I must admit that I started this diary not intending to “go down this road” whereas I was interested in determining the Deputy Under Sec of Defense for Acquisitions, Technology, and Logistics (DUSD/ATL) nominee’s views regarding Earned Value Management (I am a DoD Contractor, specializing in EVM and Program Management). However, the inquiry lead me to Healthcare, Gitmo, and Feminism (of all places!)

All that, and I still do not know his views on EVM or Cost-Reimbursable contracts….

Via the Corner today and Daniel Foster:

Mr. Shelby still has holds on three nominees whose jobs would be related to the tanker project. They are Terry A. Yonkers, nominated for assistant secretary of the Air Force; Frank Kendall III, for principal deputy under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics; and Erin C. Conaton, for under secretary of the Air Force.

So, I Googled Mr. Kendall and amongst all the noise I found a short Wiki entry and an entry in LinkedIn.

The first thing that jumped out at me was his odd specialties in LinkedIn: Aerospace and Defense Industry Consultant (expected) and Human Rights Attorney (WHAT?)
In Wiki, it notes that Mr. Kendall is a lawyer whose credentials include “…serving on the board of directors of Amnesty International, Human Rights First and the Tahirih Justice Center. Kendall has traveled to the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, as a human rights observer.” There is no mention of his consultancy in Defense or Aerospace. Odd credentials for someone who is to be the DUSD/ATL.

So I dug a little further into the LinkedIn entry, and found that Mr. Kendall is the Managing Partner at Renaissance Strategic Advisors, a Defense Industry Consultancy group based in DC. Nothing spectacular here.

I then looked him up on Sourcewatch to see what other information I could find. Here is where it got REAL interesting.

According to the article, Mr. Kendall:
- Is a graduate of West Point and has over 30 years experience in Engineering, Management, and Defense Acquisition. “Okay”, I say to me.
- Masters in Engineering and MBA from LIU. “Cool”, says me again.
- Recent Juris Doctoris from Georgetown (2004). Licensed in VA and NY. “Ummm, okay?” Kinda odd….
- At the top of the article, first line (that I skipped over somehow, at first…!) states:

[Mr. Kendall] “is an activist in the human rights field with a number of organizations including the Tahirih Justice Center, where he is currently chair of the Board of Directors and a volunteer pro bono attorney. He is also actively involved with Human Rights First and Amnesty International on human rights issues, particularly those related to combating terrorism. Mr. Kendall also serves as a senior advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC in human rights related policy and national security policy.”

So, let me get this right. BHO’s pick for the DUSD/ATL is an active “Activist” and Terrorist Lawyer?

I have never heard of the Tahirih Justice Center, so I sourced it also. Here is what the page says:

The Tahirih Justice Center “is a nationally recognized Washington, DC area-based organization that enables women and girls fleeing gender-based violence to access justice in the United States through high-quality pro bono legal services and bridge building public policy advocacy.”

He is the Chair of the Board. As genial as it is made out to be, how are these credentials for an USD?

His Vice-Chair, Leah Rampy

“has over 20 years of study and practical experience in leadership, having been responsible for leadership training at …Fannie Mae. [snip] She is also a founding member of the McLean Connections Steering Committee, a grass roots organization that has helped to bring multicultural dialogues to the community in an effort to increase understanding and resilience post 9/11.”

Great. Wonderful. Another community organizer and “leadership provider” for Fannie Mae. Lovely organizational leadership they have there.

Now, back to Mr. Kendall. He is married to E. Elizabeth (Beth) Halpern, an associate attorney with Hogan & Hartson in the DC Metro Area. Her practice focuses on, get this,

“health care law, with an emphasis on coverage and reimbursement for drugs, devices, and health care services. She advises pharmaceutical companies, device manufacturers, providers, and related trade associations on compliance with current regulations and responding to proposed changes in the law.”

She has co-authored two publications released by H&H: An implementation timeline for Medicare Secondary Payer and “‘Game Changers’: Moving Health Care Reform Beyond Coverage and Payment.” Reforming U.S. Health Care Issue Brief; the latter being of importance here. The summary reads:

For many years, discussions of health care reform in the United States basically came down to two issues: expanding access to health care services (coverage) and changing who, how, and how much we pay for it (payment). The current debate is built on additional dimensions: improving the quality and coordination of health care, as well as measures that over the long term should improve both the effectiveness and efficiency of health care delivery and decision-making. The Obama administration has proposed that in this round, building on a set of “game changers” will result in a different kind of debate as policymakers, providers, and patients come to think differently about health and how health care is provided and consumed in America. This update will begin to discuss efforts to provide a foundation for most of these game changers already are under way.

So, in short, the pick for our DUSD/ATL is a human rights activist and terrorist lawyer who is the board of Directors Chair of a Human Rights Policy advisory organization with Feminist Majority Foundation ties, and is married to a lawyer who is focused on Health Care Reform and has issued a brief on shaping public opinion on “Health and how Health Care is provided and consumed.”

Right. Nothing to see here. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

Here is hoping Senator Shelby keeps this appointment held up FOREVER.

From the Daily Caller today:

Tension between liberal progressives and the White House ran high over the weekend when MSNBC personality Ed Schultz revealed Saturday that he had called White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs a “piece of s***,” prompting Gibbs to curse at him in return.

The column goes on to tell how progressives and liberals are all feeling – taken for granted [sniff, awwww] and that the administration is not pushing hard enough….

I say, give them all a gun, put them in a field and let them initiate a circular firing squad. Of course, someone would have to teach them how to pull the trigger. “Pulling the trigger” is not something they are good at.

Now, if this were on any other network other than MSNBC, SOMEONE may have actually witnessed the exchange.

So, on the run up to the SOTU: Air America goes tits-up, FireDogLake/DKos/HuffPo/TDC are rattling sabers, MA goes Purple, House Dems are fighting to be the next to quit “for family reasons”, HCR is acting just like the piece of crap that it is – circling the drain, and the Senate Seats once held by the POTUS AND VPOTUS may very well switch sides.

Not the best week (or two) to have a (D) after your name.

I just received this email from a Focus Group company that I have been used for in the past. The last time I attended one of these, I was part of a group that critiqued the campaign ads for BHO, contrasting them with the ones from Hillary and John Edwards. It was the most comical two hours of my life. All the “progressive minds” that surrounded me almost had me in tears before the end of the session.

It reminded me of a Star Trek episode where Kirk was vaulted into a parallel universe and the Federation was Evil…. The line from the episode that stuck with me was at the end when Kirk was returned to the correct universe and he was asked how he survived. He said that “it was easier for a civilized man to act like a barbarian than it was for a barbarian to act like a civilized man….”

Now, this makes me wonder who this could be for? I am thinking the GOP contrasting Nikki Haley with the other candidates.

Anyway, here is the body of the email….

Hi

XXXXX XXXXX has a focus group coming up next week on Tuesday, Jan 19th.

If you are interested and available please let us know.

We need to know if you are registered to vote ?
Do you consider yourself to be a democrat, republican or independant?

And provide us with a number where you can be reached and we will call to provide details.
Or you can call 843-XXX-XXXX and mention that you received this email.

Thanks

What do you think?

From his email announcement this morning:

Congressman Henry Brown Announces Decision
Not to Seek Reelection
After twenty-eight years in elected office, I have decided not to offer for re-election to Congress in 2010 from the First Congressional District of South Carolina.
I have arrived at this decision after much thought and prayer. In contemplating my choices, I have come to learn that there is never a good time to make an announcement such as the one I am making today. It is my hope and belief that by publicly stating my intentions at this time, it will allow interested individuals adequate time to contemplate running and sufficient time to organize and launch a campaign if they indeed feel led to do so.
While this has been a difficult decision to make, I am convinced that it is the right time for me to step down from public service in the Congress of the United States.
I first contemplated this choice in 2008, but I was besieged with appeals to continue to serve because of the fact that whoever won the election, we were going to have a new President leading our country, and that my best contribution to our country at that time would be to continue serving in Congress.
In 2008, the citizens of the First Congressional District were kind enough to reelect me with 70% of the vote in the primary, and by a plurality of more than 14,000 votes in the general election. The residents of this district have always been kind to me and my family, and after 28 years of public service I am stepping down with a 68% approval rating. I consider myself a very blessed person.
Words cannot express my deepest gratitude to my wife Billye, to my congressional staff, to my many loyal supporters, and to the thousands of citizens who have entrusted me with the privilege of representing them over nearly three decades of public service..
I am looking forward to spending more time at my family farm and to enjoying life without the extensive travel demands that are so much a part of public service today.
Despite my many disagreements with the political and legislative direction of our country under the present administration, I leave office with the highest faith in the people of this great nation, and in their instinctive ability to right the ship when we encounter turbulent days, as we have over the past few years.
Congress has been a special place to serve, where only 36 people have had the chance to serve the people of the First District since 1801. Words cannot express my appreciation for the chance to be one of that select group.
I am grateful to all who have been supporters throughout my years of public service. Knowing that some of you were expecting my assistance for years to come has made my decision all the more difficult. However, it is time for me to leave and spend more time with my wife of 54 years, Billye, my children and my grandchildren and I know you understand that one cannot continue working forever at the expense of their personal life.
My offices and the constituent services they provide will be fully operational throughout this year and the end of the 111th Congress.
May God bless each of you, and may God bless the United States of America.

Kinda sad to see him go.

Lt Gov of SC?  Tim Scott has my vote. 

I have lived in the Lowcountry for about 9 years now.  And he is the real deal. Some of the public arguements that he got into while on the Charleston County School Board (and on the right side of those arguements, I might add) were legendary.

He is no nonsense and is a Conservative (Noun).

And maybe, JUST MAYBE, he could Primary Senator Lindsey Graham in 2013.

Hey y’all in the SF Bay Area! How was traffic this morning? Bet that the traffic this afternoon will be a bear too.

$787 BILLION in Stimulus Funds. Infrastructure touted as a “large part” – all those “Shovel Ready” projects and such.

Now the Bay Bridge is closed indefinitely. Awesome.

But all is not lost. You can spend all these hours stuck in gridlock with a smile – knowing the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse is being tended to.

Again, Congratulations, y’all. You elected her. Not me.

This is just a quick entry, but it came to me as an epiphany.

I was thinking, why on earth would anyone buy an underpowered, POS Malibu without an engine for $40k each?   Then I realized that “no one” was the answer, but the Volt was not made to be purchased – except by idiot tree-huggers.  The real reason it was made was to “buy” CAFE leverage.  By making just one – NOT selling, just MAKING – GM can make 11 other cars [averaging 15 mpg, like the Camaro or Corvette - cars people WANT to buy] and remain below the 35 mpg CAFE standard, set for 2016.

The jury is still out on the Camaro, but without Pontiac and Hummer dragging down the corporate line, the VOLT, even if NO ONE EVER purchases ONE, will allow GM to continue [or start to] make real vehicles that everyone outside of the city limits of SanFran wants and needs.

At 235 miles each, one can make a whole lot of other gas guzzlers and keep below the 35 mpg CAFE standard.  $40K is a cheap write-off.

Nikki Haley, with 44%! Henry McMaster was the runner up with 23%, and he is our AG. Lt. Gov Bauer [aka Speed Racer] managed third place with 18%.

Nikki still suffers from a lack of name recognition, however she is a strong, fiscal and social conservative that wishes to continue [current] Gov Sanford’s key policies (Corporate Tax Reform, transparency in government, smaller government) but distances herself from some of his more unsavory practices [think: Argentina].

Please contribute to her campaign here.

From the WA Times Editorial Pages today:

….Then there is the catalogue of Mr. Obama’s embarrassing moments on the world stage, a list which includes: giving England’s Queen Elizabeth II an iPod with his speeches on it; giving British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a collection of DVDs that were not formatted to the European standard (by contrast, Mr. Brown gave Mr. Obama an ornamental desk-pen holder made from the oak timbers of Victorian anti-slaver HMS Gannet, among other historically significant gifts); calling “Austrian” a language; bowing to the Saudi king; releasing a photo of a conference call with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which the president was showing the soles of his shoes to the camera (an Arab insult); saying “let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s”; saying the United States was “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world”; suggesting Arabic translators be shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan where Arabic is not a native language; sending a letter to French President Jacques Chirac when Nicolas Sarkozy was the president of France; holding a town-hall meeting in France and not calling on a single French citizen; and referring to “Cinco de Cuatro” in front of the Mexican ambassador when he meant Cinco de Mayo. Also of note was Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton giving Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a “reset” button with the Russian word for “overcharge.”

All this and he has only been in office for 215 days. That equals an embarrassment once every 18 days or so.

Kinda makes you proud to be an American, eh?

That is it.  I am done.

I am no longer just going to sit idly while the world comes crashing down around my three young children.

I am 36 yrs old.  My father is 67 yrs old.  My oldest son is 5 yrs old.  My middle son is 4, and youngest daughter is 2 (almost).  There is 31 years between all three generations on my line of the family.  Two days ago, my father confessed to me that he is worried for me that he will not recognize America by the time he departs.  That got me to thinking…long and hard.  I have my three children that I care for and I am watching a “Representative” from the Left-Coast proposing to spend their futures into oblivion.  I want Congress and the Administration out of my kids (and grandkids) piggy-banks!

So, I am done sitting.  (but I hit a road-block of sorts….)

I cannot locate a way to contact my local GOP committee chair to become a committeeman.  So, out of frustration, I have contacted my Congressional Rep., Henry Brown, Jr (R-SC1).  Here is my letter to him.

Rep. Brown,

I would like to become a Republican Committeeman for Berkeley County.

However, I cannot locate (other than a Facebook Page that my office firewall will not allow me to penetrate) a webpage to contact the Republican Committee Chairman to place my request.  If you could provide some assistance to me in some contact information, I would appreciate it.

I am interested in furthering our shared Conservative Principles within the Republican Party, and I feel that we must do everything in our power to save this Great Republic and our children from the corrupt and morally bankrupt Progressive and Liberal agenda.

Furthermore, thank you for standing beside Rep. Wilson this week and remaining steadfast in your opposition to the Speaker’s and other Democrat Leadership’s reckless spending.  You justify my vote with your every vote in opposition.

Thank you, sir.  You are a credit to our District, our State, and the United States.

Here is to a speedy reply.

Anyone else have any ideas or offer any assistance?

I live in the First Congressional District for South Carolina, Berkeley County.

Thanks All….