Obama Administration to Cut Troop Levels Down to 3,000 in Iraq (via The Western Experience)

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foreign policy, iraq-security, iraq-war, military, status-of-forces-agreement, troop-withdraw, us-military-in-iraq

Cutting down the military footprint in Iraq has been the goal since the end of Bush's administration under the status of forces agreement.Obama, too, signed off on that idea first calling for an immediate downgrade of forces before changing his position and referring to his military commanders' request of a sizable military force. That a reduction in troop strength in Iraq has been a foregone conclusion for sometime, however, the degree to which … Read More

via The Western Experience

A Red, White & Blue Patriotic Giant

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"life lessons", American, American Conservative, American Heroes, American history, American Morality, character training, Committment, Military appreciation, Service to Others, The BEST of America, US Military Veterans

George Michael Cohan became the stuff theatrical legends are made of, so it shouldn’t be surprising that he instigated a few of those legends, including one surrounding his birth date.

George M. Cohan was America’s first show business superstar, known coast to coast as a successful actor, singer, dancer, playwright, composer, librettist, director and producer. Once known as “The Man Who Owned Broadway,” most of his work is forgotten today — aside from a few of his songs and the film bio Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Cohan’s baptismal certificate — which is his only written birth record — verifies that he was born in Providence, Rhode Island on July 3rd, 1878. However, Cohan’s family unfailingly insisted that George and his country shared birthdays on the 4th. Although noted for their honesty, the Cohans certainly would have found it hard to resist the publicity value of a performer being “born on the Fourth of July.”

In 1900, most Americans sincerely believed there was no problem that a little “Yankee know-how” and a dash of common “American” decency couldn’t fix. George M. Cohan’s writing reflected this jingoistic exuberance, expressing it as no other playwright or songwriter had…While most sources refer to Cohan’s “flag waving,” patriotic fervor was only one of the noteworthy elements in his work. Many of his songs and plays also reflected his ethnic roots.

Cohan visited the White House in 1940, where President Roosevelt presented him with a Congressional medal honoring him as the creator of “Over There.” To this day, he remains the only American composer to receive such an award. But Cohan was hardly anxious to receive it. He had kept Roosevelt waiting for more than a year — some suggest that FDR’s progressive social policies had alienated the increasingly conservative Cohan.

In Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), the songs and patriotism come to life. It was a different time, for sure, but the songs this man wrote were as vital to the war effort (that’s the World War, The Great War!) as soldiers and weapons. I hope you take the time to listen to these songs and catch the spirit, the love of America!

In the early 1960s, a statue of George M. Cohan was erected in the center of Times Square, at the intersection of Broadway and 47th Street. Crowds waiting for the TKTS line now snake around the base of that statue every day, and most pay little if any attention to it. But the visage of the man who once “owned Broadway” still gazes down the street he dedicated his life to. In a neighborhood caught in an ongoing vortex of upheaval, Cohan’s monument provides a much-needed visible link with the past.

Truth decay

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"life lessons", American Conservative, American Moral Character, Committment, Conservative opinion, Human nature, moral fiber

Truth decay is making me crazy;
Making me wonder what’ll be true in 10 years,
If good folks are terrorists and evil is courted,
Up becomes down, and down is now up!

Truth decay is making me crazy;
I’ve heard we’re supposed to love our enemies
But this is just crazy, denial won’t work!
Ignorance isn’t bliss, how ’bout truth for a change!

Truth decay is making me crazy;
Facts and figures turned this way and that,
While people … yes people sit blindly unaware
Of the lies cascading toward them at their own expense.

Truth decay is making me crazy;
The lies pile up on every side,
Who’s NOT greedy for personal gain,
But beware the great cost of human pain.

Truth Decay is the slow rot eating its way through the moral fiber of our society. Advertising distorts truth to squeeze money out of a consuming public that is afraid to smell offensive or have dishes that are less than bright.

Weather predictors have gotten in on the act by exaggerating the truth b ringing “terror” to an unwitting public while claiming their words are “information,” but fear is the result.

Public schools and universities have stripped away the truth of the American dream, the American culture, and American values and replaced them with “pie in the sky” theories that might appear sound on paper, but are not compatible with human nature.

Our government twists facts and mangles truth to manipulate a fearfully credulous citizenry and distract them from the mountain of debt sitting in our living room, the groves of non-producing producers soaking up our wealth, and the intentional division of the American population into manageable (and pliable) groups.

Remember, only you can prevent Truth Decay.”

John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him,
“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”