Some have come out asking for the draft claiming only the poor and the stupid serve. Well, Pat Tillman gave up a 3.6 million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals to become a U.S. Army Ranger. Today, the Pentagon has confirmed he died in an ambush in Afghanistan.
Hundreds of heroes have given their lives in this war on terror, for our country and for others. On my way back from buying lunch, I heard Rush read from this article in the Chicago Tribune (requires registration but it’s worth it). Marine Lance Cpl. Phil Frank, age 20, was killed in Iraq in early April. When his parents were asked by a reporter if they thought their son had died in vain, his father responded:

“The only circumstance I could ever imagine where I could say that I believe my son died in vain is if the United States turned around from that country and did not complete the mission to free those people and to make that government independent.”

Anyway, I’ve been slack on my blogger duties, as there has been a big movement in the blogosphere to raise money for Spirit of America which is trying to help Marines help Iraqi kids in the Sunni triangle and other things as well (like fighting anti-American propaganda in Iraq). I missed out on Lt. Smash’s auction, but here is one from John of Argghhh, auctioning off a GAU-8 Avenger cannon round to raise for Spirit of America. If someone knows a link to a central hub for all these fundraising activities, please tell me so I can add it to this post.
Spirit of America is also in my blogads (they paid for it, but I’ll donate back the cost of the ad plus). You can go ahead and click on it to make a tax deductible donation.
I’m in a serious mood now, so Frank Answers™ will have to wait for another time. If anyone has anymore suggestions of how this blog can do a little to help our troops, please tell me.

Dammit! Kim du Toit won the “who would you want to cover your back” poll. You Frank Fans didn’t vote for me enough, you limey bastards! I guess everyone just voted for Kim since he’s scary looking and happens to know more about guns than anyone else in the blogosphere. Bah! Fine, have someone named “Kim” cover your back, and, while you’re at it, why don’t you get air support from “a boy named Sue”.
Speaking of Kim and Sue, there is now the same poll but for female bloggers. Right now, my vote is split between Michele, who is scary, and Serenity, who I trust. I like Baldilocks and Kathy Kinsley too, but I don’t know much about their gun prowress. I’m not going to vote for Mrs. du Toit out of spite of her husband winning the last poll. Well, I’d like to hear argument about who I should vote for. I forget who are atheists, though, as there aren’t any atheists in fox holes.
I’ll have Frank Answers™ later if I have time and you are all good. Also, I’ll put up pictures of my pool table later if just mainly so my parents can see it.

I get all these e-mail solicitations from the John Kerry campaign for contributions, and I’ve finally decided to do something. So, for the first time ever, I’m going to fisk something. Here’s a e-mail I got just two days ago:

Dear Frank,

Okay, this is my first fisk, and I’ve already run into a problem. I can’t find anything wrong with this line. My name is Frank, and I am quite dear.

The Bush Campaign has violated every standard of decency by attacking John Kerry’s military service. When it comes down to it, this is an attack on all veterans, soldiers and their families. And so we’re asking for help from all Americans to hit back now:
https://contribute.johnkerry.com

Wow! Every single standard of decency! And their attacking every single veteran, soldier, and their families. That’s a lot of people to attack. Do they know they’re being attacked? Before I click and give you money, what’s the attack?

RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie and Bush Campaign Manager Ken Melhman are running an ugly smear campaign on John Kerry’s service in Vietnam. We’ve seen this before. In 2000 they ran a “whisper campaign” against John McCain, suggesting his time as a POW made him unfit for the Presidency. Then in this campaign, their surrogates have even questioned Max Cleland’s war heroism — a man who received a Silver Star and lost three limbs in the Vietnam War.

Okay, well here is how they supposedly attacked other people. I remember all that whispering I heard back during the Republican primary in 2000, but then I got pills to take care of that. And maybe Cleland’s heroism should be questioned; why’d he’d hold on to his last limb. Wouldn’t a true hero give that up as well?
Anyway, how are they attacking Kerry?

The fact is they’re terrified of running against John Kerry’s war record. And so they’re desperately doing everything they can to try to tear it down.

Why would they be running against Kerry’s war record? Is the campaign for gunboat captain? And again, what’s this attack on Kerry? My ever shrinking attention span is… well… shrinking.

We need to hit back, and hit back hard to get out the truth. We’ve learned that the Bush Campaign will say and do anything in the attack ads they’re running in key swings [sic] states. We’ve simply got to be able to counter them. And we can only do that if supporters keep contributing to our campaign at the record-setting levels we saw last month.
Give us the means to hit back. Contribute now:
https://contribute.johnkerry.com

Wow! Bush Campaign will say and do anything in their ads? Even soft-core porn? Because that’s just not right… I think (I’m really not a political consultant). And there’s that contribution URL again. No money for you, though, until you tell me what this supposed attack on you is.
Engaging extra fisk mode.
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As a young man, John Kerry volunteered for two tours of duty in Vietnam.

No one ever told me he served in Vietnam.

He risked his life while trying to save the lives of others.

Trying? To quote Yoda…

He was awarded the Bronze Star and Silver Star for going above and beyond the call of duty.

Why no gold star. Underachiever?

He was injured three times in battle and received three Purple Hearts.

Are you sure you want to brag about getting injured three time? Hey, I was once severely burned on my hand cooking a pot pie, but you don’t hear me bragging about it. And the scar is still–
Hey! It finally healed! Great, I hated having to explain how I got that while cooking a pot pie. The scar on my back is a much better story; it’s a knife wound from when I once got in an argument. I said, “That mole looks benign to me!” But my dermatologist disagreed — and she cut me!
Back to topic, I’m just saying that if I were in a warzone, I bet I could get injured way more than three times — some of it friendly fire.

The story Melhman and Gillespie are desperately trying to push is that John Kerry was not injured badly enough to receive one of his Purple Hearts.

Fianlly, there’s the attack. Those rascally Melhman and Gillespie! They’ll pay for this slander!

It sounds incredible, but that’s the attack they’re pushing: Not injured badly enough.

That is incredible! Not as incredible as the Hulk, but pretty damn incredible. Don’t they know Kerry served in Vietnam?

You’d think this would backfire on its own. But most Americans are not familiar with John Kerry’s Vietnam record.

This is the first I’ve heard about him being in Vietnam.

If all they hear is the Bush smear campaign in the press — shady allegations and “questions raised” — then the Bush Campaign’s underhanded tactics will work.

Hey, I know how politics work, bud. But Kerry can’t just whine about it; he needs to come out to the American people and say, “Dude, I was totally injured really really badly. Look! Here’s the scar!” Scars are cool.

Help us fight back by contributing above. And if you’re a veteran, John Kerry wants to know and asks you to join Veterans for Kerry right now:
http://www.johnkerry.com/signup/veterans.php

But I’m not a veteran. What do I do?

Thank you,
Mary Beth Cahill
Campaign Manager, John Kerry for President

Wait! Don’t leave! I want to donate now but I forgot what the URL is!