A 2006 photo: Marine Cpl. Megan Leavey with Sgt. Rex in Iraq
Have you noticed that sometimes your Bloguero completely loses his equanimity? Yes? Your Bloguero thought you might have. Be warned. Here it comes again.
Nothing, nothing at all makes your Bloguero lose it like military bureaucracy. Your Bloguero points out in passing that there is a reason, a very good reason why all of the vehicles the army owns have FTA scratched into them. And that reason has to do with how the army handles the very many small, non-life-and-death matters that matter to the soldiers. This essay is about yet another one of those.
This week began with efforts to remove vile, misogynist Lush Rimshot from the AFRN airwaves. Senator Levin sort of helped, but not enough that any desk chair jockey with scrambled eggs on his headgear would read his statement as requiring anything, or even threatening to require something, or starting a painful, potentially embarrassing Congressional Inquiry. No. No, there was really not much to see there. In dealing with the military bureaucracy, the only thing that really matters is an order. “May I please have some more, sir,” just doesn't get it done. That is uniformly (your Bloguero knows) greeted with scoffs. And raised eyebrows. And it’s ignored. Especially if it involves changing anything. No. An order is what it takes to change anything. And only an order will do. Will AFRN get such an order about Lush Rimshot’s program? Time will tell.
And then, today, there was this item. And this caused your Bloguero's head to explode. Your Bloguero knows your concerns. Yes, there are a whole lot of very important things that need doing, that merit your attention, that deserve widespread notice, that should be occupying the space in which you are reading this post. Your Bloguero knows all that. Yes, he knows, there are big, important things that deserve tons of red and black ink.
But today your Bloguero only wants something small. Your Bloguero would like to point out that a very simple, short form order that the dog, Sgt. Rex, be discharged and given to his former, loving handler, former Cpl. Meagan Leavy, would make your Bloguero, Cpl Leavy, ex-Sgt Rex, dogs and dog lovers and citizens everywhere very happy. Ecstatically happy. Delighted, in fact.
For just this once, do you think the military could cut some of the red tape bs and just send Sgt. Rex home? Of course not. That's why all those trucks and buses are scratched with those three letters. But look. That's not the end of it. Don't despair. Don't give up.
You know what to do. Start with Senator Schumer and President Obama. Let them know that Sgt. Rex and Meagan Leavy need to be reunited. And they need it now. Then go on to all the many others who need to hear from you about this. It'll only take a few minutes, and it'll be doing the right thing.
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cross-posted from The Dream Antilles
