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The writing related to Doug Phillips, President of Vision Forum and ecclesiastical tyrant at Boerne Christian Assembly in Waring, Texas, continues to draw interest.  The following links will direct you to the latest writings concerning Mr. Phillips. Make sure you read the comments. The Moderator

Does Doug Phillips Have a Mother?

How Doug Phillips Lost His Vision for the Second Greatest Commandment

Doug Phillips and Misogyny 101

Doug Phillips: A “whited sepulchre”?

Doug Phillips: An honest question and an honest answer

Dishonorable Doug Phillips’ Dishonorable Employees

Mar 29, 2007
BY Sgt. Timothy Dinneen, Combined Joint Task Force 82

Masood was the leader of the Northern Alliance, and he is a hero to many Afghans because he was able to defeat the Soviets, accounting for more than 50 percent of their casualties. In addition, he kept the Taliban at bay while they controlled 90 percent of the country, according to Army Maj. Clifford White, deputy provincial reconstruction team (PRT) commander, Panjshir PRT.

Although assassinated by al Qaeda just days before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Masood’s legacy of peace and progress for free Afghans endures through progress made by Panjsheeris.

Panjshir Province is a model of success because of the strength shown by the people living within the valley, White said. He added that Panjsheeris are providing the muscle behind security, cultivating a fertile environment for construction projects and humanitarian-aid assistance.

“We live in one of the best neighborhood watches on the planet,” White said. “They do more than guard houses — when we go on missions, they come with us. The security details are from all six districts so they know the people and the terrain. When we have problems, they handle it Afghan against Afghan.”

Panjshir only has been recognized as a province since 2004, but its residents and leaders have completed a micro hydro plant for electricity generation, new roads for commerce, bridges, wells, schools, and a radio station to connect the remote valley to the rest of the country.

Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel, deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force 82, arrived here yesterday to help inaugurate another project. He attended the groundbreaking of a new public works building.

“The (Afghan) New Year provides a great opportunity to focus on the future of reconstruction and not a future of war,” Votel said. “Public works will play a key part in the future of Panjshir sustaining a self-sufficient province. Education and agriculture are also important, but without public works, children cannot attend school, adults can’t get to work and produce won’t reach the market.”

Votel acknowledged the positive security situation in Panjshir has made reconstruction possible. “Cooperative security here is a model for the rest of Afghanistan and, hopefully, the reconstruction will also serve as a model,” he said. “It is a step-by-step process, and today is a big step.”

The public works building will help with road clearing, water (more…)

US Cav’s ON Point has another great article for the reading.  The Moderator 

Ask Navy corpsman Adam Shepherd what he wants Americans to know about his service in Iraq and he says it boils down to one thing. “Just don’t forget that we sacrificed a lot to be out here,” says the medic, stationed at Camp Taqaddum, Iraq.

It’s a sentiment that many servicemen and women express. Five years after President Bush declared war on Islamic extremism, the military has lost 3,599 troops and spent $503 billion in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yet unlike past wars, even unpopular ones, most Americans have contributed little directly. Tire and paper drives of World War II are a dim memory. An increasingly narrow slice of the population serves in the military.

Now, a growing number of observers question whether Americans should make some kind of sacrifice for what Bush himself calls the “decisive ideological struggle of our time.” Despite the billions spent on defense, which represents 4 percent of the gross domestic product, many inside the administration and conservatives (more…)

The Washington Post originally published the story below this past weekend.  ON Point republished it this week.  The Moderator

Thousands of Veterans Denounce Anti-war Marchers, reports Washington Post

As war protesters marched toward Arlington Memorial Bridge en route to the Pentagon yesterday, they were flanked by long lines of military veterans and others who stood in solidarity with U.S. troops and the Bush administration’s cause in Iraq. Many booed loudly as the protesters passed, turned their backs to them or yelled, “If you don’t like America, get out!”

Several thousand vets, some of whom came by bus from New Jersey, car caravans from California or flights from Seattle or Michigan, lined the route from the bridge and down 23rd Street, waving signs such as “War There Or War Here.” Their lines snaked around the corner and down several blocks of Constitution Avenue in what organizers called the largest gathering of pro-administration counter-demonstrators since the war began four years ago.

The vets turned both sides of Constitution into a bitter, charged gantlet for the war protesters. “Jihadists!” some vets screamed. “You’re brain-dead!” Others chanted, “Workers World traitors must hang!” — a reference to the Communist newspaper. Some broke into “The Star-Spangled Banner” as war protesters sought to hand out pamphlets.

“Bunch of hooligans in motorcycle jackets!” one war protester shot back.

The large turnout surprised even some counter-demonstrators. Polls show public opinion turning against the war in Iraq, and the November election was widely seen as a repudiation of the administration’s policy.

“I’ve never been to a war rally. I hoped I’d never have to,” said Jim Wilson, 62, a Vietnam vet from New Hampshire. “We’re like what they used to call the silent majority.”

In some past antiwar rallies, the number of counter-demonstrators has ranged from a handful to a few hundred. “Our side got apathetic,” said Debby Lee, whose son Marc, a Navy SEAL, was killed in Iraq and who came to the rally from Phoenix in a caravan organized by MoveAmericaForward.org.

But the war protesters have gone too far, Lee and others said. At a Jan. 27 antiwar rally, some protesters spray-painted the pavement on a Capitol terrace. Others crowned the Lone Sailor statue at the Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue with a pink tiara that had “Women for Peace” written across it.

Word of those incidents ricocheted around the Internet.

“That was the real catalyst, right there,” said Navy veteran Larry Bailey. “They showed they were willing to desecrate something that’s sacred to the American soul.”

Well before 7 a.m., hundreds of people milled about near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in an effort to, they said, “occupy the ground” and keep any disrespectful war protesters away.

“This is sacred ground to us,” said Rick De Marco, 62, a Vietnam veteran from Cleveland.
K.C. O’Brien, 65, a Vietnam vet from Fairfield, Calif., said: “We believe in freedom of speech. We’re here to defend the right of people to say whatever they want. But we will not allow any desecration.”

Within days of the spray-painting, people were using he Web to organize, making it their mission to protect the monuments, support the troops and accept nothing less than victory in Iraq.

Gathering of Eagles, the group that organized the protest, was so worried about threats to the monuments that it hired private security to guard the Wall, said Harry Riley, 69, a retired Army colonel from Florida. Other vets patrolled the area through the night and early morning, he said.

By early morning, the National Park Service had installed two metal detectors and carefully controlled entry along the path leading to the Wall. Blue-helmeted riot police were stationed along the length of the Wall. For a time, a handful of vets paraded back and forth with American flags waving in the stiff, cold breeze.

By 2 p.m., with the war protesters across the Potomac River, the metal detectors had come down. The path along the Wall was quiet as the occasional veteran paused at the name of someone remembered.

Written by Brigid Schulte.  Originally published by the Washington Post on Sunday, March 18, 2007.

Published Tuesday, March 20, 2007 9:51 AM at ON Point

The Army is taking it to the next level in its efforts to address war wounded.  Opening its phones today from 0700-1900, the line will be “there” to help the wounded and their families navigate a frustrating system.  The Army News Service story appears below.   

The Moderator

Mar 18, 2007
BY Army News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Army News Service, March 18, 2007) - The Army will open phone lines Monday on its new Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline, providing wounded and injured Soldiers and their family members another way to resolve medical issues.

The hotline also provides an information channel for Soldiers’ medical-related issues to go directly to senior Army leadership in order to improve the way the Army serves the medical needs of Soldiers and their families, said the commander of U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Maj. Gen. Sean J. Byrne.

“We designed this call center to be able to collectively hear what Soldiers say about their health-care issues so as issues are raised, we can identify systemic faults or problematic areas and senior leaders can better allocate resources,” Byrne said. “It’s all about serving our wounded and injured Soldiers and their families. If we can find a way to improve our system, we will. It’s that simple.”

Many wounded and injured Soldiers who have supported the war on terror, and their families, are enduring hardships in navigating the medical care system, Byrne said.

“Our Army is committed to providing outstanding medical care for the men and women who have volunteered to serve this great nation,” Byrne said. “But recent events at Walter Reed Army Medical Center made it clear the Army needs to revise how it meets the needs of our injured and wounded Soldiers and their families. In certain cases, the chain of command could have done a better job in helping to resolve medical-related issues.”

Leaders in the chain of command need to know that this call center exists, and that it was not created to circumvent the chain of command, Byrne said.

“In this particularly challenging time, as our senior Army leadership looks to ways to improve our service to wounded and injured Soldiers and their families, this is another step in the direction of improvement,” he said “Our wounded and injured Soldiers and their families expect and deserve the very best care and leadership from our Army.”

The Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline can be reached from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday at (800) 984-8523. The call center is under the command of the U.S. Army’s Human Resources Command.

Link to original article.

Is Phillips kidding me?  As I was reading another blog, I stumbled across a reference to this embarrasing poem written by Matt Chancey.  Unable to locate the original, one of the primary players in this drama pointed me in the right direction.  Does anyone think this little ditty borders on idolatry?  I thought I was gonna’ toss my cookies half way through this “independent investigator’s” groveling at Phillips’ feet.  The Moderator

Dougy Wuggy

By Matt Chancey in honor of Doug Phillips’ 40th Birthday.  Posted on Chancey’s blog
May 31, 2005.

I’ve fought beside many men acrost the seas,
An’ some of ’em was brave an’ some was not:
The Calvins, Dabneys an’ the Rushdoonys;
But Dougy was the finest o’ the lot.

‘e’s one o’ those good chaps without a chip,
‘e’ll smile atcha and squeeze yor ‘and instead,
But if you try to make the Gospel ‘ip,
‘e’ll forensically remove your bloomin’ ‘ead.

So ‘ere’s to you, Dougy Wuggy, at your ‘ome in Texas sand,
You’re a killer on the dais, and a first class fightin’ man;
I gives you your certificate, and sends your foes a runnin’,
Before you gives ‘em orthodox, epistemologic drummin’.

When I was green as algae on a frog,
My sanctifying was your special object,
You kept me from the evidential bog,
By presupposin’ God in every subject.

When “scientists” demand a special sign,
You prove the wisdom o’ the transcendentals,
You say “Six days is intelligent design,”
And “Framework’s only good for our credentials.”

So ‘ere’s to you, Dougy Wuggy, at your ‘ome in Texas sand,
You’re a dino-diggin ducky, and a first class fightin’ man;
I gives you your certificate, and gives your foes the heel,
I hopes yez finds your T-Rex, and gives ‘em for his meal.

I loves to read ‘is poetry,
‘Cause Dougy’s pen is witty,
It buries Ross’s heresy,
And shames pragmatic sissies.

And when ‘e dwells on prose instead of Byrons,
‘e cuts straight to the fundamental itchin’,
‘is logic cries out like tornado sirens,
And ‘is foes flee from the ‘eat made in ‘is kitchen.

So ‘ere’s to you, Dougy Wuggy, at your ‘ome in Texas sand,
You’re a wonder wizard wordsmith, and a first class fightin’ man;
I gives you your certificate, and dares your foes to stand,
‘Cause you’ll play the cat an’ banjo if they try to match your ‘and.

Dougy’s ‘ome is as peaceful as gardenias.
‘is wife, a loving partner, all can tell,
And if the state conscripts ‘is pretty niñas,
‘is sons will send Tyrannus straight to… well….

Dougy wears the pants and spurns the chauffer,
‘is wrists are fused to not allow a limp,
The man who ‘e finds light within ‘is loafers,
Will run from them that follow Dougy’s bent.

So ‘ere’s to you, Dougy Wuggy, at your ‘ome in Texas sand,
You’re a marvel of testosterone, you first class fightin’ man!
I gives you your certificate, and dares your foes to stand,
Wearing foreign Frenchy fashions, while your shillelagh’s close at ‘and.

Our Dougy loves his Presbyter forbearers,
Even though to ‘im, most baptized to excess,
But when it comes to preachin’ ‘gainst their errors,
‘is charity assures ‘im some success.

Dougy’s not an uptight theologian,
But ‘e contends with orthopraxy weak,
‘e shuns the spiritual vegetarian,
Preferring juicy Scripture for ‘is meat!

So ‘ere’s to you, Dougy Wuggy, at your ‘ome in Texas sand,
You’re a stubborn credo-Baptist, but a first class fightin’ man!
I gives you your certificate, and ‘opes your foes relent,
‘Cause if they don’t you’ll ‘ound ‘em till they “uncle” and repent.

I loves the way ‘e ‘onors common soldiers;
Dougy likes the vets as you will sees.
‘e walks around in khakis and fedoras,
Like Teddy with ‘is Panama fatigues.

Some claim ‘is politics too ‘ot and muggy,
To beat the leftist, egotistic germs,
But I say that I’ll take one Dougy Wuggy,
O’er fifty pragmatistic pachyderms!

So ‘ere’s to you, Dougy Wuggy, at your ‘ome in Texas sand,
Though you’ve n’er fired shot in anger, you’re a first class fightin’ man!
I gives you your certificate, and I gives you my right ‘and,
An’ I’ll fight beside your person, ‘cause I’m your biggest fan!

If you haven’t seen the Drudge Report today, then you missed this exclusive story about an upcoming 60 Minutes segment.  The fact we are second guessing our warriors is beyond the pale.  These men must make split-second decisions that are often life altering decisions.  American “arm chair quarterbacking” by men and women who’ve never “been there, done that” is representative of a society gone mad.  May God remove the scales of these blasphemous haters of the courageous.  The Moderator

HADITHA MARINE SPEAKS PUBLICLY FOR FIRST TIME: SORRY CIVILIAN DEATHS HAPPENED BUT WOULD DO IT AGAIN
As reported by Matt Drudge, Thu Mar 15 2007 15:05:11 ET

He’s sorry that civilians — including women and children — died when he and his men reacted to an attack that killed a comrade in Haditha, but Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich says today he would make the same decision that caused their deaths. Wuterich is charged with killing 18 civilians. He led three other Marines also charged with murder. His interview with Scott Pelley, the first time any of them has spoken publicly about that day, is part of a report to be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, March 18 (7:00-8:00PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

“There is nothing that I can possibly say to make up or make well the deaths of those women and children, and I am absolutely sorry it happened that day,” says Wuterich. Despite the outcome, Wuterich insists it was the right decision. “What I did that day, the decision that I made, I would make those decisions again today,” he tells Pelley. “Those are decisions that I made in a combat situation and I believe I had to make those decisions.”

One of those decisions, which Wuterich admits to in the interview, was shooting five unarmed Iraqi men in their backs. Wuterich says the men were running from a car that had appeared on the scene at about the same time their comrade was killed by a roadside bomb. Wuterich says their killing was justified; he says he identified them as having hostile intent toward the Marines. Wuterich also maintains that the Iraqi men disobeyed the orders of one of his squad members and that the Iraqis should have known what to do.

“Normally the Iraqis know the drill…if something happens…get down, hands up…They started to take off, so I shot at them,” Wuterich says. Other Marines have told investigators that the Iraqis appeared to be following orders and were not fleeing. Pelley asks Wuterich how running away from the scene could have constituted hostile intent. He replies that he thought they may have detonated the roadside bomb. He adds, “But also at the same time, there were military-aged males that were inside that car. The only vehicle, the only thing that was out, that was Iraqi, was them. They were 100 meters away from that IED. Those are the things that went through my mind before I pulled the trigger. That was positive identification,” Wuterich tells Pelley.

Another decision Wuterich made that day was to lead an attack on two houses. That attack killed three women and six children. The Marines attacked the first house with the permission of a superior officer because they thought two or three shots were fired at them from it. Wuterich says the Marines tossed a grenade into a room in the dwelling before determining who was inside. They pressed the attack with a charge through the door and gunshots to kill any survivors. According to Wuterich, this was the best way to clear a house safely, and he has no compunction about doing it. “You can’t hesitate to make a decision. Hesitation equals being killed, either yourself or your men… That’s what we do. That’s how our training goes.”

Wuterich says he saw that the attack on the first house had killed women and children. But he did not stop the assault, because he says he saw a back door open in the house and assumed the sniper had gone through it to the next house. “My responsibility as a squad leader is to make sure that none of the rest of my guys died …and at that point we were still on the assault, so no, I don’t believe [I should have stopped the attack],” he tells Pelley.

“We went through that house much the same, prepping the rooms with grenades, going in there, and eliminating the threat and engaging the targets,” says Wuterich. In the second house, a man, two women and four children who ranged in age from 2 to 14, died. “Did we know that civilians were in there? No. It would have been one thing if we went in those rooms and looked at everyone and shot them,” Wuterich tells Pelley. “We cleared these houses the way they were supposed to be cleared.”

Today’s three posts are dedicated to the tyrants in our midst.

Doug Phillips is an ecclesiastical tyrant whose “flock” shuns disabled children.  Kinda’ reminds me of Fred “God Hates Fags” Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church whose congregation protests at military funerals.

Our second superstar of tyranny is the junior senator from New York.  Hillary “I forgot Bill fired 93 US Attorneys” Clinton.

And our third and final entry today is Congress.  The small minded group of people who endlessly debate the need to support our combat troops, even though the overwhelming majority of its members never served a day in uniform.

To all of the tyrants in our midst - Sic Semper Tyrannis

The Moderator

Doug Phillips seems to have dug himself a deeper hole than even I thought possible.  Apparently members of his little church in Texas practice shunning of innocent children - including disabled children.  So this is the “family man” that runs Vision Forum, eh?  What a phony!  I know I wouldn’t buy product one from his little business and I certainly urge everyone else to “shun” Phillips’ business and any conference in which he participates (I guess they’re pretty lucrative - you know, like filthy lucre).

You can read comments about this topic on Mrs. Epstein’s most recent blog post at the following link:

Jen’s Gems: “Doug Phillips Refuses Reconciliation with the Epsteins“