Local Government TV

▼

Friday, July 01, 2011

Gates: A Bipartisan Says Goodbye

When Robert Gates stepped down as Defense Secretary yesterday, President Obama awarded him the Medal of Freedom, the highest honor he can bestow on a civilian. He called Gates, who served four different Presidents in different parties, an example of  "citizenship over partisanship."

LV Congressman Charlie Dent commended Gates as well. “I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Secretary Gates. I will certainly miss his counsel, wisdom and sage advice. Secretary Gates will be remembered as a powerful and effective leader, having guided the American military establishment through extremely difficult times, including wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with dignity and grace. His ability to serve under Presidents from both political parties speaks volumes to his honest and dependable style of leadership. I thank Secretary Gates for his years of service to our nation and wish him an enjoyable retirement."


Gates' biggest worry is a decline in bipartisanship, as the right and left continue to go their separate ways on everything, including our own national security.

Leon Panetta, who is succeeding Gates, has a pretty good record of bipartisanship as well.
at

11 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 1, 2011 at 6:35 AM

    Gates is a terrific government professional and a great American.

    Bernie, I knew eventually you'd write a post I could completely agree with.

    Blanker

    ReplyDelete
  2. notsocasualobserverJuly 1, 2011 at 7:30 AM

    Gates loved and respected our troops. They knew that and were always comforted to know that they had his suppport in more than just empty words. He was a frequent and welcome visitor to the troops in harms way. This raises morale and and encourages success in the field. Gates was a great leader, our men and women in uniform will miss him

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jon GeetingJuly 1, 2011 at 7:54 AM

    Bipartisanship is not nearly as important as who is right.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Guy WilliamsJuly 1, 2011 at 8:22 AM

    Gates is a great public servent in the truest sense.Amid all the political turmoil has done a great job.The know it all politicians on both sides of the aisle should take note. Not

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bernie O'HareJuly 1, 2011 at 11:07 AM

    No, All comments and opinions are welcome, ESPECIALLY those that disagree with me. I will only delete personal attacks, and Geeting signs his name. I give hm credit for taking responsibility for what he writes, although he's really over the edge in most of his views.

    ReplyDelete
  6. cJuly 1, 2011 at 11:09 AM

    John, Right is right...but getting good things done requires bipartisianship. Unfortunately being right when you serve in an elected capacity always matters, but only gets things done when you have enough support and can sell your ideas to enough people. To do that you also need folks to believe that you also need a solid character as well as credibility......and those are pretty rare things, for many reasons.

    ReplyDelete
  7. cJuly 1, 2011 at 11:11 AM

    Excuse me...I meant to say:
    To do that you also need a solid character as well as credibility......and those are pretty rare things, for many reasons.
    Sorry for the typo.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJuly 1, 2011 at 11:35 AM

    Geeting is finally right about something. Bipartisanship is bullshit, an illusion. When the governing class agree, the governed usually suffer. Partisanship and gridlock provide a cooling saucer for issues that require more debate before consensus.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousJuly 1, 2011 at 11:45 AM

    The system was set up with checks and ballances for a reason. We all don't like it sometimes, but I for one think it's the best sytem in the world.

    Seamsu

    ReplyDelete
  10. ZornJuly 1, 2011 at 7:09 PM

    Gates - a much better man than our joke of a president

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousJuly 2, 2011 at 12:13 AM

    Our President, a much better man than that joke, Zorn!

    ReplyDelete

You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.