Conservative Donnybrook

We will never forget.

Conservative Donnybrook wishes the United State Marine Corp a happy 234th birthday.

thanks to immigration advocates or libertarians like Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and, sad to say, Ron Paul.

Our country was yet again grievously wounded because of “free trade,” “tolerance,” and interventionism.

Would that the myriad soldiers — in Texas, of all places — had availed themselves of the duty to protect themselves and their comrades and loved ones by carrying concealed weapons, this comatose piece of excrement would have been dead after the first shot was fired.

I weep for the country that used to be the United States of America but which is now the United State of Aetna, indivisible, with tyranny, oppression, and “free” “healthcare” for all.

I have been stunned and amazed at the vitriol that has been poured out upon Robert Novak since the announcement of his death. One person sent me an email in which Novak was described as an anti-Semitic, Jew-hating Nazi that is undeserving of the respect being shown to him in the numerous obituaries posted by conservative bloggers and writers. This claim, though he asserted that Novak’s supposed anti-Semitism was “common knowledge,” was a surprise to me. I had always thought of Robert Novak as a journalist in the best sense of the term – a guy who played it straight and reported what he learned from his copious and well-placed sources. To be sure, he was a conservative and, as a columnist and television personality, his conservatism was on display.

In one of the emails I received, the writer linked to this article by Debbie Schlussel, which purportedly proved that Robert Novak was an anti-Semite. What is notable about Ms. Schlussel’s post is its lack of links to anything that supports her numerous assertions. I suppose we are to take her word for it. This is surprisingly lazy given that if Bob Novak was, in fact, an anti-Semite, it should be easy enough to prove given that he made his living as a writer and television pundit. One would expect a profusion of links to articles and videos that prove her claims. Alas, Debbie does not so favor us. She does, however, provide a link to this “great piece,” written by a person who calls himself Sultan Knish.

Sultan Knish does provide a number of links to actual articles by Mr. Novak. Unfortunately, the Sultan’s clear bias shows through if one bothers to actually read those linked articles – an eventuality that Mr. Knish clearly assumes will not occur. His characterizations of Novak’s columns can hardly be considered accurate.

Consider, for instance, his first claim: Bob Novak was a Truther. In support of this allegation, he links to this piece, written two days after 9/11. In it, Novak draws a number of distinctions between the attacks on 9/11 and the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the comparison that was being bandied about at the time. Essentially the piece remarks that most security experts had been so confident that a hijacking was impossible that they were speculating that the terrorists had help on the inside. This supposition had come in light of a decade-long period where not a single airline had been hijacked in the United States. It was reasonable, it seemed at the time, to think that the security measures in place, which had been so successful for so long, were not to blame for the success of the attacks. Indeed, we see echoes of this today when people point to the Patriot Act and remark that it has been a rousing success because there has not been an Islamic attack on U.S. soil in nearly eight years. When the eventual attack does come, people may well suspect, not that the measures in the Patriot Act were insufficient, but that the terrorists had help circumventing the measures. What is remarkable is that nowhere in the article does Novak endorse the notion that the government was complicit in the attacks of 9/11. Continue Reading »

… it would behoove us here at the Donnybrook not to dwell on that sordid, pathetic tale. Instead, I would like to remember the life and death of another celebrity who recently passed away.

Edward McMahon, whose famous laugh on the couch next to Johnny Carson’s desk made Americans chuckle along, was an entertainer, father of six, and a retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel. (He would later receive the rank of Brigadier General in the California Air Guard.) Having enlisted in the Navy in 1942, Ed studied flight in Texas, Georgia, and eventually at Pensacola, where he completed his Naval Aviator flight training and received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He was denied the opportunity to fly in Pacific combat because the exigencies of the service demanded that his superlative skills (particularly at landing on the flight decks of aircraft carriers) be better used to train new aviation cadets, teaching in the famous Vaught Corsairs and Wildcats. Ed was discharged in 1946, but was reactivated during the Korean Conflict. He flew unarmed OE-1 Birddogs as a forward air controller/artillery spotter. He flew 85 missions. He was awarded the Air Medal for meritorious conduct while engaged in aerial service 6 different times. The OE-1 Birddog was an unarmed aircraft. The average return rate during the Korean Conflict for FAC/AS pilots was less than half. Ed stayed on in the Marine Corps reserve, retiring in 1966.

Ed has slipped the surly bonds of earth and touched the face of God. Rest in Peace, General McMahon.

In 1776, a group of brave patriots penned their names to a document declaring that men should be left to pursue their happiness without undue interference from government. That document began:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

On this Independence Day, it is instructive to take a moment and revisit those causes and reflect on the state of freedom today:

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We owe these men a debt of gratitude for their bravery and passion for freedom. A summary of their complaint could be that the King of England, from whom the States derived their charters had, over time, reneged on his obligations under the charters to allow the colonies to govern themselves in accordance with the Charters. He abdicated his role over the colonies to the Parliament wherein the colonists were unrepresented, save by the King himself. In short, the colonists found themselves to be continually more bound by a distant government in which their voices fell on deaf ears. The role of the State increased and, as a result, the ability to govern one’s own affairs waned.

It was under these burdens that these men made the wrenching decision to throw aside their King and their security as British subjects and to undertake the frightening prospect of creating a fledgling nation in a hostile world. Newly-minted “Americans” rose to the challenge and fought for themselves, their families, and their neighbors so that men could live lives free from the oppression of an overweening, distant government. From that day to today, we pause on July 4 to honor their courage and remember what they fought for and to pray that God continues to bless this nation, conceived in liberty, with His continued Providence. We so pray today.

An elite pilot of World War II has passed away at the age of 88.  Mr. Charles Donald Albury flew in the 509th Composite Group led by Col. Paul Tibbits, Jr.  On Aug. 9, 1945 Albury co-piloted the Super-fortress “Bockscar” that dropped the second nuclear device on Nagasaki.  His heroic actions helped save an estimated 1 million plus lives by ending the war with aggressor Japan.  Without the bravery of men like Albury, the United States may have had to invade the home islands of Japan.  Such a move would have ensured a far greater loss of life on both sides than the dropping of both bombs.  Mr. Albury once commented about his role in World War II by saying “Everyone should be prepared to fight for liberty.  Our laws give us our freedom and I think that’s worth fighting for.”

After the war, Mr. Albury worked for Eastern Airlines as a pilot and trainer.  He is survived by his wife Roberta.  In memorializing her husband she remarked “My husband was a hero. He saved one million people … He sure did do a lot of praying.”

Rest in peace, Mr. Charles Donald Albury.

The legendary front man of the Cramps passed away on Wednesday from a pre-existing heart condition.  Lux Interior created the sound known around the world as Psycho-Billy.  If you never saw the Cramps live, you are a worse person for it.  The showmanship alone was like nothing else music has ever seen.

Lux will be missed.  He was 62.

The United States Marine Corps celebrates its 233rd birthday today. It is meet that we who have enjoyed the blessings of security and freedom that their blood has purchased take a moment to honor their service.

From the first battles out of which our country emerged to take its separate and equal station among the nations of the world, the Marines have been first to fight. While the country may enjoy the status of separate and equal, as a fighting force, the world knows no equal to the valor, determination, and capabilities of the United States Marines.

That valor and determination was epitomized by the most recent Marine Medal of Honor recipient: Jason L. Dunham. Corporal Dunham’s Medal of Honor citation reads:

Rank and organization: Corporal, 4^th Platoon, Co. K, 3^rd Battalion, 7^th Marines (Reinforced), Regimental Combat Team 7, 1^st Marine Division (Reinforced),  U.S. Marine Corps.  Place and date: Karabilah, Iraq, 14 April 2004.  Entered service at: Scio, NY.  Born: 10 November 1981, Scio, New York.  Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Rifle Squad Leader, 4^th Platoon, Company K, 3^rd Battalion, 7^th Marines (Reinforced), Regimental Combat Team 7, 1^st Marine Division (Reinforced), on 14 April 2004, Corporal Dunham’s squad was conducting a reconnaissance mission in the town of Karabilah, Iraq when they heard rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire erupt approximately two kilometers to the west.  Corporal Dunham led his Combined Anti-Armor Team towards the engagement to provide fire support to their Battalion Commander’s convoy, which had been ambushed as it was traveling to Camp Husaybah.  As Corporal Dunham and his Marines advanced, they quickly began to receive enemy fire.  Corporal Dunham ordered his squad to dismount their vehicles and led one of his fire teams on foot several blocks south of the ambushed convoy.  Discovering seven Iraqi vehicles in a column attempting to depart, Corporal Dunham and his team stopped the vehicles to search them for weapons.  As they approached the vehicles, an insurgent leaped out and attacked Corporal Dunham.  Corporal Dunham wrestled the insurgent to the ground and in the ensuing struggle saw the insurgent release a grenade.  Corporal Dunham immediately alerted his fellow Marines to the threat.  Aware of the imminent danger and without hesitation, Corporal Dunham covered the grenade with his helmet and body, bearing the brunt of the explosion and shielding his Marines from the blast.  In an ultimate and selfless act of bravery in which he was mortally wounded, he saved the lives of at least two fellow Marines.  By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty, Corporal Dunham gallantly gave his life for his country, thereby reflecting great credit upon himself and upholding the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

Men like Corporal Dunham and his brothers-in-arms in the Marine Corps make possible the unparalleled freedoms we enjoy as Americans. To the United States Marines, happy birthday and thank you for your faithful service.

UPDATE: Worth a read.

Paul Newman passed away today. He was an ardent supporter of the liberal agenda. He was also a fantastic actor. He played leading roles in some of the greatest films ever made from Cool Hand Luke to The Sting. Putting aside politics I wanted to honor the man who gave the world Reggie Dunlop in one of my favorite movies of all time, Slapshot. If you’ve never seen it do yourself a favor and go buy it today. You won’t regret it.

On this day when we pause and remember the victims of the evil terrorist attacks on our homeland, we recognize the bravery and heroism of the police and firemen who responded to their community’s call for help. I thought I would recognize a local hero in my home town, who also responded to his community’s call and thank him for his service.

In the early evening hours of July 10, 2008, police were watching the house of the mother of a suspected murderer, Brian Reese. As they watched, Barbara Reese pulled up to the house, but then spotted the police surveillance and led them on a high-speed chase through the streets of Indianapolis. Brian Reese was a passenger in the van. At one point, the van slowed and Reese leaped from the van and ran. Several police officers gave chase, including 29-year-old Jason Fishburn. Reese pulled a gun and fired at the officers striking Fishburn twice – once in the protective vest he was wearing and once in the head. Fishburn was rushed to the hospital where doctors feverishly worked to save his life.

After multiple surgeries, Jason Fishburn walked out of the hospital today, two months after being shot. I’d like to publicly thank Jason Fishburn and all of the officers who serve the Indianapolis area for their courageous service.

1918-2008

“It’s sure to be twelve,” Shukhov announced. “The sun’s over the top already.”

“If it is,” the captain retorted, “it’s one o’clock, not twelve.”

“How do you make that out?” Shukhov asked in surprise. “The old folk say the sun is highest at dinnertime.”

“Maybe it was in their day!” the captain snapped back. “Since then it’s been decreed that the sun is highest at one o’clock.”

“Who decreed that?”

“The Soviet government.”

The captain took off with the handbarrow, but Shukhov wasn’t going to argue anyway. As if the sun would obey their decrees!

-One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Mr. WAC

I figured someone on this site would have to post it:

Never mind that he ended the most despicable institution in the United States, that he held the nation together, or that he prevented further wars with Britain and France.  Nah, ignore that he added two states to the Union, created the Department of Agriculture, established a national currency and signed the Homestead Act.  Forget that Lincoln commissioned the intercontinental railroad and prevented the crippling treatment many Senator’s desired for the treasonous south.

For all that he did, my love for Lincoln continues to grow this day because of neo-confederate rants like this one from Clyde N. Wilson.  The more they debase themselves the more I love Lincoln. 

Lincoln played with his feet?! How objectionable!  After ‘em, Billy-Bob! 

After years of delighting even the hippest hip-hopper in the Beltway, the Federal Jazz Commission, or FJC for short, played their last tune.  The band was a staple at my favorite watering hole in DC, Colonel Brook’s Tavern.

Many a days after (sometimes instead of) my law school classes I would head across the street to enjoy a few pints.  On select days the FJC would set up shop and bellow out some of the best jazz that side of the Misssissippi!  Young and old, black and white;  From law students to ex-Watergate scandal perpatrators, everyone loved this band.  But the years have caught up with some of the members (Commissioners, as they call themselves) and they now seek warmer (and safer) pastures in Florida.

Thank you, Commissioners, for all the entertainment and fantastic music you provided over the years!

A Belgian brewer has made an audacious solicitation to buy out the King of Beers, his royal highness, Budweiser (ala Anheuser-Busch)!  Executives at the Saint Louis based brewer of dreams and delights are considering the bid of over $65.00 per share.

Could it be?  Will the King forsake his people?  Will my beer become (gulp) Euro Trash?   Oh Lord, say it ain’t so!

Rock and Roll mastermind and musical entrepreneur, Bo Diddley passed away this morning at his Florida home.  He was 79.  I had the opportunity to see Bo a few years back and he played and sounded as good as ever.  He will be missed.

On this Memorial Day, Conservative Donnybrook would like to thank the men and women of our armed forces for the valiant service and sacrifices they have made on behalf of their country and fellow citizens. Without these exemplary citizens, we would not enjoy the freedoms and advantages that come from being born in the United States of America. It is because of their efforts that we can unabashedly say that we live in the greatest nation ever to grace this earth.

On this date, our nation is engaged in a life-and-death struggle against Islamic jihad. Our armed forces are on the front lines pushing back the efforts of these religious extremists who would take the hard-fought freedom to worship as one wishes away from Americans. Because of their efforts, the jihad has been contained to the Middle East. For six and half years, we have been sheltered from the evils of terrorism visited upon innocent Americans in their homeland.

Today, many in the Middle East can look forward to the possibility that they will be able to pursue their lives in relative freedom from the tyranny of despotic regimes who do not think twice about liquidating thousands of citizens because of they express a desire for the freedoms which we as Americans take for granted. Those people, whose purple thumbs attested to their desire for a new future, like those of us in America, can thank the men and women of the United States armed forces for this opportunity.

While it is especially proper to thank those who are answering the call today, we’d also like to recognize the veterans whose service these men and women emulate. In particular, I would like to thank the veterans of Vietnam, among whom my own father is one. It is especially important to remember these veterans who fought in a war, like the current Gulf War, that was unpopular with a segment of the population. A week ago Saturday, the city of Indianapolis held a special ceremony welcoming home our veterans of the Vietnam War. Astonishingly, when these men arrived home, they were not welcomed but vilely excoriated. These were men of honor who fought bravely at Hue, Saigon, Dak To, and Khe Sahn and places no one has ever heard of. Welcome home and thank you.

We thank all of our veterans whether they are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan today, the First Gulf War, Somalia, Yugoslavia, Panama, Beirut, Grenada, Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, the Bay of Pigs, Lebanon, Korea, or in either of the World Wars. We also thanks those who stood ready as soldiers in our armed forces, but who were not called to arms. Thank you.

Mr. Eddy Arnold has passed away, he was 89.  Eddy Arnold was a music phenomenon.  In his hay-day he was bigger than Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and every other country music star.  His contribution to music will never be lost or forgotten. 

Rest in peace, Mr. Arnold.