Shame, boatloads of shame/Day after day, more of the same -- The Avett Brothers
Loath though I am to besmirch the good name of one of my favorite bands, that couplet does a nice job of describing the state of our once-proud nation. I've tried to refrain, with varying degrees of success, from running into this space to loudly rant about each degradation of our norms, each gross abdication of duty, each rationalization of egregious conduct in the name of power. But news comes this week of a potential act by the President* so beyond the pale, so outrageous, so disgusting, so damning in its indictment of his addled faux-macho worldview that I can't sit silently by.
According to multiple outlets, Corporal Bone Spurs is seriously contemplating issuing pardons in time for Memorial Day to several American soldiers and contractors (read: mercenaries) accused or convicted of war crimes. These brave war heroes are alleged to have stabbed an unarmed and injured Iraqi to death, shot young girls and elderly Iraqis with a sniper rifle, opened fire on a crowd of unarmed Iraqis, killing 14, and desecrated the corpses of enemy combatants by urinating on them.
Our best and brightest, as you can see.
War is, as the hoary cliche goes, hell. I can't for a moment imagine the adrenaline-fueled fury that rises in a person in the midst of active combat. I'll never stare down an enemy who seeks to take my life, and never know the guilt, relief, and anger that comes with living through a firefight. U.S. servicemen and women are often heroic, and nearly always driven by a sense of duty to a cause greater than their own. I witnessed a version of this daily growing up in an Army household.
That sense of duty extends to the way we fight our wars. We're taught that Americans have to be better, to uphold our nation's values, to fight with honor lest we lose our command of the moral high ground. By pardoning crimes like these, even those committed in the midst of the fog of war, the message to the rest of the world is that our word is not to be trusted.
And the message to the overwhelming majority of American servicemen and women who fight our wars honorably amidst the most challenging of conditions is perhaps even worse. National security journalist Jonathan Ackerman, who tweets as @attackerman, posted this yesterday: "Those without honor esteem those without valor, and consider those who didn’t dishonor their uniform to be irresponsible. To excuse war criminals is to insult everyone who survived war — war, which, when not a matter of liberation, is a crime — with their humanity intact."
Excusing the illegal, immoral, and cowardly actions of the few in the name of some misguided tough-guy might-makes-right ethos is the apotheosis of our Commander-in-Chief's abjectly irresponsible approach to policy. He dishonors us every day. But in this instance, he dishonors some of the best among us.
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21 comments:
Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?
I saw that movie.
I've seen several of those Mitsubishi "Mad Max Minivans" since Zman posted about the collection just up the road from me.
I honestly don't recall ever seeing one of these beasts before. Perhaps people are taking car buying advice from the comments section of GTB?
It happened before! See, e.g., Donna's Outback purchased from Reynolds Subaru.
Speaking of Weenie and wagons, there are tremendous bargains to be had on the Buick Regal TourX, including tremendous bargains at Reynolds GM. The TourX is a proper station wagon, which means it's cooler than a 5-passenger SUV, and it has AWD and 250 hp. It's built in Germany (in Europe it's badged as an Opel Insignia) so it should have some cache. Unsurprisingly, no one wants these. They should've put the V6 from the Camaro or the Regal GS underhood instead of the turbo 4, but no one consulted me. Anyway, you can get them for $8000 to $9000 off MSRP. Not a typo--you can get nine thousand dollars off the sticker just for going to Weenie's dealership and asking for one. This might be the best new car deal in America.
these are days, gheorghies
Is that a 10,000 Maniacs reference?
how about pillaging? is that still frowned upon? or can you get away with a moderate amount of pillaging?
What's the matter here?
I just copied and pasted Zman's Buick Regal TourX comment and emailed it to a friend who's got a baby on the way and is looking for a new car. If he buys one from Weenie, I'd imagine Z would be entitled to a cut.
Is the pillaging comment from The Three Amigos?
I don't want a cut, I'm just looking to find happy homes for station wagons. They really are a better option over 5-passenger SUVs in many cases.
it is a 10,000 maniacs lyric, z, but i was really just pointing out that this space has been fairly dead of late. sorry you guys don't like rants about our descent into madness. i'll post something cheery and stupid tomorrow. or, you know, one of you lazy assholes could do it.
I’m either mid-descent from one of the most colossal benders in recent memory or I’m coasting into a three day weekend that will be its exclamation point and could cost me an organ. I’ll post what brain scraps I can muster after the weekend.
attaboy
i can post pictures of the shiner i'm sporting, if you guys are into that sort of thing
Whit, to quote a song even worse than the goddamn earworm Rob just bestowd upon us - " Take it Easy. Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy".
I'll be spending my holiday weekend sorting out what we've got to do at our 'gift house' that I mentioned a couple months back. We took possession yesterday. Anyone know anything about the market for used chairlifts or handicap toilets?
Thanks, Rootsy.
And nobody deduced that I dropped a 10,000 Maniacs song title on you guys as well? This on the heels of people not getting (or caring about) my clever finale joke a post or two ago. Come on, people.
I have all kinds of content planned. Just need to get back on home turf first. Been traveling a bit. And been lazy a lot.
I’m at the beginning of a 4 day weekend. Which starts off tomorrow with a work and kid free Friday.
I just smoked and seared a bone in ribeye that we paired with burratta and cherry tomatoes. You’re welcome, family. And no, I don’t plan on contributing to any post this weekend.
attaboy
one of the things i appreciate about mark is his complete lack of artifice. no bullshit from that guy. the rest of you? meh.
hey, pal, eat a dick
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