President Barack Obama, honoring the 13 soldiers slain in last week’s Fort Hood shooting rampage, discussed the long tradition of military service in this country.
** ** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama is getting some rave reviews for his speech today at Fort Hood. It was delayed, as was his departure, for all the extra time he spent with survivors and the wounded. … Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan now supposedly won’t be released for a few weeks. Certainly not before he goes on his big Asia trip late this week, nor during it. … British Foreign Secretary David Milliband, the favorite, has officially pulled out of the running to be Europe’s first foreign minister. … Tony Blair is still pushing for the European presidency. … Besides Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signing another big water bill, nothing of real significance happened in California politics today.
** OBAMA’S ADDRESS TODAY AT FORT HOOD, TEXAS.
We come together filled with sorrow for the thirteen Americans that we have lost; with gratitude for the lives that they led; and with a determination to honor them through the work we carry on.
This is a time of war. And yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great American community. It is this fact that makes the tragedy even more painful and even more incomprehensible.
For those families who have lost a loved one, no words can fill the void that has been left. We knew these men and women as soldiers and caregivers. You knew them as mothers and fathers; sons and daughters; sisters and brothers.
But here is what you must also know: your loved ones endure through the life of our nation. Their memory will be honored in the places they lived and by the people they touched. Their life’s work is our security, and the freedom that we too often take for granted. Every evening that the sun sets on a tranquil town; every dawn that a flag is unfurled; every moment that an American enjoys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – that is their legacy.
Neither this country – nor the values that we were founded upon – could exist without men and women like these thirteen Americans. And that is why we must pay tribute to their stories.
Chief Warrant Officer Michael Cahill had served in the National Guard and worked as a physician’s assistant for decades. A husband and father of three, he was so committed to his patients that on the day he died, he was back at work just weeks after having a heart attack.
Major Libardo Eduardo Caraveo spoke little English when he came to America as a teenager. But he put himself through college, earned a PhD, and was helping combat units cope with the stress of deployment. He is survived by his wife, sons and step-daughters.
Staff Sergeant Justin DeCrow joined the Army right after high school, married his high school sweetheart, and had served as a light wheeled mechanic and Satellite Communications Operator. He was known as an optimist, a mentor, and a loving husband and father.
After retiring from the Army as a Major, John Gaffaney cared for society’s most vulnerable during two decades as a psychiatric nurse. He spent three years trying to return to active duty in this time of war, and he was preparing to deploy to Iraq as a Captain. He leaves behind a wife and son.
Specialist Frederick Greene was a Tennessean who wanted to join the Army for a long time, and did so in 2008 with the support of his family. As a combat engineer he was a natural leader, and he is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Specialist Jason Hunt was also recently married, with three children to care for. He joined the Army after high school. He did a tour in Iraq, and it was there that he re-enlisted for six more years on his 21st birthday so that he could continue to serve.
Staff Sergeant Amy Krueger was an athlete in high school, joined the Army shortly after 9/11, and had since returned home to speak to students about her experience. When her mother told her she couldn’t take on Osama bin Laden by herself, Amy replied: “Watch me.”
Private First Class Aaron Nemelka was an Eagle Scout who just recently signed up to do one of the most dangerous jobs in the service – diffuse bombs – so that he could help save lives. He was proudly carrying on a tradition of military service that runs deep within his family.
Private First Class Michael Pearson loved his family and loved his music, and his goal was to be a music teacher. He excelled at playing the guitar, and could create songs on the spot and show others how to play. He joined the military a year ago, and was preparing for his first deployment.
Captain Russell Seager worked as a nurse for the VA, helping veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress. He had great respect for the military, and signed up to serve so that he could help soldiers cope with the stress of combat and return to civilian life. He leaves behind a wife and son.
Private Francheska Velez, the daughter of a father from Colombia and a Puerto Rican mother, had recently served in Korea and in Iraq, and was pursuing a career in the Army. When she was killed, she was pregnant with her first child, and was excited about becoming a mother.
Lieutenant Colonel Juanita Warman was the daughter and granddaughter of Army veterans. She was a single mother who put herself through college and graduate school, and served as a nurse practitioner while raising her two daughters. She also left behind a loving husband.
Private First Class Kham Xiong came to America from Thailand as a small child. He was a husband and father who followed his brother into the military because his family had a strong history of service. He was preparing for his first deployment to Afghanistan.
These men and women came from all parts of the country. Some had long careers in the military. Some had signed up to serve in the shadow of 9/11. Some had known intense combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some cared for those did. Their lives speak to the strength, the dignity and the decency of those who serve, and that is how they will be remembered.
That same spirit is embodied in the community here at Fort Hood, and in the many wounded who are still recovering. In those terrible minutes during the attack, soldiers made makeshift tourniquets out of their clothes. They braved gunfire to reach the wounded, and ferried them to safety in the backs of cars and a pick-up truck.
One young soldier, Amber Bahr, was so intent on helping others that she did not realize for some time that she, herself, had been shot in the back. Two police officers – Mark Todd and Kim Munley – saved countless lives by risking their own. One medic – Francisco de la Serna – treated both Officer Munley and the gunman who shot her.
It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know – no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice – in this world, and the next.
These are trying times for our country. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the same extremists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans continue to endanger America, our allies, and innocent Afghans and Pakistanis. In Iraq, we are working to bring a war to a successful end, as there are still those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that Americans and Iraqis have sacrificed so much for.
As we face these challenges, the stories of those at Fort Hood reaffirm the core values that we are fighting for, and the strength that we must draw upon. Theirs are tales of American men and women answering an extraordinary call – the call to serve their comrades, their communities, and their country. In an age of selfishness, they embody responsibility. In an era of division, they call upon us to come together. In a time of cynicism, they remind us of who we are as Americans.
We are a nation that endures because of the courage of those who defend it. We saw that valor in those who braved bullets here at Fort Hood, just as surely as we see it in those who signed up knowing that they would serve in harm’s way.
We are a nation of laws whose commitment to justice is so enduring that we would treat a gunman and give him due process, just as surely as we will see that he pays for his crimes.
We are a nation that guarantees the freedom to worship as one chooses. And instead of claiming God for our side, we remember Lincoln’s words, and always pray to be on the side of God.
We are a nation that is dedicated to the proposition that all men and women are created equal. We live that truth within our military, and see it in the varied backgrounds of those we lay to rest today. We defend that truth at home and abroad, and we know that Americans will always be found on the side of liberty and equality. That is who we are as a people.
Tomorrow is Veterans Day. It is a chance to pause, and to pay tribute – for students to learn of the struggles that preceded them; for families to honor the service of parents and grandparents; for citizens to reflect upon the sacrifices that have been made in pursuit of a more perfect union.
For history is filled with heroes. You may remember the stories of a grandfather who marched across Europe; an uncle who fought in Vietnam; a sister who served in the Gulf. But as we honor the many generations who have served, I think all of us – every single American – must acknowledge that this generation has more than proved itself the equal of those who have come before.
We need not look to the past for greatness, because it is before our very eyes.
This generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen have volunteered in a time of certain danger. They are part of the finest fighting force that the world has ever known. They have served tour after tour of duty in distant, different and difficult places. They have stood watch in blinding deserts and on snowy mountains. They have extended the opportunity of self-government to peoples that have suffered tyranny and war. They are man and woman; white, black, and brown; of all faiths and stations – all Americans, serving together to protect our people, while giving others half a world away the chance to lead a better life.
In today’s wars, there is not always a simple ceremony that signals our troops’ success – no surrender papers to be signed, or capital to be claimed. But the measure of their impact is no less great – in a world of threats that no know borders, it will be marked in the safety of our cities and towns, and the security and opportunity that is extended abroad. And it will serve as testimony to the character of those who serve, and the example that you set for America and for the world.
Here, at Fort Hood, we pay tribute to thirteen men and women who were not able to escape the horror of war, even in the comfort of home. Later today, at Fort Lewis, one community will gather to remember so many in one Stryker Brigade who have fallen in Afghanistan.
Long after they are laid to rest – when the fighting has finished, and our nation has endured; when today’s servicemen and women are veterans, and their children have grown – it will be said of this generation that they believed under the most trying of tests; that they persevered not just when it was easy, but when it was hard; and that they paid the price and bore the burden to secure this nation, and stood up for the values that live in the hearts of all free peoples.
So we say goodbye to those who now belong to eternity. We press ahead in pursuit of the peace that guided their service. May God bless the memory of those we lost. And may God bless the United States of America.
President Ronald Reagan spoke at the Brandenburg Gate in what was then West Berlin, divided by the Soviets from East Berlin, on June 12, 1987, marking the 750th anniversary of the City of Berlin. “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama travels to Fort Hood, Texas today to honor the victims and mark the tragedy of last week’s shootings by Major Nidal Malik Hasan.
Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are en route on Air Force One from Andrews Air Force Base to Killeen, Texas.
Obama is receiving his daily intelligence and economic briefings on Air Force One.
At 9:25 AM Pacific, Obama and Michelle Obama arrive in Killeen, Texas.
At 9:50 AM Pacific, Obama and Michelle Obama meet with families of the fallen at III Corps Headquarters, Fort Hood.
At 10:20 AM Pacific, Obama and Michelle Obama meet with wounded soldiers and their families at III Corps Headquarters, Fort Hood.
At 11 AM Pacific, Obama addresses the Fort Hood community at III Corps Headquarters, Fort Hood.
This speech will be roadblocked on all cable news nets.
Also on hand will be Defense Secretary Bob Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, Army Chief of Staff General George Casey and Army Secretary John McHugh.
At 11:25 AM Pacific, Obama and Michelle Obama meet with wounded soldiers at Darnall Army Medical Center.
At 1:20 PM Pacific, Obama and Michelle Obama depart Killeen, Texas on Air Force One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 4:20 PM Pacific, Obama and Michelle Obama arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, where they board Marine One.
At 4:35 PM Pacific, Obama and Michelle Obama land on the South Lawn of the White House.
President Barack Obama spoke by video hook-up yesterday at the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Obama made a surprise video address yesterday to the crowds celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the ceremonies.
Other world leaders speaking at the festivities included Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former President George H.W. Bush, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, former Polish President Lech Walesa, and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union.
In other action, former President Bill Clinton speaks to the Senate Democratic Caucus today, calling on them to pass national health care.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. As discussed last week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is on his water victory tour around California.
At 11:45 AM, Schwarzenegger holds a press conference at the Santa Clara Valley Water District in San Jose.
There he will sign SBX7 7, statewide water conservation legislation by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).
X7, incidentally, reflects the seventh legislative special session called by Schwarzenegger as governor.
The event will be webcast live at www.gov.ca.gov.
** MAD MEN‘S SENSATIONAL SEASON FINALE. …
** OBAMA’S OFF TO A VERY GOOD START. One year ago, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. Is his presidency delivering on the promise of his candidacy? Yes. I think he’s off to a very good start. But I’m not doing handstands.
I keep Obama’s book containing his campaign program, Change We Can Believe In, on my desk. Is Obama doing what he said he would do? Yes, mostly.
It’s important to be clear about something. Obama is not a left-wing politician; he’s a center/left politician. That’s clear when you examine what he ran on last year. He ran on a center/left platform, not a left-wing platform.
Many on the left and the right, either through misunderstanding or pursuit of their own agendas, get this wrong. Each wing imagines (or pretends to imagine) that Obama is a lefty, and alternately prods and assails him on that false basis.
But let’s not clear space on Mount Rushmore just yet. … From my November 4th column.
** IT’S NOVEMBER 22, 1963 ON MAD MEN. … From my November 2nd review.
** AFGHANISTAN, AGAIN: THE THICKET OBAMA’S NOT GETTING OUT OF. … From my October 29th column.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “THE GYPSY AND THE HOBO.” … From my October 26th review.
** CHINATOWN’S 35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION AND THE POLANSKI SCANDAL. … From my October 23rd essay.
** OBAMA IN THE THICKET OF “AFGHANIRANISTAN.” … From my October 21st column.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “THE COLOR BLUE.” … From my October 19th review.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “WEE SMALL HOURS.” … From my October 12th review.
** WHY OBAMA DOESN’T DESERVE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, OR THE OLYMPICS RAP. … From my October 9th column.
** ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, JERRY BROWN, BILL CLINTON AND THAT CRAZY CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP. … From my October 8th essay.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation. You can listen to my recent video webchat with Schwarzenegger here.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $79 per barrel.
This is up about $45 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
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| Comments (47) |
That’s a great speech by Reagan.
Obama’s speech is good, too.
Barack is always good.
I watched Reagan’s speech. Agreed, it is a great speech. Credit where credit is due.
Jonas Blane says:
November 10, 2009 at 7:51 am
That’s a great speech by Reagan.
Major Nidal Malik Hasan … If this asshole really is a radical controlled by others, we will know. The rest is a lot of yapping.
If he was really in contact with Al Qaeda the NSA would know.
Great review of the Mad Men season finale! Thanks!!
Thanks. It was a great episode.
Not necessarily. They only know things with regard to electronic communications.
> Len says:
November 10, 2009 at 9:19 am (Edit)
If he was really in contact with Al Qaeda the NSA would know.
Correct. I love all these folks who are always wrong running their mouths again.
> Capitol Boy says:
November 10, 2009 at 8:51 am (Edit)
Major Nidal Malik Hasan … If this asshole really is a radical controlled by others, we will know. The rest is a lot of yapping.
Generally true.
> Capitol Boy says:
November 10, 2009 at 8:46 am (Edit)
Barack is always good.
It’s actually a classic. I recall when he gave it. It was electrifying.
> Jonas Blane says:
November 10, 2009 at 7:51 am (Edit)
That’s a great speech by Reagan.
It gets pretty darn tiring …
Bill Bradley says:
November 10, 2009 at 10:29 am
Correct. I love all these folks who are always wrong running their mouths again.
> Capitol Boy says:
November 10, 2009 at 8:51 am (Edit)
Major Nidal Malik Hasan … If this asshole really is a radical controlled by others, we will know. The rest is a lot of yapping.
Yes, it was great and so is the review!!!!
Lorena says:
November 10, 2009 at 9:58 am
Great review of the Mad Men season finale! Thanks!!
In this speech, Reagan offers nuanced, principled, visionary and flexible leadership that makes one wonder what happened to the GOP (and the USA). Will the history books see this as our apogee as a nation?
Interesting that the famous line comes less than halfway through the speech.
The Fort Hood ceremony is very moving.
I think it is a terrorist act, whether he was controlled by others or not.
Bill Bradley says:
November 10, 2009 at 10:29 am
Correct. I love all these folks who are always wrong running their mouths again.
> Capitol Boy says:
November 10, 2009 at 8:51 am (Edit)
Major Nidal Malik Hasan … If this asshole really is a radical controlled by others, we will know. The rest is a lot of yapping.
It is a great review. You were right. The show is great.
Lorena says:
November 10, 2009 at 9:58 am
Great review of the Mad Men season finale! Thanks!!
Is anybody going to watch the Schwarzeneger webcast?
My day job involves dealing with state and federal publications. State legislative extraordinary session bills, journals etc. are printed on various colored papers assigned to the sessions to distinguish them from the regular session. Thanks to the dogpile of sessions for the 2009-2010 cycle we now are beyond the usual blue and green and seeing purple (3X), canary (5X), salmon (6X) and goldenrod (7X). A whole frakking rainbow!
“X7, incidentally, reflects the seventh legislative special session called by Schwarzenegger as governor.”
Schwarzeneger’s waiting.
Additional video today?
Barack’s Fort Hood speech was great. Great words, great delivery, great reading it here at NWN.
Dana, I’m worried that all these special sessions are depleting the state’s supply of Xs.
Bill, that is a most excellent review of “mad me.” It’s only, what, 5000 words long?
I meant “mad meN.”
President Obama gave a great speech today. Thanks for printing it here. That other President gave a great speech 22 years ago.
Prospero, you made me guffaw with #25.
Good new video of the President at Ft. Hood.
A very special speech by Obama; one of his best yet.
I love the President’s speech!
President Obama’s speech is so very good. He hit the high points that needed to be hit.
How will he top it for Veteran’s Day tomorrow?
President Obama has greatness in him.
What new video today?
Fort Hood, and the Asia trip.
You were early in sensing that.
sergei says:
November 11, 2009 at 4:23 am (Edit)
President Obama has greatness in him.
No, his Veterans Day speech is happening now.
> marcus waldron says:
November 10, 2009 at 10:37 pm (Edit)
President Obama’s speech is so very good. He hit the high points that needed to be hit.
How will he top it for Veteran’s Day tomorrow?
Indeed.
> Jack Aubrey says:
November 10, 2009 at 4:14 pm (Edit)
A very special speech by Obama; one of his best yet.
Thanks.
It’s 5000+ words …
> marcos leon says:
November 10, 2009 at 3:07 pm (Edit)
Bill, that is a most excellent review of “mad me.” It’s only, what, 5000 words long?
Considering the San Fernando Valley, I’d say there is no shortage of X in California …
> Prospero says:
November 10, 2009 at 2:03 pm (Edit)
Dana, I’m worried that all these special sessions are depleting the state’s supply of Xs.
Thanks! Glad you liked it.
> Jack Aubrey says:
November 10, 2009 at 11:39 am (Edit)
It is a great review. You were right. The show is great.
Lorena says:
November 10, 2009 at 9:58 am
Great review of the Mad Men season finale! Thanks!!
It’s a reflection of California’s diversity …
> Dana says:
November 10, 2009 at 11:47 am (Edit)
My day job involves dealing with state and federal publications. State legislative extraordinary session bills, journals etc. are printed on various colored papers assigned to the sessions to distinguish them from the regular session. Thanks to the dogpile of sessions for the 2009-2010 cycle we now are beyond the usual blue and green and seeing purple (3X), canary (5X), salmon (6X) and goldenrod (7X). A whole frakking rainbow!
“X7, incidentally, reflects the seventh legislative special session called by Schwarzenegger as governor.”
It has certainly had the effect of an act of terror, whether or not Hasan is a terrorist …
> Jack Aubrey says:
November 10, 2009 at 11:37 am (Edit)
I think it is a terrorist act, whether he was controlled by others or not.
Bill Bradley says:
November 10, 2009 at 10:29 am
Correct. I love all these folks who are always wrong running their mouths again.
> Capitol Boy says:
November 10, 2009 at 8:51 am (Edit)
Major Nidal Malik Hasan … If this asshole really is a radical controlled by others, we will know. The rest is a lot of yapping.
It’s not a stump speech.
> Clutch J says:
November 10, 2009 at 11:31 am (Edit)
Interesting that the famous line comes less than halfway through the speech.
He does, indeed. And it might.
Reagan certainly wasn’t his stereotype here.
> Clutch J says:
November 10, 2009 at 11:30 am (Edit)
In this speech, Reagan offers nuanced, principled, visionary and flexible leadership that makes one wonder what happened to the GOP (and the USA). Will the history books see this as our apogee as a nation?