One thing I’ve learned working for candidates, elected officials, and with the Democratic Party, is that what killing progress is the outright cynicism I see on display here.
It’s really sad to think that there’s an entire segment of our population, mostly progressives, who just absolutely cannot believe that people go into politics for the purpose of public service. I’m not talking about Pete here, I’m talking in general.
News flash: not everyone is a nihilist, and there are ton of good electeds and staffers out there who do this purely for the service aspect. I helped 4 people this month work with the state nursing board to get their licenses, because their paperwork and applications had gotten lost somewhere between their school and the state. I do that not because I’m some power-hungry social climber, but because it really does bring joy to help people. I am not alone.
People run for office for real, service-oriented reasons. Just because they don’t agree with you on 100% of every policy doesn’t mean they are hand picked by some nebulous establishment to thwart your ideals.
I am truly sorry for you all, and this attitude, more than any other, by people who are supposed to be allies, really makes me depressed about our future.
No, it’s not unusual. If you already have a degree or two (a first from Oxford IS a degree), they actively encourage you to take a commission as an officer.
Of course some people go into politics for the purpose of public service. Did Pete? I don’t think so. It’s fine you disagree and think Pete is a great public servant.
I understand he was a college graduate. He didn’t seem to have any experience in any of the skills or degrees the wikipedia article mentioned.
Like if any 27-year old Rhodes scholar with some bullshit two year job experience applies for a direct commission would they get it? I don’t know, maybe they would. Maybe there’s no connections required.
But then what the hell was he doing in Afghanistan and for McKinsey?
I read that as them selecting the race of kids to adopt, not to adopt at all. Not that I agree with that sentiment at all regardless of which way it was meant.
I’ll make the same point on this as I did with the CIA stuff. If anything the best parts of Pete are his marriage and adoption of these kids. There are plenty of things to hate him for without having to stoop to these depths.
I mean, I had no experience or skills in program management when I graduated, and yet that’s what the military made me do. My first choice was, ironically, intel.
You seem to be under the mistaken impression that the military cares about what the person earning their commission actually wants. They will put you where they think they need you most. Sure, they try to match up your education to your career code (not sure what the navy calls theirs…in the Army it’s MOS and the AIr Force it’s AFSC) but there’s no guarantee.
Most Intelligence officers have some kind of liberal arts degree…often Political science. Pilots, too. The only MOS where your degree actually matters is engineering, basically.
it’s not unreasonable to feel like sky was lumping a large portion of this forum in with the review’s perspective when this is the second sentence of the post that kicked this discussion off
ngl, I could maybe believe that DeSantis is capable of adopting a kid as part of a politics stunt. Probably still wouldn’t assert this without evidence in a book review tho.
Most academy grads end up getting a commission if I understand correctly.
This is different from my question: how many people with Mayor Pete 2009 experience and credentials would get a direct commission in the reserves? Would any Rhodes scholar with similarly little work experience get a direct commission without any political connections? Maybe, I don’t know.
Which, again is different that what happened to Mayor Pete. Right? Like what was the program that Richard Gere in Officer and a Gentleman was going through? That’s OCS, right? Different from a direct commission into the reserves.
The reserves have different intake processed for officers. I can’t recall but I think Pete’s was a 6-week course?
Yes. The military is desperate for officers. If you are a college grad and walk into a recruiting office tomorrow, they will encourage you to take a commission as an officer. I’m not saying every college grad is officer material, but the reality is (putting on my cynicism hat here), they don’t want highly-educated people doing the specialized (think skilled worker vs. white collar work) work that enlisted troops do. They see the experience of a college education lending itself more toward the broader leadership aspects of the officer corps.
Actually, it’s a good analogy. Officers are management types, Enlisted are skilled worker types that they basically train from apprentice-level to highly specialized.
