quote Originally posted by Boondawg: I see the first few words state “He is a patriot”. Anyone who has served or respects those that have served in the Armed Forces should take great offense to that. He is a draft dodger who runs down the military and it’s people every chance he gets. From Generals, to hero’s, to grunts, to the dead & buried. And despite all the denial, we’ve all heard him do it. On the upside, blind & deaf is a great way to support a wannabe dictator!

I could not possibly disagree with you more. While I'd like to see more of our politicians serve in the military ... as enlisted, so they know what it's like when they send people out to war, I still think you are grossly misunderstanding Trump.

I know you've heard the final Oval Office speech from Eisenhower, because I've seen you post it before. You are correct in your opinions of Eisenhower's speech about the Military Industrial Complex.


One of the things you may not understand is that military officers, many of them... almost all of them quite frankly that make it at least to O6 and higher ... will immediately go work for a defense contractor. This has been exacerbated by the fact that we passed a law (some time ago) that prevented these officers from rejoining the ranks as high-ranking civilian employees at various agencies and departments. In doing so, their only way to get back to "that which they know" is to go work as a contractor. Whether you know this or not... defense contractors typically make significantly more money than military and civilians. The highest paid civilians (which are called "seniors") make something like $186k a year... I forget, but it's around that area. An O7 (a Brigadier General / Rear-Admiral) will very often take a job as a defense contractor making $400k+ right after retirement.

Why is this important you ask? Because these high-level officers will very often make decisions in their agencies or commands that are beneficial to certain contractors. In doing so, they end up gaining positions as defense contractors as a reward, and then use their former authority and connections to pitch contracts and services back to the Federal government. They do this in a way that's technically legal, but perhaps unethical. Sometimes they get busted because they misstep or they say something wrong which incriminates them for intent, but the vast majority of the time they do not.

The vast majority of the officers you see who do NOT want Trump to leave Afghanistan or other areas, are doing so because the amount of money that's going to these huge defense contractors is mind-numbing. If we pull out of Afghanistan, that spigot immediately stops. The generals know this, and many of them will not only be forced to retire as the military downsizes, but they'll also be less likely to find defense contractor positions after the fact. Civilians also do this... seniors and GS-15s (highest of the Federal non-senior grade) use their influences from their prior oath-ed positions to sell contracts and services after they leave civilian service. This happens not only in the Department of Defense, but literally in every single Federal agency you can possibly imagine.


You can absolutely hate the man... and despise everything about him. And I know that'll be the one line you actually quote out of this... but if you generally dislike war, which I know you do, and you want military might, without the loss of life (on any side), then Trump is your man. You don't have to vote for him... but I can tell you one thing... the Democrats are drooling at the chance to get a hold of that sweet, sweet taxpayer cash.

I implore you to actually look at the wealthiest people in Congress and Senate. Here's what you'll see, they all made their money in one of a few ways:

1 - They owned businesses first, made millions, and then ran for office (this is pretty split between Democrats and Republicans)
2 - They married wealthy spouses and then ran for office (most of the people in this list are Democrats)
3 - They made money through "investments" after becoming a house member but came in as middle class (almost everyone in this category is a Democrat)

I know you hate Trump, and I don't expect you to like him... but you should hate the Democrat party even more.

[This message has been edited by 82-T/A [At Work] (edited 10-10-2020).]

I keep changing my mind in hopes that I'll eventually get one that works better

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There are three kinds of men:

1. The ones that learn by reading.
2. The few who learn by observation.
3. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves. Will Rogers

[This message has been edited by 82-T/A [At Work] (edited 10-10-2020).]