tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post7600223982109553524..comments2023-11-03T06:57:29.839-04:00Comments on Freeper Madness: Friday Spotlight: Old SargeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-48795530656121858992014-07-15T01:54:28.856-04:002014-07-15T01:54:28.856-04:00Thank you!
Seems to me you tend to go for "b...Thank you!<br /><br />Seems to me you tend to go for "best person for the job." Not going to diss that.ECnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-79403259830074595732014-07-14T12:00:29.295-04:002014-07-14T12:00:29.295-04:00Poor Onyx. Sure she's obnoxious, but I feel b...Poor Onyx. Sure she's obnoxious, but I feel bad for her for her loss.RomneyGuyHerehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15639650533175453913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-65148735676474814112014-07-14T11:50:25.839-04:002014-07-14T11:50:25.839-04:00Lol. I've been asked that a lot!
I've al...Lol. I've been asked that a lot!<br /><br />I've always been somewhat moderate, but I'm a registered Republican...at least since about 2008. I voted for Obama over McCain, mostly because I feared what would happen if McCain passed away and Palin became president!<br /><br />That's exactly the way I choose to work with people. I liked Hillary more than Obama, so I worked on her camp during the primary. My first campaign was Bill Clinton's in 1992, so some of my decision was likely based on nostalgia. I don't dislike Obama (like many Republicans and obviously every single person on FR), I just felt Romney would have been better able to correct the economic condition of America. He was also the only "moderate" Republican of the 2012 primary! I started working on his campaign during the primary in April of 2011.<br /><br />I'm typically under contract, but I've worked closely with the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF). They've got a mixture of moderates and conservatives...sometimes- as in the case of Gov. Rick Scott- they're a little too conservative for my taste.<br /><br />My last campaign- before I finally quit the business after 18 years- was a Democrat congressional race against a Tea Partier in central Florida.RomneyGuyHerehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15639650533175453913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-58349589118798463622014-07-13T09:32:47.546-04:002014-07-13T09:32:47.546-04:00I agree there may be things we don't know abou...I agree there may be things we don't know about Benghazi until much later. But "cowardly asshole" seems to be so far removed from reality as to not describe the President at all. This is the president who rescued Captain Phillips from the Somali pirates and who killed Osama bin Laden. I'd say that "cowardly asshole" would more aptly apply to Bush, the man who let OBL live because he wanted Iraq's oil. Or perhaps to Dick Cheney who let his fear of 9/11 take over his mind, which turned him from an admittedly good military strategist (or at least someone who was able to make good, rational decisions) into a babbling, self-contradicting idiot.<br /><br />My point is, I believe Obama did everything in his power to rescue everyone in Benghazi. It just makes sense, given everything observable about him. I don't believe any other president could have done it better. I understand people you respect don't feel that way, but as I said, they can be wrong, too. If I find evidence that I was wrong about Obama, I'll admit it. But right now the only evidence of any mistakes on his part is people's personal feelings, which, as I'm sure you know, is not really evidence at all. I'll continue to give Obama the benefit of the doubt until I see hard evidence that contradicts that.euphgeekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00735904882260895431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-2759862358407845822014-07-13T03:54:14.665-04:002014-07-13T03:54:14.665-04:00Problem is, you can sometimes not see the critical...Problem is, you can sometimes not see the critical mistake for years. Eventually, there is something that comes out and you can point to. Then historians haggle over it and most everyone else skims the book and puts it back on the shelf.<br /><br />Take Pearl Harbor for example: The US had advance notice of the attack - or they would have if the cable had been translated when it were received, not a day after the attack. Oddly, that saved a lot of lives, something that rarely gets mentioned. It took years for that to come out, and can you imagine if it were modern day? There were Pearl Harbor truthers even back then, now it would be a billion times worse. All because some guy decided to leave work early.<br /><br />We can expect it to take years to get sense from the situation and there may never be a smoking gun in the classical sense. It's war - asymmetric, but war none the less. Never neat and tidy.<br /><br />I'm not one for calling Obama a sociopath - but incompetent is a different story - make it cowardly asshole and you might get to 1% of my estimation of him! <br /><br />Yet enough people I respect a lot are saying that something smells. My nose says something smells. The explanations were as flimsy as those for invading Iraq - which also should have been looked at hard. The UK had the "dodgy dossier" investigation - which did exactly nothing - but I don't recall a similar inquiry in the US.<br /><br />Anyway - it's a place we are going to disagree on. Not a problem.<br /><br />It's a problem with music - there are so many talented artists and groups getting their stuff out now, it's impossible to keep up. Hear a piece you like, you listen to it a few times - it chews up the hours, especially once you fall in to the related links section.<br /><br />ECnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-57550459226019056852014-07-13T00:47:08.361-04:002014-07-13T00:47:08.361-04:00I have a lot of respect for veterans. They do thi...I have a lot of respect for veterans. They do things that I am not willing to do at all. But they are just as susceptible to propaganda as the rest of us. Until I see real evidence that someone made a critical mistake that could have meant more lives were saved, I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt. Everyone who has testified (that I've seen, anyway), has all agreed that they did the best they could with the resources they had available. And maybe the deaths were unavoidable and they did what they could to minimize them. That makes more sense to me than the President being either incompetent or a sociopath.<br /><br />I love brass band stuff, but it's been a while since I've listened to any. I used to listen to The Canadian Brass, and was in a Tuba and Euphonium ensemble in college (yes, I know, not a proper brass band, but it's a brass ensemble anyway).euphgeekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00735904882260895431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-42378912927226375972014-07-12T21:43:55.482-04:002014-07-12T21:43:55.482-04:00I too would like to see the link please, if possib...I too would like to see the link please, if possible.<br /><br />Though I have no doubt that it could happen.ECnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-72931424250611704272014-07-12T20:08:14.866-04:002014-07-12T20:08:14.866-04:00Tripoli only had an Osprey on station. An odd mach...Tripoli only had an Osprey on station. An odd machine and highly effective, but not terribly fast. Sig has F-16s - - old but reliable - rated at MACH 2, but you can push them a bit, according to the lunatics that get in them voluntarily.<br /><br />I agree about we'll never know the full details. Well you might, you are enough younger than me to still be aware of the world when the 50 year seal comes off a lot of the reports held by other countries.<br />It's a mess.<br /><br />I said before though - a lot of the people pushing for hearings have been veterans. It did and still does look like their asses were left to swing in the wind, and that is not a comforting thought. Two things done would have defused it completely:<br /><br />The President demanding an investigation immediately and admitting there were problems. Vets are pragmatists - they have to be - and a simple admission along the lines of "We fucked up. Lets find out how." would have gone a long way. Fuck ups happen.<br /><br />Still - hindsight is 20:20, right?<br /><br />On a brass band kick tonight. Finding some good stuff.ECnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-39617033419556611272014-07-12T19:45:39.404-04:002014-07-12T19:45:39.404-04:00Sigonella is actually farther away than Tripoli. ...Sigonella is actually farther away than Tripoli. So that may not have made a difference, either. Besides, the president never makes a decision without considering the advice of his advisers. And that includes the military leaders on the ground. Maybe there was a bad decision made somewhere. But I feel like we'll never know, because of the partisanship that happened during a presidential election. We've had attacks on consulates before, but never has the investigation been so screwed up like this one has.euphgeekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00735904882260895431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-59074816850385411172014-07-12T18:53:41.934-04:002014-07-12T18:53:41.934-04:00It's more a Greek Tragedy to me.
The inquiry...It's more a Greek Tragedy to me. <br /><br />The inquiry should have been started September 12th, and the investigation the same day. Despite some of their methods being less than savory, the CIA and FBI are rather good at their jobs. Give them a hot trail to follow and you tend to get answers fast. Instead, the trail was allowed to go cold. The people who knew what happened were sequestered from being questioned for months - 40 people were extracted and not one of them has gone for their 15 minutes of fame? They were taken to Germany (a completely normal thing to do, all injured are) but they could have been interviewed at their bedsides and the interviews streamed live to the committee. <br /><br />I agree about the partisan sniping. It is completely unacceptable and gets in the way of the more important stuff. Have risk assessment policies been changed in light of what happened? Has a thorough review of Embassy and Consulte security standards in high risk areas been carried out and the recommendations implemented? (That is a particular peeve of mine - the US Embassy in London has better protection than the one in Baghdad.). Is the policy of using local forces as consulate security still in place and if so why?<br /><br />It also adds false trails - the next idiot who decides to take pot shots at Hillary instead of sticking to getting the facts should be booted out.<br /><br />As to the stand down order issue - I suddenly get where the confusion about the President's role is coming from here. <br />Col.Gibson's team were already on Libyan soil. They would not need a Presidential order to go, only their superior officer's word. The decision to stand in place, well, I'd have probably made the same call, to be honest. Tripoli is a more important asset and it was also tense.<br /><br />Where the President comes in is with other forces outside of Libya. Sigonella, in Sicily, is a short flight, and a few overpasses by a single fighter (maybe trailing a sonic boom just for fun) would have set the attackers running. The extensive Marine presence at Sig could have made the trip in a few hours. Probably not fast enough to save the Ambassador but certainly fast enough to secure the area, get people out and start putting pieces together. Using those forces though, requires a direct Presidential order to enter foreign airspace.ECnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-42219990393758219122014-07-12T15:20:02.213-04:002014-07-12T15:20:02.213-04:00Yeah, links or it didn't happen. Although I wo...Yeah, links or it didn't happen. Although I wouldn't put it past him...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-11006673562259070442014-07-12T11:05:01.501-04:002014-07-12T11:05:01.501-04:00Please tell me that is speculation. Please tell m...Please tell me that is speculation. Please tell me that Jim didn't try to squeeze money out of a grieving widow. Maybe now she will wake up and see the monster FR has become. It is a difficult time for her and I hope she is staying strong.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-16098841705809239692014-07-12T08:58:50.286-04:002014-07-12T08:58:50.286-04:00"The senior military officer who issued the i...<i>"The senior military officer who issued the instruction to 'remain in place' and the detachment leader who received it said it was the right decision and has been widely mischaracterized. The order was to remain in Tripoli and protect some three dozen embassy personnel rather than fly to Benghazi some 600 miles away after all Americans there would have been evacuated."</i> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/apnewsbreak-no-stand-down-order-in-benghazi/2014/07/10/7a9034d6-085b-11e4-8615-4eddc1f1cffa_story.html" rel="nofollow">Source</a><br /><br />So it sounds like this order was given not by any civilian commander (like the President), but by a military commander who made the calculation that going there wouldn't have done a bit of good. Was it the wrong decision? I'm not a military commander, so I don't know. Col. Gibson seems to accept that it was not the wrong decision.<br /><br />It's true, I want to know all the facts. But the Republicans have turned this all into a dog and pony show where they are desperately trying to pin blame on the President in order to score political points and win back some relevance instead of developing their own policies and doing their fucking jobs. This is no longer about getting to the truth for them, it's about a partisan witch hunt. The Benghazi hearings have become a joke. Surely you can at least agree with that?euphgeekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00735904882260895431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-56296059525517072642014-07-12T05:17:17.026-04:002014-07-12T05:17:17.026-04:00I worry about onyx. She may be a figure of fun to ...I worry about onyx. She may be a figure of fun to some, but she did love her husband very much indeed and losing him has got to be hard as hell on her.ECnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-65524719215517536102014-07-12T05:09:55.630-04:002014-07-12T05:09:55.630-04:00You have to dig a bit - but parts of the rules are...You have to dig a bit - but parts of the rules are in the NDAA, 2009 (and 2012), the War Powers Resolution (1973 and which ironically was aimed at reducing the President's powers to commit acts of war) and the roots of it all are in the Posse Comitatus Act (1878). I hope your tolerance for legalese is way higher than mine! I glaze over with that stuff! It's the usual jumbled mess that different lawmakers who want to piss in the soup to improve the flavor seem to create.<br /><br />No sides here - not on this. This is one time where everyone is on the same side, just wanting the truth. A timeline, a reason for the initial BS excuse, and a reason why they weren't rescued during a 4 to 7 hour firefight with a drone on station when Sigonella is only two hours away if the pilot were in a bit of a hurry. Why were the rescued ones (40 or so of them) sequestered for months? <br /><br />The political side of it - who gives a crap right now? That's not important.<br /><br />As for Col. Gibson's testimony - his exact words were: "It was not a stand down order," he testified in March. "It was not, 'Hey, time for everybody to go to bed.' It was, you know, 'Don't go. Don't get on that plane. Remain in place.'"<br /><br />"Initially, I was angry," Gibson said. "A tactical commander doesn't like to have those decisions taken away from him. But then once I digested it a little bit, then I realized, OK, maybe there was something else that was going on. Maybe I'm needed here for something else."<br /><br />It were a stay in place order to the only people who could legally, and without further authorization, act. Not technically a stand down, no. Practically, yes. <br /><br />"You stay where you are and do not go galloping off to the rescue." Like I say - rock and a hard place for them. Got to have been rough, especially in the following days.<br /><br />We know each other well enough by now to know that while we can honestly disagree - sometimes with humor - we both try to tell the world as we see it.<br /><br />ECnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-74932505497926216652014-07-12T01:27:43.491-04:002014-07-12T01:27:43.491-04:00If I'm confused, it's only due to your ina...If I'm confused, it's only due to your inability to communicate your thoughts well. You're far from upsetting me, I just want to know the facts, even if they're inconvenient for my side. But so far, I haven't seen any sources from you, reliable or otherwise.euphgeekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00735904882260895431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-32327785051006229802014-07-12T01:19:08.616-04:002014-07-12T01:19:08.616-04:00"So what gives these contractors the authorit..."So what gives these contractors the authority to tell a general to stand down?"<br /><br />You are confused, euph. It's late. I'll blog it and you can read it from the jump. Didn't mean to upset you. Just trying to set out the facts without the parses... .Me2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-52242019285435556812014-07-12T01:16:40.680-04:002014-07-12T01:16:40.680-04:00That was given in the Snopes link. It refers to G...That was given in the <a href="http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/benghazi.asp" rel="nofollow">Snopes</a> link. It refers to Gen. Ham's June 2013 <a href="http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=AAEBCAA5-4C8F-4820-BACD-2DB9B53C3424" rel="nofollow">testimony</a> (starting at the bottom of page 45) that it was his decision.euphgeekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00735904882260895431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-1368264335662358642014-07-12T01:07:40.467-04:002014-07-12T01:07:40.467-04:00"Gen. Ham made the decision that sending Afri... "Gen. Ham made the decision that sending Africom in was not a good idea."<br />Show me.Me2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-77662122009838995792014-07-12T01:06:49.280-04:002014-07-12T01:06:49.280-04:00So what gives these contractors the authority to t...So what gives these contractors the authority to tell a general to stand down? And why are you blaming Obama for not giving an order to send these other forces in? Why were you telling me that Obama was prepared to let everyone in there be killed, implying that he was going to enjoy it? I'm still waiting for your sources on this. I gave you mine.euphgeekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00735904882260895431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-8182030495100031722014-07-12T00:57:37.235-04:002014-07-12T00:57:37.235-04:00euphgeek, didn't you read my first post about ...euphgeek, didn't you read my first post about this? The stand down orders were explicitly given to the HIRED EX special ops CONTRACTORS who were already onsite, NOT the military or BY the militaryMe2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-18784565920490259602014-07-12T00:54:40.982-04:002014-07-12T00:54:40.982-04:00The only thing that comes close to giving me cold ...The only thing that comes close to giving me cold chills is that you actually believe this bullshit with no proof. The fact remains that there were no stand down orders, either explicit or implicit. Gen. Ham made the decision that sending Africom in was not a good idea. If he thought it was, then he could have called the president, told him they were waiting on his orders, and Obama would have given the OK. You seem to think that Obama should have told Gen. Ham that he didn't care if it's a bad idea and could cause more deaths, just go anyway. What ever happened to listening to your generals on the ground?<br /><br />Your version of events seems to paint Obama as some America-hating sociopath who revels in the deaths of Americans. That just does not match up with reality. You're going to need much more evidence if you want to convince me that the testimony given by military commanders is just one big conspiracy to cover up for Obama.euphgeekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00735904882260895431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-39865192188205686072014-07-12T00:43:48.919-04:002014-07-12T00:43:48.919-04:00onyx last posted on the 7th...but The Old Lady is ...onyx last posted on the 7th...but The Old Lady is back.Me2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-75611945822037151892014-07-12T00:32:22.228-04:002014-07-12T00:32:22.228-04:00Gen. Ham had no authority to give such an order. I...Gen. Ham had no authority to give such an order. It MUST come from the president. Ham would have been court martialled had he even dared.<br />The proof is there were nearly 40 Americans at that compound who were under attack by terrorists and it WAS needed. The Libyans who were hired to guard the compound had run away and they were defenseless. The Libyan government, such as it was, was in chaos amd knew exactly what was going on but were helpless. Had obama given the order, Africom would have moved heaven and earth to get there. They were ready, on alert, awaiting the order that never came. obama never gave it. He was prepared to let every American there be killed.<br />THAT should give you cold chills.<br />Me2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7572739179315002435.post-30325286075000686752014-07-12T00:30:30.350-04:002014-07-12T00:30:30.350-04:00I figure he's not adding a zero to every amoun...I figure he's not adding a zero to every amount he posts, but he's already faking in a few donations to "prime the pump" so to speak.<br /><br />Every time they post the scoreboard, touting the "new monthly donors", his own scoreboard shows a DECREASE in monthly donors, and a marked decrease in the total amount given by as monthlies.<br /><br />Note "onyx" is absent from FR lately ... <br />the jimcompoop tried to put the bite on her for a big donation this quarter from her late husband's estate and she told him where to he could shove it.ay-nony-nonynoreply@blogger.com