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    9/11 Families Group Speaks Out Against PGA-LIV Golf Merger

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1

    A prominent 9/11 group is speaking out after the PGA Tour announced its merger with Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf.

    9/11 Families United released a statement slamming the PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan for partnering with the Saudi-backed entity, noting that Saudi operatives played a role in facilitating the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

    “PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan co-opted the 9/11 community last year in the PGA’s unequivocal agreement that the Saudi LIV project was nothing more than sportswashing of Saudi Arabia’s reputation,” said 9/11 Families United Chair Terry Strada, whose husband Tom died in the World Trade Center’s North Tower. “But now the PGA and Monahan appear to have become just more paid Saudi shills, taking billions of dollars to cleanse the Saudi reputation so that Americans and the world will forget how the Kingdom spent their billions of dollars before 9/11 to fund terrorism, spread their vitriolic hatred of Americans, and finance al Qaeda and the murder of our loved ones.”

    “Make no mistake – we will never forget, “the statement continued. “Mr. Monahan talked last summer about knowing people who lost loved ones on 9/11, then wondered aloud on national television whether LIV Golfers ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour. They do now as does he. PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed. Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window-dressing in their quest for money – it was never to honor the great game of golf.”

    The PGA Tour suspended 17 golfers from the tour for participating in LIV Golf, kicking off a year of lawsuits between the two golf entities. Eleven pro golfers sued the PGA for allegedly monopolizing competition. However, all 11 plaintiffs left the lawsuit by May of this year after LIV got involved as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, souring the public image of the golfer’s stated principled stand against the PGA.

    According to The Daily Wire, the PGA filed a countersuit in September, alleging that LIV golf had unlawfully aided the 17 golfers in violating their contracts with the PGA by offering them separate contracts to play for LIV.

    LIV Golf offered major golf stars huge payments to abandon the PGA Tour. Stars like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Bryson DeChambeau, were paid between $100k-$200k without having to win or even qualify for a single tournament.

    With the merger, all lawsuits have been dropped.

    The PGA Tour commissioner said the deal will push golf into the future and give fans the best experience.

    “Going forward, fans can be confident that we will, collectively, deliver on the promise we’ve always made — to promote competition of the best in professional golf and that we are committed to securing and driving the game’s future,” Monahan said.

    Former President Donald Trump has been a strong proponent of a merger between the two gold powerhouses.

    Last year, Trump accurately predicted a merger was “inevitable.”

    “All of those golfers that remain ‘loyal’ to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big ‘thank you from PGA officials who are making millions of dollars a year,” Trump posted on Truth Social in July 2022.

    “If you don’t take the money now, you will get nothing after the merger takes place and only say how smart the original signees were. Good luck to all and congratulations to really talented Cam Smith on his incredible win!”

    Trump, who hosted LIV Golf events at his golf properties, posted a response to the merger on Truth Social.

    “Great news from LIV Golf,” Trump posted on Truth Social in all caps after the announcement.

    Amanda Head: Tell Us What You Think – Coronation Edition

    By
    Amanda Head
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    2

    There’s a new King of England.

    Did you miss the coronation? Let Amanda spill all the juicy details!

    Watch this special coronation edition of The Hollywood Conservative below:

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Forget China, You Can Now Take a Balloon to Edge of Space

    By
    Paul Crespo
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    0
    Image via Pixabay free images

    ANALYSIS – Until now, only billionaires could afford to enter sub-orbital space. And it needed to be by high-powered rocket (think Jeff Bezos in his Blue Origin, or Richard Branson in his Virgin Galactic). 

    Star Trek actor William Shatner also did a flight on a Blue Origin’s rocket.

    But now you too can see the earth from 20 miles high. It will cost you just over $120,000 and it’s by a high-altitude balloon.

    And, no, it’s not aboard a Chinese spy balloon. These will be private companies running the trips.

    The billionaires in rockets still have one treat we can’t get – they can briefly experience weightlessness. They also go twice as high.

    Space officially starts at the Karman line, 62 miles above the earth’s surface. But for most people there won’t be that much of a difference.

    And at half the price, no training required, and a much softer, smoother ride, these edge-of-space balloons will be far more accessible and may become popular among the slightly less rich.

    And unlike the rockets, these balloons will give you a much longer ride, with luxury amenities, food, and drink.

    There now appears at least two companies on the verge of launching these space balloon trips. One is American and the other is French.

    Both seem to avoid mention of the 1937 Hindenburg hydrogen-filled dirigible disaster.

    The French company Zephalto with its Celeste balloon will provide Michelin-starred fine dining. It is partnered with France’s national space agency.

    These balloons filled with helium or hydrogen will depart from France with two pilots on board and six passengers and rise 15.5 miles into the stratosphere.

    Once at peak altitude, the balloon, carrying a pressurized capsule, will stay aloft for three hours, giving guests a chance to take in views previously seen only by astronauts. While in the air, passengers will be served high-end French food and wines.

    These near-space rides will start at €120,000 ($132,000) per person in 2025, Bloomberg reports.

    The other option will be Florida-based Space Perspective, which is testing its own passenger balloon, designed to reach the edge of space.

    Eight civilians and a pilot will be able to comfortably travel up 100,000 feet (19 miles) to near space in a reusable pressurized capsule carried by a gigantic hydrogen-filled balloon called Spacecraft Neptune – because Neptune’s atmosphere is predominantly hydrogen.

    The company operates out of leased facilities at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, but plans to expand to Alaska and Hawaii, and then possibly to other countries around the world.

    Flight will cost about $125,000 per person. And it plans to launch a year earlier than the Celeste.

    Neptune’s ride will be similar to the Zephalto balloons, ascending at a sedate 12.5 miles per hour. It will give passengers two full hours to observe 360° views of Earth rotating beneath them and space above.

    The overall ride will last six hours – two hours to ascend, two hours to float along the stratosphere, and two hours to descend into the Atlantic Ocean, where a recovery ship will be waiting.

    The capsule comes complete with luxury seating, refreshments, a restroom, and Wi-Fi (so you can post to Instagram or live stream on Facebook as you fly – because – of course). The company plans to offer flights for weddings, corporate events, and scientific excursions.

    Its flights are scheduled to begin in 2024, but the first batch of 600 tickets is already sold out.

    Bon voyage. No smoking aboard.

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Navy Seal Who Killed Bin Laden Blasts U.S. Navy’s Woke Recruitment Tactic

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    President Donald J. Trump is presented with a 10th Combat Aviation Brigade challenge coin following an air assault and gun rain demonstration at Fort Drum, New York, on August 13. The demonstration was part of President Trump's visit to the 10th Mountain Division (LI) to sign the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, which increases the Army's authorized active-duty end strength by 4,000 enabling us to field critical capabilities in support of the National Defense Strategy. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thomas Scaggs) 180813-A-TZ475-010

    Things have gone too far.

    After the U.S. Navy confirmed it hired an active-duty drag queen to recruit candidates the Navy Seal who was a part of the team that killed Osama bin Laden couldn’t help but share his reaction to the news.

    “Alright. The U.S. Navy is now using an enlisted sailor Drag Queen as a recruiter. I’m done,” Robert O’Neill, who said that he fired the shot that killed bin Laden in 2011, tweeted. “China is going to destroy us. YOU GOT THIS NAVY. I can’t believe I fought for this bulls***.”

    “You’re doing it wrong, @USNavy,” he added. “Talk to someone [who’s] actually done something! Not yeomen with t*** and a D***!”

    Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, who performs as a drag queen named “Harpy Daniels,” revealed in a November TikTok video that he would serve as the Navy’s first “digital ambassador.” 

    “From joining to 2016 and being able to share my drag experience on my off time with my fellow sailors has been a blessing,” Kelley wrote on Instagram in November when he announced his Digital Ambassador appointment.

    “This experience has brought me so much strength, courage and ambition to continue being an advocate and representation of queer sailors!” he told his more than 8,000 followers. “Thank you to the Navy for giving me this opportunity! I don’t speak for the Navy but simply sharing my experience in the Navy! Hooyah, and let’s go Slay!”

    In his Instagram video, Kelley said he is “being the representation of people who were oppressed for years in the service.”

    According to The Military Times, the U.S. Army missed its fiscal 2022 goal by 15,000 soldiers while the other branches of the U.S. military, with the exception of the Space Force, “barely made quota or had to pull extensively from their pools of delayed-entry applicants.”

    Wave of Chinese Spy Craft or UFOs Over the US?

    By
    Paul Crespo
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    0
    President Joe Biden delivers remarks in National Statuary Hall on the one-year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, January 6, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith)

    The U.S. military has now sh*t down four high-altitude aerial objects over the United States or Canada within a week.

    One object was the massive Chinese spy balloon downed off the coast of South Carolina Feb. 4 after it completed its eight-day journey conducting surveillance of sensitive military and nuclear sites across the entire United States.

    The three other objects remain unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) – the new term for UFOs.

    The Chinese spy balloon and UAPs are raising concerns over major gaps in North American security.

    On Sunday U.S. military jet fighters shot down its fourth high-altitude aerial object, an octagonal entity over Lake Huron, Michigan.

    Prior to that, on Friday, a second object was shot down over sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska. And a third object was destroyed over Canada’s Yukon on Saturday, with investigators still hunting for the wreckage.

    The U.S. military used AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range heat-seeking, supersonic missiles to bring down all four airborne objects.

    One Sidewinder reportedly missed its target and landed harmlessly in Lake Huron.

    Fox News reported:

    “First shot missed. Second shot hit,” Milley told reporters. “We go to great lengths to make sure that the airspace is clear and the backdrop is clear up to the max effective range of the missile. And in this case, the missiles land, or the missile landed, harmlessly in the water of Lake Huron.”

    While the weapons are primarily manufactured for U.S. forces, the missile is also sold in large quantities to a range of American allies, including South Korea, the UAE and Indonesia.

    Canada, which is part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) uses Sidewinders as well, but has not yet received its order of these latest, more capable, AIM-9X missiles.

    One ex Canadian Air Force general stated that the older Sidewinders still fitted on Canadian CF-18s could not take down these objects at that high an altitude.

    Canada’s Global News reported:

    Retired Canadian general Tom Lawson, who flew CF-18s before serving as Norad deputy commander and then chief of the defence staff, said Canada’s CF-18s currently use an older version of the AIM-9 Sidewinder.

    “When I was flying CF-18s, I did not have a weapon that would shoot down something over 40,000 feet if it was moving too slowly,” he said. “My radar wouldn’t have locked onto it. My heat-seeking missile, my AIM-9, would not have locked onto this thing.”


    Meanwhile, the downing of China’s alleged spy balloon by the stealth F-22 Raptor jet fighter marked the first time the 5th generation jet has shot down an airborne target, and may be the first time an AIM-9X was fired in anger since it debuted in combat in Syria and Iraq almost a decade ago.

    It was also likely the first time the missile was ever fired at the mind-boggling height of 60,000 ft, which is also near the top reported operational ceiling of 65,000 ft for the F-22.

    The rapid-fire series of shoot-downs over Alaska, Canada and Michigan beginning February 10, after the initial balloon downing near South Carolina on Feb 4, has raised pressure on the Biden administration to explain the nature of the high-altitude craft and whether they pose a threat to national security.

    From mid-October to December 2022, the National UFO Reporting Center catalogued some 1,255 new sightings of UAPs.

    One U.S. official attributed the rise in the sightings to boosted surveillance capabilities by the military and not a rush of new foreign objects flying over American airspace.

    However, later on Sunday, the U.S. Air Force general overseeing North American airspace said it still wasn’t clear how the objects were remaining aloft or being propelled through the air, or where they originated.

    He also said he had not ruled any explanation out – including extraterrestrial life.

    Since then, the U.S. government has announced that it suspects that three unidentified flying objects downed since last Friday were benign commercial or research craft and not linked to China’s alleged surveillance balloon program.

    The comments may ease concerns that China is conducting an even more aggressive surveillance effort against the United States than initially believed.

    They should also dampen fears of a UFO invasion.

    However, these sightings and downing of UAPs over North American airspace still appear to be generating far more questions than answers.

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Read the Manliest Christmas Card Ever, Courtesy of General Patton

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    6
    no data, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    The Christmas season brings together family and friends to share memories of seasons past and discuss the true meaning of the holiday.

    One little-known moment in America’s history is worth sharing with friends this Christmas season…

    During a decisive point during the Battle of the Bulge, General George S. Patton’s Third Army became bogged down in its drive to relieve the legendary 101st Airborne Division trapped at Bastogne, Belgium. 

    The besieged Americans has just successfully defended the vital crossroads town from a German force that outnumbered them by nine-to-one but frigid winter conditions had grounded the Allied air force, neutralizing their advantage in the air and leaving Americans at severe risk.

    With little hope of survival left Patton turned to his faith and requested Rev. Msgr. James Hugh O’Neill, chaplain of the Third Army, compose what became known as the “Weather Prayer.” 

    Here’s what it said:

    “Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.” 

    On the reverse side of the prayer card distributed to every GI under his command, Patton wrote:

    “To each officer and soldier in the Third United States Army, I wish a Merry Christmas. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We march in our might to complete victory. May God’s blessings rest upon each of you on this Christmas Day. — G.S. Patton, Jr., Lieutenant General, Commanding, Third United States Army.”

    A Christmas miracle brought clear skies the next day and American ground attack aircraft decimated the Nazis’ armored spearheads and the rest was history…

    Amanda Head: Trudeau Encourages Chinese Protestors After Squashing Canada’s Freedom Convoy

    By
    Amanda Head
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    0

    What a double standard…

    President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both worked overtime to squash anti-Covid lockdown freedom convoy protests in the U.S. and Canada but suddenly support the protest in China.

    Watch Amanda explain the hypocritical move below:

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Biden’s Dangerously Weak and Naive Meeting with China’s Chairman Xi – ‘Strategic Insanity’

    By
    Paul Crespo
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    1
    Joe Biden via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    ANALYSIS – Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse with Joe Biden, he goes and has a chummy sideline meeting with China’s communist leader-for-life, Xi Jinping, at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

    While his partisan spinmeisters in the media dutifully reported the White House line that Biden was firm with Xi, the three-and-a-half-hour private meeting was muddled, absurdly naïve and dangerous.

    At the summit, Biden stated that the U.S. aims to manage competition with China “responsibly” and that there is no need for a new Cold War. 

    Biden also strongly and foolishly reaffirmed China’s ‘One China’ policy regarding Taiwan, adding (against warnings from NATO and his own national security officials) that he didn’t foresee any Chinese military action against Taiwan any time soon.

    Fox News reported Biden said during a press conference ahead of the G20 summit in Bali:

    “[Xi] was clear and I was clear that we’ll defend American interests and values, promote universal human rights and stand up for the international order and work in lockstep with our allies and partners…”

    “We’re going to compete vigorously but I’m not looking for conflict. I’m looking to manage this competition responsibly,” Biden said. “And I want to make sure that every country abides by the international rules of the road. We discussed that.”

    Biden’s messaging was clear in one area though.

    He believes climate change is more of a threat than a revisionist, expansionist, power-hungry, communist dictatorship with an economy almost the size of the U.S.

    And Biden is willing to risk America’s sovereignty, independence, security and freedom to get China’s faux help with his extreme climate agenda.

    GOP Senator Marco Rubio of Florida was rightfully livid over Biden’s meeting and statements.

    Rubio said in a statement:

    President Biden’s claim that ‘there need not be a new Cold War’ between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party proves that this administration dangerously misunderstands the CCP, which openly pushes for conflict with the United States and its allies…

    Last week, while Xi appeared in a military uniform and called on the People’s Liberation Army [PLA] to prepare for war, Biden’s Department of Defense pulled an entire squadron of American fighter jets out of the Indo-Pacific. Not only is the United States unprepared to defend Taiwan against a PLA invasion, President Biden is now downplaying its likelihood.

    This meeting should have held the CCP accountable for its rampant human rights abuses, ongoing theft of American intellectual property, and its refusal to investigate the origins of COVID-19.

    Rubio added: “Instead, President Biden demonstrated that he is willing to sacrifice everything — including our national security and the security of our allies — for the sake of pursuing ill-fated climate talks with our nation’s greatest adversary.”

    Former Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen told Fox News on Monday that Biden’s diplomacy with China is “strategic insanity” that may only help the autocratic communist state accumulate power and global influence.

    Fox News adds that “Biden reportedly has been pressuring China to essentially join him in his Green New Deal-style vision of non-petroleum power sources, which Thiessen said is one of the key areas the United States can apply pressure to Beijing if they invade their peaceable neighbor Taiwan.”

    “The last thing we want China to do, quite frankly, is to start weaning itself off of oil,” Thiessen said.

    “If they follow Biden’s advice and wean themselves off of oil and start embracing clean energy, we lose that leverage,” Thiessen said.

    “So, you know, it’s not only a sign of weakness, it’s strategic insanity.”

    As I recently reported, Xi has been increasingly adamant that so-called ‘reunification’ with Taiwan can no longer wait and China will use force if necessary to control the independent democratic nation.

    Top U.S. commanders and senior intelligence officials have warned that China could take forceful action against Taiwan as early as next year, and increasingly likely by 2025 or 2027, at the latest.

    Meanwhile, Biden is playing footsies with Xi, hoping China will join his radical green global agenda.

    Because that is all he, and his leftist puppeteers, care about. GAND

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Ex-CIA Officer Proposes Using ‘Counterterror’ Measures Against ‘Right-wing’ Americans

    By
    Paul Crespo
    -
    1
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    ANALYSIS – Can we say dangerous left-wing intelligence hack? 

    With Joe Biden and the Democrats demonizing conservatives, partisan, out-of-work former intelligence officers, without much of a ‘war on terror’ to fight anymore, and looking for new work, are now targeting Americans as their new terrorist bogeyman. 

    And following the bizarre ‘underwear hammer attack’ on Nancy Pelosi’s husband in San Francisco, the Democrats are on a tear blaming Republicans for violence.

    This is despite the fact that the Pelosi attacker was a crazy, life-long pot-smoking hippie, left-wing nudist, and illegal alien from Canada who only started making ‘right-wing’ social media posts a few weeks ago.

    But once you designate your domestic political opponents as ‘extremists’ and ‘enemies of democracy,’ you open the door to widespread abuse and repression by the state.

    And targeting American citizens as if they were ISIS is the result.

    As I noted earlier, we should expect to see a host of these former ‘counter-extremism’ hacks try to parlay their experiences against al-Qaeda to use against their fellow citizens.

    This is the old Cold War ‘Red Scare’ in reverse.

    And this is just the latest example. A partisan former CIA officer proposing we illegally use ‘counterterror’ measures against Americans.

    As Fox News reports:

    Former Senior Intelligence Service officer at the CIA, Marc Polymeropoulos published a Sunday piece declaring that technique once used to fight radical Islam should be turned against the right-wing in America.

    Polymeropoulos’ piece for NBC News Think warned that propagandists, whether Islamic terrorists or Republicans, should be subject to counterterrorism and counter-radicalization techniques.

    “I worked in counterterrorism operations for nearly my entire career at the CIA before retiring in 2019. The battle we engaged in with international terrorist groups like Al Qaeda wasn’t just with their legions of foot soldiers but with their highly effective propaganda arms as well,” he wrote. 

    “The U.S. and our allies considered those propagandists fundamental cogs in a terror group’s machinery, and just as culpable as any other terrorist. So we held them accountable when innocent civilians were killed.”

    Polymeropoulos suggested that the attack of Paul Pelosi was evidence that the American government needs to take a firmer approach to its own citizenry.

    This type of thinking is outrageous on so many levels. Simply un-American. Unconstitutional. And extremely dangerous.

    Polymeropoulos, who sounds more like a left-wing extremist than an intelligence officer, is also either willfully ignorant or outright deceptive when he claims that the American right has some sort of monopoly on violent rhetoric. 

    He laughably states that there is “nothing equivalent being done on the other side of the aisle” as far as promoting violence against their political opposition. 

    “Democratic politicians and leaders may not like Trump, but they don’t call for violence against him, let alone his execution,” he outrageously claimed.

    Of course, this is outright false.

    As Fox Notes: “He neglected to mention multiple incidents of left-wing calls to arms and violence against Republicans…”

    Fox added examples:

    In 2017, a far-left former Bernie Sanders campaign volunteer named James T. Hodgkinson fired upon on a group of Republican lawmakers as they practiced for the annual Congressional Baseball Game, critically injuring House Republican Whip Steve Scalise.

    Democrats didn’t equate their own hyper-aggressive anti-GOP rhetoric with his violent actions.

    And let’s be clear Democrat politicians do incite violence against their GOP opponents.

    Fox continues:

    Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., endorsed harassing political opposition in public in 2018. “They’re not going to be able to go to a restaurant, they’re not going to be able to stop at a gas station, they’re not going to be able to shop at a department store,” Waters proclaimed at the time. “The people are going to turn on them, they’re going to protest, they’re going to absolutely harass them.”

    Polymeropoulos also ignores left-wing activists protesting in front of the houses of Supreme Court justices, firebombing crisis pregnancy centers, and doxing (posting the addresses of public figures online). 

    Not to mention the assassination attempt against Justice Brett Kavanaugh by a heavily armed man at his home.

    Recall that in 2020, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh that they “will pay the price” for rulings against abortion and “You won’t know what hit you.”

    Can we say “incitement to violence” against Justices?

    This ex-CIA hack also overlooks a full year of left-wing politically motivated riots in cities, often encouraged and enabled by Democrat politicians and ‘community’ leaders.

    But facts, consistency, and fairness aren’t needed when you are a political hack trying to get the all-powerful government to use your now unneeded skills to target your fellow Americans who disagree with you.

    All you need is your own extremist leftist rhetoric.

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Bipartisan ‘Stolen Valor’ – GOP and Dem Candidates Embellish Military Records

    By
    Paul Crespo
    -
    0
    President Donald J. Trump is presented with a 10th Combat Aviation Brigade challenge coin following an air assault and gun rain demonstration at Fort Drum, New York, on August 13. The demonstration was part of President Trump's visit to the 10th Mountain Division (LI) to sign the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, which increases the Army's authorized active-duty end strength by 4,000 enabling us to field critical capabilities in support of the National Defense Strategy. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thomas Scaggs) 180813-A-TZ475-010

    ANALYSIS – Even with the decline in respect for the U.S. military due to extreme “wokeness” and other issues, Americans still hold military service in high regard. 

    This is especially true when it comes to those running for office.

    Having served is a powerful bona fide for both Republican and Democrat candidates.

    It was certainly important to my campaigns for the U.S. Congress, and for Florida Statehouse.

    When I ran as an anti-establishment GOP candidate, my motto was: ‘the Marine vs the Machine.’

    It’s no surprise then that lying about your military service is also a powerful temptation, not just for average joes who never donned the uniform pretending to be “super ninja, special ops warriors,” but also for budding politicos aspiring for public office trying to burnish their creds.

    Pretending to be in the military or lying about your service are all called Stolen Valor because you really are stealing the bravery, patriotism, and dedication of others who actually served in the roles they did.

    It is also illegal to lie about military service or veteran status to claim government benefits.

    But we still see it. Even in high-profile political campaigns where they should know they will be caught.

    Let me point out two current examples of political candidates from both parties who are reportedly guilty of “stolen valor.”

    The one who has been most in the news is J.R. Majewski, a robust, bearded veteran praised by former President Donald Trump at a rally before the GOP primary.

    He is running for Congress in Ohio.

    A damning Associated Press report in September found that he exaggerated his service, including claims he’d deployed to a combat zone in Afghanistan in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

    He even said he endured hardships like not showering for 40 days.

    In fact, military records show that the closest Majewski got to Afghanistan was Qatar, abutting Saudi Arabia, our ally where I once helped set up the Defense Attaché Office (DAO) at the U.S. embassy.

    In Qatar, he loaded planes for six months.

    While he did serve, he apparently exaggerated his combat service and misled the voters.

    In the wake of these reports, House Republicans withdrew an Ohio ad buy of close to $1 million originally designed to support Majewski.

    As the Daily Beast reports:

    The move [removing the ad buy] suggests the GOP has given up hope on what might have otherwise been an easy pickup during the elections, all but ensuring that Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the Democratic incumbent, whose victory was previously threatened by redistricting, will win the seat in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District.

    But now there are claims that a Democratic candidate for the statehouse in Washington is involved in an ongoing feud with his family about whether he too is lying about his military service.

    Fox News reported:

    The father of Clyde Shavers, Democratic candidate for Washington state’s 10th Legislative District, claims in a recently published letter that his son lied about the details of his service in the U.S. Navy, according to local outlet Herald Net.

    Clyde Shavers has run on a platform emphasizing his service in the U.S. Navy, claiming to have been a nuclear submarine officer — a position that requires a great amount of training and three separate courses.

    “Clyde was never a submarine officer, not even for a day,” Brett Shavers wrote.

    Fox News continued, writing that the father, “a Marine veteran, went on to dismiss any notions that his son served proudly in the military, going so far as to say Clyde Shavers has a “disdain” for enlisted service members.”

    Brett Shavers added, “Clyde has only disdain for the military. I have seen Clyde’s use of veteran status used heavily as a seal of endorsement of honor and integrity, even as he or his campaign continually use the phrase ‘son of a Marine’ for his credibility.” 

    Clyde Shavers has denied his father’s claims, saying that the letter is “inaccurate” and “all about politics.”

    While it isn’t clear from the letter or reporting if the father is accusing his son of not serving, or simply not serving in the capacity of nuke sub officer as he claims. 

    But the father does say his son hates the military, and enlisted troops, and is only using his alleged service to buttress his campaign.

    Perhaps the news media can look further into these allegations of ‘stolen valor’ about a Democrat just like they did with GOP candidate Majewski. 

    It shouldn’t be too hard to confirm or deny. 

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

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