Blogger and soldier Andy Olmsted lost his life in Iraq.
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Wingnuts don’t get it that when they send people to die in their military adventures, the people they sent to die are gone for good, and there isn’t another episode. Too bad they don’t understand what “taking responsibility for your actions” means, either.
Olmsted’s sacrifice is no more important than the sacrifices made by all of Mitt Romney’s sons, who are serving our country by getting their dad elected president.
Another human life whose loss leaves the rest of us a little poorer.
I read his last post earlier this week.
Very sad. He created a great reminder of all the soldiers lost in this disastrous neocon misadventure.
Soldiers take a patriotic oath to serve even the orders of insane fools.
We must never allow the fools to ever have that power again.
Go McCain! What we need in a GOP candidate is a man who says we’ll be in iraq for 10 years!!!
dammit–that’s 100 years!
Here’s the thumbnail summary of McCain’s Iraq plan, courtesy of Hendrik Hertzberg in The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/onlin.....years.html):
Read the whole thing.
As a mark of respect for the man, can you not refrain from poltical rants on this thread per Andy Olmstead’s very explicit and specific request?
It’s pretty obvious that several of you didn’t bother to read Andy’s post, especially the part where he said:
“I do ask (not that I’m in a position to enforce this) that no one try to use my death to further their political purposes. I went to Iraq and did what I did for my reasons, not yours…I’d prefer others not try and use me as some kind of moral capital to support a position I probably didn’t support…You can fight political battles without hurting my family, and I’d prefer that you did so.”
“…If you think I wasted my life, I’ll tell you you’re wrong…”
@3 ArtFart’s post respects this stated intent.
This is the first I’ve heard of Andy Olmstead, and that saddens me because he reminds me a lot of my oldest son, Staff Sergeant Mark. Andy’s was a thoughtful, passionate perspective, and his was a principled life fully lived and tragically taken; in John Donne’s words, Andy Olmstead’s death, “diminishes me.”
None of us are islands entire of ourselves. That Andy’s bell tolled when it did is horrible and awful and grievous and tragic and every other expression of loss and pain in the dictionary. The tolling of Andy’s bell in his post is a deeply personal testament and legacy worth of respect and honor.
In his own words, Andy describes himself as a soldier and proud to be one. Again, in his own words, “I died doing a job I loved. When your time comes, I hope you are as fortunate as I was.”
I am a deeply emotional man; Andy’s words move me literally to tears and consume me with grief even as I’m thankful that Staff Sergeant Mark and Lance Corporal Tom, my boys, live.
In one respect, however, Andy was wrong: his words aren’t just, “a little something out there to remember me by…a tiny record of my contributions to the world.” No…Andy’s words are permanent, sobering, and eternal. I suspect I’m not alone in printing his essay and putting it with other works that move, teach, inspire, or ennoble, the immeasurable value of which is such that from time to time they’re read and re-read as a reminder of what’s serious and valuable in life.
My heart is broken, and I grieve. But in his testimony, Andy has touched my life and moved my heart. For this, Andy, I am thankful to you, and your family will be in my prayers. Thank you for your service and your ultimate sacrifice.
The Piper
I am saddened by this man’s death. I have known many soldiers. I am the father and son of soldiers. This man reminds me of all the soldiers I have known. It is not about me, it is about the soldier. Piper never misses a chance to live vicariously through his boys.
Unlike Piper, who can’t keep his hubris out of his posts to save his own life, I realize that in the uniform of a United States Soldier all men and women are equal. When one dies, they all die. A part of our country vanishes and we are all poorer for the tragedy and loss.
I wish that war was not a part of the human condition. I wish the men and women serving could all come home. Soon and alive and healthy. Find politics in that.
Damn, “The Piper”-
You’re sure a bombastic jerk.
9 – My left foot:
I wish that war was not a part of the human condition.
And I wish there were not deranged Muslim fanatics who’s goal in life is to blow themselves up and kill as many Americans as possible. No matter how much you hate Bush (and I’m not a fan of Bush either), this is an inescapable reality that will be with us for the rest of our lives. We can’t wish the problem away or ignore the problem. This enemy can’t be bargained with or reasoned with. Killing them is the only option.
Lee ..
I never read his blog, can you say more about it and link it?
Piper ..
The irony of this time is that most liberals I know support the troops fully. It is the Repricans who seem to feel that the troops are hired to do the will of their leaders ,, blindly.
This enemy can’t be bargained with or reasoned with. Killing them is the only option.
Fine kill them, neutralize them, contain them, turn them against one another, just don’t bankrupt this country and destroy my kid’s future by padding well-connected right wing pockets in the process.
@13: conflating all muslims with bin Laden and Al Qaida is a great way to make more enemies. Why the hell does our president say that he doesn’t think much about bin laden anymore? Why aren’t we going full-bore after AQ in Afghanistan and Pakistan?
The republicans talk about the global war on terrorism – but they support the misguided adventure in Iraq – we are wasting our soldiers lives, out tax money (and padding the coporations who support this war) and effort in the wrong place on the wrong war for the wrong reasons.
In the end, the republicans are long on rhetoric and soft on terrorism.
@4 You are absolutely right; a soldier’s duty is to obey, and do or die; our duty is to make sure the people issuing the orders are not fools or knaves.
@7 Wasn’t their plan to stay until the oil runs out, then leave the Iraqi people dangling in the wind?
12 years ago, my wife’s father spent a day building a basket-weave fence next to his driveway. In the evening he put his tools away, sat down and had a steak and a beer and then died of a massive stroke.
Ed was in his 70’s, and he and his wife were living in a modest retirement. His passing was certainly a shock to all of us, but he’d had sever previous small strokes, so we and he had all known it was a possibility. We also were aware that something he had dreaded was to spend the last few years of his life disabled and helpless. Instead, he went quickly after spending a nice day doing something he really enjoyed.
Andy Olmstead’s last message made it clear that he didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him. Politics aside, he made it clear that he really loved soldiering, and always knew that one of the downsides to his chosen profession was the prospect of “dying with his boots on”. To a degree, this is true of police, firefighters, fishermen and ironworkers and a great many others who choose more exciting and strenous work than sitting in front of a computer all day.
And Piper…I apologize in behalf of some of the others here for their insensitivity. The worst fear of any parent has to be outliving one’s own children. Your pride in your son is commendable, and I feel for your loss.
@13: YLB – Oops, I was actually not responding to your comments but to the quote from above…
My condolences to the family of this brave and eloquent soldier. May we end this disastrous war soon and spare the lives of other Americans who have courageously donned the uniform.
Speaking of oil, putting a “No More Blood for Oil” bumper sticker on your car within 1/2 mile of the dictator will you arrested in the Fascist States of Republican America:
“In the months before the 2004 election, dozens of people across the nation were banished from or arrested at Bush political rallies … for … express[ing] opposition to the war and administration policies. …
“‘It’s … an attempt by the president and his staff to suppress free speech,’ said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the ACLU of West Virginia ….
“Last year, in Denver, [Leslie] Weise and two friends were evicted from a Bush town hall meeting on Social Security reform. … After parking Weise’s car, the three, dressed in professional attire and holding tickets obtained from their local congressman, arrived at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum. Young cleared security, but Weise and Bauer were briefly detained and told by staff they had been ‘identified’ and would be arrested if they tried ‘any funny stuff,’ according to court records. After finding their seats, they were approached again by staff and removed before Bush began speaking. Days later, Weise learned from Secret Service in Denver that a bumper sticker on her green Saab hatchback — ‘No More Blood for Oil’ — caught the attention of security.”
Quoted under fair use; for complete story and/or copyright info see http://www.usatoday.com/news/w.....ters_x.htm
Roger Rabbit Commentary: This Fascist Moment was brought to you by the war-loving torturers of the Rethuglican Brownshirt Party.
When I was a young bunny in an Army uniform, we were told we were fighting and dying for “freedom.” Since then, America’s government has turned into a rancid regime, and now our soldiers are fighting and dying to prop up a tinpot dictator, just as in other third world countries.
19 – disastrous war sold on lies!
@17 What loss? Piper said @12, “I’m thankful that Staff Sergeant Mark and Lance Corporal Tom, my boys, live.” He then proceeds to use Andy Olmstead’s death to argue that we should not use a political blog to discuss the politics that sent Andy to his unnecessary death.
@23 You see, Art, what wingnuts like Piper want is (a) a free hand to spend the lives of other people’s children for their own aggrandizement, and (b) immunity from criticism for having done it.
I don’t hand out that kind of blank check. I’m not against wars that must be fought; for example, I support the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, and the use of military force to hunt down and destroy Al Qaeda. And, obviously, fighting Hitler and bringing down his Third Reich was the necessary and right thing to do. But the horrors of war can never be justified on the basis of greed, or a desire to dominate, or for selfish national interests; and when the deaths of soldiers (and innocent civilians) are incurred for such purposes, there must be, at a minimum, criticism with a strong preference for accountability.
The Busheviks gave us various reasons for invading Iraq, all of which appeared to be talking points. We still don’t know what their actual motive is, although, knowing what these guys want and how they operate, the strong suspicion remains that their real intent was to expropriote Iraq’s 170 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.
But let’s, for a moment, take them at their word and suppose that kids like Andy Olmstead are dying to give Iraqis “freedom.” What constitutes “freedom” in a dusty, poor, arid, undeveloped country riven by sectarian and tribal violence, and with no established tradition of democracy, provides an interesting topic for discussion. One could argue that not being able to stick your head outside your door without getting it shot off is something less than “freedom.” One may also wonder how much people value a vague and ambiguous concept like “freedom” when they don’t have drinking water or electricity, and have to risk their lives to go to the local market to buy food. But setting those nice questions aside, “freedom” surely is not a bunch of foreign soldiers storming into your home and slaughtering your family by pointing M-16 rifles at their heads and blowing their brains out at point-blank range.
Whatever Andy Olmstead and his fellow casualties died for, it surely was not to give American soldiers license to commit such acts. Atrocities are committed by all sides in all wars, and often result from too much stress and fear combined with poor leadership and/or inadequate supervision, although they sometimes result from official policy and/or the wrong people being put in uniform and given weapons, and must be accepted as one of the unavoidable evils of war; but an honest government will enforce its own laws and investigate, prosecute, and punish murderers in its military ranks.
Whatever Andy died for, it was not to validate the Haditha murders, or the subsequent coverup and whitewash. And the sacrifice of his young life surely should not be used by blowhards like Piper to hide behind while attacking anyone who suggests that what the Marines did at Haditha was a crime and the Corps’ efforts to sweep it on the rug are shameful. An honest government would conduct an honest investigation and haul those responsible for both the crime and the coverup into court-martials and institute full accountability by enforcing its own laws.
What we got instead was the usual cacophy of lies and the customary slithering out of responsibility, followed by the warmonger faction in our domestic political scene attacking those who criticize this obscene act and demand accountability … who are, generally speaking, the same bunch who strive to shove the Ten Commandments down our throats (including, presumably, the one that says, “Thou shalt not murder”).
I piss on such people. They are nothing but cockroach excrement beneath my claws. The only thing they’re good for is fertilizing edible vegetative matter, including carrots. YUMMY! I LOVE CARROTS!!! Wingnut war-lovers and murder-enablers — not so much.
@23 I, too, am thankful that crackpiper’s boys are alive. I’m also thankful that crackpiper is alive and able to spew his vitriol. In addition, I’m thankful that this blog is owned by a man who gives rightwing leeches a free hand to spew their own version of free speech. I am, after all, a big fan of freedom, including free speech. And speech is not free unless the speech you tolerate includes the speech you disagree with — a freedom you will find on no rightwing blog. These are, after all, folks who believe in freedom only for themselves, and apparently think the Ten Commandments apply only to others.
11 Your Ass is showing and it itches:
As I mentioned, I am the father and son of soldiers. I understand the need for a strong national defense. You apparently hate people based on a fear whipped up by the Bush administration to ensure total control of the lemmings.
Congratulations. They have succeeded in making you part of the borg.
Son Of Port Of Seattle
Another local scandal is brewing — at Valley General Hospital, which like Port of Seattle, is a quasi-public agency partially supported by taxpayer dollars.
Like the Port of Seattle, Valley General Hospital is run by a highly compensated and imperious director with a penchant for secrecy and a disdain for curious reporters or citizens.
In the 2006 election, 2 of the hospital district’s 5 commissioners were defeated by reform candidates. So, what the outgoing board of commissioners did was,
(a) extend the director’s contract for 5 more years, and
(b) adopt a code of ethics to prohibits the (new) commissioners from publicly criticizing anything the hospital administration does.
Read the pathetic details here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....s06m0.html
Roger Rabbit Commentary: What we have here, and at the Port of Seattle, is selfish people seizing control of public agencies and taxpayer money and running them like privately owned businesses for their own benefit. As the example of Valley General Hospital makes clear, the Port of Seattle is not an isolated occurrence. In fact, you will find many such examples among the port districts, hospital districts, and similar quasi-public agencies scattered across the state. That’s because these entities, and the people expropriating their public dollars for private gain, often manage to fly under the radar of media, public watchdogs, and politicians.
Given the existence of a pattern of similar abuses in such agencies, it’s clear we have a systemic problem that needs to be addressed by legislators in Olympia.
For starters, these entities have no business writing their own codes of ethics. That’s letting the fox guard the henhouse. There should be a uniform, statewide, binding set of operating guidelines. It should be adopted by the legislature, and carry the force of law.
But more is needed. There should be regular, continuous, and active state oversight and supervision of these agencies to ensure that taxpayer monies are not misappropriated, patients are not overcharged, and managers are not overpaid and do not throw lucrative contracts to their buddies. Sure, adding these responsibilities to the state auditor’s office — or creating a new state agency to carry them out — will require more staff and involve an expense. But the expense probably will be far less than the $100 million that the Port of Seattle wasted in 1 year. This is a case of spending a few dollars to save many dollars, and will be profitable to the taxpayers in the long run.
If they don’t want that oversight and supervision, then take away their governmental powers and taxpayer money, and make them operate as private businesses in competitive markets.
@11 Who’s saying America shouldn’t defend itself? Certainly not us liberals. We’re only questioning the way you rightwing nitwits went about it.
@12
Steve, he posted as G’Kar at Obsidian Wings, where that post is linked.
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Hey Tommy Thompson: Andy Olmsted was a Mormon too?
Ohhhh… you are just posting BULLSHITTIUM in this thread!
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Hey Puddy – do you think Maj. Olmsted was a Democrat or a Republican and would it matter either way?
Puddy – maybe you should learn from him and take his last words at heart – “If there is any hope for the long term success of democracy, it will be if people agree to listen to and try to understand their political opponents rather than simply seeking to crush them. While the blogosphere has its share of partisans, there are some awfully smart people making excellent arguments out there as well, and I know I have learned quite a bit since I began blogging.”
“crushing” is what two opposing baseball, football or other type of sports team do to each other. And even then, sometimes one team has a little mercy.
To Clarify, the following fuller quote provides better context to what was being said:
“Believe it or not, one of the things I will miss most is not being able to blog any longer. The ability to put my thoughts on (virtual) paper and put them where people can read and respond to them has been marvelous, even if most people who have read my writings haven’t agreed with them. If there is any hope for the long term success of democracy, it will be if people agree to listen to and try to understand their political opponents rather than simply seeking to crush them. While the blogosphere has its share of partisans, there are some awfully smart people making excellent arguments out there as well, and I know I have learned quite a bit since I began blogging.”
Hey Pee-Dookie-
I liked you better when you were banned.
Tommy, this wasn’t an open thread.
Dull Knife spotted @post#38.
Tommy Thompson, since many of your posts were removed, golly what was your point?