posted by Josh Todd on Wednesday, October 03, 2007 9:29:30 AM
The Mockery is a column that will appear periodically when I don’t feel like writing seriously about current events. Each installment of The Mockery will be written with the intent of poking fun at some of the excesses of our modern era.

During the Civil War, Union Army soldiers referred to southerners as “see-sesh,” short for secessionist. Well, the late 2000s might prove to be the 1850s and 1860s all over again.

The Vermont group that wants to secede from the United States is already well known. What is less well known is the League of the South, a southern (naturally) group that also seeks secession. The League reportedly “refuses to give up southern independence.”

Both sides will meet in Chattanooga, Tennessee this week to discuss possible secession, attracting interest from California, Alaska, and Hawaii. New Englanders concede that they would have abortion and gun control while allowing the south to crack down on illegals more so than they are currently.

But why would liberal, er “progressive,” northeasterners and west coast types—those not in flyover country—collude with dem nasty sud’ners? Vermonters admit wishing to secede peacefully. Perhaps the south, with its knack for fighting, we are told, would provide the punch while Vermont would provide the brains?

Fortunately for a US military that is stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan, it would probably only take the Washington, D.C. Police Department’s day shift to quell the new see-sesh rebellion.

Until the next Fort Sumter, then, we have suggestions for the far left-wing and far right-wing kooks aspiring to be the next see-sesh: For you libs, we have this place called Cuba; and for you right-wing nuts, we have this place called Montana where our best rifle militias hang out.

Then again, it might be a net benefit for the country absent Vermont and California.

Source(s): http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2007/oct/03/100306209.html
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Phonies, Part II

Posted by Josh Todd on Tuesday, October 02, 2007 9:41:28 PM
Forty-one Senate Democrats signed a letter condemning radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh for comments he did not make. The letter was addressed to Mark Mays of Clear Channel Communications, Inc.

In the letter, the senators claim that “Rush Limbaugh’s recent characterization of troops who oppose the war as ‘phony soldiers’ is such an outrage.” Furthermore, they claim Limbaugh’s remarks constitute an “insult … directed at thousands of American service members.” The letter demanded a Clear Channel repudiation of Limbaugh’s supposed slander and a public apology.

It is at this point that one must actually learn what occurred. I wrote earlier this morning about the topic, but there appears a need to reiterate.

Last week, Rush Limbaugh was discussing a federal legal case against soldiers who falsely applied for benefits or otherwise made false claims about their service. One soldier was named in particular, Jesse MacBeth. It was MacBeth who was called a “phony soldier” because he claimed to have witnessed atrocities in Iraq and to have won a purple heart when in reality he was discharged in basic training after only 44 days. He was recently sentenced in federal court.

Speaking of soldiers like MacBeth, of which there are many, Limbaugh called them “phony soldiers” because several such men have been upheld in other media outlets as courageous critics of the war based on their false claims that were supposed to have bestowed upon them some degree of credibility.

That forty-one US senators would sign a letter making charges that are so inaccurate brings shame to the United States Senate and Democrat Party, the longest-standing and proudest of our political parties. The facts are easily accessible, but apparently not one of the forty-one senators or their staffers bothered to find them. Perhaps they even ignored the truth. Instead, they have collectively attacked one of their long-time foes.

If this is the thoroughness with which these legislators operate, all Americans should be especially skeptical of any proposal any of them attempts to pass into law. Furthermore, the letter says a lot about the senators as candidates—a lot about the lengths to which they are willing to go to gain notoriety and slander their opponents.

Several of these senators have made comments accusing US troops—of which I was one—of operating gulags, torturing prisoners, harassing Iraqis in the middle of the night, and many other atrocities. Many of them have repeatedly tried to undermine the war my friends and I have fought so hard to win. Most of us lost friends in that war.

Jesse MacBeth and those like him are phony soldiers in that they openly lied about their service in order to gain the favor of left-wing critics of the war, which, in turn, allowed them to be more prominent with their criticism. They are an abomination to the uniform they had the honor of wearing, however briefly.

Moreover, when a group of senators that has colluded with such soldiers and otherwise attempted to undermine the war in other ways charges Rush Limbaugh as unpatriotic, I can only think of the pot and kettle. It is they who are phony and their patriotism is truthfully in question. Instead, it appears that the Democrat Party is more important than the United States of America to some of them.

The opportunism displayed today with the letter to Clear Channel is the single biggest act of intellectual dishonesty out of the Congress in quite some time. It is the forty-one senate Democrats who should be repudiated; and it is they who should apologize to Rush Limbaugh and to American service members.
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Phony Senate Outrage

Posted by Josh Todd on Tuesday, October 02, 2007 12:52:58 AM
Many of you may not care for radio talk show king Rush Limbaugh; however, this week’s hubbub about the Maha Rushie’s alleged slander should not go unnoticed by conservatives.

Democrat senators Harry Reid and Tom Harkin took to the senate floor today to denounce Limbaugh’s apparent slander of US troops, claiming that the talk show godfather called all troops who now dissent to the Iraq War phony.

Senator Harkin suggested that Limbaugh was perhaps high on drugs again.

Unfortunately for Reid, Harkin, and their left-wing counterparts on websites such as thinkprogress.org—I urge you to read the responses to the Harkin/Limbaugh story on that site—they have completely mischaracterized Limbaugh’s comments, either intentionally or mistakenly (which is irrelevant here).

As a subscriber to Limbaugh’s Rush 24/7 website, I listen to his podcasts most days. Last week he discussed a soldier named Jesse MacBeth, an Iraq War vet who claimed to have witnessed American atrocities during his tour. MacBeth also filed for benefits citing PTSD. Naturally, the media and war critics latched onto the story.

However, MacBeth has been sentenced to jail time for fraud involving his claims. It turns out that Jesse MacBeth never saw Iraq, never saw combat, and—it goes without saying—never saw atrocities. In fact, one report indicates that he was discharged after forty or so days in basic training.

In other words, MacBeth was a “phony soldier.”

During one of Limbaugh’s broadcasts last week, he spoke at length about MacBeth, calling him specifically a “phony soldier” and citing many others like him as part of a federal investigation into other such soldiers. There was no insinuation whatsoever that all dissenting vets are somehow phony. Reid and Harkin are simply wrong.

As an Iraq vet, I took offense to Reid’s remark some time ago that the war was lost. Now, a year-plus later, the war has taken another turn for the better and now Reid is calling Limbaugh unpatriotic? I won’t accuse either senator of blatant dishonesty, however, because I seriously doubt they listened to the program. Instead, I will express my opinion that Reid’s, and Harkin’s, sudden outrage and slights to our troops is, well, phony.

Source(s): http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/democrats-go-after-limbaugh-2007-10-01.html, http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/01/harkin-maybe-limbaugh-was-high-on-drugs-again, http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/waw/press/2007/sep/operationstolenvalor.html,
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