McClellan, Iraq War, Religion: A Discussion
Issue 110 - June 25, 2008

Scott McClellan is the epitome of the Peter Principle – just compare him to Ari Fleisher, Tony Snow and now the young lady Dana Perrino – every one of them displayed confidence, knowledge and real courage in doing their jobs…unlike McClellan, who was an embarrassment to the administration and the government. After +40 years in Wall Street I learned a long time ago to always “follow the money”, and that’s what this is all about. McClellan is terminally unemployable – he needs money and will take it from anyone. But there’s more – he has a family problem. His Mother is also angry with George Bush because he supported his Lt. Gov. Perry for governor of TX after he left while Mrs. McClellan ran against Perry. Oh, isn’t it true that McClellan’s father is the author of a book accusing LBJ of having orchestrated the assassination of JFK? Look it up. Nice crowd down there in Austin. Follow the money – please – take a look at the thread between his leftwing publisher and that solid citizen George Soros, and then tell me this wasn’t a set up. Dan Calabria

You have done a vigorous job of shooting the messenger. In yesterday’s Washington Post. Bob Novak ( Parroting the Democrats) and former McClellan deputy Trent Duffy ( Will the Real Scott Please Stand Up) took better aim. This leaves the message.Who hired McClellan and other buddies, and who put the welfare of his friends ahead of that of the nation. You might also wish to shot other messengers (Paul Bremer—Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq under whose sad leadership I served in Baghdad, George Tenet—former Director of the CIA, General Ricardo Sanchez—commander of the coalition forces in Iraq while I was there, and Douglas Feith—who did the most damage--who in their insider books all agreed that the White House failed to supply sufficient troops to Iraq, that follow up planning was inadequate, and that inter agency turf battles were intense and destructive. At the end of the day, what matters for the well being of our nation is the message. George W has been a disaster for our nation’s security, and well being. His presidency has been the enemy of those of us who believe in limited but effective government, a strong national defense (defense), individual freedom, the Bill of Rights, and the U.S. Constitution as our founding fathers intended it. These are the values I joined the conservative movement for in the 1960s, not the side games of character assassination that boys seemed to like to play (as clever and amusing as they some times were). The stakes are too high. Warren Coats

I regret if my comments were misunderstood. Although as too often in the past, I voted for Bush as the lesser of 2 evils, I am not fan of George Bush and I detest any number of people he brought to the national stage. I believe, we should have been in and out of Iraq within 12 months had adequate thought and planning been applied. However, we ended up with Bush accepting the assurances of many of his pals and cronies without thinking any further. By the way, most of these “messengers’ were part of that insider gang. They own what occurred in Iraq as much as anyone. So what else is new? The only thing accomplished was grist for the mill on the left which served to take away the spotlight from the truly despicable religious fanatics in Chicago. By the way, in viewing the Chicago zealots’ antics, how much do they differ from the religious zealots in the Middle East? Dan Calabria

I basically agree with every thing you say here (except for a 12 month in-out of Iraq—launching the war as we did was, in my opinion, a big mistake to begin with). I assume that you would also agree that fanatics of all sorts are not easy to live with if not dangerous to our way of life, whether they are “ Chicago zealots” (not meaning my alma mater, of course), Islamic Jihadists, or what ever we call the creationist, fanatic fringe of the so called religious right. Warren Coats

Warren , somehow lost on me (and perhaps others) is your comparison of Islamic Jihadists and "the creationist, fanatic fringe of the so called religious right." If followers of Billy Graham, John Hagee or Jerry Falwell have hijacked aircraft to fly them into mosques in Damascus, Baghdad or Tehran, most of us missed the news reports. Likewise, there have been very few beheadings of Islamic journalists by Christians, at least around Los Angeles. Additionally, I have no knowledge of recent "honor killings" of Christian wives or sisters who have been raped. Those of us on the creationist, fanatic fringe of the religious right generally only reserve that practice for jaywalkers. Believe me when I tell you, as a Christian, I am not "dangerous to your way of life". That you may believe the human race are benefactors of lucky mud is certainly your right. As for me, I believe in the intelligent design called God or the Creator....One who always was and always will be. I seriously disagree and doubt that the design of the universe, the majesty of the order of the stars and planets, the complexity of the human body and the beauty of our Earth is attributable to one cosmic speck. From an admirer and a not-so-religious fanatic on the Left Coast, and r espectfully, Allen Brandstater

Thanks for your very civil observation that I may have stretch my examples. Obviously your religious beliefs do not threaten me at all, nor mine you (nor those of Muslims, Hindus etc) as long as we all respect the separation of church and state (a challenge for some but not all Muslims) and don’t endeavor to impose our views on the rest of society. These are the ground rules of our individual freedom and mutual peace. Terrorists of whatever beliefs are the extreme who endanger the most (physically at least). History is full of terrorists of all sorts (Christian crusaders against Muslims, for example) and those we face today are among the nastiest. I agree that few Christians (none who ascribe to the teachings of Christ I accept) fall into this camp today but there are some (abortion doctor murderers, for example). Warren Coats

A little ambiguous: are you referring to people who murder abortionist doctors or to abortionist doctors who are murderers? The latter outnumber the former by a factor of millions. Charles Mills

Perhaps, but I am sure that you are not suggesting that one class of murders is justified and the other isn’t. Warren Coats

The above discussion took place recently between a group of long-time conservatives who now often take differing positions on current issues.