Stan?!
Patterico notices a bit of a nomenclature ploy coming out of the White House.
As you all know, Gen. McChrystal is asking for more troops in Afghanistan. And this clearly shows that Gen. McChrystal is a selfish jerk who only thinks of his country and not how this might inconvenience The One during his push to take over healthcare.
You see, General McChrystal’s request puts Obama in a pickle because throughout the campaign he acted all tough and said that we needed to win in Afghanistan and that’s why he was so upset about the War in Iraq, because it was turning our heads from this crucial must win war in Afghanistan. But if he goes out now and asks Congress for more troops the left will absolutely flip and he needs their support right now for Obamacare.
So he has to push ObamaCare through before he can deal with terrorism. Man! Maybe if the terrorists understood that this wasn’t a good time for Obama they might pull back on their activities for a while.
But anyway, you’ve got to check out how demeaning the White House is to General McChrystal’s request making it like it’s no big deal.
Patterico writes:
Indications are that Gen. McChrystal will resign if he does not get the additional troops he says he needs to win in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, note well this quote from an anonymous Obama administration official, from the Wall Street Journal:
“Stan McChrystal is not responsible for assessing how we’re doing against al Qaeda,” said the senior administration official. “He’s not assessing how the Pakistani military is doing in its counterinsurgency campaign. That’s not his job. So Stan’s report is a very important input into this overall strategy, but it’s not the only input.”
Note how the “official” omits the title “General” for the familiar “Stan.” It’s a subtle way of discounting the general’s message. Stanny-boy may have his opinion, but we don’t have to listen to ol’ Stanerino.
Wasn’t it Obama’s liberal ally Barbara Boxer who demanded to be called “Senator” and not “mam?” She said she’d worked hard for the title and had earned it. Well, I’m pretty sure General McChrystal did too.