Friday, April 23, 2004
EdwardPig, Props To You
Neither an insult, nor a character from a fairy tale, that's the name of a blog. If you don't know it, you should.
You should also know that its proprietor is neither a pig, fine four-legged creatures though they be, nor is he an Edward. (I hear tell that he goes by the name of David)
What you should know: two posts worthy of a visit, as is the entire site worthy of a bookmark.
First up, An Open Letter to Wa Po Ombudsman, Michael Getler, regarding Lois Romano's article that seeks to present a balanced summary of the "controversial" aspects of John Kerry's military record, which "David" finds not all that well-balanced.
Second up: This first rate example of follow-up reporting , in this case the on-going deep hypocrisy of the President's campaign in its on-going attempt to use the issue of body-armor for our troops in Iraq against Senator Kerry.
Other good stuff, too, about the Saudis and two nice links to Kos and Kevin Drum's comparisons of two contrasting military records.
While I'm on the subject, Kos reprints a stunning description of what action it was on the part of the young, (oh so young, can we please remember how oh so young they were, and still are), John Kerry that won him, I think, the Silver Heart. I'm reproducing it here because in my mind it bears much re-reading.
My purpose was not to provide a frisson, one of those tiny, illicit thrills derived from the heroism of someone else, though if you experienced that, to be honest, upon first reading, so did I. But no, not that. This: For all of us to think about what it is we were asking of our young men then, and are asking today of both our young men and women "in theatre" to use one of the military's terms of art, not only that they be ready to die, and to live with the awareness of death at any moment, that we ask, too, that they be ready to kill, to take life, and then if that happens, to live with the memory for the rest of their lives.
In "Saving, Private Ryan," (for all its searing brilliance, a film I found to be disappointing) there was a scene that engraves itself on the mind of the viewer and changes forever the meaning of the words, "hand to hand combat." If you saw the film, you'll know to what scene I'm referring.
Can anyone doubt that the experience incapsulated in that single descriptive sentence quoted above changed forever the man that John Kerry would become?
You should also know that its proprietor is neither a pig, fine four-legged creatures though they be, nor is he an Edward. (I hear tell that he goes by the name of David)
What you should know: two posts worthy of a visit, as is the entire site worthy of a bookmark.
First up, An Open Letter to Wa Po Ombudsman, Michael Getler, regarding Lois Romano's article that seeks to present a balanced summary of the "controversial" aspects of John Kerry's military record, which "David" finds not all that well-balanced.
Second up: This first rate example of follow-up reporting , in this case the on-going deep hypocrisy of the President's campaign in its on-going attempt to use the issue of body-armor for our troops in Iraq against Senator Kerry.
Other good stuff, too, about the Saudis and two nice links to Kos and Kevin Drum's comparisons of two contrasting military records.
While I'm on the subject, Kos reprints a stunning description of what action it was on the part of the young, (oh so young, can we please remember how oh so young they were, and still are), John Kerry that won him, I think, the Silver Heart. I'm reproducing it here because in my mind it bears much re-reading.
On Feb. 28, 1969, Kerry's craft and two other boats came under heavy fire from the riverbanks. Kerry ordered his units to turn into the ambush and sent men ashore to charge the enemy. According to the records, an enemy soldier holding a loaded rocket launcher sprang up within 10 feet of Kerry's boat and fled. Kerry leapt ashore, ran down the man and killed him.
My purpose was not to provide a frisson, one of those tiny, illicit thrills derived from the heroism of someone else, though if you experienced that, to be honest, upon first reading, so did I. But no, not that. This: For all of us to think about what it is we were asking of our young men then, and are asking today of both our young men and women "in theatre" to use one of the military's terms of art, not only that they be ready to die, and to live with the awareness of death at any moment, that we ask, too, that they be ready to kill, to take life, and then if that happens, to live with the memory for the rest of their lives.
In "Saving, Private Ryan," (for all its searing brilliance, a film I found to be disappointing) there was a scene that engraves itself on the mind of the viewer and changes forever the meaning of the words, "hand to hand combat." If you saw the film, you'll know to what scene I'm referring.
Can anyone doubt that the experience incapsulated in that single descriptive sentence quoted above changed forever the man that John Kerry would become?
