November 11, 2004
From the desk of Jane Galt:War is hell, especially if you haven't been there
NPR is having an open call-in for veterans right now, in honour of Veteran's Day (Armistice Day, in other countries). They have a couple of vets on air taking the calls. Just now, a guy called in with one of those touching "veteran speaks out against the horrors of war" which is all very well, except that it was pretty clear that the guy was making it all up.
(I'm paraphrasing)
HOST: Hi caller
CALLER: Hi, I was in Afghanistan, and I saw how horrible it all was. I used to fly out of bases on the Adriatic.
HOST: From Yugoslavia?
CALLER: No.
HOST: No? Because Yugoslavia is what's on the Adriatic.
CALLER: We were on the other side of the Adriatic.
HOST: The other side?
CALLER: The western side (long pause) Italy.
HOST: You flew all the way from Italy to Afghanistan?
CALLER: Noooooooooo . . . .
HOST: Where did you fly to?
CALLER: Not Afghanistan.
HOST: Because you said Afghanistan.
CALLER: No, it was in the early nineties, we weren't in Afghanistan, we were in . . .
HOST: Kosovo?
[Note: Kosovo did not, AFAIR, take place in the early nineties]
CALLER: (Audibly relieved) Yes, that's right, Kosovo. Thank you. [Insert war is bad message here]
Now, I've never been in the military or anything, but I get the feeling that when you've been in a war, it's a kind of memorable thing. You don't forget the name, much less the continent, of the place where all those nasty people were shooting at you.
There's no particular lesson from this, just a little light amusement. The host appeared to realise that the guy was making it up, but was too polite to mention it. The other guest, on the other hand, took the caller at face value and began exchanging "war is hell" statements with him, which considerably reduced his credibility in my eyes.
Posted by Jane Galt at November 11, 2004 05:28 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound linksHappy Veteran's Day to everyone who served!
Stocks were up today on the death of that scumbag Yassir Smellyrat.
Posted by: Brad Hutchings on November 11, 2004 06:21 PMWell, Megan, there really are military people out there who are clueless: think of the 10% rule. there's always a 10% that sucks up 90% of your time, and the military is no exception.
That being said, the fellow was obviously either (1) a 10 percenter, in which case he is clueless, or (2) a fake, in which case he is also clueless.
Posted by: Rex on November 11, 2004 08:08 PMWow, what would have preserved his credibility: to bitch him out Ayn Rand style?
I mean, obviously rational people LOVE war! You are rational, aren't you? :-)
Posted by: Jeremy on November 11, 2004 08:20 PMObviously he was in Cambodia in the early 90's.
Posted by: Hei Lun Chan on November 11, 2004 08:27 PMHis Afghanistan experience was obviously seared into his memory...
Posted by: Joel Mackey on November 11, 2004 10:23 PM
The caller was likely a drunk Swifty with a guilty conscience...
Posted by: Begbee on November 11, 2004 10:30 PMI think war is not half the hell that listening to NPR is. Change the freakin' station!
I got the willies just listening to my best friend tell me how he did not shower for 35 days during the Iraq invasion last year. Although, I will tell you, war is more hellish if the people on the other side are waiving Old Glory.
Thank you to every vet, it is because of each and every one of you that this country is the greatest place in the world. Thank you for protecting my freedom.
Posted by: Peter on November 11, 2004 11:12 PMThat why I like right-wing radio. Boortz or Laura Ingraham would have had that guy for lunch.
Posted by: stuart on November 11, 2004 11:39 PMI wonder if they got any callers who claimed to have served in the Texas Air National Guard, but can't provide any details of that.
Posted by: Willie B. Goode on November 12, 2004 08:53 AMjust think, in twenty years or so this guy will almost get elected president. and his record in the adriatic war of the early 90's will be his biggest selling point.
Posted by: michael on November 12, 2004 09:41 AMHaving never been in war, I'm not really qualified to make a first hand statement on whether or not it's hell. However, the majority of first hand statements about the subject that I have seen tend to agree that war is, in fact, hell. The experience on a whole might have positive aspects (such as comraderie, etc) but seeing people being killed is not a good experience.
With respect to the comments about NPR being bad, and right wing radio being good, that's mostly apples and oranges. I listen to them both. Although Fox News may report the news, most right wing radio shows are opinion shows that tend to express similar opinions. NPR news serves roughly the same purpose as Fox News, but the show that we are discussing is a show called "Talk of the Nation" and the will usually bring on guests that talk about different sides of an issue. Without being told to shut up. That's what we like to call "civilised discourse." I don't even think that NPR is liberal, I listen to Air America for that side of events.
My point?
I wouldn't suggest listening to just one side or the other. And the key would be to really listen, and not just get mad because you disagree. It took me a long time to be able to listen to some of these guys without just having a total knee jerk reaction.
BTW, the outcome of having my point of view was that I voted for Badnarik.
Posted by: Jeff on November 12, 2004 01:11 PMJeff, if you don't think NPR is liberal, you've got no idea what "moderate" and "conservative" mean.
Posted by: markm on November 12, 2004 01:33 PMshit-faced frat boy
all alone in Alabama (sniff)
in a crappy job
pimping for a cracker
not very good at it
im sorry to say
spent more time
drunk than making hay
Poor Poor rich boy
all alone
getting shit-faced
and giving debs the bone
j swift:
In the words of a dead guy I admire greatly: your scansion limps. I know nothing about your nom de blog's talent for poetry, but...
Posted by: Jamie on November 15, 2004 03:15 PMComments are Closed.