Mark Steyn: Learning the rules of an unengaged president (What do McChrystal and BP have in common?)

Steyn Online ^ | Jun 25, 2010 | Mark Steyn

[xzins]

If finding Obama "not engaged," as Gen. McChrystal did, is now a firing offense, who among us is safe?

What do Gen. McChrystal and British Petroleum have in common? Aside from the fact that they're both Democratic Party supporters.

Or they were. Stanley McChrystal is a liberal who voted for Obama and banned Fox News from his HQ TV. Which may at least partly explain how he became the first U.S. general to be lost in combat while giving an interview to Rolling Stone: They'll be studying that one in war colleges around the world for decades. The management of BP were unable to vote for Obama, being, as we now know, the most sinister duplicitous bunch of shifty Brits to pitch up offshore since the War of 1812. But, in their "Beyond Petroleum" marketing and beyond, they signed on to every modish nostrum of the eco-Left. Their recently retired chairman, Lord Browne, was one of the most prominent promoters of cap-and-trade. BP was the Democrats' favorite oil company. They were to Obama what Total Fina Elf was to Saddam.

But what do McChrystal's and BP's defenestration tell us about the president of the United States? Barack Obama is a thin-skinned man and, according to Britain's Daily Telegraph, White House aides indicated that what angered the president most about the Rolling Stone piece was "a McChrystal aide saying that McChrystal had thought that Obama was not engaged when they first met last year." If finding Obama "not engaged" is now a firing offense, who among us is safe?

...Well, that's certainly ugly, but is it the truth? Afghanistan, you'll recall, was supposed to be the Democrats' war, the one they allegedly supported, the one the neocons' Iraq adventure was an unnecessary distraction from.

[skeptoid]

. . Michael Yon called McCrystal out months ago. . . .

Was that before he was arrested by Homeland Security at SEATAC for not divulging his income?

[LucyJo]

"He doesn't seem to know, and he doesn't seem to care that he doesn't know, and he doesn't seem to care that he doesn't care."

That just about sums it up when it comes to the best interests of the United States.

[LucyJo]

"...go with God, General Petraeus!"

Amen! Our prayers go with you, General!

[Political Junkie Too]

I haven't posted on this yet, but I think that McCrystal thought that he was a Fellow Traveler speaking to another Fellow Traveler, and that that made him safe. He thought it was fellow clubmembers joking amongst themselves.

He found out the hard way that he wasn't in the club like he thought he was.

-PJ

[Political Junkie Too]

It would only be brilliant if it also led to a victory in Afghanistan.

And that would have been more likely if McCain had won instead of Obama. Bush could only go so far to tee it up for the next President, knowing that his time was up.

-PJ

[ryan71]

An officer that deals with SCRET and TS everyday has to be smarter than that.

I still think he wanted to get fired.

[razorback-bert]

me ping

[Political Junkie Too]

Maybe it's a "liberal general syndrome." Wesley Clark also got fired as head of NATO by Clinton after threatening to attack the Russians in Belgrade. Maybe Liberal Generals think that the Free Pass that all the other liberals get would be extended to them, too. They should realize that the other liberals consider them to be expendable because they are "military" and are never really allowed in the clubhouse unescorted.

-PJ

[Lion Den Dan]

HTF does a career special ops guy get fooled into voting for Obama?

McGlass is a control freak as are most liberals. Conservatives, by their very nature, seldom are micro control people.

[Mike Darancette]

HTF does a career special ops guy get fooled into voting for Obama?

And we know this to be true, how?

[2ndDivisionVet]

Dr. Jack Wheeler is editor of ToThePointNews “an online geopolitical intelligence service”.

He has had two parallel careers: one in the field of adventure and exploration as the owner of Jack Wheeler Expeditions; the other in the field of political and economic freedom as president of the Freedom Research Foundation.

Wheeler’s articles are also published by WebNetDaily.

Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
Thursday, 30 April 2009

Paris, France. It is very cool to be a French intel guy. A spectacular meal at a Parisian bistro with $90 entrées and a $200 bottle of Bordeaux? No problem. I’d known this fellow since he got me out of a jam in Sudan years ago. His James Bond days are over, but still, riding a desk for the DGSE – Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure (General Directorate for External Security), France’s military intel agency – in Paris has its decided benefits.

One of them is not being infected with Obamamania. “My agency considers him a joke,” he confides. “Every day there is some fresh lunacy that we cannot believe. Mr. Bush would often make us angry. But at this man we just laugh.”

“In truth, it also makes us sad,” he continued. “French resentment towards America is strong, so being able to laugh at your country feels good. But it is such a sad and strange thing to see America – America The Great! – do something so crazy as to elect this ridiculous man.”

“There are many people in America who think he isn’t a legitimate president as he wasn’t born in the US and isn’t a natural citizen. What do you think?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had reason to make an inquiry.”

“There are a lot of people convinced he is a traitor who hates America and is actively determined to destroy it. Any opinion on that?”

He didn’t shrug at this. After a long slow sip of wine, he mused, “I would not go that far. Many of his actions, however, are very puzzling because they are so counter-productive regarding America’s best interests. There seems to be a consistent pattern in that direction.”

“What does Sarkozy think of him?”

“Nothing but contempt.”

After a pause he asked, “And Langley?”

“Well, if you thought the war they waged against Bush was intense, it was nothing compared to how they’re going to screw Obama. He has tried to gut them with the ‘torture memo’ release and slashing their budgets. The morale is depressed, sullen, and enraged. You know what a left-wing outfit Langley is. They thought he was their boy and they feel betrayed. All kinds of damaging stuff on him will be appearing via their media friends.”

He nodded. “And in Tel Aviv City?”

He was referring to the huge underground city complex of Langley’s underneath the US Embassy in the Israeli capital. “That’s an interesting question. You know how vast and deep the relationship is there. Langley is making every effort to overcome the total and massive distrust their Israeli colleagues have for Obama, whom they know is selling them down the Jordan River. So far though this effort is in words. The Israelis are waiting to see what Langley does.”

He said nothing. I smiled. “You guys wouldn’t be Langley’s cutout for thwarting BO regarding Israel, would you? I’d never suspect that…”

He continued to say nothing, gave me only a slight smile in return, and poured me another glass of wine. “The Bordeaux is good, yes?” I nodded.

“You know, the French media worships this man the same as yours in the US. All of this ‘100 days’ talk, it is impossibly stupid. Most anyone in the French elite, the business leaders, Sarko’s people, they all know this. They all think this is some crazy joke of the Americans. But it is a very, very dangerous joke. For 100 days your president has been a laughingstock among the tout le monde of Paris. No one may be laughing 100 days or 10 months from now.”

He leaned forward. “The world can go – how do you say – sideways with this man very quickly. No one he has working for him knows what they are doing – possibly excepting Mrs. Clinton – and he certainly does not. All of us in our little community are worried – us, our friends in Berlin, London, Tel Aviv, and Langley too as you say. It is not like the barbarians at the gates. It is every barbarian horde in the world being told there are no gates. The Somalis, Chavez, Iran, Putin, Beijing, the ‘Norks” as you call them, the list is long and it is growing. We are not sure what to do.”

It took me a moment to respond. “The best thing that has happened now is Obama making Langley his enemy. They will be cooperating with you more, be more a part of your worried community. Working together, you can undermine his efforts more effectively, block and maybe even repair the damage.”

It was my turn to lean forward. “Then again, all together you could be more pro-active. The man is a mystery. Nobody can make public his actual birth certificate, or even the particular hospital he was born in, or his college grades, or how he got into Harvard, or how he made editor of the Harvard Law Review and never wrote a single article for it. It goes on and on. He really is a Zero. I think all of you guys should find all of this out and make it known.”

I added, “The quicker the better, before the laughing stops and the real dangers begin.”

“What is that phrase you use?” he asked. “Something to consider?”

I laughed. “Yes, there is much to consider – and much that you can do. I mean, really, if the Soviet Union could be dismantled, so can this presidency.”

It was a beautiful April afternoon in Paris. He walked me back to my hotel. It could be that the times we live in may get even more interesting.

[xzins]

You’ve got to wonder how many are still laughing. The worst natural result I see is a depression followed by ... war?

It isn’t at all out of the question.

[TopQuark]

"This is a classic example of Obama’s total lack of loyalty to anyone or anything other than himself and his twisted ideology. "

The left says so openly and proudly. The Russian communists were the same. Communists born into Jewish families destroyed synagogues with fervor. Chechen communists burned alive their countrymen who did not submit. Brothers were killing brothers for ideological reasons. And, one of the most celebrated "heroes" in the Soviet times was one Pavel Morozov, a kid who reported his parents to the secret police.

What's scary is that all this makes sense to one half of Americans.

[TopQuark]

"does not guarantee wisdom outside of one’s area of expertise."

That's the difference between wisdom and mere knowledge or skills.

[Slings and Arrows]

Well said.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

” And we know this to be true, how? “

Yesterday, the push back came from the Pentagon that a lot of the quotes used in the Rolling Stone article were made in off the record settings and that
Hastings had violated the terms.
A series of pre printing , fact checking emails from Rolling Stone to McChrystal’s civilian PR guy ,
Duncan Boothby were made public.
Not sure if Rolling Stone or McChrystal’s people released them.
Apparently, McChrystal’s team did not deny any of the quotes , but, they did not want the Obama vote made public.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/06/military-says-rolling-stone-broke-ground-rules.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/25/AR2010062504087_pf.html

” In the last question, the fact-checker asked: “Did Gen. McChrystal vote for President Obama? (The reporter tells me that this info originates from McChrystal himself.)”

Boothby replied in all capitals.
“IMPORTANT — PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE THIS — THIS IS PERSONAL AND PRIVATE INFORMATION AND UNRELATED TO HIS JOB. IT WOULD BE INAPPROPRIATE TO SHARE.” He went on to describe the “strict rules” under which military personnel keep their political views to themselves.”

[knews_hound]

Pinging the Steyn list one last time.

It has been my pleasure to do this for the last few years but my time has come.

Sad to say, I am simply too busy to do this Ping list justice.

JLS has kindly offered to take up the MSPL duties and will run the Steyn list.

It has been a real pleasure briging this list back from the dead when Pokey78 stopped posting but I just do not have the time to devote to it as I should.

Many great Steyn columns have gone un-pinged due to me just not having the time to do it.

Many thanks JLS for picking up the slack.

See you on the Steyn threads !







Previous articles by Steyn that I have not pinged are here;

The lesson of a Jewish cemetery ... Mark Steyn

Mark Steyn: Can Obama plug leak in his support? (Steyn at his best alert)

Speaking of hyperventilating

On or off, please FReepmail JLS.

Cheers,

knewshound

knewshounds blog

[Taxman]

Thank you for your time and devotion to FReedom!

[hinckley buzzard]

It's now apparent that Iraq ‘distracted’ Al Qaeda and their ilk from Afghanistan. The brilliance of Bush's stratergery is now proven.

Good point. Iraq was the perfect roach motel. Since we pulled back in Iraq they are streaming into Waziristan

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

“Iraq was the perfect roach motel.”

Great metaphor!