I think my regular readers know what a soft spot I have for combat photographers. Also, you don't need to spend much time here to know that I hold Gold Star Families very close to my heart. There are not enough words for me to tell you about the awe and respect I have for both these groups. I am always humbled by the amazing people who belong in either of those groups.
So it is that I am sharing a piece that my friend Claire of Knee Deep in the Hooah! has written. Jim Spiri is both a combat photographer AND a Gold Star Parent. I also ask you to follow the links I will give you, and see what you can do to help this amazing man finish HIS mission.
You need to know Jim Spiri. Jim is a combat photographer but he is not a member of the media elite. The elite offer us sympathy to sell ad space. Jim offers us empathy to soothe the soul. The difference is more than faint. Read on.
The old adage goes “a picture is worth a thousand words.” It’s a great parallelism that illuminates two things: 1) A picture can tell the content of a story faster and more complete[ly] sometimes than a thousand words crafted by even a gifted writer, and 2) A picture can evoke an emotion (affect) that a writer may have to write a thousand words to evoke (and may still not fully capture).
I find this angle to picture taking interesting since the parallelism is drawing on two components of communication — content and affect. In my past-life I had to study many models of human behavior and relationships. When you study to be a therapist (or really even study to decide if you will become a therapist) you have to learn many angles of effective communication. My favorite model for therapeutic communication has been the Empathy Scale model by Carkuff and Truax. This model is complimentary to and part of the neo-Freudian movement and transanalytical therapeutic models.
Now, before you go ‘huh?’ and decide to not read any further, let me explain. This is going somewhere — it’s leading us to combat footage, trust me....
PLEASE! Go over to Knee Deep here, and read the rest. As well as being a dynamite piece of writing, Claire also has links to Mr. Spiri's own site. As Claire says:"You need to know Jim Spiri."
The Last Black President ByBob ParksSunday, May 24, 2009
As a resident of Massachusetts, I see real parallels between the rise and fall of our first black governor Deval Patrick, and the rise and coming fall of the first black president, Barack Obama. Let’s get to some politically incorrect, uncomfortable-to-say for some, specifics.
The Ballot Becomes The Race Card
Both Deval Patrick and Barack Obama had the same campaign guru: David Axelrod.
Using white liberal guilt to his political advantage, Axelrod created candidates that were immune from the normal political vetting process, as any attempt to do such would be called veiled racism. With that, they ran with vague slogans that touched at progressive heartstrings, and they did. Patrick’s “Together We Can” and Obama’s “Yes We Can” slogans offered what the beholder thought he or she wanted, without the nasty details.
Again hiding behind the race smear, virtually no one pestered the candidates for details of what they planned on doing once in office. Patrick and Obama were allowed to say whatever they wanted to make the voters feel better about making history. The beauty of this strategy was that any opposition to these candidates had the typical politically correct response in the waiting: racism.
With Patrick’s victory, Axelrod found his template and with Barack Obama, took it national....
Read the rest here, and then check out more of Bob Parks here.
Claire of Knee Deep in the Hooah! also interviewed Bob this last weekend. Go check that out here on YouServed Blog Talk Radio.
Yes, it is true, and although it happened late last week, today is the first opportunity I have had to address this latest insanity. My regular readers know how I feel about this whole 'debate', and others who are closer to this fight, more directly affected by it, have had posts up. So rather than rehash my views, here's brief round up from the experts.
I know this policy has been reviewed by Gold Star families, and they were divided on it. I respect Gold Star families immensely, but I absolutely can not agree that this policy protects military families at such a painful and vulnerable time.
My biggest contention (outside of the fact that I believe the media just doesn’t need to be involved in this process at all) is families are expected to make this decision shortly after learning about their soldier’s death. It is clinically accepted knowledge that shock and numbness is a primary response. Often people who receive news of a tragic death will report later that they stayed in “automatic pilot” mode for a period of time in order to “go through the motions” in the days to follow. They have arrangements to make, family members to call, and a lot of people calling them — usually they can barely find a minute to themselves during this time. Now, on top of all of that, they get to listen to the option of whether or not the media should be allowed to come — I am assuming that they will have to listen to quite a bit of reassuring that the policy will protect their soldier’s dignity, etc. Why? Why is this one more thing that a new Gold Star family should have to think about? Why? Can anyone answer that question?
Why?
We are being told how it will be done, but not person has given a very compelling argument as to WHY the damn ban was lifted to begin with....
Claire has more here. Go read, and then set KDIH as a bookmark. You will be regularly informed.
Recently, Secretary Gates released a new policy on allowing our media circus access to the solemn ceremonies of welcoming home our fallen troops at Dover. While I’ve always leaned more towards keeping the ban, I think this policy actually makes sense. It also raises a few questions that I’ll get to later in the post.
“The core of the policy,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said, “is built around the desires of the family members, and it will be the families that decide whether or not media have access to any of these dignified transfers.”
The policy that goes into effect next Monday, April 6, states that reporters would be provided basic information like the name of the service member and an arrival time.
A lot of thought has gone into whether or not this policy should be changed. Thankfully, Gates didn’t work alone and enlisted the help and advice of many family members of fallen troops. Among those, according to the Thunder Run blog, is my good friend Robert Stokely, whom I met and interviewed while writing his son’s story on They Have Names.
No special concessions will be made to account for weather. According to the policy, if the remains arrive during pitch black night sky, the filming conditions will be pitch black night sky. If it is raining, they will film in the rain. No special lighting or garish tents and covers will be provided or permitted while covering repatriation ceremonies.
If a family member approves of media coverage, the Dover Air Force Base public affairs office will post to its Web site that a dignified transfer is to take place. Media will also be able to apply for email subscription service that will provide the same information. Additionally, the military will provide families with copies of the photos or video taken of ceremonies at the family’s request.
The task force worked with various service-support organizations such as the Gold Star Mothers, Gold Star Wives, veterans groups and senior enlisted advisors to come up with the new policy. You can see the full policy letter at the Thunder Run, but here are some additional actions to be taken:...
Go read the rest of CJ's always articulate thoughts here.
Our own Robert Stokely is on the advisory council that helped draft this new policy and I can see his hand in some of this, I hope he can comment on the policy. My thoughts to follow.....
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has approved a policy change that, under strictly delineated conditions, allows media filming of dignified transfer operations of fallen service members' remains at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
The new policy is slated to be implemented, April 6, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters today. If immediate family members consent to media coverage, Whitman said, reporters would be provided the basic information on the servicemember and the expected time of arrival of the flight bearing the remains.
"The core of the policy," Whitman said, "is built around the desires of the family members, and it will be the families that decide whether or not media have access to any of these dignified transfers."
Dover's Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs is the Defense Department's largest joint-service mortuary facility, and the only one in the continental United States. Dover also is the U.S. military's largest air terminal. Media photography or filming of dignified transfers at Dover was prohibited under the previous policy....
Read the rest of that one here. BUT an absolute MUST READ is another post up at The Thunder Run:
ALLOWING PRESS AT DOVER AIR FORCE BASE WHEN FALLEN TROOPS RETURN
Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of our fallen heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our Nation in Iraq, and to share a letter I recently received from his father, Robert Stokely. Robert's letter relates to a Department of Defense policy that directly affected his family, and most especially, Mr. Speaker, his son.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to read this letter, as I feel it is necessary for this body to fully understand this issue in order to protect the dignity of our troops. Robert Stokely is from Newnan, Georgia, my wife's hometown. And of course I represented that area and am very proud of the folks in Newnan.
Mr. Robert Stokely writes:
``I was alarmed at the question asked by Ed Henry at President Obama's address to the Nation on Monday, February 9, 2009, i.e., allowing media access and cameras at Dover Air Force Base where fallen military personnel arrive on their final trip home to an honorable rest. I am also alarmed by an AP news article that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has ordered a review of the policy. Please take a moment and read my story of meeting my son, and hopefully you can have a vivid image of why it is important to keep the family first in this matter, for it is a very personal moment when a fallen hero arrives home.
``I met my son's body at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta on August 24, 2005 as he arrived from Dover. I went alone as a special privilege to take his body to the funeral home, where the family would then be the first to see the most striking, vivid image of a fallen loved one, the flag-draped casket. I rode in the hearse to take him on a 25-mile ride, covering the roads that Mike and I had shared so many days as a divorced dad and son going to and from visitation on weekends, holidays, and summers. It was a `last ride to take my boy home.' ''
And this is in bold font, Mr. Speaker.
``I wore a favorite blue blazer, trousers, and a red and blue striped tie, for my son deserved my respect. As they uncrated his casket and draped the American flag over him, I saluted from nearby, tears streaming down my cheeks, as a number of busy U.S. Air cargo employees suddenly stopped in stunned silence, only then realizing what was taking place.
``I held my salute, poor as it was for an untrained civilian, until the flag was completely draped and the edges evenly cornered out. Then I stepped outside to call my wife, Retta, who loved him like one of her own. And as she answered the telephone, with tears still streaming down my cheeks and with a quiver in my voice, I said, ``our boy is home.''
Mike Stokely was age 23 when he was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. While the political debate about Iraq or any other war may be had in a free country like this, such as we enjoy, there is no debate that our military personnel engage in of the politics of when, where, or how long a war is waged. They have a constitutional duty to obey the Commander in Chief's lawful orders.
Mike Stokely, and many others, did their constitutional duty, and in doing so, preserved our freedom. Mike, and those like him who haven't yet but will die for America, do not need to be a media spectacle at Dover Air Force Base.
``I was once asked what I thought the real cost of freedom is. There are many such costs, but for the Stokely family, and like many of us, the highest cost has been paid, a lifetime of love.
``Is it too much to ask, given what the fallen and their families have given America, for us to have that first moment of seeing the flag-draped casket to be ours and ours alone? ...[emphasis mine]
If you read nothing else today, or this week, go to The Thunder Run and read the rest of my friend Robert's letter. That is here.
Anything else I would add is totally superfluous. Thank YOU, Robert, and all the Stokely family for your continued service to the country that your son loved.
The title of this award is self-explanatory, and her latest awardee is Bill Maher. I must admit I missed this, but others have taken note of the latest smear on our troops. Read on:
Bill Maher is a total jackass (but you knew that already)
This jackass made a really crappy comment about our troops who are stationed in Germany and Japan. He doesn’t know why we have troops still in Germany and Japan. A lot of people often wonder why we still have the number of troops we have in those locations. I don’t begrudge the question, but why does this moronic, ass-hat have to continue on to say something slanderous about the troops?
That Great American Patriot Bill Maher smears our troops serving in Japan and Germany: “At some point these people are going to have to learn to rape themselves.”
Is it a disorder? Can he not help that when his mouth opens, stupid falls out? Why does he go over the top to the side of being outright obscene? Probably because his ratings are worse than his lame attempt at being funny or intelligent.
My apologies to jackasses every where....
Go read more here of what Claire has to say about this ignorant ******
I used to like Bill Maher when I thought his satire was really funny. However over the last year or two I have been less and less impressed with this Oxygen Thief... (here)
I really don't need to add anything to what others have said about Maher, except:
As anyone who reads knows, there are more than enough villains within the AIG debacle to keep the American people more than angry for a long time. I am not even going to get into who I think is at fault. Pick a name, at this point.
However, I just found a post over at Knee Deep in the Hooah! that is guaranteed to send angry Americans right off the scale. You thought things that we know about the convoluted machinations at AIG are bad enough?
I received the following in an email (hat tip to Hank!). Take the exact same scenario - don’t change ONE detail except change all the Democrat names with Republican names and change all mention to Islam with Christianity… now envision the outrage you would hear from the otherwise quiet left. Yeah. I can hear the crickets too.
Excerpt
TMLC Sues AIG for Promoting Islam; Responds to Justice Dept’s Motion to Dismiss Suit Challenging AIG
ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center, a national, public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, responded yesterday to a motion to dismiss its federal lawsuit challenging the AIG bailout. The request to dismiss was filed by the Obama administration’s Department of Justice on behalf of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the Federal Reserve Board.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, “Although widespread public anger has rightfully focused on bonuses AIG paid to top executives using taxpayers’ money, that anger would be at an even higher pitch if the public knew that our tax dollars were being used by AIG to promote Islam and Shariah law, which provides support for terrorist activities aimed at killing Americans and destroying America.”...
And you KNOW there is more. I have a feeling that blood pressure meds are going to be a staple diet for more than a few Americans by the time the current regime is over. Go to Knee Deep in the Hooah!here, and read the rest. Oh, and keep paying close attention!
Oh, settle down will you? lol Just because I am not writing my own original thoughts these days (but 'normal' brat service will be resumed shortly. The brat brain is still working.lol), does not mean I am not reading. Found the following two posts over at Knee Deep in the Hooah!
sayanythingblog.com By Rob on September 8, 2008 at 09:27 pm
Excerpt
Faced with having been wrong about Iraq in train wreck proportions the Democrats have some serious spinning to do. But I’m not sure the public is going to buy their attempts to take credit the success we’re now seeing in Iraq.
That’s not stopping Joe Biden, though. Here’s what Biden had to say about the surge earlier this year in April:
WASHINGTON — A leading Democrat on Saturday declared last year’s troop buildup in Iraq a failure. Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the military push didn’t succeed because U.S. troops remain committed there in large numbers and political reconciliation has not been achieved. . .”
*snip*
Now flash forward several months (and one VP nomination) and here’s what Biden had to say about Iraq just yesterday on Meet The Press:
SEN. BIDEN: No. The surge helped make that–what made is possible in Anbar province is they did what I’d suggested two and a half years ago: gave local control....
As a resident of Massachusetts, I see real parallels between the rise and fall of our first black governor Deval Patrick, and the rise and coming fall of the first black president, 
