Someone who visits my blog has been posting my blog entries in a message bored called:
http://groups.msn.com/eXtremelyPolitics/homepagewelcome.msnw
Here is an email I received from her
Hi Again,
Thanks for responding. I just hate to see these guys tear you down and your not even here to defend yourself, I appreciate what you are doing sooo much, it is this honesty that keeps us human, and stops the savagery.
I wanted to give you a chance in your own words to respond to this guy, he is a brit, and very insulting to America and our Troops I might add, but you will see that yourself. I hesitated to send this to you as I don't want to add to your stress levels but figured you probably get a lot of critical mail and at least this way you are free to respond, I will happily post what ever reply you want to make or nothing if you don't wish to reply, either way, yo took an oath to fight for my rights, and I will never tire of fighting for yours.
The Brits post, he goes by The Duke of Wellington
I see you guys have been having fun while I was sleeping, Lol.
Bugs, leona really believes what this guy writes is genuine because ... 1) he writes stuff straight out of her anti-Bush manual that she likes to see in print, and 2) there almost certainly is a guy called Snott-Sickley serving in Iraq, who is attached to FOB Danger. Combine the two, and belief is irresistible for her.
leona, Bugs is not a liar and, as far as I know (and neither you nor I have reason to disbelieve him) he has served in the US armed forces, so has a legitimate right to doubt anything connected to the US military, and probably is a better judge than either of us as to what is and isn't genuine in this context.
As far as whether the guy exists ...
He claims to be a sergeant - a role for which he would be very young at 24, although his claimed occupation of linguist may bring an automatic higher rank, I don't know.
His address seems genuine enough. Any anomalies in the address can be put down to people recording it incorrectly in articles, blogs etc which, in turn, then appear incorrectly in Google links to this guy or his blog.
However. What he writes would take even a professional writer far longer than a serving soldier could possibly have at his disposal. Not only that, his articles include links to endless other sources, including Nevadadog, a nick name he has in Yahoo, under which you will find further endless links to more stuff. If genuine this guy would have to be online 24/7, probably more!
No, the only logical conclusion is that he puts his name to stuff posted under his name - probably because, like leona, he believes in it and is more than willing to lend his name to it.
My question remains ... what sort of amateur army allows this to happen??
Duke
I don't know what else to say to convince him that I am a real soldier... One thing I DO have to say is that I feel honored that he thinks I am some professional writer. I really am stunned and don't know what else to say... Take care.
14 comments:
I can understand why he thinks you're a professional writer. Your posts are fantastic. Some day this will be a book, mark my words! Maybe then he'll believe you exist.
So many people live in their own world of delusions, crazy as they are. Especially when the truth doesn't fit their assumptions.
Take care -- stay safe. Warm wishes to you and your family.
Takes all kinds. Hang in there. Don't let the looney background noise jam your transmission.
Interesting... I'd like to get a hold of this guy's blog address and bombard his comments with spam.
See, Zach, about your writing? I'd take it all as a compliment.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
This guy is hilarious. I wonder how long it took him to analyze all that stuff. Some people just cant be convinced no matter what you do. Hang in there Zach, or whatever your name is, if you are even a real person...maybe the Duke really isnt a Duke maybe he's just some jackass with a computer and a lot of time on his hands.
I think your writing is excellent although you come across as despondent. I don't want to judge you though - you may have every reason to be despondent. You are stop lossed and get to interview some of the most miserable human beings on earth. You see horrors most of us can't even imagine.
I submit that the "Brit" is a twit.
What do you want to bet that he's the sort of fat Internet troll that accuses anyone who disagrees with him of "not supporting the troops"?
Maybe that guy can't count the hours in a day - let's see, Zach works an 8 hour shift and it's not like he gets to go home to his family after work - so 24 subtract 8 is 16 and if you assume he sleeps for 7 or 8 hours, I think that leaves him some down time to do whatever he needs to do to relax (as much as one can relax over there). That guy must not realize that they do have time to "relax" when not officially on duty or he failed 2nd grade math. He sounds like an ignorant man.
You're in good company. Check out Ginmar's blog at http://www.livejournal.com/users/ginmar/ , she got accused of lying when she was over here too.
I think it happens alot on the net. If you say something that someone doesn't agree with, then the obvious first accusation to make is that they are a liar, and not really in a position to have the opinion that they have. Which by the way, is a really dumb thing to say, because everyone is entitled to their opinion and his very analysis makes it unlikely that he knows what he is talking about, example - too young to be a sergeant at the age of 24. Frankly we have alot of 24 year old sergeants in the US military, its not abnormal at all. As for time, if you have it, then it's great that to have found a way to spend it while away from families. Not all soldiers in theater have the same amount of time or internet access. Each FOB is different. End of story. Take care and great blog.
Son, yes flattery is the place to go.You do write beautifully and from the heart which is what makes it so moving. What I try to practice is to not respond with the same response that is offending me. Like he calls you a liar and to return it with calling him a liar only brings negativity into the world and your life. This is really an opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive as being reactive comes from fear. As you mother I worry that you are so despondant also and yet I think being able to really put your thoughts and feelings on paper gets them from the inside to the outside and is healthier than holding it all in like you did last time. I also know you carefully edit what you say and could say so much more. I love you dear son and always my thoughts and prayers are with you. Mom
Hey Zach,
I'm guessing that "The Duke of Wellington" has never served in the armed forces. If he had, he would realize that there are plenty of intelligent people in the military, and they often have plenty of time (and reason!) to think about the crappy situations they are put into. As to becoming a sergeant by age 24, perhaps that's more difficult in the British forces--I made sergeant about three years after enlisting in the United States Marine Corps. I'll go along with the comment above: TDoW is a twit.
Semper Fi, soldier!
Jim
I post with people just like this all the time. You know, the ones who are so pro-war from the safety of their living rooms.
My entire reason for being anti-war is that I would not serve in this war myself and I would do everything i could to prevent my son and daughter from going. Not because i don't think serving in the military is an honorable profession but because i believe we were lied to and manipulated into this conflict by cynical politicians and we have no interest in being there.
But that doesn't lessen my respect for guys like you who are there and coping with it every day.
Personally, I'm glad (well, as glad as I can be) that there are men like you representing our country to the Iraqis. Gives me hope.
Thanks.
This guy really is a moron. He seems to be an expert of all things military, maybe he wants to run this campaign?
Doesn't matter, it's not possible that everyone is going to agree with you. I bet if the President read this he wouldn't agree with you either--and if the President disagreeing with you bothers you, then there's no way this shmuck should either.
Just keep writing :-)
Scott
I think he brings up some good points though, where do you get all this time to write?
If you were in my platoon, you would be too tired at the end of the day to worry about writing this kind of stuff.
Or maybe your trying to get yourself that "Book Deal" when you get home?
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