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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss Rick Perry’s resurgence after his debate stumble this week, the new leaders of Greece and Italy, and we pay tribute to Veteran’s Day.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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One of the most popular stories about members of the “Greatest Generation” is that of “The Fighting Sullivans” who died aboard the U.S.S. Juneau during the Battle of Guadalcanal. That story is heroic, in part, because it has to do with five brothers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country during World War II.

Whenever I hear talk about the Sullivans, however, I can’t help but think of four not-so-famous brothers — Max, Verle, Guy and Ted — who also answered their nation’s call. Like many thousands of others, they set aside any personal plans they had for a while and went into harm’s way to fight for freedom.

Max, the oldest, was among the first to be drafted into the Army. Next in line, Verle went to the Navy. Guy followed, donning Army green.

By March 1943, only the youngest son remained at home. That fact prompted a conversation to take place between the 19-year-old Iowan and his father.

“Ted, do you want me to declare you essential to my farm work?” his dad asked, knowing that one son from each farm family could be deferred from entering service if he was needed to work on the farm.

Ted took little time to answer.

“No. If my brothers can go into the service, then I feel that I should go also,” he said, adding, “Besides, I want to do my part in the war” and “Dad, you really don’t need me.”

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[This is the latest segment in an ongoing series about Code Pink and its co-founder Jodie Evans.  Click here to read earlier articles.]

Following on the heels of their macabre Afghan war protest at a White House Halloween party that targeted children of military families for psychological abuse, leftist Obama ally Code Pink issued a statement justifying the terrorist attack at Fort Hood as opposition to the war from officers and put out a Veterans Day appeal seeking to raise money off the Fort Hood terrorist attack.

Signed by top Obama funder Jodie Evans, the appeal was published at Code Pink’s website on Veterans Day and sent out the same day to the group’s e-mail list. The terrorist attack at Fort Hood is cited three times in the fundraising letter.

As appalling as cashing in on the mass murder of 14 innocents is, Code Pink tops that by invoking sympathy for the alleged terrorist as a reason to give money to Code Pink–even putting his act of terrorism on the same moral plane as the recent protest resignation of a former officer who left his diplomatic post in Afghanistan over Obama’s war policy:

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On February 22, 1983, I raised my right hand in the Los Angeles MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) and said, “I, Charles Stuart DeVore, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; That I will bear true faith And allegiance to the same…” With those words, I became United States Army Private First Class DeVore, joining the millions of others since 1789 who swore with their lives to “support and defend the Constitution.”

Unlike many veterans, I have been fortunate not to see combat. I was “officially” shot at only once; during the Los Angeles riots in 1992 (well, there was that time in Lebanon, but that wasn’t official; and I was carjacked in 1988 by Panamanian paramilitaries).

When the members of the armed forces of the United States of America fight, they do so not just for their colleagues in uniform next to them – virtually every soldier in history has done that – they do so not for king or country – they fight to preserve a document, the Constitution. In that, the United States Armed forces have become the greatest force for good, for freedom, that the world has ever seen because the Constitution exists to make a reality out of the promise of the Declaration of Independence to secure our “unalienable rights” of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

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