MaxedOutMama
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Cohen on Lynndie
Tom Carter posted about the strange, strange Richard Cohen column regarding Lynndie England. I share his "say what?" sentiments. This is a very disturbing column:
If Cohen read milbloggers he might reach some understanding of the American military man or woman. But he doesn't. He doesn't even know any. He isn't interested.
I don't like to discuss people such as Lynndie. I feel they receive far more press than they deserve. She betrayed herself and her duty and will no doubt receive a prison sentence for her deeds. Everything that Cohen writes about in this column is an antithesis of what the military teaches its recruits. Cohen thinks Lynndie is a victim. That army would have taught her that she isn't. Cohen thinks that Lynndie had no choice, that she was doomed to fail. The army would have taught her that she could succeed.
Cohen's reasoning is a striking example of the liberal thesis:
There is no end to the sadness of Lynndie England. There is no excusing what she did, but explaining is a different matter. She is that rare genuine article, the cliche, the stereotype that turns out upon investigation to be true. She lived with her family in a trailer in West Virginia. She's only a high school graduate. She married when she was 19 -- on a lark, she told her friends, and then for only two years.I have been struggling ever since Tom posted to express the exact source of my discomfort with Cohen's writing. It is incoherent, but it is incoherent in a way that betrays Cohen's stereotyped thinking. And his thinking is stereotyped not just about southern women from modest families, but also with regard to the military:
The discipline of the Army apparently meant she no longer had to have any herself. This is why fascism can be so (sexually) exciting.I finally concluded that what Cohen is really trying to say here is that everything the left believes about those terrible Bush voters and the terrible army is true. He's wrong, of course. Anyone who actually knows military people knows that the military encourages education and personal advancement, that the military has become one of the great color-blind institutions of our society, and that far from being a fascist organization, it is an organization that has generated a core group of dedicated and ethical people who form a thinking meritocracy that demonstrates a lot of initiative among its constituent members.
If Cohen read milbloggers he might reach some understanding of the American military man or woman. But he doesn't. He doesn't even know any. He isn't interested.
I don't like to discuss people such as Lynndie. I feel they receive far more press than they deserve. She betrayed herself and her duty and will no doubt receive a prison sentence for her deeds. Everything that Cohen writes about in this column is an antithesis of what the military teaches its recruits. Cohen thinks Lynndie is a victim. That army would have taught her that she isn't. Cohen thinks that Lynndie had no choice, that she was doomed to fail. The army would have taught her that she could succeed.
Cohen's reasoning is a striking example of the liberal thesis:
- People are always victims of their circumstances,
- People should not be punished when they do wrong but understood and compensated for the ills they suffered that caused them to act that way,
- People who come from the lower socio-economic classes are permanently disabled and ignorant and must be guided and led by a knowing elite,
- Women are always victims.
- People often create their own circumstances,
- People who wrong others should be held responsible for their actions,
- People who come from less advantaged socio-economic classes can expect to live a pretty good life in the manner they choose if they show initiative, take responsibility for themselves and work hard,
- Women are pretty smart and tough.
Comments:
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I disagree with you, MOM- Cohen is not the harmless idiot he'd have you believe. He is a proponent of an agenda- and he knows it. No one- and I mean no one- who attempts to portray Lyndie England as more of a victim than a perpetrator is unaware of the import of his words.
It is yet another attempt at a kind of moral relativism that sets out to destroy accountability and responsibility- and it is an attempt to nullify those who do hold those beliefs dear as immoral and uncaring.
It is yet another attempt at a kind of moral relativism that sets out to destroy accountability and responsibility- and it is an attempt to nullify those who do hold those beliefs dear as immoral and uncaring.
I don't know whether he's an idiot but I think the message he seems to be pushing is anything but harmless.
This was one of the most unnerving things I have read in the last year.
You may well be right. Anyway, Cohen and Maher are definitely off my babysitting list.
I find it difficult to discuss what this woman did but I read that earlier she and Graner had pulled such a prank (and taken photos of it) with a friend of theirs who had passed out. Some people are sick, sick, sick.
This was one of the most unnerving things I have read in the last year.
You may well be right. Anyway, Cohen and Maher are definitely off my babysitting list.
I find it difficult to discuss what this woman did but I read that earlier she and Graner had pulled such a prank (and taken photos of it) with a friend of theirs who had passed out. Some people are sick, sick, sick.
I can't do it. I just can't.
I already read and dismembered one Cohen article. You can' task me to read a second one in one day.
It's cruel!
I already read and dismembered one Cohen article. You can' task me to read a second one in one day.
It's cruel!
Cruel and unusual punishment, most definitely. He seems to be getting odder. Did you ever see the one where he was commenting on the Republican convention last year? It begins:
Outside my high school one distant but memorable day, a crowd gathered to watch a fight between a particularly nasty punk and someone he had bullied. To my immense satisfaction, the fight soon went against the punk. He went down and the good guy got on top of him for the coup de grace. Suddenly, a friend of the punk stepped from the crowd and stomped the good guy -- once, twice and it was over. That guy, I'm sure, is now a Republican.
and it ends:
The GOP convention was successful because it was part of the overall Republican campaign. It was a loathsome affair, suffused with lies and anger, but also beautiful to watch, like a nature show about some wild animal, amoral and intent only on survival. Speaker after speaker stomped on Kerry because, really, he had made himself the entirety of the Democratic campaign. It's a variation of what I learned in high school: When the man is the message, trash the man.
I saved it down at the time because I thought it was a classic.
Outside my high school one distant but memorable day, a crowd gathered to watch a fight between a particularly nasty punk and someone he had bullied. To my immense satisfaction, the fight soon went against the punk. He went down and the good guy got on top of him for the coup de grace. Suddenly, a friend of the punk stepped from the crowd and stomped the good guy -- once, twice and it was over. That guy, I'm sure, is now a Republican.
and it ends:
The GOP convention was successful because it was part of the overall Republican campaign. It was a loathsome affair, suffused with lies and anger, but also beautiful to watch, like a nature show about some wild animal, amoral and intent only on survival. Speaker after speaker stomped on Kerry because, really, he had made himself the entirety of the Democratic campaign. It's a variation of what I learned in high school: When the man is the message, trash the man.
I saved it down at the time because I thought it was a classic.
MOM, thanks for writing this post. I wish we could see something like it in a mainstream newspaper editorial. Not very likely, I suspect.
I also wish more Americans better understood their military and the ethics it embodies. It really is the most diverse, equality-minded segment of American society. And it really does teach open-mindedness, moral conduct, individual responsibility, taking the initiative, and the value of education.
I also wish more Americans better understood their military and the ethics it embodies. It really is the most diverse, equality-minded segment of American society. And it really does teach open-mindedness, moral conduct, individual responsibility, taking the initiative, and the value of education.
Tom, Cory at Rantingprofs has been highly critical of the coverage the military gets. In Cohen's case, maybe it is sheer prejudice, but in many other cases it is ignorance.
How many journalists of this generation do you think ever served or have someone in their family who is serving or has within the last twenty years? It makes me so, so angry when I see them slandering people who are risking their lives for the country, no matter what lies behind it. To me, this post is a slander and an insult.
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How many journalists of this generation do you think ever served or have someone in their family who is serving or has within the last twenty years? It makes me so, so angry when I see them slandering people who are risking their lives for the country, no matter what lies behind it. To me, this post is a slander and an insult.
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