BlackFive

John Yoo did you and yes, Barack Obama, a massive favor by writing a defense of Presidential war powers.  He didn't serve on the front lines, no, but it was an act of moral courage and I salute him for it.  His feelings almost exactly mirror mine on Berkeley.  It's like he's channeling me in this LATimes piece:

The former Bush administration lawyer who drafted what his critics call the "torture memos" is reviled by many in this liberal East Bay academic enclave, a feeling that is mutual though not, Yoo insists, wholly unpleasant.

"I think of myself as being West Berlin during the Cold War, a shining beacon of capitalism and democracy surrounded by a sea of Marxism," Yoo observes, sipping iced tea in the faculty club lounge, a wan smile registering the discomfort of colleagues walking by en route to the bar.

He sees his neighbors as the human figures of "a natural history museum of the 1960s," the Telegraph Avenue tableau of a graying, long-haired, pot-smoking counterculture stuck in the ideology's half-century-old heyday.

"It's like looking at the panoramic displays of troglodytes sitting around the campfire with their clubs. Here, it's tie-dye and marijuana. It's just like the 1960s, with the Vietnam War still to protest."

-- Uber Pig

Photo of the Day: "Double ugly"

Moscow subway attack: Suicide bombers detonate two bombs in Moscow subway - at least 38 killed, 102 wounded. London Times: "Police in Moscow have identified CCTV footage of the two women suicide bombers who blew themselves up on packed underground trains this morning and said that they had been accompanied by other women." (H/T United States Action)

South Korea's government asks for help - U.S. ships respond to assist in search, recovery, and salvage efforts. The Cheonan lies in two pieces on the sea floor. 58 sailors - including the ship's captain - have been rescued.

The Virginia-class attack submarine USS New Mexico (SSN 79) has joined the fleet. The New Mexico is the second so-named ship: the first New Mexico (BB-40) was a battleship that earned six battle stars during World War II.

96 percent of Afghans oppose the Taliban

Troops kill, capture militants, seize weapons / 27 Mar USAF Airpower Summary

President Obama pays surprise visit to troops in Afghanistan

USAF builds hospital in Chile large enough to serve 110,000 - in just three and a half days. Our evil imperialist forces then donated the hospital to Chile after treating hundreds of patients and performing dozens of surgeries. No word as to whether they flew our evil imperialist flag.

The Obama administration is laying out legal justification for drone attacks.

Retired FBI special agent and World War II veteran Albert Chestone - and author of What America Means To Me - discusses "current security concerns, how the FBI has changed in the last 30 years, what was J. Edgar Hoover like to work under, and why Americans need to realign their ‘compasses of life’ with the pillar of freedom in order to pass on a vital America to the next generation" on Sharon Hughes’ radio program, Changing Worldviews. Listen to the show. Buy the book.

Greyhawk is off on a righteous tear and he is spot on. He has highlighted the maroons who brought signs to the anti-ObamaCare rally that were boneheaded and counter-productive. In case you can't read them:

Warning if Brown can't stop it, A Browning can.

That is an outright threat of violence and has no place in the marketplace of ideas. That is not how intelligent people handle themselves. It only plays into the media narrative and allows them to smear the many good and peaceful people petitioning their government for redress of grievances. He then has posted pictures of said dipsticks to attempt to ID them. Here are their pics.

I will be a guest on Twana Blevins Blog Talk Radio show tonight at 9: 40 eastern talking about the Battle of Wanat. We will also be joined by two gentlemen who were there, Ryan Pitts and Mike Denton. They are unhappy about the proposed punishments for their commanders and will be saying so publicly for the first time.

Infantrymen,

As posted earlier, MoveOn.org has a petition up asking the Republican leaders, including RNC Chairman Michael Steele, to condemn bigotry against black people.  I noted the irony of this, which is that Steele is a black man, and MoveOn.org is led by a group of rich white Berkeley liberals who are bigoted against the military.  One need look no further for evidence of this than the $65,000 ad they paid for in the New York Times, which called General David Petraeus a traitor and a liar.  

And so I thought it might be funny to rewrite their petition, address it to the Democratic Party leaders, with MoveOn.org as the group to be condemned.  

A pair of loyal readers (Midori and Jlftexas) then recommended I create a Facebook group which people can join to show their support for this petition.  So if you're reading this, have a Facebook account, and are tired of being called a racist by a bunch of anti-military bigots who, Ron Jeremy-like, shoved an ugly health care bill down your throat, just click this link.

Namaste,

-- Uber Pig

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Update:  Wow, we're already at 28 members -- thanks to everyone who has signed up so far.  It makes me feel all warm inside.

One area where I fully support the Obama administration is the increased use of drones to conduct targeted killings in Afghanistan & Pakistan. There have been questions raised as to whether these constitute extra-judicial killings or violate the Executive Orders banning assassinations. In addition whether they must be done as part of and actual armed conflict or are they allowable in the course of legitimate self defense.

Now an Obama administration official has offered a public statement about what they believe the law says about the targeted killings of terrorists and others that seems to directly favor our right to do so on self defense. Harold Koh is an unlikely source for a powerful justification of the sovereign power of a nation state. He is a well-known trans-nationalist, but his statements in support of our right to conduct targeted killings during armed conflict and also outside of it in legitimate self defense are welcome indeed.

Elise Cooper talks w/ former CIA Director Michael Hayden about our counterterror operations.

General Michael Vincent Hayden served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from May, 2006 until February, 2009. He is a retired United States Air Force four-star general and a former Director of the National Security Agency. Currently, Hayden is a principal at the Chertoff Group, a security consultancy, co-founded by former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Hayden also serves as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at George Mason University School of Public Policy. NewsReal Blog interviewed General Hayden and found him to be engaging, witty, and insightful.

NewsRealBlog: What do you consider the most important aspect of fighting the War on Terror?

General Michael Hayden: The War on Terror is an intelligence war. The problem with the terrorists is that they are hard to find. The defining element of whether you are successful or not in this war is the elegance of your intelligence. If your intelligence is on the mark everything else seems to flow.

NRB: Do you think we are winning this war?

Hayden: We have been relatively successful. Al Qaeda is under pressure in Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, to name a few. We have taken the fight to the enemy over the past 8 years and it has made a difference. It’s no accident that we have been as successful as we have been.

Tonight's feature: U.S. Navy SEALs: Direct Action

Why watch the anti-military filth perpetrated on us by Hollywood pinkos? Tuck the women and children into bed. Grab an ice-cold beverage, a steak (substitute more economical meat product if necessary - I know I will), and enjoy this five-part series of Navy SEALs doing their thing. Note: parts 2 through 5 are available after the jump. Enterprising individuals may be able to watch on full screen, but results may vary.

Part 1

I don't like to post political stuff too much around here.  But I noticed that MoveOn.org, a Democratic Party organ led by a group of white Berkeley liberals, has a petition up, and which you can sign here, that calls on the leaders of the Republican Party to:

1. Unequivocally condemn bigotry and hate among your supporters, and make clear that those who embrace it have no place in your party and that you reject their support.
2. Make clear that you will not tolerate fear-mongering and coded appeals to racism from officials in the Republican Party, at any level.

A couple of points, which I'll offer in rebuttal:

1. The Chairman of the Republican National Committee, unlike Wes Boyd, Joan Blades, and Eli Pariser, is African American.  His name is Michael Steele.  Seriously.  No, really.  I'm not kidding.  You don't believe me?  Try the Google machine.
2. As long as Boyd, Blades, and Pariser are going to sanctimoniously and disingenuously condemn bigotry and hate, now would be an excellent time to apologize for paying $65,000 to the New York Times to run their infamously dickheaded "General Betray-Us" ad, in which they accused a patriotic, hard working soldier, doing his best to fight a difficult war in Iraq, of a) lying and b) treason.

Namaste,

Uber Pig

Update 1:  Ooooooh look -- Frank Rich just invented a game called:  When my ideas suck, I'm going to call the other side a bunch of racists!

Update 2:  The Democratic Party is playing too -- they want Michael Steele to sign their "Civility Statement" even though he has already made statements condemning such violence and ugliness as there has been.

Update 3:  Let's write our own petition calling on the leaders of the Democratic Party to:

1. Unequivocally condemn bigotry and hate among your supporters, directed toward the military, and make clear that those who embrace it, such as MoveOn.org, have no place in your party and that you reject their support.
2. Make clear that you will not tolerate slander and coded appeals to anti-military bigotry from officials in the Democratic Party, at any level.

SEAL 3 Update: According to sources, Navy SEAL Matthew McCabe revealed information at a Scottsdale, Ariz. rally on Saturday that blows the cases of three Navy SEALs wide open. Read the News Release.

In case you aren't familiar with the SEAL 3 drumhead trials, inform yourself.

Update 28 Mar 2010 @ 1423 Eastern: A source who attended the event says that McCabe announced that he passed a polygraph test regarding the incident with terrorist detainee Ahmed Hashim Abed. Article on this matter is forthcoming, will post as soon as it's published.

There is an update to this post here