Do get one. You won’t regret it.

Your friend does deserve a lot of credit for even trying to do that job. Whether or not he is allowed to do it properly, he may still be a comfort to some of the wives and daughters.

For the first time since they were invented, I can actually envision myself with an iPod.

A little birdie told me about your new blog.

I’m afraid I have very bad news for you on today’s topic. I just drove by one of these billboards today:
http://americanglob.com/2009/05/19/rush-limbaugh-saving-the-soul-of-america-says-national-black-republican-association/

That’s right, the National Black Rebpublican Association has purchased billboards telling us that Rush Limbaugh is saving the soul of America. I’ve tried several times to count the tragic number of levels of irony in this act, but I just get lost in depression every time. So, while Rush is blaming the decline and fall of the American empire on negroes, a very deluded subgroup is telling us that he is in fact saving the soul of America.

Help! I’m getting dizzy…

He told me that he’s been advised that merely mentioning PTSD in a report will be enough to get him put on a plane home. Also, everything he does tends to be undone by company first sergeants who rigorously mock his clients for even seeking help. He has more luck with the wives and girlfriends, of course, but it’s an uphill battle.

He tells me that he despairs of doing any good; I tell him that I admire him for trying. More support from public figures like Herbert would help, but as you say, it’s rare. Our imperial mythology blinds and deafens people. Very few of them understand what support the troops would actually require from us. It’s a pity in the Aristotelian sense — the more you know about it, the more unbearable it becomes.

Nice twist on Swift’s modest proposal, William!

I have to give Bob Herbert credit for his indictment of the military on its inability/unwillingness to prosecute rapists. Few men in positions like his are willing to speak out so openly about that topic.