Charlie Brown is just an all around decent human being. It is a big reason why I and so many others have been trying so hard to get him into Congress. This email from one of his future constituents, Cody Conway, Sgt. USMC, is the perfect example of why people are so dedicated to Charlie.
The basic ask is to support getting his new awesome radio ad on the air. You can give on the Calitics ActBlue page.
Thanks to you, this past week, production was completed on Charlie Brown's first radio spot of the 2008 campaign. Entitled "The War at Home," the ad speaks for itself. And as an Iraq War veteran who is fighting each day to heal my scars and rebuild my life, it speaks for me.
Who Charlie Brown is, and the kind of leadership he represents for veterans like me isn't about partisan politics. That's why I want to tell you my story, and why I'm asking you to help keep this ad on the air by pledging your support today.
Growing up in Roseville, I had two dreams---to serve my country in the Marine Corps, and to become a mechanic-a lifelong passion that began from the moment I was old enough to hold a wrench. When I graduated High School in 2000, I got to live both, as a Marine Amphibious Assault Vehicle Repairman.
My unit was part of the initial ground invasion into Iraq in March of 2003. I injured my right shoulder, leg and abdomen while removing an engine during a sandstorm outside Baghdad in April. Still able to hold a rifle with my left arm, I finished my tour of duty. But by the time I came home in July, the severity of my injuries left me unable to continue my career as a Marine or a mechanic. I was devastated.
On Saturday night, the San Diego State Aztecs hosted BYU to close out their regular football season. The game was the 3rd Annual Fleet Week-sponsored game, rescheduled from October 27 because of wildfires. The Fleet Week Foundation describes the game like this:
San Diego State University plays in this third annual Fleet Week Football Classic. Pregame and half-time shows will feature flyovers, parachutists, the Navy Region South West and SDSU bands, and a tribute to our wounded warriors at Balboa Hospital and Camp Pendleton as well as a tribute to members of the Legion of Valor.
The festivities have a wide range of public and private sponsors and it's fun for the whole family right? Well, for at least the second year in a row (probably all three), the halftime show included an American flag being parachuted onto the field by members of a nation parachutist team...who happen to work for Blackwater and use parachutes emblazoned with the Blackwater logo.
Attached is the promotional video from last year's (2006) Fleet Week. You can skip ahead to the 2:43 mark to see the Blackwater parachutist bringing in the giant American flag. If you want, you can also zip over to about the 3:09 mark to see the flag being dragged across the field during landing.
Fleet Week events, which go on year round, are to honor veterans. I've attended several of them and in my experience they've been good opportunities to pay tribute to veterans. So I have a hard time understanding how Blackwater fits into the puzzle. They consistently undermine the work being done by our armed forces around the world and especially in Iraq. It seems a particularly unfortunate inclusion in the festivities; made all the more uncomfortable given that the Blackwater recall election culminates on Tuesday (12/11).
(I was going to post my own Thanksgiving diary, but you know what? I'll just thank Charlie and let him do the honors. - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
(Cross Posted at Daily Kos)
As Jan and I reflect on the past year, we are humbled and profoundly grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support we've received from people across the 4th CD and the entire country. To all our friends (both new and old), volunteers, netroots activists, and contributors, we can never say thank you enough for believing in this campaign, and for fighting so hard to get our country back on track.
Turning free speech and the notion of a military defending American Constitutional rights completely on its head, a Veteran's Day parade in Long Beach banned antiwar veteran's groups from appearing on Saturday.
A participation application filed by Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out was turned down because organizers want Saturday's parade free from politics.
"They do not fit the spirit of the parade, the spirit being one of gratitude for what the veterans have done," said Martha Thuente, coordinator for the nonprofit Veterans Day Parade Committee.
"We do not want groups of a political nature, advocating the troops' withdrawal from Iraq," she added.
Now, you don't have an inalienable right to march in a parade. But Veterans For Peace WAS allowed to march in the same parade last year. Not to mention the fact that plenty of the groups marching on Saturday have advocated an explicit political agenda in the past. The VFW and the American Legion have made plenty of public pro-war statements over the years, that would seemingly conflict with this expressed belief that only "nonpartisan" groups be allowed to show their pride in wearing the uniform.
Contact information for the Long Beach Veteran's Day Parade is here. It is impossible and even dangerous to sanitize democracy of any political thought because some arbitrary official deems it "inappropriate."
Today is November 12, one day after the real Veterans' Day and the day of observation for government workers. So, today, how about we all find a veteran and thank them if you didn't do so yesterday. Sure, you could choose the easy route, by thanking your family. I'll be sure to send mad props to my father, a Vietnam vet, who rarely reads this blog (but if you happen to today, Dad, Thanks!). But, consider this:
The National Alliance to End Homelessness reported Thursday that, although one in 10 Americans is a veteran, they account for 25 percent of the homeless population. Already veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have been found living on the streets. (Home News Tribune 11.12.07)
Homelessness and poverty are alone enough reason for us to reach out to those on the streets. But it is even more tragic to see veterans bearing the brunt of homelessness. Often they are victims of mental illness, and we have no capability to treat them. Thank the glorious Ronald Reagan for that. So, next time you hear some politician spouting off about how they "support the troops", ask them if they support the homeless veterans as well.
Find a California Dept. of Veterans Affairs Veterans Day event here (pdf). And, if you're interested Jerry McNerney is attending an event in Stockton to honor veterans.
At the end of August, Congressman Darrell Issa came to San Diego to discuss the Navy Broadway Complex development in the downtown harbor area. While he was in town, he sat down for an interview with Navy Compass discussing broad themes of military and foreign relations. NavyCompass does a great job with the questions, keeping them relevant to their content but ranging across a wide range of relevant issues. He hits all the well-known pro-military talking points that Republicans love to throw around in public, but in the process draws a sharp distinction between talking the talk and walking the walk. So how does Congressman Issa's voting history match up with his glowing words about supporting veterans and soldiers? Let's find out.
Well, you can still listen to the show! Yesterday's show is now in the online archives. Go ahead and listen now, or download the podcast and play it in whatever you use to play mp3 files later.
So would you like a little sneak peek as to what we talked about on the air yesterday? And would you like to know who will be coming on to Ken Burke's radio show soon? Well then, follow me after the flip for more...
(Now cross-posted at dKos and MyDD. - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
John Doolittle is who he is. He's not really going to change because he got a bit of a scare in the 2006 elections. He still opposes labor regulations in the Mariana Islands. His ethics are still, um, well, less than respectable. And, oh yeah, he was extremely slow to support our veterans. In fact, the Disabled American Veterans gives him a stellar rating of 50. I call that failing. Sure he'll send our troops to war, but support them when they come home, why bother? Why bother to make an effort? Why give a portion of your campaign donations to veterans charities like Charlie Brown is doing this Monday (PDF)? I mean, you could give 15% to your wife for "fund raising", that'll help you buy a nicer house, dude! Golly, Democrats are so stupid, they could be doing so much more to pillage the government!
See, that's the thing about many of these hawks. They are cool with authorizing money when it makes them look tough. But what are you prepared to do when these people come home. Or forty years later when those veterans need the medical care that comes with old age. When you keep a standing army, you must make a commitment to those people. You owe them that much.
This brings me to the story of my friend, we shall call him Bill. Bill was a veteran of the Korean War Days, and is getting up there in years. He's in great shape; he's had very few illnesses or injuries. Sometimes I marvel at how healthy he is considering the remarkable life that he has had. He's not won any Nobel prizes, but he works hard every day. And I mean that.
So, Bill discovers that he needs to get surgery. Now, it's nothing major, but causes pain and substantial discomfort. Tolerable, but nothing that you would want to tolerate. So, after a couple of appointments to make sure that they have everything diagnosed correctly, they schedule a surgery appointment for Bill. EIGHT MONTHS AWAY! In November of this year. It seems that the San Francisco Veterans Hospital, one of the larger VA hospitals, only has one day's worth of a surgeon. He works 4 days at UCSF. One surgeon for the entirety of the Bay Area. The situation was the same at the Sacramento VA Hospital.
Of course, he is eligible for Medicare, but he can't afford the deductible. He was promised by his country that he would receive health care, but his government has failed him. When our soldiers came home in the past, they had a plethora of services. Sure, those same services are still available, but what good are they if they are so ridiculously understaffed as to be a joke.
And so, the President lingers on, fighting a War of Choice, but not choosing to fight for Veterans. And all the while Doolittle cheers him on in the background. I can think of no more apt word than "unconscionable."
Esquire Magazine has recently come out with their list of 2006 endorsements. While there are some surprises and some disappointments, in some cases they find just the right words for what we are feeling. Such is the case in their endorsement of Jim Brandt for California's 46th CD:
For kicking back and having a beer, going surfing, or maybe doing the swing shift for the Minutemen down on the border, Rohrabacher's your man. Otherwise, we are sad to say the act has worn thin. Esquire endorses: Brandt
