Category: Bloggers

The Washington Post has noticed the Duffel Blog, but more importantly, I’m sure, to it’s founder, Paul Szoldra, Marine General Mattis has noticed, too;

“Duffel Blog is a beautifully crafted response to an increasingly stuffy environment in today’s America,” said retired Gen. James Mattis, a former head of U.S. Central Command who has been parodied in several items. “Duffel Blog reminds us of much of what we in the military fight for — the freedom to think our own way and to laugh about the absurdities without being mean-spirited.”

Paul Szoldra, a former Marine sergeant, came up with the concept almost by accident. While developing a Web site designed to help veterans succeed in college, he penned a couple of satirical posts that got far more attention than his tips for student vets.

I had lunch with Paul last year in Tampa and he’d heard that General Mattis had said of The Duffel Blog that former Marines had too much time on their hands if they were spending it writing satirical pieces about the retired commander. Paul used to write here as StrikeFO back when he had time, but, his family, his creation The Duffel Blog and his new career at Business Insider takes him away from us now. Regardless, we wish him continued success, not that he needs our blessings.

I love it when veterans make it on their own and Paul is a shining example for all of us.

There’s a piece going around the other side of the blogoshpere from mostly liberal Ian Welsh entitled “A brief note on why the progressive blog movement failed“. He gets a lot of it right, especially;

Unlike the Tea Party, most left wingers don’t really believe their own ideology. They put partisanship first, or they put the color of a candidate’s skin or the shape of their genitals over the candidate’s policy. Identity is more important to them than how many brown children that politician is killing.

So progressives have no power, because they have no principles: they cannot be expected to actually vote for the most progressive candidate, to successfully primary candidates, to care about policy first and identity second, to not take scraps from the table and sell out other progressive’s interests.

I’d add that the main reason they’ve failed is because President Bush left office. The internet was fairly new when he took office and the yapping clowns of the left like Kos and Huffington seized on their new-found megaphone to beat the anti-Bush tattoo on their anti-war drums until it became just so much noise. They couldn’t really change policy despite the fact that they reminded us everyday that Bush policy was opposed by “most Americans” (Most americans they knew, anyway). And it was all about putting a Democrat in the White House. It’s correct that they have no principles and they don’t vote for policy, they just vote for “Yay! Our team!”

You don’t hear much criticism from those portals of crap when this President follows the same policies of his predecessor, do you? Because he’s on their team and that’s their only guiding principle. I’m just amazed that Welsh noticed, or that he’d say it out loud.

Notice that none of them are looking at him. They’re probably all smiling at Chumley;

As you may know, our buddy, laughing Wolf from Blackfive is at Normandy in our absence to remember the events there 69 years ago and he has a post up over there of pictures he took at Pointe du Hoc which we mentioned yesterday and a brief discussion with one of the heroes of Pointe du Hoc who never set foot on the ground there during the battle. You should go read it.

So the story yesterday about James Ferris turned into a story about TAH in the pages of the Syracuse Post-Standard today;

Lilyea, a Lyons native and former Army infantry platoon sergeant at Fort Drum, said veterans who reacted to the news Wednesday were not happy that Ferris will be allowed to continue in his leadership post.

“Most everybody is pretty angry at the KWVA for not accepting his resignation,” Lilyea said. “Most of them are saying that if they were a member, they would quit.”

Regardless of what happens, Lilyea said the attention to the case should serve as a warning to veterans who make false claims of valor.

“We’re going to get you if you’re lying,” Lilyea said. “In the age of the Internet, you can’t hide anything anymore.”

So, I finally make the pages of my hometown newpaper – well, the first time I’m not in the police blotter anyway.

TSO’s beard sent us this picture and sent word that if we don’t force TSO to go home and play WoW for hours, the beard is shooting down an Apache in retaliation…or something.