Wednesday, January 13, 2016 — Imagine our surprise: this morning we were informed that we are the someone who is wrong on the internet.
Since our informant was kind enough to take the time to specify certain verifiable details concerning our wrongness, we have updated this post in a good-faith effort to be somewhat less wrong.
To begin with, we have removed the photo of a person who was demonstrably not J.D. Pendry, and substituted a photo of Mr. Pendry from the website to which we were referred by our corrector.
Today’s commenter, Stephen Woolsey, apparently did not read our post closely enough to see that we had already noted the Marine/Army error.
We are even more done with this topic now than we were the last time we dealt with it.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 — If we ever get into the habit of taking an hour to prepare a post every time someone sends us evidence that someone is wrong on the Internet we are doomed. Today, however, we will indulge. We are prompted by an e-mail forwarded by a subscriber who participated in the Southeast Asian War Games forty years ago. The forwarded item, titled “An Axis of Idiots,” was [incorrectly] credited to one J.D. Pendry, “Retired Sergeant Major, U.S.M.C.” [Pendry was not a Marine. According to his website, he was a Command Sergeant Major in the U.S. Army.]
Our correspondent noted, “I’m ashamed that a Senior NonCom has gotten it Soooo Wrong. Although like most of their ‘arguments’ it has smidgens of ‘truth’ — just not the whole truth (i.e. We installed the Shah, and the Iranian people hated him. Al-Qaeda attacked us because we were in their ‘Holy Lands.’ We are ‘there’ for oil — period. It was the CIA and Pentagon that failed us, and not Democrat Presidents … )”
We won’t bother to refute Pendry’s screed. He’s not the only person on the Internet who’s wrong. We’ll just point out that, contrary to the e-mail he’s not a former Marine, but a retired Army NCO. And for those who never served, we thought we’d translate that plate of “chest salad.” These bits o’ magpie bait are read from top to bottom, and from left to right, in descending order of awesomeness. In that order, we find:
The Legion of Merit, which implies no form of heroism whatsoever unless there’s a “V” for valor involved, and which, for a guy who (allegedly) made the rank of Command Sargeant Major, could mean nothing more than that he did a superior job of sucking up to his superiors.
The Defense Meritorious Service Medal, which is a non-combat decoration introduced by … that Commie bastard, Jimmy Carter!
The Army Commendation Medal, which, again, without the “V” device, can be awarded for mere meritorious service.
The Army Achievement Medal, which, we venture to argue, well merits the response, Big Freakin’ Deal.
The Good Conduct Medal, to which we say, we should should freaking well hope so.
The National Defense Service Medal indicated that the recipient successfully kept breathing during a “national emergency” that has run, on and off, for thirty of the last sixty years.
The other three are insignificant enough to lump together as filler.
So. our hero here put in 28 years in Uncle Sam’s Army enjoying three hots and a cot, and generally living the socialist good life. And he knows everything.
That, dear reader, is all the attention we intend to give Mr. Pendry. We invite anyone else who gets bombarded with his ravings to direct their correspondents to this page.
The fact he seems to miss Reagan ie the President who sold guns to the Ayatollah(contrary to the US embargo) and funded Nicaraguan terrorists(contrary to US law), already undermines any argument he’s trying to make.
Wow, I made it in the paper. And incidentally I am not scorched by your use of me derogatorily. To be castigated by a Politically Correct (read Communist) rag, to any degree, I find as high praise. Thank you for your kind advances.
Aaaanndd… here is the actual speech.
On Your Hands
J. D. Pendry
Jimmy Carter, you’re the father of the Islamic Nazi movement. You threw the Shah under the bus, welcomed the Ayatollah home and then lacked the spine to confront the terrorists when they took our embassy and our people hostage. You’re the runner-in-chief.
Bill Clinton, you played ring around the Lewinsky while the terrorists were at war with us. You got us into a fight with them in Somalia, and then you ran from it. Your weak-willed responses emboldened the killers. Each time you failed to respond adequately they grew bolder, until 9/11.
John Kerry, dishonesty is your most prominent attribute. You lied about American Soldiers in Vietnam. Your military service, like your life, is more fiction than fact. You’ve accused our Soldiers of terrorizing women and children in Iraq. You called Iraq the wrong war, wrong place, wrong time, the same words you used to describe Vietnam. You’re a fake. You want to run from Iraq and abandon the Iraqis to murderers just as you did the Vietnamese. Iraq, like Vietnam is another war that you were for, before you were against it.
John Murtha, you said our military was broken. You said we can’t win militarily in Iraq. You accused United States Marines of cold-blooded murder without proof. And said we should redeploy to Okinawa. Okinawa John? And the Democrats call you their military expert. Are you sure you didn’t suffer a traumatic brain injury while you were off building your war hero resume? You’re a sad, pitiable, corrupt and washed up politician. You’re not a Marine sir. You wouldn’t amount to a pimple on a real Marines butt. You’re a phony and a disgrace. Run away John.
Dick Durbin, you accused our Soldiers at Guantanimo of being Nazis, tenders of Soviet style gulags and as bad as the regime of Pol Pot who murdered two million of his own people after your party abandoned South East Asia to the Communists. Now you want to abandon the Iraqis to the same fate. History was not a good teacher for you, was it? See Dick run.
Ted Kennedy, for days on end you held poster sized pictures from Abu Grhaib in front of any available television camera. Al Jazeera quoted you saying that Iraq’s torture chambers were open under new management. Did you see the news this week Teddy? The Islamic Nazis demonstrated real torture for you again. If you truly supported our troops, you’d show the world poster-sized pictures of that atrocity and demand the annihilation of the perpetrators of it. Your legislation stripping support from the South Vietnamese led to a communist victory there. You’re a bloated fool bent on repeating the same historical blunder that turned freedom-seeking people over to homicidal, genocidal maniacs. To paraphrase John Murtha, all while sitting on your wide, gin-soaked rear-end in Washington.
Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Carl Levine, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Russ Feingold, Hillary Clinton, Pat Leahy, Chuck Schumer et al ad nauseam. Every time you stand in front of television cameras and broadcast to the Islamic Nazis that we went to war because our President lied. That the war is wrong and our Soldiers are torturers. That we should leave Iraq, you give the Islamic butchers – the same ones that tortured and mutilated American Soldiers – cause to think that we’ll run away again and all they have to do is hang on a little longer.
American news media, the New York Times particularly. Each time you publish stories about national defense secrets and our intelligence gathering methods, you become one with the sub-human pieces of camel dung that torture and mutilate the bodies of American Soldiers. You can’t strike up the courage to publish cartoons, but you can help Al Qaeda destroy my country. Actually, you are more dangerous to us than Al Qaeda is. Think about that each time you face Mecca to admire your Pulitzer.
You are America’s axis of idiots. Your Collective Stupidity will destroy us. Self-serving politics and terrorist abetting news scoops are more important to you than our national security or the lives of innocent civilians and Soldiers. It bothers you that defending ourselves gets in the way of your elitist sport of politics and your ignorant editorializing. There is as much blood on your hands as is on the hands of murdering terrorists. Don’t ever doubt that. Your frolics will only serve to extend this war as they extended Vietnam. If you want our Soldiers home, as you claim, knock off the crap and try supporting your country ahead of supporting your silly political aims and aiding our enemies. Yes, I’m questioning your patriotism. Your loyalty ends with self. I’m also questioning why you’re stealing air that decent Americans could be breathing. You don’t deserve the protection of our men and women in uniform. You need to run away from this war – this country. Leave the war to the people who have the will to see it through and the country to people who are willing to defend it.
No Commander in Chief, you don’t get off the hook either. Our country has two enemies. Those who want to destroy us from the outside and those who attempt it from within. Your Soldiers are dealing with the outside force. It’s your obligation to support them by confronting the axis of idiots. America must hear it from you that these people are harming our country, abetting the enemy and endangering our safety. Well up a little anger please, and channel it toward the appropriate target. You must prosecute those who leak national security secrets to the media. You must prosecute those in the media who knowingly publish those secrets. Our Soldiers need you to confront the enemy that they cannot.
They need you to do it now.
Copyright © J.D. Pendry 2006
And incidentally you just made an entire article about the wrong guy. J. D. Pendry’s website covers it with a photo. jdpendry.com.
Nice article on the wrong guy. Who checks your stuff?
Well!
The accusation of falsehood goes around heavily here. After a read of the paper of note one could not get better Journalism if they credited Pravda itself. Pendry has said what is true. I also have seen a great deal in service and was not originally polarized until I witnessed the level of Journalism used while on active duty in Somalia. Lying does not begin to cover it. It left a bad taste in my mouth and I detect the same savor here. Schlock Journalism has always been the stock in trade of the bad guys and always will. It gives the air truthful respectability to even a Billy Goat as long as he can write. Attacking Pendry’s character of service without actually knowing what is the actions is not Journalism but mere ad hominem.
I suggest you try Journalism in the future and leave the TASS stuff to the declared Communist and not be back street radicals honking snake oil. Sheesh. You guys actually sound like that rabble at CNN.
Army CSM Pendry is entitled to his opinions, but not an entirely unique set of ‘facts’. He selectively trashes all Democrats while ignoring the culpability of his chosen gaggle. He smears John Kerry and ignores the facts that while Kerry had a safe billet on an ocean going destroyer, he volunteered for River Boat duty and was awarded a boatload of medals for real valor (something you point out Pendry is lacking despite a full career in the Army.) It wasn’t until he ran for President that ‘some folks’ on the far right side of the aisle decided his medals for valor were bogus. I don’t dispute that congressman John Murtha had some issues but Marine John Murtha served in combat with distinction during several wars in his 30 plus years of service. His analysis of the mess in Iraq has been substantiated by none less than 4 star marine general Anthony Zinni (former CENTCOM Commander) who agreed with Murtha that the mess in Iraq was not winnable and most certainly best avoided. I for one, wish CSM Pendry would keep his biased and ill informed views to himself.
This axis of idiots is still being sent around the Internet. I will forward a link to this page to all on the email list.
Dear Admin,
Though I agree with you on the questionable accuracy of his email now redubbed “Axis of Idiots”, I sincerely hope you would give him the due decency to read his book, the Three Meter Zone, before judging him.
Yes, he even has a chapter discussing ribbons and board of reviews. Unless you yourself have served, do not belittle the accomplishments of those who defend us.
Cruisin — Where did we imply that Pendry had claimed to be a Marine, or exceeded his First Amendment rights?
Our point, which appears to have evaded you, is that Pender is being passed off by others as something he is not. He and his wrong-headed screed have, predictably, been taken up by the knee-jerk right-wing crowd. His message is now being propagated around the ‘Net, and every time it is forwarded, the collective value of the public debate is lowered another notch.
Not that we expect our deconstruction of his blatherings are going to change anything. It just scratches an itch we have, not to let this willful ignorance go unrecorded.
Had the correspondent done the most minor research and wanted to present a balanced point of view, he would know that Pender never claimed to be in the Marines. He also never titled it Axis of Idiots. Pender sent this years ago to his private e-mail list and it got circulated on the Internet. Whether you agree or not, it was his personal opinion sent to friends and last time I checked, that was still allowed.
THIS GUY SOUNDS LIKE HE IS TRYING TO DESTROY HIS OWN GOVERNMENT.. HE SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED.