Obama And Accountability

The NY Times covered Obama's commencment speech at West Point:

Obama Offers Strategy Based in Diplomacy

By PETER BAKER

WEST POINT, N.Y. — President Obama previewed a new national security strategy rooted in diplomatic engagement and international alliances on Saturday as he essentially repudiated his predecessor’s emphasis on unilateral American power and the right to wage pre-emptive war.

Speak softly and carry a big teleprompter - you know the Times loved that, but even they raised an eyebrow here:

Mr. Obama all but declared victory in Iraq, praising the military, but not Mr. Bush, for turning it around. “A lesser Army might have seen its spirit broken,” he said. “But the American military is more resilient than that.”

The US Army has spent four years teaching these young officers the importance of accountability.  One wonders what lesson they took watching their commander-in-chief duck his role in opposing the successful surge.  Or was it successful? Last we checked, Obama had never said the surge worked, but he wanted one in Afghanistan.

Obama is in a bit of a political box on Iraq and wants to avoid a 'heads Bush wins, tails I lose' situation - like any relief pitcher coming in with a lead, Obama will have a hard time getting credit for a win in Iraq, but he is more likely to get blamed for a loss if he praises Bush for securing the situation.  But that comes with the job - Obama provided a miserable example of leadership for the newly-minted Army officers, but an excellent example of Washington buck-passing.

Here is what he said:

For many years, our focus was on Iraq. And year after year, our troops faced a set of challenges there that were as daunting as they were complex. A lesser Army might have seen its spirit broken. But the American military is more resilient than that. Our troops adapted, they persisted, they partnered with coalition and Iraqi counterparts, and through their competence and creativity and courage, we are poised to end our combat mission in Iraq this summer. (Applause.)

Even as we transition to an Iraqi lead and bring our troops home, our commitment to the Iraqi people endures. We will continue to advise and assist Iraqi security forces, who are already responsible for security in most of the country. And a strong American civilian presence will help Iraqis forge political and economic progress. This will not be a simple task, but this is what success looks like: an Iraq that provides no haven to terrorists; a democratic Iraq that is sovereign and stable and self-reliant.

And as we end the war in Iraq, though, we are pressing forward in Afghanistan.

FINDING SOME ROOM FOR AUTO-BACK-PATTING:  I like this:

But this is a different kind of war. There will be no simple moment of surrender to mark the journey's end - no armistice, no banner headline. Though we have had more success in eliminating al Qaeda leaders in recent months than in recent years, they will continue...

He's doing a great job, isn't he?

Comments

[Buford Gooch]

Dipstick in Chief

[Thomas Collins]

I really have to laugh when I hear GWB's national security strategy described as unilateralist. GWB fully supported the Euros' paddycake diplomacy with Iran on its nuke program. My recollection is that Bush's most unilateral foreign venture was his initiative to fight AIDS in Africa, which I believe was very helpful in fighting AIDS.

[Bill in AZ]

I had the great fortune to be present when President George W Bush addressed the Air Force Academy graduates in his last year. It was truly a memorable occasion for those graduates. What an ordeal this must have been for these graduates.

[bgates]

But this is a different kind of war. Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes visible on TV and covert operations secret even in success.

-That's so true. I wish somebody had put it that way before.

There will be no simple moment of surrender to mark the journey's end - no armistice like when Tojo signed the surrender papers in front of Admiral Kirk on the deck of the Enterprise, no banner headline like the one from years ago that said "Mission Accomplished". Because I don't want to name any names, but my predecessor George W Bush who caused all the problems that I inherited really, really screwed up badly on that one.

[MarkO]

Such range of delusion should be watched carefully. Prompted by the thread on Texas historiography, I once again wondered how Obama would fare on a simple 11th grade American history test. Oh well.

He will give Iran the bomb, teach North Korea that there are no consequences to minor acts of war (because they already have the bomb) and continue to make me take my shoes off in airports because of threats from . . . something somewhere.

[Clarice]

Thomas C, Powerline says the NYT misrepresented Obama's speech, that he emphasized as far as multilaterlism was concerned, he followed the path of those before him/

as I said on an earlier post, it is a reverse-Althouse. She caught the waPo lying about the Texas standards without even referencing the text and Powerline caught the NYT doing the same thing but to to suggest he was Bush bashing when he wasn't.

[Jane says obamasucks]

The most ungracious president ever. There is simply nothing to like about that man.

[Danube of Thought]

My guess is that the typical West Point graduate holds him in contempt. Every single one of them knows the whole history of the Iraq war in exquisite detail. They know about The Surge, and they know who was for it and who was against it.

Who the hell did this guy think he was talking to?

[bunky]

It's a different kind of war 'cause we ain't fighting to win

[matt]

"we will exit as quickly as we can as the factions jostle for position and sectarian violence ramps up as the most successful peacekeeping campaign in Middle Eastern history, along with the lives of hundreds of American and Allied troops, and thousands of Iraqi civilians, is flushed down the toilet along with a pointless waste of hundreds of billions of dollars"

Naw...I didn't think he said that.

[Clarice]

DoT He thinks the cadets are cardboard figures and their graduation of no account. he was addressing the press running dogs and the dopes who vote for him.

[daddy]

I see Hillary is in China handing out Teddy Bears, while Obama is at West Point lecturing on "the New International Order."

How about next time we have Hillary go to West Point and hand out Teddy bears, and send Obama to China to lecture on 'the New International Order."

Shouldn't make any difference really. Whatever comes out of the mouth of either one, their audiences already know its complete BS.

[bgates]

How about next time we have Hillary go to West Point and hand out Teddy bears, and send Obama to China to lecture on 'the New International Order."

We'd be better off if Hillary went to China to hand over Obama, and had a Teddy Bear at West Point lecturing on "the New International Order".

[matt]

daddy;

I believe Hillary is trying to secure Chinese cooperation in a very strong letter to the Noko's. She will then trumpet this as a major diplomatic triumph as Kim Jong Il waves his private parts in her general direction.

[Jane says obamasucks]

Who the hell did this guy think he was talking to?

People who had too much respect for the office to let him know what they really think of him.

[Thomas Collins]

Clarice, thanks for the tip on the Power Line article on the NTY. This makes me even happier that my family's birthday present to me was a WSJ subscription, as opposed to a NYT one.

[daddy]

Clarice,

I have been meaning to talk to you about ">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/20/AR2010052003980.html"> the poor quality condoms you have allowed to be handed out for free in your DC High Schools and College campi.

Ours up here seem to be of a slightly tougher quality (due to having to withstand our colder temps I imagine) but seriously, has it come to such an ebb that our National Shame is exemplified by low quality free rubbers in our Country's Capitol? I'd like to think not.

Perhaps its all a part of Obama's Energy Savings program, designed to reduce the amount of petroleum project used in Trojans. If so, this would explain the BP donations, thereby saving more gas for the Big Dicks in Washington and less gas for the slightly littler pricks in Washington. Please tell me thats so.

[Clarice]

daddy, it's just that even our young people are such big dicks only a higher quality condom will work.

[matt]

you will be happy to know that Brent "looks great in heels" Musberger, just commented that the Dick in Chief is watching the Lakers/Suns game.

I am sure he's rooting for Los Suns....

[Thomas Collins]

See LUN for the type of males Alaskan condoms must accommodate.

[daddy]

Boy it was a beautiful day up here today for a bike-ride in Big Wild Anchorage Life!...What?

Oh, Okay. I meant to say in Wild Anchorage Big Life!

What? Are you sure? Crap.

Okay, okay,...How 'bout it was a wonderful day for a bike-ride up here in Big Life Anchorage Wild today!

What, that's not it either? Gawd dammit!!!

Wild Life Anchorage Big? Sheee-itt!

Life Big Wild Anchorage? Sun uv a beetch!

Big Anchorage Life Wild? Muther-----!

Anchorage Wild Big Life!!! Eff me to tears!!!
Life Wild Big Anchorage!!! S@#t, S#$t, S#$t!!!
Wild Big Anchorage...?
Life Anchorage Big....?
Wild Big Life Anch...?

Aw Phuck it...it was a great day for a bike-ride up here until I realized I can't remember the G--D---! name of the frickin' joint at $200,000 freaking bucks a freakin' frickin' word.

Shitski!

[narciso]

Good god, that is embarassing a slogan, almost
aS the one's they've commissioned for Miami,
isn't Anchorage a major urban center, maybe that might apply to Fairbanks or Barrow, (no vampires up there right)

[Size matters.]

Somebody hatched a good one in 'Kansas: As Big As You Think', probably trying to take a riff off of 'Big Sky Country', and it got turned into 'As bigoted As You Think' before you could blink an eye truth.
============

[Boatbuilder]

Powerline's "defense" of Obama is unconvincing. Just because he said we've "always" avoided unilateralism and didn't specifically exclude Iraq doesn't mean he wasn't intending to be boorish and disingenuous about the record of the Bush administration. The thrust of the speech is clear--the NYT only underlined and clarified the talking points.

Why do the Powerline guys think they're being evenhanded and magnanimous when they give Obama credit for not being as much of an ass as he really is? It's David Brooks Syndrome, or something. What they really come across as are easy marks.

[daddy]

Narciso,

Our obnoxious zillion dollar slogan (which I can't remember) takes second to nobody, even Clarice's "Cheap Free Condom's DC," much less whatever the heck Miami came up with.

[bgates]

>Who the hell did this guy think he was talking to?

People who had too much respect for the office to let him know what they really think of him.

No, that's who he really was talking to. He thought he was talking to a bunch of poor slobs who couldn't manage to get into a real school like Occidental, and who will probably be disappointed once they figure out that they won't get to spend a career murdering people since he's going to eliminate all global tensions for the next hundred years.

And I expect the cadets know that's what he thought. Which makes their forbearance all the more remarkable.

[Neo]

The Journey of the LightWorker continues

[narciso]

I don't remember it either, that's why I brought it up, but there was a big fuss around the time it was adopted. As to Bgates
point, maybe it will take a Momma Grizzly to
properly address the cadets, next time around

[narciso]

Something about the "hall of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli," suggests we are nowhere as multilateral as Obama would pretend we are

[matt]

they are simply props for his new world order come along.....he was speaking to his base once again...."run along and give your last measure for your country, as I transform it into a third world Orwellian mobocracy"

on a lighter note, I found the proper quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which I would like to dedicate to Dear Leader and his posse:

"How you English say, I one more time-a unclog my nose in your
direction, sons of a window-dresser! So, you think you could
out-clever us French folk with your silly knees-bent running about
advancing behavior! I wave my private parts at your aunties, you
heaving lot of second-hand electric donkey bottom biters."

[bunkerbuster]

I love it when half the wingnuts say: we're not A and the other half say, damn right we're A. Like on unilateralism.
Half the chorus line is going to deny that Bush was a unilateralist, while the other half will be vehemently insisting that anything other than unilateralism is a conspiracy to destroy America. Highly amusing.
But, for the record, didn't Bush the younger: Unilaterally withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty? Then, in the same month, urge abandoning the international negotiations on verification procedures for the Biological Weapons Convention?
Didn't Bush unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from the nuclear test ban treaty?
Didn't National Security Adviser Condolezza Rice say, during Bush's first campaign: ``A Republican administration will proceed from the firm ground of the national interest, not from the interests of an illusory international community."
Then there was Bush's withdrawal from the Kyoto accord, its rejection of the International Criminal Court, and there's plenty more.
But the big enchilada was the Iraq war. As a matter of domestic politics, rather than military strategy, the Bush administration pushed ahead with the war, even though Iraq's neighbors and the vast majority of countries that had fully supported Gulf War I, declined to back Bush's war. Moreover, the United Nation's inspectors were begging for more time to complete inspections for WMD, while raising some doubts about whether they even existed.
At the time, unilateralism was the Bush administration's clarion call and a very popular one, part of the "war president" posturing that boosted his poll ratings into the stratosphere.
Now to come back and suggest Bush wasn't a unilateralist is worthy of a Texas high school textbook entry, indeed.

[Boatbuilder]

See. Bunkerbuster understood exactly what Obama meant.

Of course, I do seem to recall that OIF was bipartisan unilateralism. And there was some British support, as well. Maybe I've confused it with WWII, but that's the way I remember it.

[Stephanie says Obama sux]

Bunky defines a big rig is as a unicycle with stabilizers...

[narciso]

And Spanish, and Polish, and Ukrainian, Georgian, Salvadoran and a few other countries. Now France that was knee deep in the oil for food program, involving the likes
of Pasqua among other figures, the Germans,
the Russians with their concessions, yes they
weren't eager for us to intervene in their
bailiwick. The Egyptians, Jordanians, Russians
French et al, did believe Saddam had WMDs, they had used them afterall

[Comanche Voter]

What two words most likely passed through each West Point graduate's mind while watching this sorry performance?

Lying fellator!

[matt]

I believe the original of unilateralists in Iraq was approximately 50 countries.....what incredibly unilateralist that Bush was....

Comanche, that was "lying fellator, SIR!". Remember he is our commander in chief..

[anduril]

"we will exit as quickly as we can as the factions jostle for position and sectarian violence ramps up as the most successful peacekeeping campaign in Middle Eastern history, along with the lives of hundreds of American and Allied troops, and thousands of Iraqi civilians, is flushed down the toilet along with a pointless waste of hundreds of billions of dollars"

matt, i think you've got most of this right, except that in retrospect i doubt that this will be seen as a big success. that is, i expect sectarian violence to ramp up and that the loss in life and luchre will be seen to have been essentially pointless. no love lost for saddam, but iraq is a cesspool, like most of the middle east. let's just not bring the middle east to the u.s.

[Rick Ballard]

"And there was some British support, as well."

True. There were also troops from Australia, Romania, El Salvador, Estonia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Albania, Ukraine, Denmark, Czech Republic, South Korea, Japan, Tonga, Azerbaijan, Singapore, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Latvia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Mongolia, Georgia, Slovakia, Portugal, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Netherlands, Thailand, Philippines, Honduras, Nicaragua and Iceland but other than that we were always acting alone.

[narciso]

Don't you hate it Rick, when a talking point is proved so invalid as such, although I understand the Mongols made the folks in Baghdad a little nervous, because of Tamerlane

[Captain Hate]

The Kyoto accord was never ratified by the US starting under Clinton, and according to Wiki, the US never withdrew from it.

[Rick Ballard]

Narciso,

Michael Moore's interpretation of Howard Zinn's view of "history" lends itself to easy regurgitation by those who have earned the label of "thimblewit". I suppose "you never successfully attended school in Texas, did you?" may become the riposte of choice when dealing with the intellectually challenged and/or dishonest.

[matt]

anduril;

the professional consensus in both Iraq and Afghanistan is not positive. After 9 years in Afghanistan and 7 in Iraq, remarkably little has changed.

The Iraqis still have not formed a government, and their institutions are basically being propped up by our military still. That we have not taken casualties only means we are laagering these days. The SF guys are out there hunting AQII.

In Afghanistan it's worse. There is a general opinion these days from company level downwards that senior leadership is screwing the pooch and the Afghans are the most corrupt people on earth.

What is more disturbing is that many observers in country are describing an almost Vietnam like senior military. Yes men. Don't rock the boat, etc...

We have asked these kids to go back for 3,4, and 5 tours now. Some of them have spent 4 full years in combat. Even in WW II we never asked them to do this. The perception is that they are wasting their lives for a bunch of ungrateful, corrupt scum. This is going to damage our military for some time to come.

[daddy]

Narciso,

This ">http://www.usacitiesonline.com/citytomottosa-f.htm"> website says Miami is "Sun and Fun Capitol of the World" or "Fabulous South Beach," and that North Miami Beach is "Where People Care."

All OK I 'spose, but not at less than a million dollars. Let's check out some others:

Platteville, Wisconsin : "Platteville: Poised for Progress"
Baltimore: Get in on it! (That one cost $250,000)
"Wichita, Kansas: We Got the Goods"
Sopchoppy, Florida "Worm gruntin' capital of the world"
Tremonton, Utah: "Food, Fuel, and FUN!"
Midlothian, "The Steel and Cement Capital of Texas"
Rochester, NY: "I'd Rather Be In Rochester."
Gayville, SD: "The Hay Capitol of The World"
Seattle, Wa: "Metro Natural" ($200,000 grand for that)
Poway, California "The City in the Country"
Weed, Ca. "Weed Like to Welcome You."
Springdale. Ark: "Springdale – it's not that bad."

Well, I'll stop there, as I'm sure you Beantowner's and Big-Appler's and Windy City'ers have better inputs, but I was surprised to discover that Dildo, Newfoundland, doesn't seem to have a town slogan. Imagine that.

[narciso]

No, South Florida, which is it's own unique world, but my experience with the educational
institutions, validate your contention

[Clarice]

daddy, I guess it's like all that extra govt printing that takes place in election years..the p.r. firms hired to produce this swill, offer their services free of charge to the pols who hired them to come up with it.

Same thing happens to union budgets, and union payments to lawyers , accountants, etc.

[Clarice]

Night all. Tomorrow you are all deputy troll patrol members. When the trolls show up, ignore them or watch as we did this weekend as the best blog site in town gets merded up.

[narciso]

"City of Lights" seriously, they think themselves Gay Paree

[daddy]

Mega ditto's to that Clarice.

Nite nite and sweet dreams:)

[matt]

daddy, your mind works in strange and miraculous ways....

[daddy]

City of lights.

Yeah Narciso, we were the City of Lights, and also "City of Flowers", before Begich decided we needed to give over $200,000 per word to upgrade to
Anchorage Big Wild Life.

Funny thing here is that the bar clientele noticed me chuckling at my laptop pecking, and as a result I have just stumped the clientele and bartender at O'Brady's Pub here as to the slogan. 0 for 8, they are, tho' Tom the bartender got 3 words correct out of 4. Great fun.

[anduril]

OK, matt, then why do the knucklehead JOMers still insist on defending Bush/Cheney? I'll freely admit it--I was taken in initially (although I never believed the BS about spreading democracy). Can't we be men about this and do what we need to do to have a coherent foreign policy?

[Stephanie says Obama sux]

Snellville, GA... Where Everybody's Somebody.

Talk about your PC feel good nobody is a loser slogan.

At least we keep score in little leagues.

[narciso]

The only thing that was more incrohensible was the Lost series finale, wth was that about

[narciso]

You know what I meant

[Dave (in MA)]

matt:

Brent "looks great in heels" Musberger

Aren't you thinking of Marv Abert?

[Dave (in MA)]

Bunk is upset that GWB unilaterally withdrew from a treaty that the US made with a nation that hadn't existed for over a decade.

[mockmook]

The only thing that was more incrohensible was the Lost series finale, wth was that about

Posted by: narciso | May 23, 2010 at 11:43 PM

My guess on what the writers were going for:

All the stuff that occurred on the island really happened.

All the stuff in the flash-sideways was their souls finding each other (after they had all died at different times).

[except you]

So, they were really dead living lifetimes in different realities just as they died in the crash. Going to hell and reliving lives that didn't exist anywhere but in hell before God showed mercy on luciferians the after living the lives they had; your brain dying and taking care of you before you cease......go to the light.........

Souls are from lucifer.

[Danube of Thought]

"Aren't you thinking of Marv Abert?"

Who also fancies a bra. And be careful not to pull that rug too hard.

[daddy]

"Brent "looks great in heels" Musberger
Aren't you thinking of Marv Abert?"

Dave in MA,

Matt's speaking metaphorically. He means the cross dressing sports Anchors of all MSM stations

[matt]

you are right, Dave, of course...They all seem interchangeable these days.And it was Marv the Perv is all tingly down the leg/vibrating in his chair because he interviewed the President on the Presidential basketball court, which is to be broadcast on Tuesday. Our President simply has no gravitas. Marv looks good in a a corset and Louboutins, apparently, so there you go. A perfect match of Weimar decadent and manipulator par excellence.

anduril, under Bush/Cheney, progress was achievable. Under Obama, it is not. The entire mindset changed on January 20, 2009. timetables for withdrawal were set, and faith was broken. "Can Do" became "Can't".

The troops are bitter because of a distorted ROE in Afghanistan, where the Taliban are losing the shooting war and winning the battle of hearts and minds anyway through terror.

The coherence in our foreign policy proposed by Obama is one of embracing our enemies and shitting on our allies, to put it bluntly. The man has had more blunders than Foster Brooks.

We are at the most dangerous nexus of our existence as a republic since 1861 and Bozo is at the wheel of the clown car. As Mel mentioned in her sign off, this week and the weeks ahead are going to be crazy.

[bunkerbuster]

Comanche voter says the cadets were thinking: ``Lying fellator!''

I would give our military a lot more credit than that. Somehow I don't think that's an image any cadet is likely to have had in their head, ever. Comanche, on the other hand, has a rather revealing imagination...

[matt]

bullshit, bunker. From direct knowledge of many serving military, I can say from direct experience that the CiC is despised in a broad consensus.

[Holly]

mock, I agree that that's what the writers seemed to be telling us, so does that mean that everyone in the church are all dead? I'm still trying to reconcile the details. I'm still stuck on whether Jack really has a son.

[bunkerbuster]

Matt: thanks for confirming how feeble your standards of evidence are. But what I meant was that the cadets were unlikely to have had the particular image Comanche came up with. Although perhaps you too frequently have gay fantasies about Obama. Maybe it doesn't seem unusual to you...

[matt]

go screw yourself bunky. spend some time with the people who have served 3 or 4 or 5 tours and see it end up in heartache and sacrifice and a president with no credibility, you POS.

[bunkerbuster]

Matt: what's with the sexual imagery? Is it just out of habit, or something more? lol...

[daddy]

Hey Tom Collins,

Don't know where our young lady is this summer, but if she's interested in recent goings on in Deadhorse, I came upon ">http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/category/arctic-projects/the-bears-of-summer/"> this link tonight and it has some Polar Bear stories from last month in the Dead Horse Area.

Haven't seen any bears down our way yet, but 1 scat-pile in the bike trail the other day and tons of Moose everywhere.

[daddy]

">http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100523.html"> Sunspot!

[daddy]

">http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100522.html"> Even better SunSpot!

[Holly]

Mock, I watched it again and it's much clearer to me. Too many distractions going on the first time. I still have questions, but they're not important. Don't need answers to see the point, which for me is ironic. I wanted lots of answers, but expected to be disappointed. Instead, I got what I expected, but I loved it. It was a great finale for me.

[Captain Hate]

Don't badmouth Marv Albert! Just because some dumpy skeezer that would otherwise have to pay men to give her the time of day got hinky at his bedroom antics (which were admittedly unusual but hey, it was only sex) doesn't detract from the best play by play broadcaster in basketball bar none. And football, I often listen to his Monday night Westwood 1 broadcasts just because they're so damn good. The NBC idiots were gutless hypocrites for canning Marv for his weirdness as they were lecturing us that an impeached predator should keep his job because "it was only sex".

[daddy]

Mornin' Captain,

Today is Bob Dylan's Birthday. I think that means I need to learn a new Dylan tune today, and be driving the wife crazy by bedtime.

I'm thinking, "My Back Pages", but am open to suggestions. The Byrds did a great version of that, but it's hard to beat Dylan's nasal twang in the original. FWIW, Dylan's from Duluth, Minn, "The Air Conditioned City." Wonder how much they paid for that one?

[Captain Hate]

I like Bob Dylan, if for no other reason than his unwillingness to be co-opted by the lefty idiots who automatically assumed he was a fellow traveler. For that he is a good example of an artist standing apart from dogma, unlike the brainless idiots who make nice sounds but have never had a coherent thought in their life thinking that people should value what they consider to be intelligent insights. There are lots of *essential* albums of Dylan (Highway 61 Revisited, Blond on Blond, Nashville Skyline, Blood on the Tracks) but if I had to choose one for a deserted island it would be the complete Basement Sessions, which you can find for free download at sites on the innerwebbz.

[With the tiny little high school.]

Hibbing.
=====

[Jane]

Great pictures Daddy!

Let's make a pact. Today only Anduril will talk to Bunkerbuster and vice versa. This place is becoming unreadable.

[hit and run]

Daddy:
Funny thing here is that the bar clientele noticed me chuckling at my laptop pecking, and as a result I have just stumped the clientele and bartender at O'Brady's Pub here as to the slogan. 0 for 8, they are, tho' Tom the bartender got 3 words correct out of 4. Great fun.

Anchorage: We Carry Ourselves With the Poise and Confidence of a Seasoned Athlete

[hit and run]

DoT:
My guess is that the typical West Point graduate holds him in contempt. ... Who the hell did this guy think he was talking to?

Now wait. Surely the typical West Point graduate can fully appreciate the nuance of how Obama wanted to http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/2700555/Barack-Obama-wanted-to-join-the-US-military.html>join the military himself, but since the Vietnam War was over and there was no active war in which he could kick ass, he chose to . . . community organize instead.

[And how many would if the country they intend to defend had a free press.]

I wonder how many cadets know about his phony draft registration.
==============================

[Captain Hate]

Maybe I'm alone in feeling this way, but when anduril isn't obviously clamoring for attention and taking unwarranted cheap shots at posters, he makes some useful contributions. I particularly appreciated his links and comments on the Poland/Russian dynamics through history which disabused me of the hypothesis that he was one of the "crazy Ivans" that Putin and his minions unleashed on sites in the summer of 2008 to sew anti-Georgian disinformation (Strator had some that were so heavy-handedly clumsy that you could almost smell the cheap vodka that was powering the posts).

[narciso]

I agree to a point, Captain, but there are times that he refuses to take the long view on the subject, like the fact that pro Ossetiansentiment, has been a catspaw for Russian expansionism almost every single time, and is ignored afterward, 1799, 1921, that the Poles, recall that their territorial integrity was breached by the two partitions in the 18th Century, and Ribbentrop/Molotov in the 20th.

[boris]

"refuses to take the long view on the subject ..."

Only seems capable of one POV, held forcefully, and apparently perceives alternate ones as personal attack. Hence the cringeworthy hostility regularly on display. Avoiding swear words constitutes "civil" on planet Androol.

[Porchlight]

Happy Birthday Bobby Dylan. kim, he was born in Duluth, but went to high school in Hibbing. His Duluth home was up for sale several years back - I wish I could have bought it.

but if I had to choose one for a deserted island it would be the complete Basement Sessions, which you can find for free download at sites on the innerwebbz.

One of the greatest recordings ever made, no question. Mr. Porchlight and his band visited Big Pink a couple of summers ago when they were driving through the area, and took a bunch of pics of the basement. He said it was a lot smaller than he'd imagined.

How about "Million Dollar Bash" or "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" for your song to learn today?

[centralcal]

"Hence the cringeworthy hostility regularly on display."

Anduril HAS a blog. He could easily do as Jane did on her blog and preapprove commenters (i.e., Captain Hate) and have his "discussions" there. I would hope those of you who enjoy his discourse would encourage him to do just that.

-----------

However, he seems to relish being a bully and shoving his weight around here.

[Captain Hate]

Two outstanding songs, Porch, done during a very fertile period as the synergy between Dylan and the Band was extremely high. Btw, the *official* version of the Basement Tapes (not "Sessions", D'OH) is, like most things the robber barons at Sony/Clodumbia touch, greatly inferior to the original recordings, including witlessly turning well recorded stereo into mono. IDIOTS! This musical period is well covered by Greil Marcus's "Invisible Republic".

[And it's pretty easy to get it all gumped up.]

Life is like a box of peanut brittle; lots of meat and lots of sharp edges. Sweet, too.
===================

[Porchlight]

This musical period is well covered by Greil Marcus's "Invisible Republic".

Can't agree with you there Cap'n in that I find Marcus too pretentious, but he did at least understand the greatness of the recordings. You are right that the official Basement Tapes release is lame, but for many not connected in taping circles pre-internet, it was all they could get their hands on, and better than nothing.

This was Mr. Porchlight's first anniversary (paper) gift to me -- from the Elliott Landy exhibit we saw at a photo gallery in New Orleans:

a/k/a Hudson's Hudson on the Hudson

[Captain Hate]

Porch, Marcus is a pretentious a-hole and I'm pretty sure I'd hate him if I ever met him in person; I still think his book is very well done.

Too bad about the long-term history of The Band with Richard Manuel committing suicide (although he'd have been my first choice if forced to choose). I saw Rick Danko do a solo act at a local microbrew a few years ago and was shocked at how overweight he'd gotten, barely able to wheeze his way through his songs. Not surprisingly he died of a heart attack within a week.

Robbie Robertson may have been the most talented of the bunch but he was a real prick after he disbanded the group when he decided that making music for movies was more fun after listening to Scorcese slobber all over him. Garth Hudson probably had the best head on his shoulders.

[narciso]

Maybe within his own niche, Marcus, has it right, outside it, not so much, in the LUN

[Porchlight]

but he was a real prick after he disbanded the group when he decided that making music for movies was more fun after listening to Scorcese slobber all over him.

So true. I read once that The Last Waltz was basically an extended screen test for Robertson. Funny, we were just watching It Might Get Loud (performance documentary about Jimmy Page, the Edge and Jack White - not very good) last night and talking about Robertson, and then were surprised at the end when the threesome attempted a cover of "The Weight" that Jack White butchered (though the Edge didn't do too bad a job and seemed like the only one of the three who really knew or cared about the song).

Levon Helm has always been my favorite (though I love Danko's voice the best). In fact when I first met Mr. Porchlight I noticed his resemblance to Helm. He is the Garth Hudson of his band, though, instrumentally speaking.

[narciso]

Didn't know he had been involved in so mant films, included the Departed

[Captain Hate]

Maybe within his own niche, Marcus, has it right, outside it, not so much

That link wasn't unexpected; I'd never bother reading it beyond the headline because it can only be nutball ravings. Salon was being idiotic to expect anything coherent from him on any topic other than music or popular culture.

[Ignatz]

--Maybe I'm alone in feeling this way, but when anduril isn't obviously clamoring for attention and taking unwarranted cheap shots at posters, he makes some useful contributions.--

After having tried to interact in good faith more than once, I can only say the high maintenance aint worth the work product.

[Neo]

That "Smart-Assed Diplomacy" marches on ...

Syria: Obama has failed in peace efforts and lost influence in Mideast
Assad's comments come as Obama set to meet with Lebanon PM to raise concerns about alleged Syria-Hezbollah Scud transfer.

[Thomas Collins]

Daddy, I'll pass that link on to the Deadhorser. She is staying in Evanston this summer doing an intership involving counseling sexual assault victime (although it's an unpaid internship, she went out and got a grant to fund it). Although she won't be in Deadhorse this summer, she has fond memories of it, as this excerpt from her LinkedIn page demonstrates:

"Incredibly proud Northwestern Wildcat who recently worked and lived for four months in the Arctic Circle, consequently falling in love with the Arctic Ocean and every part of Alaska she was able to visit. Immediate goals include continued seasonal employment, eventually leading to Antarctica."

[macphisto]

"Weed, Ca. 'Weed Like to Welcome You.'"

decades ago when i used to hitchhike up and down the West Coast, my motto for Weed was "you'll never be so glad to be out of Weed for the rest of your life."

[daddy]

"Anchorage: We Carry Ourselves With the Poise and Confidence of a Seasoned Athlete."

Darn fine slogan Hit. Is it copy-writed yet?

Jane,

Am with you in your pact. A big fan of 'cast not your Pearls Before Swine' myself.

KIm,

Dylan was born in "The Air Conditioned City," Duluth, but moved to "Hibbing, The Iron Ore Capital of the World,” when he was 7, so technically I suppose Mr Zimmerman was from "The Air Conditioned Iron Ore Capitol of the World." Deal?

[daddy]

TC,

Would that be:

Evanston---"E-Town";
Evanston---"Dining capital of the North Shore,"
Evanston---"City of Homes"
Evanston---"Heavenston"
Evanston---"City of Churches"
Evanston---"The Peoples Republic of,"
or some other?

Wild Big Life Deadhorsers want to know.

[Oh, I guess a little grain goes through there too.]

Ah, yes, Duluth; Hibbing's port. But thanks to you and porchlight for the correction.
=============

[Thomas Collins]

I don't know what it nicknames itself, daddy, but it has a nice web page (which, like all city web pages, probably engages in irrational exuberance with respect to the city's charms). See LUN.