Bowe Bergdahl

I had planned to write about Sgt. Bergdahl sooner but I just couldn’t seem to get around to it. You no doubt have seen this story on television or heard about it on the radio. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was captured in Afghanistan in June 2009 by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network. There is some dispute about the details under which he left the Army base and later became a P.O.W. On 31 May 2014 he was released from confinement by his captors in a prisoner exchange.  

In any other time in history this would have been a good thing. The thing is at no other time in history has Barack Obama been President. The Republican Party is determined to bring him down at all costs. It doesn’t matter what it does to the country in the process. I don’t think that every person in the Republican Party is a racist but the fact that the President is black brings out the racist and they are firmly implanted in the GOP. I truly believe it sickens them every time they see President Obama and know that he is the President of the United States of America. It got under their skin so much that they formed the Tea Party. For the most part they will not admit they are racist but it doesn’t take a genius to see it. 

Days and weeks before Sgt. Bergdahl was released Republicans were saying that we shouldn’t forget about Bowe. Saying we need to do all we can do to bring him home. Once he was released they were told that this too they had to disagree with. Prior to this happening I didn’t think the GOP could stoop so low as to disparage the release of an American P.O.W., but I was wrong. They would have him rot in captivity rather than Obama secure his release. The argument they are pretending to have is Obama should not have traded "high value” detainees for him. The GOP would rather have detainees than an American. We all know that is not true but it IS the way they were told to react. When some members of the GOP first heard about Bowe being released they posted positive things on Facebook, Twitter and their political websites. The next day they were all removed.  

I was asked if I was going to post anything about this story. I could have done it the same day I heard about it. I knew my thoughts on him would not change. I was very familiar with his story. Without a doubt I believe he should have been released. I am very happy that President Obama made the deal. I think we all know that there was no way in hell Congress would have ever Okayed the exchange. Only because the President wanted it. I understand the complaint about him not giving them the option but given their track record I don’t think I would have waited either. We all know that had he asked they would have said no. Then if anything had happened to Bowe they would have said “he is supposed to be our leader and he is not leading” or something to that affect. There is no pleasing these people so I’m happy Obama just did the right thing. I don’t believe the thing about it being an emergency and I wish he had just told the truth.

This was a long way of saying Obama did the right thing. If we were going to follow International law we were going to have to release those guys anyway because the war is ending. By law when the war ends we have to let the prisoners go. I know the GOP likes to call them terrorist but that is misleading because we are at war with these “terrorist”. Since we are going to let them go we may as well be sure we get our guy back.

I also understand that the GOP and smear machine is calling Sgt. Bergdahl a deserter because of the way he left the Army base. They are also saying that several soldiers were killed while they were out looking for him. Other things are also being said about him that I’m not even going to bother listing because it doesn’t matter. Bowe is an American citizen and innocent UNTIL proven guilty. The Republican Party being the party that likes to wave the Constitution around should try holding it still so they can read it. Even IF he did what they said he did then I would still say we should bring him home to stand trial. Like I said, we were going to have to release those guys anyway. There is NO circumstance under which we should EVER leave an U.S. Soldier behind during war time. NEVER. I don’t care what he is accused of doing. Even if there is video proof that he killed an American soldier then was captured by the enemy. We bring him home. We deal with him. We don’t leave him. EVER.

                                                                       ADDITION

A friend of mine suggested that I should add this to what I had written. I was not familiar with this website. So thank you Lee.

If you would like to see some good ole Right-Wing hypocrisy click here.

Bundy vs. The Feds

Recently there was a stand-off between the Cliven Bundy family with support from Right Wing Militia members vs. the Federal Government. According to reports Mr. Bundy has been grazing his 500 head of cattle on Government land for over 20 years without paying grazing fees.

 

From what I have read, Mr. Bundy says he was paying the fees but stopped in the early 90s because the Government wasn’t assisting in the upkeep of their part of the land. He said the fees he was paying was to go for the salaries of the Forrest Rangers and the maintenance of the Government part of the land. Mr. Bundy said the Government wasn’t maintaining the property and therefore he was no longer paying the fees. 

After Mr. Bundy stopped paying the Government took him to court to collect what was owed. As I understand it, he was sued 3 times and he lost every time and was told he owed $1.2 million. Mr. Bundy ignored the ruling and continued to allow his cattle to graze on Federal land without paying the fees.

The Government rounded up his cattle while they were on Federal land and the Bundy family along with members of Right Wing Militia all armed with side arms and rifles went to get his cattle back. That is when a heated confrontation began. 

Naturally since this involves the Federal Government where Democrats are in charge Fox (NOT) News must take the side of the opposition. The location is Nevada and is the state of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Fox (NOT) News is helping to float a made up story about Senator Reid wanting to push the Bundy family off their land so he can build a solar farm with the Chinese. Even though the story has been proven to be false Fox continues to push it. 

The confrontation got heated and the Bundy group seemed to be ready to die. They were recorded saying they were going to put women up front so that the Government could be filmed killing them.

Not wanting to kill a bunch of crazy people, the Feds backed down and released the cattle. The Bundy group claimed victory and Fox (NOT) News was sad. Fox wanted to see shoot out so they could blame Sen. Reid and President Obama. 

NOW, Mr. Bundy says he is refusing to pay the fees because he doesn’t recognize the Federal Government as owners of the land he uses. He says the land belongs to the State of Nevada and therefore he should not have to pay the $1.35 per head each month grazing fee to the Federal Government.

 

This has gotten to be longer than I wanted so let me end saying this. Mr. Bundy is another Right Wing freeloader. If the land he is using belonged to the state of Nevada he would be paying over $15 a head in grazing fees and would owe close to $20 million instead of $1.2 million to the Feds. This guy doesn’t want to pay anything. He wants it all for free.

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Grazing_Fees/gf_hm.asp

Fox (NOT) News is promoting this wealthy rancher that is freeloading off of the Federal Government, who is basically refusing to pay his taxes, and making him out to be some sort of patriotic hero. Then that same fake news station is calling the poor people that collect any assistance from the government, a drain on the system and not worthy news coverage. 

Tell me where I am wrong.

 

 

Former Governor Indicted

Today the former Governor of Virginia, Robert McDonnell and his wife Maureen were indicted by the Federal Government. The indictment could have come while he was still in office but his lawyers somehow convinced the prosecutors to wait until he finished his term. Why should they do this guy a huge favor by allowing him to finish his term? If he had been a Democrat it would be a scandal to put it off.

The 43 page indictment will have you shaking your head. If the things claimed are true then he and his wife should go to jail for a long time. They are accused of 14 counts of fraud, conspiracy and obstructing a federal investigation.

In a nut shell as I understand it, this is what happened. Jonnie Williams, a business man in Virginia gave the Governor and his wife lots and lots of money and gifts in exchange for promoting his company and assisting with obtaining research grants. The list of things received from Mr. Williams are unreal. The Governor said Mr. Williams was his friend and saw nothing wrong with the gifts. This is the list from page 42 of the indictment;

 
The sum of not less than $140,805.46;

Black Rebecca Minkoff shoes;

Black Louis Vuitton shoes;

White Louis Vuitton shoes;

Cream Louis Vuitton purse;

Cream Louis Vuitton wallet;

Silver Rolex Watch engraved with "71s1 Governor of Virginia";

Yellow Peter Som dress;

Blue Armani jacket and two matching dresses;

Two Gold Oscar de la Renta dresses;

Black Louis Vuitton rain coat;

Gold Oscar de le Renta sweater;

One pair of Amelia Rose earrings;

One Gear sweatshirt;

Two pairs of Foot Joy golf shoes;

One button-down Ralph Lauren shirt;

One white Peter Millar golf shirt;

One baby blue striped Peter Millar golf shirt;

One royal blue Peter Millar golf shirt;

One aqua Fairway Greene Tech golf shirt;

One white striped Ralph Lauren golf shirt;

One Ping University of Virginia golf bag;

One Ping Kinloch golf bag;

One Sun Mountain Notre Dame golf bag;

Two sets of golf clubs;

One Heather Mackenzie water color and frame;

Two iPhones; and

30 boxes of Anatabloc®.

 

The Governor insists he has done nothing wrong. He says he has given it all back and he never broke the law and he also apologized. My question is why did he give it back and why is he sorry? If he did nothing wrong then why did he apologize. How can an apology be sincere if he can’t understand what he did wrong?  

I am sick and tired of powerful people getting caught doing something wrong and they say “I’m sorry” and give some of it back then go on about their business. When poor people get caught they go to jail.  

If you have some time read the indictment. This is what happens when you think you are above the law and drunk on power. He needs to sober up in a prison cell for 20 years.