Dear President Obama,
Do you really want to be the new “war president”? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do — destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they’ve always heard is true — that all politicians are alike. I simply can’t believe you’re about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn’t so.
It is not your job to do what the generals tell you to do. We are a civilian-run government. WE tell the Joint Chiefs what to do, not the other way around. That’s the way General Washington insisted it must be. That’s what President Truman told General MacArthur when MacArthur wanted to invade China. “You’re fired!,” said Truman, and that was that. And you should have fired Gen. McChrystal when he went to the press to preempt you, telling the press what YOU had to do. Let me be blunt: We love our kids in the armed services, but we f*#&in’ hate these generals, from Westmoreland in Vietnam to, yes, even Colin Powell for lying to the UN with his made-up drawings of WMD (he has since sought redemption).
So now you feel backed into a corner. 30 years ago this past Thursday (Thanksgiving) the Soviet generals had a cool idea — “Let’s invade Afghanistan!” Well, that turned out to be the final nail in the USSR coffin.
#53 ECA
“Dont get me into SPORTS events SPONSORED, by corps..”
Hell it’s still better than the damn Government paid for Stadiums. At least I don’t have to buy the stuff that sponsors sports.
I can see how MM gets under the conservative skin.
1. He looks at things from a different perspective. Ouch!!
2. He’s become rich mocking corporate America scamming Americans. Ooooh, Oowww.
3. He was able to lose weight while Rush Limbaugh gained another ton. Oh momma.
4. He’s the left’s answere to Ann Coulter but at least Moore doesn’t hide he’s a man.
ooof, don’t rub it in.
#63, Dallas,
Moore doesn’t need to bullshit his way through an interview either. Although I’m sure he has made some factual errors, he does not do it as a habit. Right wing nuts need to bullshit their way because they are intellectually challenged.
#64 agreed.
I would add that MM shows you can endorse and criticise a leader at the same time. This is shocking to conservative sheep. Sheep don’t question the dog.
Do you see when a preacher opens the floor for questions?
“FYI. You can read the whole thing here.”
But why would you want to?
#66 Animby – That’s correct right wing think. “Don’t confuse me with the facts. I’ve made up my mind and that’s final.” Conflicting viewpoints are invalid in the full right camp.
#54 Deowll,
Thanks for the laugh – you’re funny. If you think that’s why were there, this blog is over your head, go back to CNN you member of the sheeple.
BigboyBC – you’re funny as well. “I’m usually tolerant” – ha! The first words spoken by someone who’s not tolerant at all. This is where the adults hang out, if you don’t like it, the kiddies blog is elsewhere.
I hate to spoil the party but
New York.
Skyscapers destroyed.
Thousands dead.
Attacked from Afghanistan.
Obama can’t ignore that one even as Michael Moore & others conveniently do.
Carry on.
RBG
#46. McCullough “The problem is that Obama is controlled by the same people who controlled Bush. It really doesn’t matter what Obama wants…that is what you should take away from this.”
Well you have to hand it to Obama’s unseen puppet-masters, then.
The Messiah of Change announced his choice for Bush’s Secretary of Defense Robert Gates almost 2 months before Obama was even in office.
Can you say Obama Apologist? I knew you could.
RBG
#70. Huh?
Spelled out:
You are saying that Obama is being “controlled” against his free will and that is why he does the things you disagree with respect to the Afghanistan war.
I say the history of Obama’s decisions and actions belie your assertion.
Your “control” must obviously also include choosing Bush’s Secretary of Defense to run Obama’s war effort. (Or does Obama get to choose when and when not he is “controlled?”)
Thus Obama’s “controllers” must have “gotten” to him early. Even well before Obama took office, since Obama announced his SoD choice almost 2 months prior to assuming office.
That scenario and his sudden and immediate conversion by “controllers” to Bush-thinking is pretty unlikely, to say the least.
So you are left with the presumption that decisions regarding the course of the war going all the war back to the decision to hire Robert Gates are in fact Obama’s own carefully considered decisions.
And not the work of unknown “controllers.” Any attempt to now rationalize Obama’s decisions in order to prop up some liberal-manufactured leadership ideal is disingenuous.
Obama’s free-will past and present actions speak far louder than your wishful thinking.
Now go back and read my reply again. That’s the “Huh?” I’m talking about.
RBG
#69–RBG==the 9-11 attack DOES NOT justify any and all responses that could be/have been/are/will be made. Your “analysis” is TOTALLY DEVOID of any content at all. Silly, BS, if you will.
A quick in/out to topple the government was justified. Mission Creep was exchanged for a few Giant Steps from that decapitation into “Nation Building.” COMPLETE AND TOTAL misuse of the military tool. Dropping a Nuke on them could “almost” be more justified than what we have done.
Finally, “all tolled” it would have made more sense to “ignore” the entire attack and respond with Israeli type assiassination squads. Much cheaper to lose a building and few thousand people each decade than change our society and waste billions as we are doing.
#30–McCullough==it is never “moot” to be accurate in recalling history.
What a silly thing to say.
As to our continued presence in Iraq, while I am initially disappointed as well, Iraq has been so out of the news for the last few months, I have to suspend any continuing conclusion on that. There is again a non-moot principled DIFFERENCE between WAR and occupation with consent.
These mere words actually have very serious differential consequences.
RBG- Now I am an Obama apologist? Really? Don’t care for the man, didn’t vote for him, yet I am an apologist.
The control I refer to seems to be out of your grasp. Not sure I can help you there, but just to be on the safe side…try to think globally.
Yeah I know, the NWO is just a bunch of CT bullshit, right?
#72 RBG said.. “.. Obama’s controllers..blah…Even well before Obama took office, since Obama announced his SoD choice almost 2 months prior to assuming office….”
He announced a SoD ahead of assuming office because stability in our national security during a time of war and a transfer of power is important. Seems like the prudent thing to do.
How sad your world must be to be unable to grasp these important issues of our time. I really expected more of you and now deeply disappointed.
In many ways, you’ve undermined the 6 things you’ve said here in the past 6 months that were reasonably accurate.
#69,
RBG..
Afghanistan??
ya, we went there..
Almost caught the Ass.
LOST HIM..under bush jr.
How do you loose someone STUCK in a mountain?
The Target?? LEFT the country.
So, where do we invade NOW??
WHO do we piss off?
PICK a nation?? any nation..we can piss them ALL OFF.
Before the Iraq War, he complained about lies onstage at the Oscars, and went to various people in Congress with ambush interviews of trying to get them to sign up their children for war.
With Obama all he does is write a letter?
Shouldn’t he be trying to crash a White House party, and yelling to Obama? I’m sure the media will celebrate, just as they told us that Cindy Sheehan had absolute moral authority.
73. bobbo. Fine. Let’s limit the 9/11 attack response to a self-defensive invasion of those who would support such terrorist activities with some prudent homeland vigilance and just leave it at that.
“A quick in/out to topple the government”? How did you come up with that one? We can’t even keep the old government toppled after years of war. Think of something else.
75. McCullough. Pardon me for confusing you with the rest of the mob now making the exact same Obama excuses on this blog for Dear Iconic Leader.
“The problem is that Obama is controlled by the same people who controlled Bush”
“The control I refer to seems to be out of your grasp.”
Yes, it must be a very veiled and subtle thing you refer to that sends a nation to war. What, you’re Deep Throat now, or what?
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
http://tinyurl.com/y8z5lqd
NWO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Order_(conspiracy_theory)
“In conspiracy theory, the term “New World Order” or “NWO” refers to the emergence of a bureaucratic collectivist one-world government.”
Heh, McCullough, I owe you a big apology for thinking it was obviously just the US military bullying Obama.
76. Keep going, Dallas, you’re almost there. Transfer of power is long over and Gates is still SoD. There goes the prudency theory. Clearly Obama wanted and still wants Gates as SoD. All Obama’s actions to date are consistent with that choice. Try to grasp that one.
So now McCullough is telling me in conspiracy code it was actually the New World Order that chose Gates.
RBG
“I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank. ”
— Lyndon Baines Obama
Go Mikey,
he’s right. OBAMA has defiled the institute of the presidency. I’m not about race hatred, 44 has turned POTUS into a public relations office for the corporates who have held power for how long 20/40/100 years? At least his predecessors had the ability to hide this fact.
Oww, what’s gonna happen if a true third party gets on the scene.
Go see his movie ‘Capitalism, a love story’, brilliant even if you hate his guts.
#83, pedro,
I knew there was something you loved about Micheal Moore.
Touché!
Obama is owned by the Money. He does what the Money tells him. Just like Bush and others before him. As Mark Twain said, history never repeats itself but it often rhymes.