Post by Honeylioness on Feb 18, 2009 13:28:45 GMT -5
No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
Thus states Article II. Section I of the Constitution of the United States.
But do you ever just want to have one chance to go back in time and perform a "Do-Over"? I do.
There are several things I wish the Founding Fathers had put down differently - the rights of women to vote, declare English the national language, more clarification on the whole "right to arm bears" nonsense - and most importantly.........
To be President you must have served in the military!!!
Now to be fair, the Army, Navy and Marine Corps of today were not exactly well run or administered institutions. And the Coast Guard and Air Force were non existent. But we did have an army, and there were militias. If it hadn't been for Jefferson's paranoid ideas that we would become more like the monarchy's we had left behind, where the army was merely playthings of the ruler, perhaps they would have stopped to consider this important caveat for holding the highest office in the land.
This is not a new point of view for me, I actually have felt this way for many years. Perhaps coming from a long line of those who have served in the military had something to do with it, perhaps my own innate common sense that if you are going to be called "Commander in Chief" you should have some practical first hand knowledge of what the hell that means. Or perhaps it is because I think that without this first hand experience of going to war or battle, being under fire, the dirt, smells, hunger, tiredness or either a campaign or training - then you cannot really understand what it is you are doing to the troops.
It is one thing to sit in your plush office and move markers representing hundreds of lives around a laminated map in an environmentally controlled room wearing your freshly pressed suit. And another to be able to KNOW how long it really takes to move a battalion, or how nerve wracking it can be going through a narrow mountain pass in enemy territory - or even the frustration of being told to just sit there and wait for a few weeks, and do nothing, until the President has time to figure out how he wants to move his chess pieces.
This last scenario is the one that got me thinking about this, along with Redhawk's phone call a week or so ago. His frustration with being called over to perform specific tasks and missions - and now hearing from on high that he and the team are being labeled as "out of control", un-needed, and hampered with ridiculous provisions that only a Liberal Dove would think workable. As Hawk said, "The next thing you know we will be told to seek out the terrorists for a campfire, marshmallows and three rounds of Kum-Bah-Ya"
Soldiers, especially like those in Hawk's unit - are not trained to just sit and do nothing particularly when it serves no purpose. Not to say they are not patient, they are - deadly so. They can lay in wait, watch and gather intel for days because it has a reasoning and a purpose. But to be told, "Hey - from now on you are to just sit in this tent, watch no-one, learn nothing, shoot nothing no matter what" - well, I am asking the same questions they are.
Then WHY are we here?
If Obama intends to continue emasculating our forces overseas then he best just bring them home instead of leaving them in a no-man's land of uncertainty. Because we will need them here - after a show of weakness like that it will be just a matter of months before we are once again attacked on our own soil. The better option would be to trust those who have made military service their career and just admit he really has no clue in this arena.
The guys in the field know where people are and what to do. The best plan of action would be to just let them do their jobs and stay the hell out of their way. So they can say mission complete, and then come home.
Thus states Article II. Section I of the Constitution of the United States.
But do you ever just want to have one chance to go back in time and perform a "Do-Over"? I do.
There are several things I wish the Founding Fathers had put down differently - the rights of women to vote, declare English the national language, more clarification on the whole "right to arm bears" nonsense - and most importantly.........
To be President you must have served in the military!!!
Now to be fair, the Army, Navy and Marine Corps of today were not exactly well run or administered institutions. And the Coast Guard and Air Force were non existent. But we did have an army, and there were militias. If it hadn't been for Jefferson's paranoid ideas that we would become more like the monarchy's we had left behind, where the army was merely playthings of the ruler, perhaps they would have stopped to consider this important caveat for holding the highest office in the land.
This is not a new point of view for me, I actually have felt this way for many years. Perhaps coming from a long line of those who have served in the military had something to do with it, perhaps my own innate common sense that if you are going to be called "Commander in Chief" you should have some practical first hand knowledge of what the hell that means. Or perhaps it is because I think that without this first hand experience of going to war or battle, being under fire, the dirt, smells, hunger, tiredness or either a campaign or training - then you cannot really understand what it is you are doing to the troops.
It is one thing to sit in your plush office and move markers representing hundreds of lives around a laminated map in an environmentally controlled room wearing your freshly pressed suit. And another to be able to KNOW how long it really takes to move a battalion, or how nerve wracking it can be going through a narrow mountain pass in enemy territory - or even the frustration of being told to just sit there and wait for a few weeks, and do nothing, until the President has time to figure out how he wants to move his chess pieces.
This last scenario is the one that got me thinking about this, along with Redhawk's phone call a week or so ago. His frustration with being called over to perform specific tasks and missions - and now hearing from on high that he and the team are being labeled as "out of control", un-needed, and hampered with ridiculous provisions that only a Liberal Dove would think workable. As Hawk said, "The next thing you know we will be told to seek out the terrorists for a campfire, marshmallows and three rounds of Kum-Bah-Ya"
Soldiers, especially like those in Hawk's unit - are not trained to just sit and do nothing particularly when it serves no purpose. Not to say they are not patient, they are - deadly so. They can lay in wait, watch and gather intel for days because it has a reasoning and a purpose. But to be told, "Hey - from now on you are to just sit in this tent, watch no-one, learn nothing, shoot nothing no matter what" - well, I am asking the same questions they are.
Then WHY are we here?
If Obama intends to continue emasculating our forces overseas then he best just bring them home instead of leaving them in a no-man's land of uncertainty. Because we will need them here - after a show of weakness like that it will be just a matter of months before we are once again attacked on our own soil. The better option would be to trust those who have made military service their career and just admit he really has no clue in this arena.
The guys in the field know where people are and what to do. The best plan of action would be to just let them do their jobs and stay the hell out of their way. So they can say mission complete, and then come home.