Duffle Blog is
a web log for satire, sort of a military version of The Onion. Its humor is
usually so dry that it has not been unusual for some news service to pick up a
story found there and pass it on as gospel.
(Buried therein is the question that, if supposed professionals can be
fooled by satire, what and how much else is being bandied as truth?)
The site does not enjoy a more widespread popularity
because the various writers focus on the selective audience of the military,
with terminology, nuance and innuendo that someone of that culture would truly
understand and appreciate, its humor sometimes lost on civilians.
Satire appeals to me because I have a rather pronounced and practiced sense of irony. Satire can be the truth in clown face, but then clowns aren't real, are they? Really good satire, as opposed to the cultural ridicule that is so popular at present, examines an ironic element of truth through a lens that is both appealing and morbidly fascinating. It draws us in to examine an argument that would be otherwise left untested, as Chesterton explained, "A man is angry at a libel because it is false, but at a satire because it is true."
In "Lawmaker Introduces Bill Requiring Veterans to Warn Neighbors of Their Combat Service", the target is not the veteran but
the clichéd notion that portrays them in the light of ticking time bombs,
riddled with the new malady of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD – it has to
be a full blown disorder, not just stress that one overcomes in time),
assembling a pressure-cooker bomb or buying an 'assault weapon' at a garage
sale while flashing again to dreams of fragging his lieutenant who makes them
massacre innocent Taliban and Mujahideen of the Religion of Peace, yet not so
unhinged that they are incapable of tracking down an area that gives a relative
certitude of defenseless targets, such as schools and military bases.
The Fortify & Unite Communities to Keep Veterans’ External Threats Secure Act (H.R. 1874) which was introduced on Tuesday, would require military veterans to register with the Department of Homeland Security and periodically “check-in” with a case officer, in addition to going door-to-door in their neighborhood to notify people nearby that they are a powder keg of post traumatic stress, alcoholism, murder, and hate just waiting to blow….Read the whole thing, including the icon notes. For background, don't miss "Veterans with PTSD Linked to Everything That Could Kill Your Children."
For the safety of communities, the FCC would also direct cable providers to block access to violent war content popular among veterans, to include The Military Channel and Lifetime….
However, there’s been some controversy surrounding one part of the bill barring veterans from living within 1,000 feet of bars, gun ranges, or liquor stores, as critics claim this would be unfair to local businesses….
Funny, sort of, thanks. I'll link to it. I still don't understand (and not sure I really believe) the stats about combat veterans killing themselves. Sure, they were screwed, but haven't most combat veterans come away from war with that understanding?
ReplyDeleteAs always, you can do anything with statistics. The vast majority of veterans who commit suicide are males over the age of 55, which matches the civilian cohort. While some may be an extremely delayed reaction to combat stress, it makes about as much sense as the crazed veteran criminal who served as a radar tech in the Air Force in the early 1970s, or the recent example of the former Navy stateside reservist Aviation Electrician who shot up the Washington Navy Yard.
DeleteI deal with mental issues (professionally, not personally, though my wife probably demurs sometimes) and it is typical for mental disorders to manifest themselves in the early 20s, which would match young men who join the military and serve for several years. In other words, they were destined to have a problem anyway; it's just politically convenient to use a logical fallacy to ascribe it to military experience.
Perhaps I should explain for some readers that the "extremely delayed reaction" comment above is sardonic wit.
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