Bluesman

No, it's hopeless. Nothing but darkness all around. Woe is me. We're beaten. I wish I were dead.

__________________
"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- George Orwell

Ray

Really?

Bluesman

Just as 'really' as that article.

God Almighty, I'm not sure how anybody could draw that many wrong conclusions in such a short piece of 'analysis'.

The lead sentence was as big a turd as I've ever seen printed:
Where the HELL did this yutz come up with THAT? Has he not seen the massive support for the President and his policies from the military? Did he NEVER go to a Bush appearance on a military base? (When he came here to MacDill, you'd have thought a rock star was gving out hundred dollar bills! My wife and I were there - on our day off, BY OUR OWN CHOICE - and I thought the hangar would collapse from the thunderous ovation.)

This guy is an IDIOT, and a lazy one at that.

I've been having fun being sarcastic to what has GOT to be Lull's biggest howler yet: morale is collapsing in the military, and we all hate Bush and Iraq and gosh, just - well - EVERYthing about our pore widdle lives in the military.

Hogwash.

We're winning, we know it, and we want to see it through.

Anon

"When George W. Bush was first elected president, civil-military relations in the United States were worse than they had ever been before."

Actually, i think the author is talking about the relations with the previous Klinton administration...and if that's the case, he'd be right.

Bluesman

I guess you could read it either way.

If one interprets it like that, the next sentence becomes the laffer:

Anon

Yes, THAT would be funny.

Bro, the military LOVES this CINC.

Of course, you know that cause you're living it.

Bluesman

Dead right. If you want to see a room full o' pissed-off uniforms, repeat some of the slanderous crap that the Democrats said about the President and his interactions with the troops.

It was universally LOVED when he flew onto the carrier. When he showed up in Baghdad for Thanksgiving Dinner. When he saluted the wounded Army captain at Walter Reed.

It is so obvious that he LOVES us, respects us, and values what we do. He obviously draws strength and energy from his time with the troops, and he's GOOD for morale - in stark contrast with his predecessor, whom most of us loathed in silence.

Like I said, you should've seen the reaction when he came here. THUNDEROUS applause, lots of people came in on their normal day off (and if you want to touch a military person where he's tender, mess with his free time), putting up with a broiling hot hangar and crazy-long lines at the security points, massive inconvenience to the base populace (nothing can move on base while his motorcade is on the 'windshield tour' of the base)...and he STILL brought the house down.

He never treats us with the contempt that just dripped from the Clintonistas. (Y'all ever hear the story of General MacCaffrey's experience with the transition staffer? How 'bout the military officers asigned to the White House that were pressed into service as waiters for a Rose Garden ceremony? Making the President's military aide do all manner of demeaning and humble 'gopher'-type tasks?) It would be unthinkable for Dubya to behave like that, or for his advisors to get away with disrespect toward the military.

Bottom line: we like him and he likes us. We trust him and he trusts us. We support him and he supports us. One may find any number of examples to the contrary, but I don't think President Bush had any concerns about winning the military vote; it was probably his single greatest percentage of any voting demographic. So saying that article is false is like calling the tsunami a bad day at the beach.

Anon

Agreed, 100%, on all counts.

I'd go to hell for that man if he asked, because i know he'd be on the first flight in after we secured it to shake our hands and say thanks.

Confed999

If I didn't believe the same, I wouldn't let him have my Niece.

__________________
No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

Bluesman

Give her my thanks and esteem. Tell her to do her best, because she will have to overcome the prejudice of some of her colleagues. The reputation of her sex is on the line ALL THE TIME, she is at Inspection Arms 24/7, and she is responsible for never giving ammunition to the people that would've denied her the opportunity to defend her country.

My best wishes go with her, and I hope she never has cause to regret her decision.