Lies We Can Believe In IV
I do not know who would be President on January 20, 2009 if the Obama No Pay to Play corruption scandal takes him down. The media is shocked the President-elect continues to lie? More evidence the media truly did sleep through the Presidential campaign.
The following is the Associated Press’ story on President-elect Obama announcing Gen. Eric K. Shinseki as the next Secretary of Veterans Affairs that appeared in the Boston Globe on December 7, 2008. Because the sentences are almost exactly the same in all the articles in all the hard print and web-based articles I found, it appears this Associated Press piece was the basis for all the articles.
Keep in mind, this is a “news” article by a professional journalist who supposedly went to journalism school. Employing a technique I’ve used in the past, I embed my comments:
Boston Globe, December 7, 2008
Forced out for Iraq predictions, retired general chosen for VA post
WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama has chosen retired General Eric K. Shinseki to be the next Veterans Affairs secretary, turning to a former Army chief of staff once vilified by the Bush administration for questioning its Iraq war strategy (Blogger’s Note: There are no public statements by anyone in the Bush White House that vilified Gen. Shinseki).
Obama will announce the selection of Shinseki, the first Army four-star general of Japanese-American ancestry (Blogger’s Note: The ancestry for the benefit of the skin color and racial obsessed; if we went Cold Turkey as I’ve written so many times, this ridiculous observation would not be made), at a news conference today in Chicago. He will be the first Asian-American (Blogger’s Note: For the skin color and racial obsessed) to hold the post of Veterans Affairs secretary, adding to the growing diversity of Obama's Cabinet (Blogger’s Note: Recall, this is a “news” article).
"I think that General Shinseki is exactly the right person who is going to be able to make sure that we honor our troops when they come home," Obama said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" to be broadcast today.
Shinseki's tenure as Army chief of staff from 1999 to 2003 was marked by continual tensions with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, which boiled over in 2003 when Shinseki testified to Congress that it might take several hundred thousand US troops to control Iraq after the invasion (Blogger’s Note: Several hundred thousand is certainly more than two but I’ll be generous and put the number at 300,000).
Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, belittled the estimate as "wildly off the mark" and the army general was forced out within months. But Shinseki's words proved prophetic after President Bush in early 2007 announced a "surge" of additional troops to Iraq after miscalculating the numbers needed to stem sectarian violence (Blogger’s Note: The surge added 30,000 troops to 135,000 troops already in Iraq. After the surge, there were 165,000 troops in Iraq. It is absurd to argue 165,000 approaches the 300,000 that the “prescient” Gen. Shinseki claimed were needed. If President Bush had used the “several hundred thousand” phrase, no doubt, the liberal extremists who control the media would have cried “politics of fear”. No such cry here. Gen. Shinseki was precisely as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz claimed, “wildly off the mark”.).
Shinseki, 66, was born in Lihue on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. He was educated at West Point, Duke University, and the National War College. A recipient of two Purple Hearts for life-threatening injuries in Vietnam, he was Army chief of staff, vice chief of staff, and commanding general of the Army in Europe.
Obama said he selected Shinseki for the VA post because he "was right" (Blogger’ Note: We’ve already seen that Shinseki was “wrong” and that the Bush administration was right) in predicting that the United States will need more troops in Iraq than Rumsfeld believed at the time.
"When I reflect on the sacrifices that have been made by our veterans and, I think about how so many veterans around the country are struggling even more than those who have not served - higher unemployment rates, higher homeless rates, higher substance abuse rates, medical care that is inadequate - it breaks my heart," Obama told NBC.
Shinseki will take the helm of an agency that has been roundly criticized during the Bush administration for underestimating the amount of funding needed to treat thousands of injured veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Thousands of veterans face six-month waits for disability benefits, despite promises by VA Secretary James Peake and his predecessor, Jim Nicholson, to reduce delays. The department also is scrambling to upgrade technology systems before millions of dollars in new GI benefits takes effect next August.
Upon leaving his post in June 2003, Shinseki sternly warned against arrogance in leadership. "You must love those you lead before you can be an effective leader," he said in a farewell speech.
Obama's choice of Shinseki is the latest indication that the president-elect is making good on his pledge to have a diverse Cabinet (Blogger’s Note: Recall, this is a “news” article; and, the author just can’t get past skin color and race).
In Obama's eight Cabinet announcements so far, white men are the minority with two nominations - Timothy Geithner at Treasury and Robert Gates at Defense. Three are women - Janet Napolitano at Homeland Security, Susan Rice as United Nations ambassador, and Hillary Clinton at State. Eric Holder at the Justice Department is African-American, while Bill Richardson at Commerce is Latino. (Blogger’s Note: President-elect Obama has a long way to go to match President Bush’s Cabinet for diversity as the skin color and racial obsessed recognize “diversity”. I’ve always been a “diversity of thought” guy but I fight against the tide of those obsessed with skin color and race.). (End of Associated Press “news” article.)
Two days after the Associated Press shared its lies, the Boston Globe published this editorial on the same subject:
Boston Globe, December 9, 2008
A truth-teller for the VA (Blogger’s Note: The title is rich for the remarkable irony.)
In the Bush administration, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki committed the crime of truth-telling: He told the Senate in early 2003 that maintaining order in Iraq would take far more U.S. troops than Donald Rumsfeld planned for (Blogger’s Note: As we saw above, this claim has been debunked.). It cost him his job as Army chief of staff (Blogger’s Note: This is also a lie. Gen. Shinseki’s retirement from the Army was announced in the Washington Times on April 19, 2002. Gen. Shinseki gave his exaggerated and fear-mongering testimony to Congress that more than 300,000 troops would be needed in Iraq on February 25, 2003. If Bush fired Shinseki for his testimony, then the facts show Bush to be the prescient one as Bush fired Shinseki 9 months before the general’s “wildly off the mark” testimony.). That same virtue, honesty (Blogger’s Note: or lies and fear-mongering, if we want to be more accurate), should stand him in good stead now that President-elect Barack Obama has nominated him to be secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (Blogger’s Note: But remarkably not a field command where the General’s “prescience” could be used to benefit men and women actually fighting, well, provided the general had a demonstrated record of being "right" instead of his now high-profile record of being incredibly "wrong" on the most significant decision of the day. No, to direct the men and woman doing the actual fighting, President-elect Obama is not using his own people or his own generals, he’s using President Bush’s: SecDef Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus).
The choice is a stinging rebuke not just of Rumsfeld and President Bush for failing to take Shinseki's advice (Blogger’s Note: Bush did not take the advice of a man who was wrong) on the Iraq war, but also of the administration's weak effort to solve the medical, educational, emotional and employment problems that veterans are having in returning to civilian life.
If confirmed, Shinseki will face the challenge first of reducing the unconscionable six months to a year that it now takes many veterans to qualify for disability coverage, or to transition from military medical care to the veterans' system. Also, veterans’ health facilities often lack the specialists needed to treat and counsel veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder.
The new secretary will have to oversee implementation of the expanded GI Bill educational benefits that Congress wisely approved earlier this year.
Shinseki, who lost most of one foot in combat in Vietnam and had to persuade military doctors to let him return to duty, said discharged service members "deserve a smooth, error-free, no-fail, benefits-assured transition into our ranks as veterans."
While no one doubts that Shinseki would speak up if he thought Congress or administration numbers-crunchers were not giving him the money he needs (Blogger’s Note: Gen. Shinseki spoke up in February, 2003; as we’ve seen, a full 9 months after his retirement was announced; he gets no credit for “honesty” since he risked nothing as his future was already decided. Leaders lead. Where was Shinseki’s “honesty” when he was still advising the President in an active capacity?), there is concern that his low-key style might not be up to the formidable task of shaking up the department's bureaucracy. Critics said he should have fought harder to get Rumsfeld to plan for the several hundred thousand troops (Blogger’s Note: 300,000 or more) that Shinseki predicted would be needed to occupy Iraq (Blogger’s Note: Iraq was pacified with 165,000.). But in that dispute, Shinseki could not count on the backing of the president (Blogger's Note: probably because he was wrong). Obama made clear in nominating him that Shinseki would have that support. That should put some steel in his management of the department. It badly needs a forceful advocate at its head. (End of Boston Globe editorial.)
I do not know who would be President on January 20, 2009 if the Obama No Pay to Play corruption scandal takes him down. The media is shocked the President-elect continues to lie? More evidence the media truly did sleep through the Presidential campaign.
The following is the Associated Press’ story on President-elect Obama announcing Gen. Eric K. Shinseki as the next Secretary of Veterans Affairs that appeared in the Boston Globe on December 7, 2008. Because the sentences are almost exactly the same in all the articles in all the hard print and web-based articles I found, it appears this Associated Press piece was the basis for all the articles.
Keep in mind, this is a “news” article by a professional journalist who supposedly went to journalism school. Employing a technique I’ve used in the past, I embed my comments:
Boston Globe, December 7, 2008
Forced out for Iraq predictions, retired general chosen for VA post
WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama has chosen retired General Eric K. Shinseki to be the next Veterans Affairs secretary, turning to a former Army chief of staff once vilified by the Bush administration for questioning its Iraq war strategy (Blogger’s Note: There are no public statements by anyone in the Bush White House that vilified Gen. Shinseki).
Obama will announce the selection of Shinseki, the first Army four-star general of Japanese-American ancestry (Blogger’s Note: The ancestry for the benefit of the skin color and racial obsessed; if we went Cold Turkey as I’ve written so many times, this ridiculous observation would not be made), at a news conference today in Chicago. He will be the first Asian-American (Blogger’s Note: For the skin color and racial obsessed) to hold the post of Veterans Affairs secretary, adding to the growing diversity of Obama's Cabinet (Blogger’s Note: Recall, this is a “news” article).
"I think that General Shinseki is exactly the right person who is going to be able to make sure that we honor our troops when they come home," Obama said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" to be broadcast today.
Shinseki's tenure as Army chief of staff from 1999 to 2003 was marked by continual tensions with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, which boiled over in 2003 when Shinseki testified to Congress that it might take several hundred thousand US troops to control Iraq after the invasion (Blogger’s Note: Several hundred thousand is certainly more than two but I’ll be generous and put the number at 300,000).
Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, belittled the estimate as "wildly off the mark" and the army general was forced out within months. But Shinseki's words proved prophetic after President Bush in early 2007 announced a "surge" of additional troops to Iraq after miscalculating the numbers needed to stem sectarian violence (Blogger’s Note: The surge added 30,000 troops to 135,000 troops already in Iraq. After the surge, there were 165,000 troops in Iraq. It is absurd to argue 165,000 approaches the 300,000 that the “prescient” Gen. Shinseki claimed were needed. If President Bush had used the “several hundred thousand” phrase, no doubt, the liberal extremists who control the media would have cried “politics of fear”. No such cry here. Gen. Shinseki was precisely as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz claimed, “wildly off the mark”.).
Shinseki, 66, was born in Lihue on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. He was educated at West Point, Duke University, and the National War College. A recipient of two Purple Hearts for life-threatening injuries in Vietnam, he was Army chief of staff, vice chief of staff, and commanding general of the Army in Europe.
Obama said he selected Shinseki for the VA post because he "was right" (Blogger’ Note: We’ve already seen that Shinseki was “wrong” and that the Bush administration was right) in predicting that the United States will need more troops in Iraq than Rumsfeld believed at the time.
"When I reflect on the sacrifices that have been made by our veterans and, I think about how so many veterans around the country are struggling even more than those who have not served - higher unemployment rates, higher homeless rates, higher substance abuse rates, medical care that is inadequate - it breaks my heart," Obama told NBC.
Shinseki will take the helm of an agency that has been roundly criticized during the Bush administration for underestimating the amount of funding needed to treat thousands of injured veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Thousands of veterans face six-month waits for disability benefits, despite promises by VA Secretary James Peake and his predecessor, Jim Nicholson, to reduce delays. The department also is scrambling to upgrade technology systems before millions of dollars in new GI benefits takes effect next August.
Upon leaving his post in June 2003, Shinseki sternly warned against arrogance in leadership. "You must love those you lead before you can be an effective leader," he said in a farewell speech.
Obama's choice of Shinseki is the latest indication that the president-elect is making good on his pledge to have a diverse Cabinet (Blogger’s Note: Recall, this is a “news” article; and, the author just can’t get past skin color and race).
In Obama's eight Cabinet announcements so far, white men are the minority with two nominations - Timothy Geithner at Treasury and Robert Gates at Defense. Three are women - Janet Napolitano at Homeland Security, Susan Rice as United Nations ambassador, and Hillary Clinton at State. Eric Holder at the Justice Department is African-American, while Bill Richardson at Commerce is Latino. (Blogger’s Note: President-elect Obama has a long way to go to match President Bush’s Cabinet for diversity as the skin color and racial obsessed recognize “diversity”. I’ve always been a “diversity of thought” guy but I fight against the tide of those obsessed with skin color and race.). (End of Associated Press “news” article.)
Two days after the Associated Press shared its lies, the Boston Globe published this editorial on the same subject:
Boston Globe, December 9, 2008
A truth-teller for the VA (Blogger’s Note: The title is rich for the remarkable irony.)
In the Bush administration, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki committed the crime of truth-telling: He told the Senate in early 2003 that maintaining order in Iraq would take far more U.S. troops than Donald Rumsfeld planned for (Blogger’s Note: As we saw above, this claim has been debunked.). It cost him his job as Army chief of staff (Blogger’s Note: This is also a lie. Gen. Shinseki’s retirement from the Army was announced in the Washington Times on April 19, 2002. Gen. Shinseki gave his exaggerated and fear-mongering testimony to Congress that more than 300,000 troops would be needed in Iraq on February 25, 2003. If Bush fired Shinseki for his testimony, then the facts show Bush to be the prescient one as Bush fired Shinseki 9 months before the general’s “wildly off the mark” testimony.). That same virtue, honesty (Blogger’s Note: or lies and fear-mongering, if we want to be more accurate), should stand him in good stead now that President-elect Barack Obama has nominated him to be secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (Blogger’s Note: But remarkably not a field command where the General’s “prescience” could be used to benefit men and women actually fighting, well, provided the general had a demonstrated record of being "right" instead of his now high-profile record of being incredibly "wrong" on the most significant decision of the day. No, to direct the men and woman doing the actual fighting, President-elect Obama is not using his own people or his own generals, he’s using President Bush’s: SecDef Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus).
The choice is a stinging rebuke not just of Rumsfeld and President Bush for failing to take Shinseki's advice (Blogger’s Note: Bush did not take the advice of a man who was wrong) on the Iraq war, but also of the administration's weak effort to solve the medical, educational, emotional and employment problems that veterans are having in returning to civilian life.
If confirmed, Shinseki will face the challenge first of reducing the unconscionable six months to a year that it now takes many veterans to qualify for disability coverage, or to transition from military medical care to the veterans' system. Also, veterans’ health facilities often lack the specialists needed to treat and counsel veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder.
The new secretary will have to oversee implementation of the expanded GI Bill educational benefits that Congress wisely approved earlier this year.
Shinseki, who lost most of one foot in combat in Vietnam and had to persuade military doctors to let him return to duty, said discharged service members "deserve a smooth, error-free, no-fail, benefits-assured transition into our ranks as veterans."
While no one doubts that Shinseki would speak up if he thought Congress or administration numbers-crunchers were not giving him the money he needs (Blogger’s Note: Gen. Shinseki spoke up in February, 2003; as we’ve seen, a full 9 months after his retirement was announced; he gets no credit for “honesty” since he risked nothing as his future was already decided. Leaders lead. Where was Shinseki’s “honesty” when he was still advising the President in an active capacity?), there is concern that his low-key style might not be up to the formidable task of shaking up the department's bureaucracy. Critics said he should have fought harder to get Rumsfeld to plan for the several hundred thousand troops (Blogger’s Note: 300,000 or more) that Shinseki predicted would be needed to occupy Iraq (Blogger’s Note: Iraq was pacified with 165,000.). But in that dispute, Shinseki could not count on the backing of the president (Blogger's Note: probably because he was wrong). Obama made clear in nominating him that Shinseki would have that support. That should put some steel in his management of the department. It badly needs a forceful advocate at its head. (End of Boston Globe editorial.)
posted by Zack at 8:17 AM
3 Comments:
hysterical!!!
I think you may be an Obama Obsessed negrophobe.
Anonymous,
Okay, I'll play along for at least one iteration. If you show some imagination or any original thought we could dance for a while.
So, I have no idea how many of my posts you read but I have to assume you read more than the post where you placed this comment as I barely mention President-elect Obama in the post.
Let's consider your post almost word-for-word.
"I" - excellent, you acknowlege your own identity.
"think" - excellent, practicing the act that I celebrate the most, people thinking.
"you" - okay, neutral; an acknowledgement of me.
"may be" - oops, now we have a problem. You don't know? What evidence did you assess that you don't know for sure? You see, when I express an opinion, I support it with fact. Why no support?
"Obama" - again, I barely mention Obama in this post. What in this post makes you think Obama is the object of my "obesession"? Or, do you want my obsession to be Obama so no matter what I write you'll conclude it's "Obama"?
"Obsessed" - suggesting some pathology. So, again, what's your evidence. You could be right, but let's read the argument.
"negrophobe" - suggesting some pathology. But again, on what evidence. What other posts did you read and please supply your interpretation (you do think, after all) of the words I wrote. Or, do you want me to be a negrophobe so badly that no matter what I write you would interpret it so?
The last three words ring of group think on some hate-filled, left-wing blog so now I'm not sure you think for yourself or if you just repeat words you hear others say.
I know, it's a lot of questions. How about if you just let us know which posts you read to support your ridiculous charge, okay?
For those that didn't read my post, I criticized a Japanese-American (for the skin color and racial obsessed) general who was grotesquely wrong about how many troops would be needed to pacify Iraq and was hailed for it.
December 18, 5:16 pm
Post a Comment
<< Home