"Well, opinions are like assholes", quipped Dirty Harry, "everybody has one." But then again, not everyone is equally asinine in their opinions, even though in the field of opinion journalism opinionated assholes are thicker on the ground than geysers at Yellowstone and just as likely to be spurting out hot steam.
When asked, I occasionally venture opinions on things I know little about, as befits my status as a sage, but even then I don't like to venture too far away from my particular fields of expertise, which virtually disqualifies me from punditry as a living. Our Christopher, by contrast, has never been one to let lack of familiarity with or experience in a subject dissuade him from pontificating on it.
And in his most recent Slate piece, he has once again honored that tradition by penning a whine list aimed at trying to convince President Obama and the Slate readership —including, if the ads are to be believed, Stephen King on his iPad — that "Gen. Stanley McChrystal should oversee the U.S. drawdown from Iraq."
For those who don't find distasteful the mere fact that Hitchens has elected to hold this opinion, let alone to give it, may I remind you that assigning senior military staff is not quite the same sort of thing as appointing a baseball or soccer coach or even electing a politician. It isn't something that every joe sixpack, sally housecoat or assclown columnist should feel qualified to comment on. There are numerous strategic, bureaucratic and other considerations involved in making such decisions that outsiders — even veteran 101st Fighting Keyboarders like our Christopher — could not possibly be expected to be aware of nor to appreciate. And if he does have enough inside knowledge to venture an opinion, then the US military is in an even worse state than it looks.
Nay, Hitchens should stick to what he does best — doing his well-known and much-loved impersonation of Old Faithful on live TV — and leave the details of military appointments to be made by the relevant responsible adults.
“The enemies of intolerance cannot be tolerant." • "If it is an offense to justice to hold people who may have been victims of mistaken identity or of vendettas by other factions, then it is also an offense to justice to release psychopathic killers who believe that they have divine permission to throw acid in the faces of girls who want to attend school." • "Don't be such a lesbian!
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