Another Memorial Day.

There’s not much I can contribute to the many flowery tributes to our fallen heroes that we saw and heard yesterday. There are just not enough superlatives. On this day that we set aside in remembrance of our war dead, I’m really gratified to see the huge amount of tribute and attention being given to our living military men and women… and their families.



We have, thanks to God, the finest military in the world. They’re an all volunteer military, which means every one of them is a professional… and please don’t give me the saw about minorities and poor whites being forced into the military due to poor economic conditions. These days, the recruiters won’t even talk to you without a high school diploma.

Today’s battlefield is a far cry from those of previous wars. The speed with which information can be passed, and tactical situations changed, on today’s battlefield mean that the average soldier, sailor, Marine or airman has to know far more than did a rifleman at Belleau Wood.

Combat in Afghanistan and Iraq is physically demanding and mentally draining. The enemy is quite literally everywhere and nowhere is totally safe. That’s not the worst part. These magnificent men and women are expected to win in an environment where their own commander-in-chief is not only actively working for their defeat, he’s crippling them of their ability to accomplish their mission by gutting as much of the military as he can. He’s also telegraphed to the Taliban when he intends to reduce our forces in Afghanistan… thereby making everyone’s job more dangerous and in the process giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

Some might call that treason. It certainly gives pause for thought. We hear more coming out about our nascent fuhrer actively seeking ways to circumvent the second amendment via executive order.
I think that would just about tear it for most of us.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2011

I Hate Weekend News Cycles.

I guess that’s why most daily columnists don’t write on weekends. Our own research indicates about 1/3 of the readership on weekends. There’s not much going on as a rule, and much of what is out there is second and third tier reporting of last week’s stuff… so I usually save material for the weekends that I normally wouldn’t write about during the week.



Recently, we’ve had a whole series of events and occurrences that have interfered with getting articles out on our intended daily schedule. Everything from work (which is a good thing these days) to my 20 year old son’s mysterious, nearly fatal disease, now completely cured, thank God. Then, within a week, raccoons in the walls of the house chewing up my DSL wires and effectively shutting us down.

So, no more raccoons (we, uh, urged them to vacate… grins), and I’ve made the switch to fiber optic which just now became available here. So, hopefully, Dee and I can get back to some sort of normalcy getting this thing out… no more exotic diseases or critter infestations for a while, thank you. Not that I have anything to complain about. I’m a cup half-full kinda guy… very grateful for what I have and very aware that there are all kinds of folks out there who are hurting very badly and have lost everything.

I’ve been watching the evolution of a revolution for the past two and almost one-half years. I’m damned proud to be a part of that revolution… pulling America back from the abyss of Marxist/Socialist penury. We won a great victory last November. We can win another huge historic election in 2012… but we have to stay focused. We can’t let the DeMarxists and their symbiotic stooges of the Lame Stream Media shunt us off on sideshow issues, which is something they are very practiced at.

Today is Memorial Day. I can see the lights on the flag monument of the Golden Gate National Cemetery from my living room windows. To me, it’s a constant reminder of the very real debt we owe to all those magnificent heroes who have given, and are giving us, everything they have to give to keep us free.

It’s up to us… you and me… and millions upon millions just like us, to ensure that the sacrifice made by millions of American Patriots is not in vain.
Join us.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2011

A Thunderstorm Interrupts Obama Memorial.

Yesterday I alluded to the ‘spirits’ of the men and women, who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country and the freedoms we hold so dear, objecting to President Obama. When president Obama arrived at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois, it seemed as though those spirits were present and accounted for. A rolling thunderstorm began to break even as President Obama mounted the stage and told everyone to break for cover because of possible lightning strikes.



He did stop by a busload of vet families to talk, while trying to wait out the storm. I give him kudos for getting those folks the hell out of there. Why the Hades can’t he make decisions like that when it comes to the war, or emergencies such as the Gulf Oil leak?

I have always been and always will be, humbled by the sacrifice of these heroes who reside in our national cemeteries. As a kid, I would go out to the National Cemetery here in San Bruno, California, Golden Gate National Cemetery, and place flags on the headstones there. There are tens of thousands of American heroes buried there. It is consecrated ground. I drive by it often and I never cease to experience that sense of awe and profound respect for the men and women who were the giants of our age.

One of my Grandfathers is buried there. He was a veteran of World War 1. No one now living understands the horrors of trench warfare. Not much filtered down to us, other than he had ‘been in France’. It’s surprising how many of those headstones are from the ‘Great War’. America has given it’s best all over the planet… as we do now.



Whether he intended to or not, President Obama has not endeared himself to the military. They, almost to a man, (no slight intended ladies) see all too clearly just who Barack Obama is and what he’s trying to do to the country they love and serve. They know far more than Obama is comfortable with. They know he is no leader… though they don’t need his leadership.

I can speak only for myself as a Marine Veteran. I firmly believe the spirits of those men and women would resent Barack Hussein Obama because his heart is not with this country.
I’d have to agree.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Memorial Day 2010

…and not an Obama in sight. Vacationing in fact. To my way of thinking as a veteran, as an American and as a patriot, perhaps it’s best he didn’t show. He would have somehow sullied our memories of the countless selfless souls who have gone before. I think that somewhere the spirits of these warriors would protest at someone who thought so little of the freedoms they willingly gave the ultimate measure of devotion to maintain.



Obama seems unable to think or behave in any sort of a strategic manner. He seems truly oblivious when it comes to anything beyond the narrow focus of his ideology. There is a North Korean General threatening “all out war.” The South Korean military is at its highest state of readiness, as are the tens of thousands of our troops there.

The Israeli Navy has met and stopped a convoy of six ships carrying some 700 pro-Palestinian activists and ‘aid’ for the blockaded Gaza strip. The IDF has repeatedly said that the ships will not be permitted to land at Gaza. With a steadily deteriorating peace the last thing Israel needs is 700 crazed activists running loose in Gaza. Their true intentions were indicated by the savage attack on the IDF boarding party.

An 'aid worker' aboard the flotilla.

In an indication of just how serious the situation in the region has become, Israel has stationed three nuclear submarines off of the coast of Iran. Barack Obama hasn’t a clue of how to deal with either North Korea or Iran. Either one has the potential to blow up in our faces.

Obama cheapens everything he touches, so perhaps it’s just as well that he wasn’t present at the memorials for our fallen.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010