Posted on 02/02/2007 9:42:23 AM PST by The Blitherer
I knew when I used the word "mercenary" in my Tuesday column that I was being highly inflammatory.
NBC News ran a piece in which enlisted soldiers in Iraq expressed frustration about waning American support.
I intentionally chose to criticize the military and used the word to incite and call into question their presumption that the public had a duty to support them. The public has duties, but not to the American military.
So I committed blasphemy, and for this seeming lack of respect and appreciation for individuals in uniform, I have been roundly criticized and condemned.
Mercenary, of course, is an insult and pejorative, and it does not accurately describe the condition of the American soldier today. I sincerely apologize to anyone in the military who took my words literally.
Almost every day, we can hear or read someone in uniform saying that they are just doing a "job." We don't necessarily take this to literally mean that they are only in it for the work.
Of course those who choose to wear the uniform do so because they are patriots and because they feel compelled to take up arms to defend the nation. What we take from their self-deprecating description that they are only doing their job is that they are not glory seeking, and that in order to make war and put themselves in the unnatural position of risking their lives and killing others, they have to focus on their profession, to do what they have been trained to do, to put aside the seeming inhumanity, to just "soldier on."
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.washingtonpost.com ...
The damage is already done Arkin. Kiss your a$$ goodbye.
How stupid of the peeples and the dumb military personel to read the words you wrote and take them literally. Guess they are just to stupid to understand the nuances that were in your article.
This guy just HATES the military, HATES our country and it is very obvious.
My favorite part is where he admits he used the word to incite people, and then criticizes them for getting "incited". What an a$$hat.
I knew when I used the word "mercenary" in my Tuesday column that I was being highly inflammatory
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I know when I call you a Clymer and butthead it isnt that inflammatory for you because you are used to it. I am sure many people have called you that before and they will again.
He's a jackass who just can't stop digging his hole even deeper. I'm glad that he's feeling real heat for his "blasphemy."
Just like Rosie O' Donnell, Joel Stein, this "Goober" Arkin is saying outrageous things to boost circulation and advertising. It works. This whole spectacle is, in large part, a publicity stunt for a dying newspaper. Don't buy the paper or shop at their advertisers. No doubt, more of this left wing flapdoodle is coming simply to get attention and boost ratings.
http://www.blackfive.net/main/
Yes, Arkin, you DO have a duty to the military - you have a duty to not aid and comfort the enemies who are trying to kill them while they are protecting your sorry a$$.
It was not a single word you used that was inflammatory you dumbuss! It was every word you wrote and your supercilious attitude.
The public has duties, but not to the American military.
No civil comment can be made.
Another scumbag, POS liberal. Oh! I hope that no one takes what I wrote "literally".
His snarl is so typical of the rabid left. They think they are so damn smart. Those of us who disagree are just so stupid.
Liberals are dangerous because they truly believe their bullcrap.
Incredible. He has completely divorced anyone in the military from being part of the "public".
This guy just HATES the military, HATES our country and it is very obvious.
And even more, he hates it that we call him on it.
Exactly. He's a bomb-thrower.
"Liberals are dangerous because they truly believe their bullcrap."
I think that's what helped him get in trouble. To me, mercenary is not a pejorative or an insult. I think of militia types hiring themselves out for soldiering. Nothing wrong with that. But to Arkin, soldiering itself is a military thing, hence contemptible and to be condemned. He showed his colors big picking what, to him and the rest of the left, was an insult. He thought everyone else believed the left bullcrap, too.
The entire article is an insult to our troops. Mercenary is the scapegoat, the black bean that takes the spotlight off of the other rancid ones.
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