Senator Byrd, You Have an Ugly Attitude!

Email from an associate | Tuesday, May 27, 2003 2:03 PM | Lewis F. McIntyre CDR, USN (Ret)

[SubMareener]

Senator Byrd,

As a retired Naval Officer, with two Gulf carrier deployments under my belt, I find your criticism of President Bush's visit to the Lincoln offensive in the extreme!

This is the first time that the Commander-in-Chief took time out of his busy wartime schedule to pay a visit to thank those who served in the line of fire, in way that was both dramatic and meaningful to those on the carrier. Perhaps if LBJ got off his fat ass to do something similar, our troops' morale in Vietnam might not have been so low.

As a Naval officer, I am extremely sensitive to styles of leadership. That is, after all, our stock in trade. And it was not lost on me that the President spent about thirty seconds shaking hands with the Admiral, CO, and CAG (If you don't know these abbreviations just look them up in your Funk &Wagnalls!).

He then spent the next forty-five minutes putting himself at the disposal of the people who make that ship work, the yellow shirts, the green shirts, the purple shirts, the chiefs, the sailors.

If you don't know the significance of those colored shirts, look it up in your Blue Jacket's Manual. Not dressed out in formal uniform (I understand at Bush's request), but in their greasy, smelly, sweaty working uniforms... working a flight deck is hot, hard work. And yet he, in his flight suit, put himself at their disposal, this was their moment for 19- or 20-something year-old kids a few years out of high school, to get a picture of themselves with the President of the United States, his arm draped around their shoulder.

That is a moment that those kids never dreamed would ever happen to them, maybe not even when they knew he was coming aboard. Surely, he would see the brass, not the troops. But it was the troops to whom he gave his time... and it was the most natural moment in the world. You might have thought it was a family reunion, and in a way, it was... Bush is one of them, the common man, and while he is still the most powerful man on the planet right now, he hasn't lost his touch for them.

Was it a political moment? What moment of a president's life is NOT a political moment? Was it grandstanding, to come in to an OK pass to a 4 wire, a bit high in close, correcting, left of centerline? Well, hell, he didn't fly the approach anyway, though I understand from the pilots who flew him that he did a pretty good job at formation flying, tucked in close for a lead change.

You can always tell a fighter pilot, you just can't tell him very much. And apparently after thirty years, it all comes back, with a little coaching, I am sure.

Frankly, I would have liked to see him come aboard in an FA-18, but the Secret Service vetoed that, and Bush accepted their judgment... again, a mark of a good leader.

If you had spent some time in the service, instead of the Klan, you might understand the significance of that moment to all the men and women aboard the Lincoln, and indeed to all the men and women in the service who shared that moment vicariously. But you chose the bedsheet instead of the uniform, and so you don't.

I am half-tempted to move to West Virginia just so I could vote against you in your next election.

[SubMareener]

The forwarding email said, "In case you haven't already seen this, it is worth reading and passing on. Cdr McIntyre is USNA, Class of 70." So I passing it on.

[Timeout]

Wooo Hoooo!

I loved the close:

"If you had spent some time in the service, instead of the Klan..."

Well said.

[Tom Bombadil]

Perhaps if LBJ got off his fat ass to do something similar, our troops' morale in Vietnam might not have been so low.

WOW!

[Hidgy]

I hope that old f_rt reads all his email.

[SandRat]

You don't think CDR McIntyre USN (Ret.) is pi##ed off at Sen. KKK Byrd, do you?

Not even just a little?

I know this is a serious posting, but somehow I can't help but LOL at the thought of heart-attack in waiting KKK Byrd reading this.

I wonder if the CDR has any similarly kind words for Little Tommy, Nasty Nancy, Tubby Teddy, Hitlery, and the rest of the "doose-bums" in Congress, the media, and Hollyweird?

[alnick]

I like that e-mail. It's pretty. Pretty, pretty, pretty.

[antivenom]

My father graduated in 1958 (with McCain) from USNA. My family still resides in Maryland.

Excellent letter...have shared it with several people.

[ohioWfan]

BUMP for a GREAT letter!!

[BlueNgold]

Every single one of those kids, and the officers as well, UNDERSTAND that they work for the President. I think that the reason the likes of Byrd were upset is that the reception BOTH Bush 41 and 43 receive EVERYTIME they visit military installations is a stark contrast to the reception most of them receive. In general leading Dems including, and especially, Clinton get polite military courtesy but little fanfair, and remember Hillary got bood in NY. It is simple jealousy. The troops, the sailors, the airmen, the marines .. in general they have gret respect for Bush and are proud to serve under him. The Dems wish they had that, but they don't. So they jump on their soapboxes and rant - never realizing that the only people they are going to convince are the already converted among the far left who already despise the military in general.

When Bush landed they didn't announce a visitor, the rang the bells, all 8 of them "United States ... Arriving" ANY President has this right, but we recognize when he treats it as a privilige... and it matters to us. Imagine how great it would be for the most powerful man on the planet to tell you, at 19, that he thought YOUR job was cool (and to know he meant it).

USNA Dittos to the CDR!

[jmaroneps37]

The symbol of America is the Bald eagle. It is a proud and beautiful bird.
The symbol of the Democrat party is the Wesy Virginia Kleagle. It is an ugly buzzard that carps and thrives on pork.

[dead]

If you had spent some time in the service...

Rather he should die a thousand times than to serve in an integrated military with the darkest specimens of the wild.

[Kaslin]

Do you know that instead of joining the US military Robert KKK Byrd ran around with the KKK in WWII?

[CyberAnt]

Don't be holdin' yer breath on that - I doubt he reads any of it - except that which comes from Hitlery and her minions giving him the talking points for his latest speech on the floor of the Senate.

[ThreePuttinDude]

That was the best post I've read on any board.
Great find and keep up the good work....

[Republic]

WOW! Just hope that arrogant blowhard had the opportunity to actually read this! (Not that he would be capable of understanding a word of it-that would take a man of character and the liberals seem extraordinarily lacking in that trait.)

[ladyinred]

I have seen this before, but it is worth seeing over and over again. Senator Bryd is an amazing piece of work. Even more amazing is that the dems who call pubbies racists all of the time kept reelecting him, and never a word is said against him! That proves they don't really care about civil rights!

[cajun-jack]

he is from west virginia...he can't read..he has 6 toes on his left foot and has sex with his cousins.