Presto Agitato: Gen. Franks Cuts Up

May 22, 2006

Gen. Franks Cuts Up

I attended the NRA annual convention in Milwaukee this weekend. It was, of course, a pleasure to meet Ted Nugent, but for me the highlight of the weekend was the Keynote Address from Gen. Tommy Franks. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal:

Franks was the keynote speaker at the National Rifle Association banquet attended by nearly 3,000 members at the Midwest Airlines Center. The event was the culmination of the NRA's three-day convention, which was projected to attract nearly 60,000 to Milwaukee.

His 30-minute speech was packed with the down-home humor of his native western Texas, where he attended high school with first lady Laura Bush.

"When I first went to the Bush White House, the president strolled toward me and said 'I understand you attended the same high school as Laura,' " Franks said. "I said, 'Don't worry, Mr. President. I didn't date her.' "

He followed up with, "I've always been a risk-taker." Heh.

But the story was not so good as it might have been, so let me clean up one point:

Early in his talk, he paused, looked into the audience and asked all of the generals to raise their hands.

"We don't get many generals because most of them are in front of the TV cameras complaining about (Secretary of Defense) Donald Rumsfeld," Franks said.

He added, "The difference between them and me is that I have some idea of what I'm talking about." (Emphasis his.) The whole speech was presented humorously, which he did very well. If the tables hadn't been packed so closely together (did someone ask the Fire Marshal about that?), we might have been rolling in the aisles.

After Gen. Franks' speech, they brought on a comedian, who is very, very good. I was in tears. (And no, he didn't do the "Bubba Code," thank god.)

MORE
---------------------------------------------

Bless Gen. Franks' heart, he mentioned the difference between "a semiautomatic and an assault gun" several times; his comment about Rumsfeld was the second mention of the difference. The emphasis on "semi" was Franks' and yes, he really did say "gun," not rifle. (The Journal-Sentinal writer mistranscribed it.)

The Journal-Sentinal's "more positive note" comment refers to Franks' previous (not in this speech) worry that a WMD-attack on the United States might threaten our constitutional order.

I had a great time. I'll be in St. Louis next year, no question.

UPDATE: I see that the AP has a story, too. They did better on some points, and worse on others. The Journal-Sentinal's transcriptions of Franks' comment about "the generals" is more accurate than the AP's, and the AP also screwed up additional comment about the generals' knowledge of Don Rumsfeld (my transcription is more accurate, but it's from memory so it could be off by a word or so). (h/t: Blackfive)

The AP is correct that Gen. Franks received several ovations. His comment about going into politics came shortly after he began his speech. When he was introduced to the crowd before dinner, we were on our feet before he even got onto stage. That appeared to surprise him a bit, and he got the same when he stood up after dinner to give his speech. I'm guessing that spurred the comment.

Posted by Mike at 14:50 in GWOT | Permalink

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