Alexander Vindman: Coming forward ended my career. I still believe doing what?????s right matters.

[_Morley]

Clearly you know what you're talking about more than I do, so please share with us your experience in the military and contrast it to mine.

The only reason I've made your experience an issue is that you thought it was a big enough of an issue to quiz honor and to quiz and dismiss Chap because of what you saw as his lack of military experience.

My service was so long ago that I'm not sure it's relevant. (To be honest, I'm not sure anyone's service is relevant to this particular discussion.) That said, I was an Army SSG, Airborne, Ranger-qualified, LRRP team leader in Vietnam. In my immediate family, four brothers, my father, son, one daughter, and one son-in-law were all in the various branches of the service from career-length to career-reservists to in-and-out-and-done. I think that's why this is so personal with me.

[_Temp. Admin.]

The only reason I quizzed honorentheos and dismissed Chap was because they brought up my military experience first. They required me to meet or exceed certain qualifications prior to having an opinion about Mr. Vindman, so fairness demanded that they meet or exceed those same qualifications prior to having an opinion about me.

[_Morley]

All other things being equal, and if one only goes by what he actually, physically typed, is that not the way it originally came across?

No.

[_Morley]

The only reason I quizzed honorentheos and dismissed Chap was because they brought up my military experience first. They required me to meet or exceed certain qualifications prior to having an opinion about Mr. Vindman, so fairness demanded that they meet or exceed those same qualifications prior to having an opinion about me.

You brought that on yourself, Shades, when you started your "if he'd been a Marine" monologue. You've already let it be known you were a Marine. Do you expect people aren't going to connect the dots?

Saying you think he was wrong then providing the reason is one thing; saying the man had insufficient grit because he was a combat-wounded Army officer and not any random enlisted career Marine is another. You're minimizing the fellow's service. That you don't get this--is dumbfounding.

[_Morley]

Lieutenant colonel Vindman.

Actually, it's "Mr." Vindman now, right?

Come on, Shades. You know better.

[_honorentheos]

All other things being equal, and if one only goes by what he actually, physically typed, is that not the way it originally came across?

Show of hands, how many other participants in the thread followed this same line of thinking? Meaning, who here read it and thought, "What a snowflake!"?

Let's see...subbie.... Shades...anyone else?

[_Some Schmo]

In other words, heads you win, tails I lose?

No, I could be completely wrong about you either way. But since we're passing judgments on people's military service in this thread with ridiculously limited information, I thought I'd join the fun.