Soulja Boy's Army-style language

I enlisted during the Vietnam Era. To say the military environment has gotten worse over the years is quite an understatement. Enter a rape epidemic featuring both heterosexual and homosexual assault, generals facing charges of adultery and forcible sodomy, and the list goes on and on. Wow.

Soulja Boy sure got the military up in arms when he utterd "f" the Army, and then dared advise troops to "be your own man." Somewhat curious though, was the absence of any indignation over Soulja Boy's trademark four-letter filth. In fact, as the military rushed to ban Soulja Boy recordings, the language thing seemed to be virtually off limits. And I think I know why.

Make no mistake: The Army was the absolute filthiest environment I ever had the misfortune to be in the midst of. Granted, I was no doubt a bit naive when I enlisted, but in all fairness, I was also a teenager. Like Marine recruit Jason Tharp.

That ol' Army recruiter really had me suckered. Slick literature, warm handshakes, and cordial, seemingly earnest conversations sorta like you might expect from a Sunday school teacher. Never ever not once did he utter so much as even the mildest slang.

Right. And talk about a rude awakening. When I started basic training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, four-letter filth spouted by those in charge was constant ad nauseum. And the "f" word reigned supreme. From sergeants to officers, there seemed to be a deliberate attempt to keep young minds in the gutter. On one occasion, a major was directing a march, and our group was to repeat after him an obscene scenario as we marched in cadence to the words. It depicted an encounter with a girl named Mary, concluding with "and there I f'd her on the ground."

Over the years, and especially considering the Army's pornographic torture of prisoners at Abu Graib, I've come to wonder if the constant barrage of verbal garbage has an even more sinister intent than one might think. Is it aimed, perhaps, at densensitizing "the troops" to such things as contrived sexual degradation? The programming, perhaps, of a subconscious willingness to rape, literally and figuratively, those hapless inhabitants of distant lands? I've had similar thoughts regarding the gang style savagery dished out - in front of other trainees - to Marine recruit Jason Tharp.

Soulja Boy's filthy, Army style language is most certainly repulsive. Nonetheless, he apparently suffered a few rational thoughts regarding the hired guns that carry out America's imperialistic, undeclared wars, dared to exercise a bit of free speech, and got waylaid by a country that can stand most anything except the truth.

Update 6/13/2017 - Here's a link to today's excellent article, "So, Your Daughter Joined the Military," by Laurence M. Vance

Update 10/6/2011 - Facebook blocked this post from appearing in real-time Public Posts, and immediately started blocking all of my subsequent posts from appearing in that venue, regardless of the topic. This latest bout of censorship remains in effect.

Updates 5/22/2013 -
The commanding general of Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, Bryan Roberts, has been suspended in connection with charges of adultery and involvement in a physical altercation: http://www.wistv.com/story/22378270/fort-jackson-commander-facing-adultery-charges 

As mentioned above, this post met with censorship. That prompted me to publish another post, "Military rapes prompt censorship"

Update 5/5/2015 - Had to laugh regarding recent news that Christians are finally viewing the military as a "hostile work environment." Somehow, ever since reading the Sermon on the Mount, I've been unable to visualize Jesus decked out in a military uniform, intent on butchering His enemies. One of my all-time favorite literary works is Mark Twain's "The War Prayer." War is as un-Christian as anything gets.

Update 6/19/2019 via Dr. Paul Craig Roberts:"Classified: US Troops Rape Boys In Front Of Their Mothers" - more info has come out re the sexual hoorrors inflicted by American troops at Abu Graib.

Now I get it. Tharp was the victim of an enhanced training technique.

The CIA has given us to understand that forced simulation of drowning - along with a number of other practices - isn't torture. Its "waterboarding." Or better yet, its an "enhanced interrogation technique." I'm glad to know that.

Perhaps this also sheds some light on what happened to Jason Tharp, the teenager who wanted out of the military, then drowned during "training." Forced to tread water, Jason was surrounded by Marine swim instructors as he went under possibly six times, screamed repeatedly to be let out of the pool, finally succumbed to exhaustion and coughed, gagged, or vomitted before bobbing to the surface unresponsive.

Initially, I thought what happened to Jason was a study in sadism. Gang-style savagery, to be exact. Especially that part about the instructor shoving Jason's head deeper into the water. I'll bet some folks even thought it was cold-blooded murder. But after all this talk about enhanced interrogation techniques, I guess Jason was simply the victim of an enhanced training technique. Maybe this explains why the Associated Press and other mainstream media merely summarized Jason's death as "preventable," without bothering to mention all those horrifying details revealed in the investigative report.

America seems rather taken with the semantics - or antics - of euphemistical skullduggery. And I've given a lot of thought lately to George Orwell's 1984, especially the convoluted terminology known as "Newspeak." Frankly, that's been a bit unnerving. 'Cause the next thing you know, I'll be gettin' the sweet land of liberty confused with some kind of Orwellian nightmare...

Only one media outlet revealed the horrifying details contained in the investigative report:
http://wistv.com/global/story.asp?s=3529920&ClientType=Printable