Scammers Abound in Wake of Katrina

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, VRWC wanted to remind you that whenever there is a major natural or other disaster, scammers begin sending out charity relief scams within just a couple of hours!

With all of the devastation, we are already seeing many kinds of scams specific to Hurricane Katrina:

1.) Chain letters:
According to Anne Mitchell, aka Aunty Spam, the first
email hoax was a request to forward the hoax because
fifty cents would supposedly be donated to help victims
for every copy of the email forwarded. You can read
about this hoax here.

2.) Phishing scams:
According to the Washington Post, a number of fraudulent
websites have already been set up pretending to be legitimate
Hurricane Katrina relief organizations. These sites request
charitable donations, but in fact steal financial information
and may be used for identity theft as well. Contributions,
of course, go into the pockets of the scammers rather than
to help people who desperately need it.
3.) Misleading emails trying to take advantage
of the disaster to sell unrelated products:

Here's an example of an email that was just trying to sell Viagra:

--- Begin scam email --- "Subject: Re: 80 percent of our city
underwater."

True, this seems harmless to most, but the escalation of the idea is
where the damage comes into play. As the acceptance of false promise
is present, it must be viewed as fraudulent, as the next step may be
false advertising, and then verbal promises to victims or refugees, then
actually taking money from those same victims/refugees, and so on. Remember, . . . . we must be able to SPELL the word SECURITY, before we begin to DEFINE it.

4.) Investment and security scams:
According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC), emails are already making the rounds that tout
specific stocks on the basis of activity related to Hurricane
Katrina.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Tuesday that Hurricane Katrina killed as many as 80 people in his state and burst levees in Louisiana flooded New Orleans. (Those numbers have since been revised, upward)

Just before daybreak Tuesday, Katrina, now a tropical storm, was 35 miles northeast of Tupelo, Miss., moving north-northeast with winds of 50 mph.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said the amount of rainfall had been adjusted downward Monday.

For example, one email says that investors could more than double their money in just days on certain penny stocks because of "refinery glitches."

Although we haven't yet seen the following Hurricane Katrina scams, we are certain that they will become prevalent very shortly:

- Variants of the Nigerian fee scam: unsolicited email (spam)
is sent with the supposed purpose of retrieving large amounts
of money tied up in areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
- Viruses and trojans: Spam is sent that includes photos of
disaster areas or individual survivors, and these attachments
contain computer viruses.
- Fee-based spam: unsolicited emails offer, for a fee, to locate
loved ones who may be disaster victims.

How to Avoid Getting Scammed
Here are the four most important things you can do:

1.) Always use common sense.
2.) Never respond to an email request for a donation - there
is almost a 100% chance that it is a scam. (The only exception
is that we hear that the American Red Cross does occasionally
use email to solicit prior contributors. So if you have previously
contributed to the American Red Cross, there is a small chance
that a donation request email you receive may be legitimate.)
In any case, NEVER click on a link in the email. Instead, type
in the URL of the organization you wish to donate to. (See the
resources below for a list.)

3.) Check to make sure any charity is legitimate before
contributing. You can read about how to do this on our page
on charity scams.

4.) Do not open attachments (including supposed pictures of disaster
areas) -- they may well include viruses.

How You Can Help
The United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has compiled a list of reputable voluntary organizations that urgently need cash donations to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina in Gulf Coast states.

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease_print.fema?id=18473

FEMA also warns, though, that volunteers should not report "self-dispatch" to the affected areas -- it is important that volunteers be directed so that they don't become part of the problem.

FYI, we have again contributed to the American Red Cross via Amazon. (You can click on the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Button.)

Finally on a personal note, VRWC wants to extend our heartfelt thoughts and prayers out to everyone impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

God Bless,
Dan'L

Wal-Mart donates $15,000,000.00 to relief efforts in Katrina Aftermath

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Following President Bush's announcement today that former Presidents Bush and Clinton will lead anationwide fund-raising effort to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Wal-Mart President and CEO Lee Scott contacted President Clinton and the White House and committed $15 million from Wal-Mart to jump-start the effort. As part of this commitment, Wal-Mart will establish mini-Wal-Mart stores in areas impacted by the hurricane. Items such as clothing, diapers, babywipes, food, formula, toothbrushes, bedding and water will be given out free of charge to those with a demonstrated need. Wal-Mart previously donated $2 million in cash to aid emergency relief efforts and has been collecting contributions at its 3,800 stores and SAM'S CLUBS,and through its web sites [http://www.walmartfacts.com, http://www.walmart.com,http://www.walmartfoundation.org, http://www.walmartstores.com, http://www.samsclub.com]. Through its Associate Disaster Relief Fund, the company will also give displaced associates immediate funds for shelter, food, clothing and other necessities. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and SAM'S CLUBS in all fifty states. Internationally, the company operates in Puerto Rico, Canada, China, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, United Kingdom, Argentina and South Korea. The company's securities are listed onthe New York and Pacific stock exchanges under the symbol WMT.

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I take back everything I ever said about the negative influences of Wal-Mart, and the ancestors of Sam Walton. Apparently, I was wrong when I said that Sam failed in one thing, . . instilling a little of his own character in his offspring. I was SOOOOO wrong! Obviously, I missed it.

Now, that character is showing, when America needs it most. Sure, some jerk-meat leftist will say it's not enough, but until Ben and Jerry's, or Move-On.org, or Bill Moyers, or Michael Moore, or Al Franken can match those dollars, I'll put my support behind Sam's offspring. I'm sorry I missed it so far. Mea Culpa!

God Bless,
Dan'L

Bush implicated in subversion plot

My fellow members of the VRWC, and loyal readers of this blog, please note the two photos above, that I'll explain in the latter paragraphs of this posting, . . . and that in our diligence toward seeking out the truth, no matter the consequences, we are led to a rather embarassing conclusion, late this afternoon. We were looking through the not-so-loyal opposition's web postings, and . . . well, . . . .

. . . . here's what we found on democraticunderground.com. Listen, my friends, to the voices of American members of and followers of the Democrat Party line:

"By the way, does anyone else think it's suspicious that the
levees didn't break until AFTER the hurricane passed and
it was clear the storm surge was not going to swamp the city.
It would probably only take a couple of sticks of dynamite to
get those things flowing. Seems like someone wanted Bush
to have another pile of debris to climb on top of."

"I didn't think of deliberate destruction of the levee, but
that's sure possible. No one was there to see. I HAVE been
wondering why Bush looks so perky and happy - like he's
very PLEASED about the hurricane. It seems like more
than his usual sociopathic cluenessness. Is there something
about the oil infrastructure, the neighborhoods that were
destroyed (surely not strongholds of GOP support), the
probable availability of cheap land now that so much has
been destroyed. Or perhaps just that the cost of oil has
soared so high? He's a sociopath who is incapable of
empathy, yes, but doesn't he seem really, really tickled
to you? Like he's gotten something he thought he might
not be able to pull off?"

Now, . . . . look again, at the photos above. In the top, left, you see the whispy clouds breaking up, as hurricane Katrina blows its way past New Orleans, and into the states of Mississippi, and Alabama. If you look very closely, . . . right there, . . . along the waterway, . . . you can see a lone figure, kneeling down, placing something at the base of the levy.

In the second photo, as the subject makes his getaway, you can see that it resembles none other than George W. Bush, obviously there to plant some ordinance, (which the Democrats now claim, he was learning, while absent on a super-secret TDY leave, from the National Guard, back in the late sixties). Our sources are understandably reluctant to confirm that it was "W" himself, as it may have been Dick Cheney, under orders from Karl Rove, to make it look like The President. So, . . . There you have it. Our very own George W. Bush may have either ordered the flood wall in New Orleans destroyed, or actually did it, himself, for some political advantage.

Obviously Cindy Sheehan isn't the only leftist crackpot out there. We've known a few crackpots in our time, dontchaknow??!!, and these folks seem to be contenders for the all-time, top prize!

Morons abound!

God Bless,
Dan'L

From Mary Jo Kopechne, . . . I would have been 65 years of age this year. Although I probably wouldn't have been a VRWC fan, had it existed, on the date of my death, I would certainly be there, today, supporting the causes and ideals of every post preceeding this one. What on earth would make me do such a thing, you ask?? . . . . I died a very slow, agonizing death, and suffered needlessly, while my companion, a man I thought was a friend, ran off, to save his political career. Read about me and my killer below. As you absorb the story of my killer, please remember that the circumstances of my demise were thoroughly investigated by any number of competent people, organizations and agencies, and the facts were well known to the inner circle, at that time, but have been quietly swept under the rug for years, by people of similar political agendas, while may family still mourns my untimely death. Food for thought in light of today's national political arena:

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When Sen. Ted Kennedy was merely just another Democrat bloating on Capitol Hill on behalf of liberal causes, it was perhaps excusable to ignore his deplorable past. But now that he's become a leading Republican attack dog, positioning himself as Washington's leading arbiter of truth and integrity, the days for such indulgence are now over. There are some things to ponder, when we consider that fact.

It's time for the GOP to stand up and remind America why this chief spokesman had to abandon his own presidential bid in 1980 -- it's time to say the words Mary Jo Kopechne out loud.

As is often the case, Republicans have deluded themselves into thinking that most Americans already know the story of how this "Conscience of the Democratic Party" left Miss Kopechne behind to die in the waters underneath the Edgartown Bridge in July 1969, after a night of drinking and partying with the young blonde campaign worker.

But most Americans under 40 have never heard that story, or details of how Kennedy swam to safety, then tried to get his cousin Joe Garghan to say he was behind the wheel.

Those young voters don't know how Miss Kopechne, trapped inside Kennedy's Oldsmobile, gasped for air until she finally died, while the Democrats' leading Iraq war critic rushed back to his compound to formulate the best alibi he could think of. Neither does Generation X know how Kennedy was thrown out of Harvard on his ear 15 years earlier -- for paying a fellow student to take his Spanish final.

Or why the US Army denied him a commission because he cheated on tests. As they listen to the Democrats' "Liberal Lion" accuse President Bush of "telling lie after lie after lie" to get America to go to war in Iraq, young voters don't know about that notorious 1991 Easter weekend in Palm Beach, when Uncle Teddy rounded up his nephews for a night on the town, an evening that ended with one of them credibly accused of rape.

It's time for Republicans to state unabashedly that they will no longer "go along with the gag" when it comes to Uncle Ted's rants about deception and moral turpitude inside the Bush White House. And if the Republicans don't, let's do it ourselves by passing this forgotten disgrace around the Internet to wake up memories of what a fraud and fake Teddy really is. Please feel free to cut and paste this post into an e-mail message to all your friends, to keep the idea of controlling Uncle Ted's agenda alive. Tell everyone you know!

The Democratic Party should be ashamed to have the national disgrace from Massachusetts as their spokesman.

And the GOP needs to say so out loud !!!!!!!!

God Bless,
Dan'L

Is the New National Identification Card going to track your movements??

By the end of September our virtually unaccountable bureaucrats inside the Department of Homeland Security will likely have decided whether the new de facto national ID card will broadcast your sensitive identification information wherever you go—Minority Report style.

This comes as a result of the REAL ID Act. REAL ID was signed into law in May. As a result of negotiations over the intelligence-reform bill passed last December, the law had been attached to the first “must-pass” bill of 2005, which turned out to be “emergency” spending for the Iraq war. Thus a vote against this national ID would have been spun as a vote “against the troops” as well.

REAL ID gave the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the sole right to issue “design requirements” for driver’s licenses, needing only to “consult” (that is, ignore) state officials and the Department of Transportation.

Though the official publication of the design requirements is still some months off, DHS is expected to make an internal decision on one of those requirements, regarding “machine-readable technology” standards, by early fall. And there is a lot of pressure on DHS from the surveillance-technology industry to make radio-frequency identification (RFID) microchips the required machine-readable technology.

The REAL ID Act repealed a provision in the intelligence-reform bill to assemble a committee of state officials, privacy watchdogs, and federal officials to set standards for state driver’s licenses. As a result, those moderating voices of federalism, privacy, and common sense have now been silenced. One of those voices, the National Conference of State Legislatures, has conservatively estimated compliance costs at up to $750 million initially and $75 million annually thereafter—just another expense to be passed on to the taxpayer for the “privilege” of driving or flying with a national ID card.

States that don’t go along with the new standards will find that their citizens cannot use their state driver’s licenses for federal identification. That means the Transportation Security Administration won’t let Americans with noncompliant driver’s licenses board airplanes, unless perhaps they have a passport—which themselves are scheduled to have RFID soon.

RFID technology in an identification card consists of an embedded microchip and antenna that broadcasts identity information, decodable by specially designed readers. On an identifying document such as a driver’s license, RFID is an unnecessary, dangerous technology in today’s information-rich world. RFID-enabled identity cards can broadcast identifying information to persons and institutions without the knowledge or consent of the license holder. That information, such as a name, birth date, identification number, or even digital photo, could then be cross-referenced through commercial and government databases to gain increasingly sensitive identity information on the individual.

That kind of technology on essentially mandatory government documents can lead to identity fraud, endangering the victim’s finances, privacy, and even physical safety.

RFID technology could also enable tracking of individuals, as the chip broadcasts the cardholder’s presence to each reader he passes. No matter how secure the RFID protocols allegedly are, broadcasting one’s presence to a series of readers leaves a record of one’s place and time. That information can be taken by hidden readers just about anywhere an American goes—a political meeting, a gun show, a place of worship. It is an open invitation to stalkers and thieves, as well as government agents who regard constitutional proscriptions on search and surveillance as obstacles rather than as American principles.

Advocates of the technology often claim RFID can be set to only broadcast a limited distance, such as a few centimeters. But as security expert Bruce Schneier has pointed out, “This is a spectacularly naïve claim. All wireless protocols can work at much longer ranges than specified. In tests, RFID chips have been read by receivers 20 meters away. Improvements in technology are inevitable.”

There is no significant security benefit in mandating that driver’s licenses and/or identification cards carry an RFID chip. There are, however, significant risks to security and privacy. If an RFID reader must purportedly be within a few centimeters of the identification card, there is no logical reason not to close the security loop and require the card make contact with the reader.

Tri-National ID
Some quick background: The original version of the REAL ID Act would have had every state join into something called the “Driver License Agreement,” which would have included states of Mexico and provinces of Canada as well, creating a de facto tri-national ID card. Although that provision was removed from the final legislation after protests by privacy advocates, there is a danger that RFID standards in particular could easily be integrated into international identification schemes. The United Nations’ International Civilian Aviation Organization (ICAO) is pushing for standardized RFID on the passports of every nation. The U.S. State Department has already announced plans to include RFID in passports in the near future, with standards based on ICAO recommendations. And meanwhile, the British government’s plans for a national ID card include ICAO RFID standards.

Could DHS be seriously considering turning state driver’s licenses into national ID cards, essentially internal passports based on UN standards? It seems they may indeed be headed that way.

As Americans learn more about RFID technology, they are rightly concerned about these dangers. The California Assembly is considering a bill to ban RFID from state identification documents for at least three years as security questions are studied. The Montana House of Representatives has already passed a bill opting out of any nationalized ID standards. Montana legislators were concerned that such a system would endanger the privacy of that state’s citizens. If DHS adopts mandatory RFID for driver’s licenses, those concerns would be proven valid.

If the Department of Homeland Security takes personal security and privacy, not to mention constitutional values, at all seriously, it will reject RFID or any kind of contactless reading technology as appropriate for driver’s licenses – the new de facto national identification cards.

Be afraid, Be VERY afraid! Government bureaucrats want to remove your freedoms. Never forget that fact, . . . file it away, close to the 3000 victims of September 11, 2001, and our failure to force that same government to understand how to SPELL the word "SECURITY," rather than to actually DEFINE the word properly.

God Bless,
Dan'L

AND THE BLAME AMERICA CROWD AT HOME

With dead bodies being pushed out of the way as rescuers make their way to save families, liberals are starting to weigh in on the situation with Hurricane Katrina.

What is their response??

To set aside politics, so that lives can be saved and homes rebuilt?? Of course not. They have to do what they always do: . . . blame America first.

Our first stop in the Blame America First Hurricane tour is the offices of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

According to Bobby Jr., Katrina is the fault of Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.

How could this be, you ask??

RFK wrote a column in which he said Barbour is reaping what he has sown. In other words, Mississippi deserves the devastation wrought by the hurricane because of the actions of its governor.

How could one man be responsible for so much destruction?? Read on.

In the warped mind of leftists like Kennedy, hurricanes are the result of global warming. Apparently when Haley Barbour was the chairman of the Republican National Committee, he opposed the Kyoto protocol (as did anyone with a functional brain).

He also says that perhaps the hurricane hit Mississippi the hardest at the last minute because Barbour was the governor. Gotta love the left in this country. Then we hear from the media in Europe. The verdict??

In Germany, papers are reporting that Katrina should be a lesson to the United States about global warming. Even though global warming doesn't cause hurricanes, it's still our fault. We deserved it. It sure must make the terrorist-appeasing, America-bashing, Euro-weenies feel good to sit there and think that.**

Typical moronic liberalism. I suppose we shouldn't expect anything less.

**Source: http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,372179,00.html

God Bless,
Dan'L

The Latest on Extremism in America

So ... what is the Crawford Crackpot, Cindy Sheehan, up to lately?

Well, of course she continues to bask in the media spotlight as Hollywood celebrities now make their pilgrimages to pay homage. She also continues to post here thoughts at various places on the Internet. Here is what Sheehan had to say yesterday about others who have lost sons or daughters in Iraq:

I have been silent on the Gold Star Moms who still support
this man and his war by saying that they deserve the right
to their opinions because they are in as much pain as I am.
I would challenge them, though, at this point to start
thinking for themselves. Iraq DID NOT have WMD's; Iraq
WAS NOT linked to Al Qaeda and 9/11; Iraq WAS NOT a
threat or danger to America. How can these moms who still
support George Bush and his insane war in Iraq want more
innocent blood shed just because their sons or daughters
have been killed? I don't understand it. I don't understand
how any mother could want another mother to feel the
pain we feel. I am starting to lose a little compassion for
them. I know they have been as brainwashed as the rest
of America, but they know the pain and heartache and
they should not wish it on another. However, I still feel
their pain so acutely and pray for these "continue the
murder and mayhem" moms to see the light.

Sorry, Cindy, . . . but every time you open your mouth you do more to prove to the world that you just don't know what you're talking about. Obviously Iraq DID have WMDs. There are tens of thousands of dead Iranians, Shites and Kurds, as well as a few Sunnis, to testify to this fact. Also, Iraq WAS most certainly linked to Al Qaeda. The links are detailed in the 911 Commission report as well as the David Kay report. You should read them.

At any rate, . . . now this strange woman is saying calling other mothers who have lost their children in Iraq "continue the murder and mayhem moms." Absolutely Incredible. Morons Abound!!

God Bless,
Dan'L

Blame Bush!

Yesterday, as the storm came ashore, I wondered aloud, how long it would take to blame the current administration for the damage. It didn't take long! . . . .

. . . . Less than a day!

That's how long it took the wacko leftist fringe to blame Hurricane Katrina on President George W. Bush.

That's right, . . . it's all his fault.

Apparently he had the CIA weather satellites pointed at the Gulf of Mexico to stir things up. I guess sometimes you need to spice things up on long, slow vacations. Some of the allegations include that Louisiana is not as well-protected because there are so many National Guard troops in Iraq. Uh-huh.

But the biggie is that Katrina was caused by global warming, . . . and, we all know who the sole source of global warming is in the whole world.

It's the mean, evil United States of America, with George Bush at the helm.

The media is already pointing out that global warming warms the ocean, . . . and that's an ingredient of these hurricanes, . . . so ah-ha! . . . . Halliburton caused it all. Well, not really.

The easiest way to refute this is to point out the following. Hurricanes have been around forever, long before man invented everything that is supposedly causing "global warming." In fact, one scientist quoted by the New York Times (no, really, . . . it was the NYT) says this whole hurricane cycle is normal. In fact, we've been doing better than the norm. So much for global warming causing hurricanes.

By the way, . . . did you read last week that some scientists are starting to resign from a much-ballyhooed global warming panel??

These scientists are saying that there is no substantive evidence that whatever global warming we do have is caused by the actions of man. To the environmental crowd, this is heresy.

Can you imagine if all of these extreme leftist environmental wackos had been around during the ice age?? They would have blamed that one on George Bush, too. And, they'd have convinced themselves, long ago, that they were right. Morons abound!

God Bless,
Dan'L

Super Patriots??

Perpetual critics of President Bush's initiation and prosecution of the war in Iraq are displaying a perverse glee over his currently low approval ratings and the public's waning support for the war.

Do you not detect their palpable air of triumph at the apparent success of their endless carping? They seem determined to persist and even ratchet up their rhetoric until George Bush is finally bludgeoned into submission and, with his dying political breath, grudgingly issues the order to withdraw every last soldier from Iraq before resigning in shame.

They rise in indignation at any criticism of their criticism, and especially at the suggestion that they are not exhibiting characteristics, shall we say, of the model patriot. How dare anyone imply they are anything but super-patriots?

Super-patriots, after all, are those who prove their love for America by wrapping themselves in the First Amendment as they tear down this nation, its troops and their commander in chief in the middle of a war.

How dare anyone accuse them of undermining the troops? Oh, sorry, I must have misunderstood when I heard their venerated representatives and read their hate-gorged websites likening the Gitmo detention camp to the Soviet Gulag and attempting to show that the relatively isolated incidents there and at Abu Ghraib were widespread.

I must be misperceiving their efforts to establish a moral equivalence between our side and the terrorists, between our occasional and unauthorized harassment of terrorist detainees and the terrorists' suicide bombings and beheadings of innocent civilians.

I must be misinterpreting their knee-jerk sympathy for the anti-American criticism of the European Left and their condemnation of President Bush instead of the European pacifists for failing to make our action against Iraq more of a "multilateral" enterprise.

I must have been wrong in thinking I'd noticed an extra spring in their step when they "discovered" that the Iraqi people consider us "occupiers" rather than "liberators."

I must have misapprehended their ultra-shock and disappointment that the Iraqi elections went so well. Likewise, I must have misread their transparent incredulity at our soldiers' robust expressions of high morale when being interviewed.

I must be in error in assuming the Left is serious when it portrays our volunteer soldiers as having been conscripted in some draconian draft and dragged to their deaths in Iraq.
I must be misconstruing their mantra that Cindy Sheehan has "absolute moral authority," for example, to call the murderous freedom-saboteurs in Iraq "freedom fighters."

I must be hallucinating when I hear them comparing Iraq with Vietnam, when the only reasonable comparison is that in both wars the work of relentless antiwar protestors has been our enemies' best (probably only) chance of defeating us.

I must be misinterpreting their seeming joy at every morsel of bad news that makes its way out of Iraq. I must be imagining that the mainstream media virtually conspire to ignore and suppress good news and sensationalize the bad.

I must be crazy to read enthusiasm into their reaction over failed deadlines for the completion of the Iraqi constitution. I must be unfair in disapproving their glib reference to imported international terrorists in Iraq as "insurgents" -- as if Iraq is experiencing a civil war.

I must be taking them the wrong way when I hear them spouting slanderous inanities such as that the action in Iraq is President Bush's war for oil.

I must be mistaken in assuming they are anxious to label America's actions in Iraq as imperialistic when everyone knows that our purpose, having deposed Saddam and liberated Iraq, is to help to launch her new government and establish stability and security before we withdraw.

Of course I am not saying that all those who oppose the war in Iraq are unpatriotic. Without question there are legitimate reasons to oppose our action in Iraq, but that's not what we're talking about here.

We're talking about a large group of people who wouldn't be behaving much differently if they were being paid by our enemies to hurt our cause. And I'm not even saying they aren't patriotic, just that their actions certainly make them seem otherwise.

The relevant political question surrounding this subject is whether the Democratic Party is going to be able forever to satisfy these people without alienating almost everyone else. How will Hillary Clinton thread this needle in 2008? What games will she have to play either to keep them in tow or, conversely, to fool everyone else?

But 2008 is a long way off. In the meantime, President Bush will proceed on the path he considers in our best interests and that of the Iraqis, regardless of the unrelenting criticism.

Now, if he would just take action to tighten our borders. . . .

David Limbaugh is a syndicated columnist who blogs at DavidLimbaugh.com

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It's been a while since I've read ANYTHING, quite that "spot-ON" for the way I feel about the current state of affairs, when it comes to the way Our Protectors of the First Amendment -- those folks who want to be called "Professional Jounalists" are behaving, toward their own patriotism. Like his brother said, just the other day, . . . "It's time we begin to question their patriotsim, because of the positions they're taking!" I agree! It's time!

God Bless,
Dan'L

CAMPED OUT IN CRAWFORD

Hawks, doves descend on Texas town

Thousands turn out to say, "You don't speak for me, Cindy"

Deborah Johns, the Roseville, Calif., mother of a Marine serving in Iraq, and leader of Move America Forward's "You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy" Tour, did not get the personal meeting with fellow Californian Cindy Sheehan she sought, but she did find a raucous crowd of supporters for President Bush's pursuit of victory in Iraq.

The "You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy" Tour arrived 30 minutes late for the planned 1:00 p.m. rally at Crawford High School's Pirate's Field, but it did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd that had descended on the small community of 700 to voice their support for U.S. troops and opposition to the three-week-long anti-war protest led by Cindy Sheehan on the other side of town.

Yellow ribbons were tied around trees, telephone poles, and tent poles near the stadium as thousands arrived.

Johns' group, estimated to be nearly 1,000 by San Francisco's KGO radio, included several Gold Star families whose sons had been killed in Iraq. Her own son has served two tours in the country.

As reported by WorldNetDaily, Johns had called for Sheehan to meet with her in Crawford, one-on-one, and had prepared her questions in advance:

1.) "I would like Cindy Sheehan to justify how her effort
to undermine our troops' mission does anything but
dishonor those men and women in harms way?

2.) "I would like to ask Cindy Sheehan why she
emboldens the terrorists by calling our president
a murderer and the 'real terrorist?'

3.) "And I would like to invite Cindy Sheehan to honor the
requests from the overwhelming majority of our troops who
ask the American people to not waver in their resolve to
support the efforts our troops are serving in."

Before Johns arrived in Crawford, Sheehan indicated she would only meet with those who had lost a family member in the war.

"The majority – finally, someone is getting up to speak for the majority," Johns told the rally during her opportunity to speak. "And we're not going to be silent any longer."

The crowd, often given to chants of "Cindy go home," heard from those who had lost family members. One fireman, whose twin brother was killed in Iraq two weeks short of retirement, said "this is a war about good and evil, and we are winning it. My brother died for what he believed in."

Deena Burnett, whose husband Tom was on the plane that crashed into a Pennsylvania field on 9-11, told the crowd, "We have a responsibility to our troops. Our nation stands divided. This war is not about us. We fight for those who can't fight for themselves like my husband did. Our soldiers are doing what it takes to keep another Sept. 11 from happening anywhere in our world."

Johns and several Gold Star families left the rally site, escorted by police officers, and made their way to Camp Casey, the location of the Sheehan's anti-war demonstration. There she walked among the crosses set up by Sheehan's supporters until she found one she was looking for. Johns then removed the man's name from the cross, telling the sheriff's lieutenant accompanying her she had been asked to do so by the soldier's wife and mother in Benecia, Calif.
"It's been so hard to see that when I know that their family would just be so hurt by this," she said.