This Is Dumb Enough To Actually Happen

The NY Times reviews the rosters of upcoming Pentagon vacancies and delivers this laugher:

Another name certain to be on Mr. Obama’s list to replace Robert Gates as Defense Secretary] is Michele A. Flournoy, currently the Pentagon’s under secretary for policy and one of the foremost national security specialists of the up-and-coming generation. Her appointment would allow Mr. Obama to claim another first in naming a woman to become defense secretary, something he could also accomplish by moving Hillary Rodham Clinton into the job from secretary of state.

Ms. Flurnoy has a resume that goes well beyond "community organizer".  But unless my tired eyes fail me, she has never actually served in the military.  Is it even remotely possible that the first woman SecDef won't have spent time in the ranks?  And does anyone want a lifetime civilian of either gender taking the lead on implementing the impending culture clash ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell?  [Which apparently won't be happening...]

Why is this trial balloon being floated?  Beats me.  As I said, this idea is dumb enough to happen, split infinitives and all.

 

Comments

[JRT]

Yeah but she graduated from Harvard and worked for some thinktanks.

[BumperStickerist]

Michele is married to a 26 year Naval Reserve Captain.

... in a perfect world, anyone highlighted in a New York Post article "Hot Policy Wonks for the Democrats" would be precluded from senior positions.

-

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Did anyone else think Obama was talking down to the Indians?

He really does think he is smarter than everyone. I guess that gives you a clue about the mental bandwidth of those he hangs around with.

[DebinNC]

He really does think he's smarter than everyone

From last week's Politico article re Obama's ego:

"A 2008 New Yorker article quoted Patrick Gaspard, now the White House political director, describing what Obama told him during the job interview: “I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m gonna think I’m a better political director than my political director.”

In case there's any doubt what he's thinkin', as we're forced to listen to what he's sayin'.

[Extraneus]

NRSC feeling some heat over Miller vs. Murkowsky

[OldTimer]

Flournoy's resume informs me that I don't want her within a thousand miles of the troops or Washington, DC. She needs her own island outpost staffed with Democrats who were defeated last Tuesday, a walkie-talkie and a few rubber ducks. Throw in some toy soldiers to protect her island's perimeter, lest anyone with actual military experience dares to challenge her credentialed illusions.

[Rick Ballard]

If the Kendonesian commie puts up Flurnoy for Defense, it will be to test the depth of rejection by Democrat Senators. Will they continue to accept unqualified academics to pursue ruination at full speed or will they tell BOzo that his nation destroying agenda will have to be pursued by other means?

VDH is excellent today and his thesis concerning our dear buffoon is on target. It is now less than two years until the trash can be removed from the White House and Democrat Senators who allow further damage to be done will be held accountable on the same day as Obama.

[rse]

Anyone interested in Climate change, cap and trade, or education should look at my post on the Sunday morning thread.

LUN is the article prompting it where scientists are fighting global warming skeptics because they have already prepared the materials for US high school students to use.

[rse]

A "social studies" major. How lame.

IIRC Balliol is considered to be one of the most radical Left of Oxford colleges. I believe that is in Berlinski's Thatcher book.

[DebinNC]

I guess it's wrong to wish some CA tea partiers would kidnap VDH and keep him until he promises to run for prez?

[eidolon]

She's associated with Aspen Institute? I seem to recall a lot of bad vibes about them from a few years back? Am I ... uh... mis-remembering?

I'll tell you I'm quite biased about having the right person at the helm. My son is currently serving in the US Army in Afghanistan....

[Pagar]

rse, have you seen the American Thinker article Money for Nothing. It explains how money will be sucked out of the American taxpayers pocket for shutting down the Chicago Climate Exchange.

I would like to see every blood sucker ever involved in that mess charged with fraud, (especially the Joyce foundation) and every dime ever lost in that fraud recovered.

[jimmyk]

A "social studies" major. How lame.

More than lame. At the time she was at Harvard (and I presume it's still true today), Social Studies was populated entirely by the hard left (Marxists, Democratic Socialists, etc.), with zero tolerance for dissenting views. Anyone who went through that major would have to have been a fellow traveler.

[Captain Hate]

Laura Ingraham is blasting Christiaaaaaaaaaaane Amapooooooooooooour's extremely rude interview yesterday with Rand Paul. No wonder their ratings are in the tank.

[Captain Hate]

Did anyone else think Obama was talking down to the Indians?

Yes; I consider him an embarrassment in his arrogance while in foreign countries. The lefty imbeciles will never admit it but he personifies the ugly American better than their strawmen ever did.

[Danube of Thought]

I'm pretty sure we've had SecDefs who had no military service, but does anybody know for sure?

Anyway, I think if he nominates this lady it will afford a lot of Senate Dems an excellent opportunity to say "we're no longer buying your crap, pal."

[rse]

jimmyk-

That's what I thought.

I checked and Claire Berlinski did her grad work at Balliol which is why it rang such a bell. She talks about it in her books.

[Clarice]

One reason why narcissists make such poor executives is that they insist on surrounding themselves with third raters---no one who could challenge their inflated sense of their own abilities.

[DebinNC]

Les Aspin had military service...1966-68 with McNamara in the Pentagon.

[Porchlight]

I don't think Cheney served before becoming SecDef.

[narciso]

Right and he was yet another Rhodes Scholar, although just like Deutsch, I think the wisdom
of McNamara's wiz kids, have not been born out. She is CNAS, not CAP, so that makes her a little more palatable. Gee, now I think a certain Senator might have come in handy right about now

[DebinNC]

Our narcissist CiC">http://hotair.com/archives/2010/11/08/obamateurism-of-the-day-394/">CiC on Saturday.

[Captain Hate]

Bill Cohen wasn't in the military.

[jimmyk]

Bill Cohen wasn't in the military.

I think TM's point is that if you're going to do a symbolic thing like appoint the first woman defense secretary, maybe you want to make extra sure that she has the toolz and won't make a hash of it.

Kind of like the idea that if you're going to elect the first African-American president you hope that... ah, never mind.

[RichatUF]

Les Aspin, that worked out well.

[Janet]

I'll tell you I'm quite biased about having the right person at the helm. My son is currently serving in the US Army in Afghanistan....

eidolon, God bless your son, & thank you for raising a fine young man.
Our CiC doesn't even understand Islam so I don't know what we're gonna do.

[Captain Hate]

jimmyk, I was just responding to DoT

[caro]

eidolon,thank you for supporting your son's service.Please tell him many thanks from me.

I wonder if he knows our Soylent!

[PD]

More pandering to India:

Obama backs permanent seat for India on Security Council

It might be a good idea (would they have stabbed us in the back like Russia and France during the runup to the Iraq war), but given that everything Obama says is politically calculated, I think it's just a sop.

[Janet]

A "Shout Out" to Captain Hate on his birthday!
Happy Birthday!!!!

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH Capn' B-day - who woulda think it.

Happy B-day CH!

[Clarice]

H.B. C.H!!

[narciso]

Happy birthday, Capt, alright who has that part of the list

[Janet]

I got the heads up from Glasater...so she's a list holder along with Hit.

[Captain Hate]

Hey thanks guys; is somebody keeping a calendar or did somebody (*cough* Janet *cough*) notice on facebook?

[Captain Hate]

Aaaah, Janet provided the answer as I was typing...

[jimmyk]

Sorry, Cap'n, I wasn't directing that at you, just quoting the last comment on the sub-thread as a reference to make the general comment. Happy Birthday!

[glasater]

Ooops!! I was supposed to start the Captain Hate Birthday Wishes at the crack of midnight!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAPTAIN HATE!! The spice in JOM's stewpot!

:-)

Thanks for the reminder Janet:)

[Janet]

from Deb's 9:23 link -
"MR. KANSAGRA: Thank you. Welcome, Mr. President, to India. As a fellow Kenyan, I’m very proud to see that you have made –

THE PRESIDENT: Made something of myself. (Laughter.)

MR. KANSAGRA: — India as the focus of your drive for exports out of the U.S."

It really is embarrassing to have a President this embarrassing. :(

[Sue]

Happy birthday, Capt'n.

[caro]

Virtual political guerrilla warfare has broken out between Obama's inner circle on one hand and senior Democratic officials, including outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Party strategist James Carville, former Demcratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, and, behind-the-scenes, Vice President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton, on the other.

I wonder what the sources are for this article.Yikes.But delicious.And scary.

via a comment at strata-sphere.

[Pagar]

Happy Birthday, Capt Hate!

[centralcal]

Happy Birthday Captain Hate! Have a great day and year ahead.

[Pagar]

Robert Gibbs controls the foreign policy to the United States? How dumb do we look to the rest of the world?

[Danube of Thought]

Happy dat, C.H.--take the day off. Hell, take the week off.

[Lord Whorfin says-vote early and vote often.]

Captain Hate-May the bird of happiness NOT crap on your cake.

Caro- we can only hope and buy popcorn

"I'm here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I just ran out of gum."
Rowdy Ronny Piper

[Clarice]

caro, it's Wayne Masden and his 25th amendment rantings.
http://www.opinion-maker.org/2010/11/white-house-obama-conducting-reign-of-terror/>Reign of Terror

[rse]

Happy Birthday CH!!

jimmy-thanks for the link. Have been tracking that. Thanksgiving should be interesting for maybe learning more.

[Captain Hate]

Thanks guys. Wow caro; that article is incredible. Anybody think BOzo isn't melting down?

[Dave (in MA)]

In other Dumb Enough to Actually Happen news: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1294798>Guess who the Mass. Democrats are entertaining the idea of running against Scott Brown.

[narciso]

Oh not that Chavez loving psycho, this early in the morning, our local fishwrap carried him and Ray McGovern, on alternate days, so he escaped from Op Ed News, the previous home
of the deranged

[Old Lurker]

Happy Birthday, Cap'n

[narciso]

I'm sorry for such a strong reaction, but the "Abbot and Costello' of RT, really don't deserve much attention, Biden as the plotter,

[hit and run]

Happy Birthday Captain Hate!

[Porchlight]

Happy Birthday, Cap'n! Just curious, what is your favorite kind of cake? I am taking an informal survey of birthday people in recent weeks.

[Sue]

Wayne Madsen. He is a member of VIPS. Bleg. Ignore everything he says because nothing he says is true.

[Porchlight]

Ah, thanks, Sue. I was just thinking that even if that article was only 50% true it's still rather stunning. It doesn't seem like a stretch to imagine that there is an internal war at the WH.

[Sue]

My favorite is chocolate. And red velvet. And Italian cream cheese. Can I have all 3?

[Captain Hate]

Porch, I got an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins yesterday (my fave is really from DQ but Mrs H doesn't like them so much..) but if you're talking about regular cake my fave is a white cake with vanilla creme icing. There used to be a local bakery, Hough Bakery, that made the best cakes and, after they went out of business, some small bakeries either have hired their former bakers or/and use their recipes.

[Sue]

Porch,

Madsen was a source for the Rove indictment. Need I say more?

[Txn]

And look who her Senior Advisor is....

Rosa Brooks Senior advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Michele Flournoy.

Reportedly named after communist radical Rosa Luxemburg, Brooks is the daughter of prominent DSA member, Movement for a Democratic Society board member and Progressives for Obama founder, Barbara Ehrenreich.

Rosa Brooks is a well known "liberal" newspaper columnist and writer on defense and international relations.

Brooks has served as Special Counsel to the President at George Soros' Open Society Institute.

[Porchlight]

Thanks, Cap'n! Maybe I can find one of their recipes online. I love ice cream cakes too - the Carvel cakes with the chocolate crunchies were my favorites growing up.

Sue, when my first baby was born my SIL brought us a red velvet cake made by a local catering outfit she worked for. I have never tasted anything as delicious since then. Of course, everything tastes perfectly incredible after you've had a baby.

Okay, end of OT cake discussion, sorry!

[Porchlight]

Madsen was a source for the Rove indictment. Need I say more?

Heh. No, you needn't. ;)

[caro]

Sorry,I guess it was just so much fun to read that I had to share.And the part about the pres. being medicated rang true.

[RichatUF]

Happy Birthday Captain Hate. Be irascible all day!

PD-

India would have been with France and Russia. Hussein had ladled money to the Congress Party via the Oil for Food program which brought down the External Affairs Minister (and nearly brought down the government {the BJP and other opposition tried a no confidence vote but was out maneuvered by Congress} iirc).

[narciso]

THat line from Zoolander seems apt 'am I the only one not on crazy pills, here'

[Cecil Turner]

I didn't support Gates for the job because his background (intel) is too detached from operations. His DADT stance seems to confirm my misgivings. But having him continue under the Won seemed like a good thing™, both for continuity and because I was afraid of who else the new President's advisors might come up with. This would be a great example . . . but hopefully even they will see she's a non-starter.

And I see Olbermann's been reinstated . . . big surprise.

[Sue]

Hey, I have no problem spreading the rumor. Whether it is true or not. As long as those here know it probably isn't if the source is Madsen. The left never cared whether it was true when they spread their lies.

[Danube of Thought]

Ha!

The New York Times editorialized on Monday against outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) bid to lead Democrats two more years as House minority leader.

The Times, generally considered to have one of the more consistently liberal editorial pages on a national stage, said that House Democrats would be better-served by electing a new leader.

"That job is not a good match for her abilities in maneuvering legislation and trading votes, since Democrats will no longer be passing bills in the House," the Times wrote. "What they need is what Ms. Pelosi has been unable to provide: a clear and convincing voice to help Americans understand that Democratic policies are not bankrupting the country, advancing socialism or destroying freedom."

[Ranger]

I didn't support Gates for the job because his background (intel) is too detached from operations.

I don't support Gates for anything because he was the CIA's top analysis guy and completely missed the oncomming collapse of the Soviet Union, then as DCI, blew the call on Iraq invading Kuwait (technially, he got it right, but was off by over 24 hours, so he was sitting in the Oval Office, about the tell Bush 41 that Iraq would invade in less than 24 hours, when the call came in that the invasion was under way). At that level, I am a big believer in two strikes and you are out.

[MarkO]

I want them to keep her front and center. (cue a cow braying.)

[narciso]

Now there is a history of how India, going back to the Iran/Iraq war,were opposed to Iran, the details in Timmerman's 'Fanning the Flames' is instructive

[Thomas Collins]

Happy Birthday, Captain Hate. I guess the Browns gave you a nice start to your birthday week!

[glasater]

I'm with Sue and other like comments on this one.

Have always maintained that BOzo will be attacked in the coming two years from one of his flanks much like LBJ.

[Porchlight]

"What they need is what Ms. Pelosi has been unable to provide: a clear and convincing voice to help Americans understand that Democratic policies are not bankrupting the country, advancing socialism or destroying freedom."

Good luck, Dems! Those stupid voters are going to need some serious help understanding that, aren't they?

[narciso]

While trying to look up that previous reference I came across this, about McGovern, also from Timmerman

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Here is my favorite part of the Madsen article:

Some White House staffers have described a "reign of terror" in the White House over continued leaks and a troika of leadership that is making decisions without any input from the president. The troika reportedly consists of First Lady Michelle Obama, presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett, and the president's mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, who resides in the White House.

Michelle's mother is running the white house and Obama is tucking in the kids.

Isn't Madsen a favorite of the left. Perhaps we can taunt them with that article. Where is bubu?

[Janet]

Interesting posts by JOMers at the end of the Sunday Morning Open thread...rse, Pagar, sbw. About education standards. Scary stuff.

[DebinNC]

Felicitations, Cap'n. Hope you and Mrs. H have a wonderful day.

The NYT seems to be blaming Pelosi for the "messaging problem" rather than BO, which is ludicrous.

Ms. Flournoy's husband, a veteran who's currently serving the Obama regime (having served in several others) seems an obviously better choice to replace Gates. Vagina trumps experience.

[Danube of Thought]

More Ha!

FOX has obtained a letter being penned by defeated House Democrats that implores House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to step aside.

The letter is now circulating Capitol Hill and has not yet been sent to the Speaker. FOX has obtained draft language of the letter.

In the draft of the letter, the members say that they were "victimized by a national wave of resentment toward Democrats, a wave that ensnared you along with us."

The letter goes on to say "Madam Speaker, fairly or unfairly, Republicans made you the face of the resentment and disagreement in our races. While we commend your years of service to our party and your leadership through many tough times, we respectfully ask that you step aside as the top Democrat in the House."

It's all here.

[Captain Hate]

I guess the Browns gave you a nice start to your birthday week!

That was most unexpected and very much enjoyed. Although I've been very critical in the past regarding Darth Hoodie from Mumblesville being a poor loser, he was very gracious yesterday particularly to Peyton Hillis.

[Janet]

This is infuriating!! "SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Illinois Republican Mark Kirk won't be seated in the U.S. Senate in time for the start of the lame duck session of Congress this month - unlike two other newly elected senators."
via Drudge

[Porchlight]

Maybe this Pelosi business is just a head fake designed to make the Dems seem more moderate and reaaaassonable when they force Pelosi to stand down.

[matt]

Cap'n;

May your day be filled with rainbows and unicorns and empathy....well, happy birthday, anyway....

[XBradTC]

then as DCI, blew the call on Iraq invading Kuwait (technially, he got it right, but was off by over 24 hours, so he was sitting in the Oval Office, about the tell Bush 41 that Iraq would invade in less than 24 hours, when the call came in that the invasion was under way). At that level, I am a big believer in two strikes and you are out.

Dude? Picky much? That's a pretty damn good call. Just getting a DCI to answer a question Yes or No is a mean feat.

Gates wouldn't have been my first choice, and I think it is time for him to go, but your second strike is just nit-picking.

[maryrose]

Happy Birthday C.H.! Have a great one!

[Rob Crawford]

technially, he got it right, but was off by over 24 hours

In that case, "he got it right" is the correct call.

[DebinNC]

Pelosi is supposed to be swayed by a letter from defeated Democrats? Better they bravely say they sacrificed for the cause than indicate they were too stupid to see the abyss before they fell in.

[Clarice]

Fox reports the Reps are making offers to Manchin to jump across the aisle

GOP Sweetens its Offer to Manchin
Fox News, by Chris Stirewalt Original Article

Republicans are making some big promises to try to lure West Virginia Senator-elect Joe Manchin to cross the aisle. Aside from his pick of committee assignments (likely the Energy and Natural Resources Committee), Manchin might get support for one of his pet projects - a plant to convert coal to diesel fuel that has stalled under Democratic leadership in Washington. It's one of Manchin's pet projects and could mean big money for the state's coal producers. "Republicans believe in an ‘all of the above' approach to energy," one top Senate aide told Power Play.

[Captain Hate]

maryrose, have you ever been to "Le Petit Triangle" in Ohio City?

[glasater]

Referring one last time to Caro's link and BOzo's 'medication'--when he had his physical the doctor(s) recommended he cut down on alcohol intake...

[rse]

Txn's excellent info above should be supplemented to include Barbara Ehrenreich's famous bestseller, the book "Nickel and Dimed", which is widely assigned now in high schools and colleges on how hard it is to live off the minimum wage.

[JM Hanes]

Oh Happy Day Captain!

[Neo]

President Barack Obama on Monday backed a permanent seat for India in the U.N. Security Council.

I don't have a problem with this on general principles, but any permanent member of the Security Council should be able to project at least minimal forces to help with security efforts. I need to be convinced that India is ready for this.

[DebinNC]

From Clarice's FOX link:
Republicans believe Manchin is particularly susceptible to the overture because he is up for reelection in 2012 and will have to be on the ticket with President Obama, who is direly unpopular in West Virginia. Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Independent Joe Lieberman are the other two prime targets of Republican advances. If Manchin, Nelson and Lieberman switched, it would leave the Senate in a 50-50 deadlock.

I really hate this cynical maneuvering, especially for the dubious prize of a deadlock. Glenn Reynolds has an excellent piece on the need for clarity, instead of compromise, in case anyone missed it.

[DrJ]

Happy Birthday, Captain Hate!

[XBradTC]

I don't really have anyone in mind, but what I'd really like to see in the next SecDef is someone who can provide mature oversight into the shambles procurement has become in the last 10-15 years.

It's just about impossible to run a large program without massive failure.

[Ranger]

Gates wouldn't have been my first choice, and I think it is time for him to go, but your second strike is just nit-picking.

Posted by: XBradTC | November 08, 2010 at 11:35 AM

It's not a nitpick, it is a serious intel failure. If they new and Iraqi invation of Kuwait was imminant, they shouldn't have waited until the Presidential morning briefing to tell the President. They should have been on the phone at 3 am to notify the president and try to avert the invation. The failure was actually part of the same problem with missing the collapse of the Soviet Union... To the entrenched Intelocrats at the CIA, the world works a certain way, and they never imagine that other world leaders might act otherwise.

Therefore, the Soviet Union would not collapse because the Soviet political elite would be rational actors and prevent it from collapsing. The data on the Soviet economy must have been false and inacurate, because the Soviet leaders would be acting very differently if it were true.

Iraq would never conduct a full scale invation of Kuwait because that is not how countries act in the modern world. Iraq's military building on the border was just part of agressive bargining, to a real threat.

This is what happens when you let the Credentialed Morons run important things.

[XBradTC]

Ranger, the invasion wasn't something that popped up that day. It had been in the air for a few weeks. The consensus went from being maybe, to probably, to almost certainly to "less than 24 hours." And April Glaspie's gaffe aside, there wasn't much we could do to stop it.

If Gates had made the call that it was a bluff, your point would be valid. But waking the President to tell him what he already knew, but couldn't affect, would have accomplished nothing.

[narciso]

If one undestands the region by clan identities, you can see how Kuwait would inevitably be a target, from this map in the LUN, one recalls how Ibn Saud, was originally
an ally of the AlSabahs,