The Right, and Rare, Stuff

Gates' Ph.D dissertation was so lacking in original scholarship that his adviser, Dr. Richard Thornton, my favorite professor from graduate school, suggested that he either re-work it or find another adviser who might be more accomodating. Gates found another adviser. Dr. Thornton encouraged his students to read Gates' dissertation and see for ourselves what a joke it was. Gates is of moderate abilities at best.

I know, that Rumsfeld was a much better Secretary of D. Do you have an actual problem with how Gates is handling things?

Whoever said anything about Rumsfeld? I wasn't comparing Gates to Rumsfeld or anyone else for that matter. Gates is a skilled bureaucrat who won't ever muck anything up but won't ever do anything spectacular either - overall, his intellect and skills are average.

Um. How exactly do you deride him as "average" without in fact "comparing him to anyone else"...? I guess I'm just puzzled by how some folks will find every last reason to deride the Obama team, while acting as though they're objective. If I didn't hear them deride Rumsfeld in previous years with anything approaching the same conviction, I grow skeptical.

Consider this, Rob. Perhaps -- just perhaps -- many of the Obama team members are richly vulnerable to derision? It is not a sign of some kind of horrifying bias to point this out... it is exhibiting intellectual honesty. And who said anything about John "acting as though he's objective"? YOU are the one who likes to "act as if you're objective" when in fact you are just as strongly opinionated as anyone else. :) He merely commented on your opinion.

You're right, Diane, he should have picked Barbara Boxer as Sec of Defense rather than a holdover from the Bush years. That would have been much more intellectually honest and objective.

I'll also apologize if I "act" like I'm objective. I realize that no one is. In fact, research shows that people whose brains can't connect to their emotions are actually less reasonable than you'd guess. We're all driven by emotions.

But I guess I do tend to be a huge skeptic when I see some people acting as though their particular causes and affiliations that they have (mostly) been born into just happen to be unassailably perfect. That goes for both the hard-core conservatives and liberals alike.

I have no idea how Donald Rumsfeld, Barbara Boxer, or even Barack Obama got mixed into this thread. I did not formulate my opinion of Robert Gates on January 20, 2009 - Gates can work the Washington bureacracy, but he is hardly a man of extraordinary abilities. This was true way before the Obama regime came to power.

If you read my original post, Gary, you'll see that I wrote that Gates is bipartisan and decent, and that we need more people to bring those qualities to Washington. By your dismissing him, even in light of his controversial, all-time bungling predecessor, the other comparisons soon came into play. Hope that helps.

Bipartisan and decent - is that the equivalent of saying "she" has a good personality? LOL

I was aware that "bipartisan" had become an Orwellian weasel word, indicating only angelic sweetness for one's political allies and bitter, cynical spinelessness when applied to one's foes.

However, I am chagrined to learn that "decent" has also been condemned to the dustbin of history as faint praise. Oh, well. These kids and their modern lingo...

Gotta keep up with the times! If "decent" is bad, then ... (thumbs through his copy of 1984 furiously) ... lemme give this a try:

John Galt, your conduct in this thread strikes me as "indecent."

*laughing* I wasn't picking anyone for Secretary of Defense, but I think Barbara Boxer would be right up there in appropriate-ness with a few of Obama's other stellar picks.