Sunday, October 23, 2005
Okay, It's goodMatt at Tattered Coat emailed
me to point out how wonderful all of this coverage of Daniel's blog is
for any future book deals and how I clearly have a "protective urge."
He's right. I've got that crazy loyalty thing. I get feisty
and ready to fight (really) when I think one of my homies has been
"wronged." I really ought to lay off because it's actually good.
Especially since a lot of people really are reading Daniel's posts. 10:56:57 PM | I have no idea how Daniel feels about this coverage, but Holly is ecstatic, and that's cool. Daily Kos! Democratic Underground!! It's fantastic that the story of his blog's demise has been so widely publicized. It's just too bad all of these folks weren't reading his blog regularly when he was still able to post. If you haven't yet, go read his blog. Honest. You won't regret it. 
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All Shut Down (Completely Revised)Please go read all of Daniel's blog, All the King's Horses, and then come back to read this. 11:19:40 AM | Daniel's blog has been shut down by the military. I've read Daniel's blog for months now and I consider him a friend. It saddens me to see a few in the liberal blogosphere decry the demise of his blog without actually reading his essays. Please do not make Daniel into a censorship martyr. Read his work! The fact that Daniel's blog has been censored is not just sad because censorship is always sad. It's sad because Daniel is a damn fine writer and his blog was one of the best out there, soldier-written or not. I have a handful of actual blogs on my blogroll. I only visit a handful out of that handful every day and Daniel's is one of them. His stories are often hilarious and dark, just the way I like them. His satires are comparable to those of Lewis Lapham, in my opinion, and often even better. His writing is clear and concise. His rants are well thought out, honest, and most of all, heartfelt. He's known about the risk this whole time and yet he's still blogged, which shows how brave a writer he is. Most bloggers blog anonymously, some without even revealing their real first names, though they do not write under the risk of being criminally charged, being ostracized, demoted, or given life-threatening orders. Not so with Daniel. Daniel has said what he thinks and said it well, and said it all as himself, Daniel Goetz. That's why I will miss Daniel's blog. We have all heard right-wing pundits (and right-wing soldiers) say countless times that soldiers are "defending our freedom of speech." It is horribly ironic that the free speech of the soldier, especially when he says anything critical of the military, the administration, or our policies, does not exist. I understand the need to keep "sensitive" information off the web. And perhaps these commanders have read "critical" wrong, thinking it applies to writing that criticizes the administration rather than information essential to military operations. (It wouldn't suprise me given the misuse of words and the bleeding of meaning that have been trademarks of the past five years.) But having read everything Daniel has written this year, including Club Fed and Remember Petey, two highly amusing works of expert satire, I can say (and swear on the Bible, y'all!) that he did not once, not ever, give away any information about where he was, what his unit was up to, or how they did what they did. Nothing at all. I can only guess that his blog has been shut down because he dared to be the "Vet of the Week" on Operation Truth two weeks ago. In his profile, he talked about how this is his second tour in Iraq and how his contract expired months and months ago, and how this breach of contract, and the behavior of the military, has left him feeling betrayed. He's not alone. That profile could have been written by S. The sad truth is that the military can't recruit enough soldiers for a war the vast majority of Americans don't support being fought in a country where the vast majority want us to leave. The war was a mistake and continues to be a mistake. This administration doesn't believe in admitting mistakes, let alone correcting them. They would rather silence those who dare to point them out. Bush Co. wants to believe it can control everything, including the criticisms thrown at it. But it can't. Sooner or later the stories will be told. I hope Daniel continues to chronicle his stop-lossed time in Iraq and that he comes home and puts it all together as a book. His stories are important. And he's just the writer to tell them. I'll miss your blog, Daniel. Stay safe.
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Last update: 11/1/05; 5:28:20 PM .
