Article

2004-08-27 Home Front: Politix

Victor Hanson "Fog of War" about Kerry -- Whoa

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Sherry 2004-08-27 2:40:21 PM|| || Front Page|| [11130 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Based on what I have seen from GW and how I project his reputation as a brash youth on a military pilot of that age group, I am surprised that he didn't use his political influence to transition from the F-102 to the replacement fighter. There were many more expereinced pilots that would have been better qualified to make ther transition, yet , suprisingly to me, GHW Bush didn't pull strings to get him a seat in the next generation bird. Here are some reasons that I think GW probably thought about staying in:

1. I saw the footage of Bush when he got out of the cockpit of the plane onto the carrier deck. You can not fake that type of enthusiasm for flying. He still has pilot in his blood.

2. At that time in his life GW had no other discernable plans. And seems to have gravitated to excitement.

3. GW seems to have gavitated to activities (baseball, flying, business and politics) that his dad did better. Note - he seems to have surpassed his father as a goverenor and president.

It would be interesting to have someone like Brit Hume ask him if he ever thought of becoming a fighter pilot as a career.

Posted by Super Hose 2004-08-27 4:30:17 PM|| 2004-08-27 4:30:17 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 I love VDH - and envy his knowledge of history and civilizations.

[very personal rant]
On the personal level it seems that all important events pivot in the blink of an eye - and on the most otherwise insignificant realities, such as which way you're facing at some instant in time - or something equally unpredictable. And that bubble of time contains your entire universe: your precious ass, your perceptions, time dialtion or contraction, and 3 feet away is another bubble - containing a seemingly separate universe. Most people can reattach the bubble they occupied to the continuum afterwards - and maintain the perspective to make sense of it. Some intellectual honesty is required, of course. Some just can't do it. Something in the process breaks down - due to the individual's personal flaws and foibles... some just don't have more than a fleeting grasp of reality to start with, much less the death grip required for never losing yourself in a fantasy.

I've known guys who drank themselves into the ground. A self-stamped one-way ticket and no amount of comraderie would stop them - as if they had preordained it - a course of least resistence which had the added benefits of garnering sympathy and memory loss. The majority of guys with this weakness, invariably never reattached their bubble of experience to the main continuum. Were they still around today and in possession of enough brain cells to make any sense they would point to the post-Vietnam social climate and attitudes as their true foes. These clashed with their expectations - and brooked no reconciliation if they failed to toe the line of self-hate. It was purest bullshit, of course, but many here will know what I mean. Sadly, for some, their personal identity was bound up in external approval. Even something as "safe" as family and friend approval was not always forthcoming, so you had to be a sort of hardass and nasty prick to fight back - else you could be overwhelmed by the hate and derision directed your way. Skeery had a pivotal role in creating this climate. I've chosen to bite my lip and STFU for a long time about this - but Skeery has opened the floodgates - and he did it intentionally. Today I'll emulate the Senator - just once.

Skeery's problem today is based on the fact that he is utterly convinced by his own BS. It's not yet clear if he's trapped in his bubble - or if he's just so craven and calculating that it appears so. His actions prove he believes in his own infallibility - that he can fabricate whatever serves him at will - he's been doing it for 35 yrs and because he's a "hero" he's gotten away with it. He had a plan. He followed it his entire life - and stepped on or over everything and everyone that stood between him and his goal. After all those elections to office by the mostly moronic dufusses of Mass (excepting our brave outposts in the wilderness, put on your kevlar, boyz) it appears that he thinks himself bulletproof -- 35 yrs of the external approval of voters, sycophants, and "yes" men certainly doesn't promote humility or integrity or honesty. Probably a bubble of seriously skewed self-perceptions. How else could zipperheads like Skeery and his pal Teddy think they occupy the mainstream position in the US political process? Certainly no rational and neutral person would agree with them.

Well, it's often funny how shit works out. Big Wheel Turnin'. Here we have Skeery who was never forced to face a changing reality. And, indeed, the climate has finally changed and the experience has matured - for about a two thirds of the public. The remaining third are still held in the thrall of having been "right" in their loonie youth - and loath to give that up, ever, regardless of what's going on around them - the Skeery Syndrome, I guess. They infect many of society's institutions - at the moment, but maybe not for much longer. Two thirds of the public figured out what happened, more or less healed themselves, shed the BS, and reattached. Skeery's in that still-deluded third - and now he's finding out that a lot of people, outside Mass, want to pop his bubble and hold him to account. Poor lame shithead - he's got 3.5 decades of catching up to do - and that only starts when he finally figures out that his entire world, particulary his perception of self, is a bubble of delusions. Scrap the plan, son, it's time to reattach - or shoot yourself. I have a recommendation for you, if you need any help.
[/very personal rant]

Eat it, Skeery. I hope you get a good taste of the incredible bewilderment and heartbreak you helped cause for others, all better men than you. You deserve ridicule and derision and oblivion, not the Presidency.

Posted by .com 2004-08-27 4:50:25 PM|| 2004-08-27 4:50:25 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 .com -- What you said about Skeery goes double for the Democrat party.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2004-08-27 4:55:42 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2004-08-27 4:55:42 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 RC - Right on target, bro. They form the core of the still-looney third of America. I picture a social accretion disc for the malinformed and maladjusted...

As the Firesign Theater guys said so eloquently in a skit where a HS student who is about to graduate is asked what he wants to do with his life: "I thought I'd find a bunch of guys who dress alike and follow them around."

Human gravitation, defined.

Posted by .com 2004-08-27 5:03:37 PM|| 2004-08-27 5:03:37 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 SuperHose, Bush had little chance of being able to switch planes. I had several relatives in USAF during those years, one a flight instructor, one a pilot in Nam and one a senior NCO. Even fighter pilots in planes used there were being dumped in the last few years of the war ... there were huge drawdowns after the Paris talks too. A few found jobs in the airlines, most never had a chance to fly again. Lots of pilots with extensive combat flying experience in Nam were never promoted, could no longer get flying hours to keep their ratings and got out quickly when it became clear they couldn't stay.

Posted by too true 2004-08-27 5:40:39 PM|| 2004-08-27 5:40:39 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 So PD how many holes in that Silver Dollar? :)

Posted by Shipman 2004-08-27 6:16:49 PM|| 2004-08-27 6:16:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Lots. But enough to get to where I wanna go, by my calcs, heh.

Posted by .Abu PD 2004-08-27 6:18:28 PM|| 2004-08-27 6:18:28 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 .com heh

Far as F-102.... is that the one that had the dreaded SAGE cockpit? Or was that the F-106?

Posted by Shipman 2004-08-27 6:24:52 PM|| 2004-08-27 6:24:52 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 Of course, VDH is voting for Bush!
Hell, he's been advising the White House on the war for a long time.

I love the way Victor reduce Kerry's problem to one of classical mythology and the tragic flaw of the "hero:" "...with hubris, then comes Nemesis."
One of the things the Left can't forgive Bush for isn't the "Mission Accomplished" sign, but the fact that he actually flew the plane onto the carrier...but they can't admit that.

Posted by GreatestJeneration 2004-08-27 6:40:21 PM|| [http://www.greatestjeneration.com] 2004-08-27 6:40:21 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 "I've chosen to bite my lip and STFU for a long time about this - but Skeery has opened the floodgates - and he did it intentionally."

He's about to make it 1968 all over again- the Summer of Hate, the Summer of Fires. I remember that horrible time. It all nearly came apart, 36 years ago, and held together only by the slimmest of threads.

Their motto then, via the Doors, was "We want the world and we want it NOW!!!!!" The bastards haven't stopped wanting it, not for a moment. And if they don't succeed in taking "their" world back in this election, there may be hell to pay once again.

But this time I'm armed.

Posted by Dave D. 2004-08-27 7:06:40 PM|| 2004-08-27 7:06:40 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 .com You hit it. Lots of guys took it hard coming back. In the Legal profession and the academic world the only acceptable vet was the Kerry type. Holding out requires a certain ruthlessness but it too takes its toll. Those times were awful and Kerry and Fonda and all the related fucks played their part. I remember being in NY when Mayor Lindsay said the "real heroes of the Vietnam war were all in Canada." My generation will have to pass before this ever goes away. As for Kerry? Payback is a motherfucker!

Posted by Sgt. D.T. 2004-08-27 7:20:37 PM|| 2004-08-27 7:20:37 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 The amazing part of this campaign is why on earth Kerry and the Democratic party thought that making Kerry and Bush's military service was a winning issue.The argument of Kerry's service in Viet Nam vs.Bush in National Guard might have been a winner in 2000,but this is 2004 and Bush has been President for 4 years.This is what the Kerry as war hero strategy boils down to-"I should replace the man who has been President for almost 4 years because a quarter-century ago I commanded 4 men on a small boat for almost 120 days."That's all that Kerry is offering,other than he would do what Bush did,only different,and most important to Democrats,he's not Bush.

It must be hugely frustrating to the Democratic party that if they had a 1/2way decent candidate,they would be assured of winning in 2004.(Think of all Kerry has wasted-40% who will never vote for Bush,a hugely partisan,sympathetic press,an energized base,massive soft money given to virulantly anti-Bush organizations,a soft economy,high oil prices and an increasingly unpopular war.)Instead...

Posted by Stephen 2004-08-27 8:11:50 PM|| 2004-08-27 8:11:50 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 Jen, I doubt that he was at the controls when the S3B landed on the deck (if that is what you meant). That is not an easy thing to do and the Pre's skills were more than a bit rusty. I would not be surprised if he put in some stick work en route however.

Posted by remote man 2004-08-27 8:13:30 PM|| 2004-08-27 8:13:30 PM|| Front Page Top

#14 The one who could beat Bush they ran off way early: Joe Lieberman.

Posted by OldSpook 2004-08-27 10:58:44 PM|| 2004-08-27 10:58:44 PM|| Front Page Top

#15 IMO the most important part of the carrier visit ocurred after the speech, when the president walked around the carrier and visited with the crew. The trip was about morale for the troops and that mission truly was accomplished - as it was on the Turkey Day visit to Iraq that made the MSM so mad.

I wonder what it was like for the pilot during the S3B ride. He has a story he can tell his family forever.

Posted by Super Hose 2004-08-27 11:48:31 PM|| 2004-08-27 11:48:31 PM|| Front Page Top

15:25 Liberalhawk
15:25 Liberalhawk
15:10 Liberalhawk
15:10 Liberalhawk
14:00 Liberalhawk
14:00 Liberalhawk
14:00 Liberalhawk
14:00 Liberalhawk
14:00 Liberalhawk
14:00 Liberalhawk
22:32 Atomic Conspiracy
20:55 Shipman
18:12 Lil Dhimmi
18:05 Shipman
18:02 Shipman
17:58 Lil Dhimmi
11:47 Gentle
10:51 Mike Sylwester
09:35 badanov
09:14 Frank G
09:13 Gentle
09:10 Frank G
09:06 Mike Sylwester
03:16 Gentle