Atrios suggests that this might be a joke, but also admits that he's seen as bad meant perfectly seriously. This appears deep in the comments following "enormous, mendacious, disembodied anus."
Just to be fair to tothe author, Floyd Alvis Cooper, I'll quote the whole thing.
I know this isn’t going to popular on this website, but may I just point something out?
A soldier’s #1 job is to stay alive. If you die, you can’t accomplish the mission, and you weaken your team and put your buddies in danger.
Obviously Sheehan’s son, I forget his name at the moment, didn’t die on purpose, and he may well have have had no control over the circumstances that let to his death.
BUT.
In war, there are no excuses. You find a way to stay alive, whatever it takes -- if you’re a good soldier. Sheehan’s son didn’t do that. He paid the price. but he als [sic] failed the mission and let down his buddies.
As a soldier, he was a failure. He was brave (maybe), but he was also incompetent.
So, really, how much exactly are we supposed to grieve over this guy? Isn’t a certain amount of disapproval in order for the guy -- and by extension his mom, for making such a fuss over a person who was, in the last analysis, by definition a loser?
So shouldn’t Mrs. Sheenhan be showing a little more shame about the situation and maybe not wanting to get her son and his shortcoming splashed all over the media?
Something to consider, anyway.
While we're all trying to keep our heads from exploding, let's give a round of applause to The Editors for realizing the historical significance of such a comment "Now THAT’S how you troll a message board! Well done, FAC!" When Atrios retires from blogging to become the kindly old tour guide in the Winger/Wanker Hall of Fame, I'm sure Mr. Cooper's letter will have place of honor.
This changes everything I ever learned about "supporting the troops," "honoring the dead," and the reason we have red stripes on the flag. The Bataan Losers' March. Memorial Day: our national day of shame. Who knew those rows of crosses on Normandy were meant to be a big urinal?
Now we know why Bush won't go to any funerals. How big of a leap is it to go from letting America down like that to outright treason? The president can't go around honoring traitors.
Next time I see my uncle, who was awarded silver stars for starving for four months on Guadalcanal and getting shot five times on Tinian, I'll be sure to kick him and call him a disappointment to his comrades. Then I'll run like hell before he uses one of his malarial, gout-ridden feet to kick my butt till my nose bleeds. If I was stupid enough to say anything like that (I'm not), I'd deserve it.
Is this a joke? How could anyone say crap like that in all seriousness? It's one thing for people like Malkin to slime Cindy Sheehan for opposing their beliefs. Disgusting? Sure. But Malkin's kind of unimaginative invective is at least familiar. Cooper is pioneering new frontiers of unhinger vileness. Malkin says Cindy Sheehan is a bad person for wanting a better explanation for her son's death. Cooper says Casey Sheehan was a bad person for getting killed and causing his mother to question our president.
Cooper's imagined job description for soldiers is completely irrational. "Obviously Sheehan’s son..., didn’t die on purpose, and he may well have have had no control over the circumstances that let to his death. BUT. In war, there are no excuses." A real soldier knows where the shells will fall and doesn't stand there. A real soldier knows when a sniper is aiming at him and steps aside. When an act of God comes his way, a real soldier bitch-slaps God and tells Him to knock it off.
This is the type of comically macho nonsense that usually comes from the same trolls who show off their knowledge of things military by using WWII slang harvested from Nick Fury comic books.
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