Justice For Death Of Raheel Siddiqui, Muslim Military Recruit, Marine Drill Instructor Gets 10-Year Prison Sentence

Raheel Siddiqui, 20, died at the Marine recruit depot at Parris Island, S.C., while in initial training.

A military jury today sentenced a former Marine drill instructor to 10 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge from the service for subjecting Muslim recruits to verbal and physical abuse, including one young man who committed suicide after an especially troubling encounter.

The eight-member jury issued its sentence a day after it found Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix guilty of maltreatment for terrorizing three Muslim men at the Marines’ boot camp in Parris Island, S.C. Felix also will have his rank reduced to private.

Prosecutors had asked for a seven-year prison term. Felix faced a maximum possible sentence of more than 21 years. I am glad the jury exercised its wisdom and increased the prison sentence as this was a bigoted and xenophobic series of abuses.

Felix will be held at Camp Lejeune’s brig until his expected transfer to a larger prison.  I hope he gets a large angry white man for a ‘bunk buddy’.

George Washington’s Bible

Some history for a windy, winter-feeling Friday.

This Bible contains a sheet of paper carefully inscribed with the marriage date of Augustine Washington (ca. 1694-1743) and his second wife, Mary Ball (1708-1789), as well as the birth dates of their six children. George Washington, their eldest child, was born “about 10 in the Morning” on February 11, 1731/32, according to the Julian calendar then in use. When England adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752 (which we still observe today) this date changed to February 22, 1732 – the day Washington considered to be his birthday.

How Can Conservatives Defend Statements Such As Linking Mary And Joseph To Roy Moore’s Actions?

Since the November election I have spent a fair amount of time reading articles to try and better understand the reason this nation lost its logical foundations and elected President Trump.  One of the themes that emerges comes from many political scientists and professors who study election trends.  They point to a sense of tribe taking a higher priority with how we align in the country as opposed to thinking about the merits of policy issues.    In other words everything a person’s political party does is correct, regardless of how dreadful the news might be.

Such is the case with the sexual predator running for Republican Senator from Alabama.    When news broke about 24 hours ago that then 32-year-old Roy Moore had taken sexual advantage of a 14-year-old girl the political world found its hair on fire.  While many made the only statements that could be uttered by denouncing Moore’s actions there were some who took the other route.  There is simply no way to make this up.

“Take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus,” Alabama state auditor Jim Ziegler told the Washington Examiner on Thursday.

Let me repeat what the news was so that the above statement can he pondered in its total light of repulsiveness.

Four women told the Washington Post that Moore pursued relationships with them when they were teenagers and he was an adult. The women were between the ages of 14 and 18.

Ziegler, on the other hand, said the allegations were “much ado about nothing.”

“There is nothing to see here,” the Alabama official told the Examiner. “The allegations are that a man in his early 30s dated teenage girls. Even the Washington Post report says that he never had sexual intercourse with any of the girls and never attempted sexual intercourse.”

Today the very low level of moral standing continued when Iowa’s Rep. Steve King signaled support for Moore in a tweet saying the senators who were distancing themselves from the candidate’s campaign were the ones “who won’t or can’t help move [President Donald Trump’s] agenda.”

Placing politics above the slimy behavior of a 32-year-old man shows the point we have reached in this nation.   If this is the type of person the GOP wants to have as a leader in the senate just so that their political agenda can be obtained means this nation has taken one very large step towards dumping the ideals of the Founding Fathers right over the cliff.

I simply can not fathom the reaction from some in this nation in regards to what most people find is a very basic account of right and wrong.  That there are those who can defend the indefensible is a story not only about Moore but also the nation as a whole.

And so it goes.

Film About Compassion In War Needs Your Helping Hands

I want readers of Caffeinated Politics to be among the first to know of a new historical documentary project, Compassion on the Battlefield in WWII, now underway which many will find most intriguing.  While reading about the project’s ambitious plans to document the degree which compassion plays a role in warfare my mind flicked back to a most incredible photograph I saw in an exhibit this spring in Washington, D.C.

The black-and-white photo showed a handsome young East German solider lifting barbed wire so a small boy could climb through and be reunited with his family. What I still recall was the focus of the soldier’s eyes as if he knew there was only a split second to do the right thing. The moral thing. The compassionate thing.  Which is the type of thinking and action this groundbreaking documentary project seeks to explore.

Independent filmmaker Stephanie Manesis from Fargo, North Dakota is working on a film titled Compassion on the Battlefield in WWII where first-person experiences of unexpected acts of compassion are examined. Manesis has interviewed 42 veterans, 36 of which are World War II veterans. Visual footage from the Midwest, along with locations in Germany and England combine with soldiers talking about the way compassion plays out among comrades and between enemies makes this footage riveting and emotional.

The film also shares the views of experts who examine how compassionate acts occurred even though some jeopardized military careers. Combining the societal, religious, and cultural context in which compassion plays out in combat will prove to be a groundbreaking event certain to start a national dialogue.  And you can be a part of this amazing project.

The Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County (HCSCC) of Moorhead, Minnesota, a 501(c)(3) organization, is *their fiscal sponsor, which * oversees all contributions made to this documentary.  All donations are tax deductible. .Right now, an Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign is running to raise money to complete the production of this film. Only one day of filming is left and then the team will move to post-production.

You can be a part of this project by watching this video about the film and donating today at http://www.zenlilyfilms.com!