Support our troops!

It’s mind boggling.

It’s beyond belief.

It’s a travesty of common sense and decency.

I’m talking about the plight of Carl Basham, a Texas native, registered voter, holder of a state driver’s license and a decorated Marine, denied lower in-state tuition at a community college because he spent too much time out of state while serving two tours of duty in Iraq.

Just when you think you have heard every stupid, bureaucratic, red-tape, government nonsense story in the world, along comes a Stalinist institution like the Austin Community College to show you there is no depth of injustice to which the uncivil non-servants will not plunge.

Making matters worse, the clowns at Austin Community College won’t even explain their reasons for denying Basham – because of privacy laws.

So, instead of a $500 per semester tuition as an in-state resident, Basham would be forced to pay a $2,600 tuition per semester as a non-resident of Texas. I guess the geniuses at the community college figure Basham has been “residing” in Iraq for the last few years.

The Marine’s wife, Jolie, said she couldn’t believe her ears when all the evidence of her husband’s Texas residence was rejected.

“[The admissions officer] said, ‘It’s really your military service that’s holding you back,'” she recounted. “I couldn’t believe those words came out of her mouth. He’s always Texas this and Texas that. It’s always been his home.”

Ironically, the news has been full of reports of states eager to make illegal aliens eligible for in-state tuition rates. This effectively makes illegal aliens – lawbreakers, by definition – more welcome at places like Austin Community College than American citizens who serve their country honorably in the armed forces.

What planet am I living on? Beam me up, Scotty!

State officials are calling for an investigation into the outrage. I don’t know about you, but I’m in no mood to wait for politicians to deliberate on this matter. Something needs to be done for this 27-year-old hero right now. Americans need to reach out and show the Carl Bashams of our country that we love them! We cherish them! We honor them!

So let me be the first to invite you to help raise all the money Basham needs to attend the college of his choice – preferably one that has more to offer that Austin Community College.

We can do this. We can take care of this little injustice right now. We can make this right for Carl Basham while the politicians and the bureaucrats debate the matter.

Are you with me?

With the help of my friend Chris Dickson, we have established a new fund for Basham and anyone else who finds himself or herself in such a predicament in the future.

It’s called the American Patriots College Scholarship Fund. And if you would like to support Basham, specifically, and others like him, I urge you to make a contribution to the fund. Because it has been set up in the last 24 hours, since word of Basham’s plight became public, it is not tax-exempt. It’s just a fund created by Americans for Americans.

I urge you to take a minute right now and write a check for any amount to the American Patriots College Scholarship Fund so Carl Basham won’t have to concern himself for another minute with the small-minded, un-American geeks at Austin Community College.

Here’s the address:

American Patriots College Scholarship Fund

c/o West End Saving Bank

34 South 7th Street

Richmond, IN 47374

Now let’s do it. Let’s make this right. Let’s fix things for Carl Basham and his wife today.

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Let Austin Community College know what you think about their decision.

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Related story:

Decorated Marine denied in-state tuition