MAINSTREAM MEDIOCRITY MIDOL
The ink of a scholar is more sacred than the blood of a martyr.
-The Prophet Muhammad
Great Moments in Pessimism
Ebenezer Scrooge: "Bah humbug."
Homer J. Simpson: "If something's hard, it's not worth doing."
The DNC, NYT and CNN: "We can't win! Bring them home! They have no plan!"
RECOMMENDED READING
Rare Voices of Reason Amid a Guilded Age of Media Doom & Gloom
"You can't handle the truth!"
That now classic line as growled by Jack Nicholson's Marine Col. Nathan Jessep in the 1992 drama A Few Good Men is perversely echoed today in a tired refrain from a majority of news outlets. They'd prefer you not to bear witness to the crumbling of their worldview as events in the Middle East continue to move forward despite their protests to the contrary. They would rather change the subject than change their minds, and even as their dwindling viewership continues to change the channel.
But take heed: pockets of sanity in a crazed media world do exist, and can easily be mined with a bit of effort and a broadband connection. The MSM are PMS-ing, and it isn't a pretty sight. History is passing them by and there is nothing they can do now to stop it. The internet has trustbusted their journalistic monopoly and all but spoiled the exclusive tete-a-tete they used to enjoy with the public. But continue to man the ramparts, because an all-out counterfactual offensive is surely on the horizon. Until then, here are some positive viewpoints on the steady progress in Iraq that you may have missed.
All links were good at time of initial posting.
Is the War Progressing?
LTC ERIC WESLEY
Message to the Arab world: Democracy works
MICHAEL RUBIN
The Panic Over Iraq: What they're really afraid of is American success
NORMAN PODHORETZ
"Without America, I Would Still Be a Refugee"
SHAWN MACOMBER
A Moral War: The project in Iraq can succeed, and leave its critics scrambling
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
Building the New Iraq Army: Changing 'what it means to be a man with a gun'
W. THOMAS SMITH, JR.
Our Troops Must Stay: America can't abandon 27 million Iraqis to 10,000 terrorists
JOE LIEBERMAN
Defying Terror to Vote for the Future
JEFF JACOBY
Why aren't the media telling the whole story about Iraq?
DONALD RUMSFELD
Robert Kaplan on Imperial Grunts
The speech President Bush should give about Iraq
JAMES Q. WILSON
Honoring the Honorable
REP. JOE WILSON
Why We Went to War
DANIEL HENNINGER
Terrorists and Tyrants: Rethinking why we are at war in the Middle East
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
'Complete Victory': Bush offers a strategy beyond "staying the course" in Iraq
WSJ OPINION JOURNAL
‘The Right Sort of Men’: Iraqi boot camps are producing young soldiers who will stay the course
W. THOMAS SMITH, JR.
Have You Read This Good News on Iraq?
BYRON YORK
The Iraqi Constitution Project
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER
THE LIGHTER SIDE
A 2005 Rollick
JAMES LILEKS
This War Sucks
I Hate My Boss
I'm Surrounded By Idiots
IOWAHAWK
UNLEASH THE BLOGS OF WAR
(AND BURY THE MSM)
REPORTING FROM IRAQ
IRAQ THE MODEL
MICHAEL YON
MUDVILLE GAZETTE
BLACKFIVE
AMERICAN CITIZEN SOLDIER
COPYRIGHT 2005 BUCK SARGENT
I want to thank you for this list. I am not very good at using the internet (I am getting better) to find the information that I want. My prayers are with you, stay safe.
Posted by
Anonymous |
17 December, 2005
Your 'Great Moments in Pessimism' is CLASSIC!!! What a fitting group of quotes to be lumped together, and from such distinguished sources (hah!) too. Bah humbug - priceless!
I am working my way thru all the links you added, and can even (ruefully) appreciate your PMS comparison, which is a good thing, because I was having a little bit of trouble initially figuring out your choice of 'Midol' in the title until I read far enough down. ;-)
Now I'm about to blot my copybook and confess to being an Aggie from more than a few years back, but there's still Texas; the great State of, and that 'Diehard Patriot' bit we have in common. Thank you for your service to this country, your posts, and wishing you a good, safe Christmas 'over there'.
Posted by
Anonymous |
20 December, 2005
Beth A...
Nothing wrong with being an Aggie. Unlike Lake Wobegon, not everyone can be above average.
(BAH-DUM DUM)
But in all unseriousness, this marks the second time in three years that Texas has made a run for the national title while I'm toiling in the Middle East. Fortunately, I'll be home on midtour leave just in time for the Rose Bowl. If UT blows it again this year... I will hold Abu Musab al-Zarqawi personally responsible. Hear that USC? Don't play too hard or the terrorists will win!
Posted by
BUCK SARGENT |
20 December, 2005
buck sarge, come on now. you know there are some yellow dog soldiers out there. even spit fire conservatives have to question authority every once in a while...mi chap ass.
Posted by
Anonymous |
21 December, 2005
If by "yellow dog soldiers" you mean liberal Democrats, I'll just say this. In my 3 1/2 years in the Army, I've met a grand total of TWO individuals who would admit to being so. And they weren't exactly "soldier of the year" material either. This is not to say that the rest were all Republicans -- some just are those politically jaded types that are fed up with both sides -- but they certainly were not Democrats.
I recently came across a survey or study that claimed GWB received upwards of 80% of the military vote, so obviously there is SOMEBODY out there voting for the Donkey Party, but it's like Don't Ask, Don't Tell in terms of spotting them.
I would also go out on a limb and venture that the few who do are overwhelmingly in the support elements or non-combat arms. Women, minorities, and rear echelon officer types who were more likely to be liberal before they joined the military and will likely remain so after they leave.
However, if one were to sample just the Army infantry and special forces alone, I honestly believe you'd get pretty damn close to 99% support for conservative issues, and upwards of 80-90% as well for President Bush and the war. Can't speak for the Marines, but I think it'd be similar, despite what ridiculously distorted films like the recently acclaimed JARHEAD would have you believe about them.
What does this tell you? The people actually DOING the bulk of the heavy lifting in the war, the one's actually DOING the fighting, are the ones most likely to support the cause -- a statistically probable white, male, enlisted soldier in the combat arms. We're just more rabid and committed when it comes to these issues. I couldn't really tell you why.
But to answer your question, only immature teenagers question authority simply for the sake of questioning authority. I've found that the military intuitively knows when it's being respected by it's civilian leadership and when's it's not; it doesn't need the media to tell them so. Just ask any veteran of Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, or Kosovo (all undeclared, premptive actions; go figure!) how they felt treated or viewed by their elected civilian leadership during those years. Even during that near-decade of "peace", the troop morale wasn't exactly "U-S-A!... U-S-A!..."
Hey, but at least we were liked by the Europeans back then. Because we all know, that's the only thing that really matters in life. Being liked.
(Again, another attribute of immature, self-obsessed teenagers). I'm think I may be on to something here...
Posted by
BUCK SARGENT |
22 December, 2005
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