Posted by
MJB on Wednesday, November 01, 2006 1:21:42 PM
I just posted a comment over at Hugh Hewitt's blog about the John Kerry gaffe - think it's worth reposting over here....
"Is that a plank in your eye my friends?"
No
plank here - just watching the fireworks. I still find it so hard to
believe that almost 50% of our country's citizens thought John Kerry
had any sort of qualification to be President of the United States of
America. How breathtakingly lucky we were to elect George Bush.
I
served in the Air Force for 8 years as an intelligence officer - and I
assure you that the men and women I had working for me were some of the
most intelligent and capable people I've EVER worked with ...even
though I started serving in the military over 20 years ago (gad, that's
hard to believe!).
I had no particular opinion about John
Kerry until he ran for president - but when the Swifties made their
claims, I sat up and took notice. Thank God for the Internet. I dug
into their claims, read Kerry's officer evaluation reports (which his
campaign itself posted on their web site, and with the ability to read
between the lines as you do with all officer evaluation reports), and
basically came to the conclusion that Kerry was a pathetic excuse for
an officer.
Quite frankly, it doesn't matter if your enlisted
troops think you walk on water - the opinions that count are those of
your fellow officers, and most especially your superior officers. Those
are the people that determine if you get promoted - and if they think
you're a poor excuse for an officer...guess what...you're a poor excuse
of an officer.
Enlisted people, particularly at lower levels,
are not always in a position to know how well an officer has followed
the orders of those above - or know why a particular order was given.
So, telling me his enlisted troops didn't have a negative view of him
is not particularly enlightening.
But as the poster above
noted, it takes quite a bit of work to make your fellow OFFICERS
despise you. And for the anger to burn white hot after 30
years...yowser! The guy was more than just a screw up - he did things
that made people put their names and reputations on the line over a
quarter century later.
That was enough for me - the 1971
testimony, his characterizations of soldiers before Congress...it was
all just icing on the cake.
At NO point in the subsequent 30
years has Kerry EVER demonstrated that he learned from his experiences,
regretted anything he said...at no point has he demonstrated that he
has grown as a human being. That's the scary part.
He has
NOTHING to show for his tenure in congress, no job or career
accomplishments, a troubled family life...a rather sad little man in
reality - deeply embittered by the country's refusal to grant him the
one job he desperately believes should be his by fiat.
He
views the world through the lens of a liberal anti-war crusader - not
quite able to believe that there are large numbers of people who
despise him (read: Islamic fundamentalists, not Republicans) and who
won't join his "can't we all just get along" internal chant.
And the the psychological projection is quite amazing.
He
might have MEANT to disparage President Bush, but instead sticks his
foot in his mouth about the United States military - who are engaged in
a battle of literally good vs. evil, fighting to protect the Senator's
right to be both stupid AND incompetent.
While he might not
have MEANT to insult the troops - he most surely did. Good. It shows
more of his character (or lack thereof) that the mainstream media has
tried so desperately to cover up.
(I guess to know what he really meant, you need to know what the meaning of is, is.)
AND
- it speaks volumes that one of the two major parties in this country
thought that he was fit to be the Commander in Chief of this country -
or that he could possibly be a viable candidate in the future. It's
quite literally unbelievable.
Pass the popcorn. I think we'll see a second act before this is all over.