Cheers and Jeers: Monday

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...

Breakfast with Brandon

One of the great things about the blogosphere is that it's given military veterans a platform in which they can bypass the traditional media's filters and report on the ugliness of war from their own experience. One of the most well-known and respected here at Daily Kos is Brandon Friedman, who is also the vice chairman of VoteVets.org and author of The War I Always Wanted.

Brandon was an infantry officer in the famous 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he was awarded two Bronze Stars for his performance in combat. And now, in our C&J interview series, Yes, We're All Staring At YOU!, we ask Brandon about the changes at the VA, 'Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,' and whose side he's really on...dogs or cats:

Cheers and Jeers: How long have you been blogging and why did you start?
Brandon Friedman: I started passively reading political blogs during the 2004 presidential election, but I never participated. I read the front page posts periodically, but I still didn't really know what a blog "was." Then, in August 2006, I had emergency surgery to remove my appendix. Being laid up for a few weeks recovering from that, I couldn't do anything but hang out online. It was a really boring period and I still had the writing bug because I'd just recently completed my book. And that's when I discovered the Daily Kos "diary." So I always credit my busted appendix for getting me actively involved in politics and blogging. I posted my first Daily Kos diary the first week of September 2006.

What do you think is the best outcome President Obama can hope for in Iraq and Afghanistan during his first term---assuming he does everything you think he should do?
For Iraq, it would be nice to have a functioning government that's not too closely tied to Iran, no civil war, and everyone out by the end of the first term. And that's not wholly unrealistic. But even if a stable government is still in place and violence is lower than it is today, I can still see a residual force of American troops in the low five figures leading into Obama's second term. Hopefully it won't come to that, though. Either way, I expect that 16 months from now, most American troops will be out of Iraq.

The best case in Afghanistan would be for the Taliban's power to be on the wane. And the country will have been secured enough by additional forces to allow for the political, diplomatic, economic, and agricultural aspects of the new plan to take effect. We just have to be very aware that sending additional troops is only one part of the solution. This might sound to some like "mission creep," but the bottom line is that stabilizing Afghanistan is the only way to prevent it from reverting back to a pre-9/11 state. We also have to remember that, while violent, the Taliban movement is one built around illiteracy and poverty. Thus, the way to crush it in the long run is through education and infrastructure. That's why this problem necessitates a multi-pronged approach---and not simply a military solution. The best outcome we can hope for will be significant progress in this regard. Anything less is really bad---especially as it concerns nuclear-armed Pakistan---so I'll just leave it at that.

What impact do you think the new VA leadership under General Shinseki will have on the department?
General Shinseki will bring a renewed sense of urgency and fresh ideas from the top. For all its faults and mishaps we've seen in the media over the past few years, the VA has generally had outstanding civil servants and healthcare providers within its ranks. But the problem with some of the VA's upper leadership in the last administration had to do with the fact that instead of meeting problems head on, they often tried to hide them from public view. Like the massive rates of combat PTSD. Or the high number of veteran suicides. I'll give you a couple of examples: Secretary Peake called PTSD and TBI (traumatic brain injury) diagnoses "overblown" and compared them to "old football injuries." And Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's mental health director, sent the infamous "Shh!" email when trying to downplay the number of veteran suicides. As a veteran myself, I felt that the higher-ups at the VA were often trying to minimize the impact of these wars on their consumers---the veterans. And I don't think you'll see that anymore.  

The VA has also had a serious issue with veteran outreach. And it's not because they haven't been trying. But most younger vets I know avoid the VA like the plague, thereby often not getting the treatment they need. So we need to get some two-way communication going between vets and the VA. Fortunately, Iraq veteran Tammy Duckworth has been appointed as the VA's Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, so I think we'll see immediate effect there.

You're the author of The War I Always Wanted: The Illusion of Glory and the Reality of War. It recounts your experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division, and your shifting attitudes towards war. What's the message you want readers to take away from it?
When I first started writing, I wanted more to convey what war feels like: from the fear of dying, to the sound of gunfire right by your ear, to the friendships you forge in the homes of your local translators, to the monotonous boredom that fills up most of your time. As I wrote, however, there's something Friedrich Nietzsche once said that I found really encapsulated what I was trying to convey. I used it as the book's epigraph: "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster." To me, war is sometimes necessary. But there's a fine line that each individual soldier---along with the nation itself---must walk in an effort to not become that which we're trying to confront.  And that's much more difficult in war than I would've ever expected. So all in all, the takeaway from the book---and this should go without saying---is that we should be very, very careful about committing troops to combat. As Alex Horton says, "War is serious business." And that's what I wrote about.

Besides yours, what's the one book every Kossack must read?
Well, because this thing is finally getting some attention, I'd have to recommend a book like the NYT bestseller Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, written by Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid. Most Americans have no idea what in the hell's going on or who we're really fighting in Afghanistan, and this book is a good primer. It delves into the history of the Taliban and chronicles the period of war in the 1990s leading up to 9/11. Oh, and of course, Slaughterhouse-Five by Vonnegut.

It's my understanding that the main reason for keeping the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy in place is because straight soldiers have a habit of dropping the soap in the showers.  First, I hope those particular soldiers aren't issued grenades. Second, if the military could figure out how to bolt liquid soap dispensers to the wall, could DADT then be lifted?
Bill, we have two wars to fight---where on earth would we find money in the budget to pay for bolted liquid soap dispensers? Seriously, though, 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is on the way out. In two years, it'll be viewed as a quaint policy America once used to ease itself into the idea of having openly gay service members. Given American (and military) culture, I think DADT did actually serve a purpose when it was first implemented in the early '90s. But it's been outdated for at least a decade. Most soldiers don't care if you're not straight, so long as you can shoot straight. Or speak Arabic.

Finish this sentence: In the kitchen I make a mean...
Scrambled eggs? Cereal? Toast? I don't know. I don't cook. I'm helpless in the kitchen. It's really pathetic. I can't even barbecue. The only reason I didn't starve to death after leaving the Army is that I met my wife Alex, who could literally be a professional chef (if she wasn't pre-occupied with minor things like democratization and institutional corruption).

VoteVets.org is "dedicated to getting veterans elected to public office." Who are some candidates that you're excited about supporting?
Well, we had a good run in 2008, so we're definitely excited about the newly elected veterans in Congress we supported like John Boccieri (OH-16), Eric Massa (NY-29), Walt Minnick (ID-1), and Gary Peters (MI-9). But we're also dedicated to building an infrastructure that will allow us to maintain a deep bench of candidates for 2010, 2012, and beyond. And that means supporting state and local veteran candidates as they launch their political careers. This is something we do through our Emerging Leaders program, in which we're currently supporting nine state and local elected officials, three of whom were first elected as state reps in 2008. And I bring that up because the only race in which we're backing a candidate in 2009 so far is the Jersey City City Council election, in which former Marine and Iraq veteran Steven Fulop is up for re-election in May.

No waffling here: dogs or cats?
Growing up: Dogs. Now: Cats. I made the transition after nursing a three-legged cat back to health in college. And while I don't have that cat anymore, Alex and I have one named Ghenghis. Coincidentally, both my wife and our cat are from Romania. But I had the Romanian cat before I met my Romanian wife. I actually adopted Ghenghis from a roommate whose mother had originally taken him in while working in Bucharest. Fortunately for me, it worked out great as an icebreaker when I first met Alex.

I have one question left, but I'm meeting General Petraeus for a final showdown in Skee Ball. Please ask and answer the final question yourself...and thank you for your service.

What's the coolest thing that's ever happened to you in politics?
Definitely the time Rush Limbaugh called me a liar on his live radio show and accused me of "smearing" him and "trying to destroy his character." In the specific instance to which he was referring, he deliberately took my words out of context, but I wear that moment as a badge of honor anyway.

By the way, Brandon's Facebook page for The War I Always Wanted is here.

Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

Cheers and Jeers for Monday, February 23, 2009

Note: If a butterfly hadn't flapped its wings in Calcutta at exactly 2:45pm on October 18, 1603, the St. Louis Gateway Arch would be U-shaped.

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By the Numbers:
Days 'til International Women's Day: 13
Days `til the Minnesota State Polka Festival: 32
Drop in Mexican migration to the U.S.---legal and illegal---between August 2007 and August 2008: -50%
(Source: Mexico's National Statistics, Geography and Information Institute)
Number of shark attacks around the world in 2007: 71
Number in 2008: 59
(Source: International Shark Attack File)
Percent by which chewing gum relieves mild to moderate stress: 12%
(Source: Harper's Index)
Number of rocks in CNBC analyst Rick Santelli's head: 18 (and 42 pebbles)

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New Monday feature: "Pimping Pittsburgh!"  

Brought to you by the Netroots Nation Convention August 13-16:

5 Off the Chart Ratings

1. #1 Most Livable City in America (Places Rated Almanac 2007 & 1985)

2. Top City for Geeks.  (Wired Magazine)

3. One of 2008‘s Top 13 Travel Domestic & International  Destinations.  (Frommer's)

4. One of the 5 Best Cities for Creative People.   (Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine)

5. The nighttime view of Pittsburgh from Mt. Washington ranks as the 2nd most beautiful view in the country. (USA Weekend)

(Source: VisitPittsburgh 2009 Official Visitors Guide via Pittsburgher Ltleredd)

And remember: you can't spell Pittsburgh without Burps Tight.

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Puppy Pic of the Day: "Okay, fine.  I will stoop to your level..."

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CHEERS to the giant, throbbing Hypocrimap!  Over at TPM, Josh is asking people to send in tales of Republican congresscritters who, after voting against the economic recovery package, are now claiming responsibility for its passage.  Like this:

Representative Don Young (AK-AL): "Alaskan Congressman Don Young won a victory for the Alaska Native contracting program and other Alaska small business owners> last night in H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. [Congressman Don Young's Press Release; 2/13/09]
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Representative John Mica (FL-07): "I applaud President Obama's recognition that high-speed rail should be part of America's future," [Congressman John Mica Press Release; 2/13/09]

As two-faced comments like these come in Josh will be plotting them on his GOP Hypocrimap, and a good time will be had by all.  Unfortunately I can't play the game because Maine's Reps and Senators---all 4 of them---voted for the bill.  So I'll just sit over here in the corner and play with my Pop-O-Matic.

CHEERS to the craziest idea ever.  Yet more evidence that Barack Obama is set on destroying America as we know it. Get a load 'o this:

Public schools will get an unprecedented amount of money---double the education budget under George W. Bush---from the stimulus bill in the next two years.  With those dollars, Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan want schools to do better.  From Duncan's perspective, the sheer size of the stimulus bill makes it a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put lasting reforms in place.  It's also an opportunity to redefine the federal role in education, something we're thinking a whole lot about," Duncan said recently.  "How can we move from being (about) compliance with bureaucracy to really the engine of innovation and change?"

The bill includes a $5 billion fund solely for these innovations, an amount that might not seem like much, considering the bill's $787 billion price tag.  But it is massive compared with the $16 million in discretionary money Duncan's predecessors got each year for their own priorities.

May I offer the first two suggestions?  Hypoallergenic chalkboard erasers and dividers between the urinals.  Now feel free to spend the remaining $1 billion any which way you please.

JEERS to makeovers with all the appeal of New Coke.  It took 20 minutes for the first statuette to be awarded, and that's when I knew that the NEW! IMPROVED! Oscar telecast was going to be its usual marathon.  Put another way: if the pinnacle of an awards show is when the Best Documentary winner balances his trophy on his chin, you know you're in trouble.  But Dustin Lance Black's acceptance speech after winning the original screenplay award for Milk was positively Milkian:

"When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk.  And it gave me hope.  It gave me the hope to live my life.  It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married.  I wanna thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to.  But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours."

Other highlights: Heath Ledger's family eloquently accepting the supporting-actor statue for The Dark Knight on his behalf; Jean Hersholt Award recipient Jerry Lewis, who looked terrific; and Sean Penn's win for Milk which, along with Penelope Cruz's win for Vicki Cristina Barcelona Papa Oom Mow Mow, proved that Nate Silver is a mere mortal after all.  And no offense to Hugh Jackman, who seemed to think he was hosting the Tony Awards, but...please, someone get Billy Crystal on the phone and promise him anything to come back.

CHEERS to our new top cop.  I'd forgotten that Portland was police chiefless, mainly because we have a very effective way of keeping the peace (basically you get one strike before we drive you down south and summarily toss you over the New Hampshire state line).  But I guess it's important to keep up appearances, so the city manager has nominated this guy:

Capt. James Craig has spent the past four years overseeing the homicide and gang unit for the Los Angeles Police Department in the city's tough southwest section, pushing his community policing philosophy in a 12-square-mile district where city officials say there are 10,000 documented gang members.

Good choice.  Renegade West-end Grannies: you're on notice.

CHEERS to memorable moments in shutterbuggery.  On February 23, 1945, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they attached an American flag to a section of water pipe and raised it like a middle finger to the Japanese troops hiding in the caves below them.  The Pulitzer-winning photo taken by Joe Rosenthal actually shows the second flag-raising.  Here's the first.  This morning C&J raised the stars & stripes in honor of the 64th anniversary of the event.  Tomorrow we'll go back to flying the new universal symbol of distress: an upside down wallet.

CHEERS to unbridled optimism.  President Obama wants to halve the deficit by the end of his first term.  Cool!  I want to dress up like Margaret Thatcher and sail the Good Ship Lollipop to the planet Everlasting Gobstopper.  Everyone's gotta have a dream.

JEERS to the company Phil "Rhymes With Scam" Gramm keeps.  At the same time the former senator from Texas and big-business heartthrob was telling Americans they were acting like a bunch of whiners, the bank he muckety-mucked around with was acting like a bunch of wieners:

Swiss bank UBS AG used coded language in internal emails and memos, created hundreds of sham offshore entities and lied to US officials in an elaborate scheme to conceal the overseas accounts of wealthy Americans, the Internal Revenue Service claimed in federal court documents.  The IRS filed the documents this week seeking to force the bank to turn over records for an estimated 52,000 US customers who allegedly violated American tax laws by concealing Swiss accounts worth at least $US14.8 billion ($23 billion).

''UBS systematically violated and circumvented its obligations .... all in order to help its US clients conceal from the IRS their Swiss accounts at UBS,'' IRS agent Daniel Reeves said in the affidavit, which charges that the scheme ran from 2000 to 2007.

Pardon my French, but what the fuck is with these people?  My guess: earwigs.

CHEERS to our favorite candy turds.  On this date in 1896, the Tootsie Roll---not quite fudge, not quite chocolate, but as addictive as either---was introduced by Leo Hirshfield.  This would probably be a good time to present the latest data on how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop:

Purdue University licking machine: 364 licks
Purdue University students: 252 licks
University of Michigan human licking machine: 411 licks
Swarthmore Junior High students: 144 licks

I make a point to eat a few Tootsie Rolls every day.  Nothing better to plug ulcer holes.

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Five years ago in C&J: February 23, 2004

CHEERS to Kos's Edwards endorsement.  C&J believes, also, that Edwards is the best candidate (and last Wednesday's poll showed 84% Edwards support among C&J readers).  Fresh, energetic, smart.  Kerry vs. Bush will be Clinton vs. Dole in reverse. [2/23/09 Update: Oh, the sting of hindsight.]

JEERS to bad timing.  Donald Rumsfeld is in Iraq to assess security risks as suicide bomber kills 13, wounds 51.  He could've stayed home and gotten his answer from cable news.

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And just one more...

CHEERS to one big giant memorable night (so you know I'm definitely not talking about the Oscars).  To help ward off Monday suckage, here's a little story from Maine that'll give your endorphins a kick.  

Patrick Thibodeau, the Greely High boys' basketball team manager who has Down's syndrome, got the chance of his young life Tuesday when [after 9 years on the bench] he played a few minutes in the Rangers' final home game against Gray-New Gloucester on Parents' Night.  Thibodeau hit a pair of 3-point shots, one early in the game and the other late.

The night was additionally special for Patrick as his father, Perry, the longtime team statistician, attended after suffering a stroke two weeks ago.

This footage was shot by my friend Tim Tierney, and it's as suspenseful and uplifting as anything you'll see in Hoosiers.  Take a look---Thibodeau is wearing jersey #3.  And have a nice day.

P.S.  Here's the Today show's take on it.

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Oh, and a shoutout from George Washington to all the C&Jers who pitched in to buy him a snowblower for his birthday yesterday: "I thank ye kindly for this demon contraption."  Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?

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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:

Men see bikini-clad Bill in Portland Maine as object, psychologists say
---CNN

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