Abu Muqawama: Post
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Random Friday Thoughts
1. I do not know why we continue to be surprised that initial reporting and statements on the raid to kill Osama bin Laden were innacurate. It will be a long time -- maybe even decades -- before the facts of the raid fully see the light of day. As far as journalistic accounts are concerned, I have no reason to doubt the reporting of my friend Nick Schmidle and others, but bear in mind Mark Bowden wrote his original award-winning articles on "Blackhawk Down" four years after the event. And in the case of Abbottabad, we're talking about a highly sensitive special operation that was and necessarily remains cloaked in secrecy. So caveat lector, as always.
2. I spent yesterday with the students at Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where my mother has taught for over two decades. I was really impressed by the intelligence and intellectual curiosity of the girls, which served as a nice antidote to the Tennessee state legislature's war on science. My family farm is about five miles from where John Scopes went on trial in 1925, and I would have thought we Tennesseans had come a long way since then. Most folks in my hometown with whom I spoke, to be fair, seemed depressed about the fact that we are the country's laughing stock again and spoke of their desire for the legislature to focus on issues that matter. Personally, I am just happy that Henry Mencken is dead and can't weigh in on the matter.
If it's any consolation, though, the sponsor of the so-called Monkey Bill is an alumnus and former member of the Board of Trustees of the Baylor School. My alma mater, the McCallie School, taught me that intellectual life can live in harmony with a strong faith in Christ. McCallie has accordingly produced statesmen, captains of industry, war heroes, and some of our nation's leading public intellectuals. Our bitter rivals, meanwhile, can take now take pride in the war its alumni wage against ... the scientific method.*
3. Speaking of intellectuals, my old friend and professor Peter Stallybrass recently sent me an old article of his titled "The Mystery of Walking" from the Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. I recommend this article to all literary-minded infantrymen out there. It is delightful.
*Problematically, Pat Robertson also went to my alma mater, but in deference to our rivals, I am not allowing trivia like "facts" or "exculpatory evidence" to get in the way of my arguments today.
I honestly had never heard of
I honestly had never heard of this Monkey bill until I read your post. I kept seeing your Twitter jokes about it on the SWJ thread but I really had no idea what you are talking about.
It's amazing how much time there is for crazy stuff and how little there is for serious work that might actually help consitituents, but, then again, I have a tendency to go off on crazy intellectual tangents so maybe I'm not the best person to make this point. Then again, I'm not a legislator. I only waste my time and my money, and, maybe sometimes people who read blog comment sections.
I am starting to change my mind on Twitter which I always say I loathe. All this internet stuff is vaguely creepy, isn't it?
Abu M I am happy to see you
Abu M
I am happy to see you disregarding exculpatory evidence and, indeed, am happy simply to see someone (especially someone whose advanced degrees are, I think, in Middle East Studies and War Studies rather than law), use the term "exculpatory evidence." Bravo.
Regarding Bowden, "BHD," etc., I recently read Boykin, "Never Surrender," and was quite surprised when I reflected on the fact that - unlike, say, Harrell or Garrison - Boykin's name *never appears **once*** in "BHD." I am not sure what to make of that, but my opinion of Bowden may have gone down. Currently I think he and Naylor are in contention to be the primary chronicler of contemporary SOF - Ambinder is fine, but does not measure up IMHO - but I think this may pivot the situation to Naylor's advantage, and I eagerly await his (Naylor's) forthcoming book (out next calendar year?), even while I perhaps miss his Army Times reportage.
Best
ADS
It is a "war on science" to
It is a "war on science" to explore the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of evolution and climate change?
LOL, the war on science is waged PRECISELY by smug liberals who want to shut down scientific debate and get their way politically based on their bogus and profoundly unscientific computer models.
Baylor isn't known for
Baylor isn't known for academics. Enough said. I'm with you Captain Exum.
1] Initial reporting is
1] Initial reporting is always flawed regardless of whether it is on your example of OBL, or the number of casualties in a tornado or mine disaster, or of scientific discoveries.
2] Does Tennessee have an antithetical law on the books that protects those teachers who explain evolution and global warming to their students?
3] Alas, I have searched everywhere and cannot find a free copy of your Stallybrass article on 'walking'. I guess I'll have to cough up the 15 bucks, hopefully that goes to the professor and not to the Duke journal, or at least a goodly portion of it.
PS Pat Robertson is on the top of the list of people that ruined the Republican Party and drove me out. Perhaps someday sanity will again reign in the GOP and they will welcome me back as a returned prodigal. Hey stranger things have happened, at least Pat has recanted on global warming. His views on evolution may be next. But why would he want Peyton Manning to be injured? Strange man!
For the Battle of Mogadishu,
For the Battle of Mogadishu, only the ARMY and UN story was told. Lot was happening in the region in '93 and more in today's history. The remainder of the stories will remain in place for the same reasons. Politics of salvation has strange bedfellows. Part of the riddle is about security and tactics the rest has to do with the far political left never surviving seeing the "dark side" of the moon.
Exum, why is it that certain people desire Americans to be ashamed of what they are while asking Americans for more taxes? There are people that tell the third world not to use the US Constitution as a template for governing cause it does not provide a right to health care and a few other hot topics You want to protect the culture of the people in Iraq and Afghanistan with American tax money and more participation in the US volunteer army, who is protecting the culture of the people that believe that is there is a sole creator in the good State of Tennessee? The Bible belt has an interest in what their children learn in public school the alternative for them is home school. The people that want to change the way that public schools operate also want to get rid of, and or regulate home schooling!! It is just a fact of life that some people will never desire a Harvard degree or want to move out of their place that gives them comfort, they are not asking to be changed. Why destroy their way of life because your education says that they need to be something else to be human. Education has limits, they never teach you how to respect people for what they are at a large university. These people's university is the fact they exist happily for decades there should be respect for that.
I cannot think of a more humble use of government than to balance the beliefs of the people that pay their wages. That IS what government is for, not regulation of every detail of human existence.
Exum you could be from one of the States like California and Illinois that are so far into debt that they cannot pay their debts. The only solution that these states can think of is to get deeper into debt. Getting paid to handle American money and not doing it is not laughable, it is fraud. The politicians preaching equality and wanting more for their cause are getting very wealthy from your hard earned wages.
America has a surplus of empire builders that use other people’s money to do their bidding. It seems to be the norm these days that fixing your own local problems is not exciting enough their focus of social engineering has to be somewhere else. Just wish these people could go else where and give the world's money to America.
It is about State' Rights and local governance, how you want your tax dollars spent.
mike on April 14, 2012 - 12:27pm Republican party is far from perfect. They have their own concept of a world agenda. At least they will let you protect your own family and land without telling you that you have to run away from it to save it.
Right now the DNC is for putting women to work, Monica got a job from Bill Clinton, and so did the women in Columbia from the Secret Service (good thing they are not called the discrete service). Is that respect? Right now the DNC is telling women what to think. I ask my wife if women walk around angry all the time. The reply was no, the DNC is creating an issue. My wife has never been a mother and has always had a full time professional career complete with healthcare for her woman parts. We have been sharing that relationship for over a quarter century now.
Where is the beef? Sometimes I think Hillary (not Rosen) has rocks in her head.
Visitor on April 14, 2012 -
Visitor on April 14, 2012 - 5:45pm don't think I could have spelled it better. Cheers.
We have not heard the last of
We have not heard the last of Somalia for sure. But it is unclear to me what the comment on never surviving the dark side of the moon is about. Forgive my 70-year old brain. What hidden meaning did I miss there, some sort of code speak???
No political party, right, left, or center has forbidden me from protecting my family and land and they have certainly not told me I have to run away regardless of what the 0545 visitor thinks. My FN 9mm is getting ancient and I have not fired it in years. I don't carry it outside the house except for plinking tin cans, but then I am not wetting my pants with fear like some folk nowadays. When away from home I will stand my ground with fists or tire iron. For home defense I still have a 12 gauge and black powder 50-cal affectionately named 'Elk Killer' for home defense. But then I was never a liberal until guys like Pat Robertson and his ilk started to tell me how, when, and where to worship God.
As far as telling women what to think, the Republican Party of 2012 has no close competitors. Matter of fact the GOP is now the World's biggest proselytizer. They could give lessons to the communists of 1917 and to St Paul.
I recognize that the Democratic Party is far from perfect also - very, very far. I am just using it as a place holder until my Republican Party gets its compass back. Where are Lincoln, Rooseveldt (Teddy), Ike, and Reagan, when we need them? Instead we get the current crop of bozos. Perhaps I will re-register as Republican to try to bring it back to its conservative roots instead of the whiny babies who play dress up and pretend they are conservative.
"As far as telling women what
"As far as telling women what to think, the Republican Party of 2012 has no close competitors"
Dude, you are insane. The Democrats are stridently telling women want to think, and as usual, trying to scare women into voting for them. Furthermore, the Democrats are, objectively, the anti-woman party.
mike on April 14, 2012 -
mike on April 14, 2012 - 10:19pm The "dark side" refers to those operations that are not in public view. Read Bowden's book carefully (not the movie) and there is another group that is involved that is only given lip service. You have to remember that OBL was in exile in Sudan in that time period building the framework of AQ. Like I said there was a lot happening in the region that overlapped with US interests. We are still living those issues today.
Sorry to hear about your experience with politics. What you choose is your choice. I have never been told by the Republican party how to worship anything, I would have the same reaction as you if they did. Within either party, there are factions that would tell you how to live your life, you are getting into an area of human involvement that has a lot of emotion. As far as self-defense goes, you are correct to say that a political party does not stop anyone from defending themselves. Just as a stop-sign has never stopped a car. The DNC leans toward having the police deal with the issue totally that is a centralized government concept (listen to Chuck Schumer talk). Along with that centralize concept comes human rights, depending on which state you live in you better have a lot of money to protect your case in court from liability claims for justifiably using your FN. You could be arrested and sued for loss of income by the attacker's relatives among other things for defending yourself inside your home if you do not retreat as far as you can. Regardless of party courts have supported the right to be judged by 12 rather than being carried by six. The RNC sways the self defense decision on the individual and state. As a Florida resident when both "the right to carry" and "the stand you ground laws" were enacted I supported them. Did not have a use for either law but I was willing to trust my neighbors with the responsibility and still do. We trust each other every day when we drive on public roads, I have never seen a mental health or a question of drug use on a driver license exam yet (Chuck Schumer has not even asked for the exams to be changed like he has for firearm law) ! The public has responded too quickly to the Martin case in Sanford, FL, I wish that Obama had given Zimmerman the same consideration that he gave himself when his security personnel were dismissed in Columbia. People are responding to the agendas wrapped around the case and not the facts. The DNC has been quite their members are active and willing to fan the flames.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75141.html
White House officials were tight-lipped about the pre-trip episode and the ongoing investigations into what happened. They insisted it wasn’t interfering with Obama’s diplomacy but conceded that they were losing some control of the media narrative.
If Zimmerman acted incorrectly he should be processed based on the facts (the first filter is local LE, they are the recorder for the court), not lynched in the media by people wearing hoodies. Not sure if folks know it but Florida Statutes (ref 876.12) makes it illegal for a person over 16 to wear a hood on a public way that conceals the face partially or wholly. The irony is those mask laws were put on the books because of the folks that disrupted the public by burning crosses on lawns. I am responding to what the media has published I have no facts to lead me to believe that race is even a factor in the Martin case, it IS on the lips of the protestors. My point is that everyone involved should give the justice system control of the narrative at the local level because that is where the facts are. Washington, DC and Eric Holder should trust the Florida court do their jobs rather than using the issue to activate their political base. RNC has their own brand of marketing.
You have a right to your vote and own beliefs. As far as your FN goes, if you are 70 years old you know what is ahead of you in court. It is not to be taken lightly, but you will get more understanding for your self-defense decision in Texas than you would in California because of the politics of the states. Life in the two states is valued equally, but
how the responsibility for personal behavior is weighted is different between the parties.
BTW. Was talking to an assistant states attorney who has the desire to carry legally. Person indicated that ten years ago they would not have wanted to carry a firearm. I asked what changed their mind. Response was, "the people who come through my court".
Reagan? The times make the man. Obama had his time, I don't have the retirement he does to sit and wait.
Which state was visitor @
Which state was visitor @ 10:15 referring when he stated: " ...depending on which state you live in you better have a lot of money to protect your case in court from liability claims for justifiably using your FN. You could be arrested and sued for loss of income by the attacker's relatives among other things for defending yourself inside your home if you do not retreat as far as you can." Part of that statement is true in some cases, especially in large cities where handguns are illegal. Since he brings up Senator Schumer he is probably thinking of NYCity (which BTW has a Republican Mayor who supports gun control), but that city is not the State of New York. Handguns are legal in Plattsburgh, Buffalo, Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochestor and I believe in every county in New York with the sole exception of NYCity. Gun culture is not unique to Texas. My brother-in-law in Canandaigua New York goes deer and duck hunting every year and goes black bear hunting whenever he can which is a lot more than his brother who lives in Killeen Texas and who does none. And then the quote is worded very loosely, so maybe true rhetorically if not in fact. Of course any police responding to such a shooting has to do due diligence and make sure that the shooting was in fact in defense of life and home and not an alibi for murder. So the shooter it is true could be arrested, in any state I believe. And as far as the lawsuit, any fool in any state can file a lawsuit. Just hope that some of your tribe is on the civil jury.
As far as the 'telling-women-what-to-think", I think we should let women speak for themselves, I can't and I don't think the visitor at 07:46 is either. So neither of us are qualified to speak on the subject.
As far as political parties, in my lifetime I have been registered as a Republican, a Democrat, and as an independent. I hold to the truth that my father taught me over half a century ago: "All politicians are either crooks or crook magnets regardless of party, if the politician himself is honest then he will have friends and hangers on who are crooked. Don't trust any party."
"Don't trust any party."
"Don't trust any party." Didn't George Washington say something similar?
mike on April 15, 2012 -
mike on April 15, 2012 - 12:23pm You are wiser than me.
Wish you good fortune in 2013.
You can forget about TN being
You can forget about TN being a laughing stock. Looks like the Cartagena crowd took the prize, think I am going to puke.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/15/article-0-129BBAF5000005DC-199...
Prostitutes, Booze, Dancing and States business. So what did this boon dongle cost the taxpayer?
I keep hearing that America is in decline. Why?
Lady and a beer no big
Lady and a beer no big deal?
If the Lady wasn't in a salaried position as the Sec of State during professional business in a country that the US pours millions of dollars into fighting a drug war, I would agree with your father-in-law at 5:30am !
Salaried positions are 24/7 ! Especially at Clinton's salary and benefits package. It is all about image.
Another way to look at it is being a role model. We are asking our children to get educated and compete in the global market place. What Clinton is doing would be frowned upon by a future employer looking a new college grad's face book history. Usually employers look for leadership not beer drinking as a skill set!!!
The US has a big drug problem. Mexico is drug, inc because of it. Alcohol is a drug, Clinton swallowed and she did it in at the wrong time in the wrong country. It is a total lapse of judgement considering she did it in a bar called the Havana listening to Cuban music just after the US got grilled by their neighbors for not letting Cuba into discussions not to mention the timing of doing it AFTER the Secret Service embarrassed both the US Presidency and America.
Clinton is part of the administration of the United Stated of America. She should resign if she can not live up to the role and salary while in a foreign country.
Considering the embarrassments in Afghanistan and money spent there and now the above, this administration demonstrating a complete lack of control and disrespect for ALL American taxpayers (it is not just about you or your father-in-law, we all pay taxes it is SofS job to consider ALL views.)
"As far as the
"As far as the 'telling-women-what-to-think", I think we should let women speak for themselves, I can't and I don't think the visitor at 07:46 is either. So neither of us are qualified to speak on the subject."
Whether you or I are qualified to speak for women has no bearing on your stupid, false contention that the Republicans are the ones telling women what to think.
The fact is that the DEMOCRATS are the ones who are not letting women speak for themselves. The Democrats insist that all women should march in lockstep with their destructive Leftist ideology, and contend that Republican women who disagree with them are somehow not "real women."
Visitor @ 10:48 - Believe
Visitor @ 10:48 - Believe what you will.
Abu M. - My apologies for getting off topic and involved in a flame war on your otherwise fine blog. I'll try to keep my comments less controversial in the future. My dear departed father also told me once to never get into a public disagreement on politics or religion. At my age I am still a slow learner I guess.
http://www.kansascw.com/kscw/
http://www.kansascw.com/kscw/news/sns-la-pn-secret-service-military-colo...
Ive heard all were married. Way to embarrass your county boys.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thew
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/13445968/us-agents-in-colombi...
Pentagon better yank the security Clarence's also otherwise OPM and Senate will be considering it a double standard. All of these chaps will be encouraged to resign or will be fired. Once your clearance is yanked you are fooked.
Disgraceful.
Was the walking article a
Was the walking article a joke? I have not been so confused since I had to make up essays about the sonnets I memorized at west point.
Quite ironic -- I was just
Quite ironic -- I was just searching for Stallybrass's article (for real), and I don't belong to any of the journal sites so couldn't get a version -- your link is to one of those sites. By chance ... do you have a free link to the piece?
Thanks, Andrew
lisa-at-rangeragainstwar-dot-com
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