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2 MICHELLES, 2 AMERICAS & SHAME vs. PRIDE By Michelle Malkin, Columnist Like Michelle Obama, I am a "woman of color." Like Michelle Obama, I am a working mother of two young children. Like Michelle Obama, I am a member of the 13th generation of Americans born since the founding of our great nation. Unlike Michelle Obama, I can't keep track of the number of times I've been proud - really proud - of my country since I was born and privileged to live in it. At a recent speech in Milwaukee on behalf of her husband's Democratic presidential campaign,...

NET: we need advice and tips on how best to qualify for a NROTC 4-yr scholarship. Details: My 17 yr old son plans to apply to Auburn as a Freshman for acceptance for the 2009 academic year. (we live in Ga.) He plans to go NROTC/Marine track wherever he goes to college. He already has a full ride academic scholarship in Georgia [Hope Scholarsip] but would *really* like to go NROTC at Auburn. The only way that makes financial sense [$64K out of state v. free in-state/Ga] is if he pursues and is awarded a 4 year NROTC scholarship. I...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0SmE8ebD0M

Apparently Michelle Obama’s pride in America (circa 2007) places her in a unique situation to understand the issues facing patriotic military families. I'm sure they'll love her.

WATCH CLIPS FROM MICHELLE OBAMA'S TWO SPEECHES The sick-o-fant press that annointed Barack Obama as our saviour is apparently trying to put a spin on his increasing annoying, ungrateful wife's comments about being proud of America. Some are trying to defend her by saying that she said it was the first time in her adult life she was "really" proud of America. That is supposed to make the anti-American comment less egregious than if she just said "proud." Well, folks, they need to be called on the spin. On February 18, she made two speeches in Wisconsin. The first...

BAGHDAD, March 3, 2008 – There is a new, more upbeat mood among American troops in Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, fresh from meeting troops of Multinational Division North in Hawijah, Iraq, and Multinational Division Baghdad in the Rashid district, said the mood of the troops has improved since his first visit as chairman in October. “One of my vivid memories from October was how tired the troops were and what a fight they were in at the time,” the chairman said during an interview with reporters traveling with him....

Michelle Obama’s comment that, for the first time in her adult life, she feels proud of America helps crystallize who Barack Obama is. To be sure, the wife of a candidate is perfectly free to have views that are distinct from her husband’s. But on a matter that is so fundamental to one’s being as love of country, it is difficult to imagine that Michelle Obama would publicly twice make such a statement suggesting disdain for America unless she felt it comported with her husband’s views.

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) – Hours after Democrat Hillary Clinton was sharply critical of rival Barack Obama in an interview on NBC's Meet The Press, the New York senator struck a different tone on his candidacy in a predominantly African-American church in South Carolina. "Probably many of us thought we would never see the day when an African-American and a woman were competing for the presidency of the United States," Clinton said at the Northminster Presbyterian Church in Columbia. "I am so proud of my party I am so proud of my country and I am so proud of Sen....

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 2007 – Deployed servicemembers worldwide have been receiving a steady stream of care packages, e-mail and “snail mail” since 2004 from a group of “Proud Patriots” in Arizona. Proud Patriots, a troop-support group, provides morale and material support to America’s deployed military personnel worldwide through six annual care-package campaigns primarily centered on holidays, Joe Jenkins, the organization’s president, said. “We send care packages to Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Korea, Germany, Italy and Africa.” With three shipping hubs -- in Virginia, Missouri and Arizona -- the group ships packages during its six holiday-centered campaigns. “Our founder was contacted...

Staff Sgt. James Lee, 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, directs a formation of Iraqi Soldiers from the 1st Strategic Infrastructure Brigade near Kirkuk. Lee has been helping to train the 1st SIB, which protects the oil infrastructure, for the past six months. KIRKUK -- Staff Sgt. James Lee looked like a proud father. A group of Iraqi Strategic Infrastructure Brigade soldiers, who Lee has been helping to train for six months, huddled around him after showing off their warrior skills during a demonstration for Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander, Multi-National Division -...

CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind., Oct. 23, 2006 -- When asked how it feels to return from a yearlong deployment to Iraq, soldiers of the 655th Transportation Company have a unified response: big smiles. Army Sgt. 1st Class Anazia Patterson welcomes home Birmingham resident Staff Sgt. Christopher Baker at Indianapolis International Airport. The two soldiers were deployed to Iraq with the Jasper, Ala.-based 655th Transportation Company and recently returned to Camp Atterbury, Ind., for processing before returning home. U.S. Army photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. When asked what they accomplished while deployed, the answers vary. But it quickly becomes...

Lt. Ahman from the Saab al Bour Police Station gives the thumbs up after he gets in one of the six new Iraqi police trucks distributed to his police station north of Baghdad. Story and photo By Sgt. 1st Class Brent Hunt1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry DivisionCAMP TAJI - In an effort to make the Taji district north of Baghdad a safer place to live, Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers provided the Iraqi police stations in Taji, Saab al Bour, Mushada and Tarmiya, with 96 new trucks to help the police units in their endeavor to fight crime...

WESTERN AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq (April 13, 2006) -- Editor’s Note: The name of the Iraqi soldier featured in this article has been changed to protect his identity. The townspeople of Sad’ah, a town near the Iraq-Syria border wave and greet a heavily-armed Iraqi soldier as he patrols the streets, hunting for would-be insurgents. The townsfolk witnessed the man grow from a child to a trained soldier and now he is keeping them safe on a daily basis, disrupting insurgent operations in his childhood hometown. “Hadi” has an advantage over the other “Jundi” - Iraqi Army privates – since he...

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2006 – With the war on terror in its fifth year, U.S. military personnel continue to pack duffle bags and don desert camouflage uniforms -- many not for the first time. "I am proud of what I accomplished during my tour in Iraq and would be proud to return, on sea or on land," Navy Lt. Cmdr. David Bitler, a surface warfare officer, said. Bitler is assigned to the USS Tarawa, which returned from a Middle East cruise in February. "Most of all, I'd be honored to work again alongside the Iraqi people, whose bravery and courage...

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2006 – When Dorothy Moore was commissioned as a Navy warrant officer in February after a long application and selection process, she was fulfilling a career goal. But, she said, the most rewarding experience of her career had already passed -- her deployment to Iraq. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Dorothy Moore hands out humanitarian supplies to Iraqi children during her 2005 deployment. Moore was commissioned as a warrant officer in February 2006. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "The most important thing in my career was serving in the Middle East supporting Operation...

AR RAMADI, Iraq, Feb. 15, 2006 — The streets here are a far cry from the corner of 8th and I streets in Washington, D.C., and yet for an infantryman who joined the Marine Corps to travel the world and do his part in the war on terrorism, it is the only place he wants to be. Cpl. Jared St. Clair, an infantryman with 4th Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, has finally made it to Iraq and is making the most of his opportunity. He’s serving in the city that many experts and officials are calling the...

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Dec. 14, 2005) -- Marines from Company I, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, recently worked with a platoon of Iraqi Army soldiers during a security patrol through the streets here Nov. 18. Private First Class Chase Nelson, an infantryman with Company I, was one of the Marines on the patrol and was impressed with the improvements that the Iraqi Army has made during the last three months since the battalion came here. “We took the IA out and let them conduct their own patrol while we watched over them and helped critique them,” said the 20-year-old San...

Selah Elaine was born at 7:42 AM on Monday, November 18. At birth, she was 7 lbs. 3 oz. and 19 inches long. What an amazing comparison to Anna, our first child who was 3 lbs. 11 oz. at birth.! Mother and new baby are doing great. We all came home from the hospital this afternoon. I think her big sister, Anna, loves her too!For my previous thread 20 months ago with our first daughter Anna: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1107651/posts

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Oct. 14, 2005) -- Some people go their whole life wondering if they ever made a difference. Marines don’t have that problem. –Ronald Regan, 40th President of the United States of America. One Marine who says he will never have that problem as well is Cpl. David P. Dees of Loganville, Ga. Dees is a motor transportation operator assigned to Transportation Support Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 8, 2nd Force Service Support Group (Forward), here. At 22 years of age, Dees has just begun his third tour in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His first stint...

Recruit Daniel Murphy, who in college was a 325-pound offensive lineman protecting quarterbacks and opening holes for running backs, lost 100 pounds to join the U.S. Marines, the military's swift-moving, expeditionary shock troops.

Judge used 'penis pump' during murder case Sep 26 2005 icWales   A US judge will go on trial today charged with three counts of indecent exposure after allegedly masturbating using a “penis pump” while presiding over a murder case.Witnesses claim they could hear the noise of the device coming from beneath the robes of Donald Thompson as he sat on the bench.The 58-year-old former district judge had served at Creek County Court, Oklahoma, where he was charged, for 22 years.The sex toy will be presented as evidence during the trial.The court has also permitted testimony that a second pump...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2005 – Servicemembers supporting hurricane-relief efforts along the Gulf Coast agree that while it's heartbreaking to see the massive devastation left in Hurricane Katrina's wake, they're happy to be able to roll up their sleeves to help their fellow countrymen. That's the across-the-board assessment of the military responders who, U.S. Northern Command officials reported today, number almost 14,000 active-duty troops and more than 38,000 National Guardsmen, a force expected to continue to grow in the days ahead. Regardless of their missions -- conducting search-and-rescue operations, evacuating displaced residents, providing law-and-order support, or distributing food and water --...

Mama Rangel and the Mailman March 3, 2005 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Charlie Rangel is back. Here he's accusing the president of pitting young against old, and black against white. RANGEL: The president has attempted to polarize sometimes the young against the old [sic] by saying they're getting a bad deal, or the black males against the white males saying that we have a disparity. RUSH: All right, stop the tape. Look, the fact of the matter is, folks, that the simple answer to this is, it is the Democrats who specifically divide groups against each other. It's in their playbook....

Business Week Magazine has a cover story on the future of The New York Times. Coverage of the business strategy and economic prospects (not terribly encouraging) is pretty good. BW is rather sympathetic and admiring of Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., the paper's hereditary publisher, and does not even mention his widely-used nickname "Pinch" - probably an effort to protect his dignity. BW is nearly as leftist in its editorial stance as the Times itself, so the role of the NYT's extreme ideological bias is downplayed. Here is what BW has to say on the topic. The growing polarization of the body...

LEBANON, Pa. (AP) - This is what Frank Ryan is bringing with him to Iraq: Fourteen pairs of socks, 10 pairs of underwear, eight uniforms, and an alarm clock with his son Matthew's picture in it. Four razors, the lubricated kind for dry shaving, a knife, one sweater, two hats, long thermal underwear for sleeping and more family photos on a CD. And that's not to mention the venison jerky for instant protein from Jan and Chuck Soulliard, friends from the post office. Ryan is a 53-year-old retired Marine colonel with 32 years of active and reserve duty under his...

~ Operation Season's Greetings Update ~ The FR Canteen and Proud Patriots.com would like to thank everyone that sent items for us to send to our military contacts around the world. The response has been overwhelming and greatly appreciated. Items continue to arrive even after the deadline period which was November 15th. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!   Items Donated # Received Donors Games ---> Board 174 Everyone Games ---> Handheld 59 Everyone Games ---> Game Consoles PS2 - 65, Xbox - 9, GameCube - 75 Air Force Squadron & Everyone! Games ---> Games For Consoles 260 Games...

My friend, a married mother with a 2-yr-old son, and I have been trading quite a few emails concerning my being for Bush and her voting for Kerry. I thought this was a very good reflection she had post-election: After I voted on Tuesday (which by the way - I walked at least 3 miles to do pushing Kirk since they had me down for a different place.) I walked out proud. Proud to feel safe in America. Proud to see that both canidates cared so much about this election that they traveled everywhere to prove their points. I was...

How many times have we heard well-intentioned Americans, with much justification, saying they didn't want a Washington "insider" running things during presidential campaigns? Carter, Reagan, Clinton (barf!), and Dubya were all elected in part because of that sentiment alone. Now comes John Kerry, an ultimate Washington insider who has done NOTHING in two decades as a United Sates senator to make any significant headway or noticeably improve anyone's life. How many significant bills bear his name or influence? Yep, that's what I thought. So he's been a real "leader" in Washington...right, and Michael Moore should be president in 2008! This...

A NEW YORK WELCOME FOR VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY As a throng of enthusiastic supporters waved and cheered, Vice President Dick Cheney traced the route so many Americans took to get to New York and arrived at Ellis Island. Arriving on the island by sea aboard Liberty IV, the Vice President was greeted by Boy Scouts, Veterans, a marching band and a Scottish Pipe and Drum Corp. After an introduction that included remarks by Rep. Vito Fosella, Rudy Giuliani, and Governor Pataki, the Vice President gave a rousing speech praising the City of New York and the spirit that brought people...

GIs Speak of ROK-US Friendship in Korean By Jung Sung-ki -- Thirteen U.S. soldiers Wednesday took turns in speaking at the podium of a theater in Yongsan Garrison, the center of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), Seoul, but the language they had chosen was not English but Korean. While their pronunciation may have been awkward, their zeal was also evident. Accompanying the speeches by those trying their hand at the Korean language was the laughter of a theater full of their fellow soldiers. There seemed to be no place for stage fright. This was how the sixth Korean speech contest...

I was sitting here thinking of President Reagan, and what he loved that we share. It was then that I remembered what I considered The Gipper's theme song, one that makes me proud every time I here it.

Father of 'American Idol' finalist charged in waitress incident Associated Press Posted on Fri, May. 28, 2004 COLLEGE PARK, Ga. - The father of a former "American Idol" finalist was charged Friday with simple battery after being accused by a waitress of making an unwelcome sexual advance. Former Atlanta police chief Eldrin Bell, the father of former "Idol" finalist Justin Guarini, was formally arrested Friday after a court hearing on the matter. Bell was released on his own recognizance. The 68-year-old Bell, a candidate for chairman of the Clayton County Commission, was Atlanta's police chief from 1990 to 1994. In...

America The Beautiful, And Selfish And Spoiled I sat in my seat of the Boeing 767 waiting for everyone to hurry and stow their carry-ons and grab a seat so we could start what I was sure to be a long , uneventful flight home. With the huge capacity and slow moving people taking their time to stuff luggage far too big for the overhead and never paying much attention to holding up the growing line behind them, I simply shook my head knowing that this flight was not starting out very well. I was anxious to get home to...

Proud To Be Catholic

<p>Yes, she's running for president. Is that good for the Democrats?</p> <p>There is not much mystery about the political ambition or political strategy of Hillary Rodham Clinton. She wants to be president. She ran for senator in New York in 2000 because the job would make her a more plausible candidate for president and because she preferred being a senator to being a former first lady. She journeyed methodically to all 62 counties in New York on a "listening tour" and learned about the special problems of upstate New York. Upstaters, like most Americans, love to be visited by celebrities, and her travels enabled her--as similar travels enabled Robert Kennedy in 1964--to win a near-majority in usually Republican upstate, which, together with her big majority in Democratic New York City, resulted in a solid statewide victory.</p>

Our country has witnessed its fair share of trials and tribulations lately. We have endured wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We have lived under the near-constant threat of terrorist attack at home. Many young Americans have heard the call to serve and, stirred by love of country and a deep sense of patriotic duty, they have responded. Some have served in the Army, others in the Marines. As for myself, I have served Coors Light. I am proud to serve my country beer. Our nation nobly faces any challenge with chins out and backs straight. We don't back down, no...

The Puget Sound Chapter of Free Republic announces its proud participation in the national RALLY FOR AMERICA, which will be held across the country on the Liberty Weekend of March 22 -23, 2003. These are family friendly patriotic rallies for America. Brings your friends, family, neighbors, and kids! STAND UP FOR AMERICA!RALLY FOR AMERICA BUMP Support Our Troops. Support Our President. Support Our Country. Saturday March 22, 2003 11:00 AMThe Puget Sound Chapter rallies will take place on Saturday, March 22, 11:00 AM, at the entrance to Camp Murray at Ft. Lewis and also in Bellevue (corners of N.E. 4th...

MY SUMMER VACATION: AN AMERICAN ABROAD REFLECTS ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11 by William GrimIconoclast Contributing Editor I was at a gas station on the Italian autostrada when the first jet hit the Twin Towers. There is nothing more frustrating than having your country under attack and watching the events unfold in real time in a foreign language on a portable TV in a foreign gas station. Frustration quickly gave way to concern about relatives and loved ones back home, which in turn gave way to a fierce desire for vengeance, for divine retribution of Old Testament proportions. The Europeans...

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Just before the trial was to begin over a teenager who was suspended from high school for wearing a T-shirt bearing the image of the Confederate flag, lawyers told the court they were about to settle the case.An order filed Sept. 10 in U.S. District Court in Lexington revealed the settlement. Lawyers would not discuss details, but said it should be made final within 30 days."I don't want to upset any apple carts," explained attorney Kirk David Lyons of the Southern Legal Resource Center in North Carolina, a nonprofit group devoted to protecting the civil rights of...

<p>Out of the racial upheaval, or Second Reconstruction, of turbulent post-World War II America came what some called the Americanization of Dixie, an amalgamation melting the great diversity of the nation into a homogenized puree, with human equality its loftiest ideal.</p>

Orange County Register, California Sunday, June 30 2002 A young Marine restores my faith Golden Pen Award Periodically the Register recognizes a letter that eloquently expresses a viewpoint or engenders a debate on a topic of public interest. Today's winner is Ann Baker, a real-estate agent who lives in Huntington Beach It was our normal Thursday morning business meeting at our real-estate office. No big deal. Before the meeting we hung around the bagel table, as usual, with our coffee. He stood aside, looking a little shy and awkward and very young, a new face in a room full of...