Video: Andy Rooney calls troops “losers”

Hot Air ^ | 3/12/07

[bnelson44]

In his commentary on last night’s “60 Minutes,” Andy “Negro is a perfectly good word” Rooney said that today’s military is like the military during World War II, which was made of “losers” who did not complete high school.

[longhorn too]

hey Shellback,

We are going to have to put you and Ann Coulter in the same room and lot let you out until you get this faggot thing out of your systems! LOL

[reagan_fanatic]

I believe Andy Rooney is already dead and probably has been for awhile. All the wheezes and harrumphs currently eminating from his drool hole are nothing more that gas pockets escaping from his decaying carcass.

[Riley]

Unless my hearing is more damaged than I think it is- Rooney's money quote comes at the end of the segment, and says this:

"Whever we fight a war, in Iraq or anywhere else, it should be fought by average Americans, who are drafted."

If someone with better ears than mine can check that, I'd appreciate it.

I don't care for Rooney- but I have to agree that the title of the thread is misleading.

[Tolkien]

Andy Looney has been a liberal puke hanging around liberal pukes all his life so of course he thinks every one else but him and his liberal puke friends are losers.

[P-Marlowe]

I thought he was dead.

[restornu]

Sounds drunk!

[WestCoastGal]

He should be so ashamed of himself.

It is unconscionable to speak of the young men and women staring death in the face every day serving our country so despicable people like him have free speech.

Some die in this terrible war we have to fight, some come back so severely wounded they will never be the same.

Mr Rooney is a disgusting human being and the only LOSER I can see here. He needs to look in the mirror to see what a loser really looks like.

[newcthem]

Just a brain dead old f***, much like his hero Jimma Carter.

[kylaka]

Pickled is probably more accurate.

[ReignOfError]

Not that I give a shit about this vile and vulgar old coot, but if you read his full remarks, he was not saying what is being described here. He is talking about his artilery unit, and the guys who were there from the early days. Nowhere do I see any comparison to today's troops (of which my son is one.)

More to the point, he is not saying that the WWII army (in which he served) was made up of losers -- his point was that there were fewer "losers" after the draft was instituted and the soldiers had more diverse educational and socioeconomic backgrounds.

He doesn't call the present-day troops losers, but worries that losers might be allowed in to meet recruiting goals. His point is that if the military is having difficulty meeting recruiting goals, a draft would be a better approach than lowering standards and allowing more waivers.

Of course, there's plenty in that argument to take issue with, but let's argue against the case he actually made, not an inaccurate one-line summary.

[Red6]

The Army rejects people if the have three traffic tickets in a 6 month period. What defines a moral waiver is quiet different than what he makes it sound like.

In WWII we had a drafted Army. However, the opinion that they were somehow better because of this is pure fabrication. It is the drafted military that gets the trash of society. Take a look at those without high school that were in the ranks when we had the draft vs. when we went all volunteer! The statistical facts tell a story that is completely opposite of what he's telling us.

Fact: In WWII Mr. Rooney 45% of the US troops had high school degrees or its equivalence. Today it's over 99%. Argue with that!

Conscripted forces exist for two reasons. 1) They are cheap. 2) You can't achieve the mass required through any other means. With the exception of Israel, near every Western military drafts for the first reason. Drafted troops paid $300 a month cost less than trying to get a volunteer that may want a $20,000 sign on bonus and monthly paycheck (For the lowest rank) of $1,800 plus full benefits; and that's an 18 year old kid with nothing but a high school diploma living in barracks for free practically.

Experience tends to fall with conscripted troops. Volunteer forces normally have longer contractual obligations than a period of conscription lasts. These troops usually get more money invested into them for training (It's worth it because they will be their longer) and have more experience. A conscript in Vietnam served one tour unless he changed his mind and stayed in. Our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq have two and some three combat tours under their belt. Very different scenario!

As to soldiering. The most important thing to being good is "heart" and you can't draft that. You can't force someone to care just like you can't force him to be creative. Conscripted forces tend to lack in that aspect because those kids picked up really don't want to be there in the first place. Keeping good discipline and morale in such units is more difficult because the command has less to leverage (pay, promotions, awards). The drafted punk that does not want to be there cares very little about his performance evaluation or if he gets that promotion.

If the US Army were a conscripted force, we today would already be broke!

Mr. Rooney, stop self-ingratiating yourself. It's really tacky.

[TommyDale]

"He is talking about the troops in World War II."

No, he was talking about our current military. Read it again:

"...Rooney said that today’s military is like the military during World War II..."

[popdonnelly]

I saw Andy speak in person once, and he came off as much more of a liberal crank than he even does on television.

[starbase]

I hated everything about Army life. I hated the Field Artillery regiment I was assigned to. Most of the guys in it were high school dropouts and the Army wasn't using the term "moral waiver," yet but a lot of them would have needed it.

They had joined before the draft so they had already been promoted to being corporals or sergeants and they were in charge of the rest of us.

First of all, he sounds like he's getting quite senile, so I don't want to dump on him too much, because I think his faculties are now somewhat compromised.

But considering him as senile, he sounds like he's suffering a bit of dementia, remembering scary times when uneducated garbage got to boss around the little precious kiddies from the prep school. Now that ain't right!

Other than the shaking voice, giving me the impression he believes he's living in a different time, I have to say he does not demonstrate how the other troops were deficient.

And he makes one shocking error (shocking to me anyway) the camera zooms in and he says, with emotion, that these are the people "representing us". Representing us? Does he know that an army kills and suffers casualties? They are not elected officials, and in a hell hole like parts of Iraq, they are not there to "represent us", but to fight.

I repeat I think Andy is now senile.

[pabianice]

Isn't Andy Rooney dead yet?

How could they tell?

[bigfootbob]

Makeup, where's that damn makeup!

[yldstrk]

Idiot.

[JB in Whitefish]

..well, at LEAST he has some class...


Didn't call them faggots....!!!

[colorado tanker]

A fair number of WWII guys dropped out to enlist out of patriotism. And a not inconsiderable number lied about their age to get in the fight. "Losers" indeed.

[p. henry]

My father graduated from high school in June of 44 and enlisted in the Army immediately. He later earned two degrees from Stanford and one from the University of Washington. His post graduate education was interrupted by his service as an Army officer in Korea. Who is the loser here, my Dad or a moron named Andy Rooney?