The Tim Walz campaign, and the ******** attacks upon him.

Stacyhs said:
I don't see how you can disagree with my interpretation as it's not my interpretation. It's what he actually said. "IF CALLED". He was not called. He retired before then.
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Examine it without the benefit of hindsight. How would it be interpreted at the time? It's March 2005. You're at the battalion staff level and you know Command Sergeant Major Walz has two years left on his contract that he's obligated to fulfill in order to maintain his conditional rank, even if only for retirement benefit purposes. You know your unit is deploying in the next two years. Command Sergeant Major Walz publishes a press release that says, "I'll deploy if called." How would you interpret his statement?

Similar, though not exactly the same, I knew a guy, Sergeant (pay grade E5), who went to all the process of being approved to reenlist and even invited people to his reenlistment ceremony. He showed up to the ceremony and declined to sign the contract, which was his right to do. Up until that point his command thought they had him for another 4 years. I remember him being very religious and a decent guy and great leader. I think his wife convinced him to quit.

Stacyhs said:
How about you just take my anecdote about Custer for what it was? An interesting anecdote about a famous person who is commonly referred to with the rank of general yet was a colonel when he died on duty.
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Enlisted Marines can be promoted to Commissioned Officers and Warrant Officers. In the case of Warrant Officers, they get promoted to the pay grade of WO1 sometimes months before attending the required Warrant Officer Basic Course. If they're disqualified before or during the course, or quit the course, or fail the course, they revert to their enlisted rank. I don't look down on Marines who end up in that situation because at least they tried- I certainly never did. However, if they retire and say "I'm a retired Warrant Officer-1", that would irk me.
 
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Scopedog.

Do you still refer to yourself as a Marine even though you are no longer on Active Duty?
 
Scopedog said:
Examine it without the benefit of hindsight. How would it be interpreted at the time? It's March 2005. You're at the battalion staff level and you know Command Sergeant Major Walz has two years left on his contract that he's obligated to fulfill in order to maintain his conditional rank, even if only for retirement benefit purposes. You know your unit is deploying in the next two years. Command Sergeant Major Walz publishes a press release that says, "I'll deploy if called." How would you interpret his statement?

Similar, though not exactly the same, I knew a guy, Sergeant (pay grade E5), who went to all the process of being authorized to reenlist and even invited people to his reenlistment ceremony. He showed up to the ceremony and declined to sign the contract, which was his right to do. Up until that point his command thought they had him for another 4 years. I remember him being very religious and a decent guy and great leader. I think his wife convinced him to quit.


Enlisted Marines can be promoted to Commissioned Officers and Warrant Officers. In the case of Warrant Officers, they get promoted to the pay grade of WO1 sometimes months before attending the required Warrant Officer Basic Course. If they're disqualified before or during the course, or quit the course, or fail the course, they revert to their enlisted rank. I don't look down on Marines who end up in that situation because at least they tried- I certainly never did. However, if they retire and say "I'm a retired Warrant Officer-1", that would irk me.
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Do you know Trump still calls himself "President"?
 
Darat said:
But they no longer hold that rank...
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The problem isn't that Governor Walz no longer holds a rank, it's that his retired rank isn't the one he says it is. He has repeatedly, intentionally leveraged and invoked the prestige of being a retired Command Sergeant Major for 19 years. Being a retired Master Sergeant is beneath him, apparently.
 
Scopedog said:
The problem isn't that Governor Walz no longer holds a rank, it's that his retired rank isn't the one he says it is. He has repeatedly, intentionally leveraged and invoked the prestige of being a retired Command Sergeant Major for 19 years. Being a retired Master Sergeant is beneath him, apparently.
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Just as Trump's retired rank is not President, yet he and others still call him President.

What is the big deal? You don't seem to be able to articulate why this is such a big deal.
 
Scopedog said:
Governor Walz is apparently "so hung up" on it. It's very important to him that everyone knows he's a retired Command Sergeant Major.
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Is he? Is it something he keeps bringing up, or is it something listed in his bio that gets quoted when someone writes about him? I had the impression he was getting very little publicity before he was selected as Harris's running mate.

To how many people do you think it makes the slightest difference whether CSM was his final official rank or that he was just doing the job as a CSM when he retired?
 
Darat said:
Just as Trump's retired rank is not President, yet he and others still call him President.
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I call him Trump.

Darat said:
What is the big deal? You don't seem to be able to articulate why this is such a big deal.
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Others can decide for themselves. I'm providing information and my critical analysis. On a discussion forum. For skeptics.
 
Scopedog said:
I call him Trump.


Others can decide for themselves. I'm providing information and my critical analysis. On a discussion forum. For skeptics.
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And I asked you why it is a big deal? You are bringing it up so I wondered why it is a big deal for you.
 
zooterkin said:
Is he? Is it something he keeps bringing up, or is it something listed in his bio that gets quoted when someone writes about him? I had the impression he was getting very little publicity before he was selected as Harris's running mate.
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He brought it up when he was running for congress in 2005 and the question of his retired rank was brought up at the time. When he got elected, he boasted about being the member of congress with the highest enlisted rank. He's said it since then and there are recent twitter posts of him saying it. Here's a video montage of him saying it or acknowledging it:
https://x.com/AlphaNewsMN/status/1821581829004247478/

zooterkin said:
To how many people do you think it makes the slightest difference whether CSM was his final official rank or that he was just doing the job as a CSM when he retired?
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I guess we'll find out. It defiinitely makes the slightest difference to Governor Walz.
 
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