Military Expert Blasts Gingrich And Right-Wing Media For Hitting Obama During Pirate Standoff
Isn’t it a big story that Newt Gingrich and some leading conservative media figures harshly criticized Obama’s handling of the pirate standoff — while it was unfolding?
I just got off the phone with a military expert and former Army Ranger who supports Republicans and Dems, and he hammered Gingrich and conservative media figures for criticizing Obama, saying that the Commander-in-chief deserved “respect” while a sensitive operation was unfolding.
“I would hope that they’re feeling a little silly today,” said the expert, Andrew Exum, a fellow at the Center for National Security Studies. “It’s bad form. You don’t make this a partisan issue until an operation has been assessed. It’s fair game ex post facto. But during the emergency, I think that our elected leaders deserve our respect.”
Gingrich whacked away at Obama’s handling of the standoff on Twitter over the weekend, saying it made us “look weak.” The Wall Street Journal editorial page, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck also targeted Obama.
Exum, who advised Obama during the campaign but who also supports Republicans, hinted that the criticism bordered on unpatriotic. “If Glenn Beck loves his country as much as he alleges, he should hold his tongue when elected leaders on the ground are dealing with a very difficult situation.”
That the onetime GOP House Speaker and leading conservative opinionmakers hit Obama while this crisis unfolded seems like it might prompt some soul-searching among Republicans about the identity and direction of their party.
The homepage of this blog is here. RSS feed here. Twitter feed here. Email me here.
… it might prompt some soul-searching among Republicans…
I love your sense of humor, Greg.
jzap
.
Greg is funny isn’t he?
.
One thing that might be emerging here though is that the Republicans might just mess around and alienate themselves from the military. If they keep making these kinds of wild accusations during a mission I don’t think the soldiers are going to appreciate that at all.
Beat me to it almost word-for-word, jzap!
Jzap, agree Greg is joking. Or else he’s been doppelgänged.
I am with jzap et al, nice humor Greg with the “soul-searching” bit.
I’m beginning to see (hallucinate?) two distinct classes of military (not including grunts): operations guys with responsibility for troops, and procurement guys with budget turf battles to fight.
.
GOOPer pissage might alienate some of the former, but I don’t see it having much effect with the latter.
.
jzap
.
I am talking about the operations side. Don’t forget on the procurement side there is bipartisanship at its worst. They love porky Dems just like they like porky Repubs.
As I noted on the earlier thread, Martin at Politico has held out a helping hand to Newt on this one (”constrained”)
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/Newt_offers_measured_praise_for_Obama_on_rescue.html
These folks have their own military ‘experts’ who will define ‘patriotism’ and who will describe Obama’s role here in some manner consistent with their worldview. But that is for that 30% or so who form the core audience for Fox and who Newt concludes he must speak to if he’s to achieve his Presidential ambitions. We don’t doubt this is his game, do we?
But there are many ‘conservatives’ and Republicans who have (and who are) realigning towards the left now – or ’soul-searching’ in Greg’s words. That’s a reality as polls continue to demonstrate.
With every bit of nastiness, the Republican “leadership” further consigns itself to being nothing but a Southern rump party without the ability to win National elections. Shamelessness and viciousness are not playing well with moderates and independents–witness every single poll, even if they do play with the base. As Mr. Shakespear pointed out, base is low and the root of the word *******. The Republican “base” is really base! Newt, Jindal, Hannity, Rushie and the two idiots, Joe the Plumber(Not) and Beck–Scum! Thank God(and an overabundance of phony Christianist self-righteousness) they have chosen a losing strategy. And they are losing.
Anybody else noticed how much Tim Pawlenty keeps showing up on MSNBC? It seems to me that he is trying to distinguish himself from his fellow Repubs. He has been on Maddow twice and now he is on Ed Schultz. He is still saying some right wing stuff that I don’t agree with but I think he might have seen the light and is trying to reach the middle. Unfortunately for him that probably means he will never win a primary though.
sg
I think you’re right. He seems ambitious and that doesn’t bother me in that he’s a relatively reasonable fellow with, in contrast to Newt for example, some species of actual moral code.
For the GOP to become something other than a very smelly albatross around the nation’s neck, we’ll need to see more people like him move into view and into power.
I think we on the left will do ourselves a big favor if, as we continue to point out and publicize the extremists and the negatives they present, we also validate the up and coming Republicans/conservatives who aren’t lunatics.
It doesn’t take a whole lot of grey matter to conclude that if the cavalry had gone in with guns blazing at the very beginning like the Fox bobble heads wanted, the good captain would have ended up dead. But then the right wing would have had their martyr. Jerks!
Jzap: You said it for me. To search one’s soul, one must first have one. Greg, you WERE snarking, weren’t you? I’m willing to give benefits of the doubt as much as the next person, but six decades of GOP bullshit tells me to stop.
Thanks to Greg for raising this issue. It is patriotic to debate going to war. But nobody was debating whether or not to try to save Capt. Phillips. It was unpatriotic to attempt to publicly undermine the delicate efforts to save him. If Newt had a constructive idea, he could have shared it privately with the Administration. Tweeting his little self-serving political potshots was a disservice to Capt. Phillips & to the team who eventually were able to rescue him, no thanks to Newt.
Thanks again, Greg. I hope more commentators will make an example of the Newt.
The Constant Weader at RealityChex.com
It’s a low standard, isn’t it? Praise Republicans when they aren’t lunatics. Pawlenty is the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. He sounds smooth and reasonable–that’s his style–but he’s extremely conservative. He became governor without a majority of votes, thanks to the skewing effect of a third party. He’s governed a state that has always prided itself on a high quality of life (and has historically been willing to pay taxes to support it) by cutting the budget in ways that affect quality of life issues. Whether or not he was directly responsible for a bridge falling into the Mississippi, it’s a fair symbol of what he’s done. He left no margin, and now that Minnesota has been hit hard economically along with everyone else, the cuts go into the quick.
Soul searching??? Really?? Isn’t that what the Republican party was supposed to have been doing all these months? and THIS is what their soul searching has brought them to, rising up against the President of the United Stated. They’ve completely abandonned policy debates, it’s all nonsense all the time now. Absolutely repulsive!
IS THE BUSH BUNCH OF THUGS WAS STILL RUNNING OUR SO CALLED FREE PRESS
The entire episode of the pirate supposed big deal got my blood to beating real hard a heat hot again. I had flash backs of the crime and corruption of the BUSH terrors when simply nothing said or seen could be believed. Now this article comes along much like we are fools to believe and even bigger fools if we don’t speak out using some common sense and reason.
While watching an old flick recently —- a bank robbery was planned—-must start a fire on the other end of town—-all will run off—leaving the bank robbers an easier task at hand.
Now before I go on PRESIDENT OBAMA is MY MAIN MAN. He can survive in the long haul if he gets to clean up the 5 to 7 thousand of the BUSH BUNCH still in [not seen power] in the Pentagon and Political circles in DC.
President Obama is now being annoyed with harsh words by many [not inane political and financial folks] in the USA that see him as inept at running off the many BILDERBERGS on staff and as advisors that is trying best they can to cause a financial wreck to come to our county. Or just THEFT. IE: ROBBER BARONS.
So Rob Emmanuel job is to secure the fate of the Obama administration. And ole Rob knows how to do that from experience, maybe some genetic history passed on from dad. So in the BUSH YEARS OF TERROR we all learned to look beyond the smoke to try the bank robbery going on.
So Pirates from Somalia —– big deal—–what is new about that crazed and starving bunch. I have a deep respect for all mankind for I am one of them too. But those that hard charge me in error I will do what I can to stop them anyway I can.
Now the CIA works wonders in deception in espionage then sabotage and they make things look one way but they are not. Now ole Rob knows those tricks of the Political trade well so now folks just think.
Dwight Baker We The Peoples Advocacy WTP we are providing the only HOPE in saving our great nation. So JOIN IN and ENLIST to serve with your VOICES being heard and your VOTES being counted and moved along to our lobby group in Washington DC to power push the peoples needs, wants and wishes in our cities, states and Federal Governments.
Info contact Dbaker007@stx.rr.com