Archive for the ‘Society’ Category
The Oath of Enlistment’s clever trap
Upon entering the United States Armed Forces, federal law requires everyone to swear the oath of enlistment. But when we swear the oath, just what are we obligated to – and for how long?
The Oath of Enlistment in its current form:
“I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
The wording of the Oath for Commissioned Officers varies slightly, but the point is the same:
“I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God.”
When I swore the oath as a baby-faced seventeen year-old, I felt as if I had been reborn. That day I became part of something much larger than myself. Instead of playing football and delivering furniture, I was now safeguarding my Constitution and way of life. It was an experience I will never forget.
Not long ago, however, I realized that there is a catch to the oath of enlistment. While talking to an old friend who had served in the Marine Corps, he asked me if I signed anything releasing me from my oath on the day I separated from the military. Thinking back, I remember signing more papers that day than everything I have signed collectively since. But I could not recall any document releasing me from my oath. It was then that I realized that I had no choice. An oath is an oath.
History
History – is it important to us today? And is it relevant to our lives?
History can be defined as the achievements and failures of mankind within their environment and within the parameters of human behavior. The truth of physical events, the motivations and results of those actions within the consequence of said actions, recorded faithfully without pride or prejudice and without emotional reaction.
I own history books recorded from 1901 to present day. I have borrowed some from 1889 and 1802 (courtesy of Allen Kitchen and Freddy Grey over a long winter in the mountains). You would be surprised at the different stories they tell. So let’s establish this precept right here and now. The further you go back into history, the less accurate history becomes.
Allow me to illustrate it this way:
As events occur, faithful historians record it without prejudice – such as William Shirer’s recording of World War II. Books such as “NAZI Spies in America,” “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” “The Patton Papers,” the diaries of Eisenhower, Bradley, Gavin, Rommel, etc.. The historians who authored those books chronicled the truth with pictures, forensics, and eyewitnesses. They each had their perceptions of the results, but the truth was that they were horrified beyond words.
A short 65 years later, many institutions now claim that it didn’t happen that way – despite the photos, exhumed bodies, factual evidence, eyewitnesses… despite the TRUTH.
So how the hell does that happen when we should be dedicated to the truth in the United States?
How do these institutions of higher learning adopt a lie? Think about that for a minute. Why would people voluntarily abandon reason? Power perhaps? Or a personal agenda?
Maybe it’s a fact that we do not wish to acknowledge. Perhaps it is a human desire to dominate. When we do, we will wipe the slates clean from all wrong doing. It will be a lie – one we tell ourselves to justify our actions.
But that is not history.
Perhaps the reason these things are done is to invalidate the inarguable facts of the past to relive those days and hope for a different outcome. That outcome will never happen. Why? Because human nature dictates history. It is the single constant throughout the volumes of world and cultural history. The same basic drives – instinctual drives like those of the beaver he must either build or die. These are the things of history These are the things we must face and overcome.
Has a civilization ever overcome human nature? No. History continues to repeat itself without regard to the past because we have never overcome our nature. That said, revisionist history condemns us to the same wars over and over. Wars are manifested in different places and for different reasons according to our perceptions, but it is the same motive that creates war – domination. For example, NAZI Germany blitzed Europe and within a year they dominated a continent. The history repeats itself over and over, but why?
Because history is distorted by political agenda. For example, Islam says the Holocaust never happened. Most Americans know better because our own ancestors were there. Why do we as a people start to believe that it “never happened?” Why would we believe the lies over the testimony of our own fathers and grandfathers? Because people are going to believe what is comfortable to believe. Thus, we will eventually relive what we already know has gone wrong.
When will we learn?
God Bless You,
Sandy Daniel, USN
Should crimes against veterans carry stiffer punishments?
Recently, criminals in Colorado broke into a car and stole irreplaceable personal effects from the widow of a fallen veteran of Afghanistan. When I posted on the incident, one of our readers posted that “military veterans should receive special legal privileges and protection similar to hate crime legislation that protects homosexuals, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, women, etc.”
Should they?
To those who have sworn an oath to “support and defend the Constitution,” I direct you to the Fourteenth Amendment: “no state shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
My take on this is that the race, color, creed, religion, sexual preference, or in this case the occupation of the victim should not affect the sentencing of a criminal act. If a veteran of Vietnam or Afghanistan is murdered, they are just as dead as someone who hasn’t served, right? To me, if someone steals the photos and dog tags of a fallen hero from his widow, the punishment of theft in general is not sufficient to deter the act. After all, did the thieves break into the car because the victim was a veteran’s widow?
In my state, first responders are a “protected” category – if someone attacks me while I am working, it becomes a felony assault and battery. Why am I more equal under the law than, say a pizza delivery driver (who get mugged FAR more often than firemen)? And since I am a veteran, should that crime carry an even stiffer penalty?
I say no.
[Originally posted at Blackfive]
In: Society · Tagged with: Fourteenth Amendment, hate crimes
My kind of Biathlon
If you would rather the Biathlon have diesel 4×4′s instead of skis and MP5 submachine guns instead of .22′s, then this video is for you.
In: Society · Tagged with: biathlon, Olympics
A far more exiting Biathlon
In: Society · Tagged with: biathlon, Olympics
Why do we like guns?
In: Society · Tagged with: 2nd Amendment
Featured in Human Events
W. Thomas Smith, Jr. asked a few folks (including me) what kind of weapons they carry in a piece today in Human Events‘ Guns and Patriots section.
In: Society · Tagged with: Human Events, W. Thomas Smith Jr.
One soldier’s Veteran’s Day thoughts
Veteran’s Day is tomorrow, November 11th. Veteran’s Day was originally held every November 11th, however, it was changed to fall on the weekday closest to the 11th. It was first incorporated by President Wilson as Armistice Day in 1919 to commemorate the armistice of WWI. In 1938 it became an official American Holiday, but after WWII, citizens felt that the day should honor all Veterans. In 1954 Congress changed the name from Armistice Day to Veteran’s Day and it celebrates the roughly 2.9 million Veterans in the U.S. today.
Many people know a Veteran, whether that be a friend or family member. It’s actually quite surprising considering that today our military constitutes less than five percent of the Unites States population. So few people who are able to accomplish so much. So few people who have sacrificed more than the other 95% can ever realize. Missed birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s, Anniversaries, Births, Deaths, Weddings, Graduations, etc… and not just one year, but many miss these very common events which are a part of our everyday lives that are often taken for granted.
I once overheard an OSHA Safety Officer’s briefing regarding violence in the workplace. In this briefing it was stated that, along with other criteria, that the profile of someone who is more likely to commit murder in the workplace has “military background”. One employee spoke up to voice her malcontent with Veterans, saying that they always act like they’re owed something and have bad attitudes in general. Personally, I think she had some personal beef with Veterans or perhaps a particular Veteran. This isn’t the first time I’ve overheard conversation which led to an overall group bashing session against Veterans. People have complained about Veteran’s healthcare benefits, Montgomery G.I. Bill benefits for college, and retirement pay. What is truly sad is that I overheard today, the day before Veteran’s day.
I would like to look at some of the things that were covered and some of the griefs that were put forward by different people over the years that I’ve run into. I’d like to address them from a different point of view.
In: Military, Society · Tagged with: Veteran's Day
SPLC intel report casts wide net for ‘extremists’
A politically-skewed activist organization has warned law enforcement officials nationwide of the threat posed by the so-called “Patriot movement.” The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)’s Fall, 2009, issue of the “Intelligence Report” expands those designated as extremists, with alarmist language artificially combining a disparate group. The report said, “Militiamen, white supremacists, anti-Semites, nativists, tax protesters and a range of other activists of the radical right are cross-pollinating and may even be coalescing.” On the SPLC website, one report claims, “anti-government rhetoric spills into the Mainstream,” listing conservative celebrities like Sean Hannity and Red State’s Erick Erickson as purveyors of “white-hot antigovernment rhetoric.” Where did SPLC get the data for that assumption? None other than the leftwingers at Media Matters, where bloggers dismiss every major study on media bias and claim the media favors the right.
Tax protesters and white supremacists have united? Whites and minorities alike who are upset with out-of-control government spending would be shocked to find out that they are “coalescing” with the Ku Klux Klan.
As to the “range of other activists,” the report primarily focuses its ire on the Oath Keepers, an association of military members, veterans, law enforcement officers, and firefighters who reaffirm the oath they took to support and defend the Constitution. If the Constitution is the basis of our government, how does swearing an oath to the Constitution and pledging not to follow unconstitutional orders make one “anti-government?”
The article goes on to paint the patriotic movement as a fearful group of militia members, racists, and terrorists – who even reap “illegal fortunes.”
The article also states that “there has been a remarkable rash of domestic terrorist incidents since Obama’s election.” What does the SPLC consider to be “domestic terrorist incidents,” town hall protests? Predictably, the SPLC article joins Democrat politicians and members of the media in portraying opposition to the president’s agenda as racist.
In: Society · Tagged with: Constitution, free speech, Minuteman Project, Oath Keepers, Southern Poverty Law Center, Tea Party
The racism you won’t hear about
At the Al-Quds day rally in Washington D.C., a speaker named Afeef Khan made a crude racist* attack on Barack Obama for not destroying Israel:
“And that the head politician on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – who of us has the courage to say to this politician that are you a regular house negro or are you the quintessential house negro? Who of us has the courage when we couch our presentation in suggesting that the problem can be solved by the dismemberment of the State of Israel and the support that state receives from the United States?”
Khan is an associate of terrorist supporter Imam Mohammed Al-Asi.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism has more on the event, including video here.
* I forgot what real racism was. For a while, I thought it was opposing Democrats.
In: Society · Tagged with: Barack Obama, Islam, racism
