Michael E. McBride retired as a Major from the Marine Corps in 1998. During his tenure in the Marine Corps he served in RF-4Bs as an Airborne Reconnaissance Officer; and F/A-18D Weapons and Sensors Officer; a leadership instructor at The Basic School, Quantico, VA; and a Requirements Officer, CINCPACFLT, Pearl Harbor, HI. He received his B.A in History from Tulane University in 1978, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant immediately thereafter. He is currently a Maintenance Manager for a forging company in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Major McBride has served in various advisory capacities for the State of Oregon, the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross, and the Beaverton, OR School District. He has been previously been published in The Marine Corps Gazette, Naval Proceedings magazine, and Plant Engineering magazine. He currently resides in Fontana, CA and writes part time for http://www.mysandmen.blogspot.com. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2013 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:12:09 GMT Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:12:09 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Where to start? The President has a bullet proof majority in the Senate. He has a reasonable majority in the house. He was swept into the White House with all the force of a Pacific tsunami. The Republicans were... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2010/01/26/the_emperor_got_no_game b7cb2603-8538-492d-a5cd-65842b4df810 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:12:09 GMT I was fortunate enough to catch this link on Hugh Hewitt's site today to a terrific article by William McGurn of the Wall Street Journal, about his nephew's acceptance at West Point. The obvious crux is that McGurn... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2010/01/06/if_i_only_had_other_options 68d25fea-8b88-495c-adb1-0d7d0c88a90e Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:19:17 GMT Death of liberalism is near, and its harbinger is not a conservative onslaught, nor a new Contract With America. Its demise is being signaled by activities in a small town in Oregon, noteworthy only for a rambunctious... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2009/12/30/naked_liberalism d294e2bb-c980-41a7-9a69-e89979819b7c Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:14:23 GMT I've read the dictionary definition of blunderer (2: to make a mistake through stupidity, ignorance, or carelessness), and I it believe it is somewhat incomplete. There is another aspect to blundering that is... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2009/11/24/blunderer_in_chief b1a9a990-2b0d-4697-845f-751bec8ddb82 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:00:52 GMT It is rare for an American President to get the smackdown that President Obama got in Denmark last week by the International Olympic Committee. He should have seen it coming. Our 1972 Olympic Basketball team got... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2009/10/08/our_president,_chauncey_gardener 50cee9cf-2bba-43fa-9c85-3b2f8a8c3809 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:15:00 GMT In a mere three months, the Obama Administration has accomplished what I understand is an almost impossible feat; they have actually shot down the F-22. A few months ago, through the retired, underground,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2009/04/13/hot_shots!_part_deux. 6145dc4a-69fe-4a44-a4ac-be382bc51cb3 Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:00:29 GMT Shortly after I begin my five year employment stint at Nike, the entire campus population was shuttled to the Portland Convention Center in waves for the roll out of what is known as the Nike Maxims. The Maxims were... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2009/04/09/guide_for_the_gop_for_2010_and_beyond 91c85cdd-a432-4e82-afdb-1100a8c5e264 Fri, 10 Apr 2009 02:16:14 GMT I have no idea what happens in the "real world" between the hours of 0700 and 1700. In the past 31 years I have been sequestered in my work environs. I rarely left the many bases that I worked at during the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2009/03/02/maury_and_me a91b4c86-903c-4bb9-9ad7-6e752a07d78c Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMT I am just finishing my first year in the fourth job I have had since leaving the Marine Corps eleven years ago. It is not what you think. It turns out, mostly because of my leadership experience in the Marine... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2009/02/24/the_presidency_as_a_series_of_tele-promter_speeches be11b3d6-2de8-4e25-ab5b-282bfff2524e Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:44:21 GMT I love Costco. It's not the giganto-normus TVs that greet you as you enter. Not the great deal you get on the bazillion pack of AA batteries. Not the discount you receive for buying a super tanker load of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2008/10/20/why_costco_is_better_than_obama 42ea3b1c-6a37-4eb6-978e-3b0da8f545e3 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:05:19 GMT There is a Perfect Storm of epochal proportions on the horizon for the Democrat Party, and there will be no escaping its impact. The forces set in motion by seven years of Bush Derangement Syndrome and this primary s http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2008/02/15/dusting_off_my_predictions_of_democrat_disharmony 1c76dc6e-6cb0-467f-bd4c-a06c5d1be5e7 Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:01:00 GMT I am continually amazed at how little viable analysis come out of the mouths of our "best" political pundits. Hugh Hewitt does a pretty good job of capturing the worst of last night's inane ramblings in his postings... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2008/01/05/mainstream_media_misses_the_mark 99cb4822-61fe-4024-9801-68eb34f44595 Sat, 05 Jan 2008 05:01:00 GMT Naval Aviation hopefuls are trained to box. The Navy is not really trying to develop the next Mike Tyson, but they have a specific purpose for this training and it serves its purpose. The boxing program is... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/11/27/kerry_will_go_down_"swinging"_in_round_two e6699b30-b58f-4a16-8907-226ac7f019d4 Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:15:35 GMT Benchmarks, smenchmarksNext week, before, during, and after General Petraeus' testimony on the Surge I'll be glued to the TV hanging on every word from every "military expert" that the MSM can bring to denounce the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/09/07/benchmarks 94200292-da8d-4075-b2bb-b3782c67fa19 Sat, 08 Sep 2007 02:49:34 GMT Much has been made about President Bush's recent comments comparing the known fallout in SE Asia after our precipitous withdrawal from the Vietnam War - genocide in Cambodia, re-education camps and mass exodus from... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/08/25/korea,_vietnam,_and_iraq 44caa6fe-8f07-43e0-8acc-c11cd092b6de Sat, 25 Aug 2007 04:00:01 GMT Anyone who does a lot of cooking, like I do, knows that substitutions can dramatically change the flavor in a dish. I often substitute honey and molasses for brown sugar. I have substituted tequila for brandy to enhance... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/08/04/infrastructure-_the_other_white_meat 0397f061-6700-4aa1-823e-d4c008dac326 Sat, 04 Aug 2007 04:00:00 GMT While Senate sleepovers prove to be fun publicity stunts replete with dramatic unveilings of numerous hide-a-beds, slumber-stilted orations, and polarized politics; they harbor something much more insidious and much... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/07/21/senate_sleepovers_force_paradigm_shift_for_military 5f809b40-c350-430e-8868-43428c17d505 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:00:01 GMT Irony. "The essential feature of IRONY is the indirect presentation of a contradiction between an action or expression and the context in which it occurs." Exactly. Which is why the timetable for leaving Iraq... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/07/15/pass_social_security_reform;_then_we_can_leave_iraq 49487402-7b58-4edd-80c7-cbabda850cff Sun, 15 Jul 2007 04:00:42 GMT There comes a responsibility with sending ordnance down range. Once fired most weapons are on a one way mission to unleash their lethal, stored energies. The kinematics of the weapon and the explosives package are... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/07/07/no_do_overs_allowed d22086bc-37cd-48b7-8a82-a2707f5889f9 Sat, 07 Jul 2007 04:01:00 GMT As I have written before, politics is no longer about good legislation, it is about politicking. Our DC based legislative processes have evolved into a frenetic, self-absorbed, narcissistic tango of Beltway... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/07/01/what_i_learned_in_senate_school_this_week cad36232-ae56-41a4-9275-b17a32446483 Sun, 01 Jul 2007 14:35:18 GMT The daily functioning of Marine Officer's Candidates School (OCS) is hinged on "the Word." "The Word" is the culmination of instructions that guides the conduct of the next event. It includes uniform, time, method of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/06/23/mastering_"the_word" 094bd378-7d63-4477-94f3-3cc149ea3e2e Sat, 23 Jun 2007 17:00:47 GMT Victor Davis Hansen wrote an extremely important piece last week on D-Day. As the preeminent historian of our time, he reflected on D-Day and he legitimately highlighted, in spite of all of the hype about its successes,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/06/16/mythbusters_a_by-product_for_the_logically_inept 08452175-1d90-4fdb-89e0-d008bcf15d4a Sat, 16 Jun 2007 22:16:36 GMT I would like to take a moment to compliment Spencer Ackermanon a particularly sane piece written about Iraq published online at the WashingtonMonthly. Although Spencer has leftleaning credentials, he has written a... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/06/09/advice_for_the_democrats_on_iraq 8e974f57-19d2-4406-952e-efff71f695b8 Sat, 09 Jun 2007 04:01:00 GMT Politicians don't make laws, lawmakers do. And sadly we have plethora of politicians and a dearth of lawmakers.Laws order societies. They provide guidelines for commerce, social behavior, governmental administration,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/05/25/feckless_lawmaking d9a0cd20-07ae-45da-9946-d6df5d16f49e Fri, 25 May 2007 21:23:10 GMT Phobia, as described by Webster... "an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation." Foxnews.com picked up on an Arab News story coming out of the Organiza http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/05/19/call_me_an_islamaphob 7fe76efd-de73-41dd-8025-9f9cc138456f Sat, 19 May 2007 04:01:00 GMT Wars have always had their discernable differences. Some extremely nuanced, some extremely dramatic. Strategists have been able to draw on tactics and strategies from previous wars or engagements and adapt them to mod http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/05/12/defining_the_global_war_on_terror 45840e74-36cf-41bd-bdc6-433bff979c85 Sat, 12 May 2007 04:01:00 GMT Conventional wars are tests of nations. It is manpower versus manpower. Logistics versus logistics. Lethality versus lethality. Mobility versus mobility. And the nation with the most advantages across the spectrum http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/05/05/army_brass_surrenders_io_war_to_msm 9c318675-95b3-451e-9e26-55a68e8f6ff0 Sat, 05 May 2007 04:01:00 GMT Patrick Rufinni post Max Stoller bio on Wikipedia City of Portland increasing budget to meet revenues Stoller post on tases Corporate kicker Oregon! Patrick Ruffini uncovered a gem a couple of days... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/04/19/i_love_paying_taxes_too 5de77758-9f9b-487f-afdf-fa56335965f7 Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:14:18 GMT In manufacturing, overtime is problematic. It is typically used to cover short term gaps in manpower and training. It usually covers the gap created between production expansion, hiring to the increased demand, and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/04/13/extending_tours_is_an_admission_of_force_mismanagement c095cf07-23fe-419e-93e0-6dbcad168d9c Fri, 13 Apr 2007 04:01:00 GMT Brits "selling" their stories POW by John Hubbell (testament to POW as a classic.first edition $150) Much of military life cannot be completely comprehended by those who have not shared the experience. This is not... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/04/09/surviving_capture_with_your_honor_intact 9b076e77-273d-44d3-831c-55a79bdafd1d Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:57:33 GMT From the settling of the American west in 1891 until the end of World War Two, Americans enjoyed only a single brief period of whimsy and leisure. The "Roaring Twenties" were but a brief respite from the serious nature... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/04/06/whats_not_to_loathe 14bef238-6d8b-4b83-9f4b-bcb3428402e8 Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:27:06 GMT Magic is fascinating because most of us assume that we are smart enough to eventually figure out how the tricks are done, even though we rarely do. Close up magic is compelling because the magician challenges his... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/03/23/pay_no_attention_to_the_democrats_behind_the_curtain 8af07c00-ce28-4147-a39e-3bf9c8d6a5a0 Fri, 23 Mar 2007 04:01:00 GMT The kooky domestic terrorists at the Animal Liberation Front have struck again, this time in animal friendly Portland, Oregon. ALF, known in FBI circles as. ".a leading domestic terrorist threat,." .has taken to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/03/17/alf.six_degrees_of_separation 4f4b039a-8007-47cc-a070-ecf32d6eb222 Sat, 17 Mar 2007 04:01:39 GMT While the over-staged drama of Congressional hearings will continue to dominate the Walter Reed story for weeks to come, there are some real cautions for our Congress and media before they jump in and help the military http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/03/15/the_legacy_of_walter_reeds_failings 3eda4598-66a4-4d06-a371-e861ce449447 Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:56:29 GMT I am through. After this semester, I am pulling my daughter from public school. I won't be enrolling her in private school either. It is pretty obvious to me that between the diminishing capabilities of teachers to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/02/28/quitting_public_school 53de9c07-7908-4b5e-a9fd-999dec036671 Wed, 28 Feb 2007 13:43:18 GMT I am not one to explain all things.I remember thinking my brain was probably full when I was learning the aircraft electrical systems of the F/A 18 Hornet. Having previously learned the T-2 (Fighter) Buckeye, The T-39... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/02/20/air_america_steers_for_the_iceberg 65f4aaab-6f68-4c56-9518-c3c20420b82c Tue, 20 Feb 2007 21:57:46 GMT Democracy is pretty straight forward...majority rules. Our country has gone to great lengths to ensure that everyone is franchised into our democracy. It has been an imperfect struggle, but we are finally at a point... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/02/17/minority_rules f68d49a9-3699-4584-9600-626c61502e6a Sat, 17 Feb 2007 05:05:45 GMT Democracy is pretty straight forward...majority rules. Our country has gone to great lengths to ensure that everyone is franchised into our democracy. It has been an imperfect struggle, but we are finally at a point http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/02/17/minority_rules 4b1cca74-3b28-49de-b48f-289588f270a5 Sat, 17 Feb 2007 05:01:00 GMT Does anyone else miss the light brown M&Ms? Me too. I knew a few years back when the parent company, Masterfoods announced a contest to re-color M&Ms that my little tan friends were in trouble. Their paltry popula http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/02/07/mms_meet_big_brother 34064dd9-8746-4e1a-8f3f-f67dc94029e6 Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:00:01 GMT When I cracked 1776 on Wednesday to give it its long overdue read, there were two pleasant surprises. I found that it was autographed by the author.something I am appalled at myself for not remembering. And secondly,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/01/30/turning_surge_into_victory ec9a983f-5f3a-4e51-94c5-453c4aa12111 Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:07:48 GMT I suppose I come from what's left of America's warrior class. Not the noblesse oblige style warrior that dominated the officer corps from the Civil War to World War II, but a working class stock of martial warrior who... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/01/24/killing_the_all_volunteer_force 81f45aa5-809a-4803-90d5-85e539852200 Wed, 24 Jan 2007 05:00:01 GMT The Oregonian's Steve Duin, has yet to meet a profitable company that he likes. In an inane, painfully shallow, and vitriolically sarcastic "commentary" he lambastes Nike; who last week gave over $9M to local schools,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/01/19/welcome_to_oregon.give_me_some_more_money a6d0b4b7-dd3b-4d61-8972-efdf680b892f Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:19:53 GMT The pointy end of the spear. Often those of us in combat units would muse about "being on the pointy end of the spear." Often it was frightening.the post-Vietnam malaise that lasted until about 1988 or so, often... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/01/16/the_kinematics_of_the_spear 7440b9ed-a0bc-4d1d-83b9-94c894952172 Tue, 16 Jan 2007 22:01:00 GMT For those of you who haven't had an opportunity to live in Oregon, you are about to get the "virtual" experience. Oregon is indeed a picturesque state with wondrous mountain views, glorious Pacific beaches, and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/01/10/welcome_to_oregon 8d4f846d-7211-4ea4-88d2-34a3bb255822 Wed, 10 Jan 2007 20:50:35 GMT The best part of living in the People's Republic of Oregon, Portland District is that I don't have to go far to get my finger on the pulse of liberal thought. If I can make it to the end of my driveway every morning, I... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2007/01/02/i_just_want_to_negotiate. ff15b13c-d35e-457d-9d77-9a7e79ac2906 Wed, 03 Jan 2007 02:32:35 GMT Vietnam forever changed the relationship between the military and the Mainstream Media. I think that the case can be made to some degree that the real issue is between various administrations, their Pentagon... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2006/12/28/winning_the_information_war_in_iraq 5fce2369-06be-42e3-9d43-d09bdb519ab5 Thu, 28 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT What is it about American football that is so compelling? Is it the preparation. the planning? The beautifully executed "set" play that works to perfection? The shocking turnabout that a turnover can cause? The... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2006/12/26/we_are_marshall a0af5631-267e-4e9d-8118-7a5b305f0b3c Tue, 26 Dec 2006 05:00:16 GMT Dean Barnett, via Scott Johnson, has commented on, and linked to an essay by Pat Conroy.an essay that speaks directly to Hugh Hewitt's question posed above.What did you do when America was attacked? Pat Conroy, an... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2006/12/21/what_did_you_do_when_america_was_attacked__part_ii.the_santini_effect 608c78e3-f6cf-4e1f-b14c-655cd6023142 Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:02:10 GMT Hugh Hewitt asked this question recently, as a by-product of a discussion that evolved during an appearance at Biola University. His point was that in 2028, for those running for public office, the answer to that... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMcBride/2006/12/20/what_did_you_do_when_america_was_attacked 1d15269d-842b-45f9-9245-a5034a00e684 Wed, 20 Dec 2006 17:54:58 GMT