Is the troop escalation even completed yet? I know it was supposed to be complete at some point in the summer.

thephan wrote:Three of the war's biggest supporters in the Senate pointedly declined to offer Gen. McChrystal their backing in a joint statement. Sen. McCain, Joe Lieberman (I., Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said: "General McChrystal's comments, as reported in Rolling Stone, are inappropriate and inconsistent with the traditional relationship between commander-in-chief and the military. The decision concerning Gen. McChrystal's future is a decision to be made by the President of the United States."

I give them a lot of credit for that. It's sad that the principle of civilian control even might be subsidiary to partisan politics, but these days, almost everything is.

Nikki Haley is romping in the runoff in South Carolina so she'll be the GOP nominee. Good chance of becoming our second Indian American governor, joining Piyush down there in Louisiana.

Also strong chance Tim Scott will beat Strom Thurmond's kid in a GOP House primary runoff in SC, and become the GOP's first black member of Congress since JC Watts retired in 2003 in November.

Backward Southerners showing us what's up.

At one point I read a thing about how oddly and refreshingly Scott and Thurmond were running against each other without any reference to the others race (or familial histories). Don't know if that's wishful thinking or not but it made a good story.

Rand Paul, board-certified ophthalmologist

Spoiler alert: It ain't the American Board of Ophthalmology (the real one), it's the "National Board of Ophthalmology"... one HE started, with him and family members as officers, and it ain't recognized by the AMA.



Hmmm...

1. File articles as NPO for "National Exotic Dancers Regulatory Board"
2. Charge guys on BSG for official NEDRB inspector licenses (and badges, gotta have badges)
3. Profit

that's going to be spun pretty easily.

McCrystal, OUT. The 4 hour sleep, one meal a day, nunchuk-wielding general is out. His and his aides' comments were embarrassing.

pacino wrote:McCrystal, OUT. The 4 hour sleep, one meal a day, nunchuk-wielding general is out. His and his aides' comments were embarrassing.

Aww. And I was just going to mention McChrystal's role in the Pat Tillman coverup...

McChrystal out with "with considerable regret" and Gen. David Petraeus nominated nominated as his replacement. With Petraeus running CENTCOM, and effectively the wars from Stateside, I am not sure this is a move up for Petraeus. McChrystal fell on his sword, which was probably the right thing to do for the political machine, but I do not think the DoD or war effort are any the better for it. McChrystal was not having a MacArthur moment and I thought that there was some room to preserve him. The next question becomes who the heck replaces Petraeus, because he is a big dog.

Edit: Post reports that the resignation was requested or a formality specifically stating that he was relieved of command by the Commander in Chief.

anecdotal thought for the day: hearing a self-described conservative whining about their UC running out makes me smile just a little bit

firs time i've ever done it, but i just watched the glenn beck show for 15 straight minutes. wow, it's difficult to believe people watch this day in and day out. it's poorly done, the commercials are about crackpot junk or weird crap nobody needs (carbonite tv?), and he makes no sense. just wow. at least o'reilly can run a damned program

now he loves union workers but hates unions! unions empower communists and racists who destroy our country! seriously. DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK HE SAYS! (FWIW, SEIU is run by two women, one a lesbian, and their board has minorities on it, while the actual rank and file has a plethora of pinatas, er is full of minorities. I wouldn't judge a union by one run by John Doughtery.

his rewriting of history is also glorious, just glorious.

Welcome to what I see when I flip on Maddow or Olberman.

oh please, maddow is nothing of the sort. olbermann not as much, either. this is something else entirely

Of course you see it that way. I'm not saying Beck isn't an emotional tin-foil hat wearing goof-ball, but that whole rewriting history to suit yourself is right on the money.

pacino wrote:oh please, maddow is nothing of the sort. olbermann not as much, either. this is something else entirely

olbermann to many on the right is exactly what beck is to you.

I do believe that if Bush was president and McChrystal said that he would be hailed by many in the media as a hero for "speaking up."

Weekly Standard Tea Party article goes after Glenn Beck a good bit. (long)

Rococo4 wrote:

pacino wrote:oh please, maddow is nothing of the sort. olbermann not as much, either. this is something else entirely

olbermann to many on the right is exactly what beck is to you.

And both are annoying to people in the middle. Beck always sounds overly sad for some reason and Olbermann is overly dramatic. Pacino's also right that Beck's show is poorly done.

im not a beck fan, but i think the compairson is valid....people on the left despise beck like people on the right cant stand olbermann

philliesphhan wrote:

Rococo4 wrote:

pacino wrote:oh please, maddow is nothing of the sort. olbermann not as much, either. this is something else entirely

olbermann to many on the right is exactly what beck is to you.

And both are annoying to people in the middle.

I've caught some of Maddow's show maybe a couple of times. She comes off as smug and condescending. I used to watch Olbermann occasionally a few years ago, back when he was more about picking on dumbassery regardless of party/leanings, but I haven't watched in a couple of years, since he became more of a shill for the left. O'Reilly's act isn't that transparent, he all about the enterprise of Bill O'Reilly. Beck, he's a frikkin loon. Probably half of his demographic are people that watch just to yell "what a frikkin loon" at the TV. Perhaps maybe a smidge of the "Jerry Springer" appeal.