book review time. 1st the hype, then we'll do the reality. this is from the publisher of the book:
Miss May Does Not Exist, by Carrie Courogen is the
riveting biography of comedian, director, actor and writer Elaine May,
one of America’s greatest comic geniuses. May began her career as
one-half of the legendary comedy team known as Nichols and May, the duo
that revolutionized the comedy sketch.
After performing
their Broadway smash An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Elaine
set out on her own. She toiled unsuccessfully on Broadway for a while,
but then headed to Hollywood where she became the director of A New
Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky, and the legendary Ishtar. She
was hired as a script doctor on countless films like Heaven Can Wait,
Reds, Tootsie, and The Birdcage. In 2019, she returned to Broadway where
she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in The Waverly Gallery.
Besides her considerable talent, May is well known for her
reclusiveness. On one of the albums she made with Mike Nichols, her bio
is this: “Miss May does not exist.” Until now.
Carrie Courogen
has uncovered the Elaine May who does exist. Conducting countless
interviews, she has filled in the blanks May has forcibly kept blank for
years, creating a fascinating portrait of the way women were mistreated
and held back in Hollywood. Miss May Does Not Exist is a
remarkable love story about a prickly genius who was never easy to work
with, not always easy to love and frequently often punished for those
things, despite revolutionizing the way we think about comedy, acting,
and what a film or play can be.
'miss may does not exist' costs 40 bucks in hardcover. i got in on kindle for $14.99 and i still overpaid.
this book is 100% garbage and that's a real shame because elaine may is a legend who has a body of work that lasts.
carrie is a self-described fan girl. i'd call her an obsessed loon.
she's a little to present in the book that's supposed to be about elaine may but when she's not intruding, she's getting facts wrong.
'california suite,' for example. the herbert ross directed film starred jane fonda, maggie smith, richard pryor, michael caine, bill cosby, alan alda, walter matthau and elaine may. it's a comedy based on a neil simon play. elaine may has the smallest role of any of the stars. (i'm not including the actresses playing bill and richard's wives because they aren't written as parts but as foils.) jane and alan battle over custody of their daughter, maggie's in town for the oscars with her (gay) husband michael. friends and doctors bill and richard are on a vacation. and that leaves walter matthau's storyline. he and his crappy relative go wild and walter ends up with a hooker in his bed. and guess what - about 1/2 way into the skit - walter's wife arrives as a surprise! elaine plays walter's wife.
reading carrie's poorly written book you are told that the role won no applause for elaine. bald faced lie. do you research, you stupid woman. elaine was praised for her performance in 1 review after another including in 'simon & ross: the compassion boys' - that's the review from 'the new yorker' written by the leading critic of the 70s pauline kael who found elaine 'endearing.'
as a child, elaine may performed with her father. after he died, she was left with a mother than wasn't any 1's idea of warm or loving. elaine married early on to get away from that life. she had a daughter (jeannie berlin) and the marriage ended.
she leaves california and goes east where she ends up with the second city improv and mike nichols. nichols and may becomes a huge comedy team in the late 50s and even perform for new president j.f.k. but they both want other things. mike goes on to directing film - 'who's afraid of virginia wolfe?' and 'the graduate' being 2 early huge successes. i love 'the fortune' but it was 1 of his 70s commercial failures. he'd bounce back. hollywood will let men bounce back.
elaine didn't get offered the opportunity to direct 'who's afraid of virginia wolfe?' - again it goes to what women are offered and what men are offered (and also to elizabeth taylor being friends with mike).
but she did make it to the big screen as an actress. in 1967, she was in 3 feature films - a bit part in 'the graduate' and starring roles in 'luv' and 'enter laughing.'
1971 brings 'a new leaf' which she co-stars in with walther matthau. she also wrote the script. she also directed the film. it kicked off her film career as a director. she would go on to direct 'the heartbreak kid,' 'mikey and nicky' and 'ishtar.'
when she was directing those feature films, women weren't directing studio films. ida lupino's directing career in films was over. a major studio might give a one-off chance to jane wagner ('moment by moment') or nancy walker ('can't stop the music') but the only american woman directing films - plural - for major studios from 1971 to 1987 really was elaine.
1987 is elaine's last film as a director - to this day - and the year before randa haines had success with her 1st feature 'children of a lesser god.' randa would grab the baton and, fortunately, in a few more years, it wouldn't be just the 1 woman director but many women directors making films for major studios.
by the way, that point?
not in the book. it's beyond the brain power of dim wit carrie.
she's a f**king idiot who adds nothing to elaine's story. the stuff i outlined above about elaine's life, i knew before i read the book. carrie offers nothing.
she also can't appreciate film. she needs some 1 else to praise it before she'll praise it.
elaine and marlo thomas acted in 1 of the great comedy films of the 90s - 1990's 'in the spirit.'
now it did a get a number of good reviews. but because it's not trumpeted by men (for a supposed feminist, carrie values men more than women and too often goes to men for quotes on elaine's talent), carrie trashes the film.
elaine edited the film. her daughter wrote the script. sandra seacat (a famous acting coach) direted it and elaine and marlo lead a cast that includes jeannie berlin (elaine's daughter), peter falk, olympia dukakis and a hilarious melanie griffith.
if you're writing a book about elaine may today, i think the most important thing you can do is defend 'in the spirit.' it is a hilarious movie. sadly, you can't get it on streaming.
oh, i have it, yes, i bought it from 'amazon' and it's not the feature film. it's the edited for t.v. version that 'lifetime' used to air.
jeanie berlin plays crystal a prostitute and some-time porn actress. and censoring her at the dinner table while her talk makes elaine uncomfortable and has peter falk rolling his eye balls (he says, 'i never would have believed a professional prostitute could be so boring' - that's from memory so the quote may not be word for word) really harms the film.
so your 1st thing should be advocating for 'in the spirit' to be restored to the full, uncensored movie. (you can get it on dvd and blu ray in its complete version.)
instead carrie trashes the film and honestly doesn't appear to have watched it by what she writes.
she not only trashes it but she tries to pretend it's elaine may's film. elaine edited it, sandra was the director.
elaine does not and has never claimed to be the director.
this is a really lousy book.
i was offended for elaine may as i read it. and i do know elaine a little - through c.i. this book does not resemble the person i have dined with. it's a lousy book.
let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
Israel is facing growing condemnation over the torture and rape of Palestinian prisoners. Israel’s Channel 12 News aired shocking footage of Israeli soldiers sexually abusing a Palestinian prisoner. The video shows a group of blindfolded prisoners lying on the ground inside a prison at Sde Teiman army base, which critics have compared to Guantánamo. Israeli guards are then seen taking one man into a corner, where the soldiers encircled him and reportedly sexually assaulted him. Israel’s investigation of this incident is what led a group of far-right Israeli protesters and lawmakers to break into two military bases last week in an effort to prevent the soldiers from being questioned.
Meanwhile, a group of U.N. experts has warned Israel’s escalating use of torture of jailed Palestinians is a crime against humanity. The experts wrote, “Torture practices are irredeemably unlawful and constitute international crimes, yet form part of the modus operandi of Israel’s notorious detention and torture system,” unquote.
Meanwhile, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has published a major new report documenting how the Israeli prison system has become what B’Tselem calls a “network of torture camps.”
I want to turn to an interview conducted by B’Tselem of Ashraf al-Muhtaseb, a father of five from Hebron and a wedding band manager. While detained on the morning of November 18th last year, Ashraf had prison guards storm his cell he shared with other men, claiming they were looking for a radio.
ASHRAF AL-MUHTASEB: [translated] One morning at 6:00, they raided our cell, about 15 guards with a monstrous dog. Sometimes they made him attack sensitive body parts. They attacked us all, kicking us and hitting us with sticks. I was leaning against the wall behind others in the cell. They started kicking me in the neck and ear. Unfortunately, I got a very hard blow to my ear. I’ve completely lost my hearing on that side. I got four fractures in my back ribs, three in my chest, and fractures in my hands and other body parts.
AMY GOODMAN: In another interview conducted by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, 50-year-old Firas Hassan, an official in the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Youth and Sports, describes not only being beaten by prison guards while in detention, but hearing that their brutal attack is being live-streamed for Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister of national security of Israel, to watch.
FIRAS HASSAN: [translated] On November 9th, 2023, two prison forces, the District Unit and the Initial Response Force, came into cell 14 we were in, on wing 28. We were 10 Palestinians in the cell. The forces came in masked and beat us for 50 minutes. They laughed while they hit us and live-streamed it all. I understand Hebrew, and I heard one say, “We’re live-streaming for Ben-Gvir, directly to Ben-Gvir.” They beat us in various ways, with their hands and feet, and then brought in police dogs, after they tied our hands behind our backs and blindfolded us.
AMY GOODMAN: B’Tselem also spoke to Sari Huriyyah. He’s a 53-year-old real estate lawyer and an Israeli citizen. He was arrested and detained over a Facebook post November 4th last year. In this clip, Sari describes 'Abd a-Rahman Mar'i, a 23-year-old man in the isolation cell next to him, screaming in pain and later being brought out in a body bag.
SARI HURIYYAH: [translated] He screamed in pain constantly, begging for the doctor. The guard would come now and then and swear at him and tell him to shut up. In the morning, the guards came to count us. One said, “Get up, you animal. Get up, you dog.” They checked him, and the whole place went silent. Finally, the doctor said, “There’s nothing to be done.” One of the guards said to them, “My condolences.” And they all started laughing. They put him in a black body bag and carried him out like trash.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined right now by Sarit Michaeli, international advocacy lead for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. The group’s new report is titled “Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps.”
Sarit, thanks so much for being with us. Just as we listen to these horrifying accounts, please lay out your findings.
SARIT MICHAELI: I think on a very fundamental level, Amy, our findings look at the systemic, ongoing and state-sanctioned, government-sanctioned use of torture and abuse in the Israeli prison system vis-à-vis Palestinians, Palestinians who Israel considers to be — views as security prisoners.
Now, this is something that we have discussed in the past. I mean, torture and abuse of Palestinian detainees in detention and interrogations have occurred. They have been documented. But the level, the degree, the scope, the scale of this phenomenon since October 7th are simply unrelated to anything we’ve seen in the past.
And when we look at the way these people are treated — you showed some of the testimonies. Some of the — many more testimonies are actually available on our website, and we are sharing them online. You see that, clearly, this isn’t the actions of any sort of rogue element of the Israeli prison system. It’s a government-sanctioned and also government-supported, government-mandated policy. And that’s the central conclusion that we have from all of the information that we’ve collected in recent months.
AMY GOODMAN: If you can talk about Firas, who was describing not only being beaten by the Israeli soldiers, but also the fact that this beating was being live-streamed for the national security minister of Israel, Itamar Ben-Gvir, to watch?
SARIT MICHAELI: So, I just want to clarify: We know that the police say — or, sorry, the prison guards were discussing this. Certainly, we have not — you know, we clarified in our communications that we don’t know whether this was indeed, like, literally live-streamed for Itamar Ben-Gvir or whether it was more about the spirit of Itamar Ben-Gvir, because a lot of the things we see on the ground today in the Israeli prison system are directly related to the influence, to the spirit of Minister Ben-Gvir.
I think it’s certainly not the case that Minister Ben-Gvir is the only person responsible. Absolutely, the prime minister, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who gave him all of his authority, is absolutely responsible and culpable for this reality. But the Israeli government and Ben-Gvir have shown again and again, since October 7th but also before October 7th, that they are hell-bent, that their intention is to cause this deterioration to increase the pressure on Palestinian prisoners.
And this was — this has been done, and we saw these kinds of developments even prior to October 7th. From the beginning of the tenure of Minister Ben-Gvir as minister of national security, he has been imposing his racist, his Kahanist agenda, both on the Israeli police, with great success, unfortunately, and also on the Israeli Prison Service. October 7th, the horror, the crimes committed against Israelis on October 7th, served as a golden opportunity for Ben-Gvir to continue to cynically manipulate the Israeli trauma, the Israeli fear and anger, in order to push forward this agenda that he has been promoting even beforehand.
So, I think one of the clear things that we’ve seen on the ground and in the system since October 7th was that much of this Israeli policy, at least the parts about starving prisoners, about cramping them all together in large numbers in cells, canceling any possibility for them to have any sort of sustenance, to buy additional food, for example, all of these policies have been declared. They’ve been stated by the Israeli government. They haven’t hid this. Ben-Gvir himself has been on the media promoting these policies and showing — you know, having these, like, show visits to visit prisoners that he claims are Nukhba — right? — are Palestinian, are Hamas fighters from Gaza.
But what we have seen again and again, based on the testimonies that we’ve taken, is that the Israeli policy wasn’t just applied Palestinian Hamas suspects. We would argue, by the way, that this is absolutely, categorically prohibited regardless of the crimes people have been — have committed. Torture and this type of treatment is absolutely prohibited. But Israel is claiming, and in some cases showing — right? — performing, in a way. And this is — I think the incident that was described in this testimony seems very much an example of this, not just the kind of actual violence and ill-treatment and humiliation, but making it very, very public. And this is something that is simply chilling and is part of the really deep moral abyss that this report exposes, I think, within our society today.
AMY GOODMAN: The Israeli Supreme Court considered a petition yesterday to close a desert military prison where soldiers have been accused of abusing Palestinians, most recently this shocking video that aired on Israeli News 12, the Channel 12, showing Israeli soldiers sexually abusing a Palestinian prisoner. Talk about that video and what the Supreme Court is calling for or if they’ve had a ruling yet.
SARIT MICHAELI: Well, I think there’s a few things to unpack in this situation. I mean, again, regardless of the specifics of this individual case — B’Tselem hasn’t documented it; we’re not familiar enough with the details — I think this is a moment within Israeli society where the old way of doing things, which involved very often these sham investigations — right? — pretending that we’re holding soldiers accountable for violations of Palestinian rights and investigating suspected wrongdoing, this is rejected, is being rejected by a growing — maybe majority, certainly very large number of Israelis, who are simply not interested in any kind of accountability, because they do not believe that the Palestinians deserve any rights. And this is an interesting and quite disturbing and very, very depressing situation to experience, because the power and the violence released by the recent, for example, charging of far-right activists into the Sde Teiman military base and into the Beit Lid military base isn’t just going to harm, you know, the specific investigative bodies that we are very critical of. This is an action that is very concerted and coordinated by the Israeli far right in order to scare off any type of law enforcement in Israeli society.
And this is why I think it’s so deeply connected to what we’ve seen yesterday in the High Court. There is a High Court petition against Sde Teiman. It’s being — it was presented by the Israeli — by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. And the state has, as is its custom, denied that there is any wrongdoing in Sde Teiman. But there’s also another kind of parallel development, which is that a far-right mob has actually verbally charged the High Court justices yesterday in the Israeli High Court and also tried to assault the lawyers acting on behalf of ACRI. And I think this is an excellent example of what has been happening to the gatekeepers in Israel. This is an example of why these gatekeepers, who were meant to protect against the type of abuses that we describe in this report, they have been so scared off, they’ve been so weakened and paralyzed after many, many years of these types of far-right and even quite centrist assaults, that the type of reality that we exposed in the report is allowed to go pretty much on as Minister Ben-Gvir pleases, with very little resistance from the High Court, the other courts, from the attorney general. Now, certainly, we have had, and we’re still extremely critical of these institutions, of the Israeli court system, of the Israeli attorney general, but we do expect them to stand up to this type of abuse, to this type of official torture. And I think one of the reasons why Ben-Gvir has been so successful in imposing his own agenda, his racist, Kahanist agenda, is this weakness, the cowering of the gatekeepers that have been weakened for so many years.
AMY GOODMAN: And can you talk about the protests that took place in the last days trying to prevent the Israeli soldiers or police from being questioned about the sexual assault or the rape of a Palestinian prisoner?
SARIT MICHAELI: Yeah. I mean, I think I should also maybe open this with one point of light in the current reality, which is that since the publication of B’Tselem’s report, and also since the publication and the exposure of the story about these really horrific suspicions in Sde Teiman, there’s been a very strong voice coming from Israelis who categorically oppose this — not necessarily Israelis who are absolutely with B’Tselem on everything, mainstream Israelis who know, who understand that if you are a country that claims you’re a democracy — of course, we would take great issue with this — then you cannot simply abuse people because you suspect them or because you’ve accused them and even because you’ve convicted them of perpetrating the most horrific crimes. This is simply unacceptable. And people are saying this very openly in our society today. These might not be the majority of Israelis, but it’s very heartening to hear these voices again and again, as I said, also in response to B’Tselem’s report.
But the story itself, the reason it got such prominence is because it really is — it’s something that one did not expect to see up until, really, the recent period. And I’m saying that even though, you know, as I said, B’Tselem’s report also revealed additional cases of suspected sexual and gender-based abuse. The story of the suspicions of sexual abuse by soldiers in Sde Teiman has generated a mass public outcry, but it’s also generated a mass response by proponents of the far right, of the Kahanist movement in Israel, who simply do not want any kind of action by Israeli soldiers against Palestinians to be subject of any sort of accountability process. I mean, that’s the whole point. From their perspective, they would like to have a completely open field in terms of what they can do to Palestinians. And this is both for soldiers and settlers. And anyone who tries to impose any, even the most rudimentary, the most basic, level of accountability is attacked as an enemy of the state, as a traitor.
And this brings us into quite an absurd situation, where bodies that we, as I said, are extremely critical of — for example, the State Attorney’s Office and also the Military Advocate General’s Office — are now coming under fire, not for what we would argue is the correct reason, the fact that they have enabled Israel to allow the army and soldiers on the ground to use totally disproportionate force against Palestinians. They’ve enabled almost everything that Israel has been doing in Gaza in recent months — the mass killings, the starvation, the horrific things we have done in Gaza. This is not what the far right is criticizing these institutions for. The criticism is coming when — in the very, very rare cases where there is an occasional investigation when the Israeli investigative bodies simply don’t have any other choice, I’m assuming. I’m only speculating, right? But the fact that there is CCTV footage of this alleged assault and the fact that the story has become so prominent and the possibility of an internal whistleblower inside who reported this have left the authorities really with no option other than to conduct this investigation. Certainly, many other cases and the broad policy is not investigated, but they are still attacked by the right for this tiny foray into accountability.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to yesterday’s briefing at the U.S. State Department, where Matthew Miller is questioned about this issue. This is the reporter Rabia Iclal Turan.
RABIA ICLAL TURAN: Going back to Israel, Israeli media today released a video showing Israeli soldiers raping a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman detention camp. The footage was very disturbing. I know you have commented on the reports about this detention center before, but we have now — we now have a new evidence, which is video. Have you seen that video? And do you have anything to say on that and also the reports of, you know, rape —
MATTHEW MILLER: Yeah.
RABIA ICLAL TURAN: — in Israeli prisons?
MATTHEW MILLER: So, we have seen the video. And reports of sexual abuse of detainees are horrific. They ought to be investigated fully by the government of Israel, by the IDF. Prisoners need to be treated — prisoners’ human rights need to be respected in all cases. And when there are alleged violations, the government of Israel needs to take steps to investigate those who are alleged to have committed abuses and, if appropriate, hold them accountable.
RABIA ICLAL TURAN: And, actually, this is not the first rape incident we have been hearing about Israeli prisons. And Israeli human rights group B’Tselem on Monday released a report saying that Sde Teiman is only tip of the iceberg and that, you know, Israeli detention centers turned into a network of torture camps for Palestinian — Palestinians. Its report cited testimonies from 55 Palestinian detainees. So, I know the Israelis are investigating this, but would you support an independent investigation into those allegations?
MATTHEW MILLER: So, I would have to look at what the specific independent investigation people are calling for and pass judgment on the merits. But, look, there ought to be zero tolerance for sexual abuse, rape of any detainee, period.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s the State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. Sarit Michaeli, if you could talk about the significance of what he is saying, and what you’re demanding at this point as the international advocacy lead for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem?
SARIT MICHAELI: Yes, Amy. Well, I think the most important thing to clarify in terms of our response to this is that Israel is not going to hold an investigation into the conduct and into the policies in its detention centers, for the pure reason, for the obvious reasons that these are policies. They’re not the actions of rogue elements, as I said. They’re not the actions of individuals who are going against the grain. They are dictated by the management of the Israeli prison system and by the government. They are supported by these bodies. And therefore, the only options for investigations are individual cases that are either so egregious that it would be impossible for the authorities to ignore them because of international pressure or in cases where there is some sort of documentation. And that is generally, I think — when you look at the Israeli investigations, that is generally the way the Israeli authorities work. The small, isolated, token investigations cover up for broader policies.
And in this specific case, I think, from our perspective, we have, A, not appealed — we have not requested Israeli investigations; B, we do not expect any Israeli investigations to fundamentally alter the situation. What we do expect is the international community to take action. And in the report, we’ve appealed to all nations and also to all relevant international institutions to look into the situation, to make it — to make it stop. Specifically, we’ve also appealed to the International Criminal Court, because these offenses that we list in our report are war crimes. They also, we would argue, reach the magnitude of crimes against humanity. And this is the responsibility of the international community, including the United States government, to address. It’s not just an intra-Israeli issue. Certainly, the Israeli government in its current standing — I mean, it’s pretty blatantly obvious that if the Israeli government is not able to hold an investigation into such serious allegations of horrific abuse without a mob of right-wing fanatics rushing, storming into two military bases, then it’s blatant that Israel isn’t going to be able — willing or able to address this broader policy of torture, you know, by order, essentially, against Palestinians since October 7th.
AMY GOODMAN: Sarit Michaeli, I want to thank you for being with us from Tel Aviv, international advocacy lead for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. We’ll link to your new report —
SARIT MICHAELI: Thank you very much.
AMY GOODMAN: — “Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps.”
Gaza remains under assault. Day 308 of the assault in the wave that began in October. Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence." CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund." ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them." NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service. Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher. United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse." THE NATIONAL notes, "Gaza death toll rises to 39,699 with 91,722 wounded." Months ago, AP noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing." February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home." February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:
That's former US House Rep. Adam Kinzinger calling out the lies and the liars trying to attack Tim Walz's 24 years in the National Guard.
"I
am furious about this attack," Adam explains in the video above. And
we all should be furious but listen and grasp what a liar the Tommys
attacking Tim are. And, here's Adam's service record:
Kinzinger resigned from the McLean County Board in 2003 to join the United States Air Force. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in November 2003 and later awarded his pilot wings. Kinzinger was initially a KC-135 Stratotanker pilot and flew missions in South America, Guam, Iraq and Afghanistan. He later switched to flying the RC-26 surveillance aircraft and was stationed in Iraq twice.[11]
Kinzinger has served in the Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command, and Wisconsin Air National Guard and was progressively promoted to his current rank of lieutenant colonel.[12] As part of his continued service with the Air National Guard, Kinzinger was deployed to the Mexico–United States border in February 2019 as part of efforts to maintain border security.[13]
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Daymé Arocena: Straight Outta Havana2 hours ago
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The gall of village idiot Boe-Boe8 hours ago
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