"Barbara O’Brien’s wide-ranging account of Zen history is conveyed with a master storyteller’s ability to keep the forest from getting lost in a myriad of trees. Wearing her scholarship lightly, she blends just the right amount of skepticism about her hagiographic sources with a deep appreciation for the Dharma." — Barry Magid, author of
Nothing Is Hidden and
Ending the Pursuit of Happiness Order here!
Kerry stated a fact. Because of the msm spin machine he felt it was necessary to apologize. One should not have to apologize for stating a fact, because facts are… well, facts.
It is a fact that those who are assigned to torture are not the brightest pine cones in the tree, nor are they examples of mental health.
It is a fact that the military has lowered the IQ requirements, as well as lowered the standard for enlistment to include first time non-violent offenders.
It is a fact that military recruiters have been slumming in poverty struck urban and rural areas for new recruits.
It is a fact that military recruiters seek out the unemployed and underemployed.
The all volunteer military also is a magnet for the brainwashed, obedient, and uninformed gung ho.
A reason that the draft was a better idea was that the military more closely represented cross section of our society. There were soldiers with degrees in the enlisted ranks. It also meant that rebels and autonomous personality types were in the military.
A military that is comprised of all classes, backgrounds and attitudes is less likely to turn its weapons on their fellow Americans for whoever the leadership might be at any given time.
This is not to imply that intelligence has anything to do with bravery, self-sacrifice, survival instinct, improvisation, honor or dedication to duty, but it usually translates to recruits being followers. There is no harm in that, I suppose, unless soldiers are agreeing to torture, the murder of civilians, rape, looting, hate crimes, or any other immoral or unlawful acts.
It is also true that those who go to college, study hard, work hard, are responsible, and more interested in success rather than going to Iraq to be killed in an unnecessary war, (a war of opportunity or so it seemed to some,) won’t be stuck in Iraq.
I wanted to comment on an Iraq story that has gotten swept under the carpet in the election news. I think it’s desperately important. Last week we lost a soldier in Sadr City. He may be dead; we don’t knw. He’s missing. The US military cordoned off the area and has been searching vehicles and conductiong house-to-house searches. Maliki ordered the troops to stand down, effectively abandoning their comrade. And heres the kicker; Malili was bowing to pressure from the leader of the biggest Shiite militia, one of the ones Malili is supposed to disarm. I have not seen such a crock of shit since ‘nam.
To find a blunder that has a more catastrophic effect on militay morale, I think you have to go back to the Civil War, when the Confederacy exempted slaveowners from compulsory military service. This one decision made non-slave-owning white southerners just one small notch above slaves.
I was in the Navy; giving up a search for a missing sailor or pilot was hard. You might be able to imagine the rage our troops feel about giving up one of their own to a brutal and sadistic enemy for political reasons. If I was the president, I would think twice about touring military bases. It might not be safe for a while.