The Land of the Free

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?


President Obama has said that he does not favor our National Anthem because of the violence in the lyrics.  When I hear the anthem my thoughts are not of baseball, team stats, picnics, or fireworks.  My thoughts run to our history and the meaning of the words. 

In 1812 (200 years to this year) the British had just burned our capital city of Washington D.C. and now that same force with even more firepower was headed for the port city of Baltimore.  Fort McHenry was all that prevented that city from being burned to the ground.

The Fort Commander would not surrender or leave his post even in the face of overwhelming odds.  He ordered two new flags for the fort in anticipation of the battle, along with other fortifications. The British fleet used the newest in war technology, artillery shells that would explode spreading shrapnel to better wound and kill, and the latest in ship launched rockets.  All this aimed at Fort McHenry and the newly made American flag.  The attack began in the morning and lasted through out the night.  The only way the people of Baltimore and other observers knew our soldiers were still there defending them was by the light of the attacking rockets and the artillery shells bursting in air.   When dawn came the Commander ordered the smaller storm flag lowered and the larger parade flag raised.  The larger flag showed the enemy that we were still there and their efforts to defeat us had failed.  

The enemy retreated from Baltimore defeated but they planned another major attack at another U.S. city, New Orleans.  That my friends is another story of Americans fighting overwhelming odds, pirates, citizen soldiers, and the revenge of the commanding officer.

So during the Libertyville & Mundelein 4th of July festivals when the National Anthem is played remember the brave defenders of Fort McHenry.

GOP Convention

The ILL. Republican Convention was held June 8^th & 9^th in Tinley Park.  This event was well attended by many Lake County GOP members looking for ways to increase the chances for victory in the November election.

Congressman Joe Walsh was one of many speakers there to inspire the campaign workers.  Unlike some of the other speakers Joe Walsh started and ended his speech with a standing ovation from the crowd.  At times some wondered if the sound system would explode from his very loud and fiery speech.  He reminded all that if the Republicans lose the White House this November, all of us could lose the country we now enjoy and forever live in a socialist country.

New

Last month, the Grayslake Fire Protection District opened its newest fire station at 22405 Behm Ln., near the intersection of Illinois Route 60 and Peterson Road.   On June 24 from 1-4 p.m., visit the new facility and meet your firefighters at the new station's open house event.

This station houses a three-person staff 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The fire station will dramatically lower response times to the Southern portion of the Grayslake Fire Protection District, including the Saddlebrook Farms subdivision.

GOP Rally

Some of the attendees at the Lake County GOP Rally held this Saturday in Vernon Hills.  Pictured are State Rep. Sidney Mathias, Congressman Randy Hultgren, Arlen Gould, County Board Chair David Stolman, and Fremont Twp. Chair Cornelius Shanahan.

The Rally included news on what is going on in Washington D.C. and Springfield, along with training for local volunteers that will be working for a Republican victory in the November Election. 

 

 What attendees also heard was that the unions, special interest groups, and the National Dem. Party plan on spending millions of dollars to defeat Republicans in Illinois.   The Democrats seem to think the State of ILL. is in good hands with them in power.  What do you think?

 

Obama vs Vets

This shows how inconsiderate the Democratic Party really is.  Not only blame the President but his entire staff who came up with this Campaign idea at the Wall.

On Memorial Day, the Vietnam Memorial in D.C. is supposed to look like this:

Instead, for seven long hours, it looked like this:

Obama’s secret service shut down the memorial for most of the day, as families and veterans who had come to pay their respects to fallen loved ones were forced to stay hundreds of feet away.

Why? So that the Narcissist-in-Chief could show up for 15-minute speech and photo-op with his carefully selected fans in the audience.

In his campaign speech remarks, Obama made sure to mention that:

“As long as I’m president, we will make sure you and your loved ones will receive the benefits you’ve earned and the respect you deserve,” Obama said. “America will be there for you.”

Wow. How did our veterans ever get their benefits before the benevolent Obamessiah came to office? Is that his argument for why they should vote for him? Because their benefits are only available “as long as I’m president?” Perhaps he’s hoping they’ll forget that he suspended hazard pay for deployed U.S. troops, terminated 157 Air Force Majors without retirement benefits, and proposed a budget that would cut healthcare benefits for active duty and retired US military while protecting union benefits.

Brian Trubee left this comment on Weasel Zippers:

I just received this e-mail from a brother in arms who I served with as a USAF pararecueman. A link to his e-mail is at the bottom of the message. I deleted the photos because the server rejected them. -Brian Trubee, Redmond, Washington.:

I am currently in Washington DC and witnessed the following. I saw this first hand and I bet you won’t hear about this from the Liberal media…

Vietnam veterans and the families of Vietnam veterans killed in action whose names are etched on the Wall were denied access to their memorial today, of all days, Memorial Day. The Vietnam Memorial was shutdown, cleared and secured for approximately 5 hours prior to Obama, his cronies and hand picked veterans for a 15 minute appearance by Obama. It’s obvious it was all for show. After all, this is an election year.

Hundreds if not thousands of Vietnam veterans and families of Vietnam veterans killed in Vietnam stood in disbelief as Secret Service, Park Police, Washington, DC Police, etc., blocked all access to the Vietnam Memorial and kept everyone approximately 100 yards away from their memorial for the first time in the history of the Memorial so Obama could get some photos of him at the Wall. Veterans in uniforms stood in the heat angered as Obama makes them wait. It was a photo op at their expense and families of those killed in Vietnam.

As I stated, I was there and witnessed all of this. Many veterans and others flipped Obama the finger as his motorcade drove past.

I didn’t honor him with a finger salute because I was busy holding up my 3′x5′ Don’t Tread on Me Flag as his motorcade drove past.

On another note, I was able to dedicate some port-o potties to Jane Fonda. Pictures attached. Maybe Obama should share this honor with Jane Fonda henceforth.

- Jim Morris

Kristinn at Free Republic confirms the story:

So this is how Obozo honors those who served….I just had this passed on from a friend who was at the wall this morning:

I normally try to avoid political statements, but this one is a bit different. This was received by Colonel Wayne Morris just a few moments ago, who was refused access to the Vietnam War Memorial, where he has visited his fallen comrades for the last 15 years.

Today is Memorial Day and I went to the Vietnam Memorial and something happened there that upset me greatly and I want to pass it on.

For over 15 years I had been going with my dear Marine buddy, Larry Cullen. Since he passed away last year and was interned at Arlington Cemetery, I went this year accompanied by my grandson, Cameron. I had my list of Recon Marines, school classmates, and Larry’s fallen buddies to visit but, as we got close to the area of the National Mall where the Wall is located, we saw huge white tents. We also saw barricades all along Constitution Ave and for a couple blocks in each direction from the Wall. They even closed down all of Constitution Av from the Lincoln Memorial all the way to the WW-II Memorial and there was a virtual army of uniformed and plain-clothes security everywhere.

The biggest tent was right at the west end of the Wall entrance and there was a covered walkway leading right up to The Wall. It was so close, you couldn’t get to the Wall on that side so, my grandson and I went all the way around to the eastern entrance to the Wall and walked down along the Wall to the first of my names and I began telling my grandson about my buddies and how each one died. In short order, a guy in a dark suit and earpiece in his ear told us we had to leave as it was 0730 and they were closing Memorial until at least 1400 so the President could drop by. I asked if he was serious and he assured me he was. We and all the other veterans and families were forced to leave and it was locked down.

The Vietnam Memorial is the most visited site on the entire National Mall. Memorial Day has more visitors to the Vietnam Memorial than almost any other day. Even at the rather early hour Cameron and I were there, there were a lot of veterans and family members down there. In the midst of all that, Obama decides to close it for over seven hours just so he can roll by for 30 minutes in the afternoon for a campaign appearance with Democrats, supporters, and campaign donors? This is an incredulously arrogant, egotistical, and inconsiderate thing to do. What in hell was Obama thinking?

Hey President Obama: Since you ran me (and all the other veterans and family members) out of the Memorial before we finished our business there, how about doing me a favor. If you can take a short break from all the grippin’, grinnin’, posin’ and pontificatin’, how about taking a minute or two to stop by and say hello to my fellow Recon Marines and other classmates on the Wall. I suspect you’ll be too busy with photo ops, campaigning, and stroking donors to be troubled with a couple minutes doing what the Memorial was built for .

Maybe it would have been better for everyone if Obama had just gone golfing like last year.