Bill Maher

[RufusEarl]

Did anyone besides me watch his show last night? It wasn't very good ImHO, but he mentioned one thing that got my attention. Not sure if it's true i can't find anything on it, so i'll ask here.

He mentioned that the US Army have lowered their recrutment standards again, and according to Maher they now take people with prior arrest records, no longer have to be a high school graduate, and others. Was Marher making a correct statements are was he just trying to be funny?

[kstewart33]

1. It's a correct statement.

I can't quote the articles, but the Army is giving "waivers" to people with prior arrest and drug records, people they would automatically disqualify in the past. I read about this about a week ago.

[Frances]

2. I think the statements are true

Maybe someone on DU knows how to go to previous threads where the lowered standards were discussed.

[Kingshakabobo]

3. I was a little disappointed.

That Senor guy is an empty suit. Good thing though cause Griffin is a little light on the issues.

I love Helen Thomas but she doesn't lead or dominate the conversation. She DOES know bullshit when she sees it though.

[Inspired]

9. Was it just me or does anyone else think...

thank Griffin sounded juvenile? I KNOW he is on OUR side of the issues but for God's sake....we need a better spokesman than that. I realize he is a comedian but I didn't find him funny at all and I think Maher wished he would just shut up.

Last night's show was lame.

[bookman]

24. I agree...

Griffin was out of his league. The whole panel was disappointing. Helen Thomas even disappointed a bit.

[aquart]

4. He was making jokes about facts.

The army is desperate for recruits. It has indeed lowered its standards. And upped the upper age at which it will take a recruit.

Are you aware that air force ground crews are being deployed in search patrols in Iraq?

Bush is destroying our military.

[RufusEarl]

8. Wasn't aware

that air force crews were being used in this manner in Iraq, are they even trained in this type of activity?

[aquart]

22. Not that I've heard.

It was a small, shocking blurb in an article last year. Got no attention at all. The military is crying out for help and we don't do a thing.

[nuxvomica]

5. I heard about I guy who was rejected last year

Because of his record but is now getting calls from recruiters saying those restrictions are now waived. I can't remember where in the media I heard it, though. Sorry.

[insane_cratic_gal]

6. they've increased the age limit too

from 32 to 39

[JackintheGreen]

10. Crap!

And I was going to be 32 in July. So when are they raising the retirement age to "Dead"?

[insane_cratic_gal]

15. pretty much

Navy and Air force have had their recruitment levels slashed and funding

so they can funnel the funds into recruitment for Army/Marines which is failing on all levels.

Women for instance have a waiting list for Navy due to the number of bunks available on a ship. (how they do it.)


Don't Flay me but my Husband is Navy and does public affairs for recruitment office in Western PA so i hear about it often enough.

[Blue Belle]

19. I thought it was raised to 42...

I could have swore I heard that.

[Auntie Bush]

7. He is correct. They don't even have to graduate from High School.

But you don't want to put all our intelligent men in danger...the lazy or slow ones are OK because they need more cannon fodder.

[orleans]

11. i remember hearing the army was taking high school dropouts

a while ago--maybe late fall of last year--i think maybe even randi rhodes addressed this--you don't exactly want someone who is dumb as a rock in a position where they have to help protect you or save your life (ie an army buddy)--if they are allowing dropouts maybe they should have put in place a minimum IQ standard but i don't think they did. they want anyone who will join!

[niyad]

16. "the president's 100,000" -does anyone remember this from back in the

60's --military recruiting standards were lowered so that people with no high school degree, very few skills, etc. could get in? we needed a lot of cannon fodder then, too.

I don't know if this was actually a campaign, or just something people in the military used to talk about.

[nuxvomica]

12. Found a link from Salon via Raw Story

Military waived regulations for 21,880 recruits last year, Salon reports
Published: February 2, 2006

An article in today's Salon.com describes how a future Air National Guardsman was busted for possessing marijuana and how the Guard waived their usual prohibition on "criminal offenses" to let him join the Guard. The article reveals that in order to boost recruiting, the military has waived regulations for 17 percent of its new recruits -- or 21,880 new soldiers -- in 2005.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Military_waived_regulations_for_21880_recruits_0202.html

[MADem]

13. Read this, and weep

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020206F.shtml

Out of Jail, into the Army
By Mark Benjamin
Salon.com

Thursday 02 February 2006

Facing an enlistment crisis, the Army is granting "waivers" to an increasingly high percentage of recruits with criminal records - and trying to hide it.
We're transforming our military. The things I look for are the following: morale, retention, and recruitment. And retention is high, recruitment is meeting goals, and people are feeling strong about the mission.

-- George W. Bush, in a Jan. 26 press conference

It was about 10 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2002, when a drug deal was arranged in the parking lot of a mini-mall in Newark, Del. The car with the drugs, driven by a man who would become a recruit for the Delaware Air National Guard, pulled up next to a parked car that was waiting for the exchange. Everything was going smoothly until the cops arrived.

"I parked and walked over to his car and got in and we were talking," the future Air Guardsman later wrote. "He asked if I had any marijuana and I said yes, that I bought some in Wilmington, Del., earlier that day. He said he wanted some." The drug dealer went on to recount in a Jan. 11, 2005, statement written to win admission into the military, "I walked back to my car as soon as I got in my car an officer put his flashlight in the window and arrested me."

Under Air National Guard rules, the dealer had committed a "major offense" that would bar him from military service. Air National Guard recruits, like other members of the military, cannot have drug convictions on their record. But on Feb. 2, 2005, the applicant who had been arrested in the mini-mall was admitted into the Delaware Air National Guard. How? Through the use of a little-known, but increasingly important, escape clause known as a waiver. Waivers, which are generally approved at the Pentagon, allow recruiters to sign up men and women who otherwise would be ineligible for service because of legal convictions, medical problems or other reasons preventing them from meeting minimum standards.

The story of that unnamed Air National Guard recruit (whose name is blacked out in his statement) is based on documents obtained by Salon under the Freedom of Information Act. It illustrates one of the tactics that the military is using in its uphill battle to meet recruiting targets during the Iraq war. The personnel problems are acute. The Air National Guard, for example, missed its recruiting target by 14 percent last year. And the regular Army missed its goal by 8 percent, its largest recruiting shortfall since 1979.

....

They have changed the requirement from "MUST" have high moral standards, to "SHOULD" have high moral standards. It is a helluva challenge for those in leadership positions, and these changes have seriously weakened our national defense posture. I won't even go into the reductions in basic intellect and medical waivers...it's a fucking mess.

[cynatnite]

14. True, plus Maher neglected to mention one thing...

He said the pentagon is due to get 35% more money this year in the new budget bush is proposing. What he should have added was that the troops will get the smallest raise they've had in over 12 years... 2.2%. With a war, plus lousy pay no one should be surprised at the lack of interest of people wanting to join up.

Here are a few links about the lower recruiting standards.

http://www.atsnn.com/story/84368.html

http://www.parapundit.com/archives/003026.html

[otohara]

17. It's Wasn't A Very Good Show

He wasn't very "on" nor "quick" with come backs. He said "okay" a lot as if he were at a loss for words.

One of the best remarks wasn't heard by Eddie Griffin - when Maher was interviewing Fred Barnes and saying Bush was a rebel - Griffin said Bush rebeled against reading.

[AzDar]

18. Bill Maher seemed to think that Bushie's illegal wiretaps were

okey-dokey..."as long as they save me from a dirty-bomb" or some other such nonsense.
My hubby had never heard Russ Feingold speak before, and said rather off-the-cuff-: "He'd make a GREAT President!"
From his mouth to Whomever's (not the NSA's, lol) ears!!

[Moochy]

20. He's got to put down the bong and get some perspective

:rofl:

He's 30 miles from Long Beach, OMIGOD!! OMIGOD!

Bill, get a grip, and put down the bong. And I say this as someone well versed in the verdant greenery to be had in this great state of California.

[Chi-Town Exile]

21. Maher has really lost a step because he seems to be so

concerned that his show is too one-sided. Guess his "Moran" guests have been complaining that they don't like going on his show because the audience it so Left.

I have fired off several emails to Bill to remind him that the Right has their propaganda spread all over the US 24/7. The beauty of his show was the fact that it didn't pay homage to the lunatics ... in Bill's quest for parity he has lost his edge.

If I wanted to hear from the right-wing lunatics all I have to do is turn on CNN, MSNBC, FOX (God Forbid! LOL) or my local news.

What he is forgetting is the reason his show has enjoyed so much success ... he gave our side a forum for OUR ideas.

Hope Bill doesn't go the way of Dennis Miller ...

[bookman]

23. You are so right

He has really become so sensitive about his audience. Frankly I'm getting tired of the Fox flavor of the week showing up. This so was way under par.

Hope Bill can return to form.

[Skittles]

25. can;t watch him

he just creeps me out