Here's what I thought you'd like to hear about today:

1. The Sharpton Hypocrisy - No apologies here
2. Training the Police in Iraq - a British Officer's view
3. 15 months on, 12 months off - the Enlisted Man's Perspective
4. McCain at VMI - Doubling Down on Petraeus' Plan
5. One Father's Story - Some real straight talk on Iraq
6. A little rudeness at the end

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The Sharpton Hypocrisy - No apologies here

The Reverend Al has been all over the TV screens since Imus' controversial remarks about the Rutgers basketball team. As the racial outrage industry's chief spokesman, Sharpton appeared on Fox News Sunday to answer questions about the Imus remarks. Chris Wallace asked him about the Tawana Brawley controversy from 1987, when he ginned up outrage for that false case. Listen as he squirms his way through why he still believes that he was right to do what he did back then.

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That the media continues to go to Sharpton on racial issues is a crime. And call him they do on a regular basis. I found Imus' remarks to be highly objectionable, and shed no tears for the man, but I object to elevating Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to the role of moral aribtrator. They are both shysters and charlatans, nothing more. And while we're on the subject of the racial injustice industry run amok, another of Sharpton's crusades was the Duke non-rape case, where he took the side of the now discredited black accuser. Later on in that same Fox News Sunday program, Britt Hume lays into the NY Times for taking the DA's side. This clip starts with Chris Wallace playing the North Carolina attorney general's vindication press conference, and Brit responds.

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A lot of people have a lot to answer for. But don't expect changes any time soon.

Training the Police in Iraq - a British Officer's view

I was able to participate in another Pentagon conference call, this time with Brigadier General Rob Weighill of the British Army. He is Deputy Commander, Civilian Police Assistance Transition Team and shared with us the progress he's making training the Iraq Police. He has spent time in Northern Ireland, Hong Kong, Macedonia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Cyprus, and now Iraq. I asked him about the report that Muqtada al-Sadr's chosen cabinet ministers were leaving the cabinet. He had an interesting perspective on the unconfirmed reports, and on the extent of corruption and sectarianism in the police force. Hint: It's not as bad as the media portrays.

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He also said that there is currently a moratorium on recruiting people to join the force, due to the need to pace the training process. Can you imagine the effect if all training were shut down if we left Iraq?

15 months on, 12 months off - the Enlisted Man's Perspective

I was also able to participate in a blogger's conference call with Command Sergeant Major Jeffrey Mellinger. As the Wiki says:

The position of Command Sergeant Major is the senior enlisted advisor to the commanding officer. They serve as monitors for, and advocates of, the enlisted men in the command.

Sergeant Mellinger has served in a number of increasingly important leadership positions, since being drafted in 1972, and now serves as the top enlisted man in Iraq. At one point he was a drill sergeant in Georgia. He was very personable on the phone, and we were able to ask more questions, since there were fewer bloggers on the call. Mark Finkelstein asked a great question about campus attitudes towards the military.

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He's right about the value of a military background to Fortune 500 companies. Later on, I asked about deployment durations. This was before the Pentagon announced that deployments would be extended to 15 months to support the desire to provide a year back home between deployments.

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I think the choice to extend deployments was the right one, in that it will improve the performance of the soldiers in theater, while allowing for more thorough training back home. But it is clearly something that will result in greater risks to those deployed for longer periods of time. As the Army and Marines increase their size over the next few years, this may no longer be necessary. But for now, it is the better choice among difficult alternatives.

The next clip was prompted by a question a Wizbang commenter suggested I ask. After that, Mark Finkelstein asks about the effect of politics on morale.

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Give me a mission and get out of the way. Sounds like good advice to me.

McCain at VMI - Doubling Down on Petraeus' Plan

John McCain is getting some heat for his strong support for the war in Iraq. With the declining public support for the war, the media is asking why he would be in favor of something that they have so loudly denounced, defamed, and done everything they could to move public opinion against for so long. He spoke at the Virginia Military Institute last week, and had some stirring words for why we are there. This section is about four minutes. This part starts with the risk of Iran, and ends in Washington, where the real damage is being done. Thanks to C-SPAN for the audio.

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Later on, McCain talks about the funding supplemental, and the political machinations in Congress.

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The media can't figure out why McCain, once their favorite Republican when he ran as an anti-Bush "Maverick" a few years ago, isn't on their side of the war. It may seem hard to believe, but I think he is simply speaking his mind, and the media can't handle it when it doesn't conform to their viewpoint. I predict the media will drop him like a rock when they realize that he's not on their side.

One Father's Story - Some real straight talk on Iraq

This next clip is from the C-SPAN podcast of the week. It's an interview with Ron Griffin, a retired New Jersey cheese cutter, whose son died in Iraq. He wrote an Op-Ed for the Wall Street Journal in 2005 that lead off as follows:

I lost a son in Iraq and Cindy Sheehan does not speak for me.

I grieve with Mrs. Sheehan, for all too well I know the full measure of the agony she is forever going to endure. I honor her son for his service and sacrifice. However, I abhor all that she represents and those who would cast her as the symbol for parents of our fallen soldiers.

After a series of email exchanges with Brian Lamb of C-SPAN, he appeared on Washington Journal to tell the story of his journey to Iraq after his son's death. He is the Anti-Sheehan, and this clip is just a taste of his amazing appearance. If you can get a chance, go and view the whole show.

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What love is shown by this father.

A little rudeness at the end

I'm going to close with a bit of rudeness from Don Imus and Barak Obama. The first clip is from Don Imus resignation-invoking diatribe on the basketball players. It's here just so you can hear for yourself how rude he was. It is followed by the ultimate in rudeness: Barak Obama doing the moral equivalence dance between the violence at Virginia Tech, Don Imus' remarks, and companies who outsource work to India. Astonishing. All are equally bad, I suppose. In some way. On Mars perhaps. Thanks to Ann Althouse for the pointer.

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What a complete fool both Imus and Obama are. And one of them may be our next Vice President. I can't figure out which would be worse in that role.

That's it for today, Podcatchers. I'm Charlie Quidnunc reporting from the downtown Seattle for the Wizbang Podcast.