On their website they write “All governments can benefit from increased scrutiny by the world community, as well as their own people.”

This is pure bullpoop, to use the scientific term.

The fact is, their goal is to only “expose” people they don’t like – meaning the United States military – and get worldwide props for it.

The head of Wikiliks, Julian Assange would argue that their role is to shine a “light on the everyday brutality …of war.” But of course, he’s sympathetic only to those we are fighting against. He says he wants to help “people who are vulnerable. And I enjoy crushing bastards.”

Can you guess who the bastards are?

Look, we don’t need him to tell us that war sucks. No one wants to see our troops or innocent civilians dead. But we fight to eradicate an evil- and in this case it’s an evil that this douchebag is helping. Remember that the U.S. doesn’t send suicide bombers into crowded restaurants, or behead journalists, or fly planes into buildings. We are waging a war against scum – and yet Julie chooses to thwart us instead.

It makes me wonder that if Julie had secret documents that harmed our enemies – would he share those? Since they don’t fit into his hit list of evil “governments and corporations,” hell no. So while his majestic, but wholly one-side strategy of transparency continues – it’s America that’s being attacked.

Secondly, whatever Julie thinks is “unethical behavior” is only unethical if you’re an idiot. For example, saying it’s a war crime to have an enemy hit list may be true if it’s at a children’s birthday party. But in war, it’s the whole point. The entire war is a hit list, you doll-haired dipwad.

But see, Julie isn’t doing this to save lives – he’s doing it for himself. He enjoys “creating systems on a grand scale, so, in the end, he gets back at daddy and reaps the accolades that come with it.

May a terrorist mistake him for a sexy goat.

And if you disagree with me, you’re a racist homophobe who eats oil-soaked pelicans.

Winston Churchill once said, “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”  During WW ll the American population was nearly 130 million, from which 17 million men and women in uniform fought for world freedom. Today we are a country of over 300 million people, yet less than 1.5 million Americans, a precious few, volunteer to defend western values from the kind of chaos which leads to the fall of civilizations. Churchill’s words are even more apt than in 1940, and were he alive, he would be moved  by the courage, deep conviction  and disarming humility displayed by the incredible men and women of the United States Military.

Dwight Schultz

For my actor friends, though, there was a bit more trepidation.  After all, they were the actual celebrities on this celebrity tour, the ones people would want to meet.  I doubt they are alone.  In fact, I suspect that a big reason why more actors in Hollywood don’t volunteer their time with the USO is that they simply don’t know what the experience will be like.  Sure they’ve seen video of Bob Hope out entertaining crowds of troops, but as an actor, you don’t carry your show on the road.  Will the troops even care that you are there?  What will you have to offer them?  Is it uncomfortable?  Is it political?  Fortunately for me, the actors in my party decided to give it a try in spite of these questions.  Here is what we learned.

For the actor, the USO offers an alternative to its live music and comedy shows.  It is the Hollywood Handshake Tour, and it’s just what it sounds like.  Actors meet the troops, eat with them, take pictures with them, sign autographs for them, and thank them for their service to Uncle Sam.  Oh, and they shake their hands.  If we were worried that this would seem insignificant compared to a live performance show, that worry was quickly dispelled.  The troops simply could not have been more gracious and welcoming.  None of the actors wanted to seem pretentious (they were there to show their gratitude to the troops, not to posture or promote anything), but to our surprise, the lines at each event were hundreds of people deep.  People literally gave up part of their day to wait for the chance to shake hands with the actors, and get this, to thank them for coming.  That people sacrificing so much for us would turn around and thank us for the simple “sacrifice” of getting to be in their company left us all speechless, but then, these soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines are just the finest, most decent people on earth.

As far as the comfort level, when we arrived at the airport, we were greeted by our USO tour manager, whose job was to make sure we had everything we needed and were always where we needed to be.  All of the international travel was business class on civilian planes, although some of the inner-theater travel is military.  In our case, that meant getting to fly out to sea on a COD and actually LAND ON THE DECK OF A FREAKING AIRCRAFT CARRIER!  Again, speechless…

In Bahrain, we were put up in a beautiful, high-end hotel, and in addition to our tour manager, both a local guide and a military liaison met us.  Add to that our USO supplied photographer and we were really left to want for nothing.  In Djibouti, our accommodations were less ornate, but still extremely comfortable.  Our liaison, Karen, picked us up from the airport and took us to our private lodgings on the base.  We stayed in a variant of the same CLUs (Containerized Living Units), basically large shipping containers partitioned into two-bedroom, air-conditioned apartments that the troops stay in.  The food was all great, the AC was always cold, and a man sleeps soundly knowing that the United States Army is guarding the gates.

It is also worth noting that you never feel your time is being squandered, other than perhaps when you are waiting for flights at international airports.  When we weren’t participating in the scheduled events with the troops, we were dropping in on parts of the base we weren’t scheduled to see.  A trip to the medical facility, or the base fire department, a quick tour of the flight-line and a chance to sit in a C-130…  The days are full and meaningful.  Plus, the MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) teams always want you to experience some of the culture that the troops experience as well, which in our case meant a trip to the Grand Mosque in Bahrain, an audience with a village chief in Africa, and a brief time volunteering at an orphanage where our service members devote so much of their free time to the children that the nuns who oversee the facility literally can’t accommodate all of them.

Finally, let me address the question of politics.  Several actors may have questions like, “What if I support the troops, but not the war they are fighting?”  My answer is simple– keep your opinions to yourself.  The troops do.  In fact, not one person, from the civilian cooks, to the enlisted men and women, the officers, or even the Admiral we met made a single unsolicited political comment.  Americans in uniform serve the National Command Authority.  When they get their orders, they perform with a level of skill and professionalism that is without equal.  In short, no matter what the politics of the individual soldier, they are professionals.  You may or may not agree with their orders, they may or may not agree with them, but they aren’t there to philosophize, and we weren’t either.  One of the actors in our group recently quit his job on a hit television show to go to work for the Obama administration, and I may or may not have voted George W. Bush as a write-in candidate in the last election, but there were no heated debates, no strange agendas or conflict.  Just like the soldiers are there for one purpose, to execute the orders of the President, we were there for one purpose, to thank those troops for that service.  It couldn’t have been a more neutral, positive experience.

One request we did hear again and again from the troops was to simply tell their story, and what a story it is.  A story of bravery, hardship, camaraderie, and sacrifice… But there is something else, something I had never realized before.  Time and time again the people doing these difficult jobs told us how much they actually like it.  To a selfish man like me, that prospect had never entered my mind.  I assumed the people who join the military were taking one on the chin out of a sense of duty, and to be sure, that is part of it, but there is a beauty in what they do that isn’t a labor at all.  When a sailor on the Eisenhower wakes up every morning, he knows his place in the world.  He has a specific function, and is highly trained and very, very good at his job.  And he lives in dedicated service to no less worthy a cause than the defense of his home and his family.  There is a peace and a confidence in that sort of life that I think a lot of us would be very lucky indeed to find in our own.  These are not mindless cogs in the military machine.  These are free men and women living rich, full lives in service of a noble calling.  They deserve our support and our thanks, yes, but they may deserve something of our envy as well.

In the end, the whole experience was just spectacular.  All of the actors felt the same, and we all look forward to our next outing with this great organization.   It would be a glorious day if the USO had to turn people away because they were simply overwhelmed with volunteers wanting to thank our troops, and I think that if more entertainers knew what a fantastic experience it is, that day would be now.  I got on the plane this first time because Gary Sinise, who gives more of his time in tribute to our Armed Forces than just about anyone, speaks so highly of his travels with the USO.  I will do it again because of what a remarkable time it was, and what remarkable group of people the men and women of the United States Military actually are.   I hope others give it a try as well.