'The true Soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because He loves what is behind him.' -G. K. Chesterton

29 October 2009

We Really Can Take Care Of Your Health Care Needs. We Swear!

This from the people who swear up and down your health care won't be compromised if the government runs it.

Yeah, for some reason I'm just not buying it.

Six

Fury Erupts Over H1N1 Shots for Prisoners -- Sphere News, Opinion and Analysis

14 October 2009

The Army Grows

I'm adding another fearless Warrioress to the Blog Roll. Please welcome nanc and go visit her at  It's Curtains for You...

Good stuff and she's got some fantastic recipes. As if I didn't already have enough troubles with my waistline. But then, no sacrifice is too great for The Six.

Glad to have you along for the Long Ride nanc.

Six

12 October 2009

Oh, Priscilla. You've Done It Again.

For anyone who does not know, I have dubbed the governor of california as Priscilla. Why? Because I'm The Six and I can. He's not even worthy of the acronym RINO. He's clearly DIABM. A Democrat In All But Name. Hell even RINO is an oxymoron. Republicans have been selling conservatives down the drain for decades. I was heartened during the budget debate. He was sounding like a conservative again. I was even considering giving him his name back. Now this.

California Chronicle | CALIFORNIA´S GOVERNOR SIGNS LEGISLATION TO HELP TRACK AMMUNITION SALES

(EDIT: Link was broken, removed, and looks like the site has disappeared completely)

When you read the article, kindly remember it's written by the leftists at california chronicle so they do a fine job of explaining just how this bill will prevent bad people from acquiring ammunition for their evil guns. Exactly how this will happen they kinda gloss over. They seem to miss the point that Nevada, Arizona and Oregon are like, right next door.

The bad guys? Yeah, they've got cars and pickups and bad ass pimp mobiles and stuff. Punks, thugs and morons they may be but most of them can at least drive a little. Or, you know, get someone who can to drive for them.  

This bill will have precisely zero impact on crime. All it will do is make it a little harder to buy ammunition for everyone. Including the law abiding who might just need some to protect their loved ones from those self same bad guys. This kind of stuff really pisses me off. It serves absolutely no purpose beyond taking us another step toward registration and ultimately confiscation. It's another nail in freedoms coffin. Hammered in by a man who pretended to be something he's clearly not. A conservative American.

Priscilla, do us all a favor. Just go ahead and join the democrat party officially. You're not fooling anyone. Put on the dress and bow down to your leftist buddies but stop calling yourself a conservative.

One more proof that my decision to register as Independant was correct. As if there was any doubt. I am The Six after all.   

I predict ammunition sales in border states to go through the roof. Anybody want to invest in a nice little ammunition shop on the california/Nevada border? Better hurry. Things in this fascist state tend to spread outward like the slime from a squashed slug.

The Six

07 October 2009

General Cash Speaks

I think this worthy of sending to my friends and fellow concerned citizens. Paul and Jerry are great friends, patroits of the highest order, and both very successful in their own right. They are sincerely worried about the path our country is on, and we share the same fears. Folks, it is time we stand up for the sake of our families, and insist that Congress be turned over to younger, clear thinking individuals who put the country and its people first. Please read this, pass it on, and start working on your plan to get every conservative you know to the polls next year. They will not resign. We must vote them out and anything past 2010 is too late.

Jim Cash
B/G, USAF, ret.
Elected and Appointed U.S. Government Officials Who Violate Their Oath of Office and The Constitution Must Resign
By Gerald Molen and Vallely MG, US Army (Ret)

The Declaration of Independence states in part: “…That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness...”

The arrogance of power in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government has reached epic and intolerable proportions and generated significant dissent and protest in Town-hall meetings and Tea Parties across the nation.

The U.S. President, Vice-President, cabinet members and senior appointed officials, members of Congress, and members of the Supreme Court take the following sacred oath of office:

“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

Sadly, we have seen most of them violate their oath. Fraud and corruption is rampant in the institutions of government, and some have engaged in treasonous activities. They know who they are, as do the people.

Some of the main offenses are:

Berated and condemned the actions of the United States before the United Nations in New York City and overseas.

Acted outside the boundaries of our nation’s founding principles by nationalizing significant segments of the U.S. automobile, banking, housing, and (if they get their way) healthcare industries.

Appointed more than 30 czars to important policy positions in the executive branch and currently immune from congressional advice and consent and oversight requirements.

Passed and signed the $787 billion Stimulus Bill without thoroughly reading and adequately debating the bill’s merits which included a stealth expansion of Federal control over states and citizens.

Engaged in judicial activism which may grant captured terrorists the same constitutional due process rights as American citizens.

In 1789, Thomas Jefferson was overheard saying to James Madison, “Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves therefore are its only safe depositories.”

In 1861, Abraham Lincoln’s issued this warning in his inaugural address, “Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government and form a new one. This is a most valuable and sacred right – a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the world.”

The U.S. Constitution, Article One, Section Five, Clause II and the 10th Amendment to the Constitution provide the constitutional authority for the President, Vice-President, cabinet appointees, members of Congress and members of the Supreme Court to be removed from office for failure to properly discharge their constitutional duties and responsibilities.

The U.S. Constitution allows the citizens of their country to freely elect their government leaders. Americans elect the president and vice-president every four years, members of the House of Representatives every two years, members of the Senate every six years. Members of the Supreme Court are nominated by the president and receive lifetime appointments if confirmed by the Senate. And political appointees in the executive branch serve at the pleasure of the president if confirmed by the Senate.

“We, the People” have had enough of this current government. They, not the American People, are on a socialist and treasonous death march and bankrupting the country. We have watched the President and members of his Cabinet, Vice-President, members of Congress, and members of the Supreme Court, defile our nation’s founding documents and sacred principles – and violate their sacred oath of office.

These are extraordinary times. “We, the People” cannot wait for the next round of elections because of the urgent and deteriorating national security and economic conditions. The time has come to call on these public servants to put the interests of “We, the People” above their own self-interests by resigning from their government positions immediately. In the event no resignations are forthcoming, the American people can assist them by voting them out of office starting in 2010.

Gerald R. Molen, Academy Award winning film producer, Schindlers List

Paul Vallely is a retired MG, US Army and is Chairman of Stand Up America USA
http://www.standupamericaus.com/ and Save Our Democracy http://www.saveourdemocracy.org/.
http://www.soldiersmemorialfund.org/
E-Mail: standupamerica1@gmail.com

Thanks General Cash and please convey our thanks to General Vallely and Mr. Molen.
The Six
The Sarge

05 October 2009

Leadership 101

I've taken some time off from commenting on current affairs. I haven't stopped reading and watching, I've just been listening, absorbing and considering. Still, I am The Six and it's obvious to me that some leadership is in order here.


Almost 9 years in the Army and reserves. 24 years as a cop. That's 33 years in one uniform or another. A long time in anyone's book. In those 33 years I've learned a thing or two about leadership. And the lack there of.


I have been a leader and I have been led. I have served under great leaders and terrible ones. I have been a great leader and a terrible one (one must sometimes fail to see the path to success. Failure is not a sin, not learning and improving from a failure is).


So, I have a question for president obama. Where are you?


We have men dying in Afghanistan and the military leadership asking for direction. Health care and Cap and Trade are crises needing immediate solutions but Afghanistan is not?
We have a crushing national debt (that is growing literally every day) and China is playing games with the IMF.
Iran is going nuke any minute. They have lied and obfuscated until we are now faced with 2 choices, a nuclear armed Tehran or another front in The Long War. That clenched fist will very soon be holding a nuclear weapon.
America has spoken out on Health Care but is being ignored while you and your cronies prepare to ram it down our throats.
The U.N. is preparing to sell our country down the drain to Africa The Copenhagen Climate Change Treaty Draft – wealth transfer defined, now with new and improved “dignity” penalty « Watts Up ... 
Race relations haven't been this bad since Jim Crow.
Your own homeland security is branding veterans, Christians and the loyal opposition as terrorists while the actual terrorists are being feted as returning heroes and sent to tropical isles.
American Somoa is in ruins.
Trust and confidence in government is at all time lows.


The Olympics? Really? The 2016 Olympics aren't even a blip on the horizon. If we, if you, don't get a handle on our domestic problems and return America to a semblance of sanity we may not even be a country in 2016.
I saw you do a commercial for a new comedy show on tv.
You have almost daily press conferences where you say....nothing.
You focus on the trivial and when you don't you focus on things a majority of Americans oppose.
You're obsessed with yourself, to the detriment of your country. You act like a celebrity and not the leader of what is still the most powerful nation on Earth.


You are a leader, it's time you started acting like it.


Here's a clue from my military and police background. Leadership is the process of influencing others to accomplish the mission by providing purpose, direction, and motivation.
Got that? Purpose, Direction and Motivation.


Here's a primer on basic military Leadership. Read it and in the name of all that's holy, learn from it.


The basic responsibilities of a leader are: Accomplishment of the mission and the welfare of the soldiers. This applies to you too, you are the Commander in Chief. The mission is the advancement of America (That's America in case you missed it, not europe or the middle east or bumfuckistan. America) and the welfare of it's citizens.


The Professional Military Ethic is:
-Loyalty to the nation, the Military, and the unit.
-Duty.
-Selfless service. Selfless service is defined as putting the needs and goals of the nation, the Military, your unit and your soldier ahead of your personal needs and interest.


The four individual values that all soldiers are expected to possess are:
-Courage: overcoming fears of bodily harm and doing your duty (physical courage), and overcoming fears of other than bodily harm (moral courage) while doing what ought to be done.
-Candor: is being frank, open, honest, and sincere with your soldiers, seniors and peers.
-Competence: is proficiency in required professional knowledge, judgment, and skills.
-Commitment: means the dedication to carry out all unit missions and to serve the values of the unit, Military, and the country.


The four actions that should be taken in assuming a new leadership position are:
-Determine what is expected of your unit.
-Determine what is expected of you.
-Determine the strengths and weaknesses of your subordinates.
-Determine what other key people whose willing support is necessary to accomplish your job.


There are 23 Traits of Character:
Bearing, Confidence, Courage, Integrity, Decisiveness, Justice, Endurance, Tact, Initiative, Coolness, Maturity, Improvement, Will, Assertiveness, Candor, Sense of Humor, Competence, Commitment, Creativity, Self-discipline, Humility, Flexibility, Empathy/Compassion.


There are eleven principles of good leadership:
-Be tactically and technically proficient
-Know yourself and seek self-improvement
-Know your soldiers and look out for their welfare
-Keep your soldiers informed
-Set the example
-Ensure the task is understood, supervised and accomplished
-Train your soldiers as a team
-Make sound and timely decisions
-Develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates
-Employ your unit in accordance with its capabilities
-Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions


Leadership Principles are used as general rules which have guided the actions and conduct of successful leaders in the past. The decision-making process is a conscious process for selecting a course of action from two or more alternatives for the purpose of achieving a desired result.The principle forces you should consider when making an ethical decision are:
-Legal standards
-Basic national values
-Traditional Military values
-Actual Military values
-Individual values
-Institutional Pressures


The seven steps in the decision-making process are:
-Identify the problem
-Gather information
-List courses of action
-Analyze and compare courses of action
-Make a decision; Select a course of action
-Make a plan
-Implement the plan


Actions that good leaders avoid are: Violation of dignity to individuals, mass punishment or ridicule of the troops, hurry-up and wait formations and similar drills that waste time, resting before his men, shirking the responsibility of checking his men's position, blaming the next higher in command for a rough and unsuccessful mission, blaming subordinates for a squad's failure in satisfactorily completing a specific mission, eating before his men have eaten, favoritism and moral weakness.


A good leader must have a thorough knowledge of command essentials. The command essentials are: Command policies, authority, responsibility, chain of command and other channels, military rank, military discipline and conduct, and the enlisted aspects of command.


A leader must BE, KNOW and DO. Defined, this means:
A leader must BE:
-A person of strong and honorable character
-Committed to the professional Military ethic
-An example of individual values
-Able to resolve complex ethical dilemmas
A leader must KNOW:
-The four factors of leadership and how they affect each other
-Standards
-Him/Herself
-Human nature
-His/Her job
-His/Her unit
A leader must DO:
-Provide direction
-Provide purpose
-Provide motivation


A leader provides direction by:
-Knowing and maintaining standards
-Setting goals
-Planning
-Making decisions and solving problems
-Supervising and evaluating


One of the essentials of leadership is to seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions. Defined, this means to take the initiative in the absence of Orders and accept the responsibility for your actions.


Supervision is keeping a grasp on the situation and ensuring that plans and policies are implemented properly, including giving instructions and continuously inspecting the accomplishment of a task. The danger of too little supervision is that it can lead to miscommunications, lack of coordination, disorganization or the perception by subordinates that the leader does not care. The danger of too much supervision is that it stifles the initiative, breeds resentment, and lowers morale and motivation. Morale is the mental, emotional, and spiritual state of mind of an individual. It is how a soldier feels. High morale strengthens courage, energy and the will to fight. Esprit is the spirit, the soul, and the state of mind of a unit that the soldier identifies with.


Read this next section carefully. Maybe even more than once. It's important.
Integrity is the utter sincerity, honesty and candor. It is the avoidance of any kind of deceptive, shallow, or expedient behavior.

Justice is the fair treatment of all people regardless of race, religion, color, sex, age, or national origin.
Tact is a sensitive perception of people, their values, feelings, and views which allows positive interaction.
An unselfish leader is one who avoids providing for his own comfort and advancement at the expense of others.
Ethics are rules or standards that guide a individual or a group to do the moral or right thing.

Some of the pressures to be unethical are:
-Pressure from self-interest
-Pressure from peers
-Pressure from subordinates
-Pressure from a senior


I found these as I browsed the collected wisdom of various Military leadership teachings. Some I remembered and some I re-learned but none of them were foreign concepts to me and they damn well shouldn't be to you either. I know these are from a primarily military point of view but they work in policing and in daily life as well. Especially when that daily life is being the President of The United States of America. I'm just a dumb cop and I know these things, why don't you?
I learned them from instructors who were passing along the collected wisdoms from generations of good military leaders. I learned them from police instructors who were trying to make me understand the awesome responsibilities I was about to undertake. They've been gussied up and translated into new speak but if you read them carefully one thing will leap out at you.


All good leaders follow these basic guidelines
And trust me when I say that they are the basic course only.


Mr. President, you are failing at these most basic of leadership precepts and you are destroying my country in that failure. Go to West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy or the Coast Guard Academy. Attend OCS, or one of the NCO courses. Go to CGSC. Hell, go to a good Police Academy but go. Not as CinC but as a student. Listen and learn. If you have the time to lobby the Olympic Committee you have the time to attend leadership classes.


I am a proud American, a supporter of the Constitution and all it means. I love America and all she stands for. You, Mr. President, must exhibit the leadership this country needs in order to preserve her for those who come after us. You can do this. You must.


And If you need advice, The Six stands ready to supply that assistance. I know one or two people who could give you that leadership primer you so desperately need. At no charge.


But quickly please. It's not too late but it's getting there in a tearing hurry.


The Six

02 October 2009

As A Mom...

The Six has talked about womens role in the debacle we call the "Political Conversation" of late. I'd like to introduce you to a whole bunch more of them:

As A Mom, "A Sisterhood of Mommy Patriots"

So here is my personal stance:
As a mom my primary concern is the safety and prosperity of my children.
As a mom I'm not convinced that the US is the best place for my children's future.
As a mom I'm willing to fight to attain what is best for my children.
As a mom I'm willing to fight for my country, to MAKE it the best place for my children.
As a mom, I'm not a rasist, I couldn't care less what color skin politicians have; what I care about is the actions that are taken and their consequences.
As a mom I'm to the point where I feel like my back is against the wall and I have no where to run, there's no where to go to defend my way of life and what I believe in.
As a mom I'm afraid for what the government will force upon myself and my children. Will the Pledge of Allegience give way to the Pledge to Obama?

But as a mom, I see hope in the linking of hands against this "Tyranny of Change".
As a mom I will teach my children how to sew, to garden and to save, because it's the self reliant thing to do.
As a mom I will teach them how this country began, why it began and I will teach them the truth behind the freedoms we hold.
As a mom I will not run from my responsibilty to be the teeth and claws defending my childrens future.

So, yes, I will take a pledge.

I pledge to no longer watch television and movies that promote Hollywood power and, in turn, promotes the Hollywood ideal of my country.
I pledge to no longer expose my children stories where everyone wins, and instead teach them strive to win, to lose with dignity, and to fight for what they want.
I pledge to forcefully call to task those that threaten my childrens futures with overburdened debt, nonexistent ethics and a disregard for morality.

I pledge allegience to the constitution that created my country, to the ideals of my forefathers and to those that fight to defend the same.

The DO