Go Ahead: Make My Day

| November 9, 2020

Girl and gun dog

Oh, here we go:  The next SecDef should be a woman, per the author of the Op-Ed.

Okay, but only if they leave out that grandstanding dink person Duckworth. The SecDef job is not an opportunity to puff yourself off for the next election.

https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2020/11/08/the-next-secretary-of-defense-should-be-a-woman/

From the article:  The ideal candidate for the post would be a person with the background to make the difficult decisions about when and how to use military force, which missions to prioritize and which to deemphasize or eliminate, and is comfortable dealing with the uniform leaders and the chairs of the congressional Armed Service and Defense Appropriations committees on national, as well as local issues, especially when the military leaders or members of Congress might disagree with administration policies.

Arguably, the most effective secretary of defense to date is Melvin Laird, who served under President Nixon to 1969 until 1973. Laird, a WWII veteran and Republican congressman from Wisconsin, helped develop and then convince many skeptical military and congressional leaders to support Nixon’s policies to end the draft, withdraw from Vietnam, support arms control agreements with the Soviet Union and slash defense spending.

Therefore, the individual selected should be someone who has served in our military and in combat, especially since President-elect Biden does not have combat experience, or any military service for that matter. Moreover, the person selected for the post should also have significant political experience and not have ties to the defense industry. Fortunately, there are at least four women who meet these criteria, two democrats and two republicans: Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii. – article

I have no issues with this idea; I’d volunteer for it. I could use the money. The real concern, in my view, is picking the right candidate. It has to be someone who knows how to deal with bullies properly, and I’ve put up with bullies most of my life.

And by bullies, I do not mean our senior military officers.

I mean the Real Bad Guys.

Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", 2020 Election, Big Pentagon

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Mike Gunns

It’s not that a woman isn’t qualified for the position, but that this just another leftist attempt to check off another intersectionality box. Next they will be promoting a trans person for health and human services.

Mason

That’s absolutely the sort of thing you can expect from the Harris Administration.

Penguinman000

Hood luck finding a qualified candidate who agrees with letting transgenders serve. It will probably be a ideologue with no relevant experience who is too blind to see the myriad of problems allowing transgenders to serve will bring.

MI Ranger

In that case I am sure they will choose Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. She checks allllll the blocks!

Only Army Mom

That agreement will be the qualification.

Here’s another perspective on the transgender issue… and for the record, I have no problem with anybody, regardless of who they identify as, or who they love and want to marry.

According to the DSM-5, transgenderism is body dysmorphia, a diagnosable psychological condition. In other words, a mental illness.

BUT

The United States government has determined that transgenderism is a medical condition, one that requires ongoing, maintenance medication to sustain homeostasis, which disqualifies those with that condition from service in the Armed Forces. In other words, the Federal government has ruled transgenderism as a medical condition…

There are already copious laws on the books that protect people from being discriminated against, or even questioned about medical conditions… HIPPA comes first to mind. So in effect, the Trump administration ruling has elevated and protected transgender rights. But here is where that other mental illness comes into play that is not specifically named but is described under several categories in the DSM-5, TDS, aka Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Only Army Mom

Thanks Ex-PH2 for souring my Monday morning with that creature’s name, and putting that vile thought in the ether. I can’t even describe how much I despise her, a feeling that deepened every time I “met” her.

What does it say about a person who is catastrophically injured in war, yet not a single person who served with her has ever supported her political campaigns?

We’re going to be subjected to a chorus of strident, discordant sympathy violins of how she is a war hero, so of course she is qualified. No, she is not a hero. Yes she was horrifically injured. But she is a terrible human being, an officer of minimal quality who without her gender and race cards would never have been promoted and perhaps the most self serving creature in the Democrat party, despite plenty of competition. Geez, I guess according to the Dems, all that makes her perfect for the job.

If you know nothing else about her, the fact no one who ever served with her has stood with her should tell you everything you need to know.

Only Army Mom

Granted, slightly mollified.

5th/77th FA

If this election is allowed to stand and Joe and Ho take over, the SecDef’s office will be in Peking anyhow. With a satellite office in Ukraine.

I remember the good old days pre 1973, when the best person for the job was supposed to be the best qualified for the job.

Love the little Spaniel Dog.

11B-Mailclerk

I would not be surprised, at all, if a certain former Senator gets it.

Anonymous

Not Hitlary…

David

https://news.yahoo.com/mich-le-flournoy-could-become-183240661.html

Apparently there are more names on the list, like Susan Rice and Michelle Flournoy,. I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for a vet of any sex or stripe.

Mason

To the Democrats, defense industry or think tank work is far more important for a SecDef than military service.

MI Ranger

What about LTC(Ret) Vindman? He’s trans right?!

Or am I mixing it up with the kid who sold everything to Wikileaks?

Claw

Okay, Ex. I’ll try to make your day. Two weeks ago that grandstanding dink person you mentioned joined the ranks of the 32K+ people who give the fake Huey pilot Jimmy Walls a nightly ball washing on his Fakebook page./s

Stacy0311

Flournoy would get the nod. She’s a part of the Dem’s think tank cheerleader team.

And she’d be right up there with Hagel, McNamara and Louis Johnson as the most craptacular SecDefs.

The military would be come one big happy hug a bunny social experiment of how they can be more inclusive. The diversity bigots would be running all selection/promotion boards.

We’d get more endless wars that are under resourced with a no strategy.

As for me, hopefully I’d get my retirement approved before I’m court martialed for being a white male oppressor.

MI Ranger

Wait a minute there Stacy0311, the story in Defense News said she lead the Department of Defense planning effort for Iraq and Afghanistan from 2009 under Obama so….ohhh yeah a big nothing burger.
The way Obama described Trumps COVID plan was exactly what I would describe came out of the Pentagon from 2009-2016 for a plan on Iraq and Afghanistan…spend more money to do this, create a new team, rename this organization… wait what about a strategy, long term plans?
[Me]Didn’t we used to have a plan on the shelf at least for Iraq? I seem to recall updating it in CENTCOM annually after Desert Shield/Desert Storm!
[Them] Oh you mean all those books on the shelf that were taking up space?
[Me] Maybe
[Them] We got rid of them to save space for Global Pandemic equipment…
[Them] Which we threw out to make more office space!

Berliner

Tammy Duckworth absolutely sucked running the Illinois Veterans Homes before being elected to Congress.

Secret waiting lists with sick vets waiting for appointments and a year backlog of cardiology tests going unread. Many vets died waiting for treatment. Not to mention firing a Veterans Home worker, who was advocating for better care, without authority.

If I were to name a woman for Secretary of Defense I would go for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.

MI Ranger

Tulsi has the fire, but no real experience. But she does wear the correct color of coat!

Mason

Tulsi’s done. She went against Clinton. She’s been the black sheep of the party since then.

SFC D

I don’t care if the next SECDEF is male, female, I don’t care about their ethnicity, their color of lack of color, their sexual orientation doesn’t matter, I just want the most qualified person in the job. But that’s way too much to ask for.

Claw

Esper just got axed.

Devtun

Yeah, he’ll do just fine. He’ll go back to the DC think tanks & defense industry where he came from.

Commissar

He was fired in a Tweet.

Despite the fact that Esper has been offering to resign for weeks but was willing to stick it out through the transition.

More petulant decisive incompetence.

Mike Gunns

Nah bruh. Don’t tow the line and the boss has every right to fire you.