Ramblings of a Jackhole

Dear Mr. Obama,

In a speech you said the following:

We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.

Mr. Obama, what exactly does a civilian national security force that receives $1 trillion in tax payer dollars a year do?  Is it true that you’re planning on naming it the Security Squadron force?  Mr. Obama, would your SS force be armed, so they’d be called the Armed SS Force? Mr. Obama, maybe calling the “Waffen” SS would make it easier for it to be accepted by those in certain countries overseas? Mr. Obama, what would one have to do to become part of your SS force, would you require strong personal commitments to certain ideologies and would ones racial heritage be a factor in membership? Mr. Obama, will your SS force monitor what’s going on inside our nation and in our military? Mr. Obama, have you picked out any cool logos for your SS force? If not, maybe some lightening strike will help with that.

We rarely get a chance to see another country’s editorial about the USA.

Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title “C”ntarea Americii meaning “Ode To America”) on September 24, 2002, in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei (”The Daily Event” or “News of the Day”).

-An Ode to America-

Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs. Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart.

Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the army, and the secret services that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. The Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.

After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing.

On every occasion, they started singing their traditional song: “God Bless America!” I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.

How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put in a collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy.

What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their galloping history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace.

I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion…Only freedom can work such miracles.

- Cornel Nistorescu

Yours truly, The Jackhole has been receiving emails stating that the note from Sargent First Class (SFC), Ray Reynolds, of the Iowa National Guard (Army), 234th Signal Battalion for which I published on April 23 is an “urban legend.”

However, upon a little search one can see that Ray Renolds was a Sargent Second Class as well as a birthday boy in the Iowa National Guard.

Additionally, Ray himself spoke up and said:

I did write it and I am in Kuwait now on my way home. I wrote it while at home because I felt that too many people were exploiting the violence in Iraq to sell papers and gain votes. Sometimes the silent majority need to be awakened to respond to the bad things in our world. I am passionate about our President’s decision and support this rebuilding whole heartedly…Yes legit..I am a fire fighter in Denison, Iowa and to verify, call Mike McKinnon of the Denison Iowa fire department.

Of course democrats are having a little trouble with all their baggage. So their best plan of attack is to simply state that even the truth isn’t the truth. Not all of us can marry rich, twice.

We see stories every day from the press bemoaning on how our troops are simply dying without a reason in Iraq. We see pictures of the abhorrent and detestable violence perpetrated by Muslim militants. We see pictures showing the death of our young, brave men and women of our armed services. However, when was the last time you saw a report of the quiet time that fills their many days. The moments when they remember why they are there to protect those that are in need? The moments that show them, and would show us, the human side in Iraq. The moments that remind show them that they are there for a reason.

Daily we get a listing of the numbers of soldiers in the United States military that have had their lives taken in Iraq. However, these men and women are not merely numbers.

They are our children of follow citizens. Many of them have children of their own. They surely remember their children daily, reminding them of one of the greatest reasons they fight, and freely give their lives, for our country, that is for their children, our children as well as the children of the world.

The death and carnage around them is a constant reminder of their mortality and of their Creator. They pray to the God in who America’s founders placed their trust and thanksgiving. They pray for their safety and the safety for their companions. They pray for the safety of all those they are there to protect.
They have left their loved one here in the United States, fully knowing that they may never see them again on this Earth.

Now is the time for each one of us to step up to the plate and support our troop. We must not only support them in words and actions here in the states, but also in quiet prayer to our God.

Pray that they have the ability to complete their mission. Pray that they are able to complete their mission safely. Pray that their action will allow those in Iraq to one day be able to freely pray and worship God. And most importantly pray that those soldier that never live to leave Iraqi soil, are able to see their loved ones again in Heaven.

Amen.

Forget