Meyer for Congress
Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer started a minor furor on Twitter today when he tweeted “Congress 2016. POTUS 2024!” to his followers on that website, according to the Military.com folks;
The simple tweet immediately drew hundreds of positive responses, many of which Meyer retweeted to his more than 23,000 followers. Earlier in the evening he said he was thinking about a run, which was also followed by encouragement from his followers.
On Tuesday afternoon, Meyer appeared to remain resolute in his interest to run for political office as he tweeted: “I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming support & encouragement about my decision to pursue elected office!
I don’t know how he feels about issues, or which party he claims, and I don’t know him personally, but we certainly do a lot worse as far as genuine Americans are concerned. I’ve read his book and if he’s only half the guy in that book, he’s ten times better than anyone currently serving in Congress. And I use the term “serving” in the most remote sense of the word.
Thanks to the Quinton Report for bringing this story to my attention.
Category: Real Soldiers
is he still in Kentucky?
I don’t know his political stances, but I agree with you about being half the guy he was in his book. He showed his loyalty time and again both trying to get his team mates during the battle and trying to get CPT Swenson the recognition he deserves. It would be awesome having more vets of his caliber in congress.
Check List
1. MOH Recipient – Check
2. USMC – Check
3. Respected – Check
4. Savy in Political Terms
5. Surrounded by Skilled Staff
As soon as 4 and 5 are checked off I will donate and support … All in!
My question is why? Why on God’s good green earth would a decent, honorable human being want to join that club?
“Hi! I work in Washington. My colleagues are Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, John Bohener, and John McCain, among hundreds of others. It’s an honor to stand in the same place and do the same work as such men as John Murtha, Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Anthony Weiner. Yes, it’s truly an honor.”
Where do I donate?
Well, if you already tell, I’m disappointed. Sure, it’s a good gig. Nice salary, excellent beneies, most everyone who enters Congress finds a way to make oodles of money. Then there’s the parties, the never having to pick up a tab, free and great parking, very hoity toity. And the ruin of fine people. This won’t end well. Look at McCain. No MOH recipient, I know, but he’s service and POW years were his ticket. Now, look at him. Cunninham–Murtha. Youi can’t tell me they were rotten from the start. And NOBODY changes the snake den. NOBODY. Most just become snakes themselves.
Great guy, I’d have to see his views on issues before voting for him. It is refreshing for a public figure not to share his political views. We get far too much of that.
Regardless of his views, someone with honor and integrity would be welcome.
Imo, the system is so broken at this time that veterans should just stay home, maintain their personal weaps, and wait for the day when the Oath is called up.
We’re coming up on the day when we either get off our asses and start watering Jackson’s Tree of Liberty, or face up to being full blown, dues paying members of the Cult of Cowardice.
We could do a hell of a lot worse. Actually, looking at most of the idiots in there now, we already are.
Yo Grimmy … Is that short for The Grim Reaper?
Things are not that bad YET!
It would be a novel stance to elect someone based on their character, regardless of politics.
No man of real honor should find it necessary to throw himself into such a hive of scum and villany.
No man of honor should stoop to be in the company of such a den of scum and villany.
2/17 Air Cav, Grimmy, Ex-PH2: What I am seeing here is a heck of a lot of cynicism and resignation about the current state of our politics, and not a lot of constructive advice about the way forward.
So, please enlighten me, how do you think we should proceed at this point?
Should no military veterans or other honorable, public-minded citizens ever run for public office ever again, for fear that they might become corrupt at some future point?
Would our country be better or worse with more Dakota Meyers types (regardless of party affiliation) in high office?
Or, are you so disgruntled and cynical that you think we should we just completely abandon the political square to the liars and corrupt rent-seekers and not even TRY to elect honorable people ever again? Should we never even try to win an election again? And how will that help?
So, are you just prepared to completely give up on our current constitutional form of government? And what do you propose to replace it?
I am truly interested in any thoughtful responses. Thanks.
I’d love to see his stance on the issues. It would be an honor tot see an MOH recipient and TRUE American in Office.
Screw politics, go the Audie Murphy route and make movies. Lots of movies. You can make money and still be able to face yourself every morning when you shave.
@7: 2/17, can’t speak for Murtha, don’t know much about him other than he was a combat veteran and became a very feared and high ranking member of Congress. Duke, on the other hand, is a different story. In his book “Fall From Glory: The Men Who Sank The U.S. Navy,” award winning reporter Gregory Vistica spent a fair amount of time on Duke dating back to his Navy days. Yes, Duke was a $h!tbag back then. He was unwilling to accept the Navy Cross for his heroics over Vietnam – only the MoH would do; he planned to get rich off a public appearance tour, IIRC – until he was ordered to accept what was being offered. Later, as part of the training squadron at Top Gun, he confronted his commanding officer about why other officers in the squadron were rated higher than Duke. When his flabbergasted CO asked how Duke knew how his peers had been evaluated, Duke freely admitted he broke into his boss’s office and read them all. There was talk of court-martialing him, which I have to imagine would have been the appropriate penalty for the multiple offenses involved, but it was quietly decided that the image problem of court-martialing one of the Navy’s few heroes in a bad war was too ugly to handle. Instead, it was decided he would top out at commander. So, yes, the indications were already there that Duke was a narcissist with grasping, sticky fingers who would do anything he had to do to get his way. And frankly, also, that beyond his skill in flying and fighting aircraft, he was a complete moron. Again, this is all documented, not just rumor mill. On a personal note, I was acquainted with him personally when I was in politics years ago in San Diego. He was a mushy flip-flopper who took the lead from his much more liberal wife, and he kept a staff of attack chihuahuas to intimidate any activists who stepped out of line vice slavishly supporting the Dukester. Duke was not known as San Diego’s brightest congressman… Read more »
@15. Okay, Hayabusa, here you are: First, it is interesting that you use the word cynicism to describe my viewpoint. And I agree that I am cynical, in the classical sense that I regard self interest as the primary motive for what people do and how they do it. When it comes to Congress, that self interest begins with the need for re-election and the requisite need for perpetual funding for re-election campaigns. It means sidling up to people whose company makes a hot shower necessary just to rid oneself of their stench. It means learning and playing the tit-for-tat game, compromising one’s good sense to acquire a seat on a certain committee or voting for a highway, bridge, or airport no one will use. Such is American politics. If truth is the first casualty of war, one’s principles are the first casualties of politics. And that, for me, explains why decent and honorable people should stay away from politics, at least on the national level. You ask how we should proceed at this point. I do not advocate violent rebellion, although the romantic in me daydreams of just that. As a practical matter and a realistic prospect, it would be doomed from the start. It would, however, wake up millions who are either disinterested in the goings on in DC (so long as the check clears) or are content with the miserable status quo. Of course Veterans should run for Congress, just as non-Veterans should. Both should have the same opportunity to abandon their principles! But being a Veteran candidate doesn’t make one any more likely to enter Congress more highly principled than a non-Veteran. The only thing different is that most of us view the two differently, ascribing certain positive attributes to the Veteran, which may or may not be part of his character. (I guess it’s time to name drop: John Kerry.) So, what to do? The problem is multifaceted. I adore our Constitution as the inspired creation of brilliant men who well knew human nature and the history of governments. Unfortunately, it has been altered—unilaterally—by the… Read more »
Yipes! Just look at the size of that thing! It is, by far, my longest comment ever. My apologies to the one or two of you who suffered it!
Dakota is with the Concerned Veterans Defend America Tour, which may give you an idea on some of his views:
http://www.defendfreedomtour.com/veterans/dakota-meyer/
Earlier Post here:
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=37728
Pete Hegseth is the CEO…
@21. Yeah, I asked what the purpose of the org was because it sure sounded like a campaign platform of Mom, baseball and apple pie w/o substance. As far as I’m concerned, I now have my answer. I suppose that “Defend Freedom” will soon be registering as a PAC or something.
I’ve met with some of the folks locally here in Northern VA and the organization is pretty active with Legion Posts. The tour stops at Post 28 in Quantico on October 26. My take is CVA is a group of fiscal conservative veterans who are doing a lot of door knocking, phone banks and social media outreach. I’m good with that.
This is my response to Hayabusa’s question. I didn’t say what I did out of cynicism, but rather, out of the reality of watching the real-world, real-time behaviors of people who have had long-term careers in federal politics. There is a long list of those, starting with Pelosi and going all the way to McCain. It covers all facets of the political spectrum, regardless of party affiliations. How much do you think would get done if every single adult in this country was required to serve one term in public office? How many corrupt politicians, of all sorts, do you think would exist if they were required to submit to term limits? Politics in all parts of the world represent the one thing that none of these people would have if they were ordinary citizens, pursuing ordinary careers: power. It is as addictive as any controlled substance, and just as costly in dollars and cents. Because there are no term limits on members of either house of Congress, those who are elected and allow themselves to be sucked into the power trip train stay for a long time. They use that time to build up a certain amount of public imagery, no matter how useless and corrupt they are, that gets them re-elected regardless of their shortcomings and personal corruption. It isn’t that they are corrupt before they get there; they become corrupt while they are there. If you watched the live broadcast of the Senate on Sept. 30, as I did, the self-interest in the majority of those Senators was as evident as mud on your headlights. The sheer unwillingness of the Democrat side to work out a compromise, and the stubbornness and arrogance of Harry Reid, in particular, were as offensive to me as they were to the other people who were watching that broadcast, and later made comments about it. This is the addiction of power at work. These people do NOT have public interest at heart. They have only their OWN interests in first place, and everything else is secondary. Dakota Meyer is not someone who… Read more »
AC: I will offer that Pete and a few friends worked very hard to unseat Murfa, the jerk, (was it maybe 2008??) and it almost worked. Yeah, Pete and crew have had a PAC or two for quite a while, with some of us who post here on their mailing lists.
Oh, and #19 above is not really a bad read.
Don’t apologize Air Cav, while it may be a bit long (not really) it’s also one of your best posts to date. We could use more like it.
I agree with you a hundred percent that the path to getting our country back is for men and women of strong principle, and an abiding love for the Constitution, to expend their effort most strenuously at the State level.
The Federal monstrosity is proving its self to be all but a lost cause, and worse, a corrupting influence that seems to separate people from their morals faster than the Arizona sun destroys lawn furniture.
As things stand now, the States are where the re-education of the American electorate must take place, and also where the final defense of any true values of liberty are going to occur. Uncle Sugar is NOT going to allow anything meaningful to rock the boat of power and privilege that DC players are partying on, period.
Cynical? Maybe, I prefer the term ‘realistic’.
I haven’t read the book yet, still scraping up the money to buy it, but I’ve looked at the outline, and for those who are wondering what someone like myself or Air Cav might propose to try to get this country turned around, Mark Levin’s book, ‘The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic’ probably comes close to explaining it.
Even if you don’t want to buy it, take a moment to research the idea explored in the book, and see if it isn’t a preferable path to a better future for the country.
In my mind the alternative outcome for our nation if we don’t do something like this is, ugly.
Hey Hayabusa. A couple of days ago, you asked a few of us, by name, for thoughtful responses to questions you posed. Ex-PH-2 and I provided them. At the least, you could acknowledge reading them. At the most, you yourself could respond to them. Or was it just a hit and run exercise on your part?