Swanky Conservative

The author of the Colonel Kurtz - style writing at The New Republic has been revealed. Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp, serving with Alpha Company, 1/18 Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division in Iraq. Over at Hot Air, they have a running account of his background. The overall consensus from servicemen with more experience than Private Douchebag is that he is just that. This guy is every platoon sergeant’s nightmare, writes one person into Hot Air’s piece:

You’ll understand what I mean when I write that Thomas is the nightmare of every platoon sergeant. He’s a wise a** who thinks he knows it all, is actually incompetent at most military tasks and is too much of a wise a** to admit that he’s clueless. He must live with his platoon sergeant’s boot permanently up his backside.

So the questions to The New Republic are this:

1. Did Private Pyle witness the atrocities he claims to have seen?
2. When did these atrocities take place and where?
3. Was there a mass grave containing children’s bones?
4. Was there a burned servicewoman or contractor with half her face wounded?
5. Who did the verification of these claims?
6. How long prior to publication did you fact-check these incidents?
7. How did you come to choose Scott Thomas as the voice in your publication for the 160,000 serving military in Iraq?
8. Was he intended to be representative of the military?
9. Was he just one voice?
10. If he is just one voice, where are the others?

I eagerly await the outcome of this affair. I’ll call it the Private Glass Affair.