Tom Cotton - Ranger or no?
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At some point, we need to ask the media to subscribe to a set of standards and recommend ignoring sources that don't. I frankly wish CNN engaged in no commentary at all - just the news - like the good old days. There's plenty of news to cover. Word is WGN may be taking on that role with further investment in News Nation.
We have more people providing commentary than news. It makes me nostalgic for the days when news was 30 minutes at the end of the day with perhaps 2-3 minutes of commentary - if that.
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@aqua-letifer said in Tom Cotton - Ranger or no?:
If he was a platoon leader in the 101st, why in the hell did he feel compelled to say he's an "Army Ranger"?
It was a shorthand way of combining two interest facts - finishing Ranger School and being a leader in combat. He should have said, "I applied my Ranger training in Iraq where I headed a platoon..."
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@kluurs said in Tom Cotton - Ranger or no?:
He should have said, "I applied my Ranger training in Iraq where I headed a platoon..."
That would have been unambiguous, of course.
Looking at Goldberg's tweet, there seems to be some controversy as to who can, properly, called a Ranger.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Returning, for a moment, so Salon's "reporting," there were other times when they referred to soldiers as "Rangers."
https://www.salon.com/2020/05/25/celebrated-to-death-memorial-day-is-killing-us-_partner/
Erik Edstrom is the author of the new book Un-American: A Soldier's Reckoning of Our Longest War (Bloomsbury). He is a graduate of West Point and the University of Oxford, was an infantry officer, Army Ranger, and Bronze Star Medal recipient who deployed to direct combat in Afghanistan.
Mr. Edstrom's web page: "Erik graduated from West Point in 2007. He was then deployed to Afghanistan, where he served as an infantry platoon leader. Erik spent the remainder of his service as the Presidential Escort Platoon Leader during the Obama administration.
He is a graduate of U.S. Army Ranger School, recipient of the Rippetoe Trophy during The Best Ranger Competition, was selected for the U.S. Special Forces (SFAS), and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. "
Doesn't specify if he was a member of the regiment. If he was, I'd guess he would have said it.
And another guy who passed the school, but didn't deploy "as a Ranger."
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@george-k said in Tom Cotton - Ranger or no?:
@kluurs said in Tom Cotton - Ranger or no?:
He should have said, "I applied my Ranger training in Iraq where I headed a platoon..."
That would have been unambiguous, of course.
Looking at Goldberg's tweet, there seems to be some controversy as to who can, properly, called a Ranger.
Not to mention that he essentially did what he alleged, served the country with honor and without exaggeration. Compare and contrast to Blumenthal in Vietnam.
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@george-k said in Tom Cotton - Ranger or no?:
Looking at Goldberg's tweet, there seems to be some controversy as to who can, properly, called a Ranger.
It's controversial only for those who aren't familiar. Cotton was familiar. Therefore he knew better.
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Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
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@jolly said in Tom Cotton - Ranger or no?:
fully qualified to wear ranger tabs,
There are two tabs. One for completing ranger school, one for actually being a ranger.
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In the sins that people tell, this doesn't move the needle much for anyone. It may be more embarrassing for Newsweek to scrape this up - than for Cotton's overstatement of qualifications.
It is a fun game when played for humor. I had an older friend who liked to share that he was a classmate of A. Einstein at Harvard. His friend's name was Alfred Einstein.
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