I expect this to be a well-reasoned and thoughtful thread.

SO... CONFLICTED...

Now that's not fair. They make perfectly good toilet paper too.

As much as I dislike O'Reilly, I dislike burning books more.

An hero is born every minute.

I love how the book has Orly? staring across at Obama on the cover...

Procerus: As much as I dislike O'Reilly, I dislike burning books more.

FTFA: I've read people's squeamishness about setting books ablaze. I hear you. The motivation behind the order to burn them was not political. As mentioned in the original post, we are in an extraordinarily remote location. We don't have a post office here, so sending them back wasn't an option. Extra space is scarce and alternatives that a few mentioned, like recycling, are nonexistent. All waste is burned on the base and in town; wood and paper goes in that barrel. I was getting rid of a bunch of cardboard boxes and the books were in the burn pile. There were 20 of them. I saved one for the bookshelf. I'm aware of the historical implications of book-burning. I won't say I didn't take pleasure in removing a few copies of this bigoted twerp's writings from circulation, but the reason for doing so was military necessity.

Procerus: As much as I dislike O'Reilly, I dislike burning books more.



Seriously, fark you and your hero tag subby.

Why do the troops hate the troops so much?

Conservatives maintain a pretty cartoonish view of our soldiers. They honestly believe they're not only all republicans, but the kind of republicans that would find some enjoyment in an O'Reilly book.

Procerus: As much as I dislike O'Reilly, I dislike burning books more.

So do I, but when the troops are burning the books you wrote FOR THEM, your ideology must really suck.

Send the boys (and girls) a book they can really use: the Bible.

It's thick enough to stop a bullet and can be used to prosthelytize the locals when the shooting stops.

Book goes in, ashes come back. You can't explain that.

That sure is one warped view of what patriotism is and a very poor use of the hero tag.

Glenford: Procerus: As much as I dislike O'Reilly, I dislike burning books more.

[4.bp.blogspot.com image 480x347]

Seriously, fark you and your hero tag subby.

Well, we don't have Paul Bremer around to make the books disappear, so they have to get rid of them somehow.

I can see the point about burning them. Same situation as being at sea. Some knucklehead decides to send your ship a huge box of multiple copies of the same useless thing, so where the fark do you put them all? So you wouldn't necessarily burn them at sea, but you'd probably find out how well they float.

Procerus: As much as I dislike O'Reilly, I dislike burning books more.

For this to make sense, you have to agree with the premise burning books is akin to censorship. I don't see it that way. I got no beef with burning them. I burned lots of junk mail in my fireplace last night, was that bad?

Procerus: As much as I dislike O'Reilly, I dislike burning books more.

At least recycle them. Or donate them to the poor because poor people need to learn their place in society.

You can't explain that

I get an assload of auto magazines due to my business - they along with hotsauce and candy get sent to the most god-awful ass end of the moon post I can find (think: Restrepo).

Any farkers stuck in some OP in Afghanistan chime up and will send to you. Sorry, Fobbits need not apply.

Former Navy

Nice photoshop libs.

They shouldn't have burned the books.

They should have dropped them on brown people.

why does a base in the middle of nowhere need 20 bill o'reilly books? how many times are you going to read it?

and anyway, its a dick move sending a politically biased book out there. those guys don't get that much mail, send something that every soldier at least can potentially enjoy. classics, light fiction or even contemporary magazines. heck, send them a pack of cards or 2

Those books look photoshopped in for some reason.

sprawl15: Procerus: As much as I dislike O'Reilly, I dislike burning books more.

FTFA: I've read people's squeamishness about setting books ablaze. I hear you. The motivation behind the order to burn them was not political. As mentioned in the original post, we are in an extraordinarily remote location. We don't have a post office here, so sending them back wasn't an option. Extra space is scarce and alternatives that a few mentioned, like recycling, are nonexistent. All waste is burned on the base and in town; wood and paper goes in that barrel. I was getting rid of a bunch of cardboard boxes and the books were in the burn pile. There were 20 of them. I saved one for the bookshelf. I'm aware of the historical implications of book-burning. I won't say I didn't take pleasure in removing a few copies of this bigoted twerp's writings from circulation, but the reason for doing so was military necessity.

This bears repeating for those of you who didn't RTFA.

Pincy: At least recycle them. Or donate them to the poor because poor people need to learn their place in society.

The Farking Blog: : I've read people's squeamishness about setting books ablaze. I hear you. The motivation behind the order to burn them was not political. As mentioned in the original post, we are in an extraordinarily remote location. We don't have a post office here, so sending them back wasn't an option. Extra space is scarce and alternatives that a few mentioned, like recycling, are nonexistent. All waste is burned on the base and in town; wood and paper goes in that barrel. I was getting rid of a bunch of cardboard boxes and the books were in the burn pile. There were 20 of them. I saved one for the bookshelf. I'm aware of the historical implications of book-burning. I won't say I didn't take pleasure in removing a few copies of this bigoted twerp's writings from circulation, but the reason for doing so was military necessity.

/I expect to repost this at least a dozen more times.

evoke: Nice photoshop libs.

I know, you got us. That pic was actually taken on Wall Street last week.

Jesus, if you're going to include books in a care package INCLUDE A VARIETY.

HotWingConspiracy: Conservatives maintain a pretty cartoonish view of our soldiers. They honestly believe they're not only all republicans, but the kind of republicans that would find some enjoyment in an O'Reilly book.

It was my time in the military that turned me into the raging liberal I am today. I went in as a staunch conservative Christian, then after seeing a bit of the world and having my eyes opened I kind of had to rethink a few things. Spending a week in Petropavlask, Russia about 2 years after the fall of the Soviet Union really made me question a lot of my beliefs. Jesus sure as hell wasn't there to help those people, and neither was anyone else.

I sent a copy of From Here to Eternity.

I'm not a fan of book burning, butboth storage spce and fuel can be hard to come by at a FOB, and it can get mighty cold in parts of Afghanistan at night.

Just sayin'.

velvet_fog:

*shakes tiny fist*

Pincy: Procerus: As much as I dislike O'Reilly, I dislike burning books more.

At least recycle them. Or donate them to the poor because poor people need to learn their place in society.

I think a fire in a steel drum is probably the closest you'll get to recycling at an outpost in Afghanistan.

But I would like to see them donate the books to poor locals, just for laughs.

If burning is the appropriate way to dispose of the American Flag, I'm sure it must be the appropriate way to dispose of fine patriotic literature like Mr. O'Reilly's book.

HotWingConspiracy: Conservatives maintain a pretty cartoonish view of our soldiers. They honestly believe they're not only all republicans, but the kind of republicans that would find some enjoyment in an O'Reilly book.

Works both ways. Troops maintain the cartoonish view that Republicans actually care about them and are tough on terror, so by god, we need to support them.

one of Ripley's Bad Guys: I get an assload of auto magazines due to my business - they along with hotsauce and candy get sent to the most god-awful ass end of the moon post I can find (think: Restrepo).

Any farkers stuck in some OP in Afghanistan chime up and will send to you. Sorry, Fobbits need not apply.

Former Navy

+1 from a paratrooper. Even to a Navy guy.

Wellon Dowd: Send the boys (and girls) a book they can really use: the Bible.

It's thick enough to stop a bullet and can be used to prosthelytize the locals when the shooting stops.

Bodice ripping romance novels do REALLY well I've been told.

/YARLY!

If you are going to send people a right-wing love letter to conservatism, at least be sly about it and send a book that also masquerades as mere entertaining fiction, like Starship Troopers.

/Love that book
//Would not want to live in that world

Procerus: As much as I dislike O'Reilly, I dislike burning books more.

Considering people are risking their lives delivering this stuff I'm not too worked up. Why not two boxes of mixed books? Or two ipads with thousands?

Sheer douchebaggery no matter who sent them.

Glenford: Procerus: As much as I dislike O'Reilly, I dislike burning books more.



Seriously, fark you and your hero tag subby.

The thing to abhor is censorship, not the particulars of how its done. When I start a wood stove with newsprint, it's not in malice. That's not the intent here.

What else is there to do with a big box of hardback door stops in a war zone?