Carry on, Santa

It's Christmas day.  All is secure.

A Soldier's Night Before Christmas has embedding disabled so I can't post it here.  But click through for something that will make you realize that there's some dust in the air.

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives the protester the freedom he abuses to burn the flag.

- Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, Sergeant, US Marine Corps

There are a lot of men and women tonight who cannot be home with their little ones tonight because they stand guard on the wall.  Remember them.