grimm
05-31-2005, 10:50 PM
http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2005/05/...ickenhawks.html (http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2005/05/droppings-of-chickenhawks.html)
Sunday, May 29, 2005
The droppings of the chickenhawks
Head rooster of the chickenhawks
I want to get this out of the way to not profane Memorial Day. I don't want to think about these people on a day we should remember 1,649 Americans who died in the service of their country
Recently, there have been calls for supporters of our folly in Iraq to enlist. Their usual reaction is to act as if we were expecting a heart-lung donation. Cries of "why didn't you enlist to support Kosovo" and other pathetic nonsense usually follows to justify their rank cowardice.
The sad part is that these people understand the military about as much as they understand cricket. They read some hack like Max Boot or some minor historian like Victor Davis Hanson and take them seriously. They like the war porn, but can't go beyond that.
They think just because they hear it on the news, it should be true. There are 40K Iraqi troops going to close off Baghdad. Really? Ever look at a map of the city? It has seven million people at least.
One of the things which distrubs me the most about the chickenhawks is their casual use of terms like Islamofascist. A word which has no meaning. All it does is reek of trying to make this into WWII redux and it isn't. This is a political battle with some military aspects. The idea that we're stopping terrorism in Iraq is insane. We're just training new terrorists to be more effective.
But what is most draining, and discouraging is the lack of value they place on other people's lives. Iraqis, Americans. They think cruelty is a mark of manhood instead of revealing their weakness and timidity. They think releasing pictures of the dead and naming those who have made the supreme sacrifice for their country is some how wrong.
What is wrong is their cowardice, their craven embrace of violence for other people, and their unAmerican idolitization of empire. Their distorted, corrupt vision of America, one which is neither responsible nor just is a blight on all of us. When you hear a fat piece of shit like Limbaugh, or a snake oil salesman like Savage minimizing torture, their cowardly souls are exposed to the world. The problem is that there are many, many people who think this is tough talk. They think this helps matters.
Which is why I have such disdain for draft dodging hippies. I'm not talking about the true war resisters who risked jail or the vets who protested the war or even the people who fled to Canada. I'm talking about the bandwagon hippies, people who went with the crowd, with no convictions of their own. So when being a hippie was played out, they became businessmen and sneered at the vets. They never took account of their own actions and how they affected others. When they put the vets at the back of the line, they acted as if they deserved that.
I remember the time in 1981 when the hostages from Iran got a ticker tape parade. That started the Vietnam Vet movement. They were pissed that hostages got a parade and they didn't. So they held one themselves. My bet is when this is all said and done, Iraq vets will do the same and all the people who said they supported them will bitch about the traffic jam and closed streets. After all, all they can do is think of themselves anyway.
But they will be nowhere to be found when that headless body is discovered on a Baghdad street and they won't be at the funeral. They won't be saying "I'm sorry my words got your son tortured to death and decapitated." Nope, they won't be around to see the consequences of their words.
As for the warbloggers waiting for a draft: cowards, the lot of you.
Unless you're disabled, you have no fucking right encouraging others to die in your stead. If you weren't cowards, you'd be in the military, not whining about Kosovo or some other bullshit. The Army's recruiting isn't getting any better, and they need YOU. Not the kid from Wal Mart, not the ROTC grad. They need war supporters to take this seriously and walk away from their lives to serve their country directly.
But that won't happen. Because they are cowards. They hide behind the bravery of others and use it as a shield to deflect criticism. "Why if you attack my views, you don't support the soldiers."
My reply to that is "fuck you, gutless bitch." I've never heard a soldier run behind civilians to defend the war, so why are you hiding behind them.
I wonder how many warbloggers have given a dime to ANY charity related to the Armed Forces, or sent a package overseas. I bet none, because, like bareback riding champion Andrew Sullivan, "they're his servants". They're not people, with families, but servants and for some of the warbloggers, sprites. Not even real.
I was watching the Discovery Times channel last night and they had a documentary on Special Ops. One of the SEALS said "you know, you have to give 100 percent to the teams and to be a father, you have to give 100 percent. And you see how those numbers add up." Then, he said "that's why there's a 75 percent divorce rate in the SEALS. You're supposed to be home for a month, and that turns into a week, and then you're home for a week and it turns into two days and you have to go when you get that call. A lot of the wives can't put up with someone who's never home."
Now, to a warblogger, this means nothing. Nothing at all. Because they're supermen.
To a normal person it means that these guys sacrifice their families for their job, and if they want to save their families, they will leave their job.
These people are so cowardly, so craven, they fear remembering the dead will end their fantasies of world power, as well it should.
I remember when they dedicated the WWII Memorial on the Washington Mall. One of the things which struck me was the number of 80 year old men in tears. People we all consider heroes. But to them, the memories of their youth held great pain, the loss of their friends and family in violent ways in far away places. They served their country at great risk, and survived. But the pain they felt never ended, even at the end of their lives.
When these chairborne cowards prattle on about strength and toughness, concepts they are truly unfamiliar with, I like to remember these old men. They have shown that throughout their lives. Too bad such character is left to books and movies these days. It certainly doesn't exist among the chickenhawks.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
The droppings of the chickenhawks
Head rooster of the chickenhawks
I want to get this out of the way to not profane Memorial Day. I don't want to think about these people on a day we should remember 1,649 Americans who died in the service of their country
Recently, there have been calls for supporters of our folly in Iraq to enlist. Their usual reaction is to act as if we were expecting a heart-lung donation. Cries of "why didn't you enlist to support Kosovo" and other pathetic nonsense usually follows to justify their rank cowardice.
The sad part is that these people understand the military about as much as they understand cricket. They read some hack like Max Boot or some minor historian like Victor Davis Hanson and take them seriously. They like the war porn, but can't go beyond that.
They think just because they hear it on the news, it should be true. There are 40K Iraqi troops going to close off Baghdad. Really? Ever look at a map of the city? It has seven million people at least.
One of the things which distrubs me the most about the chickenhawks is their casual use of terms like Islamofascist. A word which has no meaning. All it does is reek of trying to make this into WWII redux and it isn't. This is a political battle with some military aspects. The idea that we're stopping terrorism in Iraq is insane. We're just training new terrorists to be more effective.
But what is most draining, and discouraging is the lack of value they place on other people's lives. Iraqis, Americans. They think cruelty is a mark of manhood instead of revealing their weakness and timidity. They think releasing pictures of the dead and naming those who have made the supreme sacrifice for their country is some how wrong.
What is wrong is their cowardice, their craven embrace of violence for other people, and their unAmerican idolitization of empire. Their distorted, corrupt vision of America, one which is neither responsible nor just is a blight on all of us. When you hear a fat piece of shit like Limbaugh, or a snake oil salesman like Savage minimizing torture, their cowardly souls are exposed to the world. The problem is that there are many, many people who think this is tough talk. They think this helps matters.
Which is why I have such disdain for draft dodging hippies. I'm not talking about the true war resisters who risked jail or the vets who protested the war or even the people who fled to Canada. I'm talking about the bandwagon hippies, people who went with the crowd, with no convictions of their own. So when being a hippie was played out, they became businessmen and sneered at the vets. They never took account of their own actions and how they affected others. When they put the vets at the back of the line, they acted as if they deserved that.
I remember the time in 1981 when the hostages from Iran got a ticker tape parade. That started the Vietnam Vet movement. They were pissed that hostages got a parade and they didn't. So they held one themselves. My bet is when this is all said and done, Iraq vets will do the same and all the people who said they supported them will bitch about the traffic jam and closed streets. After all, all they can do is think of themselves anyway.
But they will be nowhere to be found when that headless body is discovered on a Baghdad street and they won't be at the funeral. They won't be saying "I'm sorry my words got your son tortured to death and decapitated." Nope, they won't be around to see the consequences of their words.
As for the warbloggers waiting for a draft: cowards, the lot of you.
Unless you're disabled, you have no fucking right encouraging others to die in your stead. If you weren't cowards, you'd be in the military, not whining about Kosovo or some other bullshit. The Army's recruiting isn't getting any better, and they need YOU. Not the kid from Wal Mart, not the ROTC grad. They need war supporters to take this seriously and walk away from their lives to serve their country directly.
But that won't happen. Because they are cowards. They hide behind the bravery of others and use it as a shield to deflect criticism. "Why if you attack my views, you don't support the soldiers."
My reply to that is "fuck you, gutless bitch." I've never heard a soldier run behind civilians to defend the war, so why are you hiding behind them.
I wonder how many warbloggers have given a dime to ANY charity related to the Armed Forces, or sent a package overseas. I bet none, because, like bareback riding champion Andrew Sullivan, "they're his servants". They're not people, with families, but servants and for some of the warbloggers, sprites. Not even real.
I was watching the Discovery Times channel last night and they had a documentary on Special Ops. One of the SEALS said "you know, you have to give 100 percent to the teams and to be a father, you have to give 100 percent. And you see how those numbers add up." Then, he said "that's why there's a 75 percent divorce rate in the SEALS. You're supposed to be home for a month, and that turns into a week, and then you're home for a week and it turns into two days and you have to go when you get that call. A lot of the wives can't put up with someone who's never home."
Now, to a warblogger, this means nothing. Nothing at all. Because they're supermen.
To a normal person it means that these guys sacrifice their families for their job, and if they want to save their families, they will leave their job.
These people are so cowardly, so craven, they fear remembering the dead will end their fantasies of world power, as well it should.
I remember when they dedicated the WWII Memorial on the Washington Mall. One of the things which struck me was the number of 80 year old men in tears. People we all consider heroes. But to them, the memories of their youth held great pain, the loss of their friends and family in violent ways in far away places. They served their country at great risk, and survived. But the pain they felt never ended, even at the end of their lives.
When these chairborne cowards prattle on about strength and toughness, concepts they are truly unfamiliar with, I like to remember these old men. They have shown that throughout their lives. Too bad such character is left to books and movies these days. It certainly doesn't exist among the chickenhawks.