Our Best Wishes to Chelsea Clinton

Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, is to get married today in Rhinebeck, New York, to Mr. Marc Mezvinsky, an investment banker and son of two former Members of Congress. [With respect to our topic, we are unaware that either the bride or the groom has served in our military or done other forms of public service, at least for serious periods of time.]

We wish the couple all the best for a wonderful and happy life together as private citizens of our great country. We hope that they will be involved in their community and otherwise continue to contribute to the future success of our great nation. From this blog, that is all.

General McChrystal, a true LEADER

Army General Stanley McChrystal, formerly U.S. and NATO Commander in Afghanistan, retired today in a ceremony at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., presided over by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

While the circumstances of the conclusion of his military career are off-topic, we do note that he, as a LEADER, manned up and accepted his responsibility as Commander. No excuses. In so doing, he has continued to serve our nation and strengthen our military as an institution. In approving his retirement as a four-star general after serving less than three years, President Obama clearly recognized that General McChrystal did the right thing for America.

General (ret.) McChrystal deserves thanks and respect of all Americans for all that he has done to protect our country. We wish him and his family all the best.

Servicemembers Music Videos

OK, totally off-topic, but please bear with us.

There's something about Lady Gaga that our servicemembers [mostly Soldiers, but also Marines] downrange really like, to the point that they record themselves doing something silly, then post for posterity on the Internet. Here are some of the best, followed by one more [quite crazy, but then, they're deployed, so it's OK]:

The world-famous Telephone Remake [from Afghanistan]



from the U.S. Air Force Academy:



Vanilla Ice Remix [looks like MPs in Iraq]



And another from Iraq, spoofing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"



Finally, here's Lady Gaga's Pokerface [also from Iraq]



OYE Comment: The Atlantic's Cailey Hall said it best:

The military has more important battles to attempt to win without taking on the extraordinarily pervasive popularity of social networks. But just in case they do, I recommend you get your fill of soldier music videos while you can. You might laugh, you might cry. And perhaps you'll even think about some of the other things those young men and women in uniform are facing over there.

If these crazy videos help to bring the American people closer to our deployed servicemembers, it's all to the good.

Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan.

Ben Leming: Credible Candidate for Congress

From his campaign site:

"Mission First."

Every Marine understands that the number one priority for the unit and each individual is mission accomplishment above all else. This is the driving force that makes the Marine Corps and U.S. military the finest fighting force in the world. Nothing deters a Marine from the mission - not personalities, not environmental factors, not politics - nothing. Individuals put aside their differences and work together to find the most effective course of action to accomplish the mission.

Our elected officials also need to live by “Mission First.” When our nation and her citizens are in need, and when it’s clear that course corrections must be made, we need elected officials who will put the mission first and politics last. We need leaders who aren’t swayed by the pundits, who aren’t posturing and posing, all the while failing to accomplish the mission, just to get themselves reelected.

Update: Ben Leming narrowly lost the multi-candidate Democratic primary to Brett Carter, an attorney and member of the Tennessee National Guard who has served in Iraq. State Senator Diane Black [R] won the General Election and was sworn in January 5, 2011. As of January 8, her Congressional website still lacks her bio. Hel-lo!

What the Young and College Republicans are up to

Rove to pimp his book “Courage and Consequence” to young cowards. Rove using the word “courage” is like Keith Richards using the word "sober".

UC Merced College Republicans announced Monday that Karl Rove, former senior adviser and Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, will speak at UC Merced on Oct. 8 as part of the conservative student group's speaker series.

Rhode Island said to be having a "conservative revolution". Translation: Young Republicans want to obtain leadership positions without having to go through the hassle of earning credibility.

Travis Rowley believes that Rhode Island is going through a “conservative revolution” and he is doing his part to hasten it to fruition.

One part of his effort — he is also chairman of the R.I. Young Republicans — is what he calls a “pamphlet,” consciously evoking the patriotic pamphleteers of the American Revolution, called “The Rhode Island Republican” and subtitled “An Indictment of the Rhode Island Left.” The cover of the 42-page, glossy-magazine-style publication shows a tiny but determined-looking elephant furiously tugging at one end of a rope, trying to prevent a sneaky-looking donkey from walking Rhode Island off the edge of a cliff.

Chicago YR's hope their electoral success is better than The Cubs luck.

In choosing the locale for this party—an event to display as well as swell its ranks— the Chicago Young Republicans (CYR) seemed to have made certain assumptions about the venue’s inherent inclusiveness. If it wants to swing Chicago’s political machinations in its favor, it will have to start with Cubs fans evidently. But the Cubby Bear, despite its storied history as a rock venue, isn’t necessarily an hospitable environment for those not accustomed to traversing sports-themed watering holes. Are all Republicans sports fans?

Dance Fever

Denny Terrio is no longer the host.

The clip features six soldiers on patrol in Hebron, which is home to many sites that Jews, Muslims and Christians consider holy. Some 600 Israeli settlers live in the city among roughly 160,000 Palestinians — which means it has also been the site of tension over the Israeli occupation.

As the soldiers canvass the street with weapons in hand, a muezzin can be heard leading a call for Muslim prayers. Suddenly, Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” abruptly comes on and the six soldiers break out into a dance routine. After a few seconds of hearty gyrating, the soldiers promptly return to their patrol duty and to appropriate military postures.

The Israeli Defense Forces brass is not amused, AFP reports: In a statement, the IDF leadership called the performance a “joke by the soldiers” that amounts to “inappropriate conduct during a military operation” and will be “investigated by battalion commanders.” The video, first posted to YouTube on Friday by the user "cleangrunge," has since disappeared from its original account — but several other users have reposted it.