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February 02, 2007

Outtage last night -- Playing a little catchup [updated with correction]

This site is on Hosting Matters and it looks as if their upstream had a major fiber line cut in the Atlanta area. (probably an errant back-hoe somewhere)

SO much happening yesterday, too!

If you haven't seen it yet, Cassandra has a pitch-perfect take down of WaPo's ostensible "military analyst" William Arkin's anti-military screed.

If nothing else, the sore-winners of the last election who now have a thin majority have been emboldened to drop the veil. They've always had contempt for the military, and from John Kerry's "botched joke" to Chuck Schumer Charlie Rangel "only losers go into the service"* to the Los Angeles Times' David Bell 9/11 was no big deal to William Arkins followup to his screed with yet another poison-pen scribble ...

I was dead wrong in using the word mercenary to describe the American soldier today.

These men and women are not fighting for money with little regard for the nation. The situation might be much worse than that: Evidently, far too many in uniform believe that they are the one true nation. They hide behind the constitution and the flag and then spew an anti-Democrat, anti-liberal, anti-journalism, anti-dissent, and anti-citizen message that reflects a certain contempt for the American people.

... what we are witnessing is the Left raw. People who not only cannot grasp why they should "love" one country over another, but cannot understand anyone that actually does love America. So they must find other reasons or motivations for people who willingly join the military.

Pitiful.

UPDATE: I miss identified the NY representative that disparaged the military as a place only losers join. Thanks to Brad for bringing it to my attention. I have corrected it above.

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Posted by Darleen at February 2, 2007 07:13 AM

Comments

Darleen,

I'm calling you on a libelous statement. Show some evidence that my Senator actually said "only losers go into the service".

I can't believe any politician would say something like that. Especially Chuck Schumer, who did a study in 2005 that showed that 41% of New York reservist families are financially strapped, and exposed loan scams that rip off soldiers by charging them too much interest.

It's really dishonest for you to cast your stones at the Democrats in this area when so many Republican leaders, including the Vice President, didn't even serve in the military.

Posted by: Brad at February 2, 2007 05:09 PM

People join the military for a variety of reasons, adventure, education, job security, pay and benefits, patriotism. Could be for a lot of reasons and yes, sometimes for mercenary reasons.

I met a few mercenaries in my few years in the Army. Grasping noncoms, officers misusing military time and equipment to rummage the local countryside in Europe for furniture to ship back home; Swiss bank accounts--yes, there's some mercenary in every soldier.

Just a fact of life.

Arkin did go a little overboard, though.

--US Army 1964-1967

Posted by: Carl W. Goss at February 7, 2007 11:39 AM