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January 9, 2013

Stupid Is as Stupid Does: Brennen, Hagel, Kerry

They are all stupid people. Some friends said I shouldn't write this because it is a subjective judgment and sounds mean-spirited. But honest, it'strue.

Nobody would ever say that their predecessors -- Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates, and David Petraeus --€” were not intelligent and accomplished. But these guys are simply not in that category. Smart people can make bad judgments; regular people with common sense often make bad judgments less often. But stupid, arrogant people with terrible ideas are a disaster. -- Rubin Reports » Noxious Nominations: The Four Horsemen of the American Foreign Policy Apocalypse

Posted by gerardvanderleun at January 9, 2013 10:44 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

Rubin is right.

Obama, Kerry, Brennan, and Hagel all have one major point of agreement. Namely that Islam is misunderstood and the Israelis are the cause of most of the strife in the ME. If I were a member of al Qaeda, I would be smiling as I watched this process unfold.

The other similarity they all share is being unqualified by experience or demeanor to do their respective jobs with any degree of expertise.

These selections stand out as among the worst decisions Obama has made. And he has made many.

Posted by: Jimmy J. at January 10, 2013 8:28 AM

It's often the case that a President's second term is less successful than the first. The True Believers and long-term loyalists swept into office in the first term often don't want to stay around for the second term. They're tired from the grind, and from vomiting too many times in their wastebaskets over the crappy and scary decisions they have had to make, as well as the inescapable compromises. They feel dirty from having betrayed their principles way too many times.

The Second-Termers are worse. They're in it only for themselves. Either they're old timers looking to go out on a high note, or climbers looking to get the first big important title on their resume. Their loyalty to the Big Guy is just not there. As such, the Big Guy has way too much conflict among the ranks, and it's harder to get anything done, because of all the prima donnas fighting against each other. The First-Termers had their loyalty to Him and His Objectives as the means to discipline themselves. Not for the Second Termers.

It's even worse for the last two lame duck years. Everybody important and ambitious bails, to climb aboard the next big thing. They are replaced by the youngsters looking for an early "White House" label on their resume. Their objective is "don't screw up", just do a reasonable facsimile of a good job, so you can get a better one somewhere else.

The Big Guy wanders the halls, muttering to himself "Who are all these people, and what happened to my guys". The whole Administration is on autopilot. Nothing big is accomplished. The President makes some half-assed pronouncements of short-term initiatives, everybody says "That's nice", and goes back to doing nothing. Every day, the Big Guy can feel his power draining away. He meets people, and they treat him like a quaint piece of furniture. He can't get anything done. He flails a little, gives up, and then just waits for the blessed end.

I'm not exactly sure why any President would want a second term, they are usually disappointments.

Posted by: John A. Fleming at January 10, 2013 3:11 PM

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