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May 22, 2002

THE HOROWITZ / ROBERT MUELLER ITEM generated a lot of comments. Eugene Volokh says that Mueller's lines are akin to Vince Lombardi saying: "Boys, this is a tough team and they're going to score on us; but you can't let their occasional successes break your spriit." Several others wrote to echo this point.

Most correspondents weren't so kind. Richard Bennett emails these suggestions: If Mueller was Patrick Henry, he would have said: "give me liberty or give me slavery, it doesn't really matter."

If he were in Boston during Paul Revere's ride, he would have said: "One if by land, or one if by sea, or one if out of the air, or one if tomorrow. Whatever, dude."

Okay, that's a little harsh, but that's Richard. Blogosphere favorite Claire Berlinski surfaces long enough to send this correction to Horowitz: Re: 'If Mueller had delivered the statement to the troops on the eve of D-Day instead of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower: "Men, no matter how well we plan this thing, half of you are gonna die anyway. I wish there was something else I could do. Good luck."'

I believe you're alluding to Patton's speech, not Eisenhower's. It was Patton who said: "You are not all going to die. Only two percent of you right here today would die in a major battle." It was Patton who addressed the troops; Eisenhower's D-Day speech was broadcast to all of Europe.

I only point this out because Patton's speech is so marvellous that it really deserves the credit. I wish he were still running the show. Check it out. Yes, I'd like to see a bit more Patton from quite a few of our leaders at the moment. (Berlinski reports, by the way, that she's finishing up her book, Loose Lips, and that bloggers will love it).

Reader Scott Hegelson sent this, along with several others: Mueller as Yoda: "Try not. Do not. There is no point. Too big is the starship for you."

There were many others -- too many to post here (sorry about the comments, there's still a Java problem; I'll activate 'em here in case we can get it fixed later this evening). But perhaps the most cogent point came from reader PJ VanBloem:

Must say I don't understand what Mueller is doing. Horowitz overstates the case, as I don't think he's throwing in the towel, but apart from simple ass-covering, I don't know what Mueller is trying to accomplish.

The Eisenhower pseudo-quote strikes me as pretty accurate. The Farragut one would be better as: "Look at all the torpedoes! We are bound to lose some ships." Mueller does _not_ say "I'm out of here" or "Let's turn back", but neither does he say "Full speed ahead!"

Mueller should have at least added, "We're doing the best we can, and the likelihood of more attacks only means we need to continue our War on Terrorism."

I think we're all well aware that you don't win a war (or a game) with defense, and the FBI is on defense.

Yes. I don't mind Mueller saying "We're the goalie, and the goalie can't stop every shot." But his statement did have a rather negative resonance to me, and obviously I'm not the only one who read it that way. If his goal was to lower expectations, well, he certainly succeeded.

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That said: I don't think that it's Mueller's job to play cheerleader for us, I'd rather he just give us the facts as he sees them even if they stink. Cheerleading is Ridge's job - making sure we know what color the day is and directing the nation's fashion sense thereby.

It's a mistake to compare him to Patton, because even if he gets us all riled up to fight, it won't make a damn difference.

Posted by: Oren at May 23, 2002 03:59 AM

Glenn, LISTEN UP

Text size too small.

Posted by: Bill Melcher at May 23, 2002 07:24 AM

Mueller as Knute Rockne, All-American: “And the last thing he said to me, 'Rock,' he said, 'sometime when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to throw up their hands in abject resignation and renounce any friends who celebrate Yom Gipper.”

Posted by: Greg at May 23, 2002 08:44 AM

Text size OK and responds to View/Text size ...

GOOD.

Thanks

Posted by: Bill Melcher at May 23, 2002 09:43 AM

While Mueller's defeatist attitude could certainly use some work, the substance of what he said -- that terrorists are planning other attacks and we simply can't guard against everything -- is clearly correct. However, combine that with the decision not to allow pilots to carry guns on commercial flights, and the clear message is this: "we can't protect you, but neither will we allow you to protect yourselves." Now that is truly deplorable. It's one thing for the government to recognize that it is not omnipotent -- I'd even say that's a welcome development. It's quite another, though, for it to refuse to accept the consequences of that fact -- that is, that decentralization and citizen participation is the only way to defend against terrorism. Of course, we've ignored this reality in the context of crime for years. There's no reason we would suddenly get it in the context of terrorism.

Posted by: Steve Simpson at May 23, 2002 10:37 AM

Julius Caesar: Vini! Vidi! Vamoose!

Patrick Henry: Please give me liberty at your earliest convenience.

Ronald Reagan: Mr. Gorbachev, what an impressive wall you have here!

Posted by: Bob at May 23, 2002 12:18 PM

If Robert Mueller had been Winston Churchill speaking to the British public in 1940 about the Nazi terrorist threats, he would have said, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

What could possibly be wrong with telling the public that in a war we will take some casualties?

Posted by: Doug Herbert at May 23, 2002 12:22 PM

If the scene in Animal House was changed:

(Mueller) War's over, man. Wormer(terrorists) dropped the big one.

Bluto: Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

Otter: [whispering] Germans?

Boon(Mueller): This dumb SOB doesn't know what he's talking about!!! It was the Japanese!!! It's over, nothing we can do about these guys...

Posted by: MikeG at May 23, 2002 12:57 PM

If Mueller had advised Dolly Parton, he'd of said, "Cut 'em off and join a convent."

Posted by: Bob D at May 23, 2002 10:49 PM

May 22, 2002

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