Testing Decency.. funny or not?
 

http://www.cair-net.org/images/lcpl11.jpg

I'll be honest with you, I read this and thought two things at the same time. One was.. holy shit, that's terrible. The other was HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

It takes a healthy amount of detachment to find many things in life funny. I try not to spend my emotions on feeling bad for people in photographs... does it make me a bad person if my heart doesn't break for every sucker I see on the internet?

I laughed too.

To quote Homer Simpson:

"It's funny because it's not me."

That pretty much sums up what I think.

Too much shit going on in this world not to have a laugh at every opportunity you get.

That's funny, I don't care.

i have to also admit that i had a good chucle for this but that dude is an ass for pulling that.

I don't think it's funny, I'll take a risk, I don't care.

I think it's tasteless, it takes something that is impersonal, and brings it to a very personal/family level.

Actually upsetting ;)

Well, I don't think there's really much of a reason to not find that funny.

My guess is that the military-man in the picture is Lt. Corporal Boudreaux and that he did not in fat do those things. The picture is meant as a joke in the first place. Nothing bad about it as far as I can tell, besides perhaps that the kids don't know what it says. But the whole point of the picture I think is that there are accusations of such things and they're making fun of it since it's generally not true.

People of every culture (and indeed sometimes based only on lack of language understanding) make fun of those who don't speak the language, nothing new.

Can't tell you the number of times I've heard spanish directed at me with the word "gringo" being thrown in with the punchline... thing is, I'm totally white, but I know spanish (gringo means "white person", btw- and is more a derogatory term) and usually just laugh at the joke- that freaks them out. lol

I laughed my ass off, it's too funny. :)

pardon me for my ignorance, who is Lcpl Boudreaux? Is it the soldier that stand next to those kids?


Anway, ummm...I can't take that seriously at all and I can't laugh either...

Is it real or photoshopped? If real then It's funny, if fake then then it's not really :)

Well shit, there does seem to be that level of humor in war and some military situations.Not humor I'd use cause I'm sure as hell not there. Stanley Kubrick summed it up in just one scene:

If I were at war and my buddies wanted help with a joke I'd tell them to make the name something like Lt. Col. Kilgore or LCpl Folamour; no sense risking your own name for something stupid and irresponsible.

I was going to post this last week.

I don't think it's funny. I guess the gag about killing the father "ruined it" for me. I think it's tasteless. The kids are obviously being friendly.

Haha... let's make fun of them.

And the US media wonders why the people of Iraq are going dipshit?

This picture is making the rounds of the internet. I would imagine that GI is probably in for a shitload of trouble from his officers. Aren't there rules against bringing the services "into disrepute" etc?


Mr Mephisto

What a dipshit. This guy is going to get into serious trouble, if he hasn't already...

http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Number=1403372
http://electroniciraq.net/news/1444.shtml
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/stor...25-2810106.php
http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1872
http://www.dirtygreek.org/journal.php?journalId=470

Bah... just google it yourself.

It's funny (funny strange, not funny haha), because when I first saw this picture I thought to myself "That guy is a fucking idiot. Even if he was only joking, he's gonna regret taking/posting that pic"

Oh well.

Just like in my post on the GI's who "punished" the looters in Iraq, all I have to say is "All this proves is that soldiers are people. And some people are just plain fucking assholes"...


Mr Mephisto

That simply is not funny. Good humor deals with difficult subjects and helps alleviate pain, but there is a fine line between good humor and simply causing offense. Part of maturity is finding out where that line is, largely by trial and error. This is so far past the line, there is no doubt his superiors are likely to come down hard on him.

Reminds me of an old National Lampoon cover. 'That's Not Funny, That's Sick'

usually humor is derived at the expense of someone else.

don't believe me? find something funny and look at it from that point of view.

i don't find it funny. just asinine, those of you who do find it funny, that's great, but what if it was YOUR father or sister? not so funny anymore is it?

I'm also in the "that's not funny, that's tasteless" camp.

It's stupid making fun of people like that especially with all the serious murdering and destruction going on.
YOU DO NOT JOKE ABOUT KILLING PEOPLE.

Enough iraqi and american families will not see their father/husband/son/whatever coming home because of this conflict. To belittle the people like that with such a serious comment is sick.

Actually this picture is very like how opposers of the war feel:
The american's (soldier) killing off all resistance and authority (father), while raping the country for resources (sister), and disregarding the civilian population (kids) while promising them democracy and autonomy (the kids actually believe he's nice to them).
edited for spelling

Nope. I don't find it the least bit funny. I find it immature, tasteless and condescending. We tell the world that we are there to help these people. Then we make them the butt of jokes? All I can do is shake my head in disgust. However, I don't think that Lcpl Boudreaux has much of a future left, in the military.

I find it tasteless. It seems to me to be faked sortof. I don't see how those kids would want to be near the guy if he had done those things. For him to joke about it is tasteless though.

It just goes to show how little really humorous things you could find in war. It's just a sad depressing thing all around.

Bill O' - for once you beat me to it. Ditto everything you said.

Not funny in any way, shape, or form.

so thats the way the USA wants to win the hearts of the iraqi people ...

Moving away from the ideas of brutal and degrading humor; there's another way of thinking of this picture. The mission to win hearts and minds is meant to be an integral part of the military campaign. The soldiers who give cultural training have an important mission just like the ones who fire a gun or drive a tank.

This guy has created a picture that can be spread around the world via the internet. He has actively created a powerful propaganda weapon that can be used against the United States.

By the rhetorical standards of political argument in the US he has committed an act of....

*puts on bizarro liberal Ann Coulter wig*

TREASON.

I find it very funny. I don't much like many of the kids that are in the middle east, and with good reason. Every convoy we went on in which we drove through a small town, kids would surround the trucks asking for handouts then try to steal shit out of the trucks. I know they were probably told to do that by their parents, but that's not a good enough excuse for me. This sign was meant as a joke, plain and simple. We did things similar (although not as harsh) to this all the time. We didn't do it because we wanted to upset others, we did it because it made us laugh, and it didn't hurt anyone.

BTW, I think this was supposed to be a personal picture, but it got in the wrong hands and was spread around. Happens all the time.

My take -- Just a silly American soldier trying to amuse himself. I'm sure that they need some humor over there.

They could've done that with "Hey I'm holding this sign, but I have no idea what it says." or some of the like.
While it is still humor at the expense of others, it keeps on the right side (IMHO) of the fine line between humor and disrespect.
I can see where the humor is meant to be, and I can very much imagine that they need something to relieve the stress even a little bit. But this was wrong.

I don't know... it's borderline to me. Yeah, within myself I laughed, but I didn't do anything (physically) to show I liked it or hated it.

But you look at that and look at Fallajiah (however you spell it), is that REALLY testing decency?

Who knows? I guess it all depends on your sense of humor.

I think that is a bunch of crap.

As far as my opinion goes,

some people are assholes

The army has a representation of all members of society. Therefore there will be assholes in the army just the same.
The army is supposed to train people like that to behave in a different manner, especially troops sent there to "guard the peace".

This guy is obviously not ready for his task. Get his ass back and educate/train him. Get some common sense in his skull. It would send the message to sources outside that this is the act of an irresponsible individual, who will be dealt with.

That is *IF* this is a real picture. I can photoshop you an even worse message with the same realism, so not quite sure what my verdict is.

Pretty much how I feel. It would have been funny had the message been more harmless. But joking about rape and murder just isn't funny to me.

to me i don't think it was, the only thing funny about it is the fact that guy might get an ass reaming from his CO, It did not offend me, but i felt sorry for the kids. and it just shows no respect, for himself or the military or the people he is over there protecting.

I think I'll reserve judgement until I've been over there a year enduring what they've been going through.
And since that'll never happen, I'll just pass on judging Lcpl. Boudreaux and his momentary lapse in judgement.

I think he'll already be judged way more than is necessary between now and civilian life.

I'm still laughing. And I've emailed it to all my friends.

It is real. Check out the link to Marine Corp Times online. Here's an extract:

"Boudreaux is a reservist with Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines, according to Capt. Jeff Pool, a Marine Forces Reserve spokesman. The New Orleans-based infantry unit deployed to the Kut area of Iraq in May and returned home in mid-September.

Pool said the command began an investigation shortly after it received the photo via e-mail several weeks ago.

Investigating officers have spoken with Boudreaux and are working to determine whether the claims on the sign are true and what, if any, charges to bring against him, Pool said. Investigation results were not expected to be released for another week or two, Marines Forces Reserve spokesman Capt. Patrick Kerr said April 8."

Why? Would you pass on the "momentary lapse in judgement" that caused a driver to crash a car whilst speeding? Or a robber to pull the trigger on a gun during a hold-up?

In Nothern Ireland during the Troubles, there were soldiers who were convicted of murder for shooting civilians in situations that make this look farcical. Their "momentary lapse[s] in judgement" cost them years in prison and rightly so.

Oh, and for the record, if this was "momentary" then I'm a fucking flying pink elephant who invented the internet AND Coca-Cola.

1) He convinced the kids to pose with him
2) He wrote the sign
3) He posed with that smart-ass grin and thumbs up
4) He got someone to take the picture
5) He presumably mailed the picture to some friends ("Hey, look at me... I'm fighting to free Iraq from oppression and spread the good will of the United States!")


Momentary my ass.

If he brought the Marines into disrepute by a systematic and planned set of actions, he should be fired.

Plain and simple.


Mr Mephisto

Concept is often funnier than reality. Had this been a photoshopped picture, or had it been some sort of joke passed on to me orally, I'd have laughed my balls off. But this is real, the fighting and death is real, and for this man to stand there and proclaim, whether true or not, that he'd just killed these kids father and fucked their sister is just stupidity on his part. He should be dishonorably discharged.

I don't know....I'm usually up for stuff that most people will call tasteless, but I didn't find this funny at all. Yeah, chances are this guy didn't really kill this kid's dad and fuck his sister, but people are really dying over there and I don't think it's funny. I agree with Memnoch that a dishonorable discharge might be in order.

I'm not laughing. Not even a bit.

I would not find it funny, IF it was true. But I am 100% certain that Lance Corporal Boudreaux did not kill the boy's father and impregnate his sister. All he did was make a tasteless, but hilarious photo.

First, anyone who has been in combat or a combat zone knows that you have to laugh or you will cry.

Second, you become ver blassie' about death.

Third, GI humor is rough. This particular example is actually quite tame.

Don't believe me? Check out another example:


So before any of you are too harsh on Lance Corporal Boudreaux, here is another quote to ponder:

I think if the Kids knew about it, sure, seems all right, but otherwise,
it seems kind of evil ........