September 12, 2008

Joe Cook - Heading Towards #1 on YouTube: This Man Knows the Price of Freedom (Bumped)

Watch this until the end. Then email it to your friends. If you have a web page embed it there. Everyone in the country needs to see and hear what this man has to say. It is really the very least you can do for this American. And for your country.

UPDATE (with a hat tip to Don Surber who correctly notes "You can be damned sure that if the soldier said "€œDear Mr. McCain, the surge sucks" that we'd have his canonization by now." Remember Cindy Sherman?)

I put this video up last Saturday. I don't know what the count on YouTube was at the time, but I think it was in the low hundred thousands. Six days later the view count is over 5,600,000. It has been on YouTube for only 16 days.

This brave man made and sent his message with no thought for himself, much as he served and sacrificed. Now we know his name is Joe Cook. "Army Specialist Joe Cook, an Iraq war veteran, wounded by an IED in Iraq May 2007, lost his left foot and leg six inches below the knee. "

In the past, if there had been a YouTube phenomenon like this you would have seen it reported everywhere. Not in this climate. Still, it won't be long. I predict that by this time next year, the dying media will watch the YouTube charts like they now hang on Drudge. After all, if you can't buy a clue in your newsroom or off the AP wire, you've gotta get them from somewhere.

But it doesn't matter. Army Specialist Joe Cook has gotten his message out in a way that let's it be heard loud and clear.

Army Specialist Joe Cook really is an army of one. And I for one salute him.

Email this entry to:


Your email address:


Message (optional):


Posted by Vanderleun at September 12, 2008 9:39 PM | TrackBack
Save to del.icio.us

Comments:

AMERICAN DIGEST HOME

"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

Watched, rewatched, e-mailed onward.

To echo Bill Whittle: I have no idea whether our side will win; but I am suddenly very glad to be on that side. To the extent that I can claim to be on that side, which is pretty damn trivial compared to this gentleman's, or to McCain's.

Thank you very much for posting this.

Posted by: Erich Schwarz at September 7, 2008 2:49 AM

Unlike the young man in the video, BHO only knows the price of BMWs and Chicago real estate.

Posted by: waltj at September 7, 2008 7:56 AM

Thanks for this Gerard, it made me weep with joy.

Posted by: David at September 7, 2008 3:37 PM

This chokes me up every time.
I bet the huge surge of views can be thanked by Mr. Limbaugh, he mentioned this video and Sgt Cook on his radio show Thursday and Friday.

Posted by: jp at September 12, 2008 10:31 PM

With all respect to the men and women in the military - my cousin is one of them - the greatest honor and dignity we can give to our military is to disentangle them from a conflict that goes way deeper than our simple ideas of "winning" and "losing". By all reports, the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government have stated that they want us to leave. We all know that an invading power cannot "win" an occupation. Especially when it's our presence in the region that is driving more and more recruitment into terrorist organizations. You won't stop a bees nest from stinging you by whacking it again and again with a stick.

The cost of the occupation in blood and treasure is draining the US economy and destroying american families.

If we keep a major presence there any longer, economically there will not be a United States left for our men and women to come home to.

The reality is the occupation is unsustainable and is driving us deeper and deeper into economic collapse.

I pray every day that the american people will look at the realities of the costs of this conflict, and the reality of what needs to be done, in honor of our troops, and in honor of Americas ability to continue to exist as a beacon for freedom and democracy.

God bless our troops, and god bless america.

Posted by: Joe at September 13, 2008 3:03 PM

John McCain skipped close to a dozen votes on Iraq, and on at least another 10 occasions, he voted against arming and equipping the troops, providing adequate rest for the troops between deployments and for health care or other benefits for veterans.

June 2006: McCain voted against a resolution that Bush start withdrawing troops but with no timeline to do so.

May 2006: McCain voted against an amendment that would provide $20 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health care facilities.

April 2006: McCain was one of only 13 Senators to vote against $430,000,000 for the Department of Veteran Affairs for Medical Services for outpatient care and treatment for veterans.

March 2006: McCain voted against increasing Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.

March 2004: McCain once again voted for abusive tax loopholes over veterans when he voted against creating a reserve fund to allow for an increase in Veterans' medical care by $1.8 billion by eliminating abusive tax loopholes. Jeez, McCain really loves those tax loopholes for corporations, since he voted for them over our veterans' needs.

October 2003: McCain voted to table an amendment by Senator Dodd that called for an additional $322,000,000 for safety equipment for United States forces in Iraq and to reduce the amount provided for reconstruction in Iraq by $322,000,000.

April 2003: McCain urged other Senate members to table a vote (which never passed) to provide more than $1 billion for National Guard and Reserve equipment in Iraq related to a shortage of helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, and tactical vests.

August 2001: McCain voted against increasing the amount available for medical care for veterans by $650,000,000. To his credit, he also voted against the 2001 Bush tax cuts, which he now supports making permanent, despite the dire financial condition this country is in, and despite the fact that he indicated in 2001 that these tax cuts unfairly benefited the very wealthy at the expense of the middle class.

So there it is. John McCain is yet another republican former military veteran who likes to talk a big game when it comes to having the support of the military. Yet, time and time again, he has gone out of his way to vote against the needs of those who are serving in our military. If he can’t even see his way to actually doing what the troops want, or what the veterans need, and he doesn’t have the support of veterans, then how can he be a credible commander in chief?


Obama's Voting record for the troops
in-depth: http://www.ontheissues.org/International/Barack_Obama_Homeland_Security.htm#Voting_Record

summary:

Improve veterans' mental health treatment & PTSD benefits. (Feb 2008)

Address the deficiencies in the VA system. (Jun 2007)

The cost of the Iraq war should not shortchange VA benefits. (Jun 2007)

Make sure the outpatient facilities work for veterans. (Jun 2007)

Comprehensive plan for our veterans healthcare. (Mar 2007)

Support veterans via the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act. (Aug 2007)

Voted NO on removing need for FISA warrant for wiretapping abroad. (Aug 2007)

Voted YES on limiting soldiers' deployment to 12 months. (Jul 2007)

Voted YES on implementing the 9/11 Commission report. (Mar 2007)

Voted YES on preserving habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees. (Sep 2006)

Voted YES on requiring CIA reports on detainees & interrogation methods. (Sep 2006)

Voted YES on reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act. (Mar 2006)

Voted NO on extending the PATRIOT Act's wiretap provision. (Dec 2005)

Voted YES on restricting business with entities linked to terrorism. (Jul 2005)

Voted YES on restoring $565M for states' and ports' first responders. (Mar 2005)

Sponsored bill for Iraq budget to be part of defense budget. (Jun 2006)

Restore habeas corpus for detainees in the War on Terror. (Jun 2007)

Establish global strategy to defeat al Qaeda. (Feb 2008)

vote with your head.

Posted by: Look At The Facts at September 13, 2008 3:36 PM

Hello, Mr. Look at the Facts,

I did. I'm voting for McCain/Palin.

Posted by: Gap-Toothed Doofus at September 14, 2008 11:08 AM

But what if Islam is a criminal conspiracy? Websites like this, http://www.prophetofdoom.net/ and http://jihadwatch.org/ say that Muhammad was a terrorist and his followers likewise terrorists. I agree that an army, or police force, is needed to control the Middle East, but I don't understand why China's army cannot help out. If Islam is a fake religion that practices murder and lawlessness, then we shouldn't allow people to practice it.

Posted by: Matthew Dickinson at September 15, 2008 1:33 AM
Post a comment:

"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated to combat spam and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.










Remember personal info?