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As a kid, I was  raised in chicago, my Father was a Precinct Captain for a time and an election judge. I now live about thirty five miles northwest of the Chiacgo. During my life in the Chicag area, I have seen a lot of bad politics played out, a lot politicians get themselves in plenty of trouble and yes, corruption is nothing new to Chicago. But there is a new twist to our colorful political history, one which merits closer examinination. For one thing, the FBI recently arrested the Governor of the state Rod Blagojevich. While there certainly nothing new to seeing a Governor arrested, but what is different is that Governor Blagojevich was arrested while still Governor of Illinois,  This has never happened. The last Illinois Governor George Ryan was also indicted and later arrested and I knew that when they started to go after the last Governor, that they would wait until after he was out of office. This is because the Governors office in Illinois is considered to be very high position and not taken litely, and indicting and arresting an Illinois Governor while in office would look something like an attempt to attack the Governors office,  But now they have. And I have a feeling that they did this to begin the process of discrediting Obama. Lets face it, there is an all out political war between the right and left wings of this country, if you don’t believe it, start listening to shortwave or for that matter, pin you ear to certain AM radio stations for a while. It is a “no holds barred” all out battle for the hearts, minds and souls of the American voters, and with so much now (financially speaking) at stake, the war may be about to draw blood.

One must understand that politics is filled with such actvitity on many levels, believe it or not, I also worked in politics at the local city and village level and there are just as many problems there. In Illinois the smaller the town the bigger the politics. So therefore there may be forces at work here that are larger than what we think, when the doors are closed to you and I, things go on in the rooms of power that we cannot even imagine. This is the truth, I don’t want to believe it, you may mot want to either, but it is true. If certain people walk away with power and cheat “any honest election” it is wrong, whether they are right wing or left wing, it matters not. We need to watch this very carefully, as it could create a very violent response if goes to far. The American people could reach their breaking point and things could unravel, its happened before and it could happen again. The down side of this could mean riots, death, disruption of critical services, disrution of utilities and worst of all serious depression which may be coming as it is. As I metioned here before, I am in the National Guard here in Illinois, in the Chicago area. It just so happens that I had drill today, and when I went to the armory, many of the soldiers have already enshrined (sp?) Obama on their screen savers, posters and Calendars, this is a very unusual thing to see, never before have I seen a President raised to such status in the individual persons eyes, the destruction of this icon could be very dangerous. There may indeed be fleas on the dog, but maybe we should let this sleeping dog lie and not risk be malled by its anger, should we decide to kick it.

Chicago is just eating up Barrack Obama, as the Chicago media reported online today. After managing to remain out of site for most of the week, President-elect Obama left out of his transition office this afternoon to grab lunch at a Chicago landmark. Obama left the Federal Building in the Loop at 12:22 p.m. and dined at Manny’s deli on the Near South Side, a place where I have dined several times myself. While there a dozen or so people were already waiting outside. The president-elect spent a little over ten minutes inside the restaurant, where he was joined by friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett. Diners repeatedly shouted “congratulations,” as Obama ordered lunch and worked the room wearing a topcoat and scarf.Asked about a federal bailout for the auto industry, Obama responded, “I got the corned beef.”Earlier, he had asked for “Manny’s mustard” on his sandwich. As part of his take-out order, Obama left with two cherry pies, three corned beef sandwiches and paid cash for his tab, $48.34. Obama shook dozens of hands and posed for photos with the patrons and staff. He signed a photo of himself and Mayor Richard Daley that had been taken in the deli after he won the U.S. Senate primary in 2004.Owner Ken Raskin, whose father was Manny, had asked Obama to sign the photo for him.”I’m just glad to be out,” he added at one point.

Many of the patrons got up from their tables to shake Obama’s hand. Some people hugged him. Saying,”I love you,” one of them called out, prompting an “I love you back” from Obama. Greeting a group of police officers seated in the restaurant, Obama remarked, “Chicago’s finest right there.”After he greeted a group of business students and their instructor, one of the people at the table screamed in delight. The president-elect’s last public appearance was Monday, when he met with Sen. John McCain in Chicago. Because of the tighter security precautions around him, the media had not seen much of the president-elect all week.

Major Stillman;Commanded 275 men at the Battle of Old Man’s Creek in the Black Hawk War of 1832

Site Link; http://majmchenry.googlepages.com/oldmanscreek

I spoke to the publisher today and the final draft of “Last Stand at Old Man’s Creek” will be arriving in about a month or so. I’m personally very excited to see the draft and will make any corrections if needed. I am also relieved that the true story of what happened that day will finnaly be exposed and set straight. Major Stillman and his men have taken the brunt of the incident for nearly two hundred years and I’m am pleased to be the one to clear their names once and for all.

On this day Nov 06th 1861;

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AS RECORDED

 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES

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An Astounding Triumph of Republicanism.

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THE NORTH RISING IN INDIGNATION AT THE MENACES OF THE SOUTH

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Abraham Lincoln Probably Elected President by a Majority of the Entire Popular Vote

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Forty Thousand Majority for the Republican Ticket in New-York

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One Hundred Thousand Majority in Pennsylvania

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Seventy Thousand Majority in Massachusetts

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Corresponding Gains in the Western and North-Western States

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Preponderance of John Bell and Conservatism at the South

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Results of the Contest upon Congressional and Local Tickets

The canvass for the Presidency of the United States terminated last evening, in all the States of the Union, under the revised regulation of Congress, passed in 1845, and the result, by the vote of New-York, is placed beyond question at once. It elects ABRAHAM LINCOLN of Illinois, President, and HANNIBAL HAMLIN of Maine, Vice-President of the United States, for four years, from the 4th March next, directly by the People.

The election, so far as the City and State of New-York are concerned, will probably stand, hereafter as one of the most remarkable in the political contests of the country; marked, as it is, by far the heaviest popular vote ever cast in the City, and by the sweeping, and almost uniform, Republican majorities in the country.

There is not one person alive today that does not realize the signifigance of yesterdays election. American history and the validity of democracy as been vindicated. The work that has been done by Americans for freedom, the bettering of mankind, the advancement of technology and the support of fraternity has been justly rewared.

What this last election says is; that matter you you are, where you come from, no matter of race, color, creed or religion. You can suceed if you apply you energies. In other words, everyone has a shot.

Barrack Obama is most certainly a fighter, an intellectual and in my opinion a brilliant orator. But after the next inaguration, much like Abraham Lincoln, who Obama quoted in his acceptence speach last night, is inheriting a mess. In fact, it is indeed ironic that a man refered to as “African American” (though Barrack is also of white ancestry) has taken the whitehouse when things are in such a mess. If there is a heaven, Mr. Lincoln is surely watching intently and saying in his own mind, I gave you your time, don’t let me down.

President elect Obama has told us that he will defend America, and even made a strong claim, saying he would bring Osama BinLadin to justice. These are bold goals. These are goals that will require moral toughness and unbelievable leadership skills on all fronts; military, financial and diplomatic. He will need to bolster the military, not back down, make corporations who have broken the law answer for their wrongs and he will need to go where most men fear to tread.  He must also remember that it was little people that got him elected. The poor and the fading middle class who made this country what it is are crying out for his help. It is they that he must support. Legislation must be considered to bail out the poor, not the rich banks who feed on Americas soul. He must protect the American worker from the tyranny of the “employee at Will” laws which turn the average employee into cannon fodder. He must feed the poor and provide for their medical care and he must ensure that social security is there for all Americans who paid into that system. He must remember the veteran who fought the governments wars and take care of the widow or widower that has sacraficed their love to war.

President elect Obama is to be commended for his good fight, his tenacity and his consistency. But his fight has just begun.

Good luck Mr. President

It is no secret that the U.S. Military is currently stretched very thin. The current doctrine of the of the military is based upon a peace time / civilian occupation model, in which military personnel are paid better than fair wages, given good benefits and can expect to be taken care of after their sevice is completed.  Though in stark contrast with a civilian occupation or the peace time military, soldiers, marines and other members of the armed service are placed in harms way,  and expected to serve in an extremely stressful and hazardous situation . A military unit can be rotated into combat theater approximately every three years, and expected to spend a minimum of at least a year in country before being rotated back stateside. Some units (and individual soldiers) have been activated as many as three times for tours of duty in theater, compared to their predecessors who served during the Viet Nam era, who were expected to be in countryfor one tour, and additional tours of combat duty were completed on a volunteer basis. Aggravating this problem is the practice of activating state level national guard troops, who can be required to serve similar tours of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.

In three days from todays date, voters will be going to the polls to elect a new President. It is a very real possibility that both the Whitehouse and Congress will be controlled the Democratic party. A small streamlined government and small military has been a pillar of democratic doctrine for generations, and will continue to be so.

Information from recent polls, tell us that voters sites may very well be set on electing Barrack Obama as the next President of the United States. The war(s) in Iraq and Afghanistan have fallen out of favor with the American public, and history dictates that war cannot be executed, and enemies defeated without the consent of the people. The federal government has set clear presedence where control of the military and its leaders are concerned. An example of this is the removal of General Douglas McArthur by Truman, after McArthur conducted unauthorized operations in the Korean conflict.

However the rank and file in the military is stressed to the limit. Much like General George McClellan during the American Civil War, who had a habit of continuously calling for troops, when no more were available.  Field commanders in theater are calling for additional troops to complete the job that was started in both Iraq and Afghanistan. But unlike McClellans situation, who literally had hundreds of thousands of troops at his disposal. Current commanders in theater have  hundreds of thousands less available to complete the job. The difference here lies in two places; One is in national identity and sense of duty/ attitude of Americans, the other lies in the fact that the government has failed to utilize selective service by activating the draft.

So in three days we go to the polls to determine the future. Depending upon the choice of the voters and the electoral college, the destiny of millions of citiizens and thousands of soldiers will hang in the balance. The war is costing billions, the economy is in shambles as duing the last twenty years, jobs have been shipped wholesale overseas by the unchecked corporate giants, who in fact have become another level of government by strong-arming politicians, skirting regulation and engaing in the biggest show of corruption ever seen in American history.

How will you vote?

September 11th, 2008. In other words, another anniversary of 9-11, 911, 9-1-1, or however you want to look at it. The numbers 9-1-1 have multiple meanings to me. And they fuel a flood of emotions when I hear them.

I was a cop (please note the small “c”) for many years. When the 911 phone rang, it usually sent me into something that was fucked up. My wife is a 911 dispatcher (note the small “d”). When I was a cop, I learned to hate dispatchers, I still do, and always will. I hate my wifes (note the small “w”) employer (note the small “e”) and I hate hearing about her job. This is because its fucked up, and fucked up people pick up the phone and dial 911 when they have run out of intelligence (note the small “i”).

They calll 911 when they hate their neighbor, they call 911 when they are beating on each other (wifes also beat on husbands SURPRIZE!), they call 911 when they get objects stuck up their ass (I’ll let you figure that one out) and they call 911 when the kiddies won’t listen.

Then came 9-11, you know, the day someone flew airplanes into buildings and into the ground, killed a bunch of people, changed a bunch of things? You remember? I kinda do. But then comes those feelings. They are so hard to dismiss!

I heard a freightening thing just yesterday about the elevated suicide rate amongst soldiers in Iraq. Heres a blurb; The military also is working to solve the issue of soldiers awaiting medical care. Since November, about 1,900 of the 4,400 troops waiting for medical care have been treated. The medical attention mentioned here, of course refers to mental health care.

When I heard this on September 10th, knowing the next day was 9-11, what I really felt was numb. No feelings in all actuallity are bad feelings. Its like a death unmourned, a love never realized, a dream crushed.

So whats been lost, not realized and whats been crushed?

First of all, whats been lost is our sense of country. Over the last twenty years or so, our sense of being an American Citizen(s) has been watered down. We have been legislated in to accepting differences in others and have been criminally prosecuted for feeling or saying any different. We have been forced into believing that any type of biased is inherently evil. We are now taught from a very young age that looking at anyone differently will result in severe punishment at all levels.

What is unrealized? The American dream which has been a promised and laid on the table of our lives has been ripped from our hearts and trampled upon by everyone above the rank of city or town mayor. That includes the Captains of industry who pockets have been well lined by the loss of the American public. Even those who are new to this country are being taken advantage of. But rest assured, the next generation of imigrants will know this.

Whats been crushed? Our voice, our self esteem and our sense of well-being. such things are important things.

Ok Sergeant Stevens, whats your point?

The point is, that you don’t take the inner child that you have programed to feel extreme gulit at recognizing another persons difference, hand him a machine gun, try to reprogram him or her to fight a war. This act in itself is inherently distructive to the human mind.

Make sure that those that you send out to do your shit work are well well rewarded, treated with respect and dignity and given the tools they need to recover.

Restore our national sense of well-being. Everyone, including the goverment and industry needs to look out for us first, and other nations last, jobs need to stay here and all employees / soldiers need to be reassured that they have rights and representation.

UN-HAPPY 9-11

Sgt. Stevens

Greetings Fellow Military Historians

Welcome to the Military History and Commentary Blog. This blog is intended to examine military history, including Leaders, tactics, soldiers, stories and other articles and material related to military history. I am the author, Sergeant Gene Stevens. I am a Soldier with the 933rd Military Police Company, of the Illinois National Guard.

I have studied military history for over thrity years. I spent time as an American Civil War Reenactor, Black Hawk War Reenactor, WWII Reenactor and have recently published my first book, “Last Stand Stand at Old Man’s Creek” which is the true story of the first battle of the Black Hawk War of 1832, in Illinois and Wisconsin. I also served in the U.S. Navy and was in the Persian Gulf in 1980 as hostilities began to unfold in that region.

I welcome all commentary here. I ask that commentary to posts be constructive and related to the topic that it addresses. I look forward to communicatig with other historians.