An academic is an excellent choice for an advisor. I think she's getting a lot of great experience at the executive level that may some day make her a valuable candidate for elected office.

I wouldn't call her an "academic" after 4 years as the top foriegn policy advisor.

I don't disagree with you on your point that a woman could run the country. But your line of reasoning here is pretty screwy.

Can you tell me in what way running the United States is similar (realistically) to running a family?

If running a family is the mark of a good Commander in Chief, I want Danny Tanner from Full House.

Osama and Sadaam, don't make me come up there!!!

NickLc24 for First Gentleman! :)

With the exception of infantry and Special Forces troops in the Army, submarine duty/SEAL in the Navy and pararescue/combat controller in the Air Force, practically all jobs in the military are open to women. Mixed male-female missileers pull alert duty in the ICBM silos, females are now fighter jocks in the Air Force and the Navy.

Alot of "Western" militaries allow women in all combat arms as long as they can hack the physical requirments... so Infatry, Tank Crews, Artillery in addition to what AlphaSigOU listed above... however that doesn't mean that they don't meet with resistance (my basic was the first with women), but it is important to note that women have served with disticntion when forced to in the past (WW2 on the Eastern Front for example). The one important fact I liked to point out : women's muscular structure gives them greater hand-eye cooridination for fine movements, which is why they make frighteningly effective snipers; the record holder for confirmed kills is a former Olympic shooter from Serbia (going by the name Arrow), when I was there back 94-95 I believe she was credited with well over 200 kills.

Nah - who would want to sleep with him or give him a hummer under the desk in the oval office?! :D

I screw up in relationships too much to date any woman that lethal.

I dunno Ktsnake. Its not a subject easy to debate. But its my impression that the academic tends to the see the world as a series of models. A place where individuals become to some degree less important, but also who's motivations are generally ascribed to idealogies.

And thereis tendecy in academia to try and fit people into the models, versus just trying understand them.

I am minded of a peacetime senior staff officer giving combat advice to a senior officer who is a combat veteran.

There is just a difference in perspectives and the way they learned their world views.

While there is a vary valid point to the arguement of experience over academics... it like many things is a very grey area. Situations and circumstances change, and sometimes the academic is quicker on the up-take, while the reverse is true as well, as the experienced person might spot the changes and adapt sooner.

As for the comment about the peacetime senior staff officer giving combat advice to a senior combat veteran... remember history is littered with the bodies of men commanded by experienced combat officers who didn't heed the advice of academics.