On Memorial Day Weekend, Veterans Give Romney Big Lead Over Obama, 58% – 34%

Barack Obama can give all the speeches he wants to the military, the fact of the matter is that they can see through such pandering. According to a recent Gallup poll, US military veterans, 13% of the US population give Mitt Romney a huge edge 58% to 34%. The remarkable 24 point advantage is nothing in comparison to the 60% to 32% that Romney has with Veteran men over woman vets.

Mitt Romney delivered a Memorial Day tribute in San Diego.

Mitt Romney thanked the sacrifice of servicemen and women while warning of the grave dangers around the globe, remarking frankly that “the world is not safe” before ticking off a list of grave security issues around the globe.

“I wish I could tell you that the world is a safe place today,” said Romney, speaking before a crowd of nearly 5,000 which included servicemen and women in uniform. The sizable crowd is one of the largest Romney has ever drawn. “It’s not. Iran is rushing to become a nuclear nation. As the national sponsor of terror around the world, the thought of missile material in the hands of Hezbollah or Hamas or other terrorists is simply unthinkable. Pakistan is home to some 100 nuclear weapons.”

The antiwar rhetoric from Obama over the years has a way of defining what an individual really thinks of the troops. As as we are reminded by the Gateway Pundit what Barack Obama thinks of America’s finest, they make a great photo-op.

Memorial Day – 2012: Remembering and Thanking Our Heroes For Their Service & Sacrifice

Memorial Day 2012 … Thank you for your sacrifice to make this country safe. We are all remembered today that freedom is not free.

click on pic for the Taps Buglers at Arlington National Cemetery

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 – King James Version)

On this Memorial Day, a special thanks  to all of the men and woman, and their families, who have made the ultimate sacrifice and laid down their lives so that We the People, the United States, remain free.  To these Heroes we all owe a debt of gratitude today and always. Thank you for your service, sacrifice, honor and dedication to this country making the United States the home of the free and the land of the brave.

Take time today and always to say thanks for those of our American Heroes who have died so that we can remain free. Today, we stop  and say “thanks” to the men and women of our Armed Forces. It should be used as a day to spend a few quiet moments thinking about the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who went into harm’s way and never came home again.

As always and on a personal note I say thank you and you are missed to my uncle Red who is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. My uncle served in Patton’s 3rd Army where he received the following medals. a silver star. bronze star and multiple purple hearts.  So often he did not want to talk of what went on during his military server and his heroic efforts during WWII; however, true heroes are also humble. It was not until much later when I was in college and became a history major with a specialty in US military warfare and tactics did my uncle open up and provide me with the truth of what he experienced during his military days, some of that time spent in the Ardennes , better know as the Battle of the Bulge.  Thank you from your nephew and namesake, Red

Most Touching & Heart Warming VIDEO Ever … 6 Year Old Michael With Cerebral Palsy Walks to His U.S. Marine Father for the First Time … A Family of Heroes

Duty, Honor, Commitment … Welcome Home Marine and God Bless your family and your heroic son Michael!!!

Kleenex Alert … This might be the most heart warming video ever. If you can watch the following video without getting choked up you might want to check to see if you have a heart. Like father, like son … both with the heart of a champion and a Marine. God Bless!!! Truly, a family of HEROES!!!

 From the Welcome Home blog …

“When my husband left on his deployment, our 6-year-old son could not walk on his own. He has cerebral palsy. Doctors originally said that he would never walk or do much of anything. While daddy was away, he learned to walk. For his homecoming, we set it up for Michael to walk to his daddy for the first time ever! We kept the fact that he could walk a secret the whole time his dad was gone!”

-Melissa C.

It is debatable who was provided the greater gift, a Marine dad coming home or a Marine dad’s son walking for the first time to his dad. We have covered so many horrific, tragic and sad stories that have hardened us to so much. Sorry, I watch this video over and over and tear up every time.

LEADERSHIP: Former AG Mukasey Says … Obama Officials Drafted Memo to Blame Military If Bin Laden Mission Failed

Barack Obama, Commander in Chief, hardly. These are the actions of a “Campaigner” in Chief and one who always looks for a photo-op, takes credit for others actions and speaks to others a “I”.

The following is sure to make you ill; however, displays perfectly what leadership means to President Barack Obama. Not only does a hero not brag, they never try blame others for their decisions either. Barack Obama is a complete and total disgrace. The idea that he would politicize the brave actions of United States military heroes is as Uu-Presidential as it gets.

According to former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, the Obama Administration drafted a memo to protect the president from blame if the mission to kill or capture Osama Bin Laden failed. Does this really surprise anyone who knows anything regarding President Obama, who has no comprehension of the term leadership?

That was a highly lawyered memo (designed to protect the president politically)… I think there’s going to be more that’s going to be tumbling out about that escapade but so far that memo is enough.“

President Barack Obama was so quick to spike the football and take full credit for the killing of OBL in complete President “I” style; however, if anything went wrong, Obama was prepared to through the military under the bus and have them take the blame.

 From the Wall Street Journal comes the following

Consider the events surrounding the operation. A recently disclosed memorandum from then-CIA Director Leon Panetta shows that the president’s celebrated derring-do in authorizing the operation included a responsibility-escape clause: “The timing, operational decision making and control are in Admiral McRaven’s hands. The approval is provided on the risk profile presented to the President. Any additional risks are to be brought back to the President for his consideration. The direction is to go in and get bin Laden and if he is not there, to get out.”

Which is to say, if the mission went wrong, the fault would be Adm. McRaven’s, not the president’s. Moreover, the president does not seem to have addressed at all the possibility of seizing material with intelligence value—which may explain his disclosure immediately following the event not only that bin Laden was killed, but also that a valuable trove of intelligence had been seized, including even the location of al Qaeda safe-houses. That disclosure infuriated the intelligence community because it squandered the opportunity to exploit the intelligence that was the subject of the boast.

A fall back plan? Unreal, yet not unexpected from the likes of Barack Obama. Because nothing is ever this guys fault. Had something tragically gone wrong, his first thoughts would not have been for the lives and families of the US Navy Seals, it would have been for his political career and polls. As stated at Fire Andrea Mitchell, it seems that this revelation might just be the tip of the iceberg. How amazing would it be if Obama’s ‘spiking of the Bin Laden football” turns out to be his complete undoing? Irony can be cruel. Obama was so quick to show leadership, it’s most likely that was never the case.

President Barack Obama taking credit for the brave actions of US Navy Seals … President “I” and “Me”

Lin-Sanity Finished for the Year … Knee Lin-Jury & Surgery for Knicks Guard Jeremy Lin Out for the Season

The meteoric ride of LIN-SANITY has come to a crashing end …

It has been one of the best, fun and uplifting stories of the NBA season, one mired in the aftermath of the bitter owner-players strike and lock out that nearly ended the entire season. Sadly for  Knicks Guard Jeremy Lin his season is over as he suffered a knee injury and will require surgery.

What makes Jeremy Lin such a compelling story? He is a real life “Rocky” story of an undrafted, unheralded player who thanks God for his chance to play in the NBA. In a sport where we hear so many unflattering stories, there is now one that all can be proud of. He has become a role model to so many.

LINSANITY captured the imagination of many, including many that really did not follow the NBA that closely. How does an undrafted guard out of Harvard become the media focal point and most covered player in the NBA with such stars stars as Dwayne Wayne, Lebron James, Kobie Bryant and Kevin Durant? Add in the fact that he plays for a struggling Knicks team in the huge media market of NYC and you have … LIN-SANITY!!!

Jeremy Lin will miss the rest of the regular season because he needs knee surgery that will sideline him six weeks and could leave the Knicks without their star point guard in the playoffs – if they make it that far.

Lin had an MRI exam this week that revealed a small, chronic meniscus tear and he has elected to have surgery next week in New York.

With the regular season ending April 26, the biggest story in basketball this season is done unless the Knicks make a deep postseason run.

The birth of LIN-SANITY:

The Knicks were under .500 and looking like a mess when Lin was given a chance to play extended minutes at point guard for then-coach Mike D’Antoni on Feb. 4 against New Jersey.

Lin, the first American-born player of Taiwanese or Chinese descent to play in the NBA, scored 25 points with seven assists in that New York victory, was inserted into the starting lineup two days later against Utah, and took the Knicks on a seven-game winning streak that gained world-wide attention.

GET WELL SOON JEREMY.

Jet Blue Pilot Clayton Osbon Goes Nuts on Plane Shouting to Passengers, “You’d better start praying right now.”

A JetBlue pilot freaks out on plane.

It was an airline passengers worth nightmare in a post 9-11 world, a pilot freaking out and spewing comments like, “You’d better start praying right now,” and according to accounts referencing Al Qaeda, a bomb, and threatening that the plane is going down. That is exactly what occurred during a flight from NYC to Las Vegas aboard a JetBlue plane.  Captain Clayton Osbon began acting erratically and was locked out of the cockpit by a fast thinking co-pilot. Osbon then began going nuts in front of the passengers before he was tackled by some heroic individuals on board.

VIDEO of pilot flipping out

The JetBlue pilot who was restrained Tuesday aboard a Las Vegas-bound flight had a panic attack, according to law enforcement sources, while the FAA called the incident a medical emergency.

Unruly captain Clayton Osbon, with 131 passengers and six crew members aboard flight 191, was subdued by at least five passengers after his co-pilot reportedly locked him out of the cockpit when he displayed potentially dangerous behavior. The flight from Kennedy Airport in New York was diverted to Amarillo, Texas.

Thankfully, there was an off duty JetBlue pilot traveling on the flight who helped land the plane.  Once on the ground, Osbon was taken off the plane in handcuffs and a wheelchair by Amarillo police and is now in FBI custody.

Who finds it a tad bit bizarre that of all the things that a pilot would say would be “bomb” and “Al Qaeda”?  According to news accounts pilots are required to have medical check ups, but not mental evaluations. The airlines might want to add those the the list after this bizarre event.

63 Year Old Hot Air Balloonist Edward Ristaino Missing After Crash at Festival in Fitzgerald, GA … Hero, Saved the Lives of 5 Sky Divers (UPDATE: Body Found)

63 year old Edward Ristaino of Cornelius, NC is missing after a hot air balloon accident occurred Friday evening, March 16,  at a festival in Fitzgerald, GA. According to accounts, during a thunderstorm strong winds forced the balloon up to about 18,000 feet before it collapsed in a downdraft and plummeted to the ground. Edward Ristaino is being called a hero as he saved the lives of the five skydivers on board the balloon. They jumped from the balloon, all are safe; however, the hot air balloon and Edward Ristaino crashed into the North Georgia woods.

Authorities searched Sunday for a hot air balloon pilot from North Carolina who went missing in the South Georgia woods when his balloon crashed during a weekend thunderstorm.

Ben Hill County Sheriff Bobby McLemore said 63-year-old Edward Ristaino of Cornelius, N.C., was taking five skydivers into the air Friday evening during a festival in Fitzgerald, Ga., when a storm hit.

Ristaino told the skydivers to jump from the balloon. None were injured.

“He saved our lives,” Jessica Wesnofske, 30, one of the skydivers, told The Charlotte Observer. “Another minute, we would have been in the storm with him.”

Erin Daly, whose brother was one of the skydivers, called Ristaino a hero who saved lives.

UPDATE I: Search crews have found the body and the balloon of Edward Ristaino. (VIDEO)

Former Souther African President Nelson Mandela Hospitalized with Stomach Ailment (Update: Released from Hospital)

The former South African President Nelson Mandela has been hospitalized with a stomach ailment. The 93 year old former leader who took on Apartheid and won has suffered from chronic abdominal complaints. According to reports, it was a planned admission, not an emergency even though Mandela has suffered from long-standing abdominal complaints.

Nelson Mandela

“I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.”
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.“

Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been hospitalized with a stomach ailment, according to a government statement issued Saturday about the 93-year-old anti-apartheid icon.

Mandela “has had a long-standing abdominal complaint and doctors feel it needs proper specialist medical attention,” President Jacob Zuma said, asking that Mandela’s privacy be respected.

The statement did not say at which hospital Mandela was being treated.

Update on Mandela’s hospitalization that he had an , undisclosed “diagnostic procedure” and that he is not in any danger. Mandela is expected to be released from the hospital on Monday. One would presume that Mendela has either an endoscopy, colonoscopy or both.

In a follow-up statement later, Zuma added that Mandela had undergone a planned, undisclosed “diagnostic procedure.”

Mandela “is fine and fully conscious and the doctors are satisfied with his condition, which they say is consistent with his age,” Zuma said. “We are happy that he is not in any danger.”

Zuma said Mandela was expected to be discharged from the hospital Sunday or Monday.

UPDATE I: Mandela released from hospital.

Hero of the Month: 7 Year Old Brittney Baxter Fights Off Attempted Kidnapping of Ex-Con Thomas Andrew Woods in Georgia Walmart

NEVER LET IT BE SAID THAT ALL CHILDREN SHOULD NOT BE SHOWN HOW TO REACT IN ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING … ENTER  OUR BRAVE 7 YEAR OLD HERO BRITTNEY BAXTER …

7 year old Brittney Baxter is a hero after her quick thinking yesterday in an attempted kidnapping at a Georgia Walmart. Thomas Andrew Woods, an ex-con convicted of voluntary manslaughter, was on probation just could not help himself. The 25 year old ex-con was taken into custody in the attempted kidnapping of Brittany Baxter. Had it now been for the little girl’s quick reaction to resist the abduction by kicking and screaming when the felony dirt-bag attempted to drag her out of the Walmart, who knows how tragic this story would have become. Actually, we know how bad it would have been.

From the AJC …

Thomas Andrew Woods, 25, of Austell, was taken into custody and questioned before being arrested Wednesday afternoon, Bremen Police Chief Keith Pesnell told the AJC.

“We’re pretty confident we’ve got the right guy,” Pesnell said.

But as Woods was being led in handcuffs from the police department to a patrol car, he told reporters that the police had the wrong man.

“I was never there,” Woods said.

According to police, Woods started talking to Brittney Baxter in the toy aisle of the Wal-Mart and then grabbed her and put his hand around her mouth.

But Brittney kicked and screamed, and the man let her go, police said. Neither she nor her mother, who was nearby in the store, was injured.

From the files of once a piece of law breaking scum, always a piece of law breaking scum, Thomas Andrew Woods was released in October 2011 from the Wheeler Correctional Facility, where he had been since April 2007 following his manslaughter conviction in DeKalb county. Nice, glad to see he learned advanced child sex predator in prison. Let’s hope they lock this POS, oh sorry, alleged POS away and throw away the key. Anyone that would attempt such a brazen kidnap attempt should never be allowed near the general public.

American Hostage Jessica Buchanan Rescused by US Navy SEALs in overnight raid in Somalia

KUDOS once again to the US Navy Seals …

US Navy Seals rescued two hostages, including kidnapped Jessica Buchanan, in a night time raid in Somalia. Buchanan had been kidnapped by Somalia pirates about three months ago. The other individual rescued was 60 year old Poul Thisted from Denmark who also was working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October.

In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News.

American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a 60-year-old Dane, Poul Thisted, were working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October. U.S. officials described their kidnappers as heavily armed common criminals with no known ties to any organized militant group.

According to the U.S. officials, two teams of Navy SEALs landed by helicopter near the compound where the two hostages were being held.

Hats off to our US Navy Seal team heroes.

UPDATE I: Is is being reported that Seal Team 6 is the one that pulled off the daring raid, the same Seal Team that took down Bin Laden.