We were starting to miss him

OYE Hall of Famer, Jason Mattera, has created his own YouTube channel. Last we saw Jason he had been harassing homeless folks, let's see who he's stalking now.



OYE Comment: We hope that some day Jason will be tasked with ambush interviewing Baltimore Ravens Linebacker, Ray Lewis, and ask him a ridiculous question along the lines of "so why did you kill that guy in Atlanta?".

Uhhhh boy

Way, way off topic.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The actor best known as “Borat” tricked the Alabama National Guard into allowing him onto a post, giving him a military uniform and briefly letting him train — all, supposedly, for a German TV documentary.

The ruse, which included comedian Sacha Baron Cohen exposing his thong underwear while changing clothes, was going well until a young cadet recognized Cohen and notified older officers who weren’t familiar with the actor.

OYE Comment: Well it's closer than anything Charlie Smith has done in regards to wearing a uniform.

DADT

We realize there's never a good time for anything, but times have changed along with the public's mentality since DADT went into effect in 1993.

Don't expect any change soon to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy about gays in the military.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says both he and President Barack Obama have "a lot on our plates right now." As Gates puts it, "let's push that one down the road a little bit."

California: Endless Supply of College Republicans

Since the Republican Party has fallen into the minority, a power struggle within their ranks has ensued from the high levels at the House and Senate as well as the very bottom of the food chain, the College Republicans. With the prospect of wiping the slate clean, new up-and-comers have entered the fray to repeat the same phrases older generations have heard for decades.

Take for instance Adam Ellison (right side w/blond hair and glasses). Although he's taken down his "Path to the Presidency" on his Myspace page, Mr. Ellison knows to take small steps towards his goal of becoming POTUS.

After careful consideration, I have decided to declare myself a candidate for Chairman of the California College Republicans. I am honored to be accompanied by a team whose leadership and action in the College Republicans might only be matched by their dedication to the Conservative cause. It begins here; it begins now. California must rise and become a red state once again.

Mr. Ellison's resumé is impressive. For the past 4+ years he's worked as a bank teller at Bank of America, the corporation that gladly took $45 billion in a tax payer funded bailout cash and then threw a Super Bowl party as a 'thank you' to the public. Mr. Ellison is said to be competent at depositing rolls of quarters and he's hopeful he'll one day be trusted with paper money.

He has intentions of receiving an MBA after graduation with a focus on private wealth management. We applaud Mr. Ellison on his impeccable timing as no one seems to have much money in today's economy.

Mr. Ellison is also media savvy. He's established a Facebook page to help organize the right-leaning youth of our country (HA! Take that Leigh Wolf!)

We are excited to bring to you a FRESH approach to College Republican leadership in California. As Republicans we are, of course, concerned with the direction of the national party and our nation, but also with the future of the California Republican vision. Such a vision requires a grassroots base in order to carry forth the message that we remain committed to the principles that bound us under President Ronald Reagan. Those same principles of fiscal responsibility, smarter and smaller government, and free market economics are facing opposition today, even within our own party.

But let's forget about all this intellectual-techie-new media nonsense and focus on what's most important: Mr. Ellison likes guns, wearing flag pins on his lapel, and having his picture taken with Our Country's Flag as a show of patriotism. OYE asked him if he'd consider enlisting, so he could wear an American Flag on his clothing at all times, learn real leadership, and carry a gun to work, but his lack of a response appeared to be a signal that serving is for 'other people'.

Another item on his Facebook page stood out to us:

SPEAK OUT to us and let us hear what you think needs a do-over, a reformation, an expansion, and/or an improvement.

Whelp, if you have an suggestions for Mr. Ellison he can be reached here.

'Stop-Loss' Update

From KansasCity.com:

WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced on Wednesday that the Army is effectively halting “stop loss,” saying the practice was “breaking faith” with the troops.

The Army Reserve will suspend the practice of ordering soldiers to stay in the military service beyond their obligation in August.

The Army National Guard will follow suit in September, and the Army in January.

Allies? We don't need no stinking allies!

Fox News never had a shortage of chickenhawks (O'Reilly, Hannity, et cetera), it's just rare when one of the the 'tough' guys is of age to serve.

Meet Bill Schulz: He was raised in Lake Forest, IL (median household income $150,670), educated at Emerson College (tuition $41,688) and, against the odds of this hard upbringing, has pulled himself up by his bootstraps to become a panelist of the late night Fox News show, Red Eye.

As you might expect, someone with Bill's burdensome background has no tolerance for sissyness, so when he heard about the Canadian Military contemplating an "Operational Break" from the war in Afghanistan he shot out like a Jack-in-the-Box with the others to mock the country that has lost 116 of its soldiers in combat.

OYE Comment: Mr. Schulz, if you're going to ridicule Canada for pulling their troops temporarily the world is going to need others to step up and fight in Afghanistan. Have you ever thought to Be A Man! Enlist!

The nonsense of DADT

Future generations are going to look back on the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' issue and say "what the eff was wrong with everyone back then?".

Now, notice that Dan is not wearing a dress. He's wearing the Army's standard ACU. Also, notice that Dan is not wearing makeup, eyeliner, or dangly earrings. He's just wearing the normal Kevlar helmet and protective eyewear that you typically see infantrymen wear in Iraq. Observe that Dan also looks as though he's barking orders, something infantry officers sometimes have to do in dangerous situations. What he's not doing, however, is hitting on the other male soldiers in his unit. And he's not spying on his fellow male soldiers in the shower.

Dan isn't doing any of these things because he's a professional. And this is important to note, because Dan is gay. In fact, Dan recently helped found a new group of former West Pointers and Army officers just like him.

OYE Comment: Please listen to the audio provided in the hyperlink. The ridiculous justifications given to keep DADT are getting flimsier each year.

Facebook + College Republicans = X

Leigh Wolf, defender of the many cowardly College Republicans, typed a column on what it'll take for the Republican Party to regain the youth vote.

The Republican Party learned a hard lesson in technology during the 2008 Presidential election. Realizing Obama obliterated the Grand Old Party by using all the shiny new technology he could get his hands on, our party was left desperately searching for our own plan.

The College Republicans have been effectively using new media since 2004. I recall many conversations with a multitude of Republicans where I practically begged them to use Facebook, or the now passé MySpace. I was told time and again that these were just passing fads and that "all the tech stuff" was unproven and therefore not worth the GOP's time. Republicans were completely unaware that these "passing fads" were exactly the opposite. Young voters get their news, TV and radio from the internet. They access politics almost exclusively on the web. It’s impossible to reach large numbers of young voters through old school methods.

OYE Comment: What at are you talking about, Leigh? We just did a post on a Young Republican that effectively used the new media to........oh nevermind. It was a pretty lame attempt on his part, huh?

Leigh, it's not so much a technology gap the youthful Republicans face as much as it is a credibility chasm. Ask your peers to do as you alluded to have done, and enlist. Judging from how they hide behind you it appears you are a person of influence in their eyes.

This is becoming as tragic as it is pathetic

The out of work realtor is still spamming our inbox.

From: Charlie Smith, College Republicans <team@crnc.org>
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 12:18 AM
Subject: Vote: Help us take home the gold!
To:

Hi _______,

The College Republicans are up for the gold - a Golden Dot award that is. The award is sponsored by the Institute for Politics Democracy &The Internet (www.ipdi.org) for last summer's Where is the Red?campaign.

Will you take a minute to show your support?

Please follow these three simple steps to cast your vote for the College Republicans:

1. Click here.

2. Go to Question #6 and click the circle to the left of Where is the Red?

3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and hit the "DONE" button in the right-hand corner.

Note: You do NOT need to vote for any other category for your submission to count.

As you may remember, Where is the Red? was a summer long road trip by four College Republicans, who traveled from coast-to-coast through Republican Congressional districts. Our roadtrippers volunteered and campaigned for Republican candidates and got the word out through local and national media that the youth vote was not lost to the GOP.

Through the roadtrippers' constant blog posts, videos, pics, tweets and an innovative Google Maps/GPS integration that tracked the roadtrip in real-time, you and I were able to ride shotgun with our roadtrippers as they worked their way across the country, spreading our conservative message.

Where Is The Red? also garnered a great deal of media attention on blogs and media outlets like Fox News, Business Week, Wired.com and CNN that helped to further spread our message.

This nomination is proof that with your help, we're succeeding in paving the way toward a renewed party and movement, one mile at a time.

Please vote for Where is the Red? today.

Sincerely,
Charlie Smith
National Chairman
College Republican National Committee

OYE Comment: Even the douchiest College Republican must have thought Mr. Smith is a tool when they read this email.

He's probably a "people person", too

Sometimes we feel as though Young Republicans do things just to be featured on OYE. Putting out a video on YouTube titled "A Message from a Young Republican Looking for Employment" tends to get out attention.



OYE Comment: To once again point out the obvious, Mr. Edwards can always try to enlist in Our Nation's military. But we suspect he may need a little encouragement from our readers.

Be a Ma'am! Enlist!

Holy Jeebus!

Carol Haertlein Sells raised her hand Friday and swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic.

It's the same oath thousands of Army officers have taken before Sells, but the Random Lake woman is different from most second lieutenants finishing Officer Candidate School.

She's being commissioned as a captain; she didn't go to Officer Candidate School; and she has grown children, including a son who is about to deploy on his second trip to Iraq.

Also: Sells is 58.

Register now and receive another ShamWow FREE!

We get email.

From: Jane Gordon <JGordon@limail.us>
Date: Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 6:44 PM
Subject: Put your conservative ideals to work in the Federal Government!
To:

Looking for a job? A career change? Or maybe you want to travel around the world or influence policy at home and abroad? The Leadership Institute has got you covered with both the Civil Service Opportunity School (a three-evening school March 30-April 1) and the Foreign Service Opportunity School (April 6-8)!

Want to influence the Federal Government and National Policy?

Civil Service Opportunity School, Evenings March 30- April 1

The Leadership Institute’s Civil Service Opportunity School teaches conservatives how to enter the Civil Service despite its engrained liberal bias. Whether you are a newcomer to Washington, DC or you are looking for a career change, this intensive three-evening seminar gives you the tools you need to begin your career in the Civil Service.

The Leadership Institute provides the knowledge and the materials to help you learn:

The nuts and bolts of the Civil Service.
How to navigate the bureaucratic application process.
Creative ways people can enter the Civil Service.
How the Civil Service functions and what it seeks to achieve.

Want to influence international politics and policies?

Foreign Service Opportunity School, April 6-8, 2009

The Leadership Institute’s Foreign Service Opportunity School teaches conservatives how to pass the entrance exam, enter the Foreign Service and learn more about what it takes to live and work in a foreign land.

The Leadership Institute provides the knowledge and the materials to help you learn:

How to master difficult entrance examinations.Interview survival skills.
Strategic ways to enter the service.
About other job opportunities in international relations.

The Leadership Institute will also provide and proctor an official practice exam for the Foreign Service Officer Test

Register Now!

The registration fee of $100 (for each school) includes meals, course materials, and free lodging.

For more information, or to register, contact Jane Gordon atJGordon@LIMail.us or 703-647-3578. Register for both the Foreign AND the Civil Service Opportunity schools and receive $25 off each.

Jane Gordon Email
Political Training Coordinator
Leadership Institute
www.leadershipinstitute.org

OYE Comment: Strange. We were thinking that somewhere within this email or on their website they'd encourage leadership by serving in the Armed Forces. Oh well.

2013 Recruiting Lead

Since the National Chairman of the College Republicans isn't much of a leader, conservative youths are looking to a homeschooled 8th grader to advance them back to relevancy.

The interview concluded, Jonathan wistfully handed his mother her cellphone. His parents still won’t let him have one, even though he turned 14 last Sunday, right after he became an instant news media darling and the conservative movement’s underage graybeard at last weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

The annual convention brings in the movement’s grand old lions, like Rush Limbaugh, as well as cubs to rally 8,500 of the faithful, who were shaken by the election of Barack Obama. Jonathan, a slight, home-schooled only child whose teeth are in braces, is so passionate about his beliefs that he spent his summer writing “Define Conservatism,” an 86-page book outlining what he says are its core values. In January, he contacted CPAC organizers, asking to speak there.

With some skepticism, they gave him a spot on a Friday panel of grassroots activists. But Jonathan, an experienced child actor, rocked the house with a three-minute speech, which was remarkable not so much for what he said, but his electrifying delivery. The speech was part pep talk, part book promotion. By Saturday morning, an archdeacon of the movement was saying, “I’m Bill Bennett: I used to work for Ronald Reagan and now I’m a colleague of Jonathan Krohn’s!”

Video of Jonathon's CPAC speech:


OYE Comment: We have our suspicions that Jonathon's upbringing parallels that of OYE Hall of Famer, Jonah Goldberg. Yet, for the meantime, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt as he's still 2 years away from even obtaining a driver's license (and probably another 20 years away from getting laid), so we'll hold off in telling him to Be A Man! Enlist! (for now)

Chubby Chasing

Not just for the drunk guys on leave anymore.

Fat is bad for your health. And as defense officials attest, it’s also bad for recruiting -- and for national defense.

Curtis Gilroy, the Pentagon’s accessions chief, lamented during a congressional hearing this week that many recruitment-age youth are too overweight to qualify for military service.

And as a recent Defense Department study revealed, the number of overweight active-duty troops has more than doubled during the past 10 years.

OYE Comment: Jason Mattera and Matthew Continetti still appear as though they'd make it under the weight limit for serving.


HT: Oliver Willis.

Also, found this recruiter's website in the comment section of Oliver's post. It's not updated regularly but most of the content remains relevant.

AoD calls out College Republicans

This is a bit of a follow-up from a previous post we did on Alex Horton from Army of Dude. He again gives his thoughts on the current use of the IRR and who should consider taking the place of those that have already seen combat.

Having done more for his country in three years than the sum of whole organizations (I'm looking at you, College Republicans), Steve was once again called upon to do the work so many have shunned over the last eight years.

OYE Comment: Unfortunately the College and Young Republicans are incapable of feeling shame.

Vets and Survivors Possibly Being Cheated

Off topic, but newsworthy.

A new report about Veterans Affairs Department employees squirreling away tens of thousands of unopened letters related to benefits claims is sparking fresh concerns that veterans and their survivors are being cheated out of money.

VA officials acknowledge further credibility problems based on a new report of a previously undisclosed 2007 incident in which workers at a Detroit regional office turned in 16,000 pieces of unprocessed mail and 717 documents turned up in New York in December during amnesty periods in which workers were promised no one would be penalized.

Military Mother (UPDATED)

Recalled.

A North Carolina woman who was recalled to the Army four years after being honorably discharged was driving nearly 400 miles and braving a Southeastern winter storm to report for duty Sunday, with her children by her side.

Lisa Pagan was en route to Fort Benning, despite the snow, and said in a phone interview she hoped to reach the Georgia post by early evening.

"I know I'm on my way doing what I need to do," Pagan said. "But I'm a little nervous."

OYE Comment: Lisa Pagan is reporting for duty a 2nd time because Charlie Smith, the National Chairman for the College Republicans, never enlisted for a 1st time.

UPDATE: Lisa Pagan discharged.