DennisMansfield.com

On the successful passing of ObamaCare: A new National Anthem?

Forget about the Star Spangled Banner. It's too difficult for most of us to sing anyway...

 And since Speaker Pelosi and her "boys" don't stand on ceremony anyway (or even on constitutional grounds for that manner), I suggest we take some of the government money that we'll all have to NOW pay for mandatory health care...and bribe the owners of "My country Tis of thee" and just change the words...after all what do words mean?

Here's my humble suggestion:

My country,' you're for me,

sweet land of insanity, of thee I sing; 

land where the old healthcare died, 

land of the new liberals' pride, 

from every doctor's bedside let "Oh Canada" ring! 

Our nation's god, is me,

I am the needy "me", nar-cis-sis-tic-ally; 

long may my health be right 

with health care's holy light; 

ignore us in our plight, the God who's "weak".

Our trust is in ourselves,

but we need ya to pay our bills, when 'ere that we're ill, 

We'll force it on our boss.

Who cares how much it costs.

Till be wind up in a pinewood box,

It's our "right" now.

---------------------

Well, America, we now have Health Care for the masses....

And the Democrat Party will stand or fall in November because of it.

I wonder what song they'll be singin' after election day.

Den

Obama's "package" -- Words mean things...even in the Newspaper business and on TV? Uh-huh...just ask "Old Spice".

My friend, Chad Estes, forwarded to me a headline from this past week's news....NOT the Idaho Statesman, by the way.

So, PLEASE help me with what they were saying....tee hee. (Or what they may be TRYING to say?)

Yep, words mean things...many things, sometimes. Especially, words mean things when I'm putting on my Old Spice....watch and wonder!

Manly yours,

Den

 

Maybe the GOP should, as a collective House and Senate use Old Spice...then the American public could see how the GOP is "turned on" by something instead of always being "turned off"....

Just food for thought...and Old Spice for your Man!

 

Meg Roe - pictures of her GOP nomination filing (and win!)

As many of the blog's readers will know, Meg Roe is my 25 year old daughter.

 She's been in politics since she was in the womb...literally. The night before she was born, we were at a CA fundraiser for Bob Henley for US Congress in 1984 (I was running his race). We moved to ID when she was 6. She interned at the State Capitol when she was 9. No kidding...Lobbyist "Green Tag" and all...she grew up having her folks take photos of her with Helen Chenoweth, Butch, Dirk, Dad, Bill Sali, and others. 

As I FB'd on Friday, Meg "threw her hat in" for GOP Precinct Committeeman for the 68th  

Precinct. And at closing time she was unopposed. Election won!

This is a photo of Meg and her son Cole as she handed in her nomination papers at the Ada County Election Department on Friday. 

Susan, Colin and I are very proud of her, as is her husband, Caleb.

Den

PS: I was also inspired to throw in my own hat for the 30th Precinct.  

Same result! Election won. So dad and daughter will serve together on  

the GOP's Ada County Central Committee. What an honor.

 As well, when Meg was filing for her GOP Precinct Committeeman position, political road-warriors Verne Bisterfedlt and Roger Simmons were ALSO filing - but for Ada County Commissioner(s). 

When they bumped into her at the Elections Dept, hey were kind enough to encourage Meg about her running and to pose with her for a photo. The old and the new? Maybe....

General John J. "Jack" Sheehan - part II: The Rise of the Happy People.

As I was surfing the stories on USMC General Sheehan's Senate testimony this afternoon, I was surprised that it wasn't Dutch homosexual soldiers he was disturbed by, for their lack of productive service in Bosnia - thus creating (or leading to) a terrible massacre of almost 8,000....

it was that he was against....happy people.

Say what?

Well, I suppose words mean things - and I was reading this translation (below) of the Dutch. Here's what they had to say:

Den

PS: Hmm, maybe the use of the term "gay" is not on the Google translation deal yet....I did find it extremely interesting to read it,  as is.

-------------------------

Dutch officials have deserted a late US general’s explain which the forces unsuccessful at Srebrenica given of bad spirit over plainly happy soldiers.

A counterclaim method orator discharged as “complete nonsense” the remarks by John Sheehan, a former Nato commander.

Gen Sheehan had been vocalization at a US Senate conference on permitting happy people to offer plainly in the US military.

(Den's comments: See, "happy people" should not serve in the Army...only unhappy people, I suppose.)

He pronounced Dutch leaders had told him which the participation of happy soldiers had contributed to the Bosnian massacre.

Srebrenica was a UN protected breakwater underneath the insurance of Dutch peacekeepers when, in 1995, Bosnian Serb forces overran the town, murdering a little 8,000 Muslim group and boys.

Gen Sheehan pronounced the former arch of staff of the Dutch armed forces had told him which the participation of plainly happy soldiers in the Dutch peacekeeping force were seen as “part of the problem” which contributed to the tumble of Srebrenica.

He argued which given the finish of the Cold War, European militaries had altered and he resolved “there was no longer a need for an active fight capability”.

‘Totally off-target’

This “socialisation” process, Gen Sheehan said, “included open homosexuality” and led to “a concentration on peacekeeping operations given they did not hold the Germans were going to conflict again or the Soviets were entrance back”.

Gen Sheehan is a former Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic

“It is startling which a male of his status can finish such finish nonsense,” Dutch counterclaim method orator Roger outpost de Wetering pronounced in response.

(Den's comments: What?)

“The Srebrenica electrocute and the impasse of UN soldiers was at length investigated by the Netherlands, ubiquitous organisations and the United Nations.

“Never was there in any approach resolved which the passionate course of soldiers played a role.”

The Dutch envoy to the US, Renee Jones-Bos, combined in a matter on the embassy’s website which she “couldn’t remonstrate more” with the claims by the former general, who late from the troops in 1997.

In the US Senate itself, Senator Carl Levin, authority of the Armed Services Committee, told Gen Sheehan he was “totally off-target”.

Several countries – together with Britain, Canada, Australia and Israel – concede happy people to offer openly.

This man is "crazy"? Why the "ad hominem" attack TODAY against this USMC General Jack Sheehan?

Look at this list of Military Medals that were awarded to one man:

• Defense Distinguished Service Medal w/ 1 oak leaf cluster
• Silver Star Defense Superior Service Medal Bronze Star w/ 1 award star & valor device Purple Heart w/ 1 award star
• Defense Meritorious Service Medal Meritorious Service Medal Army Commendation Medal Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal
• Combat Action Ribbon Navy Presidential Unit Citation Navy Unit Commendation Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal
• National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 service star Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Vietnam Service Medal w/ 5 service stars Southwest Asia Service Medal w/ 2 service stars
• Humanitarian Service Medal Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon Arctic Service Ribbon Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/ 2 silver stars
• Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal Vietnam Gallantry Cross unit citation Vietnam Campaign Medal Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia)

Now, look at his background:

 The son of Irish immigrants he is one of seven children. He graduated with a B.A. degree in English from Boston College in June 1962. After graduation, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. 

He holds an M.S. degree from Georgetown University in Government. His professional military education includes the Amphibious Warfare School, Naval Command and Staff College, and National War College. He served in various command positions ranging from company commander to brigade commander in both the Atlantic and Pacific theater of operations. 

His combat tours include duty in Vietnam and Desert Shield/Desert Storm. His staff positions included duties as regimental, division, and service headquarters staff officer as well as joint duty with the United States Army, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the U.S. Atlantic Command. 

Prior to assuming his final duties as Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic and Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Command on October 31, 1994, he served as Director for Operations, J-3, Joint Staff, Washington, D.C. He retired from the Marine Corps on September 24, 1997. In 1998, he joined Bechtel International as a Senior Vice President.

And this amazing general officer is TODAY being called CRAZY.

Has his career EVER shown anything but dedication, honor and integrity? What would cause an entire nation (and European press) to call him crazy?

Here it is: His recent comments at the Capitol on gays in the military -and the deaths he believes that were caused because of the homosexual soldiers' behaviors while manning a post that was over-run and the soldiers were butchered.

Gen. Sheehan was the Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic as well as the Commander in Chief, US Atlantic Command. He knows stuff...he did stuff...at the highest levels in Europe.

Could he know something that Dutch politicians and Dutch press do not wish the world to know?

Truth never fears investigation - what if there's something truthful to what Gen. Sheehan is stating "on the record"?

Den

PS: This is what's being said of him in European press via AP, TODAY:

----------------------

By MIKE CORDER

Associated Press Writer

March 19th, 2010

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- The Dutch prime minister Friday denounced as "irresponsible" a claim by a retired U.S. general that gay Dutch soldiers were partly to blame for allowing Europe's worst massacre since World War II.

Dutch officials, from the Cabinet to the military, were outraged by retired Gen. John Sheehan's remarks at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

Sheehan claimed that Dutch military leaders had called the presence of gay soldiers in the army "part of the problem" that allowed Serb forces to overrun the Srebrenica enclave in Bosnia in July 1995 and kill some 8,000 Muslim men.

Dutch troops were serving in the undermanned U.N. peacekeeping force in Srebrenica when they were overrun by heavily armed Serb forces, who went on to turn the surrounding countryside into killing fields littered with mass graves.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende called Sheehan's comments irresponsible and said at his weekly news conference that "these remarks should never have been made."

"Toward Dutch troops - homosexual or heterosexual - it is way off the mark to talk like that about people and the work they do under very difficult circumstances," he said.

Sheehan, a former NATO commander who retired from the military 1997, was speaking in opposition to a proposal to allow gays to serve openly in the U.S. military.

Sali endorses Labrador...does not run for US Congress.

Today, Bill Sali JUST announced that he would be endorsing Raul Labrador for US Congress.

His "surprise" announcement was initially thought to possibly suggest that Mr. Sali would be entering into the race at the 11th hour.

Not so.

Those who were at the press conference, just minutes ago, walked away scratching their collective heads - wondering why in the world so much suspense occurred.

To many, the anticipation of press conference actually lead up to "much ado about nothing" once the announcement was made...

Let's turn the page on this one.

Den.

Bad Day at Black Rock - "This far, and no farther": Idaho's Gov. Butch Otter to the Feds, on Health Care?

The Idaho Statesman reports that Gov. Butch Otter may be the first Governor in the United States to sign into law a piece of legislation that allows a State to file suit in Federal Court against the United States of America, stopping that State from mandating that its citizens buy health insurance. 

Here's an excerpt:

"The law directs Idaho's attorney general to sue if mandatory insurance becomes federal law. State lawmakers opted for a bill rather than a resolution to give the measure greater weight and to help Idaho's standing in court, where the issue seems headed."

(See article below)

Butch's actions remind me of when, as Lt. Governor, he joined then-Governor Cecil Andrus as they stood at the State line to turn back a shipment of nuclear waste that was on its way to being dumped in Idaho. The Idaho Statesman reported it as:" Otter's strong rejection follows the tradition of Idaho governors to fight efforts for new long-term storage of waste at the INL. Former Democratic Gov. Cecil Andrus used the Idaho State Police to halt shipments of military nuclear waste to the INL in 1988 and halted commercial waste shipments in 1991."

 

Even more dramatically, it reminds me of a fictional dark-comedy HBO film, The Second Civil War, a few years back where the Governor of Idaho (played by Beau Bridges) had a stand-off with the Feds in a modern day near-civil war type issue.

Well, well....could life be imitating art?

Does Butch REALLY intend on standing against the Federal Government? 

If any Governor could, Butch Otter is straight out of Hollywood's central-casting to be the "lone cowpoke" Governor, who does stand against Bad-Day-At-Black-Rock-Obama!

  
 
 
 

Den

-----------------

Idaho Statesman

March 18th, 2010

Democrats in Washington, D.C., hope to pass health care reform soon, but Republican state leaders in Idaho are preparing to go to court to fight it.

Gov. Butch Otter signed the Idaho Health Freedom Act on Wednesday in his first public bill signing of the 2010 session.

"If I am (first), I'm glad," said Otter, who was flanked by several Republican lawmakers.

At least 36 other states are considering similar legislation in response to the drive by President Obama and congressional Democrats to expand health insurance to 30 million uninsured Americans, in part by requiring them to buy insurance. Virginia has enacted similar legislation, but it became law without a signature by Gov. Bob McDonnell.

"How can somebody mandate us because we're breathing to buy health insurance?" said Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, one of the Idaho bill's co-sponsors. "É Now we're saying in code: We're not going to stand for that."

The law directs Idaho's attorney general to sue if mandatory insurance becomes federal law. State lawmakers opted for a bill rather than a resolution to give the measure greater weight and to help Idaho's standing in court, where the issue seems headed.

Read more here.

I got a "Baset-ball Jonez"...for you-oo-oo.

 Enjoying an afternoon of NCAA Basketball with a good buddy, Nick Bottom, at Wingers. 

Tacos, multiple screens and March Madness...Round 1. 

 There's something so American about a room full of sports nuts, yelling and screaming....with the soundtrack of Cheech and Chong's Basket Ball Jones happening....everywhere.

 Den

(PS: Look for the cameo of the Beatles, former President Nixon and Cheech and Chong. Yep, this blog is eclectic...)

 Den

Adam Graham may be correct about Bill Sali

I appreciate Adam Graham's writings, though at times he and I have differed significantly. Progressive Conservativism gives life for me. Adam's Idaho conservativism is more like Bryan Fischer's was.

Yesterday, I posted a piece on Bill Sali and the 2010 GOP race. Adam responded.

Adam had a different take on it than do I...

...but his take on "Bill Sali for the future" may indeed just play out its hand.

Den

PS: Adam may just be the accurate Joe Friday on this one....

Here it is:

I Hope to See Bill Sali Elected Again… March 17, 2010

Posted by Adam Graham in : Bill Sali , add a comment

 But Idaho’s 1st District would be a tough race in 2010. A Sali entry would make the race incredibly unstable. All we’ve got to suggest that Sali’s going to make the move is the speculation of Dennis Mansfield, and one of Dennis’ big reasons for speculation was that Raul Labrador hadn’t yet filed, but as of today, he’s in it.

What would a Sali entry into the primary mean?  Sali’s big in-district supporters have gone over to Labrador for the most part, most of Sali’s biggest out of district backers have gone to Ward. How he would get a campaign together at this point is iffy.

On the other hand, while the political types have committed, many of the people haven’t. And a Sali entry would put us into the same type of six-person field that got him nominated in 2006. (Albeit, this would be a weaker six person field. I could only imagine Sali, Labrador, or Ward winning. Last time around, five of the six candidates were feasible primary winners.)

However, it’d be an incredibly bad play. It’d be doubtful that Sali could win given the lack of political capital. Even if he did, he’d be stepping on some folks, notably Raul Labrador, who has left his state house seat. I don’t think Sali would do that. I think Sali won’t run for Congress.

However, that’s not to say Sali couldn’t run for something else. Governor Sali has a nice ring to it, so does Lieutenant Governor Sali. In the Governor’s race, there’s been a lot of conservative concern about how Governor Otter’s been doing his job, and no big name has come forward to challenge Lieutenant Governor Brad Little. Either of these could be a real opportunity for Sali to catch fire without burning a friend.

If Sali doesn’t run this year, that doesn’t mean that Sali’s gone forever from Idaho politics. Consider that J.D. Hayworth waited 4 years after his congressional defeat to launch his comeback bid. Sali could do the same.  Like Hayworth, Sali faced some absolutely revolting attempts at character assassination and may just need some type to get ready to roll.

It's St. Paddy's Day...everybody's Irish....Boondocks Saints I and II, time.

I am Irish.

Maguire is my Mom's name...my Grandpop's South Philly family name. Straight from Ireland.

Irish.

And tonight, my Irish son O'Colin is being joined by O'Austin and O'Gunther and O'Da as we all watch Boondock Saints I and II.

Never can pinch me....

I'm always green. Please excuse the o'bleeding and the o'cussing.....they're Irish, as am I.

"Let's do some gratuitous violence."

O'Den