EDIT: Merged
Obama to Decide Future of US Commander in Afghanistan
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“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”― Stephen Hawking -
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It is funny though...this story broke this morning, yet Rolling Stone failed to have it on their web site. The magazine recently revamped the crummy thing, requiring you to pay for most of the stories they used to offer for free. So instead of featuring a story dealing with political intrigue, until sometime this afternoon the only story you could get was yet another profile on Lady Gaga.
How Rolling Stone Won The News Cycle And Lost The Story
In a multi-platform, multimedia environment, it's difficult for a magazine to break the kind of news that will lead every cable broadcast, every newspaper and every website for hours on end. But that's what the Rolling Stone profile (written by Michael Hastings, who is currently in Afghanistan) of General Stanley McChrystal did this morning.
But if you wanted to read that profile, rather than rely on a couple of pull quotes or the punditocracy? Tough luck: Rolling Stone didn't even bother putting it online before they rolled it out. In fact, despite the fact that everyone else's website led the profile, Rolling Stone's site led with Lady Gaga's (admittedly impressive) machine gun jumblies all day and didn't even put the story online until 11: 00 ET.
In the mean time, readers looking to get the full scoop did have an option other than their local newsstand: Politico had a downloadable file of the full article -- likely provided to them by Rolling Stone for the purpose of getting press coverage of it -- on their site until well after 9: 00 ET, after which the file disappeared. Rolling Stone Managing Editor Will Dana said the publication of the reprint was unauthorized, but "there's been no discussion" of legal action.
If print publications are going to keep committing suicide, they really ought to stop blaming the web. A guide to how to have the biggest news story and still lead to the death of investigative print journalism is after the jump.
1. Pay an investigative journalist with experience in the region to shadow the general in charge of executing our war in Afghanistan and get a piece that highlights the insular and insult-laden way he and his team deal with those atop the chain of command and consolidate the power of the military. Bonus points for details about how he spent his 33rd wedding anniversary partying with his staff in an Irish bar in Paris while his staff acted like jerks.
2. Publish the story and shop it to every media outlet under the sun because you realize that it's actual news, unlike Lady Gaga's machine gun jumblies.
3. Fail to publish even excerpts of the story on your own website, figuring that your promotion of the story will cause people to go out and buy the magazine.
4. Go to bed and sleep like a baby after the story hits.
5. Wake up to find out that Politico has published a reprint of the story you gave them, since you weren't smart enough to put the story on your own site and despite the intellectual property violation.
6. Book CNN and MSNBC.
7. Have lawyers call Politico when they get into the office to demand that their violation of your intellectual property cease.
8. Appear on CNN and MSNBC.
9. Wait.
10. Publish story on your website, and link on Twitter. Don't bother to include it on your front page.
11. Profit.
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”― Stephen HawkingComment
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Since you were in the service, maybe you could enlighten the civilians here as to what happens when you publicly criticize the people in your chain-of-command? You get fucking drawn and quartered generally speaking. And according to some critics, Gen. McCrystal is a holier-than-thou back-biting dick that should STFU as he hasn't exactly wowed anyone with his strategy in Afghanistan. Just sayin'...
He wants out.
Obama's lack of leadership skills and knowledge of the real world becomes more apparent every day.Comment
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"Pussy." You crack me up Mr. Never-served-a-day. I guess this is the folow-up to the General Betray-Us comment a few years back, right? And he apologized once, not "I haven't seen this much apologizing in a long time."
General McChrystal new exactly what he was doing: telling Obama and Biden and their armchair General team of civilians in the White House they have no clue what they are doing. He wants out.
Obama's lack of leadership skills and knowledge of the real world becomes more apparent every day.
I agree with you BBB with reference to McChrystal in that he knew EXACTLY what he was doing, and I agree, he wants out....
Although I could have easily said those same "armchair" comments during the Bush Administration....
But the bottom line, and BBB knows this just as much as I do, Obama MUST relieve him, he MUST.... Like him, hate him, but Obama, Biden and Gates are directly in their chain of command and McChrystal's comments are absolutely insubordination.....
Rule #1 when it comes to this in the military, you keep your fucking mouth SHUT when it comes to politics....Eat Us And Smile - The Originals
"I have a very belligerent enthusiasm or an enthusiastic belligerence. I’m an intellectual slut." - David Lee Roth
"We are part of the, not just the culture, but the geography. Van Halen music goes along with like fries with the burger." - David Lee RothComment
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That son of a bitch should have been fired a long time ago! Especially when he falsified the cause of Pat Tillman's death and commanded the secret Task Force 6-26 in Iraq, which was infamous in it's abuse of prisoners. And don't get me started on the so-called great job he's doing in Afghanistan. Opium imports are at record levels, the government is corrupt and the Taliban are still running around like they own the place, even after the surge. Yeah, great fuckin job!
Now I'm probably gonna get some flack from all of you conservatives who think all generals are holier than art thou. So let me give you all a pre-emptive FUCK YOU and SUCK MY COCK!:mad0244:
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Eat Us And Smile - The Originals
"I have a very belligerent enthusiasm or an enthusiastic belligerence. I’m an intellectual slut." - David Lee Roth
"We are part of the, not just the culture, but the geography. Van Halen music goes along with like fries with the burger." - David Lee RothComment
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The President is the commander in chief. Fucking period.
Obama needs to string this fukcing hillbilly up by the balls.
WTF? People defending the traitor?
The general is the president's bitch. If the president tells him to grab his balls on camera..,.then the general grabs his balls.....no questions asked....
This piece of shit limelighter should be executed for treason...he should keep his mouth shout and speak only when spoken to by Obama....
Wake me up when the whitewash is over.
If Obama doesn't fire this him..then his presidency is a sham..and that makes Elvis look legititmate...Gawd help us...Comment
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In any case, I've lost a lot of the respect I had for him...Last edited by Nickdfresh; 06-22-2010, 11:21 PM.Comment
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The President is the commander in chief. Fucking period.
Obama needs to string this fukcing hillbilly up by the balls.
WTF? People defending the traitor?
The general is the president's bitch. If the president tells him to grab his balls on camera..,.then the general grabs his balls.....no questions asked....
This piece of shit limelighter should be executed for treason...he should keep his mouth shout and speak only when spoken to by Obama....
Wake me up when the whitewash is over.
If Obama doesn't fire this him..then his presidency is a sham..and that makes Elvis look legititmate...Gawd help us...Comment
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Well, they fired the last commander in Afghanistan. So, I'm pretty sure that he could pretty much state that he wants to leave off-the-record, and McChyrstal would be accommodated. I haven't read the article fully yet, so I cannot comment on specifics. But is sounds more like (from reading about him in the past--where he pretty much took thinly veiled shots at Gen.Petraeus) that Mickey-C is a bit arrogant and filled with self ascribed effulgence and singular vanity...
In any case, I've lost a lot of the respect I had for him...
The term "quit" is really what I disagreed with... So he can "arrange" to quit, but not in a situation like this....Eat Us And Smile - The Originals
"I have a very belligerent enthusiasm or an enthusiastic belligerence. I’m an intellectual slut." - David Lee Roth
"We are part of the, not just the culture, but the geography. Van Halen music goes along with like fries with the burger." - David Lee RothComment
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Unless this is interfering with the job he was sent out there to do, I don't see the point in any of this.
This "sending people to the principals office" for saying what they feel is getting a bit ridiculous.
He's a United States General, and they're taking him away from his job (which is defending America) to sit in the fucking "time-out" chair.
The fact that he's apologizing so profusely is more disturbing than anything else.......No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
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We are losing the war in Afganistahn anyways. Typical US tactics are bomb the hell out of the place and bribe the officials and then take over. Afganistahn is so fragmented with so many different factions, you can't buy them all off and they have been there for a decade and the Taliban are on the offensive and gaining ground. This thing was unwinable from the start and now the financing machine running this war is imploding. Shit. US soldiers may be stuck there with no way home because because the government goes broke during the war. The US is no different than Greece.No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
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Plus, why would the terrorists waste time on us now? We are fucking ourselves better than they ever could. We have destroyed our economy and the Gulf of Mexico ourselves.No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!Comment
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