May 1, 2006

Join The 101st Fighting Keyboardists! (Bumped)

** Scroll down for updates -- script for blogroll in Update V! **

fighting101s.jpgOur friends on the port side of the blogosphere have had quite a time tossing around funny little nicknames for those of us who support the war on terror and use our blogs to express our convictions about it. We've seen the names here at CQ in the comments section -- the term "chickenhawk" has appeared more than once, and others in the blogosphere have assigned us to a unit called the 101st Fighting Keyboardists.

I've thought about that for a while, wondering what exactly about both epithets appear so fascinating to left-wing bloggers. As a middle-aged grandfather supporting a chronically ill wife, I have few options for doing my part in the war on terror. After 9/11, I spent weeks looking into different options for service while trying to balance my family obligations. Our family found out just three weeks after the attack that the Little Admiral would soon join us, and the implications of terrorism and war weighed heavily on my mind. I resolved to use the skills I had -- writing -- to make the case for fighting a forward strategy against terrorists. Eventually that led me to this blog, but in the interim I argued for a continued muscular offensive against the Islamofascists that had murdered thousands of our fellow Americans.

Is that the same as military service? Of course not. The men and women of the military do the real fighting, and we salute them and support them by supporting their mission. Milbloggers give us the best of both worlds by not only defending our nation and fighting (and beating) terrorists around the globe, but also by reporting on the fight first hand. There is honor in engaging in public debate for policies which we believe are in our nation's best interest as well. For many of us, we know that without presenting our arguments in the national forum, many in the media and the public will quickly overpower the debate and threaten the policies we feel give us the best long-term opportunity to defeat terrorism and the states that fund and shelter them.

Many on the left disagree, however, and often they provide challenging arguments and valuable perspectives on policy and the manner in which it gets implemented. However, many more do little but make ad hominem attacks on those with whom they disagree. They spend a great deal of effort labeling people rather than providing rational arguments on policy, and even the labels they select don't provide much more than amusement.

That's why Frank J of IMAO, Derek Brigham of Freedom Dogs, and I have decided to create -- for real -- the 101st Fighting Keyboardists and adopt the chicken hawk as our mascot. First of all, the term "fighting keyboardist" describes our efforts pretty well, and we think the pseudo-military terminology is pretty danged amusing. Derek himself designed the logo.

hawk01.jpgAnd why the chicken hawk? When we looked into it, it turns out that the chicken hawk is a pretty impressive predator. It's the largest of its family. This species vigorously defends its territory, getting even more aggressive when the conditions get harshest. It adapts to all climates. Most impressively, it feeds on chickens, mice, and rats.

Make of that what you will.

Frank, Derek, and I invite you to join the 101st Fighting Keyboardists (motto: We Eat Chickens For Lunch). I'm starting a blogroll and will post the code for other members to display on their blogs. We welcome all of those who feel they qualify for the unit, but especially those who have a sense of humor as well as a sense of purpose. This way, the next time someone refers to you as a chicken hawk for your blogging, you can remind them that as a member of the 101, your talons are your best weapon and that feeding time is near!

UPDATE: Added the blogroll on the sidebar and have added a few new recruits. The first volunteer was a milblogger -- Baldilocks. I'll work on getting the code out to those who want to display the blogroll on their sites ...

UPDATE II: King Banaian has formed a subunit of vegetarian keyboardists.

UPDATE III: Bumped to the top for more recruitment. I hope we don't get pushed off campus at UC Santa Cruz ...

UPDATE IV: Wow, no sooner do we form this new unit than we get attacked! Hosting Matters came under a Denial Of Service attack from Saudi Arabia, which affected not just the 101st but a . They've resolved it now, but we'll keep an eye out. Also, the blogroll only displays the last 25 members who have updated their blogs -- I'll fix it so it displays the entire list later tonight.

UPDATE V: I'm getting swamped with recruits for the Fighting Keebees! We're up to 66 members already, and I'm behind on adding more. (If you've already sent me an e-mail, be patient -- I'm trying to catch up.) I've posted the blogroll code below. Replace the bracket characters with the sideways-carat characters when you plug this into your website:

Also, plenty of non-blogging commenters have asked whether they can join. I can't put you on a blogroll, but rest assured, you're full-fledged members. Others have asked about T-shirts and caps, and I believe Frank is going to look into that. Feel free to download the large and small logos from our sites, but if you use them for your blogs, please host them at your own site first!

UPDATE VI: Read through some of the comments to find those on the left who completely lack any sense of humor on this topic. You can also find others of the same temperament on a Technorati search, too. One of the few of the left who posts thoughtfully on this subject is the Middle Earth Journal, which isn't crazy about our project but doesn't like the whole "chickenhawk meme" either.

UPDATE VII: Frank J has the definitive Chickenhawk FAQ on his site -- and it perfectly captures the tone of this entire effort. Have a few laughs and check it out. I am WAY behind on updating the blogroll, but I hope to get it updated over the next couple of days. I have dozens of requests I still need to sort out. Feel free to copy the script and add the blogroll to your site in the meantime; some blog systems may requires a [/script tag] at the end (replace the brackets with the less than/greater than symbols). Derek, in the meantime, will start looking into hats, shirts, and so on.

TrackBack

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Join The 101st Fighting Keyboardists! (Bumped):

» We Eat Chickens For Lunch, The 101st Fighting Keyboardists! from Residual Forces
Ed, Chief, and others have formed a new Pro-GWOT (Global War on Terror) blogger alliance thingymabobber. The 101st Fighting Keyboardists Our friends on the port side of the blogosphere have had quite a time tossing around funny little nicknames for t... [Read More]

» We Eat Chickens For Lunch, The 101st Fighting Keyboardists! from SoCalPundit
As a below-knee amputee and father of 3 struggling to keep up with the costs of raising a family, fighting as a soldier in the War on Terror is not an option. Ed at Captain’s Quarters has the same quandry and has devised a solution to it. That&... [Read More]

» A raspy, scraping, screamed "kree-eee-ar" from sisu
You know the usual argument: if you haven't enlisted in the services, you are a wimp and should shut up on all things military, writes Derek Brigham of Freedom Dogs, who designed the new insignia of the 101st Fighting Keyboardists, [Read More]

» Proud to be a Chairborne Ranger! from Little Platoon
I've added a new Blogroll to the right side of this page.  I am proud to be a member of the :

Credit for flipping l... [Read More]

» 101st Fighting Keyboardists from And Rightly So!
Heh…YET another blogroll added. This one is really COOL though and it’s an honor to be a member. THIS is for those of us who support The War Against Terror (TWAT): Ed Morrisey: Our friends on the port side of the blogosphere have had ... [Read More]

» I wanna be a keyboard ranger! from The Gantry Launchpad
I knew there was something I had forgotten! About a month ago, Captain Ed formed the 101st Fighting Keyboardists as a way to spoof the intellectually bankrupt "chickenhawk" argument put forth by the mentally lightweight. Spoof? Sarcasm? Ridicule!? Natu... [Read More]

» Gop3.com: The Triumvirate Joins The 101st Fighting Keyboardists from Gop3.com: The Triumvirate
We here at Gop3.com constantly support our President and our troops not only in the War on Terror but in their humanitarian effort to protect the innocent and promote democracy. We have decided to join the 101st Fighting Keyboardists to further ... [Read More]

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