Yesterday, writing about the recent online dust-up between Time Magazine's Joe Klein and Salon's Glenn Greenwald, I pointed out that Klein levelled a significant and ugly charge: that Klein had "never seen [Greenwald] write a positive sentence about the US military," which then leads to the assertion, "Therefore, I have seen no evidence that he cares one whit about the national security of the United States. It is not hyperbole, it is a fact." Klein, in his very next sentence, averred, "I am not a religious reader of Greenwald...it's possible that I missed extensive posts in which he praises the Armed Forces or makes positive suggestions about how to track possible communications between terrorists abroad and their confederates here." I pointed out that the juxtaposition of these two sentences presented something of a contradiction.
That said, I was remiss in not following one critical angle, here. It should have occurred to me: "My, my. Wouldn't it be awfully embarrassing if it turned out that Glenn Greenwald had, in fact, spoken highly of the Armed Forces?" Well, one of John Cole's commenters set out to prove that, armed with Google and sixty available seconds, Klein could have actually found out for himself whether or not his claims were accurate. You'll never guess what he found!
[Klein:] "I have never seen him write a positive sentence about the US military."
OK this took 30 seconds to find:
[GREENWALD:] You don't have a monopoly on supporting the troops. I know a lot of people who vigorously oppose the war in Iraq and not a single one of them direct any of their anger about the war or opposition to it at the soliders, including me. Even soliders who fight in unjust wars are typically honorable and brave.
[GREENWALD:] What kind of moral monsters would knowingly advocate policies--such as keeping Guantanamo opened and using "enhanced interrogation techniques"--which our top military leaders and the Commander-in-Chief have clearly stated will help America's enemies and directly result in the deaths of the brave American men and women serving overseas (and that's to say nothing of their support for a totally unnecessary war that sent more than 4,000 American soldiers--and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis--to their deaths)?
So...that's awkward!
PREVIOUSLY, on the HUFFINGTON POST:
Joe Klein Is Now Warblogging With Critics, Forever
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