So perfectly does it conform to the worst stereotypes about the media — petulant, arrogant, not so secretly contemptuous of the U.S. military, and sufficiently clueless as to boast about it in public — that I almost believe it’s fake. Almost. The kicker is the part at the end where our hero congratulates himself on his bravado. Remember, this scene takes place in Baghdad, with an American soldier under constant threat of death standing right in front of him:

To my relief, the voice said that, yes, Knight Ridder is one of the country’s biggest newspaper companies, that it owned many of the country’s largest newspapers.

The soldier in front of us explained the situation to his colleague. The voice on the other side suggested that we be let through, that the media office would only instruct him to simply confirm if the pictures on our media badges matched the ones on our shoulders.

When you’ve got nothing to lose, I told my security officer, you do what it takes. He nodded in agreement.

I can’t read that line without hearing Cartman’s voice. But enough; just follow the link. I recommend reading the original post with its original comments, as they reveal why Calvan’s blog might have suddenly but not mysteriously disappeared.

Update: Someone really needs to get the cache of this guy’s blog back online.