OT(?) Examples of History

Reports of a very good motorcycle rally in Axtell, Tx yesterday, Saturday..
teased me for the entire week.. Between the ordinary chores that have to be
completed, I cleaned and serviced the Green Vulcan, yet again.. The thing
stll represents itself well, considering it's age and mileage..

Saturday finally came, and I feverishly attempted to get everything rounded
up so that I could go to that rally.. One eye on the clock and the other on
that gleaming chunk of metal sitting idly in my patio..Soon as I got one
thing done.. the mexican lady had something else that could not wait..
Telephone calls to several of the old buds, in the area didn't produce any
company for the ride down to the Waco area..Everyone was wrapped up with
conditions similar to mine..

Finally about four o'clock in the afternoon.. I just quit messing with all
those damn chores and mounted the Green One.. About 15 miles south of
Ft.Worth, it dawned on me, that I would arrive in Axtell just about in time
to come back home..Besides.. I was worn out from all those chores.. I turned
around and went back to La Casa..

Nothing much on the tube .. Not much going on, in the newsgroup.. so I
surfed other sites .. reading some political rat-killin' from around the
country..What follows is strictly my own conclusions and only represents my
thoughts ..

The controversy over the "newly discovered" documents that reveal more of
Bush's military record.. is blazing away with speculation about typewriters
and forged documents.. Never realized that so many typewriter experts
existed before.. Shades of Nigeria.. we all are aware that "forged"
documents are not an uncommon phenomenon.in political controversies.Most of
us have already made up our minds about Bush's military record, so who
really cares ? And if the documents are forged, it isn't going to change the
evidence that is already public knowledge.. It might be interesting to
figure out where they came from, but that is about all of significance that
I can see.. We'll probably never know for sure, whodunit, as in the Nigeria
papers..

The next REALLY big event that seems to exercise so many, is the comment of
Dick Cheney when he threatened America with more 911 disasters, if we didn't
vote "right" in 2004.. hmmm.. That one requires some examination, by all of
us.. This is where the backgrounds of all of us come into play.. Our
"character" is developed in our formative years and our actions throughout
our lives will be reflections of that "character"..

President Bush and the vice president are asking us to allow them to serve
in office for another four years.. The centerpiece of their campaign is
national security and protection of all Americans.. Let's take a look at
their record, so far..

Bush went to Washington in Jan., 2001.. Immediately replacing policies with
his own.. That is customary except he did so, with much fanfare and
approval.. His tough and rigid positions were a reflection of many Americans
who were sick and tired of hearing about disruptions around the world and
arrogant terrorists like Arafat and Quadafi (just two) who were creating
havoc and death..

George Bush assured all of us that he'd not tolerate any furthur despicable
actions from any of those evildoers.. His policies that he had put in place,
would put them on notice.. cease and desist.. Sept. 11, 2001, the
unthinkable took place.. America was attacked on it's own soil, for the
first time since the Revolutionary War.. We all watched in horror as our
fellow Americans died and our monumental building were destroyed in
Washington, DC and New York City..

The media finally commenced to inform us of where our leaders were and what
they were doing.. Bush was in Florida, attending a photo op at an elementary
school.. He was first informed of the attack as his limo pulled up to the
school.. While he was entertaining the class of third graders with a fairy
tale, he was informed that a second plane had hit the second tower of the
WTC and more were feared to be hijacked and in the air..Several minutes
passed and as we have all learned, Bush was still not making any decisive
actions ..

Soon he was in the air.. aboard Air Force One. His next appearance was at
Barksdale Air Force Base, in Shreveport, La.. His hastily improvised
statement, in spite of his (my impression) near hysterical behavior,
informed us all that he was in charge and appropriate actions were being
taken.. (blink) Then he was gone..

Ensuing media reports told us that our president and vice president were
both in "undisclosed locations", but were poised to mobilize America and
protect us all.. We watched courageous men and women struggle and bravely
attempt to overcome the savagery that had taken so many lives and destroyed
so much of American landmarks.. The WTC and the Pentagon had been the
targets .. one site completely destroyed and the other badly damaged.. Both
with tremendous loss of life..

We continued to watch in petrifying horror .. Occasionally a soundbite or
clip of the president issued encouraging and cautious statements..from that
"undisclosed location".. The "all clear" signals were issued and the
remaining tasks of cleanup and recovery faced us.. Bush emerged from the
"undisclosed location" .. A couple of days later, he bravely went to one of
the sites of our national disaster.. He courageously comandeered a bullhorn,
surrounded by the heroes who had actually faced the dangers of these
attacks.. He declared his outrage at these atrocities and vowed that these
animals would be pursued and brought to justice .. We all heard it.. and
witnessed our president taking charge.. and in control..Of course .. this
was AFTER the "all clear" signals.. considerably AFTER..Our vice president
remained in the "undisclosed location"..

This is where the history and background must be considered, since many
believe that what happened thirty years ago is not relevant to today..

I contend that the performances of George Bush and Dick Cheney, during the
disasters of 911, are entirely consistent with their performances thirty
years ago, during another crisis in American history..One successfully
avoided serving in Viet Nam by using his family influence to afford him an
alternative position (for which speculation is that he wasn't qualified) in
the Texas Air National Guard.. After considerable taxpayer expense, George
Bush was trained to fulfill his military obligation to America.. For much of
that military committment, George Bush did not perform his responsibility..
We can only confirm that he actually flew the fighter jets that he was
trained to fly, for 27 months.. The rest of his contractual obligation seems
to be very speculative.. Importantly.. he emerged, again.. after the "all
clear" signal.. the risk of being conscripted to serve in Viet Nam was
over.. the draft was no longer a factor in his life..As he performed in Viet
Nam, he performed during the crisis on 911..He was safely in an "undisclosed
location"..

Dick Cheney, by his own statements has said that he "had other priorities"
during the Viet Nam period.. His five deferrments for higher education
confirm that he did..OK.. many have taken advantage of those deferrments..
Dick Cheney then became a political figure and was elected to Congress ..
Later he became Secretary of Defense and led the charge to reduce the budget
of the Dept. of Defense, after the cold war ended..He was supported by many
of the elected representatives, including John Kerry.. Those votes that
Kerry cast in that period have become Cheney's central criticism of Kerry..
hmmm.. Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney was the one making the requests to
eliminate those weapons programs to reduce the DOD budgets..Remember ?

Fast forward to the disasters that we all grieve and are burdened with.. 911
... In spite of all the heroic reports of his performance that day and week,
we have to remember, that Dick Cheney was safely and securely hidden away in
that "undisclosed location" .. The "invisible man" could not have been more
secure or safe..

These are the men who are asking for our votes for four more years of their
protection and security of our Nation..
Wait just a cotton pickin' minute.. I don't think our Nation and Americans
can stand much more of protection with men of this calibre.. At a time of
crisis, men who go into "undisclosed locations" and are only visible after
the "all clear" signal, aren't my definition of "protectors".. I've
carefully connected the similarities of their youthful mistakes, as it is
being referred to, to the performance in the offices that they now hold..
They both avoided the risks of crisis in their younger years just as they
avoided all risks in their maturity.. Both men are campaigning for election
on the premise that they will afford America, the protection that ONLY they
can provide to us.. Where the hell were they both, when America needed their
leadership MOST ? "Undisclosed Locations"

Regardless of what anyone thinks about John Kerry.. His looks.. compared to
the TV character "Lurch".. Regardless of whether his personality is
appealing or turns you off.. regardless .. regardless.. One fact about the
man is clear.. He volunteered .. VOLUNTEERED to serve in one of the most
hazardous duty assignments in Viet Nam.. He was decorated for bravery under
fire, by Congress of the United States and the Dept. of the Navy.. He shed
blood in that conflict.. There isn't much in comparison when it comes to the
choice of "Protection or Protector".. The man who as a youngster chose to
serve under fire or the men who as youngsters chose to avoid that "risk".. I
think I'll choose the former, thank you..

America doesn't need "protectors" .. America needs "Leaders" witht he
courage to perform under fire and the wisdom to prevent the crisis in the
first place..Leaders without that wisdom, who lead our Nation into the
certain face of disaster cannot possibly be depended upon to "protect" us,
when the disaster strikes.. Especially leaders whose performance during 911
are consistent with the performance of their entire lives.. Backgrounds and
history are important.. they reveal and explain the actions of the present..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

Wife Terri, son Joseph and myself rode out to Willow City saturday to try
that "Harry's on the loop BBQ" and visit enchanted rock on the way back.
Terry had been there before in 1973, the year we were married and had
climbed to the summit, but neither I nor our sons had never been there. We
got to Harry's at 11:15 and had to wait till 11:30 when the BBQ was ready.
I would suggest getting there later, when the brisket has a little more time
to soften. We rated the beans as best, the potato salad (made with german
fried potatos), the sausage then the brisket. Only the jap-a-linos were
left on our plate when we were done. I got a picture of harry here
http://tinyurl.com/6rht5 along with other photos of the trip. The
restaurant was tiny, but artfully decorated with unusual objects and harry's
witfuly saying. For example, the ladies room had a note near the john
"Ladies: Please put all tissue in this basket. If we run out of tissue,
feel free to recycle". Cleary, whoever decorated the gents and harlots
bathrooms put considerable thought into it. We then rode over to enchanted
rock, $5 per person entrance fee. We got about 1/2 way up and terry walked
about 30 feet further than me so I could get her picture in the background.
Of course I was carrying the backpack and camera or I would have easily made
it to the summit. Our son managed to make it to the summit were he was
still a speck even with the zoom on in the camera. All together it was a
nice trip and we passed a lot of bikers. Unfortunately, the willow city
loop road was strewn with beer cans and beer bottles. Since it is private
property I assume the owners could get together and close down the road if
they wanted. My wife dropped a water bottle when we took an unexpected
bounce and I made a U-turn to retrieve it. Clearly, all the beer can crap
was thrown out on purpose most likely by cagers. I dont think any bikers
would have done that though and Harry was glad we had come. It would appear
that Harry makes most of his money from beer sales.

I have been following that as clearly Bush didn't want to go to Nam much
like everybody else and I cant blame him. However, I too am interested in
the "unimpeachable source of the documents" as reported by CBS. CBS will
not reveal the source. The copies have been identified as copies of copies
of copies and one of the people involved had retired 16 months before the
document was "typed". Looks to me that Kerry needs to run on what he has
done and not on what some anonymous stooge came up with. Clearly, CBS
should have shown the memos to that Gen Hodges who says he thought all along
that the memos were hand written and that he was read excerpts over the
phone. I assume the General has a fax or can open mail and look at
something as important as this. Clearly CBS knew they were important but
had the documents for 4 years and never showed them to Hodges. I don't like
it when people hide who they are and try to trash other people. Stuff like
that goes on in this news group. The person who put that before CBS should
have the balls to say who they are so we can make our own judgments. People
have the right to confront their accusers and clearly CBS is accusing using
documents supposedly generated by a long dead supporter of Bush.

 

There appeared no place to write unless I had a ladder. I added a couple
more pictures for you and I matched your poem at the bottom ;^)

I sought girl named sunny
who bought a v-star with her money
She loved to drink beer
got hit by a deer
and thinks this poem is not funny!

Thanks to http://www.rhymezone.com !