Comments on: The Jayson Blair Times Descends Into Madness

By: AL

AL — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:57:15 +0000

Eric, Thank you for clarifying the NYT’s article about the crazed veterans. I recently gave up command of a Training Support Battalion - a unit that is comprised of senior Non commissioned officers (E7 and above), Captains, and Majors. Our job was to use prior combat experience to train other units for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. About 20% of my combat veterans experienced some form of PTSD - some went through counseling, others received medications, and still others dealt with it personally - either through self-medication, prayer, or family support. There were no serious incidents in my two plus years of command. This doesn’t diminish the severe impact on each Soldier, but they certainly do not pose a threat to society.

I can’t speak for all Soldiers, but to me, if you don’t support my Commander in Chief, President Bush, you can’t support me. Not supporting my Commander in Chief makes me a mercenary because I am a volunteer. We all have reasons for doing what we do, and I have chosen to be an American Soldier - not a mercenary. I have been involved in some form of military service since 1972 - whether enlisted, commissioned, Active Army, National Guard, or Active Guard - and I’ve bounced back and forth among the components over many, many years. I only ask that if someone disagrees with our military policies, do three things. First, read, listen, and interact with others - if you are a conservative, get a liberal’s viewpoint; if you are liberal, talk to a conservative. Talk to a few Soldiers. Second, vote. Finally, understand that Presidents have limited powers to declare or sustain military conflicts, and even when intelligence has been spotty or disproven by a vocal media, there are so many facts and so much information that is hidden from the public that only a fool would think our military went to war, and is currently at war, for no good reason. If these conflicts were so unnecessary, they certainly wouldn’t be funded by a Congress who publicly denounces the Commander in Chief. Argue about it over a beer, on the internet, or in a coffee shop, but our Soldiers are fighting a patient enemy, and the media is aiding and abetting this enemy by reporting troop movements, half-truths, and skewed statistics.

By: Jersey McJones

Jersey McJones — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:00:17 +0000

My sincere apologies.

JMJ

By: blacktygrrrr

blacktygrrrr — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:57:05 +0000

Ok, that is it! I have had enough.

When watching sports, I like the referees to stay out of the way, preferring to “let the players play.”

I can see now that this hands off approach is not working.

I started this blog to raise the level of discourse, and that is failing.

Now everybody keep the gloves up or I am going to just start deleting entire posts. I don’t care who started what.

Keep the comments relative to the topic at hand. Eliminate all personal insults.

I have been way too lenient, but enough is enough. I refuse to be one of those guys that sacrifices quality for ratings.

I would rather 10 people visit my blog and admire its sophistication then 1000 people visit and see it as a free for all.

I do not have time to take on a second job editing comments. I will just start deleting entire posts until they are rewritten in a civilized way.

That goes for everybody.

I wrote a positive piece today about Dr. King, and trust that can be debated without attacks.

ENOUGH!

eric

By: Jersey McJones

Jersey McJones — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:43:59 +0000

Micky, really, you get too caught up in this stuff. Make your argument and move along to the next. Stop living in the past.

JMJ

By: micky2

micky2 — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:37:53 +0000

If you follow the post greg you would understabd that Jersey has consistantly lied and said horrible things to me and our citizens and soldiers. So no matter what you think this is not about you or your blog or whether I ever would even think of going there.
Dont flatter yourself.
I am holdig jersey to task for the simple reason to expose him.
I have taken his crap for months, long before you were even a thought on this blog.
You are right, its Erics call

I said;” I will and can find plenty of other debates elsewhere where the people have some sense of decency.”

I also said I would not respond to him anymore. But you are like him , you make things up. I never said I was going to leave. Now did I ?

I decided to respond only when he fugured he could cherry pick and misquote me like the liar he is.
I have a right to respond and change my mind no matter what anyone thinks.
The only deciding factor would be ERIC, not you greg.

I believe jersey should be taken to task for his actions, I believe what he does is decieving and dishonest.
If it bugs you so much greg you should take your own advice.

By: greg

greg — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:11:00 +0000

Micky, you promised us a few posts ago that you were done responding to Jersey, and yet here you are. I have never said this to anyone ever before, but I’m saying it to you now: please leave. Go somewhere else like you keep promising you’re going to do.

Your continuous rudeness, name-calling, and ranting, not only to Jersey, but to most everyone, is simply uncalled for and is destroying this blog. I am ready to leave this blog permanently because of you and regardless of whether I ultimately stay or leave, I am done responding to your incessant juvenile diatribes.

It’s eric’s blog and his call as to whether you stay or leave, but I can tell you that you’ve already been banned from my blog. You’ve never posted there and you never will.

Life is too short.

By: micky2

micky2 — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:03:06 +0000

Yet you still tried to tell me how to run a restaurant, what a jerk.
And I have an associates in management also jersey.
I know how to make decisions based on resources and situations.
You are about as much as student of history as anyone who reads a book.
Your knowledge of history has nothing to with debate. Only that you make my point for me. You are saying that because you have studied history we should just take your word for it ?
That is one of the dumbest things (on top of all the others) that you have ever said !
Do you and your simple mind understand that there are just as many PROFESSORS of history that disagree with you ?
Its all in context jersey.
If culinary arts is not relevant you didn’t have to mention it, right ?

As a student of history ? How about brushing up on your ethics ?
As a Chef in many fields I can make a pile crap taste and look like ice cream.
But just like the info you give people does not dictate what is in the dish you serve us.
You say a lot, but sh** is sh**.

Example(s)

JMJ;
“I am not locked in a closed, authoritarian, theo-ideological, my-way-or-the-highway, blindly patriotic mindset.”

You just claimed authority . ” As a student of history”, I do not belong to any religious denomination. Down below are quotes of you telling people “my way or the highway”
Acceptance and blindness are two different things.
================================================================== JMJ; “Grow up and get your priorities straight.”

I decide on what priorities go where in my life.
==================================================================
JMJ; “I’m absolutely right. I have no doubt about it.”

So whats new ?
==================================================================
JMJ; “The acrimony and divisiveness we see in todays body politic is directly the responsibility of rightwing radio,”

Directly ? Not partially?
==================================================================
JMJ; “anyone who thinks otherwise is simply unable to admit they were wrong.”

OMG ! What an ostentatious display of ignorance
==================================================================
JMJ; ” Ron Paul won the debate. No doubt about it.I did a text count on the debate.
A text count gives you a goof picture about what subjects were being debated.”

You make your decisions on “goof displays”. They eliminate all doubt ?
==================================================================
JMJ; “Al, I’m sorry that you don’t like reality, but it is what it is. Too stupid? Maybe.”

Oh, we dont see it your way or buy your BS so we are stupid.
OK masa, yessuh masa, whatevuh ya says masa.
==================================================================
JMJ; “That’s all that matters, no matter what you guys say. ”

Doesnt matter what other people say, hmmm.
==================================================================
JMJ; and 9/11 was bound to happen eventually. This is all true, and therefore 9/11 really didn’t change anything ”

He can see the future, he knows its true it was going to happen.
911 didnt change anything.
==================================================================
JMJ; “It’s really beneath you guys - especially you, Eric - and you really should stop.”

Yea Eric ! Whats up huh ?
(For the record jersey, Eric has more class in his crap than you do in your whole body)
==================================================================
JMJ; “But it’s called taste, Hallowed. People with poor taste don’t read the Times. People with good taste do. It’s also brains. If you’re smart, you can read - and understand - the Times.”

Once again folks. Jersey is the one with all the brains and taste
==================================================================
JMJ;
“The New York Times is the finest newspaper in the country.”

Depends what you use it for.
==================================================================
JMJ;
“As for the Times, I don’t have to back up anything. Among most all educated people, the New York Times is considered the finest newspaper in America,”

he does not have to show us anything to prove his point and does not have to back up anything. Just take the all knowing gran pubas word for it. (too effing much man)
He said it himself folks.
==================================================================
JMJ;
“Like I said, I don’t have to back anything I said up. Most educated people agree with me. If you guys don’t, than tough tiddlies.”

“I don’t have to back anything I said up.”

Dhoo ! He said it again ! This time he wishes tough tiddies on us if we dont see it his way and just take his word for it.
==================================================================
JMJ;
“You don’t have to tell me how idiot Americans think”

Thats right Jersey, you know how idiots think. Been there, done that huh ?
==================================================================
JMJ; ” those that don’t like well-written journalism about reality because it does not conform with their ideologies, and those who are too stupid to read the Times in the first place. That’s it.”

“Thats it” If you dont read the times , you are stupid.
==================================================================
JMJ; “Enlistees and draftees, as a general rule, historically and to today, be cause of their age and demographic background, tend not to be very well educated. That’s just a plain fact of life.”

Your life , yes. And I showed you facts that blew your lifes facts away.
==================================================================
JMJ;
“This is all very simple to understand, and rather inarguable. ”
JMJ; “Yes, Micky, Servicemen, enlistees, draftees, etc. More pedantics, huh? As a general rule it stands.”

THERE IS NO ARGUEMENT!
==================================================================
JMJ;
“I can spot a libertarian from a hundred paces. Like reality.”

I remember this, 2 minutes later the guy said he wasnt a libertarian.
Shoots your “REALITY” right into la la land.
When are you ever going to learn the difference between concept and reality ?
==================================================================
JMJ;
“Yeah for Reagan. Neither did he defeat them nor did it matter to you and I. ”

He knows what matters to me and millions of others.
==================================================================
JMJ; “The USSR was bound to collapse eventually, Micky. ”

Genius, pure genius. Newton figured this one out when an apple hit his head.
You have no concept of “picking apples”
==================================================================
JMJ; ” Real love requires honesty and constructive criticism. Phony love is just an expression of insecurity.”

I’m gonna puke. All you do is lie and criticize.
You are the most insecure guy I have ever met.
==================================================================
JMJ; ” I am quite convinced that Al Qaeda attacked us on 9/11 BECAUSE Bush and the GOP became the one party ruling majority.”
You got your ass kicked on this one.

I am convinced that you are no longer worthy of sane rational honest debate.
you are a hateful mean spirited hypocritical liar.
Elitest snotty know it all punk.

By: Jersey McJones

Jersey McJones — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:35:46 +0000

“How can the troops get to where they are at if the war was already a “complete and utter failure?”

Micky, as a student of history I can tell you that the victory of any battle, any campaign, any front, often is the loser of the war in the end. And if you study any of the great empires of history and their military escapades, you’ll note that long-protracted expeditionary entanglements often don’t end well.

But as you are obviously not a student of history, but rather the culinary arts (which is quite honorable and impressive, but not really relevent to this debate), you wouldn’t know this or know to apply it to our situation today. It’s the ol’ “doomed to repeat it” rule.

JMJ

By: micky2

micky2 — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:08:05 +0000

There you go, being slimy again.
How can the troops get to where they are at if the war was already a “complete and utter failure? And then all of a sudden now you want to change you position just a little so you can squirm out this one to, so you throw in the word ” Overall “. That’s not what you said the first time. Which makes you dishonest for trying to squeeze that past me.
Just a year or two ago? What a load of crap, you didn’t believe anything good could happen.
It didn’t seem impossible to me two years ago.
I realized there were going to be problems from the beginning. I wasn’t foolish enough to actually expect what was going to be an urban war to end anytime soon.
In Afghanistan its a cultural war in the sense that they have been selling that opium for decades. But a lot less now. And very little of it hits the American market. Ours comes from Mexico and South America.
And then you once again include all the problems you can come up with just to make things look worse than they are. And you’ll tell everyone to accept that as ” REALITY” instead of the whole picture.
Nobody “has to be an idiot” because they don’t have your opinion.
As a matter of fact those without your opinion are the ones who are succeeding in Iraq and Afghanistan right now.
Any low life unimaginative nay sayer can run around an point out what’s wrong with everything.
But none of what you say really matters any more because its all the same and I’ve dismantled most it already with the help of some other decent honest commentors who didn’t have to make up a bunch of unprovable crap, lies, and maintain that they knew things only someone else or God could know. And they sure as hell did not intentionally misconstrue, misquote or cherry pick edit your comments to get it done.
I debate other lib’s , dems or whatever the hell you call yourself on the same subjects. And you are the most dishonest , weak , and disingenuous one I have met so far.
You say mean things about people you don’t know and accuse them of thongs you cant prove, CONSTANTLY.
You’re just a rabid moonbat with a Tasmanian devil mindset that makes Rosie look like the Pope.
I have looked back for hours on all our debates and most of them end with you not saying anything or answering my questions or acknowledging the facts I displayed. You just shut up and move to the next thread as if nothing happened.
You re a looser Jersey, you lie, you cheat, and you are a hypocrite.
And some times you are just down right mean and nasty to people who don’t deserve it. You are a grumpy vicious negative man who has a superiority complex that makes ego almost obsolete.
You speak other peoples minds for them, you are always bringing up other peoples intelligence as flawed in comparison to yours. And you say some really dumb things and instead of admitting it will spend a whole day or two defending it.
You’re a sack of crap person whom I have given the benefit of the doubt to many times and participated anyway just for the sake of showing others how wrong people like you are.
I’ve done that already, to the point where I can do it in my sleep because 9 out of 10 times it always boils down to your opinion being all you have
You are lazy.
You expect me to do searches for you. You expect me to do your homework.
I search for things in the form of articles, documents, transcripts. And when I find them they usually prove you wrong.
You rarely show any thing to co oberate your statements and position. Instead you expect us to just accept you opinion as fact.
I operate as if I’m in court and I need to prove my case.
You operate as if you are trying to convince one of your family to trust you on your word.
You think it is your right to be believed,
Its a luxury jersey, it has to be earned.
And your lying lazy ass doesn’t want to work for it.

By: Jersey McJones

Jersey McJones — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:02:19 +0000

I think the war is a complete failure and distaster overall.

I don’t blame the troops - I blame the “decider” and the puppet masters.

We went in too light, wasted too much money on unneeded contractors, busted up the physical and institutional infrastructure of Iraq, sent the Sunni military and bureaucracy home armed, angry, disenfranchised, as “deadenders,” contracted the rebuild effort to non-Iraqi companies hiring non-Iraqi labor leaving a huge unemployment problem, ignored the ethnic and sectarian realities of the nation, left the Kurds exposed to the Turks, sent the Shi-a into the arms of Iran, allowed a mass ethnic cleansing and the dislocation of 1/5th of the population, arranged an oil deal that will certainly lead to future upheaval, set ourselves up for yet another long-term presense in an Islamic land that will undoubtedly lead to a continuance of Jihad against the United States, forsook Afghanistan for Iraq and now Afghan herione is killing us by the thousands and the Talioban are resurgent and in bed with the poppy growers, and on and on and on and on…

In my humble opinion, while it is good to see our meager troop levels pacifying the nation for now, you’d have to be an idiot not to see this for the disaster it is, and the disaster it certainly will be once we run out of resources and troops to keep the relative peace.

JMJ