Steven Almond writes in an Op-Ed:
Perhaps the most insidious byproduct of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has been a reflexive sanctification of the military. To put this in bumper stickerese: Support the Troops. Well, I have an ugly confession to make: I don't support the troops - at least not unconditionally. When somebody tells me they serve in the military, my first impulse isn't to say, "Thank you for your service!" like those insufferable chickenhawks on talk radio.His discourse is short on facts and heavy on "feelings" against the troops, which helps explains why one of the forums on his website is dedicated to pointing out perceived "bullies" (e.g. NASCAR fans, Fox News anchors, and other people who would wear an American Flag shirt without irony). It seems Mr. Almond hasn't recovered from the barrage of swirlies, wedgies, and laughter received during high school and is adopting a "jocks vs. nerds" mentality towards people in uniform. Repressed memories of the football team stuffing you in the locker isn't a good basis for foreign and military policy, but the Boston Globe doesn't see it that way and decided to run this bile. The Huffington Post has Steve Almond on staff and his postings are a series of creepy letters in the first-hand perspective addressed to Barack Obama. I wonder if he puts on lipstick and masturbates while writing these things due to psychological trauma. The Obama campaign should get the secret service involved.
My first impulse is to say, "I'm sorry to hear that." Because I am. I'm sorry to know that the person I'm talking to might someday be maimed or killed on the job, or might someday kill someone else. Or refuel a plane that drops bombs on buildings.
10 comments:
Putting on lipstick and masturbating is awesome, especially by chicks in a porn movie. Putting on chapstick and masturbating is an efficient use of time in Saskatchewan. However, putting on lipstick, masturbating, and typing, All at the same time, would require three hands, unless you could do what dogs sometimes do, a euphemism called "checking the lipstick".
Oh wait, dogs can't type.
Duh.
Haha, funny shit, dave. But how would all the smart people at ObWi and the secret ObWi site feel about your mean-spirited comments? This blog has its priorities all wrong.
Jocks against nerds? He obviously hasn't met any sub nukes. Zing!
Oh, in the past I have made plenty of mean spirited remarks at ObWi. I'm too busy now, plus the bipolar know-it-all regular commenter there who always wants cites has sort of a vendetta against me, vile and lying troll that I am. On the other hand, I have personally met some commenters: the Gitmo inmate defense lawyer, the professor who teaches English + US History at a Japanese university, and met the NYC homo art dealer who helped found ObWi (since departed). These were all pretty pleasant encounters. I also have talked on the phone briefly to J ohn T hullen, the funny guy who hates all Republicans. But for now, the posts and comments are mostly all-out partisan hooray for our side stuff, and unless I'm willing to commit a major amount of time explaining stuff, I'll just get the "don't feed the troll" responses. I'd say that they'll regroup and try to get some conservatives posting over there, but for now they kind of rebuff people that click there from Instaland links.
I think the secret part of ObWi is interesting. Hating on Charles Bird, hehe, who the hell is Charles Bird anyways?
Charles was a frequent commenter on Tacitus, Josh Trevino's website when the blogs were cranking up. Later he was in Redstate or The Forvum, which were spinoffs. ObWi was a spinoff from Tacitus started by Moe, where "liberal conservatives" and liberals would hash things out, and they tried to have a sort of 50/50 distribution of posts. Then the "who is pro-torture" deal became a hot topic, Moe left and Charles stepped in, often cross posting in the conservative site and ObWi. (von, sebastian and Slartibatfast posted somewhat sporadically.) I think Charles is a real estate agent and aspiring novelist from eastern Washington state. Anyhow, Charles' posts were sometimes derivative of right wing blogs, and there would be long heated posts starting with demands for clarifications and cites and then devolved into angry disputes between commenters which derailed everything. So jackmormon made the blog HOCB as and alternative to move that part of the thread. LJ got on board, being a frequent nitpicker, and then I did, being the evil pro-torture Rethuglican. Later, when jack (she's a teacher - was a postgrad English student - and dancer) bowed out on the old Blogspot thing, LJ moved it over to Wordpress and then to whatever it is now. I think Jack is a Friend of LizardBreath and comments on...uh oh, my memory is failing me.
I'd better clarify my remarks about "pro-torture". I think that the phrase is an epithet, a shorthand for anybody who doesn't think the Bush admin should all be brought to trial as war criminals.
ObWi usedta be alright, but it's become too much a "527 blog", talking about the latest Palin gaffe, which bores me to tears. I also think many people there just don't like the military (not any posters, but some of the commenters), and obviously, as evidenced by this ye olde blog, I can't really deal with that. But thanks for the run down.
it's become too much a "527 blog"
Well yes, because the election has gone on so long. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will change come the 2nd week of November.
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