Wednesday, June 4, 2014

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.

2 comments:

  1. Hey Randy,

    I haven't had a chance to respond to one of these in awhile, but figured I would today as some of the things you say I just can't swallow.

    Yes, I agree it is a good thing that an American is coming home. No, I don't agree that at any other time in history we would all agree that the way this went down was a good or great thing. Negotiating with terrorists (yes that's what the Taliban still are), only emboldens them to take more hostages in the future. Which is why it has always been our country' stance to NOT negotiate with terrorists.

    It sounds more and more (as reports from the soldiers he served with are made public) that he was a straight up deserter and will (or at least should) face the music when he finally returns. However he might not, as this administration tries (once again) to paint a picture that just isn't true.

    Which leads me to another big issue I have with what you said and continue to say repeatedly...that apparently anyone who disagrees with or doesn't approve of his Obamaness, is clearly racist...sigh

    Sorry, but the vast majority of the disapproving public just doesn't like his policies, his lies, and the way he conducts business with our country's future. And by the way, the Tea Party was around before he was even elected president, so I guess that kind of shoots a hole in your theory as well. Are there people who don't like him because if his skin color? I'm sure there are a few, but the vast majority don't like him because of what he says and does time and time again.

    The bad news here is that there is probably a good chance any and all of the former squad mates of. Bergdahl will probably be targeted by the IRS now and be audited.

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  2. Hey Jeb

    Hadn't heard from you in a long time and haven't been able to contact you so I thought maybe you had passed on. It's good to know you are still around.

    Where to start?

    We are at war with the people that had Sgt. Bergdahl and that makes him a P.O.W. We traded 5 P.O.W.s for 1 P.O.W. so I guess you could argue that he wasn't worth it but it is not the first time it has been done. Nixon traded for P.O.W.s. The beloved Reagan illegally traded arms for hostages but when Obama does trades then it is wrong.

    As for America doesn't negotiate with terrorist. We are at war with these people and if we ever negotiate with them then the war will never end. Is that really what you want? Saying America doesn't deal with terrorist is just something we like to say but it isn't true. It's like we always say we are #1 but outside of the military and the number of rich people, we are not #1 in much of anything and it pains me to say that.

    We negotiate with terrorist: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/06/01/bergdahl-release-taliban-prisoner-trade/9835759/

    As for if he was a deserter, I'll just say he is innocent until proven guilty. It seems like you as a Right-Winger would be the one saying our Constitution declares him innocent until he has his day in court. Unless you think we should just skip that part? I will agree that Obama's people made him sound better than what he MAY be. As I'm sure you know, there were people on the Right saying the same thing about him online until they got the word that the party was going the other way. Then all of a sudden ALL of those posts got deleted. Too bad for them they had already been passed around.

    I've never ever said anyone and everyone that disagrees with Obama is a racist. I even said NOT all Republican are racist. The fact that you continue to see "clearly racist" out of that....sigh.

    Just for the record, I disagree with Obama on lots of issues.

    The vast majority of the Approving Public likes what he is doing and doesn't think he is lying. We don't hate everything he does on the world stage in our name but we don't love it all. Let me say this. No one is right about everything and no one is wrong about everything. If you look at the Right-Wing and their view on Obama, he is wrong on everything. That should tell you something.

    I know some in the Tea Party like to say they were around before Obama but that is just their way of combating the always anti-Obama position. If they truly were around before Obama, no one had heard of them. And by the way this link I'm posting fills up those holes you think you shot in my truth about the Tea Party.

    http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1673405/Tea-Party-movement

    To say that only a few people dislikes him because of his skin color; well I guess that would depend on your definition of a "few." We see the world thru different color glasses, mine are black and yours are white. We just disagree.

    The IRS thing is just another Fox (NOT) News/Right-Wing talking point that was debunked long ago. I really doubt if anyone is paying much attention to those guys, I know I'm not.

    In closing again I'm glad to know you are still alive. I always enjoy the debates we have.

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