Are All Politicians Rude Assholes

I saw my boy off at the deployment ceremony at the Armory in Pinellas Park yesterday. The brigade was formed up and ready exactly 10 min before the official start time. The official ceremony start time comes and goes, and there are 250 men and women standing at parade rest, waiting for the start of what is supposed to be a 15 minute ceremony to thank their friends and family for their support, and see them off to Ft. Hood in preparation for Deployment in Kuwait. They and the people at the ceremony expect the introduction and acknowledgement of current and past leaders, and few quick words, a prayer, the to be released to enjoy the evening before deploying for a Year.

But nothing happens, and they are standing there waiting… standing and waiting…

Then a round 15 min past the hour, we guests are asked to stand for the entrance of the dignitaries. Crap we have been waiting for two political hacks who changed their schedules to be here, Gov. Christ and Rep. Young. They each get speech time added to the program. Not long by political speech standards but they did add around 25 min to the ceremony schedule. Then when it was all over Christ did “the inspect the troops thing,” for a photo op, just like in a B movie. Although when Donald Southerland did it in the classic movie, The Dirty Dozen, he came off as smarter and more genuine that Charlie Christ did.

For around 10 seconds of camera time Christ kept 250 soldiers standing at attention or parade rest for an additional 45 min. That’s just plan rude. I didn’t hear any complaints from the soldiers, they wouldn’t, but I did note that their commanders cut their speeches to 2 or 3 min max. After listening to the long winded politicians, and did everything they could to move things along for the troops, those soldiers do appear to have good officers. I’m confident that none of those soldiers standing and waiting gave a rat’s ass, for the words Christ had to offer.

We were told, that he had to change his plans to be here, and words to the effect that we were all honored by his presence. Maybe if he’d showed some humility and apologized for delaying and changing the plans, and recognizing the value of the soldiers and peoples time and effort, he would have been appreciated, instead Christ showed the disregard for the time and plans, of the soldiers, officers, families, and friends, and guests at the deployment ceremony that is typical of politicians who act like they’re some kind of elite who should be honored and revered. All he did was once again demonstrate that he like most politicians are just rude self aggrandizing assholes.

The people of Tampa Bay however are not. I took my son and his girlfriend to his favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory, for dinner. He was in uniform, and like a whole lot of other soldiers last night his money was no good in Tampa Bay. Our entire meal was paid for by an anonymous person, and it seemed everybody knew he was deploying, and was wishing him well. The entire community demonstrated that they appreciate our men and women of the armed services. Thank you Tampa Bay!!!