We are at a point in the South China Sea right now where we are approaching a Munich moment with China, and it's not being discussed.Stupid.
Contestant number 2 this week: the Washington Times editors. In a piece by Rowan Scarborough they've entitled "Gates leaves legacy of major achievements, contradictions," the article's second section outlines what is seen to be the positive side of the Secretary's tenure. The sub-hed reads as "Liberal media love him" (guffaw)... and then Scarborough proceeds to extensively quote one source: the decidedly non-liberal, non-media member Loren Thompson.
Mr. Gates, a former CIA director who reluctantly returned to Washington to replace the beleaguered Donald H. Rumsfeld in 2006, has many fans in town.
The liberal media have lavished praise for his support of repealing the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military and for not being Mr. Rumsfeld, who regularly chided the press.
It was Mr. Gates who oversaw the daring Navy SEAL mission that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. “He probably gets the highest rating of any defense secretary in living memory,” said Loren B. Thompson, who directs the pro-business Lexington Institute.
“I think Gates is probably as good as it gets. The single most important thing is he presided over a reversal of strategy in Iraq that averted defeat. Now many people will tell you Gates should not get all or most of the credit saving America in Iraq. But the fact of the matter is when he showed up, we were losing.”Hilariously ironic.
