Comments on: Presidents, that ringing telephone, and military service

By: OBloodyhell

OBloodyhell — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:38:59 +0000

I think that there are different varieties of toughness
— Hillary strikes me as:
Sharp
Brittle
Edgy
Hard-hearted
Vicious

— aka “A Bitch”.

The historically desirable presidential toughness, however, seems more like:
Hard-shelled
Imperturbable
Stoic
Nonplussed
Rock-steady

I think the difference in applicable adjectives carries the difference well, and underlies one of the very many reasons I believe Hillary should not be president under any circumstances.

By: Sergey

Sergey — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:26:57 +0000

When world changes so quickly as it does now previous experience can be misleading, it is more burden than asset. What actually matters is personal integrity and steadfast, immovable moral principles, clear worldview and iron will to implement these principles. Hillary it seems has no principles at all. If she will win nomination, red telephone theme would have advantage for McCain, not for her.

By: waltj

waltj — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 10:41:54 +0000

“Fyi, it was specifically Thailand…” Thanks, PD, I hadn’t heard about that one. I’ll check it out. The one in Indonesia was three Christian high school girls beheaded on their way from school in Poso, Sulawesi, in 2005, I believe. I currently live in Indonesia and generally work in and around SE Asia, so I like to keep good “SA” on what’s going on around me.

“That’s where it pays to have a good PSG”. It does, and I did. He taught me well: “Sir, it would probably be a good idea if you did x instead of the y that you appear to be planning, and here’s why…” If you watch and listen, you can learn. Not every young officer figures this out.

By: sf

sf — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 06:53:26 +0000

Did anyone else notice the line in Hillary’s ad that when the 3 a.m. phone call comes, we should want “someone who knows the military”? This is re-writing history on a scale worthy of Stalin himself, because when Bill ‘n Hill were in the White House several of the Usenet discussion groups (forerunners of blogs, for those too young to remember) reported that Hillary in particular “loathed” the military (Chelsea’s words to a friend, IIRC) and even ordered that service members posted to the White House wear civilian clothes instead of their uniforms.

Funny how Hillary’s “loathing” of the military while she was in the WH has now been airbrushed into “knows the military”–a perfect turn of phrase that can be interpreted favorably by both ultra-Leftists and more moderate Dems.

By: Vince P

Vince P — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 01:20:49 +0000

I prefer to call him Barack Hussein Winfrey

By: harry McHitlerburtonstein the Extremist

harry McHitlerburtonstein the Extremist — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 01:02:19 +0000

And, of course in these parts, we refer to the messiah as Barrak Hussein Obama. And we take no crap off of anybody for doing so.

By: neo-neocon

neo-neocon — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:02:10 +0000

Hillary almost exclusively uses her first name when she campaigns for a reason: if she used “Clinton,” we’d immediately think of Bill.

By: Vince P

Vince P — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:25:27 +0000

What’s interesting is if you go to their websites , you’ll see the same thing.

Hmmmmmm duh.

By: a Duoist

a Duoist — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:05:17 +0000

Interesting that every man mentioned in the post is last-name, while the only woman mentioned in the post is first-name. Hmmm.

By: Tom the Redhunter

Tom the Redhunter — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:10:14 +0000

That VDH quote is so spot-on it’s scary.

Whether military experience is important or not seems to depend on who’s running. It also seems to depend on the war.

George McGovern, George HW, and Bob Dole both served in WWII, and none made an issue of it in their respective campaigns. For John Kerry, and now John McCain, it’s the centerpiece of their campaigns.

For the Democrats, military experience wasn’t important when it was Clinton against George HW or Bob Dole. It was important when John Kerry was their candidate, but not so much now.

The for Republicans, it’s important now that John McCain is the nominee.

Sigh.

I think I’ll close by simply reminding everyone that neither Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Delano Roosevelt served in the military yet are considered our greatest wartime presidents (yes I know Lincoln showed up one day for militia duty or something but that doesn’t count).