Wednesday, March 31, 2010

DC duty at its best ....

I think Admiral Willard just had the best shore-duty sea-story of his career .... exceptional self-control to boot! BZ!



Your Congressman (Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) ) at work ... I think.

Hat tip Allah.

60 comments:

annepm said...

Admiral Willard is one of the classiest and most brilliant men I've ever met.  And I admire him even more for being able to sit calmly through whatever that was.  I loved "We don't anticipate that..."   :)  As for the congressman from my home state, I can't even muster a "bless his heart."    

OnceAMarine said...

"The island might just capsize" ....Another genius from Georgia's 4th District. First Cynthia Mckinney, now Hank Johnson...wow.

Anonymous said...

 That would imply that he had a heart to begin with..... ;)

   From his remarks, he may be missing some or all of his brain as well.

Rotorhead said...

My head just exploded. Please tell me he was not serious. Can anyone be that ignorant?
-RH

AW1 Tim said...

Nice work, Admiral.  :)

AW1 Tim said...

That was me, not "guest".. I forgot to log in again. Sigh.

DeltaBravo said...

Well, of COURSE you can exert amazing self control and not burst out laughing when you "scratch" under your left eye so hard you probably dig a hole in the skin.  ("Pain.  Must have pain to keep from laughing!")  That's my guess.  Don't think I could have recovered from that with the aplomb the good Admiral showed.

That was... amazing. 

FbL said...

Reportedly he has Hepatitis C, the treatment of which is supposedly degrading his mental abilities on at least a temporary basis.  Which of course begs the question:  Why is he still trying to do a job he's obviously not up to doing?

Byron said...

Power. It's what DC people feed off of.

LT B said...

So he wasn't always an idiot, it is the Hep C.  I wonder who's mental faculties have been degraded more.  Pamela Lee or the gentleman from GA.  Capsize indeed.  We all know that if you put too many people on a volcanic island that it pushes it down and it sinks.  Hah!

Southern Sailor said...

Given that he represents the 4th District back home in Georgia (6th District for myself), I'm none too surprised.  The previous comment about Cinthia McKinney is very true.  What a maroon!

That is one admirable admiral.

dc said...

Jerks like that Congress person like to talk slooow, and whisper to make the debating opponent lose the train of thought. It's a tactic, to confound.

MA2 said...

Wow. That's who the civilians I work for elected to be a part of the leadership of this country. It makes me want to just stay overseas. Did he really with a straight face just say out loud that he is afraid Guam is going to capsize? Next the Moon will tip off its axis because we left part of the lander up there in 1969. Or maybe Mt Fuji will erupt if one more sailor is stationed in Yokosuka? Makes me shake my head, these are the people we fight for. Doesnt seem worth it.

Leadership by Example said...

Sounds like listening to Obama without a prompter and same IQ. His district in GA must be very proud of this bumbling stuttering and neuron misfiring statesman (used loosely).

Maybe a robust "zero tolerance" drug testing program should be implemented for this very prudent group of statesmen.

This caliber of people is "leading" the government?  

He is concerned that Guam might overturn, lol. He must also be a leading scientist for the environmental wackos.

LT B said...

The new instruction on zero tolerance for drug use and posession of things like spice just came out.  I wonder if we should all send it to the Naval Academy to read.  We could cc Congress and invite them to play as well.

UltimaRatioRegis said...

Yeee.  Perhaps the Georgia representative is the "least qualifiedest" in the House.  Perhaps not.  But wow.  He musta been at the same party as the USNA running back, burning the same blunt.

Marine6 said...

Once more we have living proof that the founding fathers weren't perfect. They made sure that the Constitution has explicit requirements for age and residency for qualification to election to the United States Congress, but, apparently felt that an intelligence requirement wasn't necessary. After all, can't we count on the citizens not to elect total idiots to represent them?

Apparently, in the case of some districts in Georgia, not so much.

Grumpy Old Ham said...

AW1 Tim, I think you may be missing one of the Southern meanings of "bless his heart.."

Grumpy Old Ham said...

I can't see the vid at work, but I infer from the comments that this was part of the testimony regarding basing at Guam...if so, Grandy'n'Andy started playing part of the sound track on 'MAL this morning.   I couldn't stand to listen more than a minute or two before turning the knob.

Dave said...

Not a bad showing of control by one of those dumb football players from the Naval Academy.

 Dave

Theodore said...

This is NOT an early April Fool???

You sure about that?

MR T's Haircut said...

HAHAHA

I PITY THE APRILS FOOLS!!!  HAHAHA

The Island might TIP over?
Doesnt know how to calculate square footage from his own mis articulated figures?

But Dude VOTED for Obama Care!  He knows!

LOL 

Our Representatives are a mirror image of our districts... dont invest in this part of Georgia!

MR T's Haircut said...

LOL  this is too funny.. this is like explaining to my 2nd grader why he needs to eat his veggies and brush his teeth... wtf!

MM said...

Watched this live, and noticably hung my head.  Just embarassing from start to finish.  This clip cuts off the beginning where the Rep is asleep when called on, says he has no question, then interrupts Chmn Skelton to say he has a question, and then rambles this nonsense.  The pre-hearing brief had Guam's size on it (roughly 22x8), some quick math gives me ~175 sqmi.  I was surprised PACOM didn't start laughing; some of us in the gallery did.

Mary Alpha said...

My best friend who lives in Richmond, Va. says that in the South, one can say ANYTHING derogatory about a person as long as it's prefaced by "Bless his heart". Example: "Bless his heart, he's SUCH a freakin idiot". Certainly applies to the Rep. from Ga. :)

Combat NFO said...

Congressman, don't worry, we're the Navy.  We've got ballast tanks for that, and keep a close eye on the center of gravity of the earth, and the center of buoyancy of Guam.  Priceless.  I'm amazed that no one in the audience chuckled.

Leadership by Example said...

It just goes to show than anyone can run for office and if the constituents are ignorant enough, then anyone can get elected.

He is probably the product of high quality government education.

cdrsalamander said...

I have heard that excuse before.  It is no excuse.  He is a Congressman.  If he cannot carry out his duties due to being ill (BTW, there are a lot of HepC people out there working 100%) - then like a pilot or bus driver - then he needs to stop working.


That excuse does not wash for me - no more than I feel sorry for a drunk driver for hitting a tree.

LT B said...

Why be surprised?  We elected to POTUS a man that said 95% of Americans would get a tax break when over 40% were already NOT paying taxes.  In his defense, Science is hard.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/national-science-foundation-science-hard,1405/

Old NFO said...

Hey Grumpy, it's like "That's Nice."  ;)

11B40 said...

<span>Greetings:

This little episode gave me a flashback to my Psychology studying days in the last '70s.  Back then, there was a bit of humor in the department about asking people to draw a sketch of an island above and below the waterline.  The results tended to be in two large categories, the lily pad or the mountain top.  Obviously, the good Congressman is a lily (livered?) padder.  As was my first wife.  Good Luck.
</span>

C-dore 14 said...

That...was...painful...

Casey Tompkins said...

A quick flit to Wiki tells me the actual figure is 209 square miles. :)

C-dore 14 said...

Or by using the phrase "With all due respect."

C-dore 14 said...

Anyone who has attended a couple of congressional hearings can tell you that it probably isn't.

MR T's Haircut said...

If he is not for service in congress then he is not capable of voting either.. so we need to repeal anything he voted on.. anything...

MR T's Haircut said...

<span>If he is not FIT for service in congress then he is not capable of voting either.. so we need to repeal anything he voted on.. anything and everything</span>

MR T's Haircut said...

THe audience was too busy looking at each other in utter amazement..

Matt Hawks said...

This is entirely real, entirely hilarious, and entirely tragic.

steve said...

Well, duh.  I'm sure they have sounding and security patrols.

Casey Tompkins said...

Very. :-[

DeltaBravo said...

Now they're saying he was being deadpan and using a metaphor the Admiral didn't understand.

Ooookaaaayyyyy.......  mmmhmmmm.,,,,

Captan.joe said...

The admiral held his tongue and kept his wits about him. The congresscritter is seriously ill and it affects his brain and speech. Rush mentioned his condition today.

GBS said...

How can you people be so mean? 

I find it heartwarming that mentally challenged people are afforded the opportunity to serve their country in Congress.

Just think about what he had to overcome as a child!

:-P

Wharf Rat said...

Folks - this is the district that 'unelected' Cynthia Mckinnie of the 'please show the flags that the astronauts planted' when showed pictures of.............Mars.

When I remembered that little chestnut - I was in full uproar, belly laugh, bending over holding my gut, had my wife and kids rolling too.

These two live in (represent) a district that probably shouldn't be voting.

MR T's Haircut said...

<span>The comments</span> were delivered without a clear hint of sarcasm or irony, however Rep. Johnson is now insisting through a comment issued by a spokesperson that he was simply using a metaphor.
"I was using a metaphor to say that with the addition of 8,000 Marines and their dependents -- an additional 80,000 people during peak construction to the port on the tiny island with a population of 180,000 -- could be a tipping point which would adversely affect the island’s fragile ecosystem and overburden its already overstressed infrastructure."

MR T's Haircut said...

Johnson is now insisting through a comment issued by a spokesperson that he was simply using a metaphor.
"I was using a metaphor to say that with the addition of 8,000 Marines and their dependents -- an additional 80,000 people during peak construction to the port on the tiny island with a population of 180,000 -- could be a tipping point which would adversely affect the island’s fragile ecosystem and overburden its already overstressed infrastructure."


LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE!!

JimmyMac said...

Ladies and Gentlemen,
  Can't we have a serious, professional discussion of the real issue here?  What is the proper weight and moment compensation for Guam?  (See, NAVSEA 9096.3E) I am certain that is what the Congressman was getting at.  (Provided in the spirit of Art. 88, UCMJ.) 

UltimaRatioRegis said...

Jimmy,

Of course we can.  The Congressman was mistaken, and badly, in his calculations.  Estimates are that Guam will not even begin to list slightly until 10,000 Marines set foot on the island...  But eight thousand?  No problemo.  Unless they all decide to stand on the beach and jump up and down.

BostonMaggie said...

Come on Tim!  Even this Bostonian knows that when someone down South says "Well, bless his heart!"....that person has just made a ridiculous faux pas.  In the same situation, the Bostonian says "Whadda you?  Ratahdid?"

UltimaRatioRegis said...

No, now, WR,

In the words of Pike, driving the furniture van, "In a democracy it doesn't matter how stupid you are, you still get an equal share!"

Casey Tompkins said...

The Marine Corps (NOT "corpse!"): No better friend, no worse enemy, and able to change the geography of an island.

They alter the very land they occupy by their presence. How awesome is that!?

I don't doubt that the Air Force, Army, and all rotary-wing aviators are just green with envy. Especially BillT. :)

Wharf Rat said...

I wouldn't have it any other way 8-)

Unfortunately - we have the same type of uneducated voters voting for higher office too.  If you find the website, there's something called 'how Obama got elected', and it's hilarious, and tragic how people elected that dope.

UltimaRatioRegis said...

Wow, Skip.  Friend of yours?

Michael said...

It does display a degree of ignorance that is truly frightening. However, the Conrgessman is upholding a long standing tradition that dates back many years.
At the time of the sinking of the Titanic, the US enquiry asked the designer why the passengers could not escape INTO the watertight compartments when she sank...
Politicians and mind blowing ignorance, they just go together.
Still we have them too...

pk said...

together.

C

Skippy-san said...

Let's just say I am not a fan-and I am not alone in this.  I had to live through his time as C7F...................

Skippy-san said...

Let's just say I am not a fan.  And I've got lots of company.

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