No, what I want for me is one thing; what I want for all those who can't be home for Christmas this year is to have as Merry a Christmas (or holiday of your choice) as they can.  I hope that each of them can spend at least a moment talking to their families, and sharing in the day via technical means. It's not the same, not by a long shot, but it is better than nothing. 

To you all:  Merry Christmas! 

LW

Every year, I tell my wife not to buy me anything for Christmas.  I explain that I am a grown man, and that I can just use my money and earning power to buy myself anything that I want.  I also tell her that after having so many Christmases and Thanksgivings and Birthdays etc. doing something in the service of my country (usually somewhere in the world that could only be described as "super craptastic") that I am just glad to be home.

But there was this one Christmas that I spent here that was pretty cool.

But, despite all of the cool and uncool places you can spend a holiday, I think all any veteran really wants for Christmas is to be home.  I won't have to stand another QRF, fire-watch, presence patrol or attend another targeting meeting, intelligence update, or BUB while holding Christmas dinner in my hand on a paper tray. 

I wouldn't trade those experiences over my 24 years, because without them, I wouldn't have the perspective to appreciate how much I enjoy the gift of just being in my own living room on December 25th.

I want Mrs. Deebow and my family to know that watching my little Deebow open gifts that Santa brought and placed gently under the tree we cut ourselves and having a hot cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll sitting next to her; all while surrounded by piles of used wrapping paper and empty boxes is one of the greatest joys of my life.  I wouldn't trade it for a 20 foot pile of money or a rucksack full of gold.  Everything else is just extra.

To my fellow warriors and veterans who are serving during this holiday season; please know that my only Christmas wish for you is for to be home with your families, enjoying the mountains of used wrapping paper and a hot cup of coffee and the laughter of your children and the warm company of your families.  Merry Christmas to everyone who is forward deployed and on QRF, fire-watch, coming or going from a patrol, on their way to a targeting meeting, or sitting in a BUB.  Thank you for the freedom to enjoy my Christmas in peace.

And most of all, and this likely never gets said enough; Merry Christmas to the troops and contractors who are manning the chow hall and the kitchen.  I always appreciated the fact that some of the best food I have ever eaten on a holiday far from home was cooked by someone who thought it was not just their job, but their duty to ensure that Christmas dinner was as close to homemade as it could be 8,000 miles from my dining room.

Oh, and Mrs. Deebow?  Yeah, well; I have some gifts to open now. 

Feh...   Like she does what I tell her.... 

The Art of the Left Hook: Guns, Humanity, and Politics
Guest Blog by Joe Katzman

"Liberalism, by the inner dynamic of its logic, was forced to become an instrument of social control in order to avoid the chaos which it created by its own erosion of tradition and morals. Democratic man could not be left to his own devices; chaos would result. The logic was clear. If there is no God, there can be no religion; if there is no religion, there can be no morals; if there are no morals, there can be no self-control; if there is no self-control, there can be no social order; if there is no social order, there can be nothing but the chaos of competing desire. But we cannot have chaos, so therefore we must institute behavioral control in place of the traditional structures of the past — tradition, religion, etc. Abolishing tradition, religion and morals and establishing "scientific" social control are one and the same project." — E. Michael Jones, Libido Dominandi - Sexual Liberation and Political Control

As I think about the Sandy Hook massacre, I keep coming back to 3 different facets. One is human. One is policy. One is politics. Sadly, in what's left of our republic, they no longer overlap. But they're all there, all the same.

Dealing with each of them in turn may help readers tie several posts here at Blackfive together into a larger picture, understand what has gone wrong since the shootings, and get more clarity on the way forward. Consider it my offering as a long-time reader; I trust that it will well repay your time with interest.

We'll begin with the human side...(after the Jump).

Continue reading "The Art of the Left Hook: Guns, Humanity, and Politics"

Tim Kennedy gives an interview and pulls no punches on MMA fighters that pull out of bouts for an injury, gun control, and leaving Strikeforce for the UFC. 

...Stephie Daniels: When you do come over, is there somebody in particular that you have in mind to fight?

Tim Kennedy: I'm fighting on January 12th, but if you tested positive for steroids, and you're running your mouth about how awesome you are, I pretty much want to punch you in the face, because you're embarrassing me and my sport. I don't even think we have time to cover them all. I"ve got the 12th to worry about, and that's what I'm focusing on. Then I'll worry about all the cheaters.

Stephie Daniels: Since we're on the topic of cheaters, are you a proponent of VADA?

Tim Kennedy: Absolutely. You can come over and draw a sample out of my eyeball, if you want...

And it gets better after that.  Be sure to read the whole interview.

Here's an older spot from Ranger Up about Tim:

Tim's last fight for Showtime's Strikeforce will be in Oklahoma City on January 12th.

We will be there supporting him all the way.

Know I owe some posts, such a follow-up to the tease I posted the other day, but I've been fighting the lung crud and dealing with background issues. 

Among those background issues is the new revised embed.  Last week, I met with a MG at Bragg, and he had a very good idea for an embed and a story that has not been done.  I liked him, and liked the story.  However, it will take up to another month for his staff to set it up I am told. Yep, yet more delay. 

The fact is, I need to be working.  I have my ITOs.  If there is a unit over there that would like a visit from Blackfive, one that has the potential to be long term, drop me aline.  I've not given up hope for the new revised embed, but I also can't afford to sit around waiting. 

LW

“There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men.” 
―Edmund Burke

Answering the call of being a sheepdog in this society isn't easy.  It isn't an easy choice, given the amount of ridicule it usually comes with by those that are or live among the sheep.  We are looked at by the sheep as if we are the crazy ones because we have chosen to be the people who do the hard and necessary work of keeping evil from taking over.  Honestly, most of the time, I have neither the time nor inclination to explain myself to likes of people who sleep comfortably under the blanket of safety that sheepdogs like me provide by just going about their daily work.  Not listening to the likes of ass-clowns like Martin Bashir, Chrissy Tingles, Special Ed and Soledad O'Brien makes for a better day.

This calling to be a sheepdog comes with a number of burdens.  The equipment that you sometimes have to carry and use is heavy, hot and cumbersome.  You have to spend hours and days away from your family over a lifetime missing Thanksgivings, Halloweens, Christmas programs and birthdays year after year training or working.  You get to see the sun rise when you are going home and see it set when you are heading to work.

The sheep and the lambs know not the sacrifices of the sheepdog, made to keep them safe.  They happily go about their lives blissfully unaware of the nature of the world and all of the evil that never reaches them.  They don't know about the bad actors, the dark places and the daily stress of being out there ensuring that they never know evil.

But these burdens are not the most heavy of burdens.

There will come a time in your life and career when you might have to decide who lives and dies out there. It's a terrible responsibility, you can't delegate it to anyone else, and it's one you will have to make on your own. The bigger reality is, it is also a decision that you are going to have to live with as a human being, for the rest of your life. There will come a time when you will have to say "no" to that person who needs you because the most important person to keep alive at that time, is going to be yourself. You could be facing a situation where there will be people, some of them your friends, all saying "save me, save me."  They're looking for a miracle and you are going to have to decide if being that miracle is within you, and even worse, the person that may need that miracle might be you.

Some of you will recognize a version of that speech, and I heard it myself a long time ago from a wise old man who had to make a few of those terrible decisions in his life.  

Sheepdogs can't be everywhere at once.  Sometimes the sheep are on their own, and evil people know this. They chose to attack at that moment because they know that there will be no one there to stop them.  If someone has an insatiable darkness in their heart, there is no law given by man or God that will stop them in their quest to act upon their terrible desires.  Out of sheep, sometimes a sheepdog arises.  God Bless Victoria Soto for knowing that one of the miracles that day was her.  God Bless Maryrose Kristopik for doing what she could that day and being that miracle for her music class.  God Bless Principal Dawn Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach for running toward the sound of gunfire and being a miracle to their school.  They moved to stop an armed man engaged in the rapid mass murder of little children armed only with their fists.

A Sheepdog's Burden, carried with them everyday, is at the moment that evil appears, that they will not be there in time to stop it.  That evil will be able wreak havoc and by the time the Sheepdog arrives, the damage will be done and the evil men who have done evil deeds will be long gone. It is, without a doubt, the emptiest feeling in the world.  Sheepdogs bear this burden because we know evil, we know that it sometimes pays a visit to the most cherished of places.   

The tools needed to stop evil when used by evil men are not the problem.  We don't need to know why evil is or why evil does or what evil will do.  The problem is evil itself, and the people that embody it and act on it.  It cannot be negotiated away, it cannot be wished away and it does not just go away.

The only way to stop evil, and evil people, is to meet that evil, shake it, stomp it or kill it if it is mortal.

Freaking Awesome!!! Instills continued pride for Vets, serves a trade they are very familiar with, good at and protects soft targets. Additionally provides an immediate job gap for the 200,000 Marines getting fired in Feb.  Think it will happen?

"It's better to live one day as a lion than a hundred years as a lamb."

Time for a CGar!

The time for action is now. The recent spate of mass shootings must finally spur us to do what must be done. We need press control. That's right, the media is out of control and they are enabling and certainly promoting the sick bastards who are slaughtering innocents. The Founders could not have  envisioned a 24/7 news cycle with blaring soundtracks, garish headlines, and a relentless, almost pornographic sensationalism. There is no doubt the sad souls who plot these horrors can picture their faces beaming from screens around the world. They gain a notoriety they could never achieve otherwise and the ghouls who give them a stage must bear their responsibility.

Back in the day, you had to take quill to parchment, or if you were doing mass media you could run off a couple of hundred pamphlets. The high capacity, assault weapons of cable news and the internet were as unimagined in colonal times as nuclear weapons. The Bill of Rights is not  suicide pact and an unabridged press does not mean very channel should be as well-armed as the New York Times. Semi-automatic handguns have been around since the 1890s but school shootings are a much more recent development. What has changed since then? Instant fame, or more properly infamy, that's what and it is time to put some common sense controls on the folks who give these losers a chance to live forever.

Sound familiar? Just swap out the Second Amendment for the First and you have the cacophony of bad ideas currently being thrown at a problem that is only tangentially related to the actual tool use to perpetrate these massacres. Froggy did an excellent job of spotlighting the dismal failure of the "reforms" to mental health treatment. If you don't want crazy people shooting, or stabbing, or poisoning innocents, maybe you should deal with the crazy people. The particular method they use to kill doesn't really matter all that much to the people who are just as dead from an bludgeoning as a bullet.

The urge to do something, anything, in the wake of a slaughter like Newtown is powerful. The number and variety of gun control schemes advanced is staggering. The moral high ground is occupied and fire rains down on we unenlightened few who refuse to acknowledge the simple fact that guns kill people. But why have they decided to kill school kids now? Have the guns changed? No, not in any significant way in almost a hundred years. 1922 is when John Browning gave us the high capacity magazine and for some reason there was no massive increase in schoolyard slayings when 13 rds of 9mm were suddenly available. It took a coarsening ot our culture, a coddling of crazies and a cornucopia of cable news coverage to create this.The guns are just a scapegoat.

The problem cannot be solved without removing guns completely and there is absolutely zero chance of that happening. Even if a law was passed, it could never be enforced and would simply disarm, or worse, make criminals out of formerly law-abiding citizens. The places withe the tightest gun laws have the most gun murders. Most of the mass shootings happen in gun-free zones. How freakin' hard is that to comprehend? Much too hard apparently. So we get pontificating douchebags who are willing to subcontract their own security and simply hope for the best. Well sorry folks, but when you need a cop immediately they are only minutes away and they are bringing chalk for your outline and calling the coroner. That is not good enough for me and that is why the Second Amendment exists, and will always exist.

So STFU about the guns and show some sympathy and respect for the families.

Let me first stipulate and make plain that gun control has no role in preventing mass shootings like the ones in CT or CO.  I understand that people want to debate that, but allow me to make a few points regarding the mental health situation in the US or at least in CA. 

After leaving active duty with tons of medical training and few other marketable skills, I worked at two mental hospitals on their locked units and with the San Diego PD Homeless Outreach Team focusing on evaluating people for involuntary psychiatric commitment under CA Code 5150.  5150 essentially states that a person can be involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility for 72 hours if they are a danger to themselves or others or can be considered "gravely disabled".  I'm no psychiatrist, but I have extensive knowledge of abnormal behavior and the way that the mentally ill interact with our legal system. 

Back in the 1960s the federal government and some of the States began to rethink policies concerning the chronically mentally ill in the US.  A combination of budget cuts and a strong "patient rights" movement conspired to change the way we looked at the mentally ill.  The patient rights groups argued that these people were being systematically denied civil rights to make their own decisions (which is true), but after "freeing" them and patting themselves on the back, they didn't do anything much to address the subsequent issues that have obviously arisen.

Ostensibly there are are series of welfare/safety net programs to support the indigent, but in the case of the mentally ill, they are incapable of comprehending their own needs and advocating on their own behalf.  Conservatorship is a mechanism by which a court appoints someone to make health, financial, and other decisions for an incompetent adult.  The idea behind it is great, but there are powerful "patient advocate" groups and court appointed defense counsels whose mission it is to defeat these procedings especially when the conservatee's family is attempting to institute this remedy.  The result of this struggle probably accounts for more than 50% of the US homeless population today.  While full time welfare queens are out there gaming the system for every nickel, these mentally ill folk are left to rot in their own filth on sidewalks across America. 

It takes a while for them to make it to the sidewalk though.  Before that happens, their families are often tormented and threatened by their kin for years on end with nary an option aside for short stints in County Mental Health or County Jail.  Psychosis and paranoia are powerful threats to the families of the mentally ill and few are equipped physically, psychologically, or financially to address them.  After years of difficulty, altercations, threats, and public humiliation these families tend to exhaust their compassion for these people and they are cut loose on to the streets for people like me on the HOT Team to deal with. 

There is tremendous power in psychosis because it lacks any acknowledgement of itself, has no conscience, no limitations, and it has a florid imagination, foolproof internal defense mechanisms and great physical strength owing to its "fight or flight" adrenaline charged nature.  These people truly are to be pitied and cared for by our society.  They can never hold a job, keep a schedule, manage their finances, properly nourish themselves, or maintain healthy relationships as their own minds conspire against them.  Make no mistake, this is a medical/chemical condition and not a choice.  In fact, the key feature of psychosis is avoidance of the medications that can reduce their delusions, hallucinations, and paranoia.  Their internal voices fiercely argue against treatment as they somehow understand that it would kill the symptoms that they exist to produce.

We have had the gun control discussion in this country for many years and clearly the American people recognize the importance of the Second Amendment.  That ship has sailed.  The conversation we need to have is about what we are not doing to address our mental health system.  There are precious few beds in long term facilities and County facilities and prisons are constantly overflowing.  Seeing the rank injustice of professional welfare scammers running up a tab on my tax bill while these utterly helpless people are left in a state of near constant panic, confusion, and paranoia ought to be a call to action especially now.  Let's kick these freeloading bums of the teet and help the desperate few among us who truly cannot care for themselves. 

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Micheal A. Cornelio pays respect after placing a wreath at a grave marker during Wreaths Across America at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Dec. 15, 2012. Cornelio is assigned to Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion on Fort Meade, Md. DOD photo by Sebastian Sciotti Jr.

A section of Arlington National Cemetery, Va., shows a fraction of the 110,000 wreaths placed at the graves of fallen service members during Wreaths Across America, Dec. 15, 2012. DOD photo by EJ Hersom

A member of the U.S. Army Honor Guard, 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, carries a wreath donated by Wreaths Across America at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Dec. 15, 2012. DOD photo by EJ Hersom

The U.S. Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard rehearses for the 2012 National Finals Rodeo, at the Thomas Mac Center, Las Vegas, Nev., Dec. 11, 2012. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Samuel Ranney

Below is the credit from WLIT:

Written by former Marine Corporal James M. Schmidt, in 1987 when stationed in Washington D.C., it was pounded out on a typewriter while awaiting the commading officer's Christmas holiday decoration inspection.  It was originally title "Merry Christmas, My Friend", and was an instant success that reportedly brought tears to the eyes of the barrracks Commander who ordered it distributed to everyone he knew. It appeared in the barracks publication Pass in Review in December 1987 and Leatherneck Magazine in December 1991.

The poem was recorded as a tribute by Father Ted Berndt, a former Marine and Purple Heart recipient during World War II, currently residing in Dousman, Wisconsin for his daughter Ellen Stout, a Clear Channel radio personality.

Here is the poem as read by Father Berndt:

Here's the original poem:

MERRY CHRISTMAS, MY FRIEND

‘Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone, In a one-bedroom house made of plaster and stone. I had come down the chimney, with presents to give and to see just who in this home did live. As I looked all about, a strange sight I did see, no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree. No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand. On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land. With medals and badges, awards of all kind, a sobering thought soon came to my mind. For this house was different, unlike any I’d seen. This was the home of a U.S. Marine. I’d heard stories about them, I had to see more, so I walked down the hall and pushed open the door. And there he lay sleeping, silent, alone, Curled up on the floor in his one-bedroom home. He seemed so gentle, his face so serene, Not how I pictured a U.S. Marine. Was this the hero, of whom I’d just read? Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed? His head was clean-shaven, his weathered face tan. I soon understood, this was more than a man. For I realized the families that I saw that night, owed their lives to these men, who were willing to fight. Soon around the Nation, the children would play, And grown-ups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day. They all enjoyed freedom, each month and all year, because of Marines like this one lying here. I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone, on a cold Christmas Eve, in a land far from home. Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye. I dropped to my knees and I started to cry. He must have awoken, for I heard a rough voice, “Santa, don’t cry, this life is my choice I fight for freedom, I don’t ask for more. My life is my God, my country, my Corps.” With that he rolled over, drifted off into sleep, I couldn’t control it, I continued to weep. I watched him for hours, so silent and still. I noticed he shivered from the cold night’s chill. So I took off my jacket, the one made of red, and covered this Marine from his toes to his head. Then I put on his T-shirt of scarlet and gold, with an eagle, globe and anchor emblazoned so bold. And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride, and for one shining moment, I was Marine Corps deep inside. I didn’t want to leave him so quiet in the night, this guardian of honor so willing to fight. But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure, said “Carry on, Santa, it’s Christmas Day, all secure.” One look at my watch and I knew he was right, Merry Christmas my friend, Semper Fi and goodnight.

©Copyright circa 1991 by James M. Schmidt
(As printers in the December 1991 issue of the USMC magazine, Leatherneck)

Thanks to (the late) Bill Faith of Small Town Veteran for the poem link and correct attribution/origin of the poem!

Merry Christmas!

[Note: As the poem was written by a Marine about a Marine and the recording was made by a Marine, I'm not sure why the recording was titled "Soldier's Silent Night".  It might be because "soldier" can be used to describe anyone in the Armed Forces (capital S "Soldier" means Army).  Or it just might be a mistake.]

First, this story about the treatment of a Marine amputee by Delta Airlines flight is horrific.

...Last Sunday, almost exactly a year since those grievous injuries forced him to learn to walk on two successive pairs of prosthetic legs, Brown was “humiliated” to the point of tears on a Delta flight from Atlanta to Washington after being clumsily wheeled to the back row of the plane, according to a complaint sent to the airline by an outraged fellow passenger.

 Worse yet, according to retired Army Col. Nickey Knighton’s detailed “customer care” report to Delta, efforts by several fellow vets to shift Brown from coach to a first class seat offered by another flyer, were rebuffed by the crew. Flight attendants insisted no one could move through the cabin because the doors were being closed for take off...

Wow.  Just wow.  I hope Delta responds appropriately.  Be sure to read the article and the last line is especially important.

Next, apparently, Marine Medal of Honor recipient, Dakota Meyer, was in a brawl at a bar/party and was sent to the hospital.  Details over at the Quinton Report.

...reported that he was hit over the head with a bottle and, that while he was on the ground, he was beaten and kicked by up to ten people...

Maybe a FR platoon should go visit those guys.