Yesterday in a very small combat outpost in Afghanistan the theater commander took time to pin a Bronze Star W/V Device and Purple Heart on a young NCO that I know very well; like the day he was born!
Merry Christmas all. While neither of mine can be home this year, this photo made my holidays.
Fox News is reporting that McChrystal just fired the Aide who set up the Rolling Stone interview.
Pathetic.
This is a classic case of stepping on your dick and immediately picking up a mark time.
This should be training fodder for every officer attending the Command and General Staff College.
Don’t give interviews to Rolling Stone for any reason.
Don’t openly insult the person who determines your career.
Don’t accuse one guy of polishing up his position for history books when it appears you are doing the same thing.
It is never appropriate for a General Officer to divulge who he voted for.
A groveling apology to men you consider lesser isn’t very General-like.
Firing an aide for simply arranging the platform for your career suicide is pathetic.
And most important. Don’t piss off the omnipotent Michael Yon who no doubt orchestrated this entire fiasco as punishment for not embracing his awesomeness.
I personally hate saying this because I have known Stan McChrystal for a long time and he is an enormously respected man in the Special Ops community but this was a swirling series of unforced errors that has left him totally impotent on either side of the debate.
I don’t know if Obama will fire McChrystal or not but he should.
Uber famous director and producer James Cameron offered to assist BP with efforts to mitigate the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP says “get over yourself movie-boy, this is man work!”
PALOS VERDES, Calif (Reuters) – Film director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron said on Wednesday that BP Plc turned down his offer to help combat the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Over the last few weeks I’ve watched, as we all have, with growing horror and heartache, watching what’s happening in the Gulf and thinking those morons don’t know what they’re doing,” Cameron said at the All Things Digital technology conference.
Cameron, the director of “Avatar” and “Titanic,” has worked extensively with robot submarines and is considered an expert in undersea filming. He did not say explicitly who he meant when he referred to “those morons.”
I think BP made a massive mistake in this decision for a couple of reasons.
First, I have worked with Cameron and his folks and they are the best in the world at what they do. And one of the very critical things they do is to adapt current sophisticated gear or create all new stuff for their underwater work which includes a great deal of robotics.
More importantly, this guy is obviously a light bender.
He made Leonardo DiCaprio a believable masculine hero! That was no small feat.
Then he stole the entire screenplay for “Dances with Wolves”, threw in a bunch blue NBA second round draft picks and just like that over a $billion!
I’m just saying, that’s a guy I want on my team.
I sure hope nobody is thinking that this little bombshell has gone away because it ain’t close to going away.
Erick Erickson at RedState who jumped all in on the Haley bandwagon long ago has pretty much be-clowned himself throughout this whole ordeal. Don’t get me wrong, I love RedState and I think Erick has been a net positive for them but on this one, he’s blinded by his own investment.
Comments like this make that pretty clear:
“There has to be a there there they think. Will Folks drops a bunch of phone records that prove he talked a great deal to his employer. A-ha! it is proof of something.
I have no clue if anyone is behind Will Folks doing this. He really could feel aggrieved for some reason and just want to take out Nikki Haley. But I have a theory, I have some facts, and I’ve drawn some inferences to form my opinion. Let’s go below the fold and down the rabbit hole.”
More on this in a moment. First back to Haley’s responses to this so far.
First she adamantly denied it.
Then she adamantly denied it and said that she barely even knew Will Folks.
Then Folks released some text messages and phone records.
This time she didn’t exactly adamantly deny it.
South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley may have had a romantic relationship with blogger and former staffer Will Folks. Folks says they did, and he’s slowly, painfully releasing material to support that claim, every day. Haley says it never happened, and her defense is … to say, “I will deal with this situation once this election is over.”
I don’t know what she means by “deal with it” but I think there’s clearly more coming soon and there is no way in hell that it’s going to be good for Haley or the GOP in South Carolina.
Then she was asked if she would release her phone and email records.
She flatly refused! She refused to release information that if her story is true would certainly absolve her but she refused.
Nikki Haley said it’s not worth her time and energy — or the state’s tax dollars — to release phone or e-mail records between her and a blogger who has claimed the two had an inappropriate physical relationship …
“I am not wasting any energy on this — none,” Haley said when asked if she would respond voluntary to a request by The Post and Courier for the release of her phone and e-mail records on her state- and campaign-funded accounts.
Back to Erickson’s comment.
It is true that Folks was employed by her for a while. I am a business man and have employed far more people than have ever been on a State Representative’s payroll and I knew all of them real well. The other point is that most of these calls happened in 2007 between elections. By between elections I mean one in 2006 where she ran unopposed and 2008 where she took a record 83% of the vote.
Kind of hard to imagine a critical moment in either of those campaigns when 3 hour phone call makes any since that started at 11:28pm.
Nobody is defending Folks but he ain’t running for Governor.
Haley has not been very forthright in this affair. Her story has changed and apparently she intends to clear this all up AFTER THE ELECTION. I doubt that will include her phone records or emails which surely make this accusation go away right now, wouldn’t it?
In a five day period in late August of 2007 Folks records show a total of 476 minutes of late night conversations with Haley. All of them after 9 pm and one started at 2:24am and ran for 146 minutes!
As for Will Folks, sure as hell sounds like she knew him pretty well.
UPDATE: I wrote this before the latest clown jumped out of the slime and claimed to have slept with Haley. This latest allegation is so idiotic and so obviously politically motivated that it will actually help Haley.
Don’t misunderstand my intent here. I like Haley’s positions. I also think she is the strongest candidate in the Republican field. Gresham Barrett voted for TARP and then chastised stupid South Carolina voters for questioning him on it. Andre Bauer is a populist fool who couldn’t count his balls twice and get the same number. Henry McMaster is an able guy with a good resume and strong connections to Reagan but he also has the charisma of Al Gore.
But I want anyone who reads this to tell me that you would be way cool if you discovered your wife had a 2.5 hour phone call with another man that started at 2:24am.
She is still ahead in the polls and the Democrats are frothing.
I live in South Carolina and am very active in local politics. With the latest scandal trying to break in South Carolina involving a Republican and a sexual affair I thought I would offer something from the sense on the ground … and it ain’t purty.
A few days ago Will Folks (former spokesman for Governor Mark Sanford) dropped a bombshell in claiming that he had an “inappropriate physical relationship” with Representative Nikki Haley. Haley is the front runner for the Republican nomination for Governor and a recent recipient of a strong endorsement from Sara Palin.
Folks is coming across as a grandstanding scumbag and has offered absolutely nothing convincing as to why he needed to drop this story just a few days before the primary.
Ace has clearly cast his lot with Haley and is going all in blasting Folks. Now Folks does seem like a douche but that doesn’t mean that he’s lying.
Today Folks posted what he claims is a text dialogue between himself and a couple of key players in this saga. Wes Donahue is a close supporter of another governor hopeful and former US Congressman Gresham Barrett. Tim Pearson is Nikki Haley’s campaign manager.
Here is a sampling of the conversation. Later in the conversation an AP reporter named Jim Davenport jumps in.
From Will Folks
To: Wes Donehue
Sent: May 14, 2010 10:24 AM
You’ve already rolled the dice.
—— SMS ——
From: Wes Donehue
To: Will Folks
Sent: May 14, 2010 10:25 AM
Actually, I haven’t.
—— SMS ——
From: Wes Donehue
To: Will Folks
Sent: May 14, 2010 10:36 AM
Now, I don’t give a fuck of you believe me or not. Your the one who screwed her. You’re the one who bragged about it. She’s the one who told BJ. Yall point fingers at your own damn selves and leave me the fuck out of it.
—— SMS ——
From: Tim Pearson
To: Will Folks
Sent: May 14, 2010 11:10 AM
All good?
—— SMS ——
From: Will Folks
To: Tim Pearson
Sent: May 14, 2010 11:12 AM
He seems to be backing down, yeah. Dunno if that kills it or what.
—— SMS ——
From: Wes Donehue
To: Will Folks
Sent: May 14, 2010 11:50 AM
I’m going to try to kill it. You need to get BJ to back down. Nothing good will come of this getting out. I’ve already helped bust up one family. No need to take down another one.
—— SMS ——
From: Wes Donehue
To: Will Folks
Sent: May 14, 2010 12:28 PM
I didn’t start this. I just told too many people that it was happening.
—— SMS ——
From: Tim Pearson
To: Will Folks
Sent: May 14, 2010 1:05 PM
Tks for your help this am.
There’s a lot more to this but it doesn’t look good for Haley on a couple of points.
Since none of the principals in this exchange have denied its authenticity (something any innocent politician would do immediately), I think it would be foolish to dismiss it out of hand.
The Haley camp has so far not threatened any legal action. Of course it is not libel if it’s true and any legal action would quickly collect any electronic messages which according to Folks go back four years.
Does this prove that Haley had an affair with Folks? Of course not.
Would it matter if she did? Damn skippy it would!
After the embarrassment conservatives endured with the sordid Mark Sanford affair, no Republican with a record of whoring around on their spouse is getting the nod.
Do I think she had an affair with this idiot? I’m desperately trying to keep an open mind but my gut is telling me to find another Republican.
UPDATE 1: Day two since release of text traffic; still no denials from any of the parties involved.
UPDATE 2: RedState has an alert that they know who paid Folks to smear Haley!
Note to RedState: That fact that Folks may have been paid for the story proves further that he is a scumbag; it does not prove that he wasn’t laying the pipe to Haley.
Haley called this a distraction. Usually a “distraction” in politics means a politician is seeing their own blood in the water and the sharks are starting to circle.
It is no secret that I am not a huge fan of the current administration but I am man enough to give credit where it is due and this time President Obama’s hard stand on his personal convictions over the hypocritical political expedient is breathtaking.
President Obama will not be attending the annual Memorial Day events at Arlington National Cemetery.
Not because of pressing matters of state but because he will be vacationing with his Klingon war bride in Chicago.
I am grateful for the President’s courageous stand for at least two reasons:
1. The man does not love this country or the ideals that those interred on that hallowed ground died for. He sees America as evil and a root cause of all of the world’s problems both real and imagined. Among the rows of graves at Arlington are some of the greatest Americans who ever lived but these are just regular Americans and not the academic, political elite that the President holds in much higher esteem. A man who holds American exceptionalism in such contempt should never let his shadow fall on ground carved out as a symbol of respect for the very best this country stands for.
2. Thanks to his principled stand against honoring those whom he loathes I will not be forced to hold back that scream of disgust when he would lean forward with all of the fake sincerity of a porn star screaming and desecrate something that I personally hold so closely.
Thank you Mr. President.
(PATHETIC)
Flopping Aces had this story a few days ago but I wanted to make sure our TAH faithful were fully read on to what the mini-stink is all about.
Ilario Pantano recently won the Republican primary and stands a good chance of winning a seat in NC District 7 against Democratic incumbent Mike McIntyre. But apparently Pantano’s past has “come back to haunt him”. Not, really though…
To refresh everyone’s memory Pantano was the Marine Lieutenant who killed two Iraqis in Fallujah in April 2004. He was charged with murder based largely on statements from a Sergeant that he had recently demoted. The Sergeant gave many statements to investigators, the media and lefty blogs; most contradicted each other rather blatantly.
After an Article 32 investigation the murder charges were dropped. Pantano later wrote a book about the experience titled “Warlord: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy” which became a best seller.
So he decides to run for congress in North Carolina’s 7th district. He wins the Republican primary handily and is in good position to take a seat that has been Democrat for over 100 years.
Great news for Republicans, right? Apparently not if you are whining douche RINO.
Two unsuccessful Republican candidates in North Carolina have turned their guns on the primary election winner, endangering the party’s hopes of defeating longtime Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) in November.
GOP voters in the 7th District on May 4 nominated Ilario Pantano, a charismatic Iraq war veteran with a personal story many find compelling and a past encounter with military justice that gives others concern.
Among the latter is Will Breazeale, the second-place finisher and 2008 nominee against McIntyre, who told POLITICO on Wednesday he would do what he can to keep Pantano from winning the seat. He said the third-place finsher, Randy Crow, would join him at a news conference Tuesday in Wilmington, N.C., to discuss their plans.
“We’re going to work against him,” Breazeale — also an Iraq veteran — said. “If the Republicans don’t like it, they can kick me out.”
This seems strange that a fellow veteran would turn this way when the charges were dropped and Pantano was eventually honorably discharged.
Breazeale takes issue with the support Pantano has received, saying he has a moral obligation to oppose the nominee because of his actions in Iraq.
“It takes a military man like me to explain to civilians how bad that is,” he said, adding that McIntyre is sure to use Pantano’s actions against him in the campaign.
“A military man like me”… what does that mean? Is this clown some super special kind of military man that has a higher authority than the Uniform Code of Military Justice that dropped all charges against Pantano?
From his own website, here is a list of Mr. Breazeale’s military awards:
Bronze Star Medal
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Army Commendation Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster
Joint Service Achievement Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Southwest Asia Service Medal with Bronze Service Star
Iraq Campaign Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Armed Forces Reserve Medalwith “M” device (2nd Award)
Army Service Ribbon
Overseas Service Ribbon
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Government of Kuwait)
South Carolina National Guard Membership Ribbon
Parachutist Badge
Take away the “proud to have been there” ribbons and what’s left:
One Bronze Star; “was awarded the Bronze Star for saving millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars as a result of a system he pushed through the Iraq Ministry of Defense in Baghdad.”
One JSCOM, two ARCOMs and one JSAM. In 21 years that’s a grand total of five awards for actually doing something.
His website also brags about the critical duties he performed as Chief of Protocol which is at best a massive stretch or even full blown fabrication.
Bottomline: This guy is a pogue who should pull up his panties and start acting like he’s in the big people’s world.
This brings us to the third place finisher who is apparently joining this fratricide among Republicans in North Carolina. His very distant third place finish would usually make me ignore him as a non-player but I decided to check him out anyway.
Get a fresh cup of coffee before going to his website.
This guy makes Cynthia McKinney look sane!
Here are a couple of quotes to get your appetite going:
“One thing is for sure, my PHD in the capabilities of clandestine forces did not come from osmosis. When I say the planes flown Sept 11 were flown by remote control, I know this is possible and an easy task because some of the dirty tricks played on me were more high tech.”
“General McChrystal got away with the Pat Tillman murder and cover-up, he enjoys the publicity, and he is doing it again because he enjoys murder and the drug business. General McChrystal will keep on doing mess like this until, figuratively speaking, someone bigger than him puts their cowboy boots on, places General McChrystal’s head on a piece of concrete, and stomps on it for a few hours.
When the USA arrived in Afghanistan in 2003 the Taliban was in the process of getting rid of poppy production – production was maybe 25% of what it is now. Big George Bush couldn’t stand for that – no poppies, no heroine. Why do you think Big George’s grandchildren call him “Poppy” ? The USA went to Vietnam to get Americans hooked on drugs. Afghanistan is important to keeping the war on drugs, which is really a means of putting the USA in a police state, going. If General McChrystal does not keep the flow of poppies going he is in real trouble. General McChrystal also has to send junkie soldiers back to the states to keep the war on drugs going.”
Make sure to click on the “9-11” link for a truly “you can’t make this shit up” experience.
Oh and Mr. Crow has already decided that he is running for President in 2012!