In Memory

Chalk it up to age, nostalgia – or the current condition of our country. But when I woke up today, I wasn’t thinking of a day free from work. I was thinking of Rogers Leuallen Crawford, the uncle I never met. His dreams ended March 5, 1945, on Iwo Jima – 10 days after the American flag was raised on Mount Suribachi. He was 22.

To me, Uncle Rogers was a fresh-faced young man playing dress up in a Marine uniform and smiling cockily at the world from a cheap 8x10 frame center stage on Grandma’s dresser. The fact that his picture, draped with two purple hearts, was in Grandma’s bedroom spoke volumes. All the other family pictures were in the living room – to be shared with anyone who dropped by. But Rogers was a quiet, closely held loss. His picture was the first and last thing she saw every day.

Unlike many mothers, Grandma knew the horrible details of Rogers’ death. She had three other sons fighting in the war, and the oldest watched, helplessly, when his brother's foxhole was hit with a grenade. While she didn’t let herself dwell on it, Grandma sometimes wondered what Rogers would have accomplished had he lived. Most likely, something mechanical, she said. He was the fix-it guy of the Crawford clan. When she thought of him in the Marines, Grandma always pictured him working on a bicycle – one of his duties when his unit wasn’t fighting.

Rogers was one of 6,821 U.S. troops to die in a little more than a month at Iwo Jima. But when we think of Iwo Jima, we too often focus on the flag-raising without giving much thought to the sacrifice made by these men and their families, of the dreams that were snuffed out, of the future that would never be.

As we observe Memorial Day, let’s not just pay lip service to the lives lost. Rather, let’s make a commitment to their memory – and to the troops serving today – that we will ensure their sacrifices were not in vain, that we will maintain the values they fought for, that we will do our part to make our nation deserving of their service.

End the Stupidity

It was with great sadness that I learned this past week that my campaign manager, Angus Hollis, had passed on. Like me, Angus was a rescue pup, and he proved that through hard work and training, anyone can achieve the American dream – even in tough economic times. That’s because for him, the dream wasn’t about McMansions, millions in the bank or the fame of notoriety. His dream was based on the simple things of life – a loving family, food in his dish and a run in the park.

True to his Scots heritage, Angus was no-nonsense. He could instantly size up the measure of a man and didn’t put up with people trespassing on his liberties. He also was rather impatient when it came to all things stupid. I can just hear what he would say about the following:

STUPIDITY #1: Soon after identifying the man behind the attempted Times Square fire bombing, DHS put him on the no-fly list and alerted only the domestic airlines. Arf! The guy is from Pakistan, has traveled to Pakistan numerous times in the past few years and – I would hazard a guess – didn’t usually fly the friendly skies of American airlines. This one should have been a no-brainer.

And did you catch the spin? In a media briefing after the arrest, Attorney General Eric Holder claimed Faisal Shahzad was taken into custody at JFK Airport in New York as he attempted to board an Emirates flight to Dubai. It was only following numerous media reports to the contrary that government officials admitted Shahzad was already on a plane headed toward the runway before the feds caught up with him. So much for building confidence – and integrity – in our government.

STUPIDITY #2: The administration refuses to “profile” extreme Islamists or call them terrorists, but DHS, in an intelligence assessment released last year in conjunction with the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, had no problem profiling what it considers right-wing terrorists. And who are these terrorists? Veterans, pro-lifers, people who hold to the Second Amendment, those who believe in states’ rights, workers who are concerned that the U.S. is losing its manufacturing sector to other countries, homeowners who have lost their homes and anyone who opposes the president’s stance on big government and immigration, according to the DHS assessment. (I can email you a copy if you haven't read it.)

STUPIDITY #3: The president and a slew of unions, organizations and various government officials have condemned Arizona for its law to deport illegals because of the growing violence along its border. The state had appealed to the federal government to fulfill its constitutional mandate to protect the borders, but DHS didn’t want to go there.

Meanwhile, DHS imprisoned hundreds of Haitian earthquake refugees because they were undocumented. The refugees were brought to the U.S. by our military in a compassionate effort to get them medical care or unite them with families. Instead of medical care, DHS provided them with handcuffs and a cell. (CNN)

And here’s the kind of stupidity we get from our “entertainment” industry:

STUPIDITY #4: Comedy Central recently censored a South Park episode because it made light of Mohammed. The network didn’t have a problem with the show’s incessant jabs at Jesus, Catholics and Jews or the occasional pokes at Mormons or Scientologists. Now Comedy Central is seriously considering a whole series, JC, to spoof Jesus. (CNN)

I’m Joey. I’m running for Congress because I think it’s time to end the stupidity.