NEVER FORGET

PLEASE NEVER FORGET.........THERE ARE ONLY 2 LIFE FORCES WHO HAVE OFFERED TO DIE FOR YOU.........JESUS CHRIST AND THE AMERICAN MILITARY.

Please scroll below for newer posts.

A TRIBUTE TO THE "WARTHOG"

QUESTION: What aircraft has a sound that gives reassurance to our Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan?
ANSWER: A-10 "Warthog"

QUESTION: What aircraft has a sound which strikes fear into the hearts of our enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan?
ANSWER: A-10 "Warthog"

QUESTION: What aircraft is the workhorse of air operations in Iraq and Afghanistan"?
ANSWER: A-10 "Warthog"




THANK YOU to Drillanwr at Pat Dollard's: http://patdollard.com/
Please go over to Pat's to see all of the A-10 videos posted by Drill to have a better understanding of the tremendous work they're doing to aid our Troops.

FOR YOUR SUNDAY

We can complain that rose bushes have thorns,
or rejoice that thorn bushes have roses.
Abraham Lincoln

Where flowers bloom,
so does hope.
Lady Bird Johnson

Two great Americans......from two different centuries......from two different sides of the political spectrum......sharing two separate thoughts on the same subject......that reach the same conclusion.................that beauty and hope are, indeed, just within our grasp if we only open our eyes, hearts, and minds.

U. S. AIR FORCE SPECIAL FORCES

Rarely seen and usually known only to their Units, Commanders, and families.

The men of the U.S. Air Force Special Forces....Thank You.

ONE WEEK IN THE LIFE OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT

In the past week, the U.S. Supreme Court has made 3 landmark decisions. All 3 have been met with heated debate on both sides of the political spectrum, amongst the public, and in the media.

The first was to grant the rights of Habeus Corpus to the detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The ruling came with a 5 to 4 majority, with the four liberal Justices voting in favour and Justice Kennedy being the swing vote.

The second was to state that the death penalty would no longer be on the table as punishment for anyone convicted of raping a child. Once again, the ruling came with all 4 liberal Justices voting to overturn the death sentence of a man in Louisiana convicted of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter; with Justice Kennedy being the swing vote. All States which currently have the death penalty for such a crime are going to appeal this decision.

The third was to overturn the ban on handguns in Washington, D.C., and essentially uphold the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution; which grants citizens the right to bear arms. This time Justice Kennedy voted with the 4 conservative Justices to overturn the ban.

Three decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court in one week which will have far-reaching consequences for every American.

In this writer's opinion, only one decision was just.

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While the faces of the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are frequently in the news these days, please take a moment to look at some of the faces of our Special Forces Troops. The faces are of men you will never see, but to whom you should be eternally grateful.

WHERE IS THE JUSTICE FOR THE CHILDREN?

After reading the following piece from CNN's web site, please ask yourself how this is justice.........

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that child rapists cannot be executed, concluding that capital punishment for crimes against individuals can be applied only to murderers.

The ruling stemmed from the case of Patrick Kennedy, who appealed the 2003 death sentence he received in Louisiana after being convicted of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion that execution in this case would violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, citing "evolving standards of decency" in the United States.

Such standards, the justice wrote, forbid capital punishment for any crime against an individual other than murder.

"We conclude that, in determining whether the death penalty is excessive, there is a distinction between intentional first-degree murder on the one hand and nonhomicide crimes against individual persons, even including child rape, on the other," wrote Kennedy, who is not related to the convicted rapist. Watch how Wednesday's ruling will have a wide reach »

Patrick Kennedy, 43, would have been the first convicted rapist in the United States since 1964 to be executed in a case in which the victim was not killed.

Kennedy was convicted of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter in her bed. The attack caused severe emotional trauma, internal injuries and bleeding to the child, requiring extensive surgery, Louisiana prosecutors said.

Don't Miss

• Toobin: Death penalty reserved for murders
• Supreme Court: Kennedy v. Louisiana

In the majority opinion, Anthony Kennedy acknowledged "the victim's fright, the sense of betrayal, and the nature of her injuries caused more prolonged physical and mental suffering than, say, a sudden killing by an unseen assassin."

But the justice -- supported by Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer -- wrote that when determining what punishment the Eighth Amendment prohibits, "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society" must be taken into account.

After a review of the "history of the death penalty for this and other nonhomicide crimes, current state statutes and new enactments ... we conclude there is a national consensus against capital punishment for the crime of child rape," Anthony Kennedy wrote.

Attorneys at the Capital Appeals Project who represent Patrick Kennedy issued a statement applauding the ruling.

"We can only hope that the money that Louisiana has been spending drafting and defending this anomalous and unconstitutional statute will be reallocated to efforts at treatment for victims of sexual abuse and for measures that actually reduce the risk of such abuse in our communities," attorney Ben Cohen said in the statement.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the dissent, saying, "The harm that is caused to the victims and to society at large by the worst child rapist is grave." He was supported by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

Alito also wrote that the majority ruled against the death penalty "no matter how young the child, no matter how many times the child is raped, no matter how many children the perpetrator rapes, no matter how sadistic the crime, no matter how much physical or psychological trauma is inflicted and no matter how heinous the perpetrator's criminal record may be."

Wednesday's ruling will affect six states that allow the death penalty for rape, including Louisiana, where Patrick Kennedy was recently joined on death row by another convicted child rapist, Richard Davis.

Because of the ruling, the sentences of Davis and Kennedy will automatically be commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the Capital Appeals Project said.

"Mr. Kennedy, who has consistently maintained his innocence, plans to continue to pursue his appeals in state and federal court," the appeals project said.

Florida, Montana, Oklahoma and South Carolina have death-penalty laws for rape but have not applied them in decades. Texas enacted a version a year ago, but no defendant has been designated death-eligible for child rape in any state but Louisiana.

Other state and federal crimes theoretically eligible for execution include treason, aggravated kidnapping, drug trafficking, aircraft hijacking and espionage. None of these crimes has been prosecuted as a capital offense in decades, if ever.

U.S. Supreme Court rulings in 1976 and 1977 barred capital punishment for rape. But in 1995, Louisiana passed a law allowing execution for the sexual violation of a child under 12. State lawmakers argued that the earlier high court cases pertained only to "adult women."

Supporters of Louisiana's law say that besides murder, no crime is more deserving of the death penalty than child rape and that the punishment would be used only in the most heinous of circumstances.

"A lot of people think there should not be a death penalty because the child survives," sex crimes prosecutor Kat Bartholomew said. "In my opinion, the rape of a child is more heinous and more hideous than a homicide."

She said a sexual assault on a child "takes away their innocence. It takes away their childhood. It mutilates their spirit. It kills their soul."

Death penalty opponents contend, among other things, that it could give attackers a reason to murder their victims. In Wednesday's ruling, Anthony Kennedy agreed, writing, "A state that punishes child rape by death may remove a strong incentive for the rapist not to kill the victim."

After the ruling, a cousin of the victim's, said, "Just knowing the kind of man [Patrick Kennedy] is, we'll never be comfortable."

The high court has in recent years banned execution of the mentally retarded, underage killers and those deemed to have had an inadequate defense at trial.

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Would just one person explain how this ruling is justice?

It will be hailed by anyone currently on death row for raping a child......it will be hailed by their defense attorneys......it will be hailed by the ACLU......and it will be hailed by the 5 Justices of the United States Supreme Court who voted in favour of this ruling.

However, it will not be hailed by the victims of such an evil crime.

Where is their justice?

The following is for the children................may they soon know some peace in their lives, their hearts, and their minds.

IN RESPONSE TO MOVE ON AND THEIR ILK

This video was made by Tommy Chandler and the Crew over at "Chandler's Watch", in response to the MoveOn.Org video "John McCain Wants To Kill My Baby".

After watching, please say a prayer of thanks to God that there are such women...such Marine women...who aren't afraid to teach their sons and daughters about duty, honour, and sacrifice. Every night, I thank God that there are such Americans.

You may visit Tommy Chandler at: http://blog.chandlerswatch.net/

Thanks to Bash, at Pat Dollard's: http://patdollard.com/