Florida Republican Candidate Lt. Col. Allen West Says He Will Tell Nancy Pelosi "Give Me the Damn Gavel" in January '11

Allen West, a retired Army lieutenant colonel is the Republican Party's new ray of hope in Florida's 22nd District. He is challenging first-term Democratic Rep. Ron Klein. According to the American Spectator, West's first exposure to the media spotlight in 2003 was the result of an assassination plot against him while he was serving with the Army's 4th Infantry Division in Iraq's Sunni Triangle.

According to National Review, West was interrogating a prisoner (an Iraqi policeman identified by military intelligence as part of the plot) and fired a pistol next to the prisoner's head. The prisoner confessed, giving up detailed information that helped foil a plot to ambush West's unit.

"If you're a bad guy, don't ever get between me and the safety and the lives of the American people," West says of the incident. "As a commander, your moral responsibility is to take care of your troops."

Two months later, however, the Army told West he had a choice: Retire or face a court-martial. West retired and moved to Florida, where he spent the next year teaching high school in Broward County. Source: American Spectator

West,  who has been endorsed by ex-Gov. Sarah "Quitter" Palin, had some choice words for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a recent speech. He said that when his term begins next January, he will say "one simple thing to Nancy Pelosi. Give me that damn gavel." West has emerged has collected $838,450 in the first quarter of 2010 for his challenge of Ron Klein. I must say, I like his spunk.