dagblog - Comments for "Did young Barack Obama play with toy soldiers?"

Uppity goes with the S.O.D.

JR — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 03:03:39 +0000

In reply to Uppity goes with the S.O.D.

Uppity goes with the S.O.D. job, maybe?

I think that there is some kinda structural tension, no doubt, but I think it runs the other way.

Thus:

Every president is really is own secretary of defense, per contra the other cabinet posts. And, indeed, the orders directly to the line troops can carry his signature, whereas when Nixon wanted to fire Jaworski he had to first get a compliant A.G.

What I'm driving (groping?) at is that by way of organizational charting, I think that there end up being two parallel tracks of authority.

There certainly must be something intoxicating about looking in the mirror and knowing (now, even better with. drones...) any given human life on earth continues only at your suffrance...

My guess, btw, is that he

jollyroger — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 08:43:59 +0000

In reply to Did young Barack Obama play with toy soldiers?

My guess, btw, is that he didn't play with toy soldiers.

Uppity goes with the S.O.D.

artappraiser — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 07:29:25 +0000

In reply to Did young Barack Obama play with toy soldiers?

Uppity goes with the S.O.D. job, maybe?

Rummy was such a thorn in W's side. Then go to history, I just quickly picked these at random from Wikipedia--

like this one, the longest in office

But declassified records from the Lyndon Johnson Library indicated that McNamara misled Johnson on the attack on a U.S. Navy destroyer by withholding calls against executing airstrikes from US Pacific Commanders. Instead, McNamara issued the strike orders without informing Johnson of the hold calls, constituting a usurping of the president’s constitutional power of decision on the use of military force.[26]

Or this one:

In 1949, angered over Forrestal's continued opposition to his defense economization policies, and concerned about reports in the press over his mental condition, Truman abruptly asked Forrestal to resign. By March 31, 1949, Forrestal was out of a job.[18] He was replaced by Louis A. Johnson, an ardent supporter of Truman's defense retrenchment policy.

Or this one:

During his tenure as Defense Secretary, Laird did not share President Nixon's lingering timetable for withdrawal from Vietnam. He publicly contradicted the administrations policy, which upset the White House.

Yeah, one of the last

artappraiser — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 07:11:02 +0000

In reply to Did young Barack Obama play with toy soldiers?

Yeah, one of the last adjectives I would think of to apply to Obama is "loyal." It's not to disparage, that's not it, he's just not that type of person. He's all about professionalism, totally separating friendship and work. If Valerie Jarrett wasn't helpful to him, even she'd be gone. She's there at his side for so long only because she is helpful. It's kind of odd that he's not going to be known for being able to manage that well. Because he's certainly not the politician type, either. I guess i am just babbling. Just struck me that "loyal" is not applicable as to his work. May very well be quite loyal to personal friends.

Great piece, Jolly. Given the

Oxy Mora — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 06:22:18 +0000

In reply to Did young Barack Obama play with toy soldiers?

Great piece, Jolly. Given the missions to wind down wars, exercise caution in getting involved in new ones and deal with major budget cuts and a generally hostile Congress, it's surprising anyone would take the job.

I believe represented, in the

trkingmomoe — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 04:36:04 +0000

In reply to Did young Barack Obama play with toy soldiers?

I believe represented, in the timing of their publication-notwithstanding-the-administration-has-not-left-office, unprecedented acts of disloyalty from Secretaries of Defense to their President.

Traditionally it is was a down right mortal sin for military men of their position to do before enough time has passed after everyone leaves office.