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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! April 13, 2006 Reporting for
By Greyhawk |
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 |
The left is certainly not supporting the troops. They know that the military voted 80% Republican. The fifth-column left is seeking to undermine America at all costs.
Hey, they will NOT have their patriotism questioned!
They're real tough when they're only facing American troops, but if a Muslim mob starts burning our flag or trashing American franchise stores, they fold like a cheap tent. It angers me that people like this are all through our government, and willing to sell us out through leaks to the NYTimes.
How can you get any more treasonous than what these jerks are doing?
When I recently left a comment on a blog where comments were overwhelmingly giddy that VP Cheney was booed @ RFK Stadium, I reminded them that 3 wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan had accompanied the Veep.
Their response was, "Your point is...?", "So?", and then it got worse.
I had to take a shower after reading some that stuff.
I no longer question their patriotism (no doubt in my mind that there is none) but I do question their humanity.
These poor fools are the same ones who if cnn didn't remind them who the president was, they would forget. They know nothing of sacrifice, beyond the fact that maybe they had to pay extra to go to blockbuster to rent a michael moore flick. These clowns say they are humanitarian, but the hate they heap upon our men and women is atrocious. These fools and freaks are the same as the assholes who tortured our returning soldiers 30 years ago. I think it is high time to bring back some of the sedition laws of the past. Clowns like these have to pay, and when they ask why, tell them Franklin Roosevelt said so. He was one of the most censoring presidents ever. And we fought a world war back then.
these people have it so good, they are guilty over America. Therefore, they want everyone else to suffer and bring our country down to the third world level. What better way to help the enemy and disgrace our country than weakening our soldiers? These hateful people make me sick. They make me angry. SO I send more to help our soldiers, and to tell these moonbats to go to hell!
semper fi, carry on! God bless our men and women in uniform!
Mark
Nice job of barn painting with the same broad
brush the loonies use to paint all rightwingers
as skin-headed Klansmen.
Semanticleo - You've got a responsibility to clean up after your crazies as the right has to clean up after its own. When I hear an Ann Coulter going overboard, I do my little bit to denounce her. The left should too. In fact, some of them do, just not enough of them actually do it.
It would be nice if WaPo would enforce its stated posting guidelines.
" You've got a responsibility to clean up after your crazies as the right has to clean up after its own."
..and whose responsibility is it to clean up this post?
Original comment here deleted. When you make this comment section resmble the Post's - even if the Post commenters are the target of your rage - you miss my point entirely.
What exactly do you think needs cleaned up in this post?
I can't understand why these people, if they are so opposed to ___________________ (a. the war in Iraq b. all wars c. George Bush d. anything American e. all the above), why don't they just catch a plane and go to Iraq to try to do what they can like the members (minus one) of a peace group did. It is one thing to sit in front of a computer in a warm room drinking lattes and another to actually do something besides write silly remarks on a blog. I am sure they will be greeted with open arms by the people they are trying to help like the peace group (minus one) was.
I have to remind myself that the scum who would bad mouth our military vets is in all probability as miserable in real life as the premise of their post(s).
They deserve the a dulled edge of a cold knife but I'll let God handle the justice.
In the meantime, to anyone who has served, is serving, or has immediate family associated with the military, my family thanks you for your sacrifice and service. In our book, you're the real heroes.
Semanticleo,
Painting with a broad brush? Where in the world can I find any reasonable voices on the Democratic/liberal/left side of the divide willing to speak rationally about the war without slipping into BDS, raving against our our military, defending the rights of war criminals (terrorism is a a war crime, and terrorists are war criminals) or utterly indifferent to an American defeat/jihadi victory in the Iraq front?
Until then, I think the "broad brush" you speak of is not only warranted, but fully earned and a necessary expression of our vigilance.
Junko at April 14, 2006 12:07 AM
The left is certainly not supporting the troops. They know that the military voted 80% Republican. The fifth-column left is seeking to undermine America at all costs.
Watch what will happen if the left ever regains control of America:
They will "redeploy" the troops. They'll have Marines inspecting cargo containers in Newark instead of fighting the enemy on his home ground. This, of course, will destroy morale.
More and more members of the military will decline to re-enlist.
Then they will reinstate the draft. In the name of "fairness" and "shared sacrifice", no doubt, since they are rampant collectivists.
This will have two effects: First, it will cause the anti-war movement to explode in popularity beyond anything we have seen to date.
Second, it will have the effect of wiping out the Republican majority in the armed forces, and it will fill the military with people who are resentful and who don't want to be there in the first place.
Were those the screen names of Hanoi John, Fat Ted, the Weasel Hellary and Dusty Reid? Sounds just like them. Yep we support the troops, hope they all get killed is the rallying call of the democratic party, but with the help of the NYT we'll blame it on someone else. If not for the left wing support for the terrorists the war would have been over in 2004. The blood of everyone killed in Iraq since then is on the hands of the democrats, just like the 3 to 5 million people in Southeast Asia. Evidently they like blood on their hands since it's mostly the same leadership after 40 years.
rickl is right - the Dems' and the Left's fundamental inability to understand military culture and the purpose of the U.S. military will lead them to once again abuse and misuse it and spin us right into the same death spirals that Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton did. No one will volunteer to peacekeep (peacekeepers have earned a truly horrific reputation), especially for the U.N., and Dems do not believe in defending this country. It could very well lead to a draft, which will prove the Dems' loathing for this country. You do not need a draft as long as the citizens believe in defending our country against all enemies.
The Left also fundamentally do not understand the concept of volunteering to serve one's country or how anyone could conceivably do so. I can easily see the Dems gutting and demoralizing our military, until the next much bigger attack.
Then the Dems might actually be out of power for 50 years, when the truth of their betrayal is shown to us once again. I fear this is inevitable.
I find the right's inability to understand morality with respect to the law equally shocking. The fact that we have the POWER to do things does not mean we have the right to do tham. The fact that we invaded Iraq raises a moral question that, whether you like it or not, will inevitably reflect on our troops down through the ages. Supporting the troops does not mean supporting the war. Unfortunately, their own personal commitment to the war, if the war be judged illegitimate, will reflect on them.
Dear Greyhawk,
Thank you for calling a few commentators on a single post on a single blog "The Left", thus equating them to 48% of the country. This certainly makes this an extremely relevant post which I expect will go a long way towards generating a civilized debate.
To me, the most telling comments that these anti-war idiots make involve the issue of morality. They love to talk about the "immorality" of the invasion and the liberation of millions of people from the daily threat of execution by the Taliban and Saadam. They think it's "moral" to sit on their asses and do nothing. They make me sick.
It is interesting to watch the defensive crouch of some of the liberal commentators here. Instead of being embarrassed by the Fifth Columnist rantings of their own Democrats, liberals adopt a "so's your old man" approach.
There is a reason that liberals are not trusted with the national security of our country. The sentiments that were posted on the WaPo pages are in fact widespread among Democratic activists. The lefties posting here on Mudville are simply getting up on their hind legs and screaming because their true sentiments were being posted by their own people. Sort of like the old saying, "who do you believe, me or your lyin' eyes?"
Remember this when you look at Bush's lousy poll numbers. It's usually a result of a poll questioner forcing the issue on someone who likes some of what Bush is doing, but doesn't feel that Iraq is going quite well right now. However, that same person will not be voting for the Democrat. Why?
Any party that can produce activists who post brownshirted, fascistic insults to serving U.S. soldiers doesn't deserve power. Period.
And by the way, lefties, the soldiers know this. They're not fooled. They know who supports them, and who doesn't. They've seen the Murtha/Moran video, and they know which party's political activists have been trying to run military recruiters off of college campuses. They know who calls them war criminals, and who calls them heroes.
Lie to yourselves, please. But don't lie to the rest of us.
The fact that we invaded Iraq raises a moral question that, whether you like it or not, will inevitably reflect on our troops down through the ages.
Indeed, it will, and it will undoubtedly redound to their benefit. What the Left fails to understand, what the Left will never understand, is that the nation is not only worth defending, it is worth defending in a pre-emptive war, unilaterally, especially after 9/11 and when all the world's major intelligence services agree the other nation and its leadership possessed WMD capabilities. That those intelligence services were wrong does not, post facto, make the morality of the action immoral, not matter how much the Left desperately and painfully wants it so.
All that the Left has done with this ongoing temper tantrum of moral preening is to demonstrate, yet again, that they have no interest, desire or intent to defend the nation, its values, its culture or its interests, and that they hold those who have volunteered to do so, and their leadership, in utter contempt and disdain.
What the rest of us have learned is that the Left is not patriotic; they would surrender American sovereignty to the corrupt, kleptocratic socialists, and genocidal dictators of the United Nations. How the Left continues to believe this will help them win elections is unfathomable. After all, simple math would demonstrate more Americans love America than hate it; a platform based upon hating America, which the Left cannot change, will not help them win.
Greyhawk here -
Let me describe the path down which the Left is currently taking tentative steps.
1. Having failed to reinstitute a draft, and in light of high re-enlistment and adequate recruiting rates (3 years after the invasion of Iraq the majority have either enlisted or re-enlisted once), the argument that troops are victims ("Support the troops - bring them home!") has grown thin.
2. "Falling enlistment standards" is now the response to successful recruiting efforts. Admittedly, people who would have joined a peacetime military for all the wrong reasons aren't signing up for a shooting war. The result: qualified older people, people with neck tattoos, people with multiple speeding tickets and even people with lower IQs and GEDs are being allowed to join when before they weren't. The argument that these people are unfit for service is becoming very popular.
3. When jihadists accuse US troops of atrocities in the NY Times, Leftists will quickly accept without question that these unfit troops are certainly capable of such acts. (Never mind that the Abu Ghraib crowd joined when standards were "higher").
4, The spiral they imagine will continue. It will get uglier.
Face it, worldwide the Left sees civilization's war with Islamic fascism as a pathway to (or back to) power. In Denmark, India, through Europe and in the United States jihadists and Leftists are seeing each other as useful idiots. Look back closely at the "Cartoon Riots" in Denmark and you'll see a perfect example. (And here's a link for the India story, btw).
If you want to see some related opportunism at the cost of human lives, check out the behavior of the Communists in Paris during the liberation in 1945, or in the Philippines (search inside the book for "communist") during the liberation from Japan.
I'm left-of-center on plenty of issues, and when I say Left with a "big L" I mean something very specific, and very different from that. If you disagree with the kind of bile these people spread, if you think Paris isn't worth 200,000 dead, then please express your outrage at those who do, and spare those of us who agree with you.
This is nothing new and nothing that is changing anytime soon. We are still cleaning up from the mess the Worst Generation made when they supported the North Vietnamese Communists over their own country, THIS country, paragon of freedom and prosperity in the world. They hate us for defeating the global Communist menace that would have ushered in their utopia. They prefered the Khmer Rouge to modern freedom, the Shining Path likewise. Mao and his murderers were the vanguard of an earthly paradise, needless to say Lenin and Stalin and their many henchmen in the New Dealers are what they call "heroes". Their vicious hate and stupidity is its own reward and would be sufficient if they kept it to themselves. My favorite sign at one recent "anti-war" protest thus: BUSH IS A SATANIC SAND NIGGER AGITATOR! Genius! Broad brush? Not yet broad enough. Anyone who voted for Kerry voted for a Commie traitor to this nation. That most of them don't know it is, as they say, no excuse.
It reminds me of Fred Phelps.
And when Fred Phelps, the looniest of loonies that could possibly be labled "right wing" shows up, the "right" does everything they can to shut him up.
What happens (I'm asking those of you who think it's so wrong to paint with broad brushes) when someone who is arguably "left" calls soldiers criminals or murderers?
Huh? Guys? What happens?
Do people on the "left" do anything at all? Do these rather rude folks, at the very least, feel the weight of social disapproval from their peers?
Do they?
Sorry Julie, you mean well but Phelps is a Democrat (ran for office even), his "Church" is a cover - he's running a scam.
Phelps is a Democrat like Lyndon LaRouche is a Democrat.
Let the kooks vent. Theirlosing steam.
Joe
AST :"but if a Muslim mob starts burning our flag or trashing American franchise stores, they fold like a cheap tent. "
AST, Amen brother. This is a constant problem in the liberal enclave where I live. Muslim mobs are constantly torching McDonald's and Foot Locker, I think 3 or 4 last night alone. And sure enough the LIEburuls just look the other way and pretend not to notice - I saw one group mumble something about needing to go home and fold their tents, or something. Of course you never hear about this violence in the MSM.
Feh. Do you expect any better from the good folks who read the Washington Post?