Video: Civil war erupts on the View

Is it just me … or does stuff like this make you think Democrats WANT to lose next Tuesday?

Or are they just this dumb?

Professor Blather on November 1, 2006 at 4:32 PM

Just looking at the lineup on the view reminds me of one of those “which one of these does not belong” questions on an aptitude test … this one being very easy to answer.

And isn’t it ironic that she doesn’t belong for a couple reasons besides the politically obvious?

1) She’s smart, 2) she’s seriously attractive.

But then again, if you stuck any conservative woman in the middle of half a dozen liberals … wouldn’t she stand out, for the very same reasons?

Professor Blather on November 1, 2006 at 4:35 PM

From ReubenJCogburn:

Well said (as usual), Professor. Aviation, especially supersonic aviation, is an inherently dangerous business–even with flight safety as tight-assed as it is–and the libs act like it’s a cakewalk. Didn’t one of the pilots around here say that the F-104 (which George Bush flew, unless I’m having a brain cramp) was nicknamed “the Widowmaker”, because it killed so many pilots? And Rumsfeld was a flight instructor, which is not a job that they give to just any jamoke that walks in off the street. After three years Active he was in the Ready Reserve until 1975, and the Standby Reserve until 1989. The guy paid his dues, and deserves respect for it.

Indeed! Whether you’re flying in Vietnam or Vermont, zooming around the sky in combat aircraft isn’t exactly safe. And I’ve heard the same thing about that particular aircraft.

But what really gets me is the basic misunderstanding of reserve duty: if your unit gets called up, you go. There are THOUSANDS of Guardsmen and Reservists in Iraq.

If Bush is a “draft dodger” – then so are they. Isn’t that simple logic?

If you can prove to me that Bush’s squadron or unit was sent to Vietnam – and that Bush somehow managed to get out of it and stay home – then you’ve got a case.

But if he never went because his unit never went … denigrating his service is silly. Kerry’s 3-month tour of shooting himself in the foot comes a lot closer to the definition of “dodging” your duty.

And another thing that pisses me off is that liberals pretend not to understand that even at the height of Vietnam, millions of soldiers – especially reservists – were never sent there. I personally know people who spent Vietnam … in Germany. Or Korea. Or Texas. During Vietnam – and right now – a lot of the time, reserves are called to active duty to serve in the U.S. … so that the active units can go overseas.

I personally served during Desert Storm, and spent it all … in California.

Am I draft dodger?

Sigh. Liberalism requires some serious mental short-circuitry.

Professor Blather on November 1, 2006 at 5:08 PM

The plane George flew in the ANG was the F-102. I found THIS interesting.

james hooker on November 1, 2006 at 6:04 PM

WHY didn’t the RNC get that information out more? That was FASCINATING. Thank you for posting it.

For those too lazy to follow James’ link, here’s a few interesting bits – that I’d love to hear the View ladies respond to – about that safe F-102 duty that George used to dodge the draft:

This poor safety record may have been due in part to a deadly flaw in the aircraft’s design that caused an engine stall and loss of control under a certain combination of angle of attack and airspeed frequently encountered during takeoff. According to a former F-102 pilot we’ve interviewed, this problem caused the plane to roll inverted and resulted in several fatal crashes. Numerous accidents were also encountered during landing because of the plane’s high angle of attack and airspeed that reduced the pilot’s visibility and reaction time. These factors have traditionally been two of the primary disadvantages of delta wing aircraft and explain why the pure delta wing design was later abandoned. Today’s delta wing aircraft are typically equipped with leading edge extensions or canards that improve safety and performance. Luckily, F-102 operators overcame these deficiencies thanks to good pilot training and control lockouts that prevented the plane from reaching extreme conditions, and the F-102 went on to become one of the safer fighters of its day.

Regardless, the F-102 was still far more dangerous to fly than today’s combat aircraft. Compared to the F-102′s lifetime accident rate of 13.69, today’s planes generally average around 4 mishaps per 100,000 hours. For example, compare the F-16 at 4.14, the F-15 at 2.47, the F-117 at 4.07, the S-3 at 2.6, and the F-18 at 4.9. Even the Marine Corps’ AV-8B, regarded as the most dangerous aircraft in US service today, has a lifetime accident rate of only 11.44 mishaps per 100,000 flight hours. The F-102 claimed the lives of many pilots, including a number stationed at Ellington during Bush’s tenure. Of the 875 F-102A production models that entered service, 259 were lost in accidents that killed 70 Air Force and ANG pilots.

… established that the F-102 was serving in combat in Vietnam at the time Bush enlisted to become an F-102 pilot. Air National Guard pilots from the 147th FIG, where Bush was stationed, even served combat duty in Vietnam routinely under a volunteer program called “Palace Alert” from 1968 to 1970. Palace Alert was an Air Force program that sent qualified F-102 pilots from the ANG to bases in Europe or southeast Asia for three to six months of frontline service ……… established that the F-102 was serving in combat in Vietnam at the time Bush enlisted to become an F-102 pilot. Air National Guard pilots from the 147th FIG, where Bush was stationed, even served combat duty in Vietnam routinely under a volunteer program called “Palace Alert” from 1968 to 1970. Palace Alert was an Air Force program that sent qualified F-102 pilots from the ANG to bases in Europe or southeast Asia for three to six months of frontline service …

So to summarize: the View ladies couldn’t be more wrong. Bush not only served in pretty hazard duty here in the U.S. … he volunteered to serve in combat!

That’s “draft dodging?”

BTW, James Hooker: the parts about defending against Soviet bombers was interesting, too. A lot of us forget that Cold War stateside fighter duty wasn’t exactly goofing off …. those boys were on alert 24/7, waiting to defend the homeland against nuclear annihilation.

Shorter version of this post: Liberals are uneducated morons. They’ll probably get stuk in Irak.

Professor Blather on November 1, 2006 at 6:32 PM