Doubting Thomas tells the vivid story of his “peacetime” military service in Germany, and scolds some in the warblog crowd who are oftentimes quick to question the “patriotism” of frustrating contrarians like D.T.
For the record, I’m not normally swayed by arguments that claim a moral or intellectual highground simply by virtue of their purveyor’s proximity to an incident or cause (“don’t tell me about war, buddy. I’m a Nam vet,” or “don’t tell me about Afghanistan, I live in New York and was there when the towers fell” — that sort of thing). But in this instance, I think Thomas is right; and I think he makes his points courageously.
Hell, I’d drink a beer with him.
And then I’d beat his ass at arm wrestling until he cried like a pigtailed li’l scamp. In a sundress…
[update: Doubting Thomas’ post (as it’s now been revised) does not specifically mention the offending “warblogger”; consequently, my post speaks to a general set of behaviors, and not against specific parties (I wasn’t aware of the particulars, and I’m still not clear on what actually happened). For a more detailed account of said particulars (from the other involved party), go here]
I’m not going to write a long screed in Doubting Thomas’ defense because: 1) I’ve got other obligations and 2) I’m a bit unsettled by other things.
I’ll just say that I’ll back him 100% on this.
Hell, I’ll even <i>buy</i> him a cup of coffee (I don’t <i>think</i> he drinks beer, although I could just be misremembering).
Of course DT, like all liberals, ruins the whole post by basically saying the sailors died protecting the oil companies. What is it about these liberal dunder-heads, every last action in the world the U.S. takes always comes down to, in thier opinion, oil. We’re fighting in Afghanistan for some mythical oil pipeline, we fought in Vietnam for some mythical massive off-shore oil reserve. Doubting Thomas and his buddies really need to find a new song, their old one is lame and boring.
The concept of preserving the right to navigate on the open seas would never enter his thick head. The U.S. Navy has been defending that right for 225 years. Of course that’s a historical fact and liberals like DT never bother with facts, only emotions.
Well, David, I certainly don’t disagree with you on the politics. Lord knows Thomas and I have had our knock-down, drag-outs over policy and culpability, etc. And you’re right, the oil thing is indeed a tedious and forced red herring.
So take my post to mean that, in general, I buy that many of Thomas’ opinions are colored by his service— however wrongheaded I might think those opinions are.