You Know He Wanted It!

So, we've read the Esquire piece.

It's very strange in itself, and reading the whole thing makes Fallon's resignation even stranger. A few observations:

First, it's a terrible piece of journalism. In a minor miracle of haigography, Barnett paints Fallon as part George Marshall, part George Kennan and part George Washington. He's tough, handsome, an oasis of calm in a terrifying world, he's...beautiful. It's also chock-a-block with patently silly statements (thanks to a successful diplomatic dinner in China there was "peace in our time." We hadn't noticed.) And lots of authorial clairvoyance that allows Barnett to translate direct quotes into what the Admiral really means. When Fallon declares that "Iran should be playing a contructive role...I hear this from every country in the region", Barnett channels this translation: "I've got you surrounded."

Well, its been a long time since Vidal and Mailer were writting for Esquire, so let's kindly move on.

More interesting is why a man reportedly as smart as Fallon (and there's no reason to doubt his smarts at all) would give access and quotes that anybody who knows the press knows would lead to this sort of article.

When an article like this comes out, you don't have a choice...you resign because you've effectively fired yourself. Fallon must have wanted it, or is woefully naive about media and magazine profiles; hard to believe.

So was this his final, tell-all self-inflicted coup de grace? Or a terrible media miscalculation? Read it for yourself, and consider the implications.