Posted on 02/25/2016 4:56:21 PM PST by sparklite2
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Donald Trump admires the late Douglas MacArthur and George Patton, both World War Two generals. They were winners, unpredictable, and not especially nice guys, he says in campaign speeches. But Trump's pledge to imitate their styles sets modern-day military experts on edge.
Born in 1946, a year after World War Two ended, Trump often praises MacArthur and Patton for the blunt ways he says they commanded respect. "George Patton was one of the roughest guys, he would talk rough to his men," Trump told an audience last week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. "His men would die for him," Trump added. "We don't have that anymore." He said Patton would wipe out Islamic State without hesitation were he still in command.
But military historians and retired generals say Trump has an inflated view of the two military men and especially their relevance to an era of modern warfare when armies rely more on technology and when battle successes and failures and civilian casualties are communicated far more rapidly than when MacArthur and Patton commanded troops 70 years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at oann.com ...
Who are your cronies?
And which war was the last war we outright won?
A small number of very close friends, yours?
“Trump wants to emulate MacArthur, a selfish, arrogant individual and Patton, who for all of his combat leadership skills, was a bombastic prima donna.”
My father served under MacArthur so you’ll pardon me if I tell you to shut the F*** up about things you know absolutely nothing about.
L
MacArthur may have been the most brilliant General in U.S. history. The fact that liberals hate him is good enough for me.
One thing I have noticed is most great leaders are also great speakers. MacArthur’s farewell address at West Point is one of the best speeches ever. Patton was also a fine speaker.
Pericles, the Great Athenian leader made what is considered by many to be the greatest speech ever. His funeral oration for Athenian dead.
So did one of my cousins, so we disagree.
Neither did Trump. You're buying the spin.
You sound like a Wesley Clark kind of guy, would you prefer that in the White House?
“Gen. Patton would have never called his fellow Americans “losers, pussys, or murderous psychopaths” ...
Remind me again what he said about the Americans who worked for the Saturday Evening Post.
Thanks,
L
Yeah, pretty much the same. A crazy small number.
You wouldn't rate to shine their shoes.
This is SLIME level ‘journalism.’
Use of the word “obsession” in the headline is standard procedure for the left wing, whose longtime, tired practice is to accuse anyone who opposes them of being mentally ill.
The article does not give the name of a single general “quoted,” using the Washington Post technique of Unnamed ‘Sources.’
If you’ve paid any attention over the last 25 years, you would see that Trump is completely different from what we’ve had...
Trump is a businessman who has seen the country where his businesses are based going to hell...
He has seen unemployment skyrocket...This means people haven’t as much money, therefor businesses suffer...
Trump shown he cares very much about the people (check out the rebuilding of the skating rink in Rockefeller Center) among many other things..
If America doesn’t prosper, neither does Trump...
A healthy America is good for Trump...
If you can’t see this, just go on and vote for the staus quo and go on with the same old bullcrap we’ve endured the last 25 years...
TRUMP IS FOR AMERICA....
I’ll take Cruz as a first choice and if, God forbid, Trump gets the nomination, I’ll pull the lever for Trump just to avoid something worse in Hillary or Sanders.
He’s talking about the heart of the soldier
Some in academe are too literal to be useful
Trump is exalting the winning spirit of the men.
For somebody born in 1946, Patton, MacArthur and the other generals were more of a presence than they are for those born decades later.
I get that Patton and MacArthur had judgement problems sometimes and that may be a cause for concern in Trump. I also understand that speechifying is different from making and executing real plans.
Using the term "media whores" in reference to Patton and MacArthur is offensive, though. They gave interviews, sure, and MacArthur cultivated his persona, but most of their time was spent on what mattered: winning the war.
The irony that the professor who used it certainly hasn't been shy about getting his name in the papers shouldn't be lost on readers.
As for Trump liking these guys : birds of a feather . . . LOL
They were winners. Many winning military figures throughout history have had those traits.
Having read Patton’s book War As I Knew It, I realize it’s the historians who have a simplistic view.
Patton was the quintessential modern general, with a keen understanding of battle statistics, supply, equipment and maneuver. As well as a hell of a leader.
These men know nothing of Patton, making up drivel about “civilian casualties”. Patton is not known for that.
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