The General McChrystal Fracas

The General McChrystal Fracas

Wow.

It's been a while since I've seen shit hit the fan like that.

One thing I've always liked about military men, tradesmen and sportsmen is this: they never mince words. You know exactly where you stand with them. As a person with a tendency of saying whatever's on my mind (usually with no care or clue of how it will affect the people around me) I've always appreciated this. It's nice to be around a kindred spirit and it's probably why I've always gotten along with a lot of them. Even so, you should always know your limits.

Now, let's say you're a General in a public position, in fact, let's say you're the commander of all NATO and US Forces in Afghanistan. Pretty big, right? Right. So, it's pretty much understood that you should probably be a little more...'diplomatic'. Y'know, scale back on the naughty words, reign the arrogance in a tad, maybe get someone else to write your 'personal views' and leave your actual personal views aside, that sort of stuff. 'Cause you don't wanna cross the limit. But McChrystal seems to have seen all these rules and decided that they were meant for other people. Because what he did was stunning. Mouthing off about the President to a journalist from Rolling Stone? Yeah, that's way past the limit. I can't even comprehend.

Possibly McChrystal just didn't care. In fact, I'm gonna say it was damn near likely that he didn't care. One quote from the now infamous Rolling Stones article seems to lend this theory some credence:

Although McChrystal has been in charge of the war for only a year, in that short time he has managed to piss off almost everyone with a stake in the conflict.

Given the sheer amount of people who have stake in this conflict, that's a hell of an achievement. I damn near started a slow clap when I read that.

Of course, this isn't the first time McChrystal has let stupid shit tumble out of his mouth and then gotten in trouble with the president about it. Hell no!

Last fall, during the question-and-answer session following a speech he gave in London, McChrystal dismissed the counterterrorism strategy being advocated by Vice President Joe Biden as "shortsighted," saying it would lead to a state of "Chaos-istan." The remarks earned him a smackdown from the president himself, who summoned the general to a terse private meeting aboard Air Force One. The message to McChrystal seemed clear: Shut the fuck up, and keep a lower profile

Why have I not heard of this man before?! I'm mouthy and arrogant with a specialty in dick moves and I wanna go and shake his hand. He's my hero. You want more proof?

The general's staff is a handpicked collection of killers, spies, geniuses, patriots, political operators and outright maniacs. There's a former head of British Special Forces, two Navy Seals, an Afghan Special Forces commando, a lawyer, two fighter pilots and at least two dozen combat veterans and counterinsurgency experts.

Holy shit! He's a real-life Bond Villain! Obviously, McChrystal is like the Wu-Tang Clan - you don't fuck with him. Michael Hastings, the Rolling Stones journalist who followed him around and wrote the article, should probably start sleeping with one eye open.

But the things that really, really got him in trouble? Oh, man. Many of the oft-quoted comments were actually made by his aides, who referred to one top official as a "wounded animal" and another as a "clown" (I'd post the actual quotes here, but this post is long enough already and I'm getting tired). Obviously, there is no love lost betweeh the people who are on the ground and the people who are making the decisions. Just like any other workplace, really. The difference between any other person and McChrystal is that he and his people had a journalist following them around for a month, and this is being played out on a world stage. And his career will be ruined. And the bitchslap is coming from President Obama.

In his defence, McChrystal was probably not the best person to be in public. The man had spent his whole life in the military and surrounded by military men. He has the respect of many a soldier. But a PR savvy man with the ability to navigate his way around the notoriously murky and difficult waters of Washington politics, especially at this time? Yeah, probably not. This is a man who was obviously made to fight and win wars, not kiss babies and shake hands. Let's be realistic here.

What can we learn from this? Who knows? This isn't really about McChrystal. This is really about the war in Afghanistan and a lot of people have strong feelings about this. I'm not gonna wade into those waters, because I'm already biased. So I guess I'll take away this small nugget of learning-don't mouth off in front of journalists. Those bastards will publish anything you say.

myparentswereawesome:

Tom

Submitted by Neil

 A pictures speaks a 1000 words. The 1000 words this picture speaks are all variations of 'awesome'.

Comment from the following story: What's the nastiest thing you've ever seen in the subway?

Stuff like this is why I always read the comments at Gawker. No other website gets this distinction (blogs are exempt from this rule). This particular comment caught my eye because it has so much: a narrator (commenter), a villain (damn hipster!), an anti-hero (tiny puking asian man) and a movie like quality (check that last line. It's like a cherry on top).

I always read the comments here because there's just so much gold. Mostly because the commenters, like the writers, tend to be smart and funny and sarcastic. Partially because the first dickhead to spit out a youtube style comment ("1st!!1!!" "FAKE!!!") will get devoured like the last piece of fried chicken in the ghetto. I appreciate that sort of spirit in an internet community. It's a sign of quality.

How would you go about suggesting and then initiating a threesome? i have a girlfriend that’s told me she wants to party one night and “have a lesbian moment.” also, her boyfriend is sexy and has stated in the past that he finds me desirable as well, and has made comments about how hot it would...

Truth!

The P word

This is really an expansion of a comment I left here.

Shane Jones, you give great entertainment.

For those of you unaware of the Shane Jones predicament, here's a quick breakdown: He's a highly ranked Labour politician who was tipped for leadership. While staying in a hotel he decided to watch some porn (as you do) and it got charged it to his ministerial credit card aka the credit card funded by taxpayers. The public found out and hilarity ensued.

I don't have a problem with the fact that Jones watched porn. It doesn't mean that he's a deviant. I don't know many guys who don't watch porn. It's so commonplace that budding starlets are routinely 'shocked, dismayed and saddened' to find that a 'private' sex tape is now available on the internet. Hell, a google search for barbie dolls can end with you watching porn.

I'm kinda 50/50 on how I feel about the fact that the porn was charged to his ministerial credit card. If I didn't know, I wouldn't have a problem. But I do know and I have a problem. It's not like I haven't paid for someone else's entertianment - I've flatted with guys before and I'm realistic on where a chunk of the internet bandwidth is going. And I think that's where the problem lies - why did he pay for porn?  WTF? Was this charge made in pre-internet days? Why did he pay for something you can get for free? There is an astounding variety of porn available on the internet. There is even a rule about the sheer amount available. You can get all of that for free if you hit the right links. See that? Free! I expect some sort of fiscal responsibility from politicians, especially ones that are earmarked for leadership of their respective parties. Sure, he paid it back. That's cool. But the charge shouldn't have happened in the first place when there's a non-paying alternative available.

But what really gets me is this: what kind of politician doesn't cover his damn tracks?? WTF man? Sure, he's not the only one to abuse the credit card but he definitely had one of the most entertaining statements. Only an idiot wouldn't realise that and not cover it up. Leaving it there to potentially be discovered? That's just slack and I place higher expectations on politicians. Do you think prime ministers got to be prime ministers by just letting shit slide? The most outrageous expense on Helen Clarke's statement was her phone bill. John Key's most noteworthy expense is his penchant for buying All Blacks jerseys for gifts overseas. See Jones? That's how you do it. If there was anything that could've made the news, I'm sure they either: charged it to their personal credit cards; paid cash; made damn sure that any trace of it was wiped away. Budding politicians take note: we do not tolerate such sloppy work.

Granted, he probably didn't intend to put the charge on his credit card. I've stayed in hotel rooms before and I've accidentally charged embarrassing things to another person's credit card. Shit happens. But he must've realised it was off. I work in the public sector. We are constantly reminded that anything we do can be OIA'd and we must be careful about where we spend tax dollars. I doubt things would be different for him. Although, to be honest, I'd be stunned if he was thinking about anything further than the matter in hand (pun intended).

To finish, I guess I'll leave you with this final tip about searching for porn: always remember to turn google safe search off. And don't click on anything with the following terms: 'tub girl' and 'eel girl'.

(via 2010fifaworldcup, pime)

I know we’ll get sick of vuvuzuela jokes one day, but today is not that day.

Swear to god, this will be the only vuvuzela post. Unless something even more hilarious comes along.