It could be worse. You could have been a liberal line officer during the Reagan/Bush I era, and thereby have it assumed that: * One is a Republican. No exceptions for line officers (ok, 7% or so); only doctors, nurses, chaplains, and lawyers were "allowed" to be liberal, and even then not so much. And along with that comes three decades of solicitations for the Republican Senatorial Campaign. * One is xtian, and more particularly Protestant. Lots of fun with my ancestry and the Catholic school my spousal unit taught at... in what is probably the most bigoted SMSA in the US (Oklahoma City). * One believes that the only enemy is the Soviet Union, and that paying attention to anything else was disloyal (except maybe — and only maybe — Germany, so that one could refer the farmers complaining about the tanks ruining the crops to the Public Affairs office). * One believes that European governments are just a bunch of anti-American commies. (It wasn't the governments; it was the local, as opposed to national, media.) * One believes that the Democratic Party is not only a bunch of long-haired hippie freaks, but the spawn of Satan. Or Stalin — take your pick. * One enjoys eating babies. Well, ok, but ONLY at high tide, and with mint sauce.
And anything an officer says to disabuse anyone of those notions will be either (a) ignored or (b) the cause of a report to base security questioning one's loyalty.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-08-23 09:22 pm (UTC)* One is a Republican. No exceptions for line officers (ok, 7% or so); only doctors, nurses, chaplains, and lawyers were "allowed" to be liberal, and even then not so much. And along with that comes three decades of solicitations for the Republican Senatorial Campaign.
* One is xtian, and more particularly Protestant. Lots of fun with my ancestry and the Catholic school my spousal unit taught at... in what is probably the most bigoted SMSA in the US (Oklahoma City).
* One believes that the only enemy is the Soviet Union, and that paying attention to anything else was disloyal (except maybe — and only maybe — Germany, so that one could refer the farmers complaining about the tanks ruining the crops to the Public Affairs office).
* One believes that European governments are just a bunch of anti-American commies. (It wasn't the governments; it was the local, as opposed to national, media.)
* One believes that the Democratic Party is not only a bunch of long-haired hippie freaks, but the spawn of Satan. Or Stalin — take your pick.
* One enjoys eating babies. Well, ok, but ONLY at high tide, and with mint sauce.
And anything an officer says to disabuse anyone of those notions will be either (a) ignored or (b) the cause of a report to base security questioning one's loyalty.