In which the new guy addresses Marine drill sergeants and gives credit where credit is due.

Two small items from yesterday that made me happy:

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.

Bizarroworld, in which the new guy is pleased with Lynn Westmoreland and peeved at the SEC.

So, as JMac mentioned on Friday, I'm the new guy, picking up some of his slack as he gets the Cover Two rolling. And, in true JMac style, I've got a "couple of things" on my mind. Let's get right to it, kids.

An SEC letdown that doesn't involve Vanderbilt's O-line:

I'm an SEC fan through and through, which is why this gets under my skin. The SEC is expected to release its updated media policy pretty soon, and if they have their way, don't even think about using Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or any other social media outlet to talk about their football games. Earlier this month, the SEC informed its member schools about the policy. Sez the Conference:

“Ticketed fans can’t produce or disseminate (or aid in producing or disseminating) any material or information about the Event, including, but not limited to, any account, description, picture, video, audio, reproduction or other information concerning the Event.”

Hrmph. So, let's break this down briefly. Following the terms of this agreement, if I'm at a Georgia game, I can't take pictures, shoot video, or even change my Facebook status to "Martin Matheny just watched Caleb King make Tennessee's defense look dumb."

You'd think that after so many examples (here's one) of big organizations who think they can control social media, the aforementioned big organizations would learn a thing or two. Apparently, not so much.

SEC FAIL.

(Got this from Mashable)

Signs of the apocalypse, or at least that the health insurance reform debate has jumped the shark:

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland is being rational.

Sorry if you just spit coffee all over your keyboard. I'll wait while you grab a paper towel.

Lynn Westmoreland is being rational. No, seriously. Here's the La Grange News over the weekend:

U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, one of President Obama’s most vocal critics, said he does not believe the health-care bill being debated in Congress includes provisions for a “death panel,” where a group would decide whether the elderly and infirm are worth the cost of medical expenses.

The second-term Republican congressman from Grantville said he is opposed to the plan, but doesn’t believe the nation’s elderly would be in danger.

He also is not, apparently, a birther:

Westmoreland said that unlike the “birther” movement, he’s taking the president’s word that he was born in the United States.

“All I can do is take him at his word,” Westmoreland said. “I think if he wasn’t a U.S. citizen, the McCain campaign would have more than looked into it.”

Congratulations, Lynn Westmoreland, on being noticeably less crazy than most of your colleagues, not to mention your party's most recent Vice-Presidential candidate.

("Westmoreland: No 'death panel' in healthcare bill" La Grange News)