I AM THE (REAL) WALRUS

OUT OF IRAQ

therealwalrus — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 18:14:15 +0000

The Iraq War is officially over….after nearly nine years. Early today, the last caravan of American troops crossed the border and into neighboring Kuwait. On the day this war started, back on March 20, 2003, The Real Walrus was there on the front lines as an embedded reporter with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). And, as irony would have it, a family member–my niece’s husband, a member of the Kentucky National Guard–was among the last Americans to leave Iraq.

The final U.S. death toll from the Iraq War is 4,487 killed. More than 32,000 were wounded during the war that toppled the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.

History will record that a Greensboro, N.C., soldier was the last American to die fighting the war.

David Emanuel Hickman was killed on Nov. 14 in Baghdad, when a homemade bomb exploded during a patrol by his unit. The 23-year-old soldier was buried last month after a large ceremony packed with family and friends.

One down…and one (Afghanistan) to go…

THE JOB CREATORS

therealwalrus — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:52:07 +0000

The Real Walrus really gets a kick whenever The Republicans start talking about their beloved JOB CREATORS. These are the millionaires and billionaires apparently who make it possible for the other 99 percent of us nobodies in this country to live a halfway decent life.

Nope we can’t do anything to upset the apple cart like raise taxes on the rich and make them pay a fair share. Only if they get richer will they create jobs for the rest of us poor folks.

Yeah, right…….Then, here’s a question for you: Things have been pretty good for the rich in this country for ten or more years. Where the hell are the jobs they’ve created? The answer is, of course, they aren’t creating any jobs…They are eliminating jobs so that they can create MORE PROFIT and get richer.

One of my former employers has HALF the number of employees he had just eight years ago. He’s profitable and still in business. This “Job Creators” crap is nothing but a myth.

Yes, The Republicans actually think everyone out here, except for them, are pretty stupid.

IS MICHAEL WITH ELVIS?

therealwalrus — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:17:45 +0000

The doctor charged with causing the drug-related death of Michael Jackson is standing trial in Los Angeles. It’s been more than two years since the King of Pop dropped dead. The world, for sure, has missed out on some great music.

Whatever you thought about Michael Jackson, you have to admit the man could sing and dance. He had no equal.

Some people apparently don’t want to admit he’s gone. Last week, The Real Walrus was watching a talk show and they were interviewing a few members of the Jackson entourage. One woman claimed she was confident Jackson was ALIVE, and he had faked his death in order to live a private life.

Damn. Talk about a conspiracy. But maybe it’s true. Michael used to be married to Lisa Marie Presley. Do you reckon he could be hanging out with Elvis??

THE VANISHING MIDDLE CLASS

therealwalrus — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 02:18:33 +0000

Because of an economy that continues to tank, life has become hard for millions of Americans, many of whom once had comfortable lives in the Middle Class. With joblessness out of control, America is now becoming a nation of two classes: The Haves and The HaveNots….

Today, one of the Talking Heads on television reported that 15 percent of Americans are now on Food Stamps….Then, there are the millions of other Americans who are swallowing their pride to visit Food Banks in order to make ends meet….Statistics don’t suffer, but people do…

The Real Walrus is looking for a glimmer of hope in this harsh world.

BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL

therealwalrus — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 02:04:59 +0000

Where does the time go? It’s been more than 35 years since I walked the halls of Fort Campbell High School….And, it’s been about the same amount of time since I’ve seen most of my classmates…..Thank God for today’s technology, which has made it possible to go BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL…You can’t change anything, of course. But, you can certainly relive some great memories….Millions are doing it these days through FACE BOOK….A simple click of a mouse on a computer can reconnect you with those special friends from the BEST YEARS OF YOUR LIFE…Who would have ever thought such an idea possible when we walked across the stage on Commencement Day in high school all those years ago? This holds especially true for the root-less graduates of Fort Campbell High School….Don’t we live in an amazing world???

MY MAN AT THE CIA

therealwalrus — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 01:49:03 +0000

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus relinquished command of the Afghanistan War today during a Change-of-Command ceremony in Kabul. He did a good job over the past two years, given the circumstances. The Good General, who calls The Real Walrus a friend, soon will end his military career to become America’s TOP SPY…

President Obama already has tapped the general to serve as the new director of the CIA. And with a smart salute, that’s where he’ll be at in the foreseeable future…HOOAH

PAUL WHO?

therealwalrus — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:28:22 +0000

Look what Sarah’s done now? She’s rewritten history and come up with a new story about Paul Revere…..You know the guy who took a ride on a horse and warned American patriots that the British were coming….

And now for the icing on the cake: Since becoming a laughing stock over the incident, the former Alaska governor just won’t take her lumps and admit her mistake. Sarah Palin lovers have begun messing with Wikipedia to change Paul Revere’s Ride to the Palin version of history…..Unbelieveable!!!

OSAMA’S PROTECTOR

therealwalrus — Fri, 06 May 2011 15:57:35 +0000

For almost 10 years, many Americans believed looking for Osama bin Laden, the world’s most notorious terrorist, was like looking for a needle in a haystack.It was like he had disappeared from the face of the Earth. Everyone had an opinion on where he might be found hiding…The Real Walrus was with the majority who would have bet the farm that he was lying low in some stinking mountain cave on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Then, out of nowhere, we found him. Actually, Navy SEALS found him this past Sunday and with two bullets ended the hunt for bin Laden.

So, where had Public Enemy No. 1 been hiding, at least for the past six years? In a MANSION in the Central Pakistan city of Abbottabad….The million-dollar compound, with walls and barbed wire, stuck out like a sore thumb in Abbottabad, a military town…In fact, Pakistan’s national military academy–its West Point–is only 800 yards away from the bin Laden mansion. In the irony of ironies, U.S. military officers were teaching classes at the military academy while bin Laden was living it up just down the street.

It’s inconceivable that the Pakistani government could not know that bin Laden was in Abbottabad. Those living in that town would have had to be deaf, dumb and blind…Yet, Pakistan insisted right up until the bin Laden raid that it did not know the whereabouts of the terrorist.

In recent days, a Talking Head on television said something pretty dumb: “WE SHOULDN’T MAKE WAVES BECAUSE WE NEED PAKISTAN TO HELP US FIND AND FIGHT THE TERRORISTS.”

No. The truth is we have no choice but to put up with Pakistan. It’s not in our interest to have an unstable country in Southwest Asia with 100 nuclear weapons.

It is what it is….

REAGAN TREASURE

therealwalrus — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 01:01:56 +0000

When a discussion turns to the subject of grief and sorrow, The Real Walrus can reach into his trunk of memories as a newspaper reporter and pull out what he believes is the saddest of saddest occasions….It was the visit of President Ronald Reagan to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on December 16, 1985.

Four days earlier, a jetliner carrying 248 Fort Campbell soldiers and eight crewmembers had fallen out of the sky over Gander, Newfoundland, shortly after takeoff. Everyone aboard was killed. At the time of the tragedy, the soldiers were returning home from a peacekeeping mission in the Middle East.

There was to be no Christmas that year in the Fort Campbell area. At a hangar at the Fort Campbell airfield, Reagan gave a moving speech, and then he and his wife, Nancy, moved into the audience and consoled family members of EVERY one of the 248 lost soldiers….There was not a dry eye in the place

I was there to witness that piece of history, and it has always stayed with me, no matter the time of the year.

DOZING OFF ON THE JOB

therealwalrus — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:41:11 +0000

When The Real Walrus boards an airplane these days, he no longer looks around suspiciously, picking out the passengers who could be terrorists wearing exploding underwear. In the irony of ironies, America has just learned that the real enemy might not even be on the plane.

He or she could be in a control tower…..SLEEPING…….If it had happened only once, then we could, and should, dismiss it….But now, every other day, there’s news of yet another sleeping air traffic controller…First it was in Washington, D.C., then Knoxville, Tenn., then Reno, Nevada and only a few days ago in Burbank, Calif.

What gives? Who’s trying to kill us…the terrorists or our government?? The Real Walrus is nervous and really misses the Friendly Skies.