Moonbats on Parade

Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
 

Somehow the photos that I took at last March's Chicago anti-war march were misplaced (actually the drive that held them was misplaced) but the photos have been found and this is my favorite.

70 Missions Over Europe

This Memorial Day Post has previously been posted, it is about the late Art Barton, Chicago Attorney and WWII Hero.

70 Missions Over Europe

This post from last Memorial Day is very appropriate again this year; as it may be every year.

As we give thanks to America’s veterans and soldiers this Memorial Day our prayers and thoughts turn to those who did not make it home; my thoughts today have also turned to those I have known who did make it home. Last weekend I attended a memorial service (on Armed Forces Day) for Arthur H. Barton, a man I wrote about here and alluded to here. At the time I was writing from some old memories but today, thanks to Art’s daughter Lesley, I have Art’s war record in front of me and it is impressive. During Art’s ceremony, one that included the very moving military Flag Ceremony, Art’s brother-in-law quietly alluded to the fact that Art had flown 70 missions over Europe and how he had known Art for years before he learned of that fact. As he slowly repeated “Seventy missions over Europe” it was clear that those of his generation know how incredible and important Art’s achievement was. Quite simply, Art could have been buried in a farmer’s field in France.


When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Art was a 20 year old Chicagoan selling furniture during the day and attending Northwestern University at night. Like so many of his contemporaries Art soon joined the military, in his case the Army Air Force. Art trained in Santa Anita, California and received his Navigator Wings in October of 1942, about the time that he turned 21. Second Lieutenant Barton was assigned to the 453rd Bomb Squadron, 323rd Bomb Group, which was part of the 8th Air Force. In April 1943 Art was stationed in Earls Colne, England as a navigator/bombardier. Art flew in the Martin Marauder B-26 medium bomber named “Goatee Hell”.


Among Art’s military awards were two Purple Hearts, the first for being wounded on a mission over Martinvast, France and the other for being injured on D-Day. One of Art’s proudest moments was serving as lead navigator on two low-level bombing raids in support of the D-Day landings, June 6, 1944. During his second mission on D-Day a Nazi anti-aircraft shell-burst shattered the Plexiglas nose that Art was seated in; he died earlier this month with some of that shrapnel still in his body.


Art served with and remained friends with a number of his old crew members including: pilot Col. Robert (Bob) H. Adams, co-pilot F/O Robert “Brownie” K. Brown, engine gunner S/Sgt. Clarence “Blackie” M. Blackmore and radio operator-gunner Sgt. Archie “Russ” Russell Martin. Of course Art also had a war-time nickname, it was “Buzz”. The group flew most of their missions over France, Holland, Belgium and the submarine pins in Norway.


One of Art’s amusing war time memories was of the time that the B-26 “Marty Marauder” crashed into their base and right into the “Goatee Hell”, wrecking both planes. Their Master Sergeant George Feehan was not about to lose 2 planes in one crash so the crews spent the next 3 weeks welding the good halves of each plane to each other. The new plane featured the nose of the “Goatee Hell” (veteran of 51 missions) and the tail of the “Marty Marauder” (veteran 57 missions); unfortunately I do not know the name of that B-26 mashup.


After leaving Europe Art trained French officers at Selfridge Field in Michigan and Barksdale Field in Louisiana. After that Art participated in the Seventh War Bond Drive. The 23 year old First Lieutenant Arthur H. Barton was honorably discharged from the Army Air Force on June 14, 1945 after being awarded the following decorations:

The Distinguished Flying Cross

2 Purple Hearts

The Air Medal with 2 silver and bronze oak leaf clusters

The European Theater Medal with 2 battle stars

American Theater and Liberty Medals

Thank You Art and Thank You to all who served honorably.

My initial post on the life of Art Barton can be found here, it contains a few great tidbits that are not contained in this post like:
As Art went from plane to plane during the war he amassed so many missions that the Air Corps wanted him out of the theater and back in America selling War Bonds as a bona fide war hero. They were also worried that after so many missions he was starting to enjoy them. When Art was getting the necessary paper work done in order to return to the States, he was pulled out of line. The officers who pulled him out of line asked him if he would like to train for a secret bombing mission in the Pacific theater. Art replied that he had already cabled his mother to tell her of his imminent return and that he couldn’t disappoint her. Art likely would've trained for a mission to carry a nuclear weapon but he wouldn't disappoint his mother.

This post has also been included in Dr. Sanity's fantastic Carnival of the Insanities.

Hey Dan, Check the Oil, Will Ya?

What is going on up in Illinois' 10th Congressional District? Democratic Congressional candidate Dan Seals spent Thursday's lunchtime handing out $20 bills on the corner of Milwaukee and Half Day Road. Okay, he actually used donated campaign funds to sell motorists $41.49 worth of gas (10 gallons) at a Marathon station at that corner for $18.50. They used to just give out bottles of wine on election day around here, I guess that times change.

The Seals campaign stated that they chose the $1.85 price because that was the price of a gallon of regular back in 2000 when Rep. Mark Kirk (R) was first elected to congress. Something tells me that Mark will not be running on the dramatic drop in computer prices during the past eight years, but that would be just as dumb as the Seals stunt. Mr. Seals has a problem with the price of gas, he is a typical liberal Democrat. Mr. Seals is the type of Democrat who has passed laws and enacted regulations that snuffed out oil exploration in the most productive areas while stifling the growth of refining capacity. Add to that the byzantine fuel regulations that we have and there are gasoline problems galore before you throw in crude oil going from the mid-$20 per barrel to the mid-$130 per barrel in the last 8 years.

It was not clear in the linked Chicago Tribune piece what exactly Dan Seals and his campaign are trying to say with this stunt, the article focused on the obvious illegality of a candidate for the US House of Representatives giving random motorists in the district $22.99 worth of free gas while plying them with campaign literature. Complaints have been filed and nothing will be done until after the next time that Dan Seals runs against Mark Kirk. However I am interested in why they wanted to make this an issue when they can't articulate what Mr. Seals would do to change the market or why Mr. Kirk should be held responsible for world-wide market forces and Democratic policies.

It's not just Dan Seals, it is a problem throughout the Democratic Party, I heard sound clips of Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) haranguing some oil company CEO with another one of his "unconscionable" speeches, in this one he demanded lower gas prices. What Senator Durbin, a lawyer neglected is the fact that those oil company CEOs have a legal fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders not to voters. So in addition to nationalizing the evil oil companies the Democrats want publicly held companies to subsidize our gas bills. Maybe Dan has a radical new energy idea, his donors will subsidize our gas bills.

the Democratic Party - the Commiecrats?

Democratic Congresscreature Maxine Waters (D-Stalin) yesterday declared her desire to "nationalize" the oil industry. Waters, who with the rest of the Democratic Party has also aided the facsist narco-terrorists FARC in Columbia now thinks that she should control the oil industry. These Democrats need to be stopped. Michelle Malkin has the video of this disgraceful piece of shit, it is worth noting that the Federal Government makes almost as much off of a single gallon of pumped gas (not counting corporate income taxes) as the oil companies, sounds like they want to be another Mafia, the Demafia.

Prayers for Edward M. Kennedy

My prayers go out to Ted Kennedy and his family. I certainly have issues, policy and otherwise with the man but I can only wish a fellow Irishman the best of luck during the days ahead.

McCain and Lieberman Visited Chicago Exchanges

Photo Copyright: Flying Debris

Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (D-AZ) visited the floors of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) this morning. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-Rezko) was also at the exchange this morning, however for him I didn't even look up. The above photo was taken outside of the west edge of the Corn Options pit on the CBOT floor and if you look just to the left of Senator McCain you can spy another Senator, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT). Yes that would be the very same Senator Lieberman who was the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate in 2000 on the Gore/Lieberman ticket. I specifically thanked Senator Lieberman for his support of Senator McCain and commented that it was a gutsy thing for him to do, Lieberman's response was "we need him."

As I wrote in this post Senator Lieberman knows all too well the craziness of the nutroots and the far left progressive crowd that has been in ascendancy in the Democratic Party, that is the reason that he is now an Independent. Lieberman is an Independent who unfortunately and for the time being, caucuses with the Democratic Party. Thank you again Senator Lieberman.

It is worth noting that although the exchange membership generally leans center-right I did hear a few catcalls, all of them in support of Sen. Hilary Clinton (D-NY). I heard nothing in support of Chicago's own hometown hero Senator Barack Obama (D-IL).


Photo taken with an Apple iPhone.

Spicoli and Young Communist League Endorse Obama

Today Obama secured the endorsements of both the Young Communist League and Jeff Spicoli, who stated "the dude can get down" .

The hits just keep coming. First the Spicoli (Sean Penn) endorsement and now a commie youth group. Obama and his people have objected to people noticing that Obama has been endorsed by Hamas but come on, this latest endorsement is from the Young Communist League, USA. All of these merry Marxists have endorsed Obama for reasons that should be obvious, Obama is the closest thing to Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich the commie not John Lennon the Beatle) that has ever come close to becoming the President of the United States.

There have been some comments lately that Clinton is getting the non-college vote while Obama is getting the votes of the educated electorate. If the Democrats will make that argument to faces of their own party members just think of how far these people will go this fall. What those comments miss is the fact that college degrees don't necessarily connote common sense. One of best lessons that I learned in college was the power of crowds (and the madness that can accompany those crowds) and the need of some people for intellectual meaning that can sometimes be assuaged within a crowd. For some folks, the mere mention of Karl Marx and/or his ignorant ideas is enough to make them swoon because they had teachers and professors who spoke highly of his trash. Considering the human devastation wrought by the ideas of Marx the swooning is a disgrace that should reasonably label one as anti-intellectual.

10th Anniversary of Frank Sinatra's Death

Well, it's been ten years since the death of ol' Blue Eyes, the Great Frank Sinatra. My mother was a Sinatra fan as a teenager so his music, on thick vinyl LPs, was in the cabinet full of records in our home and they found their way onto our turntable. I guess that there is only so much Peter and the Wolf that a mom (and a kid, maybe) can listen to. When I was a college DJ I always tried to slip some Sinatra into my mix of seventies aor: Grateful Dead, Dave Mason, Sex Pistols,Frank Sinatra, Ramones, Jefferson Airplane, Staple Singers, Allman Brothers...

Frank Sinatra said that one of his favorite songs was My Kind of Town and just listen to him sing it, the song showcases his voice and abilities. It is also a great Chicago song, "each time I leave Chicago is, tuggin my sleeve, Chicago is..."

RIP Frank Sinatra.

She Ain't Goin Nowhere!

She is still in because "I am the strongest candidate" - "I never give up, I'll keep coming back" - "I am ready to go head to head with John McCain." - "I am winning the swing states." The she is of course, Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Hilary Clinton (D-NY).

As I wrote in ...But If You Go Carrying Pictures of Chairman Mao, You Ain't Gonna Make it With Anyone Anyhow..., "(a)dd this to Obama's friends those wonderful spoiled-rich-kids-who-didn't-get-their-way-commie-terrorists and Barack's own Grand Wizard sounding preacher and I can see why Hilary Clinton will not leave this race until day one of the Democratic National Convention, at the earliest."

This is really getting fun, maybe I should plan a little trip to say, maybe Denver in August. I love a train wreck.

Hyde Park Group Demands New State

Chicago, May 10 - A diverse group of Chicagoans from the Hyde Park neighborhood have formed a committee to secede from Illinois, called "Obamanois Not Illinois" the group has been meeting secretly at Morry's Deli at 55th and Cornell since last fall. The group's spokesperson, wearing a stylish black bandanna over her face and a Von Dutch hat pulled down over her forehead requested anonymity and stated that until this week the group merely wanted to secede from Chicago. However when the group was apprised of Sen. Obama's recent declaration that United States has 57 or more states the group immediately revamped their mission towards statehood. "He'll need more states" the spokesperson said, relating that the group held a secret emergency brainstorming session at Morry's yesterday after hearing of the change, "we changed our name and everything. After we voted down Durbinois we thought that an Obama tie-in was perfect cause he's the next President and everything." When asked if statehood was was too much of a reach the spokeperson shot back, "Minister Farrakhan has his own Nation up on Woodlawn." The group was known as "Hyde Park - Think Village!" until the loose-knit coalition of Anarchists, Marxists, artists, musicians, community activists and local marijuana dealers met in what the spokesperson described as a "wildly excited state" to plan for "a possible violent confrontation with the Man."

When questioned about "the Man" the spokesperson stated that "Mayor Daley is the Man and the enemy, we want to take Hyde Park and make it our state!" A spokesperson for Mayor Daley declined comment as did the Obama campaign, which threatened to have me arrested if I called back.

As far as I know, the above is satire.

Publia at Wilmette asks if Barack is losing his bearings and Anne at the Backyard Conservative asks if Barack is channeling Teressa Kerry?

Chicago: the City That Works to Screw You

Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
Ticketed in Chicago for not having a front license plate after a city employee likely knocked it off after running into my truck.

This is an example of a city government run amok and not working for the citizens, it is a very minor example, yet it is illustrative of how city employees often work here in the Democratic utopia known as Chicago. I live near one of the offices for the City Revenue Department and their employees park on the street on my block, no big deal except for the guy who sometimes changes into his work clothes while blasting music at 5:30 AM. Well yesterday morning I happened to be out front at about 4:00 AM (I left a sprinkler running, doh!) and my truck that is always parked out front was fine and there was not a vehicle parked in front of it. When I left my house (around 7:15) there was a Lexus RS (a small SUV) parked in front of my truck and my front license plate and holder had been knocked off, they were lying on the street. Other than that the truck was fine. Not wanting to lose my front plate or get a ticket for not having one I went back inside, got the truck keys and put the plate in front window.

Now I find that situation to be an annoyance, if all you lose in a traffic or parking altercation is a few screws and plastic pieces then you got of easy. I didn't consider it a very big deal even considering that it was very likely that the person who whacked my car is a city employee whose job it is give out parking tickets. My problem started when I received a ticket today for not having a front license plate, the ticket was placed on the windshield over the front license plate (pictured above). That in a small way is how Chicago works, first they run into your car and then they ticket your car for having been run into. Welcome to Barack Obama's Democratic Chicago.

Famous Democrats and Pick-Up Trucks

Photo: Drudge
When I saw this picture of Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (D-NY) on the Drudge Report I quickly recalled the late presidential brother Billy Carter, Billy Beer, the "Red Neck Power" pick-up and of course, the Rodham brothers. I guess that Hillary is just a former Tammy Wynette fan getting back to her roots.

Photo Copyright: Conceptcarz.com

Billy Carter's famous pick-up, it's "Cast Iron" and he "Ain't Apologisin"

Photo Copyright: Gasoline Alley Antiques.com

The Revell model of Billy's pick-up, the "Redneck Power" Pick-Up

Another Cougar Sighted in Chicago!

CBS2 Chicago has reported on another cougar sighting within the city limits, this time at Lawrence and California Avenues in the Ravenswood neighborhood. That would be the second cougar sighting in Chicago this year and the second in the city's history. It is also worth noting that like last month's Chicago cougar, this one was spotted very close to the North Branch of the Chicago River, the river banks in the Ravenswood area are well wooded and there is a very large park south of there between Montrose, Irving Park, California and the river. Many of the "experts" in the media stated that the first cougar travelled via railroad tracks, in this post I stated that the cat likely followed the river, this latest sighting strengthens my opinion that these cats are travelling through the city by way of the river banks.

This is not the Change that I was Hoping for.

Hat Tip: Anne at the Backyard Conservative.

May Day Rememberance - the Victims of Communism

Here is a post dedicated to some of the millions of victims of the communist and socialist scourge. It is no coincidence that Karl Marx wrote his disgusting (and dull) nonsense at a time when chattel slavery was falling into disrepute. The new "boss" is the same as the old "boss". It also is not coincidental that the same types of people who fought against Lincoln and for slavery a century and half ago are now agitating for communism, same as the old "boss".

Commies, Commies, Everywhere - May Day in Chicago

Well, it's May Day, the international day of communist celebration and here in Chicago the local open-borders types got together with the local communists to march on the loop. These photos were taken on my walk from the Chicago Board of Trade Building to the Jackson Street el stop on the Red Line, a route that takes me right through the Federal Plaza.
Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
Chicago's Finest, joined by Illinois State Troopers stood guard on the streets outside of the Federal Plaza.
Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
"They Say Go Back - We Say Fight Back!" Lovely

Photo Copyright: Flying debris
Yes, that is a Mexican flag enmeshed with an American flag, this site explains how to properly display the American flag and it does not include any instructions on blending it with other flags. Sheesh.
Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
Drum circle.

Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
Commies with their flag, supplies and a bullhorn.

Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
In Chicago, people who face tough economic times become bitter and show up downtown vending conspiracy based pamphlets from folding tables. Here in Chicago the bitter just need some hope for a change.

Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
A couple of commie-chicks brought a grocery stroller to hold their commie flag. Very Bucktown.

Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
This guy was out on a closed off Dearborn Street riding another guy's shoulders while waving a Mexican flag but what caught my eye was the flag in the foreground. Could it be?

Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
Yep, it was an Anarchist flag. You really have to hand it to the couple with the matching tights, they drip dedication; however they did look like a house from Kansas could fall on them at any moment.
Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
"Making Revolution Through Emancipating Humanity", commie-chick chic is black on black with that uplifting message. The tee-shirt message also directs you to this hardcore communist web site, the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. Sadism takes all types.

Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
Another shot of that grocery stroller sporting a commie flag.

Photo Copyright: Flying Debris
Proper receptacle inside of the Jackson Street station of the Dearborn Street (CTA's Blue Line) subway.

All photos taken on an iPhone.

Welcome Malkin Readers and thanks to Michelle for the link. Check out the link for coverage that you won't get elsewhere. Michelle's site features a video by local bloggers the Freedom Folks, who were accosted by a local socialist thug in Union Park. The guy called MJ a fascist, those commies need help with their vocabulary. Also many thanks to Publia at the Wilmette blog and Anne at the Backyard Conservative for all of the links.