
Unsolicited Advice for Future Subjects of Magazine Profiles - robg
http://www.slate.com/id/2257986/pagenum/all/
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koeselitz
I don't buy that McCrystal didn't know what he was getting into. RS has
confirmed that he vetted all the quotes in the article before it appeared, so
he at least had to know that he was going to be firing a few aides pretty
quick.

Besides, we're talking about a dude who just last summer was carefully leaking
stuff to the press to try to force Obama into a position where he'd have to
accede to the demands of the brass. [interesting article from a month ago,
before all this happened: <http://www.newamerica.net/node/31833>] He _knows_
how to play the game, and he's been playing it for years. He may come off in
the article as a battle-weary military dude completely unsavvy with domestic
affairs, but I don't think that's a correct impression of him; it's just part
of the impression he wanted to cultivate.

The reality, I think, is that McCrystal intended this interview to make it
seem as though the Obama administration is well-intentioned, but cluelessly
doesn't let the military brass do what they want. McCrystal wanted to
carefully cultivate the public perception that Obama just needs to trust the
military more, and let them self-govern a bit. What he didn't realize, I
think, was that Hastings was smarter than he sometimes seems, and played the
interview quite nicely. Where McCrystal had wanted to come off as a no-
nonsense military man who's held back by Obama's idealism, he instead came off
as an asshole.

And to most of us, it might appear that he's just a poor old-school hard-nosed
military guy who went into an interview blind - heck, I think Hastings makes
it seem like that intentionally in the article. The truth, however, is that
he's as savvy as they come, and he should have been prepared for this.

Anyway, interesting read - Slate always has good stuff like this. Thanks!

~~~
MaysonL
Jay Rosen has a great article on the beat reporter/freelancer aspect of this
episode:
[http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2010/06...](http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2010/06/24/an_openthekimon.html)

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michael_dorfman
I think Jon Stewart nailed this one (as usual): _"You know, I may be a four-
star general and you may be a reporter for some hippie magazine, but I feel
like I can trust you."_

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v21
Of course, if you consider this an elaborate resignation from the military and
into politics, it makes a lot more sense...

