EVENING UPDATE,  MARCH 11,  2008

CENTCOM CHIEF QUITS EARLY

The left wing is already salivating over the news that Admiral William J. Fallon, head of Central Command, which encompasses Iraq and Afghanistan, has chosen to retire early.  Whether "retire" is exactly the right word will be determined by future reporting.  It's pretty clear he did not win unquestioned love from the Administration:

Adm. William J. Fallon, the top American commander in the Middle East whose views on Iran and other issues have seemed to put him at odds with the Bush administration, is retiring early, the Pentagon said Tuesday afternoon.

The retirement of Admiral Fallon, 63, who only a year ago became the first Navy man to be named the commander of the United States Central Command, was announced by his civilian boss, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who said that he accepted the admiral’s request to retire “with reluctance and regret.”

President Bush said Admiral Fallon had served his country with “honor, determination and commitment” and deserved “considerable credit” for the progress in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But despite the warm words from Mr. Bush and Mr. Gates, there was no question that the admiral’s premature departure stemmed from policy differences with the administration, and with Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq.

Frankly, I'll put my money on Petraeus.  At least he has something to show for his efforts.

Naturally, Democratic figures like dynamic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are already charging that Fallon was silenced.  No, he wasn't.  But commanders serve at the pleasure of the president.  By tradition, if they wish to publicly disagree with political decisions, their proper course is to resign and enter public life.

Always recall the example of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, relieved of his command on April 11, 1951, during the Korean War, by President Truman because MacArthur was felt by the president to be insubordinate.  MacArthur was a national hero.  His dismissal was greeted by calls for Truman to be impeached, or worse.  The general returned home to tickertape parades and endless awards.  He addressed a joint session of Congress, telling the assembled gawkers that "old soldiers never die, they only fade away."  One congressman proclaimed that he had just heard God speak.  No one had previously realized that God wore five stars, but on that day, well, maybe that was the Heavenly uniform.

However, MacArthur then began to speak out publicly about events in Asia, and Americans didn't like what they heard.  They began to realize that Truman had been correct, that his decision to remove God had been heroic, not petty. 

MacArthur wanted to be president, but at the 1952 Republican convention he received only one vote.  The nominee was his one-time aide, Dwight D. Eisenhower. 

So be careful as Fallon is now feted by opponents of the president.  We've gone through this before with a much more famous figure.  The president will turn out to be right...again.

THE DEATH WATCH:  NOT QUITE DEAD

It now appears, from both objective and subjective evidence, that the governor of New York has decided to prolong his political life another day.  I don't know if there are religious commandments involved, but that apparently is what he's done:

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who has spent much of the day considering his options following allegations that he was linked to a high-priced prostitution ring, will not resign his office on Tuesday, according to a person involved in discussions with the governor.

Members of the news media waiting outside Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s apartment in Manhattan on Tuesday.

The governor remained in his Fifth Avenue apartment in Manhattan a day after law enforcement officials said he was a client of the prostitution ring, which was broken up last week by federal authorities. Things remained uncertain regarding the governor’s future throughout the day. Mr. Spitzer, 48, a first-term Democrat, was said by aides to be considering resigning, but no official announcement had been made Tuesday afternoon.

Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson, who would serve out Mr. Spitzer’s term in the event of a resignation, also said he had not heard from the governor on Tuesday.

“The governor called me yesterday, he said he didn’t resign for a number of reasons, and he didn’t go into the reasons, and that’s the last I’ve heard from him,” he said.

Asked whether preparations for a transition were underway, the lieutenant governor said: “No one has talked to me about his resignation and no one has talked to me about a transition.”

Eliot, call David.  Tell him what's going on.  Offer him some comfort.  Maybe invite him over for a drink.  Eliot, show some class.

THE REAL SPITZER

Eliot Spitzer, now in seclusion (as they say), shot to national prominence as New York State's attorney general.  He was known as the guy who got tough with Wall Street.  There was always talk of the governorship, even the presidency of the United States.  But as he was building his "crime-busting" reputation, which seemed to be based on very few crimes, other sides of him started to show.  The Wall Street Journal has an excellent editorial today, examining those sides.  The picture is not pretty:

Mr. Spitzer coasted into the Governorship on the wings of a reputation as a "tough" public prosecutor. Mr. Spitzer, though, was no emperor. He had not merely arrogated to himself the powers he held and used with such aggression. He was elected.

In our system, citizens agree to invest one of their own with the power of public prosecution. We call this a public trust. The ability to bring the full weight of state power against private individuals or entities has been recognized since the Magna Carta as a power with limits. At nearly every turn, Eliot Spitzer has refused to admit that he was subject to those limits.

The stupendously deluded belief that the sitting Governor of New York could purchase the services of prostitutes was merely the last act of a man unable to admit either the existence of, or need for, limits. At the least, he put himself at risk of blackmail, and in turn the possible distortion of his public duties. Mr. Spitzer's recklessness with the state's highest elected office, though, is of a piece with his consistent excesses as Attorney General from 1999 to 2006.

And...

Mr. Spitzer's dramatic fall yesterday began in the early afternoon with a posting on the Web site of the New York Times about the alleged link to prostitutes. The details in the criminal complaint about "Client-9," who is reported to be Mr. Spitzer, will now be played for titters by the press corps. But one may ask: Where were the media before this? With a few exceptions, the media were happy to prosper from his leaks and even applaud, rather than temper, the manifestly abusive instincts of a public official.

There really is nothing very satisfying about the rough justice being meted out to Eliot Spitzer. He came to embody a system that revels in the entertainment value of roguish figures who rise to power by destroying the careers of others, many of them innocent. Better still, when the targets are as presumably unsympathetic as Wall Street bankers and brokers.

Acts of crime deserve prosecution by the state. The people, in turn, deserve prosecutors and officials who understand the difference between the needs of the public good and the needs of unrestrained personalities who are given the honor of high office.

Read the whole thing.  Yes, it's The Wall Street Journal, a defender of business.  But I'm afraid it rings true for anyone who's followed the career of Eliot Spitzer.

WELL, IT COMES OUT

Look, someone had to say it, because so many were thinking it.  Frankly, I wish it never had to be said, and of course it's caused a flap.  Geraldine Ferraro, former congresswoman, Democratic candidate for vice president in 1984, supporter of Hillary Clinton, is quoted as follows:

If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position.  And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position.  He happens to be very lucky to be who he is.  And the country is caught up in the concept.

Needless to say, offense was taken.  And yet, she's right.  It is Obama's exceptionalism that fascinates people.  This is in no way meant to disparage him.  But when you see all these left-wingers fawning over him, you know that race is involved.  Supporting Obama makes them feel good about themselves.  And it's true - if he were white, no one would notice that he was there.  He certainly isn't running on his record. 

It's sad that it's come to that.  I want Mr. Obama to be judged on his qualities and his character.  He is in many respects a remarkable man, if unproved and, right now at least, playing well above his weight.  If elected, I want him to be successful, for the country always comes first.  And yet, there is this feeling so many have that we are seeing a kind of national purging of guilt, as if the presidency is owed to make up for past (and present) injustice.  It is not owed.  It is the supreme political assignment, and obligation.  It is not a gift or honor. 

As far as Geraldine's statement that a woman of any color would not get as high as Obama has gotten, I just can't judge.  I do think there is a subtle sex prejudice at work against Hillary.  But, at the same time, it's Hillary.  Another woman, with a somewhat finer set of character references, might have fared much better.

ENEMIES IN UNIFORM

This, from the UK, will give you a chill, and let's hope it isn't happening here.  The story:

Four police officers in Britain's top force are reportedly under close secret service surveillance after being identified as Al Qaeda spies, it emerged today.

MI5 are said to have homed in on the the "sleeper" agents passing secrets from Scotland Yard to the terror group only in recent weeks.

The suspected spies are believed to have used methods similar to those employed by the IRA in the 1970s as they infiltrated the police and the Army in Northern Ireland.

All four are understood to be Asians living in London and are feared to have links both with Islamic extremists in Britain and worldwide terror groups - including Al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The key questions:  How did this happen?  Were there background checks?  Did police ignore suspicions in order to do the politically correct thing?  Well, consider...

Numbers of officers from ethnic minorities have risen since the Met was accused of being institutionally racist in the Stephen Lawrence public inquiry report.

MP Patrick Mercer, Tory terrorism advisor, said: "This discovery by MI5 comes as no surprise to me.

"Recruiting ethnic people into key public sector organisations - in place to protect us - is a risk.

"Our vetting procedures have to be toughened before it's too late."

Something else may have to be toughened:  How did this story get leaked?  The four under surveillance are certainly alerted now.  Unless the authorities are planning to move in for an arrest immediately, the story could blow a major probe.  Anyone consider that before talking? 

THIS JUST IN!  REALLY!

Referred by my friend, Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi, and by way of Gateway Pundit, this is just in, and shows the mullah regime of Iran, stripped bare:

Tehran's police chief, Reza Zarei , has been arrested after he was found nude in a local brothel with six naked prostitutes, according to report on the Iranian Farda News.

Farda News is a website said to be close to the mayor of Tehran and former chief of the police forces, Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf.

Following the raid, Zarei stepped down from his post as police chief. The news of his arrest however was not reported by any official Iranian news agency.

According to a popular Iranian website Gooya, the order to raid the brothel was given directly by Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, chief of the judicial authorities.

Before he was arrested, Zarei was in charge of the programme for the 'moralisation of the city'.

Reza Zarei led the modesty crackdown on women in Tehran where an unspecified number of the women taken into custody were also forced to undergo psychological counseling.

Oh look, what can one say?  I mean, this is a guy who could have been governor of New York, and look what he's done.  What is it about these self-destructive men?

Now, what I want to see is the press conference, where the police chief comes out with his wife, who, ah, yes, stands by his side, as he blames infidels and Zionist agents, who zapped him with a special ray that made him do it.

We all know that's the reason.

And I'll be back in the morning, or later tonight if something warrants.

Posted on March 11, 2008.