Comments on: Pace’s extravagant farewell ceremony.

By: PrahaPartizan

PrahaPartizan — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:40:57 +0000

Pace could have chosen a simpler ceremony, but he declined neither bell nor whistle.

Indeed! Perfect Peter Pace should have been receiving the
bell, book and candle treatment instead. The more the essence of what they celebrate dissolves the more tightly they wrap themselves in the form. Bush had made a parody of everything in government.

By: nynick

nynick — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:17:02 +0000

I don’t think it’s such a big deal. After all, the man did serve honorably, he rose to a position of power within the military structure and the fact that the military honored his service should not surprise anyone. Believe me, Peter Pace will be remembered as the man who drank the Bush cool aide and spearheaded the disaster in Iraq. But his service should be honored by the men and women of the military he served with and loved. There are more pressing issues to worry about than what kind of send off Peter Pace got.

By: Zooey

Zooey — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:49:24 +0000

What? No MEDAL!?

By: VerbalKint

VerbalKint — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:26:10 +0000

Who is Jerry Bremer? I think Mr. Milbank means L. Paul Bremer. Who would guess Mr. Milbank and the WaPo make factual errors?
Comment by stewarjt â€” October 2, 2007 @ 10:04 am

Jerry is L. Paul Bremer’s preferred nickname. Indeed, Bush always referred to Bremer as “Jerry”. So it can hardly be called a factual error.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:06:16 +0000

While it may not be unusual for a country which spends more on its military than the rest of the world combined to be lavish with its generals, it is still obscene given the squalor uncovered at Walter Reed.
Comment by Peter C â€” October 2, 2007 @ 11:10 am

I don’t disagree with you there. While one soldier is being shat upon with the crap Bushco is putting the wounded through, they should not be allowed to spend this kind of money for any pompous gassbag general.

I mearly made the observation that it is not uncommon for a general to have a lavish ceremony like this in honor of himself. In fact from my experience it is fairly common.

By: ScrewBush

ScrewBush — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:39:53 +0000

These GOPers sure do love a parade, a good broadway show, a night at home watching What not to Wear with the “Wife”, perhaps a little IM chat with the boy next door, or even a few precious moments with a potential voter in the nearest men’s room. Oh, lets not forget those magic moments with that hunky Jeff Gannon, Mmmmmm, the memories.

Not that there’s anything wrong with the President kissing a tall handsome Saudi ruler or any of that other stuff. It’s just odd, don’t you think, coming from the same folks who hate gays?

By: Nevar

Nevar — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:15:15 +0000

Maybe there were 51 flags, can’t forget about Iraq…

Speaking of which, I wonder how many times that name was uttered at the ceremony.
Once?
Nonce?

By: Peter C

Peter C — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:10:39 +0000

We are paying for this while Bush is unwilling to fund SCHIP or adequate body armor. Pretty demonstrative of Republican values, I’d say.

By: missmolly

missmolly — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:10:16 +0000

Anyone know whazzup with the flags in the background?
My guess is the multi-national coalition of the bribed and duped in Iraq.

Comment by RUCerious â€” October 2, 2007 @ 10:41 am

I believe those are state flags (and there were probably 50 of them), but I like your idea better.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:52:08 +0000

it is not unusual for a general to have a lavish ceremony when retiring or taking a new command.

By: dim wit

dim wit — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:49:38 +0000

four fighter jets, four ceremonial howitzers, five honor guards, two brass bands, three metal detectors and eight Porta Potties. [â€¦]

What about our soldiers in Iraq? While Pace gets two brass bands, our soldiers in Iraq go brass band-less.

By: Nevar

Nevar — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:45:11 +0000

It is a curious assemblage of flags, there are US state flags in there… also some foreign flags it seems…

By: RUCerious

RUCerious — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:41:41 +0000

Anyone know whazzup with the flags in the background?
My guess is the multi-national coalition of the bribed and duped in Iraq.

By: Nevar

Nevar — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:41:20 +0000

“…four ceremonial howitzers,…”

weapons of mass deception

By: Mugsy

Mugsy — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:37:18 +0000

Stewarjt in #8: “L. Paul Bremer” is “Jerry Bremer”. That’s the name he goes by. Don’t ask me why.

By: burro

burro — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:36:43 +0000

There’s a grab bag by the door for outgoing RepubCo incompetents. They can reach in and pull out a Fancy Ceremony, a Shiny Medal of Honor, a Plummy Lobbying Job, a Get out of Jail Free Card or a Guarantee of Confidentiality in Perpetuity concerning your stupidity and criminality among other prizes.

Pace must have danced a jig when he got his Fancy Ceremony. What a lucky guy.

By: Mugsy

Mugsy — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:35:12 +0000

They keep doing this… over compensating… putting on an enormous show to suggest that someone or something wasn’t as huge a failure as everyone thinks.

The did the same thing a few months back IIRC for another departing General/Leader/Whatever, and the most notorious example of over-compensating self denial you mentions of the “Medals of Freedom” debacle.

One most look at these events and wonder: “Who are they trying to convince? Us or themselves?”

Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt?

By: Jay11

Jay11 — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:33:35 +0000

Come on folks, Pace deserved this circus-like honor. Responsibility for the deaths of 100’s of thousands of innocent people is damn hard work. And the stress….

Please let this national nightmare end soon.

By: DenverOasis

DenverOasis — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:19:16 +0000

talk about gov’t waste…

hey republicans, how do you feel about your tax dollars being wasted on this?

what a joke. we can’t afford this kind of pointless extravagance.

By: hellinabucket

hellinabucket — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:16:25 +0000

First laugh of the day. Thanks missmolly.