If I didn't find Obmam and his team so very disgusting the way he treats our military would be more than sufficient cause. IMHO, he's not worthy to tie the bootlaces of either of these two Americans!
Posted on 10/15/2009 9:37:17 AM PDT by TitansAFC
Illinois Army National Guard Maj. L. Tammy Duckworth sat in a wheelchair at the paper-strewn kitchen table in her suburban Chicago home doing what she seems to do better than most mortals: focusing totally on the task at hand.
She worked the phones for hours Wednesday as part of her effort to get herself elected to Congress — reaching out to dozens of mayors, union officials and everyday voters.
Somehow, she's able to stay focused and find humor simultaneously. She has a knack for instantly putting people at ease with what some call her disability — the fact that she lost both her legs in Iraq 418 days before.
Pausing between calls, Duckworth noted that her high-tech artificial legs were in the closet "charging up." What she called her "left stump" was propped up on the table.
"That's my way of kicking back," she said with an infectious laugh. "I know, the politically correct term is residual limb. But that's just way too many syllables, and I figure it's mine. I can call it what I want."
Duckworth's Iraq experience already is the stuff of American military lore.
On Nov. 12, 2004, her entire focus was on not losing consciousness while trying to safely land a Black Hawk helicopter. It had been blasted by a rocket-propelled grenade that exploded where Duckworth was seated. The maneuver was an impossible feat with two missing legs, a shattered right arm, and a multitude of other serious injuries.
Another pilot landed the helicopter. But Duckworth, not realizing how seriously she'd been hurt, kept her attention on the mission, passing out only when the Black Hawk was on the ground. Initially presumed dead, Duckworth remained unconscious for the next 10 days.
Her focus for the better part of 2005 included staying alive, undergoing intense therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and painstakingly learning to walk again on artificial legs.
She is on record as saying she's determined to fly helicopters again.
Duckworth knows that political pundits are focused on her. As a Democratic candidate in a historically Republican district trying to win the House seat being vacated by retiring Republican icon Henry Hyde, her 6th District race is becoming a Democratic Party priority and a talking point among political heavyweights.
"Very rarely have I met a more impressive person than Tammy Duckworth," said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in an article the day before she announced her candidacy Dec. 18. "She just has the poise and exudes the type of character that I think would make her an astounding public servant."
Duckworth is happy to point out that she and Hawai'i-raised Punahou graduate Obama have "a kama'aina connection."
Both were born outside the country — Obama in Indonesia, Duckworth in Thailand — and graduated from high school in Honolulu — Punahou and McKinley, respectively.
"The big thing for me is that I'm a McKinley High grad," said Duckworth. "That gives you a lot of street creds. I wasn't a rich kid."
Born in Bangkok on March 12, 1968, when her father was there working with a United Nations refugee program, Duckworth spent much of her childhood in Southeast Asian countries. Along with her parents, Franklin and Lamia Duckworth, and her younger brother, Tommy Duckworth, she arrived in Hawai'i at age 16. An honors student, she skipped ninth grade and graduated in 1985.
Richard Sakamoto, Duckworth's high school principal, remembers her as the sort of student any educator would hope to find in the classroom — multitalented, determined and bound for success.
"She was one of the best students, because of her determination," said Sakamoto, who had breakfast with Duckworth when she returned to Hawai'i in September to attend a wedding and to speak at a women's leadership conference.
"She was something else, very intelligent, very goal-oriented. She was an athlete. She participated in basketball, volleyball and track."
And according to Duckworth, she was and still is a girly girl. A photo of her looking stylish and feminine in a short satin dress appears in the 1985 McKinley High yearbook, for which Duckworth wrote the epilogue.
Another yearbook picture of her throwing a discus offers a different perspective. The accompanying caption reads: "Tammy Duckworth proves that females are more than equal to the task."
Duckworth, who holds a master's degree in international affairs from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Hawai'i in 1989.
UH political science professor Ira Rohter said she was a noticeable presence even then.
"Here was somebody who stood out and was asking questions," said Rohter, who recalls having Duckworth in one of his courses.
"She was inquisitive. There was a critical analysis. She was one of those people who read the material and then would talk and argue with you about it."
Rohter said he's not surprised now to find Duckworth on the national stage.
"I think she has a sophisticated understanding of what's going on," he said. "I'm intrigued with what it is that she wants to accomplish."
On the local level in Illinois, Duckworth wants to accomplish the sorts of things that matter to the people in the 6th District — better education, higher-paying jobs for young graduates, and affordable healthcare.
And she isn't shy about speaking her mind on controversial subjects. Duckworth talks about what she sees as a lack of leadership in Washington, D.C., record federal debt and bad fiscal policies that benefit the rich.
"Invading Iraq was a mistake," she says on her Tammy Duckworth for Congress Web site. "We should have focused our military resources instead on pursuing the terrorists who attacked our country and on capturing Osama Bin Laden."
Once she was discharged from active duty in late December, Duckworth was no longer restricted from making political statements. She remains in the Illinois National Guard on a Continuation On Active Reserve status — one of two severely injured soldiers given that special status, she said.
Out of uniform, she'll say what's on her mind, taking her cues largely from those who know firsthand what she's been through.
"I have a lot of respect for that World War II generation who came back from the war and changed this country," said Duckworth, whose husband, Bryan Bowlsbey, is a captain in the Army National Guard.
"Sen. Daniel Inouye was in that generation. Bob Dole and John F. Kennedy were in that generation."
Duckworth's dad, a Marine who received a Purple Heart for wounds received in Okinawa and the driving influence of her life, was of that generation. He died of heart failure on Jan. 28, 2005.
His daughter has nothing but praise for her fellow soldiers in the Middle East who she says risk their lives daily, watch their buddies get killed, and then keep going the next day.
"What's happened is they've done their duty, but the politicians have failed them," she said.
Too many legislators don't have a personal stake in the decision process — their sons aren't serving, Duckworth said. And that's why she remains in the military.
"Because if I get into Congress, the next time they decide whether or not to send troops into battle, I want to be there to make that decision.
"At least my butt will be on the line. I'm not just going to send somebody else. I'm going to be sending myself."
As for those who might criticize her views as somehow unpatriotic, Duckworth said bring it on.
"I've already had an RPG blow up in my lap," she said. "After that, take your best shot. I'm going to get up and fight for what I think is right."
Just, WOW!
In the great words of Forrest Gump “Shit Happens”
But...but...but...the newspaper article said he was! Didn't you just criticize me for poo-pooing it? "But those pro-obama papers without an agenda, why by golly, they were just simple errors," those are your exact words.
However, I also don’t pretend that FactCheck is legitimate neutral organization.
I don't believe that anyone can look at an electronic copy of a document and proclaim it a forgery. Or state for certain it's genuine for that matter. So your claims that it's fake ring just as hollow as FactCheck.org's claims of fact.
I do not believe that the rules were the same at the time of 0bama’s birth, which is a significant issue. He would have to be “natural born” based on the rules for “natural born” that were in effect at the time.
Many tissues and tears.
I have the entire article in screen capture. I’ll post them in a few.
All right. Hold your fire.
Look. Duckworth is the one who is declaring that Obama was not born in Hawaii. Just because Duckworth’s comments were reported in the press does not mean the paper is the one states that as the truth.
“I’m sure someone is. So far Obama was born in at least four different places.”
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I knew there was a reason why he seems so mixed up!
“It’s not unusual for ‘natural born’ American citizens to be born abroad, particularly in active duty military families.”
Sure, but those children are born to parents who are American citizens. Obama’s father was a British citizen.
As a professional, full time, freelance photographer I can’t tell you how much I would like to have taken that picture!
All I can say is God bless out troops and protect them to the fullest.
Our church caters to military families and I have occasion to meet and work with lots of military people and their families. What an unbelievable group of people. It would take pages and pages to explain what they have to put up with for the privilege of serving our country.
You have to know that his man was doing this with no expectation that his love and kindness would end up being pictured around the world. And there are thousands more doing deeds like this with absolutely no expectation of reward other than knowing they have might have made a difference in the life of one person.
Maybe he is the reincarnation of Topsy, “I s’pect I just growed. Don’t think nobody never made me.”
That picture brought tears to my eyes as it reminded me of what one of the mass graves South of Baghdad held—a women holding her baby, both shot in the head and a pacifier still in the babies mouth. To those who say we should not have gone into Iraq, I have some pictures of what Saddam Hussein was doing to his people that might change your mind.
Weapon down...safety on...LOL
Look yourself!
I didn’t say whether or not the paper,or Duckworth, was lying,truthing,birthing,or doing the laundry for that matter. You said you didn’t see anything in the article that said Zero was born in Indonesia.I just pointed out that you missed that line in the article. That’s it. Don’t put words in my mouth,please.
“He’ll tell anybody anything.”
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Not true, he won’t tell anyone that George W. Bush was a great American.
Oh My God,that’s beautiful. Just beautiful.
In the midst of all the bickering.....
Thanks for this pic.
About the only thing we know for sure is that 0bama was only born in one place.
The hell of it is know one seems to really know where.
“Most major disasters just do.”
Hey non, here’s a link for you to read, tell me what you think.
“Kenyan-born US Senate hopeful, Barrack Obama, appeared set to take over the Illinois Senate seat after his main rival, Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race on Friday night amid a furor over lurid sex club allegations...”
http://web.archive.org/web/20040627142700/eastandard.net/headlines/news26060403.htm
I've been mostly celibate from the Obama birth stuff - to be honest I just don't know what to believe.
I'm just posting this because it's relevant to the issue.
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