interesting conversation with a retired colonel today

[RainDog]

wanted to share this with people here because it confirmed so many things I think, and so many here think, and this guy has seen things from the inside and had some amazing stories to tell.

..but the gist of the conversation was that he was "amazed" that I was so aware of so much of the bullshit that Bush and his gang are pulling...and happily surprised.

So first, a big thank you to so many people here at DU who have educated me and made me think and provided links and made me question conventional wisdom.

One thing which made me feel...better, if that's the way to put it, was when I told him that I think Bush and his gang were using psy-ops on the American people..that every time he wants to smack people in line...a mid-term election, an invasion, his poll numbers dropping because of the lies which got us and will keep us in Iraq...

edit...I forgot to end this remark! - which is that everytime Bush wants something, we are suddenly on orange alert, or have new threats from Al Q..as in recently.

anyway, the guy just shook his head, laughing, not in a "haha" way, but in a "yeah, you get it" way. And he said, you're exactly right.

We shared our mutual disgust with Rumsfield over the execution of this "pre-emptive" war..and the guy said that they were all like that.

He knew about Bush being AWOL from the Nat'l Guard and has nothing but disgust for the way Bush tries to pretend that he's a "warrior."

He talked about politicians keeping us in Vietnam and wasting the lives of so many for reasons that had nothing to do with nat'l security.

He didn't connect this current invasion of Iraq with WW II, as the Bushies want to do. He said, we'll get through this, but at a terrible cost in lives. He obviously didn't think we should be in Iraq.

He talked about the "oil shortage" of the seventies as a totally manufactured crisis which had everything to do with money and power, and nothing to do with having enough oil.

I find that more and more military people I meet do not support the Bush gang. maybe that's why they were trying to make sure their friends, the Saudis, got the contract to count the military votes...even though I know that was stopped, so I hear.

anyway, the conversation made me feel better...until we got to the part about if trying to consider nuclear attacks and the reality that more people would die of thirst and starvation than anything else...that was a digression...but a sobering one. (he wasn't saying that would happen..he was talking about past situations where people would do assessments.

[benddem]

1. A retired LTC speaks

I probably don't count cause I hated Bush from the second they announced he might run. BUT there is a lot of rumbling among the Officer Corp about what the BUSHITS are doing. There is a great article in an Ohio paper by a retired female ltc who spent the last 2 years in the Pentagon and she says military morale is down the tubes.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. But the bushies will just use this as an excuse to justify privatizing

more military.

[jody]

2. Can you believe what retired colonels say? eom

[salin]

16. guess that secretaries of DOD are more reliable?

;-)

[BeatleBoot]

3. Thanks for this story....

And, if they are honest, yes I can believe retired LTC's.

They are humans who have honest emotions.

[msanger]

4. my dad's a retired Full Col.

and a real democrat. Absolutely loathes bush.

And thinks Rumsfield is ruining the military -- just look at how many folks retired rather than taking over as Joint Chief of Staff -- I think that was the postition he told me about.

This is the highest position you can get, and men were retiring rather than take that position under Rumsfield.

[RainDog]

6. ruining this country

he also said he thinks that what Bush and his cabal are doing is ruining our country, our relations with other countries, and he was very unhappy with that...but said it's another example of how the Bushies are...as in, as many of us think here...the Bushies are so arrogant and stupid they are going to screw up this country for a long time to come.

[Sequoia]

7. That's good that he cares

Yesterday my sister told me I should stay away from the news (how, it's my job!?)because I get too upset over things I can't change. I got a little mad because if everyone just shrugged it off with a "well I can't do anything about it anyway" attitude you know darn well where'd be. Yea, so anyway I said I've been depressed since 9-11, or rather the elections, and if I can do anything, anything! to change someone's mind about GWB and especially the thugs who advise him, or get someone on the show who can tell the people what's up, then I will have done something worthwile. Let's never be silent.

[Gman]

8. A friend tells me some of his very Republican friends want

a third party to run someone against Bush. The third party talk is nothing serious, but the thought says volumes about the support he's loosing among his grassroots.

[jody]

9. Colonel insignia, eagle looks to peace, not to war

https://www.perscomonline.army.mil/tagd/tioh/Rank%20page/Colonel.htm
OFFICER INSIGNIA OF GRADE, COLONEL]


1. The method of identifying Colonels was initially established by General Washington on July 23, 1775 when he stated: "…the field officers may have red or pink colored cockades in their hats, …". Although there is evidence that colonels wore the eagle as rank insignia in 1829 when they transferred the gold or gilt eagles that decorated their hat cockades to their collars. In 1832, gold eagles were authorized for infantry colonels because they were placed on silver epaulettes and silver eagles to be placed on gold epaulettes were authorized for all other colonels.

2. In 1851, the silver epaulettes for infantry was abolished and all epaulettes became gold. As a result, all colonel insignia of grade became silver. The 1851 regulation included illustrations which show the embroidered eagle on the shoulder strap faced the arrows while the eagle worn on the epaulettes faced the olive branch. Apparently due to the lack of specifications, the direction of the eagle’s head depended upon the manufacturer.

3. Metal insignia was authorized to be worn on the khaki blouse in 1902. The colonel’s insignia was described as a silver spread eagle. There is no reference as to the direction of the eagle’s head nor are there illustrations. The 1917 uniform specifications and regulations describe the insignia as a metal silver spread eagle, 3/4 inch high and 2 inches between the tips of the wings. It was worn on the shoulder loop, beak to the front, and on the right collar of the shirt with the eagle’s beak to the front. In 1921, the size of the eagle was reduced from 2 inches to 1 1/2 inches between the tips of the wings. The height of the insignia remained unchanged at 3/4 inch.

4. In 1926, the insignia was made in pairs with the head of the eagle facing to the front when worn. This was the first reference to the insignia being made in pairs. To do this, the eagle’s head was reversed on one insignia – the insignia worn on the right shoulder had the eagle’s head facing the laurel branch. On the left shoulder, the eagle’s head faced the arrows. The insignia with the eagle’s head facing the arrow became known by the term "war eagle".

5. In 1951, the insignia was redesigned so that the eagle’s head faced the laurel branch on both the left and right shoulder insignia with the arrows to the rear on both insignia.

6. The so called "war eagle" is no longer authorized for wear on the uniform.

[Walt Starr]

19. Your pictures issue a DOD certificate

You should not use DOD certificate protected materials on this site. Too many people will really freak out.

[jody]

20. OK, so you taught an old dog new tricks. Seriously, I had no idea I was

doing that. Apparently in blissful ignorance, I stumbled into a mine field.

How can I avoid that in the future?

[RainDog]

10. uh...

I just came back to this thread and I got a notice before I could open it with some military something in it.

Or maybe I'll just post this on a separate thread...

[RainDog]

11. and I just clicked on this thread again

and nothing happened.

[Lars39]

12. Security Certificate? Me, too. eom

[RainDog]

13. so what the heck is that?

is it because of jody's link?

[jody]

14. I've had only one martini so that's not the problem. My link and the

others in this thread work from my PC.

Go ahead blame me for anything and everything, my wife does. :evilgrin:

[RainDog]

15. well, since I don't have a husband...

anymore...thanks for letting me blame you, too.

:)

what happened was, when I clicked the thread, it asked me if I wanted to continue because it was a unsecured military something or other.

so I put on my tin foil hat and said, hey, Poindexter, I thought you were resigning...

[DS1]

17. Yeah, it's all your fault, really

You deep linked images from a military website, nice going :evilfrown:

[RainDog]

18. deep linked?

is that anything like that Bush graphic you have for your sig?

sounds like porno

[DagmarK]

21. I got the Certificate warning......here are the details

Issuer: CN = DOD CLASS 3 CA-4
OU = PKI
OU = DoD
O = U.S. Government
C = US

Valid: Friday, April 26, 2002 1:32:29 PM

Subject: C = US
O = U.S. Government
OU = USA ou=PKI ou=DoD
CN = www.perscomonline.army.mil

Public Key – RSA (1024 bits)
3081 8902 8181 00AB EEA9 6765 6E80 7222 98DA 75E3 4316 2DD1 B533 2EB4 11E3 E473 FDF8 72AD 821D A330 6F9F E59C 4479 B569 FD4D 0F5A 77B4 540D 0425 098E 40FE 02AC 970C 8FD8 702B E780 2DC9 EECC 5E4F 7DEB 8D37 9794 ECCE 8278 E1E4 2C09 7918 BDEE 2B88 501A D379 BA14 DD93 96AB 36DC 352D A44C 61E8 108A 1470 0E0E CC51 EF07 1790 54A3 5B1A CC88 B302 0301 0001

authority key identifier: KeyID=15A2 A335 DE71 3235 2FBF F1FD E755 D19F D8F6 2A5F

subj key identifier: DC64 28FC 625A 8964 A2AE 0DEA 41D2 1E1D BD0A 6D20

<1>Certificate Policy:
PolicyIdentifier=2.16.840.1.101.2.1.11.5

Issuer Alternative Name: URL=ldap://ds-4.c3pki.den.disa.mil/cn%3dDOD%20CLASS%203%20CA-4%2cou%3dPKI%2cou%3dDoD%2co%3dU.S.%20Government%2cc%3dUS

<1>CRL Distribution Point
Distribution Point Name:
Full Name:
URL=ldap://ds-4.c3pki.den.disa.mil/cn%3dDOD%20CLASS%203%20CA-4%2cou%3dPKI%2cou%3dDoD%2co%3dU.S.%20Government%2cc%3dUS?certificaterevocationlist;binary

Key Usage: Digital Signature , Key Encipherment(A0)

Thumbprint alga: sha1

Thumbprint: EA80 8F42 3FE1 05EF 4FB0 0152 DC23 D8C4 07DF B56F

CERTIFICATION PATH:

“This certificate cannot be verified up to a trusted certification authority.”

-----DoD Class 3 CA-4
----- www.perscomonline.army.mil


*******I don't understand WHAT this means............... but I got the warning the second I clicked open this thread. This is the SECOND thread this has happened to me...........