I was just chatting with
(e:mrmike) and for some reason I remembered one of the toys from my childhood. Now I'm so sad that neither I or my parents still have any of these toys. We moved a lot and it just didn't seem important to keep anything. Really I don't think I have any more toys.
When I loved Christmas, I would play the Alvin and the Chimpmunk's Xmas album on my fisher price record player. It would drive my parents insane to hear their 'chipmunk' voices all high and chipmunk like 24/7. I can't imagine why they wouldn't like it. A couple of years ago I found the album on vinyl in perfect condition.
Wascally Wabbit chewed the corners oh so slightly. Now it is in near mint condition...
One Xmas me and my brother and sister all got a Chipmunk doll. My older sister got Simon, I got Alvin and my brother got THeodore. When you pull the string it would say things like "Alvin loves you"
I also had this. It is so awesome.
At a flea market in Florida I found Theodore out of the three in their glassware set. Now I just need to find Alvin and Simon.
As far as I know Def. Sec Gates plays an important role in iraq policy. That is why these quotes upset me and that has not changed at all. I may not know exactly where def. secratrie's responsibilities lie, but I am still fairly certain that a recently appointed one should be pretty damn knowledgeable on the situation there. Who knows maybe he didn't even say these things or they were taken out of context. The quotes were removed from the article. Is he better than Rumsfeld? probably, but I wasn't comparing him to anyone. Point was that if the quotes really do express his true sentiment than it saddens me. Just a statement really of how I reacted to reading the quotes.
The important thing to remember when people get brought into Cabinet-level positions such as SecDef, is that these people (with the possible exception of SecState) are bureaucrats that essentially serve as a liason between their respective Departments and the Executive Branch.
SecDefs are not military men - it is a civilian position that occasionally have people with military pasts. Some SecDefs had previous experience in the post - Rummy was President Ford's SecDef 30 years ago. VP Cheney was a SecDef under Bush 41. Bill Clinton's last SecDef, Richard Cohen, got an undergrad degree in Latin and went on to become a lawyer and a Congressman. Secretary Gates served for decades in the CIA and eventually became DCI - the top position within "the farm." Some come from corporate backgrounds. Usually the criteria for these candidates require them to have run a large company or branch of government - the Pentagon itself is a large bureaucracy with a massive budget so there is a very striking correlation.
Ultimately, the SecDef does not write military strategy - this is up to the top 4-stars within each branch.
Hey (e:Libertad) I have some thoughts about the SecDef's remarks but I decided to post them as a journal entry ( (e:chico,44) ).