William Kristol and Dean Barnett should pay their "researcher" a bit more. It's embarrassing when two virtually identical articles appear in the same magazine under different by-lines.
But then - to expect guys who are incapable of feeling shame to feel embarrassment is a bit ass-backwards. Both of their formulaic rants try to foster division in the U.S. and try to turn our troops into a political football.
The similarities in the pieces show how intellectually lazy and dishonest they both are.
In order to slime the left, "they" argue that Democrats hate the troops. These are two separate articles that both assert that the left only supports the troops as victims. "Barnett's" defines Democratic support as "lamenting the fate of the troops as victims." "Kristol's" piece says that "21st century liberals have settled on the 'soldiers are victims' meme." I may have reversed which one appeared under whose by-line - but it's all one piece of tripe.
They both extol the "9/11 generation" and "Kristol" oozes that "the left slanders them. We support them. More than that, we admire them." The title of the one that bares Barnett's name is "The 9/11 Generation" and states that "Once again, History is calling. Fortunately, the present generation appears more reminiscent of their grandparents than their parents."
This is a part of his condemnation of the Baby Boomers. Never mind that Bill Kristol is a child of privilege who has not served a minute in our military. Nor that Dean Barnett's bio mentions no military service, and only twelve years of actual employment followed by a lot of golf. When you read his profile, you don't get the sense that either sacrifice or service is what the guy is about. I won't bother to go into the service records of Bush, Cheney, Rove, Giuliani, Romney etc etc
It seems that the poor ghost-writer failed them both with his inability to find any evidence to support their claims. Probably because it does not exist. "Barnett" tells some anecdotes of guys he has spoken to in recent weeks. "Kristol" writes of two recent articles that talked of atrocities committed by our troops. Every single Democrat also has anecdotes of conversations with troops that impressed them. Kristol might be right that the specific atrocities did not happen. But he does know that as in every war, atrocities do happen. And the press should write about them.
Neither mentions that Bush has received every penny he has requested in this war, and then some. Neither mentions the Republican cover-up and incompetence at Walter Reid. And neither can accept responsibility for the worst thing that has happened to the troops - their being sent to Iraq in the first place.
You don't have to serve in the military to appreciate the military.
I agree with Barnett, he wrote a fine piece.
Posted by: John | July 21, 2007 at 09:45 PM
The pathetic collection of leftardo human experimenters whom Astrologers call those cursed with having the awful birthmark of "Neptune in Libra." meaning those susceptible to every sort of light-headed whimsical vagary of mood and temperament taken seriously, were also cursed with being hailed as the vanguard of the Age of Aquarius. Seems these vacant degenerates actually believed their press and acted out a hilarious GENERATIONAL DEGENERATION because they were predisposed, if you believe their astrological Neptunian karma, to believe the shallow, spurious, specious silly folderol that passed as their specific destiny. Some resisted, most did not, leaving us with poop, I mean pop, heroes like Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Boob Dylan, and a whole panoply of early demisers worthy of being the yang to their parents' yin, or vice versa. Janis, and dozens of other early bloomers faded before noon of their life trajectories.
The Weekly Standard has a good run-down on just how good these young Gen-X and Gen Y are compared to their slacker drugged-out squalid forebears. The lotus rises from the fecal material is the Oriental way of comprehending how the new generation of winners has been spawned by a human-garbage sleaze-dump mound of self-serving narcissistic bio-mass which has given itself over to the most ridiculous autistic solipsistic self-referential solecisms since the age of Incroyable et Merveilleuse, back in the 1790s. Please google for the reference.
Luckily for the French, after that they found a leader who had a pair, and could keep their country from being overrun by silly bantamweights like the Islamist froth-mouth hysterics and their in-country fifth column at the NYT, WaPo, and broadcast networks.
Oh, that we in the USA should be so lucky two centuries later!
Posted by: daveinboca | July 22, 2007 at 01:41 AM
The pathetic collection of leftardo human experimenters whom Astrologers call those cursed with having the awful birthmark of "Neptune in Libra." meaning those susceptible to every sort of light-headed whimsical vagary of mood and temperament taken seriously, were also cursed with being hailed as the vanguard of the Age of Aquarius. Seems these vacant degenerates actually believed their press and acted out a hilarious GENERATIONAL DEGENERATION because they were predisposed, if you believe their astrological Neptunian karma, to believe the shallow, spurious, specious silly folderol that passed as their specific destiny. Some resisted, most did not, leaving us with poop, I mean pop, heroes like Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Boob Dylan, and a whole panoply of early demisers worthy of being the yang to their parents' yin, or vice versa. Janis, and dozens of other early bloomers faded before noon of their life trajectories.
The Weekly Standard has a good run-down on just how good these young Gen-X and Gen Y are compared to their slacker drugged-out squalid forebears. The lotus rises from the fecal material is the Oriental way of comprehending how the new generation of winners has been spawned by a human-garbage sleaze-dump mound of self-serving narcissistic bio-mass which has given itself over to the most ridiculous autistic solipsistic self-referential solecisms since the age of Incroyable et Merveilleuse, back in the 1790s. Please google for the reference.
Luckily for the French, after that they found a leader who had a pair, and could keep their country from being overrun by silly bantamweights like the Islamist froth-mouth hysterics and their in-country fifth column at the NYT, WaPo, and broadcast networks.
Oh, that we in the USA should be so lucky two centuries later!
Posted by: daveinboca | July 22, 2007 at 01:41 AM
Thanks for the comment John and I totally agree that you don't have to be in the military to admire them.
It's more that it seems hypocritical to condemn a generation that did not serve, if you yourself are part of the generation, and did not serve.
Posted by: bbbustard | July 22, 2007 at 05:28 PM
Thanks a lot to Dave in Boca - Great Rant.
As long as we both admit that W. was just as much a drugged out squalid forbear as anyone else, we can at least talk. We can also mourn the fact that the French were once again more successful at selecting their leadership than we were over the last 6 years.
The phrase: autistic solipsistic self-referential solecisms says it all.
Posted by: bbbustard | July 22, 2007 at 05:38 PM
Sarkozy ran as a very pro American conservative. Perhaps one could believe he is pre January 2001 pro American. Or, perhaps not.
Posted by: rick | July 22, 2007 at 07:04 PM
Sarkozy's choice of foreign minister makes it difficult to say he's a "very pro American conservative." And then you have to ask whether being pro-Bush is synonymous with being pro-America. And when you can explain to me how Bush is a conservative, please let me know!
Posted by: bbbustard | July 25, 2007 at 07:33 PM