It will be interesting to see how Andrew Sullivan responds to this article in the WaPo. Sullivan’s been on the rampage lately against ABC-TV for its recent interviews of US soldiers in Iraq who said on the record they believe Rumsfeld should resign.
What would Sullivan say about the White House’s apparent efforts to smear the ABC reporter by publicizing that he’s….gay? Not just gay, but also Canadian! (Can you imagine?) Read the article; it’s worse than you think.
This administration’s gleeful willingness to pulverize anyone it perceives as being in its way is frightening. What’s more frightening is that they seem to be getting away with it. Maybe I’m wrong; is there a lot of outrage back home about this in the mainstream press, on TV, etc.?
[Via the best news blog in DC.]
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By vaara
If criticizing the President is a court-martial offense, then there a whole lot of military men and women who ought to be in Leavenworth for comments they made between 1993 and 2001.
Especially in January/February 1993, when the top brass was on the verge of outright mutiny over Clinton’s plan to end anti-gay discrimination.
July 19, 2003 @ 1:11 pm | Comment
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By richard
Sullivan seems to see it as high treason — now. Of course, when the military mouthed off in the case of Clinton, they were just expressing their true feelings, which is admirable….
July 19, 2003 @ 3:08 pm | Comment
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By Adam Morris
Sullivan actually does have a point. Going on camera and saying that he would demand the resignation of the commanders of the field certainly isn’t like joining the other army, but I do think that it is a violation of some code of ethics. I’m not sure if we can accurately describe what happened as “treason,” but I think that it borders along there somewhere.
You have to wonder what is going on in the minds of the troops. We all know that they tend to be very conservative and pro-Republican, to demand the resignation most likely only represents a small handful of such people, but when there is so much evidence that morale is declining — or at least that the situation in Iraq appears very grim indeed — you have to wonder where this is going to go.
Imagine, if the troops are there in numbers close to they are now, with France and other countries demanding a UN mandate, and an election going on. It will be pretty awful.
July 20, 2003 @ 12:50 am | Comment
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By richard
Yes, pretty awful, and Bush is reaping that which he hath sown.
True, it was dumb of the soldiers to go so far out on a limb. But I remember how some soldiers (including one officer, if I remember) blasted Clinton & Co. over Somalia, and the right did very little complaining then. And Clinton didn’t react by smearing the reporter who told the story as being gay and — heavens! — Canadian.
July 20, 2003 @ 3:07 am | Comment