Air Force Forces Farce
Off Limits
Our American Air Force has just strafed itself in the foot. Better make that both feet. In a fit of futile pique, they have put the New York Times off limits. Like some kind of wicked city filled with bordellos, they have forbidden access to the Times. This is supposed either to protect our delicate Air Force folks from being contaminated by news--available to the rest of the world, or, alternatively yet equally futile, to punish the Times for printing news about the WikiLeaks.
We all have known for years that China would show us the future. We just didn't think that its authoritarian denial of human rights and self-defeating interference with freedom of communications would become our model--and so soon. No one, and I mean no one, would have predicted that we would try to block access to information and shut people off from the Internet--particularly when the news has already been disseminated.
This is what the geniuses in our Air Force are trying to do. They are blocking access from Air Force computers yes, to the New York Times, but also to the Guardian of London, LeMonde in France, El Paise of Spain and Der Spiegel of Germany! This is supposed to do what--plug the Wikileak post facto? It makes us look stupid and afraid. It shows off our worst instincts. It solves no problems, retrieves no information, cures no embarrassments, but it does create a whole slew of new problems.
We look like China, afraid to own embarrassing truths. We stand with feet planted firmly in quicksand, and we injure no enemy--only our own values and dignity. If we are going to learn from China, maybe we should learn the Maoist principle of fighting no battles that we cannot win. For this barn door, the story is over and the cows have escaped.
We leave our Air Force personnel in the truly bizarre position of being denied access to our major newspaper--along with the most prestigious papers of our allies, but they can still get Al Jezera-and doubtlessly plenty of porn! In what moral, political or practical universe does this make any sense?
©2010 Jonathan Dobrer
www.Dobrer.com
Careful, Jonathan. Friendly Fire is next.
It could be because it's a liberal paper, Jonathan.
G. Tz.
There's actually a serious point to be made about the Air Force and the major service academies. They are becoming both politically and religiously conservative. Both of these trends offer challenges to our chain of command.
Without a draft providing an influx of civilians and command diversity, democracy can be put in danger by the consolidation of religious and political culture with the military.
Jonathan
And it could be that past history of the NYT publishing as fact questionable information before it checks its sources or accuracy or truth. And yes it is a far left leaning liberal newspaper.