"Liberal journalism is no longer the voice of the free, but the hunting horn of the mob." Kevin Myers - Irish Independent
Retired Marine General Sheehan was hauled before the Grand Inquisitor - Senator Carl Levin to testify on homosexuals in the American military. General Sheehan offered a history lesson and was attacked by Progressive politicians, the Obama White House, and the main stream media. General Sheehan reported that Dutch soldiers had caused unnecessary deaths of Muslims at the hands of the Serbs in Srebrenica .
The pile-on took place as political cover for the lifted 'Don't Ask; Don't Tell' military doctrine.
The Netherlands have a Diverse Military that celebrates sexual preferences.
General Sheehan who had his boots on the ground at the time of the curious events and suggested that the problem lay with the Dutch soldiers - who might have happened to be homosexuals.
Howls of derision cascaded down upon General Sheehan. Irish journalist Kevin Myers presented the howl-down as an example of Media Over-Lords.
What Gen Sheehan had actually told the Senate Armed Services Committee in its hearings into allowing open homosexuality in the US armed forces was largely as follows. He said that after the Cold War, European militaries had "concluded that there was no longer a need for a combat capability". The peace dividend had caused European governments to socialise their militaries, to unionise them, and to allow open homosexuality. This resulted in "a focus on peacekeeping operations because they did not believe the Germans were going to attack again or the Soviets were coming back". He then turned to events in Srebrenica, where the Dutch battalion was "understrength and poorly led". He described how Serb forces entered the town, tied Dutch soldiers to telephone poles and then massacred the Muslims.
The chairman of the committee, Carl Levin, interrupted him: "Did the Dutch leaders tell you that it was because there were gay soldiers there?"
"It was a combination. . ."
Levin interrupted him again. "Did they tell you it was because of gay soldiers, that's my question."
"They included that as part of the problem. It was the liberalisation of the military, the net effect of, basically, social engineering."
Senator Levin, who had controlled the questioning, then denounced Gen Sheehan for blaming the massacre on homosexuals. Gen Sheehan spoke again: "My comment was the liberalisation of. . ."
He was interrupted again, while the senator lectured him for stereotyping, and for suggesting that gays could be not be great fighters. "I didn't say gays weren't great fighters," protested the general. "The liberalisation of the Dutch military. . ."
He was interrupted again, and lectured once more for saying what he hadn't said. Levin thus began the destruction of the reputation of a great and patriotic marine who had served in his country at war, while Levin had stayed at home.
Never mind that you might think Gen Sheehan's arguments are poor and his opinions old-fashioned. They might very well be both. He is nonetheless entitled to be reported fairly and that didn't happen. And so everywhere he is accused of alleging that gays in the Dutch army (even more, apparently, than General Mladic) caused the massacre at Srebrenica.
This is a good example of how the media agenda works today, and it is, moreover, made altogether more sinister by the fact that its proponents are usually completely unaware of what they are doing. They are contestants in an endless "liberalism" competition, the outcome of which is for liberal thought police to seek out and magnify the possibly heretical thoughts of suspected bigots, as a prelude to their destruction: Sheehan today, and Everyman hereafter. Liberal journalism is no longer the voice of the free, but the hunting horn of the mob.
On Sunday night, Obama Care passed the House and today the jubilant Left celbrates President Obama's signing this historic document with howls of GOP Ugliness.
Mary Mitchell wrote a stupid piece about race hate in the Health Debate.
MSNBC is going flat-out with shouts about real or imagined but certainly undocumented charges of racial epithets and gay slurs hurled at Democratic Legislators. Baby Killer is a bad thing to say to people who love seeing that more babies get butchered through abortion.
We live in strange times and accept strange positions - no matter how stupid, or fabricated.
