jpinard
1953
I think what’s even worse is republicans who pretend they care and talk incessantly about it, but in reality couldn’t give a damn about mental health for vets, and worse, take on a toxic masculinity bent.
This is the problem with a regime of continuous war abroad coupled to a policy that only a relative handful of people have to fight it. Everyone else can simply ignore it, and there is very little in the way of public pressure to change that regime, and even less in the way of commitment to those who served.
Yep. One thing the draft did–and the Selective Service System of the Vietnam era had plenty of problems, to be sure, and I’m not advocating a simple “bring back the draft” or anything like that–was insure that people had to care, or at least a fairly large portion of the population that saw their young men scooped up by the system had to care.
Well, they had to keep antifa out of the Capitol.
Alstein
1959
A lot of those man days were for COVID-related reasons, the National Guard had a huge role in COVID testing sites and logistical support for things like PPE. In 2021 you saw the uniform a lot at the big vaxx sites.
At least in NC Roy Cooper really leaned on the Guard, which was a smart move.
Stuff like Hurricane Hunters are a reserve mission (reserve isn’t guard as they’re not under state control, but also part-time)
I wouldn’t be suprised if the majority of man-days were for domestic civilian missions and training, not being auxillaries overseas.
CraigM
1961
I, for one, would gladly watch a pay per view of this general beating the ever loving shit out of Matt Gaetz.
In fact I bet one could fully fund Biden’s full infrastructure plan with said money.
KevinC
1962
This just never ceases to amaze and amuse me.
Republicans for 99% of my life: “America has never lost a war! Vietnam doesn’t count! 'Murica!”
Republicans in 2021: “LOL our military is such a bunch of losers, no wonder we can’t win a war”
Timex
1963
This pretty much entirely came from Trumpism, because Trump was so grossly incompetent that he managed to do stuff that made members of the military (who were by all accounts extremely conservative) actually question his leadership and resign.
Instead of recognizing that the problem was Trump, they decided to go down the path of saying the problem was the military. It’s based on Trump’s bullshit that he’s somehow tougher than guys who actually served in the military, or knows more about combat. And once he did this, it gave license to other useless tools like Gaetz to do the same thing.
Whole party platforms are now entirely the result of random Trump whims. The organizing principle (and membership-in-good-standing litmus test) of the GOP now, that Biden’s election win was fraudulent, is wholly because Trump is a fucking crybaby who didn’t learn how to handle losing when he was 4 like the rest of us did.
It’s astonishing. People will read about this in centuries to come and wonder how anybody could have been so stupid.
One of the signs of dictators is wanting a military based on loyalty, not competence.
This is the big reason why Arab militaries are dogshit.
I wouldn’t single out any one group, really. It’s every military where loyalty and toeing the line outweigh competence, and it is a disease that affects people from all places and backgrounds. Including Europeans, and at times, Americans.
I agree here entirely, it’s just the problem is most infamous in the Arab World, and is well known within the US military.
Yeah, there are lots of books about Arab military woes, usually in the context of the wars with Israel. While it is undeniable that Egypt, Syria, and other nations in the region have had serious issues with military performance, the issues are usually a lot more complex than many authors credit. Too often authors just lump it all under a catch all of “they are Arabs, of course they suck.” It has little to do with being Arabs, and a lot to do with how the post-colonial governments shook out, and the particular political and social environments in which these countries exist.
Not implying you were making those sorts of stereotypical claims, just sort of tangentially noting the dangers of mis-associating characteristics and causes.
As the article says that’s definitely the case that activation were Covid related and as you say, a good use of the guard. That said it caused an economic hardship, because somewhat surprisingly most company don’t make up the difference between the National Guards (generally much lower) salary and their civilian pay.
ShivaX
1972
Shocking basically no one at this point.
vyshka
1973
As General Hertling pointed out to Gaetz there are a number of stripes on that uniform that equate to 6 months of combat duty each. These pussies probably would wash out of basic.
