On Firing Generals

I stayed away from the whole McChrystal flap – I tend to think comparisons of modern to historical events are nothing more than parlor tricks: you can construct them to make whatever point you choose.  (For example, was Lincoln’s condemnation of living off of the sweat of another’s brow an indictment of the welfare state or of capitalism – or just of slavery?)  But I think fellow blogger Dmitri has a good commentary here.  The notebooks to which he refers were discussed here (the first of four parts).