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It seems the President was worried that he had hurt the fat cats' feelings -- and opened himself to criticism as being "anti-business" with some earlier remarks about their obscenely inflated pay.
Before our witness on Thursday, we read in the Washington Post that Obama told the 20 chief executives, "I want to dispel any notion we want to inhibit your success," and solicited ideas from them "on a host of issues." By way of contrast, the President has shown zero interest in soliciting ideas from the likes of us.
"The Big Fool Said to Push On"
In another serendipitous coincidence, as we were witnessing against the March of Folly in Afghanistan, the President was completing his "review" of the war and sealing the doom of countless more soldiers and civilians (and, in my view, his own political doom) by re-enacting the Shakespearean tragedy of Lyndon the First.
Afraid to get crosswise with the military brass, who have made it embarrassingly clear that they see no backbone under that bomber jacket, Obama has just sped past another exit ramp out of Afghanistan by letting the policy review promised for this month become a charade.
Hewing to the script of Lyndon the First, Barack Obama has chosen to shun the considered views of U.S. intelligence agencies, which, to their credit, show in no uncertain terms the stupidity of keeping U.S. troops neck-deep in this latest Big Muddy in Afghanistan -- to borrow from Pete Seeger's song from the Vietnam era.
There is one reality upon which there is virtually complete consensus as highlighted by the U.S. intelligence agencies: The U.S. and NATO will not be able to "prevail" in Afghanistan if Pakistan does not stop supporting the Taliban. Are we clear on that? That's what the recent National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan says.
A companion NIE on Pakistan says there is not a snowball's chance in hell that the Pakistani Army and security services will somehow "change their strategic vision" regarding keeping the Taliban in play for the time when the United States and its NATO allies finally leave Afghanistan and when Pakistan will want to reassert its influence there.
Should it be too hard to put the two NIEs together and reach the appropriate conclusions for policy?
It is difficult to believe that -- after going from knee-deep to waist-deep in the Big Muddy by his early 2009 decision to insert 21,000 troops into Afghanistan, and then from waist-deep to neck-deep by deciding a year ago to send in 30,000 more -- Obama would say to "push on."
The answer lies in the kind of "foolish consistency" Emerson termed the "hobgoblin of little minds." Out of crass political considerations, Obama continues to evidence a spineless persistence behind this fool's errand. He seems driven by fear of offending other important Washington constituencies, such as the neoconservative opinion-makers, and having to face the wrath of the be-medaled and be-ribboned Gen. David Petraeus. This is pitiable enough -- but a lot of people are getting killed or maimed for life.
"When will we ever learn?"
To answer this other Vietnam-era song, well, we have learned -- many of us the hard way. We need to tell the big fool not to be so afraid of neocon columnists and the festooned left breast of the sainted Petraeus -- you know, the ten rows of medals and merit badges that made him so lopsided he crashed down on the witness table and was given a time-out by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Outside the White House on Thursday, we found ourselves singing "We Shall Overcome" with confidence. And what we learned later of other witnessing conducted that same day provided still more affirmation, grit, and determination.
For example, 75 witnesses braved freezing temperatures at the Times Square recruiting station in New York to express solidarity with our demonstration in Washington.
There in Times Square stood not only veterans, but also grandmothers from the Granny Peace Brigade, the Raging Grannies, and Grandmothers Against the War. Two of the grandmothers were in their 90s, but stood for more than an hour in the cold. The Catholic Worker, War Resister League and other anti-war groups were also represented.
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