November 30, 2008

Gen. Barry McCaffrey and the Military - Industrial - Media Complex

David Bartsow has an excellent piece in today's New York Times on Gen. McCaffrey, a well-known retired general, tv talking head, and former Drug Czar, detailing McCaffrey's tendency to advocate policies - to both the media and the military - that would benefit him personally, without any disclosure of his personal stake in those policies. This is all too common, and a problem endemic to media coverage of many political debates.

McCaffrey's response is a huffy non-response. He apparently thinks his word should be golden because he was a soldier and there are other members of the service in his family, because he admires Gates and Petraeus and clashed with Rumsfeld. How any of that is a relevant response to the improprieties he is accused of ... well, none of it's relevant.

Posted by armand at November 30, 2008 08:10 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Corporate Bullshit | Corruption | Media | Military Affairs


Comments

The huffy defense is priceless, really. It's not just that he was a solider -- it's that he was wounded in action. So of course he could never ever do anything shady around a business deal decades later, and how dare we suggest otherwise! Asshole.

But really, you know who comes out of this looking even worse than Drug Czar McCaffrey? Brian Williams et al. How's that first amendment treating you, eh Brian?

On the other hand, Barstow deserves a medal for that article, and for the one last spring too.

Posted by: jacflash at December 1, 2008 06:54 AM | PERMALINK
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