The eTraxxZ Blog

The following quote is linked from Greta van Susteren’s Gretawire …

Mother of Marine Who Fell on Enemy Grenade to Make Son’s Case for Medal of Honor

Thursday , September 18, 2008

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. —

The mother of a Marine who witnesses say covered a grenade with his body to save comrades in Iraq plans to appeal to Congress to award her son the nation’s highest military honor after learning it was denied by Defense Secretary Robert Gates because of questions about his final act.
Rosa Peralta said Thursday she made the decision after a Marine general told her that her son, Sgt. Rafael Peralta, would be awarded the Navy Cross rather than the Medal of Honor because the nomination was tainted by reports he was accidentally shot by a fellow Marine shortly before an insurgent lobbed the grenade.
(.. more ..)

If Sgt. Rafael Peralta deliberately pulled the grenade under his body and sacrificed his life for his fellow Marines, then yes, he should have been awarded the Medal of Honor. If he did not, then he should not.

It comes down to someone making a decision based on available information- did he or didn’t he. Suggestions that Secretary Gates somehow should have approved Sgt. Peralta for the Medal of Honor should be based on facts not fancy.

The Medal of Honor, established by joint resolution of Congress, 12 July 1862 (amended by Act of 9 July 1918 and Act of 25 July 1963) is awarded in the name of Congress to a person who, while a member of the Armed Services, distinguishes himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against any enemy of The United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which The United States is not a belligerent party. The deed performed must have been one of personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his comrades and must have involved risk of life. Incontestable proof of the performance of service is exacted and each recommendation for award of this decoration is considered on the standard of extraordinary merit.

I suggest that this instance lack the ‘Incontestable proof..”

Secondly, Sgt. Peralta was instead awarded the Navy Cross.

The Navy Cross may be awarded to any member of the armed forces while serving with the Marine Corps, Navy, or Coast Guard (in time of war only) who distinguishes himself in action by extraordinary heroism not justifying an award of the Medal of Honor. The action must take place under one of three circumstances: 1. While engaged in action against an enemy of the United States 2. While engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force 3. While serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict in which the United States is not a belligerent party. To earn a Navy Cross the act to be commended must be performed in the presence of great danger or at great personal risk and must be performed in such a manner as to render the individual highly conspicuous among others of equal grade, rate, experience, or position of responsibility. An accumulation of minor acts of heroism does not justify an award of the Navy Cross. As originally authorized, the Navy Cross could be awarded for distinguished non-combat acts, but legislation of August 7, 1942 limited the award to acts of combat heroism.

My question then is this. Sgt. Peralta’s actions, as I understand them are what are used to determine whether he should be awarded the Medal of Honor, Navy Cross or other award. What actions are we talking about then? If it was whether or not he pulled that grenade under his body thereby protecting his fellow Marines then by definition he should have been awarded the Medal of Honor. He wasn’t awarded the MOH. It seems to me that it was determined that he did not intentionally do so; I believe that they are saying that it was not a conscious decision on his part but an involuntary movement of this body, based upon his head wound. If this is what was used not award him the MOH then I have to question his award of the Navy Cross. Read the criteria. If he didn’t consciously pull the grenade under his body then for what criteria was he awarded the Navy Cross?

From the Los Angeles Times – http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/09/iraq-1.html

On Nov. 15, 2004, the 25-year-old sergeant volunteered for dangerous duty assisting an under-strength squad in clearing heavily armed insurgents from barricaded houses. As the squad rushed into one house, Peralta was wounded in the crossfire and knocked to the ground. An insurgent rolled a grenade toward the Marines. Peralta, laying on the ground, reached out and grabbed the grenade, using his body to shield his fellow Marines from the blast, according to Marines who were there. He saved four squad members, maybe more, at the cost of his life.

I do not see where his actions as reported necessitated award of the Navy Cross if he was not awarded the Medal of Honor. If he used his body to shield his fellow Marines then he should have been awarded the Medal of Honor. Then if he did not, I do not see what he did to be awarded the Navy Cross.

I think the first thing I should state is my own opinion. Send whoever hacked into Gov Palin’s email to jail. Sentence them to whatever is the maximum. This was criminal and should be treated as such.

Now. The clip (which I pulled off Gretawire) shows Greta va Susteren with four talking heads (no offense to Ted Williams as he seems decent). I find the ‘theme’ of the statements made by these people interesting.

Attorney Gloria Allred immediately expresses concern that Gov Palin may have been conduction state business on private email. What? The question from Greta was “ “ … Greta says the emails are private and innocuous. This Mz Allred attempts to make a point that one of the emails is between Gov Palin and her Lt Gov. What a pile of poop. This Allred character is deliberately stirring the pot, trying to start trouble. I’m sure she would be welcome on the View.

Attorney Ted Williams sounds like a decent guy, saying that invading someone’s privacy like this is ‘repugnant’.

Attorney Bernie Grimm sounds like a used car salesman.

Watch the video. This … Allred … is basically using this opportunity to push her own agenda. I wouldn’t trust her to clean gum from the sidewalk.

Michele Malkin has an explaination of how her email was hacked ..
Linkie

---

Ok. The main fun for me in reading Greta’s blog are the comments by readers:

Comment by TC
September 18th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Greta, I thought your panel was showing a great deal of bias against Governor Palin last night in regards to this issue. Particularly Bernie Grimm. It’s clear he doesn’t like Gov. Palin or probably Republicans in general. And after Gloria Allred spoke, I thought I had changed the station to CNN.

---

Comment by Hmmmmm
September 18th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Has the Obama camp issued a statement condemning the hacking…………….or are they still trying to figure out if they were involved?

---

Comment by Bubba
September 18th, 2008 at 11:53 am
How hard was it to keep the panel on the question at hand? Everyone assumed that Palin used her personal email account for govt business. Is there any proof of that? No. Non issue that Gloria would not stop harping on. The question was whether or not the hackers should go to jail. I think that was answered quickly as being yes. 1 year Federally and 5 years in Alaska. I am not saying that Gloria is a liberal but she sure sounded like one by not answering the question at hand. And they wonder why most lawyers are disliked.

---

Comment by »♥♫Ðõ† K™♫♥«
September 18th, 2008 at 11:56 am ✰✰✰ Not only is Glorida Allred an ambulance chaser, she is useless as a teat on a boar hog!

Ha. I don’t care who you are. That’s funny!

---

Comment by Pat Junko
September 18th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
It was disgusting to me that two of the three guests on your Sept. 17 show discussing the hacking of Gov. Palin’s e-mail were more concerned about whether she had discussed state business on her personal account than they were with the hacking itself. I wish you had asked them what their level of outrage would have been if Obama’s e-mail or his wife’s e-mail had been hacked. You were correct and fair to point out to your guests that you had reviewed the messages and had found no evidence of state business but only personal messages. Bernie and Gloria are walking stereotypes of the left-wing lawyer lobby.

Ok. Tell us what you REALLY think?


Online Videos by Veoh.com

I don’t know what to say about this video. The more I watched of it .. the more I was just .. amazed, shocked, dumbfounded.

I have been pretty much uninterested in the election. We had Senator Obama and Senator McCain. Senator Obama I have never connected with, while I have respected Senator McCain- I have never been an enthusiast of his. I have never been an enthusiast of any politician; I have certainly never deified one. I have also never deified a movie star, singer or any other person.

The North Vietnamese held Senator McCain prisoner from October 26, 1967 to March 14, 1973. Just to put my own service in the Army, I served in Vietnam from April 1970 to November 1971. I finished my three-year hitch in the Army (my first enlistment) in October 1972. That means that the day I headed home from Ft Huchuca, Arizona, Senator McCain was still being tortured and held captive and would remain so for another six months. While I stated earlier that I have never deified a man, or woman for that matter, I have nothing but a honored respect for him.

When I heard on television that Senator McCain had chosen the Governor of Alaska, a Sarah Palin for his running mate, I had no idea who she was. When she appeared beside him to be introduced to the public, I was impressed with her. To be completely honest, her appearance didn’t hurt.

The most primitive part of our brains, the ‘reptilian’ brain or ‘lizard brain’ is concerned with the everyday business of getting food, eating, drinking, sleeping, reproduction and defense. Not much thinking there. The first reaction to Governor Palin then was lizard brain reacting. Shortly after that though, some of the higher ‘non-lizard’ or thinking parts of the brain kicked in and I took note of what she said and how she said it and thought- this is going to be interesting.

So, when the RNC kicked off, I waited to see Governor Sarah Palin. I wasn’t disappointed. I can honestly say that it was with out doubt the best speech I have ever witnessed. I am not saying that it was the best speech ever given- I am saying that I had the greatest reaction to any speech I can remember. I enjoyed it.

This kicked off interest in the election that has been lacking before and I started roaming around the net. I wasn’t all together completely shocked to see the liberal slant of the media; after all, I have been aware that the media is split at some 80/20 percent Liberal and Conservative. What I have though, been shocked at is the sheer hatred and bile that people have.

I just don’t get it. You see, after those three years during the Vietnam War, I lived, and worked; went to school. I did things that are good and made my mom proud and some dumb things that didn’t. The normal things that people do, nothing special. I was a machinest, worked pest control, apartment renovation, ran a hobby shop, bagged groceries. Not necessarily in that order. Went to Vo-Tech school and went to college. I realized on day that I couldn’t really remember one year from another. They had started flowing together, each one mostly unremarkable.

I went back into the Army after being out for 15 years. From 1987 to 1999 I was a 19K. That’s a tanker- a CDAT (Computerized Dumb Ass Tanker). I was stationed at Ft Knox, Ft Hood, Saudi Arabia -> Iraq, Germany, California and Korea.

When I was in Iraq during Desert Storm, I remember coming back to Saudi Arabia and tossing MREs to the Bedouin. Heck .. we gave food and water to the Iraqis that surrendered. We killed them if necessary. We didn’t hate them. If we didn’t find it necessary to terminate them- we fed them. We gave them water. We provide them shelter.

We didn’t hate them.

That’s why I find it disturbing- this hate I see on the blogs. I was well aware of the hate that spews from the Liberals. You only have to see the way that Governor Palin has been treated. They don’t know anything about the woman other then the fact that she is from Alaska, she is against abortion, that she is a member of the Christian Right, that she hunts, that she is a member of the NRA, and so on.

Why the hate though? I personally don’t think that conception begins at birth. I am so not religious. I don’t hunt and I am not a member of the NRA.

I don’t hate her. The little I have seen I like. I still am not going to deify her.

I want to know more.

Why did she ask the librarian what the policy was if someone wanted to have a book removed form the library? Why did she try and have the librarian and others removed? These aren’t questions that keep me up at night, but I wouldn’t mind knowing. I certainly don’t believe that any book should be banned; freedom of speech and all that. At the same time, I believe that certain books are pure and utter crap- like books on Creationism.

What are her views on Creationism? Apparently, many ‘True Believing’ Christians do. Makes no sense to me at all. Darwin rules! Still, this would not stop me from voting for the Republican ticket. I have no problem with Christianity- the moral underpinnings it gives to society are solid foundations. I don’t have to agree with someone else’s beliefs to admire the results of that belief.

I have no problem with her views on abortion. I suppose I am of the opinion that that should be decided among women. Men shouldn’t apply. The religious side turns me off completely.

I have nothing against hunting for food. I think hunting for trophies or just to ‘shoot something’ is wrong. I have nothing against guns- its just more trouble then it’s worth to clean them afterwards.

So. Vile, despicable people spewing utter garbage about the woman. How outright- wrong.

I found Greta van Susteren’s web blog, Gretawire and have been having a great time reading and posting. I was even given insentive to post up on this, my own blog that has been basically abandoned for months.

Now though, I am disappointed to find still more hate, more bile spewed up, still more hysterical hatred against people who disagree with their point of view. Unfortunately, it is the supporters of Governor Palin now. Post after post can talk about how unfair and vile the harridans on The View were with John McCain and they see nothing wrong with turning that same rage against Bill O’Reilly if he fails to offer up unwavering worship to the Deity that they have created.

Liberals or Conservatives seem to be made from much the same mold. I shouldn’t be surprised though. The primitive urge to divide into tribes, into us against them seems well served though our allegiance to the political forums that people sell their souls to.

So far my soul is still unsold. I have still not raised anyone to a pedestal. I am looking forward to seeing Joe Biden and Sara Palin in a debate. While I doubt that I will deify anyone anytime soon- perhaps a piece of my soul may be available. We will just have to see.

Does antacid work on bile?

I’ve been spending some time on Greta van Susteren’s blog .. Gretawire. It is fun reading the comments- but disturbing at the same time.

FOX news calls itself ‘fair and balanced’ but anyone with any sense knows that it is a conservative network. ABC, NBC, CNN are liberal. That’s nothing new. I read somewhere that reporters in the mainstream media vote 80% Democrat. Since the Democratic party is liberal then these 80% are voting liberal. So be it.

So. Reading through Greta’s blog I am seeing a conservative blog with liberals popping in once in a while to promote their own views. The problem with this is that what we have is basically positive reinforcement. The conservatives post that everything the liberals say is evil. The liberals do the same, except in their case, it is the conservatives who are the minions of Satan.

Give me a break people. Not everything a conservative says is true and not everything a liberal says is false. Last night I accidently tuned into Alan Colmes. I didn’t listen to him too long. He had a clip from Gov. Palin’s interview with Mr. Gibson where she was answering his question about her asking the librarian about policy for bannig books at the library. He of course, as a liberal is poking around looking for something he can find negative on Gov. Palin. His point was that he wants to know more as to ‘why’ the then Mayor Palin was asking the question. This makes sense. Gov. Palin is running for Vice President of the United States. We should ask- why did you ask that question? Colmes then asked why later did Mayor Palin fire/dismiss the librarian and others. Those are good questions as they are important to help determine character. Not because I want to destroy Gov. Palin’s credibility but because this is something that is needed to make a rational decision.

The ‘Troopergate’ thing has come up now and then. I look at the posts and find that the same facts are looked at totally different from a position of either a Democrat or a Republican. Tasering a 10yr old, threats against Gov. Palin’s sister, against her family, drinking on duty, etc. There doesn’t seem to be much disbelief in these facts that I can see, but rather the aftermath. The Democrats are saying the Gov. Palin used her position to illegally push her personal agenda against the trooper. The Republicans of course are saying she did nothing wrong.

My own view is simply that ignoring, if true, these violations of people’s rights by this trooper are in itself wrong. If his superior is ignoring these violations the he is wrong. Ultimately the Governor is responsible. If she determined that these people under her jurisdiction are wrong then she has no choice but to do something. That is part of the responsibility of someone in office. Her actions on accomplishing this then are what should be in question. It is sad that instead of deciding whether this trooper’s actions should be questioned, the emphasis is on the actions of the person doing the questioning.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Senator Obama ad during Gov Palin Interview
by Greta Van Susteren

Comment by Dana
September 15th, 2008 at 7:02 am
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Senator Obama ad during Gov Palin Interview

It was no worse than the Obama interview by Bill O’Reilly during the RNC and specifically the night John McCain gave his acceptance speech.

Bill O’Reilly has lost all credibility with me and my household. He sold out to that phony and it will cost him in the ratings…hide and watch.
—————————————–

That is just silly. OF COURSE it is wrong to broadcast an ad from the opposing party during an interview or speech. I don’t see how someone with any degree of common sense can think that the interviewer .. whether on ABC or FOX is responsible for the ads running while they are talking.

I imagine that the Obama campaign would be more then happy to pay ABC more for ad time during an interview with Gov. Palin or a speech by Sen. McCain. I imagine that the McCain campaign would also do the same and pay more to FOX during Obama’s speech or an interview between him and O’Reily.

Be real. It is wrong .. it is dishonorable. The people selling the ad time could care less and it doesn’t matter if it is FOX or ABC. Grow up. Don’t blame O’Riely or Gibson for that .. blaim those who prostitute their networks for money.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Senator Obama ad during Gov Palin Interview
by Greta Van Susteren

Comment by Sherra
September 14th, 2008 at 10:06 pm

After seeing how Gov. Palin was treated in the interviews, I absolutely think that the whole thing was geared to try to make her look foolish. Including the ad shown during the interview. But it turned out Charlie Gibson and ABC turned out to look foolish after several things negative against them were revealed.
——————-

Ah. But what does this mean for those who support Sen. Obama? Not much I expect. I was flipping channels this morning and caught Gov. Palin on ABC so I stopped for a moment to watch. They said that (some) had said that Mr. Gibson had been harsh - (I’m paraphrasing because I don’t remember the exact words, but that is close). There was no detail.

You have to understand that on these stations that support Sen. Obama there won’t be any detail. Just like ABC can cut and splice the interview to make Gov. Palin appear in the worst possible light. IT DOESN’T MATTER that the majority of the people who post to this blog are upset. IT DOESN’T MATTER that what ABC did was ‘less then honorable’. IT DOESN’T MATTER. The Democrats will look at the interview as proof positive that Gov. Palin doesn’t have ‘what it takes’ to be VP. The interview simply reinforces their prior held beliefs. They will watch ABC and will see exactly what ABC wants them to see.

Before the Berlin Wall fell, the East Germans had a major problem. They could wall up East Germany from West Germany and keep people from physically touching, smelling, seeing the disparity between that ‘gray life’ in the East compared to the brighter West. What they couldn’t do was block the television broadcast from the West. The people of East Germany could simply turn on their televisions and could see the things that they were missing. They could turn on their televisions and could hear the opposing views. They could turn on their televisions and- could hear and see something other then the propaganda that was being fed to them by their Communist government.

The problem here, with our access to ABC, MSNBC, CBS, FOX, PBS etc. is simply that the vast majority of people do not flip between channels to get information. They will watch ABC and catch the interview with Gov. Palin. They will see the interview as cut and arranged by ABC and will accept that as portrayed. The fact that Gov. Palin’s statements on God and other subjects have been ‘arranged’ by ABC will not be apparent. These people aren’t evil. They are uninformed. They are happy with the propaganda feed to them- and will have no desire to look at anything the ‘corrupt West’ is broadcasting.

Ok. This is mean, but I was replying to one of the blogs on Gretawire re: The View .. those vile women .. and wanted to suggest that FOX could do it ‘in reverse’. Haha.

Comment by Denise in CA
September 13th, 2008 at 1:12 am

I think Fox should make Elizabeth an offer…… She has had to put up with more than a normal person should put up with…
——————-
I’m not going to quote the other comments re: Elisabeth Hasselbeck and the harridans on the View ..
………
har·ri·dan (hr-dn)
n.
A woman regarded as scolding and vicious.

[Possibly from French haridelle, gaunt woman, old horse, nag.]

seems apt ..
………
Ok. Fox could have a competing show. Call it the ‘Re-View’ and have four ‘ladies’ also: Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Alan Colmes.

* Snicker *

My prior blog was on Greta. Following is a post I made .. since I still had it floating in notepad, thought I would post it up here too ..

There was something worse then Mr Gibson’s obvious attempt to trip up the Governor. During the part where he was trying to get a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer from her on invading a ally. What if .. she had said flat out .. ‘Yes’. All hell would have broken out. Pakistan would have been screaming and we would have another ‘international incident’.

I wonder. The polls are running about split between those who support the Democrats and the Republicans. Now .. the various news organizations .. NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX etc are thee to make money. They are a business. A business that chases away customers is in trouble. Obviously, except for FOX, the media is liberal and supports those positions. I have seen reports that the ‘main stream media’ is 80% liberal leaning. I have then to wonder at the discrepancy between that leftist leaning and seeming polls that show the left/right ‘leanings’ of the country as a whole is split pretty much 50/50.

You would think that a ‘business’ would be ‘fair and balanced’ so that they didn’t alienate half the audience. I have never taken statics so I suppose that support from 100% of half the people beats 50% of the whole.

Go figure ….

I have been having great fun commenting on Greta’s blog ..

Earlier today I took .. actually ‘re-took’ the Political Compass test .. and occe again as has been every time I have taken it .. I come out left and below of center. This confuses me to some extent since I like FOX much more then MSNBC, CBS, ABC etc. .. and .. liberals give me gas.

Heck! I’m down there with Ralph Nadar for goodness sakes!! Obama is further to the right then me!

It’s confusing.