So I go to Starbucks

[nadinbrzezinski]

it is right by the supermarket... and I am doing some work on my hand held PC... and an older gentleman strikes a conversation since I am using a handheld with keyboard mind you

We start talking about the war and the Presnit, he is a retired one star, US AF... and we start talking smack over the idiot in charge... kid, seems he never learns... same kid who in the past has harassed Iraq war vet... and starts talking smack against us "traitorous liberals" since we are not supporting der fuehrer.

So this gentleman looks kid in the eye and asks him, so tell me what branch of service?

I am fighting the war of ideas over here. (Yes he is proud of this)

We both reach for wallets and we both bring out mickey mouse canoe club cards (DOD IDs), and he asks once again, "what service?"

Kid's eyes grow really, REALLY big

I tell kid... "tell you want, crutches and all I will drive you RIGHT NOW to the Marine Corp Recruiting station... I know of one near by... and I recommend 18B... now if you really want to do a dangerous job I will take you to the Navy Station or the Army station and 98A or B will be good enough."

The kid is looking at me in shock

The General meets my eyes, as he is chuckling away... so what WAS your MOS?

98B

Been shot at?

Oh more times than I care to remember Sir.

You are right, maybe shit for brains should do that.

Only problem is he might refuse to do house calls, it can get dicey in the middle of a firefight.

Finally kid says what are you talking about

We are debating whether it is fair to send you to the line infantry, or to medic school.

His eyes almost popped out..."Well we are fighting them over...."

"Yes, yes, over there so we don't have to fight them over here, we heard the Commander in Chief the First time. He also said that it was honorable to go volunteer, so how about it Chicken hawk? I'll drive you down to the recruiters, it is YOUR turn to put up or shut the fuck up!"

Young guy walked away... not like he could tell US anything about service ... nor could he read my card and realize mine is for a dependent. but since I did serve (somebody else's army) it was funny this gentleman did know some of the stuff that I faced... so we had a very good discusion... and the nugget is the general officers, very much off the record, are scared of George... and these are not people easy to scare off.

(spelling)

[karlrschneider]

1. I'm sorry but I have absolutely no clue what you were trying to say.

...
:eyes:

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Two things we truly embarrased the local

chickenhawk

And general officers, yep folks with stars are scared of the president, clear enough for you now

[karlrschneider]

9. No, sorry, I don't speak gibberish.

...

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Oh you mean militarise

better known as alphabet soup... can't say I blame yah, most people don't

If you live as a dependent in a navy base (or any other service) you get soem of it, full treatment you will have to join

;-)

[karlrschneider]

26. I didn't mean to be snarky, just that I couldnt figure out what some

of the terms meant (I was in the AF in the 60s but I don't recall hearing, or learning, most of them you wrote.)

Had to read it a few times to dope out that the 'kid' and the 'general' were different people and when you said the G was "scared" of Chimp you didn't mean it literally. (Assuming you meant he was scared of what * is or might do, right?)

;-)

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. General Officers ARE scared of chimpy

[madmunchie]

65. I wasn't in the military AND I am sleepy from Benedryl, but I got it!?!

Imagine that! Good frontal attack on the dumbass kid. Too perfect!

[Autonomy]

31. I don't think it's the military-speak....

I couldn't follow it either. No offense, but a little effort into punctuation and losing the loose, overly conversational style would be helpful. Then dumb down the "soup" for us non-military folks? It's up to you, of course.

[Clark2008]

48. I had no trouble understanding it and I wasn't in the service.

I mean, hubby was - the guy I support for president was (should he run) - but I never was.

I had to figure out the difference between the general and the kid, but I did it in the context of the rest of the story.

I thought it was great, nadin. Good on ya (and the one-star, too!) :applause:

BTW, what Army did you serve in?

[nadinbrzezinski]

50. Very technically Mexican

reserve

[Clark2008]

52. Hubby and I just got back from Jalisco, Mexico

Beautiful, relaxing and very intriguing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

54. I did my ten mostly in the city of Tijuana, if you ever

watched Traffic I can tell you what parts they had to change to protect the guilty... but overall they got it EXTREMELY right

[stop the bleeding]

2. Great story

thank you I love these ;)

I am a dependent as well, both parents retired Army

[bleever]

4. Me too.

Thanks.

[Robbien]

5. Wonderful story

Shut them up one at a time. Bet it will be a long time before that kid opens his mouth again.

:yourock:

[MadMaddie]

6. Oh....to have been ordering a Grande non-fat toffee nut latte

and over hear the conversation...I am almost giddy.

This is what needs to keep happening confronting these people....I was an Army reservist during college and a couple of years after....

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. They need to be confronted and I am not shy

but it is happening less and less. This is the second time same idiot gets confronted... last time a cop told him to beat it.

[kaygore]

7. I don't blame them for being scared. They have to fight and maybe

die without their professional input and expertise being even considered.

Bush and his people are amateurs and the professionals are put at great risk because of it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Yeah, that was part of it

but the fear is far deeper than just that... it was the feeling I got

[IndyOp]

22. Will they refuse commands? The ones who are afraid of dimson? (nt)

:scared:

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. I don't know

I know personally how dicey it can be to disobey an ilegal order... so I don't know

And let's assume for the moment they do... if the number is large enough you can bet your sweet petunias you and I will never know...

[laheina]

11. That's priceless. :)

Accept for, I think, the last part?

Do you mean that Georgie has a reckoning coming, or that we are in more trouble than we know?

And my father is a retired Naval officer. :)

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. I don't know

just that he has been hearing a lot of discontent, and actual fear. As I said these are not folks who scare off easily... so the term fear and general officer made me go HMMM

[laheina]

16. My personal opinion is that

all of the bullying is going to come back to bite the members of the current administration in the ass eventually. And * should watch his step with the higher ups.

[tlsmith1963]

62. I Really Think...

that the military might finally get fed up & take care of Bush for us. It has happened in other countries. Remember when Gorbachev was the victim of a coup & the military turned on the guys who took power? I keep thinking that we could have something like that here (since Bush probably did a "coup" by stealing the election). I hope that it does happen. I don't think that the military should do the dirty work of the neocons. The neocons stand against everything that America is supposed to stand for. If any group is "the other", it's them. They need to go.

Tammy

[Roland99]

15. I think fear in the way Hersh said he was scared of this admin.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Yeah Sly has written of this as well

but it seemed to me like this guy is now telling any civvie he can find that is willing to listen... my gut (I should follow Colbert's advise I guess :-) ) tells me that something very serious is going on. These are not folks to talk to those outside the club either.

[Roland99]

19. If Sibel could talk, we'd know how deep and lucrative the rabbit hole is.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. It is deep

and lucrative, I beleive that now we are in the person to person communications mode

[muntrv]

14. Way to go. Young guy talks the talk

but can't walk the walk.

[Warpy]

17. Great conversation

I've been around such conversations and had the good sense to shut up while guys who were there for other wars of convenience have told chickenhawks what it is all about and how those chickenhawks are viewed by people who have been there and done that.

I think Stupid is scaring the hell out of the whole officer corps. They know if he's insane enough to start bombing Iran, WWIII will soon follow. They also know this country will not be on the winning side this time, nukes or not.

We will likely not survive as a country should it occur.

[DemoTex]

21. My kind of general officer.

BTW: What is 98B? I was a 101CO (fixed-wing multi-engine aviator). I guess general officers are way past MOS's.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. 98 B is medic, just like 98a is Corpsman

so the medics get to baby seat troops and the Corpsmen get to baby seat marines...

And one more thing, he admits he was all for doing what needed to be done, but it has been bungled beyond belief. As I said we had a very long converstaion.

And officers, generally speaking don't have an MOS, he was just making a point...

It was a very long, interesting converstation... and some of his friends and pals are snake eaters... and they are not too happy, if you get my drift

[DemoTex]

30. Medic up! My hat is off to you.

Back when I was on active duty, company grade/warrant officer aviators had an MOS. A dual-rated (helicopter/fixed-wing) pilot would have two MOS's.

[nadinbrzezinski]

51. that is cool

I became a medic and did ten in the country of my birth as a way to pay back in service to the country that received my dad after the holocaust

Trust me, my parents were never too thrilled

[xchrom]

25. fighting the war of ideas!?!?

what is he -- newt gingrich jr.?

it's always a war with these limp brain fucks.

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. Yep it is always a war with them

funny thing never the real deal though

[xchrom]

36. you're right about that.

but i would have LOST it the minute the word war fell outa his lips.

that woulda made me go all pants on fire.

[opihimoimoi]

34. swallowed a lotta cool aid he did....

[xchrom]

37. lol -- don't tell him he swallowed.

[opihimoimoi]

39. He SWALLOWED the WHOLE LOAD...all 42 Gallons of it...

1 barrel of oil...dats how dey sell the damn thing...

In his case..its cool aid....

[driver8]

49. Probably just a local university "young republican"...

we all know how brave and loyal they can be!

[nadinbrzezinski]

53. He is now out of school and working at a local office

he goes to the same starbucks I go to during his lunch break, and is always complaining about something, we have locked horns before... but today it WAS fun... hey it is the second time I do the charitable thing and offer to take him down to see the recruiter. For some reason he has turned me, a cop who offered the same and a coupple other people down more than once.

[Ravenseye]

29. So, here's my question

Not to be snotty, but does that mean that if you haven't served you can't comment on the war, or how we use our troops overseas, if you haven't served in the military? Or can you only support military action of any kind if you've served?

I wanted to serve, but I blew my knee out so badly playing football they wouldn't take me. Am I not ever allowed to have an opinion on war?

on edit -> This kid was obviously an ass, i'm just askin...

[MichiganVote]

33. Having an opinion does not entitle anyone to be disrespectful of others

The kid was pompous and rude. No doubt you'd be more mindful of what it takes to have a dialogue.

[treestar]

44. I know what you mean, don't subscribe to the idea that having

happened to be the right gender at the right time and having happened to come out of the war alive gives a person's opinion some sort of privileged status.

I don't have to be in a war to know 1) it's hell and 2) it may at some point be necessary.

Worse than the soldiers are their wives. Especially if the soldier died and the wife, still alive, decades later uses the young soldier's death to prop her opinion about a later and different war.

On the internet, none of this can be proven. I could say I served or say I had a husband who was killed in any given war on the internet and who could prove me wrong? On the internet it is a possible lie meant to guilt you into agreeing with them.

[nadinbrzezinski]

55. Depends on the attitude, any INFORMED

opinioon... go for it, but this kid IS an ass and not the first time we have locked horns.

Now if you asked Robert Heinlein he had a solution to the problem... and the reason for that was what is going on right now... the whole background for Starship Troopers is the abuse of veterans of war.

[Ravenseye]

61. ok gotcha (nt)

[driver8]

58. You can comment on the war if you haven't served...just don't

go questioning the patriotism of those who have served and oppose the war. That is what pisses me off...when some ignorant piece of sh*t tells me that I am a traitor and that I don't support the troops because I don't support the war. Believe it or not, I have been told this by other veterans, too.

[nadinbrzezinski]

59. Yep, exactly that is the point

[antigone382]

32. "mickey mouse canoe club cards"

:rofl:

He didn't want one, too?

[yellerpup]

35. Impressive that you had the patience to keep teaching

through the kid's bs. I think you may have actually made a point with him. Good story.

[electron_blue]

38. I really wish I understood this. I read it 3 times and still don't....

You lost me at hello...

[tishaLA]

40. I don't understand it either

But it'd be a stretch to say I "wish" I did. It's so incomprehensible, it has left me numb. And this comes from someone who reads and teaches Gertrude Stein, Faulkner, and Charles Chesnutt--and likes it!

[kineneb]

41. not military and do understand

NB. meets active military guy at coffee shop... they quetsch about the Little Emperor... butthead kid calls them traitors... they pull military ID on him and offer to take him to enlistment officers... butthead, being a chicken(hawk) gets weak knees and declines invitation... all around putdown of kid and his stupid ideas... end scene.

[electron_blue]

43. LOL! Thanks for the cliffs notes.

[nadinbrzezinski]

56. Just one correction... RETIRED General Officer

not active duty... after that, yep, you got it

[Miss Chybil]

42. The OP goes to Starbucks and starts talking to a retired general

about the war and the administration. A young man joins the conversation in defense of the president. The general asks the young man in which branch of the service did he serve. The young man says he's fighting a war of ideas here in the states. The OP and the general basically tell him to put up, or shut up. (Join the military and fight for his ideas, or be quiet.) The rest of the story is not central to the plot.

[KeepItReal]

45. Old rap song comes to mind: "Punks Jump Up and Get Beat Down"

Great story.

:thumbsup:

[Swamp Rat]

46. Geaux nadinbrzezinski!

:patriot: :kick:

I hope the next time y'all come across that little piece of shit you'll drag him kicking and screaming to a recruiter.

Why should we allow the rw fucktards to keep living their Keyboard Warrior fantasies? Time for them to put up or shut up!

GO ENLIST COLLEGE REPUBLICANS!!



UNCLE SAM NEEDS COLLEGE REPUBLICANS NOW!!

[yardwork]

47. Great post! Thank you for letting us know about what the general said

The military is in a position to do something about this if the voting machines continue to be rigged.

[nadinbrzezinski]

57. I'm afraid that if the generals decide to

ahem do something about it, we will never nkow about it, and I will add... it shuold be that way. It may filter to the troops and we might hear it in some years down the line... but if they decide to collectively disobey ilegal orders... chances are we will not know about it.

[Garbo 2004]

63. I've wondered about that myself for the last year or so, whether at some

point they'll just say "No."

[nadinbrzezinski]

71. Depends, they have made quite the cleanup

you have folks like LtGen Boykin who will salute, smartly turn around and turn the key.

Then you have the folks who are grumbling to friends and colleages who are on the outside... or to Sly Hersh, and from what I got today it sound more like HELP... or testing of the waters.

Bear in mind if we have a majority of officers basically disobeying ilegal orders, and the boykin's of the world are the minority, they may succceed. On the other hand if the purge is more or less complete, I don't hold hopes in that case that the General Officers will be able to do a thing. Oh and court martials I fear would be Field Court Martials and quite summary... it is called an example... so at this stage time will tell.

[Kurovski]

60. K&R, Job well done all around, NB.

[YOY]

64. I could just hear the Beastie Boy song "Tough Guy" every time the kid

opened his mouth.

Good for you Nadin.

[Hippo_Tron]

66. You know, in these situations it helps that Bush's approval is 31%

The "60% of the country agrees with me" works pretty well.

[REP]

67. Thank You For Passing This On!

I wish I could shake your hand and the hand of that retired general.

I've also noticed that when I hear people volunteering others to be shot at, it's usually those who have never been shot at themselves (and are unwilling to take that risk personally).

[nadinbrzezinski]

69. Yep that said

under certain circumstances I would be willing to go into the line myself once again... no I am not anti war, just this particular war...

[yorkiemommie1]

68. suppose you hand him an enlistment form and a pen

the next time he starts in on you.

offer to help him fill it out then offer him a ride to the recruiting station.

hold the form and the pen right at him. see if he dares to touch them!

[nadinbrzezinski]

70. I am on crutches right at the moment

so what I can carry on me is very limited to my editing material and the HPC and kepboard... before the small accident I used to leave them forms on
cars...

[GeorgeGist]

72. Sure you did...

:rofl: :woohoo: :rofl: :woohoo: :rofl: :woohoo: :rofl: :woohoo: :rofl: :woohoo:

[Ganja Ninja]

73. He's fighting the war of ideas. Bwhahahahaha!

That war's not going to well either.

[nadinbrzezinski]

74. No it is not

but hey I am willing to help him FIGHT the real war... you know the kind where those darn cute mosquitoes have a very deadly byte

[druidity33]

75. just one question...

What were you doing at the Starbucks (yuck), do you not have a cooler local coffee shop? One with 100% fair trade/organic/shade grown beans? Perhaps hanging out at the Starbucks is why you run into the Young Rethug nitwit...

As a former barrista and frequent coffee shop patron i can also attest that Starbucks tends to burn their beans (in my opinion to hide the subtle tang of subpar coffee)... plus they're so darned expensive and filled with corporately promoted piped in tunes.

You can do better!

:beer:
who says that's beer?