• Very good NBC video footage walking through the bin Laden compound, and a better understanding of what was meant by a “firefight.”

• The House Republicans have now cynically redefined “rape” to promote their social agenda.

• Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) questions sending anymore soldiers to die in Afghanistan. Welcome to the bandwagon, Dick! he joins 17 other Democratic Senators who are pushing President Obama to leave Afghanistan.

• Let’s counter the Fox News bullshit right now… torture wasn’t the reason we finally killed bin Laden.

• He may be a Tea Party favorite, but kudos to Buddy Roemer for calling out lobbyists and the Chamber of Commerce.

• Finally, an article from Robert Scheer reminding us who created Osama bin Laden.

That’s all for tonight!

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This post, Good reads for May 4, 2011, originally appeared on One Little Victory on May 4, 2011. Please visit One Little Victory to share your thoughts. Tweet This
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Today we welcome Rep. Sally Kern (R – Oklahoma City), a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Ms. Kern’s claim to fame? Kern argued on the floor of the Oklahoma House that Affirmative Action should be ended because it isn’t effective. The reason it isn’t effective enough? Because blacks don’t want to work hard.

Whoa. She said that? On the floor? Here’s the proof.

Yep, she really said it. But that wasn’t all. She didn’t have particularly fond words for women either. According to Kern, women make less than men because they don’t want to work as hard as a man either. But as she says here, don’t take it the “wrong” way, as if there is a right way.

We are not sure which is scarier… the fact that she holds public office in Oklahoma, or the fact that there are morons in that state who elected her. Watching the videos of Kern in action, we are reminded of Oklahoma’s other famous depiction in the media:

On the bright side, this rant by Kern did not go unanswered. Despite resistance from the Speaker of the Oklahoma House to seek a reprimand on Kern’s conduct, the House Democrats brought forward a motion to discipline Kern, which passed with a strong majority. For her part, Kern issued an apology and stated “I made my apology, and I do understand that just saying you’re sorry does not make everything right.”

But this is not the first time that Kern has shown her extremist side, and not the first time that she has even been recognized as a recipient of the Golden Momo. Indeed, if we learned anything from Kern, it is that she is the gift that keeps on giving.

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This post, Moron of the Moment for May 3, 2011, originally appeared on One Little Victory on May 3, 2011. Please visit One Little Victory to share your thoughts. Tweet This
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President Obama and members of his administration observe the U.S. attack on Osama bin Laden's compound (AP)

There is a lot of celebrating surrounding yesterday’s U.S. assassination of Osama bin Laden.

Looking at it from the person on the street perspective, what’s not to celebrate? This is a man who was responsible for the embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, the attack on the USS Cole, and of course for the September 1, 2001 attacks that resulted in the deaths of nearly three thousand people. He declared war on America and on the Western way of life, murdered people of all faiths and backgrounds, and took the lives of innocent civilians. The most generous among us would be well justified in saying that, at the very least, bin Laden got what was coming to him; he reaped what he sowed. And for this article we will conveniently ignore the fact that bin Laden was a product of American military opposition to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

For his part in it, President Obama acted magnificently. He was presented with information and took prudent steps to verify the intelligence and insure that he was operating with the best possible information. He decided against an aerial attack that may have created blurry results and inflicted innocent casualties in order to carry out a surgical strike that targeted only bin Laden and his associates. President Obama acted patiently and prudently and when the time came to deliver the news to the American people he offered a message of resolve, calm, confidence, and compassion. He acted the way a President should have, and despite any other differences I may have with the man’s policies, I offer my congratulations, admiration, and respect.

But does bin Laden’s assassination deliver what President Obama claimed last night when he stated that “justice has been served?” Has it? It was striking that President Obama chose to end his address last night with a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance, stating the famous line, “with liberty and justice for all.” For all, he said.

Certainly vengeance has been delivered. But justice? The answer to that question proves a bit more difficult to address. How does one define “justice”? And how does justice differ from vengeance in a case like this?

Perhaps Rev. Martin Luther king, Jr. summed it up best:

“‎”Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Reading this quote, I understood why I felt so uneasy sitting in the comfort of my home watching thousands of Americans celebrate in glee over the sanctioned murder of another human being. We are not supposed to feel good about that, are we? And yet at the same time I felt this sense of patriotic pride in knowing that bin Laden had finally paid the ultimate price for his horrific crimes. But I had to consider, was this really patriotic pride that I was feeling, or just what I was supposed to be feeling, having been brought up in a militaristic society that seems to have no problem utilizing its military might to suit its own interests?

And that’s when the answer to our question struck me.

Osama bin Laden was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, the overwhelming majority of whom were non-combatant citizens. While all warring nations violate the rules of law to some degree, this indiscriminate killing of civilians helps form the basis that separates war from terrorism. This man represented no nation; his cause was a perverted form of militant Islam from which to wage Jihad. bin Laden was deeply anti-Semitic and saw Israel and the United States as the collective cause of much of the injustice he perceived in the world. He was staunchly undemocratic, believing that Sharia law should be imposed through Islamic theocracies.

By any definition, the man was a terrorist.

And thus, for anyone killed during any of bin Laden’s attacks, his assassination represents justice. For anyone affected through the loss of a loved one in any of bin Laden’s attacks, his assassination represents justice. And to the many thousands of Americans, Afghanis, and many others who were killed, wounded, displaced, or otherwise affected by the American invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, bin Laden’s assassination represents justice.

Justice was served in these cases because people were affected who should not have been – lives were impacted or ended because of the actions of this evil man.

If our story ended there, we could give a resounding “yes” to the question of whether or not justice has been served. Unfortunately, the story does not end there.

In order to answer the question in full, we must address Iraq. In this nation, in the name of a “war on terror,” the United State of America attacked a sovereign nation without provocation or legal authority in order to fulfill a vendetta that American President George W. Bush had for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Widely thought (with some evidence) to be in Bush’s sights since his election, Bush shrewdly took American fear of terrorists, added two cups of falsified intelligence data, and stirred in Congressional misfeasance to whip this nation into a war frenzy, falsely believing that the invasion of Iraq had anything to do with al Qaeda or the “war on terror.” The cost of this attack? To date, 4,452 American service deaths, 318 coalition deaths, and the deaths of at least 150,000 Iraqis. All of this because President George W. Bush had a personal grudge against Saddam Hussein. And we will once again conveniently forget that Hussein was also a product of American military interests, namely our desire to create a counter-balance to Iran in the region. This was, of course, undone by the Bush invasion.

It is our farce in Iraq, first about al Qaeda, then about weapons of mass destruction, then about genocide, then about (insert your reason here) that has me realizing that bin Laden’s assassination brings little justice and even less meaning. This is not to denigrate the efforts of our service people, nor to minimize the lives of the Iraqi people. It is simply worth noting that Osama bin Laden had absolutely nothing to do with the American invasion and occupation of Iraq, and his death serves to change nothing about that painful conflict. Nothing can change about Iraq, and no justice can be served, unless our own criminals are taken to task.

Yet we all know that this will never happen, and this further serves to confound any feelings of justice that we may have been allowed yesterday.

For that matter, as armchair quarterbacks we can also ask the question… would we have captured or killed bin Laden sooner.. would many thousands of innocent lives have been spared… if we had never taken our eye off the ball in Afghanistan? It’s a fruitless question to try to answer, but it certainly balances against any belief I hold that justice has truly been served.

I thank President Obama for ordering this mission. I thank the Navy Seals who carried it out. For many people, justice has in fact been delivered. But not for all.

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This post, Has justice really been served?, originally appeared on One Little Victory on May 2, 2011. Please visit One Little Victory to share your thoughts. Tweet This
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This post, U.S. forces kill Osama bin Laden, originally appeared on One Little Victory on May 2, 2011. Please visit One Little Victory to share your thoughts. Tweet This
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Once you have determined how much you have paid, this site will send an automated letter to your Representative. The letter reads:

Dear Rep. (Name):

This tax season, I’m appalled to discover I have been charged $4798 in income taxes to pay for the Afghanistan War and other military spending this year. The Afghanistan War alone will cost taxpayers $107.3 billion this year just in direct costs. These huge costs are outrageous at a time when millions of Americans are still out of work and tens of millions more are fighting to pay bills and keep their homes.

I expect you to spend our tax dollars in ways more in line with your constituents’ priorities.

Next tax season, I don’t want to discover I’ve paid this much money for war. As my elected official, I respectfully request you honor that desire and do everything you can to support a swift, responsible withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan this year.

Sincerely,

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This post, What’s war costing you?, originally appeared on One Little Victory on April 28, 2011. Please visit One Little Victory to share your thoughts. Tweet This
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This time around, we are establishing some criteria for the award, and genuinely seeking reader submissions. So here is the standard that we will utilize in making Golden Momo selections, and we ask you to apply the same standard as you email us your nominations at: onelittlevictoryblog@gmail.com.

Selection Criteria (any or all of the following must apply):

1. The nominee must have said or done something that is simply not consistent with objective facts.

2. The nominee must have said or done something that demonstrates public hypocrisy.

3. The nominee must have said or done something that was hurtful to others and which would be deemed offensive under the “reasonable person” standard.

Yes, these are fairly broad categories. But you will find that, unlike the previous Golden Momo segment, we won’t simply go after politicians because we disagree with them. Instead we will target specific words and actions that defy reason and/or civility.

And with all of that said…. drumroll please… it is time to bestow the first Golden Momo Award for 2011.

Our “Winner” – Grady Warren of the Tea Party

Mr. Warren receives the dubious distinction of receiving our Moron of the Moment Award for his rather bizarre defense of the Tea Party as a non-racist organization. Of course his defense is laden with some incredibly racist rhetoric that almost any thinking person would find objectionable. We defy any Tea Party member (or defender) to defend these comments. In this video alone, he refers to black leaders as “criminals,” “nigras,” and “race pimps.” We particularly love the reference to being civil and peaceful while displaying a sign saying, “We came unarmed – this time.” And note his “Peaceful but prepared” t-shirt… you know, because that’s how he educates people on the complex issue of the right to bear arms.

But wait, that’s only the springboard to bashing Muslims for their “infiltrating, procreating, and then eliminating…” I guess in his view all Muslims should be celibate… which truthfully is kind of how we feel about people like Grady Warren. He then calls for the deportations of all Muslims “as soon as possible.” Newsflash for you, Grady: If we deported people on the basis of violence committed in the name of religion, there wouldn’t be any Christians here either. Warren then moves on to blast blacks as criminals, and as being the cause for why government doesn’t work. And according to Grady, trillions of dollars in reparations have been given to blacks as a repayment for slavery. We are sure that this will come as a welcome bit of news for blacks across the United States; never mind that it is utterly false. He also gets in the obligatory Tea Party shot about gay marriage. Of course, Warren suggests that he will be accused of being racist for his opposition to gay marriage, completely missing the fact that he is too ignorant to understand which “ism” he is guilty of. Then, Warren seriously asks if it is racist to love Sarah Palin. Is it racist, Mr. Warren? No, it is not. But it ain’t bright. He castigates blacks for voting based only on skin color and party affiliation only. Not only is he dead wrong, but we’re going to go out on a small limb and just guess that Mr. Warren hasn’t voted for any Democratic blacks, Asians, or Latinos anytime in the part thirty years. Thus, Mr. Warren’s hypocrisy is evident for all to view. He goes on to extend his criticism of blacks to Hispanics and to the “rest of the ignorant and uneducated liberals.” Talk about painting with a broad brush. Best rest assured, he is painting with white paint on a white picket fence that surrounds a white house that exists only in the recesses of his own small mind. Warren closes with an acknowledgement that if people think differently than him, then “this huckleberry is just a racist.” Well put, huckleberry.

Just one question… what the hell is a nigra? And yes, that is a rhetorical question.

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This post, The Golden Momos are back!, originally appeared on One Little Victory on April 27, 2011. Please visit One Little Victory to share your thoughts. Tweet This
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Just a few items that caught our attention…

• Obama the Appeaser: Ezra Klein reviews President Obama’s “progressive” ideas, and the Republicans who came up with them.

• Now she is the rational one? All hell is breaking loose if Governor Jan Brewer is making sense.

• Speaker Boehner playing “chicken”… with world economy. We say let him, and let the consequences fall where they may.

• As if we didn’t know this already…. Barack Obama was born in the United States of America.

On this final piece… even Fox News “can now confirm” that Obama is a citizen. Careful Shep… you are starting to sound way too reasonable for Fox News!

Might we suggest a new Facebook status for any people who believe that Birthers should form their own island colony and leave the rest of us the hell alone? It should read:

“If you are a Birther, please de-friend me. Really. Pass it on.”

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This post, Good reads for April 26, 2011, originally appeared on One Little Victory on April 26, 2011. Please visit One Little Victory to share your thoughts. Tweet This
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This post, Deficits for Dummies, originally appeared on One Little Victory on April 17, 2011. Please visit One Little Victory to share your thoughts. Tweet This
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Here is some information from the Coffee Party. Please share it widely.

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This post, The Coffee Party Strikes, originally appeared on One Little Victory on April 16, 2011. Please visit One Little Victory to share your thoughts. Tweet This
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