Monday, October 17, 2005
Dave Johnson wishes we would just shut up and die.
Dave Johnson, the proprietor of a liberal blog called Seeing the Forest, has taken up a crusade against (mostly conservative) milbloggers.
Unfortunately, he doesn't have the candlepower to carry the argument through. For instance, he rails against Blackfive:
Sorry, Dave. You don't even have your weapon oriented down the right range. BlackFive isn't even currently in the military, and as such isn't subject to the UCMJ.
Second, while the military is a politically neutral institution - as it should be - individuals within the military are not, and are under no obligation to be. Individuals within the military are free to register with any political party, write, op-ed, blog, opine, and otherwise exercise their first-amendment rights to their hearts' content, provided they do not violate opsec, associate their own views with the official views of their branch of service, or be flagrantly and openly critical of the chain of command, in such a way as to be prejudicial to good order.
In other words, Dave, we're not automatons, any more than Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were automatons when they served, regardless of whether you believe we should be.
Rather, soldiers are, indeed, members and citizens of this great Republic, and should and do have a legitimate voice in public discourse.
Sorry that voice is so inconvenient to you.
Mr. Johnson doesn't stop on his own blog. He also visits Dadmanly's blog comments and Blackfive's as well - where unfortunately he impales himself on established falsehoods which undermine his credibility so severely that it is difficult to take him seriously on anything related to the military or to the war.
For instance, according to Johnson's demented scribblings, Iraq was a terrorist-free area before the war.
He also can't figure out, after more than two years, whom we are at war with in Iraq.
He also continues to harp on the nonsequitur that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, as if that was equivalent to Iraq had nothing to do with Al Qaeda (when indeed the commissioners of the 9/11 report readily concede that there were "all kinds of ties" between Saddam and Al Qaeda.
Actually, later in the thread, Johnson makes the breathtaking claim that "we are not at war" in Iraq - and thereby establishes himself as someone who is simply not to be taken seriously by serious observers of the war.
Splash, out
Jason
Unfortunately, he doesn't have the candlepower to carry the argument through. For instance, he rails against Blackfive:
The military is supposed to protect and defend the US constitution, be under the authority of civilian government - even when the government is Democrats - and be completely neutral politically. Your site mocks that concept.
Sorry, Dave. You don't even have your weapon oriented down the right range. BlackFive isn't even currently in the military, and as such isn't subject to the UCMJ.
Second, while the military is a politically neutral institution - as it should be - individuals within the military are not, and are under no obligation to be. Individuals within the military are free to register with any political party, write, op-ed, blog, opine, and otherwise exercise their first-amendment rights to their hearts' content, provided they do not violate opsec, associate their own views with the official views of their branch of service, or be flagrantly and openly critical of the chain of command, in such a way as to be prejudicial to good order.
In other words, Dave, we're not automatons, any more than Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were automatons when they served, regardless of whether you believe we should be.
Rather, soldiers are, indeed, members and citizens of this great Republic, and should and do have a legitimate voice in public discourse.
Sorry that voice is so inconvenient to you.
Mr. Johnson doesn't stop on his own blog. He also visits Dadmanly's blog comments and Blackfive's as well - where unfortunately he impales himself on established falsehoods which undermine his credibility so severely that it is difficult to take him seriously on anything related to the military or to the war.
For instance, according to Johnson's demented scribblings, Iraq was a terrorist-free area before the war.
He also can't figure out, after more than two years, whom we are at war with in Iraq.
He also continues to harp on the nonsequitur that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, as if that was equivalent to Iraq had nothing to do with Al Qaeda (when indeed the commissioners of the 9/11 report readily concede that there were "all kinds of ties" between Saddam and Al Qaeda.
Actually, later in the thread, Johnson makes the breathtaking claim that "we are not at war" in Iraq - and thereby establishes himself as someone who is simply not to be taken seriously by serious observers of the war.
Splash, out
Jason
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