Giuliani's NRA moment

As what some would call a "gun nut" with an extensive arsenal (though not by some standards) - and also someone who has significant problems with the likely Democrat nominee in '08, one thing that has bothered me the most Giuliani has been his history on gun rights. Bothers me because is stops me from fully supporting a man I think can defeat Clinton - but only if he keeps the base on his side. A large part of the base is pro-gun.

Well, here is his chance to build a bridge - a bridge he needs to win the Republican nomination.

Rudolph W. Giuliani will go before the rank and file of the National Rifle Association on Friday, seeking support for his Republican presidential campaign from a group he once likened to "extremists" for its efforts to repeal the ban on assault weapons.

But even as the former New York mayor strives to burnish his Second Amendment credentials at the gathering in Washington, a panel of federal judges in his home town will be hearing arguments on the lawsuit that Giuliani filed seven years ago aimed at punishing the nation's gun manufacturers for violent crimes involving firearms.

I hope he does this right. My brain tells me that he is one of the best chances to keep the Junior Senator from NY away from the Executive Branch.

I'm willing to give him a chance. BTW, if you don't think guns are going to be an issue in '08, check out this from PowerLine.

My law partner Tom Goldstein previews the upcoming Supreme Court term from a political perspective. Tom's piece should be read in its entirety, not summarized. His basic argument, though, is that the Supreme Court isn't really conservative, it just looked that way on the surface last term due to the nature of the high profile cases it happened to decide in June. This term, the same phenomenon (a small number of cases driving public perception of the Court) is likely to work the other way -- making the Court appear liberal instead of centrist. Moreover, this would occur just in time for the 2008 election, giving the Republican presidential nominee a potentially powerful issue.

As Tom puts it:

There is in fact the genuine prospect that the Court will hold (potentially by a five-to-four vote each time) that the government may ban the possession of pistols (possibly guns altogether, if there is no individual Second Amendment right), that child rapists cannot be executed, that certain federal legislation regulating child pornography is unconstitutional, that the Administration's treatment of alleged terrorists is unlawful, and that sentences for crack cocaine should be reduced. In that entirely realistic scenario, it is conservatives who will be aggressively using the Court as a rallying cry - in particular, the cry of the urgent need to move the Court a single seat to the right with the likely retirement of Justice Stevens - in the 2008 election.

Fullbore Friday

So, don't think you can do what you are not trained for? Think a beat up old ship can't be put in harm's way? Can you really think "out of the box?" Can a ship run aground, over and over, and still get an award? How about a Presidential Unit Citation? How about a destroyer that captures an airfield?

USS Dallas (DD-199), tell us all about it.

On 25 October she cleared Norfolk to rendezvous with TP 34 bound for the invasion landings on North Africa. Dallas was to carry a U.S. Army Raider battalion, and land them up the narrow, shallow, obstructed river to take a strategic airport near Port Lyautey, French Morocco. On 10 November she began her run up the Oued Sebou under the masterful guidance of Rene Malavergne, a civilian pilot who was to be the first foreign civilian to receive the Navy Cross. Under fire by cannon and small arms during the entire run, she plowed her way through mud and shallow water, narrowly missing the many sunken ships and other obstructions, and sliced through a cable crossing the river, to land her troops safely just off the airport. Her brilliant success in completing this mission with its many unexpected complications won her the Presidential Unit Citation.

That is the airfield on the right. Oh, and they fought the French the whole way.

On the night of 9-10 November a tactical innovation involving the Navy raised American spirits. On the Sebou River the destroyer-transport Dallas pushed aside a barricade and sneaked upstream with a raider detachment to spearhead the assault on the airfield. As the night wore on, some colonial units gave up the fight, but Foreign Legion units continued to resist. Several companies of the 1st and 3d Battalion Landing Teams made progress, though slow, toward the airfield.

In bypassing a French machine-gun position, three companies of the 1st Team became disoriented and unintentionally provided some comic relief to a difficult night. At 0430 the companies reached a building they thought housed the airfield garrison. Intent on maintaining surprise, the troops crept up to doors and windows, weapons at the ready. Bursting in, the embarrassed Americans discovered they had captured a French cafe. Some 75 patrons put down wine glasses and surrendered. Patrols rounded up about 100 more prisoners in the area.

At daylight on 10 November the 1st Team mounted a new drive, this time with tanks, and by 1045 reached the west side of the airfield. On the river the Dallas passed a gauntlet of artillery fire and debarked the raiders on the east side of the airfield. American troops now occupied three sides of their objective.

Serious opposition still came from the Mehdia fortress. Although naval gunfire had silenced the larger batteries earlier, machine-gun and rifle fire continued. Navy dive bombers were called in, and after only one bombing run the garrison quit. After claiming the fort and gathering prisoners, the 2d Battalion Landing Team moved on to close the ring around the airport. By nightfall the American victory was assured' and the local French commander requested a parlay with General Truscott. At 0400 on 11 November a cease-fire went into effect, the terms of which brought all GOALPOST objectives under American control.

Yes Virginia, we had to fight against the French before we would fight with them in WWII. One other thing, when looking up the Dallas, I noticed one of her then Junior Officers on that day who is buried at Arlington, Randall T. Boyd, Jr., CDR USN. Just for reference - what a career and life he had.

Commander Boyd saw combat as a naval artillery officer during World War II and as a pilot during the Korean War. He was awarded a Silver Star for his exploits during World War II and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his activities during the Korean War.

Born in Hingham, Masschusetts, and raised in Weymouth, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1941. He also earned a master's degree in aeronautical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

On November 10, 1942, he was artillery officer aboard the destroyer Dallas when it made a treacherous 10-mile run up the Sebou River to land an Army Ranger detachment to capture Port Lyautey Airport during the assault and occupation of French Morocco.

According to the citation for the Silver Star he was awarded for the engagement, he displayed "remarkable courage under heavy hostile fire during the perilous journey" and "played a large part in providing protective gunfire for our Army Ranger troops and controlled and directed the fire of the ship so efficiently that hostile shore batteries were silenced before they were able to inflict any damage on the Dallas."

After World War II, he trained as a pilot in Pensacola, Florida, then served in the Korean War.

The first citation for his Flying Cross described him as "a skilled airman and cool leader in the face of hostile opposition."

According to the citation, he was flying a mission over Korea on October 12, 1950, "when enemy shore batteries attacked US mine sweepers with intense fire.

"Commander Boyd spotted hostile targets, took them under fire and held them down while the vessels escaped from the area. Braving heavy fire sent up from the ground, he controlled naval gunfire and vectored carrier-based aircraft to the enemy positions."

After the Korean War, he was commanding officer of Naval Patrol Squadron 34, and later was second in command at the Naval Base in Rota, Spain.

After retiring from the Navy, he was an engineer at MIT's Draper Laboratory, where he worked on the Gemini and Apollo space programs, and a senior engineer at Brown and Root Inc. in Houston, where he oversaw shipbuilding projects.

Ship and man. Benchmark both.

Democrat sweep in '08?

The Cornyn Amendment:

To express the sense of the Senate that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces.

Carried by the US Senate 72-25.

Voting “nay“:

Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Byrd (D-WV)
Clinton (D-NY)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Levin (D-MI)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murray (D-WA)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

Biden and Obama must have been too busy gathering money. At least you know where Sen. Clinton (D-NY) sits.

BTW, note that no Senator from the CSA voted nay?

Elections matter.

Keeping and eye on the long game: Part XXIV

Goose stepping your way to a rave near you ... or at least an island.

The opening couple of minutes makes me love our polyglot country even more. BTW, watch until the Woman's Army demographic.

Hat tip ninme.

Chief in 5-yrs?

When I first heard about this, I was very skeptical. After getting multi-sourced; I am gobsmacked.

Chief Cryptologic Technician (Collection) (SW/AW) (sel) Joe Lemanek recently joined the ranks of chief petty officer at just 24 years, eight months of age.

Lemanek, assigned to Navy Information Operations Command at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, has been in the Navy for five years and five months.

You got that right. Less than 6 years. I'm all for advancing those who should be advanced in a time of war - but this isn't that. What you have is a 5.0 Sailor (with a very good publicist/personal PIO) who had the right stars match up with his exemplary performance. This is a systems failure - I think.

As usual, I am going to the Command Master Chief high council on this. Here are two quotes from two different CMDCMs who are real close to how I feel. I'm keeping their name out of it because of the private nature of the emails.

CDMCM #1: I remember the first time I heard of someone making Chief in less than 10 years... I feel sorry for all those other CTs that were not selected. The ones out there running divisions, writing Evals, scheduling and tracking PMS, Career counseling, and all the other things that really good First Class Petty Officers do. I'm not saying that this selectee has done any of this, but how much??

In my opinion it may sound like a good story to someone, but to me this sucks!!

CMDCM #2: I agree maybe we should maybe re-look at the EP recommendation as the sole determining factor for taking the exam early. Maybe we should make rating knowledge a pre-requisite again for eligibility and maybe we should include leadership milestones such as WCS and LPO tours a pre-requisite in addition to the week long leadership class. But I will tell you this guy was going to be wearing Khakis as a Chief or as an Officer.

It's all in the timing. Chief? Navy Chief? If he is (and it looks like he is) send him to OCS/NROTC/USNA: yesterday. But, Chief - as in Goat Locker Chief? What do you think?

An Army is a reflection of its society

Well, at least a very funny part of society.

Hat tip ninme via INDC (Iraq edition).

French destroy Rugby

Once again - I just don't know what to say or do. First that at the link above - now the calendar.

Sigh.

These are members of the French Rugby Team. Not the Gay (not that there is anything wrong with that) French Rugby Team - but just the Rugby team. These are just two of the photos. The rest are here. If we have lost Rugby - have we anything left?