Allen West Mulls Runs For President

"A diamond is but a rock until it undergoes intense pressure and heat. Steel is purified by intense heat. We cannot seek to live a life where our goal is to go from one oasis to another. Sometimes we have to cross a desert in order to develop inner strength. Many are asking me to consider a huge undertaking. If God had not placed a challenge before me and closed one door, perhaps a new mission would not be possible." - Former Rep. Allen West, in a blog posting that right wing sites are interpreting as his acknowledgement that he is considering a run for president.

West was elected to Congress in the 2010 Tea Party wave and was booted back out by voters after just one term. Last year he left the right wing PJ Media network after he allegedly harassed a female staffer with an anti-Semitic slur. Some sources say he was fired, West says he left to "pursue political aspirations." West first gained national attention when he faced an Army court martial for abusing an Iraqi prisoner. He was allowed to retire and pay a fine rather than be tried.

In the above-linked post West attempts to link his Army scandal to Benghazi.

Many of those who watch CNN and MSNBC castigate me as a “war criminal.” I find this hilarious and absurd. I wonder what they call a person who, instead of taking an action to save American lives, took no action at all? Matter of fact, said individual allowed four Americans under Islamic terrorist attack to be murdered. As far as we all know, said individual went to sleep due to a strenuous schedule of campaign fundraising events the following day.

Not only that, but said individual then proceeded to lie about their non-actions and cast blame elsewhere. When I was asked, during the Article 32 hearing, if I would take the same action again, perhaps I should have blamed my actions on a video and all would have been fine? Instead, I responded, “If it is about the safety and lives of my men, I would go through hell with a gasoline can.”

To the useful idiots and mindless liberal lemmings who refer to me as anything other than Lieutenant Colonel, Retired, Allen B. West — with 22 years of honorable service, rank, and benefits — you are delusional and confused. You criticize me, a commander who stood up for his men, while you embrace a cowardly commander-in-chief, Barack Hussein Obama, who did nothing while Americans died. It is both disgusting and despicable.

Good grief.