A Few Items

(poor kid doesn't have a chance)

- What is with the College Republican National Committee? Their last post was a crayon drawing of Nancy Pelosi accompanied with the worst attempt at poetry ever. I never thought it'd come down to it, but I miss former dumbass chairman, Charlie Smith.

- Meet some more 'Young Guns' of the Republican Party. And re-meet Ethan Hastert since that D-bag is mentioned in the article.

- Hope this can get pushed through:

Two Florida lawmakers propose an expansion of Post-9/11 GI Bill coverage to include reimbursement for the cost of college preparation classes.

- "It's just a flesh wound"

Police in Colorado Springs say a Fort Carson soldier set to return to Afghanistan intentionally shot himself in the shoulder to avoid deployment.

They say 26-year-old Robert Murchison and his girlfriend found a parking spot near Penrose-St. Francis main hospital on Wednesday night and then he shot himself in the car.

Murchison and 28-year-old Chasaity Peoples allegedly first told police that they had stopped to help a stranded motorist and that the driver shot him.

Women in the Fight

(A bit off topic) Life magazine has posted an extraordinary gallery of photographs of servicewomen in WWII.

Not as tough as his name and mouth imply

A pack of right-wingers sent a letter to the President asking him to escalate the war in Afghanistan. Sure, no problem. We all have the right to ask our Presidents to do anything on our behalf. The problem, as usual, is most of the signers of the letter have absolutely no skin in the game.

Mr. President, you have put in place the military leadership and sent the initial resources required to begin bringing this war to a successful conclusion. The military leadership has devised a strategy that will reverse the errors of previous years, free Afghans from the chains of tyranny, and keep America safe. We call on you to fully resource this effort, do everything possible to minimize the risk of failure, and to devote the necessary time to explain, soberly and comprehensively, to the American people the stakes in Afghanistan, the route to success, and the cost of defeat.

With the continued bravery of our troops, and your continued full support for them and their command team, America and our allies can and will prevail in Afghanistan.

One of the letter's signers is Max Boot, a gutless tapeworm that has always stood on the sidelines screeching about the virtues of more combat for more troops. It seems rather pathetic that his experience as a writer and philosopher somehow makes him a 'proclaimed' expert on warfare. But this is the world we live in and just further evidence that the gap between credibility and notoriety is still expanding.

Feel free to ask Mr. Boot to get his goddamn ass into the game since he still has a few years left of eligibility.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty addresses the YR's

If you're going to attempt to identify with the Young Republicans maybe it'd be best to not quote a 66 year old rocker.

"Mick Jagger said in a song once, 'you can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need," Pawlenty said.

Perhaps the governor should have quoted a different washed-up rock star. A chickenhawk like Ted Nugent is someone the Young Republicans can identify with.

40 Year Old Enlists

Everyone has their reasons.

In March, he was laid off from his job as a raw materials coordinator for a plastics company called PolyOne, where he'd worked for 20 years. His severance package had provided several months' salary, but by August the paychecks were winding down. Soon the cost of his family health coverage was going to triple, then a few months after that, nearly triple again. They needed coverage so Mom could fight her cancer.

Dad's solution: a four-year hitch in the Army.

Around the College Republican World

I actually feel bad for them about this one. They're in college not serving Our Country in uniform. Of course they're gonna throw a few back.

The state Liquor Control Commission is looking into statements made in a college student's blog that underage drinking took place at candidates' parties during a recent gathering of Michigan Republicans on Mackinac Island.

Useless News and World Distort tells us that the Michigan President of the College Republicans wasn't acting very Republicany.

Chaffin caused some "internal strife" among College Republicans when, on Facebook, he expressed support for President Obama's healthcare reforms. Chaffin also agreed to be interviewed by the Michigan Independent—which, according to the Daily, is a "left-leaning" magazine on Michigan's campus—without getting permission from the College Republicans, the Daily reported. He further ruffled feathers over his comments to the Daily Sunday, when he told the paper of his "forthcoming impeachment" before any impeachment hearings had taken place.

The Indiana State University chapter is really going to change the public perception of the CR's. They mean it. Really. They won't fail like the other 6000 chapters.

"We're mostly interested in taking time to rebuild our public image," said Cook, a senior political science major.

The organization wishes to increase in size and add more diversity to the Republican Party, Cook said.

Really Good News

The Army Times covers the recruiting #'s, bonuses, waivers, and recruit quality of this last year's enlistees.

The active and reserve military branches all met or exceeded both their numeric and quality recruiting goals during fiscal 2009 for the first time in the 36-year history of the all-volunteer force, the Pentagon's top military personnel policy official said Tuesday.

Holy Crap!

Ethan Hastert (aka Daddy's Girl) hauled in some loot.

Ethan Hastert raised a strong $225,000 for his race against Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.).

Must be nice to have been born into a well-connected family. I bet his father still puts up a Baby on Board sign when Ethan gets in the family car.

How 'bout them Cowboys

North Texas blew away their recruiting goal for the fiscal year that ended 30 September.

Stewart, a 2009 graduate of Keller Central High School, enlisted in the Army to fix helicopters, a decision he made after deciding to forgo college for the time being.

"I thought I’d like this better," he said of the Army. "It’s also a guaranteed job for six years, which is a big thing."

Stewart is one of the reasons the Army just concluded its best-ever year in North Texas, enlisting more than 5,000 young men and women into the service, more than any other Army recruiting battalion in the nation.

These Texans manned up so this Texan can stay home and act a fool in front of a camcorder.

"I Didn't Tell. It Didn't Matter."

Disturbing story.

This was the day I had been dreaming about since I'd enlisted in the Navy a few months before, on my birthday. I loved my country, and I knew that I was ready to prove myself in action.

I also knew that I was gay.

However, I chose to put service above my personal life. My understanding of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was that if I kept quiet about my sexuality and didn't break any rules, I would face no punishment. I was wrong.

Welcome Home Track Palin

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's son, Track, returned from serving a year in Iraq.

The Palins' oldest son, Track is stationed at Fort Wainwright and the Stryker Brigade Combat Team. Palin, who the brigade commander called "the senior mom of the brigade," did not speak publicly at the even and declined to talk to the media, citing the need to keep the focus on soldiers.

We thank Track Palin for stepping up and Sarah Palin for being one of the few politicians that had a loved one in harms way. Their family is certainly more respectable than Mitt Romney's.

No Seat Should Go Unchallenged

Certainly more credible than Marco Rubio.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is on no one's list of vulnerable Senators in 2010. But an active duty Navy M.D. says he's ready to mount a serious challenge to the six term liberal. From the left. Daniel Freilich says he plans to formally announce his bid for Leahy's seat tomorrow in Wilmington, VT. We caught up with him this afternoon.

"When your plate gets too full, you get up and get a bigger plate..."

Jon Stewart rips the Obama administration for dragging their heavy boots on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Gay After Tomorrow
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

Wow. What an azzhole...

These lug nuts don't have a friggin' clue. Meet Peter Schiff, a former advisor to Ron Paul who equates his candidacy for Senate to enlisting.

I'm interrupting my career. It's not like I want my new career in politics. But I'm willing to interrupt it the same way that somebody interrupted their career and joined World War II and went off to fight the Nazis. I don't think that I'm that heroic, and I don't think I'm risking as much as a soldier. But it's the same principle.

No, he's not eligible to serve Our Country in uniform since he's too old, so this post is mostly irrelevant except to point out that fools like Marco Rubio and Jason Mattera share the same mentality that somehow their meaningless, selfish pursuits are somehow a sacrifice for the rest of us.

HT: TP

White House Aide goes active duty

This type of commitment eludes College Republicans.

A senior foreign policy adviser in the Obama administration will leave the White House in the next week or so, returning to military service for another deployment as an intelligence officer with the Navy SEALs. Mark Lippert, a naval reservist, is the deputy national security adviser for operations and serves as chief of staff of the National Security Council. Before President Obama took office, Lippert was his top foreign policy aide in the Senate.

Off Topic

But definitely notable.

Passengers on Tuesday afternoon’s United Airlines flight from Denver to Boise refrained from the typical chaos of getting off a long flight and instead sat quietly in their seats while two somber passengers deplaned.

The crowd was hushed until it gave a standing ovation to Ron and Jeff Phelps, and their precious cargo.

The Phelps brothers were bringing their father home. Chief Warrant Officer Don Phelps, a decorated helicopter pilot, was killed in 1965 during the Vietnam War. His aircraft, his body and the bodies of three crewmates were missing for nearly 44 years until the crash site was uncovered earlier this year.