John Kerry supports the troops

From jgmac's link:

The statistics show the number of African-American servicemembers is dropping.

Kerry was wrong in 1971 and you are wrong in 2006. And both of you have a problem admitting when you are wrong.

 

Love this one:

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmEzZGYwYzk0ZDE3YTM0NjY4MmY3Nzg3NDNjNzM5MjY=

 

Ah, the chickenhawk treefarmer weighs in.

 

What is striking about visiting Iraq is the wealth of talent there, from privates to generals. Without being gratuitously cruel, the problem of mediocrity is not in the ranks of the military, but on our university campuses, where half-educated professors and non-serious students killing time are ubiquitous. Personally, I'd wager the intelligence of a Marine Corps private any day over the average D.C. journalist.

For those board members here, like FirstdownPirates, who wrote:

Do something. Go down to the closest marine base, or other military institution, and invite five or six privates fresh out of boot camp, into your home for a nice, homecooked dinner. Note the intelligence of these men and women. Note the absolutely impeccable manners they will have in your home. Note the gratitude they will show for you.

Now, invite about five or six college freshman from the local college into your home for the same dinner.

Guess which group you will be more impressed with?

 

Fenian - defend what you implied above before you go slandering people.

Don't move the goalposts. Do you really believe that a professional soldier views committing war crimes as just doing his job?

 

While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.

God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains To the prairies,
To the ocean white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

 

For readers across the pond, a plain-English look at what Kerry said, and how it plays:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=5JT0S3CFALP1VQFIQMGCFF4AVCBQUIV0?xml=/opinion/2006/11/02/do0202.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2006/11/02/ixopinion.html

 

I believe that soldiers, lied to, badly led and lost in a moral wilderness, can come to believe that war crimes are part of "doing their jobs," yes. If you're really interested in history, which you're not, you might go back and discover that just "doing their jobs" was the core of William Calley's defense. I don't doubt the sincerity of their beliefs, either, because the choice would be to believe that they are simply sadists, but the war crime is a war crime, nonetheless.

 

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,78111,00.html?ESRC=eb.nl

Repeat -- This is not the fault of the people who enlist. This is the fault of the incompetent clowns, the think-tank cowboys, the chickenhawk theorists, and the boob in the White House who set off on a war of choice against all sound military advice and are breaking the Army along the way.

 

Hey the School of Hard Knocks counts!

 

It's a hard knock life...for us!

 

They lowered the bar all the way down to the already-in-place Department of Defense standards. Previously, the Army standards had been higher. They raised the amount of category 4 testers (lowest rating) from 2% of recruits to 4% of recruits.

Interesting. Good link.