Human Rights Campaign calls out the White House

...and once again the leadership on ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' has disappeared.

I would suspect that HRC gave the White House a heads up that this statement was going out, and it's even quite possible that they told the White House "we don't really mean it, it just provides us cover with the angry Netroots." But there's the thing. HRC just came out and accused the President, publicly, of not providing leadership on the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." For a lot of people, the fact that HRC, a long-time defender of the President on gay issues, is now criticizing that same President, means that Obama must REALLY be bad for HRC to say something negative.

And on the heels of Congressman Barney Frank's admission last week that the White House is "ducking" the repeal of DADT, and "not being supportive," this statement by HRC becomes only that much more serious for the White House.

How Real Americans Support Our Troops

Military recruiting is a very difficult assignment; in fact, that's why Operation Yellow Elephant was founded back in 2005: to encourage those eligible to serve who support what Our President, and Our Country, are trying to accomplish overseas, at least to consider volunteering for military service. Be A Man! Enlist!

At least those in the travel industry are doing what they can. From Itineraries in the New York Times:

Road Warriors Recruit for Military

[ . . . ]

On board, a uniform creates another experience entirely. “If they have an empty first-class seat, they’ll demand you come up front,” Colonel [Rickey] Grabowski, [52, former commanding officer of the district office in Garden City, now the chief of staff for the Marine Corps Eastern recruiting region in Parris Island, S.C.,] said. “A lot of us laugh about that.” A recent policy change allows recruiters to keep airline mileage accrued on military business for personal use, Captain [Adrian] Rankine-Galloway, the public affairs officer for the First Marine Corps district office in Garden City, N.Y., which handles recruitment for the northeastern United States,] said.

Col. Wesley Preston Miller, 42, public relations director for the Air Force’s National Media Outreach office in New York, said that when in uniform, “from the baggage department, you get more leeway” on weight restrictions, though that has recently tightened, and recruiters must show military travel documents. On the ground, he said, hotels sometimes upgrade recruiters from their reserved rooms. “Obviously a person never asks, but if they do it, you feel like a king.”

And, of course, Americans let our military personnel know what they think:

While nearly all the recruiters interviewed said they were generally well accepted in their travels, protesters of American military policy sometimes single them out. [ . . . ]

Some recruiters said well-wishers can be another obstacle, albeit a welcome one. Sgt. First Class William Wagoner, 34, who works with Sergeant [First Class Derek T.] Price, of the Army Accessions Support Brigade at Fort Knox, Kentucky, said that when he is in uniform, “I can’t get through an airport without shaking 12 to 15 hands.” Sometimes, he added, “I am almost late for my flight.”

Mattera Stalks Again

We wonder if Jason Mattera stalks his ex-girlfriends in the same manner he shadows Senators and Congressmen? Whoa, let me stop myself there. The only women he's talked to in his life have thrown drinks on his shirt or sprayed him down with a can of mace.

Recently Jason popped out of a manhole cover to ambush Congressman Alan Greyson.

MATTERA: What about the house -- there's the House portion that provides funding for Native American child molesters and the Senate portion that provides

GRAYSON: Oh God, are you a kook?

MATTERA: -- that mandates - No, this is in the bill.

GRAYSON: Are you a kook? 'Cause you're starting to sound like it.

MATTERA: This is in your bill that you voted for.

GRAYSON: Okay, have a nice day.

Let us confirm for you, Congressman Grayson, that Mattera is indeed a kook. As well as a coward and a racist.

Here's the entire video if you dare (Jason is the one on the left, wearing a size 28 sportcoat)




Note to Jason: please spring for a quality camera. Your frat buddy filming with his cellphone really makes you look like more of a joker.

For every great man born we seem to get 5 of these....

Max Boot, the pasty looking coward that would rather write about The Military than serve in it, is very concerned there won't be enough money to fund future wars he'd never personally fight in. (via)

More Difficult to oust Servicemen under DADT

From Defense Secretary Gates' announcement:

The interim measures take effect immediately, Mr. Gates said, and will ensure that the current policy is carried out in “a fairer and more appropriate manner,” and in a way based on “common sense and common decency.”

The new rules require that only an officer with the rank of at least a one-star
general or admiral can initiate a fact-finding inquiry or other proceeding, or order any discharge under “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The guidelines raise the standard for evidence, an effort to prevent “malicious outing” by a third party or a jilted partner. Information provided by a third party must be given
under oath.

Also prohibited would be information provided to lawyers, clergy members or psychotherapists, as well as to doctors involved in the person’s medical treatment or gathered in a security clearance investigation, in accordance with current policies.

“This looks like a good step forward on the administration’s promise to end discrimination against gays in the military,” said Richard Socarides, a lawyer who served as the Clinton administration’s special assistant for gay rights issues. “My only question is, What took them so long?”

Stay Tuned

At least someone seems to be taking the lead on ending DADT.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will announce measures on Thursday to make it more difficult for the military to expel openly gay service members, an interim plan while the Pentagon examines repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, officials said.

Officials said the new steps would include a requirement that only a general or admiral could initiate action in cases where service members were suspected of violating the prohibition against openly gay service in the armed forces.

Ben Quayle Ducks the Question

Well, Ben Quayle's Campaign for Congress has had well over a week to Answer Our Questions; the Republican Primary is August 24. Here's what we sent to Ben Quayle:

Subject: A few questions for Congressional Candidate Ben Quayle

12MAR2010: Greetings to the Ben Quayle for Congress Campaign:

Getting straight to the point, Operation Yellow Elephant, which began in 2005 as a nonpartisan grass roots citizens initiative to Support Our President by encouraging his strongest supporters, if qualified, to consider military service, has some questions for candidate Ben Quayle.

We welcome your response for publication on our blog. [If anything is not for publication, please include it in brackets as I am doing with this sentence. We can discuss by phone if needed.]

1. Your bio on your new campaign website does not mention military service. Please confirm that you have not served in our military, or provide any other information that you consider relevant that you may wish to share.

2. We note that you are 33 years old and, therefore, young enough to serve in our military. Are you eligible to serve [healthy and heterosexual, basically]? If you are not eligible to serve, please just let us know that fact (no details, please) and we will not bother you again.

3. Assuming at this point that you are eligible to serve, have you considered volunteering for military service? If you did not do so before 9/11/2001, did you reconsider after the terrorist attacks against the U.S.? If not, why not? If so, what resulted from your deliberations?

4. Do you personally know any enlisted servicemembers or junior officers [O-3 and below], those who are most at risk in combat? How about recent veterans of any rank?

5. We welcome any other information related to this topic that you may wish to share with readers of our blog.

Thank you very much for considering our questions. Please let us know if any further information is necessary.

Sincerely,

Operation Yellow Elephant

And the first follow-up:

14MAR2010: Follow-up: A few questions for Congressional Candidate Ben Quayle [sent Friday 12MAR]:

Greetings-

We just wanted to let you know that we very much welcome the Quayle for Congress campaign's responses to our questions. If you decide you would not like to respond, if you could please just let us know that fact, we won't have to keep following-up.

We have received an e-mail from the candidate's fiancee, Tiffany, but it is not clearly for public posting on our blog [we've asked] and does not address the questions about our topic. Nor have we seen anything new on the website.

Thank you very much for your help.

Operation Yellow Elephant

And the second follow-up:

19MAR2010: Second follow-up: A few questions for the Ben Quayle Congressional Campaign:

Greetings to the Quayle for Congress campaign-

We still haven't heard from you. If you will not respond to our questions, could you please just let us know that fact, so we don't have to keep sending to you, and you don't have to keep receiving, our e-mails?

If we don't hear from you soon, we'll just go with what we have, and note your lack of response. We do not think that this will reflect well on a campaign for a position of national leadership, and would prefer that the campaign engage - once - in a polite, civilized discussion of a relevant issue. That said, it's your choice.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Operation Yellow Elephant

OYE Comment:

Wow! He'll let his fiancee Tiffany defend him, but isn't man enough to speak for himself. But we did give them over a week just to let us know that they were working on it, and we never heard from them.

Always Running From Something

College Republicans prefer to send care packages to servicemen rather than become servicemen.

In 2007, DePauw's College Republicans national charter was discontinued due to inactivity. But thanks to the efforts of a group of dedicated students, the chapter is once again official. On the heels of that accomplishment, the group is organizing the DePauw Dash, a 5K race to benefit a U.S. soldier.

"We have roughly 70 members," said Sam Spahn, president of the DePauw College Republicans. "All we've been doing since September is basically recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. It's a lot like campaigning, just like a candidate would do."

Sad how little they know about the serviceman they're sponsoring (also unsurprising).

The DePauw Dash is slated for April 10. Through the Soldier's Angels organization, the DePauw College Republicans have "adopted" a soldier by the name of Michael Scaglione. Funds raised through the DePauw Dash will be used to put together care packages for Scaglione.

"(Scaglione) is in the Navy and is currently in Iraq," Spahn said. "But we don't know where he's from or any other details about him."

Ben Quayle update: Still waiting . . .

We established contact with the Ben Quayle Campaign over the weekend, and Asked The Question. We have received indications that they received our questions, but have yet to advise whether they plan to respond.

We noted that whether to respond is, of course, their decision, and politely requested that they at least please tell us if their response will be silence, so that nobody would waste anyone's time. We haven't heard anything yet.

We've also received an e-mail from someone in the Quayle camp commenting on our blog. We've taken the comments into account; we've also requested permission to post those comments directly related to our topic.

We wanted to assure our readers that we are very much interested in Asking The Question of Ben Quayle, and in providing him, through his campaign, the fullest possible opportunity to respond.

We hope Ben Quayle is man enough to respond to a tough but fair question all by himself. Stay tuned.

David Petraeus: "Time Has Come to Consider" Don't Ask Repeal

Hopefully someone that lives in the White House was listening, because he sure has been quiet on this subject.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday, Gen. David Petraeus said "the time has come to consider a change" to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that bars openly gay men and women from serving in the military.

Kinda off topic, kinda not

About a year ago we highlighted the absurdity of a conservative blog encouraging their supporters to be a part of their 'Army'. And now it looks like CNN just enlisted the help of their douchebag General.

CNN announced that RedState.com editor Erick Erickson will join the channel as a political commentator, stating that he is "a perfect fit" for the new show John King, USA. Erickson's long history of incendiary, sexist, and racially charged statements includes asking when voters would "march down" and "beat" lawmakers "to a bloody pulp" and referring to former Supreme Court Justice David Souter as a "goat fucking child molester."

Total Scumbags: Police rat out Air Force Sgt.

Even if one abides by the DADT guidelines one could still get screwed. (via)

Jene Newsome played by the rules as an Air Force sergeant: She never told anyone in the military she was a lesbian. The 28-year-old's honorable discharge under the ''don't ask, don't tell'' policy came only after police officers in Rapid City, S.D., saw an Iowa marriage certificate in her home and told the nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base.

Newsome and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint against the western South Dakota police department, claiming the officers violated her privacy when they informed the military about her sexual orientation. The case also highlights concerns over the ability of third parties to ''out'' service members, especially as the Pentagon has started reviewing the 1993 ''don't ask, don't tell'' law.

''I played by 'don't ask, don't tell,''' Newsome told The Associated Press by telephone.

Ben Quayle and AZ3 in the New York Times

The New York Times has taken official notice of the Republican primary contest for a rare open seat in Arizona's Third District in the Phoenix area, no doubt because Ben Quayle, above, a son of the former Vice President, is one of eight candidates. Here's what Ben Quayle said to the Times:

“I think a lot of people can see themselves in me,” he added, “having gone through a period in their lives when they were focused on building their careers and were not as involved as they should be.”

“The honor of public service was instilled in me at a young age,” he said.

OYE Comment: Wow.

At least Ben Quayle's admitted having been "not as involved as [he] should be" in, say, the Global War on Terrorism [under the leadership for many years of then-President George W. Bush], while he was "focused on building [his] career."

Although off-topic for this blog, we note that not many of those he aspires to represent, Ben Quayle's future constituents, had even heard of him. Other Republicans, including Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker, the only other candidate profiled in the article, have records of public service at the state and local level going back years.

Ben Quayle seems like a nice guy, but does that mean he has the national leadership gravitas to serve effectively in Congress?

Ben Quayle update: He has a website!

Arizona businessman Ben Quayle, a candidate for the Republican nomination for the Third Congressional District in the Phoenix area, and son of the former Vice President, has made some progress. He [finally] has a website!

In "About Ben," here's what he has to say on our topic:

Ben Quayle believes in America’s position as the role model for the world.

Ben Quayle commits to:

-- Vote for a strong national security policy that takes real steps to protect our nation
-- Support a dramatic enhancement in our border security [sort of related to our topic]

Throughout his life, Ben’s family has instilled in him the importance of public service.

[Note: We've just included info on our topic.]

OYE Comment:

We've asked The Question to the Ben Quayle campaign, and we'll let you know if Ben [himself!] responds.

Smith College Republicans

Just like College Republicans everywhere else, the ones at Smith are also 'always the victims'.

Conservative students at Smith face extreme adversity from their peers if they make their opinions public. During last year's Conservative Coming Out Day, an annual event held by the Smith Republicans to encourage Smith students to come out as conservatives or moderates, several Smithies said that they would join the club, but were afraid of the social ramifications: being taunted, ridiculed and ostracized by their housemates and friends.

This is a valid concern, since several members of the club have suffered harassment. In the heat of the last presidential election, girls in one member's house posted vicious messages on her door. Additionally, it has been nearly impossible to advertise our club's events because fliers are torn down within hours. If they do remain up, they are vandalized. Earlier this year we wanted to inform our fellow Smithies about what Republicans actually believe by placing facts about the party on candy bars; we placed fliers around campus saying "free chocolate." One Smith student decided to write "and torture" underneath. The ignorance and intolerance inspiring this action speaks for itself.

Who knows? Maybe they do have a point. From an outsider's perspective I guess it would seem unfair to label this as 'typical College Republican whining'.

And there is someone else at Smith standing up for the CR's:

Exercise a little tolerance for Republicans

College Republicans: Forever Worthless

Even though not many College Republicans are still willing to have their name attached to their gutless warmongering, it doesn't mean they no longer harbor the same cowardice to cheer war from the safety of fraternity houses.

Not long after that panel, right-wing firebrand and pundit Ann Coulter spoke to the convention, and when she spoke, the room was packed to capacity. Throngs of college students came to hear Coulter stoke populist flames and appeal to the most base elements of the Republican psyche with liberal-bashing one-liners one could practically classify as political pornography. During the question-and-answer session with Coulter, one college student asked her what she thought of Joanne Herring's suggestion that assisting Afghani farmers grow chickpeas could help stabilize the country. To this question Coulter replied, "I thought bombs were the solution to our problem in Afghanistan." The young people in the room responded with thunderous applause.

Honesty from Hollywood: The Messenger

Actor Steve Buscemi, above, recently discussed his role in The Messenger, starring Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson.

Q: You also popped up in The Messenger. In fact, you blamed the messenger, going into a rage when they told you your son died at war.

Buscemi: I tried to talk Oren [Moverman] out of casting me, but he insisted. I was nervous because [in real life] I have a son who is that age that could be over there. Going to that place where I needed to go as an actor was very uncomfortable.

OYE Comment:

The Messenger is worth seeing. It shows the realities of both war and the lives of people directly involved. When our nation goes to war, real people, both in and out of uniform, are affected. We thank all involved with The Messenger for sharing military families' stories with their fellow Americans.

Peter Beinart. Gutless invertebrate.

Most of the jackasses we highlight on OYE are relatively harmless. A guy like Jason Mattera is a circus clown, a guy like Matt Continetti is a phony intellectual whose little sister used to kick his ass.

Not the case with Peter Beinart. He's job hopped around to several major media outlets and currently writes for Time and The Daily Beast and has proudly advocated for war he's unwilling to fight in.

TBogg sums up his warmongering in 3 Acts:

Act One :We totally need to go into Iraq and kick some fucking ass.

Act Two :You know that time l got all, “America, fuck yeah!” Well… my bad.

Act Three : OMIGAWD! If we leave Iraq real soon things are going to go really badly! Who could have predicted? No me, that’s who.

And since we live in an age that rewards cowards Mr. Beinart has been awarded with another book deal.

We'll keep tabs on his upcoming book tour. If he comes to your city maybe you can drop by and ask why his bony ass never enlisted for the wars he pimped.

Don't Ask Don't Tell Story Project

Wonderful job by Senator Gillibrand putting faces to those affected by DADT.

Since 1994, more than 13,000 servicemen and women have been discharged from the military based not on their performance but on their sexual orientation. In 2009 alone, hundreds more of our brave men and women left the military under Don't Ask Don't Tell. This is unacceptable. We need to let my colleagues in Congress know that Don't Ask Don't Tell is not some nameless faceless policy, it has harmed the lives of thousands of our bravest fellow Americans. You can read the stories of just a few of those whose lives have been impacted by Don't Ask Don't Tell here. And if you have a story of your own, please share it with us below. We must repeal this destructive policy and make sure that gays and lesbians are allowed to serve openly and honestly in the military.

Marco Rubio's $133.75 Haircut

Marco Rubio (FL Senator candidate) responds to his expensive trip to a hair salon. (via)

"That’s not, that’s not even accurately reported, that’s not what that was. And, uh, unfortunately as I said, it’s been misrepresented, misreported. In some respects, in key aspects of it that have been left out. But look, that was a card secured in the corporate division under my personal credit. If you read the policies of American Express, it clearly says that uh if personal expenses get on there you have to pay them. Those are charge cards, not credit cards. You’ve got to pay it at the end of every month, which we did, and I paid for it out of my own pocket, all of it. So those are just charges that appeared on the statement, doesn’t mean the party paid for it, in fact the official state documents show that the party didn’t pay for it, and I wish that had been highlighted more prominently by the Miami Herald and others who covered the story. But, you know I think there job is to kind of write the story the most, uh, attention grabbing way possible. I get that. It’s uh, it’s unfortunately part of politics. We deal with it and move on. You know this is an election about a country that owes trillions of dollars, a lot of it to foreign debt holders, I doubt this election is going to turn on some $138 charge on my personal credit.

The state of our political media seems truly pathetic if they've dissolved to asking questions about how much one spends at a hair salon. Particularly with a candidate like Rubio who is relatively unknown and there remain real questions that should be asked of him. He still has yet to identify anything military-veteran-war related within the issue section of his campaign site. This in itself should open up a platform of about 30 questions his constituents would like to know.

Of course all of this could have ended if Marco had the balls to say "This is the United States. I'll spend my money any goddamn way I want."

Update: Marco Rubio won.

Why Ben Quayle is a Pussy

It's bad enough that Daddy stole his thunder by telling Fox News of Ben Quayle's [apparent] intention to run for Congress in Arizona.

But now, more than two weeks later, one cannot help but wonder whether he is really serious about running.

Why?

Because we have yet to locate an Internet site for the Ben Quayle Congressional campaign, nor a publicly available telephone number for his campaign office, to which we can direct The Question to him. Hel-lo!

Why does this mean he's a pussy?

Because there are other things that a man has to do on his own if he is to call himself a man and, more importantly, expect that those whom he hopes to lead will think of him with respect.

One of them is raising at least some of his campaign money by himself. The other is reaching out to real people, not only in the Third Congressional District in the Phoenix area, but also elsewhere in Arizona and, indeed, all over America.

An official campaign Internet site makes it easy for real American citizens, and lawful permanent resident aliens, to show their support by legally donating their own personal funds to his campaign. Donations under $200 do not need to be reported publicly; the limit per person is approximately $2300 or $2400 or thereabouts.

Yes, we know that Daddy will help with fundraising by contacting his major donor buddies, and this can be important.

But Ben Quayle needs to know that the so-called "little people" also want a voice in the future of our nation. If he doesn't care enough to reach out to them, why does his Daddy, if not Ben Quayle himself, think they will support him in the election?

"Finally, a bill to repeal DADT"

Thank you Senator Udall.

Finally, we have a bill.

Just minutes ago, I stood with Senators Lieberman, Levin, Gillibrand, and Burris at a press conference and announced that we would be introducing the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010 in the Senate to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

In a time of two wars, any policy that leads to the discharge of talented and capable troops threatens our national security and wastes resources. That's exactly what "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been doing for 17 years. And that's why, as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and original cosponsor of this bill, I'm proud to be leading the charge to finally -- and fully -- repeal this unfair and outmoded law.

More Future Republican Leaders

I understand this is an attempt at humor, but still though, I'd rather eat Cheerios from a bedpan than watch this again.



I understand that dudes like Jay-Z, Rick Rubin, and Birdman have better things to do, but if one of them can donate an hour to help Young Republicans produce a song it'll be appreciated.

Martin Sullivan - Future Republican Leader

I don't necessarily have anything against this guy. He just embodies all that is about Young Republicans- private school education, overweight, a honkey, et cetera.

Might that future include running for office instead of just stumping for other Republicans?

Sullivan says he's much too busy advancing the GOP cause to give it much consideration just now.

"But it would be crazy to say that I'd never think about it," he added. "I might run some day if I was sure I had something positive to add to the debate."