A "Sarah Palin-ite" Republican

Iraq War Veteran Sgt. John Kriesel (photo to the left) is announcing for an open seat in Congress.
From KARE News 11, Minneapolis, Feb. 10:

Sgt. John Kriesel says he'll run as a Republican for the House of Representatives District 57 seat, representing Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park and South St. Paul.

It's the seat now held by Karla Bigham who announced she won't seek re-election this fall.

Sgt. Kriesel lost both his legs in a blast near Fallujah, Iraq on December 2, 2006. The same blast that killed two of his best friends. His injuries resulted in 25 surgeries over the course of just two months.

He is unabashadely a supporter of the War on Terror.

From USIraq.Procon.com

"Congress was right to vote to fight terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. I reenlisted after 9/11 because I don't want my sons to see what I saw. I want them to be free and safe. I know what I lost, I also know that if we pull out now, everything I have given in sacrifice will mean nothing. They attacked us and they will again. They won't stop in Iraq."

Kriesel is affiliated with the Pro-War on Terrorism, libertarian-oriented group Freedom Watch. He obtained some celebrity over a year ago, in national ads run by Freedom Watch. From Tikun-Olam blog:

In one Freedom’s Watch ad, Sgt. John Kriesel, a National Guardsman from Stillwater, Minn., who lost his legs in a bomb attack near Falluja, pleads with Congress and the American people not to “surrender” in Iraq. As the screen shows a still photograph of the second hijacked plane bearing down on the burning World Trade Center, Sergeant Kriesel adds, “They attacked us, and they will again. They won’t stop in Iraq.”

(H/t Jim Hoft)