Everyone knows what “Bravo!” means, but not everyone may know about “Bronx Cheers”, which is the usual response to jerks and other miscreants who populate the earth and can be counted on to say and do stupid things.

First, huge, mega Bravos to our brave military that continues to do an outstanding job of helping the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan recover from decades of oppression while slowly moving toward some form of democracy.    Today there are none braver or more dedicated men and women in the world – young people who could be doing just about anything else, but who volunteered to send a strong message to the fanatical, Islamic terrorists who understand only one thing – relentless, overwhelming strength.  And our military is doing a great job of delivering that message to the everlasting chagrin of low-life politicians in Washington who can do anything except be brave, much less honest.  Our military is being led in this great effort by General David Petraeus to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude for leading the way to meaningful progress in convincing a long suppressed people that we are indeed their friends and will remain staunch allies in the future.  Bravo to all of those involved and especially to those who have returned with serious injuries.  If you believe that they deserve our support here’s a small list of non-profit organizations that are doing a great job helping them to recover from their injuries, including: Fisher House, Inc., Wounded Warrior Project, Marine Corps Law Enforcement Fund, Yellow Ribbon Fund, Intrepid Heroes Fund, Vets for Freedom and Soldiers Angels.  The way for us to really demonstrate our support for these brave young people is to join in these efforts by making a contribution, no matter how small, to any one of these organizations.  You can Google these organizations for details on how you can participate in their efforts to provide necessary assistance to those who need it most.  You can contribute any amount, and in some cases it’s a great way to use those frequent flyer miles you accumulated, but never seem to use.  Do it.

That brings us to some well deserved Bronx Cheers that have been earned by more creeps than we have space to list here, including:
Sen. Harry Reid, who a few months ago said that we had “lost the war” in Iraq;
Rep. John Murtha for not issuing a public apology to the Marines he accused of murdering Iraqi citizens “in cold blood” (this ward heeling politico is not fit to shine their boots);
Roy Pearson a Washington DC administrative law judge (aka, a lawyer – what else?) who sued his dry cleaner for $54 million over a pair of pants;
Sen. Barack Obama, presidential candidate, who will not wear an American flag pin because he claims it has become a substitute for “true patriotism”, right;
Mike Huckabee, also a presidential candidate, who in a recent interview asked, “Do Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”;
John Edwards, another presidential candidate, who said “that’s exactly what it (the war on terror) is – it’s a bumper sticker”.   

Closer to home we have:
The Pinellas Board of County Commissioners for their role in the Jim Smith scam by enabling him to successfully grab more than $100,000 of taxpayer’s money by selling his personal property it to the County.  Mr. Smith also gets a long, loud, sustained Bronx Cheer for having ripped off the taxpayers he is supposed to serve;
The St. Petersburg City Council for their role in the Devil Rays ownership current scheme to dump even more taxes on St. Pete and all of Pinellas County; The DRays “Wall Street Whiz Kids” who are working hard at moving the team to another city/state leaving behind a huge debt and a vacant baseball stadium with no other conceivable use.

2007 also gave us a bumper crop of memorable “Stool Samples” left by some prominent public figures including:
Evan Thomas, the editor of Newsweek magazine who revealed what that outfit is all about when he described their coverage of the completely discredited Duke rape case as follows: “We just got the facts wrong.  The narrative was right, but the facts were wrong.”  We’re not making that up. He actually admitted that Newsweek practices “fake, but true” journalism;
Hillary Clinton’s solution to poverty - for every child born in the U.S. – “why not let them come and get $5,000 to grow until they’re 18?”  What a piker– why not give them $10,000 or $100,000?  Hell, it’s not her money;
Steve Spratt, former County Administrator, when questioned about a statement he had made, replied that he must have “recollected inappropriately” – say what? Is that bureacratspeak for lying?;
Jim Smith, tax appraiser, when asked if he got any favors at taxpayer’s expense based on his collecting $225,000 for a property assessed at $59,000 replied, “Not at all, I think the County got a pretty good deal” - spoken just like an experienced used car salesman.

There were many more Stool Samples in 2007, but perhaps the best known in Florida was Charlie Crist’s claim that property taxes “would drop like a rock”.  And he still hasn’t apologized…or maybe he just never learned the definition of gravity – you think?
           
And that’s a Reality Check”.

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Contact Dan Calabria at www.realitychecktimes.com