[Phlap]

Yet another democrat calling Bush an idiot. Of course thats why he is president. Keep it up dolts.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

You forgot the Barf Alert.

[Mercat]

His grandpa was an original elitist snob and that's why he wasn't elected president.

[Thom Pain]

"...pragmatic intelligence of policy makers acquired from history..."

...such as appeasement? Adlai is waaayyy too old senile to be listened to. Dems, sigh, Quislings all. and the fifth columnists who promote their treason. And that includes the New York F'ing Times, too.

[jonno]

So....I guess what we should take away from this article is that someone with INTELLIGENCE should have done NOTHING (except curl into a ball and moan).

IMHO:
Someone with intelligence wouldn't have written this article.

[an amused spectator]

Post-NewsMedia Conservative History ping - Elitist Democrat Snotbag Alert: Addled Stevenson III, Rocket Scientist

I get the warm fuzzies knowing that I'm paying for this unadulterated Demi leech's retirement & bennies.

On, Off, or grab it for a Media Shenanigans/Schadenfreude/PNMCH ping:
http://www.freerepublic.com/~anamusedspectator/

[Grampa Dave]

Adlai E. Stevenson III is a former United States senator from Illinois.

The key word is former. That title and a $5 bill will probably get this elitist left lunatic a cup of coffee in a Starbucks. That is if he can find a Starbucks. That might stretch his over rated CNS system.

[avital2]

speaking of intelligence failures.....he seems to have had one with the sweeping assumptions and generalizations he has made

[Moonmad27]

I gave up after reading this tired old line: "This White House is well known for its hostility to curiosity and intellectual debate." There's no proof of that, only the frequency that libs say that about him. Why did the writer bother saying "this White House" - why not say what he's probably thinking, "that Texas cowboy who has no right to be in the Oval Office". I'm GLAD that Texan is "this White House".

[prognostigaator]

And the NY Times dares to promote this trivia by allotting valuable space to it as "news fit to print"?

[samtheman]

Right. Another dimowit calling Bush an idiot. Not worth responding to. And I'm not going to respond to the gist of this left-propaganda-argument, that Bush and his advisors lack sufficient mental ability to deal with international situations. Rather, I'd like to focus on one sentence and not because this nimrod dimowit wrote it but because it gets repeated a lot, by a lot of dimowits and media echo artists:

One pre-emptive war against the dictator of a desert quasi-state crippled by international sanctions has stretched the American military thin.

For the record:

1. The dictator fell easily. As planned. The war now is with a whole new army of foreign fighters, from all over the Islamic world. Fighting a fairly sophisticated guerrilla campaign in which the use of an entire population as human shields is an extremely potent weapon.

2. Whatever else this engagement is, it's excellent practise for the US military for 21st century style warfare. Whether or not we're "stretched thin" is a debatable point (size of our military being subject to change, 100k not being a large percentage of nearly 300b), but one thing is certain: every time we fight a war we as-a-nation get better at fighting wars. Not only does practise make perfect, but in this case, the practise is worth it.

I am very sad for the losses we are taking. Please don't think I'm callous about our lost soldiers, killed, wounded, kidnapped. But I do believe that this war is an important war on its own merits, and with that in mind, point 2 above should be factored in to the equation.

[reed_inthe_wind]

This guy confuses the notion of intelligence with the concept of risk. Risk requires controls, while intelligence involves monitoring, analyzing, and summarizing. His thoughts are as rigorous as a bowl of noodles. Each time he criticizes Bush policy he elucidates a potential risk. However, He fails to identify the risk of an alternate policy (I assume his alternative is to do nothing), and he considers his assessment a matter of intelligence/analysis.

One of the many characteristics of risk is a lack of complete or even partial information. The 9/11 commission clearly shows that this type of risk prevailed under Clinton and was abetted by the voting history of senator Kerry. This particular characteristic of risk acts as a segeway from risk to the arena of intelligence. A systemic response to the 9/11 commission findings should result in a comprehensive report on the holes within this nexus between risk and intellegence. Some of the more thoughtful commentators (like Brzezinski) have noted that terrorism is only one of the risks we must control. The 9/11 commission is considering a czar that exercises authority over all the agencies. I submit that the various agencies needs a kind of auditor/oversight function. The primary audit report would develop a matrix that shows the holes in the nexus that was discussed above. It would be up to the President and his cabinet to respond to the reports from this audit function.

[catpuppy]

Adlai Stevenson was adored by the press, Mary McGrory calling his speech at the 1952 Democratic Convention "... the Christmas Morning of our lives." Article after article gushed about his brilliance. There was not enough crow to feed all of the press when Ike trounced him with 55% and 58% of the popular vote and 442-89 and 457-73 in the electoral vote counts of 1952 and 1956, respectively.

Kennedy, Johnson, Carter and Clinton: Each terribly flawed and each causing severe damage to the nation. But along with Humphrey, McGovern, Mondale and Gore, all were heralded for "brilliance" while their Republican opponents were said to possess the IQ's of turnips. Times change but the message does not. As Adlai III's article and John Kerry's candidacy demonstrate, the Democratic Party's platform of "We're smart and they're not" remains about all the Democrats have.

Fortunately, most folks don't buy it.

[WOSG]

"This White House is well known for its hostility to curiosity and intellectual debate."

Barf alert needed! Another disguised attack on Bush white house... What a travesty. The NYTimes is full of arrogant prigs who have no understanding nor curiosity of how real conservatives think, and assume that disagreement with their liberal world views is based on some genetic defect and not on different ideals and values.

This is truly the pot calling the kettle black. It seems to me the most uncurious President was Clinton, who really believed in nothing, had no ideas except those tactics that would keep him in power.

[leprechaun9]

"Adlai E. Stevenson III is a former United States senator from Illinois"

The best part of this article is "former".

Also Intelligence and Democrat are mutually exclusive!