October 31, 2006
HOW DO YOU SAY "ELITIST" IN CAMBODIAN?
Since my husband is the smartest man I know (go on, Erin, tell 'em what a genius he is), I have been seething today about what John Kerry said. I kept trying to think of something ba-zing to pimpslap him with, but other than a list of all the soldiers I know and how smart they are, I wasn't coming up with anything. Turns out I don't need to, because others have done the job for me. Head over to
Michelle Malkin's to watch Kerry look like an elitist douche and then read all the hatemail that's pouring in.
And what Kerry said -- “You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” -- ain't exactly the most eloquent sentence I've ever heard. Good thing he spent top-dollar on that prissy degree of his.
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Kerry, not nuanced enough to articulate on matters of education? Say it isn't so!
Posted by: Deskmerc at October 31, 2006 10:28 AM (Qlh7l)
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Kerry is actually right. Read "The dumbing-down of the U.S. Army" at slate magazine. (It's at slate dot com, but I can't post the link here.)
The scary thing to me is how the declining recruitment standards are going to eventually impact a high-tech army.
Posted by: Will at October 31, 2006 12:03 PM (QRBGL)
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Will -- Well, maybe the solution to "dumbing down" is convincing our youth that the military is still an honorable endeavor with many benefits...not Kerry's "only retards join" nonsense.
Posted by: Sarah at October 31, 2006 12:56 PM (7Wklx)
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Wow. That is elitist. I find it funny that this is coming from the same guy who tried to use the military and his service as a veteran in vietnam to win votes back in 2004.
Posted by: Nicole at October 31, 2006 01:02 PM (QxlT8)
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No, Will, Kerry is wrong. You are acting as if Kerry was making allusions to the lower recruitment standards. He wasn't. He was saying that smart people don't end up in the army. Educated people don't end up in the army. Only stupid people go to the army.
If he is admonishing someone to study up, or they will end up in the Army, he is basically saying the Army is a dead end, last resort.
What about the people who follow his advice, and study up, but still decide to join the Army? According to Kerry, they couldn't possibly exist, because only the uneducated "end up" in the military.
I don't see how you can interpret this otherwise.
Posted by: CaliValleyGirl at October 31, 2006 01:04 PM (deur4)
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Well if you want to discuss the actual statement, please note that Kerry said "in Iraq," NOT "in the army" or "in the military." To rational people, this implies that he's making a dig at the current conflict, not the US army as a whole. Bush demanding an apology is an act of desperation.
Posted by: Will at October 31, 2006 01:33 PM (QRBGL)
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Yeah, OK, so my husband is working on an MBA, and he's "ending up" in Iraq for the second time. Maybe he should study harder...
Posted by: Sarah at October 31, 2006 01:35 PM (7Wklx)
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Will,
He is reffering to Iraq, not the military?
Perhaps you understand now why people say it is difficult to support the troops, but not their effort in Iraq.
You basically just said, it is okay to diss all the soldiers, because it is referring to Iraq.
Soldiers can't pick and choose where they go. They sometimes get sent to unpopular wars. That doesn't justify Kerry insulting their choice of career, by insinuating that only those without a college education join up.
And while we are at it: what is with all this elitism? I am the only child of 4, who went to college, but I would in no way think that I am any smarter or even better off than my brothers.
Posted by: CaliValleyGirl at October 31, 2006 02:59 PM (deur4)
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You don't need a Yale education to know who won the 2004 election.
Posted by: Greg Schreiber at October 31, 2006 03:01 PM (awqx6)
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Go read the transcript. Kerry isn't insulting the troops, he's insulting the president, which I suppose, to a conservative, is just as bad.
The poeple will have their say next week, and this Prez will have his ass handed to him.
Posted by: Rob Roberts at October 31, 2006 04:54 PM (/55jD)
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Well and Sarah, When Dick Armey agrees with Chris Matthews that Kerry is insulting Bush rather than our troops,well sigh! just sigh. you believe what you have to believe.Let's all get outraged about something!
Posted by: Rob Roberts at October 31, 2006 05:17 PM (/55jD)
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RR said "The poeple will have their say next week, and this Prez will have his ass handed to him."
The last time I looked this year isn't a presidential election year. The votes aren't about President Bush...at least not among intelligent voters who recognize that voting on issues is more important than voting on who any one candidate is "friends" with.
Posted by: Peg at October 31, 2006 07:13 PM (JemrD)
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To the dissenters--do you mean to suggest that Kerry's line was meant to target Bush, or are you saying that it did target only Bush? The first might be somewhat defensible (although I am not buying it), but any standard of evidence weak enough to support the second is so watered down as to be totally useless. I think our military personnel and those that support them have every right to be infuriated at both this mangled remark and the subsequent lack of apology, especially given Kerry's checkered history on the subject.
Posted by: Piercello at November 01, 2006 03:57 AM (EZcuZ)
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I laughed all day at Kerry's feeble attempts to back out of his statements...he's making fun of the President, he's making a statement about the current conflict....???? What a train wreck. He needs to apologize, period.
Posted by: Nicole at November 01, 2006 01:26 PM (QxlT8)
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Peg, Glad to see that you retained my misspelling of "Poeple" without comment.
I Predict that November 7, will give us one of three outcomes:
1. You will keep both chambers of congress.
2.you will lose both chambers.
3.you will lose one and keep the other.
You can quote me on all of this.
No matter what happens on November 7, Bush's lame duck status begins on November 8. The Republicans can't run from hiim fast enough.
Posted by: RobRoberts at November 01, 2006 05:31 PM (7nylo)
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October 30, 2006
VIDEO
Watch this video on the
good news from Iraq. It reminds me of why we could still use Tim behind a keyboard.
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October 26, 2006
LUMPED TOGETHER
I just heard about these Active Duty servicemembers who are speaking out against the war. Whatever, that's their business. But I do take issue with one thing the ringleader, SGT Liam Madden,
says:
The goal is to have 2,000 names on the Appeal for Redress list when the messages are delivered to members of Congress in January.
"I think that's easily attainable," he said. "There's a seed of dissent in the military against this policy, and a core of people who are acting."
He doesn't believe many military personnel are politically opposed to the war, he said. But, he said, he believes a continuing cycle of redeployment has worn the patience of the troops.
"As far as widespread disapproval of the occupation of Iraq, I know no one likes being deployed over and over again and being away from their families for months at a time," Madden said.
Because of that, "I'm pretty sure there's a base of support" for the appeal to Congress, he said.
I'm not sure I really like the idea that he plans to get more signatures just because people don't want to deploy. If someone honestly thinks that we shouldn't be in Iraq, then he should sign this petition. But someone who just doesn't want to do his job (i.e. deploy where the military says to) shouldn't be lumped in the same category. Most soldiers and marines are growing weary from on-a-year-off-a-year, but they aren't the same as those who are anti-war.
One thing I found humorous was the quote from Madden's mother:
The clashing philosophies expressed by antiwar activists and the administration on Wednesday may ring familiar for Madden, who found himself in friendly debates with his mother, a supporter of using force against tyranny.
"We were direct opposites for a long time," said Oona Madden, a former restaurant owner in Bellows Falls. "I did support the war and still do to some extent. I don't buy into everything Liam tells me, but I support what he's doing -- as long as he covers his butt."
It's not too often you find an anti-war marine with a pro-war mama!
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I’m confused. Is this guy against the war or being deployed continuously? By the way, I believe the Marine Corps deploys for eight month stints. 2,000 is a small percentage of the soldiers/marines who are active and who have been deployed to Iraq/Afghanistan. Anyways, this “speaking out” may make them feel better but it could get very nasty for them on base or in the brig, where they belong.
Chester Puller rolls over.
Posted by: tim at October 27, 2006 01:06 PM (nno0f)
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BAD TIMING
Darned Cardinals and their darned seven-game NLCS series and their darned rain delays. Now I've got a major dilemma on my hands.
This weekend I'll be at the SpouseBUZZ conference at Fort Hood. I'm very excited about participating in this panel, and I know it will be fun to meet fellow bloggers and hear their stories. But I also know that half my mind will be focused on the darned World Series.
Of course, that's not as bad as my friend from college, who had a wedding to attend last Saturday. She spent most of the reception with her face pressed against the reception hall window, trying to see the TV in the bar across the street! She says it should be illegal for people to get married during the World Series or March Madness.
I'd love for the Cardinals to just go ahead and win the thing, but I can't stand the thought of them winning the World Series while I'm 1000 miles away from my favorite Cards fan.
Anyway, if you're in the Fort Hood area and would like to say hi, I'll be at the SpouseBUZZ conference on Saturday. Should be a fun time. And let's pray for torrents of rain so the rest of the series gets postponed until next week.
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I was going to go to the SpouseBuzz conference this Saturday, but my babysitter bailed on me. Hopefully y'all will have a good turn out since so many people are in the same situation as me with both 4th ID and 1st CAV deployed. I'm bummed, but maybe next time...
Posted by: Curly at October 27, 2006 02:18 AM (kQWmi)
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Curly, please check out the SpouseBUZZ blog. I liveblogged the conference, so you can get all the info!
Posted by: Sarah at October 28, 2006 11:40 AM (akwIr)
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October 23, 2006
SAD
I wrote
before about how much I love the stained glass window in the chapel on our old post. Now, according to my old neighbor, they're getting rid of it and designing a new one. I hope they keep the old one intact and put it somewhere else. For whatever reason, that window touches my heart in a way I can't describe.
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Wow! It was bittersweet to see this post again. I never wrote you when you originally posted this, though I read it at the time, but that post/photo was from the service of my husband's cousin's (we call her "Bim") son, Martin Kondor. Our daughter, too, was posted in Germany & went to Iraq from there. That's how I found you, through Tim & Capt. Patty. Our Sarah was part of 1AD.
Some days the world seems so big, and on others it seems so small. Thanks for reminding me how blessed I am, my daughter came home safely. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: beckie at October 23, 2006 01:02 PM (GIL7z)
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P.S.
If you still have any contacts there that could follow-up on this & find out if there are plans to preserve the windows, or, if not, if there is any way we could start a fund to "buy" the windows & then find another appropriate place on base to put them, I'd be honored to contribute. Or maybe a more contemporary church off base that would host them? I know the church we attended near my daughter's base in Wackernheim ministered to many, many military families & would have welcomed such a "gift."
Posted by: beckie at October 23, 2006 01:46 PM (GIL7z)
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Wow. I always loved that stained glass window. Sadly, I was usually only in the chapel for memorial services, which made the window that much more poignant. I agree with you; I hope they find an appropriate place to display it.
Posted by: Robin at October 23, 2006 04:49 PM (6G8cC)
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Beckie, I will do my best to have some people look into it. A friend emailed yesterday and said that the reason they're removing the windows is completely asinine, in my opinion. Someone complained that there's a "subliminal cow" in the pattern of the stained glass, so the window has to go. Of all the ridiculous... I'll see if I can find out what they're doing with the old window, but if this is the case, there may not be much hope for salvaging the window.
I'm so sorry about your family's loss. And I'm glad your Sarah is home safe.
Posted by: Sarah at October 24, 2006 09:26 AM (7Wklx)
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subliminal COW? Any way of emailing me a better photo of that window? That is a wild issue!
Posted by: beckie at October 24, 2006 01:29 PM (GIL7z)
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A subliminal COW? Are you kidding me?? Some people will find any possible reason to complain.
Posted by: Robin at October 24, 2006 05:56 PM (6G8cC)
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The story has it that the artist who orginally designed the mural was Hindu. And the cow or ox is a sacred animal. I will see what I can find out before we go.
Posted by: Jennifer at October 24, 2006 09:05 PM (oLbnP)
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October 22, 2006
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
A thread worth reading:
Iraq Was a Worthy Mistake
Ace's response to Goldberg
The comments are worth a glance too.
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Good articles, Sarah.
Now, knowing that I'll probably get a smart-ass comment from Will, I am hesitant to say this, but I've started feeling a shift in my attitude towards the war in Iraq. I'm not necessarily against it, but I feel like maybe we were too hasty in going in the first place. But maybe I feel like that because I'm constantly bombarded by anti-everything-hippies here in the great Northwest. I don't know. Maybe it's because I think we may have bitten off more than we can chew. Regardless, we're there now. I still stand by the fact that it would be an even bigger mistake to leave than it would be to finish what we started.
Posted by: Erin at October 22, 2006 09:54 AM (023Of)
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I'm just happy that people are coming around on the issue, even if it's in such a back-handed way. It's taken far too long. In 2003, something like 65% of Americans (probably most of them conservatives) thought Saddam perpetrated 9/11. Almost everyone thought he had WMDs. And a lot of people, at least all the neocons, actually thought that an occupying army led by George W. Bush would be perceived as a liberating force. Come ON PEOPLE! There's no way Bush can promote a "liberal society in the heart of the Arab and Muslim world" when he can't even promote a liberal society back home. (widespread civilian phone surveillance, patriot act, military tribunals, torture, rendition, using homophobia as a voting tactic, erasing the seperation of church and state, consolidating all power into the executive branch, etc, etc, etc, etc, I'm so sick of it all.)
Anyway, what we need to do now is get out of Iraq (not that we're going to be able to - Goldberg's "vote" idea is stupid beyond comprehension) and we need to get back into Afghanistan in a big way. The taliban is far from dead, and it's imperative that we make them dead, now. Too many troops, especially Canadian soldiers who are footing the bill right now, are dying in our justified and unfinished war against terrorists in Afghanistan. Rumsfield left the CIA (the ones calling in the airstrikes in Tora Bora) out to dry in the fall of 2001, because he only cared about occupying Iraq - we have to fire that son of a bitch first, and get the military back from the crazy PNACs.
Lastly, I just want to say that the Pacific Northwest is the greatest place in the world - it's like living on the moon of Endor, surrounded by left-leaning ewoks.
Posted by: Will at October 22, 2006 11:02 AM (QRBGL)
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Do the smelly hippies get any credit for knowing three and a half years ago what the good and wise Republicans are finding out just now? Well, of course not. Bush wasn't a conservative anyway. He was an imposter,a liberal Manchurian canditate. Conservatisim can't fail, it can only be failed.
No matter what happens in November conservatives are preparing to throw Bush out of the life boat. They have to pretend they never knew him.
Posted by: I'm sorry too at October 22, 2006 04:17 PM (3SfHh)
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Let's say a president wants to go to war.When considering force requirements, he ignores the advise of the Secretary of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Army, and the Secretary of State, who was a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Shouldn't this man be considered our Churchill? This generation's Truman?
Posted by: I'm sorry too at October 22, 2006 04:39 PM (3SfHh)
Posted by: I'm sorry too at October 23, 2006 04:12 PM (i1pLJ)
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October 15, 2006
ONLY IN AN ARMY FAMILY
I've got a story that might freak you out -- it's certainly a bit more intense than what you'll find in "Humor in Uniform" -- but someone somewhere out there will understand this story and think it's funny.
I ordered some photos online from our digital camera before I realized I forgot to order one that I wanted. I decided to take the one photo to Walmart with me and just print it off of that Kodak machine. So I grabbed my husband's thumb drive and saved the photo. Piece of cake, right? Well, those photo machines work by searching the thumb drive for all photo files. So there I am at the store and the Kodak machine is asking me which photo I want. It's afternoon on a Sunday, so the Walmart is swarming with people, and I'm about to have a heart attack.
Because, you see, I had saved it to my husband's thumb drive from Iraq.
So there I was in Walmart, on the very big, very public Kodak machine, frantically scrolling through photos of dead insurgents trying to find the stinkin' picture of our dog.
Could've died of embarrassment.
[Disclaimer: Before anyone gets too freaked out by this story, I must point out that these weren't "trophy photos." One of my husband's tasks in Iraq was to document anything that happened to his platoon while they were out on patrol. He had to take these photos back to battalion so they could cross-reference them against high-value targets and known troublemakers.]
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Too funny! I've been warned several times by my husband not to ever use his thumb drive for that very reason!
Posted by: Rachel at October 15, 2006 06:41 PM (ta8UF)
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Both of my grandfathers fought in world war 2. My grandfather Joe was in Patton's third army and fought through the battle of the bulge. I remember him as an unassuming man, talking about all the "skinny guys" they kept finding on trains as they marched to Berlin.
When my father with a child, my grandmother gave him my grandfather's medals to play with, and he and his brothers ended up losing them around the farm - he always felt bad about that.
Anyway, my grandfather was a good guy - a regular guy who fought and saved the world. I didn't know my other grandfather who fought in the Pacific so well, but I know he had brought back a few Japanese dishes and cups and stuff, and that kind of freaked me out - it always made me think of him stalking through some Japanese family's hut and taking their stuff - but I accept that these indescretions happen.
However, neither of them had secret picture collections of the enemy dead that they brought home with them. That shit didn't happen in my grandfather's army.
Posted by: Will at October 16, 2006 09:12 AM (QRBGL)
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Jesus, Will, did you totally ignore the last paragraph of my post?
Posted by: Sarah at October 16, 2006 09:52 AM (7Wklx)
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Wow, that is kind of funny. In a really twisted way. I can only imagine what you looked like as you tried to scroll through all those nasty pictures.
And Scout's "Iraq" thumb drive got stolen (while it was in someone else's posession). So much for OPSEC.
Posted by: Erin at October 16, 2006 12:42 PM (023Of)
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Yeah, but your disclaimer doesn't explain everything. I mean, is your husband part of the DIA? Is this the kind of task they farm out to anybody in the army? Has the DIA not checked the photos yet - why does your husband still have them at all? Isn't that stuff turned over to people who need it?
It just rings my 'this-seems-shady' bell. I would honestly be disappointed if I came across a box in the attic with my grandfather's pictures of dead germans in it.
IF, everything here is on the up and up, then I agree that it's a funny story. My parents love the Walmart photo center too.
Posted by: Will at October 16, 2006 01:19 PM (QRBGL)
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"Farm out to anybody in the Army"? If "giving responsibility to trained Army officers" is what you mean by farmed out, then I guess so. Do you really think that my husband, out on patrol in the middle of nowhere Iraq, is supposed to call someone from the DIA out there to check out a body? How do you really think that intelligence is gathered? Perhaps you never really thought about it that deeply, but each individual platoon/company/battalion in Iraq is responsible for gathering local intelligence. And it's not "turned over", as in confiscated. My husband has all important after-action reports saved for documentation. Because he's a professional soldier entrusted with handling this sort of responsibility.
Or maybe you just relish the thought of me and my husband gleefully scrolling through our collection of photos of dead people. Does that make you feel better about yourself?
And neither your grandfather nor mine has photos of dead Germans. They didn't have to bother with the overwhelming task of making sure that a dead body was not an innocent, because they killed soldier and innocent alike in WWII. When your grandfather fought at the Bulge, he wasn't ordered into the forest when the firing stopped to document the dead bodies, not knowing if there were more live bodies waiting to jump out. So don't get all sanctimonious about your grandfather's service while saying that my husband's is "shady".
Posted by: Sarah at October 16, 2006 01:37 PM (7Wklx)
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Sarah,
I guess it's a good thing my husband has the photos he had to take on CDs and I think he has them hidden pretty well. Because we also swap thumb drives to share files fairly often. I read your story to him, because he and I can appreciate how you must have felt, and are able to see the humor in it.
Posted by: Robin at October 16, 2006 05:14 PM (6G8cC)
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No, it wouldn't make me feel better about myself if I thought that. And I'm glad it seems to be otherwise because I want to love my country and its military.
Posted by: Will at October 16, 2006 09:59 PM (QRBGL)
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That's hilarious! People are so used to seeing murdered bodies everywhere it's no big whoop!
Posted by: Karl at October 17, 2006 10:51 AM (/HpIA)
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My only objection is the word insurgents.
Let's call these MFs what they are. Terrorists.
I don't care what the DoD says.
The rest of you need to remember the purpose
of a military is to kill people and break
things.
HOOAH
Posted by: MaryIndiana at October 17, 2006 04:51 PM (YwdKL)
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"However, neither of them had secret picture
collections of the enemy dead that they
brought home with them. That shit didn't happen
in my grandfather's army."
Will,you are seriously delusional if you think
this hasn't been happening since 1861. You don't
attend many auctions,do you? With a 1000 WWII
vets a day passing away,you can find these types
of photos very commonly. Grim and inappropriate
if they are 'trophy' photos? Yes. But you cannot
honestly think they are rare.
Posted by: Matthew Brady at October 17, 2006 05:06 PM (YwdKL)
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"The rest of you need to remember the purpose
of a military is to kill people and break
things."
Incidently, this is also the purpose of terrorists.
Posted by: Karl at October 18, 2006 09:27 AM (/HpIA)
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..yes,this is true. Which makes me all the more proud of Sarah's husband. Thank you for serving our country,S.H.
Posted by: Uncle Sam at October 18, 2006 10:24 AM (YwdKL)
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October 09, 2006
JARHEAD
We haven't seen the movie
Jarhead in our household, but we do gleefully work the phrase "I hear their bombs and I'm afraid" into conversation as often as we can. I've had zero interest in seeing the movie, until I read
this review at Cold Fury. If you've already seen the movie, definitely go over and read both the review and the comments.
Oh, and how ridiculous was it when I saw a soldier on Law and Order call another soldier a "jarhead"? Sheesh, google could've helped them avoid that bonehead script gaff.
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Yeah, I don't really have anything good or bad to say about Jarhead. I kind of felt "Meh" about it.
But you know what I really love? The Halloween graphics over at Cold Fury. Hilarious.
Posted by: Erin at October 09, 2006 04:49 PM (023Of)
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I thought Jarhead was adequate at best. It just wasn't very good storytelling, and that's the worst thing I can say about a film.
Now, Black Hawk Down on the other hand - I just saw that the other day, and I was reminded of how well shot and edited it is. I think it really manages to show the Hell that a soldier confronts, and how fucking badass they are in response to said Hell. The film reminds me of Sarah. It's Anti-War but Pro-military.
Bill Clinton pulled out after the battle.
I hate that you can't read the previous sentence without thinking of Bill Clinton pulling out of... you know...
Kool-aid anyone?
Posted by: Will at October 12, 2006 12:20 PM (QRBGL)
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