jdhill

How one dresses in front of clients or customers can be different than how one dresses in an informal setting with internal associates. In my firm, you can tell who is asking for something, us or the visitor, by who is wearing the suit. J

Say you were on a business trip, with your co-workers, not clients... say you want to have an informal discussion with the group (again, no clients), say over breakfast on the pooldeck, a few hours before you had to be anywhere... would you ware shorts and a t-shirt, or kakhis and golf shirt? What if the picture was Ridge sitting by the pool in a suit? I'll bet a lot of the comments would sound something like, "What a stuffed shirt that guy is, he can't even relax in Hawaii" J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

What I see is a "best case" approach to planning this operation, and failure to acknowledge that the plan needs adjustment when the troops are not faced with the best case... I see a lot of things going on now that were planned for as far back as 1994 and that were left out of the plan for this operation, specifically the number of forces required (at least 2 more divisions were part of the original plan), and dealing with EPWs and dealing with the civilian population... He thought we would be greated as liberators, well we weren't and there wasn't much change in the approach... He tried to go lean and mean... but that meant that there were not follow-on forces to secre the lines of communication, secure EPWs, and otherwise secure the battlefield, and our guys have been paying the price for it. I don't give a shit what his schedule is, he should be able to find the time to personally sign what amounts to less than 1 letter per day. If he is that busy, than don't bother... I'm pretty sure the company and/or BN commanders (in combat) took the time. Get the APCs that are sitting in Pre-po stock yards and ships in theater instead of waiting for an armor work around for a vehicle that is being used outside of it intended design. They can be there faster and at less cost. Enough troops, US or otherwise, are needed to secure multiple cities, AT THE SAME TIME. The Marines and Army ran them out of Faluja, now they are in Mosul. The Army will go into Mosul, and where will the bad guys go next, Kirkuk, Tikrit, or slip into Bagdad? All sanctuaries need to be taken away at the same time... You also need to take away any support the population gives, or is forced to give... SF and CA activities are part of that... Security is the other, and in the absence of a meaningful police force, that means troops, US or otherwise. I have never claimed to be better qualified, but I have led troops, and had to deliver bad news to families. Condolences don't mean shit when they come in a form letter with a rubber stamp or automated signature. J

Very off topic, but... I was disappointed in my visit to your island... the aloha spirit seemed to be absent, and the locals on the road to Hana were downright dangerous (not to mention belligerent). J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Well, I can assure you that it happens, particularly on trips... some of my most productive time is out of the office in informal environments. J

Well, he's wearing a shirt, so that can't do too much for a tan... have you ever been "on the clock" but not in the "office" or in "office attire"? The tone of the article questions the justification for him, or anyone from DHS it seems, being at a conference in Hawaii. Could there be a reasonable justification for being on the pool deck during office time? A working breakfast, or informal discussions with his staff... for all we know there are a team of his spring-butts just off camera... J

Sure, it would be nice to get the troops that kind of break, but the cost of ridge's trip would not even touch it... ABC caught him at the pool, and their report would suggest he spent the whole day there... My guess is he was there for an hour or two... The whole story has the "We got ya - a la National Enquirer" kinda smell to it. J

Maybe sitting by a pool in Hawaii is helping his demeanor too. I know it helped mine about a month and a half ago J

Who was it that said, if you speek in absolutes, you are almost certain to be wrong? I'm a conservative (party affiliation doesn't mean anything)... I recognize Fox has a right leaning editorial policy, as do some other outlets... I also observe that there are other outlets, including CNN, that have left leaning editorial policies... And I think that is pretty silly too... I've probably done it in the past, but it really doesn't add to the discussions, so I don't do it anymore. It was probably a CNN poll Since I haven't actually seen the poll, did it include Al Jezzira views? J

Now that's funny! Your statements, links, and so called evidence, has been far from objective, in fact they are dripping with bias... you can't even use the President's real name... why would anyone really want try to enter into a real discussion when it is obvious all you want to do is argue? CNN not left leaning, but Fox is not credible? That's just plain silly. Kerry doesn't have a "liberal" voting record? I suppose you think Ted Kennedy is a conservative... Thread started as an objective discussion... now that was a good chuckle J

There are a few people in this thread who are not on the anti-administration band wagon... who still think this is piss-poor... I'll admit that I'm anti-rummy and have been for a long time, this just one more straw... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Neither of those is a letter of condolence to the family of a fallen service member. None of those are a personal expressions of gratitude from greatful nation... we don't just ball up the flag of a cofin and toss it to a person in the crowd... it is properly folded, and delivered to the next of kin in a very specific way, with very specific words. The SECDEF doesn't have to write letters, but if he is going to, he should sign them, especially for the highest sacrifice. I have awards on my wall, signed by my commanders, I have another that sits in an envelop in a drawer, because it was signed by the S1... it doesn't mean anything to me. I agree. It is insulting to ALL who have served... the letters are meant to be personal, and to commuicate something to individual families, not a collective group. Then don't send a letter at all. A letter of condolence in the form of a form letter is insulting the family. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Well, I don't see him doing that either, so the least he could do is sign a letter. A real signature shows a personal involvement, and perhaps even some caring... do you rubber stamp your Christmas cards? If it was important enough to generate the letters, it is important enough to sign them... other wise it is just another form letter, and a slap in the face to those families. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Ron, these are important things... Some of these Soldiers or Marines died becuase of some of his policy decisions. A letter won't bring back a loved one, but a machine signed letter does little to show the family that the DoD even shares in the lose... The least he could do is sign the letters himself, and if he needs to stay at work late one night to do it, I don't give a shit. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Disappointing... Not surprising... Rumsfeld's usefulness has long since past... In the beginning I thought he was a breath of fresh air in the DoD... since then it seems he has not brushed his teeth, and the breath seems much more stale now. But I have been anti-Rummy for quite a while... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Maybe you ought to stop doing that... it can't be good on the brain... I've heard it even causes blury vision... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

10 Highest Ranking does not necessarily equal 10 Most Important... and what was their basis of the "ranking" anyway? What was the incramental cost of Ridge being there? Probably less than $20K, and there was probably more to the event than just Ridge... Was it the best use of the resources? Maybe, maybe not... But if you want to pick on DHS, there are plenty of other opportunities. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Dear God, that thing looks scary... I would not jump it in its current form... to start with, loose the box... IIRC the TRV-11 is a top loading camera, so you should not need to take it on and off for tape changing, just secure it with a thumb screw and a strap. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Yeah, that was pretty bad... particluarly the bad editing and camera work, as if the acting wasn't bad enough. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

It also does not appear to have anything to do with race based quotas... J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Do thjey understand that you generate income with the camera? Lots of insurance policies will not cover "business equipment" unless it is a business policy. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Nor is it to tilt the field the other way, against players that have not necessarily benifited form the original tilt... And when do you level the field? Some segments of society already reflect population ratios... do we tilt the field selectively? Standards are the only way to ensure the integity of an institution... modifying a standard to meet a quota based on race is racist. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

If you're referring to the 1st gulf war, you need to check you history books... there was no "UN" coalition... there was nothing under a UN flag until after the cease fire was signed with the US. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

I found it a bit odd as well... In Tenet's case, there are a fair number of fingers pointing in the CIAs direction over 9/11 and Iraq. Bremmer has had a long carrer at the DoS, but let Iraq get stablized before you pin a medal on his chest... but the one you left out of the title, and the one the confuses me most is Franks... not that he doesn't deserve a medal, but that he doesn't deserve the highest *civilian* medal... yes he is a civilian now, but his acheivements were while in uniform... I'm sure he got a retierment medal, probably one for the Afgan and Iraq campaigns as well... but he has not done anything in the short time he has been out. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Um, he did, quite publicly... These comments are against Rummy though, not Bush... McCain has had a rub with Rummy for a long time. J All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke