Samuel Johnson would understand

He would understand why there is in parts of popular culture a need to make those who have served in the military all seem like damaged goods. From The Deer Hunter to the latest homeless smear ... to this add being run in UK movie houses:

Oh, the quote by Samuel Johnson? Most know the first line, but I like the whole exchange.

We talked of war.

Johnson: "Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea."
Boswell: "Lord Mansfield does not."
Johnson: "Sir, if Lord Mansfield were in a company of General Officers and Admirals who have been in service, he would shrink; he'd wish to creep under the table."
Boswell: ""No; he'd think he could try them all."
Johnson: "Yes, if he could catch them: but they'd try him much sooner. No, Sir; were Socrates and Charles the Twelfth of Sweden both present in any company, and Socrates to say, 'Follow me, and hear a lecture on philosophy;' and Charles, laying his hand on his sword, to say, 'Follow me, and dethrone the Czar;' a man would be ashamed to follow Socrates. Sir, the impression is universal; yet it is strange. As to the sailor, when you look down from the quarter deck to the space below, you see the utmost extremity of human misery; such crouding, such filth, such stench!"
Boswell: "Yet sailors are happy."
Johnson: "They are happy as brutes are happy, with a piece of fresh meat, --with the grossest sensuality. But, Sir, the profession of soldiers and sailors has the dignity of danger. Mankind reverence those who have got over fear, which is so general a weakness."
Scott: "But is not courage mechanical, and to be acquired?"
Johnson: "Why yes, Sir, in a collective sense. Soldiers consider themselves only as parts of a great machine."
Scott: "We find people fond of being sailors."
Johnson: "I cannot account for that, any more than I can account for other strange perversions of imagination."

Hat tip Bluto at Jawa.

This is the Navy...

I'm sorry, if this doesn't make you want to get up to the bridge, then you should just go home and clean the garage.

The story of the Golden Nori is well known. Let's just watch the pros from USS Whidbey Island (LSD-41) do their work.

BEHOLD!

Career Advice

More good stuff from the IBD.

Uniform ID help

Drudge has this on his front page. What uniform is that next to former President Clinton? That guy is about my age or a bit younger. I think I see some Boy Scout stuff WRT the kerchief and the sash, but what is the deal with the Army like jacket and the "only people who consider a Toyota truck a infantry fighting vehicle wear a beret like this" cover? Has some Scout organization changed their leader uniform, because that doesn't look like any Scout uniform, police uniform or US military outfit ever created? I don't want to insult anyone, but ... someone help me out there. What is that uniform - and who do you call to offer suggestions....?

Just as a snarky comment; SC has some of the highest military service per capita ratios in the nation - couldn't they find some VFW type instead?

Dutch dig in; UK folds

Who would have thought that the Dutch would be better defenders of Western society?

The Dutch government is set to impose a ban on the Muslim burqa in schools and government offices, media reported on Wednesday, in a retreat from the previous cabinet's plan for a general ban.

The cabinet has decided against a broad ban on burqas in public as that would violate the principle of freedom of religion, news agency ANP said, citing unnamed cabinet sources.

The Muslim community says only about 50 women wear the head-to-toe burqa or the niqab, a face veil that conceals everything but the eyes. They said a general ban would heighten alienation among the country's about 1 million Muslims.

Well....besides the Dutch.

As for the UK, they are more than happy to extend their necks.

A story based on the Three Little Pigs has been turned down from a government agency's annual awards because the subject matter could offend Muslims.

The digital book, re-telling the classic fairy tale, was rejected by judges who warned that "the use of pigs raises cultural issues".

Hat tip LGF.

The NATO we wish we had...

I am sorry, they are right, but it will never happen the way the North Atlantic Council works right now.

The west must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the "imminent" spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, according to a radical manifesto for a new Nato by five of the west's most senior military officers and strategists.

Who are they?

The authors - General John Shalikashvili, the former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff and Nato's ex-supreme commander in Europe, General Klaus Naumann, Germany's former top soldier and ex-chairman of Nato's military committee, General Henk van den Breemen, a former Dutch chief of staff, Admiral Jacques Lanxade, a former French chief of staff, and Lord Inge, field marshal and ex-chief of the general staff and the defence staff in the UK - paint an alarming picture of the threats and challenges confronting the west in the post-9/11 world and deliver a withering verdict on the ability to cope.

They have the answer though, I will give them that.

Calling for root-and-branch reform of Nato and a new pact drawing the US, Nato and the European Union together in a "grand strategy" to tackle the challenges of an increasingly brutal world, the former armed forces chiefs from the US, Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands insist that a "first strike" nuclear option remains an "indispensable instrument" since there is "simply no realistic prospect of a nuclear-free world".
...
To prevail, the generals call for an overhaul of Nato decision-taking methods, a new "directorate" of US, European and Nato leaders to respond rapidly to crises, and an end to EU "obstruction" of and rivalry with Nato. Among the most radical changes demanded are:

· A shift from consensus decision-taking in Nato bodies to majority voting, meaning faster action through an end to national vetoes.

· The abolition of national caveats in Nato operations of the kind that plague the Afghan campaign.

· No role in decision-taking on Nato operations for alliance members who are not taking part in the operations.

· The use of force without UN security council authorisation when "immediate action is needed to protect large numbers of human beings".

Sad thing is, the only way this will happen is if London or Paris is nuked. Additionally, they are right on target, pun intended, about NATO in Afghanistan.

In the wake of the latest row over military performance in Afghanistan, touched off when the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, said some allies could not conduct counter-insurgency, the five senior figures at the heart of the western military establishment also declare that Nato's future is on the line in Helmand province.

"Nato's credibility is at stake in Afghanistan," said Van den Breemen.

"Nato is at a juncture and runs the risk of failure," according to the blueprint.

Naumann delivered a blistering attack on his own country's performance in Afghanistan. "The time has come for Germany to decide if it wants to be a reliable partner." By insisting on "special rules" for its forces in Afghanistan, the Merkel government in Berlin was contributing to "the dissolution of Nato".

Ron Asmus, head of the German Marshall Fund thinktank in Brussels and a former senior US state department official, described the manifesto as "a wake-up call". "This report means that the core of the Nato establishment is saying we're in trouble, that the west is adrift and not facing up to the challenges."

Yep.

Hillary's Southern Problem

Unlike some people, I am not an Obama supporter - but you have to admit, last Sunday is going to be a boost for him in the African-American community. Though the "traditional" Black leadership is still with Hillary (some bought), the rank in file may be a different matter. 90% of Blacks don't vote in Rep. primaries. Watch the Dem turnout in the South.... and watch how the Dem race war will work out in the long run. Some think that Obama will lose his legs once the South is done; I don't think so - IA and NH should be your guide.


Now, if I could just find a map of squishy Lefties who are in therapy...then we could see Obama's longer legs....