Tag Archives: Politics

Nearly four years ago – as the conservative world began frothing and foaming at the mouth as it flew into fits of rage due to having contracted a severe case of Obama Derangement Syndrome (ODS) – I was sent a copy of Kit Lange’s, “My Predictions for the New Obama ‘Presidency’”, well it’s time to revisit Lange’s dire predictions and see if any have come true.

Kit: Israel will understand this election was the end of any type of assistance, military or otherwise, from the U.S., and will stop holding back their defense at the request of the American administration. Look for a first strike on Iran soon, as well as increased activity by the Israeli military in general. Israel is on her own now, and God help us all because of it.

LT: This is still, and always will be, a complete unsubstantiated pile of right-wing hyper bole based on nothing but frenzied ODS. Israel’s not only still receiving substantial aid from the United States in the forms of funding, intelligence and military support but President Obama’s given our ally what the Bush administration refused to provide – 50, 5,000 pound bunker buster bombs, clearly capable of taking out any underground nuclear facility Iran, or anyone else, may construct. Oh, and by-the-way, we’re still waiting for that “first strike” on Iran, which I will agree will happen the first time they fire up a reactor, but that would occur regardless of who was President. Still 0-1 …

Kit: Look for Iranian retaliation–against American targets. That goes doubly for other terrorist organizations.

LT: Still waiting, and thus far nothing, just the usual we’re going to attack the great American Satan, blah, blah, blah … 0-2

Kit:  Look for far-left justices appointed to the Supreme Court, effectively tying up the entire government in a trifecta of liberal humanism, the buzzwords of which remain empty platitudes like “hope and change,” and the ultimate goal of which is socialism–and soon, sharia law.

LT: No new “far-left justices” appointed, and in fact, thus far President Obama has appointed two highly qualified women to the Supreme Court, neither of which could be classified as “far left”. And so-far there’s no evidence of Sharia law being enacted anywhere in the country as a result of any Obama appointee … While we’re visiting this, what side of the political aisle would expect a Democratic President to appoint justices from? And, by-the-by, it’s called balance having justices from both ends of the political spectrum; a court filled solely from either side would be potentially disastrous to the Republic. Just a thought, but isn’t religious law bad no matter where it comes from, or is it just Islamic law; funny how uber-conservative Christian nut jobs – apparently like Ms Lange – are scared spit less by so-called Sharia law, but have no issue with the Christian equivalent? 0-3

Kit: Military cases of troops being tried and convicted for killing the enemy in combat will continue to rise – and the conviction/plea – bargain rate will stay at nearly 100%, as the government seeks to use the best men and women this country has to offer as sacrificial lambs on the altar of global appeasement. Those brave and honorable men who currently reside in prison cells across the country, stripped of their rank, their careers, families, and their good name, will not taste free air again for many years. Their sacrifices and their stories will be forgotten by the general public, remembered only by those of us who continue to fight for them.

As for military troops being tried and convicted for doing their jobs…really? You may not be reading the news, but there are currently more than ten troops incarcerated at Leavenworth for just that. Add in the Fort Lewis cases, and you have yourself a true prediction. “Hasn’t happened?” Try again. [In all fairness, Spc Jeremy Morlock, and Spc Adam Winfield did plead guilty to their crimes….however, as someone who has sat in on some of the proceedings in person, I can say with absolute certainty that Spc Michael Wagnon and PFC Andrew Holmes are innocent of their charges, as is SSG Calvin Gibbs.]

LT: On 15 Jan 10, in the village of La Mohammad Kalay fifteen year old Gul Mudin was doing farm work for his father. He was unarmed and allegedly murdered “by means of throwing a fragmentary grenade at him and shooting him with a rifle,” an action carried out by SPC Jeremy Morlock and allegedly PFC Andrew Holmes under the direction of Gibbs.

On 22 Feb 10, using thermal imagery, the soldiers discovered Marach Agha curled in a ball by a roadside. Gibbs and SPC Michael S. Wagnon allegedly shot him and placed a Kalashnikov next to the body to justify the killing. SPC Jeremy Morlock pled guilty for his death. The army later said it believed Marach Agha to be deaf or mentally retarded. The soldiers allegedly kept part of his skull. Gibbs was convicted by a military jury on 15 counts including the premeditated murder of Mudin, Agha and Adahdad as well as illegally cutting off pieces of their corpses and planting weapons to make the men appear as if they were Taliban fighters.

In Sep 2011 Holmes pled guilty to murder,and was sentenced to 7 years jail.

In Nov 2011, Gibbs was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years minus the 547 days of pretrial confinement.

In 2011 Wagnon faced the following charges: possessing a human skull fragment, conspiracy to harm Afghans, premeditated murder, assaulting noncombatants, trying to destroy evidence. After pretrial hearings an Army investigating officer twice recommended that prosecutors drop the charges and in Feb 2011, Lewis-McChord senior commander MG Lloyd Miles dismissed them ending the Army’s prosecution.

The so-called, “Military cases of troops being tried and convicted for killing the enemy in combat will continue to rise”has not happened, in fact as shown above, the Military Courts have dealt with the charges and where applicable have convicted or dismissed; 0-4 …

Kit: Look for the slow but steady erosion of rights you have enjoyed for your entire lives–all the while being told it’s “for your own good.”

LT: Can’t name a single one my rights that’s been eroded in the past nearly four  years; 0-5

Kit: Restrictions on gun ownership,

LT: Hasn’t happened. In fact thus far, President Obama has done more to guarantee the free exercise of the Second Amendment than any of his recent predecessors. President Obama has allowed gun owners to carry weapons on Amtrak trains and in federal parks. No other President – not even conservative ones – has ever extended gun rights to that extent; 0-6…

Kit: …“encouraged dependence on the ever-growing federal government” hasn’t happened either? Have you seen the exponential growth of people on welfare assistance since he took office? Or are you going to simply blame that on the “horrible” economy he “inherited” from Bush?

LT: There’s a difference between the President “encouraging dependence” and the fact more people have needed assistance. Unemployment numbers rose after Bush/Cheney left office – due mainly to their administration having tanked the economy. As the President approaches re-election he has to take partial blame now for the fact the economy is still performing badly, and he will be attacked on that. However, when almost every piece of legislation passed by the Democratic House was blocked by a record number of Republican filibusters in the Senate, and since not one jobs bill has been produced by the GOTP House, there’s more than enough blame to go around. President still hasn’t “encouraged dependence”; 0-7 …

Kit: More nanny-state provisions will be put into place to protect the “disadvantaged” and the “poor,” (read: lazy, uneducated, unwilling to better themselves) {Wow! Sounding a bit racist} even while groups like the unborn, the mentally handicapped, elderly, and terminally ill are slowly pushed toward euthanasia. Of course, this will be done with feel-good phrases like “death with dignity,” “not wanting to be a burden,” and “merciful release from suffering,” all of which ignore the basic fact that we are killing people without their consent for the “good of the people.” Before you tell me I’m crazy, let’s just remember that Barack Obama was the ONLY senator in the Illinois state senate to vote against providing medical care for babies who were inconsiderate enough to survive an abortion.

LT: Then Senator Obama voted against the bill because it was a bill that would restrict a woman’s right to choice, not just to provide medical funding to help babies who survived late term abortions.

Unfortunately you chose to make claims that people voted for the President because he was black, not I. In conservative speak, when you refer to the “lazy, uneducated, unwilling to better themselves” that means minorities, specifically Blacks and Latinos. It goes back to Reagan’s “welfare queens in Cadillacs” reference. He wasn’t referring to poor Appalachian families. You chose to use the phrase, “We have traded experience for color, freedom for slavery – and the irony is that the average American sheeple thinks their vote somehow righted an ancient wrong, somehow ENDED the specter of slavery and ushered in some beautiful era of liberty”. Those words were meant for the angry whites out there wanting to be angry at a President because of his race, and angry with those who voted for him by believing it was solely because he was black. The idea Bush/Cheney sucked so badly, or had screwed things up so badly, never entered yours or others minds when evaluating McCain/Palin’s loss.

Also, I haven’t seen the “push toward euthanasia” you spoke of … 0-8

Kit: Also, look for taxes to go up. Yes, they’ll go up.

LT: Actually, the majority of Americans got a tax cut shortly after President Obama took office and he supported extending the Bush Tax cuts, as well as recently forcing the GOTP House to continue the payroll tax breaks; 0-9…

Kit: You think the economy is bad now? Just wait. You’ll have the most expensive “free” health care ever. Bread lines aren’t just for Russians anymore.

LT: An economy driven into the ground by the failed policies of the Bush-Cheney Administration; which has given our country the largest expansion of the Federal Government ever, coupled with the largest Federal deficit ever, and in nearly four years the economy is humming and beginning to move into full scale recovery; the Stock Market was at 8077.56 when the President was sworn in, and it’s above 13000 today; unemployment numbers continue to drop and we’re looking at 29 consecutive months of 125,000 jobs added to the private sector as compared to the 700,000 per month loss we were suffering under Bush. Job growth coupled with the rescuing of the American auto industry; 0-10 …

Kit: We have traded experience for color, freedom for slavery – and the irony is that the average American sheeple thinks their vote somehow righted an ancient wrong, somehow ENDED the specter of slavery and ushered in some beautiful era of liberty.

LT: I’m just a simple guy who happened to grow up in the south hearing racist comments all of the time and this is a racist commentary. I didn’t vote for President Obama because he was Black. Or because I felt I needed to somehow correct the “specter of slavery”. I voted for him because I couldn’t continue to support the failed policies of President George W. Bush. I couldn’t continue to support an Administration that had prosecuted an illegal war based on half truths and lies, and that allowed my brothers and sisters in uniform to be used as thugs and bullies. I can no longer say, “American soldiers don’t torture prisoners.” Of course if you’ve never bothered to serve, or to swear an oath to protect and defend (Kit has served her country), or buried buddies who’ve died in combat, or later committed suicide because they couldn’t live with themselves any more, than you couldn’t begin to understand why I voted the way I did. Truth is white conservative America just can’t get used to a Black President.

Kit: “…In reality, we are about to be less free than you ever thought possible.”

LT: This has already been addressed …

Kit: I watched the faces of those crowded into the mob (excuse the pun) in Chicago. They stared at Obama like he was a god, an idol, a panacea to their every want and need. We have truly failed as a nation if we are at the point where we feel we must look to one man to take care of us all, to be our father figure and our sugar daddy. We have lost not only the “can-do” attitude of past generations, but the “MUST-do” attitude of our forefathers. We have allowed ourselves to become reduced from Patrick Henry’s proud cry of “liberty or death” to the sniveling, whining idea that we are owed something. We have gone from being the honorable defenders of freedom, to being told we are the problem.

LT: After eight years of President George W. Bush’s administration people were relieved. Pure and simple; here was a chance for America to start over. Unfortunately, Airman Lange’s idea of “the honorable defenders of freedom” has lost its luster because of the Bush administration’s policies. Because of innocent civilians being murdered (see above) and places like GITMO, and Abu Ghraib, places where Jefferson’s ideas of “all men being created equal” were spat upon; where people were tortured and humiliated, in the name of the “American Ideal”. My father, my father-in-law and others of the “greatest generation” fought against governments who treated prisoners like this. It was difficult to conceive of an America where common decency and honor no longer had a place. Now it is once again our hallmark…

Kit: The eyes of Obama and McCain were also telling. McCain acted with class and grace in his concession speech, offering the most honorable response I’ve seen yet. I don’t agree with all of McCain’s positions, but it cannot be denied that the man has served his nation, at permanent and severe detriment to himself, for half a century. His eyes were clear and sincere, honest. His speech underlined the very reasons why, of the two men offered, he was hands down the best choice.

LT: Senator McCain served his country well and faithfully, but he was not the best choice. To continue four more years of failed foreign and domestic policies was not the better choice. To support four more years of torture, and the slow erosion of human liberties we supposedly “hold to be self evident” was not the better choice. I too watched Senator McCain’s concession speech. He was magnificent. The crowd however, booed and acted shamefully when the Senator mentioned his opponent. Not a reaction I want to be associated with. Senator McCain is a hero. That doesn’t mean he should’ve been President. His choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate firmly shoved me into President Obama’s camp. She was not only unqualified, but was a pathetically transparent attempt to sway woman voters to vote for McCain. She was the best, most highly qualified, conservative woman Senator McCain could find? This – to me – spoke volumes about his own abilities to be President.

Kit: On the other hand, Obama’s eyes were cold, calculating. His manner was smug and still carried the arrogance he has always had. His facial expression was one of barely disguised disdain for everything people like me believe in. His body language was smooth, polished, too much so. He talked of patriotism as though it is a value he is familiar with, and yet, his horrifying attitude toward the country he now leads is as well-documented as his friendships with those who seek its demise.

LT: Oh no! He pals around with terrorists! Not true; in fact, not only documented, but well-documented as not true. President Obama served on a board with someone who allegedly committed criminal acts during an extremely unpopular war; acts for which, in 1973, the Federal Government requested the dismissal of the charges against him. Note; the charges were dismissed at the request of the Federal Government. I’ve also watched President Obama speak, as I also watched Senator McCain speak. I also watched each and every debate between the two. I saw nothing of what the author speaks. President Obama didn’t speak in any way that she – or any other veteran, or currently serving member of the military – should take as “disdain for everything people like me believe in”. Who exactly are the people like Ms. Lange? I’ve served 22 years in the United States Army, and I felt none of what Airman Lange claims.

Kit: He is charismatic to those who don’t know what to look for …

LT: like an aircraft mechanic knows? Is this standard aircraft mechanic training in the Air Force now? Guess I somehow missed the “anti-charismatic training” …

Kit: And he is inspiring to those who cannot or will not think for themselves.

LT: I made my decision to vote for President Obama, once again, not based upon his charisma, nor because – thank you very much – I can’t think for myself; as compared to the legions of “ditto-heads” who make up their minds based on this kind of hate-filled vitriolic prose, filled with half-truths and innuendo from the drug addled brain of the likes of Limbaugh.

Kit: However, too many who voted for him are guilty of the most dangerous kind of hypocrisy. You see, we are told daily that we must not see color, just mankind. (We are all family, you know, or so we’re told.)

LT: Again, comments that are sounding more than a little racist, in my opinion.

Kit: And yet Barack Obama was handed the White House on a silver platter by a fawning media, a bevy of foreign donors (who, to this day and in violation of U.S. election laws, remain nameless and unaccounted for), and a populace who voted based on color instead of right and wrong, even in the face of the most damning evidence against a Presidential candidate in many years, perhaps ever.

LT: Voted based on color? Ms. Lange just doesn’t get it. George W. Bush gave Senator Barrack Obama the White House, not the color of President Obama’s skin. Hate-filled, fear mongering, gloom and doom right wing talk radio handed President Obama the White House. President Reagan – a self-proclaimed FDR Democrat – used to say, “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.” I feel the same way about my Republican Party. If Limbaugh, Hannity and Lange are the example of the modern Republican Tea Party (GOTP), than all I can say is the GOTP is no longer the party of Ronald Reagan; it’s becoming the party of David Duke.

Kit: It is said that the people receive the government they deserve. Sadly, I fear that’s correct. We have become complacent, unwilling to see the writing on the wall, content to frolic in the warm water without bothering to notice that it’s been getting hotter by the minute. We are two seconds from a rolling boil, and perhaps it is already too late. So, liberals, enjoy your victory. Jump around. Have a party, file for your free grants. Scream “Gimme my handout!” and make fun of those of us who fought to make sure your “messiah” didn’t get access to the most powerful position in the world. Just remember when it all comes crashing down: You own the White House, the Congress, and soon the Supreme Court. You have no one to blame but yourselves for the mess you just created.

LT: It’s strange that only the right-wing “conservative” talk show types have ever referred to President Obama as the “Messiah”. I’ve never thought of him in this way, nor would I. Again, as said above, the GOTP has no one to thank for President Obama’s victory except for President George W. Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and now it would appear Kit Lange.

Kit: As for me, I’m buying my handguns this week so I have an answer for those who will come try to take them.

LT: What? She didn’t already own any guns?

 What has he done to take away your gun rights? Nothing; there have been no presidential edicts curtailing your right to own guns.

Well, we still have 0-10 on predictions and whole lot of ring-wing hyper-bole. This is the type of nonsense that drove me from the Republican Party, and it’s the same type of hate-filled, fear mongering driving the current GOTP race for the White House.