The Colossal Rhodes
….Obama relies on Rhodes for “an unvarnished take,” in part, she says, because “Ben just has no poker face,” and so it’s easy to see when he is feeling uncomfortable. “The president will be like, ‘Ben, something on your mind?’ And then Ben will have this incredibly precise lay-down of why the previous half-hour has been an utter waste of time, because there’s a structural flaw to the entire direction of the conversation.”
The literary character that Rhodes most closely resembles, Power volunteers, is Holden Caulfield. “He hates the idea of being phony, and he’s impetuous, and he has very strong views.”
Somewhere, someplace, J.D. Salinger is throwing up next to a dry-heaving George Kennan.
There are White Houses in the past where an article of this kind would have gotten the staffer in question fired on the spot. That however was a more serious time.
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morgan:
May 7th, 2016 at 12:07 pm
Rhodes’ action and boasting is an other example of why more and more people hold the federal government in disgusted contempt. One wonders how much further down the contempt will go with a prospective Hillary Clinton administration?
zen:
May 7th, 2016 at 7:26 pm
I loathe Hillary Clinton for many reasons. In fairness, this article might be worse than she would tolerate given her thin skin, dislike of public ridicule and conspiracy theories about the media
morgan:
May 7th, 2016 at 9:20 pm
Well, a Clinton presidency will allow her to further wreck what remains of our constitutional republic. Her Suprme Court appointees will make the old Warren Court look like a solid conservative group. She will be able to use the Clinton Foundation to enrich the three Clinton’s by means of contributing to the Foundation in return for more favors than those granted when she was Secretary of State. It will make a mockery of the rule of law as she will be able to successfully ward off any thought of prosecution for emailgate, Benghazi and her money laundering via the Clinton Foundation.She will use, as she has in the past, criticism as the result of a “vast right wing conspiracy” and will be backed in the media by such creatures as Ben Rhodes and future imitators. Gloom and doom galore with a Hillary Clinton administration, coupled with gross incompetence. Now that is certainly not something to look forward to
zen:
May 8th, 2016 at 2:09 am
No argument here Morgan. I think she and Bill are a nexus of public corruption and have been since the 1980’s and a Clinton presidency will advance both public corruption and rule by oligarchy. It’s just her imperious ego couldn’t tolerate this article well from an underling
morgan:
May 8th, 2016 at 3:52 am
I agree and I doubt if Ben Rhodes will have a position in a Hillary administration. But I imagine his brother can find him a spot with CBS News.
Charles Cameron:
May 9th, 2016 at 5:10 am
I’ll stay out of the politics here, and just say “Great title pun, Zen!”
zen:
May 9th, 2016 at 3:08 pm
Gracias Charles! Mr. Rhodes stands astride…something
Charles Cameron:
May 9th, 2016 at 5:28 pm
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**
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It appears the statue is being rebuit.
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Astride what, you almost ask. This much we are told:
larrydunbar:
May 10th, 2016 at 2:43 am
The mast would pass easier if the statue was female, just saying….
carl:
May 10th, 2016 at 3:27 am
What struck me most about the article was when 10 hapless sailors let themselves get taken by some Iranian skiffs, the first reaction of the Obama/Rhodes melded mind was not ‘Lordy, lordy, our guys are in trouble. Fire things up. We’re getting them back!” No, the first reaction was “We gotta hide this until after the speech.” If this is a typical reaction of Democrat foreign policy, and I believe Obama’s foreign policy is Democrat foreign policy, it raises a very serious question for those in harm’s way overseas. That question being “Do those guys in DC really have my back?” That isn’t something your people should be wondering about.
zen:
May 10th, 2016 at 3:34 pm
When general officers refuse to respond to SF under fire in an extensive battle and clarify orders so that their subordinates can be prosecuted for failing to anticipate Ben Rhodes deciding to “change the narrative” about their ROE, the answer is “no”.
zen:
May 10th, 2016 at 3:35 pm
By the way, if the refusal to respond in the Kunduz incident was willful and not circumstantial with a good reason, the GO should be court-martialed for dereliction of duty
carl:
May 10th, 2016 at 9:40 pm
The GO would not be court-martialed for anything short of…of…would not be subject to court-martial for anything. The culture of impunity for anyone high enough up on the ladder is as strongly ensconced in the military as it is in any other segment of American society; and the general officer corps is a systemically corrupt as any other segment. The fatal problem is corrupt general officer corps’ do not win. The Americans have been getting away with that for the past 15 or more years because we have been in little wars. The devil will take his due in blood (no multi-star blood of course) and treasure (multi-star pensions to remain unaffected) in due course, God save us (multi-stars excepted).