McChrystal's a True Warrior

Mr. Quarter is not buying the media spin of the McChrystal story. I think that the real story is much more cleaver and involves a level of sacrifice that is uncommon in the US government today. General Stanley McChrystal is a true warrior who fell on his own sword to save the lives of American soldiers and preserve the honor of his country.

General Stanley McChrystal, a 4-star (i.e., FULL) general. A U.S Army Ranger, and leader of the United States arsenal of special operations forces up until the time that he was tabbed to lead the Afghanistan campaign. Is it in any way beliveable that let a 26 year old Gucci wearing fag reporter from Rolling Stone magazine manage to "get the goods" on him and take him down? Mr. Quarter ain't believing it for an instant.

No, Mr. Quarter believes that General McChrystal saw that the Obamaites (James Jones and Carl Eikenberry) were screwing him and backdoor undermining of his efforts. He saw a command quagmire and American soldiers dying needlessly. So he made his plan, and played a reporter from Rolling Stone like a cheap fiddle feeding him information through his subordinates. Get the story out in the press and expose these foolish men for what they were. He knew all along that he would have to fall on his own sword in the end, but it would save lives and hopefully be his last best sacrifice for his country.

It is well known that Jones and Eikenberry were countermanding his orders, interfering with strategy and generally wreaking havoc in the Afghan theater. They reported negatively back to Washington, undermining McChrystal, making it more and more difficult to achieve McChrystal's objectives. By the way, I have not confirmed it, but I have read that Jones and Eikenberry were roommates at West Point. Think they might have a joint agenda if that is true?

So General McChrystal realized that the only way to straighten the situation out was to plant the story, take the hit, hope that Obama has the gonads to do what is right and fire Jones and Eikenberry. In exchange, he makes the deal to retire and keep his mouth shut for a couple years. Then he will write his book. Did anyone notice that no one in the Administration is crowing about it after the day of the firing? Let the media quiet down and move on to the next big story. Part of the deal. Obama tamps down the fervor, Stan takes a quiet walk, and the bobsey twins get fired so that America can win.

Post Script: Eikenberry, in fighting with McChrystal over the past year used many of the same arguments that another American commander, John Abizaid, had used in opposing Petraeus's approach to Iraq. It was Abizaid and Eikenberry that were West Point roommates in the class of 1973.

Moral Authority

Mr. Quarter has often pondered the issue of "Moral Authority" and "Moral Relativism" in the West generally and in the United States specifically. Why is it that maintaining moral authority is perceived as advantaging our nation as opposed defeating our opponents and making our adversaries kneel before us? This is particularly puzzling since reality is that the much of the West practices moral relativism, forgiving the means if the ends are worthy. Shelby Steele opines in today's WSJ on the issue of moral authority had how it has constricted our ability to defend our selves and address the problems that are leading to the rapid demise of our nation. Mr. Steele observed that:

"Today we in the West are reluctant to use our full military might in war lest we seem imperialistic; we hesitate to enforce our borders lest we seem racist; we are reluctant to ask for assimilation from new immigrants lest we seem xenophobic; and we are pained to give Western Civilization primacy in our educational curricula lest we seem supremacist. Today the West lives on the defensive, the very legitimacy of our modern societies requiring constant dissociation from the sins of the Western past—racism, economic exploitation, imperialism and so on."

For 10,000 years, human beings have survived and flourished individually and as societies not by maintaining their moral authority, but by making sure to win all contests with their adversaries and preventing their adversaries from every gaining advantage. This is not moral relativism. Rather it is self-interest and self-preservation. Works rather well. Maybe we should rethink and re-calibrate?

The Deuce and the 2010 World Cup

Soccer blows. Yeah, I said it. That's not exactly a Fox News Alert, like everything else seems to be, but it needed to be said. Now, having said that, I still check out the World Cup. As a sports fan it's pretty much impossible to ignore "the world's biggest sporting event", no matter how irritating it is.

As an American, it is my God given right to celebrate sports that most closely resemble medieval slaughter, hence my love of football, hockey, boxing, MMA and presidential campaigns. Soccer, alas, rarely displays any of the manly arts of mayhem, except the occasional riot, and that doesn't even take place on the "pitch". FIFA should seriously consider making riots a regular half time show. Just let all the soccer hooligans onto the field for a twenty minute melee'. Last man standing wins a guest spot on The View, where four American women will give him a serious beat down, thereby emphasizing the superiority of America, where even our talking head women are tougher than the world's toughest soccer hooligan.

Oh, I admit to admiring the athleticism of the world's greatest soccer players...kind of like I admire the athleticism of the carjacker who thinks he can outrun the police helicopter after he dumps the stolen car. Sure, he weaves his way through six lanes of interstate traffic zipping by at 70 mph and leaps over the ten foot wall into some poor schmuck's back yard before the cops tase him into an epileptic seizure, but he doesn't score. Great moves, but to what end? Soccer is a lot like that.

However, if you know the secrets of the World Cup, your entertainment factor can sky rocket. For example, did you know African and Caribbean teams routinely employ the services of witch doctors?



How great is that? What other sport gives you the public casting of spells and voodoo dolls smoking blunts? Yeah! Can't you just hear the play by play guy? "Clearly Cameroon has the superior team, but Nigeria has some serious juju. It's strategy and skill versus the demons of hell, and it's live on ESPN!"

Despite all the hilarity provided by the voodoo zombies, this World Cup has special problems not seen by any previous venue.



It's the incessant noise of the vuvuzelas. Vuvazelas are three foot long plastic trumpets that South Africans like to blow on special occasions, like when they find some food. But at the World Cup, they blow the damn things for the entire 90 minute game, creating a buzz like a seriously pissed off hornets nest. It's maddening! I mean, they don't just blow the things when their team walks onto the pitch, or when a goal is scored (that would be a waste of the $2.50 it cost to buy one, as goals are rarer than prosperous nations in Africa), but instead they blow them every second of the game, like they're HIV positive and blowing the vuvuzela is the cure. Maybe I shouldn't complain...I'd rather they blow the damn vuvuzela than rape virgins, which is the generally accepted cure for AIDS in Africa.

And if all this doesn't crank your tractor when it comes to soccer, consider this. The winning team gets a cool $30 million. With that kind of cash on the line you have to root for a Brazil vs. South Africa final. Voodoo hexes will take a back seat to more modern cheats, like knives and brass knuckles. It'll be a cage fight with a ball thrown in just so FIFA can call it a soccer match.




Now that's soccer any red blooded American can enjoy.