Althouse: And "Serial" has its season 2 subject matter: Bowe Bergdahl.

September 24, 2015

And "Serial" has its season 2 subject matter: Bowe Bergdahl.

Rolling Stone reports.

21 comments:

tim maguire said...: I think I might have heard of Serial, season one was something about something that happened in a parking lot, so "don't know" is not, strictly speaking, true. So thank you for adding the "or don't care" line.; 9/24/15, 9:33 AM
Unknown said...: This is about defending obamas deal, not defending bergdahl. You shall see; 9/24/15, 9:35 AM
MayBee said...: Is there enough source material? I mean, independent source material? Or will we just hear interviews of all the players?

Serial was good, but Jinx was better.; 9/24/15, 9:44 AM
mccullough said...: The trial hasn't even happened yet, unlike the first season. Bizarre; 9/24/15, 9:52 AM
Anonymous said...: Bowe Bergdahl is a traitor, and should be treated like one....but because the media and Hollywood will protect Obama at all costs...they will make him sympathetic.; 9/24/15, 10:09 AM
Skeptical Voter said...: Since a general in the chain of command has already opined that Bergdahl was just a poor misguided boy who doesn't deserve prison time, I don't give a flying flip what some fool on TV may have to say.

OTOH I would be interested to hear what Bergdahl's squad and platoon mates might have to say. In my own time in the enlisted military I'd come across some hapless shmucks once in a while, who were barely capable of functioning. But even those guys could be trained to know what their duty was. Then, as is not uncommon in large groups of people, there were also some lying conniving cheats--the spiritual ancestors of such as "Chelsea/Caitlyn" Manning, and Bowe Bergdahl.

And of course there were also the political bootlickers, like the general who'd heard from Obama and proclaimed little Bowe was a lost soul who didn't deserve prison time.; 9/24/15, 10:25 AM
Anonymous said...: Bergdahl's lawyer said the army sergeant left his barracks in June 2009 armed only with a disguise and a knife in order to trek 19 miles away to another Army installment to speak with a general.

Outpost, not barracks.

After mailing all his stuff home.

Good luck convincing 7 Colonels of that.

Skeptical Voter said...
And of course there were also the political bootlickers, like the general who'd heard from Obama and proclaimed little Bowe was a lost soul who didn't deserve prison time.

Lest we forget his name: Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl; 9/24/15, 10:35 AM
Etienne said...: "rolling stone reports"

Ugh, OK, I'll pass. Who reads that shit?; 9/24/15, 11:09 AM
Hagar said...: It's not about Bergdahl; it's about not admitting that Obama made another screw-up.; 9/24/15, 11:22 AM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/24/15, 11:52 AM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Skeptical Voter said...And of course there were also the political bootlickers, like the general who'd heard from Obama and proclaimed little Bowe was a lost soul who didn't deserve prison time.

How dare you--unlawful command influence doesn't exist when you're defending the President's actions!; 9/24/15, 11:53 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: "This is about defending obamas deal, not defending bergdahl. You shall see"

This sounds about right. I enjoyed the Adnan podcast (listened to it three times) but it was full of holes, convenient omissions, and failures of reasoning. The bias and willful naïveté were palpable. Because of the political nature of the Bergdahl thing I expect all these failings to be alified considerably.; 9/24/15, 12:03 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Amplified. Maybe alified too.; 9/24/15, 12:07 PM
Chuck said...: I had to think for about five seconds before I recalled what Serial is.

Do you all know what Serial is? It is the spinoff project from people who used to be, or still are, producers with NPR's This American Life. They love long-form stories with complexity. They are often well done; they sometimes go into hot-button topics like immigration, urban schools and homosexuality. Complexity is their stock in trade.

[My personal favorite story in the history of the show was by Alix Spiegel, whose father and grandfather were both prominent psychiatrists who rose to the highest ranks of the American Psychiatric Association. Alix graduated from This American Life to become a reporter for NPR News on mental health and psychology issues. Her This American Life story was called "81 Words," and it recounted the history of the APA's reversal on homosexuality as a disorder in the DSM in the 1970's. While the aim of the story was of course to help with the societal normalization of homosexuality -- public radio and all -- for me, it had the opposite effect. It helped me understand how essentially political the APA had been, and how political it remains. Which was surely not the producers' intent. I commend the story to all; you can hear it as a podcast for free HERE: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/204/81-words ]

Nobody does "complexity" like liberals when they are confronted with a story that hurts them. To wit:

~Republicans want to shut down the government? Simple. Detroit goes bankrupt after 50 years of Democrat rule? Complicated.

~Cop shoots unarmed black teen? Simple. Three blacks shot in a street party and no one will talk to police? Complicated.

~Carly Fiorina lied about anti-abortion videos? Simple. More black babies aborted than born alive in New York City? Complicated.

~Soldiers abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib? Simple. Bowe Bergdahl walks away from duty? Complicated.

You get the idea.; 9/24/15, 12:12 PM
Birches said...: Yeah, what Chuck said. I heard how NPR handled the last go round. I don't need to think too hard about how they'll handle Bergdahl.; 9/24/15, 12:22 PM
Alexander said...: Historians will look back at our civilization and wonder how on earth was such an overtly hostile fifth column allowed to not only exist, but prosper.; 9/24/15, 1:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Blogger The Drill SGT said...
Bergdahl's lawyer said the army sergeant left his barracks in June 2009 armed only with a disguise and a knife in order to trek 19 miles away to another Army installment to speak with a general.

Outpost, not barracks.

After mailing all his stuff home.

Good luck convincing 7 Colonels of that.
----------------------------------------------------------

Easier to convince seven colonels (who had lots of sociology and psychology courses)
than seven First Sergeant's who've lived in the rough-and-tumble and heard every excuse in the book.

I think you can now ask for an enlisted jury if in the Army. No one does it. It would be suicidal to pick and actual jury of your peers.; 9/24/15, 2:29 PM
Jason said...: The only "Serial" worth watching starred Martin Mull.; 9/24/15, 2:41 PM
Michael K said...: "Historians will look back at our civilization and wonder how on earth was such an overtly hostile fifth column allowed to not only exist, but prosper."

If History is still being written. If language still is being used.

"I think you can now ask for an enlisted jury if in the Army. No one does it. It would be suicidal to pick and actual jury of your peers."

Absolutely. What no one seems to mention is that Bergdahl was kicked out of Coast Guard basic training. Why the Army took him is a mystery and probably a class C case for the dope of a doctor who qualified him. I caught another doctor qualifying a female recruit for the Army who had been sent home from Marine basic for threatening suicide. The doctor no longer works for the recruit center.; 9/24/15, 5:56 PM
Curious George said...: Chuck said...
Nobody does "complexity" like liberals when they are confronted with a story that hurts them. To wit:

~Cop shoots unarmed black teen in Ferguson, MO? Simple. Cop shoots unarmed black teen in Madison, WI? Complicated.

FIFY; 9/24/15, 6:14 PM
Achilles said...: LarsPorsena said...

"Easier to convince seven colonels (who had lots of sociology and psychology courses)
than seven First Sergeant's who've lived in the rough-and-tumble and heard every excuse in the book."

This.

Who really runs a platoon? Some 22 year old halfwit that graduated college and made it through a couple army schools? Or maybe the 7-12 year enlisted guy that has deployed 5 times, started as a private, became a team leader, squad leader, sat in an S chair for a bit, then got the privilege of getting 40ish 18-24 year old crazy people to do things they don't want to do?

The commissioned core is being purged and destroyed. Fortunately for the country it is the NCO core that is the backbone of the Army. DC is going to be surprised when the NCO core tosses their PC commissioned side out on it's ass. Watch what happens when Bergdahl gets off because Obama has stacked the upper commissioned officer core with a bunch of douches.; 9/25/15, 2:51 AM