SwiftVets.com

[Beatrice1000]

This article gives me much hope -- I heard awhile ago another German speaking at an EU conference in much the same vein, and tho the German leadership present sat sternly, other countries at the conference applauded enthusiastically -- is there perhaps just one person here and there in Germany that agrees with us, or could there perhaps be a wider movement afoot? I have no idea -- but this is the first article I have seen by a German that is so blunt -- and it is so welcome:
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** “Europe -- Thy Name is Cowardice,” by Matthias Dopfner, frontpagemag, 1/7/05 **
(excerpts)
A few days ago Henryk M. Broder wrote in Welt am Sonntag, "Europe -- your family name is appeasement." It's a phrase you can't get out of your head because it's so terribly true.

.... Appeasement crippled Europe when genocide ran rampant in Kosovo & we Europeans debated & debated until the Americans came in & did our work for us. .... Appeasement generates a mentality that allows Europe to ignore 300,000 victims of Saddam's torture & murder machinery and, motivated by the self-righteousness of the peace-movement, to issue bad grades to George Bush. .... What else has to happen before the European public & its political leadership get it? ...

Two recent American presidents had the courage needed for anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush. Reagan ended the Cold War & Bush, supported only by the social democrat Blair acting on moral conviction, recognized the danger in the Islamic fight against democracy. ... On the contrary-we Europeans present ourselves, in contrast to the intolerant, as world champions in tolerance, .... Why? Because we're so moral? I fear it's more because we're so materialistic.

For his policies, Bush risks the fall of the dollar, huge amounts of additional nat’l. debt & a massive & persistent burden on the American economy-because everything is at stake. While the alleged capitalistic robber barons in American know their priorities, we timidly defend our social welfare systems. Stay out of it! It could get expensive. .... These days, Europe reminds me of an elderly aunt who hides her last pieces of jewelry with shaking hands when she notices a robber has broken into a neighbor's house. Europe, thy name is cowardice. ...

(Matthias Döpfner is Chief Executive of German publisher Axel Springer AG.)

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[GenrXr]

A couple of Belgium friends whom I speak with almost daily on VOIP (voice over internet protocol) are very telling in European sentiment. Both of them are in their early 30's and had grandfathers who fought the Germans in WWII, yet know very little about their families past. In discussions one of them liked the French and the other couldn’t stand the French, yet neither knew exactly why they felt the way they did. They just felt that way from societal pressure and immediate family. A politically correct world amuck is what I was beginning to sense. They had been conditioned to love the French and hate the Americans by years of indoctrination, yet I began to discuss how WWII went from their countries perspective. When Germany invaded Belgium they did so for one main reason they had to take over France and to bypass the Maginot line so they went through Belgium. When Germany invaded Belgium it was under the leadership of Heinz Guderian who invented a new tactic of Achtung Panzer which we know as Blitzkrieg due to some enterprising NYT journalists and Erwin Rommel in the second of command. Well I explained to my friends that the first river the Germans came to in which they met heavy resistance and had to fight hard Guderian got his butt kicked and the French discovered resolve as Rommel says in his papers, but the next day Rommel brings up his men and not only gets Guderian over the river, he pushes the French and Belgium defenders back. As soon as Rommel beat back the defense of the first river the French cut and run and the Belgians who wanted to defend their country were alone. I made the point that the French will promise and pretend to be there for them but do not have the resolve to stand in the end. In the end of our discussion I explained America came a world away to finish what the French promised to do, yet took American Dough Boys to accomplish. They both agreed.
_________________
"An activist is the person who cleans up the water, not the one claiming its dirty."
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing." Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Founder of Conservative Philosophy

[Beatrice1000]

[AMOS]

Are the Belgians still aware General George S. Patton is buried in their country?

We sure could use a half dozen more like him.

[shawa]

Brings to mind this great analogy by Victor Davis Hanson of
America as the "lone marshal" engendering hatred (shaming them}
from all he seeks to protect.

"In fact, an American consensus is growing that envy and hatred of the United States, coupled with utopian and pacifistic rhetoric, disguise an even more depressing fact: Outside our shores there is a growing barbarism with no other sheriff in sight. Any cinema student of the American Western can fathom why the frightened townspeople — huddled in their churches and shuttered schools — almost hated the lone marshal as much as they did the six-shooting outlaw gang rampaging in their streets. After all, the holed-up 'good' citizens were always angry that the lawman had shamed them, worried that he might make dangerous demands on their insular lives, confused about whether they would have to accommodate themselves either to savagery or civilization in their town's future, and, above all, assured that they could libel and slur the tin star in a way that would earn a bullet from the lawbreaker. It was precisely that paradox between impotent high-sounding rhetoric and blunt-speaking, roughshod courage that lay at the heart of the classic Western from Shane and High Noon to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and The Magnificent Seven."

Read the article at:
http://nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson200501070750.asp

[GM Strong]

Roger Hedgecock did this monolog on Rush before Christmas. Don't know where it came from, but it is funny.

Lesson in Human Evolution:

The division of the human family into its two distinct branches, liberals and conservatives, occurred some 20,000 years ago. Until then all humans coexisted as members of small bands of nomadic hunter/gatherers.

About one thousand generations ago, in the pivotal event of societal evolution, beer was invented. This epochal innovation was both the foundation of modern civilization and the occasion of the great bifurcation of humanity into its two distinct subgroups.
Once beer was discovered, our prehistoric forebears decided it was time to settle down. Making beer required grain, and securing a steady supply of it ordained the invention of agriculture.

After that was accomplished, ancient man quickly, and unfairly, consigned actual cultivation to women.

Men couldn't just run off, willy-nilly, however. Neither the glass bottle nor the aluminum can had yet been invented, so it was necessary to stick pretty close to home, and the brewery.

This left our male ancestors with a lot of time on their hands, and led to the division of the species, which persists to this day. Some men tried to conserve remnants of the old way of life (hence the term "conservative") by spending their days in the open field in the dangerous pursuit of big game animals. At night they would roast their prey at a big barbecue, and afterwards sat around the fire drinking beer, passing wind and telling off color jokes.

Other, more timid, souls stayed closer to home. They are responsible for the domestication of cats and the invention of group therapy. Mostly, they sat around worrying about how life wasn't fair and concocting elaborate schemes to "liberate" themselves from inequity (thus their designation as "liberals"). In the evening they gathered around their fire, nibbling on fruit and nuts, sharing their innermost feelings. Today some liberals try to pretend they're really sort of conservative, and sometimes succeed in confusing people. The following are a few tips to use in distinguishing the two types.

By definition liberals believe in big government and high taxes. Life is unfair and the government is there to do something about it. Most people are too stupid to spend untaxed income wisely, they say, and high taxes allow liberals in government to do a better job of it.

Conservatives don't like government, and, aside from the military, wish it would just go away. They hate taxes, regulations, speed limits, and small cars.

Typical conservatives are Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronald Reagan, Rush Limbaugh and, up there with the Big Man in the Sky, the incomparable John Wayne.

Typical liberals are Dustin Hoffman, Shirley McLaine, Pee Wee Herman, Martin Sheen, Sean Penn, Barbra Streisand, Ted Turner and his former wife, the traitor ***** Jane Fonda.

All conservatives drink beer. American beer. Some liberals like imported beer, but most prefer white wine or foreign water from a bottle.

Liberals like to drive Volvos and Saabs because they're made in socialist Sweden. They like to eat weird food because it's un-American.

Your basic conservative vehicle, especially in Alaska, is the Chevy Suburban. It's big, it's American, it's four wheel drive, and it sucks up the gas. Conservatives eat beef, which they (surprise!) like to barbecue. Big game hunters are conservative. Interior decorators are liberal.

Liberals invented the designated hitter rule in baseball because it wasn't "fair" to make the poor pitcher take his turn at bat.

Conservatives, inspired by a remark of the legendary Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker Jack Lambert, believe quarterbacks should be required to wear skirts, so they can more easily be distinguished from real football players.

James Brown and Ray Charles are conservatives. Michael Jackson and Milli Vanilli are liberals.

Most social workers, personal injury lawyers, journalists, and group therapists are liberals. Most ranchers, loggers, professional soldiers, and steeplejacks are conservatives.

Liberal jurors distrust the prosecutors and police. Conservatives figure the defendant must be guilty or he wouldn't be on trial.

Most conservatives not only believe in the death penalty, they would cheerfully implement it, personally, if called upon to do so. Liberals think capital punishment is a barbaric relic, and unfair to boot.

Liberals believe Europeans are, generally speaking, far more enlightened than Americans. Conservatives think they're basically decadent, as evidenced by their complete absence in wars.

Typical conservative movies are "Raising Arizona", "Patton", and "Conan the Barbarian".

Typical liberal movies are "Prince of Tides", "Last Tango in Paris", and "The Big Chill".

The quintessential liberal is the handicapper, the person who decides how much extra weight to saddle the faster horses with in order to make the race "fair".

The American cowboy, of course, is your basic, full bore conservative. A hundred years ago an Englishman in South Dakota was trying to find the owner of a huge cattle ranch. He rode up to one of the ranch hands and asked, "Excuse me, but could you tell me where to find your Master?" To which the cowboy replied, "That sumbitch hasn't been born yet."
_________________
8th Army Korea 68-69

[AMOS]

That's a "keeper". Designated hitter, LOL.