Posted on 02/24/2013 8:37:18 AM PST by null and void
A perspective on our president from Down Under.
In Herman Wouk’s classic World War II novel, The Caine Mutiny, there is a moment when a group of the ship’s officers are getting away from the increasingly eccentric Captain Queeq by relaxing ashore.
Suddenly the malcontent Lieutenant Keefer asks the others: “Does it occur to you that Captain Queeg may be insane?
In fact Queeg is not insane, at least not at that time. He is simply grappling, more and more disastrously, with a job too big for him. Come the crisis of a typhoon, he becomes paralyzed and nearly sinks the ship by failing to give the obvious orders.
Before this, the officers have searched the regulations for guidance, but the regulations refer only to a captain who is clearly and unmistakably insane, not one who is merely guilty of eccentricity and bad judgment.
Like Queeg, Obama shows an inability to change course when such a change is desperately needed.
What, exactly have things come to when a cockroach of a country, apparently run by real, certifiable lunatics, can threaten the United States with nuclear weapons? The typhoon waves are starting to break over the bridge.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
I think that Savage was competent, where Queeg was not. Savage was a General. Queeg never made it to Admiral.
Queeg was commanding a minesweeper (which he thought was beneath him), while Savage was commanding a squadron of flying fortresses - front-line duty.
Queeg had only one ship to fix. Savage had a base of over 20 planes of unit cohesion to fix (the Leper Colony tactic).
Queeg displayed poor judgement on mundane assignments, but Savage excelled at commanding a base and his own aircraft.
Where Savage cracked was during the accumulation of many stressful missions, and where he couldn't fly with his men and had to wait for their return. It was the suspense of not knowing that got to him.
Queeg was a paranoid schizophrenic. He was alternately friendly with his crew and then obsessively suspicious of them. Savage was a confident man of authority and accomplishment.
Obama is neither. He has no accomplishemnts to his name, he steals the accomplishments of others. Obama is a narcissistic sociopath, who was raised to feel supremely better than everyone else, always right, deserving of anything he wants, willing to do whatever is expedient to remove others from his path, and undeserving of any consequence of his actions.
-PJ
LOL, amazing what one word can engender...I did say
"...I was struck by a parallel between General Savage and Captain Queeg, in that they both cracked..."
I suppose the other parallel was that they both would likely have loved their country (as much as fictional characters can)
I agree with all you said, but I will make one more point on that...people do crack under the pressure of war in different ways, or so I gather from what I have read, having never served in combat, thank God.
The point I make there is that someone like Savage had much, MUCH larger shoulders than someone like Queeg and could handle a heavier load. That was just the way it was. But it is probably also true that the load an average pilot or soldier may be EQUALLY large in proportion, even though it is clear that someone who commands 1000 men instead of just his own survival probably carries a larger load, comparitively speaking. I think of the problems of a four year old kid...those problems seem silly to us, but..to the narrow four year old shoulders, they might be a huge burden.
That said, we are in complete agreement on Obama. I would have an infinite store of compassion, default respect and forbearance for either Savage or Queeg comparitively speaking, than I would for any action in Obama's life.
Both "The Caine Mutiny" and "Twelve O'Clock High" have impressed me as object lessons about leadership, in much the same way I view the book "Once An Eagle". I will say that "The Caine Mutiny" is more a lesson on conduct when being commanded by someone who is less than...er...exemplary. In all walks of life, military and civilian, one is asked to work under all manner of people.
I have always regarded Greenwald's lecture to the mutineers about their treatment of Queeg as a nugget of behavioral roadmapping. Especially in the military. You have to serve. And you often don't have any control whatsoever over who is chosen to command you.
In my opinion, the only rational and competent approach is to do all you can to fulfill the mission of the person you work under, and help. If the guy is a turd, he's gonna be a turd. But you have to look in the mirror every day.
After Greenwald's speech, Lt. Maryk comes to the same conclusion, and it has always impressed me (even though it was just a movie) that it is better to give all your support and loyalty to your superior, and look back after failure and feel that you did all you could, rather than looking at it with regret and realizing you might have saved not only the mission and your superior, but also your self respect.
Ya gotta play the hand you are dealt to the best of your abilities, and I have always thought "The Caine Mutiny" was a great demonstraton of the pitfalls of scheming and collaborating rather than simply doing your job with the success of the mission in mind.
Furthermore, I have adopted the outlook that I want my boss to be successful (as long as success is defined correctly in the mission!) so...I never feel that I can go wrong, if my boss is not being immoral or cutting throats (figuratively speaking). As long as the mission is professional, I can stay on focus with it and do all I can to support my boss. It has worked for me through a lot of bosses, and helps me manage those under me.
I think a better title would be “Obama’s Berlin Bunker Moment”.
He’s insane, stupid, evil, being handled by others who are also insane and evil; maybe not exactly stupid. Clever. But they have no wisdom. And their evil blinds them.
0m0zlem would never be where he is were it not for being handled and guided 100% of the time. Told what to say, what to sign, etc. He’s brain damaged from drugs, from fagdom, and from being a total emotional wreck. He’s damaged, deranged and identifies with communism, muzlimizm and faggotry.
The Evil Trifecta.
It’s not implausible but I don’t think it’s correct.
I think the raid on the “consulate” was a diversion, intended to draw defenses away from the “annex”, which was the target. They wanted whatever was in the so-called warehouse, and they got it.
The unexpectedly ferocious defense at the “consulate” (which wasn’t one) caused a ramped up attack that set it on fire and accidentally killed Stevens by smoke inhalation. He was not the target, he was collateral damage in this scenario.
The events in Benghazi were caused by a complex attack by foreign forces on whoever and whatever was going on at the “annex”. We still no virtually nothing about that facility, including who was there, what they were doing, what was in the “warehouse”, and, most importantly, where the evacuees were taken, what happened to them, and where they are now.
This had almost nothing to do with Stevens, except, of course, that he got dead.
Hitler was #1 & #2.
I don't think it's implausible, but I think the stories of the mobs yelling "Obama, Obama, there are still a billion Osamas" is the clue.
Others have already speculated that Obama was using Stevens to broker the arming of the Syrian rebels through al Qaeda in Libya. It was Obama repeatedly crowing during the campaign that he got Osama bin Laden that caused the al Qaeda middlemen to double-cross Obama in retaliation.
-PJ
Please accept this note as appreciation and respect. One of the many reasons I come here to Free Republic, and I have chosen to be politically conservative, is that we share the kinds of conversations you and I just had about “The Caine Mutiny.” No invective, no swear words, no cliches, just reasoned and interesting discourse. I’ve been over at the Daily Kos and the Democrat Underground and seen what goes for discussion on the left side of the spectrum. Thanks for your lengthy discussion, and I’m putting “Twelve O’Clock High” on the Netflix list.
You are most welcome, redpoll, and I agree.
Have you ever seen “Twelve O’Clock High”? (You can stream it, by the way!)
My brother had never seen it...he thought it was one of the best movies he had seen about WWII. He was mistaking the movie for the television series, which is apparently quite different.
See you in the forums, FRiend...:)
>>>Have you ever seen “Twelve O’Clock High”? (You can stream it, by the way!)<<<
I’ve never seen the movie in my memory... although I might have seen it as a kid with my parents. However, I live out here in the Alaska Bush about 300 miles from the end of the road... and I can hardly stream a YouTube video, let alone a full-length movie. It’s on the Netflix list already, though. Be well.
I can see where streaming might be a problem!
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