Montana conservative attacks fallen soldier over op-ed

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/15/montana-conservative-attacks-fallen-soldier-over-op-ed/

Montana conservative attacks fallen soldier over op-ed.

Earlier this week, Sgt. Omar Mora and Sgt. Yance Gray, who recently co-wrote a New York Times op-ed critical of the Iraq debate, were killed in a vehicle accident in Western Baghdad. The two fallen soldiers have since been hailed for serving their country and speaking out on Iraq. But one former conservative state Senator in Sgt. Gray’s home state of Montana, Dave Rye, has chosen to attack him for the op-ed, claiming he and his fellow soldiers weren’t intelligent enough to write it on their own:

Pardon my skepticism, and certainly no disrespect for the dead Montana soldier, but in my time in the Army I never heard such a word as “recalcitrant” escape the lips of any Staff Sergeant. I doubt if it’s spoken all that much in Ismay, either. The soldiers had the help and probably the encouragement of a writer with an agenda, from a newspaper which has always had one. Its continually declining circulation now mainly consists of those who want desperately to consider themselves sophisticated as well as compassionate, even if that means always branding the U.S. as the chief villain on the world stage—in fact, especially if it does.

[Redstone]

1. Fucking asshole. I'll bet that 90% of our soldiers know the meaning of that word.

No, I'll NOT "pardon your skepticism," you fucking jerkoff.

Redstone

[babylonsister]

4. Hard to believe ANYONE could make an 'observation' like this.

Some humans never fail to astonish me, and not in a good way.

[Redstone]

5. Never, NEVER underestimate the capability of a rightwinger to be an asshole.

Never.

Redstone

[Kagemusha]

2. How old is this Mr. Rye anyway? It's a different Army now.

Yeah, standards have dropped just a little lately, but it's still an educated professional army. It's not the same force that fought in Vietnam. Guess he didn't get the memo?

[Ezlivin]

3. Best part: He's a FORMER Senator

I guess his constituents wised up.

His constituents were, as they say, recalcitrant.

[ljm2002]

6. Classy guy, eh?

Clue for other pundits: if you find yourself prefacing your remarks with, "no disrespect for that dead soldier, but...", it maybe would be a good idea to sleep on it before publishing your remarks for the world to see.

[Contrary1]

7. "...certainly no disrespect for the dead Montana soldier"

Yea, right. :eyes:

Asshole, you disrespected Sgt. Gray and all the other troops years ago by supporting Bush's war

[old guy]

8. He probably didn't know what the word meant .

So being a true wingnut he knew that if he didn't know none of the unwashed masses could possibly know. Hence his idiotic comment. Christ.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

11. I think you nailed it. He had to look it up himself before he wrote his op-ed.

Couldn't have the rabble knowing something he didn't.

Reminds me of the time I got a paper back in college and the prof had red lined a word I used, calling it a misspelling. The word was usurp. I had spelled it correctly and was using it in a proper context. I brought it to her attention and she insisted that it wasn't a word. :wow: The thing is, this was a paper I had turned in electronically, so it would have been a simple matter for her to highlight it and check the definition online right there. But no...that might mean one of her students knew something she didn't.

[sarge43]

9. Oh please

Even during the Nam era there were plenty of noncoms who were well educated. I knew one chief who started his career with an eighth grade education, retired holding a PhD.

Oh by the way you elitist pig, we enlisted swine do read and listen. Just asked my husband, a mere E-6, no bachelor degree, what "recalcitrant" meant. He knew. Another by the way, one of my jobs in Uncle's Fly Force was editing the report cards officers would write on their subordinates. Trust me Senator, many of them had a grasp of the English language somewhere around the 10th grade level.

In conclusion it's always a mistake to equate paygrade with IQ; they're not always the same.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

10. As a former enlisted person, I take umbrage at Mr. Rye's deprecation of my vocabulary

Fuck him. :grr: Bet he's one of the backwash that still supports our oratorially gifted Prez-o-dunce.


What was his rank in the Army? If he was enlisted, how is it that he knows big words now? Did he get Hooked on Phonics as part of his Republican political training? And if he was an officer, is that in indication of what he thought of his enlisted subordinates? Asshole. I worked under officers like that. Snobbish arrogant pricks who thought their shit didn't stink because they had a degree.

Furthermore, so what if those soldiers had help writing their article. Most people can't just sit down and write something that's suitable for newspaper publication on their first try, so they ask someone to critique it and offer suggestions. I've done it before, and so have most inexperienced writers. Hell, everyone knows that most politicians don't write their own articles and books. They use ghostwriters. Don't you just bet Rye had someone help him write that op-ed?

[CTyankee]

12. Hells bells, I have a master's degree and I still agonize over a LTTE

and have my spouse (also with a Masters) check it, even tho my grammar is better than his -- I'm checking to see if my point is made.

I guess these rwingers have to fall back to this position (that the Left put the soldiers up to it) as a desperate attempt to save face. But I can't see how they can say this about a dead soldier. Even if they think it, it is pretty bad to say it in public, isn't it?

My god.

[Redstone]

14. Way to Support The Troops, isn't it?

Redstone

[mrreowwr_kittty]

15. Same here

The worst is when it's an LTTE I've agonized over and then they don't even print it. :(

[Redstone]

13. You mean to say that you understand the word "umbrage?" I'm shocked.

According to Mister Asshole, you should not be able to understand words with more that one syllable.

Redstone

[BlooInBloo]

17. He obviously has someone writing for him.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

16. Way to "support" the dead troops, motherfucker.