Gen. Peter Pace to Retire as Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman

WASHINGTON — "Marine Gen. Peter Pace will retire as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced on Friday.

Gates said while he intended to renominate Pace for another two-year term as chairman, after consulting with congressional leaders, the confirmation hearing was likely to be "a backward-looking and very contentious process."

"The focus of his confirmation process would have been on the past, rather than the future," Gates said at a press conference at the Pentagon..."

Okay, lemme splain. General Pace has been away from other Marines for far too long. Under normal circumstances, the senior NCO of whichever post the General was commanding would have kicked in his office door, and with all due respect told the General that he was acting like some stupid ass civilian and should either get his ass in gear and do the right thing or expect to get said ass kicked from here to eternity. For quite some time now, EVERYONE has been walking on eggshells hoping that the General would retire. The pukes in Congress wanted him out, the President wanted a new face, hell, even the do-nothing Secretary of Defense (we haven't really won a war since we started calling the Secretary of War the Secretary of Defense) knew that 6 years as boss or under-boss was unheard of and if it's one things the pukes cannot stand is a Marine running around telling them the truth. OTHER Marines would have told General Pace this, and in a way he would understand. Well. His Senior NCO's would have, but once one gets as high as Chairman the go-fers become senior Majors and Lieutenant Colonels, and what in all hells do they know. They are around to hope enough pixie dust bleeds from those 4 stars to propel THEM to higher ranks by association, and not someone to watch his six and tell it like it is.

For the past several months a lot of us have been crossing our fingers that someone would finally talk to the General and make him understand that simply coming to the office every day even when they've told you not to, isn't good thing, even though who the fuck are THEY anyway.