Just listened to Senator Harry Reid's (Dem-Nevada) highly divisive political screed about President Bush's 9/11 speech. In a nutshell.....he, Reid, accuses the President of partisan politicizing and using the Oval Office as a "bully pulpit". This cartoon gets it exactly right.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Exactly
Just listened to Senator Harry Reid's (Dem-Nevada) highly divisive political screed about President Bush's 9/11 speech. In a nutshell.....he, Reid, accuses the President of partisan politicizing and using the Oval Office as a "bully pulpit". This cartoon gets it exactly right.
My Muse?
This is my cat....yes, I'm a cat guy. His majesty's name is Roddy. Source of the name....no idea, my daughter picked it out. I wanted to name him Whitman. At anyrate, judging by the way he saunters back and forth across my drawing table with regal impunity, Roddy, unlike many of the kind followers of Fire and Ice, is unimpressed by my doodlings. Thank you all for your support and compliments.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Wounded Warrior
The muse was with me today. Despite my jingoistic warmongering neocon ranting of late she hasn't deserted me.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Day of Rememberance, Day of Denial, Day of Celebration
Five years ago, in my long lost civilian life, I was working for a historic architecture restoration company. September 11, 2001 found me high up on scaffolding sanding and prepping the exterior dentil molding of a Tidewater Virginian Episcopal colonial church called Hungars Parish. We'd been on the jobsite since sunup. It was a beautiful September morning, the sky cloudless and blue from horizon to horizon and the air delicately fragrant with the harvests of corn, wheat and soybean occuring in adjacent fields. A local farmer pulled his old dusty and dented Ford F150 into the oak shaded grass parking lot surrounding the church around 0930 and shouted up to us in his long o'd Tidewater accent, "yoou bouys better get doown here and listen to the radioo". We did. Planes had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City and into the Pentagon. In that moment I knew that it was Al Qaeda. In that moment I knew as a Marine Reservist my life had been changed forever. In that moment I knew we as a nation were at War. 2,996 fellow Americans, almost all innocent civilians, had been murdered by a terrorist movement which is a pox upon the face and the soul of the world and civilization, Islamofacsism.
Today, five years into World War Three, there are those of us who remember that 9/11 was a highly planned deliberate act of war and not some ill-concieved criminal anomaly. We've acted accordingly and have taken the fight to the terrorists in Afghanistan, and more importantly, against Terrorism itself by toppling Saddam Hussein (once the planet's #1 state sponsor and utilizer of Terrorism....he was the WMD!) and initiating the difficult, but necessary process of introducing democracy into the heart of the Middle-East.
Today, five years into World War Three, 2,662 American GIs have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and 329 in Operation Enduring Freedom. Our American homeland has not been attacked again and numerous attempts to do so have been thwarted. The Taliban of Afghanistan and the Baathists of Iraq have both been defeated and two new fledgling democracies are emerging slowly but surely on the world political scene. We are pressing forward both militarily and in the realm of political ideas.
Today, five years into World War Three, there are those who are in denial. There are American politicians and citizens who believe the answer to confronting Islamofascism is to cut and run militarily and ideologically from the battlefield, to remove essential arrows from our quiver needed in hunting down and nipping terrorist plots in the bud and to generally ring ones hands in the face of our enemy's bellicosity, ingenuity and resolve. Yet somehow they want us to believe they would be fighting this conflict smarter and stronger.....perhaps with as much zeal as they've fought NSA wiretapping, money transfer tracking and ABC's Path to 9/11.
Today, five years into World War Three and one year into this blog, I, and hopefuly you, know what my beliefs are. I've been there and done that. Perhaps the current administration has made mistakes and miscalculations...so what? That's the nature of war and the messy unfolding of history. No one's digging up the bones of FDR because Pearl Harbor was bombed, Corregidor and Wake Island fell, German and Japanese civilians were immolated by the hundreds of thousands in fire bombings, or because thousands of US citizens of Japanese decent were relocated to internment camps. As they probably would have told naysayers, heeldraggers and second-guessers back then, "it's war stupid".
Today, five years into World War Three, the enemy believes they are winning. What do you believe? The answer to this question has more power than any other force on the planet.
As for me.....to the 2,996 innocents who perished at the hands of evil on September 11, 2001 and to my brothers and sisters-in-arms who have willingly given and will continue to give their last full measure in this noble and just cause, I say we will not forget, we will not become faint of heart, we will continue nametaking and heartbreaking in celebration of your lives, and in unrelenting defense of our way of life. To those, due to political expediency, plain studpidity, deliberate ignorance, or any combination thereof, who are in denial, we will continue to press forward despite you. To you, whom I refer to time and again as moonbats, you the highly placed and educated elites mired in delusional conspiracy theories, spineless idealism, misdirected hate and anti-Bush blame-America angst...you who are the greatest economic and educational beneficiaries of 4,000 years of Western Civilization's advances and institutions, yet who have become apologists, aiders and abetters to the very people who will at the end of the day hack your heads off without blinking an eye....upon you the cumulative efforts of Civilization, upon you every dime spent by your parents on your care, comfort and education, upon you the risks taken by your immigrant ancestors to make it to our shores have been a complete and utter waste of their courage, thoughts, hopes and calories.......to you and not the enemy I extend my most heartfelt disdain and disgust. You are parasites. History will speak of you in the same breath as the Copperheads, Vichy French, and Neville Chamberlain.
To my fellow Americans....celebrate and sleep well....you are safe on my watch tonight (please go watch and listen to this wonderful music video by Marine Major Mike Corrado). God Bless America. Semper Fi.
Postscript: I just had to go over to Daily Kos and see how moonbat central is taking note of 9/11. Unfortunatley I didn't wrap my head with a sufficient amount of duck tape....so be forewarned, lest your head explodes too.
Today, five years into World War Three, there are those of us who remember that 9/11 was a highly planned deliberate act of war and not some ill-concieved criminal anomaly. We've acted accordingly and have taken the fight to the terrorists in Afghanistan, and more importantly, against Terrorism itself by toppling Saddam Hussein (once the planet's #1 state sponsor and utilizer of Terrorism....he was the WMD!) and initiating the difficult, but necessary process of introducing democracy into the heart of the Middle-East.
Today, five years into World War Three, 2,662 American GIs have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and 329 in Operation Enduring Freedom. Our American homeland has not been attacked again and numerous attempts to do so have been thwarted. The Taliban of Afghanistan and the Baathists of Iraq have both been defeated and two new fledgling democracies are emerging slowly but surely on the world political scene. We are pressing forward both militarily and in the realm of political ideas.
Today, five years into World War Three, there are those who are in denial. There are American politicians and citizens who believe the answer to confronting Islamofascism is to cut and run militarily and ideologically from the battlefield, to remove essential arrows from our quiver needed in hunting down and nipping terrorist plots in the bud and to generally ring ones hands in the face of our enemy's bellicosity, ingenuity and resolve. Yet somehow they want us to believe they would be fighting this conflict smarter and stronger.....perhaps with as much zeal as they've fought NSA wiretapping, money transfer tracking and ABC's Path to 9/11.
Today, five years into World War Three and one year into this blog, I, and hopefuly you, know what my beliefs are. I've been there and done that. Perhaps the current administration has made mistakes and miscalculations...so what? That's the nature of war and the messy unfolding of history. No one's digging up the bones of FDR because Pearl Harbor was bombed, Corregidor and Wake Island fell, German and Japanese civilians were immolated by the hundreds of thousands in fire bombings, or because thousands of US citizens of Japanese decent were relocated to internment camps. As they probably would have told naysayers, heeldraggers and second-guessers back then, "it's war stupid".
Today, five years into World War Three, the enemy believes they are winning. What do you believe? The answer to this question has more power than any other force on the planet.
As for me.....to the 2,996 innocents who perished at the hands of evil on September 11, 2001 and to my brothers and sisters-in-arms who have willingly given and will continue to give their last full measure in this noble and just cause, I say we will not forget, we will not become faint of heart, we will continue nametaking and heartbreaking in celebration of your lives, and in unrelenting defense of our way of life. To those, due to political expediency, plain studpidity, deliberate ignorance, or any combination thereof, who are in denial, we will continue to press forward despite you. To you, whom I refer to time and again as moonbats, you the highly placed and educated elites mired in delusional conspiracy theories, spineless idealism, misdirected hate and anti-Bush blame-America angst...you who are the greatest economic and educational beneficiaries of 4,000 years of Western Civilization's advances and institutions, yet who have become apologists, aiders and abetters to the very people who will at the end of the day hack your heads off without blinking an eye....upon you the cumulative efforts of Civilization, upon you every dime spent by your parents on your care, comfort and education, upon you the risks taken by your immigrant ancestors to make it to our shores have been a complete and utter waste of their courage, thoughts, hopes and calories.......to you and not the enemy I extend my most heartfelt disdain and disgust. You are parasites. History will speak of you in the same breath as the Copperheads, Vichy French, and Neville Chamberlain.
To my fellow Americans....celebrate and sleep well....you are safe on my watch tonight (please go watch and listen to this wonderful music video by Marine Major Mike Corrado). God Bless America. Semper Fi.
Postscript: I just had to go over to Daily Kos and see how moonbat central is taking note of 9/11. Unfortunatley I didn't wrap my head with a sufficient amount of duck tape....so be forewarned, lest your head explodes too.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Proven Character
LCpl Andrian Jones by WO FaySeveral weeks ago, within days of each other, I did two things. First, myself and fellow combat artist Sergeant Kris Battles went to both Bethesda and Walter Reed to meet and sketch brother Marines undergoing intense healing and rehabilitation. Second, I went completely ballistic on a local moonbat who evesdropped upon, and then inserted himself univited into a conversation I was having at my beloved local coffee shop with someone else about the fighting between Israel and the terrorist thugs of Hezbollah.
Sergeant Battles and I went to great lengths to insure that our presence at both major military medical facilities would not be seen by our wounded warriors as intrusive or self-serving. (One of the senior Marines revealed that they guys are pretty burned out by the daily presence of Congressional aides who come fishing and probing for problems that their bosses can then make politcal points by fixing.) The officers and senior NCOs at both facilities did a great job of briefing the Marines and making it possible for us to visit under the radar. We were introduced at each facilities' morning formation and took our cues from the Marines themselves. Our message to them was simple; you guys are still in the fight dealing with your injuries and we want to capture that for future generations of jarheads. The majority of young Marines, most with multiple amputations and disfiguring wounds, courageously stepped up to be drawn. A few just weren't ready and we respected that. All, however, willingly spoke about their current tribulations and future hopes. The experience for Battles and I was both humbling and inspirational.
As for the moonbat.......typical and predictable stuff, but coming on the heals of two days with America's finest it had on me what I call the Popeye effect....I've had all I can stand, I can't stands no more! Here's the gist of the confrontation. My buddy Tom asked me what I thought about what was going on in Lebanon. My reply was simply that Israel, like us, is currently restrained by the Law of Land Warfare and the Geneva Conventions, which the thugs over at Terrorist Inc, aka Hezbollah, are not. At which point the middle-age moonbat dressed in black and sporting a ten inch long goatee, interjected that the US threw out the LLW and the GC a long time ago and that torture, among other things, was now the official military policy of the evil Bush administration.
Now I had just spent two days with Marines who by and large had been maimed by terrorist IEDs while either escorting a convoy or out on a foot patrol. I've been out on dozens upon dozens of these same convoys and patrols and they all begin with the same thing, THE BRIEF. The brief contains many critical bits of information, not the least of which are the rules of engagement, ie.; Law of Land Warfare and Geneva Convention protocols. The troops are reminded time and time again how to treat enemy combatants while at the same time respecting the locals. To assert that we, the US military, are now using terrorist tactics as a matter of broad policy is asinine........and I told him as much..........and more.
In the course of our exchange I admittedly baited this gentleman, who is a social studies teacher at a local high school. I asked him if he thought 9/11 was an inside job.......he's not sure, might have been. Since he stated that Bush was evil I wondered whether he felt that the terrorists, to include Iran's President Ahmadinejad and his pursuit of nuclear arms, were evil as well. His answer was revealatory. My moonbat would agree that what they did was occassionally evil, but they were not, unlike Bush, evil. I queried him on this point several times, and he simply refused to call terrorists evil. He offered up as proof of Hezbollah's non-evil legitimacy the fact that 14 year old Lebanonese boys are flocking to sign up. I guess that probably means that the Bloods, the Crips and MS-13, since they no doubt attract 14 year olds, are legitimate as well. There was more to the exchange, but nothing unpredictable....same old worn out conspiracy theory and Bush Derangement Syndrome stuff.
Why share this with you? These two experiences sum up my state of mind of late. I am so proud of and inspired by my fellow Marines in particular and by all the folks in uniform in general. But that is offset more and more by the absolute political chaos here at home, as personified by the goateed guy in black at the coffee shop. We're at war and the unfortunate fact that a sizeable segment of our republic doesn't get that is simply amazing to me. The witnesses at the coffee shop assure me I devestated the moonbat's positions, but so what? As long as a large group of educated and influential citizenry in this nation are in denial about the nature of our enemy, and by extension denying our collective political will of their much needed presence, I don't see how we can prevail in the long term against an enemy as evil and as determined as any we've ever faced.
I leave you with a quote from the Bible that speaks to me of the guys at Bethesda and Walter Reed.
And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.
Romans 5:3-4
LCpl Richard J. Robinson by WO Fay
Sergeant Ryan G. King by WO Fay
LCpl Joseph M. Grady by WO Fay
Cpl Estaban Diaz by Sgt. Battles
Cpl Andrew Ingram by Sgt. Battles
LCpl Patrick W. Howard by Sgt. Battles
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Don't Feel Bad Joe
Senator Joe Lieberman was defeated in Connecticut's Democratic Party primary. Don't feel bad Joe, my former wife deserted me for someone else too and the result, at least for me, has been overwhelmingly to the good. Senator Lieberman is going to continue the good fight as an independent candidate and hopefully every Republican and centerist Democrat will vote for him in the general election in November.
I will leave it to each of you to decide for yourselves on which side of the political aisle these words and ideas resonate deeply, and on which they ring hollow at best and at worst not at all.
I found this political cartoon over at Dr. Sanity and just had to share it with you.
A little while ago I watched a sparring match on Fox between former Senator Dennis Deconcini (Dem-Arizona) and a conservative commentator. Senator Deconcini was given the opportunity to state what the Dems would be doing different in the War on Terror, and he rose to the bait with a now predictable litany of Bush-is-the-problem talking points. Five years into this War, after waiting on a Dem's response innumerable times, two facts are very clear to me; 1. Our homeland hasn't been attacked again. 2. The Democrats have no plan. I believe the essential difference between the Republicans and the Democrats is simply this: Republicans believe that the key event at the dawn of the 21st century was the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and the Democrats believe that it was the Supreme Court decision handed down in Bush v Gore on December 12, 2000 destroying their hopes of regaining the White House. Bush is determined to fight Terrorism and the Dems seem determined to fight Bush.
I'll leave you with a passage from Warfighting (Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 1).
Decisionmaking is essential to the conduct of war since all actions are the result of decisions or of nondecisions. If we fail to make a decision out of lack of will, we have willingly surrendered the intiative to our foe. If we consciously postpone taking action for some reason, this is a decision. Thus, as a basis for action, any decision is generally better than no decision.
Since war is a conflict between opposing wills, we cannot make decisions in a vacuum. We must make our decisions in light of the enemy's anticipated reactions and counteractions, recognizing that while we are trying to impose our will on the enemy, he is trying to do the same to us.
Time is the critical factor in effective decisionmaking-often the most important factor. A key part of effective decisionmaking is realizing how much decision time is available and making the most of that time. In general, whoever can make and implement decisions consistently faster gains a tremendous, often decisive advantage......
I will leave it to each of you to decide for yourselves on which side of the political aisle these words and ideas resonate deeply, and on which they ring hollow at best and at worst not at all.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Spirit
Here's a little musing on a interesting (at least to me) crossing of paths in the universe. The Hebrew-Aramaic word for spirit is ruach. Ruach is pronounced "roo-ah". The quintessntial spirited Marine non-word is oo-rah ( not to be confused with the Army's weird wannabe moto-word hoo-ah). Roo-ah is a very handy little word for those inclined to meditate. Oo-rah, on the other hand, doesn't work too well...it's not exactly a sound meant to trigger Theta waves in the old brain housing.
Lance Corporal Mooi....Continued
Mooi's portrait is essentially finished. When it dries I'll be adding the image of a Navy Cross in the upper left hand quadrant.
I'll be off-line for a few days. Tomorrow will find me conducting training for The National Museum of the Marine Corps' docents. As soon as that is wrapped up I and my Nissan Xterra, filled with about a thousand dollars worth of yet to be assembled IKEA furniture, head north to my daughter's new apartment in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, the home of her new college, Shippensburg University.
You've probably noticed that I haven't commented on the current situation with regards to Israel and their campaign against the terrorists entrenched in Lebanon. The Hezbullshit flying around the media and the world of partisan politics is simply amazing. CNN trotted out one of their "experts" to extoll the civic virtues of Hezbollah, which apparently has a social services arm that is both extensive and the the lion's share of it's activities. This shameless PR piece had moving testimonials of mothers recieving pre-natal care, and interior shots of medical clinics complete with little kids sporting head bandages. I'm imagining one of their social workers visiting a new mother with a case of free baby formula... "Mrs. Al-Janabi, what a beautiful son you have, and this picture of him in his little suicide vest, how adorable!....oh by the way, we'll be storing another dozen Katyusha rockets next to the RPGs in your basement, hope you don't mind. We really appreciate letting your husband park the launcher under the baby's window. See you at the Death to Israel rally Friday. Ciao."
All this ongoing moral equivalency brings to my mind Daniel Day-Lewis' gang leading character, Bill "the Butcher" Poole, in Gangs of New York, who divided his days between butchering pigs, and cutting up rivals (pigs, as he affably explained with familial warmth to Leonard DiCaprio's Amsterdam Vallan, being excellent subjects to practice on with respect to inviscerating people.)
I am also reminded that Adolf Hitler loved his dog...so freak'n what! Hezbollah is a terrorist proxy of Iran...everything else is mere window dressing.
Israel is in my prayers.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Lance Corporal Joshua Mooi
I'm working on a portrait of a Marine I served with during Operation Steel Curtain in Old Ubaydi, Iraq. His name is Lance Corporal Joshua R. Mooi and he's been nominated for a Navy Cross as a result of his heroism on November 16, 2005. The Navy Cross is second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor. Mooi, a native of Bolingbrook, Illinois, is as quiet and unassuming a young man as you'd ever hope to meet. On this fateful day he personally pulled most of the members of his squad, and his platoon commander out of an enemy infested death house in Old Ubaydi. Virtually all of them, save Mooi, were wounded and dying. His rifle took three hits from AK-47 rounds as he repeatedly went back into this hornets nest of mujh, bent over and dragged his buddies out. Survivors testified that Mooi, besides latching onto buddies, shot into and threw enemy hand grenades back into spider holes.
It is honor to have met and spent time with him. It was like rubbing elbows with Sergeant Alvin York. Get some Mooi!
Elitism, Anyone?
The author of the article that was the subject of my previous post took the time to email me regarding my little commentary. Here's our exchange:
From: Philip L Kennicott Sent: 8/1/2006 11:57:36 AM To: mdfay@mail2world.com Subject: your blog
Just thought I'd send a note to say I think you may have read more of a "swerve to the left" in my architecture review of the Marine Corps museum than I intended. I put "the dangers of empire" in parentheses, and didn't necessarily mean it as you've read it, ie. that the US is an empire, or imperialistic. The previous sentence mentioned democracy and "the vulnerabilities of democracy" and the temptation to empire is definitely one of those vulnerabilities, don't you think? No sooner had the Athenians established the preeminence of their democratic system than they were tempted by the dangers of the Delian league. I hoped that the "dangers of empire" would be read as I wrote it, generically. The Marines know these dangers because they've fought empires, the Japanese included.
Philip KennicottCulture CriticThe Washington Post1150 Fifteenth St. NWWashington, DC 20071.
From: michael fay Sent: 8/1/2006 12:31:48 PM To: kennicottp@washpost.com Subject: Re: your blog
Phillip,
I appreciate that you took time to email me. My reading of your final "dangers of empire" did not, nor does it now come across as generic. I think you made a very good point with regards to the failure of our system to educate folks on most things historic. The temptation to empire is a legitimate course of thought, but adding it to the end of piece (even in paranthesis) did not cap off your reporting, but rather came across as a raised eyebrow, and re-cast everything you wrote in a questionable light. Garnishing your piece about The National Museum of the Marine Corps with it was in my opinion unnecessary at best, and politically motivated at worst. I do not personally know you, but I'm well aware of the left leaning drift of The Washington Post. As I said in my blog, this type of rhetorical flourish is completely appropriate within the context of a op-ed piece, but within a journalistic, or even a critical review such as yours, it spices up the content beyond mere analysis or reporting. None-the-less, I really appreciate your explanation. I hope you will entertain my opinion that it is a far more loaded phrase, especially during our current historical unfoldings, than you intended.
Best Regards, Mike Fay
With further reading of Mr. Kennicott's explanation to me I found myself taken aback more and more by his references to the Athenians and the Delian League, and Marines fighting the Empire of Japan. The reference to Japan, the sole empire Marines ever engaged in combat with, unless you include the British in both the Revolution and the War of 1812, struck me as grasping at straws. Marines have been historically engaged in "small wars". Last time I read about WWII I don't think the "vulnerabilities of democracy" pushed Japan (or either Germany or Italy) to attack Pearl Harbor. Temptation to empire wouldn't exactly top my list of the vulnerablities of democracy. Do you think Attila the Hun was a closet Patrick Henry? Perhaps I missed this in college history class.....Ward Churchill no doubt covers this sort of thing in his lectures.
The reference to the Athenians strikes me as particularly elitist. Then again, The Washington Post is probably not aiming for a blue collar Nascar guy readership. I don't know why the Delian League thing didn't just jump out at me when I read the paranthetical "dangers of empire". National Museum of the Marine Corps.....Delian League.....man do I feel dumb, how could I have missed that one!
How in the world can Mr. Kennicott believe this sort of subtle and inflammatory manipulation is generic? It's not generic.....it's elitist. Capping his article with "dangers of empire" was anything but a broad, vague or general tossing out of a neutral idea. It was specific and targeted. If anything, it made it seem as if the entire preceeding article was an excuse to give his "vulnerabilities of democracy"/"temptation to empire" thesis a forum.
Do you think if Mr. Kennicott ever reviewed The National Museum of Women in the Arts he'd end it with a paranthetical musing on PMS? Now that would be something!
____________________________________________________________
From: Philip L Kennicott Sent: 8/1/2006 11:57:36 AM To: mdfay@mail2world.com Subject: your blog
Just thought I'd send a note to say I think you may have read more of a "swerve to the left" in my architecture review of the Marine Corps museum than I intended. I put "the dangers of empire" in parentheses, and didn't necessarily mean it as you've read it, ie. that the US is an empire, or imperialistic. The previous sentence mentioned democracy and "the vulnerabilities of democracy" and the temptation to empire is definitely one of those vulnerabilities, don't you think? No sooner had the Athenians established the preeminence of their democratic system than they were tempted by the dangers of the Delian league. I hoped that the "dangers of empire" would be read as I wrote it, generically. The Marines know these dangers because they've fought empires, the Japanese included.
Philip KennicottCulture CriticThe Washington Post1150 Fifteenth St. NWWashington, DC 20071.
From: michael fay Sent: 8/1/2006 12:31:48 PM To: kennicottp@washpost.com Subject: Re: your blog
Phillip,
I appreciate that you took time to email me. My reading of your final "dangers of empire" did not, nor does it now come across as generic. I think you made a very good point with regards to the failure of our system to educate folks on most things historic. The temptation to empire is a legitimate course of thought, but adding it to the end of piece (even in paranthesis) did not cap off your reporting, but rather came across as a raised eyebrow, and re-cast everything you wrote in a questionable light. Garnishing your piece about The National Museum of the Marine Corps with it was in my opinion unnecessary at best, and politically motivated at worst. I do not personally know you, but I'm well aware of the left leaning drift of The Washington Post. As I said in my blog, this type of rhetorical flourish is completely appropriate within the context of a op-ed piece, but within a journalistic, or even a critical review such as yours, it spices up the content beyond mere analysis or reporting. None-the-less, I really appreciate your explanation. I hope you will entertain my opinion that it is a far more loaded phrase, especially during our current historical unfoldings, than you intended.
Best Regards, Mike Fay
With further reading of Mr. Kennicott's explanation to me I found myself taken aback more and more by his references to the Athenians and the Delian League, and Marines fighting the Empire of Japan. The reference to Japan, the sole empire Marines ever engaged in combat with, unless you include the British in both the Revolution and the War of 1812, struck me as grasping at straws. Marines have been historically engaged in "small wars". Last time I read about WWII I don't think the "vulnerabilities of democracy" pushed Japan (or either Germany or Italy) to attack Pearl Harbor. Temptation to empire wouldn't exactly top my list of the vulnerablities of democracy. Do you think Attila the Hun was a closet Patrick Henry? Perhaps I missed this in college history class.....Ward Churchill no doubt covers this sort of thing in his lectures.
The reference to the Athenians strikes me as particularly elitist. Then again, The Washington Post is probably not aiming for a blue collar Nascar guy readership. I don't know why the Delian League thing didn't just jump out at me when I read the paranthetical "dangers of empire". National Museum of the Marine Corps.....Delian League.....man do I feel dumb, how could I have missed that one!
How in the world can Mr. Kennicott believe this sort of subtle and inflammatory manipulation is generic? It's not generic.....it's elitist. Capping his article with "dangers of empire" was anything but a broad, vague or general tossing out of a neutral idea. It was specific and targeted. If anything, it made it seem as if the entire preceeding article was an excuse to give his "vulnerabilities of democracy"/"temptation to empire" thesis a forum.
Do you think if Mr. Kennicott ever reviewed The National Museum of Women in the Arts he'd end it with a paranthetical musing on PMS? Now that would be something!
____________________________________________________________
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)