Chronicle

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The Foundation

"National defense is one of the cardinal duties of a statesman." --John Adams

The troops in Afghanistan could use some leadership from the White House

Editorial Exegesis

"Democrats have found someone worth fighting in Afghanistan. His name is Stan McChrystal. The other night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went after the commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, 'with all due respect,' for supposedly disrespecting the chain of command. Around the Congressional Democratic Caucus, we're told Members refer to General McChrystal as 'General MacArthur,' after the commander in Korea sacked by Harry Truman. White House aides have fanned these flames with recent leaks to the media that 'officials are challenging' his assessment asking for more troops. In the last two days, the White House National Security Adviser and the Secretary of Defense have both suggested that the general should keep his mouth shut. President Obama called him in Friday for a talking-to on the tarmac at Copenhagen airport. Though a decorated Army four-star officer, the General's introduction to Beltway warfare is proving to be brutal. To be fair, Gen. McChrystal couldn't know that his Commander in Chief would go wobbly so soon on his commitment to him as well as to his own Afghan strategy when he was tapped for the job in April. ... Gen. McChrystal's liberal critics also have very short memories. In 2003, Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki clashed with his superiors by saying many more troops were needed to pacify Iraq. He became a Democratic hero and is now Mr. Obama's Veterans Secretary. In this case, Gen. McChrystal has become a political target merely for taking at face value Mr. Obama's order to fight the war properly. ... In an interview with Newsweek, Gen. McChrystal said he wouldn't resign if the President rejects his request for more troops. If he were really trying to dictate policy, he'd have given a different answer. But we don't think Gen. McChrystal should stay to implement a Biden war plan either. No commander in uniform should ask his soldiers to die for a strategy he doesn't think is winnable -- or for a President who lets his advisers and party blame a general for their own lack of political nerve." --The Wall Street Journal

Insight

"Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it." --Maimonides (1135-1204)

"Madness is to hold an erroneous perception and argue perfectly from it." --French writer Voltaire (1694-1778)

"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice." --physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Upright

"In his 25 minutes on Air Force One, [General] McChrystal may have used his knowledge and experience to convince Obama that his judgment was better than that of the armchair generals that the president had listened to for three hours the day before. Maybe Obama will choose to wage his 'war of necessity' in the way the general he selected believes is necessary for us to succeed. But I wouldn't bet heavily on it -- not any more, in fact, than I would have bet on Chicago's chances of hosting the 2016 Olympic games." --political analyst Michael Barone

"It's become clear that the White House will try to compromise [Gen. Stanley] McChrystal's request for 40,000 more troops in favor of a smaller buildup or no buildup at all. There is no course more dangerous to the lives of our troops -- and our future security -- than to do what President Obama clearly wants to do: apply Lyndon Johnson's failed brand of indecisive warfare to Afghanistan." --columnist Jed Babbin

"Now that Obama is in the Oval Office, erstwhile Bush bashers want everyone to be a cheerleader. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, for example, has discovered 'the politics of spite' -- and not after looking in the mirror. After eight years of watching some on the left root for defeat in Iraq and snicker at every international slight against Bush, I must admit it is rather special that the left has discovered patriotism -- to such an extent that there now is a duty to root for Chicago to host the [Olympic] Games." --columnist Debra Saunders

"In the Niagara of words spoken and written about the Obamas' trip to Copenhagen, too few have been devoted to the words they spoke there. Their separate speeches to the International Olympic Committee were so dreadful, and in such a characteristic way, that they might be symptomatic of something that has serious implications for American governance. Both Obamas gave heartfelt speeches about ... themselves. Although the working of the committee's mind is murky, it could reasonably have rejected Chicago's bid for the 2016 games on aesthetic grounds -- unless narcissism has suddenly become an Olympic sport." --columnist George Will

"As much as Obama pretends to be a man of the people, he is a man for himself -- a man who will get his way, the will of the people be damned. The same is true of many of his congressional lieutenants, including Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who recently said that Congress will pass Obamacare despite the public's objections, because it is so important. Important to whom? To Democrats -- that's who." --columnist David Limbaugh

Dezinformatsia

Outrageous accusation as non sequitur: "[T]here are people that are actually trying to derail health care in order to take down Obama, even if it means half the country dies. So, of course they don't care about Chicago's Olympics." --MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan

Candid moment: "Railing about Afghanistan is a loser politically, but it gets liberal juices going in a way the Baucus health-care bill never will. The left is more focused on pressing President Obama not to escalate in Afghanistan than it is in convincing Congress with a real grassroots push on health care. It's in the party's DNA. Liberal Democrats are more emotionally invested in war and peace issues than in sausage-like compromise on health-care legislation." --Newsweek's Eleanor Clift

Dumb questions: "They may have wanted to go to Rio in the first place, but that Chicago finished last -- did they gang up on Chicago? Is there some anti-American sentiment here?" --ABC's Charles Gibson (Maybe the Olympic committee was paying attention each time BO traveled abroad and trashed the U.S. -- who would want to come to such a rotten country?)

Don't cry for me, Chicago: "Chicago hope dashed. Despite a high-powered, star-studded U.S. appeal from Oprah to the Obamas, the Olympics are awarded to Rio." --CBS's Katie Couric (Isn't the U.S. president supposed to be a statesman and not a box office "star"?)

One sick dude: "What is it ... that seems to excite, almost to an orgiastic level, the Right about the failure of America to get the Olympic bid last? Is this that they're just rooting for any failure of Obama?" --MSNBC's Chris Matthews, conveniently forgetting his own "orgiastic" claim of a "thrill up his leg" upon hearing any utterance fall from the lips of Barack Hussein Obama

The pot and the kettle? "We learned that the modern conservative movement, which dominates the modern Republican Party, has the emotional maturity of a bratty 13-year-old." --New York Times columnist Paul Krugman on conservative reaction to Chicago being eliminated from contention for the 2016 Olympics

Newspulper Headlines:

Whatever You Do, Don't Tell Anyone!: "EXCLUSIVE: Obama Agrees to Keep Israel's Nukes Secret" --The Washington Times

That's 'Mr. President': "Community Organizer Says Olympics Will Bring Long-Awaited Improvements" --Chicago Public Radio Web site

Questions Nobody Is Asking: "Are You Up for Oprah's Karaoke Challenge?" --Chicago Sun-Times Web site

Questions That Answer Themselves: "Will California Become America's First Failed State?" --Guardian (London)

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: "Brown Stink Bug Invades D.C.-Area" --NewsChannel8 Web site

News You Can Use: "New Blood-Thinning Drug Safer Than Rat Poison" --Faculty of 1000 Medicine press release

Bottom Stories of the Day: "Group Tied to Obama Urges Tax Increase" --The Wall Street Journal

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto)

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The Demo-gogues

Faint praise coming from him: "I believe it's always a worthwhile endeavor to promote and boost the United States of America and invite the world to come see what we're all about." --Barack Obama, who's usually more concerned with apologizing for America, on losing out on bringing the 2016 Olympics to Chicago

Still Bush's fault: "I feel in my gut that this [IOC] vote [Friday] was political and mean-spirited. ... I thought we had really turned a corner with the election of President Obama. People are so much more welcoming of Americans now. But this isn't the people of those countries. This is the leaders still living with outdated impressions of Americans." --Illinois state rep. Susana Mendoza (D-Chicago) (On June 4, 2008, the IOC named Chicago as one of four finalists to host the 2016 Olympic games. Bush was president then. Nice try, though.)

"Chicago now is a victim of all of that negativism that came out of that bad image that was created." --Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)

Surely, you can't be serious: "I don't expect to actually read the legislative language [of the health care bill] 'cause reading the legislative language is among the more confusing things I've ever done in my life." --Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE)

Cat out of the bag: "Let me emphasize something very strongly as we begin this discussion. The United States has already this year alone achieved a 6 percent reduction in emissions simply because of the downturn in the economy, so we are effectively saying we need to go another 14 percent." --Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), effectively saying that economic destruction is the goal of cap and tax

When "leading by example" means coercion: "The federal government can and should lead by example when it comes to creating innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, conserve water, reduce waste, and use environmentally-responsible products and technologies." --Barack Obama on his new greenhouse-gas diet

Village Idiots

Non Compos Mentis: "[Having the Olympics in Chicago would be important to] let people know that we understand that sports saves lives, that it makes dreams come true, that it creates visions in kids' heads to make them think they can be the next David Robinson, the next Barack Obama, the next Nadia Comaneci, the next Oprah Winfrey." --Michelle Obama (Um, Barack isn't an athlete. Neither is Oprah.)

Oops: "Some of my best memories are sitting on my dad's lap, cheering on Olga and Nadia, Carl Lewis, and others for their brilliance and perfection." --Michelle Obama ("Mrs. Obama was 20 years old when Lewis first competed in the Olympics in 1984." --Michelle Malkin)

Blame Bush: "There must be [resentment against America]. The way we [refused to sign] the Kyoto Treaty, we misled the world into Iraq. The world had a very bad taste in its mouth about us. But there was such a turnaround after last November. The world now feels better about America and about Americans. That's why I thought the president's going was the deal-maker." --the "Reverend" Jesse Jackson, blaming George W. Bush for Chicago losing the Olympics (Kyoto was signed in 1997, but unanimously rejected by the Senate.)

How arrogant: "It's the world's loss." --White House adviser David Axelrod on Chicago losing the 2016 Olympics

Ingrate: "[C]apitalism did nothing for me.... You know, I had to pretty much beg, borrow and steal. The system is not set up to help somebody from the working class make a movie like this and get the truth out there." --filmmaker Michael Moore (According to Fortune magazine, "Moore's last three filmed diatribes -- 'Bowling for Columbine,' 'Fahrenheit 9/11' and 'Sicko' -- have amassed more than $300 million in theaters worldwide, and loads more on DVD; and 'Fahrenheit' is, by a long stretch, the top-grossing documentary of all time.")

Up is down, black is white: "Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion." --Hollyweird's Harvey Weinstein, the man behind the pro-Roman Polanski petition

Short Cuts

"Earlier bad boys -- Lord Byron, say -- were obliged to operate as 'transgressive' artists within a broader moral order. Now we are told that a man such as [Roman] Polanski cannot be subject to anything so footling as morality: He cannot 'transgress' it because, by definition, he transcends it. Yet all truly great art is made in the tension between freedom and constraint. In demanding that an artist be placed above the laws of man, Harvey Weinstein & Co. are also putting him beyond the possibility of art. Which may explain the present state of the movie industry." --columnist Mark Steyn

"Michael Moore's new movie slamming U.S. capitalism was boycotted by the teachers' union. They say he used a non-union crew to shoot the movie so he could save money and make more profit. Next they'll find out that he shot the whole thing in Vancouver." --comedian Argus Hamilton

"There is usually only a limited amount of damage that can be done by dull or stupid people. For creating a truly monumental disaster, you need people with high IQs." --economist Thomas Sowell

"The Obama Administration's health care public option, which is the key to an eventual government-run system, is starting to look like one of those corpses out of the grave from Zombieland." --columnist Stephen Moore