GENERAL JONES WAS PUSHED OUT

The official story is that National Security Adviser James Jones agreed to leave early. But a senior White House aide tells, "the time was right to bring forward his departure."

When James Jones took the job of National Security Adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, he was entering unfamiliar territory. A retired Marine general, he was no stranger to bureaucracy or politics: after all, he had held down the post of Supreme Allied Commander at the politically fraught NATO Headquarters in Brussels.

Yet Jones seemingly never fit in the Obama Whitehouse — a sentiment confirmed Friday, when he announced he was stepping down. But contrary to official reports, there was more to the timing than the ripple effects of Rahm's Emanuel's departure. "We're making a lot of changes now with Rahm leaving, and there was a sense of just, 'Let's get this done now,'" said one senior Obama aide.

Read the whole thing HERE.


I met General Jone's secretary once, years ago down in Key West. She was a good looking girl in her thirties, and a Gunnery Sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserve. The teamies pushed me in her direction because we were both in the same age group - I was the Old Man on the team, even then. We hung out for a couple of days in Key West - unfortunately it never went anywhere. That was a couple of years before the encounter in the Lesbian bar down there; the two anecdotes are unrelated.

OK, now I can see that I owe you guys the Key West Chronicles - give me a couple of days to get my story straight . . .


. . . SEAN LINNANE SENDS



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