Rantingprofs

I'll Be Thinking of You

So, last week was the big grading push. Today I've got to finish writing tests and getting ready for my trip tomorrow back to the Great White North. (I'm always well received up there, of course, because their very Canadian-ness precludes their being overly critical, but do keep a good thought that my presentation will go well) and I return only to plow back into a veritable mountain of new grading (well, after a day long faculty meeting. Yes, that's correct, 9 to 5. Faculty. Meeting. Faculty-palooza, as it were. Pray for me.)

In other words, I'll be thinking of you, I hope you'll be thinking of me. Do check in, as there might be time here and there for the occasional random item, but regular blogging will not actually resume for at least a week.

Just to Be Clear II

As I've noted before, the Times clearly gives its reporters a bit more latitude when they write for the Sunday Week in Review section, which is extremely helpful for us as readers because it means you can often suss out the assumptions that underlie a reporter's work the rest of the week.

For example, we now know without a doubt that Dexter Filkins simply thinks that the war in Iraq is in all likelihood hopeless.

But the question hanging over the parliamentary votes last weekend was whether the elected leaders, most of them now barricaded inside the protected Green Zone, could do anything to stop the slide toward anarchy and civil war. Two years' worth of dealmaking by Iraq's elites has proved largely irrelevant to the realities unfolding on the ground.

You should read the entire piece, but the bottom line is I'd rather know he feels this way than not.

I will ask again: I understand the press's natural skepticism regarding any optimism coming from the brass. (And frankly, the "general's revolt" doesn't help the credibility of high ranking officers any. One of the fallouts from that episode is that it damages the credibility of anything coming from the brass, because it's natural to think, now, well, we know those other generals thought Rumsfeld was gumming up the works, thought there weren't enough troops, thought this, thought that, and they refused to speak until after they retired. Why should we trust what these generals say now? Yes, those retired officers certainly have done the military a favor here, haven't they? But I digress.)

But what I keep coming back to is that the reporting of the Vietnam war has been valorized in the decades since. And one of the key elements of that reporting, of course, at least as mythologized, is that the star reporters there, if they thought they were being spun by institutioinal representatives in Saigon, went and talked to the "grunts" to get the ground truth.

So why don't today's reporters listen to today's average soldiers and marines in the field when they say that they have faith in the mission? Obviously that isn't a universal belief (I don't think anything has ever been a universal belief in the military), but it seems clear it's a belief held strongly enough by enough troops that it ought to suggest that the narrative of futility ought to at the least be questioned pretty rigorously.

Just to Be Clear

Here's the basic perspective of these lawyers working with the Gitmo detainees: of all the detainees they've met, just can't imagine any of them might be an actual terrorist. (I mean, come on, they all say they aren't right?) As for the US soldiers working in the detention facility?

Over steak dinner, I comment on how nice our military escorts are. They joke and laugh with us. Primo gives me pointers on shooting pool in the CBQ lobby. Everyone brings them beer and cigarettes. I think I had expected them to be more aloof, even hostile.

But Tom Wilner, a partner in the Washington office of Shearman & Sterling LLP, quickly retorts: "Yeah, they're nice. But this whole place is evil -- and the face of evil often appears friendly."

Media Blogger Member Hit with Multimillion Dollar Suit

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a member of the Media Bloggers Association, of which I am a member, has been hit with a frighteningly large law suit, as detailed here. The MBA works to assist members in this situation, by providing pro bono legal assistance and by attempting to draw media attention. This is a situation where an attempt is being made to intimidate a blogger who was being critical of state government. I know from emails and comments that many of you are tremendously supportive of the blogosphere and what it represents as an alternative source of news and as a mechanism for providing a voice for critique of the traditional gatekeepers; as such all of you should take an interest in this case and others like it.

One resource I have as a former debate coach is access to tons of high powered legal advice if, God forbid, I need it. That just isn't something most bloggers have. The whole point of the blogosphere is the entry barrier is low. If blogging requires a legal department, the whole enterprise grinds to a halt. So I hope you'll click over to the MBA site and look into the specifics of Mr. Dutson's case and situation.

In Defense of UNC

Michelle Malkin writes about various forms of bad behavior directed at military recruiters, and when she draws up her list she includes vandalism at UNC.

There are designated days when various clubs, groups, organizations, so forth and so on, set up tables in the (now infamous) Pit to pass out information on their activities to interested students, and often the military services grab themselves a table somewhere in between the rowing club and one of the various glee clubs: I've never seen a service member treated in an untoward fashion.

Let me just draw your attention to one detail of what happened at UNC: you'll notice that whoever vandalized our facility figured they'd better do it in the dead of night.

Doesn't that tell you something about how they figured they'd be received on campus?

These are not people who guessed they'd suddenly be surrounded by cheering throngs. I don't know whether or not the majority of our students support the war, but I know they wouldn't support taking beliefs about the war out on the troops (much less ROTC students) and they certainly wouldn't support expressing oneself in this way.

Wait and See Is My Advice

I've barely had time to catch my breath today, much less blog -- and the same may be true tomorrow -- but I couldn't end the day without posting a few words on the unfortunate incident you may have heard about that took place on the UNC campus sometime yesterday morning.

I've been at UNC for 15 years, and throughout my time here I've been a member of the faculty committee that provides both oversight and liason with the ROTC cadre. I'm proud of that service and proud of all three units, units recognized nationally for their excellence. Throughout my time here we've had superb cadre on the teaching staff, some of whom were (I think) conservative, some of whom were (I think) liberal, all of whom were committed professionals who kept their politics out of their job, which was and is the development of leaders who understand the values that you would expect and demand an American officer corps to understand and be committed to -- values like civilian control of the military, and the need to defend the right to free speech and a free press.

Given that, I found this incident profoundly depressing.

But I also found it entirely out of character for our campus.

I've had a number of ROTC students in classes over the years, and they do wear uniforms to classes quite noticeably. I've never had one of those kids express any discomfort, or any sense that there was ever any difficulty when they wore uniforms on campus (and I've asked.) For that matter I've asked some of the cadre if they've ever felt uncomfortable in town while wearing uniforms, and they've told me the same thing.

If you read Jay Price's article, this vandalism is of a piece with other similiar acts that occured at the same time on NC State's campus and -- of even greater interest -- at recruiting stations in the area.

So before the blogosphere whips itself into a frenzy about campus liberals etc etc, perhaps we could at least wait until the investigation is concluded.

We're a large campus, and it's always possible this is one of ours. But it just doesn't feel that way to me -- and given all these other incidents, could we at least let the dust settle before people make up their minds about what's happened here?

How 'bout That

via Instapundit, a suggestion that major media may be operating with the wrong financial model when it comes to covering Iraq -- they won't pay for embeds, so instead we get "drive-by" coverage, on the assumption people don't want foreign news. Meanwhile, bloggers can finance reporting trips to Iraq off their tip jars.

Anyone see the problem here?

Bear With Me

Another day, I think, to focus on reading papers and writing exam questions.

Let me leave you with this fascinating story from our nothern neighbot.

Nothing Today

Sorry, team: last week of the semester, and the timing's a little tight. Perhap's tomorrow.

Eliot Cohen on Rumsfeld

Cohen is a leading authority on civil-military relations, and I think it's safe to say many people have been waiting to see what he would have to say about the retired generals calling for the SecDef's, er, joinging them in retirement.