The man who promises everything is sure to fulfill nothing, and everyone who promises too much is in danger of using evil means in order to carry out his promises, and is already on the road to perdition. ~Carl Jung
Our economy remains mired in a deep recession as unemployment swallows the saccharine hope proffered by our President. Oil gushes from the floor of the Gulf while our ill-chosen Nero fiddles 1 and shoots the back nine. Parents shudder as our national debt, compounded manifold by Obama’s failed stimulus 2, compromises their children’s future. We watch as a thin-skinned 3 amateur forces the masses to submit and bend to his will and we ask: “Can this get any worse?” And then it happens, all at once. The commander-in-chief, a fraud who has mocked and betrayed every traditional American institution in his quest to undermine American exceptionalism, has given General Stanely McChrystal his walking papers.
While I understand that General McChrystal’s comments and those of his aides were out of line, and ultimately President Obama was in his rights to hold him accountable, there is something greater at stake than modus operandi: the unyielding dichotomy of character between the general and the commander-in-chief.
Ultimately, this was more than mere observation of military protocol. Rather, this is a deeply symbolic act, an expression of archetypal proportions that resonates on a profoundly spiritual level. Obama is Jung’s shadow 4, “a moral problem that challenges the whole ego personality, for no one can become conscious without considerable moral effort.”1 It is this lack of awareness, his inability to see beyond his own self-imposed concoction of utopia, his unwillingness to admit his fallibility, which defines the President in his megalomaniacal march towards monarchy. And it is the very opposite of these dynamics that characterize General McChrystal. Whereas Obama represents the impulses of political expediency, McChrystal symbolizes constancy of character. Whereas Obama agitates in order to aggrandize his persona and need for hero worship, McChrystal shuns the public light despite being a hero 5.
This list goes on and on. One destroys, while the other builds. One dithers in the face of crises, while the other takes charge of an insurmountable situation. One sacrifices 6 those who no longer serve his needs, while the other makes the daily sacrifice of duty to his country. One apologizes to those who would cut our throats in the night, while the other confronts the Taliban7 head on. One uses his country to advance his career; the other forfeits his career for his country. One is an intellect, an academician who twists reality to fit theory; the other endures a reality of blood and death to prevent us from the same fate. It is a contrast so stark and severe that the dichotomy is unbearable for those who see it, and seemingly oblivious to those who have been duped by our President’s political persona 8.
And although this dichotomy has culminated in McChrystal falling upon the proverbial sword, this drama has been in the works for some time. General Stanley McChrystal was set up for failure by President Obama from the beginning.
First, as history will show, he was given an unwinnable war. Despite slaughtering more than one-half million Afghans in its failed conquests, the Russian military was sent packing by the Mujahideen 9. The same fate befell the British in the late 19th century. Yet, all throughout his presidential campaign, Obama made the distinction between a “war of necessity” (Afghanistan) and a “war of convenience (Iraq),” positioning himself as just warrior, as opposed to John McCain, who supported an “unjust” war.
Moreover, McChrystal was shortchanged in his request 10 of troops, further jeopardizing the overall mission, if there is one any more. Ironically, McChrystal, ostensibly to win approval with the local Afghan populace, hampered his own efforts by embracing rules of engagement 11 that limit our soldiers’ capacity to respond, expose them to greater danger, and cobble their ability to carry out their orders. Finally, the overall tone of ambivalence and half measures 12 has made success in Afghanistan all but impossible.
For Obama, this is a potentially winning situation, for he is able to muster enough jingoism to cast himself as strong military leader, while simultaneously undermining our ability to win. This will allow Obama and his ilk to castigate, eviscerate, and ultimately dismantle the military so he can replace them with some socialistic analogue of “a civilian national security force.” In the end analysis, McChrystal was a pawn in a much larger scheme that has its roots in Harvard and Berkley, rather than West Point and Annapolis.
And so we have reached a low point in the United States. The warrior, a man who has endured pain and hardship, who has always followed rules and put the needs of his own men above his own, has been toppled by the trickster, by the fool, by the community organizer whose disdain for authority and privilege know no bounds, save for the authority and privilege he wields. And behind it all, decisions have been made based upon the claims of a magazine not taken seriously by anyone above the age of 30. God help us all.
1. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/17/capital-capitulation/
2. http://reason.com/archives/2009/02/13/why-the-stimulus-plan-wont-wor
3. http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/05/27/obama-the-thin-skinned-president/
4. http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9X2-eXfmGIgC&oi=fnd&pg=PA95&dq=the+shadow+archetype&ots=fAo43s2Zvu&sig=fxGp0aBmQjxXpXpAdaTixK3jeqM#v=onepage&q=the%20shadow%20archetype&f=true
5. http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/gates-and-mullen-on-mcchrystal-and-civilian-control/
6. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37208439/
7. http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37244
8. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/09/18/does_he_lie_98363.html
9. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/opinion/29sebestyen.html?_r=2
10. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/06/dont_blame_mcchrystal_blame_ob.html
11. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/mcchrystals-real-offense-96873364.html
12. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-blankley/too-few-troops-too-much-s_b_385852.html
13.
For detailed information about Jung’s theories regarding archetypes, see:
Jung, C.G. (1990). The archetypes of the collective unconscious. Hull, R. F. C. (Trans.). Bollingen Series XX. The Collected Works of C.G. Jung, 9 (1). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. First published in 1959.
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