Should be clear that at this stage of the game, for the current rogue regime in the WH, this is a feature and not a bug.

To be sure, if Obama decides to unleash Biden, he can always use this against the Hildebeast….

File under: Blame game.

‘No. It’s not an important quote.
“businessmen, generals, soldiers, men of action” can be and, at high echelons of leadership often are, intellectuals. It comes with the job.
The Hoffer quote’s use of “intellectual” seems to be referring to particular kinds of dogmatic and/or autocratic leaders rather than intellectuals per se.’

You have made a good point. But may I suggest that to add to the investigation of the Hoffer quote, I would like to point out that Hoffer was marking the dichotomy between people whose actions have to be continually adjusted by the feedback of reality, and those whose beliefs are not measured against reality, but rather against an ideological construct. Those who live in an imaginary realm may feel compelled to force other to mentally or physically prostrate themselves to, and often verbally acknowledge, the counterfactual. Such True Believers–or their followers, some of whom know very well that the ideology falls short in Reality–busy themselves also with erasing people or things from pictures, destroying historical monuments, burning books, and other totalitarian amusements.

The Educated Barbarians are the worst, because they know what to destroy, create, or camouflage to further their ideological ends.

It’s not meant to mean “one size fits all”, but rather a warning, and part of a body of argumentation Hoffer extends through several books, starting with his “The True Believer”.

It’s one of the troubles with words such as “intellectuals” or (“liberals” or “fascism” and other words thrown about)–we so often have to look beyond the word to the panorama it tries to display.

When Hoffer uses the word “intellectual”, he is not speaking of intelligence or mental achievement, but rather those who set themselves apart from reality and disappear into realms of imagined system-building.

Eric, your quest to bring the truth about the OIF and conservatism in general, would absolutely place you in Hoffer’s category of the highly-intelligent, well educated men of action, at home in both strategy and tactics, those loyal to the Truth, and I feel he would praise your actions and your cause; after all, you are dedicated to the Truth and Reality. You are a man in the arena.

By the way, I’ve tried to find out how to contact you to no avail. I believe that you might consider asking around for a good conservative graphic novel illustrator. The stop-action illustrations of war and decision-making are perfect subjects for such action images, and you would broaden the potential audience for your strong arguments. It wouldn’t have to be long. If I were capable of such drawings–which I’m not–I would do it gladly.

Anyway, your objection to the quote is well-made, and I had to think for a few minutes about how to explain why I like the quote. I heard it many years ago, when I was a child, when Hoffer was interviewed–on black-and-white TV–and it has travelled with me all that time.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3383266/posts?page=6#6

I rarely pull out my dusty old trident, but in this case, here goes. I was a Navy SEAL officer in the 1980s, and this kind of operation (transiting small boats in foreign waters) was our bread and butter. Today, these boats both not only had radar, but multiple GPS devices, including chart plotters that place your boat’s icon right on the chart. The claim by Iran that the USN boats “strayed into Iranian waters” is complete bull$#it.

For an open-water transit between nations, the course is studied and planned in advance by the leaders of the Riverine Squadron, with specific attention given to staying wide and clear of any hostile nation’s claimed territorial waters. The boats are given a complete mechanical check before departure, and they have sufficient fuel to accomplish their mission plus extra. If, for some unexplainable and rare circumstance one boat broke down, the other would tow it, that’s why two boats go on these trips and not one! It’s called “self-rescue” and it’s SOP.

This entire situation is in my area of expertise. I can state with complete confidence that both Iran and our own State Department are lying. The boats did not enter Iranian waters. They were overtaken in international waters by Iranian patrol boats that were so superior in both speed and firepower that it became a “hands up!” situation, with automatic cannons in the 40mm to 76mm range pointed at them point-blank. Surrender, hands up, or be blown out of the water. I assume that the Iranians had an English speaker on a loudspeaker to make the demand. This takedown was no accident or coincidence, it was a planned slap across America’s face.

Just watch. The released sailors will be ordered not to say a word about the incident, and the Iranians will have taken every GPS device, chart-plotters etc off the boats, so that we will not be able to prove where our boats were taken.

The “strayed into Iranian waters” story being put out by Iran and our groveling and appeasing State Dept. is utter and complete BS from one end to the other.

I know no documents have been signed. Not a conventional legal contract by any means. Also all conditions precedent not satisfied. Maybe a material breach already.

Legally it is no contract but State claims this is a typical “deal” or understanding between countries that doesn’t require Senate ratification. Total BS.

Once the enemy has your scrambling engine figured out – all that he needs are the keys.

I don’t know how it’s done these days, but there used to be an element of randomness to the process of “going secure”. Having the hardware and the daily key wasn’t enough. ’nuff said…

ALL of the rest of the sailors see nothing amusing about their situation, which is certainly understandable. That senior officer is the one who said it was a mistake, admitted to fault and apologized. He did so so unhesitatingly and smoothly that it sounded perfectly rehearsed. Like he’d been coached as to what to say.

If this incident was purposely set up, the only rationale that I can think of is a twisted one, Obama, Kerry et al actually think this strengthens their argument that negotiation and diplomacy, to the exclusion of all else… is always an effective foreign policy.

“We can all imagine how a similar situation might have played out three or four years ago,” Secretary of State John F. Kerry said. He thanked Iranian authorities for their “cooperation and quick response,” and said the sailors were treated well in the relatively short time they were held.

“These are situations which, as everybody here knows, have the ability, if not properly guided, to get out of control,” Kerry said in a speech at the National Defense University in Washington.”

This has the stink of rot about it.