IVAW Kokesh still in the race for NM’s 3CD

| March 28, 2010

Yes, Adam Kokesh, member of IVAW is back on the Republican primary ballot after his loss to Tom Mullins in the pre-primary recently for New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District. Kokesh and Mullins faced off the other night in a debate in Clovis, NM according to the local press.

Mullins introduced himself as a petroleum engineer and small businessman from Farmington who has just recently decided to pursue politics.

Kokesh is a Marine veteran from Santa Fe and served in Iraq with the 3rd Civilian Affairs Unit in Fallujah. His Web site says he is a Tea Party leader who has dedicated his political life to individual rights and constitutional government.

Kokesh is callong himself the “Tea Party candidate” in the Republican race – I didn’t know that Tea Party candidates were people who’ve never had jobs outside of a brief military career (cut short by malfeasance) and years in college.

After Michelle Malkin called out Kokesh on her blog, he went on Russia Today to defend himself. He said that Malkin blamed him for the threats against her from Jon DeWald.

Kokesh said that he voted to have DeWald suspended while he was on the board of the IVAW. What he neglected to mention was that he encouraged DeWald in his sociopathic behavior and DeWald’s suspension lasted only a few months through the Winter Soldier hearings. DeWald’s permanent removal only resulted after he robbed the coffers entrusted to him as a chapter president in IVAW.

In an interview with Cassy Fiano, Tom Mullins said it all;

I disagree with Adam’s positions regarding our military. I support Guantanamo Bay being open. We are not occupiers. Adam’s activities offend the many veterans, including my father, that I have met. We are not the world’s policeman. We have a volunteer military. Our military men and women deserve support from our elected officials and all members of the American public. I don’t understand how Adam’s actions are “Constitutional”. Adam is nothing more than an Internet Celebrity and a War Protester. I don’t believe New Mexicans agree with his views or his methods to share or voice them.

Of course, Kokesh fails to mention his anti-war roots, or his connections to the flag-burning IVAW when he’s talking to Republicans. I wonder why. Maybe he should bring his replacement internet celebrity, Matthis Chiroux, on the campaign trail to burn flags and shout out how that’s what he thinks of America.

Then Kokesh can explain to his prospective constituents why he maintains membership and ties to IVAW.

Category: Antiwar crowd, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Usual Suspects

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NHSparky

If Kokesh is Tea Party, so is that joker in Nevada–oh wait–that was a Reid-funded group to try to draw votes off the GOP candidate. IOW, Kokesh isn’t conservative, Republican, and certainly not honorable or honest about himself. Thankfully, people are seeing through his bullshit. Frankly, if I were Mullins, I’d be asking Kokesh PUBLICLY about his claims of leaving the Marines as a Sergeant with an Honorable Discharge, and his claim he has VFW support.

B Woodman

Yep. Mullins to Kokesh:

“SHOW – ME – THE – PAPER!!”

Debra

NHSparky, you still don’t get it.

NHSparky

By all means, Debra, tell me what I don’t “get”. I’ve lived there–you haven’t. I know the people there–you don’t. Please, lecture me on shit you know nothing about. Kokesh is a poseur and a fraud. What’s to know after that?

This is gonna be good.

UpNorth

Sparky, I guess you don’t get that Kokesh is the darling of the Paulistinians, that he’s the darling of the “conservative anti-war movement”, that Debra apparently finds she can endorese Kokesh. Who knows, it’s just easier to throw out throw-away lines like, “you still don’t get it”.

NHSparky

Kokesh has spewed so much bullshit, he only just qualifies to call himself a Marine, kind of like Murtha WAS a Marine. He certainly doesn’t have the right to spew his bullshit in the name of conservatism, the GOP (who I’m amazed STILL won’t call his ass out). But Debra once again shows that if you hit the right button with some people who can’t think past a single issue, they can ignore all else about their little darlings.

Dear Debra, I thought you were smarter than that. I won’t make that mistake again.

Debra

NHSparky and UpNorth, please try to refrain from insulting me. My point is simply that while I may not agree with everything Kokesh has ever done in his life, I do believe he is sincere and authentic in his political philosophy as a libertarian. Yes, I have always been opposed to the Iraq war, but that is not a position occupied only by the likes of Matthis CHiroux or Carl Webb.

By the way, have you seen this on Fox News:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NuzTrSoMyE

I get a little bit frustrated because I have written so extensively about this subject — I’m sorry I’m not good at explaining things in a short way (I recognize it’s a weakness) — but then you get mad at me if I just post a brief comment, like as though I didn’t already explain the entire thing before. I’m afraid it is probably hopeless; you will never understand where I am coming from. 🙁

Honestly, while you do have some very serious legitimate complaints about Kokesh, you also seem to look more at his person than at the issues. I don’t look at things in that personal of a way and I don’t expect perfection from anyone because that is simply unrealistic. I look at the issues involved and where a person stands on the issues. Where Kokesh is standing on the issues, most of that is where I am standing also. Probably much of it is where you all are standing, too; even, I think, TSO has acknowledged that. But it seems you can’t look past the person long enough to focus on the issues and you just keep on slinging the mud as a knee-jerk reaction, with very little apparent thought involved.

NHSparky

Toots, you just make it so EASY. And if he was so fucking sincere as a LIBERTARIAN, then he should fucking RUN as one, now shouldn’t he? Just like the rest of you and your Paultard crowd, you can’t be honest enough for one miserable second in your lives to admit what we all know to be true–that you can’t run on your positions, because you’re so far around the bend you can’t see it from where you’re standing, so you instead try to hijack a party for support you otherwise wouldn’t have received in a million years.

And SOME, “very serious legitimate complaints?” Sweetheart, I wouldn’t trust that drugged up anti-American lying douchenozzle with a burnt-out match. And I suspect that might be more than he should be allowed to handle. Yeah, look at it where I’m standing–Honor, Courage, Commitment. Show me where Kokesh has any ONE of those qualities. Just one.

Debra

NHSparky, just because the majority of Republicans have forgotten what it means to be a Republican and don’t have the gonads to live up to their own rhetoric is no reason for someone who DOES (speaking in a generic sense), to not run on the Republican ticket.

For some perspective, please remember that Ron Paul was ALWAYS a conservative Republican and Constitutionalist. He was a Republican before the Libertarian Party even formed (he did run one year on the LP ticket). The problem is that you all don’t seem to have any sense of history, even recent history, or of the US Constitution (granted, the same is true of most of the newcomers who are Ron Paul fans). This lack of perspective and sense of history seems to be a deficiency on your part; not that of the conservative libertarians who would like to restore some kind of Constitutional Republic working through the conventional two-party system rather than through what is widely known to be a completely ineffective third party.

If you don’t want to support Kokesh, that is totally fine with me. I frankly don’t have a strong opinion about Kokesh, the person, one way or the other. I have never met the man, have never communicated with the man (except one time he called me on blind political call and had no idea who I was); he doesn’t know me from Adam. In fact, you and I know each other better than Kokesh and I do, and we only know each other through this forum.

I do have strong political passions with regard to the defense of freedom. But you all spend so much time tearing down Kokesh, I can’t tell if the same is true of you or not. I’m far more interested in knowing that than whether or not you support Kokesh.

Susan

Debra,

Here is the reality – Kokesh the man is running for office. Therefore, people in this forum are discussing Kokesh as a candidate. His actions show that he is a piece of trash that good Americans should pick up and throw in the garbage.

There is an expression that bad facts make bad law. If Kokesh is the front man for your points of view, I strongly suggest you reevaluate your points of view. As to Dr. Paul, well, I know some people who went to medical school with him and according to them, he was always a bit “off.” When you associate your beliefs with people like Kokesh and the Pauls, you force others to question your intellect. I live in Georgia. There were people who supported that idiot Cynthia McKinney because the guy running against her was just as liberal and if Cynthia agreed with sane people, sane people reevaluated their position.

Now it is possible to be both fiscally conservative and against the Iraq war. If that is your position, then I suggest you need to minimally act in a responsible manner.

People with any sense of history know that associating with demonstrations and marches put on by groups like the IVAW and ANSWER embolden the enemy and are bad for the moral of the troops. In short, as we see when looking at the Vietnam era with an unbiased eye, they are counterproductive. Look at the contemporaneous records of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese; they say as much. Instead, write letters or donate to candidates who do represent you; unless of course people like Kokesh truly represent you, in which case I will assume you are a complete idiot and simply ignore you.

Debra

You can, of course, assume whatever you wish regardless of the facts. Personally, I seldom assume anyone is a complete idiot…though it is tempting at times.

NHSparky

Oh, goody–now Debra comes off with the tired meme of, “If you don’t support Dr. Nutz, you’re not a ‘true’ conservative.” Get over yourself, toots. Paul is a hypocrite, an anti-Semite, and delusional–and so are most of his followers. Trust me, I’ve had run-ins with them, to the point one of them called my work and tried to have me fired–thankfully, her attempt was unsuccessful. Her actions and mindset are typical; think as we do, or be derided for it. In that vein, Kokesh/Paul/et al, are the very antithesis of conservatism, that of freedom of the individual.

Fact: Kokesh isn’t qualified to run pantyhose, and the sooner you get that through your skull, the better off we’ll all be.

Michael Maresco

The war-mongers walked right into Bin’Lyin’s trap. Quagmires and global police actions that are bankrupting us and dividing the people from the real threats to America; Career Politicians. It ain’t the which color has the White House, or the People’s House, they are all crooks laughing at us as people like most here pound the drums of war and lead the unsuspecting deeper into the trap. Fact is that the “peace marches” scare the hell out of the various hellbent fanatics who want to do us harm. They know if we stopped our insane nation building and policing of the world; if we stopped our ineffective torture and killing of non-combatants; if we stopped all that and just concentrated on defending our borders, with carrier groups for forward operating bases; if we just stopped acting like “WE RULE THE WORLD!”;…

…they would run out of recruitment propaganda real quick and would be the laughingstocks of Islam, or in jail. Kinda like the “god hates fags” church and the Abortion Clinic bombers are here.

What is sad is watching those who you who have nothing better to do than to lie about, and virtually spit on, a combat vet, while gleefully cheering on those who defend and advocate internment camps for Americans.

And yes, Kokesh is on the ballot, partly in thanks to local vets who see through the BS some of you are spewing…

TSO

This Michael cat is Nucking Futs.
http://libertyrider.com/about/the-rider/

Thought to be an oath keeper you had to be military?

He has been a waiter in NY, a construction worker in Florida, a salesman in California, a commercial fisherman with the Alaskan Salmon Fleet, and a douchenozzel on This Ain’t Hell.

Debra

NHSparky, as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve had my own EXTREMELY unpleasant run-in with a Ron Paul follower, and I’m likewise sorry to hear of how one them treated you. That is just crazy.

Nonetheless, I don’t agree with your assessment of Ron Paul’s character, and not all of his supporters are crazy. For the life of me, I can not figure out why you all are so upset about him. Honestly, I can’t tell who is more upset about him – anti-libertarian conservatives, or supporters of Cynthia McKinney. I am not kidding. I met a midwife at a social gathering when Ron Paul was campaigning for president and was shocked to hear the venom spewing forth from her mouth about Ron Paul, all of it false. She truly hated him. However, I’m tired of talking about Ron Paul; it has become a waste of time.

I’m likewise tired of talking about Adam Kokesh and am not going to discuss him any further either.

One last thing, NHSparky, WHY are you calling me “Toots”? If you want to call me Sweetheart or Darling, that really wouldn’t bother me so much as it is at least somewhat amusing; I wouldn’t even care if you called me Grandma or Granny; it would simply bring me pleasure thinking about my grandbabies. I’m not an uptight person. But calling me “Toots” is just plain ridiculous. It’s like low-class; it’s not me at all. Do you call me this because it serves as a way of de-personalizing me, which allows you to speak to me in a disrespectful manner without so much as a twinge of conscience?

If that’s not the case and you’re simply doing it because you’re unaware that it can be perceived as unpleasant, then I’d like to ask that you try to put forth just a little more effort in how you address me.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

NHSparky

Dear Mike–there are a lot of “combat vets” here who saw a lot more lead flying downrange (and inbound) than Kokesh ever did.

Or you, for that matter.

Kokesh isn’t on the ballot “thanks to local vets”. I’ve spoken with some folks from the Legion and VFW who served in the same timeframe as me, and also like me, are members of both organizations. Mention the name Kokesh, and you’re liable to get your ass laughed out of the place, if you’re lucky.

NHSparky

Debra,

Look at Paul. Look at his newsletters. Look at the company he keeps, or at least refuses to distance himself from. Here’s a guy who votes against spending bills because of all the “waste”, yet has no problem at all taking $400 MILLION for his district in ONE YEAR–roughly eight times the average. Nah, Paul’s got you BS’ed, but good.

Debra

I Googled that and came across this interesting transcript:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22342301//

And it’s not a matter of that he has me BS’d. For one thing, I don’t look at any politician or statesman as though he is some kind of god. Frankly, I think that one problem that you all have is that you put too much stock in government officials and politicians. They’re really not as important as what you seem to make them out to be. All of the most important things in life are NOT found in Washington DC. Politicians are human. They’re fallible. They’re full of contradictions…as is our whole system. Life is imperfect. I think you’re expecting Jesus Christ or something to be the President…or at least Moses, which is totally unrealistic, and this is why you’re so critical.

But let’s turn the tables around. Instead of my continually trying to defend candidates or politicians who you clearly and uneviqually reject, who would you suggest? Who, in your eyes, would be a viable candidate who believes in the good in America, supports and defends liberty and the US Constitution, and who represents your views overall?

This should be good…

CRaissi

“Dear Mike–there are a lot of ‘combat vets’ here who saw a lot more lead flying downrange (and inbound) than Kokesh ever did.”

I love it when people mention this as the standard for judging someone. It is the military version of a dick measuring contest.

Kokesh received the Combat Action Ribbon. As far as any Marine is concerned, he’s seen combat. The quantity is irrelevant, and absolutely meaningless.

Want me to prove that it is meaningless? Give me your opinion of Smedley Butler.

NHSparky

The criteria for the CAR is damn near a joke. I know Navy guys who never heard a shot fired in anger who have them. Your point? I can guaran-fucking-tee you that I’ve been a lot closer to the bad guys than you or Kokesh ever were, I just don’t have the bling to prove it. Don’t believe me? Ask guys like nucsnipe. Oh, and for your edification, Mr. Raissi:

http://www.marines.mil/news/messages/Pages/2006/ANNOUNCEMENT%20OF%20CHANGES%20TO%20THE%20ELIGIBILITY%20CRITERIA%20FOR%20THE%20COMBAT%20ACTION%20RIBBON.aspx

Bottom line–Kokesh didn’t shit his pants and run away, ONCE. Doesn’t give him a free pass for the shit he’s pulling now. That ain’t comparing dick sizes, dicknose.

Claymore

If Kokesh is such a paragon of libertine/republican virtue, then where are the volumes of his deep philosophical opposition to the Iraq war prior to him getting busted for dragging home illegal war trophies…you’ll excuse me if I don’t wait around holding my breath on that one.

CRaissi

The ALMAR you linked does not set the criteria as “not shitting your pants and running away.” What it does is allow for people maimed and killed in IED attacks to receive the distinction of having been in combat. The problem they were trying to correct were the Wounded Warrior barracks full of mangled Marines with Purple Hearts but no Combat Action Ribbons. The utter stupidity of awarding someone a Purple Heart as a result of wounds received from enemy engagement, but not being awarded a Combat Action Ribbon, was apparent to everyone (except you, evidently). While recognizing that not all Purple Hearts will result in a Combat Action Ribbon, the ALMAR changes the criteria from a “combat fire-fight or action” to “engagement” and specifically includes language allowing for IEDs to be included in the definition of that term. Besides, how the Navy and Marine Corps apply that criteria is vastly different. When I was in Iraq this incident happened involving a Navy ship in Jordan: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/19/AR2005081900287.html It received indirect fire in the form of two rockets. All the Navy personnel on the ship were awarded the CAR, but the Marine personnel were not. A lot of us in Iraq at the time were aware of the language regarding “sustained missile” attacks. We had been under indirect fire for the length of our deployment, some of us a year. Looking at those Navy guys get one from two little rockets that missed their ship made us wonder if we’d be getting one. Like the Marine personnel on that ship, we did not. Most of us then realized that award criteria aren’t objective, but subjective and determined by each commander differently as laws and statues are interpreted differently by each lawyer who reads them. My quarrel is with your assertion that having experienced more combat makes someone a more qualified person to speak about military issues. We both know this is bullshit, as you’ve just shifted your criteria to proximity rather than number of engagements. You’ll use combat experience to bolster your opinions if it suits your purposes, but if it… Read more »

blakmira

Debra, the people on here despise both Kokesh and Ron Paul because they are both vehemently against undeclared and unConstitutional war on third world countries and have stopped believing in any of the several different lies about why we’re still over there “fighting for our freedom.”

Wartards on this blog (and mainstream Republicans in general) have been brainwashed by the media. They didn’t learn anything from the debacle of Viet Nam. They think the answer to everything is blowing civilians up in third world countries, raping the land of all its resources, and then bragging that they’re somehow “winning” in the fight against “terrorism,” even as the bodies pile up.

After seeing the documentary Road to Guantanamo recently about the 3 British Muslims who were tortured and imprisoned for 2 years there, I severely wonder if any one of those people in Guantanamo are even terrorists at all. I certainly have no doubt that most of the people being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are innocent civilians and that these soldiers are trained to be sadists.

You just can’t talk sense into a Wartard. They’d never admit that soldiers are just dumb animals to be used as pawns in foreign affairs to make the military industrial complex richer. They get off on the macho blood, guts and power of reigning over the helpless. Plus I think they’re really jealous of Adam Kokesh’s speaking prowess and obvious high IQ.

As for Cynthia McKinney’s crowd, they badmouth Ron Paul because they’re resentful he speaks the truth about everything except 9-11. They just don’t get it that Ron Paul is wise enough to realize he dare not open that can of worms and he’s certainly got enough other issues to concern himself with. Let Loudmouth McKinney do it.

UpNorth

“raping the land of all its resources”? Really, Blakmira? Now, I’ve seen all the containers being offloaded in various ports, containing all of those “resources” from A-stan. You know, all of those rocks, and dirt. And the “raping” of Iraq must be the explanation why gas suddenly dropped down to about $.25 a gallon. NO, wait, it didn’t. Care to explain that?
Holy Bee-jeebus, you come here and beclown yourself with shit like that? But, the absolute best has to be, “they’re really jealous of Adam Kokesh’s speaking prowess and obvious high IQ”. Seriously, you owe me a keyboard, cuz I couldn’t help myself, I spewed a cup of coffee all over it when I read that crap.

trackback

[…] H/T:  This Ain’t Hell […]

glenn

“…didn’t know that Tea Party candidates were people who’ve never had jobs …”

Huh? Explain Sarah Palin.

What job has she done?

She had a short stint as a sports reporter.

She was mayor of a debt-free town for a couple years… and left it $2 million in debt.

She quit every other government job.

What private sector job did she have? The car wash was an investment. It never washed a car. They bought it for land value.

Helping Todd on the Fishing Boat qualifies for President. Okay then.

usnretwife

LOL, Jonn. I didn’t check in for a few days and came back to see what you’ve stirred up! I didn’t have my daily dose of comedy yet today so it did me good to read Debra and her friends’ (Michael M., CRaissi,blakmira, glenn) posts! Thanks! Now I can get on with my day with a smile on my face.

NHSparky

Chris–he was in a CIVIL AFFAIRS UNIT. CAR or not, it wasn’t an everyday occurrence with Kokesh. Dick sizes notwithstanding, as I stated before, combat veteran or not, regardless of criteria used or how much trigger time one had, does NOT, repeat NOT, excuse his stealing weapons, telling field-grade officers to “Fuck off”, his association with Code Pink, et al, lying about being discharged as a SGT under honorable conditions, etc., etc., etc., to say nothing of the Xanax and piss in the refrigerator.

IOW, Sergeant, he’s about as useful as a football bat, and the people of the district deserve to know he’s a Grade-A shithell.

Capiche?

Debra

usnretwife,

Excuse me for my frankness, but your comments struck me as patently silly. The people you call my friends I don’t even know or ever had communication with (to my knowledge), except for CRaissi. I have always maintained personal and professional relations and friendships with people who are not in agreement with me on the war or other other controversial matters, or with whom such subjects never even come up. It is no threat to my personal sense of security or self-esteem to engage with people who hold opposing views and I’m even capable of doing so while maintaining positive communciations. I think it’s important for one’s social development to learn how to relate with and get along with diverse people and seek common ground, particularly with regard to mutually held values. It’s ultimately self-destructive to do otherwise. If your amusement and sense of security is derived primarily from putting down and making fun of people who think differently than you and clustering together only with those who you consider to be your “own kind” rather than interacting with the larger world (which I believe is a far smaller world than you’ve possibly imagined, but I won’t go there), in a mature manner, you might want to seriously re-evaluate your personal motives and progress of your social development.

Just doing the best I can to politely tell you to get a clue.

Claymore

Oh for fuck’s sake…I think I’ll go read a shit load of Bob Barr’s lunatic rantings to cleanse my eyeballs after reading that rambling, self-absorbed horseshit.

Debra

Well then, why don’t you just go do that Claymore! Maybe you’ll learn something for a change…

Claymore

What, that aliens live in Area 51 and the postal service is a front for international military consortiums that are in collusion with the Bilderbergers and the Cub Scouts? These aren’t the droids you’re looking for…

NHSparky

God knows we won’t learn much from reading your missives, which serve only as a waste of time and bandwidth. Like I said, I gave you credit for being at least marginally intelligent, Debra. I won’t make that mistake again.

Debra

That’s your problem, NHSparky, not mine. I’m sorry you have such an unhappy life that you have to go around insulting people just to make yourself feel better. But it’s your choice.

NHSparky

Wow–that must be a record for your shortest post. And for the record, if a candidate I supported was revealed to have the same personal issues Kokesh does, he’d no longer have my support. Too bad you don’t posess the same level of integrity regarding the required moral qualifications and maturity to be a representative of the people. So what if he’s a douchebag–he’s YOUR kind of douchebag who stands for what YOU want. Yeah, speaks volumes, Debra.

Debra

Did I not say that I’m tired of talking about Adam Kokesh? I can tell you I would not have hesitated to bust him were he on my watch. But go ahead and act like your opposition to him is all because of his law violations rather than his political philosophy. It’s his political philosophy you most strongly oppose, more so than his personal problems and moral failures, and you know it. I’m done with you.

NHSparky

You’re so tired of bringing up the subject, yet you can’t resist having to have the last word. Priceless. And no, I never said my opposition to him was ALL based on his behavior. I do recall having stated on several occasions that his political philosophy is incompatible with conservatism and his claim to be a “good Republican” is complete and utter bullshit. But hey, now you’re just trying to pick the fly shit out of the pepper.

And no, you’re not “done with me.” You’ll still reply. You can’t help it. To quote a line from The Breakfast Club, “Toots, you couldn’t ignore me if you tried.”

JonP

I do not support that POS Kokesh but I do support Dr. Paul. Paul seems to draw some real nutcases out there but would anyone like to argue over his demands to audit the Fed or his views on monetary policy? Why he lets Kokesh anywhere near him is a mystery. Seems like Paul is kinda naive about people.

Claymore

Ron Paul’s minions are Ron Paul’s albatross.

UpNorth

“I’m done with you”. Sigh, if only……

TSO

“his political philosophy you most strongly oppose, more so than his personal problems and moral failures, and you know it”

I’m not sure I get what she was going for here. My problem with Adam is he has no underpinning at all. He’ll be for whatever he is for or against based on virtually nothing. he was for the war, even volunteered to go back, before he got busted and turned against it. He’s like a ship let loose on a lake, he’ll go wherever the fucking wind blows him. His only political philosophy is the same one he’s had since 6 weeks, what will this do for Adam?

Debra

TSO, if what you say is true that Adam has no underpinning and goes whatever way the wind blows, then that truly does concern me. I have seen that type of thing before — coming in like gangbusters only to turn into a liberal democrat in the end. That type of thing is far more disappointing to me than any personal foibles or weakenesses.

Jason

It was actually me who stole money from the IVAW Milwaukee funds. Not John DeWald. Later another member split with some funds also, the very funds I paid back. In preparation for Winter Soldier Dewald and myself raised over 1600 to send veterans from Wisconsin. Dewald’s leadership was instrumental in motivating our chapter. I was the main fundraiser and treasurer. At no time did DeWald ever have access to the funds. I had a PTSD breakdown and got drunk, gambled away half the funds, and attempted suicide before finally spending 3 days at the VA inpatient where DeWald dutifully visited me and assured me that if I paid back the funds and got help it could all be worked out. He resigned because some lady named Selena was working with right wing bloggers to bring down IVAW. Even he resigned because of her slander she continued. I even got Aaron Hughes involved to try to get her to stop posting negative comments about him on her blog. Dewald’s behavior around Winter Soldier was provoked by Selena and her right wing friends “The Freedom Eagles” or something like that who were going to bring guns to the event and attempt to harass and intimidate us. Being a big guy Dewald was making it clear to the eagles that we would not be intimidated. As for the stealing of funds, that was me Jason Moon, after treatment I paid them back in full. I have since resigned because veterans work triggers my PTSD, but still strongly support the cause. Peace

Army Sergeant

Jason:

You’re right. DeWald didn’t actually steal chapter funds. He threatened to steal them unless I was kicked out. And I’ve got copious documentation that DeWald really said and did the things he did. Including outing my IVAW identity while I was on active duty, not to mention calling me a cunt and a whore just because he didn’t like me. I’m glad he took care of you, man, but he was a royal asshole to just about everyone else, and sexist to the core.

Claymore

And let’s not forget Mr. Necro-Viking’s numerous death threats and not so thinly veiled promises of violence to milbloggers who dared to show up at WSII.

Debra

NHSparky, you’re so right. I wouldn’t want to disappoint you (nor UpNorth).. Since I’m over 50 and culturally illiterate, I never heard of The Breakfast Club. So I Googled it and discovered that The Breakfast Club is a movie. One review of it said, “Worst thing about the movie is that it temporarily convinced a significant proportion of society that Simple Minds were actually worth listening to.”

NHSparky

Yo, toots–might help if you sourced that quote. Would go a long way to credibility. Oh wait–some geriatric Brit wanker on Netflix is your sole-source review?

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Classic-Film-2786/breakfast-club.htm

Not exactly Siskel and Ebert, huh?

Aw, shit. Busted again, Debra. Once again, your reasoning is as shallow as your research. Johnny, what do we have for our loser today?

Trust me, your illiteracy goes way beyond the cultural realm. Your posts keep showing how little you really look into a subject before jumping in with both feet. I’d warn you, but something tells me, 1–I’d be wasting my time, 2–on the off chance you DID listen, I’d miss a pretty good train wreck.

CRaissi

NHSparky – I am not at all aware of your service history, but when I was in the Marines we tended to respect people who had combat experience. When SgtMaj Estrada came to my unit and gave a diatribe about Cpls and LCpls with Silver Stars acting like their shit didn’t stink, he was overwhelmingly looked at as an asshole. No, combat service does not render one immune from basic rules regarding good order and discipline. What I am saying is that someone who has served in combat should not have their service questioned by saying he didn’t experience enough, or wasn’t close enough when he did experience that combat.

If you think his relatively recent drug use calls into question is abilities to function as an elected representative, then I’d have to say that I agree with you. That being said, why question the validity and substantiality of his combat service? Just go ahead and talk about how he abused illegal drugs and stored clean piss in his fridge. That speaks to personal decision making, completely independent of his combat experience. You get to stay on subject without sounding like a dick for questioning his war record.

Personally, I like Kokesh’s politics. That said, I’m not sure I would vote for him. I met him at the IVAW convention in 2008 where he was walking around with a bald head, beard, and wife beater, rumored to be using drugs regularly. Then he gave a speech at the “shadow convention” and suddenly reinvented his image. That is more disconcerting to me than any accusations about his supposedly insubstantial war record.

CRaissi

Debra makes a post basically stating that we can disagree with one another without resorting to vitriol and hatred, then people lash out and insult her.