How many idiot fighter pilots do you know?

Question

....so much is made of the assertion that Bush went AWOL and lost his flight status. So many people move right on and then call him an idiot. Ever stop and think about the fact that to lose flight status, you have to GET flight status in the first place? Any idea what it takes to get flight status in a 60's era jet fighter?? I think anyone who wants to say Bush is stupid should go to a local airport and take and pass what is known as a "First Solo" course. If you can comprehend the aerodynamics, flight rules, mechanics and systems required simply to takeoff and land a little fluff-muffin Cessna, then you posess1% of the competence required evaluate the intelligence of someone cleared to command a blindingly complex flying brick!

Sorry "Fred", your aviation knowledge is ZERO. You don't honorarily do ANYTHING in an airplane. You are either competent, or you are dead. The level of competence and intelligence required to actually fly a 60's era jet fighter are extreme. He flew them. That's a fact. Assertions to the contrary only demonstrate total lack of knowledge or willful ignorance.

Well, "Paul" at the age of 16, I soloed with only 7 flight hours (half the national average), which makes me one of the sharper knives in the drawer in that regard. I got my Private Pilot certificate at the absolute minimum age of 17, on my birthday. Again, I'm certainly not dull. I have several hundred flight hours in simple, complex and aerobatic airplanes, and well as extensive avionics and system testing experience in a wide variety of piston, turboprop and jet aircraft. So again, I will tell you, there are NO free passes in avation, PERIOD. The relevant tests are all about the knowledge required to fly the airplane. Jet fighter systems are EXTREMELY complex, and if you don't have the high intelligence to operate them, you don't get near the airplane PERIOD. Again, anybody who tells you an idiot can fly a 60's era jet fighter is, well, an idiot.

Answer 1

Not a single one. Anyone who says different is a partisan political hack, as well as a yammering ninny.

Answer 2

We live in an age where everyone claims the right to instant expertise in any area. For example, a guy who flunked Natural Sciences in college (Gore) now claims to have the combined expertise of a climatologist, astronomer, and physics genius. Nice work, Mr. Internet. Maybe Hillary Clinton can read a book on dancing and become a ballerina overnight.

The point to my little rant is that Bush has legitimate accomplishments. You're right, the paltry skills it takes to fly a little Cessna (which scared me to death on landing) is nothing compared to a jet fighter. I wouldn't even understand the manual.

Bush is derided because he has one handicap: he comes across badly on tv. I have heard several prominent Democrats privately admit that Bush is quite eloquent and dynamic in person. He's even gotten better over the years at public speaking. Last year, he did a press conference with Tony Blair from the White House. Everyone was shocked that Tony Blair seemed completely out of it, and Bush seemed to be trying to prop him up. Bush came across as the suave, eloquent speaker, while Blair was perpetually tongue tied.

So, Bush passed Yale with a law degree. He married a wonderful lady and produced two gorgeous daughters. He was elected governor of Texas, and twice elected President. And yet, somehow in this age where everyone dismisses real accomplishment, almost to the point of considering real achievement with suspicion, Liberals think he is some sort of fraud. How self-deceived can these people be? No one stumbles into the Presidency..... twice!

If Bush only had the eloquence of Ronald Reagan, people would be following him like Peter Pan.

Answer 3

Nobody said George Bush didn't have average intelligence...who knows...he may be able to blow the doors off any IQ test you care to give him. The objection to George Bush is that he's a stooge for the reactionary right wing of the current GOP. What does that mean? It means that Bush has allowed himself to be influenced and directed by people who have total contempt for the democratic process, particularly the 4th amendment. He fronts for the coal and oil mafias by allowing rewrites of scientific papers to protect those industries. Does he understand what those studies indicate? If he has average or above intelligence the facts should leap off the page at him...yet for years he discounted anything that would indicate that climate change is real, it's ongoing, its aided by man-made pollutants and it will have massive effects in the not too distant future. To me, this means that though he knows better, he simply won't rise above his party affiliation and do something. Bush allowed his cold-war retread advisors to begin a war that resulted in an occupation that has no natural stopping place....he refuses to even accept responsibility for the outcome of this occupation....If George Bush is intelligent, and he may be, evidently his belief system or pressure from his handlers has overcome even common sense. If I had greater space I could list a dozen items that an 'intelligent' person would not be inclined to discount as Bush has. So it's not a matter that he could fly an aircraft, it's that he can't administer the office of the presidency because he simply doesn't understand the job..or if he knows what he's doing is wrong, then there's a bit of evil about the man as well as an aroma of incompetence.

Answer 4

Not a bad point. Too much is made of Bush's "stupidity". News flash - speaking with a Southern accent does not automatically make you dumb!
He passed Yale Law School and his law boards (as far as I know) so he's obviously far above the average intelligence of the people posting on these boards, for or against.
And being a pilot does require a sharp mind - I know, my father was a test pilot in the Navy.

Answer 5

Just the one- but honestly, it wasn't just the AWOL that convinced me of his foolishness.

But hey, maybe he was a better fighter pilot than he is a President. Coke benders would suggest otherwise, but like you said, I don't know. Maybe it's alright to fly while you're flyin'.

Answer 6

george w bush is an idiotic pilot. Being the chickenhawk that he is george never fought anyone while flying!

By the way, dumbya DID get grounded for missing a MANDATORY flight physical.

So, why aren't you in iraq fighting? Just following george's example?

Answer 7

How many flight hours do you have? I wonder how hard it is pass your tests when your rich daddy is an ambassdor with CIA connections.

Answer 8

Bush

Answer 9

One can obtain flight status the hard way, the honest way, or on can be awarded flight status, kind of like being honorary mayor. Guess which route your hero went.

Answer 10

I know of at least 1.


You can quote me endless BS about his supposed intelligence, actions speak louder than words.