[antimedia] antimedia: The blogosphere was all abuzz a short while ago....

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Posted by antimedia:
The blogosphere was all abuzz a short while ago....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1186433242.shtml


   ....over [1]a military "diarist" writing for The New Republic. When
   the diarist made some startling claims about soldiers in Iraq, some
   bloggers, especially military ones, immediately [2]suspected a fraud.
   Eventually the "diarist"'s name was revealed, and the fact that he had
   joined the military to gain experiences that he could write about from
   a liberal perspective came out. Then it was revealed that he had a
   relationship with a staff member at TNR (which explained how an
   unknown, unproven writer could be writing columns for TNR.)
   Meanwhile, his claims had been proven to be false, and TNR has been
   scrambling to find corroboration of their now debunked diarist's
   claims and find some plausible rationale to explain having published
   his accounts without doing any fact-checking. As is usual, they have
   found comfort in the liberal mantra that the facts may not pan out,
   but the principle still applies (fake but accurate!)
   Now comes [3]words of wisdom from a man with wide experience in life.

     This passage from Augustine came to mind as I read Pvt. Beauchampâs
     Baghdad Diarist in The New Republic (TNR), for Beauchamp, far from
     being âashamed of being ashamed,â is actually proud of being
     ashamed. After describing how he mocked and humiliated a woman
     horribly scarred by an IED, Beauchamp writes:
     Even as I was reveling in the laughter my words had provoked, I was
     simultaneously horrified and ashamed at what I had just said. In a
     strange way, though, I found the shame comforting. I was relieved
     to still be shocked by my own cruelty--to still be able to
     recognize that the things we soldiers found funny were not, in
     fact, funny.
     Itâs an odd sense of shame. It provides no antecedent restraint on
     Beauchampâs behavior but kicks in only after heâs already
     demonstrated, by his actions, both his cruelty and his
     shamelessness. Nonetheless, Beauchamp takes pride in being ashamed,
     for it proves, at least to him, his superiority to some of his
     fellow soldiers.
     But Beauchamp knows heâs describing sociopathic behavior, for he
     asks, âAm I a monster? I have never thought of myself as a cruel
     person. Indeed, I have always had compassion for those with
     disabilities. I once worked at a summer camp for developmentally
     disabled children.â So what would explain the behavior? Why do he
     and his comrades find despicable behavior funny? Beauchampâs
     answer: âThat is how war works: it degrades every part of you, and
     your sense of humor is no exception.â
     Here, finally, is the master narrative sought by TNR. Because war
     âdegrades every part of you,â soldiers canât be expected to make
     normal moral decisions. Bad behavior? The war made them do it. See
     what the bad war does to good people? It turns former camp
     counselors into sociopaths.
     But no self-respecting soldier wants TNRâs bogus absolution.
     Soldiers pride themselves on being held to a higher standard than
     the rest of us, and to deny them the dignity of being moral agents
     renders meaningless the distinction between a dishonorable
     discharge and a Bronze Star. If soldiers no longer merit praise or
     blame, just sympathy, their service becomes meaningless.
     TNR shows no awareness of this, and its attempt to defend its own
     journalistic malpractice is truly a wonder to behold. TNR editor
     Franklin Foerâs first defense claimed that the objections raised
     about the story âreally boil down to, would American soldiers be
     capable of doing things like the things described in the diarist.
     The practical jokes are exceptionally mild compared to things that
     have been documented by the U.S. military.â We now know that Mr.
     Foer never believed it was about âpractical jokes,â for he now says
     that TNR published Beauchampâs piece because it âwas about the
     morally and emotionally distorting effects of war...[it] was a
     startling confession of shame about some disturbing conduct, both
     his own and that of his fellow soldiers.â

   The attitude of our media will not change until the people in charge
   are either fired or retire.
   Tags: [4]media [5]bias [6]liberal [7]lies

References

   1. http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2007/07/busted-new-republics-shock-troops.html
   2. http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2007/07/shock_troops_doubts_grow.asp
   3. https://webmail.tx.rr.com/webedge/do/mail/message/view?msgId=INBOXDELIM1057&l=en-US&v=rr
   4. http://technorati.com/tag/media
   5. http://technorati.com/tag/bias
   6. http://technorati.com/tag/liberal
   7. http://technorati.com/tag/lies