They Don’t Make Them Like This Any More

John Wayne and Dean Martin. They’ve crapped better than most of Hollywood these days.

Hat-tip to Dirty Harry.

Generation Kill Continues

Last night I watched the second episode of Generation Kill and it was very good. Yeah there was still a fair amount of “white man” bashing and even some liberal crap about displaying the flag as a substitute for patriotism - written by Barry Obama no doubt - but otherwise it was excellent. They keep pushing the “stupid officer” theme, but maybe I am just being sensitive about that because I was an officer. Not a stupid one I hope though.

I still think there’s way to many stereotypes but, hey, all stereotypes have some truth to them so whatever.

Watch it if you get the chance.

“Generation Kill” Kills Everything But The Stereotypes

Sorry for the lack of posting but our cable Internet has been out since Saturday evening when some serious thunderstorms blew through my little town.  So serious that we had two major lightening strikes within about 300 feet of our house, one hitting a tree and the other a telephone pole. The power was out for seven and a half hours and my cable Internet is still spotty.

I had planned on doing some live-blogging about the new HBO mini-series Generation Kill, but that was shot to hell so I just made some notes while I watched the first episode.  Here they are.

The show had great production values and acting, but then this is HBO so I expected that.  Unfortunately, there were also a ton of typical Hollywood negative stereotypes of those serving in the military and the Marines specifically. In the first 15 minutes you had several Southern-accented racist and gay-bashing statements (because only Southerners hate minorities and gays, of course), disgusting sexual statements about young children and the teachers who sent letters of support to the Marines, and brilliantly insightful lines like, ”It’s destiny dog, white man gotta rule the world” and “White man won’t be denied.” 

There did have a somewhat realistic depiction of a Marine unit with regards to uniforms, equipment, grooming, discipline, etc., but there was also obviously an effort to make a very big deal about the fact that the Marines did not have all the equipment they needed, as if this was the first time an American military force went into action under-equipped.  There was also much ado about the Marines having to wait several hours to move out, like “hurry up and wait” was something introduced into military operations with the inauguration of George Bush.  Then there were several examples of Marine’s bashing the Corps and their leadership, which does happen, of course, since every military member bitches about their own service and leaders.  They have that right, after all.

Still the implication here is that this was the first time any of this has ever happened and that our military is predominately manned by stupid, uncaring, unethical officers and abusive NCOs, and that most rank and file Marines are racist, homosexual-hating, homicidal white men who only serve so they can kill people and break things.

In other words, the “Hollywood” military.

Now before you think I am saying our military, and the men and women serving in it, are perfect let me assure you I am not.  Surely our military has it’s fair share of piss-poor officers and “asshole” NCOs.  If you’ve served you have dealt with them.  And surely there are racists in the military.  And gay-bashers.  And sexists. They are there because they are in our society and the military is a reflection of our society.  The good and the bad.  But I would  argue that our military reflects far more of the good than the bad.   No, that’s wrong.  Frankly it’s not even arguable.  It’s a fact.  Our military, despite all it’s flaws, is the best of us.  And when the worst of us do make it into our military, the best usually weed them out pretty quickly.

That’s the way it should be and that’s the way it is.

The problem here is that Hollywood sees only the bad.  Mostly because they are just ignorant of all things military and what little they think they know is drawn from their reverence for  Vietnam-era films like Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Apocalypse Now, the Deer Hunter, and Full Metal Jacket.  These movies were the “truth” then so they must be the truth now.

But there is something else going on here besides ignorance.  Hollywood and the rest of the liberal media need to believe these men and women are bad in order to justify their anti-American, anti-military, anti-war views.  Because if the military is bad, and the people serving in it are bad, then they naturally have to be good for pointing it out.  Which makes them feel all warm and fuzzy and special. That’s why they keep producing all these anti-war movies, that interestingly enough, keep failing at the box office because the rest of America aren’t buying it.

The rest of America, the vast majority of it anyway, and that includes many liberals, know there is a difference between the Hollywood military and the real military.  They know the former is a warped fantasy and the latter is a reality.  And even the first 15 minutes or so of this show, in which every bad military stereotype is thrown against the wall in the hope that something will stick, is not going to convince them otherwise.

UPDATE:

I should note that there are plenty of military guys and gals who like this mini-series and the book it is based on.  More power to them.  I just don’t see it that way so far, but in the interest of fairness I am going to watch the whole thing and will keep you updated on my opinion.

UPDATE:

A much better writer than I reviews the mini-series, but finds the same faults as I did in the first episode. Still, he says it gets better as it goes along - he’s a pro so he gets to see it ahead of time, lucky guy - so maybe it will turn out to be pretty good after all.

Loving America

This post is in reply to this comment left by ReyMac in which he advised me to “learn a little history about the country I live in and claim to love.”

Let’s get something straight from the start, I don’t claim to love America, I do love America. Right or wrong. Good or bad. I love this country no matter what. Surely I don’t love the government. Hell, I don’t even like it half the time and I work for it. But unlike liberals, I am capable of distinguishing between my country and my government and, therefore, I am able to love America the way it is now, not the way I want it to be. And believe me if I were King I would change quite a few things.

Liberals, on the other hand, only love America the way they want it to be. That’s the kind of love they offer. Always conditional. Always with a catch. “If you conservatives would only agree with us and do things our way we would all get along.” “If the military would only sit at home and never fight a war - at least not one approved by us - then we would support them without dismissing their service and blocking their recruiting centers.” This is the way liberals love, so it’s not surprising you would think I am just “claiming” to love America since that is what you know.

Well, I don’t have any conditions. No catches. No demands. I love America and I am proud to be an American no matter how pissed the rest of the world may or may not be about our government and our president. And I will be proud of America even if Barry wins this election. Not because I will be proud of him. In fact, I am quite sure I will be embarrassed by him. That is when I am not crying about the money he is sucking out of my pocket and laughing at the Jimmy Carter-ish incompetence of his administration.

But regardless of any of that I will be proud of America.

That is the difference between conservatives and liberals.

But I am getting off on a rant and need to get back to my point. Since you said I should learn a little history, I figured I would return the favor and educate by sharing with you some history that The Anchoress pointed out in response to Barry’s embarrassment.

But my goodness, comparing 300 million Americans (many of whom have no need to learn “French, German,” and rest because our own country is so vast and interesting they feel no need to leave it) to much smaller countries, interconnected on a continent (where learning other languages seems necessary) is a rather low blow, and it does not take into account the following not-so-subtle fact:

Americans did not need to speak French to save that nation…twice.

Americans did not need to speak German to save the lives of our vanquished German enemy over a long, brutal winter with the Berlin Airlift. (Less glamorous than a photo-op, true.)

Americans did not need to speak Polish or any other language to liberate concentration camps.

Americans did not need to speak anything but the language of honor and compassion to bring aid and comfort to a tsunami-torn land.

Americans did not need to speak Arabic or Urdu to take down a tyrant and liberate his people from the scourge of terrorist insurgents, or to help them to form a democracy that - if you read papers outside of the US - seems to be stabilizing in just a few years.

Americans did not need to speak any of the African languages to help foment real change in a land where people die from mosquito bites, and from an epidemic plague of AIDS.

Is America perfect? No, far from it, but I’m damned sure we are not so awful, so pathetic, so ignorant and backward that a presidential candidate needs to get up on stage and jeer at his country and countrymen for their lack of so-called sophistication to his “sophisticated” and self-hating supporters.

Sophistication is empty and insubstantial. It does not save lives. It does not free people. Sophistication simply dresses well and knows not to choose the chianti. All very important in these serious times, right?

I don’t know, this guy is supposed to be so brilliant, but every decision he makes, he decides was probably not the right one (”yeah, I won’t let my kids be interviewed anymore…” - hey…good idea!) and he doesn’t seem to like his country or his fellow Americans very much.

I’ll take the dumb, liberty-lovin’ Texan and his moist-eyed patriotism over this fellow’s schtick, anyday.

So to close out this subject I say this. It’s a good thing for Americans to learn a second language. Or a third. Or fourth. Spanish especially and like I said in my earlier post, Japanese, Chinese, or maybe a middle-eastern language or two. But don’t for a moment think that just because most Americans do not speak a second language it makes them any less the great people that they are. Or this nation any less the great nation that it is. Because history has proved that we are indeed great. Flawed, yes, but great despite, and perhaps because of these flaws.

And if you’re choosing a person for president, shouldn’t that person believe this, too?

Monday Mash

1. Barry Obama sycophant Wesley Clark, an Army General who was very unpopular with the troops and who was dismissed as NATO Commander thee months early, dissed John McCain’s foriegn policy experience? And in a totally reprehensible way to boot.  How sad for Clark, a war hero in his own right, to have fallen this far. How sad for Obama to pick such people for his campaign considering he says he isn’t about the old style politics.

2. Not to make fun of this horrible tragedy, but honestly I didn’t think the French Army even had live ammuntion.

3.  Obama cult members are changing their names as a sign of their adoration for the Messiah. How cute. Two thoughts on this. One, I’ll be impressed when they do it legally, and two, if Barry is elected and we engage in a policy of appeasement to Islamic fascists then we may all be adopting Muslim names whether we want to or not. Also, I’m glad I’m not with Blogger any longer.

4. Liberal fascists, err, I mean Obama supporters, helped by Google, shut down anti-Obama blogs. How special.

5. Seems I’m not the only one who loves Boobees.

6. Obama wants to disarm America. Are you cool with that?

7.  “Stubbly men may offer women the best worlds - not too strongly masculine, but mature and with the potential to grow a full beard.”  Women prefer men with facial hair? Hmm, I guess I should stop shaving. Then again the study says it makes you look about five years older which might be great when you are in your 20s, but hardly sounds appealing when you are in your 50s like me. Still, seems only fair. Men prefer women with big hooters, nicely shapped hips and long legs so why can’t women prefer guys who don’t shave?

Was Iraq Worth It?

By Tony Blankely over at RealClearPolitics.

Fighting and winning always impress. Even merely fighting and persisting impress. Shortly after the fall of Soviet Communism, I had dinner with a then-recently former senior Red army general. He told me that the Soviets were astounded and impressed by the fact that we were prepared to fight and lose 50,000 men in Vietnam, when the Soviets never thought we even had a strategic interest there. They thus calculated that they’d better be careful with the United States. What might we do, they thought, if our interests really were threatened?

The full effects of the vigorous martial response of President Bush to the attacks of Sept. 11 will not be known for decades. But if history is any indicator, military courage, persistence and a capacity to kill the enemy in large numbers usually work to the benefit of such nations.

On Sept. 10, 2001, many Islamists thought America and the West were decadent, cowardly and ripe for the pickings. (Hitler thought the same thing about us.) On the basis of President Bush’s political courage — and supremely on the physical courage, moral strength and heartbreaking sacrifice of all our fighting uniformed men and women (and un-uniformed intelligence operatives) — America’s willingness and capacity to fight to protect ourselves cannot be doubted around the world. This may prove to be the most important global political fact of the first decade of the 21st century — with implications even beyond our struggle with radical Islam.

It is time to reconsider whether President Bush or Barack Obama was right on whether to fight. Obama has had a good political run on the early and inconclusive evidence. As victory starts to emerge in Iraq, more persuasive data begin to fall on President Bush’s side of the argument. This is a debate worth having before November.

I’ve said from the beginning that time will prove the wisdom of hitting our enemies, in Iraq and Afghanistan and everywhere else they are hiding in the world, after 9/11. I’ve said Bush, much like Reagan, would be judged better than he is now after a decade or so when cooler heads prevail. That’s a long ways off still, but even now you can see people slowly coming around. The liberal main stream media has pretty much stopped reporting on Iraq - a sure sign things are going well. Barrry Obama doesn’t talk about the Iraq war much, mostly because he looks weak when compared to McCain on foreign policy issues in general and defense in particular, but also because he knows the surge has worked and he was on the wrong side of it. Also, the old “Bush lied, people died” line has been proven to be a lie, so only the most rabid anti-war nuts are still shouting it out to whoever is still listening, and fewer and fewer people are listening.

The fact is people, and nations, respect strength. They abhor weakness. And ever since the Vietnam War America had been showing nothing but weakness. So it is no wonder our enemies thought they could attack us and we would do nothing past a Tomahawk missile up a camel’s ass.

They were wrong. 9/11 awakened the “sleeping tiger,” to use a WWII phrase. We have when we need to, the “willingness and the capacity to fight” and both our friends and enemies know that now.

That is a good thing.

The decision we have in November is whether we want to retreat from this position of strength back to one of weakness and appeasement.

McCain offers the former. Barry the latter.

It’s a simple as that.

Six Quick Links Cause I Am Very Busy Today

1. Obama celebrates Memorial Day. Or as he and Michelle probably refer to it,  Victim Day.  There’s also a nice little gaffe that would only be important to the media if McCain said it, of course. There was a video, but it was disappeared.

2. “Strange to witness one of the oldest and most successful of nations commit suicide without even being aware of what it’s doing.” Goodbye to England?

3. Guns don’t kill people, knives do.

4. ‘Raqstar.

 

5. I pretty much agree with this review of The Andromeda Strain miniseries on A&E.

6. Obama rewrites WWII history to make him sound more military. So telling.

** If I have a break I will try to add some more.

Toe To Toe

The headline for this story is “Marine Cheats Death.” I personally think it should be “Marine Looks Death In The Eye And Tells It To Go To Hell,” but either way, this is a startling series of photos.

God Bless these brave men and women.

** Photo by Reuters.

“Do I Make You Proud?”

Yep.

Hat-tip to Michelle Malkin.