In 1951 when General McArthur publically challenged the position of the then President Truman and the White House leaders he was fired! This afternoon, Stanley McChyrstal met the same fate. I applaude President Obama for swift and decisive action on this matter. As the President reminded the nation, "We are at War." It is for that reason most of all that the President and his Military Leadership must be on one accord in public and there is no room for insubordination or disrespect of the President from his team.
General McChrystal and staff for some reason thought their antics and comments were quite amusing. I am glad it was President Obama with Vice President Biden at his side who had the last laugh.
This all stems from reports that were released yesterday that General McCrystal and his staff regularly make fun of White House leadership in mixed company. They do it behind their doors and they do it in front of the press. And they do not seem to think this is inappropriate or wrong.
It seems that to some degree, General McChrystal was following the footstep of General McArthur of the Korean War days. I am not sure what is up with the Mc - Generals, but I am pleased Obama did as Truman and gave his military leader his walking papers.
This was the latest in verbal assaults on the White House Leadership and the President himself from the McChrystal camp. As a result of the latest, General Stanley McChrystal was summons to a meeting with the President this morning to answer questions surrounding an article in Rolling Stones Magazine to hit the stands Friday. In that article the General makes some unflattering, off the cuff remarks about the White House leaders . The staff of advisers and media relations experts jokingly take the comments to a whole new level. Comments were made about a number of people including Vice President Joe Biden. Biden was called "Bite Me" by one of McChrystal's staff. All of this is captured in the article to be released on Friday.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates calls it "a significant mistake", when asked about the recent comments of General Stanley McChrystal and staff. The White House echoed the same sentiment Tuesday, but dropped the hammer on the General today. One of the leading media relations aides to the General has already resigned.
I first believed this was evidence of an unsophisticated team. As a seasoned public relations professional, I was disappointed that in such an important agency, no one thought that they needed some media relations veterans on staff as advisers. ( I later discovered there are P.R. veterans on the team.) I was disgusted that his media relations team did not do a better job of coaching and advising those who were interacting with the media. They even called some of Obama's staff clowns. My question is where on earth did McChrystal find his group of "clowns" and why were they managing a part of the image the world sees of our government and our leaders? Scary!
After further investigation on the matter I am now convinced this was more than poor judgement or a mistake. I believe this was intentional and a blatant disrespect for the President of the United States, not the Office, but the man--President Obama. Done so because the culprits thought they could get away with it.
More sinister then that, this was a deliberate effort lodged to question the President's competence in open view for the world to see. This was also an effort to get public support on the side of McChrystal so that he could more freely assert his agenda free of Obama's direction. It is something McChrysal has done before to Obama, gotten away with, and the General believed he could do again. The bottom line is that he'd lost track of the military pact he'd made to follow the chain of command. Perhaps he'd watched too many action movies where the General defies the President and single-handedly wins the war. Whatever his perception, the reality is his actions constitute insubordination and Obama dealt with him in real-life terms.
Rolling Stone's Editor Eric Bates made his rounds on Wenesday appearing on a number of television and radio programs confirming that the General and his staff were well aware that their ugly comments were on the record. Moreover, McChrystal and his team knew the contents of the article for two weeks while editors were completing fact checking. All senior government executives and leaders know you are always on the record when a reporter is around, even if you and they agree it is off the record. You are never ever to trust that. That is P.R 101. Only arrogance could explain their disregard and obnoxious behavior.
Remember, this is the latest in a series and a pattern of disparaging remarks McChrystal and his staff have made about the President, his boss. Just as much of the deriding of White House Leadership came from aides of General McChrystal. The Rolling stone reports some unkind words one advisor to McCrystal used to recant the first meeting between McChrystal and Obama. The advisor said openly to the interviewer, "Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. Here's the guy who's going to run his fucking war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed." This was a real comment. Scarier!
Everyone knows the tone for what is acceptable is established at the top. That speaks volumes. The General's staff spoke and acted inappropriately, with no respect and with a ignorant disregard for the chain of command. Respect for and an adherence to a chain of command is something that is mastered by those in the military. Except in this case and with regard to President Barack Obama.
Since McChrystal obviously has no respect for his boss and believes it appropriate to address the President across media outlet as oppose to across a conference table, how could we trust his judgement in war. He and every last one of those clowns on his executive team and his media relations advisers all need their walking papers. In the words of Donald Trump... "Your Fired!"
Now for the scariest of all of the information released on McChrystal. Years ago while at West Point, the General was the managing editor of a literary magazine called "The Pointer.
This is a publication that features a lot of fiction and creative works. Interestingly enough, McChrystal penned several short stories that unveil a plot to assassinate the president.
What do you do with a man with that much top secret training, knowledge and experience who now will have a lot of time on his hands and a chip on his shoulder. Hopefully McChrystal will seek a book deal and agree with the old adage the pen is mightier than the sword.
