Ermey Says He�ll 'Square Away' Birthers

August 21, 2009
Military.com|by Bryant Jordan

Troops challenging the legitimacy of President Barack Obama as commander-in-chief -- including at least one who is fighting deployment -- should take heed: Gunnery Sgt. Hartman wants to know your "major malfunction."

R. Lee Ermey, the Marine-turned-actor whose role as drill instructor Gunny Hartman in the late Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" has all but placed the Vietnam veteran in the pantheon of Marine heroes alongside "Chesty" Puller, Smedley Butler and Dan Daly, isn't buying anyone's political objector status.

"I haven't heard about those guys," Ermey told Military.com during an Aug. 21 interview. "If I do run across them though, trust me, I'll square them away."

Two GIs deployed to Iraq have insisted that Obama isn't a legal citizen while another Soldier, Maj. Stefan Cook, has been waging a court fight � first in Georgia, then Florida � to force the president to produce a birth certificate that will satisfy his objections.

The cases are the first known instances of some troops joining what has become known as the "birther" movement, referring to Americans who doubt whether Obama is technically qualified to be president based on the absence of a "long form" birth certificate that documents where he was born.

Cook initially volunteered for deployment, but later refused the orders on grounds that Obama cannot deploy him because he is not legally president. The 64-year-old Ermey, longtime host of the History Channel's "Mail Call," in which he answered letter-writer's questions about the military, operations and weapons, just launched a new show on the network in July. "Lock 'N Load with R. Lee Ermey" will give viewers a more in-depth look at military weaponry.

With Ermey's unabashed support and praise of American troops and his military-related screen career, it might be easy to mistake him for a zealous right-winger.

But Ermey rejects party affiliation or any extreme political leanings, as he explained in an interview with writer/blogger Paul McCormack a few years ago.

"I'm an Independent. I'm not a Republican, I'm not a Democrat," he said at the time. "I'm a middle-of-the-road guy, and I call on logic and common sense, okay?"

Ermey told McCormack that while he voted for George Bush in 2004, he would be just as supportive of John Kerry had he won the presidency, "and I wish more people would be like that."

Of Obama, Ermey said he was "a little wary at first" on how he would handle the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not now, though.

"I think our president is doing a commendable job," he said. "He picked up where George Bush left off. � We're continuing to take care of the terrorist situation."

Ermey said the terrorists have won a small victory since he has to "be strip-searched" every time he goes through an airport, and "you can't let them win any more than they already have."

Ermey found fame after playing Gunny Hartman in Kubrick's 1987 "Full Metal Jacket." Though brought onto the set as a technical advisor, he impressed director Kubrick with his steel-tough portrayal of Hartman, highlighted by a machine-gun like delivery of obscenity-laced lines that was as realistic as it was surreal.

But Ermey told Military.com that there is no truth to the story that he barked an order at Kubrick and so took him by surprise that the director complied before realizing what he had done.

"No," he laughed. "Stanley and I got along very good, very well."
Watch Gunny in his prime; click the headline. But beware, the language is definitely 'R' rated

Nuna 5 vs Eleanor -- It's on, baby!

The World Solar Challenge, Darwin to Adelaide, Australia, a car race of 1800 miles across the Australian outback, has been run every other year since 1987. No flame breathing dragons allowed, all the entrants must be 100 percent sun-powered. A Dutch team from Delft University has won this thing four times in a row, and Nuna 5, this year's entry, is a heavy pre-race favorite.

MIT wants to give the Dutch something scary to look at in their rear-view mirror and has sunk a quarter of a million dollars into its entry, Eleanor.


Writers who are covering this event have pulled out all the metaphoric stops in describing the racers. Eleanor has been called 'a funky, hump-backed IKEA table,' and Nuna 5 'looks like a pool table that's gone through a Pininfarina wind tunnel.'

The starting flag drops on Oct.25, and the winning speed should be in excess of 90 KPH. Hey! Wanna see what these babies look like? Click on 'read more.'

Here they are! Delft is on top. (For the history of this race, click on the headline)

























Update: Click here for race results.


Addendum: In the Apres moi le deluge category, there is a fire-breathing Eleanor out and about, a licensed replication of the 1967 Mustang Nicholas Cage drove in the movie, 'Gone in 60 Seconds.' With a carbon footprint the size of a shopping mall, this piece of super-fast Detroit iron will cost you $100,000 plus!
Wanna see her built and running? Click here.

OK, the gloves are off!

In his first 200-odd days as President, Barack Obama has worked tirelessly to fulfill the promise of his election. He inherited a country that had become a philosophical, economic and political disaster, and to his credit never rubbed his opponents' nose in the sludge of their making; he just worked to fix it.


In his brief tenure, he has staunched the economic bleeding, restored worldwide respect, and has attempted to resurrect a two-party system of government that was on the brink of extinction.


Two out of three isn't going to hack it. Republicans -- notoriously bad winners and worse losers -- are using every ounce of their waning power to bring down a President this country elected freely with a substantial majority. Obama has attempted compromise everywhere, and everywhere he has been rebuffed. "Rebuffed" is a kind word; the GOP has vilified him, excoriated him, called him a Hitler and his followers Nazis, created and disseminated lies about him, his background and his policies.


Now they threaten to bring down his healthcare proposal, the touchstone of his campaign. While he has tried mightily to leave room for conservative dissent and ideas, the GOP has rejected them all.


Well, the hell with them! We have majorities in both Houses. We can go it alone. Let our rallying cry be that of the fictional Cleveland Indian slugger, Pedro Cerrano:



"Bats, they are sick. I cannot hit curveball. Straightball I hit it very much. Curveball, bats are afraid. I ask Jobu to come, take fear from bats. I offer him cigar, rum. He will come. I'm pissed off now, Jobu. Look, I go to you. I stick up for you. You don't help me now. I say "Fuck you," Jobu, I do it myself."

What are we, Children?

Clinton in Kenya

Our Secretary of State embarked on a ten-day, seven-country Africa trip to promote economic, agricultural and political development in a continent that has seen more than its share of turmoil and strife. Our vaunted fourth estate had an opportunity to bring the American public up to speed on the Dark Continent, but what do they do? Sound bites! Silly sound bites, too. Simple remarks, blown out of proportion for their supermarket tabloid possibilities.


Please, kiddies; the SOS is working hard to bring Africa up to speed. Check out her itinerary right here, and marvel at this woman's work ethic.

(Excerpted from 'All Things Hillary,' a great blog. Click on the headline to go there.)



Kenya

The trip will start at the U.S.-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum, known mostly as the AGOA Forum, in Nairobi, Kenya, where she will deliver a speech at the ministerial opening ceremony of the forum on August the 5th.

She will also hold talks with Kenya�s senior leaders including President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga. According to State, she will "encourage both of those leaders to move forward with their efforts to rewrite the country�s constitution and to prevent a return to the kind of violence that erupted in that country in January and February of 2007 following the very difficult and flawed presidential elections there."

Also, while in Kenya she will, on Wednesday afternoon, visit the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) laboratories along Waiyaki Way. She will be accompanied by US Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas J. Vilsack, together with U.S. Representatives Donald M. Payne and Nita M. Lowey. And it has been stated that "The visit will focus on KARI�s contributions to Kenya�s food security and agricultural development. It will include a laboratory tour, discussion with KARI staff and collaborating partners, observation of a maize research plot, and ceremonial tree-planting.�

South Africa

From Kenya, the Secretary will move on to South Africa, where she will have an opportunity to meet the leadership of South Africa�s new government. She will meet with President Jacob Zuma, and South Africa�s new foreign minister, Ambassador Mashabane.

These meetings are designed to give the U.S. an opportunity to talk with South African leaders about issues such as Zimbabwe and HIV/AIDS and to strengthen an important relationship in South Africa with a country which is the engine of that region�s growth.

Angola

After South Africa, it is on to Angola. Angola is one of the largest energy producers in Sub-Saharan Africa and is a major supplier of both petroleum and LNG to the U.S. market. The Secretary will meet with President Dos Santos, and she will also renew her acquaintance with the Angolan foreign minister with whom she met in D.C. about a month ago. It is the desire to strengthen that relationship with one of Southern Africa�s emerging countries, a country which has enormous economic potential.

Congo

Next stop is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the Congo, she will first go to Kinshasa and then will proceed the next day to Goma for a meeting with President Kabila and the Congolese foreign minister. In the Congo, the Secretary wants to put a great deal of focus on the issue of sexual- and gender-based violence which is occurring in the eastern Congo. There is a great deal of conflict in this area since the mid 90s, largely as a result of the movement of ex-genocidaires from Rwanda into the eastern Congo. Hillary is of course deeply concerned about the gender-based violence and she will meet with some of the victims who have suffered from it.

Nigeria

Next, the Secretary will fly to Abuja, Nigeria. The State Department proclaims that "Nigeria is probably the most important country in Sub-Saharan Africa: 140 million people, 75 million of whom are Muslims." They also state that it is also a major source of petroleum imports for the U.S.

Here the Secretary will discuss with the Nigerian Government a range of issues, including West African security, the need to continue to move forward in strengthening its democracy, dealing with corruption, and also promoting stronger economic development.

Liberia

The Secretary will then move on to Liberia, an historically important relationship. Hillary wants to reaffirm U.S. support for President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the only female African president, and to show and demonstrate U.S. support for the democratic progress that has occurred in Liberia, support and reaffirm U.S. commitment to helping in the development assistance area, and in security sector reform.

Cape Verde

Last stop is Cape Verde, which the State Department calls "an African success story." The island nation, off the coast of West Africa, is democratically run and well-managed.

This huge Africa trip comes only three weeks after President Obama�s successful trip to Accra, Ghana, and will highlight and underscore the Obama Administration�s commitment to making Africa a priority in U.S. foreign policy. Reports have stated that this is the earliest trip by any Secretary of State and President to Africa of any previous U.S. administration.

As with most of Secretary Clinton's international trips there are extra security measures being taken as well as street closures and statements make by police on safety and security. Here is a tidbit from Africa News:

Kenya Police announced on Tuesday that traffic flow would remain interrupted in Nairobi until Thursday following the ongoing AGOA Conference. A statement from Police headquarters said the measures are being taken to ensure smooth security operations ahead of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit.
The statement said the Parliament Road from the junction of Harambee Avenue roundabout to the City Hall Way near the Intercontinental Hotel would remain closed. Other affected roads include Parliament road to Kaunda Street junction.

�We wish to announce that the stated roads will remain closed from 9am Tuesday until late Thursday,� Police Spokesman Erick Kiraithe said. Where possible, he said, motorists should avoid the city centre to avoid being inconvenienced.