Comments on: Shinseki resigns

By: raf

raf — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 01:24:45 +0000

After Boehner is Patrick Leahy. Not much better than Kerry.

By: neo-neocon

neo-neocon — Sat, 31 May 2014 16:40:24 +0000

To Matt_SE: You write: "'fall guy' automatically implies one isn’t culpable." No, it does not automatically imply that. It can be used in several different ways:

four slightly different usages for "fall guy" survive and their origins are probably different. These usages are: An innocent scapegoat is unjustly punished for another's action. A guilty scapegoat takes the blame for the actions of a group. A dupe takes the butt of jokes. A worker who takes on the responsibilities of others. The phrase may have multiple, separate origins. Criminal usage goes back to the original sense of "felon" (derived from fallen, morally).

I was using definition number 2.

By: Matt_SE

Matt_SE — Sat, 31 May 2014 15:21:14 +0000

That would tend toward the “fool” category.

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Sat, 31 May 2014 14:35:04 +0000

One source had Shinseki complaining that Republicans kept giving him too much power to fire VA people.

By: Matt_SE

Matt_SE — Sat, 31 May 2014 06:36:54 +0000

I agree with Geoffrey Britain in content, but disagree about terms: “fall guy” automatically implies one isn’t culpable.
Obama knew about the problems at the VA (he campaigned on it!), Shinseki knew about the problems.
If Shinseki didn’t fix the problems, then of course he had to go. There are only two plausible explanations: 1) He was either incompetent or powerless (“fool”) or 2) He was corrupt, and part of the problem (“knave”).
As GB notes, if Shinseki didn’t have the power to enact reforms, he should’ve resigned in protest.

What a wonderful distillation we’ve come up with. “Fool or knave” sums up almost all of the malfeasance we encounter.

By: Don Carlos

Don Carlos — Fri, 30 May 2014 22:52:59 +0000

The list of Presidential succession in 2014 is just about the scariest list possible.
That Boehner is the heads and shoulders standout emphasizes that an assassination in DC won’t be enough; a nuclear weapon would be needed. And Tearful John would be collateral damage.

Perhaps jihadis will help out. Naah, they know to leave our national self-immolation alone while they prosper unchecked.

I do not share GB’s confidence that none on the list are likely to equal BHO as disasters. Simply gaze on Napolitano and Sibelius, and shudder. Remember the chuckleheaded Sec of Energy? These people all seem to have been dredged up from the bottom of the human sea, and with a wave of Senatorial wand turned into our fearless leaders.

By: Geoffrey Britain

Geoffrey Britain — Fri, 30 May 2014 21:16:42 +0000

Shinseki is indeed the fall guy but he deserved that fate. After his appointment and once he realized the state of the VA, the honorable thing to do was to demand the tools needed to fix the VA’s problems or resign in protest. He did neither.

The list of the current line of presidential succession is more than sobering, it is an indication of just how utterly bankrupt the governmental leadership has become and that ultimately, the public has installed. The only thing that they have to recommend them is that none are likely to be quite the disaster that Obama has proven to be.

By: J.J.

J.J. — Fri, 30 May 2014 18:49:06 +0000

Shinseki had to go because even dems were calling for it. But it’s not Shinseki’s fault. How do I know? Because that’s what the President said just this morning. No, it wasn’t bad management, it was, drum roll please, outdated technology at the VA. And, of course, that dates back to Bush’s term. So, it’s really all Bush’s fault.

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Fri, 30 May 2014 17:34:23 +0000

http://www.openthebooks.com/search/?PensionCode=840&F_fiscalyear=2013&F_Station=Phoenix&F_Name=&perpage=100

Link from JJ.

Notice the number of Arizona peeps.

By: Elliott

Elliott — Fri, 30 May 2014 17:27:43 +0000

Shinseki was told last week to present a plan to the Prez. What you want to bet he showed up with a blank piece of paper? Anyone who meets with the big boss only once in two years is not going to have any ideas. They are placeholders specifically because they don’t have any ideas or complaints. This happens all the time. Everything is fine until it isn’t. Then the placeholder has got to go. It is a hazard of being a placeholder. Screw him. Now someone will have to try to fix the mess that festered with his doing squat.