Pork, The Other White Meat.

 I don't know if I can get the whole hog on The Stump at one time.It is a big fat one. Lots of lard.  

    
Why did Ray Scott go to Iraq? Everybody knows there is no money in that unless your a sheik. What good did that trip do for the federation angler?  Not even a Halliburton hand out. Mr. Scott risked getting blown up just to shake some soldiers' hands? He should have been thinking about the federation anglers who do all the work for B.A.S.S. and got us some AK 47's and bayonets as souvenirs for the Divisionals instead of the same old two hats and a belt buckle.  At least he could have gotten us enough gallons of oil to match TBF's Pennzoil deal. He should of been here taking care of us,  putting out the purported fires of calming the "Rucks ruckus," ending the goading by Godeleski and satisfying our Jones for federation freebies.
 
Was Mr.Scott in the wrong place? 
 
Thankfully, Mr.Jacobs went to Washington.  This man spent the better part of the 80's and 90's raiding corporate America.  A well trained man on a mission. He has a nose for money, especially tax dollars languishing in the DOD coffers.  He is turning beans and bullets into hats and t-shirts and TBF programs are going to get "several hundred thousand" other freebies. All that he asks is that we urge someone that we know to enlist.
 
Wonder which Jacobs' family member or friend he is urging to sign up?
 
The answer is at the end of his open letter to TBF membership announcing his hard fought triumph for the federation angler.
 
    "every TBF member who has become part of our new FLW/TBF family,  I remain,
                                    Your friend,
                                     Irwin L. Jacobs"
                                    
Multi millionaire Jacobs is advising us that soldiering is a "wonderful financial opportunity" with "lucrative incentives". I wish I had known that when I was in the Army. I guess I was in the wrong place for the wrong reasons, the same place as Mr. Scott.
   
 I am not buying his "undying support of their organization and our country in a time of need such as this."  He went to Washington and  lobbied for bass fisherman.......IN THE HALLS OF THE PENTAGON!  He lobbied for those fisherman to garner their favor in hopes that they will feel obligated and buy one of his boats.  He never mentions the soldiers,  sailors,  airmen and marines who are in the military full time 365 days a year and their organizations.  Why not? Because they are not paying him and the TBF.  So it should say "undying support.....since you bought it." A Marine Corps veteran can not wear a ball cap with the Marine Corps logo across a FLW stage during TV days because of sponsorship rules, since the Marine Corps is not a FLW sponsor! 
 
Couldn't we give the military some advertising at no charge because they are truly the individuals giving America and its citizens,  not to mention much of the world,  "undying support"?   It is the least that corporate America should do.  
 
Yes, he met some outstanding individuals performing at a rare level of commitment and he was so proud of them he asked them for money!  He should have gone to Iraq like Mr. Scott. I doubt if he would then had the audacity to ask the war fighters to support his organization. 
      
 I would  love to see the look given to him by the eyes of a 21 year old grunt sergeant just off of patrol when he told him about his big deal. All the money in Genmar could not protect him from such a withering stare of contempt or simple look of dismissal. 
     
No one, who has not served in the military, has any business being a recruiter or being sponsored by the military. If you haven't walked the walk,  don't try to talk the talk. There are no professional athletes or competitors whose accomplishments can make them a better role model than the American Soldier.  
 
You got tax money, might as well get some charity money while your at it.  How about The American Red Cross as the next partner? That would match up nicely with the Guard.  Same type of people on many of the same missions.  A pairing like that is called synergy in the corporate world.  Add AT&T with their "Friends and Family Program" and that would complete the smoke screen theme nicely.  
 
 Do you think a transfusion of money from The Red Cross could stop the bleeding among the ranks of the federation anglers?  
 
Only the federation anglers can heal the wounds.  We need to make our own deals instead of allowing someone to make them for us. We need to remember that on a smaller and safer scale, we used to emulate the soldiers. 
 
   "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give"     Winston Churchill
 
We were not individuals that would glad hand and slap each other on the back for accepting favors from an organization that accepted pork barrel monies.  We used to fight such endeavors. 
 
We took children fishing and protected the environment because it was the right thing to do.  We did not do it for money or armloads of goodies at the Divisional.  We spiffed up old boats for soldiers and reached deep into our pockets to help the victims of disaster.  We would have never thought to ask the Guard for money on our own because we were too busy assisting the PVA and organizing fishing outings for service members.
      
Mr.Scott was in the right place for the right reasons.
 
Are we in the right place for the right reasons,too?.
 
 
Recently the Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that universities must give the military the same access as other recruiters or forfeit federal money.  Even more broadly they ruled that Congress could demand military access on campuses without the requirement of having received federal money. 
       
Out of 32 million Americans between the ages of  17 and 24 less than 1 out of 6  can qualify for enlistment. Only 1 out of 8 are fully qualified. The greatest factors disqualifying individuals are obesity,  lack of high school diploma, criminal history and having too many dependants
 

The base drill pay for a private is $157 for the weekend. A single private in the Regular Army earns $19,083 annually.         

    

Respond