And he fights... just like a woman.

But he breaks just like a little boy.
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Specialization is good when it advances efficiency. But one drawback is that many specialists don't have real-life experience outside their specialties. Would I want a brain surgeon teaching my kid to play baseball, if he knew nothing about the game? No. But he's a brain surgeon! But this is baseball, not brain surgery. The expertise doesn't carry over. Unfortunately, the specialists don't seem to know where their expertise ends, and where the working people have a better grasp on the score on the scoreboard. Those suiting up to get in the game know better; they can't weasel out of their mistakes like the spectators, cheering and jeering loudly.

Pundits know how to grow interest. Glenn Reynolds (of the "Heh" and "Indeed" mentality) and Eugene Volokh, former Supreme Court clerk and computer whizkid, are good at what they do = Chattering. But they don't know war, and if they think we're winning over there, they're in .... denial.

Look at today's military: how many officers are enlisting from the military schools after serving their time? It's down*. By lowering standards to fill uniforms, and by politicizing the war for short-term interests, you lose the men who fight for tradition, honor and excellence. ... Some know how to win elections, but not wars. Such winning tactics ultimately breed losers where it counts. Divided we fall. This isn't news to anyone I hope.

So go ahead, chattering experts. Smear this guy, and pretend it's the Democrats who are making us lose by waving the white flag, and conceding "game over". I don't know any sport where you get to go extra innings without having earned it, proved yourself worthy of staying in the game. (Maybe the chattering boys didn't play physical sports, though?)

BAGHDAD - An active duty U.S. Army officer warns the United States faces the prospect of defeat in Iraq, blaming American generals for failing to prepare their forces for an insurgency and misleading Congress about the situation here.

"For reasons that are not yet clear, America's general officer corps underestimated the strength of the enemy, overestimated the capabilities of Iraq's government and security forces, and failed to provide Congress with an accurate assessment of security conditions in Iraq," Lt. Col. Paul Yingling said in the article published Friday in the Armed Forces Journal.

Several retired generals have made similar comments, but such public criticism from an active duty officer is rare. It suggests that misgivings about the conduct of the Iraq war are widespread in the officer corps at a critical time in the troubled U.S. military mission here.
...
He said Congress must reform and better monitor the military officer promotion system it has to choose generals. The Senate should use its confirmation powers to hold accountable officers who fail to achieve U.S. aims, he said.

"We still have time to select as our generals those who possess the intelligence to visualize future conflicts and the moral courage to advise civilian policy makers on the preparations needed for our security," he wrote.

Most Americans agree that accountability is something that's been missing for far too long as too many have been given a free pass for the work that's not getting done. Accountability -- who knew it could strike fear, even in a brain surgeon up to bat for the first time ever? Maybe where you're at nobody keeps score, but most folks I know have been filling in their scorecards all along. They're not in denial about players, performances or success either.
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*West Point grads exit service at high rate
War's redeployments thought a major factor
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | April 11, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Recent graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point are choosing to leave active duty at the highest rate in more than three decades, a sign to many military specialists that repeated tours in Iraq are prematurely driving out some of the Army's top young officers.

According to statistics compiled by West Point, of the 903 Army officers commissioned upon graduation in 2001, nearly 46 percent left the service last year -- 35 percent at the conclusion of their five years of required service, and another 11 percent over the next six months. And more than 54 percent of the 935 graduates in the class of 2000 had left active duty by this January, the statistics show.

The figures mark the lowest retention rate of graduates after the completion of their mandatory duty since at least 1977, with the exception of members of three classes in the late 1980s who were encouraged to leave as the military downsized following the end of the Cold War.
...
The rising exodus is blamed on a number of factors, including the economic lure of the private sector. But interviews with former West Point superintendents, graduates, and retired officers pointed to another reason: the wear and tear on officers and their families from multiple deployments.

"Iraq is exerting very strong influence on the career intentions of junior officers," said retired Lieutenant General Daniel Christman, a former superintendent of West Point, who recently outlined the war's toll on young officers in a speech to West Point alumni in North Carolina.

See, there's no such thing as a never-ending war. There's a reason the longrunning Cold War was "cold" you know. Intensity, unlike spectating, is not highlighted in a war of attrition. Perhaps if you've ever had a physical fight in your life -- and won -- you'd know that. Quick, overwhelming, decisive. This never-ending stuff is really a long-range blueprint for creating a messload of casualties. Our casualties.

If your head was in the game, and not chattering in the stands, perhaps you'd know that. It's easy to play a risky (and ultimately unsuccessful game) when you don't have to pay a damn thing for losing. That's why working folks get pissed when managers whose foresight runs the company into the ground walk away with golden parachutes. No accountability = losing, more often than not. And some of us out here... HATE losing, and understand that it's not really the Democrats to blame after 4+ years of Bush/Cheney/cheerleader military leadership (They got rid of all the guys in the administration with fighting experience for offering contrary views. Again, wins elections but not wars.)

But shhhh.... the chatterers chafe at true facts, choosing to believe only those that fully support their misguided opinions. Brain surgeons teaching baseball... and losing and denying. Say, what is their plan now? Oh yeah, cheer louder. Heh. In deed.