Gen. McChrystal: Save PBS. It Makes Us Safer

[brooklynite]

New York Times:

I like to say that leadership is a choice. As our leaders in Washington confront tough decisions about our budget priorities, I urge them to continue federal funding for public broadcasting. Public broadcasting makes our nation smarter, stronger and, yes, safer. It’s a small public investment that pays huge dividends for Americans. And it shouldn’t be pitted against spending more on improving our military. That’s a false choice.

This might seem like an unlikely position for me, a 34-year combat veteran. But it’s a view that has been shaped by my career leading brave men and women who thrive and win when they are both strong and smart. My experience has taught me that education, trusted institutions and civil discourse are the lifeblood of a great nation.

Public broadcasting plays a special role with young children. According to the Pew Research Center, rising numbers of American children live with one parent or with two parents who both work.

...snip...

We need public media that acts as our largest classroom. We need broadcasting that treats us as citizens, not simply as consumers. We need a strong civil society where the connection between different people and groups is firm and vibrant, not brittle and divided. We need to defend against weaknesses within and enemies without, using the tools of civil society and hard power. We don’t have to pick one over the other.

[nolabear]

1. I never thought I'd be hoping the generals would save us, but today I'll take it.

Maybe that man understands uniforms. Maybe military school impressed him. Maybe they're talking to one another and saying "Listen, we have to stop some of this shit."

A girl can dream.

[Volaris]

2. One doesn't make Generals Rank if one is an uneducated idiot,

And mostly, the opposite of uneducated is a Liberal (or Classical) education. The military knows this. Therefore, the Generals (even the politically conservative ones) received a decent education and were taught how to think critically.

[Hekate]

4. True

[calimary]

3. WUNNNNDERFUL!

Intriguing guy. Badmouthed his president (President Obama) in a Rolling Stone interview and got removed. But out in the field, at the front, he forbade Pox Noise from being played on the TVs in the compound.

[Blue_true]

5. McCrystal has taken other positions that indicate he is moderate

or left of center, his views on guns, women in the military and LGBTQ soldiers indicate an informed, progressive viewpoint.

I really never understood why he did the Obama critique, since most of his world view aligns well with Obama policy.