Althouse: "I have it on pretty good information from the marines on detail in Iraq that they showed Saddam the movie."

April 8, 2009

"I have it on pretty good information from the marines on detail in Iraq that they showed Saddam the movie."

"Over and over again – which is a pretty funny thought. That's really adding insult to injury."

So say Trey Parker and Matt Stone, about their movie "South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut" (which depicts Saddam as Satan's gay lover.) They also say they received an autographed photograph of the overthrown dictator.

21 comments:

Wince said...: During his captivity, US marines forced Saddam, who was executed in 2006, to repeatedly watch the move South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut, which shows him as gay, as well as the boyfriend of Satan. He was also regularly depicted in a similar manner during the TV series.

Homophobic torture? Call Andrew Sullivan. Parker and Stone, the Bush and Cheney of animation. They may want to curtail their international travel plans.

Again, notice squishy use of the word "forced". Was Saddam really "forced...to repeatedly watch" or at most was he repeatedly shown?; 4/8/09, 11:44 PM
Fen said...: "Marines" is always capitalized.; 4/9/09, 12:14 AM
Ann Althouse said...: @Fen I cut and pasted it.; 4/9/09, 12:22 AM
Fen said...: Lazy :); 4/9/09, 12:25 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Not lazy. Bracket averse.; 4/9/09, 12:40 AM
Jason said...: Nonsense. "Marine Corps" is always capitalized. "The Marines" is always capitalized. When the word is used as a proper noun, it is correctly capitalized.

When it is used as an improper noun, it is not.

You would tell a joke that says "an airman, a soldier, a Marine and a sailor" walk into a bar..."

Nor would it read "an Airman, a Soldier, a Marine and a Sailor walk into a bar."

Yes, the Marine Corps forces their own to capitalize it in their own style guide. That's because they were always too full of themselves.

And just a few years ago, the Army started forcing its own to capitalize the word "Soldiers."

Which is just stupid.

But aside from Army or Marine Corps official correspondence, no one else on the planet is obliged to follow this particular bit of staff weenie idiocy.

Some of it has weaseled its way into the AP style guide. But the adults in the industry, the Chicago Manual of Style, haven't bought in to this bit of nonsense.

We went to War in 1941-45 so we wouldn't have to capitalize improper Nouns like the Krauts.

I don't do it, except in official military Correspondence. We took too many Casualties, and too many Dead, defeating the Hun the Second World War. Refusing to use capital Letters to denote Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, or Coasties is my Way of honoring their Sacrifice.; 4/9/09, 12:59 AM
Fen said...: You would tell a joke that says "an airman, a soldier, a Marine and a sailor" walk into a bar..."

Exactly.

Yes, the Marine Corps forces their own to capitalize it in their own style guide. That's because they were always too full of themselves.

And with good reason.; 4/9/09, 3:54 AM
Meade said...: I'll bet those Marines forced Saddam to sign his name in all lower case letters, rubbing salt in the wound made larger by adding insult to injury.; 4/9/09, 5:24 AM
The Drill SGT said...: That's because they were always too full of themselves.

Yep. ;)

Marines are known for their love of publicity. It has been said that a marine rifle sqad consists of 10 marines and a photographer.

And of course since Iwo Jima, every marine carries a US flag in his ruck,looking for a mountain to put it on.; 4/9/09, 6:11 AM
KCFleming said...: It makes me glad to know that even for a small moment justice was served on this earth.

Repeatedly, it appears.; 4/9/09, 6:19 AM
Mr. Bingley said...: It also recently depicted the United States Treasury as deciding economic measures by cutting the head off a chicken and letting it run on a game show style board, landing on a decision.

Gawd, if only I could believe that Noted Tax Cheat Geithner put even that much thought into what he's doing...; 4/9/09, 6:19 AM
Jason (the commenter) said...: They never use the word torture in the article.; 4/9/09, 6:26 AM
WV.Hillbilly said...: The Ludovico technique ?; 4/9/09, 7:12 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Well at least he wasn't waterboarded.; 4/9/09, 7:28 AM
Ron said...: That's funny, out of respect I've always called them F'in Jarheads.

I wonder if Hitler ever saw "Der Fuherer's Face?" I know Goebbels loved Gone With The Wind, and I think they tried to make a Frederick The Great version.; 4/9/09, 7:28 AM
Meade said...: Speaking to GIs in one of Saddam Hussein's old palaces, Mr. Obama ticked off America's accomplishments in Iraq: "From getting rid of Saddam and forcing him to repeatedly watch the movie South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut, which shows him as gay, as well as the boyfriend of Satan, to reducing violence, to stabilizing the country, to facilitating elections -- you have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country. That is an extraordinary achievement."; 4/9/09, 7:57 AM
Clyde said...: Now if we could only arrange for the Marines to show Kim Jong Il Team America: World Police under similar circumstances!; 4/9/09, 9:12 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: And just a few years ago, the Army started forcing its own to capitalize the word "Soldiers."

Which is just stupid.

Oh, no more stupid than Black=African American, homosexual=gay, illegal alien=undocumented whatever, liberal=progressive… and others; all in the various style books.; 4/9/09, 11:03 AM
raf said...: But you have to give the Marines credit for their humble honesty, as reflected in their advertising campaigns.

"The Few. The Proud. The Marines."
"The Marines are looking for a few good men."

From these we know there ARE a few proud ones... and that they are still looking for a few good ones.; 4/9/09, 12:14 PM
blake said...: That's a great musical. I remember them saying on Dennis Miller's show at the time that they thought it would be hilarious if Saddam saw it. "What? I'm not even gay!"

Remember, he's not just Satan's gay lover, he's Satan's abusive boyfriend.

Recent episodes have seen Barack Obama using his Presidential victory as a way to steal jewels from Washington in an Oceans 11-style heist.

Doesn't do it justice: Obama smuggled the Hope diamond out in his ass.

This week, they killed Carlos Mencia over a stolen joke, turned Kanye West into a gay fish, and peered into the mind of a narcissist.

Not bad for two guys and over a hundred shows.; 4/10/09, 12:35 AM
Unknown said...: Even though it's not a literary rule to do so, on May 19, 1994 the Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton decreed the word Sailor when used in Naval correspondence and referring to Sailors of the U.S. Navy – Sailor will be capitalized. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker in October 2003 and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper in May 2004 decreed the same for the words Soldier and Airman respectively. Marine (when referring to a person in the Marine Corps) is a proper noun and will always be capitalized.

As a servicemember and Patriot, I believe those fighting for our country deserve it. Besides, words get added to the dictionary all the time without any reasoning other than they are used so often in colloquial conversation and published.; 9/25/09, 12:11 PM