Marano:
With regard to your original post, I don't think anyone is giving a free pass. If anything, we (as gun owners) identify primarily as Republicans because we have more of a "conservative" mindset. That's it--nothing more, nothing less.
In these times, however, we have more RINO's--Republicans In Name Only--who would totally trash our rights because it is convenient to do so. Instead of standing for what is right, they try to "please" the big money--constituents who will fatten their war chests to achieve political power.
As for John Kerry--sorry. I have absolutely NO respect for that idiot. I don't know about his alleged service in Viet Nam. I don't know about his decorations.
I do know that he accomplished an immense insult to our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen when he made the remark that if you did not get an education you would end up in Iraq.
My son heard that remark. Let me tell you what happened: when Kerry uttered that remark, I saw my son--a fine young man, 24 years old now, collapse--LITERALLY--in uncontrolled tears and anguish.
My son asked me this: "Is that what people think of us?" "Is that all we are worth?"
You see, my son was (is) a Marine. Served from 6/2001 to 6/2005. He spent 7 months in Fallujah; his gun (M198 howitzer, C Battery, 1/12 Marines, Kaneohe Bay, HI) fired the first war shot into Fallujah, during the second battle when the city was finally taken.
Fallujah is the city where the four American contractors were killed and desecrated, their burnt bodies pictured hanging from a bridge. My son later showed me a picture of him, standing on that same bridge.
My son saw a transport vehicle--the one right in front of him--hit with an IED. Two of his close friends were blown apart--right in front of him. This was on the way to the line of departure; he was less than one week in country.
My son told me that during a mortar attack on his base, he had hit the ground to avoid blast and shrapnel. He heard a whistling, whirring noise, looked up, and saw a mortar rocket HEADED RIGHT FOR HIM. He said to me that he thought that at that moment he thought that he was a dead man.
The rocket impacted less than 5 feet from him--and buried itself halfway in the dirt. It was a dud. He showed me a picture of it, taken right after the attack.
My son spent two months firing artillery, two months on checkpoints, and two months clearing houses and buildings.
He was talking to me one time about clearing houses, and showing me some tricks of the trade. When I remarked about how loud an M16 was in a closed room, my son--the one I still remember carrying on my back; taking baby steps with, and sitting on my lap--told me, "No, it's not. You don't even hear it."
He then told me that one time he--and one other Marine from his unit--entered a room in Fallujah. There, four Iraqis were waiting. They were armed, with AK's. He described the room as about the size of our living room. Then, he stopped talking, and looked down.
I asked him what happened. He looked up and simply said, "We walked out. They didn't".
It was the last time I asked him about what had happened.
Remember that helicopter crash that killed 23 Marines? They were ALL from his unit. He missed being on that helicopter by 5 MINUTES.
I think of him--and I think of all the fine young men and women who have served--and the ones who will NEVER come home, and the families who were left behind with broken hearts that will never heal.
And, I remember John Kerry's words.
Sorry--I can't find any respect for that waste of flesh. And I hope I never meet him or even see him face to face. I might throw up.
And THAT'S the truth--as I know it.
For all who served honorably--God bless and God speed.
