Several years ago, Neil Young issued a solid, if overrated, musical polemic directed against the Bush White House and its ideology of endless war called Living with War. The disc worked, as far as it went, full of piss and vinegar, as the saying goes, but lacking the kind of poetry that has made his best work remain timely and relevant in changing times.
In this respect, however, the record was no different than most protest records — think of “Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire or much of the Country Joe and the Fish catalogue. One song on the record, however, stood out for me as capturing the cultural zeitgeist. “Looking for a Leader,” with its bald desire to have someone rise up and save us, some kind of political Christ figure who could lead us to a new promised land (or, given that this is Neil Young, back into the mythical American past), encapsulates our tendency to demand action through our own paralysis, the idea that all it will take is the right man or woman in the White House (or State House or mayor’s house) to make things right and restore America’s lost prestige and power.
One just has to look at our castrated left and its relationship to Barack Obama to see the devastating consequences of this kind of political sycophancy.
But this post is not really about the left and Obama. It is about Gen. Stanley McChrystal and the potential hijacking by the military of Afghan War policy. McChrystal did something that generals are not supposed to do: He spoke openly and derisively of the nation’s civilian military leadership. McChrystal may be the “man” in Afghanistan, but he reports to Gen. David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and, ultimately, to President Barack Obama.
I was watching the news last night when the issue came up — should Obama fire the general? My dad, who is in from Las Vegas, let slip with, “maybe the general should fire Obama,” as though he had the authority to do so (a strange comment from my dad, who dislikes Obama but likes to offer a veneer of rationality and moderation in his political thinking). My dad’s comment, though, comes from the same kind of thinking about leadership that de-animates the left when it comes to the president.
The problem is that we have invested our leaders with too much authority, too much prestige, with an almost royal sense of power. We have lost sight of our own authority, especially in regards to war.
Hank Kalet 
The alternative to Obama was McCain/Palin. I wasn't looking for a Messiah but to prevent the inevitable McCain/Palin disaster. We would have been about 1000 times worse off with those two, especially if McCain became sick, disabled or worse. This is where we are in this country, choose between jumping into a pool of ravenous sharks (GOP) or being locked in a cage full of crazed louse ridden house cats (D).
>The alternative to Obama was McCain/PalinYup, I'm sure the Generals would have been talking about McCain like this. The Old Man would kick their butts. (In McCrystal's defense, he probably would have been meeting with the Prez on a regular basis.) And if he was asked for 60k troop surge, McC would have given it to him. (Not that I think we should be over ANYWHERE. Just obeserving.)Yup, I; sure Sarah would have taken the BP folks by the short stubbies and gotten the truth out of them. Even if she had to waterboard them to get it.rofl! Sadly.
One of the reasons I voted for Obama was because I thought he would protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.I am having serious DOUBTS.After Obama created this jacka$$ National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform or The Commission to KILL KILL The Entitlements, I'm beginning to think that Obama is on board to gut SS, Medicare and Medicaid. That commission is stacked with corporate CEOs, corporate Democrats and rabidly anti-SS people like Alan Simpson and Erskin Bowles, (the heads of this commission). It's full of GOPers who want to privatize SS and Medicare and wishy washy corporate Democrats like Max Baucus. How the hell is that a balanced commission?They are not talking about all the billions going to death and destruction (WARS), all the billions going to a bloated Pentagon and defense (offense) industry (military-industrial complex), they are not talking about repealing Bush's tax cuts for the rich, they are not talking about raising the wage tax cap, they are not talking about imposing a stock transfer tax that could raise hundreds of billions, oh no. They claim everything is on the table but all we hear from these bustards is cutting SS and Medicare, raising the retirement age and cutting SS some more. Paul Krugman has it right, he calls this commission a farce. I call it %%^&@!#*&^!If SS is killed under Obama, I guess I will have to vote for the Greens, even though it is hopeless. I will just give up on the Democratic party if the recommendations of this commission are put into action.