# Thus passes McChrystal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 22, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113 "2010-06-22T12:54:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/41 "2010-06-22T20:52:36Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > The suggestion is that McChrystal’s comments, while relatively innocuous on the surface, suggest a willingness to do gross violence to the constitutional order unless he’s made happy - just as the hypothetical bully is threatening to destroy the sand castle/bar/car/whatever when he comments what a shame it would be if “something” happened to it. Ah. Seems kind of a stretch (though I get the slippery slope argument you elucidated above). “Disrespectful dummy” is more my read on the situation. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/42 "2010-06-22T20:53:05Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > The reporter that conducted the interview claims that he, the General and the staff bacially got drunk togeather while being forced to bus to Paris due to the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland. Honestly, that seems a lot more likely to me then the various theories of Machvellian plots. Even generals due dumb things when sloshed. What is your source for that? I know they ended up spending more time together because of the interruption of air travel, but I hadn’t heard about the drunk part. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/43 "2010-06-22T21:18:12Z")
Chris Matthews is interviewing the senior editor of RS, and he claims that everything, including the comments from aids, was cleared with McChrystal himself. He also mentioned that the Biden comment was made within the first 24 hours, so it wasn’t something that happened after weeks of having the reporter around where they either got too close, or forgot he was there. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/44 "2010-06-22T21:19:31Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > What is your source for that? I know they ended up spending more time together because of the interruption of air travel, but I hadn’t heard about the drunk part. From [here](http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/06/how-mcchyrstal-and-co-blew-the-rolling-stone-profile.php?ref=fpa) The Rolling Stone article also makes it pretty clear that at least some of them got pretty plastered while they were actually in Paris. > [@](#): > > By midnight at Kitty O’Shea’s, much of Team America is completely shitfaced. Two officers do an Irish jig mixed with steps from a traditional Afghan wedding dance, while McChrystal’s top advisers lock arms and sing a slurred song of their own invention. “Afghanistan!” they bellow. “Afghanistan!” They call it their Afghanistan song. > > McChrystal steps away from the circle, observing his team. “All these men,” he tells me. “I’d die for them. And they’d die for me.” Plus it just kinda makes sense to me. There really isn’t any plus side to randomly snarking on the Prez to reporters, at a time when the President is activley backing the strategy McChrystal wanted. Previous, similar incidents with other Generals and with McChrystal himself happened when the General leaked to reporters about policy differences he was having in an effort to try and force the President into agreeing. “Biden’s a dick” isn’t really a policy difference. Saying that he’s purposely trying to get booted from a military mission that he himself spent months trying to convince the gov’t to commit to seems unlikely, and even if it was true, there are plenty of ways to do it that are both more likely to work (after all, its hardly certain that Obama will actually fire him tomorrow), and would be less embarrassing for the General. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/45 "2010-06-22T21:22:40Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > From [here](http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/06/how-mcchyrstal-and-co-blew-the-rolling-stone-profile.php?ref=fpa) > > The Rolling Stone article also makes it pretty clear that at least some of them got pretty plastered while they were actually in Paris. OK. But it’s unclear how many of those juicy quotes came from that episode. In fact, it’s clear that at least one did not (see my post above about Biden). ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/46 "2010-06-22T21:27:58Z")
[McChrystal resigns.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/) Or at least submits his resignation, pending acceptance (or not) by Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/47 "2010-06-22T21:29:45Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > OK. But it’s unclear how many of those juicy quotes came from that episode. In fact, it’s clear that at least one did not (see my post above about Biden). Fair enough. Alternative theory: McChrystal and his staff may be surprisingly stupid even when sober. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/48 "2010-06-22T21:33:34Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > [McChrystal resigns.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/) Or at least submits his resignation, pending acceptance (or not) by Obama. You’re a sneaky one! You edited your post before I could ask if Obama had accepted the resignation. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/49 "2010-06-22T21:37:24Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You’re a sneaky one! You edited your post before I could ask if Obama had accepted the resignation. Sorry about that! I wanted to clarify 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/50 "2010-06-22T22:33:32Z")
From reading [this](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/22/rolling-stone-mcchrystal-_n_621100.html), it doesn’t sound like McChrystal is headed for a good time tomorrow, and I cn see why might just want to quit and get it over with. > [@](#): > > Gibbs said McChrystal had not offered his resignation, in part because he has not yet spoken to or seen Obama, who was angry when his press secretary gave him the story Monday night. > > Gibbs refused to describe how angry the president was, except to say: “You would know it if you saw it.” According to the article, Gibbs also "repeatedly declined to say that McChrystal’s job was safe,’ and McChrystal has not been told whether he will keep his job. Those are not the kinds of things you want to hear when you’re on your way to a meeting with the boss. And if all that’s not scary enough, Hillary is going to be there too. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/51 "2010-06-22T23:50:34Z")
Is he flying back from Afghanistan? If so, that’s gonna be one helluva long flight! ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/52 "2010-06-23T04:43:47Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > 😕 > > straining to grasp the specifics of the joke… The good general is special forces, his day job for most of his career was to over throw govts. Declan Oops spelled the good generals name completely wrong ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/53 "2010-06-23T05:02:03Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > And if all that’s not scary enough, Hillary is going to be there too. I tell you this: I am a fairly brave person. I laugh danger in the face. But if I was locked in a room with Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Rahm Emanuel and they were all upset with me, I’d turn into a crying five year old and hide behind the credenza. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/54 "2010-06-23T06:45:24Z")
After the banking and insurance bailouts, the shift from nominal democracy to government by the wealthy for the wealthy is complete, so I guess someone like McCrystal is made for the next stage in the empire’s political journey, isn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/55 "2010-06-23T07:01:41Z")
> [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](#): > > I tell you this: > > I am a fairly brave person. I laugh danger in the face. But if I was locked in a room with Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Rahm Emanuel and they were all upset with me, I’d turn into a crying five year old and hide behind the credenza. Yeah, well they’d better have a good security detail in there with them, as Gen. McChrystal could beat up anybody in the room, otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/56 "2010-06-23T07:04:37Z")
Simultaneously. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Camus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba8739/32.png) [@Camus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Camus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/57 "2010-06-23T09:46:50Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > The good general is special forces, his day job for most of his career was to over throw govts. That’s not what special forces troops do, otherwise Saddam (pre-2003), Kim Jong Il, Qaddafi, or numerous other leaders of foreign governments would have been toppled long ago. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/58 "2010-06-23T09:49:50Z")
Shall we just say destabilise governments, instead then? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/59 "2010-06-23T10:49:31Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > [Direct link to Rolling Stone article](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/119236). Thanks for the link, **Diogenes**. Beats just reading what somewhat thinks about what someone who _did_ read the article, thinks about it. 😃 I’m still unclear: Was the Rolling Stones reporter present in the General’s Paris suite, or was this second-hand via leak? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113/60 "2010-06-23T11:00:53Z")
It sounds like McChrystal is going to get canned. And I did say canned, with two ns. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thus-passes-mcchrystal/544113.md?page=4)