Desertion:

[UCMJ] ART. 85. DESERTION

(a) Any member of the armed forces who--

(1) without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently;

(2) quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service; or

(3) without being regularly separated from one of the armed forces enlists or accepts an appointment in the same or another on of the armed forces without fully disclosing the fact that he has not been regularly separated, or enters any foreign armed service except when authorized by the United States;

is guilty of desertion.

(b) Any commissioned officer of the armed forces who, after tender of his resignation and before notice of its acceptance, quits his post or proper duties without leave and with intent to remain away therefrom permanently is guilty of desertion.

(c) Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished, if the offense is committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct, but if the desertion or attempt to desert occurs at any other time, by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct.
---------

I think the bolded assertions are the reason behind this headline: AWOL soldier: Army won't return lawyer's calls.

Well, duh, you don't just get to have your lawyer phone into the DOD and tell them why you won't report for duty. Your commander will have counsel appointed for you to defend you during your court-martial.

Pvt. Kyle Snyder, 23, a former combat engineer, went AWOL from his Army unit after failing to report to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, on November 1 -- a day after turning himself in after an 18-month AWOL stint. He had fled to Canada in April 2005 while on leave to avoid a second tour in Iraq.

"Legally, I'm AWOL again," Snyder said Friday. "My lawyer has tried to contact Fort Leonard Wood like 75 times -- it's documented, 75 times -- and tried to get in touch with the military. They've avoided this entire subject."

This second disappearance is going to be the nail in your coffin, Kyle, you blew you only hope of just claiming AWOL. You had a deal worked out with your unit to inprocess you as a soldier, now your running like a scared rabbit. There are consequences for pledging to defend your country, and then turning tail when the opportunity presents itself.

Snyder said the military doesn't chase down people who are absent without leave. "I'm not a rapist, not a murderer, not a child molester. I'm not doing anything negative," he said. "I'm doing what I feel I have to do as a human being."

Kyle is doing something negative: Not only is he demanding someone else go into the breach for him, he's refusing to accept the due consequences of his actions. If he really couldn't stand to bear arms, he should claim Conscientious Objector status, and be done with it. At worst, before he ran the second time, he was looking at a short stint @ Ft. Leavenworth and a Dishonorable Discharge. If the folks at the DOD weren't so gunshy of the publicity, this kid would be looking at a date with a strong rope.

Ahh, the World, pt. 112906

Bears cannot change stripes-

A makeover, wardrobe overhaul, and name-change doesn't change who you are. Just look at Russia. It's the same viscious Stalinist state, but stripped of a layer of bureaucracy of the Politburo and the superficial rhetoric of being "for the worker". Picture Stalin in a pin-striped suit instead of the Red-trimmed uniform. Just in recent memory:

- Poisoning an unsympathetic candidate in a neighboring country's election
- Shutting off natural gas supplies to a neighboring nation to influence policy
- Mysterious murder of a journalist investigating government malfeasance
- Radioactive poisoning of a former spy, turned critic of the government
- Sales of defensive missiles to a state that's creating banned weapons
- And a host of other diplomatic maneuvers designed to foil scrutiny at the U.N.

And our President looked deep into the soul of the Russian president, eh? Just another questionable judgment call.

Islamic Communion

The vicious sectarian violence in Iraq is enabled by the lack of a central religious authority in Islam, and by the lack of a peaceful hermeneutic to guide the discussion of the different interpretations of the Q'uran and Hadith. It's the same authority vacuum that enables Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hez'b allah to use their religion to authorise their violence against the rest of us. They claim their sacred texts are the only authority needed.

Well, you know, Gene Robinson and Fred Phelps claim to reference the same Bible. So much for authority.

Little Sympathy

For all the people who let them selves be herded through the chutes on Red Friday, and eventually sheared, why are you willing to endure or inflict injury to get a $40 DVD player? Injuries are reported in Torrance, CA, in another shopper stampede.

Dessert Leftovers

0.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820
97494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651
32823066470938446095505822317253594081284811174502841027
01938521105559644622948954930381964428810975665933446128
47564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432664
82133936072602491412737245870066063155881748815209209628
29254091715364367892590360011330530548820466521384...

It's just a small slice, enjoy ;-)

Terms of Endearment, pt. II

In a recent item decrying the vacuous advocacy of sexual license, the writer chose to tar the subject of his ire with the epithet ‘Slut’. I found it a bit shocking, especially since I know that the writer was capable of making his case without derogatory commentary. Such language, I feel, belittles the target and is a reduction of their humanity. Even if the detraction is warranted, using such slurs only diminishes the moral weight of the argument.

As I have in the past, with writers utilizing ‘rump ranger’, ‘butt pirate’ and ‘faggot’, I decided to gently nudge the writer in the ribs about his choice of words. This is what I got in return:

You know what? I tend to think that the Lord who called his enemies, "you brood of vipers" would understand my use of the word "slut".

That may well be, let’s look at the specific episode invoked:

Matt 12:34-

33"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
34"You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
35" The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
36"But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.
37"For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Sounds like the Gospel can cut both ways. In every instance in which Jesus spoke on such a manner to His audience, the objects of his ire were the self-righteous who spent their time passing judgment on other sinners.

While we should be zealous in proclaiming the Truth, and denouncing that which is evil, we’d be better to leave the derogatory remarks to Fred Phelps and his friends down in Kansas.

Thanksgiving for the Troops

153rd Infantry picture


One of the things that really sticks with me about Thanksgiving in the military, was the meal service on that day. The senior NCOs, First Sergeants, squadron and base commanders, and even flag officers would be serving chow to the troops that afternoon. There's nothing like having a four-star general serve up some turkey and gravy for you, even if it doesn't make up for the two-week base cleanup detail you got put on the week before.

Let's be thankful for our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters that choose to serve EVERY day for our safety and security.

Before you shop..

Please think of these two men, Chinese Catholic priests, Fathers Shao Zhoumin and Jiang Sunian. Why think of them? No one knows where they are right now, since being arrested by Chinese police in late September.

Why does this abduction, a routine event for Catholics in China, have anything to do with shopping? While you're out shopping, look at the things you're about to purchase, and observe where they are made. Do you notice something? Any eerie similarities? Most of the stuff is likely made in China. Christmas cards, holiday light strands, Christmas ornaments, and the lot. By buying stuff made in China, we incrementally validate China's right to dispose of Catholic priests as the Maoist government sees fit. And it seems that China is into disposing of their "problems" piece by piece, organ by organ:

Some experts estimate that well over 90 percent of all organs transplanted in China come from executed prisoners, given the limited supply of other organs. China has no system of voluntary donor cards. Furthermore, experts say, because China defines death as a cessation in heart rather than brain-stem activity, there's little opportunity to recover organs from other sources.

So, more to think about this holiday season, eh? Or you can NOT think about it. It's your choice.

Red Friday Cometh

The Friday after Thanksgiving is now commonly known as Black Friday, as it’s insinuated how the pre-Christmas shopping done on that day puts merchants “in the black”. I propose a different moniker for it: Red Friday. Here’s why:

1) A large number of Americans will surrender their meager savings, and many go into debt, in an orgy of fiscal incontinence, also called “Holiday shopping”. The average American adult will accrue an extra $1,000 in debt for holiday shopping, Americans will be “in the Red” for next year’s landfill fodder and yardsale flotsam.

2) Many of the products purchased by said Americans will be produced overseas, adding to our overall trade deficit. Last year’s trade deficit was $655 Billion (excluding petroleum), which is a tremendous drag on our own economy, and has been devastating to our own manufacturing base. Buying cheap has never cost so much.

3) Much of the above trade deficits will be the products made in Communist China. In 2005, the trade imbalance with China, alone, was $202 BILLION. They also happen to hold a sizeable amount of U.S. debt, which end up giving them a significant amount of leverage over us, especially in the arena of currency values and trade.

4) Oh, sure, the products are inexpensive. That’s because they’re made by people in squalid conditions, making a pittance. I believe that we found those conditions intolerable in our own country, so why do we turn a blind eye to it elsewhere, precisely when we’re generating the demand for it? And if earning squat was bad enough, these people don’t get to practice their religion freely, nor speak freely, nor have unfiltered information sources (Thanks for your help with that, Google). Many are killed by their oppressive governments.

So, when you go out shopping for holiday merchandise this year, be it on Red Friday, or any other day, look at your labels, and decide if it’s really worth the cost to you, your country, and the people who suffer to bring you these items.

Wiki B-Day meme

Thanks, Caveman, here goes:

Three events:

1098 - Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul.
1243 - Innocent IV becomes Pope.
1914 - Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophia are assassinated in Sarajevo by young Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip , the casus belli of World War I.

Two B-days:
1476 - Pope Paul IV (d. 1559)
1491 - King Henry VIII of England (d. 1547)

One death:

767 - Pope Paul I

And one Holiday/Event:

Feast day of Saint Irenaeus of Lyon

I'll tag TiberJumper.

Rules:
1) Go to Wikipedia

2) In the search box, type your birth month and day but not the year.

3) List three events that happened on your birthday

4) List two important birthdays and one death

5) One holiday or observance (if any)

Santa v. Jesus

Yes, It's that time of year again, when parents cringe when turning on the telly, or going to the mall, or even getting the mail. We are beset by advertisements, enticements to avarice and discontent, and all under the smiling visage of 'Santa Claus'. It's hard enough for adults to keep a clear head between Halloween and New Years, but how do we keep our kids focused on Christ for Christmas?

In past years, I said nothing of Santa, or as age demanded more details, I told my kids the history of St. Nicholas. But, being now in school, they're surrounded by kids with other notions of Christmas. Call me a grinch, but I'm not inclined to tell my kids that an ancient saint is going to bring them the things they ask for, as seen in the latest 'Toys-R-Us' advert. I'd rather have the Incarnation be the focus of our festivities, rather than the consumerism.

And, by the by, the Chinese are positioned, once again, to make a killing on our fiscal incontinence. I wonder if anyone sees the irony in the primary color of holiday trappings as being Red.

Parents out there, what do you do?

Relatively quiet

If wondering about the lull in posts, I busted a tooth the other night, and was preoccupied with that ramifications. Looks like I'm getting a crown for Christmas. Joy to the world, my dentist' rich.

I've also been wrangling admission to a local university, continuing my education and trying to add a degree that will qualify me for more than soldering cables. I'm hoping to get the max transfer credits, and try to knock it out in 2-3 years, while working full time. This should be interesting.

The challenge will be to find something to major in that will result in higher pay, while getting my current employer to foot the bill for the classes.

Quid pro quo?

Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), is greenlighted for a seat on the Senate Appropriations Comittee. Whoa. Now how would a second-term, conservative-voting democrat from Nebraska, of all places, suddenly rate a seat on the Pork Cmte? As a reward for voting with the democrats in the past? Not likely. As an incentive to vote with a more liberal agenda in the future? Mayhaps. I think this maneuver is a tacit admission by the Senate Democrats that the election swing was more centrist, rather than the Liberal Landslide they've been crowing about on TV.

All through the campaign, Nelson's talked about fiscal responsibility, which simultaneously crowing about the pork he's brought home. What's his line going to be, now that he's got a seat right next to the barrel, with his hand on the lid?

Nelson said he’ll approach the task with three goals in mind:

* identify and reduce needless spending.

* improve transparency and accountability in the appropriations process.

* work with local officials in Nebraska to “ensure Nebraska priorities are recognized in the Senate.”

What that means, Nelson said in a telephone interview, is that “Nebraska is going to get its fair share now.”

By "fair share", I would imagine that means a restrained approach to appropriations, or does it mean that we'll get our "fair share" of needless spending?

And now that Nebraska has a hand in the cookie jar, how beholden are we to the folks that pushed the chair to the kitchen counter? We'll just have to watch his voting record this term to see if there's a sudden shift to the Left.

DNC War Planning Division

Buck Knife, $55

Running shoes, $60

A Democratic plan to leave Iraq, priceless.

Interesting Acquisition

At our parish bazaar, this weeked, I scored a copy of the Jerusalem Bible, printed in 1970, and illustrated by Salvador Dali. For $12. Most of the color Illustrations are mixed media, mainly pencil and spastic watercolor, not the lush oils of some of his more prominent work. But, the book's in outstanding condition, complete with it's original box, and it even includes the deuterocanonical books.

Tolerance, Eh?

"From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate." - Elton John

So much for tolerance for the hateful lemmings, eh? That kind of generalization is what the gay lobby has been trying to shrug for years, so why are they engaging in the very stereotyping and dehumanization as their "oppressors"? If you can find some essential difference between labelling folks "hateful lemmings" and "flaming butt pirates", you're much more the scholar than I.

Religious leaders have also failed to do anything about tensions and conflicts around the world, he said.

"Why aren't they having a conclave? Why aren't they coming together?" he asked.

I guess that Elton doesn't keep up with Vatican news releases, him being him and all. Unfortunately, all we can do is tell people how they should be towards each other, we can't force them to actually do it. If religious authorities had that sort of power, Elton would be the first to decry it when it conflicts with his carnal predilections. So if believers cannot bring peace, who can? Elton knows:

"It's like the peace movement in the '60s. Musicians got through to people by getting out there and doing peace concerts, but we don't seem to do them any more," he said. "If John Lennon were alive today, he'd be leading it with a vengeance."

Those peace concerts were really successful, weren't they? Tibet is free from Chinese domination, everyone in Africa has something to eat, and the family farm is flourishing. Oh, none of those happened? But the musicians played, sang, and shouted for "Peace".

Oh. and by the by, if John Lennon were alive today, he would be crushed to death inside his cremation urn.

h/t Dad29

Evangelicals Rediscover Reconciliation

Only, they won't admit that that's what it is, for fear of appearing to be Catholic, and they won't declare it's sacramental nature. Ted Haggard's fall from grace has suddenly focused attention to sin, and how the Evangelical churches handle sin. Here's the four-step plan for rehabilitating Mr. Haggard, as presented in CNN's 'What is Spiritual Restoration?':

1. Submit to the authority of his couselors
2. Admit his sins
3. Make restitution
4. Be humbled

Wow, sounds like that Papist ritual, popularly known as 'Confession'! Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that since the Protestant Reformation, sinners only had to ask Jesus for forgiveness, and voila, sins are forgiven. This 'Spiritual Restoration' plan sounds like a tacit endorsement of Catholic sacramentality. I wonder if the megachurches are going to start installing confessionals in their facilities.

New Suit

I've got a new "sack cloth and ashes" theme for the blog, a la Revelations 3:19.

Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise. Be zealous therefore and do penance.

aemulare ergo et paenitentiam age

How I did it (for those who want to do similar):

Go to edit your template for your blog (in Blogger), and you'll see the section for the Body:

margin:0;
padding:0;
font-family: Georgia, Times, Times New Roman, sans-serif;
font-size: small;
text-align:center;
color:#29303B;
line-height:1.3;
background:#483521 url("http://home.windstream.net/jamesduchesneau/IMAGES/sackcloth007.jpg") repeat;

Just plug in the URL for the graphic you want. If you want to use mine, please download it to your own hosting site instead of just linking mine. The above section will do the dark areas on the sides.

For the lighter, center section, change these in the layout section:

#main-top {
width:700px;
height:49px;
background:#FFF3DB url("http://home.windstream.net/jamesduchesneau/IMAGES/burlap-lt.gif");
margin:0;padding:0;
display:block;
}
#main-bot {
width:700px;
height:81px;
background:#FFF3DB url("http://home.windstream.net/jamesduchesneau/IMAGES/burlap-lt.gif") ;
margin:0;padding:0;
display:block;
}
#main-content {
width:700px;
background:#FFF3DB url("http://home.windstream.net/jamesduchesneau/IMAGES/burlap-lt.gif");
margin:0;
text-align:left;
display:block;

And there you have it. Just change the bolded items to link your graphics from your own storage site.

Oddments

Ok, I'm going to ignore the dead elephant in the room for a bit, as there's much more interesting things going on. At least I tell myself that.

The USCCB is getting together for some collective ... um, whatever it is that they do when they get together. Apparently, there's an issue that's not on the agenda, and it bothers Thomas J. Reese S.J.(though I think he prefers not to be so titled, Father, but the S.J. at the end is very revealing)

Reese notes that "the biggest thing about next week is what is not on the agenda — Iraq."

The late Pope John Paul II opposed the war, and the U.S. bishops spoke against it earlier. But, Reese says, "It's a message they need to be repeating. It's clearly the most important and visible moral issue in the minds of the voters, and the bishops are taking a pass on it."

Fr. Reese, you should be satisfied with the silence. Were the bishops expounding on the moral teaching they should, before the election, we'd have heard about Abortion, Embrionic Stem Cell research, and the position of the Magisterium on those issues. If the Iraq war was the leading thing on Catholics' minds this election, the bishops failed their charges miserably.

In other news about the heft of the USCCB's teaching authority, the Manchester, NH diocese is dumping the USCCB's vaunted Liability Avoidance Program, otherwise known as 'Talking about Touching'.

The diocese wanted something that incorporated parents into the program and was rooted in the Catholic faith.

So-called safe environment programs, designed to help children identify and resist potential abusers, have come under fire by some parents for the graphic nature of instruction and the fact that they place the burden on children to resist abuse.

Rather than cede to the USCCB's LAP dance, the diocese has come up with an alternative program.

Then, incorporating the writings of Catholic school children and the ideas of Manchester Bishop John McCormack — including the idea that parents are the best resource for teaching their children to become aware of both their right and responsibility to safeguard their own bodies, and for teaching their children that they will support them when they say “No”

Whoa, there's a concept, letting parents do some of the teaching instead of Planned Parenthood proxies. It's pretty sad when a group of Catholic bishops cannot come up with a program that sufficiently infuses Catholic teaching into it. Somehow, I don't think that Rev. Thomas Reese is really broken up about this lapse, in this instance. Let's just stick with the fuzzy areas.

Humanae Vitae just cannot get any traction in some places. Like San Francisco, for example:

Pope Paul VI, who wrote that encyclical, was merely reaffirming the church's standard teaching on artificial birth control with his absolute no-never. But many Catholics were surprised by his absoluteness because, well, it was the 1960s for one thing, but it was also public knowledge that Paul's handpicked papal birth control commission had just recommended a relaxation of the contraception rules, though not unanimously.

Why would San Francisco care if the Vatican relaxed rules on condoms in Africa, unless to use it as an ever-expanding exception rule, and undermine the entirety of the Church's theology of the body.

However, no matter how narrowly focused, any relaxation of the rules about condoms will have far-reaching consequences.
It is difficult, and one has to be precise, to cite nature as an argument against any natural human endeavor.
Paul VI praised man's "stupendous progress in the domination and rational organization of the forces of nature." Condoms and contraceptives, like dams and appendectomies, seem like a good way to fulfill this duty.

So there's their theory: Man is Animal is Nature, and so the Church imposes it's morality against Nature. Perpetual chastity is impossible, as Man was created to satify his penis. I don't buy it, and I'm starting to think that the institution of Circumcision as the sign of the first Covenant was apt, as it was a strike against the sexual nature of Man. Just me thinking out loud.

I imagine that we'll hear less about this from the USCCB as well.

Satan Workin' It.

A couple things jumped out at me from recent statements from different people. Here's the first:

"When I stopped communicating about my problems," he wrote, "the darkness increased and finally dominated me." - ex-pastor Rev. Ted Haggard

Ladies and Germs, get to Reconciliation. Find time if you're busy, and make time if you're really busy. Be wary of the excuses that keep you from making a good confession. Don't fall for the placation that "Well, Jesus has already forgiven my sins, so there's no need." I think Ted will now agree that that sophistry just doesn't hold when you're in battle.

Another tidbit, this time from Madison, Wisconsin, from people upset that the bishop is very intent on informing his flock:

Later, Scott said he thought the church leaders over-reacted and showed that they don't trust their parishioners to form their own opinions on civil matters.

If you are in a Catholic Church, there is an implied obligation to listen to your bishop. And the bishop has the obligation to inform the souls under his care with the Gospel and pertinent spiritual guidance. That's the way the Church has run for thousands of years. People are free to leave the Church and do their own thing, another long-standing tradition: schism.
There should be no differences between your civil and spiritual politics if Christ is truly Lord of All. If there are areas where you won't let Christ reign, then you really don't accept His reign at all. The Bishop of Madison, Wisconsin is trying to remind his flock of that.

Pertinent Scripture for Last Week's News

Romans 7:14-25

"For we know that the law is spiritual. But I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I work, I understand not. For I do not that good which I will: but the evil which I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I will not, I consent to the law, that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it: but sin that dwelleth in me.

"For I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which is good. For to will is present with me: but to accomplish that which is good, I find not. For the good which I will, I do not: but the evil which I will not, that I do. Now if I do that which I will not, it is no more I that do it: but sin that dwelleth in me.

"I find then a law, that when I have a will to do good, evil is present with me. For I am delighted with the law of God, according to the inward man: But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind and captivating me in the law of sin that is in my members.

"Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God, by Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore, I myself, with the mind serve the law of God: but with the flesh, the law of sin."

This is for all the unhappy sinners out there, who's sins were public entertainment this past week.

Detraction (a timely reminder)

Crossed the Tiber has a great and timely reminder on the sin of Detraction.

With everything on the news and blogs lately, it becomes easy to participate in the sin of Detraction without giving it much thought. I am ashamed to admit that this is one area of sin that continues to trip me up. As Christians, we overcome the "big sins" easily but these so called" little sins" seem to go unnoticed and at times are not so little. I think gossip becomes a sin that is justified by many Christians because we "share" information about another with the intention of "praying for them." This may be worse since it is using spirituosity to mask our sin! Yes , I have done this as a "concerned brother in the Lord."

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. It's contagious, it's affirming (in a twisted way) to denounce our adversaries. If were to silence all Detraction, and it's next-door neighbor, Calumny, the world would be a much quieter place. For example, this week, John Kerry felt entitled to fling some calumny/detraction towards the President, only it ended up hitting the military instead. The ensuing ruckus of calumny and detraction, in response to Kerry's comments, was similarly untoward. Myself included. C'est la guerre.

Convalidation

Last weekend, my wife and I got our marriage blessed by the Church. After a year without the Sacraments, it's good to be in communion once again with Christ's Church.

Seven years ago, my wife and I got married outside the Church. There was reluctance to get married in the Church, as my wife's a lapsed Baptist, and her family has issues with the Church. To salve my own conscience, I sought out a 'catholic' priest to do the ceremony. At that point in time, I was not particularly concerned with issues of licity and validity in regards to Holy Orders and the Sacraments.

Soon, Son #1 was on his way, so I started going to Mass again, taking my wife along. Our child had come, and we eventually had him baptised in the Church. I started getting more and more involved in the Church. Then our girls came, 10 weeks early, and had them baptised right away.

All the while, I had this nagging doubt about the validity of our marriage, and eventually decided to take the matter to my confessor. A year later, here we are. What a merry hunt, trying to find your original parish where you were baptised, getting a note from a different parish, confirming that you've been confirmed, and trying to get marriage prep started betwixt two holiday seasons in a small parish. Maybe more on all that later..

The Modern Major Democrat

a musical number, inspired by Jay @ Pro Familia.

(to the tune of Modern Major General, from the Pirates of Penzance)

I am the very model of the modern major Democrat,
I've been on MTV, so that you know that I know where it's at,
Senators from Massachusetts can be thin or very fat.
We'll filibuster judges, 'cause we love a game of tit for tat.

I'm a decorated veteran with documented bravery,
despite my voting record indicating frequent wavery.
About the strife in Persia, I've given quite a lot of thought,
But if you ask about a plan, I'll have to tell you I have naught.

But if you ask about a plan, I'll have to tell you I have naught.
But if you ask about a plan, I'll have to tell you I have naught.
But if you ask about a plan, I'll have to tell you I have naught.

I'm very good at calumny, detraction and hyperbole
I'll tell what you want to hear, to get all you to vote for me
In short, in matters cultural, social, and all of that,
I am the very model of the modern major Democrat.

In short, in matters cultural, social, and all of that,
I am the very model of the modern major Democrat.

I know our civic history, of Washington and Jefferson
I quote the Founding Fathers with the U.S. Constitution
I'm person'ly against, but publically support abortion
Though some catholics think that I deserve excommunication

Sister Joan Chittister makes a lot of sense to me
On war, retired bishop Gumbleton and I agree
To the Church's Magisterium I give no authority
The National Catholic Reporter is the rag for me

The National Catholic Reporter is the rag for me
The National Catholic Reporter is the rag for me
The National Catholic Reporter is the rag for me

Condescension is my native tongue, I speak it rather fluently
And if you cannot understand, I'll nod most patronizingly,
In short, in matters cultural, social, and all of that,
I am the very model of the modern major Democrat.

A Glimpse Inside The Liberal Mind..mind..mind..mind

Ok, so John Kerry flatly implied that military service is for proletarian fools. What's new? Really. The liberal elite has ALWAYS felt that military enlistment was for proles without a future. A stint in the officer corps is good for future politicians, but that's as close to a rifle as most liberals want to get.

So, el Presidente calls Kerry on the obvious classist smear, and the best Kerry can come back with is that it was a botched joke, meant to insult the president. For someone lecturing young men and women about studying hard, that was an awfully dumb joke, and even weaker excuse afterward. I'm grateful that the less malicious of these two brain surgeons got elected.

This vet is proud that, though I had other options, I chose to serve my country. It may be a shock to sentators from Massachusetts, but some people study hard, excel, AND join the US Military.

UPDATE:

Sen. John Kerry is heading back to Washington and away from tight congressional races after igniting a firestorm of GOP criticism with a "botched joke" about bad students getting stuck in Iraq. He canceled plans to campaign for fellow Democrats today and one party official said: "I would be surprised if you see him welcomed out there anywhere and certainly not in a race that is meaningful."

Bwah hah hah hah hah. Thank you, John Kerry, for reminding the American public that the Democratic Party is chock-full of condescending demogogues. Just in time for the mid-term elections, I may add.

h/t Unseen Blogger for the pic.