-- Download My Deepest Apology to Stephen Harper, Military Genius as PDF --
For years I have been openly mocking our prime minister. He believes he’s the combined reincarnation of General Douglas MacArthur and Winston Churchill, often touting things like the Canadian victory in the War of 1812, even though Canada wouldn’t exist for another 55 years. Pish posh.
In reality, I have criticized Harper for being an international relations buffoon, something more like Ian McKellen’s Richard III.
But despite having criticized war-mongering Harper [who nevertheless abuses and neglects military veterans and their mental health disabilities] for deciding to buy a bunch of F-35 fighter jets, I shouldn’t have.
I criticized the ill-informed decision. Then when it turned out that he announced the procurement cost while neglecting to include the cost of…the engines…I criticized him for lying to the public.
But as it turns out, Harper has bested me. His commitment to buying these planes without the engines was very smarterer than any of us gave him credit for.
Because the engines are dangerous, don’t you know. Well, we didn’t know. But Harper probably did. The Pentagon has had to ground their whole fleet twice [see below].
So, next time you see me criticizing our Commander in Chief for a moronic military or international relations misstep [like skipping/missing G8 leader photo ops because he’s in the can], please remind me that I misjudged him on the F-35s. Buying them without engines was likely the greatest military decision of this new, young century.
The U.S. military said it had grounded the entire fleet of 97 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets until completion of additional inspections of the warplane’s single engine built by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp.
The Pentagon’s F-35 program office, Air Force and Navy issued directives on Thursday ordering the suspension of all F-35 flights after a June 23 fire on an Air Force F-35A jet at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
The Pentagon said U.S. and industry officials had not pinpointed the cause of the fire, which occurred as a pilot was preparing for takeoff. The pilot was not injured.
The incident is the latest to hit the Pentagon’s costliest weapons program, the $398.6 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It followed an in-flight oil leak that triggered mandatory fleetwide inspections of the jets last month.
– from U.S. grounds entire F-35 fleet pending engine inspections
More from my site
October 10, 2013 PTSD Update!
September 20, 2013 PTSD: Transitions Are Weighty
January 10, 2012 My Canada Does Not Include Militarizing Canada Day
June 2, 2011 Releasing Government Bad News Under Cover of a Hockey Game
March 13, 2014 How the Conservative Government Dishonours the Military
October 11, 2013 We Support The Veterans Transition Program
Stephen Elliott-Buckley
Latest posts by Stephen Elliott-Buckley (see all)
- Goodbye, Politics, Re-Spun! Hello, WePivot.net! - October 21, 2016
- Fixing the Cleveland I*****s Racist Team Name - October 19, 2016
- What the BC Premier’s Reconciliation Smells Like - October 18, 2016
Your article today brought a big chuckle and brightened my morning.
Thank you for pointing out that we all might have been a bit too harsh on Steve.
Who would have thought that he had done the due diligence on the engine, unlike that useless Defence Minister of his who had told us that nobody considers the costs of maintenance and repair when buying a van, remember?
That is why he is PM (stands for “Prime Moron”, think your article today makes that point, no?) and that useless whatshisname is now in another portfolio, and still screwing up, eh? Lololol
thanks, and you’re welcome for the chuckle. i literally LOL’d when i read that piece yesterday. it sounded like, “Ha!!!”