Reply #56: Many, MANY did not--and you will have to just trust me on this

[MADem]

Initially, there was some belief that Monkey would reverse the troop cuts inspired by the SECDEF Cheney (under Poppy) drawdown scheme. That hope was quickly put to rest. The minute Wolfie was floated as SECDEF, and then, when that became problematic, Rummy, a lot of the old hands became very, very concerned, because they saw what was coming--way too much contracting, outsourcing, and doing the mission on the cheap. Some of them even remembered Rummy from the first time around, and Wolfie ended up as his number two for a long period there, making their lives miserable on an up close and personal level.

It was so easy for the media to play this Clinton-Military hatefest nonsense, but a lot of people at the upper levels admired the hell out of him. Why? He appointed a sharp, smart SECDEF, he LISTENED carefully to the folks at the Pentagon, he met regularly with the JCS and asked cogent questions, and he took good advice. He never was possessed with the level of hubris that these civilian chickenhawks in charge have nowadays, and he did more for Quality of Life for military families than any president has done before or since.