“We got him.”

From abc NEWS:

The first indication for President Obama that Osama bin Laden had been killed came when a Navy SEAL sent back the coded message to Washington that said simply, “Geronimo-E KIA.”

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General Discontent

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, who had sponsored Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal as commander in Afghanistan, expressed profound disappointment in his judgment Thursday — tempered with thanks for his years in combat — after he was fired from the post. The dismissal followed publication of a profile of the four-star general in Rolling Stone that quoted him and his aides disparaging other officials.

“Honestly, when I first read it, I was nearly sick,” said Admiral Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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Everything Changes, Except Rethuglican’s Small Minds

From Planet Washington (McCLATCHY Trusted Voices):

In 1993, when Congress strongly resisted President Bill Clinton’s attempt to end the U.S. military’s ban on gay service members, Gen. Colin Powell, then the top military officer, helped broker a compromise policy that came to be known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Wednesday, Powell joined the Pentagon’s current leadership, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, now the nation’s top officer, in urging the policy’s repeal, saying that “attitudes and circumstances have changed.”

They have indeed.

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Keep On Truckin’, Little Ricky Goodhair

From The Houston Chronicle:

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s decision to shift the production of Army trucks from Texas to Wisconsin after 17 years caught Texas’ elected officials by surprise, raising questions about overconfidence, a loss of political clout and the impact of economic incentives provided to the winning company by Wisconsin’s Democratic governor.

Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry and the 34-member Senate-House delegation are rallying to salvage a deal for BAE Systems that could be worth $2.6 billion and sustain 10,000 direct and indirect jobs around the sprawling truck manufacturing plant in Sealy.

But as one Democratic operative puts it: “That’s like having a party in the corral after all the horses have run out.”

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Geld this Guild!

Did’ya see it, kids? The Three Stooges–Joe McLiebercain, Captain Underpants, and Lindseypoo teamed up and wrote up some advice about Iraq for the new Obama administration. And who wouldn’t want advice from them, especially Captain Underpants!? Remember this scene? From Salon (you might have to click on the enter button over on the right to get to the article):

March 21, 2008 | When John McCain, speaking at a press conference in Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday, accused Iran of harboring and training al-Qaida terrorists, he apologized as soon as Joe Lieberman loudly whispered in his ear that he had uttered a blooper. He withdrew that remark and noted that while the Iranian government is training other “Islamic extremists” across the border, that does not mean they are involved with al-Qaida in Iraq.

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(And, yes, I might be obsessed with the Lollipop Guild.)

Surge General

From Salt Lake Tribune:

The promotion of Gen. David Petraeus is another ominous sign that the Bush administration may attack Iran.
President Bush is nominating Petraeus, commanding general of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, to replace Adm. William Fallon as head of Centcom: U.S. Central Command, which oversees the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Fallon was forced to resign last month after his outspoken opposition to an attack on Iran. Petraeus, by contrast, has been heating up the rhetoric against Iran.
“Iran has fueled the violence in a particularly damaging way through its lethal support to the special groups,” Petraeus testified to Congress in early April. Those special groups (meaning, the militias) pose the biggest threat to the United States, he added.

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Fallon on His Sword

We’ve talked about Admiral Fallon before, kids, back on September 10, 2007, and then five days later. Now he has retired, and I am sad to see him go.
From Asia Times:

WASHINGTON – Admiral William Fallon’s request to quit his position as head of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) and to retire from the military was apparently the result of a George W Bush administration decision to pressure him to resign.

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Get With the Program!

Looks like the White House is hosting a little soiree, complete with a concert!

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