Happy Birthday Jarheads!

Where to start. Oh yeah, Nov 10th the Marine Corps birthday. Not so keyed up this year for a couple of reasons. First, the state of the nation doesn’t seem to lend itself to celebration today. Next is our Commandant, General James Amos – a Naval Aviator. What’s next a supply guy?


For me, he’s a windsock ready to go with the flow no matter where it takes him or our beloved Corps. You recall the pre-cooked debate about allowing gays to serve openly in military. There was no debate. At the time Gen. Amos said that he opposed the P-BO’s effort to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

He said:

"Mistakes and inattention or distractions cost Marines lives. That's the currency of this fight. I don't want to lose any Marines to the distraction.


"I don't want to have any Marines that I'm visiting at Bethesda with no legs be the result of any type of distraction."

Then as the wind changed direction and gained velocity with pressure on Amos to get in line or resign, the windsock simply changed direction. Now he’s all for it and went to the extreme to say that not only was he onboard but he and the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps would lead the way.

Dare I say that it’s leadership like that, that will lead to Marines with no legs in Bethesda. I’m not here to re-debate the issue, but for God’s sake man, how do you go from “Marines will be killed and maimed by this policy” to “I’m going to lead the way in its implementation”? This didn’t occur after years of deliberation, it was after a couple of days.

That’s not leadership. That’s windsocketry. That’s how our forces wind up in un-winnable messes like Vietnam. No one, that’s right - it’s not “too few” - it is NO ONE in the general class seems capable of stumbling upon an issue that is worth resigning over – ever. Fight the war in a half assed manner? Yes sir. At your service sir. Whatever your desire sir.

So happy Birthday Marines. I’m still celebrating the good old Corps tonight and will no matter what.

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Penn State took the necessary steps to BEGIN cleaning house. The university president and Joe Paterno were fired last night. That just about sums it up. No one knows the university president’s name but everyone knows the football coach.

There is a scene in Forrest Gump where Forrest has the childhood home of his wife bulldozed. It is alluded to earlier in the film that his wife was a victim of incest in the home. That is what needs to happen at Penn State. It needs to be figuratively bulldozed to the ground.

The trustees made a courageous and bold decision last night. Students took to the campus and rioted. I suppose they were rioting in support of covering up pedophilia. Idiots. Gen. Amos came out in support of Paterno, then changed his mind and said he had to go, then was out turning over cars on campus last night because the coach was fired. We’ll have to wait and see where he stands on the issue for this half hour.

Had bishops, cardinals and Rome had the courage to do what the Penn State trustees did last night, as quickly as they did it, the Catholic Church wouldn’t be the butt of 10,000 pedophile jokes that it so richly deserves.

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Rick Perry!? I only have three things to say, absolutely unbelievable, embarrassing and…uh… what the hell was the third?