[quote]bigflamer wrote:
olderguy wrote:
I assume you’re a fireman and it amazes me that you think that this coward has integrity.
First, I’ll get you up to speed on integrity.
[i]integrity
Pronunciation: in-'te-gr&-tE
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English integrite, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French integrit?, from Latin integritat-, integritas, from integr-, integer entire
1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : INCORRUPTIBILITY
2 : an unimpaired condition : SOUNDNESS
3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : COMPLETENESS
synonym see HONESTY[/i]
Now, I understand that you disagree with this guy about his decision to not deploy with his unit, but to say that he’s not being true to his values is incorrect. Get this;
Integrity is not giving up on your beliefs and submitting your will to the popular opinion.
Integrity is doing what HE, not crusty old fucks like yourself, believe to be the right thing.
Integrity is making this decision at a time that does not put the personnel underneath him in danger. This wasn’t a battlefield desertion, it was a premeditated legal decision.
Integrity is making this decision in the face of intense public scrutiny, knowing full well that he will be called a coward by those who are so blinded by their own belief system that they cannot accept a military man who has enough integrity and courage to stand up for his belief system
Integrity is doing the right thing at the right time.
At what point do you not go into a building that your fellow firemen are in?
When the incident commander running the scene of the Worcester six fire had to make the decision to not send anymore men into the building on fire, he said that it was the most difficult decision he ever had to make. He made that decision knowing in his heart that it was the right thing to do, he made that decision in the face of screaming firefighters on scene calling him a coward. Firefighters who later admitted that they were wrong.
That was integrity, that was doing what was right even if it was intensely unpopular.
Your analogy is incredibly misguided in that this guy made his decision at a juncture which didn’t put personnel in danger. As I said before, this wasn’t a battlefield desertion when the shit was hitting the fan. It was a decision that he made in advance of a dynamic situation
If I’m on the scene of a structure fire and assigned as a RIT officer, and know that the scene has developed into a state that NO human lives could have survived the conditions inside the structure, then the right thing to do would be to not go into the building, no matter what my chief orders. If I know it’s not the right thing to do, then personal integrity demands that I do not do it.
Would you rather have this guy on the battlefield? Think about it.
You’re a disgrace to your uniform…You’re a coward as he is.
At this point, my personal integrity demands that I tell you to go fuck yourself. But hey, if it makes you feel better, I’ll be a coward in olderguy’s world. I have nothing to prove to you that’s for sure.
Let’s hope that the police don’t start thinking that a call might be a problem or have overtones that might not be PC. If so, I guess it will be OK to “sit this call out”.
I was in the USMC in 1970 so I have a little credibility. I know for a fact that I couldn’t live with myself if I were to have gone to Canada after deciding I didn’t believe in the decisions of the policy makers in mid stream. And who’s to say this guy just wasn’t flat out afraid to go?
Your retarded diatribe is beginning to bore me. You sound like some senile old fuck wandering around his trailer park with an open can of Coors calling anyone with an opinion not in line with his a communist.
Stick around olderguy, arguing with you makes me look REALLY smart.
[/quote]
Thanks for the enlightening post.
I can’t answer all of that stupid shit you posted, but I’ll give my opinion on a couple of things.
Your #1 definition was “firm adherence to a code of especially moral values”.
If you had half a brain, you would have looked at that and said, “hey ya know, he wasn’t exactly a Quaker”.
Let’s not put this guy in a class with Ali, who was a conscientious objector from the get go. This guy joined to fight arabs. He was willing to kill people if they were making WMD but not if they supported terrorists that flew planes on 9/11. Forget about the fact that he enlisted, (when many draftees died in other wars), left his unit to go off and fight, and disobeyed orders. And shouldn’t those firefighters in Mass who were calling their incident commander a coward just go into the building anyway?
According to your definition of integrity, they should have done what they thought was right and not what that crusty old fuck of an incident commander thought. High moral values.
One last thing on the subject, do we know this guy wasn’t just flat out scared to death? I’m sure given the choice, some would rather go to jail than back to battle. He very well might be one of them.
This guy gets to much credit. Look at your #2 and #3 definitions. Come on.
I apologize for the remark I made about you being a coward. I’m sure I wouldn’t make it to your face. We’re all entitled to our opinions even if you are wrong.