October 07, 2012
— andy Yesterday the Navy commissioned its newest warship, a guided-missile destroyer named after Navy Lt. Michael P. Murphy (SEAL). Murphy, who was the first Medal of Honor recipient from the Afghanistan War, lost his life in 2005 after he chose to expose his position to the enemy in order to call in assistance for his heavily-outnumbered team.
The story of Michael Murphy's life is retold in the book Seal of Honor, and the story of the battle in which he lost his life is recounted in Lone Survivor, which is currently being made into a film.
Murphy's Medal of Honor citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as the leader of a special reconnaissance element with Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Afghanistan on 27 and 28 June 2005. While leading a mission to locate a high-level anti-coalition militia leader, Lieutenant Murphy demonstrated extraordinary heroism in the face of grave danger in the vicinity of Asadabad, Konar Province, Afghanistan. On 28 June 2005, operating in an extremely rugged enemy-controlled area, Lieutenant Murphy's team was discovered by anti-coalition militia sympathizers, who revealed their position to Taliban fighters. As a result, between 30 and 40 enemy fighters besieged his four-member team. Demonstrating exceptional resolve, Lieutenant Murphy valiantly led his men in engaging the large enemy force. The ensuing fierce firefight resulted in numerous enemy casualties, as well as the wounding of all four members of the team. Ignoring his own wounds and demonstrating exceptional composure, Lieutenant Murphy continued to lead and encourage his men. When the primary communicator fell mortally wounded, Lieutenant Murphy repeatedly attempted to call for assistance for his beleaguered teammates. Realizing the impossibility of communicating in the extreme terrain, and in the face of almost certain death, he fought his way into open terrain to gain a better position to transmit a call. This deliberate, heroic act deprived him of cover, exposing him to direct enemy fire. Finally achieving contact with his Headquarters, Lieutenant Murphy maintained his exposed position while he provided his location and requested immediate support for his team. In his final act of bravery, he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded, gallantly giving his life for his country and for the cause of freedom. By his selfless leadership, courageous actions, and extraordinary devotion to duty, Lieutenant Murphy reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
May God watch over the USS Michael Murphy and all who sail on her.
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— Ace This is a good one to use during football, as a general expression of futility or failure.
Like: The Giants' are handling the ball like Barack Obama at a debate.
A lot of possible variations. Such as: The Giants are "too professorial" to beat the Browns.
Try it-- it's fun and partisan!
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10:01 AM
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— Ace In case you get into an argument with someone and they claim Romney is lying about the $5 trillion. more...
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09:37 AM
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— Dave in Texas October! And elbows!
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BONUS: Quarterback smack, via @ningrim
Heh.
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— Open Blogger
The Results of the Debate
(stolen from Bill Whittle on facebook)
Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to the cantankerous, querulous, and hotly debated Sunday Morning Book Thread.
Nothing To Debate
Certainly not about the outcome. I haven't seen a drubbing like this since-- well, since the first Reagan-Mondale debate in 1984. It wasn't that Mondale was so masterful, but Reagan was clearly off his game. Reagan looked like the liberal caricature of Reagan: a confused, doddering old man, out of his depth and ignorant of everything. I was dismayed by this, but fortunately, he bounced back and did very well in the rematch. Ultimately, it didn't matter, because Reagan's victory over Mondale was so total and complete that today it's Mondale who is most remembered as a hapless boob.
Fun fact: Maybe some of you didn't know this, but as the famous Kennedy-Nixon debate was broadcast on both television and radio, those who saw the debate on television thought Kennedy won, but to those who listened to it on the radio, Nixon won. It's all in the power of the visual image.
Also, my estimation of debate moderator Jim Lehrer went up after I read his comments quoted in an earlier thread defending his "laissez-faire" (so to speak) approach to managing this week's debate. He's moderated so many of these debates that he's written a book about them. Also, according to his mini-bio on Amazon, Lehrer has written twenty novels, two memoirs, and three plays. I never knew this. I thought he was just a journalist. Has anyone ever read a novel or seen a play authored by Jim Lehrer?
Here's another book about the presidential debates.
What I'm Currently Reading
Run for it! by Tom Bender is a thriller that has two teenaged witness what appears to be a gangland slaying in the suburbs of Chicago in 1939. They are forced to run for their lives across the country to the East coast. It's a fast-paced, fun read. And the Kindle edition is only 99 cents, which makes it even better.
I've just completed Louis L'Amour's Last of the Breed. What a fine, well-written book, good to the very end. It's on my list of books that should have been made into movies, but haven't. Also, the last paragraph of the book suggests that L'Amour was anticipating a sequel, but unfortunately, there isn't one.
I finished Caliphate by Tom Kratman, an ePub freebie from Baen Books. It was OK, nothing really great.
I'm also working on Memoirs of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, which is a first-hand account of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Central America as told by a soldier in Cortez' army. Several morons recommended it on earlier book threads, and it reads sort of like an adventure story. It's available for free in various eBook formats.
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— andy I got your Big Bird riiiiigght here.
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October 06, 2012
— CDR M
So, the President not too long ago said this While On The Ground In Afghanistan.
But over the last three years, the tide has turned. We broke the Taliban’s momentum. We’ve built strong Afghan Security Forces. We devastated al Qaeda’s leadership, taking out over 20 of their top 30 leaders. And one year ago, from a base here in Afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. The goal that I set – to defeat al Qaeda, and deny it a chance to rebuild – is within reach.
This was only 5 months ago. Let's see how it looks right now. The Taliban has NOT been broken. They destroyed 6 USMC jets in their attack on Camp Bastion Which Was Our Worst Air Loss Since Vietnam. And what of those "strong" Afghan Security forces? Why they're only killing Coalition Troops instead of the Taliban. And the goal of defeating al Queda and denying it a chance to rebuild? Total Failure.
The murder of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans in Libya on September 11 has created a growing political backlash in the United States, but there are three other reasons that this attack is significant. First, an al Qaeda unit successfully assaulted American soil for the first time since 9/11. Second, we were -- once again -- caught by surprise, and third, the attacks show that al Qaeda is not just alive and kicking (as I mentioned in my previous post), but that our current strategy for dealing with the group is failing.
What's sad is that journalists have dug deeper on stories like the Haditha Massacre, troops peeing on dead bodies, etc. than they have regarding al Queda's resurgance and murder of an American ambassador. Of course, this might have something to do with it. Intelligence Officials Angered By Obama Administration Coverup Of Intelligence.
The president said during his nomination acceptance speech that “al Qaeda is on the path to defeat,” an assertion contradicted by the group’s rise in the region.more...The administration, in particular, wants to keep hidden solid intelligence showing that the terrorist group behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans is now flourishing under the Muslim Brotherhood regime of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.
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— CAC Oh wait. That's PPP.
While trolls and lefties delighted in the MuLaw poll released the day of the debate showing Obama up 11 points...
Apparently that gap shrank drastically in the 48 hours since (and to compare apples to apples, Romney trailed Obama by 7 in the last PPP poll two weeks ago, so still a clear, obvious drop).
All of Obama's gains in the purple states through September have been wiped out by a 90 minute ass-stomping.
To the moron horde, I ask that you use lotion when that thought fully sinks in.
I ask you get a Costco-size when you think further: Ryan debates Biden in 5 days.
Updates: Poll finds Romney in positive territory on approval rating for the first time ever- 49/48, an 8 point bounce. Poll finds voter sample of 34D-33R-33I, very believable. Poll finds indies breaking to Obama. Poll finds non-whites splitting 24-4-72 Romney/Und/Obama.
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03:14 PM
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— Ace Oh dear.
Guess the debate and the ensuing polls are really panicking the liberals, eh?
Mitt Romney is worth $250 million. Why so little?Mitt Romney is indisputably a very rich man. And if he is elected president on Nov. 6, he will become one of the wealthiest people ever to hold the office.
But exactly how wealthy is Romney? The figure that gets tossed around is $250 million in net worth — meaning the total value of his assets, financial and others, minus any debts.
Mitt Romney's $250 million net worth is much smaller than that of the other big players in the private-equity and leveraged buyout business, as listed in the latest Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America.
Only $250 million? Really?
ItÂ’s a big number, but frankly, it seems low. Given the industry in which he made his fortune (private equity), the era when he made it (the 1980s and 1990s) and the wealth of his peers in that business (mostly billionaires), Romney should be worth a good bit more than that.
Why isnÂ’t he?
...
The article then goes through his listed assets, suggesting that Romney might be understating his wealth, based on... well, nothing, really.
It then tries to dream up reasons why Romney shouldn't be richer. It doesn't credit any of them for being true. But one of the reasons pretty much explains it all -- the private equity market took off, and entered a "Golden Age," the year after Romney left Bain.
That pretty much ends the matter, doesn't it? The first billion is the hardest, and Bain only made its first billion right around the time Romney left. After that, Bain racked up the billions; but the first one was the tough one.
And then Romney left to pursue a career of public service.
But the writer is unconvinced.
Leaving us with two possibilities-- either Romney is lying about his wealth, or Romney is stupid and cannot be our President.
Does it really matter if Romney is worth $250 million, $1 billion or more? Rich is rich after all, right? I think it does, politically as well as substantively.
Politically, the alternatives are not great. If he were perceived as the first real billionaire to run for president, it would only exacerbate popular doubts about how someone living so removed from the concerns of average Americans — or even just 47 percent of them — could effectively represent them.
And if he is not a billionaire, doesnÂ’t it suggest that he was not a great private-equity investor after all, thus torpedoing his claim to understand how to create jobs and get the economy back on track?
Something to keep in mind on Nov. 6.
I think we should all rise from our seats and applaud the Washington Post for this.
There is hackery, there is partisanship, and then there is... this.
This is resplendent.
Congratulations, Washington Post.
You are now officially beyond mockery.
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— LauraW From Americans For Prosperity.
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