Earlier this year, this site entered the discussion of the role of Milblogs in providing the "rest of the story," the part untold by the Main Stream Media. A Key Point in that discussion was whether or not Troops should openly state their names and positions, even as the Military was recognizing that Milblogs are such a vital part of providing the true story to the American People.
More recently, there has been a lot of discussion that the US Body Politic would attempt to muzzle dissent in the blogosphere. That debate rages on today. It seems incomprehensible that any politician would have any real expectation of realizing a goal of officially silencing opposition in this country. The 1st Amendment to the US Constitution is not in any way unclear: Free Speech shall NOT be abridged.
For obvious reasons, Troops cannot espouse political parties in uniform, but just as clearly, they are entitled to be active in the political arena, to 1st Amendment protections, out of uniform. Still, we are seeing Milblog leaders, stalwarts in the community shutting down. These first casualties are those most politically active, and those who have stated their names and positions. It seems that my point that Troops should be afforded anonymity if desired has taken greater importance.
A World Without Spin was designed as a place for Blake Hurdis to discuss the politics that effect this Nation, yet now is only a "gone out of business sign." His reason for the shutdown is: "things became more and more hectic and coming back to AWWS became harder and harder to justify." While his statements demonstrate no pressure from the government, his site is nonetheless missing from the debate. Not even his old discussions are available to us.
A clear example of suppression is however present in the CJ Grisham absence. His trials and tribulations with the Government were known. CJ wrote for 6 years but this year, he began shutting down, after he was ordered to Washington DC to answer for his words of dissent.
First, he ended his participation at Military Pundits, a site he and Troy Steward of Bouhammer set up for all sides of the debate to discuss political issues. Authorship was limited only by Veteran Status, but included both the right and left side of the aisle, to include prominent members of the IVAW, about as far left as you can get. Now, he's not even listed in the Authors, though he was a founder of the site. I was invited to join in there, but chose to concentrate on this site, chose to restrict my political discussions to those that effect National Defense.
While CJ publicly stated that his decision to leave Military Pundits was not forced on him by the Military, he did note it was out of frustration that he was under fire. The Military had not told him to suppress or suffer an actual trial, but after his public announcement, he was sent back to Alabama with the decision of the Military to leave open the possibility of punishment, while not pursuing it at that time.
Officially, he stated that he wanted to concentrate on his sites: A Soldier's Perspective and They Have Names. His primary site, A Soldier's Perspective now allows a search of the archives but the Out of Business sign states: "I refuse to allow my private blog's message to be dictated with threats and intimidation. It's been a fun six years!" His other site is still open and as respectful as ever it was, but clearly the decreased focus on politics has not afforded him opportunity to add much to it. CJ had one of the Top Rated MilBlogs, as rated by those that search out or write Milblogs at Milblogging.com.
CJ's battles are known to the world. His fight in DC was brought to the attention of the Veteran with the ear of the President, LT Paul Rieckhoff, self-appointed director of the IAVA, anointed as the "non-partisan" "VSO" Spokesman & Defender for the President's Military and Veteran policies, brag-gard of his regular invitations to the White House, and fan of George Soros, who either refused to defend CJ's right to free speech or was powerless to prevent harassment of CJ for it.
Whether impotence or uncaring for the 1st Amendment rights of his fellow veteran, CJ, the effects are the same, Rieckhoff allowed harassment to silence the opposing view. Rieckhoff's insider position with the Administration did not protect the Iraq Veteran's Free Speech Rights from the Government. Then again, Rieckhoff's hero, George Soros, has declared, through his organization MoveOn,org a goal of suppressing dissent in the blogosphere of the current administration.
And CJ's site will not be the last to shutter the portals. Another site administrator has stated to me privately that he too plans to stop writing. While he did not indicate any outside pressure, it will be one more major Milblog voice missing from the debate. More than one of the links not already mentioned here in our blogroll has gone silent. Some have openly said why, while others simply disappeared. Some I keep going back to, in hopes of revitalized voice and others I wait for some type of official word.
Our readership has increased, while leaders in the MilBlog arena have seen declining numbers. Privately, I have speculated on the reasons for that, but factual conclusions can not be made. Whether other sites like ours or not, whether they consider us a competitor or not, they are allies in getting the information out. The American People and the world needs to know the rest of the story and they're not getting it from the Main Stream Media.
I have made specific offers to specific individuals to open spin-off sites, free of charge, where they can archive their hard work, and/or continue their work with their own designs and their own sidebars and even their own advertising. To others, I've invited to have a voice on this site, so long as they maintain the policies of the site, i.e. stick to National Defense debate, not Health Care, Stimulus Spending, etc.
When a new site opens in the same arena as our focus, I offer the possibility of unified effort here, but if turned down, I'm more than willing to afford them attention from this site and links to theirs. It doesn't matter from where the American People get the rest of the story, only that they have access to it, that they know Our Troops are Valorous, Victorious, and Generous; Our Troops are Honorable. Each site has a different look and don't necessarily focus on the same points, even when showing much of the same efforts.
At this point in time, we are in need of more Veterans and Troops speaking out, not less. My position has not changed, that we are in need of consolidation of effort at well-trafficked sites rather than more sites by fewer individuals. But whether an individual contributes to 10 sites or 10 people contribute to one site, these voices are important. The question is how to stop the trend of the leadership of milblogs from shuttering their portals permanently, even as new MilBloggers open their own sites.
Whether the voices are silenced by governmental interference, harassment, or fatigue, the results are the same: another voice in the debate silenced. And we are at a point that we need those voices. Though there has been a surge in Support of Our Troops and Support of Our Veterans, as seen on Veterans Day when it was at times 4 of the top 10 trending topics, we are also seeing partisan politics take over the discussion on Afghanistan, which has in recent history preceded erosion of Support of the Mission before erosion of Support of Our Troops.
And at the same time, we have seen Political Correctness kill Our Troops at Ft Hood, we have seen the talking heads blame PTSD and the "psychotic veteran" instead of the clear motivation of islamist terrorism, and we have seen the NYTimes, Newsweek and other MSM sources attempt to victimize Our Troops and Veterans while undermining the General's Request for Reinforcements.
Whether you are a Veteran/Troop considering a place to discuss the War On Terror, a Supporter of Our Troops wishing to contribute to the rest of the story, or a Milblogger considering putting your site into the dustbin of history, consider adding your voice to this site or another that is willing to send you an invite. But don't allow your important work to go unread. Don't allow your voice to be silenced.
If you are a reader of this site or others, but don't feel confident to add your voice, spread the word. Let your friends, neighbors, families, colleagues, and politicians know where they can find the Voice of Veterans, of Troops, of the rest of the story. Feel free to forward our newletter to all you know or to republish the newsletter in whole or in part on your own site. Americans and the World deserve to know Our Troops are doing Great Things, even with limited resources.
Stumble It!
