New President…It’s a Matter of Trust

I watched the ceremonies today. It was exciting, even though he wasn’t my personal choice. But I hope he does well. After all, more than most, my family’s future rests squarely in his hands. My husband’s deployments, and safety, pay, our healthcare, family programs, housing. So, to me, his first pass/fail test will be how he handles THIS issue. Among the 115 suggestions for controlling federal spending, are the following.

Fees for Active Duty Families – Dependents of active duty members enrolled in TRICARE Prime, the managed care network, would pay new fees equal to 10 percent of the cost of health services obtained either in military treatment facilities or through civilian network providers. Total out of pocket costs would be capped, however.

And for the retirees the following

TRICARE for Working-Age Retirees – Fees, co-payments and deductibles would be raised for retirees under 62 to restore the relative costs paid when TRICARE began in 1995. TRICARE Prime enrollment would be raised to $550 a year for individuals from $230. Retiree families would pay $1100 versus $460 today. Co-pays for doctor visits would climb to $28 from $12 and users of TRICARE Standard and TRICARE Extra would pay an annual deductible of $350 for an individual and $700 for families. Congress has declined to support such increases for the past three years.

10% doesn’t sound like much, I know. But military pay isn’t high enough for most enlisted to afford this, especially if you factor in a family of 4, which is about average. These guys put their very lives on the line, sacrifice so much already. My husband joined partly to GET us healthcare, which we couldn’t afford, or get assistance with in the civilian world we lived in.  And he most certainly isn’t the only one to choose this route to provide for a family. They fight our wars, their families stand behind them, support them, worry about them.  The first test of faith for me, in regards to our new Commander in Chief will be whether he allows this to happen. I totally agree with him when he says we all have to give, to sacrifice to make our world a better place. But some sacrifice more than enough, and do so voluntarily, don’t hurt them in the process. That is my only request. We shall see if he earns my trust.

Glad That’s Over

So, we have a new president elect. Not the one I wanted, but I guess we’ll just see how he does and hope for the best. What else can we do? No, I did not vote…for the first time in 16 years. We had a slight bit of confusion here. I sent my registration out, and never got it back. Or so I thought. About 8:30 last night I found out I did get my card. Crapsticks.

Next time I guess. I feel kind of crappy for not voting, but this could have happened to anyone. And I don’t CARE what anyone says, I still have EVERY right to complain. I’m so sick of hearing that if you don’t vote you have no right to complain. Who are these people to SHAME people who didn’t vote for one reason or another? What gives THEM that right?  But as long as my husband’s work attire includes camo and combat boots, I have every right in the world to my opinions. Other people complain about their husbands boss, my husband’s boss just happens to be the President.

Frankly I don’t HAVE any opinions yet. Both candidates had good ideas and bad, both occasionally needed shoe horns to pry their feet out of their mouths, both sides had lack of experience working against them (Palin, and Obama) and had experience working for them (McCain and Biden). I think Obama is an eloquent speaker, and can only hope the conviction behind his words is real. I whole heartedly agree it was time for a change. My only wish for the future is that we look at the PERSON not the PARTY when making a decision. Too many people have said “we need republicans/democrats out”. That’s not true. We need irresponsible, selfish, agenda climbing, corrupt PEOPLE out.

What Do You Get…

You know feet, if you bend at just the right angle, and work out your jaw daily to increase flexibility and strength, can indeed be put in your own mouth. Just ask John Kerry. Who said….

âœYou know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you donâ™t, you get stuck in Iraq.â

And his excuse for that comment?….

“Mr. Kerry said that he botched a joke that his aides said had been prepared as follows: âœDo you know where you end up if you donâ™t study, if you arenâ™t smart, if youâ™re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush.â

Frankly, either way he insulted our troops I don’t care what your intent was, it was sickening. And to top it off he does THIS . Way to go Mr Kerry, you just convinced your own party to vote for the other guy!! I sure hope he had clean socks before he put his feet in his mouth.

And kudos to John McCain for his comments.

“Americans from all backgrounds, well off and less fortunate, with high school diplomas and graduate degrees, take seriously their duty to our country, and risk their lives today to defend the rest of us in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

“They all deserve our respect and deepest gratitude for their service. The suggestion that only the least educated Americans would agree to serve in the military and fight in Iraq, is an insult to every soldier serving in combat, and should deeply offend any American with an ounce of appreciation for what they suffer and risk so that the rest of us can sleep more comfortably at night. Without them, we wouldn’t live in a country where people securely possess all their God-given rights, including the right to express insensitive, ill-considered and uninformed remarks.â

Didn’t Mr Kerry ever learn to think before he speaks? Dumbass.

You Can’t Say That!

View will be shared in this post. You’ve been warned. Disagree if you must, but I’m not arguing any points. These are my beliefs and your arguments will not change them.

Why on earth is it so awful to NOT be angry about the extension? Why isn’t it ok to just deal with it. To carry on and wait? There is an overwhelming attitude that if you don’t loudly disagree with this extension, you are less of a wife, you’re blind, you’re blindly following the government. That’s bull. All the websites that popped up, what purpose did they serve? Have they gotten our brigade home any sooner? No. They have not. They’ve given the wives a place to vent, a place to ir their grievances. And that’s great. Everyone needs that. That’s why I have a blog. Or four. And every time an article is published at strykernews.com, the “against” readers attack anyone with a different view, and accuse them of insulting the troops, or of not being supportive. What is wrong with that picture? I admit this sounds paranoid, but I believe in it, and I’m not going to budge. The enemy reads these sites. Strykernews I’m sure is read by them. They see families, and soldiers alike voicing their unhappiness. Which they have an absolute right to do. But it gives them propaganda to use against us. Anyone remember Tokyo Rose? The Japanese/US citizen who along with a group of other women broadcasted stories of defeats, of cheating wives, etc over the airwaves after luring their American GI listeners onto the station with American music? Of course they already know we have unhappy troops. That’s a given. But seeing it over and over gives them more hope, to them it makes us look weak. Which of course we are not. We have the best forces in the world.

As far as Iraq goes, I’m still in support of it. The extension didn’t change that. And I’m tired of hearing “we didn’t find any wmd”. Well of course not! We spent months wading through UN bullshit before we could even get anyone in there after the inspectors were again kicked out (which by the way violated the treaty made after the first gulf war). Now, if you had something to hide, and knew you were going to be invaded and searched…what would you do? Destroy it. Ship it away and destroy any evidence of it. Sell it. So many options there. The other thing I’m tired of is “If we had deposed Saddam the first time…” yeah we’d be in the same situation, because the country has no leadership! And don’t tell me they have a PM. I know that, but he isn’t much of a leader right now. And of course there’s the “We need to pull out now” theory. What is going to happen if we do that? With an unstable middle east, the whole region is then vulnerable to take over by these insurgents/terrorists, our guys get sent back over, and into a situation 10 times worse than it is now. Or they get stronger and formulate another attack on us.

But you can’t say those things these days. All the media wants to print is anti Iraq, all they want to interview are wives and service members with grievances. When is it going to get better? When are opposing, positive opinions going to be anything but scoffed at? What is wrong with us? Shame on us for not complaining, shame on me for driving on. No. Shame on anyone that believes that.

Draft Of My Letter

To Whom It May Concern:

I am also a wife of a 172nd soldier. And I am appalled at Tamara’s comment

When the 4-23’s Baghdad deployment was first announced, Tamara says the families split into two camps. “There were those wives who sat there and smiled like the women in ‘Apollo 13,’ who just smiled when they were thinking ‘Oh my God,’ kind of like Stepford wives, and then there were those of us who said, ‘This just isn’t right,’” recalls Bell.

I was one of those wives. I and many others made a decision, along with our soldiers to accept a situation beyond our control. One we could not change. Not one of us didn’t feel shock, disappointment, anger. But nothing was going to change the fact that these soldiers were extended, that we had a longer road ahead of us than we thought.

Where are the four page interviews about the wives that stand in quiet support of their soldiers? Those of us that have decided to do the very best we can to stay upbeat, and positive? Where is the neutrality? Unbiased reporting? We may not be in 4-23, but we have pride in our jobs, and we are not stepford wives sitting around with big fake smiles on our faces. And that’s another thing.

Why so much focus on ONE battalion? I don’t see that as fair reporting. What about 4-14 cav? 4-11 field artillery? 2-1 infantry? 1-17 infantry? The Engineers? The 172nd BSB?  They were extended right along side those guys. They’re all in this brigade, they’ve all missed birthdays, anniversaries, children’s births, first steps, first words, some have even missed the birth and first birthdays of the same child. But no, not a mention of them.

Not a single interview with a wife that doesn’t have bad words about our government, or our military. Positive doesn’t sell magazines right? And you publish this at a time when hopes are returning, when the anticipation is starting back up, when we’re all getting excited again. Why? We don’t need these negative things thrown in our faces right now, we don’t need the innuendo, the implied doubts.

What a shame. We as wives have a job to do, just as our husbands have a job to do. As much as we hate terms like “Hurry Up And Wait” and “Suck It Up And Drive On”, that is exactly what we have had to do, and have done. And we’ve done it without complaints to the press, we’ve done it without the spotlight, just as we will continue to do, and as our husbands EXPECT us to do.

Directions To Stepford Please

As many of my readers from my many blogs know, my husband is one of a brigade that had it’s tour extended in Iraq just as they were to head home. It sucked, to be honest. I was crushed, devastated, shocked, appalled, and disappointed. Just to name a few. But it happens. This is the military, these things happen unfortunately.

We are not the first to be extended. There were many units back in 2003 when this started that went to Iraq for a six month tour and found themselves there for 12 to 24 months! What makes us unique? The amount of notice we got. Some of us just hours. But we have dealt with it. It’s almost over. The majority of us that is.

Some have felt the need to go to the press with their grievances and distrust. The most recent, has completely and totally pissed me off. I am seeing RED. In THIS article, is an excerpt that might as well say that any of us wives that have accepted our fate and “drove on” are idiots.

When the 4-23’s Baghdad deployment was first announced, Tamara says the families split into two camps. “There were those wives who sat there and smiled like the women in ‘Apollo 13,’ who just smiled when they were thinking ‘Oh my God,’ kind of like Stepford wives, and then there were those of us who said, ‘This just isn’t right,’” recalls Bell. 

NICE Huh?? Well Screw you too! If you want to protest fine, if you want to paint messages on your car windows, great, if you want to talk to the press about your unhappiness, and your husband is ok with that, more power to you. But you DO NOT run down the rest of us that stand in quiet support of our soldiers.

We are doing what OUR soldiers expect us to do. We picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off and put on a brave face. We put on our big girl panties and pushed ourselves through what has been possibly the hardest time of our lives. We did it so our soldiers would know, without a doubt that we were OK. So they could focus on their missions. We know they are tired, we know they are homesick, they know we want them home as bad as they want to be here.

We did all of that without going to the press to stab the other “camp” in the back. We did it without any attention, because the press only wants to report the negative, the protests, the outrage. You don’t see interviews from spouses that are upbeat and positive. They want to publicize the missed birthday parties, the poor me stories. They feed on it, they breathe it like the last cubic foot of oxygen in the universe. So congratulations, you got your 15 minutes of fame. Again. And you’ve done it  while insulting those of us that are DAMNED proud of the job we’ve done, and of the job our soldiers have done.

It’s wrong. It’s just fucking wrong.

Signed,
PROUD STEPFORD WIFE

I’m still Pissed

Something was said in a group the other day, to the effect of other people are missing their husbands and don’t expect anyone to bend over backwards, because I and another member asked that unoffical rumor such as “…brigade will be extended further” not be shared as it’s upsetting, Even if the rational part of our brains say “rumor rumor rumor” the part of us that remembers the beginning of this extension starting that same way and coming true screams “NO NO NO!!”.  It’s still eating at me. All we asked was for rumors not to be shared, a little sensitivity to already heightened anxiety. I have yet to use this mess as an excuse for anything, I continue to do my own yardwork, child care, car repairs, heavy lifting. I have only used two things that have been offered, the use of the auto skills center available to everyone, and a free winterization check.  Alot of agencies have done ALOT for the wives and familes effected by this extension, and it’s great. That’s a fact. But we didn’t ask for it. The pentagon sent reps here, why? We didn’t ask for them to, we didn’t ask anyone to offer us anything. But if all of that’s considered bending over backwards, well we damned well deserved it the day we, and our deployed soldiers were asked to bend forward and take it up the A$$.

WTF

What kind of self serving, assinine, insensitive fucktard goes to a MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONY at the MOVING WALL to fucking PROTEST??? Why not just go spit on the graves in Arlington. Stupid, selfish. ungrateful people. A day to show respect for the men and women that have given EVERYTHING for their country, and this is how you act? Veterans from WW2, Vietnam, Korea, standing there, and you with your psychedlic peace sign. And WHY did our news give you any coverage? I don’t give a rats ass how you feel about the current war, THIS IS NOT THE DAY FOR IT!!!!

And This Kids Is The MP Station

Unfreakinbelievable!! So there have been some bullying incidents involving my daughter and her friends. Yesterday, this resulted in Miss Lizz bringing my youngest home and giving me the latest scoop. That nothing will be done until they are physically assulted. Umm…hello my daughter was hit in the back…by definition assult is the second you touch another person in such a way as to make them uncomfortable or cause pain. Also, That taking pictures catching the act would be sufficient proof. So, we grab our cameras today, and me, L, and M (sorry n, o and p were absent) watched and waited. Sure enough, the bullying began. at least 3 bigger girls in their faces. One caught site of the camera and came to us saying that our kids didn’t do anything, and that she told the rest to leave them alone. Not a minute later she told her mother the exact opposite and that they were on film. Well, she starts carrying on about how I cannot take pictures of her children. Well…bullshit I can’t. And she calls the MP’s. Fine, they have just as much if not more explaining to do that we do. See, it’s handy knowing a little of photography laws. When you are in a public place you have no reasonable expectation of privacy. Thus how the paparazzi can’t be sued.

The MP’s show up, M and I meet up with L at her house. I run back to get my gear and a ride home to get my truck. I no sooner get back, and I’m told we have to go to the police station. I have no clue where that is, neither do L and M. We have to follow the mp’s. Funny how the others knew the way and beat us there. We walk in and sit down. I picked up a few mumblings about harrassment everywhere they’ve been etc etc. The kids are questioned, the adults are questioned, then it’s our turn. Turns out I was right about the photos, but asked to wipe them out. Which I’ll do. Have I mentioned they’ve had prior incidents? Anyhow, 2 hours later we’re set loose. And I go to L’s for some dinner. Which by the way was good, and I had a ball with her and M. I laughed so much my tummy hurts…lol!!

What pisses me off is that I have never taught my children color. I had 11 years that my children thought the word race only meant who could go fastest. My daughter has been called a cracker, been accused of using the N word (she had to ask me what it was…hello?? ). I realize I can’t shelter them forever, but why must they learn this way? Shes 11 years old, her biggest worry should be what barbie she wants for Christmas. How can I teach her not to judge or fear based on skin color when they are teaching her exactly the opposite by their own actions??? I just can’t believe this. Normally the investigator wouldn’t even be involved in a dispute between a bunch of girls. But the word racism was thrown out there…now he has to be. I’m sick to my stomach that me, my friends, and our children…CHILDREN are being accused of exactly what we have taught our children not to do.

The good thing, I got to hang out with new people today, and had fun while doing it:o)

Ram That Flag Where?

I was asked the other day if I was one of those Americans that took offense to everything others said about my country. Well, I answered. No. I do take offense to blanket “stupid Americans” comments. I’m sick to death of hearing that. I do take it personally. I am far from stupid, my children and husband are far from stupid. We are quite intelligent people. Are there stupid Americans? Sure, but stupidity isn’t limited to our shores…it’s a world wide epidemic.

I know our country has it’s problems. Environmental issues, homelessness, racism, we’re still battling for equal rights for all. But I’m quite proud to live somewhere where the average person can speak out for or against any issue, and not be persecuted by the government. I love that we can question authority. I encourage my kids to…except my authority…hehe this is a Mommytatorship.

Alot of times I do take offense to things said against the US. But I do it without speaking. I keep it to myself. Does that takes me out of the “Ram The Flag Up Your Ass” category? But then again, there is nothing wrong with that either..I may just switch to it! But one thing I won’t put up with is insults against our military. Want to bash the president? I may disagree, but that’s your right. Want to criticize US policy? Again, I may disagree but OK. I don’t see the point of our troops defending our freedoms if noone is going to actually use those freedoms. Who am I to stop them?

I realize there are more troops than just ours over in Iraq, which by default does give other countries a right to speak out against our President and his choice to put us in there, even though it was their leaders choice to go. So I really have no problem with anyone voicing their displeasure at the war, the president, etc. I’ll leave the conversation, or change the subject. Or just wait for it to blow over.

But when I hear people attacking these troops that are fighting over there. Troops who’s main mission is defending the very freedoms that allow them to speak out, I’m offended. These guys are doing what they are told. Orders come down and they follow. They aren’t allowed to voice their opinions, or to say no. So leave them alone. Show them some respect. Shake their hand and say thank you, for going so others don’t have to. Because of a large force of all volunteer forces, noone is forced to serve. Where would we be if these troops hadn’t stepped forward to do the job? We’d be a drafted military, no choice in whether to serve or not. We’ve been there before and noone wants to be there again. To me they aren’t just talking about nameless people. They are talking about my husband, my friends’ husbands, who are over there right now.And I don’t buy this support the troops but not the war idea. To me supporting the troops means wishing them the best with the mission at hand, wishing them success…maybe some thing that’s wrong, but hey, I have I right to my opinion, and opinions can be neither right nor wrong.

Ya know what. I change my answer, yes, I’m a damned proud flag flying, and ramming when need American girl, and anyone that don’t like it can kiss my Red, White, and Blue ASS!

In The Words of the Great Merle Haggard…

I hear people talkin’ bad,
About the way we have to live here in this country,
Harpin’ on the wars we fight,
An’ gripin’ ’bout the way things oughta be.
An’ I don’t mind ‘em switchin’ sides,
An’ standin’ up for things they believe in.
When they’re runnin’ down my country, man,
They’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.
Yeah, walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.
Runnin’ down the way of life,
Our fightin’ men have fought and died to keep.
If you don’t love it, leave it:
Let this song I’m singin’ be a warnin’.
If you’re runnin’ down my country, man,
You’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.

I read about some squirrely guy,
Who claims, he just don’t believe in fightin’.
An’ I wonder just how long,
The rest of us can count on bein’ free.
They love our milk an’ honey,
But they preach about some other way of livin’.
When they’re runnin’ down my country, hoss,
They’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.

Yeah, walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.
Runnin’ down the way of life,
Our fightin’ men have fought and died to keep.
If you don’t love it, leave it:
Let this song I’m singin’ be a warnin’.
If you’re runnin’ down my country, man,
You’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.

Yeah, walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.
Runnin’ down the way of life,
Our fightin’ men have fought and died to keep.
If you don’t love it, leave it:
Let this song I’m singin’ be a warnin’.
If you’re runnin’ down my country, man,
You’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.