It would be interesting why she did that. Despite Duane’s assertion that people can identify with that, the plain and simple truth is that among people who attend and finish college, most people don’t spend six years at five colleges getting a four year degree in one of the three majors they try. If only because even if you have the money, it’s a pain in the ass trying to get all of your credits to transfer over.

Nice writeup!

Obscure fact:

It is (or at least it was in the 1980’s) possible–albeit very rare–for someone to graduate from the Naval Academy and choose to accept a commission in a service other than the Navy or Marine Corps (called an “inter-service transfer”).

I remember one such transfer while I was there: a Midshipman accepted an Air Force commission upon graduation.

This wouldn’t really affect the joke though, as anyone graduating last in his/her class would not likely be considered for such a transfer. Order of service selection (when you pick your career path–surface warfare, submarines, aviation, Marine Corps, etc.) is determined by your “order of merit” within your class, order of merit being a mash-up rank that includes academic GPA, conduct & fitness scores, military evaluations, etc.

The whole joke goes like this:

What do you call the person who graduates last in Med school? Doctor. What do you call the person who graduates last in Law school? Waiter.

(Because, so it has been said, if you don’t finish high in your class at Law School, you may as well not have bothered).

As for the fellows who attend the Naval Academy, don’t call them “soldier” unless you want a fight on your hands. Soldiers come from the Army. A current student at the Naval Academy is a Midshipman (although the worshipers of political correctness will want this to be Midship-person), the short, slang terms are Mids, Middy, Middie, etc. Both officers and enlisted personnel in the Navy will refer to themselves as “Sailors” although most reserve this term for those among the enlisted ranks.

Also from the Naval Academy, comes many of our Marine Corps Officers. Don’t call them soldiers, either. They are Marines, also known as Leathernecks, or Devil Dogs (and these are the nice names!)

Once someone is a graduate of the USNA (Naval Academy) they are typically commissioned as Officers in either the Marines, with the rank of Second Lieutenant or as Naval Officers at the rank of Ensign.

When you see USNA that refers to the Naval Academy. When you see USMA that refers to West Point, also known as U.S. Military Academy.

The other service academies are the Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy, and the little known Merchant Marine Academy. The MMA is also in competition with several state and privately operated Merchant Mariner academies (Main Maritime, Mass Maritime, NY Maritime, Cal Maritime and Texas Maritime, to name a few).

If you have a talented son who is approaching college age, perhaps the best deal going is the Merchant Marine Academy (also known as King’s Point). MMA students get a fully funded tuition ride and at the completion of the program they get a commission in the service of THEIR choice and have the OPTION of going on active service, or remaining in the Reserves, unlike the other federal academies that require a long stint on active duty. Furthermore, the MMA grads get a Third Mate’s license, so if they want, they can serve at sea on a merchant vessel. This is in addition to a highly regarded degree in an engineering field or other area of study.

The MMA is a great program and I wished I had known about it in time to go there. I found out about the MMA while serving as a Propulsion Engineer on the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63). While at sea, I met two Air Force officers who were on exchange tours aboard the Kitty. To my surprise, they both were MMA grads, who had then elected to go into the Air Force, where both had become pilots.

Same with McCain. I don’t care where he finished in his class or how old he is. I care about what he will do if elected President for the next four years. And his choosing Palin is one of many examples of very, very poor judgment on his part.

Candidate McCain’s poor judgment doesn’t have many ramifications. But a President McCain has access to the red button and all of the other responsibilities of the office. I don’t want a hot-headed man who has consistently shown poor judgment anywhere near that button.

~

But all this discussion of Palin should serve to highlight what phenomenally warped judgment McCain has. Even if you take everything that’s come out in the *very best light*, McCain comes off either a deeply cynical man willing to risk the country for his electoral gain or he is recklessly uninformed.

The thought that this confrontation, or many others to come would be Commanded by Sarah Palin, Snowbilly Commander in Chief; is an affront. Not just to me, but to the men and women who must execute America’s projection of force, and die trying. It is OUR responsibility to give them the best and brightest.

I’m having none of this “she’s ready” crap that the Republican Party is offering up. You would think that after 8 years of George Bush fumbling his command Republicans would show a willingness to put America first, and give our fighting men and women the leader they deserve.

Say it with me: President Sarah Palin. Commander in Chief…
and answer this: Will you stand up for America?

I honestly don’t know what the answer is, but it may not be as much of a liability as it seems on the surface.