SMOKIN’!!!
“God has a hard on for Marines, because we kill everything we see. He plays His games, we play ours. To show our appreciation for so much power, we keep heaven packed with fresh souls. God was here before the Marine Corps, so you can give your heart to Jesus, but your ass belongs to the corps.” (Gunnery Sargeant Hartman Full Metal Jacket)
I must confess to a sentimental fondness for Marines. When I lived in Washington, D.C. back in the 1980’s, I lived next to a young couple, both of whom were Marines working at the Pentagon. I learned a lot about Marines and the Marine Corps from Josh and his friends. The most important thing I learned is DON’T DISS THE CORP! If you’re not a Marine, you have no right to make observations detrimental to either their service or the Corps itself.
Doing so was not good for your health.
In fact, making an enemy of a Marine (as all those “fresh souls” in Fallujah have now found out to their sorrow) is never a wise thing. Marines are warriors. Marines are killers. And they are absolutely vital to maintaining the safety and security of the United States.
All societies have a “warrior class.” They are men who have sworn to defend society from all of its enemies even at the cost of their lives. And although this gives them a special status in those societies, they usually have a hard time during periods of peace.
Here in America, we’ve seen several individuals who, while excelling in the arts of war, have been miserable failures during peacetime. “Lighthorse” Harry Lee, a hero of the Revolutionary war (and father of Robert E. Lee) was a brilliant cavalry officer serving under Washington. But once the war ended and American liberty secured, he led a dissolute life…drinking, carousing, and gambling away not one but TWO fortunes he married into. He ended up in debtors prison and died an ignoble death.
Laktotan war chief Crazy Horse was another unfortunate who, through brilliant individual leadership and canny tactics, bedeviled the U.S. Cavalry for more than 8 years until, after the Sioux surrendered, he was killed by his own people on the tribe’s reservation.
Society in general looks down on its warrior class. That is, until something like 9/11 happens. And then we become VERY grateful that such men exist.
Marine Lance Corporal James Baker Miller is one such man. Miller is the Marine whose picture has graced the cover of more than 100 newspapers and countless thousands of blogs in the last week.
The picture is priceless. It’s a probable Pulitzer winner and has become an iconic symbol of the battle for Fallujah. The picture was taken by Luis Sinco, a Los Angels Times photographer. It shows Corporal Miller, his face smeared with camoflauge, a cigarrette dangling from the corner of his mouth; his eyes looking off in the distance giving a “thousand yard stare” that only men who’ve been in combat can understand. It is a face at once both heroic and innocent. He has a look of determination and weary acceptance, as if death a constant companion.
To my eyes, he looks very, very dangerous.
Take a good look at that face, terrorists. He’s coming for YOU. And if you’re dumb enough to engage him, you’ll be sent to meet your 72 virgins and Allah right quickly.
SHOULDA HAPPENED SOONER
Pat over at Brainsters has THE picture of the week…James Carville with well deserved and long overdue egg on his face.
What possessed this Clintonista attack dog to crack an egg on his balding, empty pate has more to do with what Mr. Carville has become since his elevation to truly bufoonish status on CNN’s Crossfire than with any attempt at self-deprecating humor. For one thing, the clown has no capacity for introspection, which should be a prerequisite for self deprecation of any kind. Secondly, anyone who could excuse the goings-on at the Clinton White House as “just having to do with sex” has no sense of shame, honor, or respect for the rule of law.
Now…if he’d smeared duck shit all over his face, that may have been more appropriate…