Letters to the Editor
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Harry Reid is incompetent, that's for sure!
Never in the history of the Democratic Party has there been such a group of dithering dimwits running around shooting themselves in the foot.
Why does he get off on these tangents? What good does it do to assess the competency of the generals when the only person anyone really needs to hold accountable is the commander in chief.
They say Harry Reid was a Golden Gloves boxer in his youth.
That must have been something to watch him box.
He probably stood there hitting himself in the face while his opponent stood back in stunned disbelief.
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Short answer: Yes, he's incompetent!
What's such a big deal about calling a spade a spade? Yes, Pace is incompetent. The reasons why he's incompetent are manifold. Reid should have stood by his assessment and listed off the reasons.
But that would be too offensive to the status quo for our timid Democrats, wouldn't it?
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The Big Deal, paulpsd7, is this:
It gains him and the Democratic Party nothing.
Pace may not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, or maybe he was, who knows? It's easy to gainsay military leadership with the benefit of hindsight. But its beside the point.
The fattest targets are not in uniform, they are in civilian clothes in the White House. If Reid would have kept his stick on the ice, he would have taken a slap shot at Bush, not an outgoing general. Or maybe Reid thought he'd join with Sec. Def. Bob Gates in kicking Pace in the shins on his way out the door.
All this week it was looking like the Republicans were killing themselves in the media, trying to figure out how to remove Pace without raising the ire of the American people who happen to not blame the military for carrying out the direct orders of Caligula Jr.
But then Reid, who might have just sat back and watched the Republicans shame themselves, had to pick up a handful of mud to fling at the back of a departing combat veteran and U.S. Marine. It was unnecessary, it was stupid and it is beginning to look like Harry Reid just doesn't know when to shut up.
That's the Big Deal.
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Uh, pretty much exactly
I appreciate it that Salon almost always gets stories right, even doing up to the minute blog-style reporting in response to a deluge of rightwing blog lies.
That said, your update makes clear that Harry Reid really called Pace an incompetent. Factually, you were not incorrect in your first story to point out that he hadn't confirmed it in his non-denial denial, but you sure were incautious, maybe even willfully dumb. After reading Reid spinning this way and that, it was obvious he was hiding something. You should have just given Snow and Fox a pass.
Now you should restore our trust by writing a new headline that says something like, "Guess what? Reid did call Pace an incompetent."
Maybe in a day or so we'll forget the embarrassment of trying to pretend Reid didn't call the incompetent Pace an incompetent just because Snow and Fox acted like there's something wrong with calling incompetents incompetent.
Then you can follow up with an article exploring whether Pace was an incompetent, or merely a slimy suck-up. If anyone cares.
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I give it another 24 hours...
before ol' Harry is apologizing for calling a spade a spade. Yep, blazing another fine trail of Democratic leadership in the twenty-first century...
Why, oh why, must my party be plagued with spineless, mealy-mouthed, ineffective incompetents (yeah, that's right, I said it) passing for leaders?
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Here's what Hapless Harry should have said about all the American generals who have served in Iraq:
"I respect the men and women who serve in our armed forces. The sacrifices that they and their families make for our country are beyond anything we civilians can ever understand. Their Commander in Chief has failed them, and failed us, the American people, by showing callous disregard for their lives.
"The generals are under the command of a man who has shown himself to be a liar and a coward act upon the orders of the Commander in Chief. Therefore if they have done anything in the execution of those orders that showed anything like incompetence, it is because the man who commands them is incompetent, and unworthy of the men and women who serve under his command.
"Therefore, I have asked the Congress convene a committee to start the impeachment process of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney for high crimes and misdemeanors against the people of the United States of America. I ask the Senate to vote in the affirmative to remove these men from office and appoint a special federal prosecutor to see if there is enough evidence to bring them both to justice in federal court."
Now THAT's what Reid is supposed to say.
But he has no balls and no brains.
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Why Apologize?
So? Harry Reid called a spade a spade. Pace IS incompetent; no doubt about it. He's also more interested in getting on his moral high-horse and opining about alleged gay soldiers and sailors...people who have enlisted to fight for their country...than leading and commanding.
Too bad General Pace isn't more forthcoming about the quagmire in which his troops increasingly find themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan. Leadership is more than four or five stars on one's shoulder and a crisp piss-cutter on one's head. Pace is the consumate Presidential yes-man; he could be the male version of the musical-comedy "Oklahoma"'s Ado Annie..."just a girl who can't say no!"
Whether Dubya is simply the man who constantly ignores info that contradicts his "heart" or Pace is the man who can't bring himself to TELL the Presidunce the truth, we, the American people, are ill-served.
I've already planned a major celebration for just past noon on 21 January, 2009; I am confident that I will not be alone in celebrating the death of the Bush Presiduncy.
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Again, let me explain it to you
It gains the Democratic leadership nothing.
Read that line again please.
It gains the Democratic leadership nothing.
Pace was on his way out the door. Who shoved him out? The BUSH ADMINISTRATION. They were the whole focus of the story! The headlines were all negative toward the Bush administration and Bob Gates was the hatchet man. They were looking terrible over this.
Harry Reid could have and should have just shut the fuck up! When your opponent is making a fool of himself, sit down and enjoy the show, don't become part of the act!
Now the headlines are all about Harry Reid. He made himself the story and the White House could not be more pleased. Now instead of having to explain why Pace got 86'ed, the Republicans, through their meat puppets Hannity, Limbaugh, and their chattering bloggers, have made Harry Reid the goat.
Look, even if you are right, Pace was incompetent, so what? Pace is homophobic, so what? What else is new?
What? Do you think Pete Pace engineered the Iraq War? He was just another jarhead following orders. Whether you like it or not, the reality is you cannot win the American middle, and therefore win the next presidential election, by denigrating military people. It's a complete turn-off. So regardless of how you feel about that, shut up and keep focused on the end game here.
Keep your eye on the prize, the White House.
Was Pace incompetent? Who cares? He's gone. Is Harry Reid an incompetent dumbass? Without a doubt!