What Should Happen to General McChrystal?

If legal action is taken against him, then my opinion on the matter may change.

maporsche wrote:

If legal action is taken against him, then my opinion on the matter may change.

Legal action against McChrystal? I hadn't heard about that. What possible grounds could there be for legal action, do you think?

I'm not surprised, but nevertheless intrigued, at how this question, too, appears to be turning on partisan preferences. Of the posters now calling for McCrystal's head, about half cried foul when Bush fired General Shinsake for publically questioning Bush administration cost estimates, in money and troups, of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I think they were right the first time.

You'll note that I argued in this thread that Obama probably shouldn't have fired the guy.

I'm not surprised, but nevertheless intrigued, at how this question, too, appears to be turning on partisan preferences. Of the posters now calling for McCrystal's head, about half cried foul when Bush fired General Shinsake for publically questioning Bush administration cost estimates, in money and troups, of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I think they were right the first time.

It's a pretty fascinating look at how soldiers of his generation were raised and all

But McChrystal, like everyone else, kvetched. And having apparently missed the last 50 years of cultural history, he did so on the record, in front of a reporter. And this reporter, being a product of the culture of exposure, made the kvetching the center of his magazine profile.

By putting the kvetching in the magazine, the reporter essentially took run-of-the-mill complaining and turned it into a direct challenge to presidential authority. He took a successful general and made it impossible for President Obama to retain him.

The reticent ethos had its flaws. But the exposure ethos, with its relentless emphasis on destroying privacy and exposing impurities, has chased good people from public life, undermined public faith in institutions and elevated the trivial over the important.

Another scalp is on the wall. Government officials will erect even higher walls between themselves and the outside world. The honest and freewheeling will continue to flee public life, and the cautious and calculating will remain.

The culture of exposure has triumphed, with results for all to see.

He and his cronies come across as pretty repulsive in a whole range of ways...and that they lacked the judgment to know not to carry on like that in front of a journalist makes me doubt their judgment in the field.

It's a pretty fascinating look at how soldiers of his generation were raised and all.

I don't think that's fair. They're soldiers trying to win a war, not press spokesmen campaigning for their boss's standing in the polls. They shouldn't have to have any judgment on how to deal with the press.

I think that is true for run of the mill soldiers, but not for the general in charge. Part of his job is being a spokesman for the military.

30.) Did Gen. McChrystal vote for President Obama? [The reporter tells me that this info originates from McChrystal himself.]

IMPORTANT -- PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE THIS -- THIS IS PERSONAL AND PRIVATE INFORMATION AND UNREALTED TO HIS JOB. IT WOULD BE INAPPROPRIATE TO SHARE. MY REASON FOR THIS IS IT WOULD PRESENT AN UNDUE COMMAND INFLLUENCE ON JUNIOR OFFICERS OR SOLDIERS WHO SHOULD MAKE THEIR OWN POLITICAL DECISIONS. THERE ARE VERY STRICT RULES IN THE MILITARY ON SEPARATING CHURCH AND STATE ON THIS SORT OF STUFF - HAVE TO KEEP OUT OF POLITICAL PREFERENCE AND PERSONAL CHOICE.

David Brooks: The culture of exposure has triumphed, with results for all to see.

The boss set the tone here and everyone will suffer