Posing with a dead afghan is bad enough. Posing like a hunter with a trophy kill is another thing entirely. Is it the result of hunter/killer philosophies of a trophy kills like those symbolized by conservatives like Sarah Palin? Or is it a sign of the insanity brought on by the horrors of war?
In my opinion the question deserves an answer.
Like many Alaskans Jeremy Morlock grew up hunting. But not everybody who engages in those activities does it for the same reasons.
Quite a few Alaskans hunt simply to fill their freezers with food, and do not take a great deal of joy out of ending the life of a fellow creature. They do not see it as sport, but rather necessity.
These hunters do not send the creatures head to the taxidermist for mounting on their wall, nor do they stop and have their picture taken with their kill, to show their friends what great and powerful hunters they are.
But then there are others for whom the kill satisfies a deep and profound desire to take the life of a creature they consider their inferior. To stake their claim at the top of the food chain if you will.
For these individuals, killing is simply not enough. They must celebrate the taking of that life, and glorify their skill as a hunter, by finding some way to share their victory with others.
Most soldiers over in Afghanistan and Iraq take lives because sometimes THAT is their job. They also do not want to take a picture of their handiwork, or have any memento that reminds them of what they had to do in the theater of war. They come home from the battle fatigued and forever changed psychologically, with no sense of victory at the death they have dealt for the good old US of A.
Others however revel in the feeling of domination over a people who they see as their inferiors, who they may begin to see as less than human even. How long does it take a person with this mindset to go from being a hunter of animals, to becoming a hunter of human beings?
(Beware! Graphic images below.)
Jeremy Morlock's mother said the army turned her son into a murderer, and there is certainly no reason to believe that Jeremy ever took a human life before he went overseas. However he did spend much of his time surrounded by individuals who taught him to use aggression on the ice to incapacitate his opponents, who saw killing as a sport, and who undoubtedly said to him "Don't retreat...reload"
So be honest, is there really that much difference between the joy you see in the face of the person on the left, to that of the person you see on the right?
Beautifully written Gryphen. Sometimes you outwrite your own self. You set the bar on this one.
ReplyDeleteIndigenous Alaskans don't pose with their 'take,' and it would be an insult to the animals and other resources that give themselves to respecting harvesters. That is why Subsistence and Sport hunting are not equals. I hope that hunting remains a national pasttime with non-Indigenous Americans, but this culture of superiority is an insult to the creator and Mother Nature.
Your writing does bring up metaphor for conservative leadership - they see the needy as inferior and can't stand the thought of socialist programs to level the playing field in a system that favors the well-off. That is why it is so easy for the GOP to immediately cut programs for those with the smallest voices - because if you can control the populace with the Bible and the Constitution, their work is less constituency heavy and more corporate-centric.
Cut programs to ACORN, NPR, Planned Parenthood, home heating and you have a less informed, empowered and involved constituency. That is why Fox News is so important, but as their base is slowly dying off, those thirsty for knowledge and holding the government and corporations accountable remains a threat - so much so that they do everything in their power to undermine social and political discourse.
Thank god for Blogs and folks like you Gryphen, you have a courage far superior to anonymous like me.
I deplore hunting but it is beyond our capacity to determine why someone is a sociopath.
ReplyDeleteBill
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/television/john-doyle/how-television-created-and-then-killed-sarah-palins-political-prospects/article1952055/?from=sec561
ReplyDeleteA disturbing but necessary post Gryphen. I think you are right on the money of this one. Creepy Chuck's house with a dead thing on every inch of wall is a perfect example of killing for fun & dominance. It would appear their offspring have inherited the same disgusting values. Trophy killing can lead to what Morlock did. They put no value of human life just their dominance. It's appalling.
ReplyDeleteWonderful clear-sighted post.
ReplyDeleteYou either have respect for all life, or you don't. The photos I've seen from Afghanistan don't show any respect whatsoever. This was "sport" to them.
Very well written and thought provoking Gryphen. I left Huffington Post and sought out new blogs to post on because of the fluff and censorship I saw spooned out over there.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say what makes someone step over the line from fighting in a war (where it's sometimes necessary to take a life) to actively participating in
sadistic acts of killing for sport or pleasure. I imagine a disconnect occurs in the brain and, as you stated, the overwhelming feeling of superiority over a victim.
Throw in someone who is both very young and desensitized to suffering (through who knows what factors: deriving pleasure from killing in hunting, underlying sociopathic tendencies?) and that's a recipe for disaster.
Many men have suffered life long trauma for what they have done (both forced or by free will) in war. War truly is hell on earth.
What turns a pretend youth hockey league team manager into a VP / Presidential contender?
ReplyDeleteThis is a messed up world.
Well done Gryphen. I can't bring myself to look at the pictures, so thank you for the warning.
ReplyDeleteHow television created and then killed Sarah Palin’s political prospects
ReplyDelete...The medium that gave her exposure and heft as a figure representing everyday reality, and ordinary people’s views, finally diminished her fatally. After succumbing to the temptations of a reality-TV series, Palin was exposed as overexposed. The other week, while on Fox News attacking Kathy Griffin, she had all the political heft of some batty lady calling into the phone-in radio show from remote Alaska and braying about things that made sense only in her own head. The presence, the charisma were gone.
Palin arrived as a creature of TV and the medium has eaten her up. Never mind the primaries and U.S. presidential election in 2012. The political obituary can be written now.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/television/john-doyle/how-television-created-and-then-killed-sarah-palins-political-prospects/article1952055/?from=sec561
I guarantee it: want to know how a monster like this is created? Look into his childhood and find the sexual predator(s) in his school, church, family, or sports teams.
ReplyDeleteThis post is an example of how to look at and address difficult essential questions about why people do atrocious things. Violent images and role playing are entertainment for many people. So are some sports, which you have discussed in your post. My son has played hockey for 15 years now and we have always stressed that his opponents are real people with feelings. It has been our job as parents to monitor, limit, and discuss our kids' interactions with issues involving many things, including respect for all living things and the seriousness of taking another's life. This has often been reinforced and supported by the families of their friends, whose values are nonmaterial and focus on education and emotional growth of their kids.
ReplyDeleteIt may be that Sarah will hate you for the side-by-side picture that you have used for comparison. But, if it helps people understand what leads someone to the point that her son's friend got to, that would be valuable thing and maybe she can appreciate that.
What strikes me about the photo is how thin and frail the dead man is, such vulnerable pale skin. And then I realize that the dead man is probably the same age or even younger than Morlock.
ReplyDeleteTake away the gun, take away the uniform, take away the blood, and this could be a scene on a playground, a bully tormenting and humiliating a younger, geekier kid.
War is so often kids killing kids, with the confusion, casual cruelty, and insecurity that possesses immature, frightened kids.
WHOA!!
ReplyDeleteIn the first comment, third and fourth paragraphs. Talk about SPELLING out exactly what is going on in this country.
Whoever wrote this, you nailed it!!
Wish I could write with such word purpose. I will be passing this along.
What came to mind was Nimrod in the bible and tower of Babel he was a mighty hunter of man and animals, against "God". So this is nothing new. I don't mind hunters as long as they eat what they kill, and don't just kill to kill. That is why I don't personally like hunting shows, because it just shows people setting up others to get a prize trophy, everything spontanous is taken out, person is taken, told everything on what, where, how to shoot and kill the animal. I believe in fishing, but if not wanting to eat, put the fish back. I have been shocked since living here in TN seeing ducks (20 or so) just thrown on a side road. after shooing so many did they not want to take the time effort to clean? Saw at the same place one time a large number of catfish just thrown out and voltures eating them. I also did a wth, the gun safety classes are conducted at churches. Doesn't seem like one should go with the other, to me! anyway.
ReplyDeleteI suspect the true depths of the depravity of what these men did is being kept hidden and sanitized by the Powers That Be. There are hundreds of photos; these are the ones selected as being publishable. Why were this man's shorts taken off and then thrown over his buttocks? My first thought was castration, but that would be hidden by the fact that he is lying face down. Those shorts are hiding something else, and it doesn't take much imagination to figure out what.
ReplyDeleteThese Americans are sick, sick, sick. And as the daughter of one vet and the wife of another, I'm outraged at the suggestion that war or the military are responsible. Decent men don't do this; depraved men do. Murdoch was scum when he went into the Army. I blame the Army for turning him loose on the poor Afghan civilians, not for turning him into a monster. His genes and his upbringing get the credit for that. Yeah, Mrs. Murdoch, I'm lookin' at you.
as a Wasilla resident I am so ashamed to have such Low Lives from this community. This is one sick SOB. Wasilla ProLife my ass...Murderer..
ReplyDeleteSometimes it takes an outsider looking in to see things as they really are. The Globe and Mail article is reeeeeally good news and brings today's sigh of relief. Thanks for the link, people.
ReplyDeleteHalfway through reading this I was hoping you'd post side-by-side pics. Not that I enjoy looking at either of them. It needed to be done.
ReplyDeleteOne small thing: You should go back to your post and capitalize the word "Afghan." It is a nationality--a real person--leaving it as "afghan" diminishes the point you were trying to make.
Good job and thank you for writing this.
The side by side photos are very sobering.
ReplyDeleteMy family is a hunting family and Alaska Native. We make every effort to consume mostly wild game for the red meat portion of our diet. Besides being our traditional food, it's just healthier.
Never, ever would you find such a picture in our home. Never, ever would you find the stuffed remains of an animal hanging from our walls.
In the Native culture that Sarah tries so hard to claim for Todd and her children you treat the dead, human or animal, with respect. It is considered 'bad luck' (rough translation of the Native concept) to glorify death.
Unfortunately exposure to other cultures has caused some to lose this respect, as seems to have happened in the Palin family.
i dont think anyone who has killed human does it because they have a desire to actually kill a human. it takes very specific circumstances and mentalities to get that far. it's like ansering the question why pedophiles target children? do you really believe THOSE people have it in them from infancy? Thats just not acceptable.
ReplyDeleteBeing from Wasilla has nothing to do with this. Knowing certain people has nothing to do with this. I've tried to imagine myself taking lives (or animals and humans) and I cannot even imagine it.
I cant even see myself hurting the man who molested me at age 4 though i think if he were in the same room as me i may feel different.
im not sure we will ever know what cause certain people to kill. But I do know that we should not judge ANYONE regardless of what theyve done. Punish them, jail them, yes, but not judge. We dont know them personally. We dont know their histories as theyve lived them. we dont know their hopes and fears.
"i think she's unlikely to be the Republican nominee, and to be honest I think she probably shouldn't be the Republican nominee for president," he said, adding that he thinks she's "unlikely" to run.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0311/Kristol_Palin_probably_wont_shouldnt_be_nominee.html?showall
Beautiful post, Gryphen. You said exactly what I've been thinking (only more powerfully.) And where is this story today? Buried under the coverage of a bus bombing in Jerusalem (delayed reaction to Sarah?) and the death of legend Liz Taylor. The two pictures side by side say it all...when you think a gun gives you the power of life and death, and you see others as weak, you use the gun as it was intended. But Palin buddy Murlock didn't kill because he was threatened...he killed because he could, and he was arrogant enough to think the photos were a prize, not an indictment. The boy has no soul, and where have we seen hat attitude before from a fellow Wasillian?
ReplyDeleteWhy I believe environment doesnt make us killers: Track, Levi and other hockey players were both ferocious and anger driven on the ice yet they are the opposite of what you describe. Plus the other guys in Jeremys group are not from Wasilla and probably didnt play hockey. If a boy from Alaska was not involved in the murders, you wouldnt address it. Dont use this event to attack for political reasons. Sarah nor wasilla is not connected.
ReplyDeleteUnless youve been through war and these young men's lives, shut up and pray for them
It's not just Americans who are sick. The world is filled with murder and greed and corruption. Look at all the past dictators and evil minds: Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, jews have been demonized by pretty much the whole world/every country, Columbus..
ReplyDeleteThese are just the "evil" people that come to mind. But (other than Hitler) they are guilty of greed and subsequentl genocide. Hitler needs to continue to be studied, as do anyone who possesses homicidal feelings towards one whole group of people.
But let's not continue to make an association between the good people of Wasilla and this war event. The two are unrelated
Back in the days when pretty much everyone had to grow or hunt their food, they didn't mount the heads on the walls of the cabins, caves, teepees, etc. Need we say more about that and people like Chuck Heath?
ReplyDeleteMy brother-in-law went to Afghanistan multiple time when he was in the military. A peaceful man, he unfortunately had to partake in some of the killing there. He is still haunted by that to this day. And as for posing for a dead person for a picture? He would rather trade places with the killed than do such a thing.
For this post to mean anything, you need to include a description of the other boys and their hometowns in the title.
ReplyDeleteTo Anon@5:35 a.m., "You either have respect for all life, or you don't." You are so right, it is that simple.
ReplyDeleteWhile all the comments are exceptionally good, the very first one by anon@5:17 can not be improved upon. He/she said everything I was thinking and feeling, only much more eloquently. Perfection
ReplyDeleteI stand and applaud both the writer and Gryph.
I don't hunt, and I haven't been in the army. But, I can write that when people are put in a position of authority (policeman, soldier), they are put under a great deal of stress. Adrenaline is pumping. Here in the Chicago area, a policeman beat up an unarmed guy. He claimed that he was in fear for his life, but he forgot about the dashboard camera, which showed that the guy in the traffic stop was not armed, and did not pose a threat to the policeman.
ReplyDeleteDuring the Vietnam war, soldiers went crazy, perhaps sensing danger, maybe it was the influence of drugs combined with the unbearable stress of always being on guard. They snapped and mowed down an entire village of unarmed women and children, the My Lai Massacre.
I am not excusing Morlock. I think that there is enough stress, fear, pent up anger when a buddy is killed, adrenaline and other drugs to push someone over the edge. It didn't take much for a handful of soldiers to torture and pose for photos with detainees in Abu Ghraib.
The business of posing with the bloody kill after a hunt is probably the way someone justifies taking the life of a living thing. Native Americans, who needed to hunt to provide food for their family, did the opposite. They honored the animal that gave its life to feed the tribe. They have ceremonies where they thank the animals, with whom they share the Earth. They wore the skins, not as a trophy or a sign of being macho, but to keep warm in a cold winter.
At the risk of insulting hunters, I'll say that the trophy wall a la Chuck Heath is the way that a small man makes himself feel bigger and more important. "Look what I killed." However, people have strange ideas about posing for pictures. When Dillinger was shot, people rushed to pose with the corpse, even though they hadn't personally killed him.
I am very interested if Bristol had Jeremy's baby. His daughter was born in December. Bristol was hiding out at the time, either in LA or AZ.
ReplyDeletehttp://sarahpalinhasaserpentsheart.blogspot.com/
War does not turn good people into sadistic killers who pose gleefully with their bloody, human prey. I don't give a crap if this guy came from Wasilla or what, but the truth is that when somebody does a disgusting act like this, it's normal and necessary that we look for answers.
ReplyDeleteOf course not all hunters are sadists, but some of them are. Of course not all hockey players are psychopaths who beat their wives, but some of them are. I don't blame "hockey" or "hunting" for Jeremy Morlock, but his parents and coaches didn't do him any favors if they ignored or encouraged his violent tendencies (and when you have a man who assaults his wife multiple times at such a young age, you can't tell me the adults in his life never saw these tendencies).
War may turn people into killers, but it doesn't turn people into killers who take such obvious and sick pleasure not only in taking the lives of other humans, but in the degradation of their dead bodies. For every twisted person who would do that, there are thousands and thousands of good and decent soldiers who would vomit at the very thought.
As for Wasilla, while I'm sure the majority of citizens are good people, there is no denying there is a poisonous element that runs strong in that town. It's not just Sarah and Todd, but the people who have allowed them to run rampant. Wasilla isn't alone in that of course, but considering the Palins and the havoc they've wreaked on our country, it's somewhere near the top of the list.
"Charging a man with murder in this place (Vietnam) was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500"-Apocalypse Now.
ReplyDeleteThe question may deserve an answer but there is no answer.
ReplyDeleteto 808, have you been to wasilla? didnt think so. again, you ignore the advice of every good kindergarten teacher in the world. Don't judge
ReplyDeleteI think you're missing the larger point: war does this to people. Look into any conflict in history and you will find similar stories. This boy is not unique. There's been many like him throughout the ages.
ReplyDeleteThe constant anxiety and stress of conflict has huge mental and emotional repercussions.
I think you are waaaay off the mark when you compare hunting with war. The two are completely different activities. To draw a line between them (gosh! They both have a gun and shoot stuff!) is childishly simple. That's like saying cleaning house and curling are alike because they both have brooms and sweeping involved. Frankly, I think it's an insult to our men in uniform to even compare the too.
I know everyone else is going to kiss your a$$ over this post, but I think you are waaay out of your depth here with this overly simple analysis.
To people who still think Bristol was recently pregnant, you are moronic. If she were pregnant, she would have looked pregnant. Her belly was never rounded like a pregnant woman's. She had/has ab fat, something hard to lose and keep off. STOP THE NONSENSE. And yes, good people can become killers. Look to every combat soldier who has killed because it was their job.
ReplyDelete"Others however revel in the feeling of domination over a people who they see as their inferiors, who they may begin to see as less than human even. How long does it take a person with this mindset to go from being a hunter of animals, to becoming a hunter of human beings?'
ReplyDeleteMaybe this is why the idiot Sarah Palin always wants to be pictured with dead animal heads, beating fish with clubs or standing in front of turkeys getting their heads cut off. In the real world, these people are cowards.
O/T
ReplyDeleteTrump on The View this a.m. In first segment he went into full blown Birther mode. Whoopi was pissed & challenged him. Second segment, notice Whoopi - she didn't say a word. You could tell Trump too was pissed in that he attempted many times to 'over speak' louder than the panel. Birther & Bully Mode!!
I recall Trump in the Rosie O'Donnell/Trump battle, when Trump called Hasslebitch 'not intelligent' and basically dumber than a rock but today when he would say things, he would make reference to Hasslebitch and look at or point to her and say "she knows". Looking for his Rethug cover.
Terrific post, Gryphen. Glad you showed those two photos side by side. Every time I see something about Jeremy Morlock, I'm reminded of Palin saying she liked to feel blood under her fingernails. Sick. Sick.
ReplyDeleteMillions upon millions of men and women have been trained in the military - only a minute percentage of them have committed atrocities such as Morlock did.
Think I read that "...there were 4,000 photos..." taken by this group of perverts. What photos were unfit to print? The young man appears to be naked except for the t-shirt high on his shoulders. What else went on? They might as well print all the photos, our imaginations can't be worse.
So who's surprised that people in the Middle East hate Americans? That young man was loved by somebody, by many somebodies. We need to get the hell out of these other countries.
I'm angry that Jeremy Morlock made a "deal" which will get him released in 25 years. His name will be forever linked with Palin in my mind. Did I read a comment on here that Bristol dated Jeremy Morlock? Did or does Jeremy Morlock and his family have a sense of being above the law since they are all "Palin family friend?" I'd say yes.
Sharon1943
You're creating a stereotype for everyone from Wasilla, just like the media has created a characature of Sarah Palin. Wasilla is not a bad place or any different from any other small town. Sarah is not stupid, nor is she crazy. So much gets exaggerated to earn political points.
ReplyDeleteThe two people above should not be mentioned together, other than "Sarah was once a volunteer hockey team manager for Jeremys team" It means nothing other than she knew him as a child. Are you saying the columbine guy or Jared's past coaches of mentors are responsible for their actions? Yeah, then shut up
"In the Native culture that Sarah tries so hard to claim for Todd and her children you treat the dead, human or animal, with respect. It is considered 'bad luck' (rough translation of the Native concept) to glorify death."
ReplyDeleteI'm not a hunter, but I know about what you speak from reading books. Maybe that's why Palin takes pictures with heads of dead majestic animals, she does not read books about such things. Interesting, I thought she said she reads everything?
Recently on facebook, Jeremy asked friends to submit character references on his behalf. AND sometime late last year, Bristol exchanged facebook messages with April, saying "praying for your family"
ReplyDeleteEveryone deserves and needs friends
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteWhat turns a pretend youth hockey league team manager into a VP / Presidential contender?
This is a messed up world.
5:56 AM
It's the Me Me Me syndrome.
You know, look at me and my fancy pageant walking syndrome.
My daddy did not pay attention to me syndrome.
I want to be loved so I got pregnant before marriage syndrome.
Did you just equate the Sarahpac map, which was harmless, to an act of killing during war?
ReplyDeleteTHAT should be a crime.
War essentially is high commanders telling young boys it's ok to murder the enemy. Why is this act different? How is it different?
Do not make this political you cowardly, koolaid drinking democrat. Sarah is not evil, she does not advocate murder and she doesn't consider one group of people superior over another. So fuck you for thinking you know her.
Agree, this was one of your best posts to date, Gryphen. You have a keen insight into these people.
ReplyDeleteNow, what progressives need to face and seriously contemplate is: what are we going to do about the fact that such people also pull the political and economic strings in this country? They have murder in their hearts, too, I'm convinced of it.
To Anonymous @7:23
ReplyDeleteYou said "Unless you've been through war and these young men's lives, shut up and pray for them".
Oh yeah, poor babies. Only ones who have ever gone to war. What childhood traumas did they all go through that would turn them into vicious, sadistic and proud murderers?
Not me, I won't shut up and pray for the young men involved. If God is all-powerful and all-seeing, then He doesn't need prayers from the likes of me to know exactly what these perverts did and what type of punishment they deserve.
If Hell does exist, then it's my hope that there's a special place reserved for the likes of Jeremy Morlock.
Do not say that "unless you've been through war, shut up". That's suggesting that anyone who went through war would have done something like this. That's not true.
Jeremy Morlock is forever tied to Sarah Palin right along with the Tucson tragedy whether Sarah denies it or not. Too bad for Wasilla, for Alaska and for John McCain.
Sharon1943
Anon at 7:03: "And as the daughter of one vet and the wife of another, I'm outraged at the suggestion that war or the military are responsible. Decent men don't do this; depraved men do."
ReplyDeleteI don't entirely absolve war and the military from responsibility for this. But you state something in your last sentence that echoes what a vet once wrote in an article I read...along the lines that, war tests the character of men. Those who are predisposed to be cruel and evil will surely see this characteristic come out in war. Those with healthier characters will better withstand temptation to be cruel. It's not a given, but character does matter.
Sarah Palin is the Queen of Pandering.
ReplyDeletePalin wears the Alaskan flag pin when she is pandering in Alaska.
Palin wears some Army bracelet when she is pandering and flaunting she raised a combat vet even though everybody knows Track never was in combat.
Palin wears the American flag when she is pandering in the USA.
Palin wears the Star of David when pandering in Israel.
Notice Palin was not wearing the Alaskan flag, USA flag and veteran bracelet with the Star of David while in Israel?
I guess if she does panders to everyone at the same time, she'll need a wheel barrel for all her pandering trinkets?
Although I sympathize somewhat with the mother, most who go into combat and do not lose their disregard for human life or be able to see terror and suffering, even of an enemy and respond to that stimulus by inflicting even greater terror and suffering.
ReplyDeleteThere is certainly considerable logic in connecting violent sports like hockey and football, much of whose strategy is to physically,attack, abuse and "unman" the opponent and where that kind of mentality goes when a gun is put in that person's hand, and that person is given permission to kill.
Notice that like Vietnam our military is back in the body count business as a measure of their success.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteas a Wasilla resident I am so ashamed to have such Low Lives from this community. This is one sick SOB. Wasilla ProLife my ass...Murderer..
7:06 AM
Are you talking about Jeremy or Sarah Palin?
Anon at 5:31 am: "Creepy Chuck's house with a dead thing on every inch of wall is a perfect example of killing for fun & dominance. It would appear their offspring have inherited the same disgusting values."
ReplyDeleteOr he drilled his "values" into them. I sense that part of Palin's obsession with coming across as very tough and aggressive has to do with a father who considered such a personality to be ideal. I wonder if she would have turned out differently with a different father. There was a moment in the SPA episode after she killed the caribou and then said in a hushed voice "he's dead" and then gave it a little pat. It was an oddly kind and almost regretful gesture, somewhat out of character for her.
Who knows what kind of person she would have been if she hadn't been molded to be part of the dark side?
no gryphen, there is no difference at all between these two people's motivation for posing with their kill. same damn thing: they're both sick. they both want a visual record of their superiority to the murdered. fucking sick.
ReplyDeleteso does this mean the palin family "hangs out with terrorists"? that could kind of bite them in the butt.
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin has a serpent's heart said...
ReplyDeleteI am very interested if Bristol had Jeremy's baby. His daughter was born in December. Bristol was hiding out at the time, either in LA or AZ.
http://sarahpalinhasaserpentsheart.blogspot.com/
8:04 AM
Bristol's babies fathers could be anybody. Bristol does not know everybody who planted their seeds in her.
Some sociopath at 8:50 asks us: "War essentially is high commanders telling young boys it's ok to murder the enemy. Why is this act different? How is it different?"
ReplyDeleteWhat are you saying here? That the murder of the naked Afghan Jeremy Morlock is posing over with a big grin was perfectly normal and legal act of war? Are you asking of this with any knowledge, even just by reading online, of what they are being charged with and why? I suspect your answers to both questions are "yes."
anon @ 8:50 am sez:
ReplyDelete"War essentially is high commanders telling young boys it's ok to murder the enemy. Why is this act different? How is it different?"
seriously? you should get some help if you think this is no different. the kid was a civilian, not a soldier, but either way to mutilate your "kill" and then pose for a picture with the dead body is SICK! wtf is wrong with you?
@7:23 - "unless you've been through war shut up."
ReplyDeleteOK. Extrapolating with your logic, I'll expound: Unless you've been murdered, shut up about murder. Unless you've already died, shut up about dying. Unless you're a pregnant woman who's facing or faced a difficult choice, shut up about abortion.
Now, how's that logic working for you, @7:23? It is illogical that you have to experience something before having an opinion on it. As an American citizen, I'm entitled to an opinion on any subject. Now, you shut up.
This is not about Wasilla but 2 people who know each other and happen to live in Wasilla. It is an important story about human behavior, what determines it and if there are similarities in the mindsets of people who share experiences, esp when one of them aspires to be a national leader.
ReplyDeleteI recently had a discussion with my 15 year old about the butterfly effect, which led to a conversation about things that we can and cannot control.
ReplyDeleteWhere do our personalities come from?Are we born with them? What role do others play in developing them? What responsibilities do parents have? What if they don't fulfill them, who's accountable? For how long? If freewill determines who we are, why does there seem to be a correlation between children of attentive parents and less trouble with the law, drugs, and teenage pregnancies? What can we expect from children who are abused? Why are their chances of becoming abusers greater? How will they know differently?
The answer is that there are many factors determining who we are and that's what makes it so hard to identify why a person can go in the army and do the things Jeremy did when other soldiers don't. And a reminder of why we should work so hard to avoid having kids be in these situations.
"im not sure we will ever know what cause certain people to kill. But I do know that we should not judge ANYONE regardless of what theyve done. Punish them, jail them, yes, but not judge. We dont know them personally. We dont know their histories as theyve lived them. we dont know their hopes and fears."
ReplyDelete7:15 AM
You have hit the nail RIGHT on the head. Take the politics and Sarah Palin out of this. They have nothing to do with what these {and yes, I said THESE} young men have done. War is hell, as are certain circumstances in life. They can take a one peaceful loving human being and change them into a murderous being.
Case in point: I just found out in June of last year that the man I had been married to for 17 years, had spent 13 of those years molesting our daughter {yes, his biological daughter}. I only found out because I had had him arrested and jailed on drug charges, and my daughter finally felt safe enough to disclose. Let me tell you, quite honestly, that if he had showed up at our door, I would have killed him. With my bare hands, and anything else at my disposal. And he knew it too. He actually chose to waive his bail because he knew he was safer in the can than coming into contact with me. Even the cops who were looking for him told me to my face that they hoped to find him before I did. To this DAY I still wonder what I would/could do to him when I finally lay eyes on him {if he is ever stupid enough to contact either myself of my children again}.
Now, I am a non-violent person as a rule. And this event in my life has brought a side of me that I didn't know existed. Rage is powerful. And you have to remember that these boys {yes, they are still boys}, have been indoctrinated by propaganda that these "other boys" are their enemy, and out to kill them, and their families, and take over the world, blah, blah, blah. I grew up in a very Conservative home. I know how it works. A favorite phrase is "just bomb the hell out 'em and be done with it". There is no regard for the fact that these too are human beings. They are THE ENEMY. And that is all they are. When you have heard that from a very young age, it IS your psyche. Until the day you finally grow up and realize that the brain the Good Lord gave you is YOURS. Until these kids begin to think for themselves, these are the types of things we will continue to see.
What you must also understand, is that to the Far Right, everything is Black and White. There is no Gray. And if you try to think differently, you are mocked and thought of as stupid. And that is that. Although in my circles I am considered a Right Libertarian, I have been sure to raise my children with the following admonition on a continual basis - "you do NOT have to believe as I do. Figure out your own beliefs. Argue your facts, and if they are correct, you could even change MY mind". That is one thing that seems to missing amongst so many in the Far Right in America. {then again, I am Canadian, so our Right Wing, is not your Right anything...}
So yes, do not judge. Pray for these boys. The damage inside their heads needs be undone. I would like to think that there is some good in there somewhere. And after what I have been through, I REALLY do not say that lightly about anyone who has harmed another. But at the same time, if I do give in my rage, I am no better; I just don't have it on film...
Peace.
Oooh, it comes clear. Now I get it. You hold some comments when they are detailed analysis on something you're going to write about!
ReplyDeleteOkay. Good to know.
I see it now. I've gotten into the habit of copying my bits into a word document, because I never know if it'll post.
ANON 8:34- Killing the enemy is part of the military but posing for your trophy while smiling and decapitating in NOT! Think about it, this is a twisted mind who needs to be punished.
ReplyDeleteI know everyone else is going to kiss your a$$ over this post, but I think you are waaay out of your depth here with this overly simple analysis.
ReplyDelete8:32 AM
You just described Sarah's career to a "T."
8:41 am -
ReplyDeleteBristol & Jeremy's sister are best friends. She was with Bristol when she was on dwts. I saw some recent pictures yesterday of Bristol and her together, face shots.
Was the baby Bristol just had Jeremy's baby?
ReplyDeleteAdd to the heritage of killing animals and posing with their carcasses, violent video games at a young and impressionable age, and high levels of violence in movies that so many kids watch when they are way too young. They become desensitized to violence.
ReplyDeleteVideo games can be played over and over - death is not real, means nothing in them. Video tapes can be rewound and all is well again. I have seen this mindset in many pre-adolescent children. It just so happens I live in the Wasilla area. Is it more prevalent here than elsewhere? I couldn't say for sure.
Good parents control what kind of violence enters their children's lives, and at what age. Irresponsible/ignorant parents don't seem to have what it takes to CARE about such things.
Add to all of that gangsta rap. You don't allow your children to listen to that crap? Do they go to school? If so, they have access to it from schoolmates.
Put those kids who have been exposed to all of those things into a war. A few will become murderers. Most will have it in them to rise above their backgrounds and stay human. All will be changed forever.
To people who still think Bristol was recently pregnant, you are moronic. If she were pregnant, she would have looked pregnant. Her belly was never rounded like a pregnant woman's.
ReplyDeleteYou are the moronic one if you couldn't see the baby bump. It was quite obvious....
if only SP showed during her fake pregnancy as much as Bristol did on DWTS, there would be no speculation about TriG.
as a member of the 368th combat engineers I am appalled at the actions of these 5 men and the other 7 that hid the crimes.
ReplyDeleteNORMAL people/soldiers do NOT hunt humans for sport. Jeremy Morlock is eligible for parole in 8 years...that is disgusting. He should be treated the way he treated the boys he killed. He should have a Z carved in his back and his fingers chopped for display.....and then life in prison where he will be used and abused for long, long time.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteWas the baby Bristol just had Jeremy's baby?
1:18 PM
Bristol's baby's daddy could be Jeremy's, or Jack's or Ronald's or Red's or Uncle Joe's or Carl Jr's.
Gryphyen, Thought provoking and beautifully wqritten as many others have stated. But I do differ opions with some of your posters saying that being in the war caysed this. These killings took place relatively soon after this group of serial killers landed. I think it has more to do with deeply mentally ill ( no excuse they should have received harsher punishments) But it's almost like who ever was the ringleader seemed to find like minded disturbed people to control or feed off each other. There are many cases of serial killers having partners, and I think this was an example of that. I think the local police by any US base they were at should look inot any unsolved cases, this spree seems to be awfully evolved.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteWas the baby Bristol just had Jeremy's baby?
1:18 PM
Bristol's baby's daddy could be Jeremy's, or Jack's or Ronald's or Red's or Uncle Joe's or Carl Jr's.
4:18 PM
That would be Jack in the Box or Ronald McDonald or Red Robin or Uncle Joe or Carls Jr.
Get it? Bristol will do anybody for a burger and fries.
Unfuckingbelievable that a few trolls are taking up for this monster.
ReplyDeleteYeah, everybody should judge him and discuss the murderer in detail. The military and the judicial system judged him. Do something about that sick trolls.
Hopefully this swine and his buddies are put in a dark, cold, wet cell for the rest of their miserable lives.
The troll who says don't judge him is judging us. Get real.
I was in the service and I wouldn't even think about doing what that group of rogue assholes did.
NOBODY could make me kill for fun.
Damn straight palin is connected to this way of life. Damn straight palin is connected to Rep. Griffords and the mass murderer.
You STFU and stop being such a dicwad.
BTW -- Excellent post.
The kids should have been executed for his horrible deeds.
ReplyDeleteLooks like he got 24 years with possibility of parole in 7. Plea deal in exchange for his guility plea and testifying against his platoon members.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, you wonder how this can happen? It's not just Sarah or Alaskans in general, the military exists for one purpose - and that is to kill.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure G.I.s from all wars took booty from their 'kills' and gloated over them, only today we have instant communication and photos and this boy got stupid with having his photo(s) taken with HIS 'kill'.
Normally people will not kill another human being unless provoked. So the military has to TRAIN (mind control) their young recruits to kill on command. Video games are designed with this in mind, too, as the-powers-that-be know there is nothing more exciting to a physically or mentally abandoned 18-year-old is to put on a uniform, become recognized as a 'somebody' and therefore become a 'hero' in the eyes of his/her peers - just like X-Box. In otherwords, they become cannon fodder without knowing it. That's why the military doesn't like 30-years - they're a wit bit more wiser.
As far as Sarah goes - we know her Dad is f**king nuts with death dripping from his walls, ceilings, garage, front yard - - the apple (Sarah) doesn't fall far from the tree (Chuck). They're both psychopaths and sociopaths through and through. I know the type - stay away from them AT ALL COSTS.
*Sign, a former resident of Wasilla, Alaska*
Gryphen, I just read this in the comments at ADN. Is it true that it was the Morlock's house that Willow trashed?
ReplyDelete"I have read all the earlier posts here. Jeremy Morlock and Track Palin were best friends in high school As hockey players they were treated like rock stars in Wasilla. Their coach over looked their phsically abusing other boys in the locker room. Jeremy Morlock's sister was Bristol's best friend. Sarah Palin was the mother for the hockey team (whatever that means.) Todd Palin dated Jeremy's mother before he moved to Wasilla. It was the Morlock's vacant house Willow trashed causing $20K or $30K in damages. I would like to know if Track Palin seved in the same 5th Stryker Brigade. Further, Sarah Palin judges people by their associations, Is she and hers to be judged by these associations?" bt
yes - Willow, et al trashed the Morlock's home because they were out of town and she knew it. Contrary to SP's opinion that she was only there for a few minutes and was not involved, the other teens claim she was the ring leader.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure G.I.s from all wars took booty from their 'kills' and gloated over them,
ReplyDelete***
Pretty obvious YOU've never served in the military in any capacity. This is not acceptable behavior and is certainly NOT the norm.