Kissinger: Trump has no baggage

 

Henry Kissinger says Donald Trump is the “most unique” president-elect in his lifetime because the billionaire is not obligated to any particular group.

“This president-elect, it’s the most unique that I have experienced in one respect. He has absolutely no baggage,” Kissinger told CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS.” “He has no obligation to any particular group because he has become president on the basis of his own strategy.”

Kissinger, who served as the secretary of State under President Richard Nixon, met with Trump last Thursday in New York to discuss foreign policy.

More @ The Hill

Repost 2012: The Mourning Soldier & THE WANDERING STATUE

 

The Mourning Soldier

=====================

 

THE WANDERING STATUE

 

The legends of the Mourning Soldier were spread a few months after the inauguration. There were several tales about the wandering statue at night. Beside asking for drinking water, it was said that many times he helped young women under the threats of robberies or sexual assaults by scaring away the attackers. Another rural shop owner related that once the Mourning Soldier took the bag of a hundred loaves of French bread delivered every early mornings at the side of the statue before she could pick them up. She found out later that the loaves had been ... laid one at each grave.

The most famous story, however, was about an ARVN batallion

In a night during the 1968 Tet Offensive, a Vietnamese Marine battalion moved from Vung Tau to Saigon to reinforce the capital. The long convoy about 40 trucks was moving slowly when the foremost truck screeched to a sudden stop. The battalion commander on his jeep rushed to the leading truck , thinking that there might have been an accident.

The driver looked frightened and very excited. He told the battalion C.O. that while he was looking attentively at the road under the light beam from his truck, an infantry soldier in field dress with helmet and a rifle suddenly appeared on the highway about 15 to 20 yards right in front of his truck, waving his hands frantically to stop the convoy. The driver had to apply the brakes as hard as he could, trying to avoid running over the foolish soldier. After the trucks stopped, the soldier disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared.

The Marines found out that the Mourning Soldier was not far from their place. The apparition seemed ominous and worried them, so a small unit moved forward on foot for reconnaissance. At about two or three hundred yards ahead, the spearheading unit detected a North Vietnam regular force of battalion size waiting in ambush. The bloody fighting followed and the enemy force suffered heavy losses compared with the Marine battalion before they withdrew into darkness.

Months later, the Marine battalion held a memorial service in front of the statue to show their grateful thanks to the wandering statue.

                                                                                  *****

People living near the old National Military Cemetery or traveling along the portion of highway crossing the area are again telling stories of the Mourning Soldier. Now he does not asked for water, but for news of their wives and children. He often complains that since 1975, the Communist authorities have forbidden people from visiting and taking care of their relatives' grave sites. The worst thing, he said, was that after April 30, 1975, the Communists hung on the gate a board on which people read "Here the False Army soldiers were punished for their crimes."

During the Vietnam War, South Vietnamese military and civilian authorities were burying several ten thousands of Communist dead soldiers in jungle areas, in POW Camps or near populous villages, towns and cities. But none of the mass or individual graves having such humiliating sign.

In an English evening class in Saigon in 1988, a 18-year-old student whose father rested in the cemetery asked her teacher: "Is it true that after the Civil War 1861-1865, in many places of the USA, federal government buried dead soldiers of both sides in the same cemeteries without any mark of difference?"

The teacher, who had graduated in America and well read in American history, could only say : *"Sorry, I don't know."

He did not know whether or not one of his students was an under cover public security agent.

*In 1994 when I taught ESL in Saigon, one of these "public security agents" attended one of my classes. He wasn't a very good actor because it was obvious he hated me.:) At any rate, I purposely decided to teach "Business English" that night which I interlaced with much that I'm sure he didn't appreciate, but he never came back and I never heard anything more. All the other teachers were ex-VNCH officers, many of whom were waiting to go to the US.

 

(Source: vietquoc.com)

More @ VNAFMAMN

Decisions, decisions Sunday........

Up for sale we have a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1. This is a factory Q Code Mach 1 that has the correct engine and trans. It only has 33,842 miles showing on the Speedo. It has had a repaint but shows to have the factory interior. The marti Report Shows this to be one of only 1,274 Q code Automatic Cars built. The Q code indicates that it came with the 428 Cobra Jet Engine. In the paragraphs to follow we will give a brief description of the exterior, interior, and driveline of the Ford, but first we would like to tell you a little about us.

More @ Collector Car Nation

Dixie Rising - FOUR New Roadside Confederate Battle Flag Memorials Raised! 3 in NC & 1 in Virginia

On the heels of a blog post by one of the pseudo-historian, Confederate hating bloggers, declaring that the "Retreat of the Confederate Flag Continues", we received word today of THREE new Roadside Memorial Battle Flags that were installed today...one in Virginia, and two in North Carolina...this on top of one installed in the Old North State last week!

Someone really should tell Mr. Levin to stop making stuff up.  It just makes him look SILLY!

More with pictures @ The Virginia Flaggers

Kurdish Peshmerga Christians Restore Cross on St. George Church in Bashiqa, Iraq After Lberating Town From ISIS

Via Billy

KOBANE Revolution Peshmerga,PKK,YPG and YPJ Kurdish Female Fighters

Kurdish Peshmerga forces recently liberated the town of Bashiqa from ISIS occupation in Iraq.

The local Christians restored the crucifix on St. George Syriac Orthodox Church in the town.
ISIS destroyed all our shrines, looted many houses and burned them after stealing all the expensive furnitures.

Horrifying pics from #Bashiqa
ISIS destroyed all our shrines, looted many houses and burned them after stealing all the expensive furnitures pic.twitter.com/G2fzJ7EMgg

— #Yazidi (@Ezidi2) November 14, 2016

Christians restore crucifix atop St. George Syriac Orthodox Church in #Bashiqa,town was liberated by #Peshmerga forces from #ISIS #Mosul pic.twitter.com/bNlwEUknxg

— Aüd™ (@CodeAud) November 19, 2016

More with video @  The Gateway Pundit

CLASH POLL: Should Trump Make HILLARY Our Ambassador To LIBYA?

Via Billy

 

Is it time for Trump to stop talking about ‘locking her up’ and instead give her a sweet deal as an Ambassador?

She could be right there, on the ground, and know if there were ‘terrorists’ or a ‘spontaneous protest about a YouTube video’.

Poll @ Clash Daily

Pro-Trump Flash Mob Breaks Out at ‘Hamilton’ Theater in NYC + +

Via Billy

 

 

Video @ TRUTHFEED

 Broadway Union Takes Issue With ‘Hamilton’ Casting Call For ‘Non-White’ Performers

Donald Trump Supporters Call for ‘Hamilton’ Boycott in Defense of Mike Pence

Donald Trump, America’s first independent president

Via Billy

Viewed through any conventional lens, President-elect Donald Trump’s candidacy was improbable from start to finish. Today, two things about his victory seem to be in sharper focus: one, that Trump’s victory might best be understood as the success of the country’s first independent president, and second, that the Trump coalition may be even more uniquely his than President Obama’s has turned out to be.

Think again about how he prevailed. There are a handful of major events during a general election that give the nominees a chance to showcase themselves, their judgment and their vision. One is the selection of a running mate. Another is the staging of the conventions. A third is performance in the debates. Hillary Clinton did better than Trump on all three tests, though Trump’s team believes the debates did not fall so decisively in her favor.

More @ The Washington Post

Law Enforcement Hails Sessions Nod for Attorney General: Trump pick can end the 'destructive rhetoric and actions' of Obama's DOJ, say criminal justice figures

Via Billy

The pick of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions to be U.S. attorney general may have angered liberals and many on the far Left, like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

But law enforcement officials and criminal justice experts are rallying behind the pick of the Alabama Republican.

“I’m hopeful that the destructive rhetoric and actions initiated by the president and often echoed by Attorney General Holder that divides law enforcement from the citizens … becomes a distant memory under Sen. Sessions’ leadership.”

If confirmed by the Senate, Sessions will be the 84th attorney general. He would preside over the Justice Department, all U.S. attorneys and the FBI.

More @ PoliZette

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 Sessions on Confederate Flag Flap: 'It Is not Appropriate for Us to Erase History'

Trump Eyes Modern-Day Patton to Lead Pentagon: “I don’t lose any sleep at night over the potential for failure. I cannot even spell the word.”

Via Billy

'Warrior Monk' Gen. James Mattis emerges as frontrunner for secretary of defense

Retired Marine Gen. James “Jim” Mattis has emerged as a strong candidate for secretary of defense, according to reports out of New York City.

The retired four-star general would need clearance from Congress beyond a normal confirmation hearing. He would also need a waiver from current Pentagon rules because has not been retired for seven years or more.

“I don’t lose any sleep at night over the potential for failure. I cannot even spell the word.”

Federal law mandates that former military service members need to be retired from active service for seven years or more. Mattis retired in 2013.

But Republican President-elect Donald Trump apparently does not want Mattis to get rusty in the interim.

More @ PolyZette