Robert Gates
Robert Gates is most likely going to be confirmed in the next couple days as Bush's new Secretary of Defense. Personally, I feel like the president should be able to pick his cabinet, so I don't see the point in getting upset about this person or that.
I just want to take a moment to point out that a new face in the Pentagon probably wont change anything. That's because the man in charge of this circus is the President.
Which would be a good thing in most circumstances, but in this case is a disaster. Our president, as we've known for some time, is completely detached from reality. Moreover, as his advisers fall away, it's becoming increasingly clear that the war in Iraq is Bush's baby.
Rumsfeld got the ax because he lost the faith, and not because of the political beating his party took this November. The neo-cons may have wanted Iraq's oil or a forceful effort to confront terrorism and despotism in the Middle East. But the President just wanted to do what his daddy couldn't.
Robert Gates (with his oily slick -- "I'll tell you what you want to hear" -- confirmation hearing yesterday) isn't going to confront his new boss on the realities of the situation on the ground.
3 comments:
Oh, great. Just great. And this isn't nearly our biggest problem; that is, it's not GLOBAL WARMING!!!
you know, I was just reading (in the waiting room at the doctor's office) this interview Al Gore gave where he said that Global Warming was the biggest crisis we face.
I recognize that Global Warming is a big deal, but on the level of global catastrophes there's AIDS and Malaria in Africa, the genocide in Darfur, the ugly recidivism of Russia's government, China's reckless expansion... and there's a ton of other things domestically in the US that I think are vastly important.
I don't know, I think Global Warming has to be our biggest problem just because there isn't really anything we can do about it that would show results anytime this decade. Of course, with our current leadership that's pretty much true of anything, but even if Al Gore had won in 2000 I'm not sure how much difference we would see in greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 or so.
As for Robert Gates... I'm all for Presidents naming their own cabinets, but I'm pretty sure that the only reason Robert Gates isn't in prison as I write this is because he's the proud owner of a presidential pardon signed by one George H.W. Bush. Or am I wrong? Those shady Iran-Contra guys all run together for me after awhile.
Post a Comment