Picture Yourself In This Chair

Kate

Thanks for the link to that piece. That is a brilliant, intelligent, cognisant, insightfull, stunning essay. It speaks to the malaise that infects western culture (or lack thereof).

But then again I guess we are living in a time that extolls the virtues of the meek...the geek...the victim..the weak and the crapulent.

You know.....the ones that never stood up to the bullies in the schoolyard....never fought back and lost....never tried again the next day..and lost and tried again..never grew up.

The result of this childish mindset is a gutless, fat, insecure, weepy collection of spittle that claims to be the conscience of our society....a morally relative, all inclusive society.....as long as you're some sort of victim.

The insidious sickness of the left that is identity politics can always be confronted by two questions.

What and How.

What do you want to change? How will you do that? What are your goals? How will you achieve them? What are the consequences?

Any number of what and how questions can be asked of the left......unfortunately they have no answers......only cardboard submarines and sea monkeys.

Fucking kids..

Syncro

sea monkeys and xray specs. I remember those. what utter pap that was. I did fall for the one with the 'huge' fishing gear kit. it came with a 'direct drive' reel. translation: no gearing for the very necessary multiplying of the speed of the reel when bring the hook back in for another cast. also it came with rubber worms. to catch rubber fish I guess.

and then there were the outrageous claims of huge fortunes to be made selling greeting cards.

anyway this bloke gets an A+ for his essay, not so much for accuracy or detail but the construction and convincing flow of his arguements.

Kate...
In my opinion, this is the BEST link I've read at SDA, and I've read one helluva lot of links here.

Kind of puts paid to the dough heads who trash Bush. I'll never convinced that GWB isn't one of the BRIGHTEST persons to serve as president of the U.S.A.

Oh, yeah, Keith Olberman is a dufus. I heard a screed of his on Adler last week (Adler called it a "polemic"... it was a childish, factless rant) dumping on Bush. The dimwit was even stealing lines from Lynne Cheney, for God's sake!

Keep up the great work, Kate!

That is a fantastic link. I recommend reading it all and I believe the writer alludes to a second installment/follow up in the near future that I'll be watching for.

A well written essay by Proteous,

However, as a Bush critic I am not convinced by the connecting of dots with opinions and biased facts. It breaks down with statements like this:

"George W. Bush is not stupid. It’s not possible to be a moron and fly a supersonic jet fighter, and everyone knows it." Well I know, I've taken flight training and it's not as difficult as some think. Proteus fails to inform us just how far above a moron ones intelligence has to be. Eventhough I know they're no longer in service I would relish the idea of taking the training and flying this cantankerous bird. I would even pay good money for the opportunity.

A scare tactic like showing the instrument cluster and exam question from flight school is a little over the top as well. An average person with proper flight training could easily fly this jet.

Playing the ad hominem chickenhawk card is just the rhetoric of failure as it gives an instant excuse for lack of accountability.

Bush's lack of his own personal presence in Iraq speaks volumes to his conviction and character.

Mission accomplished...yeah right!

Lt. Bush over Canada....Per Ardua Ad Astra*.
...-

In both 1971 and 1972, the President received top-notch evaluations, with most of his ratings in the highest category possible.
...

[1972]
"Lt Bush is an exceptional fighter interceptor pilot and officer. He eagerly participates in scheduled unit activities. During the past year he participated in several target force deployments and an F-102 aircraft element deployment in Canada. His conduct and professional approach to the mission were clearly exemplary and apparent to observers. His skills as an interceptor pilot enabled him to complete all his ADC intercept missions during the Canadian deployment with ease." ...-
3w.powerlineblog.com/archives/005926.php

*Through Struggle To The Stars.
RCAF

Let me say first that I agree 100% with the essay.

Secondly, why are we still discussing this...old old story. Bush's SAT's were higher than Gore's, he flew a the 102, not easy

He made it into and received a Harvard MBA, be curious what his GMAT scores were.

HE isnt stupid. However, I do think the family has a disorder, his father had some verbal issues....nothing lethal, just some quirk....you think the disability would endear him to the left....a disabled person in the white house

Brown, there's a difference between taking a weekend course on a fricken Cessna and a fighter jet.

If you don't see it you really are a halfwit.

So, David Brown...
You're saying that you could, potentially, be almost as smart as George Bush?

David,

I will use your version of logic for a minute.

Bush is an idiot, he flew F-102s, that's an easy thing to do. David Brown has taken flight training, he would love to fly an F-102 even pay for the chance.

Therefore...DAVID BROWN IS ALSO AN IDIOT.

mazz; "Through Adversity to the Stars"

I've rarely heard anyone admit that a politician they don't like, almost always from the "other Party", is a capable, reasonably intelligent person.

So many Conservative acquaintances called Jean Chretien an idiot. I used to anger them by stating the obvious, "we don't like him, his political philosophy differs from our own. He is a wily old SOB, and no idiot." Chretien played the Canadian voters like a badly tuned fiddle, and won, and won, and won. Some idiot.

No one who makes it to the top in any field of endeavour, is an idiot. It's more the lack of ability to articulate our dislike of the person in question. Bush is no idiot, although I ,personally, don't like him, and like Al Gore even less, but his political opponents are too inarticulte to express their true feelings, so "he's an idiot".

In the case of Bill Clinton, the brain in that family is possessed by Hillary, so Bill could have been an oversexed robot, for all I know, but he made it to the top, so he wasn't an idiot, either.

As for military pilots, my late uncle was a career RCAF pilot, started in Bombers in WW2, then graduated to C-119's, then the Hercules, which he flew for well over 5000 hours. The passing grade on the exams he was required to write periodically, was 95%. The exams were several hours long. Aviation at that level requires reasonable intelligence, perseverance, dedication, judgement, courage, and ability to react quickly and correctly, in an emergency.

Idiots need not apply.

How many verrrrry rich and powerful men, in the business world never went to university. How many cbc employees went to university and graduated. How many of the leftists, envirowackos, etc graduated from University. That alone should tell us it graduating doesn't make you intelligent.
Read today that there is a big protest in France again. This time it is against the smoking ban coming in in Jan. Carbques are ok, burning buses is ok, but don't smoke while doing it.

Mad Mike and Doug,

Bush may very well be smarter than me depending on your defintion of smart. However, that's not my point at all. I don't even care that he's an ex-senator's son that got into Ivy league schools as well jet fighter pilot training because of his moneyed connections rather than on merit. I just don't care, this stuff happens every day and I would do the same for my children.

What I do care about is how badly he's managed the Iraq war and how conservatives confuse opinion with fact in their rah rah rhetoric.

Proteus' essay is laced with old and tired bait that Republicans eat up by the shovel full. From my neutral perspective it's incredible to see how so many are dupped by so few. Misplaced passion has replaced logic in the conservative camp.

Logically, david brown, you are the one who has failed logic 101.

First, you claimed that your flight training (on what, most certainly not a fighter jet) was easy and 'any moron' could do it - thus equating yourself with your definition of Bush as unintelligent and even, near moronic.

Then, you denigrated Bush because he isn't personally in Iraq. Are you serious? The president of a country is not also a general of its military and most certainly doesn't 'lead the troops' on a battlefield. So, what's your point?

Then, you move further into absolute failure in Logic 101, by failing Basic Science 101 - by actually suggesting that the only reason he got into his academic school and fighter training was because of 'moneyed connections'. COuld you provide some empirical proof of this? Oh - and while you are providing the proof that he, without that money, wouldn't have gotten into the schooling, could you provide empirical evidence that once in, he would have (because he's a moron) have failed both Yale and flight training? Did he fail either? Or did he, on his own merit, successfully complete both? Well?

No, the Iraq War is not a failure. You are now failing History 101. A society cannot change its political and economic infrastructure in a week, a month (which is what you expect), a year. It takes years. The ME world is trapped within tribalism. I bet you don't know what that politically and economically means. It can't move out of this social structure as easily as you flip a light switch.

First - you have to release the system from tribal control. That was accomplished by removing Hussein. Then, you have to develop the rule of law rather than rule of tribal boss. And a constitution. And elections. This latter has all been accomplished by the Iraqi people themselves. Then - they have to learn to operate within the rule of law rather than the rule of tribal loyalty. That takes time. You refuse to recognize this. Failure in History and Social Science 101.

You are neutral? No, you aren't.
I consider the articles in the link excellent. Not bait, not 'old and tired' - as are your arguments.

Kate, once again thanks for the link. The essay should be front and center of a major newspaper somewhere in North America today, however with the ongoing bias of the MSM it will never see the light of day, thankfully we now have the internet and people like you Kate! To all readers you should realize by now that there is no arguing?debating with the likes of DB, RMc, et al. These poor individuals have swallowed the liberal education that they have been fed hook, line, and sinker. The Liberals that have run this country for the majority of the last generation have engineered this inability to think independently in todays voters. It has kept them in power. Thankfully we now have people like Proteus and Kate that are able to link through the internet to give thinking people an avenue around the MSM. "Take up the Torch!"

You know, even after years of reading this sort of nonsense from people like Dave, I've yet to see anyone quantify exactly HOW we're going to lose the war, or provide historical precedent of a war which went "better".

So this is the line.....Bush was either an idiot, and we all know idiots shouldt be listened to.

OR that he is undeserving, maybe he isnt stupid but he never proved he wasnt.

Once again, old argument, the fact that people still have to discuss whether he is smart or not shouldnt matter. Iggy is smart but I dont want him as PM because I think he is TOO intellectual and lacks a deeper understanding of the issues.

The passive aggressive stuff just slays me...he may be smarter than me....IT DOESNT MATTER if he is smarter than you or not. Can he do the job.

On that level there are some aspects he is clearly competent at. There are some I would question. But short of him being mentally retarded I dont know how much your IQ has to do with you being President, it is inevitably a broad range of items.

ET,

Your a bit of a failure yourself for making up stories as to what I said.

1)I never ever said a moron could fly a F101, I said an average person with proper flight training could.

2) I never said Bush should be a battlefield general, I said by not being where the problem is he has no conviction and character...I'm a company president and I go where the problems are to learn firsthand how to solve them. When your in a position of power and responsibilty the people under you will tend to tell you things to make you happy, not necessarily the truth.

3) If you need proof of moneyed power connections then there's nothing that can help you!

4) The ME is certainly trapped in tribalism, it took Europe 850 years to devoid itself of this model. I've yet to see Bush's 850 year plan. Furthermore too much of the plan if indeed one does exist has more to do with republican politics than democracy in the ME.

5) From ad hominems to chickenhawks to F101s there is nothing new in the article.

David Brown's list re-visited.

1) You got me, so now I'm going to pretend I DON'T think Bush is an idiot, even though I was yelling it through a megaphone last week at the "Bring the People Dumber than Jon Carry Home" rally.

2) Bush should be in the battlefield. Because I want him dead. Yes, I know no president ever governed from the Battlefield, but Bush should do it. Because he's an idiot.

3) I am so smart...I am so smart....S-M-R-T...I mean S-M-A-R-T....

4) It took us 4,000 years to figure out electricity, so every electrician must go through 4,000 years of schooling. There's just no way to make it go faster the second time around.

5) I'm, like, SOOOOO much better than you lewsers.

David Brown Eyes; From my neutral perspective. Now every one knows why your eyes are brown, you really are full of it.
You speak with great authority on Iraq. Have you ever been there?
Were you on the band wagon critising Bush for going to Iraq and now you flip-floped.
I've said it before you really need to get your brain running before you put your mouth in geer.

david - you are the one who used the term 'moron' as in 'how far above a moron' one has to be to fly the jet.

And you haven't answered my question. Once into the university and flight school, what is your proof that it was 'moneyed connections' that enabled Bush to pass both, with high marks? Well?

Please explain how a leader must be 'where the problem is' and if not, that means he has no 'conviction and character'. How do those two qualities of 'conviction and character' emerge from 'being where the problem is'?

Did Churchill have to be on the fields of Normandy on D-Day? Did Roosevelt have to be there on D-Day?
During the rebuilding of Europe after WWII, did the president/leaders of the UK and the USA take up residence in Europe?
Did Bush have to go and fight in Afghanistan to topple the Taliban?
Does Harper have to take up residence in Alberta to understand its economy? Does he have to live in Newfoundland?
Does Harper have to go and fight in Afghanistan?

A company president is not comparable to the leader of a country - and for you to make this comparison shows your lack of understanding of the nature and structure of the two (a world nation and a single company).

Actually, it took Europe about 400 years to move out of tribalism into an open society. About 1000 AD to 1400 AD achieved moving from a closed to an open society.
Why do you expect a transition in Iraq to be done within nanoseconds? Why do you claim that Iraq is a failure when you won't even give them a few years to accomplish such a change?

Because there is nothing new in the article does not mean that the article is without value. There is nothing new in the works of Aristotle. Do you claim his work is without value?

David Brown wrote:

"Well I know, I've taken flight training and it's not as difficult as some think".

What you have written is troublesome. I spent a lot of time on a Search and Rescue squadron and people with your attitude were our best customers. You spend a few bucks for flight training on a Cessna 172, graduate and in your mind magically become an astronaut (or in your case, a cosmonaut). Shortly thereafter the claxon sounds and we head out to look for you or what's left of you.

BCer,

The claxon doesn't sound for me.

Please don't create false scenarios of my flight training. I take flight safety very very seriously.

Flying really isn't that difficult...landing perfectly is though! ;-)

David Brown actually has given a little more self-disclosure than he probably realizes...

ET is correct in pointing out that there is a world of difference between a company president and the President of the US. But actually, successful Presidents (political or corporate) have one thing in common...they don't go over to monitor operational issues first-hand. Now if David is the "president" of a company that has exactly one person on staff (himself), well then...it's understandable that he would have to check out everything first-hand.

But if there is a staff, then his checking out individual issues is the mark of a control-freak...one who does not trust those who report to him. This kind of venture is always less successful (and far more prone to failure) than those who build a team of people who they trust to make operational decisions on their own. Lefties are all about centralized control...so, I think we see where David is coming from.

David's insistence that Bush is mis-managing the war is also telling. Heads of state don't manage a war and especially not the operational points of it (at least not successful ones - think of Hitler)...they say, "I want the job done" and they leave the operational details to those best equipped to handle them.

This is classic case of a point I tried to make in a previous thread. The disconnect between the right and left comes from a total misunderstanding on each side about where the other side's thought process starts. David thinks that he is scoring a point by saying that Bush is making mistakes because of a few nitty-gritty details that didn't pan out correctly. But, his whole premise is based on the incorrect assumption that a good leader manages nitty-gritty details - when that is not the case for conservatives at all (communism is about central control). But, he misses that point. Why? Because in his experience, he manages every little point. So, that must be the way it is done.

I'll go one better and bet a wooden nickel that David was taught this management style by living a life where he always felt he was either controlling someone else or they were controlling him. People on the right don't "get" this point of view because we make the mistake of assuming that everyone (including David) starts off their thinking with a clean slate and gets their wisdom from facts and experience. That's where we go wrong.

ET,

'moron'was directly quoted from Proteus, not me! I simply stated that Proteus did not say how far above moron.

Do you consider a C average to be high marks?

Churchill was all over the map during WWII. His speeches were full of conviction and character, never a stupid smirk.

Does Harper have to...no he doesn't but he should and just might...I respect Harper.

Gigantic problems can never be solved at arms length half a world away and yes they do take time. However, when mis-managed they can take forever.

It was a good article...I've already said that.

Great link Kate. My two favourite lines.

1.What George W. Bush is, however, is inarticulate. English is his second language. From what I can see he does not have a first language.

2.So to me, anyway, given the above information I feel that anyone calling President Bush a moron and an idiot comes off sounding like…well…a moron and an idiot.

I seem to recall one of this site's brighter commenters saying that the IQs of Bush's harshest critics are in the 80-90 range.

Alex

Your 12:49 pm post is a classic.

bryceman,

Yes your correct in saying that a good president surrounds themself with a great team, that really is the way to success.

However, to think a president leaves the most important and biggest problem to that team without personal guidance is just plain naive.

You simply can not delegate your biggest crisis and retire to your ranch.

I've personally seen the president of a 3 Billion dollar 6000 employee company walking the shop floor of a struggling division. He wasn't out for a stroll, he was searching for solutions to implement.

You sound like a theorist that would have trouble operating a paper route.

As I have been mis-quoted, mis-represented and have to get back to micromanaging my business' sole employee (me)[;-), there will be no more posts today.

You are now free to cajole unfettered and drown in your own righteousness.

Bill Whittle logic is an unstoppable hot knife through leftist lard. There's not a liberal cake baking in our mental ovens that won't collapse from the reverberations of simple truth in his words.

I pray that the American people consider such wise thoughts before casting their vote today.

David Brown: However, as a Bush critic I am not convinced by the connecting of dots with opinions and biased facts.

Biased facts? Pesky things.

You simply can not delegate your biggest crisis and retire to your ranch.

Yes you can. A great leader simply delegates all of those things (but keeps the focus clear by meeting with those who he/she delegates them to behind closed doors) and takes on the job of being the figurehead to the public and trying to be an inspiration. Granted (and Bill Whittle also grants) that Bush is not the best at the last part.

I've personally seen the president of a 3 Billion dollar 6000 employee company walking the shop floor of a struggling division. He wasn't out for a stroll, he was searching for solutions to implement.

Then the person you saw was not in a position to be that effective kind of leader. Either because they sucked at building a team or the team was already built when they got there and they took on the job of president in an organization that was already messed up...in which case they were a fool for taking the job. A prudent person doesn't take on such roles unless they are simply looking for a title.

You sound like a theorist that would have trouble operating a paper route.

A person who is as confident and successful as I doesn't lower themselves to responding directly to personal attacks. All I'll say is that I'll be thinking of you and smiling as I go over my income statements this year.

I'll be thinking of you and smiling as I go over my income statements this year.

If your personal annual income statement is greater than $3.4 million CDN then go ahead and smile all you want, if not go for a walk on the shop floor.

Don't disappoint me here people. Somebody jump on the irony of DB's last few posts.

Sorry, no irony here. I will, however, urge him to fuck off and die.

Oh, and has anyone else noticed how many wealthy people one meets on blogs?

I'm extremely wealthy myself. It's from running the blog. I have millions in contributions. I lost count in August.

Don't tell anyone though, because it makes people envious. They already hate me for my traffic.

CWVet449th said...

George Bush did not "stay home" any more than I did, and John Kerry never faced the enemy himself. In the four months that Lurch was in country, his only goal was to further his fledgling political career with as little military service as he could manage.

When George Bush englisted in the ANG, F-102's were in fact stationed in SE Asia, flying escort missions for B-52's and also making ground attacks. Bush flew this plane for more than three years, not just a couple of months.

The F-102 was an extremely dangerous aircraft to fly for its pilots. Only the very best pilot candidates were allowed to fly this state of the art Mach 2 jet fighter, and many pilots were killed on a regular basis in peacetime training.

George Bush is a hero, and nearly super-human in his ability to fly a plane that none of you here would survive if you tried to fly it. John Kerry is a coward and scoundrel who has exploited and denigrated the U.S. military at every opportunity. ...-

belmont club

Very Good post Kate. This is another one I saved for future reference.

Thanks for the post.

As part of my job developing avionics for the F15 Strike Eagle, I had the opportunity to sit in the cockpit of one of these aircraft. Believe me, there is nothing above your belt buckle but the canopy. Talk about sitting in a chair...

I can only imagine taking off in one of these machines and hitting the after burners has to be one of the most thrilling things a civilian could do.

X-wing Y-wing B-wing or A-wing take your pick and lets anialate them imperial tie-fighters

Howard Larson,

It was a thrilling blast to be standing near one as it exploded into a near vertical rocket climb off the runway in Thule Greenland.

Michael Totten ventured out onto thin ice . .
**
**
You're right, Yafawi. I don't like it. I don't want a war with Iran, and I'm not advocating one. But the situation is what it is.**

Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs, [the head and the root], feed Hezbollah and Muqtada black bands of Sadr city.

There is no possible negotiation with snakes just as there was none posssible with Arafat.

Only direct and sudden force can begin to stop the madmen*s march.

Precision bunker busting of the twenty-four nuclear plants in Iran to start with. The aim is to give Iranians the opportunity to re-claim their country.

Iranians want a free and democratic way of * IRANIAN * life.

The corrupt army of dictators is a powerful group if unchallenged but nothing special if properly penalized.

We are the problem! Our resolve to principle is diluted or missing.

Yafawi has the courage to say . . .
**
Iran is the source. It would be a desperate move - both politically and militarily - if Israel goes there. Only the United States can do it non-desperately. **

Are we all such shrinking violets that we are afraid to discuss the direct hit?

Not nuclear as someone suggested above but a perfectly logical and justified hit considering all the proxy death and suffering dished out through Hezbollah and Muqtada al Sadr and not a grain of sand damaged in Iran.

Not easy to ask for Iran*s citizens help to depose their dictators. Difficult also to leave their oil and industry assets untouched while selectivly hitting military targets.

If only Secretary Wineberger had not interfered with Reagan*s order to smack down Hezbollah in 1983 for the barracks killing of 241 marines.

Principle should have been taken care of then. Pulling punches through the Carter and Clinton years has allowed this problem grow to the ugly dimensions of today.

I realize multi-Billion$ oil pipelines are under construction for direct supply across Pakistan to China. Putin also sells to and backs Iran, however, those two would never put up with what Iran is getting away with.

We have not earned respect because we have not deserved respect. = TG

dean juke,

Don't hate me because I'm.......

If I stop posting at SDA it's not because I died from fornicating under carnal knowledge.

Kate,

You have the best blog going. We should team up to try to make your financial claims a reality.

Brown,

there are almost no one who actually has money that will brag about it. wealthy people keep their finances to themselves. posers and liars brag. wealthy people are sick of people trying to sell them crap. posers love people to try.

Warwick,

You're not following my posts very carefully. Lack of attention to detail is causing you to rush into making hasty conclusions.

Hint...The president walking the shop floor.

maz2,

Please pay attention! Rather than spouting off all the time try listening.

...that cockpit looks a bit like my ol '78 two door Yellow Chevette - put Buick car horns & grille on it - called it my BIC BANANA...

;-)

Picture yourself in this seat, at 3200 feet ASL, traveling at one hundred and twenty kilometers per hour, virtually doing low level flying down "moccassin highway" (poor excuse of a highway 55 west of Pierceland, Saskachewan).

Now imagine that in addition in not hitting deer, trees, or other cars on the road, with your nerves and senses pulsating, your body rattling, listening to the roar of the engine and as you hurtle through air at -40 degrees...air so cold that you can freeze your ball, uh, joints off...

Occasionally referencing instruments and also having to stare into that speedometer and switches to get the $@%$# wipers to work when SUDDENLY you hit black ice...

You start pumping the brakes, power shifting the gears, and skillfully over-correcting back and forth to counter the potential spin-out...all to end up back into your lane facing the right way, not missing a drop in speed.

Afterwards nervousling laughing your head off realizing but if not for the grace of God you would have ended up as tree bark...

TG,

Thule AFB? A little chilly compared to Eglin AFB. :>