Quoted For Truth...

Des Moines Register columnist [probably about to be "former" Des Moines Register columnist] John Carlson has another one of those great letters from a soldier ripping the news coverage of the war.

***A word to our regular liberal readers [yes, I know you're there], you may want to stop reading now. The article doesn't have the usual liberal media spin, but instead has stuff like truth and honesty. I am afraid reading yet another US soldier telling you that all the negative war coverage is destroying morale and ading the enemy will fuck with your mypoic little world. I know how much you believe ignorance is bliss, so just stop reading now and pretend like this article doesn't even exist. Trust me, it will make it so you're still able to swallow your own bullshit.***

Carlson: Shift news to successes in Iraq, soldier urges

A tired and disgusted Iowa soldier fired off an e-mail a few days ago, telling
family and friends how things are going in Iraq.

A Blackhawk helicopter pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Jim Funk has flown more than 80 combat missions since he arrived there in October.

He described his Boone-based unit's successes after 5,000 hours of flying out of LSA Anaconda, a huge American base north of Baghdad. He talked about the tragedies he and his fellow Iowans have witnessed and his worries of becoming complacent as he goes on mission after mission.

Morale?

"We're treading water," the Ames man told the
people closest to him. "We continue to kick butt on missions and take care of each other, even though we know the American public and government DOES NOT stand behind us.

Ohhhh, they all say they support us, but how can you support me (the soldier) if you don't support my mission or my objectives. We watch the news over here. Every time we turn it on we see the American public and Hollywood conducting protests and rallies against our 'illegal occupation' of Iraq."

His greatest frustration? The performance of the people who deliver the news to the American people.

I'll let him say it, in his own words, in the letter, which found its way to me:

"Hello media, do you know you indirectly kill American soldiers every day? You inspire and report the enemy's objective every day. You are the enemy's greatest weapon. The enemy cannot beat us on the battlefield so all he does is try to wreak enough havoc and have you report it every day. With you and the enemy using each other, you continually break the will of the American public and American government.

"We go out daily and bust and kill the enemy, uncover and destroy huge weapons caches and continue to establish infrastructure. So daily we put a whoopin on the enemy, but all the enemy has to do is turn on the TV and get re-inspired. He gets to see his daily roadside bomb, truck bomb, suicide bomber or mortar attack. He doesn't see any accomplishments of the U.S. military (FOX,
you're not exempt, you suck also).

"Let's give you an example. A couple of days ago we conducted an air assault. We lifted troops into an area for an operation. The operation went well and our ground troops killed (insurgents) and took several prisoners, freed a few hostages and uncovered a weapons cache containing munitions and chemicals that were going to be used in improvised bombs.

"The next morning I woke up and turned on AFN (Armed Forces Network) and watched the nightly news (NBC). Nothing, none of that reported. But the daily car bomb report was reported, and the file footage was not even from the event. There was a car bomb in the Sadr City area and your news report showed old car bomb footage from another part of town from some other time.

"So we really set the enemy back that night but all the enemy had to do
was turn on the news and be reassured that the enemy's agenda (objective) was
still going to be fed to the American public.

"We, the soldiers, keep breaking the back of the enemy. You, the media, keep rejuvenating the enemy.

"How hard would it be to contact the PAO (public affairs officer) of the 1st CAV, 36th CAB, 25th ID or the Marines and ask what did you guys accomplish today - good and bad? How about some insurgent blooper videos? Now that would be
something to show on the evening news.

"Media, we know you hate the George Bush administration, but report both sides, not just your one-sided agenda. You have got to realize how you are continually motivating every extremist, jihadist and terrorist to continue their resolve to kill American soldiers."

It's a punch in the nose to the news media from Funk, 39, a full-time employee of the Iowa National Guard.

Why did he write it?

"I am just tired of busting my butt over here and coming home every
night and turning on the TV (Armed Forces Network) and hearing how we are
failing miserably," he told me in an e-mail.

You may agree with what Funk has to say. You may not.

Many in my business certainly won't. But Funk is a soldier, fighting a war, who has earned the right to be heard.

The Des Moines Register: A Conservative Rag?

I fear the end of the world is near...for I agree with a Des Moines Register editorial. A strange sensation to be sure:

Harkin's shriek about Shrek doesn't help child-obesity fight

Shrek is fat. We wouldn't be surprised if he had a stash of candy bars and chips in his dressing room. The sweet-natured ogre's belly hangs over his belt. He's sickly green - a color inconsistent with a healthful diet.

Sen. Tom Harkin [pictured] wants him to clean up his act.

The Iowa Democrat said it's "totally irresponsible" for the producers of the new kids movie "Shrek the Third" to allow the character to promote sugary, unhealthful foods because it damages kids' health.

Uh ... maybe because he just doesn't look like the kind of guy who eats salads and sprouts for lunch. And American businesses are interested in making money. That means advertising with characters like Shrek to help sell products.

Last we checked, that was the way things worked in this land of the free.

Likewise, parents are free not to buy the products - or to oversee their consumption in moderation.

Now the Register believes that people are responsible for their own actions? Parents control their children's eating habits? My God, what the hell is wrong with this world? I feel like I am living The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Who took my bleeding heart liberal Register editorial board? What about the government solving all the world's problems?!?! I am so confused.

What will the liberal, Iowa blogs do? The mother brain has officially told people to think for themselves. Oh the chaos...

Come Visit Iowa And Enjoy Our Wonderful...Um...Um...Field of Corn?

I like to think I am what you would call a realist. I tend to look those life with an optimistic, but cautious view of world to come. I can dream, but I don't dream about things that are impossible. The dreams need to be attainable.

Enter the Des Moines Register opinion board, where lavish dreaming is second only to their socialistic ideals. Every month or so, hell almost weekly, the Register starts in with their wish list of wants and desires on how to transform Iowa into a recreational wonderland. Queue a government funded study:

Among the findings: Iowa needs $150 million per year for 10 years to fund everything from better beaches and campgrounds to protections for soil, water and wildlife. Ways to secure those dollars include using a portion of sales tax or gambling revenues or state lottery proceeds. Bonding could be used to stretch dollars.

$1 billion dollars over ten years?!? Holy crap. Better beaches? Did I miss California and the western 1/3 of the nation falling into the Pacific ocean? But don't worry, we can have our magical outdoor oasis by merely increasing even more taxes. Forget the fact that Iowa already has one of worst environments for attracting new businesses what harm would an additional billion dollars do?

We farm. And where we don't use our land for agriculture, we live. Aside from a few lakes, river beds and the occasional state park Iowa's land is meant for practical purposes. We are what we are. Don't for one second think that spending a billion dollars is all of a sudden going to bring tourists to Iowa by the droves. There just aren't enough activities to engage a visiting family for a week, especially when areas like Missouri, Minnesota, and Illinois are just across our borders. And a billion dollars isn't going to change that.

Dream if you must, but don't propose spending tax money on false conclusions:

Iowans who live in counties with more outdoor opportunities enjoy faster-rising incomes than those who don't, a study has shown. The Mississippi River Trail, still under construction, is estimated to add $20 million per year to the state's economy.

Those are the facts.

Those are facts, huh? Maybe the Register doesn't understand the word "estimated." Considering the Mississippi River Trail is "still under construction" there is no way to report it's economic impact on Iowa as "fact." Nice try though...

I am open to picking a new state slogan though, because after one short session of Democratic control in all three branches of state government and the incessant droning by the Register our old slogan just doesn't fit anymore.

How about..."Iowa, where the tall taxes grow?"

This Is A Post To Distract You From More Important News

Apparently engaging your brain before you write a letter to the editors of the Des Moines Register isn't a prerequisite:

"It seems likely that the Dec. 12 federal raids at the Swift packing plants in Marshalltown and elsewhere were timed to distract the U.S. media’s attention from a British scandal in which Prime Minister Tony Blair is involved.

Blair’s collaboration with the Bush administration in its futile effort to subjugate Mesopotamia, indicates that President Bush has reasons to protect Blair from bad publicity."

-Gerald Baker

Are you kidding me? The identity theft and illegal immigration raids were nothing more than a smoke screen to cover up the scandal Blair was embroiled in on December 14th? What is must be like to view the world through a liberal's eyes.

Just to recap: the Swift raids where similar to the Nazis rounding up the Jews, cruel because it was before Christmas, heartless because they separated children from parents, and finally an elaborate cover-up to help protect the American's image of Tony Blair.

In related news, it is being speculated that the execution of Saddam Hussein was just a ruse to shift attention away from John Edward's announcement that he is running for the Presidency.