Monday, May 26, 2014

14 Facts About Veterans Struggles and Triumphs You Didnt Know | IVN.us

A great piece by IVN concerning military folks and veterans in America today!





14 Facts About Veterans Struggles and Triumphs You Didnt Know | IVN.us

White House mistakenly reveals CIA officials name - Middle East - Stripes

Wasn't honestly which of my blogs this story best belonged it, but considering the total scope of this screw-up, I figure this is as good a place as any.



Without giving away too much to the story, the White House accidentally released the name of the top CIA official in Afghanistan in a list of officials President Obama would be meeting with when he made his surprise visit to Afghanistan over the weekend.



Obviously, this was a MASSIVE cock-up for the West Wing (I personally would suspect the Press Secretaries office since it was apparently released to press pool), and shouldn't be simply shrugged off as just an accident. I don't doubt it was an accident but the possible repercussions of this "accident" could be dramatic and deadly (for this CIA's official and for his loved ones). Not to mention it makes the West Wing look it's being run by a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears interns.



If I was the President, somebody's head would be rolling right about..yesterday.



In all likelihood, we'll never hear one way or another WHO exactly was responsible for this screw-up, lets just hope this serves as a lesson for the West Wing: when planning a surprise Presidential visit to a country full of people who don't like us, best NOT to release the name of the local spy master...





White House mistakenly reveals CIA officials name - Middle East - Stripes

Syrian rebels describe US-backed training in Qatar in new documentary - Middle East - Stripes

An interesting, and curiously timed, piece of news concerning US assistance to Syrian rebel forces via PBS's Frontline news program.



Syrian rebels describe US-backed training in Qatar in new documentary - Middle East - Stripes

Thoughts for Memorial Day | RedState

Thoughts for Memorial Day | RedState



Kudos to Daniel Horowitz for a fairly apolitical (for a RedState contributor at least) and straight to the point piece..

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

GOP candidate for Iowa's U.S. Senate seat NOT Quite the Conservative She Claims to Be?

Sadly I haven't been able to keep as close an eye on some of the most interesting political races back home in Iowa as I would have liked and thus haven't written much on the topic.

Thankfully though, other more dedicated political wonks have been keeping a close eye on arguably Iowa's most important political race this year: the race to replaced retiring U.S. Senator Tom Harkin.

The short version of this race is that the Democrat Bruce Braley is running largely uncontested for the Democratic nomination while the GOP has a wide-open field of potential candidates for the nomination.

Among those in the GOP field is State Senator Joni Ernst, who has earned praise and political support from the likes of the GOP Governor and Lt. Governor and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (which I will try hard not to hold against her..). She has also made quite a name for herself with her rather bold and "unique" TV ads that have helped to drive conservatives in Iowa towards her and sending her to the top of many of the polls.

But one has to wonder, given how obscure most local Iowa politicians are (especially their voting records), has anyone really vetted Ernst's conservative credentials?

Thankfully, Craig Robinson of The Iowa Republican dared to ask this question, and the answers he found may surprise many of those who have rather blindly thrown their support to Joni Ernst.

I won't give away too many details from Mr. Robinson's piece, but needless to say, the information he found on Joni Ernst's voting record did surprise me. Given how close we are the Iowa GOP primary (less than 4 weeks), the need to get accurate information out there to the voters so they can make an honest and informed vote is VITAL and kudos to Mr. Robinson for his efforts!

Is Joni Ernst the Proven Conservative Her TV Ads Make Her Out to Be? - The Iowa Republican

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Madison's Religious Test: The Supreme Court vs the Non-Cognizance Doctrine | IVN.us

An interesting take on the Supreme Court's recent decision concerning public prayer at government-functions (whether local or federal level), and definitely NOT the kind of opinion well appreciated by some uber-partisans..Sounds like my kind of story!





Madison's Religious Test: The Supreme Court vs the Non-Cognizance Doctrine | IVN.us

Fox's Greta Responds to Jon Stewart's Criticism over Benghazi Coverage...Sort of.

One of the stranger stories I have read today in politics is an apparent small "war of words" between Fox News' Greta Van Susteren and political pundit/satirist Jon Stewart over Fox's coverage of the Benghazi tragedy.

In Stewart's critique of Fox News, he more or less made the point that while Fox News has been quick and very faithful in its intensive coverage over the various faults the Obama administration committed with its handling of the Benghazi terrorist attack, they weren't remotely as interested in the various intelligence screw-ups of the Bush administration.

Today in Iowa Politics via POLITICO: Super PAC hits Mark Jacobs as ‘Texas millionaire’

Super PAC hits Mark Jacobs as ‘Texas millionaire’

Monday, May 5, 2014

Comparing ObamaCare Sign-up to Nazi "Train Rides"..Must be TWIT OF THE WEEK!

First, I want to apologize for my lack of post as of late. I have a lot of reasons (aka excuses) for why I haven't posted any political stories/pieces, ranging from duty-related work to lack of inspiration. However, I hope to change all that in the weeks to come. I can't promise that I will always be able to regularly post here but I will certainly try my best in the near future..

To celebrate my return to blogging, I have decided to revive an old tradition I would have here, honoring the top "Twit" in news recently.