FNS's Brit Hume: How Dare You Not Want To Die For My Beliefs?
By Nicole Belle Sunday Nov 04, 2007 8:38am
Download | play 
Download | play (h/t Bill W.)
Foreign Service officers like Jack Crotty (sp?) speaking out against forced assignments to Iraq certainly has the brave armchair chickenhawks of FOXNews Sunday in a tizzy. I mean, how dare these diplomats--some of whom have given decades in service to their country--feel at all hesitant about going to Iraq? After all, embassies are the safest place in the world, at least that must be what it seems like for Brit Hume, all nice and cozy in his studio.
Only among the people at Foggy Bottom would an assignment to a dangerous place be considered "forcing them." The fact of the matter, I think, is the key part of Mr. Crotty's statement when he began talking was about it would be one thing if people who supported what's going on over there to be asked to go. Clearly, a big portion, a big part of the State Department staff, diplomats, FSOs and the rest do not support the policy and do not think they should be obligated therefore to carry it out, which is contrary to their oath. Is there a more important diplomatic assignment in the world right now than Iraq? Obviously not. This is the most sensitive, the most difficult, the most challenging and I think the most important assignment you could have. And for someone like that guy, speaking obviously for many, to stand up and caterwaul about it the way he did, I think he's arguably a very great disgrace and a black mark on the Foreign Service in general.
Gotta love that authoritarian mindset that ignores all the people saying that this might be a mistake and refuses to concede--in the face of one wrong prediction after another--that he might not have it right. By the way, that oath that FSOs take? You tell me if there's any obligation there:
I, [state your name.] do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That I take this obligation freely and without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. That I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me, God.
The former Wonkette, Ana Marie Cox concedes that there's no duty to follow orders in the FSO oath as there is in the military oath, but then goes ahead and takes a page from Brit and suggests an ignobility on the part of these diplomats. Luckily, in the comments, someone who actually knows what he's talking about (and for the record, Ana, that would NOT be Brit or his buddy Bill Kristol) sets her straight.
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Brit Hume isn't afraid to go, he's already dead. (or at least he appears dead-like)
I don't know about this issue..it seems to me that they signed up for the service and are duty bound to go where they are assigned. On the other hand if the selection is based upon some sort of party affiliation rather than expertise in a needed area that would be problematic. In any company you refuse a transfer you are finished.
tough talk from a certified wuss.
Gosh, he's RIGHT!! We ought to set up permanent cots in Iraq for Kindasleezy and The Dick so they can practice their incomparable diplomatic skills right there - send Rummy along, he's been there before...
Maybe Dead Man Talking would like to be Fox's foreign correspondent in Iraq. He's not afraid. What kind of oath did Fox make him swear?
Something about lying in it? Maybe destroying the Constitution? Sworn on with hand on an old remaindered O'Reilly book?
great comment~thanks
alos reminds of way back when I was drafted into the army. In basic training I was asked what I would choose as an assignment. Since I graduated with an accounting degree I asked for finance...well I would up in the infantry and got sent to Vietnam (1962-1963)...I know the difference between a military oath and a State Dept oath but still once you are in it becomes a matter of where you skills are needed.........
The Agents in the FSO have a legitimate argument here. I feel they are not obligated to serve in a country that was illegally invaded by the country they serve. To do so, would go against my beliefs on this matter.
For some reason I am reminded of The Charge of the Light Brigade.
I agree with BitNOLA. If it's so important to the U.S., then Pox News and Brit specifically need to get their butts transferred to Iraq and tell us the truth first-hand. I mean they're authentic journalists, aren't they? /snark
Not exactly Profiles in Courage, but then again, maybe those State Department folks fully understand what an ever-growing majority of Americans are slowly realizing - that we invaded the wrong stinkin' country to begin with:
www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com
There you go again, bothering FAUX "News" with facts.
Oh how cute, Wonkette. You cal them "wussies". You wouldn't have the guts to go anywhere near Iraq, let alone sniff the dirt two feet outside the Green Zone. You wouldn't leave the air-conditioned fast food restaurants and coffee shops. In fact you're perfect content sitting back in America writing your cute little books about some slutty Washington tramp who is sleeping around town. I'm sure your novels are doing their part to show "respect for the 19 years old being killed in Iraq". And I'm sure the thousands of State Department VOLUNTEERS who have already been to Iraq just love being called "wussies" by some bitch tapping out on her laptop the definition of "courage" and "sacrifice" - all this in between writing new chapters of her new book that no one will buy.
So he believes that these members of the State Department are honor bound "to protect and defend the Constituiton"?. OK...since that oath is the same one given to all officials, how come he doesn't want to hold bush, cheney and the rest of the crooks accountable. Guess it depends on how high up on the ladder you are.
gumpyoldvet @ 2:
I think forcing civilians to serve in a war-zone is a bit different.
That's why it's very important for the next President, whoever it might be, immediately after talking the oath of office, to appoint and Bush and Cheney to Baghdad, to be the Ambassadors to Iraq! No if, ands, or buts allowed, send them directly to Baghdad, so they can continue serving this country, until the war is won!
Didn't Condi testify to Waxman's Commitee last week that the "Green Zone" was basically a very dangerous shit hole?
Dear Mr. Hume,
With all the officials who will either leave, or lose, their jobs due to their refusal to follow the directives of this office, we are about to experience a large increase in the number of positions available for loyal citizens who wish to serve their country. Specifically, we already have several positions open at the U.S. Embassy located in Iraq.
We expect your application imminently.
Sincerely,
Condoleeza Rice
United States Secretary of State
Hmm, why is this closet nob gobbler listened to? And by the way, why the fuck do we need diplomats in Iraq? We are shooting them, they are bombing us, it's called a war. There hasn't been one day of diplomacy in this whole administration. Why now are they telling the diplomat corps to go risk their lives to protect and defend Brittany's right to faux speech? Pretty sad days when the government you supposedly lead is deserting you.
Bang, bang, bang! Just another nail in the neo-con coffin. Please let it be the last.
f Brit. He shouldn't be able to do a straight news show M-F while being a right wing dingleberry on sundays
Filthy Harry @ 13:
Sorry...still think they are part of the company. They knew or should have known the risks. Many diplomats have served in war torn countries and other areas of strife. This is really an issue for State to figure out how to handle.
Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.
- Albert Einstein apparently speaking about the average Fox News viewer 50 years before the network was created
The people at FAUX news realizes that the diplomats hesitancy belies the idea that Iraq is so much safer because Petraeus was feeling surges.
Basset hound-faced Brit Hume-rless loves to pontificate on things he thinks he knows something about, but really he just comes across as a partisan pundit. not a journalist. at all.
is brit
another oxycontin
addict
he looks like a zombie
most of the time
heh...
The president and congress swear an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. The Constitution states all treaties signed by the US are the law of the land. Americans, wake up and see what's going down.
"Convention against Torture and Other Cruel or Degrading Treatment or Punishment"- rescinded
"Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty"- rescinded
"Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty"- rescinded
"Ban on Weapons in Space"- rescinded
"Kyoto Protocol"- limits global warming- rescinded
"Geneva Convention"- bans targeting civilians and sets rules for treatment of POWs- obsolete
"Nuremberg Charter"- wars of aggression are crimes- ignored
"United Nations Charter"- ignored
"Bill of Rights"- rescinded
"Posse Comitatus Act"- overridden
"Habeas Corpus"- right to trial by jury- rescinded
"Universal Declarartion of Human Rights"- ignored
Bit NOLA @ 5:
Exactly. Fox should open studios in the embassy and send its bravest "reporters", led by Fumin' Hume, over there.
I volunteer Brit Hume to go.
gumpyoldvet @ 18:
What happens in a company when your estimate of the cost of a project in dollars is two orders of magnitude low, the cost in lives is in the hundreds of thousands, environmental damage is incalculable, the image and respect of your company has been flushed down the toilet, and oh yeah, three quarters of your shareholders think you made a GIANT mistake and lie to them on a daily basis?
Your company analogy clearly does not apply, because the f'ing dictator and his puppet masters are calling the shots without accountability.
sam @ 11:
You need to go back to bed for awhile (and get up on the other side).
: How Dare You Not Want To Die For My Beliefs?
the chickenhawk cry!
It may be their job, but you wouldn't force your maid to clean your house if you've spilled toxic waste everywhere.
breakspear @ 21:
Agree....I always wonder about these individuals who expound with great seriousness about everything.....ever hear one of these folks say "that's not my area of expertise".....journalists try to get to the truth not just present one side or the other or do the stenographic "he/she says....some say....one of the reasons I rarely tune into any of these shows.....
underdog @ 26:
Actually he/she is eventually fired.....Stan O'Neal of Merrill, Charlie Prince of Citibank, Carly Fiorina of Hewlett.....hopefully we will elect some rational individuals to change policy and begin to talk to our adversaries and stop playin John Wayne "hero".....
well these people certainly have a double standard about federal employees' obligations, don't they?
if a federal employee fails to go where he's assigned (diplomats refusing an Iraq assignment) they're weak, and deserve to be fired.
if a federal employee fails to do the work he's assigned (Albert Gonzalez failing to properly document or remember pertinenty goings-on) its understandable, and petty of us to question his moral character.
so you just have to go wherever they send you - you don't necessarily have to do a good job. is that an accurate summation? actually, given FOX's reputation and deliverables, that makes sense.
If it's the most important job in the diplomatic corp then Condi should get her butt over there and do it.
He's such a fair and balanced little neo-nazi.
It doesn't break their oath but these people should go here they're sent or quit. Period.
Ok fine, take a stand of conscience. (which I don't think they're doing...more like a "save my ass" stand) But ok, great.
Resign.
Thanks for your service but don't try to pull a paycheck in the Caribbean your whole career.
Strong consideration should be given to sending the whole State Department, top to bottom,
on assignment to Iraq.
And they should not dress in mufti, but in uniforms.
Leeza should have a bright red combat uniform (with pink Jimmy Choo combat boots), embroidered "I am the leader of the US State Department and we're here in Iraq to teach the Iraqis how to run their country'.
That should take care of that problem, in less than twenty-four hours.
"...go where they're sent or quit" Typo. Sorry.
Brit Hume complaining about people doing something contrary to their oath?
rotflol!
What a hoot
How long were Juan's balls inflated for? Cause I would bet he caved or was shut down not long after the clip ended.
Mike @ 28:
You're right, I wouldn't, but I sure wouldn't bet that idiots like Brit Hume wouldn't.
Wouldn't that be interesting if the whole department resigned en masse?
burnt @ 31:
never said send unqualified people...if they have an expertise then they should be considered...we have enough fuckups in this administration as it is....and as many as 20 Dems are approving of Mukassey, a Rudy pal,....speaks to a larger problem......
I would love to knock that fucking smirk off Hume's face!
This is how it goes, and will keep on going even with a Dem in the WH and control of both houses.
Clear Channel is giving Beck $50 mil for five years to spew on their radio network.
The worst are the best to the wingers. It's not going away anytime soon. Laws need to be passed to get these assclowns out of the atmosphere. They're the global warming to the national air waves. It's all hate-speech.
I really don't know how guys like Kristol and Hume can talk that way without dying of embarrassment.
Any normal human being in their situation would spend all their camera time apologizing for thinking they knew better than everyone else in helping to sell an occupation that a six year old could've told you would be a disaster long before it started, for mocking anyone and everyone who pointed out the idiocy of invading Iraq, for carrying water for the most criminal administration in US history, and for just plain being wrong about *everything*.
But no-- they keep going with more of the same. They sit in their comfy studio and heap scorn upon the latest "traitors". There seem to be more and more of them every day.
Brit's not a partisan Repub, honest, he's not.
He's a legitimate "news" anchorman!
How dare that ANYONE not go off to die so that the
Military Industrial Complex can grow more tentacles
in it's evil octopus, How DARE they!!!
And we wonder how Hitler came to power?
I mean this in the nicest way, but Brit has the look of someone that has had a serious stroke.
Is there something wrong with him other than the obvious?
Chaotic Modulation
www.YabbaDabbaHubbaDo.com
I keep gettin dumped to the Dell search page everytime I try to read commments, or reply to oone....GAH!! Is anything like this happening to anyone else? Or is my pc just retarded?
These people hate America. Fucking haaaaaate it.
And there's nothing we can do. Letters and emails? Their overlords wipe with them.
Congress could care less, save one or two. Bleak, bleak, bleak.
liberalNmoderation @ 48:
Buy a Mac. Duh.
Bit NOLA @ 49:
Let's see Fume take an unaccompanied 12 month tour to Iraq for 70K.
You know, at some point we need to stop honoring twaddle like Hume's. We should ignore it when possible, and mock it mercilessly when needed. To try to meet the twaddle with arguments on the merits is to LOSE every time in the current media environment - because there is no winning argument on the merits with these people. No liberal or progressive should ever appear on Fox News. To appear on FN is to legitimate their twaddle as relevant, even if you oppose it. But it is not relevant, and our actions should reflect that - to the point where the only people who appear on FN are the dittoheads. This is a microcosmic scale of our approach to the whole conservative movement - stop engaging it and it will lose its relevance and become more and more isolated.
Then we can engage them on our ground, not theirs. We can be proactive and not just reactive; and their tried-and-true strategy of "pissing off the liberals" and then calling us "angry" will deflate like a balloon. And we can also offer solutions instead of just pointing to problems. It is a waste of energy and not very productive to accept their invitations to engage in the merits of arguments on their crooked turf.
Seems to me this is Sun-tsu 101.
I can barely afford rent, much less anything like a new computer...that's one luxury I won't be able to afford for some time...
I, [state your name.] do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
and domestic.
Seeing as how Bush is still in power, there are a lot of people not keeping their oath.
liberalNmoderation @ 53:
I bet the State Dept. has new ones. No bid contact with Dell maybe.
He just might be a progressive and we the authoritarian. I mean, the majority in our nation at one point thought owing slaves was rightful. Isn't this the argument they are making now, can the majority be wrong abut Iraq now? Who are we to push our views on what we perceive to be right. How authoritarian of us.
F*ck Hume, Britt.
You tell them Brit! Because I am quite certain that these diplomats place the opinion of you and your viewers above their very lives and will therefore rethink their treasonous concerns of their welfare for the sake of this misbegotten "mission" in Iraq. I, for one, would much rather go through the agonizing process of being beheaded versus causing a black mark on the foreign service. I mean really!
Frank @ 14:
Does Anybody remember the movie FX, where at the end the villian is sent out in front of an armed SWAT team with an unloaded machinegun crazy-glued to his hands? Bush and Cheney are prime candidates for that.
I think Brit is definitely confusing the oath to the US Constitution with the oath to King George the Dim. Understandable really it is hard to read and hear when you have your head up the King's ass.
I hope the diplomats hold their ground. Their reluctance to go to Baghdad makes it harder for knuckleheads like Hume and Kristol to make the case that everything's ducky in Iraq.
Phone Hume, Britt.
Eckland was better looking.
One more day in the salt mine putting up with assholoes like brit, but, hey, you know what? It is sunny and relatively warm here in Bend.
In a healthy society we would not have to put up with the kind of bullshit this man and those like him disseminate.
Here is a video I posted last night of my favorite guitar player and human being Frank Zappa being interviewed on Crossfire in 1986. The reason I post it is it directly addresses and predicts, in a sense, the situation we find ourselves in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ISil7IHzxc
The oath that they take is as follows:
"I ________, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."
There's nothing in it that says they HAVE TO give their lives in the performance of their duties. They can simply walk away. And if they weren't all slaves to their house payments, they probably COULD just "walk away".
Of course, warmongers don't understand the simple wisdom involved with just walking away from an argument.
Our foreign diplomats are the professionals that we the People employ. They are they ones who train to understand the finer points and nuances of diplomacy... and they are trying to tell the Administration that sending diplomats into a war zone is imprudent. But the Administration probably won't listen. They hardly ever do.
Whatever happened to real newsmen like this guy?
http://www.geocities.com/zanker.geo/Baxter.gif
or even:
http://www.lataco.com/taco/wp-content/uploads/kent_brockman.gif
boxed opinions from chimpy's propaganda machine.
All those in favorite of letting the officials who believe chimpy's war should be fought do the time, say aye.
hume got his job because he can spew bs without laughing. He exhales his brain cells.
Hume is unwatchable, like most of F*cks news.
Dr. Acula @ 57:
Your grasp of the english language is stunning. :-)
Wouldn't it be nice if we could sit at a table with some of these phoques and verbally rip them a new asshole to replace the one they have obviously so overused.
Secondly I would recommend buying KY Jelly stock. With the ever increasing plethora of assholes willingly stuck in the air(read fuckee's)for those fuckers in this administration they willingly and enthusiastically permit to fuck them anytime they feel the urge, the supply of KY is in great demand by butt buddies across this great land of America. The stock can only increase in value.
H/T to Larry Flynt
It's time to give some props to Juan Williams for his role over there at Fox. I may not agree with him all the time, but can't we give him some credit for sticking up against these fools at Fox? He is CONSISTENTLY the only voice of dissent on that show - and he is always fighting against at least 3 - 4 other voices.
Just wanted to know if anyone else felt the same way. WTG Juan.
It's Crotty
You were correct Nicole.
I'm sorry, I have to disagree here. If these diplomats don't support the war, they shouldn't be quietly taking a salary from an administration who does. They should have had the moral courage to speak out before now, when their lives were NOT on the line.
In other words, it was just ducky for them when OTHER people were going to die, but now that it is their butts on the line, they sing a different tune.
On the same note, we should have a draft, and the first people to go over there should be people who voted for GW. Guaranteed, the war would end in a month.
The "honesty stock" goes up on Juan Williams, and down on tim russert. Obviously there never was any stock on the other goons at the propaganda network.
I wish brit would do something "brave", such as go into diplomatic service in Iraq or volunteer to go door to door and see how the people of Iraq are enjoying their new democracy. What a coward pig.
Brit says there are a number of people on Capitol Hill and in the White house who have family over there (Iraq). Oh yeah? Name 'em. Keep making things when you know you are wrong Fox News. They and there minions would have absolutely loved Germany in the 1930's.
I would to go to the extreme to say that all those who defy this order should be shot to death and set as an example.
On the same token, I would say that all proponents of the Iraq war should have their primary residence in Iraq, and live there, that way their relevance is credible and irrefutable.
Absent of all the above, then you are just pouting or gullible enough to listen to time-wasting noise-machine that cry wolf too many times on TV.
noe-cons = Nazis, german nazis used to spout similar sentiments to brit hume.
Dont ask questions just carry out the order otherwise a terrorist will rape your mom,.
75 andy Says: noe-cons = Nazis, german nazis used to spout similar sentiments to brit hume.
Dont ask questions just carry out the order otherwise a terrorist will rape your mom,.
And not give you a turn.
I do think Hume had his brain surgically removed or altered.
*
Obviously Brit is suffering brain damage from the fumes coming from the Reagans' garbage.
Poor Brit, I guess Nancy and Ron were too cheap to use Hefty.
gumpyoldvet @ 18:
Sounds like "free-market" rationale to me.
Perhaps this has something to do with Cox writing for TIME now? I'm not writing her off or anything, but a slip like this can happen when being influenced by a new and possibly toxic environment. I mean, I don't read TIME anymore; the magazine just often (not always or in every article, I am sure) seems like another propaganda tool, though no better or worse than any other bit of MSM. I hardly trust any of it now, at least not without a suspicious eye.
As for Hume....feh. He wouldn't even register on my radar if he didn't have a national audience to whom he is bloviating. Which is why, I assume, C&L covered this and why I am grateful for that and the pertinent links fleshing out the story, like the link to the poster who politely set Cox straight.
To understand the State Department employee's objection to being ordered to serve at the Green Zone requires some understanding of what the tradition has been within the department for service in war zones. The tradition is that we do not send our diplomats into war zones - we normally close down our delegations when there are actual hostilities or legitimate threats of such. That is the standard procedure. In the past if a diplomat volunteered to serve in such a location then fine and dandy but we have not ordered them into those situations. Does the Department have the right to order them in and fire them if they don't go - yes. Should they be fired - I don't believe so. To argue that they should have objected to this foreign policy adventure before they were ordered in as an assault on those who raise such objection now ignores the fact that several career diplomats have raised those objections and resigned from the foreign service.
Our foreign service professionals are, as a group, highly trained and dedicated servants of the nation who spend an entire working lifetime representing the US in many difficult and unpleasant places. To issue shrill attacks on them for exercising their right of free speech is offensive.
Just tell me this . . . how many reporters does Fox News have stationed permanently in Iraq?
I have a friend with many years of experience in the foreign service who's working on his resume at this moment.
I can only image he's one of many.
What an incredible loss.
Brit--the most lame of lightweight pompous asses.
you have to watch or get clips of john bolton's interview on c-span this past weekened.
He wants to go into iran and brian lamb rightly asked him about his own vietnam dodging and also whether he'd be willing to send HIS daughter into these wars he's aching to start.
Bolton is insane.
Please get those clips up on this site if you can
From Brit Hume and Bill Kristol we learn a major lesson:
The important thing is to deliver your opinions in a somber, arrogant, snide tone of voice; preferably with your lip drooping in a permanent sneer. Let every word drip with contempt for anyone who dares to contradict you, no matter how asinine you might sound.
That way at least some people will mistake you for a person who actually knows what the fuck he's talking about. They'll forget that you've been pathetically, doggedly, in fact delusionally wrong about pretty much every single thing you've spouted off about for the past six years.
Hume and Kristol are not only cowardly hypocrites. They are clowns. Their "punditry" on the subject of Iraq reads like a comedy routine.
I call him...Assholio.
Oaths?!?! Let's talk about oaths. How about the one elected officials are sworn to which is to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic? By that measure a large majority of the Congress and Administration is guilty of treason!
Seems appropriate for hume
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afuJnsWRkwE
And don't they make a sweeet couple?
87 Liberal AND Proud Says: I call him…Assholio.
I always preferred to say someone is more assholier than thou.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXSF3ZhZNLc
sam @ 11:
Exactly what have you done bigguy? Counter ideas on a blog you don't like? Wow you are one strong sob.
I think we should start sending the cheerleaders, like the human sharpee (h/t Stephanie Miller) over there since they are so vocal with their ideas. What a tool.
How about Iran? Pakistan? Venezuela? Bomb them all?
"... So help me, God" ???????
Since when is this actually an official part of any federal government oath?
I know it's a reflex statement by many. But, I thought this forbids such a statement as part of an oath?
Or has this part of the constitution been repealed recently?
Ya gotta love ole Shit Fumes. Mr Horseface is always good for a laugh , like most frightwingers.
92 fred
How about “… So help me, Dog” ???????
No Bedwetting, Chicken-Shit, Neo-Con will dare send their brainwashed children to Iraq, but they will send everybody elses children.
why are these middle aged white men so arrogant? it's a serious question I pose especially after watching john bolton's interview on c-span.
Even after all their mistakes, they still believe they are right (a minority would never be able to get away with that)
As far as the State Department employees: Where were they when our government lied their way into Iraq? Certainly someone knew there were no WMDs. Also, we are being told how improved things are there. Why on earth would they be afraid to go? They are part of the problem. I have no sympathy for them when our young men and women are over there being blown up daily. Who will raise their children? State Department employees' protests are self-centered and self-serving.
By my reading of the oath, it seems they're actually obligated to not go to Iraq and to fight the Bush Administration and its policies.
Didn't they just recently have a successful attack against that Fortress America in Baghdad?
You just can't get decent slave labor anymore!
bizona @ 98:
Funny...that's the same thing I thought after reading the oath...hmm...
Brit Hume has the intellect of my last fart! His views are from rightwing colored glasses. He does not know the true danger of the green zone in Baghdad. He is merely monkeying the failed policies of this failed WH crowd. What a loser! -Kevo
Waterboard Hume.
MN USA @ 97:
State department has always been a key word for extended vacation for some people... Now, they are required to do their jobs, and it is no longer fun, anymore... Booo hooo hooo...
bb @ 96:
It is a side effect of the male enhancement and erectile dysfunction pills. I think it is called "Viagra Balls" in the parlance of our times...
Y'all have said it, I know, but it bears repeating:
If we're going to get all worked up about enforcing oaths and what not, let's start with the one to uphold and defend the Constitution....(cough, ahem).
Sorry, I have no sympathy whatsoever for these people.
Assigned anywhere but Iraq, they'd be telling Greeks, Turks, Danes, Swedes, and Hottentots...the world at large...about the big SUCCESS story that is the GWOT, specfically their bosses' brilliant Iraq strategy.
Deaths are down! The surge is working!
Assigned to Iraq, omigod, US foreign policy is a death sentence!
They don't like where the boss sends them, they can quit their jobs.
That's my lot in life, as a working person.
I've actually done it a few times, and, with lots less going for me than they have for them, I never ended up selling apples in the street or sleeping in a car...
Hell, I never even made enough money to buy a car!
I've raised two kids, one a college grad, the other a college student...
They never went a day without food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and a lot more besides.
And they also know enough NOT to volunteer for the US military, unless they really WANT to get sent somewhere foreign to kill people and get shot at at themselves.
They don't actually know this from me-they learned it from the television, they have been
forced to eat their family meal in front of network news since their births in the '80's.
There have, I think, been a few wars since then? None of them particularly worthy?
And, while it might be nice to see either one of them get a good government job...
Jeez, NOT in the FOREIGN SERVICE! Don't ever volunteer to be a paid crook and liar...
Not under this regime.
Ana Marie Cox sold her soul when she joined the MSM via Time Mag.
FuxNooz hates us for our freedom!
liberalNmoderation @ 100:
Then they need to do the right thing. Stop accepting that tax payer provided paycheck and QUIT!
I keep coming back to this oath of office, which starts with the oath the president takes, and then adds that 'foreign and domestic' and so forth. Now, nowhere in either oath does it say 'protect the United States,' as in 'its territories, its people,' etc. No, the oath is to protect the Constitution of the United States. As far as I can tell, no one in the White House has paid the slightest attention to this oath since the day they took it, until these conscientious objectors.
At the same time, my money says, once they fire these career civil servants for refusing to go, and finish hiring new ones from Regency, and Heritage, and Federalist Society, into these non-appointed slots, no one will end up being sent. The Bush policy will hold: why do with 100 people what you can f-k up with 25? And they'll leave all their loyal little Bushies in place, where they can't be removed except for cause, for the next Administration to have to work around.
I must admit to not feeling a lot of sympathy for the State folks who don't want to go to Iraq. There were thousands of us on the street before this fuck up happened and I don't remember many of the stripped pants crowd out there with us. (Yeah I know some brave souls DID protest and even quit. Major props to them) But if these same folks would have squacked this loud before the war, maybe they could have derailed it. And maybe not, GS-13s like NCOs do the work while the big boys get the credit. But still there is a little hypocrisy operating here that says I ain't gonna bitch as long as it's only kids from podunk towns and urban shitholes who will get smoked, but ME, hell no we won't go.
If they disagree with policy strongly enough, why don't they resign?
Wouldn't that be the principaled thing to do?
Or are they afraid of losing their pensions?
Don't like being a cop because it's too dangerous? Then don't be a cop. don't like being in the foreign service because it might invlovle dangerous assignments? Don't be in the foreign serive.
What a strange individual. Google Bob Altemeyer and "The Authoritarians" if you want to see what's going on in the disturbed mind of Brit Hume.
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