Runaway General: McChrystal McMadness

By now you must have heard of the dust up over candid remarks made by General Stanley McChrystal and some of his aides  regarding top administration officials,  recently printed in Rolling Stone. Obama was reportedly "furious" and called him in to Washington to be reamed out today. Some are even calling for the General's resignation!

Now it's evident that the President is very reactionary. He's always on the defensive-- backpedaling like a terrified unicyclist in the lion's den at the circus. The most recent example is his handling of the Gulf Oil Crisis. His critics cornered him into posing for contrived, up-rolled sleeve photo ops, and making that "Jesus save us all because suddenly I'm born again, and oh yeah let's pass my energy agenda!" PR speech last week. So I wouldn't be surprised if he fires this Hero because he wants to be seen as a stern Commander in Chief. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't because the man suffers a severe case of spinless-itis.

I reserved judgment either way until I read the Rolling Stone piece, which I did not find to be at all damning of the man. All he did was make it clear that he didn't feel like dining with a bunch of fake, fair weather Frenchies who want to cut and run from fighting the war on Terror, and that he's not a fan of Joe Biden (honestly, Biden should take his lessons from McChrystal in tempering one's words). Plus, this is all he said when preparing for questions about his thoughts on Biden among his aides: "Are you asking about Vice President Biden?" McChrystal says with a laugh. "Who's that?" Big Deal. Those Rolling Stone scoundrels never quoted him criticizing the President at all! Period. And he should not be responsible for the words of his aides, which also were nothing disparaging about the President.

Now I think that chain of command is important in the military, but a leader must earn respect before he will command it from accomplished, fearless, patriots like General McChrystal. Let's be serious, as the RS article points out: under his leadership "the Joint Special Operations Command, the elite forces that carry out the government's darkest ops...killed and captured thousands of insurgents, including Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq." That is impressive, and it's no surprise that during their first meeting Obama "seemed 'uncomfortable and intimidated' by the roomful of military brass." And, with the President shaking in his penny loafers, their first one-on-one meeting "was a 10-minute photo op" and "Obama clearly didn't know anything about him" despite the fact that he was the man who would "run his f---ing war." 

Now the only thing that the General did that could ever been construed in an alternate universe as insubordination to his commander was pressing for more troops for the war last year in a report that was LEAKED. Hmmm, didn't thatwork in Iraq, and didn't Obama run on a platform of kickin some ass in Afghanistan? Well Obama dragged his feet for three months before deciding to make things happen and delivering that supremely uninspiring West Point speech on December 1st of last year. Since then the administration has provided no leadership where it should: political and diplomatic matters,  leaving the General and his men to do double and triple duty when they should be focused on winning a war.

Are you kidding me? Why should this man be fired? So that Obama can look good? No. That's not a good enough reason. He's done nothing but do his job, and has tried to bravely lead his men in the most abominably impossible circumstances for a "Commander" that won't even use the words "VICTORY" or "WIN". This man loves his country, and he's proven it by putting his life on the line and being a LEADER.

Obama is no leader, and I hope that he recognizes that the only credibility he retain will be due to surrounding himself with true patriots like General Stanley McChrystal. Even if he prefers Jack in the Box to arugula. Even if he flips the bird occasionally with the guys. Even if he's not some Ivy League Professor.

General Stanley McChrystal should not be fired, and the guys that wrote the article should think twice before capitalizing on America's insatiable appetite for inflated, unfounded controversy--- especially when it involves the men that protect us-- especially when we're at war.


Stand Tall Patriots,


SP