...stale headline for a stale bonehead.
Sorry, Major Argghhh!, my mother ALSO told me to not speak ill of the dead, but I am going to ignore her advice for once.
He ran Ford Motor Company for a while, and during his tenure, Ford screwed up at least one perfectly good model, the Thunderbird, making it from at least semi-sporty to the ugliest of boulevard boats. Ford's production quality sucked then, also, all the way across the board. The term "FORD = Fix Or Repair Daily" was coined during his tenure, and it fit like a glove. The fact that Ford makes decent cars and trucks today is in SPITE of the McNamara heritage, not because of it.
Next, President Kennedy appointed him to be Secretary of Defense, so he brought his "whiz kid" approach to management to the Pentagon, and our powerful military developed feet of clay. The Leaders of Men who won WW Two were ushered into retirement, replaced by statistic-whores who read only the body-count page of battle reports, not the information on enemy dispositions that might have gained them a clue to Vo Nguyen Giap's mindset. That was the "Whiz-Kid" approach to war-fighting.
He is responsible for the military euphemism, "Sir, it's a fucked-up war". The Vietnam War WAS the original "Fucked-up War" (I fought in it, so I am ENTITLED to say this). We have managed to cock up one or two since then, but McNamara set that standard.
I'm amazed that we won the Cold War, or at least could claim that until yesterday, when Obama gave away the nuclear store to Putin....the fact that the USSR reportedly lost that war tells me that McNamara must have had a Russian cousin or two in high places in the Kremlin.
After burying the Dept. of Defense so deep it would take decades to get it's head above water (might not have yet, actually), McNamara went on to run the World Bank.
Now, as the Rivrdog blog sees all things economic, the World Bank is a tit on a boar...that is to say, it's of no use to anyone. It amounts to the third-world equivalent of a "payday loan" company. It will loan money to anyone, and seems to specialize in loaning to the least credit-worthy. McNamara started THAT international lending philosophy also.
Guess what? That lending philosophy came full-circle, and we adopted it here, thanks to Barney Fwank and his ilk. Even "C-minus" students in the Rivrdog School of Economics know what came next after Barney Fwank did his mischief.
Speak no evil of the Dead because you might have to join them? Sorry, Mama, I won't be joining McNamara in Hell. You raised me to be better than that, so I will be looking DOWN on Robert Strange McNamara when I shed my mortal coil.
One of my closest friends and I have an agreement to pour a beer on whoever goes first. I'd do the same for Robert 'cept I'd drink it first
Posted by: Bob | July 07, 2009 at 20:29
Some things you just know, if you're not a fucktard. Like Roosevelt made the depression last longer than it shuld have. And mcNamara was a revolving S.O.B. (look that one up, I dare ya) who only lived as long as he did, because teams of demons were working all his life digging his special pit in hell.
They're finally done, and can now help with Dick Daley's hole.
Rot in hell for eternity, you foul piece of filth.
Posted by: og | July 08, 2009 at 16:05