What We Can Expect Next

 

During the midterm campaigns, the Demoncrats made all kinds of promises - free food, lower gas prices, lower inflation, free healthcare, and all of the usual libtard bullshit.  And just as expected, the lemmings in the Demoncratic party ate it all up, swallowed the bait hook, line, and sinker, and elected the biggest bunch of anti-American clowns in the history of the nation.

But what the Demoncratic voters either didn't know or knew and either approved of or just ignored was that the real goal of the Demoncratic candidates was twofold:  impeach Trump and conduct investigations into as many of his staff as they can while derailing the investigations into corrupt Demoncrats.

So here's what we can expect from the newly elected Demoncrats.

First and foremost, we can expect them NOT to honor a single promise they made during the campaign.  Not one.  And the reason for that is twofold:  first, any new tax that they will propose to provide all of the "free" stuff that they promised will absolutely be vetoed by President Trump.  And since the Demoncrats don't hold a supermajority in the Congress, they won't have the votes needed to override his veto.  So they won't be able to accomplish a thing.  

The second reason is that most of their efforts, if not all of them, will be towards their agenda of impeaching Trump.  What you can expect to see almost immediately - as in the first day of the new Congress - will be Articles of Impeachment against the President being filed by the Demoncrats, and it will most likely be that cunt Ilhan Omar who does it.  Immediately following that will be probes against Hegseth, Vance, Homan, and any other member of Trump's staff that the Demoncrats don't like.  

What we can expect from the impeachment bullshit is that it will fail because the members of Congress will vote along Party lines like they always do, and the Demoncrats don't have enough of a majority to win.  Even if they did win and Trump was removed from office, that would leave Vance as President, and you can bet your ass he'd come out guns blazing.  And of course, before the ink was even dry on the removal order the Demoncrats would be filing bullshit articles of impeachment against Vance before he has a chance to do anything.   And that, too, will fail.

The Demoncrats have been running on a "Hate Trump" agenda since the day he won the election, and it's only gotten worse.  They don't give a shit about improving the country, and the celebrations and statements they've made since then prove it.  NONE of their statements has mentioned doing ANYTHING to improve the country; actually, the reverse is true.  They've crowed about impeaching Trump, opening the borders, disbanding ICE, and defunding the police, but they've said NOTHING about make our country better.

The silver lining to this dark cloud is that in the long run, the Demoncrats won't accomplish a thing.  Not one single thing.  And two years from now when the country has seen what a bunch of lying assholes they truly are, two things will happen:  Vance will be elected President, and the Congress will change hands again.  Even if the Congress doesn't change hands in 2026, with Vance as President the Demoncrats still won't be able to get shit accomplished because Vance will veto anything they try to do - as he should.  And if we don't take the Congress back in two years, we damn sure will in four because by then the nation will really have seen just what a bunch of do-nothing assholes they elected are.

In the mean time, I feel sorry for Texas.  If you need an example of what happens when libtards move out of a blue state into a red state and then continue to vote for the blue policies that ruined their home state, Texas is it.

And don't get me started on Michigan.  I'll save that for later.

So congratulations on your 'big' win, Demoncrats.  Now get ready for two years of dissapointment.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

A Sad Day for America

 

And the answer to that question is a resounding "YES."  Yes, America is stupid enough to elect still more America-hating Muslims to the US Congress.

I blame this sad turn of events on two things:  the brainwashing of the libtard left into voting for anything put in front of them just because they hate Trump, and the apathy of the conservatives who sat at home on their asses and didn't go vote. 

And to be honest, I don't know which is worse.

I just don't understand why anyone with an ounce of common sense and a love for this country would vote for anything that the Demoncrats have proposed.  EVERYTHING that the left supports is detrimental to both the safety and prosperity of this country, yet they've been so brainwashed into hating Trump and have been trained to act on emotions instead of intelligence that they just elected the biggest bunch of America-hating assholes across the entire country.  As much as I loathed Biden and NObama, if they had proposed something that I thought would benefit the country then I would support it.  When NObama signed the law allowing concealed carry in national parks, I was all for it.  If he had done anything else that I thought would be good for the country, I would have supported that as well because I put loyalty to my COUNTRY above loyalty to my PARTY.

And that's a lesson that the libtard left has yet to learn.  They're so busy acting on emotions rather than intelligence that they just elected the biggest bunch of America-hating clowns to political office all over the country, with seven of them being Muslims that were elected to Congress.

The Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves.

To all of you who voted blue, all I can say is don't celebrate just yet.  We still have a Republican President who has already said that he's going to become "Mr. Veto" if the left gained control of the Congress, and if you've learned anything about this man by now it's that he's a man of his word.  

To all of you who should have voted red but sat on your asses and didn't, all I can say is I hope you rot in hell.

If there's one thing that the conservatives can learn from the libtards it's the fine art of mobilizing the vote.  I just hope the conservatives learn it before it's too late - if it isn't too late already.

Time will tell.  We survived eight years of NObama and four years of Biden, so I think we'll survive this as well.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

And Speaking Of Stupid...

 

So if you've been paying at least the tiniest bit of attention to the news in the past few days, I'm sure you've heard about the Lear jet that crashed in Florida, killing all 9 people on board.  I've seen some horrific airplane crashes in my lifetime, but this one gives a new definition to the phrase.  In the radio transmission from the jet right before the crash you can clearly hear the copilot say "We're descending at 20,000 feet per minute!" in a voice that can only be described as panicked.  

For those of you who suck at math (like me), that equates to 227MPH.  And from the video taken by a civilian's rear-facing dash cam, you can see that the jet was in a nearly vertical dive.

I cannot imagine the terror that the 9 people on board were feeling at that moment.

When I saw the first headline on this, I knew exactly what was going to happen.  The first headline I saw was on Fox News, and it said something to the effect of "JET CRASHES IN FLORIDA NEAR MAR-A-LAGO."  And as soon as I saw that, I said to myself "Here we go with the lunatic conspiracy theories!"

Why Fox News decided that it was important to the story to mention that the crash took place near Mar-A-Lago is beyond me as it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the story.  But as soon as the libtard idiots and conspiracy theory nut jobs saw that, they predictably went berserk.  The first thing they said was that Trump had just installed some new 'anti-drone and anti-aircraft' defense system at Mar-A-Lago, and that the jet was shot down by that system.  (Never mind the fact that the crash took place several miles away.  Let's not confuse the issue with facts.)  

Then they started claiming that it wasn't a jet at all, that it was a missile and that the whole crash story was faked to protect a 'false flag' operation that went wrong.  And their proof of this is the hole that was made by the impact and the supposed fact that there was no airplane wreckage found.

And just where were all of these idiotic, lunatic claims being made?  Why, on TikTok, of course! 

So let's look at the facts, shall we?  And I'll save the best for last.

First fact:  There was in fact aircraft wreckage at the crash site.  There are videos on the Internet in general and on TikTok in particular of bystanders at the crash site before it was roped off, picking up pieces of the Lear Jet.  So yeah, there WAS aircraft wreckage there - just not a whole lot of it.  And that's to be expected considering the velocity at which the jet was traveling, the fact that it was traveling almost straight down, and was carrying a full load of fuel which exploded on impact as seen in the video.  (If you want to see just how destructive a high speed impact is, then go on the internet and do a search for slow motion bullet impact videos.  I rest my case.)

Second fact:  The hole left in the ground clearly shows the indentation left by the right wing when they jet hit the ground.  So no, it wasn't a missile.

Third (and most irrefutable) fact:  Still frames taken from the video clearly show that it was in fact a Lear jet and not a missile, as shown in the meme at the top of this blog.  

So NO, it wasn't a missile - it was a LEAR JET, you fuckin' morons!  And NO, it wasn't shot down, either.  Any missile fired in this country will be tracked by NORAD and all different kinds of air traffic control RADAR, and would immediately be reported to DC and the military alerted.  None of that happened.  What DID happen was that the copilot reported some freezing rain and ice, then reported that they were having control issues.  Very shortly after that, the plane went into an uncontrolled and unrecoverable nosedive, hitting the ground in a near-vertical position and at 227MPH.  Considering the amount of destruction, I think that NTSA is going to have a very hard time reconstructing the event and figuring out what went wrong.  I'd be VERY surprised if the black box survived the crash, but I sure hope it did.

So in the mean time, let's all ignore the morons, idiots, and retards who claim that this was anything other than a tragic plane crash which cost 9 people their lives, and start remembering the families of the deceased.  

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

What Horror Movie Scared You The Most?

 I first published this on Sunday, October 30, 2011, but I figured it was time to give it another shot.  That, plus I was going to write about this event in my life today but thought it would be a good idea to see if I'd already done it.  Turns out that I had, so for those of you who've never read it before - which is, I suspect, a lot of you - here it is in its entirety.

 I've been a fan of horror movies my whole life, growing up watching the sci-fi and horror classics from the 1950's (which were only about ten or fifteen years old at the time). My favorite "classic" horror movie without a doubt is "THEM!", which is a movie starring a pre-"Gunsmoke" James Arness as an FBI agent who joins forces with a New Mexico State Trooper played by James Whitmore to fight giant ants in the New Mexico desert. They're joined by the usual duo of scientists, who blame the growth of the ants on the usual culprit of the time: radiation from all of the hydrogen bomb tests that were done in the desert in the late 1940's and early 1950's. It's a great movie - for its time, anyway - and is still my hands-down favorite classic horror movie to this date, but it's not the one that scared me the most.

Not by a long shot.

It was Hallowe'en 1969, and my family was living in Highland Springs, Virginia, a small town (at the time) about ten miles southeast of Richmond. The local theater was called The Henrico Theater (named after the county in which HS was located and pronounced "Hen-RYE-co"), which was built in the Art Deco style of the 1930s in which it was built. This old theater was huge, with a balcony and everything, and it must have sat about 300 people or so. You have to remember that this theater was built when there was no television, so for entertainment people either listened to the radio or went to the movies - for that reason, the theaters built in those times had to be big.

In any event, for Hallowe'en 1969 the theater staff decided to hold a horror movie marathon that was going to be hosted by a character called "The Bowman Body" who was the host of Channel 12's "Shock Theater" which played every Saturday night. I was a HUGE fan of The Bowman Body and Shock Theater, so of course I made plans to go. I tried to get the other kids in the neighborhood to go with me, but they wouldn't do it. So I said the heck with it (hey, I was 12) and went by myself. The festivities were supposed to start at two PM with the first of three movies being shown at three, so about one thirty on Saturday afternoon I put my foot in the path and walked up to the theater which was about a mile or so away. Once I got there I paid my fifty cents to get in, getting to finally meet The Bowman Body in person. And promptly at three PM the movies started, with the theater containing quite a few kids. Not enough to fill the place, but still there were a lot of kids there.

To this day I can still remember the movies that played and the order in which they played.

First up was "The Fearless Vampire Killers," a movie made by Roman Polanski right before his actress wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered by Charlie Manson's 'family.' I was 12 and thought the movie was pretty lame, so that tells you something about it. Not even Sharon Tate, who was absolutely gorgeous, could save it.

Next up was a classic Hammer film called "Island of Terror," which starred Peter Cushing. The special effects were kinda schlocky, but that was part of the allure of the old Hammer films. Still, the movie was pretty good, and it scared me pretty good.

But nothing like what was about to happen, trust me.

The third and last movie, which started at around six thirty PM or so, was the original George Romero classic, "Night of the Living Dead." To this day I am absolutely convinced that the staff of the Henrico played those movies in this order on purpose, the purpose being to give us kids a chance to drool over Sharon Tate, get scared a little bit by the bone-sucking monsters in "Island of Terror," and then get the living shit scared out of us by "Night of the Living Dead."

And let me tell you, if that was their plan, it worked like a charm.

It was full dark when the last movie ended and I came out of the theater, and I was so scared I was literally shaking. Then I realized that I was going to have to walk home, in the dark. Alone.

At that time my family lived on the 200 block of New Avenue, which ran north and south from the main road running through Highland Springs, that being Nine Mile Road. (Three guesses how it got its name.) The 200 block was the third of three blocks which made up New Avenue, and the blocks were pretty long. There were two streets that crossed New Avenue, one at the end of each block, with Washington Street being at the end of New Avenue. Like I said, each block was pretty long, and it was an old town so the trees growing along the sides of the road were, at times, pretty big, the branches just about covering the road which made it cool in the summer - and dark as the inside of a cave at night. Of course there were streetlights at each of the two intersections separating the blocks - that were built in the 1930's and were the kind that had the ruffled tin shades and 150 watt bulbs in them, which threw a circle of light about five feet across before it faded out into nothing.

This was the walk I had ahead of me as I stood shaking in my Keds, standing outside of the Henrico Theater in the chilly late October night, just knowing for sure that somewhere along the way that little girl from the movie was gonna jump out of the shadows and stick that cement trowel in my back.

I was so scared I walked home backwards so nobody could sneak up behind me.

I also slept with the light on for the next three nights, and when the other kids in the neighborhood asked me about the movie I refused to talk about it. That movie scared me so bad that it was the 1985 showing of the movie on MTV before I could bring myself to watch it again, and even then the movie still spooked me.

If you've seen the movie, then you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't seen it, then you should. Just don't watch it alone.

So, what horror movie is it that scared YOU the most?

Happy Hallowe'en, y'all...

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

 

Conversations I Won't Get Involved In

 

There are several conversations that I absolutely refuse to get involved in because there is no correct answer to any of them, which makes all of them pointless.  And I have better things to do with my time than to get involved in pointless conversations.  One of them I've written about before, so I won't go into too much detail about that one.  The others are new, so bear with me.

The one I've written about before is 'Service Bashing.'  I absolutely refuse to participate in that childish crap, but the other conversations which is a kissing cousin to this one is 'Which Service Is Better?'  There is NO correct answer for this in general terms, and even when you get specific there really isn't one correct answer.  Each of the services are intended for a specific mission, and each of the services are trained for and are best at that mission. So in my humble opinion, any discussion on that point is useless.

The second one is politics.  I am VERY selective as to who I discuss politics with; actually, I can count the number of people I'll discuss politics with on one hand and have two fingers left over.  I learned a long time ago that you absolutely will NOT change a liberal's mind on ANYTHING, so I don't even try.  And in some instances, the conservatives are just as bad - although overall, they're more likely to change their minds and opinions when confronted by facts whereas the liberals absolutely refuse to do that.  

And the same goes for religion.  The people I'll discuss religion with are the same ones I'll discuss politics with, and that's it.  The reasons are the same.

The next one is 'Which Motorcycle Brand Is Best?' I can name good things and bad things about every brand of motorcycle made.  I've seen lists compiled by so-called "experts" on this topic before, and I've very seldom agreed with them.  The question of which motorcycle is best has a different answer for each person whom you ask, and when you get right down to it that answer is nothing more than their OPINION.  And as I've said before, opinions are neither right nor wrong, they're just different.

A kissing cousin to that discussion is "Should I Run Regular or Synthetic Oil In My Bike?"  This is another one where there are no definite answers - not one that is accepted by everyone, that is.  I've talked to mechanics who swear by either, and I've seen articles by different motorcycle magazines claiming that both are the best.  Again, the bottom line is that any answer to this question is nothing more than an opinion.  Run whatever the fuck you want to in your bike, I don't care.  As long as YOU are happy with it, that's all that matters.

And I won't get involved in the conversation of "Which Car Brand Is Better?" for all of the same reasons as the two previous topics.  Total waste of time and purely a matter of opinion. 

Next up is "Which Gun Is Better For Concealed Carry?"  Same as with motorcycle oil - whatever makes YOU happy, then that's the gun you should carry.  And the kissing cousin to this one is "Which Caliber Ammo Is Best For Concealed Carry?"  I can kill someone just as dead by shooting them in the eye with a .22 as I can by shooting them in the chest with a .45, so once again, carry whatever you're comfortable with and whatever makes you happy.

One conversation that is very close to this one which I WILL get involved in is "Should I Carry with a Round In The Chamber?"  I'll get involved in that one in a heartbeat because that could be a matter of life or death, namely the life or death of the person carrying the pistol.  I'm happy to say that I've changed a few minds on this topic when I have gotten involved in it, because this is a topic where FACTS bear out only ONE answer as being correct.  And that simple fact is that you absolutely WILL NOT have enough time to draw your weapon, rack the slide, and fire before the bad guy is on you if you're carrying an automatic pistol.  End of story.

So if there's a topic you want to discuss with me, if it's one of the topics I've listed here then don't waste my time because I ain't playin'.  If not, then by all means, let's talk.

And I don't argue, I talk.  If the conversation looks like it's turning into an argument, then I'm out.  I don't have time for that shit.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

The Walls Are Closing In...

 

For Ilham Omar, they most certainly are.  And I must say that this is long overdue.

For those of you who may not have heard about this, Ilhan Omar is under investigation by several FEDERAL agencies for several FEDERAL crimes she has allegedly committed.  And I use the word 'allegedly' because no matter how much I despise someone - and Omar is in the Top Five on my list - or no matter how damning the evidence may look, they're innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

And the way it's looking right about now, Ilhan Omar's goose is thoroughly cooked.  She's suspected of breaking Federal immigration laws, Federal wage disclosure laws, and Federal election laws.  She has allegedly (there's that word again) committed the following crimes:

- She married her brother to get him into the country and get his citizenship, then had the marriage annulled.

- She reported that her overall personal monetary worth was in excess of $30 MILLION (on a Congressman's pay - yeah, right) and then, when the source of her wealth came into question (as it should have) she changed her disclosure to less than $120 THOUSAND.

- She lied about her age in order to get her American citizenship - or rather, her father lied about her age when he applied for HIS citizenship and asked to get hers as well as a result.  (The maximum age for a child in this case is 17, and at the time she was 18 as proven by her original birth certificate.)  And when this came into question, she had her Congressional staff change the official records to reflect the incorrect birth date.

And the thing is, any and all of these alleged (*sigh*) offenses will, if proven in a court of law, result in her citizenship being revoked, being expelled from Congress because she's no longer eligible, and then DEPORTED back to the country she claims to love and miss so much, the third-world shithole known as Somalia.

And as an added bonus, her father's citizenship status is now being questioned as well.  See, it's like this:  once a naturalized American citizens passes away, all paperwork associated with the naturalization process loses its confidential status and becomes public record.  When someone from the press made a Freedom of Information Act request asking for her father's naturalization records, the reply from the Federal government was that there are NO RECORDS of his naturalization.  

Which means two things:  he was never an American citizen, and neither is his daughter.

But regardless, even if there were records, Omar's citizenship would still be in question because good old Dad lied about her age, claiming that she was 17 instead of 18.  This was proven by the original Somali birth certificate that was found during the LEGAL search of her home.

And as we all know, in order to run for Congress you have to be an American citizen by either birth or naturalization.  Ilhan Omar is neither, which means she is NOT ELIGIBLE to serve in the US Congress.  WHEN this is proven to be true and accurate, I don't think it will take Congress more than five minutes to vote to kick her ass out, and not one Demoncrat will stand up in opposition.  Not if they have any sense at all, that is.  (Then again, these are the same people who didn't stand up when Trump asked for all of the members of Congress who were supportive of the United States to stand up during the last State of the Union address, so...)

So about that...the Demoncrats defending her, that is.  Right now the Demoncratic party is standing by her, bitching and complaining about what the DOJ is doing to her while conveniently forgetting that the Biden DOJ did the exact same thing to Donald Trump  ("No one is above the law," remember?).  There are lots of folks out there who think that nothing will come of this, that it will all just go away just like Hillary Clinton's deleting all those e-mails and using an uncertified server did. And up until a few days ago, I thought the same thing.  I would believe it when I actually saw her getting arrested and going to trial.

But that was two days ago.  With the latest disclosures, I'm pretty sure that this one isn't going to go away.  It's gotten WAAAAAY too big and has drawn WAAAAY too much attention for this to just fade away.  I think she's gonna go to trial, get kicked out of Congress (if she doesn't resign first), and ultimately either go to prison or get deported.  I'm hoping for deportment because this country would be better off without her in it.

The litmus test will come when the Demoncrats start backpedaling and start distancing themselves from her.  When THAT happens, that means that even the Demoncrats who are the most badly infected with TDS will have realized that yeah, she did it, yeah, they can prove it, and NO, they don't wanna go down with her sinking ship.  So they'll start making lame comments about 'evidence' and 'best interest of the country' (which they couldn't give a shit about and we all know it) and will begin putting as much distance between them and Omar as they possibly can.  After all, it's an election year, you know.

So right now I'm just gonna sit back and watch what happens, keeping my fingers crossed that THIS time they do it right, that THIS time they actually arrest someone and CHARGE THEM with an offense rather than just let it all fade away.  When the handwriting on the wall is clear even to her, I think Omar will resign from Congress in an effort to persuade the DOJ to call off the dogs, but we all know that the DOJ won't do that - not if Trump has anything to do with it.

And he has EVERYTHING to do with it.

YES, THIS IS WHAT I VOTED FOR.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is Liberal Part 2

 

But what else is new?

In case you haven't been keeping up on current events, the home of Representative Ilhan Omar - without question the most anti-America representative to ever serve in Congress - was recently raided by the FBI in accordance with a federal search warrant issued by a federal judge (who was appointed by Biden, oddly enough) as part of an ongoing investigation into Omar's financial statements and her marriage to a man who has been reported as being her brother.  This was done to get him into the country which, if proven - and it will be - that will result in both she and her brother being deported.

As expected, Omar came out with a statement blasting President Trump and accusing him of "weaponizing" the Department of Justice and using it against her for no good reason other than he doesn't like her.  And also as expected, the Demoncratic party promptly fell on its sword be endorsing her statement and supporting her outrage.

So let's take a trip down Memory Lane, shall we?  Specifically, to August 8, 2022 when the FBI - which had been weaponized by the Biden Administration to use against Biden's opponent, who happened to be Donald Trump - conducted a bullshit raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.  I say it was a bullshit raid because the investigation was bullshit, the warrant was bullshit since it was signed by a liberal judge, and it was later proven that the FBI staged the photographs they released allegedly showing classified documents just laying out in the open.  When asked about this raid, here's what Omar had to say:

"And no one is above the law. Now it is up to all of us, as citizens and elected leaders, to support accountability and to follow the facts where they lead."

But now that the tables have been turned and she's under scrutiny by the DOJ, she's singing a different tune.  Never mind that she's the one who reported her income as $300 MILLION dollars, and when challenged on it suddenly declared that she was only worth a little more than $100,000 instead.  Never mind that it's been proven that she did in fact marry her own brother in order to get him into the United States, a violation of federal immigration laws.  

No, never mind all that.  All of this is happening because, according to her, Trump doesn't like her and has been on a "ten year long campaign" to discredit her.  

Trump doesn't have to lift a finger to do that as she's doing it just fine all by herself.

 As for "following the facts," she doesn't know what that means - not in her case, anyway.   

First and foremost, I fully believe that all of the accusations against this Somali terrorist-supporting bitch are true.  Without a doubt, 100% true.  The physical and documentary evidence is there, and once the investigation is concluded we should see a federal indictment against her come down.

At least I hope we see that.  99% of the time the politicians in DC get away with this kind of crap because no one wants to prosecute them lest their own crimes come to light.  But Trump isn't like that.  He doesn't have the political skeletons rattling around in his closet like politicians on both sides of the political spectrum do.  He has nothing to lose by proving what a lying, cheating conniving cunt this woman really is, and I truly hope that the prosecution takes place.

And if it does, here's what's gonna happen to this bitch.

First, once she's indicted the Republicans in Congress will demand her resignation.  If the Demoncrats are smart - and history has proven otherwise - they'll support the demand.  But they won't, and that will spell political disaster for most of them.  And since the Republicans control the Congress, the Demoncrats won't be able to stop the inevitable motion to dismiss her from Congress.

Once she goes to trial and is convicted, she stands the very real likelihood of having her citizenship revoked, after which she'll be deported - she and her brother both.  And they don't need to put HIM on trial to do this - all they have to do is prove that SHE did it, and he's guilty as an accomplice.  

And if she's not deported she'll go to prison.  But as for me, I want the bitch deported.  I want her GONE, out of my country for good.

Then again, seeing a picture of her in an orange prison jumpsuit does have a very nice appeal to it.

Time will tell.

Deo Vindice

IHC  

 

 

Things That Amaze Me: Constitutional Ignorance, Part 3

 

I thought I was done with talking about how much people in general - and the libtards on the far left in particular - don't understand the US Constitution.  Then I read the latest posts on my Facebook feed this morning and was immediately proven wrong.

The last time I wrote about this was about how people thought that the First Amendment gives the press the Constitutional right to attend press briefings at the White House, and how Trump couldn't bar them from entering.  Today's topic of utter ignorance is gonna blow your mind.  

I was reading a thread about how somebody suggested we demolish all of the Islamic mosques in the country and ban Islam (which I'm all in favor of, by the way) when out of the blue some misinformed poster stated that "the Constitution gives us the right to safety in numbers."

Now that's a new one, I must admit.  

I wish I could say this poster was a libtard, but I don't think he is.  If he was, he'd be talking about how the Constitution prohibits us from banning any religion.  But this statement was made in support of the original post about demolishing the mosques and banning Islam, so that leads me to believe that the poster was a conservative.  Of course I asked the poster to show me exactly where in the Constitution the "right to safety in numbers" is mentioned, but of course I won't get a reply - not one that makes any sense, anyway.

For the record, I'll call out ignorance and political misinformation coming from both sides without hesitation.  Also for the record, the Constitution does mention "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," but NOWHERE does it mention "safety in numbers."  A simple Google search will prove this.  The Constitution DOES use the word "safety," but it's only used ONCE in Article I, Section 9, Clause 2 (the Suspension Clause) which allows the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus "when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." And that's it.  Nowhere else is the word "safety" used in the Constitution.

(So how many of you just did a Google search to learn what "suspension of habeas corpus" means, or what habeas corpus actually is?) 

I guess the lesson learned here is that Constitutional ignorance is present on both sides of the political aisle, but I have to admit that I was hoping that the conservatives would have at least a little bit more knowledge of the Constitution than what this clown demonstrated, or at least not be as vocal about showing their ignorance.

In a perfect world, maybe, but surely not in this one.

Such is life, I guess.

Deo Vindice
IHC 

 

 

 

Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is Liberal

So now that the US Army has announced that the execution of the Islamic terrorist Nidal Hasan will be carried out by firing squad (which is one of the two ways that the US military carries out death penalty executions, the other being by hanging) and that the execution will be livestreamed, the loonies on the liberal left are losing their minds.  But then again, we should have expected that, huh?  At least I did.

First, let's address the elephant in the room.  Do I agree with livestreaming the execution?  Yes.  I mean, why not?  It's just like when public hangings were conducted in the early days of this country - if you wanted to see it, you showed up and watched.  If you didn't want to see it, then you stayed away.  Same thing here - if you want to see the execution, then watch it.  If you don't, then don't watch it.  Simple as that.

But then again, 'simple' isn't a word that's in the libtard dictionary (along with 'common sense').  Not when it comes to something that they disagree with, that is, and that's ANYTHING that the other side does.

To me, the outcry from the liberal left is the absolute height of hypocrisy.  The outcry is coming from the same people who:

- Celebrated the shooting of Donald Trump on live TV and then re-broadcast the footage for weeks to continue the celebration

- Celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk and then re-broadcast the footage for weeks to continue the celebration

- Cheered the mistrial of Lindsay Clancy even though she admitted to brutally murdering her three children 

- Protest in favor of murdering unborn children while still in the womb (and right up until birth, actually)

So where were all of these life-loving protesters when Hasan murdered 13 innocent people and wounded 32 others, all while shouting "Allahu Akbar"?  Why weren't they protesting then?  Why weren't they protesting for the three children murdered by their own mother?

One of the things I will never understand is why the liberal left always chooses to support the evil things in this world, up to and including murder and the murder of the unborn.  (And don't throw that bullshit 'healthcare' argument at me 'cuz that don't won't hunt.)  They'll protest against ICE deporting violent illegal immigrant criminals, yet they won't protest in favor of the American citizens that these illegals kill.  

Someone make it make sense, if that's possible.

I firmly believe that the two greatest threats to our nation in this day and age are the ongoing Islamic invasion of our country (and yes, it's an invasion) and the Demoncratic party.  And the really sad thing is that the Demoncratic party is now supporting Islam, welcoming these murderers into our country.  Then again, they also support socialism, so I shouldn't be surprised.

And if the conservatives don't get off their asses and start voting, the bad guys are gonna win.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

Games I Won't Play: Service Bashing

 

There are a couple of games people love to play that I refuse to take part in, and service bashing is one of them.  For those of you who don't get what I'm talking about, 'service bashing' is when members of the different branches of the Armed Forces stand around and make fun of the other services, always proclaiming that their service is 'the best.'

Yes, I know it's all done in the name of 'fun' and is supposed to be humorous, but it doesn't sit that way with me.  So whenever the service bashing starts, I either keep my mouth shut until it's over or I just turn and walk away.  On very rare occasions I'll stop the service bashing session with one reply that no one can respond to, but those occasions are VERY rare.

I guess the reason I hate this whole 'good-natured' service bashing as much as I do is that it always seems like the one service everyone wants to bash the worst is the Air Force, and after devoting 23 years of my life to that particular service, no, I don't respond to that shit well at all.

While there are those who will say that my reaction is childish, my retort is that service bashing in itself is childish, and by not participating in it I'm proving that I'm the only adult in the room. 

I'm like this is for two reasons, the first of which is I understand the different missions of each of the services, and realize that their training is tailored around completing that mission.  For example, the main mission of the Army and the Marines is ground combat, so their training is tailored for that mission.  That means their training is more physically demanding that those of the other services, and for good reason - someone who is not in top physical condition won't last long on the battlefield.   If you were a member of one of those two services, then my hat's off to you because you have a very hard job indeed, and I understand what you had to go through.  The Navy and the Air Force have completely different missions which don't require as high a degree of physical fitness as the Army and Marines, so of course their training isn't going to be as physically demanding.  

The second reason is that I have the utmost respect for EVERYONE who served in the active forces regardless of the branch.  (Don't get me started on the Reserves or especially the National Guard.)  To me, standing around talking shit about another person's branch of service is disrespectful, and I refuse to participate in that kind of crap.  If it bothers me when people talk shit about the other services then there's a chance it bothers someone else as well, only they won't speak up because they don't want to make waves or be ostracized for it.  So I refuse to participate.

Yeah, I take my military service very seriously, and if anyone can't handle that then that's a 'you' problem and not a 'me' problem.   To quote my childhood cartoon hero Popeye, "I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam."  Take it or leave it.

Oh, and that retort I sometimes use to stop the service bashing?  I simply ask the group if they know why people join the Air Force, and when they say no, my reply is "Because we scored high enough on the ASVAB to have a choice."

Conversation over. 

 

Deo Vindice
IHC 

 

 

Looks Aren't Everything

 

Especially when it comes to motorcycles.  A motorcycle can visually be absolutely stunning and at the same time ride like a brick.  And the "Captain America" motorcycle from "Easy Rider" is a good example of this.

If any of you have been following either my blog or my Facebook posts for any length of time, you'll know that in my personal opinion "Easy Rider" is the second worst motorcycle movie ever made.  It's second to a movie called "The Born Losers" which was so stupid as to nearly defy description.  The only good thing about it was that it introduced the character of Billy Jack to the world, but other than that, the movie was a total waste.

But I digress.

As for "Easy Rider," the best things about the movie were the soundtrack and the motorcycles.  The rest of the movie was pure crap.  (Again, my opinion.)  The movie came out in 1969 so the rock and roll of that era plays a prominent and important role in the movie.

But the best thing about the move were the  bikes, specifically Peter Fonda's bike which is called the "Captain America" bike because of the star spangled paint job on the tank.  It's an absolutely beautiful bike, a classic 1960's chopper with the raked front end, no front fender, great big tall sissy bar, and lots of chrome.  A classic and simply beautiful bike in every way.

And according to Peter Fonda, it was a beast to ride.  In an interview he gave right after the movie came out, he said that the next day after the first full day of filming where they did nothing but film scenes with him and Dennis Hopper riding their bikes,  he was so sore he could hardly move.  He said it was "the worst riding bike I've ever been on," and that says something.

If you know anything at all about motorcycles, one look at the bike and you'll see why Fonda said what he did.  But I'm guessing most of you don't know what I'm talking about, so let's go over the reasons why the "Captain America" bike rode so bad.

First, there's the rake and length of the front forks.  For those of you that don't know, the 'rake' is the angle of the front forks measured from the upright of the frame, and it's determined by the length of the front forks.  The longer the forks the more drastic the rake.  And one of the bad things about choppers with long front forks is that they are very difficult to control at low speeds, and they have the turning radius of a cruise ship.  Any time you increase the overall length of anything with wheels, you're going to increase the turning radius.

Next, there's the lack of both a front fender and front brakes.  The lack of a front fender means that if you have to drive on a wet road or ride in the rain, all of that dirty water from the road is gonna get thrown straight back at you, and trust me when I tell you that really sucks.   And the lack of a front brake is, in my humble opinion, nothing short of stupid.  70% of a motorcycle's stopping power is in the front brake, so why would you NOT have brakes on the front wheel?  

Then there's the ape hanger handlebars.  The higher the bars the harder it is to control the bike, and the faster your arms will go numb from lack of circulation.  And one of the factors in this bike that makes it worse is the distance from the seat to the bars - it's a long way, and in the picture you can see how Peter Fonda's arms are stretched almost all the way out due to this factor.  

Last but not least, this bike is a rigid frame bike, which means there are NO shock absorbers on the bike anywhere.  What that means is that you will feel every little crack, bump, and hole in the road that you encounter, and you'll feel them up your spine all the way up to the base of your neck.  Ride a rigid frame bike for a few hours and I guarantee you that the next morning your back is going to be so sore you won't be able to move.  This is why most bikers from the '60s who rode rigid frame bikes now have back problems so bad they can hardly walk, much less ride a bike.   

But all of that aside, you have to admit that the "Captain America" bike is one gorgeous piece of machinery and is easily the most recognizable and iconic motorcycle ever made.  Would I ride it if given the chance?  Sure, just to be able to say I did.  But it would be a short ride, I can guarantee you that!

Unfortunately that will never happen, because both bikes in the movie disappeared after filming was complete, and to this day no one knows what happened to them.  

But at least we have pictures!

Deo Vindice 

IHC 

 

 

Things That Amaze Me: The Demand for Reparations

 

Of all the stupid ideas that anyone on either side of the political spectrum has ever come up with, the idea of reparations to black people for slavery has got to be #1 on the list.  (If not #1, then #2.)  

At this point let me give anyone who's reading this a warning:  you may not like some of the things I'm going to say.  I'm going to say some very disparaging things about the people who support the lunatic idea of reparations, and that covers both black AND white people.  So if you're gonna throw the "racist" accusation at me, you can just shove that up your backside right now.  Besides, the truth ain't racist.

So, having said that, let's get at it. 

To me, reparations is nothing more than a "get rich quick" scheme devised by a certain segment of the black community and supported by a certain segment of the white community (spelled L-I-B-E-R-A-L-S), a way to get money without having to actually work for it.  It's just another manifestation of the victim mentality that some in the black community have been practicing for literally decades, and it's only getting worse.  To me, there is nothing more insane for anyone regardless of color to have to pay anyone else regardless of color a monetary fee in any amount for an act that may or may not have been committed by someone's ancestor to another person's ancestor more than 160 years ago.  Comedian Rob Schneider summed it up best when he said (and this is a direct quote), "It's like paying child support for a child you never had with a woman you never fucked."

And he's 100% correct.  

But let's say that this stupid idea comes to fruition as it has in Kalifornia.  Let's look at some of the stumbling blocks that are invariably going to be in the way of implementation of this moronic idea.

Who would actually pay?  All white people?  Or just the descendents of those whose ancestors did actually own slaves?  And how do you prove who owned slaves and who didn't?  And who pays for this research?

Who would actually get the money?  All black people?  Or just the descendents of those whose ancestors were actually slaves?  And how do you prove whose ancestor was a slave and whose wasn't?  And again, who pays for this research? 

How about black people whose ancestors were slave owners?  Would they have to pay reparations as well?  They did exist, you know.  And Sunni Hostin, she of the diarrhea mouth on "The Veiw" can verify that as someone traced her family tree and found that she's descended from a black slave holder.  Additionally, the wealthiest slave holder in South Carolina as of 1861 was a freed black man who himself owned more than 100 slaves, more than anyone else in the entire state.  And yet again, who's going to pay for the research?

How much would the payment be per person?  Certainly not the FIVE MILION DOLLARS EACH that the state of Kalifornia just approved.  So how do you determine how much is paid?

How would the money be paid out?  Would the payments be made to one central agency and then the payouts be handled from there?  If so, who's gonna pay for that to happen?  Because nothing is free, you know, despite what the libtards want you to think.  And how can you guarantee that 100% of the money is paid out and not absconded with via fraudulent means?  (This would especially be true in Kalifornia and Minnesota.)

But let's get back to the basic fact that reparations is a stupid idea.  Nobody in this century owes anyone else in this century anything for something that was done two centuries ago by their ancestors.  And don't even start with the "systemic racism" shit because that dog won't hunt.  Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that's bullshit (which leaves out most liberals and anyone supporting the idea of reparations).  

And if that's not enough for you, there's this:  Approximately 330,000 Union soldiers died freeing the slaves.  And that number includes black soldiers as well as white soldiers.  As far as I'm concerned, that debt - if there ever was one - has been paid in full with the blood of those dead soldiers, both black and white.

The fact is this:  the demand for reparations is nothing but greed, pure and simple.  It's a way for those in the black community that are too fuckin' lazy to work for a living to have someone hand them money for doing absolutely nothing.   

And that's something I will NEVER support, regardless of who's trying to pull it off.

So here's the bottom line that a lot of people aren't going to like, but it's the truth:  reparations will never happen.  Never.  And those in support of this stupid idea better get used to it, because no amount of pontification, yelling, screaming, and protesting is going to change it.

And that's the truth.

Deo Vindice
IHC

 

  

My Arlington Adventure

One of the activities that my American Legion post is involved in is called "Washing the Wall," and it's an annual event where Legionnaires from all over SC get together, ride up to DC and help the US Park Service wash one of the many monuments they're in charge of. It started out as helping wash the Vietnam monument which is called "The Wall," but over time the mission has broadend out somewhat. This year we were scheduled to wash the Korean War Monument. 

The plan was to meet at the Bojangles in Lugoff, SC on Thursday, Sept 24th, and leave from there at 8AM sharp. The weather apps were all predicting rain for that morning, so when I went to bed Wednesday night I said a prayer asking for no rain. I was very pleased to see that when I got up the chance of rain had dropped from 65% down to 10%, and I made the 40 minute ride out to the meeting place with no problem.

Ten minutes after I got there it started to rain, so me and the other riders and their passengers started putting on rain suits. It had been at least 10 years since I had worn mine, and I was a little disturbed to discover that I had almost outgrown it. It was a snug fit, but I managed to get into it. (I bought a new one today, by the way, in a bigger size!) After we suited up we hit the road, riding down Route 20E towards Interstate 95N that we'd take all the way to Dumfries, Va. 

It rained on us for the next 2 1/2 hours, from Lugoff all the way to Benson, NC. At times the rain was coming down so hard I couldn't see further than 2 bikes ahead of me. During those intense downpours the leader (who was riding a trike and didn't have to worry about traction like I did on 2 wheels) slowed down to 60MPH, but the rest of the time we were zipping along in staggered formation at 70MPH.

To say it was an intense ride would be the understatement of the year.

We stopped at Kenly 95 Truck Stop in Kenly, NC for lunch, and then continued on to Dumfries. That was our initial destination because that's where we were staying. MUCH cheaper than DC! We finally made it to the hotel at around 5:30PM, having been on the road for nine and a half hours.  

The plans for Friday was for the group to head out to Arlington National Cemetery because my post was going to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. It was a 30 mile ride from Dumfries to Arlington, and traffic was a friggin' nightmare! The ceremony was supposed to take place at 11:15AM, but we were late getting there so it was pushed back to 1:15PM. I spent the time at the Tomb, watching the changing of the guard and the other wreath ceremonies, getting some good pictures and even better video along the way. The USS MAINE memorial was right across the street, so I went over there as well. As soon as the wreath ceremony was over we saddled up and rode to Mount Vernon for a very late lunch - or an early dinner, whichever. Then it was back to the hotel for the rest of the night.

The next day, Saturday, was the day we were going to the Korean War Monument to help wash it, but I'd had all I could stand of DC traffic. That, plus the fact that the weather was predicted to turn bad around mid-day Saturday due to the Nor'easter coming down the coast and was going to stay bad - meaning rain - all day Sunday, so I told the leader of the group that I wasn't going to deal with either the traffic or the rain again and would be leaving Saturday morning to go home instead of going out to the Korean War Memorial. I also wasn't too fond of the idea of zipping up the highway at 70MPH in the full dark, since we were supposed to leave the hotel at 5AM. I hated to leave the group and not carry through with the main reason for the trip, but my safety and well-being has priority in my mind, so that was that.

So I left Dumfries at 8:30AM on Saturday, riding to my sister's house in Angier, NC where I spent the night. The weather Saturday morning had already started to close in, and I didn't see the sun until I got to Emporia, Virginia - and I got sprinkled on coming out of Richmond, but nothing bad. This morning I got up to a clear sky and cool temperatures, with no rain predicted for the next 6 days either in Angier or in Lexington where I live. We had breakfast, and then around 9:30AM I cranked up the bike and headed for home, arriving a little before 1PM after traveling for a total of 4 days and 1,090 miles. 

It wasn't the best bike trip I've ever been on, but it wasn't the worst, either. I just don't think I'll be doing it again next year. If I never ride in DC traffic again for the rest of my life it'll be too soon.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

   Lunch break in Kenly, NC

 

 

Things That Amaze Me: Constitutional Ignorance, Part 2

 

If you've been keeping up with current events, then you probably could have predicted what today's blog topic was going to be.  Considering how much the ignoramuses on the libtard left have been screaming after President Trump revoked access to the White House for CNN, Politico, and MS Now, it kinda figures that would be my next topic in the "Things That Amaze Me" series.

Once again, the people on the libtard left are making claims about Constitutional rights, and are doing nothing but proving two things:  how much they hate ANYTHING that Trump does, and just how much they DON'T know about the United States Constitution.  The left is now screaming that Trump violated the Constitutional rights of those three news agencies, and that they have a Constitutional right to have access to the White House.  

Of course those of us with common sense and a minimum understanding of how the Constitution works knows that they're 100% wrong, as usual.

So let's take a look at exactly what the First Amendment says, shall we?

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Somebody please show me where access to the White House is mentioned in those words.  

Those on the left will tell you that Trump violated the Constitution  because he's 'abridging the freedom of the press,' and they are 100% wrong.  If Trump had come out and told them that they couldn't print something or couldn't report on something at all, THEN he would be in violation of the First Amendment.  But he hasn't done that.  He simply denied them access to the White House, which means they can't attend press briefings.

So if they can't attend the press briefings, then how are they supposed to report on what was said?  Simple - they use the White House Press Release that every news agency in the United States and several overseas agencies are sent after every single press conference.  After all, where do you think the smaller news agencies who don't have a representative at the White House get their information from?  Why, from the press release, of course.

No, the left is bitching because Trump did to those agencies what the Biden administration did when they barred a particular reporter from attending the briefings because he was asking questions that made Biden look bad (which wasn't hard to do).  After all, it's OK when a libtard does it, but when a conservative does it the world is coming to an end.  They're bitching because now those fake news agencies don't have a platform from which to spout their nonsensical questions which are intended not to get an answer or learn the truth but to make a veiled accusation against Trump.   

I learned a very long time ago that NO liberal news agency is the least bit concerned with getting at the truth.  All they want is something that they can twist and shape into something that fits their agenda, and if they can't make it fit then they'll just lie about it.  They do this safe in the knowledge that no one will do anything about it because, well, the First Amendment, you know.

Until Trump came along and said, "Nope, that bullshit ain't gonna fly!"  He has never been shy about calling out the fake news agencies, and now that he's in his second term and isn't eligible to run for a third, he can say or do almost anything he wants because he doesn't have to worry about alienating voters.  He knows this and man, is he taking advantage of it!

Do I support Trump's actions in this?  Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, but yeah, I do - 100%.  If I were President I'd kick all of the libtard news agencies out on their asses and let them get their news from the press releases just like everyone else.

Guess it's a good thing I'm not President, huh?

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

Things That Amaze Me: Constitutional Ignorance, Part 1

 

Thought I'd start a new feature on my blog, "Things That Amaze Me," and I can't think of a better topic to start off with than just how ignorant the average American citizen is of the United States Constitution.

This got started with a post I saw on Facebook which asked the question, "Which of these men is ineligible to become President?" and listed NObama, Trump, Clinton, and GW Bush as the choices.  Seems like a simple question, right?  

Uh-uh, it's not, and the people who responded to the question immediately showed just how ignorant of the US Constitution they truly are.  Some people said all of the, some said none of them, some said that they could serve 10 years as President, and other ignorant shit like that.  (I almost said 'stupid,' but that word doesn't fit.  Ignorance is not having the knowledge or experience, while stupid is just not having the brains.  Well, maybe it fits, you tell me.)

And the correct answer?  None of them, and here's why.

A direct quote from Article 22, Section 1of the US Constitution:  

"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term."

The key word here is "ELECTED."  A man cannot be ELECTED to the office of President more than twice, and if he's served two years of a term as President upon the departure of the previous President, then he can only be elected ONCE.   

What it does not address is a former President who has served two terms getting elected as Vice President and then succeeding to the office of President when the elected President leaves office before his term is over.  

Interesting, huh?  So what that means - and this is every liberal's nightmare - that Trump could run with Vance in 2028 as the Vice Presidential candidate, and after they win (which they would) Vance could resign and let Trump take over as President.

Sounds kinda far out there, doesn't it?  Well, it is in a way, but the truth is that there's absolutely nothing in the Constitution that prohibits this.  But to be reasonable (a word unknown to the liberal left) and realistic (another word unknown to the liberal left) something like this would never happen.  I don't think Trump would ever run for VP, and when Vance runs - and he most assuredly will - after he wins (which he will) he won't leave office until his term is over or unless he dies before then, God forbid.

But the point here is that a vast majority of the people had no idea what the Constitution says about this, and they showed their ignorance on Facebook.

So be honest - did YOU know this?  If you did, good on ya!  If you didn't, now you do.

And if you didn't, then maybe it's time you read the Constitution, huh?  And when it gets to the part about line of succession for the office of President, pay attention.

Deo Vindice

IHC

 

  

My Life's Defining Moment

 

Regardless of who you are, where you live, or what you do for a living, everyone has defining moments in their lives.  Moments in which a decision is made that will have a significant (if not downright life-changing) effect on them from that point forward.  We've all had them, some of us more than others, but the fact remains that we've all had them.

We've also had that one defining moment in our lives that changed the entire course of our lives from that moment forward, one that affected every single thing we would do from that moment forward.  Mine came in January of 1975.

I spent my entire life from birth up until March 2021 listening to my father tell sea stories about the 5 years he was in the US Navy.  He enlisted in the Reserves in 1947 and went on active duty the next year, serving until 1952.  He was stationed on the USS MISSISSIPPI, an old battleship that served in both World Wars and had been designated as an Experimental Auxiliary Gunship after WWII ended.  That changed her hull number from BB-41 to EAG-128, and her mission from being a ship of the line to a ship that tested all manners of new weapons that were in development.  The "Missy," as she was called, was the ship from which the first Terrier missile was fired in 1952, an event that took place after my father had left the Navy.

                       USS MISSISSIPPI BB-41shortly after the conclusion of WWII

 

                                      USS MISSISSIPPI EAG-128 in 1946

In any event, to say that my father loved the Navy would be the understatement of the millenium.  The only reason he left the Navy was that by 1952 he was married and had a new baby, and he knew the life of a sailor was no way to raise a family.  So he left the Navy but talked about it for literally the rest of his life.

So it was only natural that, given the circumstances under which I grew up, I should want to join the Navy when I graduated from high school.  I was actually looking forward to it, carrying on in my father's footsteps and wearing the uniform of the Navy as he had so many years before.  I had been to the recruiter's office and done all of the paperwork; the only thing left for me to do was raise my hand and say "I will," and I would be a sailor.

Then in January of 1975 I made a very significant discovery, one that would be the driving force that would cause me to make a decision that would be THE defining moment of my life.  My father and a friend of his went deep sea fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, and I went along.  I had never been deep sea fishing before, and besides, my father told me that it would be "a good way to see what I was in for when I joined the Navy."

More prophetic words were never spoken.

The day we went was cloudy, cold, and windy as hell, and there were 6-8 foot waves on the bay.  Once we got out of the harbor and out into the bay, it took about ten minutes for me to make my life-changing discovery.

I get seasick.  REALLY, REALLY seasick.  As in 'hang-your-head-over-the-rail-and-puke-your-guts-out' seasick.  When I finally finished heaving my father suggested I go below into the bow and lay down, but that only made it worse.  I spent the entire trip in the bathroom in the bow of the boat, puking into the toilet.

Somewhere along the way I decided that maybe the Navy wasn't for me.  I was already in the Civil Air Patrol and had been for almost 4 years, and if I decided to enlist in the Air Force instead that would give me a leg up because I would enlist as an E-2 instead of an E-1.  Besides, I had planned on going into the Navy as an Interior Communications Electrician so I could get a job with the phone company once I got out, but what I really wanted to do was Law Enforcement.  The Navy didn't have a specific LE program but the Air Force did.  So that's what I did - I joined the Air Force instead of the Navy.

And that one decision turned out to be THE defining moment of my life.

If I had enlisted in the Navy as I planned, EVERYTHING about my life would have changed.  That would have meant I never would have met and married my first wife Mary, that we never would have had any kids, that I never would have gone to the places I did and met the people that I did (including my current wife Gina) - none of that would have happened.   

Now I've always believed that everything that happens to us in our lives happens for a reason, and this is no different.  Things happened the way they did so I could end up right where I am at this moment in time, which I believe is right where The Big Biker wanted me to be.  So who am I to argue with Him?

But I have to admit that I sit back sometimes and think about how drastically different my life would have been if I had joined the Navy, what I would have experienced, who I would have met, and whether or not I would have gotten married (which I seriously doubt I would have).  And I always thought I looked absolutely fantastic in Navy blues.  When I was 18 I was the same size as my father was at that age, and his old blue "cracker jack" uniform fit me, so I put it on one day just to see how I'd look.  And man, I looked GOOD!

So do I regret my decision to join the Air Force instead of the Navy?  Hell, no, not for a minute.  I wouldn't change a thing, because that would mean I wouldn't be where I am now, and right now I'm as happy as I've ever been in my entire life.

Besides - seasick, you know.  REALLY, REALLY seasick!

Deo Vindice

IHC