John Hawkins has a list of preferred dinner guests as chosen by right-of-center bloggers (like me). I think the number one choice is pretty interesting.
Archive of entries posted on 5th April 2004
Stuff
- I was listening to Rush on the way back from Lunch, and I heard him mention this post of Scrappleface.
DAMN YOU, SCRAPPLEFACE!
(nearly crashed and killed me and my coworkers when I shouted that)
Why aren’t I being mentioned by Rush? What are you, my readers and my fans. doing? You’re worthless! Argh! - The Limey has e-mailed me again, this time singling out certain IMAO commenters for his contempt. Plus, he mentions some musical group. My response will be forthcoming…
- I was reminded by a military reader Jeff that today is National Kill a Commie Day (the Rosenbergs were executed 51 years ago today). Celebrate appropriately.
Our Military III
More about our military…
John has some Marine jokes:
Marines are commonly refered to as jarheads. I think it is because there heads aren’t screwed on straight.
How can you tell if a Marine has been in your backyard? Your trash can is empty and your dog is pregnant.
As far as I know the marines haven’t lost a gate yet.
The only good marine is a submarine.
A marine general, an Air Force general, and a Navy Admiral were on a golf course one day arguing who had the most courageous men, so they decided to put it to the test. They went to the marine base and the Marine general walked up to a marine and told him to pull the pin on a grenade and fall on it. The marine did as he was told and was blown up. The Marine general said “Now that took guts”. The Air Force general said “That’s nothing”. They all went to the Air Force base, the Air Force general walked up to an airman told to take a plane up to 30,000 feet and jump out of the plane without a parachute. He did as he was told and promptly became a spot on the ground. The Air Force general said “Now that took guts”. The Navy Admiral said “That’s nothing”. They went to the Navy base and the Admiral took them on an Navy Cruiser. There was a seaman working on an antenna about 200 feet in the air. The Admiral hollered up to the seaman “I want you to jump down here right now!” The seaman hollered back “F_ck you Admiral”! The Admiral looked at the other 2 and said “Now that took guts”.
Jason writes:
I did my AIT (advanced individual training) for the Army on a small navel base in Mississippi. We once made them open the only mess hall on base to because we were late getting our training done that day. It took about an hour and call from the base commander to get them to open it. They were not very happy. They also did not like it that we got up at 0400 and made a lot of noise when we went to PT. The Seabees usually got up about 0700.
The moral: the Navy is only open from 0700 to 1700. The Army never closes.
Since Marines are paid by the Department of the Navy, their no better.
I don’t recognize the Air Force as a real armed service division since only their officers do the dying.
Wow, them’s fight’n words.
Dennis has some info on tanks:
I was in the Army, served four years, got in the Reserves/Guard and was called up for Gulf War 1. Retired in 99.
I was in Armor, which is the guys that drive, shoot, live in tanks. Being on the ground is dangerous when tanks are moving. And it seems like whenever it is dark, crappy weather, the tanks are moving. So, tankers like to stay on their tanks. It is extremely hard to get run over by a tank if you are on a tank. If I had someone who would bring me chow, I wouldn’t have to get off of the tank for any reason.
The ground is where the Infantry lives, and down there it is either muddy or dusty or something uncomfortable. I didn’t want to be in the Infantry, so I tried to stay on the tank.
Some truisms about Armor.
1. Nothing on a tank weighs less than a railroad crosstie.
2. When a tank gets stuck in mud, big (huge) cables are needed to get it out.
3. You can learn to sleep on hard, flat steel.
4. Tanks are cold in the winter, hot in the summer.
5. Second Lieutenants shouldn’t be trusted with that much destructive power.
6. If a Second Lieutenant finds himself in command of a platoon of tanks, he should listen to his NCO’s. They will keep him out of trouble, and will keep him from killing himself or someone else.
The biggest truism about the Army in general and the Guard/Reserve in particular is the unbelievable education of the troops. My last driver was a young corporal who had joined the Guard to get an education. He had his Bachelors degree and was within striking distance of his Masters. We had a medical unit attached to our battalion. There were enlisted medics in that section. All of the enlisted medics were Registered Nurses. One of my NCO’s was a practicing attorney, another was a CPA. Fully 60% of the unit was enrolled in college. In short, the guys in the Guard/Reserve take advantage of the educational opportunities, and they make the unit stronger because they are so educated.
J writes:
Each branch serves a special role —
Army — Exists to lose the territory in the first place.
Air Force — then overflies the territory to see how deeply the Army took it in the shorts.
Navy — Provides the boats to carry the…
Marines — who then take the territory back.
Bob has this little saying about your National Guard:
From one who served in the same unit with GW:
“Sleep Well……..Your Guard does!”
Finally, Charles has some info on what it is like to be a Marine and Marine Drill Instructors:
I served 4 outstanding years in the Marine Corps. I can describe the life and times of a Marine, but it’s impossible to convey the true experience. The Marines is not a ‘job’, a ‘vocation’ or an ‘opportunity to see the world’, though it offers all these things…it’s a way of life, a religion. He is recognizable by his bearing and discipline wherever he goes, even out of uniform. Strangers still ask me, after years as a civilian working for the military, “were you a Marine?” I don’t really have any jokes to tell, I served during the Clinton years and I felt I had something important to say about that time.
I went to boot camp at MCRD San Diego, which makes me a ‘Hollywood’ Marine, There are also Parris Island Marines who went through boot camp in SC near Beaufort. The only difference between us are sand fleas and mountains (trust me, sand fleas are hell…especially when you’re not allowed to touch your face or scratch.) which always makes for some friendly jabbing among us (I visited Parris Island with a couple of buddies and remarked on how flat, pretty and green it all was…which set off a wrestling match, they also get to see girls (female marines)). My junior Drill Instructor was once an extra in some skating movie in the 80’s, he was the scariest 5′ 6″ human being I have ever met. I’ll have to go on a tangent to describe the DI:
Drill Instructors have special powers granted by a special formula given to them after passing one of the most difficult, anal, and stressful schools in the entire Marine Corps:
1) The ability to camoflage themselves into walls, objects, vehicles and sand dunes, whenever a recruit makes a mistake, approximately 200 DI’s will ‘uncloak’ and simultaneously appear in your location, utilizing their other special powers listed below.
2) DI’s can teleport from one location to another in less than a second, often appearing to scream at you from behind walls.
3) The Voice: Many (not all) DI’s are capable of screaming in a false, hoarse and unmistakeable voice for several hours, sometimes days. Many learned this skill in Boot Camp themsleves after yelling “AYE, SIR!!!!!!” into the wee hours of the night. This Voice has a strange hypnotizing effect on the victim causing him to instantly obey any command the DI makes, such as “Build Mt. Sirubachi in my squad bay by piling footlockers and throwing mattreses on top!” or “stare at a mirror and tell yourself ‘NO, I’m not fat! you are!! and repeat until I get tired!” (yes, both of these really happened)
4) Inability to get dirty. DI’s never get dirty, even in a sandstorm a DI will still appear clean and sparkling as if protected by a force field, which it may well be since no recruit has ever laid hands upon a DI and lived to tell about it.
5) Growth. Many DI’s are under 6’ tall, however they are capable of growing to immense size has their temperature rises. There are others who believe that in fact the recruits shrink instead of the DI’s growing, but it may be a combination of both.
6) Telepathy: DI’s can read the minds of recruits sensing our fears and thoughts, however this power may not be very strong as recruits constantly surprise the DI’s with their stupidity.
7) the ability to see in all directions. It’s isn’t clear whether there is a ‘third eye’ or if a DI’s normal eyes can revolve around their heads 360 degrees. However they can see any action taking place around them and instantly react.
8) super vision. Besides being able to see in all directions, DI’s can spot even the smallest blemish in your uniform, even ameoba and paramecia.
there are many other powers such as ‘drink all night, sleep with 3 women and appear completely sober and and angry as hell at 4 in the morning’ but I’m running long.
okay, I’ll get serious now:
My life in the Marine Corps was the greatest in my life, although I never saw combat, I was always ready to do so, unfortunately a few of my friends have died in combat and training for combat. I was stationed at Cherry Point, NC and many people in the area and in towns around it hated and despised us before 9/11 and the Iraq War. It’s as if people didn’t care that our lives could end any moment fighting for our freedom. We used to drive up to a college town nearby, Greenville, where the ECU campus is, to have beers and meet women. We’d get laughed at because of our haircuts and the way we’d tuck our shirts in, shave, and dress properly (behind our backs of course). College girls would ignore us or treat us with contempt all the time. The college guys there hated our guts, and knowing we couldn’t afford to get in a fight would goad us all the time, key our cars and slash our tires. These people had their hearts and minds poisoned against us, I suspect, by liberal professors and jealousy. Their heroes were their fake warriors such as football players and basketball players. I heard things have improved quite a bit, but I still have to subdue an urge to punch any college prof. I meet. If you’re getting that urge right now, please do so.
I have a backlog of more to put up, but keep it coming. If you have military experience (first-hand or second-hand) I’d love to hear more jokes and anecdotes. E-mail me with the subject “Military”.
In My World: For a Few Votes More
Chomps walked over to Rumsfeld and started gagging.
“What?” Rumsfeld asked with annoyance, “Are you too pansy-ass to swallow something?”
Chomps wanted to growl, but just gagged some more.
“I guess I better help you before you get mad at your own throat and tear it out,” Rumsfeld said as he walked over to Chomps and gave him the Heimlich maneuver. Chomps then coughed up what looked like a hairball.
The hairball then began to move. Then it made a noise. “Yipe! Yipe!”
Laura Bush ran over yelling in relief, “There’s Barney!” She then picked up the quivering little Scotty dog. She looked to Rumsfeld and shouted, “Your dog tried to swallow Barney again! I need him for my hilarious Christmas movies!”
“It’s not my Chomps’s fault your dog is so damn small and nearly swallowable,” Rumsfeld answered.
“Bad dog!” Laura yelled at Chomps and then hit him on the nose. “Bad bad dog!” She stormed away.
“You gonna take that from her?” Rumsfeld asked Chomps.
Chomps just snorted and lay down for the world’s angriest nap.
“We need to do something about Fallujah,” Bush said to Condi, “but we have to make sure we don’t kill any innocent Iraqis.”
“I have the perfect thing,” Condi stated as she turned on a projector, “It’s the ‘Kill Only Bad People’ bomb.”
“That’s exactly what we need!” Bush exclaimed, but then looked at the image more suspiciously. “Hey! That’s just a nuclear bomb with the words ‘Kills Only Bad People’ crudely written on the side. You’re trying to trick me into using nukes again! I’m ashamed of you, Condi; you used to try a lot harder to trick me than this.”
“I have that 9/11 commission to prepare for,” Condi said defensively.
Rumsfeld then walked in the Oval Office. “What do you think we should do about Fallujah, Rummy?” Bush asked.
“Nuke ’em!”
“As part of compassionate conservatism,” Bush stated, “I make sure my carnage is focused. I’m leaving it to the Marines to go in there and get just the bad people.”
“How do we tell the good Iraqis from the bad Iraqis, Buck?” Gomez asked.
“The bad ones will be foreign,” Buck the Marine answered.
“Buck, that ain’t PC,” Gomez said, “We’re supposed to call them ‘nationally challenged’.”
“Whatever you call ’em, I sure don’t like it how they killed those people and mutilated their corpses,” Johnson stated angrily.
“I don’t like it either,” Buck said, “If people dragged my burnt corpse around, I’d kill ’em!”
“But you’d be dead,” Gomez pointed out.
“That don’t matter; a Marine will find a way to kill even if he’s dead. Did I ever tell you about how my Grandpappy, Jebediah the Marine, killed three Germans after he died?”
“We all heard the story about the shipping mishap after your grandfather died while vacationing in Berlin,” Johnson answered.
Buck nodded proudly. “All sons of Nazis.”
“Let’s turn on the news and see how the Marines are doing,” Bush stated.
“Don’t you have someone to brief on that?” Condi asked.
“Yeah, but he ain’t talking to me after I played a practical joke on him.”
“How long was he in the hospital?”
“Never mind that,” Bush snapped, and then turned on the T.V. “Dammit! It’s one of those John Kerry commercials!”
Black and white images of crying children were shown as a voice over said, “Bush has lost millions of jobs, botched the war on terror, and is too god-durn chicken to meet El Murdero for a stand off at high noon in a town at the Texas-Mexican border.”
Next came John Kerry’s voice. “I’m John Kerry, and I approved this message… for now.”
“You hear that!” Bush exclaimed, “I’ve been challenged! If I don’t meet it, everyone will think I’m a coward. I might even lose the Texan vote!”
“Who’s El Murdero?” Condi asked.
“Some bandito I signed off the death sentence for while governor of Texas,” Bush explained, “He escaped to Mexico and always vowed revenge.”
“So now John Kerry has hired him to taunt you into a trap,” Condi said.
“And it will work because I’m dumb,” Bush said as he put on his cowboy hat and duster. “You two get ready.”
“Why would we help you?” Rumsfeld asked while Condi nodded.
“Uh… well El Murdero said you’re a pansy, Rummy,” Bush told him as he put on his gun belt.
“Rarr!” Rumsfeld yelled as he punched a hole in the wall.
“And he said Condi is fat,” Bush added.
“Dead man walking!” Condi declared, “I’ll get my M-16 with the grenade launched.”
“Condi… Condi… Condi…,” Bush chuckled as he shook his head, “This is a Wild West shoot-out, you silly goose. You walk into it with an M-16, and everyone will just laugh at you. Make sure any rifle you bring is either lever-action or pump-action.”
Laura then looked through the doorway. “Are you getting ready for a shootout, George?”
“If I’m not killed, I’ll be back by this evening, dear,” Bush answered.
“Well, no twirling your gun; that’s dangerous.”
“Yes, dear,” Bush said, rolling his eyes.
“And what kind of gun are you bringing?”
“A single action army, dear.”
“You make sure to only load five bullets in it and have the hammer resting on an empty chamber.”
“Okay, dear.”
“You should really think about buying a gun with a transfer-bar safety,” Laura said sternly.
“But then it wouldn’t be an authentic Old West gun,” Bush whined.
“We’ll see how much you care about that after you’ve blown your foot off,” Laura stated and then walked off.
“Wuss,” Rumsfeld grunted.
“Let’s get going,” Bush said.
“Wait,” Condi interrupted, “Is this place in Texas or Mexico?”
Bush shrugged his shoulders. Suddenly, his desk fell apart. There, with pieces of the desk in his mouth, was Chomps wearing his blue U.N. peacekeeper helmet.
“Chomps is right,” Rumsfeld said, “He should come along as a U.N. observer so we don’t get nagged.”
“Fine,” Bush declared, “Now it’s time for people to die… hopefully other people.”
A tumbleweed rolled by them as the three came to a sign saying, “Welcome to Texaco.”
“Right on the border,” Bush said. He looked to the town’s clock. “Not quite noon. Let’s stop in the saloon and try to get some information.”
When they entered the saloon, the bartender called out, “Hey. Three gringos! Would you like some tequila?”
“I’m a recovering alcoholic,” Bush answered as he sat down, “Just a beer, please.”
Chomps growled.
“He’ll have the tequila,” Rumsfeld told the bartender, “and bring the whole bottle if you like your limbs.”
“Si senor.”
“Your dog better not be an angry drunk,” Bush said and scanned the crowd who stared at him menacingly. “Looks like a nice community.” He then just barely ducked in time to miss being cut with a knife. Bush turned to see his attacker and exclaimed, “Hey! It’s my old friend, the Mexican! Remember when you were VP?”
“And remember when I told you if I saw you again, I’d cut you?”
Bush shook his head.
“Stupid gringo!” the Mexican yelled, “Because of you, this town is ruined! First, this snotty Frenchman who kept mentioning how he was a waiter in Vietnam comes by…”
“John Kerry!” Bush, Condi, and Rumsfeld all exclaimed.
“Yeah, that was his name,” the Mexican continued, “and then he hires El Murdero and a bunch of banditos to kill you. Now, with all the banditos in town, we’re losing tourist dollars!”
“Don’t worry my nationally challenged friend,” Bush stated, “We’re here to rid the town of those banditos.”
“Probably get your own head blown off,” the Mexican laughed, “Then I’ll dance around my sombrero.”
“You shouldn’t put your hat on the ground,” Bush said, “It’s dirty.” The town clocked then chimed. “It’s time,” Bush announced as he stood up, “We’ll finish this conversation later, Mexican.”
“I’m not thinking so.”
Bush, Condi, Rumsfeld, and Chomps wandered into the street. “What’s the plan?” Condi asked.
“We stand out in the open, and then, when the banditos shoot at us, we’ll know where they are and can shoot them back.”
“What if they hit us when they first shoot?” Condi asked angrily.
Bush thought about that one a bit. “I don’t think that’s allowed.”
Rumsfeld fired his double-barreled shotgun. “I saw something move, so I shot it. That’s my policy.”
Gunfire erupted everywhere, and Rumsfeld ran for cover as he shot his shotgun and reloaded. Condi kept moving while firing her lever-action rifle. Bush stayed walking through the center of town, firing at whoever appeared. “Take that you evil bandito!” Bush yelled as he fired his gun. It clicked empty. “Dammit! I forgot I only loaded five!” he yelled as jumped for cover. “Stupid thing is so damn hard to reload,” Bush said as he emptied the casings out of his peacemaker as bullets hit all around him. He saw Chomps sitting nearby, wearing his blue helmet and wagging his tail. “Aren’t you going to help?” Bush asked him.
Chomps growled angrily.
“Fine!” Bush exclaimed, rolling his eyes, “You’re just here to observe,”
The firing at Bush stopped. “Come out, Mr. Bush!” called the unmistakable voice of El Murdero.
“Time to carry out your sentence,” Bush said as he stood up.
“It’s just you and me, Mr. Bush,” El Murdero said as his right handle dangled over the handle of his holstered gun, “You’re friends are pinned down.”
“Then I guess it’s a standoff,” Bush said, his hand hovering over his holster.
They stared each other in the eyes, and then El Murdero went for his gun. Before he touched it, a gunshot sounded from off to Bush’s side, and El Murdero fell dead. Walking out into the open was the Mexican carrying a shotgun.
“I could have taken him myself!” Bush yelled.
“Look at your holster, you stupid gringo,” the Mexican answered.
Bush looked down to see that his holster was empty. “Whoopsie-doodle,” he said with a grin as he walked back over to the barrel to pick up his gun.
Rumsfeld and Condi then came towards him. “We’re done kill’n,” Rumsfeld announced, “In this town, at least.”
“Good, then you can leave,” the Mexican said, “All this shooting had scared away the tourists. Now I want to open one of those coffee shops with the couches and the ambiance and s**t that you stupid gringos like.”
“Good luck with that,” Bush said to him, “I’ll see you around.”
“If that happens, I CUT YOU!”
“The 308,000 jobs created in March, the number of terrorists killed and captured, and the more than a dozen dead banditos in Texaco prove that everything in John Kerry’s ad is a falsehood,” White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced.
“With what happened in Fallujah,” said one reporter, “will you now say that Iraq is a quagmire.”
Scott sighed loudly. “No, we will not say it is now a ‘quagmire’. Any other questions?”
There was a silence for about ten seconds, and then the same reporter asked, “How about now?”
“Okay. I’m outta here.”
