Patterico's Pontifications

6/23/2010

Obama Removes McChrystal

Filed under: Obama,War — DRJ @ 11:00 am



[Guest post by DRJ]

President Obama has removed General Stanley McChrystal as top commander and replaced him with General David Petraeus. McChrystal’s removal is based on the poor perceptions created in his recent Rolling Stone interview, which is ironic since he’s described the war he leads as a war of perceptions.

McChrystal’s replacement is General Petraeus, U.S. CentCom commander and commander of the MNF in Iraq, proving there’s no rest for the weary. If Petraeus can pull this off, it’s time to bring back the 5th star.

— DRJ

83 Responses to “Obama Removes McChrystal”

  1. what its time for is a new C-in-C.

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  2. This is a PERFECT call my Obama.

    Just PERFECT.

    Gen Petraeus is special and this is the correct place to use him. The political needs at the ‘higher’ position can be bet by many. The needs of the General’s new job are more suited to a very special sort.

    Great job Obama! Great Job!

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  3. And red’s right.

    My elation will be short lived I’m sure.

    Obama allowed a poisonous relationship to exist between Ambassador Eikenberry )SP{, the VP, the theater commander, and who knows who else?

    You have tough and ambitious leaders here with strong personalities who disagree when lives are at stake. You need a strong President who can lay down the law and take responsibility instead of just ignore the problem and say ‘you all sort this out on your own’.

    That’s a huge problem that Obama will not solve. Petraeus, then, has a challenge he didn’t have with Bush and the Iraq surge.

    Godspeed to them all, and Obama still picked the best guy for this job.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  4. It’s time for McChrystal to take to the greens and Obama to give up golf altogether.

    Neo (7830e6)

  5. Did 0 actually attend the meetings, or merely wander in and out again?

    htom (412a17)

  6. I thought the Dems pronounced Petraeus funny.

    If he has to go before the Senate, what will Hilary say this time?

    jim2 (6482d8)

  7. jim2, lol and good poing.

    And if General ‘Betray Us’, famously loathed and untrusted by Hillary Clinton, should ever resign and condemn Obama’s leadership or the ROE or some other aspect of this process, he will hand the White House to basically whoever he wants. He doesn’t strike me as very political, but Dick Cheney seems to really like him and reportedly wants him to become political. I don’t wish to see such games played and I don’t think RollingStone or the NYT would be involved if they were.

    But Gen. Petraeus has a lot of leverage with the people. I don’t think he’ll be blamable if Afghanistan has problems… the onus is on Obama (which it should already have been, but they are slippery).

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  8. And remember, McChrystal was Obama’s hand picked replacement.

    So he turns, in failure, to someone whose name basically screams ‘Bush Doctrine’ and Moveon and the NYT and Hillary tried to crucify.

    This would make a great movie.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  9. If Patreaus didn’t demand a different Ambassador in exchange for his acceptance of this new assignment, he is just setting himself up for failure.
    Eikenberry is the poison in this stew in Kabul.

    AD - RtR/OS! (6f143b)

  10. i like one wag’s comment.

    1) which is longer? the AZ immigration law, or the mccrystal rolling stone piece?

    2) and which one did obama actually read?

    lol

    As for the decision, on one hand, mccrystal shouldn’t be that insubordinate. but on the other hand, obama is a twit and rightly deserves criticism–just not from the generals, in public, without being granted permission to speak freely. So i feel like if we forget how we got here, we could agree with obambi’s decision. but given that obama’s fuckupery got us here, i can at best give him a C+ for this.

    I am cautiously optimistic that Patreaus will kick butt over there and maybe not even take names. 🙂

    And i still think Obama is overjoyed to have the damn spill at least distracted from. of course two people just died trying to plug the dang thing, so it can’t knock the spill completely off the coverage. but at least it gives people sometime to talk about that the obama partisans can plausibly spin to be 100% a positive.

    [note: released from moderation. –Stashiu]

    Aaron Worthing (e7d72e)

  11. Dustin

    good point. Patreaus is probably privately laughing his a– off.

    and to be blunt, a total patriot for putting up with obama and just trying to get the job done.

    Aaron Worthing (e7d72e)

  12. Comment by htom — 6/23/2010 @ 11:08 am

    If you didn’t see it over at the Jones Act thread;
    I heard back from Farr that Bob (or, BoB – as in Bear of Britain) was built by Ovington Boats in Great Britain.

    AD - RtR/OS! (6f143b)

  13. and to be blunt, a total patriot

    \

    No kidding. He is opening himself up to personal liability in a situation that apparently is nearly impossible. And he’s doing it in a way that will greatly help those who have already betrayed Gen Petraeus.

    Obama should name streets after this General rather than himself. What an example, who probably can’t live up to the hype that precedes him, but I sure can hope.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  14. This whole flap would have played out differently if Bush was president. The media would have focused on the validity of the general’s complaints about the Obama administration. McChrystal’s complaints were not that big a deal.

    Arizona Bob (f57a20)

  15. I’m no fan of McChrystal’s behavior.

    But I cannot believe that BHO, who has never served a day in the Armed Forces, commented on the fellow’s “conduct.”

    It’s just not smart.

    But wait! BHO is the smartest guy evah!

    It must be GWB’s fault.

    Eric Blair (c8876d)

  16. If Gen Petraeus can pull this off with the group of clowns in the White House, they should think about 6 stars. Moveon and Hillary could not be reached for comment.

    JD (5e6c29)

  17. McChrystal’s complaints were not that big a deal.

    I admit, I don’t really care that much about them. It’s obviously partly some kind of squabble that involves an Ambassador who has some issues.

    But we are in need of a massive overhaul in our efforts. Much as we needed in Iraq when Petraeus led such an overhaul. The surge was not just about adding more troops to the fight.

    That’s why this is a great call by Obama. This mistake allowed an opening to replace a General who isn’t performing. And I realize, perhaps the problem is elsewhere, but this change will help.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  18. Dustin,
    Unfortunately this will only make General Petraeus a target in Obama’s eyes. There can be only one Ra.

    Machinist (497786)

  19. Wait, though. There’s nuance. McChrystal has lost his command but not his rank or position in the Army. He’s now waiting for new orders. Running an ROTC program in Nebraska? I’m not kidding. His remaining career is still in limbo.

    nk (db4a41)

  20. Dustin

    > Obama should name streets after this General rather than himself.

    Oh come now, Obama’s life has been so significant even before being president he has written two autobiographies. I mean let’s recount all the wonderful things he has done in his life.

    Let’s see here. He… well, he got into Harvard Law, but so did like 1,200 other people every year. He was president of the Harvard Law Review. Which means he is really good at editing and checking citation formats, and making sure they actually say what they are cited for.

    And then um… well, he made a speech in 2004 and… um… well, crap, I am sure he did something else amazing given that he has written two whole books about it. But I just can’t think of it now.

    And of course some people claim that his presidency of the Harvard Law Review presaged his management style. You see, I heard that as president of the Harvard Law Review there were problems. See they actually use those quill pens to write with and they keep giant barrels of ink and one day, Bart Peterson, or B.P. as they call him, tripped and knocked a 30 gallon barrel over. And it began to spill all over the floor. Obama saw this, and decided it wasn’t important enough and it wasn’t spilling very fast, so he decided to let it go. He came back two weeks later, and only about a quarter of the barrel had spilled. William Van Dorn said he had some paper towels, but Obama said something about not wanting to accept help from a Dutchman given that it would offend his buddy Van Jones. Van Dorn suggested that he could convince Mr. Jones to waive his objections, but Obama didn’t bother. So they just watched it gush out. Later on, an Indian American classmate started using a wet dry vacuum to such up the ink, but Obama said they can’t use that because he was concerned there might be another ink spill somewhere else later. This went on for weeks as Obama set up a commission to study how the spill occurred. His buddy Ken suggested a moratorium on the use of pens, while Obama suggested to the board of directors of the Harvard Law Review that this demonstrated why we should shift to a purely digital edition of the magazine. Then Obama went and found Bart Peterson and demanded that he give Obama $20 to compensate for the damage. And then finally after about 9 weeks of this and most of the ink being spilt, the Indian friend of his—who oddly spoke with a Creole accent—went and picked up the barrel off its side and mopped up the ink, but only after most of the back issues of the magazine were ruined.

    So you see people think that this was prescient in some way, but personally I can’t quite put my finger on why.

    Aaron Worthing (e7d72e)

  21. I believe what McChrystal said about Obama and the rest of the sorry bureaucrats was absolutely correct
    BUT. I spent 10 years in the military and you do not talk negatively about civilian leadership. If anyone in McC’s command had said half what he and the aides said about the civilian leadership they would have been courts martial.

    He had to go

    coopky (ec7a0c)

  22. nk, that is pretty …. awkward. We’ll see what happens with him, but it sounds like he’s playing ball instead of outright resigning and appealing to the people regarding his problems. Probably too early to know exactly what’s up.

    Machinist, that’s true. If Afghanistan does turn around, I worry many in the White House will be upset that it looks like it happened despite Obama. They may decide they need to, once again, personally attack someone who is just doing their job well.

    It just occurred to me that Obama may be part of the crew of people who write the Blue Book citation guide. I am suddenly an ALWD convert.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  23. Aaron Worthing – #19 –

    You left out Obama’s key role as a member of the board in the achievements of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

    jim2 (6482d8)

  24. The thing is, coopky, that McCrhystal could have been in the same mess under the UCMJ if he had said the same things about Governor Blagojevich. (Thanks to 509th Bob) https://patterico.com/2010/06/22/mcchrystal-heads-home/#comment-671448

    I guess it’s like Nietszche said: The nobility of soldiers is obedience, the nobility of slaves is defiance.

    nk (db4a41)

  25. Obama says McChrystal’s biting comments about the president and his aides in a magazine article did not meet the standards of conduct for a commanding general.

    Every time Obama opens his piehole, his comments fail to meet the standards of conduct for a Commander-in-Chief.

    Matador (5db43f)

  26. I’m torn on this one. On the one hand, no one should bad-mouth his boss and expect to get away with it when caught. On the other hand, the White House is full of incompetent amateurs who couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag, unless it’s the bag held by the bagman. Obama should have talked to McChrystal and then come out to make a statement that they’ve discussed the matter; they see eye to eye on the need to win the AFghan war; and he’s sending McChrystal back to do his job.

    rochf (ae9c58)

  27. I just keep thinking back to Obama’s refusal to play ball with COIN or the surge and let politics stop at the water’s edge. When it helped Obama, it was a good thing to repeatedly undermine the President and our efforts, and proclaim the surge a failure when such a proclamation has a major effect on what amounts to a battle of willpower.

    He now calls for us to agree that we share a purpose and priority because Afghanistan’s failure is occurring on his watch. Just imagine if Bush came out tomorrow and called Obama’s strategy a “failure”.

    But this isn’t about what Obama deserves, which really is the disloyalty he seems to inspire.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  28. Obama is no leader. The decision about McChrystal was made by a cabal likely including some generals with their own personal axes to grind.

    nk (db4a41)

  29. McChrystal reportedly had a reputation as arrogant and dismissive of civilians of any stripe. MIchael Yon has been very down on him for months.

    Mike K (82f374)

  30. “I’m really happy for you, Stanley, and I’mma let you finish, but David Petraeus is the greatest counterinsurgent of ALL TIME.”

    Who will be the next CENTCOM? How much does it matter? I’d laugh if it were McChrystal (yes, I know, an asinine thought, but it would be funny).

    And all this carping we’re giving Obama had to be expected. I really do appreciate the he picked the best man possible, even though it opened up this line of attack. This was a rare example of actually solid decision making.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  31. If Petraeus turns it around, it will be great, and it will be done in spite of the silliness emanating from the White House. And Barcky will take credit for it.

    JD (23a165)

  32. btw, come on, my ink spill story was a little funny, right?

    Aaron Worthing (e7d72e)

  33. Yeah, it was funny AW. It gave me the thought that my goddamned Blue Book was written by Obama, though.

    Weasel Zippers has a memory hole type story:
    Move On had their Betray Us story up this morning, but must have lost it for some reason today. What a class act!

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  34. Funny how quickly Propeller Head makes decisions when it is an affront to his ego.

    But when it involves anything substantial like legislation or resourcing — well he needs to ponder with his flea-brained mind.

    HeavenSent (a9126d)

  35. It was inkredible.

    Machinist (497786)

  36. http://hotair.com/archives/2010/06/23/obama-on-petraeus-a-tale-of-two-videos/

    Here is a link to what Obama thought of the Surge, Petraeus, and kicking ass, back in 2007.

    JD (23a165)

  37. AD – RtR/OS! — A high-end design firm that responds to no-expectation-of-profit email, they’re going on the list for when I win the lottery! Ovington seems to do much larger boats as custom builds than their “stock line”; I found no mention of her under either name on their website. Last week’s news, now. Thank you.

    htom (412a17)

  38. Heaven

    > Funny how quickly Propeller Head makes decisions when it is an affront to his ego.

    Dude, that’s brilliant. all we have to do is convince Obama that the oil spill called him a whiney little b-tch and Obama will finally fix it.

    Then next we tell him Osama bin Laden called him the n-word. He will have his head on a pike on the white house lawn within a week.

    Aaron Worthing (b1db52)

  39. Someone notes, but it bears repeating, that Teh Narrative, were Bush still in office, would be how he only allows yes people, does not tolerate dissent, and the General would be a brave truth-teller, like Shinseki.

    JD (23a165)

  40. Dustin – I like Petraeus, but Obama is a freaking hypocrite with this choice. If you go back to 2007 and the Surge, Obama has still never acknowledged that it worked. He used his full time when Petraeus appeared before Congress that September to lecture Petraeus about why it would not work. Obama did not vote on the resolution to condemn the MoveOn General Betrayus Ad – he ducked out.

    Petraeus has been called to duty and has answered, but his CIC is an unreliable, unqualified, dithering, empty-suit who is only out for himself.

    daleyrocks (1d0d98)

  41. daley – Link to your comments @ #35.

    JD (23a165)

  42. Is there any military man who is more well known, more respected by the public, also respected by the troops, and has a history of pulling victory from the jaws of defeat?

    Yes, the silence of the left will be deafening (for once!!). If Petraeus gets what he wants there is yet hope. If he doesn’t get what he wants, I think he will make it known in a more acceptible way (in terms of military propriety) than McChrystal.

    MD in Philly (5a98ff)

  43. Oh, great win for the US of A today. The refs sure do not care for us, but we blew a lot of chances.

    JD (23a165)

  44. Amen, daleyrocks. Like I said, this is a very unusually good call by Obama. He is picking the right man for a job despite the truth you tell about it exposing some major mistakes in Obama’s views. Obama made Petraeus’s job much harder, for cheap political benefit. You couldn’t find a more stark example of hypocrisy.

    Makes me want to be cynical. Heh, maybe ECHELON picked up a call between Cheney and Petraeus discussing a GOP primary bid. Problem solved (j/k)!

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  45. Actually, this selection, while good for the war effort, actually should hurt the President, as it should be viewed that Petraeus was brought in to fix what Barcky had broken, and it highlights the duplicity and cravenly political position the Dems, and especially Teh One, took on these issues when others were in power.

    JD (23a165)

  46. JD, that’s what I mean. Obama seems to be going against his political needs to make a great call in practical needs for the war effort.

    Unusually good call by my definition of good, because it’s not a good call by the Rahm Emmanuel guide.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  47. Dustin, well to paraphrase a line from Reservoir Dogs, let’s not start sucking our d-cks just yet.

    Patreaus still needs to have the ability to win.

    A nice start would be a big rewrite of the rules of engagement. mccrystals told them to avoid patrolling in places where they are likely to have enemies.

    Yes, really.

    if you have not read black hawk down, the book, you should. it contains a remarkable indictment of the rules of engagement there. it made the law an “a–” and practically invited people to break it.

    Aaron Worthing (e7d72e)

  48. He’s making the right call and I’m quite pleased with it – but in the end, he really had no other choice. Anyone else would be seen as another bootlicker for Obama, unfairly or not, and would not have the respect of the troops on the ground.

    Dmac (cfe27e)

  49. “Dustin, well to paraphrase a line from Reservoir Dogs, let’s not start sucking our d-cks just yet.”

    Aaron: FYI, that was from Pulp Fiction. One of my favorite lines!

    Myron (6a93dd)

  50. Myron – Did you see where they are trying to exclude unions from the DISCLOSE rules?

    JD (23a165)

  51. I can’t wait to see the full-page ad in the NY Times condemning the President for appointing “Betray Us.” The left must be salivating over this.

    What? Oh. Nevermind.

    Ag80 (1b8eea)

  52. Myron: how embarrassing for me to get it wrong. 🙂

    Aaron Worthing (e7d72e)

  53. btw, here is obambi’s statement on the subject, fwiw: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/23/transcript-of-president-obamas-remarks-on-gen-stanley-mcchryst/

    Aaron Worthing (e7d72e)

  54. AG80, just imagine if Fox News ran an ad like the one the NYT ran.

    The right wouldn’t stand for that kind of crap.

    It’s almost as though the right is actually better than the left, and there is an objective truth and morality.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  55. Certainly the President is well within his right to remove McCrystal for several reasons including the importance of the principle of civilian control of the military.

    But this episode does not reflect well on Obama. He should not have had to remove McCrystal, and there were probably better ways to address issue once it came up. Including cleaning up the real incompetents in his administration that are botching Afghanistan such as the clown Holbrooke, Biden’s inept interjections and Obama’s clueless national security advisor staff. And of course Obama himself.

    More evidence of the fact that Obama and his coterie of incompetents have not got any real handled on foreign affairs.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  56. If General P is as smart as I think he is, he put a condition or two on his emergency acceptance of this post. I will not be surprised to also see a change in at least one of the civilian counterparts to this Afghan mess within a few weeks as well. Obama had no choice but to immediately relieve McChrystal because of his public statements, but I bet Obama knows (or has been duly informed) that much of what McChrystal said about Eikenberry and Holbrooke (and Biden) poisoning the Afghan effort are true. It will be interesting to see what happens.

    elissa (4fe1f3)

  57. Getting Vice President Plugs McBiteMe to keep his mouth zipped has always been an impossible task.

    daleyrocks (1d0d98)

  58. He should not have had to remove McCrystal, and there were probably better ways to address issue once it came up.

    Consider the possibility that McChrystal was really part of the problem, though. That he had some kind of attitude problem and competence problem.

    Then his mouth write a check and his commander, Obama, can extend him overdraft protection or cashier the guy.

    I realize I’m pretending Obama thinks the way I do. But I would have replaced McChrystal without the dumb comment. If Afghanistan is saved, this will be seen as a big reason.

    Of course, without cleaning up the rest of the real incompetents, I suspect Petraeus is also in over his head. In this way, you’re totally right, SPQR, that it’s incompetence to leave all those people where they are.

    Who is going to be the new CENTCOM Commander? If it’s someone greatly unlike Petraeus, we’re in for some major problems.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  59. I’m hearing that Eikenberry will get CENTCOM, but really hope that’s wrong.

    htom (412a17)

  60. Eikenberry is retired. He would have to be recalled to duty, and if Petreaus stood still for that, he’s welcome to the failure that will result in AfPak.

    BTW htom, they were quite curious as to why I wanted to know about BoB. It seems they’ve been getting quite a few emails etc saying not-so-nice things about Farr boats.

    AD - RtR/OS! (6f143b)

  61. I’m sure htom was joking. He was a 3 star and the hearings would be poisonous.

    Now, who leaked Eikenberry’s cable on Karzai to the NYT? Is it thought it was Eikenberry (or his intermediary)?

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  62. I’m trying to imagine Bush firing generals who disagreed with him, and doing it to the applause of the media.

    I’m trying real hard, but I just can’t pull it off.

    Subotai (f9a946)

  63. Glenn Reynolds repeats some hilarious comments about Obama turning to Petraeus to take over Afghanistan after attacking Petraeus’ work in Iraq on the campaign trail.

    Just more evidence that the whole Obama campaign was smoke, mirrors and adolescent BS.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  64. Eikenberry is probably a major source of leaks on anything in AfPak. I would bet a Dollar to a Do-nut that he was the leak of McChrystal’s plan to deal with the Afghanistan problem. If he’s not gone by Independence Day, Petreaus should be looking at how he’s going to spend his retirement, for it will be looming large very soon.

    AD - RtR/OS! (6f143b)

  65. Here in this video, starting at 4:21 Obama shows in his questioning of Petraeus during 2007 just how clueless Obama is on the topic of Iraq and Petraeus’ work there – “clear and on the record” of how clueless he is.

    Now Petraeus is the answer to Afghanistan. It would be hilarious were the stakes no so serious that we could afford these clueless clowns running our country.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  66. AD – RtR/OS! — BTW htom, they were quite curious as to why I wanted to know about BoB. It seems they’ve been getting quite a few emails etc saying not-so-nice things about Farr boats.

    Typical of the haters, I guess. Sad. I am not really into sailboat racing, and even less now that the 12 meters have been abandoned, but blaming Farr is just beyond silly. Same line of thinking that blames firearms manufacturers and camera makers I suppose. Their boats seem to do well, on all of the circuits that they race in. Probably why Prince Andrew went there to begin with!

    Not a joke about Eikenberry, but I suspect those who were proposing it were even more confused than I was; I thought he’d retired as a four star.

    htom (412a17)

  67. htom, let’s just hope you’re right that they do not elevate Eikenberry.

    I believe SPQR that he’s the likely culprit of these leaks which have been a disaster and set back our efforts.

    We need to stop tolerating these leaks.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  68. Karzai could put an end to those leaks.
    All he would have to do is call Obama and tell him to find a new Ambassador – or ship Eikenberry home in a box.

    AD - RtR/OS! (6f143b)

  69. Probably not going to say anything on this that hasn’t already been mentioned, but my two cents:

    For starters, neither of these individuals is coming out of this smelling like roses. McChrystal voted for Obama and was hand-picked by him to run this operation. For Obama to subsequently be embarrassed in public by the general shows just how dysfunctional things are in the administration right now. At the same time, for McChrystal and his staff to pop off to a reporter–and one from Rolling Stone, no less–and then for him to allegedly approve of the article’s contents before publication, was a b*tch move his part. If he was that frustrated and had no confidence that he was being given the resources to succeed, he should have resigned and then ripped Obama in the press. Even if every word of the criticism of the administration is true, he had to have known that, historically, generals do not win these public slapfights with the CinC, so what’s the point of not leaving with dignity?

    Ultimately, though, this is less about the spat between these two individuals than it is about the increasingly Keystone Kops management style being demonstrated by the Obama administration. If nothing else, it’s yet another example that confirms what an impotent, ineffective executive he is, and that the image promoted of him by the media was largely the result of Obama performing public mimicry of more successful and accomplished leaders.

    Like I pointed out several times in 2008, there’s a reason he blew nine figures during the Annenberg Challenge and accomplished nothing of consequence with that money–but since he looked the part and said the right things, people felt that they could give themselves a big hug for voting for him and that would be that.

    Hopefully the candidates in 2012 will be men or women already measured who have a record of success (and failure) to properly judge them by. I’m not holding out hope that the increasing numbers of “self-esteem” generation voters will get the clue, though.

    Another Chris (121ff0)

  70. In the category “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that truth isn’t stranger than fiction” comes this at Blackfive [http://www.blackfive.net/main/ ]:

    Is McChrystal scandal ‘wagging the dog’ for an even bigger story?
    Posted By Crush

    The scandal surrounding the release of the Rolling Stone profile on McChrystal may have been designed to shift the media’s attention away from the real story – the release of the Congressional report on tens of millions of American taxpayer dollars going to the Taliban and Afghan warlords in a mafia-style protection racket.

    The Host Nation Trucking contract for moving NATO supplies into Afghanistan is worth $2.16 billion. And much of that money, has ended up in the hands of corrupt Afghan warlords as well as the Taliban. But thanks to the media circus surrounding McChrystal, a major story that incriminates not only the DoD, but also the Obama administration has gone virtually unnoticed. This major story isn’t on the front page of any newspaper or website that I can find. No mention at any think tank or influence group. Coincidence? Entirely possible. But consider that the government has known the release date of the investigation for months

    MD in Philly (5a98ff)

  71. For Obama to subsequently be embarrassed in public by the general shows just how dysfunctional things are in the administration right now.

    Truly the case since McChrystal apparently is of the left—his being to the military what a minister preaching the figurative-only nature of Jesus is to Christianity. So even though Obama, McChrystal, Hillary, Biden, etc, are philosophically quite close to one another, that didn’t prevent this sort of discord and embarrassment.

    Mark (411533)

  72. In regards to Gen. Petraeus:

    I doubt he would appreciate my appropriation, but Elvis Costello said it best:

    “Oh I used to be disgusted
    And now I try to be amused.”

    The abject demonetization of a good man doing a good job for his nation, is simply swept under the rug and forgotten, as if it never happened when the fellow travelers’ saint finds him useful again.

    I’m sorry, but the left has no core, no substance, no worth. All they own is some sort of corrupted intellectual value that comes down to saying, “We’re right, because we care, except when things change.”

    I would not be surprised if one of that ill-begotten ilk posted to defend the President’s decision, despite their previous, adamant protestations on the general’s worth, but they haven’t and they can’t.

    Ag80 (1b8eea)

  73. At least the firing frees up McChrystal to write a book.

    And I keep thinking that if this flap had occurred during Bush’s watch, the focus of the media would be that the general’s believe Bush’s policies are a disaster.

    In case you are reading this, media idiots, Obama’s policies are a disaster.

    Arizona Bob (e8af2b)

  74. He is the worse thing to happen to the U.S. ever.

    I thought it was when Taco Bell eliminated those nacho french fries.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  75. Larry – ALL CAPS does not make your point stronger. It makes your head pointier.

    JD (23a165)

  76. Dustin, priorities in life are important.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  77. He is the worse thing to happen to the U.S. ever.

    That is an incredibly broad statement. Remember when Hardees took the Monster Burger off of the menu? Epic bad day.

    JD (23a165)

  78. JD, or when the local Bob’s Big Boy closed?

    SPQR (26be8b)

  79. Holy cow. Their Sunday morning buffet was a thing of beauty.

    JD (23a165)

  80. Larry has left the building and will need to have further comments approved before they are seen. Hard to tell if he’s just a real racist POS or also a Moby… and I don’t really care. Either way, his comments need review before seeing the light of day.

    Stashiu3 (44da70)

  81. Larry maybe would enjoy a tasty bottle of Diet Snapple Bret Michaels ‘Trop-A-Rocka’ Tea it is very flavorful and it only has aspartames not sugars cause of Bret’s got the diabetes and all so he wanted to make a tea that he could enjoy when he’s thirsty after rockin’ out.

    happyfeet (71f55e)

  82. How did you come to that conclusion?

    Abigail Bruson (e0a85a)

  83. Well who’s to say they’re wrong? Seems like a matter of opinion to me.

    Damian Soliz (850f89)


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