In the flurry of yesterday's comments and speculation - alternatively worded; trying to make sense out of nonsense - I didn't take the time to read the full version of Boylan's unsolicited email Glenn posted at UT until this morning. The introductory paragraphs are pretty funny, actually. He seems to start out trying to strike a jovial, avuncular tone and then loses it as he sinks into his own two-dimensional self-space.

I am not sending this as anyone's spokesperson, just a straight military Public Affairs Officer, with about 27 months overall time in Iraq who is concerned with accuracy, context and characterization of information and has worked with media of all types since joining the career field in 1991.

Yep. That is a single sentence. Wonder why Boylan felt the need to include that he was "straight?" It's anyone's guess how Boylan feels he can make the claim that he's not anyone's spokesperson while responding to a piece a Glenn has written about military public affairs' releases. What's interesting is his first sentence suggesting he'd wanted to post this in Glenn's letters section. I had hoped to post this in response to your article, but apparently it is closed already. What a lost opportunity for the rest of us.

Glenn left a comments opportunity open when he posted the email in full. Turned out to be an opportunity for the Freepers to chime in. As expected, unable to address the substance of Glenn's post, they chose to vent their spleens on Glenn.

The thing that gets me about binary thinkers is how much they remind me of the school aged kids who form the circle around two others in a fight. The apparent hard-wired need to immediately take sides. Lots of folks commenting here reverted to a "check it out," "maybe it's a hoax," "wonder what this is about" position. As might be predicted, then the efforts to try to verify began in earnest. And, we're still willing to entertain those among us who wonder if the verification we've achieved is sufficient. Two entirely different demonstrations of analytic process. I suspect many of us still qualify our condemnation of Boylan's unsolicited email with the unspoken, but conscious thought, "to the extent it is affirmed Boylan sent the email."

And, Cordelia, if Boylan's email header was sooooo super secret, why use that route to communicate with Glenn? If it's 'classified' Boylan exposed it himself. It's not Glenn's job to protect him from his own stupidity.

OMG. LOL. aroma of scorched neurons -William Timberman This is a beauty, Sir.

A couple of thoughts:

1. Congratulations, Glenn. Consider for a moment that your a con lawyer writing a blog. You're not writing for the NY Times, the LA Times, or WaPo. And, yet you have the ability to send the right wind blogoshpere into a community-wide incident of projectile vomiting. You gave 'em a stomachache. Well, Good Job! A damned fine job at that.

2. Truthfully, I think the Enlightenment simply skipped over these folks. It's some sort of genetic idiosyncrasy, like lactose intolerance, or something. There's no figuring them out, so I no longer try. In truth, I don't think they want to be figured out because they'd have to cop to #3.

3. The ugliness of their attack can only speak to two emotions I can think of; fear and envy. The cure for that is not within your sphere of influence, Glenn. It's their problem alone.

Chickens, all. Flapping their wings, unable to fly any distance, they squawk hysterically, shedding their feathers everywhere. Phefftt!

If this snake keeps growing heads it's going to be very hard for Boylan to chop them all off. I'm still thinking that RMP had the right approach from way back in the beginning. Collect up these missives of Boylan's and let an array of authorities sort it out. With all of the other instances that are surfacing, seems like the "politicization of the military" isn't any longer an "if" but "is."

I don't see Boylan as jerking Glenn's chain at this point. Quite the reverse, actually. Seems like Boylan has made a habit of trying to intimidate any number of folks who have questioned whether the military is upholding the poltical neutrality required by their professional status. If this ball stays in the air for another 24 hours it's hard to say what print media might be willing to allow, "Gee, we've heard from Boylan, too."

Maybe I be or been a bean

but if I be a bean

I want none of those strings

a stringless bean

no strings attached

that climbs the pole high out of the muck

You be a sweet pea

to offer me a stringless bean

The moon no falsehood lie about

stringless beans and sweet peas

If by THIS IS NOT NEWS! you mean this is not the pre-digested, all spin and slants in place, fit for a 4th grade reading level pap you find in your local news paper, you're correct. This more closely approximates real-time investigative reporting as you might find in David Halberstam's notebook were David still alive.

for bringing that message forward.

HawdDriver gives me hope for our military.

There are a number of Red Tails that hunt our fields together with some juvenile Golden Eagles.

I sometimes indulge myself in imagining those eagles and hawks swooping down, carrying off, the 'Jaybird' Rockefeller.

If I can't see these scoundrels and enemies of the Constitution in orange jumpsuits I'd like to see their feathers at the base of the power pole on which these hawks like to perch.

'emptywheel' is live blogging the the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing over at FireDogLake.