Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
And this clip from A Bridge Too Far does an exemplary job of explaining the why, as well as the how. If your time is pressed, fast forward to 3:20:
That is exactly what I want done to them. Come on, we have to face facts; we simply can’t let this kind of conduct go. It’s like the Medical Officer said, once you let discipline go you can forget about getting it back again. So the punishment is going to have to be laid down — hard. Just like it was here.
Hey, when I’m right, I’m right.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
On your list of things that make you smile, you said that “reports of another dead terrorist” were one of them:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/01/15/pakistan-taliban-leader-reportedly-killed-in-us-drone-strike/
I don’t want those Marines punished. I want them given extra ice cream and encouraged to treat our enemies with utter contempt. I miss the good old days when it was “America…fuck yeah!” instead of “We need to sit around wringing our hands over how the world sees us and to hold ourselves to a higher standard.” Screw that. This is war. And one they started, to boot.
I don’t buy into the bull that this is going to be some kind of recruitment tool for the Taliban; our presence in Afghanistan, in fact our very existence…is all the recruitment tool they’ll ever need.
- cylarz | 01/16/2012 @ 00:19Yeah, you need to watch the video all the way through if you’ve not already done so.
- mkfreeberg | 01/16/2012 @ 06:24Okay, I finished watching the video…and I guess I need to go back and watch the entire movie now, because while I see the point you’re trying to make, Morgan…now I’m confused as to why the doctor gave the other soldier a hard time to begin with about treating his friend.
The surgical bay wasn’t crowded and it turns out the doc was able to save the captain – he was not “dead already” after all- so why was it necessary for the solider to level a 1911 .45 automatic at the doc’s head? (I see why he did it; I don’t understand why the doctor was acting so stubbornly as to push him to that point.)
And then to make a big show about having him “arrested,” only to direct the MP to count to 10 real fast and then hand back the .45 pistol…just odd. I guess it was the doctor’s way of saying, “I understand why you did that to me, but don’t do it again.” Do you think that is how these Marines will actually be “punished” over in Afghanistan?
- cylarz | 01/17/2012 @ 12:40I certainly hope so.
This little subplot with James Caan saving his Captain’s life is very elegantly done, but it’s walled off as an isolated little subplot in the movie. The point I get out of it, and the point I’m hoping others get out of it, is: Priorities are priorities because, and only because, something else is defeated by them and this makes for some very ugly choices — but a lot of these priorities need to come out on top only in a superficial and cosmetic way, not a substantial way. In the substance, the value of human life should win, especially the human life of an ally…you can declare discipline to be more important, but issue such a declaration only in the cosmetics, and find a way to win with both.
The same is true of victory. With the peeing on soldiers, Panetta seems to have made the call that this illustration of the U.S. as a caring, compassionate, respectful war-enemy, to be preserved as a priority, must trump all other priorities in substance as well as in appearance; it must trump even our desire for victory. And that is a huge mistake. That’s why I want those marines punished — the way the punishment was handed out in this clip. There’s an easy way to service both objectives here, by servicing one in substance and the other in cosmetics.
- mkfreeberg | 01/17/2012 @ 12:47