Thursday, February 01, 2007

THE MARKUP

I think we're witnessing a very public meltdown over on WashingtonPost.com. Earlier today William Arkin published a new post responding to those who took issue with his characterization of U.S. troops as bloodthirsty and ignorant mercenaries. But while the post can still be found by following the direct link, it has vanished from Arkin's home page. Did someone at the Post direct him to take it down? Or did he himself have second thoughts about certain passages, like this one:

These men and women [in the military] are not fighting for money with little regard for the nation. The situation might be much worse than that: Evidently, far too many in uniform believe that they are the one true nation. They hide behind the constitution and the flag and then spew an anti-Democrat, anti-liberal, anti-journalism, anti-dissent, and anti-citizen message that reflects a certain contempt for the American people.

The best reaction so far is John's from OpFor: "If there is a war that's unwinnable, it's the war on this type of horrid ignorance."

Ace has a good question too: "Since Arkin asserts that the troops should not be allowed to influence the public's opinion on the war, and since the entire left demands that anyone supporting the war become a troop himself — has the left pretty much created a Catch-22 by which any and all support for the war is illegitimate?"

Allah has some related audio that you've got to hear to believe. Arkin's piece represents a turning point — "baby killer" coming back into vogue. How tragic.

UPDATE: Arkin's response is back up on his home page without any noticeable changes, so who knows why he took it down.

02/01 12:42 PM Share