Late last month, I jokingly suggested that Barack Obama could emulate his “hero” Ronald Reagan by doing a progressive version of Reagan’s signature move of making appointments that are the exact opposite of the goals of the position by nominating Dennis Kucinich as Secretary of Defense and Daniel Ellsberg to head the CIA. Sadly, Obama seems to have taken a garbled version of this suggestion, as word came Sunday that Obama is creating “a high-profile initiative in support of military families” and has put war criminal and Pat Tillman cover-up leader Stanley McChrystal in charge of this operation. This is a truly Reaganesque appointment, as it is hard to imagine a military figure who has done more to harm families around the world, and now he is leading the charge to put a happy face on the devastation ten years of war has wreaked on the very small number of US families who have borne the brunt of the death and other sacrifices by our all-volunteer force.

From the time of his appointment, some of us have been calling for a closer look at McChrystal the Special Ops guy, who commanded the rogue troops of Camp NAMA where access by the International Red Cross was blocked, where the treatment of prisoners was so out of control that other DOD commands banned their troops from operating there – and his claims to be concerned about civilian casualties.

Obama will not withdraw US Special Forces from Iraq when “all combat forces” leave this summer and Gen. McChrystal, who keeps claiming to be getting control over SOF and civilian casualties, has had command over them all along.