Limbaugh makes a point?!?

[Snorri1234]

Everyone has their own reasons for joining...

Who ever said that you a person couldn't be both honorable and stupid. If you define "smart" as doing things for your own personal benifite than the military is just bunch of dumb but honorable people.

Personaly that isn't how I define intelligence...

Well there is a difference between "always own personal benefit" and "avoiding places that get you killed". I don't think anyone believes joining the army voluntary to get shot up somewhere on the other side of the world is smart. Honorable maybe, but not very smart.

Also, I think there is a difference between intelligence and smart. I for one know a lot of girls who are intelligent but as dumb as a rock. It's the difference between being able to learn fast or learn complicated things, and being able to do things in a smart way. I don't believe in there being only one type of "smart" or whatever, dumb people can do amazing things and smart people can do amazingly dumb things.


So basically the fact you have a high education or wealthy family doesn't mean you're not dumb in a sense.

[GabonX]

Someone else said something similar, oh yeah JOHN KERRY said something about only the dumb and poor go to the army and fight wars. The Army produced figures on how many members have degrees and come from well to do families that showed he was totally wrong. He got a lot of flack for it, and so should you.

Huh. Why would John Kerry say that? Wasn't he in the army?

Long story...

Well, he screwed up the punchline to a joke.

“You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don’t - you get stuck in Iraq.”

While I won't deny the man's not a shining example of U.S. Senators (or maybe, he is) it's pretty clear that he's making a joke about the President, not our Americans in uniform ,which he once was. But in the same way Gore invented the Internet and discovered Love Canal, some people seem to have figured out that if you take something out of context and repeat it enough, it becomes true. Truthiness incarnate.

The problem with this comment is that it shows a lack of respect that Kerry has for not only the military, but also for those who didn't recieve a traditional education. The comment was stuck up and uncalled for. Kerry illustrated some charecteristics of himself that I personally had not seen before when he said this.

Also, they say it was the Clintons who made such a big deal about this comment. Shortley after he said these things he was forced to concede the election leaving one less oponent for Hillary. Interesting that Kerry now backs Obama...

It was supposed to be a joke about the President. He forgot an "us" in between "get" and "stuck". "Get us stuck in Iraq" is different than "Get stuck in Iraq", no? John Kerry would know that C students are NOT the only people who sign up for the army.

Well I don't know if I buy that. I strongly suspect that he may have meant what he said about the armed forces and even if he did mean to tell a joke about the President (however cliche that has become) it still sounds like a freudian slip.

Regardless, nobody that messes up such a critical punchline is really fit for the presidency. Just think about how much flak Bush has taken for how he sais nuclear.

[Snorri1234]

Regardless, nobody that messes up such a critical punchline is really fit for the presidency. Just think about how much flak Bush has taken for how he sais nuclear.

I think saying "I will always hate the gooks" is a bit worse.

[btownmeggy]

which raises a pretty important question of its own accord i think..

why join the military?

Thats spam in this thread. If concepts like honor and duty mean nothing to you than make your own.

honour and duty are both very meaningful concepts when taken in the right light, but the american military is an ensemble of hired thugs and pimply kids taken straight from no hope old industrial towns from backwatersville and beyond. you do not join the american military because you love the flag.

In defense of khazalid, with everyone else using their own meaningless anecdotes, I will add mine.

I've never been in the military, but I know about 30 people who presently are and probably... 500? who ever have been. As I come from "beyond Backwatersville", nearly all of those 530 people fit very neatly into khazalid's definition.

Mostly through my work, I also know lots of people who AREN'T from Backswaterville, who have plenty of "hope", and delight in multitudes of professional degrees, but they're still in the military for PROFESSIONAL reasons. "Loving the flag" definitely comes behind having student loans paid off and being guaranteed a life-long, competitive salary.

Really, the only people I know who didn't join the military (VOLUNTARILY, mind you, the draft is a whole different matter) with money/career as #1 on their list are WW2 veterans. More than "loving the flag", most of them, in my opinion subscribed to a singular, incredibly moving cultural paradigm of activism when they joined the military.

[Neoteny]

which raises a pretty important question of its own accord i think..

why join the military?

Thats spam in this thread. If concepts like honor and duty mean nothing to you than make your own.

honour and duty are both very meaningful concepts when taken in the right light, but the american military is an ensemble of hired thugs and pimply kids taken straight from no hope old industrial towns from backwatersville and beyond. you do not join the american military because you love the flag.

In defense of khazalid, with everyone else using their own meaningless anecdotes, I will add mine.

I've never been in the military, but I know about 30 people who presently are and probably... 500? who ever have been. As I come from "beyond Backwatersville", nearly all of those 530 people fit very neatly into khazalid's definition.

Mostly through my work, I also know lots of people who AREN'T from Backswaterville, who have plenty of "hope", and delight in multitudes of professional degrees, but they're still in the military for PROFESSIONAL reasons. "Loving the flag" definitely comes behind having student loans paid off and being guaranteed a life-long, competitive salary.

Really, the only people I know who didn't join the military (VOLUNTARILY, mind you, the draft is a whole different matter) with money/career as #1 on their list are WW2 veterans. More than "loving the flag", most of them, in my opinion subscribed to a singular, incredibly moving cultural paradigm of activism when they joined the military.

I can't defend his statement of "hired thugs," but pimply kids, perhaps. I actually know quite a few people who joined the military for patriotic reasons, my father being one of them. And the sleight against "backwatersville" was unnecessary.

[MeDeFe]

I checked this out on Snopes, and amazingly, most of it is true.

According to Snopes, there are two versions circulating, a shorter and a longer one, The one the OP posted looks like a third. The first 4 paragraphs are definitely a compilation of things Rush said, the 5th paragraph "you see where this is going..." looks like it has been expanded, though.

But read for yourselves.

[reminisco]

I checked this out on Snopes, and amazingly, most of it is true.

According to Snopes, there are two versions circulating, a shorter and a longer one, The one the OP posted looks like a third. The first 4 paragraphs are definitely a compilation of things Rush said, the 5th paragraph "you see where this is going..." looks like it has been expanded, though.

But read for yourselves.

good digging.

this is how propagandists reach their audiences. he spews straw man arguments with emotional evocative points.

i too whole heartedly support the military. it is later -- when Rush goes waaaaaaaay too far, using his emotional capital to start spinning ridiculous thought...

[Ar-Adûnakhôr]

Yet no one speaking of Iraqi civil casualties, which are around 600,000 since the United States invasion, about 50% killed by US.. where's the compensation for family of Iraqis?

[btownmeggy]

Yet no one speaking of Iraqi civil casualties, which are around 600,000 since the United States invasion, about 50% killed by US.. where's the compensation for family of Iraqis?

Ayuh.

[sheepofdumb]

While the American military is one of the best trained in the world today the VA is horrible. As the son of a disabled vet I can say that Rush's numbers for the military sound about right. Don't quote me on that though. It wouldn't be too hard to get the numbers the September 11th victims are getting too. It is sad. These men and women do put their lives on the line. If they drop dead the money their families get is a drop in the bucket. Meanwhile politicians who think they know something about wars give themselves raises and threaten the military with cutting funds. Time and time again the politicians have stuck their fingers in wars and we have suffered because of it. I would not be surprised if the day came where the military has had enough with congresses shit and overthrows them. I would welcome a military dictatorship in America because of the morals and principles the military holds itself to. They are not just thugs. I myself have considered going into the military. Even if I don't totally believe in the Iraq war (although I dislike us starting the war the changes going on there now are vital. The democrats might be blind to this as they criticize Bush and the war but there are tapes of anti-American protesters in the Middle East and it makes me sick to my stomach to watch how much these people hate me and my country for reasons there leaders give). I might be 16. I know I'm not the smartest. I know my views of the world are immature and somewhat childish. But I think I have at least enough common sense to see that there is a difference between some family that just got filthy rich because a loved one died in the September 11th attacks and a military family that just lost a loved one defending my country from people who would kill me without a second thought.

[radiojake]

Yet no one speaking of Iraqi civil casualties, which are around 600,000 since the United States invasion, about 50% killed by US.. where's the compensation for family of Iraqis?

That will come when they start opening McDonald's and Burger King outlets in Baghdad - SOME GOOD OL' AMERICAN COMPENSATION IN THE FORM OF A FREE MARKET AND CAPITALISM.. YEEEEHAAAAWW

[sheepofdumb]

I checked this out on Snopes, and amazingly, most of it is true.

According to Snopes, there are two versions circulating, a shorter and a longer one, The one the OP posted looks like a third. The first 4 paragraphs are definitely a compilation of things Rush said, the 5th paragraph "you see where this is going..." looks like it has been expanded, though.

But read for yourselves.

good digging.

this is how propagandists reach their audiences. he spews straw man arguments with emotional evocative points.

i too whole heartedly support the military. it is later -- when Rush goes waaaaaaaay too far, using his emotional capital to start spinning ridiculous thought...

I don't listen to Rush but I listen to Quinn. Of course I usually don't check his sources so I don't mention anything he says in conversation. Some of the things they say make sense though. I know that's what they are paid to do but sometimes something just hits you like a brick to the back of the head.

I remember Quinn going off when the VT shootings happened about democrats and their gun control stuff. While I can't side with him on who was responsible for banning guns at VT I did have to agree with him when he was going on about how it was stupid that students that obeyed the rules set down were gunned down by insane students that didn't give a rats ass about the rules and brought a gun onto a campus anyways.

[sheepofdumb]

Yet no one speaking of Iraqi civil casualties, which are around 600,000 since the United States invasion, about 50% killed by US.. where's the compensation for family of Iraqis?

I usually don't trust the media but I can remember time and time and time again the reports of some suicide bomber killing one or two Americans and killing even more civilians. Might want to check your numbers. Hard to do I know. I also recognize that the media usually doesn't report how many civilians are killed in American attacks. I also notice that the media doesn't support this war and has time and time again attacked our own troops. So I don't know. I'm a tad more inclined to trust a media that jumps on the chance to make our military look bad to get us out of a war they don't really like.

[Ar-Adûnakhôr]

Yet no one speaking of Iraqi civil casualties, which are around 600,000 since the United States invasion, about 50% killed by US.. where's the compensation for family of Iraqis?

That will come when they start opening McDonald's and Burger King outlets in Baghdad - SOME GOOD OL' AMERICAN COMPENSATION IN THE FORM OF A FREE MARKET AND CAPITALISM.. YEEEEHAAAAWW

Being great of American Democracy? British Democracy is better, as it stands, who will subjugation of sunni minority after controlling of government by majority kurds?

[Hologram]

which raises a pretty important question of its own accord i think..

why join the military?

Thats spam in this thread. If concepts like honor and duty mean nothing to you than make your own.

honour and duty are both very meaningful concepts when taken in the right light, but the american military is an ensemble of hired thugs and pimply kids taken straight from no hope old industrial towns from backwatersville and beyond. you do not join the american military because you love the flag.

Now now, stop bad talking the Army and including the Marines in with them.

But in all seriousness, that's an unfair generalization. Sure, there are many people who join the military for reasons other than love of country. I'm currently in the Delayed Entry Program for the US Marine Corps and I can tell that I for one, and my fellow poolees love the flag and country.

But anyway, I digress. This whole pension thing is ridiculous, especially the 9/11 stuff. I'll agree that it was horrible, but that doesn't mean we can just throw massive amounts of money at them. That's stupid. However as for the military pensions in comparison to senators, I don't see much of a problem with that. The simple fact is that if you're enlisted you're going to not have a great pension plan because you don't have a great pay and benefits while you're in. Should it maybe be raised for SNCOs like E-7s? Maybe. But warrant officers and officers make much more money and it follows that politicians who command the military should follow the trend of more responsibility and command, the greater money you earn during service/office and after.

[Nobunaga]

... Many of you don't know that they only have to be in Congress one time to receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month.

... I'm going to run for office!!

...

[Jenos Ridan]

which raises a pretty important question of its own accord i think..

why join the military?

Thats spam in this thread. If concepts like honor and duty mean nothing to you than make your own.

honour and duty are both very meaningful concepts when taken in the right light, but the american military is an ensemble of hired thugs and pimply kids taken straight from no hope old industrial towns from backwatersville and beyond. you do not join the american military because you love the flag.

Hired thugs? Don't they wish; the pay is better.

Which brings up an issue; any member of the armed forces who does not renounce gang affliation or, upon release from service after serving, joins a gang (or simply resumes membership), should be tired for treason. Upon being found guilty, such a person should be executed by either hanging or firing squad. I'm dumb this down for those who are slow: gangbangers should give it up when they enlist or pay the price with their lives.

As for those no-hope industrial towns, just outlaw outsourcing; simple fix is to fine any business that does outsource jobs, repeat offenders are siezed and will have their total assets auctioned off to smaller firms. Anybody who complains can go play soccar on the freeway.

If you don't like it then tough.

[btownmeggy]

Which brings up an issue; any member of the armed forces who does not renounce gang affliation or, upon release from service after serving, joins a gang (or simply resumes membership), should be tired for treason. Upon being found guilty, such a person should be executed by either hanging or firing squad. I'm dumb this down for those who are slow: gangbangers should give it up when they enlist or pay the price with their lives..

WHY??

As for those no-hope industrial towns, just outlaw outsourcing; simple fix is to fine any business that does outsource jobs, repeat offenders are siezed and will have their total assets auctioned off to smaller firms. Anybody who complains can go play soccar on the freeway.

Lol.

[khazalid]

you know that without outsourcing you couldnt get away with eating that sixth burrito of the day right?

[THORNHEART]

he is the man!!