Michelle Malkin » “Scott Thomas” steps out of the shadows Update: The blog of “Sir Real Scott Thomas” Update: His MySpace page Update The soon-to-be wife of Scott Thomas Beauchamp?

“Scott Thomas” steps out of the shadows Update: The blog of “Sir Real Scott Thomas” Update: His MySpace page Update The soon-to-be wife of Scott Thomas Beauchamp?

By Michelle Malkin • July 26, 2007 08:35 AM

Update 9:15pm Eastern. FOB Falcon and the Soldier Calling Himself Scott Thomas from a Mother’s Perspective at Blue Star Chronicles:

I’ve spent a lot of time reading about the ‘Scott Thomas’ affair. ‘Scott Thomas’ is the pseudonym taken by a Soldier in Iraq who is weaving tall tales about their adventures there. As the mother of a Soldier serving in Iraq, I find myself glued to the stories and reading everything I can find written about it.

That may seem odd and it probably is, but there are two things that keep me awake at night while my son is in Baghdad. One is the obvious worry about his safety. That’s the worry every mother of every son who has ever gone to war has in her heart. The other is that he not be subjected to the being used for propaganda purposes by whatever enemy wants to use him, his unit, his company or whatever. I believe that is a worry that has taken on a whole new meaning in this war.

Read the whole thing.

Update 5:30pm Eastern. See-Dubya answers the “so what?” question about Beauchamp/Reeve.

Update 4:15pm Eastern. Dean Barnett on the end of the beginning of the “Scott Thomas” affair…

TNR employed as its Baghdad correspondent a guy who was there specifically to mock the war effort while he hopefully advanced his own career as a writer by doing so. Beauchamp’s champions (not that I’m aware of any) have the potential defense that he was a young man who didn’t know any better. TNR’s editors do not. They gravitated to Scott Thomas Beauchamp because he would have the “moral authority” necessary to slander the troops with impunity, a moral authority that Franklin Foer and company of course lack.

One other note: Scott Thomas Beauchamp’s life will be a smoldering ruin when this affair has run its course. His partners in crime at The New Republic will still have jobs and careers. Will they see Scott Beauchamp in their nightmares? And will they see the 160,000 honorable and noble troops that together they conspired to malign?

Just fyi: Here’s Reeve quoting Beauchamp in one of her articles in 2004 for The Columbia Missourian at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Update 2:54pm Eastern. Ace reports that the soon-to-be wife of Scott Thomas Beauchamp is…TNR staffer Elspeth Reeve. According to the TNR masthead, she’s a reporter-researcher for the magazine. ~~Or was?~~ According to Discarded Lies, a TNR staffer was fired this morning. That staffer was the source of the leaks…Update again…I just called TNR’s office and left a message for Reeve. She still works there. Will see if she calls back.

Allah weighs in at Hot Air:

We’ve been getting tips similar to the ones Ace has about Beauchamp being intimately connected to someone on the TNR staff. He claims to have a source within TNR itself (although not anymore, perhaps — more on that in a bit) who thought Beauchamp was either married to someone who works there or was recommended by someone married to someone who works there. There are a lot of “Scott Beauchamps” in the world, no doubt, but if this is a coincidence, it’s a fabulous one…There’s some ambiguity about whether they’re married yet or just planning: the Wedding Channel thing says October but a tipster pointed me to the comments on this MySpace page. Check the May 19 entry for Ian Cognito (Beauchamp’s alias) and you’ll see he says he was married the week before. Whether they’re married or engaged isn’t really important but there you go, for the record.

Thanks to liberrocky for finding the Wedding Channel thing and thanks to Ace for summing this up nicely:

It’s all so Plame-ish. As Gracie wrote to me, of all the embeds and milbloggers and real journalists they could have picked for the job, they instead chose to go with a very partisan, very inexperienced blogger just out of “laziness.” Just because they knew him. Just because it was easy.I actually think part of the reason was that they knew Beauchamp’s politics — he having put them on display on his goofy blog — and so, just like with Valerie Plame, they knew the report was going to come back the way they wanted it when they sent him. But Gracie says it’s just Occam’s razor: Laziness.

Allah’s own summary: “So now the dilemma for TNR: If they find out that Beauchamp’s been exaggerating or outright fabricating in his Iraq stories and they come down hard, they probably lose Reeve too. Then again, they’ve already allegedly lost one employee over this — follow the link to Ace’s site and see what became of his TNR source, “gracie” — and if it turns out Beauchamp’s a liar then Foer will probably be hitting the bricks too, so what’s one more staff vacancy?

Given the number of milbloggers invested in this story and the number of guys with direct links to FOB Falcon — JD Johannes most notably and, per one of the updates above, Jeff Emanuel — the scrutiny of TNR’s findings after they publish the results of their investigation will be intense. They’d better do more than just check with Beauchamp’s buddies, who’ll naturally want to protect a pal, especially one who just got married and whose wife’s job may be on the line.”

***
Here he is…

Here’s his Myspace avatar:

Update 1:50pm Eastern. Michael Goldfarb has lingering questions for TNR and gets word from FOB Falcon:

Mike-

We are in the midst of a formal investigation into the allegations Pvt Beauchamp has made. That’s all I can say for now.

Respectfully,

Kirk

Major Kirk Luedeke
Public Affairs Officer
4th IBCT, 1st ID
DRAGONS

Update: Milblogger Jeff Emanuel also is headed back to FOB Falcon and offers TNR his help.

Mark Steyn pegs Beauchamp: “Strange chap.”

Update: Milblogger/ documentarian J.D. Johannes is headed back to FOB Falcon in Iraq in a few weeks, where Beauchamp’s unit was located (and which Johannes guessed correctly). Johannes has some words for the TNR writer.

Scott Johnson at Powerline doesn’t mince words in his assessment of Beauchamp: “Pretentious ass.” I’d add, in the parlance of p.c. pop psychology: A pretentious ass with issues. Major issues.

Update: The milblogs weigh in…Op-for, LaughingWolf@Blackfive, Mudville Gazette, Uncle Jimbo

And a reader e-mails this info:

I’m active Army & an Iraq vet. I just pulled up “Scott Thomas Beauchamp” on the secure “Army Knowledge Online” website. It lists his current rank as “PV2″. (That data is kept accurate via pay records on that website.)

In his Sep 06 blog post he listed his rank as “Private First Class”. That indicates that without a doubt he was busted at least one rank as part of Article 15 proceedings under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and he likely has a strong ax to grind with his chain of command.

Update: A bit of the revealing poetry of Scott Thomas Beauchamp…

Every morning I get up and I’m a little more liberal than the day before

Every morning I get up and try to recite a fact from something I read last night.

Every morning I get up and wish I was as free as the people that I’m “fighting for”

Every morning I get up and think I’m a tool for global corporations

Every morning I get up and miss my mother

Every morning I get up and shave

Every morning I get up and realize how much I love my comrades

Every morning I get up and say I’m Scott Beauchamp, in the army, living in Germany, and this is my life, and I’m going to be treated like shit today and do landscaping and janitorial work and practice killing people and there could be no other way to appreciate what I had or what I’m going to have once I get out other than enduring this now when all I really want to do is teach history and lay around and read and hustle around and repair the world (tikkun olam) and sift through knowledge and improve culture and learn how to sail and work in soup kitchens and start a family and really, I mean REALLY study the best the western civilization has to offer and facilitiate the mystery and power through everything I do, but I cant do it without getting through this army experience first, which will add a legitimacy to EVERYTHING i do afterwards, and totally bolster my opinions on defense, etc, and of course its making me a lot less lazy, just because im not use to being lazy any more, etc.

Every morning I get up…

Cassandra at Villanous Company has a must-read on the consequences of Beauchamp’s words in TNR and TNR’s expediency:

Desecration of a mass grave is a serious matter. What was his motivation in writing about it?

Certainly this is not behavior sanctioned by the U.S. Army. The right course of action for anyone witnessing such a heinous act would be, if indeed it really happened, to report the perpetrators to the command. Someone who would desecrate the grave of a child, who would place a piece of a child’s skull under their helmet and wear it for hours, is someone in need of psychological help.

Did Private Beauchamp have no concern for this person’s mental health, if not for the welfare of any innocent Iraqis who might be harmed by someone for whom the lines between right and wrong had so clearly been badly blurred? Assuming this account is true, (and considering so far no record of a mass grave has been unearthed in the vicinity of FOB Falcon, this requires a leap of faith) a crime was committed. His obligation was to report it. It is, possibly, understandable that loyalty might have prevented a young man from turning in his comrade, though this doesn’t excuse him doing the wrong thing.

What excuses Franklin Foer? He would surely understand that the Army has rules against desecrating the graves of children. Did he think that simply writing an anonymous article satisfied our obligation to the Iraqi people, since he has apparently satisfied himself that Beauchamp’s stories are “true”? His conscience is suspiciously easy to salve, especially for one who is so ready to believe ill of our armed forces.

This whole episode smacks of expediency, of an editor who believed a story because it aligned with what he wanted to believe and of a young man who, for whatever reason, wanted the freedom to say ugly things without the responsibility of backing them up.

To this day, he is still ducking that responsibility, as are the editors of The New Republic. But the damage has been done. The grisly images of a soldier dancing insanely with the bits of a child’s skull under his helmet, of a Bradley driver swerving to run over helpless dogs, of cruel soldiers mocking a scarred and crying woman, are seared… seared into our national consciousness.

John Kerry could not have done it any better himself.

And more on Beauchamp’s motivations, in his own words: “My goal is to become an incompetent leader that gets fragged by 30 something NCO’s at a forward operating base in Sadr City. Heres to the memories and stardust kid. love, Scott.”

More light-shedding from Dean Barnett, who flags Beauchamp’s Cheney/GOP-bashing.

Update: Looks like this is Scott Thomas’s MySpace page. Yes, his theme music is the Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killers.” The first line of the song: “I can’t seem to face up to the facts…”

Plumbing his blog further, Bad Candy notes that on May 14, 2006, Scott Thomas is unsure of his deployment:

Sunday, May 14, 2006
deployment

in short, our units deployment is postponed until further notice…maybe even cancelled….

posted by Scott Thomas at 2:36 PM

Update: Here’s a blog authored by a “Scott Beauchamp,” titled “Sir Real Scott Thomas,” last updated in September 2006. Same bloated writing style. Here’s a post from April 2006 on his plans: ” ill return to america an author.”

Scott Thomas, Jan. 29, 2006: “This weekend was horrible. I worked all weekend, 12 hour shifts. Today was spent mainly in the motor pool attempting to stop and oil leak in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Now anyone who knows me should be laughing right now at the mental image of ME working on a military armored vehicle worth hundreds of thousands of dollars when I can barely change the tire of an Escort.”

Scott Thomas, Jan. 23, 2006, in response to a commenter who asks him what to tell people who ask what he does for a living: “Tell them that I shoot, move, communicate, and kill. Much like your college career Glenn, only the deaths that I inflict secure the riches of the empire.”

And via Allah and commenter Bad Candy, see this May 8, 2006 post from Scott Thomas. Allah notes: “He’s not in Iraq at this point, I don’t think: his sidebar bio says he’s training in Germany and he cops to being in Amsterdam three weeks later, but I guess it’s possible (is it?) that he was in Iraq and then went to Europe in the intervening time. Either way, the May 8 item can only be one of two things: an exercise in creative fiction that looks exactly like the sorts of things he wrote for TNR or a bit of reportage of an actual incident — in which a U.S. commander ordered the murder of children. Which is it?”

***

TNR’s “Scott Thomas” is Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp, a member of Alpha Company, 1/18 Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division:

It’s been maddening, to say the least, to see the plausibility of events that I witnessed questioned by people who have never served in Iraq. I was initially reluctant to take the time out of my already insane schedule fighting an actual war in order to play some role in an ideological battle that I never wanted to join. That being said, my character, my experiences, and those of my comrades in arms have been called into question, and I believe that it is important to stand by my writing under my real name.

In the bass-ackwards version of journalism practiced at TNR, the editors continue to check whether the stories they published by Beauchamp check out:

As we’ve noted in this space, some have questioned details that appeared in the Diarist “Shock Troops,” published under the pseudonym Scott Thomas. According to Major Kirk Luedeke, a public affairs officer at Forward Operating Base Falcon, a formal military investigation has also been launched into the incidents described in the piece.

Although the article was rigorously edited and fact-checked before it was published, we have decided to go back and, to the extent possible, re-report every detail. This process takes considerable time, as the primary subjects are on another continent, with intermittent access to phones and email. Thus far we’ve found nothing to disprove the facts in the article; we will release the full results of our search when it is completed.

Bryan Preston:

It’s actually not that complicated, guys. Was there or was there not a mass grave that contained the bones of children underneath everyday, mundane household items? If there was, Pvt Thomas’ writings could be true, but if there wasn’t — and we know that there wasn’t — then they can’t be true. Are the Iraqi police the only ones who use Glocks in Iraq? If they are, his writings could be true. If they’re not — in a country awash in weapons, they’re not — his writings contain fabulism.

That’s the bottom line. There’s no need to blame the lack of a good fact check a week after the saga erupted on the difficulty of tracking down witnesses to all the events Thomas claims to have witnessed. All one needs to do is check the basic checkable facts he reports. That wasn’t done before publication, and hasn’t been done yet.

Posted in: Scott Thomas Beauchamp, They don't support the troops

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#1

On July 26th, 2007 at 8:47 am, Foz said:

So I guess the author is a “real soldier”.

But that just makes him a “real idiot” in addition to being totally full of crap [only the Iraqi police have Glock pistols... identifiable by their "square cartridges"... etcetera, etcetera, etcetera]

Fact check that Chomsky!
#2

On July 26th, 2007 at 9:00 am, Regulus said:

So “Scott Thomas” complains:

That being said, my character, my experiences, and those of my comrades in arms have been called into question, and I believe that it is important to stand by my writing under my real name.

Say what? Lemme get this straight: This clown supposedly witnesses things that, if they were not observed by his chain of command, should’ve been brought to their attention immediately; instead he stabs his his “comrades in arms” between the shoulder blades by semi-anonymously writing to a lefty rag portray them in the worst possible light, the details of his accounts straining even the most generous sense of credulousness.

Then, when people who read has BS - and it still reeks of BS - come to the defense of his “comrades in arms,” he whines that it is they who are questioning the character of his comrades?

That’s rich. No sense of self-irony whatsoever.

Does anybody else here have the same disconnect I’m having with this guy’s story?

At any rate, now that he’s finally decided to man up to his back-stabbing, I’m looking forward to his chain of command trotting out the UCMJ and giving him the Stars and Stripes Forever.

I’m also looking forward to what his “comrades in arms” have to say, now that they know it’s him who has been besmirching them.

I’m also looking forward to seeing all the details of his fabulations cross-checked and verified - if that’s possible, which I strongly doubt.

Pandora’s box has officially been opened. Let’s see whether - or perhaps better put, how much - Mr. Foer and Mr. “Scott Thomas” regret their decision to open it.
#3

On July 26th, 2007 at 9:01 am, swj719AWG said:

Square cartridges? I thought 9mm ammo was round… Huh.

I hope Beauchamp enjoys Kansas… I have a feeling that soon he’ll be spending a good bit of time there…
#4

On July 26th, 2007 at 9:03 am, 509th Bob said:

In the Army, there are three classes of “privates,” E-1s and E-2s are both called Privates. An E-3 is called a Private First Class. I would like to know what his actual rank is, and I would like to know how long he has been in service. Frankly, I wonder how this Private could have sooo much “experience” in what seems to be a very limited time in service. On the other hand, I would like to know if his current rank reflects a disciplinary reduction-in-rank, which might reflect a motive for writing his stories. Given the garbage that has been written, the latter seems more credible than the former.
In the interest of full disclosure, when I was in the Army, I was an E-1 through E-4. Yes, my buddies did stupid things when I was in, but not things like this person describes.
#5

On July 26th, 2007 at 9:08 am, Wade said:

I was initially reluctant to take the time out of my already insane schedule fighting an actual war in order to play some role in an ideological battle that I never wanted to join.

What did he think he was volunteering for when he signed up to join the Army?
#6

On July 26th, 2007 at 9:17 am, NeoConNews said:

Now that the name is out, that means there will be a lot more to come on this thing. Looking forward to it.
#7

On July 26th, 2007 at 9:18 am, jrlingreenbay said:

“… in order to play some role in an ideological battle that I never wanted to join.”

He didn’t want to join an idiological battle, but yet, instead of reporting these alleged incidents, following the proper chain of command, he chose to anonymously pen these incidents to a liberal-slanted magazine.

Yeah, that makes sense.

And I agree completely, Wade #5. Sounds like another soldier who enlisted and then is surprised when asked to do what a soldier is supposed to do.

Can you imagine the soldiers who fought in WWII under Patton rolling in their graves at this kid’s complaining of having an ‘insane schedule’?

Maybe we should install time-clocks at each camp and they can do their normal 9-5’s.
#8

On July 26th, 2007 at 9:37 am, bear1909 said:

First, I want to thank Private “Thomas” for his service in Iraq.

Second, I would like to ask him “Are you ready to accept the consequences of your action- writing covertly about your comrades-in-arms?”

Third, I want to know “What was your motive for bypassing the chain of command for handling such alleged misconduct (mocking IED casualty-so severely injured, but still walking around over there?) and atrocities?”

Fourth, I want to understand how “Given your ‘insane schedule’ how did you find time to a) arrange with TNR to write the story; b) organize your thoughts to produce the diary; c) deliver the goods and communicate with TNR.”

Fifth, “What is the most desireable outcome to be realized from your deeds of telling the story you’ve told?”

Sixth, were you unaware that your leak to the TNR is the very type of unauthorized communications the military had ordered “forbidden” a few months back by restricting emailing and blogging without clearance?

Seventh, how did you come to choose TNR for releasing your story?

Eighth, are you acting alone or were you advised by some other party here in the states as to where to “sell” your story?

Ninth, when is the book deal coming?

Tenth, have you been contacted by Oprah Winfrey yet?

Eleventh, are you the troop that Hillary supports? John Kerry? The Breck Girl? Hussein Obama?

Lost count. What do your Mommy and Daddy say about all of this? Is Montel going to have them on? Maury Povich? (where’s Connie Chung when ya need her?)

So many questions and so little time.

Bear smells something stinky.
#9

On July 26th, 2007 at 9:48 am, 3Steps said:

well.. nice that we have a name and all. But frankly it still smells like fiction to me.

Lets see some facts to back it up.

Until then, he’s just some glorified mechanic with a sense of the dramatic. I think he just doesn’t want to go back to changing Escort tires when he gets home.
#10

On July 26th, 2007 at 9:52 am, Bad Candy said:

Ha! Lookee there! I’m on a MM post!

Hey Michelle, check this out. He posts that bit about murdering kids and some Iraqi guy, which you linked. Then five days later he posts about being unsure of deployment. Somethings not right…
#11

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:01 am, jrlingreenbay said:

Reading some of his blog entries and it seems, by his writing style and his use of words, he fancies himself somewhat of a intellectual and comes off as a bit snooty.

Quoting from one entry: “Not really sure whats going on at work this week…hopefully some confirmation on deployment news.”

What soldier refers to their military service as “work”, just as civilians do?

His entries seem to almost snicker at his life-saving training, ” I can apply an IV, treat sucking chest wounds, apply dressings, perform rescue breathing, check for internal bleeding by swiping my hand across your anus, and many other things that arent even appropriate for a family blog…I’ll be awarded a certificate and the warm fuzzy sense of accomplishment that accompanies the conclusion of every combat first aid activity i participate in.”

To me - he just comes off as someone who signed up for something of which he had no real clue about, doing so with the intent of writing about his experiences and become a famous anti-war author with real-war experience.
#12

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:02 am, planetgeo said:

The link to his previous blog as “Sir Real Scott Thomas”, and to his vow (” ill return to america an author”), are very insightful. This is a young man who has succumbed to the lure of becoming a famous author. He envisions himself a modern day Hemingway, learning his craft and gaining attention in a war zone.

Unfortunately for TNR, what this indicates is that his “Shock Troops” is more likely nascent fiction than warfront reporting. Nice try, though.
#13

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:02 am, swj719AWG said:

SO as of May 16th, 2006 he wasn’t in Iraq yet.

When was his FOB constructed?
#14

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:03 am, WisCon said:

Of all the people over there, this is the one they somehow chose to publish.

They don’t want us to win.
#15

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:08 am, Kowboy said:

On July 26th, 2007 at 9:00 am, Regulus said:

instead he stabs his his “comrades in arms” between the shoulder blades

And anyone here who has ever been in the military knows what might just happen next.
#16

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:09 am, swj719AWG said:

I know, WisCon… Teflon Don deserves wide publication, but this is the guy they pic?
#17

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:13 am, pressto said:

It appears the myspace page was change already, but a little searching and I found this guy who might be in the same unit as him. He list Scott as his hero and there are some photos here I think are him.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=75003605&albumId=0
#18

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:19 am, swj719AWG said:

He even LOOKS like a whiner.

His CO must be thrilled about this.

Thrilled I tell you!
#19

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:26 am, uhangtight said:

if you are a mechanic in the motor pool you are NOT out driving the vehicles. these are two different functions this i know from being an army wife. Husband was part of the motor pool in the army back in the 70’s. There are those in the motor pool that drive the vehicles (only) and those that work on the vehicles (only).

his lack of correct verbiage is also disturbingly fake…

I smell a rat..
#20

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:28 am, jrlingreenbay said:

Oops - sorry Michelle - you updated with the same stuff as my entry as I was writing it…my bad…but my point remains the same….
#21

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:29 am, pressto said:

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

you wouldnt know it to look at him, but he was famous long ago
its been something like a month since I’ve spoken to most people back in the states. I’ll keep the reasons for this simple, as simple as the nature of the reasons themselves:
1. working my ass off
2. training in the field (which means sleeping in the woods, no phones, etc.)
3. pre-deployment affairs

As of the 25 of July he is still not deployed.

Now I really think this post will enlighten you to this guys thinking.

Thursday, January 26, 2006
Out of the well lit wheel
Here I breifly work the stone
Before scuttling back into darkness….

Awoke from a strange dream last night with those lines in my head. At first I thought they were Whitman…but despite all my searching I can’t find those lines and I dont know where I remember them from. Maybe they’re original. In the dream I was at a military base in suburban Atlanta…more of a highrise building than a base…My brother and sister were babies again and I was taking care of them for some reason, along with another, strange third baby who was under my care for sure but whom I didnt recognize…I went into my room with the kids and it was being searched by a belligerent MP who found a book entitled “Love and Death According to Hammas” by Seinfeld. He held it saying, “What the hell is this?” I answered “Its a comedy book sir, by Seinfeld” Another MP in the corner agreed with me quietly. But I was the only person in the room who knew that the author Seinfeld wasn’t the comedian but a Dr. Seinfeld, an anthropologist. Other things happened as well: a chase, spiral staircase, secret elevator compartments…nothing very specific…. Dont worry, this blog wont turn into a dream journal.
#22

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:35 am, swj719AWG said:

there could be no other way to appreciate what I had or what I’m going to have once I get out other than enduring this now

No other way?

I suspect he’ll appriciate what he had once he’s spending time in Levinworth…
#23

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:35 am, jrlingreenbay said:

What’s with the title of one of his myspace blog entries: “Jew York City”?
#24

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:35 am, HeatherRadish said:

To me - he just comes off as someone who signed up for something of which he had no real clue about, doing so with the intent of writing about his experiences and become a famous anti-war author with real-war experience.

So much for “people only join the Army because they’re poor and stupid and can’t find a job in the horrible Bush economy.” Although I guess in this case, the stupid part applies…

Maybe in a couple of years he can become a famous author with real breaking-rocks-into-smaller-rocks experience. I look forward to that memoir!
#25

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:35 am, chapoutier said:

Yeesh….

I am a democrat and stronly anti-war, but even I gotta admit this guy clearly has some sort of agenda.

Its like his only reason for enlisting was to give him the street-cred he needs to be taken seriously as a writer. Not necessarily the most reliable of sources.

That is not to say that what he has written about is or isn’t true. I have not followed this closely enough to pass judgment on that. And I suppose that the truth, one way or the other, will come out soon enough. But this guy has some serious credibility issues. I would have thought that TNR would have learned its lesson after the Stephen Glass debacle.
#26

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:38 am, swj719AWG said:

Chapoutier, trust me.

he number of people from his own FOB that are talking about how wrong his stories are is astonishing.

The techincal issues with the tales he tells alone kill his cred.

I hope Court TV covers his courtmartial.
#27

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:45 am, jrlingreenbay said:

Man…you can hear the dominoes tumbling on this guy’s life….

What a tool.
#28

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:48 am, DesertLover said:

I am anxiously awaiting the next Scott Thomas installment … the one where JAG comes knocking …
#29

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:51 am, publiuswarmac9999 said:

There are a series of basic facts that can be checked. Like in the Rather memogate scandal, there are e-mails, telephone records, and correspondence. The question is can any of the Thomas claims be validated by reference to time and place, as well as by the nature of the incident. Until TNR releases the raw data for scrutiny, this entire episode has to be considered suspect.
#30

On July 26th, 2007 at 10:59 am, josetheguerilla said:

MM,thank you for covering this story.

His myspace is like a picture, it speaks a thousand words
#31

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:03 am, crashemt said:

Can you say…court-martial? I bet Scott can, really soon.
#32

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:11 am, swj719AWG said:

Even if everything he said is TRUE he needs to get courtmartialed. What his stories tell us (if true) means he’s utterly unfit to wear the uniform.
#33

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:13 am, governmentdrone said:

I’m calling BS on everything this guy says, does, thinks, etc.

SQUARE CARTRIDGES? Apparently he knows nothing about weaponry except what he fabricates in his own mind. This is a small detail that appears to be nothing more than an attempt to play to his buddies in the moonbat base who will swallow anything that makes America and it’s soldiers and allies look like the bad guys. Since those folks know less about weapons than even this guy does, I’m sure they are more than willing to swallow whatever he spews lock, stock and barrel (no pun intended).

Personally, it would surprise me if this guy has seen any assignments in the service other than “Permanent Latrine Orderly”. Come to think of it, it all kind of makes sense now. Guy is incompetent (”Gosh Sarge, where’s them square bullets for this here Glock? All I can find is these here round ones.”) Superiors recognize incompetence and assign him to scrubbing latrines and peeling potatos for the duration so he won’t harm himself or others. Thomas/Beauchamp has his feelings hurt that he won’t get to “play” with the adults, so figures “I’ll make ‘em wish they hadn’t made fun of me” and the next thing you know - instant moonbat icon.

Just my opinion.
#34

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:23 am, aaron2 said:

Like it or not, the U.S. armed forces are a reflection of America and there are a lot of Americans like Scott Beauchamp. Large organizations are made up of all kinds of people. If 99.9% of the individuals serving in Iraq right now disagree with what Scott Beauchamp has written, then there are at least another 100 soldiers who are applauding what he’s done. All they lack are the connections to get published in a high-profile venue.

It’s clear to me that Scott Beauchamp has been writing fiction, embellishing real-life data to make a better story for his audience back home, a crime not too different than what Hemingway or Churchill did. If he admits to that much then just let the kid wrap up his enlistment and go home.

He’ll probably be a contestant in “On the Lot” the following year and a Senator from a New England state a few years after that.

Any abuse you heap on him as an individual is just going to feed his martyr complex, so any rage you feel right now should really be directed at TNR, the institution standing by modern journalism’s credo “Fake but True!”
#35

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:25 am, 29Victor said:

getting through this army experience first, which will add a legitimacy to EVERYTHING i do afterwards, and totally bolster my opinions on defense, etc,

So… he joined the Army to be a JFK (John Fargin Kerry), or what? Or maybe another KOS?

He practically lactates whiney pseudo-erudite leftist elitism. The Army for him is a means to his personal ends but he’s really better than it. He plans on doing IMPORTANT things with his life that have nothing to do with hard work and sacrifice. He’s going to “repair the world,” by himself apparently, later, after he gets done with the menial tasks that currently soil his pretty, pretty hands. He has something to offer. He’s not just a face in the crowd. He is important. He is “in the Army but not of it.”

Currently, the quickest way to get your face out of the crowd and into the spotlight, if you happen to be a soldier, is to attack the U.S. Military. So he did. To feed his craving for attention and reinforce his self-importance he resorted to John Kerry cannibalism. He fed off of the bodies of dead civilians and the reputations of his “comrades” hoping to gain from them the mystical powers to lift himself to greater heights.

And yet… he’s so stupid and juvenile that he obsesses on improving Western Civilization while not appreciating the fact that he is a member of the organization that makes Western Civilization possible.
#36

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:26 am, James Felix said:

SQUARE CARTRIDGES? Apparently he knows nothing about weaponry except what he fabricates in his own mind.

You know, I’ve been trying to figure out what it is he’s even trying to say with that “square cartridges” line. Glocks come in several calibres, but they’re all standard (9mm, .45, .40 etc). At first I thought maybe he meant the magazine, but the Glock’s is no different from any other semi-auto pistol. The only thing I can come up with is maybe he’s referring to the slide, which compared to a 1911A1 or M92 does have a blocky or “square” appearance. But anyone who can confuse the slide with a “cartridge” would have to be profoundly ignorant, if not outright brain damaged.

Which, now that I think about it, seems to describe this guy pretty accurately.
#37

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:27 am, CommentGuy said:

From a comment on his own blog he also has a FACEBOOK ACCOUNT

3. pre-deployment affairs
It looks like we’re going afterall, sometime within a couple of months. I’m too haggard right now to wax emotional about it.
I hope everyones doing well, and I’m going to check email, facebook, and myspace as soon as this antiquated computer somes to its senses.
#38

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:27 am, Laree said:

I would like to see his enlistment papers somebody put this guy in the Army, did he get in on a Waiver? I bring this up because his writing it self, seems like he is disconnected from reality, maybe delusional? I know all recruits go through back ground checks to get in the Army. Right now I am only reading about specifics related to his time in the Army what about before, what did he bring with him, what baggage was he carrying into the Army?
#39

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:30 am, EWTHeckman said:

I noticed this in Scott’s “poetry”:

Every morning I get up and say I’m Scott Beauchamp, in the army, living in Germany

Wait a minute! Didn’t he claim to have witnessed atrocities in Iraq? How could he have done that if he is stationed in Germany?
#40

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:31 am, 29Victor said:

@aaron2

It’s clear to me that Scott Beauchamp has been writing fiction, embellishing real-life data to make a better story for his audience back home, a crime not too different than what Hemingway or Churchill did.

Do you mean Ward Churchill?

Writing hit pieces about our military durring a time of war is “embellishing real-life data”?

I’m pretty sure Winston Churchill would have had his head on a platter for writing this kind of crap.
#41

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:35 am, James Felix said:

It’s clear to me that Scott Beauchamp has been writing fiction, embellishing real-life data to make a better story for his audience back home, a crime not too different than what Hemingway or Churchill did. If he admits to that much then just let the kid wrap up his enlistment and go home.

I disagree. If he was spinning tall tales years after the fact I’d think him despicable but that’s all. What he’s doing now is actively working to undermine the armed forces while they’re engaged in an actual war.

I think some time in a military prison is not only appropriate, it’s positively called for.
#42

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:36 am, blogagog said:

Is he wearing makeup?
#43

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:45 am, planetgeo said:

There really needs to be an appropriate award for this kind of writing. I suggest “The John Kerry Prize For Military Fiction”.
#44

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:45 am, Schweggie said:

With this moonbat’s credibility more than sufficiently demolished, I’d love to get the Korean hostages back on the front burner.
#45

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:46 am, Michelle Malkin said:

Nooo. It’s just his avatar.
#46

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:48 am, jrlingreenbay said:

With all the colorful writings and anti-war leanings….maybe we need to rename our now famous author…

Borrowing from ‘Full Metal Jacket’ - I dub him “Private Joker”, and I can see the field confrontation now…..

COLONEL
“What is that button on your
body armor?

JOKER
A peace symbol, sir.

COLONEL
Where’d you get it?

JOKER
I don’t remember, sir.

COLONEL
What is that you’ve got written
on your helmet?

JOKER
“Born to Kill,” sir.

COLONEL
You write “Born to Kill” on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What’s that
supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?!

JOKER
No, sir.

COLONEL
You’d better get your head and your ass wired together, or I will take a giant s#!$ on you!

JOKER
Yes, sir.

COLONEL
Now answer my question or you’ll be standing tall before the man.

JOKER
I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man,
sir.

COLONEL
The what?

JOKER
The duality of man. The Jungian thing, sir.

COLONEL
Whose side are you on, son?

JOKER
Our side, sir.

COLONEL
Don’t you love your country?

JOKER
Yes, sir.

COLONEL
Then how about getting with the program?
Why don’t you jump on the team and come
on in for the big win?

JOKER
Yes, sir!
#47

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:53 am, Terri said:

What kind of self respecting lib posts stuff like this:

“Train ride to Wurzberg: 11 Euro
Two Steins of Beer: 12 Euro
Having a girlfriend that embodies racial perfection: priceless”
posted by Scott Thomas at 5:05 AM 0 comments
#48

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:55 am, CommentGuy said:

#39

Wait a minute! Didn’t he claim to have witnessed atrocities in Iraq? How could he have done that if he is stationed in Germany?

Thats his home base, he is in Iraq in the Bayaa District of Baghdad

Look for the 1-18 in the lower left corner of this map
#49

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:58 am, DarkKnight said:

Terri: where is that quote from?

My question: What is “racial perfection”?

That doesn’t make sense to me. This whole situation is quite bizarre.
#50

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:02 pm, Bad Candy said:

SQUARE CARTRIDGES? Apparently he knows nothing about weaponry except what he fabricates in his own mind.

HotAir covered this last week. We think he was talking abut the squarish imprint left on the casing by the Glock firing pin, which has a squared off shape and tends to leave a unique imprint.

So either he botched up his explanation(entirely plausible considering his writing) didn’t know what the hell he was talking about or an editor scrambled it(or it was scrambled before and the editor being a lib, was clueless.)
#51

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:05 pm, planetgeo said:

DarkKnight, here are some clues to what he might have meant by “racial perfection”:

Where was he? Germany.
What did Germans once believe they were? The master race.
What does he call NYC on his blog? Jew York City.

Connect the dots…get the whole picture.
#52

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:05 pm, Bad Candy said:

Terri # 48.

I think that was a poorly delivered Nazi joke. She’s German, tall, blonde hair and blue eyes. The “racial perfection” thing was a reference to Hitler’s vision of the Aryan race.
#53

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:07 pm, Bob's Kid said:

What gets me most about this is that TNR wants so badly for what he said to be true they are grasping at straws to try and find even a shred of truth to it.

I’m not surprised, mind. Disgusted and disappointed, but not surprised.
#54

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:09 pm, jrlingreenbay said:

#52 & #53….

Without knowing his reasoning for making the ‘racial perfection’ statement, and given the ‘Jew York City’ title, I don’t see how, #53, you can dismiss it as a poor joke.

If this was all about a heroic soldier writing about courageous battles, and he had ‘Jew York City’ on his MySpace page and talked of having a girlfriend of ‘Racial Perfection’…. the Libs would be all over this guy as a Nazi Right-wing nutcase.
#55

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:14 pm, swj719AWG said:

I can’t believe I didn’t catch those two bits.

Watch though. It will go from “tormented liberal whistleblowing on the eeeeeeeevil military” to “neo-nazi facist is welcome in the Army”.

You just wait and see.
#56

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:15 pm, Terri said:

Dark Knight:

The entry is dated January 18, 2006.

I agree with Bad Candy in #53, I think he was making a jab at the Germans, now that I re-read it.

The way he lays it out for us that he thinks he is doing this a la John Kerry, for some hoped for political or literary future is just amazing. If John Kerry had a blog we would probably see his plans too.
#57

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:20 pm, DubiousD said:

An FOB Falcon officer’s email at Blue Star Chronicles further disputes Thomas’ account:

There was a children’s cemetery unearthed while constructing a Combat Outpost (COP) in the farm land south of Baghdad International Airport. It was not a mass grave. It was not the result of some inhumane genocide. It was an unmarked cemetery where the locals had buried children some years back. There are many such unmarked cemeteries in and around Baghdad. The remains unearthed that day were transported to another location and reburied. While I was not there personally, and can not confirm or deny any actions taken by Soldiers that day, I can tell you that no Soldier put a human skull under his helmet and wore it around. The Army Combat Helmet (ACH) is form fitted to the head. Unlike the old Kevlar helmets, the ACH does not have a gap between the helmet and the liner, only pads. It would have been impossible for him to have placed and human skull, of any size, between his helmet and his head. Further more, no leader would have tolerated this type of behavior. This type of behavior is strictly forbidden in the U.S. Army and would have made the individual involved subject to UCMJ actions.

Hat tip: Villainous Company
#58

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:20 pm, DarkKnight said:

Thank you Terri.
#59

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:21 pm, USN RET said:

Actually jrlinggreenbay the scene from Full Metal Jacket that will probably apply here will be the blanket party thrown in private Pyles honor. Beauchamp is probably hiding under a rock right now if his CO hasn’t already put him in protective custody. When I was stationed on the USS Lincoln is 93. I had a similar situation. Had an airman,( I think his name was Ahern), go UA before deployment. He got caught a month later after crashing his motorcycle and started spinning a tale about how he deserted to protest the Navy’s environmental policy, all the trash we were throwing overboard. He even claimed a chief took away his camera when He was taking pictures of the dumping. Unfortunately he blabbed to his buddies,( who now had to sort the previoulsy mentioned trash),how he was going over the wall so he could be with his girl. So the environmental surfer dude got a dishonorable and had to pay his own bills for the crash since he was a deserter when it happened.
#60

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:25 pm, angryoldfatman said:

Beauchamp looks to me like he is trying to emulate the success of Anthony Swofford or our dear Kos.

Swofford’s war lasted approximately 100 hours, and he got a book and movie deal out of it by portraying our servicemen as a bunch of moronic, insane killers. You can see how Beauchamp could get the idea, considering how many times he mentioned the movie “Jarhead” in his blog.
#61

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:27 pm, DesertLover said:

angryoldfatman

This guy couldn’t be allowed to wipe the sweat off the A– of a real Jarhead …
#62

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:29 pm, angryoldfatman said:

Oh, I definitely agree DesertLover.
#63

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:37 pm, Boomer said:

I have a feeling this young man will be getting an interesting education as he becomes a guest of the Military Penal Facilities in Fort Leavenworth, KS. I’m sure the Marine guards will ensure he finds out what a really hectic schedule feels like while he processes big rocks into gravel. What a freaking loser.
#64

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:39 pm, The Raging Republican said:

I cant do it without getting through this army experience first, which will add a legitimacy to EVERYTHING i do afterwards, and totally bolster my opinions on defense, etc, and of course its making me a lot less lazy, just because im not use to being lazy any more, etc.

Are you sure that this is not a John Kerry journal entry???
#65

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:40 pm, crashemt said:

“Train ride to Wurzberg: 11 Euro
Two Steins of Beer: 12 Euro
Having a girlfriend that embodies racial perfection: priceless”

Yep. It’s a wonder what legalized prostitution does to a young soldiers brain.

An 11 Euro ride to Wurzberg makes me think he is stationed in Hoenfels (sic). But 12 Euro for two steins of beer??? He obviously doesn’t know where to go in Wurzberg!
#66

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:41 pm, ceannrua said:

My “little” brother just got back from FOB Falcon. I asked him, and NO kid graves were unearthed while he was there. As to the woman with the burns, my brother never saw her.
#67

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:45 pm, crashemt said:

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:09 pm, jrlingreenbay said:
… the Libs would be all over this guy as a Nazi Right-wing nutcase.

Yea, except the last race with Leiberman exposed who the real anti-semites were in this country. His poking fun at Germany, and his anti-semetic attitude fit perfectly with the leftist agenda.

Sad…
#68

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:46 pm, DesertLover said:

crashemt said:

12 Euro for two steins of beer??? He obviously doesn’t know where to go in Wurzberg!

considering the Moral Compass of this clown why would one expect his sense of direction compass would be any better ?
#69

On July 26th, 2007 at 12:47 pm, swj719AWG said:

Yea, except the last race with Leiberman exposed who the real anti-semites were in this country. His poking fun at Germany, and his anti-semetic attitude fit perfectly with the leftist agenda.

Crashemt, that has always been the
case…

I recall a quote from before US involvement in WWII. Along the lines of ‘Why should we care if he’s killing jews? They’ll still vote democrat’
#70

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:01 pm, angryoldfatman said:

One more comment.

Like I said before, Beauchamp seemed to love the movie “Jarhead”. I never saw the movie, just the trailers and whatnot.

I just read the Wikipedia entry for the movie, and it says that the movie shows at least one incident strikingly similar to the atrocities that Beauchamp supposedly witnessed, mainly a Marine playing with a corpse on the “highway of death”.

“Apocalypse Now” is to Kerry what “Jarhead” is to Beauchamp, it would seem.
#71

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:02 pm, pmain said:

Wow, big surprise a progressive lied about his military experiences to possibly further his career or at the best, to add authenticity to himself. I wonder when they’ll make him a Democratic candidate for President a;a John Kerry?

Is anyone surprised that TNR or the NYT rushed to release this information? To me, the saddest part is that the MSM no longer has employ foreign stringers to “create” a story, they now have American volunteers. Let me guess, a true form of patriotism.
#72

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:07 pm, CommentGuy said:

By bringing his own real name to the front, he has indirectly fingered the other most likely players in this game.

A crew is attached to each vehicle and it doesn’t get changed each day.

There is gonna be a lot of finger pointing and “unofficial” investigations going on about this story.

Lets just hope there are enough pieces left for the JAG Corps to slap around.
#73

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:24 pm, CommentGuy said:

Now that we know he was from Germany as his home base , this story, could have a lot of genesis of his skull story line.

The story hit around Oct 2006 so he could have taken it and ran with a similar story line for his own stuff

More Images Implicate German Soldiers in Afghanistan

More images showing German soldiers playing with skulls and bones in Afghanistan have surfaced. The site had been a regular stopping point for patrols. Those who didn’t play along were considered wimps.
#74

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:27 pm, jrlingreenbay said:

Re: #73

I caution all readers, if the above e-mail address is correct, to use common sense and a discretionary tone in your emails, lest you find your angry writings on the front page of the NYT or some liberal website as proof of the ‘hatred’ of the conservative right wing.
#75

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:28 pm, jrlingreenbay said:

Nice find, Commentguy….

I knew I’d heard something similar before…just had no idea where..

Now I know.

Great job
#76

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:30 pm, swj719AWG said:

#75 is right on the money.

Don’t act like you post on Pandragon or Kos… Act human.
#77

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:33 pm, publiuswarmac9999 said:

A lot of you are missing the point. TNR published his stories without any fact checking. There is a clear paper trail regarding Beauchamp’s wearabouts - the army, if nothing else, runs on paper. Until the raw date with dates, times and places is provided by TNR, this is nothing but fiction masquerading as fact and a disservice to the US military.

And, even worse, as the above post about German soldiers in Afghanistan suggests, it may have nothing to do with Iraq or even US soldiers. This episode should not disappear into the blogosphere. It is potentially a serious breach of journalistic ethics and integrity, if there is anything more such as juouralistic ethics and integrity.
#78

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:37 pm, planetgeo said:

OK. This guy has been duly exposed. Self-identified as a lib and artful liar-wannabe. And it’s only a matter of days, if not hours before each of his shock troop reveries are confirmed as waaaay embellished recreations of past movies, book scenes, and poetry/journal project metaphors.

Now, let’s get on to the really interesting stuff: what is the defensive perimeter that TNR and the leftist press are going to post around their new star? Here’s a plausible scenario (puts on Spinmeister hat):

While subsequent detailed fact-checking has revealed some minor inconsistencies, we remain committed to the validity of Private Beauchamp’s writings as an appropriate, insightful piece for our audience. They represent the journey into one soldier’s soul. They reveal the human toll extracted from his subconscious by an inhuman war. That is a truth that cannot be undone by any amount of inquisition of minutia. We stand by Private Beauchamp and our editorial decision to print his writings.
#79

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:40 pm, swj719AWG said:

While subsequent detailed fact-checking has revealed some minor inconsistencies, we remain committed to the validity of Private Beauchamp’s writings as an appropriate, insightful piece for our audience. They represent the journey into one soldier’s soul. They reveal the human toll extracted from his subconscious by an inhuman war. That is a truth that cannot be undone by any amount of inquisition of minutia. We stand by Private Beauchamp and our editorial decision to print his writings.

Tell me the truth… How long till you failed at your attempts to supress the vomiting when you wrote that?
#80

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:44 pm, CommentGuy said:

Publis

Not only does the service have a paper trail, but the net has a whole trail of bread crumbs on this guy.

Reading his blog alone makes the author critic linked to an analysis of this guy sound right on , but also the milblogs had already nailed it to which unit he was in a couple of days ago.

So he only outed himself because the blogs were getting him into the small box he couldn’t escape.

He had to know someone in the company he was in was going to rat him out in the short term because too many dots were being connected.

As I said earlier, the Army better airlift out not just him but the same squad attached to that one vehicle since they are the most likely participants described in his story unless it is made from whole cloth.

The 1-18th would know if someone was coming back with dog hair in their vehicle treads and such and word of someone playing games with a vehicle would have people in the unit pointing fingers days ago.

This guy and all his closest buds on the net (some of his own links go to guys in the same unit) are painting hard targets on the backs of some that will NOT be taken lightly by others in the unit.
#81

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:50 pm, planetgeo said:

Tell me the truth… How long till you failed at your attempts to supress the vomiting when you wrote that?

You got me (he says, still hocking on the chunky parts)…

But you KNOW that TNR is going to come up with something very much like this. They can’t help it. It’s what they do. It’s what they are.
#82

On July 26th, 2007 at 1:57 pm, swj719AWG said:

Oh, I didn’t say you were wrong. In fact, I but you are VERY close to the mark.

I’m just amazed you were able to survive the violent puking.
#83

On July 26th, 2007 at 2:29 pm, PBoilermaker said:

On July 26th, 2007 at 11:58 am, DarkKnight said:
Terri: where is that quote from?

My question: What is “racial perfection”?

That doesn’t make sense to me. This whole situation is quite bizarre.

Wow, DK, this thread and the subject matter being discussed have absolutely nothing to do with racial issues, yet you jump in to question a racial reference in this nut’s diary? It is funny (yet sad) to see what piques your interest on issues.

As for Beauchamp, his problems in life have only begun to worsen.
#84

On July 26th, 2007 at 2:29 pm, crochetmama said:

Beauchamp said: “I was initially reluctant to take the time out of my already insane schedule fighting an actual war in order to play some role in an ideological battle that I never wanted to join.”

He “…was initially reluctant …..”like someone held a gun to his head and forced him to submit stories to the TNR?

“…to take time out of his already insane schedule….”as another poster has noted, this sounds more like Paris Hilton than a real soldier.

“….fighting an actual war…” Actually it sounds like he’s been doing everything but fighting an actual war.

“…to play some role in an ideological battle that I never wanted to join.” He “NEVER” wanted to join the ideological battle?? What a load of garbage! That’s all he wanted to do was chronicle the actions of his fellow soldiers so he could portray their actions in “a manner reminiscent of Genghis Khan” (quoting John Kerry when he trashed his fellow soldiers). He’s obviously using the Kerry playbook for how to get rich, famous and important. Now all he needs is to work on his accent and find a rich lady to marry him and he’s got it made.

And shame on TNR for not having checked these things out before they published them. Why are these editors so quick to believe that our soldiers are so vicious and evil? Because they want to.

What a bunch of losers…
#85

On July 26th, 2007 at 2:36 pm, saintkansas said:

jrlingreenbay -

Borrowing from ‘Full Metal Jacket’ - I dub him “Private Joker”

Over at Hot Air I’d come to the same conclusion; I’d bet he’s seen FMJ a million times (like the Kolumbine Kidz and The Basketball Diaries) and thought he’d sign up to “observe” with his detached intellectual superiority.

Besides, it’s not like he was gonna get rich off his, um, poetry.
#86

On July 26th, 2007 at 2:59 pm, CommentGuy said:

jrlin

I realized this was gonna be a major flap days ago and I took down 6 of the servers I have here to run spider programs searching the web on unique keyword stories and search terms to follow this up.

I had all the smell you just had to wait to tell.

Basically I did data mining of the web, there is a whole lot more out there and it gets amplified when you look at the social network of all those around him.

For those taking a lighter approach, don’t just read his blog posts, but read the comments as well, it reflects on his support mechanisms.

He may in the next few days try to erase himself from the net, but he will not be able to convince all those linked off of him to do the same thing.

I have seen this before.
#87

On July 26th, 2007 at 3:01 pm, LuxEternam said:

all I really want to do is teach history and lay around and read and hustle around and repair the world (tikkun olam) and sift through knowledge

Isaac Luria, the renowned sixteenth century Kabbalist, used the phrase “tikkun olam,” usually translated as repairing the world, to encapsulate the true role of humanity in the ongoing evolution and spiritualization of the cosmos.

From the website Inner Frontier”

Looks like Pvt Thomas is a Kibbalist as well…maybe he can get a gig as Madonna’s biographer!!
#88

On July 26th, 2007 at 3:04 pm, jrlingreenbay said:

crochetmama:

I agree, that TNR probably wanted to believe these things are true…just like Rather / Mapes.

It makes good copy and sells magazines.

And if, as they say, they knew who this person was and were hiding his identity, you would think that someone who cared would have found these blogs and found this myspace stuff and thought…hmmm… something seems odd about this.

Obviously, simple fact-checking and resource vetting is a thing of the past for them.
#89

On July 26th, 2007 at 3:05 pm, CommentGuy said:

This story is about just the guy being a legend in his own mind, it also about the cheerleaders of his own supporters giving him a green light.
#90

On July 26th, 2007 at 3:06 pm, Rick Moran said:

Please do not publish the personal email address of anyone.

That violates the Terms of Use and is cause for immediate banning.
#91

On July 26th, 2007 at 3:08 pm, jrlingreenbay said:

Commentguy:

I agree - I read some of those comments from his supporters.

One that stood out to me was just before the 2006 elections talking about how they were going to win and get all the troops home, etc….

Obviously a Democrat predicting a Republican demise and a change of policy.

But - nooooooo…there’s no ideology involved here…
#92

On July 26th, 2007 at 3:28 pm, Laree said:

I had a look at this fellow’s myspace page, he is Pretentious, this is who we are putting in the Army? I did see scrolling down his page, he doesn’t want kids…good call. His buddys are encouraging him his fellow Mechanics? His MOS is Maintence?
#93

On July 26th, 2007 at 4:23 pm, jrlingreenbay said:

Great updating, Michelle!!!!!

This ‘Plame-like’ addition is amazing and really turns up the heat on this whole situation!

Outstanding work by all the bloggers out there who are pounding the keyboards and tiring out their eye muscles on the screens.

Kudos to you all - and keep up the great work!
#94

On July 26th, 2007 at 4:33 pm, tony the tiger said:

RE: #73 deletion and #75 #77 & #91 (Terms of use - email addy violation)
My sincerest apologies, I didn’t realize that was a violation. I did consider the possible ramifications before posting… the thing is, these bastids really should hear from the public.
I just read another JT story which says:

Lest you think I’m going all mushy on you in terms of appraising Beauchamp, let’s be clear – Scott Thomas Beauchamp went to war with the specific goal of ridiculing and belittling the war effort. Yes, he wore the uniform. In virtually all cases, that’s praiseworthy. But in Beauchamp’s case, he wore the uniform as a means by which to make his artistic bones; he knew that in making those artistic bones, he would undermine the efforts of his brothers in arms. In short, he went to war with the specific purpose of weakening the war effort.

I think 1LT Ehren Watada had the same goal - that of undermining authority and weakening