Individual Liberty — Individual Responsibility 

Wednesday Hero - Spc. Eric S. McKinley

Army Spc. Eric S. McKinley
24 years old from Corvallis, Oregon
Company B, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, Army National Guard
June 13, 2004

An avid outdoorsman, Spc. McKinley worked as a baker at Alpine Bakery in Corvallis, Ore. Upon his return from Iraq, he hoped to open a juice bar in the college town to provide a drug and alcohol-free environment for young people. Friends and co-workers remember Spc. McKinley as a quiet, caring young man who dyed his hair, sported several tattoos and loved ska and rock music. His senior yearbook picture showed a grinning young man with spiked hair dyed red and green. In other 1998 yearbook pictures, he has purple and blue hair in a mohawk.

Spc. Eric McKinley was killed when a roadside bomb north of Baghdad detonated destroying two vehicles and wounded four other Oregon soldiers. They were identified as Staff Sgt. Phillip Davis, 23, of Albany; Sgt. Matthew Zedwick, 23, of Bend; Cpl. Shane Ward, 23, of Corvallis and Pvt. Richard Olsen, 23, of Independence.

Almost 500 people attended the memorial service for Spc. McKinley at Starker Arts Park in Corvallis. There was a mix of people dressed in either military or punk attire — including McKinley’s six-year-old cousin, who, in tribute, wore his hair in a bright green mohawk.

Coventry Pacheco, McKinley’s fiancee, sat in the first row at his celebration-of-life service. They hadn’t set a wedding date, but were planning to get married.

He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service, a Purple Heart and the Oregon Distinguished Service Award. U.S. and Oregon flags were presented to his parents, Tom McKinley of Salem and Karen Hilsendager of Philomath.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero. We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

Time to count

Well, it was an interesting election day. Voters killed our gigantic regional transit plan masquerading as a transportation plan. I didn't get to vote on that one, and it really irritated me. Despite the fact that it affects transportation projects where I live and work, my district was excluded from the ballot for it.

As were a lot of districts that were heavily against the proposed plan. It STILL went down in flames. I guess there's some good news after all. Maybe after dozens of votes and little action we'll start focusing on the things that we can do rather than massive pipe dreams that we pay for and pay for, but somehow never see implemented.

The constitutional amendment to remove the supermajority required for new school levies looks to be going down. Another one to create a rainy day fund that requires a supermajority to raid looks to be passing. Tim Eyeman's plan to require a two thirds majority for new taxes also looks to be passing.

In other good news, voters have had enough of an elections department that is unaccountable to the people. It looks like King County will have an elected overseer for its elections in the future. That beats the heck out of an appointed overseer who is accountable only to the incumbent.

The trial lawyers look to be winning big though. I voted against their referendum. It's already illegal for insurance companies to deny legitimate claims, and I don't like the idea of my insurance premiums going up to line some trial lawyer's pockets with treble damages.

Voters seemed to want less taxes, but they don't seem to mind a little stupidity.

Just like in Louisiana, it looks like stupid politicians will still win their seats. In Louisiana last year, William Jefferson managed to retain his Congressional seat despite having been caught with "cold" hard cash in the form of bribe money stuffed in his freezer. In King County Washington, being arrested for drunken driving is no impediment to keeping your seat on the County Council.

Of course, none of this is set in stone. There are still tens of thousands of absentee ballots left to be counted, since the deadline for the postmark was midnight. Still, it was a mixed bag, just as it always is in these elections. It's hard voting as a conservative in a very socialist county. Who knows how many ballots will be "found" between now and when it's all said and done.

It was the last time we'll vote in a regular polling place in King County. In King County at least we've seen the end of an era. Next time, it's all mail ballots. I don't look forward to it. Somehow for me the post office just isn't as attractive as the polling place.

Which leaves me with one question. Democrats are usually against requiring any form of photo identification at the polling place, because the cost of obtaining one amounts to a "poll tax". At least, that's one of the arguments I've heard used. How is the postage required to mail in your ballot anything less than a poll tax?

Maybe it's a bit of a stretch, but I think it's less of one than calling the fee you pay for a drivers license or state issued identification card a poll tax. After all, the postage you use to mail in your ballot is directly related to voting. If you don't pay the postage your ballot won't be delivered. If your ballot isn't delivered, you've been denied a chance to vote for failure to pay a fee to the government.

At least with a drivers license or state issued identification card you can prove you're old enough to buy a beer. And you don't hear Democrats claiming that THAT's discriminatory or racist like they do when you want people to prove they're who they say they are when they vote.

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Blogs4Borders Video Blogburst 110507

Welcome back! We enjoyed our five week break and are back refreshed and ready for action with our new set and some cool new animations. I had some trouble with the audio this week, I got it as good as it was going to get, I hope that's good enough.

We have all your favorite bits: 100% Preventable! The Deportation Joke and an exclusive interview with Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch...

Thank you for your support!

This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy. If you'd like to join find out how right here.

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