To You Who Answered The Call

The month of November holds two dates upon which this nation should focus our collective hearts and minds upon giving thanks. We celebrate Thanksgiving, a date to remember those things for which we are most grateful - family, country, freedom and God. And we observe Veterans Day, a date to remember why we are able to freely cling to those things for which we are most grateful.

Veterans Day is intended to honor ALL American veterans, both living and dead. It is largely intended to thank LIVING veterans for their dedicated service to their country, while Memorial Day is set aside to remember those who have fallen. In 1938, November 11th was approved as a legal holiday and "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace.” Initially, Armistice Day was intended to honor only those Veterans who served in WWI, but a campaign was launched in 1953 to change Armistice Day to “All Veterans Day.” President Eisenhower signed a Bill, Congress amended the Act in November of 1954 and Armistice Day officially became Veterans Day.

Through times of war and times of all-too-fleeting peace, our Veterans have always symbolized our nation as pillars of dignity, pride, steadfastness, honor and respect. Throughout our nation, there will be parades and ceremonies to honor those most deserving local Veterans, living and dead, who served in our armed forces. But this grateful nation can never thank them enough for their willingness to put themselves in harms way, to protect our liberties and preserve our freedom.

"To you who answered the call of your country and served in its Armed Forces to bring about the total defeat of the enemy, I extend heartfelt thanks of a grateful Nation. As one of the Nation's finest, you undertook the most severe task one can be called upon to perform. Because you demonstrated the fortitude, resourcefulness and calm judgment necessary to carry out that task, we now look to you for leadership and example in further exalting our country in peace. " Harry S. Truman, President (To those who served honorably in WWII)

It is the VETERAN, not the DEMOCRAT
who insures the health of this nation

It is the VETERAN, not the COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
who has given us the freedom to assemble

It is the VETERAN, not the ACLU
who has given us freedom of speech

It is the VETERAN, not the CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
who has fought for our right to vote

It is the VETERAN not the LAWYER
who has secured the Blessings of our Liberty

It is the VETERAN, not the SOCIALIST
who has battled for American prosperity

It is the VETERAN not the CAMPAIGNER
who fought and died for CHANGE

It is the VETERAN not the POLITICIAN
who delivers us HOPE

Let us never forget that each day there are men and women who are still being called to duty and needing to be in our prayers. Veterans Day should first and foremost be a day to remember, revere and honor all living American soldiers. But in lieu of the recent tragedy at Fort Hood and those soldiers whom we have lost in the past few weeks, I am asking you to allow me to carry your thoughts, for just 5 minutes within this video, to those soldiers who have given the ultimate sacrifice within just these few days leading up to this Veterans Day. Please remember those who serve - those who sacrifice - and those who are called to duty - on this day - and everyday. And as we celebrate the upcoming holiday season, may we remember to give thanks to each and every Veteran for answering that call.

In memory of: Sgt Cesar Ruiz, Cpl Cody Stanley, Pfc Brian Bates, Spc Robert Charlton, Sgt Fernando Delarosa, Sgt Luis Gonzalez, Sgt Dale Griffin, Sgt Issac Jackson, Spc Jared Stanker, Pfc Christopher Walz, Sgt Patrick Williamson, Sgt Keith Bishop, Cpl Gregory Fleury, Sgt Josue Hernandez Chavez, Capt Eric Jones, CWO Niall Lyons, Sgt Shawn McNabb, Sgt David Metzger, Capt David Mitchell, CWO Michael Montgomery, Spc Nikolas Mueller, Capt Kyle Van De Giesen, Spc Brandon Steffey, Sgt Eduviges Wolf, Pfc Devin Michel, Pfc Kimble Han, Spc Eric Lembke, Spc Kyle Coumas, Cpl David Baker, Spc Michael Dahl, Spc Anthony Green, Sgt Christopher Rudzinski, Sgt Christopher Staats, Spc Jesus Flores, Spc Daniel Lawson, Sgt Glenn Stivison, Pfc Brandon Styer, Spc Joseph Gallegos, Spc Christopher Cooper, Pfc Lukas Hopper, Spc Adrian Avila, Maj David Audo, Sgt Bradley Espinoza, Pfc Daniel Rivera and Spc Jonathon Sylvestre

Please pray for those who are fighting for our freedom -
And never forget those who have died to preserve it.

For Z...

We are but human... imperfect and purely mortal. We have only Now and the memories that Now becomes. Our lives are a varied and frequently harsh mixture of challenge, toil, elation, logic, calculation, accomplishment, frustration, injustice, disparity, amazement, emotion, cruelty, shock and at times, misfortune. Under God's Watchful Eye and Guiding Hand, we scurry about wielding the time He allots.

And then He calls us Home... with a lifetime of lessons learned and contributions bestowed upon those we have touched. We sometimes, perhaps completely unaware, affect people in ways never spoken.

We do not choose the time of transition to God's Kingdom. It is not for us to choose. And so sadly it came for the dearly loved, devoted husband of "Z" of Geeez weblog. "Mr. Z" passed quietly in his sleep on Saturday, October 10th.

It is with greatest regret... and HIGHEST reverence, that we offer these simple words and images of condolence to the Lovely Lady in her grieving hours of incredibly painful, sudden loss. Our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers embrace you.

You are the Lady Slipper, dear, noble Z. Beautiful, delicate, principled, strong, stout, resolute and measured... yet eternally with such a high mark of kindness. You represent the rebirth and renewal of that which the coming day's promise brings.

You are an example to ALL those who read your words of sincerity worldwide. You love and are genuinely LOVED. Your friends, who know you in person or in reading, will ALWAYS be there for you.

God bless the eternal soul of the gentleman who too loved you so. And God bless you, Dear "Z". You're in our hearts forever.

~Defiant_Infidel

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To those of you who know our lovely friend, Z - we know that you are keeping her - and her family - in your prayers. To those of you who have not yet had the honor of knowing her, reading her words or seeing her heart - you will need to only visit her site one time to realize how many lives she has touched - and why it is so easy to love this special lady.

I was so deeply saddened upon hearing the news of the loss of her husband. Words still escape me. Therefore, I am hoping that the words to the song “Where the River Flows,“ by Kelly Morrison, will be able to say what I am simply not yet able to say with proper eloquence. My heart is truly breaking for her and for all who were Blessed to have known, and loved, and now mourn the loss of her wonderful husband. Watching, albeit from afar, the love that she and Mr. Z shared, was always an inspiration - and I know that a love such as theirs will live beyond the boundaries of our earthly existence. May God be with you, Z - as your dear one will always be with you - in your heart - in your mind - and in your soul. And anywhere the river flows.

Each time the river flows ~
An eagle flies ~
A flower grows ~
I will love you.

Each time a butterfly catches my eye ~
I’ll remember you…..

And you’ll be there ~
Inside my mind ~
Inside my soul ~
Where the river flows.

Yes, you’ll be there ~
Inside my mind ~
Inside my soul ~
Where the river flows.

The video below includes special photos taken by DI as well as several of my favorite images taken directly from Z’s site. It is my fondest hope that this might be able to bring some small joy to those who loved Mr. Z, while perhaps allowing those who didn’t know him, a small glimpse into the beauty in his life - and the beauty of his wife.

~Miradena

***Please Note***

We have closed comments on this post and ask that you kindly, respectfully convey your thoughts appropriately to Z at her own post here and/or here.

The More Things Change. . . .

On June 23, 2008, I posted one of my first videos to YouTube, entitled “What Lies Beneath Obama.”

Because the content of that video seemed to resonate with some people, I decided to make several more videos, during the election year. It was the making of those videos that led me to this subsequent (and most rewarding) writing partnership with DI.

Unfortunately, my little video has now become one of the latest, statistical victims of selective censorship. Far too many conservative bloggers have already fallen prey to a concerted effort by the current administration to censor what we say and how we say it. It is common knowledge that any opinions that differ from the far Left are not permitted to be reported by the mainstream media - and likewise, anything less than stellar praise of Obama is promptly admonished - even when it is ‘long overdue’ satire, such as was seen on a recent episode of Saturday Night Live.

This whitewashing of America has begun with slow methodical movements, and those with the most unclean hands are attempting to cleanse the internet of what they deem to be unfit material. Therefore, I am reposting my most recently censored video below, (intact - with sound). Although the audio was removed by Youtube - I will be leaving the video posted on Youtube, without sound. Clearly, that soundless video no longer holds a message that is worthy of watching for its content, but it is perhaps a message noteworthy because of its lack of content.

Censored Video - No Sound

It may also be worth noting that the song used in my now censored video is still currently being used on hundreds of other Youtube videos, all without incident. This was clearly a case of selective censorship.

No, I will not be removing any of my election videos from my Youtube channel. I will instead be redirecting anyone interested in seeing uncensored (knock wood) videos to follow a link from Youtube to our Defiant Infidels site to view them. Admittedly, the video below is now over a year old - and some of Obama’s specifically, highlighted Lies may no longer be considered timely topics. But since his patterns are still relevant and his promises will continue to be made and broken, we have to wonder what Lies are yet to be told.

What Lies Beneath Obama?

The more things Change -
The more they stay the same….

Please Join Us in Prayers...

Mr. Always of Always On Watch blog has suffered a severe hemorrhagic stroke. There is hope for his survival... now recovery (See update below!), but the first 48 hours are the most critical. He is in the Intensive Care Unit presently. Latest details of his condition are being updated regularly here by The Merry Widow.

Please consider adding your heartfelt prayers for them both.

*UPDATE*
The Merry Widow has been posting updates since Tuesday, the 15th... Her latest as of 7:39 pm on 9-17 is:
"It is pretty amazing how well it's going. Since Mr. AOW didn't develope any new bleeders, he should be good to go...now starts the process of slogging back. Leaving the NICU is a huge step. A positive move!
themerrywidow"

Don't Tell Me Not To Be Angry...

You were my fellow citizens. You were my brothers and sisters. You were Americans (and some of you were not). You were crimeless, blameless, guiltless. You were human.

And you were all summarily, unmercifully murdered.

Don't tell me it's a "day of service"...

It is A DAY OF REVERENT MOURNING!!!
DO YOU HEAR ME, MR. OBAMA???
...IMBECILE!!!

Don't tell me to forget...

I cannot and will not. Nor should I. Nor should you. Nor should either of us... ANY of us, EVER allow our children to. It is our most basic duty of respect to always teach and relate the true history of that tragic page turned.

Don't tell me to "move on"...

Your thinly shrouded code is designed to erase my memory. I function, I work, I live and I love. The innocent victims of cold blooded savages do not. I continue... but I will never "move on".

Don't tell me to "toughen up"...

Don't interpret my tears as weakness. They are the purest drops of resolve to avenge Our tragic loss. You don't know my strength... for you have nothing from within with which to compare. You are sickeningly empty and consumed with self. Thus you run and hide from the unending pain of such a sinister stealing. I bear my pain. And I bare my pain... in recognition, acknowledgement and in an honoring, raging flame of memory.

Don't tell me "life goes on"...

It does not for Them. 'This' Earthly existence and consciousness for Them was robbed. Life's essence was torn from Their clutching hands to become the prey for a Godless immolation. They were extinguished... but for Their souls.

Don't tell me We are to blame...

This beacon nation of freedom's light has given more aid, comfort and sustenance to the world's people, from all nations, including those of the perpetrators, than all others combined. And we continue to do so to this very moment. And we will continue to do so tomorrow... as long as we have something of assisting value remaining to give.

Don't tell me the assassins had "reasons"...

We offer liberty's torch to every man, woman and child who's outstretched hand will grasp it. We demonstrate the gift and all its' hallowed empowerments to those who are blessed with its' experience... and to those who would be. We spill our blood and fight on foreign soil to unchain the oppressed from the very enemy that attacked us. If you truly believe that these murderous savages had reason beyond corrupt, totalitarian authority and self appointed autocracy, further effort of explanation is to place pearls before swine. Avail yourself of the difference between a reason... and an excuse.

Don't tell me it was an "inside job"...

Read, research, learn something... Or perhaps you could have considered simply opening your frickin' blind eyes... Moron. Find a life beyond Facebook and GreenPeace... And get away from me... nutcase.

And don't tell me not to be angry. I will always, unfailingly, enduringly be angry!

May the good and righteous Lord forever bless Their unchosen sacrifice and rest Their spirit within His loving arms.

~D.I.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I Didn’t Know You -
But I Will Always Remember You ~

In the blink of an eye, September 11th, 2001 transformed us as a nation.

Lives were forever lost. Lives were forever changed. And from that day forward, the names of 2996 people have forever been associated with “a list“ of victims who never made it home.

But beyond that list - beside each number - and behind each name is a story.

I recently spent some time reading about each of these victims - these heroes who had become such an important part of my life. It seemed strange somehow that they were still virtually unknown to me. Collectively, they had impacted my life with a tremendous force - and yet individually, I knew nothing about them.

I wanted to get to know them better.
And this is what I learned.

Hero 344
I didn’t know you -
But we had the same last name - even though we are not related.

Hero 685
I didn’t know you -
But we went to the same high school.

Hero 945
I didn’t know you -
But I recalled a time when our family was lost while driving through Staten Island. The door of your fire station was open - and we stopped to ask you for directions. Our youngest daughter ‘spotted’ your Dalmatian puppy. You waved and invited her to come over and pet him while you drew us a map. You knelt down and slid your arm around the puppy for 20 minutes while she hugged him and then you gave our daughters a tour of the station. You were warm and gracious. And I am deeply saddened that your picture was among the firefighters lost, when the Towers fell.

Hero 938
I didn’t know you -
But we drove the same kind of car.

Hero 584
I didn’t know you -
But I know someone who had an appointment to meet with you at Cantor Fitzgerald on September the 12th, 2001.

Hero 2183
I didn’t know you -
but you produced television shows such as Cheers, Frasier and Wings that filled my house with laughter. And I thank you for that.

Hero 1837
I didn’t know you -
but we shared the same birth date.

Hero 1984
I didn’t know you -
but we both have three children.

Hero 309
I didn’t know you -
but we were born at the same hospital.

Hero 2947
I didn’t know you -
But we both have big, Italian families.

Hero 1483
I didn’t know you -
but I watched you on television and admired you as a strong, combative political commentator. Your conservative voice is missed.

Hero 714
I knew you.

You are my cousin. Our parents were married in the same churches. Our grandparents are buried in the same cemeteries. We shared the same traditions. You are my family. Although life too often allows us to drift away from those we should know better - we should know better than to allow that to ever happen.

And that was the one recurring theme, throughout these tributes that I encountered. There was one message, to the fallen, written many times over.

“I wish I had gotten to know you better.”

Beyond this day - beyond the numbers - and beyond the names…
Perhaps that is a message that should live on.

~Miradena

A Withered Spine...

"You lie!"

CORRECT, Rep. Joe Wilson (R., SC)!... So why apologize?

Why grow stones enough to speak out publicly (Pelosi surely did neck damage! HA!), fittingly (after our President showed his usual pattern of imbalanced disdain, disrepect even, for all dissenting opinions of his "healthcare" pretension...) only to shrink into submission and cowardly apologize for your courage to speak the truth?

Did you not expect the outcry you promptly received from shocked DemoKrats? Did you not fully expect most in your own party to throw you instantly under the bus? Why would you anticipate any other response from the spineless, compromising worms wearing your own stripes? These RINO's (Team Captain McCain) are the same fakers who still talk a brand of alleged "Conservatism" that no one genuinely of the persuasion can recognize. The only thing you did wrong, Sir, was to go jello.

Why the classic case of 'Temporary Testicles', Rep. Wilson? All you had to do was stand by your declaration. Did you do this out of emotionalism uncontrolled... or perhaps to undermine us all? It truly makes me suspicious.

Because surely any thinking man would have to realize that to call a spade a spade... and then retreat and lick boots... would only serve as fodder to feed ready-to-pounce members of the Party of Asses and lukewarm water to dilute the growing felt responsibility to respond to the Elephant's true Masters...

We, The Constituents.

Nice touchdown pass... thrown backwards, Congressman Joe.

~D.I.

....................

Hail to the Chief - with an unspoken pledge of dignity and an unfaltering respect for the office of POTUS.

However, does this pledge of our civil obedience and decorum demand the same amount of Presidential protocol when the President repeatedly makes conscious decisions to present false information to the American public? If the breaking point for the average American is a town hall meeting - where is the breaking point for congressional servants more dutifully held captive under the thumb of the left hand of a socialistically leaning administration?

While I do not condone such misplaced outbursts - I do understand what type of frustration would lead to the need to have them expressed. It is difficult to watch someone in power misleading those whom you have sworn to serve. Contrary to the mainstream media's attempt to make this "inappropriate" remark a partisan issue - and despite the Democrats salivating at the chance to shift the focus from Obama's lie to Wilson's breach of protocol - this is simply the same issue that we have been dealing with since the day that Obama was sworn into office 9 months ago.

"We are mad as hell, and we aren't going to take it anymore!"

The threads are quickly fraying. With this rush to judge Congressman Wilson, the Left did not need (nor want) to validate whether or not Obama did in fact lie. This has simply been another opportunity to shine an interrogation spotlight over our heads and punish our entire party - and any person with any oppositional opinions - for this "breach of protocol" that occurred when Congressman Wilson had the audacity to speak.

~Miradena

Old Song...




OK, I concede it!

Plunging over this socialist precipice is the best (in fact the ONLY) nidorous antitoxin for our wayward, liberally apprehended nation. When history's lessons are no longer heeded, living the redux is the last alternative versus utter loss and total failure. Unfortunately, it will transact at a tremendous, outlandish cost.

I once bemoaned the absurdity of it, decried how unnecessary it was and angrily denounced the mass of apathetics that selfishly spurned the responsibility as just too engaging and demanding to stay cognizant. However, when this once glorious nation becomes so decayed that we crown a cardboard, unidimensional, narcissistic snake oil vendor whose transparently self serving power quest is worn openly on his synthetic uniform... we have earned the pain and suffering that our actions have endowed for the next several generations.

Predictably, the Great Deceiver has installed a cancerous plundering of Marxists in reinforcing circles all around him. Old enemies of capitalism, inspiration, competition and innovation are there as well as an alarming plenitude of novice apparatchiks with lesser notorieties. With them come the tools of contrivance directly from the kit of the acclaimed Joker...

Behold the "Czar" rubric! A blatantly meandering route to circumnavigate and subvert the pillars of democratic installation provided directly within the Constitution of these United States. A devious solution to the plexing "problem" confronting the would be totalitarian!

Valediction, Van Jones... racist and avowed pinko!

Accept our patent gratitude, FOX News... the ONLY true news network to document the glaring, well documented distresses in this wart's annals.

Shame on ABC, CBS, NBC and the multitude of faux "news" journals from which we have come to expect... absolutely nothing! This is surely one of your pinnacle ignominies and you so surely deserve The People running from you by the millions. Like Jones, you will incur what is just.

Deplorable, proud Communist Jones, we passionate students of liberty and history bid you the public unveiling you purchased. Of course you decry your expulsion as a "victim" of "smear and distortion". You fool no one with more than a pair of brain cells which create adjacent friction. Mark the event of his demise, fellow autocrats... you will rapidly follow his dispatchment.

The People of these consecrated United States of America... are awakening.

~D.I.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Something to sing about!

"Sunny Day - sweeping the clouds away -
on my way to where the air is sweet...."

Farewell, Czar of Green - purveyor of puffery and ballyhoo - the air does smell a little sweeter since your resignation, Van Jones. We can only hope that the imperious Obama Administration does not attempt to recycle you.

Meanwhile, back at Muppet Central, the fleece is flying...and the puppets are growing restless - but we wanted to leave Czar Jones with the following video - and the knowledge that we will plant a lovely, white flower in his memory.

~Miradena