General Stanley McChrystal has already issued his apology for public infractions against the Vice President and other political leaders.
Why?
Of course we all knew it was coming because it’s now customary to explain what you really meant the day after you said it. As in (paraphrasing), “what I meant by ‘VP Biden is an asshole’ is that ‘VP Biden has my unwavering commitment.’” Hmmm.
What would be a whole lot more respectable (at least to me) when one of these giant public figures shoves his whole lower body down his throat, would be to call a press conference to explain, “yes, that’s precisely what I meant.” Or even, “what, you’ve never made a dumbass remark?” It’s hard to believe that professional mouthpieces can make such errors, yet it seems to happen once per week. Sometimes twice.
Remember President Obama’s gaffe on the Special Olympics?
Or, Vice President Biden’s long list of dumbass comments?
Then there’s Jesse James, David Letterman, Tiger Woods, Governor Mark Sanford, Governor James McGreevey, President Bill Clinton, Senator John Ensign, radio host Jay Severin, Bernie Madoff, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Phelps, Michael Vick, etc, etc, etc. Why are professional athletes and politicians constantly telling us how sorry they are?
Don’t get me wrong, a heartfelt apology can always go a long way to mending relationships, but I just think it might be refreshing to hear something like, “I may have made a mistake, but I did [insert stupid action] because I thought it was pretty awesome and figured I wouldn’t get caught. If people don’t like it, I can’t help that.” In the case of General McChrystal he could add, “I didn’t realize people actually read Rolling Stone magazine.”
However, this is the world of imitation, hidden agenda, lack of character, double talk, & misdirection where a few cocktails and a few all-nighters can make a person forget what he really meant or what his purpose really is. If that’s what you meant to say, then just say it. It’s not a big fucking deal.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Tommy, I give you some well-deserved props in my entry for tomorrow:
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjun10/Millennials06-10.html
You are one of my Gen-X heroes.
charles
Sure, I’ve made a book’s worth of stupid comments in my life, but I usually recover quite well. Still, I’m always amazed at how people who are older than me, with more life experience, more power, more fame, and more money can make such errors in judgement (in the first place), then do all the wrong things afterwards.
Charles,
Likewise, you’re definitely one of my heroes.
Murray,
Right? It almost makes me think it’s intentional. How is it possible for professional speakers/spokepeople who have been doing this for decades to say or do such things?
“People do shit. We have reasons for doing shit. In that order.”
Expecting perfection is ridiculous. Even with my obsessive criticism of things and my intense focus on solving problems, I do not expect perfection of myself, let alone anyone else. Even nature sometimes has methods of compensation if our DNA has broken or disjointed arrangements. This modern obsession with sensationalizing every stupid thing that is done probably comes from the use of television to some degree. Every little foible or idiosyncrasy of a person becomes a sit-com or an Oprah episode, trying to find a “reason” why we believe in things or why we desire certain things or why seemingly mature, self-controlled individuals will make some dumb mistake.
I expect good work, not perfection, from people. No matter how hard we train an animal, we cannot train it to not BE an animal. Humans are animals and have the same instincts and emotions that they evolved with, as well as a world inside their heads that imagines things to respond to with those instincts and emotions, yet we expect people in the public eye to somehow eliminate those connections and put switches and relays in place of flesh and blood and neurotransmitters, all while we are living day to day with our own inability to do so.
If McChrystal is unable to keep his mouth shut around reporters, then punish him for that or replace him. Otherwise, accept that a bitchin’ soldier is a happy soldier and move on with the job: creating a stable enough government to be exploited for their resources, even if the main resource is just a dirty town next to a landing strip for opium planes. What McChrystal perhaps needs to learn is “Who’s really in charge.”, and perhaps Obama will show him his own puppet strings and they can have a beer about it.
Somehow, do we subconsciously believe these powerful figures are capable of time travel to correct their mistakes, or do we really want to be ruled by robots that somehow never break or make mistakes that we didn’t foresee would BE mistakes when we demanded they take action through our demands for Stuff and the always elusive Security?
Seems as though we’ve sunk to a societal need for sensationalism and scapegoats – an interesting combination when you think about it. Most of our lives are dull and routine (need for stimuation/sensationalism) because so many of us sit on couches and watch TV or movies or computer screens. We don’t go out and do things as much as we used to. Even our work is typically boring for most people. But none of this is “our fault” hence the need to blame someone else for our discontent. Scapegoat.
The Obama reaction to the BP oil situation is classic. He didn’t react fast enough. He’s to blame for allowing deep water drilling. No, wait. BP is to blame. They didn’t follow safety standards. Oh no, the whole English population is to blame because BP is British. Oh, wait, it’s Wall Street.
No, I guess it really is Obama’s fault. After all, he’s in charge of everything, right? Then we blame him because he doesn’t appear pissed off enough. So he responds totally out of character by saying he needs to know who’s ass to kick. OK, so it’s the President’s job to kick ass. That’s going to help stop the spill.
Then everyone is pissed because there are more drills operating in deep water. So he stops those. Now the complaint is this is costing thousands of jobs. What is the President thinking – taking jobs at a time like this?
Then there’s the parents of some little girl who have a microphone shoved in their faces moments after the police have found the body. “How do you feel,” asks the reporter (who’s on the screen we’re sitting watching). Oh, and if the parents don’t answer convincingly enough (to the reporter’s satisfaction) they become suspects.
It’s craziness!
My main beef is that the media is running the show – providing both complacency among citizens and then by providing stimulation that substitutes for activity, and, let’s face it, SELLS PRODUCTS!
Now, to me, we’ve come to the root cause of what underpins us all. Marketing and advertising. Tommy, you talk about it all the time – the need for money to buy stuff you don’t need. Why do we do this? And, yes, you are free when you make your own decisions without being influenced by SALES techniques.
Sorry if I mispoke or offended. (Not really!)
A reporter’s job is to sit with you twentyfour hours a day and desensitize you to their presense. As the brain works through stream of consciousness, the mouth is soon to follow. The reporter is their waiting to write down anything worthy of buzz.
Even if you are a public figure, you are not going to cease to be human and stop the process of periodically downloading your brain. Unlike the rest of us, you just happen to have tape recorders following you everywhere.
Who doesn’t talk shit about their boss?
Unfortunately, we love drama, and due to the pay grades this takes up valuable television time when I could otherwise be watching re-runs of the A-Team.
ONEGUY says, “Then everyone is pissed because there are more drills operating in deep water. So he stops those. Now the complaint is this is costing thousands of jobs. What is the President thinking – taking jobs at a time like this?”
Everyone is pissed at somebody else because they fail to grasp their own piece of responsibility every time they turn over an engine when they really don’t NEED to. Or, every time the grass gets mowed while thinking, “why do I do this bullshit?”
Don’t get me wrong, we’re living in a tough system that has lasted longer than most of the eldest humans on earth (not by much). We’re pissed because we don’t really know what the fuck to do about it. It must be somebody’s fault…. not ours. After all, we’re powerless, right? Plus, my whole life I’ve been told I’m valuable (the self esteem movement). Hmmmm, sure.
You’re only valuable if you create value, which is actually not so simple to figure out while living in this Grid. That’s what I think I’m always talking about. Personally, I’m pissed about WASTE. So, yeah, if somebody shows up with a proud demonstration of vast wastage, I’m pissed at him — especially if he/she is a person with a lot of power. Waste denotes a lack of purpose with purpose being a gift/slag/byproduct of cognition. Wastage drives me insane — even when I do it. So, to see the industrialization of waste driven by something called “consumerism” makes me want to either opt out or embrace psychotropic drugs. All in or all out. Believe me, “all out” is much more difficult. As I see it, in America we’re living in a mostly purposeless society — this I’d like to change, and don’t see a future in waste.
Cagesafe says, “Even if you are a public figure, you are not going to cease to be human and stop the process of periodically downloading your brain. Unlike the rest of us, you just happen to have tape recorders following you everywhere.”
True, a figure that public is always being watched. Well, not always. There’s a difference between talking shit about your boss to your wife and talking shit about your boss to Rolling Stone Magazine, and I’d think that a guy like Gen. McChrystal would recognize that. Now, if Rolling Stone released coverage of Gen McChrystal talking shit to his closest confidants, we’d all demand an apology from Rolling Stone. That leads me to believe he meant to do it, so I’m so very curious about the apology. That’s the part that doesn’t make sense to me.
I would rather he took your approach and said, “everybody talks shit about his boss.” I think everybody would say, “yeah, that’s true.” Then I could go back to watching re-runs of the Golden Girls on my 52″ plasma screen.
However, your assertion that “everybody talks shit about his boss” isn’t true. I’ve had several bosses (3 out of several hundred) that I supported with true, unwavering commitment because they were completely transparent, honorable, and genuinely concerned with a purpose. I’ve had a few “bosses” that I would have taken a bullet for but several hundred “subordinates” who I would’ve done the same. That’s not to say they didn’t make mistakes. Mistakes are one thing, but subterfuge, self-worship, and hidden agendas are completely different. Mistakes can be easily overlooked and should be celebrated on some level.
Perhaps Gen. McChrystal knows that these politicians would never take the bullet that he sees young men and women in Afghanistan take everyday. Perhaps that’s the source of his frustration. I think it’s a valid frustration that many military leaders feel, but I’d rather hear it from him.
I would have never dishonored my minority of great bosses with off-hand comments to one of the world’s most visible publications. The others that deserved to be scuttled, sure — no problem. That makes me believe General McChrystal meant every word, so I don’t want to hear an apology. It weakens his purpose.
I’m glad to see that Golden Girls is your choice of 80′s sitcoms. It was my little sister’s as well.
I have not read the rolling stones article. The little I know about the situation is what I heard this morning while cruising around in my gas guzzling V-6. But from what I understand, what the General is guilty of is not correcting his subordinates for making comments about Joe Biden and others during briefs. The second thing he was guilty of was stating that he did not want to even read an e-mail, while rolling his eyes, while in front of the reporter.
I was the one that threw the phrase “talking shit” into the mix.
Maybe the radio underplayed what actually happened. It was NPR that I was listening too, and as I said, I didn’t read the article.
If what I heard was an accurate description, I think that the whole thing is blown a bit out of proportion. And if that’s the case, I don’t think an apology is undermining any sentiments.
I’ve been to a lot of morning briefs. Insulting Group or District on a daily basis makes everyone feel better about whatever they have to do. It keeps any resentment out of the immediate unit, and because Group and District is so separated, there is no real resentment there. Healthy venting.
As I’ve said a few times, I’m basing it on what I heard about the article – the summary – I didn’t read it.
On NPR, they also interviewed the guy who wrote the article. It was not a scenario where he sat across the table and said “I’m here to interview you, what do you think of Obama?”
He travelled through several countries with McChrystal and had been living with them. Being a good journalist is the art of creating trust. So General McChrystal was duked and displayed poor judgement, but after listening to the Rolling Stones journalist describing the scenarios, my point is that it is a matter of purposely mincing words and pulling things out of context for the sake of creating a buzz. To me it is no different that Brangelina except that someone is now being forced to resign.
I will not disagree with your comments on talking shit about bosses. Maybe we shouldn’t have made jokes at the expense of Group and District. I know we definitely would not be making any jokes if the media was in the room (although that’s not 100% true… but this is not the place for details…) But we were also having briefs in a nice airconditioned room, not in Afghanistan, and I’ve never had a journalist live with me.
Because I like to be redundant, I’ll say this: I don’t mean to sound like I am defending McChrystal. I don’t know enough about him. I don’t mean to defend shit talking. I wasn’t thinking of specific bosses when I said that (there’s a few I wouldn’t talk shit about.) When I had talked shit about my bosses, it wasn’t to my wife, it was to my bosses (and my wife) – but I guess that’s different. I agree with you – sometimes when people are talking shit it is because they want it to get back to the person they’re talking about – and their subconscious is often smarter than they are. I also agree that if that was the case, his apology weakened his purpose.
What I am saying is “whatever.” Yes, I know that’s not constructive, but if I went to live with you for a few weeks and became your buddy and noted everything you said – and attached you to the things people in your presence said, I can make you say anything. I can cut and paste and make all sorts of things come out of your mouth. I’m going to do it in a way that gets the most readers and the most media. So basically, nothing I say is really trustworthy.
As the recipient of this information through the radio, newspaper, whatever, I am not going to cling to any words that someone puts in print for me. The words and stories have as much legitimacy as The A-Team. I am more comfortable watching The A-Team, however, as no one is trying to pass it off as more than what it is.
Just glancing over what I wrote, who am I to assume that they don’t have nice air conditioned briefing rooms in Afghanistan?
Cagesafe,
Good points. Without being there, who knows what he really meant? Looks like he got canned regardless hence the risk of having a Rolling Stones reporter sitting around in the first place? I mean, didn’t everybody watch “Almost Famous?” I am a Golden God!! I have a feeling they won’t be asked to join in any other military assignments for awhile.
I didn’t hear the NPR interview, but it sounds compelling, so thanks for the summary.
Your gas guzzler doesn’t happen to be a GMC G-series van does it? Like the A Team?