RWN Interviews Me on Dating

My friend John Hawkins at RWN, who has (sadly!) had to put up with many a conversation with me about how there are no good-looking, conservative, honorable men anymore, interviewed me and five other women for his new piece on conservative dating.

If you’re coming from that article, welcome! Poke around, have some fun, and above all, leave comments. My site got hacked big-time 2 weeks ago by some Islamic donkey-lovers in Jordan and Saudi, and I’m still trying to get the site back up to par traffic-wise.

UPDATE: TSO over at The Sniper says that not only am I uber-hot (for him, apparently), but I’m also the winner of the “race to get bestiality and anal sex mentioned in NYT.”

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Interview With John Bolton

John Hawkins at Right Wing News has an interview up with the former Ambassador to the U.N.  It’s a good read.

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Tonight On The Front Line: Jenn from ScrewLiberals.com

Tonight will be a fun ride. Jenn, the mouthy and irreverent conservative babe from ScrewLiberals.com will be with me to talk about…you guessed it, liberals! We’ll expose and rant and complain and basically have a great time. You’re welcome to call in and ask a question or make a comment.

The party starts at 10 pm Eastern and the number is 646-915-9926.

Powered by ScribeFire.

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Interview With Dr. Thomas Holland, Author of “One Drop of Blood”

I recently reviewed the book One Drop of Blood, and I was fortunate enough to get an interview with the author, Dr. Thomas Holland. I wanted to talk to him about his book, certainly, but even more important to me was the chance to find out more about the incredible work he does: identifying the remains of American war dead. A thankless and even unseen occupation, and yet Holland and his team work tirelessly to put a name to unknown soldiers so their families and our nation can put them to rest.

Holland is engaging and personable; I think you’ll find him to be as interesting as I do.

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Exclusive Interview?

Next Friday I will possibly be bringing you an exclusive interview with General Chuck Yeager, who will be in Tulsa. I’m trying like hell to get an interview. If I can pull this off, I will consider myself not only the week’s coolest blogger, but I will be on Cloud Nine indefinitely. In fact, I will denote the next 7 days as Honorary Yeager Week on this blog.

I am, however, rather stumped. What exactly do you ask your hero? Especially someone like Yeager. “So, uh, what was it like to fly Mach 1?” I mean, it’s not like he hasn’t been asked the same questions 1,001 times since 1947. Any suggestions?

I’m so excited.

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Naked Kit

Ha! Caught you again. No, I’m not naked - it’s just my turn for Basil’s hotseat. Check out the interview here. I answer such burning questions as “What’s a jarkolicious and how do I get one?” Actually, they had a lot better questions than that, but that one still amused me.

PS: Basil…favorite smell? What were you thinking? ;) I contemplated saying “nasty farts” just to be contrary. Aren’t you glad I was raised better?

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Naked Heidi

Go read Basil’s interview of Heidi. It’s definitely amusing. Now that she put her big ol’ feet down, we’ll see if I can fill her shoes next week when my interview comes up. By the way - she’s not really naked. Just thought I needed to clear that up for those who might be getting a bit too excited. I know we redheads are something to fantasize about, but you’ll have to do without the real thing.

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Michael Yon Interview

Michael Yon, writer of the absolutely fantastic Gates of Fire story that’s been making the rounds, was on Hugh Hewitt tonight. Excerpt below.

HH: Are Americans getting a distorted view about how the war is going?

MY: Absolutely. Clearly, you’re getting mostly body counts and bombings and that sort of thing, which are very real. I mean, I see those things here. They absolutely occur. We fight here every day. But what they don’t see is that we fight less and less here every day. For instance, Deuce 4 has not been hit with an I.E.D. in about two weeks. We used to get hit like twice a day. Now, it’s been like two weeks, and we have not been hit at all. So, you know what I’m saying?

HH: Yup.

MY: There’s some remarkable changes here.

Read it all. It’s good stuff. Thanks to Blackfive for the late night catch.

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Conversation With A Fallujah Marine

Even if you don’t know all the unit names that are deployed to Iraq; even if you don’t know much about the war itself, chances are you know about Fallujah. It’s where Sgt Rafael Peralta saved his fellow Marines after being mortally wounded by reaching for a grenade and tucking it under his torn and battered body. In a perfect example of “small world”, I was “introduced” recently via Sgt Nate DeWeerd, a friend of mine, to Corporal Aaron Kuck, a Marine who serves with Charlie Company, 1st Bn 3d Marines, 3d Marine Division. In Iraq, his unit was the Ground Combat Element for the 31st MEU; Charlie was the first company of 1st Bn Marines in Fallujah. Aaron spent 75 days in Fallujah occupying the city. I had a chance to talk to him tonight for a while.

Fallujah, Iraq; during the assault

“Tell me about the initial assault,” I say. “There’s a lot of footage floating around the internet, a lot of bits and pieces. What was it like for you?”

His first answer is quick. “Dark.” I’m not sure whether he’s making a joke, so I wait. “I wasn’t super nervous, just…ready, I think. We’d been waiting [outside] the city all day, so we were ready to do anything. It was kind of a let down, in a way. I’d expected a fighting entry, but we walked through the minefield and rallied on the edge street. That’s when the shooting started.” When asked how hard it is to stay focused, I can almost see him shrug. “Not difficult. Your training reacts for you…it helps that you can’t see how close all the bullets are,” he jokes.

Aaron, who’s 23, has a handsome, young-looking face; and a wife who “started smoking a lot” while he was gone. He says she handled it better than most wives; which sounds like a pretty big compliment in context; especially when you consider the casualties that the 1/3 took.

CPL Aaron Kuck

I bring up the horrible chopper crash that killed 26 Marines from his company in January, and he takes a moment to answer. “That was my company and a lot of my good friends. I’d flown on the same helicopter earlier. It was night and there was bad weather…I have no reason to disbelieve what I was told caused the incident.” Eight 1/3 Marines were killed in a suicide car bombing on Oct. 30 as well, and another 11 were killed in Iraq, mostly in Fallujah. I don’t ask him about these.

We move on then, to something a bit easier, perhaps; the media’s perception of what happens every day in Iraq. Aaron says he doesn’t analyze what the networks say and “try to skim the truth”. I ask if there were good deeds that went unnoticed from his unit, and he chuckles.

“It would be unfair of me to try and place our own accomplishments above those of the other units involved,” he says. “It was common to see things everyday of the initial fighting that made you damn proud to know the men around you. Amazing acts of bravery were shrugged off as ‘doing the job.’ That’s how it was for us and I’m sure that’s how it was for other companies.”

He points that out often while we talk - that he was just another Marine, doing a job. I tell him that people need to hear stories about Marines just doing a job. I think he’s patronizing me, but he seems to accept it. Aaron doesn’t think that he has anything to say about Fallujah or the war that anyone would want to hear.

Marines on patrol

Later, though, while we’re talking about the American Heroes section of the blog, he mentions that “Doc Woods might need to go up there”. HMC Julian Woods, 22, was shot and killed Nov 10, 2004, when he “ran through a hail of gun fire to the aid of a fallen Marine with his medical bag in one hand, and his pistol in the other,” Aaron says. “Pretty standard….amazing, though.”

Aaron took some good memories home with him too. He tells me about last year’s Marine Corps Birthday with a mixture of brash cockiness, youthful excitement, and the reverence that every Marine feels about his Corps.

I hadn’t planned to ask, but I find my curiosity winning out, and so I finally ask him what he thinks of the war.

Aaron’s weapon: a Fabrique Nationale M240G medium machine gun.

“While I feel that Saddam needed to be removed from power, I think it may have been better to have focused more on Afghanistan at first,” Aaron says. He follows that up quickly, though. “Now that we’ve taken this course of action, I believe we should stay the course and follow through until the newly elected government is capable of sustaining itself. I don’t think anything negative about war in general, it’s a part of the nature of humanity, and a necessity.”

Almost as an afterthought, he tacks on a disclaimer. “I should add that my opinions on any of these matters can not be taken as official and representing the Marine Corps as a whole.” I laugh at that, and he cheekily says he’s a “well-trained and intelligent tool of government policy.”

Aaron plans to reenlist in November, but he’s looking to go to a non-deploying unit such as the Weapons Training Unit at Quantico, in the hopes of eventually landing a federal job.

Just before he leaves, I ask him if there is anything he wants me to add to the story.

“I’m nothing special,” he says. “Add that.”

All photos courtesy of CPL Aaron Kuck
[Note: you can find the 1/3 Marines Memorial site here, for a list of the fallen members and their hometowns.]

This post is also available at Blogger News Network, The Wideawakes, and Blogcritics.org.

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EXCLUSIVE: Interview With 59Bloggers Producer

I know - I said I wouldn’t write about this anymore. Well, I lied. ER readers know we love exclusives, and so we couldn’t pass this up.

John Hart, producer of the documentary film 59 Bloggers, agreed to an email interview with me today, which I present below. And guess what? He’s not an evil person. Imagine that.

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EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Hiawatha Bray

Hiawatha Bray is a tech columnist for the Boston Globe. He’s a member of the Newspaper Guild who’s not lying down for the remarks made by Linda Foley; even starting a blog, which he aptly named Choose Honor.

Bray has taken it upon himself to not just talk about the Foley incident - he’s decided to act.

Partly inspired by Hoffa, I today began my write-in campaign to get on the executive committee of my Newspaper Guild union local. I’m a single-issue candidate: I want Linda Foley to explain herself, and won’t be silent until she does so. And I can do a better job of demanding an explanation if I’m part of the union leadership.

So I went to Kinko’s and made up 100 leaflets, then drove to the newsroom and spread them around. I hope Ms. Foley’s enormity is the talk of the newsroom by this time tomorrow, and that more and more union members will take a stand.

Since then, his story has picked up speed. Media Slander has kept on top of the story, reporting today that the Boston Herald apparently has nothing better to do than twist Foley’s remarks around, claiming that “the widely repeated transcript of Foley’s remarks does not exactly bear out the accusations.” I’m not even going to touch that, because MS does a fantastic job of fisking it.

There’s the background. Here’s the Q&A (many thanks to Steve at WordUnheard for contributing to the question list):

Kit Jarrell: Was your decision to ask for a write-in vote brought on by just the Foley incident, or have there been other things lately leading to this?

Hiawatha Bray: It was just the Foley thing. Nothing else. I have no complaints about the union in general.

KJ: Generally speaking, among fellow TNG-member journalists you have personally spoken to or heard discussing the issue (Lipscomb, et al), do they privately tend to support her assertions or cringe at them? Could you attach a (very) rough percentage comparison? Not looking for specific names, just an idea of the general feel from inside.

HB: I simply haven’t heard from very many of my colleagues. Even at work, only one or two of them have expressed any interest in the issue at all.

KJ: Of those who may disagree with Foley’s remarks, do you believe many journalists fear a career backlash if they speak out against their union president?

HB: Beats the heck out of me. I think it’s more a matter of sheer apathy. I’m quite disturbed about the issue; I see little sign that many of my colleagues feel the same.

KJ: Do you sense that more union journalists are going to be willing to speak out with you and bloggers, or do you sense that Foley may indeed win the waiting game?

HB: She may well win the waiting game, but that’s not the issue. What bothers me is (a) the insult to our fellow citizens who risk their lives on our behalf and (b) the way Ms. Foley’s comment is likely to lower the public’s already low regard for the honesty of journalists.

KJ: This isn’t the first time you’ve put your career on the line for your convictions, as you’ve mentioned. Do you think that your stands now and in the past make a difference in the big picture, or is this simply for your personal integrity?

HB: Will it make a difference? I hope so. But I just couldn’t stand the thought of not saying something about it. It’s a personal thing. I have such high regard for our soldiers and the work they do. It bothered me to hear such a thing being said about them, with no supporting evidence whatever. It just wasn’t right.

KJ: Can you briefly give an idea of some of the things you’d work for if elected to the executive board?

HB: Now comes the ugly truth–I have no idea! I’m running for only one reason–to draw attention to the irresponsible comments of my union’s leader.

KJ: If tomorrow Linda Foley apologized publicly for her remarks, would you consider that adequate, or would you still seek the board seat? Would you want her to resign?

HB: If you hadn’t asked this, I’d have squeezed it in myself. I have no desire whatever to see Ms. Foley lose her job. In my original open letter to her, I requested either that she prove her claim, or retract it. Actually, I held out a third suggestion as well–that she clarify it. I don’t think I misunderstood her, but I’m quite willing to be corrected if I got it wrong. If Ms. Foley were to publicly declare, say, that she does not believe that US soldiers are deliberately killing journalists, and did not mean to imply this, I’d happily go away.

KJ: What, if anything, did you learn during the Detroit Free Press strike in 1995 that is influencing your decisions now?

HB: You don’t want to know…:-) Well, okay, you do, and so I’ll tell you. But the answer is depressingly cynical. I wasn’t much in favor of the strike. I was out of the country when the vote was held, and I think I’d have voted against it. But once the union voted to go out, I felt I had a duty to stay out until the union ordered us back in. Lots of my colleagues crossed the picket lines. Some really had no choice, but others…well, let’s just say I learned that the courage and heroism of journalists has been somewhat overstated.

So what did I learn? Simple. I’m on my own.

KJ: Does the Globe support your decision and your comments?

HB: This has nothing whatever to do with my employer. It’s a union matter.

KJ: Any final comments?

HB: Nope…that ought to do it. Thanks for the chance to babble.

Let’s hope Linda Foley simply chooses honor, and does the right thing. Then again, with role models like John Kerry, I guess we can stop waiting for that one.

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EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Rusten Currie

You probably don’t know who Rusten Currie is. But I’ll get to that. Know who Maxine Waters is? Well, Rusten Currie plans to defeat her in the next election.

Rusten is an Army intelligence officer and military blogger, currently deployed to Iraq. He’s running for the 2006 House of Representatives spot in the 35th District of California, against longtime and moonbat incumbent Maxine Waters. He graciously agreed to an interview, and though the timezones and nature of his job made it difficult to get this out in a timely fashion (in other words, when I promised it), your patience is rewarded - I am posting the interview in full below. He definitely put some time into this one. These are the longest answers I’ve seen in a while. And fyi - there is no other interview with Rusten anywhere right now, so if you want a sneak peek at the 2006 race for California’s 35th, here’s the place to be.

And so, without further ado, here’s my interview with Rusten Currie, candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. I report, you choose.

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Blogger Exclusive: Interview With Pantano Defense Attorney Charles Gittins

As promised. =)

Kit Jarrell: Was this case harder than others you’ve done?

Charles Gittins: No. Self-defense is one of the best defenses under the law. Even if he was not actually endangered, but if he believed he was, he was entitled to use self-defense. So, I was confident that Ilario was not likely to be convicted of murder.

KJ: Was there ever a time when you thought perhaps Ilario WOULD be convicted?

CG: No. Not after I talked to my client and looked into his eyes. I was not going to second guess a Marine officer who had to make a tough choice in a dangerous place in dangerous circumstances and I had every confidence that a Marine Corps jury would feel the same way. That is one reason why we waived the Article 32.

KJ: Was there ever a time you believed he was guilty?

CG: Never.

KJ: There was a lot of talk in the blogs and various forums - some of it by JAG officers - that questioned your tactics; specifically, your choice during the investigation phase not to have Ilario take a polygraph, and during the hearing your decision not to have him testify. Why not have him take a polygraph? Why not let him testify?

CG: I am sure there are lots of people who are not in my position who questioned my tactics. That’s why I was representing Ilario and not them. It is easy to be a spectator, much less easy to be making those tactical calls with the client’s life on the line. The results speak for themselves. Polygraphs are unreliable and only as good as the polygrapher, the questions and the circumstances of the polygraph. Ilario was never offered a polygraph. He didn’t testify because there was no reason to do so. He reported the circumstances to his chain of command shortly after the fact; made a sworn statement in which he again reported exactly what he did and why. Then the Government played his Dateline interview at the Article 32 where Ilario was asked all of the hard questions by Stone Phillips and answered them all. Why would he then testify? He was on the record for the Investigating Officer and could add nothing more to what he had already said.

KJ: How do you respond to accusations that any danger to future Marines caught in Ilario’s position is due solely to your publicizing of the case before the hearing?

CG: Ridiculous. The danger is not in publicizing that the Marine Corps should not have charged Ilario; the danger was in the fact that a Marine Officer who was in a position and needed to make a life or death decision did so, killed two confirmed Iraqi insurgents involved in bomb-making, survived, and then was charged with the most serious crime possible under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, where he faced death or the rest of his life in prison. That’s why Marines will second guess their decisions, not because they read about Lt Pantano’s aggressive defense of his actions in combat.

KJ: Did you approach the defense of Ilario with the intent of showing Coburn’s credibility issues, or did that just fall into your lap?

CG: We knew that SGT Coburn had credibility issues. We always intended to challenge his credibility. The bonus came when he decided he needed to “defend himself” and started making false statements to members of the press after he was ordered not to. We benefited from a witness who showed himself to not be particularly astute.

KJ: What about these autopsies? They recovered the bodies? What did the autopsies show?

CG: Good questions. They have not provided that information to us. Obviously, it didn’t support the Government’s theory of the case.

KJ: The military is becoming more “PC” all the time. Do you think troops being charged with murder during combat is a growing trend? Will we see more of this, or was Ilario’s case an isolated one?

CG: Sadly, yes to both questions.

KJ: How long before we see this in a movie or book?

CG: I wouldn’t know. My job was to represent Ilario on the criminal charges. I don’t do books; I defend people.

KJ: What can we expect from you? Will you be working with Defend the Defenders in any kind of official capacity?

CG: I hope so. I think that I can provide advice on the kinds of cases they should get involved in and, in appropriate cases, perhaps I could assist in the defense.

______________________

Update: Welcome readers from around the blogosphere. I’m posting the links as I see them so you can catch as much info as possible:
Michelle Malkin,
Andi’s World,
One Hand Clapping,
Sierra Faith,
GOPBloggers,
Scared Monkeys,
Blackfive
Outside the Beltway
And Rightly So.

Full Pantano case coverage here.

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EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Adam Brecht

You almost can’t turn on the news and not hear the name Hillary Clinton. But who’s going to stand in her way?

Meet Adam Brecht. He’s looking to run for the Senate in 2006, on the Republican ticket. Against Hillary.

From his website, AdamForNewYork.com:

Adam Brecht is a former aide to U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY) and the late U.S. Senator John Heinz (R-PA). In business, he has worked in the public relations industry for more than a decade in Manhattan, achieving senior executive positions with leading firms. A graduate of New York University, Adam lives in Manhattan, and he is single. He is an avid swimmer and advocate of health and physical fitness.

I caught up with him in email today, and he graciously agreed to let me pick his brain on a few things. What does he believe? What can he do for New York and the Republican Senate?

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Blogger Exclusive: Interview with Pantano Attorney Charles Gittins

In the wake of 2 Lt. Ilario Pantano’s waiver of his right to an Article 32 fact-finding hearing in favor of a speedy trial, questions remain. Why would he choose to go straight to trial? And what role does the alternative media play in all of this? I had the opportunity to interview Charles Gittins, the civilian defense counsel for Pantano, and he had some interesting things to say about what this could mean for the military.

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