Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

Trail Mixers who requested paste-in signatures for your copies of "Listen Up" -- If you did not receive a reply email today, please resend your snail mail and any names/messages to include with signatures (my Outlook folder zapped some of the older requests somehow). Please send by Friday. Helen and I are going to sign these this weekend. Send to cqtrailmix@verizon.net

Book is available on Amazon at http://bit.ly/Fsl4b

craig, posting the thread exactly at 11:00 on 11/11, nice touch.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comments

The Numerology of 11/11/09
This unique date is slated to affect us all

http://www.tarot.com/articles/numerology/numerology-november-11-2009?feature=h-wel-ln-111109&

I cross posted the Liberator blog on my blog. Others may wish to do the same.

http://94campaign.blogspot.com/

http://jdurward.blogspot.com/

Repost (corrected)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/10/AR2009111018739_pf.html

[Fair warning - this quote might be a little longer than you or I might like to see, but it bears pointing out]

"The health bill now heads to a much less certain fate in the Senate, where instead of a dictatorship of the majority there is a dictatorship of the minority.

"Because of the quaint traditions of the upper chamber, there are today scores of top positions in government that routinely remain unfilled for months because one senator or another has decided to put a "hold" on a nomination. And on any controversial issue, and even some that are not, 60 votes are now required to overcome the threat of endless "debate" and actually pass a piece of legislation, along with 60 votes on as many amendments as senators can dream up.

"It's gotten to the point now where all it takes to kill something in the Senate is the mere threat of a filibuster, without anyone actually having to mount one. And if you somehow managed to get, say, health reform legislation to the floor, it would take 60 votes to pass a bill that included the public option and 60 votes to pass one without it.

"Catch-22!

"Despite what you hear from legislative leaders, there is nothing preordained about this wholesale disregard for majority rule. In fact, it violates the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution, which expressly delineates a limited number of instances in which anything other than a majority vote is required. And it makes a mockery of Senate rules and precedent, which for nearly two centuries were grounded in a tradition of comity and mutual respect between majority and minority. "

Can I get an "Amen"?

And read the last 4 or so paragraphs of the piece to see what you won't see.

wrt this thread - how could Patton's Army not already be recognized?

Today's post also on HuffPo -- Would be helpful to also add your comments on this topic there.. http://bit.ly/33ukOw

amen again, pogo. they should take little joe up on his filibuster threat. i don't think he could sustain it. even if he got help, it would be telling to have on camera just what is said, who wrote it and who says it.

craig, don't be surprised if you get a box of the world's best chocolate goodies in the mail straight from you know who in the vineyard.
from an unabashed fan, what a sweetheart you are.

Solar - Lunch.

I LOVE YOU CRAIG!!!

Health Reform. The High Cost of Doing Nothing

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/11/11/health-reform-the-cost-of-doing-nothing/

I thank you Craig for your invaluable efforts to bring this to national attention. I love you too! Bette Cowley- oldseahag's Mom

Carramba, I was just going to "sock it to you" Pogo,

Craig,

Thanks for these post's..I have learned something from each one of them.!

Tony,

Nice posts that show how you think about things lately. I think that you are so right to admire t he Clintons, and at the same time see that they share some fault with what we have now....NAFTA is nice on paper, but like every thing else: They have used it to take advantage of the weak, and the poor...In the name of free trade..the corrupt leader from other country's work to steal, and to burn down forest with the GREEDY CORPS.....bottom line: The two party's are the ones that got us to this point.!!

Sea,

I posted your site on Carols blog...and some others,,,and forwarded all info on to others, and asked them to do the same.

Yes we should remember this day; and honor those that gave their lives for us.

I don't have or will have the tv. on all day: Instead I have npr in the background when im in my office. I watch very little cable news now; and won't watch any at all today.

I feel that it will be like selling tickets to a sports event. Instead I get, and receive phone calls from other people that served in the military...

All; or almost all of them are very brief..just a greeting, and thats it. Except for my child hood friend.( and other childhood friends) John and I enlisted in the Marine Corps on the buddy system..and see each other at least once a month, and out other buddies (10 of them) that also enlisted in the Marines, and the other branches of the Military. Great fun..for us all....b/c we all grew up together,,and know each other so well and so comfortable with each other..

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270479

Pogo,

This is the beginning of the story

http://94campaign.blogspot.com/2009/04/beginning.html

And here is the one I did for Yom Hashoah

http://94campaign.blogspot.com/2009/04/yom-hashoah-94th-infantry.html

We were so close and then everything sort of fell apart with Kennedy's passing and now it's back to square one.

I really am touched for words. It's a very nice thing to be happening. it would be great to see our flag flying . it would be nice for the soldiers and nice for all the relatives as well. Ed Cowley- 94th Infantry

Thank you to any and all veterans here today.

Sea, my pleasure -- and nice to hear from your mom and dad!

In just 5 minutes I just generated an email to my lawmaker. I urge Trail Mixers to give this a try. Short messages work best. Here's what I wrote under the subject heading "Liberator Status for Patton's 94th Infantry Division"

"Please assist Sens. Kirk and Kerry in obtaining Liberator Status for Patton's Army, the 94th Infantry Division. Please request President Obama to immediately, through an Executive Order, recognize the 94th Infantry Division as a Liberating Unit. More info at http://www.congress.org/soapbox/alert/14326421 and http://94campaign.blogspot.com/"

This really is an effective way to get attention for an issue. The more we send, the more effective. Go to sea's alert, type in your zip code and start lobbying: http://www.congress.org/soapbox/alert/14326421

A poll for political junkies: Where would you like to be in 2010

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/fix-poll/fix-poll-the-best-state-in-201.html?wprss=thefix

I just sent the request for support to Sen. Jim Webb.

If you were thinking of buying a Bissell product of any kind, DON'T

http://griid.org/2009/11/09/bissells-dirty-secret-workers-protest-bissell-warehouse-in-response-to-mass-firing/

Remembering the Pacific Theater WWII, Daddy suited up like most of his siblings.

http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/11/veterans-day-pacific-wwii-memorial.html

"I just sent the request for support to Sen. Jim Webb. -- Posted by: cajunjoe.pip.verisignlabs.com"

good goin cajun, did you use soap box. if so, was it easy for you? i'm interested in passing along to them any suggestions from users, as they are in process of making improvements now.

Craig.... now it feels like your are correctly honoring this day....

Rez.... thanks for the piece on Numerology.... I'm not a math wizard, but I've always enjoyed playing around with numbers..... and any weaver will tell you that weaving is actually a mathematical grid.

My dad once said that liberating France and the reception allied forces received was his most thrilling moment in life...he actually met Patton (the Third Army) and served in the Seventh http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Army/SeventhArmy.htm His most thrilling moment? Not MY birth?....lol, or at least MY conception?

Anyway, we have forgotten to what extent we have liberated much of the world and how many nations enjoyed new freedoms in the last sixty years. Such an advance by Liberal Democracy is frowned on these days as Women have suffered continued tyranny and the poor, the villiany of despotism. Many ubers feel such liberation was really new domination by the US. Maybe today might shed some new light on misperception.

From the last thread: Jamie, again I point to recent studies you must be aware of that shows insurance profits far below corporation averages that we have never attacked for too much profit taking. Crusty Creme? Gap? Verizon? You can spin it whatever way you want, but the facts are not there to support Moore's arguement about extreme profit taking. Insurance companies don't come close to banks, Wall Street (corporations that funded Moore's movie) or even Toys are US.

I understand the sentiments New Pogo expressed, but even worse has been the whole sale purge of the blog world and media records that recorded debates and facts regarding Hillary v Obama and other campaign issues. It is rather amazing how the internet can simply pull data from archives and clean out wholesale subjects. I have gone back to places where heated debate occured and nada, zip. Newspeak is alive and well people which is why I tend to side with New Pogo on the Kennedy edit, though I do think SCOTUS sometimes thinks they are a temple in themselves. I know that Scalia probably would like some past retractions and didn't do so. When I have tried to source some of my threads and click on Chicago Tribune or Wapo, the link is now dead. What is worse, retractions and edits or wholesale purges of articles and comment threads?

Craig I can't thank you enough. My Dad was truly at a loss for words, so touched by you rpost.

Have been rethinking what I posted at Soapbox. Am finding I should have added an example letter for them to cut and paste. May I add your letter as example letter? Would do it now but think it would screw up all the links .
My most heartfelt thanks- you know I absolutely adore you as does my Mom.

Craig,

I didn't use soap box, I used 'cut and paste' and sent it to Webb on his Website. I did include the link you provided, though.

CJ

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270493

Anyone who uses Soap Box to urge your lawmakers to back the 94th's liberator status (as described in my comment link above), please post a comment here to let us know, and include any suggestions for improving the system.

Thank you Solar and Joe!

Cornyn and the rest will be surprised that my latest message through soapbox isn't about health care. (It really is easy; I urge everyone to try it.) O'sea - good luck with this project.
--

After reading this article, I'm wondering if the economic issues in this country will strain things in the mideast even more if that population swells?

"As the unemployment rate in the U.S. climbed to a 26-year high of 10.2 percent last month, growing numbers of young and adult American Jews were arriving in Israel to inexpensively "wait out" the economic lull. In an attempt to lure diaspora Jews to make Israel their permanent home, the Israeli government and Jewish organizations offer a multitude of scholarships and travel grants, allowing many to spend up to six months in Israel almost for free."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091111/lf_nm_life/us_israel_americans_recession

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270501

Sea, i used your language from the end of your alert, so it's all yours. And cajun, if you don't mind, also use Soap Box to generate a message. I am told that messages from there go to the top of the pile in congressional offices.

would also be helpful to add supportive comments on the HuffPo post.. http://bit.ly/33ukOw

Max,
I get your point, but profit margin is not a very good indicator of value delivered to the customer. Rather, it is an indicator only of how much profit is derived from each dollar of revenue. Wal-Mart has a lower profit margin than health insurance providers, while Apple's net margin is over 16%. The real question is how much value is received by the customer for each dollar spent. There is not a good measure of that in financial reports. But, generally, health insurance companies expect payout rates to be less than 80%. This covers expenses, overhead and profit. If it exceeds 80%, they either increase premiums or drop coverage.

Signed the petition and gladly so......thanks Jamie for making it known to me.

Max,

" we have forgotten to what extent we have liberated much of the world and how many nations enjoyed new freedoms in the last sixty years. Such an advance by Liberal Democracy is frowned on these days as Women have suffered continued tyranny and the poor, the villiany of despotism. Many ubers feel such liberation was really new domination by the US. Maybe today might shed some new light on misperception."

Quite hiding behind .. Women...U keep using them as the reason to go and spread Democracy around the world.!!!

What is happening to suppress these women, is good old fashion Bible bs., and the refusal of the release of power that the men hold against them. If you want to spread democracy..start right here...get the Church out of the peoples business..or give them a lobbyist card, and start taxing all of them....

In the terrible financial straight jacked that we are in with all of the wars that we start.....I just can't see why they-the churches are tax exempt. Why is that ???

ps, Can you stop your war drums for just one day?

Craig I think it would be less formidable for many if one had the option of just clicking and a letter would be sent and then allow personal comments. My non political friends were overwhelmed at the thought of having to compose a letter. Not a problem for those of us already on soapboxes though!

Also,to consider if you check out care2.com, they do this and I believe the super quick and easy approach is more amenable to busy people.

Day before yesterday I order a couple of hard drives from New Egg (a really good company). Just checked the UPS site to see where they're at.

Turns out that they're outside my front door waiting to be brought in side. Checkout the date and time:
Delivery date 11/11/2009 11:11:00

When I was a boy, Armistice Day was always a big deal. If it was a school day, we'd stand for a period of silence.

i agree, sea, and that's one of the improvements under consideration. altho, our research has showed that congressional offices are less responsive to form letters that sites like care2 generate.

Solar - I agree with you. Theocracy might seem like a good idea to some...until their religious ideology isn't at the center.

I'm tired of the chicken-fried Taliban down here!

Angry at Huff Craig as they mostly filtered out my past posts (which were not long). I might try again.

Joe, I understand, but again the exaggerated villiany is a bit extreme. EmpireBlue said two days ago for me to expect higher rates and less coverage AFTER the reform drive. They said the Democrats are failing in advancing the prime directive. My main point was about lowering costs and cover all. In this critical regard I have little faith in Democratic leadership, but duly note the Republicans being far from the playing field. Good reform would have attacked these issues first (prime directive) and had objective nonpartisan accounting and business firms stand by their projections not only of projected savings gained but premiums lowered with no loss to responsiveness or coverage. These last items might very cause future roll back of this Democratic reform.

In short, Republicans get a D and Democrats are working on a C minus that if rates go up and coverage falls will be spun by the GOP into an F in 2010. Pretty bad grades for all given Bush era results and Democratic promises of transparency, bipartisan resolve and razor focus on the prime directive already stated above.

I do understand your parsing of net profit and do not disagree with the problem of applying simplistic numbers to complicated accounting procedures. This is another issue that should have been vetted at the start of the campaign to reform healthcare.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270503

I used it (SB) and it was very easy and user friendly. Only a couple of clicks and a name, address etc. input. I wrote a short note but was pleased it's not necessary.

I also liked that it went directly to all my reps but didn't notice if there's an ability elsewhere on the site to send a generic message on any topic or if it had to be tied to the supported issue.

I'm assuming there are net based apps that permit sending an email message to all your rep/sen (zip based) on any subject., as opposed to having to email each one individually.

Yeah, we used to have "poppy Sunday," when I was a kid. We bought paper poppies to wear to support the VFW or something.

Rep. Marchant's question of the day was: What is the sum of three plus one? He is the only one with a soapbox speed bump.

Based on the GOP response to the health care bill, I think my messages on that front went straight into junk mail.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270510

Solar your remark is a bit strange. These veterans were soldiers and liberated through the act of war. Do you get that? They were asked to pay the supreme price of defending liberty with their lives. And you want me to ignore that critical aspect of their valor?

And you also want me to ignore what their sacrifice resulted in as well as point to a liberation not finished as millions are abused each day by despots and freaks who wold roll back the sacrifice of the greatest generation? I should silence myself as a Jew, as an American?

So what are you celebrating today? The end of war? A mission accomplished? Yes, tell us clearly what you applaud today. So many millions died in the wars these veterans participated in. Was there no purpose, no ideal we still hold u today? Would you endorse the very strategies that might roll back these veterans sacrifices?

It is rather sad you think these reflections are drum beating. This holiday must seem a bit ackward for you.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270516

thanks for using soap box, rezdog, and reporting back. i will pass along your thoughts to powers that be

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270516

I went back and found the link to send a message on any subject to your reps based upon your zip. Got it bookmarked for future reference.

"Get Involved", Find your lawmakers,
tell them what you think."

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270520

I used it too Craig. Very simple and I agree with Rez's comments. I just wonder if the reps will read the comments....

Rez,

I used it too: ...liked the fact that it when directly to Sen's Burris; and Durbin. It also provided a comment box for me....much to my surprise I kept it short; I always do when it's about biz, or ...

Max,
Hold onto your seat -- but I agree with you.

Heathcare reform should have had three objectives: 1) recognizing that in America is is shameful that, with all of our national wealth, some 40 million Americans cannot get adequate healthcare when needed 2) as a nation, our healtcare system underperforms most of the developed world in delivering measurable results, so the quality of typical healthcare and preventive medicine needs to be substantially improved, and 3) the cost of healthcare is increasing far faster than inflation or personal income and must be brought down.

Unfortunately, while the Bills working their way through the two houses of Congress MAY address #1, and because of that there MAY be some impact on #2, #3 is not addressed at all, as nearly as I can tell, and #2 is only indirectly addressed.

The question is open whether a badly flawed Bill is better than no Bill at all. I think it can be argued either way at this point.

Okay these are funny: Political TV Show Titles

http://twitter.com/home#search?q=%23PoliticalTVShows

Max,....

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270519

"It is rather sad you think these reflections are drum beating. This holiday must seem a bit ackward for you."

I do.!!!!

I have always played a lot of sports; and have met a lot of people that I liked a lot....5 of them on one of my teams of one sport or another..they were all great......KIDS.....that I never saw again.!! There are many more that I know of that never made it back-backwards....YES.!

"Solar your remark is a bit strange. These veterans were soldiers and liberated through the act of war. Do you get that? They were asked to pay the supreme price of defending liberty with their lives. And you want me to ignore that critical aspect of their valor?"

Max...piss up a rope.!

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270513

Craig

It is true that Congressional offices don't like the canned mass produced letters. There must be a way to combine the ease of sending with a letter that gets attention. Maybe an option of either/or to use a letter provided or create your own.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270524

Cajun

I've been asking the same question particularly in light of the fact that the bill hands everybody in the US over to the tender mercies of the insurance companies with the mandated coverage. We know how much they actually care about their policy holders.

So do we go with a flawed bill in hopes of cleaning up the mess over the next three years in the wake of public outrage over even more skyrocketing costs

or go back and write a real health care bill with a single payer public option medicare available to everyone in direct competition with the vipers and vampires.

Daughter's Plane has landed and son is bringing her home to mommy. Play nice folks.

Jamie,

"So do we go with a flawed bill in hopes of cleaning up the mess over the next three years in the wake of public outrage over even more skyrocketing costs

or go back and write a real health care bill with a single payer public option medicare available to everyone in direct competition with the vipers and vampires."

This the way to go imo. I think that it is all big mess right now; and we don't even know what kind of little extras are attached to the public option bill

The perfect time for him to get us all back; and rooting for him (independents) is to announce single payer, and provide his own written plan to congress; and the Senate; is when he gives the state of the Nation Address to us in the begging of next year.

Holy Shit, it's on Huffington Post now too!!1 Craig you are too humble, that slipped right by me.

begging=beginning

"Yes, tell us clearly what you applaud today", Max said to Solar.

Max,

I don't think it is about what you applaud today. I think it about the remembrance of those fallen comrades and those who were able to walk back home. The remembrance of those young lives and how they willingly put themselves in harms way to defend the life we enjoy today is to me what Veterans Day is about. The end of war would be an admirable thing to wish for but I don't think it will happen. It is still something we must all work for though.

Thank you Veterans!

Very well put, Horsedooty.

Horse,

Thanks. I just remembered a kid named Jack...for a joke when we played football,,I sometimes used to call for him to go up the middle...and I would tell everybody not to block. This wasn't a regular game, but practice, or a pick-up game that we used to have, all of the time. Jack would get creamed..and come after me...but he played real good for the rest of the game...he was pissed and wanted to change sides...he got even a few times....I do remember him well.

There is another guy; that was named Jamie....whenever we would be short a guy; for a game; we would knock on his door; his Mom used to tell me to get lost (she was not too fond of me) anyway, we would ask him too play....if we got a no from his Mom,,,we would wait and kidnap him..most times when he was sent for milk or something from the nearby little neighborhood store....he was always late getting that milk home...his Mom blamed me....

.I used to tell her " hey Im innocent over here I tell You" that last part was just made up for Bethy...just to show her that it all started out at a young age.. that is people always blaming me for one thing or another.:-)) That's how I remember them...most times.

Sometimes I think that Max, is just a person that is intelligent..but not too smart........

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270526

Pissing on a rope Solar? Reminds me of that famous WW2 photo of a Bulldog pissing into a Nazi Helmet.

Don't sweat it Solar, yes, just thinking about the millions of dead dampens whatever "celebrating" anyone does. A big difference between celebrating guiding principles sacrificed for and the sad reality of war.....

Obama gave a good speech today and he says he will never let vets come home to the words they suffered during the sixties and seventies. You know the point I was making drummed home by the anti-war Left..

I am grateful we had a Patton, that we are on the right side (most of the time) and that our citizens fighting for what they know is right, show valor beyond the armies of wrong. We are here because of that despite the world domination theorists. Oh, I know, that noble tale sounds so story bookish, but ain't that the truth? And this war story's final chapter has some time yet go before it's obituary. There will likely be many more Vet Days honoring new vets from new conflict.

I pray no unborn child dies in some future war. I wish all the assholes in the world would grow up or exit, but as Obama said today, we are at war now. How many find this obvious reality better left unspoken?

Maybe I am completely wrong, but today evokes in me past reflections of my father's past, the question of how many more wars, what is it worth fighting for, how far must we walk to the promised land?

I'm sure glad they'll be vets walking along side of us, even if vets not all agree. It sure beats walking towards the dark age as prisoners of a history not of our making...

It is not as though we live in an age of peace.

Max

In and out from my exetsices, and will just say this last thing...you said:

"It is not as though we live in an age of peace."

The people in our country now think, or is going to think in a very short time; that war is just a part of growing up..they will be so used to it..that it will be the norm.!!! That is what is sad...don't you get that??

We have been at war for many, many years now...and what really pisses me off; is that it is not shared (the dying-the fighting) by the rich. The very few young soldiers that have parents, in the Congress, or the Senate, are very few....lets see one of the Obama kids on the front line...the front line when they are old enough to go...that should be an obligation to go to war...if we are good enough to die.......

I'm not familiar with this site either
obamabidenwhitehouse.net

but they picked it up too.

OK, as a farewell for the day - Harold Meyerson.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/10/AR2009111013889.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

Patsi,

Thought you might enjoy the story I ran across on another site I routinely visit.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/11/08/johnny_cash/index.html

so, Rez, do you know that song in the story about Ira Hayes?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKDLQWEvubc

The Ballad of Ira Hayes

"Call him drunken Ira Hayes,
it don't matter anymore,
not that whiskey drinking indian
or the Marine who went to war."

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270538

Curve ball Solar. Let me get this right. So what is sad today is that we have had troops dying for some time (six decades after WW2) in these lower intensity wars to the point that our children now think the miliitary a normal job for the poor, instead of formally a matter of enlistment and draft in the times of grave crisis..If you imply our wealthy find it easy to send the poor to their death, I don't buy into that chracterization as these struggles are quite serious.

As for war itself, shall we sit back and wait for large conflagrations as allies and simple decent people get thrown in the threshing machine? How did that foreign policy fare in the past? How would it be if we teach our children nothing is wrong? What will tell them when fate befalls us again, or as we see friends of ours threatened or killed beyond our shores? In fact, what lessons will you teach if we just have a unilateral moritorium on sanctioned violence against declared enemies? That this will help usher in an age of peace?

Could it be that our sustaining more constant casualties in these lower intensity wars is viewed by most (at least at the time) as avoiding greater death to both troops and civilians in the near future? Isn't that the point?

Today these vets I talk to know war is very bad, but also why they served and how much worse we would be without their defending what we hold most dear. We can argue the details but we are at war now no matter what we tell the children. We tell them how noble the will of our vets are to keep us free and what principle forces us to defend what cause. We debate as a nation what is a threat or a danger, but to deny the Multipolar's gift of low intensity war with increased possibilities of conflagration (soviets replaced by nutjobs) is history's ironic answer to the fall of the wall. How we proceed will determine where we are as a power only a few deacdes from now. That's why energy, healthcare etc. are very important, as important as foreign policy/

Teaching children the wrong lesson would be sad. Failing to tell our children why there is war now, leaving out the moral arguement or offering unrealistic alternatives in a time of serious dangers is sadder. And should your child ask you why the bad people just don't stop? I would love to hear your answer.....

can it, max. can't you let solar be with his buddies and his memories of buddies just this one day, this very special day, for no special reason or rant, just buddyhood.

gee max spoken like someone that chose not to serve. Chicken hawk

Max,

Today is; Sea's day.!! and I for one feel a little guilty now for taking this time away from our goal; and that is for her Father's - 94th recognition;now this is my last word on this...

I am no longer gonna be trapped into Max's weird world. I will no longer feed the trolls.

I used the Soapbox link and sent my critters a note in support of the 94th. Also linked it at my blogs.

I have sent the soapbox.........

That's a great piece on Johnny, Rez. And it did take a lot of -- I'm not sure if "balls" even describes it -- to do that to the President of the US.

I sent a personal email to Jim Webb, and soapbox letters to Frank Wolf and Mark Warner. I'll let you know of any response -- I would expect one from Webb.

Hi Sea
I will send an E-mail to Sen.Nelson...Your the best!! I love the way your honoring your father and all those Vets!!

"I think that you are so right to admire t he Clintons, and at the same time see that they share some fault with what we have now....NAFTA is nice on paper, but like every thing else: They have used it to take advantage of the weak, and the poor"

Hey Solar,
Thanks for the comment! I have changed so much since the Dem.Primary 08..Leaving the Dem. Party was also very freeing..In my heart though I will always be a Democrat.The Democratic Party that I believed in is gone.I think for myself now and I refuse to vote for anyone because of Party..I will however always vote,but in 2010 if Dems haven't delivered I may just leave parts of the ballot blank.I also hate the fact that I can never vote Republican,but i can't do it...I do realize President Clinton shares some responsibility for the mess were in because of NAFTA.I do think however your right,it looked good on paper..I love President Clinton and Hillary because their fighter's and I believe they seek to do good..Your post's make so much sense to me,thanks I learn much from you...

Thanks Monsieur de Soleil, but its not my day- its Veterans Day and we sure celebrated it right around here. I might have started this thing but when the government. gets around to doing what it should have many years ago, it will be a victory not only for the Vets but for Trailmix. All the brainstorming, cajoling, letter writing, posting, blogging from my fine friends here. Pretty cool really, considering our diverse group, what we will have accomplished. Of course huge thanks and accolades to Craig and Jamie, but you all have been here praising and encouraging them on. Thanks everyone!

Craig's post is on an MSNBC site now too! I wrote to the newsroom and asked them to please cover it before Fox does, cause that would really tick off Nan. Ed can attest- not something one wants to do!

Anyways, I spoke with Thom Manthey today, my Dad's best friend and comrade who's testimony was also included in the application. I read him the messages on the petition and he was in tears. He just couldn't believe all the wonderful thanks given to him and the 94th. A really most profound way to celebrate the day- wished you all could have heard the conversation.

Trailmix rocks!!!

Doots,

Yes, I did know the story-song connection but I learned quite a bit more from the Salon piece about how JC came to cover it.

O. LaFarge's 'Laughing boy", the song writer's Dad's book is standard fare in most contemporary Native Studies curriculum and one of the few things I read in the 70s. A good book.

HD, Also, I think the I.Hayes Salon article was linked at the indianz.com site yesterday due to the Vet Day connection.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270557

Excellent info Rez glad to hear that O. LaFarge is still highly thought of in the Native American Studies.

I started to post the lyrics but it is so long I worried that the bandwidth could be better used.

A pal's dad, Col. Howard Burton served in the cavalry under Patton in North Africa. Col. Burton got deathly ill, and had to be shipped home around the time of the landng in Sicily. He hated Patton cordially, but admitted that he was a bold and inventive General, who got more out of his men than most did.

Two other pal's dads were captured after the invasion of the south of France. One was an unarmed medic, whose truck ran out of gas, and the other was a rifleman, who ran out of ammo. They were both interned by the germans and nearly starved to death before the Americans overran the prison camp. I don't know if the 94th came to the rescue of these wonderful men, but whoever it was arrived in the nick of time, because both were emaciated.

I wonder how the 94th was overlooked. Surely, they deserve recognition.

In HS in the early 60s, Laughing Boy was on a list of books recommended for bi-weekly book reports. Word got around that Laughing Boy was a good read, so many of us reprted on it. It was LaFarge's masterpiece. Other works of his did not appeal to me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/business/economy/11leonhardt.html?_r=2&8dpc=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1257951954-vPLBnFjpFc0N5pc9i+sfsw

What was the primary directive again?

To blame Clinton for NAFTA is to overlook that NAFTA was not the end nor were the rules regulating what was fair, enviornmentally sound to be disregarded. If something looks good on paper (and this healthcare mess does not) it was up to Congress to impliment it and fix what was wrong. I guess that is beyond Congress to do which begs the question about why we pay them.

Here is another hero. I think there is a message here.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/11/11/pakistan.hero/index.html

Okay Solar, its Sea's Day. I guess today was not the day to discuss what we did. Not relevant to Vets. My bad.

And HorseDooty, I see maturity follows them road apples of yours....

What were two secret service employees doing driving Biden's designated cars at 3:00 AM? They killed someone, so this could have repercussions (Biden wasn't in either of the two cars)

http://thehill.com//homenews/administration/67365-biden-motorcade-involved-in-fatal-accident

CJ

If you get a response from Webb, Tristan Takos in Kennedy's transition office has all the information and actions taken. She is trying to stay on top of it, but it seems to have snafu'd somewhere in the Dept. of the Army due to the Secretary change.

It was more than 50 years after the War when the Code Talkers received a Congressional Medal. Today was their first appearance in a large parade, which took place in NYC. Utterly deplorable.

Ballad of Ira Hayes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdNV9JX-Xi8

For Cripp's sake Max- knock it off, leave Solar be (he is a Marine by the way so it is his day and we know nothing even of yesterday which was a big day for the Marines, the birthday of the Marines) anyways, I've been pretty kind around here for nearly a year, but that doesn't mean that I've changed, still a loyal friend, haven't had any reason to bite.

Patd, I read the header above. I didn't understand there were restrictions about what was in good taste, nor did I think I said anything that cheapened this day that many use for shopping the sales.

Not only those that served lost friends or family to war and conflict and you can include Obama as a chicken hawk dooty when he announces more troops for Afghanistan.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270567

Sorry Sea...you all have a nice night. You too Solar. My sincere appreciation for your service.

Thanks max, you don't need to leave, let''s just move on to something else.

On this 91st anniversary of the armistice that ended the hideous and completely unnecessary WWI, I recommend 5 books that illuminate that war for today's readers.

A novel written by a German Jew about life of a Russian POW in a German Army camp deep inside the Russian Empire : The Case of Sergeant Grischa.

The Czech batboy's view of the Austrian's war : The Good Soldier Svejk (Also called Good Soldier Schweik), a novel by by Jaroslav Hasek.

The young German trenchman's view, All Quiet on the Western Front, by German Erich Maria Remarque.

American John Dos Passos; 2d novel, The Three Soldiers.

The insanity that brought about WWI, The Guns of August, by American historian Barbara Tuchman

More about the Code Talkers

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/ww-ii-code-talkers-launch-final-mission-vets/story?id=9046616

"To blame Clinton for NAFTA is to overlook that NAFTA was not the end nor were the rules regulating what was fair, enviornmentally sound to be disregarded. If something looks good on paper (and this healthcare mess does not) it was up to Congress to impliment it and fix what was wrong. I guess that is beyond Congress to do which begs the question about why we pay them."

Hi Max,
I do blame President Clinton in part for NAFTA.I'm a member of UAW local 598 and back then we knew it was a terrible mistake..Its worse than what we thought at the time..If you think we can depend on Congress to fix whats bad regarding NAFTA or Healthcare,well that's living in la la land..I remember Hill and Obama were going to open up NAFTA and get it fixed,ha knew it was a joke then..Ha yes good point,why do we pay them??

Hey Tony, thanks for the letter!

tony-Soapbox makes it easy, they'll all pop up there.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270575

Hi Sea,
Done,very easy...

Lou Dobbs, the most opinionated and divisive anchor at a cable network that bills itself as a straight-news oasis, resigned from CNN last night, saying he wants "to go beyond the role" of a television journalist in tackling the country's problems.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/11/AR2009111125152.html?hpid=topnews
--------------------------
Gee I feel better already .

Pat,

Thank you.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270577

Is he going to enlist in the army? In the John Birch Society? Self immolate in support of global warming?

Mr. Bob,

This can mean only one of three things.

A. dobbs thinks he's a candidate,

B. dobbs thinks he can suck a lot more money out of the economy by forming his own
1) Private Interest Group (PIG) or
2) forming his own Private interest Grafter (PIG)

By Grafter, I mean someone who serves to launder money between Big Corporate Interests and 'public servants', essentially a funnel facilitating the stuffing of graft into candidate campaign coffers.

By Public Interest Group, I mean a loud, money-driven organ grinder or carnival barker that makes an unholy racket in support of particular cause. A very loud grinder or barker is invariably the tool of a cabal of plutocrats, or a very lucrative criminal conspiracy.

See Deregulation and Banking, Deregulation and the S & L Meltdown, and Deregulation and the SubPrime Mortgage Catastrophe.

Will all the signatures from different sites be added together? I am going to resend my emails since I think some of my buddies found an in-valid website.
I sent letters with the article to Feinstein and Boxer.
I don't even know which one I signed - my head is spinning.

Sea, Jamie, and Craig, I want to thank you all for giving me and us the opportunity to set this right.

Ed Crowley, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your years of service and the kindness and the integrity you displayed as a soldier from my country.
It is painful to me to think this recognition is so late, but it is heartfelt.

See also, Gulf Fiasco II.

That's it for tonight. Sweet Dreams, and may the 94th Infantry Division, The Liberators, all get the recognition that they deserve.

Seeya just as soon as my insomnia kicks in.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270573

NAFTA was one of the many reasons that I voted for Ross Perot in 1992. Both Bill Clinton and G.H.W. Bush were pro NAFTA. In fact Bill Clinton has a major responsibility for the mess that we are in today.

1997, together with then-Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin (Clinton's Secretary of Treasury) strongly opposed the regulation of derivatives, when such regulation was proposed by then-head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Brooksley Born. Overexposure to credit derivatives of mortgage-backed securities was a key reason for the failure of US financial institutions Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, American International Group, and Washington Mutual in 2008.

Upon Rubin's retirement, Clinton called him the "greatest secretary of the Treasury since Alexander Hamilton." In January 2009, Rubin was named by Marketwatch as one of the "10 most unethical people in business." [Number 8!]

According to the New York Times, "In November 1999, senior regulators—including Mr. Greenspan and Mr. Rubin — recommended that Congress permanently strip the CFTC of regulatory authority over derivatives." This advice was accepted and derivatives were kept clear of regulation by the CFTC.

Clinton Administration's Treasury Secretary Mr. Summers hailed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999 (by repealing key provisions in the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act), "This historic legislation will better enable American companies to compete in the new economy."

From the November 8, 1999 American Banker:
The reaction on Capitol Hill to passage of the financial reform bill last week ranged from revelry to morbid humor. To mark the historic occasion, House Banking Committee Chairman Jim Leach played host to a group of his closest collaborators on the bill, including Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers, Comptroller of the Currency John D. Hawke Jr., Treasury Under Secretary Gary Gensler, and Rep. John J. LaFalce, D-N.Y. They joined staff members, lobbyists, and reporters in drinking champagne and devouring a large cake, which bore an epitaph for the Depression-era separation of commercial and investment banking that the bill undoes. It read:” Glass-Steagall, R.I.P., 1933-1999.” Gary Gensler is now the chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission under President Barack Obama. The fox is in the hen house eating the chickens!

During the California energy crisis of 2000, then Clinton Treasury Secretary Summers teamed with Alan Greenspan and Enron executive Kenneth Lay to lecture California Governor Gray Davis on the causes of the crisis, explaining that the problem was excessive government regulation. Under the advice of Kenneth Lay, Summers urged Davis to relax California's environmental standards in order to reassure the markets. The fox was in the hen house eating the chickens!

The foxes are now in the hen house eating the chickens!
President Barack Obama needs to change a number of his advisors, especially the Goldman Sacks Wall Street loving economic team. Listen to Paul Volcker, Warren Buffett, Elizabeth Warren and Sheila Bair.

From the Wall Street cheerleaders CNBC on July 13, 2009; Unemployment is likely to rise to 13 percent or higher and will weigh on the economy for several years.

What 2010 or 2012???

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270577

Andy Borowitz reports:

"Lou Dobbs Returns to His Planet;

"People of Earth, farewell," he said. "My work here is done."

http://tinyurl.com/ydl9qew

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/11/remembering-pattons-liberators.html#comment-270577

Where is Major Nidal Hasan when you need him!

I apologize. This was crass but true.

The Proud Tower also by Barbara W. Tuchman

sturge, there was a new thread at midnight. better refresh.