The Other McCain

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Among The Minor Side-Ironies Of The End Of Progressivism

Posted on | October 8, 2012 | 12 Comments

by Smitty

Daily Pundit links Insty, noting the 2/3 military support enjoyed by Romney. Of the third who do support #OccupyResoluteDesk, one wonders what chunk would drop were the racial background of the #Occupant to alter. . . More interestingly than that, the military, including retirees, should form a vast special-interest group. Cleverly, the active duty DoD is kept substantially at odds with itself internally, with the services devouring each other in addition to budget resources. And, yes, there are plenty of retiree outfits lobbying to keep the Veterans Administrations afloat. Something about PTSD, missing body parts &c motivates.

Yet the frequent swearing of oaths to support and defend the Constitution, and the frequent changes of command, hinder the organization from achieving enough identity to form a junta. A General Petraeus (or General McChrystal, or Admiral McRaven, just to throw out some names), wouldn’t dream of gathering support for some takeover scheme, even were some rogue neurons to formulate the idea.

While veterans have some consciousness and response when being thrown under the bus by the government, and can inform heavily a de-centralized undertaking like the Tea Parties, they would fail miserably if some Community Organizer came along. I can imaging Van Jones trying to whip a crowd of veterans into some grievance frenzy, and getting drowned by. . .crickets. Cold-stared into wetting himself. Exiting in haste to a low, bass rumble seemingly coming from everywhere.

Ironically, the military knows a mutiny when it sees such, and refuses to be turned into some sort of vast ACORN/SEIU muscle pool for the Left. Those who have given so much already in support of liberty wouldn’t give it up for a serious leader, say, an american Caesar, much less a sad joke like BHO.

Category: Barack Obama, Military

Comments

12 Responses to “Among The Minor Side-Ironies Of The End Of Progressivism”

  1. AnonymousDrivel
    October 8th, 2012 @ 7:39 pm

    “Of the third who do support #OccupyResoluteDesk…”

    A quibble. No need to grade inflate there. It was reportedly 26%, which is to say a fourth – not an insignificant difference.

  2. K-Bob
    October 9th, 2012 @ 1:23 am

    “…one wonders what chunk would drop were the racial background of the #Occupant to alter…”

    I’m humbled by the outspoken soldiers “of color” who have had enough of the SCOAMF. They can be found addressing other members of their community in the dulcet tones reminiscent of a *full* dressing-down from a Drill Sergeant or CPO (as related to me by my buds who served).

    Allen West is a much more reserved-sounding guy by comparison to some of the the vets from recent wars I’ve heard this year. Makes me want to grab a mop or something, just to look busy.

  3. Becca Lower
    October 9th, 2012 @ 2:10 am

    Great and comforting reminder, Smitty. No, I can’t imagine that we’ll see tanks patrolling the streets to reaffirm The Anointed One’s “re-election” on November 6.

  4. cas
    October 9th, 2012 @ 2:26 am

    I wouldn’t worry so much about the military, as I would DoJ (atty gen Holder still in office?) or DHS (Janet Napolitano, anyone?). I believe that THEY would be the “organizations” (militias?) that would keep the “unruly populace in check,” were it necessary…

  5. Adobe_Walls
    October 9th, 2012 @ 3:23 am

    That’s why DHS is trying to federalize local and particularly state LEO. This is why the feds are re-tasking and expanding the role of “Fusion Centers”.

  6. Adobe_Walls
    October 9th, 2012 @ 3:39 am

    When the current “cold civil war” goes hot it’ll be the noncoms who step up to the plate first.
    Merging two threads, rather than naming a ship after Cesar Chavez one should the next one should be named after Andrew Breitbart, or better yet a name a division.

  7. Bob Belvedere
    October 9th, 2012 @ 8:52 am

    -Unlike, say the Russian Empire, we don’t draft our soldiers. That was the best move that could have ever been made by a C-in-C. Our soldiers have a stake in maintaining The Republic as Founded, or, at the very least, as is.

    -I don’t want the active military involved in any special interest groups as that rubs against the American Tradition of separation of politics and the military. It is up the the retirees to do the work the active personnel should and cannot do.

    -I think one of the reasons so many non-whites in the military don’t turn Left is because, unlike in Civilian Life where race relations have been manipulated by politicians, our armed forces don’t give a good Goddamn what your color or ethnicity is because those kind of things have nothing to do with the tasks at hand. Military service has been the best success story when it comes to different peoples getting along and respecting each other as Human Beings.

    -One area where we have failed in managing our armed forces: we civilians have allowed the Perfumed Princes and their allies in politics to conduct PC experiments on our soldiers and marines, including permitting Muslim infiltration of the ranks.

  8. Bob Belvedere
    October 9th, 2012 @ 8:57 am

    I worry about the police, state and local, because they have [for various reasons, some understandable, some definitely not] become militarized over the past several decades [just look at their haircuts and uniforms] and because they have always been strong union people [at least since the 1920’s].

    The Left has played the Right like a Stradivarius in pushing for what is, in essence, a bunch of union-backed small armies. The Left did so under the false cover of promoting Law And Order, something that warms every conservative’s heart.

  9. Adobe_Walls
    October 9th, 2012 @ 10:32 am

    The militarization of LE is accelerating due to DHS and the availability surplus equipment for almost no cost. Some of this equipment is of dubious utility in civilian Law enforcement particularly given that increased availability of equipment doesn’t mean that appropriate training comes with it. But one really must wonder about the use of urban camo uniforms for SWAT and crowd control units. Maintaining the distinction between LE and Military must be clear especially in the event SHTF.

  10. Dai Alanye
    October 9th, 2012 @ 10:39 am

    In addition to Pres preferences, I’d be interested in knowing what percentage of the (male) military feels good about having girls do their fighting for them.

  11. Struan Robertson
    October 9th, 2012 @ 1:03 pm

    A note re the ref on Petraeus & McChrystal – why Patton never came home & why Puller never got a 4th star. And don’t even bring up MacArthur – not after The Battle of Anacostia Flats.

  12. Wombat_socho
    October 9th, 2012 @ 1:15 pm

    More imitation of Europe, actually – just about every one of our NATO allies has a force of paramilitary riot control police. In France it’s the CNS and in Germany, the Bereitschaftpolizei, but either way, they look and act more like military than like police.