Got Freedom?

Live Free or Die. As simple as it is profound, it expresses the universal desire of people everywhere for freedom. The most basic right, taken for granted by many who have it, yearned for by those living in constant oppression. Freedom is what compelled every-day citizens in the American War for Independence, who had exhausted every means of redress, to take up arms to secure for themselves and all who followed their God given rights. Freedom is what compelled a man armed only with a bag of fruit to defy the advance of a tank column. Freedom is what compelled millions of Muslim women to walk many miles to vote for the first time in their lives and then proudly to display their purple-inked finger. Freedom is what compelled a 5-year old Iraqi girl, tightly clutching the Beanie Baby given to her the day before by US Marines, to risk her own life to point out a roadside bomb when those Marines returned to her village. Live Free or Die.

Patrick Henry once said, “if we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!” Today we are once again engaged in a noble struggle. Amid the negative press and constant barrage of anti-American rhetoric by pretend patriots in Hollywood, thousands of Americans have answered the call issued by Henry so long ago. Brought together by a profound belief not just in the importance of the mission, but also in the obligation we owe to all generations past and present, they toil far from America’s shores so that we at home remain free.

Rewarded in the press with fraudulently biased accounts of their deeds and obscene omissions of their true thoughts, they continue to answer Henry’s call. Abused by those who live free, they continue to fight to bring freedom to a people who have never known the right to disagree with their government. Victimized by the far-left history revisionists, they remain loyal to the cause and steadfast in their resolve vowing never to give the enemy the satisfaction of seeing America flee before its immense obligation.

There is no better cause than justice and no more noble service than in the armed forces. Henry said it best. “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”

***Update***

I have long known that Henry’s speech was not recorded at the time he spoke it. The argument has always been that it was so eloquent, and he spoke so passionately, that it was easy for people to recall the words he spoke later. However, I have recently read a book by Ray Raphael called Founding Myths in which he argues that the words attributed to Henry were actually written by William Wirt forty or so years later. Wirt’s account of the speech is based on the recollections of only one person, who only attempted to reconstruct a small part (the “we must fight” part). The rest, presumably, is pure fabrication. It does seem likely to me however, that people would have remembered a catchy quote such as “Give me liberty or give me death,” making that part plausible as well. Either way, it has been rumored that I may possibly be related to Henry somehow, so I choose not to be disabused of my notion that Henry was in fact the originator of these lines.

All The News That Fits

Jimmy Massey lied. The former Marine, darling of the far left anti-freedom media, lied not just a little bit; it was a colossal whopper. For a year now, this delusional malcontent has been telling anyone who would listen that American soldiers intentionally targeted civilians in Iraq. Despite the fact that he never told the same story twice, the media dutifully reported every word of every egregious lie in their relentless pursuit of a fair and balanced lynching of the effort to bring justice to a people who woefully needed it.

That his news coverage was allowed to go on for a year without presentation of any corroborating evidence is bad enough, but consider this: most of the coverage has come from the AP, which had their own reporter (Ravi Nessman) embedded in his unit. None of the reporters covering the alleged atrocities bothered to contact their own colleague (or any of the other reporters or Marines in the unit, for that matter). We owe the fact finding to Ron Harris, a reporter who was also embedded in Jimmy’s unit.

Over the weekend, Harris wrote an article in the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch debunking the claims. “Each of his claims is either demonstrably false or exaggerated - according to his fellow Marines, Massey's own admissions, and the five journalists who were embedded with Massey's unit, including a reporter and photographer from the Post-Dispatch and reporters from The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal.” (Harris, StL Post-Dispatch, 11/5/05) Consider the import of that statement. There were numerous, independent sources for each of his claims and not a single one (including his own stories) corroborates his fantasies.

What could possibly motivate a 12 year veteran of the Marines to intentionally lie and falsely discredit an organization he (presumably, given the status of his discharge) served with honor? The answer is simple: capitalism. “How can that be?” you might ask. Doesn’t the far left deplore capitalism and big business? Quite simply, Jimmy has become somewhat famous and moderately wealthy by continuing to tell his lies. Apparently, they are willing to make an exception when it comes to their own wallet.

A week or so ago, there was a vote in Iraq on the proposed constitution. Since that vote, I have seen comparatively few stories on the progress of democracy, while the ludicrous, Marxist inspired “The World Can’t Wait” rally, protests in Argentina, and riots in France have garnered a near monopoly on press coverage. The majority of media outlets are unabashedly anti-Iraqi freedom. Their slanted reporting would have one believe that the only people in favor of our actions in Iraq are Bush and Halliburton. The Marxist sheep dutifully line up to spend their trust funds on “the truth,” where truth is defined as any information, no matter how poorly researched, that supports their pre-formed opinion.

Once Jimmy was discharged for PTSD, he quickly found that he could capitalize (pun intended) on this ready market foaming at the mouth for affirming statements. Speaking in favor of the war or one’s mission does not get one attention, or worse, gets one intentionally misquoted, as the case of the NYT and Cpl. Jeff Starr shows us. Trust Fund Tommy will gladly spend $100 to get a 45-minute CD of Jimmy telling his story (revision 10.5, I guess), simply because Tommy already believes those atrocities were committed. No matter what evidence is presented to the contrary (even if given for free), it will be willfully ignored by conspiracy-minded loonies.

Because it is logically impossible to prove a negative, Trust Fund Tommy can hide behind the juvenile argument that we aren’t being shown all the evidence. Trust Fund Tommy’s sources, however, have the real evidence (the “truth” in liberal-speak) and everyone else is lying. In classic conspiracy theory, the fact that there is no evidence from the government to support the conspiracy position becomes the “proof” that whatever they believe happened, did in fact happen. If Jimmy were to have spoken truthfully, he would be just another unknown soldier doing his duty. By validating through his lies the bogus beliefs of the anti-Iraqi freedom crowd, Jimmy becomes a pseudo-celebrity exploiting the same capitalism based market forces that same crowd decries.

It’s not rocket science. America’s liberty is the direct result of the selfless devotion of millions of people who have chosen to wear the uniforms of the armed services. These men and women have an incredibly difficult, stressful job. Occasionally, some will operate outside accepted practices, just as their counterparts in the civilian workforce do. These instances are by far the exception, and yet that is all we ever hear about. Do not give in to the temptation of letting the ultra-left wing media do your thinking for you. Point your favorite web-browser to www.anysoldier.com and read the first-hand, uncensored, independent views of the troops actually on the ground doing the job. Semper Fi, Jimmy.