I can only imagine the outcry if I called an Orange Brigadier an Orange Mongoloid...hell, some of you cried "personal attack" when I first started using that metaphor for members of the Trump Army.
But it's ok for
@DCPatriot to launch nothing but personal attacks?
LOL, I had a few classes taught by Jesuits. I received a great education at Gonzaga, and I don't take kindly to someone besmirching its reputation as a fine university. The lessons I learned there would play a large role in advocating for Ronald Reagan, a mere 4 years after graduating. There's a little twist to the story. I was debating my German neighbors in their language. I did such a good job of presenting the case for Reagan instead of their preferred candidate Carter, that I was invited to sit at the stammtische of the local gasthaus, where the conversations took place.
Talk to anyone who has lived in Germany, and they will likely tell you it's a rare occurrence for an American to be invited to the stammtische, a table reserved for family and close friends of the family.
Later that spring, our battalion was engaged in a tac eval. My job as S-4 was to manage the supply operations for an air defense artillery battalion, spread over 3 air bases, roughly 1000 square miles. My boss told me to be imaginative, so I put together a resupply scenario that included coordination with local businesses should our supply lines be cut.
The chief evaluator, a LTC, was visibly perturbed by my briefing, though the battalion cdr was laughing his ass off. When challenged by the team chief, I replied that during my 4 years in the battalion, I traveled throughout the area and knew most of the proprietors, many on a first name basis. When I suggested that we have dinner at one gasthaus the following evening, a friend of mine recommended to the LTC not to do it, "NHN will take you to the place where he sits at the stammtische." The team chief, who had several tours in Germany, knew what that meant...my words and plan had heft to them.
The larger issue was that I was a primary staff officer of a combat arms battalion that went from C-3 to C-1 in about 15 months. What we had in that battalion was great leadership at the top, a battalion commander who demanded intelligence, independence and imagination from his officers. Oh I got chewed out plenty of times, no surprise as I was still an LT, but it was forgotten the moment I walked out of his office.
Sorry, but when I contrast his leadership style to Trump's, the Donald isn't in the same ballpark. I trusted my battalion commander, knowing that he wouldn't give us any BS, and that we never had to guess where he was coming from one day to the next. We had enough work to do without any unnecessary chaos added to our daily chores.
