It is a sympton of the age in which we live.

So few Americans today have served in the Armed Forces.

Thus, especially among the younger 18-35 crowd, there is this tendency to say “gee, he was in the Marines, or Army…so we have to “honor” his service and cut him slack when he screws up.”

As if being in the Armed Forces is a free pass to indiscretions in later life. [Guess it beats the attitude I got from the 18-35 crowd back in the day as a fresh out of basic training E-nothing at San Francisco International. I had to launder my uniform from the stuff that was spit on me or thrown at me for being a "baby killer."]

I served. But other than that 5 or 10 point preference in federal hiring (and the skills I acquired while in uniform and my GI Bill) that is all the “free pass” I expected. Most in uniform today and most who really served honorably would expect the same, and would not desire to be held less accountable for their after service actions.

Among the press and pundits, it is a personal attack in these days to call on the carpet anyone “who served honroably?”

Every time I see that Alan Colmes guy preface his commentary toward a vet, saying “Thank you for your service” I give Colmes no credence at all.

I interpret Colmes’ comments as meaning “what a maroon…wasn’t smart enough to go to college or get a real job.” The Freudian slip of Kerry’s about being stupid and going to Iraq showed the depth of his contempt for fellow veterans and serving members of the armed forces.

Murtha tops the cake, and he is by no means the only such scoundrel out there having a coterie of followers willing to give him a pass because “gee, he was a soldier.”

blankminde on August 15, 2008 at 11:53 AM

So as long as the military service is honorable nothing else matters? Serial killers are still “Marines” so long as they did it after getting out of the Corps? Sorry but I think Murtha’s dishonorable service as a Congressman, including his comments about the troops, trumps any residual honor he had by serving in the Marine Corps.

He served honorably in the Marine Corps and remains deserving of the title, regardless of his obvious “indiscretions” as a public servant. …
blankminde on August 15, 2008 at 11:53 AM

Wow – that really is very gracious of you. Especially in light of how he treated the Marines involved in Haditha. Murtha is a pox.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you horse lovers or any horses reading this. :-)

Nobody can sell something on the restricted list to anybody in India, without an export ticket, in any conscience.

These guys should be put out of business, they give the rest of us a bad name. And Fat John should be ground up and used for dog food.

Murtha intervening to protect firm convicted of illegal exports

The only permanent residency this dumb-ass should have, is being a water boy at GITMO!

Murtha’s last opponent ran a feisty race. This time Bill Russell’s campaign may actually unseat the porker.

Russell’s campaign motto is “Country First”. Donations are coming from all over the US. Go, Bill!

we need to chop him up and cook him. with all that pork he’d make a great BLT.

robo on August 15, 2008 at 11:31 AM

umm…that would be the people of the 12th Congressional district.

Please,please dont blame the rest of us same Pennsylvanians.

An all time low, even for Murtha.

Murtha cannot be out-done when it comes to low… When he hits the bottom, he gets out his pick-axe and shovel and heads for China.

I’ve posted it here at least twice. I knew Murtha was a criminal before he slithered onto the U.S. stage. This man is no friend of the U.S., no friend of the U.S. military and no friend of integrity.

It will be genuinely unfortunate if this sale were allowed to go through and those “preforms” ended up in the Russo-India fifth generation fighter program.

Murtha believes making money is more important than our national defense. Ex-Marine? Damn straight! Fifth generation fighters or other systems are/can be designed to kill U.S. Marines and a lot of other honorably serving members of our Armed Forces. Yet, Murtha appears more concerned about a company, a small one at that, closing its doors?

If this attempt to lean on the Executive Branch by Murtha for monetary gain is not investigated by the feds and prosecuted with alacrity by DOJ if the money trail leads to Murtha [now how hard is that to determine?] we really need to rethink how stupid we can be.

Follow the money.

CP on August 15, 2008 at 10:25 AM

+1
Words to live by.

By default, most items can be exported without significant restrictions. In the Western world, specifically in the US, it’s sometimes hard to remember how sophisticated our manufacturing processes are — if you have a lump of glass (essentially what a “preform” is), you tend to think of it in the same way as you think of a rock. It’s raw material, and the fancy stuff happens to it later. The fact that a 99.999999% pure “rock” is the end-result of a lot of technology can be overlooked.

I agree with you, but there is a small point I’d like to add.

I’m glad that we tend to not overlook that fact that a 99.999999% pure lump of rock (uranium) has a fairly limited end use, and is controlled. My guess is that the pure rock you mentioned likewise has a fairly limited end use. Therefore, the “we didn’t know” routine fails the smell test.

cthulhu on August 15, 2008 at 11:57 AM

Discussion elevated. Thanks for the insight.

By default, most items can be exported without significant restrictions. In the Western world, specifically in the US, it’s sometimes hard to remember how sophisticated our manufacturing processes are — if you have a lump of glass (essentially what a “preform” is), you tend to think of it in the same way as you think of a rock. It’s raw material, and the fancy stuff happens to it later. The fact that a 99.999999% pure “rock” is the end-result of a lot of technology can be overlooked.

That said, it can be overlooked once. Having tangled with export controls before, the company should certainly have been “on notice” about the issue. The question at the forefront of my mind would be, “how much of the management team had been there when the incident happened 10 years ago?”

If they’ve had turnover in management, then the company then and the company now might as well be different companies…..but if it’s the same people, they should have learned.

including Murtha’s fellow Marines. One would think that Murtha would put them above the cheats…
I’m guessing most Marines don’t think of Murtha as one of them. I see him frequently referred to as an ex-Marine. Which is at it should be.

KrisinNE on August 15, 2008 at 11:08 AM

I am a Marine and will admit that seeing him referred to as a Marine is infuriating. He served honorably in the Marine Corps and remains deserving of the title, regardless of his obvious “indiscretions” as a public servant. Murtha is an example that not all Marines are paragons of virtue, morality, and honor. Some of us make mistakes and run for congress.