Clown time is over

Been thinking about four recent remarks by public figures.

There's SecDef Hagel's remark that the Islamic State is "beyond anything we've seen" and that we must "get ready."

There's former deputy CIA director Mike Morrell's remark that "if an ISIS member showed up at a mall in the United States tomorrow with an AK-47 and killed a number of Americans, I would not be surprised.”

There's Senator Inhofe's remark that "they're developing the method of blowing up a major US city, and people can't believe that's happening."

There's retired Lt. General McInerney's remark that this country needs to be on DEFCON 1 alert level.

Yikes.  That's imminent-nuclear-attack level.

These four individuals represent varying degrees of alignment with my overall outlook on public policy and the world generally.  But none are considered any kind of beyond-the-pale wack jobs.  These four disparate figures are not just trying to generate buzz and make their brands more visible.

The fact that someone like Hagel, whose recent past includes such demonstrations of cluelessness as pushing to reduce our military strength to a 1940 level, seeks to convey his message with maximum urgency means that the situation has his full attention.  He and the others have seen something that alarms the hell out of them.

Are there any reports of how the Most Equal Comrade has spent his day?  That's not usually among my top ten concerns in life, but it's real important at the moment.  Maybe we'll hear that he's been hunkered down with Hagel as well as his national security advisor, the head of the CIA, Chairman Dempsey, and, I suppose, since it was a bureaucracy created for such times, although, like all gummint bureaucracies, it has become bloated and rather worthless, the top folks at DHS.  Hell, for what it's worth, Global-Test ought to be there, too.

It would really bolster my outlook to hear that such is the case.

And if I hear he's been on the damn golf course again, my disgust level will rise substantially.