Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Editorial: Decision on Afghanistan is past due

The unnamed Courier editor, speaking with all the experience and authority granted him by his rec-room Barcalounger, is unhappy that the Commander-in Chief doesn't jump when one of his subordinates says 'frog.'

Oddly enough, in the six years of Afghan involvement under the previous administration, as the commanders on the ground begged for more resources only to see them transferred to the Iraq adventure and run into the ground, I don't recall the editor ever once using the word "dither." I must have missed it.

Clearly the editor prefers the accustomed American strategy in the area, eschewing all thought in favor of rash, heroic action. Never mind that this has so far resulted only in grinding a whole lot of young Americans and a thousands and thousands of Afghans and Iraquis young and old into little bits of meat and bone. No doubt the editor would employ the ol' sausage-making metaphor there.

I dunno about you, dear reader, but whenever I run up against a problem that's not responding to my ideas about solving it, I have a tendency to stop, back off a few paces and take a good look at the situation to see if I can't think up a better solution.

And if I'm supervising a team on a project and one of my subordinates starts telling everyone how much better things would go if he had his way, he would pretty quickly be off the team -- not because his idea was bad or good, but because he doesn't know how to work on a team. That's called insubordination.

Apparently the editor thinks that's an appropriate action for a general in time of war -- but only when his commander is a Democrat.

Again, the editor should stick with local issues, where his paper's interest and responsibilities lie. An editorial column is supposed to be the authoritative word of someone with his finger on the pulse of events, not basement-bar sports commentary. Every time you do this, guys, you further reduce the credibility of the paper. That's bad for you, and bad for the community.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Put this in your favorites Steve..

http://diversitylane.wordpress.com/

It probably will dramatize your life. Your one heck of a blogger!

Steven Ayres said...

Oh great! Republican snark. Another great illustration of the humorlessness of the right, up there with Mallard Fillmore.

(And the strangest thing is that a certain small proportion of folks truly can't understand how dumb this stuff is.)

Mia said...

Anonymous,
First, were you joking? Let's see, Lincoln vs. Polanski & Allen? Come on. But this was the best part:

"Our world was built on the solid pillars of three, great civilizations: Jerusalem, Athens and Rome. The first taught us to pray; the second, to think; and the third, to govern. Yet as strong as they are, these pillars require our respectful study, contemplation and defense, if they are to continue bearing the tremendous weight of the West. Absent this attention, we will continue to witness our ongoing decay, and eventual collapse."

What a lofty silly irony this piece is.

Mia said...

Also, thank you Steven, for being part of the population who chooses careful discernment regarding Afghanistan.

Mia said...

Ok, I reread, and now I think Anonymous was in fact kidding. Now I'm late for work, great.

Cathy said...

We just got back from a couple of weeks in Ireland, England and Wales. I was struck, as always, by how much better the content is for their newspapers - not just feature stories but columns and editorials. There are enough papers competing that they can take serious positions that do not have to be ... so..... bland....

PS. I really do like the Courier, even though it doesn't even try to be a competitor.

Steven Ayres said...

What do you like about the Courier, Cathy? Not being skeptical here, just curious.