"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to."

-- Col. Jessup [Jack Nicholson's character] responding to Navy Lawyer Kaffee [Tom Cruise's character]. (who is ironically based on David Iglesias, later fired in the U.S. attorney scandal)

Shorter Dick the Butcher: "The first thing you do, you kill all the lawyers." You can hear this wish in is his tone.

Don't fall for the offer to go to Iraq, Glenn. Something tells me you won't get the same protection Michael Yon does and might end up like Pat Tillman.

Maybe this is a fake but let's not misunderestimate the lengths to which things have degenerated.

Any defense of the policy will be incoherent. Boylan's screed is one example. Dana Perino's daily exercizes in excuses, concealment and denial are another.

After all, think how difficult it is to defend the policy where the US is literally switching sides in the Iraq conflict -- now arming and supporting the Sunnis against the Shiite government we created.

This level of incompetence would be comical if not so lethal.

No contest

Col. Boylan is not competitive in this weight class.

--Anonymous

That's hilarious. Even more so since Boylan is not only not competitive with Glenn Greenwald, but he isn't even competitive with the rabble-rousers on Glenn Greenwald's blog.

As an example, how easy it is to fake email is described here.

http://www.xult.org/fake.html

I agree.

However Boylan may have passed out while putting a glossy pink toe polish on the left sorefoot.

No person on earth will ever know?

Let's have faith. Let's all believe.

Gen Petraeus will tell us if it was his right sore crowfoot.

The Iraq fiasco has probably caused a lot of turnover in the upper ranks of our military. We know that the Bush administration does not tolerate any disagreement from its minions. I think General Shinseki was just one the more prominent examples. I suspect that most of the high-ranking officers who have voiced disagreement with Bush's policies have been dismissed or been moved out of the chain of command.

It is frightening to think that politics played a role in the selection of officers who were promoted to replace the dissenters. It is possible that much of our military's high command now consists of people like Col. Boylan.

The real nightmare is thinking about how this may relate to executive directive 51.

It is incredibly easy to fake an e-mail.

A commenter left this in comments at UT where you posted the letter.

For the sake of completeness, Glenn, you should probably post the header information from that e-mail along with the body, just to ensure that it is likely to be confirmed as a real e-mail from Colonel Boylan (ie, that it originated from .mil IP space) and foreclose the possibility that it may be a hoax. Of course, even if its origin is demonstrated to be .mil space, it is still possible that another military person forged Colonel Boylan's name to the e-mail -- but should Boylan make such a claim once he sobers up, that would open up a whole other kettle of fish, with implications the good Colonel would not care to face, I think.

Tom Betz

I think it is likely to be genuine.

L.W.M. wrote It would probably be a serious federal offense if it was, impersonating a military officer, even in an e-mail.

Certainly, I hope so. But L.W.M., here is where Glenn will hit the *real* politicization of the other branches of this government - which Federal Agency is going to investigate this email should it turn out to be a hoax?

... by the fact that the military is hiring sub-literates like Col. Boylan?

Glenn is probably the first person to point out this politicization of the military in a coherent way. Glenn must be really getting to them, Boylan comes off like a teenage bully in his response. He obviously wanted it posted, since he talks about Glenn posting his previous emails.

which Federal Agency is going to investigate this email should it turn out to be a hoax?

-- macgupta

We wouldn't need a 'federal agency' to investigate. If it's a hoax, it's a hoax. Fuck a bunch of 'federal agencies' to confirm it as such.

I think Col. Boykin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_G._Boykin

Certainly, I hope so. But L.W.M., here is where Glenn will hit the *real* politicization of the other branches of this government - which Federal Agency is going to investigate this email should it turn out to be a hoax?

-- macgupta

Fortunately our Armed Forces, and other areas of our government, are not entirely populated by political partisans with "issues". Whistleblowers from every sector are coming forward every day.

Glenn is there a way of checking the veracit of this e mail? I find it very hard to believe that it was written by a Colonel from the US Army, more so one that is a Public Affairs Officer.

..and every other branch of the US government Glenn. And the fact Boylan is squealing so loudly just helps to prove you're correct. Keep up the good work. As you point out here, Americans sure as hell can't count on Tim Russert and others in the corporate media to shine any light on these abuses.

I shudder to think that Col Boylan is representative of the US Army officer corps, but after 6 plus years of the Dick n' W show, and the purging of all but the most obedient hacks, I can't say this would surprise me.

But look at the bright side, at least the likes of Boylan and Bergner are just dishonorable PR flacks and propagandists. It could be worse, they could actually be leading troops in battle.

God forbid...