"I Assume Full Responsibility."

[Mike K]

I can't speak for today's military but back in the fifties it was widely accepted that a platoon of Marines was worth a company of ordinary (Army)soldiers. That isn't my subjective opinion. I heard it from my father and an uncle, both of whom were in the Army and served in the Pacific, including Guadalcanal, and from several other WW-II and Korea vets.

As I learned later in life this reputation was not the result of physical or mental superiority on the part of individual Marines. It came about as the result of rigid training, one important aspect of which was an inculcated sense of responsibility and impending accountability: In the Marine Corps there are no excuses, only reasons. When something goes wrong somebody is responsible and whoever that somebody is will be held accountable. As a result of this rigid and pervasive policy very few things ever go wrong. Weapons and equipment are maintained to perfection, every i is dotted, every t is crossed, every order is instantly and precisely obeyed -- or there will be very unpleasant consequences. And there are no exceptions.

The bottom line to this Spartan rigidity is maximum efficiency in the field which translates to superior performance and minimal casualties.

President Obama's assumption of responsibility for the near loss of 300 lives on Christmas day is in fact an extremely irresponsible gesture. It is a statement of intent to forego accountability for a serious failure, the ultimate effect of which will be corrosive to the future efficiency of a critically important security agency, the TSA.

Mr. Nice Guy is playing loose and careless with the lives of airline passengers and in doing so he is demonstrating abject incompetence as a leader. He is indeed responsible and that responsibility is for him to determine who allowed this potentially deadly incident to take place and to take appropriate action, both against the individuals involved and their immediate supervisors. And if he doesn't do this he is inviting similar misfeasance, just as his unwillingness to hold certain members of the Bush Administration accountable for their many egregious crimes ensures that future administrators will not be discouraged from doing the same or worse things.

In my opinion, Barack Obama is a nice person but a poor excuse for a President.

[av8rdave]

1. I don't think he ever said he wasn't interested in finding where the problem was

Rather, he was taking ownership of the problem instead of finger pointing, playing politics and looking for scapegoats.

A bit of a contrast with his predecessor, don't you think?

[nemo137]

2. To take another 50's memory.

There was a sign on President Truman's desk reading "The Buck Stops Here," i.e. at the end of the day, it's the president's responsibility.

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. On the other hand there was jr bush, who took responsibility for nothing

He is a moron, but guys like you just love him.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

4. This is extremely harsh.

There seems to be an assumption that we, the public, are privy to every decision and action taken.
You are assuming no one was held responsible, reprimanded or even fired. There could be mid level
employees that were responsible for not forwarding the intelligence and are being dealt with behind
the scenes. That Obama took the ultimate responsibility and assumed "the buck stops here" response
was admirable. I have my problems with him, but to suggest he is "demonstrating abject incompetence
as a leader" is over the top and petty.

[Oregone]

5. For fuck's sake, who fucking cares about this any more?

Talk about politicizing an incompetent malcontent's failure.

Why are you so fixated on 300 people who *might* have died, when you could be ranting about the ~450 drunk driving fatalities and ~840 death due to lack of health insurance that have occurred since Christmas day. How many little girls get molested in the US each day? How many die of easily treatable diseases? How many families just got kicked out of their homes and onto the streets?

Damn man. We have real fucking problems to deal with, rather than this He-Man vs Skeletor terrorism bullshit. Its all a crock being used to justifying the feeding of the monster in a post cold-war era.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

7. some people expect Obama to tuck them in and

read them a bedtime story too. FEAR, FEAR, FEAR....we're all gonna die!!!!

[av8rdave]

6. Another thought....

"In my opinion, Barack Obama is a nice person but a poor excuse for a President."

My guess is that this isn't your opinion. I would wager that it's Rush's, or Glenn's, or Sean's, or Bill's. All unbiased observers of politics, of course. :sarcasm:

[azurnoir]

8. Being Commander in Chief means

taking responsibility and then finding the problem rather than whining it's them not me or it was the guy before me's fault as the former pResident did
but I can understand why you might try this talking point here first. but the tea just doesn't brew well
welcome to DU but this may not be the best water to "dip your bag" in

[TexasObserver]

9. What is that smell?! OMG! Oh, it's your OP.

Your view of Marines and their comparative value to the US military is misplaced. They're the least important branch of the military ladder, and they consistently get the recruits that test the lowest, have the most criminal problems, and have the poorest educations. Marines play a role in the US military, but their rep and your commentary are largely matters of fiction. When did the Marines win the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Or Vietnam? They serve, and they're useful, but don't paint them as more than they are. That's recruiting drivel.


The balance of your post is even more flawed and doesn't require any rebuttal.

[DIKB]

10. I was raised military

and have friends serving now.

Brad - Army Psyops
Dirk - Navy Nuke
Andrew - Marine ground-pounder (May he R.I.P.)

You would NEVER get either my navy friend or army buddy to say that a marine was worth many of him or those serving alongside him. Too much pride in their own branch of the military, if not their own specific field.

You're right, the OP reeks to high hell.

[proteus_lives]

11. That's right.

I have Army grunts and and Marines in my family. They love ragging on each other but admit the other service was better then their own? They'd set themselves on fire first.

I smell something too.

[TexasObserver]

15. Yes. I've never once heard a single grunt say something like that.

I was in the Air Force forty years ago, and I had uncles in each branch of the military and friends in each branch. To this day, I've never heard any military man say any other branch was better than his branch. Not once. And that includes the military men I know who are in the military now - all of whom are my children's generation.

The whole mythology written in the OP sounds like someone who has never been in the military and never known anyone in the military. It sounds like it was pulled from one of those sappy emails the wingers love to send each other. It sound like the kind of pro GOP emails I still get from guys I knew 40 years ago who wouldn't join the military, like I did, and who used any excuse available (like Rush Limbaugh) to avoid service. But they're all 60 years old now, and haven't voted for a Democrat since they were 1-A. They sure do love to talk about how the USA needs to go kill some foreigners somewhere, though.

[TexasObserver]

12. Every branch of the military thinks they're the best.

And even the baddest bad asses want that air cover when they really need it. Pinned down? Call in the Air Force. Want to pound a position from 40 miles off shore? Call in the Navy. They have guns that fire loads the size of a small car, and will hit targets with great precision.

During Vietnam, on R&R, Army and Marines would have brutal bar fights while they were on R&R. Navy and Air Force guys stayed out of the fighting, but the Army and Marines would go at it. They had a week away from the jungle, and they'd spend part of it in fist fights in bars over who was the baddest bad ass.

We need all the services, and I don't mean to denigrate the Marines, but I also don't like the phony hero worship. Soldiers are typically young guys who don't know much about anything except the things they've been taught by their military superiors. That's why so many in Iraq think Saddam had something to do with 9-11. That's why they think Afghanistan is about stopping terror attacks in the US. Most don't know history. They don't know politics. They don't understand anything about foreign policy.

If they're Marines, they know taking that hill. If they're Army, they know taking that hill, but using more weapons than just small arms. If they're Air Force, they know bombing that hill until it's flat and smoldering, and nothing alive remains on it. If they're Navy, they know how to paint and salute. Just kidding, sailors.

[HipChick]

13. unrec'd for not knowing the difference between TSA and Intelligence Agencies..

How many people got fired when Bush dealt with Richard Reid? Selective memory strikes again...

[Vickers]

14. Hey, if you're so gung-ho, why didn't you serve?

:shrug:

I'm the biggest pussy you ever met, and even *I* did.

IOW, I accord your OP zero credibility.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JHB]

Same as when Reagan "took responsibility" for the Vincennes plane shoot-down

It's a grandstand move to placate critics, but it can actually impede proper investigation and accounting for the incident.

[JHB]

17. dupe

[PVnRT]

18. "The buck stops here"

Familiar with that quote? Obama is the chief, and the chief takes the blame, unless the chief is a scum weasel who gets others to take the fall for him.

The bomber is in custody and will be tried, and Obama called out the intelligence community on national television shortly thereafter. Either you expect to see mass firings or you're one of the scaredy-cats who want to sacrifice even more civil liberties so you don't feel quite as scared.

[guitar man]

19. It's very cold out today

I hope the pizza delivery guy can make it to you with at least a warm pizza if not a not one...

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

20. I think the pizza delivery man is KIA.

He usually is on anti-Obama threads.

[closeupready]

21. Agree.

n/t

[Javaman]

22. Is it not also true that historically speaking, the marines also have the

highest causality rate among all the other services?

:popcorn:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

23. .

:spray:

[Contrary1]

24. At least you changed a couple of the words.

http://mikemalloy.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=450650&sid=4a8a3cd178ebc7eececfe2eeccdb1227

http://www.democraticwarrior.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103878