They’re Coming Home!

The LeMars unit of the 113th Cavalry is on its way home from Iraq! The National Guard unit has been gone for ’bout a year now… I’m VERY happy to hear they’re on their way back.

I served eight years in the 113th Mechanized Infantry, back before they switched to Cavalry – six years in Headquarters, and two in the LeMars unit. My grandfather was instrumental in starting the unit there, years and years ago when he got back from WWII – as far as I know they still have his picture hanging on the wall there. I’ve had a few uncles on both sides of the family serve in that particular unit, too. The last time the LeMars unit was in combat was in Vietnam… There’s history there, both personal and for the entire community.

The hope is that they’ll arrive home next weekend sometime, after spending a few days at Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin. A bunch of us are gonna ride our bikes up to Worthington, Minnesota and escort the buses the last 80 miles home… I guess the town is planning some sort of homecoming celebration. I encourage anyone in the area to head to LeMars when the Cav comes home – they deserve a good homecoming! If you see something like this, you’ll probably not forget it in quite some time.

Football, as in National League.

Sometimes nothing is better than something. The Green Bay Packers improved their record this last weekend by not playing. They had a bye week and didn’t play, you see, so they couldn’t lose… It was definitely one of their better weekends so far this season.

If’n the Packers aren’t doing so well, I always hope for someone in the NFC North (almost said NFC Central there – I don’t deal well with change I guess) to pick up the pace. Go Bears! Chicago’s playing tonight… They’re on a roll! I’m happy for them.

I saw bits and pieces of the Steelers-Chiefs game yesterday, in and amongst my other various (never nefarious) activities. It was interesting that Steeler Troy Polamalu actually got dragged down by his hair, and the hair-puller didn’t get penalized for it (though he did get penalized for taunting Polamalu after dragging him down by his hair). I like this, believe it or not. If a football player wants to have long hair, that’s fine — but he should NOT get preferential treatment for having long hair. In other words, if he doesn’t want his hair pulled, he has the freedom to get it trimmed. If he wants long hair, he should either tuck it away somewhere or be wary that it can be pulled.

Bullies

Don’t let them bully you. The Republicans, I mean…

Fox News “accidentally” listed Mark Foley (the guy who wanted to diddle teenage boys) as a Democrat rather than a Republican. He’s Republican. The Bush administration claims that Bill Clinton is to blame for North Korea’s nuclear bomb. I’m pretty sure that North Korea is responsible for having the bomb, actually. If we weren’t so involved in Iraq, we could probably spare some troops to scare North Korea a little, but according to the Bush administration, the Iraqis are responsible for the 9/11 tragedy, even though Mr. Bush himself finally admitted the falsehood of that theory. So there are no troops available to send to Nuclear North Korea.

It’s not their fault, you see. None of this is the Republican party’s fault at all. The all-powerful Democrats tied their hands… Even though the Republicans have had control of the presidency, both houses of congress, and the court system, somehow the Democrats are to blame for North Korea, Mark Foley, Delay, Ney, Haliburton, Abramoff, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, etc…

It’s simple. The Republicans simply won’t admit that they bungled. We must demand that our leadership take responsibility for it’s actions! The Bush administration is setting a miserable example for today’s youth, I tell ya… Don’t let them bully you into thinking it’s someone else’s fault.

You know, the Republicans’ core supporters should be severely disappointed with this administration. The military generally supports the Republicans, but look what the Bush administration has done – sent the military (ill equipped) into a battle with no end, cutting benefits, ignoring the veterans… The worst in my eyes was when President G.W. Bush put on a pilot’s outfit and swaggered around an aircraft carrier proclaiming that the mission was accomplished. If I put on a police uniform and wandered into a police station shouting that the criminal has been found, they’d arrest me for impersonating an officer… And for being a loony, most likely.

The other core component of the Republican party is the religious right. According to a new book out by a fundamentalist who worked in the White House, the Bush administration has been callously using the Christians while poking fun at them at the same time. The Christian conservatives should realize by now that the Republican party does not support them, nor does it reflect Christian values. The Bush administration uses religion as a weapon – NOT what Christ had in mind.

Fiscal conservatives should be alarmed, too. Bush took a nation solidly in the black and squandered all the money and left us with a record deficit. We CANNOT remain on a war footing without raising taxes. We need more troops, more equipment, and we NEED to take care of the troops once they get back home. Mr. Bush has earmarked $20 million for a “Victory in Iraq” party while at the same time many soldier’s families are struggling financially. It ain’t right.

There’s an election in a few weeks. We need a change. They’ve had their turn… Please, go vote.

Photos

Prose

I realize I’ve not written anything particularly good, witty, or charming lately. For that I apologize – things have been busy, and to be honest I’ve not been in a creative mood as of late. But I feel my muse returning… I shall be witty and charming again, someday, I’m sure.