The recent revelation in 2006 SOCCOM wanted to "clandestinely recruiting or hiring prominent bloggers" got me to thinking about Censorship, Propaganda and the military.
Control of the message coming out of theater has been a desire and goal of military and government higher ups for a long time.
The running line from my XO and CO when lecturing us about reporters on Blue Diamond, was "remember they don't care about you", "they're out for the story" and when speaking with them "stay in your lane". Every they was laced with an omnious boogey-man inflection. The meaning of course was don't talk bad about the war or the government or bother your pretty little jarhead with big world "strategery". Echoes of: Don't think you know better than Haig. Of course, I meet exactly ZERO journalists and didn't care to seek any out.
Anyway, prominently displayed on Uber-Patriot Melanie Morgan's website is a picture of a Marine with duck tape over his mouth. Melanie is doing this because of the sedition* by Berkeley in protesting the US Marines recruiting center.
This is doublespeak at it's worst. It's so obvious it doesn't even qualify as ironic.
Where was Melanie when the US government shut down blogs of individual soldiers? What Melanie wants to protect is the Government's free speech. You know the free speech to say "Mission Accomplished", "Last Throes", "Major Strategic Victory" and so forth, because Melanie supports the mission and hates the individual soldiers.
Melanie especially hates service members when they speak out against the war she loves and protects. No freedom of speech for the Winter Soldiers, eh Melanie? They must be lying! After all according to you we are winning the war, just like we have been doing for the last 5 years...
Well, it doesn't matter, I've decided to be like Melanie and champion the War. After all what's a few service members lives (only 108 dead in 2008!) compared to the Right's of the Government?!?! It's not like I know them or they would be able to mill about in her social circle, so what loss are they...
*-I think the Berkeley protest is stupid because it focuses on the cogs and not those directing the machines of war. It also serves the purpose of the MIC by driving a wedge between US citizens. The same thing happened during Vietnam when anti-war protesters and veterans (two groups who should be welded together) were forced apart.
1 comment:
I was talking with some PAOs about the clandestine recruitment of bloggers and it sounds like it's illegal (the military shan't knowingly deceive the American public, but if you're a politician it's okay).
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