The Rogue Brigade

It should come as no surprise to anyone that supports Sarah Palin that she has deftly maneuvered herself into a position of national prominence. It should also come as no surprise that with her new-found presence on Fox News, she should begin to ramp up her criticism of the Obama administration.

I've been waiting for the video-feed from Wasilla and now it being utilized...with devastating effectiveness. So, you might ask, how has the left responded? I'd say they haven't quite figured that out yet.

This should be a very interesting year. Now that Sarah has found a forum to express her views via video, it will make her Facebook postings much more effective. In addition, the last year has seen a groundswell of support for her in the blogosphere as well. It will only continue to grow.

Throw out the old axioms about how a politician reaches his or her audience. We're seeing a new paradigm emerge that fully utilizes the Internet for both fund-raising and messaging. I'd say that we are seeing the emergence of a Rogue Brigade to lead the charge into battle in 2010 and beyond. What do you think?

John McCain & Commonsense Conservatism

There is a big kerfuffle in the conservative media and amongst Tea Party activists about Sarah Palin agreeing to stump for John McCain in his Senate re-election bid.

My response is: So What?

Sarah Palin is obviously being loyal to someone who gave her a national voice. I can't fault her willingness to campaign for someone who has stood by her while his own [failed] campaign operatives continue to trash her. He can't be faulted for recognizing the star-power she can bring to his re-election bid. The real question is whether or not it will be enough to help him get re-elected.

Assume for a minute that he loses his primary bid to challenger J.D. Hayworth. Will that reflect badly on Sarah Palin?

I'll answer that question with a question: Did John McCain's loss to Barack Obama affect Sarah Palin's standing with conservative America? An even better question (with the same answer) is this: Will Sarah Palin's assistance in John McCain's Senate re-election campaign stop Tea Party activists from supporting his challenger?

I think there are a couple of things at work here. First, she probably feels very strongly about her loyalty to John McCain. Secondly, his political future may be beholden to her support. Do you think he may have a new "maverick" to emulate? I wouldn't be surprised to see a change in his approach if he is re-elected. After all, his future may be scripted by the intervention of "commonsense" conservatism.

Hat Tip: A Time For Choosing

Boudica Returns

I have always been intrigued by history. In studying history, we can learn an awful lot about who we are and what we can be. I was recently reminded of Boudica, the Celtic Warrier Queen who lived during the period of the Roman occupation of the Isle of Britain.

Boudica's husband controlled a wide swath of the county of Norfolk, then populated by people known as the Iceni. When Boudica's husband died, as a Roman sympathizer, he bequeathed his holdings to both the Roman empire and his family. The Romans ignored the king's wishes regarding his family and seized his entire estate. They raped his daughters and flogged his wife, Boudica.

In time, Boudica re-grouped and led a large uprising against the Roman occupiers, destroying and pillaging London in the process. Though ultimately defeated by a superior Roman military, Boudica is still revered in England, with prominent statues erected in her honor. My family, in fact, traces their lineage back to her, for her offspring lived on.

So, you say, what could this possibly have to do with Sarah Palin?

Sarah was selected as the heir imprimatur of the Republican ticket in 2008. Taking up this position as the second-in-command, she was the primary benefactor of McCain's run for President, the Boudica of her king's fortune. After having died (politically) in his run for President, Sarah was flogged (metaphorically) in the mainstream media and her daughters were raped in the left-wing blogoshere and nationally on the David Letterman show.

Sarah has now regained her strength and begun to reassert herself. She now has the opportunity to build an army to respond to her detractors and diminish those who seek to defeat her principles and ours.

One thing is different, however, that suggests an alternative fate than that suffered by Boudica. Sarah has access to the very best army imaginable: the army of conservative America. As opposed to Boudica's following, this army has NEVER faced an opponent it has not defeated. It is just waiting to be awakened and led.

Cross-posted on Generational Dysfunction.

Sarah's Sense of Humor

I was watching a PJTV round-table discussing the prospects for 2010. Inevitably, the subject of Sarah Palin came up and along with that, comparisons to Ronald Reagan. The panel seemed to think that Sarah needed to do a better job with the media. Reagan, they thought, had cut his teeth in media and was much more adept at dealing with it because of his long experience in doing so.

I take exception to that. I don't think it was Ronald Reagan's "vast" experience with media, I think it was his sense of humor. Consider the following:



Sarah Palin needs to convert the chip on her shoulder about the "lamestream" media to one that disarms them. Her appearance at the Washington DC Gridiron dinner and subsequent appearance on the Tonight Show certainly shows that she's capable of just that.

I believe that her hard-fought independence and book tour has "lightened her up". After all, what a tremendous confidence-builder to know that there are millions of people willing to buy your book in spite of the negative media treatment over the last 14 months.

I expect her to have many more favorable appearances in the media going forward. These appearances will do an awful lot to bolster her image and allow her to disarm the negative posturing of the MSM. Expect more comparisons to Reagan. They are her due.

I can see it now: Sarah Palin doing Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin. What do you think THAT would do for SNL's rating?

Sarah Does William Shatner

Twisted Logic

It defies logic to understand what the Obama administration's priorities are:

Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges after Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist

Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.

The three, all members of the Navy's elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called a captain's mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.

Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named "Objective Amber," told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.

Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers.

Matthew McCabe, a Special Operations Petty Officer Second Class (SO-2), is facing three charges: dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee, making a false official statement, and assault.

Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, SO-2, is facing charges of dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement.

Petty Officer Julio Huertas, SO-1, faces those same charges and an additional charge of impediment of an investigation.

Neal Puckett, an attorney representing McCabe, told Fox News the SEALs are being charged for allegedly giving the detainee a “punch in the gut.”

“I don’t know how they’re going to bring this detainee to the United States and give us our constitutional right to confrontation in the courtroom,” Puckett said. “But again, we have terrorists getting their constitutional rights in New York City, but I suspect that they’re going to deny these SEALs their right to confrontation in a military courtroom in Virginia.”

The three SEALs will be arraigned separately on Dec. 7. Another three SEALs — two officers and an enlisted sailor — have been identified by investigators as witnesses but have not been charged.

FoxNews.com obtained the official handwritten statement from one of the three witnesses given on Sept. 3, hours after Abed was captured and still being held at the SEAL base at Camp Baharia. He was later taken to a cell in the U.S.-operated Green Zone in Baghdad.

The SEAL told investigators he had showered after the mission, gone to the kitchen and then decided to look in on the detainee.

"I gave the detainee a glance over and then left," the SEAL wrote. "I did not notice anything wrong with the detainee and he appeared in good health."

Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, spokeswoman for the special operations component of U.S. Central Command, confirmed Tuesday to FoxNews.com that three SEALs have been charged in connection with the capture of a detainee. She said their court martial is scheduled for January.

United States Central Command declined to discuss the detainee, but a legal source told FoxNews.com that the detainee was turned over to Iraqi authorities, to whom he made the abuse complaints. He was then returned to American custody. The SEAL leader reported the charge up the chain of command, and an investigation ensued.

The source said intelligence briefings provided to the SEALs stated that "Objective Amber" planned the 2004 Fallujah ambush, and "they had been tracking this guy for some time."

The Fallujah atrocity came to symbolize the brutality of the enemy in Iraq and the degree to which a homegrown insurgency was extending its grip over Iraq.

The four Blackwater agents were transporting supplies for a catering company when they were ambushed and killed by gunfire and grenades. Insurgents burned the bodies and dragged them through the city. They hanged two of the bodies on a bridge over the Euphrates River for the world press to photograph.

Intelligence sources identified Abed as the ringleader, but he had evaded capture until September.

The military is sensitive to charges of detainee abuse highlighted in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The Navy charged four SEALs with abuse in 2004 in connection with detainee treatment.

It is my understanding that the Seals CHOSE to subject themselves to court-martial rather than nonjudicial punishment. By doing so, they are allowed to have their voices heard and humble the U.S. military into giving them a minor "wrist-slap".

This comes after the Obama administration decides to hold a civilian trial in Manhattan for the 9-11 mastermind and 4 fellow terrorists. Obama apologists are lining up to defend the decision. Shameful!

To make matter worse, we now have a token appearance by a terrorist's lawyer to the Wall Street Journal's opinion pages, in an attempt to show "fair and balanced". Are there any "hangin trees" left in Manhattan, or elsewhere?