Weekend Open Thread
One side of the argument attacked some cartoons that we grew up with and targeted a character or an item for their complaints. One implication was that the subject of the complaint or the entire cartoon be removed. Many on that same side of the argument believe that it is okay to have “drag queens” interact with grade school children in capacities that make many parents uncomfortable. Fortunately, people are fighting back. Enjoy your weekend.
Category: Open thread
First
LIKE MUSK!!!
LET THAT SINK IN!!!
FIRST (h/t to YOU!) of 6?!
Congrats.
(edit: counting error. I was only authorized to 4 by the Army. Cut the slack)
Obviously the only way to deal with this miscarriage of Justice is to have Elon Musk come and clean house.
I leave y’all alone for one freakin’ afternoon and this. First you have to find TAH WWHQ.
😆😆😆
Damn you ChipNASA! Missed it by two seconds.
GET DOWN MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!
Maybe too much late afternoon caffeine and Limp Bizcut and other angry teenage boy music.
When takes over This Ain’t Hell, he’ll be bringing a mailbox. No word on whether said mailbox will have a door.
😅
Will said mailbox be fireproof in the event that someone tries to set fire to it?
And will the TAH headquarters parking lot be strewn with screws and nails?
What about bushes planted outside the TAH headquarters main entrance that frequently “rustle”?
The possibilities are endless…
You forgot something…
Maybe even a ‘sploding coconut for good measure?
“Three. Three shall be the number…..”
Don’t forget the coconuts 🥥!
That mailbox damn well better have his DD-214 in it.
He is a proud African!
Cong rats, Chip.
Now, where’s to booze?
Here ya go…have one for me….
Foodz to follow.
In celebration of All Hallows Eve and the coming spookiness….and the converging of the veil between the worlds…I offer you ghosts and goblins this..
Enjoy !!
I surrender the Crown (Royal) and Scepter to ChipNSA for His Firstness for the week.
ALL HAIL!!
Be gentle and just with us dillweeds and -weedettes.
The keys for the imbibables and consumables is hanging on the wall over there.
A Rat of Kong on your FIRSTNESS, Chippy. I figured my chances today were as slim as your chances of making time with OAM since TAH has been loading slower than (BEAT) Navy’s offence will be against (GO) Army during an upcoming gridiron competition. It would be nice if the site would download as fast as an Auburn Cheerleader’s panties drop when she sees a Dawg or Tide Man roll her way.
Now…Lay out some snacks, quit mooning over OAM, and get your Happy Azz over to the phony thread and HAMMER that POS with the Vaunted TAH As(s)teroid of Insults. Earn yer keep…for a change.
OK!!
That’s part of why you’re here.
I’m still trying to read up threads from frecking 11 Aug.
Which thread…(I’ll go look)
ALSO, I have to post my usual WOT Ammoseek posting as well….I am getting better. I don’t have Biden memory holes yet.
OK folks….here’s your Ammoseek.com posting for stuff from today…some things up a few cents but still (in this day and age) reasonable. 9mm is still headed in the right direction.
If the list doesn’t include 6.5×55 or .45-70, it’s for kids.
LOL, my credit card can only take so much raping….OK, it’s on the to do list.
Bro,
Give me grid coordinates….
Richard Elmer Johson?? (I think we’re waiting for a FOIA update)
Matt Augee in the What is Stolen Valor? thread? (I didn’t see a request)
Other??
“Dickhead” Johnson, yep THAT POS. And yeah, there’s no FOIA yet, BUT…it is obvious that the POS is as phony as a polyester Civil War (sic) wool blanket. Motion was made by KoB, Roh-Dog used the term “…issue it twice.” (artistic license twice being a term for SECOND) ninja made the AYE vote with the KA-BOOM! Ergo, IMHO we have come close enough to the requirements of Roberts Rules of TAH Order and you are CLEARED HOT! (look down about 50 or 60 comments for the authorization)
“Dickhead” Johnson is genuine as a Civil War issue POLYESTER Blanket or uniform.
With Underarmor shorts underneath.
Did you just assume that Auburn cheerleader’s gender and sexual orientation?
SFC D:
Auburn is in the South.
As In The Deep South…
So, Yep…KoB is correct about that Auburn Cheerleader’s under underwear…
ROLL TIDE! (RTR shoutout is also for own very own beloved API…
😉😎
gabn/gabaf/hbtd/rtr
Here you go, SFC D.
The Great State Of Alabama. The Deep South. Home to the University of Alabama and Auburn.
RTR!
“Transgender Student Grant Sikes Rejected From Every University of Alabama Sorority”
https://nypost.com/2022/08/17/transgender-student-grant-sikes-rejected-from-every-university-of-alabama-sorority/
“A transgender woman was rejected by all University of Alabama sororities during their student recruitment process, according to social media posts from the student.”
“Grant Sikes wrote on Instagram that she was denied entry to all of the sororities on campus. There are nearly 20 campus chapters.”
“Unfortunately, this chapter is closed. This recruitment journey is over for me,” Sikes wrote. “Being dropped from my last house this morning during primary recruitment at the University of Alabama doesn’t come as a surprise considering out of the almost 20 chapters – I was dropped by every single one except 2 before day 1.”
Naw, ‘D. It’s a fact Jack! (ht 2 Perfesser Jack Sh^t, whom I know quite well, Thank ye veery much). Auburn in known down heah as “The Cow College” (for good reason) being as it is full of heifers and steers. Artificial turf has been replaced by real grass so the cheerleaders will have a spot to graze on between cheers. If by some chance, one or more of those heifers thinks that she would prefer heifer to heifer activities, that Bull Dawg or that Bull Elephant (rtr) would show her what she had been missing. And that’s no bull. Have a shot of Jameson…or 6…on me.
Gator tail on the menu for weekend activities upcoming, ninja. Let the Big Dawg Eat! Taste kinda like a gamey chicken.
gabn/gabaf/rtr/hbtd
Congrats, Chipster!
Oh, ya mean:
My name is Hack Stone. I deal in Red Hat Software. I grossed over eight dollars in one year. Is this the first comment on the Weekend Open Thread? We’ll need to refresh the page to find out. Time of your life, huh kid?
Some times you gotta say “What the fuck.” Looks like this is one of those times. There is always next week, unless that dossier that Hack forwarded to the FBI about ChipNASA colluding with the Russians gets some traction.
How was he to know she was with the Russians too?
FIRST!
first
OK; fourth.
1st
Gun Bunny fifth.
Let’s go have a consolation beer together
Or 12…I’ll buy.
FIRST
Sixth. damn it!
Whelp somebody broke into the Pelosi home and beat the crap out of Mr. Pelosi. He was looking for Nancy but forgot to check her schedule first.
Someone floated the possibility on WMAL this morning that Mr. Nancy Pelosi brought a young man into Stately Pelosi Manor for a little bit of the “down low”, and well, you know how that usually turns out.
Oh no…..was he drinking again….or maybe he was already…..(wait for it)
Hammered…
(yes going to HELL on the short bus.)
😅
— GROAN —
Things you shouldn’t laugh at but can’t help.
I’m sure there are plenty of people laughing at this, so a short bus might not be big enough.
I don’t think that was the pounding that Mr. Pelosi was seeking.
And I’ll be the driver!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxWTDcP9Y5E
PPM “If I Had a Hammer”
Just hope that the person in custody is treated just like any other suspect and gets released on a no cash bond.
What’s the over/under that the guy was out on supervised probation at the time of the assault, and has a long and distinguished career as a mentally unbalanced criminal?
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nancy-pelosi-husband-paul-pelosi-assaulted-san-francisco-suspect-david-depape-police-say
Seems perfectly sane by San Fran standards to me.
“DePape was living in a storage unit in the Berkeley area and told her he had been struggling with hard drugs but was “trying to create a new life for himself.””
Has anyone heard from Commissar lately?
Naw, that is not our commie cuttlefish. I have seen the picture he posted on his LinkedIn account. That pic above is from a naked wedding where DePape was the best man. He is also known for participating in some annual naked parade. He is from Berzerkeley, though.
The MSM wasted no time clutching their pearls, suggesting the assailant is most likely a conservative with an axe to grind, but not a peep from them when a potential assailant was arrested at Justice Cavanaugh’s home who was armed, had a crow bar, and duct tape with him.
Con Law professor Lawrence Tribe promptly tweeted that it was right wing Republicans’ hate speech that inspired the attack. In reality this looney is on the left-wing fringe and wouldn’t vote for Trump at gunpoint, on threat of death.
According to some reports, the police arrived while Pelosi and the looney were fighting over the hammer. They watched as the perp took the hammer away from Paul and hit him in the head with it. Rule: Don’t bring a hammer to a fist fight. Firearms are much more efficient.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say he doesn’t vote regularly. The lefties have been shitting all over the Pelosi homestead because of her lack of support for UBI and more free rent.
Hope Paul makes it.
So, this is what happens when the feral children are cut off from their free s@!t?
No axe to grind, but a hammer to pound. We need common sense legislation to close the hardware store loopholes.
Now we know where Claw has been.
Waiting for the following points to be made, either in one article or an investigative series.
The hammer in question was purchased without a background check.
The hammer was not registered with the local authorities.
There was no serial number, making it a ‘ghost’ hammer.
No record of hammer safety training.
No Concealed Hammer Permit.
The final article in the series will chronicle a journalist’s visit to a blacksmith market where he purchased a chrome plated bang bang from a guy named Maxwell Silver.
_
_/ /_ (click) sarcasm off.
And watching the screens while on the gym treadmill this afternoon, I saw some of the talking heads on this.
I’m personally wondering if the (D)emon-rats wanted something sympathetic on the news, and Mrs. Pelosi wanted to punish Mr. Pelosi for some of his public indiscretions, and arranged for him to take on for the
TyrantsTeam.There may be a hint of cynicism in there somewhere….
Okay, here’s what you’ll have been waiting for:
5120-00-900-6109 Claw Hammer, Carpenters Nailing, Curved Claw, 20.00 oz, Cost to Government $10.41
5120-00-900-6113 Claw Hammer, Carpenters Ripping, Straight Claw, 16.00 oz, Cost to Government $17.69
Cost for TAH Shits and Grins: Priceless
Rats of the Cong to Chip!! A special trivia column for all in ChipNASA’s honor … the 6th birthday of the silly thing. I hope you all enjoy it!
DID YOU KNOW…?
It’s the Column’s sixth birthday! Let’s celebrate!
By Commissioner Wretched
didyouknowcolumn@gmail.com
Six years.
It’s been six years since this silly column got started, and what a ride it has been!
What began as a space-filler in one issue of one newspaper has grown into the weekly feature you are now reading. It’s now carried in at least six newspapers, and has also spawned a book (available at amazon.com if you don’t already have it), with more to come should demand be there.
And it’s all – every single bit of it – thanks to you.
I enjoy putting this column together each week, and it’s just because you all have told me so often how much you like it.
No matter how long I try to say it, I’ll never be able to convey just how much that means to me.
Thank you so much for making “Did You Know…?” a weekly part of your life. I appreciate you all, more than I can ever say.
Six years. Wow.
Now, onward to the next six – and more!
Did you know …
… one pair of rats can produce up to 15,000 descendants in a single year? (Now there’s a cheery thought to start our sixth year together, isn’t it?)
… a cancer tumor which killed its host in 1951 is still alive today? Henrietta Lacks (1920-1951) died of cancer, but scientists used the cells from her tumor to progress the development of the polio vaccine. Now they use the cells, called HeLa cells, in cancer research. Sadly, Lacks’ family did not know of any of this until 1975. The use of the HeLa cells in cancer research is now causing concerns about ethics and patients’ rights. (Wait … now it’s causing concern?)
… a nine-year-old boy robbed a bank in New York in 1981? The child, whose name was not released due to his age, got away with $118. He was convicted of the crime even though his attorney said he’d been influenced by crime programs on television and used a toy gun. Because of his age, he could not be jailed, but was remanded to the custody of his father. (Who, we hope, grounded him until his 30th birthday.)
Hack remembers that one. Believe that it happened around the same time as when some money bags containing almost $2,000,000 fell out of an armored car in Philadelphia.
… actor Boris Karloff (born William Henry Pratt, 1887-1969) became a star because of the movie Frankenstein, but it was not his first film? The iconic horror film star performed in eighty different movies in a career that started in 1919 with an uncredited role in The Lightning Raider. And his stardom didn’t come quickly – Karloff was originally uncredited in Frankenstein, too, and his identity was only disclosed later. Following the release of the movie and his stardom, Karloff could not get film roles that were not either horror or suspense in nature. (But he made the best of it, that’s for sure.)
In 1957, Boris Karloff appeared on the Rosemary Clooney Show and sang a duet with her.
2 minutes. He can really sing. BTW, Rosemary is George’s Aunt.
In 1965, Boris Karloff appeared on the TV show “Shindig!” to sing “Monster Mash.”
Ted Cassidy, who played Lurch on the “Addam’s Family” also appeared to do “The Lurch.”
A better quality of Boris Karloff singing “The Monster Mash” with Ted Cassidy doing “The Lurch” on “Shindig!” in 1965.
… a theory exists which states that the calendar we use is off – way, way off? The Phantom Time Hypothesis, created by a man named Heribert Illig (born 1947), states that at some point in the Middle Ages, events that took place between the years 614 and 911 were misattributed by historians. Illig’s idea stems from a lack of archaeological evidence from that particular time period and an over-reliance by medieval historians on written sources which were pretty scarce themselves. Illig says this time frame error was either accidental or intentional – and if intentional, it was to place Pope Sylvester II (946-1003) and Holy Roman Emperor Otto III (980-1002) on their respective thrones in the year 1000. Why that matters, he does not say.
If he’s correct, the entire life of Charlemagne (742-814) did not happen, and thus much of European history is totally made up. Also, this is really the year 1725, according to Illig. Mainstream historians think Illig’s theory is pure nonsense. (Well, so do I. So there.)
We are Charle-mane-less, what a hair-brained idea.
… the first ATM was installed in 1969? The very first Automatic Teller Machine – which is what ATM stands for – was placed at Chemical Bank in New York’s Rockefeller Center on September 2, 1969. (And we have been grateful for that ever since.)
… the original King Kong was not a very large ape? In 1933, the movie King Kong hit theatres, thrilling audiences with the story of a monstrous ape brought from a jungle island to New York. But the ape shown in the movie was not very large at all – it was a stop-motion animation figure only 18 inches tall. (Ah, the magic of movie-making!)
… you could this evening enjoy a wonderful drink of po cha? What’s that? You’ve never heard of po cha? Well, it’s a popular Tibetan drink, and it’s made from black tea, butter, milk and salt. To make it authentic, the butter and milk have to come from yaks, not cows. (Tibetan yaks, at that.)
… dinosaurs could still exist? There have been reports of sightings of dinosaur-like creatures in Africa for centuries. The local residents call the creature “Mokèlé-mbèmbé” and numerous expeditions have been sent to try and find one. The first expedition was sent in 1776, with the latest in 2012. Those who have reported spotting one say it looks like modern representations of an Apatosaurus or Brachiosaurus. (It’s not reported what those who saw the critter were drinking, but there you are.)
“dinosaurs could still exist?”
Yep.
They are called birds.
Yup
… a dog’s sense of smell is pretty good? Yeah, you knew that. How good? Well, think on this … in some breeds, a dog is able to detect its owner’s scent from up to 11 miles away. (And if you don’t take a bath, it can smell you up to 15 miles away!)
… the perfect length of a vacation is eight days? Experts say staying on vacation longer than that has no benefit. Instead, one should take more vacations, not longer ones. (What is this “vacation” of which you speak, stranger?)
Now … you know!
Congratulations.
With the duplicate postings, I’m claiming top 10.
Rain in the AO today. Blessed, much needed rain. Got turnips in the ground, hope they make.
God bless you all this week.
Get out and vote to help stop the insanity of the (D)emon-rats who cannot seem to field any candidates who are not, in some form, brain damaged – but are pretty crafty at stealing elections.
Another great is gone: Jerry Lee Lewis, the Killer, is dead at the age of 87… 😢
Jerry Lee Lewis, Rock Pioneer And ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ Singer, Dies At 87 | Off The Press
https://youtu.be/xraIf_cYRQE
His Cousins were Jimmy Swaggart and Mickey Gilley.
We like this song that he performed in 1973 on “The Midnight Special” (anyone besides us watched that show…a classic that featured Wolfman Jack).
2 minutes.
Rest In Peace, Jerry.
About forty years ago, a much younger Poe followed a local’s advice for a place to find good live music and strolled into a very questionable-looking smoky dive in South Memphis, a place called Hernando’s Hideaway.
When the bartender brought his drink, Poe commented, “Man, that singer sounds just like Jerry Lee Lewis.”
The bartender gave Poe a strange look, saying, “Mister, that IS Jerry Lee Lewis!”
It was hard to believe that the Killer was playing that piano and singing his heart out about twenty feet away and this joint didn’t even have a cover charge. The bartender explained that Jerry Lee lived just a few miles south of there in Mississippi and dropped in from time to time to jam with the house band.
Needless to say, Poe stayed waaay too long, even getting to talk with Jerry Lee for a little while during a band break, making the misery of the next morning’s hangover well worth it. 😎
About | Hernando’s Hideaway (worldfamoushernandoshideaway.com)
Poe:
What a GREAT story!
Thank You for sharing!!
More sad news just rolled in. Coach/Author/Historian and My Friend, Vince Dooley, passed away an hour or so ago. RIP, Good Sir. I’ll see you again, on the other side.
https://www.dawgnation.com/football/vince-dooley-georgia-football-obituary/J3KRR32ODNBJVFSA4WZEWZG7XU/#:~:text=Vince%20Dooley%2C%20the%20winningest%20Georgia%20football%20coach%20in,a%20201-77-10%20record%20in%20his%20time%20at%20Georgia.
😪😥
Rest In Peace, Sir.
Thank You for sharing, KoB.
hbtd
getthosegators
My sad duty, ninja. A True, Classic, Southern Gentleman of the Old School. The shenanigans we see going on on campuses today were not tolerated on his watch. Got word just a few days ago that he was not doing very well, but was in good spirits. Was honored to give him, and other historians, a tour of the Sunshine Church and Griswoldville Battlefields. Our last visit with him was a program and book signing of his book, “The Legion’s Fighting Bulldog”. He gave me a wink, smile, and a thumbs up when I reminded the crowd that we were there to talk history, not football. A prized possession of mine is a personally dedicated autographed copy of that tome. I’ll miss our chats.
gabn/gabaf/rtr/hbtd (howboutthatdooley)
What a wonderful memory you just shared of a Friend (got a bit dusty in here….).
Thank You so much, KoB. SPOT ON when you commented “A True, Classic, Southern Gentleman of the Old School”.
Rest In Peace, Sir.
gabn/gabaf/hbtd/rtr
(howaboutthatdooley)
Sorry to hear it, KoB. May comfort find all Coach’s friends and family.
A life WELL lived!
Midnight Express Special, courtesy of SCTV.
Fifty-summin’ and I award myself Honorary First once again.
((((OVER))))
There is something very strange about this story.
According to the article, Ahmed Elharoun has been identified as being a “Military Member”, i.e. US Navy who visits a food bank to feed his family.
The article also states “The costs of going to a conventional grocery store limited him from preparing a balanced meal for his family.”
Am wondering if the reporter got it wrong, i.e. that he is NOT a Military Member, a member of the US Navy, but that he works for the Navy.
He lives in the Hampton Roads, VA area. He has access to the Commissaries at Fort Eustis, Langley Air Force Base and Norfolk Navy Base.
Additionally, he has not gone to his Chain of Command for help?
The story states he is married with two children, but also feeds his wife’s sister and her children.
Something is not right.
https://www.wtkr.com/news/military-father-credits-newport-news-food-pantry-for-helping-him-feed-his-family
For those who are familiar with Van Halen “Jump”.
Here is a parody of the song: “TRUMP!”
These guys nailed it, i.e. David Lee Roth’s movement and the song!
Do you think our beloved Commissar would like it?
We did! 3 minutes worth watching.
Whoever put together this 4 minute video NAILED IT!
“Every Breath You Take Parody | Every Dollar You Make We’ll Be Taxing You”
Remember that controversy recruitment Ad the US Army released in 2021 about “Emma and her two Moms?”
https://www.foxnews.com/us/army-recruiting-lesbian-wedding-video-cia-woke
As the title states, THIS 2 minute video SHOULD have been the commercial.
If this does not bring a tear to your eye…
What in the holy hell have I fallen into? Is everyone actually as messed up as I am?
Some of us are actually messed up even more than you. Welcome Home.
You’ll find no better band of miscreants, curmudgeons, deplorables, dickweeds and dickweedettes anywhere. We’ll give you the shirt of our back, but if you drink the last beer, I can’t guarantee your safety.
Welcome home and enjoy every bit of this, and DITTO what SFC D said about Bogarting the last shot and/or beer!
Not as mess up.
We are even more messed up.
Welcome to the party.
This 9 minute video is for our very own beloved AW1Ed and Mick.
Top Gun from the 1950s? 😉
gabn
“FAMOUS U.S. NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIER GAG MOVIE LAUNCH ‘EM!”
This U.S. Navy Film Launch ‘Em was filmed by pilots aboard the USS Hancock in 1956. The film was made while the carrier cruised home from her Far East deployment, apparently with the unofficial blessing of the Eisenhower administration. A legendary film among Naval Aviators, it disappeared from view in the very early 1960s, as it became politically incorrect and taboo. Pilots are fighting in the ready room. Flight deck crewmen starting jet engines with cigarette lighters. These and other hi-jinks might not be regulation, but they do appear in Launch ‘Em.
A classic.
And not too far from the truth, which makes it even funnier.
Launch ‘Em!!!
Forgot to add:
Thanks ninja!
Semper Fidelis
You are so welcome, Mick!
That video never gets old, no matter how many times one watches!
So glad we can still find it on the Web. You nailed it when you said it was a Classic!
Gee Whiz.
“Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Who Assaulted Daughter Faces Court”
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2022/10/27/air-force-lieutenant-colonel-who-assaulted-daughter-faces-court/
“An ex-Air Force lieutenant colonel from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey faced a court-martial before the military’s top court yesterday.”
“Former Lt. Col. Norbert King II, previously of the 818th Mobility Support Advisory Squadron, was charged with sexual assault and committing a sexual act upon a minor, according to court documents.”
“King was found guilty by a panel at his base in Aug. 2018 and was sentenced to three years of confinement and dismissal from the service. His sentence was affirmed by the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals in Aug. 2021 before it was subsequently heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces yesterday.”
*Continue*
“The allegations against King stemmed from an incident in Sept. 2016, when he sexually assaulted his 17-year-old daughter at their home. The minor fled to a nearby friend’s house, whose parents called the police. Forensic testing later found male DNA on her clothes that did not exclude King as a suspect.”
“During the early stages of the case, an individual from the court-martial panel was removed after being selected to attend Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. While prosecutors asserted that the removal was appropriate, King’s defense team decried the move and argued it should warrant reversing King’s conviction and sentence”
“This particular case marks only one of several sexual assault court-martial cases the top military court will be hearing this term. Of the 12 cases the court has heard or announced it will hear before the end of the year, eight relate to sexual assault.”
*Continue*
“The allegations against King stemmed from an incident in September 2016, when he sexually assaulted his 17-year-old daughter at their home. The minor fled to a nearby friend’s house, whose parents called the police. Forensic testing later found male DNA on her clothes that did not exclude King as a suspect.”
“During the early stages of the case, an individual from the court-martial panel was removed after being selected to attend Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. While prosecutors asserted that the removal was appropriate, King’s defense team decried the move and argued it should warrant reversing King’s conviction and sentence”
“This particular case marks only one of several sexual assault court-martial cases the top military court will be hearing this term. Of the 12 cases the court has heard or announced it will hear before the end of the year, eight relate to sexual assault.”
*Continue*
“The Department of Defense released its annual sexual assault prevention report last month, which demonstrated how the military’s sexual assault problem has only gotten worse.”
“The status of when a final decision will be reached in King’s trial is unclear at this time.”
“If Supreme Court ends affirmative action, how will the military adapt?”
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2022/10/26/if-supreme-court-ends-affirmative-action-how-will-the-military-adapt/
“On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear a pair of cases that many legal experts expect will overturn the legal basis for affirmative action and, perhaps, upend how the military chooses its officers.”
“The Army, Navy and Air Force academies practice affirmative action — the policy of using race as a factor in admissions —to boost diversity, as do many colleges and universities that offer ROTC programs.”
“The two cases before the court could change that, challenging Harvard College and University of North Carolina admissions practices as racially discriminatory and asking for a legal ban on affirmative action.”
*Continue*
“The petitioners, anti-affirmative-action organization Students for Fair Admissions, allege that Harvard discriminates against Asian American applicants in favor of other minority candidates. As part of its evidence, Students for Fair Admissions points to lower acceptance rates for Asian American applicants than for non-Asian Americans.”
“If the group prevails and affirmative action is found unlawful, the result could be less diversity in ROTC programs at private and public institutions alike, defenders of affirmative action have argued.”
“In the University of North Carolina case — which could apply to the service academies — Students for Fair Admissions maintains that it is unconstitutional for any public school to use race in its decisions.”
“Dozens of former flag officers and the top Pentagon lawyer already have started raising concerns that a less racially diverse officer corps would reduce military effectiveness.”
*Continue*
“At the same time, hundreds of veterans have argued in a separate legal filing that affirmative action itself hampers the services’ effectiveness.”
“But a ban on affirmative action would more or less render military leaders’ beliefs about the policy irrelevant: The military will simply have to adapt.”
“In interviews with Military Times, legal experts and former military leaders have pointed to ways the service academies might respond to a ban on affirmative action — including ramping up recruitment of minority applicants, prioritizing class rank or seeking a national-security exemption.”
*Continue*
“Retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick told Military Times that he came to understand the importance of diverse leadership when he was a lieutenant colonel at California’s National Training Center in 1994.”
“Bostick was walking through the dining facility when he saw a noncommissioned officer — who, like Bostick, was Black — turn his head and stare at him. The lieutenant colonel asked the noncommissioned officer why he was looking at him so intently.”
“Well, sir, you’re the only one,” replied the NCO, who was in another unit.”
“The only one what?” Bostick asked.”
“You’re the only brother in command in this division,” the soldier explained. “Sir, we’re real proud of you.”
“Bostick ― whose father also had been a noncommissioned officer ― also told the NCO he was proud of him.”
“As the two men started to walk away from each other, the NCO yelled back at Bostick, “Sir, don’t get out!”
*Continue*
“It’s the first time I really thought about how other minorities or other people of diverse backgrounds look up to people [of similar backgrounds], whether they’re in their unit or not,” Bostick, who later served as the commanding general of the Army Corps of Engineers, told Military Times.”
“The service academies generally have become more racially diverse throughout the past two decades, according to Associated Press reporting in 2021.”
“That trend, however, has not applied across all non-white racial groups in all academies. The AP reported that the Naval Academy had 73 Black midshipmen in the class of 2000 and, two decades later, just 77 in the class of 2020. Incoming class sizes at the service academies typically hover around 1,100 or 1,200.”
*Continue*
“Thirty-five top former military leaders — including Bostick, 22 four-star generals and admirals, eight former service academy superintendents and four former chairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, including Gen. Joseph Dunford and Adm. Michael G. Mullen — signed on to an amicus brief in August calling on the justices to preserve affirmative action.”
“Amicus, or friend-of the-court, briefs are submitted by those who are not parties to the case but can share relevant expertise or insight to the justices.”
“These former leaders stressed that the officer corps is markedly less racially diverse than the enlisted troops and argued that the diversity gap may widen without affirmative action.”
*Continue*
“In 2020, the most recent year for which data is available, Black troops made up 19% of enlisted active-duty service members but only 9% of officers, according to data from the Pentagon.”
“Prohibiting educational institutions from using modest, race-conscious admissions policies would impair the military’s ability to maintain diverse leadership, and thereby seriously undermine its institutional legitimacy and operational effectiveness,” the former leaders wrote.”
“They framed diverse leadership as key for working with international partners and for maintaining internal morale.”
“And the Department of Defense has lent its support to the defense of affirmative action. The Pentagon’s general counsel, Caroline Krass, joined an amicus brief in August calling on the court to uphold race-conscious admissions.”
*Continue*
“But not all veterans believe that affirmative action is good for the military.”
“In an amicus brief filed in May, more than 600 veterans contested the argument that race-conscious admissions help morale, writing, “this fixation on race can only foster a culture of arbitrary advancement, disunity, and frustration.”
“This group of veterans — called Veterans for Fairness and Merit — includes several four-stars, Medal of Honor recipients and former service academy leaders.”
*Continue*
“Scott McQuarrie, a West Point graduate who became a lawyer after the Army and is the group’s president, argues that affirmative action leads to less qualified leaders.”
“When racial preferences are used in, for example, officer accession programs — by definition, the program is not necessarily taking in the best qualified, always, when they use a particular race or ethnicity to decide which applicant is going to come into that accession program,” McQuarrie told Military Times. “And so, overall, you end up with less quality in that training program.”
“Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Rod Bishop — who signed onto the Veterans for Fairness and Merit brief — told Military Times that he followed an affirmative action policy as an admissions officer at the Air Force Academy in the early 1980s.
He believed then that the short period of time since the civil rights movement of the 1960s may have justified the policy.”
*Continue*
“I personally thought, and we discussed it as admission officers, that 15, 16 years was too short a time,” he said.”
“Bishop is now chair of Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, a conservative organization whose goal, he said, is to “stop the indoctrination of the military with, for lack of a better way of expressing it, the Marxist march that’s happening throughout other institutions.”
“He argued to Military Times that affirmative action has now gone on for too long.”
“At some point in time, we’re going to have to make a break,” he said.”
“The Supreme Court will now decide whether to overturn its 2003 landmark case Grutter v. Bollinger, which determined that using race as a factor in admissions was constitutional.”
*Continue*
“In 2003, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor drew heavily in her majority opinion on arguments by military leaders that service academies needed affirmative action in order to “achieve an officer corps that is both highly qualified and racially diverse.”
“O’Connor had cautioned, however, that affirmative action must be time-limited.
“We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today,” she had written.”
General Bostick was the Team Lead that Hack Stone served in while on active duty at The Pentagon. General Bostick is also half Japanese (on his mother’s side). Nothing negative from Hack regarding him.
No, Affirmative Action In The Military Doesn’t Boost National Security, It Erodes It
BY: GEN. RONALD R. FOGLEMAN AND CLAUDE M. MCQUARRIE III
https://thefederalist.com/2022/10/25/no-affirmative-action-in-the-military-doesnt-boost-national-security-it-erodes-it/
“Warfighters deserve the best-qualified leaders available, regardless of race. Providing them is a moral and national security imperative.”
“The Supreme Court will soon consider Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard/UNC. The court’s decision will determine whether our military’s future leadership will consist of the “best-qualified” individuals instead of simply those “qualified” as defined by an ever-moving standard meant to accommodate political and cultural goals.”
*Continue*
“Affirmative action, in the form of racial preferences, pervades today’s military despite federal law that, if enforced, would prevent it. Section 601 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits racial “discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Racial preferences in the military also violate our Constitution’s Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause.”
“Department of Defense (DOD) surrogates speciously have argued to the Supreme Court that the DOD’s use of racial preferences in service academy admissions is “mission critical” and “indispensable to” national security. That strategy was contrived only because of the legal framework courts must use when examining practices that violate the Constitution. Evidence must clearly prove a “compelling state interest” sufficiently strong to justify the drastic measure of suspending the constitutional provision that prohibits such practices.”
*Continue*
“DOD’s surrogates made their preferences-are-essential-to-national-security argument first in 2003 in Grutter v. Bollinger. Unrebutted, that far-fetched claim misled the Grutter majority into a falsely predicated, 5-4 decision authorizing the limited, narrowly tailored use of racial preferences in college admissions for the sole purpose of gaining the “educational benefits of diversity.” The DOD thereby gained some of the judicial cover it sought for its racial preferences practices in service academy admissions.”
“Veterans for Fairness and Merit (VFM), an organization that has 627 members, 21 Medal of Honor recipients, 45 POWs, 119 general officers (12 four-stars and 25 three-stars), with 934 combat tours, 476 combat leader positions held, and more than 900 combat valor awards to its name, filed an amicus brief in Harvard/UNC to correct the record based on their first-hand experiences.”
*Continue*
“Our military most assuredly can defend America without resorting to extra-constitutional practices that require suspension of the Equal Protection Clause and Section 601. To claim otherwise is disingenuous. Officer-enlisted racial demographic parity – if that’s what DOD surrogates’ term “critical officer diversity” means – is unnecessary for our military to be combat-effective.”
“Our warfighters respond to their leaders regardless of race. Sub-group identities are inconsequential to the selfless servant, “colorblind” warrior. Mission accomplishment, however, requires the best-qualified leaders.”
*Continue*
“DOD’s race preference practices far exceed the limited use Grutter envisioned. At West Point, to fulfill “class composition goals,” marginally qualified applicants are admitted, displacing better-qualified Asian and White applicants. Substantial differences in attrition/graduation rates and performance measures predictably result. Because of this, our warfighters are denied the “best-qualified” officers.”
“DOD’s brazen use of preferences to pursue parity is “racial balancing,” a practice the court has repeatedly held “patently unconstitutional,” regardless of the “diversity” label.”
“Like VFM (which condemns all forms of racism), a substantial majority of Americans oppose the use of racial preferences in college admissions. Pew Research found that 74 percent of Americans, including 59 percent of blacks, polled in March 2022 agree that race should not be used in college admissions.”
*Continue*
“DOD further dilutes quality by using racial preferences in some assignment and promotion activities. DOD denials notwithstanding, these practices weaken merit and, over time, reduce leader quality, erode morale, undermine unit cohesion, and compromise combat effectiveness.”
“Preferences also demean high-performing minorities, whose self-esteem demands confidence that the recognition they receive is earned, not bestowed in pursuit of social justice. In an affirmative action environment, they are also deprived of the presumption of competence that should accompany selection: Their peers and subordinates don’t know whether a promotion was earned or the result of preferences.”
*Continue*
“Unity in our pluralistic society has been our strength. What unites us, most fundamentally, is our Constitution, the “rule book” that citizens and officers alike agree to follow. Losing that focus, and eroding military leader quality, would invite our potential adversaries to calculate that we can be defeated, increasing the risk of being drawn into conflict.”
“We do so at great peril.
Warfighters deserve the best-qualified leaders available, regardless of race, always. Providing them is a moral and national security imperative.”
“DOD’s disingenuous claim that racial preferences are essential to national security and its costly failures always to choose “best qualified” leaders violate the American people’s trust. We can do better. Following the Constitution and Section 601’s plain wording would be the right place to start.”
About…damned…time…
Poe:
YEP!!!
👍👍👍
Excellent!
Veterans for Fairness and Merit, eh?
(i)*searches the web furiously*(/i)
Missed it by 93
This Never Gets Old…. 😆
“Hitler Reacts To Political Correctness”
So what’s the deal with veterans’ hang outs like VFW or American Legion? I know that sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but I’m really curious. All I hear about them at this site is that they seem to do a bad job of vetting their senior leadership’s military bona fides. Are they worth joining or is it just a place to hang out a drink? Which, I admit, may be a reason for joining.
FuzeVT:
When I retired, I joined the VFW.
Paid a one time Life Membership fee.
Have yet to set my foot inside any VFW.
I receive their magazine every month via snail mail.
Have never researched any American Legion.
Have to admit, for a while was tempted to go to the local VFW just to sit and listen to other folks chit chat about their war stories, but thought better of it and said “Nah…”
Have snail mailed letters to the VFW HQs inquiring/informing them reference a couple of phony Vietnam POWs.
Never heard back from them on any inquiries.
Guess they don’t care….
Sad.
FuzeVT:
I’m a Life Member of my hometown VFW; they’ve provided good support to me in the past as my representative VSO. I’m also a member of my hometown American Legion because they have provided good assistance to both my mother and father-in-law in dealing with the VA. Both are rural Posts and I know virtually everyone at each of them; we haven’t had any POSers (yet). Both are popular with the locals, and Mrs. Mick and I will stop in for a burger and a beer from time to time.
I was also a member of the Marine Corps League about a decade ago, and I’ll never go near them ever again. Forest Green (posts here occasionally) was in the same Detachment, and he feels the same way. Everyone seemed to be Force Recon or a Scout Sniper; no one was ever an Avionicsman or a Bulk Fuel Specialist. The internal squabbling was intolerable. Several known POSers, too.
Recommend that you check out any local veterans organization up close and personal before joining. Caveat Emptor.
Our very own beloved AW1Ed previously posted Episode 1, so we decided to post Episode 2.
This stuff never gets old! 5 minute video courtesy of the Babylon Bee.
Enjoy! We Did!
“Californians Move to Texas | Episode 2: The Cookout”
Ladies and Gentlemen:
May we present Episode 3!
Wait until you see who is in this 5 minute video!
Enjoy! We Did!
“Californians Move to Texas | Episode 3: The Church”
Love that series, I can’t wait to see what they come up with next, LMAO!
Same here, API!! Episode 3 with You-Know-Who in it!! 🤣
BTW..RTW!
😉😎
I’m hoping that in Episode 4 the “lady” joins a girls group going to the range – and has an epiphany of enlightenment…
it would be funny if he has the freak-out then….
This whole Depape/Pelosi thing screams meth-filled-orgy-a-la-Ed-Buck (that’s Adam Schiff’s friend btws).
I’m withholding my judgment until the leaked police report.
As Hack Stone frequently points out, statistically speaking, young African American men have a better chance of survival from an encounter with law enforcement officers than they do encountering Democrat fund raiser Ed Buck.
https://www.pacificpundit.com/2022/10/28/david-depape-was-a-member-of-the-far-left-san-francisco-green-party/
No need to withhold judgement.
https://www.independentsentinel.com/msm-doesnt-want-you-to-know-pelosis-attacker-is-an-ex-nudist-dude/
Who needs friends like this.
Probably because I’m in WA state I’ve been bombarded by VoteVets ads saying i need to vote for Patty Murray cause female vets that piss dust says she’s the choice that’s supports abortion.