I was in Navy bootcamp in Orlando, about 3 weeks in, when we got the news. We were on the tarmac doing drills. And the Senior Chief came by and said “guys, let’s stop. I have something to tell you all…. the President has been shot.” We gathered around in a circle and held hands, brawly male recruits all holding hands. And we prayed for the President, with our Senior Chief leading the prayer.

I was a Libertarian all the way back in 1980. But I never liked the Libertarian Party’s non-interventionist stance. I was always pro-defense. Reagan meant pro-military, pro-strength and anti-communism to me.

I joined the military as a direct result of Carter’s weakness in the face of Islamo-Fascism with the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979.

(more…)

Lt. General Sami Enan is the chief of staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces.

Reuters is reporting that the “Egypt general could be new leader-Islamist “:

Enan could be an acceptable successor to Hosni Mubarak because he is perceived as incorruptible, a member of the banned Muslim Brotherhood said on Tuesday.

Egyptian Muslim cleric Kamel Al Helbawi, a main figure in the opposition movement with strong ties to the Muslim Brotherhood,  is quoted:

“He can be the future man of Egypt… I think he will be acceptable …”

The prominent Kuwaiti news service Gulf News just released a story under this stunning headline:

“Armed forces chief seen as Mubarak successor”

And now this breaking news from French news service Le Quotidien:

“The intellectual community of Egypt calls on Amr Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League, and Sami Enan, Chief of the Egyptian armed forces, to act as leaders of the opposition. We do not want El-Baradei. He spent too much time abroad, and knows nothing of the daily reality of the Egyptian people. He does not represent us,” declares on Facebook a professor of economics lecturer at the University Amércaine Cairo (AUC.)

Le Quotidien quoted directly from the Muslim Brotherhood website.

(more…)

Super Bowl Sunday in Texas. You’d think football-centric Texans would be preparing for the big game. Beer buys, card table set-ups of chips and dip, backyard BBQs firing up. Politics definitely not on the menu. But you’d be wrong.

This Super Bowl Sunday, at least in Houston, was all about the re-election campaign of incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry.

About 5,000 Texans gathered at the Berry Center in northwest Houston, to hear the Governor and a very special guest – Sarah Palin.

State Senator Dan Patrick warmed up the crowd. Patrick gleamed with Pro-Texas sentiment, reminding the crowd:

“We’ve got the strongest economy in the United States,”

And then Ted Nugent took the stage to give his guitar solo rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. A bit clichéd but received approvingly, Nugent blurted out:

“I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could. Texas is the Number One State in the Nation.”

(more…)

Lost in the pre and post-election analysis out of Massachusetts has been the major policy differences between Martha Coakley and Scott Brown over foreign policy and defense.  The issue garnered some attention briefly during their final debate, when Coakley erred saying terrorists “were gone from Afghanistan.”  But then the attentions of the media quickly turned back to the health care debate.

In campaigning with Brown in the final days, Rudy Giuliani mapped out the battle lines: “This election will send a signal, and a very dramatic one, that we are going in the wrong direction on terrorism, and we need to change it, and change it now.”  Giuliani added: Scott’s background in the military speaks volumes about his understanding of what we face.  And frankly his opponent’s ignorance about the issues facing us is astounding.”

From the start candidate Brown was unequivocal on defense matters.  A 30-year Veteran of the National Guard, still serving as a lt. colonel, Brown unashamedly backed the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.    It’s notable that not once did he seek to separate himself from the Bush foreign policy agenda.

(more…)