Writing Shotgun

A DAY FOR ALL VETERANS, A PARADE FOR SOME

Theo DouglasThu. November 08
 

It sounds fantastic when you think about it–fantastic like cities on the moon and flying cars–but the 11th Annual Long Beach Veterans Day Parade is an a-political event. And yet … .

The real story on this year’s parade, which happens Saturday, is that three anti-Iraq war groups–Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, and Military Families Speak Out–have been told they can’t march in the parade because of their political views.

We’ll get to the politics later, but first the mechanics of how these three organizations got the bums’ rush.

The groups’ application came in on time–meeting the Oct. 12 deadline to apply to march in the parade, says organizer Martha Thuente.

But Thuente says none of these three groups applied under their own name–and that’s apparently as big a no-no as espousing one’s political views in the parade. So they weren’t just, er, shot down because of their politics.

“Those groups did not apply under their own name,” Thuente says. “We received an application from [a group called] Military Patriots. And they said on the application, ‘Marching with us will be these three organizations.’ ”

Thuente says Military Patriots’ application was summarily denied–despite the fact that Veterans for Peace had marched in last year’s parade and the world hasn’t come to an end as a result of it.

Thuente also says that when a man representing Military Patriots spoke at Tuesday night’s Long Beach City Council meeting, “he said ‘We just made up this name.’ ”

Telephone calls and emails to Military Patriots, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Military Families Speak Out have not yet been returned, but we’ll update you when they are.

Funny thing–one of this year’s parade grand marshals–Long Beach firefighter Dave Kean–is himself a recently-returned Iraq veteran. I wonder how he feels about the war.

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    Don’t take my word for any of the information below unless you already know through your experience that it‘s true, or you verify it for yourself.

    Google is a wonderful tools to educate yourself as to who these groups really are ESPECIALLY IF YOU READ THEIR OWN WEBSITES.

    Iraq Veterans Against the War are mentored by and modeled after the Vietnam Veterans Against the War who smeared their own generation of veterans via a lie called the “Winter Soldier Investigation”. That was 109 “interviews” that were compiled to make a book and a movie documenting wide spread war crimes that they claimed every soldier serving participated in or covered up.

    A book called “Stolen Valor” examined the records of those “veterans” and found many were phony soldiers that never served. Others served, but never in Vietnam. Others that served in Vietnam were shown to be liars.

    What did they have in common? They lied about their fellow Vietnam veterans and they were members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War. They are the primary cause of labeling the veterans of that era “baby killers”.

    They are so reviled that they hide their association with VVAW and call themselves “Veterans For Peace”. Elliot Adams, David Cline, etc leading VFP figures are VVAW leaders. Do the math, VFP=VVAW with a few wannabes who missed the 60’s thrown in.

    MFSO? What a joke. Their name was cynically and deliberately chosen to steal the goodwill, respect and gratitude the public feels for our troops and use it for their purposes. MFSO’s leaders, radicals Charlie Richardson and Nancy Lessin both told a conference of “anti-war” (really anti-America) leaders that the left had no credibility, so they needed to have military families and better yet military members front their cause.

    There’s a lot of ways I can prove that MFSO is NOT the kind of military family you think of when someone says, “military” families. But the best example is 100 members of MFSO at Walter Reed Army hospital PROTESTING!

    Not only were they protesting at Walter Reed, don’t let them BS you about how they care. Those people put FUNERAL WREATHS in front of the Walter Reed sign and out of the 100 MFSO members, not one carried an America flag or had a American flag pin on.

    MFSO and VFP continues to sponsor a two hour protest every Friday night at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Let me tell you what I heard from three wounded Soldiers about what they thought of MFSO and their “Enlist Here and Die For Halliburton” and “Maimed For A Lie” signs as those wounded laid on a stretcher and looked out of the ambulance bus at MFSO. All three, who do not know each other, said the EXACT same thing, “I don’t need this S**T.”

    Thank God Long Beach stood up for our veterans and keep these hate groups out of the parade.

    Also, David Cline (VVAW) is the person who brought together these fake patriotic sounding groups, IVAW, VFP and MFSO. When you look at the incestuous leadership of these groups, you’ll see it’s a Potamkin Village.

    Again, I recommend that you Google these “peace groups” as they are forming new front groups all the time, but it’s the usual suspects in charge.

    However, if you’re looking for a good deal on a Che shirt, go to the biggest peace group, internationalanswer.org. ANSWER is the front group for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, pslweb.org.

    IVAW, VFP and MFSO gladly allow themselves to be used. All have been the lead group in ANSWER marches.

    And ANSWER has handed out a flyer that asks the “Anti-war movement” to give the “resistance” in Iraq “unconditional support”. Unconditional is just that “unconditional”. They don’t ask the other side to stop. And when they kill American troops, they you’re supposed to support that too. UNCONDITIONALLY.

    Google “Counter-revolution & Resistance In Iraq” and read the last paragraph.

    IVAW’s Chairman, Camilo Mejia, was on DemocracyNow.org on August 27th and during the interview revealed that he was born in Nicaragua, that his parents were big shots in the Sandinista revolution and that he’s a Marxist Sandinista too. Don’t believe me on that, hit the library and read Chapter One of his book. And oh yeah, Mejia skipped out on his service and did time in jail for that. This guy is who IVAW elected as their leader.

    Number Two at IVAW is a guy who got thrown out of the USMC and told, “Don’t Come Back”. Adam Kokesh bought a Saturday Night Special from an Iraqi policeman. That he was in Civil Affairs and there to teach and establish the rule of law, well….

    You’re told what you can and can not bring back from deployment and weapons are a BIG career ending no-no.

    So he brings it back and takes it on campus and it’s stolen from his vehicle. Campus Police investigate and he’s facing three felonies, which get plea bargained to disturbing the peace.

    Sorry that I don’t have a very reliable source on that, as I’m just reporting what Adam Kokesh told RadarOnLine in an interview.

    Again, Google is a great way to raise your consciouness of these groups.

    The most important point. Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War are all involved in the attempt to smear this generation of military serving, the way their Vietnam Veterans Against the War smeared the 60s veterans.

    Like “Winter Soldier”, there is a “documentary” in the works called “Collateral Damage”.

    Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War are the bulk of the 50 interviews in “Collateral Damage”.

    And the fact that the daughter of convicted terrorist supporter Sami al-Arian is involved, well that’s just a bonus.

    Another reason to doubt IVAW. Jesse Macbeth was a member of IVAW. MacBeth was a phony Soldier. He never made it past recruit. Yet he marched with IVAW and even carried their banner. MacBeth lied. MacBeth said that his unit laid in wait at a mosque until the worshiperss were in prayers, slaughtered them, burned their bodies and hung the bodies from the rafters. And don’t let IVAW BS that MacBeth wasn’t a member. IVAW staffer Braxton was able to respond to inquiries and provide investigative journalists MacBeth’s discharge form. Jesse MacBeth was given a trial and convicted on his phony soldier claims.

    There is another IVAW member who claims war crimes, but believe it ofr not a reporter embedded in the IVAW’s members unit came to the defense of the troops and disputed the IVAW claims.

    IVAW and VFP are both endorsers of the World Tribunal on Iraq. Basically the Hate America crowd, here and abroad, held a series of intenational show trials with America and our military in the dock. IVAW’s Tim Goodrich testified to Army war crimes according to their reports. In the end, America was found guilty and they issued a “declaration” which among other things declared that the armed resistance is entitled to “certain acts of desperation” against the brutal occupier and that such acts were legitimate and justified under the UN Charter and international law. If it’s not clear what are “certain acts of desperation” by the “resistance”, search YouTube.com for “Iraq resistance” and “Iraqi resistance” and you see clearly that it is our troops getting killed. What Veterans’ “peace group” endorses such madness in the name of peace?

    Bottom line, these people ARE anti-American. They are Vietnam protest re-enactors on a grand scale. And like the Vietnam era protesters who helped form and now guide them, it’s not enough for them that the war is wrong, it’s not enough for them that America is wrong, the troops have to be wrong too.

    Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

    raouldeming@hotmail.com
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    The man representing Military Patriots spoke at Tuesday night’s Long Beach City Council meeting was offered a ride in the Councilman's car, but not with the protest T-shirt.

    The offer was refused. That's because it's all about them, the liberal left. They can't zip it for even one day to honor veterans these self-rightous clowns.

    If you want a parade to showcase you cause, run your own, don't be a leech.

    These groups are always at the head of the Party For Socialism and Liberation's march, the ones organized under the phony name of ANSWER.

    I think next anti-war march these clowns throw, I'll sue to let all the other veterans. TGhe veterans who don't trash America, who don't trash our troops while they are in harm's way march in their and want our people in SWA to know that these types are a distinct minority.
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    Theo,

    Benedict Arnold was a veteran.

    His birthday is January 14th. I'm sure you honor him by flying the flag.

    My question is, "What flag?"
 
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