Veterans Day

Source: http://circlethewagons.net/

    When I was 18, I spent the summer at the New Jersey shore, working during the day, spending some time on the beach, and playing PacMan and DigDug video games on the boardwalk occasionally in the evenings.
    When my father was 18, he was on the deck of an ocean liner (1944) crossing the Atlantic, making sure the rest of the soldiers stayed below deck for their own safety.
    I was trying to make sure we had all 168 episodes of Hogan's Heroes videotaped.
    He began the trek across Europe, rounding up shell-shocked German soldiers, rousting them from their foxholes and into makeshift POW camps.  The first night they'd draw a line in the dirt around the camp.  If any of the prisoners crossed it, they would be shot.  They added barbed wire later, and eventually loaded the prisoners on train cars to be moved to more permanent camps.
    I began thinking about college and how I would prepare for my career.
    My uncle (now deceased), around the same age, fought his way across France a few days behind the D-Day invasion.
    Up to and including today, millions of men and women gave and are giving their lives, their youth, the innocence of their minds forever stained by the horror of war, that the rest of us might live free.  May we always be grateful for their service and sacrifice.

I Pledge Allegiance to... What?! [Updated]

    In yesterday's Best of the Web column on wsj.com, James Taranto called attention to the latest gimmick from the Obama campaign:

The "For All" initiative asks supporters to post a photo on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that highlights why we are greater together regardless of race, background, sexual orientation or zip code. The campaign will launch "For All" on its Instagram account and asks young people to join in protecting the progress we've made and moving our country forward. These images will be online at barackobama.com/photos-from-the-field/forall.
It's an easy three step process: 1) write on your right hand what progress means to you, 2) put your hand over your heart for a quick smartphone photo, and 3) tweet using the hashtag #forall. Supporters kicked it off with their own photos asking young people to join them in protecting the progress we've made and moving our country forward.

    Here are just some of the photos so far:

    I must admit the idea seemed somewhat bizarre, but then a tweet from the Obama campaign (which I noted here) filled in the missing piece of the puzzle:

    "I pledge allegiance to the flag of..."

Update: I just realized!  How could I have missed this?!   "...liberty and justice for all."  Forget "liberty and justice"!  Instead, "clean energy", "equality", "education", and "women's rights."  Just fill in the blank... or the hand...

Update:  Jessica, I was KIDDING!

No Red States, No Blue States, Only Obama States [Updated]

    The Obama campaign at @BarackObama just tweeted the following:

    A lovely, bipartisan, can't-we-all-get-along, feel-good tweet, no?  However, clicking on the link takes you directly to the Barack Obama campaign web store and the following items:

That's right, no red states, no blue states.  In fact, no states at all!  Just the traditional blue field and white stars (what was Betsy Ross thinking, anyway?) replaced with the ubiquitous Obama O!  At least the red and white stripes are retained, although two of each are missing.  I wonder which of the four original colonies went for McCain in 2008?  Just when you think the Obama campaign has reached the peak of self-aggrandizement, it goes and demonstrates there are higher heights to climb.


UPDATE: By the way, the last time the campaign used this "No red states, no blue states, only the United States" slogan, they tweeted an image of the President superimposed over a map of the country. Apparently they thought better of it, because the photo disappeared from the tweet.  However, the image lives on, where else?  In the campaign store on a shirt!