No major malfunction here, Drill Sergeant!
Maybe you've heard of R. Lee Ermey, or as he calls himself, the "Gunny." Chances are, even if you don't know the name, you know the face, the voice, and his star turn as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in "Full Metal Jacket." (I tried to find a scene to quote or embed from YouTube, but I don't think JMac would appreciate me turning his blog into an NC-17 zone.)
Anyhoo, Ermey, a former Marine, has made quite a career for himself playing loudmouthed, hard@ss authority figures, and, in recent years, actually playing himself as host of "Mail Call" and "Lock and Load" on the History Channel. This a guy who, on a daily basis, glorifies the American military. One presumes that Ermey would be about as right-wing as they come.
So, I was pleasantly surprised, since the Gunny is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me (what can I say, he's charismatic), to find out that he's on the record and thoroughly unwilling to take any guff from the birthers. Here's what he had to say.
"I haven't heard about those guys [US soldiers refusing to deploy because they question the President's citizenship]. If I do run across them though, trust me, I'll square them away."
The Gunny also had a few kind words for the man in the Oval:
"I think our president is doing a commendable job. … We're continuing to take care of the terrorist situation."
Nice to defy stereotypes sometimes, isn't it?
[HT: @JoshLanier, story here]
The Governator and the garage sale:
Credit where credit is due, right? And California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger deserves some. Seems that the state of California is addressing some of its budgetary woes by having a garage sale. (Also ebay and Cragislist.)
Now, let's be fair, this is about PR far more than it's about actually bringing in enough revenue to even partially mitigate California's budget problems. But sometimes, a little PR is a good thing. This sends a message to Arnold's constituents - at least he's doing something. And it gives him another way to poke back at his (often Republican) political adversaries who have checked some of his more progressive budget reforms over the years.
Local angle: We oughta do this in Athens. Again, not for revenue, or even for PR. Just for the comic relief.
