Memorial Day and the Last Nail Speech
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
I was out eating with my wife this weekend and saw a veteran getting out of a car with a Purple Heart on his license plate. After my meal, as I was walking by his table, I stopped and thanked him for his service to the country. He smiled big, and shook my hand. My wife later asked me what I thought his war injury was. I told her that when the veteran shook my hand, he was missing half of his. I strongly suspect that is, at least, part of the reason that vet won a Purple Heart. God bless him.
I don’t care where you stand on the wars we have going on around the world, you must support our men and women in uniform. Some make the supreme sacrifice securing our freedom. Just this past Thursday in Afghanistan, seven U.S. troops were killed in one deadly blast. The soldiers were on patrol in a field 12 miles from Pakistan. These guys never knew what hit them, but they do not have to be forgotten. So, please remember all of the men and women who have sacrificed for the good of the country and our freedom.
While we have our military in harm’s way, fighting for our freedom abroad, members of Congress were busy taking some of it away. Last week, a four year extension of the Patriot Act passed and was signed into law by what is called the “autopen” because the President is out of the country. (The autopen is a machine that replicates the president’s signature.) Last week, Politico.com reported on the Patriot Act bill and said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, “. . . noted throughout the week that he was working toward a fair amendment process, but said the top priority was to ensure the Patriot Act provisions did not lapse and jeopardize the nation’s security. ‘Although the PATRIOT Act is not a perfect law, it provides our intelligence and law enforcement communities with crucial tools to keep America safe and thwart terrorism,’ Reid said in a statement after the vote.” (Click here to read the complete Politico.com story.)
There were members in the House and Senate on both sides of the isle who wanted amendments and oversight provisions, but the act passed without any of them. That didn’t mean there wasn’t some stiff opposition to passing the bill and trying to safeguard our freedoms. Congressman Ron Paul gave a spirited speech in which his opening remarks said, “The last nail is being driven into the coffin of the American Republic.” Please take the time to watch Dr. Paul’s speech he gave last Wednesday on the floor of the House of Representatives below:
Also, if you have time, please watch “The American Dream By The Provocateur Network” below. It is a cartoon that was launched on You Tube early this year. It has gotten more than 600,000 views! When you watch it, you will discover why so many have viewed it. Enjoy:
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About the Author
Greg Hunter
Greg is the producer and creator of USAWatchdog.com. The site’s slogan is “analyzing the news to give you a clear picture of what’s really going on.” The site will keep an eye on the government, your financial interests and cut through the media spin. USAWatchdog.com is neither Democrat nor Republican, Liberal or Conservative. Before creating and producing the site, Greg spent nearly 9 years as a network and investigative correspondent. He worked for ABC News and Good Morning America for nearly 6 years. Most recently, Greg worked for CNN for shows such as Paula Zahn Now, American Morning and various CNN business shows.
Principles are all one can truly follow, paying allegiance to a man or a country is a fools errand. Anyone who participates in the system willingly is just as guilty, knowing or unknowing, as the leaders. We’ve been sold the greatest marketing ploy in history of ‘Support Our Troops’ without thinking what protects us also enslaves us. Whether it be a federal clerk, a mailman, or a soldier they give the machine the power.
When/if soldiers are ever knocking on your door ordering you to surrender what is protected by the Bill of Rights, like they did after Katrina, will you still ‘Support Our Troops’?
Brent,
I don’t agree with you on your premise, but I will put your comment on the site in the spirit of free speech. I do expect some of my readers will also exercise their free speech in response to your comment. Thank you for supporting this site.
Greg
I write this from the perspective of one who personally served this country under arms for five years in the 1st Cavalry Division, the 7th Infantry Division, and the XVIII Airborne Corps and who is the proud father of two career military men recently retired.
We have lost many brave men and women in Afghanistan and Iraq but the cold hard facts are, regardless of what they thought they were doing, they did not die “for our freedom”–because no Iraqi or Afghanistani fighter posed the slightest threat to “our freedom”–not now and not ever.
That we are hated by many around the world is undeniable, but if a foreign nation invaded our country for no reason, killed our friends and family, we would hate the invader and one would hope, resist the occupying force by any possible means.
The best way to support our troops is to end our stupid efforts to impose our will on the rest of the world, stop playing world policeman, and come home to mind our own business and begin the difficult task of restoring our own freedoms and dismantling the Welfare/Warfare state that is sending us into the abyss of economic, social, and political catastrophe.
aww greg,
curious how you can say that you do not agree with brent’s “premise” (?) and then post two excellent videos which back his logic 100%.
sorry, i can no longer give my support to our troops as long as they (wittingly or not) put themselves in harms way to empower an evil cartel that enriches itself by creating human death and suffering.
i will gladly reinstate my support the day i see our troops marching on the fed, the irs building and parachuting into the city to overthrow and destroy the crown (red shield) and marching our most of our esteemed congress, justice system, supreme court and executive brance off to jail for treason against the constitutional republic of the united states. until that day comes i refuse to have my patriotism confused with the hubris of jingoism.
thanks for the column and the site greg. i do appreciate what you are trying to accomplish. but, will all respect to you, you do have a few more dots to connect.
i sincerely hope that everyone who comes to this site will watch the two videos below. it can be blinding when the scales come off your eyes, but the blindness is only temporary and the clarity that follows is indeed unsettling but only the truth can set us free.
Greg…
I’m 66 and have been trading precious metals since 1973 and have followed Jim Sinclair since JSMINESET.COM began. I also know Dan Norcini personally as he now lives near me.
I say this to let you know that I have been following your columns since Jim Sinclair brought you to my attention.
I agree with all you have been posting about the economic events of your times.
But now you have fallen into the ‘trap’ of being a ‘patriotic poser’ with your ‘Support the Troops’ column.
It is far to easy for those who have good exposure in ‘the media’ to put out a cheap column about supporting ‘the troops’.
Don’t forget that you are young still and have been exposed to the ‘propaganda’ that has permeated our culture your entire life.
You should have been ‘awakened’ by now to the disclosures of the corruption of the Vietnam War and what it did to our young men and women who were DRAFTED into a phoney war and slaughtered for no good purposes other than for the economic and political purposes of those in power and in the ‘business’ of war goods and services for profit.
Most of those that have volunteered to go into today’s military have done so because it was one of their only viable choices to make a living due to poverty, lack of education or having been brainwashed into a high state of ‘patriotism’ after 9-11 (an obvious ‘inside job’ by the warmongers running the country.)
I suggest you all read the recent article by FRED REED (a very smart fellow who gets to the truth of matters) called ON PATRIOTISM at http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28197.htm
Another good read is MARK TWAIN’S ‘WAR PRAYER’ at http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17801.htm
Both can be found at my personal blog:
http://goldtradercommentsaugust2010.blogspot.com/ where I post articles that don’t always get the most attention in the media but that will inform you all of what is happening as our country and culture slip more rapidly into poverty, violence and quite possibly…oblivion.
Greg, it’s probably best if you just stick to your reporting about economic events and stay away from such ‘problematic’ and contentious areas as patriotism, religion, etc.
You provide an excellent column that is clear, concise and helpfully educational to those who can’t figure out what is happening to us, hopefully in time to protect themselves with precious metals, survival supplies, and weapons to defend themselves from what the guv’mint may do with many of these young ‘homicidal psychopathic’ troops you say you support.
I personally am terrified of what if see happening to the youth in this country, especially those youngsters who have been trained to kill and do so with abandon with the long range tools our military give to them which they use to slaughter other humans as if in a video game and seemingly with great joy after being ‘educated’ that these ‘lessers’ are our enemies when all they really are are VICTIMS of the evil intentions of those in power around the world.
I would ‘support’ any of our military who would stand up to those in power and call them what they are: WAR CRIMINALS and TREASONOUS TRAITORS…especially those from the George W. Bush Administration.
Barack Obama is an entirely separate, and especially pathetic, kettle of fish and an example of a ‘silver tongued devil’ who is particularly pitiful as his speeches disclose that he ‘knows’ the truth…but then he does EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of not only what is the correct thing to do…but of that which he has SAID he will do.
There are few words to properly or adequately describe this type of human being, but two come to mind: EVIL HYPOCRITE.
I have read all the comments to your article so far, and don’t see any in support of your position of ‘supporting our troops’. Possibly because those who do don’t read your column and they don’t see, or know, what is happening to them and think Big Guv’mint will find solutions and/or that guv’mint actually gives a crap about the welfare of the citizens of this nation other than sources of revenue and votes to stay in power.
By allowing us to reply to your column and others’ comments is NOT ‘in the SPIRIT of Free Speech’…it IS Free Speech.
Thank you for that.
Cedric,
I am not a “patriotic poser,” and I think you read way more into my post than what was intended. Yes, I support the boots on the ground in harms way! They are also what has helped keep up free and many have died and have been maimed for like making it possible to be have free speech. Yes I support people who have doing that for me and you. What would you have them do? Desert en masse? Stage a mutiny around the globe? I disagree with you, but I am still putting your comment up for all to read. Thank you for supporting this site.
Greg
I hate to say it man cause I see your point, but thank god ur name was not George Washington!! We’d still be living under the rule of “royal blood”. Of course the american indians would probably have appreciated your view!
With respect, you’ve got it turned around a bit. I think it is King George who would appreciate YOUR view.
i agree with brent.
iv talked to many retired soldiers. i have found only a few say they would fight overseas for this corupt system.
its a secret system OLIEGARCHEY governing a false republic.
if our soldiers overseas, knew what they are really fighting for they would walk off the battle feild.
its hard to study the money when your being shot at.
however i do admire there intent, and bravery. let peace rule by minding our own bissness. bring our soldiers home.
Thank you Brent, for pointing out what was mostly obvious to the founders of our nation.
The “Loyalists” as they were called in George Washington’s day were loyal and pledged allegiance to the King and country. Those nasty rebels pledged their life and wealth to the principles of liberty and freedom.
Unfortunately, most in America today get their daily ration of sanitized network news coverage of whatever “cabinet war” the politicians have been bought to get us in to.
As a veteran myself, itching to go to war in Vietnam to “defend my country” at the time of the “Red Scourge” that was going to engulf Asia, I was as misguided as the kids from my Boy Scout troop who have lost their lives in Iraq and the Afghanistan.
We have ignored the warnings of two great Generals; Washington and Eisenhower, towards our own demise. We now live in a country that daily takes bites at our liberty and privacy. And since our young soldiers are so eager and so uneducated about liberty, they do things like go door to door after a hurricane to collect our guns, in the name of National Security.
The former Soviet Union probably had the best “memorial day” type observances in the world. Anyone dissenting or disagreeing with the Soviet military mission could be sent to prison as an enemy of the motherland. Russians loved war and their war heroes even more than us.It kept their minds off of their miserable economic plight, casused partly by the war machine. Were their wars such as “Afghanistan” right, while we were wrong- but right now that we are the invaders?
We certainly should remember and honor the soldiers who have fallen in what they believed was a valiant service. However the best honor would be to educate their offspring about principles over pragmatism and defense of our nation over international hegemony by the elite in Central banks and the Military Industrial Complex.
Greg, our servicemen and women give much more than they will ever receive. Americans talk a good talk, but our actions speak much louder than our words. Just a few days ago there was a news segment covering the difficulties that women military personnel have in securing employment after they fulfill the commitment they signed up for when they entered service. I suspect this same goes for the men coming back from the wars, but that has not been covered lately.
My point; no matter how much we change, we stay the same. Not since WW2 has there really been real American support for veterans when they come home. We cheer them when they return and then forget them until the next memorial day or veterans day. If there was real support, companies would be fighting over the servicemen and womens services for their companies and this is not happening. One lady even said she was going to start leaving off her military experience on her resume as she felt this was a negative toward her employment by companies needing help.
How sad they are only remembered twice a year!!!!
RonP,
Amen to that brother.
Greg
Dear Greg,
First, a happy Memorial Day to you. I should note here that the day was created, and should be observed as, the day to remember all who died in America’s wars (my Mother, 89 years old, still refers to it as Decoration Day).
Second, thank you for the speech by Ron Paul, which as yet to go viral since it was posted last week.
Third, thank you for the cartoon. That, along with the Warner Bro. cartoon, “Yankee Dood It” (about how American businesses are SUPPOSED to be run), should be required viewing for all American high schools.
Fourth, thank you for being here, for speaking out, for the research you do; not for the sake of getting “face time” on the LSM, but for getting the truth out (which is what true reporting should be).
We don’t always agree, but debate is how one learns. Anyway, don’t get sunburned, and thanks again for posting today.
Thank you Sam for the kind words and support!
Greg
P.S.
Regarding the Purple Heart veteran you met:
Not too long ago I saw a car with a license plate frame for a Pearl Harbor vet. Unfortunately, the driver at the time was the vet’s son-in-law, who was in Korea. Well, I thanked this guy for his service, but I wanted to meet the Pearl Harbor vet, as I am a 9/11 survivor. How badly I wanted to shake his hand, and close the circle.
I feel a deep sadness today. So many young lives lost or altered. It is time to bring the troops home. We got Bin Laden. We can not change the course of the ME. They have been killing each other for thousand of years. They have hated Christians since the Crusades.
We got Bin Laden, it is time to let Afghanistan’s government and citizens sink or swim on their own. We can accomplish more with less loss of American soldiers with surgical strikes ala Bin Laden.
This is the typical American soldier: http://silverbearcafe.com/private/05.11/1-2boy.html
My concern for these kids is there are no jobs for them to come home too. If I had a position open in my business, I would be happy to hire a return soldier and give them the job skills they need, but we have not jobs available.
What more, exactly, are Americans supposed to do for the armed service people?
We already pay the taxes that should take care of them.
The wars are unjust, and as long as people sign on to work them, the politicos will continue to invade other countries.
It seems that asking what we allow the wars for in the point.
These are not wars for defending our borders, or even our way of life.
These are wars for the sake of controlling other regions, regardless of our resources or loss of life.
The problem is not that we will not fight for freedom. We do not fear the guns or swords. We fear and tremble before the pointing finger of scorn. We submit before the fear of news anchors laughing at us. We cower least we be called names by our betters. They bring out the poor and maimed and blame us for their problems, that are really caused by the theft of the bankers and the constant wars that enrich the bankers. They may call us unkind, or worse, bigots. So we submit.
And submit.
Greg,
I find it appalling that this country’s servicemen & women are paid at the lowest common denominator. It seems to me that anyone who is willing to, voluntarily, put their life on the line for this country should be paid a decent wage.
I’m sick of hearing stories where military families have to use these payday lenders (loan sharks), soldiers taking jobs delivering pizzas and last but not least “Banksters” (BofA, etc.) foreclosing on these folks.
If it wasn’t for the folks like Seal Team 6 and their expertise, Bin Laden may still be alive today.
In my humble opinion, we need to take care of those who take care of us, before & after their service.
I agree with this sentiment: “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” George Orwell
Thank God for our Military
Take care of them & they will take care of us.
Support The Fair Tax!
James
I am a disabled VET, I honor my fellow veterans that have sacrificed much more than I. In particular I owe one fallen hero my life, a debt I can never repay, so that I never forget I had one of my dog tags gold plated and I have worn it every day for almost fifty years. I think of Doug every morning and every night. He died so very young, never having a family or knowing the joys that I have enjoyed. I ask now what did he die for? Was it for the banking cartel? Was it for freedom? His death will only have meaning if indeed we can cast out the Fed and restore the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. I am an Oath Keeper. Vipers beware.
My dad served on a sub in the Navy during WWII. He never talked much about it. He had a war injury, but never complained (only when it rained…he had a metal kneecap). I have his picture in uniform with a red poppy next to it from a donation I made to a veterans organization. Tonight, I will light a candle in his memory. I wish he were here today so I could talk with him about it; I never appreciated what he did as well as millions of other men and women until I became older and wiser.
Thanks, Greg. Thanks, too, for the Ron Paul speech; good stuff.
Thanks for the link to the American Dream You Tube cartoon. I thought that at over 30min. it might get a bit dull, but it was great!
Above comment should say “at nearly 30min.’ Please correct if possible. You’re the best, Greg, you get back to so many people and are so polite!
No need to post this, just change the “over” to “nearly” if possible, if you don’t have the time — you’re still cool!
I’m an old worn out veteran of the forgotten war. I carry a bit of Chinese Junk in my left arm and hand. I refused to give my name to the corpsman that patched up my few small holes in the field. A purple heart for the little I suffered would have been shameful. The same mortar round made my fellow marine totally disappear; and all he got was the purple heart. His mother got the 10K. I wince when I think of J. Kerry and his phony purple heart that was his ticket home. I had another buddy in combat who had a gold star plus a black star on his ribbon. That amounts to 6 times wounded,,,, and he was still in combat. I do think our great young men are being misused, but I honor their bravery.
I do want to say that the “American Dream” is fantastic! Thank you for referencing that site, and for all that you do. The people complaining here forget it’s the fed. gov. that are the criminals, not our troops.
Oldguy
I am a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012 hopefully winning the Primary for the right to face one of the biggest scoundrels to ever grace the halls of Congress. I served my country during the Vietnam Nam Era. I am a practicing surgeon nearing the end of my career. I am afraid my country is near it’s end as well unless I can once again serve her with the same dedication and fight I did years ago. I served in Naval Intelligence and did not feel the sting of battle, but I did feel the sting of foreign people who hate my country. Now I feel the sting of people within my own country who bear that same hatred. I must admit to all who support and despise the Patriot Act that I am torn in half over the emotion this act generates. I have always felt that “one should keep his friends close yet keep his enemies closer.” For the first time in my life, I fear the threat from within is now greater than the threat from without. I have not encountered one private citizen that has been bothered by the Patriot Act, except for a story of listening in on soldiers’ phone calls home. The act itself was not as infuriating as the officer that testified before Congress and the hubris and conceit in his testimony that he felt the right to use the law in whatever way he felt was sickening I feel I may be missing something about this law because of my background and the need to keep my country safe from
within. I am not too ingrained in my beliefs if I have missed something that needs to be learned about the intricacies of this law to change my position. Like all things human, some people tend to abuse power when given the right of exercising the law. God knows we have a President who has shown us that side repeatedly. If there is anything people feel the need to counsel me about concerning this law and the bad things that I may have missed. If I am to serve the people of this country once again, I have to be flexible enough to learn and not participate in the “us against them” attitude that pervades our government. Please feel free to contact me and express your views.
Congressman Ron Paul’s “last nail” is without question- exactly on target! However….knowing what we know,America is going to be shackled by a new form of socialism- to be specific,America will be ruled,by “decree” thru a scientific-technocratic-dictatorship!We can forget all of that nonsense of a “two-party system”….. BTW,this nation doesn’t hold elections….we have instead CORONATIONS! Please allow me one other “footnote”- for those of you that may still believe in the ballot box? Are you serious? Opps,did I leave out that business of the “party of money”- indeed I do apologize!! Hey Greg….remember what I said,guys like us really do die knowning!
== Modernize Now! ==
Alas, our modern military isn’t as modern as it should be.
For example: the so-called Feres doctrine (whereby the U. S. Supreme Court has declared that no servicemembers may sue the government for damages in injuries arising from medical malpractice within the military) should be abolished legislatively ASAP.
What’s more, the military should be UNIONIZED — mainly so as to reinforce servicemembers’ free-speech rights to speak out on matters of public interest without fear of official reprisal.
Collective bargaining, contractual commitments, etc., would of course be a cornerstone to any such modernizing of what amounts to a massive police force. Absent that paradigm shift, servicemembers will remain a form of expendable chattel. — Larry W. Bryant (31 May 11)
What if they threw a war & no one showed up?
Wouldn’t that just be great.
Stop the military industrial/ banking complex, NOW!
Enough of the endless wars.
The only reason they ain’t gonna bring’em home is unemployment would go through the roof. Just like the reinstatement of the Patriot act, can you imagine all the people that would outta work if that were repealed?
“War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.
A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small “inside” group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.”
Major General Smedley D. Butler, USMC 1935.
2 time Congressional medal of honor recipient
It’s over simplifying to lump military people together. As in almost any other profession there are good and bad among them. (That “almost” is because I’ve yet to meet an honest judge.) But as long as it’s voluntary there’s not much room for them to complain. Moreover, those who serve due to their love of country receive the reward they sought–the knowledge that they’ve helped protect their home.
“Support our troops” is an irrelevant phrase that has been used to justify crimes by politicians and soldiers alike. George Bush said, in essence, that anyone that demands accountability of government is supporting terrorism. In similarly twisted logic, anyone that doesn’t want to finance military aggression across the globe doesn’t “support our troops”.
I support our troops by demanding that they be brought home, out of harm’s way and out of illegal foreign entanglements.
I agree with Brent because he sees how our military is being misused in the present day. I also agree with you, Greg, in that there are many people who’ve fought for what America USED TO BE, and I think we have to thank those poeple. It’s probably also true, however, that most of them now wish they wouldn’t have served because our leaders of today could care less about the Constitution or doing what is truely right for the American people.
Sadly, our troops are used for purposes that are in direct conflict of what is in the best interest of the American people. How does America (or Iraq for that matter) benefit from the killing of 1 million Iraquis and poisoning of the region with depleted uranium amunition? Never did find those weapons of mass distruction … How does guarding poppy fields in Afghanistan benefit the American people? I could go on — but it’s too depressing to comment any further.
Greg, it’s much easier for me to support those in uniform than it is to support those in Washington D.C.
Consider this: One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 plus million are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
Interesting and pathtetic that Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. To begin the process of restoring order to this madhouse, we must begin by cleaning the rancid Congress stables and get rid of just 535 corrupt politicians who don’t deserve our respect, much less our vote, it’s is not complicated at all.
We shouldn’t vote for any candidate just because he/she is running for a particular party, but because of his/her personal qualities — the main one would be a commitment to follow, respect and protect the Constitution and The Bill of Rights.
We can start by not giving our vote to any incumbents. The patriots who created this country fought against a hereditary monarchy. We certainly don’t need career politicians for life, who see their positions as personal entitlements they can pass over to their children yet don’t feel the need to protect the interests of the American people. If they they protect multinational corporations and other special interest groups that contribute to their campaigns send them packing!
If we can’t find suitable candidates, maybe we should seriously consider those with ZERO political experience. Historical wisdom dictates that’s an asset, not a liability.
Remember it’s WE THE PEOPLE and the power is truly in our hands!
@BAJA BRYAN…
The best comment so far…and well written too!
Mr.Hunter,
thank you for your thought provoking article on Memorial Day. I, too, am most
thankful for these men and woman who offer their lives for our freedom.
I am no fan of any of the wars(?) we are fighting but know that those who serve
have no choice in that matter.
What I find strange is that so little is done for those who lose their lives in
battle. It is rare to see their names even published unless they are from the
area and we never really morn them as we should the news of these attacks take
second place to Taylor Swifts’ new hair do or Lindsy Lohan’s jail time!
Also, I have been fighting the patriot act since its inception and believe that
it has weaken us as a nation but solved nothing. Thank God for Ron Paul and his
courage and you too for speaking out!
Thanks again
Frank
Thank you Frank for posting this comment!
Greg
I no longer see those serving in the US Military as worthy of honoring.
I see them as cowards, fools, or criminals.
I will not allow anyone to claim they’re serving this once great Republic performing honorable deeds in my name.
They’re being used to perpetuate global crimes against humanity, and anyone who calls them heroes for “keeping this country free” is doing the same. They are contributing to the destruction of the United States and many other Nations around the world in order to secure resources for corporations and profits for banksters.
Those who come home and speak out against the atrocities are the true heroes.
I’ll be donating to IVAW on Friday to put my money where my mouth is.
John,
I disagree but I will post this comment.
Greg
Our men and women in uniform are the cream of the crop. Too bad their lives are being wasted on wars to further the interests of the banking elite. They’re not fighting for us.Want to support our troops in a way that really matters? Bring them home! Read the book by the highest decorated marine who proclaimed that “war is a racket!”