The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by William Lexner:

Ok, fair enough.

I apologize for how I was taken in my first post. I did not mean it as an attack... it was the first idea I had upon considering who the Neilsen-Hayden's are. If it was not well-thought out -- I apologize.

I did not make a personal attack on anyone and honestly meant nothing I stated as venomous. I was a bit put off at what I considered to be overzealous and hateful replies to something I had not intended to be read as any sort of attack.

As I stated, more than once, I agree in principle to the feelings espoused in the original post.

I apologize, also, if my intent to confront Patrick was taken as some sort of physical threat. It was not meant as such, then or now.

However, the fact remains, I will not be talked to in such a manner, and would (and indeed will) confront anyone who speaks to me so.

Xopher,

At no point did I make any sort of threat. Do not interpret my words to mean anything but what they stated. Can one not call someone onto the carpet for such behaviour without it becoming violent?

He cussed me out. There was no need for it, but he resorted to such churlishness anyway.

The argument itself is no longer an issue. One does not argue with someone who can not attack points of view rather than people.

I'm not in the habit of being told to kiss someone's ass or to fuck off. It's infantile and patently absurd over the internet.

I'd be happy to forgive him, it seems as if I unknowingly struck a nerve. I've been known to bluster about, myself.

Say that to my face at Worldcon, Patrick. I'll be sure to give you the opportunity.

Fungi,

Despite lip service to Veteran's health benefits, I would hazard to say that there are no such things.

It's not a matter of denying benefits to Reservists, such benefits are not readily available for any Vets. You think dealing with an HMO is hard? Try getting money from the government.

People point to veterans hospitals, and that's all well and good. They pay the lowest rates of any hospitals in the country, and as a result, employ the dregs of the medical community.

I've been forced to have three surgeries on my right knee to repair the damage done from a simple surgical procedure to reattach my ACL at a veterans hospital.

As I refused to be worked on again by butchers, I went about the medical procedures like any other American -- I suffered the HMO Blues.

The point I'm trying to make is that like every other purported 'Veteran's Benefit,' it's bullshit. Only as an absolute last resort would I go anywhere near a veterans hospital.


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As for the mixing of covert ops in the DoD, well yes, that happens. As I explained before, we will fly them in. Sometimes special forces units will go into a nation without identification of any sort and attack a specified target.

My assertion is that these activities take place in countries that are not in the news, and mostly in Central and South America. (and never against any 'official' government agency) In countries with a radical muslim population, SOP has been company men and women only.

Admittedly, I no longer have my finger on the pulse, but I think it's pretty safe to assume that we'd act with more care, not less. Special Operations or not, our troops are not trained to be spies, and there are no signs of any target being destroyed in Iran. As such, there is no reason to believe that our troops are in country. That is what they do, after all; blow shit up.

-Ok, I will admit that I know next to nothing of the Reservist situation. This is speculation.

But my basic understanding suggests that Reservists are actually being called up to do the duty they signed up for. If one enlists in the military -- be it reserves or no -- and then is shocked to be called upon, isn't that a bit absurd? Isn't that what reservists are for?

It appears to me that the talk of the military being overused is signifigantly premature. I do understand that they are having grave budgetary shortcomings, and the administration is not helping.

Maybe Reservists are being called upon to do more than they envisioned, but certainly not more than they signed up for.

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Running for office is something I've considered. However, it's only been recently that I have gone through a disillusionment; I've been a republican most of my life. (though socially liberal)

I don't know exactly where I fit in.

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CHip, I don't really know how to feel about the Dean campaign. While there was some effect, it seems to only have swayed the already converted.

Maybe a blog can have a major impact. Maybe if there some sort of incentive for millions to check it every day. God knows, the guys from Penny Arcade could start a revolution with their readership.

-Teresa, getting mad at someone who agrees with you in principle is not solving anything.

I do not think a blog is consequental in any way, shape, or form. There is only a small community of people who read these things. A weblog has never changed the world, never even made a dent. Pamphlets and novels have made nations.


-Anarch, You purport to have some 'secret information' about the U.S. military and some sort of tacit understanding of the workings of special operations.

Well, I am using my real name. SSgt William J. Lexner, USMC. (I'm long since out) I've served in every Clinton war save Kosovo, though I spent quite a bit of time in the former Yugoslavia years prior to that. As a UH-1N Crew Chief, I flew dozens of insertions for Force Recon, Navy SeALs, and even spooks into multiple nations. I submit that I have a basic understanding of how such things are accomplished.

Furthermore, I submit that we have no need to 'cut off' supply trains or anything relating to such. GPS tracking satelites have made it unneccessary. We know exactly when and where they pass into Iraq. When they get by us, it is because we let them. Do not make the mistake of underestimating our armed forces capabilities.

I say again, we do not have troops on the ground in Iran. Undoubtedly we have CIA and informants, but not troops. There is nothing to be gained by it. Nothing whatsoever. There is certainly nothing troops can do that spies can not at this stage.

So is there a secret war going on? Sure. We have people there.

But we do NOT have members of the Armed Forces there. It's a conspiracy theory, quite a silly and uninformed one, and AGAIN I state that it detracts from an argument of merit; that we have no business in Iraq.

Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush are plagues upon our nation. They have done enough worthy of our contempt without jumping at shadows.

and another thing:

-Our military is not stretched too thin. Not even close. What *is* stretched too thin is their budget. This is not the same thing. Marines, for instance, are not deployed for any longer or any more often than they have in over a decade.

Anarch, talk like that is what makes some people on the left sound like blithering nutjobs.

There is simply too much attention being paid to Iran for anything but spook work. Certainly we have spies there. Without a shred of doubt.

We do not, however, have military members. It would be public in half a heartbeat. This is not the late 60's with US forces crossing into Cambodia. Iran is not a backwards nation; they are the cradle of civilization and they do indeed have high speed internet.

Believing there are military members in Iran is no different than believing in any run-of-the-mill conspiracy theory. It's foolish.

Ignoring that, don't we have bigger problems to worry about? We *know* there are troops in Iraq fighting a war based on lies and greed and bigotry.

We need to worry about real problems before we go inventing semi-preposterous new ones.

My point is that it's not for us to just complain, we need to take action. We need to force wholesale change.

Our allies will never turn against us, they are in too deep financially, and they have just as many problems as we do.

It is our responsibility to get rid of Cheney and Rumsfeld and their ilk.

Teresa, you and your husband are editors at a major publishing house. Get behind a 'Common Sense' for our time. There are dozens of brilliant minds in speculative fiction, and you know most of them.

Do....SOMETHING. Waiting on others to do it for you only makes you part of the problem.

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