Gen. Batiste speaks out
in a New York Times profile: “In the Army, you communicate up the chain of command, and I communicated vehemently with my senior commanders while I was in Iraq,” he said. Of his departure from the Army, he said: “It was the toughest decision of my life. I paced my quarters for days. I didn’t sleep for nights. But I was not willing to compromise my principles for one more minute.”
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Gen. Batiste speaks out: “I’m GAY!”
May 12th, 2007 at 7:20 pmGod Bless you General. Watch for the backstabbing cowards on the reichwing, most of whom are cowards who have never worn the uniform and who think that war is for the profits of the military industrial complex and oil companies. It is too bad our entire military doesn’t stand up this this rogue administration made up of cowards, crooks and liars.
Thank you for your service to our nation.
May 12th, 2007 at 7:21 pmI was not willing to compromise my principles for one more minute.
As if to say, I was only willing to compromise my principles up to a point, say a few tens of thousands dead…
May 12th, 2007 at 7:23 pmIts long past time for all republicans to question their convictions.
May 12th, 2007 at 7:25 pmSwiftboat coming downstream for the general in 3, 2, 1…
May 12th, 2007 at 7:30 pmWhy aren’t Keith Olberman, Anderson Cooper,and Sean Hannity…
…NOT doing a HUGE feature castigating the DUHmerikkkan CONSERVATIVE majority culture’s mistreatment of…
…”WHISTLEBLOWERS”:
… like General Batiste, Bunnatine Greenhouse, Colleen Rowley, Sybil Edmonds, Michael Schuerer, Paul Oneil, Richard Clark…
…and on and on…
…like they did the gang infested “minority” communities’ “Stop Snitching” phenomenon?
…when George Tenet get’s a Medal of Freedom (and $4 milliom dollar book deal)…
…for keeping HIS mouth shut…
…and the TRUE Patriots like Batiste get FIRED (and the DUHmerikkan cold shoulder)…
…isn’t this HYPOCRISY (on Olberman, Hannity, Cooper and the ffp media’s part)?
…isn’t the treatment of the WHISTLEBLOWERS the DUHmerican CONNED’selservative majority culture’s equivalent of a”Stop Snitching” campaign?
May 12th, 2007 at 7:33 pmYou mean like at #3?
May 12th, 2007 at 7:35 pmThe General has HONOR and PRINCIPLES.
TRAITOR Bush has death, dishonor, lies and SATAN as
HIS principles.
May 12th, 2007 at 7:35 pmWow, a Republic with principals. How refreshing. Congratulations Gen. Batiste for being a Republican with principals and one with a soul. I have to say, though, I can’t understand how you can remain a Republic since now you know that they are without principles and are soulless. All they care about is $$$ and in Iraq, that means OIL.
May 12th, 2007 at 7:35 pmGen. Batiste, meet your polar opposite, Colin Powell.
May 12th, 2007 at 7:37 pmbig papa - I haven’t a clue what you are talking about. But, I notice you put Olberman in with Hannity and Cooper. Olberman does not ever belong in the same sentence with Hannity and Cooper unless the sentence says, “unlike Hannity and Cooper, Keith Olberman has a heart, soul and is a honest human being”. Keith had General Batiste on his show the night the news broke about CBS firing him and the ad came out. It was a great interview and Keith showed the General total respect. And I have to say that General Batiste didn’t exactly seem broken up about CBS firing him. He is a rather stoic kind of person. He also has principals and guts so he has my admiration, even though he is still a Republic.
May 12th, 2007 at 7:39 pmI haven’t a clue what you are talking about. But, I notice you put Olberman
Comment by Kate Henry #11
Kate,
Keith is MY favorite anchor…
…I was one of the first (that I am aware of) to bring attention to his special comments deriding Bush here on TP…
…but he joined in the minority community bashing (with Cooper and Hannity)…
…doing a feature on the “Stop Snitching” phenomenon that has been attributed to gang infested minority communities…
…where T-Shirts admonishing minorities to eschew collaborating with police in their (polce’s) attempts to solve crimes in those communities…
…I am NOT supporting THAT position/phenomenon…
…merely pointing out the HYPOCRISY in the ffp media ’s (Hannity, Olberman, and Cooper’s) ignoring the fact…
…that the SAME phenomenon exists in the CONSERVATIVE mainstream (majority culture)…
…they should do a feature castigating the “majority culture’s” shabby treatment of REAL American heroes…
…like Batiste, and the others I’ve mentioned…
…who’ve forfeited their careers to expose government corruption…
..and received OBSCURITY for their efforts…
…when a criminal like Tenet receives riches and reward…
…for keeping silent when he could’ve saved lives (and treasure)…
May 12th, 2007 at 8:01 pmBATISTE: Keith, I‘m in a very unique position. I have a platform upon which I can speak. I‘m no longer wearing the uniform of our country. I have no ties to the defense industry. I can speak honestly. I have a duty to do so.
May 12th, 2007 at 8:31 pmlet the swift boating begin.
May 12th, 2007 at 8:43 pmAnd this is why the Pentagon has gagged all it’s officers, shut down blogs, and forbidden anyone in uniform to speak to Congress or answer questions form Congressional committees. The numbers aren’t with the White House, but with the Democrats.
May 12th, 2007 at 8:45 pmBatiste is a courageous patriot, just like the fired attorneys who spoke out. These are the kinds of men our forefathers talked about. More people in positions of power should follow their consciences, and they should do it now.
May 12th, 2007 at 9:27 pmWe’re going to be hearing a lot more stuff like this as time goes on. I can hardly imagine the outpouring of criticism and damning inside information that will come from military leaders after Bush is out of power.
Bush will crawl out of office a disgrace, and he just might come to realize it while he is rotting away down in Texas (if not Paraguay).
May 12th, 2007 at 9:49 pmBatiste is the kind of real man, and true American patriot who should run for politcal office.
May 12th, 2007 at 9:49 pmHe’ll be getting smeared any moment now…
May 12th, 2007 at 9:53 pmComment by big papa #12
I still don’t get from that ramblin post where Olbermann EVER belongs in the same sentence as that fascist propagandist Hannity!
May 12th, 2007 at 9:57 pmOlbermann = Factual, reality based discussion and criticism.
Hannity = FAUX, fantasy based emotional diatribe based on lies.
Cooper = Big Business ass kisser.
May 12th, 2007 at 10:06 pmFor the extremist lefties who say Batiste should have spoken out when he was in uniform…shut up and join the real world. For the righties who will be trashing and swiftboating Batiste…just shut up.
May 12th, 2007 at 10:12 pmI have never seen conflicts in person, battles nor witnessed. I have heard the stories from the people who were there.
Our troops need to come home.
May 12th, 2007 at 10:14 pmFinally! SOMEONE willing to risk a friggin’ JOB to point out that we’re killing THOUSANDS of people for no apparent reason. If Colin Powell had half his balls (or any), we could have stopped this four years ago.
May 12th, 2007 at 11:10 pmOT but John Edwards has started an initiative today called Support the Troops. End the War. Go to his web site for more info and events Memorial Day weekend.
http://www.supportthetroopsendthewar.com/
Comment by Shane — May 13, 2007 @ 1:51 am
May 13th, 2007 at 1:57 amlet the swift boating begin.
Comment by Ben Dover — May 12, 2007 @ 8:43 pm
He’ll be getting smeared any moment now…
Comment by Mistress Z — May 12, 2007 @ 9:53 pm
Mistress Z and Ben D.,
May 13th, 2007 at 2:51 amThe swiftboating has already begun. The first comment in this thread is:
Gen. Batiste speaks out: “I’m GAY!â€
Comment by Mr. President — May 12, 2007 @ 7:20 pm
What a coward. While the men he commanded in Iraq can’t just leave, this guy suddenly decided that he has had enough and resigned.
Then again, it’s better to have weak characters like him to resign than let them corrode the morale of the troops.
May 13th, 2007 at 3:28 amThe General:
> The minute we’d leave, the insurgents would pick up on that,
> and kill everybody who had been friendly.â€
As so often, a war that says to everyone “Trust in Amurrica” == “You are a tool and sooo f**cked”.
MAF4 as usual:
> Then again, it’s better to have weak characters like him to resign
> than let them corrode the morale of the troops.
Hey MAF4, why dontcha volunteer at a Mahdi army checkpoint for some serious Iraqi-style headdrilling? Builds character, gets you on the right track again.
May 13th, 2007 at 6:37 amOne reason Bush cannot stop this war before his presidency ends is , The war and torture stories will come out thick and fast the minute the US leaves Iraq
May 13th, 2007 at 9:02 amThe General “Left the Army in protest in order to speak out” in November 2005. His damning testimony before Senate Democratic Policy Committee on the leadership of the Iraq war occurred 9 months later on September 25, 2006, where he held that the war, though badly mishandled by Rumbo, could still be won:
I don’t know what to make of the time lapse. It’s annoying. There seems to be no golden moment of credibility. None of these guys speaks out while still in uniform - wouldn’t be prudent for the pension and all. When they speak afterward, they’re relegated to the disgruntled-former-employee pile.
Can’t imagine why CBS hired him in the first place - his Senate testimony was readily extant. Guess it’s OK with CBS to blast a discredited former Defense Secretary (who’s still working somewhere in the WH), but taboo to blast the actual Chimp-in-Chief.
May 13th, 2007 at 12:09 pm