Khe Sanh, 1968

Founded November 10, 1775.

——————————

Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune’s Birthday Message

RPS ORDERS
No. 47 (Series 1921)
HEADQUARTERS U.S. MARINE CORPS
Washington, November 1, 1921

759. The following will be read to the command on the 10th of November, 1921, and hereafter on the 10th of November of every year. Should the order not be received by the 10th of November, 1921, it will be read upon receipt.

(1) On November 10, 1775, a Corps of Marines was created by a resolution of Continental Congress. Since that date many thousand men have borne the name “Marine”. In memory of them it is fitting that we who are Marines should commemorate the birthday of our corps by calling to mind the glories of its long and illustrious history.

(2) The record of our corps is one which will bear comparison with that of the most famous military organizations in the world’s history. During 90 of the 146 years of its existence the Marine Corps has been in action against the Nation’s foes. From the Battle of Trenton to the Argonne, Marines have won foremost honors in war, and is the long eras of tranquility at home, generation after generation of Marines have grown gray in war in both hemispheres and in every corner of the seven seas, that our country and its citizens might enjoy peace and security.

(3) In every battle and skirmish since the birth of our corps, Marines have acquitted themselves with the greatest distinction, winning new honors on each occasion until the term “Marine” has come to signify all that is highest in military efficiency and soldierly virtue.

(4) This high name of distinction and soldierly repute we who are Marines today have received from those who preceded us in the corps. With it we have also received from them the eternal spirit which has animated our corps from generation to generation and has been the distinguishing mark of the Marines in every age. So long as that spirit continues to flourish Marines will be found equal to every emergency in the future as they have been in the past, and the men of our Nation will regard us as worthy successors to the long line of illustrious men who have served as “Soldiers of the Sea” since the founding of the Corps.

JOHN A. LEJEUNE,
Major General Commandant

————————————-

The Magic of “a Few Good Men”

————————————-
The Old Corps

The first Marine took a long hard look at the second Marine and said, ” It wasn’t like that in the old Corps.”

An annual post.

The near-future Trump House

On FB:

For the record, I am absolutely ecstatic HRC is alive enough to watch her lifelong dream die at the feet of an inarticulate orange septuagenarian. She’s a revolting opportunist who has gotten rich off of government and, as we see from leaked emails, she literally despises her own natural constituencies and doesn’t much care about her country. He tears taste like warm drizzled butter over the world’s greatest crab cake. I want to eat it, then rub the plate over my nipples.

That being said, the GOP now has a pussy-grabbing Walter Mondale as its leader; if you’ve bothered to look past the Eagles and red hats and paid attention to Trump’s policy positions, you are now on to hoping he is reined in by actual Republicans / conservatives / libertarians. Because, eg., repealing Obamacare only to replace it — as he’s promised — with a system that removes the individual mandate for consumers but keeps the pre-existing conditions mandate on insurers, means there is no longer any incentive to purchase or maintain policies, and we will be a de facto single payer country. That has long been Hillary’s goal.

Similarly, increasing tariffs capriciously will only empower govt and heighten the conditions for quid pro quo cronyism and government intervention into competition. It EXPANDS the role of the state, as do most of Trump’s populist positions. That has long been Bernie Sanders’ goal.

So yes: while today I will bathe naked and erect in Cher’s bitter tears, tomorrow I will *still* steadfastly refuse to support progressivism — no matter what letter it wears behind its name.

And that is especially true when it presumes to speak in mine.

Business Insider:

The Government of Canada’s immigration website crashed on Tuesday night as the US election results were rolling in.

The site went down about 10:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, and there was intermittent accessibility after that.

About 9 ET on Tuesday evening, CNN announced that a number of key states in the election — including Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, and Florida — could all swing in Republican nominee Donald Trump’s favor. (Virginia has since been won by Clinton and Florida by Trump.) …

Google search traffic to the Canada story began to surge.

Read the whole thing.

We are never ever going to have to see Hillary Rodham Clinton as President of the United States. The United States remains a stodgy old-fashioned country which has never elected a female chief executive.

For reasons none of us understand, relations between Russia and the United States have recently been growing dangerously hostile, with all sorts of saber-rattling gestures and escalating shows of force. Putin likes Trump, and Trump has the opposite of any kind of personal investment at all into whatever mysterious policy preferences of the Obama Administration have led to Russian-US conflict over Syria. The Trump Administration ought to be able to reset relations with Russia. Therefore, we do not perish in the near future due to a nuclear exchange.

We have the presidency and control of Congress and we have a mandate to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Merrick Garland (no fan of the Second Amendment, he) will not be getting confirmed by the Senate. Hopefully, Trump will keep his promise and appoint someone a lot more like Scalia.

The country is tired of living in perennial recession Obamaland. If Trump introduces those promised tax cuts, on top of replacing the Obamacare mandate, economic confidence should soon begin coming back, and with it the long-awaited real recovery.

We’ve been obliged to live for 8 years under a totally-unqualified Anti-American Affirmative Action president, just so the community of fashion could feel good about itself. Now they get to live under a totally-unqualified crude vulgarian elected by rural and working class Americans as a huge F You to them. What goes around comes around.

There’s no denying it. A Trump Presidency has got far more entertainment value that Hillary’s would have ever had. His gaffes will be funny. Hers would only have been painful to watch.

And, finally, The Donald is 70-years-old. He’s the oldest geezer ever elected president. All he needs to do is go toes up, and Pence is president, and Pence seems to be a very decent guy.

It does not look like Trump is going to win, but even those of us who recognize just how unqualified he is with respect to experience, intelligence, and character have had moments enjoying fantasizing just how unhappy the smug establishment community of fashion would be were Trump to win.

I can personally agree on this much with Damon Linker:

A small, irresponsible part of me would be pleased by a Trump victory. …

The part of me that as a young child longed to kick down the tower of blocks my playmate from down the street had so carefully and meticulously constructed would crack a smile at the ominous news. …

[S]ome of the consequences of a Trump triumph would be salutary, and I would enjoy seeing them happen. …

Progressives would learn that “history” is not on their “side.” Progressives believe in … progress. It’s their ideological faith, held as deeply as any religious creed. “Which side of history are you on?” — that’s the rhetorical question progressives are always tempted to pose when some event or trend seems to belie their providential convictions, and that’s very much been the case with the rise of Donald Trump. With Barack Obama, they believe, or want to believe, that the arc of history bends toward justice (with justice defined in such a way that it perfectly conforms to progressive assumptions about morality and government). Since I don’t believe that history has “sides” — and think that those who do are often led by their faith to make foolish mistakes — I would enjoy seeing the presumption flouted by a Trump victory, much as I enjoyed watching the surprise outcome of the Brexit vote send progressives on both sides of the Atlantic into hysterics. …

Hubristic Democratic elites would be humiliated. The establishment of the Democratic Party rallied around and nominated a deeply flawed candidate this year — one who is highly likely to preside over an administration continually dogged, and ultimately consumed, by scandal. Imagine the post-1972 Nixon White House for four years (assuming, of course, that Clinton manages to avoid impeachment and/or indictment for that long). It’s a sign of how much I detest Trump that I’ve consistently favored her over him every single day since he won the nomination. But on this one day, in this one column, I will admit that a small part of me would love to see the Democrats go down to a painful, humiliating defeat next Tuesday as comeuppance for their dumbass decision to coronate a Clinton this year instead of fielding a candidate who could have wiped the floor with Trump.

I’m able to safely entertain that outcome because it remains unlikely to happen. Clinton will probably win. Trump will probably lose. And most of me — the better part — will delight in the outcome. I’ll be especially thrilled if Trump defies the current polls to lose in the landslide I predicted two months ago and that seemed to be in the offing until Clinton predictably (and with just a little help from James Comey) managed to screw it up.

But even in that case, the thrill will be mixed with just a touch of disappointment.

Read the whole thing.

I’m back from the polls, btw. I wrote in Evan McMullin.

“How small, of all that human hearts endure, That part which laws or kings can cause or cure.”

The Express:

Shocked passengers took footage of the five-foot-long green viper as it dropped down to the seats below.

A university professor who was on the flight told how he helped capture it with a blanket – but showed he had retained his sense of humour and joked he had kept it entertained by giving it an in-flight magazine to read.

The jaw-dropping incident is said to have happened yesterday afternoon during a two-hour Aeromexico flight between Torreon in the northern state of Coahuila and the Mexican capital.

The plane’s pilot was reportedly given permission to make a priority landing when he reached his destination and animal control experts alerted so they could board when it arrived and take the reptile away.

Professor Indalecio Medina, whose video was today going viral, joked: “The flying snake. A unique experience on Aeromexico flight 231 from Torreon to Mexico City.”

He later added on social media: “I had to catch it with a blanket and obviously we gave it some magazines to read for a while.

“The snake arrived alive and kicking, frightened but without having paid its airfare.

“And best of all, priority when it came to landing and animal control experts waiting for the unexpected traveller.”

Bothrops bilineata or maybe Bothrops schlegelii.