FARK.com: (2120576) USA Today reporter slams bloggers as "chairborne rangers," offers spare bed in Baghdad. MilBloggers reply: "No thanks, we're too busy out here where the actual fighting is taking place." Pwned

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(Blackfive)		USA Today reporter slams bloggers as "chairborne rangers," offers spare bed in Baghdad. MilBloggers reply: "No thanks, we're too busy out here where the actual fighting is taking place." Pwned (blackfive.net)		51
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1862 clicks; posted to Politics » on 15 Jun 2006 at 10:43 AM | Favorite | share:

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SageTemple		2006-06-15 10:52:33 AM

Haha, whoops.

BrotherTheodore		2006-06-15 10:52:41 AM

Owned by a blogger is BLOWNED?

Maud Dib		2006-06-15 10:53:36 AM

I need a catchy blog handle with martial overtones.
Crush-net?
Armor-all?
Whack-Fu?
Strat-Bar?
KITBASH?

Hang On Voltaire		2006-06-15 10:56:20 AM

Nice comeback

pktshrek		2006-06-15 10:59:05 AM

A spare bed in the Green Zone? That's safer than most American cities.

keloyd		2006-06-15 10:59:28 AM

It is a not-too-well-kept secret that the dumbest college graduates chose either journalism or communications. Journalists used to be the college kids too stupid or lazy or drunk to get a business degree. I have quite a few engineer relatives who will point out that is a pretty low standard.

Speaking generally, (so I know there are exceptions) our media covers Iraq the same way they cover the United States. They sit on their arses and wait for explosions and other photogenic and exciting kinds of bad news. All that happened in my American city yesterday was car crashes and political scandals according to the local news, not 2 milion people going about their orderly lives. We should not be surprised when we get the same slant in Iraq.

Gary Busey on a Rampage		2006-06-15 11:01:38 AM

I like how this idiot blogger can't even spell correctly in their own headline.....

coorespondence?

Don't forget the douche bloggers at Truthout.org recently publishing a completely false story of indictment against Karl Rove.

chaddsfarkprefect		2006-06-15 11:02:13 AM

keloyd
It is a not-too-well-kept secret that the dumbest college graduates chose either journalism or communications.

Ugh, so where would that palce USA Today writers?

dracos31		2006-06-15 11:02:32 AM

All that happened in my American city yesterday was car crashes and political scandals according to the local news, not 2 milion people going about their orderly lives. We should not be surprised when we get the same slant in Iraq.

Would you buy a newspaper if "Nothing Happened Today" was the top story?

/blood greases the wheels of the media
//it needs that grease because of the consumers
///blame yourselves for what the media reports

chaddsfarkprefect		2006-06-15 11:04:41 AM

Gary Busey on a Rampage, could that simply be a typo, like "palce?"

Coolhaus		2006-06-15 11:05:32 AM

Wow. Monkeys throwing poop at each other. Fascinating.

StBC		2006-06-15 11:08:30 AM

"Enjoy the pool."

Ha, good one.

Gulper Eel		2006-06-15 11:09:07 AM

keloyd: It is a not-too-well-kept secret that the dumbest college graduates chose either journalism or communications. Journalists used to be the college kids too stupid or lazy or drunk to get a business degree.

Nonsense.

You don't need a degree at all to get into journalism. Drunkenness is optional, and laziness and stupidity is a quick ticket out of journalism...

...and into journalism management.

/chose journalism because there were lots of girls in the class

BooBoo23		2006-06-15 11:16:03 AM

"To all the Chairborne Rangers advancing the vast 'negative media' conspiracy from the safety and comfort of their parents' basements: If you think you can do better, I've got a spare bed in the Baghdad bureau."

Sounds like the blogger that replied is not the one addressed.

Hang On Voltaire		2006-06-15 11:26:31 AM

BooBoo23
Sounds like the blogger that replied is not the one addressed.

I believe the reporter was making a generalized address to all bloggers.

binnster		2006-06-15 11:26:44 AM

keloyd

All that happened in my American city yesterday was car crashes and political scandals according to the local news, not 2 milion people going about their orderly lives. We should not be surprised when we get the same slant in Iraq.

You mean news sources are slanted against reporting normal people going about orderly lives? Say it ain't so! A newspaper that reported on the mundane daily activities of 2 million people would be the longest and most boring read in the history of journalism.

Superjoe		2006-06-15 11:32:28 AM

Anyone working for USA Today should not be gloating to others about "real" journalism.

I would tell the asshat to take his comments, put them on a pie chart and stick them up his ass.

BooBoo23		2006-06-15 11:35:20 AM

Hang On Voltaire: I believe the reporter was making a generalized address to all bloggers.

Well, I believe that he was addressing only the bloggers that were stateside, notoriously inhabiting their mother's basement.

That's why he put that bit in there about from the safety and comfort of their parent's basements.

Same theory: All people Farking from their parents' basements are total losers. Would you interpret this to mean that those who do not live in their parents' basement, yet look at Fark at total losers?

keloyd		2006-06-15 11:36:10 AM

Binnster,

The broader point I was making is that our media in Iraq is teh crap.

what they should do in Iraq: hunt down political shenanigans, have staff who speak the local language, explain wtf is going on in parliament in detail, historical background on the 3 big ethnic groups, mention that Kurds are also mostly Sunni Muslims but not Arab, then explain the terms, dig up economic growth, profile the captains of industry and politics, verify and/or refute military statements independently, put conspiracy talk by the locals in a context, etc.

what most of them do in Iraq: show pics of esplosions visible from their hotel and be stenographers at press briefings.

keloyd		2006-06-15 11:38:00 AM

The BBC is seething with its own bias and smugness, but atleast makes a good consciencious effort to be thorough.

Hang On Voltaire		2006-06-15 11:41:31 AM

BooBoo23
Well, I believe that he was addressing only the bloggers that were stateside, notoriously inhabiting their mother's basement. That's why he put that bit in there about from the safety and comfort of their parent's basements.

I think the reporter believes that all bloggers who dare to question the media are in their parents basement.

Same theory: All people Farking from their parents' basements are total losers. Would you interpret this to mean that those who do not live in their parents' basement, yet look at Fark at total losers?

Bottom line. If you are twenty five and in your parents basement you need to get a life.

keloyd		2006-06-15 11:42:14 AM

and for the record, I'm not in my parents' basement. I am in my own cabin, with my own bare light bulb hanging in the center of the room, shaking my fist and the Man.

keloyd		2006-06-15 11:42:53 AM

...AT the Man

inglixthemad		2006-06-15 11:43:19 AM

keloyd: Journalists used to be the college kids too stupid or lazy or drunk to get a business degree. I have quite a few engineer relatives who will point out that is a pretty low standard.

Those of us with engineering degrees tend to think that people with a business degree were too lazy, drunk, stupid (or all three) to get a "real" degree.

ToxicMunkee		2006-06-15 11:44:33 AM

All that happened in my American city yesterday was car crashes and political scandals according to the local news, not 2 milion people going about their orderly lives. We should not be surprised when we get the same slant in Iraq.

Today Mary Thompson purchased skim milk, and Michael Biggs
mowed his lawn. Suzanne Taylor did laundry (whites) and made tuna helper for dinner.

Yeah. That would be great.

Jack31081		2006-06-15 11:46:57 AM

The exception to the rule gets pissed when someone makes a generalization?

Well that's certainly never happened before...

nogames2k4		2006-06-15 11:57:28 AM

So is the milblogger agreeing that he is spreading the "vast liberal conspiracy theory" except from an embedded position?

Theobold Holsopple		2006-06-15 12:02:27 PM

I think the reporter believes that all bloggers who dare to question the media are in their parents basement.

I believe that you believe you're right in what you think the reporter believes. Classic farce: He taunts Pee Wee and gets Dog the Bounty Hunter.

dstanley		2006-06-15 12:20:42 PM

Coolhaus: Wow. Monkeys throwing poop at each other. Fascinating.

That's a statement that could be used on just about every FARK thread ever.

/or as a general descriptor of FARK.com

dstanley		2006-06-15 12:21:51 PM

BooBoo23: those who do not live in their parents' basement, yet look at Fark at total losers?

Totally?

skookum		2006-06-15 12:27:34 PM

Any idiot can put up a Web site and call it "news."

Blogs should have to undergo a certification process through the FCC if they wish to be taken with the same degree of seriousness as other media outlets. It should be rigorous and expensive enough to weed out the potential KOS-wannabes.

Seregon_Blackflame		2006-06-15 12:36:12 PM

BooBoo23

You raise a fantastic point, and one that perked my interest, but you have not made your analogue complete. Suppose someone really did make that comment about fark. Imagine the exact same article, with this little snippet at the end:

"And to all those windy douchebags at Fark.com who live in their mother's basements and comment on articles, go suck a goat."

I think that's pretty recognizable as an inflammatory remark, rather than a directed and constructive criticism. You wouldn't normally consider someone saying such a thing to be a widely tolerant person who accepts that there are many different kinds of people doing the same thing; otherwise, the need for the remark simply wouldn't exist. Honestly, he seems to be frustrated with people doing something that he simply doesn't fully understand.

/Just my 2 cents
//borrowed "windy douchebag" from my favorite Maddox

Mob Barley		2006-06-15 12:39:34 PM

USA Today.... LOL @ that tabloid hackery

PianoDemon		2006-06-15 12:56:01 PM

It's things like this that make me glad I went into computers and software after graduating with a BA in journalism.

Yes, I can write, but I'm also *really* good at bullshiatting.

Dancin_In_Anson		2006-06-15 12:58:27 PM

Maybe he was referring to the non military bloggers...You know guys like this...

redmid17		2006-06-15 01:03:01 PM

inglixthemad

Those of us with engineering degrees tend to think that people with a business degree were too lazy, drunk, stupid (or all three) to get a "real" degree.

Those of us with liberal arts degrees...damn.

\I got nothing
\\not really, the business majors are the ones that end up paying your salary.
\\\I'll take my German and Informatics degree and run now

Theobold Holsopple		2006-06-15 01:05:49 PM

Dancin_In_Anson

Maybe not. I'd even go so far as to say that is precisely what he is saying the basement dwellers should do. Fascinating read though. Don't let Hank Hill find out about the propane incident.

LocalCynic		2006-06-15 01:06:03 PM

Oh conservatives. I swear all the media haters out there would really find a home in China or pre-war Iraq, where the media just does what dear leader says.

Theobold Holsopple		2006-06-15 01:12:43 PM

Oh, and a big F U for the subbie. Not for having ideas contrary to mine or for anything quite so overt. No, the F U is because I've found myself tacitly defending U.S.A. Today. I feel so dirty. Sure, I did it of my own volition but I'm a lib so I am contractually obligated to blame someone else.

DeathBySarcasm		2006-06-15 01:18:13 PM

Can't trust the newspapers. Or blogs. That's why I get all my news directly from Rush Limbaugh.

Now Rush is one guy who definitely knows more about Iraq than anyone over there. Or at least he says he does. And Rush has no reason to lie--he was even honest about his anal cysts being too painful to go to Viet Nam, when he could have just lied and got a student deferment like Karl Rove did, and Rove wasn't even a student.

www.e-sheep.com

/"With talent on loan from God."

BooBoo23		2006-06-15 01:38:47 PM

Theobold Holsopple:

I believe that you believe you're right in what you think the reporter believes.

I believe you think he believes you think what I think is what he believes you think is wrong. Therefore, neener neener.

Satyagraha		2006-06-15 03:23:55 PM

Many journalist, most foreign, have died ( Iraq 71,compared to 69 during WWII), covering Iraq. The in-beds travel with US troops and do not generally leave the green zone, with or without troop escort.
MSM "journalists" insist they are covering the war in Iraq from Baghdad, when actually they are giving the US spin from the Green Zone. MSM reporters in Afghanistan limit their skills to Kabul much like the Afghan president.

Reminds me of a certain president, who recently was said to have visited Iraq, when actually he was in Vatican City aka the Green Zone. I guess the Iraqi government is so trusted that they get a 5 minute heads up when Bush is going to show up for a photo op

Dancin_In_Anson		2006-06-15 03:52:37 PM

Satyagraha: Bush is going to show up for a photo op

Photo op?

Why just the othe day, there was a comment about how he was too chickenshiat to visit the theater...as opposed to the like of Churchill who had to be all but forcebly kept out of France...

Y'all need to get your story straight.

Poolio		2006-06-15 06:08:16 PM

my two cents....

"Chairborne Rangers" is a (fairly accurate) reference to the 101st Fighting Keyboard Brigade (people who claim to be fighting the war on terror by blogging from the safety of their home), and not bloggers in general.

the headline makes a nice attempt to conflate them with people actually serving (milbloggers), which seems pretty insulting to the latter group.

mrexcess		2006-06-15 06:30:51 PM

Hey, I freely admit that I haven't seen what it's like on the ground in Iraq. Is this USA Today reporter gonna pay my way, though?

/would go

bugman26		2006-06-15 08:45:10 PM

Poolio is right. There are people in theator blogging, but most of the guys banging the war drum have never served and routinely denegrate those that have. You don't hear people questioning Karl Rove or Dick Cheney's patriotism, but Jack Murtha, John Kerry, Max Clelend - all decorated combat vets - are treated like cowards and traitors.

Anyone under the age of 28 who believes in sending people into harms way needs to either enlist or STFU. Every loser on a college campus going to Young Republicians meetings needs to put thier money where there mouth is.

http://operationyellowelephant.blogspot.com/

Honor our troops by respecting thier sacrifice, not treating them like toys to be sacrificed on a whim.

the opposite of charity is justice		2006-06-15 09:20:19 PM

"chairborne rangers" is a farking brilliant phrase.

/hope it catches on.
//bloggers, suck it.

Hobodeluxe		2006-06-16 12:30:13 AM

I wonder how many chairborne rangers would change their tune if there were a draft?

Methinks the chickenhawks would become and endangered species.

PlatinumDragon		2006-06-16 01:51:22 AM

Hrm... the character running Blackfive received correspondence from Bill Roggio, who was at least in country over in Afghanistan... and Glenn Reynolds, CO of the Chairborne Rangers.

I have a picture in my mind of the Professor pumping his fist in the air, pointing and laughing, while hiding behind a soldier.

CampusTour		2006-06-17 06:02:58 AM

Look, this whole "If you support the war, you must enlist" argument needs to die. Did you know that roofing is one of the most dangerous jobs? More so than police work? I assume that if you live under a roof, you built it yourself right? Surely you didn't expect other people to PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE so you can stay dry at night. And if you support the fire department, then I'm sure you work there, right? I mean, if you support putting people in harm's way, you must be headed off there yourself?

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