West Point Graduation: Texting while Marching

All posters please note that posts have been deleted and infractions issued already in this thread. This is not a site for your arguments. The Off Topic section was added to give us a place to talk about things that don't quite fit into any of the Service Academy or other commissioning threads. It is a not a free-for-all place to engage in arguments constantly. Consider yourselves warned.

Stealth_81
 
That is nothing - how about the Crusades?

You prove my point that I need to keep some of my thoughts myself as how dare I have my own opinion that disagree with someone else. Tolerance should go both ways.


Yes, I have always found it best to be noncontroversial. :)

It is fun though to see how Bernie Sanders has inspired some of our members.
 
I think you're confusing the right to express an opinion and be free from government retribution-which is what the First Amendment protects as regards individual speech-with a personal obligation to respect whatever opinion is offered by other people. You don't have to "tolerate" opinions you don't like. People can be a lot more keen to say "it's my opinion and you should respect that" these days in the world of social media. Well, no, I don't have to respect an opinion if I think it's dumb. I don't want the government to arrest you for saying it, but you don't get immunity from being challenged by other people. Nor, it should be added, are you prevented from vigorously defending your position and thinking that an opposing view is dumb.

If you feel that you're consistently "attacked" or "beat up" for your views, maybe it's because your position is weak and your rebuttals are unconvincing. You certainly have the right to have your views, but others have the right to tell you they suck.

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As long as they add IMHO.
 
Sometimes it's fun to look at a thread's title, West Point Graduation: Texting while Marching, then go to the last post to see how far afield the discussion has gone.

Reining in the topic, just imagine the eruption of purulence had the young woman been black. Even an atheist might say: Thank heaven for small mercies.
 
Newbie here. I have no military background - just a kid at WP.

So, here is my question - the texting caused a huge bruhaha but it's my understanding that there were other issues as well. A few cadets were seen marching without their gloves on, some were seen holding shoes, and a few other things as well. Why were so people many fixated on the texting and not the other 'issues'? Aren't they all against the rules and not allowed while marching? Is texting more serious than the other things?

Thanks in advance...
 
Is texting more serious than the other things?

In the whole scheme of things texting is probably no more serious then any of the other things you mentioned. I think the fact that texting is more out front in the news these days.....some cities giving tickets for texting while in a crosswalk, texting while driving, restaurants and bars banning cell phones, and the fact that you watch people walk down the street and most of them are looking at their phones. I think all of this just makes texting a bigger story then carrying their shoes. I'm sure cadets have done things like this for years and nobody bothered with it, but now with everyone having a phone that takes videos and the ability to post every stupid thing they record on the internet, it's now seen by a wide number of people and then they are forced to deal with something that before they would have not bothered with.

I swear, the cell phone is both a curse and a blessing, just REALLY glad they never had them when I was that age, God knows what they would have recorded.
 
Okay, based on my PERSONAL beliefs I think homosexuality is wrong. Notice I am not saying religion, scientific, or cultural beliefs. I am confining my belief to myself. The response should be I am wrong or I disagree with your personal beliefs. But likely replies are that I am a bigot. I don't problem with folks telling me my views suck, but I do have problem with getting labeled for my personal views/beliefs without any proof.

I think my forum postings should show I limit my postings to facts and my experience/knowledge (except this one :).
A common reply on this forum is an ad hominem attack; an attack on the person instead of an attack on the ideas presented. This is, of course, logically flawed.
 
Unless the rules are changed females actually aren't supposed to march in heels. It sucks. I don't blame the ladies for carrying shoes and wearing others. Not sure how long that trek is, but guessing it's not short. At USNA they don't March over, graduating 1/C are told to be at the stadium at X time and they show up.

In reference to the original topic, my two cents, the former cadet, now LT, was dumb but not a mistake she needed to be completely destroyed in national media for because they don't understand the context of what was happening. That "march" up to stadium is at best can be considered route step, at times an organized pretty much just a gaggle to ensure all cadets are staged in Foley, the indoor complex next to Michie, prior to guests arriving for the actual ceremony. We were talking to each other the whole time we were moving up there and roughly in formation last year when we headed up. Very, very, very different atmosphere than any parade we gave as cadets.

Well, at least she wasn't carrying her shoes like some others were.

A lot of female cadets who opt for skirts on graduation day will wear low quarters up while carrying their pumps. It's a common practice; walking that hill, particularly in heels, sucks, and you'll see the dumpster near Michie have more than a few pairs of low quarters tossed in it prior to the actual ceremony. TAC walk this with their firsties and haven't had an issue the last few years, as far as I know. When you're in a parade, female cadets have to wear pants. Graduation, women are given the choice what they want to wear. I opted for shoes because I didn't want to trip walking past GEN Dempsey.

That said, one of my best realizations while making that walk was that I would never have to do it again to go get my car after that day because I could park in CPA land without being yelled at as a non-cadet!
 
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