I first met Tucci, an award-winning illustrator and graphic novel writer, at San Diego’s massive Comic-Con International in 2010. Tucci was intently drawing away in his display booth seated next to an aged but unbowed veteran of WWII’s famous 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

On closer inspection, I saw that that Billy was personalizing a panel connected with his then-current offering, “Sgt. Rock – The Lost Battalion.” This illustrated novel was a beautifully rendered fusion of the fictional Sgt. Rock combat hero with a historically accurate account of the 141st Regiment’s rapid advance into German lines only to be cut off in the rugged Vosges Mountains region.

Running low on food and ammunition and with casualties running high, the divisional commander made the decision to break the German siege of the 141st by sending in the 442nd. The 14,000 men who would serve in the 442nd, a regiment of Japanese-Americans recruited out of internment camps, earned 21 Medals of Honor, more than 9,000 Purple Hearts, and more than 18,000 medals overall – the greatest number of decorations for any unit of its size and duration of combat service.

Tucci has an eye for detail and, in the case of his military-themed work, this detail is fortified by personal service in the Special Forces as an enlisted man in the 1990s.

I saw Tucci again last weekend at the Austin Comic-Con, where his latest work caught my eye because it was so decidedly out of his usual superhero, military, beautiful fantasy samurai/geisha woman pinup genre: a graphic novel about, as Tucci said, “The greatest superhero of all time.”  “Billy Tucci’s A Child is Born” is indeed about the greatest of superheroes; great because he is real, immortal, and to this day is so relevant that the modern world marks time by the date he was born: Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

“A Child is Born” follows the birth of Jesus through 25 pages of 84 magnificently illustrated panels based on the gospels of Matthew and Luke.  The prophecy of Isaiah 9:2-7 serves as the books preface, foretelling the birth of the Savior who “…will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

True to a traditional telling of the Christmas story, “A Child is Born” adds a modern astronomical element as well, offering a scientific explanation for the “star” seen by the Magi.  We see the Magi referring to a triple conjunction of the planet Jupiter with the star Regulus in the constellation the Lion – representing the Kings of Kings of the House of Judah.

In the afterword we learn that Rick Larson, a lawyer, had become “obsessed” with figuring out the puzzle of the Christmas star that signaled Christ’s birth. Acquiring an astronomical software program, Larson ran it back about 2,000 years and “uncovered a celestial poem so beautifully written it changed (his) life forever.” Larson produced the DVD “The Star of Bethlehem,” which Tucci used to incorporate the extra-Biblical but historically-accurate account of the rare astronomical activity that would have drawn the attention of the Magi.

Published by Apostle Arts, “Billy Tucci’s A Child is Born” saw its first printing this month, just in time for Christmas.  It marks the artistic end of a trying year for Tucci, who saw victory declared in his wife’s battle with breast cancer.  As Tucci explained why he was creating a book without the usual “cowls and capes” to his oldest son, “Jesus is a superhero, William – the greatest superhero ever to walk the earth!”

See www.achildisbornbook.com for details.

For this reason, our home has openly wondered when My Chemical Romance would create their fourth studio album.  After turning out one collection after another: 2002’s “I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love,” 2004’s “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge” and 2006’s “The Black Parade,” My Chem (MCR for short), took a break that saw band members marry and start families.

[click on image to watch]

Well, the four year wait is almost over, with MCR scheduled to release “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys” on November 22, 2010.  The first music video from the new album made its MTV premier yesterday featuring the song, “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na).”  The “Na Na Na” music video can be seen above.  

As with much of MCR’s work, “Na Na Na” sports some profanity, but, the band is from New Jersey, across the Hudson from New York City – it’s how they communicate there.  Big Hollywood fans will especially appreciate the song’s explicit (in both senses of the word) political reference.

“Na Na Na” closes with a thought infrequently heard in the often self-centric music world:

“What will save us?”
And the sky opened up
Everybody wants to change the world
Everybody wants to change the world
But no one
No one
Wants to die
Wanna try?
Wanna try?
Wanna try?
Wanna try?
Wanna try?
Now!
I’ll be your detonator!

“Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys” pre-release run up made masterful use of social media, with cryptic tweets hinting at a dystopian, zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic desert base populated by a motley crew of survivors named “Agent Cherri Cola,” “Dr. Death Defying,” “Party Poison,” “Tommy Chow Mein,” and “DJ Hot Chimp,” operating a desert transmitter codenamed “NewsAGoGo.”

A hint of the concept album’s dystopian roots might be found in an August 28, 2008 blog post from Gerard Way:

Gerard here… I’m hanging out with Mikey in New Jersey, relaxing, drinking coffee, talking comics, and getting ready to take a drive down south tomorrow. I don’t know what states I’m passing through but I know where I’m heading. Don’t worry, I’ve got the Clockwork Orange audio-book, a Dr. Pepper air-freshener, and a GPS so I don’t get lost.

Thematic elements from “A Clockwork Orange,” Anthony Burgess’ 1963 vision of the future gone horribly wrong, can be readily seen in the “Na Na Na” music video.  This vein of nihilistic ore has been mined plenty of times in the rock world, but My Chemical Romance has always been more than they seem to the casual observer.  So, while this music video appeared to be darkly dystopian, a lighter note was clear as well: sort of like The Monkees meets the zombie apocalypse.  Should the rest of “Danger Days” follow suit, rather than burrowing deep to a dark place and wallowing there, the album will likely offer more texture, perspective and hope than the usual post-Obama-meltdown-world-gone-mad genre album.

My Chemical Romance fans know that lead vocalist Gerard Way is also a talented comic book creator of the Eisner Award-winning “The Umbrella Academy.” Thus, it’s not a stretch to understand why Grant Morrison co-stars in “Na Na Na.”  Morrison, a comic book author who routinely redefines his field (superhero revisionism is the tamest thing he’s done in the past 20 years) is also a musician in his own right.  There’s even what could be a nod to Morrison in “Na Na Na”:

Remember when you were a mad man,
Thought you was bat man.

Morrison made a living for a number of years writing for the “Batman” franchise and his on screen role is a parodic archetype – a sort of “draculoid” zombie king evil foil to My Chemical Romance’s good.  Morrison’s foul intent isn’t yet clear in “Na Na Na,” but we suspect he’s after some form of totalitarian domination, probably through national health care, given the medically suspect condition of his blood-thirsty lieutenants.

My Chemical Romance rose out of the ashes of 9/11 when Gerard Way, then 24 and working as a comic book store clerk in New York City, was shaken to his core.  Way wrote the lyrics to the song “Skylines and Turnstiles” to work out the personal impact the terror attacks had on him.  Not like Way had it easy before 9/11 – at 15, he was held at gunpoint, causing him to remark later, “No matter how ugly the world gets or how stupid it shows me it is, I always have faith.”  He would need that faith as he struggled with substance abuse and suicidal thoughts (one of the motivating factors in creating My Chemical Romance is said to have been the other band members concern for Gerard Way).  Way has been sober since 2004 and the band often contributes money to suicide prevention non-profits such as The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Given My Chemical Romance’s enormous talent (they’re often favorably compared to Queen), “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys” should contain several excellent songs, some of which will certainly blaze new ground, and, like the Black Parade concept album, receive wide critical acclaim.  

I’ve always cheered for the boys from New Jersey and wished them the best.  They have profound talent combined with a creative genius rarely seen in the commercial world.  But most importantly the band has a soul untarnished by the cynicism that can consume many in the music industry.

I’ve long believed that conservatives ignore culture at their peril. Hollywood and faith shape culture and culture shapes voters far more powerfully than can mere politicians.  With this understanding firmly in mind, I have cultivated contacts in the entertainment industry and used Al Gore’s invention to its fullest extent, winning awards for our campaign’s innovative use of Twitter and for our groundbreaking iPhone app (Beat Boxer? There’s an app for that!). 

A key part of this effort to harness non-traditional modes of political speech began 13 months ago when, while campaigning in the Bakersfield area, I saw a fading Obama bumper sticker on a Prius.  Instantly, the line, “Out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac, a little voice inside my head said: don’t look back, you can never look back,” from the Don Henley song “The Boys of Summer” popped into my head. 

Knowing that Henley imputed political meaning to this line (he said it was a critique of how the idealism of the 60s degenerated into the materialism of the 80s) I decided right then and there to write a parody using the leftist Henley’s composition against the newly elected president he so ardently supported.  Late that night, after driving over 420 miles (ironically, in my 2004 Cadillac CTS festooned with Chuck DeVore for U.S. Senate stickers) I penned the lyrics to “After the Hope of November is Gone.” Sung to the tune of “The Boys of Summer,” the parody pokes fun at President Obama’s supporters while anticipating the fading hopes of his presidency.  On April 1, two days later, we released the music video of the parody, sung to a karaoke track, on YouTube. 

Don Henley was not amused.  Less than a week later, he filed a motion under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to pull down our YouTube video.  With millions of dollars to his name from being the lead singer to the most popular band of the 70s, Henley likely figured that he could use the court system to cripple the campaign of a U.S. Senate candidate running against the most liberal senator in the nation, Barbara Boxer, someone he’s supported with at least $9,000 of donations. 

I refused to be intimidated by Henley’s actions.  I had a campaign to run and I intended to win it using methods not routinely employed by conservatives. If I was unable to use cultural references in a campaign in California, I knew my effort to beat Boxer would be crippled.  So, I filed a DMCA counter-notification and, on April 14, released another YouTube parody aimed at Boxer’s cap-and-trade bill.  ”All She Wants to do is Tax” was based Henley’s “All She Wants to do is Dance.”  It went viral, hitting the top 10 on YouTube’s News and Politics category while getting 10,000 views a day – until Henley filed to remove it. 

With lyrics such as, “They’re pickin’ up the taxpayers and putting ‘em in a jam, And all she wants to do is tax, tax. Liberals been liberals since I don’t know when, And all she wants to do is tax…  Barbara Boxer talkin’ round, Control in her sight, And all she wants to do is tax, tax. Wild-eyed global warmers, Who ain’t afraid to lie… Well, the government rigged the market in the carbon trading scam, And all she wants to do is tax, tax. To keep the boys a sellin’, All the credits they could ma’am. And all she wants to do is tax. But that don’t keep the boys, From makin’ a buck or two, And all she wants to do is tax, tax. They still can sell the public, On the good that they can do…” you can see why Henley could not let the parody stand.  As a committed liberal in the entertainment industry who’s given some $750,000 to Democrats and leftwing causes in the past 10 years, Henley understands the power of culture.  A conservative harnessing some of that power had to be stopped. 

So, after my DCMA counterclaim notifications restored the parody videos to YouTube, Henley sued me in federal court, offering to drop the suit if I pulled the parodies and removed my lyrics from all Internet sites.  My response was simple: pound sand. 

So, where are we today?  My campaign for U.S. Senate has raised about $1.8 million.  The last five independent polls since January have placed me within the margin of error of Barbara Boxer. And the Henley lawsuit drags on, consuming time and money and shutting down a vital avenue of free speech that I intended to use in the course of my campaign.  We expect a summary judgment on the case in May, just before the June 8 primary.  If we win, our parodies will be back and I will likely write others.  If we lose and go to trial, then lose in court, the implications will be far-reaching.  For example, Paul Shanklin’s parodies on the Rush Limbaugh Show will be shut down as infringing on the copyrights of the owners, rather than transformative works of free speech protected by the First Amendment as they are now considered. 

Had I known a year ago where we would be today would I have still written the parodies and drawn Henley’s lawsuit?  Absolutely.  Free speech using a culturally-savvy delivery is far too powerful to leave as the sole province of the Left.

Whether the effort to preserve our liberties, secure our Constitution, and protect our people is called the “Global War on Terror” or “Overseas Contingency Operations,” the result of failure is the same: more terror and death.

Let us stop to reflect on what happened eight years ago and pray for the families of the dead, both civilian and uniformed, and the living serving on the front lines of freedom. As we do, let us also remember the nature of the attacks in far flung places like Mumbai, Islamabad, Jerusalem, Beirut, Baghdad, Kabul, and Sderot.

Lastly, be mindful and thankful for the heroic actions of a free people on Flight 93. These Americans took the initiative. They didn’t wait for government to tell them what to do. They didn’t need instructions. As a free people, comfortable with weighing their options, making decisions and taking appropriate risks, they rushed the terrorist-controlled cockpit. As a result of their actions, the fourth terrorist attack, destined for the U.S. Capitol or the White House, was brought down in rural Western Pennsylvania.

It was with Flight 93 that the American response to 9/11 began only one hour and eleven minutes after Flight 11 was crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower. The American counterattack was conceived by civilians who voted to rush the al-Qaeda terrorists.

They voted.

At 9:55 am passenger Todd Beamer was heard saying, “Let’s roll!” Within two minutes, the struggle was on.

As long as the spirit of a free people reigns in America, enemies of all stripes, whether terrorist organizations or nation states, will fail in their deadly and tyrannical designs.

“Basterds,” misspelled the way Brad Pitt’s moonshining Lt. Aldo Raine character carved it into his rifle, takes place in German-occupied France from 1941 to 1944.  Tarantino makes a point of specifying “Nazi-occupied France,” justifying to the film watcher the extreme measures needed to deal with this particular type of human evil.  That National Socialist German Workers’ Party membership never numbered more than about 20 percent of the adult German population is beside the point; the Nazi Party in the guise of Hitler (played by Martin Wuttke) controlled the Wehrmacht from the top.  

“Basterds” follows three characters.  ”Chapter 1″ introduces Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) a young Frenchwoman whose dairy farmer family is wiped out in 1941 by the Germans and Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), who directs the killing.  Landa is a member of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the intelligence service of the SS and the Nazi Party, who considers himself a detective asked by his government to find every last Jewish person in France.  In “Chapter 2″ we meet U.S. Army Lt. Aldo Raine. Raine’s crossed arrows insignia on his collar identifies him as a member of the First Special Service Force, a U.S.-Canadian commando force called the Devil’s Brigade.  Lt. Raine leads a small band of soldiers, all of whom happen to be Jewish, on a mission of retribution, mayhem and terror behind enemy lines, the goal: take 100 “Nazi scalps” each. 

While “Basterds” is pure fiction, it does trace historical actions depicted in “Bodyguard of Lies” by Anthony Cave Brown.  “Bodyguard” details the deadly cloak-and-dagger action surrounding the effort to return Allied forces to the Continent on D-Day.  The scene with Mike Myers’ as British spymaster General Ed Fenech and Rod Taylor as Churchill suggests Major General Sir Stewart Menzies, Britain’s WWII head of the Secret Intelligence Service, as the basis for Myers’ character.  “Bodyguard’s” riveting accounts, such as the German capture and interrogation of British agent Princess Noor Inayat Khan (she was killed in Dachau, her last words being “liberty”), echo parts of “Basterds” – reminding one that “Basterds” may not be real, but it’s true – which brings up an inconvenient truth for some enthusiasts of Mr. Tarantino’s latest work. 

The theme of “Basterds” is revenge.  But revenge in this case takes place in occupied France in 1944.  In this context, Lt. Raine and his encouragement of scalping and other torture methods, violate the Hague Conventions (the forerunner to the Geneva Conventions) to which both the U.S. and Germany agreed.  The Hague’s Article 23 specifically prohibited the “treacherous” killing of an enemy, or harming enemies who had surrendered, or “declar(ing) that no quarter will be given.”  Of course, Raine’s men, usually operating sans uniform, were in violation of The Hague’s Chapter I, The Qualifications of Belligerents, Article 1, reading in part, that proper belligerents must, “have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance” and “conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.”  Executing prisoners is, unfortunately, an unspoken reality of swift-moving commando forces operating behind enemy lines.  Beating enemy prisoners of war to death with a baseball bat while not wearing a uniform is an even more obvious violation of the law of war.  Under rules then in effect, if Raines’ men were captured while operating outside of these rules, they could be treated very harshly – even summarily executed. 

In 1949, the Geneva Conventions updated the Hague Conventions. The Third Geneva Convention, Part I, Article 4, parallels The Hague’s Article 23 in specifying the attributes of a legitimate prisoner of war who is deserving of protection by his captor.  It is this part of the law of war that the Bush Administration cited when justifying their treatment of men captured as part of the Global War on Terror (now called “overseas contingency operations”), i.e. al-Qaeda didn’t fight with “a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance” or carry “arms openly” or conduct “their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war” therefore they were “unlawful combatants.” 

It is interesting indeed to see those who applaud Tarantino’s latest, admittedly excellent work, revel in the unbridled revenge against Nazis who get what’s coming to them.  Many of whom, without batting an eye, view al-Qaeda killers as deserving of respect, protection, and the benefit of civilian law.  Since all that separates al-Qaeda from the Nazis is the means – industrial power, modern education, and an organized national base – one wonders why a certain amount of cognitive dissonance wouldn’t kick in after a liberal enjoyed screening “Basterds.” 

To the point, what would a liberal think of the scene where Lt. Raine interrogates a captured German sergeant, demanding the location of a German outpost and its supporting artillery?  As the German NCO refuses to talk, Raine orders one of his men to kill the prisoner with a baseball bat.  When the two remaining German prisoners see this, one runs in horror and is shot down, while the other is brought over and threatened with the same deadly treatment.  He talks, saving the lives of the American commandos.  For the prisoner’s troubles, Raines carves a swastika into his forehead.  By comparison, the waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed during interrogation seems rather pedestrian. 

Were Lt. Aldo Raine unleashed in Waziristan today, he and his men (all from New York City to provide the needed element of justifiable revenge) would no doubt relish taking al-Qaeda and Taliban scalps.  Alas, were Tarantino to make this flick, it would end prematurely just as Osama bin Laden was about to be relieved of his wavy locks by Raine’s massive knife.  The unsatisfying closing sequence would have a shocked Raine arrested by FBI agents after the Basterds’ cover was blown by the New York Times.  The credits would roll on Raine’s trial by Attorney General Holder’s Department of Justice with bin Laden in protective custody as a witness to Raine’s heinous war crimes. 

I don’t see Tarantino making that film – it might not be real, but it’s too true for Hollywood.

The Second Annual Troop-a-thon is a wonderful chance for an entire industry to raise money online to send needed care packages to those Americans overseas who are defending our Constitution and our way of life.  Any deployment can be an intense and lonely experience.  Mail can be scarce.  Contact with home is sporadic.  Receiving a package from a stranger who cared enough about your mission can be a big boost in morale – literally, a life-saver.  

The men and women serving us overseas cared enough about you to join the military.  Your support of their choice to serve won’t cost you much in the way of time or money or inconvenience or danger – but it will mean much to them.  

Please support those who serve as they are already supporting you. Participate in the Troop-a-thon. 

Chuck DeVore

California State Assemblyman
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army retired Reserve

Set in 1986 Iran – the Islamic Republic of Iran – Stoning is a gut-wrenching film with haunting music.  Nowrasteh’s movie, set to open June 26, is based on a book about the crime by French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam. 

The film opens with Freidoune (James Caviezel) breaking down in his car on his way to the border.  Spending unwanted hours in a small village, he is approached by Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo), a woman the villagers try to shoo away as they call her crazy.  But Zahra has a terrible secret.  She does all she can to get word to the journalist about a terrible injustice committed in the village the previous day when her niece, Soraya M. (Mozhan Marnò), falsely accused of adultery by her cheating husband, Ali (Navid Negahban), was stoned to death per Islamic law. 

Stoning’s premise, repeated with numbing regularity around the world today, is made all the more pressing by the masses of Iranians protesting in the streets today while the brutal Basij militia tries to beat them into submission.  But it’s one thing for a stoning of an accused “adulteress” to occur in Somalia, and quite another for it to happen in the soon-to-be-nuclear-armed Islamic Republic of Iran.  If a nation thinks nothing of stoning women to death for the “crime” of adultery while killing peaceful protesters, it takes no imagination to think of what they will do when in possession of a nuclear bomb.  

The film is tightly put together and the acting is natural and intense.  The actors mostly speak Farsi throughout the film, but they communicate volumes, relegating the captions to a supporting role.  Nowrasteh effortlessly allows his film to unfold.  He gradually builds tension, while adding depth to the main characters’ soul.  The end is inevitable as it is jarring, with the males of the village engaging in the collective guilt of the stoning while most of the women watch and wail.  The act of stoning takes away the village’s “dishonor” one stone at a time, according to the mullah. 

It is no small task to adapt a book to the screen, especially a book of the intensity of Sahebjam’s work, but Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh and Cyrus Nowrasteh have done the job with the precision of a brain surgeon.  The husband and wife team add nothing more than needed, while everything needed remains.   

Lastly, a note about John Debney’s music: it is beyond superb.  With a cast and crew of Iranian expatriates making a film about life in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Nowrasteh could have easily settled for a selection of traditional Persian folk music.  This would have been true to form, but likely would have missed the opportunity to tightly tailor the music to the requirements of film while appealing to wider audiences.  It is interesting to see that Debney worked on “Passion of the Christ” (for which Debney was nominated for an Academy Award) along with Caviezel five years ago.  Clearly Debney has developed a talent for producing Mideast-themed music for the big screen. 

Cyrus Nowrasteh’s “The Stoning of Soraya M.” could not have come at a better time for the world.  While Iranians struggle to transcend tyranny and most Americans, including our President, remain rooted in inaction, Stoning proves that Hollywood’s capacity to combat evil is still intact.

–

Liberal contempt towards those who take an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States has deep roots in the hard left that Boxer epitomizes.  Look at how Boxer manipulates concern for the casualties of war to ram home her political attack against former President Bush in this email from 2007: 

U.S. troops stayed in Vietnam, in the middle of a civil war, for more than ten long and painful years. More than 50,000 of our young people died, countless wounded mentally and physically. Suicides and homelessness still follow too many of our Vietnam veterans. How many more would have died if George W. Bush had been President in the 1970’s? How many more of our troops and innocent Iraqis will die if we don’t finally end this war? 

One wonders how many of the suicides Boxer mentions were due to the hostile reception the left gave our returning veterans… 

Today the left “loves the soldier” but “hates the war” – this is a cop-out.  You cannot separate the soldier from his mission.  Perhaps that’s why Boxer’s ideological allies “honor” our heroic fallen who return in caskets by using them as political symbols to attack the very thing our heroes were fighting for: our liberty and our safety.  Evidence of the left’s scorn for the military is manifold: the widespread effort to ban ROTC from campuses and in San Francisco’s perennial effort to eject any military presence in their city (the City by the Bay approved a “College, Not Combat” measure in 2005 telling military recruiters to stay out of the city’s high schools). 

Why are liberals uncomfortable with the military?  Why do some liberals apparently despise our military?  Is it because the armed services remind them that not every international dispute can be solved with soothing words uttered by a diplomat?  Is it because they view military expenditures as taking money away from greater health and welfare spending?  Do the heroes who serve show them that the world is not perfect and can never be made so by trillions of dollars of new government handouts? 

Boxer dressing down of a U.S. Army general in public unfolded during a hearing on the Army Corps of Engineers’ work in New Orleans.  When General Walsh, recently returned from Iraq, addressed California’s junior senator as “Ma’am” – a perfectly acceptable sign of military respect to both a U.S. Senator or a senior female officer, Boxer immediately responded, “I had a… You know… do me a favor, could you say ‘Senator’ instead of ‘Ma’am’ – it’s just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title so I’d appreciate it, yes thank you.” 

According to the U.S. Army’s own guide to protocol, Members of the U.S. Senate should be verbally addressed as “Sir,” “Ma’am” or “Senator.”  So, General Walsh was simply following longstanding tradition.  

When addressing senior officers, with the exception of generals whom most junior officers and enlisted personnel usually call “General” more than “Sir” the most respectful form of address is “Sir” or “Ma’am.”  Ironically, use of the actual rank in address  is oftentimes used in situations when the senior officer has not yet earned respect from an enlisted person, as in “Yes, Lieutenant!” as opposed to “Yes, Ma’am!” 

Of course, this wasn’t Barbara Boxer’s first confrontation with the U.S. military – not by a long shot.  Boxer cut her political teeth on the anti-Vietnam war protests back in the day and never really changed her outlook on the uniformed defenders of the Constitution of the United States.  Who can forget her confrontation with American hero Gen. David Petraeus back in 2007?   Boxer called Gen. Petraeus a liar and then wrote a blog for the Huffington Post on September 14, 2007 which she headlined, “General Petraeus, Take Off the Rose-Colored Glasses.”  Seen through the lens of time Boxer’s blog rant can almost be laughable were its implications not so injurious to our national security in calling for an immediate end (read: “defeat”) to the war in Iraq.

Perhaps it’s time for the Barbara Boxer to have a new title: “Ex-Senator.” 

Mr. DeVore (R.-Irvine) represents about 500,000 people in Orange County California. He retired as a lieutenant colonel after 24-years of service in the Army National Guard and is a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010 against Barbara Boxer.

For context, see BlogDeVore.