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The military leaders are threatening to resign sm

Posted By: LVMT on 2007-02-25
In Reply to: Dissension in the Ranks - Teddy

From today's London Times:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1434540.ece


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Bush, military leaders let bin Laden escape

CIA operative says Bush, military leaders let bin Laden escape


Capitol Hill Blue | January 2 2006


The top CIA counterterrorism officer who tracked Osama bin Laden through the mountains of Afghanistan says the United States could have captured the terrorist leader if President George W. Bush and the American military had devoted the necessary resources to the hunt and capture.


In addition, says Gary Bernsten, a decorated espionage officer, the post-Cold War downturn in recruitment and attention to espionage has left a crippled spy agency that will need a decade or more to build up its clandestine service for the U.S. war on terrorism.


Berntsen led a paramilitary unit code-named Jawbreaker in the war that toppled the Taliban after the September 11 attacks.


He says his Jawbreaker team tracked bin Laden to Afghanistan's Tora Bora region late in 2001 and could have killed or captured the al Qaeda leader there if military officials had agreed to his request for an additional force of about 800 U.S. troops. But the administration was already gearing up for war with Iraq and troops were never sent, allowing bin Laden was able to escape.


His account contradicts public statements by Bush and former Gen. Tommy Franks, who maintained that U.S. officials were never sure bin Laden was at Tora Bora.


Berntsen says CIA Director Porter Goss faces an uphill battle to fill the agency's senior ranks with aggressive, seasoned operatives.


He's probably more aggressive than most of the senior officers in the clandestine service. So I think he's having to pull them along a bit, Berntsen said in an interview.


(Goss) is trying to improve the situation. But it's going to be tough. The rebuilding is going to take years. A decade, at least, he told Reuters late last week.


The CIA, widely criticized for lapses involving prewar Iraq and the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, has seen its clandestine staff dwindle to less than 5,000 employees from a peak of over 7,000, intelligence sources say.


Experts blame a post-Cold War downturn in recruitment for a current lack of seasoned clandestine operatives that has been exacerbated by a rush to lucrative private sector jobs in recent years.


We have a smaller number of really, really aggressive, creative members of our leadership in the senior service, said Berntsen, who recently published a book about his exploits in the war on terrorism, titled Jawbreaker (Crown Publishing).


Former CIA Director George Tenet told the September 11 commission in April 2004 the CIA would need five years to produce a clandestine service fully capable of tackling the terrorism threat.


Goss later said at his September 2004 Senate confirmation hearings that rebuilding the clandestine operation would be a long build-out, a long haul.


President George W. Bush issued an order last year that called for a 50 percent increase in CIA clandestine officers and analysts to be completed as soon as feasible.


The CIA is moving aggressively to rebuild and enhance its capabilities across the board, CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said.


But intelligence sources say the rebuilding process has been complicated by disaffection for Goss' leadership within the clandestine service.


Years of double-digit growth in federal spending on intelligence that followed the September 11 attacks may also be about to end.


John Negroponte, the new U.S. director of national intelligence, has endorsed an intelligence budget for fiscal year 2007 that is relatively flat, with current spending levels believed to total about $44 billion for the 15-agency intelligence community. Fiscal 2007 begins in October.


Berntsen, 48, who also led the CIA Counterterrorism Center's response to the 1998 al Qaeda bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, sued the CIA in July, accusing the spy agency of trying to stop him from publishing his book.


Gimigliano said the CIA reviewed Bernsten's book before publication only to ensure that it contained no classified information.


In the book, Berntsen says his Jawbreaker team tracked bin Laden to Afghanistan's Tora Bora region late in 2001 and could have killed or captured the al Qaeda leader there if military officials had agreed to his request for an additional force of about 800 U.S. troops.


But the troops were never sent and bin Laden was able to escape, he said.


His account contradicts public statements by Bush and former Gen. Tommy Franks, who maintained that U.S. officials were never sure bin Laden was at Tora Bora.


Which leaders? I didn't know that leaders of ...sm
any other countries had endorsed either candidate.
Bush's BFF Blair says he will resign sm
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/britains-blair-says-hell-resign-within-a/2006090609330990008?ncid=NWS0001000000000
2 Fox producers working in Jordan resign due to unbalanced reporting.sm

Earlier this week, two producers working for Fox News in Amman Jordan resigned in protest. In their resignation letter, Serene Sabbagh and Jomana Karadsheh wrote We can no longer work with a news organization that claims to be fair and balanced when you are so far from that. Not only are you an instrument of the Bush White House, and Israeli propaganda, you are war mongers with no sense of decency, nor professionalism.”


http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/03/1351216


are you threatening me?
X
Are you the one who has been threatening him and and his family?

Well then quit threatening to leave
because you just keep getting my hopes up.

Stay or leave I really don't care, because the sane people who are the MAJORITY in this country will protect us all from the likes of you...a hate filled leftist.


What's this business about a Chinese general threatening to use nukes against the US if necessary,sm

over the treaty with Taiwan?  This was reported on Fox News this week.


Anyone been following this?


Teen charged with charged with one felony count of terroristic threatening...see article

 


Teen charged with threats

Middle-school boy e-mailed theats to officials


FLORENCE - A 13-year-old Ockerman Middle School student has been charged with threatening George W. Bush, just days before the president is set to throw the first pitch for Reds Opening Day in Cincinnati.


The teen - described by a police investigator as a student of presidential politics - remained in the custody of his mother Tuesday afternoon at their Florence home.


He is charged with one felony count of terroristic threatening.


He is extremely well versed in the history of President Bush, Florence police Capt. Linny Cloyd said. In talking with him, you can tell this is a hot-button topic with him.


Cloyd launched an investigation after Florence Mayor Diane Whalen received an anonymous threatening e-mail. Cloyd and Whalen refused to give a more detailed account of the threats or release the e-mails.


As investigators worked to track down the sender, a second e-mail arrived in Whalen's city e-mail account. That e-mail threatened Bush and was also sent to the White House, Vice President Cheney and the Pentagon.


If the teen was just looking for attention, he certainly got it, said Whalen, who doesn't know the teen or his parents. I think the key thing here is you can't ignore any threat in these times.


Cloyd went to the teen's home Monday evening with agents from the FBI and Secret Service.


He is a student of the present administration, Cloyd said. He described the teen as in tune with current political affairs.


We asked him what brought him to this point, Cloyd said. He didn't have an answer he was willing to share with us.


Cloyd said the teen's parents consented to a search of the home, and investigators did not find anything, such as weapons, that led them to believe the teen was intending to carry out the threats.


Investigators seized a computer from the home. Cloyd said additional charges might hinge on what's recovered from the hard drive.


Mom was shocked, Cloyd said. That would lead me to believe, if the parents are politically active, it isn't in the same manner at all. He said the teen acted alone, and there is no evidence anyone else is involved


Investigators said the teen will appear in Boone Family Court within two weeks.


E-mail jhannah@nky.com


yep, no wonder world leaders
supposedly want Obama in office -- he is in their back pockets.
praying for our leaders
we are admonished to pray for our leaders ...sort of a political love your enemies :-) please do not forget to pray for and support our third party candidates as well - brave men and women have not shed blood for this country so that it can be "ruled" by one party masquerading as two. we are in a homeland security crisis - our own Wall Street is committing domestic financial terrorism, exactly what we were warned that foreign terrorists would do. why are we being protected from our "enemies, both foreign and domestic"?? the corruption of our financial stability is treasonous, and the names of the traitors are known.
Foreign leaders

I've seen a lot of the video clips and pictures also.  You know there is so much hoopla about everything in politics, it's really hard for me to believe anything I see much less anything I hear.  I think we've sunk so low in our politics that the one who can throw the most mud is the one who will win. I don't care about Obama's association of 40 years ago.  I do care about his recent so-called church affiliation.  I do not care if Palin fired the guy for not firing her ex-brother-in-law (of course she did).  I do care that all she can talk about is how "bad" Obama is and how "saintly" John McCain is.  Pull the string and see what Sarah says.


The common sense side of me tells me that most of the garbage we hear from both campaigns is stuff dug up by the other side trying to discredit the other candidate. 


A MOST aggravating thing happened this morning.......a REPUBLICAN acquaintance stopped by to see us this morning.  The unexpected call was to campaign for John McCain.  He got ANGRY when I told him I wasn't voting for either candidate. Pretty much called me a redneck hillbilly for not agreeing with him.  LOL


VOTING WITH A WRITE IN VOTE FOR LOU DOBBS.


Being from hurricane country, our leaders do not
nm
Since when does talking with other country leaders
Better brush up on your reading skills.
and when she sits across from world leaders?
everyone is supposed to what, bow down to her and protect her from the big bad men? I smell Hillary here. gotta see that one when she gets sent overseas to talk to some of these foreign leaders like Cheney does now.

I am open right now to vote either way; however, I was thinking of McCain actually until SP came on-board.

she is too scattered, spreads herself too thin, too many different directions, looks like she is some wort of a whirlwind all the time and the interview she looked like a deer caught in headlights, hate to say it she looked stumped.

why do we want someone in office who needs to be protected, I just don't get it.
When leaders get messiah complexes...sm

When Leaders Get Messiah Complexes

Thursday, October 23, 2008

By Col. Oliver North


Washington, D.C. — On Wednesday this week, I was an unwilling eyewitness to a dramatic political event and it made me wonder where we are headed as a nation. More on that in a moment. First, a little background.

There is no doubt that leadership matters. The study of human history provides evidence that empires — even entire civilizations — rise and fall on the ideas, virtues and skills of great leaders. From Mesopotamia to the European continent, those who chronicled the triumphs and failures of great leaders in the Western world measured success based on military prowess and territory conquered. Herodotus detailed how the Persian Empire, built by Darius, eventually succumbed to Alexander the Great in the 5th Century B.C. That vision of leadership began to change in what is now Israel.

Old Testament prophets described a Messiah — in Aramaic, měshīhā — a leader — a savior who would deliver the Jewish people from their travails. For more than two millennia, Christians have believed that the Messiah is Jesus of Nazareth and that at the appointed time he will come again in triumph. Unfortunately, in the modern era there have many other leaders who perceived that they had messianic qualities that only they could provide.

Napoleon, in the aftermath of the bloody French Revolution, described himself as "essential" to the future of France – and was appointed dictator. The aftermath was a disaster for his countrymen and much of Europe.

Adolf Hitler was elected by the German people and then given absolute power because he claimed that only he could "preserve the Aryan race." The result was a global conflagration that resulted in the death of more than 25 million.

More recently — from Idi Amin in Uganda, to Pol Pot in Cambodia, Kim Jung IL in Korea and Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe — all have "led" their people to perdition after describing themselves as the only men capable of leading their populations through difficult times. Yet, all their people were ultimately worse off.

It is notable that until the 20th century, the American people managed to avoid selecting leaders who held messianic self-esteem. Neither George Washington nor Abraham Lincoln — arguably two of this nation's greatest leaders through the toughest crises in our history — described themselves in such terms. In fact, the record of what they said and wrote is replete with humility.

Not until Franklin Delano Roosevelt decided in 1940 that our country needed his "seasoned leadership," did any U.S. president even contemplate a third successive term in office. While FDR rose to become a great wartime leader, there is also little doubt that he amassed far more power in the office of chief executive than any of his predecessors. Roosevelt's authority was so great that his successor, Harry Truman, the modest man from Missouri, saw fit to endorse a constitutional amendment limiting presidents to two terms.

Given America's history of limiting executive power in government — if by no other means than term limits — it is interesting to note how much hope some people now vest in such office. And it's not just the presidency.

New York City, where FOX News Channel is headquartered, has a public law limiting the mayor to a tenure of two terms. Despite this ordinance, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, citing the current "economic crisis," insists that he should have a third stint in office. Though he was once a believer in term limits he now claims that, "Given the enormous challenges we face, I don't want to walk away from a city I feel I can help lead through these tough times."

That's messianic thinking. But apparently the Big Apple isn't the only place it's happening.

During Wednesday afternoon's rush hour, I was making my way home on the "Dulles Greenway" when a phalanx of police motorcycles and cruisers stopped all traffic and ordered us to pull our vehicles off the highway onto the shoulders. Over a loudspeaker we were told to stay put until the Obama campaign convoy passed, on the way to a rally in Leesburg, Virginia.

Instantly, hundreds of people were out of their cars. Directly in front of me a group of supporters — evident by their bumper-stickers — jumped out with cameras, cell-phones and banners. They began chanting: "The Messiah! He's coming! Obama is coming!" The shouting only intensified as the candidate and his entourage — motorcycles, police cars, black Secret Service Suburbans and busses — roared past us.

What I found so disturbing was seeing so many of my countrymen who apparently think — or believe — or hope — that the next president of the United States will save us from ourselves. Senator Obama has said we can not, "Wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for." He would do well to remember that unfulfilled expectations are the greatest cause of anger on the planet. That's true whether it is between a husband and wife, students and teacher, employers and employees, or leaders and the led. He might also recall that humility is a virtue that has distinguished our greatest leaders.

What all this means to the future of this republic, I don't know. I'm a military historian, not a prophet. But I do know the first name of the Messiah. It's not Mike. And it isn't Barack, either.


Oliver North hosts War Stories on FOX News Channel and is the author of the new best-seller, "American Heroes: In The War Against Radical Islam." He has just returned from assignment in Afghanistan.



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,443829,00.html
No other leaders of other countries bowed
At least none that I'm finding. I could be wrong but I've been searching to see if other world leaders like France, PM Gordon Brown, Swiss, or any other leaders that attended the summit if they bowed. I'm not finding anything. Only the One.
You can't talk to the Iranian leaders

They are the cleric and they are the ones who rule the country. They rule with an iron fist and by the power of Islam. The president of their country is only a puppet just like in the U.S.


We should NOT get involved unless asked, which probably will not happen. Sure, there are some in this country who thinks we should and it's both sides who have that opinion, not just the pubs. President A will be the winner, you can be sure of that, since they are only doing recounts on certain areas of the country (probably those that voted for President A.


Praying, trusting and respecting leaders?
I'm curious as to why one would consider this a viable option for change. Maybe I'm taking the remark out of context? No one just "deserves" respect. You earn that. It is not an entitlement. Neither is trust. Nothing is really, except for basic human decency. An example would be our soldiers. They earn their respect....most of them anyway. Our leaders are another story entirely.

Kicking and screaming and ranting is part of dissent, not only a right, but a responsibility. Folks need to have a look at our Declaration of Independence. Seriously.
Let our leaders hear us loud and clear
Reading all the posts it seems like everyone agrees on the same thing.  None of us likes either candidate.  What I'm reading a lot of is "I'm democrat so I'm voting democrat no matter what" or "I'm republican so I'm voting republican no matter what".  The country has developed over the years into believing our vote counts.  Whether you want to believe it or not, it doesn't.  The country has been run not by who the people want elected but by big government and big corporations.  People who have thousands and thousands of dollars to spend (if not millions) donate that money to ensure who they want to be elected is elected.  Also, do some research on the "mysterious group" that meets each year yet the public is not allowed to be in those meetings and there are armed guards enforcing that.  Those are the people who decide the fate of the country.  Just the way it is and I accepted it a long time ago.  If Americans truly did have a say in what goes on with our politicians we would see more and more of them fired, but they aren't.  They still remain in office.  I say let our leaders hear us loud and clear.  We are against both candidates.  If voting dropped or nobody went to vote I think they'd get the message loud and clear that we are disatisfied.
Obama will do just fine with hostile leaders.
Actually, understanding Islamic principles will serve the man of his intelligence quite well when up against either Ahmadinejad or with Israel. Obama knows exactly what to do with facing hostility. He certainly has faced enough of it on the home front here during the filthy word wars waged by the media and in fanatic chat room posts and has demonstrated the capacity to stoop to those low levels with the best of them. However, beyond the election, he will have not use for such petty, meaningless tactics and strategies. He is calm, collected and calculated in his responses, or lack there of, and has an uncanny ability to be conciliatory without having to compromise his basic values or objectives. Will be a breath of fresh air to see somebody at least try an approach that is not designed to promote US imperialism, world economic domination or the war of the civilizations.

Second paragraph of your post. It's all in the perspective, point-of-view and public perceptions. Being a good democrat does not necessarily make him a Washington insider, despite his long career. It only means that he knows his way around there and that his constituents continue to send him back there election, after election after election. Somebody somewhere must like him a lot. No further comment on your personal opinion. Sour grapes over an excellent pick. Let's see if McCain can show as much good judgment.

Why do all of a sudden want to hold leaders accountable?
wHat about Bill Clinton committing felony perjury? Having sex with an intern in the oval office? Where was the personal responsibility and who is holding him accountable? WHen are you going to drop the double standard and apply the same set of rules to everyone?
How do Arab leaders make their speeches? (sm)
If you could post a link to a video it would be appreciated.  I really would like to see what you're talking about here.
We're pussycats compared to some foreign leaders. sm
What's she going to do with them, and anyone else she can't just bully and fire?
Palin meets her first world leaders in New York. sm
Palin meets her first world leaders in New York

By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer Tue Sep 23, 7:30 PM ET

NEW YORK - Sarah Palin met her first world leaders Tuesday. It was a tightly controlled crash course on foreign policy for the Republican vice presidential candidate, the mayor-turned-governor who has been outside North America just once.
ADVERTISEMENT

Palin sat down with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The conversations were private, the pictures public, meant to build her resume for voters concerned about her lack of experience in world affairs.

"I found her quite a capable woman," Karzai said later. "She asked the right questions on Afghanistan."

The self-described "hockey mom" also asked former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for insights on Georgia, Russia, China and Iran, and she'll see more leaders Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings.

It was shuttle diplomacy, New York-style. At several points, Palin's motorcade got stuck in traffic and New Yorkers, unimpressed with the flashing lights, sirens and police officers in her group, simply walked between the vehicles to get across the street. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, three hours behind Palin in seeing Karzai, found herself overshadowed for a day as she made her own rounds.

John McCain's presidential campaign has shielded the first-term Alaska governor for weeks from spontaneous questions from voters and reporters, and went to striking lengths Tuesday to maintain that distance as Palin made her diplomatic debut.

The GOP campaign, applying more restrictive rules on access than even President Bush uses in the White House, banned reporters from the start of the meetings, so as not to risk a question being asked of Palin.

McCain aides relented after news organizations objected and CNN, which was supplying TV footage to a variety of networks, decided to pull its TV crew from Palin's meeting with Karzai.

Overheard: small talk.

Palin is studying foreign policy ahead of her one debate with Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, a senator with deep credentials on that front. More broadly, the Republican ticket is trying to counter questions exploited by Democrats about her qualifications to serve as vice president and step into the presidency at a moment's notice if necessary.

There was no chance of putting such questions to rest with photo opportunities Tuesday.

But Palin, who got a passport only last year, no longer has to own up to a blank slate when asked about heads of state she has met.

She also got her first intelligence briefing Tuesday, over two hours.

Karzai generated light laughter when he told an audience at the Asia Society that, in addition to Rice and Norway's prime minister, he had seen Palin on Tuesday. Thomas Freston, a member of the society's board, drew loud applause and laughter when he responded: "You're probably the only person in the room who's met Gov. Palin."

Randy Scheunemann, a longtime McCain aide on foreign policy, was close at hand during her meetings. Another adviser, Stephen Biegun, also accompanied her at each meeting and briefed reporters later.

Karzai and Palin discussed security problems in Afghanistan, including cross-border insurgencies. They also talked about the need for more U.S. troops there, which both McCain and Democrat Barack Obama say is necessary, Biegun said.

With both Karzai and Uribe, Palin discussed the importance of energy security. With Uribe, the conversation also touched on the proposed U.S.-Colombian Free Trade Agreement that McCain and Palin support but Obama opposes.

Her meeting with Kissinger, which lasted more than an hour, covered a range of national security and foreign policy issues, specifically Russia, Iran and China, Biegun said.

"Rather than make specific policy prescriptions, she was largely listening, having an exchange of views and also very interested in forming a relationship with people she met with today," he said.

Before Palin's first meeting of the day, with Karzai, campaign aides had told reporters in the press pool that followed her they could not go into meetings where photographers and a video camera crew would be let in for pictures.

Bush and members of Congress routinely allow reporters to attend photo opportunities along with photographers, and the reporters sometimes are able to ask questions at the beginning of private meetings before they are ushered out.

At least two news organizations, including AP, objected to the exclusion of reporters and were told that the decision to have a "photo spray" only was not subject to discussion. After aides backed away from that, campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said the reporter ban was a "miscommunication."

On Wednesday, McCain and Palin are expected to meet jointly with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko. Palin is then to meet separately with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Palin, 44, has been to neighboring Canada and to Mexico, and made a brief trip to Kuwait and Germany to see Alaska National Guard troops.



http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDU4OTdhMTFhN2YwZTY3MmMzNGFhYzc3ODdhOTA0ZjQ=
GOP blanket bombs on Chicago's dem civic leaders

Right-wing rants that cite email sources are suspect at best.  Google any one heading included in yesterday's post and discover links to the "common sense" of the Getting' After Left show and a barrage of right-wing blogs.  Surprise, surprise. 


BODY COUNT 


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cities_by_crime_rate


Despite being the 3rd largest US city, Chicago's murder rate ranks 20th behind much less populous cities Baltimore MD, Newark NJ, St. Louis MO, Oakland CA, Cincinnati OH, Buffalo NY, Kansas City MO, Miami FL, Pittsburg PA,  and Cleveland OH.  Guess who is ranked #21 (same general category)?  That would be McC's hometown of Phoenix Arizona.  Chicago has experienced an overall decline in crime since the 1990s.


http://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/


You seem to be equating Iraq fatalities to murder.  I agree.  On that Iraq body count figure, since you are talking civilians in Chicago, it is only fair to include those folks in your first six months of 2008 figure.  In 2008, the average daily violent occupation-related loss of life via suicide attacks, vehicle bombs, gunfire and executions is 27 x 182.5 days in first six months = 4,927 + you 221 = 5148.  While we are at it, may as well throw out that total civilian body count in Iraq, the very most conservative documented count being 88,373, or World Trade Center x30.   


"COMBAT ZONE"


Naturally, no reliable data is available on this claim, it being a subjective pronouncement that seeks to pontificate.


STATE PENSION FUND


Here we see the smear leap from the Chicago to the state level...an apples to oranges, smoke and mirrors maneuver the GOP attack machine thought they might slip by unattentive readers.  OK.  Let's go there.  As recently as February of this year, we find the following:  http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/02/25/daily29.html


Center on Budget and Policy and Priorities:  McCain's red state:  Arizona Budget Deficit Worst in the Country.  Follow link for all the fascinating details.     


http://www.cbpp.org/1-15-08sfp.htm  Info updated 08/05/08


For starters, state budget deficits are ranked in terms of shortfall percentages.


In the US, 29 states face budget shortfalls totaling 48 billion in 2009.  Notice how similar this 29-state total is to the amount in the GOP smear that claimed a $44 BILLION dollar deficit IL pension plan funds.   Arizona's shortfall percentage = 17.8%, now in second place behind the nations most populous state, California.  Illinois' shortfall percentage = 6.6%, making AZ's budget deficit nearly 3 times that of IL.  So, if we hold dems (and by pub logic, O) responsible for Chicago, then who, pray tell is responsible for Arizona, the political culture from which JM comes from? 


COUNTY SALES TAX


To suggest that any party's local (especially municipal or county) tax schemes would be reproduced on a national level is downright ridiculous.  Tax structures are entirely different and wildly varied from state to state.  Speaking of states, I came across this link http://www.fairtaxation.org/facts/sales_tax_rank.php which shows the Arizona sales tax rate ranks higher (#10) at 7.8% than Illinois at 7.6%. 


CHICAGO SCHOOLS WORST IN NATION


I bit hard to address this second subjective pronouncement that seeks to pontificate.  In terms of WHAT exactly is it the worst?  They are certainly not an uneducated bunch of folks: 


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a80Zfbu_.k4g&refer=us  University of Chicago has produced 82 Nobel prize winners and 10 Nobel Prize winners in economics, more than any university in the US.  The John Bates Clark Medal, bestowed every two years, recognizes the nation's most outstanding economist under 40.  U of Chicago has produced more than any other US institution, 6 out of the 31 recipients.  Seems like those Chicago economists are sort of, well....exceptional. 


I really could go on and on about Chicago's booming economy but I am out of time here.  Maybe later then. 


 


High expectations for leaders...nah, Clinton pretty much blew that. No pun intended. nm

we should destroy any country that has missile parades or giant posters of their leaders?

Glenn Beck: I Think We Should Destroy Any Country That Has Missile Parades Or Giant Posters Of Their Leaders














The statement was creepy enough but the look of glee on Glenn Beck's face as he joked about destroying Iran, the country whose traditions he didn't like, was extremely troubling for a national news host. By the way, despite his enthusiasm for having other people engage in mass killing, I could not find any evidence that Mr. Destroyer ever put his own flabby fanny on the line for his country.


In a 2/10/09 discussion with author Joel C. Rosenberg, Beck sounded almost giddy as he said, "I think we should destroy any country that has missile parades or giant posters of their leaders. They never turn out like good friends. You know that? And (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) looks a little too spooky."


Rosenberg replied, "I don't want to destroy the country but I would like to remove the leadership."


"I could go either way," Beck said, with all the gravity of someone deciding whether he wanted red or white wine. "How irresponsible!" he joked.


We ARE the military.
You forget that when it comes time to put themselves on the line, you have just as many Democrats stepping forward as you do Republicans - and many more Dems go on for careers in public service. You think you own the Army? The Marines? The Navy? Well you're wrong. The military is a BIPARTISAN operation. Your problem in understanding this is that you refuse to listen to anything BUT soldiers confirming your tunnel vision. I watched the C-Span coverage of Saturday's march AND the C-Span coverage of Sunday's pro-war attempt. I listen to what all veterans have to say, not just a few that I can brand as like me. You won't have any kind of a realistic view of the whole picture until you consider BOTH sides of the issue.
I was in the military all through the 80s.
Ex-husband is a 100 percent disabled Vietnam vet with PTSD. Currently 1 son in the Army on his 2nd enlistment (in Korea even as we speak, as well as serving in both Afghanistan and Iraq). My other son and daughter-in-law also served in the Army.


The military is not the only way
su
The military could get him...yes
I can't say enough good about our young warriers but they can only follow orders.
How did they get in the military? sm
They ENLISTED. The draft was abolished in 1973 after the end of the Viet Nam War.
If our military can
be waterboarded during training, I think I could handle it for 50K.  That would be a nice payment on my house.  Where do I sign up?
I say let the military do what they have sm
to do to get the information they need. If the media would stay away from the military, battlefields, etc things would not drag on as long as they have. Our soldiers are limited as to what they can do or say to these bunch of terrorist because there is a camera or a microphone, it seems, recording their every word or every move they make.

The enemies of this country do not care what they do to us, but we are suppose to "molly-coddle" the terrorists and for goodness sake, don't "torture" them. Out guys go through more "torture" in boot camp than we are allowed to give to the worst terrorist when trying to get information from them.

Personally I say get the media, the papers, the TV, etc out of the battlefield. Let our soldiers do what they need to do and get back home! I wonder what the soldiers who found Sadam Hussein would have done if the media had not been breathing down their necks? If I had my guess, they probably would have blown him away and stuffed him back in the hole saving a whole lot of hassle and money.
love the military
that is why I want them home.  Cant fight a war without military, so no military, no war.  No immoral, illegal war.  Bush will have to finally face up to facts that he lied about this war, this war is wrong.  Let him send his daughters or let him finish his military duty.  No we are not going to send our sons and daughters to your illegal war, Bush..
The military is not a kid club. sm

Drinking age and fighting is an old and worn out reasoning. Besides, they get all the alcohol they want.   What are we supposed to do with men and women who choose to join the military.  Put it in writing that they will never have to go to war?  And where was the left's outrage when Clinton sent men and women into his little skirmishes.  I never heard a word then.  Never saw one leftie holding a sign that said NO MORE MOGADISHUs.  In fact, the left hardly even mentions it.  Why is that exactly?


I never said all the military supports the war.
That is a flat out untruth. 
How can one's child being in the military sm

equate to a point for foreign affairs experience?  Please explain that to me.  I know a lot of people whose children are in the military, in the war zone and not one of them would say they have foreign affairs experience.  Also, didn't she herself say she doesn't know anything about Iraq. 


And so you think our military isn't fed a load of
they've been sent to do is 'morally right'? Dont' get me wrong, they are brave, upstanding young men and women who believe in the country. But once they sign on that dotted line, they've gotta go & do what they're told during their enlistment. Even if it's for dubious reasons. So what you wanna bet they get fed a WHOLE lotta propaganda.

Suicide rates amongst our military is at an all-time high, as well. Ever wonder why that might be?
The majority of the military

have always been conservative.  However, many military members and veterans are changing their minds after what has taken place in recent years.  Watch the results of the election and see which way the military goes and compare that to elections in the past. 


Cut military spending!
How about we spend less on war and more on the citizens of the United States? Those who have family members in the military whose livelihood depends on war may call this socialism, but I call it common sense!
yes, they enlisted in the military
but they didn't enlist in the war.
I stand behind our military too but
I sure as  heck am not going to stand behind a president who sends our young men  and women in harms way for his own personal gain and that of his oil cronies.  What happened to bin Laden?  Don't tell me that our military men and women couldn't take him out.  And how about McCain saying he knew how to get him.  How anyone who can support this administration and this war is beyond me. Isn't it "Mission Iraqi Freedom" now?  What about 9/11?  Who has paid for that?  And today Iraq has given us "permission" to stay for 3 more years?  Permission???  We have  no business meddling in their business to begin with.  Wasn't Bushes and Sadam friends before they became enemies???
I'm from a military family, too
My grandfather fought in WWI and WWII. He received 5 medals for the battles in WWI in France, plus the French Etagierre. My father and mom's brothers were army. My gf retired in the 1970s. My one uncle retired in 1990 from the Army. My son was in the Marines. They all enlisted.
AND BECAUSE OUR MILITARY IS BROKEN.....

The biggest selling product in the US right now is GUNS. So you think the cowards in this country can't protect themselves? Think again. Your family members weren't drafted and because they made that choice doesn't make everyone else cowards. You insult this country with your pious crap.


You don't need military at our borders.....
that's against our constitution. That's what our National Guard is for, to protect OUR borders. Combat military is not supposed to be involved in this country. I do not want our troops on the borders of my country; I want our national guard sent down to do what they are supposed to do, protect our country against foreign invasion.

I am sick to death of paying for illegals and their anchor babies by the thousands and thousands....

Good question.....why is our country allowing this and then punishing our agents to shoot one of them. Maybe more shooting would stop a lot of their illegal trespassing into our country if they knew they would be shot.
And who never served in the military
and is on record as despising it?  Class?  Obama!
Military does NOTHING with blessings of
You are so very misinformed. You can not compare the CEO of a car company to the United States Military.
not true...the military does most everything without
the blessing of the president directly. However, in this case, you are right. He did give the direct go ahead, although I doubt he planned it. By the way--with your vast knowledge of the military, do you know what the CNO is, let alone who it is without looking it up? I do.
not true...the military does most everything without
the blessing of the president directly. However, in this case, you are right. He did give the direct go ahead, although I doubt he planned it. By the way--with your vast knowledge of the military, do you know what the CNO is, let alone who he is without looking it up? I do.