My memory may not be what it once was, but I didn’t forget the anniversary of 9/11/2001. What I did was fail to honor the memory of that day in proper fashion. At a minimum, it warrants a stand-alone post.

I was reminded of this when today someone commented on my post from 2009 recognizing the sacrifice of firefighter James Raymond Coyle who gave his life trying to save others in the World Trade Center towers.

I was honor to walk for James during 9/11 Stair climb in Charlotte, NC 2022
Thank you and we will Never Forget!

Ania and Mya Vanderkolk

That’s the way you properly honor a memory. Thanks, Ania and Mya!

I also recognized another firefighter back in 2005–Samuel Oitice. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.

The world changed that day, and so did I. My political outlook was broadened, and I discovered the wealth of information on the internet that the MSM couldn’t be bothered to report. That’s when I started reading Instapundit, for example. Ultimately, I felt driven to do something more meaningful with my life than being a nobody with the U.S. Department of Education. I applied for Defense Department jobs all over the world, and I was offered and accepted a position with the Army in Korea. Nothing has been the same since.

Never forget.

Fifteen years.

Cowardly bastards.  Bring it on bitches!

Worship a pedophile if you wish, but kiss my ass if you can’t tolerate being mocked for your ignorance.

So, those friendly folks north of the border (and I’m not talking about Canadians) have  detained an American tourist for unspecified “hostile acts” against the regime.

Why in the fuck would any sane person voluntarily go to North Korea in the first place?  It strikes me as morally questionable to provide the hard currency that allows a corrupt government to oppress it’s people.  But as Jeffrey Fowle learned a bit too late you also make yourself subject to the whims of a nation that has a long history of taking hostages for the purpose of blackmailing for concessions, aid, or propaganda.  Unless you are Dennis Rodman you visit North Korea at your own peril.

Now I admit it would be somewhat interesting to see how the other half lives but given that the tours only allow you to see what the NORKS want you to see, what’s the point?  And I’m quite certain if I ever did go I’d run afoul of the authorities the first time they asked me to bow down before the statue of Kim Sung-il.   It ain’t worth it folks.

My Great Uncle Frank occupies the small piece of ground in Hamm, Luxembourg pictured above. He was the brother of my Grandmother Pernie, and she spoke about him frequently enough when I was growing up that I still recall his story. My brother Keith who is the keeper of family history also reminded me of a few details of Uncle Frank’s life.

Frank Daniel Foltz was born on the family farm in Goltry, Oklahoma on August 25, 1910. He was the youngest son and the 11th child of John and Mary Foltz. He was just a little more than six years old when his mother died, but by all accounts, he grew up to be a fine man. Handsome and good natured, he was a star athlete in high school, especially in baseball.

Frank was married with a young son and working as a Railway Mail Clerk when he was drafted into the Army in 1944. He was trained as a mechanic and shipped out to England in December of 1944. When General George S. Patton was making his great push into Germany he called for “men, more men, more men!”. Frank was deployed to the 3rd Army as a replacement and on March 3, 1945 was killed by a German sniper, just a few short weeks before the war was to end.

Grandma Pernie was a good Christian woman with love in heart and forgiveness for all–except she could never quite bring herself to forgive “Blood and Guts” Patton. As she was wont to say–“Patton’s guts, Frank’s blood”. Of course, this was unfair, soldiers in war get killed, that’s just the way it is. Frank was just unlucky. He had been deferred from the draft for most of the war because of his job and child. When manpower shortages necessitated expanding the draft, he was taken at the relatively old age of 34 (the maximum was 38). But mostly I think he was unlucky because he had the misfortune of being a “replacement” troop, a group that suffered a notoriously high casualty rate.  As Army historian Rich Anderson noted:

“At the other end of the replacement pipeline, replacements were trained by replacement centers (or stripped from divisions), shipped as anonymous replacement increments to a theater of war, and held at the repple-depple until needed by units. These men were military orphans with little esprit de corps and no cohesion. Many thought of themselves as replaceable parts in the giant army “machine,” or as rounds of ammunition. The sole virtue of this system was that it allowed divisions to stay in near continuous combat for days on end, theoretically without eroding their numerical strength. As casualties left, replacements came in. However, the reality became that replacements came in, and with no combat experience and no one in their new unit looking out for them (the “I don’t know him and don’t want to know him, he’s only gonna be a casualty” syndrome), they quickly became casualties.”

So, that’s Uncle Frank’s story. Just one of the 416,800 Americans killed in action during World War II. But on this day we set aside to remember all the men and women who have answered the call to duty and made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation, I wanted to honor his memory.

Thank you for your service.

And he’s one more arrow, flying through the air

One more arrow landing in a shady spot somewhere

Where the days and nights blend into one

And he can always feel the sun

Through the soft brown earth that holds him

Forever always young.

In honor of those whose sacrifice will not be forgotten.

So it turns out that K-blogger Jacob has a long lost twin brother, none other than Hollywood do-gooder Sean Penn.

They act alike, they think alike, at times they even talk alike, what a crazy pair!  (sorry Patty!)

Evidence?  You want evidence?  I’ll give you evidence: 

Jacob to those who don’t agree that AGW is settled science: “shut the hell up and get out of the way”

Sean Penn to those who call Hugo Chavez a dictator: “there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies.”

And if anyone has the audacity to challenge these “progessive” thinkers?  Well, let’s hear how caring liberals respond to their critics–

Jacob: “I have zero respect for you people and I hope you all contract cancer and die painful and slow deaths.”

Sean Penn: “Do I hope that those people die screaming of rectal cancer? Yeah. You know, but I’m not going to spend a lot of energy on it.”

But wait, there’s more!  Note the similarities in whom they worship:

Sean Penn with Venezuelan dictator President for life socialist Hugo Chavez.

Jacob with The Messiah one term President socialist Barack Obama.

But the biggest thing they have in common of course is hatred.  Hatred for all those who do not share their world view.  Hatred of the freedoms and values that celebrate a diversity of opinion.  It is a scary thought to imagine a world where the Jacobs and Sean Penns actually held power.

Fortunately, their ignorance is transparent and easily mocked.  But shhhh! They think WE are the rubes.

Oh and one last thing.  I’ll give Sean Penn credit for at least standing behind what he believes with his name.  Jacob is a typical “keyboard warrior” who likes to spout off but has no conviction in his words, at least not enough to put his name to what he writes.  I won’t be a dick and call him a pussy, although an asshole would call him out as a coward.

Hmmm, well it turns out I’m a dick after all.  Go figure.  And what pray tell, are you?

You know, there is nothing much to be said about the media frenzy over the Polanski arrest.  That the Hollywood elites would come to the defense of a child rapist is sadly not too surprising.  What has been gratifying is that they are being called out for it, even amongst their liberal counterparts.  Isn’t it great that libs and conservatives can find common ground on this issue?

But what prompted me to post on this disgusting matter was this report from France.  It seems that the “regular” folks there are not pleased that their intellectual betters have offered unqualified support for a man who drugged and then vaginally and anally raped a 13 year old girl.

Marie-Louise Fort, a French lawmaker in the Assembly who has sponsored anti-incest legislation, said in an interview that she was shocked that Mr. Polanski was attracting support from the political and artistic elite. “I don’t believe that public opinion is spontaneously supporting Mr. Polanski at all,” she said. “I believe that there is a distinction between the mediagenic class of artists and ordinary citizens that have a vision that is more simple.”

The mood was even more hostile in blogs and e-mails to newspapers and news magazines. Of the 30,000 participants in an online poll by the French daily Le Figaro, more than 70 percent said Mr. Polanski, 76, should face justice. And in the magazine Le Point, more than 400 letter writers were almost universal in their disdain for Mr. Polanski.

That contempt was not only directed at Mr. Polanski, but at the French class of celebrities — nicknamed Les People — who are part of Mr. Polanski’s rarefied Parisian world. Letter writers to Le Point scorned Les People as the “crypto-intelligentsia of our country” who deliver “eloquent phrases that defy common sense.”

You know, it is refreshing to see everyday American and French people on the same page.  It’s been a long time since that happened*.

Oh, and for the record, Polanski was 44 years old when he raped the girl, so it was not some “youthful indescretion”.

*I am aware that France to did not formally join with the Continentals until 1778 after the American success at Saratoga.  However, France was secretly supporting the revolutionaries even before war actually broke out.  That they did so more from hatred of the British than love of our cause is irrelevant to my point about my new found respect for the French.  Wow.  Respect for the French.  Who would have believed I’d ever type those words?

You are in for a couple of surprises today.  Well, you already saw the first.  In nearly five years of blogging I’ve never used French in a blog title.  Don’t get me started about the French.

The second surprise is that I am a liberal.  A classic liberal. 

Liberty is not a means to a higher political end.  It is itself the highest political end.

–Lord Acton

Classic liberals have an inherent distrust of government, and especially unbridled government power.  From my days of political awakening as an anti-war protester in the 70s (misguided though I was) it has always been so.  The irony that I have spent a lifetime working for the government dosen’t change a thing either.  Respect, yes.  Trust, not so much.

Commenter Kevin asks why I think polls matter and cites the former President’s dismal poll numbers.  Well, polls only matter to the extent that the indicate something of how likely voters feel about the the performance of our elected leaders.  And clearly the majority of folks are not pleased.  It seems they must matter to those in power as well, otherwise the “healthcare” debate would not have evolved into “insurance reform”. 

Last I looked, Obama has Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.  So, if polls don’t matter, why don’t our political betters get on with doing what’s best for us, whether we like it or not?

Frank Wilson notes that many Europeans “think that the U.S. Constitution confers certain rights on the nation’s citizens. As it happens, it does not. It simply acknowledges what the Declaration of Independence makes eminently clear, that those citizens “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” and that government exists “to secure these rights.”

That’s exactly the point.  And what Obama and Congress fail to remember at their peril is this:

Americans regard themselves as citizens, not subjects. They may respect their government, but few feel servile toward it, and most are wary of it.

So, to answer Kevin, I’d say the polls are indicative of the fact that what we are witnessing in America today is not an angry mob of rightwing Nazi racists (as Pelosi and Reid would have you believe).  It is rather a reflection that when average Americans perceive a threat to their liberty, the rise up in protest.  It has been that way since the first tea party in Boston. 

We will not go quietly.

I’ve got more to say on what’s going on in America these days, including a response to commenter Kevin (see post below).

These are definitely interesting times in the USA.  I’m heartened that so many folks seem to be getting in touch with their American heritage…

Here dead we lie
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.

Life, to be sure,
Is nothing much to lose,
But young men think it is,
And we were young.

–Alfred Edward Housman 

Today is the day Americans set aside to honor and remember the men and
women who gave their lives in defense of freedom and liberty.

From the days of fighting for independence from Great Britain, through the
Civil War, two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan–our best
and brightest have answered the call to service in the Armed Forces.  And
far too many made the ultimate sacrifice so that future generations could
live as a free people.

Memorial Day has an especially significant meaning for all of us here in
Korea.  In this great land, over 30,000 Americans died fighting side-by-side
with the Korean people defending freedom.  One need only look around this
modern vibrant country rebuilt from the ashes of that war to know that their
sacrifice was not in vain.  We stand today with our Korean brothers and
sisters, ever vigilant and ready, so that peace may always reign in The Land
of the Morning Calm.

Sadly, but not with upbraiding,
    The generous deed was done,
In the storm of the years that are fading
    No braver battle was won:
        Under the sod and the dew,
            Waiting the judgment-day;
        Under the blossoms, the Blue,
            Under the garlands, the Gray

No more shall the war cry sever,
    Or the winding rivers be red;
They banish our anger forever
    When they laurel the graves of our dead!
        Under the sod and the dew,
            Waiting the judgment-day,
        Love and tears for the Blue,
            Tears and love for the Gray.

–Francis Miles Finch

Find the cost of freedom

Buried in the ground

Mother earth will swallow you

Lay your body down

              –Stephen Stills

That’s from an old CS&N anti-war ditty.  For some reason it came to mind this morning after reading this story.  The story reminded me of what’s at stake if we lack the will to defend Western values.  A chilling vision of what life will be like under the thumb of our Islamic overlords:

The head of the U.N. Children’s Fund has expressed concern over a Saudi judge’s refusal for a second time to annul a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man.

The most recent ruling, in which the judge upheld his original verdict, was handed down Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza, where late last year the same judge rejected a petition from the girl’s mother, seeking a divorce for her daughter.

The girl’s father, according to the lawyer, arranged the marriage in order to settle his debts with the man, who is a close friend of his. At the time of the initial verdict, the judge required the girl’s husband to sign a pledge that he would not have sex with her until she reaches puberty, al-Jutaili told CNN. The judge ruled that when the girl reaches puberty, she will have the right to request a divorce by filing a petition with the court, the lawyer said.

“It is incorrect to say that it’s not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger,” Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, the kingdom’s grand mufti, said in remarks last January, according to the regional Al-Hayat newspaper. “A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she’s too young are wrong, and they are being unfair to her.”

“We hear a lot in the media about the marriage of underage girls,” he said, according to the newspaper. “We should know that sharia law has not brought injustice to women.”

Does anyone truly believe that we can co-exist in a world dominated by Islam?  Already former bulwarks of freedom and liberty like Great Britain and Canada are cowtowing to their Islamic minorities, including considering allowing imposition of sharia law withn the muslim communities.  Make no mistake, Islamic domination of the world is the stated goal of our adversaries.  They have made no secret of this.  The hate us for our so-called decadence, but what they mean is that they despise our freedom.

We say that we are engaged in a Global War on Terror (or used to pre-Obama).  But this is really a clash of civilizations.  The question is do we still have the will to defend the values we hold most dear?

Truer words were never spoken and we forget them at our peril:

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace– but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

–Patrick Henry

Hat Tip: Althouse

It was good to see a comment from my old bud and longtime reader Neil (Thirsty).  Surprised to see he is in Jakarta these days.  One of the things I dislike most about life in Korea is the transient nature of the relationships with people you meet.  Friends come and go with a regular frequency that takes some getting used to.  One purpose of this blog has been to stay connected with these folks who all too often scatter like the leaves from a Maple.  That was probably the most frustrating part of losing my domain name, because I (well, LTG) suddenly just disappeared and I had no means to get the word out on where I might be found.

Anyway, well met Neil.  Never had the chance to say a proper goodbye, but on your next visit to Korea we’ll raise a pint in Cheers!  Actually, I suspect it will be in Dolce Vita, but you get my meaning…

Another example of the irreconcilable difference in values between Islam and the West is the teddy bear incident in Sudan. As you know, an English teacher from Great Britain has been convicted of insulting Muhammad when she permitted her young students to name a stuffed toy after the murderous Prophet. Of course, this injustice has angered many Muslims and the news reports indicate thousands marching in the streets of Khartoum in protest. Not of the conviction, but rather the sentence of 15 days in jail. Seems that nothing less than death is appropriate for an insult to the pedophile who bears the name Muhammad.

Just to be clear on where I stand, I’d like you to meet my new toy:

Ain’t he cute? Oh, and if any you Islamofascists don’t like it you can kiss my ass. I live right around the corner from the mosque in Seoul, so bring it on you cowardly sons of bitches.

Yeah, I am sick and tired of the apologists for Islam who claim only a small percentage of Muslims are extremists. Until I see the so-called moderates marching to denounce the daily atrocities committed in the name Islam, your faith and the pork eating Muhammad are not worthy of respect. Are we clear on that?

This editorial in the Investor’s Business Daily pretty much captures my thinking on this topic:

Is violence integral to Islam? It’s a valid question. When the pope raised it, Muslims proved him wrong by threatening to cut off his head. Message: Don’t call us intolerant or we’ll kill you.

If this sounds “Islamophobic,” a favorite retort of the Muslim-rights group CAIR, straighten us out. We looked for a condemnation of the Sudanese troglodytes on its Web site and came up short.

We did, however, find “Action Alerts” calling on Muslims to boycott radio host Michael Savage for intolerance. Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and the Washington Times were also singled out for attack.

Meanwhile, CAIR is hosting a panel discussion at the National Press Club on “Islamophobia and the Political Cartoon.” Apparently CAIR, like other Muslim groups, condones violent reactions to free speech.

CAIR encourages Muslims in America to improve the coverage of Islam in the media. It says they should break the stereotype of Muslims as terrorists, and that of Islam as “archaic, barbaric, irrational” and a “religion of violence.”

Well, what are you waiting for? Condemn the Islamic court’s punishment of an innocent teacher. Certainly CAIR doesn’t agree that naming a toy animal after the Muslim prophet is a crime just because it could be considered by the most extremist hard-liner to be an insult. Or does it?

The vast majority of Americans would change their negative view of Islam if Muslims would strongly condemn such extremism. But for some reason, they won’t do it.

Until they do, they can’t complain about Islamophobia.

And until they do I will remain convinced that Islam is simply incompatible with the modern world.

So I woke up feeling patriotic. Sue me.

Let martial note in triumph float
And liberty extend its mighty hand
A flag appears ‘mid thunderous cheers,
The banner of the Western land.
The emblem of the brave and true
Its folds protect no tyrant crew;
The red and white and starry blue
Is freedom’s shield and hope.

John Philip Sousa

My daughters Renee and Avery have taken some umbrage at my negative reference to those silly girls who call themselves Dixie Chicks.

One of the things I liked about Team America: World Police was the way it lampooned entertainers who mindlessly mouth left wing talking points and expect their celebrity to somehow make what they say unassailably the truth. All it really proves is that you can be extraordinarily talented in one regard, and yet still be completely ignorant. The massive egos of these “stars” somehow leads them to believe that they are experts in matters of politics and foreign policy and the unwashed masses should unquestioningly heed the wisdom of their betters.

Bullshit.

And my issue with the Dixie Bitches has never been about free speech. Yes, I believe it is wrong to trash your country in front of an overseas audience. A nation is a family and while I’m fine with vehement disagreements within the family, you don’t bring your neighbors into the fight. But that’s just me. No question, Ms. Maines had every right to say what she said. Just as I have every right to criticize her for saying it. And I can choose not to listen to their music or buy their CDs. And if I owned a radio station I could decline to add them to my play list.

What pissed me off more than what she said is all her whining about “censorship”. The Constitution guarantees that the state will take no action to abridge freedom of speech. I am unaware of any arrests or government intervention to stop these ignorant women from saying foolish things. What Ms. Maines really desires is freedom to say what she wants without consequences. She is all courageous up on stage mouthing her idiocies but doesn’t think it fair when people react by exercising their freedom to speak against her or boycott her music. That is just pure chickenshit.

Sorry daughters, but Dad is sticking to his guns on this one.

Novelist Dan Simmons recounts a rather chilling vision of the future as related to him by a time traveler he encountered on New Year’s Eve. Fascinating stuff. Go have a read, I promise you won’t be disappointed.