OK,Folks-ltte from a conservative re:McChrystal -help me formulate a response

[w8liftinglady]

http://thedailylight.com/articles/2010/06/27/opinion/doc4c26ebe483625196156152.txt
Covered on the ‘Rolling Stone’ not cool for general
Published: Sunday, June 27, 2010 1:41 AM CDT
Paul Perry
Guest columnist

I am a conservative who takes seriously the founding fathers’ admonition to avoid entangling alliances. I also share their concern about standing armies. However, with the world as dangerous as it is, a professional military is a necessity. The average citizen, as well as those serving in the military, should keep in mind that, constitutionally, the chain of command between our president and even the top generals must be maintained.

Another inviolate principle? Generals should not allow reporters from counterculture-oriented magazines (think pot-smoking hippies) to follow them around. Rolling Stone’ reporters are bright. They take their craft seriously. They should not party with generals. This principle is similar to the don’t let city-based reporters follow Texas’ candidates for governor to round-ups.

Regardless of how cool the generals and their bodyguards think they are, the military culture is just not going to mix well with the reporters from the Rolling Stone. No matter how many demerits General McChrystal walked off because of rebelling and partying at West Point, that will not give you a pass with the Stone’s reporters.

My opinion is that the general and his staff were way cooler than the Rolling Stone reporter or his entire magazine, but that is a subjective standard.

Think rock bands with guys wearing platform shoes and black makeup. Think full body tattoos that say “peace.” Think crisp reporting embedded with a left-wing bias that has no sympathy for the military industrial complex. Think the reporters from the Rolling Stone.

By the way, every time you drop an F-bomb, expect it to be reported. The F-bomb is water cooler language around the offices of the Stone. Sometimes it is used as a compliment.

I think the founding fathers’ wisdom in legally guaranteeing a free press was wise. It allows folks to demonstrate that their judgment is impaired, for one thing. The press can report on it. You can even use the press to opt for retirement.

Another bit of practical thought also comes to mind from Winston Churchill, who perhaps was paraphrasing George Orwell, when he said,”We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” I have to admit in this dangerous world, I like my children to sleep soundly. On balance, I also demand the Constitution stay intact.

General Stanley McChrystal is an innovative and bright man. He is also one such “rough man.” I don’t think there are many rough men down at the Stone. The general shouldn’t have subjected himself to the cover of the Rolling Stone. The President, quite properly, can fire whom he wants, sometimes just for momentary stupidity.

Paul D. Perry is a contributing columnist for the Daily Light. He is a local businessman and mediator and a former Ellis County justice of the peace.

[SteppingRazor]

1. That's silly Hastings was freelancing for Rolling Stone...

and before that, he wrote for Newsweek. It's not as though he was fresh from reviewing the latest Justin Bieber CD, and then flew out to Afghanistan to talk to the general. Should Newsweek also not be allowed to follow around the general? What other news outlets should be banned from covering the military?

[w8liftinglady]

2. exactly-I was going to look for conservative magazines with interviews...any ideas?

[louis-t]

3. Wait, they're "pot-smoking hippies" but they're also

"bright"? Maybe they just write for pot-smoking hippies.
And yet again, this columnist blames the reporter for reporting the F-bombs. Not the guy that uses them, mind you.
He wants the "Constitution to remain intact", but I bet he'd love it if it were changed to state that anyone born here to foreign parents will NOT be a citizen. I bet he loved it when bush got rid of habeus corpus.

[Ozymanithrax]

4. General McChrystal violated UCMJ article 88...and freely allowed...

his staff to violate UCMJ article 88.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm88.htm
“Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”

In so doing he failed in his responsibility to ensure good order and discipline within the U.S. Military. He could have been corut-martialed, stripped of all pay and allowances, including retirement benefits, and sent to jail.

So, actually, he got off easy light.

No one on should tolerate officers with no respect or desire to follow the law required of all members of the U.S. military.

***edited for spelling***

[Fumesucker]

5. What would the writer's response be if this happened eight years ago?

And the general was making disparaging remarks about Dubya and Cheney?

Anyone want to bet that the response would be exactly the same?

I didn't think so.

"Americans need to watch what they say". -Ari Fleischer

[yurbud]

6. note that he did not challenge the accuracy the Rolling Stone article

[yurbud]

7. Freedom of the Press is meant as additional check on the powerful, so it useless if it doesn't pull

back the curtain of propaganda and give us a peak behind.

Even if someone thinks this war is somehow a matter of our national security, knowing whether these generals are on the same page with the commander in chief is useful information.

[johnaries]

8. "Pot-smoking hippies"? What year is this?

"Rock bands....platform shoes and black makeup"? "full body tattoos that say 'peace'"?
Talk about biased! And totally uninformed. This letter shows it's author for the idiot he is. I wouldn't diginify it with a response.

[CTyankee]

9. I was about to say something similar...this guy must be stuck in a time machine!

And he's mixing Rock, Disco and goth. He sounds a like an out of touch geezer who sits around growling at people all day...

[awoke_in_2003]

16. well, there was KISS...

but saying that, this guy is still stuck in a time machine.

[JHB]

10. Well, straw men don't get much drier than this...

At the mention of "Rolling Stone" all he gives us is the picture that conjures in his head. Ot perhaps the more appropriate word is "hallucination": as if McChrystal was "palling around" with Tommy Chong doing his full stoner act, mixed with KISS and disco.

For all its entertainment glitz, Rolling Stone is a business. It has a long tradition of publishing interviews and articles by freelancing news reporters, including this one. A news reporter interviewed the general and his staff, and sold the interview to Rolling Stone. No "peace" tattoos or platform boots anywhere in sight.

Perry is described as a local businessman. I'm sure he'd complain if someone disparaged his business while proving they didn't know a single thing about it. Consider him called on it.

[Touchdown]

11. How can you confuse Elton John with The Cure? This guy did it!

And he was proud of his cleverness too! Mixing 70s glam rock with 80s goth and thinks he nailed it!:rofl:

Most of what he wrote is serious drivel. Blaming RS for printing the FBomb but not McChrystal for saying it in the first place.

[rasputin1952]

12. They said this about McClellan too:

"General Stanley McChrystal is an innovative and bright man. He is also one such “rough man.”"


Another failed general because he didn't understand the situation, nor the will of the people he was fighting.

Rule#1: First, above all, know your enemy.

[unhappycamper]

13. Yupo, Paul, you're right

From your LTTE, I take it you had a difficult 60s, 70s and 80s. All those pot-smoking hippies must have given you nightmares. And when (or if) you found out the military was self-anesthetizing on drugs to escape the horrors of war, you were most likely beside yourself. You're probably even pissed that veterans enjoy a good smoke every now and then.

You are correct about free speech and not so much correct about our Corporate media. A prime example: Your Letter To The Editor was printed in your local rag. Corporate media only puts things they agree about to the masses (us).

I'm glad your children sleep soundly. I hope black-clad, military trained policemen decide not to break into your home late at night for some dubious reason. Sweet dreams, little ones.


-------

Did I mention I really don't like shitbirds like this guy?

[sandnsea]

14. Thank god he's a former JP n/t

[GoCubsGo]

15. So, it was Hastings'/Rolling Stone's fault he couldn't behave himself?

Rolling Stone didn't hold a gun to his head and force that interview on him. It was HIS choice. McChrystal's own behavior contradicts Perry's assertion that he is a "bright man." Willingly providing a member of the press access, and then behaving in a manner that provides the press with material that could get oneself fired, is not the actions of a "bright man." It's the actions of a reckless idiot. As for being "cool", what is this, high school?

[spanone]

17. mr perry appears to like his men rough....what nonsense.

in all those words he says nothing. as if he were tutored by lady blah blah herself.

[H2O Man]

18. I think that

an important point is that in this situation, Rolling Stone did a good job at something that the US Constitution speaks of; the General, on the other hand, became mired in scandal as a result of the free press. It is a good thing when the truth comes to light. Following that Constitution strengthens democracy.

[6000eliot]

19. Dear Grandpa Simpson, . . .

[w8liftinglady]

20. you guys are great-plus-I needed the laugh!