Matters of Opinion

   More about the shake-up in the upper reaches of the American government:

- It’s time for Obama to replace Gates, too - Douglas Turner/The Buffalo News
   WASHINGTON — The day Gen. Stanley McChrystal was finally pulled off his soapbox by President Obama, Fox commentator Bill O’Reilly called McChrystal “a hero and a patriot.” Liar and mutineer are closer to the truth. ...
   Obama’s handling of that motor-mouth raises doubts about the president’s judgment, nerve and executive ability. It also raises questions about the conduct of Defense Secretary Robert Gates — before and after McChrystal’s removal — and about the growing arrogance of our uniformed establishment.

- Obama walks the fine line - David Broder/The Washington Post/The Buffalo News
   The firing of Gen. Stanley McChrystal and the resignation of budget director Peter Orszag represent the most significant fraying in the top levels of the government since President Obama took office.

   Elseweb:
- Fire the lot of them, Mr. President - Cleveland Plain Dealer Editorial

   ...Obama cannot stop with McChrystal. He needs to fire the whole lot of them, from U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry in Kabul, who's managed to undercut two ground commanders, to special envoy Richard Holbrooke, a specialist in stirring the pot without talking to folks first.
   Finally, Obama must rein in Vice President Joe Biden so he won't be tempted to continue to try to micromanage policy on a war he's not in a position to fully understand.
- We are running out of reasons to remain in Afghanistan - Seattle Times Editorial
- Patraeus must remain committed to bringing troops home - San Jose Mercury News Editorial
- Another war casualty - Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial  
- Obama shone in McChrystal affair - Max Boot/The Los Angeles Times
- President Obama's detrimental deadlines - Marc Thiessen/The Washington Post
- One Way Out - Ross Douthat/The New York Times
- McChrystal's Revenge: Everyone Hates Karl Eikenberry - Josh Mull/The Huffington Post

   And, if you're up for a little more inside baseball, some more on the story about the story:
- Heedlessly Hijacking Content - David Carr/The New York Times
   Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal was not the only one who had a tough week at the office.
   Last Monday, the word got out that Rolling Stone had a stunning piece about General McChrystal, in which he and his aides were critical of the White House. It’s the kind of scoop that thrills magazine editors, and no doubt they couldn’t wait to get their issue on the stands.
   The problem was, nobody else could wait either. On Tuesday morning, a PDF of the piece the magazine had lovingly commissioned, edited, fact-checked, printed and distributed, was posted in its entirety on not one but two Web sites, [this one and that one] for everyone to read without giving Rolling Stone a dime.

-- George Pyle/The Buffalo News
[Photo of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, et al., from Rolling Stone. Click here to give the author and publisher their well-deserved web traffic. Maybe click through on some of their ads, too. This kind of journalism is expensive.]

   A song for the moment:

-- George Pyle/The Buffalo News

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Current Affairs | Doug Turner | Editorials