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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! June 15, 2009 Tales from Downtown MudvilleBy Greyhawk![]() Funny story from here in Mudville last week: On Monday I glanced outside and remarked to the wife, "look's like it's gonna rain". On Thursday it did, but she still steadfastly refuses to acknowledge my prescience... But on Wednesday the old man across the street watered his lawn. When one of my neighbors down at the barber shop pointed out how this had verified my rain forecast someone else claimed water from sprinklers was different than rain. Another guy shouted back that my point was the ground was going to get wet... well pretty soon everyone was arguing and others weren't even talking to each other. Now I should rightfully point out that it rains at least once a week around here this time of year, but the funny thing was, the next day when it rained everyone got soaked 'cause they forgot to wear a raincoat or bring an umbrella. Anyhow, that's the news from Mudville this week. Meanwhile, in the blogosphere, I pointed out that Shepard Smith's claim that the actions of an elderly World War Two PT boat commander armed with a shotgun validated predictions that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans would be recruited by rightwing extremists was pathetic. Now I never said word one about the accuracy of the report, so now let me try to sum it up like this: if my tax payer dollars were going to pay meteorologists to tell me it might could rain sometime soon, maybe because it's rained before and there's still water available I wouldn't in a million years say they were wrong but I'd damn sure think I wasn't getting my money's worth out of that investment. But speaking of strange weather, here in the old blogosphere, it seems I started a sh@tstorm over whether that report was right or wrong or fair or not - and since then it's moved into the pages of the New York Times and other papers and back to television and back to blogs again with pretty much everyone piling on and everyone missing the point. (Which makes me wonder if I never should have brought it up in the first place, but I have to confess it's also been fun to watch what I started turn into whatever it is right now.) Anyhow, in the latest chapter my friend Matt Burden appeared on Fox News to talk to Neil Cavuto about the whole thing. Now I don't want to get into what I agree or disagree with Matt about (it just wouldn't fit in this post that's already too long), or what he said or what Cavuto said (though when Cavuto says "we" I assume he's talking about TeeVee talking heads, him being one and all...) but I will say that Matt's already acknowledged he owes me cigars for that line about crashing a PT boat into the Holocaust Museum. (I hereby offer my "P.T. Boat captain - just like John F. Kennedy" quote that I used in my update about this homicidal journalist/filmmaker to anyone for the same price.) And since it's my point in the first place, I have to admit I'm annoyed by the loud noise and distracting graphic that appears in that video right when Cavuto makes the point about whether World War Two veterans are what the DHS really meant when they said Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Since that's the version of the video that appears at Crooks and Liars and Media Matters (where they're determined to prove that the report is prescient - apparently in fear they might still have a reader who doubts that) I can't say whether that distraction was added by Fox News or one of those sites. (I also wonder why none of the various experts on this prescient report anywhere ever mentions that it was "not authorized, has been withdrawn and is being rewritten" - "The wheels came off the wagon because the vetting process was not followed," Ms. Napolitano told the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday. "The report is no longer out there," she said. "An employee sent it out without authorization." Funny, that seems like a significant point to me.) Anyhow, to be fair, I can see where people who call themselves "right wing" could be offended by the report. Imagine the response from the AARP if the Department of Homeland Security declared that "some senior citizens, despondent over nearing the end of their hate-filled, wasted lives, may choose to commit suicide by cop and take out some of their perceived enemies in the process" - a point that James von Brunn's attack on the Holocaust Museum validates. Likewise, I can see where folks who consider themselves anything but right wing would get some false sense of satisfaction from the belief that von Brunn was one of them. But none of that changes the fact that political affiliation alone generally doesn't keep anyone from killing people or hacking computers, let alone come close to addressing what exactly we should do about it. Anyhow, since I tend to think of these things along the lines of "how could I use this report if I was the intended operational user?" I wondered what I would do if I was head of one of Mudville's Tribal Counterterrorism Task Forces (don't laugh - they brings in the federal bucks) or the Chief of Police. I came up with "arrest the Republicans" but dismissed that quickly - the jail ain't that big. Then I thought we could confiscate the children of unemployed parents and put them in foster homes or re-education camps, since the report highlights that "there appears to be a strong association between a parent's unemployment status and the formation of rightwing extremist beliefs in their children" - but Mrs G said that was a stupid idea and wouldn't even talk about it any more. So since the Chief of Police and the Sheriff and all the heads of the Mudville Tribal Task Forces had taken advantage of good weather to go fishing that day, I decided to post the report and ask my readers if they could think of any worthwhile actions that could be taken if they were one of those people. And one of them did offer a damn fine idea. But as far as I know, that's about the only example of anyone anywhere actually contributing something worthwhile to the whole discussion. Oddly enough, that particular post didn't attract near the attention of the earlier one that didn't say anything other than well, Shep Smith sure got that wrong. And I doubt this one will either - because it's a new week in America, and though the sun might shine mostly, there's a definite possibility that somewhere it probably might could rain.
Posted by Greyhawk / June 15, 2009 6:00 AM | Permalink 6 TrackBacksTrackBack URL: http://www.mudvillegazette.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/16306 Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge just announced that the shooting at the Holocaust Museum - allegedly by an 89-year old WWII veteran - confirms a recent DHS report regarding the threat posed by extremist veterans. Shepard Smith adds "They [DHS] sa... Read More RE: This Ain't Hell RE: Mudville Gazette RE: Blackfive's Laughing Wolf I was on FoxNew's Your World with Neil Cavuto last week to discuss the latest idiocy around the DHS Memo that claims that we need to watch returning veterans in case they join right... Read More So, I fired the entire video post-production staff here at Mudville and re-did the latest effort, fixing the bad audio portions and adding a musical soundtrack. Here's the finished product. Challenge: can anyone name all the sings used therein? I'll gi... Read More Given the small number of military members (as percentage of total U.S. population) today, it seems obvious that we live in an era wherein it can truly be said that never have so many owed so much to so few. But from that it should also be obvious (bu... Read More "You know boss," I once said to my boss, "in this organization of over two hundred people, anything you can think of, from talent to perversion, we've probably got one here somewhere." - Or something to that effect. Over my career I served with thousan... Read More Lieberman: General Keane... Do you think that political correctness may have played some role in the fact that these dots were not connected? The first two words of the general's response were "Yes, absolutely". But there were more, including these:But... Read More 1 CommentLeave a comment |
March 19, 2010Dawn Patrol 03/19/2003 [Greyhawk]
"Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs and various sources around the world." Mudville was founded in March, 2003. Our efforts to bring the thoughts, words, and deeds of milbloggers to a wider world evolved to become The Dawn Patrol in March, 2005. With today's entry we're going to reset the clock - but not re-write the history - and recreate the world as it was - on a day the world changed...
Updating... more to follow.... MILBOGSAndrew Olmsted, 19 Mar 2003, Stateside: It would appear that the liberation of Iraq has begun. Greyhawk, 18 Mar 2003, Germany: A united world could have, just maybe, brought down Saddam without firing a shot. We will never know. 19 Mar: We'll never know what a united world could have achieved... the UN could not agree on anything, the situation degenerated, and here we are. Status quo was not working. The French were too desperate for oil and trade at any cost. Well-intentioned Americans were led into the streets by Communists (and others) with an agenda. The media distorted the split. Many in America and abroad thought they could manipulate the situation to their personal gain. They miscalculated. The fire is lit. Pontifx ex Machina, 18 Mar, undisclosed location: Rolling out the gate, the guard gets a quick "hook-em, horns" sign as we weave through the barricades. Then we're off, cruising through the desert in a battered-up SUV. On the eve of war, only one thing passes through our minds: is there going to be any appropriate music on the radio? Lt Smash, 19 Mar, undisclosed location: Read the President's speech today. The clock is ticking. Chief Wiggles, 22 Mar, Kuwait: The war started Wednesday morning for us right after the president gave a speech to the American people that lasted about 4 minutes. We were all very anxious for this whole thing to be either over or get it on its way. Will, 22 Mar, en route: I am going to Baghdad to personally shoot that paper hanging son of a bitch! Lt Smash 20 Mar, undisclosed location: Sgt Stryker, 20 Mar, Stateside: Iraq to File U.N. Complaint About Attack Primary Main Objective, 30 Mar, undisclosed location I Dare Kofi to Come Get Me.
BruceR, Flit, 19 Mar, Canada: AND SO IT BEGINS. Godspeed, Yanks. Come home safe and soon. Andrew Olmsted, 20 Mar 2003, Stateside: The most important thing to remember over the next few days is this: the first reports are almost always inaccurate. First reports are generally submitted in the heat of battle before any real analysis can take place. Therefore, they're highly subjective, based on limited information, and rarely hit the mark. So as the first reports of 'surgical strikes' on Iraqi forces come in, it's best to take those reports with a grain of salt... Iraqi BlogsSalam Pax, Baghdad: The bombing aould come and go in waves, nothing too heavy and not yet comparable to what was going on in 91. all radio and TV stations are still on and while the air raid began the Iraqi TV was showing patriotic songs and didn't even bother to inform viewers that we are under attack. at the moment they are re-airing yesterday's interview with the minister of interior affairs. THe sounds of the anti-aircarft artillery is still louder than the booms and bangs which means that they are still far from where we live, but the images we saw on Al Arabia news channel showed a building burning near one of my aunts house... American BlogsGlenn Reynolds has a ton of links. Newpapers
Updating... more to follow.... |
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.
![]() 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 - 2009 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 ![]() |
Awesome! I loved this! Used to enjoy the Lake Wobegon stuff until Keillor went off the deep end. It's time for a replacement and you're it, GH ;-)