Actually Coach, shouldn’t that be ‘gun-sight?’

DD, it’s better to keep your enemies within eyesight…….

Coach,

I tend to think as do you and hope we’re right. It IS his call and I DO believe in the young man. He must have his reasons.

I fear he’s treading on thin ice with the more ideologically motivated.

DD, patience, my friend. Patience. It’s my guess, and I could be off my rocker, but it’s my guess that he WILL replace Gates. Maybe he’ll replace him AFTER the Iraqi accord. Maybe he’ll replace him AFTER a ‘main street’ stimulus gets passed.
Either way, I see your point and agree with it. There is NOTHING we can do about the middle east. We will NOT bring peace. We will NOT bring freedom. In fact, our presence does exactly the opposite. Americans are not in danger because of unrest in the middle east. Americans IN THE MIDDLE EAST are in danger. So, here’s a thought: GET OUT.

We’re no different here, either. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. Can you say Minutemen?

But, back to Obama. Patience is a virtue. Obama IS the change we wanted. Now, just give him a chance to push his agenda. If I’m wrong about him, I’ll readily admit it. But, he’s moving faster than any president in modern history. Let’s not get into the ADHD mode of mass media……..Give him (’that one’) a chance.

Coach,

It should be pointed out that Gates is NOT the problem, but ‘the problem’ chose him for the position.

My argument is twofold: for one, it is unprecedented for an incoming administration to retain such a highly visible proponent of a policy publicly disavowed by the president-elect. Yes, there have been instances (Stimson for FDR and that guy Billy Boy chose from the GOP), but the circumstances were VASTLY different (Stimson was a venerable statesman having been Secty of War under Taft and State under Hoover).

The second reason has to do with perspective. As seen with Stimson, the position was once Secty of War but has been changed to Secty of Defense. I find little support of this country’s activities in the Middle East to have ANYTHING to do with defense. Unless, of course, your rationale for subjugating a people is to eliminate the potential for resistance to your empire building.

Gates is a Secty of War, plain and simple. Obama needs to send a signal to this country, AND the world, that the policies currently in place do NOT reflect this country’s beliefs.

Unless, of course, they do.

DD, agreed that it’s a slap in the face if, in fact, Gates stays. Me thinks his economic team realizes that ending the Iraq occupation would save us a few billion a month. But, he also realizes that there will be a lot of money spent in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region, so the ‘war’ checks are still going to be written even if we get OUT of Iraq altogether……..

Coach,

As you’ve said before, the two (economy/Iraq War) are NOT mutually exclusive.

I’m not sure how much our misadventures in the Middle East have added to the problem, but it’s a cinch we could fight the economic war a LOT better if we had a few trillion back that we poured into the sand.

You’re right, we CAN’T change the Middle East. But we can SURE as heil send a message stateside.

You don’t campaign on change and then NOT change. Every administration change I’ve ever seen, party wise, has had a new head of DOD. Given the catastrophic blunder of the current affair and the nationwide distaste for it, retaining Gates is a slap in the face of all Americans.

I’d rather see Gates replaced. One of Obama’s main campaign themes was an end to the war in Iraq. I don’t think that’s likely to happen with Gates…if, it’s possible at all without creating even more problems. Who’s going to take responsibility for this war? Who’s going to hold those responsible accountable when they don’t step up? Is there anybody out there? Or, is this just the latest generation of rich, war-mongering crooks to get away with murder and thievery on the grandest of scales?

DD, it’s my contention that Barry has put the economy front and center and, maybe, he realizes that there’s nothing that can change regarding Iraq/Afghanistan/Syria/Pakista n/Iran/Turkey/Egypt/India/Saud i anyway…..

If you ask me, I’d rather focus on US, here at home, than abroad……

Gates stays at DOD? What the HEIL is going on? Under his watch, we’re bombing weddings, Pakistan and Syria.

I don’t care if he’s the ‘best man’ for the job or what.

I guess the word ‘change’ has … ‘changed.’