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Arkin Redux
By John
He's baaaaack. And hitting the milbloggers. Hard.
I've been wanting to write about the 2nd Annual MilBlog conference (I wasn't invited), and did write earlier about the brouhaha over the Pentagon's supposed new restrictions regarding blogging.FYI, the journalists who covered the conference (NPR, CNN, WaPo, Fox News, etc) attended on their own initiative. No one was "invited," which makes me wonder why Arkin felt he merited a special invitation.
The MilBloggers got an extra boost of attention after the news about the Army's "crackdown" on blogs, with the overheated claim that the new operations security (OPSEC) and bandwidth rules cut off soldiers from their families and restricting people's freedoms. An extra boost from whom, you ask? From the mainstream media they so seemingly despise -- with various noterati of the MilBlog world being interviewed and quoted regarding the impact of the military's new rules.No. Milbloggers have focused grievances. Like when certain papers run Abu Ghraib 50 times above the fold without running a single story on our Medal of Honor recipients. Or when they publish the details of a classified program designed to monitor and terminate the funding of terrorists who kill our troops in Iraq. Or when they use doctored photos, stringers with questionable integrity, and axe stories that are "too positive."As I see it, beyond the social networking and communications functions, the Milblogs have set themselves up as an anti-news media squad. The conference included many discussions of the deficiencies of mainstream press coverage of Iraq. In fact, some people actually believe that, with the availability of worldwide news on the Web and the emergence of military blogs, the Pentagon press corps and even the mainstream news media is obsolete.
We don't simply "despise" the media like bunch of uneducated racists. Or like Arkin despises the military. We back-slap when the MSM gets it right, we criticize when they get it wrong. It's that simple.
But thank you to Arkin for providing us with a clear example of the type of drivel that we so forcefully counteract. Arkin was the only established MSM type to write on the conference without actually attending. It's easy to have such an uninformed opinion when you're too lazy to do the legwork, I suppose.
And even easier when your highest form of commentary is lame similes:
Which brings me back to the Red Sox game -- specifically, Section 15, where I was sitting. I couldn't help but notice that the baseball aficionados felt quite confident about their knowledge and views. Everyone had an opinion on the game; everyone was an expert.
Yeah, it was a pretty dumb analogy. Surely Arkin realizes that milbloggers aren't "fans with opinions," but rather the players on the field. Milbloggers are the one who prosecute the war, we're not in the bleachers watching like Arkin.
So I guess the only pertinent question here is: why does the Washington Post have this guy on their payroll? He's not a very effective writer, his opinions are poorly constructed, his analogies suck, and he seems like....well, kind of an idiot. He's proven that he has very little tangible knowledge of the military and national security (zero knowledge of milbloggers), he's best known for leaking sensitive information and calling our grunts "pampered," and doesn't seem to do much outside of embarrassing his parent newspaper.
Perhaps it's time for the WaPo to consider a National and Homeland Security correspondent who actually knows something about National and Homeland Security?
Other Milbloggers covering:
Badgers Forward
Blackfive and Uncle Jimbo: "We don't despise the MSM Arkin, we just despise you."
Mrs. Greyhawk
Chap
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Comments
Arkin is still an ass-clown in my book. His name has been on my "People Whose Ass I Must Kick" list since his blurb about what the soldiers owe the rest of the population.
With any luck, Fox News will send a reporter to harass him again in a parking lot.
You're right, he could have come on his own initiative. If he'd entered incognito, and worn a name tag that said, "Hello, My Name is Richard Head," you'd have been none the wiser.
Trackbacked by The Thunder Run - Web Reconnaissance for 05/25/2007
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
Why the WaPo uses him instead of the excellent Rick Atkinson is beyond me.
I have dubbed Arkin a "military shamalyst". Cute hunh?
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Arkin is slime. But mostly he's a moron. Combining the two? Dangerous mix.