Reading File: The Blog of War

January 8th, 2008 by Larry Smith

olmsted.jpgThis piece was in The New York Times, so it’s not as if it hasn’t gotten some play; if you missed it, writer Brian Stelter offers a nice summation about the life, death and blog of Andrew Olmsted, a 38-year-old United States Army major, and blogger for The Rocky Mountain News. Major Olmsted wrote a lengthy and moving letter—3,000 words—which was to be posted to his blog in the event of his death, which occurred on January 3, 100 miles northeast of Baghdad. Here’s an excerpt of what is titled “Final Post”:

Believe it or not, one of the things I will miss most is not being able to blog any longer. The ability to put my thoughts on (virtual) paper and put them where people can read and respond to them has been marvelous, even if most people who have read my writings haven’t agreed with them. If there is any hope for the long term success of democracy, it will be if people agree to listen to and try to understand their political opponents rather than simply seeking to crush them. While the blogosphere has its share of partisans, there are some awfully smart people making excellent arguments out there as well, and I know I have learned quite a bit since I began blogging.

Read the post in its entirety here.

 
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