From my Father's files:

[Spock]

Posted: 2004-08-23, 1:24 pm

Subject: Pledge of Allegiance/John McCain

In light of the recent appeals court ruling in California, with respect to the Pledge of Allegiance, the following recollection from Senator John McCain is very appropriate:

"The Pledge of Allegiance" - Senator John McCain

As you may know, I spent five and one half years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. In the early years of our imprisonment, the NVA kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a cell. In 1971 the NVA moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room.

This was,as you can imagine, a wonderful change and was a direct result of the efforts of millions of Americans on behalf of a few hundred POWs 10,000 miles from home.

One of the men who moved into my room was a young man named Mike Christian. Mike came from a small town near Selma, Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old.

At 17, he enlisted in the US Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Officer Training School. Then he became a Naval Flight Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the opportunities this country and our military provide for people who want to work and want to succeed.

As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves and other items of clothing.

Mike got himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he created an American flag and sewed on the inside of his shirt.

Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike's shirt on the wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance.

I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important part of our day now, but I can assure you that in that stark cell it was indeed the most important and meaningful event.

One day the Vietnamese searched our cell, as they did periodically,and discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it.

That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all of us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. Then, they opened the door of the cell and threw him in. We cleaned him up as well as we could...

The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we slept. Four naked light bulbs hung in each corner of the room.

As I said, we tried to clean up Mike as well as we could. After the excitement died down, I looked in the corner of the room, and sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. He was sitting there with his eyes almost shut from the beating he had received, making another American flag. He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to Pledge our allegiance to our flag and country.

So the next time you say the Pledge of Allegiance,you must never forget the sacrifice and courage that thousands of Americans have made to build our nation and promote freedom around the world.

You must remember our duty, our honor, and our country "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,with liberty and justice for all."

If you enjoy your freedoms, be sure to thank a veteran and be sure to think of them and their families often, one day it could be your child out there.

[Spock]

Subject: John Hagee Passage


The following passage is from a sermon by John Hagee of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio:
I want you to close your eyes and picture in your mind the soldier at Valley Forge, as he holds his musket in his bloody hands. He stands barefoot in the snow, starved from lack of food, wounded from months of battle and emotionally scarred from the eternity away from his family surrounded by nothing but death and carnage of war. He stands though, with fire in his eyes and victory on his breath. He looks at us now in anger and disgust and tells us this...

I gave you a birthright of freedom born in the Constitution and now your children graduate too illiterate to read it. I fought in the snow barefoot to give you the freedom to vote and you stay at home because it rains! I left my family destitute to give you the freedom of speech and you remain silent on critical issues, because it might be bad for business. I orphaned my children to give you a government to serve you and it has stolen democracy from the people. It's the soldier, not the reporter who gives you the freedom of the press. It's the soldier, not the poet who gives you the freedom of speech. It's the soldier, not the campus organizer who allows you to demonstrate. It's the soldier, who salutes the flag, serves the flag, whose coffin is draped with the flag that allows the protester to burn the flag!!!

"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen."

Prayer Wheel: When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our U.S. forces in Iraq, AND all around the world.

[Spock]

Subject: NAME THIS COUNTRY

709,000 REGULAR (ACTIVE DUTY) PERSONNEL.

293,000 RESERVE TROOPS.

EIGHT STANDING ARMY DIVISIONS.

20 AIR FORCE AND NAVY AIR WINGS WITH 2,000 COMBAT AIRCRAFT.

232 STRATEGIC BOMBERS.

19 STRATEGIC BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES WITH 3,114 NUCLEAR WARHEADS ON 232 MISSILES.

500 ICBMs WITH 1,950 WARHEADS.

FOUR AIRCRAFT CARRIERS AND 121 SURFACE COMBAT SHIPS AND SUBMARINES PLUS ALL THE SUPPORT BASES, SHIPYARDS, AND LOGISTICAL ASSETS NEEDED TO SUSTAIN SUCH A NAVAL FORCE.

IS THIS COUNTRY:
RUSSIA? NO

CHINA? NO

GREAT BRITAIN? NO

FRANCE? WRONG AGAIN

MUST BE USA? STILL WRONG (SORT OF)

GIVE UP?




THESE ARE THE AMERICAN MILITARY FORCES THAT WERE ELIMINATED! DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF BILL CLINTON AND AL GORE.

SLEEP WELL!

Also, keep this in mind as the political pundits spew their anti-Bush propaganda. I've heard several claims that our servicemen are deployed for too long, and serving longer tours. This kind of talk is sure to continue as the election looms closer. If we still had all these military personnel, troops could be rotated more frequently.

[Spock]

This looks a bit scary. Even our own fighters cannot match some of these moves ...

http://bemil.chosun.com/movie%20link/SU-35.wmv

[Spock]

Subject: We are apologizing too much

Tuesday, May 11, 2004
By John Moody


I'm sorry to have to tell you this: We are apologizing too much.

Now that President Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and several top officers in our armed forces have apologized for the mistreatment of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib (search) prison, it seems only fair to ask - what is the apology for?

Don't misunderstand. There's a reason to regret what happened and make sure it doesn't occur again.

I just fear that we, as a country and society, are saying sorry with the wrong motivation. The pictures of naked prisoners tethered to leashes, contorted into human pyramids and pinioned to their cell doors are distasteful to us as we sit in our living rooms.

But what if you or I were in that prison, trying not only to guard prisoners, but extract from them information that could save a loved one's life? How heavy-handed might you become if the stakes were personal?

The soldiers and guardsmen who are accused - not yet convicted - of abusing their captives made some questionable decisions. They will probably pay for them with their military careers, their reputations, or in some cases, time behind bars.

It's important, though, not to judge all our servicemen and women by what happened in Abu Ghraib or to judge what happened there by the standards of behavior applied to civilian society.

More than a year after the U.S. invasion deposed Saddam Hussein, Iraq is one of the most dangerous places on earth. Nothing increases the chance of falling victim to that violence more than wearing an American military uniform - the same garb we profess to admire as we thank our troops for keeping us free.

Should we revoke that admiration because some small fraction of our troops took license with others' dignity? It might be worthwhile to try to put ourselves in their combat boots for a moment.

As of this writing, 717 American soldiers, Marines and guardsmen have died trying to secure Iraq's freedom. The cheers with which they were met along Baghdad's streets in April 2003 have been replaced, at least on the surface, with a shower of roadside bombs, improvised explosive devices and hand grenades.

When confronted with violence, our troops react as they are taught. They kill some of their aggressors, wound some, and arrest others.

People who fall into the latter two categories are those who are incarcerated at Abu Ghraib. Many have either killed or tried to kill the comrades, friends or barracks-mates of the troops guarding them.

How gentle could you be with the killer of your best friend? Or someone who you saw cheering that crime?

On March 31, a van of American civilians traveling through Fallujah (search) was set upon by a band of Iraqi thugs. They were there to help the country to its feet.

In gratitude for that work, their vehicle was set on fire, they were dragged from it and hacked to pieces, and their bodies were dragged through the streets and strung from a bridge.

Many TV networks, including Fox News, deemed the pictures too shocking to air. Fox also heavily censored a videotape of torture sessions carried out by Saddam's regime.

In retrospect, that may have been a mistake. Without showing the charred bodies of Americans dangling in ignominy, or the lopped off-arms of justice Saddam-style, how can we judge the pictures we are now clucking over?

Was one worse than the other? Where was the outrage, after Fallujah, from members of Congress and other self-appointed mullahs of morality? Do we expect American soldiers to be morally superior to the people who are trying to kill them, and at the same time win a war in which there are no rules of conduct for one side? Does that somehow smack of ... racism?

Americans are living in a split-screen world of war and wealth. Since 9/11, we have conducted our lives with the nervous knowledge that we can be reached, injured and killed by fanatics who do not know us but wish us dead. For some months now, the reality of terrorism has been seen in other places: Bali, Madrid and day after day after day, Iraq.

Meanwhile, millions tut-tut over the exposed breast of an entertainer on the 50-yard line, willing themselves to ignore the amputated limbs and splattered brain matter of men and women in our nation's service.

Others fret as gasoline prices near 50 percent of what they are in Europe. Fans cry real tears because a sitcom is ending. We shriek with indignation that Iraqi suspects are humiliated, but forget the specter of Fallujah.

We can't have it both ways, I'm sorry to say. See? I'm getting the hang of this apology thing. It's a pity, isn't it?

John Moody is Senior Vice President, Fox News Editorial.

[Spock]

THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO READ THIS.

Not trusting everything you read on the Internet, I checked. 1st Lieutenant Brian Chontosh does exist and did receive the Navy Cross.

From what was written in the medal citation, what Brian did equals what Audie Murphy did in Germany during WWII and he got the Medal of Honor for that effort. I think Brian should have gotten the Medal.

Maybe you'd like to hear about something other than idiot Reservists and naked Iraqis. Maybe you'd like to hear about a real American, somebody who honored the uniform he wears.

Meet Brian Chontosh. Churchville-Chili Central School class of 1991. Proud graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology. Husband and about-to-be father. First lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. And a genuine hero. The Secretary of the Navy said so yesterday.

At 29 Palms Marine Base in California Brian Chontosh was presented with the Navy Cross, the second highest award for combat bravery the United States can bestow.

That's a big deal. But you won't see it on the network news tonight, and all you read in Brian's hometown newspaper was two paragraphs of nothing. Instead, it was more blather about some mental defective MPs who acted like animals.

The odd fact about the American media in this war is that it's not covering the American military. The most plugged-in nation in the world is receiving virtually no true information about what its warriors are doing.

Oh, sure, there's a body count. We know how many Americans have fallen. And we see those same casket pictures day in and day out. And we're almost on a first-name basis with the pukes who abused the Iraqi prisoners. And we know all about improvised explosive devices and how we lost Fallujah and what Arab public-opinion polls say about us and how the world hates us.

We get a non-stop feed of gloom and doom. But we don't hear about the heroes. The incredibly brave GIs who honorably do their duty. The ones our grandparents would have carried on their shoulders down Fifth Avenue. The ones we completely ignore. Like Brian Chontosh.

It was a year ago on the march into Baghdad. Brian Chontosh was a platoon leader rolling up Highway 1 in a humvee. When all hell broke loose. Ambush city. The young Marines were being cut to ribbons. Mortars, machine guns, rocket propelled grenades. And the kid out of Churchville was in charge. It was do or die and it was up to him.

So he moved to the side of his column, looking for a way to lead his men to safety. As he tried to poke a hole through the Iraqi line his humvee came under direct enemy machine gun fire. It was fish in a barrel and the Marines were the fish.

And Brian Chontosh gave the order to attack. He told his driver to floor the humvee directly at the machine gun emplacement that was firing at them. And he had the guy on top with the .50 cal unload on them.

Within moments there were Iraqis slumped across the machine gun and Chontosh was still advancing, ordering his driver now to take the humvee directly into the Iraqi trench that was attacking his Marines.

Over into the battlement the humvee went and out the door Brian Chontosh bailed, carrying an M16 and a Beretta and 228 years of Marine Corps pride. And he ran down the trench. With its mortars and riflemen, machineguns and grenadiers. And he killed them all.

He fought with the M16 until it was out of ammo. Then he fought with the Beretta until it was out of ammo. Then he picked up a dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of ammo. Then he picked up another dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of ammo. At one point he even fired a discarded Iraqi RPG into an enemy cluster, sending attackers flying with its grenade explosion.

When he was done Brian Chontosh had cleared 200 yards of entrenched Iraqis from his platoon's flank. He had killed more than 20 and wounded at least as many more. But that's probably not how he would tell it.

He would probably merely say that his Marines were in trouble, and he got them out of trouble. Hoo-ah, and drive on.

"By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, 1st Lt. Chontosh reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service."

That's what the citation says. And that's what nobody will hear. That's what doesn't seem to be making the evening news. Accounts of American valor are dismissed by the press as propaganda, yet accounts of American difficulties are heralded as objectivity. It makes you wonder if the role of the media is to inform, or to depress, to report or to deride. To tell the truth, or to feed us lies.

But I guess it doesn't matter. We're going to turn out all right. As long as men like Brian Chontosh wear our uniform.

[Spock]

I KNOW WHERE I AM EATING

On America FM 100.7 (A local radio station) was doing one of their "Is anyone listening" bits this morning. This first one was, "Ever have a celebrity pull the "Do you know who I am' routine?"

A woman called in and said that a few years back, while visiting her cattle rancher uncle in Billings, MT., they had occasion to go to dinner at a restaurant that does not take reservations. The wait was about 45 minutes.

Lots of other rancher types and their spouses were already waiting. In comes Ted Turner and Jane Fonda. They want a table. The hostess says they'll have to wait about 45 minutes.

Jane Fonda asks the hostess if she knows who she is.

"Yes, but you'll still have to wait 45 minutes."

Then Jane says, "Is the manager in?"

The manager comes out, "May I help you?"

Do you know who I am?" ask both Jane and Ted.

"Yes, but these folks have all been waiting already and I can't put you in ahead of them."

Then Ted asks to speak to the owner. The owner comes out. Jane again asks, "Do you know who I am?"

The owner says, "Yes, I do. Do you know who I am?

I am the owner of this restaurant and a Vietnam Veteran.

Not only will you not get a table ahead of all of my friends and neighbors here, but you also will not be eating in my restaurant tonight or any other night.

Good bye."

Only in America, what a great country!

To all who received this email. This is a true story and the name of the steak house is:

Sir Scott's Oasis Steakhouse 204 W Main,
MANHATTAN, MT 59741
(406) 284-6929

The story left out one important part.

The owner of the restaurant told Ted Turner that he was a Vietnam Vet and that he (Ted) would be welcome in his restaurant, but Ted would have to get that bitch traitor out of his establishment because he would not serve her under any circumstances.

Keep passing this on. We never forget the unprosecuted traitor! And let's not forget what "our gal" Hillary said to the troops in Iraq!!!

"This war has no support from the American public" !!!!!

Sir Scott's Oasis Steakhouse
204 W Main
MANHATTAN, MT 59741
(406) 284-6929

[Spock]

Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 9:21 AM
Subject: Compensation

Like him or loath him, he nailed this one right on the head.

By Rush Limbaugh:

I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the September 11 casualty and those who die serving the country in Uniform are profound.

No one is really talking about it either, because you just don't criticize anything having to do with September 11. Well, I just can't let the numbers pass by, because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this country. If you lost a family member in the September 11 attack, you're going to get an average of $1,185,000.

The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million.

If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable. Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry. And there's a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching halt.

Keep in mind that some of the people who are getting an average of $1.185 million up! to $4.7 million are complaining that it's not enough. Their deaths were tragic, but for most, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Soldiers put themselves in harms way FOR ALL OF US, and they and their families know the dangers.

We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims from the Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization asking for the same deal that the September 11 families are getting. In addition to that, some of the families of those bombed in the embassies are now asking for compensation as well. You see where this is going, don't you? Folks, this is part and parcel of over 50 years of entitlement politics in this country. It's just really sad.

Every time a pay raise comes up for the military, they usually receive next to nothing of a raise.

Now the green machine is in combat in the Middle East while their families have to survive on food stamps and live in low-rent housing. Make sense?

However, our own U.S. Congress just voted themselves a raise, and many of you don't know that they only have to be in Congress one time to receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month, and most are now equal to being millionaires plus. They also do not receive Social Security on retirement because they didn't have to pay into the system.

If some of the military people stay in for 20 years and get out as an E-7, you may receive a pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people who placed you in harm's way receive a pension of $15,000 per month.

I would like to see our elected officials pick up a weapon and join ranks before they start cutting out benefits and lowering pay for our sons and daughters who are now fighting.

"When do we finally do something about this?"

If this doesn't seem fair to you, it is time to forward this to as many people as you can. If your interested there is more.......................

This must be a campaign issue in 2004. Keep it going. If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve. WE, each one of us... can make a difference...

[Spock]

Subject: Every American Needs To Read

HOW ABOUT A TASTE OF REALITY?

Jim T. Here, in Alamo Town, TX. Smsgt, USAF (RET) I did not compose this message, I wish I had, I think every American should have the opportunity to read it. Paste it on roadside Bill Boards, revive the Burma Shave road signs, or scroll it on TV prior to every news cast , but pass it around. In light of recent events, the so-called scandal of prisoner abuse and the beheading of the civilian Berg. America has to refocus, and realize our dream world we have lived in all our lives is gone. WE can get it back only by the elimination of all Terrorist. Otherwise, our schools should start teaching Islamic, a subject I have never desired to learn, nor do I plan to start now.

This article by: Ed Evans, MGySgt., USMC (Ret.)

I sat in a movie theater watching "Schindler's List," asked myself, "Why didn't the Jews fight back?" Now I know why.

I sat in a movie theater, watching "Pearl Harbor" and asked myself, "Why weren't we prepared?" Now I know why.

Civilized people cannot fathom, much less predict, the actions of evil people.

On September 11, dozens of capable airplane passengers allowed themselves to be overpowered by a handful of poorly armed terrorists because they did not comprehend the depth of hatred that motivated their captors.

On September 11, thousands of innocent people were murdered because too many Americans naively reject the reality that some nations are dedicated to the dominance of others. Many political pundits, pacifists and media personnel want us to forget the carnage. They say we must focus on the bravery of the rescuers and ignore the cowardice of the killers. They implore us to understand the motivation of the perpetrators. Major television stations have announced they will assist the healing process by not replaying devastating footage of the planes crashing into the TwinTowers.

I will not be manipulated.

I will not pretend to understand.

I will not forget.

I will not forget the liberal media who abused freedom of the press to kick our country when it was vulnerable and hurting.

I will not forget that CBS anchor Dan Rather preceded President Bush's address to the nation with the snide remark, "No matter how you feel about him, he is still our president."

I will not forget that ABC TV anchor Peter Jennings questioned President Bush's motives for not returning immediately to Washington, DC and commented, "We're all pretty skeptical and cynical about Washington."

And I will not forget that ABC's Mark Halperin warned if reporters weren't informed of every little detail of this war, they aren't "likely -- nor should they be expected -- to show deference."

I will not isolate myself from my fellow Americans by pretending an attack on the USS Cole in Yemen was not an attack on the United States of America.

I will not forget the Clinton administration equipped Islamic terrorists and their supporters with the world's most sophisticated telecommunications equipment and encryption technology, thereby compromising America's ability to trace terrorist radio, cell phone, land lines, faxes and modem communications.

I will not be appeased with pointless, quick retaliatory strikes like those perfected by the previous administration.

I will not be comforted by "feel-good, do nothing" regulations like the silly, "Have your bags been under your control?" question at the airport.

I will not be influenced by so called, "antiwar demonstrators" who exploit the right of ___expression to chant anti-American obscenities.

I will not forget the moral victory handed the North Vietnamese by American war protesters who reviled and spat upon the returning soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines.

I will not be softened by the wishful thinking of pacifists who chose reassurance over reality.

I will embrace the wise words of Prime Minister Tony Blair who told the Labor Party conference, "They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the innocent. If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it?

There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: "defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat it we must!"

I will force myself to:

-hear the weeping -feel the helplessness -imagine the terror -sense the panic -smell the burning flesh -experience the loss -remember the hatred.

I sat in a movie theater, watching "Private Ryan" and asked myself, "Where did they find the courage?"

Now I know.

We have no choice. Living without liberty is not living.

-- Ed Evans, MGySgt., USMC (Ret.) Not as lean, Not as mean, But still a Marine.

Keep this going until every living American has read it and memorized it so we don't make the same mistake again.

[Spock]

Subject: To Hell with outraged arabs

To hell with Arab outrage and when someone say's we don't belong there just remember this.

Arabs are "outraged" over the humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of a few American servicemen.

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when necrophiliacs in Fallujah mutilated four American soldiers by stepping on their burnt skulls and hung their burnt bodies from a bridge?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when "palestinians" mutilated and dragged the bodies of two IDF soldiers in Ramallah?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when 19 Muslims blew up the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11/01?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when Muslims continue to slaughter Sudanese Christians?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when Muslims blew up Pan Am Flight 103?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when Muslims bombed the marine barracks in Lebanon killing 241 Americans in 1983?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when Muslims bombed the USS COLE ?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when Muslims bombed the American embassies in Africa killing 231 people?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when Abu Mazen engineered the "Black September" Terror Attack during the Munich Olympics, which killed 11 Israeli athletes and a U.S. citizen ?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when ABu Abbas threw the wheel-chair bound Leon Klinghoffer overboard on the Achille Lauro?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when "Palestinian" rioters torched the Jewish-only Joseph's Tomb ?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when the Taliban blew up the Buddhist statues in Afghanistan?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when simultaneous blasts rocked two of downtown Istanbul's synagogues killing at least 15 people and wounding at least 140?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when "Palestinians" handed out candies celebrating the deaths of 3000 Americans on 9-11-01? and danced in the street.

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when Jemaah Islamiyah suicide bombers killed 12 people and injured 150 at the J.W. Marriott in Jakarta, Indonesia?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when bomb attacks in Morocco killed at least 28 people and injure more than 100?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when suicide bombers killed 12 people at an Israeli-owned beach hotel in Kenya and two missiles narrowly miss an airliner carrying Israelis?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when nearly 200 people, including seven Americans, were killed in bombings in a nightclub district of the Indonesian island of Bali?

Where were these "outraged" Arabs when 300,000 Iraqi's bodies were found in mass graves? Where was their indignation, folks? You know where? NOWHERE.

It was nowhere because Arab outrage when someone non-Arab is a victim, does not exist, it does not rate. Why? Because the Arab culture knows nothing but how to be proud and arrogant. The culture is a cohesive political glob of people united simply by political identity and not at all by morality.

It's time for the rest of us, who DO know the difference between right and wrong, to tell the world that these "outraged" idiots are too pathetic to warrant any sympathy from the rest of us.

We're waiting for these "outraged" Arabs to get up the manhood to be disgusted BY THEIR OWN people for the disgusting crimes they have committed against others.

Then we'll shed a tear.

[Spock]

Subject: In God We Trust

WRITE IT ON THE BACK OF YOUR ENVELOPES

You may have heard in the news that a couple of Post Offices in Texas have been forced to take down small posters that say "IN GOD WE TRUST." The law, they say, is being violated. It is something silly about electioneering posters (is God running for office)?

Anyway, I heard proposed on a radio station show, that we all write "IN GOD WE 'TRUST" on the back of all our mail. After all, that is our national motto, and it's on all the money we use to buy those stamps. I think it is a wonderful idea.

We must take back our nation from all the people who think that anything that offends them should be removed.

If you like this idea, please pass it on and DO IT. The idea of writing or stamping "IN GOD WE TRUST" on our envelopes sounds good to me. I'M HAVING MY STAMP MADE TODAY!

It has been reported that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore, I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a mess about having "In God We Trust"on our money and having God in the pledge of Allegiance.

Could it be that we just need to take action and tell the 14% to sit down and shut up?

[Spock]

We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA.

Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title "Cntarea Americii" meaning "Ode To America") on September 24, 2002, in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei ("The Daily Event" or "News of the Day").

~An Ode to America~

Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs. Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart.

Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the army, and the secret services that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. The Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.

After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing.

On every occasion, they started singing their traditional song: "God Bless America!" I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.

How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put in a collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy.

What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their galloping history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace.

I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion ... Only freedom can work such miracles.

Cornel Nistorescu