AZ3: It´s Ben Quayle

It´s official: Republicans in Arizona´s Third Congressional District have selected Yellow Elephant Ben Quayle as their nominee. Ben took 23% of the vote in a nine-way primary. Although that means 77% of voters rejected him, he´s still the winner.

We congratulate both Ben and Arizona Republicans and look forward to robust, uninhibited debate in a campaign to give Third District voters a choice.

The Democratic Party nominated Jon Hurlburd, 50, who, like Ben, has not served in our military but who, unlike Ben, was already too old to serve on 9/11/2001. We certainly hope that the good people of Arizona´s Third District, and their media, finally Ask Ben The Question and insist that he respond. If Daddy´s Girl is really a leader, he´ll answer it.

Sounds like segregation to us

The Marine Corps Commandant sticks to his "separate but equal" bullshit.

On a different, but related subject, Conway suggested that if the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” law is repealed, the Marines may consider allowing Marines not to share quarters with homosexuals.

Conway said the Marines may make such housing arrangements “voluntary” to accommodate any “moral concerns.” He said many Marines are “very religious” and because of their moral concerns “don’t want to room” with homosexuals.

But Conway stressed that if the law is repealed, the Marines would take the lead in implementing it. “We cannot be seen as dragging our feet. We’ve got two wars to fight. We’ll implement it and move on,” said Conway.

More Deployed Servicemember Videos

A little funny dance:



Lady Gaga´s Pokerface featuring Marines:



More Marines Dancing [original video]:



Even more Dancing Marines:



And there´s what appears to be a fabulous one featuring content from Sony Music Entertainment, "Caught Up (dancing Marines)," posted by batman32a, which is apparently blocked. We politely request that Sony Music Entertainment please allow the public to view our servicemembers in this video. Thank you.

Clip their wings immediately if not sooner

So pathetic that the 'Liberal Hawks' still hold an element of credibility in society.

In addition, there are a number of intellectual liberal hawks, who play an essential role in providing the moral and literary arguments and ideas for the movement. These thinkers operate as independent conduits for liberal ideas on foreign policy, setting the terms of debate and acting as influential intellectual hubs for the engaged public. The list of such liberal hawks would include journalists George Packer, Jonathan Chait, Jeffrey Goldberg and Anne Applebaum; professors Jeffrey Herf and Richard Just; and writers Michael O’Hanlon, Paul Berman and Leon Wieseltier. Many of them write for the New Republic, the closest thing liberal hawks have to a shared outlet.

Their vital role in Democratic politics means that their differences with Makiya
matter. But it's not just the Iraqi-born professor who finds himself at odds with his former comrades; as President Barack Obama faces stark foreign policy choices on Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, differences between liberal doves and hawks that have been muted since the occupation of Iraq began are reemerging.

To a large extent, of course, these internal fissures never went away; they were merely papered over as both liberal doves and hawks agreed that Iraq had been disastrously mishandled and that eventual withdrawal was the goal. But many of the liberal hawks that championed Iraq in the first place have not adjusted their worldviews as a result.

Peter Beinart, worthless joker

Today a few popular haunts of the liberal blogosphere praised Peter Beinart for his column defending the right for a Mosque to be built within the vicinity of the World Trade Center grounds. Fine. Cool. Whatever. Not exactly what we cover here at OYE and there's lots of other places for his piece to be debated, hated or praised.

What did grab our attention was how Peter is now trying to distance himself from his past war-mongering ways. See here how it was only the Republicans and Neocons who wanted war, no mention of himself:

Once upon a time, Republicans were so confident that the vast majority of Muslims preferred freedom to jihad that they believed the U.S. could install democracy in Iraq within months. Now, confronted with a group of Muslim Americans who want to build a cultural center that includes Jews and Christians on the board (how many churches and synagogues do that?), GOP leaders call them terrorists because they don’t share Benjamin Netanyahu’s view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Once upon a time, the “war on terror” was supposed to bring American values to Saudi Arabia. Now Newt Gingrich says we shouldn’t build a mosque in Lower Manhattan until the Saudis build churches and synagogues in Mecca—which is to say, we’re bringing Saudi values to the United States. I wonder how David Petraeus feels about all this. There he is, slogging away in the Hindu Kush, desperately trying to be culturally sensitive, watching GIs get killed because Afghans believe the U.S. is waging a war on Islam, and back home, the super-patriots on Fox News have… declared war on Islam.

So please, no more talk about those idealistic neoconservatives who are willing to expend blood and treasure so Afghans and Iraqis can live free. People in Basra and Kandahar had better hope that America’s counterinsurgency warriors create a society in which they can practice their religion free of intimidation and insult. Because it’s now clear they can’t do so on the lower tip of the island of Manhattan.

Unfortunately for Peter we didn't forget his cowardly past of pushing for a war he never intended on fighting in.

Not Cool

This is way off topic, but certainly noteworthy.

WASHINGTON – At the height of the Iraq war, the Army routinely fired hundreds of soldiers for having a personality disorder when they were more likely to be suffering from the traumatic stresses of war, discharge data suggests.

Under pressure from Congress and the public, the Army later acknowledged the problem and drastically cut the number of soldiers given the designation. But advocates for veterans say an unknown number of troops still unfairly bear the stigma of a personality disorder, making them ineligible for military health care and other benefits.

"We really have an obligation to go back and make sure troops weren't misdiagnosed," said Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, a clinical psychologist whose nonprofit "Give an Hour" connects troops with volunteer mental health professionals.

DADT claims another

A sailor using poor judgement falls victim to the piss-poor DADT law.

McIntosh said he brought his phone down to the dock even though he was not allowed. When he pulled it out to check the time, his superiors confiscated his phone and were required to go through the pictures for security reasons. He said they did not find anything top secret, but they did find graphic pictures of him and his boyfriend.

"This is why I'm being discharged, is because of pictures that have nothing to do with why they were looking at my phone in the first place," he said.

He is filing an appeal and is waiting to hear back. He said if that does not go through, however, he's out of options.

McIntosh said the classification of his discharge limits his benefits.

"I joined the Navy so that I could afford to go to school and be a productive citizen and get a good job and take care of my family," McIntosh said. "Now I can't do that. I'm back to step one."

Derek Jeter strikes out

All Star athlete, minor league mouth. (via)

Except, unfortunately for Derek Jeter, who looks into the camera and says, “To the troops, wanna thank you for your support…” Fingernails on a chalkboard. I gather the captain meant something on the order of, “I want to thank you for everything you do, because without your efforts, my life of highly compensated professional athleticism wouldn’t be possible,” a sentiment that Nick Swisher expresses with great enthusiasm in a different commercial. Still, he comes across like he was addressing his fan club.

As a sidenote, and to make this post relevant to this blog, we'd like to recognize Nick Francona, the son of the manager of the Boston Red Sox, for stepping up.

"I don't think of myself as special or different because of who my father or my family is," he said. "Being a Marine is special enough in and of itself. But I realize that I have an opportunity here, to let people know how special this thing is.

"It's almost eerie, but when you're a Marine you feel a real connection to the guys before, the ones who fought in Vietnam and World War II and World War I. They paid the price, and now it's up to our generation to bear that burden."

Cat Fight

Looks like the College Republicans in Alaska are stamping their widdle feet.

A little over a week ago, the College Republicans at the University of Alaska Anchorage held a meet-and-greet for U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski at a bar in downtown Anchorage. Former Sen. Ted Stevens was there, there was free food (though a cash bar), and according to reports a good time was had by all.

But the Joe Miller campaign, which is gunning for Murkowski's seat, didn't see it that way. Early Sunday morning Paul Bauer, Miller's campaign manager, posted an angry note to the College Republicans' Facebook page ripping them for their "endorsement of one candidate over another during a PRIMARY race." Bauer wrote that the students had "failing grades" in research, common sense, and true conservative principles and values.

The young GOPers were pissed. In an e-mail, Jeremiah Campbell, the group's spokesman, told Bauer the group didn't appreciate his "false accusations." Campbell ended his e-mail with "Please call my cell phone immediately if you have a backbone."

What's the worst a CR could do to you? Scratch your face? Throw a gerbil on you?

(Note: Ted Stevens, mentioned in the first paragraph, recently died in a plane crash. We wish his family the best in getting past this terrible time.)

Bring back the draft?

Veteran/Author Matt Gallagher thinks so.

Nearly nine years after our war in Afghanistan kicked off, and more than seven years after Iraq was, uhh, liberated, a warrior caste entirely separate and distinct from the nation that produced it has evolved into being. The burden of many is being carried by very few. Soldiers deploy two, three, even four times, while combat zones become their definition of normality. Meanwhile ... American society does not comprehend. Let me reiterate that. They. Do. Not. Comprehend.


I do believe that most Americans care. They support the troops, in the classic "I don't know what to say to war vets or do for war vets" kind of way. When people shake my hand and thank me for serving, it does means a lot, and is appreciated. On a personal, micro level, that's often all anyone can do. If particularly connected, devoted, or understanding, a person works with soldier/veteran organizations and gives back in a practical, direct fashion. But that's not something many people do, for a variety of reasons. So the question raises itself - what can be done on a macro level?

In the initial months after my return from Iraq, I busted out my soapbox of self-righteousness, often blaming individuals for this disconnect between warrior and civilian. But as I've transitioned gradually back into the role of a citizen, I've come to
understand there's a grander failure to blame for the stated societal gap. People have their own lives, the economy sucks, and day-to-day life drains. As Plato once said, "be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." And yet ... We have young men and women in hellholes around the globe fighting in our name, regardless of our politics and beliefs. We all own these wars, and are all responsible for them, whether we like it or not. Simply asking people to care and be engaged is not enough. They - and by they, I mean society in general - won't care unless they are engaged themselves, directly. It's depressing, but a reality, nonetheless. For a country steeped in the merits of representing all facets of the population, at least in theory, something clearly has gone awry in terms of who's fighting the wars. There is a class element to all this, though it's not as pronounced or as clear as it was during Vietnam. But it's still there, and why nearly every one of my soldiers came from the south or the midwest.

Of course if this were to happen Canada would be overrun with College and Young Republicans.

Wisconsin CR's Called Out

You gonna sit and take this, CR's? Stand up for yourselves for christsakes.

The poor College Republicans. They used to represent so much good. Figures like Karl Rove, Lee Atwater –– OK, maybe not good for good, but at least good for whatever they were fighting for (what was that again?).

For much of my time at UW-Madison, they were a miserly organization. Comically poor public speaking skills made the College Republicans the laughingstock of the campus press. However, I talked to the new heads of the College Republicans last year and they seemed aware of the need to re-image the organization from the customary parade of far-right speakers and self-pitying op-ed columns (liberal campus, wah, wah, wah) to advocacy for a more palatable brand of conservatism.