Old Generals Don't Die...

They just get quoted by Rolling Stone.

My two cents on the RS General McCrystal profile: In a rational, substance driven world, the most damaging parts of Michael Hastings' piece are the ones that are pretty much already common knowledge:

1) We cannot decisively defeat Al Queda by fighting in Afghanistan.

2) Any strategy we pursue will cost more in money and blood than most Americans feel is warranted.

Hastings is not the first and won't be the last to point this out in print. And, as far as I can tell, no one is even denying any of the substantive aspects of the piece. What gets everyone's panties in a bunch is Hastings recorded McCrystal and his staff criticizing civilian leadership and generally acting inappropriate.

So, essentially, these guys drink, curse and sometimes disagree with their bosses. Not exactly gripping stuff and, to my mind, not particularly demeaning to McCrystal. Whatever you may think of his plans for Afghanistan or his potty mouth, at least he isn't a cynic or a glad-hander. The only question is why he did any of this in front of a reporter.

I'm not disagreeing with the President's Personnel choices either. If I woke up to that Rolling Stone article I would have fired McCrystal too, but that is not nearly as important a decision as our path forward in the quagmire that was accurately described in the article.

Is Obama going to pretend to have a plan in Afghanistan for about 12 more months and then begin pulling out troops regardless of the nearly inevitable inadequacies of the Afghan government and military? Or is July 2011 a bait and switch and we will really be there for the next hundred years trying to build a nation from scratch? Neither is a very attractive position.

Afghanistan is not Iraq; there are reasonable arguments for us to be there. There have even been times when I felt that the invasion was warranted by the Taliban's support for Al Queda. But ultimately, you have to ask yourself, would I die for this cause? Anyone who claims to support the war but has not signed up for military service is voting with their feet.

Limbo

Dear Loyal Readers,

I'm in limbo, at least in my professional life. but instead of talking about that I will discuss other events in my life. I apologize for the infrequent blogs, I get inspired to write during work, but by the time I get home, I usually have lost steam... I hope to write semimonthly from now on....

so here goes... I don't know if George Costanza would approve this blog, but maybe he is more similar to me, than I would care to admit. I have some decisions to make that I've been putting off and more importantly. I find myself noting that sometimes I haven't been the best of friends, and most importantly that I need to work on being a better person.

If my current girlfriend is reading this... Please stop here.... Please!

This first part isn't about you anyways. well not completely. a friend doesn't want to hang out with me any more... I can think of two reasons specifically, but usually when this thing happens it is not the specifics, but just an underlying personality difference... the two reasons being that I went to a party with him and my girlfriend and left him there... He wanted to stay, and I wasn't in a good judgment place. He was drunk. We should have made sure he got home with us.... It was weird, he insisted on staying and we let him even though we knew it was a bad idea.

This was a friend I really respected, even though he has some issues of his own. so tonight I am mourning the loss of a friendship.

And I chose to do this by having a quiet night of reflection, before the big trip to Indiana. I have a red eye getting in Thursday morning. not sure it was the smartest thing to do... especially since recently I have had no trouble sleeping and I've been getting up early. but it was the cheapest flight available. and as always, I have a reputation to uphold.

Before my quiet night of reflection I went on a bike ride to get over the blues. I was disappointed that the US soccer team lost to Ghana today, but not surprised. I didn't think our team was that good. and almost wish I had bet against us. still I was down b/c of the loss until I went on a bike ride... to be honest, I never realize exactly when my mood shifts, it it is never right away on the ride, although sometimes it is just the thought of going on the ride that will do it.

at first I was thinking, George Costanza's Number One Fan be careful, you usually hurt yourself when you are feeling down. so I was cautious, trying to be very mindful on my ride. Paying attention to as many details as possible. confusing at least one car (and driver)... Still I was down for the first fifteen or twenty minutes of my journey. When a hot high school/college girl turned and gave me a dirty look when I called out "passing", it didn't faze me. I was still in a place where I couldn't go to a sad place, I was already there. I think it was when a woman with her son, commented on what a tough hill I was climbing and I tried to respond to her in a socially acceptable way; I must of smiled and that was my mood changer. (for California standards it wasn't that tough of a hill, and as a thirty something male, most high school/college girls seem hot and also not socially acceptable to date. Lastly, I'm pretty sure I didn't respond in an articulate or semi-intelligent way to the lady; nonetheless, I smiled...)

so I finished the ride happy and relaxed...now I just sit in limbo as I wait to hear about my future education and future employment. thinking that even George eventually moved out of his parents' house. I'm just waiting to hear about my future options before doing so.

in my next blog, I plan to make the case that George's many fictional girlfriends aren't that ridiculous. Average-looking men get looks from women, and if that's the case, there is no reason woman aren't interested in dating average-looking guys. Secondly, I will answer the question that everyone has been asking: What do Charles Manson and Osama Bin Laden have in common? The answer will shock you and make our country look even dumber than was previously feared.

Kindest regards, (same sign off the Nigerians' use when asking you for to advance money, because of a rich-deceased relative)

GCNOF

A Murky Brew

Talking Points Memo has an interesting post on the "Florida Tea Party". To be honest, I didn't actually read the whole thing, but using the intensive skimming I perfected as an English major, I gather that the Florida political party known as "Tea" is not making many friends, but may have some strange bedfellows. Isn't it always like that with the social conservative crowd?.

Aparently, the national (small "t") tea party movement thinks that the officially registered (big "T") Tea party in Flordia is a case of GOP astro-turfing. However, since the party's candidates will inevitably split the conservative vote, the GOP is calling foul on Florida Democrats, saying that in particular Alan Grayson may have put up at least one bad faith Tea Party state candidate to split the conservative vote in that district.

Well you can't really have it both ways can you? Either it's a plot by the GOP to manipulate their electorally inconvenient grassroots or it's a plot by the DNC to manipulate the GOP's electorally convenient grassroots. Or maybe it is actually both, sort of a heads you lose, tails you double-lose for America's nominal deficit hawks. Frankly, the right has no one to blame but themselves:

Exhibit A) How many "teabaggers" voted for Bush? Twice, after he was obviously driving the national debt to towering new heigts? At least liberals have something to show for their profligracy. What exactly did Bush spend all that money on: occupying a foreign country and giving rich people tax breaks.

Exhibit B) You can't make Karl Rove your go-to guy and then start getting upset at other people's dirty tricks.

Exhibit C) Kissinger called the winning play 40 years ago: Racism + Fiscal Conservatism = Win Elections. If Michael Steele is confused, he can ask Pat Buchanan for a refresher. GW let the second part slip so far off the cliff that some base conservatives are as upset with Republicans as they are with Democrats.

The Take away: you can't run campaigns on fear alone; you need at least one policy idea, and Alan Grayson may be a Democrat, but he still fights like a Southerner.

Apples to Oranges

Andrew Sullivan recently linked to a clever idea from some Israeli students. They are organizing a "rival flotilla" to deliver humanitarian aid to Turkish Kurds. Clearly the plight of the Turkish Kurds is at least as unjust as the Palentians' situation. This little bit of counter-spin points out the inherent hypocrisy of the Turkish government crtiticizing Israel. I have heard similar cries of "double standard" when Israel is criticized by its various less than democratic neighbors. But that begs that question, when did Turkey become the gold standard of justice? If the best thing you can say about your country's human rights record is "it's no worse than Turkey", maybe something is wrong.