Three year old Cooper hadn’t seen his mom in over 9 months because of her military service in Afghanistan. But after seeing his mother Kathryn Waldvogel getting into full formation waiting to be discharged, Cooper just couldn’t wait another second. The three-year old ran towards his mother, causing her to break formation – something that is not advised by the military.
“All of a sudden we had to file into the building and get into formation, and I just look up and Cooper and my mom are right there,” Waldvogel said.
While the president considers the best strategy to combat the ISIS threat in Syria, Congress is preparing to give the Commander in Chief any authorization needed for an all out war if necessary.
Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-Va., said in a statement Wednesday he will introduce legislation when Congress reconvenes next week that would authorize the use of military force against ISIS and other terror groups around the world, including al Nusra, Ansar al Sharia, al Shabaab and Boko Haram.
Separately, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Wednesday in Virginia that Congress should not leave town in September without considering an authorization to use force against ISIS.
Wolf’s proposal comes one day after Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., announced a similar bill for the Senate as lawmakers from both chambers and both parties expressed anger and frustration over Tuesday’s release of another video showing the beheading of an American journalist by the jihadi insurgents.
“This will ensure there’s no question that the president has the legal authority he needs to use airstrikes in Syria,” Nelson said in a release.
ISIS has released two videos showing the executions of Americans — and threatened more — since U.S. forces interceded last month in northern Iraq, bombing insurgent positions in support of Kurdish fights and Iraqi government forces
When it comes to either supporting our troops or hating Obama the Republicans overwhelmingly choose the latter. Oh boy do they ever. The party who loves jingoistic phrases and loud macho alpha chest beating just couldn’t wait to bash the soldier that our President bravely rescued. Yes it is very brave to actually take action. And that’s what our President did. To fuck with the consequences of more bashing and phony scandal and impeachment talk from the right wing scum. Obama actually did the right thing!
Yes the Republicans love to talk big. “Support our troops”…”Semper Fi.. do or die..gung ho..gung ho…gung ho!” But when it comes to taking action all they can do is sit back and be Monday morning quarterbacks. Now many Republicans were caught erasing tweets they had sent out before Bergdahl’s return which said they were in favor of doing whatever was necessary to get him back. You see that was before Obama did what they never expected him to do..actually get the dude back. Republicans, since they are the party of do nothing, or do nothing unless it fucks most people over, figured Obama wouldn’t have the balls to actually make the deal to bring Bergdahl home.
But he did exactly that. And now they are against what they were for. Not the first time the ballsy black President has done something they actually wanted, to only bash him once he pulls the trigger. It’s commonplace. It’s not surprising at all. Not surprising because the Republican party couldn’t care less about our troops. They have been using our troops as pawns for decades. They send them to die in needless, useless wars. They destroy families in the name of power and money and greed and oil.
When the troops come back home all fucked up mentally and physically they cut funding to VA hospitals and know they can just blame the next Democratic President for it. “Never leave a man behind” they shout and pound their bloated chests, yet when the black President brings one home, the last one, they immediately try to destroy the soldiers reputation. Why? To just get back at the black President.
They destroy the soldiers father. Irish big mouthed right wing pricks on television call him “Taliban” because he has a long beard yet those same pricks give a guy like Phil Robertson a pass, because he is just a good American with a long unwashed beard. Old decrepit, senile Senators forget they were just on television saying they were in favor of the soldiers return by any means necessary. But now they are against it because they are fucked up in the head and forget what they just said. But they often do this, even when they were younger. Maybe they were always good for nothing mental midgets.
The Republicans love to “pray” for the troops. Pray for them oh lord! Just don’t let the black President actually bring them home. Let’s keep them in captivity until a good white male Republican is President..like in fifty years if they are lucky. Lip service is all these good for nothing Republican scumbags are actually good for. When they have to take action they shit their pants, and just criticize those who actually take that action.
On issue after issue. Guns. Health care. Veterans rights. Immigration…on and on and on. They are on default mode. Wait for Obama to make his move then attack, attack, attack. Even if it means attacking our troops and their families. Erase those tweets, make up lies about soldiers dying trying to save the guy Obama saved without one lost life, go on Fox News and make shit up!
Republicans are a disgusting lot that grow more and more disgusting by the day. By the event.
To hell with the truth, with facts. Just destroy. Destroy our men and women in war and then continue to destroy them when they get home.
Veterans organizations are not happy with U.S. Senate Republicans today, after a bill to expand health care and education programs for veterans failed to gain enough support to move forward, Reuters reports.
From Washington Post:
The measure, sponsored by Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), collapsed after failing to garner enough Republican votes to waive the VA spending cap established in a budget deal Congress and President Obama approved in December. Sanders’s office estimated that the VA legislation would have cost $20 billion over 10 years.
60 votes were needed to waive the budget rule but 41 of 45 Republicans voted against it, effectively killing the bill.
Calling it “Senate Shenanigans,” the non-profit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America lamented senate leaders who were engaged in “procedural games.”
“It has been a winter of discontent, starting when Congress cut military retirement benefits before being pressured into reversing course,” IAVA Founder and CEO Paul Rieckhoff said in a statement. “Then earlier this week, Congress forced the Pentagon to make budget cuts that increased living costs for our service members. And now the Senate can’t pass a critical and transformative bill that includes priorities that have garnered bipartisan support for years.”
And this from the American Legion:
“I don’t know how anyone who voted ‘no’ today can look a veteran in the eye and justify that vote,” American Legion national commander Daniel M. Dellinger told WaPo. “Our veterans deserve more than what they got today.”
The technology in Iron Man is getting a step closer to reality thanks to the United States military. The Army has commissioned a Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, which would provide the wearer with superhuman abilities like night vision, enhanced strength, and protection from gunfire.
Each suit would have an on-board computer that would be able to instantly respond to certain situations and provide the user with enhanced situational awareness. According to the press release, the suit may use liquid armor, currently under development at MIT, which has the ability to transform from a “liquid to solid in milliseconds when a magnetic field or electrical current is applied.” The goal is full-body ballistic protection, theoretically allowing the wearer to literally walk through a stream of bullets. A panel that rests against the skin would be able to detect and respond to the body’s core temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, and hydration levels. The suit would also provide basic life support such as heat, air, and oxygen.
The Army isn’t the first to be inspired by the technology in Iron Man. Elon Musk created a lab based on the movie using a Leap Motion controller, an Oculus Rift, and a projector. While he admits that the setup doesn’t yet have much practical value, he believes that we’re on the cusp on major design and manufacturing breakthroughs. If the new Army commando suit comes to fruition, it could be a big step forward for defense technology.
A new Pentagon report shows that most of the sexual assault in the military are against men.
In its latest report on sexual assault, the Pentagon estimated that 26,000 service members experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2012, up from 19,000 in 2010. Of those cases, the Pentagon says, 53 percent involved attacks on men, mostly by other men.
“It’s easy for some people to single out women and say: ‘There’s a small percentage of the force having this problem,’ ” said First Lt. Adam Cohen, who said he was raped by a superior officer. “No one wants to admit this problem affects everyone. Both genders, of all ranks. It’s a cultural problem.”
Though women, who represent about 15 percent of the force, are significantly more likely to be sexually assaulted in the military than men, experts say assaults against men have been vastly underreported. For that reason, the majority of formal complaints of military sexual assault have been filed by women, even though the majority of victims are thought to be men.
“Men don’t acknowledge being victims of sexual assault,” said Dr. Carol O’Brien, the chief of post-traumatic stress disorder programs at the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Florida, which has a residential treatment program for sexually abused veterans. “Men tend to feel a great deal of shame, embarrassment and fear that others will respond negatively.”
But in recent months, intense efforts on Capitol Hill to curb military sexual assault, and the release of a new documentary about male sexual assault victims in the military, “Justice Denied,” have brought new attention to male victims. Advocates say their plight shows that sexual assault has risen not because there are more women in the ranks but because sexual violence is often tolerated.
“I think telling the story about male victims is the key to changing the culture of the military,” said Anuradha K. Bhagwati, executive director of the Service Women’s Action Network, an advocacy group that has sharply criticized the Pentagon’s handling of sexual assault. “I think it places the onus on the institution when people realize it’s also men who are victims.”
It’s Memorial Day weekend, and President Obama used his weekly address to acknowledge the brave men and women who have dedicated their lives to serving in the Military.
The President:
They are heroes, each and every one. They gave America the most precious thing they had – “the last full measure of devotion.” And because they did, we are who we are today – a free and prosperous nation, the greatest in the world.
At a time when only about one percent of the American people bear the burden of our defense, the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform isn’t always readily apparent. That’s partly because our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and coast guardsmen are so skilled at what they do. It’s also because those who serve tend to do so quietly. They don’t seek the limelight. They don’t serve for our admiration, or even our gratitude. They risk their lives, and many give their lives, for something larger than themselves or any of us: the ideals of liberty and justice that make America a beacon of hope for the world.
For these Republicans, the only way to make progress is by taking one step forward, then two steps back. After president Obama brought an end to the 17-year-old discriminatory policy against gays in the military, Rick Santorum – one of the front-runners in the Republican primary race – is vowing to return the nation to a time when being gay and serving in the military were grounds for discharge… maybe I shouldn’t be using the words “Santorum” and “discharge” in the same sentence.
With the official end of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell yesterday, we bring you one of the more ridiculous remarks by a Republican presidential candidate about “The Gays!”
In his 2008 book called On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For, Rick Perry made this observation;
“Even if [homosexuality] were [a genetic predisposition], this does not mean we are ultimately not responsible for the active choices we make,” he wrote. “Even if an alcoholic is powerless over alcohol once it enters his body, he still makes a choice to drink. And, even if someone is attracted to a person of the same sex, he or she still makes a choice to engage in sexual activity with someone of the same gender.”
Comparing alcoholism to being gay. Just the person we want leading the greatest “most free” nation on earth!
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