HALF-FULL REPORT 08/20/10

We begin this week with a letter of profound gratitude.

Dear TTP Family,

My Marines and I cannot thank you enough for the dozens of care packages you have sent us here in Afghanistan.  At least 50 have come in so far and more arrive almost every day.  They have been an immense morale boost, and we are able to use, eat, and drink everything.  Everything you sent is so appreciated.

Just as appreciated are your prayers and spiritual support.  We are a long ways from home, and to know that people back home are praying for us every day means so much to us all.

Be assured that the Marines are proud and strong.  We have the best training in the world and it is paying off here.  We are fighting every day, getting grenades thrown at us, RPGs shot at us, and engaging in intense firefights.  Despite all of this, the Taliban are running scared.

Simultaneously, we are able to protect the local population who hate and fear the Taliban.  We are engaging and employing villagers here who often live just a couple of hundred meters away from Taliban positions.  Know that every day, the US Marines are making progress on moving forward a culture that has neither running water nor electricity, that hasn’t progressed in 2,000 years.

I wish I could be with you at the TTP Rendezvous this November in Washington.  But I will still be here with my Marines.  Thank you all so very much once again.

Ethos anthropos daemon

1^st Lt. Brandon H. Wheeler
United States Marine Corps
Afghanistan

"Ethos anthropos daemon" is the famous observation of ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (535-475 BC) meaning:  "Character is destiny."

UPDATE 8/21/10

A message from Brandon’s wife, Catherine:

TTPers are so great!  Brandon has now received another 30 packages, more than 80 so far, and they keep coming!  All the Marines are enjoying the overwhelming response.  Brandon has set up a make-shift PX where the Marines can come pick up gifts from the TTPers; in addition, he is passing supplies out to the Marines who are remotely located.

You can not believe the gratitude! It is a big morale boost! Specifically the tuna, beef jerky, ramen noodles, and school supplies for the village kids are awesome. Also, the electrolyte mix and energy drinks are great!  Thanks so much, TTPers, for all your support!

Catherine Jenkins Wheeler

***
Before we get to the fun stuff – there’s so much of it this is really cup-runneth-over week instead of half-full week – there’s an important announcement.

By the time of next week’s HFR (8/27), I will be in the Pamir Mountains of Central Asia where Tajikistan and Afghanistan come together.  Then into Chinese Turkestan, then NorkLand where neither laptops nor cell phones are allowed.  There are several more "thens" all the way to the November Rendezvous (11/5-7).

At several points along the way, I’ll be incommunicado with the outside world and be unable to write the HFR or put out TTP on its regularly scheduled weekly basis.  But no worries – for Jack Kelly has come to the rescue!

While I’m gone, Jack Kelly will be acting as the Editor of To The Point.  He’ll be writing the HFR in my absence, and making sure the full TTP Weekly Report comes out on Fridays as normal.

I’ll be writing articles and providing items for the HFR whenever I can.  But I have to know that TTP is in safe and dependable hands, and they will be with Jack Kelly.  Thanks, Jack!

***
Just one more announcement.  The initial edition of The Jade Steps has been published!  Look for it in the left side bar of the TTP Home Page – then call Miko at 703-992-4529 to order your copy.  You couldn’t ask for better summer reading.

***
OK, here we go.  I’m sure you, as much as I am, are in a state of shock and awe at how massively the Democrats keep screwing themselves, how they insist on doubling-down and compounding their screw-ups.

GOP Hill staffers, for instance, have been unable to resist sending emails to Dem staffers they know, asking when Pelosi is going to request a court order to wiretap Harry Reid’s phone.  As one of the "critics" of the GZM (Ground Zero Mosque) whom Pelosi says should be "investigated," Reid, who says the GZM should be moved elsewhere, is clearly under suspicion, yes?

Nancy Pelosi’s fascism – made clear by this IBD op-ed – would be truly frightening if she were taken seriously anymore, but she’s not.  The Most Powerful Woman in America won’t have any power at all after November 2^nd, as tout le monde knows, and has become a joke.  As in, "America needs the Democrats in power like Nancy Pelosi needs a Halloween mask."

***
In truth, Lost Harry’s proclamation Monday afternoon (8/16) that it’s "very obvious that the mosque should be built someplace else," is recognized by most Nevadans as pathetic pandering to them out of his fear of Sharron Angle.

That morning, Angle issued a public request:

"As the Majority Leader, Harry Reid is usually President Obama’s mouthpiece in the U.S. Senate, and yet he remains silent on this issue.   Reid has a responsibility to stand up and say no to the mosque at Ground Zero or once again side with President Obama – this time against the families of 9/11 victims. America is waiting." 

America didn’t have to wait long.  Within hours, Harry capitulated to Sharron.

Monday the 16^th was a good day for Nevada’s next Senator.  The Reid campaign people have been deluging Nevadans with demagoguery.  The most contemptibly dishonest example is their calling Angle "Pinochet with blonde hair."  A Reid front group has an ad out comparing her to Augusto Pinochet of Chile – believe it or not – because Pinochet privatized Chile’s broke social security system.

The new Chilean system has been an incredible success and is wildly popular among Chileans.  But because it was instituted under the rule of a "fascist dictator" hated by the Left, and because Angle supports a similar proven solution for the broke US system, why, obviously, that means Sharron Angle is an evil fascist.

Yep, that’s how low these slimebags will go.  And yet, Rasmussen came out with his latest Nevada poll Monday.  His polls are the most reliable because they only poll "likely voters," people who say they are going to vote, not just registered voters or people in general.  He’s also counting "leaners" now, as they must be factored in as the election looms.  The results of August 16?

Angle is back on top:  Angle 50% Reid 48%.  If she can withstand Reid’s barrage of lies about her and still be on top now, it’s all downhill for Lost Harry.

***
Who’s really sliding downhill this week is Zero.  A major heavy-hitter Dem had this not-for-attribution description of Zero now as "a walking radioactive disaster."  So speaking of sliding…

The Republican National Committee – not an outfit known for aggressive edginess – takes a cue from that weirdo boozed-up gender-challenged Jet Blue flight attendant who made that emergency exit a few days ago, and airs this TV ad in Dem districts all over the country.  Note it even includes the Dean Scream.

Then there is Zero’s growing Moose-Limb problem.  It is achingly funny to see the White House perplexed by Time Magazine’s discovery that almost one out of every four Americans (24%) believes Zero is a Moslem, and over half (53%) don’t believe he’s a Christian.

What did Zerocrats expect after a guy with three Moslem Arab slave-trader names who attends a Hate America Hate Christianity "Black Liberation" church comes out in favor of the Ground Zero Mosque? For scores of millions of Americans, it’s "Suspicions Confirmed" – big time.

And it’s going to get better, which means worse for Zero, as his pro-Moslem/pro-Sharia/pro GZM stance reignites all the other suspicions about him – where did this guy come from, really;  where are his college transcripts; how’d he get into Harvard and who paid for it; did he really go to Columbia; on and on, mystery after mystery that he adamantly refuses to shed any light on.

Finally, those mystery chickens are coming home to poop on his presidency.  Couldn’t happen to a nicer narcissist.

***
To see an example of how badly Dems are going to get pooped on in November, check out this story from the Arizona Republic back on June 8^th..  The headline reads:  SB 1070 Backlash Spurs Hispanics to Join Democrats.

Now gander this story from KPHO, the CBS television affiliate in Phoenix on Arizona Voter Registration.  It’s dated August 18, two days ago, and reports that over the last three months, statewide voter registration shows that (get ready):

*Democrat registration decreased by 530 voters.

*Republican registration increased by over 10,000 voters.

*Independent registration increased by over 25,000 voters.

Or try this, the most important story of the week:  GOP Outside Cash Has Dems Scrambling.  Remember how the Dems way outspent the Pubs by vast millions last election cycle via 527 groups like George Soros’ MoveOn.org?  It’s the other way around today.

Pub 527s have raised "hundreds of millions" to be spent on an "unprecedented ad campaign," while wealthy Dem donors are "sitting on their wallets."  An example is a LibDem 527 called Majority Action that spent $6 million in the last cycle, and hasn’t raised "a penny" lately and is broke.  Every one of these lib outfits from Emily’s List to MoveOn is busted.

"The Democratic Party’s enthusiasm gap is not only a grass-roots phenomenon, it’s a donor phenomenon as well," a guy from Majority Action bemoaned.  The mother’s milk of politics – money – is drying up for the Dems.  It’s flowing like a river for the GOP.

Couple that with The Tea Party Manifesto declared by Dick Armey in the Wall Street Journal this week (8/17).  The key statement is this: 

"The tea party movement," with its intention of radically cutting government down to Constitutional size, "is not seeking a junior partnership with the Republican Party, but a hostile takeover of it."

So – Pub Establishment folk like Karl Rove and the US Chamber of Commerce are going to raise and spend hundreds of millions to elect a Pub majority in Congress, much of which will be composed of real Constitutionalists who will conduct a hostile takeover of the GOP.  Sounds like a plan.  Works for me.  It sure will work for America.

***
And on that cheery note, I must bid you adieu for a while.  I’ll be sending dispatches from wherever I am, I’ll surface as often as I can.  But you and TTP will be in good hands with Jack Kelly at the helm.

Don’t forget to get your copy of The Jade Steps.  Hope I see you at the Victory Rendezvous in November.

Ps:  Miko asked me to remind you that the deadline for the Early Bird Rendezvous registration is August 31.  Before that, it’s only $285.  After that, it’s $325.  Better register now!  See you in Washington.