Posted on 02/20/2010 6:17:25 AM PST by tsmith130
WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who served Republican presidents and ran for the office himself, has died.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
I’m not a public figure. I hold no federal post.
Expecting private citizens to adhere to those standards is the typical Obama strawman argument...
“Some say that we shouldn’t reform our healthcare system....”
Who are these “some?” Are they in between his ears?
Public figures are held to a different standard than private citizens. I figured you already knew that.
“There have been a few times I wish he had been in charge...” There apparently were times in the last days of the Nixon administration that he was in fact the de facto president of the United States.
Chris Wallace spoke very highly of him as a patriot and general saying that when you were in his presence you had the feeling that at any moment he could say—drop down and give me twenty.
Buccaneer81 is first with the right answer! Well done.
“It was a regrettable way of doing things”
Then please enlighten me, how should he have done it, what should he have said?
If he is the senior person at that facility then is in charge at THAT facility and should state that, as should Hillary.
You have swallowed media twaddle and regurgitated on a thread dedicated to Gen. Haig, upon his death. That is a regrettable way of doing things.
You’re correct, there is no line.
That’s why during the time of an emergency with a President, we usually look to the Secretary of State for instructions.
That’s why I continue to ask here, on our beloved FreeRepublic...what would the reaction be if HRC did the exact same thing if something happened to the Idiot in Chief.
I keep getting slammed over Haig, but amazingly, I get NO ANSWER to that question.
and quite honestly, I’m getting bored waiting.
>>it’s best to keep the Army out of politics and politics out of the Army...that’s the American way.
Yes, that whole George Washington thing didn’t work out well at all.
If HRC did this, FreeRepublic would be ON FIRE
_____________________________________________________
Mebbe not, I think many would rather deal with her than Obama.
What he should have said is this:
“The United States is in very capable hands. Our vice-president, GHWB, has assumed his constitutional duties and is on the job. I’m here as his representative to answer any questions. Fire away.”
***That said, not one freeper has answered my question:
What if HRC had done and said the exact same thing?***
There will be (present tense - now that we know Hilary and Joe) the same questions asked as to her motive. Haig had a military background, Hilary does not.
Is she trying to maintain calm and hold the fort until Joe Biden arrives in the WH?
Or
Is she trying to usurp power in a vacuum?
Or
Is she in a panic & in over her head?
You will recall, this was only 69 days into Reagan’s presidency and pre-internet, so the media was in charge of hysteria & hype in 1981.
I had the pleasure to meet Gen. Haig when he gave a speech at my college, great man
So I’ve a personal story about the infamous “I am in control here” anecdote.
First, when Haig and Nixon, et al, were in their hayday, I was a pretty young liberal lass, subject to Walter Conkrite’s nightly news and how the Dems were, even then, hysterics without an ounce of honesty in the party.
But hey, I bought into it, voted for Mcgovern, had a bumper sticker on my Ford Maverick that said “Don’t Blame Me, I didn’t vote for him”....re Nixon.
I was like a lot of libs today, living my life more interested in men who were interested in me than in any sort of political stuff going on out there. By me, Nixon was the incarnate of evil and Reagan? Well I did come to hate Jimmy Carter what with my house coming to worth nothing, my job going down the tubes...in short, then experiencing life as the libs would have us live and not liking it at all.
So I voted for Reagan but I held my nose, my pretty liberal lass self. Anything but Carter.
So this morn I heard the lady on Fox who I think was Haig’s personal assistant or whatever they were called back then. She was honest, firm...I trusted her take on things. She said that as regards Haig’s infamous remark about being in charge after Reagan got shot, that it was said when the man was discombubulated, disoriented, shocked, shaken that the president he served had been shot.
I am cooking so I thought to myself...well Haig must have said he was in charge after Reagan got shot and probably some folks in the room got in a snit and it sounds to me like it was likely blown way out of proportion.
I’m older now, of course, and much wiser. I know now how the Dems loved to make enemies out of people and this Haig remark was ammunition a plenty. Seems to me Haig wasn’t thinking straight when he said it.
At least that was my take in my busy mental synopsis.
Shortly after, husband, he too a former lib although we now are both conservatives having had life hit us in the face and stuff. He has a smirky tone to his voice. “Haig told all the people in the room that he was in charge now,” husband said and I launched into my summary of events as so recently recounted this morn.
“Billy,” I said to get his attention. I then told him of the recent interview I’d heard from Haig’s secretary, her description of how it came down.
“I’d never heard that quote before,” I said, “but it sounds like something Haig said that came off as arrogant and offensive to folks in the room.”
“It sure was,” husband said. “Kissinger was in there, Bush...the VP who WAS in charge I think. It’s all I know about Haig is that quote.”
Heh. Well hey, the lamestream of its day sure did its job, huh? Husband was a young liberal lad during that era, he didn’t especially like Reagan either. All he knows about Haig is that quote.
Now I understand that Haig’s secretary is probably prejudiced but I’ve got a clue now. I tend to give her the benefit of the doubt. She said that Haig was an abrupt fellow, not the most diplomatic of gentlmen. Her summary had the ring of truth, of thoughtful insight.
Anyway, that’s the story of all I learned today about that Haig quote and somewhere there’s a lesson of how much damage the media can do if of a dedicated mind.
After I told husband all I’d heard, he shook his head ruefully. He said maybe Nixon wasn’t so bad a guy but he had a lot of head problems. He agreed that likely the media overplayed the whole Watergate thing.
Just two aging former liberals, trying to figure it all out.
I do recall it was just a couple of months into Reagan’s presidency. I was terrified he would die. There I was, a measly 19 years old, having just cast my first ever vote. I was just a kid and I was scared as hell over it. Was working at a bank at the time and when we heard the news, a lot of co-workers were in tears.
The happiest moments of my life were with RR in the White House. How delightful to go to bed at night in peace and wake up in the morning the same way. I never had to worry about my president doing something profoundly stupid. I got to live in peace. Better quit reminiscing now or I’ll start to cry or something. meh
As far as the Hillary and Joe thing, doesn’t it just give you a massive headache? Those two make me wanna stick my head under my couch cushions for about three years, honestly.
blah
Mr. Haig, thank you for your service to our nation, RIP.
RIP..The General was a take charge kind of man. I wish we had more general officers with his kind of backbone.
***..doesn’t it just give you a massive headache?***
Yes!
Then I log on to FR for some chocolate and get my knickers in a twist; because all the other, previously rational FReepers are even more angry, tormented and depressed.
While we seem to agree on everything important, we pick fights with one another over trivia.
I might have to resign rather than face impeachment;)
Yes, absolutely correct. I used to call places (CNN, ABC, CBS whoever) asking that they at least broadcast the entire quote, but it fell on deaf ears. Another lesson about the press learned.
Bravo Sierra! Only to the idiotic media! Any rational person watching the event knew full well that he was referring to the immediate situation at THAT location! There was NO hint of usurping presidential succession!
Al Haig was a patriot. RIP
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