re: Duckworth 'confident' she can work with Mattis

easy for you to say, pretty hard to get your dumbass shot down when you're flying a drone from an armchair in the States

"On November 21, 2006, several weeks after losing her first congressional campaign, Duckworth was appointed Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Rod Blagojevich.[18][19][20] Duckworth served in that position until February 8, 2009. While she was Director, she was credited with starting a program to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and veterans with brain injury.[21]

On September 17, 2008, Duckworth attended a campaign event for Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate for Illinois's 10th congressional district. Duckworth used vacation time, but violated Illinois law by going to the event in a state-owned van which was equipped for a person with physical disabilities. She acknowledged the mistake and repaid the state for the use of the van.[22][23]



In 2009, two Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Anna Veteran's Home in Union County filed a lawsuit against Duckworth.[24] The lawsuit alleged that Duckworth wrongfully terminated one employee and threatened and intimidated another for bringing reports of abuse and misconduct of veterans when she was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.[25]

[26] The case was dismissed twice but refilings were allowed.[27] The court set a tentative trial date of August 2016 and rejected the final motion to dismiss.[28] The state announced that it had settled the case in June 2016 for $26,000 with no admission of wrongdoing.[27] Although the plaintiffs later indicated they did not want the settlement, the judge vacated the trial.[29][30]

Also in 2009, the Illinois Auditor General released an audit of the Veteran's Affairs department. Some issues noted by the audit predated Duckworth's tenure, while the majority of the audit covered Duckworth's tenure.[31] Findings of the audit included a fiscal year 2007 report that was not completed on time, failure to conduct annual reviews of benefits received by Illinois veterans, and failure to establish a task force to study the possible health effects of exposure to hazardous materials. The routine audit covered a two-year period, June 2006 to June 2008, and the findings were described by the auditor's department as "typical" in its audits.[32]

On February 3, 2009, Duckworth was nominated to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.[33] The United States Senate confirmed her for the position on April 22.[34] Duckworth resigned from her position in June 2011 in order to launch her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois' 8th Congressional District.[35]

-wiki

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Who, in THIS process, IS qualified to have an opinion on the matter, in your opinion?

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What do you mean qualified to give an opinion? Everyone can give an OPINION. I'm saying that her opinion isn't any more credible than say, your dentist's opinion on women in the combat arms.

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easy for you to say, pretty hard to get your dumbass shot down when you're flying a drone from an armchair in the States

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Irrelevant post is irrelevant.

Yeah that's it. Women in combat has been my crusade on this board for like 3 years but all of my posts in this thread are based off this chick going to flight school.

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Duckworth can go frick herself.

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Based on the photo of her in this thread, that may be her only choice.....

This thread reminds me of one of my favorite clean jokes:

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For years Frank’s wife begged him to take her hunting. He put her off as long as he could; finally, he gave in. They went to a place where bucks were likely to be found. He placed her where she could get a good shot at any deer that came along, and he trudged through the underbrush to another location about a half-mile away. Before he could get into position he heard two shots. “Oh no!” he thought, “If she gets a deer before me I’ll never live it down.” Then he heard his wife screaming, “Now, step back. That’s my deer!” As he raced through the woods he could see his wife aiming her rifle at a man whose hands were raised above his head. She yelled again, “I said, step away! That’s my deer!”

As Frank arrived at the scene the man yelled, “Okay, Lady. You can have your deer. Just give me a minute and let me get my saddle off of it.”

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But why not? Even if her assignment wasn't intended to be a combat role, events turned out otherwise. She would be more qualified than anyone who never heard a shot fired in anger.

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Not in my opinion

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Is she qualified?

Not based on anything you posted.

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Why is she not qualified? Who is qualified to expound about women in combat?

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Shes qualified to give an opinion just like everyone else. She just can't give a qualified opinion.

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How could she qualify her unqualified opinion about women in combat? Do more to acquaint herself with the issue? Reflect about it? Go to combat? Find herself grievously wounded?