I remember my own Basic Training barracks, at Fort Campbell in 1972. They dated from WWII, and were such tinder-dry firetraps that there was always someone posted on "firewatch" 24 hours a day.
At the same time, our DIs always insisted that the barracks floors be highly polished. And the only way to get the high degree of shine they wanted was:
1) Have the floor polishing machine standing by, ready to go. (Using one of those was sorta like trying to ride a Segway that's had its balance-maintaining software corrupted by a malicious virus. But I digress.)
2) Take the big can of floor wax and... yes, really... SET THE WAX ON FIRE.
3) Throw a splash of the burning wax onto the floor.
4) While the wax is still hot, run the polishing machine over it. This would not only spread the wax around, but put out any still flaming drips and puddles.
It was only with a hot-wax polish that you could get the really deep shine on the floors that the DIs wanted. Try it with cold wax, not satisfactory. And all this in a building labelled as an extreme fire danger.
I guess the lesson there was that the needs of the Army (to have highly polished floors) outweighed the lives and safety of individual soldiers.
I will not share the gruesome details of the time I was assigned responsibility for cleaning and maintaining the barracks latrine. (Yes, it's true; I was a Semi-Permanent Latrine Orderly.)
This is the elite, on-24-hour-standby at-all-times, put-out-the-fire, unit in the US Army. And they're living in condemned buildings. This is the how 7 years of unhampered republican "man-love" has rewarded the troops - you know, the guys who actually DO the fighting - and dying - while the shitbags on the right buy extra American flags (made in China).
Fuck prison, when are we going to see some of these fuckers hang? (after a nice trial).
If we don't start treating our troops the way they should be treated, either we will no longer have a military or they will turn on us.
History has rarely been proven wrong.
I once watched a documentary about life in a British army regiment. The NCOs were fanatical about keeping the barracks clean, but the paint and plaster kept flaking off the walls so, no matter how hard they tried, the soldiers simply couldn't get the floors perfectly clean.
Now wait a minute, Hub. With 800 rounds of mortars and rockets fired at the green zone in the past month, that's an EXCELLENT training range for both Sunni and Shiite militias.
I'm sure THEY appreciate the $800 million. :o)
And this is how soldiers who are still enlisted get treated. When they muster out and try to re-enter society, they'll be getting even less support from the government. At that point, all Americans will start paying in many nasty ways.
can I just say again, that photo is disgusting and I am so angry I really have no place to go with it...
At that point, all Americans will start paying in many nasty ways.
Enter Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla, stage left.
excellent citation of marius and sulla stormcrow. both of them, under the guise of "saving the republic" laid the groundwork for its inevitable demise. in many ways it was their competence which killed it. their effectiveness as dictators, and in sulla's case, his willingness to relinquish power and retire to a life of quiet depravity, made the option of dictatorship attractive to the romans.
the fact that they were both uncles and mentors to julius ceasar is an often overlooked little wrinkle of history.
Well, 'scuse the OT, but the shit's flying over at Hullabaloo. :o) It's become the site of choice for people who want to mix it up over Obama v. Clinton.
Her "Betrayal" thread is rocking along with 180-plus posts; most of them rather...energetic. :o)
They're getting spillover from FDL, because Digby has opened it up to more...uh...cantankeous posts than before.
I enjoy reading them, partly because a while back I was bounced for a week for persisting in putting up the clips of Hillary shilling for the war, or links to her cozy relationship with Faux, and just generally making good sport of how "progressive" she was. :o)
I enjoy going over for an occasional cross-post from here.
Also, the top thread just now, is about the fact that Digby has become embroiled in a controversy involving an organization called "Women's Voices-Women's Votes", which is doing a voter-registration drive for women in N.C.
Kos is onto it pretty good, if anyone's interested, and Digby, whom WVWV has named the best women's blogger, has, to her credit, distanced herself from them, saying that she only accepted the award, but didn't know what they were doing. To her credit, she also has the link up to Kos, where the particulars are to be found. They're not what I would call Rovian, but they are strange, and the organization is, it seems clear, doing this on Clinton's behalf, without saying so.
Just another day in the blogworld that I thought LG and the rest of you might enjoy hearing about. :o)
(I did stir the pot a bit, with a post about how the asshats like Limbaugh, Coulter, Bennett, and FauxNews have discovered that Hillary's not so bad after all. Which discovery has a liiiittle something to do with the fact that she's their only hope to avoid a democratic tsunami this fall. And if anyone needed proof of Hillary's chances (If we're brick-dumb enough to nominate her) in the general, that should take care of it. :o)
I conclude with this:
The Tarheels and the Hoosiers can do it for us, next week.
Let it be so. :o)
Tanbark-Hussein.
Tanbark, please stand by and hold your fire on the WVWV thing for another day or two. The fat lady ain't sung on this one yet -- though she is tuning up.
Word on the street is that WVWV may have had done this for sound reasons; but we don't know, because we haven't heard officially from them yet.
It's so much fun to go off half-cocked on this stuff; but we owe it to our own movement to make sure we're fully cocked on this one before we fire, lest we shoot our own feet.
Mrs. Robinson, thanks for your reply, but I think when Kos went off, he was, "fully cocked".
Here's the link:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonl.../770/895/
505589
If you read it, you'll see that the organization has had problems in other states, along the same lines.
I think it was an excellent call, and, again, I commend Digby for quickly distancing herself from them.
And, for letting her fine blog become more open, even if it leads to some more fur flying. :o)
"please stand by and hold your fire on the WVWV thing for another day or two. The fat lady ain't sung on this one yet -- though she is tuning up."
I held off myself, Mrs. R., mainly because I don't like off topic comments. But it was tempting. She has until Friday at 6:30 to disavow this group; the only street where what they did would be considered "sound" is K Street in Washington, DC.
I'm glad to hear Digby distanced herself from these Rovian creeps (and the WVWV tactics we're aware of are Rovian, from the auto-dialer and fake election official to the target voting group they tried to supress in several states).
OTD, after going back to Kos, and reading the whole thing, I apologize. You're right.
The tactics ARE Rovian.
And there aint a doubt in the world, qui bono's from them. :o)
Wait.
That soldier looks surrounded by a pool of pee.
Lord...
blksista, good to see you again, i've missed you
This all falls back to some one doesn't give a dam. Someone is signed for these barracks,so they should know how delapidated they are.Gen. Rogers says he was at fault, so which Col.Maj.Cpt.SGM.ect.ect.is to be blamed.All weren't doing thier job.
Military is famous for yes men yes Sergent yes Colonel,yes General everything is good,when in reality it's all to hell or FUBAR.And seems the lower EM suffer most.
Go to war live in terrible conditions at times,thats acceptable, but to come home and be in worse conditions is not.
Was at WRAMC Aug.06 to March-07 due to wounds received in Iraq.And what was said in the news about WRAMC most was true, and it is uncalled for. But the sad thing is,it will return that way in a short time,because no one will be held responsible for it.
A sad thing' our Govn't,Military,want young men to join, go to war,then be treated this way.I guess even worse it's been this way for 50-60 yrs.If I'am wrong someone please stop me.
Everytime I scroll past that picture of the soldier trying to unclog the pee- and shit-laden floor of the barracks, I keep thinking how appropriate this is as a metaphor for what Bush, Rove, Cheney, and the religious right have done to this country and the constitution.
Our soldiers deserve better than this; on the flip side, this shithole in the picture is EXACTLY where Bush and the GOP should be quarantined for the next 8-10 years while the country cleans up the mess they've made.
support the troops?
My son has been working on the base and is assigned to the same Brigade that is returning. He said his barracks were in worse shape than the one that was in the video. There are dark spots on the wall that could be mold. Why did it take an angry dad and public outcry to get the Army's attention?
Oh... thats easy... They don't give a flying crap about the troops.
The Army (and by extension the Joint Chiefs and the Pentagon) only give a shit when the GOP gives them permission to give a shit. The GOP only cares about the troops as long as it takes to get them sent to meat grinders where GOP children would NEVER think to serve.
Come to think of it, why are Jenna the C**T and her "soul mate" GOP toady not serving? That barracks looks like a perfect place for their married life to begin... serving the country Jenna's daddy has savaged.
"Why don't we...put these guys in the embassy in Baghdad?"
Hub, they may not want to go there; in the past month 800 rounds of rockets and mortars have been fired at it.
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