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re: Did JBE get his West Point appointment through political connections?
Posted on 10/21/19 at 3:16 pm to WeeWee
Posted on 10/21/19 at 3:16 pm to WeeWee
My youngest son is a 2017 West Point graduate so I know a little bit about the process.
You must get a nomination from your congressman or senator. I remember there are a few more from the President and Vice President.
Yearly 10,000 apply and approximately 1,400 get nominated.
There is athletic opportunities but everything else has to be good.
They have to pass a very tough medical evaluation also.
Most nominated are good athletes, class officers, 30 ACT or above, high percentage are Eagle Scouts.
All are high achievers but there are a number that get there and realize it is not for them.
You must get a nomination from your congressman or senator. I remember there are a few more from the President and Vice President.
Yearly 10,000 apply and approximately 1,400 get nominated.
There is athletic opportunities but everything else has to be good.
They have to pass a very tough medical evaluation also.
Most nominated are good athletes, class officers, 30 ACT or above, high percentage are Eagle Scouts.
All are high achievers but there are a number that get there and realize it is not for them.
This post was edited on 10/21/19 at 3:41 pm
0
Posted on 10/21/19 at 9:56 pm to KiwiHead
quote:
Actually it was Henson Moore.
shite - you're right. Baker got elected in 1986.
Moore probably didn't do any favors for Frank or EWE, though. My money is still on Russell Long as his nominator.
J. Bennett was hot and cold with Edwin.
Posted on 10/21/19 at 10:27 pm to Ace Midnight
I was a State Senator 8 years in the 80's before I got out. A West Point candidate HAD to get a Congressional appointment. Each Congressman get's one a year. I used to get asked to send a Senate letter every year by several guys, but, I was State, not Federal, I did participate because I was asked, knowing I had very little impact probably.
Posted on 10/21/19 at 10:57 pm to Ace Midnight
Just curious, and I have no idea who you guys are talking about, but how populated was the area JBE is from?
I ask because nominations in metro areas are generally more difficult to come by due to the higher pool of qualified candidates. If he’s from some podunk place like me, there probably wasn’t much cause for impropriety.
In Georgia, for example, kids in Atlanta have a much more difficult time getting appointments since the Delta pilots who were Zoomies all wanted their kids to go to one of the academies. When I went for my governor’s interview there was a young lady from my district who’s dad had moved her and his wife down to South Georgia the year before to better her chances. Coincidentally she wound up being a squadronmate.
I ask because nominations in metro areas are generally more difficult to come by due to the higher pool of qualified candidates. If he’s from some podunk place like me, there probably wasn’t much cause for impropriety.
In Georgia, for example, kids in Atlanta have a much more difficult time getting appointments since the Delta pilots who were Zoomies all wanted their kids to go to one of the academies. When I went for my governor’s interview there was a young lady from my district who’s dad had moved her and his wife down to South Georgia the year before to better her chances. Coincidentally she wound up being a squadronmate.
Posted on 10/22/19 at 7:17 am to Snazzmeister
quote:
Just curious, and I have no idea who you guys are talking about, but how populated was the area JBE is from?
He's from Amite, which is a small town in Tangipahoa, Parish. Really a bedroom community of the City of Hammond - it falls almost exactly halfway between Baton Rouge and Slidell on I-12.
quote:
I ask because nominations in metro areas are generally more difficult to come by due to the higher pool of qualified candidates.
With his connections, the nomination wasn't going to be the problem. Again, I have no doubt he met the other qualifications but his father was in the inner circle of Governor Edwin Edwards - a man who was infamous for selling offices and other political appointments for cash money.
Posted on 10/22/19 at 9:05 am to Ace Midnight
Amazing how many people will bend over backwards to attack the reputation of a West Point graduate and Army Ranger commander just because he's got a "D" next to his name.
Meanwhile, they blindly support a president who is a draft dodger.
What a world we live in.
Meanwhile, they blindly support a president who is a draft dodger.
What a world we live in.
Posted on 10/22/19 at 9:21 am to lalouisiane
quote:
a West Point graduate
Accurate.
quote:
Army Ranger commander
Inaccurate.
He was a tabbed Ranger, but never served in the Regiment (that is a big deal with rangers). He commanded a company in a PIR, so he would be accurately described as a Paratrooper commander (or Airborne Commander, if you prefer).
quote:
just because he's got a "D" next to his name.
Not "just" because. He's a progressive. I respect his service as a brother-in-arms. His policies are terrible.
quote:
Meanwhile, they blindly support a president who is a draft dodger.
It was Nancy Pelosi who suggested that a glass of water with a "D" behind the name would be elected in AOC's district (which would, of course, be true in her own), yet Louisiana elected a Democrat over Vitter last time, Jones in Alabama etc.
Your projection is showing again. There are blind folks out there, but they aren't Trump supporters.
GFY, aight?
This post was edited on 10/22/19 at 9:23 am
Posted on 10/22/19 at 10:05 am to Ace Midnight
quote:]
Ace Midnight
Thank you for your thoughtful post. My point is that it is laughable that some will support a draft dodger while also trying to look for a way to discredit a man who served his country in a leadership position, no less.
Posted on 10/22/19 at 10:13 am to lalouisiane
Edwards is a trial attorney from a family who have done little other than politics to make money. That's not respectable. His policies are terrible as well. The last four years have not been kind to Louisiana. Stop trying to equate any honest criticisms of JBE to Trump as they are mutually exclusive.
Posted on 10/22/19 at 10:17 am to lalouisiane
quote:
olitical connections? by lalouisiane
Amazing how many people will bend over backwards to attack the reputation of a West Point graduate and Army Ranger commander just because he's got a "D" next to his name.
What’s amazing is how after almost four years as governor people still talk highly of Edwards and his reputation even though he immediately broke his campaign promise not to raise taxes.
I applaud his service, but as governor he has failed to move the state forward. Just saying you aren’t Bobby Jindal, and you got us out of a ditch by raising taxes; does not add up to much when you look at the big picture.
Posted on 10/22/19 at 10:23 am to Ace Midnight
quote:
Not "just" because. He's a progressive.
Pleases, we like to throw that word around a lot. He takes a lot of non-progressive positions. Pro 2nd, Pro - life, etc. He might support higher taxes....although many on here make it seem like an increase in the sales tax was a kick in the nuts the Louisiana economy....and not the decrease in the price of oil and the taxes we would collect from that and the royalties lost from the federal government.....nah could not be that, has to be the increase in the sales tax.
Posted on 10/22/19 at 10:27 am to KiwiHead
quote:
He might support higher taxes
It was a cornerstone policy.
quote:
although many on here make it seem like an increase in the sales tax was a kick in the nuts the Louisiana economy....and not the decrease in the price of oil and the taxes we would collect from that and the royalties lost from the federal government.....nah could not be that, has to be the increase in the sales tax.
So, you think we were undertaxed? Interdasting...
Posted on 10/22/19 at 10:35 am to I B Freeman
Like it or not, the High School version of JBE is exactly what West Point goes after. Good grades, no trouble, starting QB, leader, etc. one thing in particular they look for is that a member of US Congress or a state senator vouched for them.
There’s plenty to disagree with him on without trying to discredit West Point. It makes you look desperate.
There’s plenty to disagree with him on without trying to discredit West Point. It makes you look desperate.
This post was edited on 10/22/19 at 10:38 am
Posted on 10/22/19 at 10:38 am to KiwiHead
quote:
...although many on here make it seem like an increase in the sales tax was a kick in the nuts the Louisiana economy....and not the decrease in the price of oil and the taxes we would collect from that and the royalties lost from the federal government.....nah could not be that, has to be the increase in the sales tax.
The price of oil has been on an upward track for the last four years.
On the other hand JBE raised sales taxes 25% initially and then permanently about half of that percentage. But he also raised a lot of other taxes such that he took Billions out of the state's economy to the point where we are running large surpluses.
But you are right, the tax increase isn't the only reason our economy has not gone anywhere, the anti business rhetoric coming out of the administration has hurt too.
Posted on 10/22/19 at 10:40 am to Turbeauxdog
IB Freeman with another swing and a miss
Posted on 10/22/19 at 11:00 am to KiwiHead
Yep, I got mine through a Political connection, not going to lie. Guess can’t run for office now...
Posted on 10/22/19 at 11:00 am to Ace Midnight
quote:
So, you think we were undertaxed? Interdasting..
I think a lot of people in Louisiana, both Republican and Democrat, including those who call themselves progressive or conservative like to reap the rewards without having to pay the cost whether it be in taxes or cuts in services.
Gotta be honest, my tax burden really has not changed at all since the Jindal administration and I've made more money in the last 3 years than the previous years. The income tax rates have not changed at all and neither have other corporate taxes. You just vote the consonant.
Posted on 10/22/19 at 11:13 am to doubleb
quote:
But he also raised a lot of other taxes such that he took Billions out of the state's economy to the point where we are running large surpluses.
Name the other tax increases.
quote:
the anti business rhetoric coming out of the administration has hurt too.
I really haven't heard any anti business rhetoric....you are gonna have to cite this because just because you say it , does not make it so. Other than the LABI baws who work for LABI, most larger business guys I speak with don't have a real issue.
quote:
The price of oil has been on an upward track for the last four years.
Please, the price of oil has been in a depressed state since September 2014 when Alaweed sent the Saudi oil minister a letter citing concerns about American shale production and the Saudis opened the taps. Oil has been running in a range of 44.00 to 59.00 over the last year as opposed to the 120.00 a barrel in June 2014 when the state was rolling in money. Yeah we are up from the 30.00 price in 2015, but we are no where near the target the legislature set at 62.00 minimum.
Posted on 10/22/19 at 11:18 am to KiwiHead
quote:
like to reap the rewards without having to pay the cost whether it be in taxes or cuts in services.
Well, that is the American way, right?
But, we don't have a revenue problem - we have a spending problem. Frankly, I'm disinclined to discuss things more broadly with folks who cannot/will not concede this.
Posted on 10/22/19 at 11:18 am to Ace Midnight
quote:
Really a bedroom community of the City of Hammond
Ehhhh.... That's a bit of a stretch. Hammond is more or less a bedroom community itself.
quote:
With his connections, the nomination wasn't going to be the problem.
As I said before, it wouldn't shock me. I'm not saying it's a terrible thing but nothing to get upset about. Besides, West Point isn't a walk in the park and he did go to jump school and Ranger school afterwards.
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