Nothing But Love :: golf blogger

March Madness

Thirty-one soldiers died as the result of the decision made at the beginning of Bill Clinton’s second term by a bunch of guys, including Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz, war-mongers extraordinaire, to free up Iraq’s oil (or squelch the supply so that each oil company's profits might reach $20 billion for the year):

Spc. Lizbeth Robles, 31, of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico : Spc. Azhar Ali, 27 of Flushing, N.Y. : Spc. Wai P. Lwin, 27, of Queens, N.Y. : Spc. Robert S. Pugh, 25, of Meridian, Miss. : Sgt. 1st Class Michael D. Jones, 43, of Unity, Maine : Capt. Sean Grimes, 31, of Southfield, Mich. : Sgt. 1st Class Donald W. Eacho, 38, of Black Creek, Wis. : Cpl. Stephen M. McGowan, 26, of Newark, Del. : Spc. Wade Michael Twyman, 27, of Vista, Calif. : Spc. Adriana N. Salem, 21, of Elk Grove Village, Ill. : Staff Sgt. Juan M. Solorio, 32, of Dallas, Texas : Sgt. Seth K. Garceau, 27, of Oelwein, Iowa : Sgt. Andrew L. Bossert, 24, of Fountain City, Wis. : Pfc. Michael W. Franklin, 22, of Coudersport, Pa. : Spc. Matthew A. Koch, 23, of West Henrietta, N.Y. : Spc. Nicholas E. Wilson, 21, of Glendale, Ariz. : Staff Sgt. Donald D. Griffith, Jr., 29, of Mechanicsville, Iowa : Lance Cpl. Joshua L. Torrence, 20, of Lexington, S.C. : Spc. Paul M. Heltzel, 39, of Baton Rouge, La. : Staff Sgt. Ricky A. Kieffer, 36, of Ovid, Mich. : Spc. Rocky D. Payne, 26, of Howell, Utah : Pfc. Lee A. Lewis, Jr 28, of Norfolk, Va. : Spc. Jonathan A. Hughes, 21, of Lebanon, Ky. : Sgt. Paul W. Thomason, III, 37, of Talbot, Tenn. : Spc. Francisco G. Martinez, 20, of Fort Worth, Texas : Lance Cpl. Kevin S. Smith, 20, of Springfield, Ohio : Spc. Travis R. Bruce, 22, of Byron, Minn. : Cpl. Bryan J. Richardson, 23, of Summersville, W.Va. : Sgt. Lee M. Godbolt, 23, of New Orleans, La. : Sgt. Isiah J. Sinclair, 31, of Natchitoches, La. : Pfc. Samuel S. Lee, 19, of Anaheim, Calif.

And meanwhile, back in Afghanistan, where the chief architect of terrorism against all things American, Osama bin Laden, hangs out, these soldiers, whose deaths might remind some in the present administration of the original goal that was set after the World Trade Center destruction, but which has never been achieved, as they now contemplate sacrificing more American lives in Iran, were killed this past month:

Capt. Michael T. Fiscus, 36, of Milford, IN, Master Sgt. Michael T. Hiester, 33, of Bluffton, IN, Spc. Brett M. Hershey, 23, of State College, PA, and Spc. Norman K. Snyder, 21, of Carlisle, IN, assigned to the Army National Guard’s 76th Infantry Brigade (Separate), Indianapolis, IN, who died March 26 in Kabul, Afghanistan, when a mine detonated near their vehicle; and Staff Sgt. Shane M. Koele, 25, of Wayne, Neb., who died Mar. 16 at Shindand Airfield, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained Mar. 15, when a land mine exploded near his HMMWV.

And lest we forget that the War in Iraq has turned into a debacle, like the Viet Nam War, the remains of Navy Lieutenant Commander J. Forrest G. Trembley of Spokane, WA, missing since he was shot down August 21, 1967, near the China-Vietnam border have been identified, and he will be buried April 1 at Arlington National Cemetery with full honors. And the remains of Navy Commander Thomas E. Dunlop of Neptune Beach, Fla., missing since April 6, 1972, when his plane was shot down in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam, were identified. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on March 21 with full honors.

I wonder if President Bush will don his uniform and attend the funeral of fellow airman, Lt. Cdr. Trembley, on April 1, or remain on the ranch in Crawford.

I hate doing these posts.

The amount of time and energy spent by people, from her parents to King George II, trying to save a 41-year-old woman who has been in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years since suffering a heart attack because she was bulemic is an example of pure insanity. Would Terri Schiavo be alive today if she (actually, her husband, the guardian) had not been able to file a suit or was limited in the amount she could have recovered, as Bush the Lesser wants for victims of medical mistakes?

Would Terri have made it this far if she had been on Medicaid? Maybe. Boy George wants to cut federal Medicaid funding, which disproportionately affects the poor and people like Terri Schiavo, who have run out of resources because of lengthy and debilitating illnesses or injuries. The states will be required to ante up an amount equal to the decrease in federal funding to maintain the same level of services; in fact, the states will have to contribute even more than that due to inflation and ever-escalating medical costs, which will result in benefit cuts or state tax increases. If compassion and our sense of caring for those of us who are less fortunate prevails and taxes increase, you can be sure that Junior will continue to claim that he didn't increase taxes.

Compassionate conservatism, my ass!

Posted by Bill at March 31, 2005 01:08 AM