I'm pretty certain George H.W. Bush is alive and well in Houston AND my nephew is flying off the USS George H.W. Bush, which presently port called at Portsmouth,UK. So, you can be alive and have a USN ship named after you. I think Reagan was alive when the USS Reagan was launched, too.
There is SSN-23, the USS Jimmy Carter.
By tradition, this was not always so, but politicians can change the rules.
No mention yet of He who thinks it's 2008, and toasting the Queen whilst her favourite tune is being played. For all the flak Bush got for his literacy.
Nope, you don't need to be dead, but it helps. Despite what this list may indicate to some of the more literacy-challenged, George Washington is indeed now deceased.
135 words only... ah, but if our politicos today could but manage this...
Quote:
Fellow Citizens:
I AM again called upon by the voice of my country to execute the functions of its Chief Magistrate. When the occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to express the high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor, and of the confidence which has been reposed in me by the people of united America.
Previous to the execution of any official act of the President the Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take, and in your presence: That if it shall be found during my administration of the Government I have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.
After he won the Revolutionary War, he went back to be that farmer in Mount Vernon. And things started to fall apart. And they came knocking at his door and said, George, we need you, because the whole thing is falling apart. I'm paraphrasing, but I think it was pretty close to — "Have I not yet done enough for my country?"
I'll leave you to read the balance, at your leisure....
I think perhaps his most significant act was to give up power after 8 years in office, setting a precedent that would last 140 years, without the force of Constitutional or statutory mandate.
The founders, Washington, Adams, Franklin, Madison, Jefferson and the others, were a confluence of magnificent men who came together at the right time and place and truly changed the world. Memorial day is about them, too. Although 4th of July is their own special day.
Do any of the US based posters have access to the BBC's Andrew Marr interview of President Obama - A truly "Head placed where the sun does not shine job" When it comes to groveling the UK'S special relationship with the United States means that the phrase "Nobody does it better" comes to mind. The president would have left the event feeling one step beyond god.
The US has produced some great presidents LBJ,FDR and Eisenhower (A soldier) come to mind but the current crop seem to come from the product a lesser ethos.
Separate issue: Some great names for carriers - USS Potemkin, USS Aurora, the USS Kursk and best of all the USS Ho Chi Minh. (Know understand and learn from your enemy)
CAT III A worried citizen of the free world and wanabe designer of the Royal Navy's potentially hopeless class of troll dredgers
Last edited by CATIII-NDB; 30th May 2011 at 08:38.
One way of discerning media bias is to count the times the adjective "ultraconservative" or "far right" is used, compared to "ultraliberal" or "far left". Have you ever heard the new DNC chairwoman called "far left" by the media? Why do you suppose that is? Maybe the best friend Republicans can ever have in 2012
Thank God we have a President who can take the heat.
Quote:
In a sign of his determination to play no matter what, Obama is golfing even though it is currently 95 degrees at Fort Belvoir and it “feels like” it’s 98 degrees, according to The Weather Channel.
As usual, never let a crisis go to waste, and if one doesn't present itself; create one. In this case the manufactured crisis was in the form of a manufactured panic over the USA PATRIOT Act which effectively presented the false argument that if the PATRIOT Act wasn't renewed, it would thwart the provisions for handling current investigations which is actually untrue.
I think all of us knew from day one that the PATRIOT Act was going to be renewed. Government's rarely give up this kind of power even despite the fact that the law should have never been passed to begin with. The fact remains that the USA PATRIOT Act was rushed through Congress shortly after 9/11 and was passed in a knee-jerk fashion.
It's kind of ironic isn't it? Senator Cardin who wants to impose sanctions on Russians who have been involved in cracking down on whistleblowers (even going so far as to criticize nations that insincerely preach about their virtue while simultaneously going after them), has actually introduced legislation that would make it a felony for government employees or contractors to disclose any information that would be in violation of their non disclosure agreement, even if the information should not have been classified in the first place, displayed activity of flagrant corruption and/or illegality.
The law, designated S.355 expands the scope of information that is covered in the Espionage Act to virtually anything of significance done by the government; it has no public interest defense which which allows a whistleblower to argue that the disclosure was a benefit to the nation, even outweighing any potential harm to national security; it does not address issues regarding government overlcassification; furthermore the law more or less assumes any and all leaks are harmful to national security whether or not they are. This basically means from a legal standpoint, a government official exposing a massive illegal warrantless domestic surveillance program is no different than a government official exposing intelligence sources/assets, and current military operations.
Of course, it wouldn't be the first time that the government has engaged in openly flagrant acts of hypocrisy, but this is clearly very dangerous to us all. The fact that the government has engaged in torture, various forms of domestic surveillance not limited to warrantless wiretapping would all be unknown to us if it weren't for whistleblowers.
For all the flak Bush got for his literacy.
