IS THIS ANY WAY TO WIN A WAR?
“Disagreements and coordination problems high within the international military command are delaying combat operations for 2,500 Marines who arrived here last month to help root out Taliban forces, according to military officers here (in Afghanistan). For weeks the Marines - with their light armor, infantry, artillery and a squadron of transport and attack helicopters and Harrier strike fighters - have been virtually quarantined at the international air base here, unable to operate beyond the base perimeter.
“…(D)isputes among the many layers of international command here - an ungainly conglomeration of 40 nations ranging from Albania and Iceland to the U.S. and Britain - have forced a series of delays. Unlike most U.S. military operations, even the small details of operations here - such as the radio frequency used to evacuate a soldier for medical care - must first be coordinated with multiple military commands.
“..For Marines, who are accustomed to landing in a war zone and immediately going into action with their own plans, the holdup has been frustrating. . . . Marine operations planning, which is routinely completed in hours or days, has gone on for weeks while they await agreement and approval from above.”
- David Wood, Baltimore Sun, 4/11/08
WAITING FOR THE GREEN LIGHT
“It appears as if…the most powerful fighting force on earth, the U.S. Marines, is sitting in tents without being utilized. . . . To require the Marines to work under the headship of a NATO committee not only has wasted time thus far, but the remainder of their time in Afghanistan is in jeopardy. . . . The concept of an MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) is that it is in little or no need of assistance. It is self sufficient in every way, and the only need of the 24th MEU is to be given the green light to hunt al Qaeda and Taliban.”
- The Captain’s Journal, 4/13/08
STILL SLURPING AT TAXPAYERS’ TROUGH
“Their tax returns show that Bill and Hillary Clinton have hauled in a fortune of $111 million since they left the White House in 2001 through last year. But that hasn’t stopped them from taking every penny of taxpayer money potentially available to former presidents.
“Federal records show that Mr. Clinton’s pension and office expenses totaled over $8 million since he retired, compared with only $5.5 million for former President George H.W. Bush and $4 million for former President Jimmy Carter during the same period of time. The money goes for everything from a full-time office and staff to travel and telephone reimbursements. The cost of lifetime Secret Service protection is not included in the calculations.”
- John Fund, Political Diary, 4/11/08
CLINGING TO GOD AND GUNS
“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. . . (I)t’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
- Barack Obama
UNION THUGS STORM CONFERENCE
“Despite being welcomed to the (2008 Labor Notes) conference earlier in the day…SEIU staff and members shouted down speakers at workshops and panels throughout the event. At our Saturday night banquet hundreds of SEIU protesters stormed into our conference and confronted our volunteers and supporters. In 29 years we have never had a group of protesters attack our conference or the brothers and sisters who attend it.”
- Labor Notes, 4/12/08
NO ARRESTS WERE MADE?
“The Service Employees International Union turned their dispute with the California Nurses Association violent by attacking a labor conference April 12, injuring several and sending an American Axle striker to the hospital. A recently retired member of United Auto Workers Local 235, Dianne Feeley, suffered a head wound after being knocked to the ground by SEIU International staff and local members.
“Other conference-goers - members of the Teamsters, UAW, UNITE HERE, International Longshoremen’s Association, and SEIU itself - were punched, kicked, shoved, and pushed to the floor. Dearborn police responded and evicted the three bus loads of SEIU International staff and members of local and regional health care unions. No arrests were made.”
- DailyKos, 4/13/08
PICTURES OF THE GOONIES
“I ask everyone reading this to go look at these two pictures: here and here. Even by SEIU’s standards this is a new low. . . . Everyone who was there is completely freaked out. It is a dark, dark day for the labor movement when violence in front of hundreds of people is accepted as just another tactic. . . . Can everyone now understand why RNs don’t want to be part of SEIU?”
- “California Nurses Shum,” 4/13/08
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“The union is like having herpes. It doesn’t kill you, but it’s unpleasant and inconvenient.”
- Whole Foods CEO John Mackey
Posted on April 14th, 2008 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
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