White men can't jump, and brothers can't swim. The latter fact I learned during swim qual in Marine Corps boot camp. About 10 minutes into swim qual, I glanced over to the remedial swim class and there stood dang-near about every African-American in the company. I'm not sure the reasons behind this, but I'm thinking it's because many African-Americans didn't grow up around swimming pools like us white folks did. Anyway, this is what's behind a new Marine Corps recruiting commercial titled Leap that features an African-American Marine "taking a leap" from a high-dive board into a swimming pool. The commercial recently aired during the NBA finals, which one would suppose had a higher-than-average young, African-American audience.

Scanning the Net like I always do looking for news stories of interest to MNN readers, I've noticed a few people trying to make negative comments about the commercial. I for one, however, love the commercial. The Marine Corps has usually been upfront about why people should join the Marines (First to Fight, etc.). There's usually not talk of enlistment bonuses, education benefits and the like. You join the Marines to fight, and to challenge yourself to be the best. That's what this commercial is - a challenge. The Marines aren't looking for people who want a bonus or an education, they're looking for people who want a challenge!

One of the bravest things I saw during the Marine Corps (since I didn't see combat) was a simple act of someone conquering their fears. We were conducting fastrope training out of the back of a helo from about 50 feet up (about 5 stories). Fastroping is using a rope to exit a helo, but instead of rappelling, you just put some gloves on and slide down the rope. I don't think any of us were too happy about fastroping from the helo, but we were all especially concerned about Lance Corporal B**** who we all knew had a great fear of heights. But when it came his time, he did it without hesitation. He conquered his fear, just as many other Marines have conquered their fears, whether at the pool, on the boot camp obstacle course (Stairway to Heaven, Slide for Life), at the shooting range and elsewhere. OOH-RAH!

I wasn't too surprised to hear that one of the U.S. Navy ships (USS Peleliu) I served on during my enlistment in the Marine Corps has been described as a "prison ship." After all, the Marines were housed down in the bottom of the ship in berthing areas that gave a new meaning to the term "bunk beds" (see "exclusive" photo). I'm pretty sure that many prisoners ate better than we did on that ship. I didn't even know there was such a thing as Grade D meat until I helped with an underway replenishment at sea.

However, I was surprised to hear the anti-US press call the USS Peleliu a prison ship for totally unrelated reasons. (In fact, some are now calling it a "torture ship.") It makes for some great headlines and evokes memories of the oil rig prison in the movie Face/Off.

However, having been on the ship, I find this to be one of the most sensationalized stories I have ever heard. The Peleliu is an amphibious assault ship designed from bow to stern to deploy Marines by air and sea for beach landings, airborne assaults and the like. Every inch of the ship is designed for these purposes, and there's not much room to spare, as evidenced by the above photo.

The ship's small brig is wholly inadequate for holding numerous international terrorists. The brig was designed to hold a small number of errant Marines and Sailors for short periods of time.

The sensationalized "prison ship" story does probably have a shred of truth. Enemy combatants captured on the battlefields of Somalia, Iran and Afghanistan can't be instantly "beamed" to Gitmo and other prison facilities. First, in some cases, they are transported to ships like the Peleliu where they are likely held for a day or a couple of days until arrangements can be made to transfer them to more permanent facilities. Below deck on the Peleliu and similar ships is a hangar and below that a well deck that provides some room for makeshift holding facilities. It's possible (if there were numerous prisoners) that some prisoners have been held in these areas, perhaps in metal CONEX boxes or "griped" down (chained) to the deck to posts that normally secure aircraft and other equipment. I find it doubtful that the Navy would use such valuable spaces for permanent, floating prisons.

But what if this whole sensationalized floating "prison ship" thing were true? The United States is fighting a worldwide war against Islamic fanatic criminals. Actually, said like that, a floating prison for these idiots doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

One good thing about the protracted fight between Hillary and Obama is that we are starting to see the true side of Obama's very liberal, elitist side. In April, Obama had another slip-up and said this about small-town Pennsylvania voters:

"They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Americans work hard - we are arguably the hardest-working people on earth - motivated by an economic system that rewards hard, smart work. We also work hard to maintain a civilized society conducive to economic prosperity and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is this hard work that produces economic prosperity whereby most Americans have abundant food, energy and the vehicles of our choice. Overall, I wish the same economic success for all countries. I'm not going to apologize, eat less, be uncomfortable in my own home, or drive a little car because other countries can't get it together. I look at the Middle East for example. Both Iraq and Iran have some of the dumbest, uncivilized people on Earth. They sit on huge oil reserves that could transform their countries into untold economic abundance. Yet, they waste their opportunities with medieval practices, butchery and foolishness. I'm supposed to eat less because these idiots can't get it together? Obama, simply, doesn't have a clue. Is he running for the American presidency, or the presidency of the dumb and uncivilized peoples of the world?

If you'll remember, Carter's presidency was a disaster, in part because he somehow thought Americans should make do with less. Reagan's successes were due in part to Reagan reminding Americans that we didn't have to settle for less, and in fact could get ahead through honest, hard work.

See photo: Obama Steps Out of SUV (I guess it's OK for Obama to use an SUV.)