Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Republicans don’t trust women.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it’s a trap.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Military / RIP, Norman Schwarzkopf

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82Comments

  2. 2.

    Evolving Deep Southerner

    As far as Saddam Hussein being a great military strategist, he is neither a strategist, nor is he schooled in the operational art, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general, nor is he a soldier. Other than that he’s a great military man.

    ETA: One of the great military disses of all time.

  5. 5.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Stormin’ Norman.

    I handed him a field telephone, once, when he was a mere one star, you know.

  6. 6.

    SiubhanDuinne

    John, you must have served under him, yes? Did you ever have a personal encounter? Any stories to share?

  11. 11.

    Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)

    He was a form of shit-kicker which endears, but the best I can say is he was a far, far better CO than Westmoreland.

  12. 12.

    Davis X. Machina

    How did he avoid having his name tossed around as a Presidential candidate? (Powell, Clark, Petraeus…)

  14. 14.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    His passing is dominating Fox Nooze and preventing me from being forced to see even more “fiscal cliff” scaremongering, so, thanks, General!

  16. 16.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Davis X. Machina:

    I sort of remember that his name was mentioned in some circles as an attractive possible candidate. Just a recollection, though, and I can’t substantiate it without doing some Googling, which ain’t gonna happen tonight.

  21. 21.

    Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    And you couldn’t figure out that exaggeration (10 ft pole) is what hyperbole represents.

    There’s nothing worse than an idiot who has been programmed to think it’s smart.

  25. 25.

    shortstop

    Wait, Jack Klugman died?

    I don’t think George Herbert Walker is going to see New Year’s Day.

  26. 26.

    Mike in NC

    I’m quarter of the way through Tom Ricks’ “The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today”, so I haven’t seen the chapter on ODS and Schwarkopf yet, but apparently he was considered far better than many of his contemporaries and the inept boobs who ran ithe Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

  28. 28.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @WaterGirl:

    He’s doing better, thanks, and is back in his favorite easy chair watching Fox News right now, which is why I can’t bitch about it too much.

    Long-term is not great, but he’s definitely improving at the moment.

  33. 33.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    It’s great to hear some good news, even if it is tempered with some reality. I hope that he gets the longest term that long term can get him.

    Enjoy every minute you two can.

    @Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin):

    While you do shine brightly, that shine sure ain’t sunshine. Your ten pounds of dried shit in a five pound bag burns brightly, serving as a guiding beacon to your fellow firebaggers.

  37. 37.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Linkmeister:

    Oh, he didn’t coin it. That thing has been kicking around the military for decades.

    One of my favorite militarisms is “deconflict”. As in two units claiming the same plot of land for some exercise function, and someone from higher headquarters is sent down to resolve the dispute, or “deconflict” it.

    I was in the 8th ID (Mech) in Germany when Stormin’ Norman was the assistant division commander there, and later at Fort Lewis when he was I Corps/Fort Lewis commander. Never had much contact with him, but he didn’t have a rep as an asshole in either position, which is a net plus for any general officer.

  39. 39.

    eemom

    Yay! Petty internecine flame wars in a RIP thread.

    For a while there, I was afraid Teh Juice was losing its mojo.

  44. 44.

    Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)

    @Oltrol:

    It;s her Nym, but she’s no Hypatia, either. Her name choice is flattering, but undeserved.

  47. 47.

    Cassidy

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): I may be wrong, but I’m pretty sure it’s one of the dopes that insisted that the public option would have happened if only Obama had wanted it bad enough. So it does have a sense of humor.

  56. 56.

    Schlemizel

    @John Cole:

    There was some friction between him and the political assclowns in the WH. (That probably killed him with the goopers)

    OTOH I meet him at a conference and he did a Q&A for a group of about 60 of us. He couldn’t give a straight answer to any tough question. My impression was very much like the other Generals I had met, a consummate BS artist. That struck me as strange as his reputation, beyond the stories of him not sugar coating & going along with the politicians, was the opposite. Maybe we just caught him on a bad night

  58. 58.

    Raven

    This seals the deal:

    He also was outspoken at times, including when he described Gen. William Westmoreland, the U.S. commander in Vietnam, as “a horse’s ass” in an Associated Press interview.

    Wanna know how I felt about MY commander?

    eta, actually Abrams replaced him right before I got there.

  60. 60.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Raven:

    I doubt it. I’ve heard “unass the AO” since I was a ROTC cadet.

    In the case of “attrit” he may have popularized it among Villager hangers-on, though, who wanted to sound like they were “in” with the military.

  63. 63.

    General Stuck

    Stormin Norman was a good general, as generals go. It was likely the one good thing that came from the Vietnam disaster, that produced some sober lifer officers, some of which became generals later. Sober to the limits of American power, though the effect ran out with Iraq and GWB. Maybe Iraq will produce some more humble officer corp like Vietnam. Sometimes we learn, but only for awhile.

  66. 66.

    Cacti

    “Stormin Norman” squashed a gnat with a sledgehammer in service of the Bush crime family, and was laureled as some sort of conquering hero.

    The military fetishism of the Reagan era was pretty damned creepy.

  72. 72.

    Mike E

    Stormin’ Norman had Hussein’s posse zeroed in his RV on the Baghdad Highway when he got word from George HW Bush that Colin Powell said enough is enough. The American people didn’t want to rub it in! I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to hear him respond to that horseshit.

    Just think how different the ensuing 8 years would have been if that jackass was taken out by the general

  75. 75.

    Liquid

    @Heliopause:

    Not to be shallow and/or pedantic (too late) but wouldn’t you have to tack on a few extra zeros to those numbers to qualify for Mass Murderer status?

    I picture that bit from the Simpsons: You must have 1,000,000 to enter. A single change to that and you have your benchmark.

    Stalin had a few things to say about that. In my darker moments I can almost agree with his method of solving a problem. Almost.

    But then that’s just the vodka and cynicism talking.

  77. 77.

    David Koch

    rest in peace?

    did you say rest in peace to the 100,000 iraqis he murdered on the highway of death?

    did you say rest in peace to the shia he helped massacre after Bush told them to rise up, while fatso allowed Saddam’s helicopter gunships to “operate” in fatso’s “no-fly” zone?

    you really make me laugh, Cole.

    you rail on about drooooooooooooooooones and then blow a dumb war criminal like Schwarzkopf who wanted to occupy iraq and embarrassingly campaigned for Shrub.

  79. 79.

    chopper

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    While you do shine brightly, that shine sure ain’t sunshine. Your ten pounds of dried shit in a five pound bag burns brightly, serving as a guiding beacon to your fellow firebaggers.

    y’know, there’s no need in the joke for the shit to be ‘dried’. if you’re trying to impress me, you’ve failed.

  82. 82.

    Pococurante

    @Heliopause: You confuse aggressor with victim.

    I’m not shedding a tear for the incineration of people who invaded a country, murdered and raped unstopped for over half a year, and on their way home stripped the country’s people of the personal possessions and dragged back with them Kuwaitis as political prisoners and sex slaves.

    During the 7 month-long Iraqi occupation, the forces of Saddam Hussein looted Kuwait’s vast wealth and there were also reports of violations of human rights.[33] According to some[who?] independent organizations, about 600 Kuwaiti nationals were taken to Iraq and haven’t yet been accounted for.[34] A 2005 study revealed that the Iraqi occupation had a long-term adverse impact on the health of the Kuwaiti populace.[35]

    “Don’t want nothin’, don’t start somethin’.

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