Obama: "You mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets."

~~~

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0bd_1249524865 British bayonet charge in Basra.  You can also find quite a few pictures of US troops with mounted bayonets.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/06/us/afghanistan-horse-soldiers-memorial/index.html A tribute to the Special Ops guys who went into A-stan on horseback to find intel.  

 If I knew there was a John Ringo book coming out next week, I would not say "John Ringo is outdated," or even "John Ringo isn't publishing as much as he used to." Either statement COULD be correct (They're not, but this is a mental exercise), but the impact of said statement would be lost when the new book came out. 
This would tend to indicate 0 did not know about this monument. It reduces the impact of his statement. So he's really not paying attention to matters military.
Then, his statement on bayonets was wrong. That's a bit more esoteric, when speaking off the cuff, but it was still an assumption based on the information he had, which wasn't adequate for the statement.
That leaves "X is to Y and Z" comparison. So, even accepting Romney's statement as bland and inaccurate (Keeping in mind he is not yet CinC and hasn't had a military brief), the comparison was poor. It indicates he thinks Y and Z aren't as useful or relevant as they used to be, and X isn't either. Yet provably, X, Y and Z are still all relevant. And he should certainly know X is still relevant because that IS part of his military briefs.
So, he made an off the cuff comment that tells us a lot about him--he's not paying attention to the military either operationally or socially, hasn't paid attention to some of the more interesting aspects of the clandestine war, and is dismissive of a suggestion of modernizing or upsizing, with a false comparison.
And this man has the responsibility and authority to send my wife and friends (And hypothetically recall me, as I'm Retired Reserve) off to fight a war he's not really paying attention to.
Unless he meant something entirely different and my grasp of military matters and writing is sub-par.S

So:

If I knew there was a John Ringo book coming out next week, I would not say "John Ringo is outdated," or even "John Ringo isn't publishing as much as he used to." Either statement COULD be correct (They're not, but this is a mental exercise), but the impact of said statement would be lost when the new book came out. 

This would tend to indicate 0 did not know about this monument. It reduces the impact of his statement, as we have seen from the massive mockery in the blogosphere.  Even if he were correct, it was a stupid thing to say in context, which is what a politician needs for good soundbites.  This was a TERRIBLE soundbite for a man trailing in the polls. So he's really not paying attention to matters military.

Then, his statement on bayonets was wrong.* That's a bit more esoteric, when speaking off the cuff, but it was still an assumption based on the information he had, which wasn't adequate for the statement.

That leaves "X is to Y and Z" comparison. So, even accepting Romney's statement as bland and inaccurate (Keeping in mind he is not yet CinC and hasn't had the relevant military brief), the comparison was poor. It indicates he thinks Y and Z aren't as useful or relevant as they used to be, and X isn't either. Yet provably, X, Y and Z are still all relevant. And he should certainly know X is still relevant because that IS part of his military briefs.

So, he made an off the cuff comment that tells us a lot about him--he's not paying attention to the military either operationally or socially, hasn't paid attention to some of the more interesting aspects of the clandestine war, and is dismissive of a suggestion of modernizing or upsizing, with a false comparison.

And this man has the responsibility and authority to send my wife and friends (And hypothetically recall me, as I'm Retired Reserve) off to fight a war he's not really paying attention to.

Unless he meant something entirely different and my grasp of military matters and writing is sub-par.  (HINT:  I am a career professional at both. I may be wrong, but no one has yet offered any substantive explanation as to how, only rants of, "You know what he meant!"  As writer, I perfectly understand metaphor and statement. This was a crappy metaphor and an incorrect statement.)

~~~

From others:

"Outside of the entire conversation before this, I guess that whole shift to the Pacific/Air Sea Battle planning stuff going on now missed 0's desk somehow. So, Romney was absolutely right to criticize him for having a smaller fleet. Just because we have carriers and subs, doesn't mean it's enough to accomplish our mission. 

Given that we do actually need more ships (of today's capabilities), and the impeding defense cuts will make that nearly impossible, Romney's comparison between 1917 and today was most certainly valid. 0's response to it was both flippant and uninformed, neither of which is acceptable for our CinC." (Army Intelligence officer)

__

"Actually being in the Navy, I'd like to point out most of our ships are pretty old, with some semi serious issues (how about a 3 story crack in the superstructure that's been welded closed twice?). And subs and carriers may be the glamorous ships, but without cruisers and destroyers, or even supply ships, they won't last 2 minutes in real combat.

When I worked at the Armory at my last shore command we had crates of Bayonets in our storage area, I think there were 6K when we did an annual Inventory once. One for each rifle in our inventory and some spares." (USN Petty Officer)

__

"Isn't it interesting that this President, who was touted as such an eloquent speaker back in 2008, has to have all these people come out and tell us what he _meant_ to say rather than simply relying on what he actually said?" (David Burkhead:  USAF Intelligence vet and physicist) 

~~~

* Production numbers for the 1905 Bayonet for the Springfield 1903 were ~1.5 million through 1922.  Production numbers of the M7, M9, and OKC3 bayonets from 1965-ongoing are ~2.5 million.  Granted, some have been surplussed, but they are certainly very much an issue item and in use, and in greater numbers than WWII.  He should have said, "Less battleships."

~~~

He was wrong, he was condescending, and he was poorly spoken, which is true of just about everything he's done.  Trying to tell me how he's really smarter than I am in my own field and I'm just too stupid to grasp it is hilarious.

lemontree46 (RockGuitar playin', God Lovin', Conservative, Right Wing, Christian. Connecticut raised. Now living in Upstate Western NY) :  Obama is the worst president in history.


Michael Z Williamson ‏@mzmadmike@lemontree46 Nah, he's not even close to as bad as FDR.

Thomas@lemontree46@mzmadmike I don't don't remember reading that FDR joined with and was supported by countries who hate America. Did FDR ever bow to Hitler?

~~~

er, huh? 0bama "joined with" countries that hate America?  How does one do that?  Supported by, you might make a case for, or at least by certain elements thereof. But that's true of a lot of presidents on both sides.  And the bow comment seems to be equating Kiing Abdullah with Hitler, which is ridiculous.  I guess everyone this guy doesn't like is Hitler.  I'd hate to call him a mouthbreathing retard, but the evidence suggests so.

~~~

Michael Z Williamson @mzmadmike

22 Oct

@lemontree46 FDR put 110K Asian Americans into concentration camps and made it illegal to own gold.  He strongly supported eugenics.

Michael Z Williamson @mzmadmike

22 Oct

@lemontree46 promoted sterilization of undesirables, tried to pack 6 extra judges into the SupremeCourt to get his whims passed. Need more?

@lemontree46

@mzmadmike BO supports killing third trimester babies and Asians were sequestered because we were AT WAR with Japan U bozo So screw..!!

~~~

Ah, yes.  Being at war with Japan totally justifies imprisoning thousands of AMERICAN CITIZENS who may or may not be of Japanese ancestry, may or may not even speak Japanese if they are, because they have slanty eyes.  I'm going from an assessment of "mouthbreathing retard" to "racist cocksucker."

~~~


 Thomas

@lemontree46

@mzmadmike What the hell do U think Obama wants to do with the SCOTUS? Don't bother me with your pro Obama crap anymore..

~~~

"pro 0bama crap," because I happen to know something of history, and apparently the words are too big for him.  So are the numbers--FDR wanted 15 Justices, 6 hand picked by him to rubberstamp his bullshit.  Even his own party wouldn't back him up on that.  And of course, there was that president-for-life gig, in violation of 150 years of tradition, so bad it took a Constitutional Amendment to make sure it would never happen again. Then we can add in the huge police state and welfare state he almost single handedly created, and a dozen other items.  0's an ineffective idiot, but he's got nothing on FDR for pure, narcissistic evil.  FDR, btw, was a Democrat, so he can't even claim partisanship.  Both patients in discussion are from the same party.

But I guess that sounds like "pro-0bama crap" to an ignorant, semiliterate, racist cocksucker who claims to be a Christian.

I have no idea where abortion comes into this debate, or why it's even relevant, given that SCOTUS has consistently ruled the same way on that subject for 40 years through 8 administrations.  Dead issue.  Grow up and move on.

Please.  Comparing people to Hitler is stupid, unless they're Hitler.  And never call someone "worst" unless you've actually got some useful evidence.  "Oh, boo hoo, he disagrees with what someone else told me my religion stands for, he's the worst EVAR!"

Sorry, 0 doesn't deserve that much credit.

Someone feel free to send Lemonhead this URL.  Though you may have to explain the big words for him.

Gillian Gabrielle Barnett

I wonder every morning how my son ended up at this highly Republican school. Every house surrounding it has Romney signs in the yard. I haven't seen one Obama sign...

Share · about an hour ago via mobile · 

Featuring Tristan Swann i seen a bumper sticker that said obama worst president ever i said damn.....HOW?

about an hour ago · 1

Gillian Gabrielle Barnett Racist

about an hour ago via mobile · 1

Scott Hiland My, what an inordinately overused epithet, so widely applied to people who have no other fault than to disagree with the President.

about an hour ago

Gillian Gabrielle Barnett I honestly think a lot of people are mad at his skin color. President Obama hasn't done anything wrong. Romney sounds like an idiot to me yet people support this guy like wow! I even was on the fence until I saw how rude and nasty he was at the debate. I don't want that in a President. I think a lot of people are just mad this guy is black. That's just my opinion.

about an hour ago via mobile · 1

Scott Hiland Painting such a wide stripe on people is called prejudice or stereotyping.

about an hour ago

Featuring Tristan Swann soon as its one black president he the worst!!!!im still saying how?he aint did nothing bad!!!bush cheated in florida.....clinton got head....etc...he just did his job!!!!and again the worse!!!!u got to be a tard to believe that ish

about an hour ago · 2

Scott Hiland And I want to emphasize that I'm not saying he is the worst president ever. I'm trying to talk about the discussion itself.

GiGi, there are plenty of reasons to dislike our current President, or any President. It is a low and unworthy rhetorical tactic to immediately label all who would use hyperbole to support their positions as racist. The term racist is so loaded as to prevent reasoned discourse. It is unworthy of you to use that tactic when I know you're intelligent enough to support your own arguments without ad hominem attacks.

about an hour ago · 1

Iris Edmundson-Kirkland Morning GiGi, I work in Mclean and I'm surrounded by Romney supporters too! I keep asking myself is this some kind of secret society and only the rich are aware of his plan????

about an hour ago · 1

Gillian Gabrielle Barnett Scott, my opinion on people who say my President is the "worse" is they have a problem with his race. That's my intelligent claim of the day. I actuallly thought a few things Romney has been saying made sense but then he really doesn't tell us how he wants to attack his issues and I don't want to make comment on his VP running mate. No one thinks Bush was the WORSE or even Clinton as my brother states and those two... No comment. I am upset someone would say Obama is THE worse. He's done a lot in his 4 yrs or has people forgotten....??????? Bin Laden, Healthy new lives for kids... And, he's working on this economy. He can do but so much in this time with Congress not always backing him. Worse??? No way! Romney is not gonna be any better. The guy is all talk! But I don't go around saying he's the worse.

about an hour ago via mobile · 2

Featuring Tristan Swann right romney worst presidential candidate ever!!!lls...that would be player hatin...lls

about an hour ago · 2

Iris Edmundson-Kirkland Sorry, but I have a BIG problem with an administration that states that their PRIMARY GOAL is to make sure President Obabma does not serve another term, instead of focusing on a way to better America's economy, healthcare, and educational systems.

55 minutes ago · 2

Scott Hiland Every new election brings hyperbole, and superlatives will be used from both sides. It doesn't automatically make someone a racist. Saying or suggesting it does smacks of prejudice and racism on your part.

That sort of claim tends to be divisive and ultimately to drive people away from seeing your point of view. Immediately rushing to judgment and calling names will only solidify their opinions. Sort of like calling Obama the worst president has overcome your intellectual better judgment because it assaults your emotions.

I would stick with the facts and say that whoever has a bumper sticker like that is either focusing on one particular criteria or group of criteria for success in the office, or is misinformed or uninformed.

55 minutes ago · 1

Gillian Gabrielle Barnett I see your point @ Scott. And, saying someone is racist is just like them saying he's the worse. I totally see your point though.... I hate politics and it divides so many people but I'm the same person who wants to run into a car that has Dallas stickers. Lol...

I will say this... Support Romney and have your stickers but stickers saying Obama is the worse makes me not respect who a person is. How can you say something so rude and expect I trust you or who you are following???

@ Auntie... Right. Not one time has the R party told us what they plan to do and how. Sooo worried about Obama. Which tells me Obama, in fact, is doing his job. Not one fact outta the R parties mouth. No plan for our kids. Want to control women's bodies based on THEIR religious beliefs. They tripping!

43 minutes ago via mobile

Volitta KeepthenegativitytoYaself Robinson this man has been disrespected from the onset of his presidency...some news stations wont even call this man President Obama..but still calls Bush President Bush.. if Romney wins...im calling him Mittens...lls

43 minutes ago via mobile · 2

Minister Evelyn Serrano Go Obama U can do it! IDC if Obama was THE worst president eva...I will vote for him just because I don't want to vote for Romney. Romney and I have NOTHING in common. He does not understand my plight and he never will until the day he becomes a single parent struggling to keep my kids safe, finding a job and just the day to day struggle of trying to keep my head above water. I have a problem voting for anyone who has grown up in a seperate world from the one we live in...Obama may not always do the right thing and he will never please EVERYONE but he is trying and doing a great job of keeping his cool and demeanor despite the constant attacks on EVERY thing he does or tries to do. I would like to see some of these folks be president for a day and see how they would handle it.

23 minutes ago via mobile · 2

Gillian Gabrielle Barnett Lmaoooo!!!!!!! Volitta KeepthenegativitytoYaself Robinson they disrespectful as hell calling Michelle, Moochelle and the likes. Who would support people who hate us so much that you dis our name? Obama and Michelle has been better than Clinton and Hi...See More

16 minutes ago via mobile · 2

Scott Hiland Also, a quick poll, did I give anyone the impression that I support Romney? Or was it an assumption made outside of reading the content of my comments?

11 minutes ago · 1

Minister Evelyn Serrano Yeah you came off like a die hard romney-ite....lol J/K.

9 minutes ago via mobile · 1

Volitta KeepthenegativitytoYaself Robinson Exactly!!! Michelle is the prettiest First Lady that has been in the House since Jackie Kennedy...

8 minutes ago via mobile · 1

Gillian Gabrielle Barnett No @ Scott! And, honestly I will love you no matter if you did!

Lol @ Evey!

7 minutes ago via mobile

Volitta KeepthenegativitytoYaself Robinson That's what Im saying! If you wanna vote for Romney...by all means do so..but don't disrespect MY President!!

5 minutes ago via mobile

Scott Hiland I think all presidents get their share of respect and disrespect. It is the nature of the job. I think that in the case of our current president, everyone's sensitivity meter is turned up to 11.

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