LCpl Andrian Jones by WO FaySeveral weeks ago, within days of each other, I did two things. First, myself and fellow combat artist Sergeant Kris Battles went to both Bethesda and Walter Reed to meet and sketch brother Marines undergoing intense healing and rehabilitation. Second, I went completely ballistic on a local moonbat who evesdropped upon, and then inserted himself univited into a conversation I was having at my beloved local coffee shop with someone else about the fighting between Israel and the terrorist thugs of Hezbollah.
Sergeant Battles and I went to great lengths to insure that our presence at both major military medical facilities would not be seen by our wounded warriors as intrusive or self-serving. (One of the senior Marines revealed that they guys are pretty burned out by the daily presence of Congressional aides who come fishing and probing for problems that their bosses can then make politcal points by fixing.) The officers and senior NCOs at both facilities did a great job of briefing the Marines and making it possible for us to visit under the radar. We were introduced at each facilities' morning formation and took our cues from the Marines themselves. Our message to them was simple; you guys are still in the fight dealing with your injuries and we want to capture that for future generations of jarheads. The majority of young Marines, most with multiple amputations and disfiguring wounds, courageously stepped up to be drawn. A few just weren't ready and we respected that. All, however, willingly spoke about their current tribulations and future hopes. The experience for Battles and I was both humbling and inspirational.
As for the moonbat.......typical and predictable stuff, but coming on the heals of two days with America's finest it had on me what I call the Popeye effect....I've had all I can stand, I can't stands no more! Here's the gist of the confrontation. My buddy Tom asked me what I thought about what was going on in Lebanon. My reply was simply that Israel, like us, is currently restrained by the Law of Land Warfare and the Geneva Conventions, which the thugs over at Terrorist Inc, aka Hezbollah, are not. At which point the middle-age moonbat dressed in black and sporting a ten inch long goatee, interjected that the US threw out the LLW and the GC a long time ago and that torture, among other things, was now the official military policy of the evil Bush administration.
Now I had just spent two days with Marines who by and large had been maimed by terrorist IEDs while either escorting a convoy or out on a foot patrol. I've been out on dozens upon dozens of these same convoys and patrols and they all begin with the same thing, THE BRIEF. The brief contains many critical bits of information, not the least of which are the rules of engagement, ie.; Law of Land Warfare and Geneva Convention protocols. The troops are reminded time and time again how to treat enemy combatants while at the same time respecting the locals. To assert that we, the US military, are now using terrorist tactics as a matter of broad policy is asinine........and I told him as much..........and more.
In the course of our exchange I admittedly baited this gentleman, who is a social studies teacher at a local high school. I asked him if he thought 9/11 was an inside job.......he's not sure, might have been. Since he stated that Bush was evil I wondered whether he felt that the terrorists, to include Iran's President Ahmadinejad and his pursuit of nuclear arms, were evil as well. His answer was revealatory. My moonbat would agree that what they did was occassionally evil, but they were not, unlike Bush, evil. I queried him on this point several times, and he simply refused to call terrorists evil. He offered up as proof of Hezbollah's non-evil legitimacy the fact that 14 year old Lebanonese boys are flocking to sign up. I guess that probably means that the Bloods, the Crips and MS-13, since they no doubt attract 14 year olds, are legitimate as well. There was more to the exchange, but nothing unpredictable....same old worn out conspiracy theory and Bush Derangement Syndrome stuff.
Why share this with you? These two experiences sum up my state of mind of late. I am so proud of and inspired by my fellow Marines in particular and by all the folks in uniform in general. But that is offset more and more by the absolute political chaos here at home, as personified by the goateed guy in black at the coffee shop. We're at war and the unfortunate fact that a sizeable segment of our republic doesn't get that is simply amazing to me. The witnesses at the coffee shop assure me I devestated the moonbat's positions, but so what? As long as a large group of educated and influential citizenry in this nation are in denial about the nature of our enemy, and by extension denying our collective political will of their much needed presence, I don't see how we can prevail in the long term against an enemy as evil and as determined as any we've ever faced.
I leave you with a quote from the Bible that speaks to me of the guys at Bethesda and Walter Reed.
And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.
Romans 5:3-4
LCpl Richard J. Robinson by WO Fay
Sergeant Ryan G. King by WO Fay
LCpl Joseph M. Grady by WO Fay
Cpl Estaban Diaz by Sgt. Battles
Cpl Andrew Ingram by Sgt. Battles
LCpl Patrick W. Howard by Sgt. Battles
23 comments:
Both yours and Kris’ sketches are simply moving. What an honor it must be to meet and sketch America’s finest. I want to be a Marine artist too.
I had a similar run-in with a moonbat this summer. One minute I was enjoying a game of golf with my husband and friend, and the next minute some ignorant okie was giving me his unasked for opinion on the war, our military, and Bush. This man actually said, “Ma’am, I wear this ‘I support the troops’ even though they are murdering people and killing babies…” I think I may have experienced that Popeye effect. My husband certainly recognized the look in my eye and the tone of my voice and was quick to drag me away. I wanted to fight, but my husband pointed out that the man was an idiot, and there was no way I was going to change his mind. Most of the people I come in contact with support our military and government, but the experience with the ignorokie really bothered me. Why would anyone believe such lies? And your moonbat teaches high school. It disturbs me to think he is in a position to influence young minds.
W.O.,
If we would like to send cards of thanks to these fine men you sketched, do we just need to include their names with Walter Reed's address?
BTW, a friend of mine is providing greeting cards at cost to people who indicate they will use them to write to the troops. Do you know of any organizations that might be able to use his services?
Adoptaplatoon.org could probably use your friends services.
I just dropped him a line. Thanks!
Mike,
Your work is beautifully moving, as always is.
I don't have much tolerance for moonbats myself, but it is because their existence is allowed that makes this a wonderful and free country. I know they seem overwhelming at times, and especially to those, you, and all of our precious Warriors, who risk everything for our freedom. I think it is ironic that they are free to express their opinions only because of you and yours.
These moonbats make the job of those of us who actively nurture and care for our country much harder; they make our vigilance an imperative. However, I do love caring for my country and my Warriors.
Thanks for all you have given.
Sam
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Your sketches are wonderful. Thank you for your efforts, over there, and here.
I still believe, as Reagan did, that we are a "shining city on a hill." And because I believe this I have high hopes--and I refuse to believe that moonbats are a majority. They are just loud. And being loud is good for us, and the rest, because more people will hear how ignorant they are. And turn the other way.
Well with assholes like that in the schools, I guess it's no mystery why we're so fucked up. You did well to set him strait, but I doubt it got through the haze. Keep up the good work.
It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.
It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag who gives that protester the freedom he abuses to burn that flag.
Author Unknown
Moonbats are the most close minded, kool-aid drinking, unpatriotic, people there are in this country. They are the first who would have no problem bowing down to the terrorists and proclaiming allah as their one and only god. They don't seem to understand that they are the type of people the terrorists hate the most - liberal, anything goes relativists. These Americans, who are so afraid of "the Christian Right", would be the first to embrace Islamo-fascism. Don't they get that in doing so, they would be kissing ALL their freedoms goodbye. I just don't get it!!!!!
Anonymous, The fact that moonbat universe of libs/progressives/Dems/lefties don't realize at any meaningful or functional level that theirs would be the first heads to roll in the worldwide Islamofascist caliphate is amazing. I never thought of it before, but you're right on the money when you bring up the additional disconnect of their ready kowtowing to radical Islam while in the same breath lambasting a supposed Christian jihad happening here.
Ever read Watership Down? There's a couple revealatory chapters about a warren of "highly evolved" rabbits who try to stay blissfully unaware of the true reality of their situation...which is that a farmer is providing them lots of food. The availability of lots of eats without the dangerous necessity of foraging gives them lots of time to think deep thoughts prior to being devoured.
I am tired of the notion that there is no such thing as black and white. On the contrary, there is only black and white. Shades of gray only come into play when people insert their "feelings" into the equation.
People are afraid to see things in black and white because they want to be considered compassionate. They also may feel guilty because they themselves have been a participant in something that is wrong i.e. adultery. People don’t want to feel judgmental or feel they have been judged. I have done things that are wrong. Just because I have done them doesn’t make it right. It may help me understand and feel compassion for a person who has been in the same situation (gray), but it still doesn’t make the act itself right (black and white).
Moonbats see things in gray because they are cowards at heart. They think they "understand" the terrorist’s motives for attacking our country on 9/11. Understanding someone’s motives and even believing that they were justified, still doesn’t make it right. Murdering innocent civilians is wrong. It just is. To me there is no gray here.
Lets compare . . .In the eyes of Moonbats, Timothy McVeigh was a right-wing nut job. Who cares what kind of upbringing he had. He deserved to die for what he did. He murdered innocent people, including small children. But, Mohammed Attah- ah, there was a man who gave his life for a cause he thought just. It was a shame that innocent civilians and even children had to die, but America asked for it. There in lies the wonderful hypocrisy of the Moonbats.
Both McVeigh and Attah were troubled individuals. What they did was wrong. Period. It doesn’t matter what their motives were or what the circumstances were leading up to the event or even what happened in their childhood to make them into the men they became; none of that matters. We may get an understanding of their motives if we look into those things, but the acts themselves, were wrong – plain and simple.
For a Moonbat, it is impossible to see it that way. It is too black and white – too clear cut. You see, Moonbats see every shade of gray they want as long as it fits onto their perfect little color wheel. To them, McVeigh was a crazy brainwashed right wing fanatic, but the 9/11 terrorists were freedom fighters dying for what they believed to be a noble cause. It is maddening!
Like Andy Taylor told his son Opie on the Andy Griffith Show in regards to Robin Hood stealing from the rich and giving to the poor – Stealing is stealing.
There is such a thing as black and white – plain and simple. You just have to leave your "feelings" out of it.
Throwing you a link, bruddah.
My father was wounded during WWII and rehabbed for 13 months at Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio. While he was there a young artist like yourself did a watercolor of my Dad, which I now have. It is my most cherished possession, especially since I lost Dad back in 1988. Know that your work here will live on well beyond your time and be cherished and appreciated by generation after generation. God bless you and all you and your comrades in arms do.
I found out this week my son's best friend is talking to a Marine recruiter. I'm not entirely sure he knows what he's getting himself into. Total computer nerd kid, not at all athletic, I wonder if he can even make the cut at boot camp. But anyway, your drawing of LCpl Richard J. Robinson reminds me of this young man I know.
Thank you, Michael and Kris, for the work that you are doing.
Permiting and condoning those suborned by treason is not what makes our country great. It is what is making our country weak and it is the only possible hope the enemy has of our eventual defeat.
This whole line of crap bout serving so fellow citizens can provide aide, comfort, support, encouragement and sympathy to the enemy that is trying to kill us is the every worst of the very bad PC bullshit that's been hammering us to our knees for a full generation now.
This is not about a difference of opinion. This is about a difference in loyalty during a time of war.
No civilization has ever withstood such a manifestation of cultural rot.
This rot is the stench of decay that has been constantly drawing the predatory enemy onto us.
Put it in perspective. The next time you feel obligated to mouth that idiocy that you serve so others can support the enemy.
Put it into real context.
"I am serving so you can be free to aid and support the enemy that is trying to harm me and has harmed my comrades and fellow citizens.
I am serving so that you can indulge in open treason and sedition without any fear of repercussion what-so-ever.
I am serving so that you, through your cowardice or idiocy can force me and my comrades from the field of battle in such a way that guarantees that I will have to fight this enemy on the very doorstep of my home."
We can not be defeated by any combination of military powers on this planet. We can only be defeated because we refuse to stand up to the deconstructionist redefinition of our First Amendment. We can only be defeated from within.
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear."
—Marcus Tullius Cicero
"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason? Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
Author: Sir John Harrington
Source: Of Treason--Epigrams (bk. IV, ep. V)
This malignancy spreads its corruption simply because we've been browbeaten into submission by the PC drones.
It is well past time to get up off our knees and stop this crap.
We've been defeated by it before and millions died in horror regimes because of it. This time, the deaths will not be far enough way to ignore.
Laurie,
My brother Kristopher, a Marine, was not an athlete at all, in fact, remember the geek in the movie "Sixteen Candles"...that was my brother back in the '80's! He was and is fine. He is living proof that "nerds" and "geeks" can be trained to be Marines. Your son's friend needs not only to be ready physically, but more importantly, mentally. The Marine Corp will take care of the rest!
Amazing water color of LCpl Jones...
If anyone is wondering which Kristopher "anonymous" is talking about, it's Sgt. Kristopher Battles, WO Fay's fellow combat artist. There's no doubt he's a fine marine today.
WO Fay -- I love your watercolor style. I look forward to seeing more of your work in person after we move up.
Thank you Artist's wife and anonymous sibling :) If he does sign up, I'll be proud of him and a little scared. But I have no doubt it will make a good man out of him.
I have discussed with a friend the disconnect of the liberals over the GWOT. The first ones the Islamofascists will go after are the gays, the feminists, those who use drugs and/or alcohol. It amazes me that they don't seem to realize that their lifestyle is in direct conflict with the teaching of Islam followed by our enemies.
As for "moonbat encounters", I began my student teaching this past week. For the last two school days, there was a substitute. During the Social Studies lesson, the topic was "community", and included information on different levels of "community", working up to nations. I was completely floored when the substitute told the class of 3rd graders that she was "disgusted with" the US, because it goes in and tells other countries what to do. This is NOT supposed to happen, but it was not the time or place to deal with it. I consulted my mentor from the university, and she told me how I should deal with it, although I just told her that the sub shared her negative views on US foreign policy to a captive audience of impressionable young children. The sub is an otherwise nice lady, and she and I agree on at least some issue as they pertain to parental involvement and student success, but she shouldn't have said what she said....
"Anonymous" was not talking about the artist's wife's husband. But, what a coincidence that my brother and her husband were both geeks back in the 1980's who share the same name!
Resounding Amen!
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