General Milley destroys Matt Gaetz in answering question about Critical Race Theory, “wokeness” and the military (1 Viewer)

[IvanKaramazov]

If you honestly believe that the two speech writers assigned to the brief testimony from months ago would have made the difference in the Afghanistan planning, I really don't know what to tell you.

Yes, I know.  This one particular DEI initiative wasn't that costly, and the resources it took away from the organization weren't the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.  It's the constellation of DEI stuff, of which this kind of thing is one small part, that adds up.  

There's no good reason for our military to be planting a flag in the culture wars.  There was also never any good reason for our universities or media organizations to do so, but that ship sailed a while ago.

 

[quick-hands]

I disagree.  Part of any job, or institution, includes such functions as recruiting, public messaging, or, in this particular case, responding to bat#### crazy Republican legislators.  Diversity is a reasonable goal.  Diversity can be increased through public messaging.  Diversity can be encouraged within an organization through internal messaging.

If you honestly believe that the two speech writers assigned to the brief testimony from months ago would have made the difference in the Afghanistan planning, I really don't know what to tell you.

Bat #### crazy Republicans?     Have you seen Nancy Pelosi,   the squad.   Chuck shumer?

 

[RCon]

This is the kind of mission drift I'm talking about.  

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.  I think diversity, improving workplace culture, etc. are reasonable goals.

 

[quick-hands]

All things considered, the airforce is the branch I'd send my kids to if they wanted a recommendation. 

Most woke of the bunch, but quality of life and the future skillsets people acquire are better. 

That's what my brother  was thinking.   He wouldn't even let him talk to any other recruiter 

 

[Insein]

You can argue about the minutiae of whether having the military be a force for political ideology is good or bad but on the surface, we look like a bunch of lunatics focusing on putting women and men who think they're women in critical positions of our military. Then we get embarrassed in Afghanistan by a bunch a stone age yokels with AKs and Toyota compact pickups from the 80's and 90's. If this isn't the lowest point PR wise for the US military in the last 100 years, I don't know what is. 

Edit: And that includes Vietnam

 

[JIslander]

You can argue about the minutiae of whether having the military be a force for political ideology is good or bad but on the surface, we look like a bunch of lunatics focusing on putting women and men who think they're women in critical positions of our military. Then we get embarrassed in Afghanistan by a bunch a stone age yokels with AKs and Toyota compact pickups from the 80's and 90's. If this isn't the lowest point PR wise for the US military in the last 100 years, I don't know what is. 

The terrorists have functioned like that forever.  But I missed the report about the "woke" US Servicemen and woman there getting embarrassed.   Man thats a bad take of yours.  I sense you didn't mean it that way, but there it is...

 

[Max Power]

The terrorists have functioned like that forever.  But I missed the report about the "woke" US Servicemen and woman there getting embarrassed.   Man thats a bad take of yours.  I sense you didn't mean it that way, but there it is...

The military had room to explore wokeness, diversity, and equality issues when it was on top of its game and not making bad decisions.

Coming off of several poor decisions in a row, it's understandable to question if our priorities are in the right places. 

We're in the process of revamping the fighter jet community to be less white males when everything that has driven that community is performance based. 

 

[KarmaPolice]

The military had room to explore wokeness, diversity, and equality issues when it was on top of its game and not making bad decisions.

Coming off of several poor decisions in a row, it's understandable to question if our priorities are in the right places. 

We're in the process of revamping the fighter jet community to be less white males when everything that has driven that community is performance based. 

How can we go about getting opportunities to a more diverse group of people instead of forcing the issue on the backside like this? 

 

[Max Power]

How can we go about getting opportunities to a more diverse group of people instead of forcing the issue on the backside like this? 

The military doesn't limit opportunities based on race and it's much better with gender now. Positions have always been performance based. 

The military went to a single PT test for both genders and that failed spectacularly. 

When the job is performance based, diversity doesnt matter. Shouldnt matter. 

 

[KarmaPolice]

The military doesn't limit opportunities based on race and it's much better with gender now. Positions have always been performance based. 

The military went to a single PT test for both genders and that failed spectacularly. 

When the job is performance based, diversity doesnt matter. Shouldnt matter. 

I get what you are saying.  I know little about the military.   I was just curious what might lead to the discrepancy in the jet fighter population as far as gender/race in the first place.   anything to do with access to simulators, flying in general before they get into the military? 

I could see how the unified pt test would be a dud idea, especially if you are suggesting they decreased the standards to do such a thing. 

 

[unckeyherb]

I get what you are saying.  I know little about the military.   I was just curious what might lead to the discrepancy in the jet fighter population as far as gender/race in the first place.   anything to do with access to simulators, flying in general before they get into the military? 

I could see how the unified pt test would be a dud idea, especially if you are suggesting they decreased the standards to do such a thing. 

Different people choose different avenues for myriad reasons.  This is reflected in education choices, job choices, life choices across all genders, races, cultures, differences in age, etc.  

Another question would be, why do we care?  Especially in this specific case, I'm far less interested in making sure that we have enough black women jet fighters than we do highly qualified jet fighters.  Not saying that the second precludes the first, just that the first shouldn't even be a part of the assessment.

 

[Max Power]

I get what you are saying.  I know little about the military.   I was just curious what might lead to the discrepancy in the jet fighter population as far as gender/race in the first place.   anything to do with access to simulators, flying in general before they get into the military? 

I could see how the unified pt test would be a dud idea, especially if you are suggesting they decreased the standards to do such a thing. 

I'm sure exposure prior to military entry drives the demographic. But the opportunity is exactly the same. More white males sign up for the military than other other group.

Commercial airliners are fighting the same problem. 87% are white males. It's hard to force diversity without incentives or different standards. 

 

[KarmaPolice]

Different people choose different avenues for myriad reasons.  This is reflected in education choices, job choices, life choices across all genders, races, cultures, differences in age, etc.  

Another question would be, why do we care?  Especially in this specific case, I'm far less interested in making sure that we have enough black women jet fighters than we do highly qualified jet fighters.  Not saying that the second precludes the first, just that the first shouldn't even be a part of the assessment.

As I have said in other similar threads, I am more interested from the opportunity side.  So I think we should care in the sense that if we are limiting access to everybody, then we are not getting all the best people.  

if there is only 1 black female fighter pilot, it is different if the reason is lack of opportunity vs lack of interest.   

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I get what you are saying.  I know little about the military.   I was just curious what might lead to the discrepancy in the jet fighter population as far as gender/race in the first place.   anything to do with access to simulators, flying in general before they get into the military? 

I could see how the unified pt test would be a dud idea, especially if you are suggesting they decreased the standards to do such a thing. 

This isn't a problem that the military can solve, so it shouldn't devote resources to trying to solve it.  Just pick the best pilots you can find.  Their race and gender should be a matter of total indifference to everyone.

(The DEI-driven counterargument is that if we provided flight simulators to kids in under-resourced middle schools, more URM kids would become pilots, some of whom would be good, and the military's overall stock of pilots would increase, which is good for military readiness.  That's how a woke organization talks itself into veering off into high-cost, low-return adventures that have little to do with their main mission but that have a lot to do with advancing a certain set of ideological hobby horses.  And of course, when flight-simulators-for-urban-middle-schools doesn't produce the right mix of pilots, that will be used as evidence that we didn't put enough flight simulators in enough urban middle schools and maybe we should be buying actual planes for school districts too and why not have little summer camps for URM kids, etc.  It's similar to "true communism has never been tried" in that failure is used as a justification for doubling down). 

 

[KarmaPolice]

I'm sure exposure prior to military entry drives the demographic. But the opportunity is exactly the same. More white males sign up for the military than other other group.

Commercial airliners are fighting the same problem. 87% are white males. It's hard to force diversity without incentives or different standards. 

thanks.  it's hard to force a group that's mostly white dudes into a group that's not mostly white dudes.    

I think it's one of those career paths that are just naturally lopsided, especially when you factor in commercial pilots and we see similar trends.  

 

[KarmaPolice]

This isn't a problem that the military can solve, so it shouldn't devote resources to trying to solve it.  Just pick the best pilots you can find.  Their race and gender should be a matter of total indifference to everyone.

(The DEI-driven counterargument is that if we provided flight simulators to kids in under-resourced middle schools, more URM kids would become pilots, some of whom would be good, and the military's overall stock of pilots would increase, which is good for military readiness.  That's how a woke organization talks itself into veering off into high-cost, low-return adventures that have little to do with their main mission but that have a lot to do with advancing a certain set of ideological hobby horses.  And of course, when flight-simulators-for-urban-middle-schools doesn't produce the right mix of pilots, that will be used as evidence that we didn't put enough flight simulators in enough urban middle schools and maybe we should be buying actual planes for school districts too and why not have little summer camps for URM kids, etc.  It's similar to "true communism has never been tried" in that failure is used as a justification for doubling down). 

Very fair point.  

 

[unckeyherb]

As I have said in other similar threads, I am more interested from the opportunity side.  So I think we should care in the sense that if we are limiting access to everybody, then we are not getting all the best people.  

if there is only 1 black female fighter pilot, it is different if the reason is lack of opportunity vs lack of interest.   

Do you feel the same way about plumbers?  I mean, something like 95-97% of licensed plumbers are male.  There are literally no roadblocks to women becoming plumbers.  Everyone needs their toilet fixed.  Trade schools are an obvious choice for someone in a low-income situation that may not have the best higher education options and plumbers, frankly, do very well.  Even in light of this, practically no women choose this line of work.  Like I said, different people choose different paths and more importantly, this isn't a problem that needs to be fixed.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Do you feel the same way about plumbers?  I mean, something like 95-97% of licensed plumbers are male.  There are literally no roadblocks to women becoming plumbers.  Everyone needs their toilet fixed.  Trade schools are an obvious choice for someone in a low-income situation that may not have the best higher education options and plumbers, frankly, do very well.  Even in light of this, practically no women choose this line of work.  Like I said, different people choose different paths and more importantly, this isn't a problem that needs to be fixed.

Of course, we are basically saying the same thing.  stats like that don't bother me, but I am interested in why they are like that.  I more look at things as we expand out for things that might need to be addressed, but looking at specific careers I assume we see all sorts of explainable discrepancies like these.  

 

[kface]

Of course, we are basically saying the same thing.  stats like that don't bother me, but I am interested in why they are like that.  I more look at things as we expand out for things that might need to be addressed, but looking at specific careers I assume we see all sorts of explainable discrepancies like these.  

If you want more african american female fighter pilots create a 100 movies like top gun where they are the star and people will line up....it's that simple

 

[KarmaPolice]

If you want more african american female fighter pilots create a 100 movies like top gun where they are the star and people will line up....it's that simple

lol.  too true.  

 

[kface]

lol.  too true.  

It was only 60 years ago that women were coming off 100s of years of being told they can't do anything but cook in the kitchen.  

 

[unckeyherb]

Of course, we are basically saying the same thing.  stats like that don't bother me, but I am interested in why they are like that.  I more look at things as we expand out for things that might need to be addressed, but looking at specific careers I assume we see all sorts of explainable discrepancies like these.  

I mean, it seems pretty clear to me that the easiest and also correct answer is choice.  Women don't choose to be fighter pilots or plumbers just like men don't choose to be social workers.  It's not solely based on exposure to simulators. 

You state that you are looking for things that might need to be addressed, but I'm not convinced this is something that can be or more importantly needs to be addressed.  When you throw wokeness into your idea of looking for things to be addressed, you'll start to see all sorts of examples of inherrent/systemic racism/sexism/etc not because ite there, but because like the old saying goes, when all you have is a hammer, all you see are nails.  

ETA: not saying you are doing the wokeness part.  Generally speaking.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I mean, it seems pretty clear to me that the easiest and also correct answer is choice.  Women don't choose to be fighter pilots or plumbers just like men don't choose to be social workers.  It's not solely based on exposure to simulators. 

You state that you are looking for things that might need to be addressed, but I'm not convinced this is something that can be or more importantly needs to be addressed.  When you throw wokeness into your idea of looking for things to be addressed, you'll start to see all sorts of examples of inherrent/systemic racism/sexism/etc not because ite there, but because like the old saying goes, when all you have is a hammer, all you see are nails.  

ETA: not saying you are doing the wokeness part.  Generally speaking.

here's example I am talking about:  

95% of plumbers being white males.

vs 

95% of all ceos being white males.  

Now, I am not saying that one or both have to be fixed, but imo one seems a little more problematic can't easily explained away by choice.   Like I said, I try to look more big picture, and I believe people try too hard to force the issue on specific things like plumbers and fighter pilots.  

 

[kface]

here's example I am talking about:  

95% of plumbers being white males.

vs 

95% of all ceos being white males.  

Now, I am not saying that one or both have to be fixed, but imo one seems a little more problematic can't easily explained away by choice.   Like I said, I try to look more big picture, and I believe people try too hard to force the issue on specific things like plumbers and fighter pilots.  

I think this misses the larger contextual question though.  Everyone in here thinks plumbing is a man's job.  It's not shocking that most women think that too still.  Again, it hasn't been that long since they were told otherwise.  It might be a choice but it's a subconscious choice based on 100s of years of being told otherwise.  

 

[unckeyherb]

here's example I am talking about:  

95% of plumbers being white males.

vs 

95% of all ceos being white males.  

Now, I am not saying that one or both have to be fixed, but imo one seems a little more problematic can't easily explained away by choice.   Like I said, I try to look more big picture, and I believe people try too hard to force the issue on specific things like plumbers and fighter pilots.  

I'm not forcing the issue on anything.  Fighter pilots was your point, I posited with plumbers as an example but CEO's work too.  There are many many reasons for there being far more males than females in CEO positions.  

• Men enter the workplace earlier than women, starting their climb up the ladder sooner.
  
• Men are willing to work longer hours than women
  
• Men are more willing to travel for their jobs than women
  
• Men do not have to make a potentially career-altering decision in their lives regarding having a child and don't have the gap in career due to child birth and raising children that women do.
  
• Men choose educational paths much differently than women; mathematics, computer science, petroleum or chemical engineering are some of the best paying majors and are dominated by men, some as high as 87%.  On the flip side, some of the lowest paying degrees, such as counseling, young child education, social work are dominated by women, one as high as 97%.  The higher paying jobs are typically corporate and pipelines to executive positions.  The lower paying jobs are not.
  
• Men are far more disagreeable than women.  This results in men negotiating raises, status increase, job title upgrades, etc better and more often than women.  
  

 

[unckeyherb]

I think this misses the larger contextual question though.  Everyone in here thinks plumbing is a man's job.  It's not shocking that most women think that too still.  Again, it hasn't been that long since they were told otherwise.  It might be a choice but it's a subconscious choice based on 100s of years of being told otherwise.  

Or women aren't drawn to that kind of work simply because women's brains are different and while men default to putting things together, women default to helping other humans.  This is not a social-construct thing, this is a biological difference that goes back long before there was western democracy or capitalism.

 

[kface]

Or women aren't drawn to that kind of work simply because women's brains are different and while men default to putting things together, women default to helping other humans.  This is not a social-construct thing, this is a biological difference that goes back long before there was western democracy or capitalism.

50 years ago doctors were almost all men and still mostly is and they are care givers  

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00677-x

 

[BladeRunner]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.  I think diversity, improving workplace culture, etc. are reasonable goals.

Spoken like someone who's never the inside of a barracks.

 

[unckeyherb]

50 years ago doctors were almost all men and still mostly is and they are care givers  

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00677-x

And now, women make up far more of the percentage of doctors, in some fields, outpacing men.  The vast majority of lower paying care giver jobs (nursing, nursing home attendants, etc.) are women.  

 

[kface]

And now, women make up far more of the percentage of doctors, in some fields, outpacing men.  The vast majority of lower paying care giver jobs (nursing, nursing home attendants, etc.) are women.  

Interesting way to interpret that chart.  In the fast majority of fields women continue to be a pretty big minority.

https://www.athenahealth.com/knowledge-hub/practice-management/infographic-gender-disparities-among-physicians

Overall it's still 2/3 male 

And there has been a huge societal push to get women into being doctors so there is no doubt they are catching up which is great.  But again, 60 years ago, there was an understanding only men could be doctors.  It's a tough barrier to overcome.  

 

[unckeyherb]

Interesting way to interpret that chart.  In the fast majority of fields women continue to be a pretty big minority.

https://www.athenahealth.com/knowledge-hub/practice-management/infographic-gender-disparities-among-physicians

Overall it's still 2/3 male 

And there has been a huge societal push to get women into being doctors so there is no doubt they are catching up which is great.  But again, 60 years ago, there was an understanding only men could be doctors.  It's a tough barrier to overcome.  

No question, but like you said, 60 years ago there basically were not women doctors and now they make up something like 35%.  More to the point, there are more women in medical school right now than there are men.  From that article, "from 2009 to 2019 the number of men in medical school increased by 5,465 while the number of women increased by 9,899."  Thats nearly double the number.

 

[kface]

No question, but like you said, 60 years ago there basically were not women doctors and now they make up something like 35%.  More to the point, there are more women in medical school right now than there are men.  From that article, "from 2009 to 2019 the number of men in medical school increased by 5,465 while the number of women increased by 9,899."  Thats nearly double the number.

It's an awesome turn of events for society showing that when we try, we can turn the tide on decades of telling women they can't be something and have them not only go into the field but be incredibly successful.  

 

[KarmaPolice]

I'm not forcing the issue on anything.  Fighter pilots was your point, I posited with plumbers as an example but CEO's work too.  There are many many reasons for there being far more males than females in CEO positions.  

• Men enter the workplace earlier than women, starting their climb up the ladder sooner.
  
• Men are willing to work longer hours than women
  
• Men are more willing to travel for their jobs than women
  
• Men do not have to make a potentially career-altering decision in their lives regarding having a child and don't have the gap in career due to child birth and raising children that women do.
  
• Men choose educational paths much differently than women; mathematics, computer science, petroleum or chemical engineering are some of the best paying majors and are dominated by men, some as high as 87%.  On the flip side, some of the lowest paying degrees, such as counseling, young child education, social work are dominated by women, one as high as 97%.  The higher paying jobs are typically corporate and pipelines to executive positions.  The lower paying jobs are not.
  
• Men are far more disagreeable than women.  This results in men negotiating raises, status increase, job title upgrades, etc better and more often than women.  
  

I get all that, and I was pretty specific in saying my post didn't mean I thought things should be fixed, more that differences like that might raise suspicion more for me.  You bring up great points that highlight differences I decisions.  

The above also doesn't address why only 1% of ceos are black.  

 

[unckeyherb]

Either way, to the broader point, a good-faith argument for the DEI model being applied to the military can be made.  I clearly disagree with it completely, but thats irrelevant.  The point is, if you are spending any calorie burn on that, you'd better be straight killing it in the area of your main focus.  Milley was an architect of one of the most disasterous foreign policy blunders in our history.  That he had time to speak out about supposed white-privilege in the military while also leading us into this debacle is going to bring criticism, rightly so IMO.

 

[unckeyherb]

I get all that, and I was pretty specific in saying my post didn't mean I thought things should be fixed, more that differences like that might raise suspicion more for me.  You bring up great points that highlight differences I decisions.  

The above also doesn't address why only 1% of ceos are black.  

yep, I agree and I don't have the answers.  I do find it interesting that these Fortune 500 companies that are completely top heavy with white men are some of the most vocal supporters of BLM and other similar groups.  They'll be more than glad to wave a BLM or LGBTQ flag high on the corporate offices or their websites, just don't expect them to apply the same thinking when it comes to their own leadership.  

 

[unckeyherb]

It's an awesome turn of events for society showing that when we try, we can turn the tide on decades of telling women they can't be something and have them not only go into the field but be incredibly successful.  

Totally.  The obvious takeaway is that, at some point, we should get to a space where the faults of the past can be left in the past and the gains of the present should be heralded.  Unfortunately, I feel like we are no where near that point.

 

[kface]

Totally.  The obvious takeaway is that, at some point, we should get to a space where the faults of the past can be left in the past and the gains of the present should be heralded.  Unfortunately, I feel like we are no where near that point.

I agree somewhat.  i just think that the fault of the past (let's say women as doctors) wouldn't have been at least partially corrected unless real efforts were made in the now to correct those.  If we just ignored it then it would have taken much longer to catch up

i hear what you are saying. There are legitimate conversations to be had but everything in this country is so bloody political at this point

 

[unckeyherb]

I agree somewhat.  i just think that the fault of the past (let's say women as doctors) wouldn't have been at least partially corrected unless real efforts were made in the now to correct those.  If we just ignored it then it would have taken much longer to catch up

i hear what you are saying. There are legitimate conversations to be had but everything in this country is so bloody political at this point

You'll get no argument from me.  We're ####ed.  IMHO.

 

[Insein]

I'm not forcing the issue on anything.  Fighter pilots was your point, I posited with plumbers as an example but CEO's work too.  There are many many reasons for there being far more males than females in CEO positions.  

• Men enter the workplace earlier than women, starting their climb up the ladder sooner.
  
• Men are willing to work longer hours than women
  
• Men are more willing to travel for their jobs than women
  
• Men do not have to make a potentially career-altering decision in their lives regarding having a child and don't have the gap in career due to child birth and raising children that women do.
  
• Men choose educational paths much differently than women; mathematics, computer science, petroleum or chemical engineering are some of the best paying majors and are dominated by men, some as high as 87%.  On the flip side, some of the lowest paying degrees, such as counseling, young child education, social work are dominated by women, one as high as 97%.  The higher paying jobs are typically corporate and pipelines to executive positions.  The lower paying jobs are not.
  
• Men are far more disagreeable than women.  This results in men negotiating raises, status increase, job title upgrades, etc better and more often than women.  
  

Also have to factor in that despite many improvements in society accepting these things on face value, women still face criticism from other women if they do go into those predominantly male roles. Whether it's a great amount or perceived, women still feel guilt for neglecting their families or not having a family right or wrong. 

 

[Max Power]

Speculation on my part, but I think internal military turmoil will boil to the surface soon. 

I'm not confident to say when or how, but I know strong emotions are coming into play from many angles. 

The military already had plenty issues cooking on the back burners. Adding more trust and accountability questions to the mix only make this worse. 

 

[GordonGekko]

How can we go about getting opportunities to a more diverse group of people instead of forcing the issue on the backside like this? 

Last May, the USAF changed it's height requirements/limitations on applicants to be pilots.  That specific change dramatically changed the applicant pool ( to include more women and some ranges of specific minorities) than ever before in military aviation history.

THAT SURE LOOKS LIKE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITY TO ME.

If you bothered to look anything up (you've admitted you don't), then maybe you could have found that out on your own.

Why don't you try something different. Instead of asking people to spoon feed you, look up the key pros/cons to an issue like this and bring it back to everyone, present it, and ask people what they think about it.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I get it, you guys.   God forbid people ask questions around here.  The threads are now only for people who know everything about the topic and have their opinions already decided.  Sorry I've admitted not knowing something about a topic in the past.  

 

[dickey moe]

I've recently returned to the PF after a self-imposed hiatus, and this is one of the best discussions I've seen in here. Thoughtful and civil. Good job everyone. 

 

[Soonerman]

I wish Milley would have put his "white rage" analysis on the back burner and studied up a little more on basic military logistics, and/or "Taliban rage".

 

[Shutout]

As I have said in other similar threads, I am more interested from the opportunity side.  So I think we should care in the sense that if we are limiting access to everybody, then we are not getting all the best people.  

if there is only 1 black female fighter pilot, it is different if the reason is lack of opportunity vs lack of interest.   

As a former Air Force Pilot, I can 100% guarantee you that opportunity in this case goes not one step further than ability. 

If Gumby and a Barbie doll walked in that flight room and demonstrated better fighter pilot skills than me and my Nav, We would have been sitting on the ground watching "our" fighter launch with a  green guy and blonde in it. 

These issues are just simply too damned important to get cutesie about. When you are defending air space, America, citizens, the world...Men and women in charge of the military want people who get results and it doesn't matter one iota what color, creed, religion, etc they are. 

People who have been in the military know how this is. You can be an officer and if there is a mid-level enlisted person in the room who knows what they are talking about, Everyone defers and listens. Experience and ability is respected at an incredibly high level. Those egos check themselves when the important stuff happens. 

 

[Maggot Brain]

People who have been in the military know how this is. You can be an officer and if there is a mid-level enlisted person in the room who knows what they are talking about, Everyone defers and listens. Experience and ability is respected at an incredibly high level. Those egos check themselves when the important stuff happens. 

You absolutely have that right.

 

[dancer]

As a former Air Force Pilot, I can 100% guarantee you that opportunity in this case goes not one step further than ability. 

You are saying here that if one has the ability, then they have equal opportunity. Let's accept that as 100% accurate.

I think that leaves the question - does everyone have the same opportunity to get the ability needed? 

I am sure the answer to that is no, that there are some individuals that simply don't have an equal opportunity to gain such ability. And there are many possible reasons for this, including family situation, class, role models, environment, culture, religion, etc. Sure the possibility of an opportunity might exist for all, but it might be much smaller for the situation one person is born into vs. another. 

Not saying I have any solution here, but maybe that is where the issue lies, rather than any concern that those who have the ability aren't given their opportunity.  

 

[woodstock]

Good at answering questions in front of a Congressional panel. Bad at breaking things and winning. 

Welcome to the politicized military, as hyper-partisan as the civilians that oversee it, in this case incorporating one side's ridiculousness into the fold. 

We shouldn't be surprised by either question or answer. One is a grandstanding, accused sex offender looking to distract from his complete ineptitude, the other is a career hustler, eager to display his political strengths rather than the competency in overseeing and implementing solutions at the job he's been recruited for and assigned to. Or maybe this was really his raison d'etre. It would seem to suit our civilian leanings these days, these woke answers. 

Lotta talk from two blowhards, neither of whom are great at their jobs. That's what this reeks of to me. 

 

[[scooter]]

Speculation on my part, but I think internal military turmoil will boil to the surface soon. 

I'm not confident to say when or how, but I know strong emotions are coming into play from many angles. 

The military already had plenty issues cooking on the back burners. Adding more trust and accountability questions to the mix only make this worse. 

Naysayers have been predicting some variation on military turmoil boiling to the surface for (checks watch) 246 years now. It's about as common and accurate as predicting the second coming of Christ.

 

[GordonGekko]

I wish Milley would have put his "white rage" analysis on the back burner and studied up a little more on basic military logistics, and/or "Taliban rage".

To balance this out, Milley could have resurrected Rommel, Patton, Agrippa from Ancient Rome and Alexander the Great to help him come up with strategy, but if Biden turfs the idea, then none of it matters.

That being said, if Milley believed the men under his command, where he had a duty and responsibility to their safety and well being, would be egregiously put in harms way with horrible destructive idiotic policy from Biden, he should have resigned. 

He would have lost his career but he would have saved his honor.

If it was me, I would resigned, contacted the entire MSM, and then picked up a rifle and gone to Kabul myself. If someone wants to gang rape 11 and 12 year old girls and prepare for terrorism against Americans and kill our servicemen, then they can go through me first.

Bill Parcells said it best. If your first goal is to save your job no matter what, then you aren't actually doing your job.