Tuesday

We went to the beach.

5 rounds of:
Clean 50lb. dumbbell, followed by a throw. Did this for about 25 yards 5 times. 15 pushups at the end of each round. Took about 4 minutes.

Overhead lunges with the 50lb. dumbbell
short sprint
Overhead lunges back.

3 rounds of sprints.

Great workout.

He is right when he says, "To fight a long war, the president has to ensure he can preserve public and congressional support for the effort. It is not an overstatement to say that the president's shift in rhetoric nearly cost the U.S. the war. Victory or defeat can hinge on the president's words as much as on the military plans of his generals or the actions of their troops on the ground."

He had the congress and a good portion of the people of the United States behind him when he invaded. I myself thought it foolish, but once again, nobody listened to me. That's why I scoff at current critics, politicians, newspapers, etc. Hey, even if you didn't support the war in the beginning, what did you do to stop it? MAybe you should have yelled just a bit louder?

They never planned for what to do after taking the country. Or at least it didn't show. LEt's say there had been nuclear weapons. We found them. Great. That wouldn't change the current situation in Iraq. It might lend our country more credibility, but there would still be chaos in Iraq.

Why this article is important is because of the last passage I pasted above. Go read The Best and the Brightest as well as War in a Time of Peace, both by Halberstam as well as Truman, which I will bring you Sunday. Foreign policy is merely a reflection of our domestic policy. This idea that the two are separate, that a President such as Clinton or Bush can be a "Domestic" policy President or a "Foreign" policy President is a myth and woe to the voter that casts their ballot thinking they are voting for a President based on the candidate's strength in one field or another.

The President successfully sold the US into war. He never carried it. It's not enough to get into the war, you have to sell it all the way. This has always been the case and has always been a problem for Lincoln, Roosevelt, Truman, Johnson, Clinton and Bush. I know this. Unfortunately, I'm one of the few people who sits down to read thousand page biographies and other really long books with few pictures and no bags of candy attached to them.

Monday

Diane

21-15-9
225lb Deadlift
Handstand Push-up

Time: 12:40

I was the last person to finish this, but aside from one monster that did it in 6:10 as Rx'd, I was the only one to do it close to Rx's. I kicked my legs up and used a cross beam to help do the push ups. I need to work on those. There is a lot I need to work on.

McCain, Bush say "What's In It For Me?"

I don't think I can vote for John McCain. I've come to this conclusion after recognizing that he doesn't think balancing the budget and paying down the debt is at all important (based on the fact I never hear him talk about it). He would prefer to spend that money on ridiculous waste such as prolonged occupations and wars without any goal. He would prefer to spend that money rather than invest it in some of the best people this country has to offer.

Too often, I have heard people say that joining the military is stupid. "People only join the military because they can't get into college," or "that's all that is available to some people. If they aren't smart enough to get into college or get a real job, that's where they go." Obviously, anybody reading this knows how incensed I am by such comments. What staggers me are the people that make these comments. Educated, productive people who, while very competent in their own little world, have absolutely no real world experience. Working in an investment bank, in my opinion, is not real world experience. Working with people that speak different languages, that come from different countries and different economic strata is real world experience. Without that kind of interaction, you might come to conclusions like the ones above.

Now, I feel John McCain has become one of those people.

Mr. Bush and the G.I. Bill

President Bush opposes a new G.I. Bill of Rights. He worries that if the traditional path to college for service members since World War II is improved and expanded for the post-9/11 generation, too many people will take it

He is wrong, but at least he is consistent. Having saddled the military with a botched, unwinnable war, having squandered soldiers’ lives and failed them in so many ways, the commander in chief now resists giving the troops a chance at better futures out of uniform. He does this on the ground that the bill is too generous and may discourage re-enlistment, further weakening the military he has done so much to break.

So lavish with other people’s sacrifices, so reckless in pouring the national treasure into the sandy pit of Iraq, Mr. Bush remains as cheap as ever when it comes to helping people at home.

Thankfully, the new G.I. Bill has strong bipartisan support in Congress. The House passed it by a veto-proof margin this month, and last week the Senate followed suit, approving it as part of a military financing bill for Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Senate version was drafted by two Vietnam veterans, Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, and Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska. They argue that benefits paid under the existing G.I. Bill have fallen far behind the rising costs of college.

Their bill would pay full tuition and other expenses at a four-year public university for veterans who served in the military for at least three years since 9/11.

At that level, the new G.I. Bill would be as generous as the one enacted for the veterans of World War II, which soon became known as one of the most successful benefits programs — one of the soundest investments in human potential — in the nation’s history.

Mr. Bush — and, to his great discredit, Senator John McCain — have argued against a better G.I. Bill, for the worst reasons. They would prefer that college benefits for service members remain just mediocre enough that people in uniform are more likely to stay put.

They have seized on a prediction by the Congressional Budget Office that new, better benefits would decrease re-enlistments by 16 percent, which sounds ominous if you are trying — as Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain are — to defend a never-ending war at a time when extended tours of duty have sapped morale and strained recruiting to the breaking point.

Their reasoning is flawed since the C.B.O. has also predicted that the bill would offset the re-enlistment decline by increasing new recruits — by 16 percent. The chance of a real shot at a college education turns out to be as strong a lure as ever. This is good news for our punishingly overburdened volunteer army, which needs all the smart, ambitious strivers it can get.

This page strongly supports a larger, sturdier military. It opposes throwing ever more money at the Pentagon for defense programs that are wasteful and poorly conceived. But as a long-term investment in human capital, in education and job training, there is no good argument against an expanded, generous G.I. Bill.

By threatening to veto it, Mr. Bush is showing great consistency of misjudgment. Congress should forcefully show how wrong he is by overriding his opposition and spending the money — an estimated $52 billion over 10 years, a tiniest fraction of the ongoing cost of Mr. Bush’s Iraq misadventure.

As partial repayment for the sacrifice of soldiers in a time of war, a new, improved G.I. Bill is as wise now as it was in 1944.

Saturday

Crossfit AM
7 Rounds of:
Short sprint
10 kettleball swings 54lb
6 pullups
About a minute rest in between, my swings are slow relative to others. My times stayed consistent. I could have maintained the same time indefinitely.

Crossfit afternoon:

Fight Gone Bad
Push Press: 42, 28, 21 - 91
Box Jump: 32, 33, 31 - 101
SDHP: 24, 21, 16 - 61
Wall Ball: 19, 18, 19 - 56
Row: 18, 18, 17 - 52
Total: 361

I can only be happy about this as my prior score was 316. I did this after the morning workout and after drinking a significant amount Friday night, the effects of which I was still feeling. 400 is within reach. I would look to improving the endurance of my shoulders to achieve a higher push press total and probably could up the box jumps as well by a few points.

Thursday

8-9 mile run. Mild pace.

Lower body feeling wrecked. That night did 100 pullups and 150 pushups for time. Warmed up with the group and went home.

Whores and Cougars

These people are all whores. I should know. I drive a very dirty Cougar.

I understand that the art of politics is often times a matter of expediency and the one allure that Romney holds is that he might govern and administer somewhat similar to the way he created an effective and PROFITABLE company. This is an allure that McCain definitely lacks.

But I can't help but scoff at two politicians who, during the primaries, did not demonstrate a large degree of like for one another. Now, to get what they want, they'll walk around with one hand down each other's pants. Dirty business this game. Dirty cougars.

Romney Rides McCain's Bus Now

Ex-Rival Discusses
Middling Prospect
Of Place on Ticket

By ELIZABETH HOLMES
May 22, 2008; Page A5

BOSTON -- In the three months since Mitt Romney suspended his presidential campaign, the former Republican candidate has reshaped himself again, this time into a fervent supporter of former rival John McCain.

During an interview Wednesday in his sun-drenched corner office at the campaign's old headquarters here, Mr. Romney reflected on his failed White House bid, as well as his political future, including his chances to become Sen. McCain's running mate. He professed both low interest and low probability -- though he and his wife, along with some other vice-presidential prospects, will be joining Sen. McCain for a Memorial Day barbecue at the candidate's Arizona ranch. (A McCain aide said the event was "entirely social," and not a vetting event.)

ROMNEY ON THE CAMPAIGN

Mitt Romney sat down with The Wall Street Journal to discuss his failed White House bid and his political future. Along the way, he talked about his new political action committee and how funny he finds Fred Thompson. Read excerpts from his interview with Elizabeth Holmes.

Although Mr. Romney's schedule has calmed since the primaries, he is ramping up his political activities again as he seeks to build goodwill among Republicans around the country. He has created a political action committee with a staff of eight and set plans to help as many 40 Republicans running for office. He will campaign for two House candidates in Florida next week. The following week he will head to Virginia to stump for the lieutenant governor's re-election in a longtime Republican state that appears to be moving Democratic.

The former Massachusetts governor says his top priority is to speak on behalf of Sen. McCain and raise funds for him. In between appearances on cable news, Mr. Romney will host a fund-raiser at his Utah home for Sen. McCain on May 28, with President Bush attending. Mr. Romney will join another big-ticket event in Austin, Texas, two weeks later.

All this is happening even though the Arizona senator's attacks in January played a big role in sinking Mr. Romney's campaign. "I'm a big boy. I understand how politics works. Sen. McCain won fair and square," he said.

Mr. Romney played down the notion that his vigorous support for Sen. McCain was part of an effort to win the vice-presidential nod. "I think my run at public office is over," he said, but added: "Time will tell."

BACK ON THE TRAIL

• What's New: Mitt Romney has created a political action committee and is campaigning hard for John McCain and other Republican candidates.

• Vice President Talk: Romney says he doubts he'll be McCain's choice for No. 2 on the ticket.

• Lessons: Romney says humor is dangerous in a presidential campaign.

He said he doesn't expect Sen. McCain to choose him. "I think that call is very unlikely," he said. "My plans are consistent with being a supporter of the ticket, not a member of it."

Political analysts say Mr. Romney may be a contender for the No. 2 slot, though he usually comes lower down on the short list. Among the other rumored contenders are a trio of sitting Republican governors -- Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty; Florida's Charlie Crist; and Louisiana's Bobby Jindal -- as well as Rob Portman, the former congressman and White House staffer who hails from the crucial battleground state of Ohio; and John Thune, a senator from South Dakota who is a favorite among conservatives.

Mr. Romney said he's only doing what the McCain campaign asks. "I'm not doing TV appearances other than those that they ask me to do. I'm not doing events around the country other than those he asks me to do," he said. "I think the VP talk is missing the mark. We're trying to get John McCain elected."

Mitt Romney (right) has recast himself as a strong McCain supporter.

A McCain-Romney ticket could be a hard sell to voters after their primary-season battles. Sen. McCain spent the primary season painting Mr. Romney as the antithesis of himself. In the senator's depiction, Mr. Romney was a flip-flopping party newcomer who would do or say anything to get elected. During the campaign, Mr. Romney, who had taken socially moderate stands as governor of Massachusetts, recast himself as a solid social conservative.

However, Sen. McCain's backers were grateful when Mr. Romney pulled out of the race Feb. 7, just a day and a half after Super Tuesday results were tallied. The exit, in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Convention, cleared the way for Sen. McCain to effectively wrap up the nomination, without a bitter fight like the one on the Democratic side between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Mr. Romney says he left the race for two reasons. "It looked like I lost, or nearly lost, and the prospects for winning were remote." He also feared a fractured party would hurt chances come November. Mr. Romney's endorsement of Sen. McCain, which came a week later, was never in question. "I wasn't getting out to say, 'Hey, let's see how it works out between Mike Huckabee and John McCain.'"

Now, Mr. Romney is building on whatever goodwill he earned through his departure with his new political action committee, dubbed "Free and Strong America," a line from his "Faith in America" speech last November about his Mormonism. Through the committee, Mr. Romney will campaign and raise funds for candidates in key races around the country.

Reflecting on the lessons of his failed presidential bid, Mr. Romney said he "learned that humor is one of the most dangerous things you do in a campaign." He said several comments he made that were meant to be light were taken otherwise by the media. One example was the time he told a town-hall audience that his five sons were serving their country by working on his campaign. "Well, that was meant to be sort of a funny line, but when it's read as a serious line, that can be a problem," he said.

Mr. Romney and supporters of his presidential bid gathered May 9 in Houston for a party. Mr. Romney and his wife, Ann, danced and sang along with the Beach Boys among a crowd of roughly 2,000. One top aide described the evening as "closure."

Early the next morning, Mr. Romney's top fund-raisers and his strategist gathered to meet with Sen. McCain. Mr. Romney said they gave Sen. McCain a standing ovation. "If I'm not gonna get elected, they want him to be the next president," Mr. Romney said, adding, "as I do."

Write to Elizabeth Holmes at elizabeth.holmes@wsj.com

Wednesday Evening

Push Press Fest '08

135 lbs overhead from the shoulder rack position as many times as you can in 5 minutes. I went 35. My shoulders were not my limiting factor, it was my legs from the afternoon workout. Shaking. Really tight.