Hello! This is the GAS Newsletter - Your venti triple shot espresso of news, with a side of memes.

Here’s what we have for you today:

• Gold Star father Steve Nikoui Arrested at SOTU

• This High School Student Was Raised Right

• House Passes Bill That Could Lead To U.S. Ban On ‘TikTok'

Gold Star Father Steve Nikoui Arrested

Losing someone you love is devastating no matter what the circumstances are. When it’s a violent death, there is an extra layer of grief and pain to navigate, and when the senselessness and awareness of how avoidable it hit you… well… it takes extraordinary strength to navigate that pain. I don’t like or believe in the word or the concept of “closure” - I believe that is misleading, and gives the expectation or appearance of grief ending when in fact it does not- ever. You just learn how to manage it. 

But at least families who see the killer or responsible party convicted in court, or held accountable in a meaningful way, do have some sense of justice- of balance- they don’t then also carry the weight of knowing the person or persons who inflicted such catastrophic harm on so many people is laughing about it, or really just doesn’t care one bit about the death and destruction in their wake. 

In my case, I experienced that when I learned how preventable the murders of my husband and his Commanding Officer were how their killer broadcasted his intentions and no one stopped him, and then how he even stopped by the aid station to observe his victims’ pain in person. Kind of like how he smiled right at me when he was acquitted. 

If you’ve never experienced that.., well… I’m glad. Because it is the most exquisitely excruciating kind of pain and anger that exists.

President Bush was the man whose lies or at best- “mistake” sent my husband and so many others to Iraq to die, and even when he shook my hand and looked me in the eye- there was no apology. 

So I have a deep appreciation for what the families of the Marines who died at Abbey Gate are experiencing- in particular Mr. Nikoui whose 20-year-old son Cpl. Kareem Nikoui was killed. Mr Nikoui, who got emotional at the SOTU and briefly yelled out, was arrested, fined, and charged for that 30-second outburst, and is now facing up to 90 days in jail. 

A grieving father, seeing the very person whose actions led to his son’s death, the man who apologizes to illegal immigrants who murder innocent Americans but has never apologized to Mr Nikoui, had an emotional moment and yelled out. For this he is facing criminal charges. 

I know when Dick Cheney gave the nod to Secret Service agents to “escort me” out of the White House just moments after Pres Bush turned his back to me - sucked. So I cannot imagine how Mr Nikoui feels knowing Biden and the others responsible for the Abbey Gate carnage not only aren’t sorry but now place him on the criminal end of this country’s political power - and the very administration that sent his son to die.

- Barb Allen

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Barb Allen & Dave Brown
www.greatamericansyndicate.com