Unfortunately for Heritage assholes, history has a well-known partisan bias toward seeking out the truth. Ben-Ghiat's book is a sterling example; I recommend it to anyone who wants to know how the world got here. All these MAGA chuds revealed is their own bias: burying the truth in self-serving lies so as to keep those seats in Congress, as well as the profits, as long as they can "dis-invite" those truth-tellers from their spheres of influence.
"Rigor" in the sense that a corpse will become inflexible (hence the colloquial "stiff") after a certain amount of time. They are striving to preserve a culture that is dead from the neck up.
Here's the letter I would write if any letter writing would amount to a hill of beans:
Adm. Lisa Franchetti
Chief of Naval Operations
The public history of the United States Navy has no mention of a command officer who has demonstrated in one command decision the degree of cowardice and stupidity achieved by Capt. Walter Allman, Commandant of Midshipmen, USNA.
He was cowardly in his bowing to the threats and entreaties of politicians who objected to a presentation to midshipmen on the subject or authoritarianism, a subject of critical importance in a world with Vladimir Putin's ongoing Russian war against Ukraine, among other international issues. And, by his cowardice, Capt. Allman stupidly fails to realize that he is showing by example that authoritarians gain power by mere threats against the cowardly and weak-willed. There is no need for a lecture with Capt. Allman at the helm.
There can remain no confidence in Capt. Allman's ability to command.
I had missed that part. Hmm. Gen. Kelly (Ret.), you think calling Trump fascist is not the strongest political statement that could possibly be made in American politics? Goddamit there are some weasely chickenshits among US military General Officers who even after tripping over their dicks and saying the right thing cannot actually do the right thing.
Speaking of Trump and dictators, an important but forgotten quote showing he knows what's going on was at the 2019 G7 conference when he called out for Egyptian President Sisi" Where's my favorite dictator?" The Hill Jessica Campisi 9/13/19
Isn't it weird how so many right wing fanatics automatically assumed that a lecture about the dangers of fascism would feature the felon? And they're not a cult, so stop saying that!
I've been at a service academy. (There's five: Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and a weird one called the Merchant Marine Academy. I went to the weird one.)
A "service academy" means the US pays your tuition + board, in return for you owing X many years of service. Beginning the first day of your junior year; before that, you can bail. I bailed. But the first day of your junior year, you're locked in, you owe the US and they are not kidding around on this.
It was INSANELY right-wing. And creepy. Horrific abuse by student "officers" of lower-ranking students was pretty well-known by everyone, but nobody said anything about it. That's partly why I fled. It's awful to know something awful is happening, and know you're screwed if you say anything about it. I liked some of the people there, but the monsters were impossible to take. I mostly fled because the monsters annoyed me, not because they did horrible things to others. I was 26 and pretty shallow.
I don't have a high estimation of US service academies. I know good people who have gone to them, but the overall atmosphere, in my experience, is terrible.
Faculty at the USNA freely speak about how sub-par their students are. Many of the same faculty know they could not get a serious professional job, so they remain at the USNA. What are we paying for, actually? (We = people who actually work for a living)
In the case of the Weird one I went to, the school was actually concerned that companies hiring grads said they had a stunning inability to communicate in written English! So the school hired some very good English Lit professors, I liked those classes. Nobody seemed to be paying attention, though.
The great antiwar activist Danny Sjursen taught history at West Point. Very anti-imperialist history, it's well worth reading his stuff. (His memoir of war in Iraq, “Ghost Riders Of Baghdad,” is hearbreakingly good.) The Army politely pushed him out.
I don't know what the point of these schools is, either. We have ROTC, we pay for future officers to get a college education elsewhere. I imagine it's just alumni with connections making sure these schools keep existing. Not much worse than Harvard Business School when it comes to groupthink, really.
In the 90s, I was accepted to the USAFA. I visited the place while deciding which college to attend. I didn't learn until years later what a xtian conservative hotbed the place was, but my impression at the time was that it was very physical and rigid, which I was not, as I had undiagnosed asthma and undiagnosed ADHD. But what cemented my decision to decline the acceptance was when I spoke to the fiancée of one of the cadets. She was pleasant, but milquetoast. As a cishet male with a love for strong women, this wasn't a good impression of what my prospects would be.
Anyway, glad you got out. I know lots of good liberal folk who survived the academies. But in general, that's not who they're for.
I have a similar story about the USAFA in the 90s. I happen to be a female with a very good spatial awareness and high grades and IQ and stuff. They headhunted me. When the male officer left the room, I asked the female officer what it was like for women there. She looked me dead in the eye and said, “Don’t.”
I've got bad news (not bad) for the Project 2025 fascists, current DOD contracting laws actually forbid discrimination in awarding contracts based on registered or perceived political affiliation, as long as the contractor has not engaged in and been convicted for unlawful political behavior, like being a fucking fascist that sends terroristic threats or actually commits terroristic acts and the like.
Unfortunately for Heritage assholes, history has a well-known partisan bias toward seeking out the truth. Ben-Ghiat's book is a sterling example; I recommend it to anyone who wants to know how the world got here. All these MAGA chuds revealed is their own bias: burying the truth in self-serving lies so as to keep those seats in Congress, as well as the profits, as long as they can "dis-invite" those truth-tellers from their spheres of influence.
These vipers nests need to be taken out. Freeze peaches my ass.
has fireorg condemned heritage for this attack on campus speech?
Ta, Marcie. This would piss me off in the extreme even if my darling husband were not a Navy vet.
"INTELLECTUAL RIGOR" MY SWEET ASS
"Rigor" in the sense that a corpse will become inflexible (hence the colloquial "stiff") after a certain amount of time. They are striving to preserve a culture that is dead from the neck up.
Seems like Biden needs to rescind any invitation to Musk at the least.
I can't wait to hear who will be the guest speaker at this year's Doenitz-Yamamato lecture at the US Naval Academy.
Here's the letter I would write if any letter writing would amount to a hill of beans:
Adm. Lisa Franchetti
Chief of Naval Operations
The public history of the United States Navy has no mention of a command officer who has demonstrated in one command decision the degree of cowardice and stupidity achieved by Capt. Walter Allman, Commandant of Midshipmen, USNA.
He was cowardly in his bowing to the threats and entreaties of politicians who objected to a presentation to midshipmen on the subject or authoritarianism, a subject of critical importance in a world with Vladimir Putin's ongoing Russian war against Ukraine, among other international issues. And, by his cowardice, Capt. Allman stupidly fails to realize that he is showing by example that authoritarians gain power by mere threats against the cowardly and weak-willed. There is no need for a lecture with Capt. Allman at the helm.
There can remain no confidence in Capt. Allman's ability to command.
Ima send it if you don't mind.
Please do. 👍 Thank you for the nudge. I sent it as a letter to the editor of that paper.
I had missed that part. Hmm. Gen. Kelly (Ret.), you think calling Trump fascist is not the strongest political statement that could possibly be made in American politics? Goddamit there are some weasely chickenshits among US military General Officers who even after tripping over their dicks and saying the right thing cannot actually do the right thing.
"Schrödinger’s strongmen[!]" C'est magnifique! Huzzah, Marcie Jones!
Speaking of Trump and dictators, an important but forgotten quote showing he knows what's going on was at the 2019 G7 conference when he called out for Egyptian President Sisi" Where's my favorite dictator?" The Hill Jessica Campisi 9/13/19
I wonder if the DOJ is looking into things Heritage is doing. They've got to be breaking some laws somewhere. Can someone wake up Garland?
A swift kick might help.
No.
Wonder if all the Freeze Peach advocates who had a cow about Kyle Duncan being heckled for five minutes will be apoplectic with rage over this.
* Survey sez....NOT A CHANCE *
Isn't it weird how so many right wing fanatics automatically assumed that a lecture about the dangers of fascism would feature the felon? And they're not a cult, so stop saying that!
"We're not weird. Your [sic] weird!" they say. So they say. Nah nah nah.
I'm rubber ,you're glue. Nyah Nyah.
I've been at a service academy. (There's five: Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and a weird one called the Merchant Marine Academy. I went to the weird one.)
A "service academy" means the US pays your tuition + board, in return for you owing X many years of service. Beginning the first day of your junior year; before that, you can bail. I bailed. But the first day of your junior year, you're locked in, you owe the US and they are not kidding around on this.
It was INSANELY right-wing. And creepy. Horrific abuse by student "officers" of lower-ranking students was pretty well-known by everyone, but nobody said anything about it. That's partly why I fled. It's awful to know something awful is happening, and know you're screwed if you say anything about it. I liked some of the people there, but the monsters were impossible to take. I mostly fled because the monsters annoyed me, not because they did horrible things to others. I was 26 and pretty shallow.
I don't have a high estimation of US service academies. I know good people who have gone to them, but the overall atmosphere, in my experience, is terrible.
Faculty at the USNA freely speak about how sub-par their students are. Many of the same faculty know they could not get a serious professional job, so they remain at the USNA. What are we paying for, actually? (We = people who actually work for a living)
In the case of the Weird one I went to, the school was actually concerned that companies hiring grads said they had a stunning inability to communicate in written English! So the school hired some very good English Lit professors, I liked those classes. Nobody seemed to be paying attention, though.
The great antiwar activist Danny Sjursen taught history at West Point. Very anti-imperialist history, it's well worth reading his stuff. (His memoir of war in Iraq, “Ghost Riders Of Baghdad,” is hearbreakingly good.) The Army politely pushed him out.
I don't know what the point of these schools is, either. We have ROTC, we pay for future officers to get a college education elsewhere. I imagine it's just alumni with connections making sure these schools keep existing. Not much worse than Harvard Business School when it comes to groupthink, really.
In the 90s, I was accepted to the USAFA. I visited the place while deciding which college to attend. I didn't learn until years later what a xtian conservative hotbed the place was, but my impression at the time was that it was very physical and rigid, which I was not, as I had undiagnosed asthma and undiagnosed ADHD. But what cemented my decision to decline the acceptance was when I spoke to the fiancée of one of the cadets. She was pleasant, but milquetoast. As a cishet male with a love for strong women, this wasn't a good impression of what my prospects would be.
Anyway, glad you got out. I know lots of good liberal folk who survived the academies. But in general, that's not who they're for.
I have a similar story about the USAFA in the 90s. I happen to be a female with a very good spatial awareness and high grades and IQ and stuff. They headhunted me. When the male officer left the room, I asked the female officer what it was like for women there. She looked me dead in the eye and said, “Don’t.”
I think of her often.
Your reasons for declining are far better. I'm glad you didn't go to a toxic school.
I fled the *Brownies*...too much praying.
I've got bad news (not bad) for the Project 2025 fascists, current DOD contracting laws actually forbid discrimination in awarding contracts based on registered or perceived political affiliation, as long as the contractor has not engaged in and been convicted for unlawful political behavior, like being a fucking fascist that sends terroristic threats or actually commits terroristic acts and the like.
What are these "laws" of which you speak?
Rongmen.