Pete Buttigieg, Oval Office Needs Veteran Perspective

| January 19, 2020

Pete Buttigieg served in the Navy, as an intelligence officer. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 and served there for seven months. He appears to be the veteran among the top-tier candidates for the Democratic nomination for president.

Tulsi Gabbard, one of Hawaii’s representatives, served in Iraq. However, she doesn’t appear to have the support that the top-tier candidates do have. His status as a veteran, among the leading candidates for the Democrat nomination, is one of the things that Buttigieg highlights.

From the Associated Press:

Buttigieg, a Naval intelligence officer in Afghanistan in 2014, noted he had been present for rocket attacks while stationed at Bagram Airfield, and later faced potential danger as an armed driver in Kabul. Another presidential candidate, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, served in Iraq, but is running far behind the front-running candidates.

This is very real for me,” Buttigieg told interviewer David Yepsen. “And I do believe there is value in someone in the Oval Office understanding what’s at stake, understanding at a personal level what’s at stake, when decisions are made that could send people into a conflict.”

Buttigieg often cites his seven months deployed to Afghanistan, though has seldom said as directly the next president should be a wartime veteran. The 37-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is the only military veteran in the top tier of the field of Democrats running for president. He would be the only president to have served in the military since George W. Bush.

That perspective is needed especially when we’ve got a president who thinks that strength is the same as the chest-thumping of the loudmouth guy at the end of the bar,” Buttigieg said.

John Kerry served in-country in Vietnam. He ran against George Bush, who was in one of the reserve components stateside. One of the lessons that can be learned, from past presidential elections, is that the electorate looks at a combination of experiences.

The Associated Press has details here.

Category: Politics

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5th/77th FA

The Oval Office may need a Vet, just not you as the Vet. Sorry Buttplug, just as John F. Kerry thought he could do a John F. Kennedy and ride military service into the White House and didn’t, neither can you. The people that are Vets know that you are a scamming, self serving, self centered REMF that has embellished what you did and will not vote for you. The flip side is the people that hate Vets and what they stand for would be turned off by that. And then you have the ones that are just turned off by what turns you on. Americans just aren’t that much into you. And Frankly, my dear, they just don’t give a damn. There will be a Vet that is President one day. It just won’t be you.

Ex-PH2

Doesn’t being an intelligence officer imply that you have to HAVE some intelligence to start with?

AW1Ed

So intelligent he served as a driver, a duty usually performed by an E-3 (or below).

rgr769

In Germany I had a Jeep driver, he was an SPC. But in the Viet of the Nam, I had a better Jeep driver, me, as I never rolled an M-151.

I would add, we have had a number of vets in the Oval Office. But we haven’t had a D-rat one worth a shit since JFK.

rgr769

Oops, either delete the “that” or add a “was.”

HMCS(FMF) ret

AW1Ed – he was really the SLJO for his unit.

SLJO – Shitty Little Jobs Officer

AW1Ed

Yep! Bet he had the Officers Mess Book, too.

STGCS Ret

I couldn’t help but notice the photo was just that a photo op with a weapon. No Kevlar, No Helmet all smiles and clean. I don’t care if he was a vet even a Navy vet no vote here.

MI Ranger

What Mr. Buttigieg was trying to say, was he got to get off post with the HUMINT operators, and drive the car for them. Now regulation would not let them go unless they had a certain level of firepower in the car, and usually two cars minimum. So Pete and his M4 got to go, since the HUMINT guys all carried M9s.
He also states he was present during a rocket attack…meaning it hit on the other side of base, while he was on post. My first day in Afghanistan I had a rocket go screaming over me as I walked back in to my tent to change clothes after a shower… it exploded just I closed the door. I dropped on the floor, and scrambled to find my vest and helmet…all my bunk mates rolled over and went back to sleep saying they could get a few extra minutes of sleep now! I took it as me being the new buy and grabbed my vest and helmet and high tailed it to the TOC for my first day at work. Everyone looked at me like I had a Horn growing out of my head, cause the new guy brought his helmet and vest to work. Just because Disney was still an open road doesn’t mean it is dangerous they told me…they hadn’t heard the rocket!

MSG Eric

Speaking on all the intelligence weenies I’ve had to deal with in my career, it seems to be a contradiction in terms for most of them.

Mason

Not just John Kerry. Al Gore was in-country Vietnam as well and GW took him down.

Vet or not, I don’t think any president doesn’t understand the gravity of their decisions and orders. We’ve had good presidents that weren’t vets and we’ve had shitty presidents that were. Carter graduated Annapolis and rode around on some subs for a few years, then pardoned all the draft dodgers.

ninja

Don’t forget Silver Star LBJ!

😉😎

ninja

And Jane Fonda went to Vietnam!

😎😉

SFC D

And Little Dickie Blunenthal didn’t.

AW1Ed

Da Nang Dick. Sounds like a disease.

SFC D

Well, he IS an annoying little drip.

rgr769

Calling him a veteran makes a mockery of being a veteran. The only thing you can say about LBJ’s military accomplishments is that they let him wear a uniform and occasionally ride in military aircraft.

Stacy0311

Pete was a fobbit (new term for REMF).
Pete was a squid intel fobbit.
Pete has as much credibility as a veteran as the dude on the corner with the sign “Homeless vet, anything helps. God Bless”

As a related question, why does intel always seem to attract the weird ones?

Jus Bill

Dimwits: INTEL = Secret Police = POWER = chicks

STSC(SW/SS)

But he isn’t into chicks

Anonymous

Manlove Thurdays in A’stan were his days!

HMCS(FMF) ret

He is a real deal Butt Pirate!!!

GDContractor

I’d vote for Martha McSally.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!

SFC D

Martha McSilent is falling out of favor with AZ Republicans. The feeling is that she’s warming a seat and that’s about it.

ninja

“Buttigieg, a Naval intelligence officer in Afghanistan in 2014, noted he had been present for rocket attacks while stationed at Bagram Airfield, and later faced potential danger as an armed driver in Kabul.”

*yawn*

So I guess all of us who were at Bagram and Kabul are potential Presidential Candidates.

And that includes those Folks (USO, Celeb Types, etc. etc.) who visited the Troops in those two Locations.

Gotta keep a sense of humor.

😉😎

David

I remember being targeted by a nuclear-capable missile whilst vacationing in Germany… we were also getting targeted by a couple of home-grown German groups with the word ‘red’ in their names. Does that make me “present during a nuke strike”? I got closer to being killed being in London during an IRA blitz. It was tragic: they blew up both my locals and I had to find new ones.

SFC D

I was a Signal SSG at Bagram in 2002, do I get to be president? I had lunch at the Trident Grill yesterday, now I’m a SEAL, too. I’m so proud of me.

GDContractor

Ninja. You left out the God damned contractors!

Anonymous

Fluor at Bagram will be butthurt.

The Other Whitey

One of my cousins has spent quite a bit of time at Bagram as a civilian DOD employee. I believe she’s currently on month 16 in that shithole. Wouldn’t that make her over twice as qualified for the presidency as Pete the Ass Pirate? By his claimed standard, that is?

Hack Stone

Hillary Clinton once talked to a Marine Corps Recruiter and dodged sniper fire in Bosnia. Why wasn’t that enough to get her elected?

SFC D

She’d have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for that meddling electoral college!

Hack Stone

Shaggy rips off the mask, and in unison they all gasp “Old Lady Clinton!!!”

11B-Mailclerk

“Hag Hillary”

rgr1480

Ruh-Roh ….

A Proud Infidel®™

“Hillary Clinton once talked to a Marine Corps Recruiter and dodged sniper fire in Bosnia. Why wasn’t that enough to get her elected?”

I heard that NBC’S Brian Williams corroborated with Hilary that she did that and DID get elected, but that pesky Electoral College foiled her plans!!

Hack Stone

Some reporter needs to ask him about Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama being President with no military experience. Were they able to accomplish the mission without military experience?

OWB

They did manage to cause some problems, and they certainly both were annoying, but neither was able to complete the lefty mission of destroying this country. They tried. Their minions are still trying.

Fyrfighter

Hell, little buttplug probably wasn’t even old enough to vote for Clinton the first time, though I’m sure that the second time around he had no concerns about voting Clinton over Dole.. (regardless of what a milquetoast he became, Dole was the real deal in WWII)

The Other Whitey

You’ll be asking Pete the Ass Pirate to apply his own stated logic consistently to Obama, in a manner that would not cast the former Glorious Leader in a favorable light? To a democrat, that’s dividing by zero!

2banana

Everyone wants to act all infantry in photos…

No one wants to actually do infantry sh!t.

Hack Stone

Those cigarette butts aren’t going to police themselves.

2banana

Sezs a fobbit with no body armor, no optics and never leaves the wire…

🙂

MK75Gunner

No helmet, no body armor, no other equipment, no other magazines other than the one he inserted in his weapon likely for the purposes of the photo. Not for nothing, are we even sure this photo was taken in Afghanistan?

Anonymous

At least he’s got his boogerhook off the bang switch. (Weapon came right out of the arms room rack– no complicated John Wayne sling or even that lame bipod/vertical grip all the geardo FOBbit folk demanded to be cool walking to the PX.)

rgr769

How bout zero ammo other than one mag. I think he borrowed someone else’s M-4 for that pic.

rgr769

Well, no one who has a cushy job in the rear or other secure area as a REMF or a FOBbit wants to actually do infantry shit, if they can avoid it. I suspect because it is hard, dangerous work that is frequently quite not fun. One tends not to appreciate three hots and a cot until one is eating field rations in a hole in the ground, in the rain, after humping a rucksack, combat gear, and a rifle all day long.

A Proud Infidel®™

So THAT little shit thinks he’s something because HE drove in a Combat Zone? I did Convoy Security Missions over there and I quit counting at 150, we also laughed at candyassed fobbits like Butt-googly!

Anonymous

His bragging reminds of this scene in Commando for some reason:

Sapper3307

That’s Lord Humongous from Mad Max.

BruteLarson407

Vernon Wells. Sorta looks like post 1979 Freddie Mercury on steroids. I think he was the guy with the mohawk and blonde boyfriend in The Road Warrior, maybe not. I’ve had nothing but Heelers for dogs because of that movie. They are very cool, but very different dogs. Not for everyone. You should be rural, and willing to be patient, but have a firm will and establish dominance. They are scary smart. No rough stuff with them, they will grow up and set the house on fire! Mine have all been house trained by simply showing them the door the first time I saw them looking for a place. Not a single accident after that. Maybe I just got lucky with 3 of them, but Moscow Rules would negate luck. They constantly try to make you do something, and they are very big on eyeballing you. They all lay on their backs with their feet up in the air just like Max’s dog in the movie; and are very adept at sneaking up on me. I have pretty good situational awareness, so they do tread light and from angles. Shed a lot. I think it’s what keeps them smelling clean. They don’t bark a lot either, but when they do it’s urgent, and meant to get your attention to address some visitor or animal. They do not get on well with other breeds or animals. If the animal gets too close to them (mine are fenced in very large area) it’s dead… instantly. They seem to be spine or cervical vertabrae breakers, and have very strong jaws(part bull terrior). You have to get it(a kill) away from them cos they start eating it immediately. They’ll eat grubs, voles, mice, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, foxes(had that one tested)and anything else they can dine on. They are clearly just grazing(about30% Dingo), so maybe no babies either? I have two male brothers currently, and they are like synchronized swimmers. Every 6 months or so the’ve played, ‘let me count the ways I can murder thee’ with each other for a few days, but after… Read more »

BruteLarson407

I’m looking at that post shaking my head, and wishing there was a ‘delete’ mouse click. I’ve spent a long time mostly alone, talking only to primary family because of an illness. I look like a skeleton that lost a fight with a barber, so I don’t much go anywhere unless it’s important. Sorry, I’ve lost basic skills. I don’t want any sympathy. I’m just explaining an oddball post. Out.

SgtM

Only thing missing in that Pic is a BFA.

Jeff LPH 3, 63-66

When I was screaming for more ammo at the Brink’s range, buttplug was screaming for more pablum.

Trapperfrank

The only thing Piss Pot Pete a.k.a. Alfred E. Neumann is qualified to be president of is the Southern Indiana Chapter of Rump Rangers Anonymous.

Cameron Kingsley

His call sign would be BootyGig.

HMCS(FMF) ret

Rump Rider Three!

A Proud Infidel®™

Rump Ranger!!!

SGT Ted

When an Intel BN moved into our AO in Abu Ghraib, the nerd factor was so off the charts that all that was missing was the Star Trek T-Shirts and propeller beanies.

What a fucking dork, posing with his rifle without a fucking hat. We didn’t go outside without full battle rattle and body armor.

Anonymous

Put the bullet away, Barney Fife!

Ex-PH2

Would someone please take that gun away from him before he shoots himself in an irreparable spot?

rgr769

He looks like he might shoot his eye out.

A Proud Infidel®™️

Wasn’t our favorite asswart from UC Berzerkely MI before he went into Civil Affairs? And yes, I also ask WTF is he doing outside the wire sans his Battle Rattle gear? I compare that picture with those of Al Gore Junior supposedly outside the wire in Vietnam with a shitload of discrepancies!

rgr769

The Algore had an E-5 buck sgt assigned to supervise him and whose sole mission was to make sure that the senator’s boy never went anywhere or did anything that might get him hurt. After about nine months he went home early on a pastoral early out to go to Divinity School at Villanova. Instead, Daddy sent him to law school but he flunked out and became a “reporter” for some rag in his daddy’s senatorial district. Buttplug is about as genuine a military hero as the Algore.

A Proud Infidel®™️

I heard that Al Gore Junior also flunked out of Divinity School as well.

Ironhead

Wiki has Gore as leaving for RVN Jan 2, 1971 and being honorably discharged in May 1971. Five months give or take, I recall reading somewhere that in order to have ‘completed’ an assignment to Vietnam, you must have served at least four months of the 12 month tour. So Al jr did his 4 months and interestingly enough John Kerry spent, you guessed it four months in the Republic as well!

A Proud Infidel®™️

No surprise, that and his Daddy Al Gore Senior had people guarding and herding him over there, I wonder if he ever even made coffee in a Headquarters Building? As to John “Lurch” Kerry, he brayed that he threw his rack of Medals over the White House fence, then he didn’t, then oh no, he threw a friend’s medals,… not to mention when he sold his soul to politics by making false accusations about American War Crimes over there. IMHO Kerry has a place in Hell reserved for him right next to “Hanoi Jane” Fonda’s!

rgr769

Thanks for the correct info on the Algore’s RVN tour. I gave him about 4.5 more months service in country than he earned. That makes him even more of a politically connected REMF pussy than I imagined.

RetiredDevilDoc8404

Buttplug is a VINO (Veteran In Name Only), a FOBBIT’s FOBBIT. And he was Intel – he strikes me as one of those MI weenies who couldn’t predict 5 o’clock at 4:59… Sorry Pete da VINO,this country dosen’t need to elect a FOBBIT. Thanks for playing.

Ret_25X

another rambo poser…smh

in answer to the question…no, it is not necessarily an important qualification.

Being a veteran does not imbue one with any special moral fortitude or wisdom. Many veterans are nothing more than ignorant dick weeds.

This is the same argument that is used to make US policy beholden to “survivors”. Living through something does not make one an expert on the complex motivations, beliefs, and events at play.

This is a game politicians use to hide their ignorance of the world, or their ideologically driven perspectives. It is not something that pragmatic professionals do.

But really, with this particular asshat, there are deeper problems than this.

I’m waiting for someone to ask him about destroying about 1000 homes without so much as asking if it was legal.

Or his police department’s treatment of citizens.

Or his battlefield profiteering.

Petie is a schmuck who should never be anywhere near the levers of power.

BruteLarson407

“Petie is a schmuck who should never be anywhere near the levers of power.” God help us, that seems to be the exception that has become the rule with this bunch, and in many cases the Republican party. It’s bonafide number one. What in hell is wrong with a fair portion of us (the public) that these things keep crawling out from under their rocks to be voted into prominence in ANY capacity? They are also routinely promoted in the white-collar world. It’s shaping up into a complete kakistocracy. I’m glad I wasn’t born one second after I was. The younger ones in my family seem to be pleased as punch by the suggested servings offered up to them, and there isn’t any way to get through to them until someone invents a remote control that will cause their smartphone to give them a mild shock interrupting their preening session. I hope Veritas Omnia Vincit proves to be correct, regarding all of them. This is just a rant, I don’t expect anyone to reply.

Veritas Omnia Vincit

Being a vet no more qualifies you for president than it qualifies you for mayor.

Mayor Pete’s rather mediocre work as mayor is a more limiting reality than any benefit he may or may not derive from having served in the military.

He’s now trying desperately to justify the large contributions his corporate donors have been making to purchase their centrist candidate from South Bend.

The current polling data (not that I inherently trust the data, but it’s all I have to work with at the moment) suggests no one shares Mayor Pete’s perspective except a fraction of the Democratic electorate, a fraction that would just as easily vote for Biden should Mayor Pete have to butt out of the race…he’s pulling down fourth place with as high as 9% and as low as 4% of the favorable responses for an average of 7.2 which is less than half third place Lizzy Warren is currently polling nationally.

If his work as a vet had him manage successfully huge operations like Ike had done perhaps I’d feel differently, he’s done a very mediocre job in South Bend by most accounts I read which never translates well to the big screen as he is learning now.

We’ll be saying by to Mayor Pete soon enough I suspect, once the first view primaries and caucuses happen the funding will dry up and he’ll be all done.

MCPO USN

Mayor Peter Licker doesn’t realize that as a LT he was never in charge of anything that was important. His experience as a “vet” rates as much as a McDonald’s manager does to the Secretary Of Labor. He was never close to those who made big strategic war planning decisions, he just did as he was told (we hope). Tulsi Gabbard is of the same ilk. Now that she was running for President, suddenly she is a military expert and foreign policy advisor. They both were low level officers who performed their jobs in a vacuum.

The American public must not realize that the Joint Chiefs give daily advice to the CiC, along with the SECDEF and Service Secretaries. NO President since Ike has had the level of military experience to have a clue what we could do, should do, or are capable of in a potential conflict, and he was a poor President.

We in the Navy disavow Peter Puffer and do not endorse him. He is a product of Kenya’s finest repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

Green Thumb

No body armor.

Word.

A Proud Infidel®™️

Yep, which makes that a “HEY MOMMY, LOOK AT ME!!!” photo in the eyes of you, me and nearly every other Veteran!