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November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
Explain? Its "doonesbury". The comic ceased to be relevant or funny years ago and became the patron saint of moonbats everywhere. And you still read it?
No, in fact I don't. Got that from a tip from a fellow blogger.
And I really don't get it, I wasn't kidding, I thought maybe someone else might.
I don't get it either. But then, I don't get alot of Doonesbury. Guess I'm one of those ignorant red staters that needs my betters to tell me how to think.
I think it is a poke at the press, maybe even the Democrats... I think the tone is - how dumb are you guys (Dems and press) to complain about DeLay and heap coverage upon the situation when there is a far more important story - the war. The idea of a front line fighter worried about DeLay is suppose to strike us as silly or absurd. In a way, Trudeau is talking about how inconsequential the entire DeLay thing is when compared to war, in another way I think Trudeau is revealing a flaw in himself - the military to him is a prop for silly comments or tragedy - it does not play an honorable role with dignity, perseverance, and success. While I understand the nature of his humor and the peril our troops face, he does them a disservice by not representing their accomplishments.
And yes, he stopped being funny (if he ever was funny) a long time ago.
Here's one you will never see from him - Remember kids, under the UN plan if you invade a country, set it on fire, kill your own citizens, and violate santions for 10 years you should be allowed to live out your life in the palace of your choosing.
Doonsebury is still worth reading in that it gives insight into what the left thinks. For example, the running gag for the past two weeks has been a "Tom DeLay political deathwatch" despite the raft of reports that his travel habits are no different than other legislators'. They do NOT get it.
I'd be interested in finding out what wounded vets think of the character B.D., who lost a leg in Iraq.
As always, this longhaired 4F civilian thanks you for your service.
Maybe it's blog envy. The strip isnot as popular these days. It sure comes across as a rip at the Milbloggers but I really think not getting it is a sign of good sense and a healthy mind. If things like this start making sense I suggest you seek help!
I too have stopped reading Doonesbury. I live in Sacramento, the Capital of left-leaning California, where the only daily paper is the Bee, which is very leftist and anti-Bush,Iraq war, military,religion,etc. The only reason I subscribe is the comics, which I like to read at lunch. Doonesbury sometimes would have a theme or thread which almost resembled mainstream American thinking, until it took a sharp left turn. I now consider the strip to be simply another form of biased irrelavency, much like the leftist editorial (and reporting) policy of the paper.
Could he be refering to "write like the chairman and your mother are going to read your blog? If so, then he must be reading Mudville or Milblogs.
I think it is a poke at the press, maybe even the Democrats... I think the tone is - how dumb are you guys (Dems and press) to complain about DeLay and heap coverage upon the situation when there is a far more important story - the war. The idea of a front line fighter worried about DeLay is suppose to strike us as silly or absurd. In a way, Trudeau is talking about how inconsequential the entire DeLay thing is when compared to war, in another way I think Trudeau is revealing a flaw in himself - the military to him is a prop for silly comments or tragedy - it does not play an honorable role with dignity, perseverance, and success. While I understand the nature of his humor and the peril our troops face, he does them a disservice by not representing their accomplishments.
And yes, he stopped being funny (if he ever was funny) a long time ago.
Here's one you will never see from him - Remember kids, under the UN plan if you invade a country, set it on fire, kill your own citizens, and violate santions for 10 years you should be allowed to live out your life in the palace of your choosing.
I actually experience physical revulsion when I turn the comics page and see Doonesbury.
I think Andy has it backwards... He (Trudeau) is probably indicating that the Delay flap is MORE important than the happenings in Iraq or the 'Stan. That would seem to fit more to his political leanings.
Frankly, based on what I've seen elsewhere, I wouldn't be surprised to find that this is the opening salvo in a program meant to say that the troops (milbloggers in particular) are too political these days. The part of the left that you can still talk with came to the conclusion that while it would be ok to agitate against the war, they would not again make the same mistake as during Vietnam and oppose the troops ("baby killers," e.g.). Hence the "support the troops, bring them home" meme you've seen in some of the protests.
I suspect that these same folks expected as a part of a tacit quid pro quo that we'd keep our mouths shut on issues of purely domestic policy, at least in areas where we tend to collectively differ with them.
But I could be projecting...
Trudeau is yet another of those insufferable, baby boom traitors from the Ivy League [Yale] that cannot bear the fact that someone they thought was an idiot in college [Dubya] became the President [twice!] while they remained stuck in the 60's. They do not believe in democracy here, let alone in places like Afghanistan and Iraq; they only believe in their own ability to tell other people how they should live while exempting themselves from their own edicts. Totalitarians in designer clothes, they do not realize they are starring in their own version of "Remains of the Day," and will be the most surprised at the harsh judgment of history.
If we change the context away from the Delay flap, thus removing the political implication the strip may be making -- that the majority of soldiers are secretly partisan democrats "atwitter" at the thought of DeLay's discomfort -- and over to something equally stupid yet less partisan, like the Schiavo case, I don't thing it passes the funny test. So I think it's fair to say Trudeau is only interested in writing cartoons for the left side of the political spectrum. Which is fine.
The solution is to write your local paper and ask them to carry the comics you enjoy. My own personal favorite can be read here:
http://cheston.com/pbf/archive.html
The war is all but over for the left as an issue with legs. The Iraqi government has said they would like the US to stay 18-24 months more. Rumsfeld has talked about drawing down from 17 brigades to 13 brigades.
So they have some stupid Delay death watch, and some reference that soldiers have nothing better to do but blog.
If I read between the lines...the left is positioning the troop drawn down as a victory for themselves. Not a "mission accomplished".
The murder rate in New York city was 8/day in 1990. Adjusted for the population if Iraq, that would be 12/day. The "April" "Tet Offensive" was 17/per day.
The violence in Iraq is quickly reaching a level where it is a job for police detectives. Not soldiers in tanks with artillery.
If the kneejerk critics had waited until the second day of the strip, they would have seen that, if anything, this arc of the comics will be pro-military blog...the first strip was making fun of something a military blog obviously would NOT contain. "Atwitter" should have been the tipoff. It's just "MASH" style humor. Relax.
Greyhawk, you got the tip from me.
I think he is making fun saying that the soldiers just write ANYTHING.(not of substance)
Ohhh.. that subtle leftie humor!!!
Gary Trudeu hasn't been funny since Garrison Keilor was funny.. oh, bad comparison. Gary Trudeu hasn't been funny since Whoopi Goldberg was funny... hmm.. seeing a pattern here. Don't try to find humor where there isn't any, don't try to make sense where there isn't any to be found.