Daniel Inouye, Senator and Medal of Honor Recipient, Dead at 88

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Originally Posted by sjc3081

He may be a war hero but I cannot forgive him for his partisan antics during the Iran Contra hearings.

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Yep, good riddance as far as I am concerned. I was only 16 at the time but I watched the hearings almost every day. The contempt and disrespect Inouye and his democrat compatriots showed to Lt. Col North was attrocious. The composure and bearing North displayed in the face of it made a huge impression on me at the time and was one of the reason I later joined the Marine Corps.

On top of that Inouye had a long time F rating from the NRA so while he was a war hero 70 years ago he had no problem crapping on the constitution for the last 50 years.

I put him in about the same league as Specialist John Stebbins who won the silver star during the Battle of Mogidishu. He did some spectacularly heroic things in combat but that doesn't mean he is not a complete scumbag for things he did later on.

I had a First Sergeant tell our company once during a morning formation, "India! You can build a thousand bridges that never fall down and no one will ever call you a bridge builder, but you suck one $%#& just one %^&# and they will call you a %&^$ sucker for the rest of your life!."

Inouye was no bridge builder.

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Originally Posted by Nightvisionary

Yep, good riddance as far as I am concerned. I was only 16 at the time but I watched the hearings almost every day. The contempt and disrespect Inouye and his democrat compatriots showed to Lt. Col North was attrocious. The composure and bearing North displayed in the face of it made a huge impression on me at the time and was one of the reason I later joined the Marine Corps.

On top of that Inouye had a long time F rating from the NRA so while he was a war hero 70 years ago he had no problem crapping on the constitution for the last 50 years.

I put him in about the same league as Specialist John Stebbins who won the silver star during the Battle of Mogidishu. He did some spectacularly heroic things in combat but that doesn't mean he is not a complete scumbag for things he did later on.

I had a First Sergeant tell our company once during a morning formation, "India! You can build a thousand bridges that never fall down and no one will ever call you a bridge builder, but you suck one $%#& just one %^&# and they will call you a %&^$ sucker for the rest of your life!."

Inouye was no bridge builder.

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This is interesting to me. I heard the other day that one of the main reasons gun legislation had generally been pro gun lately is because the pro gun crowd has many many single issue voters while the anti gun crowd has almost none.

Regardless of his accomplishments in life, his political party and his gun rights stance to you nullifies everything.

The mans family was imprisoned by the government because they were of Japanese ancestry and he still volunteered to fight the war, and did so better than most to put it mildly. If your civil rights were violated, most people would say "**** the government."

I can respect a man even if I disagree with his beliefs. And Inouye is the best example I can think of.

I respect the man for his service and deeds in the military. His political service...well that's another story.

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Originally Posted by Koshinn

This is interesting to me. I heard the other day that one of the main reasons gun legislation had generally been pro gun lately is because the pro gun crowd has many many single issue voters while the anti gun crowd has almost none.

Regardless of his accomplishments in life, his political party and his gun rights stance to you nullifies everything.

The mans family was imprisoned by the government because they were of Japanese ancestry and he still volunteered to fight the war, and did so better than most to put it mildly. If your civil rights were violated, most people would say "**** the government."

I can respect a man even if I disagree with his beliefs. And Inouye is the best example I can think of.

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That was a different time. It is a documented fact that Japanese internment prevented many acts of sabotage and espionage. Americans of Japanese decent actively assisted the Japanese military during the war. Look up the Niihau incident as a prime example. Just because he defended the country 70 years ago does not give him a free pass to usurp the constitution for the next fifty years. Benedict Arnold also fought for our country. Does he also get a pass?

“When my father took time off and we got on the street car. And he was very silent until we got close to the point of departure. He cleared his throat and I knew something was coming. He’s not a scholarly person. I know he struggled and he said:

'This country has been good to us. It has given me two jobs. It had given you and your brothers and your sister education. We owe a lot to this country. Do not dishonor this country. Above all, do not dishonor the family. And if you must die, die in honor.'

I am 18 years old and he is telling me these heavy words. And I always thought to myself, would I be able to say the same thing to my son?”

- Captain Daniel Inouye, a Japanese-American citizen, describing the conversation he had with his father during his trip to volunteer in the armed forces after Pearl Harbor ("The War", PBS TV Series Documentary)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aZ8LNfVzJE

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Originally Posted by Nightvisionary

That was a different time. It is a documented fact that Japanese internment prevented many acts of sabotage and espionage. Americans of Japanese decent actively assisted the Japanese military during the war. Look up the Niihau incident as a prime example. Just because he defended the country 70 years ago does not give him a free pass to usurp the constitution for the next fifty years. Benedict Arnold also fought for our country. Does he also get a pass?

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So wait you're saying that it's ok to jail an entire ethnic group because some of them MIGHT have committed a crime?

Nice to know you can pick and choose parts of the constitution to ignore when it suits you.

How does someone that goes through that go on to be a liberal politician?

Boggles the mind.

-brickboy240

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Originally Posted by Nightvisionary

Benedict Arnold also fought for our country. Does he also get a pass?

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Yes. Because the Americans treated him like shit, time and time again, despite him leading them to victory against the British on several occasions.

After his mother died, he single handedly supported his sister, and alchoholic father. At 15, he fought off the French invasion.

Then during the American Revolution he planned, and led the famous Siege of Fort Ticonderoga. Then his wife died. Then planned and led, the invasion of Quebec. Where he held his position for weeks after being shot, and stranded.

Then the American Army repeatedly gave promotions that he deserved to younger, and less experienced men, and took credit for his wartime achievements. He was then investigated by Congress due to baseless accusations of corruption. While they were creating an alliance with France. The people he fought when he was much younger.

Under those conditions, you can't really blame him for defecting.

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Originally Posted by Koshinn

So wait you're saying that it's ok to jail an entire ethnic group because some of them MIGHT have committed a crime?

Nice to know you can pick and choose parts of the constitution to ignore when it suits you.

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Im going to go out on a limb and say you probably can't remember a time when our entire nation was faced with destruction by a foreign enemy. When it has been proven that many of those interned had a greater allegiance to the Japanese emperor than they did to America what would your solution have been when faced with the uncertainties of 1942?

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Originally Posted by Nightvisionary

Im going to go out on a limb and say you probably can't remember a time when our entire nation was faced with destruction by a foreign enemy. When it has been proven that many of those interned had a greater allegiance to the Japanese emperor than they did to America what would your solution have been when faced with the uncertainties of 1942?

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Where was that proven? Everything I've read states that the vast majority had more allegiance to the US than Japan, even after the US abused their trust by illegally imprisoning them. We're not talking about a dozen highly suspect Japanese infiltrators here, we're talking about every single person of Japanese ancestry in the US mainland, no matter how many generations ago their family immigrated. Over 120,000 people, the majority having US citizenship. Even if there were 1000 sympathizers, that wouldn't even be close to justifying the imprisonment of over 100x that number based on nothing but race.

I can't believe you're agreeing with and are trying very hard to justify one of the worst acts the US government has committed in the last century. Not the absolute worst, but very bad.

I would not have thrown away the Constitution because I thought it was convenient. It's a slippery slope once you start down that path. And it flies in the face of the oath you took as a United States Marine.