This is one of those brain metaphor things, where what I’m thinking is not going to be properly captured by writing without lots of trimming and re-reading so I’m going to fine-tune it throughout the evening. Think of this one as a work-in-progress and don’t leap to judgment – ask me if something seems wrong-headed. I’m known to **** things up at times. Yes, it’s happened once or twice.
I listen to Michael Savage’s show as I drive home on some nights. Honestly, some nights he just irritates the hell out of me because he’s got an even bigger ego than I do.
He had Jeff Kuhner guest-hosting last night and Kuhner was doing a big buildup to (savaging) Obama’s upcoming speech from Afghanistan. Kuhner is just not my favorite radio host. He has some fawning-over-Savage behaviors that annoy the hell out of me and actually make me embarrassed for him. And while it is his right and his job to voice his opinion, he said a few things that were troubling. Maybe I feel different about the subject matter now that it is a year later and am going to contradict what I said then. I went back through old posts and didn’t find anything along the lines of tonight’s critique (I’m not fond of hypocrisy and hate it in myself) and so I’m cautiously venturing an opinion on this.
First, Kuhner was supportive of the notion that we should all have been dancing in the streets when Osama bin Laden was killed and made mention of people at ball games and other events cheering and dancing and drinking.
Isn’t that awful reminiscent of the Palestinians dancing in the street on 9/11 and Iraqis abusing and burning the bodies of four American contractors and then hanging them up in 2004? Should we be publiclygleeful? Or, upon news of the death of a vermin like ObL should we say in a very statesmanlike way “About time, good riddance, you evil pox on humanity”?
Do you see the difference? I went out and bought two different newspapers the day ObL was erased. Did I dance in the street and fire weapons in the air? Uh, no. Was I satisfied that the guy who purposely targeted innocent people was terminated with prejudice? Yes. Yes, I was. Immensely satisfied, because a form of justice had been done. There can be no denying that I thought it was fitting that his last moments were in fear.
Maybe it’s just a matter of decorum. I don’t much care for Occupy idiots who get all hippy-dippy and love themselves when they crap in the street like they’re entitled in some way to act in that manner. Tea Party folks on the other hand have been well-mannered and self-policing to a much higher degree. Their relative actions speak for themselves even if many thumbsuckers and fence-sitters seem unable to rationally work through those stark differences. Think of it as the contrast between receiving a kindergarden diploma vs. finishing a real degree, summa cum laude. I don’t think I can stress that enough.
Second, Kuhner heaped scorn and coals on Obama for his personal acceptance of our troop’s heavy lifting as his own accomplishment in getting rid of ObL. I agree with Kuhner, scorn and coals should be heaped on Obama’s head. But then Kuhner said our soldiers deserve the public recognition and praise.
Well, look… if our SEALS were the type of guys that needed to be in the spotlight I truly doubt they’d be there in the first place. I imagine that something as simple as a “Thank you for what you did” from their CiC and knowing that there are Americans who appreciate them would be adequate. They did a good job. There were some scary moments and they lost a helicopter but they went in – mission accomplished. And the SEALS – as one – are perfectly within their rights to be pissed with Obama for his peacock strutting while he sat there looking like a proud toddler who has just had a bowel movement in a real potty. The guy is nowhere near leadership material, the Democrat’s ludicrous ad with Bill Clinton’s glowing praise be damned.
But do the special ops guys want a ticker-tape parade and medals and real public recognition? I’m kind of thinking not. They are selected for their expertise in not being seen and getting sh*t done when no one else can do it – because you’ve done a good job when no one has noticed you were there while you were doing what you did. Yes, we have other special forces that are as capable, and it is not my point to elevate one over another, because all of our special forces and armed forces deserve a lot of respect.
I’ve mentioned this before but I make it a point to try to say to every veteran I run into, at least once in my crossing paths with them, “Thanks. Really.” I made it a point to turn to my dad and say exactly that once I was old enough that there was no denying that I could only mean it because it stemmed from thought and experience, and sincere appreciation. And I always mean it and I hope to hell it says enough. I was a proud daddy when my little girl (Lemurita) went out in the 4th of July parade to personally thank one of the vets marching down the street. I’d like to think it made his day, too. I think it did.
I’m babbling. It’s the hangover from the dry-erase marker sniffing all day, I’m sure.
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One would think Stoaty at sweasel.com must’ve done this. She’d do this kind of awesome. But no, this was from the 50′s. Fun to look at them, and scary.
Even the “Weasels Ripped My Flesh” line at the bottom smacks of Stoaty but it isn’t her. Wow.
I found it because of Brockway at Cracked-dot-com. Damn them.















Well, I was never Special Forces or a Ranger or anything like that. I can only speak as a veteran and as a member of military intelligence (and yeah, I know that’s an oxymoron, ha ha) There are people in every group that live for glory and to have their names on everyone’s lips. They don’t last long in the military, though, and they sure as shit don’t get picked for any kind of special operations. Those types are too much of a security liability. There’s just too great a chance they’re gonna tell someone more than they should by way of bragging.
The real professionals, the ones that last, you wouldn’t even know the shit they did, unless you were close to them and a great deal of trust was built up between you and them. And you’re right, Lemur, when you’ve done something like that, a nod from a commander, whom you respect, as a gesture of a job well done, is more meaningful than any amount of parades the public could give ya.
Those “Man’s Life” covers are hilarious. Great titles of articles/stories.
Some of my favorites:
“Bored Housewives Who Hustle In Self-Service Laundries”
“The Magnificent 5 Who Cracked Hitler’s Hidden Superwoman Stalag”
“Coxswain Hardy And His Twenty Marooned Geishas”
“Attacked By The Girl Pirates Of The Yangtze”
“Coxswain Hardy” is inspired…
Totally agree. I even got mad at the kids when they cheered. It isn’t necessary to do that. Be glad, and know he deserved being hunted down like the murdering vermin he was. End of that.
The Man covers? Priceless. I may steal some of those titles…