The IVAW Treehouse
Well, I spent the afternoon with the occupants of the IVAW’s newest digs on Constitution Avenue. They call it “Tower Watch”, but it’s pretty much sitting a few hundred yards from the White House on some lifts in the rain.
Here’s Kokesh, James Circello and James Gilligan;
I think that’s Tracey Harmon walking towards them. She’s another one of those Iraq Veterans Against the War who didn’t serve in either Iraq or Afghanistan.
Here’s TJ Buonomo.
He just got back from the Labor Conference in Iraq. I tried to have a discussion with him, but he talks so slow that’s it’s just irritating. He kept saying “Let me finish” but he never does.
ADDED: By the way, TJ, here’s a link to the story about that 500 tons of yellowcake uranium that we shipped from Iraq to Canada that you said you’d never heard about. I figured you’d never get around to Googling it like I told you to, so I did it for you. Just another service we provide here at This Ain’t Hell.
James Gilligan is a pretty nice guy, basically, he’s just a bit skewed politically, but I talked to him for about an hour. Some of you have had discussions with him here – his screen name is Winter Soldier. It turns out that they’re all This Ain’t Hell fans – they can recite almost every post we’ve written here about them. Kokesh knew me by sight.
This is Ami Baxter;
She suffers severely from Bush Derangement Syndrome. Every thing out of her mouth was an anti-war talking point.
But here’s a video of a discussion I had with Kokesh;
They say they’re going to be out there until Saturday when the ANSWER march on the Pentagon starts, so if you see ’em give ’em your regards.
Category: Antiwar crowd, Iraq Veterans Against the War
Chris Hill wanted Elvis’ autograph.
Circello is now an ANSWER organizer.
ANSWER is arabic for “Brian Becker Put A Chip In My Head”.
Good gawd Jonn, I don’t know where you get the patience to even listen to these fucktards. Everytime I encounter assclowns like them, Ms. Hand wants to turn into Ms. Fist.
Is that Adam’s GF? If so, he should stick to that, he did well.
Have we ever goofed on anyone with PTSD? I kind of doubt it since most the readers who know me have PTSD. (Like Jayne Cobb who just commented) I know I goofed on guys for claiming PTSD when they hadn’t been anywhere, or when they lied about their service and claimed PTSD based on the lie (like Josh Lansdale) but CJ would fire me off the nastiest of letters if we ever goofed on PTSD.
Wait a minute, as a matter of fact, I even offered to help Adam file his claim on PTSD. So what in the Fug is he talking about. (He even thanked me for my offer, which was sincere.)
I’ll check them out in a hour, they are right by my regular lunch-time walk route…
I can see the headlines now. Homeless Iraqi Vets Take Protest to DC
What up with the pictures right now bud?
Jonn wrote: I was editing the photos in Flickr. They’re fixed now.
well, there were just 2 people outside the ‘tree houses’, nobody on the top. I decided not to get to close and check if there were anybody behind those “Iraq” signs… People were only paying attention to them for as long as they had to wait for the traffic light to change to cross the Constitution… The entire thing looks very…sad and inconsequential with the Washington Memorial as a backdrop.
ms. olga sayeth: “The entire thing looks very…sad and inconsequential….”.
You are referring of course to the fact that those construction scaffolds don’t look one damn thing like a tree house, huh?
Kokesh! Grow some hair, man up, build a real tree house. Maybe DC’s motoring public will pay more attention to ya then. Course, the NPS cops would be obligated to remove you from said real tree house.
*snerk*
You guys have challenged people’s PTSD claims. I can’t remember if you specifically have challenged Adam’s claims, I know at least one blogger has said “How could a civil affairs guy get PTSD?” I can’t recall you or other bloggers here saying: Yep, that guy has PTSD, what a weak soldier/marine. But I have heard “What do they have PTSD from, (insert mocking offer here).”
To be really honest, it’s burned me every time you did it, since I have my PTSD from a noncombat experience, and it’s actually not uncommon in the military. I have a buddy who’s deployed three times, but his PTSD is also non-combat related, though it might have been exascerbated from his deployments. There’s a lot of talk among military folks that only combat PTSD is valid, and that other causes are invalid-especially MST.
That’s my two cents on the matter. However, I am pleased to see a civil conversation. It’ll only be a matter of time before TSO joins in and makes friends, and then my happy shiny unicorn world of all of us veterans and servicemembers actually treating each other well despite our political differences will start coming to fruition.
Yeah, hold your breath on that one.
I will continue to challenge PTSD claims on liars. But, I’ve never challenged yours, and I’ve never said PTSD doesn’t exist etc.
Hey AS,
Is that Tracey person single? I’m no longer in the military, so it’d be like legal and everything.
Nope, you’ve never bashed legitimate PTSD here.
END
OF
STORY
Not the kind of guys you are.
Non-Combat related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder….
So, if I’m driving my car from MD into DC, and I get cut off and it scares me because I think I’m about to hit a jersey barrier….and now I feel like I’ve had a traumatic experience, can I get coverage?
If I walk in on TSO butt naked, thats traumatic…
I’m seriously confused how you can have a traumatic experience, and suffer the aftereffects through increased stress, and that event was not combat related. Isnt that just everyday stress that everyone in America deals with at one time or another?
A/S! sayeth;
“To be really honest, it’s burned me every time you did it, since I have my PTSD from a noncombat experience, and it’s actually not uncommon in the military…..”
Sarge? Since the majority of us happen to know of you and your life’s story….I really, seriously doubt any one of us would sit by and let anything happen to you.
The rest may chime in…..I happen to respect you. All you gotta do is holler for help. You know it, I know it. Whichever of us can get to you first, the rest may be right behind….Aquarian women, sheesh.
Confused: A few examples. Rape. Natural disaster. Being held at gunpoint. Hostage situations. Domestic violence.
Streetsweeper, TSO: Thanks, you guys. I always appreciate it.
…2 hours in Alterac Valley…low on ammo…Horde insurgents have capped nearly all our graveyards…running low on Roasted Quail, so I may have to eat my pet windserpent…this is all Bush’s fault.
I’m sorry, but I would assume that being held at gunpoint and hostage situations were things overseas that the AWOLers went through that would have been caused by combat.
I thought this discussion was bout IVAW, and IAVA and WIWMM (wah, I want my mommy) soldiers who are claiming they are suffering from PTSD. Is there rampant natural disasters, domestic violence and rape going on overseas? I would have thought the media would be all over that to tell us. And yes, I’m not treading lightly around Rape, which IS a horrible thing…but I just dont think it fits in the context of this discussion.
I will admit that I have beliefs that will make me look like an Ass to you people, but I think that these days people look for a reason to not have to perform as well, if not better then their peers. If claiming NON combat PTSD is their way out of doing what they’re supposed to, then bingo.
With that said, COMBAT PTSD….well, lets just say it sucks.
Rape? Natural disaster? Being held at gunpoint? Hostage situations? Domestic violence? Shit…that happens everytime there’s a rap concert here in ATL. Should I apply for aid?
Claymore, I salute you sir…your grasp of reality is perfect.
Life is stressful, end of story. Next thing you know, people will be going awol from the services because their Drill Sgt yelled at them and made them shoot nasty mean guns, and they had to eat fast at chow, and make pee pee in the woods and being woken up for an hour for fire watch has them scared to go beddie-by because the bad man is going to come at 2am and make them get up….
Hey, if you’re too scared to fight, and too scared to do what you signed up for….then admit that. Don’t make up a life experience and its effect on you to get out of your obligation.
AS – PTSD? Oh, I’m all for doing anything and everything to help our Combat Vets deal with PTSD.
I dated a guy who told me how all through his childhood, he would hear his father at night, moaning and groaning and then running for the bathroom where he would then puke up his guts. Then he would get up the next morning and go to his business he started to take care of his family.
He was one of the few that survived Iwo Jima.
I have a friend who is married to a Vietnam Vet who sleeps under the dining room table, during the day. He works at night. He was a tunnel rat. If you don’t know what that is – google it. I know a whole lot of VN vets with PTSD – though that’s not what it was called when they came home and were ignored.
My son in law has PTSD. He shakes uncontrollably when he unexpectedly hears loud noises. He doesn’t sleep so good most of the time. He’s a career guy. Just made E7. May be going back to the Middle East this July.
I sleep with a gun by my pillow – incest. Nothing to do with Combat – except maybe when I finally fought to stop it.
You bet I would do anything to help someone through PTSD, as would any of the posters here.
But I have no patience with those who use it, esp. falsely, to get out of their responsibilities.
After looking at the pics I dub it the “Cower Tower” its as yellow as its occupants.
Claymore,
Too many small bones in windserpant.
…dammit. I knew I shouldn’t have taken Dick Cheney’s advice on hunter pets.