However, in that regard, we could not do better (and probably worse if I were there!) than those who are live-blogging there now:
Thus Spake Ortner, active duty Army and veteran of OEF is live-blogging at The Sniper. TSO also delivered a fine piece of work at VFF (Vets For Freedom) earlier this week.
Likewise, Jonn Lilyea, Bronze Star Medal winner, is live-blogging at This Ain’t Hell - but you can see it from here.
They are doing great work! Unless I'm mistaken, expect to hear from Rurik, also a Vietnam veteran, Combat Engineers, at Veteran American Voices – Silent No More.
Michelle Malkin is giving the story coverage, and linking to TSO and Lilyea. Thank you Michelle!
Michelle also linked to Scott Swett's takedown of the LA Times on the first WSI in 1971 and what did they know and when did they know it at FrontpageMag. She also linked to Bruce Kesler, founder in 1971 of the Vietnam Veterans For a Just Peace (the anti-Vietnam Veterans Against the War), who unloads on the Winter Soldier redux at The Democracy Project.
On the left media, there is Democracy Now!, with an article under the heading of:
Winter Soldier: Hundreds of Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan Gather to Testify in Echo of 1971 Vietnam HearingsAnd just in case someone didn't fully get the headline, the first line of their story is:
Hundreds of veterans and active-duty soldiers of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are gathering today for the Winter Soldier hearings.Hundreds! According to Thus Spake Ortner (TSO) on site, there are a lot of folks significantly older that what we would expect from OEF and OIF veterans. It's the old left guard of the VVAW and VFP.
Live-blogging at the Sniper, TSO wrote:
Incidently, for those playing at home, the demographic in this room is decidedly not OEF/OIF. Lilyea and I are counting heads, and there appear to be 4-8 people who might have served in the war. Most the people in here may have been young enough to fight in Nam, but I kinda doubt that. This crowd was following the Grateful Dead in 1968.TSO also notes that there will be about 50 IVAW veterans testifying, the number bandied about by IVAW since they dropped the "over one hundred" some time ago. That was not long after they dropped their claim that WSI would be the largest gathering of Iraq and Afghan war veterans when challenged on it.
4 comments:
Thanks for the plug, Denis. One minor point, though. I missed Vietnam - I was hiding out in high school.
TSO and I spent the second half of the event with Rurick. He had this new kind of computer - a legal pad and a pen.
Rurick is going back tomorrow and flying out on Sunday. TSO says he'll be there Sunday. I'll be at the rally for the troops tomorrow, then the ANSWER Day of Action on Wednesday.
Oops, and thanks for the correction, Jonn, and the intel on rurick, a man after my own devices!
Thanks to Jonn, TSO and Rurik for the coverage.
I get the impression this whole affair contains the explosiveness of a wet firecracker:
Wow
There is a schematic diagram on the big screen right now that would prompt a chuckle out of any sentient being. But, thankfully, most everyone in here is asleep right now.
I can not convey to you how bad this is. If you randomly take multi-syllabic words, splice in the occasional name (shinseki, Rumsfeld, Cheney) and then "Fallacious", you'll get the idea. It's like a Mensa word ad-lib done by a mental patient. I know I am sounding cruel, but jesus. This is painful.
He is quoting people you've NEVER HEARD OF. I'd rather do jail time with Mr T. than listen to this guy. I'd rather be the poor sap in the inquisition scene of Mel Brooks' History of the World. I'd rather roll in broken glass and aqua velva than listen to this.
Ugh.
Posted by Thus Spake Ortner at 3/14/2008 01:42:00 PM
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Too bad I missed it. I think I'll pass on the DVD.
For the record, just to provide some info, that demographic didn't hold the entire day when there were IVAW guys in teh room, but the panels on the VA and contractors had virtually no IVAW guys, mostly older people with the "ally" badges.
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