SCANDALGATE

Do not be fooled by the elaborate ruse of smoke & mirrors being deployed against us - this is a sophisticated deception plan, an attempt to distract from the real scandal that Obama & the HildeBeest fear most of all -S.L.





IRS Intimidation: The Non-News Scandal

When is a scandal not a scandal? When it's a smokescreen:

Democrat press organs grabbed the story of IRS-gate and ran with it like it just broke, but the story has been out there for two years.

Unless you just emerged from a coma, or you live under a rock, everybody knows by now the story: the IRS stalled approval of tax-free status for conservative political groups, but gave speedy approval to left-leaning causes.

It's out of character for the Left-Leaning Lamestream Media to be running so many stories about TEA Party groups being intimidated by the IRS. It doesn't fit the narrative - they practically ignored the Philadelphia "House of Horrors"

We know Team Obama is behind the IRS scandal, on the grounds that when the story broke last week, the first thing they did was insist that this was the actions of a couple of over-zealous, low-level bureaucrats in Cleveland. That story quickly fell apart - it was, in fact, a lie; Team Obama spin doctors lie instinctively. We now know this campaign to suppress Tea Party activists was a high level operation.

Just a thought, however; Lets say I run for, say, sheriff, and I win. Then afterwards it comes out that I used my resources to intimidate my opponents into silence and inactivity. Would I be answerable to charges related to some kind of impropriety? Would this not invalidate the election results?

Don't expect anyone to get burned much less impeached over this mess - least of all the first black President of the United States or the first black Attorney General. While this stinks to high heaven, they did this so carefully that this is probably not illegal.


AP Wiretaps: The Non-Scandal Scandal

Clumsy and heavy handed, but again, probably within the bounds of the law, specifically the Patriot Act. Interesting that the group that howled Holy Hell over the Patriot Act continually throughout the Bush years now finds this security measure useful for their nefarious purposes.

This smarmy little buttplug is a lying sack of sh*t. I'd let it out and tell you how I really feel but this is a family blog - S.L.

The AP wiretaps is a non-story - part of a legitimate investigation into a leak of classified information that exposed a double agent who'd managed to infiltrate Al Qaeda. Observe the faux outrage on the part of the press - I've never seen so much play acting since high school.

Nothing to see here with the AP Wiretap thing. In fact, the irony of it all is that if the Regime had gone directly to them and requested this information, the Quislings at the AP would have willingly handed it over like the good little Statists that they are.

This is Benghazi cover-up Act 2 . . . or are we in Act 3 now?


BenghaziGate:

This is the real scandal; this is absolutely RADIOACTIVE to Obama and Hillary. A lot has been said, and we all know what happened - EXCEPT who exactly came up with the YouTube video story.


Let's do a quick review in the "5-Ws-and-How-Many" format:

Who: Al Qaeda

What: Attacks US Consulate



Where: Benghazi

When: September 11th, 2012



Why: General Purpose Terrorism - Anniversary of 9/11 - Revenge for killing of Osama bin Laden - take your pick.

How Many: Hundreds of terrorists armed with rifles, RPGs and mortars. Four dead Americans.




Immediately, Team Obama began transmitting their Party Line; the assault on the Consulate in Benghazi was a mob of enraged Muslims, fired up over an obscure anti-Mohammed video that had less than 300 hits on it in the entire two years it had been up on YouTube.

It was a lie then and its a lie now. The President of the United States lied to the American people and he lied to the United Nations, repeating the YouTube video story.



Hillary lied to the families of the slain; OVER THEIR DEAD BODIES - literally - at the planeside memorial at Dover Air Base; "We're going after that film maker, we're going to make him pay for this."




Then they trotted out Susan Rice to go on the Sunday talk show circuit; she repeated the YouTube video lie six times in the course of a day. This was actually her audition for Secretary of State; unfortunately for her she got the Gong Show treatment when the lie blew up in her face.



Hillary got the kid glove treatment during her hearing in front of Congress; allowed to step down from Secretary of State in order to prep for her 2016 Presidential run.

So let's go through this thing by the numbers: 1) The enemy we are in a state of war against attacked a US diplomatic outpost, killing an ambassador and three others, and laid siege to another US facility, the Annex. 2) The Obama Administration concocted and propagated a cover story and deliberately refused to identify the culprits as Al Qaeda despite the fact that they knew. 3) The Al Qaeda terrorists who attacked out facilities and killed our people in Benghazi ARE STILL AT LARGE - enjoying the good life in Benghazi or wherever they are now, and 4) THE UNITED STATES IS DOING NOTHING ABOUT IT.

How is this not "aiding and abetting the enemy in time of war"? How is this not treason - the only crime worse than murder?

Hence, the sudden spate of scandals blasting out in all directions;

ObamaCare Nightmare

Ammunition Grab

Fast & Furious still out there

Gitmo Hunger Strike

It's-The-Economy-Stupid

DroneGate

BostonGate

and now the latest:

Two Missing Terrorists


Smoke and mirrors, people; all to obscure the 20,000 lb gorilla in the room, called 'Benghazi'. The Clintonistas will do anything to get Hillary elected . . . up to and including putting Obama on the sacrificial altar.

Nobody died during Watergate, Mrs. Clinton.


- STORMBRINGER SENDS

17 MAY 1943: LAST COMBAT MISSION FOR THE MEMPHIS BELLE

On May 17, 1943, Capt. Robert K. Morgan flew the Memphis Belle against a target in Lorient, France, on his 25th officially credited mission (it was the Belle's 24th combat mission). Two days later, on May 19, 1943, Lt. C. Anderson and his crew flew the Memphis Belle on its 25th officially credited mission to Keil, Germany.



WarBirds Resource Group Crew & Missions Summary

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

A SET OF PIPES

Back when I posted This Girl Can Wail somebody reminded me of one of my favorite sirens; here's Christina X3 doing her 40's-themed Candyman. Enjoy - S.L.

THE WAR REPORTER

Alex Quade is a remarkable person, whom I had the honor to meet this time last year. Her mission is to tell the story of our men and women in uniform - their hardships, success and failures - as they put their lives on the line everyday for America. In her latest film release, Alex tells her story in her own words. God Bless you Alex, and "Charlie Mike." - S.L.




This week I posted on another intrepid war correspondent, Peter Worthington. His story is even more incredible in his own words:

"If you are reading this, I am dead."

I encourage you to read what Peter wrote - his own epitaph - in the newspaper he helped found. Few people live lives of such unparalleled adventure.

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

A BRIT NAMED NIGEL

This is an absolute must see - Nigel Farage, United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) rips the EU Parliament a new one - its good to see there are still right-minded folks over there across the puddle; we need a few like this over here - S.L.



This is a compilation of the UKIP's Nigel Farage's best speeches at the European Union, some of these are 3 years old. UKIP just cleaned up in local elections in the UK and got a seat in Parliament - which is the equivalent of the TEA Party running as a stand-alone organization and getting a Representative into Congress. Of course the way things are going around here that day is not far off. -S.L.

THE LAST TOAST FOR THE DOOLITTLE RAIDERS

Lt. Col. James Doolittle leans over a bomb on the USS Hornet deck just before his "Raiders" began the bombing raid on Tokyo.

On April 18, 1942 80 men in 16 B-25 medium bombers launched from the USS Hornet and bombed Tokyo in death-defying mission, in retaliation for Pearl Harbor.

This past April, the last few remaining Doolittle Raiders met at Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Their custom is to bring a case of 80 goblets to their annual reunions. When a Raider dies a cup is upended.

This year, there are four left. They toasted the Raiders with aged cognac. It's the cup of brandy that no one wants to drink. For this years reunion, the surviving Doolittle Raiders gathered publicly for the last time. They once were among the most universally admired and revered men in the United States. In April 1942, they carried out one of the most courageous and heart-stirring military operations in this nation's history. The mere mention of their unit's name, in those years, would bring tears to the eyes of grateful Americans.

Now only four survive.

After Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, with the United States reeling and wounded, something dramatic was needed to turn the war effort around. Even though there were no friendly airfields close enough to Japan for the United States to launch a retaliation, a daring plan was devised. Sixteen B-25s were modified so that they could take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier. This had never before been tried - sending such big, heavy bombers from a carrier. The 16 five-man crews, under the command of Lt. Col. James Doolittle, who himself flew the lead plane off the USS Hornet, knew that they would not be able to return to the carrier. They would have to hit Japan and then hope to make it to China for a safe landing.



On the day of the raid, the USS Hornet encountered a Japanese fishing craft. Assuming that the Japanese military would be informed of their presence, the Raiders were told that they would have to take off from much farther out in the Pacific Ocean than planned. They were told that because of this they would not have enough fuel to make it to safety.




Those men went anyway.




They bombed Tokyo, then flew as far as they could. Four planes crash-landed; 11 more crews bailed out, and three of the Raiders died. Eight more were captured; three were executed. Another died of starvation in a Japanese prison camp. One crew made it to Russia.



The Doolittle Raid sent a message from the United States to its enemies, and to the rest of the world:

We will fight. And, no matter what it takes, we will win.

Lt. Col. Dolittle and some of the surviving Raiders in China, following their raid over Tokyo in April, 1942.

Of the 80 Raiders, 62 survived the war. They were celebrated as national heroes, models of bravery. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a motion picture based on the raid; "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," starring Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson, was a patriotic and emotional box-office hit, and the phrase became part of the national lexicon. In the movie-theater previews for the film, MGM proclaimed that it was presenting the story "with supreme pride."

Beginning in 1946, the surviving Raiders have held a reunion each April, to commemorate the mission. The reunion is in a different city each year. In 1959, the city of Tucson, Arizona, as a gesture of respect and gratitude, presented the Doolittle Raiders with a set of 80 silver goblets. Each goblet was engraved with the name of a Raider.

Every year, a wooden display case bearing all 80 goblets is transported to the reunion city. Each time a Raider passes away, his goblet is turned upside down in the case at the next reunion, as his old friends bear solemn witness.

Also in the wooden case is a bottle of 1896 Hennessy Very Special cognac. The year is not happenstance: 1896 was when Jimmy Doolittle was born.

There has always been a plan: When there are only two surviving Raiders, they would open the bottle, at last drink from it, and toast their comrades who preceded them in death.

As 2013 began, there were five living Raiders; then, in February, Tom Griffin passed away at age 96.

What a man he was. After bailing out of his plane over a mountainous Chinese forest after the Tokyo raid, he became ill with malaria, and almost died. When he recovered, he was sent to Europe to fly more combat missions. He was shot down, captured, and spent 22 months in a German prisoner of war camp.

The selflessness of these men, the sheer guts . . . there was a passage in the Cincinnati Enquirer obituary for Mr. Griffin that, on the surface, had nothing to do with the war, but that emblematizes the depth of his sense of duty and devotion:

"When his wife became ill and needed to go into a nursing home, he visited her every day. He walked from his house to the nursing home, fed his wife and at the end of the day brought home her clothes. At night, he washed and ironed her clothes. Then he walked them up to her room the next morning. He did that for three years until her death in 2005."

So now, out of the original 80, only four Raiders remain: Dick Cole (Doolittle's co-pilot on the Tokyo raid), Robert Hite, Edward Saylor and David Thatcher. All are in their 90s. They have decided that there are too few of them for the public reunions to continue.

The events in Fort Walton Beach this past April marked the end. It has come full circle; nearby Eglin Field was where the Raiders trained in secrecy for the Tokyo mission.

The town did all they could to honor the men: a six-day celebration of their valor, including luncheons, a dinner and a parade.

The men decided that after this final public reunion they will wait until a later date - some time this year - to get together once more, informally and in absolute privacy. That is when they will open the bottle of brandy. The years are flowing by too swiftly now; they are not going to wait until there are only two of them.

They will fill the four remaining upturned goblets, and raise them in a toast to those who are gone.



Honor them.

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

SOME MEN FEAR WARS . . . SOME WARS FEAR MEN

Peter Worthington was one such man . . . it was a great honor and a unique privilege to meet him in the last year of his life - S.L.


PETER WORTHINGTON, 1927-2013

Sometime in the midst of a busy and hectic Monday morning I became aware of the passing of a great warrior of North America. Peter Worthington departed this earth on Sunday 12 May, and stepped immediately into the presence of Almighty. Well-known enough in certain circles here in the United States, in his native Canada Peter Worthington was and is legendary.

A veteran of both World War II and the Korean War, from 1956 to 1971 Peter Worthington attended virtually every international crises as they occurred throughout the world – I recently saw a photograph of Peter Worthington in Vietnam, in a US uniform - he was a veteran of the small brushfire wars and the very hot wars of the Cold War era. More recently, Peter was present on the battlefields of Afghanistan - a battlespace environment as lethal to journalists as it is to weapon-toting warriors.
























Peter Worthington reporting from the front lines of one of the many wars he covered for the Toronto Telegram, including the civil war in Biafra and the Vietnam War.



Throughout the course of a lifetime total of some 30-40 wars, revolutions, coups and crises, Worthington experienced the hunger, starvation, cruelty and compassion of the Biafran War, the anarchy and chaos and humour of the Congo’s independence, nightly assassinations in Algiers, where the Foreign Legion rebelled against the de Gaulle government. Vietnam, Dutch New Guinea, Baghdad, Zimbabwe.

In the midst of wading through all the gore and mayhem of Third World conflict, Peter Worthington proved himself to be an astute businessman, helping start the Tornoto Sun newspaper that expanded into a chain providing jobs for thousands, defying the odds and proving critics and cynics wrong.

During the Roland-the-Headless-Thompson-Gunner era of African conflict in the 1960's and 70's, Worthington witnessed the civil war in Angola -he was there when the barefoot armies of Jonas Savimbi routed Cuban and Soviet armor.

He was on the spot in Eritrea when rebels, with no aid from anyone, defeated Ethiopia - which had largest Soviet-backed military machine in Black Africa. He witnessed the Chinese invasion of India, ringside.

Pete interviewed such diverse figures as Albert Schweitzer and Joe Louis; Patrice Lumumba and Alexander Kerensky; Jomo Kenyatta and Louis Armstrong; The Dalai Lama and Clifford Olson. The list is long and varied.

Into this mosaic is the assassination of President John Kennedy, and watching Jack Ruby gun down Lee Harvey Oswald - Pete is quite visible in the existing video tape of the era; the trial of Sirhan Sirhan, assassin of Senator Bobby Kennedy – and the trial of Charlie Manson.

Peter Worthington's career as a soldier of fortune began at the age of sixteen, when he joined the Royal Canadian Navy in order to catch the tail-end action of World War II. His dad was a General in the Canadian Army - running off and joining the Army was out of the question; his father would have had him pulled back.


Peter Worthington, seen here as platoon leader of Dog Company during the Korean War in 1952

Later, Pete consolidated his military credentials in the Korean war, as an officer in the Princess Patricia's Light Infantry; Canada's equivalent of the Ranger Regiment. It is what was expected at a time when least 10% of the Canadian population was in uniform; only today, with WWII and Korean veterans dying off, does it seem special. It is not. When your country calls, there is a duty to answer - which Canadians did, and still do.


Peter Worthington in Afghanistan, continuing his war reporting into his 70s.

Peter Worthington in the prime of his life. This photo was taken in 1982 shortly before Peter left for Zimbabwe with $500,000 in a failed attempt to negotiate the release of six tourist hostages held by insurgents.






Peter Worthington's father, Major General F.F. "Fighting Frank" Worthington, founder of the Canadian Armoured Corps.















Peter Worthington as a young man, having lied about his age to get into the Canadian navy and get in on the action at the end of World War II





Peter Worthington in the trenches in Korea with US Colonel Joe Stilwell.






Peter Worthington at an air base from which he flew Mosquitos - a fast photo-reconnaissance aircraft.


Peter Worthington is a great hero of Canada, and the Free World. It is my humble honor to be related to him, through marriage on the Canadian side of my family.


Honor him.


- STORMBRINGER SENDS