A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day...04-17-03...The Left should be thankful

Billie; JohnHuang2 | My Two Cents by JohnHuang2

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest.....
......Every Day

FR is a Treasure Trove of talented, compassionate, patriotic, wonderful people who gather every day to discuss the latest news and issues; salute and support our military and our leaders;  tell a few jokes;  learn a new word;  write poetry;  pray for those in need;  and congratulate those who are deserving. Thank you, Jim Robinson, for giving us the vehicle in which we can express ourselves.

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   I can remember lurking when there were only a few regulars who posted, and now there are over 60,000 who have registered for posting privileges. The forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest November 11, 2001

So many people have written me since my original Veteran's Day Tribute, asking how they, or a loved one, could be included in that tribute. Since I can no longer add the photos to the body of the thread, I've been including them in additional posts as I received enough to make another collage.

Still that doesn't seem to be enough. I think there's never been a better nor more appropriate time to keep the faces of our own Veterans and Active Military in front of FReepers--every day! That's why I wanted to do yet another Daily Thread .....ABOUT FReepers .....and FOR FReepers. But not only about our Military FReepers; for all FReepers! Wouldn't it be nice to get to know a few of the other FReepers as well? That's why, in addition to seeing FR's Finest Military Personnel every day, I thought it might be fun to feature a different FReeper (or FReepers) each day. If you would like to be pictured, or know someone who would, please FReepmail me and we'll turn the spotlight - on YOU - for the day!

And do let me know if you'd like your picture added to the groups of Veterans/Active Military below. I will keep this page updated, and continue to add them to the comment section of the original Veteran's Day thread as well.

TOP: Logos, SwedeGirl's hubby, Neil E Wright, FallGuy, 1John, Sneakypete
MIDDLE:  T'wit, COB1, LadyX, Dick Bachert, 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub
BOTTOM:  YankeeinSC, Delta21, JoeSixPack1

TOP:  Bosniajmc, AFVetGal, Archy, A Navy Vet
MIDDLE:  4TheFlag, Aeronaut, 68Grunt, Xinga
BOTTOM:  Codger, AAABest, Clinton's A Liar, Duke809, dcwusmc

TOP:  mc5cents, Norb2569, LBGA's son, VanJenerette
MIDDLE:  Jim Robinson, KJenerette, davidosborne, KG9Kid
BOTTOM:  gwmoore, Equality7-2521, SAMWolf

TOP:  porgygirl, Phil V., MudPuppy, NorCoGOP
MIDDLE:  RaceBannon, OneidaM, rdb3, jwTexian
BOTTOM:  USMC Vet, TheMayor, Vineyard, rhododogma

We now have eleven groups of veterans/active military; we will post each group of three or four twice a week, with thumbnail/links of the remaining seven or eight groups on each thread. Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the group full-size.

         

GROUP 5A: TOP:  spectr17, RightOnline, SERE_Doc, Tet68. MIDDLE:  FutureSnakeEater, RightOnline's wife, CIApilot, Clamper1797. BOTTOM:  usmcobra, onedoug, DiverDave, Joe6-pack.

GROUP 6A: TOP:  g'nad, AgThorn's son Justin, SLB, AgThorn's son Brett. MIDDLE:  fish70, razorback-bert, CheneyChick, Leroy S Mort, Mark17. BOTTOM:  Terry's Take, Taxman, DinkyDau.

GROUP 7A: TOP:  ValerieUSA's son Grant, SK1Thurman, kd5cts, RangerVetNam, dansangel and .45man's son-in-law Tony.BOTTOM:  rangerX, Old China Hand, Trish, Howlin's dad, Mustang.

GROUP 8A: TOP: ohioWfan's son, MamaBear's father-in-law, MamaBear's dad, ladtx. MIDDLE:  The Mayor's niece, M.Kehoe, Beach_Babe's son-in-law. BOTTOM:  deadhead's dad, HiJinx, Severa's hubby, viligantcitizen's granddad.

      

GROUP 9A: TOP: Q6-God, Scan59, Mama Bear and JKPhoto's son, ofMagog. MIDDLE:  Big'ol_freeper, JustAmy's great uncle, Prodigal Son. BOTTOM:  JustAmy's husband, JustAmy's brother-in-law, JustAmy's brother.

GROUP 10A: TOP: dakine's wife, MeeknMing's dad, Auntbee's nephew, MilitiaMan7, AlasBabylon. BOTTOM:  Joe Brower, Temple Owl, Temple Owl's wife, dutchess' dad, Aomagrat.

GROUP 11A: TOP: ladtx #2 son; DiverDave's twin Don; petuniasevan and husband poorman; Mustard; ladtx #1 son. BOTTOM: AlamoGirl's brother Floyd; AG's dad; AG's brother Jim (inset); WVNan's husband; ladtx' Aunt Eva.

                     

In One Word, President Bush is.....

The Left should be thankful by JohnHuang2

In your opinion, is the
President Doing a Good Job?

YES     73%
NO      24%

On the surface, things couldn't possibly be worse for the Left, politically. A new CBS News/New York Times Poll "found that 73 percent of Americans approve of [Bush's] job performance -- up from 59 percent the week before the war -- and that his approval rating among Democrats [Democrats!] was 61 percent," the Gray Lady tearfully reports, adding that "The finding is reminiscent of the spike in popularity Mr. Bush's father enjoyed for the first few months after the Persian Gulf war of 1991."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daunting as this seems politically, the Left should be thankful -- things could be far worse: Imagine had Saddam not won the war!

What? Come again? 'Saddam was defeated,' you say? Er, not so fast. Where on earth did you get that silly notion anyway, eh? C'mon, you're obviously not paying attention -- forget Fox News propaganda for a moment, and listen up.

Appearances notwithstanding, sources close to Saddam Hussein have assured sources close to Peter Arnett and Janeane Garofalo that everything is going according to Plan -- Saddam's Masterplan: Unwittingly, The Great Satan is walking into the Mother-Of-All-Traps. Further confirmation comes from CNN's Bureau chief embedded with the Eason Jordan Division of Saddam's Elite Republican Guard.

The U.K.'s Sun Online dropped the bombshell revelation Tuesday morning: "Saddam Hussein is holed up in a desert fortress with his generals preparing for a final bloody showdown, war commanders believe," having "fled to the desert village of Al Hawijah with his family, aids and a personal army as Allied soldiers [unwittingly] advanced on the city [of Tikrit]."

"The dictator," the paper adds, masterfully "left behind hundreds of [brave] Fedayeen paramilitaries to defend Tikrit and buy him some time -- [and, again, 'masterfully'] they folded as US Marines [unwittingly] moved in."

"Saddam has now turned Al Hawijah -- about 60 miles north-east of Tikrit and 50 miles west of Kirkuk -- into his last stronghold."

See? Sure Saddam's had some minor setbacks along the way to victory. Or has he? Losing control of Um Qasr to infidel invaders in less than 40 hours looks huge on paper, but what if that was According To Plan? Then came the battles for Nasiriyah, Samawa, Najaf, Al Kut, Hilla, Karbala -- all of which Saddam apparently lost. Or did he? What if this, too, was According To Plan? Hmmm? Think about it: What better way to lure his enemies than to give his enemies the keys of the capital of his country, uh? In retrospect, allowing the Great Satan to grind his Republican Guard divisions into desert dust could well have been a masterstroke, no? Just ask world-renown military analysts Susan Sarandon and Maureen Dowd -- they'll tell ya!

In fact, there's growing evidence that coalition forces, aware of Saddam's Master Plan, are cowering in retreat.

Proof? Try this from Associated Press on for size: "Two U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and the ships in their battle groups will leave the Persian Gulf this week and return to their home ports, a U.S. defense official said Monday."

The USS Kitty Hawk and USS Constellation are being withdrawn, for Pete's sake! Why do you suppose? What other 'splanation' could there be but that the U.S. is in full retreat? Rather than face Saddam's mighty Fedayeenies up there in Al Hawijah, the U.S. is high-tailing out of dodge!

Not buying, eh? Well, try this from Agence France-Presse: "More than 1,000 U.S. soldiers, along with equipment and supplies, were to start leaving Turkey Tuesday, as the US-led war in Iraq drew to a close...U.S. soldiers would be flown out of the Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey to Germany on Tuesday and Wednesday."

U.S. troops leaving Turkey "...As the US-led war in Iraq drew to a close," eh? Ha! That's just an excuse; this maneuver -- mark my words -- smacks of retreat!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buying none of it, eh? Too far fetched, uh?

Well, let's -- for the sake of argument -- assume you're right, that Saddam's not the greatest military genius since Robert McNamara; that his string of defeats was a string of defeats rather than cold, clever calculation to lull his enemies to sleep.

Well, well, haven't you heard? According to Reuters, AP, CNN, etc, America had one mission, and one mission only in Iraq. Regime change? Nope. Finding WMD? Nope. Freeing the Iraqi people? Wrong again.

Reuters puts it this way: "Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday rejected charges that the U.S. military was to blame for the looting by Iraqis of priceless treasures from the antiquities museum in Baghdad...[denying] the war plan for Iraq had not adequately prepared for such a threat."

This cast copper head is among the relics missing from the Iraq National Museum. It is believed to depict Naram-Sin, grandson of Sargon, the founder of the dynasty of Agade and one of the world's first prototype dictators. The copper head was found near the Ishtar Temple at Nineveh. It was mutilated, with its nose, ears and beard chopped off, much like the statues of Saddam Hussein torn down in Baghdad. (University of Southern California)

"Antiquities experts...said...they were concerned that the priceless treasures may never be recovered."

So, folks, there you have it. Our mission in Iraq was....not regime change...not uncovering WMD...nor freeing the Iraqi people, but the far more urgent task of protecting "antiquities" from "looters." In other words, we put 300,000 troops in the region to guard some museum in Baghdad. Comprende?

Small wonder Americans have tuned the media elite out.

Anyway, that's...

My two cents

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 04-14-03 ViligantCitizen 04-15-03 Hobsonphile 04-16-03 Easter Traditions

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
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5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[GailA]

I heard it too as you did.

[Pippin]

What do you mean?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Bump!!

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

[SpookBrat]

Bravo! I'm not worthy to post here. LOL You're brilliant John.

[LadyX]

Although you made this reply to Meekie, I don't think he has responded yet:

"I don't know why you all don't think we should be concerned about the fate of antiquities.
Don't you want to have these reminders of civilizations of ancient times?
To recall the past (I didn't say live in it) is to avoind past mistakes.
Beside the area were modern Iraq is now was once am empire called Mesopotamia and Babylon."

Curious as to why you thought he - or 'you all' meaning others of us as well? - is/are NOT "concerned about the fate of antiquities."

I imagine nearly all here studied as I did back in the 5th grade about The Cradle of Civilization, and are more than aware of what the special value of the artifacts was and is.

I interpreted his reply as merely exaggeration to point out the absurdity of blame placed upon our effort to save the country from a dictatorial regime as equating responsibility in any way for the museum's losses.

If you stop to think about it, Pippin, the truth probably lies in it being like Hitler in Europe having his Nazis "remove" all valuables in their path, and store the loot to cash in after he conquered the continent.

Don't you think Saddam - who did not even value human life - probably 20 years ago 'replaced' many of the valuables with duplicates and cashed in or stored to do so the valuables he controlled?
It was his country, and who would be able to disobey his orders?

It even has been stated by experts they thought many of the displays seemed to be fakes long before the war.
He surely was capable of ordering the plunder a bit at a time, stored in other countries for 'down the road.'

[Dubya]

Very good post John and Billie. Thanks.

[TexasCowboy]

Hi, Pip!!
You've got an anniversary coming up!
Let's have chocolate cake with lots of gooey icing!!
Forget the candle. It takes up room.

[MeekOneGOP]

Howdy ! Playin' Ketchup . . .

[MeekOneGOP]

I can't get that to play on Windows Media Player. What do I need to hear it? :O(

[Aquamarine]

Real Player.

[deadhead]

Wishing everyone a Happy and Blessed Easter.

Colleen (will be busy these upcoming days and wanted to make sure I wished you all a Happy Easter)

[JulieRNR21]

John....loved your satire on the anti-American liberal media...no wonder America has turned them off & tuned into FOX in record numbers.

Have you all seen the latest on Baghdad Bob?

[jwfiv]

Nice picture, Lil Buddy.
Paw

[JohnHuang2]

Thank you, Billie :) Great job with the graphics, as always!

Sorry I wasn't around today. My sister just had surgery, but she's recovering nicely and should be out of the hospital this weekend. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated :)

[JohnHuang2]

(((((((Pippin!)))))))

[JohnHuang2]

Thanks, D.G. High praise, coming from you.

[JohnHuang2]

You're welcome, friend -- and great to see you :)

[JohnHuang2]

Hiya, my friend :)

[JohnHuang2]

Hi there, friend