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(Note: This "Best of Mudville" entry was originally posted on 2 May 2004)
Mudville readers may think the following pictures look familiar, but look closely.
They're the work of Micah Wright, who takes old WWI and II propaganda posters and transforms them into modern day anti-war posters. I first discovered him while googling for examples to use here.
Clever, isn't he?
The posters reproduced along the right side of this blog (see main page if you're not viewing from there) are original, unaltered propaganda from the same period. I use them for several reasons, one of which is to annoy lefties like Micah.
And I've done some poster modifications myself, so I certainly can't complain about that. Here's an Army Air Force poster from WWII, along with my version of it, and Micah's.
I was an Army Ranger with the Second Ranger Battalion (3rd Plt, C Co 2/75). My MOS was 13F, Forward Fire Observer/Fire Support Team, Skill Level 20, SQI of "V" for being Airborne & Ranger qualified. My clearance was Secret. I graduated from Ranger School in the class of 13-87. If you look online, I am clearly to be seen in the back, third row, on the right. I served in the Ranger Batt for a little over two years. I spent almost four years total in the Army. I got out as a Sgt. E-5. I truly enjoyed the camaraderie and espirit de corps that I found in the military. It was the most fun period of my life until I participated in the 12th American invasion of Panama and saw what we did to that country (burnt it to the ground) just to avoid having Manuel Noriega expose President George Herbert Walker Bush the Third's involvement with Noriega's drug dealing (when Bush served as the Director of the CIA in the 70s, Noriega was on the payroll of the CIA and was simultaneously sending tons of cocaine north to the USA... but now we're supposed to believe that the CIA didn't know their man Noriega was a drug dealer.Some people, including ex-servicemen, don't like to hear me say such things, but oh well. I'm not going to live my life to make hate-filled people happy.
The left loves an ex-military guy who turns against his country (see Kerry, John). It gives them "credibility" they think is lacking in so many non-military supporters of the war (see Lautenberg, Frank). And in some minds it validates these:
Censored by yours truly, but clever, as I said. And lefties can pretend he's only spoofing an outdated sort of patriotism and ignore the fact that he's creating propaganda that favors our enemy's cause. I've said this before: attack one guy in a two-person fight and it doesn't matter if you call it helping the other guy or not, you're helping the other guy.
But confront Micah with that and he'd spout this sort of stuff (quotes again, obscenities edited):
Another West Point Butterbar who can't read my bio page and figure out that while he was playing Mario on his Super Nintendo, I was shooting people for George Herbert Walker Bush the 3rd. Been there, done that, newbie. Lecture me after you've seen piles of dead people who stood in the way of a Bush President.For the last time, I'm a (expletive deleted) veteran. None of these posters mock the men and women in uniform. How is it that people are so stupid that they can't look beyond the image and understand the message?
Now, I'm an active duty military guy, and I sure don't subscribe to any theory that says you have to be a veteran to have an opinion on war. In fact, outside of the Democrat party I've never met any GI or vet who feels that way (and the dems do so based on situation/administration).
I do, however, have a big problem with people who claim to be military or veterans, but aren't. And that's what Mr. Wright has been doing all along. Not only has he never been a Ranger, he's never served in any branch of the armed forces. A brief period in ROTC (he claims) turned him off on all that.
You can go read the rest at Michele's – do it, there's a lot of additional fun details. But I'll leave you with one more example of a modified propaganda poster.
Micah's version, then mine:
And this final point for Micah:
Say whatever you will about the war, war is a brutal endeavor and no one desires peace more than the soldier. Say what you will about the president, by virtue of birth in America you have the freedom of speech that so many GIs have died to give you. But don't you dare claim brotherhood with me, and don't presume to speak on my behalf, or on that of any imaginary GI you believe thinks like you do.
I won't speak for anyone else either, but I assure you they will let their opinions be known.
Oh, and by the way, you're a gutless, treasonous coward.
Update: Michele credits Jim Treacher with starting this story through the blogosphere. Andrea Harris makes a very good point here.
Michele's update today links a must-read Washington Post piece that details how the WaPo outed him - it wasn't a moment of deep personal remorse brought on by the death of Pat Tillman. This is also noted in the WaPo:
Seven Stories has canceled publication of Wright's next book, "If You're Not a Terrorist, Then Stop Asking Questions," due out in two months. It also will remove from future printings of the first book his detailed and wholly fictional account of parachuting into Panama under fire during Operation Just Cause. Wright's book of satirically "remixed" World War II propaganda posters was a minor success, selling more than 20,000 copies. It carried endorsements from two WWII vets, novelist Kurt Vonnegut and historian Howard Zinn.
So, instant collector's item.
But Micah's already paying a bit for his crimes. And if you'd like to take a shot at him (legally), Michele and I are announcing a little contest. You'll want to enter at her place as my mid-shift status will likely leave me minimum time to post entries, but feel free to link your entries in the comments here if you've posted them elsewhere. I suggest doing so via the URL tag.
And it seems Mr. Wright has "Kos'd" his original lame apology, and replaced it with a sincere tearjerker. Of course, he's not a blogger, so he's certainly not bound by our unwritten rules.
2004-05-02 13:08:55
