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How Donny "Earned His Spurs"

Taylor said:
We're months into the primary season and nobody has questioned him at all. This is because Democrats don't really care about Biden's asthma or Trump's bone spurs. If it were Trump with the asthma and Biden with the bone spurs, they'd be pretending to care about the asthma right now.
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I see. So Biden and I suppose every other candidate needs to answer your questions when YOU are ready to have the answers? You must be extremely important.

As a Commander in Chief? Yes. You don't?
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I'd prefer a veteran because few Americans actually have any concept of what military service is like yet defense is a massive part of our budget. On the other hand I'd have no problem with a true CO as president.

What's so funny about peace, love and understanding? ~ Elvis Costello
 
Simon W. Moon said:
Good.
At least your disrespect for our Armed Forces is out in the open.
Better to be open about it than a hypocrite they say.

Your commendable openess aside, it's a stupid conclusion to think that a half-assed dilettante politician knows more about any subject than experienced subject matter experts.
ymmv
Maybe you lack any specialized training or experience, idk.
But if you happen to have any specialized skills and experience, what are the odds that some politician who has never done what you have done knows more about your subject and skills than you do?
If you have never earned any skills, you may find it plausible.
If you have earned skills and knowledge, you will find the idea preposterous and silly.



Remember when Republicans respected the military and thought that draw downs should be a carefully thought out process handled by subject matter experts?


And since Trump has never made a single bad decision, we should trust his naivete over the generals' experience?
Or what exactly is you point?
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The ME is a quagmire and generals have made a lot of bad decisions to increase that quagmire....invading Iraq....worst military decision ever by leaders in military GOP and Dems.

I don't give 2 ****s about the warring factions in ME...the more troops we have in ME the more chance of another 9/11.

The reason given for those attacks was having our troops on foreign soil. I want all our troops home. including those in SA
 
washunut said:
Easy to say someone else should have risked his/her life in that hellhole for what exactly?
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He didn't just object and refuse to go like Muhammad Ali. He got his rich daddy to bribe a doctor to give him a fake medical excuse.

Muhammad Ali went to prison.

What makes it worse is that he then insults POWs like McCain by saying he like heroes who were not captured. Then he insults a great general.

He could at least show some respect for those who did risk their life and suffer.
 
Trump said:
The ME is a quagmire and generals have made a lot of bad decisions to increase that quagmire....invading Iraq....worst military decision ever by leaders in military GOP and Dems.

I don't give 2 ****s about the warring factions in ME...the more troops we have in ME the more chance of another 9/11.

The reason given for those attacks was having our troops on foreign soil. I want all our troops home. including those in SA
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Were you saying that when Obama pulled troops out of Iraq based on the SOFA?
 
SonOfDaedalus said:
Were you saying that when Obama pulled troops out of Iraq based on the SOFA?
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I have always been for pulling the troops out of everywhere...including Korea....Germany...Italy...EVERYWHERE
 
SonOfDaedalus said:
He didn't just object and refuse to go like Muhammad Ali. He got his rich daddy to bribe a doctor to give him a fake medical excuse.

Muhammad Ali went to prison.

What makes it worse is that he then insults POWs like McCain by saying he like heroes who were not captured. Then he insults a great general.

He could at least show some respect for those who did risk their life and suffer.
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McCain attacked first...Trump retaliated ...look it up
 
SonOfDaedalus said:
Trump is not a fan of Vietnam war POWs. This Trump cult is totally nuts.

Does anyone who worked with the man say good things about him? Even former execs from Trump Inc. Nobody respects this man except his cult.
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Never said Trump is a nice guy or that he doesn't say repugnant things.

What I did say is that many kids and their parents tried to find ways to stay out of that lousy war. If you think saying that makes me a cultist, I disagree.
 
Trump said:
I have always been for pulling the troops out of everywhere...including Korea....Germany...Italy...EVERYWHERE
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I have too. One thing I really like about Trump policy is that he doesn't want us spending gads of money being the policemen of the world.

Who knew the party of impeachment would be full of war mongering Democrats who condone such things?
 
ocean515 said:
Not everyone served in the Military. Obama didn't.

Is military service a requirement for holding office, or having a legitimate opinion?

A quick search show that of all the Democratic Party Presidential candidates, only Tulsi and Pete can claim military service.

Does that mean all the rest aren't qualified to hold office, or even have an opinion on military matters?
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Well if you served you would have an understanding of what an asshole move it is to cut and run and abandon your brother's in arms.

Trump is a coward who just took us back five years in progress in the ME...
 
washunut said:
Never said Trump is a nice guy or that he doesn't say repugnant things.

What I did say is that many kids and their parents tried to find ways to stay out of that lousy war. If you think saying that makes me a cultist, I disagree.
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Trust me, you're correct on this account.

It seems so hypocritical of the left to attempt to revise history for the way it was back in the Nam era just to go after Trump. Nothing wrong with using student deferments, or other deferments legally offered to kids to stay out of that Viet Nam war. Anyone who claims otherwise doesn't know what they're talking about.
 
GDViking said:
Well if you served you would have an understanding of what an asshole move it is to cut and run and abandon your brother's in arms.

Trump is a coward who just took us back five years in progress in the ME...
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with that logic we will never leave Afghanistan just like we've never left Korea Japan Germany Italy
 
GDViking said:
Well if you served you would have an understanding of what an asshole move it is to cut and run and abandon your brother's in arms.

Trump is a coward who just took us back five years in progress in the ME...
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Nope. You have an agenda. The above poster couldn't be more correct. Using the legal deferments offered by the government doesn't make someone an asshole.

Back in the day, my brother upon completing college had a low draft number, so he went onto grad school.
He used the tools of the system, a student deferment. In probability, his choice to do so kept him out of harm's way. After he completed his masters, he enlisted in the Marine reserves, and went in as an officer, but the war was winding down so he didn't get called to serve in Nam.

I'd say he made the right choice for himself. Same story for my husband... they didn't cut and run, nor did they abandon their brothers in arms. Neither did President Trump.

Time for you to face facts.
 
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GDViking said:
Well if you served you would have an understanding of what an asshole move it is to cut and run and abandon your brother's in arms.

Trump is a coward who just took us back five years in progress in the ME...
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Thanks for sharing your opinion.

Not sure how that touches on what I wrote. Whatever.
 
SonOfDaedalus said:
Trump is not a fan of Vietnam war POWs. This Trump cult is totally nuts.

Does anyone who worked with the man say good things about him? Even former execs from Trump Inc. Nobody respects this man except his cult.
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Mostly because he owes them money...
 
ocean515 said:
Thanks for sharing your opinion.

Not sure how that touches on what I wrote. Whatever.
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I have noticed a lot goes over your head.

You asked why military experience was relevant to a leadership position...
 
ocean515 said:
So military experience is a core requirement for the Office of President of the United States?

The Democrats have a problem in 2020, if that is the case.
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I wouldn't say it's code, I did vote for Obama over McCain only because of that ditz Palin.

But it is definitely a plus.

The only honorable Republican president in my lifetime was bush senior.

And you have to completely ignore all the illegal **** he did in the CIA to accept that...
 
Trump said:
Looking at history of our generals decisions.....yes he does. Trump is trying to get troops out.

Remember when Dems thought US troops on foreign soil increased hostility?

most would agree ME is a quagmire. generals made a lot of bad decisions..including Colin Powell
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Colin Powell was a political general.

Powell for instance was never a division commander yet he got 4 stars inside of 10 years working in the White House and Pentagon. In his retirement Powell became secretary of state who presented the U.S. Iraq military fiasco to the UN Security Council and the American people.

James Mattis is a general's general. Mattis got his stars in the field defeating the enemy in battles. Mattis became secretary of defense and the warrior-scholar is a distinguished fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford.

The difference in generals is huge and you need to acquaint yourself with it.

Schwarzkofp for instance was the general's general of Gulf War I. There were others such as McCaffrey who devised the famous Left Hook 150 mile wide maneuver of several corps that blew through the dug in Iraqi Republican Guard divisions and that invoked Caesar's name.

Gen. Shinseki who was Army chief of staff in 2002 testified to Congress 500K troops would be necessary to prevail in Iraq so Rumsfeld moved him to a new office in a closet for not playing politics with the numbers. Gen. Franks who graduated the same high school as Laura Bush executed a superb 3-week invasion of Iraq yet it all fell apart beginning right afterward, as Shinseki said it would.

McMaster and Kelly muddled their way through White House positions abysmally. An important point is that while Kelly was retired McMaster remained on active duty in the WH the same as Powell had done. This was against all advice and it cost McMaster as he had to retire from the Army when he bailed from the WH thus precluding his 4th star and his once leading position to become Army vice chief of staff. Powell was however the affirmative political general in that he always landed on his feet.

These are instances of why we need general's generals and not political generals. Trump's problem is that he just doesn't like generals unless they grovel before him. Nor do generals like Trump. We see it in high visibility now with Trump and Mattis. Trump is screwed on this one because Mattis will provide the way to take Trump apart each time Trump pulls the trigger of his verbal flamethrower.
 
Trump said:
Looking at history of our generals decisions.....yes he does. Trump is trying to get troops out.

Remember when Dems thought US troops on foreign soil increased hostility?

most would agree ME is a quagmire. generals made a lot of bad decisions..including Colin Powell
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He didn't remove them, he move them to the Saudi Iranian border.

That is a very long way from evacuating the middle east!!!
 
Risky Thicket said:
I see. So Biden and I suppose every other candidate needs to answer your questions when YOU are ready to have the answers? You must be extremely important.
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This doesn't have anything to do with what I said - which was stating the simple truth that if Democrats truly cared about "draft dodging" the way they pretend to with Trump, they'd be asking the same question with respect to Biden.

I'd prefer a veteran because few Americans actually have any concept of what military service is like yet defense is a massive part of our budget. On the other hand I'd have no problem with a true CO as president.

What's so funny about peace, love and understanding? ~ Elvis Costello
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Yes, all else being equal, so would I. But there are other characteristics that are far more important. I would argue that Kerry's service worked against him because he leaned way to hard on that as a qualifier. His "I'm John Kerry, and I'm reporting for duty!" line at the Democratic convention was asinine and I vaguely remember him riding in on boat as he symbolically took the harbor or somesuch nonsense. Way too over the top like the "John F. Kerry" crap.

gal.5.pool.jpg​
 
Tangmo said:
Colin Powell was a political general.

Powell for instance was never a division commander yet he got 4 stars inside of 10 years working in the White House and Pentagon. In his retirement Powell became secretary of state who presented the U.S. Iraq military fiasco to the UN Security Council and the American people.

James Mattis is a general's general. Mattis got his stars in the field defeating the enemy in battles. Mattis became secretary of defense and the warrior-scholar is a distinguished fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford.

The difference in generals is huge and you need to acquaint yourself with it.

Schwarzkofp for instance was the general's general of Gulf War I. There were others such as McCaffrey who devised the famous Left Hook 150 mile wide maneuver of several corps that blew through the dug in Iraqi Republican Guard divisions and that invoked Caesar's name.

Gen. Shinseki who was Army chief of staff in 2002 testified to Congress 500K troops would be necessary to prevail in Iraq so Rumsfeld moved him to a new office in a closet for not playing politics with the numbers. Gen. Franks who graduated the same high school as Laura Bush executed a superb 3-week invasion of Iraq yet it all fell apart beginning right afterward, as Shinseki said it would.

McMaster and Kelly muddled their way through White House positions abysmally. An important point is that while Kelly was retired McMaster remained on active duty in the WH the same as Powell had done. This was against all advice and it cost McMaster as he had to retire from the Army when he bailed from the WH thus precluding his 4th star and his once leading position to become Army vice chief of staff. Powell was however the affirmative political general in that he always landed on his feet.

These are instances of why we need general's generals and not political generals. Trump's problem is that he just doesn't like generals unless they grovel before him. Nor do generals like Trump. We see it in high visibility now with Trump and Mattis. Trump is screwed on this one because Mattis will provide the way to take Trump apart each time Trump pulls the trigger of his verbal flamethrower.
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Trump is the boss...elected by the people and accountable to the voters. ran on getting out of wars not staying in them

generals are part of the military industrial complex.

ME is quagmire always will be and we can't fix stupid
 
Mashmont said:
Notice military service only matters when a Democrat has served and the republican didn't. 1992- Bush highly decorated. Clinton was a draft dodger--Not an issue. 1996- Dole highly decorated. Clinton was a draft dodger...Not an issue. 2000 - Gore two year enlistment. Bush National Guard-- BIG issue. 2004 Kerry phony war hero Bush-National Guard. HUGE issue. 2008 McCain decorated POW 0bummer didn't serve. Not an issue.

See how this works? If the gay guy Buttigeig wins the nomination, guess what will be the issue in 2020. That's right. MIlitary service.
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Kerry is not a phony war hero.
 
GDViking said:
He didn't remove them, he move them to the Saudi Iranian border.

That is a very long way from evacuating the middle east!!!
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I've said it more than once on DB...bad move bring all our troops home.
 
Trump said:
The ME is a quagmire and generals have made a lot of bad decisions to increase that quagmire....invading Iraq....worst military decision ever by leaders in military GOP and Dems.
Click to expand...
fwiw, Starting that war was not a military decision.
That was a political decision made by politicians.

Trump said:
I don't give 2 ****s about the warring factions in ME...the more troops we have in ME the more chance of another 9/11.
The reason given for those attacks was having our troops on foreign soil. I want all our troops home. including those in SA
Click to expand...
I'm unsure how much faith to place in what those folks told us about why they chose to orchestrate those attacks.

However, I would also like to see our presence in the ME disappear.
I think the demise of the world's dependence on petro products is inevitable.
I think we should work to accelerate that demise.
AfaIk, the petroleum products is the main reason for the world's continued interests in the ME.
AfaIK, the significance of the ME is due to sitting where it does between continents and the petroleum.
It seems to a layman, that our aircraft carriers and our international military bases and our international allies make the geographic significance of the ME secondary or tertiary. It's nice, but not a necessity.
It seems like the ME is an expensive mess which benefits private citizens much more than our country as a whole.

All that said, not all plans for achieving our goal of drawing down our presence there are equal.
 
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