Americans please explain something

[spurgistan]

The "not-so-bright guys" meggy was talking about was not the President (for one thing, that would NOT require the plural tense) but the generals in command of immensely powerful machines.

[Tyr]

The "not-so-bright guys" meggy was talking about was not the President (for one thing, that would NOT require the plural tense) but the generals in command of immensely powerful machines.

but there really not in charge of anything they have to get approval for everything they do

[GreecePwns]

Well, i saw on my news channel that the US has accomplished only 3 of 18 goals they set for this time.

[spurgistan]

Disregarding Plan R, of course.

But seriously, this isn't a very democratic insitution we've got, but at least we've still got the military under some oversight.

[2dimes]

Disregarding Plan R, of course.

How I learned to love the bomb?

[DangerBoy]

The "not-so-bright guys" meggy was talking about was not the President (for one thing, that would NOT require the plural tense) but the generals in command of immensely powerful machines.

Ok, so she's not insulting the President, she's just making it personal against the generals. And thank you for the English lesson. There is no such thing as a plural tense. There's the present, past, future, present perfect and so forth to express the time of an event. There are plural and singular nouns.

[kalishnikov]

Let me guess.... you have a swastika tattooed on you upper arm? The Dems are an embarrassment to the country (at least the idiots in Washington). The surge is working... DESPITE Schumer's anti-military comments! Wake up sheeple! I can't believe what the American people let the Democrats get away with! If they were Republicans they would be unemployed.

The irony of an admitted Republican referring to anyone else as "sheeple" is hilarious. Did Rupert Murdoch say that one last night?

Let me guess, that kind of "wit," you must work for the media, I'd guess Fox, or maybe some conservative "news"paper?

There is someone in this thread who needs to wake up, he lives in a small red holdout in a blue state...

[spurgistan]

The "not-so-bright guys" meggy was talking about was not the President (for one thing, that would NOT require the plural tense) but the generals in command of immensely powerful machines.

Ok, so she's not insulting the President, she's just making it personal against the generals. And thank you for the English lesson. There is no such thing as a plural tense. There's the present, past, future, present perfect and so forth to express the time of an event. There are plural and singular nouns.

Good call there. Something didn't feel right when I wrote that. Anyways, seeing as how this thing is predicated on all Congressmen being "pigs", I'm not sure meggy lowered the debate by calling generals "less-than-bright."

[unriggable]

Well, i saw on my news channel that the US has accomplished only 3 of 18 goals they set for this time.

They did say that they may have to be in there as long as they were in S Korea about a year ago. Talk about a waste of money...

[GreecePwns]

Let me guess.... you have a swastika tattooed on you upper arm? The Dems are an embarrassment to the country (at least the idiots in Washington). The surge is working... DESPITE Schumer's anti-military comments! Wake up sheeple! I can't believe what the American people let the Democrats get away with! If they were Republicans they would be unemployed.

The irony of an admitted Republican referring to anyone else as "sheeple" is hilarious. Did Rupert Murdoch say that one last night?

Let me guess, that kind of "wit," you must work for the media, I'd guess Fox, or maybe some conservative "news"paper?

There is someone in this thread who needs to wake up, he lives in a small red holdout in a blue state...

I'm guessing somewhere in the New York area.

[jay_a2j]

Let me guess.... you have a swastika tattooed on you upper arm? The Dems are an embarrassment to the country (at least the idiots in Washington). The surge is working... DESPITE Schumer's anti-military comments! Wake up sheeple! I can't believe what the American people let the Democrats get away with! If they were Republicans they would be unemployed.

The irony of an admitted Republican referring to anyone else as "sheeple" is hilarious. Did Rupert Murdoch say that one last night?

Let me guess, that kind of "wit," you must work for the media, I'd guess Fox, or maybe some conservative "news"paper?

There is someone in this thread who needs to wake up, he lives in a small red holdout in a blue state...

I'm guessing somewhere in the New York area.

Yeah, NYC is why NY is a blue state. The rest of the state is overwhelmingly red.

[MeDeFe]

IT'S COMMUNIST!

[OnlyAmbrose]

Our Generals are actually very very very smart. You don't get to be one otherwise. They may not know how to talk to the stupid congressmen. It's like asking someone that only speaks Chinese to teach English class. Generals just don't speak the same language as congressmen.

So to answer the question, it's bollocks.

you're dad's in the military, rite? is he an officer? i'm betting so.....i love your logic, btw. only smart guys can be generals, but congressmen are stupid! you're a walking argument against democracy.....

Advancement in the military (especially to the point of generalship) and advancement in politics are two very different things.

great point....except it's not.....

I'm glad you're so thorough in your rebuttals.

[Coleman]

Our Generals are actually very very very smart. You don't get to be one otherwise. They may not know how to talk to the stupid congressmen. It's like asking someone that only speaks Chinese to teach English class. Generals just don't speak the same language as congressmen.

So to answer the question, it's bollocks.

you're dad's in the military, rite? is he an officer? i'm betting so.....i love your logic, btw. only smart guys can be generals, but congressmen are stupid! you're a walking argument against democracy.....

Ignorant would have been a better word to describe the congressmen. They don't speak and understand military as well as the General does. Explaining it to joe average congressman is akin to trying to teach quantum mechanics to someone that just learned how to add.

You do have me pegged though. I do have a military father. (air force) If I had thought about that my post would have been better. Generals are not the smartest people in the world, the congressmen may be smarter, they also may not know everything. HOWEVER, They do know their shit well, and most generals are nothing short of brilliant in their field.

It is my opinion though, that the average general is smart, and the average congressman is an idiot. You took my post very very literally and applied that to all congressmen and all generals. While you are certainly free to do that it does detract from my meaning quite a bit.

Sorry I didn't notice your hate sooner.

[MeDeFe]

If the average congressman is an idiot, what does that make the voters?

[Titanic]

If the average congressman is an idiot, what does that make the voters?

American

[jay_a2j]

If the average congressman is an idiot, what does that make the voters?

Judging from the '92 and '96 elections, "easily manipulated".

[Nephilim]

Our Generals are actually very very very smart. You don't get to be one otherwise. They may not know how to talk to the stupid congressmen. It's like asking someone that only speaks Chinese to teach English class. Generals just don't speak the same language as congressmen.

So to answer the question, it's bollocks.

you're dad's in the military, rite? is he an officer? i'm betting so.....i love your logic, btw. only smart guys can be generals, but congressmen are stupid! you're a walking argument against democracy.....

Advancement in the military (especially to the point of generalship) and advancement in politics are two very different things.

great point....except it's not.....

I'm glad you're so thorough in your rebuttals.

nothing much to rebut.....same goes for most of the rest of this thread....good points spurg and kalash, but that's about it.....

[spurgistan]

Wait, I had a point?! Damn, I legitimately had no idea. Regardless, while Petraeaus seems like a decent chap, and the mess in Iraq cannot be blamed on all generals (the ones who wanted 300,00 troops, or the ones who didn't want to go, for God's sake) one thing that can broadly applied to military officers is that they make terrible politicians. While there are certainly exceptions where miltary governments rule well (I would admit that the occupation of Germany post-WW2 went more or less smoothly) officers throughout history have demonstrated an inability to act with an eye for public opinion, which is essential more than ever in modern irregular warfare. Therefore, I find it crucial that, no matter how well qualified he is in military circles, Gen. Petraeus must be willing to stoop to the level of civilian government and occasionally tell them what the f is going on in Iraq.

[Titanic]

If the average congressman is an idiot, what does that make the voters?

Judging from the '92 and '96 elections, "easily manipulated".

And judging from the '00 and '04 elections, "not too bright".