After this morning's Afghanistan announcement, I'm realizing that once again we have an administration in Washington that is nowhere near as malevolently competent as its detractors paint it.
Just once in my life I'd like to be sitting on a bus that was going over the cliff because a calm, steady, evil hand at the helm was steering it towards the guardrail and not because the driver is in the back with the map upside down, dithering and arguing with the passengers.
Conspiracy theories are an elaborate form of denial, a desperate attempt to ignore the fact that NO ONE IS IN CHARGE.
ReplyDeleteI think he's afraid to decide on anything because he doesn't want the responsibility in case things go wrong, just accolades if he happens to do something right.
ReplyDeleteIs everyone else getting tired of this wishy-washy stuffed shirt who is afraid to make a decision because someone might not like it? I've seen more moxie and authority in a Cub Scout den mother.
All we have to do is make the Afganistan war relate to him somehow. His adolescent ego will demand that he engage in a flurry of activity, rhetoric, and action.
ReplyDeleteOr we could convince him that Afghanistan is in actuality a close ally with a democratic tradition. Then he'd really want to bend it over and eff it.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but don't rule out malice. - Robert A. Heinlein
ReplyDeleteHow many times did he vote "present?"
ReplyDeleteGeorge,
ReplyDeleteIt's not necessarily the malice that I doubt.
I'm realizing that once again we have an administration in Washington that is nowhere near as malevolently competent as its detractors paint it.
ReplyDeleteUm, no snark intended (honest!), but you're only realizing this _now_?
I was pretty sure of this a year ago, when Barry Lackwit's actions made it clear that he had no clue what being "President of the United States" really meant. From that day to this I have never referred to him by title, because it's pellucid to me that he is not the President in any meaningful way and never will be. He's in so far over his head, he's looking up at the clams and oysters in the muck of Chesapeake Bay.
He's beginning to look alot like
ReplyDeleteNIXON!
"Um, no snark intended (honest!), but you're only realizing this _now_?
ReplyDeleteMaybe "realized" isn't the right word, but I've officially given up hope that he's going to pull off his mask and reveal himself as one of our reptilian space lizard overlords.
Reptilian space lizard overlords would destroy the country not just deliberately, but efficiently.
Let's see if McChrystal has the integrity to resign....
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter who was recently commander of those forces. It matters who is commander now. Either he has the trust of NCA or he doesn't. If he doesn't then he needs to either bow out or be replaced. You don't second-guess and hobble your commanders in the field.
Anon: Nixon was at least competent. He even did a good job while Ike was hospitalized.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't insult his memory by comparing Barry to him.
"He's beginning to look alot like
ReplyDeleteNIXON!"
LOL! But more like the incompetence of Carter I think.
With apologies to Perry Como:
(To the tune of 'It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas')
He's beginning to look a lot like Carter
Ev'rywhere you go;
Take a look at the mom an pop's bankrupt once again
With empty shelves and neon not aglow.
He's beginning to look a lot like Carter
Inflation at ev'ry corner
But the ugliest sight to see is the 'viction notice that will be
On your own front door.
A pair of trusted boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben;
Senators that will stop and listen when you talk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen;
And Mom and Dad sit and wait for their 401 to rise again.
He's beginning to look a lot like Carter
Ev'rywhere you go;
There's a tea party at the D.C. mall, one in the local park as well,
Their sturdy folk that don't mind the snow.
He's beginning to look a lot like Carter;
Soon the polling will start,
And the thing that will make us sing is the voting that will sting
And give us a brand new start.
Maybe the driver is arguing with the passengers about an upside-down Tiljander series? I guarantee that we'll deploy "climate change workers" and a rubber stamp to Denmark before someone on Planet DC admits that Gen. McChrystal is simply making recommendations based on the arguments between executives and their sock puppets.
ReplyDeleteHow is this not malice? Those serving in Afghanistan right now would disagree. Of the available options, this was the worst possible choice.
ReplyDeleteWell, at least he didn't surrender. Yet.
he is not compatent at all. not for the job he holds or anything even related to the military! impeachment is the answer! Besides you can't fix stupidity.Even if it is the supposide cic.
ReplyDeleteHypnagogue: The malice is there, it's the competence that's lacking.
ReplyDeleteHypnagogue: agree with your "worst possible choice."
ReplyDeleteI had very low expectations going in. The two reasonable approaches to any war, namely (a) bring overwhelming force to bear; all the resources you've got, and (b) don't fight at all, are the two options Barry said going in were off the table.
So I knew we were going to get some kind of MacNamara-esque, Rumsfeldian, "fight with a level of force that won't upset the voters," plan.
In other words, I knew we were going to wind up with a very bad plan.
I had not anticipated the even worse option, namely, Refuse to Have a Plan.
Nixon was a towering statesman when compared to Barry Sorento. The only thing Nixon did wrong was getting caught in the same hardball tactics that the Democrats had been, and continued to be, invovled in.
ReplyDeleteWhen he took a hit, those enemies (NY Times, Washington Post, State Dept fifth columnists) jumped up and plunged the knives in over and over. . . they were absolutely dizzy with lust over his downfall. And it's now portrayed as if it was something noble. Despicable.
Well, now those people are in charge ----and doing a damn fine job!
WV: "garkeys" Honey, have you seen my garkeys?
*sigh* I wish Hillary would have won. She had more balls than any of the other candidates in the last election. *sigh*
ReplyDeletePaul said:
ReplyDelete"The only thing Nixon did wrong was getting caught in the same hardball tactics that the Democrats had been, and continued to be, involved in."
I think you need to review the list of new federal powers and agencies that magically appeared during Nixon's term. And also the price tag.
The problem with incompetent people is that they're too incompetent to realize it.
ReplyDeleteSome of the most incompetent people I have ever known in real life were also the most arrogant and sure of themselves.
TJP: I was not commenting on that. . but what the then mainstream media, (and others) did to Nixon amounted IMHO, to a silent coup. He tried to fight those entities---remember this is WAY before the neo-con movement, Fox News, Rush, et al. . , and when his people screwed up, they were on him like the hoards in LA on Reginald Denny. . . His work with China was outstanding. . .
ReplyDeleteFeral,
ReplyDeletethere is actually a study that confirmed that sort of thinking. They found that incompetents literally could not see or understand how bad they were. Their judgement was way off. Wish I could recall the details.