Scoop’s Views

While you and I are sitting at home, enjoying all the creature comforts, American fighting men and women are in distant lands, including Afghanistan and Iraq, sweating their butts off, literally, while going on patrols, doing raids, and other duties, and their performance – or responses – could be the difference between life-and-death.

As for Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate who is doing a tour of specific areas in Afghanistan and Iraq, supposedly getting a first-hand look at the situation on the ground, things are much different. His environment will be hot, sandy, dirty, but secure, for the most part. Because Obama, like McCain and others during past trips, are members of Congress, the military will provide a shroud around the “dignitaries” – ensuring, to the best of their ability, the survival of the elected officials, even at the expense of service men and women.

Tags: 2008 presidential candidates, 82nd Airborne Division, airborne, armed conflict, Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Hussein Obama II, Barack Obama, barry o'bomber, body armor, desert fatigues, Ft. Bragg, G.I. Bill, Harvard University, heroes, infantry, infantry platoon leader, insurgents, John F. Kennedy School of Government, John McCain, LBE, load bearing equipment, McCain abortion, McCain for President, McCain issues, McCain potatoes, Obama for President, off-the-record, paratrooper, photo op, photo opportunities, publicity stunt, Purple Hearts, real heroes, rucksacks, security details, U.S. Army Rangers, United States Army, United States Military Academy at West Point, Vietnam, water, weapon and ammo, weapons qualification, West Point

A 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) soldier was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during a valorous award presentation ceremony on April 30 at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Tags: Admiral Eric T. Olson, Afghanistan, airborne, combat, combat actions, Distinguished Service Cross, Ft Bragg NC, Ft. Bragg, gallantry, Green Berets, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Wagner, Military, military actions, North Carolina, Operation Enduring Freedom, Ranger, Special Forces, Special Operations Command, Special Ops, U.S. Army Special Forces, valor, valorous actions

McCain scored a point with me when he said that no emergency bailout should be made to the people who obtained these mortgages. His opponents, though, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have made comments in the recent past that some kind of “help” ought be made available to the people with these mortgages. My question to Clinton and Obama would be: “Why? Are you looking at rewarding bad and irresponsible behavior?”

Tags: airborne, allies, bad loans, bad mortgages, balloon payments, Barack Obama, Bear Stearns, Bill Clinton, candidates, Clinton, Colin Powell, combat veterans, doom and gloom, election 2008, emergency bailout, equity, financial institutions, foreign countries, George W. Bush, Green Berets, health care crisis, Henry Shelton, Hillary, Hillary Clinton, History, Hugh Shelton, impending disaster, Iraq, John McCain, Joint Chiefs of Staff, lending crisis, low interest rates, McCain, money, mortgage crisis, mortgage qualification, Obama, opponents, Peter Pace, positions, presidential campaign, respect, Secretary of State, solutions, Special Forces, special operations, speeches, Straight Talk, U.S. Army, U.S. Marines, White House

In moving the clocks ahead one hour, we are effectively losing an hour of sleep. Without proper preparation for the time change, people end up sleepy. In honor of sleepy people, as well as a tribute to our men and women in uniform, here’s a great video.

Tags: Afghanistan, airborne, Army, bivouacs, combat, honors, infantry, Iran, Iraq, light infantry, maneuvers, Sleep, sleep anywhere, sleepiness, sleepy, soldiering, soldiers, tributes, U.S. Army