General Shinseki, Duty, Honor, Country

General officers in the Army have spent at minimum, two decades, observing the honor system that demands they accept responsibility for the failures that occur within their commands; the term for a superior officer accepting that responsibility is, “Falling on your sword.”

Which then begs the question; why has Eric Shinseki, whom I don’t particularly care for as a too politically correct general, ignored the officers’ honor code and not fallen on his sword? Perhaps it is because he has been ordered by his commander-in-chief not to do so. I believe it is Barack Obama and his constantly scheming political staff who have seen that a Shinseki resignation is an indicator of failure and just as they have done with Fast and Furious, Benghazi and the IRS scandals, they’re going to dig in and tough it out.

The possible problem with that strategy is that with this latest scandal, they may not have a solid line of defense from the Democrats on Capitol Hill and perhaps not even in their usually compliant, lapdog media. This is not an issue that involves a few hundred dead Mexican citizens and a couple of murdered federal agents, all dead by the hand of this inept administration. Nor is it an outraged segment of their political opposition unfairly targeted in an administration directed campaign of political harassment and suppression by the IRS.

Nope…this time the hapless fools have made the cardinal mistake of stepping onto that politically fatal third rail, the care of America’s war veterans. Were our wars all in the distant past, they could possibly, with the aid of their compliant media, sweep this latest scandal under the rug. But America, even now in our cowardly and ignominious withdrawals from all those nations we had vowed to free from religious terror and tyranny, still has fresh wounded returning from far-flung battlefields, many with grievous injuries that will place them at the mercy of this failed Veterans Administration bureaucracy for the remainder of their lives.

I doubt that even the most craven Democrat Senators and Congressmen are willing to face the wrath of their righteously angry constituents by siding with this clearly incompetent administration when it comes down to depriving America’s injured warriors and their families of the care and support they so desperately need. Those Democrats with their noses in the political wind are already placing distance between themselves and those losers in the White House. You can be sure there will be more to follow.

So let’s get back to Shinseki and his unwillingness to follow the tradition of the Long Grey Line by accepting responsibility and resigning. I’m no admirer of Shinseki’s, believing him to be a product of affirmative action and a willing promoter of political correctness and debilitating liberal social experimentation in our military. Suffice it to say, he’s a Clinton creation but still, he’s a product of a long-established system that holds honor above all other human traits. Eric Shinseki needs to distance himself from those political manipulators using him to shield themselves from the righteous wrath of the citizenry.

Eric Shinseki needs to ponder his old Cadet Honor Code, but even more so, MacArthur’s instruction of Duty, Honor, Country, and recognize that the old general put those requirements in ascending order of importance where both Honor and Country prevail over duty. General Shinseki, please put your personal and professional honor, and most especially your country ahead of any duty you may feel to this aborted administration. Resign, Sir, please, and let these miserable politicians take their rightful blame.

For once…

Crossposted at American Thinker

Category: Veterans' Affairs Department