‘You wore the uniform’: Tamron Hall gets up in grill of Trump adviser for whitewashing Khan attack

[DonViejo]

[rurallib]

1. Good job Tamron!

someone who won't let their bullshit go.

[PrideofJefferson]

2. Home Run

Tamron Hall and Joy Reid are just killing it these days.

[cab67]

3. I SOOOO want to tell this Rear Admiral to go fuck himself.

[Lucretius]

4. a little background on Admiral Kubic

The word from many surviving Seabees of the gallant Reserve Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 14 that took these catastrophic casualties is that they were ordered to assemble in an open yard at their base for a pep talk from Rear Adm. Charles Kubic, who, according to a salty Navy commander, was making one of his monthly self-serving visits to Iraq from Norfolk, Va. “Kubic came to Iraq for the last two days of every month and the first two of the next to get tax breaks.”

The same source says: “Several officers argued with Kubic, saying it wasn’t smart to assemble the men. But they were rudely overrode.”


Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2005/03/29350/#O5mcsMUIeQi5e4PT.99

[MADem]

5. I take issue w/the late David Hackworth for the way he excoriated Mike Boorda, and I think that

World Nut Daily is a piece-of-shit rag.

With that clear "non-endorsement" caveat of both the author AND the source, there is the "Stopped Clock" annotation (it's right twice a day).

Here's what Hackworth had to say about Kubic back in 2005:

The word from many surviving Seabees of the gallant Reserve Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 14 that took these catastrophic casualties is that they were ordered to assemble in an open yard at their base for a pep talk from Rear Adm. Charles Kubic, who, according to a salty Navy commander, was making one of his monthly self-serving visits to Iraq from Norfolk, Va. “Kubic came to Iraq for the last two days of every month and the first two of the next to get tax breaks.”

The same source says: “Several officers argued with Kubic, saying it wasn’t smart to assemble the men. But they were rudely overrode.”

Family members of the dead reservists are furious that heads have not rolled. Their specific target is Kubic, whom they hold responsible for the loss of their loved ones even though he now denies giving the fatal order. Phone calls have been placed and letters written to lawmakers, and the bereaved keep getting promised swift action.

The surviving Seabees, a most patriotic group, love the U.S. Navy and almost to a man want to return to Iraq to finish the job. So they will only speak off-record. But they don’t have kind words for Kubic, since he ordered them to make his bed, bring ice-cold water to his quarters and generally act as his personal houseboys during his trips to Iraq. The admiral’s attitude didn’t go down well with these rugged reservist warrior-builders, the proud inheritors of a legendary tradition: “We’re the Seabees of the Navy, we can build and we can fight; We’ll pave our way to victory and guard it day and night.”

The irony is that Kubic apparently fancies himself as a heroic warrior. In the first days of the invasion of Iraq, he was hunkered down in a bunker with his staff when a Scud missile whistled several thousand feet overhead – for which daring feat he was later awarded a Bronze Star for heroism under fire. He claims he’s run 3,100 combat patrols in Iraq and knows what insurgency warfare is all about.

With all of this combat experience, the braggart must have had brain shutdown that bloody day to lose so many men to one single round of mortar fire. Any knowledgeable, responsible leader would have ordered the assemblage to put on their helmets and flak jackets and spread out.


Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2005/03/29350/#vOESwzL38O4C8OQW.99

More graphic description of that tragic day: http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/the-deadliest-day-6342261 Don't read it if it will revive upsetting memories.


Ahhhh....but wait, there's more. Doesn't Trump call anyone who doesn't reach the PEAK of the profession a LOSER, after all? Where are all the FOUR STAR Admirals lining up to support him? The best he can do is TWO? A "REAR" admiral, mind you--not a Vice Admiral, not a plain old Four Star Admiral....but a REAR admiral. Not an officer of the line. You'd think the guy who always wants the BEST of everything would be able to land a Chair of the Joint Chiefs, or a Chief of Staff/CNO/Commandant! The best he can do is a staff corp flag who stole souvenirs from Falujah and used government transport to ship them home? A guy so dumb he assembled his people in unsafe fashion in a combat zone and caused them to get killed? What a schmuck!!

[brush]

6. Thanks for the info on the not so gallant Adm Kubic.

Not to nitpick but one-star and two-star admirals are still admirals, both near the very top of command in the Navy.

[MADem]

7. I served in the Navy for many decades.

And there's a pecking order. While he was at the top of his game as a Seabee, he was at his terminal rank, never had a promotion that was decided in the Oval Office (like 3 and 4 star promotions are), and if he were still on ACDU and had a job at the Five Sided Funny Farm, he'd be parking in an OUTER lot at the Pentagon, and would have a LONG hike to his car at the end of the workday. He'd be one amongst MANY--nothing special at all.

Where are the 4 stars backing Trump? I'm guessing they want to retain the approbation of their peers....

[brush]

8. I'm no fan of Kubic but insinuating that achieving the rank of admiral is no big deal seems . . .

disrespectful.

There are many more ranks beneath one and two-star admirals than above them.

[MADem]

9. It's extremely political-he nabbed a gig as a WH fellow under Raygun and got all his key promotions

and assignments under GOP Presidents. When you get in on the ground in that fashion, the path is greatly smoothed.

He doesn't DESERVE any respect. A lot of sailors are DEAD because of that asshole. Who makes people stand at attention mustered in tight formation in a war zone? An IDIOT, that's who.

People in hell want ice water? He wanted ice water in Fallujah... and he flew into a combat zone at the end of every month and left at the start of the next month in order to get two months of tax free pay (you didn't have to stay very long) and everyone KNEW what he was doing.

He deserved to be charged as contributing to the deaths of those Seabees through his own gross incompetence as a leader. His utter stupidity and demand for pomp and propers is what killed them.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article24440521.html

http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/050504/met_15525489.shtml#.V5_syLgrKCg

[brush]

10. I'm with you on Kubic, I was speaking of the rank of admiral.

It's an achievement — again, not talking about Kubic.

[MADem]

11. It's an achievement in the line community. In smaller communities, it's who you know--and it can

be from Very Early On. He was placed on a track by Raygun with few competitors in the first place. He did not compete the way a shipdriver or aviator would, against a large field of players in his year group.

[brush]

12. Again, I was talking about the rank, not Kubic or how he got there.

[MADem]

13. I am talking about the rank, too.

When the community is small (for example, SEABEES, or musicians, or Medical Service Corps, or JAG, or Public Affairs, or even SUBMARINE LINE) the likely "players" who are eligible for the one or two "senior" slots in those tiny communities are ID'd at the senior 0-3 or junior 0-4 level. They get the best assignments, the best 'mentoring' and they are helped along the path. Everyone else in the mix can pretty much shove it, they get the leftover billets--the field is trimmed and the likely leaders identified well before the selection boards are even held.

I've got a lot of selection board experience, I've seen the process in action. You want to see a 'rigged' system, that's a good example. I'll quite bluntly admit I benefited from it to some extent. It's often "Who You Know" that helps to get you ahead, and I frequently found myself in the right place at the right time.