Big Morning!

Will General McChrystal survive the day?  Will Team USA?  

I say McChyrstal has to go - he already promised Obama not to embarrass the Administration after the debacle last fall when McChrystal took a shot at Obama and got a Presidential lecture on Air Force One.  What is he going to do now, double-promise?

This also gives Obama an excuse to re-set his obviously faltering war strategy.  Yes, the timing is awful, and all his choices are grim, but McChrystal needs to go.

VALIDATION:  The Politico quotes Steve Clemons of the New America Foundation reaching for the reset button:

“If there’s a bright side to all this, it’s that the president has an opportunity to reattach himself to a new policy, fire this guy and start with something new,” Clemons said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to reset. But he can’t do anything until he fires McChrystal.”

AS AN ASIDE: After he retires with 3,500 hits Derek Jeter needs to open a public relations school and lead the class titled "How To Be The Man Yet Never Embarrass Your Organization".  Sign up McChrystal.

Comments

[Danube of Thought]

None of those people (Jones et al.) is in the chain of command between McC and the president, but that doesn't help him much. The issue isn't whether he could beat a charge of insubordination, it's whether the president can still "repose special trust and confidence" in him.

[peter]

Funny comment of the day. LOL, Dave in Ma.

Oops, forgot to lay my money down. I'll bet Obama is getting an earful right about now.

How'd you like to be a fly on the wall--or on the face?

[Jane]

I just keep seeing Chris Christie in the background.

Talk about complete opposites.

O will address the world in the rose garden at 1:30 (22 minutes from now)

[Pofarmer]

Note to insurgents.

Now would be a great time for your "Tet" offensive.

[Porchlight]

Sad news about the deaths in the Gulf. This all sucks so bad. I was talking to my BIL on the phone last night about politics (a rare occasion). He thinks it's awesome that Barry stuck it to the evil BP and got the $20 bil out of them. And he is a Louisiana native! At least he conceded that the cleanup doesn't seem to be going too well.

Anyway my point being that the average Joe may not yet be getting the message that Obama is screwing up the whole world.

[Pofarmer]

The issue isn't whether he could beat a charge of insubordination, it's whether the president can still "repose special trust and confidence" in him.

That flows both ways.

Who in the field is going to trust this President? Who is going to risk their soldiers lives on his word? Who is going to die for Joe Biden?

[DebinNC]

Two deaths in Gulf not related to spill. One death was from a gunshot wound.

[Pofarmer]

He thinks it's awesome that Barry stuck it to the evil BP and got the $20 bil out of them.

Not much of a chess player, I take it.

[Jane]

President may make his speech earlier so stay tuned.

[centralcal]

Isn't Bob Woodward in process of writing one of his "insider" books - this one about President Obama?

It will be interesting to see how the events that have been playing out currently are framed (or spun) by Woodward when his book hits the shelf.

[Jane]

Oh it will probably be a love story C-Cal. They all are.

[Jane]

I can't wait for the President to tell us how committed he is to winning this war, as long as it is done by next July. What a leader!

[Porchlight]

President may make his speech earlier so stay tuned.

Obama shows up early? Now that would be news.

[Jane]

AP says he McChrystal is toast

[Jane]

AP says Petreus will replace him.

[centralcal]

I feel sorry for any General having to fight any war under this Administration.

[MarkO]

Well, in any event there is a best selling book in the offing here. Maybe Rolling Stone will back it.

[PDinDetroit]

ccal - I feel sorry for anyone having to fight any war under this administration. One of my golf buddies' sons is just joining up as an Infantry Guy, I was just saying this yesterday to him.

[Porchlight]

Most consequential Rolling Stone article ever written. Congratulations, Jan Wenner.

[Jane]

Wow will the left embrace general Betrayus now? How things change.

[matt]

This is a chess move by Obama. He is placing Petraeus there so if it does go south, which is the greater probability, he can place the blame on Petraeus.

However, if Petraeus is smart, he will get whatever the hell he wants to make this work. Obama wins either way.

Since the man is in perpetual campaign mode, I am sure this is a big part of his thinking. What he didn't bargain for is someone a hell of a lot smarter than he is.

[PDinDetroit]

Wow will the left embrace general Betrayus now? How things change.

My thoughts exactly.

However, it might be interesting how this is being received by the left. I have not the heart, nor the appropriate decontamination equipment, to visit the lefty web sites (DK, FDL, HuffPo)

[Porchlight]

So who replaces Petraeus? And isn't this a demotion for him?

[Dave (in MA)]

So, like, this is like, when Steve Jobs like, came back to run Apple. --Typical Obama voter.

[Dave (in MA)]

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Third_Party_Photo/2010/06/23/obama__1277315875_6928.jpg>

Bite Me doesn't look happy.

[Dave (in MA)]

The episode is considered one of the more pronounded public conflicts bewteen a president and commander in wartime, sparkign analogies to the firing of Gen. Douglas MacArthur by President Harry Truman at the height of the Korean War in 1951.

CAN I HAS EDITOR?

[Jane]

Comments from FDL:

Savvy move by Obama, putting a prospective 2012 opponent in charge of this catastrophe.

Very savvy move. Petraeus was put in a spot he couldn’t climb out of. Had he refused, he would have made himself open to a charge of derelection of duty for electoral purposes; now that he is inside, he is sharing responsibility for the catastrophe that he and everyone else at the level knows is inevitable.

Petraeus was the obvious Republican candidate for 2012, assuming they have any sanity left, which is an open question. Obama just took him out. Like his politics or not, that guy is good.

So nice … fire the guy and appoint his mentor.

Heckuva job Obama

Relieved of command isn’t the same as leaving the military, right? McChyrstal is a general without a command, isn’t he? This would mean he’s unable to hit FOX News as an advisor…

~~

The left really lives in an alternate universe. Nothing that they said above even occurred to me.

[bgates]

Obama Senior National Security Adviser #1: What up, brah?

OSNSA2: Did you hear what went down from that Rolling Stone story?

OSNSA1: I'll tell you what went up, is my dick, from that picture of Gaga on the cover. When we see the boyz from speechwriting at Happy Hour we have to tell them to make a life-size cutout of that ass.

OSNSA2: Totally. No, but remember that general who was bitching about us? Big dog fired his punk ass.

OSNSA1: Yeeah! Get that weak shit outta here!

OSNSA2: I know, right? But now O wants us to find a replacement, quick.

OSNSA1: Fuck. Could we just, like promote a captain or a colonel? That's the way Vader did it when he choked the top guy out.

OSNSA2: No, it has to be somebody who would get through the Senate.

OSNSA1: Why not just put in a czar?

OSNSA2: I dunno. I suggested that, and Dog went all Con Law Professor on me. Gotta be a military guy.

OSNSA1: Remember the black president from the start of 24?

OSNSA2: That's a tv show.

OSNSA1: Yeah, but then he was a general or some commander on that shitty CBS show?

OSNSA2: Still a tv show.

OSNSA1: Yeah, but the guy his character was based on. Just get him.

OSNSA2: Does the army even have black generals? They're all such racist rednecks.

OSNSA1: Oh, yeah. Only in Hollywood, right? Well...shit. How many generals are there? A lot, huh?

OSNSA2: I think so. Hurry up, we need this in like ten minutes.

OSNSA1: Damn. Hey, wasn't there an army guy who passed out on the Hill the other day?

OSNSA2: That guy? Betrayus? Dude's a traitor, man. He kept Iraq on life support just so when it falls apart it makes us look bad instead of Bush.

OSNSA1: Fine. So now when the Stan falls apart, he looks bad instead of us.

OSNSA2: Sweet! But no, I think he already has a job. Commander in Chief? No...Chair of the Joint Chiefs?

OSNSA1: Heh heh. "Joint" Chiefs. No, that's alright, though. It'll be like how in Star Trek, Picard was Captain but then he always led the away missions. You can do both.

OSNSA2: We're short on time, so I'll try it - but if this doesn't fly, you have to take over buying Spanx for Michelle.

OSNSA1: But if it does work, you have to give me that "Palin Gone Wild" dvd with the lookalike chicks.

[PDinDetroit]

Jane - it appears that all that matters is POWER to them, not doing the right thing for the right reason.

Thanks for going there - please make sure you wash your hands!

[Sue]

please make sure you wash your hands!

And rinse your brain out while you're at it. That had to leave a stain. ::shiver::

[PDinDetroit]

OT - many in the Detroit area felt an earthquake just a bit ago, probably from the possible 5.4 that hit NW of Montreal, CA. LUN.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

So McChrystal is out, Petreaus is back in charge. The Feds order the sand berm building stopped and a robotic sub collides with Deep Horizon and now the cap had to be removed.

And since it is Wednesday, it is party night at the WH.

[Neo]

It all turns bad at once …

Drudge is reporting that the cap on the oil containment vessels has been knocked off by a robotic sub, oil now flow worse than ever.

[centralcal]

I feel really, really sorry for Petraeus. Unless centcom was a worse fate than Afghanistan?

[Jane]

I dunno they all seemed rather pathetic, defensive and stupid to me.

Exactly what I would have expected.

[DebinNC]

From the WH/Alter book:

Some aides worried at least briefly that Petraeus was politically ambitious ... Although he insisted he was uninterested, Petraeus was a registered Republican in New Hampshire and well positioned to run as a Colin Powell–style alternative to Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, or anyone else in the 2012 presidential primaries. When asked about it, Petraeus was, as he later put it, “Shermanesque.” Not interested. “What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?” he said.

It wouldn't occur to the professional liars in the WH that an honorable man like Petraeus might be incapable of intentional dishonesty.

[Cecil Turner]

Okay, I'll ask the obvious. WTF - over?

Last I checked, ComCentCom is a full-time job. And it's not like the AF war is going so swimmingly it can be handled as a part-time job. So which one is Petraeus going to be doing? Both? Using both staffs, or reorganizing on the fly?

I don't care how good he is, this is no way to run a railroad.

[Danube of Thought]

At this point I'm assuming Petraeus will wear both hats, but no one has yet addressed that question.

The comments quoted from FDL are simply inane. Petraus the "obvious choice" for 2012? Those people are nuts.

My guess is that McC retires with four stars.

[jimmyk]

The left really lives in an alternate universe.

They only care about elections. Petraeus = potential 2012 opponent. McChrystal = potential vocal critic. Any sense of what is good for the country, of what the mission in Afghanistan is or should be: nonexistent.

What they don't seem to realize is how cynical it sounds to most people outside the beltway, and how bad it makes Obama look. Obama would assign a general to eliminate him as an election opponent? I don't doubt that he would, but that's not the sort of thing his supporters should be trumpeting.

[Captain Hate]

CT, I agree. Petraeus has too many irons in the fire already. Plus he leapfrogged over so many people with huge egos on the way to the top that it's hard to imagine there not being in-house snipers ready to screw him over.

[jimmyk]

BGates, brilliant as usual. PDinD, great minds think alike.

[Young Lurker]

If Petraeus is running Afghanistan then Petraeus can't gun for the GOP nomination and potentially run against Obama in 2012, can he? It's probably more about him being best for the job, but... i'll take the politically juicy explanation any day!

[Jane]

Petraeus isn't planning to run - so it's stupid paranoia on O's part if that is why he did it.

I suspect he did it to fend off criticism that he fire the guy he personally appointed, and who developed the strategy. Not too many people you could argue would be as good as McChrystal - Petreaus is one.

It, like everything else was a purely political decision.

[Dave (in MA)]

If you want to get the attention of The Biggest Celebrity In The World, you can do it about 3000% faster if you get quoted in a celebrity gossip magazine than if you use the normal channels of communication.

I'm thinking maybe this was McChrystal's way of "shooting his way out of town", as they say on the sports pages.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Any tennis fans? 5th set between Isner and Mahut at Wimbleton is now 47-47 and still going after 8 hours. This is one set. Yikes!

[Ignatz]

If bgates and Iowahawk had nationwide MSM platforms Barry and company would be laughed out of town in a week.

[Dave (in MA)]

Jane, if you want to continue to play Blame Bush, what better way than to replace your guy with Bush's guy?

[Thomas Collins]

Thanks for the update, Sara(Pal2Pal). I hadn't realized that Wimbledon hasn't succumbed to 7-6 nonsense.

[peter]

Sara, Pal 2 Pal, is that the tie breaker under the new rules (new to me, probably 20 years old) that is going on like that?

[Ignatz]

FDL's premise seems a bit strained.
It is almost certain that Petraeus could run CentCom, fight the AfPak fight AND still run for and be a better president than the poltroon presently in office.

[PDinDetroit]

if you want to continue to play Blame Bush, what better way than to replace your guy with Bush's guy?

Can't now that Obama picked him! Petraeus is now Obama's "boy".

[daddy]

Can we agree that "Bite-Me" Biden is a nickname that's gonna' stick?

[PDinDetroit]

Poltroon In Chief?

Talk about your oxymorons!

[jimmyk]

Peter, those are games. There's no 5th-set tiebreak at Wimbledon. Incredible.

[Janet]

If anyone wants to see the Socceroos (and mostly Lucas Neill) they are playing Serbia now. It is on ESPN 3 online.
They need a miracle.

[Janet]

I only mentioned it because Pofarmer seemed like such a soccer fan.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Score is now 50=50

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I just got home from doctor's but I think I heard the announcers say there have been something like 67 aces so far.

[PDinDetroit]

The real reason Obama replaced McChrystal:

McChrystal's Ears are BIGGER than Obama's and he felt "challenged" by them.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Oops 80 aces in this set alone.

[Extraneus]

The real reason Obama replaced McChrystal:

It makes him look like an ass-kicker, possibly even a commander in chief. No way he could have passed up that opportunity. And does anyone doubt that the WH thinks like FDL?

Who knows, maybe the whole thing was a setup.

[Rob Crawford]

I just got home from doctor's but I think I heard the announcers say there have been something like 67 aces so far.

I'd be suspicious -- a regulation deck only has 52 cards, only 4 of which are aces.

[Danube of Thought]

I'm assuming he picked Petraeus on the advice of Gates, Jones and others to the effect that he was the only guy who could step in and have the respect and loyalty of the troops and the locals.

[Janet]

Australia won 2-1! Not good enough to advance though(they needed to win by 4 points). They were the spoilers for Serbia.
A last look at Lucas Neill....

[peter]

Peter, those are games. There's no 5th-set tiebreak at Wimbledon. Incredible.

That is great. I love it.

[Sue]

Janet,

Why a last look? I bet he has a website. ::grin::

[fdcol63]

As much as Obama despises anything related to the US military, I would bet that having the ability to relieve McChrystal of command gave Obama a Viagra woody.

[Janet]

Yeah Sue...maybe I will post his picture now & then when we need inspiration!
At this point I get inspiration from anyone that doesn't have a fly on their face.

[Jane says obamasucks]

Can we agree that "Bite-Me" Biden is a nickname that's gonna' stick?

YES WE CAN!

[Sue]

Drudge is headlining that BO is henpecked by Michelle. ::grin:: Bet that stings.

[Pofarmer]

I only mentioned it because Pofarmer seemed like such a soccer fan.

Yes, the annoucer babe on the radio keeps breathlessly saying the score of this or that game, and I'm thinking "Who the fuck cares?"

[Sue]

I'm sorry, I left out that Blago said that on a tape. That's the funny part.

[Janet]

Yup, I knew you were a soccer fan!

[centralcal]

Hhhmm Sue. Really not so funny. Apparently, Blogo thought they might get their "swap" request (senate seat for favors) to Obama quicker through Michelle, because "he listens to her."

Makes you wonder - did they contact Michelle?

[We know Fitz makes himself vulnerable. Look at the dozen law school professors.]

That would be highly amusing if Fitz shut it down because Michelle was wandering into the trap. And how in the Hell did he not get Emanuel? It all stinks, and I hope Blago blows him up.
=================

[JM Hanes]

Pofarmer's Chart:

New Home Sales and Recessions

Starts January 1963, ends around March 2010.

[JM Hanes]

Thanks for the Yon links, Cecil & Deb.

There may be some hard feelings over Petraeus' speedy elevation, but when it comes to White House politics, it looks like he's pretty savvy to me. He's certainly kept himself out of the headlines! I suspect he's managed to position himself as one of Obama's trusted, fatherly, mentors.

There are unique obstacles in Afghanistan, but Petraeus has natural gifts in the vision department, and it strikes me as a real advantage to take command after your predecessor's operations have clarified the challenges.

[narciso]

So the next lowest point was Jan. 82, but that was under a different set of circumstancwa and policies

[Pofarmer]

Yup, I knew you were a soccer fan!

Thing is, there's like 14 people in the U.S. who care about professional soccer. Breathlessly reporting the results of some game between Serbia and Istanbul is just stupid.

[Ann]

While Obama destroys a great nation...

His wife skips rope!

[Porchlight]

Apparently, Blogo thought they might get their "swap" request (senate seat for favors) to Obama quicker through Michelle, because "he listens to her."

And how does Blago know this, pray tell? Is it because he knows other people have sent their favor requests through to Obama via Michelle before?

[Rick Ballard]

JMH,

Thanks for shrinking Pofarmer's chart. I wonder why the chart maker ended the recession in December? The uptick portion was wholly illusory and the "new" downturn is going to run at least through Q3 and probably well on into '11. Herbert Hussein's policies ensure that outcome.