Political Fallout and the Return of Bullshit

J. Danforth "Dan" Quayle. This is the standard for mental lightweights that has been continually mentioned by the national media since George HW Bush picked him as Vice-President. Unfortunately, the media has always been wrong, they figuratively assassinated a good guy because they have hated Republicans since Ronald Reagan. Probably before that too, but I really do not remember that, so I can only go off of anecdotes prior to Reagan. I did not see it, so it must not have happened. The treatment of Dan Quayle is the very reason that our government has been getting progressively worse. Good people cannot stand the personal attacks and humiliation of their families. And it pisses me off no end. Any recent incidents come to mind?

Dan Quayle's reputation as a moron was completely and totally unearned. The guy is pretty damn smart and his record will prove that, if you will read further. He makes Barry Obama look like a two week old turd, dried in the sun.

Tale of the Tape: James Danforth Quayle born in 1947 in Indiana. Moved to Arizona, moved back to Indiana. Graduated high school in 1965, received BA in Political Science from DePauw in 1969, joined Indiana National Guard upon graduation and attained the rank of Sergeant. Received law degree while in Guard from Indiana University School of Law in 1974. Met his wife, Marilyn, while in law school and got married in 1972. Three kids, blah, blah, blah.

Ran for US House of Representatives in 1976 and defeated eight term incumbent, Edward Roush (D). Won reelection in 1978 with the largest margin ever in Indiana. In 1980, he became the youngest person ever to be elected to the Senate from Indiana, defeating three term incumbent (18 years!), Birch Bayh (D). Any guess who that is? Yep, Evan's daddy.

Then Quayle won reelection as a senator again with the largest margin ever for Indiana. Seems that his home folks kinda liked him because they had been voting him into office by landslides for ten solid years!

Know why? Because he was a friggin' genius. He just had trouble speaking to large groups. Does that make him a moron? Uh, not really.

What was Dan Quayle's baby? The Patriot Missile. Do you remember the Patriots? Shooting down SCUDS from Iraq during the first Gulf War? Hell yeah, you do.

Oddly enough, The Seattle Times actually reported that story. This was back in the AGO when the newspapers actually tried to tell the truth every once in a blue moon. From the April 5, 1991 article. I am going to paste the whole thing, just in case DailyKos and Democratic Underground finds it and uses Dan Quayle's supposed stupidity to bash Sarah Palin some more.

Just so you know, Dan Quayle was borderline Reaganesque. Never forget that, because it is the TRUTH, despite what Couric, Olbermann, Matthews, and the blithering morons tell you. He just got nervous speaking to large groups, he is an introvert.

Defense Advocate -- We Can Thank Dan Quayle For The Patriot Missile

I would like to paraphrase from a Feb. 15 Washington Times article. The story of Dan Quayle launching programs to help America and Israel defend against Scud missiles was recently documented by the Senate Steering Committee.

In the spring of 1986, then-Sen. Quayle held his own hearing to push missile defenses, though few other senators seemed to care. Quayle said at a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing, "The U.S. has not adequately focused on the urgency of developing near-term defenses against Scud and other such missiles." He asked a Pentagon witness what we had that we could deploy near term. The answer was the Patriot program, which would develop a capability to intercept and destroy tactical missiles in their terminal flight phase.

Quayle was the first member of the Congress to request a formal study on the speed of ballistic missiles - something now done annually. He sought more than studies, hence the Quayle amendments to the defense bills for fiscal 1986, '87, '88 and '89. (Ed note: Do you know of any Obama defense amendments? How about intelligent questions regarding military weapons? How about any intelligent questions about anything?)

These directed the Pentagon to help allied countries such as Israel develop ballistic missile defenses. Out of the Quayle amendments came the Arrow program to build a high-altitude interceptor. For this, the Israeli government honored Quayle in 1986. (Ed note: Do you know of any Obama honors from our allies? Yes, there are plenty from our enemies, but is that really a good thing?)

In 1984, Quayle opposed the majority of the House Armed Services Committee who voted to slash funds - from $92.3 million to $15 million - to enable Patriots to shoot down Scuds. He fought the Democratic majority to try to get more money for the Patriot program. (Ed note: I have no idea why this says "House ASC.")

We have always heard the Democrats are soft on defense, and here is an example. Years later, the committee voted to scrap this Patriot-upgrade program altogether. Again, Quayle fought it on the Senate floor and prevailed. (Ed note: Wonder which way Obama would have voted?)

Had it not been for Quayle, we would not have had the Patriot missile to save many lives in the Gulf War. In spite of this fact, many Democrats and media people continually belittle and criticize him. It wasn't a Democrat who fought to put the Patriot missile in our arsenal of weapons. It was Dan Quayle. - Robert L. Eggerman, Coupeville

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