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Ooops...It looks like another politician was watching a Hollywood action flick, but didn't realize that the credits that read, "My Life: An Epic Autobiography" were really the crayon drawings of his childish staffers...
DR:80+S(GT)G++M++B-I++Pwmhd05#+D+++A+++/sWD-R++T(Ot)DM+ How is it they live in such harmony - the billions of stars - when most men can barely go a minute without declaring war in their minds about someone they know.
- St. Thomas Aquinas
Warhammer 40K:
Alpha Legion - 15,000 pts For the Emperor!
WAAAGH! Skullhooka - 14,000 pts
Biel Tan Strikeforce - 11,000 pts
"The Eldar get no attention because the average male does not like confetti blasters, shimmer shields or sparkle lasers."
-Illeix
--The whole concept of government granted and government regulated 'permits' and the accompanying government mandate for government approved firearms 'training' prior to being blessed by government with the privilege to carry arms in a government approved and regulated manner, flies directly in the face of the fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.”
How is this guy any chance of holding office? That is a whole lot worse than Clinton's sniper fire.
“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”
Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something.
How dare he put himself in the same boat as those who died for our country, when he was a candy ass who stayed behind....
Any other American think we should write to congress asking for a bill that if we go to war, Congress' families are first to get drafted? Would reduce the amount of skirmishes we have.....
I've never feared Death or Dying. I've only feared never Trying.
The point presumably being that a distinguished record of military service affords one sufficient cachet amongst the American voting public that it's worth lying about, or embellishing, one's record. Especially if you can just claim that you 'misspoke' if you get caught out.
Dogma? 'Bout right?
SIDEBAR: We don't seem to get that too much over here - hell, Paddy Ashdown was a good orator and served in the SAS, yet the best he ever managed was third place. In the States he would have been made President For Life!
Albatross wrote:
The point presumably being that a distinguished record of military service affords one sufficient cachet amongst the American voting public that it's worth lying about, or embellishing, one's record. Especially if you can just claim that you 'misspoke' if you get caught out.
Dogma? 'Bout right?
Yup. Though I would also attach the notion that a lying politician indicates a lying electorate.
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
@Albatross: No not quite. To be in the special forces of either country you have to be pretty well messed up in the head, which is a differant sort of messed up then what you need to be in order to be a politician or a CEO.
We HAVE elected real war heroes in the past but that stopped probably a hundred years ago. Now a days declaring that you're a veteran is maybe a third or fourth tier consideration when people go to vote for you, below: How memorable is your campaign slogan? What would people think if I told them I voted for you? (and Honestly) How good does this person and their family look on TV?
Hundred? Wasn't one of McCain's biggest draws how he was tortured in Vietnam? I remember in one of his ads he somehow tied Christmas into being tortured in Vietnam.
The last war hero elected was JFK and that was about 50 years ago. Scratch that, it was George Bush.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2010/05/18 22:29:54
ComputerGeek01 wrote:@Albatross: No not quite. To be in the special forces of either country you have to be pretty well messed up in the head, which is a differant sort of messed up then what you need to be in order to be a politician or a CEO.
I would question this. By all accounts, many SAS blokes come across as fairly normal, ego-free, down-to-earth types. With near-superhuman levels of endurance. They don't take psychos.
@avantgarde: Did we elect McCain? Nope. Was George Bush a War Hero? Texas Air National Guard... Hmm that's a no. I didn't say we never took it into account only that it's moved lower in the list.
@Albatross: Some would say their endurance borders on masacism. There's nothing psychologically wrong with them but they do differ noticably from the norm in how far they are willing to push themselves, often to destruction. Ask them about how hard training was, if they talk about it you'll hear stuff that might make you cringe and they'll tell you like it's a funny story.
so he said he severed in Nam. what he ment was he served during Nam. That makes him a nam vet. His fault was saying in instead of during.....
And whilst you're pointing and shouting at the boogeyman in the corner, you're missing the burglar coming in through the window.
Well, Duh! Because they had a giant Mining ship. If you had a giant mining ship you would drill holes in everything too, before you'd destory it with a black hole
he spoke of how vets were treated when comming home. they treated us like crap. as in they treated us vets like crap. I'll give you that his words could have been mis leading. It's not like he isn't a real vet, just that he avoided going to war like every other rich bastard.
And whilst you're pointing and shouting at the boogeyman in the corner, you're missing the burglar coming in through the window.
Well, Duh! Because they had a giant Mining ship. If you had a giant mining ship you would drill holes in everything too, before you'd destory it with a black hole
That would assume a political process geared to represent the wishes of the people, where the only requirement to run and win office is a candidates popularity. Given the party political structure, the connections required by an individual and the personal finances needed for a run, I’m not sure the assumption holds.
ComputerGeek01 wrote:@Albatross: No not quite. To be in the special forces of either country you have to be pretty well messed up in the head, which is a differant sort of messed up then what you need to be in order to be a politician or a CEO.
We HAVE elected real war heroes in the past but that stopped probably a hundred years ago. Now a days declaring that you're a veteran is maybe a third or fourth tier consideration when people go to vote for you, below: How memorable is your campaign slogan? What would people think if I told them I voted for you? (and Honestly) How good does this person and their family look on TV?
Eisenhower was less than a hundred years ago, and in the last two presidential elections a candidate from each party ran a candidate whose strongest point of appeal was a distinguished military record. They both lost, but that was more to do with each of them running poor campaigns than anything else. There’s a reason he Bush admin targeted Kerry’s war record first and foremost – it was a selling point to the electorate.
Regular veterans aren’t that heavily represented in politics, but I think this has little to do with the electorate not voting for them, and everything to do with US politics, especially at the Federal level, being restricted to the wealthy, connected people.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
H3ct0r wrote:If I read the article correctly, he spoke of returning from Vietnam to no crowds, it's more than saying during instead of in.
If you read the full article you'll see he's got a long record of speaking vaguely on the subject, and not correcting people when they get the wrong impression.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2010/05/19 03:34:33
“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”
Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something.
sebster wrote:
That would assume a political process geared to represent the wishes of the people, where the only requirement to run and win office is a candidates popularity. Given the party political structure, the connections required by an individual and the personal finances needed for a run, I’m not sure the assumption holds.
Not necessarily, it only assumes complacency on behalf of the electorate, which is sufficient for the allocation of blame.
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
dogma wrote:The political class is a reflection of the electorate.
True dat...
Automatically Appended Next Post: His "misspeaking" is an epic fail on par with this guy:
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2010/05/19 04:03:12
DR:80+S(GT)G++M++B-I++Pwmhd05#+D+++A+++/sWD-R++T(Ot)DM+ How is it they live in such harmony - the billions of stars - when most men can barely go a minute without declaring war in their minds about someone they know.
- St. Thomas Aquinas
Warhammer 40K:
Alpha Legion - 15,000 pts For the Emperor!
WAAAGH! Skullhooka - 14,000 pts
Biel Tan Strikeforce - 11,000 pts
"The Eldar get no attention because the average male does not like confetti blasters, shimmer shields or sparkle lasers."
-Illeix
Alpha Legion - 15,000 pts For the Emperor!
WAAAGH! Skullhooka - 14,000 pts
Biel Tan Strikeforce - 11,000 pts
Catachan LIX "Lords Of Destruction" 
