"Conservative Political Correctness"?

Dig into the definition of politics, beyond "the art or science of government" definition, and you'll find something about complex interpersonal relationships or personal bids for power.

Rump Leakage et al have made quite a living whining about the inability of the "politically incorrect" to fit in among various groups of "elitists." Clearly, Pigboy and his lemmings are referring to the complex interpersonal relationships and bids for power definition of politics when they bitch and moan about political correctness.

And so it's no wonder people often sloppily interpret the term "political correctness" to mean "stuff that might not go over too well with a progressive audience." But isn't it possible to be politically incorrect among conservative folks? You know, proclaiming "There is no god!" in Church, "the largest socialist organization in the world is the U.S. Army," or "Ronald Reagan was a delusional old bag of wind" at your local yacht club?

As expected, in the military world there is an entirely different breed of political correctness. Whether you're a green beret, or a paralegal pencil pusher, in the service it's literally politically correct to be, in the sloppily-construed Limbaugh vernacular, politically incorrect.

Yet we G.I.s are taught to be, once again in the Limbaugh vein of thinking, "politically correct." Annually we're required to attend classes like sexual harrassment training (it's called 'Sexual Assault Awareness Training' nowadays), Equal Opportunity Awareness training, and even a "don't ask, don't tell" briefing. On paper we're as progressive as Sweden; in the field we're as crude as the cast of Debbie Does Dallas. Our young, impressionable minds are being taught two, diametrically opposed viewpoints. And you can bet your ass it's having an effect on discipline.

In the 1990s it was easy to discipline a young troop who called another one a "N**ger," or grabbed a young female corporal's ass in the hallway. But these days we're losing ground in this area. Granted, there aren't any American women in my current neck of the woods, but this isn't something I've just noticed over the past 30 days. This flip-flop mentoring of our military youth isn't restricted to the war zone. Worldwide there's a scary trend of NCOs, SNCOs, WOs, and even Jr. Officers looking the other way as FNGs emulate their leaders, many of the same NCOs, SNCOs, and Officers. Guys who long ago ditched the standards of decency and etiquette by which we are regularly reminded to abide.

In the end the current rabid trend of neoconfoolery among military types will do what every other manifestation of neoconnery does: overdose on its own excesses. It's a greedy mindset, and it shall consume itself.

Call me naive, but I sincerely believe the next Bill Clinton administration won't be rejected by military leadership; it'll be greeted by most of our level-headed superiors as a welcome return to our collective senses.

Military Bloggers: Slow Down, Stop Showing Your Ass, and Try Reading as Much as You Write.

One thing currently bothering me is the thousands of highly visible, ultra-right wing military bloggers who have managed to convince the rest of the world our armed forces consist of nothing more than neocon-anderthal double-digit IQ midgets.

Consider the airman who calls himself "Greyhawk," and owns mudvillegazette.com. In this archived rant, putatively critical of American complacency, "Greyhawk" (what a cool name... Anglicized, er, Anglicised spelling and everything!) marvels at the fact most people think Dr. Strangelove is a work of fiction, "a parody even."

No, he's not being satirical himself; he's dead serious. He even provides a reference: this bit of commentary by James Earl Jones.

"I said what?"

Good luck figuring out which part of "Kubrick was a prickly character," "Scott & I disagreed about the Vietnam war," and "let's make sure terrorists don't get ahold of renegade nukes" substantiates Greyhawk's claim.

Kerry Fights Back

Is this a joke?

Is John Kerry finally fighting back? Apparently he's ready to prove the Swift Boat Liars wrong, and has photographic, military archival, and cartographic evidence to boot.

Excuse me, Mr. Pussy, but couldn't you just go away? If you had fought back when it counted, maybe we'd have a few more thousand healthy American G.I.s, fewer nascent terrorist-to-be's, and a more stable Iraq on our hands.

Then again, would such a pushover really be an improvement over what we got now?

..!..